God's wrath over sin fated Jesus to a brutal crucifixion
before the creation of the world (Revelation 13:8; 1 Peter 1:20). Jesus
became sin for undeserving sinners like us (Isaiah 53:10). As we
confess Him before our Father, He becomes our Lord (Philippians
2:11; Isaiah 53:11). His words of life bring us joy (John
15:11). He is our eternal life, and our fulfillment is in His
presence both now and in eternity (Psalm 16:11).
When we come to the awesome revelation that not one thing occurs
in our life that is not part of God's plan for us, we can relax and go with His
flow and follow His directives during each situation, just like Jesus did (1Thessalonians
5:18). This absolute truth allows us to live in His perfect
peace. Our joy is no longer affected by our circumstances, but simply by the
presence of Christ within us (Colossians 1:27).
During our lifetime our thoughts, words or deeds may cause
us to reap negative circumstances, but God even uses this to discipline and
mature us as His Saints. The Lord is God, He made us, and we belong to Him (Psalm
100:3). He gave us Jesus as our Way, Truth and Life (Johan
14:6). God never leaves us, so our joy is always complete (Hebrews
13:5; John 15:11).
God calls His children to live with gratitude to Him in our
heart in every situation, which life throws at us (James
1:2-5; Hebrews 12:3-13; 1 Peter 2:20-21). Due to God's goodness, mercy and
everlasting truth, words of thanksgiving and praise fill all of our days (Psalm
100:5). This gives us continual victory. In our gratitude to Him,
we sing songs of praise and we serve Him with His joy as our strength (Nehemiah
8:10).
Prayer:
Father God, we always give thanks to You, in the name of
Jesus, for everything in our life, even the negative aspects (Ephesians
5:20). You did, You do and You will always do so much for us, for
which we thank You. Thank You that Jesus gave His body, broken for our
redemption (Luke 22:19). Thank You for Your Holy Spirit,
who keeps us from living on this earth as orphans (John
14:18). Thank You for Your presence in our life. We look forward
to dwelling with You in eternity (John 17:3).
Thought for the Day:
We live in praise to God, because He promises
that He will work out all things, even the negative aspects of our life, for
our good. - Romans 8:28
