Believers Have Eternal Life

1 John 5:1, 11-12

Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him…And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hat not the Son of God hath not life.

Our scripture text makes it very plain the reward for believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior, which is eternal life. Eternal life carries the benefit of living forever in the presence of God. To have this eternal life one must first come to Christ by genuine faith that He is God’s Son who came to earth to die for the sins of the world. The other connotation is love for God as all believers are begotten (born) of the Father-God. Love is a necessary commodity in this relationship because God first loved us when we didn’t love Him. With that being said, then faith and love are inseparable commodities in being born of God. The question now becomes, How does one get this love? Romans 5:5 provide the answer by stating that believers receive God’s love from the Holy Spirit who is God.
Allow me to say that eternal life has an intertwined relationship as the believer abides in Christ He abides in the believer (John 15:4).
Eternal life is in Jesus Christ abide in Him.

Today's discussion is taken from my monthly devotional Heaven Bread that available through Amazon.com, all major book stores and author's website.

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know The Will Of God

Isaiah 53:10

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
The Will of God is sometimes defined as the law of God, sometimes referred to as His perfect will and sometimes referred to what God permits or allows to happen, which is often time referred to as His permissive will (KJV commentary P 1066).

Let us look at the Will of God and His law as it relates to His instructions for man's godly living. Theses instructions can be found in His Word-the Bible. The Ten Commandments are perfect examples of God’s law as they are designed for us to live by.
The perfect Will of God is what He desires for His people. His perfect will is that all mankind be saved (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9); although He knew that many were not going to be saved as they will refuse to hear and adhere to His word.

Lastly, the permissive will of God is what He allows to happen as He made man a free will agent; meaning man has the right to choose salvation and spend eternity with God or refuse salvation and spend eternity separated from Him. The continuance of sin is God’s permissive will and He will eradicate sin at His appointed time.
We know God’s will through studying His Word and responding to His Word.

Today's discussion is taken from my monthly devotion.
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Regeneration

John 3:3

….Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God;

Regeneration is the spiritual rebirth for all believers as this is the foundational teaching of the Christian faith. Our scripture text tells us that without regeneration we cannot see the kingdom of God; therefore, regeneration is necessary for the believer to enter into God's kingdom.
Why is regeneration necessary? Let's look at the following:
1. Prior to regeneration we were all sinners and were spiritually dead because of sin (Romans 6:23) and lacked the ability to live for and pleasing to God. The regenerated believer has been freed from a life of bondage because of sin to a life of spiritual freedom where heaven is now the believer's final destination.
2. Regeneration represents a repentant heart one that have turned to God as there has been a transformation (Romans 12:1-2). Regeneration restores a broken fellowship between the believer and God; therefore, the regenerated believer can now live in obedience to God and His commandments.
3. The regenerated believer have accepted Christ as his or her personal Savior (v. 16) and His atoning works and now have the indwelling presence of God-the Holy Spirit residing in each of us to aid in our faith journey.
Rebirth is a new beginning; have you had your new beginning today?
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The Redeemed

1 Peter 1:18-19; Titus 2:14

The term redeem means to buy back, to free from something or someone, or to pay a price for (1 Chronicles 17:22; Galatians 3:13), but for today's discussion we will focus on Christ's redemptive work on behalf of mankind. Christ's death on the cross at Calvary paid our sin death which freed us from the bondage of sin where we were destined to spend eternity separated from our creator God the Father. Thank God for Jesus Christ and His atoning work that freed us so that all who accept Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior have spiritual freedom as our destination has changed from eternal separation from God to eternal life with God. What a difference?

Titus 2:14 tell us that Christ shed His blood on Calvary's cross for these reasons (1) We are redeemed from all wickedness which changed our desire to defy God to one of obedience to God, which includes living according to God's holiness. (2) Christ redeemed us so that we become holy and a peculiar people who have separated him or herself from the world and its wickedness. (3) Lastly, the redeemed become members of God's royal priesthood as we are sons of God.

Let the redeemed of the Lord sing praises unto His holy name because we have been bought with the precious blood of Christ-our redeemer.

