The Purpose of LIfe

As authentic Christians, we now live by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). Our transformation rests firmly on the rock of the gospel of Christ through His Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2; Psalm 18:2).

We live by His faith in love, filled with the fruit of and following the leading of God’s Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis (Galatians 5:1; 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:18).

We no longer strive to earn God’s love or to live a holy life. We simply walk in obedience. We live on earth to glorify our Father, not by our own human efforts, but only by the power of Christ within us.

Jesus loves us so much, that for our benefit he gave Himself up to the horrific death on Calvary’s cross. Through His sacrifice, we are now acceptable to God in Christ (1 Peter 2:5; Romans 15:7).

We have been crucified with Christ. Therefore, it is no longer we who live our life, but Christ, the Messiah, who lives in and through us.

The life that we now live in our body on this earth, we live by faith in, devotion to, dependence on and complete confidence in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20, Amplified Bible).

Jesus is our only hope of experiencing God’s glory (Colossians 1:27). We could never be good enough in our human effort to earn a place in Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-10).

We completely surrender our plans, goals and will to God’s will for our life and we live in perfect union with Christ. Our old sinful nature is crucified with Christ, and sin has no more power over our choices.

Prayer:

Father God, You planned, before You ever created the earth, for Jesus to give up His glory in Heaven, to take the form of a man, to humble Himself and to willingly die in our place (Philippians 2:8). You call us to follow in His example and to die to our humanity as well, exchanging our sinful desires for His righteousness.

Now, by Your Spirit's power within us, we can put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). Therefore, because of Your mercy and grace, we will no longer succumb to the negative suggestions of our carnal nature, but we live a life that is free from the destructive consequences of sin (Romans 12:2; Galatians 5:16).

Thought for the Day:

We renew our mind by reading God's Word and walking in continual obedience to His Holy Spirit.

- Ephesians 5:26; John 14:15

We Will See Jesus - Part 2

  

Many people find God after the failure of all of their hopes and dreams, health and wealth, loss of family and friends, etc. How much better it is to come to Christ humbly, without any loss at all.

If we seek God for our own rewards, we have not found Him. We find a false Christ, the devil in disguise, and our works will burn up in the Day of Judgment like wood, hay and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:12-13; Matthew 24:24).

If we resent the work we do for the Lord, it is clearly birthed from our human efforts and not by obedience to His Spirit. For where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty and peace (2 Corinthians 3:17).

God has no fellowship with darkness (1 John 1:6); so, when we indulge in sin, we separate our self from His life-giving presence (Romans 3:11). Yet, God became man to reconcile us back to Himself (Romans 5:10).

God humbled Himself and became lower than the angels in order to unite us forever with Himself (Hebrews 2:7). Turning in repentance from our carnal ways and walking in obedience to God's Spirit is the guarantee that we will see Jesus (John 12:23).

In the disfiguring scourging, Christ no longer resembled a man. On the cross, He willingly gave His life for us all. Only in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ can we see the manifest essence of God (John 10:30).

Whatever we do, even as mundane as what we eat and drink, we do to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). No illicit sexual relationship, no intoxicating drink and no unwholesome food enters our body, which is the temple of God's Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Our ultimate purpose in life is to glorify God and to enjoy His attention on a continual basis as we walk in obedience with our entire body, soul and spirit. We find fulfillment in no other pursuit on this earth.

Prayer:

Father God, unless we become as little children, with simple trust and adoration for You, we will not enter Your Kingdom (Matthew 18:3). Our relationship with You is not some mystical union, but real and tangible in our spirit and soul (1 Corinthians 6:17).

As sinners, we recognize our need for salvation, and that redemption and sanctification only come through the presence of Christ in us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). Our powerful revelation of who You are stirs our heart with joy and our tongue with praise (Psalm 126:2).

Thought for the Day:

We achieve the most for God in acts of obedience, rather than sacrifice.

- Ecclesiastes 5:1; Ephesians 2:10 

Why Forgiveness is the Best Option

Every person ever born deserves to go to hell. We can never be good enough to deserve a place with God in heaven. Earning our own forgiveness is out of the question. Disobedience brought sin into the world and only obedience to God’s Will can free us from its penalty. God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 103:17).

God does not expect us to arrive at perfection by our own efforts. He gives us both the desire and the power to live a righteous life (Philippians 2:12-13). We are human with our own distinct set of flaws and foibles. Our idiosyncrasies are no better or worse than any one else’s. Therefore, we have no reason to expect perfection from our self or from any other person.

However, God wants nothing less than our perfection in Christ. God is all about grace. He wants us to use mercy and grace when we deal with our self and others (Luke 6:36). God desires that we forgive our self and others as well (Ephesians 4:31, 32). We are all wounded souls attempting to survive in this world. Mercy is as important to God as justice.

The Pharisees attempted to please God by adding to His law. They believed that more rules were better. Jesus set them straight. God calls us to forgive each other, to show compassion and mercy in the same way that God forgave us through Christ (Ephesians 4:32). If we fail to comply, then we open the door to Satan. He works havoc in our life and defeats us at every turn.

