It is Never too Late

Jesus told a parable about the lord of the vineyard who told his steward to hire laborers throughout the day (Matthew 20:8-20). At the end of the day, the landowner gave all of the workers the exact same amount of money.

Those who worked the longest hours in the hottest sun were mortified and bitter at what they perceived as the owner's unfairness. They believed they deserved more money than those who worked in the cooler part of the day for just a few hours.

We learn from this parable that God is not interested in how long we live in His service. We can rejoice in the fact that the people who come to Christ later in life are accepted by our Father with the same love as those of us who come to the Lord as a child or teenager.

We recently had the privilege of helping a couple who were both over 90 to come to faith in Christ. Other senior Saints were on death's door when God used us to share His gospel with them.

There is no greater feeling than to snatch people from Satan's hand in their last years/moments of life. We will spend eternity with them and rejoice around God's throne together.

It is never too late to humble our self under the mighty hand of God and submit our life to His capable hands. As we yoke with Him, He carries half our load; and when we are weary, He will even carry it all.

God provides for our every need - even the minutest details that consume our thoughts and emotions. He is trustworthy and deserves all of our praise and thanksgiving.

God's love consumes us as we stop worrying about the particulars of our life. We rest in His peace and know without a shadow of a doubt that as we cast our cares on Him, He really does care for us.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for loving us enough to free us from our earthly bondage. We know that You listen to our prayers and answer us when we call on You in our trials and distress (Psalm 86:6-7). Remind us that You will always give us Your faith to live in such a way as to bring honor and glory to You.

The moment we take our eyes off You, fears and complications arise in our life, and we get entrenched in the carnal issues of this world. We want Your Word to fill us fully with Your Truth; so that we can encourage each other with thankfulness in our heart for all that You do for each one of us (Colossians 3:16).

Thought for the Day:

When we compare our life to others, we will be discontent; but when we focus on the life God provides for us, we realize the multitude of blessings He provides for us each and every day.

Hidden with Christ in God - Part 1 - My Initial Reaction

When I first read the words, "hidden with Christ in God", I was angry. It was not until my mid-forties that I discovered my true self; and I was not willing to give up my new found autonomy and be demoted and hidden in the background once again.

I had just learned, from the loving tutelage of my employer, that I am a person too and that I have rights and privileges that no one prior to this point, myself included, had ever allowed me to enjoy.

My father was autocratic and bombastic by nature (the Italian Mafia type). Due to my insecurities, fears and codependent attitude, I taught my friends and extended family to treat me as an appendage rather than as a viable member of their society. I lived like a doormat most of the time.

Then, out of nowhere, when I reached my limit of patience or was extremely wounded by someone's treatment of me, I used anger to attempt to wrestle away from others their control over my life. This often left them puzzled, resentful and wounded in return.

Therefore, when I read that verse in the Bible, I did not want to be hidden away again. I had no desire to give up the ground I gained when I realized my freedom as a person to be accepted, listened to and part of the decisions made concerning my life.

As I prayed about this verse, God showed me that He wants us to be hidden with Christ in Him, because He desires that we live in constant fellowship with Him, intimately knowing Him and Christ whom He sent (John 17:3).

He wants His rivers of living water to flow in us, through us and out of us and upon everyone we come in contact with throughout our day (John 7:38). He changes the course of lives through Christ in us.

I knew that I could ultimately trust God with every aspect of my life, so I totally submitted to His desire to hide me with Christ in Him (Isaiah 57:15). I want Him to use all of me, holding nothing back from Him, to further His Kingdom in the earth.

Prayer:

Father God, as You search our heart, You understand the motives behind our thoughts, words and actions (1 Chronicles 28:9). Your ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). As we trust in You, we come to realize that in times of stress and trials, You hide us with Christ in You.

This is not a negative concept to belittle us or to force us to abandon our true self, but it is actually teaching us that our true identity is in Christ alone. Thank You for revealing Yourself to us (Psalm 18:2; 62:6; Exodus 33:22). Help us to live as imitators of Christ, as Your beloved children (Ephesians 5:1; 1 Corinthians 11:1).

Thought for the Day:

Our Rock of Ages is ever present to help us in our time of need, but if we only seek His provision, we will never be happy; however, if we seek Him and His presence in our life, we will live a fulfilled life regardless of our circumstances.
- Isaiah 26:4

Abundant Living through Christ in Us

 

Life is a struggle…until we realize that we are struggling for no reason. With Christ dwelling within us, the only struggle we really have is to enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:11).

It is a struggle to enter His rest, because it is so hard for human beings to lay down our goals, plans and dreams and to stop relying on our human efforts and talents.

Our goal as authentic Believers is to totally surrender to God in every area of life. Dwelling in Christ allows us to succeed at living in serenity and fulfillment all of the time (John 17:23).

It is useless to dream of or to wish for a problem-free life. In this world, we are guaranteed to have problems (John 16:33). However, they are not our problems to handle. They are God's problem.

Christ in us has all the wisdom and resources needed to meet our problems and to solve them. He turns them into adventures and opportunities for us, and He works them out through us during each moment of our day.

We see life from a different perspective, through God's eyes; and even our trials take on a new meaning. We learn patience through the negative aspects of life as we also learn to praise God in them and for them.

We make our requests known to Him with gratitude in our heart for all He has already done for us. This builds our faith to know that He has our future worked out for us as well.

Allowing the Holy Spirit of God to control our spirit, body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions - gives us the privilege to live an abundant life in Christ.

With His strength and peace, we can face any trial with His praises on our lips and His joy in our hearts (Romans 8:6; Psalm 29:11). He provides all of our needs according to His glorious riches.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, all that You require from us is that we obey Your Spirit's direction, and that we allow You to work in and through us. You desire for us to take a step back and to view the issues of life through Your eyes. We hide under the shelter of Your wings and live with joy in our heart and a smile on our face, no matter how disturbing or challenging life becomes.

The more we allow You to live through us, the easier we walk in this realm of faith and Spirit. We center our mind and emotions on You and we walk in complete peace (Isaiah 26:3-4; John 14:27). You deal with the temporal aspects in our life, as we focus on the spiritual aspects moment by moment throughout the day (Galatians 5:15-25; Isaiah 41:10-13; Matthew 6:33).

Thought for the Day:

“The love of Christ controls us.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14

Created for a Purpose

The trend in today's society is to get away with as much sin as we can. We prefer not to limit our expenditure of time, attention and resources to any one focus; so we fill our life with useless activities instead.

We slide toward the mediocre and have little devotion to God, family, country or healthy living. We wear masks to fit each social occasion and even attempt to fool God with our good works.

God offers us His free gift of salvation, but we prefer the road to destruction over a life of service, holiness and dedication to His Kingdom (Romans 3:23, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).

We have our own plans and way of doing things and do not want to be told what to do, have restrictions placed on us or to be dictated to by any one - not even God.

We fail to realize that God created us for a purpose, and our happiest life is found only by living in the center of His will (Ephesians 2:10, 4:1). His Spirit is ever ready to conform us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

When we entirely surrender to the love of God in our life, we draw near to Him and give our life more fully to Him. We walk in His ways and consult Him during each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6; Romans 12:1).

There is no place for compromised living in the Kingdom of God. He despises any lukewarm efforts on our part and prefers for us to choose whether to be hot or cold instead (Revelation 3:14-22).

Holiness is not a burden, but a privilege that guarantees us a successful life both now and throughout eternity (John 10:10). We live with a commitment to Christ and a trust in God's faithfulness.

As we seek God's face, sit at His feet and walk in His will, we feel His love pouring over us like a waterfall, we experience His peace which is deeper than anything this world has to offer and we walk in joy even through the most horrendous circumstances (Romans 15:13).

Prayer:

Father God, free us from Satan's lies, which hold us in bondage to his will for our life. Teach us to love You with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Strengthen us from within to live a life worthy of Your calling and sanctify us into a new creation (Ephesians 4:24).

Remind us that we are dead to sin, because of our baptism into Christ's death. We contain His resurrection power within us now to live a new life, united with You (Romans 6:2-11). You give us a choice to live life on earth as slaves to our flesh, the devil and the world or to You and Your righteousness (Romans 6:22). Help us to choose You every time.

Thought for the Day:

As a shining light with Christ within, our life penetrates the darkness all around us; we may not see the impact we have on others now, but eternity will reveal how God used our helping hand, encouraging words, smile at random strangers, loving gestures and prayers to work miracles in the lives of people in our sphere of influence.