Category Archive

1 Thessalonians 5:24 AMP Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you [to Himself for your salvation], and He will do it [He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own].

God is faithful. We hear this a lot in church, but when we place our trust in Him, we’ll find this to be true. We all can distinctively recall times where He’s miraculously protected us, provided for us, or manifested His promise to us.

God’s faithfulness is not true based solely on our experiences with Him. It’s true because His word says He’s faithful. Our experiences are only confirmation of His faithfulness.

Experiencing God’s faithfulness is a beautiful thing, but it first starts by placing our trust in Him. The more areas we place our trust in Him, the more times we can experience His faithfulness. Let’s place our trust in Him, in all areas of our lives, so that we can experience all of His faithfulness.

You have a desire. You’ve asked God for that desire in prayer and believe you have received it when you’ve prayed (Mark 11:24). You’ve already overcome doubt in your heart. You know for certain it’s going to come to pass, but you don’t know when. Now what do you do?

When we’re waiting, there are three productive things we can do.

1. Praise God
   Since we know we have what we’ve asked for according to 1 John 5:15, we praise God. We praise Him for giving us a way to receive our desires. We praise Him for making those promises available to us through Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). We praise Him for answering our prayers.
2. Pray For Others
   We have family and friends and we know some of their desires. While we wait on our desires, we can sincerely pray for the manifestation of their desires. What good is it if we’re the only ones getting what’s promised to us? Pray for and celebrate others.
3. Practice Contentment
   In Philippians 4:11, Paul learned to be content. Contentment is learned when impatience is overruled by appreciation. While we’re waiting on our desires, appreciate everything we currently have. You may want a new car, a new house, or a spouse, but for now, appreciate the transportation you have, your current residence, and the benefits of being single.

Don’t just sit there being anxious while waiting on your desires. Praise the Lord, pray for others, and practice contentment.

Romans 8:25 NLT But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 AMP Do not quench subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the only access we have to God. Once we accept Christ as Lord, we’re sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13). That Spirit leads us, guides us, and teaches us if we’re responsive to His promptings.

The problem comes when we’re unresponsive to whatever He’s telling us to do. He may tell us not to go to their house after a certain time, study for that test an extra hour and no more, or introduce yourself to that man or woman. When we’re unresponsive to His promptings, we’re missing out on the good God has planned for us (Jer. 29:11), we could fall for the devil’s traps (2 Cor. 2:11), or not be as successful as we desired to be (2 Cor. 2:14).

Whatever God’s Spirit tells us to do will typically go against our flesh and how we feel. That doesn’t mean we should be unresponsive and disobey God. We should trust that whatever God’s Spirit tells us to do is for our good. Our flesh may hate it now, but our lives will be so blessed because of our responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:12 NLT Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance.

Some people (Christians included) will tell us not to give our money to a certain pastor or ministry because they’re going to take it and buy a Rolls-Royce or a jet with it. Meanwhile, the bible tells us to honor our spiritual leaders. So, what will you do? Follow what’s being said in the streets or obey the word of God?

To honor our spiritual leaders doesn’t always mean we give them money. We can bake them a pie or buy them something nice. The most important part is to honor them by giving them what God placed on our hearts. Yes, this can include money.

Whatever God wants us to give to our spiritual leaders has a promise attached to it. Ephesians 6:8 says, whatever good anyone does, the same shall they receive from the Lord.

Like the scripture says, they work hard and just because they’re spiritual leaders for God doesn’t mean they should work for free. We should desire to give to leaders that sow their time, energy, and efforts in order for us to spiritually grow. If there is someone who is impacting you spiritually, see what God wants you to give to them.

2 Corinthians 5:15 NLT He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.

Who are you living for? Are you attempting to accomplish your goals or the goals of Christ? Are you allowing your flesh to dominate or are you allowing His Spirit to lead and guide you? Are you cherry picking things in the bible that suit you or are you obeying everything God commands (in context) in the New Covenant?

Jesus died so that we can live for Him. That means we totally surrender to His will. That means we forgive when we have to forgive, we unconditionally love everyone, we are generous givers, and we make the effort not to sin. When we allow God’s Spirit to lead and guide us in every area of our lives, we’re living for Christ.

Examine your life. Are you totally living for Christ, partially living for Christ, or living for yourself? Make the adjustments to totally live for Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into his glorious image.

