Tag: Jesus Christ

Becoming Light to a World in Darkness

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once we received our salvation, we were called out of the darkness offered by the world. We were placed into the living light of Jesus Christ. We were called to become priests to spread His light to the world around us. We were called to intercede on the behalf of others so that they may be taken out of the darkness into the light.

In Numbers, we read that the Lord instructed Moses to have the priests, Aaron and his sons, to bless the people in the following way: “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile upon you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.”

These are the blessings that we should desire for those around us when we have accepted our calling into the royal priesthood. As we abide in Jesus, these are the blessings that we should take before the Lord without stopping in intercession for those around us that are in need. We should prayerfully seek nothing but the best of what God has to offer for all of the people in our lives.

Let us pick up our priestly mantle. Let us stand before the throne of God proclaiming the excellencies of Our Savior. Let us call on His Holy Spirit to intercede for all of those who God has placed in our lives. Let us become light to a world that is living in darkness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us out of the darkness of the world and making us part of Your royal priesthood. We praise the name of Jesus who guides us in our priestly duties. May we learn to bless the people in our lives through our prayers and through our living testimony. We ask all these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

Lamp Posts for All to See

2 Corinthians 4:6
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

One of the greatest beauties in all of nature is the full moon. Yet the moon does nothing by itself to generate light. It is an unproductive body of dirt on its own. It only reflects the light of the sun as it moves into its proper position in concert with the earth.

We share similarities with the moon. We are worthless collections of dirt without the light of the Son in our lives. There is absolutely nothing that we could do through our own efforts independent of God that would evoke a light of awareness in the hearts of others. Yet if we keep ourselves in proper position with the Son of God, the light of the Son will shine through us for the world to see.

Just as Almighty God created the moon to be an instrument to transfer light of the sun on the earth into the darkness of the evening, we were created to be instruments to transfer the light of the Son into the darkness of the hearts of those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. May our light shine out in the darkness.

Let us become humble vessels of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Let us bring glory to God in much the same manner as the brilliance of a full moon on a clear evening.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing light at the beginning of creation so that we could see Your glory in the world that surrounds us. We thank You for providing the Light of the World, Your Son Jesus, so that we could see and accept the way to our eternal glory with You. We pray, Father God, that You will shield us from the enemy who tries to take the Light out of our lives. We ask, Lord, that You cleanse us and purify us so that we may be lampposts of Christ for all to see. We ask all these things in the name of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

The Building Blocks of Our Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7
For we walk by faith, not by sight.

From time to time, we truly experience the exhilarating feeling of God’s presence in our lives. We cannot see God, but we know that He is with us. These moments are precious. These moments are important building blocks in the foundation of our faith. These moments are glimpses of things not seen, but things that hold everlasting promise. These are the moments that will carry us through our daily duties and trials when we do not feel the presence of God with us. These moments have eternal value.

On the other hand, the special moments that we experience in the flesh are only temporary. How can we put our faith in the things of the flesh that will be here today and gone tomorrow? How can we put our faith in the calamities of life? How can we put our faith in all those things that will be stripped away at our death?

Let us be governed by the things of eternal hope and not by the appearance and lure of present things. Let us walk by faith as we look to Jesus Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, and eternal life. Let us live in the fullness of life offered by Our Savior. Let us live in confident expectation of the things that are to come. Let us live and act based on our faith which reveals to us that all the promises of God’s Holy Word are true.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the times that You allow us to experience Your presence in our lives. We pray that You will use those moments to build our faith in You. We pray that You will use those moments to strengthen us when our burdens are heavy and we do not feel Your presence. We ask, Lord, that we will be filled with joy even when You have called us to tedious tasks. May the Holy Spirit remind us how pleasing it is to You when we are obedient to Your calling in our lives. We pray that we will be living vessels of those moments in Your presence so that the world around us may experience who You are. May the strength of our faith draw others to Your Son, Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of our eternally faithful king, Jesus Christ.

