Enemies of God

 

We were all enemies of God at one time, but He reconciled us to Himself through the death of His righteous Son, Jesus. Those who repent of their sins and call on His name we are saved by His life (Romans 5:10). We pass from death to eternal life through all the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Lord (John 14:19). Death no longer reigns in the spirit, body and soul – mind, choices and emotions - of those who believe in Christ as their Savior (Romans 5:17). Our sins are paid for, and we are absolved of their penalty.

Through Jesus, the Kingdom of God is now within each Believer (Luke 17:20-21). Jesus purchased our salvation from corruption, by His death and resurrection. Now, He is the first-born of many brethren (Romans 8:29), the head of the body (1 Corinthians 12:12) and the light of the world, which is lost in darkness (John 8:12). Christ in us also makes us the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We are bound to the fathomless Christ forever. We live in a personal union and intimate communion with Him.

God gave us His spirit as His sons. The Stone, which the builders rejected, is now our chief cornerstone (Psalm 118:22; 1 Peter 2:4-8). He made us living stones in a temple made without hands, as well as His royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:4-5; 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17; 2 Corinthians 5:1, 6:16). In ages past, God tried to reach man through dispensations of innocence, human government, promise, law and grace. We are now in this age of grace, which is also called the “day of the gentiles” and “the church age”.

There is only one era left before eternity; the millennial reign of Christ and His Bride on the earth. We will rule with Him for 1,000 years and live in His mansion with Him in glory (Revelation 20:4 - 21:1; John 14:2-3). Even now, God dwells in us and walks with us and considers us His People and the Sheep of His pasture (2 Corinthians 6:16). God teaches us the mysteries of His Kingdom (Matthew 13:11). He bids us to enter His rest and to cease from our own labor as we do His will each day of our life (Hebrews 4:10).

The triune God moves in and exchanges our carnal nature with the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:12). He changes our heart of stone to one of flesh, which is pliable in the hands of His Spirit (Ezekiel 11:19). He raises us up to sit in heavenly places with Christ, and through Christ He shows us the richness of His grace and His kindness toward us (Ephesians 2:6-7). At the culmination of time, He will give us gladness, and joy and all sorrow and sighing will pass away forever (Isaiah 35:4; Revelation 21:4).

Prayer:

Father God, at Your command, the universe was set into motion, the earth was formed, and life was raised up by the power of Your Word. You brought Christ forth as a righteous branch from the lineage of King David (Psalm 148). One day soon, You will send our Savior and King to the earth to reign in prosperity for all. Through His justice, He will execute judgment in the earth. You will save Israel, just as You promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and they will dwell in safety in the land of Your promise. Jesus will reign as Lord of Righteousness forever (Jeremiah 23:5-6). All of Your Saints will serve You and praise You for eternity.

Thought for the Day:

The Kingdom of God is within us. – Luke 17:20-21

 

 

Spiritual Toothbrushes

Read: Psalm 112:4-8

“But, O my soul, don't be discouraged. Don't be upset. Expect God to act! For I know that I shall again have plenty of reason to praise him for all that he will do. He is my help! He is my God!” - Ps 42:11 (TLB)

Sometimes, I just cannot help but to grumble about the circumstances in my life. I get hurt or frustrated by them, and I want to take out my giant eraser and expunge them from existence. Oh, if it were only that simple!

At times, when trials and stress overwhelm me, I forget that I am more than a conqueror. I overlook the fact that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. My soul is grieved: my thoughts grow discouraged and my emotions are upset. I do not have the faith to expect God to act on my behalf.

In the midst of one of my gigantic pity parties, I begged God to bring about a change in my particular state of affairs. He made it clear that He could not do that, because He allowed this trial for my particular benefit. God illuminated to me the fact that He actually uses these irritations, wounds and trials in our lives as spiritual toothbrushes, removing the worldly plaque, which would otherwise cause spiritual decay to erode His protective covering over our spiritual life.

God then drew my attention to the Psalms. So many of them chronicle David’s dilemmas, which built Godly character in him. In fact, God used the situations in David’s life so often that David eventually developed into a man after God’s own heart. Paul also learned, through the events in his life, that nothing, not even death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing could ever separate him or us from God’s love (Romans 8:38).

I concluded from this study, that our lifeline throughout our negative circumstances is to remember our enemies will never triumph over us (Psalm 54:7). Jesus told us, He is the vine and we are the branches. He encourages us to abide in Him and He promises He will always abide in us (John 15:4). He reminds us that we are not sufficient by ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 9:8). As we listen to His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day, we have His assurance that all of our circumstances will most definitely work together for our good (Romans 8:28). 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to trust You in my circumstances and to be a vessel of honor for Your use. You are able to do immeasurably more than all I could ever ask or imagine, according to Your power that is at work within me and all around me. Thank You for making all of Your grace abound to me. Help me to follow the leading of Your Spirit in all that I do and say.

Thought for the Day:

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Mark 9:24

Unbelief and Reconciliation

Read: Romans 5:8-10

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." - 2 Corinthians 5:18

My ultimate joy as a human being is that I benefit from a personal relationship with the Living God of the Universe on a daily basis; a relationship where I walk in intimate fellowship with Him every moment of every day. Sin can separate me from His cherished companionship, but restoration is only a humbled prayer away.

We start out in life as enemies of God. Then, we are reconciled to Him by believing in the saving grace of salvation through the death of Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross (Colossians 1:20). We are not only reconciled to God through Christ’s death, but we are also saved through His life! (Romans 5:10)

After walking with God for a few years, we stop noticing his daily provision and protection on our life. We take Him for granted and find less time to spend time with Him or to seek His will. So often we get an idea in our mind and run with it. We go from one worldly pursuit to the next, collecting human accolades and storing up treasure on this earth. We listen to our heart and follow its lead, but the heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

We eventually find our feet far from the path that Christ designed for our life. We suddenly discover that we are walking in disobedience and completely out of His will. Every sin is spawned from one major offense - the sin of unbelief. Unbelief keeps us out of the Kingdom of God on earth and prevents us from enjoying eternity with God in Heaven (John 3:16-18). Humbling ourselves, repenting and returning to Him are the only way out of this dilemma (Isaiah 55:7). He is waiting to forgive you, because He loves you unconditionally.

Once we return to Him and believe in the truths of His Word, He restores us to fellowship with Him (Romans 10:17). We inherit an unbelieving heart from Adam and Eve, but we acquire saving faith through Jesus Christ. He presents us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from any accusation that would condemn us for eternity (Colossians 1:22). This assurance works in our hearts and transforms us from children of darkness into children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Then God launches us into the ministry of reconciliation, to bring this same Good News to all of those, which He places in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Prayer:

Lord, help me to share Your plan of salvation with everyone I meet each day. Give me Your courage, wisdom and words to lead souls to faith in You. Keep me on a straight path, because of my enemies (Psalm 27:11); and surround me with your angels, so that I will not stumble (Psalm 91:11).

Thought for the Day:

When we were enemies of God, Christ reconciled us to the Father through His death.