In 1 Chronicles 4:10, Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!” And God brought about what he requested.” Oh God, please bless me. How many times have you prayed that petition, for God to grow your life and expand your godly territory beyond the horizon (beyond our near sight and comfort-zone) to impact the kingdom of Heaven? This is the desire to reach out beyond yourself and expand your sphere of influence for Christ’s work and reach many with the Gospel salvation in this lost and dying world. Do you desire that right now? If we are Christ-following disciples, that should be our wish. God, guide my life and bless me to be a blessing to You, to those around me, and to those beyond my sight. Be with me in all that I do and keep me from trouble that I may be all that You want me to be.
In John 14:23, Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.” In times of trouble and pain, know that God is with us, having the peace that surpasses all understanding that only God can give us. Feel God’s presence, for He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He is with us every moment of our lives. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The Lord is with us when we are weak and when we are strong. We must realize the need the power of God in our lives to accomplish God’s will.
Powerful prayers have powerful life-changing results. We need to strive to do more of that. Do not be afraid of God, but know that He created you, knows you, loves you, and wants to hear from you. Do not be fearful of what others who do not know the Lord may take offense to. Prayer is a key part of every Christian’s life. Please allow those powerful prayers to be a part of your life.
Believing in God, that our almighty Maker is holy and just, that we have sinned against this Supreme Being of Heaven and Earth, who is perfectly pure, immaculate and complete in moral character, yet out of His love, mercy and grace sent His Son Jesus Christ to pay for our inequities with His life on the Cross as an atoning sacrifice to give us salvation, is justification and just the beginning of our walk with the Lord on this side of eternity.
Ephesians 1:19-2:10 explains, “what is the exceeding greatness of God’s power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Follow Jesus and grow more and more into the likeness of our Lord and Savior through the process of sanctification. Take the good news of the Gospel of Salvation within and beyond your boundaries as a child of God and an Ambassador of the kingdom of Heaven. Pray without ceasing. Bless others with the love of God and expose the darkness of sin by shining the light of Christ that those who do not know the Lord may find forgiveness at the foot of the Cross.
In Christ, Brian
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