Without the Power of God

When God's Spirit convicts us of the debauchery of our sin, it is easy to feel remorse and to say a prayer of repentance. Everyone "believes" in God in one way or another. Even the demons believe, and tremble in His presence (James 2:19).

Although many are convicted at some point in their life, few are authentically converted. They do not express a heart-felt contrition. They do not totally surrender their goals, dreams and plans to God's will for their life.

It is impossible to feel God's conviction, to pray a saving prayer, and to walk away from sin unless the power of God's Spirit emboldens and inspires us (Philippians 2:12-13). Authentic salvation and conversion require that we receive the faith of the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for us (Ephesians 5:2; Galatians 2:20).

A hypocrite is an actor, an imposter, a phony. Most of us are hypocrites, living life in our own wisdom and understanding, playing at religion and putting on a holier-than-thou face in order to impress God and other people. God knows us; and people with discernment see right through us.

The way to discern that we are truly Born Again is to "try" the spirit to see if it is from God (1 John 4:1-5). Does the peace of God, which has nothing to do with our circumstances, rule in our heart (Colossians 3:15)?

Is the anger gone, that once consumed our soul; traded for the love of God for our self and for other people? Do we have joy in trying times and patience to withstand the test of time?

Do we pray about our choices before making them (Proverbs 3:5-6), or do we still march to the drum of Satan in our life? Do we crucify the deeds of the flesh or do we capitulate to them without resistance of any kind (Romans 7)?

God is waiting at the door of our heart, ready to come in and feast with us (Revelation 3:20). Are we ready to the open the door wide to Him now, or do we want Him to come back later once we had more time to wallow in sin and its degradation?

Prayer:

Father God, we can work out our own salvation with fear and trembling only because You give us both the will and the power to walk in Your ways, in Your timing and in Your truth (Philippians 2:12-13). Your Holy Spirit changes our life in increments (2 Corinthians 3:18); some are smaller segments while others are giant leaps of faith with remorse over our sin and a determination to obey Your Word.

We prove our love for You by our obedience (1 John 5:3). Walking in Your will is the happiest place on earth. Our good works actually prove that our faith is in You rather than in our self (James 2:18). You do not need our good works, but we need Your power and the faith of Your Son in order to accomplish good works for Your Kingdom (Galatians 2:20).

Thought for the Day:

We sell our self short by living half-heartedly for God, or for seeking His will only when our plans do not pay off, and we find our self in the middle of some traumatic trial; we can do nothing without the power and anointing of God in our life. 

- Romans 7:18; John 15:5 

Yielding to God's Holy Spirit

 

Christians today are far from the Biblical norm of what we should be. We have no concept of what life is like when it is controlled and guided by God’s Spirit. We take too active a role in our life and we make our own plans instead of checking with God about His plans for us (Ephesians 2:10). We get our self stuck up a tree or circling the same mountain in life and then we get discouraged and grow weary.

We end up grieving God’s Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) by our thoughts, words and deeds. We dishonor God’s name by walking with one foot in the world and one foot in the Spirit. We walk with diminished spiritual power because we focus more on the fleshly concerns in our life than on the spiritual and eternal.

We have so much self-confidence, self-centeredness, self-reliance and self-sufficiency that there is no room for God. We are like the foolish Galatians (Galatians 3:1-3) attempting to please God by our human efforts. This type of lifestyle comes from the flesh and the flesh stinks in the nostrils of God (Acts 8:22-24). God’s power is available to every Born Again Believer...it is yours.

His Spirit wants to sanctify us and enable us to walk in God’s will every moment of every day. God continually eliminates our human strength, confounds our human wisdom and limits our human abilities in every area of life until we get tired of trying to live life apart from Him. We end up in complete shame and emptiness, lost and undone.

If we call on God’s mercy and grace, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness and helps us to walk in newness of life (1 John 1:9). This is when the blessings of God start to fall If you find yourself failing or discouraged or overwhelmed in life, you can be sure you are out of God’s will. Stop and pray. Center yourself in the mind of Christ and ask God for His direction. Then, yield to God’s Holy Spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, show us the futility of living life from our own wisdom and strength. Remind us to seek You first before we do anything, make any plans or set any goals. Allow us to see Your hand in every area of our life, to feel Your love overflowing in our heart, to have Your strength to accomplish everything that You calls us to do and to yield to Your Spirit each moment of the day.

Thought for the Day:

When God calls us to perform some function in His will, we find our self in the happiest place on earth.

 

Enjoying Eternal Rest Now

 

Hebrews, chapter three, gives the account of Israel forfeiting their chance to enter Canaan, the land of promise, because they relied too heavily on their human reasoning. Hebrews, chapter four, is one of the most healing chapters in the Bible. It promises us eternal rest for our weary soul (Psalm 95:11). This is not simply eternal rest after death, but eternal rest while we are still living (Genesis 2:2). Few people ever really enter God’s rest, because they do not have the faith to let go and let God take over their life (Hebrews 4:1-2).

The people of God everywhere in every generation have this opportunity to have abundant life now (Psalm 95:7-8). However, we fail through unbelief to enter the rest promised to us from the foundation of the world (Hebrews 4:3-9). If we choose to believe God’s Word, we enter His rest through the door of salvation in Christ (John 10:9). The next step is to cease from our stress and striving. We do this by allowing God to give us the desire and ability to follow His Spirit, rather than to deal with life from our human resources (Hebrews 4:10; Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:8-9).

God calls all those who strive and are burdened to come to Him, so He can give us rest (Matthew 11:28). The only time God ever encourages us to strive in the Bible is to strive to enter the narrow door of salvation and then to strive to enter His rest. It is not easy to lay down our will and ambition and to surrender completely to the will of God and the direction of His Holy Spirit (Hebrews 4:10-11). However, God even gives us the gift of the faith and grace to enter His rest (Ephesians 2:8-9). We only need to receive it whole-heartedly.

God’s Sabbath rest is a way of life, not an occasional experience (Hebrews 4:11). We spend time every day digesting His Word, which is sweeter than honey (Psalm 119:103). The Word of God cleanly separates our fleshly thoughts and actions from our spirit-led ones, and it demonstrates God’s power, truth and ability in us and through us (Hebrews 4:12-13). We hide His Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11), and it gives us constant direction and delight (Psalm 119:24). Bible truth is nourishment for our soul and a light to our path (Proverbs 3:8; Psalm 119:105).

We allow God to work through us, not from the basis of our own effort and energy, but by obedience to His Spirit. We cling to, trust in and depend upon Jesus as He uses us to do His works in the earth (John 3:18, Amplified Bible). His Word cleanses, heals and delivers us from sin, sickness and Satan’s oppression (Psalm 107:20, 119:9; Matthew 8:8, 8:16; John 15:3, Ephesians 5:26). The eternal rest in our spirit and soul are available to anyone humble enough to cease from his/her own efforts and to walk in the Spirit moment by moment throughout the day (Galatians 5:16,25).

Prayer:

Father God, Your Word provides us with strength, productivity, fulfillment and peace (Psalm 1:3, 119:28). It gives us Your roadmap to peace in this life. You grant rest to Your people and You chose us as Your eternal residence (1Chronicles 23:25). You rested from Your works and gave us Your example, so we will rest from our labors as well (Hebrews 4:4,10). We enter Your eternal rest only if we believe and trust in You (Hebrews 4:3). Help us all to attain Your rest (Hebrews 4:1). Allow Your Word to teach us to discern between the flesh and the spirit and always to follow Your Spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

Thought for the Day:

Through God’s Word, His Spirit and His presence in our life, we enter into His rest.