Tag: Holy Spirit

The Password is “Thank You”

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Psalm 100 is a familiar Psalm to many. It is heard more this time of year, as we approach Thanksgiving in the United States.

This is the Psalm of Thanksgiving. But what does it mean and what are God’s promises to our offerings of praise?

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
2     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

This Psalm directs us to approach our Lord full of joy, gratitude and with gladness. As we approach His gates we cry out, “Thank you Lord!” The gates open wide so we can enter with thanksgiving and go into His courts with praise. We are to enter His presence with singing and shouting, giving thanks with each step we take. We have much to be grateful for, the Lord is good! His unfailing love continues forever! His promise to us is that His faithfulness will continue to each generation. What an incredible Lord we have! As we pause to reflect on all the blessings He has poured into our lives, may our hearts be filled with gratitude and our words full of thankfulness.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, we thank You that You love us. Thank You for the many blessings that You give us each day. You woke us up today and give us air to breathe and a heart that beats. Please help us to go about our day, cheerfully, with hearts full of love and thanksgiving. We know that all we have is Yours. Thank You for blessing us and please use us to bless others. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Some or Best?

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In Genesis, there is a story of two brothers who both offer God a sacrifice. One brother’s sacrifice is accepted and the other’s is not. In chapter 4 of Genesis starting in verse 1, we read, “Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the Lord’s help, I have produced a man!” 2 Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought a gift—the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. 6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out!”

There is one word in these verses that makes the difference. In verse 3, we read that Cain presented “some of his crops” as a gift to the Lord. Whereas in verse 4, we read that Abel brought the “best portions of the firstborn lambs” from his flock. There is a big difference between ‘some’ and the ‘best of the firstborn’.

The firstborn males, to include animals, were the Lord’s. Not only did Abel bring the best of his flock, but he also ensured that his gift was the best from the firstborns. Abel’s gift showed his love and respect for the Lord. His gift shows he feels what a joy it is to give to the Lord. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:7 that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. God knows our hearts and minds and whether we are giving out of joy and love or obligation and guilt.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, we thank You that You love us. Please help us to give to Your kingdom cheerfully with hearts full of love and thanksgiving. We know that all we have is Yours. Thank You for blessing us and please use us to bless others. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Every Breath You Take

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It is easy to take God for granted. We are very busy with work, errands, parenting, caregiving, petsitting, yard work, family events, scrolling social media, helping friends and on and on. “For the life of every living thing is in His hand, and the breath of every human being.” One simple way to focus on Him and just how involved He is in our lives is to take 30 seconds of deep breaths.

Every breath you take is from God. You can speak or sing or sigh only because God allows you to have air to breathe into your lungs. He allows your lungs to inflate to hold air and to deflate as the air flows out of your body. Genesis 2:7 says, “Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”

It is the same with your heart beating. Every single time your heart beats to send blood throughout your body, it is because God makes it beat. He allows your heart to beat and your lungs to hold air. Every breath you take belongs to God. Job 27:3, “As long as I live, while I have breath from God,4 my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.” May that be true for all us still breathing.

Since God allows us to breathe in His air so we can speak, shouldn’t we be very cautious about what we say with God’s air? May we sing to the Lord as long as we live and praise God to our last breath! (Psalms 104:33). May we pray as long as we have breath! (Psalms 116:2). We were created to bring Him glory – in words and deeds. If we do not praise Him, He will make the rocks cry out and give them the breath intended for us. (Luke 19:40).

We were created to tell others about Jesus. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19). Our purpose in life is to show a lost and hurting world that there is a Savior, a God Who loves them. A God Who took the breath away from His own Son so we may be saved. “Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.” Luke 23:46.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, we thank You that You love us. Please help us to use each breath that you give us to bring You glory. Thank You for the Spirit of God Who has made us, and the breath of the Almighty that gives us life. Thank You for Jesus, breath and our heartbeats. Thank You for blessing us and please use us to bless others. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Drop Your Fishing Net

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There are several places in the Bible that Jesus speaks about fishing nets. I want to focus on two specific times. The first occurred before Jesus called His disciples and the second instance was after He was resurrected.

