God's Kingdom Within Us

God gives us His salvation, so that we might share in His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Before we came to Christ, our spirit was dead in our sins, but Jesus delivered us from eternal damnation in hell (Ephesians 2:5).

He provides pardon for our sins, comfort in our affliction, strength to overcome adversity, the promise of a glorious resurrection, and life everlasting with Christ and all of the Saints.

Jesus spoke the words of God so that we can obey them and believe that God sent Him (John 17:8). When we choose to love Christ and to keep His statutes, He comes to make His home in us (John 14:23).

In our union with Jesus, we live in His divine nature and His divine nature lives in and through us (2 Peter 1:4). Since Christ dwells in our spirit, we become one Spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17).

Through His divine power, God gave us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3). Although we live physically in this earthly realm, the reality of our life is that we live in the Kingdom of God (Luke 17:21).

We no longer view our life from a temporal standpoint, but from an eternal perspective. We live as partakers of Christ’s holiness as He puts His mind within us (Hebrews 12:10; 1 Corinthians 2:16).

The Father is in Jesus, Jesus is in the Father and we are in Jesus; therefore we are also in union with the Father (John 14:20-23, 17:21-23). The best part about life is that God loves us and shows Himself to us (John 14:21).

Prayer:

Father God, our attitudes about life and eternity change once we come to Christ in salvation. You created our new self to exist with the purity and holiness of Christ (Ephesians 4:23-24). Each day we come a little closer to complete unity in the faith and in our knowledge of Jesus, which will also eventually bring us to the full stature of the maturity of Christ in us (Ephesians 4:13).

Because of Your promises, we look forward to Your new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells forever (2 Peter 3:13). We long for the day when there is no more sighing or suffering, where complete unity occurs between nature and mankind, and where Your Body is ready, willing and able to serve You.

Thought for the Day:

Just as Jesus was fully human with God’s divine nature fully abiding in and through Him, we are fully human with Christ’s divine nature fully abiding in and through us.

God's Broken Heart

 

During the wilderness journey, Israel continually ran from God, even when God provided for them and proved Himself to them over and over. God healed them, showed His gracious love to them and protected them even in captivity. God eventually freed them from captivity, and gave them water, food, a pillar of fire to keep them warm in the desert night and a cloud to keep them cool from the burning desert sun during the day. Their clothing never wore out even when they rebelled and they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Hosea 11:1-4; Deuteronomy 29:5).

God never provoked Israel to wrath and He gave us His example so we could parent our own children by His example. God is righteous and just. He disciplines us, as He wants us to discipline our own children, with mercy and truth (Ephesians 6:4). God also gives us a free will to allow us to choose whether or not to serve Him with our life. Daily, He draws us to Himself; however, we can reject His love and live life our own way if we want to do so. It is our choice.

God is our Father, not a dictator. He never takes delight in the destruction of the wicked, but He does take delight in the death of His Saints (Ezekiel 18:23; Psalm 116:15). Those concepts are just the opposite to our human way of thinking. We want the perpetrators in our life to suffer as much as they make us suffer, and we grieve ceaselessly when our loved ones die. If we were to realize that God wants to give us His heart, we would start to feel as He does.

We would do all we could to win the wicked to Christ; and we would celebrate rather than mourn, when our dear ones graduate from the school of life and go to their reward in Heaven to live with King Jesus. God adopted us into His family and He laid down His life for us; yet, we walk away from His precepts. Our disobedience breaks God’s heart, because it declares our rebellion and our rejection of His will and ways. We often act as if He is a cruel taskmaster instead of our loving God and Savior.

Not long after God created mankind, He regretted His actions, because of the wild behavior going on in this world (Genesis 6:5-6). Each sinful act broke His heart. We all break God’s heart every time we sin. Not only because it defies His holiness, but also because He sees how sin destroys us as well. God’s remedy for this penchant of ours was to become one of us. He gave His life as a ransom for everyone willing to humbly surrender his or her life to Him (2 Peter 3:9). His heart is full of love for each one of us.

Prayer:

Father God, You always love those who love You. If we diligently seek You, we will always find You (Proverbs 8:17). When we call upon You, You are always near. You desire that the wicked will forsake their thoughts and  ways, and turn to You. You will have compassion on them and abundantly pardon them (Isaiah 55:6-7). You are merciful and loving in all of Your ways and we give you the glory and honor due Your name.

Thought for the Day:

Don't be in a hurry to change your circumstances. Sit in God's presence and learn from Him through them. When God is ready, He will change them for you.