“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.” Romans 3:11

There is no room for self righteousness or thinking you are better than others just because you are a Christian.

We all fall into the same category. Every human being is unacceptable to God. We are contaminated and God wants nothing to do with us. 

All humanity was born with an inner nature to defy God and live for self. It is impossible to see what you really look like on the inside. Only God can see all of your personality including your compulsive behaviors, sexual immorality, and desires to please self.

You cannot get clean through self discipline. You will fail every time. Religion will not change you. 

The only way to get right with God is through the Living Christ. He is the perfect solution to sin. He knows you better than you know yourself. 

Jesus is unconditional love and is a merciful and compassionate God.

The punishment to a human being comes from sin and creates misery, destruction and death. 

God created Jesus and asked Him to be a sacrifice for sin. The death of Jesus was planned by God so humanity could be restored to God.

Jesus died to provide forgiveness for all sin through His blood. The death of Jesus gives everyone the ability to receive the gift of salvation. This gift allows you to live with Jesus forever and be transformed into His character. 

Salvation begins with making a serious commitment to live for Jesus above all else. The decision for Jesus seals you with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Jesus and transforms you into a new creature in Christ.

It is impossible to be perfect in the eyes of God without the blood of Jesus. Salvation will never make you perfect here on earth but you can live a life pleasing to Jesus.

The Christ follower can wake up tomorrow and stand blameless before God without any shame or condemnation. 

Ask and you shall receive!

“Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years.” Hebrews 3:9

The cornerstone of a relationship with Jesus is living by faith. This defines your standing with Jesus.

We can understand how God operates in the story alluded to in Hebrews 3:9.

The Israelites were delivered out of bondage in Egypt. They personally witnessed the power and glory of God but as soon as they crossed the Red Sea they started complaining and worshipping false Gods.

This lack of faith started when the twelve spies sent out by God returned from checking out the Promised Land. Ten of the spies said Israel could not defeat the enemy tribes and some cowardly suggested returning to Egypt.

This attitude provoked God with overwhelming anger. God responded with the punishment that the Israelites would go on a forty year zig zag journey instead of a three day trek to their new home.

He also said all the adults would die in the desert and not step one foot into the Promised Land. 

Faith is believing in the words of Jesus and not what you see with your eyes. Jesus has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. Nothing is impossible for Him.

Faith is responding to Jesus with obedience. We must learn to do what God asks without wavering or needing any proof. 

God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The principles of faith and obedience have not changed. And, Jesus abhors complaining believers. 

If you want the best of God you must live by faith believing in the promises of Jesus.

Build a lifestyle of reaching out to Jesus for your every need and learn to wait patiently. At times, Jesus can seem very slow. 

“That they may be one even as We are one” John 17:20-21

This narrative differentiates between a religious believer and a Christ follower. The religious believer is not in contact with the Living Christ and attempts to serve Him through works. And, it is impossible to discover Jesus through an intellectual approach.

Jesus desires to share His life with a believer. He wants to have a deep and enriching relationship with a believer. Jesus wants to speak with you, be present and alive in your life and demonstrate signs and wonders exemplifying His power and majesty.

The gospel of Jesus did not end in the Bible. The Cross offers the resurrected life of Jesus to all.

The efficacy of Jesus can be discovered by all believers. The starting point is to make an unequivocal decision for Jesus. This is a serious commitment to live for Jesus above all else.

The Christ follower must zealously seek the will of Jesus and walk by unwavering faith believing in His promises.

The decision to surrender to Jesus baptizes a believer into the death and resurrection of Jesus. The believer dies to self and is anointed and empowered by the resurrected life of Jesus.

The believer lives in the world but he is not of the world. The Holy Spirit changes a believers thinking patterns and helps him to sever the ties with the world. 

The “born again” believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ. The believer must submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit and pray each day for the order and simplicity of Christ.

The Bible teaches that a believer can do the works of Jesus. This happens by the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit.  The disciples were just mere mortals until Pentecost. 

The obstacle to most believers is letting go and living by faith with Jesus.

The disciple cannot expect to be filled with the fullness of Jesus and dabble in sin. The requirement is to repent from all sin and live in the light of Jesus. There are no compromises with Jesus. He wants a clean slate covered by His blood. Jesus is not looking for perfection but a willing heart to change.

Meet Jesus of Nazareth. He wants to be your best friend!

Most believers start off the day with Jesus. This narrative deals with how you can have a rich and embracing time with Jesus. He is alive and desires a personal and symbiotic relationship with a believer.

