The Holy Spirit Teaches and Reminds Us

 

John 14:26

But The Advocate, The Holy Spirit, Whom The Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

    This is being empowered by God. It is not of our own strength that we accomplish the tasks set before us by our heavenly Father, but through the power of His Holy Spirit. We are weak, and the burden of carrying such a heavy load would break us to such an extent that we would fall and not get back up. 

    But God says that His Holy Spirit would bring everything that His Son Jesus Christ said to us back into our minds and on our tongues what we need to know and when we need to speak it. However, if none of The Word of God is in us, there will be nothing to remember. 

    So, we attach ourselves to our Bibles, studying God's Word for ourselves. We fill ourselves daily, preferable in the morning, because that is the first part of our day (for those who begin their days in the morning). David writes in Psalm 63:1, "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You, my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is."

    I don't know about you, but I am always thirsty for a cold glass of water when I wake up after a night's sleep. David was in the wilderness of Judah. I have only been in the landscape of dreams and nightmares. But we both wake up and seek God early in the morning. In the peacefulness of the moment, before the household is awake; before the birds begin to sing; as the sun kisses the sky. It is wonderful to be alone with God. 

    Without a study life I wouldn't know how to start my day. Without a prayer life, where would I be? I would be filled with anxiety and unsureness, like I used to be before I began to fill up on The Word of God. No longer am I empty and dry like a barren well: there is Living Water in me and The Second Wind blows over the surface of the water, empowering It to move in me and through me. 

    John 7:38, 39

"Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of Living Water will flow from within him.’ " He was speaking about The Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

    The first Wind that blew through us was the breath of God, giving us life. The second Wind blowing through us is God Himself, His Holy Spirit, renewing us, strengthening and restoring us moment by glorious moment. He brings The Word of God to our minds and our hearts, convicting us where necessary in order that we may be aware of what else within us needs to submit to God (called to repentance), that we might be fully surrendered as we have promised we would be. 

    We must have an earnest desire to learn what God wants to teach us. Many have opened their Bibles to disavow The Word of God, only to find themselves submitting to The Word of God. Many an atheist has laid hold of The Word only to find The Word laying hold of them. The godless have encountered God and become some of His staunchest supporters. Nothing is too difficult for God. 

    I have a few study themes within me just waiting to be poured out, but they cannot all come rushing out at once. One thing at a time. No pushing, no shoving. As the seasons shift throughout the year, so, too, does The Wind and The Water within me. This is a time of submission and surrender. Submit to God's Will for my life and my family's life. Surrender to God's Will with all my heart and my mind. 

    We are empowered by this Second Wind, this Second Breath, to persevere; to go forward under great trials regardless of the cost. [Hebrews 12:1, 2]. We are empowered by this Second Wind to pursue the mission we have been given, namely to share the gospel message of salvation and repentance through Jesus Christ. [John 20:19-22]. 

    We are empowered to witness, be willing martyrs, if necessary, for the sake of the gospel. [Acts 1:8]. We are empowered to speak other languages to reach people who want to hear the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. [Acts 2:1-10]. We are empowered to be bold as lions [Proverbs 28:1]; wise as serpents, and blameless as doves [Matthew 10:16]. We are empowered to resist (stand against, oppose) the devil [James 4:7]. 

    But only after we have submitted to God. Submission. Surrender. Empowerment. It is enough to be here in this place, at this time. 

Father, may Your Wind empower me that I might accomplish the tasks You have set before me. Amen.

MORNING WORSHIP - Ember and Altar

    

    

    

    

Warrior of The Word - Your Word In My Heart

 

Deuteronomy 11:18

Fix these Words of Mine in your hearts and minds; tie Them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Deuteronomy 6:6

These Words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.

Psalm 37:31

The Law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.

Psalm 40:8

I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart. (both statement of actual fact at that time AND prophetic statement revealed in Christ [Hebrews 10:1-18])

Jeremiah 31:33

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares The LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 

Romans 7:22

For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

Psalm 119:16, 24, 47, 92

I will delight myself in Thy Statutes: I will not forget Thy Word. [Testimonies (v24), Commandments (v47), Law (v92)]

    Memories take place in that part of the body that is separate from the flesh and bones frame which is formed with touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight. But there is another part of us that has a heart and a mind which also contain memory. It is our souls and our souls are eternal. Which means that even after these bodies of flesh and bone that die and decay, our soul will continue beyond the grave. 

