Tag: frailty

Providing Light to Those in Darkness

Acts 26:18
To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

Paul was sent before King Agrippa by the Jews in an effort to have him killed or at least imprisoned. Paul explained to King Agrippa how he had been led by an encounter with Jesus to abandon his efforts to oppose the message of Jesus of Nazareth and to then turn to a life of proclaiming the message of Jesus to the world.

In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul is describing to King Agrippa the directive and the message that Jesus gave him to bring to the people. The message summarizes for us the fullness of our blessing in Christ, but it also provides us with the responsibility that we share with Paul. For we are all called to spread the Good News that we have received.

It is not uncommon to hear and see people in all walks of life openly professing their disdain for Jesus Christ. People around us need to know and we need to be constantly aware that without our precious Savior, we are doomed to eternal damnation. The sin nature absolutely blocks any possibility that we would choose the light of Jesus Christ over the darkness of Satan. Fortunately for all mankind, Our Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us to overcome our frailty. Through His mercy, He provides a pathway to victory over the darkness in our lives. Through His perfect love and forgiveness, He has given us His Son to be Our Savior. Through His salvation plan, He calls each of us to participate in sharing His salvation story.

Let us choose the Light of the World. Let us choose to be lights to the world. Let us boldly spread the message of the salvation story. Let us insure that everyone around us knows that Jesus washes us clean with His blood so that we can bath in His light and abide with Him for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to atone for our sins and allow us to live in Your magnificent light for all eternity. Your Word tells us that there will be no need for the sun or the moon in eternity for Your light will be sufficient. We pray, Lord, that you will show us how to live in Your perfect light and share it with the world around us. Help us to become living testimony of the loving kindness, mercy and grace that you have provided to us through the sacrifice of Your Son. Father, may our Christian experience be marked by the light that we provide to those around us that are in the darkness. We ask these things in the name of the Light of the World, 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.

Only the Son of Man and Son of God Can Personify Such Compassion

John 19:26-27
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”

The compassion that Jesus Christ has for us is beyond our understanding. His compassion goes beyond human capability. His compassion extends to a level that only He, as the Son of Man and the Son of God, can personify.

His remarkable compassion was fully revealed to us on the Cross. In His moments of agony and pain, as He was fulfilling all that He was called to do, as he was placed between thieves with soldiers gambling for His clothing, He called out to the Father, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In His compassion, He recognized the frailty of all men and extended His perfect love and forgiveness.

Then in the final moments before His death. He made sure that His mother was cared for. He took the time to model that even in our highest calling that we have day-to-day challenges in our lives that must be dealt with. Who but Jesus, could exhibit such personal compassion at the same time that He was taking on the sins of the world?

Let us be acutely aware of our obligations to our family as we undertake our callings as disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit to help us properly prioritize our works as we deal with our spiritual calling from God and our responsibilities in our carnal world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your compassionate understanding of our frailty in the flesh. We bless the name of Jesus who came and lived in the flesh so that we could see how to live both in our highest calling and in our day-to-day responsibilities of caring for our families, our loved ones and those placed around us. We pray that we will be forever mindful of Our Compassionate Savior as we go through the trials of our lives. May we extend the fullness of His compassion for us to the world. We ask all these things in the name of the fount of all compassion and mercy, Jesus Christ.