Devotionals

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.
Reflection: Faith

Digging for Truth: Faith is difficult to define; it is a bit easier to describe what it does in the lives of believers. Faith is active; a verb. Faith obediently moves on righteous action in the plan of God which is to produce spiritual fruit as we remain connected to the Vine (John 15:4). Faith in Christ is what matters most and that faith works to bring us maturity as we trust in God’s plan, purpose, and promises. We don’t simply have faith, we move by faith in the direction of advancing God’s Kingdom, so we can enjoy the invisible realm of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

Grace for the Heart: Faith and grace are invisible to our natural senses until touched with the supernatural work of the Helper. How we live reveals our faith in Christ. In other words, faith causes believers to rely on the Helper because of Christ’s work on the cross; we have a “title deed” to lay hold of the riches of the Kingdom based on the obedience of Jesus and the grace of God. You have an inheritance—the sum total of everything believers have been promised is stored up in heaven. Genuine faith releases God’s blessings.

Hebrews 11:1 AMP 11 Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Challenge: As believers, we live convinced that the things we cannot see in the spiritual realm of God are nonetheless real and true; so, from that belief we have hope and trust that the Helper will lead us, strategically move, and act in our best interest.

Prayer: Lord, may we lay every situation that troubles us as your feet, today. May we trust you to lead us to do our part to bring peace, and trust you to do what only you can do to bring wholeness. We thank you by faith for your grace and love to move the mountains in our way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Joy

Digging for Truth: The gifts of the Spirit are rich with great blessing and truly there is nothing better to offer the Lord than a harvest of spiritual fruit from our lives. However, many people miss the reality that bearing fruit means we choose to grow deeper roots for living according to the commands of God’s love and it requires more and more trust in the Helper. A very misunderstood fruit is joy.

Grace for the Heart: The fruit of Joy is not produced by positive circumstances; although God is wonderfully good to us and his grace toward us will fill us with gratitude and joy. The fruit of Christ’s Joy is produced by the Holy Spirit to help us deal with any circumstance we may be facing. According to Scripture, the early disciples were filled with joy; praise erupting from their lips even though they found themselves flogged, chained in stocks and imprisoned (Acts 16:23-25). The joy of the Helper filled them and carried them through these difficult circumstances and left them singing. No human being would find joy in such treatment, so we know these disciples received supernatural help from the indwelling Spirit of the Lord (John 15:5).

1 Thessalonians 1:6 NLT 6, 7 NLT “So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers…”

Challenge: Jesus has pledged to give us his joy; a supernatural impartation for life. “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:10-11). Let us never forget Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2). Therefore, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13).

Prayer: Lord, please help us to stay the course of obedience to your commands of love. Thank you for the work of the Helper to provide for our specific needs. We need your help, joy, and strength. So, please fill us with your joy, today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: The Seal for Eternal Life

Digging for Truth: Friends, when you and I first spiritually heard the Truth, meaning the moment you and I opened our spiritual eyes and decided to put our trust in Jesus, we not only turned our hearts (and lives) back over to Him, as our Creator, we allowed Him to save us, by faith, for all eternity. At that very moment, you and I were forgiven of our sins, and we were “sealed”, meaning permanently gifted and filled with the Holy Spirit, Whom God promised His people long ago. Through our salvation in Christ Jesus, God has guaranteed us our inheritance of eternal life.

Grace for the Heart: As Christ’s followers, you and I must remember that Jesus knows our hearts. Not only because He dwells within us, through His Holy Spirit, but because He is our guarantee, Jesus is the reason we have a gracious inheritance of eternal life. He is the Word that became human and made His home among us; and unlike us, He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. We must aim to live a life like His of unfailing love, faithfulness, and exalting His Name in all that we do because all glory and honor are due to the Father’s one and only Son (John 1:14).

