Month: January 2018

Refusing to Doubt Any Longer

John 20:28
Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
The unbelief of Thomas is well documented in the Bible.  He was a skeptic, a true doubter, looking for proof that the Lord was who He said He was.
Thomas’ story is the perfect illustration of the struggle of every believer who is wavering in deciding his or her relationship with Jesus Christ.  What sets Thomas apart from those that never fully surrender their lives to Jesus was his sincerity in seeking the Lord.  While Thomas was weak in his convictions, he was sincere in seeking the truth.  Jesus was gracious in His response to Thomas just as He will be for all that are sincere in seeking Him.
Like Thomas, we are all called to come to the the place where we finally see and believe the total redemptive work of Jesus and fully submit to Him as Our Lord and Savior. Thomas, once seeing the wounds of Jesus, proclaimed both his complete belief and complete submission to his Master when he spoke the words, “My Lord and My God.”  All in one burst, Thomas asserts his interest in Jesus as his Lord, espouses his affection for Him and denotes his submission to Him.  This is exactly what Jesus Christ is looking for from each of us.
Even though we may have been slow and weak in our commitment to Christ, Our Lord waits on our sincere entreaty.  He will respond to each of us just as He responded to Thomas.  He will overpower us with His presence so that we may with the same exuberance as Thomas proclaim, “My Lord and my God.”

Let us move at once to surrender everything to Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Let us submit to His lordship over our lives.  Let us proclaim that He is who He says He is.  Let us rejoice in knowing that His promises will be fulfilled exactly as He said they would be. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You extend to us in our slowness and our weakness in surrendering everything to Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we can see, fully believe in and seek the precious gift that is available to us in a relationship with Your Son.  Father, we ask that You take us to a place where we are overpowered by the presence of Jesus just like Thomas was.  May Your Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us so that there will be nothing left in us that doubts the fullness of the new life in Christ that awaits us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Our God, Jesus Christ.

Moving in Our Calling One Faith-filled Step at a Time

Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
As it was with Jeremiah, so it is with each of us.  God created us and has a plan for our lives.  He has set us apart to serve Him in a way that only we can do because of the unique nature and capabilities that He has given to each of us.  God draws each of us into a relationship with Him so that we can understand what He has prepared us to do.  We do the things that we are called to do in response to the outpouring of love and forgiveness that we receive from Our Creator.
As we seek our place in God’s kingdom, we must be careful not to think too highly or too lowly of ourselves.  We should maintain a keen sense of our weaknesses and our insufficiencies, but we should not let our weaknesses keep us back from our calling.  We should fear no man and go about our work humbly as we grow in our relationship with Our Heavenly Father.  Our primary focus needs to be on seeking God’s will for our lives and discovering the appointment that Our Creator has set aside for us.  Once we confirm our appointment, we need to respond accordingly.
The good news is that we do not have to discover our appointment or respond to it on our own.  Our Heavenly Father has given us a Helper to guide us through the process of finding and accepting the calling that He has placed on our lives.  As long as we set aside time to be in the presence of Almighty God and surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, we will discover our appointed role in the kingdom and rejoice in our opportunity to serve Our King. 
Let us first seek an intimate relationship with Our Savior.  Then let us earnestly seek the aid of the Holy Spirit to reveal the calling that Our Lord has set aside for us.  Under the guidance of Our Counselor, let us move in faith one step at a time toward our appointment.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us to fill a specific need on this earth and in Your eternal kingdom.  We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to help us separate our own carnal desires from the will and plan that You have for our lives.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will help us to dig deep into our relationship with You.  We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit teach us how to be vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who makes it possible for us to become Your good and faithful servants, Your Most Faithful Son, Jesus Christ.

Trusting in Him to Fulfill His Promises

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Almighty God, in faithfulness to His promises, releases provisions to supply our needs and answer our prayers.  He knows that our way to heaven is through our carnal wilderness.  When we become weary, He is ready to provide what the world cannot provide.  He insures that our supply is constant and sufficient.  Let us set our troubles before Him.
Why is it that we ever doubt for a second that the Lord has a plan already set in place to relieve us of whatever burden that troubles us?  Did He not set aside His own glory to become man to have a plan for our salvation?  Did He not shed His own blood so that the plan could be executed on our behalf?  Does He not hold all power and wisdom in His hand?  When He has done so much already, why would He withhold any good thing from us now?
Let us humble ourselves before Almighty God.  He reigns over everything in heaven and on earth.  Let us trust in Him to fulfill His promises in our lives.  Let us rely on Him for our strength and our peace.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness.  We bless the name of Jesus who gave up everything so that we could receive the fullness of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We rejoice in knowing that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to comfort us and strengthen us.  We pray, Lord, that you forgive us for being so weak in our faith.  We ask that You strengthen our spiritual nature so that we are seeking our comfort and provision from You and not from this world.  Let us always be mindful that all things are possible through You.  We pray these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

The Conflict of Living in Two Worlds

Romans 6:4
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
So what is this new life that we may live?  As we struggle to attain a new sanctified life in Christ, we all come to know and experience that the promise for holiness is activated in our spirit, but is hampered by the weakness that remains in our flesh. 
In the flesh, we are in a constant struggle to try to attain the holiness that we know has been set aside for us.  The struggle is ongoing as we react to our call to holiness and attempt to adjust the way we live as new men and women in Christ.  All along, we realize that we have been given the power to walk away from our old sin nature, but our flesh and our new spirit are in a battle.  The flesh wants to keep us in the world.  The Spirit wants to lead us on our path to sanctification.  We find that there is no peace if we try to live in both worlds.
Knowing our weaknesses all too well, in His perfect mercy and loving kindness, Our Father in heaven set aside a Helper for us to manage through our daily struggles.  He gave us a Counselor to help us overcome the calling of our flesh and the world.  We were given the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us and we were given God’s promise that He will perfect His strength in our weakness.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  2 Cor 12:9
Let us call on the promise of Our Father in heaven.  Let us rejoice in knowing that His grace is fully and perfectly sufficient to overcome our weaknesses.  Let us strive to live new lives that are not conflicted by the world.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect plan and provision for us to overcome our sin natures.  We praise the name of Jesus for sacrificing His life so that we can have victory over sin.  We bless the name of the Holy Spirit who comes alongside us to guide us and strengthen us.  We pray, Lord, that You will show us how to end our struggle to balance our lives.  May the Holy Spirit assist us and give us the strength to walk away from the world and commit everything in our lives to Jesus Christ, Our Savior.  We ask all these things in in the name of our strength and our provision, Jesus Christ.

Witnesses to the Way, the Truth and the Life that is Jesus

Acts 26:16
Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.
These are the words that Jesus spoke to Paul when He struck him down on the trail to Damascus.  Being the respecter of no man, these are the same words that Jesus speaks to every man.  By the loving kindness, mercy and grace of Our Savior, each one of us have been taken down in the flesh to be raised up anew in the spirit to serve Our Lord.  He is just waiting on us to say, “Here I am, send me.”
Saul was an enemy of the early church.  He was doing all he could to shut down the early Christians.  If God would use such a man for His good purposes, can He not use each of us?  Just as the Lord lifted Saul from his blindness to be Paul, a beacon of light to the world, He can also lift us from whatever darkness is holding us down.  He can change us into new men and women in Christ, witnesses to the way, the truth and the life that is Jesus.
All we have to do is respond to the One that is calling us to stand up and serve.  He will give us our commission.  He will equip us for our mission.  He will lift us up from whatever may be holding us down.  He will make us true ministers and witnesses to His Gospel.
Let us respond to the One that calls us.  Let us learn to live under the power of the Cross as we take up the crosses that we have been given to carry.  Let us stand up and boldly proclaim the Good News. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking down the old man and raising up a new man in Christ.  We praise the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to escape the darkness in our lives and empowered us to be lights on a hill for the world to see.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be bondservants to Our Savior for all eternity.  Lord, we ask that the Holy Spirit prepare us for our work.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will show us how to make our lives living testimonies to Your glory.  We pray these things in the name of the One who calls us, Jesus Christ.

The Consultant With the Greatest Credentials on Earth

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Why would we miss the opportunity to seek the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  He has been sent to us by the Father in the name of His Son, Jesus.  There is no consultant on earth with those credentials.  Why would we seek others or rely on our own thinking when such a resource has been given to us?
No matter how intelligent we might be, the teachings of the Bible will remain a mystery to us without the influence of the Holy Spirit to aid us.  Our understanding is no better than the early listeners to Jesus’ parables who “did not have ears to hear”.  We cannot be disciples of Jesus Christ without the gift of the Holy Spirit.
It is the work and business of the Holy Spirit, to teach, interpret, and explain all things to us which Christ had taught to His disciples. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make the Bible plain and easy to for us to understand.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to draw us to and instruct us in all things necessary for salvation.  It is the work of the Holy Spirit to prepare us to teach what we have learned to others.  

Let us seek the fullness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the meaning of the Holy Scriptures and how we should apply them to our lives. Let us prepare ourselves to share what we have been taught with others.  
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to be Our Helper, Our Comforter and Our Guide on our journey of sanctification.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us in all things necessary for our salvation.  We ask, Lord, for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives help us to interpret Your Holy Word.  May Your teachings become easy for us to understand and apply to our lives.  May the Holy Spirit show us how to share this precious gift with others.  We ask all these things in the name of the power of God in our lives, Jesus Christ.

Taking Time to Sit with the Master

Mark 4:34
He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Jesus used examples of everyday life events to explain kingdom principles to the crowds.  Often the crowds did not understand.  His disciples did not understand either.  So Jesus would take His disciples aside and reveal the truth to them.
Jesus does the same with us.  He reveals His truths to us through the everyday events in our lives.  Much of which we do not understand because we do not truly understand ourselves.  At least, not until we are willing to go to Jesus and spend time with Him alone.  At these times, His Holy Spirit will reveal to us all that has been hidden from us because of our own spiritual immaturity or sinfulness.
While the treasures of the kingdom are present in the world, we often over look them or simply take them for granted.  It is important that we set aside a private time with Jesus.  Through the Holy Spirit, we will be led to a larger knowledge of Jesus and a greater understanding of the mysteries of heaven.  Thus we will be furnished with all that we need to fulfill the work that we have been created to accomplish on this earth.  If we are negligent in setting aside time alone with Jesus, we may miss His treasures all together.

Let us plan private time to sit with Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  Let us call on the Holy Spirit to help us develop this intimacy with Our King.  Let us rejoice in knowing that He is waiting to hear from us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing Yourself and Your treasures in this world.  We praise the name of Jesus who represents the highest order of Your benevolence to all humanity.  We pray, Father, that you will draw us unto Yourself so that we will seek Your Holy Spirit to guide us into precious, private time with Jesus Christ, Our Savior.  We ask, Lord, that You reveal all of Your truths and mysteries to us as we learn to build an intimate relationship with You.  May we fulfill everything that You have set aside for us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Master and Teacher, Jesus Christ.

Dealing With the Cries That Discourage Us

Luke 23:26
As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
Because Jesus was obedient to His Father’s calling on His life, it cost others around Him.  It cost His disciples who suddenly were without the leading and teaching of their Master.  It cost His mother who suddenly lost a Son.  It cost His brothers and sisters who suddenly lost a sibling.  In the case of today’s passage, it was Simon of Cyrene who bore a portion of the costs of Jesus’ obedience when he was suddenly called to carry the cross of Jesus.
Whenever we choose to be obedient to God’s calling on our lives, it is likely to cost other people.  It certainly will be a dramatic shock and cost to those near us who are not Christians when we proclaim that we have received Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior.   Our choice will completely shake up their world.
Then after receiving Jesus, suppose the Lord asks us to give up something we love doing because He wants more time with us.  It is likely that we shared our beloved activity with others who will suffer from our withdrawal from the activity.  Or it may be that our faithful service at church creates an internal challenge to those who are shunning a calling of their own.  We must guard against the inclination to move away from our calling in order to avoid costing others.  We simply must obey and leave the consequences with Our Lord.  He completely understands the challenge of dealing with the cries of those who would try to discourage us from our calling.