    Now is the time to strengthen our souls that we may live beyond the grave. We do this when we exercise The Word of God in our hearts by trusting in His Word; by being obedient to His Word. First we take in His Word by hearing It, which causes our faith to grow. It is both Sun and Rain to the Seed of Faith which has been planted in our soul hearts. 

    Secondly, we take in His Word when we read It. Reading our Bibles every day is a privilege, for many are still without a whole Bible or a Bible written in their language. Some have memorized chapters of Scripture because a single page is all they ever had. The Word is precious, and even a small amount can do wonders: For The Word of God is Living and Enduring. The Living Word changes the Seed of Faith within our soul hearts, causing us to grow in Him and He in us. 

    Thirdly, we take in His Word when we dream Him. There are places where His Word is not allowed, yet He reveals Himself to men and women there to bring them into Himself and His kingdom. Dreams which reveal that Jesus Christ is The Messiah, The Only Begotten Son of God, are revelatory dreams, revealing God's great Love for them, filling them with wonder and urgency. 

    The more of God's Law, God's Word, that is in us, the more we want. [Matthew 5:6]

We are never satisfied with just a little bit of godly knowledge: we are always hungry for more. Yet there must be moments of rest, as well. So we rest in The Lord, while our souls digest what we have already taken in. In this we are content. 

    While we are taking in God's Word, Law, Commandments, and Statutes, The Holy Spirit of God is writing these things on our hearts. As The Finger of God wrote on the wall in Daniel 5:5, so, too, does He write on our hearts [Ezekiel 36:26, 27]. The verse in Daniel is both a warning and a promise of destruction [Daniel 5:6-28]. The verses in Ezekiel are a promise for the believer; not just for that time of our salvation, but for our continued walk with God by His Spirit. 

    Fifty days after Christ ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God, God sent His Holy Spirit first to those who were waiting together [Acts 2:1-4], then to all who believed [Acts 2:38, 39; 4:31; 10:44-48; 11:1-18; 13:52; 19:6; Ephesians 5:18; Joel 2:28, 29 (Spirit poured out on all the people who return to The Lord with repentant hearts [Joel 2:12-17]); Isaiah 44:3 (Spirit poured out on seed)].

    We who are alive today are some of the people to whom The Holy Spirit had been promised. We who have repented of our sins, turning our backs on worldly pleasures and giving our minds and hearts to heavenly treasures, are receiving God's Holy Spirit, Who reveals godly wisdom to us through our faith in Jesus Christ. 

    We rise up in prayer to our God and He empowers us to go outward into the world to preach the gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. He empowers us to walk upright before The Lord. He empowers us to speak in other languages that we might more readily share, bear witness of, The Testimony we have seen and heard. 

    We are Warriors of The Word and His Word is in our hearts. 

Prayer Cards - Pray In The Spirit

Ephesians 6:18

 Pray in The Spirit at all times, 

with every kind of prayer and petition.

To this end, stay alert

with all perseverance in your prayers

for all the saints.

Jude 1:20-21

But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in The Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life. 

Romans 8:26

Likewise The Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God sent The Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, you are also an heir through God.

    To pray "in The Spirit" is to have the right desires within us, which can only be put there by The Spirit. It is to pray first for one's self, that the strength of The Lord would be given us to overcome what we are battling. Second, it is to pray--intercede, stand in the gap--for other Christians who are fighting their battles, that they would stand strong against the wiles--the sneakiness--of the enemy, maintain their witness, sharpen their testimony and in so doing overcome the enemy which they are fighting against. 

    Yes, the battle does indeed belong to The Lord, but we must be fully equipped nonetheless that we might disengage ourselves from worldly principles and embrace the spiritual foundation--Jesus Christ--upon which we have built our life. This passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 discusses the armor which the Christian, the born-again believer, must always have on. And praying in The Spirit is part of that armor. 

