Tag Archive | Holy Spirit

Live in Grace

Aug17

And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain — for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.

God’s timing is always perfect and aren’t we glad that at the acceptable time He listened and helped us on the day of our salvation? Let us not receive this grace in vain. ”Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—

Let our talk reflect our walk and our walk give no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, especially the ministry of Jesus in us.

How do we do this? In everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God.
In much endurance by the power of God!

By the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, The armor of God (Ephesians 6:14-17) and prayer. (Ephesians 6:18)

By glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. In every second, minute, hour, day and night of our lives. Serving and encouraging others to live enduring lives, surrendered to Jesus.

we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. — 2 Corinthians 4:8-11

God’s blessing and strength as you put on the armor of God, pray and receive God’s grace and live it with no regrets. Let us not receive God’s grace in vain.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

By My Spirit

Aug7

Reading through some devotionals I posted to Facebook in the past. This one was originally posted on Facebook March 4, 2009.

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. — Zechariah 4:6

When we think we have a part in anything, we are wrong. It is by no means of our own. It has nothing to do with us except that a loving God wants us to participate in His will. We forge ahead by obedience to His Spirit and His Spirit alone. We have no might, nor power to do anything. Trust in the One who has the power and might and goes before us as a warrior. He is the Spirit of the living God. He is the living God.

My hope is that He is living in you today. Are you seeing the living God in your world, working and making a difference in you and your world? Look for, seek Him with all your heart and the Bible says you will find Him.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Grasp. Seek. Know. Hope.

Aug1

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13

My prayer for you today. The awesome joy and peace of being a Christian. Available to all. Grasp it, seek it, know it. The hope that is Jesus Christ.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Overflowing Hope

Jul6

May God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace through your faith in him. Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13(GW)

Are you lacking hope? Are you missing the source? Do you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord?

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. — John 3:16-17 Jesus is our Savior, the giver of eternal life, to everyone who believes in Him.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, — 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Belief that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and God raised Him from death.

That belief is faith. Through our continued living faith, God fills us with joy and peace. Is your life filled with joy and peace? Most faces I see and pass by daily don’t show it, so I wonder how many people really are experiencing joy and peace in their lives. That raises two thoughts in my mind. The first, do they know Jesus? Really know Him? Second, am I living out my faith that others can see it?

If we are living our faith out with joy and peace then we should be overflowing with hope by the living power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. What would you say is the level of hope in our world today? Is that overflowing hope present in our lives? Is it impacting our corner of the world? What can we do to bring hope to the hopeless?

Let us evaluate our faith. Let us seek Jesus through faith and experience the joy and peace that will, by the power of the Holy Spirit, overflow our lives with hope for ourselves and others.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

God’s Way

Jun28

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God — Romans 10:1-3

It’s God’s way or no way. There is no compromising with the Lord God if you are walking in a true relationship with Jesus. There are many who have a great zeal for God. They “do good”, are always at church when the doors are open, wearing the perfect face and self-righteous halo and  displaying their righteousness for all to see.

But. Do they really know God or just playing the church game? Are they motivated by a true love for Jesus and desiring to please Him and see His purposes fulfilled or just to be judged as a righteous saint, receiving their glory here?

Do we have a heart’s desire for the salvation of all people? Or just the ones that are righteous according to our own standards? Do we dictate what a “Christian” looks like or do we allow the transforming work of the Holy Spirit to move in the lives of people? Are we trying to do the work of  God without Him?

There is a freedom in subjecting ourselves to the righteousness of God. There is transformation in the righteousness of God. A righteousness based on God’s transforming power which makes us acceptable to Him in word, thought and deed. (Romans 10:3 AMP)

We can’t make ourselves good enough for God. We need to seek His righteousness and let His transformation bring us into alignment with His purpose and will. God’s Way!

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.  For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard. — Acts 22:14-15

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” — Romans 10:6-13

Children’s Responsibility

Jun5

The church should take loving care of women whose husbands have died if they don’t have anyone else to help them.  But if they have children or grandchildren, these are the ones who should take the responsibility, for kindness should begin at home, supporting needy parents. This is something that pleases God very much. But anyone who won’t care for his own relatives when they need help, especially those living in his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse than the heathen. — 1 Timothy 5:3-4, 8

My Mom and I had a discussion yesterday morning about my helping her and my Dad when he was alive. I believe that God called me to stay in Washington State with my Mom and Dad after a visit there found my Dad in poor health. All the time I have been very content knowing that I was doing what God had called me to do.

