An Empty Vessel

God cleanses us at Salvation and creates an empty vessel to fill with Himself. As our flesh decreases, Christ is able to increase in us (John 3:30). He brings with Him all the attributes of the Trinity to abide within us.

We welcome every trial and look for the hand of God in both the negative and positive aspects of life - knowing that it is all part of His pre-arranged will for us and that He works out everything for our ultimate good (Ephesians 2:10; Romans 8:28).

We have confidence in the fact that nothing in heaven, on earth or in hell can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). We trust in His divine will and draw from His power within us to obey His Spirit each moment of the day.

We delight in working according to His good pleasure (Psalm 40:8). He fills us with all peace and makes us pleasing in His sight (Romans 15:13; Hebrews 13:21). We start as an empty vessel at salvation and He fills us to the brim with Himself (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Our weakness makes room for His strength, His will is our sole motivation and His ways are the only desires of our heart. We find glory in our short-comings, idiosyncrasies and infirmities, because through them, He is glorified.

Our peculiarities are God's sign of ownership. Do you have issues with the way you talk, look, the balance of your bank account, the profession in which you work?

God uses these peculiarities to keep us humble and dependent on Christ in us rather than our own special human abilities. As we submit to His will, He can accomplish His will on the earth.

If we are still full of our self, we leave no room for God to fill us with His presence and purpose for our life. The more we empty our self of our self, the more of us He can use.

Prayer:

Father God, we bow before You in humble adoration and praise. We depend on You for the very air we breathe. Your almighty power is at work within us, in nature all around us, and in the lives with which we come into contact every day. We totally surrender to Your perfect will for every moment of our life.

We trust in You to use us as You will and to work out everything in our life - even the negative aspects - for our good (Romans 8:28). You work mightily within us by Your power and we lift up Your majesty on high. We give You Your way in our life and trust You to use us now and to take us home to glory with You when we complete our mission for You here on this earth.

Thought for the Day:

In the solace of surrender and faith, we find the deepest measure of God's love and presence.

Communicating Love

“What the world needs now, is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” – Hal David

Loving communication is rare in this day and age with such busy lifestyles. Many are too wounded to share positive affirmation and loving reinforcement in our relationships. We expect people to feel loved without communication from us that we love them.

We all need to know that we are loved, especially children, but that will not happen unless we communicate our feelings. Spending time, works of service, verbal affirmation, loving touch, focused attention and gifts are all ways to communicate love.

Some of us prefer one or two of these expressions over the rest of them. Other people would be happy with any expression of love as long as it is consistent. Learning the love language of our significant others is a great way to express love to them.

( http://www.5lovelanguages.com/profile ).

                  

If we listen to our spouse, child, neighbor, extended family member, the person in the grocery line or on the bus next to us, we give that person a very rare treat, a gift more precious than anything money can buy.

If we say we do not love another person, we are communicating more about our own character than the other person’s personality. We listen without condescension, belittling or rejection regardless of what they tell us. We simply express God’s love to them.

As mature Believers, we allow God to love that person through us. We communicate the love, patience and concern of Christ through our words, eye contact, facial expressions and body language. We make time to focus our attention on the people that we love.

Prayer:

Father God, make us vessels of honor for Your glory. Use us to spread Your love abroad in the hearts of every person You bring us into contact with during the day, but especially with those closest to us. Remind us that loving someone in our own way is not good enough, because You call us to love them unconditionally, consistently and in a way that is meaningful to them.

Thought for the Day:

We love people continually through the years, by choosing to do loving things for them, even if our feelings do not follow; and we never give up on anyone, because God never gives up on us. - Luke 6:32

A License to Sin

Since Paul’s time, there is a rash of Believers that think that grace gives us a license to sin. The question in most hearts is, “How much sin can I get away with and still be a Christian?” Actually, Paul pointed out that no Christian can live in habitual sin (Romans 6:2). It is impossible, because the Holy Spirit convicts us of our need for holiness. We died to sin through Christ; therefore, sin no longer makes us happy or fulfilled (Romans 6:2).

There is no sin in Christ, and we are in Him; therefore, there is no desire to sin left in true Born Again Believers (1 John 3:5). If we live in sin, it is because we do not know the true Lord Jesus Christ. We may have repented because of conviction, but we are not truly converted (1 John 3:6). There is no real change in us. Our spirit is still dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1). Those who are born of God cannot willfully live in the practice of sin, because our spirit is Born Again (1 John 3:9).

There is a spiritual realm, which most people never see. We are like Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, who focused on the natural armies about to annihilate them. He was a nervous wreck and could not understand why Elisha was so cool, calm and collected. Then, Elisha prayed that Gehazi’s eyes would be open to the spiritual world around then. Gehazi’s fear of the armies surrounding them melted at the sight of the entire host of heavenly horses and chariots of fire that surrounded the enemy army (2 Kings 5:14-17).

God desires people who will fix our focus and passion on Him (Psalm 57:7, 108:1, 112:7), those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). We can have the faith and courage to believe that the impossible is possible, once we look at life from the eternal perspective rather than the earthly, carnal one (Matthew 19:26; Colossians 3:2). However, this is only achievable when we are branches connected to the Vine of Christ (John 15:5).

Then, the life of God’s Spirit flows through us. We are slaves of righteousness now, instead of slaves to sin (Romans 8:2, 6:18). We please God by walking in faith in His faithfulness (Hebrews 11:6). We do not strive to keep the law, because we are set free from the law of sin and death by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 8:2). We abide in Christ as a way of life and we have no other desire, goal or focus (1 John 2:28). We enter into God’s rest now and throughout eternity (Hebrews 4:1, 10-11).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we are already dead to sin and the flesh, and our life is now hidden with You in God (Colossians 3:3). You are our whole life (Colossians 3:4). We desire nothing more in this life than to live it in You. We want to serve You as a vessel for Your honor. Thank You for setting us free from sin and death (Romans 6:23). Now, raise us up to walk in the regenerated life, which comes only from You (Romans 6:4).

Thought for the Day:

Walk in the Light, even as Jesus is in the Light. – 1 John 1:7