Tag: grace

Bringing the Gospel to All Men is Our Calling

1 Corinthians 9:22
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

Paul shared with the Corinthians his passion to carry out the good work of delivering the message of salvation to all men. He emphasized that this required him to be a servant to all men, regardless of their stature or their spiritual state. In doing so, he was also teaching them that carrying the gospel to all men was their calling also.

God calls people to all walks of life to insure that His gospel message is spread to the world. He calls some to full time ministry, but most are not. Most of us are called to traditional occupations and lifestyles where the Lord wants us to let Christ be revealed by the way we live and by the way we treat others.

God wishes for our messages of love, compassion and forgiveness to be the same whether we are in a boardroom or in a maintenance shop, whether we are in a health club or in a hospital, whether we are at a church function or in the visiting room of a prison. He wants our messaging system to be on non-stop.

Let us surrender our lives to Our Savior. Let us allow the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit to draw spiritual production from us within the structure of our natural lives. Let us strive to have our living testimonies become pathways to salvation for others.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love, compassion and forgiveness that You pour out onto each of us. We praise the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to become vessels of Your grace. We pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten us and invigorate us to carry the salvation message with us as we walk through our daily lives. May we bear fruit for Your kingdom wherever our paths on earth lead us. We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Called to Express the Love of Christ in All Circumstances

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.

By the Hand of God We are Changed

Galatians 1:1
This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.

When Paul was writing and speaking to the Galatians, he made it clear that he was on a completely different path in life when He was touched by the hand of God. Paul emphasized that it was God that changed him and not him who changed himself.

Because of our sin nature, we all begin our lives on an ill conceived path covered by darkness. Until Our Heavenly Father opens our eyes, we can not see the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ. Only when our new path has been made visible to us by the light of the Holy Spirit, can we receive the precious gift of salvation. All who are converted to be new men and women in Christ are called by the grace of God.

Upon accepting our salvation, we begin yet another journey – the journey to become holy. Just as salvation is not a work of our own hand, neither is the working out of our sanctification. The Holy Spirit within us molds our hearts so that we can submit to Jesus as Our Lord, Our Master and Our King. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide us to full submission to Our Savior so that God can do the work in us that is pleasing to Him. All the saved in Christ who are working on their sanctification are under the power and grace of the Holy Spirit working in them.

Let us recognize that there is nothing in this world that can bring us to victory over the darkness that the world offers. Let us be certain that we are totally incapable of overcoming the darkness of the world without the light of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us surrender to the urgings of the the Holy Spirit as He carries out the work of sanctification in our lives. Let us rejoice in knowing that our path to holiness was guaranteed on the Cross.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace that is experienced by us through the gift of our salvation. We praise You for taking us from the darkness of our lives in the flesh into the light of Your Holy Spirit. We rejoice in being guided into full submission to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, that You will strengthen us and regenerate us as we strive to overcome the world in order to live our new lives in Christ. We ask all these things in the name of Our Most Gracious Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Challengers and the Challenged that Surround Us

1 Corinthians 1:2
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

When Paul addressed the Corinthians, he emphasized their sanctification through Jesus Christ. He confirmed that they would be among all the saints in heaven who had also called on the name of Our Lord as their Savior. He stressed that they would all be part of the Body of Christ.

By the grace of God, we are all called to be heirs to His kingdom. Our Heavenly Father’s hand never leaves us as He prepares us to be His saints. It is for His good pleasure and for His glory that He provides His Holy Spirit to prepare us to be His saints. But God also brings commonplace people and commonplace events into our lives to teach us, to encourage us and to confirm the plans that He has for us. He may at times use extraordinary people and extremely uncommon events when He needs to drive a message home.

Let us take careful consideration of the people that God places in our lives. Let us be aware of the challengers who are there to test us on an ongoing basis in order to stimulate our spiritual growth. Let us also be aware of the challenged who are there for us to encourage, build up and serve.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect plan to have us join You in heaven for all eternity. We bless the name of Jesus for His shed blood that washes us clean and makes it possible for us to enter into Your presence. We pray, Lord, that You will release many teachers, encouragers and confirmers into our lives. We ask for ears to hear them and the wisdom to follow their counsel. We pray that we may also become teachers, encouragers and confirmers in the lives of others on their journeys to sainthood. We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy and Awesome Lord, Jesus Christ.

