“IN HIM WE LIVE AND BREATHE AND HAVE OUR BEING.”
Acts. 17:28
“AND WE ARE IN HIM WHO IS TRUE, IN HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. HE IS THE TRUE GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE.” 1 John 5:20
Dear Father, interweave between my human thoughts the truths and the authority of Your Word. I thank you and praise you that Your Words are Spirit and Life to me. In Jesus’ precious and powerful name Amen
Fran
Though short and not very exciting to authors who are experienced in sharing their work across many platforms, this was an exciting few minutes with Eric Dye, the host of Enterprise Podcast Network
I could have said much more, but for my first, this was long enough to speak of the abundant life our Father has given us through His Son, our Lord Jesus. I pray that it stirs hearts with a desire to know more about the glorious fellowship we have with Him, His Son, and His Holy Spirit. Praise Him that eternal life with Him is not a life to which we look forward in the future, but here we are born into it, we grow and continue to be transformed and conformed to His image.
What greater life than being His image bearers here on earth.
Life and death are the great forces in this world.
We may ask the question, then: Which of these two is the greatest?
It may seem, if we consider that all physical life ends in death, that death is the great force over all.
This may be true for the majority of those who are alive, physically.
And even though a minority of men and women would witness to the same, they are living as if there is no end.
As one of this minority, I have the witness within me of life beyond this physical existence. I wake in the morning with the assurance of life beyond this realm — spiritual life that knows no bounds.
Death has no hold on me. It is not something I have imagined and created on my own. It is no mere ideology – none of any man’s design.
Every person is born with the gift of life in this world. This heavenly life is an eternal gift – a gift of eternal life from the Creator of the heavens and the earth — a second birth.
The Heavens and the Earth
The force of death for mankind originated here on earth; the force of life in heaven.
Heaven is where God, our Creator, the Living God, lives and has power over all.
“His throne is set in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all.” – His kingdom of eternal Life. Ps. 103:19
It was there that He made an everlasting covenant with His Son, for us.
In Jesus’ prayer before Judas’ betrayal and His crucifixion, Jesus prayed these words,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that your Son also may glorify you; as You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to as many as You have given me.” Jn. 17:1-2 (The time had come for Him to give His life that we who believe would have eternal life in Him.
“And now, O Father, glorify me together with Yourself with the glory I had with you before the world was.” Jn. 17:5
“…Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom you have given me that they may be one as we are.” 17:11
Jesus revealed in His prayer that before anything was created, God, the Father, and the Son were eternally One, and that through the Son, the world was created for the purpose of eternal life in His creatures. The prayer is a gift to us who believe God’s Word. In it we learn of these two forces and how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of all the living, proves the greater power of life over death.
He has prepared the glory that the Father and the Son shared before Creation – the promised Messiah – who came to deliver us from the power of death. He is the Word of Life, who came from the Father with eternal life to all who believe, love, and follow Him.
The first man, Adam, was deceived, believed a lie, and received the penalty of death because of His disobedience to God’s Word. Through him we all became subject to this force of death as long as we are on this earth in this body of flesh.
“As You have given Me authority over all flesh” were the words Jesus spoke in His prayer to the Father. He was given all power over life and death on earth and in heaven.
We are created through Him — and we either live with the gift of eternal life, in repentance of our rebellion against Him, submitting our spirit, soul, and body to Him and obedience to His Word — or we are dead (to the Living God) even as we are in this body. We are only existing until the end of this life when we have no choice but to succumb to the power of death.
Death is a force given to God’s enemy and ours when he was ejected from his duty as God’s servant in heaven. He was rebellious then and leads the world in rebellion. He is the god of this world and rules with the force of death and darkness. (1Jn. 5:19)
God, our Father, began with one man and woman who obeyed the voice of the enemy – who brought them under his power of death.
God, our Father has given new life – eternal Life – to those who are drawn to His Son – who admit their sin and disobedience to His Word, submit to Him, and commit to His Word, the Life of His Spirit and His leading through the remainder of this physical life.
