Category: Uncategorized

Discovering and Developing Our Identity in Christ

1 Corinthians 9:16
For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Not everyone is called in the same manner that Paul was called.  It is certain, in fact, that most of us were not called to stand in the pulpit to preach the gospel.  It is just as certain, however, that every one of us has been called to live the gospel and to serve our Master in the manner in which He has called us.
There will be no peace in our hearts if we take a different direction than the one the Lord set aside for us.  Just as Paul was compelled to preach, we are compelled to proclaim the gospel through our obedient response to Our Lord’s calling on our lives.  To neglect the calling of God on our lives shows contempt for the divine will of the Father and opens us up to the torment of a wounded conscience.
If we are gifted with a beautiful singing voice, we should be using it for God’s glory.  If we are gifted with organizational skills, we should be using them to help with the administration of the church.  If we have been given teaching skills, we should be leading bible studies.  The list goes on and on.  There are no skills that cannot be used by God for the advance of His kingdom.  We should search for guidance from the Holy Spirit to find out the skill or skills that God has planned uniquely for each of us.  If we neglect the calling that God has placed on our lives, we may not face His wrath, but we are likely to lose the gifts that He has blessed us with. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us unique skills so that we can be vital parts of the Body of Christ.   We pray that You will help us discover and develop our identity in Christ.  May Your Holy Spirit guide us and train us in our calling.  May we find peace of mind and great satisfaction in our service to Your Kingdom.  We ask these things in the name of the Head over all things, Jesus Christ.

God Cannot Be Defined by World Standards

John 8:19
Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
During the time of Jesus, the collaboration of one or more witnesses was required to establish the truth in any matter.  The Pharisees were taunting Jesus, insinuating that He had no witness to the truth that He was the Son of God.  They were blindly calling for a testimony in the flesh to confirm a divine truth.
With pity and patience, Jesus convicted them of their own shortcoming.  He pointed out to them that He was all the proof that they needed that He was the Son of God.  He emphasized that if they could not see that He was who He said He was, they would never know His Father.  This was a claim that enraged the self-righteous Pharisees.
If we try to have head knowledge of who God is and define our relationship with Him without a relationship with His Son, we will end up in the same place as the Pharisees.  If we try to use our own logic and the testimony of what the world offers to determine our relationship with Almighty God, we will miss out entirely on having an intimate relationship with Our Creator.
Fortunately, Our Creator is completely aware of our weakness.  Through His grace, His loving kindness and His mercy, He provides the Holy Spirit to leads us into an intimate relationship with His Son, Our Savior.  If we follow the supernatural guidance and urgings of the Holy Spirit and surrender completely to a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will experience the unimaginable peace and joy of an eternal relationship with the Father and the Son.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to know You through Your Son, Jesus.  May we learn to reject the need to define You and our relationship with You by the world’s standards.  We pray that our minds will be transformed by the Holy Spirit so that we will come to know you intimately through our relationship with Your Son.  We ask all these things in the name of the brightness of Your glory, Jesus Christ.

Empowered To Join Jesus To Do the Work of the Father

John 20:22
And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
It was the evening of the first day of the week.  The disciples, fearing the Jews after the crucifixion of their Master, were meeting behind locked doors.  With the appearance of Jesus, they were at once at peace.  But then a greater thing happened, Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit.  All that had been gathered in the room in fear suddenly began a supernatural life which is unique to Christians alone.  They were sent forth to continue the work that Jesus had been sent to do by His Father.
As the New Year begins, how many of us are sheltering ourselves away from the world?  How many of us are letting our fears hold us back from doing the work that Jesus was sent to do?  Do we not recognize that the same power that was given to the early disciples is also given to us?
Let us begin our new year under the guidance of Our Comforter, the Holy Spirit.  He has been given to us to instruct us and empower us to do the work of the Father.  He has been sent to supernaturally strengthen us.  He comes along side of us to provide the power and protection that we need to overcome the enemy, the world around us or even our own flesh that is trying to bring us down.
We can be sure that we will encounter some failure.  In all likelihood, our failures will come from the fact that we have turned once again to rely on our own strength.  We must be continously aware that our own strength will never be enough to meet the demands and challenges of this world.  Our strength must come from the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit that He gives us. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Holy Spirit to come along side of us to be our counselor.  We praise the name of Jesus who defeated all evil when He died on the Cross so that we could defeat the evil that comes against us.  We pray that you will teach us to accept our utter failure without Christ.  Help us to realize our best will never be good enough until we are cleansed by the blood of Our Savior and receive His Holy Spirit into our lives.  Help us Father to build our lives on the Rock that is Jesus Christ.  May the Holy Spirit embolden and strengthen us to do the work of the Son.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

