Eternally Secure

Doomed by our sin, and following the crowd in a sinful lifestyle, made us servants of Satan, who is actually our adversary. Our life was full of evil and under God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3).

But in His rich mercy, God loved us so much that even though we were still dead spiritually, He became a man to free us from the penalty of our sins.

God’s love for us is so great that He gave us His undeserved favor by sending Jesus to die in our place (Ephesians 2:4-7). He did not come to condemn us, but to save us (John 3:16-17).

Only those who refuse to trust in Christ for eternal salvation are already condemned, because of their refusal to believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven (John 3:18).

However, those who believe that Jesus is the son of God and our Savior, are children of God. Christ in us helps us to love one another and to love our Father God as we obey His Word (1 John 5:1-4).

Once we come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Savior, there is nothing in heaven or on earth, which can separate us from His love (Romans 8:37-39).

Even though we have not yet seen God, He lives in us by His Holy Spirit. This is our proof that we are in Him and He is in us (1 John 4:12-17).

God began His saving work in us and will continue to sanctify us and to help us to grow in His grace until Jesus comes again for His Bride, the Church (Philippians 1:6).

Our eternally secure salvation gives us an anchor for our soul - our mind, decisions and emotions, because Salvation give us this connection to God.

God dwells in the Holy of Holies in heaven, as well as in our spirit, along with Christ, who is our great High Priest and constantly intercedes for us (Hebrews 6:19-7:1)

We are crucified with Christ, and the life we are now living on this earth, we live in the power of Christ within us (Galatians 2:20). We are citizens of God’s Kingdom and we belong to His household forever (Ephesians 2:19).

Prayer:

Father God, through Your kindness, You saved us when we trusted in Christ rather than in our self for our salvation. This is not a reward for our behavior, and we can take no credit for it (Ephesians 2:8:9).

You created us as human beings and provided us a new life in Christ before we were ever born. Therefore, nothing we do to earn our way to heaven will bear any fruit toward salvation (Ephesians 2:10-11).

Thank You for sending Christ to make us all, Jews and Gentiles alike, Your unified family, by breaking down all the walls, which used to separate us. Because of You, we are no longer strangers and aliens to heaven, but members of Your own dear family (Ephesians 2:14).

Thought for the Day:

Apart from God, and far away from a life in Him, we are His enemies; but in Christ we are God’s children and He is near to us, living in our spirit, and making us eternally secure - Ephesians 2:12-13

The Purpose of Life

 

Jesus is a perfect example for us of the fact that Authentic Christians never die; we just pass from life on this earth, immediately through death’s door into the heavenly realm (1 John 3:14). Jesus now lives as our High Priest, our Melchizedek, making intercession for us to our Father (Hebrews 5:10-14, 7:25). Yet, He continues to perform His work on the earth through His Saints in which He resides (Colossians 1:27).

His life has the divine power of the Trinity, and He resides within us with this same dynamite power (Colossians 2:9). We are His Priests, His Body, His Saints and His anointed ones who abide in Him at the same time that He abides in us (John 15:4). He offers us an endless, unchanging life, which supplies us with all of our needs as we abide in His love (John 15:10). No matter what circumstances we traverse, we live in His abundant peace, joy and righteousness (Romans 14:17).

If we feel that peace slipping away, it is because we took our focus off of Him and put it on the circumstance around us (Isaiah 26:3). The events of our life occur simply in order to bring us to perfection and to enable us to effect the world around us. While we abide in Him there is no sin or temptation that can lure us away from walking in His righteousness (Romans 16:18). Our union with Christ brings us the unlimited blessings of His glory within us.

In His life, He triumphed over sin, and He wants to bring us into this same level of victory over those sins, which so easily overwhelm us (Hebrews 12:1). His holiness in us is greater than any evil in this world (1 John 4:4). Victory and deliverance are ours because He lives within us. Our walk is perfected as we seek our Father’s will in each moment of our day. His life flows through us to make a difference in the world around us.

We are to occupy the earth until He comes again as He receives us to Himself (Luke 19:13). He is our joy and our peace (Romans 15:13). He supplies everything we need in order to carry out His will for our life (Philippians 4:19). He alone is our strength and our song (Psalm 118:14). He is the source of our hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We watch and wait for His coming, to receive His bride to Himself for eternity (Matthew 25:1-13). Until then, we walk on this earth in the power of His might within us (Ephesians 6:10-12).

Prayer:

Father God, our life is hidden with Christ in You, and Jesus is our very reason for living (Colossians 3:3-4). We trust in You for every aspect of our life. With faith and certain anticipation, we rely on You and yield our self totally to You. We abandon our self-life and live as an act of worship to You. We live by faith in Your faithfulness as we yield to Your will for us. We glory in Your Word of Truth. We look forward to spending each moment of our day with You, and to the culmination of our relationship by serving You in eternity as well.

Thought for the Day:

We enter God rest by totally abandoning our self to His keeping and reveling in knowing Him, which is eternal life. – John 17:3

The Most Holy Place

As Jesus took His last breath, the temple curtain split in half from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). This curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the temple. It separated the presence of God from the Israelite priests. Only the high priest was allowed into the Most Holy Place, and only after a strict regimen of cleansing. Most scholars believe that God orchestrated this event as an object lesson for us. It signifies the fact that we can now enter the presence of God by the blood of Jesus with confidence in our salvation (Hebrews 10:19). 

