Praise the Lord we are still standing! For the past several months I've been growing in grace with an amazing group of women. Our journey has taken us through a spiritual warfare study. It was not the typical Ephesians 6:10, put on the whole armor lesson; instead, we learned to wage war daily against the ungodly attitudes that rise up in us. Whew, this has been a challenging and convicting leg of the journey. Our study concluding in Matthew 5, The Beatitudes. And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: And He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying...blessed are... ( Matt 5:1-2). At this point in His ministry, Jesus had reached the pinnacle of His popularity. The setting for the sermon On The Mount is a hillside near Capernaum, and took place over a course of several days in front of a growing crowd. So as Jesus started His discourse, He began to describe the characteristics of people who belong to the kingdom of heaven, answering the question who on earth are we? Or better yet, Who are earth should we be? It is clear to me that if today Jesus were to post the Beatitudes on Instagram and FB, the likes would be few and the follows even less. But we should not be surprised because, Jesus was radical in His thinking. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts - Is 55:8-9. He makes it clear that as believers who we should be on earth are not people whose primary pursuit is power, popularity, prominence, or prosperity. The blessed life He describes has nothing at all to do with any of the aforementioned things. This blessed life He describes is a spiritual state of being filled with such an abundance of joy, peace, comfort and intimacy with Him it surpasses what was normally attributed to any human experience. Interested in living that kind of blessed life? Journey with us over the course of the next few posts to discover, how to live that blessed life and to discover who on earth we should be as we examine the Beatitudes. desiring to live the blessed life, Diane So how are you? I am still crying out, crawling to the throne and checking my thinking daily. I am also learning to access and the enjoy the amazing grace that is available to us. Grace is the unmerited favor of God that is demonstrated to us as through His love and care. Grace is also divine enablement which is imparted to us so that we can victoriously navigate through life. Divine enablement is not only a privilege, it is necessary for this journey. The good news is that we serve the God of all grace - I Pet 5:10a andJesus is full of grace and truth - John 1:14. And of His fullness have we received, and grace for grace - John 1:16. In other words, God is the source of all grace. We never run out of grace, when one type of grace ends another begins. Unfortunately, more often than not, we are not aware or we forget that this divine enablement is available to us; consequently, our journey becomes difficult to navigate because we are attempting to get through life in our own strength. We tend to limit our reference to grace to our salvation. Without a doubt there is saving grace: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God - Eph 2:8. Saving grace is the essential and prerequisite grace required to gain access to all the other types of grace. Thank God for saving grace! The Bible is filled with examples of the grace that is available to us: But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory - Phil 4:19. The amplified version says God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need. During the next few posts we will discover the amazing treasure chest of grace that is available to us. In addition to saving grace, our treasury includes :
I don't about you but I need all the divine enablement I can get! on a treasure hunt, Diane p.s. thank God this week for His grace. Worship Him (stand in awe of Him) because He is the God of all grace. Ask Him to help you to stop relying on your own strength and to start looking to Him for divine enablement in everything, the big things and the small things. Do you know someone you just love hanging around? You are smiling, right? Just the thought of that person brings you joy. Jesus invites us to hang around Him for that very reason. He wants us to experience abundant joy. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, ...These things I have spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John 15: 9,10a,11). Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy (Ps 16:11a). In His encouragement to continue in His love and to abide in Him, Jesus is saying I want you to constantly hang around me so that you can always enjoy my company, be filled with delight and experience overflowing joy. Need more joy in your life? Start hanging around Jesus. I know we have talked about hanging around Jesus before, but if you are at all like me, and I believe you are, it's good to revisit it and to be reminded. There are also other benefits to hanging out with Jesus besides plentiful joy. Abiding in Christ assures us of protection. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty (whose power no enemy can withstand) - Ps 91:1. This promise of protection is available to all believers but only enjoyed by those who have learned to constantly hang around Jesus. Want the assurance of His protection? Start hanging around Jesus. When we learn to hang around Jesus we not only experience plenty of joy, the promise of protection, but also we begin to produce spiritual fruit. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing - John 15:5. Spending time with Jesus allows us to manifest joy, kindness, peacefulness and the other fruit of the Spirit. Want to have a life filled with spiritual fruit? Start hanging around Jesus. Hanging around Jesus affords us plenty joy, the assurance of protection, a life that produces spiritual fruit and answered pray. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you (that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart), ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you - John 15:7 AMP. Abiding in Christ assures us that our prayers will be answered because the more we hang around Jesus, the more we become like Him and the more our desires become aligned with His desires so that we only ask for things that are aligned with His will. If we want to experience fullness of joy, be assured of God's protection, live spiritually fruitful lives and have our prayers answered, we have to start hanging around Jesus. How do we hang around Jesus? Read His word with the understanding that He is sharing His heart with us, and letting us know what's on His mind. Each day we must become more and more aware of His presence and invite Him into every aspect of our lives, the big and the small things. We must begin to talk to Him throughout the day not just in the morning or the evening, or when we need something. Hang around Him and learn to enjoy His company. still trying to hang around Jesus, Diane p.s. Don't really have a desire to hang around Jesus yet? Be honest with Him and ask Him to give you the desire. It's amazing, it is only the beginning of March, and yet we find it difficult to stay the course of making getting to know the Lord fully, personally and precisely our priority. It is so easy to get distracted. I am glad we are on this journey together to nudge each other to get back on track in growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - II Pet 3:18. The exciting thing about growing in the knowledge of our Lord is that we have the privilege to be taught by The Master. Jesus personally invites us to become His students: Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls - Matt 11:29. Jesus extended an invitation for salvation in the previous verse: Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest - Matt 11:28. This is the "come unto me rest" which says come to me and I will give you salvation rest. Once we come to Jesus and He gives us salvation rest (assurance of spending eternity with Him by trusting in His finished work at the cross), He encourages us to now come after Him and learn of Him so that we can find submission rest (the abundant life rest, where grace and peace are multiplied in our lives). Jesus wants us to come after Him, in other words He wants us to become committed followers, not fans. Fans are spectators who are moved by what they see, feel, and experience. They just want to show up and be blessed. Followers are dedicated and willing to do the daily work and make the necessary sacrifices required to get to know Jesus and to become like Him: Then Jesus said to His disciples if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me - Matt 16:24. The first step in becoming a follower is to deny ourselves. We must put His interests above our interests. Getting to know Jesus intimately, personally and precisely must become our priority and our pursuit: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart - Jer 29:13. When we misplace something we value we will turn the house upside down looking for it. We can't rest until we find it. It is with this sense of urgency we are to seek and search for the Lord in order to get to know Him. Following Jesus requires us to take up our cross. We must put to death, crucify our self centered life to live a God centered life: He must increase, but I must decrease - John3:30. Jesus must become the star of our story not us. The next step is to take His yoke upon us. A yoke is a physical device placed around the neck of animal to restrain and control its movements. Taking His yoke means we voluntarily put our necks under His authority. When we take His yoke, we are acknowledging He has the right to direct our lives: to tell us what to do and what not to do. In order to take His yoke we must humble ourselves before God, recognizing He is both greater than we are and more important. Fans are infatuated. They demonstrate their infatuation through their emotions. Followers, on the other hand, are committed. They demonstrate their commitment through their obedience. Are you ready to put your neck in to it and become a follower? taking His yoke, Diane p.s. I'm taking His yoke Pulling it off the shelf Putting it on my chain Wearing it 'round my neck (in my Jill Scott voice)...that's truly living my life like it's golden, under His authority! #Be a Follower, #Not a Fan p.s.s. Those of us who are little older remember the tv series Kung Fu. The young boy, grasshopper, became a student of his Master. He shadowed every martial art move of his master. He humbled himself and hung on his every word for wisdom for life. He was a follower of his master, not a fan. #Following the Master.
Our life in Christ is filled with so many blessings and such promise: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises...
(II Pet 1:4). In fact, everything that we need for this journey we have already been given: According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue (II Pet1:3). Since these exceeding great and precious promises and everything that pertains to life and godliness, are not only available, but have been given to us, we certainly want to experience and enjoy it all during our journey. Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly ( John 10:10). The rich abundant life and the precious promises are accessed according to II Peter 1:3 through the knowledge of Him. In order to experience all that the Lord has for us, we must get to know Him personally and intimately. As matter of fact, the grace of God and His peace starts to multiply in our lives the more we get to know Him: May grace (God's favor) and peace(which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in (the full, personal, precise and correct) knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord - IIPet1:2- Amplified). We can get to know God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ fully, personally, correctly and precisely, by reading His Word, not merely out of habit or ritual, but with a real hunger to know Him. We get to know Him by meditating upon His Word, thinking about a particular verse over and over again, allowing it to occupy the space in our minds. We get to know Him by studying His Word, digging deep, using our bible concordances to compare scriptures and using study resources. We get to know Him intimately by worshipping Him, acknowledging and appreciating in His presence the things we have learned about His character and power. We get to know Him by communicating with Him in prayer, talking to Him often. We get to know Him intimately by practicing His presence, being aware of and acknowledging Him throughout the day. Let's make getting to know the Lord intimately our priority in 2016. Lord, help us to make getting to know You the one thing we desire and dwelling in Your presence the one thing that we seek . If we do so, we will begin to experience the rich abundant life that Jesus came to give us, the exceeding great and precious promises we have been given, grace and peace will increase in our lives and we will have everything we need for this journey. getting to know Him together, Diane p.s. Practice hanging around Jesus this week. Imagine Him in the car with you as you drive, shopping with you, watching tv with you. Try to become aware and acknowledge His presence throughout the day by talking to Him often. p.s.s if you enjoy seeing God's creation, visit my photography site by clicking the photos link at the top of this page or link below:
www.just4hisglory.com
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