Confident Life

Where do you live? Is your life full of worry, anxiety, and fear? Or do you live in peace, calm, and confidence? Are you living a worldly life? Or are you living a life of faith? Do you know the two types of living are opposing lives?

All of us face situations at various points in our lives that cause us some level of worry, anxiety, or fear. It is natural for us to wrestle with these feelings. It is when we are overwhelmed and remain driven by these feelings that we have succumbed to the evil of this world.

There is a better life for us. Jesus stated He came to give us this better life (John 10:10). Yet so many of us fail to take Him up on His offer. We continue to swim in the cesspool of evil that surrounds us rather than allowing Jesus to lift us out of it. Living in Jesus doesn’t mean we will never encounter tough situation. However, by living in Jesus, we are given a completely different way of looking at the situation. A viewpoint of what is truly important.

By looking to Jesus and experiencing Him working in our lives, we gain confidence in Him. Jesus calms our nerves, allows us to hear Him, and He provides guidance for us to move forward. His Spirit guides our spirit. We experience new thoughts coming to us that are totally unexpected. We may even say we become enlightened, though not necessarily in the way some may use that term.

Our faith grows in Jesus as we experience Him working in our lives. As our faith grows, we come to rely on Him even more. We live more and more by faith and less by sight. We realize that God is working in ways that we don’t understand. We know that He is working for our good.

The result is we start working for Him. Our goal is to please Him, doing the work He has set out for us to do. Our lives are transformed. Though we live in the world physically, we no longer live by the world’s rules, but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We live in true freedom.

I pray we all experience the working of God in our lives. I pray we recognize God working for our good. I pray each of us grows in our faith and start working for God. Be confident in Jesus. Trust the Holy Spirit to lead you. Experience God’s goodness. Make working for Him your goal.

2 Corinthians 5:6-9 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

Unmerited Inheritance

Do you know what your inheritance will be? Have you thought about it? Will you inherit a family business? Will your inheritance be a life insurance policy? Will you have no inheritance at all? There is one inheritance that can be guaranteed.

Some of us will receive a large inheritance. Others of us may receive a small inheritance. While some will receive no inheritance at all. There is a sadness that comes with the inheritance. Our inheritance only comes to us when someone dies.

Most of us either don’t think about our inheritance or don’t want to think about our inheritance. We don’t typically want to think about losing a loved one. We would much rather have them with us than gain the monetary value of an inheritance.

Much like our earthly inheritance, our eternal inheritance required a death. Jesus was required to leave heaven, come to earth, and die for our sins. The good news is He, being our perfect sacrifice, also rose again to take the throne of God and be our perfect advocate in heaven.

As stated in our passage today, we are saved through a rebirth by the Holy Spirit who is poured out on us by God. This is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made while He walked this earth (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit is not only poured out on us, but he lives within us. He is the Spirit of God. Jesus is God. Therefore, we say that Jesus (or God) is always with us.

God justifies us by his grace. He does this through the working of the Holy Spirit within us and the sacrifice of Jesus. His grace is a gift. God grants us His grace out of His amazing love for us. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it. Yet God gives it to us freely when we accept His Son as our Lord and Savior.

Through our rebirth and the gift of God’s grace, we are given an inheritance that money cannot buy—eternal life with God. Only God has the power to grant this inheritance. We must decide to accept it or deny it. May we decide to accept the wonderful gift God is willing to give us.

I pray we all decide to accept God’s gift. I pray we are reborn through the Holy Spirit. I pray each one of us accepts Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Accept God’s gift. Be reborn. Carry God with you at all times. Gain an eternal inheritance.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Our Ultimate Hero

Have you noticed how many heroes we have in the world today? Do you wonder why that is? Do you have a hero who you look up to? Are you continually looking for a new hero? Have you taken a look at THE Hero?

Hero is a word that is thrown around quite often in today’s world. Some news programs have a specific portion of their news to honor heroes. We see local businesses putting up signs to honor heroes. We even see schools putting up signs to honor a hero.

Why are we are so enamored with heroes? Perhaps it is because we long to see someone achieve the extraordinary. But have we lost the meaning of hero? Have we cheapened it? Most of us think of a hero as someone who is courageous. It can also mean someone who is of noble character. The term originally meant someone who exhibited a godlike character and who was worshiped as divinity. If we use the original meaning, we have watered down the meaning of hero to a point of being unrecognizable in comparison.

Why do we look for heroes? We are designed to look to someone greater than ourselves. It is built into our DNA. We long to see someone do what no one else can do. Unfortunately, in our longing for a hero, we hold up someone who may have simply done their job well or may have done a little extra, and we honor them as heroes. That is not to say we shouldn’t give them extra credit, but they are no hero.

Our true hero is Jesus Christ. He did something that no one else can do. He was the perfect sacrifice and He saved all of us. When He was crucified, buried, and resurrected, He drew the entire human race to Him. He lifted us all out the depths of despair.

When we look to Jesus as our hero, all others pale in comparison. When we look to Him, honor Him, and follow Him, we are pulled up out of the muck and mire of this world. Not physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Jesus changes us from the inside out. He becomes the love of our life. He becomes our Hero to whom we pay homage and honor with our entire being.

I pray we all look to Jesus as our ultimate hero. I pray we give Him the honor He deserves. I pray each of us will choose to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior. See Jesus for who He is. Honor Him as Lord and Savior. Follow Him and be lifted up. Give Jesus your all.

John 12:31-32 “Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

For Freedom’s Sake

Do you feel as though you are trapped? Are your circumstances such that you feel confined or restricted? Are you looking for opportunities to escape? Do you long to be free of all the entanglements? There is a way.

Almost all of us have been, currently are, or will be tangled in a mess and long to break free of it. The mess we find ourselves in may be of our own making or we may simply have followed someone we shouldn’t. Regardless, our desire is to leave the situation.

Leaving a bad situation is not easy. Getting up out of the muddy ditch can be a slippery proposition. It is especially difficult when we attempt to do so on our own. Without a helping hand, it is extremely easy to fall back into the ditch and find ourselves knee deep in the muck and mire all over again.

The helping had we all need is Jesus Christ. Through Him we are forgiven. In Him we can find the strength we need to leave the bad situation. He provides all we need, if we are willing to lean on Him and trust Him. To do so means spending time with Him in prayer.

The good news is this, when we have accepted Him as our Savior, we have died to our old selves and have risen as a new person. Unfortunately, we too often forget that fact. Instead, we return to our old life. We simply don’t take on the new person. We listen to the teachings. We may even accept that we are a new person for a few days or weeks. But it doesn’t take us long to go back to our old ways.

The message we all need to hold on to is that we were set free. We are no longer slaves to our sin, our old selves. We are as free as a bird. We can go wherever God leads us. All we need to do is follow. We are no longer restrained, confined, or held prisoner by sin. Let’s simply take hold of the freedom we have!

I pray we all accept the freedom provided by Jesus. I pray we leave our old ways behind. I pray each of us follow where God leads us. Leave your confinement. Accept the freedom of Christ. Know that you are no longer ruled by sin. Trust and follow Him.

Romans 6:5-7 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Ultimate Love

Are you looking for love? Do you think you are unlovable? Is there someone you wish would show love to you? Do you realize that God loves? Do you say that isn’t enough?

We all desire love. We may hide our desire. We may lie to ourselves, telling ourselves we don’t need love. We may think infatuation is love. Our human minds and hearts can be fooled when infatuation comes into the picture.

We hear song after song played on the radio about love. They cover all facets of our human view of love. The majority of them are about the emotion of love and the related emotions such as infatuation, lust, admiration, affection, passion, and more.

In our churches, we sing songs of God’s love. We hear contemporary Christian artists sing of God’s love. We hear old-time gospel groups sing of God’s love. And still we look for love, failing to understand just how much we are loved by God.

We may not fully understand God’s love for us until the day we meet Him face-to-face. Yet we can gain a better understanding by studying Him. This is not a simple reading of God’s Word, but spending time meditating on His Word, thinking about what is stated, and asking God to reveal the depth of His love for us.

As a parent, I have spent time thinking about God sending His one and only Son to die for me. Have you thought about that? I have one son. Personally, I cannot imagine knowingly sending my son to his death. It is simply hard to fathom. Yet that is what God did for us.

I know, I know, some of you will say, “Yeah, He did that. But He also knew He was going to raise Him on the third day.” True. And He also knew His Son was going to be brutally flogged. He knew His Son was going to suffer mental anguish over being falsely accused and being convicted by a rigged trial. He knew His Son would be mocked, spit on, and laughed at. Would you knowingly put your only son through such humiliation?

Jesus was and is fully God. He was also fully human when He walked this earth. His suffering was no different than our suffering. He loved us enough to go through the worst that humanity could throw at Him for us. He loved us that much and more.

I pray we all come to a better appreciation of God’s love for us. I pray we meditate on His love. I pray each of us return God’s love, loving Him from our hearts. Know that God loves you. Understand the depths of God’s love. Love God in return.

1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Justification Through Jesus

How do you justify yourself? How do you justify your words? How do you justify your actions? How do you justify your behavior? Do you realize there is no way you can justify yourself before God?

