Freedom from this Sin-Cursed World

 

Satan wants us to think that we are helpless victims. He is the god of anyone who has not converted out of his kingdom as a Believer in Jesus Christ. However, he has no authority over the life of an authentic Believer.

The devil is given authority by God (Job) to cause trials in our life; but God already planted a seed for a miracle in every trial. We simply wait for it by faith, knowing that God is always faithful.

We sail through the trials when we keep our mind focused on God's love and benevolence through every moment of our experience. This allows us to avoid health debilitating stress and to sidestep depression, anxiety and anger.

When our flesh produces humanistic reasoning and doubts, it is trying to live independently from God. Our humanity feels as if it needs to stay in control of every situation; yet, Jesus is the only Savior of the world.

Our puny attempts to take His place, in our life or in anyone else's life, is futile. It makes no real sense to endeavor to use our influence, talents, analytical abilities and mortal efforts to keep us and our loved ones safe.

In our first years of sanctification, life is still a struggle. Walking by faith and living in the control of the Holy Spirit every moment of the day is a habit we learn over time.

This attitude gets easier as we dwell with the knowledge that we continually live in the presence of Christ. All the power of the Godhead abides within us.

Prayer:

Father God, we want life to get easier when we accept Christ's sacrifice on the cross; yet we deserve nothing but hell as the punishment for our sins. We forget that we warrant no other favors, because You already saved us from the torments of hell. Thank You for showering us with daily blessings anyway. Thank You for giving us the faith of Jesus Christ and for making us a new creation (Galatians 2:20).

You also saved us from the emptiness, loneliness and deprivation of life in this world. You give us peace even in turmoil, rest in the place of unrest; and joy in the midst of devastation. We can never thank You enough for intervening in our life and awakening our soul to the fact that our spirit was dead in sin and we needed Jesus as our Savior.

Thought for the Day:

We are no longer compelled to live a life enslaved by sin, our flesh, the world and Satan, because Jesus shed His blood to give us His Spirit of life.

Shaped into His Grace

Our salvation is not earned by our works, and neither is our sanctification (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:1-3). God's Spirit instantly rebirths our spirit through regeneration and then transforms our soul through a lifetime of sanctification.

We are formed like clay by the Potter's hands, shaped into His grace. We feel His hands on our soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - as He molds us into the likeness of His Son and stretches us to do His will (Isaiah 64:8).

Intimately knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent, provides us with eternal life now and for eternity (John 17:3). The fruit of eternal life within us is that we live to abide in the will of God for our life.

Our desire for the world diminishes, and doing the will of God is our motivation for each moment of our day (1 John 2:17). Living for the things of the world is no longer an option, as our draw to them thins and wanes in the light of God's presence within us.

We come to trust God's hand in every area of our life, which helps us to stop worrying and to live to praise Him. Through each season of sanctification, our life is renewed, as we realize that God bought us back from Satan's clutches with a high personal price to Himself (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Our part is to surrender to His love, mercy and grace; and set free from the law of sin and death, to live as slaves to His righteousness (Romans 6:22). We conscientiously transfer control over our life from our own keeping to God's great love.

We do not retain our position in the driver's seat, but move to the back seat and give God control of the wheel, the brake and the direction we take. We move from anxiety, fear and insecurity to total faith.

There is no one on earth or in the spiritual realm that we can trust with our life other than God (Psalm 73:25). Even when we walk through the valley of death and destruction, we fear no evil; because His rod and staff bring us comfort and direction (Psalm 23:4).

Prayer:

Father God, as we surrender control of our life to You, You manifest Yourself to us in all of You glory and grace. As the Body of Christ, we find You using us to do greater works than Jesus did, because Your authentic Saints live all over this world (John 14:12; Ephesians 2:10). With Your glorious riches, You provide us with everything we need to accomplish Your will for us, and You meet all of our daily needs (Philippians 4:19; Ephesians 3:16).

Use us to glorify You in the earth and to bring as many people to Heaven with us as will listen to Your gospel and surrender to Your will in their own life. We love and trust You with our whole heart, soul, mind, will and strength (Luke 10:27). We give You all of the praise, honor and blessing due to Your name (Psalm 29:2).

Thought for the Day:

By His grace, God gave us special talents, abilities, fruit and gifts to bring Him glory with our life. 

- Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

God's Divine Purpose

Without Christ in our life, we know something is missing. We optimistically search everywhere to find it. Since the time of Adam and Eve, the spirit of man is dead at birth, buried under layers of sin (Ephesians 2:1-5).

We all have a living soul – our mind, will and emotions - which often fails under the weight of life, because circumstances beat us down relentlessly.

Our dead spirit and our unhealthy soul affect our body as well. What we lack is the vital power of God. Without the Spirit of God rebirthing and dwelling in our spirit, we are crippled in life.

No one is intrinsically good except God (Mark 10:18). However, when Christ moves into our life, we daily die to our carnal flesh and we grow in His good judgment and nature (Galatians 2:20; John 12:24; Luke 9:23).

We start to make wiser choices, which last for eternity; rather than desiring options, which are carnal, temporal and momentary.

Over time, Jesus becomes our only life and we have no meaningful existence outside of Him (2 Corinthians 13:5; Colossians 3:3). This does not mean that we sit in a meditative state all day, every day.

Jesus and the apostles interacted with people. They were anointed with the Holy Spirit and with God’s power. They went everywhere the Spirit led them, and they blessed people with healing, wisdom and deliverance (Acts 10:38).

Once we come to Christ we are totally complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). We live and move and have our existence in Jesus each moment of our day (Act 17:28).

We come to realize that if we do not have something we think we need, it is because God knows we do not need it at this time. He has other plans for us. Accepting His will with joy brings us ultimate fulfillment.

Prayer:

Father God, we realize that Christ actually does Your work through us. Our true identity as Authentic Christians comes from Christ living in us. Christ expresses Your character through us, which is the fruit of Your Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith (Galatians 5:22-23).

We are all united with Christ in His Body. You utilize us as individual members of this Body, each with unique gifts and talents, in a ministry to a corporate, church Body. Thank You for using us to fulfill Your purpose in the earth (Romans 12:15; Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

Thought for the Day:

Salvation is the beginning of our walk in Christ, but the next step is to develop awareness in our conscious thoughts of the reality of Christ living within us.