We all should want to improve in one or more areas of our lives. We may want to have a better attitude, be more patient, be more generous, or strengthen our relationship with God.

We don’t improve by keeping the law. We improve by understanding who we are in Christ. We improve by being led by the Spirit. We allow His Spirit to change us.

If we attempt to change by keeping the law, we’re setting ourselves up for failure. Galatians 3:11 says no one can be made right by keeping the law. We may keep one or a few laws for awhile, but we’ll ultimately miss the mark. And if we miss it in one point, we’re guilty of breaking all the laws (James 2:10).

The law was given to show us that we need a Savior. Through Him, the law has been fulfilled, we have been forgiven, and we’ve been given the Holy Spirit to help us improve to be more like Jesus. Stop trying to do it on your own. Allow the Spirit of God to change you from the inside out.

1 Corinthians 2:4‭-‬5 NLT And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

When Paul ministered the gospel of Jesus Christ, he relied on the Holy Spirit. We too have been called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and reconciling people back to God (Mark 16:15/ 2 Cor. 5:18). Instead of relying on our intellect and how much bible knowledge we have, we should ask the Holy Spirit to give us the words to minister the gospel. We may have gotten saved two days ago and only know a couple of scriptures, but if we rely on the Holy Spirit, we’ll have the right words to say that will encourage people to Christ.

Secondly, we should rely on the Holy Spirit at our jobs. Whatever task we have at our employment, the Holy Spirit can provide the wisdom we need to best handle the task. We may have been on the job for two weeks, but the Holy Spirit can give us the wisdom we need to easily understand our responsibilities. This could lead to promotions and sustainability.

We should rely on the Holy Spirit in our marriage, in parenting, and in every area of our lives. Whatever we’ve been called to do, let’s rely on the Holy Spirit.

Luke 17:14 NLT He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.

When people had leprosy, they were isolated from society. In order to be let back in society, a priest had to confirm they were cleansed.

When Jesus told these lepers to show themselves to the priests, that didn’t make sense. In the natural, they still had leprosy. It would make more sense for the lepers to have physical evidence of their healing before they saw the priests. But without any evidence that they were healed, they obeyed Jesus and started making their way to the priests. As they went, they were healed.

A lot of times, we want to have everything in order before we obey God. The blessing comes when we obey God without having it altogether.

God may have told us to seriously house shop. We want to have all our credit or finances in order before we obey God and house shop. With God, our credit and finances can straighten out as we house shop.

God may have told us to start exercising, but we may be experiencing pain in our leg. Logically, it makes more sense to wait until the pain leaves before we exercise. However, if we obey God, the pain could leave as we exercise.

Even with salvation, some people want to wait until they get their lives in order before making Jesus Lord. Obey God and accept Jesus as Lord now; just the way you are.

Stop waiting for the scenario to be perfect before obeying God. When it doesn’t make any sense and you can’t see how it’s going to happen, trust and obey God.

2 Corinthians 5:18 NLT And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.

2 Corinthians 5:20 NLT So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

As believers, we have a responsibility while we’re here on earth. Our responsibility is to lead people back to God through Christ. He desires for everyone to return to Him and we’re responsible for gathering the lost.

That means we show them the love of God by displaying kindness, being a blessing, and being a good example of people who have made Christ their Lord. That means we encourage our friends who are not making the best choices to let God lead them. That means we sincerely pray with and for them.

What we shouldn’t do is tell them how sinful they are, attempt to scare them by telling them they’re going to hell, or tell them God’s not pleased with them. God uses His goodness to get people to repent (Rom. 2:4).

Let’s handle our responsibilities by boldly encouraging people around us to make Jesus Lord and tell them there’s a good God who loves them, and desires to be their God.

Psalms 42:6 NLT my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.

Psalms 42:11 NLT Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!

There will be things that cause us to be discouraged. There may be a loved one who died, termination from our employment, a relationship ending, or financial struggles. With all the things that can cause discouragement, the way to overcome it is remembering what God has done and putting our hope in what God has promised.

When we take the time to remember what He’s brought us out of and things He’s delivered us from, we build our hope in His word. When hope arises, discouragement must leave.

Remember the awesome way God brought you out of negative situations in the past. Remember how faithful He’s been throughout the years. Remember how He’s kept His promise to you and place your hope in Him. As we have an expectation for God to come through, we’ll no longer be discouraged.