He came to “release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (See Hebrews 2:1-18)
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 Jn. 3:8 (the works of the devil that brought man to disobey God and to our death.)
Jesus said to His disciples, “Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will never enter heaven.” Matt. 18:3 We are His children as we are born of His Spirit.
He will end life on this earth differently for us who give all that we are to Him. We will not fear whatever we encounter on this earth – no fear of man or circumstances because we have within us the life of Christ given through Him to us from our Father in heaven. It is a supernatural work – Christ’s life given by His Holy Spirit.
He loved us “before the world was.” He loves us now and forever. He sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins so that the first man’s death warrant is removed. Christ who is our life, lives in us and we live in Him now and forever – seeking His kingdom and His righteousness which His Spirit works in us, looking forward to a world of righteousness.
Saved Eternally in Christ
He promises to bring all things to an end in One Man, His Son, Jesus Christ, “that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” Eph. 1:10
If Christ is in us – “Christ in me – the hope of glory” “our lives hidden in Christ,” we can live here on earth with assurance in the day we take our last breath that we will be with Him forever. Col. 1:27“For you died, (in submission and baptism) and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Col. 3:3-4 (The remainder of Chapter 3 describes the fruit of our lives by His eternal life in us here on earth.)
In Christ, we, as God’s children, have an inheritance, imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God. (1 Peter 1:4) We learn of this inheritance in His last will and testament. In Christ, His death and resurrection, He has secured His own inheritance for us. (Hebrews 9:15) A child does not work for a parent’s blessing. It is the legacy given from one generation to the next.
Through us God gives physical life, but we cannot give the blessing of eternal life to our children; so how can we leave this legacy to them? It must be by example and sample. We can only leave the imprint of what we have learned and point them to the will that is recorded in God’s Word for all His children.
Footprints and Handprints We leave footprints wherever we go. Children and other people see these. We can lead them to where Christ is in His Word, in His worship, in His service. We leave handprints on what we touch, in how we touch others, holding forth the word of life; touching them with our hands and arms gently and lovingly in their times of need.
Heartprints The greatest and most lasting impression is the heartprint. We may, in passing speak a word or leave a loving touch; this is but a sample. But the time spent with our children gives them assurance of who we are as God’s children, and the inheritance that we have in Christ. The example we set before them in a lifetime is proof of the work of God in our hearts. The light that is shined into our hearts shines through us revealing who God is and who we are. This is the work of God’s heart in and through ours that proves that we are His. This heartprint is left in different ways; four of which we will mention here ~ in humility, contentment, joy, endurance.
Humility There is no pride in the legacy that is ours. We have not worked for it; nor do we deserve it. The only means of knowing and receiving this promise of inheritance in and with Christ is by His own desire; through grace, revealing and giving us a new heart through which He pours into us His own love for us. Recently in reading Charles Spurgeon’s sermon, The Meek and Lowly One,I realized that the love of God would never have been known, or available to us, except through Christ’s meekness and lowliness of heart. Others will not see the love of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, except through our humble estate in Christ. We may speak and read God’s Word to our children, but they must see it in us, alive and active through humble hearts and lives.
Contentment We, who have this legacy, are content in all of this life, living in faith and trust, for the inheritance that is promised for the future. Children learn that true life is not in this world, nor the things of this world. With our seeking those things above where Christ is seated at the right heand of God; our affections set on things above, not on the things of the earththey see what the world cannot promise, nor be to them. They learn to look for life and contentment beyond the world and themselves.
Joy “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;” Philippians 4:4-5
There is no true joy apart from Christ; not in ourselves, others, or anything in this world. When Christ fills our every longing; when He is all and everything to us; when He is our life there is joy beyond what the world knows. He is the joy of our legacy. We joy in what we have; and Christ is the greatest joy in heaven and earth, for us who know of our inheritance in him.
Endurance The legacy of ours in Christ includes perseverance. Who would not endure to the end of this life, through thick and thin, that has the promise of such an inheritance waiting for us. Those who are wealthy according to the world’s standards are known by their wealth and how they spend it. Children of wealthy parents live in hope of their legacy. You know them by who they are and how they live.
