News

1/8/2008

A New Year—people are talking and writing as if the entire year is a whole entity that God is going to do something miraculous and different. Football players looking for favor from God are changing their jersey numbers thinking it will be like a good luck charm and bring more of God’s favor.

I have learned that through my life the one entity that God is interested in is TODAY! The Word tells us “this is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice in it….”

We must accept the reality of who we are in Christ. We must discover the spiritual gift given by the Holy Spirit. It is that gift or gifts that give us direction and purpose for our lives as we serve the Lord today. We are left here to be perfected in preparation to live for eternity in a place prepared by the Lord called Heaven. But, until that hour of our death or He returns we must live out the process of sanctification each day before a lost World where they can see and experience the Lord by being with us.

This daily process of living and being like Jesus is in reality the real evangelism that is used by the Holy Spirit to birth people into the Kingdom. But when you and I fail to be like Jesus it is a giant deterrent for people seeing Christ and desiring Jesus.

God’s children’s failures to walk in obedience and do what they have been called to do by the Holy Spirit is what the Word calls sin. Repentance is the process that allows us to show the lost World how you repair the fellowship that is lost by the choice to sin—we must repent. Repentance is a moment by moment event in the lives of God's children. We must understand that until we repent we lose our fellowship with our Heavenly Father not our relationship.

The prodigal son was still a son in the pig pen but was unable to fellowship with the Father until he returned home. The son could not receive from the Father until he repented. Repentance meant change. He could not stay where he was and he could not continue to do what he was doing if he returned!

But, what happens with today—often times we squander today trying to do the impossible. Often times I find myself and I do not think I am alone trying to correct and make amends for yesterday and/or I am worried sick on what is going to happen tomorrow. The end result is when today comes to a close I have squandered today and failed in the task given me by the Holy Spirit for today. We must accept the reality all we have is today. When we start today it is a brand new day. We get a new start each day. Whoa! I can hear some saying that sometimes there are consequences from yesterday because of my choices and they will effect today and a lot of tomorrows because of a yesterday’s choices. That is true! But, each morning you awake no matter where you are or what you are doing even if it is tainted by a mistake or mistakes from yesterday you are given a new day to live out a life that will reveal to a World a God who is your companion and leader. God wants us to show the World that in our relationship with Him we are living today correcting our mistakes; but we are used mightily in that process as an instrument of righteousness before a world that needs to know for His children God does not keep score!

So, TODAY return to the Father and walk under the anointed leadership of the Holy Spirit as you are being perfected and made to be like Jesus. In that process the lost World will experience and see Jesus in a life that each day is given to God by repentance that has created a divine relationship.

Back