Walking in the Fullness of Jesus Christ

Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

The young ruler, as he is often called, was given the directive that is captured in the passage above.  It was a hard word for the young man.  He walked away from all that had been offered to him.

For most all of us, God’s words do not come to us in such a direct manner as the words spoken to the young man.  They do not come in clear audible context.  God’s directives come to us in the faint internal whisperings of the Holy Spirit.  We receive more of a gentle urging of the spirit rather than an anything audible.

These urgings are designed to test our obedience.  If we ignore the urgings, they will become weaker and weaker until they eventually cease.  If we are obedient to the urgings, they will become clearer and clearer to us.  God’s inspiration will become a greater part of our lives as we begin to seek the urgings of the Holy Spirit in all of our endeavors.  We will learn to walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself through the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit.  We praise You for  providing the ever present Counselor in our daily lives.  We pray that our minds and hearts will be receptive to all that the Holy Spirit brings to us.  May our obedience bring richness to our daily walk with Our Savior.   

May Jesus Know Us

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Mary Magdalene was a terrible sinner but she was forgiven from her past sins by Jesus as He cast 7 demons out of her.  She accepted all that He had to offer to her.  Following her deliverance, Mary Magdalene traveled with Jesus as one of his followers.  She was present at Jesus’ two most important moments: the crucifixion and the resurrection.  Based on what Jesus had done for her, Mary was brave enough to stand by Jesus in his hours of suffering, death and beyond. She had a true relationship with her Savior.

On the other hand, when it came to doctrine, Mary was not well schooled.  She certainly would be made to look foolish if challenged in doctrine by the Pharisees who were known for their knowledge of God.  But with all their knowledge about God, they did not know Jesus.  They did not have a saving relationship with Him.

We should understand that even the demons are profoundly knowledgeable about Jesus, but they do not know Him.  Full knowledge of Jesus means nothing unless He knows us.  The only way that Jesus knows us (as in accepts us into His kingdom) is if we have accepted Him as Our Savior.  When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, then our relationship with Him springs forth for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with a Savior.  We thank You for sending Your Son to this world so that all could know Him.  We thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to open our hearts so that we could receive Your Son as Our Savior.  We pray, Father, that You will teach us how to go beyond our knowledge of who You are and move into a living relationship with Your Son. May Jesus become the center of all we do.  May He know us.

The Fullness of the Harvest

John 3:7
Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

Birth is the beginning of life.  To be born again is to begin to live anew.  We must have a new nature, new principles, new affections, new aims.  

By our first birth we were corrupted by sin.  Thus we must be made new creatures.  We must be entirely different from what we were before.  We cannot be the same.  We can look to nature for an example of the process.

A small tree rises from the soil and the farmer sees that it is a crabapple.  The farmer knows that the crabapple is healthy but it will never bear good fruit.  So the farmer grafts a golden delicious apple tree into the crabapple tree.  The new tree is now capable of bearing good fruit.  The roots, however, are still of the crabapple.  The roots will continue to produce crabapple shoots.  If the farmer does not prune the crabapple shoots, the new tree will not reach its potential for producing golden delicious apples.

So it is with us.  We were grafted into the body of Christ and given a new life by Our Savior.  The Holy Spirit indwells us to make sure that we are pruning away all of the sin from our old lives.  Unless we submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will not reach the fullness that Almighty God planned for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for grafting us into Your kingdom through the sacrificial work of Your Son.  We rejoice that You have sent the Holy Spirit to help us to overcome the sin that we inherited and continues to rise up against us as we seek to live as new men and women in Christ.  We pray, Father, that You will provide the inspiration that we need to submit to the Holy Spirit and the strength that we need to stand against the enemy who comes to steal our fruit.  Through Your grace, may we see a full harvest from our lives.

Being Prepared for God’s House

Hebrews 12:5
My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Lord begins His work in us.  He promises that He will complete every good work in us.  He also promises that He will discipline us as needed to get us to the way, the truth and the life that is in Him.  He will leave no blemish untouched.

As the Lord works on us, we can think of ourselves as a piece of old furniture that needs refinishing.  Our old stain is no longer acceptable at the place where we will be displayed.  We need a new refined finish.  Our new finish cannot be applied until all of the old stain is removed.  The first part of our refinishing will be relatively easy as our old stain is stripped away.  This first step, however, will reveal the depth of the old stain.  This then leads to the tough part of the process.  To get rid of the stubborn stain will require sanding, scraping, chipping and maybe even gouging.  This tedious process will be repeated over and over until all the old stain is completely gone.  Only when all the stain has been removed completely will our final finish be applied.

Let us submit to the work of the Master.  After all, He is preparing us for a place in His house.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing us to join You for all eternity.  We bless the name of Jesus for His precious blood that He shed so that we may be washed clean of every stain of sin in our lives.  We bow before You, Father, in full surrender to Your good work in us.  Take us into Your hands and prepare us to stand before You in the image of Your Son.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be in service to You in Your house forever.

Living Through the Dark Seasons

1 Thessalonians 5:9
Do not quench the Spirit.

The changing of seasons in nature is very easy to observe.  The new growth of the spring is always preceded by the dying out in the winter.  

So it is in our growth as Christians.  The Lord allows us to go through trials and periods of distance from Him in our relationship with Him.  How we respond during these periods of dying out determines the size and the fragrance of the new bloom.  The more we let ourselves die to Christ in the winters of our lives, the greater will be the produce of our spring times.  The more we let ourselves live in the flesh in our winters, the lesser will be the produce of our spring times.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us seasons of growth in our relationship with You.  We rejoice in knowing that You have planned for us to go through these growing seasons with the Holy Spirit as our helper.  We pray, Lord, that when we enter into our periods of darkness that we may learn to respond to the checks of the Holy Spirit as we battle against the attacks of the flesh.  May Your strength be perfected in our weakness as we blossom in Your perfect light.

