Tag: evil

Making Jesus the Center Point of All that We Do

John 2:24
But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.

Jesus knew that He could not put His trust in any man. He knew their nature, their dispositions, their affections and their evil schemes. Jesus knew what we need to know. Simply put, man cannot be trusted, especially ourselves. The evil within the heart of each man is a snare that cannot be overcome without the grace of Our Savior.

We must put our trust in Jesus Christ alone. If we put our trust in Him, we will find it appropriate to love Him above all things. If we put our trust in Him, we will be drawn to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we put our trust in Him, we will be guided and equipped to tell others about Him and to give Him all the glory. If we put our trust in Jesus, we will live according to the plans that He has set aside for us.

If we doubt the Lord in any area and put our trust in man instead, we will fall short of God’s plans for our lives. For the fullness of life, we must trust the grace of God in all things.

Let us put our trust completely in the Son of God. Let us make Our Savior the foundation of our lives. Let us make Jesus the center point of all that we do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to be the foundation of our trust in You and Your promises to us. May we live each day in complete faith that Your Word is the foundation upon which our lives are built and sustained. May we face each day knowing that Your Son is the source of everything we need. May we lean not on anything from man, but seek everything from Your grace. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Finding Peace in a Troubled World

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Jesus spoke directly to the apostles before He left the earth. He wanted the apostles to know that even though He would be leaving them in the flesh that He would still be with them in spirit. He wanted them to understand that He would be with them always as He is with the Father always. He wanted them go forward in peace, without fear, having faith that the victory was theirs through Him. He wanted them to be empowered by knowing that He had already overcome all the tribulation that the world and Satan himself had to offer. Through His indwelling with them, they would have the power that they needed to endure all things.

And so it is with us. When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, His Spirit indwells with us. We become one with Him as He is one with the Father. We receive all that the apostles were told that they would receive.

Unfortunately, one facet of the things to come for us is the fact that we will face tribulation. We will encounter the fierce opposition of the evil one and of those who represent him. And we will certainly face the persistent opposition of our own flesh. But Jesus wants us to be of good courage and hope for He promises to provide all that we need to overcome anything that is thrown at us. When we surrender to Jesus, we have all that we need to overcome the temptations of Satan, the infirmities of our own flesh and the carnal offerings of the world.

Let us allow our faith to override our fears as we are swamped by trying circumstances. Let us face every trial in life with the peace, the comfort and the confident hope that Jesus has promised us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You in thanksgiving for the power that You have granted us through Your Son, Jesus. We pray that You teach us how to develop and enjoy our relationship with Jesus. May we find our strength in Jesus, just as Jesus found His strength in You when He was in the flesh. May our victories over our tribulations bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit. We pray that our victories become living testimonies that will draw others to Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the Upholder of All Things, 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.

He Promises Exceedingly More

Luke 5:5
And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

It is important to realize that there is power for us in the Word of God. The power that we can access is held in the promises that are revealed to us in the Holy Bible. The promises are the keys to our victory over all the forces of this earth and all the forces of evil that might try to come against us. No matter what we think the promises of this world hold in store for us, the Word of God promises exceedingly more.

Peter exhibited faith in the spoken words of His Master, Jesus. Even though his instincts told him that it was highly questionable to expect a worthwhile catch, he dropped his nets. He had faith that Jesus’ words were more powerful than the forces of nature that he knew were unlikely to deliver a decent catch at this place and time of day. His faith was rewarded. His nets were filled beyond the point of bursting.

Whether we are toiling in a ministry that is not fruitful, laboring in a vocation that is not productive or simply struggling with the issues of life, we should look toward the promises in God’s Holy Word and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our victory is guaranteed and is waiting upon us if we have faith in the Lord.

Let us dig into the Holy Word of God and find those scriptures that best fit our time of need. If we are diligent in our search, we will find the promises that will provide the power that we will need to overcome what the world has laid upon us. Let us rejoice in knowing that His Word is more powerful than anything that the evil one or this world can bring against us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Holy Word to teach us the things that we are promised as inheritors of Your kingdom. We pray that the Holy Spirit shows us how to live our lives in accordance with Your Word and in reliance upon Your promises. We ask that the Holy Spirit strengthen us to stand against everything that comes against us, knowing that through Our Savior we have victory over every circumstance. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gave us victory over all things when He died on the Cross, Jesus Christ.

Choosing to Submit to the Power of God in Our Lives

Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

In Paul’s final letter to the Ephesians, he was making emphatic closing statements. Paul sought to alert the Ephesians that they had a mighty foe that wished to come against them. He made it clear that the battles that they would face would not be battles against flesh and blood, but battles against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Paul then emphasized to the Ephesians that they had all that they needed to stand firm against the enemy. All they had to do was put on the whole armor of God.

In other words, Paul was making them aware of their choices. They could choose to fight against the evil and iniquity in their lives through their own strength or they could choose to take up the strength promised to them by their Savior Jesus Christ. Such is the choice that we have been given.

One of the basic principles of human existence is that God has given us free choice. Even though He has a specific plan for our lives, He allows us to make our own choices along the way. Knowing our frailty, God has given us the Holy Spirit to stand with us as we wrestle with all that the enemy brings against us. God even promised that He will perfect His power in our weakness. 2 Cor 12:9

So why is it that we still wrestle with personal decisions? These personal decisions that tend to overwhelm us can be made a lot easier to handle if we are willing to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in Truth and we are willing to forego the choice of navigating through the trial on our own.

Let us choose to be strong in the Lord. Let us be resolute in our desire to turn everything in our lives over to Him. Let us rejoice in the victory that is promised to us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the weapons that we need to carry us through spiritual warfare and the trials of every day life. We humbly submit to Your power in our lives. We ask that the Holy Spirit stand with us against the wiles of Satan so that we may oppose his schemes and resist his temptations. We pray for the wisdom to understand that we cannot stand against our enemies alone. May we become victors through Christ Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of the ever victorious King of Kings, Jesus Christ.

