Month: April 2013

We are able to love God and love others because God loved us first.  He created us with a place in our hearts that desires love and has the capacity to give love.

When we fill the void in our hearts with the perfect love of Jesus Christ, our hearts overflow with love.  We cannot contain the love that Jesus gives us.  It flows from us continuously and in great abundance.  It cannot be stopped as long as the love of Jesus is the source.

The most delightful of all trips are those that are not bound by fixed plans.  They are the trips that end up delighting the heart by one unexpected joy after another.

These types of trips are quite rare in a world where we are so determined to pre-plan every moment of our lives.  We are fearful of what we might miss instead of being joyfully expectant of the unexpected.  When we choose to let God plan our way, the unexpected joys are continuous.

What would we give to be able to wake up every morning excited about the day?   What would we give up if it meant looking forward to every moment in our lives?  Surely, we would be willing to give up much for such a gift.  

How about giving life itself?  That is actually the only thing, once given up to the Lord, that will bring the kind of joy and peace that makes every moment of every day a blessing.  By giving up our old lives to God and accepting our new lives in Jesus Christ, we make the only trade that can bring abundance and joy in every moment of our lives.

Why should we seek things from God when He already promises to meet our every need?  The first part of the answer is easy for us to see.  Our petitions show Our Heavenly Father how much we trust in Him and confirm to Him our faith in His promises.  In the process, He delights in providing for us just as any good father delights in meeting the needs of his children.  

God calls us first and foremost to be obedient in the small things.  He promises that He will reward us with larger responsibilities and larger blessings, but only after we have been obedient in our day-to-day lives.  

God is watching to see if we serve Him by calling or helping friends in need, putting the concerns of others before our own and loving others as we love ourselves – even when we don’t feel like it.  In the process, we prove that we are rightly related to Our Heavenly Father and we consequently grow in our relationship with Him.  

God is totally responsible for the salvation of His beloved children.    
It is His desire that all will accept the saving grace offered through His Son.  His plan for salvation was completed when His Son shed His Blood, died on the Cross and resurrected into Heaven.

He will never ask us to “save” a single person.  He will, however, ask us to allow His Son to be presented to the world through the lives that we lead.  While He will not ask us to save anyone, He will ask us to help Him by living a life that will induce everyone that we come into contact with to seek the Lord that dwells within us.

Think how liberating it would be if your boss told you to do something, but added, “Do what I ask of you.  Do not worry about the results.  I will join you in your work and I will be responsible for delivering the outcome that I desire.  You will be richly rewarded for your perseverance in the task no matter what happens.”  

This, in essence, is where God wants us.  He wants us to serve Him without any concern of the outcome.  He wants us to express our faith in Him, knowing that He will fulfill what He asks us to do for Him.  He wants us to express our devotion to Him as our co-worker.  He wants us to give Him the honor and the glory in the end.

At some point, all men and women will fail one another.  Humans simply are not capable of standing with each other through all circumstances.  Our precious Lord Jesus, however, never fails us under even the direst of circumstances, not even the ones that we have created ourselves.  

We must learn to lead our lives with our focus steadfastly placed on Jesus.  He is the only standard bearer that is capable of supporting us through all tribulation.

It is very easy to say, “I give up.  I cannot do it.”  To do so is even acceptable if it is in reference to some earthly pursuit.  But if what we are pursuing is of God, then giving up is denying the promises of God Himself.

We are to be anxious in nothing for God promises to take care of our every need and He promises to finish anything that He has called us to do.  The victory is in fact complete before we are even aware of our calling to its pursuit.

We should never feel as if we are good enough or strong enough to withstand the temptations of Satan without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  If we begin to feel like we are strong enough to defend ourselves against the enemy through our own righteous behavior, we are setting ourselves up for a downfall.

Satan has thousands of years of experience in deceiving mankind.  He delights in bringing down those who believe that they can stand alone against him.  He is an expert in finding and exploiting our areas of vulnerability.  Our only defense against Satan, our only certainty in victory is by taking on of the full armor of God at all times through prayer, reading of the Word and obedience to Our Heavenly Father.