Through Jesus' Love

It is very easy to say, “I give up.  I cannot do it.”  To do so is even acceptable if it is in reference to some earthly pursuit.  But if what we are pursuing is of God, then giving up is denying the promises of God Himself.

We are to be anxious in nothing for God promises to take care of our every need and He promises to finish anything that He has called us to do.  The victory is in fact complete before we are even aware of our calling to its pursuit.

We should never feel as if we are good enough or strong enough to withstand the temptations of Satan without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  If we begin to feel like we are strong enough to defend ourselves against the enemy through our own righteous behavior, we are setting ourselves up for a downfall.

Satan has thousands of years of experience in deceiving mankind.  He delights in bringing down those who believe that they can stand alone against him.  He is an expert in finding and exploiting our areas of vulnerability.  Our only defense against Satan, our only certainty in victory is by taking on of the full armor of God at all times through prayer, reading of the Word and obedience to Our Heavenly Father.

Once we have submitted ourselves totally to God, we no longer try to get the Lord to bless what we want to do for Him.  Instead, we seek His guidance in directing our lives in such a way that He can do His work through us.  We become ready vessels of His perfect love and eager instruments to do His good work.  The how, when, what and where of our service become unimportant.

The real intimate relationship that Jesus Christ seeks to have with each of us can begin to flourish only when we have fully submitted our lives to Him.  To be in full submission, we must come to the place where we are willing to give up anything and everything.  We must come to a moment in time when nothing is more important to us than our relationship with Our King.  

Jesus must know that it is the desire of our hearts to give Him all that we have, all that we are, all that we will every have and all that we will ever be.   He must see us rejoicing in the knowledge that we will be serving Him for all eternity.   When He knows that that we have released everything to Him for His eternal glory, there is nothing that Our Master will withhold from us.   

When we are abiding in the will of God for our lives, we are constantly moving closer to Him.  We are continuously being prepared for a greater work.  During this time of growth, we may at times feel like we do not know where we are going.  At these times, we must call on our faith to continue to move us forward.  We must recognize that although we may feel that we have no direction that God is guiding us according to His perfect light.

Once the Holy Spirit dwells within us, there will be no rest if we try to keep something in our lives that is offensive to God.  Whether it be an act of commission or omission, the Holy Spirit will not allow it.

To try to keep one foot in the kingdom and one foot on earth is an exercise in pure torment.  It may even seem less painful to side with the devil than to try to serve two masters.  Of course, siding with the devil leads to an eternity of torment.

The joy of the Lord is evident in His children.  It does not matter what their circumstances are or where they find themselves.  They reflect the awesome Spirit of their Savior.

They can be laden with the heaviest of burdens, yet they will reflect the joy of their Master who dwells within them.  They can be suffering the deepest of human pains, yet they will celebrate their shared love with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit without concern about their circumstances.  The joy of the Lord is their strength.

There is absolutely nothing that we can undertake for God that will not become a burden to us if we do not include God in the process.  We simply are not able to endure without His sustaining grace.  The sense of responsibility will ultimately crush us.

If we try to produce results for God without His favor, we are doomed to failure and perhaps even bitterness.  If we put our faith in Him and give Him every trial and every ounce of fatigue, He will work through us.  We will not carry the burden because we will only be the vessel that He uses.  In accordance with His promises, our burdens will be cast upon the Lord.

God abhors sin.  He can never allow sin into His kingdom.  

In order for Our Heavenly Father to have His children join Him for all eternity in heaven, it was necessary for Him to provide a way for all the sins of His children to be wiped away.  He so loved His children that He provided His own Son as the sacrifice required to atone for the sins of His children.  

The gates of heaven are now open to all of God’s children because Jesus, in obedience to the Father, went to the Cross for the sins of all men to be washed away.  The only way to receive the eternal gift from God is to reject sin for all eternity.  The only way to reject sin for all eternity is by accepting the One who took on all of our sins on the Cross.  

The only source of eternal life is through the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must trade our old sin-filled lives for the life of Christ within us to be able to live forever with Our Heavenly Father who loves us so dearly.  

Through the power of the resurrection, we that have accepted Jesus as our Savior, are able to let go of our old lives and let God rule in our new lives.  It is not because we are better people.  It is because we are completely new men and women in Christ.

We have been taken over by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  He has taken residence in our bodies in the form of His Holy Spirit.  God has put His holiness into us – never to be separated, sealed for all eternity.