Through Jesus' Love

There is no joy on earth that can compare with the joy we will experience when we finally have full union with Jesus Christ.  We will not experience the fullness of this relationship until we meet Our Savior in heaven.  At that glorious time, the joy of being fully united with Jesus will exceed any expectation that we might be able to imagine.  

In the meantime, it is possible to experience a portion of Our Savior’s joy here on earth – a portion larger than anything this earth can offer us.  We can do so by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the enemy’s efforts to keep us from our joy filled destiny.

God gave us parenthood so that we could better understand our relationship with Him.  We can use the experiences of our relationship with our children and our parents to help us when God is taking us by a way that we do not understand.

When God seems at a distance from us, we can call on the memories of the times that we stood away from our children so that they could learn on their own and grow from the experience.   Although our children did not realize it, we were always there for them if they needed us.  So it is with our Heavenly Father.

When God is calling us to be obedient is some area of our lives, we can call on the memories of the times that we were given specific instructions by our parents.  It was not easy for them.  They felt the pain of our anger as we were sure that their directives were way out of line with what was being done in the world of our friends.  Our parents loved us through our anger.  They knew that we were better off following their instruction than going our own way.  So it is with our Heavenly Father.

As we draw in closer to the Lord, His light will reveal every iniquity in us and His fire will begin to burn away that which offends Him.  As we grow in our walk with Him, the time in the purification process will become more intense.

The Lord will test us to see how close we are willing to walk near Him.  The level of our comfort as we approach Him will be determined by our level of preparation to reach Him.  Unless we are fully submitted to the rule and reign of Jesus in our lives, we will not feel comfortable at all.

In today’s workplace, our daily work environments are likely to be stress filled pits.  To make matters worse, many of us will experience a mental carryover into our personal lives.  Without a doubt, our workplaces can take a grueling toll on us.  Can we avoid it?

Changing jobs may be a solution in some cases.  In most cases, the new job is likely to bring as much or more stress.  So avoiding stress on the job is probably unavoidable for most of us.  Avoiding the affects of stress on the job is within the reach of all of us.  It will require that we build up our mental fitness.

We build our mental fitness by building our spiritual fitness.  Throughout the day we should include intermittent times of prayer and worship.  These times of prayer and worship can be a matter of seconds.  They will serve the purpose of directing our focus away from our problems and onto our solution – Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Not surprisingly, when we learn to rely on Our Lord for our strength during the day, He will become our greater strength when the work day is over.  As a result, we will find more time for deeper prayer and worship.  We will begin to take our mental and spiritual fitness to an all new level.

Satan loves to keep us tied up in activities that we take on without even looking for God’s perspective. Under Satan’s trickery, we take on tasks, jobs and even ministries that we know we are capable of handling and that we know will likely bring us success.  And often, we will be successful by the world’s standards.

But God is looking for the opportunity to have His glory, and not our capabilities, reflected in the things that we do.  He is looking for a renewal of our minds so that we make choices by seeking His counsel through prayer, the reading of His Word and the advice of spirit-filled men and women.  Making choices in this transformed way will take us beyond our capabilities and our imagination.  Our accomplishments will then be for His glory and our success will be measured by the standards of His kingdom.

The guaranteed formula for our personal defeat is to cast ourselves against Satan, against sin or against our own flesh. Carnal man will lose this battle every time.

The guaranteed formula for personal victory is to cast all of our cares upon the Lord.  Through Him, we have victory in everything.  The process of sanctification, which will signify our ultimate victory, comes as a result of us giving up our own ability to compete and placing the battle in the hands of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The living water provided by Our Savior is available to all people as a constant flow.   The flow cannot stop nor will it ever stop.  The abundant fount of Jesus Christ is eternal.

This living water is also available to pass through us as vessels of Our Lord’s love.  When we put our trust in Jesus and submit to His calling on our lives, the living water flows freely through us on to others.  On the other hand, when we turn to the world for our direction, we hinder the productive flow that the Lord intends for us to share. 

Rest assured.  The well of water never goes away.  The eternal reservoir is always ready to be tapped.  The Lord waits patiently to release His abundance through His children when they turn to Him in obedience.

As Christians, indwelled by the Holy Spirit, our demeanor is engaging to the observer.  Without even being aware of it, our smiles or kind words delivered somewhat casually can become  day changers, or even life changers, for the receivers of the acts of kindness.  

At times, our acts of kindness are delivered to the receiver purposely.  Often they are not.  They are simply representative of the gift of living water that is passing through us as obedient and submissive vessels. They are the reflection of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all peace, comfort and healing, that is shining through to those that need Him.  

Before accepting Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are not able to see the way, the truth and the life that is in Him.  Our sin nature blinds us to who He is and the salvation plan that He offers.  It is only by the aid of the Holy Spirit preparing our hearts that we are able to receive and submit to Our Lord, Jesus Christ.  

When we take the step of salvation, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to continue to be our helper.  The Holy Spirit will take us through the process of becoming disciples of Jesus.  We will learn to accept Our Lord’s teachings and share them with others.  We will grow spiritually and develop an intimate relationship with Our Savior.  We will be prepared to meet Our Lord in heaven.  

When we get to heaven, we will finally fully understand the perfect nature and depth of character of Our Blessed Hope.  With our sin nature completely removed, all of His Glory will be revealed to us.   

All successful companies have sales personnel that stand up to established standards for representing the company’s goods and services.  The one standard that will be found in each of these companies is that the sales personnel must have a full understanding of their products and be able to present the products in an exemplary fashion.  

Other standards are likely to include codes for appearance and behavior and a requirement to always exhibit a passion for the company and the products in the marketplace.  And then, to insure that all the standards are met, each sales person will have a manager to train them, motivate them and monitor their performance.

As the representatives of the greatest product of all times, the Good News, our standards are basically the same.  We have several huge advantages in the marketplace.  1) There is no other product that delivers like ours.  2) Our manager is the infallible Holy Spirit that dwells within us. 3) Our reward program is the best.