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Mark 12:30: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31: The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus sets an order for the commands we are to follow. First, we are to love God. Secondly, we are to love our neighbor. Finally, we are to love ourselves. Most people miss the part about loving ourselves because it doesn’t directly state that in the verse. However, we can’t love our neighbor as ourselves if we don’t initially love ourselves.
You might think everyone loves themselves but, that’s not always the case. Satan attempts to use our sin (omission or commission) to condemn us. God is so good to us until Satan will even attempt to use God’s goodness to condemn us. Satan will say, “You should be ashamed for doing…” and “You know, God’s love is taken away after you sin.” Little by little the devil chops at our spirit making us feel bad, sad, and depressed until we eventually don’t love ourselves.
BUT…….
Thanks be to God Who sent His Son Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (1 John 1:19).
Thanks be to God Who did not send His Son to condemn us but, to save us (John 3:17).
Thanks be to God Who sent His Son to make us new through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
So, love yourself because God loves you, forgive yourself because when we ask for forgiveness God forgives, and walk in your new nature in Christ.
John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
God’s Word is powerful. It was so powerful that God manifested His Word by wrapping Him in flesh, naming Him Jesus, and granting the option of salvation for mankind.
While Jesus, now sits at the right hand of God, God is so awesome that He left us the seed. We have His Word with us, but we have to choose to study, audibly declare, and stand in faith for manifestation of God’s Word in our lives.
Inspired by Dr. Creflo Dollar
1 Corinthians 5: 9When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
11 I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.
12It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.” (Deut 17:7)
Jesus hung around people who had a heart for Him (the saved and Christ-like) and people who knew nothing about Him (the lost – so that He could save them). But, those who claim to be Christians, yet still intentionally sin we are not to socialize with. Why, so harsh? Because if we, by association, show that those things are acceptable, we have just become a stumbling block for the weak and unsaved (2 Corinthians 6: 3 and 1 Corinthians 8:9). Rather, we choose to be Christians (Christ-like) and make a continuous effort to do God’s will.
Mark 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
This is what David said to his son, Solomon, before he died.
1 Kings 2: 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, show yourself a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go,
David gave Solomon the keys to a prosperous life. At the end of the day, it was up to Solomon to heed David’s advice or not. Solomon could have disobeyed God and dishonored his father by doing whatever he desired.
Let’s see what Solomon decided to do…
1 Kings 3:3 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places
God wants all His children to be prosperous in every area of their life (finances, health, marriage, relationships, employment, etc) but, it’s up to us to heed God’s instruction. God’s not trying to control our lives. He only wants us to make a conscious decision to live for Him so that in return, He can prosper our lives.
Let’s see how God prospered Solomon’s life…
1 Kings 2:23 King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. 24 The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
If you obey God, God will reward you.
Be Blessed!
Luke 18:7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
If we continue to seek God, He will come through. But, we have to have enough faith to trust that His promises will manifest in our lives even when the circumstances don’t look promising. He is true to His Word. Now we must do our part and continue in faith, always speaking life over our situation and being unmoved by what we see.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
John 9:31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
As it states, God does not listen to sinners but, He listens to the people who do His will. For those who don’t know, there is a difference between people who sin and sinners. Sinners are those who habitually and intentionally sin to satisfy their flesh. People who sin are people who make an effort to do God’s will but, randomly fall into temptation and sin.
For sinners, yes, the sin feels good to our flesh but, it’s not God’s will. Sin feels so good at times until excuses such as, “it’s natural” or “God made me this way” are made to dull our conviction. Sin is a natural tendency due to the fall of Adam but, we must submit ourselves to God and resist the temptations from the devil.
For those who want their prayers heard and answered, we must do our part and stop sinning.
Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
God gave all of mankind life by breathing breath into Adam. What better way to show our gratitude to God than giving that same breath back to Him with a sacrifice of praise. God has done some marvelous things in our lives. In fact, I would not be able to write these scriptures and you would not be able to read these scriptures if it were not for God. He blessed us tremendously. We could have been dead, feeble, disease stricken, or lost in our mind but, God’s grace would not allow it. To those who are feeble, disease stricken, or lost in their mind they have a right to praise God also because, God is a Healer and He can heal every disease. God can raise the dead too. Praise God for life, health, and strength. Praise God for food, water, and shelter. Praise God for joy, peace, and salvation.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD (Psalm 150:6).
