Monday, April 26, 2010

Same Spirit (part 2)




This is a continuation of sorts of the last article "Same Spirit (part 1)"

"Resurrection power in us. (Rom 8:11) What does it mean to us?" What does it mean to my mind, my health, my future?

Rom. 8:11 Same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you....

Rev. 1:6 and Rev. 5:10 We are kings and priests already.

Rom 5: 17,19, 21. We are to rule and reign with Him. What does that mean in our daily lives? How do we rule over our situations?

Well, much like we received salvation by believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, we believe the promise(s) from God and confess it with our mouth and it's ours.

This believing and confessing is the cornerstone of our faith. This is how we get well, how we get delivered, how we get direction--everything.
If I have believed and prayed and don't see the answers I ask the Lord if
a) I am to give thanks
b) see if there's an underlying issue that needs to be fixed first
c) Is it okay to ask for this now (especially material goods)
d) if I am to rest.

Sometimes you get the answer right away and sometimes it takes a while. That is when thanks giving and rest are vital.
For example, I prayed for years that my husband would get saved, almost by rote. Then one day it dawned on me to ask the Lord if there was something else I could do. He said, "I heard you the first time. Just keep thanking me that he is saved already."

So from then on, whenever troubling situations would arise I would just say out loud,"Thanks Lord that he is saved already. I leave the timing up to You Lord." That gave me such peace.

He got saved in a couple of months! After praying for years and years thanksgiving and rest were really the answer.

Matt. 10:1-10 Freely you have received, freely give. The Lord is delighted when we give to others what we have received. Love, comfort, peace and encouragement are things we can always give to others. It will make the Lord's heart glad and that's all the motivation I need!

Ps. 136. Mercy. Such mercy. Focus on God's mercy and love for those around you. Ask the Lord to use you everyday. Believe His word that He is living inside of you, that you are His ambassador, right here, right now. His mercy triumphs over all judgment.

John 14: 26 The helper will come along side and help. Amen! This is when life gets exciting! There's nothing like the joy Holy Spirit gives you when someone gets helped through your obedience. It's a high better than any high in the world.

Acts. 4:33 Holy Spirit Testified with them. He'll do the same for us. Sometimes you don't get the feelings and that's okay. We walk by faith and not by sight. (2Cor. 5:7) We can know that God is faithful, He cannot lie, He doesn't change and He's exalted His word above all His name. (1Cor. 1:9, Tit. 1:2, Mal. 3:6, Ps. 138:2) He's forever faithful and He will testify to our words and actions done with love in obedience to Holy Spirit's nudging. (Ps. 146:6, Acts 4:33)

How to step out of the boat.
Faith and boldness.
Ps. 138 and PRov. 28:1 "The righteous are as bold as a lion."
You need both faith and boldness to step out of the boat. "Faith without deeds is dead" so I always ask the Lord to let His compassion compel me to go outside my comfort zone or boat. LOL. (James 2:26) God will use any opening we give Him! It has been such a blessing! All those fresh testimonies keep my faith stoked and people realize that the God I serve is alive and that He loves them.

If you have never done this before then start like I did: I started speaking the word over myself like this...
"Thank You Lord that I am your ambassador today.(2Cor. 5:20) Thank You Lord that your miracle working power is flowing through me now. Thank You Lord that all the gifts of Holy Spirit are operational in me now because I have Holy Spirit in me. (1Cor 12:4,11) Thank You Lord for shedding your love abroad in my heart right now, by Holy Spirit. (Rom 5:5)

So go have fun! Live this Christian live on purpose and watch what God will do.
I bless you in the name of Jesus. I ask You Lord to make these promises alive to my sister and to show her how to make them hers. Protect her from all backlash and retaliation of the enemy as she becomes your handmaiden to a lost and weary world. Amen!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Same Spirit (part 1)



The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you! (Romans 8:11)

I know we've heard it before but it bears repeating. "The same Spirit that raised Jesus up from the grave dwells in you." (Rom. 8:11 my paraphrase)

I am convinced that we don't understand all that this verse implies.
In 1 John 4:17 we read that "...as Jesus is, so are we in this world."

If resurrection power, earth shattering, devil stomping power resides in me, in my spirit what am I doing with it?

What am I speaking to my situations? Am I exercising authority over them? Ouch... I wish I could say I was but sometimes it's hard to recognize the fight, because we've put up with failure so long.

Therefore I am asking the Lord to help me wise up to what's going on around me.

His power is the greatest thing around so I have got get better at releasing it into my situations. How you ask? The same way the disciples did. They were told to wait to be endued with power so they did and God came through. The result was Pentecost! They didn't just wait that one time either. Throughout the book of Acts it mentions how they prayed and asked for even more power! (Acts 4:29-33) What a thought! (I'm not doing even a tenth of what those disciples did!)

They spent time every day in prayer, seeking God. They also spoke what God told them to. They spoke words of authority like, "Stand up and walk."... commanding words that were not to be argued with. They had a revelation of who they were.

I don't know about you, but I never got anywhere begging God. The bible says that "He is waiting on us to make His enemies His footstool." (Heb. 10:13)

It would be very unkind to expect us to do something without giving us the tools to do it and since God is such a good Daddy, I know He's put the tools where we can reach them. He's not far from us. He's patient with us, not wanting any to perish. He wants us to get this.

The Bible contains more tools than I will ever need. So I am going to ask Him to reveal them to me day by day.

Let's pray.
Lord help me to make time to listen to You every day. Show me how to make you first in my life. Thank You Jesus for protecting my time with You. Help me to hear and trust Your voice. Thank You for leading me into Your word. Thank You for wisdom and revelation from the Bible. Thank You Lord Jesus for showing me what to speak over my life and circumstances. I thank you in advance for the answers you are giving me Lord. Amen!