Tag: Holy Spirit

Being Properly Prepared to Serve God

Isaiah 6:5
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

When we go into the presence of God, anything that is not pleasing to Him will come to mind. We cannot get by with a general sense of sinfulness. The Holy Spirit will not rest until we have been convicted of all of our sin, down to smallest transgression.

When Isaiah came upon the vision of the Lord and saw His holiness, Isaiah immediately proclaimed that he was a man of unclean lips. Isaiah knew that he would not be able to serve the Lord without cleansing himself from the sin that he had been shown.

God will work the same way with each of us. Through His Holy Spirit, He will convict us of every single point of iniquity in our lives. Then He will lead us to deeper revelation of the things in our lives that are simply displeasing to Him. The process will continue until we are properly prepared to serve Him.

Let us make time to sit in the presence of Almighty God. Let us surrender to His light so that our darkness will be revealed. Let us repent of the darkness in our lives and choose to walk in the light.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the restlessness that the Holy Spirit brings upon us when we are walking in darkness. We thank You for the absolute focus that You put on our sins, making it impossible for us to take on a vague sense of the sinfulness in our lives. We pray the Holy Spirit will bring our every iniquity into the light so that we may repent and move forward in obedience to Your calling on our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the Perfecter of Our Faith, Jesus Christ.

Patterning Our Lives after Jesus

1 Corinthians 11:1
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

In Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, he exhorted them to pattern their lives after Jesus Christ. Paul understood that obedience to a creed simply takes us to a proper and higher level of lifestyle. Accepting Jesus Christ as Our Savior and patterning our lives after Him will move us toward a level of perfection, holiness and purity that only He could attain and we can begin to approach through Him.

In truth, it is not good enough to be good. It is not good enough to do great works. The only thing that we can do that is of any eternal value is to submit our lives to Jesus Christ as Our Savior, to die of self and to take on the spirit of the One who dwells within us. Anything less than full submission to Our Lord and Master and anything less than becoming imitators of Jesus Christ as His disciples leaves us short of being true Christians.

What is the goal then? The goal is to imitate Jesus Christ in our daily lives. What is the challenge? The challenge is that we are incapable of achieving our goal without the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. What is the answer then? The answer is to surrender all that we are and all that we have and all that we will ever be and all that we will ever have to Our Lord and Savior. Then we must turn to the Holy Spirit daily to guide us and strengthen us as the natural man within us refuses to surrender. Finally, we should rejoice and praise God for He has provided the unchanging, unfailing way, the truth and the life that will allow us to fulfill our stated goal.

Let us yoke ourselves to Our Redeemer. Let us yield to Him as He guides us on our path of sanctification. Let us surrender to Him as He prepares us to stand in righteousness before the Father for all eternity.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing the Word to become flesh so that we could see the standard to which we are all called. May we stand before You one day in the image of Your Son, washed clean by His blood and perfected by His presence within us. Father God, we pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us how to become true disciples of Jesus as we spend our time on earth preparing for the glorious day of coming into Your presence. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High God.

The Only Path That Fulfills God’s Plan for Our Salvation

Mark 14:34
And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.”

Through Jesus, we receive the exchanged life of joy for the old life of sin and its miserable consequences. Jesus paid a great price for our redemption. He suffered physically, mentally and emotionally to go to the Cross for us. He knew in advance the bodily torments, the agonizing death and the inconceivable burden of the weight of the sins of all men that He would suffer. To secure our redemption, He chose the only path that fulfilled God’s plan for our salvation.

As Jesus approached His time of great suffering, He was very sorrowful. He was feeling the full agony of knowing that He would be taking on the burden of all sin. His suffering was so great that He took Peter, James and John with Him to stand by Him in prayer as He prayed for strength in His most awful time of distress. Three times He left the apostles to pray. Each time He asked them to remain and watch. Each time He found them asleep when He returned. The apostles in their weakness were not able to provide Jesus with the support that He requested as He prepared to take on His Cross. But even though the apostles left Jesus to take on the Cross alone, Jesus was given the strength that He needed by the Holy Spirit.

Ultimately, we must choose to take up the Cross of Jesus Christ. We must choose the way of Christ or the way of sin. This is an impossible decision for us to make on our own. Just like the apostles, our flesh is too weak. But like Jesus, we have the power and the strength that we need to overcome sin because the Holy Spirit stands by us and prepares our hearts to take our victory over sin.

Let us strive to live the joyous life of holiness. Let us be watchful and persistent in fending off the oppressive life of sin. Let us seek the Holy Spirit to stand by us and strengthen us as we walk on our paths of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. We praise the name of Jesus who chose to take all the sorrow and grief that He endured on our behalf. We thank You for the Holy Spirit who guided us in choosing to accept Jesus as Our Savior, so that we might overcome the sin in our lives that separates us from You. We pray for wisdom to always seek the strength and the counsel available to us through the Holy Spirit that stands on watch against sin with us. We ask all these things in the name of the Slain Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Blessing the People in Our Lives

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once we received our salvation, we were called out of the darkness offered by the world. We were placed into the living light of Jesus Christ. We were called to become priests to spread His light to the world around us. We were called to intercede on the behalf of others so that they may be taken out of the darkness into the light.

