Hidden out of Sight

When we embark on our Christian quest, we learn to recognize Jesus in every aspect of our day - positive and negative. When something is hidden, it cannot be seen; it is invisible and under a cover. It is not readily accessible, except to the one who hid it.

We are hidden with Christ in God, but He knows exactly where we are. We are not alone, because we are filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19, Amplified Bible). We are in an intimate union with Jesus by His Spirit.

We live in the center of God's will, led by His Holy Spirit because Christ is our whole life (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 3:3-4). Sin is not an option for us, when Christ is pre-eminent in our choices. We have no attraction to unrighteousness, and no desire to grieve God's Spirit within us (Ephesians 4:30).

God calls us to live in such a manner that when people look at us, they see Him rather than us. This occurs when we give God the credit and glory for the deeds He accomplishes in and through us. We run to Him, follow His path for us, and give Him all of the glory for what He accomplishes through our life.

The righteousness of Christ consumes us, fills us, and crowds out any ungodly desires or behavior. We are not separate from Christ. We are unified with Him as one being (Galatians 2:20). By following His peace within us, we recognize the will of God, for each moment of our life.

This peace rises above all physical, emotional, mental, natural, and human thoughts and reasons (Philippians 4:7-9). We do not trust our heart, because it is unreliable (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Instead, we discern God's will in our spirit, and this floods our soul with His peace.

Prayer:

Father God, You are our all in all - one God of all people, and Lord of all, as You work through all and abide in us all. We start this adventure by inviting You to dwell within our spirit (Ephesians 4:6). Then, before we do or say anything, we want to consult You rather than to depend on our own plans and viewpoint (Proverbs 3:5-8).

Thank You for directing our thoughts, words and actions every time that we consult You for Your will for each moment of our life. We trust You with our whole heart to provide for and to protect us in every issue of life. We promise to cease from consulting our human wisdom, and to rely on Your wisdom instead. We love You with every fiber of our being, and we are thankful for all of Your blessings on each moment of our day.

Thought for the Day:

When we trust in, rely on and obey God during each moment of our day, He keeps us on track for success, gives us the best of everything, and fills our resources with abundance for every good work that He calls us to allow Christ to preform through us.

- Proverbs 3:5-8; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 2:10

Wondrous Mysteries

Prior to salvation, no person on earth can conceive of the enormous abundance, which God prepared for everyone that loves Him. If the people, who lived on earth with Jesus, understood God’s love, they never would have crucified Him. Even now, however, the unsaved, modern population has no concept of the glorious wisdom of God, because it is foolishness to them. Only spiritual people can discern spiritual concepts (1 Corinthians 2:7-15).

God gave us His Word and His Spirit to reveal these wondrous mysteries to anyone who will humble their self in order to receive His salvation. When salvation brings us into union with Christ, we no longer have a life apart from God. We willingly lay down our old life, as well as all of our intentions to live a detached or self-governing life. We surrender our independence at the foot of the cross (Romans 12:1). Christ fully envelops our spirit, saturates every cell in our body, and influences every choice, thought and emotion of our soul (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Before Adam sinned, human beings were created in the image of the Trinity (Genesis 1:27). After his sin, our spirit is dead when we are born. Since Jesus paid the price for our sin and eradicated it from our life, Born Again Believers return to living in the image of the God with a body, soul and living spirit. As the Holy Spirit transforms our life from one stage of holiness to the next, we slowly take on the mind and nature of Christ, who is the exact image of our Father (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We function more each day from the reality of the indwelling divinity of Jesus Christ within us (Galatians 2:20).

Without the full recognition of what it means for Christ to dwell within us, bringing with Him all the divinity of the triune God, we are powerless to accomplish God’s entire will in our life. As long as this earth makes up the sum total of our life, we are confined to the natural realm. Conversely, with our spirit, body and soul – our mind, will and emotions – focused on the Kingdom of God and sensitive to the leading of God’s Spirit, we open our self up to unlimited possibilities for our life.

Within our body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, abides all of the power of the entire triune Godhead, which is ready to change our world from the inside out. We limit this power by our lack of understanding, our doubts and our fears. Only when we comprehend that we are in a spiritual union with God through Christ, and that our humanity is already dead (Colossians 3:3), do we have more trust in the Spirit’s direction moment by moment throughout our day. With faith and obedience, we achieve what seems impossible to the analytical, human mind.

Prayer:

Father God, the amazing reality of the concept of Christ living within us reveals the truth that we no longer need to “make time” in our schedule to spend with You, but that we dwell in our union with You through each of the 1440 minutes of our day. You are always present in our life, regardless of what we say, do or experience. Your Spirit dwells in our spirit and You live out Your will through our body and soul. I want to experience more of the divinity of the entire Godhead in my life now, which is possible because Christ, Your treasure, lives in our earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Thought for the Day:

We do not have to wait until heaven to live the divine life, because the divine Christ is our whole life now.  - Colossians 3:4