Come to Jesus with praise for who He is and thank Him for the gift of eternal life. Praise Jesus for His promises. Praise Jesus for His greatness and glory.

We are all unworthy people with many imperfections. Seek out Jesus for conviction, repentance and the forgiveness provided by the blood of Christ.

There can be nothing standing between you and Jesus in your relationship. Ask Jesus to reveal anything grieving the Holy Spirit in your words, emotions or actions.

Jesus is not looking for perfection but a willing heart to change.

Walking with Jesus is about having unwavering faith in His promises and not what you see with your eyes. 

The Holy Spirit must be alive and operating in your life. Give the Spirit authority over your life and you will experience the reality of the Living Christ in all the moments of life.

Your worship time with Jesus should be intermingled with reading the Bible and singing songs to Him or listening to spiritual music. The Psalms are excellent devotionals and I actually pray the words over me.

Listen for the voice of God and journal His words. Remember, you have the mind of Christ and He wants to be in dialogue with you.

Commit your works each day to Jesus and ask for His order and simplicity. 

Jesus wants your devotion and obedience to Him above all else. Jesus is not looking for service. He wants a deep and loyal friendship.

Jesus will transform you into a fountain of Living Water and people will know you have been with Him!

“I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” Isaiah 13:11

This is the word from the Holy Spirit today. There is a huge fire coming from God because of His anger over the evil in the world. 

This judgment will touch every human being on the earth. The fire will destroy the wickedness in the world. 

God has said “enough is enough”. He is irate over sexual immorality, greed, and the defiance and arrogance against God.

No one will be untouched by this sweeping fire. God is omniscient and sees every detail of your life. He looks into your heart and measures your faith and devotion to Him.

Now is the time for all to turn away from a callous attitude towards God. This dire warning does not exclude believers who tend to hide in religion.

There will be many calamities and people will perish. There will be wars, diseases, economic woes, and food shortages.

The demon named Leviathan will be stripped of His power. This demon described as a wicked sea creature cannot be defeated by man. You can read about Leviathan in Job 41. He controls the life of many here on earth. He is very devious and many times impersonates himself as a believer. In God’s perfect timing Jesus will destroy the wicked sea monster.

There is hope for a Christ follower who is committed to Jesus and walks by faith anchored to the Holy Spirit. 

Pray for the blood of Christ to cover you and seek repentance from Jesus. Be open to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus is your only hope!

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28

Most believers pray, study the Word and go to church. They receive blessings from Jesus but they never really know Him. 

It is important to understand the symbolic relationship between Jesus and a believer. This bond must be mutually beneficial for both parties. God fulfills His promises and you are obligated to be obedient to His requests and seek His will for your life. It is not just a take from Jesus scenario.

Knowing Jesus is developing a personal and embracing relationship with Him. It is hearing His voice and understanding His thinking patterns. The purpose is to create a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus.

This bond of friendship is endearing and brings the reality of the Living Christ into your life.

How can you really know Jesus? This kindred friendship must be grounded in faith and commitment to Jesus.

Faith is believing in the promises of Jesus and reaching out to Him for your every need. Faith is not based on what you see with your eyes but what comes by the invisible hand of Jesus. Without faith you cannot please God.

Commitment is putting Jesus first in your life above all else. Your relationship is strengthened by vigilant prayer, seeking the will of God, and living under cover of the blood of Jesus.

Jesus desires your obedience to Him. When Jesus issues instructions He wants your immediate compliance without wavering or second guessing.

Knowing Jesus comes by giving the Holy Spirit authority over your life. Commit your works each day to Jesus and walk in oneness with the Holy Spirit. This replaces selfish motives with the order and simplicity of Jesus. He lives in you and desires to protect and enhance your life. 

This prayer will release the power of the Holy Spirit into your day. He will fill you with His thoughts and be present in all the moments of your life.

“I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father”

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:10

In the past I have read this verse and said to myself this is impossible. No one can ever match up to the standards of Jesus living in the darkness of this world. And, Heaven is perfect without any sin.

However, God corrected me. He said “The Christ follower can do my will in the darkness of the world without being perfect.”

Jesus explained the Christ follower who is working under the authority of the Holy Spirit can do His will. 

The Holy Spirit is the life of Jesus and is sealed in every believer. The disciples were imperfect servants operating in darkness doing the works of Jesus. They were anointed by God and equipped with the gifts of the Spirit.

To be an effective disciple for Jesus requires these spiritual qualities!

The believer must be committed to Jesus above all else and vigilantly seeking His will. 

