The Faith of the Son of God

How can we live by the faith of the Son of God? First and foremost, we live by faith through the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His provision for us of regeneration and resurrection (Galatians 2:20; Titus 3:5).

Prior to Christ's appearing, Believers lived imprisoned under the law, our tutor to bring us to faith in Him. Now that Christ paid the penalty for our sins, we are freed from bondage to the law (Galatians 3:23). We obey through love instead.

We stand firm on our faith in the Rock of Christ throughout the issues of life (2 Corinthians 1:24). We are justified by this solid trust in Calvary's saving grace (Romans 3:30).

Faith has little to do with hope, trust or claiming God’s Word. It has everything to do with Christ who abides within us. If we did not have the faith of Christ within us, we could not have faith in Christ and His redemptive work for us on Calvary’s cross (Ephesians 1:7).

Through faith, we realize that God chose us as His children in Christ (Galatians 3:26). As God's righteous, we live by faith, and hold on to it with a clear conscience (Romans 1:17; 1 Timothy 1:19).

We live in God’s righteousness, not by keeping rules and regulations, but by the faith of Christ to us all (Romans 3:21-22.) We demonstrate our faith through our thoughts, words and deeds (James 2:18).

If we say we trust God, yet never step out in obedience to His will for our life, then what good is our faith? (James 2:14) Faith inspires our actions. Faith and obedience working together are complete (James 2:22).

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for vanquishing our doubts and increasing our faith in Your faithfulness (Romans 14:23). We find our health and strength in the name of Jesus (Acts 3:16). We obey Your direction in our life because of the faith of Christ within us (Hebrews 11:7).

Help us to be examples of sincere faith in You to future generations, so that they too will please You (Hebrews 11:6), grow in their faith, (2 Timothy 1:5) and live blessed lives (Galatians 3:9).

Thought for the Day:

Our genuine faith in God's faithfulness is of much greater eternal value than anything this temporal world has to offer. - 1 Peter 1:7

God in the Darkest Hour

Our human will drives us to retain control of our life and to live as we choose, rather than to live in submission to anyone else. We often feel the need to manage our own life, as well as the life of all those who have influence over our existence in any way. We do not want anyone to disturb the orderly peace we create in our sphere of reality. If anyone tries to disrupt our serenity, we fight them with our whole being.

In reality, we can never attain any amount of true peace through our own vigilance over the order of our life. Our only victory is in submission to God. He teaches us to respond in kindness to those who attempt to abuse us, because we rest in the fact that God will use all of our trials for His glory. When the situation is impossible to bear, we can remove our self from an unsafe or unsavory situation. There, we wait on God to work out everything for our benefit (Romans 8:28).

There is absolutely no reason to divorce another person, even for sexual infidelity. God allows divorce in this case because of uncleanness; but if possible, we simply move out in order to have some space and protection from the situation. God desires reconciliation in every case, where both parties submit to one another and do His will. However, if one person does not want to reconcile, God will always protect His Saints in their darkest hour.

God will influence the offender’s decisions, but He will never force His will on them. He has unconditional patience, giving the hardened person plenty of time to repent and to reconcile. Even Believers, who are imprisoned for their faith and unable to escape, find that He sustains them from the inside out. He gives us His supernatural comfort and joy in our darkest hour, which surpasses all of life's horrifying circumstances, which we are forced to experience (Philippians 4:6-8).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to submit to You rather than to attempt to control our own life. Help us to bear the unsavory circumstances we encounter in this life and to be a witness for You through it all. We will walk by Your Spirit on the narrow road to Heaven. Through Christ in us, help us to influence this generation, which is walking on a wide road that leads to destruction. Use us in our sphere of influence to point people to Jesus, so they will choose to end their life of abuse, addictions, divorce and devastation.

Thought for the Day:

Authentic Christians live in quietness and confidence, which is our strength; and we dwell in peace and safety forever, regardless of our circumstances. – Isaiah 30:15, 32:17-18

 

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