Faith is essential for living a victorious Christian life, because without it, we cannot please God (Hebrews 11:6). Faith provides us with proof of God’s presence in our life, and it helps us to believe in what we cannot see with our human understanding (Hebrews 11:1-2).
Biblical characters give us an example of living by a tangible faith, which delivers to us what we hope to receive. We walk in faith, which produces obedience; we seek the will of God each moment of the day; we live in His Spirit, and God rewards us with His blessings.
Satan and the world attempt to deceive us through the philosophy of men, which is nothing more than vain conceit and empty deceit. Their philosophy is fashioned from the principles of the devil, the world, and our flesh (Colossians 2:8).
God calls us to speak what is pleasing to Him instead of what is sanctioned by mankind (1 Thessalonians 2:4; John 12:43; Philippians 4:8). We do not live our life to please other people, or according to their insistence or persuasion in our life, but to please God alone (Galatians 1:10).
We are bondservants of Christ; and we can trust Him to provide for us and to keep us safely tucked under the shelter of His wings (Proverbs 29:25). God calls us to walk by faith, rather than by what we discern with our human senses (2 Corinthians 5:7).
That is why God encourages us to focus our mind on eternal and spiritual concepts rather than on the ideas pertaining to this world (Colossians 3:2). As we seek God’s Kingdom and holiness with our whole heart, He will provide everything we need to live on this earth (Matthew 6:33).
We eagerly wait for the promised return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If we walk by faith rather than by what we see in the natural realm, God’s Spirit in us causes us to excel in this life until we eventually go to live in Jesus’ physical presence forevermore.
Prayer:
Father God, we groan with spiritual, physical, and emotional aches and pains in this earthly habitation. We long for Your Kingdom to come on earth, as it already is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Paul gave us exciting news when He explained that our earthly body is just like a canvas tent. When this tent collapses, we have a home waiting for us in Your physical presence, which was made without human hands, and which will last for eternity.
Remind us that our citizenship is in heaven, even while we remain on this earth. Thank You for showing us that, ultimately, when Jesus appears, our human body, soul, and spirit will transform into the glorious duplication of Christ Himself, because of His power residing within us (Philippians 3:17-21). When we see Jesus, His life will swallow up our mortality, and we will dwell in the eternal place of rest in You, which Jesus prepared for us (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).
Thought for the Day:
Each generation produces enemies of the cross of Christ, and we weep over the deception they are under, as well as the lies they spread as truth; because they, and everyone who believes the lies, will end in a self-earned eternity of destruction.
- John 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:10
