Union with Christ - God's Opportunities

At times, the difficulties in life hang like the burden around our neck. God does not want us to try with all of our might to solve the problems by our self. He wants us to know that He is involved with us in every issue of our life.

We are usually overwhelmed by many of our trials, but Jesus can successfully settle every one of them. He gives us courage, wisdom and divine revelation to resolve them, or He instructs us to leave them in His capable hands.

He uses these conflicts to build Godly character in us and to further His Kingdom in the earth. We can embrace every negative issue with faith and peace, knowing that the Lord Jesus Christ dwells within us with all the power of the triune Godhead.

This is how we dwell in serenity all the days of our life. It is important for us to understand that God already arranged for a solution for these issues prior to them ever happening.

He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and He has a perfect plan for our life (Romans 12:2).

Jesus within us breaks the chains of every type of satanic or earthly hindrance that attempts to steal our freedom from us (Psalm 107:14). He encourages us to take His yoke upon us, and to learn of Him; so that we can find true rest for our soul (Matthew 11:29).

Jesus is poised to deliver us from the bondage of every negative emotion and circumstance, and to bring us astounding joy that is beyond words and full of His glory (1 Peter 1:8).

When we see our problems as God’s opportunities, it changes our focus and attitude about them. Our supply for each circumstance, and the wisdom to deal with it comes from Christ in us, our hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to view our problems as adventures rather than as challenges. As we trust in You, You work them all out for good, just as You promised You would (Romans 8:28). Life is not about me, but You. You call us to proclaim Your presence and Word to the world in which You plant us.

You provide us with the energy and power to teach and admonish others about what we learn from You (Colossians 1:28-29). We live a life of thanksgiving and praise to You for Your willingness to sacrifice Your Son for our redemption, and for demonstrating Your glory in creation and in our everyday life.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus, the Word, is the physical manifestation of God’s glory, and He exhibits God's glory and divine character in and through every one of us who live a completely surrendered life before Him.

No Longer a Sinner - The Love of God

 

We learn more from one another's example than from our words. We often say one thing, but do another. Many times we are not even aware of it. Our children are always watching us.

The human eyes absorb sights we do not even register with our conscious mind. These images are stored in our subconscious mind and affect us for the rest of our life.

We need to guard what our eyes, and the eyes of our children see. TV, movies, magazines, books and all media are sources of perversion that we can control to protect us and our children.

God uses our eyes to reveal to us His glory through nature all around us (Romans 1:20). We feel His pleasure in His love when we experience it through the details of our life.

The glory of Christ in us is the revelation of His divine character, which changes us into a new creation. He imparts to us the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and relates to us through His grace and love.

The servant role, which Jesus performed while on earth, teaches us how to model His character to our world as well. We serve others as Christ serves His Bride, His Church.

Jesus was obedient to our Heavenly Father to the point of submitting Himself to the death on the cross. Similarly, we come to the place spiritually where we are willing to die to our self (1 Corinthians 15:31; Galatians 2:20).

We live for God to the point where He actually lives through us. We adopt the mind of Christ as our own and refrain from living a sinful lifestyle - fully convinced that He sets us free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Christ's life and death are the manifestation of the love of God for all of mankind. Due to His great love for us, His compassionate mercies never fail us; they are new every single morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, we gaze on Your goodness through every moment of every day. We esteem, appreciate and adore You with every breath that we take. We look forward to You changing us into the image of Christ by the work of Your Spirit in our life (Romans 8). Lead us by Your Holy Spirit so that we only do the activities which You are calling us to accomplish with our day (Ephesians 2:10).

Help us to ignore the overwhelming flood of details in this life, which attempt to sidetrack us from doing Your will. We have confidence that Your Spirit will lead us to perform each detail of our responsibility in Your timing and way, without the stress we usually put on our self when we try to control our life.

Thought for the Day:
We are channels of God's love to everyone in our sphere of influence from our family to neighbors, workmates and acquaintances, as well as strangers we meet on the street, the store and the restaurant.

The Name of the Lord - Our Refuge

 

Faith in Jesus' name will strengthen us; and the faith which comes through Him, often gives us perfect health through Him; so that Jesus may be magnified (Acts 3:16, 4:10, 4:30, 19:17 James 5:14).   

God justly remembers the work and love we show in His name as we minister to one another (Hebrews 6:10). We give thanks and praise to His name, and exalt His name as He delivers us (1 Chronicles 16:35; Nehemiah 9:5).

We praise His name as we assemble, and to the ends of the earth, and as we pay our vows forever and ever (Psalm 22:22, 30:4, 38:10; 61:8). Even the oppressed and needy praise and give thanks to His great, lovely, and awesome name (Psalm 74:21, 99:3, 106:47, 135:3).

His is the only name, which we exalt and worship (Psalm 148:13). We praise His name with dancing and with instruments because of all the good things He does for us (Psalm 149:3; Jeremiah 33:9; Joel 2:26). The fruit of our lips continually gives thanks to and boasts in His name (Hebrews 13:15; Psalm 44:8).

God releases our soul from its prison here on earth, so that we may give thanks to His name (Psalm 142:7). Therefore, we exalt His name forever for His wonderful works, and His perfect plans, which He faithfully fulfills (Isaiah 12:4, 25:1).

Even in trials and persecution, we praise the name of the Lord (Ephesians 5:20; Psalm 74:21). Whatever we do in word and deed, we do it all in His name and for the glory of His name (Colossians 3:17).

Prayer:

Father God, all the earth will one day worship You with the glory, which is due to Your name (Psalm 66:4). There is no god like You, and we eagerly await the revelation of Your appearing, because You are the desire of our soul (Exodus 34:14; Isaiah 26:8). We love and take refuge in Your name and sing for joy because of Your shelter throughout our life (Psalm 5:11).

We cling to You and hold fast to Your promises and ways as we enjoy Your deliverance (Deuteronomy 10:20; Psalm 5:11, 9:10). Thank You for securely setting us high upon the Rock of Christ, because we experience the magnitude of Your name (Psalm 91:14).

Thought for the Day:

Due to God's marvelous works, let us continually offer words of praise, even if it is a sacrifice for our soul to use our last ounce of strength to do it. - Hebrews 13:15

Many thanks to Matt Milligan Photography for the photo.