A Faithful Life

At times, we make poor choices and allow them to define who we are, causing us to live in a downward spiral with one destructive choice after another.

God calls us to gain our self-image and fulfillment from His presence in our life and to follow His will for our career, relationships and all of our decisions (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 12:2).

We often worry about what others will think of us, especially those significant others in our life; however, God's opinion of us is all that really matters.

There is no need to covet what this world has to offer, because this will cause us to stray from the truth and bring us many trials and sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10).

Clinging to Christ allows us to hold fast to our faith in His faithfulness with a clear conscience (1 Timothy 1:19, 3:9, 4:1). We obtain eternal life both now and in eternity by entering an intimate relationship now with God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3; 1 Timothy 6:12).

As a good example of an authentic Believer, we traverse the issues of life with love, patience, meekness, holiness, purpose and moderation in all things (1 Timothy 2:15, 4:12, 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22, 3:10).

We teach God's Word to our children and live a Godly example before them (2 Timothy 3:15). Showing our humanity as well as our growing maturity in our faith; so they will know it is possible for them to walk in the Lord all the days of their life as well.

Prayer:

Father God, give us Your love and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and toward all of Your Saints (Philemon 1:5). We acknowledge that our faith is effective, because every good thing we are and possess come from You (Philemon 1:6). We want to inherit Your Kingdom through the faith and promises You teach us during our lifetime (Hebrews 6:12; 2 Peter 1:4).

We draw ever closer to You with a true heart full of the assurance of faith, which You give us when You cleanse our conscience and desires with the pure water of Your Word (Hebrews 10:22-23; Ephesians 5:26). Help us to live by the faith and the example of the great cloud of witnesses who went on before us (Hebrews 11:1-39, 12:1-3).

Thought for the Day:

Our goal in life is to utter these words with our final breath: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my race and I have kept my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." - 2 Timothy 4:7

Standing Firm in Our LIberty

 

The Liberty, which comes from Christ, sets us free from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and the presence of sin in our life (Galatians 5:1; Romans 6:14). We are truly free from ties to this earthly realm and given the power of the godhead in the spiritual realm (John 8:36).

We stand firm in our liberty through the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and no longer allow the law of the spirit of sin and death to rob us our place of right-standing with God (Romans 8:2).

The truth of God's Word continues to set us free from bondage to sin and makes us bond servants to the righteousness of Christ in us (John 6:18, 8:32). We reap the rewards of holiness and inherit eternal life (Romans 6:22).

We belong to the body of Christ, raised from the dead to bear fruit for God (Romans 7:4). His Spirit even gives us life in our mortal body (Romans 8:11) and heals our soul - our mind, will and emotions (Psalm 23:3).

Since this life is only temporary, and what is unseen is eternal, we focus on the unseen spiritual world, regardless of what occurs around us on this earth (2 Corinthians 4:18).

In this world we have tribulation and experience many negative events full of suffering; yet, the Lord delivers us out of them all (John 16:33; Psalm 34:19). He turns our sorrow into gladness and we dance before Him in joy (Psalm 30:11).

God gives us His eternal wisdom, which is pure, peaceful, gentle, reasonable, without hypocrisy, full of mercy and produces good fruit. We sow this seed of righteousness in peace and reap peace in return (James 3:17-18).

We walk in God's love, which frees us from the condemnation of sin and gives us hope for an eternal future (Romans 8:1). We stop focusing on this world and the content of our life here and now. We dwell in the Spirit and interpret life through the Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that through Your wisdom and love we assist Your Body, meeting the needs of each member through serving in ministries in our local church family. We also reach out into our community; making a larger impact on our world by changing lives one at a time. As we serve those considered least in our world, we actually serve You (Matthew 25:31-46).

Remind us to maintain an eternal focus and not to pursue worldly gain during our lifetime, but to store up our treasures in heaven by walking in Your will for our life through each moment of our day (Matthew 6:19-21). We love You with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind and thank You for setting us free in the liberty, which only Christ can give (Luke 10:27).

Thought for the Day:

Through the perfect law of liberty, we serve God and the world around us by the direction of God's Holy Spirit and in the perfect will of God for our life. 

- James 1:25; Galatians 5:13; 2 Corinthians 3:17 

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for sharing his photo.

To Those Who Overcome

All of my Christian life, I heard the verses to the churches in Revelation containing promises to those who overcome. I do not have the moral fiber, mental strength or physical stamina to overcome anything. In other words, I am a wimp!

Whenever I saw or heard those verses, I cringed and shut down mentally and emotionally. As a new Believer, life still frightened me; and yet, I wanted to receive those promises to the overcomer.

Recently, my pastoral husband preached about living as an overcomer and his sermon gave me the key verse that I missed all of these years (1 John 4:4, 5:1-5). We overcome not in our human ability, but through Christ in us (John 16:33; James 1:2-3).

Whoever is born of God automatically overcomes the world, because our faith in Jesus as the Son of God gives us the victory (1 John 5:45). Jesus already overcame the world and He abides in us.

Even in suffering, we glorify God by our example as patient victims (1 Peter 4:12-16; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). In heaven, we will receive these promises to the overcomer:  

• We will eat of the tree of life and hidden manna, and we will receive the white stone of acquittal for our sins along with a new name (Revelation 2:7, 17; 3:12).

• We will rule the nations (Revelation 2:26) and we will be clothed in white, which is the purity of our works (Revelation 19:8).

• We will have our name written in the Lambs’ Book of Life (Revelation 3:5), we will forever serve as a pillar of strength in the temple of our God (Revelation 3:12).

• We will sit with Christ on His throne (Revelation 3:21).

• We will inherit all things as co-heirs with Christ as Children of God (Revelation 21:27).

• We will not experience the second, spiritual death in hell (Revelation 2:11).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to do for us what we could never do for our self. Thank Your for taking away the shame and condemnation of our sins, and for making us acceptable in Your beloved family (Ephesians 1:6). Christ in us makes us overcomers, because we are born again of His Spirit and we have faith in His faithfulness (1 John 5:4-5).

If we could live for thousands of years, we would never have enough time to praise You for what You already did and still do for us every day. We look forward to living for eternity in Your Kingdom and to giving You the glory forever and ever. Amen.

​Thought for the Day:

Christ in us will overcome anything, which the world, the devil and our flesh throws at us (Galatians 2:20); we are more than conquerors through Christ who lives in us (Romans 8:31-39).