Wait on the Lord Before Jumping Into the New Year

Psalm 130:5
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
In our society, patience is a lost virtue.  Everybody wants satisfaction instantly.  Nobody is willing to wait on anything.  This may be especially true at the start of a new year as many of us have such strong intentions of getting our new year off to a good start.  Each of us is anxious to jump into the new year to get on with our perceived new paths to being more productive and more prosperous.
This rush to get things done is in direct opposition to how Our Heavenly Father works.  No single thing is done in His kingdom until everything is in perfect order for the perfect result.  This is especially true in our lives.  The Lord does not want us to advance until He has prepared us and our surroundings properly.  If we try to move ahead of God’s plan, we will meet heartbreak and disappointment.
From a human perspective, we can make a lot of good decisions in our lives without God.  We can also accomplish a lot things deemed good by the world without God.  We cannot, however, accomplish anything of real kingdom value without placing our reliance on Our Heavenly Father and waiting on Him to direct us through His Holy Spirit.  In order to be deemed good and faithful servants, we must learn to wait on the Lord in all things.  We must learn to wait on His grace and the working of His power in our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for working all things in our lives for our good when we trust in You.  We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to be with us always to remind us to lean on You and not on ourselves.  We pray, Lord, that you will give us the patience to wait on you.  We ask that You show us how to be still in the valley as you prepare the mountain top for us and those that You have given us to serve.  We rejoice in Your faithfulness.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who did nothing without knowing He was operating in Your will,Your Son, Jesus.

Lord, What Do You Want to Reveal to Me Today?

Psalm 145:3
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
As human beings, we have all been given some level of learning, understanding, wisdom and insight. But is it possible for us to know God fully?  Is it possible for us to understand the riches and inconceivable perfection of Almighty God?  Is it possible for us to grasp the mind of the Lord?
All the head knowledge in the world cannot prepare us to fully understand the essence of Almighty God and His plan for the world.  Yet we are given the opportunity to be enlightened beyond our normal human capability.  Our Heavenly Father reveals the deepest mysteries to even the most simple minded through His Holy Word and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Our challenge is to let go of our reliance on the words of man and grab on to the living words of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.
To expose ourselves to the treasures of the mind that await, we need to set aside quiet time if we want to hear what God wants to say to us.  We have to prepare ourselves through the reading and study of the Bible.  We have to find a time and place where we shut out the clamor of the world and just listen. 
It can be helpful to open our quiet time with a simple question, “Father, what do you want to reveal to me today?”  He is waiting for us to welcome Him into our lives so that He can reveal all of His mysteries to us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You are always with us, ever ready to speak to us and ever ready to hear our prayers.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in finding and setting aside a quiet time and place to study Your Holy Word and to commune with You each day.  Lord, may we learn to delight in Your Word and delight in Your presence.  We ask that through Your Holy Spirit that we learn how to experience the revelations of who You are.  Through Your grace, may we begin to understand all of Your wonderful mysteries.  We pray these things in the name of the living revelation of Your Word, Jesus Christ.

