IT’S ALL BECAUSE OF GOD...

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³⁰ Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God. In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin. – 1 Corinthians 1:30 NCV

The Word of God reminds us yet again that it is because of the perfect and eternal love of God that we are in Christ Jesus. We didn’t do anything to convince God to save us, we were actually alienated from Him because of sin, we were steeped in our sinful ways, none of us were seeking Him.

        ¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹     there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God. – Romans 3:10-11 NIV

We have been saved by God’s grace; we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of God’s Dear Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. We have been adopted into the Family of God, we are now His Children and He is both our God and our Father.

Whatever situation you are facing today remember that Christ our Lord and Savior is also your Wisdom, ask for His input and His follow His guidance. He is right there with you for His Word says He will instruct you with His eyes on you.

        ⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
     I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. – Psalm 32:8 NIV

In Christ, we are reconciled to God, we are made right with Him, for He becomes our righteousness, we no longer relate to God based on our own righteousness which, if I may hastily add, is woefully wanting. It is the Father Himself who made Jesus sin so that we could be made His Righteousness and being made His Righteousness we can come boldly and freely before the Father without any feelings of guilt or sin consciousness. 

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

When we are in Christ, we are holy and pure in the Father’s sight. So let’s believe what the Word of God says and discard this “groveling-before-God-hoping-He’d-be-merciful-to-us” mentally that has enslaved us for so long for it is nothing but false humility. You are your Father’s child, He calls you righteous and holy, He loves you perfectly and eternally.

In Christ we have been redeemed from the power and dominion of sin. Sin has no power over us for we are not under the Law of Moses but under the grace of God (Romans 6:14) which empowers us to live by following the dictates of our re-born spirits. When we are Born Again, our spirits are joined with the Holy Spirit as one (1 Corinthians 6:17) We now have the ability and the desire to follow the Spirit and live free from sin. Our bodies and our minds are no longer in control, our spirit is. We can now respond to the grace of God which teaches us to walk in victory over sin.

Should you sin, know that you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ

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the Righteous, your Savior, who already took care of all your sins once and for all. Confess your sin, thank Him that your sin is under the blood and look to Him for strength to overcome. Don’t allow the enemy to weigh you down with shame, guilt and condemnation, instead get back to walking in the light immediately and as you do, you will be having fellowship with fellow believers and the blood of Jesus will continue cleansing us from all sin.

Christ is your Wisdom, your Righteousness, your Sanctification and your Redemption. Meditate on this truth and let it be firmly established in your spirit today. 

YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM

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Child of God, know this – the moment you believed in Jesus as your Lord and Savior  you were Born Again, your spirit was regenerated by the Holy Spirit and you have now been joined to the Lord and are one spirit with Him. In other words, God the Holy Spirit is in your recreated spirit. You have become His habitation, His dwelling place, His temple.

Now that you are a Child of God, you need to be endued with power to be effective in witnessing to others around you; you need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). When you were Born Again it was the Holy Spirit who recreated your spirit and indwelt it. He baptized you into the Body of Christ, you became a member of the Body of Christ universal.

¹³ By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. Whether we are Jewish or Greek, slave or free, God gave all of us one Spirit to drink. – 1 Corinthians 12:13 GW

Jesus Christ Our Lord is the One who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit for effective service in the Kingdom of God. John the Baptist boldly testified to this fact when His identity was questioned by the Jews:

¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. – Luke 3:16 NIV

After the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you lack nothing as far as the anointing for service in the Kingdom goes. You have the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead in you and on you. The Word of God declares this truth, believe it and act like it. You do not need any extra special anointing, what you need is an understanding of what you already have and the boldness to walk in it.

In Christ, you are not seeking any blessings from God, you have already been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places according to Ephesians 1:3. It’s a good thing that we are blessed with every spiritual blessings not natural ones, for the natural proceeds from the spiritual. The natural is temporal, the spiritual is eternal. The spiritual supersedes the natural. Why heavenly places you might be wondering...because that’s where your spirit is seated with Christ.

Nowhere in the New Testament are we instructed to go after double portions and triple portions and whatever portions of the anointing or blessings of God, we are rather encouraged to go on a journey of discovering what we already have in Christ and to walk in the fullness of it. The Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians comes to mind.

¹⁷ I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ¹⁸ so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. – Ephesians 1:17-19 NRSV

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Inspired by the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul prayed a similar prayer for the Colossians as well (Colossians 1:9-12)

You see beloved, in Christ you have everything you would ever need for life and godliness and the more we continue to learn and discover what the perfect sacrifice of Jesus has made available to us, the more our lives will reflect Him!

You are complete in Jesus, you lack nothing. Blessings

WORRY NOT, GOD CARES FOR YOU

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⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

We are not to live our lives weighed down with worry over stuff that we have to deal with. We have clear instructions from the Word of God on what to do when faced with situations that would seek to assault and paralyze us with worry, anxiety, fear or panic.

We have God’s numerous promises of His abundant provision for us, in fact all His promises to us are yes and amen in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have no reason to let our hearts be troubled, our Lord told us to believe in the Father and to also believe in Him. Let us believe His Word more than we do our circumstances. If He said it in His Word, then that should settle it for us.

Let us bring all our needs and cares to Him in prayer with hearts full of thanksgiving for we know He who has promised to supply all our needs is faithful and He will do it. As we do that, we will experience His peace that passes all understanding guarding our hearts and minds against all worry and anxiety. And while we are resting in Him, He is working things out for us. Our confidence is in the Father’s love for us, He who did not spare His own Son but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Beloved, you have your Father’s promises for whatever you are facing today. You have His invitation to cast all your cares on Him.

⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Why would you want to ignore such an invitation from your Heavenly Father who loves you eternally and unconditionally? He is the Creator of all things; He is the God of the entire universe. He has given us His Word and we know that He doesn’t go back on what He has promised, neither does He alter what He has spoken. He is for you and not against you.

Instead of silently struggling under the weight of all the cares that life is throwing at you, respond to your Father’s invitation, bring them to Him and leave them with Him. Let His peace that passes all understanding guard your

heart and mind, let His perfect peace strengthen and calm you on the inside and as you do, you will be able to discern His leading as He guides you and

provides for you.

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When you are tempted to worry today, don’t give in, instead cast all your cares on the Lord and experience His peace in the midst of the storms of life. Your Father who loves you immensely is taking care of you. You are not going under, you are going over – you have His Word, hold on to it! Bless you   

STEWARDING GOD’S GRACE

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In the Kingdom of God there are no spectators, each one of us has a unique role to fill, we each have a specific assignment to carry out, a destiny to fulfill and we have both been graced and gifted us for excellence in our God given roles. As we continue in fellowship with Him, as we continue obeying Him and submitting to His Word, the Holy Spirit equips us and releases us to fulfill the specific assignments He’s called us to.

God’s grace that is through the finished work of Christ is freely bestowed on us in different forms. It is God’s unearned, unmerited favor, freely given to us as we put our trust in Jesus and what He did to save us and reconcile us to the Father. We are saved by God’s grace, we live by His grace, we grow in His grace, we are taught by God’s grace, His grace enables us to serve Him and we His grace is our source of strength.

We are not to let this awesome grace of God in and on our lives be in vain. It was the grace of God that enabled the Apostle Paul to accomplish a lot more than his contemporaries. After receiving the revelation of God’s unmerited favor, he didn't sit idly by, but through it, he went on to do great exploits for the Lord and for the Gospel.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. – 1 Corinthians 15:10 NRSV   

In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, reminds us that as individual members of the body of Christ, we each have been graced and gifted for different functions. The Apostle Peter, urges us to faithfully steward the grace that God has bestowed on us. When we selflessly use the gifts that God has entrusted to us to serve, bless and benefit others, we are being faithful stewards of God’s grace.

¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. – 1 Peter 4:10 NIV

When we use what God has deposited in us to benefit those around us, we are essentially allowing the Holy Spirit to flow from within us to impact others with His love and power. Serving others in love requires humility on the part of the server; the more we desire to serve others with what God has given us, the more we will walk in humility and His grace will keep on abounding in and through us for the Word of God says, He gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6)

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You are not a spectator in the Kingdom but a participator; serve others with the gifts that God, by His grace, has placed within you, don’t hold back, don’t let feelings of inadequacy cause you to disqualify yourself from serving God. He is the one who has qualified you by the Blood of Jesus. He is the one who has called and equipped you for His service. He is in you and He is with you all the way!

Fear not! Be bold! Be a faithful steward of the manifold grace of God today.    

WHEN THE PROMISE TARRIES…

The Bible is replete with accounts of people who received visions and promises of great things to come. For most of them the visions or the promises didn't come immediately, they had to wait for some time, some for very long and some even did not receive the promises during their lifetime but still kept on trusting and believing the Word of God that came to them.

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Can you imagine Isaiah, prophesying of the virgin birth of Christ who would be called Emmanuel, hundreds of years before it happened? He believed it but never lived to see it (Isaiah 7:14). Imagine Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and almost all the prophets prophesying things that they wouldn't even live to see, but they remained faithful to the Word of God that came to them. Even though they did not get to experience what God had promised, they were all commended for their faith, according to Hebrews 11:39.

And then there are others who received promises from God and had to wait a while before they were realized. Abraham and Sarah come to mind. They were promised a son but had to wait about 25 years (loaded with ups and downs) before that came to pass. As a child, Joseph had dreams of how he would rule the then known world, we all know what ensued before his dreams materialized. These are just two  examples of individuals with promises from God; though it took time, in the end they were not disappointed.

When God gives you a vision or a promise, be sure of one thing, He is well able to bring to pass what He has promised. It may take time, it may not happen the way we thought it should, it may not even look like it’s going to come to pass, but if He spoke it, remain faithful to Him and it will certainly come to pass.

⁹ Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD. "Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?" says your God. – Isaiah 66:9 NIV  

After giving us His promises, God begins to work on us to get us to a place where we are ready for what He has promised and that may take some time. If He’s called you to a place of more responsibility, He will definitely want to build in you the character and fortitude to correctly and efficiently handle the responsibility that He is about to entrust you with.

Joseph’s childhood dreams (from God) of becoming a great leader coupled with his father’s extra special favor on him greatly annoyed his brothers to the point that they decided to get rid of him and they did, or so they thought, by selling him into slavery. He must have been wondering, whatever happened to all those dreams? Where is God in all of this? The Psalmist gives us a glimpse into what was actually happening during that time:

        ¹⁹ Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
        the Lord tested Joseph’s character. – Psalm 105:19 NLT

You see, beloved, Joseph’s character was being molded for the great responsibility that awaited him. Even though he had no idea how things would work out, He continued to trust and obey God during all that time. How do I know that? Well he wouldn't commit adultery with Potipher’s wife, he called it “sinning against God”. How did He know that seeing that the Law was even in existence at that point? Anyone who thinks the Law prevents people from sinning should take a good look at Joseph, he wasn't under the Law, He didn't even know the Law but He didn't succumb to sin, He was under the Abrahamic grace covenant, that’s another topic all together, I digress… The only plausible explanation would be, Joseph had a relationship with God, He knew God and that resulted in him being filled with wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  Eventually, his dreams came true. The Word of God came to pass.

The prophet Habakkuk was specifically instructed to write down the vision and was told that even though it tarries wait for it, for it will not tarry…here’s the Scripture:

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² Then the Lord answered me,
        “Write the vision.
        Make it clear on tablets so that anyone can read it quickly.
³ The vision will still happen at the appointed time.
    It hurries toward its goal.
    It won’t be a lie.
    If it’s delayed, wait for it.
    It will certainly happen.
    It won’t be late. – Habakkuk 2:2-3 GW

Hang on to that word, that vision, that promise that the Lord has given you, for He who has spoken is not a man that He should lie, neither is He a son of man that He should change His mind. He who has called you is faithful and He will do it. 

WHAT CONSUMES YOU?

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Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was consumed with doing the will of the Father. He was not content with just knowing the Father’s will but fulfilling it, regardless of anything else. He had no ulterior motives, He didn't have any hidden agendas; He wasn't seeking fame or fortune,  He wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone, none of that. Jesus was firm in His resolve to do the will of the Father. We'll do well to follow in His footsteps, let us not forget, we have the same Holy Spirit in us.

There’s a lot we can learn from John’s account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well but I’d like to zero in on what consumed Jesus despite his physical hunger and tiredness. He sat by the well because He was both tired and hungry, His disciples had gone into town to buy food…Along comes this woman and the Lord sees this incredible ministry opportunity presenting itself and He seizes the moment knowing it is the Father’s will.

The Samaritan woman is so touched and blessed by Jesus’ ministry that she runs into town and calls everyone to come and see the Messiah. In the meantime His disciples urge Him to eat for they had come back with food but wouldn't interrupt Him when He was ministering. At this point, Jesus is not even thinking about physical food, He’s right in the middle of what He loves doing the most.  His responses to His disciples as they urged Him to eat before the crowds gathered around them are eye opening.

First He says:

³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” – John 4:32 NIV

And then as they were wondering if someone had brought Him food while they were gone, He explains what He actually meant.

