Category: Uncategorized

The Fullness of Our Redemption

Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
How shortsighted we are when we accept Our Savior’s invitation for salvation, but do not believe in the fullness of our redemption.  Not only did Our Lord come to redeem us from our sins, but He also came in His power and grace to free us from all the bondages of this world.  Though we may currently suffer in the flesh, freedom and joy in the spirit is ours to take hold of now. The promise of a perfected body and spirit will be fulfilled according to His Word.

Most importantly, the fullness of our redemption is not just for our own benefit.  We have been anointed to preach the gospel and called to do all the things that Jesus Himself was called to do as the Son of Man.  Jesus told the disciples before He left them that they would be able to do and should do more than He did.  He let them know that where they were weak in the flesh that He would send the Holy Spirit to perfect their weaknesses in His strength.  All these things have been set aside for us as well.  This is the acceptable year of the Lord.  Let us experience the fullness of our redemption.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for anointing us to do Your good work.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to receive our anointing.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit dwells with us to insure that where we are weak in our flesh, we will be made strong in Christ.  We pray, Lord, that you show us how to take claim of the fullness of our redemption.  Whatever our current situation may be, may we take on the joy and comfort of Your completed promises.  May we find peace knowing that Your power is working in us.  May the world see the anointing that is upon us because Our Savior is with us.  We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Blessed Hope and Assurance. 

Speak to Us Lord

Exodus 20:19
Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.”
The Jewish people were not accustom to going directly to God.  They could only approach God through a mediator.  They feared that they would be consumed by fire if they were to be in direct communication with the living God.  What an awesome privilege that we have to be able to go directly to the throne room of Almighty God.  What an unspeakable blessing that we have been provided by Our Mediator, Jesus Christ, who opened the doors of heaven for us.

Yet we often delight in and rely on the spoken and written words of men rather than digging into God’s Holy Word ourselves.  We find that the words of men lean toward messages that are meant to comfort us and not to convict us.  They also tend to require less work to digest.
By shying away from God’s Holy Word, we seek to avoid the discomfort that comes with having our weaknesses brought to light by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.   Even more so, we shy away from a personal relationship with Our Creator.  We may not fear being consumed by fire, but we fear having to let go of the things of this world.  In doing so, we miss or delay the sanctifying work that prepares us for a life of eternal comfort with Our Savior.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for speaking to us through Your Holy Spirit and Your Holy Word.  We rejoice in knowing that we can hear Your voice if we seek it.  We pray, Lord, that we will be consumed by Your Holy Fire.  We ask, Father, that You strengthen us to close our ears to the messages of leniency that the world espouses and to open our hearts to Your Holy Word so that we may bring our lives into alignment with Your laws.  We ask that the Holy Spirit teach us how to listen to You.  May we seek and find an intimate relationship with You through Your Son.  We pray all these things through the Great Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Under the Authority of Jesus Christ

Ephesians 1:10
And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
This passage indicates that all things were once united together in one.  Man and all the things of the earth and heavens were one with Christ.  It supposes a disunion and scattering of them.  We know that this scattering was the result of sin.   The passage confirms that Jesus Christ will once again restore and renew the former state, bringing together under His authority all of heaven and earth.  
While Our Father has blessed us with the capacity to enjoy all that He has created, He leaves a void in our hearts that can only be filled by His Son.  Only when we fill the void with Our Savior are we able to fully experience the abundant life that we have been created for.  When we become one with Christ, we inherit everything in heaven and on earth.
When we become one with Christ, we see His glory in every sunrise, every sunset, every full moon, every star, every mountain, every valley, every ocean, every lake, every river, every stream, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every animal, every bird, every fish and in every man and woman.  When we surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ, we are in position to experience the fullness of heaven and earth as God intended it before the fall.  
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us a part of Your creation plan.  We bless the name of Jesus, through whom we are able to experience the fullness of Your creation.  We long for Jesus to make His home in our hearts.  We pray that we may have the wisdom to understand the depths of His love.  We ask that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to trust in Him completely.  We pray for the humility to surrender totally to His authority.  May we experience the joy of being one with Christ in heaven and on earth.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus, Our precious Savior.

Let the Heavens Reveal Him

Isaiah 40:26
Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of His great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words to the people of his time because they had turned their attention to idols.  Isaiah was redirecting their focus from their man-made idols to the Creator of all things.  He was testing them.  He wanted them to use their imaginations to find the might, the power and the presence of God Almighty in everything in nature that surrounded them. 

Jesus has authority over all creatures and all created things on this earth.  Through the prophet, Isaiah, we were directed to use our senses to consider who created everything and give honor to Him.  We should test ourselves.  Have we replaced God Almighty with our own idols – ourselves, our work, our avocations, our idle time?  
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for directing our imaginations toward You.  We pray that the Holy Spirit show us how to get past the business of our lives so that we can enjoy Your presence in all that we do.  We ask that You teach us how to praise You in every breath, exalt You in every provision and worship You in every activity.  May we find the essence of who You are in our every high thought.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus, Our Most High God and Creator.

The Infinite Fount of Our Lord

Isaiah 40:28
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
Whenever we do the work of the Lord, we are like broken bread and poured out wine.  We are providing nourishment to those around us.  It does not matter what we are doing.  We may be serving.  We may be giving.  We may be praying.  Whatever it is that we are doing for others can drain us to the point of exhaustion. When the body is physically or emotionally drained, the spirit can also be exhausted.  To keep up our strength, we must insure that we are seeking our power from the One who never wearies.  Our affections must be with Him and not with the world.

As we draw on His strength to carry us, we also are privileged to draw on His infinite wisdom.  He is never weary in attending to the countless needs of His children.  He is never at a loss to provide the perfect measure of His treasures against our needs.  He is never unaware of every single need that we have.  No matter how we are serving Him, no matter how challenged we may be, we should always be inspired and filled with confidence that we rest in His hands.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that our every need is known to You and that You never weary in hearing and responding to our pleas.  We rejoice in knowing that Your response to our needs is always perfect and always perfectly timed for our good and for the good of Your kingdom.  We pray, Father, for the grace to never lose faith in Your faithfulness as Our Provider.  We ask that you show us how to draw on the endless reservoir of the Holy Spirit within us to provide our strength.  May our ears be opened so that we hear the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we humbly submit to the process of overcoming our unbelief, our pride and our self-confidence.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Wonderful Counselor. 

Made Blameless and Holy

1 Thessalonians 5:23
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to assist us in our journey toward complete sanctification.  We will never reach complete sanctification in this life.  Our full transformation is reserved for the time when we stand in the presence of God and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
Until that time, the Holy Spirit will take us through an intense narrowing of our interests.  Less and less will the things of the world call us.  More and more we will hear the voice of Our Savior.

Through it all, we can be confident by virtue of the faith given to us by Our Creator that He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  He will keep us from evil as He gives us all that is good and holy.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us blameless and holy in Your sight.  We bless the name of Jesus who washes away all of our sins.  We live our lives full of thanksgiving for the constant presence of the Holy Spirit.  We pray for the grace to walk in the holiness that has been given to us through Our Savior.  May we learn to ignore the world’s agenda and to surrender completely to the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.  May we leave the green grass of earth to rest forever in the pasture of the Lamb.  We ask all this things in His Holy Name.

Our Ever Present King

Luke 24:21
But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.

For the two men on the road to Emmaus, dejection had set in.  They had hoped for a King that would redeem their land.  They were so consumed by what they sought, they could not recognize their King when He joined them.

For all of us that have grown up in an era where instant gratification has become the norm, waiting on the Lord to answer our prayers is one of the most difficult challenges that we face.  We often feel dejected when we have not seen our prayers answered.  Generally, we are guilty of demanding something from the hand of God without fully seeking the face of God.

Borrowing terminology from the design of the temple, we must move from the outer courts where we deal with all the issues and troubles of the day. We must move from the Holy Place where we struggle to separate our old lives from our new lives in Christ.  We must move to the Holy of Holies where we can live under the anointing and the fullness of the glory of God’s presence.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to live among us so that we could learn about who You are.  We praise the name of Jesus for making it possible for us to enter into Your presence here on earth and forever in Your eternal kingdom.  We pray, Father, that You open our eyes so that we can see You in all the commonplace things that surround us.  We call upon Your Holy Spirit to give us the strength to overcome the depression and oppression that we find in our world.  May we always be mindful of all that is ours because of the price that was paid by Your Son, Jesus.  May the world see our joy as we live in Your constant presence.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus, Our Lord and Our King.

Imminent Heirs of the Kingdom

Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

One of the greatest blessings that true Christians receive from The Cross is victory over death.  We are able to face our death bed 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.

Yet we know that we are called to remain in this world for as long as Our Lord has work for us to do. The longer we remain here to serve Him, the greater will be our reward 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 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 show the world the living Christ that is within us.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus, our waiting Savior.  

Servanthood

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.

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.

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.

Our New Lives in Christ

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.

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.  If we ever try to show the world Jesus through our own holiness, and not through the righteousness that we have received from Our Savior, we will fail.

Christ died for all, so that we may all die to sin and self.  As we die to self and receive Jesus as Our Savior, we are free to live for Our Redeemer.  We are able to live as Our Redeemer lived in the perfect will of the Father.

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 Jesus, the precious Lamb of God.