"Thank you God for your grace, mercy, and peace through and in our Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for the constant HOPE we have in Him! Thank you for the Lord's Perfect Blood that has cleansed away all our sins!"
There is the PERFECT centerpiece to salvation. The centerpiece is not a what, but WHO - Jesus Christ.
Like on a table, if we place a centerpiece to the side, it's not a centerpiece! So when we view the table, our eyes may fall somewhere to the side, perhaps in the middle but we're not seeing the centerpiece because it's pushed over to the side.
To "see" Jesus Christ is to have the perfect view meant by God; to understand our perfect place in Him resulting in Perfect Peace. When our Lord is not in view as the CENTER of all things, the result is many things contrary and against WHO HE is.
Another analogy is the ground under our feet. We need to praise God when it seems like the ground we've been walking on crumbles! The only ground that is SOLID is a renewed mind in Christ Jesus. Our ideas, beliefs, misconceptions - you name it - does not carry us at all! This is shakable ground. So when the ground shakes, the feet slide, slip and stumble.
"...rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith." Colossians 2:7
Again, it is good when things shake in our lives here on this earth. How can I say this? Because I've had lots of things shake and shake resulting in God's desire to have Christ formed in my heart - and His work in us is to conform us to His Son. God wants to teach us CHRIST in us, our hope of glory who is UNSHAKEABLE ground. He is teaching us Christ within to be our all and all and hope of glory in our lives - in all things!
We are learning dependence, the mind of Christ in all things, the sufficiency of HIM, not ourselves. We are all being conformed to the SAME PERSON - Christ Jesus.
Yesterday, I was confronted with an opportunity to let my mind wander into thoughts of presumption, false perception, and reaction. By God's grace and strength of His Holy Spirit, I caught myself. I thought, "Now here's an opportunity to press into God and receive the mind of Christ." We are constantly receiving from Him ALL things pertaining to life and godliness. We are NOT separate entities as though we live out of our own thoughts and purposes, but we are united in HIM by one Spirit to live and do and move ALL according to God in ALL things. "...being strengthened with ALL might by His Spirit in the inner man - comprehending with ALL the saints the length, breadth, height, depth..." Ephesians 3
So what happened? I waited and did receive from the Lord His thoughts - He granted me the right information (a/k/a TRUTH) and the result was and is always, "To be carnally minded is death (independence); but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (dependence on Christ within and His Spirit). Romans 8:6
We are vessels. Vessels are just that - vessels. We contain CHRIST, our hope of Glory. We are ALL to KNOW HIM, be dependent on HIM at all times. If competition and comparison are our routines, we have not yet fully learned the Gospel of our Salvation, WHO is CHRIST in us, our HOPE of GLORY!
My, my how AWESOME God's SALVATION is: We get to discover the FULLNESS of HIM in these mortal jars of clay - we get to be DEAD to sin, dead to independence, dead to this world (under the sway of Satan), and ALIVE to God in Christ Jesus - partakers of HIM and HIS LIFE dwelling in us.
And one thing I know for sure: We cannot force things in ourselves and others. It's not about "FORCING!" It's about ALLOWING CHRIST to be formed in us - for He alone is absolutely REAL and FRUITFUL and HIS LIFE in us truly produces. Then we know the fullness of joy because we know Him.
Be encouraged beloved - why? Because God is at WORK IN US BOTH TO WILL AND TO DO OF HIS GOOD PLEASURE - all the pleasure is found in Jesus and for us to discover HIM as our LIFE!"
In Christ Alone,
Sue Gaither
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