Month: June 2013

Once we knock on God’s door, we must be ready to submit to His lordship over our lives by accepting His Son as our Savior.  When we enter a saving relationship with His Son, we will never be the same.  

Through our relationship with Jesus, we each become a new person who is faced with the eye-opening need to let our old self die.  We come to the realization that we are in need of cleansing before we can enter God’s house.  God’s house is greater than any place that we have ever been or could even imagine.  We will never want to leave there.  

He has prepared a place for us there.  But before we get there, we will be in an ongoing process to cleanse and prepare ourselves for our visit to God’s house – our final home.

There is usually some sort of delay when God is answering our prayers.  Part of the delay is due to Him putting all the details in place for our answer to be complete.  Another part of the delay is to cause us to realize that we are truly relying on His grace for all things in our lives.

If God immediately gave us all that we prayed for, we would probably consider ourselves in control.  It is important that we understand that God provides all that we need, but He wants us to come to a place where we appreciate the depth of His perfect love and gracious provision.

What “promised land” are we missing because we are not being obedient to God’s calling in our lives?  God allows us to make our own choices, but He also changes His rewards based on our choices.  Our choices that take us away from the perfect path that He has laid out for us will diminish our ultimate reward. 

Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land set aside for the Israelites because He was not perfectly obedient to God.  We certainly risk the same fate when we are less than fully submitted to God’s rule and reign in our lives.

The name of Jesus is the greatest resource that we have.  It is a resource that we should call on and rely on 24-7.  We are missing an awesome power in our lives, if we only call on the name of Jesus when we need something.

The name of Jesus represents His Spirit that dwells within us.  His power is with us with every breath that we take.  When we submit to His Lordship in our lives, our wills come into perfect union with His.  According to His Word, this abiding in Him allows us to receive “whatever we shall ask” in His name.          

What an awesome gift we receive, when we receive the will of God in our lives through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  No longer do we go through life relying on the urgings of our flesh – which is weak and destined for death.  Instead we take on the will of the Son of God which is perfect and destined to lead us to our eternal place in heaven.  

Our salvation, which was complete as soon as we made Jesus Our Savior, is worked out through our daily lives in Christ.  Every day we learn how to make each choice in life based on the will of God and not on the desires of our flesh.  When we reach heaven, our will will be in perfect alignment with God’s.

When the Israelites went in to check out the promised land for the first time, they went in filled with fear.  They did not go in confident, carrying God’s promise that “I will in no wise fail you”.

Instead they entered the promised land cowered under the prospects of their own personal inability to handle their circumstances.  They completely overlooked God’s promises to be their helper and the source of their victory.

How often have we done the same thing?  How often have we let our perception of our own abilities be the sole driver for how we handle our circumstances?  How often have we proceeded forward with our plans in life without involving the wisdom, understanding, counsel and might of Our Heavenly Father?

Do I see the Lord in everything I do?  If I do, there will be no drudgery in any task.  The joy of Jesus will be in all my work.

Do I believe in God’s promise to take all of my burdens?  If I do, there will be no despair in any trials that I may encounter.  The hope of Jesus will be in every circumstance.

Am I certain that the Lord will never forsake me?  If I am, I will live life free of doubts.  Through it all, I will trust the Father’s promise to work all things for my eternal good. 

Our Lord, Jesus, is the fullness of joy that we have been so graciously provided through our salvation.  Once we receive Him as Our Savior, our lives are never the same again.  We come to realize a joy through His presence that surpasses anything that we can receive from earthly things.

It is a shame to see that while we spend countless hours with friends and family discussing all the wonderful things in our lives that we rarely mention our most precious gift, The Provider.  And, probably sadder yet, even though He is readily available and eager to join us, we fail to include Him in the conversation.  Hmmm.

Fear of God is like fear of one’s father.  It is much more and so much deeper than the fear of discipline and punishment.  It is the fear of offending the one that you hold dearest.  It is the fear of disappointing the one that you want to please the most.  It is the fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that is held in the highest place of esteem in your life.  It is the fear of losing closeness with the one you desire to be closest to.  It is the reverent fear that creates eternal bonds.

It is evident that we do not have the power of the Holy Spirit within us, if the full knowledge of the love and power of God has not been revealed to us.  If we are not certain that God can do all things for our eternal good, we are lost.   

If we have the Holy Spirit within us, we will possess the knowledge of and have faith in the power of Jesus’ shed blood to overcome every obstacle in our lives.  We will have certainty in our victory over anything that tries to move us away from relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We will understand fully the nature of God apart from our own failing natures.