Sunday 5 January 2014

RECEIVING HIS BEST

Dearest Saints, I would like to send you Gods richest blessings and His very best for you to receive from Him and to allow Him to do mighty works through you. To receive His best for you, it is always available to each of us. I believe that most times, we only tap into a fraction of Gods divine power and goodness for us when He wants to do so much more for us and through us. There is no one who can't receive His best for us to do His mighty works through us to others. The problem is that we often doubt ourselves when we need to know that it is His power working through us in the first place. Where striving for self-confidence is exalting our efforts which will always become a failing attempt. Trusting God is putting our confidence in the One who is able to do far greater works through us than we could ever possibly do which is the only way that is acceptable before Him. We often receive a fraction of His power working through us because we fail to repent for not allowing His best to receive and humbling ourselves of our desperate need of Him. When we repent, we can't afford to hold on to any guilt because we are never justified by ever feeling guilty from our past. Its not how we feel guilty that justifies us, but thanking God and believing that He took care of our guilt and shame because of what He did for us. We are justified because we believe not ever because of what we can or cannot do. I like the illustration in 2 Peter 1:3-9. Starting in vs 3, He tells us that we have been given His divine power (already). In vs 4, He mentions that He has bestowed His precious and exceeingly great promises so we are able to escape all moral decay and be sharers of His divine nature. By believing and receiving the promises of these first two verses, this will allow us to be strengthened so we can develop the wonderful attributes of Godliness that will abound in us (vs 5-8). We will never find strength in our inner man when we choose to rely on our own thinking rather than simply believing what He says. In particular, verse 9 Simon Peter who wrote this book tells us that we are short-sighted and have become oblivious to the truth that we have already been cleansed from our old/former sins (because of what Jesus has already accomplished). So when we do repent, we need to know that He is faithful to forgive and refuse to continue carrying any baggage of guilt that only weighs us down from believing the lies of our enemy. God tells us that is why we are justified because we believe what He says (Gal 2:16). We will never be justified any other way. As we enter into the beginning of this new year, I would like to share a wonderful declaration that our dear Pastor Bert McCutcheon has put together to hand out to each of us. However, as we make this declaration to receive His best to be our best and do our best, as mentioned, we need to refuse to carry any guilt which we have already repented of which God has already erased from His memory. We need to humble ourselves by decreasing ourselves (relying on our own strength and intellect) and choose to rely on His greater power to do that wonderful work through us that He so much wants to do and is able to do exceedingly more than we could ever ask or think (Eph 3:20). This is only possible if we humble ourselves and allow Him to do that work through us. This New Years Spiritual Fitness Declaration is as follows: Heavenly Father, By Your Grace and power, I am ready. I am prepared to accept Your strategy to get rid of this spiritual flab. I submit myself to your transforming plan for spiritual/physical health and fitness. I am ready to hang around with You so that Your actions and reactions become mine. I will stay in constant communication with You throughout my days and years. I will consult You continually as I learn how to walk in the new freedom You have given me. I will reject spiritual junk food that tempts and weakens my mind. I am ready to make Your guide book (the Bible) my training manual for this new pursuit. You went through all that I will go through, so I commit myself to follow Your instructions. With Your help, I will learn to say "NO" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and live a self-controlled, upright and godly life right now. When I fall down, with Your help, I will get back up and continue to move forward with You. When people see me, I want them to see You. I am ready to be on your front page of 'before' and 'after'. With Your help, I am declaring to train and live in Your Righteousness through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. We can all make 2014 the best and most blessed year ever by letting Him work powerfully through us as we carry that Hope of Him within us. We are blessed to be a blessing to others. Refuse to ever let the enemy deceive you from ever believing that we are not 'good enough' to receive His very best to work for us and through us. It is His Goodness working through us when we understand who we are in Christ simply know we are righteous because of what He did, not what we could ever do. One of the deterrents is failing to purposely making a choice to let Him do that work that only He can do. Repentance, humility and wholly trusting Him are the most powerful tools to receive His best for you as He so much wants to do a wonderful and powerful work through you. Will you make that choice? In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director - Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ For with God, nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment (Luke 1:37) Amplified Version