Tag: eternity

A Reverent Fear of Almighty God Defines Us

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

As good sons and daughters of our earthly fathers, we benefitted greatly from living in awe of the highest authority figure in our lives. We have been shaped by this key relationship and we will continue to be shaped throughout our entire lives by this relationship. Our earthly fathers took us through the follies of our youth as he provided for us in our formative years and prepared us for life in this world.

Fear of God can be compared in some regards to our relationship with our earthly fathers. While we may have feared punishment from our earthly fathers, it was the fear of offending the one we loved so dearly that held such power over us. The fear of disappointing the one that we wanted to please the most provided enormous influence over us. The fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we held in the highest place in our lives impacted our lives. The fear of losing closeness with the one we desired to be closest to kept a rein on our lives. It was this paternal fear that held us in line when the world was trying to pull us out of line and it is this awesome and reverent fear of Almighty God that defines us and keeps us in line with His eternal plans for our lives.

But so much more has been provided for us by Our Heavenly Father. He has provided for our every need in preparing us for our eternal lives with Him. Through His mercy and His perfect love, He gave us His Son as our Redeemer so that we could be worthy to spend eternity with Him. To those of us that humbled ourselves before His Son, He set aside a path of sanctification. He provided His Holy Spirit to make us aware of our sinful nature and call us to repentance. To this day, His Holy Spirit guides us and gives us rest in our souls as He leads us to our journey’s end in Our Heavenly Father’s eternal kingdom.

Let us submit in reverent fear to the Son of Almighty God, Jesus Christ. Let us seek to live every day in awe of who He is. Let us seek His Holy Spirit in directing every moment in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name as the name that holds the highest place in our lives and we exalt the name of Your Son, Jesus, who shed His blood for our sins. We thank You that we can live in the shadow of His love, His protection and His provision. We seek to deepen our relationship with Your Son. We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand who He is so that we may live our lives in reverent awe of Him. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.

The Perfect Love, Mercy and Forgiveness of Jesus Christ

Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

In the flesh, it is very difficult to deliver a full confession of the sin in our lives. We simply are not equipped to deal with self-condemnation without the aid of the Holy Spirit. Our carnal minds are not able to fathom the real joy in the forgiving mercy of Jesus Christ.

It is very important that we confess our sins and repent of them quickly. We should not hold on to them for any reason – not even to punish ourselves. We must take God’s merciful grace and cleanse ourselves of our sins. We must recognize that Jesus Christ has atoned for all of our sins for all eternity. To hold on to any sin, even its guilt, is to continue to unnecessarily suffer its destruction in our lives.

Once we have cleansed ourselves of our sins through confession, the Holy Spirit will come along side us and lift us to a new, higher level relationship with the Father. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1-2

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the darkness of sin in our lives. Let us surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit to repent of our sins so that we may be cleansed. Let us rejoice in the peace, comfort and freedom that we are given as we confess our sins and receive the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Savior. Thus let us take our relationship with Our Heavenly Father to a higher level.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace that has provided a way for us to be cleansed of our sins and freed from its destructive power in our lives. We thank You Jesus for settling our sin debt for all eternity. We exalt the name of Our Savior. We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to uncover all of the sin in our lives so that we may quickly confess it with our mouths. May we escape the darkness that has overcome us and live in the precious light of Our Redeeming King. May we reach higher and higher in building our relationship with You, Father. We ask all these things in the mighty, holy and precious name of Jesus Christ.

A Covenant of Grace and Salvation for All

Revelation 1:18
I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

When Jesus Christ proclaimed that He is the first and the last, He confirmed His role in our time based world. He brought our world into existence and He will usher it out when He brings in His eternal kingdom. When He proclaimed that He holds the keys to Death and Hades, He confirmed His proper deity and His covenant of grace and salvation for all.

When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who created the universe and still controls every minute detail of its existence, how could we lack the confidence that He will overcome any person or evil in the universe that comes to harm us. It just does not make sense to question His power and sovereign rule.

