Amazing Love

 

When life heats up the fiery furnace for you, do not worry, because Jesus is in us, right there with us. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we have nothing to fear, because He is right there in us. The world rewards human capacities such as intelligence, talent and earthly accomplishments; however, these have no bearing in the Kingdom of God. There is no facade or pretense that we can use to impress God to love us more than He already does (John 3:16-17).

Jesus’ love fulfills the Biblical law (Matthew 5:17-20). He approves of us just the way we are (John 15:12). In turn, He calls us to treat one another with this same love and acceptance. Our union with Christ draws us to walk in obedience to Him and His Word. His love through us is proof that His new life resides within us (John 13:34-35). This removes the excuse that the church is full of hypocrites. The world is drawn to the family of God, when they see His love in us.

Christ in us is the quintessence of His Divine love. He loves the undeserving and unappreciative with the same fervor that He loves those who choose to obey Him (John 3:16-18). The more we allow Christ’s love to flow through us, the more conviction these contrary people will feel; and the more they are drawn to accept Christ as their Savior. God gives us His Divine love for them; we simply allow it to flow through us.

God also gives us His heart of love for all fallen humanity. This love transcends the earthly realm and is full of the Spirit of God. Due to the humility we learn through squarely facing our imperfections, we can love others without judgment or expectations. We live as continuous examples of Christ’s sacrificial love to our family and to everyone we meet. His love in us is the common denominator that makes us all equal to one another.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us to live for You and to serve one another. As we follow Your guidance and direction, we will not enable others or codependently slip into the role as a caretaker beyond Your direction. Teach us to live in step with Your Spirit and to love as You direct us to. Allow nothing in my character or behavior to dim the light of Your Divine love through me. We count it as a privilege to be called by Your name and to express Your love to the world.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus taught us by His example to live as a servant to all.

The Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is within every authentic Believer through Christ who dwells in us (Luke 17:21). As we seek His Kingdom first in the course of our day, He provides everything we need to live a Godly and spiritually successful life (Matthew 6:33). His Kingdom reaches far beyond our carnal vision and human wisdom to the eternal realm. 

In His Kingdom, we live in sweet delight with God’s presence within us. We permanently remain in this spiritual state of being, regardless of our circumstances, because Jesus gave His life to provide us with His abundant life both now and in eternity (John 10:10).

God’s Word is referred to as a seed (Luke 8:11). When we sow His truth into our spirit, we reap His good fruit in our body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions – as well.  When God waters the seed, we gain the increase (Isaiah 55:10-11). God’s laws are based on the idea of sowing and reaping. 

If we sow carnality, we reap destruction. If we sow righteousness, we reap God’s blessings (Mark 4:26-28). The idea of falling back into the realm of the temporal flesh is repugnant and distasteful to us. Therefore, we run to His fountain of life, which is constantly supplying all of our needs.

Other religions imitate a facsimile of the transcendental state we achieve by God’s Spirit, but theirs comes by reprogramming the human soul, rather than a rebirth of one’s spirit. Their spirit is still dead in sin (Romans 8:6). 

Even the noblest, most generous person without Christ still lacks Jesus, the essential ingredient to possess eternal life. Their rituals create an emotional and mental cocoon, which makes them feel as if they are fully alive. They use the practice of meditation to still the turmoil of their soul. However, these humanistic methods only provide partial freedom from the cares of this life.

Only Christ in us can completely overcome sin’s temptation and its results in our life, in order to provide us with eternal life. The Kingdom of God is Christ in us. His presence surrounds both our spirit and our soul (Luke 17:20-21). 

Through Him, our soul is raptured into His Kingdom and we transcend the cares and issues of the human sphere and dwell instead in Christ’s divine life within us. Our soul is no longer plagued by worldly cares. God transports us by His Spirit into His eternal rest (Hebrews 4:3). This results in deep quietude and abiding satisfaction, which is full of the joy of the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, there is no economic summit, council of world peace or humanistic effort that can bring equality to everyone and meet all of our human and spiritual needs. Our only hope is to see You usher in the fulfillment of Your Kingdom on the earth. We thank You for providing the fullness of Your Kingdom in our hearts now. We look forward to the day when Your Kingdom rules all the kingdoms and nations of this world.

Thought for the Day:

Every human being hungers for the Kingdom of God to take root within them, even if they have no idea what it is or what to call it.

Unity in Prayer

By repenting of our sinful lifestyle, we are made children of God. We are set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). We exchange our old nature for a new nature in Christ, which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). God disciplines us for our good, in order that we can share in His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).  We know that when Christ does appear, we will be exactly like Him, because we shall see Him in all of His glory (1 John 3:2).

Growing in our union with Christ starts each new day in a time of aloneness with God. Night owls do this before they go to bed, and morning doves pray when they wake up. We keep God company twenty-four hours a day! We enter a realm of oneness with His Spirit and pray according to His will. We thank Him for His daily provision of our needs and appreciate Him for who He is. Then we share our apprehensions and questions with Him. We feel His presence in our spirit; and sit quietly, listening for His still, small voice in answer to our prayers (Philippians 4:6; 1 Kings 19:11-13).