Romans 8:26‭-‬27 NLT And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

When we pray in the Holy Spirit, we don’t know what we’re saying. To the world and even to our own ears it sounds like gibberish. Although we don’t understand it, God understands everything coming out of our mouths (1 Cor. 14:2).

When we pray in the Holy Spirit, we’re praying the exact will of God. As we pray in the Spirit, we could be praying for our neighbor, we could be praying for a situation that happens 40 years from now, or we could be praying over our cousin who may be secretly battling depression. Praying in the Spirit could tap into those situations all at the same time. We’re also building ourselves up (Jude 1:20).

We don’t know who and what we’re praying for, but the Holy Spirit does. If someone comes to your mind while praying in the Spirit, call their name out. And since it’s a prayer, and we could unknowingly be declaring something over our lives or the life of someone else, finish praying in the Holy Spirit by saying “in Jesus name.”

The devil will try to make us feel silly for praying in the Holy Spirit, but it’s beneficial to the Kingdom of God, our own lives, and the lives of others.

That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’”
Hebrews 10:5‭-‬7 NLT

Jesus was and is the sacrifice for our sin. No other offering for sin is pleasing or acceptable to God. No other offering for sin is bigger or equal to the sacrifice that Jesus made for our sin.

This includes, financial giving. Don’t ever be conned into thinking a financial seed will get us back in right standing with God after we’ve missed the mark. We never were on bad terms with God because our punishment for every sin was satisfied through Jesus.

Another offering for sin that’s not acceptable is self-abuse. When we beat ourselves up about missing the mark and allow guilt and shame to enter our minds after missing it, God is NOT pleased. He doesn’t get any glory when we abuse ourselves for something that has already been paid for. Self-abuse after sin is a spit in the face to the sacrifice of Jesus.

Know and believe Jesus’ offering for sin was enough. No other contribution from us is acceptable or pleasing to God. Receive total forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 95:7 NLT for He is our God. We are the people He watches over, the flock under His care. If only you would listen to his voice today!

God loves and He cares for us and He has our best interests at heart. To our flesh, some of His commands may seem restricting or harsh, but as our Creator, He knows what’s best for us. He knows what we need to do and what we don’t need to do to function properly.

A lot of our problems wouldn’t be problems if we would follow His voice. Today, His voice is through the Holy Spirit. He may tell us not to eat a piece of cake or stay at home instead of going to that party. That’s no fun to our flesh, but we don’t know what He’s keeping us from. We must trust He knows all and He knows what’s for our good. There will be other times He okays a piece of cake or a party, but at that moment, we must trust Him.

From forgiveness, to ending a relationship, to asking someone out on a date, obey His voice because He cares and knows what’s best.

1 John 4:20‭-‬21 NLT If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

People will say how much they love God. They’ll cry singing about how much they love Him and tell others how much they love Him. There’s a way we can confirm the authenticity of our love for God. We confirm our love for Him by how we feel about others. If we hate ANYONE, but say we love God we’re lying to Him and to ourselves.

This can be easier said than done. Some people have been molested, abused, and treated like trash. Although these can be considered valid reasons to hate, believers have been called to rise higher than hate and love.

If we want to be truthful with our love for God, ask for His help to love and forgive others. He understands it may be a process, but He’s patient and is willing to help us.

Don’t go another day lying to God and to yourself. Release any hate you have for anyone.

Luke 11:28 NLT Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”

We can go to church every Sunday, go to bible study every Wednesday, we can even listen to our favorite minister on YouTube, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we put the word we hear into practice.

It doesn’t benefit our lives if we only hear the word of God and don’t practice it. When the word tells us to forgive, if we choose not to forgive, we’ll hinder our own blessings (Matthew 5:23-24). If His word tells us to give, it doesn’t help us if we hoard (Luke 6:38). We can’t confess we’re broke, sick, and depressed and expect to be rich, healed, and joyful because God’s word says we’ll have what we say (Prov. 18:21; Mark 11:23).

Whatever it says in God’s word, we have to put it into practice. Hearing alone is not enough. Practice God’s word.

John 16:8 And when He (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

There’s a difference between conviction and condemnation.

