Category: Uncategorized

To Die Is To Gain? Really?

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
How could anyone say to die is gain?  Perhaps the answer can be found in this summary: Having been washed clean by the blood of Our Savior, at death we will be delivered from all the tribulations of life.  We will be free of all diseases and free from any concerns about worldly things.  We will leave behind forever all sin, all unbelief, all doubts and all fears.  We will be absolutely free from the temptations of Satan.  More importantly, the benefit of what we gain will be far greater than what we are freed from.  We will be in the presence of Almighty God.  We will experience continuous communion with Our Savior.  We will receive eternal places of rest in the Kingdom of God.  We will live in constant light, love, joy, peace and comfort.  We will be surrounded by endless pleasure.
Our victory over death will be so complete that we are able to enjoy our time on earth without the shadow of death haunting us.  While the world struggles when facing death, the followers of Jesus are able to face their death beds with an exuberance that the world cannot understand.  We know that Our Savior is waiting to receive us and that He has prepared a place for us that is free from all misery and weakness.
As we wait for the time that Our Lord is ready to receive us, we have the privilege to live with the fullness of Christ in our lives.  May each one of our remaining days on earth serve as living testimony to Our Eternal King.  May we proclaim to the world all that He promises us here on earth and in heaven.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the eternal inheritance that You have set aside for us.  We praise the name of Jesus who secured our place with You for all eternity.  We rejoice in knowing that only a wisp of time separates us from claiming all the rights of the heirs of Your kingdom.  As we wait for that time of glory, we pray that You equip us to be Your laborers in these end days.  We ask that You arm us against the attacks of the enemy as we help bring the church to completion.  May we show the world the living Christ that is within us.  We pray these things in the name of our waiting Savior, Jesus Christ.

Does He Know That You Love Him?

John 21:17
He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep”.
“Of course, I love You Jesus,” is a refrain that each of us as Christians could speak very easily and we would believe fully in our sincerity.   Yet aren’t we all a bit like Peter?  Our spoken proclamation of love does not necessarily measure up to our proven love.
Peter, believing his love for Jesus was obvious to Jesus, became frustrated.  So Peter challenged Jesus, saying, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”  Jesus’ response to Peter’s challenge was essentially, “Prove it.”
Jesus challenges each of us as well to feed His sheep.  He calls us to provide appropriate nourishment to the young lambs and encouragement to the mature members of the flock.  He calls us to go after any that leave the flock until they are found and brought back under the protection of the Good Shepherd.
Jesus calls on each of us who love Him to go out and do the work that He was doing.  He tended to all of the needs of the people, all the way to the Cross, because of His love for His Father.  Jesus expects us to take up His work, to take up our cross, because of our love for Him.

Let us go out into the world and join Jesus in the work that He would be doing for His Father in heaven if He were still on earth.  Consider this.  He still is on earth.  He resides in us.  He wants to do His work through us.  Let the world see His love as we prove our love for Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to tend to our every need, especially our need to be freed from the sin that separates us from You.  In response to Your loving kindness, mercy and grace, we surrender our lives to You.  We ask that You show us the cross that You have prepared for us.  We pray, Lord, that You instruct us in the way that we should go.  May Your Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us for the journey.  Father, we pray that You release Your power through us so that others may discover the Way of the Cross.  We ask all these things in the name of the one who went to the Cross and shed His blood for us, Jesus Christ.

Sacrificing Our Lives for Others

1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
The life of Jesus Christ was the epitome of servanthood.  He poured Himself out upon the needs of the people, especially the need for salvation from sin.  He was willing to be the sacrificial lamb.  He was willing to be the door mat under people’s feet.  He sought no recognition.  He sought to show us what love is.  He is the precious Lamb of God.  He is love.
More than that, Jesus is the perfect model of love.  He represents the ideal standard for us to imitate.  As His disciples, we are called to be His bondservants.  We are called to serve the will of Our Master.  We are called to serve the world as He served the world, sacrificing all that we are and all that we have for the good of all mankind and for the honor and glory of the Father.  We are to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  And like Jesus, we must extend ourselves on behalf of others whether or not they merit our services.

It is highly unlikely that any of us will actually lay down our lives for another in one definitive event.  Therefore, let us define our lives by the continuous extension of ourselves to others.  Let the accumulation of our smiles for the downhearted, our encouraging words for the downtrodden and our charitable services for those who are down and out be the ultimate measure of our sacrifice for our brothers and sisters.  Let the accumulation of our small sacrifices and acts of love be for the honor and glory of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be the blood sacrifice required to atone for the sins of all mankind.  We praise the name of the Precious Lamb of God who gave His life so that we may all have eternal life with You, Father.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will take us to the foot of the Cross to seek a life of service to all men.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to minister in love to those around us.  We ask, Lord, that you provide the grace that we need to forsake the need for recognition, except in Your eyes.  May our lives be a reflection of our Servant King.  We ask all these things in the holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Let Us Mirror His Nature and His Character

2 Corinthians 5:14
Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
Had Jesus Christ not died for us, we would be spiritually dead and ruined.  We would be slaves to our sin and we would have no power to deliver ourselves from the miserable state that we would be in.
But, indeed, Christ did die for us, so that we could all die to sin and self.  As we receive Jesus as Our Savior, we are freed from a spiritually dead life.  We are freed to live for Our Redeemer.  It is through Christ’s love that we are able to live as Our Redeemer lived in the perfect will of the Father.
It is the love of our beloved, Jesus Christ, that shines forth in us when we submit ourselves to be vessels of His perfect love.  The love of Jesus in our lives is what allows us to show the world what living for Christ is all about.  

