Success in Life

People often refer to Jesus Christ in their daily, ordinary lives. However, most of the time, they are using this sacred name as a curse word. They sling His name around without any awareness of the sanctity and the ultimate power in His name.

Other people recognize the awesome authority of His name, and they call on Him in prayer, but they do not really know Jesus personally. They are moral and maybe even religious, but Christ does not abide within them (Colossians 1:27; Galatians 2:20). Their prayers and service are an exercise of human effort alone.

Then there is a remnant of people who reverence the holy name of Jesus. They have an intimate union with Christ and trust in Him with their whole heart (Proverbs 3:5-6). They realized that they could never be good enough to earn a place in heaven; so they accepted Jesus’ sacrifice in our place (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus died for us, but He also wants to live in us and through us. He wants to indwell His Body, the church, and finish the work He started during His thirty-three years on earth. Once He moves into our spirit, He revives our spirit, which was formerly dead in sin.

God calls us to humble our self as a little child, frail and helpless, and in need of a Savior (Matthew 18:4). Jesus continues His work of regeneration in us by abiding in us by His Spirit, creating in us a clean heart and making us a new creation (Romans 8:9-11; Psalm 51:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus’ seed of faith is planted in our heart like a tiny mustard seed, and grows to be a powerful force in our life and in our ministry for the Lord (Galatians 2:20; Matthew 17:20). Even when we see the fruit of God’s Spirit working through us, we remain humble and we cling to His mercy and grace.

Realizing that we are weak, we depend on Christ in us, who is our strength (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:9). We listen to God’s Spirit and walk in His perfect will for our life, and enjoy a successful and fulfilling life (Ephesians 2:10). We are also Christ’s ambassadors to a lost and dying world (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Prayer:

Father God, we cannot successfully live through one day of life without Your Spirit’s guidance and direction. Our human understanding falls short, so we rely on Your empowerment to accomplish Your will for each moment of all of our days (1 Corinthians 2:5). Remind us to dedicate our existence, regardless of our vocation or health or wealth, as a living sacrifice for Your service (Romans 12:1). We look forward to spending eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

Living in humble surrender to Christ throughout our life will bring us success, peace, joy and fulfillment both now and in eternity.

Resting on Faith

The best way to discern God’s Will is to pray and hear from God. We cast our cares upon Him, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22). God commenced our life at conception with each day already planned out and the entirety of our days numbered (Psalm 139:13,16). He created us with a specific purpose in mind, and He has a perfect will for each and every one of us (Ephesians 2:10). Are we fulfilling that purpose?

Christ will live this wonderful purpose through our life by His Spirit. He gives us both the desire and the power to accomplish God’s Will for our life (Philippians 2:13). We abandon all confidence in our self, our flesh and our human abilities. When we choose to totally relinquish our plans and surrender to His faithfulness, we enter into His divine rest (Hebrews 4:10). We live in reverence to Christ as our Lord (1 Peter 3:15).

Depending completely and ceaselessly on God, we do the works, which God calls us to perform with our life (Ephesians 2:10). We love those He leads us to love, pray for whom He calls us to pray for, share the gospel with those whom we feel Him nudging us to talk to and serve those He directs us to serve. Our whole goal in life is to bring God glory in everything we think, say, feel and do.

We live in victory, which Jesus won for us on Calvary’s cross, and we do greater works than He did because His Spirit abides in us. There are no expectations in our heart, no demands or requirements that we hold out for God. We do not dictate to Him what He should do, but we entirely surrender to His will for our life. The more we walk in the Spirit, the more we want to walk in the Spirit.

Our confidence in God comes through the faith of Christ in us (2 Corinthians 3:4). We entertain no ambition or desires apart from knowing Christ (Romans 15:13). Having a productive day in the things of God and for the Kingdom of God is the most fulfilling time we can ever experience. We wait on God’s direction, through His Spirit within us, and we see His hand on everything in our life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for filling us with Your Spirit at the moment we open our hearts to accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. Thank You for leading us each moment of the day by Your Spirit and for keeping us in the center of Your will. We enjoy the fellowship of Christ and we dwell in You as Your Spirit dwells in us. We depend on You absolutely and we trust You to give us both the desire and the power to serve You with our life (Philippians 2:13).

Thought for the Day:

We rest in the faith of the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for us. – Galatians 2:20

Reduced to Fools

Read: Exodus 20:18-20

Did you ever notice the absence of the fear of (respect for) the Lord in people today. Everyone is a god unto him/herself, and they make up their own rules for life as they go along. Or else, they create designer gods that fit their philosophy of life and which do not require anything from them.

 

Why should we fear/reverence the Lord? God instructs and confides in those who fear Him. The path of those who reverence the Lord includes prosperity (Psalm 25:12-14). He stores up goodness for them that take refuge in Him (Psalm 31:19). He delivers from famine and death all those whose hope is in His unfailing love (Psalm 33:18-19). He sends His angels to camp around those who fear Him and He delivers them in their times of trouble. He is a refuge to them and they lack no good thing (Psalm 34:7-11). He provides food for them who remember his covenant forever (Psalm 111:5). He takes His delight in them (Psalm 147:11).

Other reasons we have such a high regard for the Lord is that whatever He speaks and commands always comes to pass (Psalm 33:8-9). He puts a new song into our mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many unbelievers see why we sing to Him and then they put their trust in the Lord too and come to fear Him (Psalm 40:3). He gives a heritage to those who fear His name (Psalm 61:5). His love for us is a high as the heavens are from the earth (Psalm 103:11).

