I believe the Lord is saying, ‘You know some things, BUT you must pray!’ Prayer is awareness! The spirit of prayer will be the corrective lenses thru which God’s view of the word is opened up to you. Prayer changes our posture from haughty to humble, from sinner to saint! Prayer unlocks the Mystery of Christ to you, within you and through you! Prayer will be the defining mark of what you have come to know and what you truly believe. Recently, I heard the question asked this way, ‘How is it that you believe in a supernatural God, but don’t believe in the supernatural?’ Prayer is the key to the mystery that changes your thinking to recognize Jesus is at the spiritual place of God’s right hand of power pleading for you! Don’t tell Him He’s changed and no longer moving in supernatural power. He is there interceding for you to grasp the concept of an open heaven so you might boldly come asking to receive His grace and power (Heb 4:16). I tell you truth, it is easier to listen to other preachers, read enlightening books, listen to spiritual music, and even read the Bible, but harder still to pray. Don’t misinterpret what I am saying, those things are good and necessary, but without the spirit of prayer, your life will be rather one dimensional missing the dynamic that can transform what you know in your head to what gets ahold of your heart! Psalm 40 is a psalm of powerful awareness in which David’s ears are opened in corrective fashion to realize the resources afforded him by the King of heaven. What do you have need of today? You must in faith believe “God IS, AND HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO SEEK HIM”. What is it that you seek? You will accomplish it in the place of prayer.
Tag: life
“Are You Saved”
“Are you saved?” I can remember as child a Baptist preacher saying every week without fail the words; ‘Are You saved?’ I believe those 3 words are possibly Baptist’s greatest contribution to the faith. You may know a lot about Him, but do you know Him? If there is no grieving or sorrow over your sinful condition…no witness of the Spirit, then you don’t know Him. For Jesus to truly save you, you must believe you are drowning and in need of saving—otherwise the broken cry for a savior is not heard and He cannot save. It is a matter of need…do you need Him? Do you see your very real need of His love and forgiveness? Or, do you see yourself ‘pretty good’– never considering that one sin…it’s rebellion like witchcraft that has you under a spell of deception never considering yourself that bad; it is your only weak link, but it is powerful enough to destroy your whole life with that one unredeemed failure. I see God is not mocked and sin must be atoned for. What are you doing and where are you taking your sin for atonement? Because what He takes, He covers–what He covers, He redeems, what He redeems He changes, and what He changes He keeps for Himself with a movement of the Spirit that directs my steps to increase as His disciple and witness. So, I ask you again, “Are You Saved…Are You Really Saved?”
She’s Only Asleep
Lk 8:49..; (amp) ‘Your daughter is dead!’ came the word to Jairus, ‘Don’t bother and weary the teacher anymore’, they said. Jesus addresses that situation and those words by saying to him, ‘don’t let your heart be seized with alarm and struck by fear, simply believe that I am able and she shall be made well’. There’s just something about His name, His presence and believing that He can make a way when everyone else gives up hope! They said, ‘don’t bother Jesus’, that sounds just like the ‘spirit’ of the the enemy who want you to ‘stay away from Jesus’. I mean really, consider the alternative as staying away from Jesus so the devil can have the power over your life to keep you bound and alarmed by fear–really? I don’t see Jesus settling for that alternative. Jesus instead urges Jairus to a simple faith and nothing else. He is not interested in mere casual relationship that only wants an encounter with Him because of an urgent or pressing need. He wants to prove Himself to you by arresting your fears resolving them to simple trust by faith in His ability to call back the spirit and say, ‘My Child live!’ He’s interested in the relationship that changes your life and revolutionizes your world changing your belief system, so that in the face of what people say is dead and gone, you see and experience His power over ‘life as we know it’! The little girl in the story had died, her body lifeless, yet Jesus knows how to call her spirit back to life. When Jesus says in Luke 8 (nlt), ‘she’s only asleep’, He meant it. It wasn’t that He didn’t recognize death, but He was ‘The Life’ and her condition was not fatal in His hands. The enemy is likely saying to you right now ‘don’t bother Jesus..don’t bother with Him anymore.’ Jesus, on the other hand would say differently; He would say, ‘seek Me now, I Am the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in me will live though he dies.’ Look it up, (Luke 8:50) Jesus is saying, ‘do not be afraid any longer only believe’ which is to say, put away your fears of failure, loss, or your lack of ability to change anything and walk with Me and watch and see!
The Cross that Gives Me Life
I sometime get that sense of God’s purpose for humanity and truly experience a desire to be used to reach others for His kingdom. In the middle of one of those thoughts, God brought a revelation to me; ‘you have abilities, or you think you do, but it’s not your abilities I need; it’s not your charm or charisma, not your personality or persona, no matter if you think it’s strong or weak. No, reaching men has nothing to do with your good intentions, or even what you think! Remember, ‘I told you to come to the cross and surrender your thoughts, intentions, and abilities or lack of them. I told you in My word to reckon ‘yourself’ to be dead, so I could live. This world doesn’t need to know who you think you are, it needs to know Me and who I Am! Surrender your thoughts to Me! As long as you live ‘your life’, you cannot reproduce Mine! The Apostle Paul said, ‘I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me….’ He further says, ‘whatever things were gain to me, I counted as loss that I could know Him and the power of His resurrection life!’ God says, ‘live My life and others will see Me through your surrender. They will see a brokenness that is evidence you serve me and not yourself, and you will prove to be my disciple whose actions reach many because of Who I Am!’
GraceLife 