There is No Grey in Truth

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The one word in the dictionary that best describes intolerance is truth.  In truth, there is not any grey area that allows a choice.  Things are cut and dry.  They are either true or they or not.  

Satan’s fingerprints are all over the complexity of issues that we deal with daily in this world.  His tactics are simple.  Satan builds in layers of grey around the truth.  His minions, especially the media, work hard to confuse us.  They attempt to build layers of grey around good and evil.  They try to make us see elements of evil as good and elements of good as evil.
When our focus is in Jesus Christ, our lives become much simpler.  He that dwells within us is the essence of everything good and the absence of evil.  He is Truth.  Living in Truth is very cut and dry.  Simplicity in life is seeing, believing in and adhering to the black and white choices offered by the teachings of Jesus.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.  We praise the name of Jesus for modeling the good and perfect life that we should strive for.  We rejoice in knowing that our choices in life are easy when we abide in Our Savior.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will provide the wisdom that we need to discern the proper choices that we need to make in life for ourselves and our families.  May we learn to live in the light and shut the door on the darkness that the world offers.  We ask all these things in the name of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

For the Glory of Our Father in Heaven

John 17:4
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Jesus Himself declared that His principal work was to be obedient to the will of His Father in heaven.  He did not seek His own glory.  He sought only His Father’s glory.  In the process, He did away with Satan, sin and death and He provided for the redemption and the salvation of all men.
Just as Jesus was faithful in completing His work on earth to glorify His Father, He will also be faithful in completing His work in us so that we may glorify Our Father.  We will not experience the complete fullness of His work in us until we meet Our Savior in His eternal kingdom.  But as we surrender to the will of the Father, we can expect to accomplish more here on earth than we can imagine that we are capable of.  And we can be certain that our work will bring glory to Our Father in heaven. 
Be mindful that Satan and our own flesh will come against us as we seek to glorify the Father on earth.   But fear not for the Spirit of the Lord will insure that we overcome the work of the enemy.  We do not need to be concerned about our circumstances, Our Savior will be sufficient.  And it will all be for the glory of The Father.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that You have given us through Your Son to overcome the world.  We bless the name of Jesus for His faithfulness in completing the good work that You gave Him to do.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us and strengthen us so that we may fully surrender to Your will just as Your Son surrendered His all to You.  May it all be for Your glory, for the glory of Your Son and the glory of the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the obedient Son of the Most High God.

Perfectly Prepared for Us

Matthew 20:23
He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
The apostles, James and John, were seeking a position in heaven that was not in the will of the Father.  God had a place prepared for them that certainly exceeded their imaginations, but it was not at the right and left hand of Jesus as they had asked.

We have been taught that we can ask anything in the name of Jesus and it will be granted to us.  This is true, but our solicitations can be granted only if what we ask is in the will of The Father.  This can cause spiritual confusion for us when our prayers are not answered or, more correctly, have not been answered according to the desires of our flesh.
God has been faithful in providing institutions on earth which can help us to understand how this precept works.  As parents, we can recall times that we withheld things from our children because we knew that is was not the right thing for them at the time.  What they were asking for did not fit in with the overall good that we were seeking for them.  As business leaders, we have denied the requests of good and faithful employees because it would not be beneficial to the company to grant their request.
Almighty God has prepared things for us that have been in place before the foundations of the earth were formed.  Everything that He grants us through His Son is in accordance with His good and perfect plan for our lives in His kingdom.  When we reach our place in the kingdom, we will find it to be beyond our imaginations.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us in Your kingdom.  We bless the name of Your Son, who You have given us to be our mediator as we seek Your grace in our lives.  Teach us, Lord, to seek those things that are according to Your sovereign will and pleasure.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will redirect us when our petitions are of our flesh and not of the fullness of Jesus Christ who dwells within us.   We ask all these things in the name of the True Foundation, Jesus Christ. 

Bearing the Nearness of Jesus

Revelation 1:17
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
When John saw the glorified Christ, he fell at the feet of Our Lord.  Joshua, Daniel and Paul were all similarly affected.  The reason for such a reaction is the impact of sinfulness coming into the presence of sinlessness.  As we draw in close to the Lord, His light reveals every iniquity in us and His fire begins to burn away that which offends Him.  As we draw even closer, the purification process becomes even more intense.
The Lord will test us to see how difficult a journey we are willing to take to be close to Him.  He will send people into our lives who will be challenges for us.  He will ask us to serve them through the most menial and commonplace order.  He will ask us to wash their feet.

Through it all, His divine presence will be with us.  As we give up ourselves wholly to Him, we will receive His light in our lives.  Our light should then shine forth among all men and women as we engage them in our lives.  In the process, God will receive the glory.
May we listen to His voice and receive His perfect love.  May we submit fully to His rule and reign in our lives, so that we will be able to bear His nearness.  
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your presence in our lives.  We praise the name of Jesus who has made it possible for us to stand before You.  We ask forgiveness for all the things in our lives that have offended you.  We pray that the Light of Your Son will reveal the darkness in our lives.  We ask for the grace to be able to surrender to the good work that You are doing in us to prepare us to carry Your light to the world around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ. 

Breath to Breath in Praise and Worship

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!
Today’s world can literally take our breath away.  Our workplaces tend to be grueling places that are filled with stress.  Our families are rife with ongoing calamity that can suck the life out of us.  The fear of evil in the world around us is now a constant burden.  At any moment, the world is ready to steal our peace. 
Fortunately, our peace is but a quiet prayer away.  A simple praise moment with the Lord and we are restored.  A few minutes in His Word and we are strengthened.
Praise the Lord for He gave us the breath of life.  Praise the Lord for He sustains our every breath.  Praise the Lord for He takes away our breath when He is ready to receive us.  Praise the Lord for He provides the way that allows us to breath our last breath in the comfort, peace and confidence of our salvation.  May we use every breath we take to worship Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the breath of life that You have given us.  We thank You for sustaining our breath on earth.  We thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that the breath of life will continue in us for all eternity.  We surrender our every breath to You, Father.  We pray that each breath we take will worship You.  We pray that each breath we take will praise You.  We pray that each breath we take will bring honor and glory to You, Your Son and the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of the Life Giving Spirit, Jesus Christ.

Going Beyond Our Own Cleverness

1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God.  As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.”
Satan’s craftiness is witnessed in the way that he gets us to focus on good things that we are good at, knowing that we will find praise in our efforts.  Satan in his cleverness knows that if he can get us to stay in our comfort zone, we will never meet our full potential.  More importantly, Satan recognizes that in the process of relying on our own capabilities that we will completely by-pass God’s inspiration in our work.
It is easy for us to take on projects that we are comfortable with and ones in which we feel our probability of success is very high.  There is nothing wrong with this position as long as we go to God for confirmation that the project is one that He ordains.
God inspired projects, however, are more likely to have us question our abilities to successfully complete them.  God is not concerned about our capabilities.  If He ordains something, it will be done.  God is looking for the opportunity to have His power and His glory, not our capabilities, reflected in the things that we do.  May we learn to seek the counsel and the might that He offers.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word that teaches how Jesus was interested in doing only those things that You asked Him to do.  In Jesus’ life, every project was carried out in accordance with Your will.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to seek You first in all things.  We pray for the grace to be able to accept and act upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  May all that we do be for Your glory.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Hope and Our Assurance.

Letting Go of Our Natural Lives

2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
To wage war against Satan relying on our on strength is pure folly.  To fight against the strongholds of our flesh without Jesus Christ is also pure folly.  Without Jesus Christ, we will lose each of these battles more times than not.  Without Jesus Christ, the small battles that we may win will only be pyrrhic victories.  The costly war will be lost.
Our only formula for victory over Satan and over the torments of our flesh is to cast all of our cares upon the Lord.  Through Him we have victory in everything.  The process of sanctification is giving up one’s own ability to compete and placing the battle entirely in the hands of Jesus Christ.
Ultimately, the battle is not against sin.  Jesus won the battle against sin on the Cross.  The battle is our struggle to let go of our natural lives in which have no power against the enemy and take on the spirit filled life of Christ which allows us to apply the supernatural power of Almighty God against Satan and his minions.  May the victory that He won on the Cross be ours. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blood of Your Son that cleanses of our sins.  We bless the name of Jesus who indwells us so that we may have the grace to turn away from our natural lives and turn toward our life in Christ.  We pray that when the enemy comes prowling with the intent to destroy us that we look confidently to our Savior King.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord mighty in battle.  

The Stench is Never Too Great

Luke 15:20
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Him” is the opening verse in the passage about the prodigal son.  Luke wanted us to know that Jesus was not speaking to His disciples. Jesus’ audience was exactly who He wanted to reach with His message about the love of the Father.  Jesus used this parable to define the breadth, width and depth of the love of Our Heavenly Father for all people – no matter how much their lives separates them from being a disciple of Jesus Christ. 
When the prodigal son returned in shame, he was a filthy and stinky.  He was a broken mess of a man – completely defeated.  His father saw no filth.  His father smelled nothing but the fragrance of the son that he so longed to see return to him.  The father did not scorn the son.  He celebrated his return and placed him in good standing once again.    
Jesus went into great detail to establish that Our Father in heaven will allow us to go as far away from Him as we choose.  He will allow us to choose the entitlements of the world over the entitlements of His kingdom.  But no matter what choices we make, He will not stop loving us.  He will not stop longing for us to return to Him no matter where we have gone in our travels away.  And when we do return, all of the heavens will celebrate our return.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace.  We rejoice in knowing that Your love for us is so great that You see us only in the image of Your Son, Jesus, whose blood covers the stench of our sinful pasts.  Father, forgive us for the times that we have chosen the entitlements of the world over Your precious gifts.  We humble ourselves before You and ask that we may be Your servants for all eternity.  We pray our new lives in Christ will be an encouragement to others to join in Your heavenly celebration.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who washes us clean, Jesus Christ.

Seeking to Dwell in the Light

Psalm 120:5
Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
It is believed that David did not actually travel to Mesech or Kedar, nor did he live among their people.  Mesech was often mentioned with Tubal, Gog and Magog.  The people of these lands were regarded as barbarians.  The Kedarenes were a people who lived in tents, moving from land to land looking for new pastures.  It is believed that David was using mention of these people to paint a picture of the types of his own people that he was living with.  His intention was to highlight the danger of becoming engaged in a society that is known to be ignorant, idolatrous and barbaric.

David’s warning is one that we should pay attention to.  So often we are searching for more favorable circumstances in our lives.  Much of the time, we are not being shortsighted, we are just being wrong sighted.  We are finding our dwelling place in a lost world and looking toward that world for answers instead of seeking the favor of Our Lord.  We end up making many decisions in the darkness instead of in the light.

Why do we turn to the darkness of the world instead of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ?  For the most part, the depth and perfection of Jesus Christ is beyond our capability to comprehend.  It is not because the knowledge of the fullness of living in the light is not known to us.  It is because we are spending so much more time in the world than we are in the arms of Our Savior.  Let us run to Our Lord and seek the treasures of the eternal light that He is holding for us.  May we turn away from all the darkness that the world is offering.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with escape from the darkness that this world offers us.  We rejoice in knowing that we have the favor of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We cry out to You, Our Lord, for Your peace and Your holiness.  We pray that You will strengthen us to overcome the evil that surrounds us.  May we become vessels of light to the world around us as we surrender to Your Son, the Light of the World.  We ask all these things in the name of our refuge from the world, Jesus Christ.

Representatives of Jesus Christ

Matthew 7:16
You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
Any company that is successful will have salesmen that reflect the established standards for representing the company and presenting the company’s goods.  The standards will include dictates for personal appearance, behavior and their passion for presenting the product.  Of course, their knowledge of the product must be exemplary and their ability to close the sale must be top notch.  And finally, at no time are they to have collusion with the competition.
If these are the world’s standards for good salesmen, certainly the standards for being a good disciple and a representative of the Lord, Jesus Christ, are at least similarly required.  We are all called to represent ourselves to the world in a manner that glorifies Our King and to present His message in a manner that draws others to Him.  If we are true disciples, the fruit of our work will be born from the perfect Vine and not come from our collusion with the world which cannot yield anything but pride and vanity.   
So let us not be like the Pharisees who were outwardly righteous, but whose doctrines were contrary to the perfection of God, in direct conflict with the Word of God and were designed to exalt themselves and gratify their own desires and passions.  Let us be true disciples who set our minds on the way, the truth and the life that is Jesus Christ.  Let all that we do be for His glory.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the fellowship that we have with You through Your Son.  We bless the name of the Holy Spirit for instructing and guiding us in being good disciples of Jesus.  We pray that the world will be drawn to Your Son through our living testimony.  We ask that those that You have placed in our lives will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.