For most of us, we look at the life we have, and we know that we’re not living our best life. There are good things missing, bad things present, and several areas in which we continue to struggle. If we’re honest, we would admit that we’re not living our best life.
I think the great struggle we have in the Christian faith is that we think it is a great struggle. It is not a great struggle; it is a great surrender. The struggle we are in often reveals what we have yet to surrender. Jesus taught us, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NKJV).
Child of God, I want you to know this truth: you can live your best life. Jesus came and saved you for all of eternity. The Holy Spirit came to teach you and help you live your best life. Everything is in place, and you only need to take hold of it.
It’s a foolish thing to try to change yourself only by your own power when you have the superpower of the Holy Spirit standing by, ready to help you. Jesus promised, “You will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8 AMP).
The first thing we must do is to understand what our best life looks like. Our best life is not a life void of all trials, rather it is a life in which we rise above our trials instead of allowing them to overwhelm us. It is a life of peace in the storm.
Sometimes God puts you in a storm so that you can preach on His protection. “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” (Psalm 32:7 NKJV).
Precious child of God, He has you. You may be suffering, but He can bring you comfort. You may be broken, but He can bind up all your wounds. There is nothing that you’re going through that the Lord cannot swoop down from heaven and help you with.
You wouldn’t have to try so hard if you’d just pray for God to help you. “There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor” (Deuteronomy 33:26 NLT).
Living your best life is having the life of Christ reigning within you. It is a life crucified to who you were before and now filled with the life of Christ, who has more peace for you than you know what to do with. It is the abundant life that is yours for the taking.
Your best life is Christ’s life reigning in you. “I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20 AMP).
Child of God, living your best life will be a life in which you will still run into frustrations, but you will not pick them up, nor will you allow them to remain. You will let go of everything that doesn’t belong in heaven, and it’s there that heaven will be holding onto you.
The more you let go, the less frustrated you will be. “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth” (Colossians 3:2 NLT).
Your best life is a life without any worries or anxiousness. The world will tell you there is no other way. The world is wrong. Christ came to set you free, and that freedom extends to everything that worries you and causes you to become anxious.
Where faith grows, anxiety subsides. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6 NKJV).
Child of God, the problem we have in our churches today is that they will throw a verse at you and tell you that you just need to try harder. But the Lord knows you can’t do it, and neither can I. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can be changed.
God doesn’t tell us to do our best, but to let Him do His best in us and through us. “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:16 NLT).
Timid child of God, be bold and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be sent to help us forever, so why are you trying to do everything on your own? Give up already and ask the Holy Spirit to help you.
You’ll never reach your potential on your own. Jesus promised us, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17 AMP).
Living your best life will only come when you die to your old life, the one controlled by your flesh, and you yield to your new life, led by the Spirit of God. It will be this new life where you will be worry-free and eternally blessed, sitting in the presence of God.
You won’t take hold of the new life until you let go of the old. It takes a greater strength to let something go than to pick something up. “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the [Holy] Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Ephesians 4:22-24 NLT).
Blessings to you always,
Paul Balius
Blessings Paul!
Thank you!
Philippines 2 12-13 AMP
12 So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. 13 For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.
We work out our own salvation in reverent, obedient awe and adoration of and admiration for Him Who is infinitely worship worthy ***because*** He works in us, for us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Apart fom Christ, we can do absolutely nothing, zero, zilch! John 15 et al.! To the Three Person God be all the glory for all the grace (unearned mercy, unmerited favor, divine enablement and ennoblement, holy empowerment)!
We are so incredibly blessed because our God is so incredibly merciful!