Connnected to the Vine

In our first months and years after Salvation, we attempt to please God. I made a list of all the commandments in the Bible. No really, I did! I posted the list so I could read them and keep these laws every day. I wanted to earn God's love. About ten years later, a Christian brother shared the truth with me that we do not need to earn God's love, because it is a free gift (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9).

He explained that God did not want an army of robots, but a Body of Believers who trusted in Him explicitly with every area of their life. About this same time, a saying became very popular, "Let go and let God." This mantra encourages us to relinquish control of our life and to turn everything over to God (Proverbs 3:5-6).

When we stop molding our self, we give Christ room to shape us into His image  (2 Corinthians 3:18). This allows Him to reach everyone in our sphere of influence. He gives us His heart and He loves and serves others through us. We no longer live for our self, but Christ lives in and through us by His Spirit (Galatians 2:20). He is the Vine and we are the branches.

Branches do not produce any fruit; the Vine produces the fruit through each branch (John 15:4-5). In the same way, we do not accomplish great feats for God; He accomplishes His will through us (Ephesians 2:10). God fills us with His Spirit and we go where He wants us to go and do what He calls us to do. Our only effort is to surrender to the leading of God's Spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, through our connection to the Vine of Christ, You fill us with the fruit of Your Spirit. You justify us by our faith in Your faithfulness, and You flood our heart and mind with Your peace (Romans 5:1; Philippians 4:7). When this world frightens and discourages us, You flood our heart with Your peace, as we keep our focus on You, rather than on what occurs around us (Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27).

Thought for the Day:

In this modern day of technology, we can easily blog and use social media opportunities to share the gospel of Christ throughout the entire world. - Mark 16:15

Create your own blog and spread God's Word:

https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/1623800?hl=en

The Holiness, Rest and Presence of God

Who is mankind, that our holy God would give us a moment of His attention? We are nothing, worthless and the foulest form of life on this planet. 

Yet, God lowered Himself below the angels, and became a man, in order to save us and to bring us into eternity with Him forever (Psalm 8:4-6). Amazingly, God gives us His full consideration, care and affection now and always (Job 7:17).

If we relinquish control of our life to God's Spirit, He brings us into the presence of our Father God through Jesus Christ, illuminates God's Word to us and guides us to do God's will (John 14:26). 

The Spirit then begins the lifelong process of sanctifying us as His holy temple (1 Corinthians 6:19). He slowly transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ's perfect, divine nature (Romans 8:29; 2 Peter 1:4).

Each moment of our day, the Holy Spirit endeavors to bring us into the rest of God. We thwart Him by filling our hours with busyness. We cause our self to experience fits of stress and high blood pressure, because we do not allow our self to enter into God's rest (Hebrews 4:10). 

Yet, God's Spirit continually draws us ever deeper into fellowship with God until we finally, completely surrender to Him.

Then, we learn to walk in the holiness of God's precepts. His Spirit puts His love in our hearts for one another, so that we are proof of His existence (John 13:34-35). 

Christ in us loves the brethren through us by His Holy Spirit. As we seek God first, His Spirit will direct us in loving one another according to His will, without enabling one another.

Prayer: 
Father God, our ultimate joy is to live in Your presence, filled with Your Son, Jesus, and empowered by Your Spirit, who abides in us. Christ in us is our only hope of entering into Your glorious Kingdom (Colossians 1:27). 

Give us a burden for the lost, so we can reclaim them for Your Kingdom (Mark 16:15). Even the angels in heaven rejoice when one sinner repents and comes back to You (Luke 15:10).

Thought for the Day:

May we surrender our every waking moment into service for our God and King.

The Unkown God

 

Paul found a statue on Mars Hill to the Unknown God. He gave a life-changing message that day. After listening to His eloquent exposition of the prophetic words of the Old Testament, many came to know and trust Christ as their Savior. Trusting in an unseen God with our whole heart and relinquishing our power is ludicrous to most people. That is why so few people ever come to the place of total surrender to God. We learn from childhood that life will dominate us if we do not rise up and subdue it.

We use our own efforts to make the wisest choices we can and to recover from our mistakes (Isaiah 64:6). The older we get, however, the more we realize that no matter how many management courses we take, life has a tendency to squeeze out of the mold we create for it. God is the only being capable of controlling life. Surrendering to His love and wisdom brings serenity to our life. God provides balance to our chaos, by leading us on His perfect path.

