This Free Gift is Yours

 

At the age of 18, I was plagued with negative emotions from betrayal by my father, who was supposed to protect me. I tired of my string of boyfriends, because I could not find my soulmate. 

I wrote morbid poems about the devastation, which I felt inside, and I even contemplated suicide. This drove me to question the empty spot within myself, which called out to me for fulfillment.

Thankfully, during an extra work-day to ready our college yearbook for press, I met a vivacious red-head who shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with me (John 3:16-18).

This resulted in God giving me feet like hind's feet to traverse the heights of His love (Habakkuk 3:19; Psalm 18:33; 2 Samuel 22:34). Since then, I feel no shame in proclaiming to the world that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord.

So often, we reject Christ, because we fear the rejection of our family and friends, as well as ostracism by those we respect and hold in high esteem. Yet, we are willing, by our unbelief, to alienate the King of kings for all eternity.

I share the free gift of the gospel of Christ with anyone who will listen. I view every stranger as a potential friend, and I realize that everyone I pass in a day's time is a prospective member with me in the family of God.  

Christ paid the ultimate price for our salvation, but He gives it to us as a free gift (Romans 6:23). We do not deserve it, and we cannot earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9). We simply receive it. 

There is no end to God's love. I want everyone to enjoy God's bountiful benefits. There is no valid reason to miss out on His free gift (Psalm 103:2).

Prayer:

Father God, Your love is boundless and Your generosity is limitless. You spoil us as Your children and You share with us the inheritance of Your Kingdom for all of eternity. We simply need to believe and to surrender our entire body, soul and spirit to Your Lordship.

You do not demand perfection before we come to You; you perfect us from glory to glory once we trust You with our life (2 Corinthians 3:18). Your only requirement to receive Your free gift of salvation is that we love you with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Romans 6:23; Mark 12:30). This is so easy to do, because we simply respond to Your love for us.

Thought for the Day:

God gives us both the desire and the ability to walk in obedience to His ways. -  Philippians 2:13

The High Praises of God in Our Mouth

Thoughts and emotions are fickle and lead many of us on a wild dance. When we are happy, we live a productive life; but the moment we meet a crisis or feel discouraged, we lose all hope. Some react to stress or depression by sleeping all the time, or our soul may invent psychosomatic illnesses or we turn to addictions.

This behavior causes us to receive even more criticism and rejection, and this denunciation increases our feelings of separation from the people we love. Trusting in Christ may not change our circumstances, but it certainly alters the way we view life. We belong to the eternal family of God (Ephesians 2:19). In Christ, we can accomplish anything, which He leads us to do (Philippians 4:13).

The more often we focus on the goodness and greatness of God, the more His praise rests on the tip of our tongue. The least little blessing that comes our way is reason to erupt into high praises to our Lord and King (Luke 1:46-47; Psalm 149:6). In addition to this, we get excited about His spiritual blessings, as well as His mercy and grace in our life (Ephesians 1:3).

Even our failings are not failures, because there is forgiveness with our God (Psalm 130:4). We will not lose the war for our soul, simply because we lost a battle. Christ in us already obtained for us our eternal security in Him (John 5:24). Our soul – our mind, emotions and will – magnifies the Lord and our spirit rejoices in God our Savior (Luke 1:39-56).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for transforming the personality of our soul into the mind of Christ, Your divine nature and the fruit of Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:16; Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Remind us that You inhabit our praises (Psalm 22:3). With high praises to You in our mouth, and the two-edged sword of Your Word in our hand, we can vanquish any negative emotion and overcome any enemy of our soul (Psalm 149:6). Help us not to allow our flesh, which is dominated by our physical senses and emotions, to dictate our behavior; but help us to allow our faith in You, as well as our praises to You, to change our feelings (Deuteronomy 30:19). We choose to walk in Your joy, precious Lord.

Thought for the Day:

Our success in life pivots entirely on our obedience to Christ and following the leading of His Holy Spirit.

Answered Prayers

The blessing of intercessory prayer is that we can pray wherever we are and no matter what we are doing. God's Spirit prays through us, even for people we do not know. Family, friends, workmates, neighbors, church revival, the worldwide family of God and the unbelievers in every nation are all topics of our times of intercessory prayer.

Our persistent prayer, sometimes accompanied by fasting, actually makes a difference in our world. Tears are often the result of our fervent prayer, and they touch the heart of God (Psalm 56:8). Spirit-led prayers are the most affective, because if we pray in our own strength, legions of demons may attack us with doubt and discouragement. God's will is the key ingredient for answered prayers (1 John 5:14-15).

