Jesus Paid it All

When Lucifer rebelled in heaven, God cast him to the earth. He had no power or authority until Adam sinned and turned over the dominion of the earth to him. Thankfully, Jesus stripped Satan of all of his power when Jesus laid down His life on Calvary's cross and rose again from the dead (Matthew 28:18).

Satan's only tool now is deception. Weak-spirited people often fall for his wiles (1 Peter 5:8). Sadly, they think his thoughts are their own. They truly believe they are following their heart, but it is Satan's wishes they are serving. He wraps his thoughts in silver, but it ends up being tin foil. He embellishes his ideas with money and power, but they wind up as addictions, which ruin our life.

Once we come to Christ, we realize that we are now dead to addictions and alive to God (Romans 6:11). We lay our idols at Jesus' feet. We are crucified with Christ. We no longer live according to our ideals and goals, but in God's will by faith in Him who loved us enough to suffer the horrendous torture of Roman cruelty (Galatians 2:20). Jesus paid it all, and now we are free to walk in His new life (Romans 6:4).

Our focus changes to eternal values and we look forward to sitting at God's right hand with Jesus (Colossians 3:1). We read God's Word and see His ministry in the life of His Saints, who are just like us, mere mortals with a heart after God (Acts 13:22). Realizing that we do not need to earn God's love, we rejoice in His free gifts of salvation, redemption and sanctification (Ephesians 2:8; John 3:16-17).

With each new day we fall more in love with our Redeemer and our heart gushes with love and gratitude for all He did, is doing and plans to do for us (Hebrews 9:12). Intimate fellowship with Him fills every moment of our day and night, even in our dreams He speaks to us and we pour out our love to Him. Our favorite past time is praying, Bible reading and listening to His voice.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for taking the form of a man and allowing Jesus to open the way to the Most Holy Place for us to enter (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 10:19). We do not avail our self of this privilege as often as we should, because we focus too much on this life. Remind us that You dwell in us by Your Holy Spirit, and that He is the wind in our sails, which moves us through life according to Your will (Ephesians 2:10: Psalm 139:13)

Thought for the Day:

Fulfillment only comes to our life when we surrender all to God and rely only on His Spirit within us.

The Ebbs of Life

When we mature in Christ, Satan has little victory in tempting us to sin; therefore, He tries oppressing us with a religious demon or he sets us free to work in our human effort until we spiritually, emotionally and physically burnt out. He knows we are set free from the Law of Sin and Death, by the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). So, He impedes our walk with God by keeping us too busy to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25). Submit to God, resist Satan and He will flee (James 4:7).

Our service for God becomes a major detriment to our obedience to God in the ebbs of life. There is no need to over-schedule our day or to pursue anything, which God does not ordain for us to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10). Let God plan your day, so you can walk in His Spirit, doing only those things, which He preordained for you to accomplish (Ephesians 2:10). We can live in God’s rest and enjoy the blessings of His wonderful love every moment of every day (Hebrews 4:10).

Spend time with God, not only on your knees, but in personal communication with Him as you traverse His schedule for your day and night. God desires this intimate relationship with you now and always. He wants to live as your very best friend (Proverbs 18:24), your mate (Isaiah 54:5) and your Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). Walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-25) has nothing to do with human effort and activities, but only on the leading of God’s Spirit.

Some people envy Adam and Eve for visiting with God in person in the garden. I look forward to living with Him in eternity, but I cannot imagine feeling any closer to Him than I do right now. God lives IN us. He is currently closer to every authentic Born Again Believer than we are to our own self. We have this intimate relationship with the Living Lord of all, and we often fail to take advantage of that. Seek the Lord right now, enter His presence and never leave.

Prayer:
Father God, allow me to walk according to Your Spirit today as You direct me, rather than to sit passively and impassively or to burn out by my own hectic schedule. Show me Your path and teach me Your ways (Proverbs 3:5-6). Once we live in Christ Jesus, by surrendering to the cross, we realize we can no longer earn our way to heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9). You have a holy standard for our life and none of us reach it without the perfect, sinless person of Jesus Christ living in and through us each moment of the day.

Thought for the Day:
Too many people today are trying to get into heaven by their own merits and religious works, and it just cannot be done.

- Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23

God Transforms and Establishes Us In Him

We receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, but then we have no idea what to do with Him. Paul tells us to walk in Him, to sink our roots into Him and to be built up in Him. In this way, we are established in our faith and abound in Him for every good work (Colossians 2:6-7). This has nothing to do with the exercise of self-discipline (Galatians 3:1-3). It has everything to do with the grace and mercy of God. Our only command is to believe (John 3:16-18). Yet, God even helps us in our unbelief (Mark 9:23-25).

