Hoping in God

As human beings, we place our hope in many things: people, places, careers, stock markets, etc. We often fail, however, to realize that our only lasting hope is in God.

Jesus secured our hope by His death, burial and resurrection. His sacrifice touches every part of our life, even the most devastating moment we could ever experience.

At salvation, our hope in God turns to faith, which is authentic, powerful and enables us to enjoy God's company as our loving and nurturing Father.

His presence opens the door for us to enter into the citizenship of heaven, the Body of Christ, the circle of His beloved children, His Saints and called out ones. We are no longer pilgrims and sojourners (Philippians 3:20-21; Ephesians 2:19).

For those of us who believe in God, this hope is tangible evidence of the calling He gives to each one of us. We inherit His glorious riches and enjoy His great power and assurance now and forever (Ephesians 1:18-20).

Moses failed to deliver God's people when he killed the solitary Egyptian soldier who mistreated his Jewish brother. He ran from the consequences of that behavior and hid in the desert.

He forgot that God allowed Him to be raised in the king's castle and that He was actually a child of the almighty King. His self-image was polluted by Satan's lies and accusations of his failure.

This occurs in our life as well. Satan throws our past up into our face over and over in order to render us ineffective in any ministry for the Lord. We are riddled with self-doubt.

We can trade God's truth about us for the devil's recrimination and lies about our failings. Taking our journal, we sit in silent meditation and listen as God speaks His truth about who we really are and how He feels about us. ( www.theophostic.com )

We can read the back of the book, the last two chapters of Revelation, and understand that God returns to us everything which Satan attempted to steal from us in the first chapters of Genesis.

Prayer:

Father God, Your truth ignites our passion to have more of You in our life and to walk in Your Spirit and will for our life (Galatians 5:15-25). We live as a testimony of Your existence for the world to see. We read daily affirmations from Your Word about who we are in Christ, which transform our thought life from a negative image to a Godly one (Galatians 3; 2 Corinthians 5; Romans 8).

Your Spirit testifies that we are Yours and He breathes the breath of life into our spirit until He transforms us from one level of spiritual maturity to the next (Romans 8:16; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We overcome the world and our doubts and fears through the victory that overcomes the world - our faith in Your faithfulness (1 John 5:4) - and You empower us by Your Spirit as we walk in Your will moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

Regardless of what we view with our human understanding and vision, we live by the faith from God's promises about the unseen world, which are just as real and tangible.

Holiness is What I Long For

Prior to salvation, we had an instinctive intuition that we were faulty in character and lacking in moral fiber. Many people compare themselves to their neighbors or acquaintances, and then decide they are good enough to get into heaven.

No one is good enough to enter heaven (Romans 3:10-12, 23). We do not measure up to God's standard of holiness (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 6:1-3). We futilely attempt to fill the gap in our life by striving to find love, to amass worldly possessions and to rise in our career. 

Jesus came to fulfill that emptiness within and to pay the penalty for our sins. He gave Himself for us, and sanctified us with His sacrificial offering on Calvary's cross (Ephesians 5:15 -17). If we humble our self and believe that Jesus died for our sins, then we are welcomed in heaven (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9).

Holiness is the character of God (Isaiah 30:12). There is a song that I love, in which the words, " Holiness is What I Long For" ring out loud and clear (song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfiC6rkhOY8 ). 

God calls us to desire holiness. Jesus purchased our holiness by suffering horrendously outside of the gate of the city (Hebrews 13:12). He calls us to walk in holiness rather than in carnality and sin.

God's Word is Truth, and as we read and learn His Words, they sanctify us (John 17:17). God is peace, and He makes us completely holy in our body, soul and spirit through Jesus Christ, so that we are blameless when we face Him (1 Thessalonians 5:23). 

God is our Father, Jesus is our brother and their Spirit is our comforter and guide throughout our life (John 14:26). They are always with us and in us, helping us to be holy.

