Intimate Communion

 

 

The word communion denotes a union, intimacy, fellowship, harmony, compatible communication, etc. God wants to share His sweet communion with flawed humanity. Yet, so many people reject His offer.

In fact, while we were still sinners, God died for all helpless humanity who are lost in a garden full of the thorns and thistles of sin (Romans 5:7-8).

Yet, the world hates being told that they are wrong and accountable for their choices and behavior. They want the happiness, success, riches and provision of the kingdoms of this world.

Very few hunger for forgiveness, peace and walking on the road of life that leads to heaven. The discipline it takes to learn sensitivity to the leading of God's Spirit is daunting to them.

Christianity also involves discernment in order to walk the straight and narrow path through a life with a smorgasbord of options. However, the Spirit of God takes the guesswork out of all of this.

If we seek God each moment of the day, He leads and we follow. We end up in divine appointments, which will blow our mind and provide godly results that further God's Kingdom in the earth.

All God asks of us is that we spend time in intimate communion with Him: worshipping the beauty of His holiness, sitting at His feet in humility and prayer, and waiting patiently until He leads us so that we can follow.

Prayer:

Father God, sensitivity to Your Spirit is the issue which makes us or breaks us as Your fulfilled child. You fill us with Your enthusiasm and You help us to walk in Your ways with Your truth. Teach us to walk in all the light You give us each day and to humbly serve You with our life.

You are always faithful to lead us by Your perfect peace and to keep us in the center of Your will as we spend time in intimate communion with You. We flourish in divine appointments and we see Your Spirit within us impacting the lives of people all around us.

Thought for the Day:

As we allow God's Spirit to lead us, His fruit replace the short-comings in our life and opens the door for the divine life of Christ to control us during each moment of the day.

No Longer a Sinner - The Express Image of God's Person

At Salvation, Christ moves into our spirit by His spirit. God charges us to stir up this gift within us and to grow in His nurture and admonition (Ephesians 6:4).

He takes possession of every piece of our self, which we willingly relinquish to Him, cherishing our submission to His love and pleased at our total surrender to His wisdom and grace.

The Christ, who is described in the Word of God, abides within us if we are a Born Again child of God (John 16:14). His Spirit conforms us into His image a little more each day that we remain submitted to God's will through continual prayer.

Jesus is the express image of God and we are the image of Christ on this earth (Colossians 1:15). We are filled with all of His anointing, power, wisdom, strength and goodness. His love and peace permeate every cell in our body.

We abide in a committed union and communion with Christ in us. God's Spirit replaces our carnality with the image and likeness of Christ as we relax and trust in Him.

Most authentic Christians seek to do God's will, prepare our heart, relinquish our idols, long for a more intimate union with Him and desire to be more like Him each day.

Putting aside the sins which so easily distract us from walking in the Spirit (Hebrews 12:1-3), we still our soul of idle thoughts and vain imaginations and sit in silence to hear from God.

God's glorious Spirit rests in us and fills us with divine power to function in the ministry into which God calls us. We are inspired, encouraged and fulfilled when we see His work in and through us.

Prayer:
Father God, we praise You for the assurance You provide for us through Your Spirit within us. He is the earnest of our inheritance and our proof for our salvation. Thank You that He leads us in Your will for each moment of our day and continues His perfecting work in our soul and spirit.

Let our face shine from Your glory within us, teach us during our times of devotion and meditation and fill us through our entire being with all of Your fullness. Reveal to us Your glory in us and that which is to come, and shower us with Your mercy and grace as we serve You in the work which You called us to do.

Thought for the Day:

We do God's works for His glory rather than our own works for our glory; He infuses our soul with His confidence; and we trust in Him, even in His silences which are times of rest for our soul.

Moving Toward Perfection

 

There is a penchant in humanity to take things to the extreme. Many in our society will make desperate attempts to gain more intimacy with God to the point of neglecting their duties to family and society.

They will cloister their self from life and spend their time in their prayer closet, reading God’s Word and listening to sermons. In an attempt at holiness, they desert all aspiration to give or to receive with anyone other than God.