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Justified By His Grace

Romans 3:24

Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

What does it mean to be justified in Christ Jesus? It means that through God's grace and Christ's death on the cross all who believe have been found not guilty of his or her sins. This is because when God looks at His children He sees the righteousness of Christ in us.
All believers' justification is grounded in Christ's finished work at Calvary and it is through His redemptive blood that believers are made right with God. Our justification by God is directly related to His forgiveness of our sins (Romans 3:23), and Christ's atoning death and resurrection (Romans 3:25) and we have been given eternal life (Romans 6:23; 8:1-3).
Therefore, our justification cost God His Son and Jesus His life in redeeming us back to the Father, but thank God for Sunday morning and a risen Savior-Jesus. Our Savior is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercessions of us.
I am free, I am free, thank God I am free! Christ's atoning works has freed me from sin.

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Faith Walk

2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, not by sight:

Hebrews 11:1 provides the definition of faith and the entire chapter gives us testimonies of old patriarch saints who lived by faith which was their belief in Jesus Christ. Therefore, in short the definition of faith is our trust in God in every situation or another way of expressing faith is our belief in God. However, I like to define faith as seeing the invisible as though it was visible, which incorporate Hebrews' definition.
What is the morning message? Simply trust God in every situation while seeing the invisible as though it has manifested itself in the natural. This is because God will work things out for our good (what is best for us) in His time. Simply ask Him for strength to endure and with Holy Spirit's power residing within we can persevere. We are never out of God's reach, there is not situation He can't solve and His presence is always near. So, walk on in faith.
Faith the size of a mustard seed we can do great things.

Expressions Of Gratitude

Jonah 2:9; 2 Corinthians 4:15' Isaiah 12:5

Let's begin today's discussion with these questions, How do you express gratitude for what the Lord has done in your life? Is there daily praises of thanksgiving for Him waking you each morning and allowing you to have activities of your limbs, clothed in your right mind? Do you stop and say thank You Lord for Your deliverance? He provided salvation-deliverance. God delivers us form every sticky situation. How thankful are you?

Continuous praise is the order of the day for He is worthy to be praised.
Allow me to continue raising questions to reflect on our expressions of gratitude with the following questions. Are you like the ten lepers whom Jesus healed and only one returned to say thank You (Luke 17:11-18). Have you ever stopped to think what would happen if God turned off His air condition or shut off the air that is ncessary for all life? Life as we know it would cease to exist. Lord, thank You for Your grace and mercy which endureth for ever and for that I am grateful as all of the redeemed of the Lord say so (Psalm 107:1-2). Do we say like Jonah 2:9, I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that I have vowed-salvation. It is noteworthy to say that the more we offer praises to God He showers us with more blessings. Isn't God good?

Let's close this discussion by saying, I don't know how you praise God, but for me I join Isaiah 12:5 in saying I will sing praises unto the Lord, for He hath done excellent things and this is known in all the earth (partial paraphrase). I will praise You early in the morning and late at night.
Praise God! Praise God for He is worthy of all praises!

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Godly Leaders

John 10:11

Today's discussion is taking a reflective look at the character traits of God's godly leaders whom He strategically placed to lead His people and declare His Word. For example, Moses walked closely with God until God called him friend. We know David was a man after God's own heart. King Solomon was a wise man, Nehemiah totally believed in prayer and before undertaking his assignment he prayed and Jeremiah was so concerned about the nation's sins until he wept. Peter, James, John and Christ other disciples left their respective occupations to become fishers of men. What about Paul? Paul preached Christ regardless of his situation, condition or even if he was prison bounded.

The question now becomes, What do God's leaders have in common? The commonality among all God's called leaders both then and now is their love for God and obedience to their assigned tasks (calling). Godly leaders are the under shepherds and Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd and His leaders are to emulate Him. Just as Christ cares for His sheep godly leaders have this same character trait. I am reminded of the phrase that says "how beautiful of the feet of those who preach the gospel of Christ."

This question begs an answer, Are all godly leaders' pastors? No because there are many other leaders who are not pastors, but is being used by God to carry forth His message of salvation to lost souls of this world. God's Word is being shared.

Let's conclude today's discussion by saying today's godly leaders has dedicated his or herself to carrying God's message to a sinful nation because we know that the God in us is greater than the "god" in this world. Join me in prayer for all godly leaders, pray for our strength as we remain obedient to God's call.
Godly leaders are a precious commodity.

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