Tag: counsel of the Holy Spirit

Small Obedient Steps Are Essential in Moving Higher and Sustaining Growth

2 Peter 1:3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

God sets the vision for our lives and puts everything in place for us to fulfill the plan. He provides His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to guide us and to instruct us in the person, the grace and the righteousness that is Jesus Christ. There is absolutely nothing in this world that can stop us from meeting the plans that Almighty God has set aside for us.

We must, however, take all the small steps needed to move from one place to the next higher place that God has planned for us. We must be obedient to the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we overcome the callings of our flesh. We must allow the Holy Spirit to move us from a knowledge of Our Savior into a meaningful relationship with Him.

Along the way, Satan will challenge each and every step. And once we really start making progress, Satan will turn his evil on those around us, especially those close to us. Built up by our faith and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, we will overcome. As we surrender to the whispers of Our Helper, our tiny steps of obedience will take us to our special calling and allow us to live godly lives through the One who has called us.

Let us make the Lord, Jesus Christ, first in our lives. Let us learn to seek His counsel in all things. May the voice of His Holy Spirit drown out all the noise that the world sends to keep us from our manifest destiny in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promise to complete Your good work in our lives. Thank You for the faith that You provide us through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We pray that You will help us to build a relationship with Your Son and His Holy Spirit who has been sent to be Our Helper. Help us to become tuned in to every tiny whisper from the Holy Spirit that reminds us of Your promises and guides us in faith on our journey of sanctification. We ask all these things in the name of the Anointed One, Jesus Christ.

Heaven is the Essence of Everything Perfect

James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

The garment is not acceptable if there is one snag in the fabric. The tune is no longer in harmony if there is one note out of key. The chain is broken if one link does not hold. The law is not kept if one point is not held.

“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.” Mark 12:30 STOP!! There it is…the first and greatest commandment. We need not go any further to realize that we are incapable of meeting the requirements of getting into heaven. We simply cannot earn our way in. We cannot get past the first requirement. It is impossible for us to love the Lord in the manner that He requires.

Remember, God demands perfect, not partial obedience. A good effort is not good enough. Good enough is only found on the Cross. The only way that we can meet the requirements that God demands is to have the blood of His Son wash us clean of all of our sins so that we may stand before Him in the image of His Son.

Let us wake each day seeking the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and reveal to us the darkness that still resides there. Let us receive the counsel of the Holy Spirit with the thought of taking His insight to the Throne of God and asking Him to “wash me O Lord, purify me O Lord. Cleanse me with the precious blood of Your Son, Jesus”.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for demanding perfection concerning Your laws. We rejoice in knowing that Your kingdom, which we will inherit, will be void of anything that is less than perfect. We thank You for providing an eternal resting place for us that will be the essence of everything good. We bless the name of Jesus, whose shed blood allows us to stand spotless before You. Father, we claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness. We pray for the grace to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ as You prepare us to love You with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name of the only One without fault, Jesus Christ.

The Proper Handling of Life Changing Moments

Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah. We, too, may sense a new vision for our lives when we are faced with a life changing moment such as the loss of a family member or a close friend, the breakup in a personal relationship, the collapse of financial means or the onslaught of a significant injury or illness. At these challenging and life altering times, it is natural for us to question our direction and seek a new course.

Too often, however, we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world. All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value – the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.

Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful. We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God’s perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.

Let us humbly go before Our Father in heaven and ask Him to reveal His plan for our lives to us. Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in directing our steps toward the path of our manifest destiny in Christ. Let us shape our lives around the vision that we receive from the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first. Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory. May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions. May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance. We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

When Seeking a New Course

Isaiah 6:1
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.

As we read in this scripture, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord after the death of a major figure in his life, King Uzziah. We, too, may sense a new vision for our lives when we are faced with a life changing moment such as the loss of a family member or a close friend, the breakup in a personal relationship, the collapse of financial means or the onslaught of a significant injury or illness. At these challenging and life altering times, it is natural for us to question our direction and seek a new course.

Too often, however, we try to rebuild our lives based on our earthly vision of our work, our family or some particular passion (maybe even a ministerial one) that we have for this world. All is for naught until we realize that there is only one vision of substance and value – the unique vision created by Almighty God that aligns with His will and purpose for our lives.

Only when we cast our visions through His focus, can we become truly fruitful. We must go to the Throne Room and seek to learn God’s perfect plan for our lives. Until then we are building stacks of stubble and hay.

Let us humbly go before Our Father in heaven and ask Him to reveal His plan for our lives to us. Let us seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit in directing our steps toward the path of our manifest destiny in Christ. Let us shape our lives around the vision that we receive from the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing events in our lives that force us to seek You first. Help us, Father, to keep our eyes on Your Throne and Your Glory. May the trappings of the world never again form the foundations of our visions. May You alone be our blessed hope and assurance. We ask all these things in the name of the Strength of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

An Endless Spring of Love

1 John 4:16
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God is love. His love is unconditional and without end. His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. His love for us is reinforced daily by the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Through His love, Almighty God gives us an unfailing hope for our future. Let us not lose sight of the truth that our hope for our future is so much more than how we feel about our future or what the world tells us about our future. Our hope rests upon a very special love gift from God. Our hope is built upon the Good News of God for the world that He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life.

Through His love, Almighty God also gives us His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to give us the strength to bear all things that come against us and the spiritual maturity to endure all the tribulations that make up life on this earth. His grace is poured out on us in this manner so that we may overcome the world.

Most importantly, Almighty God created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him. He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring. When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us. By returning our love to the Father through our service to those around us, we become living testimonies of His perfect love.

Let us prepare our hearts to become vessels of God’s perfect love and forgiveness. Let us show the world His love through our compassionate sharing of the love He has given us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally. We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly. Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love. Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives. May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us. We pray, Father, that the world will be drawn to Your Son when they see Your love at work in us. We ask all these things in the name of the One who delights in our steadfast love, Jesus Christ.

The Sufficiency of the Cross

James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

The garment is not acceptable if there is one snag in the fabric. The tune is no longer in harmony if there is one note out of key. The chain is broken if one link does not hold. The law is not kept if one point is not held.

“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.” Mark 12:30 STOP!! There it is…the first and greatest commandment. We need not go any further to realize that we are incapable of meeting the requirements of getting into heaven. We simply cannot earn our way in. We cannot get past the first requirement. It is impossible for us to love the Lord in the manner that He requires.

Remember, God demands perfect, not partial obedience. A good effort is not good enough. Good enough is only found on the Cross. The only way that we can meet the requirements that God demands is to have the blood of His Son wash us clean of all of our sins so that we may stand before Him in the image of His Son.

Let us wake each day seeking the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and reveal to us the darkness that still resides there. Let us receive the counsel of the Holy Spirit with the thought of taking His insight to the Throne of God and asking Him to “wash me O Lord, purify me O Lord. Cleanse me with the precious blood of Your Son, Jesus”.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for demanding perfection concerning Your laws. We rejoice in knowing that Your kingdom, which we will inherit, will be void of anything that is less than perfect. We thank You for providing an eternal resting place for us that will be the essence of everything good. We bless the name of Jesus, whose shed blood allows us to stand spotless before You. Father, we claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness. We pray for the grace to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ as You prepare us to love You with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength for all eternity. We ask all these things in the name of the only One without fault, Jesus Christ.