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NLT)

13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Challenge: Friends, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to live how God calls us to live, according to His plan for our lives, not how we want to live. May we be reminded today that we have a whole new life in Christ Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to transform our desires, thoughts, and actions to align with the Father’s will for our lives. Let’s be willing vessels to grow more and more into the image of Jesus because we allow the Holy Spirit within us to navigate and change our lives.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for drawing us to You. Thank you for forgiving the sins of our past. We lay down our current sins and ask that You keep us away from wanting to repeat them. Help us, Holy Spirit, to stay away from sinning in the future. Lord, thank You for sealing us with Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, help guide our souls (minds, wills, and emotions) and our bodies to live the life that God planned for us long ago. May we be living vessels for Your glory, Holy Trinity, now and not waiting for eternal life, but living as Your eternal Kingdom people now, Lord Jesus. We ask all of this in Your Holy Name, Jesus. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Teaching Me to Pray, Pt II

Digging for Truth: A right is defined as a power or privilege held by the general public as the result of a constitution, statute, regulation, judicial precedent, or other type of law. America’s Bill of Rights protects her citizen’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition the government. I am so grateful for my rights as an American citizen and I never want to lose my appreciation for my freedoms, because they are a divine blessing for the nation governed under the authority of God.

I feel doubly blessed, because not only am I proud to be an American citizen under an incredible constitution that I have agreed to honor, I am also a blessed citizen of heaven and child of God while on earth. Blessed to be a blessing! How do I know?
Grace for the Heart: According to Scripture, in accepting and believing in Christ for salvation, we have been given the right to become children of God (John 1:12). When we receive the Spirit, we are adopted as God’s sons and daughters and have the right to call God, Abba Father (Romans 8:15). Believers have already been blessed and this entirely changes our prayer life as we pray for God’s Kingdom of blessings to be revealed on earth!
We come to God with our requests, not begging him to do something, but asking the Helper to intercede for us and open our eyes to see what has already been made available in the Spirit. We are asking for insight or revelation to the reality that already exists in God’s will for us as his sons and daughters. Our challenge is simply “waiting” for spiritual eyesight, because revelation comes from the Helper. God has promised to be with us and guide us as worshipers in Spirit and Truth.

John 1:12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

Ephesians 1:18-20 NLT18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.

19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

Challenge: To worship God in Spirit and in Truth is to partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through the work of the Helper, we begin to see the prayer concerns before us through the eyes of Christ who leads us by faith and trust in our Father’s will. We will know the Truth, because Jesus is Truth!

Prayer: Father, thank you for the rich inheritance that belongs to your children. We must see ourselves and the petitions we place before you as requests to see the insights and revelation of Truth before us. May your highest and best for your children be served today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Teaching Me to Pray, Pt I

Digging for Truth: Prayer is the honest communication of love and faith between ourselves and God. Certainly, God knows all about our needs long before we pray, but God desires for us to pursue and seek him in order to commune with him; prayer reveals our sincere dependence upon our Helper. Prayer is necessary when it comes to the will of God. In Scripture, Christ modeled prayer perfectly and let’s not forget the Spirit was upon him to be his Helper. When Jesus wanted to discern the will of the Father, he prayed and when he acted by faith on the Father’s will, the Spirit provided the power to accomplish it.

Grace for the Heart: The disciples saw how prayer worked with Christ and his communication with the Father, as well as how the Spirit moved to answer those requests. Therefore, the disciples came to Jesus and asked him to teach them how to pray and communicate with the Father in order to get the same results. Scripture teaches us how to pray, as well (Matthew 6:9-13).

Romans 8:26, 27 NLT 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Challenge: The Spirit helps us to pray in righteousness, so we need to recognize our limitations as we petition God and ask for the Spirit to intercede for us.

Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; they kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.
Reflection: The Comforter, Pt 2

Digging for Truth: Today, we will continue our thoughts about the Helper as the Comforter for the brokenhearted; the Lord tenderly loves us into a sense of well-being. When we are brokenhearted, we need the tenderness of our Savior. Tenderness is different than sympathy. The Hebrew root word for tenderness translates as compassion which is derived from the word womb. So, life and compassion are connected; God nurtures us with his own life. God acts in compassionate ways toward us as a parent, father and, as we saw yesterday, a nursing mother. Lastly, genuine godly compassion always results in action. For example, God’s forgiveness flows from his compassion.

Grace for the Heart: Compassion is connected to deliverance; God brings people back to his shalom—wholeness. In the New Testament, God’s compassion is seen clearly in the person of the Son who responded to people’s needs with grace. Jesus looked at people and was moved with compassion, because he realized they were like sheep without a shepherd—in misery with no hope.

