Our Spiritual Ears

Preoccupation with the affairs of this material world will dull our spiritual ears to heed God's Spirit in the spiritual realm (Matthew 13:15). This opens us up for Satanic deception, worldly influence and fleshly temptations.

We may even miss the coming of the Lord. He will come when we least expect Him, as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4). That is why God calls us to watch and pray. 

We open our spiritual ears, watch and prepare for His guidance, comfort and coming. We live in holy anticipation and expectation. Our sole desire as we function in His calling for our life is His will.

A sign of the end times is spiritual apathy, which starves our spirit. We are so focused on our flesh and soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions - that we are spiritually asleep.

We put other pursuits ahead of our Bible reading, gathering with God's Saints, prayer and obedience to God's Spirit moment by moment throughout our day.

Circumstances constantly affect our fulfillment and contentment. We suffer from spiritual anemia. We measure our self-worth from our human accomplishments.

The future frightens us and we feel compelled to abandon the spiritual side of life in order to make provision for our physical and emotional needs first (Matthew 24:38).

We forget that we are created in God's image as triune beings and that He has a perfect plan for our life (Ephesians 2:10). As we take care of His business, He takes care of ours (Matthew 6:26).

His Kingdom is our inheritance and His immortal provision will replace our mortal existence if we will place His will above our own. He calls us to occupy the earth for Him until He comes (Luke 19:13).

Prayer:

Father God, spur us to release our desire to settle for mediocrity in the spiritual realm in order to excel in the carnal world. Help us to take our foot out of the earthly realm and to plant both feet firmly on the Rock of Christ.

Remind us that there is no salvation in pretending to be a Christ-follower. Only a life dedicated to the pursuit of Your will can bear any lasting, spiritual fruit. We want to receive Your free gift of salvation, sanctification and glorification by faith and abide in You forever (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Thought for the Day:

Walking in spiritual completion allows us to persevere in times of trial and tribulation by the power of God's Spirit within us. 

- Colossians 2:10

Genie in a Bottle

 

As we focus on Christ as our life, all of our needs are supplied in Him (Colossians 3:4; Philippians 4:19). He gives us love and acceptance in His family (Romans 5:8, 8:17; 1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 1:6), security and protection under his wings (Psalm 91; Hebrews 13:5) and His righteousness so that we are guiltless in His sight (Colossians 1:22). Satan knows our weaknesses and preys upon them in order to discourage us from serving our King (Ephesians 6:16). However, we can face Satan’s temptations with victory, because he is simply attempting to draw us away from holiness in Christ (Revelation 12:10).

As Born Again Believers, God gives us a unique identity as a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our righteousness is based on God’s existence rather than our self-efforts. We live in union with Christ, not by our own merit, but according to His mercy (Titus 3:5-7). Jesus liberates our spirit, soul and body (Galatians 5:1,13). He provides us with meaningful service, which He prepared for us before the world began (Ephesians 2:10; 4:12; Galatians 5:13). He adopts us into His family and makes us courageous conquerors (Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:26; Romans 8:37). He gives us the desire to live a holy life (2 Timothy 3:12).

Even when we face great upheaval and pressure in life, God helps us to remain true to our convictions and to resolve to serve Him moment by moment throughout the day. A lack of joy in our life may come from unrealistic expectations, unconfessed sin, disobedience to God’s will, discord with another person or focusing on the negative aspects of life. God desires for us to serve Him with singleness of purpose, to bring Him honor and glory (Matthew 3:22,33) and to allow our light to shine so that people will see Christ in us.

So often we take God for granted, not even noticing His little love letters, which He sprinkles throughout our day. We spend more time dictating our desires to Him than we do in praising Him for what He already provided. We hand Him our to-do list each morning and expect it to be complete by the end of the day. God supplies all of our needs out of His love for us, not due to our worthiness. I hate to break the news to you, but God is not our personal genie in a bottle! He is not our instant wish-granter, meal-ticket or desire-implementer! He is Lord.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You give us so much to praise You for, and joy always comes as an outpouring of our praise to you (1 Peter 1:9). As we dwell in Your presence, You fill our soul with peace and give us Your pleasures now as well as in eternity (Psalm 16:11). Even as we submit to Your Spirit as He crucifies our carnal flesh on the altar of God, You are our joy and delight (Psalm 43:4; Psalm 51:12). We will praise You regardless of whether or not You ever provided another one of our needs. A life of praise overflows from our lips from the rising of the sun, until it fades beyond the horizon to usher in the night (Psalm 113:3).

Thought for the Day:

God is the parent who provides our every need, even when it is not what we really want, because He loves us and wants only what is best for us.