Tag: blood of Christ

Every Element of Self-Reliance Must Be Slain at the Cross

1 Peter 4:17
For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

For each of us that have been washed clean of our sins by the blood of Jesus Christ, the keys to the kingdom of God will be given. Our sins will have been judged and forgiven in advance by Our Savior. Our sins will no longer stain us in the eyes of Almighty God. We will appear in the likeness of Jesus Christ before Our Father in heaven. We will be worthy to become heirs to the kingdom of Almighty God for all eternity.

Yet our just and Holy Father requires that all sin must be punished. So those of us that have received the grace of salvation will experience rebuking for our sins in this lifetime. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the past and current sins in our lives. We will be required to ask forgiveness for our sins and turn away from them. Until we completely surrender to Jesus, we will suffer trials and tribulations in accordance with our iniquities. Our suffering will serve as both the measured punishment required for our sins and the enlightenment needed to facilitate our reliance on Our Savior. Our suffering will continue until every element of our self reliance is slain at the Cross.

For every man and every woman that does not accept the offer of salvation, their time of judgement will also come. It will be at the Throne of God. Sadly, they will have no defense for their sins. They will be deemed unacceptable to enter in to the eternal home of Almighty God. There will be no comfort for those that come before the Lord on their final day still covered in the filth of their sins. They will face endless torment.

Let us rejoice in the knowledge that our salvation separates us from our sins and their required eternal damnation. Let us completely surrender ourselves to the sanctification process that the Lord has set aside for us on this earth. Let us prepare ourselves to hear the sweet words “well done good and faithful servant” when we stand before Our Heavenly Father at His Throne.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives. We thank You for opening our eyes so that we may see the sin in our lives that separates us from You. We thank You for preparing our hearts so that we could receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior. We pray that You mold our hearts, Lord, so that we fully surrender to Your Son each and every day of our lives. Prepare us, Lord, to stand before You in the image of Your Son. We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Our Most Merciful Creditor

Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all the people.

Every one of us on this earth is burdened by a sin debt that we cannot pay. It is a debt the carries the most severe of all debt penalties – eternal damnation. Our Divine Creator through His perfect love and forgiveness offers each of us a payment plan that allows us to remove the onerous debt. He is a most merciful creditor.

The debt clearing offer of Our Heavenly Father is not based on our good deeds, nor on the basis of our performance of any type. The redeeming offer that He makes to us is made to us as a free gift. It is called His grace. It is revealed to us by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. All we have to do is accept it in the name of His Son Jesus.

To add to the sweetness of His offer, He extends His grace to us by providing His Holy Spirit to in-dwell in us to guide, counsel and comfort us as we go through the debt period of our lives. Let us remember that we have not earned, nor do we deserve the grace of salvation. We are most unworthy, sin-burdened servants. It is by God’s grace and the shed blood of His Son that our salvation is possible.

Let us now live righteous and godly lives that correspond to the glorious debt free condition that we will hold when we stand before the Lord. Let humbly recognize that we cannot do it on our own, but we can through the grace of Almighty God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the riches of Your grace that are extended to us through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We pray that through Your grace we will lead sober, righteous and godly lives. May those who You have placed in our lives be drawn to accept Your salvation offer that is available to all of them through Your precious grace. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is the fount of all of Your grace, Jesus Christ.

The Never Ending Flow of the Love of God

1 Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

God is love. His love is unconditional and without end. His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

God’s love bears all things. Through His love for us, He provides the blood of His Son to wash away all of our iniquities. He forgives all of our sins.

God’s love believes all things to be good in accordance with His promises in His Holy Word. He views all His children in the best and the kindest manner. Because of the victory of the Cross, He does not accept the lies of the enemy against us.

God’s love provides us with hope in all things. Through His loving promises, we are given hope through all of our circumstances for a future that we cannot see. We are given hope that we will one day live in glory in His presence in His house. We are given hope that all will be right and well with us for all eternity.

God’s love endures all things. With patience and a loving spirit, He endures all of our failures in the flesh for the sake of the Gospel and the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

God expresses His love to us in all these ways so that we may love Him in return and share His love with the world around us. As vessels of the love that He has given us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us. We are capable of bearing all things that others bring against us. We are capable of enduring all of the attacks of the enemy. We are capable of believing in the eternal good of every man. We are capable of proclaiming hope to the world that is expressed through the perfect love and forgiveness that we have received from the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Let us become vessels of the perfect love given to us by the Father through His Son. Let us show those around us how His love has changed our lives. Let us have the world know us by our expressions of His love.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love. We thank You that Your love flows to us without end. We exalt the name of Jesus, who is the complete expression of Your love. We pray, Father, for the Holy Spirit to guide us, instruct us and prepare our hearts so that we may be living testimonies of the character of Your love. May the world have hope because they hear us proclaim Your Good News and see the fullness of Your love in us. We ask all these things in the name of the precious Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

The Atoning Work of Salvation

1 Corinthians 6:19
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

As Christians, our bodies become sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit. This is a certain sign that we have been washed clean by the blood of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because God is holy, holy, holy, He cannot tolerate the presence of sin. If there were any sin in us, the Holy Spirit could not dwell within us. Thus the Holy Spirit is witness to the atoning work of salvation in our lives.

