United with Christ – A Healthy Spirit-filled Life

As Born Again Believers, we are filled throughout our entire body, soul and spirit with all of God’s fullness. We possess the richest measure of His divine presence within us and we are wholly filled and flooded to overflowing with God Himself (Ephesians 3:16-19, Amplified Bible).

 

We are united with Christ in the very spiritual fiber of our being (Hebrews 4:12). He provides us with everything we need to live a healthy, Spirit-filled life.

 

Then, His Spirit infiltrates the joints of our soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions – to operate on our carnality while He plants His fruit within us (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Paul counted all of his worldly possessions and gain as lost when compared to the joy of his salvation and the riches he received from intimately knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-11).

 

God gives this same resurrection life to lost sinners who humble themselves and surrender their life to Him (John 19:10-11). We are liberated from living in this earthly realm, even though we physically continue to dwell here (Galatians 2:20).

 

In this same way, we detach from our connection to this world, even the good parts of life, which hinder our walk with God, such as extended family, houses and lands – in order to obtain the better blessings provided for us by Christ in us (Luke 14:23-33; Philippians 3:10).

 

We realize that even the worst of adversity in our life ultimately comes from God to perfect our soul and to provide for us everything that we need to live Godly in Christ Jesus (Hebrews 11:32-34; Job 1:8, 2:3).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we knock on doors and invite our neighbors to church. We pray for them and for everyone You bring to our mind. We listen to Your Spirit and obey His promptings throughout our day. We shed Your light within us for all the world around us to see, so they may live with us in eternity as the redeemed of the Lord (Psalm 107:2).
 

You bore our sins in Your body on the cross; so that we too can die to sin and live righteously and victoriously, just as You did (1 Peter 2:24). You take priority in our heart over all other aspects of life (1 Corinthians 9:22). We give You all the praise and glory and honor due Your name (Psalm 96:8).

 

Thought for the Day:

God elected us as His holy and saintly priests, because we are His special possession created to declare His praises to a lost and dying world around us. – 1 Peter 2:9

 

 

Union with Christ – Enoch Walked With God

Enoch walked with God. This was the testimony that Enoch exhibited before God and his neighbors. Enoch also instructed his family in the ways of God, even his great grandchildren.

 

Scholars tell us that Enoch saw great visions from the Lord about heaven, Satan’s rebellion, worldly nations throughout the ages, as well as the consequences of wickedness and the rewards of the just.

 

Jude tells us that Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam, and that he prophesied about the Lord returning with His Saints and executing judgment on the ungodly for their unbelief (Jude 1:14-15).

 

Enoch walked in the ways of the Lord and all went well with him and his descendents (Deuteronomy 5:33). He lived to the age of 365. He saw a vision of the great flood and told his children about it.

 

Noah lived by his great grandfather’s example, and walked with God as well (Genesis 6:9). The more Enoch knew God, the more he loved Him, and his love for the world dwindled (1 John 2:15).

 

Enoch was a man of integrity and a pure heart. He saw righteousness flowing like water, and mercy scattered like dew over the whole earth. In a wicked and perverse world, Enoch longed to dwell with the righteous.

 

He realized that the Lord strengthens the spirit of the righteous for the sake of His own righteousness, and that many actually see Heaven without tasting the sleep of death.

 

Therefore, rather than allowing Enoch to enter heaven through the path of the grave, God translated Him to Heaven and he did not see death (Ephesians 5:10; Hebrews 11:5).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we want to walk with You, commune with You, listen to Your wisdom and direction, and walk by Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. Reveal Yourself to us in Your secret places, and teach us to walk in Your ways (Palm 91:1). Your mercy is great as is Your patience with us.

 

All of your powerful works are wondrous for us to behold. You reveal all things to Your Saints, to Your elect. You write all of our deeds in Your books, and nothing we do escapes Your sight. Let us walk in justice and righteousness for Your name’s sake now and forever. If our ways please You, translate us to Heaven as well.

 

Thought for the Day:

If Enoch can walk with God in this devoted intimacy, we can too.

 

 

 

No longer a Sinner – Our Great High Priest

The devil, the flesh and the world are in the constant business of tempting us to sin. These three sources of temptation play on our human needs and desires, which are given to us by God.

