Who is the Holy Ghost?

When we come to Christ, repent of our sins and trust in Jesus as our Savior, the Trinity moves into our Born Again spirit. The Father, Son and Spirit all abide in us, and we do the works that Jesus did, in each community in which we live (John 14:12).

God's Holy Spirit is our comforter, guide, encourager, perfecter, convicter, and sanctifier. He supplies us with everything we ever need to accomplish God's will during each moment of the day, as long as we consult Him first and not making our own plans (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The Spirit also fills us with His fruit until we exhibit Christ's divine nature of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith in exchange for our carnal nature (Galatians 5:22-23). He replaces our carnality with His fruit.

We can facilitate this process by focusing on one verse in God's Word at a time, which pertains to each fruit. I like to write the verses on 3x5 cards and carrying them around with me to reread every chance that I get.

The Trinity gives us wisdom when we are puzzled, forgiveness when we fall, humility when we are tempted to take the credit for our successes, and contentment that stems from living with a heavenly mindset rather than as worldly-minded individuals.

We already have all of the Holy Spirit abiding in us; however, the more we submit to His guidance, the more the Spirit controls our life, smooths out the rough edges of our day, and gives us supernatural strength to do all that He calls us to do.

Sometimes, the trials of life are overwhelming, causing physical, emotional, and mental pain and anguish. Yet, we can rely on God's Spirit to heal our brokenness (Psalm 147:3), comfort our distresses (2 Corinthians 1:1-11), and make our paths straight (Psalm 27:11).

Prayer:

Father God, we are so grateful that You did not leave us alone in this great big, scary world (Hebrews 13:5). We appreciate Christ abiding within us, teaching us, leading us, enlightening us with His Truth, and comforting us through His Spirit dwelling in us. Help us to see that our self-worth and confidence come from our relationship with You.

Teach us to pray without ceasing, rejoice in our circumstances regardless of their severity, and give thanks to You for Your provision, safety and blessings throughout our day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). In spiritual warfare, You guide us in how to overcome Satan's wiles, and we are so grateful that You are greater than anything he or this world can throw at us (1 John 4:4).

Thought for the Day:

Jesus is the Word who became flesh in order to pay the debt that we owed for our sinful lifestyle; His Word is truth, and His Spirit enlightens us as we feast on verses of scripture throughout the day. - John 1:14, 14:6

A Serene Life

The busyness of life is more and more distracting to the modern day person and parent. We make sports, music, dance and hobbies a priority over church activities, which teaches our children that worldly pursuits are more important than God in our life.

The way to remedy this modern phenomenon is to align our activities with Biblical priorities by seeking first God's Kingdom (Matthew 6:33). This causes the noise of life to diminish, and we find more joy and tranquility in our daily schedule.

Rather than to drown out God's directives by the noise of worldly pursuits, we reduce the cacophony of life by making God's will our priority each moment of our day. As the noise of this world diminishes, the guidance of God's Spirit is more acute and discernible.

We fully experience God's abundant life, which brings Him glory and honor in our every thought, word and activity (John 10:10). We come to realize the magnitude of the concept of Jesus Christ actually abiding in us by His Spirit, and we surrender our goals and priorities to Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jesus admonished us to live dramatically different lives from those who live in the world. He encouraged us to love God more than those in our household and even our own life (Luke 14:26; Matthew 6:24). 

Our love for God is so paramount that we actually feel more love for Him than we do for anyone else. God has the bulk of our affections and everything we think, say and do is a reflection of Christ's life within us (Galatians 2:20). 

Our heart swells with our adoration of our God and Savior, and we serve at the pleasure of our King in our family, church and community activities.

The worldly clutter in our life disappears and we live above the clamor of life swirling all around us. We rest in God and serve from this place of unhindered peace (Hebrews 4:9-11). We see life from His perspective and we rise above the demands of modern society.

We can also rise above the temporal issues of this life, the attitudes of our fellow sojourners, and the circumstances that attempt to overwhelm us. This prevents them from robbing us of our joy in the Lord.

When we keep our focus on the joy set before us, spiritual truths actually govern our life. God is still in control, Jesus sits on the throne and abides within us, and the Holy Spirit will guide every step we take and keep us in God's will for our life.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that You created rest for more than the Sabbath and help us to enter into Your Kingdom's rest. Open our eyes to the reality of Christ in us and the fact that His presence in our life removes the necessity of us struggling to survive in this world. Help the codependent and workaholic to totally surrender to Your Spirit's direction for each moment of our day, rather than to succumb to the tendency to enable people and to do more than Your will for our life.

