All tagged jesus
You have professed your faith in God, and accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, but now you are asking yourself... “What is the Holy Spirit, will I receive it, and how will I know when I do?” Let’s explore the breath of Jesus and the Spirit He breathes onto us. Let’s ask our Lord to give us His comforter, and teacher to be with us as we journey, and to provide us through His Holy Spirit those things we need along the way.
Today is the beginning of a brand-new year, and as such, let’s contemplate the true source of our joy. I have come to understand that I shouldn’t look to the world for my joy, but to the Lord Jesus Christ instead. I came to this conclusion because the world fails me. However, Jesus, my Redeemer and Savior, never disappoints or abandons me. The joy of Christ was, and is, steadfast and unfailing because it flows from the absolute nature of love in God. Are you walking with Jesus today and if so, do you find this joy to be true in your daily life with Him? Are you seeking His joy and preparing yourself to become more completely united with Him over the course of the coming year? If you are then you will find that His joy isn’t the only source of joy you will receive… you will experience the love and joy of God.
When we come to know Jesus Christ, and accept Him as our Lord and Savior, something amazing begins to happen in, and to us. We are most certainly relieved of the sin which began in Adam and Eve, but the knowledge of good and evil remains... so what is God to do with that?
Are you struggling with whether you will give yourself to Jesus, and fully believe in God? Have you been reasoning and reading scripture without moving an inch closer to actually believing? If so, then quit listening to your own intellect, and still your mind... then open your ears to the still small voice of God that has been calling you to “Come” and which now asks you to determine what has brought you to this place. Hearing God isn’t a matter of intellectual reasoning on your part; it is being inexplicably drawn by His voice alone. So… what are you doing here, and will you come to Him?
Do you know who Jesus is? Have you developed a relationship with God? Are you confident in your faith and feel like you have a handle on it? If you answered “Yes” to the first two questions, that is exciting and wonderful. If you answered “Yes” to the third then you are in for some big surprises as you read on.
The world is five sunrises away from Christmas morning, and the day we celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thank God Almighty we aren’t still awaiting His birth but find ourselves celebrating that which has already come! As I do on the birthdays of my own children, I find myself reminiscing and thinking back to that day when Jesus was born and I hope that it brings the same tears to you that is does to my eyes. Jesus is with us always, every minute, day, and week... so I invite you to listen as I praise Him in verse, and to join with me by reading and praying these words of joyous praise...
Feeling the Peace of Christ is one of the most treasured and coveted aspects of the Christian faith; it is a reward for obedience and is our life’s harvest for believing and living our lives as disciples of Jesus. Do you have the Peace of Christ today? Do you understand the difference between the peace of the world and the Peace of Christ because they are quite different.
Have we given up everything we are to Jesus Christ? It is easy to lay down the sinful, and evil things in our lives, but have we also laid down those we have always considered to be good? Abandoning those things to God that we naturally identify as being good and wholesome is the most profound test of our faith. Even though being able to leave behind those things that are sinful and contrary to God’s commandments and desire for us remains the foundation of our faithfulness and obedience.
Are you concerned because you are constantly at war within yourself? Does it bother you that there is a struggle going on inside you between good and evil, holy and unholy, or salvation and damnation? Well, take heart because although this conflict is the natural state of man, we have a champion who not only helps us realize the good within ourselves, but helps us to achieve it by defeating sin.
Do you depend on your own intellect to search out the wisdom of God? Do you study and ponder scripture to find truth there, or do you alternatively use your intellect to spoon feed yourself His Word, while your spirit communes with the Holy Ghost to seek and sift it for those things that are of God? When we depend upon our own wisdom it brings us very few of those wonderful revelations that we recognize as being the hidden treasures of the Lord , but when our spirit is engaged with the Holy Ghost, that treasure is revealed to us from His most glorious depths.
God works within us every day. He brings us to the doorstep of His will and then perfects us as our efforts join with His in accomplishing it. However, none of our achievements are possible without His efforts in us, and none is possible by our own doing. So, when His will is done in some manner how do we respond to others as they acknowledge it in gratitude or amazement? Do we take the credit ourselves, or humbly give him all the glory for what His grace has brought forth by our obedience?
Do you understand that Jesus Christ had to die in order to secure your redemption, or do you think that He was just a mythological character meant to describe morality to us in a how-to book called the Bible? Friends, let me assure you that the account is real, and not just a story; it is the single greatest event to occur since creation... and is complete with all the miracles, wonders, suffering, awe, and yes, death that we read about in scripture.
When we first meet Him, God doesn’t just rush into our lives, He treats us much like I learned to treat stray or feral dogs and cats when I was a boy. When I met an animal for the first time I would approach it very slowly, and when I noticed that it was getting nervous or was preparing to run I’d stop; all the while I was speaking to it in a soft and reassuring voice. This is very similar to how God approaches us before He reaches out His hand towards us.
Do we let the happenings of the world trouble us and destroy the faith, peace, and tranquility we have in Jesus Christ? Are we so worried about what is occurring in our day to day lives that we can no longer see or feel the eternal truth, which is that Jesus suffered so we should be redeemed; that we should have peace and rest? If so it is time we started stripping the meaningless outer layers away from our life in the world and get down to the one thing that truly matters... our faith in the Cross.
Do people we associate with consider us to be arrogant or conceited men and women of faith? By this I mean, do we present ourselves in faith as being stuffy, academically aloof, or “better than you” Christians? If we are like this or are more interested in appearing righteous than actually being righteous, then it is time that we wake up. Jesus was born a humble carpenter’s son and lived a common life despite being anything but common.