Christ's Place in Our Life

In today’s world, people are very touchy about what we say to them. If we even mention anything about God or Christ, they think that we are trying to proselytize them. We are simply living out who we are, and they accuse us of judging them. Of course, if they would join us, they would understand that He is not our hobby or our crutch. Christ is our very life (Colossians 3:4).

We are not trying to impose our beliefs on them, just living the truth of God’s Word. We do not condemn their behavior or their person, but offer them the opportunity to trust Christ for their life and to enjoy the wondrous benefits He provides for His children (1 John 3:10; Psalm 103:2). When we repent and believe in Christ, we no longer live as part of this world, even though we still live in it.

This happens, because God placed the weight of the vilest sins upon His own shoulders and paid the penalty for them in our place. Already accepted in His beloved family, we live by faith and not by works (Ephesians 1:6; 2:8-9). We no longer attempt to earn God’s acceptance by our performance to His standards. We live in total surrender to His will and accept His atoning work for our salvation.

Jesus freed us from deprivation, degradation and devastation in this life. He allows us to walk in a new life in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). His anointing in us and through us breaks the yoke of all bondage to sin and deception (Isaiah 10:27). He exchanges our humanity for His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). His Spirit lives in and through us and enables us to live in the happiest place on earth - God’s will (Galatians 2:20).

Prayer:

Father God, we are an extension of the ministry of Christ on this earth. His sinless perfection enables us to live free from sin as we depend on Him for our perfection. Thank You for sending Your Spirit to guide us, as Your Body on the earth, to supernaturally perform greater works than Jesus did by Your power in us (John 14:12). Remind us that You direct our paths, as we follow You in all of our decisions (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

When we grow weary, we can trust God to renew our strength and to help us to rise up with wings like eagles. - Isaiah 40:31

A New Life in Christ

In this world, people are very touchy about what we say to them. They think that we are trying to proselytize them, if we even mention anything about God or Christ. We are simply living out who we are, and they accuse us of judging them. Of course, if they would join us, they would understand that Jesus is not our hobby or our crutch. Christ is our very life (Colossians 3:4).

We are not trying to impose our beliefs on anyone. We are just living out the truth of God’s Word. We do not condemn their behavior or their person, but offer them the opportunity to trust Christ and to enjoy the wondrous life He provides for His children (Ephesians 4:13). When we repent and believe in Christ (Mark 1:15), we no longer live as part of this world, even though we still live in it (John 17:16).

We no longer attempt to earn His acceptance by our performance to His standards. We are already accepted in His beloved family, by faith and not by works (Ephesians 1:6, 2:8-10). God placed the weight of the vilest sin upon His own shoulders and He paid our penalty for us. We accept Christ’s atoning work for our salvation, and then choose to live in total surrender to God’s will.

Jesus freed us from deprivation, degradation and devastation in this life. He allows us to walk in a new life in Him (Romans 6:4). His anointing in us and through us breaks the yoke of bondage to sin and deception (Isaiah 10:27). His Spirit enables us to obey God’s will, by living in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Let us seek His direction for our life and not allow earthly concerns to sway us from His ways (Luke 9:57-62, 14:26-33).

Prayer:

Father God, true surrender to You always supercedes our natural devotion to job, family or friends. We forsake all for you (Luke 14:33). We know without a doubt that You will meet the needs of our family and friends as we focus on Your will for our life. Keep us from failing to totally surrender to You, and enable us to experience the fullness of Your love for us.

Thought for the Day:

God listens to and understands our prayers and knows exactly how to answer them.

Jesus Messiah

There is much disparity today among people who claim to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and those who claim He was nothing more than a good man, teacher or heretic. However, there is more evidence to prove the reality of the fact that He is our Messiah than there is to prove He is not. Any one of the following points is enough to verify this claim.

There are over 60 similar prophecies, which the Old Testament prophets recorded, which were fulfilled by Jesus’ life, crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension. In the seventh century Micah prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). This occurred over 600 years before Jesus was even born.

Although Jesus’ parents lived in Nazareth, the Roman census forced them to make the trip to Bethlehem to pay their taxes just in time for His birth. Matthew records the fulfillment of this prophecy (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1). Jesus was also born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18). Jesus came from the lineage of Abraham (Genesis 12:3, 22:18; Matthew 1:1, Romans 9:5). Our Messiah is heir to King David’s throne (2 Samuel 7:12-13, Isaiah 9:7; Julie 1:32-33, Romans 1:3).

