Tag: Holy Spirit

Posted on

Who Knows?

JUNE 29

MATTHEW 6:15_Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses…

Why do you hold on to unforgiveness? Does it have something to do with forgiveness causing you to appear weak? God is not only willing, but wants to forgive you. Do you think He is weak?

Hanging on to unforgiveness because it makes you feel tough is straying. Hanging on to unforgiveness for any reason is straying. You are interfering with God’s desire to forgive you. If you are in relationship with Jesus you will forgive, because if you don’t the Holy Spirit will convict your heart. You will lose peace. Salty-lit-up disciples repent and come back to God’s path.

When someone’s straying trespasses into your life, you have to deal with the invasion – one way or another. You can react with anger and possibly physical confrontation, or seek the path of forgiveness. As we’ve said before, forgiveness does not necessarily mean the invaders should not be held responsible for their actions. Discernment must be applied.

Your life can be trespassed upon in many ways. Betrayal is probably the largest of the litter. It may certainly be the hardest to forgive. God does not measure trespasses by their size. God is more concerned about how far away from His path His disciples stray. It is His major concern because … He loves His disciples.

Your willingness to forgive the trespassers may be how God intends to bring them back on track.

Who knows? That may be why your life is the one He allowed them to invade.                  

PRAYER

God of Love, You are more than able to deliver from any trespass. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ knows all trespasses—He conquered them all!

Posted on

Violating Comfort Zones

JUNE 24

MATTHEW 6:14_For if ye forgive men their trespasses…

When you see a No Trespassing sign what does it tell you? Don’t go there! Don’t cross this line! This is not free range! Turn around! Go another way! If you continue in this path you are violating the law! Stay away!

Use your key to gain some wisdom, understanding, and knowledge about trespassing. You will find a lot. Proverbs 4:27 (KJV), “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

Sometimes you stray from the path. Just a small step right or left, may require a very large step to get back on track. For the salty-lit-up disciple, that should bring conviction. You are unsteady. You can’t make yourself do right. The Holy Spirit pulls in the direction to follow. Ask forgiveness for trespassing down the wrong road.

The Lord places people in your life. The Bible calls them your neighbors. That does not mean they necessarily live next door.

Sometimes people stray and trespass into your life – violating comfort zones and causing pain.

No salty-lit-up disciple would deny forgiveness to a trespasser. Disciples know they have received forgiveness from God for their trespasses.      

PRAYER

Guiding Father, Please guide my feet in Your path. Please block me so I do not turn in another direction. If I do, set me back on Your road. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is the Path—I want to stay with Him!

Posted on

My Debtors

JUNE 16

MATTHEW 6:12_as we forgive our debtors.

My debtors caused this prayer to turn around. It was fine for God to forgive my debts. Psalm 136 (KJV) says twenty-six times, “for his mercy endureth for ever.”

I feel comfortable with the fact that God forgives me. That helps me overcome lies the devil uses to deceive me – that I can never be forgiven. This vertical forgiveness is from a God of true love. Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV), “The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee [you and me] with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”  Wow!

My debtors are those who have never paid things like:

A financial debt – money owed to me.

A verbal debt – a broken promise.

An emotional debt – harsh angry words which ripped apart every feeling of tenderness I ever possessed.

A trust debt – betrayal. 

Whatever the debt, it is still in my ledger. Before, my prayer life was only concerned with God’s ledger book – now He is meddling into mine.

The Holy Spirit says things to me like, “I’m ready to erase your debts recorded in My Vertical Ledger because you are not able to pay. But, I see all kinds of unerased debts in your Horizontal Ledger. Let Me teach you a solution.”  

PRAYER

Holy God, I want to have Your mercy that endures forever.  In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

 Christ erased my sins—He teaches me how to erase!

Posted on

All the Time!

 JUNE 14

MATTHEW 6:12_our debts…

Your sin debt is too great. You will never be able to pay it. It will remain in God’s ledger for eternity. To pay the debt according to the law keepers, you will have to keep every law, on your own – no indwelling Holy Spirit’s power. Humanly impossible!

To pay the debt according to Jesus, you will have to have a pure heart – likewise impossible! This looks like some kind of double jeopardy. You need a solution that can overcome the impossible! Where can you find that? Oh, wait! You have a key!

Use the key, unlock the treasure chest, and discover something incredible. The Messiah Savior has already solved the problem! He gave His life to cover all your debts. Only Jesus could do it because only He is the perfect Son of God. 

To make things even better, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart. The Spirit draws you further and further away from sin and causes you to hunger for holiness. Your taste for sin diminishes. When you do sin, the Spirit sends conviction. You humbly ask the Father for forgiveness. I John 1:9 (KJV), “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God is good all the time and, all the time God is good!       

PRAYER

Holy Savior, Thank You for paying my sin debt which I could never pay.  In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.

Christ is the Savior—He saves me!

Posted on

Why Else Do It?

MAY 6

MATTHEW 6:1_Take heed that ye do not your alms before men…

Take heed is translated as pay attention! Jesus begins with a firm exclamation! Just as with the verilies, He’s about to reveal an important part of the salty-lit-up disciple life. You’ve sat at the feet of Jesus long enough by now to know this will be something different from the status quo.

The word alms here is translated as righteous. Does Jesus say pay attention so you don’t do righteousness before men? Jesus messes with your mind right from the get-go. Shouldn’t the whole purpose of righteousness be to do it before men? Why else do it?

Those committed to be disciples accepted the calling to be light. Shouldn’t your light shine before men? Isn’t its purpose to draw seekers into the presence of The Savior, The Great Balancer, The Great Hope, The Great Transformer, The Great Surgeon, The Great Healer? Your righteousness must be before men.

I hope you are hanging on for more clarification from Jesus as He teaches—I am! 

PRAYER

Jesus Teacher, I want to learn whatever You have to teach me. I want the truth to guide my life, and help me make right decisions. I want to heed the Holy Spirit’s insight. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                                                          

Christ wants me to pay attention to His teaching—I will!