“Our Daily Bread”   

http://odb.org/2012/10/15/an-escort-through-the-valley/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  

http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

Revelation 14:5… And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.  (NKJV)

I read this scripture the other morning in my daily Q/T (quiet time) Bible reading…  The Book of Revelation was written by the apostle John; the last living apostle hand picked by Christ…  It is about the future end of times to the world as we know it today…  The opening scripture has the Apostle John writing about the 144,000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel…12,000 from each tribe (Revelation 7:4-8)…

God had forgiven these Christians of their sins, and they were seen as being “without fault before the throne of God.” But did you know that Christians today, who have been forgiven of their lifetime of sins, have the opportunity to be perceived by God in the same way ??  We see this in the following 2 scripture verses…

Ephesians 1:4… just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  (NKJV)   And…

Colossians 1:21-22… And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled ²² in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—  (NKJV)

As Christians we are called to be holy in all our conduct, as Christ was holy…1 Peter 1:14-16… as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 20:26)  (NKJV)

But how does the Christian achieve this near perfect state of holiness in God’s eyes ??  The answer can be found in several places in the Bible…  We can start with 3 words from the scripture above… “as obedient children”…  Here is another piece of scripture written by the Apostle Paul, in…

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13… Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, ¹³ so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.  (NKJV)

There is no way a Christian can be walking with the Lord in their own strength… The Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment they are graced with the free gift of salvation through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ…Ephesians 2:8-9…  They must rely on their live in Helper, (John 14:26) the Holy Spirit, to control their lives… As Christians, anything less than total submission to the Lord, will allow our own flesh or Satan to temp us into sinning, and thereby grieving the Holy Spirit…Ephesians 4:30…

The Bible reveals that protection from Satan is possible for the Christian, in…James 4:7… Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  (NKJV)  

The Apostle Paul gives us a list of God’s spiritual armor in…Ephesians 6:10-20…which will keep Satan at bay, if put on and worn in its entirety by the Christian…

Ephesians 6:11…  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  (NKJV)  Here is the link for God’s whole set of armor which must be put on piece by piece by the Christian…    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=eph6:10-20&version=NKJV

I write about God’s armor all the time, because I have personally found God’s complete set of spiritual armor extremely effective in my own life, at keeping Satan and his temptations of sin under control… I equate putting on God’s armor and putting on Christ to be the same thing…

Romans 13:12-14… The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.  (NKJV)

Absolute God given supernatural peace (Philippians 4:6-7), and abundant joy (2 Corinthians 8:2) along with all the other blessings God wants to give His obedient children are there waiting for the Christian… All they have to do is to submit to God’s will and God’s ways, as they turn to the Lord and away from their sins by confessing and repenting of them…1 John 1:9…

Heavenly Father, please help all of us see the truth from Your Word today…  Help us Lord, in our weak and frail state; to seek You and the abundant life (John 10:10) You want to provide to all of Your obedient children that humble themselves before You…  I pray for this Spiritual filling (Ephesians 5:18-20) for all of Your children…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills