Category: Uncategorized

Every logical consideration of receiving Jesus Christ as a personal Savior without the influence of the Holy Spirit will end up in a decision of “no” or “not now”.  Without the influence of the Holy Spirit, man will follow the callings of his flesh which is never ready to be laid down in submission at the feet of Jesus.  

Praise God.   In His endless mercy, knowing our eternally fatal weakness, He gives us the Holy Spirit to provide us with the faith that we need to receive Jesus as Our Savior.

Jesus Christ is the essence of perfect love and forgiveness.  He is the standard to which He is calling all people.  

The principle of love and forgiveness is so important in God’s kingdom that Jesus teaches us that we should go to reconcile our grievances with others before we come to His altar with our offerings.  If we are the offender, we should go and ask for forgiveness for our act and be willing to make retribution for the wrong.  If we are the offended, we should forgive the one that has wronged us.  In both cases, we should waive our own, perceived rights and obey the Lord’s call to pour out His love that is in us to the other party. 

Love God with your all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  Jesus called these the two greatest commandments.  He taught that these are the things that we must do to inherit eternal life in heaven.  

But clearly these things are beyond human capability.  That which is demanded of us is impossible without supernatural intervention.  Thus, Our Heavenly Father through his endless grace and mercy provided the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to provide the supernatural assistance that we all need to fulfill our requirements for entry into heaven.

So it is with God’s calling on our lives.  God does not ask us to do that which is possible for us naturally.   He asks us to do that which we are perfectly fitted for through His grace.

There is but one Cross, one atonement for our sins.  Our time on earth is meant as a reconciling of ourselves to the Cross.  Nothing that we do in our lives has value with the Lord unless it has been put in proper order.

The Heavenly Father must be the first consideration of every conscious moment in our lives.  If there is anything or any person that comes before the Father, He will ask us to give up our improper disposition.  This will be a continuous process in our lives until we have released our last wayward conviction and have only the Cross left to cling to. 

Praise God for His mercy.  Praise God for providing His Son to allow us to reconcile our lives with the Father.

Jesus lived His entire time on earth focused on doing the will of the Father.  He did not care if He preached to one or to ten thousand.  He was not interested in seeking the recognition of man for the good that He did.  He only sought to do the things that would please the Father.

Jesus faithfully followed God’s plan for His life.   He was the obedient son of Joseph and Mary.  He was a skilled carpenter in His home town.  He was a great teacher.  He was a miracle worker.  He died on the Cross to be Our Savior.  In every season of His life, He did exactly what God called Him to do.

Jesus is our role model.  We should do as He did.  We should seek and be obedient to the will of the Father for each of the seasons in our lives.     

In every religion other than Christianity, the final goal is to have done enough in life to satisfy a god who rewards the deserving individual for all eternity.  For the non-Christian believer, their god is a task master.

For Christians, servitude to the Master is totally different.  The Master took care of everything required for the servant to receive his or her eternal reward.

As Christians, we serve a loving God who demands nothing but for us to have a living relationship with Our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  Jesus stands before the Father on our behalf testifying to our worthiness to receive our eternal destiny in heaven.  His Holy Spirit dwells within us perfecting us for that glorious day.

Christ Jesus dwelling in us is our blessed hope for glory and the revelation of God’s creative purpose for our lives – to glorify Him.  As we submit to Christ’s reign in our lives, we learn to overcome all the challenges and obstacles that the enemy sends our way to keep us from glorifying Our Heavenly Father.

We were all created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.  Through Jesus’ constant presence with us, we are led into our earthly calling.  We are provided the gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These gifts prepare us to serve and glorify God here on earth and in the heaven for all eternity.

We are most comfortable in life when we are around people we like and when we are asked to do things that come easily to us.  In these times, our personality and our capabilities shine.  We are recognized by many for these things.

But these times do not necessarily reveal the One that lives within us.  Jesus is revealed in our lives when we exhibit unusual grace, mercy, gentleness, faithfulness, loving kindness, goodness, patience and self-control during the times in which we are being taxed by our situation.  At these times, we exhibit the fullness of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  We are recognized by Our Heavenly Father for these things.

During times of severe trial, we have several paths we can take.  One well worn path is the path of anger toward God which is accompanied by withdrawal from Him.  Another less traveled path is the path of joy in Lord with pressing into Him.  For most of us, we end up somewhere in the middle.  As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we will learn how to find the path of joy in all of our trials.

The well known poem, “Footprints in the Sand”, adds further insight into our walk with the Lord.  The writer sets the stage of seeing two sets of foot prints in the sand when walking with Jesus.  Then during a severe trial she reports seeing only one set of footprints.  She thinks Jesus has left her.  But the Lord responds, “The times when you see only one set of footprints is when I am carrying you.”  We may withdraw from the Lord during trials, but He never leaves us.

Before we receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at our salvation, Satan does not have to work at tempting us.  Our sins are sufficient to separate us from God.  We are already in line with Satan’s plans to keep us from our eternal destiny with Our Lord.

Once we receive the living spirit of God within us, then Satan goes to work.  His temptations become relentless.  He is obsessed with destroying our lives.  Thank God that He promises to perfect His strength in our weakness when we are under attack.  He gives us the Holy Spirit to fulfill this promise.