God's
Holy Spirit enables us to know an intimate relationship with our Heavenly
Father and Christ, His Son. The more intently we put the advancement of His
Kingdom first in our life, the more fulfilled, content and joyful we remain
(Matthew 6:33).
Adopting
a heavenly mindset, we stop obsessing over the issues of life on this earth. We
readily await the rapture of God's church or our ticket home from the Lord,
whichever comes first, which helps us to focus on God's will for our life
(Ephesians 2:10).
We
use negative thoughts and emotions to discover what our spirit, soul and body
are attempting to show us. Taking a searching inventory of our physical,
emotional, spiritual and mental needs allows us to eradicate those pesky
negative emotions that want to plague us.
Once
we meet our needs, or turn them over to the Lord to provide for us in His time
and way, our soul recovers, our body mends, and our spirit rejoices in the Lord
(Psalm 23).
Then
we are free to think about positive, worthwhile, wholesome, heavenly-minded
thoughts (Philippians 4:8). We listen more than talk to God and other people,
and we follow God's will for each moment of our day (Ephesians 2:10).
The
indwelling Holy Spirit (John 15:26) perfects us from one stage of glory to the
next by inspiring us to live righteously. He works into our personality the
fruit of His Spirit, and He enables us to surrender our will to God's and to
walk by His direction (Galatians 5:15-25; Romans 8:14).
He
also guides our intercession for those on God's heart according to His will for
them (Jude 1:20; Romans 8:27). The Spirit gave us life through Jesus' death on
Calvary's cross, and He enables us to live in God's will moment by moment (John
3:6).
Prayer:
Father
God, help us to yield to Your control and to follow Your Spirit's direction.
Living in Your will is the happiest place on earth. Thank You for changing us
and filling us with Your presence. We never want to grieve Your Spirit or cause
You anguish in any way by our thoughts, words or deeds (Ephesians 4:30).
Thank
You that Jesus fulfilled the law for us (Galatians 5:11), and gave us His
righteousness in exchange for our sin (Galatians 5:5). We shed the shame, which
Satan heaps on us, but we respond to the guilt that comes when we transgress
the boundaries of Your will for us. We find comfort in Your arms, protection
under Your wings, and mercy at Your throne in our times of need.
Thought
for the Day:
When
our ways please the Lord, even our enemies are at peace with us; we do not fear
death, because our last breath on this side of heaven is immediately followed
by our first breath of celestial air in Paradise.
-
Proverbs 16:7; Galatians 5:16; Luke 23:39-43
