You Will Be Amazed

 

Most people have no idea how electricity, the weather, the human body or the universe works, but we believe these things nonetheless. We do not have to understand God’s mysteries to believe them either. God’s Kingdom is full of mysteries, which God asks us to fully embrace, even if we do not actually understanding how they work. For instance, Christ dwells in us by His Spirit, works through us, and we abide in Him. We believe this by faith.

We did not acquire our talents, skills, resources and energy by our human efforts. God gave them to us. He does not want us to use them for Him. We get in His way when we try to work for God on our own. God wants to use these assets through us. He wants us to realize that we are actually dead, and we are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We have no human ability to accomplish anything for God. We simply need to stop our human efforts, enter His rest (Hebrews 4:10), and allow Him to use our body, soul and spirit for His glory.

We do not need to understand this in order to follow God’s directions. We simply surrender to His will each day and go where the Spirit leads us. We work and bless others wherever He directs us. We come to know Christ more intimately with each moment we spend in fellowship with Him. He already prepared works that He wants to accomplish through us (Ephesians 2:8-10). We just need to get out of God’s way and give Him full reign with our life.

We do not need any program to witness or to help other people, because Christ will work instead of us. He wants to use our spirit, body and soul – our mind, choices and emotions – to accomplish His will in our world. We simply abide in Christ as He dwells in us. We cease from our human efforts and allow Christ to accomplish His will through us. We will say and do what the Spirit directs, and we will be amazed at all He accomplishes by the end of our day.

Prayer:

Father God, fill us through all of our being with all of Your fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19). We submit to Your Spirit, unreservedly cling to Christ and refuse to rely on our own understanding any longer. We believe that Christ will do His work through the power of Your Spirit instead of us. We do not want to hinder You by our need to understand or to control our activities. We totally surrender to Your will and direction moment by moment. 

Thought for the Day:

The sap of God’s Spirit flows through us and bears fruit, sometimes in spite of us!

 

A Bright Light

 

Coming to Christ changes our entire outlook on life. We no longer enjoy activities, which promote the carnal flesh. We have less in common with our family and friends. This change often triggers animosity in our relationships. When our family and friends choose to reject us, we can be assured it is only because they feel the conviction of Christ in their life. They are puzzled and offended by the changes in our life, so they defend themselves and their behavior.

They realize that if we are right to say that Jesus is the only way to heaven, then what they believe is wrong. They believe Satan’s lie and are convinced that we are narrow minded and bigoted. They attack us because they know in their heart that Jesus is the only way of salvation, and they are fighting God’s conviction of His truth. We are a bright light in their darkness, and many cannot stand to be around us or even to think about us.

If we recognize this truth, it pads the sharp edges of their rejection. It encourages us to pray for them, because the harder they persecute us, the more conviction they are living under. The Holy Spirit is working in their life, and we can pray that they will be humbled under the almighty hand of God. This way, they too will enjoy His blessings, protection and provision just like we do. There is no fear in God’s love (1 John 4:18), if they will only repent and believe.

We can revel in our relationship with God, not taunting others, but living in His peace before them. They will see the difference that God makes in our life, and they will either tolerate us, claim that we are hypocrites or join us in worshipping our King of kings (Revelation 19:16). He fills us with His resurrection life. Though we are not perfect, they cannot deny the change in our thoughts, actions and beliefs. We cling to, rely on and rest in Jesus for our every need.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, when our flesh struggles to come down from the cross, remind us that You could have done the same thing and doomed us to hell for eternity. However, You took our shame and endured our pain to give us freedom in Your life in us. Convict us when we serve You with the ulterior motive of serving our self in the process. When we make merchandise of Your people, humble us at the foot of Your cross. Help us to abide in You, just as You abide in our Father and give us the courage to serve You even in the face of adversity. Help us to follow Your Spirit’s direction for each moment of our day.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus Christ crucifies our carnal nature and fills us with Himself.

Which Life Do You Choose?

 

Even as Born Again Believers, we do not always walk in the fullness of the Spirit of God who dwells within us. We are so full of our own dreams, goals and desires that we block out what the Spirit wants for our life (Matthew 23:27). We live empty lives, never satisfied and always wanting more worldly possession, a better job or more money; no matter what we have to sacrifice to get it! Our focus is on the carnal, material aspects of life. We are also spiritual babes, still feeding on the milk of the Word (1 Corinthians 3:2). 

Some Born Again Believers live with a strict adherence to the Law of God. They add restrictions to the Law like the Pharisees, and they keep Christians in bondage to dead works. The law keeps us from enjoying a relationship with God Himself, because we are too busy working to please Him. We find our self separated from God by a chasm of physical, mental and emotional exertion. We run our self ragged all day long and fall exhausted into bed every night, too tired to sleep.

God calls us to come out of the realm of works and the law and to rest in Him (Hebrews 4:10). He tells us to “be still” and to realize the immense meaning of the fact that “He is God” (Psalm 46:10). He is actually in control of all things, orchestrating life from creation to Armageddon. He will lead our individual life as we sit at His feet and worship Him above all else. You may say, “I worship no other god.” However, anything that takes your time, energy and love away from God is an idol; so in reality, we are worshipping other gods.

Until we realize our union with Christ in us, we live with a separated mindset. We live independently from His Spirit, because we rely on our own abilities and talents. We view God way up on His throne in heaven, while we are down here struggling to find success in life before we die. Satan does everything in his power to propagate these lies, so we will not live for God. We all come to the place in our life, however, where God calls us out of the world to serve Him. Many of us reject His call with a string of excuses a mile long.

The Spirit continually calls on us from within to lay our life down and to live for Jesus. We constantly reject this call, or put it off until another day. Some put off our service to Him until we retire. Then we are so tired and busy with our grandkids that we continue to put Him off. Our focus is on our self rather than on God’s Kingdom. We forget that our family, our vocation, our neighborhood and our hobbies are our mission field for the Lord. We do what we please regardless of the needs around us.

Prayer:

Father God, purge our soul of every ungodly thought that is from the flesh and the devil. Lead us into Your truth and cause us to walk only in Your ways. Reveal Yourself to us on an ever-deepening level until we know You intimately (John 17:3). Help us to come to the place where You are our every thought, and that our every word and action are directed by Your Spirit within us. Our goal is to no longer depend on our intellectual understanding of You, but to enter into the spiritual realm, and love You with our whole heart and lives. We want to follow Your Spirit moment by moment throughout our day.

Thought for the Day:

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death, which motivated us prior to our Salvation. – Romans 8:2

 

Rest for Our Soul

 

The presence of God in our life is a wondrous gift that trumps any other blessing we could ever receive. God promises to be with us even until the end of this age. This age is called the Time of the Gentiles, or the Church Age. It began when Christ established the church while He lived on this earth. During this age, God calls us to seek His Kingdom before, as well as more than we seek the distractions of the world, the flesh and the devil (Matthew 6:24). God requires total dedication and surrender (Luke 14:26).

This does not negate the fact that we have a family, job, church and hobbies to participate in; but we do it all through the direction of God’s Spirit and for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). We follow the leading of God’s Spirit through the noise and hectic pace of our life. He brings order from the chaos and peace in the confusion. He replaces our stress with His rest, if we will only surrender every facet of our life to Him. The first step in entering God’s rest is to spend time with Him (Mark 12:30).

Confusion drowns out the voice of God and causes us to feel frustrated, angry and to experience other negative emotions. However, walking in His presence moment by moment through the duties of our day, brings contentment and peace. God helps us to prioritze our time and activities. Every soul needs “down” time for our soul – our mind, will and emotions - to catch up, to chill out and to recover from the trauma of life. We need time for our spirit to center into Christ’s life within us (Psalm 46:10).

We do not have to be afraid of not measuring up, or of not getting all of our required work done or meeting all of the needs of all of the people who depend on us. If we live one moment at a time, Christ within us directs us to do what pleases Him. Like Mary, we can make the best choice for our day, and sit at Jesus feet within us, no matter where we are or what we are doing (Luke 10:42). As we praise Him and follow His Spirit, He will allow us to excell, to finish what is required of us and to meet the needs of all the people He wants us to minister to.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, when You see our agitation rising inside, prompt us to discover the source of the negative emotions and to seek Your wisdom on how to deal with it. Nothing and no one can come against us to overpower us,  because You live within us. Remind us to be still and to acknowledge that You are Lord over our life. Exhort us to rest in You while You work out the issues, which are distracting us from living in Your peace and rest. We trust You with our whole life, because we have faith in Your faithfulness.

Thought for the Day:

We still have hectic activities swirling all around us; however, as we walk in the Spirit, God gives us a quiet refuge, supernatural strength and His constant help in any difficulty we experience.

Living Moment by Moment

 

In our quest for more intimacy with God, we spend time each day by sitting quietly in our prayer closet and listening to the voice of our Beloved Lord. If we fail to spend time alone (all-one) with God in physical quietude as well as silence, we will never hear Him in the midst of the chaos and noisy activity of our day. In our quiet time, we can also write in our journal all the words of wisdom, which God gives us about our day, life, relationships and duties. We also write down praises and prayer requests.

