Through Jesus' Love

Without the Holy Spirit, the teachings of Jesus are very hard to rationalize.  As the world and our nation have moved away from a Christian foundation, corrupt lifestyles have become common place.  And the corruption has become largely overlooked and even deemed acceptable in many cases.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sent a message to magnify the differences between the way of the Truth and the way of the world.  When we begin to see the power and joy in living a lifestyle fashioned from the Beatitudes, we have begun the process of dying to self.

We are born in sin.  There is no possibility of entering heaven without being washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ.  The only way to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus is by receiving Him as Our Savior and allowing His Spirit to dwell within us.

There is nothing that we can do on our own to earn the necessary righteousness to stand in the presence of Our Heavenly Father.  With our cleansing secured in Christ, we are acceptable to enter into the Holy of Holies and go before the Father.  All the Father will see is the perfection and holiness of His Son.

Sanctification is a process.  It is a process that begins with the act of submission.  The act of submission begins when we deny self and rely entirely on Jesus to release His holiness in our lives.

Sanctification is impossible to initiate through the actions of the flesh for it is not achievable without the power of the Holy Spirit in full operation.   Sanctification is impossible to stop once we release the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives by making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives.  Our Heavenly Father promises to complete the good work that is started in us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

Jesus became man so that He could die for our sins.  As He comes to dwell within us, we must allow our old lives of sin to die. 

The old self of the flesh and the new self in Christ cannot abide together.  To try to hold on to the old life once Christ has arrived is to enter into a struggle that is filled with endless pain.  The new life of abundant joy is found only in the death of the old life.  

When first reading The Beatitudes, it seems like they are out of touch with the world we live in.  When looking closer we see just the opposite.  The Beatitudes reveal to us why we need to accept Jesus as Our Savior to get us through this world we live in and on to living in the Kingdom of God.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” reminds us how far we fall short of the glory that God has planned for us.  “Blessed are those that mourn,” reminds to us the sorrow caused by our sins.  “Blessed are the meek,” reminds us of our need to humble ourselves before Our Savior.  “Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness,” reminds of our need to seek Jesus in all that we do.  “Blessed are the merciful,” reminds us of our need to forgive others just as the Lord forgives us.  “Blessed are the pure in heart,” reminds us of our need to cling to our new lives in Christ and leave behind all the things of the old man.  “Blessed are the peacemakers,” reminds us of our purpose of helping others to find a life of peace in Jesus.  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,” reminds us that the unsaved will be challenged by our new lives and will come against us for revealing the truth to them.  

God is with us always.  The presence of His Holy Spirit never leaves us.  The protection of His angelic force continuously surrounds us.  We need fear nothing.  There is nothing that can come upon us that we cannot handle with confidence.  We have the security of God’s hand upon our lives.

We need not pray for the strength to protect ourselves.  God promises His protection to those that abide in Him.  We are better served to pray for the strength to keep our faith which keeps us bound to Him.

We have reached a right relationship with Jesus when we serve Him out of our love for Him and not out of our desire to meet the requirements of the law.  Once we have been saved, we can go through life in obedience to the law or we can go through life under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Life under the lordship of Jesus Christ will be distinctly more joyous.  And ultimately, we will see greater abundance here on earth and for all eternity in heaven by serving in love at the feet of our Savior.

In Deutoronomy 28:1, Our Heavenly Father promises that we will reign over much, if we are obedient to His law.  This favor is gained, not by seeking it, but by seeking the One who grants it.  

If we try to seek any of God’s promised rewards through our own power for our own purposes, we will fail.  On the other hand, if we obey God’s laws through the love and power of His Son in our lives, all of His kingdom is ours for the taking. 

Why is it that when we pray in public that we are so concerned about how we sound?  It is this type of pride that limits the power of God.  We can actually block the power of the Holy Spirit by allowing our acts of pride to put ourselves in His way .

When our efforts are directed at impressing others rather than pleasing our Heavenly Father, we can surely hinder His movement in the lives of others and in our own lives.  Salvation, after all, is the work of God and not the work of men.

It is very easy to become frustrated, concerned, depressed or even angry when everything seems to being going against us.  It is part of our growing relationship with God to learn to understand that He is always with us and always in control.

We will live in total peace when we come to the place of understanding where we are completely comfortable in our circumstances because we know that God has willed or allowed us to be where we are.  Our peace will come from knowing that He promises that He will work out all things for our eternal good.