Letting God Be Who He Says He Is

Psalm 56:11

In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

It is amazing how often we struggle with the issues of the day, wondering how our particular situation is going to get resolved.  How little faith we have in Almighty God through whom all things are possible.  But what may be even more amazing is how we have no faith that Almighty God is interested in the smallest needs in our lives when His Word proclaims that He knows the count of every hair on our heads.  Our smallest concern is as important to Him as our greatest need.

Through the continuous and sometimes onerous trials that we have passed through in life, we should have learned to patiently wait on the Lord to take us from darkness into the light.  Yet we seem to become frustrated by the small stuff and lose patience.  More importantly we lose confidence in an Almighty God who cares for us so much that He bottles all of our tears and observes them with tender love and concern.

May we all come full circle just as David, the Psalmist, did.  May we be in constant recognition of the fact that the Lord is our helper.  May we move forward fearing no man, for man has no power but what God has given him.  Through our trials, may we all praise God knowing that He is faithful to meet our every need.

Let us make David's affirmation of Almighty God's power the foundation for our daily resolve.  Let us rejoice and trust in Him to be who He says He is.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithful promises to meet our every need.  We praise You for giving us sufficient grace to get through every trial.  We pray, Lord, that You will grant us the faith to trust in You for everything in our lives.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit teach us to come to You boldly with what seems impossible and also come to You confidently with the smallest things that are troubling us.  May Your grace and power in our lives never be diminished because of our lack of understanding.  We ask all these things in the name of the Son seated at the right hand of power, Jesus Christ.

Preparing for the Spring Showers

Ezekiel 34:26

And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.

Everything on earth, whether man, beast or plant, is under the hand of Almighty God.  Our all-sufficient Lord sends out everything required for sustenance and growth.  And when the timing is right, He sends showers.  When God is ready to spread His grace, be certain that you will not receive drops or droplets.  You will receive showers, not a shower, but plentiful showers.

He will cause the showers to come down in season.  His showers will fall upon us according to His divine will and timing for our lives.  His showers will refresh us, revive us and make us fruitful unto His own purpose for our lives.  And it will all be a part of His abundant grace which provides peace, rest, pardon, righteousness and eternal life for each of us.

And through His blessings on each of us in the Body of Christ, the world will receive showers of grace.  But first, we must prepare ourselves to be worthy vessels and we must be alert to the onset of our seasons of grace.  When our seasons arrive, we must be obedient to His calling on our lives.  If we have made ourselves ready, we will receive the promised showers of favor on our lives.

Let us prepare ourselves through obedience to the callings of the Lord on our lives.  Let us become fountainheads for the showers that He has prepared for all men.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You and thank You for Your abundant nature.  We seek the wisdom to learn to wait on Your provision.  We pray for the Holy Spirit to sharpen our awareness of the showers of grace that You pour upon us.  We ask, Father, that You help us to prepare our ground so that we will bear much fruit when the showers arrive.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in becoming eager conduits of Your grace.  We ask all these things in the name of Our All-Sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Modeling the Servant Heart of Jesus

Matthew 20:28

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus Christ, The Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords came to earth as the Son of Man.  He gave up all of His royal rights to become a servant of every man.  His servanthood was so complete that He gave up His own life and He separated Himself from the Father in order to take on all of our sins so that we might have life with the Father.

Once we claim our eternal inheritance as children of God, we accept that which we do not deserve and could not possibly earn except through the grace and mercy of Our Savior.  When we recognize that Jesus Christ served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness and our sin, we should exhaust ourselves serving all men for His sake.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, should we not follow the model of Our Master?  We should be in constant communion with the Father, just as Jesus was, so that we can determine the will and plan that Our Heavenly Father has for our lives.  We should then be servants to all men in accordance to the will and plan that the Father reveals to us.

Let us model the servant heart of Jesus for the world to see.  May those around us be drawn to the Son of Man through our living testimonies.  May they desire to have a relationship with the Son of God because of what they see in our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to be bond servants in Your kingdom.  We praise the name of Jesus who came as Son of Man to show us the model for living in accordance with Your will.  We come before You to proclaim how unworthy we are of all that You have set aside for us to do in service to Your kingdom.  We bless the name of Jesus who has made us worthy servants through the shedding of His blood.  We pray, Father, that You fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit so that we may pour ourselves out to all men.  May the hearts of those around us be prepared to receive what we have to offer in the name of Our Savior.  We pray all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Is There Anything More Frustrating Than Waiting?

Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God! I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Almighty God is omnipotent.  He is able to deliver us from the most extreme trials.  Almighty God is omniscient.  He knows every little detail about us and our troubles.  Almighty God is unchangeable, forever faithful to His promises.  He makes all things work together for those that abide in Him.  So why is it that we are so impatient when it comes to waiting on God?

Is there anything that we have learned to hate more than waiting?  What is it about traffic lights, grocery lines, internet downloads, etc. that create such angst?  Has patience disappeared completely in our lives?  Is there anything that frustrates us more than lack of success when something we are working on is in stall mode? Even when we know we are doing everything right and in the right way, the results become more important to us than the process.  When did we lose sight of the fact that God is in control of everything? 

The frustration of waiting for something to happen and the pain of waiting on success both stem from the same issue.  We are focusing on self gratification and not focusing on the plans that God has for our lives and His perfect will for our lives.  So we rush ahead of God in our efforts to make things happen on our timetable.  Let us reach out to the Holy Spirit for guidance and instruction when we are so anxious to move before God moves.  Our trust in God's timing will prove to be a reward beyond our imagination.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good plan for our lives that You promise us in Your Holy Word.  We praise You for Your Holy Spirit who guides us and strengthens us so that we can overcome the desires of our flesh that are not in accordance with Your plans.  We pray, Father, that You renew our minds so that we will know Your will for our lives.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us to learn to be still and wait on the all sufficient grace and provision that You promise us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Making Our Love Offering

Mark 14:6

But Jesus replied, "Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me?

When Jesus was dining with a group at Simon's home, a woman with an alabaster jar full of very expensive perfume came up to Jesus, broke the jar open and poured it's costly contents on Him.  She was criticized by the group at the table for such an extravagant gesture.  Jesus quickly scolded the group for not seeing the value of what she was doing.

When we become broken vessels and pour out everything we have to glorify Our Savior, we can be assured that the world will demean us for our efforts.  We can find comfort in knowing that Our Lord is greatly pleased and glorified by our expressions of love.  He will honor us and commend us for our efforts just as He did for the woman.

We should pour out unto Him all the best of our adorations.  We should love Him with all our heart, never fearful of how our zeal and affection will be misunderstood.  After all, Jesus poured out all that He had for us.  Is there anything too precious for us to give to Him?  Surely there is not.

Let us make an eternal love offering to Our Savior.  May it represent all that we are and all that we have.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son who poured out all that He had for us.  We exalt the name of Jesus for spilling His blood on our behalf.  We come before You to bring all of our love, our praises and our blessings to bestow them upon Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to pour out all that we are, all that we will ever be, all that we have and all that we will ever have in joyous thanksgiving for all that Our Savior has done for us.  May we never hold back a single thing in expressing our love for Jesus.  We pray all these things in the name of our precious Deliverer, Jesus Christ.

Answering the Invitation

John 14:31

But I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going.

What an exquisite invitation that Jesus offered to His disciples, "Come let's be going."   He offers us the same invitation to join Him in doing the work of the Father.  With the offer, He promises a gift of peace of mind and heart, even in the face of the trials of our lives.

We cannot possibly find a better model for life, nor a better partner for our work, than the only man who lived without sin.  And what was it that this man without sin did?  He loved His Father and He did what His Father asked of Him.  Then He asked others to join Him in His work.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are asked to be obedient to the Father as He was.  We are asked to preach the Gospel as He did.  We are asked to suffer for the sake of the kingdom as He did.  We are asked to fully surrender to the will of the Father as He did.  We are asked to find others who will join in the work of the kingdom, just as the Son of Man did.  In doing so, we join Jesus in doing His work with the comfort of knowing that all will be done with peace of mind and heart.

Come.  Let us be going to join the Son of God in doing the Father's work.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us so that we could show the world how much we love You.  We bless the name of Jesus for surrendering His life to You so that we can surrender to You.  We thank You, Father, for the privilege of joining Your Son, Jesus, in His work.  We pray, Lord, that You will raise us up as instruments of Your good work.   We ask that You use us as vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We seek the wisdom, grace and the strength to be able to gather others to unite with us in union with Our Savior.  We ask all these things in the holy name of One who invites us to join Him, Jesus Christ.

Coming Out of the Darkness of Depression and Despair

1 Kings 19:5

Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.  All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”

Elijah was on the run from his troubles.  He was so depressed that he asked God to take his life.  Then he fell asleep.  God sent an angel to pull him out of his despair.

It is very common for all of us to want to go into a shell when troubles seem overwhelming.  We do not always have the faith that we need when things are not going our way.  At times, we may feel like we should just give up.  This, however, is the messaging that we are receiving from our enemy.

God knows everything about us.  He designed us.  He knows our daily work and he knows our daily trials.  He has promised that if we have faith in Him, His grace will be sufficient for us to overcome the attacks of the enemy.

It is amazing how simple acts of love or service can lift us out of the darkness of depression or despair that we may be experiencing.  The angel instructed Elijah to get up and eat.  Through his simple act of obedience, Elijah was quickly on his road to recovery.  He was back to a place where he once again trusted in the care that God promises all of us.

When we are feeling down, a quick look around to find others who are in need may be our way out from the darkness to the light.  A simple gesture of kindness to the person in need could be all that we need to get us going again.  We should consider being angels of mercy to those around us.  In the process, we will minister to ourselves.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Holy Spirit is always with us to lift us up in our times of struggle.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will urge us to inquire how we can serve You when we feel so needy.  Inspire us, Lord, to do the simple acts of obedience that You set before us.  May we learn to comfort the world around us with the comfort that You provide us in our times of trouble.  We ask that You use us as your angels of mercy in times of overwhelming trouble for those who are in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Angel of Mercy, Jesus Christ.

Overcoming What the World Has Laid Upon Us

Luke 5:5

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

It is important to realize that there is power for us in the Word of God.  The power that we can access is held in the promises that are revealed to us in the Holy Bible.  The promises are the keys to our victory over all the forces of this earth and all the forces of evil that might try to come against us.  No matter what we think the promises of this world hold in store for us, the Word of God promises exceedingly more.

Peter exhibited faith in the spoken words of His Master, Jesus.  Even though his instincts told him that it was highly questionable to expect a worthwhile catch, he dropped his nets.  He had faith that Jesus’ words were more powerful than the forces of nature that he knew were unlikely to deliver a decent catch at this place and time of day.  His faith was rewarded.  His nets were filled beyond the point of bursting.

Whether we are toiling in a ministry that is not fruitful, laboring in a vocation that is not productive or simply struggling with the issues of life, we should look toward the promises in God’s Holy Word and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Our victory is guaranteed and is waiting upon us if we have faith in the Lord.

Let us dig into the Holy Word of God and find those scriptures that best fit our time of need.  If we are diligent in our search, we will find the promises that will provide the power that we will need to overcome what the world has laid upon us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Your Holy Word to teach us the things that we are promised as inheritors of Your kingdom.  We pray that the Holy Spirit shows us how to live our lives in accordance with Your Word and in reliance upon Your promises.  We ask that the Holy Spirit strengthen us to stand against everything that comes against us, knowing that through Our Savior we have victory over every circumstance.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who gave us victory over all things when He died on the Cross, Jesus Christ.

Escaping the Misery of the Darkness

John 12:46

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Each and every one of us was born into darkness.  We were born with an unregenerate spirit and a spirit of unbelief.  We were born with a darkness in our nature that makes us totally unacceptable to Almighty God. 

This did not catch God by surprise.  Through His loving kindness, His mercy and His grace, He provided a plan by which each of us could remove the darkness from our lives so that we would be able to stand in His presence one day and serve Him according to His eternal will for our lives.  As part of His gracious plan, the Holy Spirit was instructed to reveal to each of us that upon believing in Jesus Christ as Our Savior, Our Heavenly Father provides us with the way in which we can become acceptable to Him.

Unfortunately, because our sin nature remains with us as long we are in our earthly bodies, we will continue to make choices that are according the world’s standards and not Our Lord's.  Thus we will bring darkness back into our lives.  Our compassionate Creator had a plan for this weakness as well.  In our new lives in Christ, we are able to see and understand the darkness that the world is offering us.  We are able to overcome our natural ignorance about sin and take our victory over sin.  Through Jesus Christ who strengthens us, we are able to walk in the light of truth, faith and holiness.  We are able to walk this path of enlightenment on this earth until the day we die and until our day of living in Christ's eternal light is upon us.

Let us repent of the darkness in our lives.  Let us seek the Light.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus, so that we can have victory over the darkness in our lives.  We bless the name of Jesus and pray for the wisdom, understanding and counsel that we need to rely daily on Your Son, who came as the Light of the World.  May we be set free from the darkness of sin, whether it be by ignorance or error.  May Your grace allow us to live in the light rather than in the misery of the darkness.  May we become broken vessels that allow Your light to shine through to those around us who are still living in darkness.  We ask all these things in the name of the Eternal Light, Jesus Christ.

The Seat of Honor That Awaits Us

2 Kings 25:30

Day by day the king gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived.

During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, God punished the Jews because of their disobedience and falling away.  He allowed the Jews to be overcome by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar.  Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Jews from their land and imprisoned their king, Jehoiachin.  When Nebuchadnezzar died, his son Evil-merodach became king of Babylon.  Because God loved His children so much, He placed favor for the Jews in the heart of the new Babylonian king.  King Jehoiachin of Judah, who had been imprisoned for 37 years, was given a seat of honor in Evil-merodach's house.  Jehoiachin dined regularly with the Babylonian king and was provided an allowance for all his daily needs as long as he lived.

Because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, they were exiled from the land where they walked with Almighty God and each of us that followed them was also exiled by sin to a life outside the presence of Almighty God.  But because God loved us so much, He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross to atone for the sins that separated us from Our Creator. 

Like Jehoiachin, we received unmerited favor.  But while Jehoiachin received a seat of honor at the king's table, we were provided unlimited access to the throne of the King of Kings.  While Jehoiachin was provided an allowance for his daily needs, we received a royal inheritance of all of the unlimited treasures of Our Heavenly King.  While Jehoiachin's privileges ended at his death, we were given the fullness of God's blessings for all eternity.

Let us be mindful of the treasures that have been prepared for us.  Let us rejoice in the seat of honor that awaits us.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You loved us so much that You gave us Your Son, Jesus, to atone for our sins.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to join You in Your heavenly kingdom.  May the Holy Spirit guide us to Your throne to receive the fullness of Your blessings and the ongoing provision for our needs.  May our cups overflow with Your love and Your grace.  May all the unmerited favor that we receive be poured out on the world around us.  We ask all these things in the matchless name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Finding and Accepting Our Role in the Body of Christ

Romans 14:7

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.

To live for ourselves alone is evidence that we are strangers to Jesus Christ.  If it is our main purpose to gratify our flesh, to gain material things and to become the center of our social activities, it is evidence that we are not living according to the Good News of the Gospel.

The church is called the Body of Christ because we are all one in Christ.  Each one of us is inseparable from the other.  Each one of us is inseparable from Our Savior.  We are all different in our strengths, our capabilities and our practices.  Yet we all are one in union with the Lord.  We should all be looking to serve and prove ourselves as witnesses to Him.  The spiritual health of others should be as important to us as our own spiritual health.  The Body of Christ depends on our acceptance of our responsibility to be poured out for Christ.

No one who has given his or her life to Christ is a self-seeker.  The true purpose of our lives is to please God not ourselves.  Through the grace of God, we are able to identify fully with both the life and the death of Jesus Christ, Our Savior.  Let us search our own lives to insure that we are approving ourselves to Christ in service to all mankind.  Let our lives be living testimonies to our thanks for all that Jesus has done for us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the grace that You provide that we may not live for ourselves but that we may live for Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We bless the name of Jesus who died for us so that we may live for Him and serve Him in the Body of Christ.  Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to be responsible members of the Body of Christ.  We ask, dear Jesus, that You help us to understand that our sufficiency is in You and not in ourselves.  Guide us to the strengths, the capacities and the processes that You have set aside for us to serve You.  Allow our lives as Your servants to be our proclamation of thanksgiving for all that You have provided.  We ask all these things in the Righteous and Holy Name of Jesus Christ.

The True Bread of Life

John 6:33

For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

The Jews were accustomed to the idea that bread could come down from heaven.  But the bread that they were familiar with came only to supply their natural needs.  The manna that they had received came down from the lower heavens.  John was writing to them about a new bread that would come to them from the upper heavens.   John was teaching them about a new bread that was not for sustaining natural life, but for the giving of spiritual and eternal life.   John was revealing to them the bread of God, Jesus Christ.  John was confirming that God was still in the business of provision, but He was extending His giving from beyond the natural to the supernatural.  In His excellency, Almighty God was offering the Jews a bread that was infinitely superior to the manna of old.

Give us this day our daily bread.  How many times have we prayed this and thought only of our fleshly provision?  Have we forgotten what Jesus Himself said?  The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Christ taught that He is the true Bread. He wanted His disciples to understand that He is supernaturally to the spirit what bread is naturally to the flesh.  As our bodies are nourished by grain, Jesus nourishes and supports our spiritual life. He is the Bread of God.  

When we ask for our daily bread, let us remember both the natural and supernatural provision that our precious Lord provides us.  Let us seek both that which strengthens us physically and that which strengthens us by the supernatural power of the One who was crucified for our sins.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing both our physical and spiritual nourishment.  We exalt Your name for the harvest that You bring into our lives to be the natural provision for our bodies.  We praise You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to be the supernatural nourishment and eternal sustenance that we need for our spirit-filled lives.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts so that we will receive a full portion of the nourishment of Jesus Christ for our souls.  May everything we do be in remembrance of Our Savior and what He did for us.  As You nourish us with Your True Bread, Father, may we provide nourishment to those who are in need of the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of all provision, Jesus Christ.

Taking Claim of the Fullness of Our Redemption

Luke 4:18

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"

The words in Luke 4:18 were spoken by Jesus himself in the synagogue.  He was confirming all the things that the Scripture said that He was anointed to do on earth.  Later, before He left them, Jesus told the disciples that they would be able to do and should do more than He did.  He let them know that where they were weak in the flesh that He would send the Holy Spirit to perfect His strength in their weaknesses.  As Jesus instructed His disciples, He was also instructing us.  All these things have been set aside for us as well.

How shortsighted we are when we accept Our Savior’s invitation for salvation, but do not believe in the fullness of our redemption.  Not only did Our Lord come to redeem us from our sins, but He also came in His power and grace to free us from all the bondages of this world.  Though we may currently suffer in the flesh, He released us into the world with freedom and joy in the spirit so that the world may know Him through our living testimonies.

The fullness of our redemption is not just for our own benefit.  We have each been anointed in different ways to do all the things that Jesus Himself was called to do as the Son of Man.  Let us experience the fullness of our redemption.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for anointing us to do Your good work.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to receive our anointing.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit dwells within us to insure that where we are weak in our flesh, we will be made strong in Christ.  We pray, Lord, that You show us how to take claim of the fullness of our redemption.  Whatever our current situation may be, may we take on the joy and comfort of Your completed promises.  May we find peace knowing that Your power is working in us.  May the world see the anointing that is upon us because Our Savior is within us.  We pray all these things in the name of our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Doing Our Own Digging

Exodus 20:19

Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."

The Jewish people were not accustomed to going directly to God.  They only approached God through their high priest mediators.  They were quite comfortable in allowing Moses to declare to them what God had spoken to him.  They committed to doing whatever Moses revealed to them.   They were steadfast in fearing that they would be consumed by fire if they were to be in direct communication with the living God.

What an awesome privilege that we have to be able to go directly to the throne room of Almighty God.  What an unspeakable blessing that we have been provided by Our Mediator, Jesus Christ, who opened the doors of heaven for us.

Yet we often delight in and rely on the spoken and written words of men rather than digging into God's Holy Word ourselves.  We tend to look for our own Moses.  We find that the words of men lean toward messages that are meant to comfort us and not to convict us.  They also tend to require less work to digest.

By shying away from God's Holy Word, we seek to avoid the discomfort that comes with having our weaknesses brought to light by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.  Even more so, we shy away from a personal relationship with Our Creator.  We may not fear being consumed by fire, but we fear having to let go of the things of this world.  In doing so, we miss or delay the sanctifying work that prepares us for a life of eternal comfort with Our Savior.

