Authentic Worshipers

God is looking for authentic worshipers who will live for Him by His Spirit and in His Truth (John 4:23). He wants to raise up an army united in Christ, not a bunch of Lone Rangers doing their own thing.

As we allow the nature of Christ in us to infiltrate every area of our life, we decrease so that He may increase (John 3:30). We serve God by His Spirit moving within us and through us (Philippians 2:12-13; Act 17:28).

When we come to truly understand that we are dead, and that our life is now hidden with Christ in God, we live in God’s power, which works in and through us (Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20).

God will use our body, soul and spirit by His Spirit to work in the lives of people we encounter each day. He will give us His words to speak to them that we cannot possibly know in our human capacity.

This opens doors for us to witness to people and to bring Christ into their life, so that He can change their heart, lives and circumstances for their good.

We put no confidence in our fleshly abilities; and we do not boast in our own accomplishments, because we achieve all things through Christ in us (Philippians 3:3; 2:12-13).

Sinful mankind, who are lost in pride, arrogance and the exploitation of others, consider their own needs more frequently than anyone else’s (Romans 12:3). However, God brings everyone down to the same level through the grave (Isaiah 14:15).

Our eternal destination is determined by our earthly beliefs. If we live for self, we reap corruption; if we live for Christ, we reap eternal life and serve God as Authentic Believers (John 3:16-18).

Prayer:

Father God, it is not difficult to sustain a constant relationship with You as our living Lord. Every moment of our day is authentic worship to You. Living with honor and respect for You gives us a secure life with protection from lasting harm (Proverbs 19:23). Even negative circumstances turn around for our good (Romans 8:28).

You give us everything we need to live in contentment through a genuine Godly life (1 Timothy 6:6). You are our strength and shield. We trust in You with all of our heart. You fill our soul so full of joy that we spontaneously burst forth into songs of praise and thanksgiving to You (Psalm 28:7).

Thought for the Day:
Christ in us gives us joy in tribulation (Romans 5:3), hope in devastating trials and loss (Romans 15:13), and a bright vision for our future (Jeremiah 29:11).

God's Eternal Nature in Us

God loves us and shows Himself to us (John 14:21). He calls us through the gospel to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:14), and claims us as His children (Ephesians 1:4-5).

God is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). He created us in His own likeness with a triune nature - our spirit, soul and body (Genesis 1:27; Hebrews 12:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). His Spirit transforms us with the divine nature of Christ.

We are born of the first Adam from the dust of the earth, but also Born Again of the second Adam, Jesus, by the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 15:45). God created us as physical human beings, but He also gave us a soul - thoughts, feelings and choices - and a spirit.

God made Jesus the firstborn among many adopted brethren  (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:5). He gives us exceedingly great and precious promises of salvation, so that we might be partakers of Christ’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

He sanctifies our soul throughout our lifetime, until we are holy and without sin in His sight. His rich grace abounds in our life, and He gives us His wisdom to deal with every issue we face (2 Corinthians 9:8).

God wants to fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness, so that we may obtain the richest portion of His presence in our life (Ephesians 3:16-19; 4:13).

As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, we are transformed into His likeness with an ever-increasing resemblance to Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). Jesus is equal to God, and He lives in us, sharing His divine nature with us (John 5:18).

We have the same potential, which Jesus did, of becoming spiritual beings, because Christ in us is Spirit. When we crucify the deeds of our flesh, walk in the Spirit and pray without ceasing, we make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

Prayer:

Father God, by Your glorious grace we gradually walk into the divine nature of Christ in us, and we walk away from the corruption in this world (1 Peter 2:2-4). We are growing in our understanding of the amazing magnitude of Your power available to all authentic Believers. It is the same dynamite power that resurrected Christ from the grave and returned Him to His glory in Heaven (Ephesians 1:19-20).

Thank You that He fills us with this life and supplies us with everything we need to function in unity with You and to accomplish Your will for us in the earth (Ephesians 1:23). Enable the world to see that You sent Jesus on their behalf, by making our life a living testimony to them (John 17:21-23).  