    It must be used not only daily, but wielded in the right way. When we pray for ourselves, it is that we pray for strength to endure, wisdom to persevere, knowledge and understanding to retain The Word within us. We pray for The Spirit of Excellence (Daniel 6:3) to fill us daily, as life is lived day by day and not all at once. Sometimes we just won't know how to pray for ourselves: it is then that The Spirit of God intervenes for us and speaks to God Himself. 

    When we pray for other Christians, we pray as The Spirit leads us. Sometimes He wakes us up to pray for each other because of some tumultuous battle the other is going through. So, we get up and pray. And when the battle's over, we usually fall back asleep. Sometimes, we pray for each other at the altar, where worship takes place and The Spirit moves freely among God's people, touching first one, then another, to go and pray for this man or that woman, this daughter or that son. 

    Random strangers will cross our paths: sometimes a child of God, most of the time someone seeking God: The Spirit will lead us to pray with that person, if they are so inclined. Some will even ask for prayer. Always be ready to pray. 

    Sometimes the call for urgent prayer lasts all night long, as in Daniel 2:17-23, when the need for both dream and interpretation needed to come from God.  Another excellent example is found in John 17. Jesus praying in the night first, for Himself; then, for His disciples and third, for us who would believe what His disciples had to say concerning Himself. 

   Arm yourselves. The battle is coming and has even now commenced for many. Pray for yourselves. Pray for other Christians. Pray 

*for your families (even the generations to come) 

*for the strangers among you

*for your enemies: for the people who don't like you, who hate you and swear at you, who curse you, who make fun of you for being a Christian, 

 to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that He is God's only begotten Son. Pray that they, too, would know the joy of The Lord and be filled with His Holy Spirit.  Pray that they would be ready. 

BY YOUR SPIRIT 

MY GOSPEL

    

Names of Christ - I AM Alpha & Omega

 Revelation 1:8

"I Am The Alpha and The Omega, The Beginning and The Ending," says The LORD God, "which is, and which was, and which is to come, The Almighty."

I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA

EIMI AL-FAH O

(pronounced ay-MEE AL-fah O'-meg-ah)

    Christ's limitlessness -- without end/without beginning; always has been, still is, and always will be -- is without compare. For our Savior is The Living Word of God. John 1:14 "And The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of The Only Begotten of The Father,) full of grace and truth." The Living Word. 

   As John also wrote in John 14:6: Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The LIFE. And, again, in John 7:39, referring the The Spirit of GOD, the believer in Christ would have Living Water flow out of them. 

    GOD is the only neverending GOD. He is above all gods (which are created by mankind) and is therefore Sovereign (Psalm 135:5). As the only GOD of any worth or value, He is to be feared (1 Chronicles 16:25), He is to be honored by giving Him ourselves (1 Corinthians 6:20) We are to love GOD wholeheartedly (Mark 12:30, Deuteronomy 6:5). We are to obey GOD (Job 36:11, Acts 5:29, Romans 6:16) faithfully. GOD is holy and requires holy people.

    GOD The Father Creates and Destroys. He sets up and tears down.  

    GOD The Son Saves through the blood He shed on the cross, gives New Life by conquering death for all who believe in Him, and Judges in righteousness when the time is given for judgment. 

    GOD The Spirit Breathes new life into the believer's body and soul, which begins the process of sanctification in making GOD's people holy, that we might remain in GOD's holy presence which demands holiness in return. 

    Before there was an Earth, there was GOD, there was JESUS CHRIST, there was THE HOLY SPIRIT. Before there were stars in the sky, before the sun knew existence, before the moon shined in the night sky, there was GOD, there was JESUS CHRIST, there was THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Genesis 1)

    After this Earth is obliterated, and replaced with a new Earth and a new heavens, GOD will be, JESUS CHRIST will be, THE HOLY SPIRIT will be. (Revelation 20-22).

    But now, while today is today, if you do not believe that JESUS CHRIST is GOD's ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, you still have time to choose to believe in your heart that HE IS SAVIOR and speak aloud with your mouth that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, thus announcing and declaring your faith in GOD through His Son JESUS CHRIST. AND in these days in which we live GOD IS, JESUS CHRIST IS and THE HOLY SPIRIT IS. 