If we fail to forgive, we also allow our enemies to persecute us (Matthew 18:34-35). We tie God’s hands with our unforgiveness and He cannot forgive us either (Matthew 6:14). We will prevent Satan from interfering in our life, if we choose to forgive (2 Corinthians 2:10-11). We will also allow God to forgive us. Forgive does not let the troublemaker off the hook, it puts them in God’s vengeful hands and sets us free (Romans 12:19).

Prayer:

Father God, when You ask us to forgive, you know that we are still hurting from the abuse inflicted on us by the perpetrator. Our feelings of unforgiveness allow the offender to control a part of our life. We will never forget the infraction, but forgiveness lessons the pain of it in our soul.

Thought for the Day:

Forgive as You have been forgiven. – Hebrews 10:17

You Will Be Amazed

 

Most people have no idea how electricity, the weather, the human body or the universe works, but we believe these things nonetheless. We do not have to understand God’s mysteries to believe them either. God’s Kingdom is full of mysteries, which God asks us to fully embrace, even if we do not actually understanding how they work. For instance, Christ dwells in us by His Spirit, works through us, and we abide in Him. We believe this by faith.

We did not acquire our talents, skills, resources and energy by our human efforts. God gave them to us. He does not want us to use them for Him. We get in His way when we try to work for God on our own. God wants to use these assets through us. He wants us to realize that we are actually dead, and we are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We have no human ability to accomplish anything for God. We simply need to stop our human efforts, enter His rest (Hebrews 4:10), and allow Him to use our body, soul and spirit for His glory.

We do not need to understand this in order to follow God’s directions. We simply surrender to His will each day and go where the Spirit leads us. We work and bless others wherever He directs us. We come to know Christ more intimately with each moment we spend in fellowship with Him. He already prepared works that He wants to accomplish through us (Ephesians 2:8-10). We just need to get out of God’s way and give Him full reign with our life.

We do not need any program to witness or to help other people, because Christ will work instead of us. He wants to use our spirit, body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions – to accomplish His will in our world. We simply abide in Christ as He dwells in us. We cease from our human efforts and allow Christ to accomplish His will through us. We will say and do what the Spirit directs, and we will be amazed at all He accomplishes by the end of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, fill us through all of our being with all of Your fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19). We submit to Your Spirit, unreservedly cling to Christ and refuse to rely on our own understanding any longer. We believe that Christ will do His work through the power of Your Spirit instead of us. We do not want to hinder You by our need to understand or to control our activities. We totally surrender to Your will and direction moment by moment. 

Thought for the Day:

The sap of God’s Spirit flows through us and bears fruit, sometimes in spite of us!

 

Spiritual Eyes Enlightened

 

 

We humans run through life at a full tilt, feeling guilty over the past, worried about the future and missing the here and now. We live for the weekend, losing opportunities during the week to look for God’s guidance in the midst of our busy schedules. We sacrifice quietude for busyness in order to fill every moment of our day with material gain and accomplishment. We miss the adventures, which God has for us in each moment of our life

We accomplish nothing for God through our human striving. We also attempt to manufacture times of rest by reserving a vacation in the mountains, on the beach, on cruises or in resort areas. While this is often enjoyable, our only true rest comes by ceasing our human efforts and entering God’s rest through Christ within us (Hebrews 4:10). In the most stress-filled moments of our life, let’s retreat to that still, small place within our spirit where God’s Spirit waits for us.

It is only in the center of God’s will that we find true rest. Christ’s presence in our life makes all things more beautiful. A short break in your schedule to take a walk in nature will renew your soul. Relish the cool breeze coming off the water, the shade trees swaying in the breeze, the massive clouds collecting along the edge of the landscape, the vibrant flowers and lush green trees, the ancient oaks draped with Spanish moss, as well as meeting new people strolling through the park on their way to or from home or work.

Little do we realize that our best achievements occur only in the center of God’s will. There is no need for us to be anxious about anything. If we put God’s Kingdom as a priority in our life and seek Him with all of our heart – not part of our life, not just our Sunday morning, not just when it is convenient and there is nothing else going on in our life. Then, he can provide our life with everything we need (Matthew 6:28-33). We want to live a life that is pleasing in God’s sight (Hebrews 13:20).

We stop planning our works for God, in which we hope to obtain recognition, and we quietly go about our day. We follow the leading of His Spirit and do the works, which He ordained for us to do before we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10). We completely surrender our life to the great “I am” (Exodus 3:14). Christ totally permeates every chamber in our body, soul and spirit until we are infused with the Divine nature of Christ in us (2 Peter 1:4). Jesus lives His life in and through us.

Prayer:

Father God, we want to see the reality of Your Trinity dwelling in us in peace, and living with us in one accord throughout our everyday life (Romans 15:33, 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 4:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). Supply us with everything we need to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12). We totally trust You with our life, as well as the moment of our death (Philippians 4:6-7). We do not rely on our human comprehension, but we pray that our spiritual eyes may be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18).

Thought for the Day:

Cease from striving; be still, and come to the personal realization the God truly wants to reign in your life. – Psalm 46:10