Faith in Where God is Leading Us in the New Year

Hebrews 11: 8
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance.  He went without knowing where he was going.
What an amazing example of living in faith is provided by the story of Abraham.  It was a great step of faith for Abraham to leave his family and his homeland in response to God’s calling on his life.  He did not even know where God was leading him.  Yet he faithfully followed the path that the Lord laid out for him.  And for his simple act of faith, he became the father of all nations.
Abraham was called out of his own country.  He was called away from his family.  He was called away from his father’s house.  He was called from the only culture that he knew.  It is not likely that God will ask us to follow a similar plan as Abraham.  He is not likely to call us away from relatives, friends and acquaintances.  He is not likely to call us away from the neighbors and neighborhoods where we find our comfort.  In fact, it is quite likely that these are the places that He will call us to serve.  But just like Abraham, we can be assured that we will be challenged in some major way by our calling.
In challenging each of us, God will ask us to take simple steps of faith.  As we respond obediently, He will put before us the next step which usually will require a little more faith in Him and a little more of letting go of faith in ourselves.  We may not become a father of a nation by yielding to our calling, but we will surely gain more than we ever imagined.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for having a unique plan for each of us.  We rejoice in knowing that the reward that You have prepared for us if we respond to Your calling is beyond our imagination.  We pray, Father, that you will give us the strength and guidance to follow the path that you have laid out for each of us.  Even though we may not know our destination, Lord, may your Holy Spirit keep us steadfast in our journey to stand before you in the image of Your Son.  We pray these things in the precious name of the author of our faith, Jesus Christ.

A New Year of Hope

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
What better way to start the New Year than to proclaim our hope promised to us in Jeremiah 29:11.  Hope in the promises of Our Savior will never fail us.  Hope in Our Savior will never disappoint us.  Hope in Our Savior will result in nothing short of us spending eternity in bliss under the glory of Almighty God in the company of the gathering of saints.
We should know that our hope and our future is not limited just to us as individuals.  We should claim this hope for our nation as well.  If we return to being a nation that puts its trust in God, as our currency declares for all to see, we will see our nation rise up once again to claim its seat as the most powerful nation on earth.  

But it all depends on where we place our hope.  Society would lead us to believe that our hope is rested in the men and women who are our elected officials.  They certainly play a role.  But as the promise of Jeremiah teaches, our hope is in the Lord who declares His good plans for us.  Yet in our society today, we find it often regarded as shameful to proclaim hope in Jesus Christ.  In Paul’s writings to the Romans, he prepares us for these times as he establishes that there is to be no shame in following and putting our eternal hope in Jesus Christ.  Who could have ever imagined that there would be a time when this teaching would be relevant here in the United States of America.  Yet here we are.
Christians are mocked daily on talk shows, news shows and entertainment shows.  To publicly stand for the very truths given to us by Our Heavenly Father makes us bigots, haters, etc.  Now more than ever, we are called to share our good news with the world around us.  The hope that we have in Christ is the only hope left for our beloved nation.  Let us wait not a minute longer to proclaim our personal and national hope in Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for this new year that You have given us.  We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom we need to see through false teaching and the strength that we need to stand against the folly that this world is trying to get us to accept.  We pray also, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will give us the courage we need to boldly present the “way, the truth and the life” that is in your Son, Jesus.  We ask this in His precious, holy and mighty name.

