Not of This World

 

Our God is so awesome, mighty in power, gentle in mercy, constant in grace, consuming in His love for us and faithful beyond measure. We can trust in Him with our whole heart and depend on His intimate involvement in our life.

God never, ever leaves or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5). His three personalities are all-encompassing (Isaiah 7:14; John 10:29; Matthew 12:32). God is our Creator and Heavenly Daddy; Jesus is the Trinity in the flesh who died on the cross to exhibit the Father's love; the Spirit promotes Jesus and His words (John 3::8, 14:6, 26; Luke 24:49; Acts 16:7).

Through believing on Jesus we are constructed into the temple of the entire Godhead of the Trinity (Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 12:13). The Trinity is our Father, our Brother and our continual comfort and guide (Mark 1:10-11).

The Trinity's presence in our life nourishes us to grow in godliness, to consecrate our life to Him and to do the work He created us to do (Ephesians 2:10). The Trinity draws us into unity with the Godhead (John 6:44, 10:30, 14:10-13).

We are raised from sin's degradation to walk in a new life in order to share in the glory of the Trinity through a consecrated and holy life (John 17:22; Romans 8:11). We let His light in us shine, so that people look at us and are drawn to believe in and trust in the Trinity for their salvation as well.

Vacation homes, worldly hobbies, time shares, multiple cruises in a year, smart phones for every family member, TVs in every room, expensive clothing stores, excessive clothing accessories and jewels, a car for every driver in the family, etc. keep us in bondage to this world and limit our participation in activities that promote the Kingdom of God.

We are not of this world, we do not rely on our human nature or characteristics, and we do not develop plans and goals for this life. We only live here to build up the Kingdom of God while it is still day, because the night is coming when no one may get saved (John 9:4).

Prayer:

Father God, break our heart with what breaks Yours, give us a Kingdom mind and focus in this life and make the fact that we are not of this world a reality in our life (Romans 12:2; John 17:16). Help us to stop focusing on building our nest in this world and to change our attention to furthering Your Kingdom.

Remind us that Christ is our whole life and that we no longer live, but Christ lives in and through us (Colossians 3:3-4; Galatians 2:20). Draw us into a more intimate relationship with You, so that we are not sidetracked by the lies and schemes of the devil to get our focus on this world rather than on Your Kingdom.

Thought for the Day:

We develop a Kingdom mindset and allow God's Spirit to draw our attention to the presence of God within us, which is our only true source of comfort and joy, rather than on the riches and trappings of this world.

The Greatest Measure of God's Presence

 

We can never go anywhere that the love of God cannot find us (Psalm 139:7-12). He wants nothing more than to spend time fellowshipping with us, and filling us with the greatest measure of His presence (Ephesians 3:16-19).

In our busiest or calmest day, He is always within us, desiring to lead us by His Spirit and to direct us to do His will. Yet, in the hustle and bustle of life we often forget He is there.

We proceed through our day relying on our self-effort and human reasoning, making our own plans without consulting Him first and carrying them out with varying degrees of success.

We continue through life like this, enjoying the simple pleasures and the fruit of our labor, forgetting that God has specific work for us to accomplish for His purpose (Ephesians 2:10).

Then, we hit a brick wall and get the wind knocked right out of us. We make accusations against God, calling Him unfair, unjust and unloving.

We may even walk away from God with anger in our heart. We do not realize that we are either reaping the result of our own choices or we are experiencing the effects of Satan's lordship and sin's power in the earth.

When we walk away from God, we compound our problems. We abandon our best friend, our most faithful ally and our loving Father who loves to bless His children.

God is still waiting for us right where we left Him. He is calling us to Himself and wanting to cherish us and direct us in His will and purpose for our life.

Prayer:

Father God, when will we ever learn? Since you created us, mankind continually walks away from You. Even with Your Spirit abiding within us, we ignore You and do our own thing, making trouble for our self and living as a poor example of Your child.

You are our loving Creator, Father, Provider and Protector. Surround us with Your love and fill us with Your peace and joy. Submitting our life to You as our sovereign Lord, we appreciate that You are just and righteous in all of Your ways. Teach us to dedicate every moment of our day to loving You in ceaseless praise.

Thought for the Day:

Our walk with the Lord starts at the cross and continues by living in the center of God's will, which is the happiest place on earth.

Jesus is a Friend of Mine

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

We receive Eternal Life at the moment we walk away from our sinful lifestyle and follow God's will for our individual lives (John 3:14-15). God does the rest by perfecting us according to His will.

Eternal Life is not some ethereal state of being, or one that only occurs after we pass from this life, but is simply knowing the one, true God and Jesus Christ, whom He sent to save us from our sins (John 17:3).

If we know Jesus, we know our Father as well (John 14:7). Jesus appeared to many people in the Old Testament. These are called Christophanies.

Jesus is actually the Trinity in physical form (Gen 12:7-9, 18:1-33, 22:11-18; Exodus 24:9-11; Daniel 3:23-24). He dwelt on this earth for a brief thirty-three years to give us an example of how to live.

Every day, God leads us through Christ by His Spirit (Romans 8:14). He does not speak to us in our mind, but in our spirit. It is an impression, a strong knowledge of what we are supposed to do.

The thoughts in our mind can be influenced by God, but are also influenced by the devil, our flesh and the world. Before following these ideas, we are wise to submit our thoughts to the test, to see which spirit is influencing us (Philippians 4:8; 1 John 4:1).

With practice, we begin to know God’s voice (John 10:27). Throughout the day, we do the works, which He ordained for us to accomplish before we were even born (Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, Thank You that Your Spirit speaks to us throughout the day. Your Spirit also communicates to other people through us (Matthew 10:20) by helping us to speak and by teaching us what to say (Exodus 4:12).

Make us ever mindful of the leading of Your Spirit in our life. Before we even put our feet on the floor in the morning, make us aware of Your will and direct our steps each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

We consider everything we possess in this life as rubbish when we compare it to our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

- Philippians 3:8