Christ - Who is Our Life

Even though we are now strangers and pilgrims on this earth, it is through our relationship with Christ that He empowers us to live the Christian life (1 Peter 2:11).

When Christ, who is our life (Colossians 3:4), comes to dwell within us, He wants to live life for us and through us. We follow the Proverbs 3:5-6 principle and seek God's guidance for each moment of the day.

As authentic, Born Again Believers, our life is an extension of and inseparable from the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:5). Every choice we make comes as the result of prayer and the leading of God’s Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:1; Galatians 5:16, 25).

The reality of our union with Christ is that we are already dead to the bondage of worldly influence, to the lure of sinful pleasures and to the lofty ambitions of our old life.

We yield to the Spirit’s direction throughout the day as we submit to Him, and He transforms us and renews our mind (Ephesians 4:30; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). God replaces our old nature with His new life.

Christ in us will actually direct our preparation and then teach the class, preach the sermon, write the article, witness to our lost co-worker, deal with that rude person, supervise in the workplace, take our tests, clean the house, care for the children and overcome any situation in our life (Colossians 3:17).

We cast our crowns and our burdens at His feet and follow His Holy Spirit's direction through every moment of every day (Proverbs 3:5-6). Where He leads us, we will follow.

As we live as He leads, God gives us His abundant life, eternal in the heavenlies, with more peace and joy than we can ever imagine (John 10:10; Ephesians 2:6).

Prayer:

Father God, seeking You is the passion of our life. We desire above everything else to walk in Your ways and to be an expression of You in the earth (1 John 3:1-3, 9). Our life is hidden in You in the same way that a seed is hidden in the earth.

We too will bear much fruit as we live life totally empty of our self and in surrender to Your Lordship within us. We are transformed by renewing our mind, rather than by allowing the world to conform us into its mold. Then, we will be able to test and discern what Your good, pleasing and perfect will is for us each moment of every day (Romans 12:2).

Thought for the Day:

The abundant beauty and holiness of Christ dwells within us. He captivates our attention and removes from us all distraction in our life.

Freedom from the Law

 

The law is necessary to bring us to the realization that we can never keep it; therefore, we need our Savior, Jesus Christ. As long as we insist on working FOR God, we are like the foolish Galatians (3:1-3). We attempt to please God in our own strength and effort. But our best efforts are only filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We cannot earn God’s favor by our works (Ephesians 2:8-10).

We come to realize, that as Born Again Believers we are no longer separated from God, but we are one with both the Father and the Son (John 17:11, 21-23). We live and move and have our being only in Him and not in people, places or things. We no longer chase after our way of life or pursue our goals, ambitions and desires. We live only for Christ, just as He lived only for our Father.

We are hidden, in union with Christ in God. Christ is our only way, truth and life (Colossians 3:3-4; John 14:6). God and Christ have a divergence in manifestation, with Christ being Emmanuel, the physical form of Father God. They are also different in person, with God as the Father and Jesus as the Son. However, Jesus states that they are united as one. Then He goes one step further and prays for us to be one in them as well.

Christ, who dwells in us by His Spirit, actually does unite us with them as one (John 17:11, 21-23). Our old, fleshly human nature is dead and buried (Colossians 1:10-12). Now, everything about us is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). When our old nature, our flesh manifests itself in us this is simply a demonstration of Satan’s pitiful effort to pull us back under his dominion.

However, Christ in us is greater than Satan who rules in this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). When we stand firm in the power of Christ’s might (Ephesians 6:10), we withstand the devil and his demons, and he no longer blinds our eyes to God’s truth. We are no longer slaves to sin or under the law of sin and death. We are set free by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).

Prayer:

Father God, We totally surrender our self to You. When we abide in You, You abide in us (John 15:4), and the stronger our faith in His faithfulness grows. Give us a continued desire for You and an ever increasing hunger to feast on Your Word. When Jesus gave His life on the cross, He took our sin and nailed it to the cross, giving us His righteousness in exchange (2 Corinthians 5:21). Your raised us to walk in a new life, as an expression of Christ in the earth.

Thought for the Day:
God calls us to do greater works than Jesus did, because His Spirit abides within each one of us. - John 14:12

 

 

I Want My Own Way

Most people think that Satan is public enemy number one for the Christian. However, the will of man is actually the foremost enemy of our spiritual life. Our will has the power to submit to God or to the flesh and Satan. If we do not realize the benefits of surrendering to God and denying the flesh, our will always sides with our flesh, even if it is against our better judgment! We are able to prosper with a healthy life only to the extent to which our soul flourishes (3 John 1:2). Our soul is a very vital part of our existence. It is not the flesh, but is used by the flesh for sin’s expression.