A Faith That Moves Others

Matthew 8:26
And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
God expects us to be so confident in Him that in any crisis we are the reliable ones.  What a great statement we make to the world when we stand confidently and peacefully during our greatest times of trial.  When the worldly see us under stress with an utter lack of fear and uncertainty, how can they not be moved?

When God allows us to be tried, He promises He will provide us with the strength to endure.  As faithful Christians, when we respond with confidence in Our Lord’s promises to make us conquerors over all things, we turn our trials into wonderful testimonies to the world around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the faith to face all of our trials with confidence in the victory that You will provide.  We praise You for sending Your Son to die on the Cross for us so that we can be victorious over all the evil that comes against us.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us so that we may live our lives in the fullness of the faith that You have given us.  May those around us be moved by our faith. 

Seeking Our Portion

2 Kings 2:12
And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.  Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. 

Elisha had been forewarned that his master, Elijah, was going to be taken from him.  Elijah asked Elisha what he wanted from him before he was taken away.  Elisha asked for a double portion of the anointing that the Lord had placed on Elijah.  Elijah said that this was a huge request, but if Elisha witnessed his master being taken away by the Lord then his request was granted.  

Having gone through his final lessons from Elijah, Elisha saw Elijah taken away.  Elisha now stood alone.  In a show of extreme grief of having lost his master, he tore his clothes in two pieces.  He knew that he would no longer have his guide and leader to rely on.  But because he had asked for it, he was granted a double portion of the anointing that was held by Elijah.  Elijah would now rely on God, not on his master.

As Almighty God prepares us to spend eternity with Him, He will sometimes take away people around us who we have relied on.  During these times, we learn to rely on the Lord and not on the world around us.  Until we come to the point that we are totally reliant on God, He will continue to remove people and things from our lives until we totally surrender to His reign in our lives.  Through it all we will learn the comfort, the power and the strength of resting in the hands of the One that created us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to rest in the comfort of Your hands as we go through our journey of surrendering completely to You.  We praise You for Your loving kindness and Your mercy as You never forsake us as we struggle to find our way.  We pray, Lord, that You will open our eyes so that we may begin to see all that You have prepared for us.  We beseech Your, Father, to grant us the fullness of the power and strength that You have set aside for us.

No One Chooses Suffering

2 Timothy 2:3
Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

No sane person chooses to suffer.  To choose God’s will for our lives, even if it means suffering is a very different thing.  If we choose God’s will as our suffering continues, we grow stronger in that which is good.  Our resolution becomes stronger.  Our love of God and Jesus Christ becomes stronger.

If we view our suffering in any other way than through the will of God, our lives are guaranteed to be roller coaster rides with many highs and many lows.  On the other hand, if we keep our focus on Jesus through our suffering, our lives will be on steadied paths toward completed sainthood in heaven for all eternity.  Our lives will be filled with joy even in unhappy circumstances.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to overcome the suffering that the world brings us.  We bless the name of Jesus for bringing us joy even when everything around us in the world brings some level of unhappiness.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will strengthen us to endure our trials so that our love for You and for Our Savior, Jesus, becomes greater with each moment that we endure our suffering.  As we find joy in Christ, we pray that our example will make others strong and mature in their relationship with You. 

That Comforting Light


Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

What if you woke up one morning and noticed a light filling your home that was more radiant and comforting than the most beautiful day that you had ever experienced?  What if when you got out of bed there were none of those usual aches and pains?  What if when you looked in the mirror you liked what you saw?  What if your unfriendly neighbor smiled and waved as you left for work?  What if your surly boss was kind and supportive?  What if your work for the day was perfectly satisfying, leaving you feeling wonderful?  What if throughout the day you felt an overwhelming since of being loved and a desire to share that love with others?  What if you could not resist delighting in the Lord non-stop all day long?  What if when the day ended there was no darkness, only that radiant and comforting light that you had first experienced in the morning?  What if this day never ended?  Welcome to heaven!!

Welcome to your new home for all eternity.  Rejoice in the presence of the author and essence of everything that is good.  Delight in the absence of anything evil.  Praise the Lord!!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us that is beyond our imagination.  We thank You for preparing us to fit perfectly in our new homes for all eternity.  We pray Father that You will draw us into intimate relationships with You here on earth, so that we can begin experiencing the fullness of who You are before we ever leave our earthly bodies.  May we become vessels of Your perfect love so that others can know You and be drawn to accept Your Son as their Savior.  May many experience the eternal home that You have prepared for Your children because they saw that radiant and comforting light coming from us.

The Magnificent Fount Within

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Just as the Blessed Virgin Mary had the Son of God placed in her womb when the Holy Spirit came upon her, the Son of God is placed within each of us by the power of the Holy Spirit when we receive Jesus as Our Savior.  Just as Mary carried Jesus Christ alive in her body, we carry Jesus as a living fount of holiness, righteousness, loving kindness, mercy and forgiveness.  All that He is and all the powers of the universe have been formed within us.

If we had any other fount of exceptional value within us, would we ever allow our attentions to be diverted from the most precious resource in existence?   Would we ever hesitate to share the fruits of our fount with the world around us?  Would we ever put aside for even a moment the thought of the magnificent fount?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to be the fruit of the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  We bless the name of Jesus as we rejoice in His presence within us.  We pray, Father, that we will never set Jesus aside.  We ask that the Holy Spirit aid us in allowing Jesus to pour His life into ours every single moment of our lives.  May we clamor for His attention.  May our holy communion with Our Savior lead others to be drawn to Him.