Christ In Me

You know how in the Bible we are taught to always have faith and to believe. Well that is easier said than done that is why I believe Jesus had to keep reminding the disciples (us) to constantly believe and have faith. Now, here is an interesting thought (maybe just my own presumption) when I believe something I begin to meditate on it this can be consciously and/or subconsciously. For instance when I believe I am craving pasta instead of pizza my mind begins to meditate on this making me believe hundred percent that this is what my body craves. I will then make a decision to make myself pasta because I believed and probably meditated on it the whole day that I will be making pasta for supper.

But why is it that the Word of God is not easy to believe? well for one it is the Word of Grace, it is too good to be true. The Word of God just seems to be so opposite what the world is like or how our flesh is, I mean God the Father sent His Only Son, Heaven’s Best to die for the sins of people who would continue to sin against Him for as long as they are alive on earth. Think about it, logically it does not make sense hence the Word of God makes no sense to some who reads it carnally minded and not led by the Spirit of God, the Author Himself. Now where am I going with this?

Oh remember the whole pasta over pizza example I made, well unfortunately it does not work quite well when it comes to the Word of God. We do not just believe the Word of God instantly, we meditate on His Word and with the Helper, the Holy Spirit we get to believe more and more with each experience. For example check the scriptures wherein God says “I am with you” there are dozens of those scriptures in the Bible (Isaiah41:10 and 13, Joshua1vs 5 and 9, Isaiah 43:2, Mathew 28:20, Genesis 28:15,Deut31:6,Heb13:5) and this whole blog can be filled with so much more scriptures I mean they are countless. Anyway, my point is God says “I am with you” yet it is not something that we easily just believe, we instead have to meditate on it all the time until we believe it.

We will then notice things in the physical that shows us that it is God’s presence that did that, that is how our belief becomes strengthened. Sometimes we “feel” like God is not with us yet that is not what the Bible says hence we have to meditate on this to believe it. The two scriptures to meditate on and to base this blog on is Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 1:2-3. Both scriptures assure us that when we meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night, there are particular results that are for our good that will come out of mediating on His Word. These two scriptures I would say changed my life so much because our thoughts and minds need to be changed to obey the will of God and that means intentionally meditating on His Word until we believe it with all of our being.

So God I thank You that You will help us delight and meditate on Your Word day and night, furthermore You tell us the Truth All the Time including when You said we live by faith and not by sight. But I love that You do not just give us a book for us to live by, but You have given us the Helper, The Holy Spirit who guides us into All Truth. I love that Your truth is consistent and never changing, Your Word is reliable and relatable to ALL human beings that You created with Love. Help us not to just have a Bible, but to make use of it every single day as our life guide because it speaks absolute Truth. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Finding favour in God’s sight makes one see His goodness. Exodus chapter 33 is so good, I advice everyone to check the entire chapter out. It is so good that I was not able to pick out a particular scripture for this text, just the conversation that took place between Moses and God is so refreshing to look at. I do not even know why we as people have turned prayer into such a religious act, check this entire chapter and view how Moses has conversations with God. They are so personal, so real, straight to the point and not in any way vague.

Talking about conversing, I redrafted this passage simply because God’s goodness is seen and witnessed but it is so much better when it is experienced. Finding favour in God’s sight means He always looks out for you, He puts you first and makes you stand out and have an unfair advantage over and above. While this sounds good, God is also our Father, He loves us and is Good to us, so while we are favoured by Him it means that a huge part of His goodness is His Law.

Before you get carried away, I do not mean the 10 commandments although they are His Laws, but we are reminded that Jesus fulfilled the commandments for us so that we do not have to fulfill the commandments ourselves but that is a topic on its own for another day. What I mean by God’s Law is based on Psalms chapter 19: 7-14. “The law of the Lord is perfect; it gives new strength. The commands of the Lord are trustworthy, giving wisdom to those who lack it. The laws of the Lord are right, and those who obey them are happy. The commands of the Lord are just and give understanding to the mind. Reverence for the Lord is good; it will continue for ever. The judgements of the Lord are just; they are always fair. They are more desirable than the finest gold; they are sweeter than the purest honey. They give knowledge to me, your servant. I am rewarded for obeying them. No one can see his own errors; deliver me, Lord from hidden faults. Keep me safe, also, from willful sins, don’t let them rule over me. Then I shall be perfect and free from the evil of sin. May my words and thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my Refuge and my Redeemer!”

