Putting God's Word into practice - that's what we want to do. When David was facing Goliath, he first went to the river bed, picked up five smooth stones and put them in his bag. Why FIVE smooth stones? Goliath had four brothers. In your life, God has give you five smooth stones. They are in your bag and they will subdue Goliath and all his brothers.
The first of the five smooth stones is PRAISE. God instructs us to praise Him not because He has a big ego and needs to hear how great He is. No! He tells us to praise Him because WE need to hear how great HE is. Plus our enemy needs to be told what we know about God and His power. Praise is us saying what God is and what He has done. Praise is not warm fuzzies and emotional dribble about how we "feel" about God. There is a place for that emotional display, but praise is something very different.
Praise is you telling you Who God is and What God has done. When you praise God, your inner ear hears the Truth which will subdue what your eyes are seeing (i.e. the circumstance). This is putting into practice "walking by faith and not by sight". Praise is re-MINDING you of the power of God over those circumstances you are looking at and over the emotions you are feeling. Because Jesus Christ stripped the devil of all his powers, deceit is the enemy's ONLY option. Using deceit, the enemy plants thoughts and pushes emotional buttons to try and get you to be your own worst enemy and act contrary to God and to your best interest. DON'T TAKE THE BAIT! It's not you - it's your enemy. Recognize the difference. Then, use praise to send the enemy packing! Praising God is your trump card - it beats the enemy every time.
How does the smooth stone get from you to the giant's head to bring him down? The slingshot that give velocity and direction to that smooth stone is your very own mouth. God provides everything you need - you just need to open up your mouth and SAY IT!
Next blog will reveal smooth stone #2!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
To quench or not to quench...and WHO to quench; that is the question.
Dear Ones,
You have been given the greatest gift on this planet...the Holy Spirit of Christ IS the gift of God to us. Christ Jesus thought it so important for you to have the Comforter. He said that this gift would be what would make us different from all others on this planet. When you have the Holy Spirit, you ARE a new creation, i.e., a human being with the very Spirit of Christ living in your earthen body; that had never before happened in the history of this world. Yet, I see many Christians living without allowing this power to transform them and their situations. God told us in 1 Corinthians 14 the value, the perks, the benefits of having this gift. But our enemy tries to do the "Jedi mind trick" by saying things like, "You need to think this through.", "You need to figure this out.", and all other such LIES. The truth is that the Holy Spirit is the only one who knows what you should do and he communicates that to you by by-passing your mind and speaking to your spirit...that what speaking in tongues is--building you up in faith, giving you courage and direction.
The one you need to quench is the father of lies, Satan. His kingdom of darkness will never help you out! He always means to do you harm no matter how fancy he dresses up the lies. I often see Christians letting him talk unhindered. Throughout the day, they listen to his thoughts, reasonings and arguments until they end up adopting these thoughts as their very own. Soon, they are being directed by this mindset into the very pit they need to avoid. All the while, the Holy Spirit is available to that very same human so that they may overcome Evil with the Good that God has given us. The Holy Spirit is good. Praying in the Spirit is good. It is good for you. It is good for the Kingdom of His dear Son. The Holy Spirit will always benefit you. Every transaction with Him will result in good.
For instance,when you "bring a thought captive" to Him, you get wisdom and truth instead of the stinky lies the enemy was trying to pawn off on you. When you "cast your care" on Him, you get peace instead of the turmoil the enemy had planned for you.When you "give thanks" rather than complain, you get power going that will actually change the circumstances for the better! Complaing opens the door for the Destroyer to work against you, but thanks giving slams the door on destruction and makes the way for God's GOOD will to come into your arena.And, best of all, when you praise Him, you send evil FAR from you-praise is your best tool to "resist the devil." Notice how many quotation marks are in the last few sentences...that is because these are quotes from the Bible! These are instructions from God's very own Word that tell us how to overcome.
Being do-ers of the Word results in lfe, life, life(there is the abundant life He came to give us!) but, the enemy desires us to squander that life by worrying, fearing, complaining. Wake up. Shake off those heavy bands, lift up those Holy hands and praise the Lord!! Let ALL God's people Praise the Lord. Say His praises with YOUR mouth. Cleanse the atmosphere around you by praise and thanks.
You have been given the greatest gift on this planet...the Holy Spirit of Christ IS the gift of God to us. Christ Jesus thought it so important for you to have the Comforter. He said that this gift would be what would make us different from all others on this planet. When you have the Holy Spirit, you ARE a new creation, i.e., a human being with the very Spirit of Christ living in your earthen body; that had never before happened in the history of this world. Yet, I see many Christians living without allowing this power to transform them and their situations. God told us in 1 Corinthians 14 the value, the perks, the benefits of having this gift. But our enemy tries to do the "Jedi mind trick" by saying things like, "You need to think this through.", "You need to figure this out.", and all other such LIES. The truth is that the Holy Spirit is the only one who knows what you should do and he communicates that to you by by-passing your mind and speaking to your spirit...that what speaking in tongues is--building you up in faith, giving you courage and direction.
The one you need to quench is the father of lies, Satan. His kingdom of darkness will never help you out! He always means to do you harm no matter how fancy he dresses up the lies. I often see Christians letting him talk unhindered. Throughout the day, they listen to his thoughts, reasonings and arguments until they end up adopting these thoughts as their very own. Soon, they are being directed by this mindset into the very pit they need to avoid. All the while, the Holy Spirit is available to that very same human so that they may overcome Evil with the Good that God has given us. The Holy Spirit is good. Praying in the Spirit is good. It is good for you. It is good for the Kingdom of His dear Son. The Holy Spirit will always benefit you. Every transaction with Him will result in good.
For instance,when you "bring a thought captive" to Him, you get wisdom and truth instead of the stinky lies the enemy was trying to pawn off on you. When you "cast your care" on Him, you get peace instead of the turmoil the enemy had planned for you.When you "give thanks" rather than complain, you get power going that will actually change the circumstances for the better! Complaing opens the door for the Destroyer to work against you, but thanks giving slams the door on destruction and makes the way for God's GOOD will to come into your arena.And, best of all, when you praise Him, you send evil FAR from you-praise is your best tool to "resist the devil." Notice how many quotation marks are in the last few sentences...that is because these are quotes from the Bible! These are instructions from God's very own Word that tell us how to overcome.
Being do-ers of the Word results in lfe, life, life(there is the abundant life He came to give us!) but, the enemy desires us to squander that life by worrying, fearing, complaining. Wake up. Shake off those heavy bands, lift up those Holy hands and praise the Lord!! Let ALL God's people Praise the Lord. Say His praises with YOUR mouth. Cleanse the atmosphere around you by praise and thanks.
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