Our Daily Walk with Christ Sabbath Devotional – January 3-4, 2025
“Jesus declared, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ” —Matthew 22:37
In 2025, we have the opportunity to live differently by fully dedicating ourselves to God. Love for God is the foundation of our appreciation for Christ’s sacrificial gift of His life to redeem us from sin. True love for God and Jesus Christ reveals a believer who practices the spiritual commitment to honor and revere God. When we choose to possess humility and a teachable spirit, God, the Holy Spirit converts our hearts and begins the lifelong work of spiritual transformation.
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” —1 John 2:15
“Give us this day” equates to a daily test of our love, faith, and trust in God. From the moment we open our eyes to the new day, we are the recipients of God’s love, grace, and mercy, how will we respond? The [always present] conflict within our hearts forces us to choose between pleasing ourselves or surrendering in humility to God. Our choice reflects the true status of our heart—either I give my heart to God, or it belongs to me.
“O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.” —Proverbs 23:26
The earnest cry of “God, not my will, but Your will be done” or “Lord, reveal to me Your plan for today” reveals our desire to surrender to God for the new day of mercies. Giving our heart to God acknowledges that we understand our plight with sin, we cannot gain victory over sin without Divine Help.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ ” —Matthew 16:24
Can you recall a school exam that required one essay answer or fill-in-the-blank instead of multiple choice with various answers? Jesus tells us if we desire to follow Him there is only one way, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Salvation has one path. The only way for us to inherit eternal life is to surrender our heart and its never-ending desires. Taking up our cross involves no human deviations, we must obey God.
Galatians 5:22-23, The Fruit of the Spirit identifies the attributes of Christ’s Righteous Character. In addition, “Love, humility, surrender, faith, trust, and obedience” are the additional package of spiritual characteristics that we must have to remain in right standing with God, only then are we covered with Christ’s Righteousness. Our God-given gifts are love, faith, and a sound mind [Romans 12:3 and 2 Timothy 1:7], we pray for Divine strength and use our gifts to overcome sin and its consequences.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” —1 John 5:3
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17). God’s commandments extend beyond the Ten Commandments, the Scriptures give us His Righteous Precepts which guide our thoughts, spoken words, behaviors, and lifestyles. Receiving the reward of the Crown of Life mandates a mindset and the perseverance to live a life of no compromise.
“Be holy, for I Am Holy.” —1 Peter 1:16
Giving our hearts to God is a free-will choice. Righteousness is God’s standard of spiritual excellence that requires our cooperation of daily surrender and obedience empowered by Jesus’ strength. Heart conversion, daily spiritual growth, and character transformation [Sanctification] are performed by the power of the Holy Spirit in our earthly lives to prepare us for the spiritual perfection of eternal life.
Lord God, in humility, we give our hearts to You. We ask You to speak to our hearts and lead us in our earthly journey as we prepare for Jesus’ Second Coming. In Jesus’ Holy Name, we pray in faith, Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ – Sabbath Devotional – December 27, 2024
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” —John 3:16-17
“For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will…” —Ephesians 1:4-5
The Plan to Redeem humanity was in place before the world was created—God’s Sovereign Plan of Redemption was not an afterthought of Divine Rescue! The Triune God knew that Adam and Eve would fall, but Agape love committed to creating humanity and carrying out the Plan to save our souls. Although God’s Original Plan for humanity was thwarted, Jesus remained steadfast and fulfilled His Father’s requisite of giving His life so we can escape the penalty of sin.
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” —Revelation 14:12
It was on Calvary’s Cross, that Jesus shouted, “It is Finished!” indicating His victory over sin and death. “Through the Incarnation, Christ’s Divinity embraced our humanity, and the eternal God clothed His Divine Essence in human flesh.” Our gratitude must extend beyond spoken words, will we commit ourselves to surrender daily to God?
The spiritual criteria of surrender and faithful obedience to God have always been required to receive Eternal life. Enoch and Elijah demonstrate that with the human effort of seeking God and remaining obedient to His will and plans, we receive the undeniable power of God to live righteously in our earthly lives.
Because of one fallen angel’s rebellion, “sin has brought to this earth unimaginable pain and sorrow. Sin has wreaked indescribable torment and havoc on humanity.” Still, all of heaven remains committed to helping us win the war over sin: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…” (Philippians 1:6). Yes and Amen!
Jesus, we thank You for fulfilling the Plan of Redemption. Because of You, we have been rescued from the tragedy of sin, redeemed by Your blood, and received the invitation to be restored through Your infinite righteousness. Thank You, our Triumphant King for serving as our Heavenly Intercessor and presenting us as faultless before God, the Father. In Your Holy Name, we pray, Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ Devotional -December 23, 2024
“Through the Incarnation, Jesus’ Divinity Embraced Our Humanity, and the Eternal God Clothed His Divine Essence in Human Flesh. Through Christ, Humanity Could Be Rescued, Redeemed, and Restored From the Curse of Sin.”
