“Abide in Me, and I in you.” John 15:4

Jesus said abide in Me and I will abide in you. He did not say wake up and spend a few minutes with Me and then go about your life. And He did not say to abide in Me to get something and then go out and live your life.

You and I abide with God and then He tends to fade out and becomes oblivious as self interests set in. Abiding with God is all encompassing activity including your thoughts, your words, your emotions, and all your actions. Abiding with God has no curtailment or end. It is a way of living and walking with God.

Abiding with God abolishes any conditions or limitations to His involvement in your life. You have invited God into every aspect of your life. Nothing is hidden away from Him.

Most people are stubborn about yielding all to God and resist the Holy Spirit from doing His work in them. The stumbling blocks are usually pride and self sufficiency. Pride is allowing self to live above God. And self sufficiency is this idea you can draw upon your own resources and God only comes into play when you are in dire straights or for important things.

There is also a fear that abiding in God (abandonment) will cause you to lose things that are of value to you and your desire for a prosperous life. This is a lie. The truth is God will enrich every aspect of your life and give you an abundance that you can never achieve on your own.

You have to let go to gain with God! He wants all of you!

Thought for the day: “You do not have to fear the consequences of abandoning yourself to Me. I am a God of goodness! Come to Me with everything and I will live with you and through you. There is no one like Me.”

“Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.” Proverbs 16:3

The principle of walking with God is He takes the lead and you follow. So how do you know if He is directing your pathway?

This is really a simple thing to understand. There is no reason to have confusion or doubt about whether you are in the will of God or living a self directed life.

God lives in you through the Holy Spirit. He is your auto pilot. Each day commit your works to God and ask Him to fill your mind with His wisdom and guide your footsteps. Then take some time to listen to God. Open your mind up and learn to be still before the Lord. Allow God to have the freedom to work through your mind. If God wants to talk to you, He will make it clear.

If you have prayed sincerely and are open to His voice, you have nothing to worry about. Go about your day with confidence God is with you.

This discipline does not assure you that everything will be great in your life but you can be comforted to know you are following God in His perfect path.

Sometimes the seasons with God just seem to drag on with no change. So you have to learn to be patient and wait on the Lord. He hasn’t forgotten you!

Remember, the Holy Spirit is your compass point to keep you on track with God. He will never fail you!

Thought for the day: “The Holy Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you. Listen for My voice. I have given you the mind of Christ.”

 

Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” John 4:48

The Word of God is alive and powerful. Jesus taught that you and I have to live by faith and not rely on signs and wonders.

Your faith in the Word of God will bring the wonders and glory of the Lord into your life. God calls things that don’t exist as if they did.

In this story a nobleman’s son was very sick and the nobleman came to Jesus pleading for him to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus spoke the words “Go your way, your son lives.”

Jesus subtly pointed out that it was not necessary for Him to go to the nobleman’s home. In effect, He was saying you don’t need to see proof or evidence. Simply, believe in My name.

The son was healed by the words of Jesus. This miracle can happen to you. It is your unwavering faith in the promises of God without a sign that pleases God.

Today, you have to walk by faith anchored to God through the Holy Spirit. Your faith in God will make you whole!

Thought for the day: “You do not need to see Me. My words are Truth and Life. Draw near to Me by faith and I will show you My signs and wonders. I am above all things!”

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” Romans 12:1

 

If you really want to know Jesus, you have to give all of yourself to Him. You can’t try to please Him with your talents, works, and sacrifices. They are of no real value to Him until you have offered all of yourself to God.

Then He can begin a holy work transforming you into a temple of God reflecting the qualities of God. The originality of God living in you will create an outpouring of His life touching and influencing others.

In essence, you give up the right to yourself. You give ownership to God and become His follower. The work of God has to start initially within you and deal with your personality, motives, and resistance to letting God have all of you.

Your moral obligation to life is the responsibility of God. He will show you the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. He is your Keeper!

The truth of becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus begins with abandonment to Him. God can’t do His amazing and beautiful work of creation when you stand in the way. If you allow God to have His way with you, He will transform you into a powerful witness for Him.

People will see God in you!

Thought for the day: “I want all of you. Come to Me and I will consecrate you with My Holy Spirit. You will live with Me and be My witness to the world.”

 

 

 

“You did not choose me, but I chose you” John 15:16

You and I tend to think that we made this wonderful decision for Jesus and should somehow be involved in the path of our life. Jesus would respond “You missed it again”!

Jesus said that you have not chosen Me. I have chosen you. Not only has Jesus chosen you but He has foreordained His path for your life. You come to Jesus because the Spirit of God bears witness with your inner spirit that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The decision making started with God not with you.

Your responsibility as a believer is to walk with God and be a light for Him. This is a life of prayer and praise, filling yourself with His Word, and living in oneness with God through His Spirit.

