Intimate and Personal

God invites us to join Him in an intimate and personal relationship, which will revitalize our life (John 3:16-17). When we join Him, our whole way of thinking changes for the better.

We are more positive, innocent, joyful and nurturing to others. Our compassion and empathy increase and our cynicism and judgmentalism decrease.

We are led by His Spirit and realize that we can do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5). We are branches in the Vine and receive our nourishment and ability to produce fruit from Him (Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrew 12:11).

His love fills us to the brim and overflows on everyone around us. No one and nothing, not even demonic powers, can ever separate us from His magnanimous love (Romans 8:35-39).

His Spirit abides in us continually (John 14:16), and we abide in Christ (John 14:13-14). We enjoy constant fellowship with the Trinity if we avail our self to His presence within us (John 15:7-16).

We depend on Him for everything we need: daily bread, forgiveness from sin, the ability to forgive others, protection from temptation, deliverance from evil and His faith to live fully in each moment of the day (Matthew 6:9-13).

We are as dependent on God as Jesus was during His life on this earth. He spent long hours in prayer. He did not rely on His human reasoning or make His own goals in life; but He did and said only what came from God's direction.

Christ's example inspires us to follow in His footsteps, to make God preeminent in our life and follow the Spirit's direction at work, church, home and play (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, we humans are too apt to make our own plans, follow our own reasoning and live according to our own desires. We spin our wheels, encounter daily set-backs and suffer needless trials because we do not walk in Your will for each moment of our day.

Teach us to spend time with Your Spirit until we learned to discern Your voice in our inner being. Fill us with Your peace so that we know what Your desire is for our day. Humble our pride, rid us of rebellion and cure us of our obstinacy and disobedience to Your Word and Your will. Help us to walk only in Your way for our life.

Thought for the Day:

When we abide in Christ and are united as one with Jesus, His Spirit and our Father God, we find joy, peace and fulfillment in the midst of this crazy world in which we live. 

- 1 Corinthians 6:17

Following in Jesus' Footsteps

As humans, we devote hours to gaining proficiency in our career, hobby, talent or sport. We sacrifice everything else in our life to acheive greatness in this one field. Yet, in our walk with God, our most important relationship, we barely give Him one hour a week. We decide that since our eternal destination is secure, we do not need to put any more time or effort into a relationship with Him.

Is our eternal desitination really secure? Praying a prayer, getting baptized, attending church on Easter and Christmas, reading our Bible and believing in God do not insure our salvation. True, authentic Born Again salvation will give us the desire to sacrifice all for God. Jesus is the pearl of great price; and we willingly give up everything to attain a deeper relationship with Him (Matthew 13:45-46).

God desires an intimate relationship with us; that is why He created us. When we finally come to the point of total surrender to God, He leads us into His perfect, everlasting rest (Hebrews 4:10). We are living stones with which He is building His holy temple (1 Peter 2:4-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19). He is faithful, and we can trust Him with our current and future life as we seek Him only and always.

Jesus is our very life (Colossians 3:4). Almighty God is ever ready to shine forth His light and life into our hearts each moment of our day. The Holy Spirit abides in us, leading and directing each step, which we surrender to Him. We can trust the Trinity to work out every aspect of our life for our good (Romans 8:28). Jesus lives His divine life in and through us (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Jesus gave 33 years of His life to show us an example of how to live a Spirit-filled life. He walked, talked and demonstrated the power of God in human form. We have this same Christ in us and we can follow in Jesus’ footsteps. He lived in complete dependence upon our Father God, absolute surrender to His will and total trust in His guidance and power (John 5:17-30). We have His same character within us.

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus knew that without You He could do nothing (John 5:17-30). He communed with You throughout His life and looked to You to fill Him with everything He needed in power and majesty. Remind us that You are in control of our life and You did not give us our life to squander in seeking earthly riches and relationships. We are the branches of the Vine of Christ and Your Holy Spirit is the sap which empowers each branch to bear fruit for Your Kingdom.

Thought for the Day:

We are dead to sin and alive to God, a living sacrifice for our Father’s use. – Romans 6:11; 12:1

Intimate Communication with God

 

There is no relationship available in this life that is more precious and fulfilling than our union with Creator God. We abide in Christ, and He abides in us (John 15:4). We can live in abiding fellowship with Christ every moment of our life. We are much too occupied with busy work, which Satan supplies for us to do. Much of it is religious too, and we get sidetracked into thinking we are working for the Lord.

We are actually producing more human flesh, the stench of which makes God sick to His stomach (Revelation 3:16-18). We all have to earn a living in this world, but we can do our job by the power of God’s Spirit. This occurs as we submit each moment to God and listen to Him as He directs our steps (Proverbs 3:5-6). Our soul clings to Jesus and rests in Him all day and night, even as we sleep.

Heaven’s Joy lives in and through us. The goal is for us to bypass our brain and our natural inclinations in our soul, and to function instead from our inner life in our spirit where we abide with Christ. Close, personal contact with Christ is a necessity for authentic Christians. Once we connect with the Spirit of God, His fruit flows through our life. We have close fellowship with Christ through the Spirit.

A life of absolute surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of His Holy Spirit is one of abiding love, joy and peace. God can do with us as He pleases...to sit us on a shelf, to use us at His banqueting table, to put us in the darkest mood or the foulest disease, or to send us to the far reaches of the world or right here at home.

No matter where we are, we are never alone. Christ lives in us and loves to hang out and enjoy our undistracted fellowship; and, sometimes, even our companionable silence. We not only set aside time each day to pray, but we pray without ceasing in unbroken communion with Him each moment of the day about everything that we are thinking and doing.

Prayer:

Father God, just as Jesus gave His life and death entirely to You, we desire to follow in His footsteps. We completely and absolutely surrender to Your will and we seek Your pleasure above all else. Our greatest joy is to live entirely for You. We have no will or interest apart from Your will for us. Lord, bring everything in our life in complete harmony with the Blessed Vine of Christ.

Thought for the Day:

Live in total consecration to the will of God for your life.

– Ephesians 2:10