Forever and ever. Amen. 

JESUS MESSIAH - Chris Tomlin

Consuming Fire

 Exodus 24:17 

The sight of the glory of The LORD was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 

    The King James translates 'consuming' as 'devouring'. We know what it looks like when someone is devouring food or when a wildfire devours a landscape. The relentless pursuit of satisfying one's cravings or hunger tears a body up until that crave is satisfied. The terror if you are in the path of the wildfire fills you so that some come to a standstill and cannot move, while others flee to get away. This is the effect that the 'fire on the mountain of God' had on the Israelites who were following Moses. 

    Exodus 19:18

Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because The LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 

    This consuming fire is the presence of The Lord God. All the human eye can see is smoke and fire and earthquake. I guess that would be terrifying, wouldn't it, if you can't see with the eyes of your heart or spirit. 

    But when the disciples experienced the fire of God, as God's Holy Spirit came down upon them, they were not afraid. They were ready because they were prayed up. After all, these 120 men and women had fellowshipped and prayed together for fifty days, not knowing when God would send The Comforter, but wanting to be ready when He arrived. 

    Are you ready for God to send His Holy Spirit to you? Are you prayed up? Are you eagerly anticipating His arrival? God cannot send His Holy Spirit to us if we are not ready to receive Him. 

    Let us come together in peaceful fellowship and pray together faithfully and sincerely that our Lord and Savior would make us ready to receive Him, that we, too, might walk in the power of The Holy Spirit of God. He Who fills us with Himself will Himself give us His strength to testify on His behalf of this wonderful gift of grace through Jesus Christ. 

HOLY SPIRIT RAIN DOWN - Alvin Slaughter

WELCOME HOLY SPIRIT - Hilde M. Bedsvaag

    

Seek First - Seek His Kingdom, His Righteousness

 

MATTHEW 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

What is the kingdom of God and how do we find it? 

Romans 4:17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in The Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 4:20

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 

    To find the kingdom of God we must first seek out His Holy Spirit and be baptized by The Spirit, that we may receive every good and perfect gift which God has prepared for us. 

    When the disciples were baptized with The Holy Spirit, they received the power to preach the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ with boldness and fearlessness. Being eager to share immediately what they had received from Christ and The Spirit, they began to speak from the rooftop of the building where they had gathered in fellowship and prayer. 

    When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was temporarily blinded, until a saint prayed for him and he was filled with The Holy Spirit. From being a persecutor of Christians to being a most faithful minister of God's Word, Paul began to speak with power and wisdom and knowledge. For The Word which he knew became clearer to him; he could now share what he knew to be The Truth of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. 

    What are we waiting for? Seek out God's Holy Spirit, if you do not know Him. God is Father. Jesus Christ is Son. The Holy Spirit is Breath. When God breathes on you, you will know it is God giving you His Spirit. When God first breathed on me, I could sing in The Spirit, which I still do. Then God breathed on me and I studied in ministry and became a preacher of The Word of God. 

    God will give you His Holy Spirit, if you are in the right place to receive Him. I saw The Holy Spirit at work in a little country church and knew that I needed that. But it took almost three years before I was ready and in the right place in my walk with Christ. 

    The Kingdom of God can only be found when we are seeking God in His Word and in prayer with Him. There's no other way. 

Paul's Prayer to the Church in Ephesus:

    Ephesians 3:16-19

I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

    What is God's Righteousness?

James 4:8

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Isaiah 1:16, 17

Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil! / Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. “Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

Micah 6:8

 He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does The LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

     To achieve the Righteousness of God we must believe in our hearts, and confess with out mouths, that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. For Christ is our Righteousness. He is The Righteousness we "put on" when we come to faith in what He has done for us on the cross, in the grave and in the garden. He died for our sins, fought and overcame death, hell and the grave, and walked out in newness of life. He was completely changed, for no one recognized Him when first they met Him after He rose from the dead. Until He spoke their names.

