Tag: inspiration of the Holy Spirit

The Supernatural Power of the Word of God Delivered by His Servants

1 Corinthians 2:1
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.

Persuasion is man’s means of swaying the thoughts of other fellow men and women. By nature and certainly by cultural pressure, when most of us try to persuade anyone on any topic, we are usually careful not to offend anyone if we can avoid it. One of the biggest mistakes that we make as Christians is to carry over this mindset when we talk about the salvation message with non-believers. If we are not careful, we end up manipulating the salvation message to please the ears of the listener. All the while, we are actually withholding from them the truth and the power that is in the Word of God.

The apostle Paul in his teachings to the Corinthians emphasized the point that the power to convert was not in fanciful speech. He knew that the people would not be stable in their faith if they were resting on the words of men and not on the power of God’s words. He also knew and taught that His teaching had no power without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Be certain that Jesus did not come to earth worried about His message being politically correct. In fact, He stated clearly that His teachings would be sure to divide households. Know that politically correct messages will get no one into heaven, nor will they keep anyone out of hell. Only the Word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit and delivered by His servants produces the supernatural power that leads to real persuasion and conversion.

Let us be sure to boldly proclaim the powerful saving Words of the Bible and not our own words designed to tickle the ears of others. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to prepare the hearts of those around us to receive and accept the Truth.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the power that Your Holy Word has in transforming our lives. We rejoice in knowing that we are serving You and pleasing You when we share Your inerrant Word with others. We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to be bold in proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel and direct us in choosing the right message for each time we are in a position to share our testimony. We ask, Father, that You prepare the hearts of those around us to receive the truth and respond to Your message of salvation. We ask all these things in the name of the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

The Impact of the Delay Experience in Prayer

Luke 11:10
For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Whether we lack food, shelter, finances or wisdom, the Lord promises to provide us with our needs. He also promises to provide us with the desires of our hearts. But in all these things, He provides according to His perfect timing and His will for our lives.

God in His love promises that He will provide ample supply for all of our needs. Quite often, however, we experience a delay between our prayers and the answers to our prayers. In His infinite wisdom, Our Heavenly Father uses the experience of the delay for the express purpose of our edification.

If there were never any delays between our prayers and God’s provision, we would lose sight of the fact that God is controlling the process and not us. We would also lose the perspective that God wants us to rely on His grace for all things. We would lose the fervency of our prayers.

Because of the delay experience, we learn to go to the Holy Spirit to get help with our prayers. We learn that our prayers are too often coming from the desires of our flesh and not the desires of our spirit. By turning to the Holy Spirit, we learn to put our prayers in line with God’s will for our lives.

Let us turn to the Holy Spirit for the inspiration of our prayer content. Let us learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to align our prayers with the will and plan that Almighty God has for our lives. Let us rejoice in knowing that every need in our lives will be faithfully met through this powerful supernatural process.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your grace that is the source of all of our provision. We thank You for the perfect timing of Your answers for our prayers. We thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to help us pray properly for the things that we need. We pray that You show us Your will for our lives so that our prayers will be in accordance with Your plans for our lives. May our Holy Spirit inspired prayers touch Your heart so that You release from Your hands all that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of the Power of God, Jesus Christ.

Our Place in Heaven is a Gift, Our Position in Heaven is a Reward

1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Once we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are washed clean of our sins and made acceptable to take our place before the Father in heaven. We receive what we did not earn and certainly do not deserve. It is granted to us through the atoning work of Our Savior. None is the result of our holiness.

Our holiness is the result of us allowing the life of Jesus to be manifested in our flesh. Are we willing to let God do in us all that has been made possible by Our Savior? Or are we resting content in the salvation that we have been granted without pressing into a relationship with the One who gave His life so that our salvation could be assured?

Both our place in heaven and our position in heaven are gifts from God. Our salvation guarantees our place in heaven. The measure that we put into our relationship with Our Savior determines our position in heaven. How can we not strive to develop the most intimate relationship with Our Savior King?

Let us give thanks to Almighty God for the place in heaven that has been set aside for us by the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Let us press on beyond our salvation, seeking an intimate relationship with Our Savior through which we will be directed to do the works that we have been prepared to do by the will and plan of Our Creator. Let us rejoice for the rewards that we will receive in heaven as a result of the good works that we have been inspired to carry out by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the eternal resting place that You have prepared for us. We ask that we may receive the grace to fully recognize the perfect gift that we have been given and the unimaginable sacrifice that was required for us to be able to receive it. We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to choose to accept the fullness that is ours through Your Son, Jesus. We pray that we will never be satisfied with our salvation alone, but that we will seek the highest level of all things that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of our Most High, Most Holy and Most Righteous Lord, Jesus Christ.

Destitute Without Our Savior

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

During our recent Thanksgiving holiday now gone by, we all took time to pause and thank our Heavenly Father for all of the love, protection and provision that we have enjoyed in our lives. We may have even been humble enough to give thanks for our salvation. But did we take time to consider and give thanks for the awesome gift of grace that we receive from Almighty God each day? With the Christmas season of gift giving rushing toward us, let us be sure to add the gift of grace to our Thanksgiving list.

The ever flowing grace of God is what makes all the other blessings in our lives relevant. Not one of us would even accept the gift of salvation if we had not first received the gift of grace. Our sinful, human nature without the grace of God is simply incapable of accepting the idea that a Savior is needed for entry into the eternal kingdom of God. The greatest blessing that we receive in life, for which we should give thanks every day, is the supernatural grace that we are provided which allows us to acknowledge that we are destitute without Our Savior and we are powerless without His presence in our lives.

With the cherished moments of our Thanksgiving holiday fading away, let us take the opportunity to give thanks for the supernatural gift of God’s grace. Let us always be mindful that only through the grace of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that our eyes are opened and our hearts are prepared so that we can see and accept the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give thanks today for Your ever flowing gift of grace. We pray, Lord, that we will be acutely aware of how far we fall short of Your glory without Your grace. May our hunger for Your grace release the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. May the Holy Spirit lift us up into the fullness of our lives in Christ. May the world know us by the fruit that we bear because of our acceptance of Your grace. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is the ultimate evidence of Your grace, Your Son, Jesus Christ.