Tag Archives: Encouragement

God’s Will – God’s Promises, Part 1

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For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him, the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV

To understand God’s Will for our lives, we must know and accept His promises. This month our focus is on God’s promises and how they apply to our daily living.

Last month the focus was obedience, dependence, and love. You will begin to see that they are the building blocks for applying God’s promises. He uses His promises to help move us from our current circumstances to a new place.  It is important that we must respect His Word to understand the validity of following His Word. If we are going to choose to follow His Word, we must know what it means. Otherwise, we will fall prey to the evil one’s mastery of deception.

Satan works overtime to destroy the faith of Christians. Paul says, “Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor 2:11). Satan’s main weapon is deceit. He is described as the “serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world” (Rev 12:9).

It is easy to deceive a person when they have no basis to understand the intent of the deception. Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary’s definition of deceiving is to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose upon; to mislead; to cheat; to disappoint; to delude; to ensnare. These are Satan’s tactics. His goal is to convince you that your free-will is exclusive to your desires to live life as Satan offers it, not as God designed it for your use. His purpose is to steal God’s promises for your life and send you to hell.

The requisite to understanding our free-will is knowing and believing God’s Promises to be the truth. Smith Wigglesworth once preached ” God wants to bring all of us into line with His Will. The Bible builds up our character in God, and through this process, we are changed by the Spirit from glory to glory and faith for faith, which comes by hearing by the Word of God”. (Romans 10:17) “The Word of God comes in to separate us from everything that is not of God.”The Holy Spirit molds us in God’s Will.”” [Smith Wigglesworth, by Faith, April 21, 1945, pp. 800, 801]

We must follow God and His Word in obedience, and He will shine a light on the path ahead (John 14:21). 

God gave us free-will because He wants us to think. Without free-will He would have to demand what he wants us to do; that does not inspire a relationship. He would prefer that we weigh our options and choose His Will for our lives. God is not a dictator. In governance terms, while Christians live in a theocracy, it appears much like a democracy, in that rules and laws are in place, but it is up to us to follow them. It is our choice and the consequences are in line with the action taken.

God’s Promises, God’s Will, Fruit of the Spirit, Free-will,
The freedom to choose

God’s promises are generally categorized according to the Fruit of the Spirit. This was an Ah-hah moment for me. I read, studied and wrote on the Fruit of the Spirit. I read and studied free-will and God’s Will, and when I began to read and study about God’s promises, it all began to come together.

Websites – Other posts on faith, hope, obedience and dependence, and more on lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com
youngchristianwarriors.com
biblestudytools.com

Scriptures – Bible.com, Biblegateway.com

Images – Google Images. Bible.com. LAB’s photo collection

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

Free-Will, Water Cooler Talk, and Responsibility

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We have free-will, but is it really free. God gave us free-will, the ability to act as we see fit, but it is not without responsibility. We have the freedom to choose to

live a Christ-like life or to live in the world allowing sin and self-righteousness to lead us down the earthen path.

But because Christ has risen, we have been given the gift of repentance. Repentance is not a free ’ get out of jail’ card. It does not mean that we can ask for forgiveness and then repeat the action over and over. It means much more. When we study the Bible, we learn the precepts instruct our daily lives. We repent to acknowledge our mistake before God and ask His forgiveness.


Christ has risen and we should not squander our birthright. Christ suffered the cross to save us from sin that was destined to doom us. Today we live a life that is afflicted by sin, but one that we can be redeemed from through repentance.
The sinful and wicked do not fear God. They flatter themselves to much to detect or hate sin. Their words are wicked and deceitful and they fail to act wisely or do good. They lay in bed plotting evil and commit themselves to a sinful course. They do not reject what is wrong, Psalm 36: 1-4 NIV. But for the grace of God, we can turn from our evil ways. Our free-will is like a two edge sword, we can cut away the evil sinful ways of the world and turn to our Lord. We can repent. The requisites of repentance is to turn away from evil and turn to the good. Our free-will gives us the ability to choose. (Read my Post, Pt.2, Wisdom Directs Your Steps.)

But what does that mean in our daily life? We must be diligent and listen to our thoughts and words in much the same way that you listen to your thoughts and how to verbalize them at work, school; to bosses, parents, leaders, associates and friends. Have you ever run free, doing as you pleased, and then looked around and realized you were running in circles – obstructing your ability to move forward into your destiny? How many times have you experienced doing what you pleased only to learn that the end result hurt or adversely affected your wellbeing? How often have you heard His quiet voice, or ignored His nudge only to wish you had followed His direction? As humans we often find ourselves in these situations.