    The Holy Spirit and the church call out now to all who will hear, all who will listen, all who desire a closer walk with Jesus Christ to come to the cross. See The Servant of God taking our punishment, for God had laid the sins of the whole world from all of time upon His shoulders. The weight alone must have been near unbearable. And then, God had to turn His face from His only begotten Son, for God is holy and sin cannot be in God's holy presence. 

    We need to repent of the wickedness in our hearts and lives. Turn our hearts to God and give Him control ( the right to rule with grace and love) of our lives. Daily we meet with our God to receive that which He wants to give us. Sometimes we fail in our walk; we stumble, we fall. But we get right back up and keep on walking. 

    We who believe have The Righteousness of God upon us and we are helping Him to build His kingdom one soul at a time. Are you that soul that is longing for a loving, merciful God? Come to Jesus. And walk with us. 

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

THERE'S A HOLY AND BEAUTIFUL CITY

JESUS MADE THE DIFFERENCE 

GIVE ME A HEART LIKE THINE

Statements of Faith - Sealed

 

EPHESIANS 1:13. 14 

In Him you also trusted, after you heard The Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, having believed, you were sealed with The Holy Spirit of promise, 

Who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory. 

    Who is Sealed? The born again believer, whether they are God's chosen elect - the Jews - or they who have been grafted into The Vine - the church - we are all sealed by The Holy Spirit of God when we come to Christ Jesus for our salvation and redemption. 

    How are we sealed? The validation of our salvation is the mark which God has placed on His people. Though not visible to the naked eye, it is completely visible to God. 

    What marks a Christian that makes them visibly different to other people? It is not our words, nor our actions: they who are also faithful followers of Jesus Christ can see, even from a distance, the glow of The Holy Spirit upon us. I've had people come up to me, total strangers, and say, 'I know you're a Christian. I can see Jesus in you.' And they hug me and smile and then walk away. 

    I, we, are sealed and set aside to be used for God's glory. We have chosen this path of service to our God and as long as we focus on The Word which is directly in front of us, not worrying about what's ahead, nor regretting what has passed; not allowing ourselves to be distracted by what's on the left of our view, nor what tempts on the right. We maintain our walk of faith one step at a time. 

    Eve, in the garden of Eden, allowed herself to get distracted when she listened to the serpent beguile her with his malicious deceitful words, causing her to answer him instead of ignoring him. He questioned God's Authority and questioned Eve's understanding of God's Word.

    That's why it is so important for each of us to know and understand, through God's Holy Spirit, the Truth of God's Holy Word. It is a moral imperative to be able to live God's Word that we must first read and study to know God through His Word. We must pray to God and seek Him out, with desire to draw closer to Him than we are now. The strength of our relationship with God is in Christ. 

    If Christ is not in us, then we cannot be in Christ; nor is it possible to draw near to God, nor even enter His presence with worship. God knows our hearts: if our hearts are not right with God on God's terms, then we have failed to understand the most basic imperative: there is only one God and He desires to be first in everything we do, including our worship. 

    In Exodus 20, the very first commandment tells us this. God rebukes idolatry and then goes on to describe what idolatry is. He demands absolute worship from us when we recognize that GOD IS GOD. God will speak to people in dreams and visions, He will pour out His Holy Spirit upon His sons and His daughters. (Joel 2) He will reveal Himself to those who are seeking Him. Now is the time to seek God and live. For the day is fast approaching when people will seek God in fear, but lacking understanding, they will not find Him. 

    It is The Holy Spirit and the church who are calling people to salvation through Jesus Christ. When we leave, what will you do if you don't leave with us? Now we pray that The Holy Spirit fill us and burn away everything not of God, leaving only that in us which God will accept. 

    If you don't know where to start reading your Bible, start with The Book of John. And let The Holy Spirit direct your steps where to go next. 

 BURN IN ME - Paul Wilbur

Given A Changed Heart

The Spiritual Transplant

Ezekiel 36:26

 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 

    Every time we try to change ourselves to be a better person our attempts fall short and many times we fall back into our old ways. We have not changed one bit.But when God changes us, we begin to be a changed person: from the inside-out. That's the only way we can begin to heal, begin to grow, begin to love.

The Christ-Filled Change

Romans 10:8-10

But what does it say? “The Word is near you; It is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. 

