From Imprisoned Slave to Ruler of Great Standing

Genesis 41:40

You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”

The Pharaoh gave Joseph great power and responsibility in his kingdom.  He proclaimed Joseph to be his equal except in the final level of authority.  In a sudden change of condition, Joseph went from imprisoned slave to a ruler of great standing.

So it will be for us one day as we take our places in the kingdom of God.  We will escape our carnal lives where we are enslaved to sin.  We will then stand before God in the image of His Son with the same glorified body.  We will be given the power and responsibility to rule and reign under the authority of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

Joseph went through many trials and tribulations in his life that prepared him to rule over Egypt.  None of it was easy, nor was it brief.  Joseph went from the pit to the prison to throne room all under the hand of Almighty God.  All of it was necessary for Joseph to be able to handle all that he would be given by the Pharaoh.

So it is with us.  We have a lifetime of trial and tribulation.  God uses all of it to prepare us for our place in His kingdom.  We will grow in wisdom and discernment just as Joseph did.  All we have to do is submit to the will of God in our lives, just as Joseph did.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for preparing a place for us in Your kingdom.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to be rescued from the prison that is this earth.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will lead us into submission to Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  May we learn to lean on Him in all things.  May we learn to live under His absolute control.  May we claim our rightful places in Your kingdom.  We rejoice in knowing that one day we will escape our slavery to this world to become bond servants of the King of Kings for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name of our mighty and holy King, Jesus Christ.

Victory Secured in the Face of Every Adversity

2 Corinthians 6:4

In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind.

Jesus prepared his disciples for what was to come.  He forewarned them to expect tribulation in their lives.  He then inspired them by letting them know that in the face of every adversity that He had already secured the victory for them.  So it is with us.

In every element of our lives, we are certain to experience resistance.  Whether our activity is on the physical, emotional or spiritual level, we cannot avoid being challenged.  This is simply a fact of life.  How we handle the resistance that comes against us is dependent upon our level of proficiency in each key area.  Our ability to cope will be determined by our strength, our emotional stability and our holiness.  The good news is that we become more capable in each area every time that we respond successfully to the challenges we face.  Constant successful response to what the world throws at us builds up our proficiency in each area.  The more times that exercise is chosen over idleness, the stronger we will be.  The more times patience is chosen over anger, the more peaceful we will be.  The more times righteousness is chosen over sin, the closer we come to reaching the holiness that Jesus has set aside for us.  The more times we make good choices in any of our activities, the more proficient we become in producing positive results in all areas of our lives.

But we must be aware of the trap that pride brings upon us.  If our success leads us to lean solely on our own strength and capability, we will be in for some very hard times.  Let us learn to rely on Our Lord.  If we do not lean regularly on the One who promises to overcome the world for us, at some point the world will overcome us.  May all of our choices be made under the guidance of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and under submission to Our Savior who won victory for us on the Cross.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that we may have peace in our lives no matter what is coming against us.  We bless the name of Jesus who died on the Cross so that we may have victory over all evil.  We rejoice in knowing that we can have comfort when the world is trying to steal it from us.  We pray that our pride will not lead us to believe in our own ability to overcome the world.  We ask, Father, for the wisdom to lean on Our Savior in our times of tribulation.  May we be built up in every area of our lives through our submission to Your Son.  We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Manipulating the Salvation Message

1 Corinthians 2:1

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan. 

Persuasion is man's means of swaying the thoughts of other fellow men and women.  By nature and certainly by cultural pressure, when most of us try to persuade anyone on any topic, we are usually careful not to offend anyone if we can avoid it.  One of the biggest mistakes that we make as Christians is to carry over this mindset when we talk about the salvation message with non-believers.  If we are not careful, we end up manipulating the salvation message to please the ears of the listener.  All the while, we are actually withholding from them the truth and the power that is in the Word of God.

The apostle Paul in his teachings to the Corinthians emphasized the point that the power to convert was not in fanciful speech.  He knew that the people would not be stable in their faith if they were resting on the words of men and not on the power of God's words.  He also knew and taught that His teaching had no power without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Be certain that Jesus did not come to earth worried about His message being politically correct.  In fact, He stated clearly that His teachings would be sure to divide households.  Know that politically correct messages will get no one into heaven, nor will they keep anyone out of hell.  Only the Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and delivered by His servants produces the supernatural power that leads to real persuasion and conversion.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the power that Your Holy Word has in transforming our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we are serving You and pleasing You when we share Your inerrant Word with others.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to be bold in proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel and direct us in choosing the right message for each time we are in a position to share our testimony.  We ask, Father, that You prepare the hearts of those around us to receive the truth and respond to Your message of salvation.  We ask all these things in the name of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

The Preparation of the Beautiful Bride

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

When we observe beauty in nature, we are usually not focused on a single object, but on the beauty of a single object or objects within the context of the total surroundings.  If we separate out the single objects, we will find that none of them are perfect.  But when we consider the single objects as integral parts of their settings, we are treated to sites that we deem to be perfectly beautiful.

In this same way, God creates beauty in our lives.  Even though we are not perfect, God can use us perfectly within the environment that He places us.  As individuals in the flesh, we have many imperfections, but as spirit-filled members of the Body of Christ we attain the perfect beauty that Jesus is looking for in His bride.

The Lord sees His Church as wonderful and beautiful.  He does not see the Church as individuals struggling to be perfect as He is perfect.  He does not see the affliction and filth of the individual members living in the flesh.  He sees the breathtaking beauty of the Body of Christ clothed in His holiness, glory and perfection.  He sees the work in us that was completed on the Cross.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that we are made perfect through the redemption that Your Son, Jesus, has procured for us.  We bless the name of Jesus for allowing us to forget the things that are behind us, both our sins and our labors that are of no value to the kingdom.  We pray that we be given the grace to press forward with all of our focus on the holy desires, hopes and endeavors that bring us into union with Our Savior who has made us His own.   We rejoice in knowing that our day to be with Him has been set aside for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who prepares us to be His bride, Jesus Christ.

Incapable of Meeting the Requirements for Heaven

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

The garment is not acceptable if there is one snag in the fabric.  The tune is no longer in harmony if there is one note out of key.  The chain is broken if one link does not hold.  The law is not kept if one point is not held.

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Mark 12:30  STOP!!  There it is...the first and greatest commandment.  We need not go any further to realize that we are incapable of meeting the requirements of getting into heaven.  We simply cannot earn our way in.  We cannot get past the first requirement.  It is impossible for us to love the Lord in the manner that He requires.

Remember, God demands perfect, not partial obedience.  A good effort is not good enough.  Good enough is only found on the Cross.  The only way that we can meet the requirements that God demands is to have the blood of His Son wash us clean of all of our sins so that we may stand before Him in the image of His Son.

Let us wake each day with the thought of "wash me O Lord, purify me O Lord.  Clean me with Your precious blood".

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for demanding perfection concerning Your laws.  We rejoice in knowing that Your kingdom, which we will inherit, will be void of anything that is less than perfect.   We thank You for providing an eternal resting place for us that will be the essence of everything good.  We bless the name of Jesus, whose shed blood allows us to stand spotless before You.  Father, we claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness.  We pray for the grace to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ as You prepare us to love You with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name of the only One without fault, Jesus Christ.

Responding to the Unfathomed Treasure That Is Jesus Christ

John 16:13

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 

When we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are indwelled by His Holy Spirit.  As the Holy Spirit fulfills His calling to glorify Jesus, He declares the things that are to come into our lives through our relationship with Jesus.  Thus, we enter into a new phase of our lives.  We move from whatever natural level of piety, prayer and devotion that we might have had in the past into a new supernatural level of devotion in our daily lives.  We are then directed by the Holy Spirit into a personal, passionate relationship with Jesus.

Simultaneously, the Holy Spirit begins to lead us through the sanctification process.  From that first moment of accepting Jesus and until our death, the Holy Spirit is shaping us into the person that God created us to be.  As we go through the sanctification process, we go through a supernatural transformation.  As we respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual faculty is quickened so that we may understand and respond to unfathomed treasures that are in Jesus Christ.

Ultimately, as the Holy Spirit reveals the fullness of Jesus Christ to us, our manifest destiny that Jesus has prepared for us is also revealed.  As we mature in Christ, we start walking in the life that God had planned for us from the beginning.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the Holy Spirit who reveals to us the treasures that are ours through Your Son, Jesus.  We rejoice as the Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus to lean on Him for every good thing through time and for all eternity.   We pray, Lord, that we may join the Holy Spirit as He glorifies the name of Our Savior.  May our work be derived from our devotion to Your Son.  May those around us know us by our calling and may they be called in the same manner.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Our Sanctifier, Jesus Christ.

Conducting Our Work for the Lord with Confidence

1 Cor 15:10

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Everything that we have and everything that we are comes from Almighty God.  To speak of ourselves as unworthy or incapable to do the work that the Lord has called us to do is an insult to the Creator.  As the apostle Paul states in this passage, “His grace toward me was not in vain”.

In the eyes of Our Heavenly Father, through the blood sacrifice of His Son, we are seen in the image of the Son.  We should carry ourselves and conduct our work for the Lord with the confidence of the heirs to His kingdom.  The children of God should differ from the sons of men.  We should live our lives by the standards that we are capable of through His grace and the presence and support of the Holy Spirit.

Only through our personal relationship with Our Redeemer can we let go the things of the world that are holding us in bondage.  Only through submission to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King can we overcome our natural weaknesses and operate in the divine power of Our Creator for His good pleasure.  Only by His grace can we become what He created us to be.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating each of us with a sovereign, gracious purpose for our lives.  We bless the name of Jesus for shedding His blood so that we may be worthy to do the things that bring pleasure to You.  We exalt the Holy Spirit for standing by us so that we may overcome our weaknesses.  We rejoice in knowing that Your grace is not bestowed on us in vain.  We pray for the strength to persevere in pursuing Your will for our lives and not our own.  May the fruit of our efforts be for Your honor, Your glory and Your good pleasure.   We ask all these things in the name of Your dearly beloved Son in whom You are well pleased, Jesus Christ.