Don’t Take The Bait

We all experience times of temptation in life. Temptations are not always about sexual immorality or lust for money. Temptations come in many forms and the goal of “the tempter” is to get us to disobey or rebel against the truth of God. Temptations can be very subtle and can catch us off guard. Even Jesus was tempted 3 times by satan in the wilderness.  

In Matthew 4:1-11, we see how Jesus responded to the temptation with truth. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” 

The devil tries to appeal to our carnal human desires. When we submit ourselves to God and His desires fill our hearts, we are equipped to respond as Jesus did. We will speak the word of God and do the will of our Heavenly Father. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, fill me with Your heart and desires that I would walk in Your ways. Thank you for guiding my steps and keeping me from the snare of the enemy.

Stewardship

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of stewardship is “the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care.” Stewardship has been God’s perfect plan for mankind since the beginning. Genesis 1:26-28 says, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Before the fall, God had made Adam and Eve stewards over creation. His expectation was that Adam and Eve would manage what was entrusted to them and make it flourish and multiply. I believe that this mandate to mankind still remains today. Unfortunately, sin entered the picture and godly stewardship turned into irresponsibiity, greed, covetousness and wastefulness. 

Managing resources wisely is important to God. It’s a reflection of His character and nature. He has unlimited resources and He has shared those resources with us. We have the responsibility to wisely manage what God has put in our hands. Luke 16:10-11 says, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (wealth/possessions), who will commit to your trust the true riches?” The manner in which we manage our finances and resources says a lot about our character. How can we be a blessing to others in physical need when we are not faithful with the resources that God has entrusted to us? Many of us want God to do great things in and through our lives but we don’t understand that God cares about our heart and character. He can’t entrust us with more if we squander what He has already put in our hands. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, teach me Your principles of stewardship. Lord Jesus, cleanse my heart of greed and covetousness and the lust for worldly things. Holy Spirit fill my heart with the desire to be a good steward and servant of the Most High.

Faith Without Works

Faith is very simple, according to Jesus, but we tend to make it complicated. Jesus says we just need to believe like a child. In a nutshell, faith is believing God and believing that all He says in His Word is true. The part that complicates it for us is our own carnal nature. We struggle with faith because we all have a fleshly carnal mind to contend with, that constantly rises up against the authority of God. We may not even be consciously aware of it. We have to be vigilant about bringing our mind under the authority of Christ. We tend to go from extremes between doubt and fear to irrational requests that we call “big faith”. When we don’t receive what we asked for, questions start to run through our minds. “Did I not have enough faith?” “Did I not pray enough?” “Did I miss God?”

One thing that I have come to understand is that faith is a journey and a partnership with God. Faith is not simply asking for something and then waiting for it to plop on our laps. Faith is action. It is surrendering to the will of God. It is trusting Him with the outcome as we continue to obey and live out his principles and precepts. ‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ says, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” 

We can easily miss the obvious when we are waiting “in faith” for God to answer our petition. We can be so consumed with our specific request that we ignore the answers and directions that are already given in God’s Word. The practical application of faith is often ignored. Obeying the principles and precepts of God’s Word is actually putting faith in action. While we are waiting, we pursue godly character and integrity, so that we know God’s heart on a matter. As we put one foot in front of the other in our daily walk with the Lord, we get more clarity about our petitions. How we pray will change as we are led by the Holy Spirit. We will be better prepared to receive and be a good steward of the very thing that we are asking for. Also, our hearts are more aligned with God’s heart and His desires. We develop the fruit of faithfulness. We are less and less ruled by the carnal desires of the flesh and more and more ruled by the Holy Spirit. If our goal is simply to have our prayers answered, we develop tunnel vision and miss the bigger picture of what God is doing.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, fill me with the desires of Your heart. I want to pray according to Your will. Holy Spirit, show me where I need to put my faith in action.

Forbidden Fruit

There are so many things in the world that compete for our attention. Advertisements scream for us to look and lust for what they offer. They provoke us to spend our hard earned money to consume things that are fleeting and temporary. Through psychological tactics, they tell us that we “need” this thing or we “have to have” it. The world system is constantly pulling our focus toward consumerism and attachment to earthly possessions. The Bible says in 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

It is the same old trick that satan used in the Garden of Eden. He tempts us to think that the forbidden fruit is good. He deceives us into thinking that we have to have this thing, which is actually going to make us miserable or possibly even destroy us. He creates an illusion of this nice shiny object and we are tempted to lust after it. Thank God for filling us with His Holy Spirit of wisdom and discernment. We don’t have to be deceived into eating the forbidden fruit. We can live in the truth of God’s Kingdom and the promises in the covenant of Christ. We have all that we need in Christ. The Lord has and will make provision for all of our needs, financially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally/socially. The lie of the enemy is that we are missing out on something in this world or that we don’t have enough. The truth is that God has promised to care for us and give us what we need. He will satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts if we just surrender to His ways. Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭31‬-‭33‬).

