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

Loving Others as Our Self

Jesus made a point of telling us to love others as we love our self. Most of us despise our self, have grudges and disappointments and unforgiveness toward our self. We do not love our self at all (Mark 12:30-31).

Therefore, how can we truly love anyone else? We compare our self to worldly standards and find our self lacking. We listen to significant others in our life and adopt their opinion of us, even if it is negative.

We try all of our life to earn the unconditional love, respect, worth and affirmation we so desperately need. We sell our self short and give up on our self. We feel useless, hopeless, helpless and unlovable.

We are not powerful enough, rich enough, adorable enough, smart enough, talented enough, or attractive enough; we are not enough. We see our self through the eyes of others and we feel disappointed and ashamed.

However, God wants us to see our self through His eyes - as a person He cares about so much that He gave His life for us. He wants us to love our self as He loves us, and then to love others as we love our self.

We can start by accepting our self as He accepts us, just the way we are. We can make better, healthier, wiser and more nurturing choices. We can speak only kind, loving words to and about our self and others.

We can take care of our body, soul and spirit. We can accept our feelings and seek God to find resolutions for our negative feelings and unresolved conflicts. We can judge our self only through the eyes of God, not the eyes of the world.

We can stop using addictions, people, vocation and talents to make us feel better about our self. We can stop abandoning our self and taking our self and others for granted. We can stay in touch with who we are, what we need and how God is leading us all throughout our day.

Prayer:

Father God, enlighten the eyes of our understanding to see our self as You see us: as Your adopted children, co-heirs with Christ of Your entire Kingdom. Remind us to pay attention to our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental needs and to seek You on how to fulfill them.

Help us to accept our feelings and circumstances, even the negative ones, as Your tool in our life to bring us closer to total surrender to Your will and to keep us from depending on our human resources and understanding. Give us Your peace and joy as our strength. Remind us that without You we are nothing; but with You, all things are possible if we simply believe (John 15:5; Mark 9:23).

Thought for the Day:

Take the time throughout the day for a personal physical, mental, emotional and spiritual inventory; meet your needs or ask God to meet them; and then give yourself time to renew Your strength in the Lord and to rise up on wings like eagles. - Isaiah 40:31

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.