Let us be more earnest in our reading of the Scriptures.  Let us seek the Holy Spirit to open our minds to receive all that has been prepared for us in God's Holy Word.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for speaking to us through Your Holy Spirit and Your Holy Word.  We rejoice in knowing that we can hear Your voice if we dig deeply into Your Word.  We pray, Lord, that we will be consumed by Your Holy Fire.  We ask, Father, that You strengthen us to close our ears to the messages of leniency that the world espouses and to open our hearts to Your Holy Word so that we may bring our lives into alignment with Your laws.  We ask that the Holy Spirit teach us how to listen to You.  May we seek and find an intimate relationship with You through Your Son.  We pray all these things through the Great Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Experiencing the Fullness of Creation

Ephesians 1:10

And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.

This passage indicates that all things were once united together in one.  Man and all the things of the earth and heavens were one with Christ.  It supposes a disunion and scattering of them.  We know that this scattering was the result of sin.  The passage confirms that Jesus Christ will once again restore and renew the former state, bringing together under His authority all of heaven and earth.

While Our Father has blessed us with the capacity to enjoy all that He has created, He leaves a void in our hearts that can only be filled by His Son.  Only when we fill the void with Our Savior are we able to fully experience the abundant life that we have been created for.  When we become one with Christ, we inherit everything in heaven and on earth.

When we become one with Christ, we see His glory in every sunrise, every sunset, every full moon, every star, every mountain, every valley, every ocean, every lake, every river, every stream, every tree, every flower, every blade of grass, every grain of sand, every animal, every bird, every fish and in every man and woman.  When we surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ, we are in position to experience the fullness of heaven and earth as God intended it before the fall.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us a part of Your creation plan.  We bless the name of Jesus, through whom we are able to experience the fullness of Your creation.  We long for Jesus to make His home in our hearts.  We pray that we may have the wisdom to understand the depths of His love.  We ask that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to trust in Him completely.  We pray for the humility to surrender totally to His authority.  May we experience the joy of being one with Christ in heaven and on earth.  We pray these things in the name of Our precious Savior and Restorer, Jesus Christ.

Discovering the Glory of God

Isaiah 40:26

Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of His great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.

The prophet Isaiah wrote these words to the people of his time because they had turned their attention to idols.  Isaiah was redirecting their focus from their man-made idols to the Creator of all things.  He was testing them.  He wanted them to use their imaginations to find the might, the power and the presence of God Almighty in everything in nature that surrounded them.

Jesus has authority over all creatures and all created things on this earth.  Through the prophet, Isaiah, we were directed to use our senses to consider who created everything and give honor to Him.  We should test ourselves.  Have we replaced God Almighty with our own idols - ourselves, our work, our avocations, our idle time?

Let us lift our eyes to the the heavens above.  Let us seek to understand what a glorious being our God must be.  Let us consider what power He must possess.  Let us imagine the brilliance of His majestic presence.  Let us know for certain how He infinitely exceeds any other being.  Having done these things, let us set His place in our lives where it should be - first and foremost.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for directing our imaginations toward You.  We pray that the Holy Spirit show us how to get past the busyness of our lives so that we can enjoy Your presence in all that we do.  We ask that You teach us how to praise You in every breath, exalt You in every provision and worship You in every activity.  May we find the essence of who You are in our every high thought.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Most High God and Creator, Jesus Christ.

Ever Flowing Fountain of Grace

1 Thessalonians 5:23

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

Once we are washed clean by the blood of Our Savior, the Holy Spirit dwells within us to assist us in our journey toward complete sanctification.  We will never reach complete sanctification in this life.  Our full transformation is reserved for the time when we stand in the presence of God in His throne of glory and hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Until that time, the Holy Spirit will take us through an intense narrowing of our interests.  Less and less will the things of the world call us.  More and more we will hear the voice of Our Savior as we press toward complete holiness.

Through it all, we are sure to fail from time to time.  But we can be confident by virtue of the faith and promises given to us by Our Creator that He will do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.  He will provide an ever flowing fountain of grace that will enlighten us, encourage us, strengthen us and prepare us to stand before Him without spot or wrinkle.

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us blameless and holy in Your sight.  We bless the name of Jesus who washes away all of our sins.  We live our lives full of thanksgiving for the constant presence of the Holy Spirit.  We pray for the grace to walk in the holiness that has been given to us through Our Savior.  May we learn to ignore the world's agenda and to surrender completely to the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.  May we leave the green grass of earth to rest forever in the pasture of the Lamb.  We ask all this things in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ.