Month: March 2016

Coming Into Harmony with the Saving Work of Jesus Christ

John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist had the perfect understanding of His relationship with Jesus Christ.  He knew that he was a sinful man who was created, prepared and sent to show the way for the One from Above who was coming to save the world.  He understood that he had no power and that all the power belonged to Jesus.  Most importantly, John was completely satisfied with his place and the work assigned to him.
From the life of John the Baptist we get a great model for bringing others to salvation.  It is our job to bring others to Christ.  It is not our job to save them.  The saving work of the Cross will be done by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We also learn from the words of John the Baptist the model for our spiritual maturation.  We must increase our life in Christ as we allow our life in the flesh to decrease.  We must allow our new man to rise and our old man to die.  We do not lay down what we are called to do in the flesh, but instead come in complete harmony with the work of the beloved One who dwells within us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Holy Word which lays out the models for our lives through the lives of Your servants.  Help us, Lord, to understand the depth of the teachings that come from each of Your precious servants.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may surrender our lives completely to Your Son, Jesus.  Help us, Lord, to live our lives in such a way that others are drawn to Your Son.  As we give up our lives in the flesh for our lives in Christ, may our living testimonies affect the world.  We pray that we see many around us surrender their lives to the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  We ask all of these things in the name of Our Divine Deliver, Jesus Christ.

The Privilege and the Promise of Exalting the Name of Almighty God

Psalm 34:3
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
Throughout the Psalms, we read David’s prayers of praise.  He praised God to help overcome his fears and to call on his all-sufficient Lord.  David recognized God’s faithfulness in meeting his needs and he also recognized that God was bigger than any problem or fear that he had.
We will spend all eternity praising Our Heavenly Father.  Why not practice our imperfect praise here on earth in preparation for the unspeakable joy we will receive from our perfect praise forever?
It is time for us to magnify God in our lives.  He is much bigger than we allow Him to be.  We need to downsize our problems, upsize our view of who God is and rightsize our relationship with Him.  We can gain much by joining Paul in exalting the name of Our Lord.  Let us proclaim the glorious perfection of Our Father in heaven.  May we all join together in bringing glory to the Most High God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of exalting Your name here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.  We lift You up above all others.  There is not a single name that approaches the majesty and power of who You are.  Teach us, Lord, to have the faith of the Virgin Mary who said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” as she prepared to receive something that she did not believe to be possible.  May Your grace cover us, Lord, so that we may live in reverent awe of who You are.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us and inspire us to pour out praise to You each day.  We ask all these things in the name of the One worthy of all praise, Jesus Christ.

May Our Hearts Be Ravished by the Holy and Living Word

Luke 24:32
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Two men walking on the road to Emmaus were met by Jesus, who accompanied them on the journey and joined them in their discussions about the recent events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. They did not recognize Him, but marveled in His knowledge of the events.  Later Jesus revealed Himself to the men, resulting in their realization of how stirring that His words had been earlier.
The Scriptures can be a sealed book.  The very identity of Jesus Christ and His salvation message can be hidden from us.  The power and the truth are unveiled only through Jesus Christ.  With Christ as Our Savior, we receive the words in Scripture as if Christ Himself is speaking them to us.
To aid us in our study of the Bible, we are joined in each reading by the Holy Spirit who directs us to focus on Jesus.  The Holy Spirit whispers gentle urgings into our hearts as He reveals the truths and promises given to us through Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit directs us to abide in Christ so that we may follow the path of salvation and sanctification that the Word of God provides us.  If we are obedient in following the urgings of the Holy Spirit our hearts will burn with a fervent love for Our Savior and we will live in the fullness of His presence.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending us the Living Word, Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for inspiring the writers of the Bible who made the Living Word readily available to us for reading and study.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit joins us as we seek to make Your Word the fire that fuels our love for Your Son.  As the Word comes to us with evidence, power and sweetness, may our hearts burn with eagerness to be transformed by our relationship with Our Lord. We pray that our fire be so strong and so bright that others will be drawn to surrender their lives to Our Savior King.  We ask all these things in the name of the eternal flame, Jesus Christ.

Lest He Move On to Find Someone Willing to Serve

Luke 19:42
If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.
As Jesus weeped over Jerusalem, He spoke the words in Luke 19 to the Jews, who He knew would reject Him and His offer of salvation.  Because they rejected His offer, He transferred His offer to the willing Gentiles.
This principle is carried out in a different way in our daily lives.  Jesus prepares us to do His work and asks us to be obedient to His calling.  Sometimes He will give us simple urgings in the spirit to do something nice for someone, to pray for someone or to ask forgiveness from someone.  Often His urging may be for a simple act to bring a smile upon the face of another. Whatever He asks of us, if we accept His bidding, we will be given greater things to do for Him.  We will experience the peace and comfort that flows from serving Him.  If we do not accept His bidding, we will miss the peace He offers and we will miss a portion of the bigger plans that He has for our lives.  Sadly, He will move on to find the one who is willing serve Him readily.
Let us not miss His peace offering as the Jews did.  If the Lord is asking us to do anything today, let us surrender to His calling.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to serve You.  We rejoice in knowing that You are pleased when we are obedient to Your urging.  We pray that You make us sensitive to the work that You call us to do.  May we find joy in even the smallest tasks.  May it all bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of the One that gives us peace at all times and in every way, Jesus Christ.