If we miss the mark, conviction, by way of the Holy Spirit, let’s us know what we did was wrong AND reminds us we’re forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Condemnation, by way of Satan, lets us know what we did was wrong AND we should be ashamed of ourselves AND God is mad at us AND we deserve and should expect punishment for our sins which hopefully are forgiven.

There’s a big difference. Conviction let’s us know our behavior we displayed doesn’t align with our new nature in Christ. Condemnation brings guilt and shame. One is inspired by the Holy Spirit and the other is influenced by Satan.

Be sure to know the difference. God never intended for us to beat ourselves up about a mistake we made. Jesus was beat up enough to pay the penalty for every past, present and future sin we’ll ever commit.

Thank You God for Jesus.

1 Peter 1:2 NLT God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.

Holiness doesn’t mean we isolate ourselves from non-believers, it doesn’t mean we only listen to Christian music, it doesn’t mean we can’t watch movies, play games, or have fun.

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been made holy by the Holy Spirit. There’s nothing we can naturally do to be made holy. Our holiness comes through Christ (Heb. 10:10).

Since we are holy, we must be or act holy. Once again, being holy doesn’t mean we pray and read the bible all day. Being holy is being led by the Holy Spirit. When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, we’re being holy. Galatians 5:22-23 gives a list of characteristics the Holy Spirit will lead us in (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) The Holy Spirit will also tell us to apologize, don’t read a particular article, or do something nice for a complete stranger. The Holy Spirit will show us how to be holy.

Don’t think we need to do things in our own effort to be holy. Don’t think a dress code, a diet, or being a part of a denomination equals holiness. Through Christ, we are holy. The Holy Spirit will show us how to be holy.

But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15‭-‬16 NLT

Back Story: Israel and Syria are plotting to attack Judah. Their plans are intercepted by God. God instructs Isaiah to tell King Ahaz (Judah’s king) to not worry or be afraid because these plans won’t be successful.

After Isaiah told King Ahaz that Israel and Syria’s plans won’t work against them, King Ahaz had a choice. He could either believe the word of the Lord or continue to worry. Isaiah said the following:

And the head (capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son [King Pekah]. If you will not believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established.” ’ ”
Isaiah 7:9 AMP

Daily, we have a choice. We can either believe God’s word or worry about the circumstances. God’s word says we’re healed, we can accept that or worry if we will ever get better. God’s word says He’ll supply all our needs, we can accept it or reject it. God says He’ll protect us. We can believe Him or try to protect ourselves.

If we can’t fathom, believe, or comprehend how God’s word is going to come to pass, based on the circumstances, we’ll never experience the benefits of a believer. Like Isaiah said to King Ahaz, if we will not believe and trust in God and His message, be assured that we will not be established.

1 John 4:17 NLT And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Believers were never meant to be afraid of Judgment Day. Hollywood and people have made Judgment Day to be this humongous spectacle where all our sins are on display and if our bad outweighs our good, we’re going to hell.

For believers, Judgment Day is a day where we can confidently approach our Father because we lived like Jesus. That doesn’t mean we lived perfectly, but in context of this scripture, it means we lived in God and allowed God to live in us. It means we trusted in His love (v. 16). How do we trust in His love? By believing that He sent His Son to take away the sins of the world (v. 9-10).

Judgment Day has nothing to do with how good we’ve been, how many acts of kindness we’ve displayed, or how much we’ve given away. It’s a day where we can boldly say we’ve trusted in His love by accepting the sacrifice for sin (Jesus).

Psalms 139:17‭-‬18 NLT How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me!

If our child is not feeling well, we’re tempted to constantly think about them. On their first day of school, we think about them and hope they’re okay. If they’re with their friends, we think about them. And when they’re off in college, we think about them.

We think about them often because we love them and want the best for them. We hope the instructions we’ve given them as parents are put into practice. No matter how much we think about our children, God thinks about us more.

God knows what each of us will do before we do it and He still thinks about us. He loves us enough to devote innumerable thoughts towards us. He’s not worried about us. He simply loves us enough to set His mind on us continously.

More than two high schoolers who finally get together after liking each other for years, God constantly has us on His mind. Regardless of what we do or have done, He’ll never stop thinking about us. Praise God we have a Father Whose thoughts and plans are to prosper us in every area (Jer. 29:11).

Hebrews 10:24 NLT Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.