Let us learn to accept the fullness of our calling, even when it bears some cost for those near us.  Let us learn to lean on the strength and the guidance of the Holy Spirit when we are faced with the befuddlement of others.  Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of our detractors, so that they, too, may drawn to the Lord that we serve.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us to fulfill unique plans and purposes in Your kingdom.  We pray that you keep us steadfast in our obedience to Your calling on our lives.  We ask, Lord, that You provide the strength we need to overcome the pressure that may come from others as they bear the costs of our obedience.  Show us, Father, how to love and forgive those that persecute us for serving You.  We pray these things in the name of the One who gave His life in obedience to the Father so that we may have eternal life, Jesus Christ.

The Pathway to Victory Over Darkness

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.
Paul was sent before King Agrippa by the Jews in an effort to have him killed or at least imprisoned. Paul explained to King Agrippa how he had been led by an encounter with Jesus to abandon his efforts to oppose the message of Jesus of Nazareth and to then turn to a life of proclaiming the message of Jesus to the world.
In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul is describing to King Agrippa the directive and the message that Jesus gave him to bring to the people.  The message summarizes for us the fullness of our blessing in Christ, but it also provides us with the responsibility that we share with Paul.  For we are all called to spread the Good News that we have received.
It is not uncommon to hear and see people in all walks of life openly professing their disdain for Jesus Christ.  People around us need to know and we need to be constantly aware that without our precious Savior, we are doomed to eternal damnation.  The sin nature absolutely blocks any possibility that we would choose the light of Jesus Christ over the darkness of Satan.  Fortunately for all mankind, Our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us to overcome  our frailty.  Through His mercy, He provides a pathway to victory over the darkness in our lives.  Through His perfect love and forgiveness, He has given us His Son to be Our Savior.  Through His salvation plan, He calls each of us to participate in sharing His salvation story. 
Let us choose the Light of the World.  Let us choose to be lights to the world.  Let us boldly spread the message of the salvation story.  Let us insure that everyone around us knows that Jesus washes us clean with His blood so that we can bath in His light and abide with Him for all eternity.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to atone for our sins and allow us to live in Your magnificent light for all eternity.  Your Word tells us that there will be no need for the sun or the moon in eternity for Your light will be sufficient.  We pray, Lord, that you will show us how to live in Your perfect light and share it with the world around us.  Help us to become living testimony of the loving kindness, mercy and grace that you have provided to us through the sacrifice of Your Son.  Father, may our Christian experience be marked by the light that we provide to those around us that are in the darkness.  We ask these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

Uncovering Every Speck of Darkness

Psalm 139:23
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
It is hard to understand, but we are in many ways strangers to ourselves.  We may hate sin and we may repent of all the sin in our lives, yet our natural eye is unable to see the depths of our iniquities.  Our human nature with its sin stained flesh is simply incapable of making an unbiased assessment of the darkness within us.  We must do as the psalmist did.  We must ask God to search our hearts and reveal to us everything that is displeasing to Him.
Jesus Christ died on the Cross so that we could stand blameless before the Father.  To prepare us for this time, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide us through the sanctification process.  The Holy Spirit takes us beyond the carnal limits of our own understanding.  Inspired by the light of Our Savior, we are allowed to see the full depth of the darkness of our sin and the full height of our potential in Christ.  Rest assured that we would never properly examine ourselves without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
Let us report for full inspection in humble recognition of our need.  Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will search our hearts.  Let us ask the Holy Spirit to uncover every speck of darkness in our hearts, especially those that we do not see ourselves.   Let us faithfully repent of what is revealed to us so that we may live in the fullness of a life in Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us righteous through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We thank You for providing the grace that we need and the ever present assistance of the Holy Spirit so that we may submit to the transformation process from sinner to saint.  We pray that You open the gateways of our minds so that we may see and repent of all of the shackles of sin on our lives.  We pray that we may see and grasp the fullness of your plans for our lives as revealed to us by Your Holy Spirit.  We ask these things in the name of the purifier of our souls, Jesus Christ.