Mirroring the Heart of God

The Spirit of God urges men and women to enter into the purposeful ministry of prayer for the godless portion of humanity, which co-habitates this earth with us - in both big cities and country towns alike.

He gives us the burden of His heart for these dear souls who need to hear about Jesus and respond to His invitation to come just as they are. He also floods us with His peace and joy as we obey and pray.

God burdens our soul with His intense love for humanity and His concern for their eternal destination. He moves on our heart by His Spirit to dedicate our life to prayer and intercession until we actually mirror His heart back to Him.

God knows the intents and desires of our heart and answers our petitions as He brings circumstances to bear in a person's life. Of course, it is still that person's choice to reject or to accept God's love.

Daniel, Ezra and other prophets of old such as Nehemiah served in this ministry of intercessory prayer for people in their day and time. They and we mourn with the burden of lost souls around us.

The Holy Spirit fills us with the burden of the sin all around us; and sometimes even in us, if we are not thoroughly cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. We mourn for their lost condition and their separation from God who is all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

As we quietly trust in God's goodness, mercy and grace, His love shines in our heart and transforms us into the mind, character and nature of Christ in us; and we enjoy His unbroken fellowship.

Prayer:

Father God, we completely and wholly surrender our motives, goals and heart to You. We consider it such a privilege to partake in Your Kingdom as co-heirs with Your precious Son, Jesus Christ. We will stand with Him in that final hour as one Body, one Bride, one Army and deliver the Kingdom to You.

From the rising to the setting of the sun, we relinquish to You our life with all of its sorrows and joys. We walk in Your will and reap the benefits of serving You even now. We prove our love to You by dedicating our life to one of prayer, and obedience to Your Spirit and Your Word.

Thought for the Day:

Filling God's ear with petitions, and demanding that He honor His myriad of promises in our life is not prayer; it is simply a spoiled child giving an ultimatum to our Heavenly Father. Instead, we enter the true life of prayer, which mirrors the heart of God back to Him.

Quicken Me, O Lord

Have you ever felt so parched and weary that you could literally feel the life draining out of your body and soul? 

Overwhelmed with the black defeat of sorrow, grief, misery, anguish, despair, hopelessness, despondency or depression, you simply wanted to crawl under some rock and die.

The Psalmist felt this way. His soul was so troubled that he begged the Lord to quicken him, to revive him, to bring him back to life (Psalm 143:11). He lifted up his soul to God and pleaded for revival (Psalm 119:149).

Being dead in trespasses and sin, we were quickened and brought back to life by the Spirit of God at the instant of our heart-felt repentance (Colossians 2:13). We passed from everlasting damnation to eternal life (1 John 2:25; John 3:16-18).

If we continue to live according to the dictates of our fleshly, carnal, human desires, our body and soul will die a little more each day; but if we take up our cross daily and crucify the sinful cravings of our flesh, the Lord will quicken us and we shall live (Romans 8:11-13).

The Word of God is living, powerful and extremely sharp. It is able to divide the carnal desires of our soul from the divine aspirations of our spirit (Hebrews 4:12-13). As we refresh our spirit in His Word, we come to know God and Jesus, whom He sent (John 17:3).

Rather than dying under a rock, we hide in the cleft of the Rock of Christ, our source of living water (Psalm 78:15). We see the joy in everything and we never thirst again (James 1:2-8; 1 Corinthians 10:4; John 4:14).

Regardless of our circumstances, we are saved from the troubling world in which we live. We count our blessings rather than ruminate over our sorrows.

We live in inexpressible joy, which if full of the glory of God (1 Peter 1:7-9). We experience the magnitude of His love and we are filled to the brim with His eternal presence (Ephesians 6:19).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us the secret to a happy life: one focused on You and Your blessings rather than on the depressing circumstances we are facing (John 16:33). Remind us to thank You even in the bad times, through our faith which is strengthened by Your constant provision in every area of our life; for when we do, we experience far less devastation from our trials.

Revive us by Your Spirit in our spirit, soul and body and enable us to strengthen others with the same comfort You give to us (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). When we mourn, You lift us to safety (Job 5:11). We do not fear, because You lift us up in Your right hand (Isaiah 41:10). Oh God of hope, fill us with Your joy and optimism, through the power of Your Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

Thought for the Day:

Wait on the Lord, and He will strengthen your heart as you hope in Him alone. - Psalm 27:13-14

Open Doors

Human beings often fear the unknown, resist change and grieve our losses longer than is healthy for our soul. This causes unnecessary stress to ravage our body and soul.

As authentic Born Again Believers, we can prevent this by trusting completely in God's goodness and grace. When He closes one door in our life, it is to open another door.

He may allow us to lose a job, mate, child, friend, church family, home, part of our body, etc in order to open new doors for us.

God also closes doors to protect us. The timing, people involved, location and details are not conducive to this new venue He planned for us, so God will close those doors.

When we end one chapter of our life, we start a new one, full of possibilities and every bit as fulfilling as the former chapter. If we maintain an open mind, God will continue to bless us.

No matter where we are, who we are with, or what circumstances He brings to us, we can still walk in God's Spirit and allow Christ in us to live through us (Galatians 2:20, 5:15-25; Colossians 3:3-4).

Supernatural direction, peace and joy sustain, strengthen and equip us for the Kingdom work ahead of us. God's Spirit and Son within us are our everlasting companions.

Prayer:

Father God, make us conscious of Your hand in our life. Help us not to mourn the closed doors for very long before we change our focus to the new and living way You have prepared for us.

We trust in You to care for all of our needs and to direct our every step through this new life where You called us to live. Open our eyes and ears to see and hear what Your Spirit is directing us to do, and use us for Your glory.

Thought for the Day:

The new door, which God opens, may be different than we are used to, strange and unfamiliar, but with Christ in us, we will continue to walk in God's perfect peace and joy.