Praying in God's Will

Jesus Christ is our intercessor before God.  His Spirit in us leads us to be intercessors for others.  

To be effective as intercessors, we must go to Jesus to find His concern for those that we pray for.  When we get in line with the cares and concerns of Jesus, our intercessory prayer efforts will most certainly be in accordance with the will of the Father.  When our prayers are in accordance with the will  of the Father, they most certainly will be answered.  

And through this process, our discernment concerning other souls will grow and mature in Christ Jesus.  We will move away from a spirit of criticism to a spirit of intercession for those that the Lord has put into our lives.

He is risen indeed!!  Happy Easter

The Perfect Service

Intercessory prayer is the perfect service to enter for Our Heavenly Father.  It is in itself an act of communicating with Him and an act of representing another before Him.  If we can separate ourselves from the results of our prayers (it is His power not our actions that produce good results), there are no pitfalls.

In a simple act of love, we go before the Father seeking His divine assistance for another.  Through the process, we are worshiping Him just by acknowledging our belief in His power.  As a result of the intercessory process, our relationship with God matures and grows.

Be Ready to Serve the Lord

As Christians, Jesus Christ dwells within us.  He is the new man that dwells within our spirit.  His greatest desire is to serve the Father in all ways.  We must learn to be attentive to every opportunity in our lives where we can serve the Father.  

Our Heavenly Father may never call us to do some highly visible task, at least as the world views it.  He may only call us to serve Him through small acts of love which are significant to Him.  If we prove ourselves worthy in the joyful completion of the small acts of love, we will be worthy and we will be ready for anything the Lord asks us to do - no matter how big or how small.

Obey Him with Reckless Joy

When God calls us to obey Him, He is giving us the opportunity for spiritual growth.  He is opening the door for us to receive His power into our lives.  When we choose to "wait to understand" before we obey, we may miss the opportunity to serve God in a fashion that would fulfill God's plan and purpose for our lives.  We may send ourselves into a period of personal struggle instead of abiding in abundant personal joy.  

Obey God through a living relationship with His Son and not through your own understanding of the world.   He is the truth, the way and the life.  Obey Him with reckless joy.

A Guiding Spirit

When we are teaching small children how to behave, we impress upon them good vs. bad in terms that are understandable to them.  When the children comprehend good behavior at the basic level, we move them up to higher levels of responsibility where they begin to make their own decisions.

We follow this process because at some point we know that the children will be making their own independent decisions.  They will have to be able to separate good from evil on their own.

God builds us up the same way.  As we are obedient in small things, He gives us larger responsibilities.  But one big difference in God's parenting vs. our own is that God never leaves us alone in our decisions.  We always have the Holy Spirit with us to guide us.

Pure in Heart

There has only been One Man who lived his entire life without sin.  Living without the stain of sin is unattainable for the rest of us.  We are not and cannot be 100% pure.

We can, however, turn our minds toward the one who is 100% pure and submit totally to His reign over our lives.  We can seek the armor of God to gird us against the impurities that the world has to offer.  We can seek purity as our desired nature.  "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

Do We Understand Our Job?

Why is it that we think it is our job to save those that we know and love?  It is not our job at all.  The job of salvation belongs solely to Jesus.

Our job is to introduce our family, friends and social connections to the One who saved us.  The introduction is best made through our living testimony.  Our lifestyle, which is a reflection of our relationship with Him, speaks much louder than our words.  Once others have a chance to see what Jesus is doing in our lives, it is much easier for us to tell them what the love of Jesus means to us and how they could experience His love in their lives.

The One Who Heals

Our natural tendency when we see a person in trouble is to try to rescue them.  If what we are rescuing them from is themselves, we are doing them a great disservice if we become their rescuer.  We must let Jesus rescue them.  He must be their Savior, not us.  

The troubled soul needs to find his/her comfort in the only place that will truly heal them.  Our job is to simply show them Jesus' power in our lives, so that they can reach out to Him on their own.

Washed Clean by His Blood

The Spirit of God within us is a gift that cannot be turned away.  Once in us, the Spirit is our new life.  Our old life in the flesh is dead.  The flesh may try to rule once again, but it's power is very short lived.  The Holy Spirit within us simply will not allow the flesh to rule.  

If we try to lean toward a life in the flesh, the Holy Spirit will overwhelm us with a sense of guilt and failure until we die unto ourselves.  We see the evidence of giving up our carnal lives when we immediately confess our sins and stand bared before Jesus, knowing that He will wash us clean with His Blood.

Gentle Urgings

It is highly unlikely that any of us will have a "burning bush" experience like Moses.  For most of us, it is just as unlikely that we will be prompted by something as dramatic as God's audible voice.  In all likelihood, when we are called by God, we will only experience a gentle urging in our hearts.

It is our responsibility to learn to recognize and be moved by the gentle urgings that God places on our hearts.  God can work great wonders through our obedience to the simplest suggestions of His Spirit within us.

Our New Faith

As Christians, our faith is no longer our own.  Our faith is now the faith of the Son for the Father.  Whatever faith we had before Jesus indwelled us was a faith that would die at some point.  It had no possibility of surviving for it was burdened by the death sentence associated with all sin.  Our old faith died on the Cross.  