Paul prayed for the early Christians that God would reveal His legacy to them, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,” Ephesians 1:18
God’s children know the promise that Christ spoke to His disciples.
“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.(Luke 12:32) There is enough of His kingdom and His glory to share with all His children. In response to His will we seek His kingdom and His righteousness.
If we are to live it we must continue in faith to know Him and the legacy that is promised. We don’t dawdle away our time and assets that He gives us here. We live it, we even fight for it; and teach our children, so that they can, in God’s timing and His way, know, and with a new heart respond in faith and repentance; and receive the promise.
“As long as there is breath in our bodies, let us serve Christ; as long as we can think, as long as we can speak, as long as we can work, let us serve him, let us even serve him with our last gasp; and, if it be possible, let us try to set some work going that will glorify him when we are dead and gone. Let us scatter some seed that may spring up when we are sleeping beneath the hillock in the cemetery.” Charles Spurgeon
Dear Father, enable us to continue in faith and obedience to your will, to live and teach what you have promised us as your children. Let us live as children whose Father supplies all our needs according to your riches in glory, which is only a sample of what you have promised. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
“Coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variableness, nor shadow of turning.”
Wrapped in the gift of life are many other gifts that we ordinarily take for granted. If we think only of what we can hold in our hands we miss the best gifts.
Blessings of the Father came this morning with the realization that I can still breathe, hear, and see, taste and smell, reach out and touch, and experience a touch from something and someone else.
These are good gifts in themselves, needed for this life. Every gift is from God our creator. They all come as a package. With these gifts come other gifts that He has prepared for those who love Him; and these are the perfect gifts, needed for another life, a life that is eternal.
The gifts the heavenly Father gives to His children are irrevocable and non-returnable. They come within a covenant that describes the gifts and with instructions for how to use them. These are the precious and perfect gifts that are treasured now and always. We live in awe of His giving such gifts to the children of men; and to us personally.
In his book Heaven Opened ~ The Riches of God’s Covenant, Richard Alleine speaks of a covenant of grace beyond what man can imagine, one that only God, the Father, can reveal. These include God’s giving us Himself, Christ, His Holy Spirit. His kingdom, the earth, the angels of light, with all the means of salvation and much more.
The Father who knew us before the foundation of the world, created us to be noble vessels, earthen vessels that would receive His gifts graciously, reverently, spontaneously, and thankfully; and use them accordingly.
The Greatest Gift The greatest gift to all mankind is love. This is the gift we desire from others, also. Everybody loves something. In order to know what and how to love we need other gifts, especially the gift of wisdom that James speaks of in the first chapter of his letter. God gave the ordinary good gifts to be used in experiencing a relationship with Him and others. With the gift of His wisdom our senses are trained, as He wants them to be used.
Solomon in Proverbs 1:7 said that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is also a perfect gift from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Light is a gift. It was the first gift, spoken by God at the beginning of creation. He is the father of all light, both physical and spiritual. Revelation of Himself comes with this light, so that in awe and fear we hear His voice, see Him, and know Him as God Almighty, the creator and sustainer of the universe. In our encounter with this spiritual light there is a judgment of our condition as a sinner before Him. This light is revealed as Jesus Christ, His Son, and by the gift of His Holy Spirit we are drawn to Him. In this instance we are given the gifts of a new heart and a new spirit. These are His means of communicating this new life with the fear and wisdom that we need.
By the gift of His grace, and in His kindness and goodness, He instills the gift of faith in the new heart and brings us in repentance to receive the gifts of justification, righteousness, forgiveness, redemption, with all the atoning factors of a Father’s love. In our adoption, all other gifts that are ours in Christ are revealed and distributed, as He wants to give. There is nothing lacking for a child of His.
“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,
how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
Romans 8:32
The Storehouse of All Gifts
In Jesus Christ, the Son, is the storehouse of all His gifts. He has made Him to be to us and for us all things, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. He is the gift of eternal life to all who receive Him.
