Rejecting God's Truth

One problem with human beings is that we put way too much emphasis on understanding everything. If we cannot comprehend it with our human reasoning, we reject it.

We are the created beings; and God is the Creator. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are far beyond our ability to comprehend Him from our human perspective (Isaiah 55:8-9).

God's love for us, regardless of our religion, nationality, color and gender is unconditional. Yet, so many refuse to surrender their life to His loving kindness and grace.

It is through the riches of God's grace that we receive forgiveness for our sins. There is nothing we can do to buy, earn or to obtain His forgiveness (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We simply humble our self and receive forgiveness as a gift through faith in Christ (John 3:16-18). We also receive a place in God's family and we are co-heirs with Christ for eternity (Romans 8:17).

As Christians, God calls us to submit to and pray for our governing authorities so that it may be well with us (1 Peter 2:18-21; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). We truly prosper in this world, not by our hard work, but by our submission to God's Spirit.

We do not evaluate our self by the world's standards, nor do we live according to the example of those on this earth. We gain our self-esteem from God's Word and Christ in us.

Prayer:

Father God, we ask You to grant us the wisdom to accept Your Word as our standard for our faith and our lifestyle. Work a submissive attitude into our soul, so that we can accept Your Truth at face value, rather than having to understand it before we accept it.

Teach us what it means to live a life of faith in Your faithfulness. Thank You so much for the sacrifice of Christ for us all. Give us a grateful heart and a new song on our lips (Psalm 40:3), so that we can praise You all the days of our life.

Thought for the Day:
If we truly want God's blessings in our life, we can submit to the principles of His Kingdom and receive His righteousness, peace and joy in return. - Romans 14:17

To Those Who Overcome

All of my Christian life, I heard the verses to the churches in Revelation containing promises to those who overcome. I do not have the moral fiber, mental strength or physical stamina to overcome anything. In other words, I am a wimp!

Whenever I saw or heard those verses, I cringed and shut down mentally and emotionally. As a new Believer, life still frightened me; and yet, I wanted to receive those promises to the overcomer.

Recently, my pastoral husband preached about living as an overcomer and his sermon gave me the key verse that I missed all of these years (1 John 4:4, 5:1-5). We overcome not in our human ability, but through Christ in us (John 16:33; James 1:2-3).

Whoever is born of God automatically overcomes the world, because our faith in Jesus as the Son of God gives us the victory (1 John 5:45). Jesus already overcame the world and He abides in us.

Even in suffering, we glorify God by our example as patient victims (1 Peter 4:12-16; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In heaven, we will receive these promises to the overcomer:  

• We will eat of the tree of life and hidden manna, and we will receive the white stone of acquittal for our sins along with a new name (Revelation 2:7, 17; 3:12).

• We will rule the nations (Revelation 2:26) and we will be clothed in white, which is the purity of our works (Revelation 19:8).

• We will have our name written in the Lambs’ Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), we will forever serve as a pillar of strength in the temple of our God (Revelation 3:12).

• We will sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21).

• We will inherit all things as co-heirs with Christ as Children of God (Revelation 21:27).

• We will not experience the second, spiritual death in hell (Revelation 2:11).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to do for us what we could never do for our self. Thank Your for taking away the shame and condemnation of our sins, and for making us acceptable in Your beloved family (Ephesians 1:6). Christ in us makes us overcomers, because we are born again of His Spirit and we have faith in His faithfulness (1 John 5:4-5).

If we could live for thousands of years, we would never have enough time to praise You for what You already did and still do for us every day. We look forward to living for eternity in Your Kingdom and to giving You the glory forever and ever. Amen.

​Thought for the Day:

Christ in us will overcome anything, which the world, the devil and our flesh throws at us (Galatians 2:20); we are more than conquerors through Christ who lives in us (Romans 8:31-39).

Abiding Forever

Jesus actually stands at the door of our heart and asks to come in and live in us (Revelations 3:20). Those who live in Christ are the most blessed people in the world. We live and move and have our entire being in Him. If you want to join our ranks, you simply seek the Lord and cling to Him. You will find Him, because He is not very far from any one of us (Acts 17:24-28).

