Security in an Insecure World

There are so many unknown entities and insecurities in life today. Our world’s governmental and financial situation is predicted to eventually fall like a house of cards. This news certainly does not inspire confidence in our future. However, for authentic Born Again Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no fluctuation in our joy and peace or in our hope for the future (Romans 8:28).

We may find our self in a simpler lifestyle, without modern conveniences and money, but the Lord of All always cares for us. It usually takes most people years to mature to the point of learning to praise God in all things, especially in the negative aspects of life. However, when we finally realize that all things will ultimately work out for our good (Romans 8:28), then it is so much easier to go with God’s flow.


We are citizens of Heaven, because we are born of God (Philippians 3:20). God hides us with Christ in Himself to keep us always safe (Colossians 3:1-4). We rejoice throughout every new adventure with Him, and we look for His miracles couched in the circumstances. We confidently know that He will complete the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6). He gives us the desire, the energy and the ability to do His will for our life (Philippians 2:12-13).  


Sinners attempt to justify their existence; however, their soul knows without a doubt that sin separates them from God. They use defensive tactics to keep other people or their conscience from condemning them, but they know the truth no matter how much they try to deny it. Jesus eradicates this dichotomous struggle from the Believer’s life (Romans 8:31-39). He sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).


Prayer:

Father God, thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice, Satan can no longer harm us (1 John 5:18). Our security in this life starts with the lack of condemnation, which comes from a sinful lifestyle, but is eliminated by Jesus’ death (Romans 8:1). Thank You for setting us free from the Law of Sin and Death by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). Help us to live our life cleansed by Jesus’ blood, led by Your Spirit and right in the center of Your will for us, which is the happiest place on earth (Ephesians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

When we call on the Lord and come to Him in prayer, He always listens to us; however, we only find Him when we seek Him with all of our heart. – Jeremiah 29:12-13

Our Glorious King

God chooses the foolish of the world to confuse the wise and the weak to confound the mighty. He uses the lowly and the despised to walk in His Spirit in order to bring down strongholds and lift up everything that pertains to Him (1 Corinthians 1:27-28). Our life is in God’s complete control. We may not always understand His ways or purposes; but as we maintain our faith in Him and obey His Spirit’s directives, eternity will reveal the reasoning behind His actions.


Our temporary struggles here on earth cannot even compare to the glory that God prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). His powerful hope sustains us in trials and temptations. God gives His Saints citizenship in heaven, and we will reign with the Lord Jesus Christ. We eagerly wait for our Savior’s return. Since all things are subject to His power, He will transform our humble, finite body and conform it to the infinite, immortal glory of His body (Philippians 3:20-21).


God’s works are vast and spectacular. All of His ways are holy and trustworthy. He is the King of all the nations and everyone will fear Him and glorify His name. Upon His return, every nation will come and worship before Him. Everyone will see and understand all of His mighty acts throughout the ages (Revelation 15:3-4). He provides heaven for all of those who receive Jesus as their personal Savior (Luke 20:26). Even in death, Believers have a refuge in Christ (Proverbs 14:22).  


Those who die without a regenerated spirit experience physical death along with the second death in hell (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14-15; 21:8). However, when an authentic Born Again Believer dies physically, his/her body is buried to await the resurrection, but their soul and spirit, their essence, immediately join the Lord in heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8). It is said that we are sleeping in Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:18), and the day of our death is better than the day of our birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1). 


Prayer:

Father God, as surely as You live, every knee of those on the earth, in the earth and under the earth, that includes everyone, will bow to Your Lordship (Philippians 2:10). I pray that anyone reading these words who has not surrendered their life to You, will indeed believe that Jesus is our only Savior, so they will repent of their sins and walk in Your ways. Thank you for Your gracious plan to redeem all mankind and for making Your glory so evident in nature all around us (Romans 1:20). I pray that people will see the fallacy in Satan’s lies and come to the truth of Your written Word, so they too will worship You as their Lord and King.

Thought for the Day:

Come believe in Christ and live in the presence of our glorious King, both on this earth and eternally in the grandeur of heaven.

Not of This World

We are not of this world. We dwell with Christ in the Kingdom of God and we are no longer limited by this world (Galatians 2:20; John 18:36). Our citizenship is in Heaven and Jesus is our Savior and our King (Philippians 3:20). The Lord Himself called us to live in His eternal glory now and in eternity. He is our strength and He confirms and establishes our place in His Kingdom (1 Peter 5:10). Our life on earth is simply a momentary breath on a cold day (James 4:14). God delivers us through any trial, and we have joy in it as we accept that He is using it to do its perfect work within us (James 1:4).

When we step out of the realm of the flesh and enter into the eternal realm of the Spirit right here on this earth, we finally find eternal rest for our soul and provision for our every need through Jesus Christ our Lord (Psalm 116:7). As long as we dwell in the realm of the flesh, we will continue to experience defeat at the hands of tribulation. However, we do not belong in Satan’s grip. If we are living in Satan’s pit, it is because we allow Satan's thoughts to infiltrate our thoughts. We give in to his defeatist thinking and we buy into his lies, forsaking God’s truth in the process.

In the realm of the Spirit, our body experiences negative circumstances, but they do not influence our spirit or our soul – our mind, choices and emotions. We see God working all things, even the negative things in our life, out for our good (Romans 8:28). Instead of looking at trials with a carnal mind, we view them with the mind of Christ. God’s divinity within us turns any trial into momentary and light affliction (2 Corinthians 4:17). We walk in His victory as we experience each new adventure that comes our way. God uses trials to transform us out of the earthly sphere into His spiritual Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When we view trials as part of God’s will for us, we find Him in the midst of them (Romans 12:2). Jesus asks us to separate our self from the human realm of life, even while we still live in it (John 15:19). We physically live in the world, but we do we belong to any part of it (John 17:14-15). We do this by realizing that our humanity is dead in Christ, and we no longer live, but Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). Jesus already overcame any negative aspect we could ever experience in this life and He dwells in us with all of the power of our triune God (John 16:33).

The more we look to the future, the more we waste the present. Most people spend more time believing that God is going to give them what they want and do not have, rather than in focusing on His will for them moment by moment throughout the day. God does not promise us tomorrow. Give God all of yourself in this moment. Do not hold anything back or worry about the future. Do not waste time wanting what you do not have. If God wants you to have it, He will give it to you. Jesus died for us all, and rose again so that we will not live for our self, but for Him (John 3:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:15).

Prayer:

Father God, we do not have to spend one moment longing for anything or anyone but You. We do not want to love this world nor the things, which it offers us. If we really need something in our life, which we do not have, You will give it to us. You will move us to another state, or give us a different car or house, or provide us with a spouse or a child, if it is Your will for us. You gave us the life we have, just as it is right now. You want us to allow You to shine through us in it, rather than for us to wait around for something we think we need. Help us to learn to be content in Your provision for our life (Philippians 4:11). Remind us to focus on what is eternal rather on that which is earthly, because reality is only found in You.

Thought for the Day:

When you love the things of this world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. - 1 John 2:15

 

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