Through Jesus' Love

Once we are born again, we receive a new energy source – the Holy Spirit.   Our new energy source is always on, ready to be dispensed.  The Holy Spirit can assist us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.  We are no longer limited by our own physical and mental abilities.

There is nothing that can interfere with the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives except our own negative interaction with the Holy Spirit.  Our sins can limit the flow and we can refuse the flow, but the Holy Spirit will always be there for us when we are ready to make ourselves living founts of Jesus’ love.

The wooden cross that became the instrument of death for Jesus contained no life.  Yet that wooden cross was able to meet its responsibilities because of a tree that gave its life for the formation of the cross.

In a similar fashion, Jesus Christ gave His life so that we might become instruments capable of meeting kingdom responsibilities.  Without Jesus giving His life, we would not be able to do the things that God created us to do for all eternity.

Man throughout the ages has tried to define what will make him a better person in order to create for himself a better life.  From a secular standpoint, many of the devised programs, processes and religions have been deemed suitable for a life model.  

The truth of the matter is that there is only one life model that has merit – the plan of salvation.  It is a plan that is offered to all but must be accepted to be received.  

It is well stated here in an excerpt from the Nicene Creed which was written in 325AD:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.  Through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

If we place our focus on our vision, our job or our problem, without including the direction of the Holy Spirit, we will set expectations that will not be in perfect alignment with God’s plans for our lives.  We will be setting ourselves up for burn out or disappointment because our results will not be satisfying to us nor pleasing to God.

Our focus needs to be on God at all times.  If our focus is on Him, He will direct our ways.  He will establish how high He is ready for us to go.  He knows exactly what we are capable of through His Holy Spirit.

Whenever we are out in the world, we are challenged by many things (bad drivers, rude cashiers, uncaring service attendants, etc.) that annoy us.  We need to learn to turn these things over to the Lord.  If we don’t, we are likely to lose our testimony quickly.

It only takes one quick, nasty comment to destroy our ability to deliver the Good News.  After all, who would want to be a Christian if it leaves the person with a nasty attitude.  This is what the non-believer will see when we react in the flesh instead of letting the Lord handle it.

Most of us are not called by God to be theologians or full time ministers.  We are called by God to be secular laborers who bring His Good News to our homes and our workplaces.  

Aside from our working career, we may have a calling for some type of spiritual service at church such as teaching bible study, singing in the choir, etc.  For most of the rest of us, our service for the church will probably be limited to simple services such as child care giver, parking attendant, usher or perhaps greeter.  We may view these services as quite mundane.  But God sees these things completely differently.  Each of these tasks are ordained for assignment in fulfilling the needs of the Body of Christ and are held in high esteem by Him.  His rewards are not based on what job we serve, but how we respond to His calling to serve His church.

God loves us so much that He forgives our sins is a misstatement of the truth.  God by His nature cannot forgive our sins without the redemptive work of the Cross.  The proper statement is that God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the Cross as a living sacrifice for our sins.  

The blood of Jesus washes away our sins.  It is the complete sacrificial work of Jesus that allows God to receive us as heirs into His kingdom.  This understanding of sin emphasizes how grievous sin is to God.  God simply cannot tolerate sin.  Sin cannot exist in His presence.

The process of forgiveness on the human level is fairly straight forward.  When we are lightly offended by another person, we may simply forgive them because we love them so much or because the offense was so light that it is easily forgotten.  For more grievous offenses, we may find it harder to forgive, but we may decide to do so because the offender admits guilt and the offender’s expression of sorrow and regret is sufficient to ease our pain.  Of course, the process is always easier if the offender offers to compensate us for our losses and/or promises never to do it again.

The process of forgiveness on the supernatural level is more complex.  For God, every sin is a grievous offense.  For the sin to be forgiven requires more than an admission of guilt, an expression of regret, a reconciliation of damages and a desire to turn away from the sin forever.  God requires that Jesus mediates on our behalf.  He can only be our mediator if we have received Him as Our Savior.  The process of supernatural forgiveness is a miracle made possible by the death of Jesus on the Cross. 

With the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we hold the promises of God’s Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness.  We must be aware, however, that through this process Our Heavenly Father does not take away our right to choose.

The bottom line is that we have to make choice to either follow the urgings of the Creator of the Universe or follow our own carnal desires.  We shall be free indeed if we choose submission to the callings of Our Lord.

As parents, we want all the best for our children.  We want them to have a wonderful life.  Because of our higher level of understanding and our life experiences, we know that children should only be given certain gifts and responsibilities when they have shown that they are ready to handle them.  Our children prove their readiness for more through obedience to our instructions.

God uses our experiences as parents to reveal to us the way in which He will release His blessings into our lives and how He will call us to greater responsibilities in His kingdom.  Just as we provided more for our children based on their readiness, Our Heavenly Father measures the amount of His release to us based on our obedience to His instructions and callings on our lives.