The Relationship and the Rewards of the Beatitudes

Matthew 5:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount have become known as The Beatitudes.  To many, The Beatitudes offer rewards that do not appear reachable because they require behavior that seems out of touch with what the world has to offer.  The promises of the Beatitudes become much clearer and more attainable when we realize that The Beatitudes are not meant to be a "To Do" list of required behaviors.  They are intended to point out the need for our relationship with Jesus Christ and how that relationship will impact our lives. 

It becomes even easier to understand The Beatitudes when we recognize that the first four Beatitudes specifically address our relationship with Jesus.  

• "Blessed are the poor in spirit" speaks to how far we fall short of the glory of God without His Son's redemption.   
• "Blessed are those that mourn" speaks to our need to express our sorrow for our sinful ways. 
• "Blessed are the meek" speaks to our need to humble ourselves before Our Savior and accept the salvation that He offers us.  
• "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" speaks to our need to become new men and women in Christ. 

The remainder of the Beatitudes address how our lives will change when we accept Our Savior.  With Christ indwelling in us, we are able to be merciful, be pure of heart and be peacemakers.  As a result, we will receive the rewards of this earth as promised by Jesus, but we will also be persecuted for our righteousness in Christ. When all these things have happened to us and for us, we can rejoice and be glad for our reward will be great in the kingdom of God.

Let us humble ourselves before the throne of Almighty God as we express our hunger for an intimate relationship with His Son.  Let us surrender to the sanctification process that our indwelling Redeemer brings into our lives.  Let us rejoice in our changed and blessed lives in Christ.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing to us our great need for Your Son in our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus for it is through Him that we are given the kingdom of heaven.  We pray, Lord, for the humility to recognize our filthy and condemned nature without the saving grace of the Cross.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit will come along side of us and help us so that we will allow the power of the presence of Your Son in our lives to change how we serve You.  We pray that we receive the fullness of the blessings that are promised in the Beatitudes. We ask all these things in the name of Our Rewarder, Jesus Christ.

Letting Go of Who We Used To Be

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Every born again believer stands in the same place.  We are not what we ought to be, but we are not what we use to be either.  This is the awesome convergence of salvation and sanctification.  We are at once saved when we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior.  From that moment on, we enter into the process of letting go of who we used to be in order to become who we will be in Christ.

Jesus loves us just as we are, but He loves us so much that He cannot allow us to stay where we are. With His indwelling, we find ourselves in the constant battle of our flesh and our new spirit in Christ.  We must let go of everything old - guilt, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, addiction, depression, despair, fear. These are the things of the flesh. These are the things that hinder us in our process of sanctification.  These are the things that Jesus Christ freed us from when He died on the Cross.

The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the work of the renewal of our minds.  This work will continue until the day we stand before Almighty God as He sees us in the image of His Son.

Let us discern the will of God in our lives and learn to live the good and acceptable and perfect lifestyles that Jesus Christ won for us on the Cross.  Let us renew our minds and free ourselves from the chains of the flesh.  Let us claim the victorious spirit-filled lives that Jesus has secured for us.   

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to die for our sins so that we may be free from the corruption of our flesh.  We praise You for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us live as new men in Christ instead of men and women of the world.  Help us, Lord, to let go of everything in the old man that is hindering our relationship with You.  We pray that You strengthen us so that we may cling to Your grace as we continue in our journey of sanctification.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Our Purifier, Jesus Christ.

Crushed by the Master

Matthew 13:32

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

The mustard seed germinates from the tiniest of beginnings.  Yet it blossoms into one of the largest plants in any garden.  It's utility is quite impressive.  As a tree, it provides food and shelter for the birds that it attracts.  As an herb it provides its greater value as a savory delight for man.  It is noteworthy that the true and highest value of the mustard seed is seen only after it has been crushed by the master of the garden.

