December 28, 2012 – FILLED WITH CHRIST!
“And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:10-11).
Do you realize the potential and power that can be resident in us if we have invited the Lord Jesus Christ to OWN our life?” We are chosen by God to become like Him and build up His kingdom. He gifts us with spiritual understanding, knowledge, faith and everything we need to GLORIFY GOD AND LIVE OUR LIFE IN THE IMAGE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER AND CHRIST HIS SON. He shows us how to be filled with His righteousness and holiness and gives us the building blocks to build up His Kingdom on earth. God does not leave us helpless or without knowledge or power!! How does it all begin? It begins by seeking Almighty God with our whole heart, desiring to love and serve Him with our whole being, and by having no other gods before Him. We cannot please God when we choose to live in our flesh. “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8).
When we ask, He sends His Holy Spirit to put within us to “will and do” of His good pleasure. The voice, hands and feet are ours, but the unction and the power is from Almighty God. To “receive” we must “ask, seek, and knock” on the door of Him who makes us complete through His Spirit and puts His will, gifts and anointing in us. Abundant life begins when we are full of His Spirit and when we seek to fulfill God’s Purposes for “choosing us!” “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greets you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 4:12).
What awesome, supernatural opportunities and gifts of the Spirit we receive when we have surrendered our “all” to Him. There can be no greater experiences in life than fulfilling our God-given and chosen work!!!! The only way to taste of “heavenly things” is to be born-again of God’s Spirit!!!We see God accomplishing eternal works such as souls being saved, the sick healed, and Satan’s prisoners loosed. We see with our eyes awesome answers to prayer; Miracles become a part of our life, and we feel His Presence surround us. Our relationship with God becomes the all-consuming passion of our life. “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29).
I have people ask me why they do not have those experiences? I believe it is because they have not offered themselves completely to God for His glory and use, and they have never sought His “will and purposes” for their life. When we have given all of our love and devotion to Him, supernatural experiences begin. When Almighty God’s purposes become all important to us, our small, selfish world begins to embrace God’s world of love, works, and purposes. “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The Holy Spirit is crying out for God’s children to “awaken!!” We must prepare for God’s harvest time! How will the lost “hear” without being “told!” God has commanded us as His children to go forth and proclaim the GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! As we see the world around us filled with evil and getting worse and worse, we know that Christ is the only answer and God has chosen us to carry that answer to the world. “Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow — for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:12-14).
The awakening begins in us when we become a vessel purified for the Master’s use. The revelations of His thoughts and ways cannot begin, until through His Holy Spirit, we are emptied of self and filled with His Omnipotent power. Our new life in Christ is not for us to use to fulfill the desires and dreams of the flesh. However good our dreams may be, they cannot duplicate God’s power and eternal plans in us to fulfill His will and purposes!! It is only through the “will and purposes of God” being lived through our “being” THAT WE ARE ABLE TO show the world our Awesome God. The world cannot understand the things of God because they are spiritually discerned and that gift is only given to the Children of God. It is only the message of salvation that we carry to the world that can save the world from eternal death and destruction and bring spiritual understanding. To understand the Word of God, they must be born-again of the Spirit of God. Do we care that most of the peoples of the world are perishing before our eyes?. They dwell in darkness and we are the light that leads them to God. Is our light brighter every day? “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).
Only through Christ doing His miraculous life-saving works through us will the world see and comprehend the vital connection between God and man that can change their lives for eternity. Only through us will the world understand that God has an awesome plan for each person born into this world. God has chosen that only through our born-again experience of “becoming sons of God” that our message is filled with His power and becomes relevant. We must let the world hear and know that they can change their filthy garments for white linen (the righteousness of the saints), and change their final destinartion from hell to Heaven. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?” (Hebrews 2:3).
All mankind has been created to love and care for God’s creation and to reveal Christ to the world. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
We were born with responsibilities to God. Many are not doing their God-directed job of speaking forth the gospel to all creatures. If God owns no part of the heart of the sinners, He cannot do His work within them. No wonder the world is in shambles and overcome with works of the devil! There is absolutely no reason for Christians to be so weak—it only shows that Christ and the Holy Spirit has not gained full control of those who act mostly through their flesh and not through their spirit and faith in Christ. The great flaw in the body of Christ is “lack of caring for the lost!” If you saw your neighbor dying for lack of bread, you would supply them food. It is more necessary for every soul to hear and partake of God’s Spiritual Food (Truth). A death sentence is upon every man not born-again of the Spirit of God. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). And for this reason we must love and carry Christ’s message.
THE AWAKENING MUST BEGIN IN EACH OF US! Our lives must become “Christ-centered and Christ-glorified!” There is a mighty work to be done. Each of us must awaken to accomplish the purposes of God in our life. His purposes are activated by the Holy Spirit through our faith and trust in Christ. Christ left the Body of Christ with an unimaginable question: “… Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 8:18).
Christ must be our first and greatest love! All of our works flow from OUR love and FAITH in Him. OUR WORK AND DEMONSTRATIONS OF HIS LOVE TO OTHERS IS THE BAROMETER OF OUR LOVE AND DEDICATION TO HIM. The world is starving for the truth and the love of God to be seen through our lives. We must seek His will and empowerment to carry His truth and love and fully become the person He has called us to be. God’s purposes and daily plans for us are the most important issues in life. If we obey and follow Him daily, our lives will be filled with His love and blessings. In the measure we give to God, He will measure to us His miracles and blessings.
Let us pray: Oh God, awaken me that I might awaken the world! Let me see as You see the world around me! May my heart be one with yours and the works of my lips and hands be Your works. Send me forth with the burdens of Your heart! Dear God, re-arrange my life to bring forth Your purposes. May I always be a blessing and glorify You. Change my attitudes and thoughts that do not exalt You. Make me like Your Son. Show me clearly my mistakes and help me learn quickly the lessons You are teaching me. Thank you, dearest Lord. Amen.
