Reflecting Gods Character

 

As a new born Christian, we look at Biblical mandates and attempt to make a list of all of the requirements to keep in order to please the God who saved us. We want to walk righteously before Him.

Or some people look at the requirements and consider giving up before they start, because the chore of walking in righteousness appears overwhelming.

What we do not yet understand is that the same Spirit that justified us is present within us to sanctify us and to quicken our mortal body in glorification when we see Jesus.

We will have the sanctified mind, eternal spirit and glorified, immortal body of Christ Himself (Philippians 2:12-13). Jesus is both the author and the finisher of our perfection.

We do not need to sprint up the mountain to attain Godliness as quickly as possible; but merely to obey God's call and directives one moment at a time.

The only help He needs from us is that we enter His rest, consult Him before we do or say anything, and then walk in His Spirit each moment of the day (Proverbs 3:5-6; Galatians 5:15-25).

We spend intimate time in His presence, which fill us; in His Word, which instructs us; in His Spirit, which inspires and guides us; and in His fellowship, which completes and fulfills us.

Prayer:

Father God, when we surrender each moment of our day to You, we do not instruct You on how to make our dreams come true. Instead, we accept Your will for our life and draw from the power and strength of Your Spirit within us to fulfill each directive which comes from You.

Give us the power and authority that Paul and Silas enjoyed when they went to the synagogue and spoke in Your name about Jesus. Help us to make a difference in this life for as many people as You bring our way. Your Holy Spirit works in their life and in ours through each divine appointment.

Thought for the Day:

As a mirror, we reflect God's glory and divine nature to the world around us.

Nursing Negative Emotions

When we nurse a negative emotion, we amplify it in our mind, cement it in our thinking and establish the roots of it in our soul. Yet, this only ends up hurting, rather than helping us.

Paul recommends that we think and meditate on only positive thoughts and emotions. He even gives us a list of acceptable ideas to consider and contemplate, and on which to focus.

This verse suggests that we think only on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). If it does not meet these requirements, we ask God to help us to change our focus about the issue.

Grudges, depression, jealousy, anger, hurt feelings, suspicion, frustration, shame, grief, etc. usually come from lies, which Satan whispers in our ear. However, if they are founded in fact, we can use the Serenity Prayer to resolve them.

We either change the circumstance or give it to God to deal with; but whatever we do, we change our attitude about it to keep our soul encouraged by the positive that is going on in and around us.

Paul goes one step further and encourages us to rejoice in our tribulation. I never could figure out how to do that, until I realized that God plants the seed for a miracle within every trial.

Now, I simply praise our Father God with gratitude and faith in His faithfulness through tribulation, and I look at it as an adventure in Christ rather than as just another negative encounter with life.

Our attitude during trials is the greatest witness to the world around us of the Christ within us (1 Peter 2:12). We can "preach" to them until we are blue in the face, but what we "say" with our actions and attitude speaks more about the love of Christ than our words.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that the result of us maintaining positive thoughts and attitudes is Your peace within us (Philippians 4:7). Your peace is the precursor for all of our thoughts, words and actions; and our thoughts, words and actions can disturb Your peace within us quicker than anything. We often imagine the worse-case scenario, which rarely happens, and this slides us right down into the pit of worry and depression. 

You give us Your wisdom to deal with each moment of life, which we encounter. Your wisdom is pure, filled with peace, loving, considerate, easily surrendered to, full of mercy and grace, produces good fruit in and through us, and is impartial and sincere (James 3:17). Help us to stay focused on Your blessings and provision in our life.

Thought for the Day:

There is more potential power in gratitude and praise than in nursing negative emotions.

Survival of the Fittest

 

We are able to survive in this world by no other means than the faithfulness of God pouring out His blessings on our life. Some people blindly careen through each day, never realizing that God blessed them (Romans 3:19-26).

The kindness, mercy and love of our God and Savior wash us with His Word, provide for us His new birth, and renew us by the fullest measure of His Spirit within us. He justifies us by His grace and makes us heirs with Jesus of His eternal Kingdom.

His greatest gift is that He is just and He justifies us, not by our own accomplishments but by His (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7). Yet, people usually fail to thank Him for His blessings and take credit for the good things that happen to them.

We eventually get weary, burdened and burn out. We long for a time of rest from the rat-race of life. The wise person will yoke up with Christ, learn from Him and gain rest for their soul (Matthew 11:28-30).

We trust that Jesus knows exactly what we need and how to attain that. We quit doing things our way, and follow the direction of God's Spirit each moment of the day.

We cease from our fruitless labors and enter God's rest (Hebrews 4:10). We stop attempting to please God by the works of our flesh and realize that we can only prove our love to Him through obedience to His Word (John 14:15).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that there is no longer condemnation for those of us who love You and are the called according to Your purpose rather than our own goals and desires. Thank You for Your life-giving Spirit who achieves in us what the law never could. Thank you for sending Jesus as God with us in human form to fulfill the requirements of the law and setting us free from the power and purpose of sin, the world and the flesh (Romans 8:1-8).

Remind us that in the flesh, we can never please You; but Your Spirit in us gives us Your holiness and Your life (Romans 8:9-11). Help us to depend on You for everything we need during the day. Teach us not to worry about anything in life, but to pray instead; and to trust You just like the birds of the air and the lilies in the field (Matthew 6:25-33).

Thought for the Day:

Trusting in Jesus helps us to realize that only He can rescue us from the tyranny of this life. - Romans 7:15-25