We
have the privilege, as God's children, to live in His Kingdom both now and in
eternity. We are members of Christ's Body (1 Corinthians 12:27), His bride (Revelation
19:7), and His co-heirs (Romans 8:17). God made us in His triune image with a
body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Now,
He ordains that we represent Him and His Kingdom as His emissaries, doing
everything - even the simplest and most mundane actions - for His glory (1
Corinthians 10:31). He gave us the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11), so that
our first focus is on Heavenly matters, while God cares for our earthly needs
(Matthew 6:33).
When
we commit our life to live for the glory of God, He strengthens us and gives us
His mercy and grace to love those in our sphere of influence on His behalf.
This helps us to not only live for God, but to live like Jesus in this broken
and wicked world.
Forgiving
people for their slights and trauma against us, allows God to forgive us for our
sins against Him as well (Matthew 6:14; Psalm 103:12). Forgiveness opens the
windows of Heaven for us, so that we can walk in God's freedom and blessings.
We
do not need to deny our feelings in order to forgive, but we choose to forgive
each time the pain gains our attention. We can honestly, but kindly express how
their words and behavior made us feel; then we forgive them, regardless of
their response to us.
Helping
those in need in our immediate community, the surrounding cities, our county,
state, country, and in the world is what God's Word calls "true
religion" (James 1:26-27). We do not enable people who can help
themselves, but we do help others as the Holy Spirit directs us.
Prayer:
Father
God, we thank You with every fiber of our being, because Your love for us, Your
provision for all of our needs, and Your forgiveness of our sins makes our life
remarkably joyous. Remind us that You forgive us for our constant
transgressions, because we are human and fallible; therefore, we can forgive
others. If we do not forgive, our bitterness will only defile our life, not
those who harm us.
Thank
You for teaching us that we can forgive other humans as often as they hurt us,
because Christ in us gives us the strength (Philippians 4:13). Help us to live as Your ambassadors during
our life on this earth, and to practice true religion rather than to keep our
faith inside the four walls of our church. We want to live, move and have our
entire being in You (Acts 17:28).
Thought
for the Day:
We
cannot earn our salvation by our human effort, because Jesus already purchased
our ticket to Heaven by His shed blood on Calvary's cross; however, we do walk
out our faith in God's faithfulness by following the guidance of His Spirit and
obeying His precepts each moment of our day.
-
Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:14-26; Galatians 5:15-25
