The Pinnacle of Spiritual Heights

 

At the moment of our salvation we received the fullness of the Trinity with all of the spiritual fruit, power, strength and love we will ever need (Romans 8:11). The God of light in us is greater than all of the satanic spiritual forces of darkness, which formerly ruled our life (Ephesians 6:12). We receive a fresh filling of God's Spirit to do God's will during each moment of the day (Ephesians 5:18).

Regardless of our human failings and foibles, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things (Hebrews 11:1-40). The indwelling presence of Christ in us allows us to execute greater works than Jesus did while He lived on this earth (John 14:12). His power and anointing in the collective Body of Christ multiplies His presence in the earth now that He sits at the Father's side (1 Corinthians 12:27; Mark 16:19).

Every trial we suffer proves our faith to be authentic and produces praise, glory and honor when Jesus returns. Although we have never seen the Lord, we know Him because He dwells within us. We love Him, because He first loved us. He fills our heart with wondrous joy and peace, which defies human logic and description (1 John 4:19; 1 Peter 1:5-9; John 3:18). Our union with Him sets us apart.

Our faith in Christ secures our eternal salvation. God is our righteous Father who wants obedient children to totally trust in and fully surrender to Him. The closer we draw to our Father God, the more we cry out for more intimacy with Him. We can never experience all of God until eternity; yet, we climb ever higher toward the pinnacle of spiritual heights.

Prayer:

Father God there is never a moment in our life when we are not in Your presence. We try to hide from You at times, ashamed of our behavior, but You are always there (Psalm 139:1-16). We never experience one negative or positive aspect of life alone, because You dwell within us. Daily, we ask Your Holy Spirit to control our every thought, word and deed for Your glory (Colossians 3:17). Compel us by our absolute love for You (Mark 12:30) and Your love in us for others (1 John 4:7) to share the Gospel of Christ with whoever will listen (Matthew 28:19-20).

Thought for the Day:

Walk in the Spirit and you will live in the love of God as you reside in the will of God.

God is Our Everything

My mind is thinking in the letter “p” today. I was worshipping our Father and I realized that He is our passionate, peerless, powerful and patient Provider, Protector, Pilot, Patron, Physician and Purifier. You can probably add to that list, but you get the point. God is our everything (Ephesians 4:6).

He blesses, heals, directs, provides, strengthens, keeps us safe, corrects us and makes us holy. He supplies all of our needs (Philippians 4:19), heals our broken heart and bandages our every wound (Psalm 147:3). At times, we cause our own trials by our thoughts, words and deeds. However, if we repent and submit to God, He will control everything that happens to us.

We can have faith in His faithfulness, because He works out even the most negative of circumstances for our good (Romans 8:28). Therefore, we can live a life of peace and joy, because He provides blessings even in the worse trial (James 1:2; Job 1:21). Ultimately, when we pass the test, we receive the crown of life, promised to those who love the Lord (James 1:12).

God is faithful and gives us a plan to escape every temptation, which Satan uses to snare us (1 Corinthians 10:13). He brings us out of bondage to the degradation of sin, regenerates our soul, renews our mind and leads us into His tranquil rest here on this earth and then into eternity when our life here is done (1 John 1:9; Hebrews 4:10; Psalm 139:16; Ephesians 4:24).

God gives us an abundant life with blessings and peace, which defies human logic (Philippians 4:7). By His death, Christ destroyed the hold, which death has on us (1 Corinthians 15:26). A life lived in His righteousness is the pathway to bypass many negative aspects in this world, even death (Proverbs 12:28). We pass right through death to be with the Lord (John 5:24, 11:25; 2 Corinthians 5:8), where we shall live eternally (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Prayer:

Father God, You lead us to obey Your will for our life (John 15:10), to live in a pure and righteous manner (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7), to pray constantly, to rejoice in every situation and to be grateful for Your provision (Psalm 100, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Eternal life is Your gift to us, which starts the minute of our Salvation (Romans 6:23). Life gets sweeter as the days go by, our intimacy with You increases and our fellowship with You remains unbroken. We praise You for the multitude of blessings You provide for us each day.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus rendered Satan powerless and freed all of us who were in slavery to him all of our lives. - Hebrews 2:14-18

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Surrender?

 

The world rejects the idea of surrendering. They equate surrender with giving up, and with loss and defeat. However, when we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ we release all the stress and striving in our life. In return, we gain the fruit of His Spirit, which defy all human logic (Galatians 5:22-23). Surrender means to trust God and to stop struggling to live on our own in this hostile environment we call “life”. Surrender results in our absolute submission to God’s leading for each moment of our day. In return, we receive His deepest presence in our life along with a multitude of blessings (Job 22:21).

The easiest way to walk in surrender is to start obeying the Spirit’s direction in small increments. For instance, we prefer our mate’s needs to our own. We put money in the offering basket that we intended to use for some luxury. We take food to a sick friend when we prefer to stay home and watch TV. We give our bicycle to a family without transportation. We relinquish our right, as Jesus did, to prove that we are innocent. We do not assume the attitude of a martyr; but we obey the Spirit’s promptings with joy, knowing that God provides us with an abundance of every good thing (Hebrews 12:2).

