Unashamed Confidence

Nothing, which comes into our life, is a surprise to God. He saw it all before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). We have unashamed confidence in His goodness and mercy.

On the cross, Jesus completed the work of redeeming, sanctifying and perfecting us (Hebrews 10:14). Now, He is working through us to perform His purpose in each situation in our life as it occurs.

As we grasp the fact of who we really are in Christ, we live by faith in the eternal, and not by sight in the temporal realm of life (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When trials and tribulation afflict our life, we no longer have to overcome them, because Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). We have His joy in our tribulation, because we know that God has a divine purpose for us in it.

Trials are simply another adventure in Christ; an opportunity for Him to show His divine nature through us and to prove His abundant love to us. Even in death we are victorious.

God allowed Job to experience devastating loss in his life; but He used Job for His glory in each one of them. In the end, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12).

We enjoy God’s presence in our life now, and we look forward to dwelling with Him where righteousness reigns forever and ever, in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we forget that we are simply aliens and pilgrims in this world, we take life too seriously (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). We put all of our effort into attaining success in this world; and yet, we are never fulfilled. Give us spiritual eyes to see Your reality as we trust in Your mercy and goodness.

Help us to believe Your Word and to allow it to transform our life as we live by the direction of Your Spirit through each moment of every day. We look forward to the time when You decide to take us home to live with You in glory.

Thought for the Day:

As we continue to live in Christ, we walk in His holiness; when He returns for His bride, we will face Him with unashamed confidence. - 1 John 2:28

Our Union Life with Christ

 

John explains our union life with Christ as a branch on a vine. We cannot live a fruitful life without our intimate connection with Him. God is the vine dresser and He prunes us to make us even more fruitful (John 15:1-8).

Jesus prayed for our union with Him through His Body. He wanted those who believe on Him to live in unity with one another and with Him, just as He is in God, and God is in Him (John 17:20-24).

We enjoy the glorious union with Christ; and He calls us to live in unity with one another (John 17:25-26). This will only occur as we lay down our life for one another. This union life is a witness to the dying world around us that there is reality in our faith and practice.

God already crucified us with Christ, so that we no longer need to live by struggling in this life. We live a fulfilled life in Christ. We live by the faith of Christ, God’s Son, who loved us enough to give His own life in ransom for us (Galatians 2:20).

God calls us to walk in the Spirit and do the works He ordained for us to perform before we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 5:15-17). This takes all the guesswork out of life. We simply wait on God to reveal to us His divine purpose for each moment of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, You gave us Your Holy Spirit to dwell in our body, which is His Temple. Therefore, it is only right that we glorify You with our body and soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Remind us to obey Your Spirit’s direction through each moment of our day. Give us a true revelation of our union with Christ.

Thought for the Day:

Our union with Christ is a great mystery, but a reality nonetheless.

Divine Purpose

The spirit of man is dead at birth, buried under layers of sin since the time of Adam and Eve (Ephesians 2:1-5). We all have a living soul – our mind, will and emotions - which often fails under the weight of life, because circumstances beat us down relentlessly. Our dead spirit and our unhealthy soul affect our body as well. Without Christ in our life, we know something is missing. We search relentlessly to find it. What we lack is the vital power of God.

Without the Spirit of God rebirthing and dwelling in our spirit, we are crippled in life. No one is intrinsically good except God (Mark 10:18). However, when Christ moves into our life, we daily die to our carnal flesh (Galatians 2:20; John 12:24; Luke 9:23). We start to make choices, which last for eternity; rather than desiring options, which are carnal, temporal and momentary. Jesus is our only life and we have no meaningful existence outside of Him (2 Corinthians 13:5). This does not mean that we sit in a meditative state all day, every day.

Jesus and the apostles interacted with people. They were anointed with the Holy Spirit and with God’s power. They went everywhere the Spirit led them, and they blessed many with wisdom, healing and deliverance (Acts 10:38). Salvation is the beginning of our walk in Christ, but the next step is to develop awareness in our conscious thoughts of the reality of Christ living within us. Once we come to Christ we are totally complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). We live and move and have our existence in Jesus each moment of our day (Act 17:28). Christ actually does the work of God through us.

Our true identity as Authentic Christians comes from Christ living in us. Christ expresses God’s character through us, which is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22-23). We are all united with Christ in His Body. He uses us as individual members, each with unique gifts and talents, in a ministry to a corporate, church Body. He uses us to fulfill His purpose in the earth (Romans 12:15; Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

Our life is God’s love letter to the world that He cares about them (2 Corinthians 3:3). God equips us to walk in His will through Christ in us (Hebrews 13:20). With Christ living within us, we experience rest for our soul (Matthew 11:29). We stop striving to perform for God, because Christ works through us (Psalm 46:10; Matthew 6:28-33). This eternal rest is only available if we take our focus in life off the temporal aspects of our existence and place it squarely on eternal matters instead (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Prayer:

Father God, You gave us Your eternal life, which no one can take from us (John 10:28). We are joined to You, and we are beneficiaries of Your divine nature (1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Peter 1:4). We have constant fellowship with You, the Son and the Spirit (1 John 1:3, 9; Phil 2:1). You placed us in Christ Jesus and we are seated in heavenly places in Him (1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:6). You provide every spiritual blessing for us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). We want to give you all the honor and glory for everything we think, say and do each moment of the day.

Thought for the Day:

The integrity of our testimony may be the difference in someone believing in or rejecting Jesus as their Savior.