Spiritual Awareness

As God proves His Faithfulness to us, our intimacy with Him grows. We feel safe and we trust Him with every aspect of our life. This makes it easier to submit to His will (Ephesians 2:10). 

We spend time in prayer, Bible reading, fellowshipping with His Saints and continually seeking Him. We also develop a confident intimacy with our Father God, which deepens over the years.

Spending time with God increases our spiritual awareness. We learn His ways, and He transforms our nature by His Spirit into His fruit and divine nature (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:4). 

His Spirit illuminates His Word for us. He gives us discernment to make good judgments (John 7:24). Living in His presence brings us total satisfaction as we joyfully die to our flesh and to this sin-filled world (Romans 8:13). 

Eventually, our union with Christ takes priority over everything else in our life (Colossians 3:3-4). We are a better mate, employee, friend, child, parent, employer, etc because of our relationship with Him. 

Since He dwells within us, we live a fuller and more fulfilled life. We come to realize that He is our all in all (Ephesians 4:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). We can do nothing without Him (Philippians 4:13). 

God is our high tower. We run to Him and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Under His wings we trust (Psalm 91:1,4; Proverbs 29:25). He is our Rock, stronghold and deliverer in whom we take refuge (Psalm 61:3; 91:2; 144:2). 

He is our shield and the horn of our salvation (Psalm 18:2). Our love and respect for the Lord provide our children and us with a secure future (Proverbs 14:26; Deuteronomy 5:10, 7:9; Exodus 20:6).

Prayer:

Father God, lead us by Your Spirit into a richer relationship with You. You promised that everyone who believes in and trusts in You will enter Your eternal life (Hebrews 4:1-11; John 3:16-18).

Bring us to the end of our striving and allow us to enter into the rest You already prepared for us (Matthew 11:28-30). It is only then that we can experience an intimate relationship with You and enjoy a keener spiritual awareness.

Thought for the Day:

God calls us to be still before Him and to patiently wait on Him. - Psalm 37:7

A Surrendered Life

In spite of His trepidation over facing His separation from our Father, as well as taking on the weight of the sin of the entire world for all ages of time, Jesus faced the cross in the power of the eternal Spirit of God (Hebrews 9:14). As authentic Born Again Believers, we have this same Spirit living within us. We overcome every trial we face through His power, and we reap minimal consequences from any fiery dart, which Satan sends our way (Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 6:16).

Through every moment of life, God illuminates our life with His Spirit. We maintain a healthy conscience, as we remain penitent before the Lord. We often step out in faith to perform some work or ministry for God, which we deem noble and necessary. However, if God does not direct us, we simply grieve Him in the process (Ephesians 2:10). Faith without works is dead, but faith used to perform dead works is even more lifeless.

Peter is an accurate example of a man who lived in the flesh. It wasn’t until he denied Christ that his remorseful tears brought complete surrender to God. He fell on his face as a failure and rose up in the power of the Holy Spirit. Overall, Peter accomplished much in the power of God. Paul is another example. He actually fought against God, but the bright light of the revelation of God humbled Him and illuminated the error of His thinking and behavior.

God will do the same thing for all of us who desire to live a Godly life. We sit before Him in our spirit and we ask His direction for each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6). Then we go out with joy and we are led forth by His peace (Isaiah 55:12). We are sons of God and we walk by the Spirit (Romans 8:14). Jesus is our Lord and King and we are His subjects. We desire only to do works, which brings Him pleasure (Philippians 2:13). By His divine grace and mercy, we live a life totally surrendered to His will.

Prayer:

Father God, the cross is our birthplace, Jesus is our motivation and Your Spirit is our sanctifier and guide. In surrender, we display the humility of Jesus death and the power of His resurrection. Your Word is the two-edged sword, which divides our carnal human nature from Your nature within us. We live simply and desire only to further Your Kingdom on the earth. We know without a doubt that You will provide for us every good thing, which we need.

Thought for the Day:

In total surrender to the Spirit of God, we live the adventure of the fulfilled Christian life.

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Surely, God is My Helper

Read: Psalm 46:1-3

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” - Ecclesiastes 9:11

I am so glad that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He cares about our soul – our mind, will and emotions - when we are so emotionally wounded that we can barely hold up our head or even take deep breaths. In this world, we will have many troubles – spiritual, mental, emotional, financial and physical, but God promises to deliver us out of them all (Psalm 34:18-19).

God is a refuge for the oppressed, and a stronghold in times of trouble (Psalm 9:9). We can run to Him and be saved.  When we take refuge in Him,He helps us and delivers us from evil (Psalm 37:39-40). We are never alone. No matter what trial befalls us, we can rest assured that someone else has already walked this path before us, and tomorrow someone else will enter into it. God gives us the light of His Word, so that we can use it to illuminate our path, and the path of others who follow after us. We can trust in God at all times, and pour out our heart to Him (Psalm 62:8). The Lord is our sustainer (Psalm 54:4) as we walk through life (James 1:2-4).

I will sing of His strength and His love, because He is my fortress (Psalm 59:16). My salvation and my honor depend on God, and I have nothing to fear. He is my mighty rock (Psalm 62:7). When I call upon Him, He answers me, and makes me bold and stouthearted as I face my enemies (Psalm 138:3).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, let me not consider myself wise or to boast in my wisdom, strength or riches. I know that the swift will not escape, the strong will not muster their strength, and the warrior will not save his own life. The archer will not stand his ground, the fleet-footed soldier will not get away, and the horseman will not save his own life. It is only in You that we find our safety, our provision, our strength and our salvation.

Thought for the Day:

I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. – Habakkuk 3:18