THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is God set apart for us, sent to us by the Father in the name of Jesus to be in us and with us and for us and through us.  Holy means set apart; in this case God setting Himself apart for His children, to be present in them and with them forever.  The Holy Spirit is sent.  He came to dwell in us.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Paul tells us that our bodies as Christians are the temples of the Holy Spirit.  He lives in us as a Gift we have received from God.  We are not on our own.  He is there for us in all that we do 24-7.  He is ever present in us to help us.  We are bought with a price—-the precious blood of Jesus.  We are paid for and made His own.  So then, we honor God and we bring glory to Him in our bodies.

Also, in 2 Corinthians 6:16 Paul once again reminds us that we are the temples of the living God, of the Holy Spirit.  God has said that He will dwell in us and walk in us and that He will be our God and we shall be His people.

Temples—-we are the abiding place of God.  He lives in our bodies.  Our bodies are the place where He chooses to live now, not the man-made buildings.  We are God’s building, and our bodies are where He has chosen to dwell, as we allow Him.  That is why satan hates it when we dance before the Lord, raise our hands in praise to Him, adore Him with our voices joining in choruses of worship and joy.  Our whole bodies are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God.  He is the same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead, and He is dwelling in our mortal bodies, giving life to our bodies (Romans 8:11).  Oh, my dear reader, disease, doubt, unbelief, fear has no place in this indwelt temple of the living God. Let us be in constant awareness of Who lives in us.

Living here on this earth, even in the middle of the Babylonian world system, even surrounded by trouble of all kinds, can be easy and should be a place of rest as we allow the Holy Spirit of God to empower us at all times to live a victorious life.  Unfortunately, what we all have tended to do is attempt to solve our problems on our own, out of panic and fear that if we don’t do something immediately, everything will come unraveled and fall apart.  That is exactly the devil’s tactics.  Hurry up and do something.  When you find yourself in that mode, STOP, STAND STILL and say:  Holy Spirit, give me the voice and the words to pray in the spirit until I KNOW what to do through you.

In John 14:16 and John 16:13 Jesus said that He would ask the Father and He will give us another Comforter (One of the same kind as Jesus; in other words, God in the person of the Holy Spirit) that He may remain with us forever.  He is the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive.  But we know Him.  We recognize Him.  We hear His voice.  He lives in us constantly.  He is with us.

The Holy Spirit is sent by God the Father in the name of Jesus, in Jesus’ place, to represent Jesus, and to act on His behalf.  He will teach us all things.  He will bring all things to our remembrance.  What I find interesting is that in the very next verse Jesus said that He was leaving His Peace with us.  The Holy Spirit is our Peace.  He is our Shalom.  He is our Wholeness.  He is our Health.  He is our Prosperity.  He is our Salvation.  He is God Eternal!  Jesus says that because of His Peace, Who is the Holy Spirit (Whom God is giving to us) we do not have to let our hearts be troubled or be afraid.  We are not to allow ourselves to be agitated or disturbed.  We are not to permit ourselves to be fearful or intimidated or cowardly or unsettled.  What a wonderful assurance in the days in which we all find ourselves living.  Let the Holy Spirit be our everything, the solution to all that faces us.

Tomorrow we will talk about the many roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

THE SENSES OF THE SPIRIT

These are the senses of the Spirit man.  It is always interesting to me how our bodies parallel our spirits and how we parallel our God in all things.  Read and meditate.  The Spirit of God gave me these several days ago.

Smell the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley (Jesus).

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Everyone who touches Him is made whole.

The eyes of my understanding are being enlightened.

Having ears to hear, hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying.

SIT DOWN

In Ephesians 1 and 2 Paul gives us a photograph of God’s vision of us.  In Ephesians 2:4-7 we read that God is so rich in His mercy.  Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him (made Him alive), for it is by grace that we are saved (delivered and made partakers of Christ’s salvation.

