Three Warning Signs

The doctor takes a blood test, which informs him of our health issues. We have the choice to heed his advice, or to ignore it and reap the consequences. We often look in a mirror and see the stress in our soul reflected in our face; yet we do nothing about it. There are spiritual signs in our life too, which let us know that our spirit is dead in Adam’s sin (Romans 5:15).

If we ignore these three warning signs, we will perish (John 3:18). We fail to believe the blood test, the signs of stress in our face or the spiritual death of our spirit within, and we continue to live life after our own plans and goals. We struggle to find true happiness, and we neglect what is important in life to pursue the trappings of this world.

God calls everyone to come to Christ for His redeeming life. The Word of God will alert Believers in this same way. It informs us that our spirit is sick from our sin. If we surrender to God, He gives us an entirely new life. We will stop pursuing fleshly desires and worldly gain, which make us spiritually unhealthy. People see a difference in our life and they want that same blessed lifestyle, which we found in Christ.

Connected to the Vine of Christ, we produce the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We magnify the Lord in our thoughts, words and behavior, and God blesses us for our faithfulness to Him (Psalm 35:27). He wants us to come to Him with our needs and to ask Him to meet them. When we do, we receive His overwhelming love and His generous provision (John 16:24; Matthew 6:33).

Prayer:

Father God, until we completely surrender to You, we do not realize that Your plan for our life is absolutely perfect (Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 139). True significance, peace, satisfaction and success are ours, even if none of our humanistic goals are ever achieved. We feel Your Fatherly pleasure in us, and this love and acceptance mean more to us than anything this world can offer. We never have to wonder if You have a minute to listen to us, because You have a whole lifetime full of them.

Thought for the Day: 

If we pay attention to the guidance of Your Spirit within us, and walk away from our sinful lifestyle, we find spiritual life as well as physical energy, joy and clarity in our soul. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23

The Call to Salvation

Due to the first Adam’s sin, we are all born with a spirit dead in this sin (Ephesians 2:5). Our spirit must be Born Again for us to be a fulfilled human being with a living body, soul and spirit. 

Until we experience conviction for our sin, we live in self-righteousness. In our self-righteousness, we will never recognize our need for a Savior. We try to live a good life, earning our own salvation (Acts 4:11-12; Ephesians 2:8-9).

This prevents us from realizing our need for the indwelling Spirit of God. Though we live a moral life, we still need Jesus as our Savior. Unless our spirit is Born Again, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven (John 3:7). 

When this conviction finally comes to our conscious awareness, then we do not need to listen to friends and family who try to talk us out of it. Salvation requires more than a formal, mental relationship with Jesus. 

We cannot connect with Him personally if we rely only on church services. We need a heart-changing revelation of who He is and what He means to us. 

Once this occurs, Jesus takes all of our sins, all of our fears, all of our needs and earthly cares and turns them into blessings.

God calls us to know Him intimately on a daily basis. He heals the deepest recesses of our soul and gives us His new life, one day, one moment at a time (Psalm 23:3). 

When we see Jesus, we see Calvary. We recognize the world for what it is, a cursed place. We no longer belong to this world, but are accepted into God’s beloved family (Ephesians 1:6).

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for revealing to us that salvation has nothing to do with our human effort or human love at all. When we base our salvation more on feelings than Biblical truth, the devil takes advantage of us and draws us away from You. 

Teach us to provide discipleship classes and to intercede for all new Believers. The intercession of Your Holy Spirit for the Saints in this present evil world can only be made through authentic Believers filled with Your Spirit (Romans 8:27). Remind us to pray diligently for them.

Thought for the Day:

As authentic Believers, we cannot help but to speak about the things that we hear and see Jesus do in our own life.