There are impediments to belief. Our guilt, our penchant toward sin, our carnal flesh, our pride and willfulness, our fears and doubts all plague us. They build a wall around our spiritual growth. Slowly, over the years, God cleanses us from all unrighteousness and demolishes these walls (1 John 1:7-9). He builds up our faith by allowing trials to cleanse us from our deepest fears and insecurities. He whittles away at our pride, and allows us to experience humiliation until we are humbled.

We come to realize that we did not earn our salvation and neither can we earn our sanctification (Galatians 3:1-3). We do not deserve Christ, but He loved us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). God empties us of our self and fills us with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:19). Jesus leads us into a walk of intimate fellowship with Himself. If we sit in His presence and empty our mind of all thoughts and stress, He pours His love over us like a waterfall, until we are saturated with His affection and care.

God fills us with His joy, holiness and spiritual fruit as we come to a place of abiding in His presence each moment of the day (Romans 15:13; Galatians 5:22-23). It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20). He holds us securely in His everlasting arms. We can depend on Him for all of our needs and the strength and wisdom to walk in His will moment by moment throughout the day. We walk in confidence as His Spirit directs our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

If we are in Christ, we lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). He lives the Christian life through us. Due to His presence, we deny our flesh, obey His Spirit’s direction and study His Word to show our self approved and not ashamed (2 Timothy 2:15). We realize that nothing is impossible to those who believe in God (Luke 1:37). Our life depends upon every Word that ensues from His mouth (Matthew & Luke 4:4). God grafts us into the Vine (Jesus) so that we partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Prayer:

Father God, even in our times of remorse and despair, You remind us that we are Your beloved children. You breathe hope, peace and joy into our soul regardless of our circumstances (Jeremiah 29:11). You accomplish Your wondrous work in us and for us, as You work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). We rejoice in Your divinity within us and we thank You for Your presence forevermore (1 Peter 1:4). As our thoughts permanently dwell on You, Your living Word transforms our life into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

Thought for the Day:

We can thoroughly depend upon Christ to fulfill His promises to us, both now on this earth and also in eternity.

 

A Spiritual Overhaul

We receive Christ as our Savior and Lord, but then we have no idea what to do with Him after that! Paul tells us to walk in Him, to sink our roots into Him and to be built up in Him. In this way, He establishes our faith and we abound in Him (Colossians 2:6-7). This has nothing to do with the exercise of self-discipline (Galatians 3:1-3). It has everything to do with the grace and mercy of God. Our only command is to believe (John 3:16-18). Yet, God even helps us in our unbelief (Mark 9:23-25). We do not deserve Christ, but He loved us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

There are impediments to our Christian walk. Our guilt, our penchant toward sin, our carnal flesh, our pride and willfulness, our fears and doubts all plague us. They build a wall around our spiritual growth. However, over the years, God slowly cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9). He builds our faith by allowing trials in the areas of our deepest fears and insecurities. He whittles away at our pride, and allows us to experience humiliation until we are humbled. We come to realize that we did not earn our salvation and neither can we earn our sanctification (Galatians 3:1-3). God slowly empties us of our self and fills us with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:19).

Jesus leads us into a walk of intimate fellowship with Himself. He pours His love over us like a waterfall, until we are saturated with His affection and care. He fills us with His joy, holiness and spiritual fruit as we come to a place of abiding in His presence each moment of the day. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in, through and instead of us (Galatians 2:20). He holds us securely in His everlasting arms. We can depend on Him for all of our needs, even the strength and wisdom to walk in His will moment by moment throughout the day. We walk in confidence in Him as His Spirit directs our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

If we are in Christ, we lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). He lives the Christian life through us. Due to His presence, we deny our flesh, obey His Spirit’s direction and study His Word to show our self approved and not ashamed. We realize that nothing is impossible to those who believe in Him (Luke 1:37). Our life depends upon every Word that ensues from His mouth to our ears (Matthew & Luke 4:4). God grafts us into the Vine of Christ, so that we partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). As our thoughts permanently dwell on Him, His living Word transforms our life into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

Prayer:

Father God, even in our times of remorse and despair, You remind us that we are Your beloved children. You breathe hope, peace and joy into our soul regardless of our circumstances (Jeremiah 29:11). You accomplish Your wondrous work in us and for us, as You work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). We rejoice in Your divinity within us and we thank You for Your presence forevermore (1 Peter 1:4).

Thought for the Day:

We can thoroughly depend upon Christ to fulfill His promises to us both now on this earth and also in eternity.

 

Thank you, Matt Milligan for the use of your photo.
http://www.mattmilliganphotography.com/