Devotional 131108

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another beautiful day; birds came back to sing and dance on the tree outside of my office window. How pleasant it is to be alive! But most importantly, how pleasant it is to know why I am alive, because God creates all things for a purpose. “See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you…(Matt 6:28-30)? Let’s enjoy this precious life in accordance to His design, so that our lives will truly reflect the glory of His Son Jesus Christ.
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We have to battle through our moods into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus, to get out of the hole-and-corner business of our experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think who the New Testament says that Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meanness of the miserable faith we have - I haven't had this and that experience! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims - that He can present us faultless before the throne of God, unutterably pure, absolutely rectified and profoundly justified. Stand in implicit adoring faith in Him; He is made unto us "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." How can we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! Our salvation is from hell and eternal condemnation, and then we talk about making sacrifices!
We have to get out into faith in Jesus Christ continually; not a prayer meeting Jesus Christ, nor a book Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, Who is God Incarnate, and Who ought to strike us to His feet as dead. Our faith must be in the One from whom our experience springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute abandon of devotion to Himself. We never can experience Jesus Christ, nor ever hold Him within the compass of our own hearts, but our faith must be built in strong emphatic confidence in Him.
It is along this line that we see the rugged impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All our fears are wicked, and we fear because we will not nourish ourselves in our faith. How can any one who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! It ought to be an absolute praise of perfectly irrepressible, triumphant belief.
We are indeed indebt to our loving Heavenly Father, who created us in according to the image of His Son, and saved us while we were still rebellious sinners. He gave us a new start when He covered us with the holiness of Christ, which implies a new identity with a renewed purpose of living. My son was a field medic serving with the US Marines in Iraq. He observed how the Marine uniform could make an ordinary teenager to become an invincible and brave soldier. I hope it is equally true to us, the soldiers of Christ. We become a new person with a new identity simply because we have been covered or dressed by the holiness of Christ. This holiness is not just to avoid and refrain from sins and evil desires. The holiness of Christ is also an active or passionate participation in the goodness and purpose of God for mankind. And this is the reason for our living today. Amen?
Love you because of the holiness of Christ,
Lawrence