God Restores our Soul

Our whole being finds fulfillment only in the everlasting arms of our Lord God. His love is better than anything that life on this earth provides (Psalm 63:3); and we cannot help but lift up our hands in praise to Him as we glorify Him with our every thought, word and deed.

Through His salvation, He satisfies our soul and makes us secure in this sin-filled world (Psalm 23:3-4; 63:1-5). Our spirit is no longer dead in sin, but dances through life, alive in Christ forevermore. We bathe in His love, rest in His peace and sing because of His joy in us, as He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Our fellowship with Him is in perfect and complete harmony and unity due to His mercy, love and grace (1 John 4:19). We walk in His light and enjoy fellowship with His Body now and throughout eternity (1 John 1:7).

Clinging to our pride and rebellion, our addictions and our insecurities only brings us trouble and devastation; but surrendering all to Jesus gives us the faith and security to thrive in this war-torn world.

When we reach out to Jesus, turn away from our sinful lifestyle and submit to His authority in our life, we find satisfaction and healing in His love. God heals our pain associated with all of our relationships, even those filled with disappointment and trauma.

He helps us to humble our self and to reconcile with those in our life that caused us pain. We forgive one another and bless each other with God's encouragement and love.

God's perfect love is what our soul longs for and that which heals our broken heart and drenches us like a waterfall in this discouraging and broken society. We live as sojourners and pilgrims until He is ready to take us home with Him for eternity.

Prayer:

Father God, You created us so that our eyes are the windows of our soul. We often answer glibly when someone asks us how we are, because we know they do not really have time to hear our honest answer, nor are most of them concerned with how we really feel. Help us to look into each other's eyes and to see the true feelings emanating from them, to take time to really listen, and to show concern and ask how we may help to improve each other's lot in this life.

Remind us that we have to start by taking a searching inventory of our self in order to understand exactly how we do feel. What does our spirit need to grow in Your grace? How is our body and soul - our thoughts and feelings, which affect our choices? You are patient with us, and Your kindness is everlasting. You love us beyond words. You strengthen us and shower us with so many blessings that those who know us stand in awe of You (Psalm 86:15).

Thought for the Day:

Our success in this dark and pain-filled life comes from trusting in God alone to help us to live victoriously over the evils present all around us; as we call on Him to empower us, so that we can keep a daily, vigilant watch over our body, soul and spirit; this enables us to live serenely in His everlasting arms.

Fellowship with the Trinity

 

Prior to salvation, we lived as slaves to sin and pawns in Satan’s plan (Romans 7). Even after salvation, our sins of omission and commission built a wall between us and our fellowship with the Trinity.

No matter how slowly or how high the wall goes up – we feel a separation and distance from our Lord and Savior (Romans 1:18). Our prayers hit the ceiling, our joy ebbs and our peace is overwhelmed by stress and negative emotions.

Without righteousness, there can be no lasting peace and joy. We are separated from God due to our rebellion and unbelief (Romans 14:17). We grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), and we are in danger of condemning our self to eternity in hell (John 3:18).

This severance of our union with Christ bitters our soul. Then, resentment becomes the adhesive, which we use to cement the stones of willful sin in place.

As the wall thickens and rises, fears riddle our soul. We gradually grow more anxious and hopeless. Eventually, some people even feel animosity toward God and rail against Him.

We hurl accusations at Him and slander His name to anyone who will listen. We end up punishing our self by removing our self from the protection and provision of our Heavenly Father.

This is so unnecessary.

If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of our eye, the lust of our flesh and our pride in our life (1 John 2:16). We will walk in perfect harmony with the Trinity and enjoy constant fellowship with the Trinity every moment of our day (Galatians 5:15-25; Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, Your eyes are always on Your children. You love us with an everlasting love, and You rejoice over us with singing. You are faithful, and we can put all of our hope and trust in You. You never change and You are with us now and even at the end of our life. You give us treasure in dark times and riches when we come to You in our time of need.

You are our Father, our God, and You give us Your mercy and grace in all of our trials and afflictions. We are comforted by Your presence in our life, even in times of trouble. You comfort the downcast when we keep our eyes focused on You. Thank you for being with us and revealing Your presence and peace to us as You give us Your joy.

Thought for the Day:

We make our refuge in God, because He will never leave us destitute; we have no need to fear, because He will help us and hold us in the palm of His hand. - Hebrews 13:5; Isaiah 49:16

Spiritually Minded

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is God (Matthew 1:23). He saves us, rejoices over us with gladness, quiets us with His love and rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). He dwells in the midst of our life.

Jesus provided this union for us with the triune God through His death and resurrection. We have a personal, intimate relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit is not reserved for a few individuals, but is available for all authentic Believers who are willing to lay down their life and to allow Christ to live in them and through them (1 Peter 2: 21-25).

His Holy Spirit steadily draws us toward perfection as He convicts us of sin, and empowers us to walk in victory over these alluring transgressions. Slowly, our soul – our mind, will and emotions – is sanctified, and readily rejects worldly pursuits.

We come to desire nothing more than to remain hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). As we fully absorb the concept that Christ now lives His life in and through us, we, as the Body of Christ, will truly make a difference in the world around us. We seek eternal goals and dreams, rather than material ones.

Christ in us put an end to sin and death in us. Now we can concentrate on His spiritual truth, rather than carnal limitations that we face in life. We are dead in Christ, but also risen with Christ, in all of His wisdom, power and strength (Galatians 2:20).

God has a perfect will for our life, which surmounts the physical restrictions of this earthly realm (Acts 8:39). With Christ in us, time, space and matter no longer confine us. Jesus proved this when He walked on water and raised the dead.

If God needs us to walk on water, move a mountain or raise the dead, He is in us to break these yokes (Matthew 17:20). The negative aspects and encounters we face in life take on a new meaning. We see them as instruments of God to improve our obedience and to perfect our faith.

We view trouble and trials from an eternal mindset now. They no longer cause worry or stress, because we know without a doubt that God is in control even in these difficulties.

Maybe our house burned down, the boss increased our quota, our loved one passed away, our mate divorced us, the bank account is empty or a child is bent on rebellion, etc. However, God is in control of even these trying times.

The soul in union with Christ no longer wastes any energy on worldly issues. We keep our focus solely on God, and His peace reigns in our heart (John 14:27). We live in Him and by Him, because He dwells within us.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we long to live as exact replicas of You. You lived in love, humility and surrender to our Father. Help us to pattern our life after You, so that everything we say and do will last throughout eternity. Your coming brought eternity into the present for all Believers.

We live in eternity with You now, because You reside in our spirit. Thank You for Your sacrifice and for opening Your heart to us and including us in Your Body. You are our joy, our life, our peace and our salvation. We eternally lift up our praises to You.  

Thought for the Day:

We experience God’s best when we completely surrender our life to Him.

The Call of Nature

In our world of higher education, instant information networks and self-reliance, the message of the Gospel of Christ makes no sense at all to most people.

The paradoxes and spiritual content of the Bible serve as a stumbling stone to those too proud to accept the self-effacing offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.

However, once we humble our self under the mighty hand of God, we immediately recognize that Jesus completely submitted to death on Calvary’s Cross to bring freeing redemption to us all.

We also surrender to the call of God to sacrifice our life for Him in return. The surrendered life is not one of defeat, but of relinquishing control. This means that we stop resisting the love of God and accept His courtship.

We acknowledge His substitution in paying the penalty of our sins and yield to His Lordship over our life. We recognize the superiority of God’s plan for our life over our own goals and ambitions.

We consult Him about all of our decisions and submit to His direction of our steps (Proverbs 3:5-6). We live in the reality of His presence now and look forward to the hope of His glory to come (Colossians 1:27).

Many people waste so much of their life running from God's beauty and bounty. They live in rebellion to the call, which even nature makes for us to surrender to its Creator (Romans 1:20).

God never invades our life, but always waits to be invited. The beauty of the surrendered life is that we die to the carnal flesh and hide our life with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We cease from our own labors and enter into God’s rest (Hebrews 10:4).

Prayer:

Father God, once we completely understand Your love for us, we go beyond obedience and also surrender our life entirely to You. Then, we learn what it means to truly live in abundant freedom and victory (Romans 6:16-18; Mark 8:35).

We no longer internalize the pain that life deals out to us, because we are hidden with Christ in You. Regardless of trials and anguish we may experience, we walk in spiritual serenity which elevates us emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically and behaviorally. We find our constant joy in You as patience does her perfecting work in us (James 1:4).

Thought for the Day:

We enter a life hidden with Christ in God, which we formerly believed to be one of servitude, only to discover that it is actually a liberating union as a King's kid. - Colossians 3:3-4