The first set of verses are found in Luke 5:4, which says,  “When he (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.”

Notice how Jesus told them to drop their nets, more than one net. He could have said just drop one net. At this point, Simon (who is later called Peter) and the other fishermen, had no idea they were interacting with the Son of God. But Peter begins to understand there is something special about this Man. In verse 8 of the same chapter in Luke we read, “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.”

The second set of verses I want to focus on where Jesus talks about casting nets starts in John 21:3. “So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. 6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.”

At this point, Jesus has been crucified. He has risen and is visiting believers before He returns to heaven. In Luke 5:4, Jesus told Simon Peter to let down his “nets”. Yet after Jesus is resurrected, He tells Peter to let down just one “net”. After Jesus was resurrected, the disciples had spent a lot of time with Him, they knew Who Jesus was and what He was capable of. There was no need for multiple nets to build up their confidence and trust in Jesus as when they first met Him. They had seen Jesus heal the sick, raise the dead and be raised from the grave Himself. Once Jesus was resurrected, they already knew Who He was, so only one net was needed.

Where is God calling you to trust Him? Where is He calling you to step out in faith and to drop your net? Trust Him. Even if you have been working tirelessly to no avail like Peter, if He calls you to cast your net, what have you got to lose? Drop your net and watch the Lord’s provision flow.

Father in heaven, thank You for Your Son. We love You and worship You for Your mercies, blessings, forgiveness and patience with us. Thank You for loving us even when we can be so unlovable. Help us to show You to others. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

How Can We Have Effective Prayers?

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There are many Scriptures that show us we are all imperfect people. Romans 3:23 says that we all have fallen short of the glory of God. This verse does not say some people or even most, but all people have fallen short of the glory of God.

As it is written in Ecclesiastes 7:20, “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” But James 5:16 says, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” How can we possibly become righteous when Ecclesiastes states that no one on earth is righteous?

Credit: JC

God answered this question by sending His Son, Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross for us, He offered a way to put on His righteousness and holiness. It is when we believe in Jesus that we then become righteous because we are now in Jesus. We become ‘set apart’ which is another meaning for holy. We put on the righteousness of Jesus, which is part of the armor of God; the breastplate of righteousness is a piece of God’s armor that we have to pick up and put on. The action we need to take is belief in Jesus. Righteousness belongs to Jesus, He earned it for us – all we have to do is believe.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you so much for Jesus and for what He did for us on the cross. Lord, we lift up all church leaders and members. Please give us the strength to pick up the armor of God and put on the righteousness of Jesus. Help us to share and follow the Word of God. Help us to stay on the paths that You have laid before us. It is in Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

Is It Possible We Are Looking for God in the Wrong Places?

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I am in a season of waiting. I have been praying and occasionally fasting for something since 2008. It is a dream that God put on my heart quite some time ago. I still have faith that He will bring this dream to fruition. I have tested the dream to ensure it is Biblical, of His character and something that would advance the Kingdom of God.

We must objectively assess whether the thing we are pursuing is of us or of God and these are a few ways to complete that assessment. I did not ask for this dream, it just showed up one day deeply engrained into my spirit. When I think about it, I am filled with joy and see how God would be glorified. But it is not a reality.

I cannot tell you how many times I have prayed about it. There have been times where I have asked God to remove the dream if it was not to be fulfilled. It sometimes causes me pain to have a glimpse of what could be and then snap back into reality and recall how long it has been – the waiting, the hoping, the praying.

I tend to ask God to communicate to me in a very obvious way, a way I would not miss. If He is talking, I certainly do not want to miss it. And I can be oblivious at times. But I also wonder if I am looking for God in the wrong places. I tend to think that when He speaks, it will be like a thunder bolt or so obvious that I could never miss it. And sometimes He does communicate with us like that.