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for filling me with Your Holy Spirit of Truth. I no longer see things through the lust of the eyes but I now see through the eyes of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit fills and satisfies me.

Forgiving Our Enemies

Forgiving our enemies is one of the most difficult things to do as a Christian. Jesus made a point to clearly explain why we need to forgive. Jesus says, in ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭46‬, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”

When we forgive our enemies, we are in alignment with our Holy Father in heaven. While on earth, Jesus’ words and actions were always in alignment with The Father. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we are made to be sons and daughters of the Most High. We are to follow the example of Christ, through the power of His Holy Spirit in us. Jesus modeled forgiveness of His enemies while He was on the cross. In spite of the soldiers mocking and tormenting Him on the cross, Jesus extended forgiveness to them. Luke 23:34 says, ‘Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.”’ The soldiers did not ask for forgiveness. They probably were not even aware that Jesus uttered those words. But Jesus had to remain true to who He was, the sinless Son of God. He could not harbor bitterness and resentment in His heart because that is sin. Jesus promised to send His Holy Spirit after He ascended to Heaven, in order for us to have the power to do what He did, forgive. We have been given the Spirit of sonship, to not only act like a child of God but to be a child of God. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit to forgive my enemies. This kind of forgiveness does not come from my carnal flesh. It can only come from You. Thank you Jesus for filling me with Your mercy and unconditional love.

Don’t Kill The Messenger

Receiving a message of truth can be difficult sometimes, especially when it calls us to make a major life change.  We may be stuck in unhealthy, or even sinful, habits. God may use someone to speak a word of truth to us after He has made repeated attempts to get our attention. God is very fair and loving. His aim is not to shame us but to heal us. He has gone to great lengths to make a way of salvation and restoration for us but sometimes we just don't get it. When Jesus walked the earth, many people did not see Him as the Messiah, especially the religious people of that time. They found His message to be offensive. Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37). 

Throughout history, God had made attempts, over and over, to save Israel from being destroyed by their own sins. Every time He sent a messenger of truth, that messenger was met with resistance and sometimes even death. The prophet Zechariah is a perfect example. II Chronicles 24:20‭-‬21 says, 'Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He also has forsaken you.” So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.' I now understand the saying "Don't kill the messenger." Our deliverance can come through a messenger of truth if we are willing to receive and have an open heart. Jesus Himself is constantly trying to get His message of truth to us but sometimes we are not willing. He may send someone to shake us up so we come to our senses. It may even feel offensive. But God is not concerned about our feelings. He is concerned about our soul and spiritual health. The temporary comforts of the flesh will not help us when we stand before God on judgment day and give an account for our lives. 

Prayer 

Heavenly Father, thank You for always correcting me in love. Your desire for my life is for good not evil. Open my ears to hear Your message of truth. 

Shut The Door

We all have weaknesses that plague us in life. The issues of the fleshly carnal nature are something we will contend with until we finally meet Jesus face to face. But we don’t have to be overcome by these weaknesses while here on earth. Jesus made a way for us to take authority over our own flesh by giving us His Holy Spirit, His Word and His blood. ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬ says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” When we shut the door, that implies that we mean business with God. It’s one on one with Him and we can be transparent and confess all that plagues us. 

The only way to overcome the flesh is to live in the truth. And the only way to live in the truth is through intimate time with God. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” We need to open the door to Christ and accept His invitation and then shut the door to all other distractions. When we do this, we are allowing the power of God to transform us into the image of Christ. All He is asking for is a willing and yielded heart. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me all that I need to be an overcomer in this life. I accept the invitation of Christ and I open the door of my heart so I can be transformed and renewed.

Carry Your Cross

In this day and age, we hear a lot of different preachers teaching specific themes on the Christian life. Some preach a message of prosperity and others preach a motivational message for self-improvement. The more I seek to be closer to my Savior, I realize that there is only one theme that matters, the Cross. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). But how do we carry our cross in a practical sense?
When we say no to temptation, we are carrying our cross. When we forgive others, we are carrying our cross. When we obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, we are carrying our cross. When we receive the fullness of the sacrifice of Christ, we are carrying our cross. When we do all these things, we trample on the face of the enemy and we walk boldly carrying our cross. You see, we don’t carry our cross by ourselves. Jesus Himself gives us His strength to carry our cross. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The power of the Cross is in us through Christ. In the process of carrying our cross, we are overcoming sinful habits and mindsets. We are ever mindful of the sacrifice that Christ made in order to set us free from bondage. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, fill me with the desire to carry my cross for Your glory alone. My life is not my own. My one purpose is for the life of Christ to be in me.

Why vs What

We’ve all been there. Something negative happens in our lives and we ask “why”, “why me”, “why now”. My husband and I went through a very traumatic experience in 2019. He became very ill with an infection in his heart and developed sepsis. He needed open heart surgery to replace two of his heart valves. He came within an inch of death. While he was in the hospital, we had a very deep discussion about all the events that had occurred leading up that moment. There were so many mistakes made by certain medical professionals. We were ignorant to the signs and symptoms of sepsis and congestive heart failure. In the end, we turned our eyes upward to God and determined that there is something we needed to learn from this terrible situation. So our question became “what” not “why”. What is Your plan, God? What do you want us to learn from this? 

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” We knew that God loved us and had not left us. In hindsight, I can now see how God used this situation to bring my husband and I closer. I feel that my faith in Him is stronger. We are both more in tune with our purpose, which is to love God and love others more deeply. We are more eternally minded because we know that our day of entering eternity may come at any moment. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for putting eternity in my heart. My focus is not on the temporal things of this world. My focus is on Your eternal purpose for my soul.

The Ways Of God

It seems that one of the biggest questions that people have is “why is there so much suffering in the world?” and “why doesn’t God do something about it?” Some Christians may get upset at people asking such questions and demand that blind trust in God is all that is needed. But I think that these questions are important. We need to ponder more deeply on the ways of God. The Bible says that God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). There is a reason for everything that happens in life. The challenge that we face as humans is that our vision of the big picture is limited. The big picture encompasses what is past, present and future. It involves the free will of man and the holy unchangeable character of God. While we are here in this temporary earthly world system, we have a kind of tunnel vision. We can only understand what seems to impact us personally and see through the lens of our own personal worldview. 

When Job was suffering trials and being tormented by satan, he questioned God and challenged His justice. Job wanted an explanation of why this was happening to him. God’s response was an unveiling of His divine wisdom. God asked Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4). God went on to reveal His greatness and power of creating the earth and everything in it. He expressed His character and nature. God is justice, mercy, love, truth, righteous and holy all at once. He knows the past, present and future all at once. It is not a matter of either or. He is not one sided or one dimensional when He acts. He is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. There is a divine purpose for all that He does and all that He allows. The bigger picture is eternity with Him. Jesus said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭26‬). The temporary suffering on earth becomes insignificant when we think about our future in eternity with God. All that God does is meant to draw us to Himself, the source of true life…eternal life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, fill me with Your thoughts and Your ways. I want to be eternally minded. Heaven is my true home.

Healing

The world purports to have a cure for every ailment. But it seems that with every “cure” there is a negative side effect that causes more problems. Most of these so-called cures are temporary band-aids on a large gaping wound. This is because the root cause of our ailments are not addressed. This applies to both physical and emotional ailments. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world that bombards the body and mind with toxicity. Processed foods and toxic chemicals in the water and air are killing the human body. Toxic media is deteriorating the human mind and soul.  
However, Christ came to bring healing and freedom. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Regardless of the root cause of our ailments, Jesus has come to bring healing and restoration, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Pursuing any other way of healing results in negative side effects. God has given mankind natural and spiritual remedies for every illness. We just need to ask God for the solutions. This does not mean that we will never get sick and never die. The natural aging and dying process will happen. The Lord will call us home when it is our time. The greatest healing is receiving a new glorified body when we arrive in heaven, where there is no pain or sorrow. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, Thank You for the promise of heaven, where we will receive complete healing and eternal peace. Give me wisdom on how to live a healthy lifestyle while on this earth, until the day You call me home.

Faithful Word

We can always count on God being faithful to His Word. ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭138‬:‭2 says, “I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your Word above all Your name.” God is truth. He cannot lie because His very nature and character is truth. When He says something, it exists in the universe and never changes. This is such a complex yet simple thing to understand. To grasp the depth of God’s truth is beyond our human comprehension yet we can understand one thing, He is faithful to His Word of Truth. 