James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
In order for our prayers to be heard we must be righteous. There are no efforts we can physically do to be righteous because even in our best state we are nothing but filthy rags in the sight of the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). The only way we can become righteous is through Jesus Christ. It’s by His blood we are made righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Praise God for the Lamb of God Who shed His blood so that we can effectively communicate with our Father.
Be Blessed!
John 1: 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
We are given the right to be God’s children. Out of all the privileges, this is one we have the right to receive. When we receive and believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross and rose again (Romans 10:9), we can become children of God. As children, we have now become heirs of all of the promises God made to His people, Israel. Every promise in the Word is ours. So, we trust, believe, and worship God and expect the promises of God to manifest in us!
Ephesians 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Psalm 18: 28You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. 29With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. 30As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.
God supplies our needs, betters our circumstances (or sometimes our perception of them), overcomes our adversaries (physical and spiritual), and strengthens us to succeed in every situation.
With all of that, our role is to never doubt God and to have faith in His Word. We trust, seek, obey, and worship Him; He never fails (2 Timothy 2:13).
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
The Bible informs us WE must keep our bodies and bring it (our bodies) into subjection. What this is essentially saying is, we have dominion and control over our bodies. No one is going to control it for us. The body represents every fleshly desire. God is not going to control or discipline our flesh because He left that responsibility for us.
Every addiction, disorder, or issue regarding our bodies, we control. We have dominion and control whether we stay in shape or become obese. We have dominion and control whether we give into sexual temptations. We have dominion and control whether we allow drugs or alcohol to rule our flesh.
The point is, no one can control our flesh, but us. God has given us free will and He can’t even control our flesh, or else He would violate His law.
The question now is, are we going to let our bodies (our flesh man) rule us with its lustful desires or are we (our spirit man) going to bring our bodies into subjection?
2 Timothy 1:8, 9 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
God’s grace is God’s blessing, protecting, and caring for us even though we have not earned it or deserved it. God still allows us to have food to eat, promotions on our job, and a drama free life even though some of us are rationalizing our sin, intentionally sinning, and encouraging others to sin. The grace of God literally holds back the punishment the enemy could inflict in our lives. We should be experiencing sickness and disease, poverty, and death but, God’s grace says “NO!”
We should recognize God’s grace by giving thanks to God for the things He’s done in spite of our ways and live a pleasing life showing Him His grace is appreciated.
Praise God for God’s grace.
There are some mean, hurtful, satanic people in the earth that really don’t like us. They do all kinds of malicious things to attack our life, our family, and our joy. Even the nicest person has someone who doesn’t like them for whatever reason. Most of these people are controlled by Satan whether they know it or not.
Some of these evil people will go so far as to place a curse or hex to harm some part of our life. Yes, those satanic things are real. One of the greatest deceptions the devil uses is, to make us believe sorcery or witchcraft does not exist. It’s real and it can harm us if we allow it. The good new is, we don’t have to allow those satanic things to enter or attack our lives.
God has given us the authority to bind and loose anything we desire on earth. We have the power and authority through the name of Jesus to bind every hex, vex, curse, witchcraft, demonic power, demonic stronghold, voodoo spell, etc. on our life, our family, and the promises of God.
Use the power God has given you and don’t allow Satan to wreak havoc in your life.
Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The Bible says we are to lend and not to borrow. It does not mean borrowing is a sin but, to be the lender, we have to have financial wisdom. Wisdom in any aspect of life comes from God and good counsel. In regards to managing our finances, we should pray, speak with financial advisors, accountants, or anyone we know who is good with managing money. We don’t have to be rich. We just have to be good stewards over our finances.
