I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
Fact: Throughout history multitudes of people have been willing to kill and be killed in the name of their country, but very few have been willing to love their enemies in the name of Jesus. Perhaps we should listen to Christ and begin to honor, recruit, train, and send huge armies of nonviolent peacemakers to love their enemies in the world’s troubled places.
Nowadays our modern media through the violence it portrays is brainwashing ordinary people to kill and be killed and exposing our streets, shops, and even our schools to lethal violence.
Because Jesus is alive, present, and living within His Spirit-led followers they are free to live outside the box of ordinary days and routine religion. Every day will overflow with extraordinary revelation, God-sightings, and God-winks if they will keep their heart fully open, surrendered, and obedient to the risen Christ.
Small children see life as full of marvels, but far too many adults have lost their marvels. Kind, unscripted words that flow from the heart of an innocent child are inspiring. When the children of God (who have been truly made clean and righteous by the blood of Jesus) gather for worship, the meeting will overflow with joy if people will courageously and spontaneously share with one another the beautiful, Spirit-prompted words that God puts on their heart.
The best texts aren’t on your phone, they’re in the Bible. The more we allow biblical words and the voice of “Christ in you,” to ignite His glory within us and cause our heart to continuously marvel, the more we will reap the spiritual awakening that we have been praying and sowing for. While you wait, daily marvel with your heart and keep it ever abounding with awe.
Scripted Christianity Without the Holy Spirit’s Living spontaneity Is just empty liturgy.
Small children often abandon self-focus and the expectations of other people to allow themselves to become freely captivated by the mystery and wonder of being alive. They radiate humble innocence, healthy curiosity, enthusiastic creativity, joyful spontaneity, and non-competitive playfulness. That’s the beauty of a child-like spirit.
However, if adults continually manifest those characteristics, they are considered to be naive and childish. It’s taxing to maintain robust child-like innocence in our tough and tumble judgmental world. It’s arduous to “receive the kingdom of God like a child” (to surrender to God’s inner government and be led by the Spirit).
As children grow toward adulthood, life fights to steal their innocence and entrap them in self-focus and pride, in guilt, and shame. Jesus put it this way: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” To be child-like requires a life-long fight.
The most important fight you can fight is the fight of faith. Fight to fully believe in and unceasingly rely on God like a tiny child relies on his parents. Faithfully fight to bring your every thought, feeling, and desire into obedience to Christ. Fight to be spontaneously led by the Spirit. Fight for God’s supernatural might and spiritual insight to persistently think, say, and do what’s right. Fight to always be honest and to boldly live in God’s light. Fight to ever soar to new heights in your relationship with God. Fight to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to always delight in the Lord! Let your first priority ever be to seek first the kingdom of God and to allow His Spirit to directly rule and govern you from within so that the risen Jesus can always be your Lord.
And don’t fight alone, keeping your heart isolated from other Christians (even when you are sitting beside them in a church service). I believe that the body of Christ met differently in the first century than Christians meet today. Today church is about passively hearing a sermon that was developed through systematic study and analysis, but I believe that the first Christians met support-group-style with lots of passionate Spirit-prompted sharing and singing that overflowed with the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit and with the openness and innocence of little children.
Jesus said: “Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Hmmm. It seems to be rather important that Christians have a childlike attitude, however, there is nothing childlike about most church services. In fact, children are often taken away to another room. Perhaps it’s time to engage in Spirit-led spontaneity, rejoicing, and freedom.
Unbelievers Need to hear Christ proclaimed, But believers Need to be trained To hear Jesus Directly With childlikeness And then to do What He says.
Emmanuel Has come to be An inner well. O taste and see, Ponder and enjoy Jesus gems, Christ in you! Jesus puts His gems In your heart. Don’t miss them. Jesus calls Inside you. Hear Him. Jesus comforts. Jesus guides. Jesus nudges. Jesus teaches. Jesus prompts. Jesus abides. Hear Him speak Within you.
Your mind and your heart receive direct communication from God that often gets overlooked in the flood of all your mental and emotional activity. Begin to notice the poetry of His inner gems. Jesus is called “the Bright and Morning Star.” Let Him freely shine in your heart and mind.
The biggest problem in hearing from God is the false belief that He isn’t talking to you. If God can hear you when you pray, then surely, He can speak to you when you pray. Listen! Regularly hearing God speak directly to you is a skill you can learn if you are willing to work at it. To ask God to listen to you when you are unwilling to listen to Him seems unfair.
Direct communication with God is the bridge that leads from draining discouragement to high hope. A personal relationship with Jesus begins with humble listening to and responding to His inner voice and grows by sincere obedience to the Holy Spirit. Hearing and obeying God is essential for spiritual growth.
The world’s biggest communication problem is the human unwillingness to directly hear heart-to-heart from God.We can’t ponder, treasure, and obey communication that comes straight from God to our heart, if we won’t notice it and recognize it.If being attentive to God’s direct communication to you isn’t your top priority, you probably won’t even notice it.