    Neither our good deeds, acts of kindness, nor our charitable donations will grant us access to the heavenly places where God's eternalness is. Only this in Romans 10:8-10>Believe with our hearts and Speak our belief out loud. Justification takes place in the heart; Salvation takes place in the mouth. 

    If, when we come to Christ for our salvation, but do not shout it from the rooftops nor whisper it in someone's ear nor speak what we believe aloud, are we then not saved? Have you told someone about the change God has wrought in you? And how God is still changing you? Does your life reflect your belief?

The Holy Spirit Changed Lifestyle

1 Peter 1:14-16

As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Isaiah 35:8

And there will be a highway called The Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it--only those who walk in the Way--and fools will not stray onto it.

2 Corinthians 7:1

Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

    Holiness is a process. Like the seed that becomes a full grown plant (flower, tree, grain), time is essential to become holy. Patience is not only a virtue, it is required. Contentment with the portion of faith in God's ability to keep His promises to us is part of the process. 

    Holiness is a necessity. Without holiness no one can see God. And who doesn't want to see God? I want to see God and live with Him eternally. I believe that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. And I want The Holy Spirit to continue to work in me, on me, and through me to perfect me in holiness. I will raise in life triumphant. Will you rise with me? 

LORD I OFFER MY LIFE TO YOU 
CHANGE MY HEART O GOD 

CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART

GIVE ME JESUS

WELCOME HOLY SPIRIT

A Crucified Life - - Walks In The Power of The Holy

 

2 Corinthians 6:7

By the Word of Truth, by the power of God, by the armor of Righteousness on the right hand and on the left. 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 3696

Armor: tools, implements, weapons

From the Greek word 'hoplon' (pronounced hop'-lon): God always gives all the resources we need to engage in spiritual warfare.

    The Word of Truth is the gospel, the Full Gospel, the Whole Complete WORD of GOD, in all its fullness. 

    Having His WORD living in us and us living in His WORD makes us bold and should make us fearless while we serve God in this life. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to study diligently that we may be able to 'righty divide the Word of Truth', in other words that we might clearly understand and know the Word in order to explain and share it with others.

    Ephesians 1:13 "In Whom you also trusted, after you heard the Word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."

As the song declares, "Living He loved me, Dying He saved me, Rising He justified freely forever. One day He's coming, O glorious day!"

    Galatians 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.    

    This Holy Spirit of Promise is the Power of God in us who have received this Promise. God promises the believer many precious and wonderful gifts; the Holy Spirit is by far the best gift God could gift to us after Christ ascended into heaven.

    It is impossible to live in the Power of God if we don't have the Power of God living in us. The workings of the Holy Spirit are essential to a confident, overcoming life in Christ. He is God's seal of Authority on us. 

    Lastly, we are shown that we have been given weapons for both of our hands to grasp. Ephesians 6:16,17 show us that in our dominant hand is the Sword of The Spirit, the Word of God. In our other hand is the Shield of Faith, which has the power to extinguish all of the flaming arrows/darts which the enemy of our souls throws in our direction. This is why we bring our hands together when we pray; for one must work with the other to succeed in the endeavor. 

    Being fully clothed in His Righteousness (Romans 13:14), and in our right minds (Titus 1:8), we are now prepared -- on a daily basis -- to face that which is coming against us as we take our stand in the Word of God.

    We are not alone. We have God's angels battling hell's demons (Daniel 10:13), we have God's Son interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:34), and we have God's Holy Spirit, who not only aids us in our work, but utters the deepest prayers of our hearts to God (Romans 8:26). 

    Prayer is an absolute necessity in our lives. It is our base of communication with our God and Savior. Faith, believing God, activates our prayers. Why pray if we are not going to believe that our prayers will be answered as long as we pray according to God's will? 

>James 5:16

>1 Timothy 2:1

>Ephesians 6:18

>Philippians 4:6

    Wake up! Wash the sleep out of your eyes and Rise up! Now is the time to awaken out of the slumber into which we have fallen. Now is the time to let our lamps burn brightly that the Light of the Word of Truth would shine into the outer darkness, revealing the bright and wonderful Light of God's Love to a dying world.

WORD OF TRUTH

The Gospel - Ryan Stevenson

Jesus Said It - Eddie James

Word of God Speak - Mercy Me

Holy Water - We The Kingdom, Tasha Cobbs

Come Holy Spirit - Steve Kuban

Fire of Your Spirit - Sarah Lieberman

Sound The Alarm - Instrumental

Whom Shall I Fear - Chris Tomlin

House of Prayer - Eddie James

Rise Up - Cain

    

A Crucified Life - - Operates In The Realm of The Holy Spirit

 

2 Corinthians 6:6

In purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1722

In:  in, on, at, by, with

From the Greek word 'en' (pronounced en). A preposition meaning 'in the realm of, in the sphere of, in the proximity of': the condition wherein something, someone operates from within, from the inside.

    As born again Christians who are baptized in and filled with God's Holy Spirit, we work together in conjunction with God's Holy Spirit. Nothing we do is done in and of ourselves. It is the believer's job to preach (share, expound) the gospel of salvation. It is the Spirit's job to convict and convince the unbelieving heart to believe. 

>1 Thessalonians 1:5

>Romans 15:19

>John 16:7-15

>2 Timothy 3:16,17

>2 Peter 1:21

>Revelation 22:17

   

    Unless the Word is first written on our spiritual hearts by faith in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation, the Holy Spirit of God cannot be present in a person. God is the God of order and purpose.

    The old adage says, A place for everything and everything in its place. If there is no room in a person's heart and life for God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ, then there is no room in that person's life for God's Holy Spirit. 

   

    The mystery of God is Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit Who reveals this to us. It's up to us to decide if we are going to believe it is the Truth. I believe. And so God has written His Word on my heart. But that I may walk out this life in God's power, God has also answered the desire of my heart to be filled with His Holy Spirit.

    To be saved by the Word and not be baptized by the Spirit is to live as a spiritual infant, requiring only the milk of God's Word (easily digested) and not the meat of God's Word (that which is more difficult to digest). It is why some pick and choose which Scriptures they will believe and which they will not. It is a sad existence and just a shadow of who they could be. 

SPIRIT OF GOD 

    

A Crucified Life - - Is A Sealed Life

 

2 Corinthians 5:5

And God has prepared us for this very purpose and given us the Spirit as a pledge of what is to come.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 728

Pledge: installment,  down-payment

From the Greek word 'arrabón' (pronounced 

ar-hrab-ohn'):  a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.

SEALED WITH HIS PROMISE

    A life lived on purpose in Christ is a life worth living. 2 Corinthians 1:22-23 "Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come." 

    Ephesians 1:11-14, specifically verse 13 as relates here: "And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." 

    Abraham believe God before God gave him the sign of circumcision (Romans 4:10), which was an outward sign of what God was doing on the inside, on Abraham's spiritual heart. 

    Romans 4:11 "And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them." 

    Why is this important to know and understand? An uncircumcised heart is a heart that does belong to God. But when a person believes God for his or her salvation, then God circumcises the believing heart from the body of sin and death.        Circumcision is a cutting away from, a removing from. It separates the clean from the unclean. Just as Christ in the mercy of God separates the believers, His sheep, from the unbelievers, the goats, when we come to Him for our salvation (Ezekiel 34:16,17; Matthew 25:32,33). 

    As David wrote in Psalm 23:1, "The LORD is MY Shepherd, I shall not want (lack)." He was able to say this because He believed God, and like Abraham, David's faith was counted to him as righteousness, though the Righteousness of Christ had yet to be revealed.

    We who live now live in the Age of Grace, a time when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God is prevalent and fills all believers that we might walk in the power of God and accomplish His purpose in us and for us. It is now that the Spirit of God prepares us for what is to come. 

    And what is to come? Life, an eternal life which has no end. Life in Christ is lived in Christ. And as I stated in the beginning of this discourse, A life lived on purpose in Christ is a life worth living. 

    Let us live that life with God's Seal upon us.

SEALED LIFE 

Welcome Holy Spirit

Let The Weight of Your Glory Fall

Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit Fall On Me Now

O Lord Send The Power Just Now

Holy Spirit Rain Down

Heart & Soul - - God's People

 

Psalm 7:9

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 7451

Wickedness: badness, evilness, adversity

From the Hebrew word 'ra'' (pronounced rah).

