August 2015 Spirit Food

This month, let’s focus on Jesus being the one who made us qualified.

1 Corinthians 1:30 - But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and

righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

Many Christian people, when they are in a job search, look at the jobs available and read what the company is looking for regarding job qualifications. This seems to be a logical way of thinking and pursuing employment, however, God knows where He desires you to be. Where He desires you to be is your wealthy place, and He will ensure that you are extremely blessed providing you’re where He desires you to be. This verse above states that providing you have made Jesus the LORD of your life, by asking for and receiving His wisdom, that He (via the Holy Spirit which dwells within you), will grant you a peace about your earthly employment. This includes the entire job search process, from the writing of the resume, submitting the application, the interview process and accepting the offer package. When you invite/allow God to be part of the entire process, it takes all the stress, worry, and anxiety out of the process.

Of course, there are jobs that require different levels of education to be achieved. I’m not indicating there isn’t. My point is that within your realm of experience and training, God has a specific place for you to be, and when you get into that position, His Will is to ensure that you are richly blessed. Then, when God sees that you’ve completed what He desired you to accomplish there, God will provide you the avenue to move to your next assignment. If your next assignment or “God’s Promotion” requires more schooling/education, He will provide for it.

Should you find yourself in a position, and you get mentally attacked by the devil (or a co-worker), for perhaps not being qualified or up for a certain project, remember, your wisdom comes from God via the Holy Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit is our teacher if human resources aren’t available. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit within you. If the devil attempts to tell you that you don’t deserve God’s blessings, point the devil to Jesus and remind him that Jesus qualifies you for all of God’s blessings.

If the devil tells you you’re not righteous enough, just point to Jesus and say, “Jesus is my righteousness.”

If the devil tells you you’ve made some mistakes and you’re not holy enough, just point to Jesus and say, “Jesus is my sanctification.”

If the devil tells you that you don’t deserve to be healed, just look to Jesus and declare, “by His stripe I am healed. I’ve been redeemed from sickness by what Jesus did on the cross.”

Each time you point everything back to Jesus, the devil has nothing to say because Jesus qualifies you for all of God’s blessings. In and of yourself, you do not qualify. Without Christ, there are only self works which can qualify you, and self works alone leaves you subjected to the carnal nature of mankind to proceed in this world.

With Christ, your disqualification becomes your qualification for the undeserved, unearned and unmerited blessings of God, as God has control of decisions being made regarding you, because you are there on assignment by Him. Understand, because God sees your life in Christ (Colossians 3:3), who is the all-deserving one, you become all-deserving. Because you are in Christ, you are qualified. It’s a beautiful situation to be in.

Jesus qualifies you because He died for you and gave you a blood-bought right to every blessing of God. You have a blood-bought right to a life full of meaning, purpose and abundance. You have a blood-bought right to walk in divine health. You have a blood-bought right to God’s provision even when the economy is bad. You have a blood-bought right to preferential treatment because God favors you. You have a blood-bought right to the good life!

You have a right to all these blessings, not because you are good, but because Jesus shed His blood and qualified you to have them. So don’t let the devil or anyone else tell you that you can’t expect to walk in the blessings of God!

Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Don’t allow your mind to be consumed with worries about your health, finances, family or future; you have a choice to control what you think about. When evil or negative thoughts come, recognize them as what they are and intentionally, purposefully, start thinking about what the results were because of what Jesus did on the cross for you. Jesus does not want you to worry about what you will eat or drink, or about your body and what you will put on your back. He tells you not to worry about your daily provisions because God, who is your heavenly Father, knows that you need all these things and He wants to add these things to you. (Matthew 6:32–33)

God is the same God who took care of the children of Israel in the wilderness, feeding them with manna every day for 40 years! (Exodus 16) Under His care, His people had no lack. When the people wanted meat for dinner, He simply rained quails on them. (Numbers 11:31–32) The children of Israel only had to pick them up. If they had gone to look for meat themselves, they most likely would not have found any in the desert.

One of the issues/problems with mankind today is that we think that we must do something to help ourselves. Some of us may even think that it is easy for Jesus to say, “Don’t worry. Take no thought for your life,” because He does not understand the problems we face in life. However, the truth is that Jesus does understand the problems we face in life. In fact, He faced what I would call the “final problem” - death. Death is the “final problem” because it puts an end to all our other problems … think about it. Jesus faced death at the cross, conquered it and rose from the dead. He conquered the problem of problems; so we can trust Him when He tells us not to worry!

Romans 14:17 - …the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

If we are supposed to seek first the kingdom of God every day (Matthew 6:33), then we should know what the kingdom of God is in the first place. The kingdom of God was not something outside you flowing in - “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking”, but something inside you flowing out - “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

So to seek first God’s kingdom means to make it a priority every day to have your inner man flowing with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is not your own righteousness based on what you do. It is not good works. It is a gift from Jesus, who is your righteousness. (Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30) God wants you to be established in the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Peace be with you” were the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples when He appeared before them after His resurrection. He also showed them His pierced hands and side. (John 20:19–20) God wants you to know that His Son’s finished work has given you peace. Your conscience can be at rest because your sin debt has been settled. You have peace with God and the peace of God.

Joy will come into your heart when you see Jesus in the scriptures, worship songs or anointed preaching. It is the same joy from the Holy Spirit which filled the disciples’ hearts when they saw Jesus, His hands and His side. (John 20:20)

So every day, make it a priority to see yourself righteous in Christ. Don’t be conscious of your sins. Instead, be conscious of your righteousness. When you go about your daily activities knowing, understanding and receiving, that you are in right standing (righteous) with your creator; because of Jesus’ finished work on the cross, you will flow with peace and joy. Whether you are reading your Bible or listening to anointed preaching, see Jesus with His pierced hands and side, which speak of His finished work. See all your sins forgiven. When you do this, you are seeking the kingdom of God!