The natural world in which we live, and everyone in it, is held
captive by sin. However, through faith in Jesus Christ we are given God's
promised salvation (Galatians
3:22-23). Now, with a sincere heart, we can draw near to God. Our mind,
sprinkled by the blood of Christ, is cleansed from a guilty conscience and the
pure water of God's Word washes us clean (Hebrews 10:22).
We can only abide in God after we first seek Him and His
Kingdom, and live in the truth that He lives in and through us. He will never,
ever, for any reason leave us (Hebrews 13:5). As we wait on Him day by day, He grants us the
grace to abide in Him. We rejoice in His fellowship and we work in His power.
We completely give up our self to Him and live by faith in His faithfulness.
God allows trials to test our faith, which increases our
perseverance through them (James
1:3). Thankfully, Jesus is both the developer and the perfecter of our
faith (Hebrews 12:2). Even
the prophets of old knew that the righteous live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4: Romans 1:17).
Since Jesus' faith and Spirit abide within us, we multiply the works of Christ
on this earth (John
14:12).
The core truths of God's Word energize the authentic
Christian and thrill our soul. First and foremost, we wait on the Lord, we live
in His presence continually and we enter into His eternal rest on a daily
basis. Once we completely surrender to Christ, God takes us up spiritually into
His Holy Temple (2
Corinthians 5:1). We abide in His rest, and all of our work on earth is
done only through Him.
Prayer:
Father God, even if other people refuse to believe in You,
their unbelief does not make our faith in You worthless (Romans 3:3). Through the blood of
Jesus, we become Your righteousness, and You wipe away our sins through Your
love and forbearance (Romans
3:25). Help us not to grow weary or to lose faith in Your promises, but
to remain strong in Christ's faith in us, as we give You all of the glory (Romans 4:20).
Thought for the Day:
We are justified and reconciled to God by faith, not by
our own good deeds. - Romans 3:28, 4:14; Ephesians 2:8-9