Prayer:

Father God, You call us to holiness, because You are holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Help us to pursue holiness, because without it, we will never see You (Hebrews 12:14). Remind us to honor You and Your Son by righteous deeds, directed by Your Holy Spirit (John 5:22-23; Ephesians 2:10). We want to give You Your rightful place on the throne of our life and to totally surrender control over our life to You (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

As obedient children, we are not to conform our behavior to the passions and ignorance of our life prior to coming to Christ, but to be holy, even as Christ in us is holy. - 1 Peter 1:14-15

A Roller Coaster Life

A life immersed in and dependent upon this world, often produces intense fear, anger and depression, which plague our days. When our peace is dependent on our circumstances, we live a roller coaster life filled with anxiety, insecurity and stress. However, when we depend on God, and walk in His will, He fills us with His peace, joy and love, regardless of our circumstances (Romans 8:31-39).

As we depend upon God's grace through our difficult circumstances, people see God's faithfulness in our life. We show them that He is trustworthy, and this gives them the opportunity to respond to His grace in their life. When we rely on God through our trials and the pressures of our daily life, we are an example of an authentic Believer to new Believers, as well as to the unsaved.

When we seek God's Kingdom first, He supplies us with everything we need: from employment to retirement, for singleness and a fulfilling career or for a marriage partner and a home in which to raise our family (Matthew 6:33). Even through rejection, dejection, opposition and persecution, the Lord delivers us from all of our troubles (Psalm 34:19). 

God's love never fails to prevent us from drowning in our daily concerns. Every morning His mercy comes to us in a fresh, new way. His faithfulness to those who hope in Him brings us only good. We wait patiently for Him and His salvation as we hope in His eternal promises (Lamentations 3:22-26). God is good all the time.

Prayer:

Father God, we often take Your goodness for granted. We overlook the myriad of blessings You provide for us all throughout our day. However, if we do pay attention, we can find the thread of Your provision and loving kindness woven throughout every aspect of our life. The only time You answer our prayers with a "No" is when our request will harm us. You always work out everything for our good (Romans 8:28).

Thought for the Day:

We can trust God with our circumstances rather than trying to work them out in our human effort.

Following in Jesus' Footsteps

As humans, we devote hours to gaining proficiency in our career, hobby, talent or sport. We sacrifice everything else in our life to acheive greatness in this one field. Yet, in our walk with God, our most important relationship, we barely give Him one hour a week. We decide that since our eternal destination is secure, we do not need to put any more time or effort into a relationship with Him.

Is our eternal desitination really secure? Praying a prayer, getting baptized, attending church on Easter and Christmas, reading our Bible and believing in God do not insure our salvation. True, authentic Born Again salvation will give us the desire to sacrifice all for God. Jesus is the pearl of great price; and we willingly give up everything to attain a deeper relationship with Him (Matthew 13:45-46).

God desires an intimate relationship with us; that is why He created us. When we finally come to the point of total surrender to God, He leads us into His perfect, everlasting rest (Hebrews 4:10). We are living stones with which He is building His holy temple (1 Peter 2:4-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19). He is faithful, and we can trust Him with our current and future life as we seek Him only and always.

Jesus is our very life (Colossians 3:4). Almighty God is ever ready to shine forth His light and life into our hearts each moment of our day. The Holy Spirit abides in us, leading and directing each step, which we surrender to Him. We can trust the Trinity to work out every aspect of our life for our good (Romans 8:28). Jesus lives His divine life in and through us (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Jesus gave 33 years of His life to show us an example of how to live a Spirit-filled life. He walked, talked and demonstrated the power of God in human form. We have this same Christ in us and we can follow in Jesus’ footsteps. He lived in complete dependence upon our Father God, absolute surrender to His will and total trust in His guidance and power (John 5:17-30). We have His same character within us.

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus knew that without You He could do nothing (John 5:17-30). He communed with You throughout His life and looked to You to fill Him with everything He needed in power and majesty. Remind us that You are in control of our life and You did not give us our life to squander in seeking earthly riches and relationships. We are the branches of the Vine of Christ and Your Holy Spirit is the sap which empowers each branch to bear fruit for Your Kingdom.

Thought for the Day:

We are dead to sin and alive to God, a living sacrifice for our Father’s use. – Romans 6:11; 12:1