Category: Uncategorized

The Spirit of the Lord that Rests Upon Us

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior.  Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit this wondrous nature for ourselves.  The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional.  It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual graces:
1) Wisdom and understanding which provides the ability to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) Counsel and might which provides the direction and the power to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) Knowledge and fear of the Lord which provide the foundation for our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.  We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us.  We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters.  We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom.  We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of all grace, Jesus Christ.

Working Servants as We Wait

Luke 12:40
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
God’s Holy Word inspires us to turn our thoughts toward the day that Jesus will return to the earth.  This will be a great and magnificent day for which all of us should prepare ourselves.  On this day the Lord will separate those who knew Him and served Him from those that did not.  We certainly want to be in the group that inherits His Kingdom. 
But our human nature makes it difficult for us to prepare for an uncertain date and time.  We may even be uncertain about how we should prepare for the King of Kings.  We become eager to pursue all the demanding needs of this world and we lose sight of the right way to prepare for our coming King.  It is important for us to examine whether we are pursuing this world or the kingdom of God.  We must continually remind ourselves that we are not only waiting servants, but that we are also working servants as we wait.

The Lord in His mercy gives us simple ways to prepare.  He teaches us that those who feed Him when He is hungry, give Him drink when He is thirsty, clothe Him when He is in need and visit Him when He is sick or in prison will be the ones that inherit His Kingdom.  He adds that even though we may not see Him in these conditions that when we serve those who are in these conditions we are serving Him.  Let us go out and be working servants as we wait.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Holy Word prepares us to receive Our King, Jesus Christ.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may see the opportunities to serve Our King everyday.  Prepare our hearts, Lord, to freely give of ourselves to others just as we would if we were serving Jesus Himself.  May the presence of the Holy Spirit within us by Our Guiding Light.  We ask all these things in the name of the Servant King, Jesus Christ.

The Fullness of the Life and the Power of Almighty God

Ephesians 3:19
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Jesus loves each one of us unconditionally.  He loves us so much that He gave up His position as Son of God to become Son of Man.  He endured the pain and shame of the Cross so that He could become the sacrificial lamb that was necessary to provide the blood to wash away our sins, to make us acceptable to the Father. 
He extended His unconditional love by sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, so that we would understand His offer of salvation and accept it.  He continues to extend His unconditional love by dwelling within each of us that have accepted Him as Our Savior, so that we may have the strength and the power to overcome the sinful nature that still tries to rule in our lives.
He continuously pours out His perfect love and forgiveness to each of us.  He places no limit on the love that He pours into us because He wants it to overflow our cups.  He wants us to become living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness so that the world will know Him and know the fullness of His love.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love and forgiveness that You have poured out into our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus who became the Son of Man in order to fulfill our need for a perfect sacrificial lamb.  We thank You, Father, for the blood of Your Son that washes away our sin and makes it possible for us to receive and share Your perfect love.  We ask that we may become instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness for the world around us.  We pray that we will live in the fullness of the life and power that is offered by You through Your Son.  We ask all these things in the matchless name of the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Overcoming Our Weakness

Matthew 26:56
Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Imagine.  The men who had lived with Jesus for three years, sat under His teaching and witnessed all the signs and wonders of His ministry abandoned Him in His time of trial.  How could this happen?
It is the weakness of the flesh that failed the disciples.  They did not yet have the strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome their weaknesses.  What a dramatic difference the Holy Spirit made in their lives.  After their baptism of the Holy Spirit, all of the apostles boldly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ.  All but one, John, died as a martyr while sharing the salvation plan.
We can be sure that in the flesh we are no stronger than the apostles.  If we try to live by the flesh without calling on the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us, we will fail in following Our Savior.  Thankfully, God promises us in His Holy Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness if we abide in Him.
Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Wonderful Counselor to be with us, to guide us and to strengthen us in our weaknesses.  We proclaim our weakness before You, Lord.  We ask forgiveness for straying from You.  We boldly claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness as we surrender to Your reign in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Imperfect, Yet Pure Through Jesus Christ

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
The purest of notions have no lasting value if the heart of the man is impure.  The most impressive outward actions are meaningless if the heart of the man is impure.  The Pharisees are outstanding examples of these statements.  The Pharisees were outwardly righteous, but inwardly they were full of impurity in their hearts.
Let us not forget that without Christ we are no better off than the Pharisees.  Our hearts are naturally unclean and we have no power to make them pure.  The only way that we can be pure in heart is to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us from our sins.
By the grace of God, we can submit our lives to the One that was 100% pure. We can make the desire of our hearts to be pure through Him.  We can have hearts that are as pure as Christ, the angels in heaven and the glorified saints.  Even though we may fail from time to time, we  can turn our minds over to Him to be constantly renewed.  Yet imperfect, we can have hearts that are entirely pure through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  And thus, we know that we will see God at the time that He has set aside for us and our hearts will be pure.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Jesus to this earth as our model of purity.  We ask that You mold our hearts so that we may submit to Your Son to rule and reign in our lives.  May the power of the Holy Spirit constantly renew our minds.   May You provide the armor of protection that we need to shield us from the impurities that the world so freely throws at us.  May the world around us be drawn to Your Son, Jesus, because of the purity that they see in us.  We ask these things in the name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  

The Sweetest of All Invitations

John 3:29
It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.
John the Baptist was absolutely secure in his role as the best man to introduce the Bridegroom.  He was quick to let everyone know that it was the Bridegroom that was worthy of all the praise, honor and glory.
The promises/vows of Jesus Christ are the foundation upon which we stand as Christians.  Our responsibility is to go forth and share His vows with the world.  We are not to take one iota away from His message in order to make ourselves the center of attention or perhaps to shape the message in a way that is more appealing to the masses.  We are simply to allow the joy that we have received as a result of His vows to be poured out from us on to the world around us.

