Author: Charlie Brignac

The day that will change your life forever is the day that you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.  When that happens, you will release the favor of Almighty God upon your life.  Once that occurs God will lead you into the called purpose for which He has created you.  No force in this universe can stop your calling once God has ordained it.  The only thing that can adversely affect your ultimate calling is your insistence in following your own plans instead of relying on the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Almighty God, who can do all things, promises us that all of our needs will be met if we abide in Him.  Why then, do we focus on our needs so much instead of focusing on Him?  Part of the answer lies in the weakness of our flesh which seeks satisfaction in the world.  The other part of the answer lies in the Evil One who does all that he can to lure us away from a relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit is the only reason that we ever stay focused on God.  Our hope and our strength lie in the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The world would like us to believe that we are missing out on life itself if we don’t put ourselves first in all things.  The world would like us to believe that satisfaction comes from personal independence.  As a result of the world’s philosophy, we put ourselves through overcomplicated life styles directed at setting us apart from our peers and even our own family.  All of this leads to a personal appetite that is impossible to satisfy.  On the other hand, a life in Christ offers complete freedom and satisfaction in every aspect of life.

God breaks into our lives in every way imaginable.  He is in the sweet songs of the birds outside our window.  He is in every sunrise and sunset.  He is in every kind gesture and word of encouragement that comes our way.  If we are in constant contact with Him, we will recognize His presence in every little thing surrounding us.  If we choose not to make Him the center of our lives, we will miss His presence and many of life’s little pleasures will pass us by.

The apostle Paul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus.  The relationship that formed was the basis for everything that Paul did for the rest of his life.  The activity in Paul’s new life was the direct opposite of the activities in his old life.  The only way he could pull this off was through the transforming relationship he had with Jesus.  

We, too, are given the opportunity to change our lives completely and live according to the purposes that God created us to meet.  All we have to do is ground ourselves in a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior.  He will do the transforming work necessary to align us with God’s purposes for our lives.

In Jesus’ last hours with the apostles, He really emphasized the importance of abiding in Him.  Jesus wanted the apostles to know that their strength and their appeal to others would be through His presence in their lives.  So it is for us also.  We need to abide in Jesus to attain the fullness of the purpose that God has intended for us on earth – to reveal His Son to the world through our living testimony.   

Little children trust their parents for everything.  They rarely have a thought about needing food, needing clothing, needing protection or even needing love.  They have all these things so they have no reason to believe that they will need to have them tomorrow.

For small children, the future is always certain as long as they know that their parents are around to care for them.  No wonder Jesus tells us to we should be like little children.  Their faith is certain.  Oh, that we should have such faith in our Heavenly Father.

God gave us the family unit to help us understand our position as children of God.  Just as an earthly father enjoys his children coming to him and acknowledging their love for him, so too does our Heavenly Father enjoy the attention and praises of His children.  Just as an earthly father is disappointed when his children neglect to visit or communicate with him, so too does our Heavenly Father feel disappointment.  

When any of God’s children take for granted all that He has done for them and continues to do for them, there is a sadness in the Heavenly Throne.  Most importantly, the children themselves suffer by failing to nourish their love relationship with their father/Father.

All that we do should be done for the Lord, not for ourselves nor for any other man or men.  It is the focus on the Lord that gives us our strength, our courage and our wisdom to pursue and complete every task.  It is abiding in Him that provides our armor against the evil one who is trying to ruin all that we do – especially those things which are done to bring honor and glory to God and to bring others to know Him.

When we look at the world through our own eyes, we set out to do things that we are confident that we can do.  When we look at the world through God’s eyes, we are given things to do that are beyond our current capabilities.  We are likely to experience frustration and failure as we attempt these things of God because we start our relying on ourselves.  Only after we call on and rely on God’s hand in our work for Him and learn to wait on Him, do we bear the fruit that God is looking for.