Is It Hope that We Need Today?

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Is it hope that we need today? Are we seeking hope to relieve the pain that we are suffering? Are we seeking hope to relieve the concern over the financial woes that are hounding us? Or, perhaps, are we seeking hope to ease the torment of conflict in a relationship that we are feeling?

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God. He sent the fallen angels from His kingdom forever because of their sins. He flooded the earth because of the violence and evil of all mankind. He destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. Yet He spared us from our sins by giving us His Son. Through His Son, He provides us with all our temporal needs and all of our spiritual blessings. It is all given freely according to His good will and pleasure.

For while we are without strength, all that we need is provided through Our Savior. While we are sorrowful, we can always rejoice. While we are poor, we can experience His abundant riches. While we may have nothing, we can possess everything through the sacrificial offering of the Son of Almighty God, Jesus Christ.

Let us go boldly and confidently to the throne of Our Heavenly Father. Let us celebrate His desire to meet all of our needs through His all-sufficient Son, Jesus Christ. Let us rejoice in His grace.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with all of our needs, both temporal and spiritual. We exalt the name of Jesus for providing us with that which we do not deserve and could never earn except through His death for our sins. We praise You, Father, for the hope and assurance that we have through Our Savior. He is all that we need. We pray that through Your grace and through the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will find the peace and strength that we need in all circumstances. We ask all these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

The Summation of All of Our Blessings

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

In this passage we are given the summation of all of our blessings. God the Father is the author and giver of all blessings. Jesus Christ is the medium that God the Father uses to dispense His blessings. The sphere of coverage is every single blessing in heavenly places.

The fullness of everything that we need and the fullness of everything that will satisfy us originates with God the Father. Every iota of these blessings is held in the hands of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ. And His Holy Spirit dwells in us as the dispensing fount that we may draw on at any time.

Why should we ever look elsewhere? Man can never be counted on to stand by us through all circumstances. At some point, all men will fail one another. The Lord, Jesus, never fails us. He is with us even under the direst circumstances, even the ones that we have created ourselves.

Let us surrender ourselves to the God and Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us prepare to receive all that He can bestow, all that His Son can provide and all that the Holy Spirit can apply in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You provide to us through Your Son. We pray that You show us how to turn to Jesus first in all things. Strengthen us, Lord, so that we may leave behind our reliance on a fallen world. Prepare us, Father, to stand before You one day and receive the fullness of Your kingdom in heaven. We ask all these things in the name of Our Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Leaving the Old Man Behind Forever

Romans 6:5
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

When Jesus chose to accept the will of His Father, He chose to die on the Cross for the sins of all mankind. Jesus’ death did not come quickly. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer every scourge mark, to suffer every ounce of pain and to suffer the loss of every drop of blood for His sacrifice for mankind to be made complete.

When we chose to accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we chose to let our old sinful man die. Just as Jesus’ death was not carried out quickly, our old sinful nature will not be completely put to rest in short fashion. For the old sinful man in us to die completely, we will have to endure trials, tribulations and sufferings of all type that will transform us to be completely in the will of Our Father in heaven.

With the sacrifice of His human body complete, the Holy Spirit resurrected Jesus’ spirit from His body to return in His glorified body to the Father. When we die in Christ, the same power of His resurrection will lift us from our old lives in the flesh and enable us to stand sinless before the Father in our glorified bodies. It will not be because we became better people. It will be because we will have become completely new people in Christ. It will be because we have been united with Him through His resurrection for all eternity.

Let us joyfully claim our victory over death and sin. Let us exalt the name of Our Resurrected Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for raising Your Son to meet You in heaven after His death on the Cross. Thank You for preparing the way for us to gain our eternal inheritance as Your children through the power of the Resurrection. Father, release the full power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can surrender completely to our new lives in Christ, leaving behind forever the old man that torments us daily. We ask all these things in the name of Our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Day the Sun Withdrew Its Rays

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.

Responsibility to Rescue the Unworthy

Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God. All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become.

From this passage, we learn that for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that we become new men and women in Christ, just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul. As new men and women in Christ, the Holy Spirit is given to us to reveal the lies of this world. The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God’s love.

But do not miss the second message of this passage. There would have been no conversion for Paul without the obedience of Ananias to got out and deliver the message of God, even though He questioned the righteousness of the one that he was called to minister to. We must be careful not to withhold the message of hope from anyone because we feel they are not worthy.

Let us make ourselves seekers of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us learn to overcome the world through the power of Our Wonderful Counselor. Let us make ourselves deliverers of the truth to others who God places around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ. We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them. We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us. We pray that our hearts are prepared to view every person as worthy to receive the Good News that we possess. We ask all these things in the name of the One who rescues those whose spirits are crushed, Jesus Christ.

By the Fullness of His Grace

2 Timothy 2:1
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul wrote the words in this passage to his helper, Timothy, to prepare him for everything that the world was going to throw at him. Paul alerted Timothy that there would be many trials that he would endure. He encouraged him by reminding him that he would be strengthened by the One who sent them out to preach to the people. Paul exhorted Timothy to rely completely on the grace of God and not to turn to his own ways to find his strength.

When the worst that the world can throw at us comes along, we need to be rooted and grounded in our faith in the grace that is provided to us. Our strength and our security will rest upon the faith that we build in the strong, immovable, unalterable love of God that is provided through His grace that is in His Son, Jesus.

As we find ourselves challenged by life, we can be comforted by Paul’s instruction to Timothy. Jesus Christ will never leaves us. When we turn to Him for our direction and our strength, our path is secure. By the fullness of His grace, we are enabled to fulfill our ministries, bear all trials and afflictions and stand against all persecution.

Let us march boldly forward in our walk with Our Savior. Let us open our minds and hearts to receive the abundant grace that He has set aside for us. May His power to overcome all that comes against us be released in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that we receive through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus. We exalt the name of Jesus, who provides the strength that we need to overcome all of the trials and issues in our lives. We ask, Lord, that the Holy Spirit teach us how to rely solely on the fullness of the grace available to us through our relationship with Our Savior. We pray that our firm reliance on Your Son will release His power and His Spirit into our lives and our ministries. We ask all these things in the name of the One who became flesh so that we might receive Your endless grace, Jesus Christ.

The Exact Standard to Which We are Called

John 6:67
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

After teaching a particularly difficult lesson, many of the early disciples that had been following Jesus turned away from Him. At that point Jesus inquired of His apostles, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” If the apostles had chosen to walk away from Jesus because His teaching was too hard, where would the church be today? Fortunately, the apostles were grounded in the way, the truth and the life that was Jesus Christ. They chose to stand firm. They went on to build the foundation of the Church for the benefit of all mankind.

Today, pastors and evangelists are being challenged to answer the same question that Jesus presented to His apostles. Unfortunately, too many of them are quick to create new standards when their beliefs are different from the clear directives of God’s Holy Word. The arguments presented by these misguided pastors and evangelists seem so eloquent and enticing. Their teachings provide a pathway that seems easier and more attuned to our fleshly desires or, at the very least, is more compliant with what we are willing to tolerate. Unfortunately, these errant teachers who have decided to listen to the world, instead of the inerrant Word of God, are destroying the foundation of the Church.

We must decide how we will answer Jesus’ question. Are we going to walk away from His Holy Word and seek out and accept our own new version of Scripture? Are we going to choose not to follow God’s Holy Word as it is written? In effect, are we going to walk away from Jesus because His lessons are too hard for us to follow?

Let us stand with the apostles. Let us stand with Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ. Let us cling to the inerrant Word of Almighty God.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your inerrant Word for us to follow. We pray that You enlighten us. We ask that You open our minds so that we may understand the exact standard to which You are calling us. We beseech You that You may perfect Your strength in our weakness so that we may be steadfast in following the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the Rock upon whom we stand, Jesus Christ.