Don't Swim, Just Float

 

A friend told me to stop swimming through life, and just float. She meant that God designed His life in us to propel us through life without any effort on our part. She meant that we relinquish our need to work for God and to please Him with our efforts. She also reminded me that dying to self is not an action on our part, but an acceptance of the fact that we are already dead and hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).

This allows us not to fret about tomorrow, but to live each moment in the center of God’s will for us. We trust Him to give us the desire, to lead us, and to work through us in every situation (Philippians 2:12-13). We are the vessel for Him to use for His purposes. The pot never moves. It just rests in the Potter’s hand, willing to serve at the Potter’s will (Romans 9:20-21). We are God’s temple; His holy, resting place upon this earth (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

When we seek Him, we find Him, if we search for Him with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13). God does not honor half-hearted devotion. He laid down His life for us and wants nothing less from us. As we serve in His Kingdom, He supplies all of our needs (Matthew 6:33). As we trust in His promises, His divine nature replaces our carnal nature (2 Peter 1:4). Our self-life is dead, and Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20).

To acquire salvation, we repent and surrender (1 Peter 1:15). To enter God’s rest, we cease from our human striving (Hebrews 4:10). To walk in the Spirit, we refrain from walking in the flesh (Galatians 5:16, 25). We are His gloves; and He is the hand fitting firmly within us. We cooperate as He uses our body, soul and spirit for His service. We rest in the Vine as He produces fruit through us as His branches (John 15:5).

We become partakers of His Divine Nature by fleeing from covetousness by His grace, peace and freedom. We exercise our faith, which helps us to develop virtue, excellence, perseverance and knowledge, which lead to patience, endurance and godliness and Christian love. These qualities increasingly abound in us to keep us from idle unfruitfulness (2 Peter 1:2-9). We live by the faith of the Son of God in us (Galatians 2:20).

Prayer:

Father God, You inspire and direct our thoughts, words and actions by Your Spirit within us. We enter into Your rest by ceasing from our own efforts, and we allow Christ to walk, talk and act through us. This is more than Him using us, but Him actually working through us to accomplish Your will in the earth around us. We freely receive from Him. Please, use our body, soul and spirit to freely give to those in need around us (Matthew 10:8).

Thought for the Day:

We can do all things only when Christ lives within us. – Philippians 4:13

Free at Last

 

Once we walk with God for any amount of time, the spiritual life is more familiar and natural to us, than the ungodly, sinful lifestyle we lived before we were Born Again. We are uncomfortable around sin now. Watching, listening to and speaking sinful words or concepts are no longer entertaining. The Spirit of God within us is grieved over what grieves God’s heart. Our self-life is no longer supreme, and the will of God transforms any goals or desires we used to entertain.

Satan wants us to believe that we are helpless victims of the flesh, the world and his demons; however, with every temptation, God gives us a way to escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). When we draw near to God and resist the devil, he has to flee from us (James 4:7). The more we mature spiritually, the less Satan finds in us to tempt us (John 14:30). Christ truly reigns as the master over our life. God’s divine nature now dictates our thoughts, words and deeds (2 Peter 1:4).

As God renews our mind, we move from one level of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). We are holy, as God is holy, through the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:10,14,19). We live a holy life because of our intense love for the Lord and His Kingdom. Holiness is our new nature and we despise whatever grieves God. We no longer exhibit the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21); but instead, the fruit of the Spirit shines from both our spirit and soul (Galatians 5:22-23).

This is not to say that we refrain from serving or socializing with the “publicans and sinners”; but we no longer imitate their behavior. We love them with the heart and mind of Christ. Our carnal nature is dead (1 Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 2:5; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). We no longer entertain sinful desires. We realize once and for all time that we are free indeed (John 8:36). What used to tempt us no longer has any value to us. Our only desire is to please our Heavenly Father.

Prayer:

Father God, we may have certain sinful habits that linger over the years of Your regenerating work within us, but there is no way that they can persist as we walk by Your Spirit (Galatians 5:16,25). Our yoke is easy and our burden is light, because they come from You (Matthew 11:30). We relate to life, people and government on a daily basis, but we allow Your Spirit to give us wisdom and direction on the best way to influence our sphere of society.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus is not ashamed to call us His family. - Hebrews 2:11

 

 

The Secret of a Fulfilled Life

 

The secret of living a fulfilled life is surrender. Surrendering every thought, goal, ambition and desire to Jesus Christ brings total peace and joy regardless of our circumstances. The only way to successfully and sanely survive at work, or with an unloving spouse, with rebellious children, with handicaps and with the grief of loss is to live in submission to God’s will. He gives us the grace and mercy to endure the hardships accompanying these negative issues of life. Then, once He uses them to bring about His purpose in us and in the world around us, He resolves these issues for us.

As we live in daily submission to the will of God and to the leading of His Spirit, we tread the troubled waters surrounding us without drowning in them (Luke 9:23). The price of contentment is a daily surrender of our dreams and aspirations, as well as acceptance of God’s will and purpose for our life (1 Corinthians 15:31). We live in the realization that our humanity is already dead and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Our old sinful nature died and Christ raised us to walk in a completely new life (Romans 6:4).

As we change our self-centered focus in life to a Christ-centered focus, the present circumstances lose their power over us. Our spirit is reborn and our soul – our mind, choices and emotions – is transformed through the work of God’s Holy Spirit within us (Romans 12:2). We lay our selfish needs for self-gratification, self-pity, self-absorption and self-centeredness on the altar of God. Trials are no longer a burdensome cross to bear. The lure of sin grows dimmer by the day. The battle with temptation in this world dissipates until it is non-existent.

Most of humanity still lives in a narrow minded reality. They cannot see the fullness of life in Christ, because their eyes are blinded (John 12:40). They seek immediate pleasure regardless of the consequences. They consider the brevity of life and decide this is all they get (James 4:14). They seek the most satisfaction by living in the extremes of degrading sin. Conversely, authentic Believers live in submission to the Spirit of God moment by moment throughout the day. When we accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we embark on the journey of the Christian life with our faith and hope centered in Jesus.

God transforms every aspect of our life for us. He gives us new eyes to see the world with multifaceted vision now, rather than in one-dimension. Trials no longer devastate us, because we view them as new adventures in Christ. We stand back and watch for the salvation of our God in them, as we walk through them with His complete peace and joy (James 1:2-4). Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-37). We live by the leading of God’s Holy Spirit and have constant victory through Christ (Galatians 5:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that the overwhelming issues of life, which we see, are temporary and they will pass away. The reality of life is in the unseen aspects of life, which we cannot see, but which we can experience once our spirit is Born Again (2 Corinthians 4:18). Help us to progress through life’s trials sustained by Your joy (Nehemiah 8:10). Give us Your peace, which transcends all human reasoning (Philippians 4:7). Allow us to focus on the victory, which You already gave us, rather than on the battle at hand. Give us true triumphs as we follow the leading of Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:
We not only have hope in Christ for this life, but also for eternity as well. - 1 Corinthians 15:19