Freedom from Fearing this Life

God knew us before He formed us in our mother's womb. He knew when we would rise and sleep, where we would live and what type of home we would live in while we sojourned on this earth.

Some of us are rich, some poor; some tall, others short; one may be meek and another bold; some tend toward goodness and others folly; yet, all of us have His calling on our life (Proverbs 19:3; Ephesians 4:1-16).

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Our only task is to live in submission to His will for each moment of our day. We accept His call to salvation and He accomplishes His desires in and through us as His Spirit sanctifies our flesh and our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions.

He infuses our weaknesses with His strength, and we realize our startling need for Him. This need overwhelms us more than our fear of this life, and drives us deeper under the shadow of His wings.

God's Spirit transforms our character into the nature of Christ who abides within us through ever-increasing stages of divine glory (2 Peter 1:4). We relinquish our idols, addictions, desire and activities in submission to His will.

Our heart is totally transfixed on Him. He is our whole life (Colossians 3:4). We want nothing more than to please Him with our thoughts, words and deeds. He consumes our heart with His love and fills our mind with His wisdom.

We focus on Christ alone and relinquish the issues of this life to His care. Nothing worries us any longer as we place our full trust in Him (1 Peter 5:7). This reduces our stress levels and brings health to our body and soul.

We also sanctify Christ as the Lord of our life and we live to further His Kingdom in the earth, which dispels our fears and insecurities (1 Peter 3:13-14). Our faith increases as He proves to us His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for leading us to repentance and forgiving our sins (1 John 1:9). We cast all of our sorrows and cares on Your capable shoulders (Isaiah 53:4). With our heart set on things above, we no longer sorrow as those who have no hope; we even rejoice in our tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; James 1:2).

You turn our sorrow into dancing and return to us the years which the canker worm destroys (Psalm 30:11-12; Joel 2:25). We deepen our commitment to You and find fulfillment in our involvement in Your calling and cause. You are our greatest friend, husband and brother (Proverbs 18:24; Isaiah 54:5). Help us to realize that You are our refuge, and the fear of this world need not control our life.

Thought for the Day:

God is able to destroy both body and soul in hell; yet, we fear man more than we fear God. - Matthew 10:28

No Longer a Sinner - Christ Formed in Us

As we study the life of Christ, we can see how the Spirit of God is transforming us into His likeness with each passing day, changing us from one stage of Jesus' glory to the next (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Since Christ abides in us, the Spirit in Jesus fills us to overflowing too. The glory of the Lord shines in us and on us and through us. His nature and character possess our entire being as we yield our self to Him.

He conforms us into a life filled with Christ in us and uses us for His purpose to draw people to Himself. He frees us from contentment with the flesh and gives us a hunger for the eternal.

The living Christ manifests Himself through us more each day. As we decrease by dying to our old, carnal self, He increases (John 3:30). His thoughts become our thoughts and His glory is revealed in and through us.

The more we focus on Jesus' life, attributes, power and holiness, and submit our will to the Holy Spirit within us, the quicker we become like Him and the more we exhibit His presence on the earth.

His love pervades every portion of our spirit and soul, and keeps our body in health and well-being. Even in times of trial and affliction, His abiding presence preserves us in His peace and fills us with His love.

God won our heart by His love and we entirely belong to Him as a servant to fulfill His will for our life (Ephesians 2:10). His joy is our strength and His love is our motivation to serve Him through all the days of our life (Nehemiah 8:10).

Prayer:

Father God, we bow before You in adoration and contrition, making our requests known to You through continual prayer throughout the day. Fill us with Your presence and manifest Yourself through us to the world around us. Use us for Your purpose and glory each moment of the day.

Thank You for becoming a human being through Christ, for filling us with Your Spirit and for giving Yourself to us in such a practical way. We look forward to living in Your Kingdom for eternity as joint heirs with Jesus of all that You have given Him (Romans 8:17).

Thought for the Day:

It is God's purpose to manifest the image of Christ in and through us, as we contemplate the glory of Christ and follow the guidance of His Holy Spirit through every moment of our day. - 2 Corinthians 3:18

God's Ultimate Sacrifice

We know that God loved us before we ever loved Him, even while we are still sinners (Romans 5:8-10). We do not have to make our self holy before we come to Christ. This is impossible to do.

God demonstrated His love for us when He sent His Son to atone for our sins (1 John 4:10; Romans 5:8-10). It is not by our works, or we could boast about our accomplishments (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus was delivered to death by the Jews and Romans, for the purpose of paying the debt of our sin, and He was raised back to life for our justification (Romans 4:25).

Nothing, not even death, or our worry over a life full of trials, or angels or demons, nor the power of hell or any created thing can separate us from God's love, which He reveals to us in Jesus Christ, our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

When we come to Christ, our old carnal, fleshly nature dies. Satan still uses it to tempt us; but it is dead in Christ (Colossians 3:3). Therefore, we have no excuse for living a sinful life.

We are crucified with Christ. Although we now live in our body, we live by the faith of God's Son who abides within us, because He loves us and died for us (Galatians 2:20).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for the covenant You made with us and for putting Your laws in our heart and mind. Your love remembers our sins no more; and we have no need for further sacrifice, because we are forgiven once and for all (Hebrews 10:16-18).

We now draw near to You with a genuine heart full of assurance, which comes from our faith in Your faithfulness. You cleared our conscience from guilt and shame. We hold unshakably to our hope in You. We know that You will give us all things through Your grace (Romans 8:32).

Remind us not to forsake the practice of meeting with other Saints for the purpose of fellowship and encouraging one another, especially as the day of Christ's return approaches.

Thought for the Day:

God loves us so much that He gave us the power of His Spirit, so that we can tell everyone we know about what He does in our life. - Acts 1:8

God's Inclusive Love

Authentic Believers have no desire to sin; however, the world, the devil and the flesh cause temptations for our body and soul, which are often hard to resist.

The good news here is that God gives us a way to escape any temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Temptations also sharpens our faith and work patience into our character (James 1:2-4).

Satan may bombard us with doubt and anxiety, but if we look to Christ His perfect love will cast out all of our fear (1 John 4:18).

Some people refuse to admit they are sinners; however, they are living in deception, and calling God a liar (1 John 1:8-10). Anyone willing to repent is quickly forgiven by God and cleansed from all iniquity.

Jesus is our advocate with our Father when we do sin, because He paid the penalty of our sin (1 John 2:1-2). This proves that God has nothing but love for us.

God is love, and when we abide in God, we abide in His love (1 John 4:16). In God’s love we have no fear. His love for us gives us confidence in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, You are with us, and that is all we need. We rejoice in our weakness, because then You can show Yourself strong through us. People see Christ’s power within us rather than our own abilities and adequacy (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We actually exult in our insufficiency, because we realize that we need to depend on You in every moment of our day to make us strong. Our attitude in our weakness is actually a testimony of Your love for us.

Thought for the Day:

When we succumb to temptation, we fail to avail our self of the escape, which God always supplies; and we ultimately disappoint our Father God. 
– 1 Corinthians 10:13