I believe that God shows us that He loves us even when He corrects us, there is goodness is His law which is His Word. His judgements are fair, that is not an opinion or open for debate it is a fact. So although the Law in the first testament was given and no one could and will fulfill them apart from Jesus Christ Himself, there is God’s goodness even in them. When God tells us not to do something, He does so for our protection and this scripture reminds us that we can rely on God’s promptings in our lives because they always are good and will always have good consequences. So correction does not feel good because most times God’s correction as our Father hurts our flesh and makes us feel uncomfortable, however in the long run you experience so much freedom and reward for simply obeying God’s “Do Not’s” He is our Father it is His responsibility to protect us by correcting us even from our own selves. He is Sovereign and All-Knowing so we can trust that He will never mislead us or bring us into harms way.

You know over the past few weeks my pastor has been emphasizing on the scripture of putting the whole armor of God which can be found in Ephesians chapter 6. And of course my goal has been to really fix my focus on this teaching and go all the way in, which I still will; however the Holy Spirit had something else placed in my heart and had me read the book of Ephesians from the very beginning. The book of Ephesians is legit one of the books in the Bible that will have you addicted I mean Apostle Paul was probably at his peak with this book and I a hundred and ten percent encourage you to read this incredible book, anyway back to the book; Ephesians chapter 1 verse 20-23.

The scripture reads from the latter part of verse 19; This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which He (God the Father) used when He raised Christ from death AND seated Him at His right side in the Heavenly world. Christ rules there above ALL heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; Jesus has a title superior to ALL titles of authority in this world and in the next. God put ALL things under Christ’s feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over ALL things. The church is Christ’s body, the completion of Him who Himself completes ALL things everywhere. This comes from the Good News translation and excites me particularly at how frequently ALL is mentioned.

ALL is a small word with such an enormous meaning, it is not definitive, it is all inclusive and does not have a full stop. It is incredible what the Holy Spirit reveals in this scripture in that Christ defeated death by this Power which can be seen from the chapter it speaks of the Holy Spirit being this Power right, so this power raised Jesus from the dead and additionally placed Him at the right side of God the Father in heavenly places. The juicy detail is that this Power is also working in us but an even juicier detail is that Christ has been given the Glory and really the responsibility over there He is not just chilling.

His responsibility includes being ruler over ALL heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, lords and has a title superior to ALL titles of authority in this world and the next and ALL things have been put under His feet by God the Father, to the church He is supreme Lord over ALL things and completes ALL things everywhere. This Jesus has been given Glory over all things by God the Father this means that even in my life I have the priviledge of surrendering ALL things including life itself over to Him and He will take care of it all since He is ruler above all things. I can give Jesus my emotions, feelings, my fears and doubts and He will not even shy away from being Lord over my shame as well because the WORD views Him as supreme over ALL things, it did not limit Him. I can say “In the name of Jesus” in the middle of the night when I experience attacks from the enemy and those attacks would seize instantly because Jesus is ruler above ALL, ALL has to bow down to Jesus, ALL has no choice!

I am amazed at how awesome God is really, and at the end of this beautiful scripture in verse 23 God has the audacity to say ” the church is Christ’s body, the completion of Him who Himself completes ALL things everywhere!!!

Lord I am done, I hope this scripture blesses someone else like it blessed me in Jesus’ Name.

How does one know they are blessed or cursed? many times in the culture and background I am from normally people like to associate this with what is going on in ones life, for instance if someone experiences loss or failure they are deemed cursed, whereas someone who flourishes is said to be blessed. Some even take it a step further and say that if a person is cursed they need to take some steps to be freed from the curse, now I believe that curses are very real and should not be taken lightly however the Bible distinguishes between a cursed and blessed man quite differently than the world defines it.

See the world defines a cursed person by the actions that happen to them and a blessed person because of something good that happens in their lives, but this is quite incorrect because all people, believers and non-believers experience good and bad moments in their lives. I find it funny that a person could be applauded and said to be blessed in one day when things seem to be going well for them, and then the day after be called cursed when they experiencing hardships. But thank God for His Word that is so true and reliable to make sense in the midst of the worlds confusion.

Jeremiah 17: 5-6 -> Thus says the Lord: ” Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land”.

Jeremiah 17: 7-8 -> “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not stop to bear fruit.”

I love how God chose to do this comparison and make it so practical using the tree and shrub as an expression. What stood out to me the most is how God defined a cursed and blessed man by who they choose to put their trust in. A person putting their trust in human beings or their flesh is cursed and experiences regress and disappointment because man are powerless, they are bound to disappoint you because they are flawed. I have done this and in some seasons in my life especially when I experience fear I resort to putting my trust in my flesh because I love control, but I thank God for helping me to release control over to Him and experience the joy of putting my trust completely in Him.

We as humans like to go to other people for help and trust in them to redeem us or change our circumstances but all this has proven to make us fail dismally over and over again, I have experienced constant disappointment when I put my trust in people and this is on me because when I choose to trust in God He never disappoints me, even in His Word He promises that those who put their trust in the Lord will never be disappointed in Isaiah 49.

