Faithful Fitness

Faithful Fitness (Updated)


'Faithful Fitness' was originally posted on this site on January 13, 2013.  This is an updated version of that original post.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.


Making healthy choices on a consistent basis is a significant challenge for many of us. The world offers many temptations in the form of food (comfort), amusement (distractions) and substances (escape) that can degrade or destroy our physical, emotional and spiritual health. Unfortunately, many Christians struggle with these issues just as much as those without Christ.

The real issue here is a spiritual one! We seek comfort and satisfaction in ‘things’ that are not capable of meeting our most fundamental need: intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

We will never achieve sustainable

victory over these temptations

if we battle them in the

perceived strength of our own abilities.

The core concepts of Faithful Fitness are intended to focus on the whole person: spirit, soul and body!

• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ideally these concepts are applied to all areas of life:

• Relationships – To God, spouse, children, family, friends, enemies, coworkers, acquaintances, etc.
• Responsibilities – As a Christian, spouse, parent, family member, friend, employee, citizen, etc.
• Rest – Found in prayer, meditation on God’s Word, downtime, sleep, fun, vacation, hobbies, etc.

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


Faithful Fitness is a Christ centered approach to making healthy choices about life. A significant component of this approach is to honor God by taking care of our bodies. This is very important because our bodies were created by God in His image (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-14).

Three Biblical principles form the foundation for healthy, balanced, God honoring choices:

Tending the Temple
Our bodies are an amazing creation of God. God dwells inside every Christian; He expects us to take care of His temple.

• As Christians, unhealthy choices are disrespectful and dishonoring to God. We make decisions that don’t reflect reality; our bodies don’t belong to us, they belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:20).
• Christians are the temple of God. When we defile our bodies, we are defiling the temple of God. There are serious consequences for neglecting or abusing our bodies (2 Corinthians 6:16).
• 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Tending the Temple means caring for our bodies

as the holy temples of God that they are.

Demonstrated Discipline
When we commit to doing something intended to honor God, He expects us to do it.

• The wrong approach to honoring God is to rely on our own will power, determination or strength. We are to submit to God and succeed by His grace and power (2 Corinthians 12:9).
• We must be disciplined in our pursuit of God and our commitments to Him. God will reward our faithfulness (Hebrews 11:6). Discipline in our promises to God avoids His discipline.
• James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

Demonstrated Discipline means

honoring our commitments to God, no excuses.

Reasonable Restraint
God created us with the capacity to experience great pleasure. However, some things are strictly forbidden by God. For other things, excessive indulgence or impulsive behavior becomes sinful.

• The problem is, sometimes after we enjoy a ‘taste’ of something, we do not keep a God honoring view of what is reasonable and what is extreme (James 1:14-15).
• It is OK for some people to enjoy occasional, moderate treats (a special desert or snack, extra portion of a food you ‘love’, etc.) The key is not going overboard or getting off track. Each person, based on their relationship with God, must determine their own limits (Romans 14).
• Proverbs 25:28 Whoever has no rule over his own spirit Is like a city broken down, without walls.

Reasonable Restraint means

satisfying our cravings in Christ

and adhering to God honoring limits.

Matthew 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”


In the weakness of our flesh, we all fall short. But in His strength and for His glory, we can live a God honoring life.

Keys to Success

• Rely on God for success, not yourself.
• Recognize God’s sovereignty, but don’t relinquish your responsibilities.
• Pray, read your Bible, serve others, be accountable to other Christians: repeat, repeat …
• Don’t compromise: God doesn’t, you shouldn’t either.
• Set realistic goals and boundaries.

Dangers to Avoid

• Vanity – the healthier you get, the better you look and feel. The better you look and feel, the more you focus on yourself rather than God.
• Guilt – stumbles become excuses to compromise and get focused on yourself.
• Pride – Losing your focus on God and giving yourself credit for the good things He has done in your life.
• During the course of everyday life, forgetting that your body is His temple.
• Taking breaks from your commitments or temporarily ignoring the boundaries you have set.

Romans 12:1 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.


