Power Over The Enemy

We are never more vulnerable than after our most recent victory. This is the axiom, and maxim of truth, that we see Jesus give His disciples after they find themselves distracted by a lesser goal that Jesus set before them. After all it was so easy to do.

Whether it’s temporary opportunities, criticism, or mundane tasks, Satan knows he doesn’t need to destroy us if he can distract us. He lets a few victories remain without a counter-attack, and when we let our guard down it tends to b after a major victory or achievement.

While Jesus was thrilled about the disciples’s successes and effectiveness, He also knew their vulnerabilities and wanted to keep them focused on the ultimate blessing. Yes we should be thrilled that Jesus does His work through us, but it’s purpose is for God to be glorified. That is why Jesus says to His disciples: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.” (Luke 10:20).

Therefore if God uses you this year, like the disciples, rejoice! If you see the Spirit breakthrough by you using your gifts, thank God, be in awe at His greatness, and then humbly come before God, and remember the bigger picture: you are going to spend eternity with Jesus!

Rejoicing in temporary authority will on,y lead to the loss of joy when that authority is no longer experienced. Our joy should be primarily stirred up by everlasting realities. After all, authority, power, and success are fleeting privileges in this life. Relationships are to be enjoyed, but not worshiped. None of these can bear the weight of all our joy.

Set your joy first and Foremost in the heavenly place this year, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. It is around His throne that all the Saints will engage in everlasting worship. And where you and I will take our place, when our time comes to be with Him forever.

Luke 10:16-21

Living With Fear & Walking By Faith

God is Father in creation, Son of redemption, and Holy Spirit in regeneration. The perplexity of who God is has had the church in arduous debate for hundreds of years. Some say God is one, not three; others say God is three, not one. In actuality, aGod is omnipresent and omniscient cannot be defined. Great is the mystery of godliness.

For the purpose of understanding the triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit- let’s look at the make up of humankind. When God created man, He created him in His likeness as in his image. Man is one being, yet made up of three parts; He is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body. Each entity gives a sense of awareness and another level of consciousness. In the spirit, man is God conscious. When Adam sinned, his soul died. I. Scripture, death means separation, not always the cessation of life. Sin separates man from God. In the same way, a person dies naturally, so it is spiritually. The spirit is separated from God.

In a man’s soul, the place that houses one’s memories, affections, emotions, and appetites, there is self-consciousness. When God breathed the breath of life into man, he became a living souk. Man became aware of life. The soul is where man wrestled with God. It is where man is transformed by the renewing of the mind. When the body is dead man loses consciousness of the world, for the body connects a being with the world.

In summary, we have God-consciousness in the spirit self-consciousness in the soul, and world-consciousness in the body. All three entitles don’t always align; and we find ourselves wrestling with one or another. Which results in inner turmoil. Sometimes, the spirit wants to perform accordingly, but if the soul (mind) is so damaged and wounded that the person is holding onto issues they cannot release, then evil has an opportunity to attack. There is a war for the mind. With the Spirit, we become aware of God but with the mind, we serve the Lord. The enemy wants to create havoc in the place where we serve the Lord.

Displaying God’s Power

Have you ever enquired of God why He allows us to suffer? Have you ever wondered if it’s because you have said or did something wrong? Whenever something unexpected happens in our lives we look for someone to blame.

Such questions are valid, and reflect the human experience. However the Bible offers us a different perspective. In John 9 Jesus’s disciples had similar questions as they saw a man walking around blind. The Apostle John records Jesus’s response, and it was not what the disciples expected to hear.

Jesus and His disciples were walking through the streets of the city when they encountered a blind man. One of the disciples asked Jesus why the man was blind and asked who was to blame, his parents or himself. Jesus’s response put their confusion to rest, although it shocked and surprised them; it was not because of either persons sin, but so the power of God could be revealed through him ( John 9:3).

We can almost imagine the disciples standing there, looking perplexed by Jesus’s response. How could this man’s blindness display God’s power? How could this terrible situation bring glory to God? How could his life serve a higher purpose that what we see before us?

The blind man’s sight was completely healed, but his healing wasn’t immediate. He wasn’t healed when Jesus put on the mud, but only after he obeyed what Jesus instructed him to do. The blind man was healed when he chose to obey the command of Jesus to “go.” Without questioning or hesitating, the man went and his obedience resulted in not only his healing, but discovering a purpose from his pain.

This man may have lived his entire life feeling inferior, unloved, rejected, excluded and possibly believing that he had no purpose. But there stood Jesus, telling everyone that this man’s life could serve as proof of the power of God. But it only happened because of his obedience.

We often talk ourselves out of obedience, rather that trusting and obeying God’s commands to “go.” But when we walk in faith, true healing and purpose can begin to take shape in our hearts and lives.

What a world this would be if we ask caught a glimpse of how God wants to turn our pain into purpose m and use our lives as proof of His power.

John 9: 1-7

What Does It Really Mean To Be Blessed

Feeling blessed. A quick look at social media shows how many people today feel blessed. In the social media world, saying you’re blessed can be a way of boasting while trying to sound humble,

College scholarship? Blessed. Unexpected raise? Blessed. Wonderful family? Blessed.

