The Big Lie

We are born into a world with expectations, regulations and pressure to excel. We are taught to succeed regardless of the cost to our own soul and to those we love.

By example, the adults in our life instruct us that material gain is paramount for our happiness. Many parents work more than one job to afford more for us than their parents provided for them.

The big lie is that we only have one life to live; therefore, we have to accumulate wealth, stature and expensive material possessions in order to have status and fulfillment.

No matter how much we gain in this world, it is never satisfying; so, we force our self to work harder and longer hours in order to acquire more.

We feel incomplete, but we do not understand why. Satan blinds our eyes to the reality that our spirit is dead within us, and we are only limping through life with a body and soul (Ephesians 2:1).

God originally planned for us to live in Paradise with Him; but Adam and Eve fell for Satan's temptation, and our spirit died with theirs. Yet, God made a way for our salvation, and He will never fail to meet our needs.   

He planned the sacrifice of His perfect Lamb on Calvary's cross before the creation of the world. Due to His foreknowledge, He knows the end from the beginning (1 Peter 1:2; Acts 2:23; Revelation 13:8).

There is only one reason that God knit us together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-18; Jeremiah 1:5). It is to give us new life in Christ, which includes His nature and the fruit of His Spirit (2 Peter 1:4; Galatians 5:22-23).

These treasures are worth more than fine gold (Psalm 19:10). Once we come to Christ, our spirit is Born Again. We finally feel complete and whole inside. We are no longer handicapped with a spirit dead in sin.

We desire nothing more than our relationship with our Lord and Savior (John 15:11, 16:24). With each day, we feel His love more deeply and we hear His Spirit more clearly.

Prayer:

Father God, open our eyes to the fact that Satan dupes us into believing that the purpose for our life on this earth is to work for the advantage of our self and our loved ones. Help us to see that You create us for Your glory, rather than for our own glory.

Teach us to simplify our life, to downsize rather than to upgrade, and to budget our income to meet much simpler earthly needs. Remind us to make You our priority in life and to cheerfully tithe for the work of Your ministry and to obey You in meeting the needs of those Your Spirit prompts us to help (Luke 21:1-4 Malachi; 3:10; Proverbs 3:9; 2 Corinthians 9:7; John 12:8).

Thought for the Day:

Authentic Believers will realize that our life on this earth is not for the purpose of building our own kingdom, but rather to advance the Kingdom of God.

Honoring God

 

Have you ever thought about the fact that the Holy Spirit is subjected to every thought, word and deed, which we entertain? We drag Him through the mire in which we participate (Philippians 1:8; 2:5, 13; 1:20).

I don't know about you, but this makes me cringe. I certainly do not want the Trinity to be grieved by my behavior. I want my body and soul - my thoughts, choices and feelings - to honor God in every way (Ephesians 4:30).

Our pride and self-sufficiency keep us from honoring God with our life. We want to do things our way and make our own decisions. What we fail to understand is that the happiest place on earth is in the center of God's will.

Our regenerated spirit, once dead in Adam's sin, is filled with God's Spirit and Son who abide within us (Romans 8:10; Colossians 1:27). Our body and soul no longer direct our life, because they are now directed by God's Spirit.

As we serve God, we choose spiritual desires over the desires of our flesh, which struggle to gain ascendancy in our body and soul (Romans 1:9). We mature to the place where we are not even tempted by carnal thoughts any more.

As we walk in the Spirit, whatever we think, say and do is led by God's Spirit, and we reap the rewards of living by God's Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25; Romans 2:29; 7:6; 8:4-6, 9, 13; 12:11). While we live from our spirit, we praise the Lord all day long.

We give Him continual glory for His provision in our life, and we function for His glory, even in our normal daily activities of eating, drinking and going to work (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Prayer:

Father God, we will give continual thanks to You, for You are always good to us. Your loving kindness is never-ending. We also thank You for Your unfailing love and Your multitude of blessings, which You shower on all of Your children.

Only You can satisfy our thirsty soul and fill our hungry spirit with good things (Psalm 107:1, 8-9). We want to walk in unity with Your Spirit every moment of every day without giving any place to the world, the devil or the flesh.

Thought for the Day:

The more we abide in Christ and keep His praises on our lips, the more positive and blessed is our life experience. - John 15:4; Psalm 149:6

Freedom from Sin

God gave us His law to prove to us that we cannot save our self. To reach holiness through the law, we must keep every word of it (Matthew 5:18; James 2:10).

When we trust in Christ, who did keep every letter of the law, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, His Holy Spirit takes up residence in our body (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19).

Christ in us satisfied the law for us (Galatians 5:18). As we surrender to the leading of God's Spirit, we are free to live in His righteousness (Roman 1:17, 8:14).

God's Spirit never leads us into permissive living (Galatians 5:18). We grieve God's Spirit when we use His temple for sinful purposes (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 4:30-31).

Our relationship with God is more important than any other aspect of our life. He fills us with His presence and we follow God's Spirit moment by moment.

Increasing our intimacy with God is the best use of our time and efforts. His living water flows through us and out to the world around us (John 7:38).

As we love Him with our whole heart, soul and strength, He quenches our thirsty soul (Deuteronomy 6:5; Psalm 42:1-2, 143:6). Then we love our neighbors as our self and fulfill the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39-40).

We love each other as God loves us, and we serve one another and lay down our preferences, feelings and opinions for one another (John 15:12-13).

God's precepts are for our protection and are only restrictive if we want to continue to sin. When we choose to live in God's freedom in righteousness, we are no longer under the oppression of Satan's abuse.

Prayer:

Father God, prior to our salvation through Christ, we served the devil and His will for our life. We may not have committed evil, but even our responsible, ethical life was inspired by his desire to keep us from coming to Christ.

If we return to the bondage to Satan's lies (Galatians 5:1), we forfeit our freedom from sin. You can no longer bless us, although Your desire is always to give us all good things (Psalm 84:11; James 1:17). Draw us to completely surrender our life to You.

Thought for the Day:

When the righteous return to a sinful lifestyle, we muddy the springs of living water within us.

 - Proverbs 25:26; John 4:14, 7:38