Confess your sins and be free.

I remember when some scripture used to make me cringe a little: Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are? (Ps 139:7) God sees me everywhere. What about when I do something bad? He’s watching me. I know He thinks I’m bad. That made me feel guilty. But that’s not God’s heart at all.

We don’t surprise God. He knows our humanity. He made us. And before we are redeemed, of course we’re going to do bad things. And good people without God do bad things. Even good people who do know God do bad things. He knows that. And He loves us anyway.

God’s love covers our sin. All we have to do is repent. It’s that easy. Confess it. Give it to Jesus. Ask Him to help you be who He wants you to be. If it happens again, confess it again. It won’t do to carry on with a sinful lifestyle because all you have to do is confess your sin and go back to do it again. True confession is a conviction to want to change.

Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind and give you new thoughts. Let go of guilt. Once you give it to Jesus, it’s not yours anymore. You are free.

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There is freedom from addictions in the Holy Spirit.

Do you struggle with habits you don’t want? You know what they are. Some things are fine in moderation, but maybe you don’t keep moderate. Maybe you go way beyond what is safe and healthy. Maybe it’s a habit that is in no way healthy mentally, physically, or emotionally. God has already provided a way to help.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control. It is the power to control yourself without needing others to shame or control you. Self help is a billion dollar industry, but you have the means to d do what is right for you in the Holy Spirit.

That’s the key–you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. If you are not, ask God to fill you now. Keep asking until you are. If you are filled and you still struggle, then you haven’t allowed Him to change you. Declare the fruits of the Spirit in your life. They are all yours. Declare that you have self-control, because, if you have His Spirit, you do have it.

Addictions can be  broken. They are a spirit to be renounced and confessed. Repent and ask for God to fill you and release His presence in your life. It is the beginning of a strong and healthy future.

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Trust God for impossible things.

Walking on water, calling down fire, moving mountains are all pretty amazing. Jesus said that we will do greater works than He did. (Jhn 14:12) So why don’t we?

Deception and fear are huge hindrances to seeing miracles. The enemy works very hard to make us believe that it’s not going to happen. What if we step out and it fail? We will look foolish. There it is–pride, fear that our pride will be injured.

The miracles we read about in the Bible were not for entertainment. You never read about the disciples sitting around at night making the lamp go on and off for laughs. The miracles were always to point to God and fill a need.

Don’t let this present age get in the way of seeing what God can really do when it needs to be done. Maybe walking on water is exactly what you need to do at some point. Any miracle requires full faith that God is on the other end. He wants to see your faith blessed. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so He’s still in the miracle business.

Let God be God and step out when you see Him leading there. Trust Him. He’s got your back and it’s going to be fun.

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We must become like little children.

Unless we become like little children, we will not enter the kingdom of God. (Mat 18:3) It goes against our ambitions and pride, but that’s exactly why we need to do it. A childlike attitude is humble and full of wonder. There is so much God can do in us when we let go of our “adult” attitudes.

It’s so precious to see a little child watching his parent do something and then want to try to do it  himself. The parent will put the tool in the child’s hand, but it is the parent who is doing all the work. That’s exactly the picture of us when we submit to God in humility and love.

We see what Jesus did to heal and bless and we say, Daddy, let me do that. So He puts His hands on ours and works through us. Just like a child, we are thrilled because we think we did it, but we must always remember the source of that power.

God invites us to stand on His feet while He dances us. He loves it when we hold on and giggle with pleasure. And when we learn to trust Him more, the dances become fantastic and exciting. Let go of ambition and be a child. There is so much to discover and experience in the kingdom.

Photo credit.

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We are expected to grow in the kingdom of God.

God does not expect us to be perfect, and He certainly doesn’t expect instant transformation. And again He said, ‘To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.’ (Lk 13:20-12)

Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God takes time to develop in us. We receive all that we need when we are saved, but He expects it to grow in us, until we are completely filled with His presence. We enter the kingdom in a heartbeat, but it takes time for our character to be molded and shaped into His image.

Too many people beat themselves up because they compare themselves to those who have been in the kingdom for a long time. They think, “I can never be like that.” But what they don’t see is how that veteran started out. Conversely, don’t judge someone else for not measuring up to your expectations. You do not know the growth they have already been through.