Water Cooler Talk

For example – What about gossiping by the water cooler? How many times have you gossiped at the water cooler, feeling guilty about it, but continuing on to discover the person you are talking about is standing behind you? We know we should not gossip but we do. When I was working I tried to stay out of the gossip circles, away from the water cooler during lunchtime and breaks, but from time to time joined in and found I shared private information that got back to the person that shared it with me. I heard the quiet voice telling me not to get involved in the conversation, was warned through the nudge not to say it and then I heard my voice speaking out anyway. It was quick and I did not take heed. I immediately felt guilty but could not take it back, the act created the consequences, and my relationship with the person ended as abruptly as when I spoke about them. Other times it created a sense of distrust and our conversations became matter-of-fact, no longer friendly or open. These were learning moments. I learned to think before I spoke. I learned how betrayal hurt the person that was the topic of discussion and me. I learned to avoid environments that led to my downfall.

As humans, we always stumble over our own feet. We are always learning from our mistakes and attempting to apply God’s values in our daily lives. Thus, I go back to free-will is not free, it comes with responsibility. God gave us free-will as a gift, and it is our responsibility to use our free-will wisely. It is a lifelong learning process.

The purpose of free-will is to allow us to experience how to use it to further Gods will on earth. We are his ambassadors on earth. Freedom is not free, it is a choice. Freedom permits us to follow God and spread the Good News because we choose to follow our Lord. Free-will requires denying or dying to self, (Read my Post – Dying to Self) and putting God first. It means following his instruction, not picking and choosing, not being selective, but following all of His principles. It means that while we are experiencing our attempts to follow the principles, we mature as Christians, and in the process when we make mistakes or err, we can ask God’s forgiveness.

When we repent, our sin no longer exists, we will no longer carry the weight on our shoulders. It has been removed from us. Living a Christ-like existence leads us down the path of favor. He will help us spend our lives humbling ourselves, choosing to lookout for others and putting ourselves second, helping us to build our Christ-like character in this life. We practice are denying ourselves and following the Lord. Though our decision to deny self, we become obedient to the God’s call on our lives.

This leads us back to obedience, dependence and love, our March focus. No matter what we do, we can never get to far away from being obedient or dependent upon the Lord. It is through obedience that we can exercise our free-will and live a Christ-like life, embodying the character of Christ. It is through dependence that we become aware of our actions, behaviors and outbursts and, it is through love that we have the strength to persevere.

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:23-24‬ ‭NIV

“But don’t just try to follow a list of rules or be a ‘good Christian.’ Following Christ means believing you have no righteousness of your own and choosing to trust and enjoy Christ, knowing He is all you need.

The more you seek after Him with all of your heart and follow Him fully, the more He will become your All in all, cleansing you, satisfying your longings, healing your wounds, and forming you into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:29, Colossians 3:10).” [Know God’s Power and See His Glory. Bible.com]

Free-will is a gift, but like all gifts we choose how to use it. We can stray from the word and live in this world subscribing to its values of selfishness, lust, hate, pride, greed, dishonesty, and trustworthiness or we can turn to turn God and live using the values Jesus demonstrated during his short time on earth. Please do not think that the sin we fear is always boisterous, it is generally subtle and subdued. It sneaks up on you when you are distracted from the Word of God.

Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
Peter 5:8 AMP

Christ has risen, we have free-will and the responsibility attached to free-will is our gift to live by. Becoming an intentional Christian and joining the body of Christ, is a joy; our salvation is our rock, as we follow the Lord who is our light and our way. Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6 NKJV

Websites – Other posts on faith, hope, obedience and dependence, and more on lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com
youngchristianwarriors.com
biblestudytools.com

Scriptures – Bible.com, Biblegateway.com

Images – Google Images. Bible.com. LAB’s photo collection

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

When You Doubt

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It is not a sin to doubt what God is doing in your life during the dark, quiet moments. We are human, and through our frailties, we will have moments and sometimes seasons of doubting his existence in our lives, crying out like Jesus, “Lord, why have you forsaken me, why are you so far from saving me?” Psalm 22:1. But like Jesus, we will eventually say, “not mine, but your will be done.” Mark 14:36. It is during these times that our faith is either fortified or wanes.

