Answered Prayers

The blessing of intercessory prayer is that we can pray wherever we are and no matter what we are doing. God's Spirit prays through us, even for people we do not know. Family, friends, workmates, neighbors, church revival, the worldwide family of God and the unbelievers in every nation are all topics of our times of intercessory prayer.

Our persistent prayer, sometimes accompanied by fasting, actually makes a difference in our world. Tears are often the result of our fervent prayer, and they touch the heart of God (Psalm 56:8). Spirit-led prayers are the most affective, because if we pray in our own strength, legions of demons may attack us with doubt and discouragement. God's will is the key ingredient for answered prayers (1 John 5:14-15).

Through prayer, Born Again Believers, who are filled with God's Spirit, minister with holy boldness in areas where we have no natural abilities. We are delivered from relying on our flesh once we reach the place of totally resting in faith on our Father God. God's Spirit takes us beyond our gifts and callings to places where only Christ in us can accomplish the will of God (Colossians 1:27).

We learn to pray in the Spirit, affecting those areas where God is most interested in ministering. We do not pray with a flowery profundity of words, but only with fervent, effectual prayers (James 5:16). If we say we love God, yet do not love the least of those whom He died for, the Bible calls us a liar (1 John 4:20). God’s love allows us to pray for people, and to identify with them in their plight.

Prayer:

Father God, we know that You often refrain from affirmatively answering our prayers, because You have a higher purpose for the issues in our lives. You use them to allow patience to have her perfect work in us; and You use them for Your ultimate glory. Remind us to pray for our missionaries and fellow Believers in foreign countries and around the USA. We want our prayers to be strategic and effective through Your Spirit's direction.

Thought for the Day:

God often humbles us by not immediately answering our prayers, so that we take no glory in the future when He does answer them.

 

Receiving God's Blessings

 

God’s agape love fills the soul of everyone who believes in Him. He manifests His love to the world through us (1 John 4:8; John 13:35). We no longer live for our self, but for the will of God, the perfection of His Body, and to further His Kingdom in the earth (Romans 14:8; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Acts 14:22). We all have different ministries, but the same God works through and benefits us all (1 Corinthians 6-13). Our fear and anxiety undermine our faith; but God proves His faithfulness to us.

Stepping out in faith serves to increase our enthusiasm about living for God. God often does not act according to the way we believe He should. However, He is under no contract to perform, as we demand. In order for Him to bless us, it is up to us to pray and live according to His will and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). When we consider Christians in third world countries, we realize how materially blessed we really are, compared to their utter poverty.

Even though everyone is originally dead in sin; at salvation, Jesus raises us up to live in His new life (Ephesians 2:5). God calls us to stop living our life led by our carnal appetites, emotions, desires or aspirations (Romans 5:16, 25). This counterfeit lifestyle only leads to corruption, sorrow, anxiety and ultimately to devastation (Romans 6:23). If we live in union with Christ and are led by His Spirit, then we live with joy that defies description (1 Corinthians 6:17).

It is only as we abide in Christ and let His Words abide in us, that we can ask for what we want according to His Will. As we respect who He is, He will hear and save us (Psalm 145:19). His Spirit unites His Body and makes us all one in Him (Ephesians 2:14; John 17:23). We simply ask according to His Will and He hears us (1 John 5:14). When we keep these criteria, then He always blesses us (John 15:7).

Prayer:

Father God, we often do not have what we need, because we ask with the wrong intention for things, which only gratify our flesh (James 4:3). We have complete confidence to approach Your throne in our time of need (Ephesians 3:12). We refuse to throw away our trust in You, because You greatly reward Your Body (Hebrews 10:35). We believe in Your Word and we trust in You to provide for our every need, according to Your will. We want to walk in Your ways, so that we will not feel shame and remorse when You return for Your Bride (1 John 2:28).

