What CHRIST Risen Means For You Everyday

JESUS’s death on the cross made a way for all people to have right-standing and fellowship with GOD. JESUS CHRIST is the bridge that reunited every person back to the Father.

Before the Cross mankind tried to control sin and get back to GOD but was powerless to do so. GOD, in His time did it all at the Cross through JESUS. When the time came to completion, God sent His Son… Galatians 4:4

If you believe that JESUS did die, was buried, was raised, and you received Him by faith as your Savior (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), you will celebrate Resurrection Sunday this weekend, or Easter.

Over time Easter became one and the same event as Resurrection Sunday but Scripture does not connect these two.

It’s okay for a child of GOD to have Easter egg rolls, bunnies, baskets, parades, sweets, etc. this weekend. It’s better to remember what JESUS CHRIST risen means for your everyday living.

Because of the resurrection you are all the time:

• forgiven 1 John 1:7; Romans 6:7-11; Romans 8:1-2
• at peace John 14:27; Philippians 4:6-7
• changed 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 6:11
• being perfected James 1:2-4
• in His company Hebrews 13:5-6; Matthew 1:23
• equipped Hebrews 13:21 ; John 14:26
• prayed for Romans 8:34; Hebrews 4:14-16

This is a believers’ abundant new life; daily fellowship with GOD and access to all His goodness for all eternity. JESUS risen from the dead gave us our freedom.

It was the reason JESUS came to earth.

It is the reason we celebrate Resurrection Sunday.

And if the Spirit of Him who raised JESUS from the dead lives in you, then He who raised CHRIST from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, Thank YOU for the finished work of YOUR SON, JESUS and new life. Thank YOU for the empty grave that brought us back to YOU and gave us freedom and a fullness of life we had no power to make on our own. Father, we owe it all to YOU, a debt that we could never pay. We are forever grateful. Hallelujah, CHRIST is risen and the gates of hell will no longer prevail in our lives! To YOU belong all dominion and all power and all glory for ever and ever. We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

Dangerous Distractions – Conclusion

Take a minute and think carefully on these questions. Be honest about your personal situation:

Do you devote more of your free time to social media than you do to prayer and Bible study?

Do you worry and feel frustrated that your social media posts, images, comments etc. are not as clever, funny, charming, and popular as your “friends’?”

 Do you sense deep inside yourself that you have no real peace and you may have less of it every day? 

If you admit to any or all of these as true for you, then GOD is no longer your first love. You have an idol in your life.

Idolatry is sin that we must overcome.

Step one to gaining victory over sin is to admit the sin exists. Step two is to commit to doing whatever it takes to restore what is lost because of our sin.

Like any sin, idolatry takes us out of GOD’s will and His peace.

We feel the absence of peace when we reject GOD’s love and accept cheap idol substitutes and idols are powerless to complete us. To choose a god over the GOD is to invite chaos into our lives. Fullness of life and the power to live it comes only when GOD has influence over us as our Father. (Ephesians 3:19)

Scripture gives as but one sure way to restore peace back into our lives and that is to throw ourselves on the mercy of GOD, the Source of Peace. We confess our sin to GOD and ask Him to help us gain control over it as we give control back to Him as Almighty GOD and our Father.

“…let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time. Hebrews 4:16

GOD willed the gift of peace to His children through CHRIST. If we accept His gift we receive a life that is complete and a benefit to the Kingdom in exchange for the tension-filled and stressful one we had. (John 14:27) 

  

When we do not accept and use GOD’s gift of peace we continue to have an underprivileged lifestyle as a believer. We are weak and ineffective believers who have little influence in GOD’s Kingdom. 

This could be your life as a believer who is more involved with worldly distractions like social media than with the Father. 

This type of distraction is dangerous spiritually as it:

• takes GOD’s place in our lives
• puts us outside of GOD’s will
• hinders spiritual growth
• destroys spiritual vitality

GOD does not leave us in doubt about what He expects from His children. His WORD is clear:

• put Him and His Kingdom first Matthew 6:33
• consult Him about everything Proverbs  16:3
• make Him our delight Psalm 37:4
• love the things of the world less 1 John 2:15-17

The desire of every child of GOD should be that GOD have complete control over our lives. Why? Because nothing or no one deserves that right more.

But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Romans 5:8

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father and our GOD, we praise YOUR Almighty Name! Thank YOU for the gift of peace given through YOUR SON, JESUS. Father, like the psalmist of old we ask, how we can repay YOU for all the good YOU have done for us and our answer can only be the same: that we accept our salvation and all that it means – we yield all to YOU, we put YOU first as LORD over our lives and we honor and obey YOU before the rest of the world. To YOU belong all dominion and all power and all glory for ever and ever. We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

Dangerous Distraction – Part 2

Any activity or pursuit that have more of our attention, time and energy than our Creator does is an idol and a god.

GOD wants to have first place in the lives of His children and we benefit most when we put Him first.

Secular research agrees that Christian practices of prayer, worship, Bible study (and fellowship with like-minded believers) enhance our mental and physical health and give the most meaning and satisfaction to our lives.

That these activities add an abundance of spiritual richness to our lives should not surprise believers. After all, this is the legacy as promised to us by GOD the Father through His Son.

The Father sent His SON, JESUS to be our Savior and Deliverer – The thief (Satan) comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life--life in all its fullness. John 10:10

JESUS before He returned to His Father in Heaven willed to GOD’s chosen the gift of peace: “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.” John 14:27

However, research is just as strong that overuse of social media has just the opposite effect on both our mental and physical health.

Symptoms typical to online addiction include:

·         Anxiety

·         Depression

·         Euphoric feelings when in front of the computer

·         Unable to keep schedules

·         Isolation

·         Avoiding doing work

·         Agitation

None of these emotions and behaviors belongs in the life of a child of GOD. What we see here is that with too much of the world we are left with little of peace of mind and heart and life in all its fullness.

This in no way means that we embrace ignorance as a spiritual virtue. The children of GOD do have a responsibility to maintain our place in the world.

GOD created man with talents and intellectual abilities to produce and develop all types of new inventions and His chose people are to enjoy them as much or even more than the rest of the world.

Most of us have a Bible app or two on our smartphones, computers or other devices.  These excellent Christian tools have been used to spread GOD’s WORD and the gospel to places across the globe, free of charge.

Wide availability of social media technology can be very helpful to us personally and does much to enhance our place as leaders in the Kingdom of GOD.

We get to use it with nonbelievers at our jobs, in teaching godly principles to our children, giving of our time, resources and talents, without even leaving home, etc.

The Internet and social media have had amazing advances in the technology in recent years but we must control of how we use them and not be under their control (1 Corinthians 6:12; 1 Corinthians 10:23.)

To be continued….

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Thank YOU Sovereign LORD and King for being the giver of life, talent and ability that give so much richness to our daily lives. Help us to be ever mindful of where our goodness comes from and to not get lost in the darkness of our own arrogance. Remind us that if we commit first to YOUR Kingdom we will have more than enough left for ourselves. Dominion and power belong to YOU alone and we give YOU all glory and all praise! In the precious Name of Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

Dangerous Distraction – Part 1

Distractions! Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines distraction as a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else; having one’s attention drawn away. Diversion, interruption, interference.

Not all worldly pleasures and activities are bad in themselves. Some are appealing for the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment they give to our lives. 

However, almost anything becomes a distraction for believers that steal time and energy we ought to be using in pursuit of our Christian calling to spend time with GOD.

Too much time devoted to careers, relationships, hobbies, and sometimes even our families can become that sort of distraction.

But the most challenging and deceptive thief of our time and energy is social media sites!

We  devote way too much time to social media.

The world at large is in serious trouble when technology and media industry experts and executives, whose bread and butter depend on our love affair with social media, are publicly expressing concern.

“I think that, for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive, and we need to rein that back as much as possible,” ~ Salesforce (B2B cloud computing company) chief executive Marc Benioff.

“I have been pushing Facebook to sacrifice near term profits. The reason? I want them to address the harm the platform has caused through addiction and exploitation by bad actors.” ~ A major Tech Investor in Facebook.

A recent AdWeek report, Social Media Addiction: Statistics & Trends states in part “…18 percent of social media users can’t go a few hours without checking Facebook, and 28 percent of iPhone users check their Twitter feed before getting up in the morning.”

The fact is that believers too are among the addicted but the fall out we suffer is a diminished relationship with our Father. We can measure our love for Him by the amount of time and attention we give to Him.

Pastor and teacher John Piper says it this way, “Our attention often runs to what’s important to us. So distraction can reveal what we love.”

If our time on social media exceeds time spent in prayer, bible study, private worship, meditation, and etc., then GOD is not our first love.

