So That We May Glorify the Father

John 17:4
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Jesus Himself declared that His principal work was to be obedient to the will of His Father in heaven. He did not seek His own glory. He sought only His Father’s glory. In the process, He did away with Satan, sin and death and He provided for the redemption and the salvation of all men.

Just as Jesus was faithful in completing His work on earth to glorify His Father, He will also be faithful in completing His work in us so that we may glorify Our Father. We will not experience the complete fullness of His work in us until we meet Our Savior in His eternal kingdom. But as we surrender to the will of the Father, we can expect to accomplish more here on earth than we can imagine that we are capable of. And we can be certain that our work will bring glory to Our Father in heaven.

Be mindful that Satan and our own flesh will come against us as we seek to glorify the Father on earth. But fear not for the Spirit of the Lord will insure that we overcome the work of the enemy. We do not need to be concerned about our circumstances, Our Savior will be sufficient. And it will all be for the glory of The Father.

Let us surrender everything to Our Father in heaven. Let our obedience to His call on our lives glorify His name. May those around us glorify the Father when they see our faithfulness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that You have given us through Your Son to overcome the world. We bless the name of Jesus for His faithfulness in completing the good work that You gave Him to do. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us and strengthen us so that we may fully surrender to Your will just as Your Son surrendered His all to You. May it all be for Your glory, for the glory of Your Son and the glory of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the obedient Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

God Delights in the Small Things We Do

2 Chronicles 27:6
King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the LORD his God.

Jotham became king at the age of 28. He was obedient in all things. Because of his faithfulness, he was given victory in all of his battles and a resting place of honor when he died.

God does not overlook a single thing in our lives. Everything that we do is examined by Him. He delights in our obedience in even the simplest of acts.

On the other hand, we can miss out on the promises of God in our lives simply by not complying to the small things of life that the Holy Spirit may place on our hearts. How many times have we passed up the opportunity to assist a grouchy neighbor, lend a helping hand to a needy stranger or respond politely and with love when receiving poor service? Each time we passed on one of these or numerous other Holy Spirit led opportunities, we deprived God of His delight in us. It is quite possible that we also limited the release of His power in our lives. It is important that we seek and give full consideration to the will of God concerning all elements of our daily lives.

Let us listen to the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we go through our daily activities. Let us surrender ourselves to being vessels of the perfect love and forgiveness that we have received from Our Heavenly Father. May the fruits of our obedience delight the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the opportunity to bring honor and glory to Your Name when we allow the marvel of Your grace to be exhibited in our lives. Teach us, Father, to recognize You and Your love in the simplest of tasks that are performed in service to others. Lord, we pray that You release the fullness of Your power in our lives as we learn to share Your perfect love and forgiveness with the world around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Reaping All that God has Planned for Us

Matthew 25:18
But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.

What a shame it is to accept our salvation and then to remain mostly unchanged by the Holy Spirit within us. In doing so, we are like the servant that took the talent from his master and buried it in the ground without doing anything with it to increase its value to the master.

When we do not access all that is available to us through the Holy Spirit, like the non-productive servant we will see the flow of the gifts from Our Master cease. We will see ourselves denied the opportunity to reap from all that God has stored up for us. Remember Jesus Christ gave everything for us. He held back nothing. He expects the same from us in return.

Also remember that Jesus rewards those who are faithful in their service to Him. If we look for and seek the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we open our access to all the treasures of heaven. We enable God to prepare us to serve Him and bear fruit for Him in the manner that He planned for us. Often we will find that our harvest for the King is well beyond the limits of our imagination.

Let us eagerly seek the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us hold back nothing from the Lord. Let us insure through our total submission that we reap all that God has planned for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gifts and talents that You have given us. We call on Your Holy Spirit to take us beyond what we see and understand about our own capabilities to a place where we are releasing things in our lives that are not even imaginable to us now. May all the gain we see and all the fruit we bear be for Your honor and Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of Our Bountiful Lord, Jesus Christ.

Relying on Christ for Our Strength

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Almighty God, in faithfulness to His promises, releases provisions to supply our needs and answer our prayers. He knows that our way to heaven is through our carnal wilderness. When we become weary, He is ready to provide what the world cannot provide. He insures that our supply is constant and sufficient. Let us set our troubles before Him.

Why is it that we ever doubt for a second that the Lord has a plan already set in place to relieve us of whatever burden that troubles us? Did He not set aside His own glory to become man to have a plan for our salvation? Did He not shed His own blood so that the plan could be executed on our behalf? Does He not hold all power and wisdom in His hand? When He has done so much already, why would He withhold any good thing from us now?

Let us humble ourselves before Almighty God. He reigns over everything in heaven and on earth. Let us trust in Him to fulfill His promises in our lives. Let us rely on Him for our strength and our peace.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness. We bless the name of Jesus who gave up everything so that we could receive the fullness of Your perfect love and forgiveness. We rejoice in knowing that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to comfort us and strengthen us. We pray, Lord, that you forgive us for being so weak in our faith. We ask that You strengthen our spiritual nature so that we are seeking our comfort and provision from You and not from this world. Let us always be mindful that all things are possible through You. We pray these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.