There are a number of ways to serve others. We can volunteer at a homeless shelter, give to a charity, serve at our church, or pay for someone else’s meal.

With all these ways to serve others and express our love, it’s beneficial to get others involved. Let your cousins and friends know what you’re doing and ask if they want to be involved. As we motivate others to be a blessing, we can make a positive impact in our communities.

These acts of love help us overcome selfishness. Instead of always thinking about what next big thing we can get, collectively, we can start thinking about what big thing we can give. The more money we can contribute or the more volunteers we have, the bigger the impact.

As the scripture says, let’s motivate others to acts of love and good works.

Luke 10:17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”

The name of Jesus is the most powerful name in the earth. It has the power to heal, deliver, set free, and bring forth.

Our power is limited. We may attempt to use counseling, medical doctors, or money to change the situations around us, but those things can only go so far. The name of Jesus can get to the heart of the matter. We may not see it working immediately, but that’s when we should rely on our faith in the name of Jesus.

For some of us, the name of Jesus is the last thing we use after trying everything else. Don’t try to circumvent the name of Jesus. Use it from the time you realize you have a problem or desire. It will save you time, money and energy. The name of Jesus is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).

So…
Declare you’re healed in the name of Jesus.
Declare your child is delivered from drugs in the name of Jesus.
Declare all is well in your life in the name of Jesus.
Amen

Matthew 21:22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

To have biblical faith, we must believe what God said in His Word will come to pass. God said all of the promises of God have been approved and have been made available through Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). Since all the promises of God have been made available to us through Jesus, we must use our faith to obtain these promises.

If we desire a house, we must find scriptures that are related to a house or our desires and build our faith on those scriptures. Isaiah 65:21 says, they shall build houses and inhabit them. Psalms 37:4 says, take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. We must meditate on scriptures like these until we’re 100% convinced God has made a house available to us through Christ.

Next, we imagine ourselves with that house. When Abraham didn’t have a child, God told him to imagine a child of his on every star he saw (Gen. 15:5). We can do that with a house. Look at houses online or in person. See yourself in that house. This keeps our faith focused.

Finally, we must confess the house. Romans 4:17 says, God calls into being that which does not exist. Since we’re His children and have dominion in the earth and have power in our words according to Proverbs 18:21, we too can call things into existence. Daily, we can declare “I own a house.”

As we build our faith by standing on God’s word, imagine ourselves with it, and confessing it daily, it’s only a matter of time before we’ll have a house or any other desire. Use these steps to obtain any promise of God.

Hebrews 10:23 NLT Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.

God keeps His promises. Others may not have kept their promises, but God keeps every one of His promises. If He said it, it is so. That goes for a baby, a spouse, a new job, or healing in our bodies.

Since He said it, it must come to pass. Don’t worry about how it looks right now. Walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Even though you can’t see it on the horizon, it must come to pass. If we’re willing to wait forever, we won’t be waiting for long.

Know God comes through on His word. It must come to pass. Hold on and keep your faith in God’s promises.

Throughout our lives, we’ve been told something that doesn’t agree with God’s word. Some of us were told we were failures, a disappointment, or rotten. We may have been told we were slow, bad with money, or an emotional wreck. The doctor may have told some of us we’ll never be the same, we have a disease, or a body part that will never heal.

Whatever was told to you that doesn’t agree with God’s word must be substituted with the word of God.

In order to to substitute what was told to us with what God says about us takes effort. First of all, we must know what God says about us. That requires consistently reading and hearing His word.

Once we know what He says about us, we must believe it. This is easier said than done. We may have been told something negative all our lives and now we must uproot this negative image with what God says about us.

It makes it easier to uproot negative images and believe God’s word when we speak God’s word. Our words have the power to create and faith comes by hearing the word of God (Prov. 18:21; Rom. 10:17). We can produce a positive image of ourselves and faith in the word of God if we consistently speak God’s word over ourselves.

Eventually, negative images of what was told to us will be replaced with the truth in God’s word. We won’t see ourselves as sickly, but we’ll see ourselves healed (1 Pet. 2:24). We won’t see ourselves broke, but rich (2 Cor. 8:9). We’ll substitute the image of being a loser for being a winner (2 Cor. 2:14).

