YOU have received a special gift from the Lord!
We are told to employ it…to use it…in order to serve one another and for God to be glorified! What gift are you using for the body of Christ and for our Lord’s glory?
Don’t think that your gift is not needed or not as great as others! You are special and unique and the Holy Spirit will empower you to use His gift within you to build up and strengthen the body of Christ!
Glorify the Lord by using your gift for Him today!
Look for opportunities…
“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.” [Brian Tracy]
Oh Lord! Help us to walk in a right attitude! Help us to be a people that walk in the fruit of the Spirit. May we allow the Holy Spirit to bear His fruit through us. We can’t do it on our own, Lord! We need YOU!!
“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 ESV
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13 NIV
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being our TRUTH!! Thank You for showing us what is to come! Thank You for helping us to see beyond what our physical ears hear and what our physical eyes see! May Your Truth arise!!!
“…he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire.” Psalms 104:4 ESV
“Revival as an event will not suffice anymore. Events come and go, but a people who keep the fire of God burning on the altar of their hearts actually carry this fire within them…wherever they go. What we define as revival is God’s pattern for normal Christianity.” ~Larry Sparks
REVIVAL! I, along with others, have been talking about revival…praying for revival…seeking revival. I love this quote from Larry Sparks. Revival is not an event that we should seek and then when it has run its course walk away from.
But, revival should be a way of life for us! We should individually (along with corporately) be seeking revival in our lives. We should be passionately, wholeheartedly, on fire with our love for almighty God! We should not accept anything else…anything less.
Fire gives light. When people are around us do they see the Light of Christ reflected in the things we say and do?
Fire gives warmth. When people are around us do they feel the warmth of God’s love flowing from us to them? Do we give off warmth or coldness?
Fire needs to be tended to continue to burn. What are we doing to “tend” the fire? What are we doing to make sure the fire does not grow cold? Prayer, Bible Study, and worship are three things that can keep the fire burning bright in our lives. Also, we need to make sure that we share the fire with others…we don’t keep it to ourselves! As the fire of God burns brightly within us and as we go out and minister to others…we will find that the fire is continually replenished…and new fires are started when we share our fire! Hallelujah!
A “cold fire” does not accomplish anything! It is a marker of once was, but isn’t any good in the present. O CHURCH! We need to rekindle our fire! We need to release a burning passion for the LORD and for His people!!
May we BE His ministers of flaming fire!! We carry the Fire of God within us! May we continually sacrifice on the altar of our hearts all those things that would keep us from being who God has called us to be! It’s time dear saints!! Allow the Ruah of God, the breath of God – His Holy Spirit – to breathe upon the cold embers of our hearts and revive us to a higher way of life, a deeper love, a greater obedience!
REVIVAL HAS COME!! MAY WE EMBRACE IT!!
As I lay in bed this morning, in that moment of fresh awakening, I had a quick vision from the Lord.
I saw a windshield in front of me – what I would see if I was in the car looking out. The windshield was spotted with many black dots. As this vision quickly disappeared, I asked the Lord what I was seeing. I “heard” the following in my spirit:
“As you go through life, there are many things that can clutter up your vision so that you are not seeing as clearly as you should. Just like bugs on a windshield, these things can cloud and cause your vision to be compromised.”
Brothers & Sisters, I invite you to join me in seeking out those things that are inhibiting us from having CLARITY OF VISION.
What could some of these things be? Unforgiveness, critical spirit, pride, doubt, disappointment, self-pity and too much busyness in our lives are some that I can think of. Can you think of others that would interfere with us having GOD’S VISION flowing in our lives?
I hear the Lord saying:
“It’s time to clean the windshield!”
Lord, may Your Living Water wash away all those things that are inhibiting our vision! We position ourselves before you for a fresh cleaning, a fresh preparation for all that is coming! May we see through Your eyes! May the Holy Spirit be our “windshield!”
This Holy Windshield not only will give us clear vision…but we will be protected from the winds of destruction that try to beat us down! Hallelujah!!
Lord, YOU are our VISION! YOU are our GUIDE! YOU are our PROTECTION! GLORY!!
We are ready for a FRESH CLEANING! AMEN!
I am not a photographer. And most of the time I forget to take pictures of life events because I just am not thinking about taking photos. I am enjoying the moment…but later realize I missed the opportunity to hold on to that moment through a visual record.