We often make attempts to explain our actions, our behavior, and our words. We put the blame on someone else or something bad that happened to us or state we were unfairly treated. In the end, those are lame excuses.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are held to a higher standard. Oh, we don’t like to think so. We make every attempt to state we are human, and we are faulty, which is true. We will state the oft quoted remark that we all are sinners. But that provides no reason for our lack of trying to follow Jesus properly.

We will fall short. Not one of us can follow Him perfectly. Not one of us can meet God’s expectations to the letter. That is why Jesus came to be a perfect sacrifice for us. But as the Apostle Paul states in Romans 6:1-2 we are not to continue sinning with the thought that God’s grace will cover our misbehavior and His grace will increase. Quite honestly, that is testing God, which Jesus, Himself, stated we are not to do in Matthew 4:7.

Can we make improvements on our own? To some degree, yes. Yet we need the Holy Spirit to make changes deep inside us, down in our hearts, deep in our souls. Those come by prayer and a willingness to give up ourselves. We see this truth being written throughout the New Testament.

We are to live our lives less by the letter of the law and more by the spirit of the law. The Holy Spirit is the One who can and will make the changes deep inside us so we can do so. Thankfully, in God’s wondrous forethought and through His grace, we were given the Holy Spirit to be our companion and guide.

We fall short of God’s glory. We are incapable of being perfect. We are not to beat ourselves up for that. Yet we are also not to take advantage of that knowledge and continue to purposely fall short without making every effort to do better and calling on the Holy Spirit to make the needed changes within us. Praise be to God we are justified through His Son, Jesus Christ.

I pray we all reach out to God in prayer. I pray we ask Him to make changes in our lives through His Spirit. I pray each one of us recognize we are justified by Jesus. Desire to make changes in your life. Be willing to give yourself to God. Know you are justified by Jesus.

Romans 3:22-24 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Christ Died for Sinners

Have you ever watched a war movie? Have you noticed it seems all the characters in the movie are heroes? They run toward the fighting. The jump on the grenade to save their buddies. They run straight to the machinegun nest to take it out to save their platoon. Do you believe that is real life?

In rare cases these types of events do happen. They are rare, perhaps very rare. Most servicemen-women do not want to die. They don’t want to be injured. They don’t arbitrarily want to be in combat. Now, give them a mission and they are all in.

We have heard of shootings taking place in churches by deranged, hateful people. Even in these cases, it is very rare that someone will put themselves in front of the gunman to save another. We might think Christians, who know they have eternity with God, would be willing to die to go there now. Yet, that isn’t typically the case.

We see the Apostle Paul telling the church in Rome these same truths in today’s passage. The good person he states someone might die for is the soldier that stands next to you. It’s the brother or sister in arms who is good, but not righteous. It is the child the mother or father will shield with their own body.

Paul goes on to state that God demonstrated His love for us when Christ died for us when we least deserved it. He died for us when we were running away from Him. He died for us while we disobeyed Him—stealing, murdering, slandering, gossiping, cavorting, drunkenness, cursing, etc., etc., etc. We know what we’ve done. We know how we have disobeyed, not just once but many, many times.

The good news in all of this is God loves us enough to cover us in His grace and mercy. He is willing to forgive us. We can shed our shame by accepting these blessings from God. We can live free of guilt. Doesn’t that take a huge load off your shoulders? Yet, it doesn’t mean we are to continue in our sinning. As Paul states in Romans 6:1-4, though we are to accept God’s grace, we are not to continue sinning, testing God’s patience.

I pray we all realize that Jesus came to die for us. I pray we all accept God’s blessings of grace, mercy, and forgiveness. I pray each one of us will ask God to steer us away from our past sins and into a life of following Jesus. Know that Jesus died for you. Accept God’s blessings. Go forth and sin no more. Praise God for His blessings.

Romans 5:7-8 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Facing Difficulty

Have you ever known there was something coming on your schedule, and you didn’t want to face it? Have you looked for options to avoid facing it? Is there an event you know about today that is coming in the near future that you would like to avoid?

We all face something at some point in our life that we would prefer to avoid. It could be a severe illness of a family member. Perhaps a relationship breakup. We may be forced into changing jobs or making a move. We can all think of something we don’t want to go through.

As we see in today’s passage, Jesus also was facing an event that was daunting. He knew His gruesome death was coming. He knew He was going to face false accusations and a rigged trial. He knew the religious elite were going to be against Him. He knew the general population of the town was going to shout for His death. He knew the Roman governor was going to sentence Him. He knew the Roman soldiers were going to flog Him. He knew He was going to suffer an agonizing death.