He commits his works each day to Jesus and walks by faith. 

He must have a strong discipline of prayer, reading the Word, and listening for the voice of God.

He must be walking in oneness with Jesus yielding to the Holy Spirit. 

He must be covered by the blood of Jesus seeking repentance and correction from God.

He must have pure motives and not be looking for personal glory or praise.

He must be obedient to the voice of God regardless of the personal cost or lack of logic.

He must be a prayer warrior and intercessor for those living in the bondage of sin.

Not my will but Yours be done!

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

“For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.” Hebrews 9:16 

Jesus established a covenant with God by His death. He was sent to the world to be a sacrifice for sin. 

While Jesus was alive the gift of salvation was not available for anyone. It was impossible to be born again with the character of Jesus or restored to God.

The death of Jesus activated the Cross for all mankind. 

Where sin abounds the grace of God abounds more!

God created perfection in the creation of man and woman which was then ruined by Satan. 

God saw the sexual immorality and rebellion of mankind. This made Him very angry. 

God created a flood to destroy all humanity except for eight people. This was just a temporary fix. 

God established the Ten Commandments and told the Israelites to obey them. The Israelites failed God. No one could obey the biblical precepts. 

God knew from the very beginning there was only one solution to redeem His people. They were all unworthy to Him in their natural life from birth. They needed a new life filled with the values of Jesus. 

God created a covenant with Jesus that would come alive with His death on the Cross. 

There is only one way a human being can get right with God. He must be baptized into the death and resurrected life of Jesus.

The Cross offers the blood of Jesus to forgive all your sins and restore you to God. 

The Cross seals a believer with the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ and transforms you into a new identity with the character of Jesus.

The Cross guarantees a believer all the promises of Jesus. 

The Cross provides supernatural protection and the omniscient wisdom of Jesus.

The Cross brings an abundant life filled with the goodness of Jesus!

The goal of Jesus is to bring you into an uninterrupted relationship with Him.

This is impossible when you put personal desires or compulsive behaviors ahead of Jesus.

The man who insists on maintaining his rights and independence will be unable to experience the fullness of Jesus.

This behavior grieves the Holy Spirit who is your portal to the Living Christ.

The reality of a Christ follower is that he has no rights but to walk in oneness with Jesus.

When you make decisions for yourself this breaks up fellowship with Jesus. You are declaring your human nature is above the wisdom and protection of Jesus.

Jesus knows your needs better than you do; there is no reason to take matters into your own hands.

Jesus is a God of order and simplicity if you live under the authority of the Holy Spirit. However, many times we make impulsive decisions on our own and they usually lead to misery.

Fellowship with Jesus has no time outs. We pray, listen for His voice, read the Bible and obey His instructions. 

The Lord desires to be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway. 

But you have to let go and allow God to take the lead!

God revealed His heart when He created the Ten Commandments.

This moral law does not care about your human imperfections or genetic dispositions. God tells all to honor these commandments without exceptions. And, if you violate one of the commandments you have violated all of them. There is no mercy from God.

The non believer is free from these laws and can do as he pleases. However, once you come to God you are convicted by these commandments and see there is no hope for you. 

The moral law causes a believer to see it is impossible to get right with God.

He is plagued by his natural life at birth which desires to live for self and defy God. 

This validates the contrast between God and mankind. God is perfect, without sin and has no ego. Mankind is self driven and desires to please self.

God designed the moral law to show the weaknesses and vulnerability of mankind.

There is only one way to become reconciled to God. You must be baptized into the death of Jesus.

This baptism by fire and the Holy Spirit provides you with a new life as you learn to die to self and live for Jesus. Your sins are covered by the blood of Jesus and you are restored to God and can face Jesus without blame or condemnation. 

The new life is created by the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the life of Christ who lives in all believers. He transforms a believer into the character of Jesus.

This sounds like a perfect solution but there is a catch. You must take Jesus seriously and seek the will of God for your life. 

The challenge is denying the desires of the flesh and the temptations of Satan. This is very difficult living in a world of darkness which is influenced by Satan. The Christ follower must focus on prayer, reading the Bible and listening for the voice of God. 

Commit your works each day to Jesus and walk in oneness with Him under the authority of the Holy Spirit.

The most startling fact about Jesus is discovering He is alive and wants a personal and embracing relationship with a believer.

Jesus has power and dominion over the heavens and earth. Nothing is impossible for Him. Jesus wants to give you a life you can never achieve on your own.

Jesus keeps His promises!