Our Enduring Possessions in Heaven

If we store up possessions on this earth, moths and rust will destroy them and thieves will come in and steal them (Hebrews 10:34). If we focus on our earthly inheritance, we ultimately get disappointed.

A few years ago, we bought a tiny, old brick house built way back in 1971. With 700 sq. ft. it was tiny and a real fixer-upper. This little, antique cottage desperately required a “facelift,” which we did over the next five years.

Since living in our antique cottage, we moved several times in the same city. We now live in a parsonage provided by the church at which we serve. It is by far the best home that either of us has ever lived in, because it was newly remodeled and modernized before we ever moved into it.

We also own and manage a café located in our back yard, which serves as our "dining room." We are able to host many people in our community with great food, good fellowship and a friendly, charming place to hang out. We love all of our guests, especially those who visit us regularly.

Through these moves, God's Spirit prompted me to change my focus and my attitude. He developed in me the divine character of acceptance with joy.

Even through all of this change, I grew to really feel that I can be full of joy regardless of where I live or what I am doing, as long as Jesus continues to dwell within me.

Over the decades of my life on this earth, I have come to believe that we have better and more enduring possessions in heaven than on this earth.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for continuing to sanctify our carnal nature and to teach us to cheerfully accept our circumstances. Help us to focus on meeting the needs of those less fortunate than we are, and to remember that Heaven is our true home.

Remind us that our words may influence a person's future as they make up their mind about believing in Jesus. Their beliefs bring them either eternal salvation or eternal damnation - if they choose to reject Jesus as their Savior (John 3:198); so it is our privilege to tell them about what You do for us, every day of our life.

Thought For the Day:

We can thrive in this life by allowing patience to produce her perfect work in us.  

- James 1:4-8

Into the Image of Christ

 

Our body, soul and spirit communicate with us if we take the time to listen. Making a searching inventory or our health, thoughts, emotions, choices and connection with the Lord will help us to see red flags that designate unrest in some area of our life.

An uncluttered and responsive soul will grow in grace and the knowledge of God's will and ways much easier than a soul belonging to a person that is set in their ways and unteachable.

God reminds us to sit at His feet, so that He may fill our body, soul and spirit with His presence and Spirit, as He changes us into the image of Christ.

This allows us to go beyond our natural ability and stamina, which gets depleted if we depend on our self. As the Lord fills our spirit and soul - our mind, choices and emotions -with Himself, we have more to share with others.

We need to consider our own needs, as well as the needs of those in our circle of influence. Meeting our own needs and the needs of others is enhanced by our intimate union with our Heavenly Father (Mark 12:31).

Entering God's rest will help us to sleep better, eat better, work with more endurance, and walk in His will each moment of the day. Resting our body will also improve our attitude and energize our productivity.

God prepared His Kingdom to share with His Saints (Luke 12:32). Jesus is the first fruit, and we are co-heirs with Him (Romans 8:17). God gave us His Spirit to comfort, sanctify and perfect us, as He gives us the mind and divine character of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; 2 Peter 1:4).

Prayer:

Father God, it is Your good pleasure to reveal Yourself to Your children, and to change us from glory to glory into the image of Your Son (Ephesians 1:5-9; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 1:15). You chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, in order to make us holy and blameless in Your sight, and to include us as adopted children in Your family (Ephesians 1:3-5, 4:7).

You are a good, good Father and we thank You for loving us enough to become a man and to suffer and die in our place. We so appreciate the riches of Your grace and glory (Ephesians 1:7, 3:16). Your power effectually works in and through us, and we delight in doing Your will (Ephesians 3:7, 20). We bless You as our God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ for all of the blessings You bestow on us each and every day.

Thought for the Day:

We can serve at the good pleasure of our Father God, when we seek Him; listen to our body, soul and spirit; and as we follow the guidance of God's Spirit each moment of the day.

Rest for Our Soul

Abiding is one of the most beautiful words in the English language! It includes the concept of blending, togetherness, completion, belonging, permanency, conquering, resting and being made complete.

Abiding in Christ takes all of the frustration and stress out of life. We relax as if we are luxuriating in a huge feather bed, or floating down a quiet stream, or sitting in the midst of a field of flowers.

When we abide in Christ we lack no good thing, we feel perfectly comfortable regardless of our circumstances, and we know that He will keep us safely tucked under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 40:11, 91: 4-5).

Although God promises to shower us with His blessings by opening up the windows of heaven (Malachi 3:10), so often we turn from them and from Him. We choose to live life through our own efforts, so that we will gain the power and praise.

We refuse to submit to the Spirit’s direction because we want to maintain control. We compromise with the flesh, the world and the devil; and we ruin our Christian testimony to the world, as well as our intimacy with our Heavenly Father.

