All in Jesus
Do you feel like the grace you have received from Jesus Christ is enough? Are you satisfied with it, and willing to sit where you are and grow no further in it because you feel it is complete in you? If this is the case then open your eyes because that is not a scriptural truth... we are told to seek and grow in the grace of Jesus every day.
What will this year bring you in regards to life, and your faith? Will you continue living here on earth as you know it now; filled with challenge, the saving grace of Jesus, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, or will you cross over Jordan to rest in God the Father? Will you suffer new hardships in this world, and obtain new heights of faith by the work of the Spirit in you, or will this year be free from turmoil, and your path made straight? Will you eat manna here in the desert, or the milk and honey of heaven beyond? Are you afraid of what lies ahead for you this year... well fear not!
Today is Christmas Day, and all of Christianity is celebrating the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, but on this day, and at this time, we are waiting once again, not for His birth, but for His triumphant return. Yet, in His absence He has sent another... the Holy Spirit. He is our helper, and declares to us the truths that are of our Lord Jesus, and the Holy Father. Have you opened your eyes to Him?
Through the intercession of Jesus Christ, Satan cannot have his way in us. Oh, he might beat up our lives and our bodies, but within us abides Jesus who prays from there, and even through us. In this way Jesus defends what is His... our heart, spirit, and soul, all of which He has been given.
Do you sit at the feet of Jesus to learn, and if you do, exactly what is it that you are expecting to learn about? Are you there to learn what God can do for you, or maybe about what heaven looks like, what is required for you to be healed of something, the secret of eternal life, how about to increase your power... or, perhaps some other hidden knowledge that you think He might give you? Jesus came to do one thing, the will of God, and that is what we should expect to learn by sitting at Jesus’ feet.
Do you follow after men, or Jesus Christ? Do you put your faith in the hands of those who appear pious and tell you about what Jesus said, or in Jesus who said these things Himself, lived this way, and has given us these commandments? Do you place your relationship in the hands of men who die, and depend, as we do, on Jesus to lift them again from the dead, or in Christ himself who laid His own life down and picked it back up again? He who lives forever at the right hand of God.
We pray to the Father, the Holy Spirit guides us, and we ask in the name of Jesus. Have you ever felt so loved? Have you ever felt so cared for? In this way, has your joy ever felt so full before? In Jesus, our prayers are now complete as He intercedes for us before the Father. Do you ask in His name when you pray? It is not just a formality, but the grasping hold of His promise.
Is there a doctor in the house!? Is there a doctor in the house!? These are words we all dread to hear, and especially if they are being called out on our behalf, but when Jesus came into the world that was exactly who He was; he was the good doctor who had come to heal us of our sins, and pull us back from the brink of death! Do you need a doctor? Do you need Him to come running into the room to treat you... to pull you back from death’s door?
How diligent are we in our faith? Do we only set aside time in the morning to study the Bible, and to pray undisturbed each day? If we do, I certainly hope that Jesus returns to claim His bride in the morning. Routine times of study help us to insure that we spend time in contemplation and prayer, but we should dwell on those things we have studied in the morning as we travel through our day. In this way we remain at the ready, and those around us will see Christ in us.
Do we give thanks for our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we take our own sanctification by the Holy Spirit as more than a distant hope, but as a present truth? Do we find ourselves filled with the glory of Jesus Christ, and allow him full reign as he abides within us? There was a time when I accepted Jesus as fact, but didn’t want the close relationship that He offered; I wanted to follow Him but not to walk too closely, not to accept the changes that walking hand in hand with Him meant. Is Jesus your speaking friend, or your best friend and confidant? Are you sanctified or just aquatinted?
Holy and blameless before God... does this describe you? Is this who you are, or is it something that you aspire too? Scripture tells us that we should be this way, but do we even know what it means to be holy? Is it simply being consecrated to God? Is it to set apart or dedicate ourselves to serving Him? Or, perhaps in some way to be like God? If you search out man’s definition of Holy you will find all of these thoughts, and definitions. So when God says you are to be holy what is he wanting us to be, and are we in obedience to Him?
When we open ourselves to Jesus Christ and allow Him to enter into us we not only become a new person internally, but also externally. Ezekiel recorded how God transforms us in wonderful fashion, and the New Testament contains many references to how Jesus cleansed us and allows for this same transformation. The sin that we have spoken of in past days is now forgiven, and we are refreshed. Are you ready to be changed?
Are you a reflection of Jesus? Has He instilled in you a gentleness of spirit, and made you lowly of heart... meek? Are these attributes that you even find desirable in this dog eat dog world that exists today? If you allow yourself to be immersed in the blood of Christ then this is exactly how you should look to the those around you! Can you see these characteristics as strengths, and not weaknesses?
We serve the one true God, the creator of the universe, do you wait on Him today, and the return of Jesus Christ, just as Abraham and Moses waited on Him, and the first coming of the Messiah in theirs? Do you pray and wait on Him, knowing that He will answer your prayers? Do you faithfully expect His presence to be known not only in your lifetime, but in your life, because He calls to you, and knocks at your door even now? This is the moment of our faith, and the promise which thrills us. He to whom Jesus prayed, and to whom He taught us to pray, desires a relationship with us.
Are we bearing fruit, and is that fruit glorifying God? Is it just tasty and pleasing to His palette, or is there more to the idea of fruit in the Bible, and in relationship to God? I believe there is more, and all we must do to realize this is to look at nature... God’s creation, and then read scripture once more.