Month: November 2024

Allowing the Grace of God to be Manifested in Our Lives

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

The apostle Paul knew what it was to receive God’s grace. Through his great faith he delighted in his weaknesses, he delighted in the insults that were tossed his way, he delighted in his hardships and he delighted in his persecutions. Paul knew the secret. He rested on God’s promises to perfect His strength in Paul’s weaknesses, in Paul’s trials and in Paul’s tribulations.

Our God in heaven is ready to do the same for us. Our Heavenly Father promises to provide all that we need to overcome every hard thing that we face and to provide all that we need to gain victory over the evil that surrounds us. He does not promise to take us out of the battle. Just as He used Paul’s thorn to keep him mindful of his needs in Christ, He will allow things in our lives to keep us mindful of how needy we are.

We will find victory when we learn to surrender like Paul did. We will find peace in all circumstances when we recognize God’s grace is sufficient. We will become stronger than we ever imagined when we allow the grace of God to be manifested and magnified in our lives.

Let us cast all of our cares upon the Lord. Let us trust in Him completely. Let us exalt His name as we confidently wait on our victory.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the all-sufficient grace that You promise us. We bless the name of Jesus who insured our victory on the Cross. We rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit, who guides us, instructs us and strengthens us through our trials. We pray, Father, that we will learn to have faith in You as Paul had faith in You. We ask for the courage to surrender to Your Holy Spirit through all the trials that we face. We pray that world will see and be drawn to the manifestation and magnification of Your grace in our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

Our Primary Purpose is to Love God

Mark 9:29
And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus taught us, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He emphasized that this was the greatest commandment. It is the highest order in the kingdom. Our number one purpose on earth and in heaven is to love God, to praise Him and to bring glory to His name. One of the foremost ways that we can meet the requirements of this commandment is through our prayers.

When we are engaged in work that we consider to be the work of the Lord, we can lose sight of the fact that the work is being done out of the loving relationship that we have with Our Lord. If we let our relationship with God slip, He will withdraw the power that He gives us to do His good work. He is far more interested in our relationship with Him than He is in the result of our work. Our relationship with the Father is built and sustained through our prayer life.

We may be able to manipulate some things in the flesh, but all the things that provide real kingdom value will not endure under the burden of broken fellowship with the Father. Through regular prayer, we build on our relationship with Our Father and we insure that we are empowered to do the greatest works that He has called us to do, even to cast out evil.

Let us take our positions as anointed children of Almighty God. Let us claim our authority as those who have been set apart to do the work of the Father in heaven. Let us release our prayers to overcome all calamities, catastrophes and any hidden dangers that would attempt to come against us and our families.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love in our lives. We thank You for allowing us the privilege of returning our love, our praise and our worship to You through our prayers. We bless the name of Jesus, who dwells within us, for making it possible for us to have victory over evil. Father, we pray that all that we do is born out of the intimacy of our relationship with You. We humbly ask for the grace to stay in constant fellowship with You through our prayers. We beseech You to grant us the power over the evil in our lives and the lives of those that surround us. May it all be for Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of the One who has has victory over all evil, Jesus Christ.

Baptized in a Holy Fire

Isaiah 60:2
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

This passage in Isaiah is regarded as prophetic in nature, speaking to the end of times. It predicts the rise of Christianity out of the darkest of times. The first part of this passage certainly defines our times and our society across the globe. Oh, how sweet it will be when the Lord raises up the greatest revival known to mankind as He fulfills the latter portion of this prophecy.

Can things getting any darker? The ignorance, immorality, idolatry, superstition, false doctrine and false worship that we see everyday are surely forms of a very thick darkness. It seems as if light is unable to penetrate the darkness that continues to escalate and build around us. The world has been shaken and people are broken. We have all become victims of Satan’s plans of destruction.