“That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love,
to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:2-3
Throughout this life we have the continual blessing of the gifts that are waiting for us to discover. Every day is a new revelation of His gifts to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, temperance, His holiness, His righteousness, His truth, His humility, His fullness, the fullness of His Spirit, the fullness of Christ, who, in us is the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27) and all the heavenly gifts that are prepared for us there.
Dear Father, take these good gifts, the gifts that you have given us, that we may see, hear, and receive the greatest gift of your love in Jesus Christ, your Son, with all the other gifts wrapped in Him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
How can this be? How can a person be alone but at the same time not alone? To understand, we must see ourselves as God our Father created us from the beginning. From Genesis, we learn that He formed man from the dust of the earth, and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life “and man became a living soul.”
The apostle Paul speaks of the whole man as “spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thess. 5:23) First God created the body and gave it His breath — His Spirit — which together with his body made man a living being. He breathed life into the physical form that otherwise would have remained lifeless. His life, His Spirit, has been the perpetual power given with each person born in every generation. Adam’s wife, Eve, was given life from the same Spirit, but in her body a spirit of her own, her own soul. Together, they produced offspring through the union of their souls and bodies. Every generation and every individual lives by the same power of God’s Spirit through each one.
Let’s consider another question? How does God always know where I am and what I am thinking?
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.” Prov. 20:27
When a person dies, what happens to his spirit?
“For man goes to his eternal home,… Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spiritwill return to God who gave it.” Ecc. 12:5-7
“Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.” Ps. 146:3-4
Alone Physically but Not Spiritually Considering these references let’s see if we can give a clear understanding to our first question.
Since Jerry’s death two years ago, I have been alone physically. Every room has been silent, only one side of the bed needs to be turned down at night and remade each morning. I have only one plate to fill, empty, and clean, and only a few clothes to launder – no more pills and bandages, no more bloody sheets, no wheelchair, no moaning, and groaning. But, oh, how I miss his moaning and his dependency on me – not constantly, but still occasionally I miss him and my spirit mourns.
Overriding this tearing away of the “one flesh” stage of life – overarching this flood that has taken place to establish the next stage — is the assurance of our Father’s presence by His continual Spirit with my spirit.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Roms. 8:16
Our Father created us all through Adam and Eve, our first parents, but because of their disobedience, we are individually born into this world with the sentence of death. But by His grace, we are given new life – eternal life – through Christ, His Son. His Holy Spirit quickens us, and gives this new life to those who believe and obey Him; we live in the assurance of His presence with us now and forever. (Eph. 2:1) His Spirit within us is His means to carry us from one stage to another, through every loss, with victory over our feelings and struggles. He continues to teach us through His written Word of the promises that are ours.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.” Ps. 42:5
Jesus said to His disciples, “…you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” Jn. 16:32
“For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Heb. 13:5; Isa. 41:10
Perhaps my greatest witness of this truth is that “the new heart and new spirit” our Father gave Jerry and me as “one flesh” was not taken from me. Even as He united us together as one in Christ, His Spirit still dwells in me, giving life, strength, and joy to my soul – while Jerry is beholding and enjoying His eternal glory in heaven.
Dear Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name in the lives of all your children in every stage of this life, your Spirit bringing us to you as you have planned for each of us. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
(Unedited excerpt from Our FATHER Hears ~ The Voice of Daughters Crying in the Wilderness — in process for publication this year.)
“Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.” John 17:7-8
“Now they have known”
The men Jesus called to follow Him spent three years hearing the things God, the Father gave Him. These things were given to them in the form and sound of “words.” “Jesus spoke these words’ (vs. 1) then lifted up His eyes to heaven and began His prayer to the “Father.”
He spoke “these things” for three years until this moment when He unveiled to His disciples in this prayer what His Father in heaven had planned “before the world was.” These “things” ~ these “words” ~ were the secrets Moses spoke of in Deut. 29:29. “The secrets belong to God but are revealed to us and our children.”