Thought for the Day:
Those without a relationship with God do without; yet, those who live for Christ have their desires granted according to His will. - Proverbs 10:24

 

A Place of Refuge

God does not abandon us at birth and expect us to make our own way in life. He does not want us to work for Him; He prefers to work through us (Galatians 2:20). Even our best self-efforts are merely filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). Once we recognize our need for complete reliance on the Lord, His Spirit engulfs us. We are filled through all of our being with all of God’s fullness (Ephesians 3:19-20). We take specific time-outs during the day to draw away from society and to sit in silence in God’s company.

Many of us maintain a lifestyle of extreme anxiety. We rush through life, losing sleep to meet quotas and cut-off dates, using up every degree of human exertion we can rouse. We pay inflated prices for dessert coffee to wake us up, and then swallow medication to quell the physical illnesses produced by our frantic pace. We depend on our self-effort to handle all of life’s terrors. We mistakenly think the world depends upon us and revolves around us. What we fail to remember is that the cemetery is full of people who thought they were indispensable.

Sometime after our conversion, God brings us to a deeper place of brokenness. Recognizing that we can no longer function through our human potential, we acknowledge our weakness and totally surrender to His Lordship. We enter a new realm of the Spirit, which leads us to God’s power in us and through us. Basking in His presence, we receive His love, peace, wisdom and strength (Isaiah 26:3). We let go of control over our life and relinquish our worries into His capable hands. He is our only lasting refuge and strength, our constant help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

When we sit alone, we are never lonely as long as the Spirit of God resides within our spirit (Psalm 46:10). Connecting to the Spirit of God in times of aloneness gives us the opportunity to walk in His peace and rest throughout the day (Mark 6:31. We receive His healing for our spirit, body and soul – our mind, will and emotions. We enter our quiet place within, experiencing unity with His Spirit. We move through the routine of our daily life led by God’s Spirit.

As we carve deliberate times of solitude from our schedule to be alone (all-one) with the Lord, He readily speaks to us (Revelation 3:20). We suspend our thoughts and praise Him for His faithfulness and glory. Whether we are walking on the sunny beach beside the lulling cadenced of the swishing surf under the call of gulls floating on the breeze, or carpooling the children, or performing household chores, or driving in rush hour traffic, or chained to the overwhelming aspects at work, we remain in His presence, listening to His direction for every moment of our day.

We are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). God lives within us through Christ and leads us by His Spirit, ready to commune with us whenever we give Him the chance. All it takes is for us to silence the dissonance within and without and to focus all of our attention on His love welling up within us. Then we will walk in balance with His Will and direction for our life. As we remain in the Lord and rest in His goodness, His quietness and confidence invade our spirit and give us strength. (Isaiah 30:15).

Prayer:

Father God, I find my rest in You alone; my salvation comes from You. My soul waits silently for You, because You are the source of all of my joy. Remind me to enter that quiet place within my spirit all throughout the day, no matter what responsibilities claim my time, so that I can focus on You and enjoy fellowship with You every moment of my life. As we abide in You, Your love abides in us (1 John 4:16).  You are our hiding place. You preserve us from trouble and surround us with Your protection and deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

Thought for the Day:
Make it a priority to pursue more of Christ in silent times alone with Him.
- Psalm 42:1

Stop Trying to be Good

Read: Galatians 3:1-3

“So then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his. Let us,

therefore, strive to enter that rest." – Hebrews 4: 9-12

The situation today is much the same as it was among the Galatian Christians in Paul’s day. Having been born again, they trusted in the finished work of Christ’s crucifixion, death and resurrection, as well as the activity of the Holy Spirit in their life. Then Satan and the Judaizers - religious legalists – seduced them by imposing unbiblical rules and regulations on them to allegedly guarantee them spiritual maturity. They foolishly took part in a useless struggle in which they sought to please God by their works (Galatians 3:1-3).

We do this too. We trust in Christ for Salvation, but then we try to perfect our self by our works. Sanctification - the process of becoming holy and pleasing to God - is a LIFELONG process. There are no shortcuts. We did not come to Christ by our works (Titus 3:4-6; Eph 2:8-10), it was a free gift from God. Therefore, we cannot sanctify our self by our works either. We simply submit to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life and obey God’s principles in His Word. Sanctification and Glorification are just as freely given to us by God as Justification.

