I heard a song on Christian radio that I had never heard before and a couple of lines took root in my heart: - -
“If you have Jesus your soul has more wealth than acres of diamonds and mountains of gold.” Everything minus Jesus equals nothing. Nothing plus Jesus equals everything. With deep gratitude we should live and exalt in the abundant riches we have in Christ Jesus.
The character of the Christian Life is “not I but Christ”. To be filled with the overwhelming desire to satisfy the heart of God. If you are filled with self-satisfaction, which is self-righteousness, you have made yourself an idol and you are guilty of the idolatry of self-worship. All your thoughts and interests focus on yourself. Genuine humility is not to think less of yourself because you are (2 Corinthians 5:17) a new creature of God in Christ Jesus. We are not to think less of the self, God is newly creating us to be. It is not to think less of self but to think of self less often.
Jesus did not die my death. I was already spiritually dead and could not become any more dead than I was. Sinless perfect Jesus chose to obey God and be made (2 Corinthians 5:21) what I was in order that I could become what He is, the very righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
As we grow and mature in our Christian life, we receive many good and perfect gifts from (James 1:17) the Father of all that gives light. He gives always and only good and perfect gifts. I can pray for Kingdom Authority and other good gifts, which God gives to use in my life of prayer. King Jesus is a magnificent and authentic model, in His humanity, of what our lives are to be on earth. The life Jesus lives in believers is not a copy. It is Jesus Himself living His very Life in and through us. That is the one and only Christian Life. Nothing we can do of ourselves - - we can only surrender to His will, His way and His timing in every aspect of our lives, moment by moment, and we become continually more like Jesus. Then as we pray, we sense that our prayers are being formed by the throb of the great heart of God.
To be heart-to-heart one with God means that I will be dominated by the Lord alone and will have increasing Kingdom Authority as I pray for any person, any situation, any nation anywhere in the world. Jesus said (John 14:12) that we would do greater works. The greater works are mostly accomplished through prayer. I am so thankful that God’s all-powerful energy still operates in every den of lions as in every firey furnace. Faith (Hebrews 11:1) is being fully confident God’s promises which haven’t happened yet are as certain as history. Actually, they are history just waiting for the right time to happen. I know with full assurance that God Sovereignly controls every detail throughout the universe now and forever. I also know with full assurance that God is in complete control of every detail of my life each and every day. This assurance is my Rock of refuge for all that happens in this fallen world.
When Jesus healed the leper (Luke 5:13-14) He told him to go to a specific place and do a specific thing. The Lord does not give us strength and enabling power to go and to do, He gives us strength and enabling power as we go and do in obedience to His bidding. It was as they went (Luke 17:14) that the ten lepers were healed.
God has declared (Isaiah 46:10) the end from the beginning, the beginning of all things which He had originally ordained as we worship, obey, praise our glorious Sovereign God, wonders will never cease in our lives.