“And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Matt. 13:16-17
These few men were given to Jesus to know the secrets of His kingdom ~ to know the Father, “the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.” Jn. 17:2-3
Herein was the revelation and reality of eternal life promised by the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, His Son.
His disciples were witnesses to these words of eternal life and the things Jesus gave them from the Father. These words were passed down to generations and are now ours who believe,
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;” Jn. 17:20
We, too, must hear His words if we are to know the things of His Father’s Kingdom. Just as the disciples received Jesus’ words, everyone must receive them as true. We must not doubt, but know for sure that God, the Father sent His Son to give us the words of eternal life and Life, itself, now and for eternity.
We would do well to take heed to the following words quoted by Jesus. These should be comforting and encouraging words to those who receive them and believe them and warning to those who have not heard them before.
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,” Jn. 6:37
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” Jn. 6:47
“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Jn. 6:63
“He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him— the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” Jn. 12:48-50
No other religion, no other man has ever promised the life that He gives. Please send me a message on my CONTACT page if you want to know more of these words and the LIFE that comes through them.
Dear Father in heaven, your Words matter more than other words spoken on this earth. Open hearts to hear these simple words spoken by Jesus your Son ~ words of life that produce life ~ the life of Christ and His Spirit ~ in those who receive and believe them.
When Jerry and I were caregivers for my mother, I used the following triangle to encourage her to remember her life would not end here. The blue line is the New Birth to Eternal Life.
In 4 1/2 years with us she declined rapidly with Alzheimer’s disease. Now, in this stage of decline, it is encouraging for me to remember I have been born of the Spirit of our Heavenly Father with promise through Christ, His Son, we who are in Christ will never die spiritually. I rejoice in the words of 1 John 3:1-3. New Brith can occur on the side of decline also. On either side Eternal Life goes beyond the page.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Gracious Father, thank you for making us your children, giving us life in Christ, your Son. As we grow physically throughout our life here, fill us with your Spirit and enable us to grow spiritually, to know you better and love you more, to praise you and witness to others that they, too, may have this hope of everlasting life in Christ ~ for your glory and our joy. In His name we pray. Amen.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
John 17:6
Continuing our study on The Excavation of John 17, Jesus spoke in His prayer to the Father in John 17:6 using a term translated into English as “manifested.” Some translations use the word “revealed.” This is from the Greek root word phaneroo, which means “to make something visible, recognizable, explained, or to declare.”
Just as the term used in chapter 1, logos implies a message or speech, this verse indicates that Jesus represented God the Father in His ministry to the disciples. Acting “in the name of” someone means to reveal their will and their authority (John 12:13; 14:26; 15:21; 16:26). (Bible Ref.)
John records in his first letter the experience of the disciples with Jesus.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—” 1 John 1:1-2
Jesus was revealing the Father (His name, His being, His authority, His power), Jesus, Himself, being the “image of the invisible God.” (Col. 1:15)
“who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,” (Hebrews 1:3)
He revealed the Father’s name to “the men He had given Him out of the world.” We recall the parables Jesus spoke to the crowds but interpreted only to His disciples.
In verse 9, He says He prays for them, “but not for the world.”
The scribes and Pharisees were blind and could not see what Jesus was revealing to those whom the Father had chosen as his own.
Only to those who were predestined before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4: 2 Tim. 1:9), were the Father’s and given to Jesus.
They had “kept His Word.” They had believed and followed as He taught them for three years. In verse 12, He says He kept them “in His name.”
From the start of our study of John 17, we learn that Jesus reveals His Father (and our Father) as a giver and the work He sent Jesus to do reveals Him as a forgiver.
Jesus was given authority over all flesh. (vs. 2) His atonement was His means of giving eternal life to those the Father had given Him.
He finishes the work the Father had given Him to do. (vs. 4)
The Father gave those who were His to Jesus for their atonement and His keeping. (6, 12)
They knew all things which the Father had given Him were from the Father. (7
He gave them the Words the Father had given Him. (8, 14)
The glory the Father gave Him, He gave to them. (22)
He prayed that those the Father gave Him would be with Him in His glory. (24)
Jesus kept them in the Father’s name. (12)
He prays, “Holy Father, keep through your name those whom you have given me.” (11)
In His prayer to the Father, He reveals vividly His role as our Mediator.
