The Gospels of the Bible give us a play-by-play
account of who Jesus was while He lived on the earth. The Epistles denote the power
which Jesus now exercises from within His Body of authentic Believers.
We walk this
earthly realm in the flesh, but through the dealings of God's Spirit within us,
we crucify the flesh and the lusts thereof (2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians
5:24). We no longer live in the flesh (Romans 8:5).
As we walk in the
Spirit (Romans 8:9), the life of Christ is manifested through our physical
existence (2 Corinthians 4:10-11). We live in the world, but we are not part of
it (John 17:16).
Christ performs
His work through us, which God prepared for us before the world ever began
(Ephesians 2:10). Jesus moves into our spirit and we walk with His direction for
each moment of the day (Galatians 5:16, 25).
We are controlled
and guided by the Holy Spirit, who fills us (Ephesians 5:18). This is
accomplished by the particular fruit and gifts of the Spirit, which He provides
for each one of us individually (Ephesians 4:8-16; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians
12:1-11, 27-31).
We submit our
negative thoughts to the Lordship of Jesus Christ for healing. We even lay down
our positive thoughts and adopt His thoughts as our own (Philippians 2:5).
We have the
abiding love and peace of God resident within us (Romans 5:5; Ephesians 2:14). Desiring
to live Godly lives, we have everything we need to achieve this through Christ
Jesus within (2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Peter 1:3).
Prayer:
Father God, as we surrender
our will to Your will, we soon realize that You fill us completely. You lead us
to give the fruit of our labors to our local church and to missionaries doing
Your work, rather than to spend our time, energy and resources on frivolous
amusements and earthly treasures. The earthly is here today, but gone tomorrow;
yet Your work lasts into eternity (1 Corinthians 1:9, 6:17; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians
1:3-14, 4:32, 5:22-33; Galatians 5:22-23; Acts 15:28).
We want to do only Your will with our life. Following
the leading of Your Holy Spirit moment by moment throughout the day results in
physical productivity, a healthy mental and emotional life, spiritual
advantages and material blessings which we cannot even begin to imagine until
we walk in Your ways!
Thought for the Day:
When Christ is foremost in our thoughts and we pray
about His order for our day, even cleaning the house, tending the children,
working in the secular world, ministering at church, preparing meals and
spending time with our family is the result of a spirit-filled life.
