A Surrendered Life

 

Once we are Born Again, we are one Spirit with Christ who dwells within us (1 Corinthians 6:17). He strengthens us to continually overcome the sinful desires and evil spirits that threaten and tempt our flesh (1 John 5:4; 2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:37).

Every time Satan finds something to use to tempt us to sin, it is an idol in our life. These remaining secret unconfessed and unsurrendered sins still dwell in us, which the Spirit has not yet brought to our attention.

We brought those idols with us from our old life and they are still causing issues now in our new life (Genesis 31:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17). God calls us to willing lay down these secret sins as His Spirit draws them to our attention.

He will complete the work He started in our soul, just as He did in our spirit and will also do with our future immortal body (Philippians 1:6). Daily, He carries out His work of perfection until there is no longer any entrenched sin in our body or soul.

We simply enter Christ’s rest each moment of our day and submit to His Spirit’s mercy, grace and direction (Colossians 1:27, 2:2). As we walk in the Spirit moment by moment, we will never fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).

Then, God’s Spirit and the divinity of Christ within us renovate our thoughts, choices and emotions from carnal ones to those, which are spiritually minded (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23).

Prayer:

Father God, without You in our life we are hopeless and undone (John 15:5). We thank You for giving us Your Spirit to perfect us day by day. We thank You for Jesus’ life and character that overcomes unrighteousness within us and presents us as a spotless Bride (2 Corinthians 4:7).

As we mature spiritually and enjoy a deeper and more intimate relationship with You, we will more clearly see Your purpose in our life. We learn to rejoice during trials and times of difficulty, because we know that patience is having her perfect work in us and seasons of great victory follow seasons of spiritual battle.

Thought for the Day:

Rather than box with the winds of adversity, we embrace them; the Bible has current answers for us regardless of the questions that plague our mind, if we will only take the time to search them out.

Perfect Strength in Weakness

There are times in life when we beg God to help us because of some physical illness, emotional turmoil or trial in our spiritual life. Paul did this too. He had a “thorn in the flesh” and begged God to remove it from him. There is much speculation about what that thorn was, but it does not really matter.

The crux of the issue is that God’s grace was sufficient for Paul to excel in life in spite of it (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). Paul actually learned to brag about his imperfections and infirmities, so that the power of Christ in him would give him rest for his soul. God’s power, strength and ability are perfected in our weaknesses.

All we need to flourish in this life is His grace. Whenever we are weak, Christ in us is our strength (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). The prophet Daniel relied on God’s strength in his times of weakness too (Daniel 10:19). The warrior and national leader of Israel, Joshua, found strength and courage in his times of fear (Joshua 1:9).

If we have personal power, we would not need God; and we could boast in our abilities and accomplishments (2 Corinthians 12:1). However, our life in Christ is not about us at all (Ephesians 2:8-9). That is why God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound the mind of those who consider themselves wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Our faith does not rest on human abilities but on God’s power within us (1 Corinthians 2:5). A surrendered life is the successful life. Out of God’s glorious riches, He empowers us by His Spirit, which abides within us (Ephesians 3:16). We can excel in the will of God and live a fulfilled Christian life, because He lives in us (Philippians 4:13).

Prayer:
Father God, You remind us not to be anxious about anything, but to come to You in everything, letting You know what we need. We start from a place of gratitude for all You have already done for us, and then we make our requests known to You. This results in a shower of Your peace on our life, which transcends every negative aspect that we are experiencing (Philippians 4:6).

Thought for the Day:

God’s peace guards our mind and heart in Christ Jesus, in spite of what life throws at us. - Philippians 4:7

Fully Human, Full Divine

The human nature of Christ is not overcome by His divine nature (called Eutychianism), nor are the two natures merged into a new single nature (called Monophysitism). His two separate, tangible natures work together as the whole person of Jesus Christ (called Hypostatic Union).

The Holy Spirit gave Jesus life in His mortal body. The Son is the exact representation of God’s glory (Hebrews 1:3; John 17:5). As a man, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52); yet, as God, He knew all things (John 21:17). 

Though He was perfectly God, He also learned obedience through the things, which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). As Christians, we limit our ability to further the Kingdom of God in the earth when we fail to fully realize the divine nature of Christ in us.

We are still fully human, but Christ in us is fully divine (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). Therefore, Christ in us has the same supernatural ability that Christ had when He lived on the earth.

Jesus said that we would do greater things than He did. This occurs, not because we are better than He is; but because He, in His divine nature, dwells within us (John 14:12). God gives us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may better know and obey Him (Ephesians 1:17).

When we come to the point of exasperation and hopelessness of ever accomplishing anything by our self-efforts, when we finally realize that life is beyond the realm of our control, then we enter a life of full surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

This surrendered life yields to the will of God. The surrendered life seeks and accomplishes only the will of God in and through his/her life, knowing that God always provides all of our needs according to His glorious riches (Philippians 4:19; Matthew 6:33).

This submitted life experiences freedom in the divinity of Christ within us, which knows no natural limits. Jesus is the Word. He is God and He was with God before He was born in human flesh (John 1:1,14). 

Enoch walked in intimate union with God. One day, God took Him home to Heaven, and Enoch disappeared from the earth (Genesis 5:24). If he can do it, we can too!

Prayer:

Father God, there is no true freedom from the cares of this world without the total surrender of our life to the pursuit of a deeper walk with You. When we do, we enter a place of quietness of spirit that lifts us up above the plane of mortality, even though we continue to live in this world.

We realize that Christ lives within us and He wants to use our body, soul and spirit to fulfill Your purpose in the earth. He lives His life through our body. He meets our quotas, makes the sales, motivates our employees, plans our meals, does our laundry and cares for our children through us. Remind us to decrease so that Christ may increase within us (John 3:30).

Thought for the Day:

We put on a new identity, fashioned to be like God in pure morality and Godliness. - Ephesians 4:24