No Longer a Sinner - Making Positive Changes

Once we come to Jesus Christ for our salvation, our spirit is alive in Christ and sin is gradually exorcised from our soul (Ephesians 2:5; Philippians 3:12-15). This requires no self-effort; the Spirit begins and completes this work in us (Galatians 3:1-3).

Our role is simply to cooperate and obey as we walk in the Spirit each moment of the day. Christ is our whole life and we are drawn away from Satan's dominion over our life (Colossians 3:3-4).

We do not need to make goals for our self and obsess over them. We have no need to develop problem solving skills in order to perfect our self.

We did not save our self, and we cannot perfect our self (Galatians 3:1-3). We usually struggle with reaching our goals and we get defeated by our failings.

Scientist tell us that the habenula in our brain records our failures and then inhibit our future attempts to succeed in that same area; this implicit memory prevents us from repeating our failures, but also hinders our attempts to perfect our performance.

Christ suffered in every way just like we do and He can relate to our issues in this life (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus was tempted, but did not sin; and He abides within us, helping us to maintain our purity.

God's Spirit will give us new habits to overcome past failings; He enables us to thwart temptations by giving us a motivation to serve Him rather than the flesh.

The law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). We are free from sin’s torment and temptation (Romans 6:7, 18, 22; Acts 26:18). Christ in us then expresses Himself through us (Romans 5:10; Matthew 1:21; 1 John 4:4).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that we do not have to sin. We can focus on the process of our spiritual growth rather than on our shortfalls. Help us to find a solution to overcome the sins, which so easily trip us up. Help us not to focus on the process, but rather on the outcome and to keep our eyes on You.

We know we cannot perfect our self, but as we acknowledge You before we think, act or speak, You will unveil Your plans for us and give us the strength to carry them out in Your will and way. We can celebrate even the smallest success when it comes from Christ in us. We give You all of the praise and glory that You deserve.

Thought for the Day:

Attempting to perfect our self may diminish our future chance to walk in holiness, since the perfection we reach on our own is done in the flesh and can also be undone by our flesh.

More Valuable than Fine Gold

God never changes, and His Word is consistent as well (1 Samuel 15:29; 1 John 2:7; Psalm 55:19; Malachi 3:6). Hiding God's Word in our mind and seeking Him with our whole heart prevents us from sinning against Him. His statutes are more valuable to us than fine gold. We delight in His ways and give testimony of His provision in our life (Psalm 119:9-116). His Word is eternal and gives us life (Psalm 119:160).

The Old and New Testament are equally important (2 Peter 3:15-16). The still, small voice of God directs our daily activity as we bathe in His Word and seek His face (Isaiah 30:21). If we are Born Again, we do not practice a lifestyle of sin (1 John 3:4-9; Proverbs 3:11-18). Yet, if we refuse to surrender our life to God, and we continue to practice sin, we condemn our self to eternal destruction (John 3:18; 1 Corinthians 11:27-32).

We can trust that God will give us relief in our days of trouble, until He raptures us, or we pass from this sin-cursed world (Psalm 94:10-13). When we live within God's precepts, we enjoy a good conscience and a peaceful life (Psalm 119:7). If we teach our children to live according to God's Word, they have a better chance of remaining on the path of purity and blessings.

God's Spirit helps us to recall the scriptures, which we hide in our heart, and He leads us into His holy truth (John 14:26, 16:13; Psalm 119:11). He enables us to act upon what we learn, rather than being perpetual students and never walking in His ways (James 1:22-25). The Spirit gives us wisdom from God's inspired Word, as we regard His instruction and walk in His ways (Proverbs 20:32-36, James 1:5-8).

Prayer:

Father God, You bless those who refrain from the worldly paths of life, which lead to unrighteousness. You consecrate those who do not join in with those who have a penchant for mocking You and Your children (Psalm 1:1-2). Thank You for drawing us by Your Spirit and never letting us walk away from Your eternal love. We treasure the fine gold of Your Word, we enjoy spending time listening to Your voice and we depend upon the leading of Your Spirit with each new day.