As it was for John, we should find great pleasure in being ministers of the Gospel.  To be able to carry the message of salvation within us and allow it to flow out to the world around us should be the perfection of our joy.  It should be the greatest desire of our hearts just as it was for John.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided the Bridegroom to come to get us to be His bride at the wedding feast of the Lamb.  We rejoice in knowing that we have the privilege of extending invitations to the eternal event.  Prepare us, O Lord, to humbly extend Jesus Christ’s invitations to those around us.  We pray, Father, that none shall reject the sweetest of all invitations.  May all praise, honor and glory go to Our Coming Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His mighty name.

As Our Beloved Increases

John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.
John the Baptist had the perfect understanding of His relationship with Jesus Christ.  He knew that he was a sinful man who was created, prepared and sent to show the way to the One from Above who was coming to save the world.  He understood that he had no power.  All the power belonged to Jesus.
From John the Baptist we learn a great model for bringing others to salvation.  It is our job to bring others to Christ.  It is not our job to save them.  The saving work of the Cross will be done by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
We also learn from the words of John the Baptist the model for our spiritual maturation.  We must increase our life in Christ as we allow our life in the flesh to decrease.  We must allow our new man to rise and our old man to die.  We do not lay down what we are called to do in the flesh, but instead come in complete harmony with the beloved One who dwells within us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Holy Word which lays out the models for our lives through the lives of Your servants.  Help us, Lord, to understand the depth of the teachings that come from each of Your precious servants.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may surrender our lives completely to Your Son, Jesus.  Help us, Lord, to live our lives in such a way that others are drawn to Your Son.  As we give up our lives for a lives in Christ, may the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the King of kings, Jesus Christ.  We ask all of these things in the name of Our Divine Lord,  Jesus.

Let Us Exalt His Name

Psalm 34:3
Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 
Throughout the Psalms, we read David’s prayers of praise.  He praised God to help overcome his fears and to call on his all-sufficient Lord.  David recognized God’s faithfulness in meeting his needs and he also recognized that God was bigger than any problem or fear that he had.
We will spend all eternity praising Our Heavenly Father.  Why not practice our imperfect praise here on earth in preparation for the unspeakable joy we will receive from our perfect praise forever? 

It is time for us to magnify God in our lives.  He is much bigger than we allow Him to be.  We need to downsize our problems, upsize our view of who God is and rightsize our relationship with Him.  We can gain much by joining Paul in exalting the name of Our Lord.  Let us proclaim the glorious perfection of Our Father in heaven.  May we all join together in bringing glory to the Most High God.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of exalting Your name here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.  We lift You up above all others.  There is not a single name that approaches the majesty and power of who You are.  Teach us, Lord, to have the faith of the Virgin Mary who said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,” as she prepared to receive something that she did not believe to be possible.  May Your grace cover us, Lord, so that we may live in reverent awe of who You are.  May our hearts pour out praise to You each day.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

The Fire That is the Living Word

Luke 24:32
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Two men walking on the road to Emmaus were met by Jesus, who accompanied them on the journey and joined them in their discussions about the recent events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. They did not recognize Him, but marveled in His knowledge of the events.  Later Jesus revealed Himself to the men, resulting in their realization of how stirring that His words had been earlier.

The Scriptures can be a sealed book.  The very identity of Jesus Christ and His salvation message can be hidden from us.  The power and the truth are unveiled only through Jesus Christ.  With Christ as Our Savior, we receive the words in Scripture as if Christ Himself is speaking them to us.

 To aid us in our study of the Bible, we are joined in each reading by the Holy Spirit who directs us to focus on Jesus.  The Holy Spirit whispers gentle urgings into our hearts as He reveals the truths and promises given to us through Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit directs us to abide in Christ so that we may follow the path of salvation and sanctification that the Word of God provides us.  If we are obedient in following the urgings of the Holy Spirit our hearts will burn with a fervent love for Our Savior and we will live in the fullness of His presence.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending us the Living Word, Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for inspiring the writers of the Bible who made the Living Word readily available to us for reading and study.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit joins us as we seek to make Your Word the fire that fuels our love for Your Son.  May our fire be so strong and so bright that others will be drawn to surrender their lives to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His precious and holy name.

His Endless and Unconditional Love

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
May we rejoice today in the endless, unconditional love that Jesus Christ has for us.  May we celebrate the proof of His love that He gave His life for us to have a new life free from death and sin.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we go beyond the knowledge of Jesus and all of His teachings.  We go beyond adhering to the commandments that He gave us.  We give up our rights to our old life in exchange for a renewed life lived in faith through the Son of God.
Our faith is no longer our own faith.  Our faith is the faith that the Son of God has in the Father.  Whatever faith we had before in the flesh was destined to die at some point.  It was burdened by the death sentence associated with all sin.  With the acceptance of our salvation, it died on the Cross with Jesus Christ.  It was replaced by Christ’s living spirit within us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the lives that You have given us.  We embrace each day and live it for Your honor and Your glory.  We thank You for providing Your Son so that we may be freed from the death sentence assigned to our flesh.  We bless the name of Your Son, Jesus, as we rejoice in our new eternal life in Him.  May we live each day in the fullness of His Spirit within us.  May we live in obedience to You just as Your Son lives in obedience to You.  We ask all these things in the precious name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.