Consider this – When we doubt, we are in a period of growth. We are not in our comfort zone; we are preparing for our next big step. Doubt creates the process of gestation.

(Doubting) Thomas

Thomas was one of Jesus’ disciples. He lived and worked with Jesus; he saw miracles, was informed about what to expect during Jesus time on earth. Yet, when Jesus was crucified, Thomas began to doubt. He knew the story, the purpose of Jesus time on

earth, but in reality, if Jesus was the Son of God, he should not have suffered as he did. Jesus was not supposed to die as forecasted. When he was resurrected, Thomas could not fathom Jesus reappearing as a spirit-man. He told the spirit-man to prove he was Jesus. After he touched the wounds, he believed. His faith was restored, it was fortified.

Thomas became a radical believer through doubting, not through walking with Jesus and not through observing miracles. Witnessing these things did not fortify him beyond doubting the reality of the resurrection. After Christ said to Thomas touch my wounds, he knew it was Christ resurrected and no longer doubted. Because he moved beyond doubting, he traveled outside of the Roman Empire to spread the Good News to a foreign, distant part of the world. Would he had done so, if he did not doubt? Perhaps not, his fellow disciples stayed closer to home. The doubting was the catalyst for change. He no longer hoped, he knew that Christ was his Lord and Savior.

Mirroring Thomas, Finding Our Strength

We do not have the advantage of physically experiencing Jesus’ life on earth. Ours is a spiritual relationship. Doubting is part of the process of knowing. It eliminates blind obedience. It reinforces our faith, because during these times we must in faith believe for the change, the miracle, the growth. We cannot faint not, we have to stand.

We must say to the devil, “he that is in me, is greater than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4. My circumstances are temporal, my relationship with the Lord is eternal. This too will pass. These trials are just that, trials. I am an overcomer through Christ, who dwells in me. My doubting is leading me to victory. It is part of the process of becoming a radical Christian, a Christian Warrior thoroughly embedded in our relationship with the Lord.

Crucifixion and Resurrection in a Nutshell

The crucifixion and resurrection marked time. God sent his son to serve as our example and experience what it is to be human. Through this process we are saved through Gods grace. He also left us a gift to help us live a Christian life in Jesus’ absence.

Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit who resides in us. He’s the nudge, the quiet voice that tells us not to veer but stay the course. He’s also the voice that tells us what to say in interviews, to loan officers and friends in need. Luke 12:12

Listen for his voice and recognize his nudge. We often ignore them to our detriment. Like me, we live, and we learn.

Today, think about three instances when you did not listen and the consequences and three times you did listen and the outcomes.

It is through Christ that we live life with purpose. It is through His purpose for our lives that we will join Him in heaven.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,”
‭‭I Timothy‬ ‭2:3-6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Websites – Other posts on faith, hope, obedience and dependence, and more on lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com
youngchristianwarriors.com
biblestudytools.com 

Scriptures – Bible.com, Biblegateway.com

Images – Google Images. Bible.com. LAB’s photo collection

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

 

 

 

 

Dying To Self

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The Bible is our manifest for life. It is our operations manual, others call it our guidebook. Its precepts are designed to teach us how to govern ourselves, as we mature as Christians, and travel down the path to our destiny.

The Old Testament precepts provide our travel instructions and through them we are encouraged to stay the course regardless of how live appears on earth, looking to our destiny, heaven as the purpose of our time on earth. The precepts offer hope in what can be defined as the godless world we live in today.

According to John Gill, learning encompasses: instruction “in the knowledge of Christ, of his person, offices, grace, righteousness, obedience, sufferings, death, resurrection, and ascension; and of the great salvation and redemption he came to obtain, and has obtained; and to teach us the doctrines of grace, of pardon through the blood of Christ, atonement by his sacrifice, justification by his righteousness, acceptance in his person, and eternal life through him; as also to inform us of our duty, and how we ought to behave both towards God and men.” (Romans 15:4, BibleStudytools.com/commentaries/Gill-exposition. March 23, 2018)

What Does that Mean for Us?

The theme of the month is dependence upon God and our obedience to Him. This scripture is yet another dimension of how we are to follow his instruction and rely on His Word to govern our lives. It informs us as to our duty as Christian Warriors in not only applying the precepts to our lives, but to demonstrate them through obedience to the Word. It describes the Trinity and how we can access the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The application of the precepts ensures that we are living a Christ-like life.

Accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior

When we received Christ as our Lord and Savior, we received our Salvation and insurance that we are part of God’s family. We have been pardoned through the Blood of Christ. We are justified in his likeness and he dwells in our being.  As a member of his family, we received the promise of eternal life.

Instruction Requires Obedience to and a Dependence upon God

In an earlier post I discussed Obedience and Dependency. Both require our allegiance to our faith. By this I mean, it is impossible to live a Christ-like life without being obedient. Obedience is ascribed to the practice of our faith and is one of the initial acts of obedience and is essential to our character. (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, pp 438) This again takes us back to the Fruit of the Spirit defined as the characteristics of Christ. Living by these characteristics is a life long process because we fall daily and are in constant battle with our own demons given birth by Satan, and represent the opposite of Christ’s fruit.

Knowing we are susceptible to failure, we rest on the fact that as long as we are dependent upon our Father and rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance, our ability to overcome our flesh rests in the constant reminder of being obedient. Whenever we feel the nudge or hear the quiet, soft voice warn us of doing wrong, doing things expressed in our fleshly desires (acts of omission), or are not doing things we know we should (acts of commission). Paul said it thusly,

15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Romans 7:15 NKJV

“So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Dying to Self

Our struggle is harnessing our fleshly desires to live like Christ. One author defines it as ‘carrying the cross’. It’s literally, dying to self. Dying to self is the true essence of the Christian life. It is part of being born again.

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
John 3:3-7 NKJV

We also die continually. To die to self is part of the process of sanctification. Dying to self is both a one-time event and a lifelong process. Dying to self is denying our flesh and living a spiritual symbolic life while living here on earth, and in so doing, as mentioned above, find eternal life in Christ. Dying to self is the reality of the new birth; no one can come to Christ unless they are willing to see the old life crucified with Christ and begin to live anew in obedience to Him. (Got Questions. What does the Bible mean by ‘dying to self’? gotquestions.org. March 23, 2018)

Humility, the Ultimate Dying to Self

Giving up your old self, dying to self, is living in a state of humility. Jesus died to self on the cross, surrendering himself in exchange for our sins. Though our rebirth we are freed from our fallen nature, our sin nature. Jesus accomplished this when he came down from heaven to dwell with us. Through the crucifixion he won life through death. “Humility and death are in their very nature one: humility is the bud; in death the fruit is ripened to perfection.” Humility leads to perfect death. Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death to set us free.

“The death to self is not our work, it is God’s work…the full manifestation of the power of this death is in our disposition and conduct and depends upon the measure in which the Holy Spirit imparts the power of the death of Christ. We must humble ourselves and surrender to God.” (Humility and Death of Self. biblestudytools.com. March 23, 2018)

Our primary responsibility in life is to die to self through meekness and humility. To accomplish this we should draw our strength from the Lord. We must (fully and completely) trust in God. I discussed sacrificing ourselves for others in an earlier post. We are to become dependent upon the Lord through prayer and study. We generally find that God’s grace abounds when we have come to our own end.

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom [a]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the [b]saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations [c]forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21, NASB

Websites – Other posts on faith, hope, obedience and dependence, and more on lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com
youngchristianwarriors.com
biblestudytools.com
gotquestions.org

Other Resources
Vine, W.E. Vines Complete Expository Dictionary. 1996
Nouwen, Henri. Can You Drink the Cup. 1996

Scriptures – Bible.com, Biblegateway.com

Images – Google Images. Bible.com. LAB’s photo collection

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

Pt. 2, Wisdom Directs Your Steps

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A few days ago we learned what Solomon said about wisdom in Proverbs 16, Old Testament. Today we are going to learn what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, New Testament, about wisdom. In the last Post we learned about knowing God’s Voice and acquiring wisdom. I also shared that through this wisdom we develop our character, in fact, I wrote an earlier piece on knowing the Voice of God (February 2018) entitled: Change Your Filter, Hear His Voice. Today we are going deeper into our relationship with our Lord and the benefits of building a Christ-like value structure. 1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:1-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬ is a message written by Paul about hearing the Wisdom of God, referred to as the Mystery of God.