The Lord sends people to help us yes, but He helps us through them. We thank them for allowing God to use them for our help but we do not put our trust in them because sooner or later they are bound to disappoint us as they are flawed human beings.

So God I pray that You help me put my complete trust in You God, You Alone for You promised to never disappoint me because even when I experience disappointment in my life I can count on you to use them for my good, In Jesus’ Wonderful Name Amen.

John 1:50 – Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”

The Holy Spirit is so Good, He makes things make sense so much even the most simplest of verses that we often skip or overlook, He is able to make us pause and dwell on a particular sentence, word or phrase. In the above mentioned verse what stood out for me was definitely the latter part of the verse which sees Jesus assuring Nathanael (us) that we will see greater things than these.

Now the context of the verse is important, however the Holy Spirit revealed this text so amazingly to me, God wants me to NOT limit Him to things He has already done in my life. To fear God means to stand in Awe of Him and God makes it His duty to continuously exceed our expectations. I know I often expect God to maybe do things for me the way He did them before, but that is me limiting the Almighty, Al Sovereign God and Jesus saying that we will see greater things than these means I should raise up my level of expectation for God to move in my life, I should keep setting the bar high because my God wants to do greater things in my life.

God give me a fresh pair of eyes every day to see You in a new and fresh way daily, it is important for me to stand in awe of You always and I want to make it my lifestyle to expect good because my God is good. So there may be challenges but I want to expect Your Goodness to come out of those challenges. I want to make expecting Your Goodness all the time my lifestyle because You God said that Your Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I choose to believe Your Word in Jesus Name Amen.

Identity! What comes to mind when referring to the word IDENTITY? For majority of my life and by that I mean it is still something that comes and goes but I have struggled immensely with my identity and what that word even means in my life. As I was diving in the Gospel of John, chapter 1 I specifically stood in awe of the entire chapter and for me verses 33 to 34 spoke about identity here’s how;

John the Baptist said in these chapters “I myself did not know Him (referring to Jesus), but He Who sent me to baptize with water said to me ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.” For me the Holy Spirit gave this to my heart as saying He gives identity I mean it is clear to see in the scripture Jesus was really a regular guy, He was not rich or standing out particularly during this time when He was beginning with His ministry, however we see how the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove and John continued to say at the end of verse 34 that he was then convinced that Jesus is the Son of God. Why? the Holy Spirit gave Him identity.

I then took this scripture along with a few more scriptures which I will mention, as confirmation that my identity is given, maintained and sustained by the Holy Spirit Himself. He came to live in me making me a new person, and all the changes in me are really because of the Holy Spirit. No self-help books or motivational speaker changed me, just the Spirit of God.

Having the Holy Spirit has sealed my identity, not what I do, where I am from, what I have or where I am headed to. The Holy Spirit is the only Being that continues to define me and give me identity and meaning. Romans 8:14 says ” For ALL who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Then verse 16 continues to say “The Spirit Himself (Meaning God Himself) bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” So God not only affirms us but He justifies us and does not disown me when I sin, I am still His even when I sin. Check out 2Cor 1:21-22 “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” A guarantee of what? that I am a daughter of God the Father and I belong solely to Christ and nothing will ever undo this because the Holy Spirit who has defined me is eternal.

John 1:5- The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The introduction of John in the beginning verses of chapter one really introduces Christ to us and gives us a picture of when we say He is the Beginning and the End.
I have learned from this scripture in particular how Christ is Light that no darkness can overcome.

This has two distinct features, literally Christ is the Word “Let there be Light” and we see Him as the Light in our lives figuratively as well. Both these distinctions are shown in this one scripture.

I am writing this at 1:38 am and I live in a rural area where the sky is so beautiful and unhindered by city lights at night. It’s amazing how even in the darkest of nights, the stars and/or the moon shines and make a world of difference to a dark sky. This is Jesus to me literally. Look at the latter part of the scripture it says “… and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus is Light in the purest form and no darkness can ever dim Him as Light. He invades darkness and overcomes it.

It is the same in my life as a Christian who makes countless mistakes and have dark areas in my life, Jesus is the Light in me, He lights up my life making no darkness able to overcome His light. My own sin can never overcome the Light that Jesus Christ has placed in my life.

Another way to look at this scripture which deems Jesus as the Light is the fact that Jesus Christ has brought to light the love of God and the truth about God, the Father. That He is caring, loving and not an angry God. This is Light because darkness has many of us convinced that God is this angry tyrant who wants everyone to follow a set of rules, this could not be further from the truth. How incredible it is to know that the Light has revealed the Truth to us.

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My name is Palesa and I am excited to get into the Word inspired by the Holy Spirit.