 

They seek to pervert our needs and to tempt us into gross immorality. However, Christ in us enables us to withstand any temptation by giving us a way to escape it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

 

Thankfully, we have Jesus, our great High Priest, who can empathize with our humanity. He lived on this earth and was tempted, suffered and died with circumstances similar to, but much worse than ours (Hebrews 4:15).

 

The initial sinful thought, which enters our mind, is not sin. It is merely a temptation to sin. Satan whispers the destructive idea in our mind, and we have a choice to entertain or to dismiss that thought.

 

Temptation influences us when pride and rebellion lurk in our heart and cause us to rely on our self, and draw us away from having faith in God’s faithfulness to provide for us.

 

The sins, which easily lure us away from holiness, are strongholds in our life. These expose us to demonic attachments, which hold us in bondage. Also the abuse we receive in life will encourage us to believe Satan’s lies.

 

We are freed from spiritual strongholds by confessing them as sin, surrendering our life to Christ and obeying His Word in our every thought, word and deed, trusting in His Spirit’s direction for our life.

 

Christ promises to fulfill all of our needs according to His glorious riches. We do not have to trust anyone or anything else to provide for us (Philippians 4:19).

 

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus was tempted to meet His own needs, but He used Your Word to put Satan in his place (Matthew 4:1-11). Help us to hide Your Word in our heart, so that we do not sin against You (Psalm 119:11).

 

Remind us that we are crucified with Christ; and now we live in Him and by His faith (Galatians 2:20). Thank You for accepting us into Your family (Ephesians 2:19) and filling us with all of Your fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19).

 

Thought for the Day:

Our great High Priest increases in us as we decrease in our dependence on our self and others and trust only in Him.

– John 3:30

 

 

 

The Battle is the Lord’s

In a war, the soldiers sometimes surrender a battle but sometimes they actually surrender the whole war. Spiritual warfare is very similar to a physical battle.

 

If we surrender in a battle, we live to fight another day. If we surrender the war, we leave the outcome to a higher power. God is our Higher Power, and He desires that we completely surrender our life, love and will to Him.

 

Our Father knows best, and He wants only the best for us. He will never leave or forsake us, and He provides for our every need as we trust exclusively in His provision and care (Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 5:7).

 

The alternative is to fight the war from our own strength. This predictably ends in us suffering from battle fatigue with no more strategy to win the war.

 

Even if we surrender temporarily, with aspirations to return to the war in our own strength once we recoup, we end up right back where we are now…exhausted, discouraged and feeling overwhelmed.

 

We must come to the end of our self at some point in our life and totally surrender to God every thought, word and deed – led by His Spirit in everything we think, say and do.

 

We accomplish so much more with our remaining life than we ever did during all of the years on our own recognizance. We waste so much time when we live life our way instead of God’s (Ephesians 2:20).

 

Yet, if we completely surrender all of our life to God at a young age, and walk only by His Spirit with ceaseless prayer, we are so much more effective in furthering the Kingdom of God in the earth with better health, a more mature spirit and a fulfilled soul.

 

It is never too late to surrender, however, no matter how old we are. Sometimes, it takes us a while to learn to “let go and let God”. The point is to totally surrender every battle to the Lord and we will eventually win the war as well.

 

Prayer:

Father remind us to trust only in You with our whole heart, not to rely on our human intuition or wisdom, to totally surrender to Your will and purpose for our life, and to allow You to direct every battle of the spiritual warfare in which we are embroiled (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

We cannot trust our heart or our mind to safely lead us (Jeremiah 17:9). Only in Christ do we have half a chance of making a lasting difference in this world (Philippians 4:13). You give us Your wisdom and Your Word, directed by Your Spirit with a failsafe battle plan every time (James 1:5; Psalm 119:105).

 

Thought for the Day:

True power and wisdom come from Christ in us, not from our own resources; so the wise will totally surrender to Him each moment of life and wait expectantly on Him alone. –  John 15:5; Psalm 46:10

 

No Longer a Sinner – Not Limiting God

God provides us with the desire and the will to bring Him pleasure (Philippians 2:13). He also gives us His Spirit to teach us all things that we need to know for a successful life of Godliness (1 Corinthians 2:12; 2 Peter 1:3).