“When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 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. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God. 6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined, what God has prepared  for those who love him.” 10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts God's Master Planexcept that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For,“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

‬‬1 Corinthians‬ ‭2:1-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Corinthians 2 is about power and wisdom. Power and wisdom are reliant upon one another and together keep the Christian life balanced. Warren Wiersbe succinctly stated, “Allow the Spirit of God to teach you about the Son of God from the Word of God, and grow up in Him.” Holy wisdom calls for us to rely totally on God for spiritual wisdom and rejecting the wisdom of the world. The discussion about Christian maturity speaks to our belief in the cross. Jesus’ accession to heaven by way of the cross. Do we believe God’s wisdom is greater than our interpretation of wisdom?  Do we believe that Christ’s crucifixion is part of God’s unfolding plan?

Without the light of God’s Spirit, we’ll be in the dark. We can either believe in the wisdom of this age or the wisdom of God which is eternal. One theme in most of my Posts is the belief that as Christian Warriors we must live a Christ-like life. As Christian’s, we must first accept Christ as our Lord and Savior to establish our faith. As Christian’s, it is important that we believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – the Trinity. It is important that we establish a relationship with our Lord and learn to hear His voice in prayer.  It is our responsibility to read and study the Word. It is our responsibility to know and embrace the Fruit of the Spirit. Once these have been accomplished we begin to mature as Christian warriors.

1 Corinthians 2-9

The question then becomes, do we apply the Word to govern our lives? Is our faith enough to address how we act or respond to difficulties in our lives? Does it support reconciliation, the restoration of friendly relations? Do we use our faith as the justification for overcoming conflict at home, social settings and work? Do we rest on our faith to maintain a respectful relationship with those we are at odds with or did harm to us? Do we have the right perspective and maintain our Christian walk regardless of what this world offers us?

The Trinity5True wisdom is accepting that God has a master plan that we will never fully understand, but accept as the truth. This faith resides in our relationship of the Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of accepting the Trinity opens the door for our relationship with the Holy Spirit who communicates with us through prayer.  God’s thoughts are revealed through the Holy Spirit, who reveals these deep thoughts to us, the believers.

“According to Paul, the Holy Spirit searches the very depths of the heart and mind of God. He can do this because He is God-the third member of the Trinity. Paul’s point is that the Holy Spirit functions within the Trinity the way our human spirit functions within us” (Ben).  The Holy Spirit knows God because He is God. We know our spirit because it is our spirit. The Holy Spirit has access to the workings of the Godhead.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the direct link to God, do you ask him in prayer to share the Lord’s wisdom in what you are praying about, asking for his guidance? Do you spend time in prayer until you hear from the Lord or is your prayer a drive-by prayer? Spend a few minutes in prayer, do not maintain silence and calmness, say, ‘okay’ get back to me and then, guilt-free, having done your due-diligence, act on your own wisdom? This is exactly what Paul was concerned about so long ago. Do we say we are Christians and live by the wisdom of the Word of God, or do we say we are Christians and default to our own understanding? Paul 00-end-time-bible-prophecy-word-of-god-is-aliveexplained that some people do not respond to the Holy Spirit: “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised.” The natural man is someone who does not have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. If you do not have this relationship you cannot understand the deep wisdom that is being shared. People that do not understand the wisdom of the Word are controlled by their behavior, feelings, urges, logical choices, moods, and worldly goals. People who have access to deep wisdom and abide by the Word have Christ-centered lives, Christ-like values and behaviors, and live according to the Word.

‘The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”  

Romans 8:11 

Are Christians perfect and live Christ-centered lives 24/7? No. The beauty is that through Christ, we are not only saved, but can repent of our sins, our shortcomings, and are forgiven. Our responsibility then becomes a journey to eliminate the sins of omission we commit by not doing something we should have done, as well as sins of commission which we knowingly commit, sins that the Holy Spirit warns of and we do them regardless.  It is difficult to commit a sin of commission and get away with it, but it is quite easy to commit a sin of omission without others knowing.

Omission, comission3Some sins of Commission are:

Committing sexual sin, adultery, fornication, bestiality, molestation, homosexuality, pornography; theft, covetousness, murder, physical abuse, bullying, mental abuse; gossip, slander, backbiting, lying, manipulating, cursing, etc. Many of these things are opposite the Fruit of the Spirit.

Some sins of Omission are:

Failing to pray regularly, failing to pray for others, failing to tithe, failure to be faithful stewards in our finances, failing to help others when nudged from the Holy Spirit, failing to provide for your family, failing to read and study the bible, and failing to fellowship with other Christians (corporate fellowship is important), etc.Sin is Sin2

The fact is, at the end of the day, sin is sin, and God hates all sin. Sin keeps us from our fellowshipping with the Lord, and strengthing our relationship with Him, as well as other Christians.

