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Turning Away from the Darkness in Our Lives

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Repentance comes from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit first convicts us of our sins so that we see the desperate need that we have to accept the gift of salvation from Jesus Christ in order to avoid eternal damnation.  

Once we are washed clean of our sins by accepting Our Savior, we enter a new period of repentance.  God knows that we must still deal with our sin nature, so He provides the the Holy Spirit to stand beside us.  In our constant battle against our sin nature, the Holy Spirit leads us through a sanctification process, preparing us for our eternal place of glory.  

While in our sanctification process, the Holy Spirit shows us our sins in an entirely different light.  Instead of just seeing our sins as the iniquity that damns us, we see our sins in light of the pain and suffering that they caused Our Lord.  The Holy Spirit helps us take the agony we experience when we realize what we have done and turn it into sorrow and repentance as we consider our past, present and future sin.  The Holy Spirit then guides us into a deeper relationship with Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love and forgiveness as expressed through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We ask for Your forgiveness, Father, for our sins that sent Your Son to the Cross on our behalf.  We praise Your Name for the patience that You have with us as we continue to struggle with our sin natures.  We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to aid and guide us as we battle against our flesh.  We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will strengthens us to turn away from the darkness in our lives today so that we may turn toward the marvelous light of Our Savior for all eternity.

Prepared to Rule and Reign

Genesis 41:40
You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”

The Pharaoh gave Joseph great power and responsibility in his kingdom.  He proclaimed Joseph to be his equal except in the final level of authority.  So it will be for us one day as we take our places in the kingdom of God.  We will stand before God in the image of His Son with the same glorified body.  We will be given the power and responsibility to rule and reign under the authority of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Joseph went through many trials and tribulations in his life that prepared him to rule over Egypt.  None of it was easy, nor was it brief.  Joseph went from the pit to the prison to throne room all under the hand of Almighty God.  All of it was necessary for Joseph to be able to handle all that he would be given by the Pharaoh.  

So it is with us.  We have a lifetime of trial and tribulation.  God uses all of it to prepare us for our place in His kingdom.  We will grow in wisdom and discernment just as Joseph did.  All we have to do is submit to the will of God in our lives, just as Joseph did.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us in Your kingdom.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to be rescued from the pit that is this earth.  We pray that the Holy Spirit lead us into submission to Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May we learn to lean on Him in all things.  May we learn to live under His absolute control.  May we claim our rightful places in Your kingdom.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity.

Our Blessed Hope and Assurance

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

In every element of our lives, we are certain to experience resistance.  Whether our activity is on the physical, emotional or spiritual level, we cannot avoid some level of antagonism.  This is simply a fact of life.

How we handle the resistance that comes against us is dependent upon our level of proficiency in each key area.  Our ability to cope will be determined by our strength, our emotional stability and our holiness.  The good news is that we become more capable in each area every time that we respond successfully to the challenges we face.  Constant successful response to what the world throws at us builds up our proficiency in each area.

The more times that exercise is chosen over idleness, the stronger we will be.  The more times patience is chosen over anger, the more peaceful we will be.  The more times righteousness is chosen over sin, the closer we come to reaching the holiness that Jesus has set aside for us.  The more times we make good choices in any of our activities, the more proficient we become in producing positive results in all areas of our lives.  

The good news is that we can make good choices every time if we lean on Our Savior.  With His death on the Cross, Jesus Christ overcame everything for us.  He is our blessed hope and assurance against anything that we face in life.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that we may have peace in our lives no matter what is coming against us.  We bless the name of Jesus who died on the Cross so that we may have victory over all evil.  We rejoice in knowing that we can have comfort when the world is trying to steal it from us.  We pray, Lord, for the wisdom to lean on Our Savior in our times of tribulation.  May we be built up in every area of our lives through our submission to Your Son.

Is Your Salvation Message Politically Correct?

1 Corinthians 2:4
And my speech and my preaching wasnot with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

By nature, most of us try not to offend anyone if we can avoid it.  One of the biggest mistakes that we make as Christians is to carry over this mindset when we talk about the salvation message with non-believers.  If we are not careful, we end up manipulating the salvation message to please the ears of the listener.  All the while, we are actually withholding from them the truth and the power that is in the Word of God. 

