Through Jesus' Love

Have you ever heard someone say, “I am not worried, things always work out for the best”?  Whether that person has looked at that statement from a spiritual perspective is unknown.  What is known is that if that person is a Christian, a look back from a spiritual standpoint will reveal the hand of God in each circumstance that “worked out”.

God is faithful to His Word.  In accordance with Romans 8:28,  “And we know that in all things God works for the good<span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(A)”> of those who love him, who have been called<span class="crossreference" style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(B)”> according to his purpose.”  No matter what today looks like, we can trust in The Lord to work out all the details for our eternal good.

When we were without Christ, we were not capable of standing against the powers that sought to destroy us.  In the darkness, we could not see that we were being led into a life that would never be totally satisfying.  We could not understand that by settling for what the world had to offer, we fell short of receiving all the riches of Our Heavenly Father.

But now that we have allowed the light of Jesus to come into our lives, we can see the new man for the first time and see all the potential that he has.  We can understand that our renewal was made available to us through Our Savior.  As we draw near to Him, we realize that He will help us to receive all that Our Heavenly Father has prepared for us here on earth and in heaven.

In the days of slavery, the slave was keenly aware of who his owner was and what his owner expected of him.  When the slave had a good master, he could see the value in the provision he was given in exchange for his service.  The well treated slave often delighted in pleasing the good master.

As Christians, we not only have a good master, but a perfect Master in Jesus.  We should delight in meeting every calling that He places on our lives.

Most diets are built on “dos” and “don’ts”.  Don’t eat this type of food.  Do eat another type.  Don’t eat at certain times.  Do eat at other specified times.  Don’t eat too much of this.  Do eat more of that.  For many this regimen is only sustainable for a short period of time.  Ultimately the diet fails.  The flesh is not capable of overcoming the desire to satisfy self.  The people who win at dieting are generally the ones who diet for a higher purpose than losing weight, e. g., “I want to be healthy so I can enjoy my family more.”  

Similarly, obedience to God for obedience sake is doomed for failure.  Obedience to God based on our love for The Lord and our desire to please Him is the way.  We must learn to lean on His Spirit and not our own.

Once we accept Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us.  The Lord then begins to use us as vessels to carry and share His perfect love and forgiveness.  But first, we must be broken of those things in our lives that would hinder the flow of God’s love through us.

As we submit to the reign of Christ in our lives, we will experience trials and heartbreak.  These trials are allowed by God to create brokenness in our lives.  These same trials will be used by God to create the cracks in us as living vessels of the Lord’s love.  These cracks will then become the portals from which His love will flow through us unhindered by our frailties.

“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us to this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Romans 5:2

Consequently we can approach every moment of our life, whether it be fraught with good or bad news, with unabated joy and peace.  We can experience this level of supernatural joy by building up our faith in Almighty God through our reading of His Holy Word and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us.

Our faith comes into play when we encounter pain, conflict and/or disorder in our lives.  Our natural human reaction is to try to fix everything ourselves.  All too often, we do not turn to God until we have exhausted our own failed initiatives.

God wants us to turn to Him first in all matters of our lives.  He wants us to grow into a place where we trust Him for everything we need.  We will only reach this place of trust by seeking an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are able to stand before Our Heavenly Father in a righteous state because Jesus took on all of our sins on the Cross.  The sins of the old man are no more.  All that remains before the Father is the new man, indwelled by the spirit of Jesus Christ, without blemish.

The new man that stands before the Throne of God is made in His image.  The new man is the essence of everything good and the absence of anything evil.  He is worthy to dwell with the Father for all eternity.

God is so holy that sin cannot exist in His presence.  Thus every saint in heaven will be completely free of any type of sin.  To have any sin remaining means eternal separation from God.

The Good News is that God provided for our complete cleansing through the death of His Son on the Cross.  It is the shed blood of Jesus Christ that washes us clean of all of our sin.  All we have to do is believe and accept Jesus as Our Savior.  All the necessary work was done on the Cross.

How many did you win?  How many did you sell?  How much profit did you make?  These are the questions that the world asks.  This world is all about measuring bottom line results.

Do we have the ultimate relationship with Jesus Christ that God desires for us to have?  Are we following the processes and plans that the Holy Spirit has given us for our lives?  Have we abandoned or ignored supernatural guidance in order to follow our own plans?  These are the questions that God asks.  God’s kingdom is not about results.  God’s kingdom is based on relationship and spiritual process.  

Life’s great challenge is to choose our master.  Are we wise enough  in God’s sight and foolish enough according to the world to choose Jesus as Our Master?