Hidden with Christ in God - Part 2 - Help in Time of Need

God has our best interest at heart; although according to human reasoning, it does not always appear so. We often unwittingly pray against the will of God in our life, and He will not answer those prayers (1 John 5:14).

We fight life’s negative circumstances and cry out for God to correct them; when all along, He is actually using them to correct our course in life (James 1:2).

God's desire is for us to fully surrender to Him in trials, so that He can use them to do His perfect work in and through us in the exact timing and location in which He chooses to put us (James 1:2-12).

The comfort we seek often first depends upon our repentance of our current sins (2 Corinthians 7:10). The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life often fuel our prayers and our activities in life (1 John 2:16).

We even want the bragging rights for our hard earned achievements, rather than realizing they are the result of God’s Spirit working in and through our life.

We want worldly gain, when God’s will is for us to walk in holiness (Isaiah 35:8). We find both serenity and maturity in the words and example of Jesus Christ (John 6:63).

When we suffer from stress, abandonment, grief, anxiety, failure or illness and we feel overwhelmed and defeated by life, God hides us in the cleft of the Rock of Christ and reveals Himself to us by His Spirit and His Word (Exodus 33:22).

We can dwell with the most disappointing mate, rebellious children, horrible work experience, devastating illness or the driest church life and still live in the fullness of God through Christ in us (Galatians 2:20).

As we seek first His Kingdom, He provides us with everything we need to flourish in this life (Matthew 6:33). The flesh is worthless, but God’s Spirit gives us what we need to succeed (Romans 7:18).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, overflowing with Your divine fullness, we find that nothing is impossible for us to achieve according to Your will (Philippians 2:12-13). You brought us up out of the miry pit of self-centeredness and set our feet upon the Rock of Christ (Psalm 27:5, 40:2; 1 Corinthians 10:4). In troubling times, You hide us in Your Tabernacle.

There is nothing to fear, because nothing can separate us from your love: not the trials of life, spiritual powers, the past or the future, no mountain top or deep valley of circumstances, no created thing and not even death (Jeremiah 42:11; Romans 8:38-39). Thank You for continually hiding us in the depth of Your love (Acts 17:11).

Thought for the Day:

When the comforts of this life fail us, yet Jesus Christ actually dwells within us, we find our refuge in the love of Christ in us (Psalm 46:1); He reassures us as no one else can, because He lives inside of us and knows our every conscious and unconscious thought. - Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 13:5

No Longer a Sinner - Missing the Mark

When we sin, we miss the mark of perfection modeled by Jesus and His sinless life. As unbelievers we have no choice but to walk in sin, because Satan is our father and he is the father of lies (John 8:44).

However, once we come to Christ for forgiveness of our sins and for His redemption of our life as a sinner, we no longer live in habitual sin. We may miss the mark now and then and sin; but it is no longer our lifestyle.

If we continue to live in habitual sin, we are still dead in sin and do not have the Holy Spirit within us (Romans 8:9). We are not Born Again by the Spirit of God, but we continue to live as slaves of unrighteousness and we reap its destruction (Romans 6:15-23).

Maybe we were convicted and we called out to God for salvation; yet we were never converted. Salvation is a two-sided coin: The prayer of faith on one side, but the repentance of sin is on the other side (Mark 1:14-15).

If we are Born Again, we are embodied by God's Spirit and we are no longer a sinner. We are a Saint. At first this is only true positionally in our eternal standing with God, because we are still in need of sanctification in our soul.

As we pray without ceasing, allow God's Spirit to do His sanctifying work in our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - and walk according to the Spirit's direction for each moment of our day, we are literally free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

We grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and our flesh decreases as He increases within us (2 Peter 3:18; John 3:30). He fills us through all of our being with all the fullness of God. We have the richest measure of His presence and we are a body wholly filled with God (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4), and we live to do His will with each moment of our day. We enjoy our times alone with God - even the silent moments when He is just enjoying our company. We walk in His truth and spread His peace every place we go.

We are amazed at the divine appointments that God sets up for us along the way. People are encouraged and blessed by the presence of Christ in us, and we are blessed to watch Him work in and through us.

Prayer:

Father God, let there be peace in the world, and let it begin with Your Saints. Remind us that we are free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-2). We no longer live a lifestyle of sin, although we do miss the mark of Your perfection once in a while.

As long as we humble our self, admit our failings and desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12), we remain in Your Spirit and follow His guidance to live in Your will each moment of our day. Thank You for empowering us by Your Spirit to live as Your ambassadors while we remain on this earth.

Thought for the Day:

God wants to use us for His Kingdom: He may lead us to fill a physical need for someone in the name of Jesus; a tear-filled face gives us the opportunity to share the compassion of Christ; a blank stare or faraway look in someone's eye allows us to infuse His love and joy into a frustrating or perplexing situation - be ready, willing and able to serve in Jesus' name. - Matthew 10:41

My Hidiing Place

I have a secret hiding place. It is my safe house, my shelter and fortress, my place of rest and rejoicing. Whenever my soul is afraid, I run into it and find safety, balance and serenity.

My secret hiding place is called the spirit of man (1 Corinthians 2:11). Prior to our coming to Christ, this safe place is all boarded up and inaccessible. Sin destroyed it and it is uninhabitable.

Yet, when we surrender our life wholly to God, our spirit is born again. We meet God there. From the moment of our salvation, He dwells with us in our spirit by His Holy Spirit and He never leaves (Romans 8:9, 16; Hebrews 13:5).

As we mature in our walk with God, we no longer live through our body or soul - our mind, choices and emotions. We do not depend on our human skills, talents or capabilities, but we give God full reign in our life.

We walk this earth in our body in union with God's Spirit who abides within us; but we function in life through our spirit rather than our body and soul (1 Corinthians 3:16).

God still uses our body and soul for His purposes in the earth. He transforms our personality and capabilities and makes us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We are no longer tied to the earthly realm, influenced by sin and hindered by human insufficiency. Our external world my fall down around our ears, or people and experiences may attack our thoughts or emotions; but like Paul, we rejoice in the tribulation.

We experience life from our safe place: our spirit within us (Galatians 5:25). Our carnality is dead and it is no longer us, but Christ who lives in and through us (Colossians 3:3).

We are controlled, guided and filled through our entire being with all of the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19). We experience eternal life as a reality even now, by intimately knowing the only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ, whom He sent (John 17:3).

Prayer:

Father God, due to Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross, we can leave behind the cares of this temporal world and touch the glories of Heaven. Our spirit is filled with Your Spirit and we feel safe and right at home there (Revelation 3:20). We live in step with Your Spirit from within our spirit, separated from our body and soul and viewing them as from a distance.

Regardless of what the world, the devil or our flesh attempt to entice us to participate in, or the amount of pain and grief they try to distract us with, they have no effect on us or lure for us, because we live in our spirit by Your Spirit and no longer through our flesh.

Thought for the Day:

Christ is our whole life and we live by His faith; He gave Himself for us, because He loves us completely and unconditionally. - Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:4