Eventually, God brings a turning point into our life. We are reduced to nothing; so that we desperately decide to cling to His promises, to accept His blessings, and to allow His Spirit to incorporate His fruit and gifts into our life.

God beckons us to come to Him to find rest for our soul – our mind, will and emotions (Matthew 11:28-29); He challenges us to take up His yoke, so that He may bear the weight of our load, and to yield to His will each moment of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, You restore our soul and provide us with goodness and mercy all of the days of our life (Psalm 23).

Thank You for bringing us to the place where we feel complete in You. We experience intimate fellowship and enduring fulfillment with You. The more we surrender our limiting humanity and carnality to Christ’s divinity within us, the closer we come to continually abiding under the shadow of Your wings (Psalm 91:1).

Remind us that we will live in perfect rest only as we relinquish our self to Your management and care. Please continue to perfect us until Your Son reigns supreme in every area of our life. We want to live in undivided commitment to You with our whole spirit, soul and body, and to seek to please You and to further Your kingdom with our every thought, word and action.

Thought for the Day:

Abiding in Christ brings us complete peace and joy, which defies description and goes beyond human reasoning; so that the longer we walk with God, the deeper we abide in His rest with no hidden agendas or ulterior motives - simply resting in His love and abiding in His presence continually.

An Abundant Spiritual Existence

Prior to coming to Christ, we determined our daily routine by our priorities. We valued, worked toward and pursued anything that would assist us in reaching our goals.

We developed these habits, day in and day out, living by our human reasoning and working to please our self and to secure our future. We trained our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions to respond and to react in certain ways to the challenges and trials of life.

We are used to living independently of any restraints or parameters on our behavior (Romans 8:7-8). We serve our self and make sure we come out on top (Romans 1:25; 2 Corinthians 5:15). We do good deeds for others, but we want the praise.

Even after salvation, some of our former traits, which are alien to God’s ways, still influence our thoughts, words and behavior. However, we can crucify our independent and willful tendencies on a daily basis (Matthew 16:24-26).

When the Spirit of God moves in, He encourages us to shift our mind-set entirely. This sets up a dichotomy in our life, which causes a tug-of-war within our soul.

God wants us to put to death the carnal deeds of our flesh, so that we can live an abundant spiritual existence in Him (Romans 8:13-14). Yet, our flesh wants to maintain the status quo and control our own life.

The tie-breaker is God’s Holy Spirit, who rebirths our spirit, which was formerly dead in sin (Ephesians 2:5). At salvation, our old nature died and our spirit was Born Again by God’s Spirit (Colossians 3:3).

Spiritually alive, we now partake in the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4); the fruit of the Spirit replaces our formal carnal character (Galatians 5:22-23); and we no longer live apart from Christ, but in dependence on God’s love and perfect will for our life.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that Your Holy Spirit exchanges the deeds of our flesh with His Spiritual fruit. As You renew our mind, we surrender our life to Christ (Romans 12:2; Mark 10:28-29). By Your saving faith, a gift to us from Your mercy and love, we willingly submit our old fleshly habits to the work of Your Spirit within us (Romans 8:12-13).

Thank You that You work in our life to influence and transform us. Your Spirit draws us to Your heart and renovates every aspect of our life. This free gift is priceless and we thank You for the sacrifice that Jesus paid for our eternal life (Ephesians 2:8). We praise You for Your constant blessings in our life and for Your abundant and eternal love, joy and peace that You shower on us each moment of every day.

Thought for the Day:

Obeying the will of God each day, we are no longer apart from Christ, and we walk in victory over our flesh by dwelling in the Spirit and following God’s desires for our life. 
- Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 5:16-26

Turning Darkness into Light

Even on a good day during our lifetime, we can still feel lonely, uncertain, deeply saddened, insecure and incomplete. Life has a way of throwing us curve balls that we were not expecting.

Often, we cause our own instability due to making our own plans and forgetting to follow God's guidance throughout our day. However, there are those times that we abide in the presence of God's will, and circumstances arise that threaten to steal our peace and joy.

God promises to lead us when we find our self walking along unfamiliar paths. He makes up for our blindness when it comes to the area of spiritual warfare and unknown future events (Isaiah 42:16).

He turns our darkest hour into light (Psalm 112:4) and makes our rough spaces smooth (Isaiah 45:2). He never leaves or forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5) and He cherishes us with an unconditional, everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16-17).

Planets in our solar system orbit in a predictable pattern, because the sun is a stable center of gravitational pull. Without that pull, the planets would sling out into the universe without any order.

If Jesus Christ is the center of our universe, we too stay in a structured orbit (Colossians 3:3-4); but without Him as our axis, we sling out into life without any real stability.

Once we invite Christ into our life, God stabilizes our life’s orbit. As we make Him the center of our universe, we see amazing things starting to happen in our life. He even ordains that we enjoy synergy, balance, order and cohesion regardless of our circumstances.

