Live With Eternal Perspective Podcast Episode 048 Preparing for Christ Part 2

Welcome to the Terri Hitt – Live With Eternal Perspective Podcast
Episode #048 – Preparing for Christ – Part 2

Thank you for entrusting and investing your precious time with me to grow in Jesus together. I am blessed to be back with you to discuss more ways to live with eternal perspective.

As it is the end of the year, many worthy organizations are looking for end of year support, and I want to take a moment again today to mention one of my favorite local charities in Kansas City, the “Who Is Carter Foundation.” Did you know that they have established a worldwide project to provide support, treatment options, and resources to those supporting exceptional children with neurological conditions? That project can be found at thebrainpossible.com, and you can learn more about the foundation at whoiscarter.org. Or you can visit either on Instagram. We have personally worked with this organization and truly appreciate their mission and the support they offer. I encourage you to visit their websites to learn more and please, pass the info on to a friend or family member who might benefit from their various services.

Last week’s podcast was done in a different format and I am pleased to slow down this week, as well, and read more scripture with you, reflecting on the goodness and qualities of Christ as we continue to prepare our heart and mind to celebrate Jesus this holiday.

I pray we continue maturing in new ways and never return to our previous way of daily living as we let the holiness of the season linger and abide in our spirit. Each day is meant to be a new experience that draws us nearer to the Lord, allowing Him to extract more out of us, so that those cleaned areas in our life will be filled by Jesus. As we hear God’s words, I pray that the scriptures will help us consciously stretch ourselves farther, allowing for His holy eternal perspective to rule us daily.

Because of Jesus, we can hear the words of God and experience joy, peace, hope, and true love. Without Jesus, there would be no light in this world. God’s love is explained through His One and Only Son. May the delight God sees and shows in His son, with whom He is well-pleased, permeate our hearts as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and may His light embrace and mold us anew as we absorb the words into our spirit. May each day in the next year, and those to come, be a celebration of Jesus. As we allow Him to work within us and grow our love and obedience for Him, rejoicing in Who He is, and following Him, allowing Him to flow through us becomes a joy we cannot release. Jesus isn’t our Savior. He becomes our everything, as we breathe Him in and exhale His fragrance to the world around us.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” What good, pleasing, and perfect plans God has for each of us, His children! His desire is for us to be transformed by renewing our minds through Him. As followers of Jesus, we are called to conform not to this world, but to Christ. It is then that we will joyfully allow ourselves to be living sacrifices for Him daily as we follow His will and ways and discover God’s new and joyous life for us.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” God calls us to remain unpolluted by the world by following Him closely and caring for what He does. As we allow Christ access to our mind and heart, we begin to follow His ethical and moral order instead of the value system of this world. True faith carries us to the Father’s heart as we desire and lovingly value and care for what He does.

1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." God judges by faith and character, not outward appearance. Only He can accurately judge us because He sees straight into our heart and motives. We must do all we can to improve our inward self so that we fill God with joy when He looks upon us.
Psalm 37:23-24 says, “The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand.” Oh, to give God joy by delighting in Him! If we desire God to protect our steps, it is imperative that we trust and follow Him, then pursue His ways by doing His will with joy. Seek Him before stepping out and heed His warnings and advice.

Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God deeply desires to counsel us with His infinite wisdom. His words and Holy Spirit show us the absolute best ways to live and navigate life in this world. Humbly allow Him to instruct and teach with His abiding love and counsel, rather than learning through discipline or heartache from following your own path.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” God has blessed us with life! He wants us to enjoy it and make plans. However, our Father wants us to remember that He has specifically created each of us and placed us here with a beautiful purpose that God wants to complete through us. We must allow Him to direct our heart and mind as we cling to Him in a personal relationship that seeks to know and follow Him more closely daily.

Psalm 33:4-5 says, “For the word of the LORD is right and true; He is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love.” God can be trusted all the time and His words are upright and true. People are unreliable, God is not. Our Heavenly Father never changes His character or words, and His promises are always fulfilled in His perfect timing.

Proverbs 2:1-6 says, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” We can each access wisdom is one of two ways. Either we have a God-given gift to be used for glorifying and honoring Him and others or we humbly desire and seek it from Him. Wisdom is just the beginning of understanding God’s ways and living in them. After wisdom, we can receive insight and understanding through a close relationship and His word. As we cling to God and consistently request His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, He will allow us pieces of Him through the gifts. What a reward to be gifted in such areas as the Lord carries! How far we are from Him, yet our access to Him is eternal and living inside us through the Holy Spirit.

John 17:1-26 says, “When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.
“I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. For I have given them the words that You gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one. While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As you sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know You, I know You, and these know that You have sent Me. I made known to them Your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

Such beautiful words from Jesus through this passage are the focal point of the Bible and history!
How exciting that we have them within our grasp to access and absorb.

In John 17, the entire first chapter is compiled of Jesus praying. Through His prayerful words, we hear that the world we live in is a fierce and godless battleground beneath Satan’s power that is at odds with those of us who follow Jesus. Satan and his forces are out to destroy us, but here we see Jesus’s concern as He prays for His disciples and us, His followers. Jesus prayed for our safety, and for God to set us apart so that we can be made pure and holy through Him.

In this passage of loving prayer, Jesus clearly shows us again how to obtain eternal life. Through Him. An eternal life with God is given through a personal relationship with Jesus. By admitting our sin and turning away from it, then seeking forgiveness and relationship with Jesus, we obtain the gift of the Holy Spirit within us to guide and mature us daily.

Although it is beyond our comprehension, Jesus was one with God before He came to live on this earth as a man. Now, in this passage, we see Jesus as His earthly mission is almost complete, and His sovereignty is shown in His word as He asks God to restore Him to His original place of honor and authority with Him.

These beautiful words are packed with so much truth and guidance. We see Jesus yearning for God to protect the disciples and we also see Him pray for us, the believers now living. So much of the world follows Satan’s plans and visions, and Jesus pleads for God to protect us and sanctify us by God’s word of truth. Jesus did not ask God to take us out of the world, but to use us here. We are each supposed to be salt and light, not avoiding relationships with non-Christians, and not succumbing to the ways of the world, either.

Knowing that Jesus prayed for us and that the Holy Spirit still intercedes for us, should strengthen our faith and determination to be in God’s word to arm us with what we need and to protect us as we wrestle with the powers threatening to swallow us daily. Jesus has already had the victory and we have all we need to remain in the battle, allowing God to fight for us. Jesus has made the Father known. He has shown us the clear path to Him and has prayed in advance for the care we will need to encounter life in this fallen world. Make unity with Christ and fellow believers a natural extension of your walk with Christ so that the world will see His glory and light through us.

This Christmas season I want to list some glorious reminders that are backed by scripture in the Bible. I won’t read each reference now, but they will be listed in the transcripts of this episode on my website at terrihitt.com. Remember, when you belong to Jesus, your true identity is finally found.

Because of Jesus:
We are justified (declared not guilty of sin). Romans 3:24
No condemnation will await us. Romans 8:1
We become free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
We are sanctified and made acceptable in Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:2
We become righteous and holy in Christ 1 Corinthians 1:30
We will be made alive at the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:22
We become a new creation! 2 Corinthians 5:17
We receive God’s righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21
We are one in Christ with other believers. Galatians 3:28
We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Ephesians 1:3
We are holy and blameless; covered by God’s love. Ephesians 1:4
We are adopted as God’s children. Ephesians 1:5, 6
Our sins are removed; we are forgiven. Ephesians 1:7
We are brought under the headship of Jesus Ephesians 1:10, 11
We are marked as belonging to God by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1:13
We have been raised up to sit with Christ in glory. Ephesians 2:6
We are God’s work of art. Ephesians 2:10
We have been brought near to God. Ephesians 2:13
We share in the promise of Christ. Ephesians 3:6
We can come into God’s presence with freedom and confidence Ephesians 3:12
We become members of Christ’s body, the church. Ephesians 5:29, 30
We have been given fullness in Christ Colossians 2:10
We are set free from our sinful nature Colossians 2:11
We will have eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:10

Jesus is a precious gift we are allowed to choose whether or not we will receive. It is by God’s glorious grace that we are saved. We are His beautiful workmanship and are created to do good works, which God has prepared for us in advance. If God considers us a piece of preciously crafted workmanship, we can believe that we are of extremely high value. Choose to live with His opinion of you stamped in your mind and remember to cling to the promise of eternity with Him. Allow Him to work through you to bring as many people into His glorious kingdom as possible.

Dear Jesus, how we love You, but our love is nothing compared to what You have for us. Thank you for Your merciful work on the cross and within us. We praise You and offer our humble gratitude. Please continue to cleanse and renew us daily, Lord, moment by moment. Show us Your face, Your heart, Your mind, and Your hands so that we are certain of the example You set for us to follow. Help us to complete the purpose You have set for us and may we do it with Your humble compassion, wisdom, love, and obedience. May we seek You in a deeper way this holiday season and let that love, awe, wonder, and respect remain embedded within us in a new and more meaningful way as we head into the new year. Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice for us. May we honor You with the way we live. You are so good. In Your precious and holy name we pray.

I deeply desire to allow God to cultivate a strong community of women through the work He has given me. I pray you will be better equipped to live with an eternal perspective and encouraged to influence children for Jesus. Future episodes and resources will be geared toward the important duty we have as parents and grandparents to guide and guard children for Jesus.

The Live With Eternal Perspective podcast is currently linked to my new website at terrihitt.com, where you can access all the podcasts housed in one convenient location, as well as receive access to blog posts, transcripts, and additional free resources that are added to regularly.

Thank you for listening. I pray this podcast draws you nearer to Jesus and helps you cling to Him, despite any circumstances in your life. Until next week, keep looking Up and find for new ways to Live With Eternal Perspective.