The darkness seems to hang over people's heads that robs many of their joy. It is very easy for us to become negative and worried. These are very trying times and there are many troubling events going on everyday.
We believers in Jesus Christ need to remind ourselves of where our hope lies. Our hope is not in someone running for political office. Our hope is not in who is President. Our hope is not found in any political leader or any human being. Our hope is a true living hope. Our hope needs to be firmly established upon the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else. For there is no other way that a person can receive forgiveness of their sins except through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, but not just any blood will do. The blood of bulls and goats or any other animal won't do us any good. The only one that could shed His blood for our sins was the Lord Jesus Christ. He was Heaven's perfect lamb without spot or blemish. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. He is the only one who ever kept the whole law.
Jesus is the Son of the true living God. Jesus laid down His life on the Cross and He shed His blood for our sins past, present, and future. Jesus took the punishment that you and I so rightly deserve. We must repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in order to be saved. There is no other name under Heaven in which we should be saved by and that Name is Jesus Christ.
We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the Glory of God. We must recognize that we are sinners and that we can't save ourselves then we must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior by asking Him to forgive us by going to Him in prayer and confessing our need for Him.
I am thankful for the Lord loving me so very much that He sent Jesus to this earth on a rescue mission to save us sinners of which I consider myself among the worse. I am thankful for God's wonderful grace and I am thankful for the Lord Jesus lifting me up from a very dark pit. I was sinking deep in despair and darkness, but the Lord in His divine mercy lifted me up and set my feet on the Rock, my firm foundation.
God has been and is still good to me. He is good to all of us who call on the Name of Jesus. We have a great hope in the Lord Jesus and no one can take that away from us. Satan will try to convince us differently and he will try to wreak havoc in our lives, but the devil is no match for the Lord Jesus who has sealed us with the Holy Spirit who dwells within everyone that has come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. He will lead us and comfort us on our journey here on the earth until the day when we are taken to Heaven where we will dwell with the Lord forever. We must submit to the Holy Spirit's direction and His promptings.
I like what Paul says in Galatians 5:16-26 which says,
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live
like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
We are urged to walk in the Spirit for when we do we will not gratify those fleshly desires. Even though we have been saved we still have a sinful nature within us so the Spirit and flesh war against each other inside of us. We want to do good, but sometimes our fleshly nature rises up within us and do things that we don't want to do.
We must train ourselves to continue to walk in the Spirit. How do we do that? We do it by faith and one step at a time. There will be times when we will be walking in the Spirit and we will be doing very well and there will be times when we slip and stumble.
The acts of the fleshly nature are pretty obvious to all of us and even the unbeliever. We believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome the cravings of the fleshly nature when we submit to Him and His lead. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives. He produces in us love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The Holy Spirit is continually producing these qualities within us. Sometimes it is hard for us to see this happening because our fleshly nature clouds our vision at times, but Lord is still at work in our lives and He will continue that work through His Holy Spirit until the day we see Him in Heaven where we will dwell with Him forever.
May we continue on our journey here on earth by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and in submission to His will and direction. May we say no to the fleshly desires that stir up within us at times and live and walk in the Spirit. Let's keep our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to produce the wonderful Spiritual fruit in us to draw other people to Him for salvation.
God wants to use us to bring more people into His Kingdom. We believers in Jesus Christ have quenched the power of the Holy Spirit for far too long. It is time for the Church to awaken to the call of the Lord and to the mission that He has called each one of us to accomplish. It is time to allow the Holy Spirit to flow into and through our lives for the Glory of God and to draw unbelievers into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord,
We praise Your Name.
Help us to keep in step with the Holy Spirit in order to draw others to You.
Produce fruit in our lives for Your Glory.
I pray for those around us that need the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives.
Lead us and guide us by the Holy Spirit into Your will.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.
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