But rejoice, even though the evil one is ramping up his lies and deceiving ways, Our Lord has different plans. He has promised to bring His glory to be seen by the world. We will be covered by a consuming fire. He will baptize us in a Holy Fire and everything will be different. Even though we will be experiencing darkness around us and tribulation in our lives, we will also witness Almighty God’s presence in our lives in the midst of it all. It is His glorious plan for us to overcome everything that comes against us. It is His glorious plan that His consuming fire will be a purifying fire. It will be a fire that cannot be quenched. It will be a fire without end. It will overcome darkness in ways that we have not seen in our life times.

Let us be aware of the working of the Holy Spirit in us and around us. Let us prepare ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ for the greatest revival in history.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundant life that You have prepared for us as we surrender to the divine fire of Your Holy Spirit. We lift Your name up above all names as we come before You to seek the consuming fire that You have promised us. We pray that Your purifying fire will burn the darkness out of our lives. May our transformed lives bring light to the darkness wherever we go. May our living testimonies draw many into Your kingdom. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Flame, Jesus Christ.

Vessels In Fellowship with Christ

John 14:4
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us. The Lord begins using us as vessels that carry the Living Water.

Before the Living Water can flow, we must be free of those things in our lives which would hinder the flow. We must get into fellowship with Jesus Himself. Without His fellowship, we are of no use to God as vessels of salvation.

As we submit to the Lord, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives. Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him. These trials that create brokenness in our lives will also create the cracks in the living vessel so that the Living Water can flow through unhindered. If but one heart can be saved because of our brokenness, let us thank God for allowing our trials to occur.

Let us rejoice in knowing that the Lord delights in using us as vessels of His Living Water. Let us endure our trials with joy as they prepare us to be worthy vessels.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as Your vessels of Living Water. We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us, the sons of inequity, to be instruments of Your good work. We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials. We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work in those around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Fount, Jesus Christ.

Approaching Every Trial with Boldness

Romans 5:2
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

One of the greatest gifts that we receive through faith is the ability to approach our death beds with peace and joy, not with fear and trembling. Through our faith, we know that at our death we will be set free of every pain and challenge that life has brought to us. Through our faith we know that we will spend eternity in the presence of Almighty God and we will be worthy to be there. Through our faith, we know that what awaits us in heaven is beyond our imagination.

This kind of faith is actually worked out in us on this earth. This kind of faith by its nature must be tried. This kind of faith is built up through all of the trials that we face seemingly alone. This kind of faith is built up when we realize we were never alone. We know we have this kind of faith when we can approach every trial in our lives with boldness, courage and confidence knowing that Jesus is always right beside us to carry us through.

Let us live every day confidently, knowing that we are not alone. Let us approach every trial with boldness, knowing that Our Strength is always with us. Let us rejoice, knowing that our place in heaven with Almighty God is prepared for our arrival.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the faith that brought us to receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior. We thank You for the faith to believe in Your Holy Word and reject all that contradicts it. We praise the name of Jesus for standing by us as we enjoy all the blessings that You bring us and as we endure all the trials that life throws at us. We pray, Father, for the grace and the strength to live every day of our lives in the conscious delight of who we are in Christ. We ask all these things in the name of our joy triumphant, Jesus Christ.

The One Who is Faithful and True

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Our faith comes into play whenever we encounter pain, conflict or disorder in our lives. Our natural reaction is to try to fix everything ourselves. All too often, we do not turn to God until we have exhausted all of our own failed initiatives.

God wants us to turn to Him first. He wants us to grow into a place where we trust Him for everything, whether it be big or small. We grow into this place through our relationship with Jesus. The Psalmist David captured the relationship perfectly in Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

Let us believe that God is who He says He is. Let us trust in His promises to reward those who seek Him. Let our faith draw us near to Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the endless fount of faith that you make available to us through Your Son, Jesus. We praise Your name for the comfort that we enjoy because of the faith that we have in Your promises. Lord, we ask for the wisdom to turn to You first in all things. May You provide the grace for us to free ourselves from the need to try to fix everything ourselves. We humbly ask that all of our earthly efforts be in obedience to Your will and plan for our lives. We pray that through the love of Jesus all that we do will be as worship to You. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is faithful and true, Jesus Christ.