Relinquishing control of our will is the most monumental struggle any human being has to face. We start with repenting of our sin of unbelief and asking Jesus to save us (Romans 10:13; John 3:18). Then we pray without ceasing as we live out each day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). God often requires that we walk to the edge of all the light we have and then take one giant step into the darkness. This requires a great deal of faith in God’s faithfulness. Only as we obey God’s direction we will see the reasons for His commands.

As we learn the Bible and follow the truths within each page, we will no longer stumble around in the dark. God’s Word provides a light for our path and a lamp for our feet (Psalm 119:105). God leads us in a level path because of our enemies (Psalm 27:11). God tries us and knows our ways (Psalm 139:23). The Word also searches our heart and reveals the hidden things we try to keep secret (Proverbs 20:27). As we relinquish each of our fears and sins to God, then His Spirit rises up within us and fills us with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

God teaches us to live with confidence in Him as He leads us by His Spirit. We walk in perfect peace and fulfillment (Isaiah 30:15). We no longer need to worry about what we will eat or drink, where we will live or how we will pay our bills (Matthew 6:25-33). We take His yoke upon us and learn from Him (Matthew 11:28-30). His yoke helps us to carry our burdens and prevents us from wandering off in the wrong direction. We silence the foolishness of unbelievers by living a righteous life (1 Peter 2:15).

Prayer:

Father God, the secret of having faith is living in Your will. Faith is not some explosive power that we wield in order to lavish our self with worldly goods. Instead, it is the ability to obey Your desire for our life. Faith does not move Your hand, but it moves us to obey You. We live in gratitude as you reveal Your will to us moment by moment throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Renew our thoughts. Remind us to trust in You with our whole heart, and to seek You before we even get out of bed in the morning (Romans 12:2: Proverbs 3:5-6). Faith indeed moves mountains; however, we must first make sure that You want it moved (Philippians 2:13).

Thought for the Day:

Regardless of where we work, where we live or how much income we make, we can all follow God’s Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Waiting

Waiting is one of the hardest concepts for modern mankind to embrace. We dislike waiting for anything, not even at red lights, at the doctor’s office or for food at the restaurant. If we had to wait and work for seven years for our future father-in-law like Jacob did, how many of us would stay in love with the same person? The poor guy actually ended up working fourteen years for her; but to him it only seemed like a few days, because he loved her so much (Genesis 29:20-28).

One of the least patient characters in the Bible is Saul. He got tired of waiting on Samuel, and he offered a burnt peace offering to God himself. Samuel was horrified when he found out that Saul was too impatient to do things God’s way! Consequently, Saul lost his kingdom and God sought for a man after His own heart to take Saul’s place (1 Samuel 13:8-14). The prodigal son is another example of impatience. He talked his father into giving him his inheritance early. Then he ended up squandering it and having nothing left. It was only the mercy of the father that took this wayward son back into his home (Luke 15:11-24).

Paul bragged on the Saints in Thessalonica, because they had patience and faith, even in the face of persecution and tribulations. He considered their endurance in their suffering as a manifestation of their worthiness of the Kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5). We too can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, even in our tribulation (Romans 5:2-4). 

 

The writer of Hebrews lays out a list of faithful Saints who patiently waited for the promise of redemption, even though it was afar off. These Saints realized that they were pilgrims and strangers on this earth, and they yearned for their homeland in heaven. God is not ashamed to be the God of these Saints, or of those who trust in Him today (Hebrews 11: 13-16). We only need to allow patience to do her perfect work in our life (James 1:4).

Paul encourages us to hope for what we do not see, and to have the patience to wait on God’s provision of it. He promises that the Holy Spirit will help us with our impatience by making intercession for us according to God’s will. When we wait, we have the assurance that God will work everything out for our good. Nothing can ever separate us from Christ’s love, not even nuisances, disasters, persecution, hunger, destitution or danger of death (Romans 8:24-28, 35).

In the Serenity Prayer, we ask God to grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; the courage to change the things we can; and the wisdom to know the difference between the two. In this way, we put our energy into changing the issues, which He shows us we can handle (Philippians 4:13). Then we relinquish control to Him over the areas of our life that we cannot change. Living a surrendered life to God’s control brings us righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, aspects which we could never attain on our own (Romans 14:17).

Prayer:

Father God, unbelievers do not have spiritual discernment. They do not understand the huge difference Your presence makes in our life. Help us to live as examples to everyone in we know that has not accepted You as their Savior. Season our speech and our actions with Your love and make us a living testimony of your mercy and grace.

Thought for the Day:

"Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him." – Psalm 37:7