God has spoken His Word over all of us from Heaven. He has put His Word in written form (the Bible) so we have it in tangible form. He wants us to know His Word so we can get to know Him. When we know His Word, we know exactly what to expect from Him. He never changes His ways. This is so reassuring in a world where we can’t take anything at face value. Unfortunately, the father of lies (satan) is steady at work trying to deceive mankind into distrusting God. Regardless of what satan tries to do, God’s Word stands forever. When God says it, it comes to pass. Believe it. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank You for being true to Your Word. I can fully rely on You and trust You with all my heart. 

Purpose

Regardless of the circumstances in which we were conceived and born, God has a divine plan and purpose for each person. His plan is for peace and good and not for evil, as stated in Jeremiah 29:11. It can be so easy to focus on perceived disadvantages that we’ve experienced in life and become resentful. But Christ was very clear about the truth of living in this world. ‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭33‬ ‭says, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” I’ve come to understand that, while living in a sinful and fallen world system, we are actually citizens of heaven, when we are in Christ. We are just traveling through this temporary world. God’s plan is for us to live in the reality of His eternal Kingdom while sojourning through this short lived experience on earth. 

It can be challenging to remain focused on this heavenly truth because we are bombarded with messages from this carnal world. Media, news and advertising appeal to the carnal senses of the flesh. They all try to entice and pull us into a mindset that is fixated on what is temporary and passing away. The real purpose of being born is to have eternal life with our Creator. Knowing this truth changes the way I see every situation and circumstance that I face. There is a bigger picture, a bigger plan. It’s not about how much fame and fortune we can acquire. It’s not about being the best in everything or having the best of everything. It’s about our eternal purpose and destiny, which is being in the presence of our Creator. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, open my understanding of Your eternal purpose for my life. Give me spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear. I want to be Kingdom minded.

Abiding

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve for perfect fellowship with Him. They were in perfect obedience to God until the serpent (satan) came on the scene and tempted them to disobey. He tempted them to eat from a certain tree that would open their eyes to know the difference between good and evil. Satan wanted them to step outside the boundaries that God had set for them. Once they acted on their decision to disobey, everything changed. There was no going back. The consequences were in motion and would continue for generations to come. ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ says, “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 

Up until that point, Adam and Eve had pure hearts and pure minds. They were under the protection of God, as they obeyed and remained under His covering. Mankind has been suffering from that decision of disobedience ever since. But God in His divine wisdom and mercy made a way for us to get back to that place of divine fellowship. He sent Christ to pay the penalty of our disobedience. He gave each person the opportunity to come back under the protective covering of God. We just need to abide and dwell in Christ and we will have restored fellowship with Him. ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Christ is the only way to restore fellowship with God. He renews our minds so we are not thinking rebellious thoughts against God. The more we desire fellowship with Him, the further we move away from desiring the forbidden fruit. Instead, God prepares a table before us and we feast on the fruit of the Spirit. ‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭5‬ says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” We can’t overcome sin without abiding in Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for making a way back to perfect fellowship with You, through Christ. Holy Spirit, draw me closer to Christ and water the seed of the Word planted in my heart, that I would bear much fruit.

Day By Day

The Christian life is a marathon not a sprint. There is no quick process to living a holy life. We constantly have to deal with the carnal desires of the flesh. But one thing I know is that consistency in daily communion with God eases the process. The marathon is no longer an arduous task but rather a journey alongside my Savior. He coaches me and cheers me on as I run my race of faith. He strengthens me when I feel fatigued and think I can’t go any further. It’s a daily process with the Holy Spirit. He keeps me focused on the end goal, which is eternity.  ‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭4‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ says, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Lord keeps us looking up and forward so we don’t get distracted by the carnal things of this world, which are temporary and passing away. ‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭says, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” When I was an athlete I trained daily. I was motivated by the possibility of winning a competition. With God, it is not a possibility of winning. We absolutely definitely win the prize of eternal life through Christ. We just need to stay the course and remain in Him, day by day. 

Prayer 

Heavenly Father, thank You for the assurance of salvation through Christ. Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide and lead me daily. Thank You for strengthening me to stay the course with You.

Law Of The Spirit

In our human experience on earth, things change constantly. Social norms change with the times. Even laws change. But God’s spiritual laws never change. They have always been in motion since the beginning of time. Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭10‬ ‭says, “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” We are all held accountable for our choices and actions, good or bad. It is a spiritual law that is unavoidable. We cannot escape it. Unfortunately, some people are deceived and believe they can escape the consequences of their sinful actions through their own human means. 

God has given us the only escape, which is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When we surrender our sinful life, we accept that Christ took the penalty of our ungodly choices and actions. Through Christ, we now live by a different set of rules. We live by the law of the Spirit. Romans 8:2-4 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” As much as we may try in our human efforts, we cannot live up to God’s standard of goodness and holiness. We live a life of holiness by the  supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God for giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit! 

Prayer 

Heavenly Father, thank You for pouring out Your Spirit so I can live holy unto You. Cleanse my heart by the blood of Jesus so I would desire You and Your ways above all things.

Sea Of Forgetfulness

The truth of God’s redemption through the sacrifice of Christ can be hard to grasp with our human minds. Our brains store memories of the good and bad events in life. We remember wrongs that have been done to us. We remember the sins that we have committed and the wrongs that we did to others. This is where the supernatural power of the blood of Christ comes into play. When we repent and receive cleansing by the blood of Jesus, God remembers our sin no more. Psalm 103:12-14 says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” We cannot just forget our sins. It is the supernatural work of God that causes us to have a new mind in Christ. 

Hebrews 10:17-18 says , “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” And Micah 7:19 says “He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” When God says he is casting our sins and iniquities in the depth of the sea, it means it is out of sight, not to be remembered. Not only does He not remember our sins because of Christ, but He also erases them from the memory of the earth. There is a time to share our testimonies of where God has brought us from. But we have to be careful not to constantly bring up what God has cast away and forgotten. We are literally new creations in Christ. We will continue to be transformed into the image of Christ as we daily receive His cleansing flow of blood so our minds are renewed, casting all sin in the sea of forgetfulness. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for cleansing me by the blood of Christ and remembering my sins no more. Thank You for making me a new creature and restoring me to perfect fellowship with You.

The Blood Of The Lamb

I’m sure many of us have heard sermons with 5 or 10 points on how to be an overcomer in this world as a Christian. From Genesis to Revelation, God gives us the tools and strategies for overcoming. He does not make it complicated. In fact, God sums it up in Revelation so we have no confusion. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

The blood of Jesus is the foundation of our faith. It is only through the sacrifice of Christ that we have salvation and eternal life. And salvation does not just mean going to heaven. It means salvation in every area of our lives here on earth. When we daily confess the saving power of Christ over lives, we are overcoming. The last part of that scripture refers to loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). This is the first commandment. If we keep this commandment, we will most definitely be an overcomer. Death has no sting. Even if we die for the sake of the gospel of Christ, we win. We have heaven to gain. The blood of Christ has made a way to the Father.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Christ to be my salvation. I confess that I am an overcomer because Christ defeated death, hell and the grave through His blood and resurrection from the dead.  

Prayers Of The Righteous

The Lord has been really hitting the point that prayers have no boundaries. God’s power has no boundaries. When we pray God’s Word, the Holy Spirit carries the Word out into the world and it reaches to the ends of the earth. James 5:16-18 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.”

To be clear, Elijah was led by God to pray for the rain to stop and start again. He was an ordinary man that was filled with God’s Holy Spirit and obeyed the Word of the Lord. When we pray according to God’s will, things will happen. It may not happen when, where and how we think it will happen. But we know that God’s Word does not return void and it will accomplish God’s will (Isaiah 55:11). God can do the impossible. He is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Our prayers are not too big for Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help my unbelief. I want faith to believe in You for the impossible. I want salvation for those who appear to be too far gone. I want solutions for problems that seem unsolvable. Holy Spirit, fill me with boldness to pray for mountains to be moved.

Victory In The Wilderness

We all go through wilderness experiences in life. These types of experiences are times of trial and molding of our character. We may feel like these experiences are solely an attack by the enemy and we get into fight mode. But Jesus has given us so much insight into the wilderness experience. After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit immediately drove Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus then fasted for 40 days. At the end of the fast, satan came on the scene at a seemingly vulnerable time for Jesus. He tried to tempt Jesus three times. Each time Jesus shot back with the Word of the Lord, the Sword of the Spirit. Satan had no chance. Jesus was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 4:13 says, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

But the story does not end there. Luke 4:14-15 says, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.” The wilderness experience was a place of battle and victory. That victory was then carried out into the world to set people free. So our wilderness experiences are crucial for our own spiritual growth but also for others. The wilderness experience is a temporary place. We are not meant to remain there permanently. When we submit to the Holy Spirit and His Word, we come out of the wilderness in His power and authority. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I submit to You in this wilderness experience. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Put Your Word in my mouth to overcome the evil one. Cause my life to shine with Your Glory to be a witness for You in the earth.