Christians we know that term too, of course. We pray God will bless our family. We attribute our undeserved gifts to “God’s blessings.” We talk about ministries being blessed. But what does it really mean? How should we understand the blessing of God?

The Good Life

“My trials grounded my faith in ways that prosperity and abundance never could.”

For believers, is the blessed life synonymous with the successful life? Is it the Christian version of the good life? A loving marriage, obedient children, a vibrant ministry, a healthy body, a successful career, trusted friends, financial abundance – if these are characteristics of a blessed life, then having them all should translate into an extraordinarily blessed life.

But does it! If someone had all those things, would they be extraordinarily blessed ?

Rather than turning to God, they might feel self-sufficient and proud. Perhaps a bit smug and self-righteous. After all their hard work would be yielding good fruit.

Moreover, they wouldn’t need to cry out to God for deliverance; everything would already be perfect. They wouldn’t need to trust God; they could trust themselves. They wouldn’t need God to fill them; they would already be satisfied.

God’s Richest Blessings

My desire for God is greatly fueled by my need. And it is in the areas of loss where I feel my need most intensely. Unmet desires keep me on my knees. Deepen my prayer life. Make me ransack the Bible for God’s promises.

Earthly blessings are temporary; they can all be taken away. Job’s blessing all disappeared in one fateful day. Our marriages are dissolve, our children can rebel, our health can spiral downward. Our dreams can be shattered in a bat of an eye.

In the midst of those painful events in our life, we can experience God’s richest blessings. A stronger faith than we had experienced before. A deeper love than we had ever known. A more intimate walk then we could ever explain. Our trials tend to ground our faith in ways that prosperity and abundance never can.

While our trials are not blessings in themselves, they are channels for them.

Like in Laura Story’s song, “Blessings” “What if your blessings come through rain drops? “What if trials in this life -the rain, the storms, the hardest nights – are our mercies in disguise?”

This revolutionary idea of blessing is also firmly established in Scripture.

The Common Thread

The ESV translation of the New Testament has 112 references with the words bless, blessing, or blessed, none of which connects blessings to material prosperity.

“Suffering and trials are not blessed in themselves, but they are channels for God’s grace.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn…. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake… Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you.”

Matthew 5:3-4; 10-11

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Luke 11:28

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.”

Romans 4:7; Psalms 32-1

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on… Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Revelation 14:13; 19:9

There is no hint of material prosperity or perfect circumstances in any Nee Testament reference. On the contrary, blessing is typically connected with either poverty and trials, or the spiritual benefits of being joined by faIth to Jesus.

In the Greek the word blessed is makarioi which means to be fully satisfied. It refers to those receiving God’s favor, regardless of the circumstances.

What is blessing, then? Scripture shows that blessing is anything God gives that makes us fully satisfied in Him. Anything that draws us closer to Jesus. Anything that helps us relinquish the temporal and hold on more tightly to the eternal. And often it is the struggles and trials, the aching disappointments and the unfulfilled longing that best enable us to do that.

Truly Blessed

“Unmet desires keep me on my knees and make me ransack the Bible for God’s promises.”

Pain and loss transforms us. While they sometimes unravel us, they can also push us into a deeper relationship with God than we ever thought possible. They make us rest in God alone. Not what we can do or achieve on our own.

In pain and loss we long for Presence. We long to know that God is for us and with us. Great families, financial wealth, and good health are all wonderful gifts we can ask God for, but they are not His greatest blessings. They make us delight, not in God, but in His gifts.

God’s greatest blessings always rest in God Himself. When we have that it is then we are truly blessed.

Gifted By Grace

The Bible teaches that all of us have uniquely placed gifts from God to be used by Him. What is the work of the Holy Spirit? How do we discover our giftedness and what it means to use our spiritual gifts?

God has built spiritual gifts into us and made them parts of us to be used for the benefit of others and His glory. Like all gifts from God, they are grace gifts. We do not deserve them, but because God loves us, He gives them to us. They provide motivation and help to shape what we would call personalities. Our giftedness was not an afterthought; it was a part of God’s plan to shape us for our role in building His Kingdom.

Most Christians are familiar with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are:

  • Wisdom
  • Understanding
  • Counsel
  • Knowledge
  • Piety (devotion)
  • Fear of the Lord
  • Fortitude

These gifts are given to Christians at their baptism. They make a person who possesses them disposed to make proper choices and todo the right thing.

The gifts of grace. While we do not deserve grace God gives this because He loves us. Here are more gifts:

  • Charity (Love)
  • Joy
  • Peace
  • Patience
  • Benignity (Kindness)
  • Goodness
  • Longanimity (Long-Suffering)
  • Mildness (Gentleness)
  • Faith
  • Modesty
  • Continence (Self-Control)
  • Chastity

Grace gifts is a gift that keep giving. It’s the dimension of God active within us, doing what we cannot do in the flesh. It is not static, but dynamic. It is ongoing. We cannot earn it, but there are things that we can do to open our lives more deeply to it.

