Tag: Savior

What Marks Us as Disciples of Jesus Christ

1 John 2:2
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

God so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for the sins of all of mankind. In this one act, we see the perfect love and the perfect forgiveness of both the Father and the Son. The advocacy of the Son is limited to believers, but the propitiation for sin extends as far and as wide and as deep as the evidence of sin in all people.

When we receive the Son, Jesus Christ, as Our Savior, we are receiving the fullness of His perfect love and forgiveness. We also receive the indwelling Holy Spirit who instills in us this perfect love and forgiveness to share with the world around us. As it is with the Father and the Son, we are to withhold love and forgiveness from no man.

With all the anger and bitterness that is spewed every day in our society, we should not withhold even the smallest portion of love and forgiveness from any man anywhere. Our ability to love and forgive under all circumstances is what marks us as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Let us set aside the anger that the world stirs in us. Let us refuse to partner with the bitterness that our flesh demands. Let us live in the fullness of joy and peace that is only found through perfect love and forgiveness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the unlimited flow of love and forgiveness that comes from Your Throne. We bless the name of Jesus for becoming sin for every man so that we all could receive the eternal gift of salvation. We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will guide us as we learn to become free flowing vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness. We ask for the grace to overcome all bitterness, anger and unforgiveness in our lives so that we may in no way hinder the provision of Your love to the world around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Going Beyond Our Knowledge About Jesus

Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Mary Magdalene was a terrible sinner but she was forgiven from her past sins by Jesus as He cast 7 demons out of her. She accepted all that He offered to her. Following her deliverance, Mary Magdalene traveled with Jesus as one of his followers. Based on what Jesus had done for her, Mary was brave enough to stand by Jesus in his hours of suffering, death and beyond. She had a true relationship with her Savior.

On the other hand, when it came to doctrine, Mary was not well schooled. She certainly would have looked foolish if she had been challenged in doctrine by the Pharisees who were known for their knowledge of God. But with all their knowledge about God, they did not know Jesus. They did not have an intimate, saving relationship with Him. They did not receive what He had to offer to them.

The Holy Word teaches us that even the demons are profoundly knowledgeable about Jesus, but they do not know Him. They certainly do not have an intimate relationship with Him. Full knowledge of Jesus means nothing unless He knows us. The only way that Jesus knows us (as in accepts us into His kingdom) is if we have accepted Him as Our Savior. When we respond to Jesus’ voice and accept Him as Our Savior, then our relationship with Him springs forth for all eternity.

Let us go to the door and receive the One who knocks. Let us open our hearts to Him. Let us seek to have an intimate relationship with Our Savior King. Let us proclaim our relationship to the world so that others may know Him, too.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with a Savior. We thank You for sending Your Son to this world so that all could know Him. We thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to open our hearts so that we could receive Your Son as Our Savior. We pray, Father, that You will teach us how to go beyond our knowledge of who You are and move into a living relationship with Your Son. May Jesus become the center of all we do. May others come to know Him through our living testimonies. We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.

Turning Our Hearts to Jesus

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Human rationalization leads us to believe that everyone at some level has a good heart. God’s Holy Word emphasizes that the opposite is true. The human heart is corrupt. Without Jesus Christ, the human heart is in fact deceitful above all things. Is it no wonder that in today’s news that we see evil called good and good called evil?

As a society, we have pushed God and His Son out of the picture. Collectively, we have placed our confidence in ourselves and others. The result has been in accordance with God’s Word. We now find ourselves in a culture that is desperately wicked. We see leaders that are delusional. We live among a people who mock the name of Jesus and persecute those that follow Him and choose to live by His standards.

How could all this happen? Does God not know how incapable we are to manage our own hearts? Of course He does. That is why He gave us His Son, Jesus, to be Our Savior. That is why He took the management of our hearts out of our own wretched hands and placed it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who was instructed to open our minds and hearts to see the way, the truth and the life that is Jesus.

Let us seek the Holy Spirit to help prepare our hearts to receive Jesus as Our Savior. Let ask the Holy Spirit to mold our hearts to surrender to Jesus as Our Lord, Our Master and Our King.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing the wickedness in our hearts. We thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that we have a way to overcome our desire to be the rulers over our own hearts. We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to inspire us to turn our hearts over to Jesus. We pray that the lost around us may know the true nature of their hearts as they see the difference that Jesus Christ has made in our hearts. We ask all these things in the name of the Refiner and Purifier of our hearts, Jesus Christ.

Father God Will Only See Our Holiness

Matthew 5:20
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

No man can make himself pure enough to enter heaven by obeying the laws. The Pharisees created laws upon laws that were supposedly put in place to prepare them for their way to heaven. Jesus put to rest the folly in their thinking. Jesus taught that there was no possibility for anyone to enter heaven without accepting Him as Savior.

It is also revealed to us in the Holy Word that no one can stand before the eternal light and consummate holiness of Almighty God with the slightest taint of sin. Thus there is the need for us to accept Our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is He, and He alone, that washes us clean of our sin. It is His shed blood that makes us worthy to stand before the Most Holy, Almighty God of the Universe. It is the Son of God that secures our eternal destination in heaven.

As babes in Christ, we joyfully celebrate our eternal gift as heirs to the kingdom of God. But our joy is quickly challenged when we realize that we must still deal with the sin nature within us. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we become cognizant of how wretched we are in our carnal nature. We also come to the place we recognize that we are incapable of overcoming our wretchedness on our own. But we must not let this steal our joy. In fact, we should experience an even greater joy as the Holy Spirit teaches us just how essential our decision was to accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior.

Let us not lose our joy as we struggle with our carnal nature. Let us remain in the joy that we experienced as new babes in Christ. Let us rejoice in knowing that we will stand before Almighty God with the assurance in Christ that the Father in heaven will only see our holiness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for making it possible for us to stand in Your presence one day. We praise You for making The Word flesh so that we could be inheritors of the only bloodline without sin. We rejoice in knowing that one day our holiness will be complete as we shed our earthly bodies and take on the pure, supernatural bodies that You have set aside for us. We pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us as we learn to shed the corruption of our flesh here on earth in preparation for the time that we go to our full glory with You in heaven. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

Repaying Our Debt Through Service to Others

Romans 1:14
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Paul was inspired by his view that Jesus Christ was his spiritual creditor. He was constantly driven to impart all that he had received from Jesus to the world around him. It was impossible for him to contain what he had been given through grace. So it should be with us.

Redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether His. For His sake we are debtors to all of God’s people. To serve all people is our duty. We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us. We should rejoice to make others joyful. We should take pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us. We should be ready to serve those who are not yet believers.

Let us be careful not to contain what has been poured out upon us. Let us prepare ourselves to be founts of living water. Let us allow the love of Our Savior to spill out from us to the world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You providing Your Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin debt for all eternity. Inspire us, Lord, to understand that through the gift of salvation we have become debtors to all people. Show us how to repay that debt through the services that You call us to do. Teach us how to impart the joy that You have given us. Equip us to share the good news with those who You bring into our lives. We pray that it may all be done for the honor and glory of the Blessed Trinity. We ask all these things in the name of Our Glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

New Creatures in Christ

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are the handiwork of the creator of the entire universe, but not merely as creatures, but as new creatures in Christ. We were prepared before hand with the capacity to perform good works for the pleasure, the praise and the honor of Almighty God. We were created not just to perform one good work but to continue to walk in a series of good works. We were created to perform righteous and holy work as visible representatives of Our Savior.

There is nothing that we will face in life that is too big or too small for Jesus to overcome for us. He is waiting to comfort us and guide us and intercede for us in every minute detail and in every seemingly insurmountable circumstance in our lives. Once we receive Jesus as Our Savior, it is His promise that He will insure that we are successful in carrying out His plans for our lives. Why should we try to rely on our own power when we have the power of the creator and sustainer of the universe available to us?

Let us seek Jesus in every element of our lives. Let us submit every breathing moment to Him. Let us rejoice, knowing that He awaits to intercede for us!!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son, Jesus, who comforts us, guides us and intercedes for us. We pray that You teach us how to put all of our trust in Him. We ask that You shield us from all the distractions that we bring into our own lives. May we learn to walk in the ways that Jesus reveals to us in our hearts. May the Holy Spirit guide us and strengthen us as we seek to endeavor in the righteous and holy work of Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of Our Righteous and Holy King, Jesus Christ.

Victory Over Sin Was Settled at the Cross

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he knew that they were struggling with sin in their lives just as we all are. He knew that they found it easier “to behave” when they were in his presence, just as we are more on guard in the presence of others. He exhorted them to be constant in their battle against sin whether He was there or not.

He was not telling them that they were working to earn their salvation. He was telling them how to overcome the ongoing attacks of the flesh which would try to lead them back to the sin that had been washed away forever by their Savior. He was reminding them that their victory had already been set aside by the One who had died for their sins and dwells within them. He was emphasizing that they must live in reverent awe of their Savior and not be lead by the whims of their flesh.

So it is with us. We do not work to earn our salvation. If we have received Jesus as Our Savior, we have been redeemed and washed clean of all of our sin. The work of salvation that Paul speaks of is really the work of sanctification. It is the process that we go through as we learn to lean on Jesus and not our own strength to overcome the work of the enemy in our lives.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the sin that we are holding on to. Let us surrender to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us rejoice in pleasing the Lord as He strengthens us to walk the path of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we proclaim our sin before You and ask for Your forgiveness. We thank You that this issue has been settled on our behalf for all eternity. We pray that we may be continually washed by the blood of Your Son and strengthened daily by His presence in our lives. We ask to live in reverent awe of who You are so that we will come under the purifying conviction of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Obediently Stepping Up to the Challenge

Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Jesus fulfilled everything that He was called to do. Even though He was tested beyond human imagination, He never faltered once in His obedience to the plans of God for His life. Through the process, it was a blessing to us all that Jesus did not listen to the voice of others around Him. Peter specifically rebuked Jesus for proclaiming such a tragic ending to His life. Jesus let Peter know that he spoke Satan’s language when he suggested that Jesus step away from His mission.

It is very easy to say, “I give up. I cannot do it.” This is especially true when we allow others in our lives to suggest that the values of man should be given more weight than the callings of God upon our lives. In essence, if what we are pursuing is of God, then giving up is denying the promises of God Himself.

Jesus overcame all of His trials because He was one with the Father and He trusted in the promises of the Father. And indeed, He did rise on the third day, fulfilling all of God’s promises for mankind. In the same way, we are to be anxious in nothing for God promises to take care of our every need and He promises to finish anything that He has called us to do. Our victories are in fact complete before we are even aware of our calling to their pursuit.

Let us stand firmly on the promises of God Almighty. Just as Jesus did, let us surrender in complete obedience to God’s calling on our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to be the guarantor of Your promise of eternal life available to each of us. We exalt the name of Jesus for His complete obedience to His calling as Our Savior. We pray for the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we may be obedient to the completed purpose and plans that You have set aside for our lives. May we stand firmly on Your promises. We ask these things in the name of the One who secured our victories on the Cross, Jesus Christ.

In Complete Harmony with the Work of Our Savior

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.

Comforting Presence of Jesus

Psalm 139:7
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

There is no place that we can go to get away from God. He chases us no matter where we go because He loves us so much. He pursues us with an undeniable and unlimited fervor because He has so much invested in us. He created us. He gave up His Son on our behalf, so that He could derive value from us not only here on earth but in heaven for all eternity.

When we are at our lowest point and it seems that Satan is winning, God just smiles confidently. He is there with us. He gives us the strength for another breath and another step. He sets an unquenchable fire in us for Him. He knows that the victory is His and ours through Jesus Christ.

Yet He weeps at the same time because He sees us falling short of our potential of who we are in Christ. He weeps because He sees us allowing our flesh to pull us and tug us in the wrong direction. All along though, He can smile because He knows His steadfast grasp on our lives will soon enough lead to our surrender to Him. He is ready to build something enormous in us, something within the depths of our souls that will cause us to rise up and say, “I am not going there anymore for I am a new man in Christ.”

Thus through His constant presence and never ending love for us, we will reach a place where we seek Him and Him alone. The world will become but a distant memory as we settle into our place of eternal comfort in the hands of Our Heavenly Father who has always been there for us.

Let us be inspired by the Holy Spirit to walk in the fullness of our new lives in Christ. Let us seek the comforting presence of Our Savior at all times in everything we do. Let us show the world how He changed us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your relentless pursuit of our affection. We thank You for loving us first so that we could love You. We bless the name of Your Son, Jesus, who made it possible for us to live in the comfort of Your presence for all eternity. We pray, Father, that You set the fire in our souls that sends us running to You in full and immediate surrender. May every breath we take be used to turn our faces toward You and away from the world. May the world around us know us by Your presence in our lives. We ask all these things in the name of Our Omni-Present Lord, Jesus Christ.