No Longer a Sinner - Free Indeed in Christ

 

The average Christian spends very little time meditating on the reality of our death in Christ; yet the truth of this concept releases us from our struggle with sin and our dependence on our human understanding.

We are crucified with Christ; and the life we now live, we live by the faith of Christ in us. The word "I" is eliminated from our vocabulary and the concept of Christ in vital union with us is paramount in the forefront of our mind (Romans 6:3-5).

Not I, but Christ is our mantra, our battle cry and our certainty (Galatians 2:20). We are dead and buried with Christ in God (2 Timothy 2:11; Colossians 2:12, 2:20, 3:3; Romans 6:4). We are risen and alive with Christ in us (Colossians 3:1). We sit with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5).

We may suffer with Christ, but we gain our strength and power to live through every trial from Christ who shares with us His glory (Romans 8:17). He is the first born among many brethren, and we have all the attributes of the Trinity within us.

We live, move and have our entire being through Christ in us (Acts 17:28). Our union with Christ is as intimate as the union of the most loving husband and wife (Romans 7:4). He is our foundation upon which we are built (Ephesians 2:20-22).

Therefore, we have no more need to live in sin. We are free indeed in Christ in us, who is our hope of glory, clothed in His majesty from on high (John 8:36; 2 Corinthians 5:2).

Prayer:

Father God, as a branch, we cling to the Vine (John 15:1-10). You created us as Christ's body and He is our head (1 Corinthians 6:15, 19; 12:12). With Christ, we are all members of Your extended family (Romans 5:12, 21; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45-49). You baptize us into this union with Christ (Galatians 3:27).

Christ sits at Your right hand; yet He also lives on this earth through His worldwide Body. To those who trust Him, He imparts Your power, purity, peace and passion to complete Your work on the earth. Thank You that we are dead to the power of sin's control over our life, and that we can now please You with our every thought, word and deed (Romans 6:11).

Thought for the Day:

We serve at the pleasure of our King; and we move, stay put or pass into eternity according to His eternal will and promises.

My Soul Waits - Filled with God's Fullness

 

God chose us before the foundation of the world to redeem us, to transform us, to give us His divine nature and to use us in the work of His Kingdom (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Peter 1:4).

We no longer deflect His will with hurried lives and busy days. We grow spiritually and come to the place where we surrender our desires and embrace His heart and mind as our own.

We have a continual conversation with God as we share our heart with Him and listen to His answers and directives for our day. God's presence satisfies our longing and fills our hungry soul (Psalm 107:9).

God redefines our plans and leads us in His Truth and everlasting way. He gives us a new name and nature with a heart of compassion and a willingness to do His will (Psalm 43:3; Revelation 2:12; Colossians 3:12).

Our focus switches from our self and our little place in the cosmos and increases to the world around us and the needs of the people involved in our everyday life.

We relinquish our hurt, bitterness, anger, and pride and walk in forgiveness, love and humility instead. This diminishes Satan's hold on our life and increases our fellowship with our Father.

We empty our soul of the cares of this life, having faith in God's faithfulness to work out every detail for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). He fills us with His fullness and we change the world around us - one person at a time (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Prayer:

Father God, spiritual understanding is ours as we allow Your Spirit to discipline our carnal nature and strengthen our spiritual nature as You fill us with Your faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Help us to totally surrender to Your love and to trust You in the good times and the bad.

We know that only You hold the issues of life and death in Your hands (Psalm 41:13). We so enjoy the immeasurable intimacy which You share with those who love You and who keep Your commandments (John 14:15; Ephesians 3:8). We enjoy our fellowship with You and appreciate the showers of Your blessings on our daily life.

Thought for the Day:

Let us walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in our thoughts, words and deeds, so that we can bear fruit by His Spirit through every good work which we perform; and may we continually increase in our knowledge, understanding and intimacy with God. - Colossians 1:9-10

Set Apart for God

Without God's Spirit within us, we do not belong to Christ or His family (Romans 8:9). God's Spirit in us makes us His children. We no longer live under the dominion of the flesh, the world or the devil, and we are not our own.