Prayer

Faithfull Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that Your Word, Your Truths, and the power of Your Spirit will encourage and enable many to live a life of Faithful Fitness for Your Glory! Replace the guilt, shame and frustration that result from our failures with the peace, joy and love that reside in Your presence. Amen.

According to Your Word

According to Your Word


Do you have a phrase, saying, quote or slogan that pretty much sums up your view on life? If so, you may frequently find yourself ‘using’ it when someone is telling you about their problems, complaining about someone else or challenging your position on something. Those who know you well will associate this phrase with you (they’ve heard you say it many times over the years). If your friends or family members hear someone else use the same phrase, they will immediately think of you.

Occasionally people use these phrases when trying to sound witty or to express genuine concern; other times they are just being rude, indifferent or blunt. But regardless of the motivation or circumstance, more often than not, these recurring pronouncements can provide true insight into a person’s attitudes and/or beliefs.

How many of the dozen examples below can you directly associate with someone you know?

• You can’t keep a good man down.
• Rules were made to be broken.
• Every cloud has a silver lining.
• You better take care of yourself, nobody else will.
• Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger.
• When you get knocked down, you better get back up.
• Lead, follow or get out of the way.
• Don’t cry over spilt milk.
• If you’re gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.
• It takes two to tango.
• Honesty is the best policy.
• It’s my way or the highway.

What does each one of these phrases mean to you? Do you say one of these or something similar on a regular basis? What does is communicate to others when you do so? If you end up on the receiving end of someone else using one of the phrases, you may feel encouraged, frustrated, hurt, supported, enlightened, disregarded, accepted, disillusioned, etc. 


When the angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to be the virgin mother of Jesus, the Son of God, her response included a very powerful phrase.

• Luke 1:38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Although Mary was speaking directly to Gabriel, her response was directed toward God. In a beautiful demonstration of heartfelt surrender, she was saying, ‘Since God is my Lord and I am His slave, whatever He says is what I want!’ And since our Lord selected her to be Christ’s mother, I think I can safely presume that this phrase really did reveal the desire of her heart to live in a way that was pleasing to God.

Mary’s slogan was, 'According to Your Word.’


The primary points emphasized in Psalm 119 are contemplations, confidence, comfort and completeness connected to the Word of God. And although we are not certain who wrote the 119th Psalm, the author expressed the same sentiment as Mary. With that focus, speaking directly to the Lord, the psalmist used the phrase ‘according to Your word’ twelve times in 176 verses (NKJV).

How many of the twelve verses below should we be applying directly and consistently to our lives?

Psalm 119:

• 9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
• The path to holiness is attentiveness to and application of God’s Word!
• 25 My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
• When you feel like life isn’t worth living, ask God to restore your life by the truths from His Word!
• 28 My soul melts from heaviness; Strengthen me according to Your word.
• If you are grieving over sin in your life, God’s Word can lift you above your guilt!
• 41 Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord— Your salvation according to Your word.
• We all need God’s kindnesses, we are rescued by His Word!
• 58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart; Be merciful to me according to Your word.
• When you beg for God’s favor, His pity is connected to the promises in His Word!
• 65 You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word.
• As you acknowledge blessings from your Lord, don’t act surprised; His Word repeatedly declares His love for you!
• 76 Let, I pray, Your merciful kindness be for my comfort, According to Your word to Your servant.
• Seek comfort from your Master, pray for the true rest found in God’s grace as expressed in His Word!
• 107 I am afflicted very much; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
• When you are suffering, ask God to enable you to live the life that He promises in His Word for His children!
• 116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
• When life is hard, ask God to carry you with the power of His Word; and openly rejoice as He does!
• 154 Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.
• Ask the Lord to stand with you and set you free, eternal life is found in His Word!
• 169 Let my cry come before You, O Lord; Give me understanding according to Your word.
• Humble yourself before the Lord and ask Him to hear you, ask for understanding as you contemplate His Word!
• 170 Let my supplication come before You; Deliver me according to Your word.
• Pray that God will listen to your requests, but trust that He will act according to His Word! 

