Tag: Son of God

We Are to Withhold Love and Forgiveness from No Man

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.

Balancing the Call of God on Our Lives with Our Daily Responsibilities

John 19:26-27
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”

The compassion that Jesus Christ has for us is beyond our understanding. His compassion goes beyond human capability. His compassion extends to a level that only He, as the Son of Man and the Son of God, can personify.

His remarkable compassion was fully revealed to us on the Cross. In His moments of agony and pain, as He was fulfilling all that He was called to do, as he was placed between thieves with soldiers gambling for His clothing, He called out to the Father, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In His compassion, He recognized the frailty of all men and extended His perfect love and forgiveness.

Then in the final moments before His death. He made sure that His mother was cared for. He took the time to model that even in our highest calling that we have day-to-day challenges in our lives that must be dealt with. Who but Jesus, could exhibit such personal compassion at the same time that He was taking on the sins of the world?

Let us be acutely aware of our obligations to our family as we undertake our callings as disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit to help us properly prioritize our works as we deal with our spiritual calling from God and our responsibilities in our carnal world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your compassionate understanding of our frailty in the flesh. We bless the name of Jesus who came and lived in the flesh so that we could see how to live both in our highest calling and in our day-to-day responsibilities of caring for our families, our loved ones and those placed around us. We pray that we will be forever mindful of Our Compassionate Savior as we go through the trials of our lives. May we extend the fullness of His compassion for us to the world. We ask all these things in the name of the fount of all compassion and mercy, Jesus Christ.

God Gives Us What is Best for Us in His Timing

John 11:6
So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

In today’s world, everything happens at such a rapid pace. Almost any product can be ordered on line and delivered within one to two days. There are now some on-line delivery services that promise delivery of the new item within two hours. To stand in line for anything drives us up a wall. We simply have lost all patience with anything other than instant gratification.

The problem with instant gratification is that it often fails to deliver on the expectations of the moment. That shiny new toy that we were so excited about seldom fulfills all that we thought it would.

Unfortunately, we carry our need for instant gratification into our prayer life. When we find ourselves or our loved ones afflicted with pain or disease, in financial need or in a very dry place spiritually, we look to Almighty God for instant relief. He does not share our impatience. His timing is completely different from ours.

Our Father in heaven has every intention of meeting the needs of those that accept His Son as their Savior. His plans for us are perfect for us and our needs. He hears our prayers and He answers them. He does not rush to provide the answers instantly, even though He could. When His work of temporal or spiritual deliverance is delayed, it is only on hold for the right time and the maximum good for all. Just as it was for Lazarus and his family, He responds to our prayers with only the best for us and those around us, regardless of how long it takes.

Let us learn to lean on the promises of Almighty God with total faith. Let us know without any doubt that He will hear and answer our prayers. Let us rejoice in knowing that His response to our needs will be perfect for us and for those around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for always giving us what is best for us and not what we ask for and certainly not what we deserve. We exalt You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You extend to us endlessly. We pray, Lord, that You will show us how to wait confidently in faith for all that You have prepared for us and those around us. We rejoice in knowing that Your timing is perfect. We ask all these things in the name of the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus Christ.

We Cannot Labor or Suffer Enough to Secure Our Place in Heaven

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When we hear the word sin, we usually think of a single transgression or specific transgressions which go against God’s law. Sin defined in this manner only captures an aspect of sin. In reality, sin is much more. Sin is a complete, damning condition that separates us from God. It is a chasm that we cannot cross on our own. The chasm was created when Adam and Eve sinned. At the moment of their sin, we inherited a condition that separated us from God for all eternity.

Thankfully, our merciful Father in heaven provided a way for us to bridge the chasm created by sin. He provided His Son to take on the burden of all of our sin. He allowed His Son’s blood to be shed so that we may be cleansed of all of the unrighteousness that separates us from the presence of Almighty God. God made His own Son take on our sin so that we might become saints in heaven.

Jesus was not a sinner. He never sinned, yet He was made sin by the Father. He became a sin offering, a sacrifice for the sins of all men. The supernatural plan for all of this was that we might be made righteous in the eyes of God. Let us praise Our Lord for without Him we cannot surrender enough, we cannot labor enough nor can we suffer enough to secure our places in heaven for all eternity.

Let us be forever mindful that there is not a single thing that we can do on our own to pay off the sin debt that we inherited. Let us run to the foot of the Cross to receive the righteousness that is only available to us through Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Let us insure that our living testimonies reflect the eternal gift that we have been given at an enormous price to Our Savior.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, our thanks are inadequate to cover the redemptive work that cleanses us of our unrighteousness and allows us to stand in Your Holy Presence. There is no manner of word or worship that we could bring before You that would be sufficient to cover the debt that has been paid for us. We bless the name of Jesus who left His throne in heaven to come to earth to redeem us from the debt we could not pay on our own. We humble ourselves before You, Lord. We kneel at the foot of Your Cross and submit ourselves to a life in Your service here on earth and in heaven. We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You forever. We pray that our lives in Christ here on earth will lead others to the foot of Your Cross to receive their salvation. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of Our Righteousness, Jesus Christ.

Christians Never Have to Question if They Have Done Enough for Eternal Reward

John 13:13
You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.

In every other religion in the world, except Christianity, the final goal is to have done enough to satisfy a god who provides eternal rewards for those who fulfill the demands. The followers of these gods live under a task master who has nothing to offer to those who bow before him.

For followers of Jesus Christ, the servitude to the Master is totally different. The Master has taken care of everything that is necessary for the servant to be worthy of eternal reward with Almighty God. The Master promises to perfect His strength in the weaknesses of every follower so that they are healed of their wounds, redeemed from their transgressions and made holy and worthy to stand before The Father for all eternity.

Sitting under this Teacher and Lord, Jesus Christ, means that we have someone who knows us better than ourselves, who is closer to us than our friends and family, who understands the deepest desires of our hearts and fulfills them. Through this Master, the Son of God, we have the security that our eternal destination is settled. There is no need to question whether we have done enough. In the words of Jesus himself, “It is finished.”

Let us follow closely the teaching of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Let us receive in faith every promise that He reveals to us in His Holy Word. Let us rejoice in all the eternal provision that He has made for us. Let us show the world our joy.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that everything that was required for us to meet You in heaven for all eternity was finished on the Cross. We bless the name of Jesus who completed it all on our behalf. We pray, Lord, that we may sit humbly at the feet of Your Son and surrender to the way, the truth and the life that is in Him. May we become vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness. May we become instruments of His good work. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.

Leaning on the Son of God as Our Model

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.

May Our Obedience Glorify the Names of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit

John 17:4
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

Jesus Himself declared that His principal work was to be obedient to the will of His Father in heaven. He did not seek His own glory. He sought only His Father’s glory. In the process, He did away with Satan, sin and death and He provided for the redemption and the salvation of all men.

Just as Jesus was faithful in completing His work on earth to glorify His Father, He will also be faithful in completing His work in us so that we may glorify Our Father. We will not experience the complete fullness of His work in us until we meet Our Savior in His eternal kingdom. But as we surrender to the will of the Father, we can expect to accomplish more here on earth than we can imagine that we are capable of. And we can be certain that our work will bring glory to Our Father in heaven.

Be mindful that Satan and our own flesh will come against us as we seek to glorify the Father on earth. But fear not for the Spirit of the Lord will insure that we overcome the work of the enemy. We do not need to be concerned about our circumstances, Our Savior will be sufficient. And it will all be for the glory of The Father.

Let us surrender everything to Our Father in heaven. Let our obedience to His call on our lives glorify His name. May those around us glorify the Father when they see our faithfulness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that You have given us through Your Son to overcome the world. We bless the name of Jesus for His faithfulness in completing the good work that You gave Him to do. We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us and strengthen us so that we may fully surrender to Your will just as Your Son surrendered His all to You. May it all be for Your glory, for the glory of Your Son and the glory of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the obedient Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

The Unshakeable Confidence that the Victory is Ours Through Jesus Christ

Psalm 145:21
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

We are stirred up in our hearts to praise God. We praise Him because of His power and His glory. We praise Him for His holiness and His love expressed through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus.

