Category: Christian Living

5 Blessings We Receive In Jesus

Jesus came down from Heaven to give us life. The devil came to Earth to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Those who receive Jesus, have received many blessings from God because Jesus Died as the Lamb of God, who takes the sins of the world away. Let us take a look at five blessings we receive through faith in Jesus.

1. Eternal Life as a free gift

The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) While in Adam, we all sinned and received death as a reward for our works. Then when we heard the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we received eternal life in Him. We did not do any works. It was a free gift of God. He sent His Son to die for us while we were still in our sins. God’s Word says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8)

2. Removal of our punishment for sin and becoming right with God

We rebelled in the Garden. Because of that, in Adam, all die because of sin. On the other hand, in Jesus, all live because of righteousness. Sin is punishable by death and there is no escaping it. Unless our debts have been paid in full, we are still under the divine wrath and judgment of God. But because of Christ’s sacrifice, we have been made right with God. Because of the shed blood of the Lamb of God we are now forgiven, Justified, Righteous, and Sanctified. God sent Jesus “as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,” (Romans 3:25)

3. We have become God’s friends again

While we were dead in our sins, we were enemies of God. We loved the world and everything in it. Our minds were darkened and we continually dwelt on evil thoughts. Even the best of us, when we came to see the holiness of God, knew how sinful we were. We did not want anything to do with God and we were self-sufficient. We would have never been able to stand in God’s presence if it were not for the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. The Holy Bible says, “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” (Romans 5:11)

4. Peace with God

Because of our disobedience, we lived under the wrath of God. We were literally in a quarrel with God. That would have been our demise if He had not sent Christ to come and mediate between us. The peace we have received with God is not just a cessation of enmity, but also a starting of a deep friendship since God can be either our worst enemy or our best friend. “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,” (Ephesians 2:14) “and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20). In Romans 5:1, it is written “Therefore, having been justified by faith, a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1)

5. No Condemnation

Almost every human being alive has something in their past that they just wished they had never done. For some, it is a one-time event. For others, it is something they did for years, even decades. The fact of the matter is, even just one sin will have us condemned to hellfires forever. And justly so. But God doesn’t send His Spirit to condemn us, but to convict us of sin. Once you repent of your sins and plead the blood of Jesus, there is no longer any condemnation left against you or your past. It’s gone. You’ve been handed a clean slate. And the grace to overcome any future sin and live a holy life in obedient submission to God. Jesus is forever pleading our case before the Father. Take heart. Be encouraged. Jesus is handling your case. The Bible says, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” (Romans 8:34)

Let us enjoy these blessings and thank God for them. We can always learn more by studying God’s Word and by taking time to meditate what we read. If you’d like to know some more about Jesus, you can read this article.

If this article has blessed you, please like, subscribe, and share. Blessings!

Jesus, My King

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
Psalm 2:6

The ultimate battle in this universe is the battle between good and evil. The war for obedience rages, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Though the enemy tries to lead us into disobedience, Jesus is still King over all. Will we obey God and submit to His Lordship, or will we let the devil take rule over us?

Nations rage against God and His rule and come up with their own laws to self-govern and mock God. Together they plot and conceive wicked plans to ensnare the righteous, spill their blood, and bring much trials upon them. Enraged they wave their fists against God and His anointed one. They strive to throw God’s chains off of them. The reality of the matter is that those chains are Chains of Love (Hosea 11:4). Nations come and go, kingdoms rise and fall, kings are crowned and succeeded, but Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forevermore. Amen!

In Psalm 2:11-12, the Psalmist exhorts us to Serve the Lord, submit to Him, and take refuge in Him. This is the line of division between a life of blessedness and a life of brokenness.

The Lord has set Jesus as King in His Holy Hill. Likewise, we should crown Jesus as “King Jesus, Lord and Savior” of our life and obey Him with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:7). In addition, we should diligently study the Laws of God so that we may serve God with fear and trembling (Psalm 2:8). Only then can we confidently decree the decrees of the Lord with boldness. How can we tell others of the Laws of God, His ways, and His Love, if we don’t even know them ourselves? Those that proclaim the decrees of God are truly children of God (Psalm 2:9). We are created to obey God, and to bring rebellious man back into a relationship of loving obedience (Ephesians 2:1-2, 11). That was what man lost in the Garden of Eden.

This is the hallmark sign of a true child of God: obedience. Those that disobey are not born of God. In fact, Jesus makes it quite clear that man has one of two fathers: God or the devil (John 8:38, 44). It is to these that God will truly say, “You are my son, you are my daughter” (Psalm 2:7).

The response from God towards those who serve Him with fear and trembling is truly a blessing. God says, “Ask me and I will answer”. Please note, God is not saying “Ask anything of me”. Rather, it is “Ask according to my will, and I will answer”. If we are filled with the Word of God, we will know how to pray. On top of that, God will guide us in prayer too (Psalm 2:8).

What will we choose today? Blessedness or brokenness? Those who have raged against God are no more and God still reigns undisputed upon His throne. Let us come and humble ourselves before God and kiss His ring, and He will accept us today.

Jesus My King - Kneel before Jesus

Overcoming Lust

Sin has put humanity into a sad state. The corrupt desires of human nature relentlessly drive us to sin. Add to that eyes that have been set loose to soak in all and you have a recipe for disaster. Although our eyes are very important organs for us, we succumb to lust by seeing through them. Overcoming lust is a of huge importance for the spiritual well-being of a Christian. Jesus said, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” (Matthew 6:22) What you look at, dwell on, gaze intently on, will in turn affect your life.

For this very reason Jesus Christ warned us, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:29) This is a serious commandment, to say the least. It shows us the strictness with which we must take watch over our body. It also carries an ominous warning for those who won’t heed the warning. Jesus didn’t mince His words with regards to this topic. Therefore we should all take careful heed to this warning.

We all remember the superman in the Bible, a Judge of old named Samson. God had many plans for him, but alas, Samson did not know how to control himself. It appears he had neither fear of the Lord or much common sense. You all know the story of how he went after women whom the Lord specifically forbid to marry. His parents pleaded with him but he would hear nothing of it.

God finally gouged out his eyes to help save him, to help him overcome his lust, but he remained blind to his problem until his last breath. I believe he died spiritually blind too. His last prayer to God was, “O Lord God, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” (Judges 16:28)

Samson wasn’t sorry for his sins, or for disgracing God. All those years he held a grudge against the Philistines because they took out his eyes. All the time that he was grinding flour for them, he didn’t repent and turn back to God. He could have been a Judge of Israel and put the land to rest, but he spent most of his days just grinding flour for the enemy. Many of us can relate to this as we have fallen into addiction in some form or another. Like Samson we ” went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines.” (Judges 14:1) And there we were bitten by the venomous poison of the snake.

The writer of Hebrews commends us to look intently to the “beginner and perfecter” of our faith, Jesus Christ. Watch his life unfold through the Gospels with searching eyes and emulate Him in word and deed. Then you will become victorious. For anyone who has come to Jesus has not stayed the same. They have partaken of the life that is in Him. We will truly live a blessed life, both in this world and in the world to come. No longer will we be an easy target for sin for we are not going “down to Timnah” or “seeing one of their daughters”. Although this is not the “be all, end all” way to completely overcome lust, we will be well on our journey to overcoming lust. It’s by the grace of God that we completely overcome lust.

May God help us to take diligent care to what we look at!

The Blessed Man

“Blessed is the man…”
Psalm 1:1
Photo by Martin Damboldt from Pexels

Blessedness is what everyone on this earth wants. Some want material blessings. Others would be just fine with wealth. Others would be absolutely thrilled for the blessing of good health. And then there are those of us who would like to be blessed with God’s blessings. But just what exactly is blessedness?

In Psalms 1, King David shows us who a blessed person is, how a person may be truly blessed, and what the advantages of this type of blessing are.

He begins by contrasting the blessed man with the ungodly, the sinner, and the scoffer. The blessed man’s one defining characteristic is that “his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.”

The Natural Man

When we understand that the natural man, in his fallen state, cannot delight in the law of the Lord, we will begin to appreciate how blessed that man is who can truly delight in the Law of the Lord. Consequently, the Apostle Paul said, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7) He also once said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) You are a truly blessed person if you are able to run after God with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind.

Blessedness is being able to be wholly inclined towards God. The blessed man’s one preoccupying thought is God and His Holy Law. His “delight is in the law of the Lord,” and he “meditates on His law day and night.” (Psalm 1:2).

Whatever we focus on in our mind and in our Spirit will begin to manifest itself in our day-to-day lives. What peace we will enjoy! What happiness! God created us to have communion and fellowship with Him. Therefore, when we can live accordingly, we will be truly blessed.

The Blessed Man

This man will be “…like a tree planted by streams of water,…” (Psalm 1:3), always bearing fruit and never fearing drought. Whatever he does will come to fruition. No botched plans, or failed endeavors. He will have success in all his ways and all his paths. The evil person will be uprooted and shaken. (Psalm 1:4).

The blessedness of the blessed man is the fact that he will live on in eternity, beyond this life, with his Lord. He delighted in His Law while here on earth and he will delight in His presence in the coming life. God will watch over that man and protect him till he finally comes home and meets him face-to-face.

May the Lord grant us this life!

Q: What practical steps can you take to increase the quality and quantity of time you spend both in God’s Word and with God in prayer? Let me know in the comments below.

The Blessed Man - Delighting in God and His Law

God’s Living Word

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For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

If I were to ask any of you, when was the last meal you ate, it would not take long for you to pinpoint an exact time and location. If we were to skip a meal, our body would tell us immediately. If we skipped two meals, our body would really start to complain. What’s interesting is that we would always be able to identify what the problem is automatically, without the need to consult a friend or physician. However, if I were to ask you when was the last time you read your Bible, most of us would have a very difficult time answering that question.