God often uses repetition

to reinforce our understanding and

to reemphasize certain truths.

 

Could, ‘According to Your Word’

be the phrase that people need to hear

repeatedly coming from you?

Prayer

Heavenly Father: save us, guide us, equip us, protect us, provide for us and use us, according to Your Word. May we live faithfully, according to Your Word. Empower us to live a life that glorifies Your Name according to Your Word. May the lost be found according to Your Word. I pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

 

  

Be Mine

Be Mine


Every year on the 14th of February many people around the world formally celebrate love.  Flowers, cards, candy and gifts are exchanged. Children send cards and flowers to their mothers. Mother’s shower their children with love (and candy). Young children exchange cards with classmates. For couples, romance is in the air! They enjoy candlelit dinners at home, a favorite restaurant, or perhaps somewhere reserved only for very special occasions. This is the day for poetry, love letters, singing, dancing and well, you know, LOVE!

But when we peel back the layers of joyful, genuine, spontaneous, fun, traditional, expected, obligatory, resentful, forgotten and intentionally neglected declarations, deeds and donations that commemorate affection based solely on feelings, what we find is difficult to reconcile. The truth about love doesn’t align with the empty promises of literature, movies and societal disguises. Chronic disappointment, broken heartedness, cheating, lying, divorce, neglect, abuse, sadistic pleasure, domestic violence, murder and suicide are all devastating realities associated with many, if not most, of the love relationships that rely on finding satisfaction in another person’s words and actions. It is rare to find a family not touched by at least one, if not several, of these ‘love’ related tragedies.

But there is hope!

There is a man named Jesus that wants to have a love relationship with you. The love He offers is not based on feelings or empty promises. Jesus offers perfect love. The best description of perfect love is found in the Christian Bible (the Word of God).

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verses 1-3, we learn that no matter what you do, no matter what you have, and no matter what you give, without perfect love it is all worthless.

Continuing in verses 4-7, God tells us what perfect love is, what it is not, what it does and what it does not do:

Love Is

• Patient
• Kind

Love Does

• Celebrate Truth
• Protect
• Believe
• Hope
• Endure

Love Is Not

• Arrogant
• Rude
• Easily Provoked

Love Does Not

• Envy
• Brag
• Want its Own Way
• Dwell on Evil
• Celebrate Sin

And finally, in verses 8-13, God tells us that love is Permanent, Perfect, Powerful and Preeminent.

The rest of the Bible helps us to more deeply understand and appreciate God’s perfect love.

How can Jesus offer this perfect love?

• Because Jesus is perfect. He is the only person to ever live a sinless life.
• That means Jesus never offended God. He never fell short of God’s standards or rebelled against God’s principles and requirements.

How is that possible?

• Because Jesus is also God.
• The God of the universe is one God who exists and reveals Himself as three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Ghost.

Jesus, God the Son, came to earth as a man to sacrifice himself on a Roman cross to pay the debt for our offences against God the Father. Then Jesus rose from the dead to substantiate His claims of deity and to defeat our enemies Satan and death. He did all this in the power of God the Spirit.

Regardless of what you may have heard or seen in others, being a Christian is not about rules; it is about a love relationship with Jesus Christ. This love relationship leads to changed thinking and behavior.

Read the following verses from the Bible while asking God to open your heart to the truth.

• John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
• 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
• Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
• Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
• Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
• Romans 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
• 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Jesus is calling you. He is saying, ‘Be Mine.’

