Survival of the Fittest

 

We are able to survive in this world by no other means than the faithfulness of God pouring out His blessings on our life. Some people blindly careen through each day, never realizing that God blessed them (Romans 3:19-26).

The kindness, mercy and love of our God and Savior wash us with His Word, provide for us His new birth, and renew us by the fullest measure of His Spirit within us. He justifies us by His grace and makes us heirs with Jesus of His eternal Kingdom.

His greatest gift is that He is just and He justifies us, not by our own accomplishments but by His (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). Yet, people usually fail to thank Him for His blessings and take credit for the good things that happen to them.

We eventually get weary, burdened and burn out. We long for a time of rest from the rat-race of life. The wise person will yoke up with Christ, learn from Him and gain rest for their soul (Matthew 11:28-30).

We trust that Jesus knows exactly what we need and how to attain that. We quit doing things our way, and follow the direction of God's Spirit each moment of the day.

We cease from our fruitless labors and enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:10). We stop attempting to please God by the works of our flesh and realize that we can only prove our love to Him through obedience to His Word (John 14:15).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that there is no longer condemnation for those of us who love You and are the called according to Your purpose rather than our own goals and desires. Thank You for Your life-giving Spirit who achieves in us what the law never could. Thank you for sending Jesus as God with us in human form to fulfill the requirements of the law and setting us free from the power and purpose of sin, the world and the flesh (Romans 8:1-8).

Remind us that in the flesh, we can never please You; but Your Spirit in us gives us Your holiness and Your life (Romans 8:9-11). Help us to depend on You for everything we need during the day. Teach us not to worry about anything in life, but to pray instead; and to trust You just like the birds of the air and the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:25-33).

Thought for the Day:

Trusting in Jesus helps us to realize that only He can rescue us from the tyranny of this life. - Romans 7:15-25

Why Forgiveness is the Best Option

Every person ever born deserves to go to hell. We can never be good enough to deserve a place with God in heaven. Earning our own forgiveness is out of the question. Disobedience brought sin into the world and only obedience to God’s Will can free us from its penalty. God’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 103:17).

God does not expect us to arrive at perfection by our own efforts. He gives us both the desire and the power to live a righteous life (Philippians 2:12-13). We are human with our own distinct set of flaws and foibles. Our idiosyncrasies are no better or worse than any one else’s. Therefore, we have no reason to expect perfection from our self or from any other person.

However, God wants nothing less than our perfection in Christ. God is all about grace. He wants us to use mercy and grace when we deal with our self and others (Luke 6:36). God desires that we forgive our self and others as well (Ephesians 4:31, 32). We are all wounded souls attempting to survive in this world. Mercy is as important to God as justice.

The Pharisees attempted to please God by adding to His law. They believed that more rules were better. Jesus set them straight. God calls us to forgive each other, to show compassion and mercy in the same way that God forgave us through Christ (Ephesians 4:32). If we fail to comply, then we open the door to Satan. He works havoc in our life and defeats us at every turn.

If we fail to forgive, we also allow our enemies to persecute us (Matthew 18:34-35). We tie God’s hands with our unforgiveness and He cannot forgive us either (Matthew 6:14). We will prevent Satan from interfering in our life, if we choose to forgive (2 Corinthians 2:10-11). We will also allow God to forgive us. Forgive does not let the troublemaker off the hook, it puts them in God’s vengeful hands and sets us free (Romans 12:19).

Prayer:

Father God, when You ask us to forgive, you know that we are still hurting from the abuse inflicted on us by the perpetrator. Our feelings of unforgiveness allow the offender to control a part of our life. We will never forget the infraction, but forgiveness lessons the pain of it in our soul.

Thought for the Day:

Forgive as You have been forgiven. – Hebrews 10:17