The reason for this is because we are not as in tune with our inner man (Romans 7:22–23) as we are with our physical body. We have spent so many years eating both consistently and at a regular time. We notice when a meal time has gone by, but no food was taken. The truth is, it should have been like this with the reading of our Bibles, which is spiritual food for the inner man. We all remember what sustained the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, right? Manna. Jesus Christ told us that He is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). And when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, what was Jesus’ response? “Many shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)  Natural food sustains the natural man. Spiritual food sustains the spiritual man (1 Peter 2:2-10; Hebrews 5:12-6:3). Imagine the problems we could overcome, just by setting aside a time to regularly feast on Holy Scriptures.

When we eat food, we usually take a small bite, then chew it in our mouths and swallow it. Once the food is in our stomachs, it is churned, broken down, digested and converted into minerals and nutrients that can be absorbed by our body.

This is a great example of how we should approach reading and studying our Bible. We take small portions and ponder on them for a while. We ask ourselves questions like, “What did I just read?”, “What does it mean?” and “What does it mean to me?” to help us thoroughly understand what we just read. Then we meditate on what God is teaching us by His Holy Spirit and let Him minister the truths into our lives. After that, we take time to pray so that we can, by the Spirit of  God, be transformed into the image of Christ by letting God’s Holy Words take effect in our lives.

This year I’ve set a goal to read through the whole Bible at least once. I will also be reading at least 5 chapters from the Psalms every week. In fact, I plan on memorizing as much of the Psalms as I can throughout this year. This will greatly increase my prayer life and praise and worship time. I will also try to memorize the Gospel of John and one Epistle from the New Testament. I know it sounds like a lot, but I’m determined to feed on good food, in order to grow in godliness.

If you would like to find a good Bible reading plan, Tim Challies, who is a prolific blogger, avid reader, Pastor, and Speaker has a great article on how to begin a Bible reading habit here:

How To Begin A Bible-Reading Habit in 2018

There are also links on this page that lead to other websites that provide Bible reading plans that you can use. You should bookmark his website as there is a lot that you can learn from him. It’s biblically balanced, thought-provoking and easy to read at the same time.

Another place you can look for Bible reading plans are at the Ligonier website found here:

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/bible-reading-plans/

and from the Bible Class Material website found here:

https://www.bibleclassmaterial.com/Catalog/Mark%20Roberts/BibleReadingSchedule.htm

Ready for the challenge? Let me know in the comments below.

A Christmas Gift fit for our God

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1)

God’s gift to us

Christmas NativityGod’s greatest gift to man was that of His Only Begotten Son. That truth in itself should warm our hearts and fill us with joy. Do you know why He came? He came to save His people from their sins. Imagine that! We would have never broken free from sins dominion over us, not in a million years, yet Jesus came to save us from sins’ cruel governance. When the Angel Gabriel was sent to Joseph, he told him to call the name of the child Jesus, for He would save His people from their sins (Mat. 1:21).

Jesus came to restore the image of God in us. He came to open the way back to the Father. Because of what He did for us, we now have direct access to God our Father. He came with the purpose to redeem us from Satan’s evil clutches and present us holy and pure before God. We originally belonged to God, until the Fall, but on the Cross Christ Jesus bought us with His own blood and set us all free!

Free from the bondage of sin, free from fear, free from our body of sin.

Christmas Gifts

I have received a lot of presents in my life, but I have yet to receive a present that I know will have a dramatic and life-changing impact both in this world and in the world to come. Our entire worldview changed because of the gift God gave us.

Today most of the world is celebrating Christmas Day, as the day that Christ was born. On this day, we exchange gifts and wish each other well. Our moods are festive and merry and we want to spend this time with those whom we hold dear and love. Usually, we go to a church service and think about Christ Jesus, and God, and the Love that we were showered with, in the form of a helpless babe. Though he looked helpless, His birth struck leaders with terror. Christ’s birth set in motion the heavens and the earth. The Wise men were guided to His manger by a star. In Heaven, the Angels readied themselves to sing “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:14) On Earth, a census was taken which moved all people (Luke 2:1-7).

Our Gift to God

As I was wondering what I should write about this Christmas season, a thought occurred to me: “This was God’s gift to man, what should our gift to God be?” And the answer was obvious. I mean, God didn’t hold anything back when He designed our Salvation. He gave us His One and Only Son as an atonement for our sins. He died so we could live. Then why shouldn’t we live for Him?

Now don’t get me wrong, I know that we have already given our lives to Christ (hopefully) and that we are following Him as His disciples and all. What I am talking about is a conscious act of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices upon God’s altar as a gift.

In order to do so, we would have to consciously stand before God and declare with our mouths that we are totally and completely His from now on. We need to get up on our cross for the last time. We need to give up our lives willingly. His desires are our desires, His way is our way, His truth is our truth, His plans are our plans. On this Earth, we live for Him and we die for Him.

Crucified with Jesus

This would be the best gift that anyone could ever give to God. Let us ponder upon this during this season of giving. This decision will have an impact on our life here on Earth and in the coming life.

Thanks for stopping by and reading. Please let me know what you think in the comments section below. Please share the article if you have been touched by it.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!