While You Wait

Waiting on the Lord may be one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life. When Jesus promised that He would return, He instructed His followers to wait. That is easier said than done. So what do we do in the meantime? Whist do we do while we wait? What do we do until Jesus’s return.

1. Waiting on the Lord requires patient trust.

  • Waiting means that we give God the benefit of the doubt that He knows what He is doing.
  • Waiting in God’s way of seeing if we will trust Him before we move forward,

2. Waiting on God reminds us that God is in control.

  • Waiting reminds us that we’re not in charge.
  • Waiting reminds us that we are not God.

3. Waiting on the Lord allows God to do His work.

  • Gods timing is best.
  • God is working.

4. Waiting on God increases our strength.

No one likes to wait. But we wait in traffic, at the grocery store, at the doctors office, for our spouse, for a baby, for retirement, and for Jesus’s return.

Waiting is not just something we have to do while we get what we want. Waiting is the process of becoming what God wants us to be. What God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we’re waiting for. Waiting, biblical waiting, is not a passive waiting around for something to happen that will allow us to escape our troubles. Waiting does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It is not a way to evade unpleasant reality,

Those who wait are those who work, because they know their work is not in vain. The farmer can wait all summer for his harvest because he has done his work of sowing the seed and watering the plants. Those who wait on God can go about their assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and conclusions to their lives and the harvest to their toil. Waiting is the confident, disciplined, expectant, active, and sometimes painful clinging to God. It know that we will reap a reward.

When Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem, He was telling them that this was a means of experiencing His peace, His prosperity, and His power. In waiting they would catch the wind of God’s Spirit. In waiting they would see God move,

Waiting on the Lord requires patient trust

We live by the saying: Don’t just stand there, do something. While God often says to us: Don’t just to something, stand there.

  • Waiting means we give God the benefit of the doubt that He knows what He’s doing.
  • Waiting is God’s way of seeing if we will trust Him before we move forward.

That trust is a patient trust. Whether it has to do with our relationships, our finances, our careers, our dreams, or our churches. We have to trust that God knows what He’s doing.

Waiting on God reminds us God is in Control

Sometimes people ask, “But what do I do while I’m waiting?” Good question. During those waiting times take on the active role of a watchman. “ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,” declared David, “I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word. I wait for the Lord more than a watchman for the morning – more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalms 130:5-6). In biblical times, watchmen vigilantly guarded the city. They watched for enemies who might attack at night, and they waited for the sun to rise. They were alert and obedient, ready to respond when needed. When called upon, they sprang into action. But on the other hand, watchmen didn’t make things happen. They didn’t control the rising sun. They couldn’t speed up the process of the dawning of a new day. A watchman knew the difference between his job and God’s job,

Waiting reminds us that we are not in charge

We are the patient. We’re in the waiting room. In the real issues of life, we are waiting on God, therefore, we can trust His wisdom and His timing. I’ve heard it said that the person who waits on God loses no time. We can wait with confidence. Because we’re waiting for someone, ad that someone is God.

Waiting reminds us that we are not God

As humans, we want to fix things, we want to fix our problems, our relationships, our conflicts, our career, fix the world, and sometimes even our churches. Fixing and controlling situations are people is like trying to expedite the rising of the sun. From time to time we have to be reminded that we are not God (Aren’t you glad?). Our job is to be a watchman. We need to have a watch and attitude: a confident and alert expectation that God will do what He said He will do,

Waiting on the Lord allows God to do His work

Not only do we want to do God’s work, but we also want to speed up the process. We see how much we could do and should be doing, we see all the unmet needs, the people that hurt. We drive through our neighborhoods and are bombarded at the thought of how many people are spending eternity without God. We want to reach those people right now, but God is in control. We may ask God, “Why not now? Why not bring it to pass today?”

God’s timing is best

In the Old Testament book of Habakkuk, the prophet was asking similar questions.

“I will stand Guard post and shaking myself on the outlook shower. I will watch to see what he will say to me and what I hit reply about my complaint. The Lord answered me: write Down this vision clearly inscribe it on the tablet so you may easily read it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time it testified about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.

Habakkuk 2:1-3

God is working

During those times, we wait patiently on the Lord. We know that deep down He is working while it may be hidden deep in our character. In due time, God will reveal everything He’s grown in us. Those who wait will never be put to shame. We will never be disappointed.

Waiting on God increases our strength

Sometimes we struggle to remember that it is good to wait on the Lord. It isn’t easy. It goes against our grain of our quickfix society. But, there is a hidden benefit and waiting. And kind of waiting our souls revived and our spirits renewed. Isaiah wrote, “But, those who trust in the Lord they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint” Isaiah 40;31).

Time will come when those who wait on the Lord will soar.

You and I and the church will catch a gust of the Spirit. It will be this gust of the Spirit That the disciples in Jerusalem were instructed to wait on. It is the same gust of the Spirit what we need to wait on. And when it comes, hold on, because we will be soaring.

God is the great mover. We are to push, to work, and if we wait in patient trust, remembering that God is in control doing Him work increasing our strength, we will experience the move of God on our lives and in the church..