God does not want you to think for Him, plan for Him, or try to determine His purposes for you. He knows you better than you know yourself and His ways are perfect.

God simply wants you to trust Him for your every need and be obedient to the leading of His Spirit. This is how you can please God.

The purposes of God will stay hidden below your consciousness until God chooses to reveal them to you. As you grow in spiritual maturity, it can be even more difficult to figure out God’s plan for your life.

The best course of action is to focus on how you can please God today and forget about the future. You cannot chart out your life because you are not God.

He has chosen your path!

Thought for the day! “I am the beginning and the end. I chose you before you were born and My Spirit lives in you. Follow Me and I will show you the abundant life. I am a perfect God.”

“The Lord is the strength of my life” Psalm 27:1

You can’t really figure God out so the goal is to make Him the strength of your life. God is mysterious, unpredictable, and controversial. His ways are different than your ways. It is impossible to keep pace with God.

God wants you to recognize your weaknesses and draw upon His strength. This is how you can lead a life submitting to God. “The Lord is my light and my salvation” changes from words on a printed page to a living truth in your heart.

The best method of dealing with God is make Him the strength of your life through prayer, His Word, and having an openness to His Spirit. If you do these things and commit each day to God, then you can live with confidence that God is with you.

If God wants you to do something, He will make it very clear. You don’t have to strive or question God. Wait upon Him!

You and I can’t control or influence God so just make Him the centerpiece of your life and walk by faith trusting God for your every need.

Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and seek to lead a life pleasing to Him. Then leave the future up to God!

Thought for the day: “I am the Lord and there is no one like Me. Trust Me for your every need. I want to be your source for life. My ways are perfect. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32

Dealing with Jesus brings light into your soul. You see yourself for who you are and it is not a pretty picture. You realize that you fall so short of the magnificence of Jesus!

Jesus will never let you off the hook or excuse you. If you want Jesus you have to look within yourself and be willing to change. This is a life long process.

Sin diminishes the life of Jesus within you. Some of His power and glory departs until you get right with God.

The solution to sin is to abide in the living Word of God. This is how you will be set free and enjoy the presence of God.

You abide in God by inhaling in His Word, praying to Him, and living by faith. You can never be perfect in the eyes of Jesus except through His blood. This is your precious path to God.

Abiding in Jesus is not an off and on discipline. It is a conscious process of coming into oneness with God through the Holy Spirit.

You literally move and live and have your being in Him. Life revolves around God.

Your faith in God will bring His righteousness into your life. It is the only way to experience the holiness and purity of God.

The Son will make you free!

Thought for the day: “You cannot earn My righteousness. Your faith in Me will make you whole.”

“My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:2

In the middle of the night God spoke this verse in Psalm 121 to me.

You and I have to pray for help for whatever your need is and then wait for God to bring His help. Without the help of God your efforts will be fruitless. Sometimes the help of God comes immediately like when you pray for strength or wisdom and sometimes God takes time to bring His help.

The point is you cannot be successful without the help of God. Jesus said if you love Me keep My commandments and I will pray the Father and He will send you His helper who will abide with you forever.

Moses would have failed without the help of God. Joshua never could have been able to claim the Promised Land without the help of God. The dead corpse that touched Elisha’s bones could never come back to life without the help of God. Nothing is impossible with God!

You do not have to fear or become distraught over the challenges in your life. The Lord is at your right hand and will preserve your going out and your coming in.

The help of the Lord is your only sustaining hope and He will do for you what you can never do for yourself. God is about victory and He will never fail you.

Seek the help of the Lord and then watch Him do His mighty works and you will tremble over His power and glory.

Thought for the day: “I am the Lord and there is no one like Me. I want to be your helper and everlasting God. Call on Me and you will see My greatness.”

 

 

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:10-11

When you try to live drawing upon your own energy and sufficiency, you diminish the life of God in you. In reality, God decreases and self increases!

Jesus died to sin once for all and He now lives for God. He will never die for sin again. Your sin died on the cross with Jesus so you have to recognize that sin has no dominion over you. And, you can be alive to God and live for Him.

Walking with God is a continual process of letting go. Self keeps getting in the way of God and Jesus has to deal with our stubbornness and neglect of God.

You and I try to contain God. He can come live with me here but He is forbidden to enter this part of my life. The boundaries have to go away if you want the fullness of His life. You can’t cut corners with God. He wants all of you.

Jesus is serious when He says you can be alive with Him and filled with His abundant life. The problem is you and I choose our life not the life of God. This is how we hinder the power of God!

Letting go is making a decision to be united with God through His Spirit and living in oneness with Him. It is taking every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ and allowing God to reign in every aspect of your life. It is a lifelong process.

Thought for the day: “Come to Me and leave your old life behind! I will give you a better life than you can ever give yourself. I want to give you more than you ask or think. I am a God of greatness.”