His Grace is Sufficient

Everything that we are and everything that we possess has come from Almighty God.  In His eyes, through the cleansing blood and constant mediation of Jesus, we are like His Son.

Through the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are capable of living lives that meet the standards of our standard bearer, Jesus Christ.  To talk about our inabilities is an insult to the One that created us.  We must learn to rely on the supernatural strength within us to overcome the world.  We were made to bring honor and glory to Our Heavenly Father.  Our lives are of priceless value to God's plans for all eternity.

Supernatural Transformation

As Christians, we are continuously going through the process of sanctification.  From the moment that we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit is shaping us into the person that God created us to be.  The process does not stop until our death and we are brought into the presence of the Lord.  We will be perfectly holy when we hear Our Heavenly Father say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

By the time that we stand before Our Creator, we will have undergone a supernatural transformation made possible by the shed blood of His Son.  If we tune into the urgings of the Holy Spirit and develop a personal, passionate devotion to Our Redeemer, the world will see much of our transformation here on earth.   

By the Grace of God

Not one of us would accept the gift of salvation without the grace of God.  Our human nature rejects the idea that a Savior is needed to get to heaven.  Thus it is imperative that we have Our Heavenly Father, through His grace, reveal to us the truth, the way and the life that is in His Son, Jesus.

This revelation will come to us through spiritual hunger induced by the urgings of the Holy Spirit and often brought on by the prayers of family and friends.  We did not earn it and do not deserve it.  It is all ours by the grace of God.

Spiritual Energy

Once we are born again, we receive a new energy source - the Holy Spirit.   Our new energy source is always on, ready to be dispensed.  The Holy Spirit can assist us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually.  We are no longer limited by our own physical and mental abilities.

There is nothing that can interfere with the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives except our own negative interaction with the Holy Spirit.  Our sins can limit the flow and we can refuse the flow, but the Holy Spirit will always be there for us when we are ready to make ourselves living founts of Jesus' love.

The Power Within Us

The wooden cross that became the instrument of death for Jesus contained no life.  Yet that wooden cross was able to meet its responsibilities because of a tree that gave its life for the formation of the cross.

In a similar fashion, Jesus Christ gave His life so that we might become instruments capable of meeting kingdom responsibilities.  Without Jesus giving His life, we would not be able to do the things that God created us to do for all eternity.

Creating a Better Life

Man throughout the ages has tried to define what will make him a better person in order to create for himself a better life.  From a secular standpoint, many of the devised programs, processes and religions have been deemed suitable for a life model.  

The truth of the matter is that there is only one life model that has merit - the plan of salvation.  It is a plan that is offered to all but must be accepted to be received.  

It is well stated here in an excerpt from the Nicene Creed which was written in 325AD:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.  Through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried.  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

Reliance on the Holy Spirit

If we place our focus on our vision, our job or our problem, without including the direction of the Holy Spirit, we will set expectations that will not be in perfect alignment with God's plans for our lives.  We will be setting ourselves up for burn out or disappointment because our results will not be satisfying to us nor pleasing to God.

Our focus needs to be on God at all times.  If our focus is on Him, He will direct our ways.  He will establish how high He is ready for us to go.  He knows exactly what we are capable of through His Holy Spirit.

Losing It

Whenever we are out in the world, we are challenged by many things (bad drivers, rude cashiers, uncaring service attendants, etc.) that annoy us.  We need to learn to turn these things over to the Lord.  If we don't, we are likely to lose our testimony quickly.

It only takes one quick, nasty comment to destroy our ability to deliver the Good News.  After all, who would want to be a Christian if it leaves the person with a nasty attitude.  This is what the non-believer will see when we react in the flesh instead of letting the Lord handle it.

Serving the Body of Christ

Most of us are not called by God to be theologians or full time ministers.  We are called by God to be secular laborers who bring His Good News to our homes and our workplaces.  

Aside from our working career, we may have a calling for some type of spiritual service at church such as teaching bible study, singing in the choir, etc.  For most of the rest of us, our service for the church will probably be limited to simple services such as child care giver, parking attendant, usher or perhaps greeter.  We may view these services as quite mundane.  But God sees these things completely differently.  Each of these tasks are ordained for assignment in fulfilling the needs of the Body of Christ and are held in high esteem by Him.  His rewards are not based on what job we serve, but how we respond to His calling to serve His church.

Our Sins Are Washed Away Forever

God loves us so much that He forgives our sins is a misstatement of the truth.  God by His nature cannot forgive our sins without the redemptive work of the Cross.  The proper statement is that God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the Cross as a living sacrifice for our sins.  

The blood of Jesus washes away our sins.  It is the complete sacrificial work of Jesus that allows God to receive us as heirs into His kingdom.  This understanding of sin emphasizes how grievous sin is to God.  God simply cannot tolerate sin.  Sin cannot exist in His presence.

The Process of Forgiveness

The process of forgiveness on the human level is fairly straight forward.  When we are lightly offended by another person, we may simply forgive them because we love them so much or because the offense was so light that it is easily forgotten.  For more grievous offenses, we may find it harder to forgive, but we may decide to do so because the offender admits guilt and the offender's expression of sorrow and regret is sufficient to ease our pain.  Of course, the process is always easier if the offender offers to compensate us for our losses and/or promises never to do it again.

The process of forgiveness on the supernatural level is more complex.  For God, every sin is a grievous offense.  For the sin to be forgiven requires more than an admission of guilt, an expression of regret, a reconciliation of damages and a desire to turn away from the sin forever.  God requires that Jesus mediates on our behalf.  He can only be our mediator if we have received Him as Our Savior.  The process of supernatural forgiveness is a miracle made possible by the death of Jesus on the Cross. 

Only Through the Cross

We know that God forgives our sins when we confess them before Him and repent.  What we often overlook when we confess our sins is that the process of forgiveness is only possible because Jesus died on the Cross for our sins.  

Had Jesus not taken away our sins, God in His righteousness could not forgive us for our sins.  Because of the blood sacrifice of His Son, God is able to both forgive our sins and retain His holy nature.  We must not miss the opportunity to bring thanks to Our Savior for His sacrifice when we approach Our Heavenly Father for forgiveness.

The Freedom of Choice

With the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we hold the promises of God's Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness.  We must be aware, however, that through this process Our Heavenly Father does not take away our right to choose.

The bottom line is that we have to make choice to either follow the urgings of the Creator of the Universe or follow our own carnal desires.  We shall be free indeed if we choose submission to the callings of Our Lord.

His Provision is Measured

As parents, we want all the best for our children.  We want them to have a wonderful life.  Because of our higher level of understanding and our life experiences, we know that children should only be given certain gifts and responsibilities when they have shown that they are ready to handle them.  Our children prove their readiness for more through obedience to our instructions.

God uses our experiences as parents to reveal to us the way in which He will release His blessings into our lives and how He will call us to greater responsibilities in His kingdom.  Just as we provided more for our children based on their readiness, Our Heavenly Father measures the amount of His release to us based on our obedience to His instructions and callings on our lives.

Our Aim in Life

If life were a business, it would be all about the bottom line results.  In truth, this is how most people approach life.  Even people in ministry are often too heavily focused on the results (the number of members, funds collected, funds distributed, etc.) of their ministries.

In God's kingdom on earth, it is all about the process.  God takes full responsibility for the results.  He looks to us to follow His primary processes - love Him above all things and love our neighbors as ourselves.  Through our efforts done for His glory, He takes care of all the rest.

Breaking Our Independent Spirit

Most of us in America were raised to be fiercely independent.  Our level of independence was often the measure of our maturity.  

That admirable trait, in the eyes of the world, impacts how we are able to build intimacy with God.  When we fall short of full surrender to Jesus Christ because of our independent spirit, we end up living on the fence - half in a spiritual life and have in a carnal life.  

Only a Holy Spirit led lifestyle that fosters our intimacy with Our Heavenly Father will enable us to completely surrender our lives to Jesus.  We will have reached spiritual maturity when we get off the fence and become consciously devoted to God in all that we do.

Making Devine Choices

From the beginning, God gave man free choice.  While God has a plan for our lives, He allows us to discover it through the life choices that we make.  He will provide urgings in our spirit through His Holy Spirit.  He will provide stop signs in the same fashion.  But through it all, our free choice will remain.

The closer we are to Our Heavenly Father will dictate how closely our choices mirror His choices for our lives.  Our intimacy with Him will ultimately lead us to a place where our choices will be the same as His.

Releasing God's Power Through Faith

The living water is within us when we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior.  The living water is never turned off.  It is always available to us and to those around us.

Only the level of our faith restricts the flow of the living water.  Without faith, we build a dam.  With a little faith, we allow a measured flow.  With much faith, we release an unlimited torrent of absolute power.  Our faith must be in the One from whom our experience flows.

The Identity of a New Man in Christ

A new man in Christ is identified by his obedience to God's commands and by the fruit that he bears.  His life is an expression of the gifts that he has received - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  In everything he does, he shares with the world around him the perfect love and forgiveness that he received from the Father.  He pleases the Father by bringing honor and glory to His name, the name of Jesus and to the Holy Spirit.

Building Spiritual Maturity

One thing is as certain as death and taxes.  We are going to experience trials in our lives.  Some of the trials will be small while others will be so big we will nearly faint.  In each, we must learn to rejoice for trials are God's way of drawing us close and teaching us His ways.

Through our faith we will have our character built up so that we may become the person God intended us to be.  And as our character builds, our faith will grow stronger to facilitate even more spiritual maturity.