Matthew 15:13 And answering He said, “Every plant that My Heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

How else will we know who to marry if we don’t know how to hear from God? How else do we know what job is best if we can’t hear from God? How do we know the best route to take to avoid danger if we can’t hear from God?

We can use logic or emotions to make decisions, but there’s a 50% chance of failure and disappointment. More importantly, how can God back a decision in which He wasn’t involved?

We want to hear from God to honor God by fulfilling His desires in the earth and have blessed results. Logic and emotions can only take us so far. Choose to hear and obey God.

For born-again believers, we have the Holy Spirit. God uses His Spirit within us to guide and teach us in every area we give Him access.

John 14:26 NLT But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Romans 8:14 NLT For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Acknowledgement
We can start our life-long journey of hearing from God by acknowledging His presence. Daily, we make numerous decisions. When we acknowledge that He’s there, this will lead us to our second step, asking.

Asking
During decision time, we should ask God. Even if we think we know what we should do, ask God. This gets us out of making decisions based on logic or emotions.

Wait
Wait on God to provide an answer. Don’t be so quick to make a decision just because the answer didn’t come in half a second. Wait on God to provide an answer.

Receive Peace
God’s answers will give us a unexplained sense of peace. Colossians 3:15 (AMP) says, let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always]. Even if we’re scared or don’t feel like making a God decision, deep down we’ll have a sense of peace that this is the right thing to do.

Receive Grace
If we intentionally or unintentionally didn’t consult God after making a decision, receive God’s grace. No need to beat ourselves up about not consulting God. We’ll have plenty of chances to do that. Simply make the effort to acknowledge, ask, wait, and receive peace on the next decision.

Colossians 3:15 AMP Let the peace of Christ [the inner calm of one who walks daily with Him] be the controlling factor in your hearts [deciding and settling questions that arise]. To this peace indeed you were called as members in one body [of believers]. And be thankful [to God always].

Everyone would love to hear God’s audible voice provide day to day instructions. This could provide a simpler life where we won’t make as many mistakes and we could be operating in the will of God. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. It’s the inner voice we need to listen to.

When listening for God, we must be mindful of two other voices speaking to us. The two other voices are Satan’s and our own. This can lead to a lot of confusion because when a decision needs to be made, initially, we may not know whose voice we’re hearing.

That’s why knowing God’s voice is the most important thing to do after receiving salvation. We can’t renew our minds, do what’s best, or make the appropriate decisions unless we distinctively know the voice of God.

In this three part series, we will breakdown how to hear the voice of God.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

2 John 1:6 NLT Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

Love is often talked about, but it’s rarely demonstrated appropriately. The world has a distorted form of love. They love when it’s convenient, when they feel like it, and only if someone loves them back. Certain believers seem to love the people in the four walls of the church, but they seem disinterested in loving everyone else.

As believers, we are called to love everyone. Just like God loves everyone, we’re to love too. Our love is based on a decision. It has nothing to do with how the other person treats us, what religion they belong to, or if they love us. If we go to a store, we’re commanded to love every person in that store, no exceptions.

Expressing the God kind of love takes effort because it goes against our flesh and everything that’s taught in the world. We must immerse ourselves in teachings about His love. Once we receive it, we must take action.

We love by making people feel comfortable around us, being an unexpected blessing to a random person, being friendly, reaching out to and praying for an old friend. Anything God puts in our hearts to do for someone else is a form of love. Let’s talk about and display God’s love without excuses or exceptions.

Psalms 11:1 NLT I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!

Based on the news, some of us are scared to leave our homes at night, some are carrying two guns to go to the store, and some are paranoid to take the dog on a walk. This is NOT the will of God for our lives.

As the scripture says, trust in God for protection. That doesn’t mean be unwise and leave the front door open all night, but we should trust that He protects us every where we go. If we go to a gated community or to the projects, trust that God protects us and our property. This is real freedom.

Faith in His protection is not automatic. Faith in His protection comes by hearing the word of God about His protection. We can’t expect to have faith in God’s protection if we’re constantly listening to someone telling us “we’re not safe.” We must continuously hear God’s word about His love and His protection of us.

Since God loves us, He’ll protect us. Receive His protection.

Psalms 63:3‭-‬4 NLT Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

We’re instructed to praise God. We don’t praise God because He needs His ego stroked. He already knows He’s awesome, amazing, mighty, wonderful, and powerful. Our praises and any other instructions given by God are for our benefit.

