Our Christian Identity

 

 

As authentic Believers, our identity is no longer found in our human capabilities, but in our kinship with Jesus as our brother, with His Spirit as our comforter and guide, and with God as our Father (1 John 3:1-3). We turn away from all self-confidence, self-serving and self-adulation and follow the leading of God’s Spirit instead (John 6:63). 

 

God does not strip us of anything, but we simply relinquish our humanity to Him. He restores us to the spiritual position where Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Paradise. We experience true peace and joy for the first time in our life (Romans 15:13). Each moment of every day, we purpose in our heart to live in obedience to, as well as dependence on God’s Spirit. 

 

There are other people who claim to be Christians, but they live for their own benefit and advancement. They have little time for God’s Kingdom, because they are too absorbed in amassing worldly benefits for their earthly life, hobbies and interests that consume their time, and pursuits that they do not use to further God’s Kingdom. 

 

They take pride in their good behavior, but they have no problem committing sins of the flesh. Their behavior gives the church and Christianity a bad name, and they cause people in the world to criticize the church and to falsely label all Christians as hypocrites. 

 

Then, there are those who come to Christ in truth, but they rely on their self-effort to work for God. Self-effort relentlessly drives them and leaves them spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally depleted. Self-effort has no place in the Kingdom of God. A true child of God eventually learns to trust God with our whole heart, and to love Him continually. 

 

We trust only in Christ within us for our righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 8:14). He is all we need. We are not agreeing to a life of trials, but of simply nailing our will to the cross and surrendering to the life of Christ within us (Matthew 16:24). He makes our circumstances more bearable.

 

The blood of Christ completely cleanses us from all unrighteous thoughts, words, and behavior (Hebrews 8:12, 9:14). We can approach the throne of God with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We have fellowship with our Father as children of the Most High God, as well as with Jesus Christ, whom He sent (1 John 1:3).

 

He is our good Shepherd, and we follow Him to living water and verdant pastures as we trust in His continual faithfulness to us (John 10:27). Wolves may attempt to devour us, storms my disturb our peace and joy, rocky ground may unstabilize our walk for a while, but He is with us and in us every step of the way.

 

Prayer: 

Father God, our entire purpose for living is to glorify You as our Father and to function as a good and faithful servant through Christ in us. We live in the center of Your perfect will for us (Romans 12:2), functioning by the leading of Your Spirit within us. We are dead, and our life is now hidden with Christ in You, because Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:3-4).

 

Totally immerse us in Your life, because it is greater than any secular status, financial fortune, or material possessions. We desire nothing more than to do Your will for our life. We are no longer our own, because we are purchased by You for Your own purposes (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, teach us to walk in Your Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of our flesh (Romans 5:15-25). 

 

Thought for the Day:

The Spirit in us is a mirror, which causes those who live in sin to reject us, because they are convicted by the presence of Christ in us; we are all given the chance to be saved from hell and to enter heaven by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ; when we struggle with our flesh, we come to realize that God calls us to take up our cross daily and to follow Him.

– James 1:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Romans 7-8; John 3:16-18

 

One Thing After Another

Some people say that “trouble comes in threes.” This gives us hope that after three negative circumstances, we will enjoy a time of respite from trouble. Another common saying is to quote Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Of course, this is very pessimistic, but it does seem to be true in our sin-cursed world. 

 

The Good News of Christ is that our current issues will not last forever. A comforting thought, regardless of our trials, is that God has a purpose in the negative circumstances for us as well as those around us. He teaches us life lessons, reveals to us His power and provision, matures us spiritually, and supernaturally comforts us as we experience each of these issues. 

 

Focusing on Jesus, we receive everything that we need to live a fulfilled life (Matthew 6:33). We look beyond the present moment and concentrate on His glory that is within us – just as Jesus did when He faced horrendous persecution and a vile death on Calvary’s cross (Hebrews 12:2). We also look for the seed for a miracle that He never fails to plant in every trial.

