Christian Living

Christian Living – Insights from God’s Word
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. - Ephesians 2:10

Christian Living – Spiritual Nourishment
Prayer: Jesus, I completely give You my life today -- to do with as You desire. I know with each passing day You make it possible for me to see Your purposes at work in my own life. I know You call to me, and I know You have equipped and designed every fiber of my being for just such a time as this. I also know I don’t always make the right decisions.

In spite of this, I am committed to trying -- with Your grace and mercy -- to live my life in the service of my King. To that end, I ask You to reveal Your purposes for my struggles and my victories -- and I ask You to help me with my timing issues.

The reality of my life is lived out every day. One way or another I either succeed or fail. With every choice I make, I have the opportunity to grow in my faith and trust. When I make the right choices, I somehow get through the muck and the mire -- and find myself breathing Your pure oxygen -- as I journey upwards toward Your kingdom realities and Your kingdom purposes.

Your Word lives and breathes in me. It is the spiritual nourishment I need to overcome and persevere -- and it is the source of my greatest joy. You have given me the greatest of privileges -- to make a difference for You -- and a difference in this world. Your ways -- while admittedly not easy have grown me and forever changed me. I have found a creativity I never knew I had. I have found a passion for life I can’t possibly explain. I have found profound moments of revelation (which I call "golden nugget" moments) and I have experienced Your Presence -- and in the experience -- found peace and joy.

With the beginning of this new day, Lord, I ask to be allowed to walk firmly on Your path. I pray Your ways, Your nature will become as natural to me as breathing. I pray Your Word will become an every day, practical reality -- as step by step You draw me closer and help me to scale the steepest mountain path without breaking a sweat. I know every decision I make along the way matters -- for better or for worse. I know many of my choices make no sense -- and seem often to be confusing and completely unrelated to other realities in my life.

Yet, day by day this path becomes clearer. My vision increases with each step and my passion increases. As I overcome I become that "contagious Christian" I want to be. I wish I could see clearly from Your perspective as I know this would answer all of my questions and heal all of my wounds -- but I also know this is a process and it will take some time.

This morning however, I settle for recognizing that the many challenges I face are designed by the Master Creator Himself -- intended to get me to a place I have yet to see. It is the journey of a lifetime -- in the truest sense of the word -- and I take great joy in knowing I have at least gotten this far.

As You grow me to become more like You, I can see how many opportunities You give me every day to become truly Christ-like. You have given me everything I need to succeed -- Your Word -- Christian brothers and sisters to journey with -- love in my life -- and hope for my future. With each new day that dawns You provide a way for me to remain strong in my faith -- growing in my trust -- and living in the hope of the kingdom to come -- experiencing Your will every day -- right here on good, planet earth.

So I take what You give me today, Jesus -- recognizing it is all about process -- as the seeds of my life take root and grow into a giant oak tree! I cannot see what I will one day become but I can trust You for the nourishment I need to grow -- as I live out the realities of Your Word in my every day life.

Take the good and the bad of my life today, Jesus -- and do with it as You will. Help me with my decisions, my emotions and thoughts -- and transform my mind to think as You think -- as Your truths take deep root in my inner man. To You be all the honor and the glory!

Christian Living – Making it Personal
Reflect: I have often spun my wheels trying to figure out the why of my circumstances -- only to come around the mountain one more time realizing I will never fully understand it all on this earth. I have learned -- often the hard way -- that the most important thing I can do is trust in Jesus, dig down deeper into His truths, and wait patiently on Him for His guidance and direction. With every experience I undergo, God is doing a work in me -- as He transforms my being and turns me into the person who gives Him pleasure by living a surrendered life. His Word is so rich -- and every new day is an opportunity to live it out practically -- where seeds are planted -- manifesting itself as the reality of Jesus’ character being expressed in us and in those we influence. Make today count -- today matters -- and in the end, the sum of all your todays will result in great rewards in heaven.