Following the Lead of Our Master

Mark 10:21
And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

On earth, only Jesus has achieved absolute abandonment to The Father. Only He could. Yet He commanded His disciples to follow Him. He was asking them to follow the lead of their Master. He was asking them to release their hold on the things of this earth and take hold of His kingdom.

As disciples of Jesus Christ in this age, we are also called to follow the lead of Our Master. We are therefore called to be diligent in the constant process of releasing all of our carnal desires as we fully surrender to the will of the Father in our lives. This is an ongoing and arduous process for each of us.

In our time on earth, none of us will reach the point of absolute abandonment to the Father as Jesus did. Only when we reach our place in heaven with Jesus, will we have completed the process and stand before the Father in the perfect and pure image of Our Savior.

Let us continuously recognize and renounce our earthly desires through the inspiring work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us begin shedding all of our shortcomings one by one through the grace of Almighty God and the saving work of Jesus Christ. Let us commit ourselves to unconditional identification with Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your precious love and provision. We proclaim our love for You and humbly offer to You all that You have given us. Father, we pray that we will be led by the Holy Spirit to surrender all that we have, all that we will every have, all that we are and all that we will ever be to You. May we exchange the things of this earth for the treasures of Your kingdom. May we take hold of the fullness of the eternal life in Jesus as we release our hold on our worldly possessions and desires. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our Eternal King, Jesus Christ.

The All-Sufficient Grace of Our Savior

Matthew 5:40
And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.

Jesus’ instructions to His disciples was simple enough. It just does not make sense to us and it probably did not make sense to them. It is not natural for us to bear an injury for the sake of peace. In the flesh, it is difficult for us to meet this standard.

As we become disciples of Jesus Christ, we learn to commit our concerns to the Lord. We learn to avoid the disputes that our flesh would demand. We come to recognize through the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit that our flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. Only our spirit will find its resting place with the Father. And it will be our spirit that will find supernatural peace and comfort on this earth when we follow the principles that Our Lord teaches.

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ cannot be carried out in the flesh. God does not start with our natural ability and build on it. He only asks that we rely on His grace and submit to the presence and the supernatural work of the One that dwells within us. And as He promises, His grace is sufficient.

Let us relinquish all the power that we think we have in the flesh in exchange for the supernatural power that we receive in the spirit through Jesus Christ. Let us strive to be spirit-filled, fully empowered disciples of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the all-sufficient grace that You provide that allows us to live as disciples of Your Son, Jesus. We humbly acknowledge, Father, that You do not see us as who we are today or who we have been. We rejoice in knowing that You see us as who we are in Christ. We pray, Lord Jesus, that You will walk by our side and lead us to the way of peace. We ask that You show us how to draw the world to You through our living testimony as Your disciples. We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Reflecting the Character of the One within Us

Matthew 5:48
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples, He knew full well that they were incapable of being perfect. He was asking them to consider the manner in which they represented Him. He wanted their behavior to distinguish them from others in the world around them. He wanted them to be living examples of the good character of the representatives of His kingdom.

We are most comfortable in life when we are around people we like. We also feel comfortable when we are asked to do things that we know that we are capable of doing successfully. In these times of ease, our personality and our capabilities often shine and our performance appears to be nearly perfect, at least from a secular standpoint. While this type of behavior is certainly good, it generally will not separate us from the secular crowd. We are likely to rely on our own strengths, resulting in us just blending into society without reflecting the presence and character of the One who dwells within us.

On the other hand, when we are challenged by our circumstances and we purposely follow the perfect example of Jesus and draw on Him for our strength, our behavior as His representatives will draw the others to Our Savior. When we seek and allow the fruits of the Holy Spirit to flow through us, the world around us will see us modeling the life of Our Savior and be drawn to Him.

Jesus commands us to make it our duty to desire to press forward in grace and holiness, so that we may conform ourselves to His example under even the most difficult circumstances. He desires for us to be perfect like the Father.

Let us lean on the Son of God as our model and submit to His indwelling Spirit in our lives. Let us strive for the perfection that He is calling us to. Let us draw the world to Our Savior as they see us modeling Jesus Christ in our daily lives regardless of our circumstances.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to be our perfect model for life. We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to guide us to follow Jesus’ example. We rejoice in knowing that our obedience will result in the gifts of the Holy Spirit being poured out on the world around us. We pray that we may exhibit unusual love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control as we are being taxed by our situations. May You receive all the praise and glory, Lord. We ask all these things in the name of the perfect Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

Importance of Letting Our Light Shine During Times of Trial

Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We are mere vessels on this earth. Whatever we receive from the Lord, whether we are in good times or in bad times, needs to be released into the world. We will find that we are particularly effective in glorifying Our Father in heaven when our good works are evident during the times that we are under burdensome trials.

