Earning Crowns from Almighty God

Matthew 25:23
His master said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

The start of the New Year is often kicked off with many articles and speeches about new beginnings, new year’s resolutions and plans to start anew. What if we focused on the finish instead of the start? After all, when life comes to the finish line, who does not want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

We work our entire lives for rewards here on earth, yet ultimately our greatest rewards will come in the eternal place that has been prepared for us by Our Savior King. Almighty God reserves special reward and special honor for that day when “each man’s work will become evident” and “he shall receive a reward.” 1Cor 3:13-14

These rewards are referred to as “crowns” that are being set aside for God’s servants. The Bible speaks of at least five crowns:

The imperishable crown awarded to those believers who consistently bring the flesh under the Holy Spirit’s control. (1 Cor 9:25)

The crown of exultation awarded to those servants who are faithful to declare the gospel. (Phil 4:1,1 Thess 2:19-20)

The crown of righteousness awarded to those who live each day with eternity’s values in view. (2Tim 4:7-8)

The crown of life awarded to those who endure trials, loving the Savior all the way. (James 1:12)

The crown of glory awarded to those who faithfully shepherd the flock. (1 Peter 5:1-4)

There is no reward on earth that can compare to earning crowns from Almighty God that we can lay at the feet of Jesus when we enter our eternal homes. There is no joy on earth that can compare to the joy of being in heaven with Our Lord.

Let us set our hearts on finishing well. Let us place our earthly desires for rewards in proper relationship with our desires to have Almighty God recognize us for the evidence or our works as we put His kingdom first in all matters of the heart. Let us make our New Year’s plans around joining the joy of Our Master.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for setting aside special rewards for us in Your kingdom. We thank you, Jesus, for making it possible for us to stand before the Father to receive our rewards. Precious Savior, we long for the time when we will be able to place our crowns at Your feet and join You in Your joy. As we move into our new year, may Your grace, O Lord, provide the wisdom and strength that we need to seek Your kingdom first in all things that concern us in this world. We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to set our minds on finishing well. We ask all these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Operating in the Will of God Produces Real Kingdom Value

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.

Let us believe God to be who He says He is. Let us learn to wait for God to open doors for us. Let us learn to rest until He puts things in perfect order for us.

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.

The True Hope of a New Year

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 throughout most of the Western world. 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 nations.

Let us wait not a minute longer to proclaim our personal and national hope in Jesus Christ. Let us boldly claim His promise for our welfare and our future.

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 lies 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 all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

The Treasures That are in Jesus Christ

John 14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Jesus taught His disciples that they would receive far greater powers after He left them. He promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to remind them of His teachings and to release in them the power that He promised to them.

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, He declares the things that are to come into our lives through our relationship with Jesus. Just like the apostles did, 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 in the past into a new supernatural level of devotion in our daily lives. We are then directed by the Holy Spirit into a personal, passionate relationship with Jesus.

Simultaneously, the Holy Spirit begins to lead us through 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.

Ultimately, as the Holy Spirit reveals the fullness of Jesus Christ to us, our manifest destiny that Jesus has prepared for us is also revealed. As we mature in Christ, we start walking in the life that God had planned for us from the beginning.

Let us invite the Holy Spirit to reveal our callings to us. Let us solicit the Holy Spirit to release the supernatural power that Jesus promised to His disciples of all times and seasons. Let us begin to walk the pathways of our manifest destinies in 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 through time and for all 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. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Our Sanctifier, Jesus Christ.

God’s Grace Overcomes Feelings of Being Unworthy or Incapable

1 Cor 15:10
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

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 this passage, “His grace toward 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. Only by His grace can we become what He created us to be.

Let us steadfastly pursue the grace of Almighty God through our relationship with His Son, Jesus. Let us confidently seek and carry out the work that Our Heavenly Father has created us to do. Let us live boldly as heirs to His kingdom.

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. We ask all these things in the name of Your dearly beloved Son in whom You are well pleased, Jesus Christ.

The Gift of Discernment

Psalm 119:125
I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

Discernment is one of the greatest gifts that we receive from the Holy Spirit. It is surely discernment that allows us to function properly in this out-of-control world that we live in. Without discernment we cannot recognize what is true and what is false. With the enemy working overtime to make what is right appear wrong and what is wrong to appear right, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to provide the understanding that we need to make good spiritual decisions.