The mustard seed parable was taught by Jesus in order to illustrate the growth, development and power of our faith.  Our faith starts out as a seed planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  It starts out small at first, but when properly nourished grows into something so large that it changes how we live and how we serve God. In the early stages of our development as disciples of Jesus Christ, it is likely that we will draw others to us for peace and comfort.  But our greater value to them will come later as we mature in Christ.  When we have been pressed by our trials, perhaps even crushed by them, the best that we have to offer to anyone will be released.  It will be then that those who have been drawn to us will receive the full power of who we are in Christ.

Let us turn to the nurturing care of the Holy Spirit as we are crushed by the trials of life.  Let us surrender to the process of having the old man pressed out of our lives and having the new man in Christ released to the world around us.  Let us strive to reach our highest value in the kingdom by our submission to the hand of the Master.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for planting the seed of faith within our hearts.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will aid us the continuous growth of our faith.  We humbly ask for the grace and the strength that we need to endure the trials in our lives which will press the best from us as we mature in our relationship with Our Savior.   May the world be drawn to us to savor the fullness of Christ within us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb Slain, Jesus Christ.

Rise and Receive Your Calling

Acts 9:6

But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

Paul's writings provide the foundational truths upon which our faith in Jesus Christ is built.  But as great as Paul's writings were, his living testimony may have provided even more valuable teachings to those who are seeking to be disciples of Our Savior.

In Acts, we read that before Paul was given any specific spiritual task to accomplish, he was simply asked to "rise and enter the city."  If Paul had failed to be obedient in following this simple command, we would not have all the writings of Paul in the Bible.  Some other obedient man would be there in his place. But Paul was obedient in this first dramatic calling and to all the others that the Lord issued to Him, so he became one of the greatest men in all of the Bible.  His teachings have been a blessing to generations of people throughout the ages.  His legacy continues to live on today.

The other thing that we learn about Paul is that he never sought the favor he received. He only sought the one who called Him.  So it is with us.  We will receive favor from the Lord, not because we seek favor but because we seek Him. 

Let us be mindful of Paul's example.  Let us seek the Lord first.  Let us be obedient to His calling on our lives.  Let us rejoice in how he uses us.  Let us celebrate the favor that He pours upon us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself.  We seek You, Lord.  We humbly come before You and ask forgiveness for all the times that we have fallen short in our obedience to You.  We pray that You will strike us down like You did Paul, so that we may see how we have offended You and so that we may turn our lives toward the path that You direct us. May the Holy Spirit guide us, inspire us and provide our strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy.  May we learn to be slaves to Jesus Christ and not slaves to this world.  May Your grace be with us always.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.

Trusting the Supernatural Power in Our Lives

1 Corinthians 2:4

And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Why is it that when we pray in public we are so concerned about our eloquence?  This pride can limit the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can actually block the movement of the Holy Spirit by putting ourselves in the way.  In an effort to impress men, we can hinder the movement of God in their lives and our own.

The truth of the matter is that we will never reach our full potential as disciples of Jesus Christ if we concern ourselves with the accolades of others.  The only person that we need to concern ourselves with is the person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.

It is part of our ongoing spiritual maturation to learn to let go of our desires to please man in all that we do.  We must learn to let the Holy Spirit help and guide us as we seek to please God first. We must learn to trust that supernatural power can be released through us simply by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit.  We must humbly accept that all the good work that comes from what we do is the result of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  If we surrender to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, we will experience an extraordinary release of power in our lives...well beyond our imagination and certainly well beyond our natural capability.

Let us seek to please Our Savior first and foremost.  Let us manifest to the world His power through our submission to Him and our subsequent living testimonies.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for equipping us through the Holy Spirit to please You in all that we do. We pray that the Holy Spirit will show us how to let go of the desire to please men and will enlighten us to put You first in all things.  May we see the release of fruit in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to inspire us and empower us to do Your good works.  We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

Peace When the World Offers None

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.

It is very easy to become frustrated, concerned, depressed, or even angry, when things seem to be piling up against us.  We must recognize and celebrate that God works in all things.  He is not absent during the bad times.  He is taking every element of our circumstances and using them to sculpt who we are.  As we mature in our relationship with God, we learn to understand that the work that He does in us during the times of trial defines who we are in Jesus Christ.  Even more so as we grow in Christ, we learn to find comfort, even joy, in every step that we take under the divine care of Almighty God.

This supernatural joyful comfort that we come to experience in the face of the pressures of the world defies the emotion that our flesh demands.  Through our trials, our faith carries us and builds us up where carnal men lose hope and are broken down.  We come to learn that God has allowed us to be where we are and even though we cannot see it at times, He is controlling all things in our lives. Ultimately, regardless of what external ministry to which He may call any of us, He calls each of us by His special grace from darkness to light and from bondage to liberty according to the eternal purpose that He has set aside for us.

Let us find peace in the Lord when the world offers none.  Let us rejoice in the victory that is ours even though we don't see it yet. Let us hold firm to our faith which carries us through all trials and ultimately builds us up.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your sovereign rule over our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we can find peace in You no matter what is going on around us.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will will strengthen us when the world tries to weaken us.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will turn us back to the light of victory when the world is trying to turn us to the darkness of defeat.  We pray that through it all our trust in You will be complete as we are delivered into Your will and plan for our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

The Ready Impartation of What We Have Received

Romans 1:14

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Paul was inspired by his view that Jesus Christ was his spiritual creditor.  He was constantly driven to impart all that he had received from Jesus to the world around him.  It was impossible for him to contain what he had been given through grace. So it should be with us.

Redeemed by the blood, and converted by the grace of the Lord Jesus, we are altogether His.  For His sake we are debtors to all men.  To serve all men is our duty.  We should readily impart to others what God has trusted to us.  We should rejoice to make others joyful.  We should take pleasure in communing with those who believe the same things with us. We should be ready to serve those who are not yet believers.

Let us be careful not to contain what has been poured out upon us.  Let us prepare ourselves to be founts of living water.  Let us allow the love of Our Savior to spill out from us to the world.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You providing Your Son, Jesus, to cleanse us of our sin debt for all eternity. Inspire us, Lord, to understand that through the gift of salvation we have become debtors to all men.   Show us how to repay that debt through the services that You call us to do.  Teach us how to impart the joy that You have given us.  Equip us to share the good news with those who You bring into our lives. We pray that it may all be done for the honor and glory of the Blessed Trinity.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Glorious Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

When We Seek a New Direction for Our Lives

Isaiah 6:1

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah.  We, too, may sense a new vision for our lives when we are faced with a life changing moment such as the loss of a family member or a close friend, the breakup in a personal relationship, the collapse of financial means or the onslaught of a significant injury or illness.  At these challenging and life altering times, it is natural for us to question our direction and seek a new course.

Too often, however, we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world. All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value - the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.

Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful.  We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God's perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.

Let us humbly go before Our Father in heaven and ask Him to reveal His plan for our lives to us.  Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in directing our steps toward the path of our manifest destiny in Christ.  Let us shape our lives around the vision that we receive from the Lord.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first. Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory.  May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions.  May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance. We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

The Promises That Build Our Faith

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

God's Word contains literally thousands of promises waiting to be claimed by faith.  Everyone of them are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and everyone of them can be fulfilled in our lives as we come into agreement with Our Savior.

Each of the promises of God are meant for our good.  All of His promises are waiting for us to discover and claim in His Holy Word. Each promise, as we find them, delights us and strengthens us.  Yet within the thousands of promises in God's Word, the seven promises below could be given consideration as the basis for our faith in the hope and assurance that is ours in Jesus Christ.

- God has promised to supply every need we have. Philippians 4:19
- God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. 2 Corinthians 12:9
- God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13
- God has promised us victory over sin and death. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57
- God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully. Romans 8:28
- God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized will be saved. Mark 16:16
- God has promised His people eternal life. John 10:28

As we cling to Our Savior, all of the promises of heaven pour out on us.  We then become living vessels created to deliver on the promises of Almighty God.  