Upon receiving His Living Water, we must share what we have received with the thirsty amongst us. To dam up the outpouring that we receive can actually damage us. The vessel that receives and receives without pouring out will eventually burst or, at the very least, fill to the point of being unable to receive any more. Then upon being filled without flow, the vessel will become stagnant.

Upon receiving His Light, we must let His Light flow through us to the darkness in the world around us. Jesus taught that we are the light of the world and emphasized that no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but places it on a stand so that all can share the light. It is our responsibility to allow others to be exposed to the Light that is within us.

Let us strive to allow our light to shine before men even when we find ourselves in our darkest trials. Let us insure that the light of the Gospel and the knowledge of the mysteries of God’s grace are openly declared and manifested in the world. Let us be known for our zeal and our fervency, our sincerity and our openness and our integrity and our persistence even under trial. Let us endure in our trials so that the Father is glorified in all that we do.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for all the blessings that You pour into our lives. We pray that You will protect us from clinging to our blessings to satisfy ourselves. May we freely take our blessings, whether they be things of this world or portions from Your heavenly treasure, and pour them out before You. May the Holy Spirit guide us so that our sacrifice and our works are suitable and pleasing to You. May the world receive Your Light and Your Living Water through us. May it be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Manifesting the Holiness of Christ in Our Lives

1 Peter 1:16
Since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Holiness is the desire and duty of every Christian. Recognizing that sustained holiness is beyond our grasp because of our sin nature, we must be mindful that it is still remains our responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ to reflect His holiness in our lives. We must seek holiness in all of our endeavors under all circumstances. We should reflect our holiness as we engage with all people.

Of course, this level of holiness is not reachable through our own efforts. We must trust in the grace of God for His holiness to be reflected in our lives. We must turn to the Holy Spirit for strength so that we can manifest the holiness that God has given us through the presence of His Son in our lives.

We shall be holy. It is a promise from Our Savior. We just will not be absolutely holy at any time in our life on earth. Absolute holiness is the final product for the disciples of Jesus Christ. We will become absolutely holy when we go to meet Our Lord for all eternity.

Let us prepare ourselves to live in the fullness of the manifest holiness of the One who dwells within us. Let us strive to have the world see us as holy.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the atonement that You have provided through Your Son which allows us to be holy, as You are holy. We rejoice in knowing that we are in perfect union with You when we are abiding in Your Son. We ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit will help us to be on guard against the sins to which we are inclined. We pray that Your countenance shine upon us and Your grace be with us always so that we may turn away from evil and obey Your will in all areas of our lives. May the world see the holiness of Your Son in our lives. We ask all these things in the name of Your Holy One, Jesus Christ.

God Promises to be With Us Through the Trying Times

Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

The trials of fire and water can be in the context of natural disasters or they can be in the context of figurative calamities which come upon us rapidly and are immediately overwhelming to us personally. Whether our trials are figurative or literal, God promises that we shall not be consumed by any trouble or peril that threatens to distress us greatly. In fact, God assures us that He plans to turn our trials to our advantage. He intends to teach and instruct us through our afflictions as He delivers us out of them.

Suffering will come in our lives. It is not a matter of if, it is only a matter of when. We can be comforted in knowing that through all these trying times that God will be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us. He promises to not only guide us and strengthen us through these things that are so troublesome to our flesh, but to use each of these times to nurture us and draw us closer to Himself.

When all is said and done, we will find that it is during the times of suffering that we see the greatest transformation in our lives. With our eyes focused on Our Savior and not our problems, we will see layers of self peeled away and the likeness of Christ rising up in us. Through His grace, we will see the fires of chaos burn away our uneven edges and the overflowing waters carry away our dross.

Let us find Jesus in the storms of our lives. Let us draw closer to Him as we receive the comfort, guidance and strength that He promises. Let us grow spiritually through His nurturing during our times of greatest trial.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the comfort of knowing that You are always with us. We bless Your name for the strength that You provide for us to wade safely through the storm waters of life. We pray that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to focus on Our Savior Jesus Christ and not on the trials that are trying to overwhelm us. We pray that You will provide refreshing when we are so weary in the battle. We ask all these things in the name of Our Fortress and Our Protector, Jesus Christ.