Intimate and Personal

God invites us to join Him in an intimate and personal relationship, which will revitalize our life (John 3:16-17). When we join Him, our whole way of thinking changes for the better.

We are more positive, innocent, joyful and nurturing to others. Our compassion and empathy increase and our cynicism and judgmentalism decrease.

We are led by His Spirit and realize that we can do nothing apart from Him (John 15:5). We are branches in the Vine and receive our nourishment and ability to produce fruit from Him (Galatians 5:22-23; Hebrew 12:11).

His love fills us to the brim and overflows on everyone around us. No one and nothing, not even demonic powers, can ever separate us from His magnanimous love (Romans 8:35-39).

His Spirit abides in us continually (John 14:16), and we abide in Christ (John 14:13-14). We enjoy constant fellowship with the Trinity if we avail our self to His presence within us (John 15:7-16).

We depend on Him for everything we need: daily bread, forgiveness from sin, the ability to forgive others, protection from temptation, deliverance from evil and His faith to live fully in each moment of the day (Matthew 6:9-13).

We are as dependent on God as Jesus was during His life on this earth. He spent long hours in prayer. He did not rely on His human reasoning or make His own goals in life; but He did and said only what came from God's direction.

Christ's example inspires us to follow in His footsteps, to make God preeminent in our life and follow the Spirit's direction at work, church, home and play (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Prayer:

Father God, we humans are too apt to make our own plans, follow our own reasoning and live according to our own desires. We spin our wheels, encounter daily set-backs and suffer needless trials because we do not walk in Your will for each moment of our day.

Teach us to spend time with Your Spirit until we learned to discern Your voice in our inner being. Fill us with Your peace so that we know what Your desire is for our day. Humble our pride, rid us of rebellion and cure us of our obstinacy and disobedience to Your Word and Your will. Help us to walk only in Your way for our life.

Thought for the Day:

When we abide in Christ and are united as one with Jesus, His Spirit and our Father God, we find joy, peace and fulfillment in the midst of this crazy world in which we live. 

- 1 Corinthians 6:17

Healing from Our Past

Humans often function on automatic pilot. We repeat tasks hundreds of times and pay no attention to the details along the way. Sometimes, "the devil is in the details".

We get tied up in the details; and the good things we run around accomplishing rob us of the best things, which God called us to do with our life.

We wear different hats according to the requirement of the moment at work, home, church and play. We segment our soul and personality to meet the expectations of those around us.

Some of us dissociate from parts of our identity and suppress the expression of those personality characteristics. Sometimes, we experience trauma from which we use dissociation amnesia to escape the memory.

We cannot remember parts or all of our past; and, at times, even present events. We function on automatic pilot in multiple personalities in order to fit in or to cope. We lose part of our true self with every trauma we experience in life.

Some of us are schizophrenic; we hear our different ego states conversing with one another and we fear we are going crazy. One part of our self may sabotage or fight against the other.

This dissociation identity disorder attempts to save our life from the extreme pain of our past. Once the Holy Spirit moves into our spirit, He sorts through the various alter egos we create to protect our self.

He heals the pain of our past and allows us to release our grasp on various personalities we used to defend our self. We realize that God is here to protect us now and we have no need to hide behind alter egos.

Prayer:

Father God, the indescribable pain which human beings inflict on one another is caused by rampant sin and suggestions by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Regardless of what we experience, however, there is healing in Your wings (Malachi 4:2; Psalm 91:4); and we can hide beneath them until we heal and gain the strength to face this world with Your perspective.

We sing for joy as we snuggle into your feathers and find safety, comfort and security from this world, which often frightens us (Psalm 63:7). Help us to serve as a lifeline to others who also face traumatic events in this life, and give us opportunities to share Your comfort with them in very real and tangible ways.

Thought for the Day:

We can ask God to strengthen the inner being of those we love by His Spirit, so that Christ may dwell in their hearts and they may also find His eternal healing. - Ephesians 3:16

A Better Way

As we age, events occur in our life, which influence our belief system. Maybe our parents, a school experience, siblings, neighbors, a stranger, or a combination of any or all of these factors imposed some harm on us or failed to protect us in some way.

We develop a warped perception of life caused by these painful events. Most of us adopt coping skills based on what we perceived as fact, because of these experiences.

Those without coping skills develop neuroses, which we think will protect us from what we fear the most. These anxieties, obsessions, compulsions, indecisiveness and social and interpersonal maladjustments are driven by fear and insecurity.

These perceived notions of life cause us to breathe in shallow breaths, to fear change, to act suspiciously of new people and situations, and to stay in the background; yet, we may also come out fighting when backed into a corner.

Many counselors believe that an effectual method to overcome a neurosis is to daily recite affirmations and to use human will power to change our behavioral patterns.

However, there is a better way to face the grief of the past or the challenges of our future. Only through prayer will a person truly experience freedom from the memories, which drive neurosis in our life.

As we seek God’s will for every moment of our day, He will set us free from having to face life alone (Ephesians 2:10; Proverbs 3:5-6). He is our Champion, who never abandons us (Hebrews 13:5).

Prayer:

Father God, life is so hard. Nothing is ever easy. There are constant roadblocks, which hinder our progress. The abuse and abandonment, which we experienced in our childhood and even in our adult life, cripple us with neurosis and negative behavior.

We look to You to replace our negative character with the fruit of Your Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), for transforming our mind into the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) and for giving us the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4). Thank You for strengthening our inner being so that we, through Your Spirit, can accept Christ as our Savior (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Thought for the Day:

Once we recognize that we are a nobody, we can come to the clear revelation that only in Christ are we a somebody.