God owns our time, energy and resources (1 Corinthians 6:19). We are set apart for God. Though we live on this earth, we no longer have anything in common with sinners or the world (Psalm 4:3; 2 Corinthians 6:16). 

If we continue to offer our self as slaves to sin, it leads to death; if we obey the dictates of holiness, we are part of God's holy temple and He dwells in us by His Spirit (Romans 6:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16-18).
 

We are more concerned with spiritual aspects in our life than carnal ones. We have a new heavenly name (Revelation 2:17). Do you know the meaning of your earthly name? ( http://www.ohbabynames.com )
 

I like my name, Kathleen Anne. It means: pure one, innocent, God's favor and grace. Someone with this name is usually dependable, solid, practical, hard-working, industrious, studious, conservative, spiritual, wise, peculiar, intuitive, imaginative, philosophical and solitary. This fits me to a "T".

As a child, I yearned to be a good girl, so my parents would love me. I even wished on the first star every night that I would be a good girl, so I could be cherished and accepted.

At 18, I realized that no one is ever good (Romans 7:18-25), and that I could not do enough good to be valued and approved. That is when I turned to Jesus Christ as my Savior. He loves me unconditionally (1 John 4:16).

God takes up residence in our spirit. He abides in His children and walks with us. He is our God and we are His people (2 Corinthians 6:16). We live as the church of the living God, and are the pillar and foundation of His truth (1 Timothy 3:15).

Prayer:

Father God, You accept us as part of Your beloved family (Ephesians 1:5-7). Our spirit, once dead in Adam's sin, was Born Again by Your Spirit, and You came to live in us for the rest of our life and throughout eternity (Romans 8:10; Galatians 5:15-25).

Thank You for building us into Your house, as we firmly hold to our confidence and hope in Your glory. Christ is the faithful caretaker of Your House (Hebrews 3:6) and we realize the privilege, which You afford us, to allow us to take a part in all of Your plans.

Thought for the Day:

Anyone who leaves their sinful lifestyle, and believes that Jesus in God who came in human flesh as Emmanuel, will have a new name written down in Heaven. - 1 John 4:4

Pleasing Our Father

As parents we often have unrealistic goals for all of our children. We want each one of them to succeed in scholarship, sports, social status and personal relationships.

We may want them to succeed in an area in which we failed or were not allowed to participate. This activity may not even interest them by any stretch of the imagination; however, we push them to excel where we could not.

However, no two people are ever alike. God created each of us with our own bent toward the gifts and talents, which He equipped us with in order to walk in His will (Ephesians 2:10).

To force our child to play ball rather than to follow the desire to read, to read and listen to classical music in place of playing in a rock band, or to sculpt and draw instead of butting heads with a quarterback is thwarting God's purpose for their life.

We may have an ancestral home or family business that we cannot wait to share with our progeny, when in reality God is calling them to the far reaches of the world as missionaries.

Our dream may include our child studying as a doctor or lawyer, in order to have the financial means for their family that we were not able to provide for ours.

However, our children are just on loan to us from our Heavenly Father and His will for them is much better than our desires for them will ever be.

God does call us as faithful stewards over our children's lives, to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4), to give them a solid foundation in God's Word (Deuteronomy 11:19) and to teach them by our example to walk in God's Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, You do not care about how much we do for You, because You desire that we walk in Your Spirit. You do not want us to depend on our good works to earn a place in heaven, because You already reserved a place for us through Christ's sacrifice.

In order to please You, all we need to do is have faith in Your faithfulness (Hebrews 11:6). You created us with a purpose and desire for nothing more from us or our children than to walk in Your will for our life.

Thought for the Day:

As children of our Father God, we please Him by obeying His Word in total surrender to His will for our life.