That Jesus should describe the kingdom like leaven should be good news. He puts Himself in us and brings life and growth that gets better and better everyday.

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Commitment is focused attention.

What do you think a mountain climber is thinking when he’s high up in the alps with thin oxygen and brutal conditions? Do you think he’s wondering when he should rotate the tires on his car? Probably not. He’s probably intent on taking the next step safely and checking his equipment. His focus must be directed on what he’s doing because his life is at risk.

Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established. (Prv 16:3) If you can commit yourself to the Lord the same way you would commit to any serious task, your mind would be focused on the things of God. There’s no room for foolish thinking or harmful diversions.

Commit your works to God and you will do everything the very best you can. How could you offer anything to God knowing that you could have done it better, but didn’t feel like it? Committing to God changes how we think because we want to bless Him with what He’s given us. We are renewed in our minds. Our very thoughts become directed to Him.

And what ever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. (Col 3:23) That reward includes good thoughts.

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Serve Him out of love.

Our salvation requires payment. It is free to receive, but we pay our lives for freedom in Christ. We no longer own ourselves. He who is called while free is Christ’s slave. (1Cor 7:22) We are more than slaves, yes. We are heirs and friends, but the cost of freedom is our life.

If you choose to become a slave, you don’t get to dictate what you do or how you will be treated. Your master owns you. You put yourself in his hands to do what ever you are told to do. There is a point in our relationship with Jesus that we submit to being owned with complete love and joy. That is called bondservant. Paul, James, Peter, and Jude all called themselves bondservants because their love of Jesus overpowered their desire to own themselves.

If we are truly bondservants, then why do we hesitate or refuse to be obedient when we know we’ve been asked to do something? Would you do that if a flesh and blood master gave you a command? No. You would act immediately.

We need to find that place of obedience out of love, setting aside our own agendas. Be used by Him because of your love and love will fill you even more.

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We become bondservants out of love.

Salvation places us in a unique relationship with Jesus. We become both sibling and friend. He is our Savior, our Lord, and our Brother. We have a divine right to use His name and His authority. He gives us boldness to enter the throne room as heirs of righteousness. But as we grow in greater understanding of who He is and what He has done, we take on another aspect of this relationship–servant. Continue reading →

God blesses our dreams.

Dreams never die, they just become tarnished. Our dreams are real, like a lacy covering of an idea that came from God. They have substance and a place in the reality of our destiny. They remain, despite the attention we give them.

It is the enemy that makes us feel that our dreams are stupid. It is his lies that lure us away from our heart’s desires. The dreams that come from God will always speak to us of promise and potential. They make us excited to even consider.

There is life in what could be, because our dreams, the ones that beckon us up, carry the fragrance of the Spirit of God. It is His way of calling us to a higher place of joy and grace. Even if those dreams seem mundane and simple, when we are called out of ourselves, we grow in faith to achieve them. God blesses that with His grace.

Allow yourself to remember. Allow yourself to dream. There is more to this life than the requirements for survival. We were created to be expressive and joyful. Open your heart to His wooing. He is leading you to a realm of wonder and delight. Dreams do come true, and it is His delight to see you happy.

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Blessed are those who mourn.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, but there is also a time to grieve and mourn. We are made as emotional beings, so expressing those emotions is appropriate when there is loss or disappointment. That’s why the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter.

Bottling up emotional trauma is a bad idea. You have to find a way to let it out and give it to Jesus. Find a place where you can have a good cry, then hand it to the One who knows your heart better than you do.

There’s no lack of faith in needing to grieve. Even when someone you’ve lost is a believer and you know you’ll see them again in heaven, you’ll still miss them here and that’s ok. Allow the Holy Spirit to give you peace, and then let it go. When you give your grieving to Jesus, He heals the wounds so your memories don’t hurt you. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Mat 5:4)

Grief can come in many forms for many reasons, not only when a loved one dies. If a dream you’ve held onto blows up, it’s ok to grieve, but don’t hold on to it any more. God has other plans, better plans.

Take time to mourn when it’s necessary and let the Comforter do His job.

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