Direct communication from God is ongoing to those who “quench not the Spirit.” One way to receive direct communication from God is to ask Him to give you the language of Spirit and then begin to speak as the Spirit gives utterance and/or write as the Holy Spirit prompts and directs you.
Humbly receiving and obeying heart-to-heart communication directly from God is the key to 1) the fruit of the Spirit, 2) discipleship, and 3) the gifts of the Spirit. It takes Christianity beyond religion and demonstrates it as daily reality.
Be a believer, But also be A receiver And perceiver Of what Jesus Is saying And doing Within you. Let Him be The weaver Who holds you Together, The lever Who lifts you up To soar with Eagle wings.
“Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Hebrews 5:12.) “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:2.)
Too many Christians are not ready for and hungry for spiritual meat. It’s easy to stay stuck on and comfortable with milk that is produced for babies. It takes courage to begin to consume, digest, and implement the meat that the Holy Spirit wants to serve us.
The Holy Spirit prompts. Like the wind God’s Spirit prompts where He pleases. Everyone born of the Spirit can hear the inner sound of “Christ in you” blowing in their heart — nudging them, guiding them, directing them. We’re all called to be led by the Spirit and to follow by faith even though we don’t know where obeying God’s Spirit is going to take us.
Jesus loves me this I know because He lives in, empowers, and leads me by His Spirit throughout each day. Will you listen to and obey the thoughts and heart-nudges that God puts in you?
Spirit-prompted assembly creates an astonishing worship gathering. “When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation . . .” See 1 Corinthians 14:26.
Christians will learn to be more freely led by the Spirit: * When the pastor begins to follow John the Baptist’s example, “He (Jesus) must increase. but I must decrease.” * When the pastor steps to the side and lets Jesus directly guide the meeting. * When the people are freed up and encouraged to be aware of and to obey the Holy Spirit’s inner promptings.
One way God leads people into the meat of His spiritual pomptings is through the language of the Spirit. The language of God’s Spirit isn’t learned with the mind. It’s a gift from God that supernaturally flows from the heart like rivers of living water. I pray in the Spirit’s miraculous language numerous times throughout each day, and it always stirs my heart with a wonderful awareness of God’s presence. I believe that the Spirit’s language is a gift of spiritual meat that is available to anyone who will humbly receive it and consistently use it.
* When I don’t know what to pray with my mind, I pray with the language of God’s Spirit (sometimes silently and sometimes out loud).
* When I’m struggling with my emotions, I pray with the language of the Spirit.
* When I’m confused and don’t know what to do, I pray with the language of the Spirit.
* When I’m tempted to think, say, or do wrong, I pray with the Spirit’s language.
* When I want to sense God’s presence, I pray with the language of His Spirit.
* When I can’t sleep at night, I pray with the language of God’s Spirit.
* When I’m worshipping God, I pray with the language of the Spirit.
* When I’m driving in my car, I pray with the Spirit’s language.
* I’m praying with the language of the Spirit as I write this.
* When I pray with the Spirit’s language my mind doesn’t understand, but my heart overflows.
* Anytime at all, I pray with the language of God’s Spirit.
* That’s one reason I stay so excited about the risen Jesus!
Physically I am a vegetarian (by preference, not by legalism). However, I devour all the spiritual meat that God grills in my heart!
“Cloth yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 13:14.) “Put on the full armor of God.” (Ephesians 6:11.) Church can be more that it normally is.
Because of Christ’s blood Church can truly be “The tent of meeting” Heart-to-heart with God, A love assembly To display Jesus’ Presence among us And living in us.
Church can be more. O come let us Actively adore From our heart’s core The glorious One, Our Creator.
Church can be more Than a program It can be a door To encounter The great I AM!
Take the chance To dance, dance, dance Heart to heart With God. Be Spirit-led With Christ as your Head. Rejoice in the Lord Always.
Church can be more Than requirement. It can be members Of Christ’s body Expressing hope And encouragement Directly to One another.
Church can be more than Routine religion. People can gather To open their heart To God-given vision.
Church can be more than A Sunday meeting. It can be people Eagerly seeking To surrender all To the risen Christ.
Church can be more than Ceremony, songs, And religious words That fly like birds Into one ear And out the other. It can train people To actually hear And fully obey The voice of God.
Church can be more than Sitting through a talk About religion. It can train people To daily walk And be led by God’s Spirit.
Church can be more Than the same person Taking the floor. All the members Of a congregation Can testify in turn Without hesitation As God’s Spirit Leads them to Show and tell What they have Seen and heard Jesus say and do.
God wants to do More in churches Than He’s allowed to. Lord, give us a clue About what You Truly want to do When we gather In Your name.
Churches can be more Than holy buildings. They can be places To train God’s people To always adore The risen Jesus And bravely obey His inner promptings.
Churches can be more Than sermon centers. They can be meetings Where Jesus enters And takes full control.
Church services tend To be pastor-led, But God wants people To be Spirit-led. (See Romans 14:18.)
Yes, church can be more! Isn’t it now the time To stop being a mime And start to verbally Pour out true heart-felt love And pure adoration To Jesus Christ the Lord? It is necessary For believers to use words. Let the Holy Spirit Train you how to speak With humble narration And Christ-led oration. (The Spirit can train us To all speak like JD.)
