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“Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 10:14 [NLT]
Today, rest in knowing God loves you and will load your day with great benefits.
Expect it—that’s what HOPE is all about!
As you rest in Jesus, enjoy this song by Israel Houghton.
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 [NKJV]
The first part of that scripture, has been one that I’ve believed in and stood on through multiple and various struggles. I frequently have to remind myself of my victory in Christ so that I don’t concentrate on the problem and sink into a pit of despair about my circumstances. I depend on that verse because it contains the word “always.” “Always” means without exception, on every occasion, continuously (dictionary.com). When I have truly and consistently put my trust/faith/belief in that victory supplied by Jesus to every believer, I have seen its manifestation.
But only today did the second half of that verse stand out to me—“through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” For the last 8 weeks, I’ve been teaching a Bible study class at my church about the unmerited, unearned favor (grace) of God. Having done so has opened my eyes to an entirely different way of looking at things! Now it’s easier to see that knowing more about Jesus’ perfect and complete work on the cross multiplies His grace in my life [2 Peter 1:2]. His grace does not depend on my efforts/works. His grace gives us continuous victory. We did not do anything to acquire because Jesus did it all. Knowing Him imparts a beautiful fragrance to our lives because increased knowledge about JESUS multiplies grace and peace.
To know Him — His love, His strength, His sacrifice, His work — is to know victory, and it smells good!
Do you smell victory?
Please encourage others by sharing below an instance of victory that you’ve experienced.
God is like Allstate. You’re in good hands with Him.
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:7 [NLT]
“He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” ~ Psalm 40:2
“The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” ~ Psalm 111:7 [NIV]
“For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.” ~ Psalm 92:4
YOU’RE IN GOOD HANDS WITH JESUS! Whatever you put in His loving hands will be blessed. He is trustworthy to handle whatever you’re facing today if you’ll place it in His hands.
What distraction/burden/worry will you decide to give to Him today?
For the last 6 weeks I’ve been teaching at my church about God’s Favor in our lives. It has been a transformative time as I have learned more about being accepted by God purely by what Jesus did on the cross and not by my efforts/works. Here’s one of the props I’ve used in the class:
I know, it looks ridiculous, but when God gave me the idea, I knew it would be effective in getting this point across…
Did you know that God is “cross-eyed?” He sees the believer only through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.What Jesus did on that cross on our behalf was so important. At the cross is where He established our value to Him. It’s where we find assurance of both His love and His desire to bless us with His unearned favor/grace.
Do you know how God sees YOU? Well, He’s “cross-eyed” all the time so when He looks at you, He ‘s still looking through the lens or filter of the cross. No matter what you’ve done or are doing at this moment, if you’re a believer in Jesus, God’s viewpoint of you is always through Jesus’ shed blood and complete work on the cross. That’s why He can love you unconditionally, the same way He loves Jesus (John 17:23), because He sees you clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, fully and eternally cleansed of any sin because of His sacrifice on the cross.
God’s blessing, healing, delivering and prospering believers is all because of Jesus’ perfect obedience/efforts/work at the cross. There’s nothing we can do to earn His love and there’s nothing we can do to lose it. As the old hymn goes, “Jesus paid it all!”
Being loved by a “cross-eyed” God is the best way to be loved! Can you think of any better way to be loved?
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If you’d like to study more about Jesus’ finished work and His favor to us, our resource text for the class has been Unmerited Favor by Joseph Prince. I highly recommend it!
Hidden in the passage of Jeremiah 17:7, 8 are four ways to thrive like a tree. This scripture declares,
“Blessed [is] the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
The four ways this tree thrives are:
Similarly, the four ways we can thrive like this tree planted by the waters are:
Thriving like THIS tree is a good thing! Don’t you agree?
I decided to continue the theme of royalty from my post, Embrace Your Inner King/Queen on September 12, 2012.
Sometimes I need to ponder my royal status in Christ more often and maybe you do too. Revelation 5:10 assures us of our royal status in this life on earth through Jesus: “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
I need you to put on your math cap for a moment. Remember “If-Then” statements? They show us that if one thing is true and it says/demonstrates the same thing as another, then they are equal. For instance, “If 4+1 =5 and 3+2 =5, then 4+1=3+2.”