Finding Peace, Power and Strength During Times of Trouble

Isaiah 40:29
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.

With so much going on around us that we are troubled by, but have no control over, it is easy to become frustrated at our station in life. With so much evil in the world today, it is very easy to become despondent and depressed. But how is this so?

How is it that we do not now trust in that which has been recorded throughout history and is prepared for our understanding in God’s Holy Word? How have we missed being enlightened to the ways in which Almighty God has been forever with us when we have the experiences of good men through their own observation and the God-inspired writings of His apostles and His prophets to instruct us? How have we not learned that the Maker and Former of all things, who upholds, governs and judges all that is under His kingdom, never tires of providing for and protecting the creatures that He created for His own glory? Why do we continue with our foolish frets and fears and not find peace in the storm when the One who vanquishes all that comes against us is always with us?

We should not be surprised at our weakness or lack of understanding. God was perfectly aware that we were not capable on our own to cope with the torments of our own flesh and the attacks of the enemy. Through His immeasurable grace He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. For those that He knew were weak, He provided all the strength required for victory.

Let us gather up our strength in the Lord when we are challenged by the enemy. Let us seek His might when we are being overwhelmed by the world and tormented by our own flesh. Let us rest on His promises as we claim our victories over our troubles.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to overcome this world. We bless the name of Jesus who died on the cross so that we might have victory over all evil. We rejoice in knowing that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to provide peace, comfort and strength through all trials. Father, we pray that our hearts and minds are put to rest with the certainty of Your presence and Your promises. May those around us be comforted by the peace that they see in our lives during times of trouble. We ask all these things in the name of our ever-present Lord, Jesus Christ.

Life Choices are Easy when We Live in the Fullness of the Light of Christ

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

The truth leaves no room for tolerance. There is no room for variance. Something is true or it is not.

Satan’s fingerprints are all over the complexity of issues that we deal with daily in this world. His tactics are simple. Satan builds in layers of grey around the truth. His minions, especially the media, work hard to confuse us. They attempt to build layers of grey around good and evil. They try to make us see elements of evil as good and elements of good as evil.

When our focus is on Jesus Christ, our lives become much simpler. He that dwells within us is the essence of everything good and the absence of evil. He is Truth. Living in Truth is very cut and dry. Simplicity in life is found by living in the light of Christ. From this standpoint, we can see, believe in and adhere to the crystal clear choices offered by the teachings of Jesus.

Let us seek the Truth in all matters. Let us avoid being swayed into believing that the truth lies anywhere in the shades of grey that the world offers. Let us seek the Light of the World to reveal any darkness in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for modeling the good and perfect life that we should strive for. We rejoice in knowing that our choices in life are easy when we abide in Our Savior. We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will provide the wisdom that we need to discern the proper choices that we need to make in life for ourselves and our families. May we learn to live in the light and shut the door on the darkness that the world offers. We ask all these things in the name of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

Putting Our Trust in the Son of God

John 2:24
But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.

Jesus knew that He could not put His trust in any man. He knew their nature, their dispositions, their affections and their evil schemes. Jesus knew what we need to know. Simply put, man cannot be trusted, especially ourselves. The evil within the heart of each man is a snare that cannot be overcome without the grace of Our Savior.

We must put our trust in Jesus Christ alone. If we put our trust in Him, we will find it appropriate to love Him above all things. If we put our trust in Him, we will be drawn to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we put our trust in Him, we will be guided and equipped to tell others about Him and to give Him all the glory. If we put our trust in Jesus, we will live according to the plans that He has set aside for us.

If we doubt the Lord in any area and put our trust in man instead, we will fall short of God’s plans for our lives. For the fullness of life, we must trust the grace of God in all things.

Let us put our trust completely in the Son of God. Let us make Our Savior the foundation of our lives. Let us make Jesus the center point of all that we do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to be the foundation of our trust in You and Your promises to us. May we live each day in complete faith that Your Word is the foundation upon which our lives are built and sustained. May we face each day knowing that Your Son is the source of everything we need. May we lean not on anything from man, but seek everything from Your grace. We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Our Victory and Anointing of Christ

Psalm 41:7
All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the worst for me.

Has the devil been whispering in your ear this Easter season? He may sound something like this:
You are not good enough to minister to others. Let someone else do it.
Why are you trying this? You will fail.
Why would God have a place for a sinner like you? You will be embarrassed if you do that.

Be on guard. One of the Satan’s favorite tricks is to have his whispers come to us through the voices of those who we know, those who we love and those who we trust.

We must take on the full armor of God when the enemy begins whispering defeat into our lives. Our victory and our anointing in Christ has already been set. We need to seize the anointing on our lives that will break off the yokes of insecurity, inferiority, fear, and unbelief.

When Satan accused Joshua, listen to how Jesus responded, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” Zechariah 3:2 We need to respond in the same manner every time Satan accuses us. We must learn to recognize his attacks and respond immediately under the authority of Our King, Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we will become comfortable with the lies spoken against us. The victory is ours in the name of the Lord, Jesus. We must learn to claim it.

Let us close our ears to the enemy’s lies. Let us claim our victory in Christ. Let us proclaim the glory of Our King this Easter season.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the armor that You provide us. We thank You that the enemy cannot lead us astray when we take on the armor of protection that is ours through our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ. Thank You, Jesus, for providing our victory over all evil. Teach us how to live our lives in victory. Prepare the hearts of those around us to be drawn to the life in victory that we display. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is our stronghold in our times of trouble, Jesus Christ.