Complete Joy

Being rightly related to Jesus Christ is the only place of complete joy.  Ironically, our constant attempts at finding happiness in worldly things and activities create our greatest obstacles to finding peace in the Lord.

Our steadfast focus on gaining happiness from the things of the world blinds us from seeing, understanding and accepting what God has to offer.  God's offer is simple.  We are instructed by His Word to give up our old lives in the world and surrender to His Son.  Then the joy that the Son has from the Father will be in us and our joy will be complete.  

It's All About the Process

We know from the Word of God that the ways of the world are the opposite of the ways of His kingdom.  The world is all about the bottom line results and what we did to accomplish them.

God's kingdom is all about the process and how we allow our new lives to be perfected through our relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We must be careful not to focus on accomplishing good things when they are keeping us from the God-directed plans for our lives.

Trials - Building The Foundation of Our Faith

Jesus was very clear in His teaching that you will have trials if you follow Him.  In 1 Peter 4:12, we read, "Dear Friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange is happening to you."

Trials are part of the necessary process for growing our faith and our intimacy with Our Lord.  Without trials in our lives, without having to trust in our Heavenly Father for the strength and provision to get through them, we would soon believe all our good fortune to be of our own works.  The foundation of our faith is built, grown and matured through the trials that we endure.

Pray Without Ceasing

"Pray without ceasing," is the message in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  This is not be feasible for most of us, at least not in the form of prayer as we generally think of it.

Perhaps we should think about prayer as a conversation with God.  With His Spirit dwelling within us at all times, why would we not be in conversation with Him throughout the day.  Would we ignore our best friend, if he or she happened to be with us throughout the day?  Of course not, our relationship would dictate constant interaction.  So be it with the Lord.

Living in the Light or Not

The light of the Holy Spirit is present within every Christian.  The light affects us in two important ways.  It shines forth to attract others to Jesus and it reveals all the darkness of sin that exists in our flesh.  The two processes work hand in hand. 

If we do not repent of the sin that is revealed to us, we greatly reduce or even eliminate the possibility of reaching others for Christ.  Of even greater personal consequence, we create a stronghold for Satan to place a stronger claim on our lives.

On the other hand, if we repent when sin is revealed to us, we remove the darkness of sin from our spirit.  Then with the Holy Spirit guiding and strengthening us, our living testimony becomes even stronger and more appealing to others.  

The Peaceful Path

We, all too often, focus on the problems that we are facing instead of focusing on the solution - Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Unfortunately, when we are not completely in tune with Our Savior, we are easily taken down a path on which we try to manipulate our own solutions to our problems.  You may have discovered, I certainly have, that this is not a peaceful path.

Why would we take the path of strife when all we have to do is call on the Lord?  Call on the name of Jehovah Shalom.  He promises to give us His peace that goes beyond human understanding. 

The Power of a Higher Calling

Every person who has ever been on a diet knows what a struggle it can be.  It is even more difficult if the only purpose for going on the diet is "to lose weight."  The dieter generally has greater success when his or her purpose is of a higher calling.  For example, "I want to lose weight so that I can better enjoy the time that I spend with my children."  The passion behind the purpose is what drives the individual to overcome the challenges.

When we seek to build our relationship with Jesus, we need to have the passion of a higher calling.  We need more than, "I want to be a better person."  We need, "I want to be a new person in Christ.  I want to die of my old self."  It is this higher calling that will lead to the intimacy we seek with our Savior.

Ask and You Shall Receive

The Lord's promises are always fulfilled just as He says they will be in His Word.  Regarding our prayers, the Lord promises that He will always hear our prayers and He will always answer our prayers.

Many of His promises, however, have conditions that we must fulfill in order for His promises to be met.  Often we seem to latch on to the promises, but conveniently overlook the conditions of the agreement.  This is especially true in our prayer lives where we are hungry for instant satisfaction.  

