Surrendering to God's Will

We can develop habits over time to create more joy in our life and to eliminate depression and melancholy. However, it takes a change of focus and total submission to God's Holy Spirit.

Many people live in the realm of "what ifs" and/or wanting what they do not have. They think that happiness will finally arrive when they accomplish their bucket list.

We allow circumstances to color our thoughts and feelings, which may diminish our joy. We wait for God to answer our prayers rather than to enjoy the life, which He already provided for us.

His peace and joy are available for us each moment of the day and do not depend on circumstances. It is possible to live in an economically depressed area with impoverished circumstances and still have total peace and joy.

There is no guarantee that we will live to see the next moment in time; so focusing on having possessions or certain people in our life will reduce our peace and joy.

Without surrendering our will to God's will each moment of the day, we hinder our effectiveness both in life and in our spiritual growth and ministry.

Once we repent of our sins and recognize Jesus as our only Savior and King, the very life of Christ saturates our entire body, soul and spirit. As His Spirit sanctifies us, we see more spiritual fruit and less of a draw from our flesh, Satan and the world.

The most critical exercise we can do as a baby Christian is to surrender our will to God's will. Even as older Christians, if we never surrendered, it is time to do so now.

When we totally surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our life, we feel less and less tension and stress, and more and more of His rest, peace and joy.

Prayer:

Father God, we tend to regret the past and fear the future. We spend so much time focusing in these two directions that we waste the current moment. This moment in time is all that You guarantee us.

You forgave our past, and it is over and forgiven. We just have to remember to forgive our self too. Remind us that once we do surrender to You, Your Spirit begins replacing our negative personality traits with His spiritual fruit and You flood our spirit and soul with Your love.

Thought for the Day:

Our future is in God's capable hands; therefore, trusting God in the moment provides us with a stress-free life.

Adopted by Our Holy God

In our humanistic society, it is impossible not to keep our focus on our self. We think about #1, sometimes to the exclusion of those whom we should cherish more than our own self.

We forget that Christ laid down His life for us and calls us to lay down our life for others. It is easier for most women to lay down our life, because our genes tend to be hardwired with the codependent nature.

However, there are also men in our society that have this emotional, compassionate nature that makes it easier for them to put others above their self.

The issue here is more about Christ increasing within our spirit and soul as our focus on our self decreases (John 3:30). We consider others as better than our self (Philippians 2:3-4).

This does not mean that we neglect our self - we are people too and we can minister to our needs in the same way that we care for everyone else. In fact, this habit keeps us healthy and more able to help others (Mark 12:31).

Yet, as our flesh decreases, we are new creatures in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). We are offspring of our holy God and His divine nature infuses every part of our body, spirit and soul - thoughts, choices and feelings (Acts 17:28-29).

In eternity, Christ will even transform our body to mirror His glorious, immortal one (Philippians 3:21).  God's Spirit completely sanctifies us, conforming us to the image and likeness of Christ, God's first born Son (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Prayer:

Father God, You adopted us as individual members of Your Body, and placed Jesus is our head (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:15). Our body is Your temple and as the corporate Body of Christ, we are one with Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:17). The world recognizes that You sent us on their behalf, because our life is a testimony of You to them (John 17:21-23).

Jesus gives us the glory, which You gave to Him, so that we can be one with Him, You and with one another (John 17:22). Help us to be patient and diligent as You slowly mature our spiritual growth until we share in the divine nature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Thought for the Day:

We are crucified with Christ, and therefore, we live in this world for the glory of Christ; yet, it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us and through us. - Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20

The Realm of Reality

 

Prior to Christ moving into our regenerated spirit by His Spirit, we lived in a two dimensional realm of reality - physical, mental and emotional (2 Corinthians 5:6). Dead in sin, our spirit had no influence over our life at all (Ephesians 2:1).

Once we surrender our life to Christ, our reality is three dimensional - body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We have the opportunity to walk in God's spirit rather than to remain tied to this earthly realm.

Our desires, thoughts and behavior change. Our focus is on the spiritual side of life, rather than the temporal. This transformation is not only on the surface, as if we changed a habit through self-effort; but on the inside as well, and requires little human effort.

We learned the secret, which Solomon learned (Proverbs 3:5-6). We look to God in our every thought, word and deed and do not depend on our human understanding. This allows God's Spirit to direct our day in the very center of God's will.

We sense God's Spirit advancing before us to clear our path of roadblocks, giving us wisdom, and permeating our entire being with the fullness of the presence of God (1 John 5:10; Ephesians 3:19 Amplified Bible).

Peace and joy fill our soul in spite of our circumstances. The Spirit teaches us to walk in God's will in little ways at first. If we listen, He will help us to plan our menu for the week and everything we need is on sale - He knew that.

He will tell us which client to approach at work, and we will make that coveted sale. If we disobey and follow our human understanding, we may choose the wrong client and lose the sale. He knew that would happen.

He might tell us to get up and go to a specific place. When we obey, we see an old friend or meet a new one. He knew that would happen. Maybe He will tell us what to wear and it ends up matching what he told our mate to wear.

These smaller issues will teach us to listen to His leading; and when the monumental opportunities arise, which will affect our whole life - like who to marry or where to work or where to move and live - we are already used to listening to and walking in the Spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, although we still live in the natural world, we are learning to operate in the spiritual one instead. Teach us to walk in Your Spirit, so Christ can continue to live His life in and through us each moment of our day. As He is, so we want to be in this world (1 John 4:17).

Remind us that as we practice obeying Your Spirit and walking in Your will, we will finally understand how to walk in the Spirit and to abide in Your will (John 7:17). Our spiritual senses become trained by exercising them in every area of our life and doing only what Your Spirit tells us to do (Ephesians 3:10).

Thought for the Day:

When we live in union with Christ and oneness with the Father through the Holy Spirit, we no longer need to figure out whether we are hearing from Him or from our own mind; we no longer debate Him or speculate about whether or not the leading is from Him or our own thoughts, because we learn to recognize His voice and to follow His peace in our spirit, regardless of how the decision feels in our soul - our mind and emotions.- Proverbs 3:5-6; Philippians 4:7

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.

An Alien Within

Prior to coming to Christ, we determined our daily routine by our priorities. We valued, worked toward and pursued anything that would assist us in reaching our goals. We developed this habit, day in and day out, living by our human reasoning and working to please our self and to secure our future. Then, the Spirit of God moved in and encouraged us to entirely shift our mind-set.

Prior to Salvation, our flesh formed habits as we trained our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions to respond and react in certain ways to the challenges and trials of life. We were used to living independently of any restraints or parameters for our behavior (Romans 8:7-8). We served our self and made sure we would come out on top (Romans 1:25; 2 Corinthians 5:15). We did good deeds for others, but we wanted the praise.

Salvation sets up a dichotomy in our life, which causes a tug-of-war within our soul. God wants us to put to death the carnal deeds of our flesh, so that we can live an abundant spiritual existence (Romans 8:13-14). Yet, our flesh wants to maintain the status quo and control our own life. The tie-breaker is God’s Spirit, who rebirths our human spirit, which was formerly dead in sin (Ephesians 2:5).

Now, our old nature is dead and we are Born Again by God’s Spirit. Spiritually alive, we partake in the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4). The nine fruit of the Spirit replace our formal carnal character (Galatians 5:22-23). We no longer live independently, but in dependence on God’s love and will.

Our former traits, alien to God’s ways, still influence our thoughts, words and behavior. However, we can crucify these independent and willful tendencies on a daily basis (Matthew 16:24-26), and obey the will of God instead. We willingly submit our old fleshly habits to the work of God’s Spirit within us (Romans 8:12-13). We restrict the deeds of our flesh by renewing our mind and surrendering our life to Christ (Romans 12:2; Mark 10:28-29).

Prayer:

Father God, by Your saving faith, a gift to us from Your mercy and love, we receive Your Holy Spirit who influences and transforms us. You draw us to Your heart and You renovate every aspect of our life by Your Spirit. This free gift is priceless and we thank You for the sacrifice Jesus paid for our eternal life (Ephesians 2:8). Teach us to walk in Your Spirit every moment of our life (Galatians 5:16-25).

Thought for the Day:

Each day we walk in more victory over the flesh by dwelling in the Spirit and following God’s desires for our life. - Galatians 5:16-26

The Word of God Speaks

 

In the beginning, the Word was with God and the Word was God. Of course, we know that Jesus is the Word of God, He is God and He was with God from the beginning of time. Jesus is the living Word (John 1:1). In the 6,000 years of time since creation, God also gave us His written word to guide and encourage His Saints through each dispensation of time. He did not leave us defenseless and without hope, but He gave us His living Word to live within us, as well as His written Word to guide us (1 Corinthians 15:2).

Human beings consist of a body (Romans 6:6, Romans 8:13, 1 Corinthians 6:13 and 6:19-20), a soul - our mind, will and emotions (1 Peter 2:11, Hebrews 6:19, Hebrews 10:39), and a spirit (Acts 7:59, Matthew 26:41, John 4:23-24). We do not simply read the Word; we also live the Word (James 1:22). A true disciple of Christ uses our entire being to live according to His Word (John 8:31). His truth bears fruit in our life (Matthew 13:23) and provides power and authority against satanic attacks (Luke 4:36). His Spirit calms us with assurance from the truths in His Word (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

God’s Word sanctifies our life as we spend time in the folds of its pages (John 17:17). It imparts wisdom to us, and is a continual source of life to us, because His Word is pertinent and living even though it is centuries old (Psalm 119:93; Matthew 4:4). His Word illuminates our life with light and navigates us through the uncharted waters of our life (Psalm 119:105, 130). God’s peace floods our soul when we take time to read His Word. It securely positions us in a safe place in life (Psalm 110:165).

We grow spiritually by a continual habit of feasting on God’s Word (1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Eternal life comes from hearing the Word of God (1 Peter, 1:23; James 1:21; John 5:24). God’s power comes through the preaching of God’s Word and builds up our faith (Acts 10:44; Romans 10:17). Our conscience is clear when we rightly divide the Word of God (Philippians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 4:2). The Word divides the core issues of our soul from our spiritual walk, and helps us to live righteously (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that without You we are nothing, helpless, poor, blind and dumb. We do not want to neglect our soul or body, but we do want to emphasize spiritual growth. We want to put on the mind of Christ, so Your Spirit will transform us until we walk in Your divinity on this earth (Philippians 2:1-11). Help us to put on Jesus’ compassion, love and mercy in order to see all people, not as they appear in the natural, but as Christ sees them (1 Samuel 16:7).

Thought for the Day:

As the Pastor delivers His sermons, God’s Spirit uses the Word to minister to each individual need in the congregation.