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.

Shaped into His Grace

Our salvation is not earned by our works, and neither is our sanctification (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:1-3). God's Spirit instantly rebirths our spirit through regeneration and then transforms our soul through a lifetime of sanctification.

We are formed like clay by the Potter's hands, shaped into His grace. We feel His hands on our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - as He molds us into the likeness of His Son and stretches us to do His will (Isaiah 64:8).

Intimately knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent, provides us with eternal life now and for eternity (John 17:3). The fruit of eternal life within us is that we live to abide in the will of God for our life.

Our desire for the world diminishes, and doing the will of God is our motivation for each moment of our day (1 John 2:17). Living for the things of the world is no longer an option, as our draw to them thins and wanes in the light of God's presence within us.

We come to trust God's hand in every area of our life, which helps us to stop worrying and to live to praise Him. Through each season of sanctification, our life is renewed, as we realize that God bought us back from Satan's clutches with a high personal price to Himself (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Our part is to surrender to His love, mercy and grace; and set free from the law of sin and death, to live as slaves to His righteousness (Romans 6:22). We conscientiously transfer control over our life from our own keeping to God's great love.

We do not retain our position in the driver's seat, but move to the back seat and give God control of the wheel, the brake and the direction we take. We move from anxiety, fear and insecurity to total faith.

There is no one on earth or in the spiritual realm that we can trust with our life other than God (Psalm 73:25). Even when we walk through the valley of death and destruction, we fear no evil; because His rod and staff bring us comfort and direction (Psalm 23:4).

Prayer:

Father God, as we surrender control of our life to You, You manifest Yourself to us in all of You glory and grace. As the Body of Christ, we find You using us to do greater works than Jesus did, because Your authentic Saints live all over this world (John 14:12; Ephesians 2:10). With Your glorious riches, You provide us with everything we need to accomplish Your will for us, and You meet all of our daily needs (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 3:16).

Use us to glorify You in the earth and to bring as many people to Heaven with us as will listen to Your gospel and surrender to Your will in their own life. We love and trust You with our whole heart, soul, mind, will and strength (Luke 10:27). We give You all of the praise, honor and blessing due to Your name (Psalm 29:2).

Thought for the Day:

By His grace, God gave us special talents, abilities, fruit and gifts to bring Him glory with our life. 

- Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

Unashamed Confidence

Nothing, which comes into our life, is a surprise to God. He saw it all before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). We have unashamed confidence in His goodness and mercy.

On the cross, Jesus completed the work of redeeming, sanctifying and perfecting us (Hebrews 10:14). Now, He is working through us to perform His purpose in each situation in our life as it occurs.

As we grasp the fact of who we really are in Christ, we live by faith in the eternal, and not by sight in the temporal realm of life (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When trials and tribulation afflict our life, we no longer have to overcome them, because Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). We have His joy in our tribulation, because we know that God has a divine purpose for us in it.

Trials are simply another adventure in Christ; an opportunity for Him to show His divine nature through us and to prove His abundant love to us. Even in death we are victorious.

God allowed Job to experience devastating loss in his life; but He used Job for His glory in each one of them. In the end, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12).

We enjoy God’s presence in our life now, and we look forward to dwelling with Him where righteousness reigns forever and ever, in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we forget that we are simply aliens and pilgrims in this world, we take life too seriously (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). We put all of our effort into attaining success in this world; and yet, we are never fulfilled. Give us spiritual eyes to see Your reality as we trust in Your mercy and goodness.

Help us to believe Your Word and to allow it to transform our life as we live by the direction of Your Spirit through each moment of every day. We look forward to the time when You decide to take us home to live with You in glory.

Thought for the Day:

As we continue to live in Christ, we walk in His holiness; when He returns for His bride, we will face Him with unashamed confidence. - 1 John 2:28