We praise God to remember. When we recall all of the wonderful things He’s done, we should have a sense of gratitude that motivates us to praise Him. When we reflect on His previous victories He’s given us, we become encouraged to trust Him with present circumstances. With our present circumstances, we’ll become confident we’ll get the victory. Knowing how the future will turn out, we can praise God some more.

This praise is contagious. When others see us praising God for past, present, and future victories, they’ll hopefully trust Him in their situations. And the cycle will continue.

Let’s think of the goodness of God and give Him praise.

Matthew 6:14‭-‬15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

On the surface, it looks like we have to forgive others in order for God to forgive us. That’s why it’s important to read in context, remember who Jesus was speaking to, and when He was speaking to them.

When Jesus made this statement, He was talking to His disciples who were living under the Law of Moses. Under the Law, people had to earn their blessings and forgiveness through works. One of the works to receive forgiveness was to forgive others.

Although it’s extremely beneficial to forgive others and it’s a command given by God, in the New Covenant, forgiving others is not a requirement to be forgiven by God. Making it a requirement dilutes the sacrifice of Jesus. It’s essentially saying Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t enough for God to forgive us and that we must forgive others to receive total forgiveness, which is not true.

God’s forgiveness towards us comes through His grace, which means it can’t be earned. It has nothing to do with us and everything to do with Jesus. Ephesians 1:7 says, in Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

Again, it’s extremely beneficial and a command to forgive others, but if we haven’t forgiven a person, God’s not holding that over our heads. We won’t go to hell if we die and didn’t forgive someone. Our unwillingness to forgive is a sin, but that sin has been paid for through the sacrifice of Jesus. When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, God has completely forgiven us of all our sins.

And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. -Hebrews 8:12‭-‬13 NLT

Hebrews 11:5 NLT It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.

Enoch was known for pleasing God?

What are you known for? Are you known because of your profession, because of your cooking, or because of your demeanor? Are you known for being a trouble maker, being a negative person, or a loud mouth?

As believers, we want to be known for things that reflect the character of God. What traits define the character of God? Loving, forgiving, friendly, giving, extending grace and mercy, peaceful, honest and more. Whatever the scriptures say about God, in context, is what we should be striving to be known for.

We may have been known for something negative in our past, but displaying the characteristics of God consistently can change people’s views of us. Be known to reflect the character of God.

Isaiah 40:8 NLT The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

God’s word stands forever. It doesn’t matter how old we are, how long we strayed from God, or how many sins we’ve committed, God’s promises in His word still remain.

The only thing that stops God’s word from coming to pass in our lives is our unbelief. If we feel like we’re too old or unworthy to receive a certain promise, it won’t come to pass. But if we move beyond our past, our age, or any other disqualifications the devil presents and choose to believe God’s word, we’ll have what He said.

Every promise in God’s word is still available to every born-again believer. It stands forever and it’s still available for the taking. So, take it.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Jesus has made us righteous (Rom. 3:22), Jesus has made us holy (1 Cor. 1:30), God has forgiven all our (past, present, and future) sins through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 3:18), and all of God’s promises have been approved through Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 1:20). We don’t have to earn or work for any of these things. All we have to do is receive them by faith.

These free gifts are clear in scripture, but some believers can’t grasp receiving something for free. They think they have to work for (and some would rather earn) what Jesus died for. There are two primary reasons why people can’t simply receive everything Jesus sacrificed His life for.

1. Pride
   They don’t want to accept anything for free. When someone can say they prayed 5 hours a day, fasted 40 days, and read 4 chapters a day, they’ll feel worthy to receive forgiveness or favor. They’re proud of their accomplishments and feel like they should be rewarded for their efforts.
2. Pedestals
   While they’re feeling proud of their efforts, they’ve also built a pedestal to stand on to look down on others. They can say they’re better than someone else because of what they’ve done. This makes them feel good about themselves.

Neither pride nor pedestals honor the sacrifice of Jesus.

Stop rejecting something God wants you to freely receive. Rejecting God’s gift is disrespectful. We’re letting Him know we don’t appreciate the full sacrifice of Jesus. Let’s get our minds off ourselves and place them on what Jesus has already done for us. It’s Jesus’ efforts and not our own.

