What does it mean to you…

 

                         “…seated with him in heavenly place in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6)

To be seated with Christ in Heavenly places can be unimaginable, but for the Christian it is a promise. First, one must look to see where they are; “Abide in me (Jesus) and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me" (John 15:4).

We must above all else be abiding in Him, and when we find ourselves abiding in Christ, it means we have been given new life, we have been purified, washed, and cleanse from our sins. It is through the blood that we have been justified, we have received this atonement as we are raised from a death of sin to a life of righteousness.  Also, we must hold fast our faith and a good conscience; and let no trials turn us aside from the truth. “And I will abide in you”—ye shall receive every help and influence from me (Christ) that your souls may require, in order to preserve and save them to eternal life.   These two things are absolutely, necessary to our salvation:

1. we must continually be closely united to Christ by faith and love, and live in and to him

2. As we continually receive from him the power to do good; for as the branch, however good in itself, cannot bear fruit from itself, through its own juice, which it has already derived from the tree, and can be no longer supported; than it continues in union with the parent stock, neither can ye, unless ye abide in me. As the branch partakes of the nature of the tree, it is nourished by its juice, and lives by its life, so ye must be made partakers of my Divine nature, be wise in my wisdom, powerful in my might, and pure through my holiness.
[Adam Clarke's Commentary] 

If we are abiding in Christ, we have the vital nutrients being supplied to us continuously each and every day. He is our source of strength in every storm, He is where our fruitfulness flows from, His Divine nature gives us access to all that He is. And because we abide in Him, we have the privilege of being called Children of God.

To be raised up, we must have been raised from death to life when we received Christ as Savior. So close is our connection with Him that His resurrection made ours certain as heirs. “And made us sit together…”

“and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” (Rom. 8:17 (NASB)

So close is our connection with Him, that we shall partake of His glory. 

“In heavenly places…”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3 (NASB)

The meaning is, that he has gone to the heavenly world as our Head and Representative. His entrance there is a pledge, a promise that we shall also enter there. Even here we have the anticipation of glory, and are admitted to exalted honors, as if we sat in heavenly places, in virtue of our connection with him.  With the pure doctrines of the Gospel, and the abundant gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, justifying, sanctifying, and building us up on our most holy faith.
(Adam Clarke's Commentary)

In Christ Jesus - It is our connection with him that we are therefore exalted, and thus filled with joy and peace. The meaning of the whole is,” We are united to Christ. We die with him, and live with him. We share his sufferings, and we share his joys. We become dead to the world, to the flesh and we become alive unto God in virtue of his resurrection. On earth we are exalted to honor, peace, and hope, in virtue of his resurrection; in heaven we shall share his, glory and partake of his triumphs.”

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

So, here you have it. Because of our connection to Christ as our Savior and the fact that in order to live we must die, God has granted us the privilege of sitting with Christ in heavenly places even while we are still here on earth.  Now this privilege does not entitle us to walk in a prideful or arrogant way and neither does it allow us to look down on someone. As Christ had walk when He was here so must we.  And how did he walk? He walked in love, peace, truthfully, prayerfully, faithfully and with great humility. Let His ways be the example that we look too and that each of us strive to imitate. Since we abide in Him, and since He is our perfect example to follow, we do not walk this journey alone:

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:21 (NKJV)

Heavenly Father, thank you for the faithfulness of Christ, how He was true to you and a perfect example of your Love to us. May we always abide in Him and may our walk be pleasing in your eyes. Thank you, Father for adopting us into your family and giving us the rights and privileges as your natural Son.  Lord Jesus you have given your life for us, you have saved us from an eternal death and you have cleans us from all our sins and iniquity. There are not enough words in any language to say how grateful we are, I thank you my Lord and Savior as I give you my life. therefore, I will abide in you always for I know that I can do nothing without you. in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, I ask and pray, amen.

  Chosen2Prayer

A Time to Shine

There are times in life when we wish that we can let go of our past and start a fresh life someplace else with the hope of never seeing familiar faces that remind us of the past. We tend to base our self-worth on past failures, dissatisfaction with how we look, or bad habits we engage in, and we develop the “I am what I am, or the I cannot change and the I am hopeless” attitudes.   Even if you are able to move past your past, somehow deep within it still lingers in your person, in other words it affects your attitude, your words, and it even affects your perception of life. 

Some people may say “well this is just who I am and either you accept me or you don’t!” not realizing that their view of themselves demonstrates low self-esteem.  Robert McGee (Search for Significance) says it this way:

“If we excuse our failures with an attitude of hopelessness, too often our personality can become glued to the failures.  Our self-image becomes no more than a reflection of our past…many times the opinion of oneself is based on past failures, and those failures keep us from enjoying new experiences.”

 Ask yourself:

·         Am I capable of going forward?

·         Do I have what it takes to go forward?

·         Do I truly believe what God is saying about me?

·         But what if I fail, what then?

You cannot allow your past to dictate your future.  If the past dictates how we treat yourself and others, or how we react to new situations, or how we behave, then growth has been stifled. We are not moving forward but standing in the current and holding tightly to the past. How can you ever begin to understand who God says that you are and what has been given to you if you don’t let go of the past?  How can you appreciate the blessings when you feel so little about yourself?  

“Too often our self-image rests solely on an evaluation of our past behavior, being measured only through a memory.  Day after day, year after year, we tend to build our personalities on the rubble of yesterday’s personal disappointments.” (R. McGee; 1990).  We must have a new perspective which must be based on the Word of God, and the unconditional love and acceptance of God.  The reality of what we face is that God’s love is unconditional and our past is just that – past.  But if you continue to value all your failures, then you will be swallowed up in the self-pity pit.

How does one start to get out of this stronghold and lies of the devil?

·         Be honest with yourself and with God, He already knows everything

·         Talk with someone whom you can be totally honest with and who can keep what you tell them, and one you can be accountable to

·         Study the Word of God, search it for what you are experiencing, whatever your need is at that moment God’s Word has an answer

·         Apply what you have found, don’t think that it was for “back then” God’s Word is relevant today, now.  You can trust His Word that it will not fail

·         Pray daily or as often as you need to.  We must communicate with the one who knows all about our weaknesses and failures and still He loves us

·         Praise Him as often as you can, for praise will destroy the schemes and plots that the enemy will try to throw back at you to make you doubt

Do not allow to the past to come into your future, God loves you and He chose you to be His child.  Don’t ever think that you can hide anything from Him because He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent.  Jesus gave His life for you, His blood was shed for your sins and with His Resurrection, it is to give you eternal life. When we abide in the present and still holding on to the past we are not walking in faith, or hope, we are not embracing newness of life and we are not trusting in God. 

It’s time to put the past that you are holding on to at the foot of the cross and raise your eyes to behold our Savior and Lord who loves you and go forward into a new and wondrous future.

God bless

Nina Jenkins

Chosn4God