Walk In the Spirit!

“Be in the world, not of the world…” 

"Let your mind be like the mind of Christ," 

"Be saved and baptized, then your life will be great, and the Devil can't hurt you."

Wow, we hear over and over again, big statements like these, people say these almost flippantly to tell people how to live for God, but does that mean anything to you? Does it make any sense?

What does it all really mean? Are they serious? People go around quoting scriptures to new or weaker Christians, like they are supposed to know how to do what they are saying, that these scriptures make any sense in the "real world today," We tend to throw around scriptures like other people throw around Cliché’s, quips, and quotes in the world today. "Spend money to make money," "A Penny saved is a penny earned." "Blind as a bat," "Quiet as a mouse." You know, people use these sayings and sometimes they don't really know what they mean OR they use them the wrong way just to sound like they have something to say.

I remember saying to my kids over and over again, “Be in the world and not of the world,” and thinking they all knew exactly what I was saying. Then my daughter 14 years old looks at me and says, “Mom, I have heard this saying from you my entire life, what does it mean?”  I was like, really, you don’t know? I had to explain to her, that they don’t have to wear their hair and clothes exactly the way other kids in town do, that you don’t have to be like everyone else, that we are to live like God, we are to put God and His ways ahead of everyone else and leave it all up to God.

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor 2:14

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Gal.5:16

Here we are reading about walking in the spirit, but you know, a new convert, a new or spiritually immature, Christian that is still drinking the milk of the word and hasn't even tried pureed meat yet, may not even know what this would mean. I can tell you, after going up in the Church, watching my family minister and serve God my entire life, I am still learning what so many of the things that are said in the Bible actually means.

He wants you to have fun, be different, and to be the amazing, special, gift that He has made you to be. He wants You to live for Him, to want to be that person He knows you can be, but it takes spending time with God, spending time, reading the Bible and learning, no discerning from Him, through the Holy Spirit what God wants you to be, and how to be as His child.

It doesn't take a genius or a scholar to find out what discernment of the scriptures mean; it takes discernment through the Holy Spirit. Discernment means Judge carefully what is being said in the scriptures. It means that when you are reading the Bible. The first thing you should do is call on God in the power of the Holy Spirit to help you understand what the scriptures are saying. It helps you to JUDGE exactly what that verse means and who it was meant for when it was being written. You see, I don't need someone to sit beside me when I read my Bible, to tell me what it means, the Holy Spirit is right there when I call on Him to help me. He will guide my heart and mind, showing me what is real, speaking to my spirit when I am straying from the true meaning.

"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the spirit." Eph 5:18

Being filled with the Spirit is to allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life and show you the way to go and the way to live. This scripture above tells us not to be drunk with wine, to where you are intoxicated, because then you are letting something else take over your mind, your person and letting it control you, taking away your ability to control your own actions. God wants you to let HIM control you.

We have to take the time to allow the Lord to show us through the scriptures, through prayer and through His conviction on your heart to show you exactly what God is trying to show you, teach you, and convict you how to live as His child. To be that Heavenly Father that guides you in all things, that keeps you walking, talking, and living a life that is pleasing to Him. Are you ready to let God lead your life today? Are you ready to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, to show you and help you understand the scriptures, to talk to you and help you to know what God has for your life? Let Him in today, call on Him, ask Him to guide you.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for being Lord of my life. I ask you now, as your child, that you come into my whole being, Spirit, Body, and Mind, to allow your Holy Spirit to dwell inside of me, allow Him to take over my thoughts and my life. To be able to show me your Word, what you are telling me through your scriptures, and please let my life, be a life that gives you the Honor and Glory you deserve as My God and Creator… My LOVING Father. 

In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.

Where's Your Faith Anchored In the Storm?

Someday's it is the storm clouds overhead you watch carefully to see what comes next, others it is the person you call friend, you thought would be there to lift you up, encourage you, but turns out to be the one to betray the very essence of what you thought was a good relationship...

I say, if you put your faith in this earth, in the people you know and love around you, you will be disappointed everytime, but when you put your trust, your faith in the ONE AND ONLY GOD, the True God of all God's, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the END, put your whole heart, mind, soul and spirit into His Word, His Promises, and in His Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ... You will NEVER be disappointed.

Even though HE doesn't always answer your prayers the instant you pray them, He is always working in the moment, He is ALWAYS there for you, working on your behalf, holding back the tormentor that wants to come in and make everything worse... Yes, the God of all Gods may not be working in YOUR time frame, but He is ALWAYS the God of JUST IN TIME. AMEN for THAT!!!