Thought for the Day:

When we sink our roots deeper in the water of God's Word, we will live blessed, fruitful and prosperous lives. - Psalm 1:3

Caring for One Another

God's Spirit provides us with spiritual gifts, which build up the church (Ephesians 4:11-12). Apostles start new churches; prophets proclaim God's Word; evangelists are anointed to reach the lost; pastors and teachers dissect the Word and feed it to us in tiny morsels, which are easy to digest; and they all equip the Body of Believers to go out to do the work of the ministry.

We are to respect and submit to our spiritual leaders, because they watch out for our soul, and they must give account to God for their watch care over us. Sometimes we cause them grief by our inconsiderate behavior and our refusal to heed their spiritual guidance (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, 1 Peter 5:5). Some leadership is carnal, however, and we should always compare their advice with God's Word.

Since we are motivated by God's Spirit we love one another (Ephesians 5:18-19). Our leaders should model God's love and teach us to share the love we have from God with one another (1 John 2:10, 4:7,11; John 13:34-35; 1 Peter 1:22). We are to meet our own needs, as well as the needs of others, without allowing selfishness and arrogance to dictate our behavior (Philippians 2:3-4; Romans 12:10, James 2:1).

When we purify our self by obeying God's truth, His sincere love helps us to love one another deeply, from the heart (1 Peter 1:22). We are compatible, compassionate, empathetic and meek when we love one another (1 Peter 3:8). The Lord teaches us to care for everyone, even unbelievers, with a growing love, which resembles our love for Him (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus commanded us to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34). You teach us to love one another by Your Spirit, especially those we consider to be unlovable (1 Thessalonians 4:9). When we see them with Your eyes, we are moved with Your compassion. Love comes from You, You live in us and Your love is made complete in us (1 John 4:7,12). As we love one another everyone will know that we are Your disciples (John 13:35).

Thought for the Day:

We are to owe no one anything except to love each other.

- Romans 13:8

Partakers in God's Divine Nature

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 (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 love Christ and keep His words, He comes to make His home in us (John 14:23).

In our union with Jesus we possess and function through His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through His divine power God gave us everything we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3). Since Christ dwells in our spirit, we become one Spirit with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). Although we live physically in this earthly realm, the reality of our life is that we live in the Kingdom of God within us (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). He loves us and shows Himself to us (John 14:21). Christ, who dwells in us, is the exact image of the invisible God and contains all the attributes and character of God (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4). God desires to bring forth His attributes and character within us too. His Holy Spirit sanctifies us throughout our lifetime until we are perfected according to the fullest measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

We are adopted sons of God (Ephesians 1:5), joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17) and one with our triune God (John 17:22). We are freed from the chains of bondage to this earth into the glorious liberty of the children of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:19-21). As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, which comes from the Spirit of the Lord, we are transformed with ever increasing glory into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). In Him we live and move and have our existence (Acts 17:28). He dwells in us and walks through us (2 Corinthians 6:16). Then, Christ is glorified in us (John 17:10).

Since we abide in Him, we now walk just as He walked (1 John 2:1-6). In our flesh, we are still able to fall into temptation; but in Christ all the fullness of the triune God dwells in us. Nothing this world has to offer has any appeal to us any more (Titus 2:11-14). If we take the time to walk in the Spirit, we can enjoy the same spirit-led existence as the Biblical prophets, characters and writers (Luke 6:40). We have fellowship with the triune God all the time, just as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8).

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 bring us to the full stature of the maturity of Christ (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).

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.

 

 

Thank you, Beverly Crabtree Melvin, for the use of your photo.

What "Union with Christ" Means

Our actual union with Christ is founded on our salvation, from beginning to end (Hebrews 12:2). The basis of our union is Jesus’ redemptive work on Calvary’s cross (Ephesians 1:7). We were dead in sin and made alive in Christ to do the good works, which God prepared for us before the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:4-5, 10). We are also united with Christ in regeneration. It is not something we strive to enter. In this union, we are in Christ (John 15:4,5,7; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Corinthians 12:2; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 1:4, 2:10; Philippians 3:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 John 4:13).