Let us use what God has given us to contribute to the Body of Christ.  Let us receive from the Body of Christ what God has prepared for us.  Let us live in the fullness of all that has been set aside for us through Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that all of Your promises to us have been secured by Your Son, Jesus. We ask that the Holy Spirit may inspire us to search Your Holy Word for all the promises that have been set aside for us.  We seek to wield the power of these promises in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  May the Holy Spirit show us how to claim our eternal privileges by proclaiming Your Holy Word.  May the Body of Christ be truly alive because we are alive in Christ.  We ask all these things in the name of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Both Receptors and Beacons of Light

Ephesians 4:13

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Paul teaches that Jesus gave His church these gifts: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and the teachers.  He provided these gifts so that the Body of Christ could be prepared to be His perfect bride.  We are all called to learn from the gifted ministers that are placed in our lives. At some level, we are also called to express the gifts given to us so that we may fulfill our responsibilities in the Body of Christ.

God in His sovereign rule placed each of us exactly where He wants us.  He did not place us where we are to stand alone.  He placed each of us in a place that is linked perfectly with the world around us for the good of the Body of Christ.

Each one of us is called to be both a receptor of light and a beacon of light.  It is our individual responsibility to let God work in us by seeking out and receiving the ministerial gifts offered by the Body of Christ.  It then becomes our responsibility to let God work through us as we become active vessels of His perfect gifts to build up the Body of Christ.

We must continually ask ourselves, "Am I building myself up in Christ?   Am I also building up the Body of Christ?  We will be meeting the complete and full standard of Our Savior when we are maturing in Christ as both a student and as a teacher.

Let us be alert to whom God has placed in our lives.  Let us seek out those who can build us up for Christ.  Let us stand ready to use our gifts to build up those around us. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for placing us among family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who, through Your handiwork, will help perfect us in Christ.  We thank You for giving us the opportunity to help perfect them by following the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We praise Your name for giving us this magnificent Body of Christ here on earth so that we can learn to measure up to the full and complete standard of Our Savior.  May we live our lives for Your glory and for the good of Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our King and Our Master, Jesus Christ.

Our Comfort Abounds Through Christ

2 Corinthians 1:5

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

As the Body of Christ, we identify with Christ's suffering on the Cross.  We are crucified with Him.  He endured the highest level of suffering for the remission of our sins. We suffer with Him as we confess our culpability for putting Him on the Cross.  As result of His suffering and ours, we are given the abundant comfort of eternal life.

On a different level, Jesus Christ considers the sufferings of His corporate body to be His own personal suffering.  He identifies Himself completely and directly with His church.  So everything that we suffer in life, Jesus shares in.  This is especially true of those things that we suffer for His name's sake.  But as we suffer with Christ, we receive the abounding comfort of His love.

Whether we are dealing with the physical or emotional suffering, Jesus provides the strength and comfort that we need to overcome the suffering that we endure.  He supplies it abundantly so that we are never asked to suffer more than we can handle.  Through His grace we are provided hope and joy under the heaviest of sorrows and suffering.  

Let us humble ourselves at the Cross of our suffering King, Jesus Christ.  Let us exalt His name for what He suffered on our behalf.  Let us repent of all that we have done that put Him on the Cross.  Let us accept our personal suffering, knowing that through Him we will be strengthened and even made cheerful so that we may be made useful and comforting to others.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to comfort us in all of our suffering. We humbly ask forgiveness for putting Your Son on the Cross because of our inequity.  We ask that we may suffer crucifixion with Jesus as we die to our old selves and take on our new lives in Christ.  We pray that everything that we suffer in life be for the glory of Our Savior. May we always be cognizant of His personal and physical suffering.  May both the suffering we go through and the abundant comfort that we receive result in eternal good for ourselves and for those around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Worthy Lamb, Jesus Christ.

His Perfect Love Increases the Body of Christ

1 Thessalonians 3:12

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the word increase means to become or make greater in size, amount, intensity or degree.  It can be assumed that Paul was speaking to all these nuances held in the definition of the word increase when He was writing to the Thessalonians.

It is certain that Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians to continue to increase in numbers just as all the other early Christian churches were doing.  It was his prayer that the Lord would cause them to increase through the abounding love that they would have for one another and for the world around them.

It is just as certain that Paul was also teaching that as the Lord provided for their increase in numbers that He would necessarily provide them with an increase in the intensity and fullness of His love.  Thus these early Christians would have the increase in the amount of love that they would need to win the world for Jesus Christ.  It would, in fact, be their cup spilling over with His perfect love that would draw others to their church and to Christ Himself.

And it would also be in accordance with all of Paul's other teachings for him to be praying that the Lord would increase the Thessalonians in one other area.  Paul was surely praying that there would be an increase in the degree of holiness, humility, knowledge and spiritual joy that would be poured out upon the Thessalonians in the form of the grace of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Their increase as individuals was critical to the growth of the Body of Christ.

And so it is with us. God calls us to serve Him.  He calls each of us to pour out His perfect love to the world around us so that the Body of Christ may increase. Subsequent to our obedience, He adds to us and grows us according to His good and perfect will and purpose for our lives.  This process of individual and corporate increase is continuous throughout our lifetimes.

Let us abound in love for one another.  Let us share our love for Christ so that others may be drawn to Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good and perfect purposes that You have for our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be able to continually serve You, not only on this earth, but also on into eternity. We pray that You will show us where You are calling us to pour out Your perfect love.  Father, we ask that we never tire of the service that is at hand. May we always increase in our service to Your kingdom.  We pray, Lord, that we may also increase in our holiness as we serve You.  We ask all these things in the name of our holy and awesome Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let Us Rise From Our Circumstances

John 14:31

But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

This passage represents the culmination of what could be considered the last will and testament of Jesus given to the His disciples before He left them.  In the prior verses of John 14, Jesus promised many things to comfort His disciples.  He also revealed a number of truths critical to their faith.

He encouraged His disciples as He told them that He was leaving them to prepare a place for them with Him in heaven.  He emphasized the He is the way, the truth and life and that the only way that anyone enters into a prepared place in heaven is through Him.

Jesus confirmed the Godhead to the apostles as He commanded them to "believe in Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."  Later He comforted the disciples when He told them that the Holy Spirit would be sent in His name by the Father to be their Helper in His absence. 

Jesus provided the disciples with more encouragement as He told them that they would do greater works than He had done because He was going to the Father to represent them. He emphasized that anyone that believes in Him will also be able to do greater works than He did.

Jesus promised them His peace and commanded them not to be troubled or afraid of the evil that would come against them.  He emphasized that the victory was theirs because He has power over the enemy.

Jesus' final command to them was, "Rise, let us go from here."  This is our command as well.  

Let us receive the supernatural power that we are promised through the presence of Our Savior in our lives.  Let us live a life without trouble in our hearts because of the promises of Our Redeemer.  Let us rise from whatever circumstances that we find ourselves and let us show the world the peace that we have in Christ.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the peace that reigns in our lives.  We thank You, Jesus, for the peace that You brought us through Your shed blood.  We praise You, Lord, for providing the supernatural power that we need to live our lives without fear of any man or any circumstance.  We pray that You will equip us, embolden us and strengthen us so that we may be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect peace. We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

A Great Rock in a Weary Land

Psalm 101:2

I will be careful to lead a blameless life-- when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.

In Psalm 101, David is proclaiming his desire to lead a blameless life and to lead his family in a blameless lifestyle.  As Christians, we all try to do what David proclaimed.  We plan to be in church whenever the doors are open, we plan to study the Bible daily, we plan to pray more often and we plan to love our neighbors, co-workers, strangers and even our enemies.  We plan to have our families follow our good example.  Yet we fail just as David failed.  At best, we can usually claim limited success.

David sought God passionately, yet he often failed.  Because of His love for David, God stood by David and saw to it that His perfect will and plan for David's life was fulfilled.  God loves us with the same perfect love that He had for David.  If we seek Him passionately as David did, Our Father in heaven will see to it that His perfect will and plan for our lives is fulfilled just as David's was.  In accordance with His Word in 2 Corinthians 12, He promises to provide us with a way to overcome the frailty and sinfulness of our flesh.  "My grace is sufficient.  My strength is perfected in your weakness."   When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, the promises of the Father are assured.

Unfortunately, our flesh will continually torment us.  Moment by moment as our flesh confronts us, we will also be attacked by the enemy.  To maintain a blameless heart, we will have to seek and rely on our promised shelter.

Let us choose to submit to the will of Jesus in our lives.  Let us learn to ignore the desires of our flesh. Let us strive to have a blameless heart. Let us be determined to seek and receive the perfect gift of grace that has been promised to provide our victory.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of grace that allows us to overcome the torments of our flesh.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit remains with us always to provide the strength we need to overcome the attacks of the enemy.  As we make our choices in life, Father, we pray that our allegiance is always to You.  We pray that we do not waver a moment as we choose to serve You in accordance with Your will and purpose for our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Great Rock in a Weary Land, Jesus Christ.

The Pathway That Offers Hope for Everyone

Isaiah 35:8

And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

Each day's news and headlines confirm that from a spiritual perspective the earth is a den of iniquity, a vast barren desert.  It is a rare case indeed when holiness can be found in the news.  Looking forward, the content of the news is not likely to improve but to get worse and more hopeless.  The social and political systems of mankind are offering nothing that will change things.  As time moves forward, the barren desert is converting to a total wasteland through the ongoing deterioration of the morals of mankind.

There is a way of escape, however.  There is a pathway that offers hope for anyone and everyone who takes it.  The way out of the barren desert is through Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  Because Jesus took His place on the Cross as part of the Father's will for His life, we as the redeemed children of God can stand up and find victory in the most difficult of circumstances.

Although our flesh will fight us, by the Word and Spirit of Christ, we that are spiritually blinded by the world can be enlightened.  We that are spiritually deaf to the calls of God can be made to hear them readily.  We that are struggling in service can be made active and joyfully productive.  We that find it difficult to speak of God or to God can have our lips opened to bring forth His praise.  We that find it hard to love one another can have our hearts filled with the perfect, loving forgiveness of Our Father in heaven.  Most importantly, we that stand alone against the world can find victory in all things of this earth, no matter how trying, if we all stand together in Jesus Christ.

Let us seek the way of holiness that is found in Jesus Christ.  Let us learn to live in the light of Christ even though the world around us lives in darkness.  Let us become beacons of His light.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ. We thank You for loving us first, so that we may love You and abide in Your will for our lives.  We pray that You enlighten us and strengthen us so that we may see and follow the way that You have set aside for us as individuals and as a worldwide community.  May Your grace be upon us so that we may be living founts of Your love and holiness to be shared with the world around us.  May the world be changed as we all stand together united with Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refuge from the Storm, Jesus Christ.

We Are Molded by His Vision

Isaiah 35:7

The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.  Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.

The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of what Israel was to become.  It was his job to try to inspire the people to attain the vision that God had given Him.

Visionaries are able to see the completed work and to devise a plan to reach the desired end before the work even begins.  Almighty God is the essence of what any visionary would hope to be.  He knows the beginning and the end of all things on this earth.  He has every single element of the time line of earth and the people on it planned out to the smallest degree - in far greater detail than we could ever even imagine.