He raised us up together with Him and made us SIT DOWN together, giving us joint seating with Him in the heavenly sphere by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One.  Why did God do all this?  He did this so that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable, limitless, surpassing riches of His free grace in His kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

Our position today is one of sitting down.  In the spirit realm, we are sitting at rest, enjoying the fruit of all of Jesus Christ’s labor while He was here on this earth.  He defeated the devil and all his demonic works for us; He reconciled us to the Father; He opened the way for us to be God’s children once again.  He gave us the victory over sin, sickness, circumstances, everything that would be placed against us.  We are seated with Christ Jesus.  Where is He?  He is at the right hand of the Father.  Is there any sickness and disease or poverty or lack or defeat at the right hand of the Father?  Of course not.  That is a resounding NO!

God’s vision is wholeness in every area of our lives.  He has given us His vision in His Word.  We must develop His vision by staying in His Word.  Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Word (Psalm 119:18).  Without God’s vision, we perish or are made naked.  We are afraid (Genesis 3:10 and Proverbs 29:18).

Today is the beginning of a change of seeing, a change of vision.  In order to change that vision, we must keep God’s Word before us day and night.  That is the photograph and vision we want to see of ourselves.  This is my prayer for all of us:  Ephesians 1:17,18  Father, God of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Glory, may the eyes of our understanding, the eyes of our hearts be flooded with the Light of Your Word so that we can see clearly Who we are—-we are your children, a duplicate of You.  We look like You.  We talk like You.  We walk like You.  We act like You.

GOD’S COUNSEL OF SUCCESS

Psalm 16:7-9,11

I will bless the Lord Who has given me counsel.

Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

I have set the Lord continually before me.

Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices.

My body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety.

You will show me the path of life.

In Your presence is fullness of joy.

At Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

It is the Lord Who gives us counsel, even as we sleep.  When we seek Him first in our lives, He is there to direct us and guides us in all our affairs of life.  Therefore, we do not have to be moved off our stand of faith and trust in Him.

God has everything for us in the palm of His hand.  If He can measure the depth of the oceans with one drop of water in His hand, He can surely carry in the palm of His hand His plans for us.  The only thing that stops the Lord from bringing the fullness of the pleasures to us is our lack of trust in Him.  We become so afraid that it won’t happen for us personally that we are even afraid to trust anymore.  We have all been there.  Our thinking goes something like this:  It didn’t happen when I thought I was believing with all my heart.  Couldn’t He have come through for me!  Why does it have to be so hard?  Why do others receive and I don’t?  What is wrong with me?  Honestly, isn’t that what we think?

Let’s finally put to rest the past failures of unbelief.  Let’s bury that mentality.  So what if you didn’t believe before?  Are you going to let it dictate the rest of your life?  If there weren’t results, get up and go again.  Get on that horse and ride it again.  If you fall off, get up, dust off your britches and try again until you learn to ride that horse.  Stop letting the failure history dictate your future.  Decide to believe, in spite of everything to the contrary.  What have you got to lose?  If you don’t believe, it won’t happen anyway, so why not believe and give God an opportunity to release His Blessing upon you.

We are to rest confidently in Him for He will show us the path of life.  We all know that in His Presence is a fullness of joy and contentment that we can get nowhere else.  With Him we will enjoy our lives throughout all eternity.

Let us make a quality decision today (one from which we do not turn back) that we will trust the Lord to be in charge of our lives and that we will allow Him to give us all the treasures that He has laid up for us who are His children.  There are multitudes of blessings that we have not even begun to receive.  Today and every day is your day of receiving.  Take it now.  Grab hold of it!  And don’t let go!  And don’t let that forward pass of God’s blessing be fumbled from your hand of receiving!

DECLARE

Today we are looking at three scriptures—one is what the Lord declares over us and the other two are what we are to do.  We are to speak of the Glory of God’s Kingdom and talk about His power.  You see, when that is what we speak, we are saturating the atmosphere of the earth and the heavens with the Presence of God, Love Himself, Who is the greatest power in the universe.  There is no greater power than He is.  Decide to speak it and decree it and establish it forever.  God has a future full of hope for all of us.

I challenge each of my readers for the next 30 days to saturate the atmosphere of this nation with continual speaking of the glory of God and the power of God.  Release it into the very atmosphere around your home and your neighborhood and your city and your state and your country.  I am challenging you to join with me.  Then I want to hear from you.  What happened?  If you meet with resistance, double up on your speaking and don’t bow to the enemy.  WATCH GOD MOVE!  He is waiting for you.

Jer. 29:11 from KJV, NKJV, Amplified, NLT, NAS, The Message, Jerusalem Bible, The New English Bible, Complete Jewish Bible, James Moffatt Translation, NIV, Holman Christian Standard Bible, English Standard Version

This is the Lord’s declaration; it is Yahweh Who speaks:

For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord; they are thoughts of peace.

I know the plans I have in mind for you—-plans for welfare, plans for peace, plans for good, plans for well-being, plans to prosper you, plans for wholeness.

For I keep in mind My purpose for you.

I alone know My purpose for you—-prosperity and a long line of children.

I know what I’m doing.

I have it all planned out—-thoughts and plans to give you a future and a hope in your final outcome, to give you an expected end, reserving a future full of hope for you.

Psalm 145:11, Amplified Bible

They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom, and talk of Your Power.

Job 22:28, Amplified Bible

You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you, and the light [of God’s favor] shall shine upon your ways.

SET APART FOR GOD

Hebrews 3:1

I am consecrated and set apart for God.

I am a partaker of the heavenly calling.

I thoughtfully and attentively consider, contemplate Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of my profession or confession.  I have confessed Him as mine.

You and I are set apart for God.  He has a purpose for each of us.  We are to partake of that purpose or calling.  What I find interesting here in this verse is that as we are considering that calling, we are to pay attention to Jesus, Who is the Apostle (sent One) and High Priest (One Who carries the sacrifice or offering of our confession into the Father).

That word “profession” here in this passage of scripture is the word homologia which means covenant; acknowledge; speak the same as; agreement; speak agreeable to; consent to; to say the same thing; give thanks.

As we speak in agreement with God (the Word, He is the Word.), He, the Word, sets us apart unto Himself and causes us to partake in our calling.  It is He Who does it and not we ourselves.  All we do is agree with Him.  We agree with His Word.  There is power in agreement.  When we agree with God, we are agreeing with power Himself.  When we say the same thing as He says, we are releasing His ability in our lives.  We are releasing His Kingdom into our lives.  We are releasing His power on our behalf.

Giving thanks is one of the highest form of agreement.  When we thank someone for something, we are accepting what they have given to us.  When we give thanks to God, we are agreeing with Him and telling Him that we acknowledge what He has given to us.  Let me say it again:  There is power in agreement.  But even more dynamic is this sentence:  There is unlimited power in agreement with God.  It’s time to release His power in our lives.

THE EYES OF THE LORD

The eyes of the Lord are upon us as His righteous ones.  He is ever mindful of our place in His home.  He is our dear Heavenly Father Who loves us with an everlasting love.  He sees us at all times and takes note of our needs and desires and wishes.  He is an awesome daddy God.

1 Peter 3:12

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers….

Proverbs 5:21, KJV and Amplified Bible

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He ponders (carefully weighs) all man’s goings.

2 Chronicles 16:9

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him….

Job 31:4; 34:21

Does not He see my ways, and count all my steps?

For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He sees all his goings.

Proverbs 15:3

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Jeremiah 16:17

For mine eyes are upon all their ways:  they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.

Hebrews 4:13

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight:  but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

God sees all!  He hears all!  There is nothing hidden from Him.  All is open and exposed before Him, both the good and the bad.  He sees us through the eyes of His Son Jesus and he loves us in spite of what we do or don’t do.  His eyes are filtered by the blood of His Son Jesus.  He sees us as His righteous ones.  All we have to do is agree with Him and accept our place because of Jesus.  What a God we serve!  It gives me great comfort to know that He watches over me.  His eyes are upon the righteous to show Himself strong on our behalf.

THE HOPE OF HIS CALLING

Ephesians 1:16,17,18

I pray to You, God of my Lord Jesus Christ, Father of Glory, that You would grant me the spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets, in the deep and intimate knowledge of You.

Here in verse 16 we are asking our Father to show us Himself, to give us wisdom and understanding of His nature, of His Kingdom.  He is the One with insights into the mysteries and secrets of His realm.  As we seek Him daily and spend time in His Word, we come to know Him and His ways and learn how to walk in those ways ourselves.

The eyes of my understanding being enlightened, of my heart being flooded with light—–

So that—–

I may know and understand—–

(1)  What is the hope of Your calling

(2)  What is the riches of the glory of Your inheritance in me, your set-apart one

(3)  What is the exceeding, unlimited, immeasurable, surpassing greatness of your dunamis, resurrection power toward me, in me and for me who believes.

God demonstrated the greatness of His marvelous power when He raised Christ Jesus from the dead.  That same power is in you and me right now if we are born again, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.  Interestingly enough, that power will lie there dormant until we learn about it and how to allow the Spirit of God to operate in our lives.  The power is there in us.  That is the hope of His calling.  He is calling you and me to a higher ground than we have ever attained before in our lives.

IT’S A HOLY CALLING

Every person on the face of this earth was born to a destiny laid out for them by God Almighty.  It is a holy calling because it is God’s calling.  You are born for a purpose.  Yes, you!  Regardless of who you are or where you are right now, you were born to fulfill the plan of God for your life.  A calling is a plan.  It is God’s plan for you.  If you do not know what that plan is, ask Him.  He will tell you.  It will be made clear to you.  How will He tell you?  It may not be a loud voice saying:  Thus saith the Lord……  It may as simple as this:  I really like to do ________.  That is more than likely your calling.

People have gotten confused with the word “calling” thinking that it means someone who is called to a pulpit ministry.  No, no!  Your calling is what God has purposed for you and you alone to do.  It is the place where you find the most joy and peace.  There are people who are born, live and die and never fulfill what God has called them to do because they are afraid to step out in what they sense they enjoy doing.  God will make the way clear for you.  Whatever He calls you to do, He already has the provision to fulfill that plan.

2 Timothy 1:9,10 (Personalized)

It is God Who has saved me and called me with an holy calling, not according to my works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given me in Christ Jesus before the world began.  It is now made manifest by the appearing of my Savior Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death (made it of no effect) and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (Personalized)

God, I pray that You would count me worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of Your goodness and the work of faith with power.

Yes, it is God Who has called you according to His own purpose.  He gives you His grace to fulfill that calling.

EXPECTATION

Expect:  To look, that is, to reach forward, or to fix the eyes

I once heard a minister say that he expects to receive from God all the time.  That sentence has been in the front of my spirit ever since I heard it.  God expects us to receive what He gives to us.  He has so many gifts for us of health and prosperity and peace and joy and gentleness and faith.  I could extend the list but you get the idea.  How can we get something which we are not expecting?  I think that God has compassion on us and because of His great and awesome love for us, He simply has to do something to spill over on us.  That’s commendable, but wouldn’t it be better to receive from Him on a daily basis and give Him great pleasure.

Say this with me:

I expect to receive from God all the time.

I believe I receive.  I take it now.

You might want to make a list of the things you see in the Bible and that God tells you to expect and keep them before you and speak out what you are expecting.  It is time to expect and receive.  Do you know that the best time to get your “expecter” out there is when everything seems to be going the opposite direction of what you need or want!  When all looks bleak and dismal and there doesn’t seem to be anything good happening in your life, deliberately, on purpose, stand still wherever you are and expect something good to happen to you.

Have you been released from your job?  Expect a better one.  Have you lost money in your retirement account?  Expect more money than what you lost.  Have your children gone out and done things contrary to the way they were raised?  Expect them to come into the fullness of what God has for them.  Has your spouse told you that he/she wants out of the relationship?  Expect God to supply the emotional needs of your soul.  I think you get the picture.  You might say that I am expecting the impossible!  Yes, that is it!  We serve a God whose power is greater than the impossible.  All things are possible with Him.

Here are a few scriptures to help you on expectation.  Think on them.  Ponder them.  Speak them.  Believe them.

Proverbs 23:18, Amplified Bible

For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Proverbs 24:14, Amplified Bible

So shall you know skillful and godly Wisdom to be thus to your life; if you find it, then shall there be a future and a reward, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

What have you got to lose?  Expecting something and getting all of it or part of it is better than not expecting anything and not getting anything.  I know what you are thinking.  If I don’t expect anything, I won’t be disappointed.  Really!  You are disappointed and discouraged already if that is where you are (and all of us have been there on more than one occasion).

EXPECT!  GOD HAS GREAT THINGS FOR YOU!