• If you have never heard of Him – trust Him now as your Lord and Savior.
• Pray – Jesus, I understand that I have offended God by falling short of His standards. I believe that You willingly died for my sins because as God You love me perfectly. I ask you to forgive my sins and I trust You now as my Lord and Savior. I claim Your promises of a changed life on earth and eternal life in Heaven. I surrender my life to You and pray in Your precious name, Amen.
• If you have rejected Him in the past – beg Him to forgive you and to save you from your sin.
• Pray – Jesus, I am sorry for rejecting You in the past. Thank You for revealing Yourself to me through Your Word and Your Spirit. Thank You for sustaining my life since I last heard and rejected Your truth.  I understand that I have offended God by falling short of His standards. I believe that You willingly died for my sins because as God You love me perfectly. I ask you to forgive my sins and I trust You now as my Lord and Savior. I claim Your promises of a changed life on earth and eternal life in Heaven. I surrender my life to You and pray in Your precious name, Amen.
• If you are His child but not walking with Him – turn from whatever is drawing you away and run to Him.
• Pray – Jesus, please strengthen me and give me victory over the things in my life that have caused me to turn from You. I long for Your presence in my life and ask You to forgive me. Please give me a hunger for Your Word and a desire to serve You faithfully. I pray in the power of Your name, Amen.
• If you are walking daily with Jesus – hold tight to His love and His truths. Depend on His strength for your endurance.
• Pray – Jesus, I know that only by Your presence and the power of the Holy Spirit am I walking faithfully with You. Your grace and mercy amaze me each and every day. I beg You to keep me close to You and faithful to Your calling on my life. I praise You my precious Savior and pray in Your name, Amen.

When you become a Christian by surrendering to the Lordship of Christ you become a living temple of God. With God dwelling in you, the Holy Spirit empowers you to live a life that glorifies God. One of the amazing truths about truly surrendering your life to God is that you can learn how to love with God's perfect love.

• 1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
• 1 John 4:15-16 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

In the frailty of our humanity we always fall short of the perfect standards set by God. But with the truth of His Word, the example Jesus has set for us, and with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, even in our weaknesses individual Christians and Christ's body of believers (the Church) can show God, other Christians and the rest of the world the hope found in perfect love.

• Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
• John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
• Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

There is hope for healthy, peaceful and lasting love relationships. Sacrificial love based on God honoring values, decisions and commitments brings healing and stability to families, communities and the world.

Our hope for love is found in Jesus Christ!


Prayer

Father, may Your will be done with this devotion. I trust You and the power of Your Word. I pray in the name above all names, Jesus. Amen.

 

  

Conversations With God

Conversations With God


We call the Bible the ‘Living Word’. This is very appropriate because one of the ways God speaks to us is through His Word. In the Holy Scriptures, He teaches, advises, loves, warns, and so much more!!

The more we read the Bible and gain insight into how it all fits together, we begin to see more clearly the perfect love God has for man. Much of the Bible can be viewed as conversations between God and man. ‘Listening’ to these conversations we begin to see and appreciate God’s heart and intent; we start to see beyond the words to the deep truths and meaning behind them. This understanding is a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Below is an example of this ‘conversational concept’.  This conversation between the author of Psalm 119 and God didn’t really happen. But looking at the meaning and context of all of scripture, this could represent a conversation between God and any Christian.


The Psalmist Speaks to God

‘God, I wanted to let you know what I am about to do and how I am going to do it.’

• Psalm 119:26a I have declared my ways, and You answered me;

God Answers the Psalmist

‘I Am very glad you decided to talk to Me about this; I have some things I really need to tell you.’

• Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

‘Do you understand why am I telling you this?’

• Proverbs 16:25 25 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.

‘I have a unique perspective on your situation.’

• Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

‘It is important that you listen, I really do know what I am talking about.’

• Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.

‘I have a plan and there is a really good reason for everything I do.’

• Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

‘So keep in mind, whatever you chose to do, My Will shall be accomplished.’

• Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

‘If you accept and obey what I tell you, things will go really well for you.’

• Isaiah 55:12-13 “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

‘Please trust Me in this. I love you and only want the best for you!’

• Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

The Psalmist Responds to God

‘Lord and Master, thank You for sharing Your truths with me.’

• Psalm 119:26b-27 Teach me Your statutes. 27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts; So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.

In the New Testament we often see repetition and reiteration of the truths in the Old Testament. In the Book of James we get an instructional reemphasize of the truths presented in the ‘conversation’ above.

• James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Beyond this very moment, we really don’t know what God has in store for us. We are to live our lives with a ‘If the Lord wills’ attitude. Seek to understand His will (desire) through conversations with Him:

• Those you have through prayer.
• Those you find while reading His Word.