Yet, we see how God communicated with Elijah:

“The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'”
1 Kings 19:11–13 NIV

I am looking for the big, obvious revelation. Whether it is a street sign telling me the next step in my journey or a stranger walking up to me and handing me a quote from God that says “Go do X. Love, God”. And yes, He does talk to us that way sometimes, but I tend to think He speaks to us gently, in whispers.

If every time He spoke, the Earth cracked open around us or a tornado blew through, I think we would all have an issue. Instead, what if He is talking to us in those whispers we hear, also described as a still, small voice? We need to be close to Him and lean in even closer when He speaks. We need to write down what we hear lest we forget. We need to ensure what we heard is Biblical, aligns with God’s character, and advances His Kingdom and His Glory. If so, then we need to do what we hear as soon as we can. This approach opens up an ongoing flow of communication, we grow closer to Him, and we learn more about how He communicates so it becomes easier to hear Him.

Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, we thank You that You speak to us through Your creation, Your Holy Spirit, Your Word and other believers. Help us to hear You better. Help us to look for You where You are and hear You in the whispers. Thank you for loving us and never giving up on us when we miss Your whispers. In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

I Give You Authority Over My Body . . .To Fight for It

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In 1 Corinthians 7, there is an entire section on marriage and how God intended His design of marriage to work. I want to consider specifically verse 4, “The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.”

I acknowledge this verse is talking about sexual relations between a man and a woman in the holy bonds of marriage. However, I want to offer an additional perspective on this authority. When I got married, I said these verses to my husband, and we live them out daily. Recently, we each have been under various spiritual attacks of all kinds. Some of these attacks have been rather brutal. Some of these attacks have resulted in dark thinking and deep spiritual struggles.

I found that when my husband is under attack, I pray more for him than my usual, daily prayers. For example, I will set hourly reminders to pray for him to be cleansed. I am not sure if you have ever seen your spouse in a dark place when enduring a spiritual attack, it can be scary. Which is exactly what the enemy wants you to focus on, fear instead of Jesus.

Every believer has the armor of God (Ephesians 6), but there are times during an attack when we are too weak to pick up the sword of the Spirit or the shield of faith. We need someone else to help us fight and draw on the strength of the Holy Spirit we have inside of us.

Recently, when my husband was under severe spiritual attacks, of course I prayed for him. But this verse began to take on new meaning for me during that time. When my husband said 1 Corinthians 7:4 to me, he gave me authority over his body. Why can’t that apply to wielding my God-given authority to protect his body, too?

With this new perspective, I began to use the name of Jesus commanding anything that was not of Jesus or from Jesus to leave my husband’s heart, mind, body and environment immediately. I commanded it never to return, and I forbid it in the name of Jesus to send any other enemy agents in its place.

I picked up the sword of the Spirit, (Word of God), and the shield of faith and used the armor of God to protect my husband, too. As married people, we need to see an attack on our spouse as a direct attack on us, our family, and our vows before God.

When one is under attack, there is a de-motivation to fight or a feeling of weakness that usually comes with the attack. It is in those moments when our spouses cannot fight to protect themselves, that we wield the authority given to us by this verse above, empowered by the precious blood of Jesus to defend our loved ones. How dare they attack a child of God and especially one that has a spouse who is unafraid of spiritual warfare.

The battle has been won! Jesus is our Savior and our Victor, through His name, we have power. Through the Holy Spirit living in us, we have authority. All we need to do to protect our loved one and fight is invoke the authority that we already have been given from our Lord Jesus.

Let’s pray.

Father in Heaven,

We know that attacks are part of being a Christian. There are many verses in the Bible teaching us how to fight against the enemy and how to know the strategies of the enemy. One of the most beautiful human relationships is that of a husband and bride. Marriage is God’s design and when our vows are being lived out in a manner that bring glory to You, God, attacks are a guarantee. Give us strength and wisdom and remind us of our authority in You to fight to protect those we love. To fend off the attacks of the enemy. In the name of Jesus, we stand against the enemy, he will have no part in our families’ lives.

In the precious name of Jesus we pray,

Amen

Image Credit: Snow