In our old life we surrendered to sin, but now we have a new Master and He truly sets us free (Romans 6:16-18). Dying to self is not detestable when we know it results not only in future treasures in Heaven for eternity, but also in joy and peace now. This eternal perspective allows us to pass through the less agreeable moments of surrender more easily. When God calls us to submission to His greater will, we offer our life to Him. We relinquish our personal freedom and He replaces it with spiritual freedom, which is deeper and reaps lasting blessings in our spirit, body and soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions.

We surrender our life to Christ each new day, giving to Him the issues that weigh us down, seeking His guidance for each moment and giving Him the glory for everything we accomplish (Galatians 3:1-3). The areas of our life that we refuse to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ are the venues that imprison us. They are idols that we cherish more than our relationship with our living Lord. If we walk through life in obedience to the Holy Spirit, we reap blessings that never end. A life of half-hearted commitment may lose its tranquility and happiness, but a surrendered life provides overwhelming peace and joy.

There is no lasting freedom outside of a complete surrender to Christ (Luke 14:33). We not only commit our life to Christ, but also we surrender our works, talents and accomplishments to His Lordship and direction. We view our life from His vantage point and we see the people in it as our mission field. Our family, neighbors, friends, workmates, associates, and even the check out people at the retail store or those waiting on us at the restaurant are hand-chosen by God for us to influence for His Kingdom. When we live in Christ and allow Him to live in, through and instead of us, we shed the skin of our old life and live as His new creation for the glory of God (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, help us to follow You by denying our desires and dying to our selfishness. If we try to preserve our life, we will ultimately lose it; but if we surrender our life to You for Your sake, and give up our plans, goals and ambitions for You, then we will gain a more fulfilling and joy-filled life (Matthew 16:25; Philippians 3:8). We realize that gaining the world does not satisfy, because we will lose our own soul. But following You gives us unending peace and joy (Matthew 16:24-26).
 

Thought for the Day:

The moments we live in surrender to God are more richly experienced and completely fulfilling than any others.

 

Thank you, Megapixel Mike, for this serene photo.
http://www.flickr.com/mrickard5

Dynamite Power

The word “dunimis”, pronounced “doo’-nam-is”, is the root for our word “dynamite”. It means to have the power residing within, by virtue of its nature. It allows a person or thing to put forth this dynamite power for performing spectacular events. This is the same word used to describe the power by which Jesus raised Himself from the dead. Jesus claimed that no one could take His life from Him and only He had the “dunimis” power to raise it up again (John 10:18).

Once we come to Christ through salvation, all of this “dunimis” power is also resident within us. It is equal to a zillion fireworks going off inside of us at one time. Christ’s light shines in our hearts. We radiate Christ to the world in the same way that a light bulb radiates light. The light does not come from the bulb, but from the electricity flowing to the bulb. The power in us does not come from us, but from God’s “dunimis” power working in us and lighting up our world through us.

We contain Christ in the same way that a glass contains water. The container is not the object of focus, the water is. We usually do not pick up a glass to admire it, but to drink from it. Although we are simple “clay jars”, made from the dust of the earth, we contain God’s greatest treasure, Jesus Christ, who actually lives within every Born Again Believer (Colossians 1:27). Satan wants us to focus on our failings, and he tries to make us feel like failures. However, if Christ is in us, although our body is dead in sin, God’s Spirit gives us life (Romans 8:10). God fills us with His Spirit to sanctify us and to complete us in Christ (1 Corinthians 6:11; Colossians 2:10).

When we recognize the truth that we are dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God, we step aside and allow Christ to live through us (Colossians 3:3; Galatians 2:20). Our light will shine so brightly that people will see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16). We are so united with Christ that His thoughts fill our mind, His wisdom directs our steps, His life flows through us like a river and His love radiates in us and from us (Philippians 2:5; James 1:5; John 7:38; Isaiah 58:11). We do not focus on the mundane activities of life. We keep our mind on Christ and live in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

There is a balance between living in the flesh and living in the Spirit. The key is to walk in the Spirit 24/7. That is a challenge at first, but it gets easy with practice. We follow His peace within our spirit, and do not consider human logic and reasoning. Christ in us wants to live His life through us, while we work at our job, care for our home and family and community, and minister to our church family. We just follow the leading of God's Spirit moment by moment and we live in fullness of joy, even in negative circumstances (Psalm 16:11). Our Father is always well pleased with us (Matthew 3:17).

Prayer:

Father God, Your grace draws us to Jesus, keeps us pursuing holiness and finishes our perfection through sanctification (1 John 3:2). Jesus is our advocate with You (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us before You (Romans 8:26). You each have your function as a person of the Trinity and You complete us within and without (Colossians 2:10). You direct our steps and use us for Your glory to advance Your Kingdom in the earth (Luke 17:21).

Thought for the Day:

Living in the center of God’s will is the happiest place on earth.






Thank you, Flowers With Heart, for the use of your photo.