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.   

The Weapon Of Peace

The Bible gives us an example of the power of God’s peace. Peace is a weapon of warfare. When chaos and trouble is around us, peace is our goal. We want things to settle down. We want the situation to be resolved but we also want our emotions to be calm and in control. In Mark 4, we see a situation brewing. Jesus and the disciples get into a boat and set off to cross over to the other side. While traveling, a big windstorm came and water started getting into the boat. The disciples are panicking but Jesus is sound asleep. They awoke Jesus and asked if He cared that they would perish. Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭39‬-‭41‬ ‭says, “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Shalom is the Jewish word for peace but it also means harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. The disciples had Peace Himself with them. They had the One who had all authority to push back the chaos. We have the Prince of Peace inside of us through the Holy Spirit. We have His authority to declare peace over our lives and every situation. He expects us to exercise His authority of peace over every storm in life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for peace that surpasses understanding. Your supernatural peace fills my soul and I am not moved by anything.

The Righteousness Of Christ

As we seek to be closer to the Lord, we will walk more in the Spirit and less in the flesh. The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us of sin and the righteousness of Christ shines through us. However, the  flesh can be very sneaky. We can start to take pride in our good behavior and look at others with a judgmental eye when they are struggling in their walk with Christ. We may start to forget that without Christ we would be lost. We may lose sight of the fact that we had a rough beginning in our walk with Christ. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” It is the power of the righteousness of Christ in us that causes us to do good and have pure intentions. Our flesh is constantly at war with the Spirit. Even if we do good deeds in the flesh, our intentions may be unholy. ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭6‬ says, “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” We have no pure goodness and righteousness apart from Christ. It is humbling to acknowledge this truth and it brings us back to the Cross, where our spiritual journey began. He made a very unfair exchange for our benefit. He gave up His life so we could have eternal life. He poured out His mercy and righteousness, through His blood, so we would not have to face eternal damnation. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the righteousness of Christ. Thank You for Your divine plan of redemption and filling me with Your righteousness by the blood of Jesus.

The Desire Of My Heart

I used to have a one-sided understanding of ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭4‬, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” I always thought it only meant that God would answer our prayers and petitions and give us what we desire. But the more I seek the Lord, the more I realize that He puts His desires in us, so our petitions line up with His perfect will. 

Now I find myself asking God to fill me with His desires. He desires to give us a hope and a future. He desires for us to walk in perfect peace. The more we seek His heart, the more we let go of fleshly desires. The petitions of our hearts are no longer earthly and carnal.  Our petitions become a yearning for more of God’s presence. We desire to be closer to Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, fill me with Your heart’s desire. I want everything that You want for me. I want my heart to be one with Yours.

Riches In Glory

One of the issues of life that we all face is needing financial security. Regardless of our socioeconomic status, financial security is a human need. We need to pay our bills, put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. It can be so easy for that basic human need to evolve into unhealthy patterns of behavior. Some become obsessed with money to the point of workaholism. Others resort to lying, cheating and stealing. While others fall into a victim role and seek dependence on other people to meet their needs. 

God’s initial plan in the Garden of Eden was that we would have all that we need in Him. We were to flourish in every way in abundance. The Fall of Man derailed us off that perfect plan. But God made a way back through Christ. Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Apostle Paul was talking to the believers in Philippi and thanking them for their generosity towards him. He reminded them that God is their supplier of every need. We, as believers, are blessed by the God of all creation. There are no limitations or lack in God. 

Prayer 

Heavenly Father, fill my heart with increased faith by Your Holy Spirit. I want faith to believe You for all that I need and not put my faith in other people.

Redeeming Love

When we hear the word love, we all have something, a concept, that immediately comes to mind. Some may think of love as a good feeling toward someone. Others may say that love is doing good deeds for others. However, these are byproducts of love. God’s idea of love goes beyond our human understanding. Sometimes God’s expression of love seems to confuse our carnal mind. We may think that God is good, so He will give us everything we ask for because He loves us. But God loves us too much to give us everything we ask. He knows that we sometimes ask for things that will lead us away from His perfect will for our lives. We may even ask for things that will result in being a snare of the enemy. 

II Peter 3: 8-9 says “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God’s love is not a mere feeling or material blessing. God’s love is salvation and redemption. God's first priority is that we don’t perish in our sin or rebellion. So when we don’t get what we ask for, we can be confident in God’s love and thank Him for His perfect will in our lives. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for going to great lengths to reveal Your love through Christ. I receive Your redemptive love. Holy Spirit, transform my heart to experience the deep redemptive love of God.

God of the Impossible

There are issues in our lives or in the world that may seem to be too big for God. We may hesitate bringing it before God in prayer because, in our carnal mind, it seems like a lost cause. We’ve actually lost hope. 

But the reality is that God specializes in impossible situations. He is the God of miracles. ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32‬:‭17‬ says, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” When we position our hearts to focus on God’s greatness and power, our faith grows. Our mindsets are lifted above the situation and we can start to see things from God’s view. When we pray, according to His Word, our confidence in Him increases. He may not answer our prayers the way we expect. In fact, He will answer our prayers better than we expect. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great power in my life. Thank You Holy Spirit for teaching me how to pray according to the Word of God. Increase my faith to believe You for the impossible.