If we love Him and keep His Words, He will love us and come to dwell in us. He walks in us and claims us as His own (2 Corinthians 6:16; Leviticus 26:12). Our body is God’s temple and His Spirit dwells in our spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). He helps us to realize that we are children of God, and co-heirs with Christ (Colossians 1:27; Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:17). He fills us throughout our entire being with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19).

God is one God, and once we come to Him in full surrender, the entire Trinity dwells within us (John 14:16-17). The Trinity strengthens our Born Again spirit (Ephesians 3:14-19). God is our Father and He loves and cares for us. God even uses our suffering to reveal His glory in us (Romans 8:18). With Christ in us, we take on God’s divine nature (Romans 8:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:17; Philippians 1:1; 3:9; 2 Peter 1:4).

God commanded the light to shine from the darkness; and His light shines in us to give us the knowledge of His glory, which shone from the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). If we immerse our self in the scriptures, the Word of Christ will richly dwells in us and give us wisdom to teach and admonish one another (Colossians 3:16). As we love Him, He loves us and brings us to abide in Him forever (John 14:23).

We become the gospel of Christ to the world around us (John 6:47-51). God gives us both the desire and the ability to abide as Christ in the place in which He calls us to live and obey Him (Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:10). We serve Jesus, our Lord, with every fiber of our being (1 Corinthians 12:3), because God fills us with His Holy Spirit to accomplish His works with our life (Ephesians 5:18-19).

Prayer:

Father God, we bow down and worship You as part of Your family. Strengthen our spirit and soul, according to Your glorious riches. As Christ dwells in our heart by faith, fill us through our entire being with all of Your fullness. Ground us in Your love, so that all of Your Saints will experience the width, length, depth and height of Your love through us, and to come to know the love of Christ by Your Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Thought for the Day:

God has plans for us, which will give us hope and a future and will see us through all harm. – Jeremiah 29:11

 

Full of God's Glory

 

Our thirst for God is only quenched by the water of life flowing from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1). He rids our life of pride and arrogance, when we realize that Christ is our whole life. Our humanity is dead, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3-4). We are a friend of God and co-heirs with Christ (John 15:14-15; Romans 8:17). We are secure in His love and He enjoys spending time with us. Our spirit is His dwelling place (John 14:23). Our obedience, worship and fellowship with Him are at the heart of our intimate union with Christ in us (John 14:15).

Fully abiding in Christ produces a life of peace and joy that grows beyond any explanation and is complete in the glory of God within us (1 Peter 1:7-9). We flourish on the Vine of Christ and bear fruit for His Kingdom (John 15:1-8; Galatians 5:22-23). His fruit satisfies our soul and we value His presence in our life above all else. His joy sees us through every trial and His peace through every heart break (James 1:2-12). With His strength as our joy, our workload is easier, our trouble is lighter and our heart sings with gladness (Nehemiah 8:10; Psalm 100:2).

We focus on the cross, seek and witness to the lost, and abide in Christ as His Spirit leads us through each moment of our day. Our food is to do the will of our Father, and our joy is full when a sinner is saved (John 4:5; Luke 15:7-11). The apostle Paul put it all into perspective. He lived as an example of a Believer. He showed endurance in troubles, hardships, distresses, imprisonments, riots, hard work, sleepless nights and hunger. All the while he also exhibited purity, understanding, patience, kindness and sincere love in the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s speech was truthful and in the power of God, and his only weapon was righteousness. He exhibited a steadfast testimony through glory and dishonor, bad report and good, and genuine faith when regarded as an impostor. People pretended they did not know him. They beat him, yet did not kill him. Although he was close to death, he went on living. Even in times of sorrow, he rejoiced. When poor, he considered himself rich; although he had nothing, he possessed everything of real value through Christ (2 Corinthians 6:4-10).

Prayer:

Father God, when we weep for the souls of our lost friends, relatives, associates and neighbors, we do so with faith in Your faithfulness to bring these loved ones to Yourself and to fill them with Your love and the fruit of Your Spirit (John 15:11; 16:24). We experience the assurance of Your salvation and Your provision for our every need, every doubt is put to flight and our faith is filled with Your joy. We want this same life for all those we know. Let Your joy be full through the praise of our lips and by our obedience to fulfill the works You created us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
 

Thought for the Day:

When we see the Lord, our heart will rejoice and no one will ever destroy our joy. – John 16:22