When you seek God’s Will through His Word,

You really need to heed what you read.

 

Rebellion against the

Concepts, principles, restrictions and requirements

Presented in God’s Word is sin!

Prayer

Father, thank You for presenting Your truth through Your Word in such a way that we can read it as a conversation; a conversation between a loving Father and His children (us). I pray that Your Words of truth touch many hearts and change many lives. I love You and praise You in the name above all names, Jesus. Amen.

 

  

God With Us

God With Us


Do you ever feel disconnected from God? Are the problems, struggles and disappointments that come with living in this crazy world causing you to feel that God is somewhere ‘up there’ but that He is in no way a part of your daily life? Regardless of how you may feel, as a Christian, God is always with you!

Certainly Joseph felt alone, confused and disillusioned when He found out that, although they had never ‘come together’, Mary was going to have a baby. He was a just man; but this was unforgivable. Surely he felt justified in the decision to end the relationship with the woman betrothed to him. But while Joseph was thinking deeply about all this he fell asleep. Then an angel came to Joseph in a dream and explained that Mary had not been unfaithful. The angel told Joseph who the baby growing inside Mary really was; the Son of God, Jesus, the long awaited Savior (see Matthew 1:18-21).

Then we learn that Jesus’ birth was foretold by a prophet of God hundreds of years before (Isaiah 7:14). We also learn that Jesus is ‘God with us’!

• Matthew 1:22-23 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

‘God with us’ is something we continue to struggle with; attempting to fully comprehend this unfathomable truth. The creator of the universe took the form of a man and lived in and among His creation. God had previously displayed His visible glory throughout the history of the Jewish Nation (the burning bush (Exodus 13), crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14), at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19 & 20), in the tabernacle (Exodus 40), in the temple (2 Chronicles 7), etc.). He even temporarily empowered certain people with His Spirit (Judges 6:34). But to actually live among His people?


Imagine how John the Baptist must have felt when He saw Jesus.

• John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

How did it impact Peter when God revealed to him just who Christ was?

• Matthew 16:18-17 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Some saw His heavenly glory.

• Matthew 17:1-3 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

Yet they interacted with Him as a man.

• 1 John 1:1-2 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

These men, and many others, understood exactly who Jesus was: God is the flesh!

• John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
• Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Many even had the privilege of seeing Jesus after He rose from the dead.

• 1 Corinthians 15:4-8 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
• See also Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20-21

Although we haven’t yet had the privilege of seeing Jesus in the flesh, He promised blessings on those who believe on Him anyway.

• John 20:29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus even prayed for us!

• John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;

As Christians, one of our greatest blessing is to know that God (the Father, Son and Holy Ghost) is always with us.

God Is

Around Us
God is Always Everywhere

• Psalm 139:7-10 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.
• See also Amos 9:2-4

In Us
Individually – As Believers

• John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
• 1Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
• 2 Corinthians 1:22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Corporately – As His Church

• 2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
• Ephesians 2:22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

On Us
As Our Spiritual Armor

• Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
• In Ephesians 6:14-17, Christians are told what spiritual armor to wear (by the way, we are never told to take it off). This armor consist of the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, Shoes Prepared with the Gospel, the Shield of Faith, the Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God).
• Other verses of scripture reveal who our spiritual armor is – Jesus Christ!!
• Truth – John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
• Righteousness – 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
• Gospel – 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, … 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
• Faith – Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
• Salvation – Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
• Word – John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

God was prophesied to be with us. God came in the flesh and lived among us. And as Christ ascended to Heaven at the completion of His first coming, He made a promise to always be with us!

• Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

The presence of God in the life of a believer

does not depend on our feelings;

 

It is guaranteed based on the

truth, authority and power of His Word!!!

Prayer

Father, I pray that the promises in Your Word to always be with us will bring Christians enduring peace and comfort. I also pray that these same promises will draw those who are not Christians into a personal relationship with You where they are completely surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your grace, mercy and love. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.