 

When life T-bones us with a sudden critical incident, it throws us off course until it collides like a car wreck with our faith and hope in the Lord. Negative emotions like discouragement, hopelessness, and despair attempt to settle into our bones, and if we entertain them for very long, they are hard to dislodge.

 

We may pull our self up by our bootstraps and use our human resources to hobble along. However, our only true hope is to draw near to God. Then, as we resist Satan’s lies, he must flee from us with His entire demonic hoard (James 4:7-8). Journaling our thoughts and emotions allows us to pour out our heart to God, as well as to free us from them plaguing our soul.

 

As we reread our words, scribbles across the pages of our journal, we realize that God spoke either explanation, guidance, or comfort to us in our meandering thoughts as we unburdened our heart on its pages (Jeremiah 29:11). Using His Word, a thought that He plants in our mind, or a person or new experience, He directs us in His way to escape the gridlock of our disappointment.

 

Once we understand the cause of our negative feelings, we can forgive those who offend us or cause us mental, emotional, and physical pain. We often misunderstand a person’s intent, and we jump to false conclusions and overreact. Once we pray about the situation, and calmly inquire why the other person did or said what hurt us, we see God’s direction for us.

 

One of my friends lost her baby in childbirth. In the midst of her anguish, God showed her that although her arms ached to hold this precious child, He was already holding her baby in His everlasting arms. This brought her comfort, because there is no better place for her child to rest for eternity. Life starts at conception, and her child’s little soul was now in heaven with our Savior.

 

Prayer:

Father God, my friend’s baby may have left this temporary, mortal world with its trials and suffering, but she did not miss her immortal home in Heaven. How lovely is the thought that she is waiting there for us all to join her in Your time. You give us hope through every trial, direct us through each new day, and help us to walk in Your ways through the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. 

 

Remind us that even a fatal illness is nothing to fear, because the end will bring us face-to-face with You. You have a plan in all of our circumstance – positive and negative ones – and we can rest assure that even our trials will accomplish results for our ultimate good (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Romans 8:28). Our faith in Your faithfulness enables us to totally surrender to You as we face the future outcome of our trials, which we cannot yet foresee.

 

Thought for the Day:

We often allow minor issues, which will have no meaning a week from now, to bowl us over and knock us for a loop when they first occur; however, God is our Father of all mercy and comfort and He calms us in our sickness and trials, so that we may share this same consolation with others when they experience similar situations; we experience suffering for Christ’s sake, but we also receive abundant comfort through Him as well.

- 2 Corinthians 1:3-5

 

Praising and Praying without Ceasing

 

Praying through our every waking moment makes a huge difference in our productivity, joy, peace, and fulfillment. We do not need a quiet closet to kneel and pray. We can pray without ceasing through every activity and moment of our day as we live them.

 

Even during the night watches when we wake up from our peaceful slumber, we can find a prayer or a song on our mind. Our spirit, connected with the Spirit of God within us, prays as we sleep (Romans 8:26).

 

This allows us to ascertain God’s purpose for us in each moment of our day. His Spirit guides and directs our steps as we wait on Him and consult Him for His plans for us. In the most mundane of activities to the most momentous, He is involved in everything we think, say, and do.

 

When we live in the present moment, fully attentive to everyday life as we live it, we find joy in the gifts God provides. We erupt into spontaneous praise throughout the day for the sun rising and setting, the butterfly fluttering on the breeze, for the flowers blooming along the roadside, etc.

 

We sing praises for the laughter of little children, for the antics of our pets, for the glitter of the sun on the water, for the shape and color of flowers, for fluffy multi-hued clouds in the clear blue sunny sky, for the air we breathe, and for the rain for our garden.

 

We glorify God for the sound of our neighbor starting her car or for our loved one returning home, for a roof that does not leak, for toes to balance our body, for the warmth of clothes, for soap and shampoo to keep us clean, for birdsongs, for healing from our diseases, etc. 

