Our Patched​ Humanity

Through a lifetime of fighting the circumstances, which life deals out to us, we are so encumbered by bandages that it is hard to function. Our body and soul often end up bruised, broken, patched up and in the hospital - on crutches, just to traverse our day. Our spirit is already dead in sin, and no help to us at all (Ephesians 2:1).

Once we come to Christ through salvation, He heals us from the inside out. Our works of righteousness have no influence over God's love for us or our eternal standing; but they are very necessary for our wedding garment as the Bride to our Savior, King Jesus (Revelation 19:8).

We start to focus more on the spiritual, eternal aspects of life rather than the humanistic, temporal issues. Life is no longer about us; but Christ is now our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4).

Even when our faith wanes, He helps our unbelief (Mark 9:24). Our spirit is perfect; but our soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings - is still in the process of healing and maturing in His faith within us (Galatians 2:20).

God elevates us as His adopted children and we no longer depend on our self (Ephesians 1:5). We turn our faith toward Christ and we live by the direction of His Spirit. His peace floods our soul and our pent-up anger dissolves (Isaiah 26:3).

God's Spirit conforms us to the mind of Christ and transforms our nature to Christ's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). He exchanges our human weaknesses with God's strength; so we can do all things through Christ's presence within us (2 Corinthians 13:4; Philippians 4:13).

Prayer:

Father God, often when we pray, our mind is full of what we did and did not say or do. We cannot get in touch with our true needs, because we are not listening to our own soul. We are not listening to Your Spirit either, who wants to pray and function through us.

Yet, as we spend our time in complete and anxious-free prayers of praise, we learn to live unencumbered by things of this earth. We enter into a life of praising and worshipping our living Lord. As we trust in You alone, You make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Our faith is built and strengthened as we see Your faithfulness in our life.

Thought for the Day:
Journaling our thoughts, feelings and prayers allows us to empty our soul from its load of cares and concerns; when we look back over what we wrote and the prayers of our year, we see God's hand, working in the details our life.

God's End Time Purposes

 God views the past, present and future as one event. He knew man's penchant for depravity and our eventual need for Jesus as our Savior. He crafted His end time plan prior to establishing the earth. He dwells in eternity and is not restricted by time as we are. He had a major plan for humanity and it has now almost entirely unfolded.

The anti-Christ's rise to power may be happening as I type. However, God will remove His Saints from the earth before the anti-Christ is ever revealed (1 Thessalonians 5:9). God will judge our works and reward us at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). We will be dressed in our wedding garments, which are made from our righteous works for God, while we are alive on this earth (Revelation 19:8).

Then we will have a wedding feast with Jesus in Heaven (Revelation 19:7-9). At this same time, the torment of the Great Tribulation is taking place on the earth. Jesus opens the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments, which bring devastation and destroys the corrupted earth and the people on it (Matthew 24:4-31; Revelation 6-19).

During the Great Tribulation, the two Jewish witnesses will preach in Jerusalem while 12,000 from each of the Jewish tribes will go out through the earth to win the lost Jews to Christ. God will save those in Israel who choose to believe, and these Saints will give their lives in martyrdom. At the end of the seven-year Great Tribulation, Jesus will return to the earth.

This is called The Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 19:11-21). We, His Bride, are coming with Christ in our immortal, glorified bodies at this same time. The Word of the Lord defeats all the armies of the world assembled by the Anti-Christ at the "Battle of Armageddon" (Revelation 19:11-21). Then He will lock up Satan with all of his demons in the lake of fire. We will rule and reign with Jesus during the Millennium (Revelation 20:3).

Prayer:

Father God, You never send judgment without first sending warning. Noah believed Your counsel about his time's coming Day of Judgment and he built the Ark. He preached Your plan for 120 years. He and his family heeded Your forewarning and were saved from Your wrath (Luke 17:26; Hebrews 11:7), while everyone else perished. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the end times (Matthew 24:37). Thank You for saving us, and making us part of your eternal plan. Please, draw our loved ones, who do not believe, to come to Your loving heart now, before it is too late.

Thought for the Day:

God has not yet poured out judgment on evil, because He has been storing up the cup of His fury since the sin of Adam and Eve; He will dispense it during the Great Tribulation. - Revelation 14:10