“Christ
Is Truly In Zion Encouraging Newness, Saving Hearts In People!"
(C.I.T.I.Z.E.N.S.H.I.P)”
Ramesh C. Reddy
Publisher
SCRIPTURE:
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly
await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables
him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21, NIV)
OBSERVATION/INTERPRETATIONS:
I asked myself what 5 things do we learn about Jesus Christ?
1.
Jesus Christ is from heaven where our citizenship is.
2.
Jesus Christ is the Savior from heaven where our citizenship is.
3.
Jesus Christ is the Lord from heaven where our citizenship is.
4.
Jesus Christ has the power to bring everything under His control.
5.
Jesus Christ will transform our lowly bodies so
that they will be like His glorious body.
INTERPRETATION:
I focused on 'citizenship' and asked myself what
does 'citizenship' mean and what does it give?
What came to my mind is me being a citizen
of the United States. As a citizen of the United States, I am guaranteed a lot of things that
non-citizens are not guaranteed. Usually, if American citizens are held captive
or trapped in any country, the United States does all it can to free them except
negotiate with terrorists or evil. Being a citizen is not a one way streak. The citizen pledges to be loyal to
the country he decides to be a citizen of. A person can automatically become a
citizen of a country if he is born there or go through the process of attaining
citizenship.
IMPLICATIONS:
I asked myself what are the implications for my own
life here?
My citizenship in heaven is
dependent solely on Christ who will give me access to Heaven because He has
become my Lord and Personal Savior! By His power, He will bring everything
under his control, transforming my lowly body so that it will be like His
glorious body when I surrender my life over to Him! Amen! Thank you Jesus!
I cannot automatically become a citizen of
Heaven regardless of where I am born. I need to be chosen to become a citizen of
Heaven and yield my life to the One who chooses. It is a process that began when
Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for my citizenship on the cross of Calvary.
Now, when I look to the cross and am covered by His precious blood to justify me
by faith, I will be a citizen of Heaven having Jesus Christ as my Lord and
Personal Savior. Until I reach Heaven, Jesus will sanctify me daily by His grace
transforming me to His likeness. Praise the Lord.
To attain citizenship, I have to pass the
ABC's: Acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of
redemption, restoration, rescue, and being ransomed from the
pandemic virus of sin that has captivated the universe where people
are dying everyday spiritually without the Lord Jesus. Believe
in my heart that Jesus Christalone, 'who had no sin' is Lord and
Savior who died on the cross shedding His precious cleansing Blood
for me to produce the antidote and vaccine which is the reddest
antidote for cleansing to cover the sin virus by His Blood for
healing so I can be made righteous before a Holy God to have access
to Heaven. Confess Jesus as my Lord and Personal Savior willing to
surrender my life over to Him to live for Him and be guided by His
Spirit everyday.
The best way to do that is through prayer and
meditation of God's Word applying it daily to my life knowing it is
by grace I have been saved through faith and not of any good works
that I can boast. What an awesome thing to know that Jesus wants to
gift me with His grace and redemption by giving me the vaccine for
the sin virus. All I need to do is take it believing in Jesus and I
am a Child of God being rescued from the bondage of sin and death.
Wow!
Right now with what the world is going through
with the COVID-19 virus, making so many sick and even killing
thousands, none of us can know if we will live another day. COVID-19
virus is no respecter of religion, education, socioeconomic status,
ethnicity, gender. It attacks anybody anywhere.
The Bible
says, 'It is appointed for man to die
once and then the judgment.' (Hebrews)
Can we say we will be ready to attain
citizenship when our lowly bodies start to decay and die?
Friend, with Jesus on your side, you can be
confident to attain citizenship and all that comes with it! It
starts with Jesus and taking the antidote for our sin virus he
offers, as we think about Holy Week starting this Sunday with Palm
Sunday!
Friend come as you are to Jesus Christ and let
Him transform and sanctify you. Let Him be the Lord of your life and
wait upon Him in this life and the life to come. There is no time to
wait because people are dying all around us physically and even
spiritually. Only Jesus can stop us from dying two deaths: Physical
and Spiritual. When we yield to Jesus, what blessings we can have!!!
"Praise be to the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly
realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before
the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he
predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance
with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has
freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." (Ephesians 1:3-8, NIV)
"In him we were also chosen,
having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to
hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included
in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a
deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's
possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-14, NIV)
As a citizen of Heaven I can enjoy all the blessings the Lord Jesus has in store
for me. Once I am a citizen of Heaven, Jesus
will take care of me and even when Satan tries to use opportunities to entice me
to renounce my citizenship, attacks
me, and tries to terrorize me, I can be confident my
Lord and Savior will rescue me as I seek His help.
"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and
protect you from the evil one." (2 Thess 3:3, NIV)
When Satan tries to take me hostage by
alluring me to the things of the world and take my mind of Christ,
Christ will be there to help me as I stay in prayer and His Word.
His Word will sustain me and you.
Since my citizenship is in heaven, it means I am an alien here on earth and just
passing through. I should not give my allegiance to any earthly things. It is so
awesome to know that our citizenship can be in heaven.
The apostle Peter too reminds followers of Christ not
to let their earthly desires control them.
"Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as
aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war
against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they
accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the
day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:10-12, NLT)
Though the apostle Paul is in jail and no matter what
is happening on earth, I see him reminding the Philippians not to let earthly
desires control them but to remember Jesus Christ will come and rescue them.
This is evidenced by the previous devotional and the conclusion:
“And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
This is exciting to know because it lets me know that Heaven is real and Christ
resides there. One day, He will come down to earth and rescue us. This is
evidenced by “who, by the power that enables him to bring
everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so they will be
like his glorious body.”
This lets me know that Jesus Christ has the power that enables him to bring
everything under his control. So no matter what is happening around me I need to
remember that Jesus is in control and not give up. For one day, He will come and
rescue us transforming our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body!
Amen!
"I want you to trust in me in your times of trouble,
says the Lord, so that I can rescue you and you can give me the glory!" (Psalm
50:15)
"Since the Lord is directing our steps, why try to
understand everything that happens along the way!" (Proverbs 20:24)
I ask you now dear friend, what C.I.T.I.Z.E.N.S.H.I.P
should you desire the most?
Dear friend, of all the citizenships available in the world, the citizenship you
should desire the most is a Heavenly citizenship! Praise the Lord! The exciting
thing to know is that our citizenship can be in Heaven because of Jesus Christ!
It is not something we attain automatically. We cannot physically be born
into it like we can be born in a country and automatically be a citizen of that
country. On the contrary, every human being has to attain it. The Good News is
it is attainable. Jesus Christ offers us His free gift of Salvation. Receiving
Salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ will make us citizens of Heaven. As we
become a citizen of Heaven, we will belong to Him. We will desire and choose to
give our loyalty to the One who resides in Heaven. This means we will choose not be loyal to earthly
things as Paul mentioned in the previous verses. That devotional time I had is
called T.E.A.R.S.
There are so many benefits of being a citizen of Heaven and every benefit is
outlined and described in the Citizenship Manual of Heaven called the Bible. It
also lets us know how to live as citizens of Heaven rather than citizens of
earth. As we live as aliens here, we can be sure that Jesus Christ will come one
day and take us home to be with Him where we ought to be! He will take our lowly
bodies and transform them into Heavenly bodies.
Friend, no matter what you are going through, Jesus loves you so much and wants you to
be part of Heaven. We have shared what our family has been going through in
different devotionals but
Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and
tomorrow. Whatever we go through, He
wants to be there for us. He will use people in our lives to show us
that. He died and came back to save you and me. No matter what you have
done or where you have been, you can attain citizenship as you surrender your
life to the Savior.
Never think that you cannot because all of us on our
own cannot but while we were yet sinners Jesus died
for us. You can come to Jesus as you are and allow
Him to transform your life. Oh yes, He will my friend. His love will reach you
where you are. When we mess up and turn to Him, He will take care of us.
The amnesty program that Jesus Christ offers is the best program we can
take part in. It is by grace through faith
that we are saved and not through works so that no man can boast.
It is not anything we have done to attain His favor but because He loves
us and wants to bestow His favor upon us through His grace so that we
can attain this citizenship. We only need the permission of the One who
loved us enough to pay for our citizenship with His precious blood.
"With his own
blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for
all time and secured our redemption forever. Under the old system, the blood of
goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from
ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify
our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by
the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect
sacrifice for our sins." (Hebrews 9:12-14, NLT)
Only citizens of Heaven will be allowed into Heaven. If you are not a citizen
of Heaven then there is no entrance. Heaven does not allow any one to get
in unless they have accepted the gift of citizenship Christ offers.
This means
if a person does not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Personal Savior, then
they cannot be citizens of Heaven according to Scripture.
For Jesus Himself who
grants us citizenship says,
"I am the Way, the Truth, and
the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, NIV)
Friend, won't you accept the citizenship Christ offers you while you live
here on earth?
You can do it right now! Now is the time of Salvation! There is no need to
wait. You may not have all the answers. No one does but Christ will reveal all
the answers to you in His timing and now offers
Himself to you to give you a new beginning and hope! It is an everlasting hope!
For only Christ can save others through His pardon,
purpose, power, and promises giving others peace.
May you know Christ is truly in Zion encouraging
newness, saving hearts in people!
Make the prayer below your prayer to become a citizen of Heaven!
"Christ Is Truly In Zion Encouraging Newness, Saving
Hearts In People!" (C.I.T.I.Z.E.N.S.H.I.P)/”What C.I.T.I.Z.E.N.S.H.I.P
should you desire the most?”
PRAYER:
Jesus, you offer us citizenship in Heaven. Thank
you so much for that Lord. Lord, I want to be a citizen of Heaven but many times
I feel like I am trapped here on earth yielding to fleshly things. I know that
is not right and need your help to turn my loyalty over to you. Please Jesus
help me for you alone can truly transform my life by Your grace. Thank you Jesus for your
help! I confess my sins to you and repent of them. I am so sorry for my sins.
Now I turn to you and acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior. I believe
that you died and rose again for me to give me Eternal Life as I turn to you.
Come Jesus and cover me in your precious cleansing blood to save me. I
believe in you Jesus. I confess you as my Lord and Personal Savior. I
acknowledge you as my Lord and Personal Savior! Come Lord Jesus and make your presence known in my life. Come into my
heart and make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus and please help me to live
for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you for coming into
my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for forgiving me of all
my sins and saving me by your grace. Thank you for making me a citizen of Heaven
and I have the citizenship manual of Heaven to read always called the Bible.
Thank you for your Word! Thank you for hearing my prayer and answering me! I
turn my life over to thee. Thank you Jesus for being there for me! I live my
life here on earth for you as you lead me and guide me! Thank you that I am a
new creation because you have changed me and will be in me and work through me by the
power of the Holy Spirit! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace,
Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a
life of righteousness, holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I
need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround
me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your
presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you
love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek
your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for
your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case.
Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN!
(Most of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”
If you want to give your life to the Lord. You can do it right
now. Don't wait for some other time. Now is the time of Salvation.
Dear Jesus, I want to thank you for dying for my
sins and coming back to life to save me as you love me so much. Your love is
what has imparted to us your free gift of grace to be saved. Lord Jesus, you
alone can save us and not anything we do or others do for us will save us. So
Lord help us to always seek you and know from your grace alone that comes
through faith alone in you is the only way we can be saved according to your
Scripture alone to the Glory of God, our Heavenly Father. No matter what we do
whether it is worshipping you, praying to you, reading your Word, taking
communion, etc let it be because we love you and are excited to fellowship with
you and remember what you have done for us. May they not be for the sole reason
of being saved because we cannot save ourselves by anything we do but only by
your grace!
So we thank you for your grace to help us win the race
for you are our ultimate Ace! Jesus, as we give our life to you, we ask you to
fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us so that the good works we do will be
the fruit of righteousness as our relationship with you. They will know we are
Christians by our love shown by the fruit you display of our lives. Help us Lord. Thank you for your cleansing blood that cleanses us from
all unrighteousness. Thank you for saving us as we turn to you for you give us a
promise in Scripture alone saying, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved.” I claim this promise from Acts 4:12. Help us to live for you and serve
you Lord. Thank you for hearing us and answering our prayers. Thank you for all
that I have learned from your Word. Help me to put it to practice. In Your Name
I Pray Jesus! Amen!
No matter what you feel in your heart, know that Jesus has come
in and resides with you! You are not alone! To make your walk strong
with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him as you would to a
friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the Lord. Spend time in
His Word reading Psalms and turning them into prayer. Next allow God to
heal you and speak to you through the Gospel of John or Gospel of Mark
before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord show
you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important
to be part of a body of believers to help you grow in the faith. Find a
Bible believing church that preaches the Word of God from Genesis to
Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our crucified and risen Lord who
brings us hope, healing, and help!
No matter who you are, it is not ever too
late to join a Bible-believing church or a college fellowship. I highly
encourage each of you to come to Small Group on Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. and Oakland International Fellowship on Sunday
mornings at 9:00 a.m. for prayer, 10:00 a.m. for Community Bible Time in
Gospel of John, worship at 11:30 a.m, and fellowship lunch at 12:30 pm.
May the Lord's presence and peace fill you
with His love now and forever! Amen!
Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart, you
are a new creation in Christ and all old things are passed away and
everything has become new! You may feel something or may not but don’t
base it on feelings but base your new life in Christ on the promises of
our Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you! Amen!
Feel free to email me at
reddy4hisglory@gmail.com
if you want to meet
to study the Bible, pray with, talk about Spiritual issues or whatever
is on your mind! My number is 412-641-9426
"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty
energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)
Express Your
View
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Philippians 3:18-19:
"Why shed T.E.A.R.S for others in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(April 01, 20, 6:45 a.m)
Philippians 3:15-17:
"Who or what are you willing to P.A.T.T.E.R.N
your life after?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 30, 20, 9:28 a.m)
Philippians 3:12-14:
"How can you deal with the P.A.S.T in your
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 27, 20, 11:03 a.m)
Philippians 3:5-11:
"Why for R.E.F.O.R.M.A.T.I.O.N you need the
transaction of the C.R.O.S.S?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 25, 20, 3:14 a.m)
Philippians 3:2-4:
"How is your T.H.E.O.L.O.G.Y in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 24, 20, 9:36 a.m)
Philippians 3:1:
"Why R.E.J.O.I.C.E in the Lord?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 23, 20, 11:10 a.m)
Philippians 2:25-30:
"When will your H.O.M.E.C.O.M.I.N.G begin?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 20, 20, 07:43 a.m)
Philippians 2:19-24:
"How can you Q.U.A.L.I.F.Y well in other
people's lives?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 18, 20, 07:49 a.m)
Philippians 2:17-18:
"When do you live out your F.A.I.T.H in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 16, 20, 10:33 a.m)
Philippians 2:14-16:
"What does your B.E.H.A.V.I.O.R do for others
in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 13, 20, 08:19 a.m)
Philippians 2:13:
"How do you W.O.R.K out your Salvation?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 12, 20, 10:49 a.m)
Philippians 2:12-13:
"What path have you taken for
S.A.L.V.A.T.I.O.N in your life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 10, 20, 11:02 a.m)
Philippians 2:12-13:
"What is the point of O.B.E.D.I.E.N.C.E in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(March 09, 20, 11:24 a.m)
Philippians 2:9-11:
"How do you handle the N.A.M.E of Jesus in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 29, 20, 06:46 a.m)
Philippians 2:8:
"What can the C.R.O.S.S do for you in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 17, 20, 10:51 a.m)
Philippians 2:5-7:
"How do you match Jesus' A.T.T.I.T.U.D.E in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 12, 20, 10:59 a.m)
Philippians 2:3-4:
"How do you respond to C.O.M.M.A.N.D.S in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 11, 20, 10:23 a.m)
Philippians 2:1-2:
"What C.O.N.D.I.T.I.O.N are you in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 10, 20, 11:08 a.m)
Philippians 1:29-30:
"How do you handle S.U.F.F.E.R.I.N.G in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 07, 20, 10:51 a.m)
Philippians 1:27-28:
"How do you C.O.N.D.U.C.T yourself in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 04, 20, 08:38 a.m)
Philippians 1:22-26:
"What are your C.H.O.I.C.E.S based on?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Feb 03, 20, 10:10 p.m)
Philippians 1:21:
"Why D.I.E for Christ?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 31, 20, 12:11 p.m)
Philippians 1:21:
Why L.I.V.E your life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 27, 20, 10:08 a.m)
Philippians 1:20:
"Where do you need to have C.O.U.R.A.G.E in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 22, 20, 10:20 a.m)
Philippians 1:19:
"Who do you C.A.L.L often in life to intercede for others?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 21, 20, 10:36 a.m)
Philippians 1:19:
"What reason do you have to R.E.J.O.I.C.E in
life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 20, 20, 07:11 a.m)
Philippians 1:16-18:
"How are your M.O.T.I.V.E.S in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 18, 20, 08:01 a.m)
Philippians 1:12-15:
"What have your C.H.A.I.N.S done to others in
your life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 16, 20, 11:50 p.m)
Philippians 1:12:
"How can you feel S.P.E.C.I.A.L when things
are going so wrong in your life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 15, 20, 2:14 p.m)
Philippians 1:9-11:
"What is your L.O.V.I.N.G response based on?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 14, 20, 6:51 a.m)
Philippians 1:7-8:
"How can your A.F.F.E.C.T.I.O.N grow towards
others in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 13, 20, 11:00 a.m)
Philippians 1:7-8:
"Why can you only be saved by G.R.A.C.E alone?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 13, 20, 10:51 a.m)
Philippians 1:3-6:
"Why be C.O.N.F.I.D.E.N.T in the Lord?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 08, 20, 09:44 a.m)
Philippians 1:3-5:
"How can you attain a P.A.R.T.N.E.R.S.H.I.P in
the Gospel?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 08, 20, 09:44 a.m)
Philippians 1:3:
"How will others R.E.A.C.T towards God when they remember you?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 07, 20,
10:07 a.m)
Philippians 1:2:
"When do you B.L.E.S.S others in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 06, 20,
11:10 a.m)
Philippians 1:1:
"Why bother to let others T.R.A.I.N you when
you are already a leader?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 04, 20,
11:55 a.m)
Philippians 1:1:
"Why should you believe you are H.O.L.Y
instead of a sinner?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 03, 20,
9:53 a.m)
Philippians 1:1:
"Who will you be a S.E.R.V.AN.T to in life?"
By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 02, 20,
6:55 pm)
"What will your P.R.E.S.E.N.T look like in
2020?" By Ramesh C. Reddy
(Jan 01, 20, 1:13 pm)
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