For He Alone is Worthy, We Give Him All the Glory! Yes and Amen to Our Savior and Triumphant King! Jesus, we bow in gratitude for the Priceless Gift of Yourself to Save Our Souls. It is our desire and spiritual goal to live holy and obedient earthly lives as we anticipate receiving our Crown of Life and living with You forever and ever. In Your Righteous Name, Yeshua, Lamb of God, we ask this prayer, Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ Sabbath Devotional – December 21, 2024
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me and be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.” —Matthew 9:9, NLT.
When reading this verse, we find evidence of true heart conversion by the Holy Spirit. Matthew, the rogue tax collector did not make a spontaneous decision to accept Christ and leave everything when Jesus said, “Follow me.” Day by day, while sitting at his tax table under the shade of the bountiful tree, Matthew heard countless testimonies of Jesus’ healing the sick and preaching messages of hope and salvation.
Matthew’s decision to follow Jesus occurred long before Jesus approached him. Regardless of his wealth and lavish lifestyle, Matthew got up, left everything, surrendered his heart, mind, soul, and character, and committed to the spiritual process of being transformed by Jesus Christ, the Messiah. For his dedication and commitment to Christ, God honored his obedience by granting Matthew the privilege of writing the first book of the New Testament documenting Jesus’ ministry on earth.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.” —Revelation 3:20
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” (John 15:16). Jesus tells us, that we did not choose Him, He chose us. If we think of our initial decision to accept Jesus as our Savior, we realize that accepting Christ was a supernatural experience. To bear fruit [Galatians 5:22-23] requires that we abide in Christ through the daily human effort of prayer, surrender, faithful obedience, and study of the Scriptures.
Perhaps, we never understood that we were chosen to follow Christ and have not totally committed to discipleship. God never leaves us without the knowledge we need to come to Him in total surrender. From our desire to fulfill God’s Divine purpose, we strive to obey God’s will and plans for our lives. “Be holy, for I Am Holy” (1 Peter 1:16). When we agree to let go of sinful practices and people, the Third Person of the Triune God, the Holy Spirit performs the lifelong transformation of our character and behaviors to reflect the Righteousness of Christ.
Before Christ comes again, through the Holy Spirit, every human being will receive the opportunity to accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Still, we use our God-given free will choice to accept Christ or deny him. If we say yes to Jesus’ invitation then we agree to live a life of surrender and faithful obedience to God’s will by seeking and obeying His precepts and will for our lives.
We were bought with a price, and that price was Jesus’ life. His sacrificial gift on Calvary’s Cross was to offer us an alternative to the price of sin. For the Love, Grace, and Mercies, we receive every day, certainly God deserves our faithful obedience. Today, consecrate yourself and make the covenant to relinquish your will and obey God. In Jesus’ Name, Peace and Blessings!
“This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” —1 John 4:9-10
Lord God, we thank You for choosing us to receive salvation through the gift of Your precious Son, Jesus. We choose to follow Christ and pray for the strength to live consecrated, holy, and acceptable lives. In Jesus’ Righteous Name, Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ Devotional – December 18, 2024
The Controversy of Good and Evil Produces Daily Internal Conflict and External Opposition: Every Day, Every Believer Faces Conflicts that Threaten Our Relationship with Christ
The Internal Conflict: “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” —Romans 7:18-19
The Apostle Paul, a dedicated disciple, lamented his daily internal battle of choosing good [God’s will] over his evil desires. Our inherent weakness is to use our free will of choice to pursue what we want.
From the moment we awaken, we face the daily test of faith. Will we seek and follow the will of God or pursue our desires? Even after our prayer of surrender, we still face temptations that threaten to overpower a steadfast commitment to God.
The Battle Raging Within: Deep within the human heart, we crave to pursue and fulfill our desires and plans. The world we live in feeds our insatiable urge for self-satisfaction by promoting worldly success as the solution to obtain peace and happiness.
Every day, our senses are bombarded by stimuli and must-know information that our brains gather and store in our memory bank to feed the human desire to possess much more than God has blessed us with. And the internal struggle for self-governance is so strong that we easily disobey God without reservation.
God tells us that the condition of every human heart “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?…” (Jeremiah 17:9). Still, there is a marked difference between an unbeliever and a believer in the decision-making process of bringing their desires to fruition.
“But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they don’t know what makes them stumble.” —Proverbs 4:19, CSB
Because the unbeliever’s life choices are always based on self-fulfillment, they strongly rely on their feelings, strategies, prior experience, the predictions and advice of financial strategists, and high-level advisory boards on economic and social affairs.
Although they utilize careful planning and feel their insight includes predicting future outcomes, by trusting their intuition and the influencers, suffering consequences is a normal way of life. Their lives are always filled with chaos, prompting them to seek unproductive ways to purchase false replicas that mimic inner peace.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear [reverence] the Lord and depart from evil.” —Proverbs 3:5-7
Before the believer sins, we contemplate [with deep thoughts] for several days or longer before taking the steps to bring our plans to fruition. When our thoughts clash with God’s thoughts and plans, Divinity responds, and the Holy Spirit alerts us that we are taking a detour from the Path of Righteousness because our plans are outside of God’s will.
