Author: Charlie Brignac

When we can look at any other human being without being critical of their behavior, then we know we truly know Jesus.   When can overlook the behavior of others while we love them because of the fact that they are one of God’s beloved children, then we know that we truly have a relationship with Jesus.  

Until we reach that time of spiritual maturity, we must take every situation in which we are ready to criticize someone and turn that situation over to the Holy Spirit.  Then we must praise God for giving us the grace to see the frailty in others without damaging them with our words.

What Jesus did for us, we did not earn.  What Jesus did for us, we do not deserve.  Yet the moment we accept the salvation that He made possible when He died for us on the Cross, we have the power within us to lay ourselves down each day for those around us.

Our flesh will argue against it and Satan will certainly do his part to discourage us, but the victory is totally complete.  All we have to do is let the Spirit within us flow out of us.

Instead of calling for the water to come from the rock as God instructed Moses, he hit the rock twice with his staff.  Moses was prohibited from entering the promised land because of this simple act of disobedience.  

What promised land do we miss when we are not obedient in the small things – a helping hand for a grumpy neighbor, a kind word and unsolicited help for a tired spouse, a loving hug for a disobedient child.  God is in all these acts of kindness.  We should do them for His glory.  He has much awaiting us.

Where are you today?  Are you happy with your circumstances?  These questions are irrelevant when you are abiding in Jesus.

If you follow His command, “Abide in Me”, you will not care where you are or what you are doing.  Your place in life will be filled with the joy of the Lord.  All of your activity will be completely satisfying and will bear much fruit.  What freedom there is in Jesus!

There is nothing in our lives that is too big or too small for Jesus.  He is waiting to comfort us and guide us through and intercede for us in every minute detail in our lives.  He is also waiting to be our burden bearer and provider through every seemingly unsurmountable circumstance that we may encounter.

Why should we rely on our own power when we have the power of the creator and sustainer of the universe available to us?  Rejoice and seek Jesus in all things.  Submit every breathing moment of life to Him.  He awaits!

What a shame it is for us to accept our salvation and then to remain mostly unchanged by the Holy Spirit within us.  In doing so, we are like the servant that buried the one talent that he was given without doing anything with it.

When we are inactive in our spiritual lives, we stunt our spiritual growth.  As a result, we cut off greater gifts from God and we deny ourselves the greatest rewards that He has stored up for us. 

We should actively seek the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in all that we do.  The rewards will be many. 

The abundance of all of God’s grace is available to us the moment that we accept our salvation.  All we have to do is submit to Jesus, allowing His Spirit to guide us in all our ways.

“Come unto Me.” Matthew 11:28

It is so simple, yet so powerful, to access all that God has available for us.  Why do we insist on hanging on to the things that do nothing but hinder our progress toward complete union with Christ?  Why do we accept less than a full measure of God’s awesome grace when all of it is so readily accessible?

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.