Truly Live For Jesus
“Jesus is so strong in you.”
Someone told me this when I was first getting started in ministry and I have never forgotten it. It has meant more to me than any positive feedback I have ever gotten on my appearance, or a lesson I have written. Now lovely friend, I am not sharing this compliment I received to brag or claim to be “super spiritual,” but simply to say that if you love Jesus with your whole heart then the same can be said of YOU. The more your heart burns for Jesus, the more others will sense His warmth from you.
I am writing this today to pay you compliment you may never have heard before. And, it’s not just a mushy, sentimental thing I am telling you, it is the truth. You are more than just a pretty face. You have a heart that is being transformed daily by the One who made you and lives in You. Every single day, Jesus is rearranging thoughts and motives inside of you and touching lives through you. Jesus is so strong in you. (While no one minds the occasional “you’re so pretty” or “I like your outfit,” isn’t this so much better?)
“God always makes His grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of His endless triumph. Through our yielded lives He spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God [we are Christ’s sweet fragrance of sacrifice that ascends to God] - a perfume of life to those being saved and the odor of death to those who are perishing.”
- 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 TPT
Jesus is indeed so strong in you.
People can sense Christ in you when they meet you.
Because of Him, you change the atmosphere of every room you walk into.
You are more influential than you think.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.”
―Alice Walker
“Don’t you realize that together you have become God’s inner sanctuary and that the Spirit of God makes his permanent home in you? Now, if someone desecrates God’s inner sanctuary, God will desecrate him, for God’s inner sanctuary is holy, and that is exactly who you are.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 TPT
Sometimes truths as incredible as this don’t feel real until you say them out loud. Give it a try right now, even if it’s in a whisper. If you are in a crowded office, speak what’s true right there in that office. If you are in a meeting, a grocery store, or even stuck in traffic (God help you), speak this Gospel truth wherever you are:
“Jesus lives in me and Jesus is strong through me! People can sense the Christ in me when they meet me! I am more than just a pretty face. I am living proof of God’s kindness!”
Surface level compliments can be nice sometimes, but never forget that you are more than what is on the surface. You are made of deeper things. You were created to glorify your Father in Heaven, and if you are living to please Him, then your life does indeed bring Him glory. Wow, what a thought! There is a brilliant light inside of you. There is a loving Savior who lives in you. Everywhere you go, you bring Him, too. Your life is even more meaningful than you ever dreamed. It is such a powerful and empowering thing to be a vessel for the Lord.
I would love to close this lesson with loving words the Apostle Paul wrote to his “son in the faith,” Timothy in a tender letter:
“…For you are to be a pure container of Christ and dedicated to the honorable purposes of your Master, prepared for every good work He gives you to do. Run as fast as you can from all the ambitions and lusts of youth, and chase all that is pure. Whatever builds up your faith and deepens your love must become your holy pursuit. Stay away from all the foolish arguments of the immature, for these disputes will only generate more conflict. For a true servant of out Lord Jesus will not be argumentative but gentle toward all and skilled in helping others see the truth, having great patience toward the immature. Then with meekness you’ll be able to carefully enlighten those who argue with you so they can see God’s gracious gift of repentance and be brought to the truth. This will cause them to rediscover themselves and escape from the snare of Satan who caught them in his trap so that they would carry out his purposes.” - 2 Timothy 2:21-26 TPT
This passage is so powerful because it teaches us to walk like the daughters of God that we are. As we walk in the love of our Father with purpose, grace, and compassion, God will use us to awaken others to the love He has for them. Dear sister, the Lord will empower you through the Holy Spirit to walk into a room and completely change the atmosphere. God lives in you and this makes you a powerful force to be reckoned with - a force for good, a force for love, and a force for God’s glory.
“Your lives light up the world… So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that your commendable works will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”
-Matthew 5:14,16 TPT
This is my prayer for all of us today: “God, please awaken us to the impact You have created us to make as your beloved daughters. Give us courage to live in a way that honors You. Show us how confront hatred with love, ignorance with understanding, foolishness with wisdom, and strife with peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