This way we rise above the stress and negativity of life on planet earth and dwell in Your Kingdom now.  Teach us to rest in Your loving presence, which will increase our positive emotions and decrease our depression and anxiety over the issues we face each day. We thank You for Your grace in our life and for our unity with the Trinity, which abides within us.

Thought for the Day:

Any negative emotion in our life is a red flag to signal an unresolved conflict within us, an idol we erected above the Lord, a misleading focus on the importance of the issues of this life, or that we are walking outside of God's will for our day.

Our Eternal Destiny

Life is full of trials and opposition. We come out of one trial and slide right into another one, which is just waiting to engulf us in discouragement, loss and often physical, mental, emotional or financial ruin.

Jesus may send us into a trial, but He is right there with us - sleeping in the same boat or walking out to us on the choppy waves. He draws us close to Himself and calms the raging seas.

He sends us into the storm to prove our faith as genuine and to give us opportunities to praise, glorify and honor Him through it all. He refines our faith as gold in the smelter's pot (1 Peter 1:7).

As we look at life from God's perspective, rather than our lowly human viewpoint, He showers us with continual revelations of His love, care and provision.

His eternal plan will bring every Born Again person, as well as nature back to Himself; and restore our union with Him such as Adam enjoyed in Paradise.

We abide in Him through Christ in us and find our true identity in this personal relationship with the Trinity (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4). We have an eternal perspective and walk in God's will for our life.

We are spiritually alive through Christ in us, and we abide in Christ. Nothing can every pluck us out of His hand (John 10:28). He is eternal in the heavenly realm, and we dwell there with Him even now.

We possess eternal life by knowing God intimately and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3; 1 John 5:12). We will never die. Our last breath on earth is followed by our next breath in Heaven (John 11:25-26).

He gives us His divine life in exchange for our carnal one (1 John 5:11-12), His Spirit to guide us and His love to envelop us so that we may rejoice through every circumstance.

Prayer:

Father God, our glorified body will be ours when we see Jesus, either in eternity or when He returns for His Bride. Just as Jesus ate, spoke and was recognized by His disciples, we too will look very much like our self now. Our glorified body will be like His. He could walk through walls and rise into heaven unassisted. His new body was no longer subject to death.

We look forward to that immortal, resurrection body and to serving You for all of eternity. We cannot even fathom the wondrous world You prepared for us, which we know is even better than the majesty of this universe in all of its splendor. Remind us to keep a Kingdom focus through all of the trials we experience now here on earth and to look forward to spending eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

As we live each day with eternal values and viewpoint, we mature spiritually until we come to the fullness of the stature of Christ in us. - Ephesians 4:13

Tucked Securely Under God's Wings

God created us in order to share with us His awesome blessings and provision. He gave us Paradise to enjoy and will once again restore the whole earth to this euphoric condition (Revelation 20-21).

The message of the gospel is senseless to those who are lost without Christ as their Savior. In their pride and rebellion, they condemn themselves with their unbelief (John 3:18).

However, for those of us who trust Christ's redemptive work on the cross, it changes our lives (1 Corinthians 1:18-19). God's love gives us a secure foundation on which to place our faith (John 3:16-17).

As we experience and come to understand God's love, we are filled with adoration, gratitude and love for Him (1 John 4:8). As branches, we are nourished through the Vine of Christ by His love, which is our foundational roots (John 15:5).

God inspired the writers of the Bible to relate both the successes and failures of His Saints. By their examples, we learn hope, reassurance and patience (Romans 15:4).

He fills us to overflowing with the presence of His Spirit (Ephesians 3:19), which replaces our carnal nature. We gradually experience His spiritual fruit and divine nature infiltrating our thoughts, choices and feelings.

We need not fear the terror of night or the arrow that flies by day (Psalm 91:5; Ephesians 6:16). In Him we rejoice always, pray continually and see the seed for a miracle in every adventure through which He leads us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Prayer:

Father God, we cannot help but shed tears of overwhelming joy as we sit in Your presence. Your love encompasses us on every side (Romans 8:35-38). Your wisdom protects us in every decision (Proverbs 4:5; James 1:5). Your Spirit guides our thoughts, words and deeds (John 16:13). Your angels carry us so that we do not even stub our toe (Psalm 91:12).

Thank You for the fellowship of Your Body and the guidance of Your Word, which comfort us during this life of affliction. Thank You for making us heirs with Christ of Your entire Kingdom. Eternity is not long enough for us to have the time to give You all the praise and gratitude, which You deserve.

Thought for the Day:

We are secure in every circumstance as long as we trust God and are tucked safely under the covering of His wings; even in sickness and death He gives us wisdom, provision and protection. - Psalm 91:4