Fear not! He is the head of His own house by Whom and for Whom all things were created. He will keep His house in perfect order according to His will and perfect plans.

Let us rest in the hands of the One who promises us His love, His joy and His peace through His victory on the Cross. Let us trust in the One who closes the portals of hell and opens the gateways of heaven. Let us bless His name as we rejoice in His power over our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we fall at Your feet in utter awe of who You are. We proclaim Your Name above all other names. We praise You and we surrender to Your power in our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus. May He lay His hand upon us in love and not in wrath or anger. We pray that You will show us Your power in the struggles that we are currently experiencing. May we find joy in our circumstances knowing that You have already settled the matters for our good for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Accessing the Power that Christ has Set Aside for Us

John 17:24
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

This passage is part of the prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of His disciples prior to His eminent death and resurrection. Jesus was confirming with the Father that His disciples and all of the new believers in the good news of the salvation story who followed Him in discipleship would join Him in glory for all eternity.

Jesus prayed that all that choose to follow Him would see the fullness of His grace and beauty. He prayed that all His followers would see His standing with the Father on the grandest scale in heaven without the obstructive hindrances of the flesh. He prayed that His disciples would experience the full capacity and infinite power of His glory. He prayed that all of His disciples would join Him at the right hand of the Father for all eternity.

Jesus’ prayer to the Father in heaven provides us with the strength that we need to endure all that comes against us in life because we know there will be the ultimate victory in the end. To paraphrase 2 Cor 4:8-9, we may be afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we may be perplexed, but not driven to despair; we may be persecuted, but not forsaken; we may be struck down, but not destroyed because we are one with Jesus Christ. Our place in heaven has been secured.

Let us seek the fullness of Jesus Christ in our lives. Let us experience being one with the Son so that we may access the power and the victory that He has set aside for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we come to You exalt the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our Master and Our King. We thank You Father that we may be one with Jesus as He is one with You. We praise You as we receive in faith all of the promises that come with being a disciple of Your Son. We pray that the Holy Spirit will keep us steadfast in all aspects of our discipleship. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

Walking with Jesus in the Journey to Sanctification

Matthew 25:21
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to join Our Master as He walks along side us in our journey toward sanctification. We can be certain that we will encounter the following along the way:
1) Jesus will set our hearts to burning for Him as He opens the scriptures to us, just as he did for the two disciples when He joined them as they were walking on the road to Emmaus.
2) The Holy Spirit will reveal to us who we are without Jesus in our lives.
3) The Holy Spirit will convict us of the darkness in our lives and urge us to be obedient in changing our ways and helping others to change their ways.
4) Satan will attack us intensely all along the way as we grow in Christ.

We can be just as certain that the victory is ours if we rely on the One who died for our sins. We will enter into the joy of Our Master for all eternity.

Can you even imagine the joy that Jesus holds? He is the essence of everything good. He is the absence of anything evil. He is perfect in every measure. This is all ours when we stand before Him one day to take our place as His eternal servants.

Let us enter into the joy of the Master. As He dwells within us, may His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for loving us so much that You gave us Your Son to redeem us from our sins and that You provided Your Holy Spirit to guide us along our path of preparation for receiving our place in heaven for all eternity. We pray that Your countenance will shine up us. We pray that Your grace will be with us always. We pray that You will protect us from harm and evil. We pray that You will protect us from the evil one and all of His temptations. We pray that You will raise us up to be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness. May we stand before You one day and hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We ask all these things in the name of the Joy of the World, Jesus Christ.

He is the Lord, Our God, the Essence of Everything Good

2 Samuel 7:22
Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

What if a man appeared at your door, a man of immense power and wealth, a man who everyone around the world recognized and praised, how would you greet him? Would you welcome him in? What if he said, “I know you. I have been watching you. I have a plan for you. I want to make you the inheritor of all the riches of my estate.” How would you respond?

This man has knocked on all of our doors. His name is Jesus. He exceeds beyond our imagination any man that walks on this earth. There is no one like Him. He is the way, the truth and the life. There is no other way to the riches of our eternal inheritance except through Him.