The apostle Paul in his teachings to the Corinthians emphasized the point that the power to convert was not in fanciful speech.  He knew that the people would not be stable in their faith if they were resting on the words of men and not on the power of God’s words.  He also knew and taught that His teaching had no power without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Be certain that Jesus did not come to earth worried about His message being politically correct.  In fact, He stated clearly that His teachings would be sure to divide households.  Know that politically correct messages will get no one into heaven, nor will they keep anyone out of hell. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the power that Your Holy Word has in transforming our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we are serving You and pleasing You when we share Your inerrant word with others.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to be bold in proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel and direct us in choosing the right message for each time we are in a position to share our testimony.  We ask, Father, that You prepare the hearts of those around us to receive the truth.   

He Made Us His Own

Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

When we observe beauty in nature, we are usually not focused on a single object, but on the beauty of a single object or objects within the context of the total surroundings.  If we separate out the single objects, we will find that none of them are perfect.  But when we consider the single objects as integral parts of their settings, we are treated to sites that we deem to be perfectly beautiful.

In this same way, God creates beauty in our lives.  Even though we are not perfect, God can use us perfectly within the environment that He places us.  As individuals in the flesh, we have many imperfections, but as spirit-filled members of the Body of Christ we attain the perfect beauty that Jesus is looking for in His bride.  

The Lord sees His Church as wonderful and beautiful.  He does not see the Church as individuals struggling to be perfect as He is perfect.  He does not see the affliction and filth of the individual members living in the flesh.  He sees the breathtaking beauty of the Body of Christ clothed in His holiness, glory and perfection.  He sees the work in us that was completed on the Cross.  

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that we are made perfect through the redemption that Your Son, Jesus, has procured for us.  We bless the name of Jesus for allowing us to forget the things that are behind us, both our sins and our labors that are of no value to the kingdom.  We pray that we be given the grace to press forward with all of our focus on the holy desires, hopes and endeavors that bring us into union with Our Savior who has made us His own.   We rejoice in knowing that our day to be with Him has been set aside for all eternity.

We Cannot Earn Our Way Into Heaven

James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30  STOP!!
There it is…the first and greatest commandment.  We need not go any further to realize that we are incapable of meeting the requirements of getting into heaven.  We simply cannot earn our way in.  We cannot get past the first requirement.  It is impossible for us to love the Lord in the manner that He requires.
Remember, God demands perfect, not partial obedience.  A good effort is not good enough.  Good enough is only found on the Cross.  The only way that we can meet the requirements that God demands is to have the blood of His Son wash us clean of all of our sins and have His indwelling Spirit perfect His strength in our weakness. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for demanding perfection concerning Your laws.  We rejoice in knowing that Your kingdom, which we will inherit, will be void of anything that is less than perfect.   We thank You for providing an eternal resting place for us that will be the essence of everything good.  We bless the name of Jesus, whose shed blood allows us to stand spotless before You.  Father, we claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness.  We pray for the grace to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ as You prepare us to love You with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength for all eternity. 

For His Honor, His Glory and His Good Pleasure

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Everything that we have and everything that we are comes from Almighty God.  To speak of ourselves as unworthy or incapable to do the work that the Lord has called us to do is an insult to the Creator.  As the apostle Paul states in 1 Cor 15:10, “His grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain.”

In the eyes of Our Heavenly Father, through the blood sacrifice of His Son, we are seen in the image of the Son.  We should carry ourselves and conduct our work for the Lord with the confidence of the heirs to His kingdom.  The children of God should differ from the sons of men.  We should live our lives by the standards that we are capable of through His grace and the presence and support of the Holy Spirit.