Be Anxious for Nothing. Really?

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
It is easy to read Philippians 4:6 and come away with the simple thought that God encourages us and desires for us to bring Him our prayer requests.  This interpretation is absolutely true.  But when we break it down, we find that God is saying much, much more to us than might appear on the surface.

First, and foremost, we are being taught to be anxious in nothing.  Does that make any sense? Surely we all have daily concerns and cares that we need to attend to as good stewards of our provisions, our relationships and our own spiritual condition.  God is aware of these due concerns, but He is giving us the command to trust in Him.  He knows our needs better than we know our needs.  He is actually calling on us to have peace and comfort when the world would suggest otherwise.

After first resting in the comfort of His promise, then we are urged to go to Him in prayer with our requests.  But there is a stipulation attached as He commands that we bring our thanksgiving in advance of our requests. Why does He ask us to come with thanksgiving?  Again, it is for our peace and comfort.  When we bring our thanksgiving, we are reconciling with Him all the favor and blessing that He has provided in the past. This positions us to approach His Throne with the confidence that everything we ask for will be addressed and answered perfectly according to our needs, our real needs.  

If we are in line with the passage to this point, then our thankful, angst free mindset will help us to meet the last command in this passage which is to let our requests be known to God – not to men.  This is a not so subtle reminder that it is not our job to manipulate our circumstances through our own capability.  Instead we are to depend on Our Heavenly Father for everything in our lives.  In exchange for following His supplication process, peace will be our companion.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your unconditional love and Your forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus.  We ask forgiveness for coming to You so often with our needs alone, accompanied by a stark absence of our professed love for You and our expression of our sincere thanks for all that You provide.  Teach us, Lord, how to seek Your presence in our lives.  Teach us how to fully trust in You throughout each and every day.  Teach us how to use our prayer lives to build our relationships with You.  We ask all these things in the name of the One whose mercies never come to an end, Jesus Christ.

Shedding Our Bondage

2 Corinthians 7:1
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
When we accept Jesus into our lives, it is likely that we will find that we are in bondage to one or more things that are of the world and not entirely pleasing to God.  Once we receive the Holy Spirit, we will be lead into a process of shedding those things that the Lord deems unworthy.  We will surely discover that we will not be able to change all things in our lives instantly, nor completely.  Through faith, however, we will be able to confidently begin the process of shedding our fleshly bonds one at a time as the Holy Spirit convicts and strengthens us.  

We can be certain that the work of sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  It is wholly the work of the Holy Spirit and not a work that we will pursue on our own.  We can be just as certain that for the Holy Spirit to work in us that we will need to surrender to the perfecting process.  It will be particularly important that we position ourselves through prayer and the study of God’s Holy Word onto a path of faith that allows us to live soberly, righteously and holy until the end of our days.

If we are steadfast in pursuing and surrendering to a path of sanctification, we will be benefactors of the strength of Jesus Christ and the assistance of His Holy Spirit.  We will be enabled to perform acts of holiness and religious duty in fear of God.  It will not be because of a fear of hell and damnation, but will be because of a reverential love and affection for Our Heavenly Father and a deep and complete trust in Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing Your wisdom so that we may understand Your ways and learn to live in awesome reverence of who You are.  We pray that You will open our eyes so that we can see all the ways in our lives that displease You.  Convict us of our sinful nature.  Prepare a path for us to walk in the process of sanctification aided by the power of Your Holy Spirit.  Lord, may we learn to lean on the Holy Spirit so that we may live soberly, righteously and holy.  By Your grace, Father, and by the strength of Christ and the assistance of the Holy Spirit may we be delivered from our sinful lives.  May the world know us by the fullness of Jesus Christ within us.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who gives us the desire and the power to do what pleases You, Father.

Strangers in Our Own Land

Psalm 119:19
I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

God’s commandments have been given to us.  They are not new and there is no revised edition.  The Lord’s commandments have been the same for thousands of years and will be the same as long as time exists.  They are pure enlightenment, so needful for journey in time on this earth.
Along with His commandments, Our Heavenly Father also has given us His inerrant Holy Word to confirm His guidelines for our lives.   There is nothing hidden from us except what we manage to hide from ourselves.  We have allowed our fellow man to take the laws of Almighty God and hide them from us by replacing them with the laws of fallible men.
The laws of fallible men invariably turn toward tolerance of things that are not pleasing to God and these same laws are used to pressure one another into accepting wrongful behavior as truth.  We must guard against becoming citizens of this earth and foreigners in God’s kingdom.  In this day and time, we must dare to be strangers in our own land.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is revealed to us in Your Holy Word.  We bless the name of Jesus who is the Word made flesh.  Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit may direct us to repent of the things in our lives that are not pleasing to You.  We ask for the strength to turn away from these displeasing things and the grace to turn toward all that is pleasing to You.  We beseech You that all of our faith will be in Jesus Christ and not in the world.  As we surrender to Your will, equip us, Lord, to reveal Your kingdom to those around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who is with us until the end of the age, Jesus Christ.