Plentiful Fruit

When we are in full submission to Jesus as Lord of our lives, we have prepared ourselves to allow the full power of the Holy Spirit to be released into the world around us.  At this juncture, we are fully capable of doing all that God has planned and willed for our lives.  All we need to do is listen for and respond to the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit.  If we do this, our path will be perfect and our fruit will be plentiful.

The Work of Converting Souls

When we try to teach, preach or evangelize through our own strength and capability, we will not be successful in delivering the true message of redemption.  The work of revealing Jesus is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit within us.  If we let the Holy Spirit lead us, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will be our product.

Fundamentally, it is not our job to convert people.  It is our job to have people drawn to us through our living testimony.  Once drawn to us, then Jesus is revealed to them as the way, the truth and the life.  The conversion of souls is the work of Jesus Christ.  To Him goes all the glory.

Temples of the Holy Spirit

We are the vessels of the living water that dwells within us.  We are the lanterns for the light that shines from us.  We are the place that others can go to share in the fruits of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  We are temples of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Nothing that flows through us to others is of ourselves.  It all originates from the perfection of the Holy Spirit within us.  Our responsibility is to keep the temple undefiled so that the Holy Spirit can operate freely in our lives.

God's Plans for Our Lives Unfold Around Us Each Day

New government leader, new boss, new co-worker, new neighbor, new acquaintance, new friend - not a single one of them are new in our lives by chance.  God has placed them all in our lives to teach us new things about ourselves. 

It seems impossible that all the people placed around us are there for our good.  But our God is the God of the impossible and He loves us so much that He goes to all lengths to meet our needs.  He places people all around us to mold us into who He created us to be.  Some of the people will challenge us, some will aid us or support us and some will need our aid or support.  All of the people around us can benefit us if we take the time to realize that they are not there by chance.  They are there as part of God's plan for our lives.

For the Good of Those Who Love Him

Have you ever heard someone say, "I am not worried, things always work out for the best"?  Whether that person has looked at that statement from a spiritual perspective is unknown.  What is known is that if that person is a Christian, a look back from a spiritual standpoint will reveal the hand of God in each circumstance that "worked out".

God is faithful to His Word.  In accordance with Romans 8:28,  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  No matter what today looks like, we can trust in The Lord to work out all the details for our eternal good.

The Fabric of Our Lives

We see our lives through the fabric of time.  All we see is one thread at a time.  God works in the fabric of eternity.  He is constantly weaving our entire life for us.  He sees the finished product, while we only see the singular threads coming together one at a time.

Because God is who He is, the final product will be much more beautiful and useful than we could ever imagine or hope for.  We will realize the extraordinary value of His work in our lives when we stand before Him and see for ourselves who we have become.

As We Draw Near to Him

When we were without Christ, we were not capable of standing against the powers that sought to destroy us.  In the darkness, we could not see that we were being led into a life that would never be totally satisfying.  We could not understand that by settling for what the world had to offer, we fell short of receiving all the riches of Our Heavenly Father.

But now that we have allowed the light of Jesus to come into our lives, we can see the new man for the first time and see all the potential that he has.  We can understand that our renewal was made available to us through Our Savior.  As we draw near to Him, we realize that He will help us to receive all that Our Heavenly Father has prepared for us here on earth and in heaven.

A Good and Perfect Master

In the days of slavery, the slave was keenly aware of who his owner was and what his owner expected of him.  When the slave had a good master, he could see the value in the provision he was given in exchange for his service.  The well treated slave often delighted in pleasing the good master.

As Christians, we not only have a good master, but a perfect Master in Jesus.  We should delight in meeting every calling that He places on our lives.

The Do's and Don'ts of Obedience

Most diets are built on "dos" and "don'ts".  Don't eat this type of food.  Do eat another type.  Don't eat at certain times.  Do eat at other specified times.  Don't eat too much of this.  Do eat more of that.  For many this regimen is only sustainable for a short period of time.  Ultimately the diet fails.  The flesh is not capable of overcoming the desire to satisfy self.  The people who win at dieting are generally the ones who diet for a higher purpose than losing weight, e. g., "I want to be healthy so I can enjoy my family more."  

Similarly, obedience to God for obedience sake is doomed for failure.  Obedience to God based on our love for The Lord and our desire to please Him is the way.  We must learn to lean on His Spirit and not our own.

Transformation by Trial and Heartbreak

Once we accept Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us.  The Lord then begins to use us as vessels to carry and share His perfect love and forgiveness.  But first, we must be broken of those things in our lives that would hinder the flow of God's love through us.

As we submit to the reign of Christ in our lives, we will experience trials and heartbreak.  These trials are allowed by God to create brokenness in our lives.  These same trials will be used by God to create the cracks in us as living vessels of the Lord's love.  These cracks will then become the portals from which His love will flow through us unhindered by our frailties.