Isaiah 64:6-8

6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away. 7 Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.

8 And yet, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand. (NLT)

 

Verses 6 and 7 remind us that we are infected by sin and that our best efforts to please God or our good deeds are nothing more that filthy rags. We must remember that God is our Father, we are the clay and He is the potter. We must be willing to allow God to mold, shape and form us into what He wants us to be. Through Jesus came our salvation, by the Holy Spirit we are taught God’s Word but we need to depend on Him and to give control of our lives totally over to Him. Sin distorted who we were made to be but through Jesus we can become what God originally created us to be – His children who worship Him.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

                                                                   

Isaiah 53:6

6 All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. (NLT)

 

There are times that we need to be reminded of where we came from before Jesus Christ came into our life. You have heard the saying “back to the basics,” so we need to remember where we started from so that we can see how far we have come and how much further we need to go. We must remember that we are still sinners saved by the grace of God. We are not better than the unbeliever but we are called of God to love them as God loves them. We are to share that God laid on Jesus the guilt and sins of all of us and that through Jesus they too can have forgiveness of sins, salvation and the abundant life.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 2:11-12

11 Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls. 12 Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world. (NLT)

 

You have heard that living as a Christ-Follower that you live in a glass house. The unbelieving world is watching you and observing you. Do you walk the talk? Be careful how you live among the unbelieving that you keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls. They want to see you fail but God is with you and you need to continually depend on Him and not the flesh. Remember that you are not of this world, it is not your home and you are just living here as a foreigner. Therefore let your behavior be honorable, be humble and let Christ lead you.

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

 

1 Peter 2:21-25

21 This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps. 22 He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. 23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds! 25 Once you were wandering like lost sheep. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. (NLT)

 

Christ is your example, follow in His steps. You were once a lost sheep wondering aimless through this life but Jesus came and he personally died and carried your sins away. Now Jesus is the Shepherd and Guardian of your soul. Your sins are forgiven -- now go and do the same as Jesus did for you. Trials and suffering will be a part of life, but the joy and love and blessings will outweigh any trial or suffering.  Follow in His steps.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 2:9-10

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 

10 "Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God.

Once you received none of God's mercy; now you have received his mercy." (NLT)

 

God has chosen you, God has made you a priest and God has chosen you to be His very own possession. Why has He done this? So that you can show the goodness, mercy and grace of God through you to others. He called you out of the darkness and into His wonderful light to shine forth for the Lord Jesus Christ. To be a beacon of light for those lost in the darkness. Remember you once were not His and once you did not receive His mercy but now you have. Go forth as a beacon of light with the love and grace of Jesus to a lost and dying world.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:23

23 For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. (NLT)

 

When you are born again you are born spiritually. For without Christ you are dead in your sins. Our earthly parents gave us life in the flesh but Jesus gives us spiritual life that will last forever. Our earthly bodies will die but that is not the end of Christ-followers for they live on forever. When Christ returns He will give us a new body that will not die or wear out and we will be with Him forever. This new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 John 5:1-15

Faith in the Son of God

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn't difficult. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

And Jesus Christ was revealed as God's Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross — not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit also gives us the testimony that this is true. So we have these three witnesses — the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know that this is true. Those who don't believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don't believe what God has testified about his Son.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.

I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for. (NLT)

 

Always put your faith and trust in Christ and keep His commandments so that your light will shine brightly for His Kingdom.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

Romans 10:9-13

9 For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed." 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. 13 For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (NLT)

 

To come to Jesus you must first confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. You must voice it out loud -- not to yourself. Second, you must believe in your heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead and you will be saved. When you believe and trust Jesus you will not be disappointed. When we become disappointed it is when we are being selfish, but when we rely only on Jesus we will not be disappointed. God through Jesus gives generously His riches to all who ask for them and anyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus through confession and believing will be saved. Jesus did not come to condemn the world because the world is already condemned but He came to seek and to save the lost. This too is our responsibility -- to seek and to share the gospel that others too will be saved.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:3-6

The Hope of Eternal Life

3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. 4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. (NLT)

 

We are to honor God for His boundless love and mercy. It is through His grace that we are born again. Within the salvation that has been given to us there is also an inheritance that we will receive, a priceless inheritance that will not decay or change because God does not change or change His promises but fulfills them. During our time here we will have our faith tested and endure many trials but in the end as we endure there is wonderful joy ahead. So do not fret or worry for God’s might power and protection is with you as He is always with you.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory. (NLT)

 

God knew who you were before you were born. God called you unto Himself ahead of time to become like Jesus. Each one of us has been called to a specific purpose and chosen by God for that purpose. Seek and you will find. When you received Christ you were made right in your standing with God, God gave you promises and a purpose in life. We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