 

Without the presence of Christ dwelling within us, we cannot walk in victory over sin, sickness and death. We wallow in our humanity, and limit our spiritual maturity by our lack of comprehension of God’s ways.

 

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). This is as true as the fact that airplanes can overcome the law of gravity.

 

When Christ moves into our life by His Holy Spirit, changes begin. He sweeps our spirit free of sin and starts His sanctifying work in our soul, as well as maturity in our spirit.

 

He exchanges our sin for His righteousness and He replaces our carnality with the fruit of His Spirit. He gives us His gifts to allow us to function in His Body for the growth of the Kingdom of God.

 

When the love we feel for our fellow mankind springs from our love for God and His affection for us, it is more committed, merciful, gracious, empathetic and unconditional.

 

The deepest aspect of our relationship with God is when we come to intimately know Him as the one true Father of compassion, the God of all comfort. We fall on our face and worship Him from the depths of our heart.

 

God calls for us to realize that, moment by moment throughout the day, He wants to live His life through Christ in us and to accomplish greater works on this earth for His glory (2 Corinthians 1:3; John 17:3).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we want to daily contemplate Your goodness, majesty, power, mercy, love, wisdom, justice and sovereignty. You call us to walk in a different dimension than unsaved humanity. Remind us to keep our values and purpose centered on Your Kingdom.

 

You supply us with the spiritual resources to perform supernatural feats as we interact in our daily activities with family, church, work and community. You made Jesus the first fruit of Your Sons, and all of creation is eagerly waiting for our final manifestation (Romans 8:19).

 

Thought for the Day:

When we surrender our life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ we enter the realm of abundant life, which He promises.

– John 10:10

 

 

 

Three Types of Death

I was organizing my vitamin supplements and filling my two week pill box with each vitamin and mineral that I take either morning or night or both. I started to include the Vitamin D that the doctor prescribed for me a few years ago due to the lack of sunlight that I get in my daily routine.

 

I have faithfully taken it ever since; but…God’s Spirit told me not to put it in my box of supplements this time. I was incredulous and argued with the Spirit (yeah, I still do that occasionally!) I felt so strongly that I should not include this healthful vitamin that I had to quit arguing and agree to obey.

 

Then God’s Spirit told me to look at the ingredients of the capsule. This particular brand had the vitamin D encased in corn oil, which is one substance that causes a leaky gut. I am healing from this malady and have to be extra careful with corn oil.

 

I was so amazed that God is so minute in His love and direction that He even guides our paths concerning the toxins we unknowingly include in our diet. God is so worthy of all of our praise for the way He guides our steps and cares about every issue of our life (Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 Peter 5:7).

 

As I thanked Him for His direction, God focused my attention to the concept of life and death. I did some research and realized that there are three areas of death that every human experiences.

 

The first is that our spirit is dead in trespasses and sins until we choose to accept Christ’s atoning work on Calvary’s cross (Ephesians 2:1-5). This provides us with salvation and the regeneration of our spirit (John 3:16-18). We are actually Born Again and alive in Christ in our spirit.

 

The second area of death is our physical death at some point in time, which results in an eternity either in heaven or hell. We are free from sin and death by our belief in Christ, or we condemn our self to an eternity in hell by our unbelief (John 3:18).

 

The third area of death is our soul’s death through sanctification, which releases us from slavery to sin and destruction (Romans 8:2). Our soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions – is gradually changed over the course of our life to mirror Christ’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We slowly die to self and are more and more alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5; Galatians 2:20).

 

Prayer:

Father God, most people fear death. We have never experienced it before and we fear the unknown quality of death. We anticipate pain, and we worry about our eternal destination. Yet, in You there is no concern. Our last breath on earth is followed by our next breath in heaven. You delight in the death of Your Saints (Psalm 116:15).

 

As Solomon concluded, “The day of our death is better than the day of our birth.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1) Authentic Born Again Believers look forward to joining You for eternity once we leave this world behind. Help us to win as many people to faith in Christ as will receive Him – with open hearts, eyes, ears and minds – before it is too late.

 

Thought for the Day:

God guides our steps throughout our life and welcomes us with open arms into eternity with Him; He delights over us with singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

 

Internal Calm

Once we go to the Cross of Christ and surrender our sin-filled life, the Spirit brings forth new life through His fruit and He starts to rid us of every obstacle that blocks His flow.

 

The more we allow sin to rule in our flesh, the more trials we endure. The quicker we relinquish our self-centeredness to God, the less tribulation we encounter.

 

Our attitude about life changes from earthly to spiritual. When God’s Spirit fills us, we cannot help praising Him. We even wake up with a song flowing through our mind.

 

Natural issues no longer bother us. We truthfully do not care where we live, what we eat or how many earthly possession we accumulate. In fact, we prefer the simplicity of life over the clutter of possessions and a stress-filled life.

 

We do not allow life to rob us of our peace, joy and contentment. Christ in us triumphs over sin in us. We are free from the power of sin, because we now live in our true identity in union with Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30).

 

Prior to salvation, our spirit is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:5). After Salvation, our humanity is dead to sin. We die with Christ through His death and we can no longer live in habitual sin (Romans 6:2, 6:5, 7:4; 2 Corinthians 5:14).

 

If we keep on living in sin, it is because Christ is not living within us (Romans 6:1-2). Although we are not yet perfect, we press on to attain this goal, because it is possible through Christ’s divinity within us (Philippians 3:12).

 

Prayer:

Father God, once we realize that we are dead to sin, then we enjoy a fresh new life. We identify with Jesus’ resurrection and walk in union with Him (Romans 6:4-5). In Him all of our needs are met according to Your glorious riches (Philippians 4:19). Your abundant and unconditional love flows over us like a waterfall and we are complete in Jesus (Colossians 2:10).

 

Thank You for giving life to our mortal bodies through Your Spirit who indwells us (Romans 8:11). Our physical body will tire from exertion, but we have Your supernatural energy in our body, soul and spirit because Christ lives His life in and through us. You give us Your peace so our hearts will not be afraid or anxious in times of trouble (John 14:27).

 

Thought for the Day:

Even when our soul is troubled, we find hope in God’s faithfulness to us and to those in our world all around us. – Psalm 42:11

 

No Longer a Sinner – In Union with Christ

Jesus calls us to enter into His Body, to fellowship with Him minute by minute of every day and to enjoy eternity with Him in the new heaven and the new earth (Romans 8:17; 2 Thessalonians 2:14).

 

We relinquish our human personality and surrender our individuality until we become more like Christ every day. We live in union with our risen Lord and Savior who justifies, sanctifies and will ultimately glorify us.

 

The Father is in the Son, and the Son is in us by the Spirit of God. We live in union with the Trinity through every moment of our life, listening to the Spirit’s direction and not being conformed to the expectations of this world.

 

Filled with God’s Spirit and controlled and guided by Him, we reach spiritual heights we never thought possible. We experience Him working in and through us as He conforms us to the image of Christ.

 

We press toward the goal of the high calling of God until we reach the measure of the full stature of Christ in us (Ephesians 4:13). We do not stop maturing and growing in Christ until we reach perfection, controlled and guided by the Spirit of God (Matthew 5:48; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3; Ephesians 3:19).

 

When Christ resurrects the dead in Christ and raptures the church remaining on the earth, we will gain the same immortal body that Christ enjoys right now. We enter the glorious realm of the risen Lord.

 

We will not age, experience corruption and sickness, or feel emotional and mental distress and anxiety any longer. Even death is swallowed up in the victory of the cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55).

 

Prayer:

Father God, awaken our apathetic soul and raise us from spiritual death (John 3:16-18). Remind us that Christ lives as a light within us (2 Corinthians 4:6). Help us to pay attention to how we live, so that we use Your wisdom in all that we say and do. Remind us to make the most of the time You give us and not to foolishly use it for our own selfish gains.

 

Show us Your will for our life and help us to walk in it (Ephesians 5:14-17). Help us to hear the way in which we should walk and to lift up our soul to You alone (Psalm 143:8). Keep us in step with Your Spirit through every trial and blessing we experience (Ephesians 5:14-17).

 

Thought for the Day:

Live life in full awareness of the immense potential available to us though our union with Christ.

 

Freed from Bondage

As we contemplate the Lord’s glory, which comes from the Spirit of the Lord, we are transformed with ever increasing glory into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 12:2). In Him we live and move and have our existence (Acts 17:28).

 

He dwells in us and lives through us (2 Corinthians 6:16), being glorified in us (John 17:10). We are freed from the chains of bondage to this earth into the glorious liberty of the children of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:19-21).

 

Since we abide in Him, we now walk just as He walked (1 John 2:1-6). In our flesh, we are still able to fall into temptation; but in Christ all the fullness of the triune God dwells in us.

 

Nothing this world has to offer has any appeal to us any more (Titus 2:11-14). If we take the time to walk in the Spirit, we can enjoy the same spirit-led existence that Jesus and the Biblical characters and writers did (Luke 6:40).

 

We have fellowship with the triune God all of the time, just as Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). There is an unbroken tie that transcends barriers of time and space.

 

As we walk in the Spirit, Jesus lives through us. We follow God’s will for us in the smallest details of our life, seeing His Spirit’s power and anointing lived out in our lives.

 

It is not a matter of legalism or dead works, but of abiding in the Spirit in our every waking moment. We listen and we obey and we see the salvation of our God played out in our life and in the world around us.

 

Prayer:

Father God, Christ, who dwells in us, is Your exact image, even though You are our invisible God. Jesus contains all of Your attributes and character, and since Jesus dwells within us by Your Spirit, then all of Your attributes and character dwell within us as well (Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 4:4).

 

Your Holy Spirit sanctifies us throughout our lifetime until we are perfected according to the fullest measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ in us (Ephesians 4:13). We can walk in Your holiness and abide in Your Spirit every moment of every day.

 

Thought for the Day:

We are adopted sons of God (Ephesians 1:5), joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17) and one with our triune God (John 17:22).

 

Removal from the Rat Race

The best way to remove our self from the rat race we call life is to simplify our activities. We learn to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25), to live by the faith of God’s Son within us (Galatians 2:20) and to glorify God with our thoughts, words and deeds (1 Corinthians 10:31).

We focus our thoughts on God instead of the next goal we have for our life here on earth. He replaces our carnal character traits with His Spiritual fruit and leads us to do only His will for each day (Galatians 5:22-23).

His will is different for each one of us. He may call one as a pastor, someone else as a sales clerk, one as a car mechanic, another to serve Him as a lawyer or doctor, and someone else as a stay-at-home parent.

He removes us from the mental, financial and emotional roller coaster we choose for our life and puts us in a glass bottom boat so that we can see what is beneath the surface of life, as well as what is above the surface. Our spiritual understanding increases and our perspective broadens.

God leads us to restore broken relationships, resolve issues buried in our subconscious mind, to make new friends and to influence them for His Kingdom, and to be a neighbor who really cares about those living around us.

The power of God’s Spirit, which raised Jesus from the dead, is an integral part of our life regardless of our vocation, social class, education and financial status.

We do not earn anything in life apart from Christ, but all that we have is a free gift, a by-product of our salvation in Christ. He provides our daily bread, like the manna in the wilderness and He meets all of our needs with His glorious riches (Matthew 6:11).

Prayer:

Father God, You complete us (Colossians 1:28, 2:10) by planting us in Your love, building up our faith, and using us for Your glory (Colossians 2:6-10). You provide us with the assurance of our salvation by filling us with Your Spirit and Your presence. Death and sin have no more dominion over us, because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from them (Romans 8:2).

Teach us who we are in Christ and sanctify our soul from one stage of glory to the next (2 Corinthians 3:18). Make us a new creation who lives to serve You with every breath we take and every move we make. Thank You for firmly rooting us by Your Word and guiding us by Your Spirit to walk in Your will for our life.

Thought for the Day:

God gives each one of us spiritual gifts, talents and wisdom in order to influence the world around us for His Kingdom, to serve in His Body and to bring light and hope to a society which chooses to doom itself to destruction and eternal torment.

– John 3:16-18; Romans 6:22-23