A Worm or a Butterfly?

As human beings, we live in a body, make choices and think and feel with our soul, and live eternally through our spirit in either heaven or hell (John 3:16-18).

The carnal nature does not understand or accept the truths of the Spirit of God. These people considers them foolishness, because they cannot comprehend them, since their spirit is dead in sin (1 Corinthians 2:14).

They function in life only through their soul and body, judging right and wrong according to how it makes them think and feel (Psalm 139:13-14).

God sees the spirit of everyone ever born (Numbers 16:22), and calls us to live with a good conscience before God (Acts 23:1). He wants us to allow His Word to convict and to divide between our soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings - and our spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

God is not belittling the soul, nor recommending that we discount our soul; but simply that we do now allow our human understanding to control our life (Proverbs 3:5-6).

He desires that all men everywhere come to the saving truth of His Son, so their spirit is Born Again (Acts 17:30; John 3:1-21). Then, He abides within our spirit forever (1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 John 4:13). 

Prayer:

Father God, as Your children we can never cease praising You for saving us from a life of wallowing in the mire of this world. You transformed us into a butterfly from the meager existence of a worm. Thank You that Your Spirit pursues us until we accept Christ's sacrifice, so our spirit is Born Again.

Now we ask You to teach us to live, move and have our total being in You (Acts 17:28). Use Your Word to separate for us our soul and spirit, so that we can walk in Your Spirit every moment of every day, accomplishing only those works, which You created us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

We daily give thanks to our wondrous God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who because of His mercies, which are new every single morning, caused us to be Born Again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. - 1 Peter 1:3; Lamentations 3:22-23

Our True Identity

In order to test our faith in Him, God often withholds the answers to our prayers until the last minute. We fret and pace and wring our hands, wondering if we missed God by making this particular decision. We have no recourse except to pray in faith, knowing that He led us and He will supply. He always comes through for us, even if it is at 11:59, the moment before the deadline!

When we actually come to understand the reality of the Kingdom of God, and the fact that God will bring His Kingdom to the earth in the near future, it puts everything else in our life into proper perspective. Earthly concerns no longer mean what they used to and we have a more heavenly-minded attitude about our life on this earth.

Comprehending our place in God's Kingdom will change the way we look at our self, as well as at our future. Believers belong to the upper echelons of the cream of the crop, and there is no one and nothing that can separate us from God's love and family (Romans 8:31-39). This realization will settle in our hearts, increase our faith and allow God His rightful place in our life.

We find our true identity in the Kingdom of God. We are co-heirs with Jesus of an inheritance, which will never perish, spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4). We are also joint heirs with Jesus of a hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7). We are children of the Almighty God (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7). Angels come and serve us in our time of need (Hebrews 1:14). We will reign with Christ forever (2 Timothy 2:12).

Prayer:

Father, You are our great God, who is waiting to bless us abundantly in answer to our prayers. Thank You for making us heirs of Your Kingdom with Your blessed Son, Jesus. We revel in Your glory and in Your presence in our life. Remind us that You are on Your throne and all is well in our life. Come to us in an abiding and unbroken fellowship in a deeper union than we have ever experienced before.

Thought for the Day:
Remain quiet and trusting, as you wait on God's provision and direction.

Why God?

Read: Jeremiah 32:37-38

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

Have you ever questioned God’s behavior, promises or direction? You are not alone. Everybody does it. For instance, Jeremiah questioned God's reasoning in Jeremiah 32:24,25: "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city? Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, You say to me, 'Buy the field'".  

Jeremiah’s puzzled prayer received an answer from God, but it did not make any more sense than God’s directive to purchase the field. The enemy was about to overrun the city of Jerusalem, and all God said was, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

It turns out that God, in His foresight, wanted to use this piece of land as an object lesson for Israel. It was an earnest of their future inheritance. It was a symbol of God’s promise to their forefathers that Israel would always be God’s people and He would always be their God (Jeremiah 32:37-38). The purchase loudly proclaimed to Israel that God would eventually bring them back to dwell in safety in the Promised Land once again.

So often we have trouble seeing the big picture. From our perspective, the oddly shaped piece that God provides does not fit into the puzzle of our life in any way. He gives us a directive or opens a door or leads us down a road that just does not make any sense to us. We end up arguing, pleading and cajoling with Him.

When that does not work, we shift into a passive aggressive mode – pretending to obey, when we actually have absolutely no intention of carrying out what we view as an incomprehensible move.

Then, we go off and try unsuccessfully to solve the problem on our own. After hitting the brick wall a few times, we eventually give in and obey; although, we continue to wait impatiently for the desired results. We pace, we fret and we battle with growing anxiety, until we sit back and pray out of frustration, finally relying on God to reveal the purpose of His plan in His timing. While trust God during these puzzling times in our lives, our spiritual growth increases and our closeness with Jesus, our Bridegroom, improves.

When I compare Jeremiah with Jonah, I see the difference between obedience and doing things my own way. From now on, I vow to obey rather than to argue when I do not understand. I will take a lesson from Jonah’s negative behavior, and I will save myself a great deal of trouble!

Prayer:
Lord God, we often have difficulty comprehending how all of the pieces of your plan will work together for our good. Even if we follow your direction, we often unsuccessfully understand Your purpose - especially when things fall apart before they get better. We tend to rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Help us to patiently trust You; because, after all, You are God! 

Thought for the Day:

Life operates more smoothly when we remember that God does all things beautifully in His time.