He is the Lord, Our God. His name, His nature, His purposes, His promises and His works are all the essence of everything good. He is the one true God, the creator of all things. There is no one like Him. There is no one that even approaches His name. How could anyone not answer when He knocks?

Let us welcome this humble, loving King that knocks on the door to our hearts. Let us receive in faith all that He has prepared for us. Let us be beacons of light to the world around us as we host our Heavenly King in our hearts.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and exalt You. We thank You for providing Your Son as Our Redeemer. We humbly receive the riches that He has set aside for us through His sacrifice. May we fully submit to Jesus as Our Savior and Lord over our lives as He knocks on our doors and asks us to follow Him. May we become living testimony to His presence in our lives so that others may know Him when He knocks on their doors. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord over all the earth, Jesus Christ.

The Faith to Hold on to the Promises of God When Trouble Abounds

Deuteronomy 11:11-12
But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

The Lord is our provider. He provides everything. He gave us life. He sustains us. He grants us eternal life through His Son, Jesus. He endows us with the riches of His Kingdom for all eternity.

All we have to do is receive His Son as Our Savior and through our faith in His promises step out of the land in which we are living and into the land that God has set aside for us. It will mean that we will look past those things that we think are unsurmountable. We will seek the promise and not get overwhelmed by the problem. We will rely on God and not ourselves to be the source of our needs.

Once we turn our lives over to God and surrender to the reign of His Son in our lives, all of our needs will be met. Provision may come from our own hands as God favors us with productive ideas and capabilities. Provision may come from the hands of others or may even come from our enemies, if so directed by the Lord. But rest assured, provision will come directly from the hand of God and it will be according to His perfect timing for our lives.

Let us rest on the promises of Our Savior. Let us confidently await all that we need from this world and eagerly look for more than we can imagine from the hand of Our Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the countless blessings that You shower us with each day. From breath to breath, You sustain us. We praise You and bless You for Your eyes never leave us. You are our constant comfort and provision. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will teach us, Lord, to rest in Your promises. We ask that Your Holy Spirit strengthen us, Lord, so that we may step out of the world of the flesh into kingdom living. We ask all these things in the name of Our Omniscient King, Jesus Christ.

Judged and Forgiven in Advance by Our Savior

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.

Father God Provides Hope for the World Through His Incomparable Love

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 Blessed Hope and Assurance of Eternal Life in Heaven

Mark 15:33-38

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” … And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

The story at the Cross, as written in this sequence of verses provided by Mark, paints a perfect picture of the salvation message. The supernatural darkness that came over the entire world in the middle of the day represents our personal sin and the sin that engulfs all of mankind.

Jesus’ crying out to the Father “why have you forsaken me?” was sure confirmation of what had been prophesied in the old testament in Psalm 22. The combination of these fearful words and the darkness that ensued illustrates Jesus being separated from the Father, who cannot have sin in His presence. Perhaps poetically speaking, the sun withdrew its rays because the Father could not bear to watch what was being done to His Son.

And then, the tearing away of the veil reveals that the death of Christ opened up heaven to all of us. The veil of the old covenant had represented the separation of God from the people, except through the intercession of the assigned high priests. Instantly and gloriously, the new covenant of salvation was opened up to all mankind with Jesus Christ as our perpetual High Priest before the Father. A heaven that had been closed to all was laid open to all for all eternity.

Let us repent of the darkness in our lives so that we may live in the light of the Resurrected King. Let us take up our crosses and move forward boldly. Let us surrender to the Light in our lives so that we may reveal the covenant of salvation to those who surround us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for establishing the blessed hope and assurance of the new covenant through Your Son, Jesus. May the eyes of the world be opened to see the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son. May the hearts of the world be prepared to receive Your Son as their Savior. May the hearts of the world be molded so that they may surrender to Your Son as their Lord, Master, and King. May it all be for Your honor and glory, for the honor and glory of Your Son, Jesus, and for the honor and glory of the Holy Spirit. Father, we pray that You will allow our lives to be living testimony to this glorious message. We ask these things in the name of the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ.