Through Jesus' Love

Repentance comes from the Holy Spirit within us.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins, past and present, as we go through the sanctification process.  For the first time, we see our sins in the light of the pain and suffering that they caused Our Savior to endure.

This new sorrow-filled enlightenment inspires us to dig deeper into our relationship with Our Savior.  We yearn to bring to light the sins in our lives that we are not aware of or have learned to overlook through our worn conscience.  Through new found desires to repent of anything in us that displeases Our Heavenly Father, we seek to relieve that which sent Our Savior to the Cross. 

The Christian life can be frustrating because we are trying to be “good Christians” instead of “God led” Christians.  The things that we are trying to attain or achieve are probably good things.  But if they are not God things, they will not bring lasting satisfaction.

We need to focus first on our relationship with Our Savior before we set our paths.  The process is simple.  All we have to do is pray, “Jesus, I seek you.  Jesus, I want to walk with you.  Jesus, I want to serve your needs.”  Then prepare to receive the overwhelming sense of peace and joy that comes from being in union with Our Savior and not from our own merits.

Once saved, the sanctification process begins.  Every blemish on our soul is brought to light to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus.  We are constantly being led by the Holy Spirit to come to our highest point of obedience.   We are being prepared to love God above all things with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength.

Until the day we die, we must submit the control of our lives over to God so that the Holy Spirit can assist us in walking the ascending path of sanctification.  We will reach our apex 
when we stand before the Lord in heaven.

We all produce activity in three areas – physical, emotional and spiritual.  The proficiency of what we produce is based on our strength, emotional stability and holiness.  

The levels of our proficiency are built up by the way in which we consistently respond to the choices that we have to make daily.  Good responses build proficiency.  We become stronger and more proficient in each area when we choose exercise over idleness, patience over anger and righteousness over sin.  We become weaker and less proficient when we select the alternatives.  By the grace of God, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us to make the right choices.

One of the biggest mistakes that we can make is to try to deliver the Good News of the gospel with a manipulated salvation message.  We do a disservice to the listener when we word the salvation message in such a way that it sounds politically correct instead of biblically accurate.

We can be certain that political correctness will get no one into heaven or keep anyone out of hell.  The truth and power of the salvation message is found in the exact Word of God and not in our own politically correct version.

When we observe beauty in nature, knowingly or unknowingly, we are usually not looking at a single object.   We are looking at a group of objects gathered within a larger picture.  Within the observed area, none of the individual objects are perfect.  But when we consider the individual objects within their setting, we see a perfectly beautiful site.

Similarly, God creates beauty in our own lives.  Even though we are not perfect, God can use us perfectly within the environment that we live in.  In the flesh, our imperfections will limit us.  In union with Jesus, perfect fruit will be yielded.

According to Jesus, “Love God above all things with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole mind and with all your strength,” is the first and greatest commandment.  Stop!!  Without looking into any other commandments, we find that we are incapable of meeting the requirements for getting into heaven.  For entry into heaven, God requires perfect holiness.  Only one person who ever lived on earth could measure up to the standards of the greatest commandment.  Of course, that was Jesus, Our Holy and Precious Savior.

We cannot earn our way into heaven if we are covered in sin – even one.  Nothing short of a sinless life is good enough to merit heaven.  Our best is not good enough.  Fortunately for us, “good enough” was provided for us in the only way that would be acceptable to God.  The perfect lamb had to be sacrificed to atone for our sins.  Our hope and our salvation were finished on the Cross by the only person who could meet the requirements of the first and greatest commandment. 

Everything that we are and everything that we possess has come from Almighty God.  In His eyes, through the cleansing blood and constant mediation of Jesus, we are like His Son.

Through the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are capable of living lives that meet the standards of our standard bearer, Jesus Christ.  To talk about our inabilities is an insult to the One that created us.  We must learn to rely on the supernatural strength within us to overcome the world.  We were made to bring honor and glory to Our Heavenly Father.  Our lives are of priceless value to God’s plans for all eternity.

As Christians, we are continuously going through the process of sanctification.  From the moment that we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit is shaping us into the person that God created us to be.  The process does not stop until our death and we are brought into the presence of the Lord.  We will be perfectly holy when we hear Our Heavenly Father say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

By the time that we stand before Our Creator, we will have undergone a supernatural transformation made possible by the shed blood of His Son.  If we tune into the urgings of the Holy Spirit and develop a personal, passionate devotion to Our Redeemer, the world will see much of our transformation here on earth.   

Not one of us would accept the gift of salvation without the grace of God.  Our human nature rejects the idea that a Savior is needed to get to heaven.  Thus it is imperative that we have Our Heavenly Father, through His grace, reveal to us the truth, the way and the life that is in His Son, Jesus.

This revelation will come to us through spiritual hunger induced by the urgings of the Holy Spirit and often brought on by the prayers of family and friends.  We did not earn it and do not deserve it.  It is all ours by the grace of God.