Many times, negative input from significant others in our lives conditions us to fail or to live under the heavy weight of condemnation. God wants to reprogram those thoughts with His living Word, which tell us the truth about our worth and our victory in Christ. Failing is not failure. Failing in one area of our life opens us up to the possibility of success in another. We may lose a battle, but Jesus already won the war 2000 years ago on Calvary’s cross. If we fail, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins (1 John 1:9), and to stengthen us to do His work (Philippians 4:13). So rather than experiencing defeat by our failings, we can ask for forgiveness and then ask God to show us what to do next.

As we look for God’s direction, He leads us to do the works He planned for us before the beginning of time (Ephesians 2:10). As we seek His will, we walk in His wisdom as His Spirit leads and guides us each step of the way. Regardless of life’s circumstances, nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39). There is no striving in our walk with God. We do not need to spend time nor energy on trying to overcome the flesh or on trying to earn God’s love. The only striving that the Bible commands us to do is:

           1.) to enter his narrow gate through Salvation
           2.) to enter into His rest.

Hebrews 4:9-12 tells us that we cannot be good enough, holy enough or spiritual enough to deserve God’s love. We already have God's love, which does not depend upon our behavior at all. If the Christian walk depended on us, then we would have no need for Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. He died because we can never be good enough to earn God’s forgiveness and love. It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Jesus completed the work of our perfection on the cross. Now we only need to submit to Him as He helps us to make a conscious effort to walk in obedience to His Will, regardless of the circumstances around us. As we walk in the Spirit, we do not fulfill the lusts of our flesh (Galatians 5:16). Instead, we put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5) and walk in the unity of the Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). As we allow the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit to fill our soul and spirit to the point of saturation, we bask in the Sonshine of His love.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we continue to experience negative thoughts and attitudes, but we want to have Your mind within us. Please bring us to a place of inner healing and help us to walk in complete serenity through faith in Your goodness. Remind us to set our boundaries to protect us from the negative people in our lives that tear us down. Point out to us those who are already walking in victory and fulfillment, so that we can hook our wagon to Your spiritual stars. We will ask that one to disciple us, and we will follow them as they follow You (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Thought for the Day:

If we live in the moment, and walk in the moment, we can follow the Spirit’s leading one moment at a time.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, Michael Rickard, for the use of your photo.

 https://www.facebook.com/Rickard.Michael#!/MegaPixelMike

For Such a Time As This

Read: Esther 4:1-17

“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14

I love this phrase in Esther where Mordecai tells Esther to view her life as being part of God's wonderful plan for her and His people. “You have come to this royal position for such a time as this.” Do you realize that God created your life with a built-in purpose as well?

In Ephesians 2:10, Paul says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” That is so exciting to me. As the Master Potter, God uniquely designed us and placed each of us in the world at this exact time in order to carry out His will (Jeremiah 18:1-6; Isaiah 45:9, 64:8; Psalm 100:3; Romans 9:20). What happens if we live according to our own will and neglect the works God created us to perform?

Queen Vashti gives us a perfect example. She is the Queen of Persia, a woman with immense influence. She shapes her world by her words and example and everyone in the kingdom, including her husband, knows it (Esther 1:17-18). I think she must have been the first recorded Women’s Liberation Movement leader! In the Biblical account of her life, Vashti is in the middle of a party, which she threw for all the women of the palace.

Her husband, King Xerxes, commanded seven of the chamberlains who waited on him to bring Queen Vashti to display her beauty to the people and nobles. He knew better than to ask her himself, or to send even one or two of his chamberlains. So he sent seven emissaries to do his bidding! The Queen could not be bothered, however, and refused the King’s wishes. Of course, this act of rebellion and disrespect came at a high price to her. She lost her throne in the palace, her position in the court and her authority in the kingdom.

There are three different types of people in the world. Some, like Queen Vashti, live for themselves, caring little about anyone else. They focus their entire being on climbing the corporate ladder of success or amassing exorbitant financial gains or serving their own family. They build their own kingdom rather than furthering the Kingdom of God. They have no eternal focus and little to no spiritual desire. They disobey and deny King Jesus with their life, and give Him no alternative but to deny them before His Father (Matthew 10:33).

Other people exhibit a bit more spiritual desire and they give God a fraction of their time and money. Some of them worship with other Believers one or two hours a week on Sunday morning. They may even pray when they are in need, but they rarely spend time praising God or reading their Bible. I saw a church sign during our travels that relates to this group of people, “God does not want just weekend visits with you; He wants full custody of your life.”

Lastly, we have people like Esther, who risk their whole life for God and His people. Prior to the King choosing her to take Vashti’s place, Esther cherished her own dreams for her life. However, she gave up her individual aspirations and stepped out with faith and courage for the Lord’s purpose. God used her to save His chosen people, the Jews. God created Esther for only one defining moment in her entire life; but, in return, God granted that Esther live the rest of her days in luxury as the Queen. Faithful people like Esther seek God’s purpose. They live their life fulfilling His will for them and reaping His benefits (Psalm 103:2, 116:12).

God’s purposes shall come to pass and His plans will unfold throughout the ages, just as He decreed them before time ever existed (2 Timothy 1:9). However, He only uses willing vessels to fulfill His intentions in the earth. You and I may never have a noteworthy role in history like Queen Esther did, but God needs us to serve Him in the place where He created us to live. Our little microcosm in the world is our mission field. This is where God anoints us to serve Him with our whole body, soul and spirit. We may have a lifelong calling, or just one important moment in time like Esther; but if we respond to His direction, He will bless us abundantly in every way.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, as we listen to the direction of Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day, You put us in the right place at the right time to fulfill Your purposes and to further Your Kingdom in the earth. If we fail to pay attention, and focus instead on our own dreams and pursuits, we may miss Your calling. Then You will choose someone else to bless in our place. Help us to follow Your Spirit and to hear Your direction for each of moment of time.

Thought for the Day:

God birthed each of us in our current life station “for such a time as this”.

 

The God of Balance

Read: Isaiah 55:5-9

“May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope.” -Romans 15:13

Some of my friends and family are afraid to rely on God for their needs, because they see Him as an angry Being ready to pounce on our smallest mistake. I understand how they feel, because I used to view God as a wrathful ruler, extracting a great price from His followers. I imagined him like the perceived Wizard of Oz…with smoke and fire and angry words and faces. What I did not understand at that time is that God’s people fear Him, not because of His fury, but because of His love.

During my first year of college, God revealed to me that He is not a punisher, but a provider for those who trust in Him. He is not wrathful, but graceful. He is not hateful, but loving. He does not extort, but gives liberally to all who will ask of Him. God constantly reaches out to those who do not know Him. And when we take the chance and trust Him with our life, we feel His divine forgiveness pouring over our soul like a waterfall (Psalm 130:4). We can readily forgive the harm others inflict upon us, because we have been forgiven much as well (Luke 12:48). 

Another reason people do not trust in God as their Savior is because of Satanic lies that they believe. They worship the creature rather than the creator (Romans 1:25). They follow humanistic reasoning and worldly perceptions rather than asking God for true wisdom from above (James 3:17). They allow science and history revisionists to overrule the principles they learned at their mother’s knee. They reject the Gospel and cling to fables instead of to the Truth (2 Timothy 4:4; John 14:6).

Unbelievers say that we are misinformed, brainwashed, deceived, unenlightened, narrow minded, misled and bigoted. They cling to the flotsam and jetsam of their shipwrecked lives, not realizing that they are inches away from sinking into eternal damnation. All it takes for them to be saved is for them to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to allow Him to lead them by His Spirit into all truth (John 16:13).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, shower those who do not know You with Your loving kindness. Cause them to desire the fullness of a life found in You. Give them a vision of Your mercy and grace. Open the eyes of their understanding and trouble their dreams until they reach out and allow You to enfold them in Your sacred heart.

Thought for the Day:

God is not constantly watching out for you to sin, but He is always watching out for you.

The Battleground of the Mind

Read: 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13

Have you ever felt like you were going crazy? Nothing makes sense in your life. You have a war going on in your mind...like there is a whole crowd of people up there arguing! I have a simple explanation, and an even simpler solution for you.

Paul said it….“WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST."

Our soul contains our mind, will and emotions. In the Bible the soul is often referred to as the “heart.” This does not refer to our blood pumping organ, but our inner self ~ the soul. Paul learned that even though we are in a spiritual war, we don't have to use carnal weapons. God gave us divinely powered weapons to demolish all of Satan’s strongholds. We do this by taking every thought captive and having the mind of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:5).

The imagination is where Satan likes to play. He perverts the truth and comes up with all sorts of lies to tell us, which unbelievably we accept as truth! Satan puts a thought there, and then we say, "Yeah!  That's right!" We dwell on it and believe his lies. Soon, we believe them as truth, and he sits back and laughs at us. He's got us right where he wants us.

The first negative thought in your mind is from Satan. It is his tempation to see if he can get your attention. Then, he tries to keep your attention by expounding on that first negative thought. If you agree with that thought, or if you entertain that thought and add other thoughts to it, then he’s got you right where he wants you.

But if you recognize that the first negative thought ~ the blasphemous, sexual, carnal, unholy, angry, bitter, resentful or belittling thought ~ is from Satan, then you can quote or read scripture to him, just like Jesus did on the mount after His 40 days of prayer and fasting.

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit lives in our Born Again spirit and He helps us to battle what the Bible calls...the old nature, the carnal nature, the flesh and the devil. It is a lifetime process. Our daily commission in found in Colossians 3:1: “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.” As we seek God and His kingdom, we will not walk in the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

As you know, “What we believe, determines how we act.” When we believe Satan's lies, we exhibit negative attitudes. We get "stinkin' thinkin'." Satan knows that if he captivates your mind, then he can control your actions also.

Our safeguard, therefore, is to follow the advice we already read in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: to bring our thoughts into obedience to Jesus and to put on the mind of Christ.

The Word of God tells us not to conform to the world, but to think about:

1. Whatever is true
2. Whatever is noble
3. Whatever is right
4. Whatever is pure
5. Whatever is lovely
6. Whatever is admirable
7. If anything is excellent or praiseworthy
8. Whatever you have learned or received...or heard from...or seen in Paul ( and other Godly men and women ) put it into practice (Philippians 4:8).

Throw out all those thoughts that do not measure up to this list! You will know you have finished the task when the peace of God again rules in your heart. Look at Philippians 4:7..."And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Being led by the Holy Spirit helps us to know the will of God and to have the peace of God. No more lunacy warring in your mind!  Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, the carnal mind is enmity against God, because it is not subject to the law of God (Romans 8:7). If we are still carnal, then envy, strife, and divisions are common among us. Help us not to follow after the carnal thoughts, which fight against Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:3). Help us to walk by Your Spirit and to be led by Your Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

“Either you must learn to take your thoughts captive – or Satan will take you captive with your thoughts!” -  Kay Arthur

Renewing Our Mind

Read: Ephesians 6:10-18

"The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

Many people misinterpret this verse by saying that God will not give us more trials than we can bear. Clearly, this is not addressing trials, but is about the temptation to sin. God does not diminish our trials, because He uses trials to work character in our life (James 1:3). He does, however, strengthen us to resist the temptation to sin. He wants us to walk away from temptation as victors rather than victims.

Temptation is common to all of mankind and does not affect our Salvation. The first unholy thought is not a sin; it is a temptation. It is Satan’s tool to draw you away from spiritual pursuits. We only sin when we agree with and entertain those ungodly thoughts and quests. When we are tempted, God always gives us His wisdom to see right through Satan’s lies.

One way we withstand temptation is by renewing our mind (Romans 12:2) with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We start pursuing eternal matters rather than allowing issues in the earthly realm to consume us. This is easier said than done.

Since we live in this worldly realm, its shackles continually pull us back to earth. Some people are spiritually immature and give in to a wide range of fleshly driven, decadent, corrupt behavior that brings God’s judgment on their lives. Others are less overtly sinful; yet, are still excessively busy with worldly pursuits. Some are even idle gossips or full of anxiety or prideful about their own accomplishments.

If we make a commitment to follow Christ, then withstanding temptation gets easier every day. As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, read the Bible and listen to the preaching of God’s Word, worship with fellow Christians and share with others what Christ is doing in our life, then we renew our mind by puting on the mind of Christ (Psalm 27:11).

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for the tools You give us to live a life, which is victorious over sin. When Satan attacks, prepare us to do battle using Your armor (Ephesians 6: 11-14) as our defense.

Thought for the Day:

Our defense against temptation is to be fully dressed for battle.

Healthy Sense of Self for Christians - Part 2, Led By the Spirit

Human beings are the result of all of the nature and nurture that God provided for us in our lifetime. He intended that we have the parents, the environment and the genes that we have in order to be the person He needs us to be. This way He can use us to help others with our unique skills and talents. But we do not have to indiscriminately help everyone who needs our help.

Love does not mean giving people what they want, it is following the Spirit’s leading in everything we do and say. Reaching a balance in the area of ministry is both basic and simple. If God does not give you peace to comply with someone’s request or a need that they may have, then do not get involved. God teaches us to develop healthy boundaries based on the Holy Spirit’s direction. This is crucial for creating a safe place - a home base - for the authentic person whom God created us to be, as we follow His will throughout our day.

Many of the ministry needs that we try to respond to may appear Biblical on the surface. The issue is legitimate and the person is in real need. However, serving others without Spirit-led boundaries eventually starts to feel like slavery and bondage, and may even cause us to grow more and more resentful and angry in our soul. If the Holy Spirit does not direct us to get involved and we do so anyway, this can have an oppressive effect on us, because it becomes a “works” brand of Christianity.

Let me give you one example from Jesus’ life. He walked among the multitude of sick people beside the pool of Bethesda (John 5: 1-18). They all needed His help, but He only healed one of them. He could have spoken a word and healed them all at once; or He could have sat there the whole day and ministered to each one individually. However, He followed His Father’s directions instead of humanisticly responding to all of the needs (John 5:19). Jesus set boundaries, and He gave us an example of how to set them too.

If we do not set limits on our activities as the Holy Spirit directs us to do, then our responses to other people come merely from the complex network of carnal thoughts and emotions in our soul. We may have a nagging sense of doubt and shame because of our past; therefore, we are driven to help by the fear of rejection. We may fear that God disapproves of us when we meet our own basic needs, so we spend all of our time caring for others instead.

If we do not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we run the risk of getting worn out and of distancing our self from God, which will cause us to lose our spiritual anchor. Anything that affects our spiritual, mental and emotional well-being also affects our physical well-being. Hospitals and doctors offices are full of people with psychosomatic (mentally induced) illnesses.

God has a much richer plan for us, in which learning to love ourselves is vitally tied to learning to love our neighbor. Having a solid, healthy sense of who we are in Christ, and of our God-inspired, unique individuality, goes hand-in-hand with being able to enter into loving “interdependent” relationships with our family, our church and our community.

When you feel overwhelmed, take a time out and hide beneath the shadow of the Almighty. Seek refuge under His wings. This keeps out unwanted intruders of doubt, insecurity, fear and obligation, and provides a safe place where you can grow and develop as an individual. The sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit during these times does a complete work in our body, soul and spirit. He renews our strength and He equips us to perform the works that God calls us to achieve. 

This “home base” provides a place to gather our authentic thoughts and feelings, as well as gives us the time needed to decide whom we are in Christ – without the fear of being shamed or verbally attacked by well-meaning brethren. This is a secret place where we can honestly face the realities of our life. We can also ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance and ask God for the strength to be able to step aside and to allow Christ to accomplish His will through our life.

God's plan for our self-development involves a building up of our selves in a grace-filled, restorative experience of Christ in us, which is our hope of glory. This way, we can live less like Martha who frantically rushed around serving others – and more like Mary who allowed herself to sit at Jesus' feet first (Luke 10:38-42). From this passage, it is clear that God does not want us to give out of obligation. He wants our giving to flow from our genuine desire to serve Him and from our choice to obey the leading of His Spirit.

Being able to choose the boundaries we feel comfortable with is a key step in being able to give genuinely, rather than under compulsion. As we spend time with Him, and receive His grace and care for us, there is a natural overflow of this love, grace and caring outwards to others. Allowing one's “self” to be built up in Christ's love makes it possible for us to serve others out of love, rather than out of coercion or codependence.

How do we know where to draw our boundaries? How do we know how much giving is too little or too much? No two people have the same boundaries. To answer this we need to listen to our own soul – our mind, will and emotions - and to the leading of the Holy Spirit within us. Service without boundaries easily leads to resentment and anger. It is not the amount we are giving that counts, but the process – serving from a cheerful heart – that really matters. If God does not give you peace to comply with a request or a need, then do not get involved.

Giving of one's “self” as an overflow of the grace we have experienced may not always come easily or without difficulty or pain, as Jesus showed by his life and death. God wants to put His hands around our tiny "sparks" of genuine giving and to nurture them gradually into a torch blazing with agape love. Our light will then shine like a city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14). With God's hands sheltering our obedience to His Spirit from the winds of guilt, shame and perfectionistic expectations, our love can grow – step by little step – into a flame of genuine caring and nurture. This allows God to minister through us only to those to whom He leads us.
 
Allowing God to build up our feelings of self-worth and to help us to develop secure boundaries is a spiritual priority. Allowing God to teach us to say "No" is more important to our spiritual growth than saying "Yes" to yet another "spiritual" activity. We do not always need to have a clearly articulated or spiritual-sounding reason for saying, "No." If God is not leading you to say, “Yes,” then by all means, please say, “No.”

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, prompt us to take time to just sit at Your feet like Mary did and to soak up God's grace until we are filled with Your Spirit. Then, help us to serve others from a place free of resentment. If we do find ourselves not feeling genuinely led to give, help us not to force ourselves, but to obey the Spirit who leads us by His peace from within.

Thought for the Day:

Our giving comes from a genuine desire and freedom to serve God. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:7

Beyond Our Abilities

Read: Ephesians 3:14-19

“Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” - James 2:22 (NKJV)

My talents are in the area of crafts. I love to do anything that involves string and a needle or paper and glue. Therefore, when I turned my life over to Christ, I feared that I had no talents to offer, which He could use for His Kingdom. I had little more than genuine trust in Him. Then, I learned that with salvation comes the gift of faith to accomplish all that God calls us to do in our lifetime (Matthew 17:20).

We never walk alone, because God fills us with all of His fullness. Works become an indication of our salvation, rather than a prerequisite for it. We can obey the Spirit’s promptings in our life regardless of our talents or knowledge. No task, which God asks us to perform, remains beyond His anointing on us to carry it through.

On the other hand, sometimes we see a need and our compulsion prompts us to fill it. That is not always wise. Jesus helped everyone He felt God leading Him to assist, but He did not help everyone. Likewise, if we give aid to someone outside of God’s will for that person or for us, then we are actually enabling and rescuing, rather than assisting them in a healthy way. Our goal in life is to follow the Spirit’s leading in everything we say and do.

Prayer:
Precious Lord, lead us by Your Spirit moment-by-moment throughout the day, so that we may accomplish the greater works that You commissioned us to perform.

Thought for the Day:

God's Spirit in us is infinitely greater than the boundaries of all of our abilities.