There are times in our day when we feel rushed, weary, and uncertain of our next step. It is during these times that we should take a moment and recite this scripture to ourselves, “Be still and know that I am God.” When we do this, we will feel the Holy Spirit calm our inner man and place us in His perfect peace.
Image – LAB Photos
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4:18
This scripture spoke to my inner being, reminding me that I can get caught up in the things of this world if I do not stay vigilant. It is easy to allow our carnal 
man to prosper. All of our senses are tuned into the shiny things of this earth that are constantly bombarding us. We are in a constant state of warfare; tug and war. Our choices are this world or the heavenlies.
We need to stay in tune and shift our focus. The battle rages throughout our lives. God gave us the freedom to choose how we live our lives. Earlier in life, I decided that my purpose was to reach the Kingdom, this meant
that I needed to make decisions to walk away from some things, refocus, and galvanize others. in short, reaching my spiritual destination is the focus of my life.
Our eternal goal relies on our contemplation, prayer, praise, and worship, which guides us and makes us better. When we replace the object of the goal, then the things we formerly worshiped become benefits of our work and not the object of our work.
I’ve learned that focusing on things, as the end-all, is a form of idol worship; things, such as a new outfit, car, new apartment, home, ultimate vacation, and career ascension, are temporal and lose their value over time, my focus is acquiring eternal life in heaven.
As sinners, we cannot fall prey to delusion and the idols of this world. Satan will use everything available to prevent the gospel from shining, from politics to morals, to seemingly innocuous music. Between Satan and our sin nature, we are constantly battling to live in the spiritual realm, we must always stay alert, as Christians, must focus on the Word to avoid the traps of the evil one while demonstrating the virtues of Christ in our daily lives. Focusing on the Good News prepares us for our eternal life while living on earth. It makes us better people, spouses, parents, friends, and God’s helpers. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go, guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it turn from it and go on your way. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, pay attention to what I say turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the[a] paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:13-27 NIV
Images – Google Images
Scripture – Biblegateway.com
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Like Job, I want to treasure (crave) God’s words and guidance more than my daily food! Don’t you? Like the Scripture from Isaiah taught, I want to be able to hear the voice behind me telling me the way I should walk in.
But, how do I hear His voice? And, is He really still speaking? Take heart; God is a communicator! He created the gift of communication. That means He does speak, and we do have the ability to hear Him—and even respond to His voice. If God is still speaking, we should do everything in our power to recognize His voice and listen! The act of listening is what’s so desperately needed, yet often sorely lacking, for true communication.
First, let’s look at some ways God will speak to us.
God speaks through His Word. God’s already revealed much of His will and plan for us through the Word of God. Spending time reading His Word is one of the strongest ways to hear directly from Him.
God speaks through His Whispers. He will often speak softly to our spirits, give us dreams, visions, and/or instruct us through our circumstances. He also will direct our thoughts to His plans.
God speaks through His People. At times God will speak His heart for us through other Christians. It could be in the form of encouragement, correction, or guidance.
My prayer is that this short, seven-day reading plan will be straight from our loving Father’s heart to teach you to avoid the opposing clamor, awaken you to focus on His voice, and fully captivate your heart.
Ask the Father: What do I need to do to become a better listener?
Today’s worship song recommendation: “Yield My Heart” by Kim Walker-Smith from the holy Bible App Study Plan
May this bless you as it is blessing me.
Images – Google Images
Resource/References – Article from Bible.com, 2015
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
Reblog, March 2018
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 
atmosphere, 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
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
God is a Triune God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were forgiven of our sins and received the Holy Spirit in our being. He dwells in us. As the scripture states, the Spirit we received brought about our adoption to sonship.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him, we cry,“Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:14-16
This means that we, carnal man, by the power of Divine grace has been made subject to Gods law, but as humans, we must always strive to control our sin nature. We must question our actions, listen to the Spirit (the quiet voice) when we are preparing to stray and develop a heart for carrying out the Word in our daily lives.
The Holy Spirit is our pathfinder, our guide, and our teacher. If we pay attention to His urgings we will avoid many of the pitfalls the devil lays before us, attempting to divert our walk, and undermine our ability to fulfill our destiny.
Just as we abide by our parent’s rules, it is even more important to abide by the Word of God. First God, then family, and all else follows. In short, if we abide in His Word we are on the path to spiritual maturity.
If we fail, falter, or sin in any manner, i.e., ignore the Holy Spirit who dwells in us we can repent, and God will forgive us, giving us another opportunity to suppress our sin nature, regain our footing and continue to walk down the path to spiritual maturity.
Praise our God, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and our God is a God of countless chances.
This coming Monday is Labor Day in the USA, a long weekend for those who work. I hope everyone, here and abroad has a safe, wonderful weekend.
Photo by Burst on Pexels.com
Images – Google Images; Burst, Pexels.com
Scripture – Biblegateway.com
Resource/References – Biblestudytool.com, Romans 8
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
I find comfort in knowing that when things become hectic, our God gives us strength and resolve. He welcomes us into His refuge and settles us in a calm, peaceful state.
His refuge is a place we flee to in times of trouble, danger, anxiety, or simply uncertainty. Generally speaking, if we are fleeing to a place of safety, we are fleeing from a place of discomfort and insecurity. God is aware of our plights in life and created a place of strength and security.
It is ours to seek when we choose. Our level of discomfort does not determine when we can access His refuge. It is always available to us. We were not created to live life using our own strength; we are created to need God’s strength. We can call upon the Lord to protect us and strengthen our resolve at any time, day or night. Our faith unlocks the door to His refuge.
According to Bible scholars, the term refuge means a place we flee from, and a place we flee to. To broaden the connotation,
we flee from:
~Misunderstandings
~Obstacles
~Provocation
~Change
~Sin
~Sorrow
~Disappointment
~Uncertainty
~Peril
and we flee to:
~A safe place
~A place of trust
~A secure place
~A shelter
~A sanctuary
~An asylum
Prayer
God, thank you for making Yourself known to me. Thank you for your power, Your might, Your Strength. Help me to never doubt Your strength but to rely on it every minute of every day. Please continue to reveal Yourself to me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Images – YouVersion.Bible.com
Resource/References – Biblestudytool.com; 100 Names of God, Daily Devotional. Christopher D. Hudson. 2015 (Prayer paraphrased.)
Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com. At the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 