Since GOD commands that He alone can and always must have first place in our lives, we must fight against anything that threatens to usurp that place. That is, if He was ever first!

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

To be continued…

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, YOU are the Sovereign and All Knowing GOD whose will and desire for us are beyond what we can ever know. Forgive us for not trusting YOU and choosing to believe the devil’s lies that ensnare us in past-times that draw us away from YOU. Remind us that there will always be distractions in our lives but YOU have given us the spiritual fruit of self-control to help us use our time wisely and enjoy all of YOUR goodness, enduring love and faithfulness. Dominion, all power and all glory belong to YOU for ever and ever. We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of Jesus Christ our LORD. Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

From That Day Forward – Conclusion

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

What happens to Christians who choose to go against GOD’s will for their lives after salvation and never take their rightful position in His Kingdom? 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7

When we opt out GOD simply moves on.

Choosing to live outside of GOD’s will does not derail His plan for His Creation which revolves entirely around Himself, His glory and His renown. It never was or is about us so when we fail to produce someone else gets more grace to do what we refuse to.

Matthew 25:14-28 recounts JESUS' parable of the talents: A wealthy employer is going away for an extended period and before he leaves he delegates three employees to be stewards of his wealth giving to each specific amounts of money (talents).

Upon his return the employer gets a 100% profit from two employees who invested well the talents he gave them. He praises and rewards them with increased responsibilities and invites them to share even more of their “master’s joy.”

The third employee gives back only the original amount he received. This employee’s explanation for his lack of productivity is that he is afraid of and mistrusts his employer (“You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed.” Matthew 25:24); so he hid his talent in the ground. The employer scolds him severely for being evil and lazy, throws him out and gives his talent to the employee who initially had the largest sum of money.

“For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Matthew 25:25

JESUS uses the analogy of Himself as a “Vine” and we as “branches” that bear spiritual fruit and He tells us the fate of “branches” that do not comply with the Father's plan: “Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He (GOD) removes, and He (GOD) prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” John 15:2

These accounts have application to our Christian lives – GOD our Father who owns everything is both the wealthy employer and the Divine Gardener:

• As the Divine Gardener He removes fruitless branches from the Vine and prunes fruitful branches so they are divinely helped to produce more fruit  
• As the wealthy employer He rejects the steward who buried his talents (money.) and rewards the stewards for using His talents (money) wisely with additional responsibilities and more of his joy.

We learn three valuable lessons from the accounts of the wealthy employer and the Divine Gardner:

1. Our talents and gifts come from GOD and belong to Him and He expects us to be good stewards of all.
2. GOD will ensure that His Kingdom is fully supplied with what He needs to carry out His divine plan. 
3. Obedience to GOD’s will blesses others and the Kingdom so that the value of what we do is multiplied beyond our natural ability.

  “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

This verse from JESUS’ model prayer is not something our LORD threw into this prayer at random.

As the sole Creator and Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven is unchanging and eternally the Father’s expectation and purpose for all Creation.

The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to GOD and He does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. Psalm 24:1; Psalm 135:6; Psalm 115:3

(GOD) is unchangeable; who can oppose Him? He does what He desires. Job 28:13

…no purpose of (GOD’s) can be thwarted. Job 42:2

Power and might are in (GOD’s) hand so that no one can stand against (Him). 2 Chronicles 20:6

“…from ancient days I am (GOD)…When I act, who can reverse it?” Isaiah 43:13

Our salvation pleases GOD (1 Timothy 2:3-4) but He gets even greater pleasure when we are complete and fulfilled in it. He wants us to trust Him fully by faith in every aspect of salvation and He would then equip us with everything good for doing his will and Himself work in us what is pleasing to him, through JESUS CHRIST. Hebrews 13:21.

To fall short of GOD’s expectation for us in salvation does not get us thrown out of the family of GOD but it prevents us from experiencing all of its benefits.

• We miss out on knowing a deeper intimacy with both Father and SON, a relationship that is incomparable to anything the world has to offer!
• We trade in a lifestyle that is both exhilarating and peaceful for one that is mundane and joyless – divine joy for continuing unease and dissatisfaction!

We all will one day stand before the judgement seat of CHRIST and give an account for the choices we make here on earth, good or bad, and be judged accordingly. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

While we still have life why not make the more rewarding choice – good works over worthless? It is never too late to get back on track with honest repentance (1 John 1:9).

From this day forward in the Father’s will could be today and the best decision you could ever make!