Jesus cleanses us from our humanity, so that we may serve the Living God through His divinity within us (Hebrews 9:14). We are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ lives in us (Colossians 1:27). Our Spirit is the Most Holy Place where God dwells within us. God made us a sanctuary in which He can dwell (Exodus 25:8), cleansed from sin by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19). We are His priests and we shall reign with Him during the Millennium for 1000 years (Revelation 20:6).

We are also citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3:20). Our great High Priest is our King as well. He gave His life to allow us access to our Father’s throne. When we accept Him as our Savior, he sets His seal of ownership on us and gives us His Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22). Once we repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness and surrender our will to Him, He moves into our Born Again spirit and resides within us all through our lifetime. He places us in His Body and we work together for His glory.

It is so good and pleasant for the Body of Christ to dwell together in unity (Psalm 133:1). Our love for Jesus and for one another is a testimony to the world that He really does dwell within us (John 13:35). The bond of Christ’s love for us and in us brings unity to all of us in His Body no matter where we live or how old we are (1 Corinthians 1:10). As the Spirit sanctifies each one of us, we learn to conduct our self as an example of the gospel of Christ. We stand together in our faith and by one Spirit. We think, act and believe as one Body (Philippians 1:27, 2:2).

We prefer one another above our self (Romans 12:10) and we search the scriptures together to come to a similar understanding of His Word (Acts 17:11). When one member of Christ’s Body suffers, we all suffer; and when one rejoices, we all rejoice (1 Corinthians 12:26). As authentic Believers, we are an exact representation of Christ (Colossian 1:15). We all share the same vision to live Godly and the same purpose to save souls. We will all spend eternity with one another in His presence (Titus 3:5-7).

We are also unified with the Father through Christ by the Spirit (John 17:21-22). We share in the unity of the triune God and we live as an example to the world of a God of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22-23; John 17:21). We put on the mind of Christ, speak the words given to us by His Spirit and follow His will for each moment of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, You are our safe haven and our power to deal with temptation and persecution (Psalm 46:1). Even in the most unthinkable and earth shattering circumstances, with our faith in Your faithfulness, we have no reason to fear (Psalm 46:1-3). We consider trails as a time of great joy, because they are an adventure. We stop our stressing and watch You work in our behalf (James 1:2; Psalm 46:10). We are Your children (Romans 8:15). You promise never to leave us or to forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You, our Mighty God who saves us, lives within us. You celebrate over us with delight. You calm us with Your love. You even rejoice over us with thunderous singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Thought for the Day:

Our hope in Christ is the sure and steadfast anchor for our soul. – Hebrews 6:19

Thank you, Stephanie Bentley for sharing this photo.

Power in His Blood

Our blood carries oxygen and nutrients to every cell in our body. If the body is deprived of blood, it dies physically. Without the shed blood of Jesus, we would never receive forgiveness for our sins (Hebrews 9:22). Anyone who refuses to believe in the sanctifying work of Jesus’ blood dies spiritually. Jesus’ finished work on Calvary provided us with a multitude of blessings that we often overlook or fail to value. It also cleanses us from all unrighteousness and fights the infection of sin that tries to infiltrate our spirit. His life is in the power of His blood (Leviticus 17:11).

We can apply the blood of Christ to our life in the same way that the Israelites applied the blood to their doorposts on the night the death angel passed over Egypt (Exodus 12:22-23). This is where the Feast of the Passover came from. This was a foreshadow of what Christ did for us on the cross. For Salvation, we believe with our heart and we confess with our mouth that Jesus died to pay the penalty of our sins and that He is now our Risen Lord (Romans 10:10). Without Christ shedding His blood, we would have no forgiveness for our sins and no spiritual life in us (Hebrews 9:22; John 6:53).

The blood of Christ allows God to draw close to us and us to Him (Ephesians 2:13). The blood cleanses our evil conscience from sin and gives us access to the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:14; 1 John 1:7). Jesus shed His blood for us as part of the New Testament relationship between God and mankind (Luke 22:20; Matthew 26:28). He did for us what the High Priests did for Israel when they sacrificed the blood of animals according to the Old Testament law (Exodus 12:22).

Jesus bore our sins in His body on Calvary. This allows us to die to sin and live in His righteousness. We are made holy by the blood of Christ. His wounds heal us in body, soul and spirit (Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 2:24). We now have the power to overcome the devil and his works (Revelation 12:11).

God does not judge us by looking at our human effort, our degree of morality or our religious activity. He forgives us only because we accept the sacrifice Christ made for us on the Cross (Leviticus 17:11; Matthew 26:28). If we say we have no sin, we are lying to our self. However, if we confess our sins, God faithfully and justly forgives us and allows us to walk in His light (1 John 1:7-9).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for dying the grievous death on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty of our sins. Your blood brings us healing (Isaiah 53:5), protection for our family (Exodus 12:13) and blessings to our children (Job 1:5). Thank You for redeeming us and protecting us from the schemes of the devil. Help us to live our life worthy of your calling upon it (Ephesians 4:1). We praise You now and for eternity for who You are and because of everything You do for us.

Thought for the Day:

By the blood of Jesus, we have boldness to enter the Holy of Holies. - Hebrews 10:19