Shaking Ourselves From Doubt and Fear in the New Year

Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
As the celebration of the birth of Jesus passes, our thoughts turn toward the new year ahead.  Let us not rush out to make decisions.  Let us move forward into the new year, not in a disorderly fashion, but under the leading hand, instruction and protection of the Holy Spirit.   
Let us move into the new year knowing that God will be with us.   Through His Son, His Holy Spirit has been sent to guide us.  Under submission to Our Savior, we can let loose of the things of this earth and grasp on to the things of God’s kingdom.  We can shake ourselves from the dust of our doubts and our fears.  Our victory was settled on the Cross.  May the presence of the Lord be constantly before us and behind us. 
Let us live each day knowing that the Lord Jesus reigns in our lives.  Let us live in the fullness of the good tidings that came in with His birth.  Let us place our futures firmly in His hand.  Let us live today in freedom, in peace and in service to His calling on our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your constant presence in our lives.  We thank You that You go before us to prepare our way and that You stand behind us to protect us on our journey.  We bless the name of Jesus whose victory on the Cross allows us to live our lives without fears or doubts.  We pray that the Holy Spirt will guide us as we go into the new year that You have set aside for us.  May those around us in the world be drawn to Your Son as they see us living our lives under His reign.  We ask all these things in the name of our ever present shield, Jesus Christ.

Our Future Is In God’s Hands Not In Today’s News

Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
As we move toward the new year, let us follow the instruction of God’s Holy Word and set our minds on things that are above in heaven where Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.  Let us intentionally replace the images of sorrow, suffering, personal horror and overwhelming struggles continuing to pile up in the daily news from the world, and perhaps even in our own personal worlds, with images of goodness such as the the joyous images of the Christmas season that are fresh in our minds.  Let us recognize that our current reality is in God’s future plan for us and not in today’s news.  Let us grasp with hope and faith that God has a good and perfect plan for every broken person and for every painful situation.  Let us reorder our thinking so that the power of Heaven can be released in our lives.
Know that it will not be easy to take the higher path.  The pathway to fear and despair are easy roads directed downward by emotion and logic.  Certainly the world will be ready to mock us if we dare to take the higher road when our destination cannot be seen with the natural eye.  Let us be strengthened by the knowledge that we are always secure in Jesus Christ no matter what is happening around us.  Let us rejoice in knowing that our final destination will be our testimony of God’s faithfulness.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessed hope and assurance that we have in Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We bless His name for He is our anchor, firm and secure.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we may see Your goodness in the dark world that surrounds us.  We ask that the Holy Spirit renew and reorder our thinking so that we may align our thinking with Your heart and Your kingdom purpose.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Hope that springs eternal, Jesus Christ.

Entering the Throne Room of Almighty God

2 Chronicles 5:7
Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim.
The Holy of Holies, also known as the Most Holy Place, was the inner room of the Jewish Temple in which was kept the Ark of the Covenant, the Mercy Seat, the Cherubim, manna, Aaron’s rod and a copy of the 10 Commandments. It was the place where blood was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat (the lid on top of the Ark) as an atonement for the sins of Israel.  The single high priest designated for duty on the day of atonement was the only person allowed to enter the Holy of Holies.  That was the only time in the entire year that anyone could enter.  It was the only path and process that the Jewish people had in order to gain access to Almighty God.
Jesus changed all of that.  Upon His death on the Cross, the veil that separated the people from the Most Holy Place was torn in two.  In one divine moment access to the throne of God was opened to all people for all time. 
What a wondrous privilege we have been given.  We no longer have to wait on anyone to enter into a direct, intimate relationship with Our Father in heaven.  Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, permanently opened the way for us to enter the Holy of Holies.
As we take advantage of our blessing, let us remember that it is pleasing to God when we enter His throne room.  But let us be sure to learn from the actions of the high priest in approaching the Most Holy Place.  As we approach Almighty God, let us enter His presence with awe and reverence.  Let us enter His gates with thanksgiving and with praise.  Let us seek personal cleansing and forgiveness through the confession of our sins.  Let us pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Let us pray in accordance with the Holy Word of God.  Let us make a personal commitment to surrender to His will for our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us access to Your throne through Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We bless the name of Your Son for providing the pathway for us to have a personal relationship with You.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will help us to approach Your throne in the manner that is pleasing to You.  We ask that we be given the grace that we need to pay the price necessary to gain the intimacy that we seek with You.  We ask all these things in the name of our High Priest and Mediator, Jesus Christ.