Our Heavenly Father has a vision for each of our lives.  He sets His vision for our lives into place before we were even born.  Being the perfect visionary that He is, He insures that each of us is prepared for our part in His vision.   He is never in a rush to complete His work - only to perfect His work.  We are His work.  We are His vision.  Our Heavenly Father refuses to see us in any other light except in the image of His Son. There is no other outcome that He would allow other than the perfect outcome that He has planned for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let us consider the trials that we face as preparation points.  Even though they may be nearly unbearable at times, God sees the end and provides all that we need to get through our challenges.  Let us praise Him for what He has allowed.  Let us rejoice in knowing that He will use everything we endure to shape us for His kingdom.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us with perfect plans for our lives.  We thank You for Your patience as You take us through life's struggles in order to shape us according to Your perfect plans.  We thank You that Your hand never leaves us as we stray away from Your plans for our lives.  We pray, Father, that You will teach us to humbly accept the trials of our lives which are shaping us for our roles in Your kingdom.  We beseech You for the grace that we will need to have the patience and persistence required to allow us to be molded by your plans.  May we bring honor and glory to You, Father, by abandoning the folly of our own plans and choosing Your ways instead of our own.  We ask all these things in the name of the Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.

Praising God from the Depths of Our Struggles

Psalm 63:1

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Most people who study the Bible find David to be one of the most intriguing characters in all of the Old Testament.  It is likely that he is so interesting to most of us because he is a character of such contrast.  We learn that He was passionately devoted to God as evidenced by today’s passage.  But on the other hand, we find that he was guilty of some of the most grievous sins written of in the entire Bible.  We learn that David was a mighty and courageous warrior that won many battles because of His favor with the Lord.  But conversely, we find that he was at his weakest when he was fighting his own personal battles in the flesh.  David’s emotional highs and lows are well chronicled by David himself in the Book of Psalms.  His writings provide us with some of the most heart-warming and inspiring poetry written anywhere in the Bible.

As we struggle through the challenges of daily life, the way God views David offers hope for all of us. Of David, the Lord said, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”  We can be comforted in knowing that there is nothing that we can do to cause Our Heavenly Father to love us less. His love and forgiveness are perfectly paired and extended to us without end.  Our Lord is particularly pleased when, like David, we come to Him with praise even in our darkest hours.

Let us go boldly to the Throne of God, particularly when we find ourselves in a dry or weary place. Let us sing our praises to our precious Lord.  Let us be strengthened by knowing that Almighty God delights in seeing us come through our trials in loving obedience to His calling on our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We sing Your praises knowing that even when we have fallen that Your love for us never fails.  We bless the name of Jesus through Whom we are separated from our sin.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to thirst for You in the passionate, intimate way that David did.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to walk in obedience to all that You ask us to do.  We long to be called men and women after Your own heart.  We ask all these things in the name of the living testimony of the love of God, Jesus Christ.

To Delight in God is Our Privilege and Our Duty

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Jesus tells us to give Him our burdens and He will give us rest.  God promises to give us the desires of our hearts if we delight in Him. The peace and joy of our Christian life will be determined by the constant application of our belief and faith in God's Holy Word.

If we choose to involve God selectively in our lives, we can expect that the fulfillment of His promises will only be partial.  It is in the full submission to Jesus Christ's lordship in our lives that we experience the fullness of God's grace.  It is by putting God first in all things that we experience the joy that the world cannot provide.

To delight in God is as much a privilege as a duty.  He has not promised to gratify the appetites of our flesh, but the desires of our new spirit in Christ.  What are the desires of a new man in Christ?  They are to know, love and serve the Lord, to cast our burdens upon Him and to leave everything else to Him.  As we commit our ways to the Lord, He will bring to pass all that He has in His will for us.

Let us learn to trust in the Lord for everything in our lives, whether it be big or small.  Let us rest, delight and rejoice in His ways.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives.  We praise You with every breath because each breath is a gift from You.  We seek to turn over every decision in our lives to You.  We seek to leave every trial and concern at Your throne.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us in the ways of complete surrender to Our Savior, Jesus.  May the world around us be drawn to You by witnessing the joy in our lives as we place all of our trust in You.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Our Provider, Jesus Christ