Choosing to be Vulnerable

Too often I meet people who are destroyed by the unfaithfulness of people in their life. They are abused by a parent, disappointed by decisions made for them by those in authority over them, abandoned by a spouse, traumatized by infidelity, or overwhelmed by grief from some loss in their life.

Through life's trials, I have learned that all people are inherently untrustworthy. You and I fall into that category as well. We never know how we will act or react to a moment of temptation and weakness. Yet, God calls us to love unconditionally.

If we withhold trust and love from others because we are wounded or fear the potential of being hurt, we cheat our self. We erect walls around our emotions and function in life from our mind only.

We refuse to feel anything because life is too painful for us. We do not emotionally invest in anyone, not even our spouse, children or church family. We simply show love by doing acts of service for them.

This attitude makes us feel like we are a success and doing our duty to others. Yet, this is a substitute at best - failing to fulfill us at the deepest levels of our soul.

We hide behind arrogance, which actually makes us more vulnerable and increases our load of unwanted emotional baggage. We collect the incidents of abuse in our soul and hold grudges, forgiving with our mind but never from our heart.

God is the only entity in life that we can truly trust. He always has our best interest at heart. Even if He disciplines us or allows life to bruise us, He never allows life to totally break us (Isaiah 42:3).

This makes life worth the risk of allowing our self to be vulnerable to hurt, in order to experience the joy of unfettered love and acceptance. We can even more freely love our self if we allow our self to love others (Mark 12:30-31).

 

Prayer:

Father God, our soul can only find our true and complete rest in You alone. You are our only salvation and constant comfort and strength. You alone are our rock and fortress. No matter what life throws at us, we will never be shaken as long as we keep our focus on You (Psalm 62:1).

Remind us that it is easier to forgive others when we realize that they are as vulnerable and human as we are. We can actually expect to be wounded by other people, but it hurts less when we have our faith in You rather than in our fellow sojourners in this life. You give us Your agape love to share with the world and it is healing and complete.

Thought for the Day:

God is our only help and shield from the inherent pain life brings (Psalm 33:20), because He alone is our strength in times of trouble (Psalm 37:39), and our courage in this insecure world (Psalm 130:5); we wait in silence before Him and find our hope only in Him (Psalm 62:5).

Abiding in Christ

The Apostle John, so in love with our Lord Jesus, experienced abiding with Christ in person and passed this experience along to us in His letters. He spent hours of unbroken fellowship with the Lord. He considered himself one of Jesus' best friends, beloved by Him.

We too can enjoy this same intimate relationship with Jesus, because He lives IN us by His Spirit. To abide in Christ literally means to dwell in Him, not to wander off, and to stand as if rooted to the spot.

Jesus said He was equal with God (John 10:38). The Pharisees were offended by this declaration, because they did not understand that they too could enjoy unbroken fellowship with God through Christ and His Spirit.

God dwelt in Jesus in the same way that He dwells in us (John 14:11). His character and nature are evident in our life as we mature spiritually and continually die to our old carnal nature (John 14:10).

Although Jesus literally and physically returned to His home in Heaven, He did not abandon us alone on this earth. He gave us His Spirit as our comforter and guide.

Jesus will return for us in time for our wedding feast as His Bride (John 14:18-20); but until then, His Holy Spirit sanctifies us more each day as we believe in Christ and remain in this vital union with Jesus and our Father.

We live and function in the same manner that Jesus walked with our Father during His lifetime (1 John 2:6-27, 3:6). If we desire to live in His will, He provides us with what we need each moment of the day.

We can do greater works simply because we, as His Body, are greater in number and He abides within all of us. All He needs is our availability and obedience to His Spirit on a continual basis as we walk in His will (John 14:3-15).

We eat His flesh and drink His blood, ingesting Him into our spirit, soul and body and drawing our nourishment from Him (John 6:56). We are united with Him and He is our whole life (Colossians 3:4).

Prayer:

Father God, You cleanse us with the blood of Jesus, our perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29). Thank You for choosing to give us His righteousness in place of our old, carnal nature and making us a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We covet our time with You as You provide us with holy fellowship with You throughout the day.

Help us to continue in Your Word, for Your Word is life to our spirit and soul (John 8:31; 1 John 2:19-24). Remind us to keep Your commandments for they lead us on the path of holiness and help us to avoid the destruction reaped from a life of sin and degradation (John 15:9-10).

Thought for the Day:

Christ's life flows through us, just as the nutrients of the Vine empower the branches to bear fruit; but if we break fellowship with Him and grieve His Spirit through sin, pride or rebellion, we lose this perfect union until we repent. 

- John 15:4; Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19

God's Dynamite Power within Us

The word “dunimis”, pronounced “doo’-na-mis”, is the root for the word “dynamite”. It means to have mighty power residing within, by virtue of its nature.

This is the same word used to describe the power by which Jesus raised Himself from the dead. Jesus claimed that no one could take His life from Him and only He had the “dunimis” power to raise it up again (John 10:18).

Once we come to Christ through salvation, all of this “dunimis” power is also resident within us. It is equal to a zillion fireworks going off inside of us at one time.

The electric light does not come from the light bulb, but from the electricity flowing to the bulb. The power in us does not come from us, but from God’s “dunimis” power working in us and lighting up our world through us.

Christ’s light shines in our hearts. We radiate Christ to the world in the same way that a light bulb radiates light in a dark room. We are connected to the power of God's Spirit flowing through us on a continual basis.

We just follow the leading of God's Spirit moment by moment and we live in fullness of joy, even in negative circumstances (Psalm 16:11). We accomplish great works for the Lord, not by our righteousness, but by His righteousness within us (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Bible is full of illustrations of God calling men and women - imperfect, weak and unprepared people - who slayed great Giants and routed mighty armies in the name of the Lord.

There is nothing God calls us to do that He will not also provide us with everything we need to sustain us and to guarantee His success through us in the endeavor.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to realize the amazing power, which You provide within us in order for us to walk in Your will for our life. Remind us to continually walk in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of our flesh.

Call us to the ministry You have prepared for us and then empower us to walk by the guidance and sustenance of Your Spirit through the entire endeavor. This way, we will further Your Kingdom on the earth and we will reap the rewards You prepared for us before You created the earth.

Thought for the Day:

As we walk in the Spirit, continually connected to Him, we do the works God created us to perform by His dynamite power within us, and our Father God is always well pleased with us. - Matthew 3:17