Once we make our requests known to God, we release all anxiety. Discarding all doubt and fear, the peace of God, which transcends human reasoning, protects our soul and spirit in Christ (Philippians 4:6-7). As we live in a place of communion with God during every waking moment, we have so much assurance of His love for us that we are able to rejoice regardless of the circumstance surrounding us (Romans 8:28). Giving God thanks for everything that happens to us - the good, the bad and the ugly, we know this is His will and He always works all things out for our ultimate good (1 Thessalonians 5:16-17; Romans 8:28).

Carrying on throughout the rest of our day, we continue to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18). There is a penchant in humanity to take things to the extreme, however. Many in our society will make desperate attempts to gain more intimacy with God to the point of neglecting their duties to family and society. They will cloister their self from life and spend their time in their prayer closet, reading God’s Word and listening to sermons. In an attempt at holiness, they desert all aspiration to give or to receive with anyone other than God.

Yet, in doing this they prevent God from using them to reach the lost and dying world around us. A balance of devotion and obedience is what God calls for from His Saints, until the day that He returns to claim His Bride for His own. Then He will take us home to be with Him for eternity. Our position in Christ allows us to see life from God’s perspective and to choose our words and actions according to the will of God. In this way, we are always moving toward perfection, which is the prize of the high calling of God (Matthew 5:48; Philippians 3:14).

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You were God, yet you spent hours communing with our Father while you lived on this earth (Luke 6:12). You taught the disciples how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13) using the formula of:

1.) Praising Your majesty

2.) Anticipating of Your coming Kingdom
3.) Requesting our needs to be met
4.) Repenting of our sins
5.) Forgiving those who sin against us.

Thought for the Day:

The Lord draws near to everyone who comes to Him with sincerity and integrity in the motives of their heart. - Psalm 145:18

 

 

The Battleground of the Mind

Read: 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13

Have you ever felt like you were going crazy? Nothing makes sense in your life. You have a war going on in your mind...like there is a whole crowd of people up there arguing! I have a simple explanation, and an even simpler solution for you.

Paul said it….“WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST."

Our soul contains our mind, will and emotions. In the Bible the soul is often referred to as the “heart.” This does not refer to our blood pumping organ, but our inner self ~ the soul. Paul learned that even though we are in a spiritual war, we don't have to use carnal weapons. God gave us divinely powered weapons to demolish all of Satan’s strongholds. We do this by taking every thought captive and having the mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5).

The imagination is where Satan likes to play. He perverts the truth and comes up with all sorts of lies to tell us, which unbelievably we accept as truth! Satan puts a thought there, and then we say, "Yeah!  That's right!" We dwell on it and believe his lies. Soon, we believe them as truth, and he sits back and laughs at us. He's got us right where he wants us.

The first negative thought in your mind is from Satan. It is his tempation to see if he can get your attention. Then, he tries to keep your attention by expounding on that first negative thought. If you agree with that thought, or if you entertain that thought and add other thoughts to it, then he’s got you right where he wants you.

But if you recognize that the first negative thought ~ the blasphemous, sexual, carnal, unholy, angry, bitter, resentful or belittling thought ~ is from Satan, then you can quote or read scripture to him, just like Jesus did on the mount after His 40 days of prayer and fasting.

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit lives in our Born Again spirit and He helps us to battle what the Bible calls...the old nature, the carnal nature, the flesh and the devil. It is a lifetime process. Our daily commission in found in Colossians 3:1: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” As we seek God and His kingdom, we will not walk in the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

As you know, “What we believe, determines how we act.” When we believe Satan's lies, we exhibit negative attitudes. We get "stinkin' thinkin'." Satan knows that if he captivates your mind, then he can control your actions also.

Our safeguard, therefore, is to follow the advice we already read in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: to bring our thoughts into obedience to Jesus and to put on the mind of Christ.

The Word of God tells us not to conform to the world, but to think about:

1. Whatever is true
2. Whatever is noble
3. Whatever is right
4. Whatever is pure
5. Whatever is lovely
6. Whatever is admirable
7. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy
8. Whatever you have learned or received...or heard from...or seen in Paul ( and other Godly men and women ) put it into practice (Philippians 4:8).

Throw out all those thoughts that do not measure up to this list! You will know you have finished the task when the peace of God again rules in your heart. Look at Philippians 4:7..."And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Being led by the Holy Spirit helps us to know the will of God and to have the peace of God. No more lunacy warring in your mind!  Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, the carnal mind is enmity against God, because it is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8:7). If we are still carnal, then envy, strife, and divisions are common among us. Help us not to follow after the carnal thoughts, which fight against Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:3). Help us to walk by Your Spirit and to be led by Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

“Either you must learn to take your thoughts captive – or Satan will take you captive with your thoughts!” -  Kay Arthur