Surrendering to God's Will

We can develop habits over time to create more joy in our life and to eliminate depression and melancholy. However, it takes a change of focus and total submission to God's Holy Spirit.

Many people live in the realm of "what ifs" and/or wanting what they do not have. They think that happiness will finally arrive when they accomplish their bucket list.

We allow circumstances to color our thoughts and feelings, which may diminish our joy. We wait for God to answer our prayers rather than to enjoy the life, which He already provided for us.

His peace and joy are available for us each moment of the day and do not depend on circumstances. It is possible to live in an economically depressed area with impoverished circumstances and still have total peace and joy.

There is no guarantee that we will live to see the next moment in time; so focusing on having possessions or certain people in our life will reduce our peace and joy.

Without surrendering our will to God's will each moment of the day, we hinder our effectiveness both in life and in our spiritual growth and ministry.

Once we repent of our sins and recognize Jesus as our only Savior and King, the very life of Christ saturates our entire body, soul and spirit. As His Spirit sanctifies us, we see more spiritual fruit and less of a draw from our flesh, Satan and the world.

The most critical exercise we can do as a baby Christian is to surrender our will to God's will. Even as older Christians, if we never surrendered, it is time to do so now.

When we totally surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our life, we feel less and less tension and stress, and more and more of His rest, peace and joy.

Prayer:

Father God, we tend to regret the past and fear the future. We spend so much time focusing in these two directions that we waste the current moment. This moment in time is all that You guarantee us.

You forgave our past, and it is over and forgiven. We just have to remember to forgive our self too. Remind us that once we do surrender to You, Your Spirit begins replacing our negative personality traits with His spiritual fruit and You flood our spirit and soul with Your love.

Thought for the Day:

Our future is in God's capable hands; therefore, trusting God in the moment provides us with a stress-free life.

Health for the Body of Christ

God's plan for humanity is not a conglomeration of various unrelated events with a hodgepodge of results. It is as orderly and detailed as the planets in orbit around the sun.

God arranged the planets to all sit at just the right angle and spacing, especially the earth. Our world tilts at the exact slant it needs to support life. Its composition consists of the perfect combination of chemical elements and matter to ensure our existence.

King Jesus is also establishing His Kingdom on the earth in order to physically abide with everyone who is humble enough to accept His call on their life. He incorporates us into His Body of Believers throughout generations and nations from the beginning of time.

God designed His Body so that when one member suffers, we all suffer; and when one member rejoices, we all rejoice (1 Corinthians 12:26). Unfortunately, Satan makes sure that his character attributes of jealousy, covetousness and pride steal these ideal circumstances from us.

This causes God's Body to operate dysfunctionally, to think more of our self than anyone else, to keep our own priorities as our focus and to lack any concern for those around us who, by their own choices (John 3:18), are lost and destined to spend eternity in hell. 

Many people spend more time on vacations than in service to God's Body; more money on their toys, collections, hobbies and gadgets than on the ministries of the church which promote God's Kingdom. They focus more on their own agenda and endeavors than on the will of God.

They often reject one church Body for another, divorcing their former church family without one regret. They disfigure God's Body - like an eye rolling down the path of life, leaving one church with only one eye and their next church with more than the two eyes it needs (1 Corinthians 12:14-22).

Sometimes, disgruntled people refuse to attend any church at all, despising a part of the Bride of Christ that Jesus gave His life to redeem (2 Corinthians 11:2). They cut themselves off from the fellowship and blessings of their church family.

At times, certain people in our church Body may exasperate us or are irritating and hard to live with, but Christ is patient with us (Romans 5:8), and we can allow the fruit of God's Spirit to help us to be patient with His Body as well (Galatians 5:22-23).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that when we determine to put our self first, to divorce Your Bride, or to stir up trouble with gossip and dissention, this says more about our character than the short-comings within Your Body. Help us to attain spiritual maturity through Christ in us, so that we can love Your Bride unconditionally and to serve with tireless devotion in the church where You plant us (Luke 6:32).

Your grace enables us to love others as Christ loves us, sacrificially, patiently and selflessly. You do not require us to "like" anyone else, but You do expect us to love them with the love of Christ within us. Help us to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, by stepping up and faithfully and tirelessly serving Your Bride where we see areas of need.

Thought for the Day:

Our Great Physician is a skilled surgeon who continually operates on the heart of each of us, to give us new life in Him in order to resolve life's most complex issues, to bring peace in the more tumultuous circumstances, and to draw us to the truth of His Word as we all continually abide in His presence.

A Place of Abiding

We have certain goals in life, which often turn into an idol. We live, dream and breathe these goals, neglecting everything else in our life. 

We even neglect God in the process. This does not really help us to reach our goals, however; and everything starts to unravel after a while.

These idols also cause negative emotions to rise up in our soul. We get grouchy, intolerant and frustrated. We avoid anyone who threatens our agenda. 

Negative emotions are a clue that our soul is out of balance. We are either neglecting some aspect we need, or we are pursuing the wrong goals.

When broken dreams, heart-wrenching desperation, and a loss of appetite and sleep wear us down, we finally come to the end of our own resources. 

We look beyond our human capabilities and we finally trust in the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. God is intimately acquainted with our deepest needs.

God's Spirit cleanses us and accomplishes His will in our world. He will deliver us from our self, and His Spirit will exchange our carnal nature with the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4). 

When we make Jesus Lord, He always give us more than we could ever imagine. When we totally surrender to the work of God's Spirit in our life, we arrive at the place of abiding.

Prayer:

Father God, bring forth Your Spirit's fruit in our life until we exhibit them to the world around us, instead of the fruit of the flesh (Galatians 5:22-23, 5:19-21). 

Once we surrender our idols, which are causing us to sin, Your intimate presence fully returns to our life. Remind us not to lower Your Word to our level of experience, but to elevate Your Word as life-giving Truth.

Thought for the Day:

Temporary disappointments are not failures, but stepping-stones toward the ultimate mountain top experience of abiding in Christ.

The Pinnacle of Spiritual Heights

 

At the moment of our salvation we received the fullness of the Trinity with all of the spiritual fruit, power, strength and love we will ever need (Romans 8:11). The God of light in us is greater than all of the satanic spiritual forces of darkness, which formerly ruled our life (Ephesians 6:12). We receive a fresh filling of God's Spirit to do God's will during each moment of the day (Ephesians 5:18).

Regardless of our human failings and foibles, God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things (Hebrews 11:1-40). The indwelling presence of Christ in us allows us to execute greater works than Jesus did while He lived on this earth (John 14:12). His power and anointing in the collective Body of Christ multiplies His presence in the earth now that He sits at the Father's side (1 Corinthians 12:27; Mark 16:19).

Every trial we suffer proves our faith to be authentic and produces praise, glory and honor when Jesus returns. Although we have never seen the Lord, we know Him because He dwells within us. We love Him, because He first loved us. He fills our heart with wondrous joy and peace, which defies human logic and description (1 John 4:19; 1 Peter 1:5-9; John 3:18). Our union with Him sets us apart.

Our faith in Christ secures our eternal salvation. God is our righteous Father who wants obedient children to totally trust in and fully surrender to Him. The closer we draw to our Father God, the more we cry out for more intimacy with Him. We can never experience all of God until eternity; yet, we climb ever higher toward the pinnacle of spiritual heights.

Prayer:

Father God there is never a moment in our life when we are not in Your presence. We try to hide from You at times, ashamed of our behavior, but You are always there (Psalm 139:1-16). We never experience one negative or positive aspect of life alone, because You dwell within us. Daily, we ask Your Holy Spirit to control our every thought, word and deed for Your glory (Colossians 3:17). Compel us by our absolute love for You (Mark 12:30) and Your love in us for others (1 John 4:7) to share the Gospel of Christ with whoever will listen (Matthew 28:19-20).

Thought for the Day:

Walk in the Spirit and you will live in the love of God as you reside in the will of God.

The Emotions of Our Soul

God made human beings as a trinity, much as He is. The soul is one of the most spectacular parts of this trinity (body, soul, spirit). The soul includes our thoughts, decisions and emotions. These aspects of the human life are amazing when you consider the depth and ramifications of each of them. Our mind is an impressive, intricate physical organ made up of chemical charges and cells, which store every single word and event that ever occurs in our life.