For example, if there was a person who had three bills ($10,000 bill, $5,000 bill, and $1,000 bill) which made them be $16,000 in debt, that person should use the “Snowball Method” to cancel their debt. The “Snowball Method” starts off by paying off the lowest bill first. After paying off the lowest bill ($1,000), they should use the extra money they will be saving to pay off the next lowest bill ($5,000). Finally, after paying off the next lowest bill they should use the extra money to pay off the highest bill ($10,000). This is one way a person can speed up the process of becoming and staying debt free.
To be lenders and good stewards over our finances, we should seek Spirit led financial counsel.
Praise God for debt freedom!
Deuteronomy 15:6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
Luke 21: 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
Have you ever played a ‘future’ situation in your head? Then, you may find yourself worrying about what you think somebody’s going to say or do, and it hasn’t even happened. But, if we choose instead to seek, hear, and obey God, then we give Him our situations and He gives us the perfect response.
So, we go forth and minister where God tells us to, or present the seemingly illogical idea to a team, or say those words that we never thought we would say, and allow God to speak through us. We avoid worry, obey God, potentially save a life or a situation, and conquer every enemy. Praise God for the right words and wisdom!
Isaiah 58: 7Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him… 8Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9Then shall you call, and the LORD shall answer; you shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
If you take away from the middle of you the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 10And if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noon day: 11And the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make fat your bones: and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
If we give to others, then we will have good health, be surrounded by God, and He will always hear our cry.
If we break away from sins that try to bind us, put away vain speech, and minister to others, then our light will break through any circumstance, and God will always guide us satisfying our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
We seek God’s Word for instruction, obey His Word out of our love for Him, and praise God that He will always be near!
Mark 9:17 A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Notice how Jesus waits until a crowd is around Him to cast out the evil spirit. Jesus could have done this privately but, He chose to wait until there was a crowd. Jesus did the works of God publicly, in order for people to believe in Him.
When we stand in faith, our faith fight may be on public display. We may have a group of people (family, friends, co-workers) surrounding us wanting to see what God is going to do in our life. This is not the time to back down or shy away from declaring what God said about our situation. Even if the situation appears to worsen, continue to declare what God says openly until the manifestation appears. God desires faith that won’t be moved by situations, circumstances, or feelings. Once the manifestation appears, we can give God the glory and others will believe and speak about His wonder-working power.
Genesis 22: 1Some time later God tested Abraham… 2Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
8Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
10Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called out… 12“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said… Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Abraham was willing to give everything to God. While Abraham was delivering his sacrifice he still stood in faith that God would provide. Then, God did provide. And, because of Abraham’s prompt obedience to give everything to God, God went on to bless Abraham even more.
We may not always understand why, but we commit to obey and be willing to give God even the most valuable relationships, dreams, and things. And then, expect God to provide!
What if you spent at least four hours cooking a big Thanksgiving sized meal for family members who were coming in town only for a day? You went out and purchased exactly what those family members love to eat. You even sacrificed sleep in order to have the meal done at a certain time. With all your efforts, what if those family members said, they wanted to eat pizza for dinner? That probably would make you more than a little upset. For them to know you worked so hard on a meal but they insisted on pizza, will probably having you calling on the name of Jesus for peace.
I could imagine, that’s how God feels with some of our decisions in life. God has prepared this great, abundant life for His children but, some of us are not living it to the full extent. God created a life where anything we need or want can be obtained by faith (Romans 4:13). He has prepared healing where healing is needed, deliverance where deliverance is needed, joy, wealth, peace, and so much more. God prepared this great extravagant meal called, the abundant life, but some of us are settling for basic pizza. We settle for barely getting by, putting up with sickness and disease, and having the bare minimum with no room for enjoyment. God loves us and desires the best for His people. All He needs is for us to believe that He is more than able to do it for us.
We should thank and praise God that He wants us to have the best. Praise God!
Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
John 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
God gives us the desires of our hearts for our enjoyment. We’re not supposed to hide or minimize the blessings God provides. We are to enjoy everything God provides to the full extent.
Some “deep” people believe it’s wrong to enjoy the abundant life Jesus promised. Some people feel like Christians are closer to God when they’re broke, busted, and disgusted. Somehow, they feel the blessings that God promised separates us from the true nature of God.
