God made many covenants with the Old Testament Saints,
which He keeps even to this day. Then He sent Jesus to make a new covenant with
those born after the Messiah's birth (Matthew 26:28).
Anyone humble enough to receive Him receives eternal life
in return (John 3:16-17). He replaces our human, uncircumcised heart of stone
with His heart of flesh and makes us a new creation in Christ (Romans 2:29;
Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
This new life in Christ enables us to mature spiritually
and allows God's Spirit to conform us the image of Jesus, the Christ (Romans
8:29). The Spirit spurs us to desire more of God and a more intimate union with
the Trinity within us.
He gives us the desires of our heart - not the carnal
aspects which we covet from this world, but He puts His desires in our heart to
replace our carnal, fleshly ones - which would not make us happy anyway (Psalm
37:4).
He does not fulfill our lusts for better health, a bigger
home, sportier luxury car, lucrative job and a Hollywood model for a mate,
which do not fulfill us when we get them. He gives us what we need to succeed
in His calling for our life.
Existing only to do the will of our Father, Jesus lived
in contentment, even through the crucifixion and death on the cross. He kept
His focused on the prize of glory ahead of Him (Hebrews 12:2).
Jesus gave us this example of how to live our own life.
He glorified God with His life and completed the work which God gave Him to do
during His lifetime on earth (John 17:4). We can do this too.
We delight in the Lord each moment of our day, content
with His provision and wanting nothing more than to serve Him in any way He
chooses. We rejoice as we see Him transforming us into the image of Christ and
readily relinquish the earthly ties which hold us back from following hard
after Him (Psalm 63:8).
Prayer:
Father God, circumcise our heart of the excess flesh
which surrounds us, and set us free to serve You with abandon and dedication.
Allow us to find our fulfillment, not in the things of this world, but in
service to You each moment of our day. Our true joy comes from living in the
center of Your will.
You did not create us to be happy in this world, but to
live holy lives - consecrated to You in the same degree of covenant promise that
You give to us. When we do, we find a joy that is deeper than the fleeting
happiness we obtain from worldly prizes, and we live in eternal peace which
starts the moment we surrender our life to Your love.
Thought for the Day:
Living in the center of God's will is very satisfying and
brings us a more lasting joy than we can receive from anything this world has
to offer.