 

Practicing the habit of dwelling in the present moment, with a prayer and His praises filling our heart, reaps great rewards for us. We even praise God for the hard times and the trials of life that draw us closer to Him. The peace of God rules our life, and gratitude to Him pours from our lips (Colossians 3:15).

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You that Your Spirit leads us to do good and to share with others from Your multitude of blessings, because such sacrifices please You tremendously (Hebrews 13:15-16). Help us not to take Your presence within us for granted, but to treasure the intimate union we enjoy with You through grace by faith in Your salvation.

 

You often show us a better method to accomplish the tasks that You assign to us, or You may even change our direction altogether. Remind us to consult You for Your will in our next endeavor before we run off in our human efforts to accomplish our own to-do list. Teach us how vitally important it is for us to remain in the center of Your will throughout the day. We praise You for Your interest and presence in our life.

 

Thought for the Day:

As we maintain an attitude of prayer, we also start paying attention to the feelings within our own soul; then, we can take them to God to learn how to heal the negative aspects and to multiply the positive ones; we praise Him for His intervention for us, otherwise, the stress of anxiety of the issues burden our soul to the point, which may make us physically and emotionally ill.

 

A Good Marriage - Sharing our Heart

 

 

Intimacy in marriage includes our spiritual, mental, and emotional connections, as well as our physical interactions. Increasing communication times in our day, not only online or on the phone, but also in our communication at home, is vitally important. The most challenging issues we face with this is eliminating interruptions.

 

Therefore, turning off our phone during this time, waiting until our children are in bed, or even taking a few moments when we pass in the hallway to gaze into each other’s eyes and say, “I love you only” will all go a long way in helping us to stay connected to one another and to produce a deeper unity between us.

 

We can also plan times to snuggle on the couch, deck, or the porch swing. This gives us time to share memories from our childhood, the uplifting things about each other that caused us to fall in love, talking about interactions we had with people during our day, brainstorming about what activities to include in future date times, issues about which we are the most passionate, planning the menu for the next day, telling each other what we admire and appreciate about one another, etc. 

 

These conversations help us to laugh or cry together, to show compassion for one another’s feelings, to share in more aspects of our life together, to feel more secure in our connection, and to dwell with each other with greater understanding about the reasons behind our reactions, quirks, and habits.

 

This also allows us to remain sympathetic to our mate, and we attempt to remain interested in each other’s chatter. We can also address more serious topics, such as what we can change about our self that would help our mate to feel more loved, cared about, and valued as a person that matters.

 

When we hit upon an area that we disagree on, we can pray and ask God to give us a third alternative that we can both embrace. We can also consult Him when we feel any negative emotions arise between us about which we cannot identify the source for them without His help. Praying together is a wonderful habit to cultivate in our marriage.

 

Prayer:

Father God, one of Your scientific laws, that keep our life on this planet orbiting in a sustainable way, is that opposites attract – with magnets and with people. Although, this sets the stage for arguments, disagreements, and negative feelings against each other in our marriage. Give us the courage to be open and honest with each other when the occasion arises, but to do so with love dripping like melted butter on our tongue and over one another’s soul.

 

Teach us to prefer one another and to be kind, without neglecting our self, and to be vulnerable enough to intimately share our concerns, secrets, and desires with each other. Increase our faith in You and in one another as we give each other the opportunity to both support us during trying times, as well as to laugh together in the good times. Help us to cherish our mate as we cherish Your presence in our life.

 

Thought for the Day:

To open our heart means to increase our vulnerability and to learn to trust each other with our most personal issues, cares, and concerns; our responses to our mate’s vulnerability should never include sermonizing, criticizing, teasing, or demeaning remarks but compassion, empathy, cherishing, acceptance, and support; however, if our mate does respond with these negative reactions, we can kindly inform them about their behavior, because they may not even realize they are acting in ways, which hurt our feelings or cause us to feel slighted or devalued.