People of God, enjoy the abundant life and the blessings God provides. The blessed life we live will attract an unbeliever. That unbeliever will observe what God is doing in our lives and want the same thing for their life. Eventually, that unbeliever is saved and living the abundant life God promised him, only to attract even more unbelievers to Christ.
Be Blessed
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
God has knowledge of and sees the trials we go through. He understands the negative emotions, frustrations, and temptations that attempt to arise when we go through these trials. He sees the “disappointments” and “losses” we face but, there is good news.
The good news is restoration!
God promised us restoration. The things we thought were long gone, will be restored to us. Blessings that are long overdue, will manifest. Sicknesses in our bodies will be healed. All of God’s promises will be kept.
Now, receive the restoration of God’s promises by faith.
The things we thought were long gone, have been restored to us. Blessings that are long overdue, have manifested. Sicknesses in our bodies have been healed. All of God’s promises are here!
Praise God for restoration!
Scripture of the Day: Express What You Confess
When we need or desire something, the first thing we must do is ask the Father in the name of Jesus. While asking the Father, we must believe (without doubt) He is able to bring it to pass. Secondly, by faith, we must receive our request.
Finally, we must hold fast to our confession of faith. Holding fast to our confession means to continue to believe without doubting. Holding fast also means, maintaining the right expressions until we visibly see the manifestation of our request. The right expression includes having the right speech, body language, attitude, and mindset during the waiting period.
For example, we can’t confess we’re healed and then go around sulking, telling everyone how sick we are to obtain sympathy. Our expressions have to line up with our confession. Satan will attempt to control our expressions by using our emotions to make us feel a certain way during the waiting period. We must put the word of God over our emotions. By Satan affecting our emotions, he can sabotage our faith with doubt, fear, and worry.
We must stand up straight, put our shoulders back, keep a positive attitude, and declare what God says about our situation.
Stay strong people of God because it’s only a matter of time before things change.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Psalm 145: 17The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. 18The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. 20The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.
1. The Lord shows love to all His creation. While loving a child includes discipline (Hebrews 12:6), God does not cause bad things to happen (James 1:17).
2. If we, who love God, call on Him earnestly, He is always with us and watching over us.
3. When we are submitted to God, we receive the desires of our hearts and salvation, both spiritual (John 3:16) and physical (Matthew 6:33).
4. So, we praise Him, hallelujah awesome God!
Genesis 39: 2And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 4And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 20And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. 21But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 41: 1And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river. 39And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Since God has showed you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are: 40You shall be over my house, and according unto your word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than you.46a And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold into slavery. He was thirty when he was made overseer (second only to Pharoah) over all of Egypt. No matter what position Joseph was in, the Lord was with him and prospered him in all he did. Joseph did not lose faith. He served God at every station in life, even though he did not know the eventual outcome. So, whether you are in a position of ambiguity wondering how much longer will you have to endure or in a comfortable position, continue to trust God. He will work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28).
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
“To grow spiritually we must be confident in our relationship with the Lord, and we must be disciplined in our approach to God’s Word. Are we growing spiritually? Not if we are not confident in our salvation, and not if we are neglecting the Word of God!”
~Unknown Author
It takes an honest person to look at themselves in the mirror and ask, “Where can I better myself spiritually?” It takes a more honest person to answer the question. We all have areas we can improve on. Some people can improve on praying more while others can improve on resisting that sinful temptation. It’s a deception for one to say “I have grown enough.” As long as there is breath in our body, we can always improve.
Take the time to examine your life to see what areas you can improve on. By improving ourselves, we can better enhance and advance the Kingdom of God.
Psalm 33:9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
God desires that we operate like Him on the earth. How does God operate? God operates by faith. When He speaks, He believes what He says will come to pass.
As believers we should operate or function the same way; by faith. The Bible instructs the righteous to live by faith (Hebrews 10:38). God has given us the authority and dominion to call those things that be not, as though they were (Romans 4:17). God spoke, and it came to pass. When operating in the authority that God has given us, when we speak in faith, it must come to pass.
We should have the faith to know immediately when we speak, it’s not going to come to pass (future) but, it has come to pass (present). As quickly as God said “let there be light,” there was light. Light was there immediately without delay. We don’t have to wait to see the manifestation to believe what we’ve declared has come to pass. When operating in faith we know as soon as we said it, it is so.
Start making declarations for your life or situation. As soon as you say it, it is so.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Have you ever noticed God chose some of the least likely candidates to do His work on the earth? For instance, God chose David, a short shepherd boy, to lead His people. God chose Paul, who was once a murderer, to write the majority of the New Testament. God chose John The Baptist, who was observed as a “wild man” in the woods, to direct people to repentance. This is because God searches the heart of a person and not the exterior presentation.
If God can work through people like this in the past, He can work through people like us in the present. It doesn’t matter where we’re from, what we’ve done, or our background, God can and desires to use us. As disciples of Christ, we have been instructed to teach the nations about Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19). We can start with our immediate friends and family and eventually branch out into other parts of the world.
Don’t spend another year not being used by God. Get into the game and be a vessel for the Kingdom of God.
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
In order for us to function the way God wants us to function on earth, we must renew the right spirit within us. The word renew means, make new again. The right spirit includes things such as love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
There must be a wrong spirit we can house if we have to renew the right spirit within us. By default, the wrong spirit will be just the opposite of the right spirit: hate, sadness, impatience, unkindness, unfaithfulness, harshness, and no self-control.
There will be people, situations, and circumstances that will attempt to replace the right spirit with the wrong spirit. For example…
6:00am someone cuts us off while driving to work, the wrong spirit of unkindness may enter our spirit.
6:30am there is a traffic jam, the wrong spirit of impatience may enter our spirit.
7:05am our boss complains about us being 5 minutes late to work, the wrong spirit of hate may enter our spirit.
8:00am due to the beginning of the day, we may display the wrong spirit of harshness with innocent customers.
12:00pm to relieve the stress of the day we may overeat at lunch which exhibits the wrong spirit of no self-control.
Within six hours multiple wrong spirits could have entered our spirit. This is why it’s so important to renew the right spirit within us. We may even have to renew the right spirit within us multiple times in a day.
To renew the right spirit simply say, “Father God, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Be the vessel God wants you to be by renewing the right spirit within you.
If a 12 year old child comes to you saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” what would you do? Would you intensely listen, or would you pay no attention because of the child’s age. What if, a 76 year old man with old torn clothes came up to you saying, “I see you doing great things?” Would you discredit him because of his age and assume he may have a mental problem?
It would behoove us to listen to the child or old man and not discredit what they’re saying. God informed us in Joel 2:28 that our sons and daughters will prophesy and our old men will dream dreams. It could be the Holy Spirit using that child or adult to minister to us.
Certain people in society mess up by discrediting people because of their age or background. Jesus had that same problem in Matthew 13:53-58 where the people discredited Him because they knew His background. Just know, God can use anyone (child or adult) to speak to us about our life or situation. Open your hearts and minds to receive the Word of God, even if it is an unlikely source.
Joel 2:28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
As we begin a new year seeking to live for God we should understand that will-power cannot overcome sin. We must consult the Holy Spirit, and be obedient. The more we obey the Spirit, the more clearly we hear Him and we have victory over sin.
John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loves me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
There was this guy who forced his employee’s wife to sleep with him. Then, when he realized she was pregnant, he tried to get his employee to work less so that he would sleep with his wife and think the child was his. But, his employee was so dedicated, that he wouldn’t quit on his team members. So, the boss set up the employee to die. Then, the boss, married his former employee’s wife. Do you know what God labeled this guy? 1 Samuel 13:14 …the LORD has sought him a man after his own heart…
David, like us, sinned, but God referred to him as a man after His (God’s) heart. When David sinned, he repented, and strived to live holy (2 Samuel 12). With the beginning of a new year, free yourself from the sins of your past. God has forgotten them (Hebrews 8:12). But, continue past that and commit to live for God becoming a person after God’s heart.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
Graced To Do God's Will 