Jesus is Lord!

Ezekiel 36:26-27
26 And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

We are released from sin’s domination over us when we commit ourselves fully to Christ, trusting completely in what He has done for us. Jesus had to become human so that He could die and rise again, in order to destroy Satan’s power over death. It had to be a man to take back what Satan had tricked us into giving up when man sinned against God. Only through death could Christ deliver us from the fear of death and set us free from the power of sin. Because Christ died for our sin, He is our high priest before God the Father and we need go through no other. When we accept God’s Gift, we get a new heart with right desires. When we believe God, He fills us with His Spirit. God takes out your stony heart of sin and gives you a new, obedient heart. Colossians 3:9-10 tells us, “Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.” It is only the unbelieving heart that is harden and closes the fellowship with God. Those who keep renewing their heart through learning more and more about Christ will do His will. Keep your heart in obedience and believe the Word of God. Stay in fellowship with Him by knowing his Word and talking to Him.

Have God Day!

2 Corinthians 9:3-5
3 We are human, but we don’t wage war with human plans and methods. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil’s strongholds. 5 With these weapons we break down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God. With these weapons we conquer their rebellious ideas, and we teach them to obey Christ.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

The proud arguments and strongholds that Paul is talking about are within our minds. They are the wrong teachings we have learned about God. Parents and teachers have influenced what we think of God. Right or wrong, everything we have learned about God is programmed in our minds. Sometimes we need to be de-programmed. If we see God as a judgmental disciplinary that is just waiting for us to do wrong so He can punish us, then we may have trouble accepting His unconditional love. God has given us a clear picture of Himself and His love through Jesus Christ. Our picture of Him is skewed by our past experiences and interaction with those in authority over us. These are strongholds in our minds that need to be torn down and replaced with the truth. That is why Paul is telling us we can not fight this with human weapons but must use spiritual weapons. Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.” Satan will use these false perceptions of God in your mind to keep you from receiving all that God has intended for you. We need to break these strongholds down with the truth of God. The truth is in God’s Word. Know His Word and you will know His truth and love. And ask God to tear down these strongholds and fill your mind with His truth.

Have a God Day!

Ephesians 2:4-10
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Man has put many human rituals into religion today and many think that by doing them, they are saved and will spend eternity in heaven with God.If this were true, then the power to be saved would be within ourselves. It would be by our own power that we are made right with God. But they are wrong. There is nothing that we can do, say or be that can save us from our sins. If it is by our own power, then why would we need God? And wouldn’t that give some people something to boast about? If we could save ourselves by works then we could take on a self-righteous attitude and say, “I did it better than you so therefore my way is more right then yours!” Imagine the chaos. Salvation is not a reward for things done right, it is a gift from God. We are saved by believing in the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. We are saved when we admit we are sinners and need God’s grace to cover our sins. Then we turn from our sin and start moving toward God. This is what makes us right with God. This is what gives us peace. We know that He is now living in us and will never leave us because of His promise in His Word. And this is the Word of God, “You cant take credit for salvation; it is a gift from God!” But you must accept it. It is not yours until you pick it up and make it yours. If you have not done this, get on your knees today and tell God that you accept His Gift.

Have a God Day!

1 John 4:7-21
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God–for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us. 13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. 19 We love each other as a result of his loving us first. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? 21 And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

John says, God is love, not love is God. Our world has a very shallow and selfish view of love and has contaminated what love really is. We always hear that if God loves us, He will not punish us or send us to Hell. But that is not love; real love explains why God created us in the first place. Because He loves, He created people to love. God does love all people even those who sin. If He waited until we did not sin to show us His love, we would never know it. But God also gave us a choice to love Him or not because He wanted a loving response from us and not just because He made us love Him. It has to be a choice or there would be no love. But because there is nothing sinful or evil that can exist in God’s presence, He can not over look or condone or excuse sin. That is why Jesus Christ came because of God’s love for us; because God wanted us to be reconciled to Him. Now we have an advocate or solution to the problem of our sin. With the blood of Christ over us through our choice to believe, we can be with God and be in His presence because we have complete forgiveness from our sin when we believe in the work of Christ Jesus. God’s love will be expressed to us forever. God can not and will not tolerate sin of any kind and sent Jesus Christ to take the penalty for our sin, this is real love. The world does not want to hear that and so they turn away from God and turn to a religion that tells them what they want to hear. They can continue in sin and say that they are “religious” without stopping their sin. God will have nothing to do with these people on that Day of His return. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit within you as your sin is covered by the sacrifice made by Christ for your sin.

Have a God Day!

Ephesians 2:4-10
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Man has put many human rituals into religion today and many think that by doing them, they are saved and will spend eternity in heaven with God. If this were true, then the power to be saved would be within ourselves. It would be by our own power that we are made right with God. But they are wrong. There is nothing that we can do, say or be that can save us from our sins. If it is by our own power, then why would we need God? And wouldn’t that give some people something to boast about? If we could save ourselves by works then we could take on a self-righteous attitude and say, “I did it better than you so therefore my way is more right then your!” Imagine the chaos. Salvation is not a reward for things done right, it is a gift from God. We are saved by believing in the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. We are saved when we admit we are sinners and need God’s grace to cover our sins. Then we turn from our sin and start moving toward God. This is what makes us right with God. This is what gives us peace. We know that He is now living in us and will never leave us because of His promise in His Word. And this is the Word of God, “you cant take credit for salvation; it is a gift from God!” But you must accept it. It is not yours until you pick it up and make it yours. If you have not done this, get on your knees today and tell God that you accept His Gift.

Have a God Day!

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
13 As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on
everything we taught you both in person and by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Salvation begins and ends with God through Christ Jesus. We can do nothing to be saved on our own merit, we must accept God’s gift of salvation. There is no other way to receive forgiveness for our sins. Christians are chosen by God from the beginning. It is not that we are predestined to salvation, is just that He knows who will accept Him and who will not. Every person born has the chance to accept Him or not. There is no other name than the name of Jesus Christ that will save us. Once saved, we begin the process of being made holy by a work of the Holy Spirit in us. During the process of sanctification we will face pressure and worldliness to leave our faith. Satan will stop at nothing to turn you from Christ or at least make you ineffective as a Christian. Paul tells us to “stand firm” and hold onto the truth. The reality of Christ’s love for us will keep us on the road to becoming like Him. Let it fill your heart and mind and your actions will follow.

Have a God Day!

Colossians 1:25-29
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people. 27 For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory. 28 So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

How much of your life is under control of your “old nature” and how much is under control of Christ in you? How much room have you made for Christ in your life? If you are still struggling with sin or can not find time for God, then too much of your “old nature” is in control. Recognizing unacceptable behavior is the first step to surrendering them to the control of Christ in you. All of us have things in our life we are not proud of and realize we need to make some changes. The only time in our life when we do not need to improve or change is when we are dead. But until that time, there will always be a part of our “old nature” that will want to bring us down and away from what God has intended for us. His life in us is truly our only hope of permanently changing the “old nature” in us. We must decrease and He must increase. This is a circumcision of the heart not just self-denial. When we change unacceptable behavior out of our own will power there will always be inner drives continually trying to sabotage our efforts. But when Christ lives in you and you have made room for Him by surrendering anything in your life that is not of Him, then you will have victory and joy because it is Christ in you that gives you the power. We do this by daily coming before God and opening ourselves up to His examination. We ask and allow God to reveal to us what direction we should take. We surrender completely to His control. It is a step by step process that will take the rest of your life, but it is worked at daily. As you move closer and closer to Him, His life will be lived in you and you will share His glory.

Have a God Day!