As we face events we would prefer we could avoid, we can take courage in knowing that Jesus is with us and He understands. We know that God will never leave us. Our situations can be very bad, tough, and daunting. We may experience fear that threatens to overwhelm us. Yet, we can overcome the fear with Jesus beside us, the Holy Spirit within us, and the Father overseeing all that takes place.

Going through tough situations is not easy. Facing those difficult and draining situations will strengthen us. It is hard to think about that at the time. Yet, our key to navigating the situation is to stay in prayer, rely on God, and not allowing our minds to exaggerate the situation.

I pray we all lean on God as we face tough situations. I pray we recognize Jesus by our side. I pray each one of us spends time in prayer to gain the strength and courage we need. Rely on God. Spend time in prayer. Know that Jesus never leaves you. Trust God.

Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Growing in Faith

Are you looking for rescue? Are you looking for salvation? Do you long for the comfort and encouragement of knowing your future is secure? Have you turned your heart over to God, putting your faith in Him?

Security can only be partially found in this world, if we put our trust and confidence in worldly possessions, jobs, and relationships. Every one of them will go away at some point. Oh, we like to deny it. We live as though they will go on forever. But they won’t. That is the simple truth.

There is nothing wrong with finding the job that fits you. In fact, it is strongly suggested. You should also look for the right companion for you. The two of you should not simply be in love with one another, but you should also genuinely like one another. There is a difference, and both are needed for a relationship to last. Owning possessions are not bad so long as the possessions don’t own you.

To truly live a life filled with joy, peace, encouragement, strength, courage, and love, our faith must be put into God. It cannot be a passing or false faith. It must a faith that continues grow, taking root in the depths of our hearts. As the passage states below, it must be a faith that we live by.

How do we live by faith? Don’t misunderstand, it does not mean taking on an attitude of waiting for God to do everything while we do nothing. Faith is active. Faith causes us to move. Faith generates the desire to work. Faith shows us the love of God. Faith calms us when we are upset or angry. Faith gives us the courage to take the next step, even when we know we need God’s help to accomplish the task. The deeper our faith, the more we will see God in action beside and in front of us, preparing the way.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the starting point for our faith. Getting to know who Jesus is, what He did, and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior is the beginning. Continuing in faith, experiencing Him work in your life is the growth we experience and need. But we must start with the gospel and believe Jesus is who He says He is, who His apostles say He is. Until we honestly believe, our faith will remain shallow.

I pray we all fully accept Jesus for who He is. I pray we grow deeper in our faith. I pray each of us will experience Jesus working in our lives. Believe Jesus is Lord. Accept Him as Savior. Know that He is the Son of God. Experience Jesus in your life. Grow in your faith.

Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Sound Principles

How many times have you asked for guidance? How often are you looking for advice to make a key decision? Do you ask others for their thoughts or what they would do? Have you thought you need to have a firm foundation of principles to guide your decisions?

We make many decisions each day from what we eat for breakfast to where we will get gas for our vehicle. We may have read books on how to weigh the pros and cons of each choice available to us. Yet, we seek someone we trust to provide advice.

I believe taking time to think through the options available to us is important. Using our imagination to look for every option is a good practice. As we look at those options, identifying the pros and cons of each is a sound practice. But how do we determine which one is the best option for us? We must rely on the best principles.

Where do we get the principles to base our decisions on? We should spend time looking at God’s laws. We often think of laws as being hard and fast. For instance, we know we are not to steal. Though some of Gods laws are very much hard and fast like this one, there are many others that are more akin to principles.

Principles are not hard and fast laws but are fundamental guidelines on which laws or other principles are derived. Doesn’t it make sense that we should live our lives on sound principles? What better principles are there than God’s?

As we read God’s Word, looking specifically for those principles, and we take them into our being, we build a firm foundation for making decisions. We also find that many of our decisions are insignificant when we look at them through the eyes of God.

As followers of Christ, we are expected to live by God’s laws and His principles. Sure, we are human and cannot do so perfectly. Otherwise, Jesus would not have needed to sacrifice Himself for us. Yet, that is no reason to stop trying to live by them to the very best of our ability. We are to constantly seek self-improvement by following God’s direction and guidance. This ranges from taking care of our environment to loving one another with the same love Christ has for us.

I pray we all read God’s Word to know His laws and principles. I pray each of us use them as our foundation. I pray each of us make every attempt to live by God’s laws and principles, making our world a better place. Read God’s Word. Seek to understand His laws. Build a firm foundation on His laws. Make your decisions easier. Base your decisions on sound principles.

Psalm 19:8

The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.