Deliverance from Evil

 

God is the Holy One of Israel; yet, He cares for each one of us individually, regardless of our circumstances. He is our redeemer and our strong tower (Isaiah 41:13-14; Psalm 46:1).

He actually holds our hand when we are afraid, and He promises to help each one of us. When we allow fear to overwhelm us, we fall into its trap; but when we trust the Lord, He keeps us safe (Proverbs 29:25; Psalm 34:4).

We see how Jesus calmed the storms for His disciples, and He abides within us and protects us as well (Mark 4:39-40). The angel of the Lord actually camps around those who honor God with their life, and He delivers us (Psalm 34:7).

Even if we are reviled or falsely accused when we are living righteously, God will reward us for it. Regardless of what any person says about us or threatens us with He is our defense (1 Peter 3:14; Deuteronomy 3:22).

God places His redeeming hand on our life, encourages us not to give place to fear and reminds us that He is our all in all (Revelation 1:17). He took on the form of a man in order to save us.

All He asks of us is to believe in Him (Mark 5:36). In failing to believe, we condemn our self to eternal damnation (John 3:18). In our belief, we accept God's eternal plan for our life (John 3:6-17).

Nothing we do, think or say, or anything that is in heaven or on the earth, can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:38-39). We are eternally His child and He loves us unconditionally.

Prayer:

Father God, You actually rejoice over us with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). We dwell in the shadow of Your wings and You give us shelter and rest. You are our refuge and fortress in this world of unrest, and we trust in You. Your faithfulness is a shield and strong tower for us. We have nothing to fear in the day or the night.

You give Your angels charge over us to keep us. Even if we fall, they are there to sustain and guard us. Since we love You, You rescue us, and You protect us when we walk in Your will and ways. We call on You and You answer us, deliver us and give us honor in any sort of trouble (Psalm 91:1-16).

Thought for the Day:

Since the Lord is with us, there is no reason for us to feel fear. Man can do nothing to us if God is right there with us, helping us and delivering us from every sort of evil. 

- Psalm 118:6-7

My Soul Waits - A Frank Conversation

Negative, shaming self-talk comes from Satan in order to discourage us from allowing God to use us to His full potential within us. It diminishes our ability to receive the flow of God's love to us.

We feel like crawling into a closet or curling into a tiny ball and hiding from the world. We cannot even look at our self in the mirror.

Our judgmental, critical, shaming and censoring thoughts about our self and others cripples us and deflects the immensity of the Truth of God's unconditional love and acceptance for us.

We do not sense God's faith, hope and love within us in the person of Jesus Christ. We are unable to detect His will through our hurried lives and busy days.

We have to get off the merry-go-round of life and have a frank conversation with God. As we share our heart with Him, we empty our soul of the cares of this life and our deep seated insecurities.

Meditating on God's Word throughout the day helps us to focus on Him and His will for our life. This trains our soul to think on heavenly things rather than being carnally minded.

In the silent times of waiting on God, we enjoy His companionable silence as He showers us with His love, fills us with His peace and gives us His joy as our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

He gets us ready for the next trial or temptation or crisis which we will face by strengthening us from the inside out. He showers us with His blessings and love to re-enforce our spirit and prepare us for the battle ahead.

Prayer:

Father God, You have a distinct purpose for each person You created. You sent Your Son to redeem us and Your Spirit to direct us throughout our lifetime. Make us aware of Your presence during the quiet times we maintain throughout our day.

Remind us to listen to Your voice, rather than the satanic voices in our mind. Draw us closer to You. We thank You for never letting us go (Hebrews 13:5). Work in us the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4), and fulfill in us and through us all of your promises.

Thought for the Day:

God has a perfect, prearranged plan for our life; and as we walk in it, we find His presence along with fulfillment and holiness. - John 17:17-18; Ephesians 2:10

The Cost of Compassion

Consideration for others is a lost art today. We are too busy to care too deeply for anyone, not even for our self. We streak through life fast enough to repel anyone, which we think will weigh us down.

One group of people are so focused on themselves that they have no time for anyone else. They plan their day, follow their agenda and fall asleep at night with little interaction with the people who love them.

There are video games, overtime at work, television series, sports, hobbies and extra-curricular activities, which keep us so occupied that we take everyone else in our life for granted. 

Another group of people are so wounded from their past, that they have little emotional energy to expend on anyone else. The cost of showing compassion is too high, and they are emotionally bankrupt.

When we see a need, which God directs us to meet, yet we walk away, the love of God does not dwell in us (1 John 3:16-17). We are unwilling to pay the cost of compassion.

We have another purpose for our time and money and do not want to share with anyone else. Sadly, our joy from our own plans will quickly fade; and since we are out of the will of God, we cannot prosper.

Jesus gave us the example of the Good Samaritan and the father of the Prodigal Son to teach us to care about other people and to give them a second chance (Luke 10:25-37, 15:11-32).

As we walk in the Spirit, we will give away more and more of our self, and we will receive more of God in return (Luke 6:38). God is love, and the more love we share, the richer we enjoy God's presence in our life (1 John 4:8).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that negative emotions within our soul come from the wounds in our past, placed there by the devil. They will prevent us from showing Your love and compassion to others (Ephesians 4:26-27). Help us to seek Your truth about every satanic lie, which births these destructive feelings within us ( www.theophostic.com ). Once we are free from this woundedness, we are also free to receive the fruit of Your Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Remind us that whether we are preoccupied with pain from the past or our current self-centered pursuits, obedience to You is the only way we can reap Your rich rewards. When we empathize with the pain and rejoice in the joy of others, and share Your kindness and mercy with our self and them, we will truly and eternally prosper (Romans 12:15; Luke 6:35-36).

Thought for the Day:

If we say we love God, yet hate someone else, then we are a liar and do not know God; yet, if we are truly in love with God, we will love His children too.

 - 1 John 4:20-21

Sent Forth by the Spirit

God set the earth in motion and created it for human beings to occupy until He comes (Luke 19:13). He has a plan and purpose for all of this. It is not some random explosion of gas, quirk of fate or a trick by the ethereal cosmos. God is gathering to Himself all those who love Him. When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us (John 14:26, 16:13). As we await Christ’s return, His Spirit leads us to the areas of life where we are needed most (Acts 13:4).

 

God is the Master Architect and He uses us as living stones to build His earthly Temple (1 Peter 2:4-6). He shows us His will for each moment of our day. He may call you to work in a secular job in order to share the Gospel of Christ with those you come in contact with every day; or He may call you to pastor, evangelize, teach, preach or to start churches (1 Corinthians 12:28). He empowers us all to accomplish His purpose for each of our days (Philippians 2:12-13).

 

Some teach that a parked car cannot be steered; so, we need to be moving for the Spirit to direct us. This is false theology. Christ lives in us by His Spirit (Romans 8:9-11). We wait on God’s direction each morning and walk only by His Spirit throughout the day. We live in the moment without regret over the past or fear of the future. This prevents us from functioning by human effort and producing carnal works for God.

 

It is easy to hear God each moment of the day, if we are in constant communication with Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Only the heart that is empty of ambition, pride and rebellion can accomplish the works of God. Large, famous and wealthy are not necessarily signs of God’s blessings (Revelation 3:17). God is love; and those who walk in His love by the direction of His Spirit, live in His will and receive His true and eternal blessings (1 John 4:8).

 

Prayer:

Father God, teach us not to live according to the ways of the world, but by the direction of Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:12). You save us by the power of the cross, sanctify us by the power of Christ’s blood, and then conform us to the image of Christ by Your Spirit (Romans 8:29). Create a clean heart in us and help us to abide in Christ and to follow Your Spirit’s guidance every moment of every day in which we live on this earth. We look forward to living with You in glory.

 

Thought for the Day:

If God reveals to you that your self-will, self-centeredness, self-exaltation and self-life are controlling you, do not be afraid to completely surrender to God’s Spirit, because He will conform you to the image of Christ.

 

Why God?

Read: Jeremiah 32:37-38

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

Have you ever questioned God’s behavior, promises or direction? You are not alone. Everybody does it. For instance, Jeremiah questioned God's reasoning in Jeremiah 32:24,25: "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city? Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, You say to me, 'Buy the field'".  

Jeremiah’s puzzled prayer received an answer from God, but it did not make any more sense than God’s directive to purchase the field. The enemy was about to overrun the city of Jerusalem, and all God said was, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

It turns out that God, in His foresight, wanted to use this piece of land as an object lesson for Israel. It was an earnest of their future inheritance. It was a symbol of God’s promise to their forefathers that Israel would always be God’s people and He would always be their God (Jeremiah 32:37-38). The purchase loudly proclaimed to Israel that God would eventually bring them back to dwell in safety in the Promised Land once again.

So often we have trouble seeing the big picture. From our perspective, the oddly shaped piece that God provides does not fit into the puzzle of our life in any way. He gives us a directive or opens a door or leads us down a road that just does not make any sense to us. We end up arguing, pleading and cajoling with Him.

When that does not work, we shift into a passive aggressive mode – pretending to obey, when we actually have absolutely no intention of carrying out what we view as an incomprehensible move.

Then, we go off and try unsuccessfully to solve the problem on our own. After hitting the brick wall a few times, we eventually give in and obey; although, we continue to wait impatiently for the desired results. We pace, we fret and we battle with growing anxiety, until we sit back and pray out of frustration, finally relying on God to reveal the purpose of His plan in His timing. While trust God during these puzzling times in our lives, our spiritual growth increases and our closeness with Jesus, our Bridegroom, improves.

When I compare Jeremiah with Jonah, I see the difference between obedience and doing things my own way. From now on, I vow to obey rather than to argue when I do not understand. I will take a lesson from Jonah’s negative behavior, and I will save myself a great deal of trouble!

Prayer:
Lord God, we often have difficulty comprehending how all of the pieces of your plan will work together for our good. Even if we follow your direction, we often unsuccessfully understand Your purpose - especially when things fall apart before they get better. We tend to rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Help us to patiently trust You; because, after all, You are God! 

Thought for the Day:

Life operates more smoothly when we remember that God does all things beautifully in His time.