 Trust GOD and believe His WORD!

“God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.” Charles H. Spurgeon

Prayer and Thanksgiving:  Holy Father and GOD, May we seek always the divine path that YOU have planned for each of us in our salvation and never turn aside from it. Remind us that YOU are the unchangeable and Sovereign GOD who does what pleases YOU and that YOU are most glorified in us only when we are most satisfied in all that YOU are and with no compromise.  Teach us to obey YOUR commands and to treasure the WORDS of YOUR mouth more than our daily food. We give YOU all the praise and honor and glory for ever and ever; YOU are worthy of no less. We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of CHRIST JESUS our LORD. Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

From That Day Forward – Part 2

The belief that the benefit of salvation is a trouble-free life “blessed” with as much worldly treasure as one can acquire before being whisked off to heaven is totally unbiblical.

Christians live out GOD’s plan by GOD's grace 

GOD’s WORD tells us in no uncertain terms that being a believer in CHRIST does not absolve nor protect us from trouble and suffering (John 16:33). It tells us also that we are to continue living out GOD’s plan for our lives by His grace (Acts 13:43).

Apostles and disciples in the New Testament Scriptures are our best examples of what GOD’s people can accomplish in His grace despite great trial.

The early Christians suffered greatly, in their personal lives, as well as on the mission field. Yet and still each fulfilled their calling because they relied solely on GOD’s grace and its power to sustain them.

The Apostle Paul’s suffering as a Christian is well recorded in his Epistles. 

Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea…. I faced… labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. 2 Corinthians 11:24-27

We see the Apostle Peter encouraging a hurting church to pursue the work they are called to, despite trials, since the GOD of grace Himself is with them to give them strength all the way to eternity: “…the GOD of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” 1 Peter 5:10

James, the brother of CHRIST JESUS tells missionaries that to endure trials with joy is a sign of growing faith and Christian maturity. James 1:2-4.

Neither Peter, Paul nor James had great wealth or social status; on the contrary they lost homes and other comforts for the sake of the gospel. And all their lives ended by martyrdom – a fate that the majority of Christians in the western world are unlikely to face today.

The same grace and power that sustained the early Christians sustain us today.

Two thousand plus years later, GOD has not changed His position. When He saved us by His grace He also made each of us a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21. We became new creations with new lives.  

From that day forward we are transferred into the Kingdom of GOD and out of the world (Colossians 1:13) and gave us each a role in building up and expanding the place that we occupy.

Since He chose us to be a special instrument He will also ensure that we perform as such. He will give us unlimited grace with its unlimited power to carry us through every aspect of the journey that is our new life.

Everything GOD does is designed to protect His Name and His glory. (Romans 9:17; Ezekiel 36:22-23)

His grace not only gives us power and ability to accomplish His divine missions for Him, but it also preserves us through every bump in the road until the end. GOD started us on this journey and GOD has a finish line for each person to reach, before they get to heaven.

 

But GOD’s people are not robots and we have an active part in our journey.

Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Everything that concern us, concerns our Father and He wants us to share it all with Him.

I absolutely love this quote from an unknown Christian author that explains this fact so well:

“God’s hand is in everything-We must see our heavenly Father's hand in our lesser trials and cares, as much as in the greater ones. Our life is filled up chiefly with little things. Great occasions come seldom. And if we exclude from prayer little things — we may almost as well exclude life itself; for all the way through we live by minutes and seconds, every one of which has its own peculiar relation to our pleasure or pain, our joy or sorrow.” Author Unknown (Bold font mine)

GOD is as passionate about the minor troubles His children encounter every day as He is about the major issues that may do damage to our spiritual lives. Whatever takes away our peace and restrains our joy will also prevent us from fully living out our good works and derail our maturity as Christians.

This is not the Father’s will for us so He wants us to bring everything to Him in prayer that burden, annoy or hinder us in life – minor irritations and annoyances included. As the architect and author of our lives GOD will decide how best to help us. He can either remove our problem or give us the strength to go through it and we must be prepared to accept His will.

Problems that GOD chooses not to remove He uses instead to wean us further from the world and sanctify us. Either way, as we cease to fret less pray more, GOD will replace whatever distresses us with peace and contentment.

Our role is to trust that GOD knows what is best so that we can experience and live the perfect plan He designed for us!

We live by faith through GOD’s grace – the same grace that gave CHRIST power to perform miracles and minister to many people.

While works of miracles may not be our gift, we each have been given a unique gift.

Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7

But what happens to those who choose to disobey GOD and not act on their gift?

To be continued….

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Sovereign GOD and our Father, thank you again for rescuing us out of the kingdom of darkness and transferring us into the Kingdom where we will always be with YOU and YOUR SON. Father, may seek to truly appreciate this inexpressible gift of grace, power and privilege we have in the works that you have assigned to us. Help us not to take what we have received for granted. Remind us that many are called but few are chosen and to be chosen is beyond what words can adequately express! Let us never cease to give YOU all the praise and honor and glory for YOU are worthy of no less for ever and ever. We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of CHRIST JESUS our LORD.

Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile

From That Day Forward – Part 1

Our salvation happens solely through GOD’s grace.
GOD not only initiates our salvation but He sustains us in it so we could fulfill His perfect plan and destiny for us. It is a gift of eternal love. Ephesians 2:8-10, Jonah 2:9. 

From that day forward we are committed and there is absolutely no turning back.

So how is it that some have made confessions of faith but exhibit no visible evidence that we are thriving in our new life with CHRIST? We go to church and maybe attend a program here and there but months or even years later nothing about our day to day lives is different.

   

You may have heard this before (but prayerfully not said it) – “I have too much going on in my life right now but as soon as thingsC get better I will become more involved/begin to contribute/begin to witness, host a home group, etc.”

Also, some believers have a mistaken expectation that all our earthly problems disappear the instant we are saved. Not true!

Years later we are still waiting for things to get better and problems to go away before we can start living a proper Christian life. In the meanwhile we are just happy to be saved and satisfied that at least we will go to heaven if we die.

 Well, GOD did not save us just so we could go to heaven, and it was never part of His plan that we delay the work He called us to do for His Kingdom because life is a bit messy and isn’t perfect, by our flawed standards.

Christianity is not a lifestyle of ease.

Regrettably, there are a few preachers who promote a Christian lifestyle of ease – one that shows us as having social prestige by or material abundance and financial prosperity, with no illnesses, no trials, or troubles ever. This  teaching is false and dangerous, especially for new believers with insufficient knowledge and exposure to the truth of GOD’s WORD.

It is natural then for believers who buy into this lie to focus all their energies on making these things happen. But we live in a fallen and sin-sick world and we are going to lose jobs and get bad medical news. Children are going to rebel, spouses are going to be unfaithful and best friends are going to disappoint.

Believers who accept as Biblical the false promise of an easy Christian life will soon be disillusioned when their lives don’t match up. It is easy then for them to think of themselves as flawed spiritually, question their faith and the genuineness of their salvation. Some may even doubt GOD's existence to the point of dropping out entirely.

When we are being exposed to false teaching that stress a worldly Christian lifestyle of ease and prosperity we must to run for our lives and find another church that is Biblical in its teaching.

Having an inaccurate concept of GOD’s true plan and destiny for our lives does not change GOD’s mind about what He wants from us.

   

GOD’s written WORD is the only truth and it tells us that obsession with worldly goods and pleasure is not of the Father: “…the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 1 John 2:16

JESUS gives us a commandment to “Seek first the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” Matthew 6:33, and He is also quite specific that here on earth we will have “many trials and sorrows.” John 16:33

Scripture also tells us in many places that GOD in His Sovereignty, created us and saved us by His grace to build His Kingdom according to His eternal and perfect plan for each of us.

 “For we are GOD's masterpiece. He has created us anew in CHRIST JESUS, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

“We must do the works of Him who sent Me…” John 9:4

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be GOD’s will, than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3:17

Christians must be focused on doing GOD’s work, despite trials and sorrows.

To be continued…

Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father, YOU are Creator and GOD, YOU are the Sovereign ruler over all the earth and everything in it.  Thank you Father, for grace that saved us and remind us that YOU chose us to do good works for the building of YOUR kingdom and for YOUR glory. Thank YOU for desiring so much more for us than we can ever imagine for ourselves and forgive us for focusing on worldly pleasures that do not last. Help us not to be so excessively concerned with the future but to focus our energies on YOUR Kingdom and YOUR righteousness with confidence that YOU will supply all our needs, according to YOUR riches. To you Father belong all dominion, all power and all glory, for ever and ever. 

We pray and ask all things in the precious Name of CHRIST JESUS our LORD. 

Amen!

Always by God’s Word and prayer,

Cecile