Worry is self-talk. Prayer is talking to God. Stop talking to your self and start talking to God. Worry is not only wasted effort, it is self destructive. Worry is sin, the opposite of faith. But praying we experience a peace of mind that only comes through trusting Christ with every circumstance. Stop worrying. Pray.
This is what we believe, that the Resurrected One will return and our bodies will be changed to be like His. Christ is the firstborn (prototokos) from among the dead, the prototype. Those who believe will have a glorious body like His! Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
We sometimes struggle with questions of fairness. We ask,”Why do good people suffer, while bad people prosper?” Our question implies that God isn’t fair. That He has somehow taken His eye off the ball and allowed injustice to happen. We suffer from a limited perspective. We don’t see how things will end. But God does. Trust Him with judgment. He hasn’t missed a thing. Ultimately, no one will doubt His justice.
Since God (has done/is doing/will do) a work in us, we must work out what He is working in. God gives us a physical muscle, but we must work it out. In the same way, when we believe, God does a work in us that gives us both the “desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” Now, it is up to us to work out of that which He has worked in us. We can exercise our faith and yield to the Spirit, so that God’s work in us becomes obvious to all. Start flexing your spiritual muscles!
The Apostle Paul encouraged the believers at Philippi with this word about God’s continuing work in our salvation. The work of God in us not only has justified us, it is sanctifying us and will one day bring us to glory with Christ. We lean on Christ not only for our salvation, but for our following and working. We depend on Him for all.
Yet God has revealed His thinking to us through the Scriptures. And when we are born again, we have the Spirit which gives us the “mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) to understand God’s revelation. Even so, since God is infinite in wisdom, it would take eternity for us to meditate on His thoughts and to plumb the depths of His knowledge. Lord, teach us to set our minds on Your thoughts, thinking on things as You do.
Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy found in ch.53 never ceases to astound. God gave him such a specific preview of Christ as the Suffering Servant that takes away the sins of the world. Reading it afresh today, I would believe again were I not already believing. I would be saved again, were I not already saved. Thank you Lord Jesus for your fulfillment of Scripture and for suffering in our place!
In Christ, we have the power to choose which set of clothes to wear today. Do we wear the old stinky clothes of our former life? Or do we put on the clean sweet-smelling garments of our new life in Christ? Seems an easy choice, yet we often choose the former. What have you picked out to wear today?
Many in our world today strive and labor to fill their homes with beautiful decor and modern technology. But do they spend any energy on filling them with hospitality, or faith, or prayer, or love? What kind of house are you building?
Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know the fulness of the Godhead, that Father, Son and Spirit would give them inner power, assurance and strong love. We can learn from Paul how to pray Trinitarian prayers that move us to deeper understanding.