"...and you were dead in your trespasses and sins..." Ephesians 2:1
d.e.a.d.
That is where I am was.
d.e.a.d.
Yup. Somehow before I met Jesus I thought I was really living. I am sure you did too. I had no idea that I was walking around dead.... Thinking I was really winning the race when in reality I was nailed in a coffin the whole time. God sure sees things so differently than we do.
Meeting Jesus changes everything. Knowing you are IN CHRIST rocks your world. Looking back at your past and seeing where God has brought you from produces A HEART OF GRATITUDE. A HEART OF WORSHIP.
" But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us live together with Christ..." Ephesians 2:4-5
That is your Jesus...so rich in love...so kind in His mercy to you! Rescuing you before you ever knew you needed help...
Jesus-
The One who enters into your muck and mire.
Pulls you out of the pit.
Washes you off.
Gives you a robe of righteousness.
Plants your feet on The Rock
...and gives you the strength to
point the way to freedom for others.
THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE HERE FOR.
Close your eyes sit back and listen to God singing over you today.Praise God that you know who you are IN CHRIST...then go, sister!!! Share the Good News with someone who desperately needs to meet your Jesus.
We all do it. We have an entire armload of worries...
finances
health
children
marriage
future plans
employment
you name it...we carry it around like a sack of cement on our backs.
It is so exhausting.
It is so...well...unnecessary.
But we do it anyway.
It is so easy to forget God in the equation.
We forget that we are IN CHRIST.
We forget that we have his WORD on the matter.
We forget that we have access to
the power of God in each situation.
We forget that He can give us new eyes
to see the situation how HE sees it.
What we don't forget is how human we are!
It seems to hit the replay button
over and over
until we are drowning
in ourselves.
YUCK.
We do not have to listen to that tune.
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will KNOW what is the hope of HIS calling, what are the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of HIS power toward us who believe."
~Ephesians 1:18-19
I don't know about you...but this morning I needed enlightened to say the least. The eyes of my heart had lost its focus last week and some things sent me on a spiral. How easily I had forgotten to listen to what God thinks of me and I gave into the chatter of my defeated foe. nasty stuff... not just for me...but for everyone around me.
******
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
pg.391 (July 13th-evening)
" When I cry unto Thee, then shall my enemies turn back; this I know; God is for me."
~Psalm 56:9
"It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, 'God is for me.' He was 'for us' before the worlds were made; He was 'for us' or He would not have given His well-beloved Son; He was 'for us' when He struck the Only begotten, and laid the full weight of His wrath upon Him--He was 'for us,' though He was against Him; He was 'for us, when we were ruined in the fall--He loved us notwithstanding all; He was 'for us' when we were rebels against Him, and with a high hand were defying Him; He was 'for us,'or He would not have brought us humbly to see His face.
He has been 'for us' in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within --how cold we have remained unharmed to this hour if HE had not been 'for us'?
He is 'for us,' with all the infinity of His being; with all the omnipotence of His love; with all the infallibility of His wisdom; arrayed in all His divine attributes, He is 'for us', '--eternally and immutably 'for us;'
He is'for us' when the clouds will be rolled up like a worn out piece of clothes; 'for us' throughout eternity. And because He is 'for us' the voice of prayer will always ensure His help.
'When I cry unto You, then shall my enemies by turned back.' This is a sure hope and a well grounded assurance--'this I know." I will direct my prayer to You, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that my enemy will be defeated, 'for God is for me.' Oh believer, how happy you are when the King of Kings is on your side! How safe you are with such a Protector! How sure your case is when the Advocate is pleading your cause! If God be for you, who can be against you?"
sweet. sweet. sister.
you. are. in. Christ.
He. is. for. you.
And He wants you to know
that He is
SEATED
in heaven...
on His throne.
V.I.C.T.O.R.I.O.U.S
and you are, too.
So this morning-we can
cry out to our Strong and Mighty God!
"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
