Perpetual Joy this Thanksgiving and Beyond

John 15:11 These things I (Jesus) have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

We worship a God who is JOYFUL.  We worship a God who has planned from eternity to bring us JOY by making us acceptable and holy in His sight.  We worship a God who has made a way for us through Jesus Christ to fill us completely with JOY.  Jesus wants us to know HIS JOY and experience HIS JOY completely. HIS JOY becomes our JOY when He gifts us salvation by grace through faith.  Jesus makes our Joy “FULL” when He has freed us from all guilt, wrath, and punishment of our sins by faith.  Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.”  Full Joy comes when we have been HEALED by His sacrifice for our transgressions. Full Joy comes when we are amazed at His sacrifice and see it as a priceless treasure. Jesus gives us enduring PEACE that is poured into us through the Holy Spirit.  Salvation is our SOLID JOY.  Peace with God is our SOLID JOY.  Being made Holy before a Holy God is a SOLID JOY.  This SOLID JOY cannot be shaken.  This SOLID JOY will bring hope in sufferings, weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities because that JOY is declaring through the Holy Spirit that you are loved and accepted by a loving and joyful GOD who wants your JOY to be made FULL.  Seek the fullness of JOY this Thanksgiving and beyond as the Holy Spirit reminds you that Jesus’ chastisement on the cross brings perfect peace with the Father and by His wounds you have been healed spiritually for eternity.

Father, please let your Spirit bring emotions of perpetual joy as we are reminded at how great is our salvation.  Let us be amazed by the work of Jesus Christ and the love of You, Father, so that we can know Your fullness of joy.  Thank You for being pierced, crushed, and chastised unto death for our peace and healing.  In Jesus name.

God Will Establish His Rule on the Earth Today November 8 and Every Day That Follows

Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

Go to the polls and throughout the rest of this life with the effects of today’s vote knowing that God established His throne in heaven and His kingdom rules over ALL.  “All” means even every candidate on your ticket at the voting booth today.  This is a reminder to TRUST in God’s SOVEREIGN plan of redemption set forth before the creation of the world.  God is in control.  If He was not in control, 
if all things were not under His dominion, then He would not be God Almighty (YAHWEH).  The results of that would mean that we are either in the hands of chance or in the hands of men or in the hands of the devil.  As we go to vote today, let us go praying and trusting that in God’s sovereignty He will subdue either candidate by His grace and bring them into loyal obedience.  I pray that the LORD’s will be carried out in the hearts of rebellious men and women with their great pleasure. As God asked Job in 38:33, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?”  Job’s answer was of course silence with his hand over his mouth (Job 40:4).  Let us move through this day boldly voting our Christian convictions and then through the upcoming days knowing and trusting that God establishes His rule on this Earth through whatever means He sees fit and that includes through the candidates that will be declared winners tonight.  That means we may have to be like Job and stand before a holy God with our hands over our mouths trusting in Him alone.

Father, let Your glory, honor and dominion be known on this Earth through whomever is declared winners tonight, for Your name’s sake.  You are in heaven, may Your name always be kept holy on this Earth and in this USA today.  Please! Let Your kingdom come and please direct what You want to be done - be done here on earth as it is in heaven.  Please! Let Your Church have full trust in You as You work out Your plan of redemption.  In Jesus name.

God Will Establish His Rule on the Earth Today November 8 and Every Day That Follows

Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

Go to the polls today and throughout the rest of this life experiencing the effects of today’s vote knowing that God has established His throne in heaven and His kingdom rules over ALL.  “All” means even every candidate on your ticket at the voting booth today.  This is a reminder to TRUST in God’s SOVEREIGN plan of redemption set forth before the creation of the world.  God is in control.  If He was not in control, 
if all things were not under His dominion, then He would not be God Almighty (YAHWEH).  The results of that would mean that we are either in the hands of chance or in the hands of men or in the hands of the devil.  As we go to vote today, let us go praying and trusting that in God’s sovereignty He will subdue either candidate by His grace and bring them into loyal obedience.  I pray and know that the LORD’s will be carried out in the hearts of rebellious men and women even with their great pleasure. As God asked Job in 38:33, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?”  Job’s answer was of course silence with his hand over his mouth (Job 40:4).  Let us move through this day boldly voting our Christian convictions and then through the upcoming days knowing and trusting that God establishes His rule on this Earth through whatever means He sees fit and that includes through the candidates that will be declared winners tonight.  Which means if things are looking quite dismal we may have to stand before God with our hands over our mouths like Job having full trust in Him.

Father, let Your glory, honor and dominion be known on this Earth through whomever is declared winners tonight, for Your name’s sake.  You are in heaven, may Your name always be kept holy on this Earth and in this USA today.  Please! Let Your kingdom come and please direct what You want to be done - be done here on earth as it is in heaven.  Please! Let Your Church have full trust in You as You work out Your plan of redemption.  In Jesus name.

Sola Fide - Faith Alone

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This week as we remember and celebrate the 499^th Birthday of the Reformation let us enjoy and bask in what the Reformers fought to unleash from the corrupt Church of Rome…  The Bible clearly declares that our salvation from sin and death is through FAITH ALONE in Jesus Christ and not by any of our works.  It is very humbling to read from God’s Word that He declares us righteous before we actually start to work on becoming righteous through any of our deeds. The Lord’s declaration that we are perfectly Holy before Him, our Holy God, is not in response to any spiritual or moral improvements within us, but is an imputation, a declaration by God that we have Christ’s righteousness and He has taken our sinfulness. When we trust Christ, that very moment we are clothed in his perfect holiness, so that even though we are sinful, we are judged by God as blameless.  This incredible God given truth in Scripture was taken captive for almost 1000 years by those who were supposed to be proclaiming it.  Thank you Lord for this amazing gift of Salvation through Faith Alone – Sola Fide -  and thank you Reformers for giving your lives so that this truth would be proclaimed once again.

Father, Thank You for Your son Jesus Christ who has become our sin and His perfect Holy righteousness has become our righteousness through faith alone by Your grace alone.  Thank You for loving us that much!  In Jesus name, Amen.

The Best Rest!

Hebrews 4:9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

We worship a God who has given us rest in Jesus Christ!  That kind of rest is better than any other rest that we can possibly comprehend on this Earth.  As believers we can rest from working our way to righteousness and striving to be acceptable by a Holy God.  This was accomplished by Christ and now we can rest in Him as our Sabbath.  Jesus gives us spiritual rest.  Let us take time as believers to dwell on this rest that only Christ can give.  We are resting in Christ knowing that we are totally accepted by God, made Holy in Christ, our sins have been removed, God’s wrath has been appeased, we are no longer alienated from God, the price has been paid for the penalty of sin, and the powers of darkness have been defeated all by Christ.  All of this was done by Christ for us, so lets joyfully rest in Him knowing that He is our Sabbath rest.

Thank you Father for making a way for us through Jesus Christ!  Let us enjoy You through resting from our spiritual works.  Let us rest in Christ for that amazing gift of salvation that comes from His death on the Cross.  Please, give us a fuller comprehension of what Chirst has accomplished for us in His death and resurrection on the Cross at Calvary. In Jesus name!