A Blissful Life

Trust in God.  Trust in God above all things.

If we doubt the God in any area, we will fall short of His plans for our lives in all areas.  If we fully trust in God, we will find it easy to love Him above all things, to love our neighbors as ourselves and to give God the glory in all things.  We will also find it easy to tell the world about His Son, Jesus.  Our lives will be blissfully submitted to the Lord.

 

The Faith Gap

There is often a faith gap that prevents us from really believing in what God is calling us to do.  We usually question the calling because it goes against our own instincts.  We question the calling over and over until we finally see that God is going to do it, not us.

The calling never is about our ability.  It is always about our faith in God.  God's children listen carefully to His calling and then leap into action with full confidence that God is who He says He is.

To Be One with Christ

To be one in nature with Jesus Christ can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit within us and through our total surrender to Jesus as the Lord of our lives.  This oneness with Christ is absolutely available to us the moment that we accept Him as Our Lord and Savior.  

Unfortunately, we usually do not completely understand and receive the gift at the time that we receive Jesus as Our Savior.  This is generally due to spiritual immaturity.  The fullness of the gift of oneness with Christ awaits us.  It will come when we not only receive Jesus as Our Lord and Savior, but also when we completely surrender to Him as Our Master and Our King.  

Faith Built on Our Relationship with Jesus

Why can't we believe God's simple promises to meet our every need and to work out all things for our eternal good?  Why is that we do not have enough faith to believe in all the promises that God has given us?  There is certainly an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove that God has power and authority over all things.

The strength of our faith is directly related to our relationship with Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we become one with Him.  When we become one with Him, we become one with the Father.  When we become one with the Father, we will have sufficient faith to believe in all of His promises.  

Accessing the Power of the Holy Spirit

Some speak of the power of the Holy Spirit in an individual's life as the second grace.  Those who hold this position believe salvation to be the first grace with some gap between our salvation and our ability to access the power of the Holy Spirit.

While this may just be a matter of semantics, this position does not represent a true description of the manifestation of Christ in our lives.  When we receive our salvation by accepting Jesus as our Savior, we simultaneously receive the full power and presence of the Holy Spirit.  It may take us a while to recognize and understand the full power and presence of the Holy Spirit, but the power is always there available for us to access.

Perfect Provision

As long as we are seeking the kingdom of God first, there is not a single desire of our hearts that God will not grant us.  If we are in proper relationship with God,  He will grant our desires in accordance with His perfect timing for our lives and the perfect needs of His kingdom.

We may not recognize much of God's provision for us because much of it comes in the form of preparing us for what we are going to receive.  While we have been asking for His "good" favor, He prepares us to receive "the best" of all of His riches and favor before He provides it.

Call on Him

When the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwells within us, we no longer have to decide anything for ourselves.  All we have to do is put our faith in Our Savior.  He will always lead us to a better place than the one that we would have found on our own.

What a wonderful life it is when we can live without stress.  This is the exact result of putting all decisions in the hands of Jesus - no stress, no pressure, no mistakes.  All we have to do is call on Him.

Our Unquestioned Protector

Once we have established a relationship with Our Heavenly Father through His Son, we have no reason to fear anything.  Why would we?

If we have a relationship with the God who created the universe and still controls every precise detail of its existence, how could we lack confidence in Him.  Surely He will overcome any person or thing in the universe that would intend to harm us.  It does not make sense to question His power, His sovereign rule or His love for us.

Our Great God of Practicality

We trust God to be true to His promise of eternal life for those that love Him and accept His Son as their Savior.  This is a mind boggling promise that Christians accept easily.

Why is it that we do not accept all of His other promises just as easily?  Specifically, He promises that if we seek Him, He will provide for our every need here on earth.  Yet we run ahead of His plans for our lives trying to amass wealth and accomplishments that we deem will secure our future.  In the meanwhile, Our great God of practicality is just waiting for us to put Him first so that He can give us the desires of our hearts. 

Being Good and Faithful Servants

Jesus Christ is in perfect oneness with the Father.  He is now and He was when He lived as a man on this earth.

Once Jesus dwells in us, we, too, are one with the Father.  We become one with the plans that the Father has for our lives.  Jesus is there with us all the way as our flesh tries to steer us away from our calling.  Our Savior and Intercessor insures that we are good and faithful servants to the Father in this life and for all eternity.  

Abundant Living

We have been raised in a world where performance and results are everything.  We feel measured by the things that we have and the things that we have accomplished.

These things that we hold so dearly hold no value in God's world.  He promises to provide what we need and even promises the desires of our hearts - all based on us seeking His kingdom first.  The truly abundant life awaits when we make Our Lord and His righteousness first in our lives.

Overcoming ill Mood

The physical condition of our body or the environment that we find ourselves can cause unfavorable changes in our mood.  We must not submit to these unfavorable moods.

We must take on the Spirit of the One within us and realize that we have already been given victory over our circumstances.  We must allow Jesus to do His good work and we must do our good work by standing against that which is trying to shape our mood.

The Blessing of Tribulation

Without tribulation, our flesh carries us away from God.  We tend to move out of His presence.  Our earthly joy begins to diminish our ability to experience the true joy available to us through our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

When we are weak, when we are near defeat, when we are near death, we run to Jesus.  He promises to be our strength in every one of our times of weakness.  It is during these times that we experience His presence so clearly.  It is during these times of pain that we experience the fullness of His love.  What a blessing it is to have tribulation in our lives.

The Instruments of God's Love

The Lord seeks to reveal His Son to the world through His children, every single one of them.   He will certainly use the elite evangelists of each age, but He does not want to rely on them alone.  He wants each and every child of every age and time to be useful in delivering His message.

He does not need any of us to accomplish anything, but it pleases Him to use us to reveal Himself to those who are in our everyday lives.  We are the instruments of God's perfect love.

Our Personal Intercessor

In the old testament days, every person needed a high priest to represent him or her before the throne of God.  Through the priest and the accompanying sacrifices, each persons sins were atoned for.  Without the intercession of the high priest, the individual person had no hope of salvation or even a hope for prayers to be answered.

Jesus changed this relationship with the Father forever when He died on the Cross and atoned for all sin.  Each of us now can gain our salvation through Jesus Christ.  We can also go directly to the Father with our prayers where Jesus stands as our personal intercessor.

Dealing with Trials

There are few sins worse than self-pity.  Self-pity erases our acknowledgement of our loving Heavenly Father who is holding our riches and is able to make all grace abound in our lives.  Self-pity also cuts off our ability to be vessels of the loving kindness that Our Lord has shared with us.  No matter how hard our circumstances seem, let us always seek comfort in our divine provision and not in ourselves.

Considering the abundance that awaits us for an eternity, whining over our trials here on earth seems a bit foolish.  How could we ever feel shortchanged in anyway with the King of the Universe residing within us, preparing us to spend the rest of eternity with Him?  Our joy should be so immense that all things of discomfort should pale in significance.

Vessels of Light

One of the greatest beauties in all of nature is the full moon.  Yet the moon has nothing to do with its radiance.  It is a simple earthen body that only has to be in concert with the gravitational pull of the earth for it to reflect the light of the sun.

We are like the moon.  All we have to do is be in proper position with Our Savior and the light of the Son will shine brightly for the world to see.  Our earthen bodies are vessels of His glory.

His Presence in Us

Jesus Christ alive in us - what a marvelous thought that is.  The King of the Universe has chosen to reside in each of us that have received Him.  He has chosen to let His power flow through us.  He has chosen to reveal Himself to the world through us.  

Could we ever receive a greater reward for anything from this world?  It is certain that we could not.  We already possess that which is greater than anything this world has to offer.

The Ongoing Debate

What is it that God is asking you to take out of your life?  You know what it is.  You are disturbed by the Holy Spirit each time it pops up in your life.  You are probably debating with yourself each time it occurs.  

Drop it at once.  The longer that you hold on to it, the weaker the voice of the Holy Spirit will become.

The Holy Spirit is our in-dwelling guard that protects us from our sinful nature.  We must be certain not to separate ourselves from the urgings provided by the Holy Spirit.  We must not allow our inner communion with God to be diminished.  Our spiritual growth is dependent on our obedience.

The Presence of the Father

When we were children we delighted to be in the presence of our father.  We could not wait for him to come home from work.  His presence was a powerful and joyful force in our lives.  

Unfortunately, the encounters were all too brief.  As a matter of our culture, our fathers were not around during most of our waking hours.  In the mind of the child, our fathers were away from home more than they were at home.

How wonderful it is that we are in the presence of Our Heavenly Father at all times.  How wonderful it is that we can have that powerful and joyful place available to us at our beckoning.  How wonderful it is to know that He will never be absent from us.

Constant and Enduring Love

Any love that is felt for another person will be challenged at some stage in the relationship.  Without the love of Jesus strengthening us, we will readily withdraw our love for others when they fail us.  And they will fail us.  It is only a matter of time.

With the Holy Spirit within us, we are called to keep the flow of love for others constant, as constant as the love that Jesus has for us.  It cannot be done without His presence in our lives.  He is the source and the cultivator of our ability to love.

Fending Off the Enemy

God sets the vision for our lives and puts all things in place for us to fulfill our plans.  Along the way, Satan will challenge every step in some evil manner.  He may create simple distractions, inconvenient illnesses or perhaps he may even create what we perceive to be a major obstacle to our success.  

Satan is dedicated to breaking us down so that we lose faith and give up on our plans.  Once we really start making spiritual progress, Satan will pull out all of his tricks.  These tricks will often include attacks on those closest to us.  We must keep ourselves ready for his assaults through prayer and reading of God's Word.  Fasting may even be necessary depending on the nature of the assault.

We can be certain of one thing.  God will never leave us to fend for ourselves.  His power will prevail over the enemy.  All honor and glory will be His.  

Visions Beyond Our Dreams

God wants to give each and everyone of us a vision for our lives.  He wants us to see not only beyond where we are, but also beyond what we can even dream that we are capable of doing.  

God wants us to come to the realization that He is going to fulfill His plans through us as we become His instruments through the power of the Holy Spirit.  But before we can be given the visions for the bigger plans that He has for us, we must first establish our relationship with Our Heavenly Father through obedience to the small things that He asks of us.

In the Potter's Hands

God is the great potter.  He keeps His hands on us, His clay, at all times.  He is in no hurry to form us according to His purpose.  He knows that He will take whatever time necessary to get us to conform to the purposes that He has for our lives.  

As the great potter, God will break the clay if He sees that the clay is not going to yield the final form that He has chosen.  As the clay, we must yield to Him, knowing that He will form us perfectly.  In faith, we can rejoice in knowing we will be perfected in our final finishing.

Securing Our Plans

Our plans are of no value unless they were first planted in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Once planted by God and planned through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our plans are certain to be fulfilled no matter how big or small they may be.  And they will have great value because they will bring honor and glory to God. 

God does not know defeat in any manner nor does He know failure in any fashion.  If we have gone to Our Heavenly Father to secure our plans,  we have made certain of their success.  And we have made certain that our plans are pleasing to the Father.

Delivering the Word of God

We often struggle to find the right words to say to others when we know that they fall short of having a relationship with Jesus.  In an effort to avoid offending the other person, we may offer a watered down version of God's Word.

It is OK to build a relationship with a person before approaching them with God's Word.  When we do approach them, however, it should be with the full Gospel.   When we choose a diluted version, we do an injustice to the person to whom we are speaking.  

There is no substitute for the perfect Word of God.  We should demonstrate our faith in its power by delivering it in its fullness.

Surrender

Through the initiating power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are able to accept the salvation available to us and able to enter into the intimate relationship with God that awaits us.  From that point on, it is all about surrender.  

God demands our surrender.  Without surrender there is no salvation.  Without surrender there is no submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.  Without surrender to Jesus, there is no relationship with Our Heavenly Father.

God understands our weakness.  Through His mercy and His grace, He provides the Holy Spirit to dwell within us after we accept His Son as Our Savior.  Through the Holy Spirit who initiated our first surrender, we are able to subsequently surrender all areas of our lives to the Lord.

Our Intercession for Others is for His Glory

God answers all prayer according to His perfect will and timing.  When we do the work of intercessory prayer, we must understand that there is no power in us that brings about the good we seek for another.  We are simply vessels of God's perfect love and instruments of His good work.  

If we ever start to believe that answered prayers come as a result of our power, our prayers will become ineffective.  All the honor and all the glory must go to the Lord.  It was He alone that provided the way for us to approach His Throne in intercession for others through the holy blood shed by His Son and Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Seek Guidance in Prayer

The work of prayerful intercession can be quite confounding.  Have the prayerful needs of the person involved come about as a result of Satan's desire to destroy them or have the needs come as a direct result of God's rebuke in the person's life?

Before praying for anyone, it is important that we pray first for guidance for ourselves.  We must consider the fact that our prayers could actually be working against the plan that God has for the individual's life, if our prayers are not in alignment with the work of the Holy Spirit.  God's interest in the individual is more important that our sympathy for their condition.

Becoming Wholly Acceptable to the Father

Once we have received Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, we spend our remaining days on earth preparing to meet Our Savior in heaven.  Our preparation time with Jesus Christ allows us to be presented to the Father covered by perfect white garments supplied through the sacrifice of His Son.

Before we started our perfecting journey through Christ, we were in filthy rags, wholly unacceptable for presentation to Our Heavenly Father.  We must learn to be patient with the steps in our perfecting journey.  It takes time for the Holy Spirit to reveal each and every sin stain in our lives.  Each one requires confession and repentance so that it can be removed.

Duty Unto God

Duty has the ring of boredom and tediousness.  Duty is what we feel we must do and not what we want to do.  This is the "duty" of the flesh.

Duty unto God's will is totally different.  Duty unto God may call for tedious work, but it is always filled with joy.  Duty unto God is never boring for His Spirit fills our being with the satisfaction of knowing that we are pleasing Him.  While duty unto the flesh may not lead to greater things, duty unto God always leads to greater fruit being borne in the life of the believer.