By the Fullness of His Grace

2 Timothy 2:1
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Paul wrote the words in this passage to his helper, Timothy, to prepare him for everything that the world was going to throw at him.  Paul alerted Timothy that there would be many trials that he would endure.  He encouraged him by reminding him that he would be strengthened by the One who sent them out to preach to the people.  Paul exhorted Timothy to rely completely on the grace of God and not to turn to his own ways to find his strength.

We need to be rooted and grounded in our faith in the grace that is provided to us.  Our strength and our security will rest upon the faith that we build in the strong, immovable, unalterable love of God that is provided through His grace that is in His Son, Jesus. 

As we find ourselves challenged by life, we can be comforted by Paul’s instruction to Timothy.  Jesus Christ will never leaves us.  When we turn to Him for our direction and our strength, our path is secure.  By the fullness of His grace, we are enabled to fulfill our ministries, bear all trials and afflictions and stand against all persecution.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that we receive through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus.  We exalt the name of Jesus, who provides the strength that we need to overcome all of the issues in our lives.  We ask, Lord, that the Holy Spirit teach us how to rely solely on the fullness of the grace available to us through our relationship with Our Savior.  We pray that our firm reliance on Your Son will release His power and His Spirit into our lives and our ministries.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who became flesh so that we might receive Your endless grace, Jesus Christ.

Our Security and Our Strength

1 Corinthians 10:12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
We must stay on guard against the calling of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  The weakness that we have in the flesh becomes more dangerous to us when we are indulgent in the things of the world.  Therefore, we must be certain to check ourselves against our indulgences lest they will rise beyond our control.   

A Christian’s security against sin rests in Jesus Christ alone.  He provides ample supply of the oil that we need for our lamps to light our way.  He gives freely of the strength that we will need to overcome the callings of our flesh.  In Christ, we are enclosed in the arms of everlasting love.  In Christ we stand on a foundation that will never fail.  In Christ, we are kept by an almighty power that cannot be overcome.
Our biggest snare is our confidence that we can stand against our flesh and the enemy alone.  We must be sure to maintain the flow of Christ’s strength in our weakness.  The “Prince of Preachers”, Charles Spurgeon, offers the following guidance for maintaining our strength in the Lord.
Be much more in prayer. Spend longer time in holy adoration. Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly. Watch your lives more carefully. Live nearer to God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for promising to perfect Your strength in our weakness.  We exalt the name of Jesus who stands beside us and promises never to leave us.  We rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit who provides us with the strength that we need to overcome every trial and temptation in our lives.  We pray, Lord, that You will show us how to draw near to You through our prayers, our worship and our study of Your Holy Word.  Help us to be constantly vigilant that we are bond slaves to Jesus and not to our flesh.  May we live in the fullness of Your grace.  We ask all these things in the name of the founder and perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ.

What a Loving, Forgiving, Merciful God We Serve

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 is probably the most quoted scripture in the Bible.  Even non-believers have probably heard it often enough to be able to cite a good portion of the scripture correctly.  But do we really take the time to examine what this powerful verse means to us?

God’s immeasurable, inexhaustible, divine love was required to save a sin ravished world.  He gave His Son, Jesus, to be the Prophet, the Priest, the King and, most importantly, the Savior for all mankind.
Through His unlimited mercy, Our Heavenly Father provides a plan for us to avoid eternal damnation for our sins.  His plan is simple.  We must submit to Jesus Christ as our teacher, our ruler and Our Savior.  Our duty is to proclaim His name.  Our benefit is everlasting life in His Kingdom.  
Jesus sacrificed His life for us.  He is asking us to sacrifice our old lives in exchange for a new life under His stewardship.  There is really no sacrifice on our parts.  What we receive is eternally greater than what we leave behind – what an awesome offer!  Yet many do not accept it.

To further understand the full value of the gift that we have received, we need to understand that we would not make the right choice if it were not for the grace of God.  We choose salvation because the Holy Spirit does a work in us that we could not do for ourselves.  What a loving, forgiving, merciful God we serve!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing a way for us to escape eternal damnation because of our sins. We thank You for providing Your Son as our sacrificial lamb and as our living, ever present Good Shepherd.  We humbly submit to You all that we are and all that we have in the name of Jesus Christ.  We pray that the presence of Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us as we walk the pathway of sanctification that You have set aside for us.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of those around us to receive Your Son as their Savior.   May our changed lives help draw them to Your Son.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ.