Tag: Savior

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.

Standing for Christ When Challenged

John 16:32
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.

The apostles and disciples of Jesus scattered as He began His journey to the Cross. They returned to their homes and their old jobs. Their faith was real, but without the Holy Spirit they were not strong enough to stand against those that were persecuting their Master. They left Jesus to stand alone. Fortunately for us, Jesus did not stand alone as the Father remained with Him and provided Him with all He needed to accept His place on the Cross.

Jesus calls us from different times and places in our lives, just as the apostles were called. At some point in time, we will all be called to stand up for our faith. In today’s anti-Christian environment, this challenge is more real than any of us could have ever imagined that it could be. Will we scatter to our old lives when the trials of persecution, the trials of trouble or perhaps the trials of political correctness challenge us? Or will we surrender all to Our Savior?

The answer lies in Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with our own strength, capability nor merit. We must recognize our weakness. If we think we can stand against the world, especially against the enemy, we will certainly fall. We must recognize how weak we are and take our brokenness – all our wounds, all our frailties, all our fears – to Our Savior. We must allow His goodness, His love, His mercy and His kindness to become the essence of our lives. If we accept His free gift of love and life and surrender to Him, we will never stand alone against what the world tosses our way.

Let us stand our ground as the world tries to get us to accept changes that are directly against the Word of God. Let us call on the Holy Spirit to provide the strength that we need. Let us rejoice for we never stand alone.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that we have been called to follow Your Son. We exalt the name of Jesus who gained victory over all sin and all evil on our behalf. We praise His precious name as He stands forever by our sides. We pray, Father, that we may have the wisdom and the strength to recognize and face our brokenness. We ask that the Holy Spirit guide us in surrendering everything to Jesus. As we are challenged by the darkness of the world, my we call on the name of Jesus to stand up for our beliefs. We beseech You, Lord, to complete Your work in us so that we have the courage and the faith to choose Your Kingdom and defend it against the world. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives grace to the humble, 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.

God Perfects His Strength in Our Weakness

Matthew 26:56
But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophet might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.

When the time of testing comes in our lives, where will we stand? Will we stand on the promises of Jesus or will we try to stand on our own strength and capability? Scripture reveals to us that we will be just like the apostles if we rely on our own strength.

The men who had lived with Jesus for three years, sat under His teaching and witnessed all the signs and wonders of His ministry abandoned Him in His time of trial and their time of testing. How could this happen? It is the weakness of the flesh that failed the disciples. They did not yet have the strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome their weaknesses. What a dramatic difference the Holy Spirit made in their lives. After their baptism of the Holy Spirit, all of the apostles boldly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ. All but one, John, died as a martyr while sharing the salvation plan.

We can be sure that in the flesh we are no stronger than the apostles. If we try to live by the flesh without calling on the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us, we will fail in following Our Savior. Thankfully, God promises us in His Holy Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness if we abide in Him. He secures this promise through His Holy Spirit who continuously stands with us so that we will not fail in the times of our testing.

Let us be strong when the world tries to weaken us. Let us be bold when the world tries to shut us down. Let us stand on the promises of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Wonderful Counselor to be with us, to guide us and to strengthen us in our weaknesses. We proclaim our weakness before You, Lord. We ask forgiveness for straying from You. We boldly claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness as we surrender to Your reign in our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives grace to the humble, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Becoming As Pure As Christ

Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Let us be certain that none but the pure of heart shall see God. Let us understand that nothing we can do on our own will satisfy the requirement of pureness of heart when it is time for us to stand before Our Creator.

The purest of notions have no eternal value if the heart of the man is impure. The most impressive outward actions are meaningless if the heart of the man is impure. The Pharisees are outstanding examples of these statements. The Pharisees were outwardly righteous, but inwardly they were full of impurity in their hearts.

Let us not forget that without Christ we are no better off than the Pharisees. Our hearts are naturally unclean and we have no power to make them pure. The only way that we can be pure in heart is to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us from our sins.

By the grace of God, we can submit our lives to the One that was 100% pure. We can make the desire of our hearts to be pure through Him. We can have hearts that are as pure as Christ, the angels in heaven and the glorified saints. Even though we may fail from time to time, we can turn our minds over to Him to be constantly renewed. Yet imperfect, we can have hearts that are entirely pure through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And thus, we can be sure with full faith and confidence that we will see God at the time that He has set aside for us to stand before Him because our hearts will be pure.

Let us surrender our lives to Our Savior so that we may be cleansed of all unrighteousness. Let us rejoice in knowing that one day we will stand pure and righteous before Our Father in heaven and we will be received into His kingdom for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Jesus to this earth as our model of purity. We ask that You mold our hearts so that we may submit to Your Son to rule and reign in our lives. May the power of the Holy Spirit constantly renew our minds. May You provide the armor of protection that we need to shield us from the impurities that the world so freely throws at us. May the world around us be drawn to Your Son, Jesus, because of the purity that they see in us. We ask these things in the name of the One who is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, Jesus Christ.

Our Manifest Destiny in Christ

Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

As the glorious Easter celebration approaches, our thoughts are likely to turn toward a new path ahead in our lives. Let us not rush out to make decisions. Let us move forward toward our new path, not in a disorderly fashion, but under the leading hand, instruction and protection of the Holy Spirit.

Let us move on to our new path knowing that God will be with us. Through His Son, His Holy Spirit has been sent to guide us. Under submission to Our Savior, we can let loose of the things of this earth and grasp on to the things of God’s kingdom. We can shake ourselves from the dust of our doubts and our fears. Our victory was settled on the Cross. May the presence of the Lord be constantly before us and behind us.

Let us live each day knowing that the Lord Jesus reigns in our lives. Let us live in the fullness of the good tidings that came in with His birth and move ahead confidently under the promises of His death and Resurrection. Let us place our futures firmly in His hand. Let us live today in freedom, in peace and in service to His calling on our lives. Let us move forward boldly into our manifest destiny in Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your constant presence in our lives. We thank You that You go before us to prepare our path forward and that You stand behind us to protect us on our journey. We bless the name of Jesus whose victory on the Cross allows us to live our lives without fears or doubts. We pray that the Holy Spirt will guide us as we seek the new lives that You have set aside for us. May those around us in the world be drawn to Your Son as they see us living our lives under His reign. We ask all these things in the name of our ever present shield, 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.