Through prayer, Born Again Believers, who are filled with God's Spirit, minister with holy boldness in areas where we have no natural abilities. We are delivered from relying on our flesh once we reach the place of totally resting in faith on our Father God. God's Spirit takes us beyond our gifts and callings to places where only Christ in us can accomplish the will of God (Colossians 1:27).

We learn to pray in the Spirit, affecting those areas where God is most interested in ministering. We do not pray with a flowery profundity of words, but only with fervent, effectual prayers (James 5:16). If we say we love God, yet do not love the least of those whom He died for, the Bible calls us a liar (1 John 4:20). God’s love allows us to pray for people, and to identify with them in their plight.

Prayer:

Father God, we know that You often refrain from affirmatively answering our prayers, because You have a higher purpose for the issues in our lives. You use them to allow patience to have her perfect work in us; and You use them for Your ultimate glory. Remind us to pray for our missionaries and fellow Believers in foreign countries and around the USA. We want our prayers to be strategic and effective through Your Spirit's direction.

Thought for the Day:

God often humbles us by not immediately answering our prayers, so that we take no glory in the future when He does answer them.

 

The Family of God

The Family of God enjoys a union, which transcends the bonds of our natural family. The Spirit joins us in spirit, as well as in body and soul. Our union in the Spirit goes deeper than natural ties and lasts for eternity. When conflicts arise in families, we may end up with hurt feelings and avoid one another for a while. Over time, we usually forgive one another and enjoy sweet companionship again. However, when people in a church experience conflict or disappointment, it often sends them running away from God or to another church. This should never happen, but it is so easy to just reject one church family and move to another.

This lack of loyalty to our church family is contrary to the ways of God. The Bible tells us not to love only with words, but in deed and in truth as well (1 John 3:18). As those who are chosen of God, we are holy and beloved. Therefore, we need to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving others even as the Lord forgave us. Love is the bond of perfection and keeps peace within the Body of Christ (Colossians 3:12-14). With God’s Spirit within us we are capable of abounding in love and faith toward the Lord Jesus and to all the saints (2 Corinthians 8:7).

When Jesus was asked to identify the greatest commandment, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Then he said, “...and love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-33). All of our love belongs to God and out of this bond flows our love for one another. Would you like to be treated with patience and compassion? Treat those in your church family the same way. We are imitators of God as beloved children. We walk in love, just as Christ loved us. He laid down His life for us and we can do no less for one another (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Let us commit every area of our life to our Heavenly Father and glorify Him in all that we do by bearing with each other’s foibles and personality quirks, preferring one another above our self (Colossians 3:13). It is to our credit to bear with one another (Proverbs 19:11).  We accept each other just as we are and we allow God to work in our lives as He sees fit. This brings glory to God (Romans 15:7). It also safeguards us from getting easily offended, from giving up on our union with our brothers and sisters and from hopping from one church to another.

If discontentment is fueling your desire to leave, you will take it with you no matter what church you attend. If something offensive was said or done to you, it was probably unintended; so talk to the person who offended you and get the issue resolved rather than leave the church. If you did something offensive and are embarrassed, ask for forgiveness and move past the incident, do not think you have to go to another church to escape humiliation. God often uses members in our church who are carnal and whose edges are rough to serve as sandpaper to rub off our imperfections. "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend" (Proverbs 27:17).

If you feel a genuine leading from God to go to another church, make an appointment to talk to your pastor first and discuss your reasons with him. He has invested his time and nurture into your life. Leaving his flock without discussing your issues is like walking out on a marriage without looking back. If he perceives that you have God’s will as the motive for your move, he will send you on with his blessing. Then, if you ever want to return to that church, you have not muddied the waters by negative words and behavior.

However, the longer you stay at one church, the more you build trust with other members of the congregation. Few people will open up to a stranger. That is why long-term ministry with one church almost always brings greater opportunity to reach people at deeper levels and in more intimate ways than if you move from church to church. A sign of spiritual maturity is that people can be loving and patient with anyone (1 John 2:10, Galatians 5:22-23), and they can humbly submit themselves to truth and the correction of authority (Hebrews 13:17).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, whenever we consider moving to another church, remind us to evaluate the impact our exit will have on our present congregation. Help us to consider if it will ultimately benefit both congregations, or if Satan will use our departure for his purposes. Sometimes, You do lead us to leave one church for another; but help us to follow Your leading and to lay down our life for one another. Remind us not to be moved by fleshly considerations and to give much prayer and honest examination of our motives before changing churches. Help us never to damage Your Saints through a selfish move on our part. I know You will hold us accountable for our actions. Remind us to keep an eternal view when we make all of our decisions.

Thought for the Day:

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. – Ephesians 4:2