Our will employs our motives, desires, goals and ambitions, which are driven either by our flesh or by God’s Spirit. The flesh preys upon the thoughts, choices and emotions of our soul. The first step to success is to request that our High Priest sacrifice our carnal flesh on the altar of God. Then, we are free to follow the leading of God’s Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. Once the Spirit of God takes control of our life, our soul is sanctified from one level of glory to the next. The flesh no longer uses our soul, because our will chooses to honor Christ instead (2 Corinthians 3:18).

We are dead to sin by the blood of the Lamb (Romans 6:11); therefore, we do not have to allow sin to use our body and soul any longer (Romans 6:12). As we read the Word of God, it shines a light on the areas in our life that the Holy Spirit wants to cleanse. He deals with these issues until He purifies that area of our life (1 Peter 1:22). His Word is sure and mighty and pulls down Satanic and fleshly strongholds in our soul (Hebrews 4:12). Our part is to refuse to give the flesh a moment of our attention. In this way, we do not encumber our spirit with the carnal demands of our flesh. 

Christ gradually corals our will, gives us His mind and replace our emotions with the fruit of His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:16; Galatians 5:16-25). We do not return to the anxiety and grief of our former carnal life, because not only is our spirit regenerated, but also our soul is being saved by the faith of Christ within us (Matthew 6:25; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 10:39). The more submissively we surrender our will to God’s will for our life, the more freedom, fulfillment and peace we experience (Ephesians 6:6). Even if He counts us worthy to partake of His suffering, Jesus fills our soul with His presence, which sees us through any hardship we ever encounter in the life (Philippians 3:10; 1 Peter 4:13,19).

Prayer:

Father God, we diligently search for You with a parched soul that desires no one but You. We see the miracles You perform daily in our life, things that many people overlook or account as coincidental. We long for Your love and we want nothing more than to dwell in Your courts forever. We give You praise and we glorify You with every waking breath and even in the night watches, because You meet our every need. We gladly claim You as our God. We cling to You as You carry us in Your everlasting arms (Psalm 63:1-9).

Thought for the Day:

The serene soul finds a place of deep rest by yoking up with Christ, Who carries our load and leads us to green pastures and still water (Matthew 11:29; Psalm 23:2-3).

A Dream or A Dreamer

Read: Proverbs 13:11-16

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy. Proverbs 13:12

I watched a movie where a young man pursued a young lady, but she rejected him. She gave as her reason, "You have no dream. You are just a dreamer."

That says a mouthful to me. She realized that he had no direction in his life. He got easily distracted and wasted time and money pursuing unrealistic goals. He was not serious, and she understood that he was not worthy of her interest.

Dreamers spend more time dreaming dreams than accomplishing a dream. They have no focus or ambition. They just flit from one thing to another with no lasting impact. They are lazy and never succeed (Proverbs 12:24b). They resent authority, they despise wise council and discipline (Proverbs 1:7), and they want to do everything their own way (Isaiah 53:6). They have many dreams and many words, but their life is empty (Ecclesiastes 5:7).

Of course at the end of the movie, he recognized this as a blind spot in his life; so he followed her advice. He developed a single focal point; and with concentrated purpose, he made both of their dreams come true.

Reaching a dream takes work and focus. If we have no vision, no dream and no guidance from God, we end up spinning our wheels, using up a great deal of resources and never accomplishing anything of value (Proverbs 29:18). We have nothing to show for our life’s work and no legacy to leave behind for others to build upon. When we pursue more than one dream at a time, we split our focus and accomplish nothing (Ecclesiastes 7:18).

The first part of Proverbs 12:24 admonishes us to, “Work hard and become a leader.” People, who fear the Lord, spend the first part of every day seeking His will; and the rest of the day following the Spirit’s direction to accomplish it. They avoid all distraction and extremes. They live in moderation in all things. They have principles and bearing, and are willing to do the hard work to reach His goals for their life. They hold on to the dream He gives them, until they achieve it.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I know that everything You do will endure forever. You prove Yourself, so that men will revere You (Ecclesiastes 3:14). Teach us to follow Your example. You did nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit (Philippians 2:3). You did only what You saw Your Father doing (John 5:19). Train us to do the Father’s will also.

Thought for the Day:

To accomplish God’s will, we must not only dream, but also act; not only believe, but also obey.