Overcoming Discouragement

In this world of unrest, eminent financial collapse, uncertainty and abuse, there is little to encourage us. Many hearts fail them for fear and they resort to suicide (Luke 21:26), which is nothing more than a permanent solution for a temporary problem.

Jesus gave us the best solution for the fear and anxiety if life. He advised us not to allow our heart to be troubled, but to put our hope and belief in Him (John 14:1).

He is not only preparing a permanent dwelling place for us (John 14:2), He also gives us His Peace (John 14:27). His peace transcends our circumstances and removes our stress over life.

God manifests His glory in our life in so many ways. They are often so subtle and unobtrusive that we take them for granted and never really recognize them.

Our answered prayers are contributed to coincidence or we do not even realize that He answered them. Little hugs, which God gives us throughout our day, go unnoticed.

The shape of a cloud, numbers on the clock, a bird's song, a cool breeze at just the right moment, a stranger's smile, a sale at the grocer, an encouraging note from a friend are all hugs from God.

God floods our life with light in the darkness all around us; yet, we continue to focus on the darkness and allow it to rob us of our joy in the Lord (John 1:5; 1 John 1:7).

Focusing on the truth of God's Word will keep us in peace as we live life one moment at a time. I ask myself, "How am I doing in this one moment of time?" "Truly blessed", is my usual assessment. No worries…just be happy in the Lord.

Prayer:

Father God, even in trials and tribulation, we can count even trials as joyous, because we are learning patience, which will eventually perfect us (James 1:2-3; John 17:22-23). If we keep our focus on our trying circumstances, fears and world issues, our hearts fail us (Proverbs 3:5-6). Yet, if we change our thoughts to focus on You, You keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

Help us to watch for Your little hugs throughout the day, so that we can be assured of Your love as they comfort us in whatever situation we are experiencing at the time. Remind us to spread Your love, encouragement and joy to everyone we meet during each of Your divine appointments.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus, the Light of the world, continually shines in our life.

- John 1:5-9

Drenched with the Presence of God

 

God diagrammed the course of human existence before He ever brought the first couple to His perfect Garden. Their sin did not surprise Him, and He already planned for Jesus to pay our sin debt (Romans 7:21-25).

Through Christ, we are Born Again - a spiritual rebirth of our human spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, empowering us to walk in God's will every moment of our day.

We are not drawn to the darkness, because Christ in us is our spiritual light. Satan no longer holds us as powerless captives, weak-willed hostages or rebellious infidels.

Carnal feelings, earthly desires and worldly longings are things of the past. The war in our mind ceases, because God's Spirit in us wins battle after battle to renew our mind (Ephesians 4:23).

Once we accept Christ, we slowly get lost in the beauty of His holiness (Psalm 29:2). We exalt His name for His faithful love and grace toward us (Isaiah 25:1). Christ is our whole life (Colossians 3:4).

We think of nothing but Christ in our every waking moment. We follow His Spirit as He directs our steps in the very center of God's will (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God is our eternal dwelling place and we are His Holy Temple (Psalm 90:1-2; 1 Corinthians 3:16). We are completely absorbed in Him and He fills every fiber of our being.

We behold His beauty as we dwell in His house and we meditate in His Temple (Psalm 27:4). He gives us a reason to hope during the trials, which we experience throughout our day (Jeremiah 29:11). We are drenched with His very presence.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for setting us free from the law of sin and death by Your Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2). We have less stress and striving in our life since we completely surrendered to the work of Your Holy Spirit in our life. We love Your Kingdom and we look forward to inheriting Your promises in eternity.

Keep us ever faithful to Your Word and Your life within us. Write Your laws on our heart and fill us to the brim with Your Spirit (Hebrews 8:10; Ephesians 3:16-9). Transform our mind to the mind of Christ and give us an abundance of Your presence until we overflow to the brim with Your love, grace and complete unity with You (Romans 12:2; John 17:23).

Thought for the Day:

Sin no longer tempts us, disobedience disgusts us and rebellion no longer motivates our behavior, because we love God with our entire body, soul and spirit and we detest what He abhors.

Spirit over Matter

 

Our spirit is our dwelling place with God. When we live in the center of God's Will, we dwell in the heavenly realm and everything that happens to us is in the sphere of His purpose and control.

As we view any circumstance from within our spirit, the physical and emotional and mental aspects of the event are outside of our dwelling place and have no real effect on who we really are in Christ.

We know without a doubt that He has an eternal purpose for us in any experience and that He will work out all of the details for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Even physical illness, loss, relational issues, financial disaster and every other negative incident which may occur are in His control. We can rest in His everlasting arms through it all.

If we happen to slip out of our spirit and allow our self to feel the emotion or physical pain of the experience, then it affects us negatively. But in the spirit, it cannot touch us.

Jesus experienced loss and grief a few times in His life. His good friend Lazarus died and Jesus wept (John 1:35). He looked out over Jerusalem and grieved for the coming destruction of His beloved city (Luke 19:41).

He sweat drops of blood as He faced the cross and begged our Father to release Him from the anguish of taking on the sin of the whole world and being rejected by God (Luke 22:44).

Yet, once He stepped back into His spirit in all of these situations, He accepted God's will over His own desires and no longer suffered any negative consequences from the trials of His body and soul (Hebrews 4:15).

This happened in my life. After an auto accident, I was bruised, bleeding, had half a face full of glass, broke my little finger and eleven ribs, and suffered a concussion and a punctured lung.

I totaled my car, but I was out of the hospital in one day, back to work as a secretary in one week, and I never took one pain pill as I slowly healed over the next three months.

That was spirit over matter with a generous helping of God's grace (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Prayer:

Father God, we know that nothing catches You by surprise and we can relax and look forward to the miracle, which You place within every trial that we encounter. You are in control regardless of what the circumstances look like or how much suffering and turmoil we experience.

As we view the experience from within our spirit, Your Spirit buffers any loss to our body or soul. We know that the suffering is occurring, but it has no effect on our attitude because we count it all joy (James 1:2-8).

Thought of the Day:

A Christian does not experience life through mind over matter, but through spirit over matter; because though we suffer loss in this world, it does not affect our eternal existence now or in the world to come.