Holy Living

Every day, God gives us the opportunity to stop sowing the destruction of sin into our garden of life. He provides new and nurturing experiences for us to use the pieces of our eternal weight of glory to honor Him.

We press on toward the goal of the high calling of God in our life (Philippians 3:14), until our journey ends. This is when He transforms us into the image of Christ as we breathe our last earthly breath and enter our celestial home in heaven (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Until then, we spend our days in holy living, worshipping our true and living King, and abiding according to Biblical and eternal priorities. This occurs regardless of our trials and circumstances.

We count everything as joy, even when we fall into various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith produces patience; then patience has her perfect way with us, teaching us to "let go and let God" have His way in our life (James 1:4).

When we walk in the flesh, we tax our spiritual, emotional and mental energy, which effects our physical energy as well. We divide our energy between carnal and spiritual concerns.

God wants to hold the preeminent place in our life in order to insure our success as we enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:10). Then there will be no division in our soul and no stress on our physical well-being.

Happiness in this life requires a whole-hearted focus and commitment. We set our mind on the Kingdom of God and then He provides us with everything we need to experience fulfillment and success (Matthew 6:33).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus gave His life at such a young age and died a cruel death in sacrifice upon the cross, so that I will never have to die the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). Because of You, my eternity is in Heaven’s glories rather than in hell’s torment.

You awake in me the desire to serve You all the days of my life. I rejoice in You, my God and my Savior. I enter Your presence with the confidence of a child, and I dwell in Your Holy Place forever (Hebrews 10:19-20).

Thought for the Day:

If we have an idol in our life - something we focus on more than God; or are overly concerned with "me, myself and I", we will miss the high calling of God's will and suffer the loss of fulfillment which only He can provide.

Union with Christ - The Second Adam

 

The Trinity comes to abide in us once we repent of our sin and surrender our life to God. The more we die to our flesh, the more room we have for the fullness of God in us to fill our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions (Ephesians 3:19).

When God's Spirit rebirths our spirit from the death of sin, we are spiritually alive in complete union with God. What the "first Adam" lost for us, the "last Adam" - Jesus Christ - regained for us (1 Corinthians 15:45).

God created us to enjoy fellowship with Him; but sin, Adam's and ours, keeps us separated from this union. However, Jesus' death and resurrection gave us the opportunity to repent and to believe in His work for us on Calvary's cross.

We may or may not have this world's goods, but we learn to live in contentment with the power of Christ's redemption and His resurrection life filling us to the brim (Philippians 4:12; John 11:25-26).

Since Jesus experienced the wrath of God over the sins of the whole world - past, present and future (Isaiah 53:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:21), we never die again. Though our body will go to the grave, our soul and spirit live on with Christ for eternity (1 John 5:12).

God longs to restore this intimacy with His creation and calls us all to repentance (Acts 13:39; John 3:15-18). He fills us with His presence and His Spirit; and no matter what happens in our body or our mind, we find our joy and fulfillment only in Him.

God makes us a new creation, and our life changes for the better from that moment on (2 Corinthians 5:17). He is the center of our identity. As we walk in His Spirit, everything we think, say and do comes from Him (Galatians 5:15-25).

Prayer:

Father God, I will both lie down in peace and sleep because You alone make me to dwell in safety. I pray for the persecuted church, for all of the Saints, for the abused and for the babies and children in this world who lack nurturing and care. Lord, give them the comfort of Your love, peace and joy in spite of their earthly circumstances.

Help us to recognize the little blessings, which You give to us all day long, to prove to us that You care for us even now. I thank You for Your daily mercy and grace, and for Your ever-present help for us in every time of need (Psalm 4:8).

Thought for the Day:

God puts the mind of Christ within us and we focus on the spiritual, eternal aspects of our union with Him, rather than the foolish and confounding aspects of life on this earth. 

- 1 Corinthians 1:27-28

No Longer a Sinner - The Glory of the Lord

 

Peter, James and John witnessed Christ's glory as the Beloved Son who pleased our Father (John 17:5). Jesus was on a mountain and appeared with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:2-8; 2 Peter 1:16-17).

Jesus is also our light who shines in our darkest hour. When we come to Christ, His glory shines in us and from us as the Light of the world, the light of life (John 8:12; Acts 6:15). We lay down our penchant to sin at His feet.

At salvation, He comes to dwell within us; however when He returns to claim us as His bride, we will see Him as He is and we will reflect His supernatural glory (John 3:1-2; Philippians 3:20-21).

In His face, we will see and understand the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:6). Jesus will transform our mortal body into conformity with His glorious, immortal body (2 Thessalonians 1:10-12).

As we keep our focus on Christ, we are no longer affected by the events in this life; because our attention is absorbed by the only One who matters. Even in our hour of death, God's Spirit will sustain us and shine forth from us (Acts 7:51-60).

We mirror the glory of the Lord to the masses of unsaved people all around us. They know that something is very different about us (2 Corinthians 3:18). They are drawn to us by God's Spirit, and He gives us the opportunity to share Christ with them.

We may not even have to use words, because a Spirit-filled smile or a simple "Hello" will touch their hearts as no sermon ever did. Jesus bought us at a great price to Himself, now it is time for us to lay down our life for others (John 15:13).

Prayer:

Father God, You revealed Jesus to us face-to-face and His presence burns in our heart. We see Him in all of His glory and we submit to His sovereignty in our life. Your glory is gradually enveloping us by Your sanctifying process in our life. You will eventually craft us into the image of Christ on this earth.

The marks of the cross are on our heart; and we want nothing more than to bring You pleasure by our every thought, word and deed. You give us the deep, spiritual mind of Christ in exchange for the meager, carnal mind closed off to spiritual Truth (2 Corinthians 3:14-15). We are no longer our own; we belong to You, and we serve at Your pleasure.

Thought for the Day:

Let us reveal the glory of the Lord, which arises within us, to the world around us rather than the human pride, selfishness, hypocritical double-standard, frustration and carnality that we commonly feel within us. - Isaiah 61:1