In Him, the Father merged the creature who needed redemption with His name, His Words of truth, reconciliation, and His glory.
We will see in further study more of the work of Christ’s atonement between us and the Father.
“I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
Psalm 138:2
Gracious Father, thank you for revealing your name and your Word to us through Christ, your living Word. His prayer to you is a blessing for us to know who you are and why you sent your Son. Reveal your glory to us as we read and meditate more on your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Fran
Praying this morning on the eve of another Lord’s Day, praising God, my Father, desiring His name to be hallowed, seeking His kingdom and His righteousness, and His will to be done here on earth, it was with worship in mind.
Tomorrow He will meet with us who are gathered in the name of our Lord on the day of our Lord, January 10, 2021. This Eve has become a day of preparation for me, remembering that every day is the day of our Lord for over two thousand years. But, specifically, the first day of the week belongs to Him. According to His atoning work, we, who are His by grace, plan for this day to honor Him. He is the beginning of eternal life for us through His death and resurrection.
So, what difference does it make if I honor Him on His day? And what happens in this celebration of His atoning work of grace? New thoughts came to mind as I prayed for Chris, our pastor. He has specifically asked for prayer that He may preach more faithfully, more pointedly, and more Christ-centeredly. Daily praying for the Holy Spirit to work in Him in His preparation to preach the word in power, we pray more fervently the day before for the sword of God’s Word that will pierce our hearts. We pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts to receive the truth of His Word and that it will find its resting place to root and grow and produce its fruit in and through us as His children.
This means more than just saying “Amen” to what we hear. A prepared heart comes to listen to what our Father has given His servant for us. If we “have an ear to hear,” we will take in what He intends to reveal of Himself. The truth in the power of His Word will change our minds and hearts and conform them to His.
So, why do I need to be in church? The church is the place for gathering God’s people to honor His Son and receive the eternal life He came to give. It is the place of His worship and His Word. I need to know and hear from heaven the Father/Creator and Redeemer of my soul. The church was His plan, not man’s. We need under-shepherds who know Christ and the life He came to give His people, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and who feed His sheep with the manna from heaven.
I need the cutting edge of the sword of His Word, not to desire what makes me feel good about myself, nor to be entertained, but to have all sense of pride and deception stripped from my being. I need to be cleansed of thoughts of, and plans for, myself.
Individual reading and study are good, but these are not all we need. We need the “body of Christ” listening collectively to how He plans to shape us into His image.
Christ died and rose again to give us His life, that we may live through Him (1 Jn. 4:9). The more we know of Him as revealed through the preaching of His Word, the more we become like Him, understanding the reality of His dwelling in us and our dwelling in Him (1 Jn. 4:13; Jn. 14:17, 23), Filled with Grace ~ Wrapped in Glory.)
The supernatural, spiritual work in His incarnation, His resurrection, and His ascension is the same divine power working in us through the sword of His Spirit ~ the Holy Spirit working His Word in our hearts and lives.
His sanctifies us individually and collectively.
We must submit ourselves to the weekly preaching of God’s Word to know His transforming power in the days ahead, lest we lose ourselves in the overwhelming chaos and uncertainty of the world. His Word defines who we are in Christ. We must plan, prepare, and anticipate a newness of life in Christ we have hardly known.
Dear Father, we ask for the unction of your Holy Spirit for the preaching of your Word tomorrow. Prepare our hearts to receive what you have given your ministers. Enable us to receive the truth of your Word for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. Let us willingly accept what your Word reveals of the intentions of our hearts, deliver us from our sins, and conform us to the image of Christ. In His name, I pray. Amen. Fran
GOD IS GREATER THAN
Jesus was revealing the Father (His name, His being, His authority, His power), Jesus, Himself, being the “image of the invisible God.” (Col. 1:15)
