Through Jesus' Love

Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified so that all sin would be atoned for and salvation would be available to all people.  Without our Savior, heaven would be void of any souls that had once lived on earth.  According to God’s word, not a single person could earn the right to heaven except through the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior.  God thus commanded His children to tell this story to the world.  We are called to proclaim this truth no matter where we find ourselves throughout our lives.

The Pharisees were certain of their own goodness and loved to show the world their righteousness.  They had no place for Jesus because they did not understand how much they needed Him.  They were so convinced of their own piety that they could not see the righteousness of Jesus.  We risk being like the Pharisees when we consider ourselves worthy without the daily cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Until we train ourselves to seek God’s voice on every occasion, we will rarely hear it clearly.  We will have some level of uncertainty with each change in direction in our lives until our ears have been tuned to God’s voice.  Listening to God is an acquired gift from God.  It is received by being obedient to God in all things big and small.  Obedience in the small things opens the way for God to ask us to do more for Him and allows Him to reveal Himself to us along every step in our lives, whether it be big or small.

Just as our earthly fathers love to give us the things that make us happy, God loves to gives us the desires of our hearts.  Just as our fathers withhold things from us that might cause us harm, God withholds the things of this world that may take us away from His plans for our lives. Thus God, in His almighty power, takes what might be called life’s circumstances and orchestrates them so that those that seek Him are prepared to be in union with His Holy Spirit in all that they do.  When in union with His Holy Spirit, our days are filled with joy.   

The day that will change your life forever is the day that you make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.  When that happens, you will release the favor of Almighty God upon your life.  Once that occurs God will lead you into the called purpose for which He has created you.  No force in this universe can stop your calling once God has ordained it.  The only thing that can adversely affect your ultimate calling is your insistence in following your own plans instead of relying on the work of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Almighty God, who can do all things, promises us that all of our needs will be met if we abide in Him.  Why then, do we focus on our needs so much instead of focusing on Him?  Part of the answer lies in the weakness of our flesh which seeks satisfaction in the world.  The other part of the answer lies in the Evil One who does all that he can to lure us away from a relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit is the only reason that we ever stay focused on God.  Our hope and our strength lie in the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The world would like us to believe that we are missing out on life itself if we don’t put ourselves first in all things.  The world would like us to believe that satisfaction comes from personal independence.  As a result of the world’s philosophy, we put ourselves through overcomplicated life styles directed at setting us apart from our peers and even our own family.  All of this leads to a personal appetite that is impossible to satisfy.  On the other hand, a life in Christ offers complete freedom and satisfaction in every aspect of life.

God breaks into our lives in every way imaginable.  He is in the sweet songs of the birds outside our window.  He is in every sunrise and sunset.  He is in every kind gesture and word of encouragement that comes our way.  If we are in constant contact with Him, we will recognize His presence in every little thing surrounding us.  If we choose not to make Him the center of our lives, we will miss His presence and many of life’s little pleasures will pass us by.

The apostle Paul was met by Jesus on the road to Damascus.  The relationship that formed was the basis for everything that Paul did for the rest of his life.  The activity in Paul’s new life was the direct opposite of the activities in his old life.  The only way he could pull this off was through the transforming relationship he had with Jesus.  

We, too, are given the opportunity to change our lives completely and live according to the purposes that God created us to meet.  All we have to do is ground ourselves in a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior.  He will do the transforming work necessary to align us with God’s purposes for our lives.

In Jesus’ last hours with the apostles, He really emphasized the importance of abiding in Him.  Jesus wanted the apostles to know that their strength and their appeal to others would be through His presence in their lives.  So it is for us also.  We need to abide in Jesus to attain the fullness of the purpose that God has intended for us on earth – to reveal His Son to the world through our living testimony.