Yet, in doing this they prevent God from using them to reach the lost and dying world around us. A balance of devotional prayer and obedience is what God calls for from His Saints, until the day that He returns to claim His Bride for His own.

Then He will take us home to be with Him for eternity. Our current position in Christ allows us to see life from God’s perspective and to choose our words and actions according to the will of God.

In this way, we are always moving toward perfection, which is the prize of the high calling of God (Matthew 5:48; Philippians 3:14). Carrying on throughout our day, we pray without ceasing each moment in order to remain in His will (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Jesus taught the disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13) touching on these major points:

1.) Praising God's majesty

2.) Anticipating the coming of His Kingdom

3.) Requesting our needs to be met

4.) Repenting of our sins

5.) Forgiving those who sin against us

As we live in a place of communion with God during every waking moment, we have so much assurance of His love for us that we are able to rejoice regardless of the circumstance surrounding us (Romans 8:28).

Prayer:

Father God, as we walk in Your Spirit, we give thanks for everything that happens to us - the good, the bad and the ugly, because we know this is Your will and You always work out all things for our ultimate good (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17; Romans 8:28).

We rejoice and give You praise and thanksgiving for Your eternal care for everything that concerns us. We could never, ever repay You for Your personal love and care for each one of us. Thank You for taking a personal interest in our life and for providing for all of our needs.

Thought for the Day:

As we gather around the throne of Heaven, there will be a great innumerable multitude from every single nation, tribe, people and language group all standing there with us in worship and thanksgiving before our redeeming Lamb. 

- Revelation 7:9

Why We Need Jesus

As we view the Ten Commandments, we realize that we break the heart of God in sin whenever we worship anyone or thing other than Him, use His name as a curse word, disregard Sunday as a day to worship the Lord, disobey our parents, murder, have physical relations with someone to which we are not married, steal, lie or covet what belongs to someone else (Matthew 5-7).

Jesus taught us the nuances of some of these commandments when He stated that anger is as vile as murder, and lusting as sinful as adultery. He even said that when we belittle one another we are in danger of going to hell (Matthew 5:22-28).

Paul goes into even more detail when in Galatians 5:19:21 he list as sins: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft, rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23); hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

He also stated that whatever we think, say or do that is not coming from faith is a sin (Romans 14:22-23). John tells us that all wrong doing is sin (1 John 5:17). James says that when we know the right thing to do and we omit doing it, we are sinning (James 4:17).

Under the law, Saints had to keep every word of the law or be cursed to an eternity in hell (Galatians 3:10). Reading these lists may cause us to feel condemnation from Satan; but thankfully, if we stop doing them, we are free from condemnation (Roman 8:1).

That is why we need Jesus as our Savior. He is the blameless Lamb of God who takes away our sins (John 1:29). With his dual nature as God and man, He could do what we could never do. He lived in sinless perfection.

Now, Christ lives in us with this same divine power and nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through His sacrifice on Calvary's cross, He exchanged our sin for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

By faith in God's saving grace, we receive His Spirit to cleanse our spirit from Adam's sin and our own (Galatians 3:13-14). God's Spirit also gives us both the desire and the power to live in holy communion with God at all times (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:12-13).

Prayer:

Father God, while we were still lost in our sin, You loved us (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:1). Even though we do not deserve it, You faithfully forgive us for every sin from which we repent and turn away (1 John 1:9). You condemn no one, but we condemn our self by refusing to believe in Jesus (John 3:16-18).

Remind us that You know that the rewards of sin are actually wages that we have to pay for partaking in this destructive behavior. Teach us that we reap what we sow, and You want to spare us from the degradation and suffering caused by sin.

Thank You for desiring instead that no one will ever perish in hell, but that everyone who truly repents and surrenders their life to You will enjoy eternity with you in Heaven (2 Peter 3:9).

Thought for the Day:

The sins listed for us in the Bible are there to help us to realize that without Christ we can do nothing. - Philippians 3:14; Galatians 3:24