Our old faith was replaced eternally by the faith of the Son of God.  Through the Holy Spirit, our new faith imparts the holiness of Jesus Christ into our lives.

Intimacy with God

As children we go to our fathers often to gain their provision or their guidance.  Over time, we know our fathers' answers before we even ask the questions because we have come to know our fathers so intimately.

So it is with Our Heavenly Father.  We know His will for our lives because we have framed it through uncounted visits to His Throne.  This intimacy, only be gained through the gift of grace, enhances our understanding of God Himself.  This intimacy grows and matures with every prayer we offer to Our Father.

Faith That Moves

When we are being led by the Holy Spirit, all of the movement in our lives will be toward the Lord and away from the trappings of our former carnal lives.  It is likely that the changes in our lives will be offensive to some who will feel that our new lives are a rejection of theirs.  This should be expected because the unbeliever does not and cannot understand the way of the Cross.

At times, we will not even understand where the Lord is leading us.  What separates us from the unbeliever is faith.  We love the one who is leading us and we have faith in Him as He leads us.  We move forward in our lives with a renewed mind that is centered on our personal relationship with our Good Shepherd.

Learning to Please Our Lord

When we accept Jesus into our lives, we will find that we are in bondage to many things that are not pleasing to God.  We will also discover that there are many other things in our lives that we were unaware of that are not perfectly pleasing to Our Lord.  These hidden things will be revealed to us over time as we mature in Christ.

As we accept Our Savior, the Holy Spirit begins to work with us immediately.  If we are receptive to His urgings, we will begin to repent of each and every thing that is not perfectly pleasing to Our Lord.  We will not be mature enough in Christ to recognize and repent of all things that require us to humble ourselves before Almighty God.  We will shed our flesh driven bonds one at a time as the Holy Spirit convicts us and as Jesus perfects His strength in our weakness.

Working in the Will of God

There is overpowering sin waiting in every effort we make, if we are not working in accordance with the Lord's will for our lives.  We must go into communion with Him and discover His plans for our lives.  To work outside the Lord's will, no matter how noble or productive by the world's standards, will have us fall short of the favor of the God.  We have to look no further than all the fallen religious leaders that we read about in the news to see how working outside of God's will can lead to ruin. 

Each day we should go before the Lord and ask Him to help us to do our daily tasks in accordance with His plan and will for our lives.  Whether our tasks are magnificent or menial, they should be measured by one standard.  Are they in line with the will of God?  

The Devouring Enemy

The laws of man invariably turn toward tolerance for things that are not pleasing to God.  These new laws are used by all men to pressure one another to accept the behavior that is not pleasing to God as the truth.  

Let no one turn away from pleasing God.  Every little piece that is withheld from God or that is displeasing to God will find a home amongst evil.  That piece which is cloaked in evil will never stand still.  It will work to devour the good that is left in the man.

Standing Firm in Faith

There will be seasons in our lives when doubt about God's place in our lives will be questioned.  There will seem to be a gulf between what God promises and what is being experienced.  This period of void can be very frustrating and difficult to endure.  

God, however, is ready to reward the obedient child for standing firm in faith when the trials are overwhelming.  Rejoice in the trials.  Victory is at hand.

Breaking Bondage

During the course of life, there will be times when desires of the flesh will be trying to overpower us.  Without Jesus in our lives, the carnal desires will put us into bondage.  If we turn our back on Jesus and yield to the flesh, we will be headed to a life of ruin.  

When we yield to Jesus, we can immediately claim victory over anything and everything that wants to rule over us.  Yielding to Jesus gives us the power to break every form of bondage in our lives. 

The Sacrificial Lamb

God gave us His Son so that we might have eternal life.  When we accept the Son, we exchange our doomed old carnal life for our new spirit filled eternal life.  

Our new life is possible because God gave us His Son as the sacrificial lamb required to atone for our sins.  Jesus bore it all for us.  We, on the other hand, received our new life without need of any sacrifice.  All we had to do was give up our old lives to accept Jesus as our Savior.  What we received is eternally greater that what we left behind.  

The Sanctification Process

Jesus Christ calls us to Himself.  When He does, He is calling us to abandon our old selves and to move into complete submission to His Spirit within us.  

When we accept His calling, we begin abandoning everything in our lives that holds us back from complete submission to our new and regenerated lives in Christ.  The process is ongoing for the rest of our lives.  Layer upon layer of sin is pealed away until there is nothing left in us that is offensive to the Father.  

This process of sanctification is only possible through the saving grace of Jesus.  Our sanctification is fully completed when we leave this corrupted earth to join Our Lord in heaven.

Living in the Vineyard

Would you walk out into the night without any light to guide you?  Would you race ahead without any certainty of where you were going?  Then why would you move forward doing God's work, if He is not leading the way?  

Waiting on God is the thing that we must do if we are going to bear fruit for the Lord.  We will struggle to produce much fruit if we do not wait on God to prepare our way.  If we do wait on Him, our path will be directly through the vineyard.

Our Living Testimony

We, who are in Christ, are to be living proof that Jesus was victorious on the Cross.  We are to live our lives in such a way that others will see the Spirit of Jesus in us.  And when they see Jesus in us and ask us about our new lives, we must be prepared to testify to the power of God in our lives.  We must be able to express to the world what it means to accept the gift of salvation.

Our lives should become our message to the world.  Our living testimony and our ability to express it should become our gift to those who come into our lives. 

The Path of the Disciple

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ requires that we walk with Him.  No matter where He is going or what He is doing, He simply asks us to join Him.  There is no gray area.  We are either on the same path as Jesus or we are on our own path.  The longer we try to stay on our own path, the further away we will drift from the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus, Our Savior.

The Cleansing Blood of Christ

We have suffered nothing and we have gained nothing until we take up our cross and follow Jesus Christ.  We cannot take up our cross until we realize how much we need The Cross.  The Cross is our bridge into eternity.  We cannot earn it, but we can cherish it and receive it.  We will not cherish it until we realize that there is nothing about our old selves than can cross the bridge into eternity.  Everything about our old selves must be left behind.  Our old selves require cleansing - complete and total cleansing.  The kind of cleansing that we need is only available through the spilt blood of Jesus Christ.

A Life Without Trials?

If we have no trials in our lives, we can probably assume one of the following:  1) we just came out of a trial and God is providing much needed rest  2) we are about to enter into a new trial  3) we are doing so little for the kingdom that we aren't getting Satan's attention.    

Against all human nature, the Lord teaches us to rejoice in our trials for they are meant to prove the genuineness of our faith, to build our character and to bring praise, honor and glory to Jesus.  When we are in a test of faith, we can be sure that we have rattled Satan's cage and demanded his response against us.  It brings the Father great joy when He sees us entered in battle with the enemy as a result of us joining Him in His good work.  It brings Him even greater joy when He delivers us from the battle strengthened by His Spirit and covered in His peace.

Step By Step

There is common drudgery in every person's life.  Some days our tasks at hand are nothing more than menial activity.  It gives God great pleasure when we perform even the smallest task for His glory.

Do you think Jesus was very excited about carrying His Cross up Calvary?  He certainly was not.  Yet with every step up the hill, He brought glory to the Father.  And with each painful step, He got closer and closer to delivering our salvation.  And with each step we take for His glory, we get closer and closer to completing His work in us.

The Abundant Life

We all want to please God once we have received His Son as our Savior.  At times, driven by our desire to please him, we run ahead of His calling on our lives.  The good work that we are doing to please the Lord can actually become unfulfilling and result in burnout. 

When we are doing what God called us to do, we can work endlessly.  Even when the work might seem tedious and boring to others, we can go on day after day with great joy.  When we start working to join Our Father in Heaven in His work for His glory instead of working simply to earn His praise, our efforts are more inspired and fulfilling.  As a result, our intimacy with the Lord grows and we experience the richness of living the abundant life that God has planned for us. 

Good Plans Vs. God Plans

Good plans are never as good as God plans.  It is better not to call on God to bless the grand feat that we have planned without Him, even if it was planned in order to please Him.  Instead, we should submit ourselves to His calling and join Him in His work.  We must recognize that even though His calling on our lives may seem small or insignificant in the eyes of man that it is glorious in God's eyes.  The smallest deed done at the Lord's request can move mountains.  The grandest feat done for the kingdom without God's inspiration is likely to end up in drudgery, perhaps even failure.  We should join the Lord in His work and rejoice in our calling.  

A Consuming Love

Jesus tell us that there are two great commandments:  "Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength" and "love your neighbor as yourself."  All other commandments hang off of these two.  If we keep these two commandments, we will not be able to break any of the other commandments.

If we love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, then His Spirit will guide us.  His Spirit will fill us with His perfect love.  Filled with His perfect love, we will naturally and supernaturally pour out the love that He has given us to the world around us.  There is no way to hold God's love to ourselves.  It would consume us.

He Bore It All

Almost all of us can relate to a time in our childhoods when we did something wrong that hurt our parents.  Almost all of us can remember how much it hurt us to see our parents hurting over the wrong that we had done.  

Jesus bears all the hurtful deeds of all of His children.  In His mercy, He loves each child perfectly and unconditionally.  He died on the Cross so that the stain of each hurtful sin could be removed.  For those that accept Him as their Savior,  the memory of each hurtful deed is absolved in heaven.

When we confess our sins, we should be ever mindful of all that Jesus bore for us and all that He provided in His mercy.  Clothed in the freedom of His loving kindness, His mercy and His grace and refreshed by the memory of His sacrifice, we should love Him to the depths of our soul and let it reflect in our lives each day.

Lovest Thou Me?

If we experience suffering when we think of what Jesus did for us, then we have truly learned to love Him.  We have come to a point where we really know Him.

If we can think of Jesus as Our Savior without feeling the pain of His sacrifice, we have accepted His gift without knowing Him intimately.  It is natural for us to be without pain when we first receive Jesus into our lives.  Over time, we are not maturing spiritually if we are not beginning to feel the pain of the Cross and have the pain affect our lives.  

"Lovest thou Me?"  John 21:17