1 Peter 2:24 NLT He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.

We read and hear about stories of miraculous instantaneous healing. We’ll get inspired about stories of a person who was sick one day, they believed God’s word, and the next day they were completely well. Every believer would love an instantaneous healing, but that’s not always the case.

God’s word says we’re healed. How health in our physical bodies happens is totally up to Him. When our bodies are under attack, we can be healed instantaneously, but we can also be healed by the wisdom God gives doctors. We can treat certain symptoms through medication until our bodies respond to God’s word.

If we’re so focused on getting healed or receiving any promise of God miraculously, we may stop believing if it doesn’t happen the way we think it should happen, or we can miss God providing an answer to our prayers by other means.

The end goal is health. How it happens shouldn’t matter. If we believe God’s word and it happens in a day, great, but if it takes time, doctors, treatments, or medicine that shouldn’t shake our faith. It’s still by His stripes we are healed.

Inspired by Charles Capps

James 4:5 NLT Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to Him.

When we get born-again, our spirits become alive. Prior to our salvation, our spirits are dead. As born-again believers, our spirits (or the real us), should be devoted to God. Like a faithful husband to a wife, our spirits should be faithful to God.

Faithfulness to God means we’re doing things His way. We’re loving when we don’t feel like it, we’re forgiving, we’re giving, we’re trusting Him when we don’t understand, etc. Anything God instructs us to do in His word or through His Spirit, we should be doing. Of course we may miss the mark at times, but His grace will always welcome us back.

This is a relationship with God and any relationship requires faithfulness. We show our faithfulness to God by doing things His way instead of the world’s way.

Luke 6:38 NLT Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

Giving was implemented by God. It’s a way to show our love and appreciation. When we love and appreciate someone, instinctively we want to do something or give to that person. It’s the same way with God. We’re grateful for all He’s done, so we give.

Giving was designed to get something to us. There are so many scriptures in the bible that let us know when we give anything (time, talent, or money), God guarantees we’ll get it back. In most cases, He promised to give us more than we gave. This is a spiritual law. It works regardless if we’re saved or not. When we give, it absolutely must be returned back to us.

Giving is also designed to get something from us. Giving is designed to get our hearts (Matthew 6:21). God wants our hearts (our trust). When we obey God and give to whoever or whatever He tells us to give to, we’re exercising our trust in God. We may not know why He wants us to give to a particular organization or person, but as we obey, we’re letting God and ourselves know that we trust Him over our logic and emotions.

While everyone else is being stingy and hoarding their resources, let’s beautify the world and be givers.

Acts 5:20 “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”

The angel of the Lord instructed the Apostles to give this message of life. What is this message of life? We find out later in the chapter. It’s teaching the message of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our liberty, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redeemer, our forgiveness, and our Savior. We’re nothing without Jesus. We’re everything because of Jesus.

If you’re listening to messages involving guilt, shame, condemnation, and obedience to the law for justification, you’re listening to a message of death. We can see this based on 2 Corinthians 3:6 which says, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Law-based teaching leads to condemnation and death, but the Spirit whom we received through Christ is life-giving. Ephesians 1:13 says In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.

Through the Holy Spirit we’ll get our do’s and don’ts, but none of this will impact our eternity. Our belief in Jesus and what He accomplished for us makes us justified in the sight of God.

Life of a believer is simply obeying God by way of the Holy Spirit. WHATEVER God tells us to do, just do it.

If He tells us to apologize, give our child a hug, call someone back, buy a gift for someone, go to bed, or stop eating something, just do it. It’s not always don’t do something. He may tell us it’s okay to watch that rated R movie or have that second piece of cake. We just want to do our part by asking Him.

Complications occur when we do what we want to do instead of what God wants us to do. When that happens, we may experience natural consequences or problems we could have avoided.

Understand that God knows everything and He knows what’s best for us. Our ways may seem simpler and it may feel good to our flesh, but it will lead to destruction (Prov. 14:12).

We may not experience any problems or consequences after doing it our way a few times. That’s God grace and mercy keeping us from problems. Don’t get comfortable with doing it your way because eventually that “my way” approach will spread to other areas, and one day you’ll look up and realize your life is full of problems resulting from bad decisions.

Whatever God tells us to do will align with His written word. Obey it and experience the abundant life and truly represent the Kingdom of God.

Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations.