All tagged spirit
What bubbles up from within us during prayer? Do we ever begin to pray and then hear ourselves as if from some faraway place; speaking to God in a language of groans and utterances that we can’t translate into words, but feel perfectly conversant in within our hearts? Our spirit, and the Holy Spirit that resides within us are speaking to God in a dialect unknown to us but understood perfectly in Heaven.
Have you prepared yourself for the challenges of faith ahead? Are you ready for the trials that lie before you, or are you totally out of spiritual shape? Be as Jesus was... ready for the moment of God's calling... be ready to join the Father in the race of your life.
The strongest people of faith that I know are those who are poor in spirit. This life was not chosen for them, but they chose it for themselves. Do you know such people? Are you one of them? Perhaps you are wondering what it actually means to be poor in spirit. Well, the very first blessing that Jesus taught us in the Beatitudes was about those who are "poor in spirit" and He does this for a reason. These are the people who yield all they are to the Spirit of God. They have laid down their own strength for the strength of God Himself. Is this who we believe ourselves to be? Are we poor in spirit?
Am I blessed as Jesus said I would be when He taught the Beatitudes? Do I see them as simple precepts for life, or does their spiritual undercurrent shake me? These very easily followed rules for living can improve the life of an unbeliever or elevate a person of faith to a dramatically higher spiritual plane. Are the Beatitudes impacting our lives and how? Do we read these blessings with the eyes of an unbeliever, or with the spiritual eyes of a true Christian?
I am thinking back to the moment I professed Jesus to be my savior, and the events that brought me to that decision. I am considering the strength of the gospel that I heard and comparing it to all the preaching I have heard since then. What made the message strike home with me that day? What have I heard since?
I went to sleep at my normal early hour last night, but I was awakened in a sweat, having been unsettled by a dream. I was worried about my teenage grandson who is at a crossroads in his life and is having a particularly rough time determining which way he should go. Through the Spirit, I knew I had been given this dream to comfort me and to teach and guide one of my grandsons. God often speaks to me through dreams it seems, and I felt that this was yet another of those occasions.
Are we running the race that God has laid out before us, or are we like the horse that never left the gate when the gun sounded? Is the call of the Lord fading into the distance, or are we following His call into an exciting adventure? These are the questions I would like us to ponder today.
We should want to live the resurrection life of Jesus. Our greatest desire should be to become one with Him and in Him with God. Is this our hearts desire now... not sometime in the distant future but right now? Are we living this unified life, and if not, are we striving for it every day, and with each breath we take? Does this blur the spiritual line too much for us? Well, let’s think about this today.
What will we become when Jesus returns? What awaits us in faith when we rise from slumber tomorrow, or for that matter, what does the next hour have in store for us? Our faith is not something that can be calculated and God awaits around every bend with a new treasure.
My thoughts this morning are centered on the state of purity. What does it mean to be pure of heart, and how is it possible to reach this level of righteousness? By becoming pure we know that we will see God, so it’s a very important subject for us to explore.
How do we reconcile our physical and spiritual selves so that they both mirror Jesus Christ? Sometimes we are so wrapped up in conforming our physical selves that we forget the spiritual side of who we are... or vice versa. Let’s look at this today and see if we can reach an understanding regarding who we really are, and why knowing this is important.
Today let’s examine our lives as we determine if we are presuming to know when and how God will enter into our affairs. I am personally trying to decide if I am attempting to control my circumstances, or if I am truly trusting in God. I am asking myself if I have been limiting His access to my life by not fully realizing that He will interact with me at His good pleasure. Will you join with me in this intimate exploration of our faiths? What I have found in my own quest may serve to enlighten you.
The subject of my devotional reading this morning was spiritual compassion, and the scriptural reference used to lead into this topic was Psalm 112:4. This Psalm begins by speaking about the characteristics of a man that fears the Lord and upholds His commandments. The psalmist lists things like prosperity, righteousness and fearlessness, and then builds to the apex of the message which is compassion. At this point the Psalm goes on to define a "good man" and each illustration given centers on compassion. Compassion is the true message of Psalm 112, and goes hand in hand with righteousness.
Experiencing religion, and the dichotomy of man, will be our topic of study today. We will explore who we are, and those moments of religious experience that are so important and life changing for us. Moments like our new birth in Christ, baptism, communion, Christening, marriage, foot washing, receiving the Holy Spirit, and all the other experiences of faith that form our lives, as well as our faith, and worship.
Are you having trouble finding the words to pray this morning? Is your heart so heavy that there just doesn't seem to be any way you can express the depth of your feelings to God? Well, maybe you are expressing yourself, but you just don't realize it. You are probably praying much more effectively than you think.