Week after week, year after year, routine religion repeats and circles through the same rigid, technology-like cycles. Jesus, however, wants to lead His people past their prepackaged programs and into the refreshing newness of glory after glory.
Routine religion seldom produces radiant faces. It prefers to mask them with a veil. When religion repeatedly follows a regular pattern, it tends to quench the freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit’s control is curtailed and crowded out human control takes charge.Where faith is stagnant Christ’s inner rivers of living water are no longer flowing.
To let the living Jesus change your life you have to begin to let go of some of your cozy and comfortable criteria. The secret to spiritual lukewarmness is to stay rigidly stuck in systematic religion. Routine religion can easily become spiritual paralysis. Jesus told the Pharisees: “You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”
Biblical Christianity is about living your daily life on God’s schedule, not your own.Look beyond religious routine. Throughout each day behold the unseen presence of Jesus.
A relationship with the risen Jesus is far from the same ole same ole. It’s rigorous yet refreshingly renewing. I relish my relationship with Him.
When there’s a crack in your routine, God’s light can come in. When God slips us out of our religious patterns, too many people jump right back in. Christians have been trained to rely on church routine rather than on a relationship with Christ.
When the risen Jesus is humbly experienced without the veil and trappings of religion, He awakens the awareness of His glorious presence. When people won’t interact with the risen Jesus beyond the veil of religion, they tend to overlook His reality. The stone was rolled away! Look unto the living Jesus.
Jesus is best encountered beyond the complacent comfort of ritual. You have the ability to break out of your religious patterns and to relate to Christ in a fresh beautiful way today. Religious routine repeats over and over but spiritual progress presses “toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (See Philippians 3:14.)
All it takes for a church to experience revival is to break out of the veil of routine and to step into the spontaneity of God’s Spirit. The greater the spiritual awakening, the less people and churches are reliant on religious procedures.
Some people think Being led by The Spirit of The Lord Jesus Is frightening, But I find it Wonderfully Empowering, CHRIST IN YOU the Hope of glory.
If you pray And listen To the thoughts God deposits In your mind, He’ll disrupt You today And show you A better way.
There’s nothing routine About the unseen Spirit of God.
Christianity That becomes routine Ignores the unseen Reality of The risen Jesus.
If your faith Doesn’t move You deeply From your gut You may be stuck In a religious rut.
Let yourself frequently burst into praise and thanksgiving. (Today is Thanksgiving Day in the USA so go for it today!)
From their safety and comfort in the Kremlin and its bomb shelters, these guys have sent hundreds of thousands of young Russians to their death and caused the death of untold numbers of Ukrainians. That war is now threatening the death of multitudes of millions through nuclear annelation. Lord, have mercy on our planet. Lord, turn the hearts of leaders around the world (regardless of their political persuasion and national pride) to peace and compromise! More war isn’t the answer!
The human heart is continually being invited, enticed, and seduced to welcome, entertain, and make treaties with evil. In the midst of all of the corruption and temptation around and within us, Jesus calls us to purify our heart.
Purity is a heart that worships and relies on Emmanuel (God with us) alone — that acknowledges Him in all its ways as the one true Lord. Purity is contemplating the Lord’s glory and being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (See 2 Cor. 3:18.)
The most effective way to fight evil is to start by purifying your own heart. Begin to single-mindedly obey James 4:8.
Purify yourself by obeying the truth (1 Peter 1:22) instead of following your own feelings, desires, and opinions. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Incessantly surrender your will to Him as your living Lord and absolute Master.
Christ in you is the hope of glory. Love one another fervently with a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart. The pure in heart overflow with God’s love, even for their enemies.
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. (See 2 Corinthians 7:1.) All who have hope in Christ purify themselves just as He is pure. (See 1 John 3:3.)
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16.) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9.) Humbly and ceaselessly allow Christ to filter your heart and remove its impurities and deceptions.
For me every day is a holiday. The word holiday comes from the Old English word for holy day. For me, every day I am alive is a special holy day — a gift that God has dished up for me. Lord, how do You want me to worship You?
How awesome is the work that the Lord will do for us if we will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. The Lord is looking for people to worship Him in spirit and in truth — who will honestly listen to the Spirit and obey His inner prompting instead of our own personal preferences and comfort zone.
I know of a young woman who recently had a radical encounter with Jesus. Now she gets up and runs around the room (during a worship service) when she feels moved by the Holy Spirit. Quite a few people are shocked and/or offended by her physical approach to worship, but she is courageous enough to do it anyway. I’ve not seen her do this, but I am sure I would be somewhat shocked as well (like Kind David’s wife was when he spontaneously danced before the Lord in public).
I want to be more like that young woman. I want to be freer to say and do whatever the Spirit leads me to, regardless of what people might think about me. Jesus may never call me to run around the room during a worship service, but if He does, I want to be willing to hear Him and be ready to roll. I don’t want to quench His Spirit even when Jesus prompts me to do something that will make me look strange or foolish to people.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Fill Your Mind and Your Heart With Hope 