It is by the grace of God, and not by our experiences in life, nor in any human teaching that we are able to understand the Word of God. We have the necessary enlightenment of God’s Word through our prayers, our study of the Scriptures and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. It is in this manner that God allows us to discern the gradual shades of evil that are introduced into to our lives everyday by the media and the humanist agenda. We have been subjected to small doses of re-written history and contrived teaching via the media until we wake up one day and we find that we have accepted things to be true that simply are not in accordance with God’s Word.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit to provide us with the clarity of mind to know the truth in all things. Let us live by and proclaim the statutes that God’s Holy Word teaches. Let us use our Holy Spirit inspired discernment to reject the errant messages being espoused by the world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of discernment that You provide through Your Holy Spirit. We bless the name of Jesus who has given us victory over the evil that tries to change our understanding of Your truth. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will fill us with the understanding and discernment that we need to walk according Your statutes. May we seek Your truth daily. As we serve You, may the world know us by our living testimony to Your ways. We ask all these things in the name of the Word and the Truth, Jesus Christ.

The Receipt of the Wisdom, Counsel and Might of the Holy Spirit

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.

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.

The Holy Spirit’s powerful indwelling is an amazing gift we should never take lightly. 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

Let us live in the confidence and the power that the Holy Spirit gives us. Let us use the wisdom and understanding we are given to perceive the truth that God reveals to us so that we are able to convey it to others. Let us use the counsel and might that we have been given to originate, plan and execute the work that God calls us to do. Let us take our new found knowledge and fear of the Lord so 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 fruitful vessels of the fullness of Your Holy Spirit working in our lives. We ask all these things in the name of Our Keeper and Our King, Jesus Christ.

Praying for Supernatural 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.

During our recent Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, it is likely that we 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? With the New Year rushing toward us, let us be sure to add the gift of grace to our prayers of solicitation and thanksgiving.

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.

With the cherished moments of our holiday season fading away, let us take the opportunity to give thanks for the supernatural gift of God’s grace. Let us always be mindful that only through the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that our eyes are opened and our hearts are prepared so that we can see and accept the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ.

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. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is the ultimate evidence of Your grace, Your Son, Jesus Christ.

The Real Provision of the Holiday Season

John 7:37
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”

Jesus went with his disciples to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. The feast began five days after the Day of Atonement at the time the fall harvest had just been completed. It was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness. The celebration for the feast lasted for 8 days. It was a grand feast by earthly measures.

On the last and greatest day of the feast, every man and woman would have surely filled themselves with food and drink and enjoyed and experienced all that the celebration had to offer them. Yet Jesus knew that there would still be a hunger there that was unsatisfied. He welcomed them to come to Him for the satisfaction that only He could provide.

As we stand here at the end of our year and our Christmas season, the same holds true for us today. God has protected us and provided for us as we have gone through yet another wild year in our out-of-control world. We have just completed a season of celebration. We have over-filled ourselves with food, drink, gifts and festive experiences. Yet somehow we are not satisfied.

Let us take our thirst and our hunger to the One who waits to satisfy us. Let us learn to feast in the real provision of this holiday season, Jesus Christ. Let us share our fullness of spirit with the world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the provisions and protections that You have provided throughout the past year. We bless the name of Jesus through whom all of Your grace, mercy and loving kindness has been released to us. We confess, Lord, that we have filled ourselves on all the world has offered and yet we are still unsatisfied. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will guide us and strengthen us as we learn to forsake the world and surrender completely to Your Son who invites us into His life. May we live in the fullness and glory of His presence. We ask all these things in the name of the One who supplies our strength, our power and our eternal satisfaction, Jesus Christ.

When the Word Became Flesh

1 John 4:9
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

Christmas is the celebration of a spectacular supernatural event. Our Heavenly Father sent His Son to this earth so that we might have eternal life through Him. This event was one that could not be accomplished by the efforts of man. Only God could orchestrate such an act of love and supernatural endowment.

There are scoffers around each Christmas season who try to deny the great gift that has been provided for all mankind to receive. They try to logically dissuade others from having faith in the true story of Christmas. Yet to do so, they must try to make others believe that the God who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds the burning furnace of the sun and who upholds the entire universe itself will prove unable to fulfill His own promises.

Is it possible that the One who hangs the world on nothing is unable to deliver on His promises to His children? Does He not hold the winds and the clouds and the oceans themselves in His hand? How can He fail His children? We have every reason to be absolutely firm in our faith.

Let us celebrate openly and with great fervor the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us freely share the love that He has manifest in us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to live in this world so that we may be supernaturally endowed with His presence in our lives and we may become heirs to Your eternal kingdom. We bless the name of Your Son, Jesus, who became poor so that we may have all the treasures of heaven. We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit is with us each day to provide us with the peace that only Jesus can offer. We pray that as we receive these wondrous gifts that we surrender to the reign of Our Savior in our lives. May our lives become our love gifts to You, Father. May the world know us by our fervor for Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of Our New Born King, Jesus Christ.