Because in the flesh, we still hold on to the sin nature, there is perfecting work ahead for the Holy Spirit. Upon His indwelling, He immediately begins in us the process of regeneration and sanctification. When He begins the good work of grace, He takes full possession of the body, mind and spirit of each of us. He supernaturally influences our lives, our bodies and our conversations. He works to insure our bodies are fit habitats for Our Savior King.

As we submit to the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives are the experiences that the Holy Spirit uses to complete and perfect our regeneration.

Let us surrender to the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit. Let us seek the grace that we need to keep ourselves firmly on the path of sanctification that prepares us for our places in heaven.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to be temples of Your Holy Spirit. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us to be instruments of Your good work. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work. As the Holy Spirit witnesses to Our Savior in our lives, may we witness to Our Savior in the lives of those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Casting All of Our Cares Upon the Lord

2 Corinthians 10:3
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

To wage war against Satan relying on our on strength is pure folly. To fight against the strongholds of our flesh without Jesus Christ is also pure folly. Without Jesus Christ, we will lose each of these battles more times than not. Without Jesus Christ, the small battles that we may win will only be pyrrhic victories. The costly war will be lost.

Our only formula for victory over Satan and over the torments of our flesh is to cast all of our cares upon the Lord. Through Him we have victory in everything. The process of sanctification is giving up one’s own ability to compete and placing the battle entirely in the hands of Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, the battle is not against sin. Jesus won the battle against sin on the Cross. The battle is our struggle to let go of our natural lives in which have no power against the enemy and take on the spirit filled life of Christ which allows us to apply the supernatural power of Almighty God against Satan and his minions.

Let us give up all confidence that we have in our own abilities to take on Satan. Let us take all of our battles before the Lord. Let us cast all of our cares on Him. Let us claim the victory that He won for us on the Cross.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blood of Your Son that cleanses of our sins. We bless the name of Jesus who indwells us so that we may have the grace to turn away from our natural lives and turn toward our lives in Christ. We pray that when the enemy comes prowling with the intent to destroy us and those around us that we look confidently to our Savior King. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

Sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:19
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

As Christians, our bodies become sanctuaries of the Holy Spirit. This is a certain sign that we have been washed clean by the blood of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because God is holy, holy, holy, He cannot tolerate the presence of sin. If there were any sin in us, the Holy Spirit could not dwell within us. Thus the Holy Spirit is witness to the atoning work of salvation in our lives.

Because in the flesh, we still hold on to the sin nature, there is perfecting work ahead for the Holy Spirit. Upon His indwelling, He immediately begins in us the process of regeneration and sanctification. When He begins the good work of grace, He takes full possession of the body, mind and spirit of each of us. He supernaturally influences our lives, our bodies and our conversations. He works to insure our bodies are fit habitats for Our Savior King.

As we submit to the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives are the experiences that the Holy Spirit uses to complete and perfect our regeneration.

Let us surrender to the perfecting work of the Holy Spirit. Let us seek the grace that we need to keep ourselves firmly on the path of sanctification that prepares us for our places in heaven.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to be temples of Your Holy Spirit. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us to be instruments of Your salvation plan for all mankind. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work. As the Holy Spirit witnesses to Our Savior in our lives, may we witness to Our Savior in the lives of those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Expressing the Love of Christ on All Occasions

Luke 6:28
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

The supercharged, divisive mindset that has been growing and covering our nation sure does stir up everyone’s emotions. Strike back! Respond in defense! Prove that I am right! All of these are natural human responses to conflict.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to follow a different standard. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” requires a supernatural response when we run into personal conflict. We are called to express the love of Christ in each instance. This may require having to forgive the person in the heat of the conflict. Only our strength through Jesus Christ allows us to meet this standard.

On the Cross, Jesus prayed that His murderers would be forgiven by His Father. Stephen, the martyred disciple of Jesus, in his dying moments also showed us the standard to which we are called as he asked for forgiveness for those who were stoning him. To meet this standard of mercy, we need supernatural strength. When it comes to facing the day-to-day conflicts in our lives, the supernatural grace of God is required. Our human nature will be woefully insufficient. It is through His grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are able to consistently respond in a manner that reflects the discipline of a follower of Jesus Christ.

Let us be merciful just as Our Heavenly Father is merciful to us. Let us bless those that hurt us. Let us pray for those that have come against us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You loving us first so that we may love You and love those around us. We thank You for the mercy that You extended to us through the redemptive blood of Your Son, Jesus, so that we may extend mercy to those who we come in conflict with us. We thank You for forgiving us of our sins so that we may be able to forgive those who sin against us. We pray, Father, for the grace and the strength to release to the world the overflow of the lovingkindness that You poured out on us. We ask all these things in the name of the Slain Lamb, Jesus Christ.