Did you ever wish there was more to your Christian life? Too often the Christian life is reduced to going to church, attending meetings, serving God, and doing devotions. But Jesus promised us abundant life – a deep, intimate, satisfying connection with the living God. How do we access the abundant life that Jesus promised? The key is the presence and life of the Holy Spirit within us. Jesus said that the Spirit of God flows within us like a river – He is the River of Life. But we need to dwell in the river in order to access the Spirit’s fullness. In his latest book,
I generally try to stay away from political statements or challenges on Facebook, but feel compelled to challenge believers to not lose perspective while cheering their candidate during this election cycle.
Let me state upfront, that if we go through another 4-8 years of selfish and arrogant leadership in this country, we will see lawlessness increase, that will undermine our foundation as a country that we may never recover from.
What does that mean? Not only will the standard of living crumble, but our children will pay for our sins in the moral and spiritual realms. We can’t keep becoming more selfish and evil and expect God to close a bind eye. God brought great judgements to nations when they headed in the same direction we are going in. God has blessed this nation because of the good we have done and when the scales are found wanting, judgement will come.
This morning, I would like to ask this question – Does God speak to man today?
Does He only speak to people of importance or does He speak to the common person as well?
Most Christians say they believe that God speaks to them, however if they are honest, they will also admit that understanding when and how God speaks is a constant learning process.
For me, it has been a constant learning process to “Recalibrate” my life so that I don’t miss what He may desire to communicate with me. To be honest, I have learned a few “methods” of stilling my soul to hear, but at times I am a very impatient person.
So, as we are nearing the end of this journey of self-denial, and I wanted to encourage all of you for stepping up to the plate in your spiritual life. Few believers today even consider self-denial, let alone practice any. I’m reading 2 Corinthians this morning and Paul talks about how much he and other believers have struggle with suffering in their Christian life. Some suffering by others and some purely because they live in broken world. He says –
2 Cor 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
[5] For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
As we come near to the conclusion of our fasting journey, and with the fact that the church’s reading schedule is in the gospel of John, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on John’s gospel.
Jesus is preparing his disciples for his departure and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He tries to help them get their head around the concept of dwelling and abiding. The church often talks about this, but few walk in the kind of relationship that is the kind Jesus talks about. He is revealing one that is so intimate and personal.
John 8:14-12. Jesus & Father Are One
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
I trust you all are looking to the Lord to impart “Something New” into your soul and you’re holding onto the promise that “He” is able to impart to you more than you can think or imagine.
I had a few Scriptures written down that I wanted to use as encouragement during our fasting time, and I went to bed last night with my right eye starting to water and hurt. When I got up this morning, my lower eyelid was swollen and hurt like I was getting a sty. I used to get these when I was young because of eye lid operations when I was 6-7 years old, but haven’t had them in over 50 years.
The reason I’m sharing this is because of the scripture God put on my heart to share about today. Psalms 139 & Luke 24. Hopefully it will make sense by the time I finish this post.
As we continue down our path of fasting you may be asking yourself, where are we trying to go with this fast and how come I’m not there yet?
First, in the Bible, numbers mean a lot. Seven is the number often associated with God. It reflects “completeness” and “perfection”.
Secondly, in the Bible, the number Eight is related to the concept of “New Beginning”. Jewish writings say it is “One Step Above the Natural Order” where the supernatural is entered into.
I want to declare to you all that you are entering into the beginning phase of the supernatural where the Holy Spirit will start to pull back the covers to the spiritual realm and give you access to understanding and inheritance. Here is a beautiful verse in the book of Psalms that should capture our hearts.
I wanted to share a little glimpse into my personal experience this morning in a church Sue and I have been investigating that so moved both of us.
When we fast, the Holy Spirit will and should be tenderizing our hearts and soul to be more perceptive. Sometimes it takes longer to come into the place and at other times we seem to easily and quickly move into a deeper spiritual perspective.
This morning, I was in worship at a local church and was aware that God had planned something special even before the worship started. When I sense this plan of God I “Lean In” to experience all that God has in store. Within minutes, I found myself weeping as I realized God’s love and graciousness. What was interesting is the awareness that it took two to make this happen.
Well, If you have hung in there in your fast since Monday, you have now reached the half-way mark to completing this awesome journey with your fellow fasters. We are going fast!
Many times we fail to observe healthy disciplines because we try to develop them alone, and then the enemy tries to discourage any spiritual growth. If we find other believers to link up with in our proposed spiritual disciplines, whether of reading the word, praying, tithing or any other pursuit, we gain the courage and the passion to push through to our goal and not let the pain hold us back. All because others are cheering us on.
My heart is warm today as I have read your many stories of your own personal fast. How you felt you couldn’t or wouldn’t fast, and yet you watched your brothers and sisters doing it and gave into the voice of God to fast yourself. Never underestimate what God can do if we are just willing to trust the Lord and not our fleshly appetites.
By last night, I so…wanted to eat something, anything! Watching TV they were showing mac & cheese, and I so wanted that. Going to bed I told Sue I wanted a bagel & egg sandwich when I got up in the morning! I didn’t do it, but I wanted it!
Once you have passed three days of fasting, the hunger pains can become minimized, but the “Mindset” of needing food can intensify. If you are experiencing these craving understand they are normal and won’t kill you.
I would like to focus on a passage of scripture in 2 Chronicles where Solomon has just completed the temple, and has been praying and offering vast numbers of sacrifices to the Lord for its dedication. The Lord comes down with fire to consume the sacrifice. That had to be scary! The “Glory” of God was so intense the priest could not enter the temple. I pray the glory of God defends on our ministry!
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