“That they may be one, even as we are one” John 17:22

The Word from God today is inviting Christ to transform your personality into His likeness.

Your personality was developed by many factors.

God created you in His image.

You were born to live for self and defy God.

You have inherited a genetic disposition to sin through your genealogy.

Your upbringing has influenced your personality.

The experiences in life have shaped your personality.

All of these factors contribute to your personality. They define you and influence your thoughts and decisions.

God’s plan is to unite your personality with the personality of Christ. You become one with God.

How does this happen?

You make a decision to live for Christ without any limitations.

This decision happens because the love of Christ touches the depth of your soul. You experience the unconditional love of God and witness His greatness and glory.

The epiphany of Christ is awakening to the truth He is your only hope for life. Nothing else matters.

At the moment of this decision, God begins to change your personality. He takes away your autonomy and desires to live for self. He shapes your character into His likeness. You begin to think and act like Christ.

Living in oneness with God happens through diligent prayer and an openness of heart to hear and obey Christ.

You find Christ through living in His Word and trusting the promises of God.

You walk by faith anchored to the Holy Spirit.

Christ is life changing! There is no one like Him.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

The definition of a namesake is having the same name as another person. In the context of a believer, you are a new creature in Christ Jesus. You are marked with the Cross and belong to Christ.

The challenge is how to live with this namesake. Christ wants you become like Him. You have a natural disposition to live for self and reject God.

This conflict will never go away as long as you are on this earth.

You become a believer by making a decision to accept Christ by faith. This is the beginning and end of your relationship with Him.

You walk with God by faith believing Christ calls things that don’t exist as if they did. Your prayers come to life and you see the goodness of God.

The premise of Christianity is living by this affirmation of faith; “My help comes from the Lord who created the heavens and earth.” Until you accept this in your heart and express this in every living moment of your life you will not know the Living Christ.

Faith brings the righteousness of Christ; not works, keeping laws, or practicing religion.

Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit. He is the source of the resurrected power of Christ.

The Holy Spirit is the only way you can live in oneness with Christ. Worship Christ in Spirit and Truth. Listen to the voice of Christ and follow His leading.

Christ wants your loyalty above all else. And, loyalty to Christ has nothing to do with the conditions of your life.

Christ died so you can have an abundant life and live with Him forever.

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Live with Christ through His Spirit! He loves you!

“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

Jesus cannot be touched by anyone on this earth. He lives in Heaven and is an invisible God. He shows glimpses of Himself to those who have faith in who He is.

Faith comes from living in oneness with Christ through His Spirit and trusting in His promises.

We tend to evaluate God by our emotions not by His Word. You will never come to know Christ through experiences or emotions. Your emotions will lead you astray from Christ.

You will please God by your faith. He is not attainable by works or keeping laws. He detests religion!

Christ wants your undivided devotion to Him regardless of the circumstances in your life. He lives today so you can live.

Christ wants your unwavering confidence in Him. Do not let the whirlwind of life become a distraction to living with Christ. Worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

The person of Jesus Christ is intangible but you can find Him through the Holy Spirit who dwells within you.

Jesus cannot be defined through your experiences. He comes to those who walk by faith!

Reach out to the Living Christ today. He loves you!

“For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.” Psalm 44:3

Psalm 44 was written by the sons of Korah. We have no idea who this man was but he loved God and experienced the harsh reality of God’s ways. He wrote this Psalm filled with sorrow and remorse over the conditions of the people of Israel.

The most important thing to remember is God does not change and this is a recurring pattern of how He deals with His people.

Korah knew about the miracles God performed in the past but the presence of God was lacking in the life of his people at this time.

Korah understood you cannot be delivered by your own strength but only by the powerful arm of God. Without the favor of God you are weak and vulnerable to adversity.

Korah questions the disappearing nature of God. He responds that we have praised you and are devoted to you despite our broken condition.

Finally, he asks God why do you sleep and hide your face from our oppression?

If you are a believer, you can expect to be treated by God in this same manner at some point in time. The challenge is how do you deal with a God who seems to be oblivious to your prayers and deplorable conditions?

Here are some suggestions inspired by the Holy Spirit:

Accept Christ for who He is and not what you want Him to be.

Understand that you and I live in perilous times under the judgment of God.

Pray for the blood of Christ to cover your sins and restore you to God.

Seek God out for wisdom and guidance for living today. Forget the big picture. You life is in the hands of Christ.