When we want God to honor the promise of, "Ask and you shall receive," here are a few of the important considerations that are impacting the Lord's response to our prayers:
1) He will answer our prayers according to His perfect timetable that He has for our lives.
2) He will answer our prayers according to His perfect will for our lives.
3) He will answer our prayers if we are in right standing with Him.
4) He will grant us the desires of our hearts, if we seek Him first.

Turning the Tables on Satan

Surely one of Satan's greatest skills is his ability to keep us focused on the things of the world.  One of his greatest lies is making us think that God does not want to hear about everything in our lives.  Through these techniques, he schemes to keep us from developing an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father.

We can easily turn these two schemes around on Satan through the perfected strength of the Holy Spirit within us.  We can bring all of our concerns before the Lord as they come to us each day and we can praise Him throughout the day for all the things that He provides.  And yes, we can even ask forgiveness for our sins as they occur.  Then in our evening prayer, we can spend the entire time focusing on our relationship with Jesus.

Living in the Light

Jesus is the truth, the light and the way.  No darkness can exist in His presence.  The moment His Spirit dwells within us, the process of eliminating darkness from our lives begins and continues until the the time we reach heaven.

During the earthly process, as our sins are brought into the light, repentance is required to remove the darkness.  To remain in the light, we must fully submit to Jesus, recognizing our own unworthiness and our need for cleansing.  To do otherwise is to suggest that we are sufficient in our own ways.

Obtaining What He Has Prepared for Us

Jesus told the rich, young ruler that he must give up everything to follow Him.  Such is the calling of all Christians.

Jesus seeks to make our relationship with Him the most important thing in our lives.  There is great blessing in our lives when we reach the point where Jesus is our top priority.  It frees us to enjoy the fullness of what our Savior has prepared for us.

The Lord is Peace

Jehovah Shalom means the Lord is peace.  These are the words that were spoken to Gideon during a time of trial and weakened faith.

Jehovah Shalom is the name that every Christian can call on when our faith is shaken or our world is uncomfortably out of sorts.  What a magnificent gift we have.  Every unsettling event in our lives can be calmed just by calling on the name of Jehovah Shalom - the Lord is peace.

The Big Distractions in Our Lives

God's plan for our lives calls for total surrender to Him.  The enemy has a different plan.  The enemy uses every facet of our lives as weapons against us to distract us from our full surrender to Our Lord.

Work is the biggest distraction for most of us.  Recreation, hobbies and entertainment are also big distractors.  There is nothing wrong with any of these things.  In fact, they are all good things when engaged properly.  That is why Satan is so successful.  

Satan tries to unseat God's proper place in our lives by enticing us to overdo "good" things.  We can only keep God in His rightful place through our ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Perpetual Pruning

Once we accept Jesus as our Savior, He promises to perfect His strength in our weakness.  He also promises to finish the good work in us that was started when we committed our lives to Him.

For these very reasons, we are in a continual process of pruning.  This pruning process will not stop until we are perfect.  Be ready, saints, perfection will not be reached until we get to heaven.  Our time on earth will be filled with perpetual pruning.  Rejoice in knowing that all the good work will be completed as promised according to God's perfect timing for our lives.

Gentle Urgings in Our Spirit

For most Christians, God's directions for our lives do not come in audible context.  They come in the faint internal whisperings of the Holy Spirit.  They come as gentle urgings of the spirit rather than anything of a more direct nature.

These urgings are designed to test our obedience.  If we are obedient to the calls, we will find that the urgings become clearer and extend over more and more of our activities.  We will begin to seek the direction of the Holy Spirit in all of our endeavors.  If we ignore the urgings, they will gradually cease.

Jesus Knows Me

Even the demons are profoundly knowledgeable about Jesus, but they do not know Him.  Full knowledge of Jesus means nothing unless He knows you.

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 accept Jesus as our Savior, then a living relationship springs forth for all eternity. The Master and the servant are in perfect knowledge of each other.

We Require Constant Pruning

Consider the crabapple tree that the farmer grafts with a golden delicious apple tree in order to produce good fruit.  Before the grafting, the crabapple tree may have been in perfect health, but it was not capable of bearing good fruit.  After the grafting process, the farmer has created a new tree capable of bearing delicious fruit.

Unfortunately, the roots of the crabapple are still in the ground and are the life source for the new fruit bearing tree.  Throughout the life of the tree, these roots produce crabapple shoots that the farmer must constantly prune in order to keep the old, barren life of the tree from overcoming the new, fruitful life of the tree.

So it is when we receive our salvation.  The new life in Christ is grafted in over our natural sinful nature.  The sinful nature of our old life rises up constantly.  Only through the constant pruning of the Holy Spirit are we able to overcome the barrenness of the old life and stay in the abundant life of Christ within us. 

Every Blemish Removed

The process of stripping and re-finishing a piece of furniture makes a good illustration when thinking about how the Lord makes us worthy.  When the furniture re-finishing process begins, it starts with the main stripping which is relatively easy.  It is done with large strokes that take away most of the old finish.  

The work lies in getting down into the small crevices that hold much of the old stain that must be removed before the new finish can be applied.  The true craftsman would never begin to apply the final finish without removing every blemish left by the old stain, even the smallest blemishes that the average person would not see. 

So goes the work of the Lord on us.  Every sin in our lives, even those we may not recognize, are exposed by the Holy Spirit so that we may repent and be washed clean by the blood of Jesus.  Thus we are prepared to stand before the Father in perfected bodies, spotless of sin.  

Determining the Size of the Harvest

The four seasons in nature a very easy to identify.  The different effects of each season on the growing process are clear to see and are easily related to earth's nearness to the sun.  The new growth of the spring is a stark contrast to the dying out of the winter.

So it is in our own growth as Christians.  The Lord puts each of us through seasons.  He allows the circumstances in our lives to affect our nearness to Him.  He never moves away from us during any season in our lives, but He allows us to establish the nearness of our relationship with Him through our response to Him during our trials.

How we respond determines the size and the fragrance of our new growth.  The more we die to selves and draw on the Lord during our winters, the greater our produce will be in our spring times.

When We Stand on God's Promises

What a great statement the faithful Christian makes to the world when standing confidently and peacefully during major trials.  When the worldly see the calmness under stress and the utter lack of fear under uncertainty exhibited by the believing Christian, how can they not be moved?  

When God allows the Christian to be tried, He promises He will provide the strength to endure.  When the faithful Christian believes in God's promise and stands on it, he or she turns this into a wonderful testimony for the rest of the world to see.

Standing on His Promises

As Our Heavenly Father prepares each of us to be with Him for all eternity, He will, at certain times in our lives, allow us to be put in places and situations that require that we rely on Him.  Until we reach the point where we have put our entire faith into believing His Word and trusting Him for our provision, our trials will continue.  Not only will our trials continue, but they will intensify until we are in full submission to His authority and promise for our lives.  

With God, nothing is impossible.  We can stand strong in every circumstance for He is true to His Word 
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

The Steady and Joyful Journey

If our journey through life is viewed in any way other than through the will of God for our lives, it is guaranteed that our journey will be like a roller coaster ride with many highs and lows.  On the other hand, if we keep our focus on Jesus throughout life's journey, our journey will not only be a steady process toward completed sainthood in heaven for all eternity, but will also be filled with joy every step of the way.

Good Common Sense is not Good Enough

We are able to love God only because He loved us first.  Our Heavenly Father is the essence and origin of everything that is good.

Even though we can come up with good, fruitful activities in our lives, we should never think that our good common sense even remotely approaches the supernatural sense of the Holy Spirit.   We must learn to lean on the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to determine the activities that we focus our lives on.  Then, not only will we be fruitful, but we will also manifest the life of Christ in all that we do.

Our Bountiful Resource

Jesus Christ dwells within each Christian.  He is a living fount of holiness, righteousness and loving kindness.  If we had access to any other resource that we could access daily to be given gifts of similar value in our lives, would we ever miss a day of reaching out for our bounty?

Why is it that we allow ourselves to be distracted from using daily the most precious resource in existence?  May each of us be steadfast in drawing from the strength of Our Lord daily.  May the the world see Christ in us each and every day.

A Day with Our Heavenly Father

A day in the life of the average Christian goes something like this - wake, quick prayer, on to the work of the day, quick prayer, sleep.  Some days may include a little time for the Word of God and little extra time may be spent in prayer if something of need has arisen.

God is present with us at all times.  Why don't we spend more time including Him in our day?  If our earthly father spent a day with us, did we not involve him in our activities?  And if we spent at day at his house, did we not engage him in constant communication?  Why is it so different for Our Heavenly Father?

Let us learn to delight in the presence of God in our lives.  Let our praise and worship become a constant flow surrounding our intermittent prayers for our needs.  Let us prepare for the time when we will spend all of our time in Our Heavenly Father's house.  

Participating in the Dispensation of God's Power

Scripture records that our prayers are stored in God's bowls in heaven.  When we are praying we are filling His holy arsenal.  At His perfect timing, He pours out the prayers of His children to fulfill every need and to destroy the work of the enemy.

It pleases God to allow us to participate in the dispensation of His powers through our prayers.  God also uses our prayerful service from here on earth to make us ready to serve Him when we join Him in our true home for all eternity.

Getting in Sync with God

The most difficult part about getting in sync with God's plan for our lives is recognizing that He is the one in control.  We get out of sync with God when we try to control our lives instead of submitting to His lordship.  We have difficulty keeping in sync with God when we let our trials distract us from His perfect plans for our lives.

We will begin our synchronization with God when we begin to understand the blessings that come from our trials because God has allowed them for our good.  We will accelerate the synchronization process when we look forward to each day without fear or worry because we know that He is in control.  We will perfect the synchronization process when we stand before God and hear the words "well done good and faithful servant" because we trusted in the wisdom of God instead of our own.

Evidence of His Presence

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, we are taught that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  God knows how weak our flesh is.  Through His loving kindness, mercy and grace, He provides a way for us to overcome our weakness.

When we come to realize that there is nothing in us that is worthy, we open ourselves up to receive the perfecting work of Christ.  As we submit to His lordship, our lives are transformed.  As we die to selves and allow His Spirit to flourish within us, the evidence of His presence in our lives is visible for all to see.

Beyond Our Fondest Dreams

Throughout our lives, we have been instructed to set goals and to develop step-by-step plans to reach the dreams that we have for ourselves.  Most of us have followed our self developed plans to some extent or another.  In the eyes of the world, some have been more successful than others.  Regardless of success, trying to live the dream is what the substance of life has been about for most of us.

God's supernatural world is totally different.  His plan for us has nothing to do with our earthly dreams.  His plan is to prepare us to live with Him for all eternity.  Everything we go through in life is part of the process that God puts us through or allows us to go through in order to prepare us for life with Him in new Jerusalem. The good news is that following God's plan will lead us to a life beyond the imagination of our fondest earthly dreams.   

Stronger Through Trial

Whenever trials arise in our lives, the natural response is to focus on the problem, the issue or the pain.  The supernatural response is to focus on the solution - Jesus Christ.  Not only will He take you through the trial to a better place, He will bring you out of the trial stronger than ever. 

Peter wanted Jesus to avoid the Crucifixion and all the trials associated with it.  Had Jesus done that, we would not have a plan for our salvation.  Jesus rebuked Peter because He knew that the trials of the Crucifixion were necessary.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Actions speak louder than words.  Nowhere is this old adage more applicable than in our living testimony.  No one wants to learn about Jesus unless they have seen Jesus in us.  Our greatest orations will never win a soul without a visible expression in our lives that we are living what we are teaching.

Let those around us see peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control expressed in our lives.  Then they will seek the source of these gifts without us asking, teaching or preaching.