Let us be certain in our faith that Jesus lives inside us today.  Let us surrender to Him.  Let us mirror His nature and His character.  Let us live in the fullness of His will and plan for our lives.  With Him and through Him, we will do more for the kingdom of God than we could ever even imagine.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son who died for our sins.  We praise the name of Jesus for accepting Your will and plan for His life all the way to the Cross.  We pray, Father, that the world will see the way, the truth and the life of Jesus through us as we leave our old lives behind in exchange for the our new lives in Christ.  We ask, Lord, that the fullness of the life of Your Son, Jesus, be perfected in us.  May the world know us as His disciples.  We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

As It Was 2000 Years Ago

1 Corinthians 4:13
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world–right up to this moment.
Paul and those who joined with him in spreading the gospel message were attacked viciously by the social media of their day.  How remarkable it is that Paul’s words of 2000 years ago are so accurate today.  The voice of our corrupt world screams out against the gospel message wherever it is presented.  The media persecution of celebrities and public figures that speak out for Christ is a perfect example of this growing trend.  All who are public proclaimers of the Gospel can expect to suffer vicious attacks in all forms of media simply because they are willing to express the truth about their Savior.
Unfortunately, the attacks of the enemy have quieted the voices of most Christians.  We have sat back and watched as prayer has been taken out of our schools and community events.  We have allowed the Ten Commandments to be removed from display in public places.  We have sat idly as the mention of Jesus has basically been banned in any form, unless of course, it is used to ridicule Him.
Now more than ever, as the world spins faster and faster toward total destruction, we must become the lamps on the hill that provide the light to those that are in darkness.  If we don’t, who will?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings that You have bestowed on our nation.  We praise You for granting us the privilege of living in the greatest nation that has ever existed.  We come before You, Lord, and ask for forgiveness for allowing Your Truths to be taken out of our society, to be spit upon and ridiculed just as Your Son was at Calvary.  We ask, Father God, that You shine Your Light upon our land so that the darkness that we have allowed to creep in will be overshadowed.  Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may the laws of our land and the actions of our people come into alignment with Your laws, Your commandments and Your Holy Word.  Once again may we call upon You as the God in whom we trust.  We pray these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

The Power of the Cross in Us

1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News–and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
Paul served the emerging church in a number of ways, but he understood that God had called him and equipped him specifically to preach the Good News through the power of the Cross.  Paul teaches us that, as we serve our churches and communities, it is important that we rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to find out what God is specifically calling us to do in service to His Kingdom.  We need to discover how we can share the power of the Cross in the world around us.
As we discover our role in God’s kingdom on earth, we should be aware of several important aspects of our calling. 
1.  No role is too big, nor is any role too small, when we are doing what Our Creator called us to do.
2.  When we find our calling, we will recognize it because we will have the same passion for our calling that Paul had for his calling.
3.  The fruit that we bear in our calling will be the result of the supernatural work of God released through the Cross.  The fruit will not be attributable to us.
Paul made it clear to his audience that the redemptive power of the Cross did not rely on anything that he did, nor would it rely on anything that they did or said.  We learn from Paul that it is not our enticing words or the strength of our presentation that wins hearts.  We are simply vessels of the divine truth of God’s mercy on all of us.  We should never consider ourselves to be the reason that a soul came to Christ. The redemptive process is totally reliant on the supernatural work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You equip us to do Your work.  We praise You for allowing us to participate in the work of redemption made possible by the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we can see the unique ways that You have endowed us to serve You.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts so that we may serve You as humble vessels of Your divine, redemptive power.  We pray all these things in the name of Our Lord of the Cross, Jesus Christ.

Wholly at the Disposal of Our King

Romans 1:1
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
In one simple statement, Paul points out three revealing things about himself.  It is important to understand that these three things apply to all Christians.  
  • We are called to be servants of Jesus Christ. 
  • We are all called to some specific purpose for which God created us.  
  • We are all separated unto the gospel of God. 

When studying the original writings, it is suggested that the word that was used for servant was actually quite a bit stronger.  It was rendered in the original text as “bond servant” which means someone who is subject to the will and wholly at the disposal of another.  Thus, we are called not only as servants to Jesus Christ, but as bond servants to Our King.
As His bond servants, each of us are called to a specific purpose in service to His kingdom.  But according to His will, we are also “separated unto the gospel of God.”   We must realize that the redemption that we have received through the grace and mercy of Almighty God has separated us from who we were.  We are now righteous because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf.  We are proclaimers of the Good News through our spoken words and our living testimony.