Praise God and worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Listen for the voice of Christ.

Ask God to prevent your feelings from leading you astray of Him.

Pray for inner healing and the joy of the Lord.

Ask God what you can do today to please Him.

Remember God never changes and He is your only hope! Christ has power and dominion over the heavens and earth.

Don’t give up on God. Stand firm on this promise; I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

“Not My will, but Yours, be done.” Like 22:42

The definition of a Christ follower is someone who has assigned his rights over to Christ. You give God permission to do with you as He pleases.

Your self image and independence disappear as you live in the shadow of the Cross.

You can forget your plans or goals. They belong to Christ.

God isn’t interested in your works for Him. He wants your loyalty above all else. This loyalty is not related to outcomes. Loyalty to Christ is for one purpose—to become like Him.

It is painful to see self disappear but the upside is living in the heart of Christ. He becomes alive in every moment of your life.

How do you get to this point? You make a declaration from the heart to live for Christ without any expectations. This will cause you to become encapsulated in Christ and He will be your reason for life.

Very few can get to this point with God. Loyalty to Christ has no boundaries. He is entitled to all of you.

You have to make this decision. God will not do it for you.

There is nothing comparable to living in oneness with Christ. Your personality becomes united with Christ and you see Him for His greatness and glory!

 

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Mark 13:28-31

This parable of Jesus is vitally important for our lives today. God operates in seasons to bring about His perfect plan for the ages.

We are in a season of the judgments of God. The fig tree is now tender as evidenced by the virus pandemic.

You and I cannot interpret what God means by “near” but we have to be on alert and make sure our house is in order.

There is also a warning about the end times. There will be false gods impersonating Christ and many conspiracies about the end times.

Stay grounded in Christ and abide in him through the Holy Spirit. He will declare what is of God and what is of the antichrist.

God is perfect and every word spoken in Mark 13 will take place in this world. The Word of God is eternal and will never change.

Your security is in the words of Christ. Reject anything that does not come out of the mouth of God. Be alert and open to the voice of Christ. He loves you!

 

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14

This parable explains the invitation from Jesus in the context of a wedding affair. The purpose of the wedding is to unite unbelievers into an eternal relationship with God.

God prepared for the wedding affair before the creation of the world. And, He chose to reveal His plan for salvation through Jesus Christ, His Son.

The King sent servants to those who had been invited to the wedding but they refused to come. They rejected the word of God.

Then he sent more servants to those who had been invited and described to them the sumptuous wedding banquet prepared for this affair. They paid no attention and were consumed by their work and the worries of the world. Many of those invited mistreated or killed the servants.

The king became angry and destroyed all those who killed his servants.

As the date for the wedding approached, the king responded those I have invited do not deserve to come so he told his servants to go out in the streets and invite all to the banquet including the good and the bad. The wedding hall was filled with guests.

The king entered the wedding hall and noticed one man was not properly dressed. He asked the man how did you get in here? The man was speechless and terrified of the king.

The king told his attendants to tie up the man and throw him into darkness to suffer forever.

Finally, the parable ended with the words “Many are invited but few are chosen.”

The invitation from Christ is sent to all without any restrictions.

It is accepted by some, rejected by many, and those who hate God persecute the senders of the invitation.

Many of those who reject the invitation are consumed with the concerns of the world. This is their priority for living.

The invitation from Christ does not discriminate against sinners. Jesus accepts you with all your faults.

The man improperly dressed was an imposter. He was pretending to be someone he was not. This is why he was rejected by God.

The crux of this parable is the words “Many are invited but few are chosen.” God knows your heart. He chooses those who are willing to die to self and live for Christ.

The open ended invitation comes with a command to live for Jesus above all else.

The defining character between the wheat and the chaff is the presence of God. The wheat walk by faith believing in the promises of Christ.

Though they suffer at times they are vigilant in worshipping Christ in Spirit and Truth. They never give up on Christ even when their life seems to be crumbling away.

The people of Christ live by faith not by sight!

“There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet. Matthew 21:33-46

In this parable Jesus teaches about the conflict between God and religion. He uses the illustration of a vineyard to help us understand our role in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is like a vineyard. He planted the seeds. He erected a wall around it to prevent weeds from disrupting the plants. He made a winepress to turn the grapes into fine wine and he built a tower to watch over and protect his vineyard.

In this parable there was a landowner who planted a vineyard. Then he hired tenants to farm the crop. At the time of harvest he sent his servants to collect the fruit. The tenants beat one, killed another, and stoned the the third.

Then the landowner sent other servants and the tenants treated them the same way.

Finally, he sent his son believing they would respect him. But the tenants were threatened by the son who was the heir to the vineyard. They decided to kill him and steal his inheritance.

The question posed is when the landowner comes what will he do to the tenants?

The response is he will destroy those wicked tenants and rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.

Jesus asked the religious leaders “Don’t you understand scripture?” You have built a temple out of stone but have rejected the cornerstone. I will take the kingdom of God away from you and give it to those who will produce its fruit.

Jesus went on to say those who reject the cornerstone will be broken to pieces and crushed. This comment led to his death!

This parable is a microcosm of the conflict between God and religion. Unfortunately, religion is not concerned about the quality of the crop; it is about the reward to those who tend the crop.

The leaders have rejected Christ for rules and works. Their motives are to protect their own interests not the interests of Christ.

The priority of Christ is for all followers to know Him and walk by faith. This does not happen by going to church and following the rules of religion. This will lead you astray from the heart of God.

Christ is the cornerstone of the worldwide church. You and I are called to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

As a believer, you are a tenant working for Christ in the vineyard. Your motives should be to please Christ and not to use Him for your own personal advantage.

Your responsibility is to be a light for Christ and contribute to the harvest of a bountiful crop.

God will judge you by the quality of your harvest!

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
“‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Matthew 21:28-32

The word of God for today is “You are either for Me or against Me. There is no middle ground!”

The man had two sons and made the same request to each of them. Son, go today and work in my vineyard. The first son replied he would not go and then he regretted his decision and went to the vineyard. The second son agreed to honor his father but he did not go to the vineyard. He was like the prodigal son who eventually repented and turned to God.

The gift of salvation changes your identity into a new creature in Christ. Your natural condition from birth dies on the Cross and you now belong to Christ. You are a new person filled with the nature of Christ and will live with Him forever.

The response to the call of Christ is a genuine repentance from the heart! You see yourself through the eyes of Christ!

Jesus said if you think you are healthy then you have no need for a doctor. However, when the Spirit of Christ exposes your inner being you become filled with remorse and sadness over your actions of living for self.

Jesus did not come to save those who believe they are good people. He came to save the dregs of society including all those who see their hopeless condition.

You can’t come to Christ as a clean person. He only accepts those who know they are unclean and can never get right with God.

This moment of revelation is life changing. You claim Christ because He is your only hope for life!

For in Christ, we live and move and have our being!

 

But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:13-16

This parable deals with the mind of Christ concerning how He values you in relationship to others.

There was a landowner who owned a vineyard. He went out in the morning and found workers and agreed to pay them all the same amount of wages.

Later in the morning he found others who were idle in the marketplace and asked them to work for him for the same wages as the other workers.

He repeated this three more times during the day recruiting many new workers for the vineyard. They were all paid the same wages regardless of the hours worked.

All of the workers hired by the landowner were standing around doing nothing. When asked by the landowner why they were idle they replied because no one has hired us. The landlord was not pleased with their idleness and said go work in my vineyard.

At the end of the day, the landowner asked the foreman to pay the workers beginning with the last ones hired and ending with the first ones hired.

The workers who were hired first grumbled at the landowner complaining they had worked longer hours under a hot sun and should be paid more than those who worked fewer hours.

The landowner responded that he was not being unfair to them. They agreed to work for a specific wage and he paid them.

He went on to say I want to give to the last one hired the same as I have given to you. It is my money and I can do with it as I please.

Then he accused them of being envious of his generosity. He concluded by saying the last will be first.

There is a wealth of truth in this parable dealing with those who belong to Christ.

Christ is relentless to find more workers for the kingdom of God. He never is satisfied with the present and is always looking for new workers.

God detests those with an idle lifestyle and who lack the initiative to be a light for Christ.

The gift of salvation comes without partiality. God does not show favoritism.

The newest believer to the kingdom of heaven is entitled to the same privileges as all others. God does not discriminate between believers.

God controls all the treasures in heaven and gives to you as He pleases

You can’t compare yourself to other believers. God measures you individually and rewards you according to your diligence in seeking Him out.

There is no variation or shadow of turning in Christ. He never changes.

In concluding, the Holy Spirit used this simple proverbial metaphor in explaining this parable. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.”

In God’s eyes, one person should be treated the same way as another person is treated.

This is the will of Christ!