No Longer a Sinner - Accepted in Christ

 

Jesus is the picture of humanity at its finest, devoid of the depravity of sin and filled with the power of God. What Satan stole from humanity in Genesis 1-3, Jesus - the Sacrificial Lamb and the soon and coming King - restores to us in Revelation 20-22.

As authentic Believers, we see God's glory with an unveiled face as He transforms us into the appearance of Christ by His Spirit. We are changed into His image from one stage of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Christ abides within us and redeems us from sin, as God writes His laws on our heart and adopts us as His children (Hebrews 8:10-13; Ephesians 1:5). God's Spirit gives us liberty from the flesh and fills us with His fruit (1 Peter 1:19; Galatians 5:22-23).

This is an experience common to every Believer, with no respect to one person above another. It is a free gift, just as Salvation is free (Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:1-3). We all see the face of Christ reflected in us and in one another (1 Corinthians 15:48-53; Romans 8:17; 1 John 3:2).

Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4). We gaze upon His face in our private moments with Him, and feel His Spirit and His presence filling us to overflowing throughout the day.

Sin no longer claims our attention; its debauchery is disgusting to us; we have no desire to continue to reap the destructive consequences of its power. We abide in Christ and He in us (1 John 4:15).

We come to know God, and Jesus whom He sent, which provides us with eternal life now as well as for eternity (John 17:3). We see His glory in us, which comes from God and fills us (John 1:14, 17:24). Sin has no part in our life.

Prayer:

Father God, it is Your plan that all of humanity enjoy the benefits of Christ's death on Calvary, the glory of His resurrection from the grave, and the proximity to You from His vantage point on His throne in Heaven as we walk in the ever-increasing glory of holiness.

We are accepted through Christ into Your beloved family (Ephesians 2:19-22), pure, as He is pure; and our life reflects His perfect image. You provide us with every good thing that we need to fulfill Your will for our life (1 Timothy 6:17); and You sustain us through every trial that we encounter in life. For this we give You all of the praise and glory that is due to Your name.

Thought for the Day:

Through the processes of Justification, Sanctification and Glorification, we move from obscure sinner to sacred Saint in Christ, as we are filled with an increasing measure of the fullness of Christ through God's Spirit who abides within us. 

- Ephesians 3:16-19

Keeping Our Soul Safe

A property line around our yard, a fence around our house, a door on a room, etc. are all physical boundaries. They often keep us safe and settle disputes, as well as protect us from intruders and from losing our self in the midst of their problems.

Emotional boundaries are very important for the well-being of our soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings (Proverbs 4:23). We put distance between us and people who wound us, or we sever ties all together to protect our self from further abuse.

Every human needs to feel protected and unconditionally loved. As we grow in our self-awareness, we begin to realize our need for boundaries. We conserve energy, which we used to consume resisting perpetrators, and have more ability and resources to give to those who truly need what God gives to us.

We use the compassion and empathy we learned from our abuse to minister to those God sends our way. The thorns in our flesh no long consume our time or energy, because of boundaries. We focus on God's will for each moment of our life.

We have grace with our own personal insecurities, blind spots and fears and allow our self to receive God's unconditional love for us. We set limits on our care-giving of others in order to have enough personal resources to care for our own soul.

Saying "No" and speaking the truth in love prevents us from enabling and getting enmeshed by rescuing others who get into trouble due to their disobedience to God, their irresponsible behavior and their own lack of boundaries.

This prevents us from emotional and physical depletion and burning out, and helps us to be more effectual and appropriate in helping others with legitimate needs. We only rescue those for whom God provides us with a lifeline.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that You already rescued every person in the world through Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We have no responsibility to rescue people, because they need to turn to Christ in their hour of need, not to us. Help us not to enable selfish and irresponsible people, but only to help as Your Spirit leads us. Enable us to resist taking the weight of the problems of the world on our shoulders and to leave it on Yours, where it belongs.

Cleanse our heart from anger, resentment, an overload of stress and burnout which we acquire from our lack of boundaries and our penchant for attempting to help where You are not calling us to give aid. Do not allow us to be manipulated by the negative emotions others use to control us. Allow us instead to abound in Your grace and to pray for the needs in the lives of others as they learn to trust You as their Savior instead of us.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus made His need for physical rest and the restoration of His soul as a priority in His life by following the leading of God's Spirit with His life. - Luke 5:16

A Hair Raising Experience

Standing in line at the registrar’s office at our junior college, I contemplated what class to switch with the chemistry class on my schedule. I overloaded my roster with heavy core subjects and my college counselor advised that I switch one out for an easier elective. The girl in front of me had long dark hair, which hung well past her hips. I could not help but compliment her on its beauty. As we chatted, we discovered we were changing classes at the same hour and decided to take a yearbook class.

I went through almost two years at that school and never saw that beautiful young lady again! We both took yearbook class, but we were teamed up with other individuals to work on the layouts we were assigned. My partner was Jane, whom God ordained to lead me to the Lord. At the end of my two years in junior college, I married the man of my dreams; and three weeks later, I was carrying our first son.

We served in a local ministry called the One Way House; but eventually, over the next few years, we moved to several cities around the country. I was riding my bike at full speed down a busy highway in Phoenix, AZ with my long, jet black hair flying out behind me and dancing with the wind. The driver of the car next to me started blaring its horn at me.

I was perplexed and a bit frightened, so I pulled into a busy parking lot in front of a chain of retail stores. To my discomfort, this same car pulled into the parking place next to where I stood beside my bike. The driver opened her door and ran around her car, flinging herself into my arms. You guessed it! This was the same girl who stood in line with me to change our scheduled classes back in junior college.

How she recognized me, I will never know; but I suspect it was the Holy Spirit’s activity. Of course, I invited her to supper that night and we spent hours catching up and playing with my two children. When she left, I gave her a record full of Christian songs. I silently prayed that this divine appointment would not be lost, but would bear fruit in both our lives.

Many years flew past since that last meeting; and no word has exchanged between us since then. However, I often think of the beautiful young lady from Chicago, IL, and wonder why she came to Pensacola, FL and then to Phoenix, AZ at the same microcosm of time and space as I did. I pray for her to this day, hoping that she found the same peace and rest in Jesus Christ that I have enjoyed for over 45 years.

I am posting this on my blog in hopes that by some God-ordained providence, she will read this and reconnect with me. If not, then I pray that we shall meet in Heaven as sisters-in-Christ, once our work for God on this earth is done. – Kathleen Del Gallo (Hill) Bradley