We are in Christ, but Christ is also in us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1 27; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 3:16-17). This makes our union complete. In this guaranteed bond, Christ dwells in our heart through faith (Ephesians 3:17). Our union with Christ brings us into a state of holiness through sanctification, not by human effort, but by His grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). We are baptized into His death, resurrected with Him from the grave, raised with Him in His ascension and we sit with Him, even now, in heavenly places. We will return to earth with Him when He appears in His glory to rule and reign in His Kingdom (Romans 6:14, Colossians 2:11-12, 3:1-4; Revelation 19:14; Colossians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 15:22).

There are three stages of our union with Christ. Initially, we are justified in our death with Christ (Romans 14:8; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:8-9; Revelation 14:13). Then, we are made holy through out sanctification through Christ (John 15:4-5; Ephesians 4:16; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Finally, we persevere in our union with Christ through the faith of Christ, and nothing can separate us from the love of God (John 10: 27-28; Romans 8:38-39). Our Father is the origin of our union; Jesus is the provider of our union; and the Holy Spirit is the bond of our union.

 
Union with Christ includes more than drawing our life from Christ; it also means living in Him and Him living in and through us (Romans 6:3–4, Galatians. 3:26–27). Jesus is our rock, fortress and deliverer in whom we can take refuge. He is our shield and the horn of our salvation, our stronghold (Psalm 18:2).  He is also our loving husband (Revelation 19:6-9). We are the apple of His eye, and we can hide under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 17:8). We are Jesus’ offspring and the sons of God (Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 8:14-15). We the Body of Christ, and He is the Head of that Body (1 Corinthians 12:12–27).

When we are one with Christ, we are also one with the Father (1 John 2:24). Jesus is the foundation of the building God is making without human hands. We are the temple of God, in which He dwells (1 Corinthians 3:10–11). We belong to God as a chosen people and a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). God chose us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless, predestining those who believe in Christ as His adopted sons (Ephesians 1:4-5; Galatians 4:6-7).

We are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's Saints and members of God's household (Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20). In our union with Christ, we are also to live in union with one another as His Body. We have many gifts and talents among us to meet the needs of each individual member of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). In our union with Christ, there is no distinction between anyone’s station in life, race, color or gender (Galatians 3:28). We are all one Body in union with one another in Christ.

Prayer:

Father God, our relationship with You, now and in eternity, occurred in our union with Christ. Because of Christ, You raised us to new life. In eternity You will give us immortal bodies with the power of Christ's resurrection. We thank You for Your spiritual blessings to us in the heavenly realm in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). In Him all of Your promises come to pass and we are partakers of those promises (Ephesians 3:6).

Thought for the Day:

It is seeing our self from the perspective or our union with Christ, which energizes us to grow in purity and holiness.

Our Net Worth

“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. In Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” -Psalm 139:16

In today’s society, we have charts and calculators that will determine our net worth quickly and accurately. They weigh our assets against our liabilities and give us the sum total of our value. What can we bring to God that has any value? No amount of human resources or assets can develop into anything of value to God. He said that even our best efforts are like filthy rags to Him (Isaiah 64:6). He despises all of our self-effort (Ephesians 2:8-10). Well, I can think of only one thing that will bring us closer to God and please Him more than anything else.

God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), which is the most valuable asset we have to give to our Almighty God. If we live with His praises on our lips, then our thoughts, words and deeds will flow from that attitude of worship and gratitude (Psalm 28:7). We will tell everyone of His goodness (Psalm 107:31). With the praises of God in our mouths, we also have the powerful double-edged sword of God in our hands (Psalm 149:6). Praising God makes us stronger to endure tribulation, as well as to do the work, which God calls us to do.

All of our striving in human effort to produce good works robs us of the opportunity to be led by God’s Spirit and to enter into His rest (Galatians 5:16, 25; Hebrews 4:3,10-11). Jesus is our example, and He always did only that which our Father commanded Him to do (John 14:31). He spent hours in prayer and communion with Our Father (John 17:9; 17:20). He is our vine, and we are His branches, extensions of His ministry in the world (John 15:4). God puts a new song in our heart, so we can praise Him (Psalm 40:3).