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. – John 4:34 NIV

In essence He was saying His sustenance, even His physical nourishment resulted from doing the will of the Father. His desire was to do the will of the Father and to finish the Father’s work of redeeming mankind and restoring us to Himself. He preached the Good News to the people of Samaria, many Samaritans believed on Him and God was glorified.

Jesus was consumed with the will of the Father, and so should we, for He Himself commanded His disciples and us today saying:

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” – John 20:21 NIV

The Father sent Jesus to save us from our sins, to preach the Good News to the poor, to proclaim freedom to the prisoners, recovery o f sight for the blind, to set the captives free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19) Today, as children of God and joint heirs with Christ, that’s our mandate as well. We are called, equipped and graced to fulfill different aspects of that mandate. The Father’s will is that no one should perish, but all should be saved.

The fields are ripe, the harvest is ready, it is plenteous, it is out there, let’s not allow anything to distract us from fulfilling the will of the Father, and as we endeavor do His will, as we make His will our food – our sustenance, we will experience His supernatural enablement and provision.

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Beloved, do what God has called you to do, for that is His will for you and He has already given you the grace to fulfill His will. Don’t let your needs stop or sidetrack you, remember He who has called you is faithful and He will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24) May the Holy Spirit within you quicken the will of the Father for your life today and let the flames of His will consume you as you step out to fulfill His will.

May you be consumed by His will today!  

OUR PRIORITIES AND HIS PROVISION

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Many of us today struggle to just stay afloat, that is, to pay bills and barely cover living expenses. We go from one job to the next, praying and worrying in between, hoping for some kind of a break. We spend virtually no time with the Lord, apart from those brief, under our breath, “Jesus, help me” type prayers as we busily go through our day. We are overwhelmed and stressed out.

Have we forgotten that we are children of the Most High? Have we forgotten that He is our Father? Have we forgotten that He loves us immensely? Have we forgotten that He is Our Jehovah Jireh? Have we forgotten that He has promised to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus? Have we forgotten His numerous promises of provision and supply? Have we stopped believing His Word?

Jesus said:

³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. – Matthew 6: 31 – 33 NKJV  

We are instructed not to worry, we are assured that God knows our needs, we are instructed to first seek Him – first, not after everything else, but first to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness and then, and only then, will all these things (all the stuff we need) that we've been running after, be added unto us.  

Now, someone might be wondering, what does seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness mean? What does it entail?

Well, here’s how I see it, the Kingdom of God is not something hidden that we have to go looking after, no. The Kingdom of God is where God rules and reigns, the Kingdom of God is in us and we are in it, we who are in Christ have relinquished the reigns of our life to Him, He is our God and our King now. The Apostle Paul said, “it is no longer I that lives but Christ...” (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

In a Kingdom, the word of the King is the final authority, you go against it to your own detriment, likewise in the Kingdom of God the Word of God is the final authority and when we violate it (through doubt, unbelief, disobedience etc.), we essential cut ourselves off from what the King’s word promises, we undermine our own blessings, but He is still abundantly gracious to us, unlike earthly monarchs.

Whatever God, the Great King says is what goes, not our opinions, ideas or suggestions, as good as they may seem to us. His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. His word is His will and in His Kingdom, His will is done.

Because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice that put away our sins once and for all, His Righteousness has now become ours – we who believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We are now clothed with God’s very own Righteousness and can stand in His presence without any sense of shame, guilt or condemnation. We can now come before Him boldly and freely receive all that He has for us, we know we are eternally and perfectly loved by our Abba.

As we prioritize our relationship with God and pursue His will, He will make sure all our needs are met. He desires to have an intimate relationship with us, He knows us and now wants us to know Him, to know His heart, and He has made that possible by reconciling us to Himself through the Cross of Christ.

As you get to know Him, you’ll know His ways and not just His acts; as His

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character rubs off on you, your dealings will reflect it and guess what? His blessings will be overtaking you everywhichway you turn and your bottom line will be positively affected as well.

As His will prospers in your life, so will you prosper in every area!

You are in His Kingdom, you have His righteousness – now live according to the Word of the Great King, your God, your Father and enjoy every blessing He has for you.  

BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

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Jesus promised His disciples that they would receive power to be His witnesses when the Holy Spirit comes on them on the day of Pentecost. It was it necessary for them to be endued with God’s power, for without it they would not be able to boldly proclaim what Jesus had done for them and for everyone else who would believe on Him.

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you. Then you will be my witnesses to testify about me in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 GW

God is love and doesn't want anyone to perish; He wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth, that Jesus has already taken all their sin away and if they would just put their trust in Him and in what He has done, accepting Him as Lord and Savior, they would be reconciled to Him and also be saved from eternal damnation.

That very popular verse comes to mind:

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 NIV

To be effective witnesses of the love of God that is demonstrated through Jesus, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, for it is the Spirit who guides us into all truth. God has given us His Spirit so that we may know all that He has freely given to us in Christ. The Holy Spirit will always glorify Jesus.

After salvation, like the early disciples we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit. These are two separate events in the life of a believer. You will recall when Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22) now, that was the point when they were Born Again.

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Now if that was when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, then why would Jesus later tell them to tarry in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes on them? Jesus’ last words right before His ascension would've been redundant to say the least, but that isn't the case. Besides, let’s not forget Thomas wasn't present at that time and later when Jesus appeared to them again, this time with Thomas present, Thomas exclaimed “My Lord and My God” (John 20:26-29), I would submit to you that, that was the moment Thomas was Born Again according to Romans 10:8-10.

There are several instances of believers being filled with the Holy Spirit starting at Pentecost and afterwards. At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon Jewish believers (Acts 2:1-4), at Cornelius’ house the Holy Spirit came upon Gentile believers (Acts 10:44-46).

After the revival led by Phillip at Samaria, the apostle went and laid hands on the new believers and they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15-17). When Paul met 12 believers in Ephesus, he specifically asked them if they had been filled with the Holy Spirit, it turned out they didn't even know there was a Holy Spirit, what did he do? He laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-7).

From all the accounts in the Book of Acts, we see it is Born Again Christians who are being filled with the Holy Spirit and that there were physically observable, undeniable signs that accompanied the baptism in the Holy Spirit - they spoke in tongues and prophesied

If you haven’t been filled with the Holy Spirit yet, I would encourage you to receive Jesus’ promise of the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask the Lord to baptize you in the Holy Spirit, He is the One who baptizes us in the Holy Spirit Ask Him and by faith receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit gives the words, you do the speaking. So by faith open your mouth and start praising Him with the words and syllables He gives you, in a language you don’t know. Receive the Gift of the Holy Spirit today.

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Experience the refreshing that comes from the presence of the Lord, get baptized in the Spirit. Don’t let fear stop you, your Father has promised to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13) and He is well able to protect you from any form of deception. 

If you are already filled with the Holy Spirit remember that you are to be continually filled, just like the early believers, so keep on building yourself up in your most holy faith by praying in the Spirit, that is by praying in tongues. Blessings.

THE DECEPTION OF FORGETFULNESS

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Amassing knowledge of the Word of God is a very good thing, studying the Word to acquaint yourself with the promises of God is very important. Spending time in the Word to know the will of God for a situation you are facing is certainly a wise thing to do.

However, if we stop short of doing what the Word instructs us to, if we neglect to put the Word of God into practice, if we are not walking in obedience to the Word that we already know, we are opening ourselves up for deception. Hearing the Word and not doing it is akin to giving the enemy a place, an inroad into our lives, a foothold and the Word of God commands us not to give him a foothold (Ephesians 4:27).

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. - James 1: 22 - 24 NIV

Now, since the Word of God is our mirror, just as we look into natural mirrors to groom ourselves, we must look into the Word to groom our souls. To make sure we look good spiritually, we must look into this mirror – the Word – on a regular basis. If you look into a natural mirror daily to avoid looking unkempt, unprepared or outright unsightly, how much more should you look into the Word, your spiritual mirror to see and be reminded of who and what you are in Christ.

It is interesting that the Holy Spirit likens hearing the Word and not doing it to looking into a mirror and immediately forgetting what you look like. You see, when we fail to do what the Word instructs us to do we have essentially forgotten who we truly are in Christ and that leads us to act contrary to the Word. Failure to remember who we now are according to the Word of God, will always result in us walking in the flesh, having pridefully deluded ourselves that we know what the Word says.

Because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of Himself our sins have been put away once and for all and now since we have put our trust in Him, we have eternal life. As you look into this "mirror" some of the things you will see about yourself in Christ are these: -

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You have been reconciled to God, You are a new creation in Christ, you are God’s child, you are the Lord's beloved, you are the righteousness of God, you are Holy before God, God doesn't keep a record of your sins, you are more than a conqueror, you are seated with Christ far above all principalities and powers, your God has promised to supply all your needs. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, and a whole lot more. 

May the Holy Spirit continually remind us of who we are in Christ as we keep on looking into this blessed mirror everyday!