Since my Dad’s deliverance to heaven in March I have been taking care of my Mom who has some confusion and other health issues that does not allow her to live alone. We are discussing what we can do to have me home with my family in Missouri and still be able to provide for her. Mom always told us kids as we were growing up that when we were grown and had our own families that she would not be a burden to any of us. She insisted that we were to put her in a nursing home when she got too old to take care of herself. That thought just didn’t sit right with me and believed that it was not what God had planned for me to do.

I share with my Mom that I believe God desires for me to care for her and has made provision to do so. I also stated that I believe the Bible says that it is my responsibility to care for her. Well in our conversation she called me on it. Where does it say that in the Bible? I immediately started searching for it and when I wasn’t finding it I started to pray asking for God’s guidance to find it. I was beginning to think I had to eat crow and humbly confess to my Mom that I was wrong. Thank God that He led me to this verse. I had read it before in the past, probably several times in my life and I believe the Holy Spirit reminded me of this verse even if I didn’t know where or if it was in the Bible. I rejoice that we have the Holy Spirit to bring to mind the things of the word when we need it.

I covet your prayers for my Mom and me so that we both see God’s guidance and will in this issue of her care. I just long to please God.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Writer’s Block

Jun4
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. — Colossians 2:7

Sometimes scripture just jumps off the page and you have such a testimony to tell. Other times scripture just seems to sit on the page and do nothing. Let me tell you that scripture is always good and has something to say but it is the one who reads it that is closed to it. It could be that the person has not received the Holy Spirit, through salvation, to interpret the scripture. It could be that sin in the life of a person is blocking understanding. It could be that it is just a dry time in the life of a person. Today I am experiencing a dry time.

Dry times are those times when we need to rely upon the Word of God that is firmly rooted in our hearts that establish our faith. When I have a dry time I always seem to look to who God is, all the blessings He has bestowed upon me, and how He has transformed me and continues to do so. I can’t help but be filled with joy and gratitude when I focus on Him. Psalm is usually the book I look to. Today Colossians spoke to me.

I overflow with gratefulness when I examine my life and realize the work of transformation the Lord has done in me. It is not anything I have done but what He has done. When I am reminded of His great mercy, grace and love I can’t help but be grateful and write of the joy that comes from focusing on the One true God.  Again He has come through with something to write about. To God be the glory!

Thank You Jesus.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Abide in Him

Apr18

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. — 1 John 2:28

Little children in the New Testament Greek “is a term of affection by a teacher to his disciples under circumstances requiring a tender appeal”* This appeal is to us, disciples of Christ.

Abide in Him. We abide in Him and His love when we keep His commandments, abiding in His teachings. We have the confidence (assurance) that we are abiding because of the Holy Spirit that was given to us. When we have the Holy Spirit abiding in us we will bear much fruit (bring glory and honor to God by our productivity in Him).

Seek and practice His commandments and teachings until Jesus returns so we will not shrink away in shame but stand or humbly bow in His presence.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

*blueletterbible.org Lexicon Strongs G5040
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. — John 15:10
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. — John 15:4
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. — 1 John 4:13
Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. — 2 John 1:9

Be Filled With The Spirit

Apr16

So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, — Ephesians 5:17-18

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the desire of God for all mankind. If it were not so, it would not be written in His Word to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit — the Spirit of God Himself — living in us! Wow!!! What more could we want?

The Spirit filled life is one that understands the will of God. The Spirit of God dwelling in us testifies in us the will of God. The Holy Spirit transforms our lives when we allow Him to renew our minds. When we are filled with the spirit, we seek after, focus on the One who called us to salvation. We surrender our lives, hearts, minds and souls to Jesus and the work of His Spirit transforms our lives by the renewing of our minds for His glory — proving what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Who wouldn’t want to know the will of God? I thank God for the grace He bestowed on me to know His will. Come to Jesus, seek His forgiveness, receive the gift of salvation by giving your heart to Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit who reveals the will of God to you. So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. Be filled with the Spirit. You will not regret your decision.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

O Lord, Our Hope

Apr15

O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord. — Jeremiah 17:13

O Lord, our hope, I pray earnestly for those souls who forsake you. During this holy week may their eyes be opened to see the resurrected King. Help them to caste aside their shame and come to the living water. You Lord are the eternal fountain that flows within us so that we thirst no more.

I pray that our churches will be filled not only with the lost this Easter morning but also with Your Holy Spirit who draws all souls to You. May the call to salvation be heard clearly and the call to repentance obeyed. I hope and pray for thirsty hearts that pant for the living water. Call all to repentance dear Lord.

During this week I pray that we all come humbly to the cross and lay our sin and shame there and rise up renewed and full of rejoicing because You are risen!!!! I pray that we, Your children, come to church with gladness and rejoicing desiring to worship the risen King!

Are you looking forward to celebrating Resurrection Sunday?

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon