No Longer a Sinner - In Union with Christ

Jesus calls us to enter into His Body, to fellowship with Him minute by minute of every day and to enjoy eternity with Him in the new heaven and the new earth (Romans 8:17; 2 Thessalonians 2:14).

We relinquish our human personality and surrender our individuality until we become more like Christ every day. We live in union with our risen Lord and Savior who justifies, sanctifies and will ultimately glorify us.

The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in us by the Spirit of God. We live in union with the Trinity through every moment of our life, listening to the Spirit's direction and not being conformed to the expectations of this world.

Filled with God's Spirit and controlled and guided by Him, we reach spiritual heights we never thought possible. We experience Him working in and through us as He conforms us to the image of Christ.

We press toward the goal of the high calling of God until we reach the measure of the full stature of Christ in us (Ephesians 4:13). We do not stop maturing and growing in Christ until we reach perfection, controlled and guided by the Spirit of God (Matthew 5:48; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3; Ephesians 3:19).

When Christ resurrects the dead in Christ and raptures the church remaining on the earth, we will gain the same immortal body that Christ enjoys right now. We enter the glorious realm of the risen Lord.

We will not age, experience corruption and sickness, or feel emotional and mental distress and anxiety any longer. Even death is swallowed up in the victory of the cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Prayer:

Father God, awaken our apathetic soul and raise us from spiritual death (John 3:16-18). Remind us that Christ lives as a light within us (2 Corinthians 4:6). Help us to pay attention to how we live, so that we use Your wisdom in all that we say and do. Remind us to make the most of the time You give us and not to foolishly use it for our own selfish gains.

Show us Your will for our life and help us to walk in it (Ephesians 5:14-17). Help us to hear the way in which we should walk and to lift up our soul to You alone (Psalm 143:8). Keep us in step with Your Spirit through every trial and blessing we experience (Ephesians 5:14-17).

Thought for the Day:

Live life in full awareness of the immense potential available to us though our union with Christ.

Go Deeper - Part 1

 

How long are you willing to wait for God? Wait…without being distracted by TV, radio, food, friends, family, the mall, work or any other created thing. Wait…for the Creator of heaven and earth to fill you through all of your being, with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19). It may take a day, a week, a month or a year. Are you willing to completely empty your soul of negative attitudes, beliefs and emotions and then wait for Him to entirely fill you up with His presence?

Wait… pouring out your heart to your Heavenly Father, praising Him for who He is and what He does for you. Then, sitting motionless, silent and listening we focus on God. What will distract you? Will the phone, hunger pains, stiff muscles, a headache, a knock at the door, sirens in the distance or any other diversion draw you away from sitting quietly before the Lord?

Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is much more intense than practicing a religion. What we do and say matters more than we realize. Our words and actions impact the lives of everyone around us. A curt word in place of encouragement, a smirk instead of a smile or a phony attitude rather than authentic interest will put a wedge between others and us. It will also negatively influence their relationship with Christ.

God is interested in us living in oneness with Christ. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He lives within us. We are not our own, we are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:19). God wants us to break out of the status quo in our churches and in our lives. He calls us to go deeper into the water of His Spirit and to allow Him to carry us to unknown places of service and worship. God calls us to a deeper and deeper relationship with Him on a moment-by-moment basis. Let us set our affections on things above (Colossians 3:2), on the eternal aspects of life. Then we can rise above the limitations of this mundane earthly realm.

God directed Ezekiel to enter the river, rather than to continue standing on the bank. As the prophet describes his experience, the water gets deeper and deeper until he can no longer stand, but must start to swim (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Our natural tendency when traversing a river is to fear drowning or being attacked by some animal from under the water. It is so much easier to stand on the bank, so that we remain safe with our feet planted firmly in the earthly realm of existence.

If we have the courage to enter the river of life, we start in ankle deep water with a shallow relationship with God. We continue to a knee-deep obedience to the Holy Spirit; however, we still attempt to rely on our own works to accomplish great things for God. As the water rises to our waist, we are forced to make a commitment to go all the way with God.

Once our feet leave the ground in deep water, we must turn back, swim or drown. If we dare to swim, we enter into a place of complete surrender to God. This is where we reap the blessings of absolute unity with the Trinity. Our constant awareness of the Almighty brings us into a realm of oneness with Him. This total harmony leads to complete fulfillment for each individual willing to cross the river and enter into the Promised Land (Joshua 3, 4).

Prayer:

Father God, going deeper in our relationship with You is a fearful endeavor. There are so many unknown factors. We do not even fully comprehend the whole picture of what it means for us to walk more deeply in a relationship with You. Help us to have the courage to press on, to set our sights on the prize of Your high calling (Philippians 3:14), and not to get sidetracked or allow fear to deter us. Give us a vision of what it means to go deeper in a relationship with You.

Thought for the Day:

Would you like to go deeper in your relationship with God? Read tomorrow’s post in this blog for more details in: Go Deeper - Part 2.