The gift of grace, which we receive at salvation washes away all of our sins (Ephesians 2:8). We did not earn salvation and we cannot improve upon it. There is no more condemnation for anything we ever did or do (Romans 8:1). Therefore, why should we strive for holiness when a place in heaven is already guaranteed to us? Although grace abounds in our soul, that is no reason for sin to flourish (Romans 6:1-2). Grace does not give us permission to continue sinning. The Bible holds a standard of holiness and perfection for everyone who is washed in the blood of the Lamb (1 Peter 1:15).

A life of holiness is our tribute to Christ for the sacrifice He paid by leaving His heavenly glory and taking on the form of a man. Our sacrifice in life is nothing compared to His horrendous crucifixion and death on the cross, which He endured in our place. We give Him the honor due His name by following in His footsteps of devotion to God. As Christ’s life flows through us, we bear the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The attributes of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith cause us to live as a guiding light in the world. His Light in us will lead people to Him (John 12:32).

Christians know that God’s Word is the absolute truth on which we base our life. We strive to live according to His precepts without compromise. We stand against the temptations of the world and the deceitfulness of Satan’s wiles, which strive to draw us away from God’s truth. The law of the Spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and death, which was once our normal way of living (Romans 8:2). This freedom allows us to exalt in victory over sin and to live a purified life of worth in God’s Kingdom.

Prayer:

Father God, you know each of us intimately. You have a calling on our life in service for Your Kingdom. We are tapestries of Your creation, fashioned in our mother’s womb by Your creative needlework. Our life is an expression of Your artistic mastery as we live according to Your principles. Help us to always bring honor and glory to Your name.

Thought for the Day:

Each of us is fashioned by God and known by Him; therefore we walk in holiness as a praise to His name.

Surviving The Balancing Act!

Read: James 1:2-4

A seal spinning a ball on its nose and a whirling top have little in common except that both of their performances require balance. This reminded me of the fact that life also requires a balancing act. We often find ourselves thrown off center by confusion and catastrophe, which come when we least expect it. Like the top and the ball, our normally peaceful life spins out of control. Each compartment of our life, which we meticulously created to provide us with security and a safe haven, suddenly  tilts to one side like the Tower of Pisa.

We get disoriented and feel insecure and fearful. Then, we panic and make poor decisions, reacting with negative emotions that create even more problems. We throw ourselves into trying unsuccessfully to manage the disruptive people and events in our life in an attempt to make us feel safe again. But this never helps. In fact, it usually increases our anxiety, when these people react to the frustration we create in their lives.

Part of the problem occurs when we acquire more possessions than we need. Our life slowly sinks under a burden of stress created by trying to pay for this accumulation. Another factor comes if we lean toward making deviant decisions. We end up reaping what we sow. Then, we also sink under the weight of the demands, which others place on our life.

So, what is the solution? We owe it to our self to simplify our life. We accomplish this in many different ways. We can sell off some of our accumulated goods and discipline our spending habits. We make wise choices and maintain an unadulterated life of purity and serenity. We also find a balance between what people need from us and what God wants for us.

Matt 6:25-34 reminds me that worry never helped anyone. Peace comes only by trusting God to order our lives according to His will. He generously provides all of our necessities, even when life disintegrates before our eyes. In James 1:2-4, the author exhorts us to keep a positive attitude throughout difficulties and temptations. He tells us that in this way our patience has a chance to grow. Then, patience gets us ready for anything life throws at us. Adversity develops strong character in us, which helps us to withstand the disheartening uncertainty of life and to ward off the eventual panic when it arises.

Paul admonishes us, in Hebrews 12:2, to keep our eyes on Jesus ~ the author and finisher of our faith. By following the examples from His life, we learn how to successfully live our own life. He prayed before beginning each day of ministry. He lived in the moment and did not worry about tomorrow. Jesus listened to His Father and followed His will in every word and deed. His focus stayed on God’s kingdom rather than on amassing worldly goods and fame. Ultimately, He humbled Himself, even to the point of death on the cross. 

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, as we walk the tightrope of life, rather than focusing on the spinning details of our negative circumstances, help us to focus on the equilibrium You achieve within each moment that we live. Life wavers like the ocean, with a continuous ebb and flow, but You gave us the words of the prayer that never fails: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42-43 NIV)

Thought for the Day:
When we trust God more and strive less, serenity seeps into every area of our life, no matter how the circumstances play out around us.