Shaped into His Grace

Our salvation is not earned by our works, and neither is our sanctification (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:1-3). God's Spirit instantly rebirths our spirit through regeneration and then transforms our soul through a lifetime of sanctification.

We are formed like clay by the Potter's hands, shaped into His grace. We feel His hands on our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - as He molds us into the likeness of His Son and stretches us to do His will (Isaiah 64:8).

Intimately knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent, provides us with eternal life now and for eternity (John 17:3). The fruit of eternal life within us is that we live to abide in the will of God for our life.

Our desire for the world diminishes, and doing the will of God is our motivation for each moment of our day (1 John 2:17). Living for the things of the world is no longer an option, as our draw to them thins and wanes in the light of God's presence within us.

We come to trust God's hand in every area of our life, which helps us to stop worrying and to live to praise Him. Through each season of sanctification, our life is renewed, as we realize that God bought us back from Satan's clutches with a high personal price to Himself (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Our part is to surrender to His love, mercy and grace; and set free from the law of sin and death, to live as slaves to His righteousness (Romans 6:22). We conscientiously transfer control over our life from our own keeping to God's great love.

We do not retain our position in the driver's seat, but move to the back seat and give God control of the wheel, the brake and the direction we take. We move from anxiety, fear and insecurity to total faith.

There is no one on earth or in the spiritual realm that we can trust with our life other than God (Psalm 73:25). Even when we walk through the valley of death and destruction, we fear no evil; because His rod and staff bring us comfort and direction (Psalm 23:4).

Prayer:

Father God, as we surrender control of our life to You, You manifest Yourself to us in all of You glory and grace. As the Body of Christ, we find You using us to do greater works than Jesus did, because Your authentic Saints live all over this world (John 14:12; Ephesians 2:10). With Your glorious riches, You provide us with everything we need to accomplish Your will for us, and You meet all of our daily needs (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 3:16).

Use us to glorify You in the earth and to bring as many people to Heaven with us as will listen to Your gospel and surrender to Your will in their own life. We love and trust You with our whole heart, soul, mind, will and strength (Luke 10:27). We give You all of the praise, honor and blessing due to Your name (Psalm 29:2).

Thought for the Day:

By His grace, God gave us special talents, abilities, fruit and gifts to bring Him glory with our life. 

- Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

God's Plan for Us

God designed us with His perfect will in mind for our life. It always starts with salvation through Christ, by which we receive eternal life (John 6:40). Then, He calls us to a life of holiness to exhibit His glory in the earth (1 Peter 1:15).

He teaches us patience through the events which we traverse (James 1:4). We gain contentment as He fills us with His joy and teaches us to pray without ceasing and full of gratitude for all of His provision (John 14:27).

Slowly, but consistently, He conforms us to Jesus' image, and we join Him as the family of God (Romans 8:29). We grow closer in our union with Him through every difficulty and blessing which He allows along our way.

Entering into His will through our faith in Christ Jesus, we continue living His plan for our life through each decision we make (Proverbs 3:5-6). We hear His Spirit direct us in the minutest details of our day; telling us to turn to our right or to our left (Isaiah 30:21).

The key in this walk is to make time to listen to God's Spirit within us, to repent of any sin He reveals, and not to ignore or argue with His direction for our day. Our Heavenly Father knows best.

This requires that we slow down the busyness, simplify our life and to listen to His peaceful, quiet voice within us (Isaiah 30:15). Fulfillment is our reward when we seek the prize of the high calling of God, and purpose to do His will with our life rather than our own (Philippians 3:14).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Holy Spirit beckons us to follow Your will and to accomplish Your works with our life in this world. We often stray from Your perfect plan - drawn away by enticing situations and emergencies which compete for our attention.

Remind us to follow Your peace in every situation, regardless of the analytical, human thoughts in our mind. Help us to establish a daily quiet time, and to give attention to Your direction all day long. When we follow Your advice on which way to turn, we never take the wrong road.

Thought for the Day:

God's guiding voice calls to us each moment of our day, but we can only hear it as we quiet the voices within us and of the world around us that would attempt to drown it out.

Something to Smile About

A smile is a wonderful blessing. It lights a fire in our heart every time we see one. It inspires us to inhale a deep breath and to exhale the tension built up in our body.

Sometimes, all a person needs is for someone to smile at them. Even if they are a stranger to you, they may need your sincere smile to revive them from their desperate thoughts.

Medical science agrees with the Bible when they say that a smile improves our mood (Proverbs 15:13-15), strengthens our immune system and lowers blood pressure (Provers 17:22), reduces pain (Proverbs 15:30), and relieves our stress (Psalm 126:2-3).

The easiest way to keep a smile on our face is to think only about issues that are accurate, moral, true, wholesome, divine, commendable, exceptional and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8).

The Apostles recommended that we even consider our trials as a joyous occasion. Trials test our faith in God's faithfulness and mature us as spiritual beings (James 1:2-4; Matthew 5:12).

Our hope in the Lord gives us something to smile about, so that through prayer we can have patience in any affliction (Romans 12:12). God smiles on His Saints as He teaches us His ways (Psalm 119:135, 4:6, 31:16).

Prayer:

Father God, we can smile throughout our life, regardless of the circumstances, because they strengthen our confidence in You and our hope of eternal salvation, through Your steadfast love, as they develop Godly character in us (Romans 5:3-4; Psalm 31:16).

Help us to change our focus on the negative aspects of our life, so that we can change the expression on our face and smile (Job 9:27).

Thought for the Day:

A smile is actually contagious, so give someone a smile today and bless their life.