In Ecclesiastes 8:4, we’re told, “Where the word of a king is, there is power…” So here’s the “If -Then” statement I’m proposing: IF we are kings/queens in Christ (and we are, whether we live like it or not), and the word of a king/queen has power, THEN our words must have power! In our natural lives, our words have the power to bind us in an agreement/contract, to involve us in a covenant such as marriage, and to change our circumstances, for better or worse.
Your words act as seeds that will grow and be fruitful. But beware, the soil of your life WILL produce what you plant in it. Stay away from the weed seeds, those words that are nothing but negativity.
As a king/queen, you get to choose what kind of seed you will speak into your future and then live with its harvest.
Will you speak seeds that yield a harvest of Life and Blessing?
Jesus died to enable us to reign in life. Do you feel like royalty? Or do you simply feel like you carry the royal title of “Christian” but you’re not exercising nor experiencing the ruling power that’s supposed to come along with it?
There is a king/queen in you if you are a believer in the work of Jesus on the cross on your behalf. Maybe you need to tap into the knowledge that through Jesus, God transferred you from the devil’s kingdom of darkness and oppression into the His kingdom of light, life and power [Col. 1:13]. If you need a boost in believing your life should be more of a demonstration of the power to reign in life, I encourage you to read these scriptures and thoughtfully consider their application in your life.
There IS a King in you if believe in Jesus as Savior. How will you more fully embrace your inner king/queen and reign in life?
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” ~~ Romans 5:17 NIV
“And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” ~~Revelation 1:6
Enjoy hearing Donald Lawrence & Company sing There Is A King In You.
Happiness is an emotion and is based on our external circumstances. It fluctuates and is temporary. On the other hand, joy is more an attitude of the heart. Joy is a much stronger factor in our lives than happiness ever could be.
Joy is based on receiving God’s love (Galatians 5:22). It is a by-product of His Spirit dwelling in us and producing growth in our spirit. Joy is stable because it is based on the unchanging love Jesus has for us. Our relationship with Him allows us to enjoy His presence at any time, even in the midst of the worst hurt. In His presence, there is fulness (abundance) of joy! So when there are circumstances in our lives that challenge us to our core, and prevent us from finding anything to be happy about, we can still have joy because we find solace in knowing that we are loved by the One who is Love!
Being joyful is a choice. That’s because even in the midst of severe tests and trials, joy can still exist in our hearts and be exhibited in our actions. During hard times, we can choose to be miserable or we can choose to find pleasure in our relationship with Jesus, knowing that He brings life, peace, strength, comfort and much more. The joy that is resident in Him is full, complete, and perfect. That joy is a place and means of safety, protection and refuge for us in good and bad times alike. (Strong’s Concordance)
It’s no wonder that Paul reiterated to the Philippians to rejoice and again, to rejoice.
Joy…it’s a good thing!
Graphic source: http://www.marilynmoll.com/2010/01/the-joy-of-the-lord-is-my-strength/
Here are some of my thoughts based on John Maxwell’s video on being GRATEFUL:
I choose to celebrate that God loves me and blesses me, even when circumstances around me are teeming with reasons to not be grateful!
KEEP AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE!
You can view John Maxwell’s video here: http://johnmaxwellteam.com/grateful/
When I was a little girl, summers were spent playing outside. I loved playing hand games with the other girls in my neighborhood. A particularly favorite hand game was about a sailor. Do you remember this?
A sailor went to sea, sea, sea
To see what he could see, see, see
And all that he could see, see, see
Was the bottom of the big blue sea, sea, sea.
The other day, that lyric came to mind as I was reflecting on what I choose to look at in my life. Do I hang my head and look down, focusing primarily on all the negative things that happen? Am I like the sailor, who could only see the bottom of the sea, even though there was the beauty of the horizon right in front of him to enjoy? Or do I choose to look up , focus on the positive things and find the joy that may be hidden in my negative circumstances?
I hope that on a daily basis, I will look up and see Jesus and allow Him to be the author of my life story and the One who directs and perfects how the ending of my story turns out. I know that when I put my day-to-day life in Jesus’ hands, the horizon of my life will always be beautiful.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” ~~Hebrews 12:2 NIV