Thought for the Day:

Eternal life is not some future event that we will experience some day; it occurs within us, as we come to intimately know Jesus, and our God who sent Him. - John 17:3

The Purpose of God's Spirit in Us

Jesus died once for anyone who believes in Him. We will eventually be raised with Christ into immortality, because death no longer has any mastery over Christ in us.

We used to be slaves to sin, but now we owe our allegiance to Christ as slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:1-18). Each moment of our life, we submit our plans to God's direction (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Through the sanctification process by His Spirit, the carnality in our body and soul decrease and He increases within us (John 3:30). Even our physical life is His.

Through His life within us, although our body may go to the grave, our spirit and soul live forever with God. We are filled with the Holy Spirit and are part of Christ’s Body (Romans 8:9).

The Spirit transforms our life by giving us His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). We exhibit fewer carnal characteristics in exchange for the nature of God.

We have more love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith. We have less greed, anxiety, deception, evil thoughts and actions, pride, rebellion, impatience and intolerance for others.

God's Spirit calls us to a life of faith and obedience, and we respond by relinquishing the depravity in our life in exchange for the holiness of God (Romans 12:1-2).

Our life is hidden with Christ in God through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 3:14, 6:4; Romans 6:11). As we realize that we are already dead in Christ (Colossians 3:3), we no longer control our life; He does.

God's Spirit is more and more able to express Himself through our body, spirit and soul – our mind, will and emotions – as we live a surrendered life to Him.

Prayer:

Father God, You are waiting for us in Heaven (Matthew 6:9), but You are always with us through Christ and Your Holy Spirit, even to the end of the age of grace (Matthew 28:20). We give You all of the praise and glory due to Your name. We cry "worthy" to the Lamb who gave Himself to be slain for us before You even created the world (1 Peter 1:20).

Thank You that Jesus sent the Spirit of truth to come and guide us into all truth. The Spirit speaks Your words to us and reveals to us what is yet to come (John 16:13). As our triune God, You come to make Your home in everyone who obeys Your Word and the teachings of Christ (John 14:23).

Thought for the Day:

The purpose of God's Spirit within us is to sanctify our carnality, to transform us into the nature of Christ, to guide us into all truth and to comfort us in every affliction.

With All Our Heart

 

When we quiet our body and soul, seek the Lord with our whole spirit and soul, and enter into God's rest, we have the opportunity to experience the wonders He prepared for those who love Him (Deuteronomy 4:29; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Jeremiah 29:13). 

God asks us to revere, obey, love and serve Him with our whole being (Deuteronomy 10:12; Mark 12:30-33). The least we can do for God is to comply with His wishes. 

As we keep His precepts, we will live fulfilled lives, full of God's blessings (Deuteronomy 30:16).

At times, we are bombarded by worry, stress and expectations. Our mind wanders from God. However, we can resist the world, the flesh and the devil, and wait on God to direct our steps throughout the day (Psalm 130:5).

Our old carnal nature is crucified with Christ, but now we live in Christ who lives in and through us. We no longer entertain the desires of the flesh, but we submit to God's will for each moment of our day.

We come forth from the grave of sin with the power of God's Holy Spirit. We walk in union with our Father God, cleansed by His Son and led by His Spirit. We are totally one with the Trinity.

This is not something, which we conjure up in our human effort. We simply completely surrender to God's will each moment of the day and He will live His life through us (Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Romans 8:9).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that we no longer live, but that Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Teach us how to allow Christ to manifest Himself through us during every waking and sleeping moment of our life.

Help us to live with the realization that Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4). We no longer want to be concerned with issues of this life, because we are living to further Your Kingdom and to honor Your name in all we think, say and do.

Thought for the Day:

Through us, Christ has a greater impact on our day, accomplishes more for His Kingdom and truly blesses those with whom we come into contact. - 1 John 4:6