2017-03-31
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the Holy Spirit had me writing about our Lord’s relationship to creation. This week, I’m commanded to look into how Christ affects us by Who He is. Whole books can be written about many of these issues that we examine only in part. It is His will, despite space limitations here, that these principles are shared. We wouldn’t exist if our Lord Jesus wasn’t obedient to the Father’s directive in creation. Because He is the “visible likeness of the invisible God” [COL 1: 15a], we were able to perceive him physically when He was serving his earthly ministry. Now, we can perceive Him spiritually by feeling His presence in our lives and turning to Him in prayer. Listening for His answers to our prayers is an important habit for us to learn. We are God’s children, because we humbled ourselves enough to confess our sins and accepted Him as our personal Savior. At that point we were saved [JN 3: 16], justified [RO 4: 3], and eternally forgiven [1 JN 1: 9]. I feel blessed to repeat a favorite passage: COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share in His glory.
We are truly God’s children, raised to life with Christ after dying to sin [RO 6: 11]. One might ask, what does it mean to die to sin? After much prayer and contemplation, I conclude that it means as believers we are still sinners. However, with genuine confession to our Lord and cessation of the sinning, we can be forgiven. This demands our open and honest efforts to discover even the most subtle of our sins; we must be honest with ourselves. This discovery process [sanctification] needs to be on-going. What sets us apart for eternal life is Christ’s making clear to us what is evil and what is not, and then, our decision to act to eschew evil. Many times we can avoid sins by appealing to the Lord in prayer FIRST when a challenge comes up. This becomes a good habit, as our faith in Him grows.
Each of us has our own set of memories, circumstances, opinions, thoughts, physical or emotional challenges-all of which make us the individual personalities we are. However, Christ modeled the ideal behaviors for all of us. When we are stressed or when we are calm, He is always here with us. He is always ready to hear our prayers, to advise us when we are at a crossroads, and to be the Centerpiece of our lives. Our job is to never forget that, and always approach Him in reverence and love, remembering the great sacrifice on the cross He made for us.
PRAYER: O Lord, we acknowledge Your loving and mighty wisdom, Your blood shed for us. Yet there is so much more. What god other than our Father in heaven would love us that much that He would do so much for us? Often, we are either unaware of this, or we are foolish enough to reject Christ’s help offered us. This must change! You are present with us through every moment of our lives, in the form of the Holy Spirit. While we learn what we know of You through the Bible and prayer, we find it difficult to imagine You are with us and with every other believer at the same time. AC 17: 26-27, “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and reach out for Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Your power for good is so much greater than any of us can imagine. It is never used for evil reasons or to do evil to those You love and who love You. We may not understand You at time, but we know You deserve our reverence, awe, loyalty, obedience, and love. We thank and praise You for the patience with our shortcomings that You show. Your knowledge is complete and far above anything we know [IS 55: 8-9]. We seek You now and will try to remember to seek You always, knowing full well that You will listen to our prayers [JER 29: 12]. Praise and thanks be to You, our God Who loves us this much. All of this we say in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The time has come to examine some of the commentary from supporting Scriptures on what has been discussed in this “Firstborn” segment of the “Knowing God” messages. That will be the subject next week. Meanwhile, allow me to write something about my own response to how Christ has affected me by Who He is. God inspired the writers of the Bill of Rights to say we have “a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” I felt I had none of those things as I was growing up in a dysfunctional household. The same was true of my first 15 years of adult independence. Our God knew of my misery and made the loving decision to end it. First, He made His presence known to me. Then, he brought people into my life that could and did uplift, edify, and strengthen my faith in Him. They didn’t have to lecture me, nor did they have to assign homework for me to do. They just had to be themselves-wise people who live wholesome lives and demonstrated respect for the Lord by how they live. I saw them exhibit humility, self-confidence, and especially reliance on the Lord. They have a kind of peace and calm about them, a real dignity in their faith. I wanted these things for myself and chose to begin emulating them. Most of all, I began reading and studying the word of God. With no shame, I fell deeply in love with my Lord and with His word. Things that I never understood before began to make sense. God was making orderliness out of the chaos that had been my life. I began to let Him take the lead in my life, and He rewarded me with inner peace. I witness to His holy power and the good it has done for me. Needless to say, I hope and pray you too will enjoy this kind of happiness, freedom in Christ, and eternal life. Praise and thanks be to the Lord!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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