We also seek God during our quiet time for His to-do list for our day, which helps in prioritizing our activities (Proverbs 3:5-6, 16:3). This is why a daily quiet time of praise, devotion, and meditation in God’s Word is so important. We encounter God on a personal level. As we emerge from our quiet time, we do not leave Him behind. We stay in His presence. All through the day, we radiate joy, and walk in His calm peace, even in the midst of difficulties. In this union with our Father, we realize the extent of His love for us as His unique child.

As we leave our secret place, we pay attention to what we see and hear in each moment of time. So often, people function in the present moment on automatic pilot! Usually, our thoughts are either on the past or on the future. Neither of those topics is very useful for the present moment. The trauma of the past and the fear of the future have no place in the present moment (Psalm 22:8). Once we repent, we are saved. The past is over and forgiven, therefore, dwelling on it only hinders the present. We are not promised a future; so dwelling on the future is also futile. God’s gift to us is the present moment. 

As we remain in His presence all day long, God removes our shame for past failures and assures us that we have no worries about the future. We are safe and secure in His arms in this present moment, even if the circumstances around us are full of turmoil and conflict. God makes all things work together for our good, even if we experience something unpleasant (Romans 8:28). As we dwell in the moment, we become increasingly conscious of our union with God through Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit (Colossians 3:3).

By living in the moment, we practice paying attention to the here and now. The key is to concentrate on what is happening to you now in this very present second. It is through this attentiveness to what is actually going on around us, that we become completely aware and fully alive. We also become more effective in ministry, because we are in tune with God’s Spirit moment by moment. His awesome presence permeates our being as we learn to consciously live each moment by faith in His love (Matthew 6:25-34).

God did not put us on earth to amass worldly goods, but to be His vessel from which He can change our world. We serve as a lifeline to all those around us. Proficiency in using God’s Word is not a prerequisite for helping others in their walk with the Lord. We just need to be willing for God to use us. When the Holy Spirit leads us moment by moment throughout our day, we truly make a difference.

We will exercise when the Spirit leads us, in the manner in which we need, in order to be physically fit. We also eat what He guides us to eat, resulting in physical fulfillment. We will become fulfilled spiritually by what He directs us to read during our devotion, and by the church to which He leads us to make a covenant. He helps us to minister to people and to be ministered to by people according to His timely schedule, and here we find our physical, emotional and spiritual fulfillment.

What we do with each moment of our day is our choice and our gift back to God. As we give our prayerful attention to the moment as God gives it to us to enjoy, we are aware of God’s presence in our lives. This allows us to follow the leading of His Holy Spirit moment by moment throughout the day. If you think about it, in actuality the present moment is all we really have. God leads us to make the most of each minute for His glory.

Prayer:
Father God, the problem we often have with living in the present moment is that we are hurt by the past and fearful of the future (1 Peter 4:19). As we cast our concerns on You (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7), You deal with the painful parts of our past. You often even lead us to a counselor who functions in the ministry of inner healing. You also help us to begin the process of relinquishing our fears and entering into Your rest (Hebrews 4:10). As we focus on Your Word and meditate on those You bring to our mind during the day, we find our peace restored (Philippians 4:5-7).

Thought for the Day:

Without faith, it is impossible to please God; therefore, as we come to God, let us believe that He is the Almighty, and that He wants to reward everyone who diligently seeks Him. - Hebrews 11:6

The Prayer that NEVER Fails

Read: Psalm 142: 1-7

“Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8

Each evening, I journal my troubles and give them to the Lord, and then I list five blessings He provided, which I am thankful for from that day. He is my source of joy and peace. No house, mate, child nor treasure adequately fills the emptiness in my soul the way Jesus does.

There is a God-shaped keyhole in the door to our soul and He is the only key that fits it. As we seek Him for all our needs, He continually opens His windows of blessings for us to enjoy.

In my lifetime, I often felt like I battled a deluge of adversity. However, these daily “rains” brought beautiful, healthy “flowers” of Godly character and blessings into my life. They taught me that God is worthy of all of my trust. They gave me opportunities to watch Him work out His miraculous provision for all of my needs.

God does not care if we complain to Him in the “rainy”seasons, nor if we question, “Why?” His goal is for us to trust Him explicitly with every aspect of life. He calmly waits until we eventually pray what some call the prayer that never fails…“Lord, Thy will be done.”

Prayer:
Lord, I want to walk in Your Spirit every moment of every day and to always live in Your will for me. Teach me to surrender my will to Yours and to give You the opportunity to prove Yourself strong in my life. Help me to consider my carnal, melancholic nature dead in Christ each day and to put on Your armor to withstand Satan's fiery darts, which attempt to distract me from living out Your will for my life each moment of the day. Amen.

Thought for the Day:
"Lord, Thy will be done."


Photo by: http://www.mattmilliganphotography.com/potw.htm