Disciples Wholeheartedly Pursue Jeus and His Work – Part 2 — God’s love for us is true “real” love. It starts with Him not with us. Jesus is the groom; we are the bride. Our love for Him is because of His love for us. We love others because God loves us. This is why…
Disciples Choose Honor Over Shame — Disciples are meant to live their faith, love, values, and message openly before a watching world. Shame tries to keep us from boldly living in openness to the world around us. The voice of the accuser attempts to drive us to be silent or to water down the power…
His Voice is Safe — God speaks to us because He loves us. He is a safe Father, who speaks from the place of love and goodness. We can ask Him for wisdom and guidance. However, we tend to hear Him properly when we understand His loving heart toward us. We may not always understand…
Control — God does not dominate or control people, even though it is within His power to do so. Wherever and on whomever the Holy Spirit dwells, He is working toward our continued freedom. The broken nature of mankind is riddled with the need to control. However, our need to control occurs when we are…
Refinement in Forgiveness and Persecution – Persecution is a historical pattern. It takes on many forms, and it revisits society in various socially-acceptable ways. Persecution caused the Church of Acts to grow. It separated those who sought only blessing from those willing to deny self and minister life at their own personal expense. Part of…
Freely Receive, Freely Give — Disagreements can bring division or solutions. The end-result most often depends upon our commitment to each other and our love for Jesus over proving the winning and losing sides or the disagreement. Currently, the world is shouting various viewpoints very loudly. It is time for the Church to realize that…
Wholehearted Prayer and Fasting — The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray and is in-sync with the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit shows us where the Bible should shape our prayers, just as the Bible has the power to shape our thoughts and perspectives. He leads us into fasting so that we can affect lasting…
The Spirit Leads Our Prayers — Prayer and faith are not a formula. Do we ever copy other people’s prayer styles or accept their perspective of God’s will simply because we have failed to experientially developed our own? Is the world affecting our prayer life instead of the other way around? Are we surrendered to…
Citizens of Heaven – Part II – This section is Paul’s final thoughts for helping the Philippian Church focus on the most important areas of their faith. I can think of many other important concepts that Paul could have chosen to mention. However, he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to leave the Church with…
The Sufferings of Christ – Christ’s death was an investment into others’ healing, deliverance, and salvation. We were called to partner in His suffering. This kind of suffering denies our carnal desires and positions us for right-living. In other words, the pursuit of God’s desires is synchronous with the laying down of our own carnal…