One sin stands out more than any other, the sin of rejecting the Holy Romans 10-9,10Spirit and not receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior. The most important thing we can and should do is receive Christ as our Lord and Savior and ensure our Salvation through this simple prayer. It is not enough to say it, you must believe it with all your heart in faith.

Johne 316

Romas 8_1

Resources

Hayford’s Bible Handbook. 1 Corinthians 2
Wiersbe, Nelson’s Quick Reference. 1 Corinthians 2

Websites

lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com
youngchristianwarriors.com
Sins of Commission vs Sins of Omission: The Two Types of Sins Humans Commit. http://www.revelation.co/2015/07/21 by Ben

Scriptures – Bible.com
Images – Google Images. LAB’s photo collection, CanStockPhoto.com

 

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When You Know Your Prayers are Getting Through

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Your world was calm and settled, you’re an effectual, fervent prayer warrior, all is good and then chaos breaks out in your life. This is an indication that your prayers are getting through! Praying is not for the faint of heart. It is a battlefield.

When we pray, our prayers rise through the heavens to reach God’s ears. When He hears our prayers, He sends down blessings. Praying is warfare and in the case of Daniel, blessings were held up in the second heaven while Michael the Archangel fought the demons that were holding back blessings headed to earth.

“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3 NKJV

The second heaven can be considered Satan’s headquarters. From this position he and his fallen angels do everything they can to bring destruction on the earth and resist the purposes of God’s grace, blessings, and mercy.

Yes, heavens plural, there are three heavens. The first is the visible heaven, it is our Blessingsatmosphere, the second heaven is the evil ones’ headquarters, and the third heaven is where God lives. (Derek Prince, pp 128)

The sole purpose of the evil one is to kill, steal and destroy. If prayers are breaking through the heavens and people are being blessed, the evil one in an uproar. We (prayer warriors) become the enemy. Satan doesn’t focus on his followers, those who live a worldly life, he focuses on God’s people, those working to advance the kingdom of God.

Satan is 100% pure evil, and he has a plan to destroy our lives. Satan is our enemy, like it or not. The battle is between good and evil, and we are the prize. Satan desires to keep us from all that God wants for us. He is the enemy of all people, followers of Christ or not.

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” John 10:10 NKJV

As our prayers are being answered, he goes on the offensive and stirs up the atmosphere around us. He manipulates circumstances and situations against us. He may cause friction, chaos, loss, and illness, anything that can deter us from our mission. This is deception, he causes us to use our energy to address the things he created around us to dilute and weaken our impact as Prayer Warriors by disrupting our persistent prayer time.

It is our responsibility to learn to discern the battleground and figure out our strategy to succeed. Do we give up our time in prayer with the Lord to address the chaos the evil one created around us, or do we get up earlier, use our lunch time and go to bed a little later to maintain our prayer time? We have to learn to distinguish with our spiritual ears and eyes what is moving around us. “Discernment for the believer is seeing and understanding as God sees and understands. It is the ability to make godly judgments and right appraisals.” (Charles Stanley, pp 53)

When the world turns upside down, take time to discern what is happening and how you will approach it. Do not allow the evil one to dissuade you from your prayer time. We cannot afford to be deceived and sidelined. Our prayers matter and people lives are affected by our praying. Each of our prayers is requesting blessings and resolve to life’s situations and circumstances. The failure to pray for others and you leaves everyone prey to the evil ones’ plan for our lives, to remain slaves to him and the world.

Do not be deceived, always look through your spiritual lens and cast the evil ones’ efforts as far as the east is from the west, Psalm 103:12. Stay focused on your prayers until you see the blessings manifest. They may manifest in a recognizable way, or may take another form as God sees fit to advance you into the kingdom. Our prayers may be answered right away, sometime in the future, or not at all, but every prayer has impact and outcomes. We may see some answers to prayers and may not see others. It is all dependent upon how God sees fit to include us in the blessings.

The most important thing is to never stop praying until God leads you to do so. Just make certain you can discern who you are listening to. See my earlier Post, The Voice of God.

Resources

Books
Prince, Derek. Secrets of a Prayer Warrior
Stanley, Charles. When the Enemy Strikes

Website-Blog

Change Your Filter, Hear His Voice

Images – Google Images
Scriptures-Biblegateway.com

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.