The High Praises of God in Our Mouth

Thoughts and emotions are fickle and lead many of us on a wild dance. When we are happy, we live a productive life; but the moment we meet a crisis or feel discouraged, we lose all hope. Some react to stress or depression by sleeping all the time, or our soul may invent psychosomatic illnesses or we turn to addictions.

This behavior causes us to receive even more criticism and rejection, and this denunciation increases our feelings of separation from the people we love. Trusting in Christ may not change our circumstances, but it certainly alters the way we view life. We belong to the eternal family of God (Ephesians 2:19). In Christ, we can accomplish anything, which He leads us to do (Philippians 4:13).

The more often we focus on the goodness and greatness of God, the more His praise rests on the tip of our tongue. The least little blessing that comes our way is reason to erupt into high praises to our Lord and King (Luke 1:46-47; Psalm 149:6). In addition to this, we get excited about His spiritual blessings, as well as His mercy and grace in our life (Ephesians 1:3).

Even our failings are not failures, because there is forgiveness with our God (Psalm 130:4). We will not lose the war for our soul, simply because we lost a battle. Christ in us already obtained for us our eternal security in Him (John 5:24). Our soul – our mind, emotions and will – magnifies the Lord and our spirit rejoices in God our Savior (Luke 1:39-56).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for transforming the personality of our soul into the mind of Christ, Your divine nature and the fruit of Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:16; Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Remind us that You inhabit our praises (Psalm 22:3). With high praises to You in our mouth, and the two-edged sword of Your Word in our hand, we can vanquish any negative emotion and overcome any enemy of our soul (Psalm 149:6). Help us not to allow our flesh, which is dominated by our physical senses and emotions, to dictate our behavior; but help us to allow our faith in You, as well as our praises to You, to change our feelings (Deuteronomy 30:19). We choose to walk in Your joy, precious Lord.

Thought for the Day:

Our success in life pivots entirely on our obedience to Christ and following the leading of His Holy Spirit.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

Jesus showed His concern about the issue of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. All four gospels give us this account. This shows me that His words about this topic really impressed the apostles (Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3: 28-30; Luke 12:10; John 20:19-24). The great concern over blaspheming the Holy Spirit is that it is the only unpardonable sin (Mark 3:29).

In the context of this verse, Jesus just healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. The Pharisees doubted his ability as a human being to do such a thing (Matthew 12:22-23). They knew that Jesus possessed power they did not hold, and they were jealous of His anointing. Therefore, wanting to take the focus off Christ, they accused Him of using Satan's power to heal the man.

This ludicrous comment proved their inconsistent spiritual philosophy. Why would Satan cast out his own demon? Then, Jesus made it clear that giving Satan credit for the work of God's Spirit is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). This has always been true (Matthew 12:32). The apostate is turned over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1:28; 1 Timothy 4:1).

Some people have tasted the things of God and then decide to reject Christ; but some go one step further and blaspheme His name and discount His deity and attribute his works to Satan. They dedicate their life to harsh criticism of the Christian world and Biblical beliefs; therefore, sadly, they will spend their eternity in perpetual damnation for rejecting Jesus Christ as their Savior (John 3:18).

Prayer:

Father God, Your love, wisdom, power, authority, righteousness and justice are above reproach; yet, the humanistic mind rejects You and Your Word. They accuse the Biblical writers of being male chauvinists, and they say the Bible is an archaic book of fairytales. Your Word is true, powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). There is life in every word. Thank You for working out circumstances in our life so that we accepted rather than rejected the work of Christ in our life.

Thought for the Day:

Those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit are apostates, and do not get another chance to repent, because after death comes the judgment. - Hebrews 9:27

Falling Away from God

Many people reach a plateau in their walk with the Lord. The increasing highs, which transitioned us from sinner to saint, level off. We experience a dry time of struggle, questions and doubts. We attempt to substitute some facet of life in this world to mask or to try to improve this perceived loss in our life. Human success is very deceptive. It gives us a false sense of power and ability.

We stop patiently relying on God and we strike out on our own again. Like the Israelites we remember the provision of the world and forget the trials (Numbers 11:5). The prodigal son did this too. He ended up in the pigpen, until God humbled him enough for him to return to the Father’s house (Luke 15:17). Only the living water of life flowing from the throne of God can quench our interminable thirst (Revelations 22:1).


Satan sits by our ear and whispers convincing lies and doubts. Satan’s words have negative connotations. They tear down, discourage and condemn (1 Peter 5:8). Satan’s words bring bondage and criticism. However, we also have a spiritual ear, able to hear from God Himself (Matthew 11:15). Pay attention to the thoughts in your mind and change them to positive thoughts (Philippians 4:8).


God’s words are positive. Even His conviction brings repentance and does not make us feel despicable and dispirited. His words bring freedom to our soul and spirit. The closer to our deadline we get, the more our faith falters. God’s timing may be slower than we would like it to be, and we may get nervous and fearful. We forget that God always works out even the worse scenario for our ultimate benefit (Romans 8:28).


Prayer:
Father God, even when we view our future through a foggy window (1 Corinthians 13:12), and we have no idea why You are acting as You are, we can still trust You to give us the victory and to use us for Your purposes in the earth. Your Word is full of incidents where You used unconventional methods to bring about your desired results. We can always trust that no matter how bizarre the events get in our life, You are always there, right inside of us (Colossians 1:27), experiencing the trial right along with us.


Thought for the Day:
Remember God’s past victories in your life and draw faith from His provision and faithfulness for this new trial.

The Divine Nature of God in Us

The trauma, inconsistencies and callous aspects of life, wear on our human soul, which intensifies over the years of our lifetime. Since conception, the abuse, injustice and deprivation turn us from skeptics to raging maniacs. We shut down emotionally or we allow negative habits to rule our behavior. We over-react to situations through our habitual self-defense mechanisms.

God is love. (1 John 4:8). His love for and in us removes our reasons to fear, which is the root of all of our negative emotions (1 John 4:8; Romans 13:10). As we surrender to His love, God’s Spirit fills us with more and more of His divine nature. Love banishes our selfishness, envy, pride, and rebellion, and fills up our soul – our mind, will and emotions (1 John 4:20). God displays His love through us to the world around us (1 John 4:12).

We cannot achieve this love in our own power or effort, but only as a gift from God through His perfecting power (Romans 5:5). God’s Spirit within us sanctifies us, and gradually gives us the divine nature of our Father God (Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:10). This results in a mind, which is set on holy and spiritual thoughts and desires (Colossians 3:2). God’s Spirit does not change our carnality overnight.

God’s Spirit imparts one aspect of God’s divine nature to us at a time. He peels away our sin nature one layer after another, replacing each earthly characteristic with His fruit (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23). He exchanges our carnal tendencies with a display of spiritual fruit. He reveals them in our behavior each time we allow Him to do so. The entire gamut of spiritual fruit, the nature of God, is in Christ in us.

Therefore, we already have each of these fruit resident within our soul through the abiding Holy Spirit. God replaces hatred with love, depression with true joy, discontentment with peace, irritation with patience, criticism with gentleness, backbiting with goodness, pride with meekness, excess with self-control, and worry with the faith of God as we are controlled and guided by His Spirit. The closer we walk in God’s will, the more holiness and spirituality we exhibit.

Prayer:

Father God, the perfect triangle of Your love for us, our love for You and our subsequent love for one another is a witness to the world of Your power (John 13:34-35). Heal our wounded hearts and remove any lies in our soul, which Satan planted in our subconscious mind. Share with us Your Truth about the trauma we experienced in this sin-filled world, and pluck Satan’s lies right out of our belief system. Allow us to view our self as You see us...as perfected in Christ.

Thought for the Day:

God’s divine nature in us is not something we use for personal gain or reputation, like so many people in this modern society, but for the glory of God and to further His Kingdom in the earth.

 

Acceptance With Joy

Read: James 1:2-4
"Knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven."~ Heb 10:34c (NKJV)

I constantly struggle to accept with joy the various negative circumstances that harass my life. For instance, a few years ago we bought a tiny, old brick house built way back in 1971, a 700 sq. ft. fixer-upper. The once dark, paneled walls now stood faded and blotchy. Fiber tile in the suspended ceiling dripped with orange grease, cigarette smoke and age. Old yellowed, metal office blinds covered the few windows. Even after I cleaned the scarred, dry-rotting linoleum kitchen floor it still looked dirty. An outdoor laundry room exposed me to the tropical heat and rains. Permanent pocks marred the reflective film on the windows. This house desperately required a “facelift.”

As the seasons blended from one to another, I finally got sick of listening to myself complain. I realized that I needed to “lift my face” to Heaven with a smile of gratitude instead of a frown of criticism. I thought about the many homeless people who had no dwelling at all. At least, I had a secure residence in which to live. From then on I started focusing on the good qualities about this home. I referred to it as our miniature, antique cottage. I praised God for a dry roof, no termites and carpeting on the concrete floor. True to form, once I changed my attitude, then God miraculously started providing what we needed to remodel.

PRAYER:

Lord, help me to focus on meeting the needs of those less fortunate than I am, and to remember that Heaven is our true home.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Allow patience to produce her perfect work.

Bearing More Fruit

Read: John 12:42-43 

"For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7).

A friend told me she did not want to accept Christ in her life, because she was afraid of losing too many of her friends. I reminded her that she would gain even more and truer friends, but she was too fearful to give it a try. Another friend was afraid that God would require that he give up his self-important lifestyle and his excessive carnal desires.

All of our gifts and abilities come from God’s work in our life. He even prunes us, so that we can bear more fruit. God uses our trials to build into us the character of Christ (Romans 8:29). Our motivation in service to King Jesus comes from our love for God and not prompted by the praises of man or driven by our measure of success. God deserves all of the praise for who we are (Ephesians 2:10). When people praise our fruitfulness, we can thank them for their encouragement and give the glory to God.

Thought for the Day:

No criticism makes me less, just as no praise makes me more.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us to keep You as our focus as we bear fruit for You and as You prune us to bear even more fruit.