Only through our personal relationship with Our Redeemer can we let go the things of the world that are holding us in bondage.  Only through submission to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King can we overcome our natural weaknesses and operate in the divine power of Our Creator for His good pleasure.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us with a sovereign, gracious purpose for our lives.  We bless the name of Jesus for shedding His blood so that we may be worthy to do the things that bring pleasure to You.  We exalt the Holy Spirit for standing by us so that we may overcome our weaknesses.  We rejoice in knowing that Your grace is not bestowed on us in vain.  We pray for the strength to persevere in pursuing Your will for our lives and not our own.  May the fruit of our efforts be for Your honor, Your glory and Your good pleasure.  

Quickened by the Holy Spirit

John 16:13-14
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

When we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are indwelled by His Holy Spirit.  As the Holy Spirit fulfills His calling to glorify Jesus and declare the things that are to come in our lives, we enter into a new phase of our lives.  We move from whatever natural level of piety, prayer and devotion that we might have had into a new supernatural level of devotion.  We enter into a personal, passionate relationship with Jesus.

Simultaneously, we begin to undergo the sanctification process.  From that first moment of accepting Jesus and until our death, the Holy Spirit is shaping us into the person that God created us to be.  As we go through the sanctification process, we go through a supernatural transformation.  As we respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual faculty is quickened so that we may understand and respond to unfathomed treasures that are in Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the treasures that are ours through Your Son, Jesus.  We rejoice as the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus to lean on Him for every good thing for time and eternity.   We pray, Lord, that we may join the Holy Spirit as He glorifies the name of Our Savior.  May our work be derived from our devotion to Your Son.  May those around us know us by our calling and may they be called in the same manner. 

Thanking God for Daily Grace

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

With another Thanksgiving celebration passed, we all took time to pause and thank our Heavenly Father for all of the love, protection and provision that we have enjoyed in our lives.  We may have even been humble enough to give thanks for our salvation.  But did we take time to consider and give thanks for the awesome gift of grace that we receive from Almighty God each day?  

The ever flowing grace of God is what makes all the other blessings in our lives relevant.  Not one of us would even accept the gift of salvation if we had not first received the gift of grace.  Our sinful, human nature without the grace of God is simply incapable of accepting the idea that a Savior is needed for entry into the eternal kingdom of God.

The greatest blessing that we receive in life, for which we should give thanks every day, is the supernatural grace that we are provided which allows us to acknowledge that we are destitute without Our Savior and we are powerless without His presence in our lives.  May we always be mindful that only through the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that our eyes are opened so that we can see the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ and that our hearts can be prepared to receive Our Savior and surrender to Him as Our Lord and Master. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give thanks today for Your ever flowing gift of grace.  We pray, Lord, that we will be acutely aware of how far we fall short of Your glory without Your grace.  May our hunger for Your grace release the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  May the Holy Spirit lift us up into the fullness of our lives in Christ.  May the world know us by the fruit that we bear because of our acceptance of Your grace through Your Son, Jesus.

The Power of the Holy Spirit Within Us

Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
  

Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are immediately and permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit of the Lord.  The Holy Spirit works in and through us to accomplish the will of God.  His power leads us, convicts us, teaches us, and equips us to do the work that God has set aside for us to do. 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we receive all of His gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We are provided these gifts so that we may proclaim the Good News of the Gospel through our living testimony.  

But we are given much more to insure that we will be conquerors over all things.  Because the Spirit of the Lord is within us, we also receive the powers that Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would receive by way of the Spirit of God resting upon Him.  The prophet Isaiah proclaimed that Jesus would be endowed by the Holy Spirit.  “And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:2

The Holy Spirit’s powerful indwelling is an amazing gift we should never take lightly.  We should live in the confidence and the power that God has given us.  With wisdom and understanding, we are able to perceive the truth that God reveals to us and are able to convey it to others.  With counsel and might, we are able to originate, plan and execute the work that God calls us to do.  With knowledge and fear of the Lord, we are able to live our lives surrendered to Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gifts and the power that we receive through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We praise the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to receive this supernatural blessing that empowers us far beyond our natural capabilities.  We pray that the influence and power of the Holy Spirit will be manifest in all that we do.  We ask that we may be made living founts of fullness of Your Son, Jesus.