REPENTANT PEOPLE

    In this part of David's prayer, he prays for the end of sin in his own heart and in others' hearts. He prays, "Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end."       Here, too, the Christian desires the same thing: I turn my heart and my face to You, Lord. I turn my back on the unlawful things I have done and I commit to obeying Your Word and following Your ways. I repent of the wickedness of my heart and ask that You remain in me and clean Your tabernacle, that I might be made presentable to God. 

    "We pray that adversity towards God be overthrown and that our hearts be made clean and pure for His Name's sake. We determine in our hearts and our minds to be steadfast and sure, not moving from our foundation of faith in God through Christ."

ESTABLISHED PEOPLE

    David asks that God establish the just, that He build a firm immovable foundation in the believer. The deeper we dig into the Word of God, the longer and deeper our roots will be. As oaks of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3) we need to know this. We are the planted of The Lord. We plant (read and study our Bibles) ourselves in His Word and He plants (John 15:4, 5) His Word in us. 

    Being both planted in Him and built up in Him we are stronger than many of us realize. Just before The Lord ascended into heaven, He gave instructions  to His disciples (and to us):

Matthew 28:18-20

Mark 16:15-18

Luke 24:45-49

John 20:21-23

Acts 1:8

    Being planted in Christ through His death and His resurrection, we are now being built up in Him through the power of His Holy Spirit. As long as we trust God and obey His Word and live a holy life, we will see God and remain with HIm when we die. God is holy. His holiness demands a holy people, for sin cannot be present where God is. 

    1 Peter 2:9 tells us that as believers, as God's people, we are not like the people of the world, the people who still live in darkness. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. The chosen generation is the generation of they who seek Him (Psalm 24:1-6). 

    He has called us to be His royal priests. We are a holy nation. Though we are to pray for the leaders who rule over us in this world, that they may be saved and sanctified, our allegiance is to our God. His laws are higher than men's laws. When the law of the land is lawlessness, the law of God must still be obeyed. Know you that we are living under such laws even now? It's only going to get worse.

PECULIAR PEOPLE

    We are a peculiar people. Strange. Odd. Weird. To many people God's people are foolish. Why? We believe God. It is more than believing God's existence, it is believing God's Word is Real, Faithful, Truth. It is a knowing and an understanding. 

    But to the people who live outside of God's reality we are unusual. And so we should be. We should shine as lights in a dark world, shining with the light of God's love bursting through us. Radiance lights up our faces from the Joy that is within us: the love of God in Christ which we received when we believed. 

    For "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world that He might shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world that He might shame the strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27). To quite a few folks, God's plan of salvation is foolishness. Unable to recognize their own sin they refuse to believe that God's Son would die in such a shameful manner, if they even believe that God has a Son. 

POWERFUL PEOPLE

    We are fools for Christ, as Paul says to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:10). We choose to live in obedience to God's Word and God's commands. We choose to share Christ, the Light of God's Love, with everyone whom God places in our path. We choose to live a life that glorifies God. 

    And we are able to do these things because Christ is our foundation, the Chief Cornerstone upon Whom our lives are built. We are trees whose roots are planted near a living flowing water, and whose strength is in Him. We are the established of God. And we have overcome the wickedness of this world.

    Unless a person is a born again, Spirit-filled believer they will not be able to fully and faithfully serve God in the way in which He has ordained His people to serve Him. Every organization, whether small like a club or large like a nation, must have a set of rules by which to live in peace. So it is with God. He has set up the ways in which His people should walk, should live, should serve. 

    It takes an immense amount of power to live God's way. This power is only available from God and it is in the form of His Spirit living and moving through His people by faith. If you don't have His Holy Spirit, just ask God for it. He knows what we need and He's waiting for us to ask because He's not a pushy overbearing God who rams His way into people's hearts and lives. He's a patient (longsuffering) God who waits to hear from us. 

    Now is the time to talk with God. And remember, a conversation is a two way street, not a monologue. 

     

GOD'S PEOPLE