Our Lord, Jesus, is the fullness of the love and forgiveness that we have been so graciously provided by Our Father in Heaven. Let our every breath be filled for praise for the Father and the Son. May our lives be living testimonies of the Son of God who has come to dwell within us.

Let us praise God out of the faith that He has built in us through His Holy Spirit. Let us praise God with the love and delight that He has placed in our hearts. Let us praise God as we are comforted by His goodness, His grace and His holiness. Let us praise God with the joy of the expectation of life in His eternal kingdom. Let us praise God with the unshakeable confidence that the victory is ours through God’s greatest gift to us, His Son, Jesus. Let us bless the name of His Son forever. Let us praise God for He is worthy.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name above all others for You are worthy. We pray Father that You open our eyes so that we may see Your glory in the tiny things in life as well as the large things. We lift our voices up in high praise for Your precious Lamb, Jesus. We bless His name and proclaim His holiness and His righteousness. We give thanks for His presence in our lives. May our every breath praise Him as we come know just how dear He is to us. We ask all these things in the name of the One whose steadfast love never ceases, Jesus Christ.

Imagining and Awaiting Our Eternal Home

Revelation 21:23
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

There is something different about the light at sunrise and the light at sunset. The light at sunrise seems to welcome us to our day and inspire us to greater things. The light at sunset seems so calming and comforting, preparing us for our evening of rest. Yet there is nothing that carries us along and sustains us better throughout the day than a bright, sun-filled sky. There is no question that light plays a significant role in our physical and emotional well being.

What if you woke up one morning and noticed a light filling your home that was more radiant and comforting than the most beautiful day that you had ever experienced? What if when you got out of bed there were none of those usual aches and pains? What if when you looked in the mirror you liked what you saw? What if your work for the day was perfectly satisfying, leaving you feeling wonderful? What if throughout the day you felt an overwhelming since of being loved and a desire to share that love with others? What if you could not resist delighting in the Lord non-stop all day long? What if when the day ended there was no darkness, only that radiant and comforting light that you had first experienced in the morning? What if this day never ended? Welcome to heaven!!

Let us eagerly await our new home for all eternity. Let us rejoice in knowing that day after day without end we will be in the presence of the Author and the Essence of everything that is good. Let us delight in knowing that we will never encounter anything evil again. Let us praise the Lord!!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us that is beyond our imagination. We thank You, Jesus, for making us worthy to receive our new homes for all eternity. We pray, Father, that You will draw us into intimate relationships with You here on earth, so that we can begin experiencing the fullness of who You are before we ever leave our earthly bodies. May we become vessels of Your perfect love so that others can know You and be drawn to accept Your Son as their Savior. May many experience Your eternal home as a result of them being drawn to Your Son by seeing the radiant and comforting light coming from Your obedient children. We ask all these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

All the Powers of the Universe Form Within Us When We Receive Christ as Our Savior

Luke 1:35
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Just as the Blessed Virgin Mary had the Son of God placed in her womb when the Holy Spirit came upon her, the Son of God is placed within each of us by the power of the Holy Spirit when we receive Jesus as Our Savior. Just as Mary carried Jesus Christ alive in her body, we carry Jesus as a living fount of holiness, righteousness, loving kindness, mercy and forgiveness. All that He is and all the powers of the universe have been formed within us.

If we had any natural resource of such incredible value within us, would we ever allow our attentions to be diverted from this precious resource? Would we ever hesitate to share the fruits of our resource with the world around us? Would we ever put aside for even a moment the thought of the magnificent power that we held?

Let us not overlook the power that dwells within us. Let us recognize and proclaim Christ Jesus. Let us strive to have His nature within us be as real and as fruitful as the seed received by the Virgin Mary.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son to be the fruit of the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We bless the name of Jesus as we rejoice in His presence within us. We pray, Father, that we will never set Jesus aside. We ask that the Holy Spirit aid us in allowing Jesus to pour His life into ours every single moment that we live and breath. May we clamor for His attention. May our holy communion with Our Savior lead others to be drawn to Him. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.