So! As I have been more proactive about taking photos, I have begun to realize they are not really that good – I just point and click. I have begun to look online to see how to take better quality iPhone photos.
There are many links that share how to improve my photo-taking ability. I have noticed that one “help” is to pay attention to what I want to focus on. As I frame my photo, I am to tap on the part of the photo I want to be in focus. Then I lock it in so it will not change as I continue in my capturing the moment. It appears that the “auto-focus” isn’t always our friend.
I couldn’t help but see the spiritual application to all of this! Brothers and Sisters, it is so important to be conscious of what we focus on as we journey through life. There are so many things that are in our line of vision…so many things that are happening around us.
Do we just go through life with the “auto-focus” on…letting life events choose where we place our attention? Or do we allow God to help us fine tune our focus to those things that we need to see with clarity and precision.
Lord, may You be the one who “taps” on what needs to be in focus in my life. May I allow You to be my vision, my direction, my guide. May the things that are trying to get my attention away from the main thing become blurry and peripheral to what You are calling me to. May my mind and focus be fully and intently and clearly on YOU in all things! GLORY!
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5 ESV)
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2 ESV)
A couple of weeks ago as I was worshipping in our new early Sunday service, I found myself receiving a vision from God as we sang the words, “in you I live and move and breathe…”
In the vision, I saw us individually and as the Church represented as a baby in the womb of its mother. When a baby is in the womb, it receives oxygen and nutrients from the placenta into its bloodstream by being connected to the mother by the umbilical cord. The baby is also protected as it is cushioned and floating in the amniotic sac. The amniotic fluid not only helps to cushion the baby from bumps and injury, but it also provides it with fluids that it can breathe and swallow.
Ahhhh, beloved of God!! We receive everything we need to grow and thrive as we are connected to God through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like that umbilical cord that is intimately connected to the mother. We are intimately connected to Almighty God through the Holy Spirit!
The amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby is like the Living Water that surrounds and is present within us. Just like the amniotic fluid is surrounding the baby and within the baby – so the Holy Spirit surrounds us and is within us.
As I was having this vision, I had such a profound sense of the care and protection of the Lord as we are being molded and shaped into who God has called us to be. We are being transformed more and more into His image as we continue to stay connected to Him in all we say and do. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
As I continued to worship and meditate on this vision…I began to hear in my spirit, “The baby is coming to term!”
Brothers and Sisters! The Church is coming to a place of being ready to be “birthed!” The Lord is bringing His Church to a place of maturity – for us to be able to move and be the mighty loving force that will impact the world for His glory!
And we know that there is pain and discomfort that comes with a birth. And it can be messy. Do not despair or feel overwhelmed as we, the Church, are experiencing the birth pains that come with new life! Have you felt the pull to break out of the same routine and comfort of the past? Have you felt that call that there is something MORE ready to erupt within your life and the life of your Church?
Are you ready for NEW LIFE to be breathed into those places that are starving and hungering for more? Are you ready to be released into GREATER VISION; GREATER POWER, GREATER LOVE?
The last part of active labor is called the transition. TRANSITION in our lives and in the life of the Church is happening now!!
GET READY!!
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “”From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38
Are the rivers of the Holy Spirit flowing from us to a thirsty world? If not…what is stopping the flow? Are there things in our lives that are blocking the rivers? Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to “clean out” anything in us that would hinder the Mighty Flow!!!
Lord, if there is anything in me that is contrary to the Truth of who I am in Christ Jesus, I ask that You show me. I repent of it and embrace Your Truth! FLOW RIVERS, FLOW!!!
We are not to walk through every “open door!” It is important to discern which open door is for us…which door is from the Lord…and which door is a distraction that would lead us away from God’s best.
We have many choices in our lives. Some choices we know are not good even as we choose them. (Why do we do that!). But, I thank God that He is able to teach us and use even our bad choices to help us grow.
Sometimes the choices before us are “good” ones and we see no problem with choosing them – especially if it will give us pleasure. But, even the good choices can become a distraction and lead us away from where the Lord would have us invest our time and energy.
How do we know which choice to make…which door to walk through? We know by seeking the Lord and by seeking the counsel of godly friends. God is our Guide; our Wisdom; and the Light that shines upon His path for us and the door we should walk through.
So! If you are ready for a change in your life and ready to walk through HIS open door – GET READY! He is opening doors right now that will lead us into new territories; new opportunities to influence those around us for His glory; and new ways of doing ministry!
GET READY!!
Reflection of Glory! 