John 14:16-17 Amplified Role of the Spirit
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.

Challenge: Compassion is a strong and powerful emotion, so as we follow Jesus we are drawn to help, nurture, and surround others in restorative ways, because of the compassion we have received from the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for seeing our tears and for knowing we need your Helper to guide us toward wholeness. In our restoration, may we be quick to share compassion with others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: The Comforter, Pt 1

Digging for Truth: Sometimes we can find ourselves so brokenhearted we cannot think clearly about life; we just take the next breath and keep moving. At those times, God knows our crushed spirits need a Comforter to hold us and encourage our souls; so, he becomes what we lack. As well, God sends his children to surround us and pray for us, because we may struggle to pray in our pain. Our wounds can be raw and we tend to retreat until things start to heal a bit. And, in time we do heal, because God is our Healer.
Grace for the Heart: God’s divine hugs are the best to bring comfort and healing to us when life overwhelms us. His Word tells us he comforts us like a mother comforts a hurting child.

Grace brings us courage and strength, so we are empowered to cope with the painful experiences of life. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Helper promises to bring us a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning and festive praise instead of despair
(Isaiah 61:3).

Psalm 34:18 NLT The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Isaiah 51:12 NLT “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?

Isaiah 66:13 NLT “I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.”

Challenge: CS Lewis once wrote, “If tribulation is a necessary element in redemption, we must anticipate that it will never cease till God sees the world to be either redeemed or no further redeemable” (The Problem of Pain). As long as we face tribulations, we will need a Comforter.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being our Comforter and bringing the necessary healing to our souls. Each day we need a touch, because life is not easy. Yet, we trust you and know you are good! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Tender Heart and Tears

Digging for Truth: When we come to the deep belief the Helper is not only a Person, he is our best and dearest friend, we are easily overwhelmed with emotion. Father God so loved the world he gave his Son to pay for our sins and bring forgiveness (John 3:16). Then, the Son sent the Helper to show us how to live righteously. Such divine, selfless love and concern for rebellious or hard hearted human beings is a challenge to comprehend. However, the Helper brings the confidence and assurance we are never alone and spiritual growth and refreshment is always only a prayer away.

Grace for the Heart: Grace has a softening effect on human hearts. Crying or weeping in gratitude is a beautiful response to the goodness of God. We may have never been one to shed tears in public, but when we realize the Spirit and power of God is with us, we may not be able to stop from crying. We do not have to carry our burdens alone; we have been given the Helper. Most of the time, our response may be one of praise and shouting, but when we are carrying a burden that seeks to overpower us and God rises to lift our load, we easily shed tears as we respond to God with inexpressible gratitude.

Tender hearts are blessed before the Lord. In fact, God tells us throughout Scripture hard hearts cause abundant issues in our relationship with God and with others. Sin (unbelief) causes our hearts to become hardened in the first place. So, if you find yourself moved to tears when you experience God’s presence with you, just know it was a promise the Lord made (Matthew 28:19-20).

Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT 19 And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, 20 so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.

Challenge: Showing emotion for God is not a weakness, it is love and humility. May we always come to God with tender hearts; however, we have the promise hard hearts can be made tender and pliable in the Spirit. Ask, Seek, Knock! (Matthew 7:7-8).

Prayer: Lord, I pray for the hearts of your children to be tender before you, so you can bring the transformation we desperately need. When our burdens are so heavy we shed tears, please be our Healer. May every emotion we lay before you bring you glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Liberty and Free Will

Digging for Truth: Solomon reminds us, in one of the Books of Wisdom, that “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our step.” (Proverbs 16:9) God gave you and I free will, and that is what Solomon was referring to when he said, “we can make our plans”; yes, God allows us the choice of either being liberated and free through our connection to Christ or being bound and enslaved through our connection to Satan. The world that is separated from Jesus believes that sounds ridiculous, and that God is punitive, He is controlling, and living by His standards is unrealistic and narrow minded. A heart that is hard, that has never allowed Jesus in or has turned away from Jesus, will read the second part of Solomon’s Truth as God (the Lord) “requires or demands” that He determines a believer’s step all because “He is a controlling God”. Friends, that cannot be further from the Truth. The Apostle Paul tells us that through our salvation, and when we used our free will to hand over our hearts to Jesus, that we were set free (Galatians 5). Free from the bondage of our sins, free from our souls (minds, wills, and emotions) being trapped by the darkness of this world, and free from Satan who wants to destroy our spirit that was created by God and longs to be connected to the living Word of God, Who is Jesus.

Grace for the Heart: Only by knowing Jesus and living a life for Him can we begin to allow the Holy Spirit the room to move within us so that we can truly see with our spiritual eyes the Truth. Friends, Jesus wants to connect to us all of the time and He does that through the Holy Spirit. So, we must use our free will and choose to get closer to Him, He tells us, ‘You are my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free’ (John 8:31-32). Jesus wants to liberate you and me, He wants to set us free all of the time, we are the ones who use our free will to quiet the voice of the Holy Spirit, to dim the Spirit’s Light of Truth that shines within and through us, and thus our hearts turn away from Jesus and His grace that He wants to pour out onto us.

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)

17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Challenge: The Apostle Paul tells the Church, ALL of the CHURCH, not just those who attended and were listening back in Galatia or in Corinth, but each any every member of Jesus’s Church, His Family, so that means that he’s talking to YOU and ME when he said that Jesus is the Spirit, He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and so wherever the Spirit is…that means in YOU and ME…that there is freedom! “So, Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law” (Galatians 5:1) or in slavery to our old sin. Stay the course with Christ, stay in His Word, and share with others about His liberating love.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for allowing us to choose You. Holy Spirit, thank You for never giving up on us. For knocking on the doors to our hearts, for giving us spiritual eyes to see the Truth, and spiritual ears to hear the Truth. Please keep drawing us closer and closer to Jesus. Use our testimonies to share about our freedom in Christ and how we are eternally connected to His love. We ask all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.

Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper

Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.

In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.

Reflection: Convicted of Sin

Digging for Truth: Many people want to talk about the emotional manifestations of the Spirit—things like peace, holy laughter, love, wisdom, speaking in tongues, but those things, although really wonderful, pale in comparison to the real work of the Spirit which is to convict God’s children of the sin of unbelief in order to bring righteousness. When we do not honor what Jesus came to do in our lives, it is the sin of unbelief. Believers listen to the Helper and grow spiritually mature in Christ’s character.

This past week we have been looking at how the Helper provides grace for every day living; things like protection, stirring our remembrance of God’s Word, establishing new desires and healing us from bad habits and he does so by convicting or convincing us of error or sin, as well as empowering us to make better choices. The Helper can be very persuasive as he opens our ears to hear God’s words of affirmation, instruction, and discipline.

Grace for the Heart: When I was in my thirties I had an encounter with the Spirit of God that left me forever changed. One day I was praying and crying out to God, because I was physically very ill and had been so for about one year. As I was praying, I felt like an electrical charge ran through my body and I was filled with an amazing sense of lingering peace. An inward voice, although not audible in my physical ear, spoke a question, “Do you know it is me?” I answered aloud, “Yes!” My Spirit recognized the Voice and authority of my Helper. Up until that time, I knew about the Spirit, but I did not understand the indescribable blessing he would become in my life as he opened my eyes to see and my ears to hear the Truth.

Sometimes people can get so focused on the emotional manifestations of the Spirit, they spend all their energy going from one encounter to another like a spiritual high was the best of the Spirit’s work. True, there is nothing like having an awareness of God’s presence in us or tasting his anointed power, but life with God is not all warm and fuzzy; God has serious work to do in our lives and disciplining our character is part of his plan. Do you believe?
John 16:7-9 NLT 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.

Challenge: The Helper convicts us because sin keeps us bound from the things of God—so he comes to free us. Unbelief and disobedience keeps us enslaved; it quickly takes dominion. No matter what sin or unbelief tries to rob us, we must trust the Helper to deliver us. He is all powerful for those who believe.

Prayer: Lord, to know you is to trust you to do the things in us that we cannot do for ourselves. We thank you for the convicting and convincing work of the Spirit who leads us toward the Truth of Christ and all he desires to bring our lives. Sometimes we are enslaved to things we do not even realize, so please liberate us Holy Spirit and draw us closer to righteousness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.