Jars of Clay

God created us as fragile, clay jars to contain the greatest treasure this world has ever known. We have the light of Christ shining in our hearts, and His power is constantly available to us in every situation (2 Corinthians 4:7). Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross cleansed us, consecrated us and set us apart to God (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 10:10-12).

Jesus chose us to be a royal, holy people who exclusively belong to God’s family (1 Peter 2:9). He bought us with the price of His life, so that we would glorify God in our thoughts, words and deeds (1 Corinthians 6:20). God’s Holy Spirit exchanges, in our soul, the fleshly carnality of our old nature for the holiness and spirituality of God’s Son (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:13).

Christ manifests His life in and through us. The individual members of Christ’s Body die with Him, are set free from the powers of this world and are raised to walk in new life in Him (Colossians 2:12,20). When we realize our human powerlessness, dependence and worthlessness apart from Him, we enter into a place of His spiritual power and authority, and our identity is centered in Jesus (Luke 10:19).

We faithfully walk before Him in humility and total reliance on Him for every need in our life (Genesis 17:1). People see Christ in us and realize that we are set apart for Him. An example of this phenomenon is Joseph in Potiphar’s and Pharoah’s service, as well as his time in prison. They recognized the power of God in Joseph, and respected him and elevated him in power and authority.

Joseph accepted God’s plan in spite of his brothers’ duplicity and abandonment, as well as false accusations against his character. He knew that God would work out everything, even prison, for his good. Joseph gives us an example of someone entirely sold out to God. God will bless our life as He did Joseph’s, if we will put our complete faith in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, You are more to us than a help in times of trouble, the pardon for our sins and our fire insurance policy against hell. You are also our King. We do not live according to our plans and purpose and ask You to bless us. We live in constant, total surrender to Your plans for our life, and we reap the blessings of a child of the King. Thank You for sending Jesus to redeem us and to reconcile us to Yourself. Remind us to live each moment of our life in Your service and not in selfish ambition and self-serving goals.

Thought for the Day:

As we obey God fully and keep His commandments, we are His treasured possession from among all the people in the whole world. - Exodus 19:5

Dynamite Power

The word “dunimis”, pronounced “doo’-nam-is”, is the root for our word “dynamite”. It means to have the power residing within, by virtue of its nature. It allows a person or thing to put forth this dynamite power for performing spectacular events. This is the same word used to describe the power by which Jesus raised Himself from the dead. Jesus claimed that no one could take His life from Him and only He had the “dunimis” power to raise it up again (John 10:18).

Once we come to Christ through salvation, all of this “dunimis” power is also resident within us. It is equal to a zillion fireworks going off inside of us at one time. Christ’s light shines in our hearts. We radiate Christ to the world in the same way that a light bulb radiates light. The light does not come from the bulb, but from the electricity flowing to the bulb. The power in us does not come from us, but from God’s “dunimis” power working in us and lighting up our world through us.

We contain Christ in the same way that a glass contains water. The container is not the object of focus, the water is. We usually do not pick up a glass to admire it, but to drink from it. Although we are simple “clay jars”, made from the dust of the earth, we contain God’s greatest treasure, Jesus Christ, who actually lives within every Born Again Believer (Colossians 1:27). Satan wants us to focus on our failings, and he tries to make us feel like failures. However, if Christ is in us, although our body is dead in sin, God’s Spirit gives us life (Romans 8:10). God fills us with His Spirit to sanctify us and to complete us in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11; Colossians 2:10).

When we recognize the truth that we are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God, we step aside and allow Christ to live through us (Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20). Our light will shine so brightly that people will see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). We are so united with Christ that His thoughts fill our mind, His wisdom directs our steps, His life flows through us like a river and His love radiates in us and from us (Philippians 2:5; James 1:5; John 7:38; Isaiah 58:11). We do not focus on the mundane activities of life. We keep our mind on Christ and live in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

There is a balance between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit. The key is to walk in the Spirit 24/7. That is a challenge at first, but it gets easy with practice. We follow His peace within our spirit, and do not consider human logic and reasoning. Christ in us wants to live His life through us, while we work at our job, care for our home and family and community, and minister to our church family. We just follow the leading of God's Spirit moment by moment and we live in fullness of joy, even in negative circumstances (Psalm 16:11). Our Father is always well pleased with us (Matthew 3:17).

Prayer:

Father God, Your grace draws us to Jesus, keeps us pursuing holiness and finishes our perfection through sanctification (1 John 3:2). Jesus is our advocate with You (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us before You (Romans 8:26). You each have your function as a person of the Trinity and You complete us within and without (Colossians 2:10). You direct our steps and use us for Your glory to advance Your Kingdom in the earth (Luke 17:21).

Thought for the Day:

Living in the center of God’s will is the happiest place on earth.






Thank you, Flowers With Heart, for the use of your photo.