In Numbers, we read that the Lord instructed Moses to have the priests, Aaron and his sons, to bless the people in the following way: “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile upon you. May the Lord show you His favor and give you His peace.”

These are the blessings that we should desire for those around us when we have accepted our calling into the royal priesthood. As we abide in Jesus, these are the blessings that we should take before the Lord without stopping in intercession for those around us that are in need. We should prayerfully seek nothing but the best of what God has to offer for all of the people in our lives.

Let us pick up our priestly mantle. Let us stand before the throne of God proclaiming the excellencies of Our Savior. Let us call on His Holy Spirit to intercede for all of those who God has placed in our lives. Let us become light to a world that is living in darkness.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us out of the darkness of the world and making us part of Your royal priesthood. We praise the name of Jesus who guides us in our priestly duties. May we learn to bless the people in our lives through our prayers and through our living testimony. We ask all these things in the name of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ.

We Are Given the Call to Serve and the Power to Serve Others

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

The life of Jesus Christ was not the life of a mere man, but the life of a divine man who gave up His deity and His royalty in order to accept the calling of Almighty God to be the blood sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Jesus took on this calling freely and voluntarily that He might secure our legal standing in the kingdom of God.

The moment that we accepted the salvation that Jesus made possible when He laid down His life for us, we were given the power and the calling to lay down our lives day after day for the people around us. This sacrificial calling is contrary to our human nature. Our flesh will fight us on every occasion, be it large or small, when we seek to emulate Jesus’ love for us in our service to others. And certainly, Satan will do his part to discourage us too.

Yet we can and will overcome the urges of Satan and our flesh, if we learn to rely on the urgings of the Holy Spirit. For we were not only given the calling to serve, we were also given the power to serve. We were given the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ to dwell within us. All we have to do is let the Spirit within us flow out of us.

Let us learn to love others as we love ourselves. Let us give up our lives in service to others. Let us reveal to the world the greater love that dwells within us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son Jesus to die for us so that we would not remain separated from You for all eternity because of our sins. We praise Your Name for extending Your mercy so that we could accept the salvation that we did not earn and do not deserve. We pray, Father God, that the fullness of Your Holy Spirit will flow from us each day. May we learn to lay down our lives each day so that others may see the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus. We ask all these things in the name of the Slain Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

May the Fruits of Our Obedience Delight the Lord

2 Chronicles 27:6
King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the LORD his God.

Jotham became king at the age of 28. He was obedient in all things. Because of his faithfulness, he was given victory in all of his battles and a resting place of honor when he died.

God does not overlook a single thing in our lives. Everything that we do is examined by Him. He delights in our obedience in even the simplest of acts.

On the other hand, we can miss out on the promises of God in our lives simply by not complying to the small things of life that the Holy Spirit may place on our hearts. How many times have we passed up the opportunity to assist a grouchy neighbor, lend a helping hand to a needy stranger or respond politely and with love when receiving poor service? Each time we passed on one of these or numerous other Holy Spirit led opportunities, we deprived God of His delight in us. It is quite possible that we also limited the release of His power in our lives. It is important that we seek and give full consideration to the will of God concerning all elements of our daily lives.

Let us listen to the urgings of the Holy Spirit as we go through our daily activities. Let us surrender ourselves to being vessels of the perfect love and forgiveness that we have received from Our Heavenly Father. May the fruits of our obedience delight the Lord.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the opportunity to bring honor and glory to Your Name when we allow the marvel of Your grace to be exhibited in our lives. Teach us, Father, to recognize You and Your love in the simplest of tasks that are performed in service to others. Lord, we pray that You release the fullness of Your power in our lives as we learn to share Your perfect love and forgiveness with the world around us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of Our Lives, Jesus Christ.

The Fullness of Rewards for God’s Obedient Children

John 13:17
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

God told Moses to speak to the rock and it would yield water. But because the water did not come quick enough to suit Moses, in anger he struck the rock. Water came forth for the people to drink, but God was not pleased. Because Moses did not trust in God’s timing, he tried to make things happen his own way. In the process, he disobeyed God. Moses later suffered the consequences of his disobedience. He was not permitted to enter into the land of Canaan with his people.

What “promised land” are we missing because we are not being perfectly obedient in what God is asking us to do? God allows us much room for choice in our lives, but He also changes His rewards when we make poor choices. This is especially true if God has laid out a specific path for us to take, but we choose to take a different path.

Moses missed going into the promised land because he was not perfectly obedient to God’s direction in his life. We certainly risk missing our promised land when we are anything less than fully submitted to God’s direction in our lives.