To those who obey His precepts and remember His covenant, His love is from everlasting to everlasting…in modern vernacular that is as far as infinity and beyond! (Psalm 103:17-18). He is our help and our shield in times of danger (Psalm 115:11). When we fear Him and walk in His ways we are blessed, we eat the fruit of our labor and His blessings and prosperity are ours. Even our family increases and is fruitful (Ps 128:1-4) and His mercy extends from generation to generation (Proverbs 1:50).

Conversely, those who are wicked and sinful and flatter themselves too much to repent of or to hate their sin do not fear the Lord (Psalm 36:1-2). God brings to everlasting ruin those who do not make Him their stronghold, but trust instead in their earned wealth and grow strong by destroying others. He snatches them up, uproots them and removes them from their homes (Ps 52:5-7).

Therefore, it does not make sense for us to be wise in our own eyes. If we fear the Lord and shun evil, God will bring health to our body and nourish our bones (Proverbs 3:7-8). In Exodus 20:18-20, God shows His mighty power to the Israelites. They are so convicted of their unholiness in His sight, and are so fearful of His awesome power, that they cower behind Moses. The wise will hear this message and learn from it (Matthew 7:24).

Prayer:

Lord God, You are a great God and most worthy of our praise. You are to be feared above all gods. For other gods are mere idols made of wood and stone, but You are the one who made the heavens. We will fear You and praise You and we pray that all of our descendants will honor and revere You (1 Chronicles 16:25-26; Psalm 22:23).

Thought for the Day ~

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...without it, we are reduced to fools.

He Remembers Them No More

Read: Psalm 103: 9-13

“But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.” - Psalm 130:4

God is collecting His anger over the sin of mankind in a cup of wrath. He also declares that He will not always strive with us or harbor His anger forever. God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). His desire is that everyone will spend eternity with Him. He does not even make us pay the consequences we deserve for our sins. Once we repent, He covers us with the blood of Jesus and He casts our sins

as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

Imagine a plane flying north. Once it reaches the North Pole, and follows the curve of the earth, it will begin to head south. So, if God removed our transgressions from us as far as the north is from the south, there would be a definite limit to His forgiveness.

Now, imagine a plane flying east. When does it start to fly west? At what point does the east meet the west? It never does. There is no polar axis going through the earth from east and west as there is going north to south. The plane continues flying east until it lands or runs out of fuel. It never, ever meets the west. That is exactly how far from us God removed our sins. They will never ever catch up with us. They will never be returned to us or thrown back up into our face. They are gone forever.

Our Heavenly Father has compassion on those who fear Him. Once we recognize the omniscience, the omnipresence, the omnipotence of God, we realize how truly great He is. Jesus paid a debt, which He did not owe. He suffered persecution and crucifixion for sins, which He did not commit.

When we realize the great sacrifice, which He made for us, we have no recourse but to fall on our face and repent of our sins. We are humbled by His love, grace and mercy, which we do not deserve. We reverence Him as He deserves to be worshipped. At some point we ultimately make up our mind to serve Him with every ounce of fiber in our being, because of the obligation we owe the perfect Lamb without spot of blemish for paying our sin debt for us.

Having an eternal viewpoint of our life on this earth, gives us a whole new perspective on what we experience. The carnal world and fleshly desires fade away, and we focus on doing the will of God (1 John 2:17). We learn to be content just as Paul did when he was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, hungry, exhausted, lonely and forsaken by everyone he held dear (Philippians 4:12).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we will rejoice in You always (Philippians 4:4). Help us to trust in You, instead of relying on our human wisdom (Proverbs 3:5). This way we will walk in Your perfect will for us moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

As Christians, we receive such a feeling of oneness with our Creator, such fulfillment from helping others in their time of need and such a deep joy in His love that it defies description (1 Peter 1:8). 

Sidetracked

Read: Proverbs 2:3-5

" Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."

- Proverbs 2:5

A “sidetrack” refers to a second, relatively short length of railroad track that is placed just to the side of a main track. It is joined to the main track by switches at one or both ends. Engineers use them either for unloading freight, or to allow two trains on a same track either to meet from opposite directions or to pass in the same direction. A train is sidetracked from its course to make room for another train to pass. Sometimes, this maneuver throws the original train off schedule and makes life more difficult for the travelers inside.

In the same way that the train gets sidetracked, we also get sidetracked in our walk with God. This sidetrack refers to an alternate venue of thought or activity, that is a deviation or distracton from the main topic or central activity. It is also secondary or subordinate in importance or effectiveness. We allow the social mores of this world to cause us to take this alternate route, rather than to allow God's transforming hand to do a sanctifying work in our life. Then, we experience unnecessary trials and distance from God. Our prayers are stilted and our understanding of God’s Word weakens.

However, God continually calls us to a closer walk. If we repent and seek God’s will with all of our heart, He reveals His truth to us, fills us with His love and pours out His grace upon our lives. The Holy Spirit becomes our teacher and leads us into the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He wants us to trust and obey His Word and His Spirit, and to honor and respect Him with our lives.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me to use my time to seek the knowledge of God as a hidden treasure, and to walk in reverence for Your name. When I get sidetracked, lead me back to Your path of righteousness. Let me walk with reverence for You, Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).

Thought for the Day:

If our worldview lines up with God's Word, it will stand the test of time.