Unashamed Confidence

Nothing, which comes into our life, is a surprise to God. He saw it all before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4). We have unashamed confidence in His goodness and mercy.

On the cross, Jesus completed the work of redeeming, sanctifying and perfecting us (Hebrews 10:14). Now, He is working through us to perform His purpose in each situation in our life as it occurs.

As we grasp the fact of who we really are in Christ, we live by faith in the eternal, and not by sight in the temporal realm of life (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When trials and tribulation afflict our life, we no longer have to overcome them, because Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). We have His joy in our tribulation, because we know that God has a divine purpose for us in it.

Trials are simply another adventure in Christ; an opportunity for Him to show His divine nature through us and to prove His abundant love to us. Even in death we are victorious.

God allowed Job to experience devastating loss in his life; but He used Job for His glory in each one of them. In the end, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12).

We enjoy God’s presence in our life now, and we look forward to dwelling with Him where righteousness reigns forever and ever, in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we forget that we are simply aliens and pilgrims in this world, we take life too seriously (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). We put all of our effort into attaining success in this world; and yet, we are never fulfilled. Give us spiritual eyes to see Your reality as we trust in Your mercy and goodness.

Help us to believe Your Word and to allow it to transform our life as we live by the direction of Your Spirit through each moment of every day. We look forward to the time when You decide to take us home to live with You in glory.

Thought for the Day:

As we continue to live in Christ, we walk in His holiness; when He returns for His bride, we will face Him with unashamed confidence. - 1 John 2:28

Divinity Within Us

God dwells in His children by the new birth we receive from Christ through Salvation (John 1:12). He rejoices as we grow in the knowledge of our salvation (1 John 3:2), but He waits for our realization that we are also temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Once we begin to submit to the Spirit for sanctification of our flesh, then He teaches us about the divinity of Christ, which dwells within us (Galatians 2:20).

We are not separate from Christ, obeying Him in our own power. He permanently dwells in us and expresses Himself through us (Colossians 3:3). We are children of His death, but we are also children of His resurrection (Luke 20:36). We are transformed into Christ’s image in ever-increasing increments of glory, which come from the Lord’s Spirit. Then, as unveiled mirrors, we reflect to the world the glory of the Lord within us (2 Corinthians 3:18). In our daily life, as His Spirit molds us into His image, we experience and express all of the attributes of God just as He is within us, (Romans 8:29).

Jesus gives us the glory that God gave Him, so that we will be one with our triune God, just as they are one (John 17:22). If we do not recognize this divine power within us, then we will never live up to our full potential as Christians. Jesus’ sacrifice enables us to share in His divine nature and to escape the corruption in the world caused by evil human desires (2 Peter 1:4). As we mature, we attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ who dwells within us. We put on our new self, shaped by the Spirit to be like God with all of His virtues and holiness within us (Ephesians 4:13,24).

We often limit our understanding of life to what we perceive through our five senses. We also rely heavily only on what our human mind envisions. Yet, we ignore the supernatural and the eternal aspects of Christ within us. Therefore, we hinder the expression of God’s power in and through us. With Christ in us, it does not matter where we live, with whom we live or even if we live alone. Christ’s presence within us rises above the limitations of the natural realm and the circumstances in it. God imparts His Spirit to us in order to allow the glorious nature of Christ in us the freedom of expression through us (Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

As we grasp this fact, we realize who we really are in Christ. Then, we live by faith in the eternal, and no longer by sight in the temporal realm of life (2 Corinthians 5:7). It is not I, but Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20). When trials and tribulation afflict my life, I no longer have to overcome them. They are simply another adventure in Christ; an opportunity for Him to show His divine nature through us. Nothing, which comes into our life, is a surprise to God. He saw it all before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4).

Jesus completed the work of redeeming, sanctifying and perfecting us on the cross (Hebrews 10:14). Now, He is working through us to perform His purpose in each situation in our life as it occurs. We have His joy in our tribulation, because we know that God has a divine purpose for us in it. God allowed Job to experience devastating loss in his life; but He used Job for His glory in each one of them. In the end, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12). We enjoy God’s presence in our life now, and we look forward to dwelling with Him where righteousness reigns, in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we forget that we are simply aliens and pilgrims in this world, we take life too seriously. We put all of our effort into attaining success in this world. There is no reason for us to doubt Your Word; it is true because all of its prophecies are true. Help us to believe Your Word and to allow it to transform our life as we live by the direction of Your Spirit through each moment of every day, until You decide to take us home to live with You in glory.

Thought for the Day:

As we continue to live in Christ, we walk in His holiness. When He returns for His bride, we will face him with confidence and unashamed (1 John 2:28).

 

God Never Condemns

When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost everything God created for our enjoyment in Paradise. At that time, the spirit of man died. Human beings are all born with a living body and a living soul - our mind, will and emotions; but our spirit is dead in Adam’s sin (Ephesians 2: 1). When we accept Christ as our Savior, He not only rebirths our spirit through salvation, but He renews our soul through a lifetime of sanctification. Since our thoughts and actions grow more positive, our body is healthier as well.

The influence of sin in the world from the time of Adam and Eve causes all of the sickness and trials we have now, but God uses them for our good and for His higher purpose (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 57:1). God never sends judgment without first sending a warning. He warned the people in the Old Testament through the prophets, but few people heeded their admonition. God even took the form of a human being and came to earth as Jesus Christ to warn the people of coming judgment, and His contemporaries crucified Him. Those in the early church heard about judgment through the Apostles. Today, we have the Word of God as our warning.

Since the book of Revelation was written and circulated, we have had a clear harbinger of things to come. Most people have a Bible in their home, but very few ever read it or take it seriously. This is Satan's doing. He appeals to mankind's intellect and convinces them that the Bible is nothing more than fairy tales, that Jesus’ divinity is improvable and that God does not exist – all lies. Biblical prophecy is the major proof that the Bible is true. Every prophecy is either already literally fulfilled, being literally fulfilled today or soon to be literally fulfilled through end time events.

Jesus will soon rapture His Church. Receiving our rewards and marrying Jesus, our bridegroom, along with our wedding feast, takes seven years. Those unbelievers left behind on the earth after the rapture will go through horrid torment during this same seven years. That is why we try so hard to talk to people about Christ now in order to give them a chance to hear the truth before the judgment comes. Revelation chapter 6 begins with the seals that represent the beginning of God's judgment of unbelievers on the earth during the Great Tribulation period (Matthew 24:4-31.)

We condemn our self by our unbelief (John 3:18; 1 John 3:20). God condemns no one (John 3:17). God desires that no one will perish, but that all will come to repentance and faith in Him (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9). Jesus actually came to seek and to save those who are lost in sin (Luke 19:10). If we sin, Jesus is our advocate with our Heavenly Father (1 John 2:1). God calls us to continue living in Christ so that when He appears, we may be confident in our salvation and stand before Him unashamed (1 John 2:28).

Prayer:
Father God, we are so impressed with the length and breadth and width of Your love for Your People (Ephesians 3:18). You made promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that You will fulfill in the Millennium. The Bride and Israel will dwell together with You as joint heirs with Jesus of all that You have in store for us. Thank You for the opportunity for us to choose You and to follow You and to live for You now and for eternity.
 
Thought for the Day:
Those who refuse to love God’s Truth and be saved, because they delight in wickedness, will receive powerful delusion during the Great Tribulation; so that they will believe the anti-Christ’s lie and be condemned for eternity with Satan and his demons. - 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12