Prayer:

Father God, as Your people, we listen to Your voice every moment of the day. You know us and we follow You as sheep follow their shepherd. You give us eternal life, which starts right here on the earth (John 17:3). We shall never perish, because no one can ever snatch us out of Your hand (John 10:27-29).

Thank You that Your Spirit crucifies our fleshly nature and that it is no longer us who are living our life. Christ is living in us and through us. We live by faith in Your Son, because You love us and sent Jesus to die for our eternal salvation (Galatians 2:20). Our relationship with You is the only part of our life that is stable and secure, and that can never be taken away.

Thought for the Day:

Once Christ resides within us, He turns our darkness into light; and we can access the power of His mercy, grace, deliverance, joy, provision and strength at any moment day or night.

               

Living for God's Kingdom

We all know that when we come to the saving knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, and we truly repent and believe, we are more than convicted of our sinful lifestyle. We are also converted, and our spirit is Born Again.

At conversion, the life which we now live in this human body is experienced through the faith of the Son of God who loves us and gave Himself as a ransom for us (Galatians 2:20). 

However, when we come to Christ, we often treat Him like our personal genie to grant all of our wishes. Few people realize the purpose for our complete immersion in Christ inside and out.

When God moves into our heart by His Spirit, He makes all things new (2 Corinthians 1:22). He never leaves nor forsakes us, and He walks with us through every moment of our life (Hebrews 13:5).

We and Jesus are not separate beings, but He lives within us (John 17:21-22). Our goal in life is to walk in God's Spirit and to do only those works for which God created us (Ephesians 2:10; Galatians 5:15-25).

We are an expression of Christ in this world, doing His will in every facet of our existence at home, work and play. His river of life flows from within us (John 4:14).

Wherever we go and whatever we do, we have the opportunity to draw others to Christ or to repulse them by our carnal words and behavior.

Once we fall in love with Jesus we want nothing more than to obey His Word and to walk in His Spirit. As we gradually submit our will, goals and plans for our life to God's purpose for us, we no longer live for our pleasure or pursuits, but for His Kingdom and by the direction of His Spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us Your Son and Spirit and for giving us a new life, devoid of sinful and selfish pursuits.  Thank You for working in us and giving us both the desire and the ability to want nothing more in life than to live for Your pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13). We focus entirely on You and Your Kingdom.

You raised us up, from a life of degradation, to sit with Christ in heavenly places now as well as in eternity; it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us; Christ is our whole life (Ephesians 2:6, 3:3-4). We trust You entirely; and at the time of our death, we are assured that to be absent from this body is to be immediately present with You in Your eternal Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:8).

Thought for the Day:

Since Christ is in us, expressing Himself through us, we exhibit God's way, truth and life to others, because He is God's light shining into the darkness all around us.

- Colossians 1:27; John 14:6; John 17:21-22

  

Trusting in an Unseen God

Many human beings have a need to understand God, before they agree to believe in Him. They have such a strong compulsion to control their own life and everything that happens in it, that they dare not rely on anyone but their own self.

They use human wisdom for all of their decisions, and they collect friends around them that agree with then. They feel safe somehow in trusting exclusively in what they can prove. They believe only in what makes sense to their human mind.

Added to our human reasoning is Satan’s perfected art of deception. He often draws us away from following after God by his fraudulent schemes and bold-faced lies.

Add to this our own lusts and the powerful temptations inherent in living life in the world, and it is amazing that anyone ever actually chooses to surrender their life completely to God.

A few wise individuals eventually learn that there is no use in trusting in our own efforts. Once this truth seeps into our consciousness, we start drawing near to God, resisting the devil and watching his back as he flees from us (James 4:7).

Our sin-nature doomed us to failure since birth; but Jesus Christ set us free from sin and death by His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension (Romans 8:2). God's Spirit enables us to shun evil and to honor God with all of our thoughts, words and actions.

The Bible is the Word of God and by reading it, we learn about Him, His ways, and the full extent of His love for us. We read about other Saints and how they honored God with their lives

As I see it, the greatest value of me posting on this blog is that I am able to share with others the values and lessons that God teaches me. I am also able to toot God's horn for his continual loving blessings for us all, even when we were lost in sin (Romans 5:8).

Prayer:

Father God, You reward our faith with health and abundance in every area of our life. We learn to trust in You with all of our heart, rather than relying on our own strength and understanding (Proverbs 3:5-7).

As we seek Your will for every minute of every day, You remove the ruts and bumps in our road (Proverbs 3:8). When You teach us Your wisdom and ways, we eventually learn to give You every fear and insecurity that plague our life, because we come to understand that You really do care about us (1 Peter 5:7).

Thought for the Day:

Only the Spirit of God can break down our walls of fear and mistrust, and allow us to fully embrace a relationship that starts with our total submission to God through the work of Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross.