Our Eternal Destination

We care for our body with proper rest, exercise and nutrition, but we do not live for our body. It exists to encase our soul and spirit (1 Corinthians 9:27). One day we will fold up our human body like a tent and go to be with the Lord in the house, which He went to Heaven to prepare for us (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; John 14:2-3).

When our body dies, we put it in the ground, or we cremate it and scatter it to the wind; but our soul and spirit continue to live on into eternity. Our eternal destination is determined by the choices we make while living on this earth. God loves everyone in the world and does not condemn anyone to hell; but those who choose not to accept Christ as their Savior will spend eternity there (John 3:16-18).

As an authentic Christian, our identity during our lifetime is found in Christ alone. We even see Christ in one another when He replaces our human character and nature (2 Corinthians 5:16;  2 Peter 1:4). We are not drawn to the person with fancy clothes, a handsome personal appearance or worldly assets, but to one with a meek and gentle spirit, which exudes the love of Christ (1 Peter 3:4; 1 Corinthians 13:13).

For the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior and who repents of their sin, we are present with the Lord at the exact moment that our soul and spirit leave our body at death (2 Corinthians 5:8). When we see Jesus, our body will rise from the grave and be reunited with our soul and spirit as an immortal body. We will be just like Jesus after His resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 1 John 3:2).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to de-emphasize our physical characteristics and possessions and to focus on the Christ in each of us. Teach us to choose friends who will spur us on to love and good works, rather than those who encourage us to partake in the works of the flesh (Hebrews 10:24-25; Galatians 5:19-21). Remind us that we will reap the choices, which we sow during our lifetime, whether good or bad. Draw those we love to Your heart, and help them to repent and to choose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, so that they will not spend eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15; Luke 16:24-26).

Thought for the Day:

As selfishness, pride and flesh decrease in us, God can fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness.

- John 3:30; Ephesians 3:19

Yoke Fellows

In our former unsaved life, this world’s system drove us into a frantic pace. We lived for the week-end and filled our free time as full as our work day. Nothing really satisfied us, and we tried many avenues of adventure and recreation in order to find that activity, which would bring us contentment. We even tried God, but were turned off by some church members or the tragedy in this world.

Then, one day someone presented to us the gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that it pierced like an arrow right into our heart. We knew without a doubt that the vacuum in our life could only be satisfied with a personal, intimate relationship with the God of the universe who created us in the first place. We see that complete surrender is the only key to a God-honoring, productive and fulfilling life.

We seek out the fellowship of other Believers. We no longer demand our own way, but we submit to God’s will and consult His plans for each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6). This would be impossible, except for the fact that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are grafted onto the Vine of Christ and God is the vine dresser.

Jesus tells us to take His yoke upon us, because it is easy and light (Matthew 11:30). When we hook up with Christ in His yoke and move in tandem with Him, our day is more successful and we are more fulfilled. If we get out from under His yoke, or if we pull Him in our direction, we only end up frustrating our self and getting out of God’s will for us. As a yoke fellow with Jesus we have His peace and joy.

Prayer:

Father God, Your love for humanity knows no bounds; and yet, people fail to see Your heart. They read Your Word and see only Your justice and interpret that as malevolence. They think you are supposed to act according to human standards of love, permissiveness would be a better word. However, Your love is righteous and always just. Open the eyes of the unbelievers to see their need for Your love and protection.

Thought for the Day:

Freedom comes with surrender to the love of Christ resident within us.

The Fullness of Christ in Us

 

As our focus on our self decreases, Christ increases within us (John 3:30). Through His divine power, God gave us everything we need to live a godly life. In our union with Jesus we possess and function through His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). We are God’s offspring and He gave us the divine nature of Christ, which infuses every part of our body, soul and spirit (Acts 17:28-19). We are transformed with ever-increasing glory into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2).

Jesus is the exact image of God and contains all the attributes and character of God (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4). God desires to bring forth His attributes and character within us too. In Him, we live and move and have our total existence (Acts 17:28). He dwells in us and works through us (2 Corinthians 6:16). We have everything that Christ has, and all we have is His. Christ is glorified in us (John 17:10).

We are fully human, just as Jesus was on the earth; but we also contain Christ in us, who is fully divine. In our union with Jesus we live in His divine nature, and His divine nature manifests in and through us (2 Peter 1:4). God wants us to cease from our efforts, so we can enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:10). We have the same chance, which Jesus did, of living a Spirit-filled life (Galatians 5:16, 25).

Through experience in walking in God, we actually become the love of Christ. We are filled throughout our entire body, soul and spirit with all of God’s fullness. We possess the richest measure of His divine presence within us, and we are wholly filled and flooded to overflowing with God Himself (Ephesians 3:19, Amplified Bible). It is not we who are able to do all things, but Christ in us, who does all things through us (Philippians 4:13).

Christ uses us and works through us in His divine power. All He wants us to do is to lay down our humanity and follow the leading of His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. Then, it is no longer us, but Christ living in and through us (Galatians 2:20). His Holy Spirit sanctifies us throughout our lifetime until we are perfected according to the quality of the fullness of Christ’s stature (Ephesians 4:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we dwell in Your love, we have faith. When we walk in Your faith, we have hope. When we live in Your hope, we walk in righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17). Help us to lay down our life and to follow the direction of Your Spirit throughout our day; so that we can walk in Your works (John 10:38; Ephesians 2:8-10). Lead us by Your Spirit and help us to cease from our own labors and to enter into Your rest (Hebrews 4:10).

Thought for the Day:

Negative emotions illuminate the areas in our life where we still have idols. As we repent of them, Christ takes them from us. Then, Satan has fewer and fewer areas where he can hinder our walk in Christ.

Divine Union with Christ

 

Holiness is the bond of our union with Christ in us. As Christ sanctifies our soul, this bond also produces unity with God in wisdom, love, joy, power, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control, spiritual vision and faith, which flow from His divine nature within us. This Godly character enables us to minister to those to whom God leads us and gives us the opportunity to allow Christ’s light in us to shine in such a supernatural way that people will see us, yet glorify our Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Prior to living a Christ-centered life, we served others out of obligation, or from a desire to be loved in return. With obligation as our motive, we set our self up for disappointment, emotional exhaustion, anger, resentment and bitterness to take root in our soul. However, once Christ’s Spirit transforms our old, carnal nature, we serve others from our love for Him instead. We do all things as unto the Lord (Ephesians 6:7; Colossians 3:23). We no longer serve to the point of burning out or subsisting with overwhelming negative emotions.

With our love for Christ as our motive and our focus, we follow the Spirit in everything we say and do. It is our pleasure to please Him in thought, word and deed. The more united we are with God in faith, love and wisdom, the easier it will be for us to unite with His will for our life. This is the only way we receive true freedom and fulfillment from our union with the divine Trinity. Jesus was our supreme example of this. He did nothing that He did not see our Father doing first. Jesus’ fullness of joy came from doing only our Father’s will (John 4:34, 6:38).

God is our eternal fountain of blessings and the provision of everything we need to live in godliness and to share His truth with others. When we only serve as the Holy Spirit directs us, our heart is soon full of praise to our Father God. Our prayers are less often filled with requests for our self, because we know that God already supplies all of our needs according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19). The holier our heart and life, the more triumphant, joyous and relieved we feel in our daily life.

Now that we are born of God, we dwell in love, because God is love. We exhibit His love to the hopeless masses of humanity around us as the Holy Spirit directs us. We live a successful life as we function in the center of our Father’s will, performing only those deeds planned for us prior to the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:10). Our faith in His faithfulness increases beyond the temporal aspects of life, and soars with God’s Spirit into the eternal realm. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us until we are perfected in the image of Christ within us.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, in our union with You, we merge the human with the divine, the natural with the supernatural, ignorance with wisdom, the lesser with the greater and the inferior with the superior. We find a fountain of supply for all of our needs in the provision of Your divine love. We thank You for submitting Your will to God’s in order to provide us with freedom from sin and eternal salvation through your death and resurrection.

Thought for the Day:

Whoever abides in the will of God, shall live forever in eternity.
– 1 John 2:17