Let us strive to find our calling in Christ.  Whether it be through proclaiming the Good News from the pulpit or through living a life in Christ that testifies to His salvation story, let us ask the Lord to reveal to us how He wishes to use us.  Let us surrender to His will.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for separating us from the world through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We bless His name for the blood that He shed so that we could live in the spirit and not in the flesh.  We pray, Father, for the grace to abandon our old lives.  We ask that You help us to understand the fullness of the redemption that You have provided us through Your Son.  We beseech You to give us the courage and the strength to proclaim Your Good News to those that you have placed in our lives.  May the world see that we have been separated unto You, Lord, and that we are living as bond servants to You.  We ask all these things in the name of our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Learning to Celebrate Him as He Celebrates Us

Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Who is Our Lord?  Surely this is a question we must all ask before we can decide to surrender our lives to Him for all eternity.  With the question unanswered, it is easy to understand why we struggle to pick up our crosses to follow Jesus.  How can we sacrifice so much for someone we do not know well?
This one simple passage from Zephaniah provides all we need to know about the character and the heartbeat of Jesus Christ.  Zephaniah prophesied about the mighty one who was coming to save us from destruction.  Zephaniah told of how He would dwell within us.  And Zephaniah emphasized how He would rejoice over us in gladness and bring us eternal comfort through His love for us.  Zephaniah added that His joy would be so great that He would celebrate over us with song.
Let us strive to know Our Savior and delight in Him as He delights in us.  Let us learn to trust Him completely with our lives.  Let us learn to celebrate Him as He celebrates us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to save us from eternal destruction.  We bless the name of Jesus who comes to dwell within us when we receive Him as Our Savior.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the perfection in the character of Your Son.  May the Holy Spirit show us how Your Son’s heart beats for us.  May the depth of our understanding lead us to pick up our crosses and completely surrender to the fullness of a life in Christ.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You day after day without end.  May we join You in the celebration of life.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who rejoices over us in gladness, Jesus Christ.

Our Personal Relationship with the Holy Spirit

John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Belief in the ministry of the Holy Spirit is core to the life of a Christian.  The Holy Spirit is a gift bestowed on the disciples of Jesus Christ that is not available to the world at large.  The Holy Spirit is the differentiator in the lives of those who are believers.  Nothing of kingdom significance is possible on this earth without the presence of the Holy Spirit.  As believers, the Holy Spirit is our source of holiness and happiness.  It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that believers are able to fulfill their God-given calling in life.
One of the tragic misunderstandings of many Christians is thinking of the Holy Spirit as a force, a power, but not as a person.  The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.  The Holy Spirit seeks to have a very personal relationship with each of us.  The Holy Spirit longs to be our counselor on all issues big and small.  The Holy Spirit stands ready to be our advocate in heaven and our defender against Satan.  The Holy Spirit monitors everything that we do and whispers to us to keep us on our course of sanctification.  And yes, the Holy Spirit will not hesitate to rebuke us harshly if we do not listen to His quiet urgings.  Through it all, the Holy Spirit is forever with us to give us peace, comfort and strength in all of the trials of our lives.
Jesus Christ paid a great price for us to have His Spirit within us.  Let us commit today to developing a deep, personal relationship with our Helper. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the ever present Spirit of Your Son, Jesus in our lives.  We exalt the name of Your Son for giving His life so that we could have a personal advocate, intercessor, counselor and protector who never leaves us.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit is our source of holiness, happiness, comfort and strength throughout our lives.  We humbly submit to His whispers and urgings.  We pray that we will surrender to His perfect instruction.  We ask that we may develop a deep and mature personal relationship with our ever present Lord.  We ask all thesethings in the name of the One who asked the Father to provide Our Helper, Jesus Christ.

Tuning In To God’s Voice

John 16:13
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.
Our Heavenly Father has given all of us Christians the Holy Spirit to teach us the Truth.  The Holy Spirit takes us beyond head knowledge of God into a personal relationship with Our Creator.  If we submit to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, we will not only learn about Our Savior, but we will learn to relish and savor all things that glorify Jesus Christ.
Additionally, we will find that the Holy Spirit goes before us as a guide.  He clears our path of obstacles as He opens our understanding.  He leads us on the path that we should follow.  He makes things plain and clear for us as never before.
In order to profit from this awesome gift of the Holy Spirit, we must train ourselves to listen for God’s voice in our lives.  Listening to God is an acquired gift.  It is a byproduct of discipline and obedience.  We must set aside time to tune into God’s voice.  The tuning comes from setting aside time for reading the Word, prayer and meditation on the Word, as well as, personal praise and worship.  When we are obedient in all these things, God will reveal Himself to us in all aspects of our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit will speak to us if we learn to listen for His voice.  Help us, Lord, to overcome the voice of our flesh.  We pray, Father, that You open our ears so that we can hear You at all times.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit help us to overcome the distractions of the world so that Your voice is not drowned out.  We beseech You, Father God, that You would strengthen us so that we can be diligent in the small things that we need to do to prepare ourselves to hear Your voice.  We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.