Let us draw near to the Lord. Let us seek earnestly the guidance and instruction of the Holy Spirit. Let us move without hesitation when the Holy Spirit directs us toward our manifest destiny in Christ. Let us receive the fullness of the rewards that the Lord has in store for His obedient children.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You direct our ways through the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our lives each day. Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may be alert and obedient to Your calling on our lives. Teach us how to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit so that we may know the things that You ask of us. We pray that we will have the strength and wisdom to comply in accordance with Your plans for our lives. May we receive the fullness of the blessings that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb without Blemish, Jesus Christ.

Living in Reverent Awe of Our Redeemer

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he knew that they were struggling with sin in their lives just as we all are. He knew that they found it easier “to behave” when they were in his presence, just as we are more on guard in the presence of others. He exhorted them to be constant in their battle against sin whether He was there or not.

He was not telling them that they were working to earn their salvation. He was telling them how to overcome the ongoing attacks of the flesh which would try to lead them back to the sin that had been washed away forever by their Savior. He was reminding them that their victory had already been set aside by the One who had died for their sins and dwells within them. He was emphasizing that they must live in reverent awe of their Savior and not be lead by the whims of their flesh.

So it is with us. We do not work to earn our salvation. If we have received Jesus as Our Savior, we have been redeemed and washed clean of all of our sin. The work of salvation that Paul speaks of is really the work of sanctification. It is the process that we go through as we learn to lean on Jesus and not our own strength to overcome the work of the enemy in our lives.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to inspect us and to reveal to us the sin that we are holding on to. Let us surrender to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us rejoice in pleasing the Lord as He strengthens us to walk the path of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we proclaim our sin before You and ask for Your forgiveness. We thank You that this issue has been settled on our behalf for all eternity. We pray that we may be continually washed by the blood of Your Son and strengthened daily by His presence in our lives. We ask to live in reverent awe of who You are so that we will come under the purifying conviction of the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

The Continuous Praise of God Through the Way We Live

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

We are stirred up in our hearts to praise God. We are first moved to praise Him for the magnificence of His creation. We are inspired by the Holy Spirit to praise Him for His holiness and His love expressed through the redemptive work of His Son, Jesus. We learn to praise Him because of His power and His glory that we see expressed in our lives every day.

Let us praise God out of the faith that He has built in us through His Holy Spirit. Let us praise God as we are comforted by His goodness and His grace. Let us praise God with the joy of the expectation of life in His eternal kingdom. Let us praise God with the unshakeable confidence that the victory is ours through God’s greatest gift to us, His Son, Jesus.

Let us praise God with the love and delight that He alone has placed in our hearts. Let our every breath be filled with praise for Our Savior, Our Redeemer, Our King. Let us praise Him by allowing our lives to be living testimonies of the Son of God who has come to dwell within us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we lift our voices toward You in high praise. We bring our thanksgiving for Your precious Lamb, Jesus. We proclaim His holiness and His righteousness. We give thanks for His presence in our lives. We pray Father that You open our eyes so that we may see the presence of Your Son in the tiny things in life as well as the large things. May our every breath praise Him as we come know just how dear He is to You and to us. We ask all these things in the name of the One whose steadfast love never ceases, Jesus Christ.

A Reverent Fear of Almighty God Defines Us

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

As good sons and daughters of our earthly fathers, we benefitted greatly from living in awe of the highest authority figure in our lives. We have been shaped by this key relationship and we will continue to be shaped throughout our entire lives by this relationship. Our earthly fathers took us through the follies of our youth as he provided for us in our formative years and prepared us for life in this world.

Fear of God can be compared in some regards to our relationship with our earthly fathers. While we may have feared punishment from our earthly fathers, it was the fear of offending the one we loved so dearly that held such power over us. The fear of disappointing the one that we wanted to please the most provided enormous influence over us. The fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we held in the highest place in our lives impacted our lives. The fear of losing closeness with the one we desired to be closest to kept a rein on our lives. It was this paternal fear that held us in line when the world was trying to pull us out of line and it is this awesome and reverent fear of Almighty God that defines us and keeps us in line with His eternal plans for our lives.

But so much more has been provided for us by Our Heavenly Father. He has provided for our every need in preparing us for our eternal lives with Him. Through His mercy and His perfect love, He gave us His Son as our Redeemer so that we could be worthy to spend eternity with Him. To those of us that humbled ourselves before His Son, He set aside a path of sanctification. He provided His Holy Spirit to make us aware of our sinful nature and call us to repentance. To this day, His Holy Spirit guides us and gives us rest in our souls as He leads us to our journey’s end in Our Heavenly Father’s eternal kingdom.

Let us submit in reverent fear to the Son of Almighty God, Jesus Christ. Let us seek to live every day in awe of who He is. Let us seek His Holy Spirit in directing every moment in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name as the name that holds the highest place in our lives and we exalt the name of Your Son, Jesus, who shed His blood for our sins. We thank You that we can live in the shadow of His love, His protection and His provision. We seek to deepen our relationship with Your Son. We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand who He is so that we may live our lives in reverent awe of Him. We ask all these things in the name of Our Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.