God gave us so many emotions. Each main emotion branches off into dozens of nuances. Take anger for instance. Anger can be expressed in tones from mild annoyance all the way to extreme and violent rage. Here are some other emotions, which come in between these two extremes:

Soft Anger 
Annoyed, Frustrated, Cross, Apathetic, Peeved, Irritated, Cranky, Crabby, Bored, Impatient, Critical, Cold, Displeased, Rankled, Detached, Indifferent

Medium Anger 
Angry, Mad, Offended, Antagonized, Bristling, Sarcastic, Aggravated, Arrogant, Indignant, Inflamed, Affronted, Resentful, Incensed, Exasperated, Riled up

Intense Anger
Hostile, Aggressive, Livid, Outraged, Furious, Belligerent, Hateful, Appalled, Bitter, Ranting, Raving, Contemptuous, Disgusted, Vengeful, Vindictive, Violent, Irate, Menacing, Seething, Vicious, Spiteful

See what I mean! Feelings are aroused by verbal and physical signals, which we receive from stimuli, such as photos, nature scenes, people, pets, etc all throughout our day. Even inanimate objects like a car, jet plane or places elicit emotions from our soul.

The problem is that we often base our choices and decision on feelings. They are transitory and temporary at best, but the selections we make because of how we feel affect us for the rest of our life. God replaces our negative responses with the fruit of His Spirit. He calls us to temper our emotional responses with spiritual direction from His Spirit.

Prayer:

Father God, we have emotions that are so intense at times that we do not know what to do with them. We erupt in a negative emotion or wallow in self-pity and depression because we feel so overwhelmed. Help us to submit our soul to You for sanctification and to come to Your Spirit to receive Your fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), the character of Christ, in place of our negative human emotions.

Thought for the Day:

God’s Spirit replaces our negative attributes with His positive fruit. - Galatians 5:22-23

For more info on other emotions, see this page:

http://karlamclaren.com/emotional-vocabulary-page/

The Divine Nature of God in Us

The trauma, inconsistencies and callous aspects of life, wear on our human soul, which intensifies over the years of our lifetime. Since conception, the abuse, injustice and deprivation turn us from skeptics to raging maniacs. We shut down emotionally or we allow negative habits to rule our behavior. We over-react to situations through our habitual self-defense mechanisms.

God is love. (1 John 4:8). His love for and in us removes our reasons to fear, which is the root of all of our negative emotions (1 John 4:8; Romans 13:10). As we surrender to His love, God’s Spirit fills us with more and more of His divine nature. Love banishes our selfishness, envy, pride, and rebellion, and fills up our soul – our mind, will and emotions (1 John 4:20). God displays His love through us to the world around us (1 John 4:12).

We cannot achieve this love in our own power or effort, but only as a gift from God through His perfecting power (Romans 5:5). God’s Spirit within us sanctifies us, and gradually gives us the divine nature of our Father God (Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:10). This results in a mind, which is set on holy and spiritual thoughts and desires (Colossians 3:2). God’s Spirit does not change our carnality overnight.

God’s Spirit imparts one aspect of God’s divine nature to us at a time. He peels away our sin nature one layer after another, replacing each earthly characteristic with His fruit (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23). He exchanges our carnal tendencies with a display of spiritual fruit. He reveals them in our behavior each time we allow Him to do so. The entire gamut of spiritual fruit, the nature of God, is in Christ in us.

Therefore, we already have each of these fruit resident within our soul through the abiding Holy Spirit. God replaces hatred with love, depression with true joy, discontentment with peace, irritation with patience, criticism with gentleness, backbiting with goodness, pride with meekness, excess with self-control, and worry with the faith of God as we are controlled and guided by His Spirit. The closer we walk in God’s will, the more holiness and spirituality we exhibit.

Prayer:

Father God, the perfect triangle of Your love for us, our love for You and our subsequent love for one another is a witness to the world of Your power (John 13:34-35). Heal our wounded hearts and remove any lies in our soul, which Satan planted in our subconscious mind. Share with us Your Truth about the trauma we experienced in this sin-filled world, and pluck Satan’s lies right out of our belief system. Allow us to view our self as You see us...as perfected in Christ.

Thought for the Day:

God’s divine nature in us is not something we use for personal gain or reputation, like so many people in this modern society, but for the glory of God and to further His Kingdom in the earth.