He healed the sick (Isaiah 35:5–6; Matthew 11:5). The soldiers beat and spat upon Jesus (Isaiah 50:6; Mark 14:65). He hung crucified on the cross next to sinners (Isaiah 53:12; Mark 14:65). A rich friend allowed his family and disciples to bury Jesus in his tomb (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57–60). The money paid to Judas for betraying Jesus ended up being used to by a potter’s field (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew 27:9-10).

Jesus resurrected from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Mark 16:6). He ascended into heaven (Psalm 68:18; Mark 16:19). God exalted Him at His right hand (Psalm 110:1; 1 Peter 3:22). These are just some of the prophecies, which prove that Jesus is our Messiah, and which validate the authenticity of the Bible. These facts certainly strengthen our faith, fulfill our life and promise us a fantastic future.

Prayer:

Father God, we pray for those people who are blinded by pride and rebellion from seeing the wonderful truths of Your Word. We ask You to meet them face-to-face on their road in life and to remove the scales from their eyes as You did for Paul. Draw them ever closer to Your wounded heart and humble them, as you did those who already Believe, by allowing them to feel the pain their sin caused You. Thank You for becoming a man, Emmanuel, for our sakes and for dying on Calvary’s cross to set us free from the bondage and degradation of sin.

Thought for the Day:

With forty authors writing from three continents over a span of nearly two thousand years, the Bible maintains that Christ’s work on the cross was ordained by God to bring Salvation to anyone willing to repent and believe.

 

 

 

For more prophecy fulfilled by Jesus:

http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/a/Prophecies-Jesus.htm

 

 

 

God's Divine Nature

 

To all of those who repent and believe, the Lord Himself is our inheritance (John 3:16-18; Numbers 18:20). We are a habitation for the Lord Most High (Hebrews 5-6). We live and move and have our being in Him (Acts 17:28). Once we enter this realm with the Lord, we enter His rest and cease from our own works (Hebrews 4:9-10). We stop seeking our own will and we start to live in His will instead. Each new trial is another opportunity for Him to impact our world through His divinity within us (Colossians 2:9-10).

When we lose our peace over some issue, this is a clear indication that this issue is an idol in our life. As we seek the Spirit’s direction about it, He reveals to us the carnal beliefs, which we still cling to in our life. As we confess this as sin, we can then relinquish it to God’s Spirit to remove from our life. The next time the issue appears, we find that it is resolved and no longer a concern for us anymore. God’s Spirit imparts all the fullness of His divine power within us through His fruit (John 14:20).

As we focus on the fruit of the Spirit, we start to realize that God’s Fruit, which is the divine nature of God, gradually replaces the negative aspects of our personality. We exchange hatred with love, depression with true joy, discontentment with peace, irritation with patience, criticism with gentleness, backbiting with goodness, pride with meekness, excess with self-control, and worry with the faith of God as we are controlled and guided by His Spirit. We are free from bondage to the flesh.

Love means to hold affection for others; joy provides us with exuberance about life; peace brings serenity; patience is the willingness to stick with it no matter how hard or frustrating something gets; gentleness supplies us with compassion from the heart; goodness is kindness that pervades our entire being; meekness allows us to serve God and others with humility; self-control comes when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our responses; faith is trusting that God knows what He’s doing

We have eternal life by our relationship with the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3). We know Him personally and experience the power of His resurrection in our life (Philippians 3:7-12). As estimation of the value of this world decreases, the value of His goals and will for us increases. We stop living for our self and live instead for Christ. Like Enoch, we walk with God. As we seek Him and His kingdom, He gives us, through His divine power within us, everything we need to do His will on this earth (2 Peter 1:2-4).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, in You resides all of the fullness of the triune God, and You dwell in us as we dwell in You (Colossians 2:9; Romans 6:8). We await the richest portion of your fullness to fill our entire being (Ephesians 3:16-19, 4:13). We are crucified with You, and therefore, we live in this world for Your glory (Philippians 1:21). Yet, it is not we who live, but You who live in us and through us (Galatians 2:20). We are changed from glory to glory, and we slowly mature until we share in Your divine nature (Ephesians 4:13).

Thought for the Day:

As we express Christ’s character in us, which is the fruit of the Spirit, we walk in obedience moment by moment and we do not sin or fulfill the lusts of the flesh.