The Impact of the Holy Spirit: Not only is our conscience troubled, but we lose our inner peace, and feel as if we are involved in a tug of war that could manifest itself as a change in one’s emotional state—anxiety, the inability to sleep, or an internal restlessness. So the believer can never say, “I didn’t know what I planned to do was against God’s will.” If we ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit then we lose our right standing with God and are no longer traveling on the narrow road with Christ.
For those who strive to please God, our lives always involve the civil war of internal conflict. The Struggle is Real! [Instagram Reel]: As the young woman adamantly expressed her love for God, there was a sharp left turn as she spoke with strong conviction about her reasons for not trusting God with her life, “I need to be in control of my life, I cannot wait for things to work out without my input…”
The story appeared to have a predictable end, but suddenly her self-confidence melted into tears streaming down her face, and the quality of her voice changed. The next spoken words revealed a voice quivering with emotion, “What am I saying? How can I not trust God who has rescued me from bad situations and is still taking care of me?”
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” —Hebrews 4:16, NIV
In our times of greatest conflict over the inability to fully surrender to God, Christ intervenes by allowing the Holy Spirit to touch our conscience and make us aware of God’s love versus our heart’s misguided feelings. This spiritual experience is often referred to as “An Invitation to Come to Jesus.”
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” —1 John 1:19
A New Heart and Spirit: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances…” —Ezekiel 36:26-27
The External Controversy: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” —Ephesians 6:12
Satan, the “Roaring Lion” is the fallen angel Lucifer who God created as the highest covering cherub to be in His presence. Cast down to earth for his rebellion against God, Satan’s angelic intelligence still supersedes human intelligence. The Fall of humanity in Genesis 3 is our reminder of Satan’s superior intellectual powers over the human mind.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” —1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness…’ ” —2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV
Jesus reminds us that He is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory! Satan can present temptation but he cannot coerce us to sin against God. We pray for Divine Help, and Jesus responds by giving us His Strength through the Holy Spirit to overcome the external opposition of satanic temptations.
“For God has not given you the spirit of fear but of love power and a sound mind self-control” (1 Timothy 1:7). Yes, we have received spiritual gifts, but from Eve’s encounter with the serpent [whom Satan used to deceive her], we have Biblical evidence that without Christ, we are powerless to overcome temptation and obey God using human effort alone.
“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” —John 8:29
Can you imagine living a life of total obedience to God? Much prayer is required to gain victory over ourselves and the tempter. Obedience is our highest worship to God. Christ gave His life to save us from our battle against sin. If we desire eternal life then striving to live holy is within our reach. When tempted, we pray for and receive Jesus’ spiritual empowerment and exert self-control to overcome the enemy’s strategy to separate us from God.
“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” —Psalm 37:23-24
We do not have to fall victim to the entrapments of sin nor can circumstances overcome us when we abide in Christ. Prayer and Bible study keep us grounded in Jesus who promises to give us direction in every aspect of our journey. We are loved by God, the Father who utilizes the heavenly angels to also protect us from the evil one. But not even God will interfere with our free will of choice.
God is the Giver of all good gifts and the Sustainer of our lives. Reflect deeply on your privilege of being a recipient of God’s love, grace, and mercies. Humanity is the only living creation that Christ died for and needs to be covered with His Righteousness to live victoriously.
“It shall come to pass That before they call, I will answer; And while they are still speaking, I will hear.” —Isaiah 65:24
Christ’s spiritual provisions include His Divine Strength to overcome our natural tendency to follow our heart’s desires. With consecration, prayer, and fasting, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to obey the will of God. Under God’s protection, our prayer for help is answered before we say, Amen. And for His love, faithfulness, and protection against internal conflict and external opposition, with gratitude, we shout, Hallelujah and Amen!
Lord God, we pray for the strength to stand down our desires that prevail against Your will. We ask for the blessing of wisdom, and discernment to recognize Satan’s strategic temptations, and pray for Your intervention when facing internal conflict and external opposition. We desire to live holy, acceptable, and obedient lives because we love You. In Jesus’ Loving and Powerful Name, we pray, Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ Sabbath Devotional – December 13, 2024
Pray, Have Faith, and Wait On God
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” —Isaiah 40:28-31
God not only sustains our lives, but He also promises to work out every aspect of opposition and spiritual warfare. For two weeks, I prayed for God to resolve an issue with my property manager who became my enemy because I stood for the truth regarding a legal violation of the company’s lease agreement. God’s intervention never ceases to be less than phenomenal. Last week, she was given a promotion that required the identification and correction of the company’s infractions for two properties which resulted in a radical change in her perspective. Yesterday, we had a very cordial conversation. Praise God from whom all blessings are given!
“Be still, and know that I am God…” —Psalm 46:10
Trust God with your life. Who else can take care of us and resolve the impossible? God’s timing is not our timing. We pray and wait. During the waiting season, our faith is tested. Will we remain steadfast by patiently waiting for His promises to come to fruition? If we serve God with faithful obedience then a victorious outcome is promised. God always brings glory and honor to His Holy Name. Sabbath Peace and Blessings! Amen.
“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” —Jeremiah 32:27
Lord God, we desperately need Your help. We ask You to strengthen our faith as we wait for Your perfect resolution. Thank You for working out our challenges. In Jesus’ Righteous Name, Amen.
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