The Divine Life

The divine nature of Christ was not changed when the Word became flesh (John 1:14). He was fully human and still fully divine.

All the fullness of the triune God resides within Christ, and Christ dwells within the spirit of every Born Again Believer (Colossians 2:9). We are the temple of God’s Holy Spirit, which resides within each of us (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Therefore, all the fullness of the triune God dwells within each authentic Christian. We often struggle with our human and spiritual natures, which war against one another.

However, we learn obedience through the things that we suffer, just as Jesus did (Hebrews 5:8). Even though we dwell in a mortal body, we are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

We are transformed by God's Holy Spirit who renews our mind until we have the mind of Christ, and who enables us to absorb the truth of the Word of God (Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5, 4:8).

Through regeneration we come to identify, understand and seek after the things of God. We live a fulfilled life of faith, love and complete holiness, absorbed in the presence of God.

We have the divine nature of Christ within us (Colossians 3:3). As our life decreases, His divine nature in us increases (John 3:30; Acts 17:28). This makes a huge difference in how we face life and what we accomplish in it.

We have more faith, because of God's faithfulness to us. We have more power because we cease living in our own efforts. We enjoy God's divine presence within us, because we know that without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Prayer:

Father God, never let us feel superior or prideful because You dwell within us. Humble us in Christ's humility and remind us that it is only through Christ that we can accomplish anything good (Romans 7:18). You are the Vine and we are the branches, and You cut off any branch that does not bear the fruit of Your Spirit (John 15:2-5).

We cling to You with our whole being, knowing that this world holds nothing for us without You. You are our motivation, our success and our whole life (Colossians 3:4). We meditate on Your Word day and night, and we find our only source of life within the verses on each page.

Thought for the Day:

As Believers we grow to enjoy the divine nature of Christ, free from the passion of sin and loving only what He loves.

- Romans 6:6; 1 John 4:4; Galatians 5:22

A New Creation

We are not children of God until we actually receive Christ's saving work in our life (John 1:12). Regeneration is the lovely word, which describes what happens to us.

Jesus plugs us into His power supply and charges our battery. What we were blind to before we received His to salvation is now more than obvious to us (John 3:3).

He makes us a new creature and everything about us changes for the better (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to God instead (John 16:8).

Through regeneration, we turn from unrighteous decisions and live and walk in God's truth and righteousness (Roman 6:1-2, 15; 2 Corinthians 7:10). Everything we think, say and do is motivated from our desire to bring glory to God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Living in continual sin proves that we do not know God's Truth and that He does not live in us (1 John 2:4-6; Romans 3:23). However, Salvation is just a prayer away (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).

It is a free gift from God, which we cannot earn for our self, but was earned for us by Christ's willing suffering of the horrendous death on the cross (1 Peter 2:24).

God plainly sees all that we do in secret. He rewards our righteous deeds and disciplines us for our transgressions; because He loves us and does not want us to reap the degradation of sin any longer.

His desire is for us to walk in step with His Spirit every moment of our day. He has a perfect plan, which will unfold for us as we patiently obey His Word (Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, You intended for us to enjoy Paradise from the beginning of time. When sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, we lost the benefits of living in Your presence. Bereft, we comb the earth looking for the fulfillment, which only You can supply.

Once we come to Christ, You restore our link to You and You will also restore to us the blessings of Paradise in eternity. In the meantime, You bless us with Your presence, make all things new and lead us by Your Spirit as You give us the desire and the power to walk in Your Salvation and Sanctification (Philippians 2:12-13). 

Thought for the Day:

Once God convicts us of our sin, our lost condition and our need for a Savior, we accept His free gift of restoration through Christ's grace and by faith in His faithfulness.

Our Source of Rivers of Living Water

 

In the Old Testament, Jesus was the Rock from which the Israelites were supplied fresh water in the barren wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:4). In the New Testament, He is still our source of living water. His springs of eternal life give us a well of living water to draw from at any time (John 4:13-14).

As God regenerates our spirit and heals our soul, there are multiple rivers of living water flowing from our innermost being and refreshing us and anyone who comes in contact with us (John 7:37-39).

If we do not feel this free cascade of life flowing from within us, then there is a dam of negative emotions, unresolved conflict and sin entrenched in our soul. They control the floodgate to God's living water within us and block the rivers' flow.

Physically, if we are not thirsty, we will not drink. Yet, when we are thirsty, we often eat instead of drink, thinking that we are hungry. We gorge our self on food and are never satisfied, because we do not fill our cells with the life-giving water they crave.

Spiritually, we actually need to come to Christ, our living water; yet we often turn to sin to satisfy us instead. We miss out on the life-giving water that Christ offers to this lost and dying world.

He reaches out especially to those who realize they are poor and destitute without personal means to obtain this living water by their own efforts (Isaiah 55:1). Without cost to us, yet with great personal cost to Himself, Jesus freely gives us His living water (Revelation 21:6).

His saving work continues through each moment of our life (Philippians 1:6). We see a constant change in our thinking and behavior. We gain spiritual understanding, power and maturity which flow through us to those God brings into our life (1 Corinthians 2:11-16; Galatians 5:15-25; Ephesians 5:18-21). 

Prayer:

Father God, as the deer pants after the water book to quench its thirst, so too we thirst for You, our living God (Psalm 42:1). We thirst and yearn for You in this weary, arid land where there is no other source of the water of life (Psalm 63:1). Help us to humble our self under Your mighty hand and to meekly accept Your living water, drinking freely until these mighty rivers flow from our innermost being.

Your rivers of living water satisfy every part of our spirit, soul and body. Peace and joy flood every cell of our being (Philippians 3:19; Nehemiah 9:20). Lead us to those in our life who are thirsting for You and help us to offer them a drink from Your rivers of life within us.

Thought for the Day:

The Holy Spirit and the Bride say to the thirsty, "Come;" anyone wishing to drink the water of life may come without personal cost and drink of the rivers of living water flowing from the throne of God and from within His Saints.

- Revelation 22:17; Psalm 78:15-16; Proverbs 4:23; Isaiah 44:3; Ezekiel 36:26-27, 47:1-9; Joel 3:18, Zechariah 13:1, 14:8