Tag: Jesus

Helping Others to Claim Their Eternal Inheritance as Children of God

Luke 23:31
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?

As the women were weeping for the suffering of Jesus as He was on His way to be crucified, He prophesied the terrible judgement that awaits those that do not accept the new life that He offers them. He emphasized the message of His prophecy by using Himself as the standard against which judgement will be made.

Jesus compared Himself to a green tree, full of life, flourishing in every aspect of its existence. Such a tree is not proper to be cut down before its time, nor is it fit to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the righteousness and innocence of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, Jesus was comparing the sinner to dry, dead wood. Such wood is rotten and deserving to be fuel for the fire. The metaphor was designed to express the depravity and worthlessness of the sinner.

If He, who is pure and perfect in every measure and is the essence of life itself, had to suffer beyond the human capacity for pain and then die for our sins, why then should we, the driest of woods, not expect to die for our sins? We should expect death for the wages of sins is death. We can only escape the punishment for our sins and claim our inheritance as children of God by accepting the offer of eternal life through Our Savior.

Let us become vessels of the life of Christ within us. Let us look deep inside and make sure that we are not dry wood, bearing no fruit, showing no sign of allowing the life of Christ within us to be released to the world around us. Let us submit and surrender to the abundant life that dwells within us. Let us then seek out those around us who are living in the driest places. Let us present them with the Living Water that has taken us out of our dry places so that they might also experience life in Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is found only in Your Son, Jesus. We praise the name of Jesus for all that He suffered on our behalf. We rejoice in the inheritance that awaits us. We pray that You will raise us up to be living testimonies to the new life that we have in Christ so that others may join us in our eternal places in Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of the life giving spirit, Jesus Christ.

Making Jesus Christ the Ruling King of Our Lives

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Our corrupt nature, called the old man, is crucified with Jesus Christ by the grace granted from the Cross. Accepting the crucified Christ as Our Savior allows us to accept the crucifixion of our old selves. As Christ submitted totally to the Father, we also submit totally to the Father through the power of the new spirit of Jesus Christ that lives within us.

The power of evil within us was nailed to the Cross by the sacrifice of Our Savior so that the damning power of that evil might be subdued, weakened and put under restraint. But we must recognize that the old man continues to exist in a weakened and dying state, struggling to stay alive within us. So it is important that we develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as our ruling King. In doing so, we will shut down any place for the old man to rule. We will see the old man completely destroyed, abolished and done away with. Our bondage to sin will be done away with forever.

Let us claim our freedom from sin. Let us take firm hold of our victory over the callings of the old man. Let us rejoice in knowing that our union with our crucified Savior ensures that one day we will see the complete and total death of our old selves. Let us celebrate our daily walk of sanctification with the Holy Spirit as our guide.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Precious Lamb, Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed for our sins. We accept our co-crucifixion with Jesus. We stand before You to ask for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us as our old man tries to pull us back into sin. We pray that the Holy Spirit will urge us to keep our eyes on the Cross and not on the world. May it all be for the glory of the Precious Lamb. We ask all these things in the name of the One who suffered so much for us, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Gates of Heaven Opened to Receive Us

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 Endless Flow of the Love of God

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God is love. His love is unconditional and without end. His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. His love for us is reinforced daily by the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Through His love, Almighty God gives us an unfailing hope for our future. Let us not lose sight of the truth that our hope for our future is so much more than how we feel about our future or what the world tells us about our future. Our hope rests upon a very special love gift from God. Our hope is built upon the Good News of God for the world that He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life.

Through His love, Almighty God also gives us His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to give us the strength to bear all things that come against us and the spiritual maturity to endure all the tribulations that make up life on this earth. His grace is poured out on us in this manner so that we may overcome the world.

Most importantly, Almighty God created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him. He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring. When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us. By returning our love to the Father through our service to those around us, we become living testimonies of His perfect love.

Let us prepare our hearts to become vessels of God’s perfect love and forgiveness. Let us show the world His love through our compassionate sharing of the love He has given us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally. We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly. Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love. Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives. May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us. We pray, Father, that the world will be drawn to Your Son when they see Your love at work in us. We ask all these things in the name of the One who delights in our steadfast love, Jesus Christ.

Breaking Off the Yokes of Insecurity, Fear and Unbelief

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

Is the devil 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.

The Enduring Spiritual Endowments Received Through Our Savior

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior. The scripture foretold that Jesus would be given extraordinary endowments through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit these same wondrous endowments for ourselves. The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional. It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual influences to assist us in being holy, pure and wise. Each pairing is made up of a spiritual gift and the resulting impact of that gift in our lives:
1) We are provided wisdom from which comes the understanding to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) We are provided counsel from which comes the might that gives us the direction and the power that we need to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) We are provided knowledge from which comes the fear of the Lord which establishes the foundation of our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

Let us be mindful of all the gifts that Christ made available for us when He died on the Cross. Let us seek the fullness of the Spirit of the Lord to overwhelm us each day. Let us use our gifts to produce great fruit for the Kingdom of Almighty God and bring honor and glory to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us. We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters. We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom. We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives power to the faint and might to those without strength, Jesus Christ.

The Power of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives

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.

The Immeasurable, Unconditional Love of God

Ephesians 3:19
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Jesus loves each one of us unconditionally. He loves us so much that He gave up His position as Son of God to become Son of Man. He endured the pain and shame of the Cross so that He could become the sacrificial lamb that was necessary to provide the blood to wash away our sins, to make us acceptable to the Father.

He extended His unconditional love by sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, so that we would understand His offer of salvation and accept it. He continues to extend His unconditional love by dwelling within each of us that have accepted Him as Our Savior, so that we may have the strength and the power to overcome the sinful nature that still tries to rule in our lives.

He continuously pours out His perfect love and forgiveness to each of us. He places no limit on the love that He pours into us because He wants it to overflow our cups. He wants us to become living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness so that the world will know Him and know the fullness of His love.

Let us lift the name of Jesus above all other names. Let us rejoice in His incomparable love. Let us claim the fullness of life and power that comes from a relationship with the Son of God. May our changed lives proclaim His immeasurable love, so that others may be drawn to Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love and forgiveness that You have poured out into our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus who became the Son of Man in order to fulfill our need for a perfect sacrificial lamb. We thank You, Father, for the blood of Your Son that washes away our sin and makes it possible for us to receive and share Your perfect love. We ask that we may become instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness for the world around us. We pray that we will live in the fullness of the life and power that is offered by You through Your Son. We ask all these things in the incomparable name of the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Carrying the Salvation Message to the World

John 3:29
It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.

John the Baptist was joyful and absolutely secure in his role as the best man to introduce the Bridegroom to the world, Jesus Christ. He was quick to let everyone know that it was the Bridegroom that was worthy of all the praise, honor and glory.

The promises/vows of Jesus Christ are the foundation upon which we stand as Christians. Our responsibility is to go forth and share His vows with the world. We are not to take one iota away from His message in order to make ourselves the center of attention or perhaps to shape the message in a way that is more appealing to hardened hearts. We are simply to allow the joy that we have received as a result of His vows to be poured out from us on to the world around us.

As it was for John, we should find great pleasure in being ministers of the Gospel. To be able to carry the message of salvation within us and allow it to flow out to the world around us should be the perfection of our joy. It should be the greatest desire of our hearts just as it was for John.

Let us boldly proclaim the sacred vows that Jesus has taken for His bride. Let us go out and invite the world to the coming wedding feast.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided the Bridegroom to come to get us to be His bride at the wedding feast of the Lamb. We rejoice in knowing that we have the privilege of extending invitations to the greatest of all marriage ceremonies. Prepare us, O Lord, to humbly extend Jesus Christ’s invitations to those around us. We pray, Father, that none shall reject the sweetest of all invitations. May all praise, honor and glory go to Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of Our Coming Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

The Saving Work of the Cross

John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.

John the Baptist had the perfect understanding of His relationship with Jesus Christ. He knew that he was a sinful man who was created, prepared and sent to show the way for the One from Above who was coming to save the world. He understood that he had no power and that all the power belonged to Jesus. Most importantly, John was completely satisfied with his place and the work assigned to him.

From the life of John the Baptist we get a great model for bringing others to salvation. It is our job to bring others to Christ. It is not our job to save them. The saving work of the Cross will be done by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We also learn from the words of John the Baptist the model for our spiritual maturation. We must increase our life in Christ as we allow our life in the flesh to decrease. We must allow our new man to rise and our old man to die. We do not lay down what we are called to do in the flesh, but instead come in complete harmony with the work of the beloved One who dwells within us.

Let us free ourselves from the idea that our job is to save others. Let us introduce others to Jesus and let them see the impact of His presence in our lives so that they are drawn to Him. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of those around us so that they will be open to receiving their Savior King, Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Holy Word which lays out the models for our lives through the lives of Your servants spoken of in the Bible. Help us, Lord, to understand the depth of the teachings that come from each of Your precious servants. Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may surrender our lives completely to Your Son, Jesus. Help us, Lord, to live our lives in such a way that others are drawn to Your Son. As we give up our lives in the flesh for our lives in Christ, bring others to us to be introduced to Jesus. May our living testimonies affect the world. We pray that we see many around us surrender their lives to the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. We ask all of these things in the name of Our Divine Deliver, Jesus Christ.