 

The Thirsty and Hungry Soul

 

 

Faith in the triune presence of God within us brings with it the anointing of God’s Spirit. We completely yield to God’s will and receive His Spirit’s direction and comfort through each moment of our day. He gives us victory over the deceitfulness of the devil, the temptation of sin, and the pull of the world over our life. 

 

God desires a deeper, personal relationship with us. When we surrender all to God, He works in our life to perfect us, until we reflect the image of His Son (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is only through prayer at the foot of the throne of God that we receive His full supply for all our needs. He fills us with His Spirit, and we abide in Christ’s presence throughout our lifetime (John 15:4).

 

No one is good, except the Lord (Romans 3:10). Unlike the foolish Galatians (Galatians 3:1-3), we stop trying to perfect our self, and we realize that we are already dead and hidden with Christ in God (Colossian 3:3). In this place of peace, we find rest for our soul. We are not required to strive to please God; but instead, He simply invites us to enter His rest (Hebrews 4:10). 

 

We no longer use our energies, or concern our self, with gaining this world’s excesses or meeting other people’s demands on us, because they will soon fade in the light of eternity. We are crucified with Christ, and He now lives His life in and through us. 

 

We stop hindering Him by our unbelief, because we live by the faith of the Son of God, who loves us and willingly gave Himself for us (John 3:16-18; Galatians 2:20). God calls us to be kings and priests and to serve Him (Revelation 1:6). As we focus on Christ alone, we live in righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 14:17). 

 

When we sit in quiet contemplation of who God is and all that He does for us, we enter the restful peace of the Lord (Isaiah 30:15; Psalm 60:1). Even when He is silent, we wait patiently for Him, enjoying His companionable presence within us (Psalm 77:7). 

 

Prayer: 

Father God, it is in the quiet times, as we sit at Your feet, that we hear your still, small voice. If we are rushing around working for You, we do not stand a chance of hearing the direction of Your Spirit. Thank You for teaching us to abide in the Vine, so that Your spiritual fruit will flow into us from Christ, and out to bless others that You bring our way. Teach us to lay down our own agenda for our life, and to surrender to Your will and ways. 

 

Help us to adopt a teachable attitude, and to walk in humility. In our position of continual worship, You reveal Yourself to us and present us with a multitude of blessings. As our good, good Father, You fulfill our every needed and flood us with Your perfect gifts (James 1:17). Remind us that if we do not have what we want, it is because You do not want us to have it at this time. We wait on You each moment of our day.

 

Thought for the Day:

Without Christ, we are empty, helpless, and alone in our attempts to reach God, to perfect our self, or to reach some higher form of enlightenment; however, as we abide in the Vine of Christ, His Spirit flows from Him into His branches, which we are, and produces through us His fruit that eternally remains, and which satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry soul.

- John 15:5, 26; Psalm 107:9

 

Life in this Present Moment

 

 

Anxiety overtakes our soul when we focus on the past or future, rather than on the present moment. Neither of those focal points are useful topics in our current circumstances unless we are learning something from our past or making provision for our future. 

 

Rejecting the temptation to feel anxiety over any issue, and praying without ceasing about every situation, feeling, thought, request, and choice, allows the peace of God - that has nothing to do with worldly comfort - to guide our heart and reassure our mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:5-7).

 

God heals us from the hurt from our past and the fear of the future when we commit to His sanctification all that we think, say, and do. We do not obsess over the past or future or allow them to prevent us from paying attention to God’s provision for us in the “here and now.”

 

This allows our endeavors to succeed as He directs our path (Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:3). We seek His will and trust in Him with our whole heart, and He rescues and delivers us (Psalm 22:8). We take all our concerns to the Lord because He continually sustains us, and never allows us to experience any trial without Him walking through it with us (Psalm 55:22).

 

The past is over and forgiven, and we are not guaranteed a future; therefore, dwelling on them usually hinders our effectiveness in the present issues in our life. We are only guaranteed this moment in which we are drawing our current breath. 

 

Our next breath will be either on this side of Heaven, or with the Lord in His glorious physical presence (2 Corinthians 5:8). We have no guarantees, and we may be taken by surprise. However, with Christ in us we have no worries or fears (Matthew 6:25-34).

 

Prayer: 

Father God, Jesus told Simon Peter that Satan asked for permission to sift him like wheat, but Jesus pleaded for him in prayer. Once Peter repented, he turned back to You and was a great strength as he built up the faith of his brothers and the rest of Christianity throughout the ages (Luke 22:31-32). Thank you that Jesus pleads for us as well (1 John 2:1). 

 

Strengthen us and keep us focused on You. Once You heal us, we no longer feel shame over our past or entertain worries about the future. Even if the circumstances around us are full of turmoil and conflict, we are safe and secure in Your everlasting arms in each present moment (Deuteronomy 33:27).

 

Thought for the Day:

As we dwell in the moment, we become conscious of our union with God through Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit inhabits our spirit and leads us moment by moment throughout our day; we emerge from our quiet time in His presence, and we radiate joy and walk in His peaceful calm in the midst of all life’s difficulties.

 

Dependent on Gods Spirit

 

 

Anytime our faith is connected to receiving something from God, we stand the chance of having our faith shaken, because God works outside of our human parameters. If our faith is in God alone, and not dependent upon anything else, we will not be blown away by the winds of adversity in our life. 

 

Instead, we will look for God’s purpose in them, and we will know that He is going to work out every trial for our eventual good (Romans 8:28). Only as we fully consecrate our entire being to God, do we come to walk in our complete salvation of spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

 

If we live our Christian walk using our human talents for the Lord, we will find a measure of success, but we will thwart God’s ultimate purpose in our life (Ephesians 2:8-10). He intends for us to recognize that in our self, there is no good thing (Romans 7:18).

 

If we depend on our self to find success in this life, we may or may not reach our goals. However, if we depend on God’s Spirit, the fulfillment He brings to us is more satisfying than anything we could earn by our self-efforts. If we understand this truth, we ultimately live with more peace and joy.

 

Therefore, God calls us not to depend on our own understanding, but to consult Him before we do anything (Proverbs 3:5-6). We desperately need God’s Spirit to direct our steps. God may use our natural talents, but only as directed by His Spirit.

 

We do not have to comprehend God’s ways in order to embrace them fully and to partake of His divine life within us. He helps us in our unbelief (Mark 9:24). We make a habit of walking by faith, instead of depending on our human understanding (2 Corinthians 5:7). 

 

Prayer:

Father God, we humans put more pressure on ourselves then You ever created us to sustain. That is why so many of us self-destruct and end up mentally, emotionally, and physically ill. We are flawed from birth and need Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary’s cross in order to be complete (Colossians 2:10). 

 

Only You can bring beauty from the ashes of our life (Isaiah 61:1-3). When we forsake all of our dreams and ambitions, and we abide fully in Christ (Philippians 3:8; 1 John 2:27). You give us back more than we ever relinquish to You. Forever satisfied with Your provision, we never experience a lack for any good thing that we need (Psalm 34:10). 

 

Thought for the Day:

Most events that we view as trials are simply God’s way of answering our prayers; we often want to see supernatural results, but God rarely intervenes in extraordinary ways, because He usually uses normal means to do extraordinary things in our life.

 

Abiding Love

 

For the first ten years after I asked Jesus to forgive my sins and I called on His name to save me, I believed in his name and that He is God who came in the flesh. Yet, I still made a list of every command I could find in God’s Word and followed it religiously so that I could earn the love of Jesus (1 John 4:18).

 

Then one day I heard my Savior say, “I love the whole world so much that I suffered, bled, died, and rose again, so that whoever believes in me will not perish in the flames of hell, but will be with Me in Heaven for eternity. Now, only those who choose not to believe in Me condemn themselves to eternal damnation (John 3:16 -18). My love cannot be earned, because it is a free gift” (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 8:39).

 

I sat in His presence within me, stunned that it took so many years for me to come to the awareness of this truth. At that moment, I felt His unconditional and infinite love pour over me like a waterfall. I sat there in praise and adoration of His drenching Agape love that is mine, not only in eternity, but now also while I traverse this sin-cursed earth.

 

This amazing, all-consuming, peace-filled love is ours every moment of every day if we are just willing to take time from our busy schedule to sit under this waterfall of love that cascades over us from the throne of God. We are filled through all of our being with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:16-19, Amplified Bible).

 

We do not need to wait until we get to heaven to feel the power of His love. We understand it fully and completely now, with all the richness of His love and power that comes from God and abides within us, through the intimate union we enjoy with Jesus on this side of eternity (Ephesians 3:18-19; Psalm 36:7).

 

Prayer:

Father God, although we are still subject to the temptations of sin, You surround us today with the shield of Your love (Psalm 5:11-12; Romans 5:8). Your Holy Spirit within us fills our hearts with Your love (Romans 5:5). We can rejoice and find fulfilling joy in Your unfailing love while we live on this earth, because You care about the anguish of our soul that we are constantly plagued with, and You give us a seed for a miracle in every trial (Psalm 31:7; Lamentations 3:20-23).

 

This wonderful, persistent, compassionate, eternal, profuse love is ours even now because it emanates from Your very presence within us (1 John 4:18; 1 John 4:9, 17). As we keep Your Word, Your love has been truly perfected in us (1 John 4:12), and this is how we know that we are in You (1 John 2:5). We can come to understand, believe, and to realize the love that You have for us as Your adopted children as we abide in Your presence throughout our lifetime (1 John 4:16).

 

Thought for the Day:

There is no fear in God’s love, and we no longer fear punishment for our shortcomings, because His perfect love within us drives out all fear and perfects us; even while we still live in this world, His sacrifice on Calvary’s cross gives us confidence to know that we are loved by Him because of His presence within us, and our intimate union with Him.

-1 John 4:17-18

 

God of Hope

 

 

We receive the Holy Spirit into our lives when we receive Jesus as our Savior. Romans 8:9 makes it clear that if we do not have the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us, then we are not God’s child.

 

As we trust in Him by the power of His Holy Spirit, God gives us overflowing hope, and He completely fills us with His joy and peace (Romans 15:13). The peace and joy of the Holy Spirit sustains us through adversity and blessing alike.

 

In eternity, the mountains and hills will burst forth into songs all around us, the trees will clap their limbs together in praise, and daily we will go out with joy and be continually led by His peace in our service to Him (Isaiah 55:12).

 

At our moment of salvation, the entire Godhead moves into our spirit. Every attribute that is in God the Father and Jesus the Son reside in us through the Holy Spirit. He is also our Comforter, our Guide, and our ever-present Helper in time of need. 

 

No matter what circumstance you face, the Holy Spirit within you has the power to meet it victoriously. The problem, however, occurs when we do not take the time to listen to Him. We can train our physical ears to hear every sound around us in God’s glorious world.

 

We can also train our spiritual ears to hear God’s Spirit directing through each moment of our day. The Gospels and Revelation are full of verses that speak mysteries from God, and are accompanied by a verse like the one in Matthew 11:15, ”He who has ears to hear, let him hear! “

 

This may take concentrated effort on our part, and it may take time that we do not want to carve out of our busy schedule. However, if we patiently sit quietly and listen, we will enter an entirely new realm of walking in the Spirit. 

 

Prayer:

Father God, in our quest for more intimacy with You, our thoughts and mind may be too cluttered with the natural world to hear from Your Spirit within us. Help us to simplify our life until every moment is filled only with Your will for us. This allows us to walk in Your peace, joy and love each moment of the day.

 

Give us the wisdom, perseverance, and strength to cut out all the willful sins in our life, and to live the holy life that You desire of us (1 Peter 1:16). Remind us that we can rely on Your Spirit to sanctify us as we abide in the Vine of Christ (). Thank You that Your presence in our life makes everything more intensely beautiful.

 

Thought for the Day:

We are wise to take time to go to a quiet place, fold our hands, close our eyes, and bow our head in anticipation, as we focus our entire physical and spiritual attention on the Holy Spirit within us, by listening with our inner spiritual ears and hearing His direction for each moment of our day. 

 

A Good Marriage - Understanding Our Mate

 

A Good Marriage - Understanding Our Mate

 

We tend to show love to others in our own love language, but they are not impressed at all. This hurts our feelings and discourages us from attempting to make any grand gestures in the future. The Five Love Languages book has saved many a marriage over the last couple of decades.

 

If we love our mate and family members and others with their love style, we will receive the gratification of the response for which we are aspiring. It is so worth the effort to take this little quiz and to commit to memory the suggestions on how to show love to the significant others in our life. 

- https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/

 

There are also side effects from our past life that influence our attitude and behavior in adulthood. These issues are detrimental to a fluid love relationship with others, and turn us into: procrastinators, deflectors, codependents, controllers, martyrs, to name a few. 

 

Codependent individuals are wounded, and some are even broken with holes in their heart from childhood and young adult experiences. They feel they need to earn a place of love in another’s heart, and they weary their soul and body by trying too hard to please everyone.

 

Others were shamed by adults if they dared to express any negative emotion at all, rather than to be allowed to express the negative, find the root cause, heal from the experience causing these draining emotions, and entering the joy of the Lord (Matthew 25:21-23). They shut up their emotions and hurts deep within their subconscious mind.

 

As an adult, they lack compassion, avoid emotions in their soul, disdain people who attempt to express theirs, and tend to live independently from others or to control others to keep from experiencing any future pain or confrontations.

 

Some children grow up feeling rejected and neglected. They are starving for focused attention of time and hugs and a listening ear. They actually believe that they do not matter, are not enough, etc. because they feel unseen/unheard. The Spirit of God within us is faithful to heal our past and replace our negative attitudes with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

 

Prayer:

Father God, help us to identify the root of our negative emotions, and to come to You for healing. Teach us to express our negative feelings with meek and quiet words in order to receive the help we need from others to live a fulfilled life. Teach us how to support our mate during these times in their life, and to help one. Another heal from our past experiences. Remind us of Your perfect love that removes all fear from our life, and to feel Your love falling like a waterfall over us each moment of the day.

 

In Your constant presence in our spirit, we have no feelings of abandonment, victimization, or isolation. We no longer need addictions or negative emotions like anger to dull our pain, to protect our self, or to quiet the negative voices in our mind. We rely on Your unconditional love, peace, wisdom, and power abiding within us to meet our needs. You are our God of comfort, provision, and fulfillment, and we praise and honor Your glorious name.

 

Thought for the Day:

Due to dysfunctional childhood and young adult experiences, we adopt unhealthy coping skills as adults that end up increasing the negative feelings caused by the experiences of our past; Biblical coping skills enable us to learn about healthy relationships and to face our past pain, feel those emotions, and exchange them for God’s true identity for us.

My Turning Point with Faith

 

 

After walking with the Lord for 32 years, I came to a major crisis point in my life. I lived most of those years in fear and worry of what negative circumstance would overwhelm me next. Some mountains would just not move, and my faith could not move them.

 

I went back to the Bible, as I had done countless times in the past, to find out why I had such weak faith. I found the same verses pertaining to faith that I read so often through three decades of time. Even conversing with the Lord in prayer brought no clarity to this issue.

 

One day, however, God highlighted a verse for me that I never saw before. It said, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” I burst into tears, because this father, who came to Jesus for healing for his son, voiced my exact feelings (Mark 9:29). 

 

My unbelief came from my distrust, which was birthed from my dim observations of hope throughout my lifetime. I had so many devastating disappointments over the years. The resulting strong doubts in my mortal nature prevented me from fully trusting in the Lord with my WHOLE heart. 

 

Through this obscure verse in the Bible, God wanted us to see that our place is to make a commitment to Him to believe, and then, He would give us the faith we needed. Our human resistance to change and our fear of the unknown is the basis for our lack of confidence to meet life head on. 

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 was the answer to this conundrum for me: God calls us to trust in Him with all our heart; and not to lean on our own human understanding; but to consult Him in all our decisions every single moment of the day, and He shall faithfully direct our paths.

 

Prayer:

Father God, You never give us Your directions ahead of time. You always give us Your grace to face our trials one moment at a time. Therefore, remind us that anxiety, worry and stress never help us at all. They are futile negative emotions that erode our health and trouble our soul. Help us to submit to You, so You can carry out Your purposes on this earth through us.

 

You are not looking for strong, bold, impetuous Saints who run around the earth working for You. You are looking for humble servants who will yield our will to Yours, and to allow You to work in and through us to do Your good and perfect will (Romans 12:2). As branches, we draw everything we need to bear fruit through the Vine of Christ and the nutrients of Your Spirit. We do Your will, not by our faith, but through Your Spirit, who flows into us through the Vine of Christ.

 

Thought for the Day:

The darkest hour always comes just before dawn, so in any trial, our redemption is always very near; God’s grace is sufficient to help us stand against doubt, because His strength is perfected in our weakness, and His grace makes the difference in our faith. 

- 2 Corinthians 12:9; Titus 2:14; Colossians 1:14; Ephesians 1:7

 

 

Enduring Faith

 

 

My ultimate joy as a human being is that I benefit from a personal relationship with the Living God on a daily basis - a relationship where we walk in intimate fellowship with Him every moment of every day. 

 

Even while we were still sinners, God demonstrated His love for us. Sin separates us from His cherished companionship, but restoration is only a humbled prayer away. God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross (2 Corinthians 5:28; Romans 5:8-10).

 

We start out in life as enemies of God. Then, we are reconciled to Him by believing in the saving grace of salvation through Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:20). Now, He gives us the ministry of reconciliation. 

 

We are not only reconciled to God through Christ’s death, but we are also saved through His life (Romans 5:10). Even as Christians, we so often we get an idea in our mind and run with it. We go from one worldly pursuit to the next, collecting human accolades and storing up treasure on this earth. 

 

We eventually find our feet far from the path that Christ designed for our life. We are walking in disobedience and completely out of His will. We prevent this from occurring by allowing God’s peace to rule in our heart as we walk according to the guidance of His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:10; Colossians 3:15-17; Galatians 5:15-25).

 

God launches every Believer into the ministry of reconciliation, to bring the Good News of the Gospel of Christ to all those that He places in our lives (2 Corinthians 5:18). Take a chance tomorrow...share, with someone you know, the Good News of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

 

Prayer:

Father God, help us to share Your good news with those we meet each day. Give us Your courage, wisdom, and words to lead souls to faith in You. Keep us on a straight path, because of satanic enemies (Psalm 27:11); and surround us with Your angels, so that we will not stumble or fall (Psalm 91:11). 

 

Remind us that we inherit an unbelieving heart from Adam and Eve, but we acquire saving faith from Jesus Christ. He presents us holy in His sight, without blemish and free from any accusation that would condemn us for eternity (Colossians 1:22). Thank You that this assurance works in our heart and transforms us from children of darkness into children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5).

 

Thought for the Day:

Every sin spawns from one major offense, which is the sin of unbelief, and unbelief keeps us out of the Kingdom of God on earth and prevents us from enjoying eternity with God in Heaven; yet, when we were enemies of God, Christ reconciled us to the Father through His death – Heaven is ours if we want it.

- John 3:16-18; Romans 5:10