20/08/2015 - Follow the Lord’s instructions

• 
• 
• 
• 

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2.13

When the Lord created man, he was given extraordinary potential, in essence because He lived in harmony with the Most High God. However, when he sinned, Adam realized the devastating effect that spiritual death had over his life because he was cast away from the presence of God. This is the state in which we all live until we hear the message of the Word of God and accept Jesus as our Savior. Those who have been born again in Christ should never settle for a life of scarcity or one that is abounding in suffering.

Adam had outstanding potential; the Creator had all the animals parade before him to be named. It was no small loss what the disastrous act of the first man caused to humanity. However, it is not a greater loss that those who reject Christ bear, because they not only forfeit their relationship with God, but continue to live under the oppression of deceiving spirits.

Christians ought to be more active in the faith and doers of the Truth; after all, that which we lost in Adam was restituted in salvation. There is no reason for us to condemn our first father for his mistake, since Jesus undid all the suffering imposed upon us as a result of that first rebellion. Now, anyone in Christ is a new creation, old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5.17). We are the righteousness of God in Christ.

Therefore, when the Lord dwells you, the ability to hear and answer His voice will lead you to act differently than someone who has not yet been made aware that they can use this opportunity to restore their relationship with the Almighty. The condemnation issued against you has been cancelled and nailed to the cross (Colossians 2.14). You have a brand new and clear “slate”, and, because of that, you can receive the wonderful Holy Spirit.

It is God who works in your will. When you heed His Word, He makes a desire, however small, grow inside you. Then, when you live by faith, you realize that He also does the work in you. This means that none of your God-given dreams will go unfulfilled. All it takes is to have and keep His commands so that the Father will love you; in fact, Jesus will do the same and will also manifest Himself to you. So, what do say about that?

At the same time that the Lord works in you to will, He shows you how to bring that will into existence. The faith that you have been given has that power and, through such faith, God also works in you to do. Then, by believing – which is like an act of righteousness –, you can witness the promise coming true. Be and have all that which God tells you to be and have.

This is how you find out the good will of the Father and are enabled to fulfill it. From now on, claim and fight without fear for everything that the Most High gives you. When He plants in your life a seed of a great accomplishment, do not despise it. Everything that the Almighty reveals to you is what He desires to give you.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares