When I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I’m saying. We want to get out of heads, and into our spirits. One of the greatest gives from God is the ability to transcend the natural and our minds, and enter the supernatural instantaneously by praying in the spirit.
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If there is something that is easy to loose sight of but that should always be a priority in everything we do, it is to bring God’s presence into the earth and into our daily lives. God wants to invade his church. God wants to be involved. He so loves to be in the midst of our lives. It’s like being a parent and seeing your kids really happy: nothing is better than that. When God sees us happy, he is rejoicing more than we are. It is the presence of God that changes our lives.
II Chronicles 7 - When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the sacrifices, and the glorious presence of God filled the Temple. Every so often, people start to have problems with giving. They say that tithing is not of the New Testament or of the New Covenant. I know that God doesn’t change. The Bible says he is the same yesterday, today and forever. Let’s observe God and how he moves, functions, operates and interacts with His people.
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Acts 18: I love the New Year - the thought of another chance - the thought of what’s possible. There is so much hope in the air this time of year. God loves to give us another chance. The whole nature of God is redemptive. He wants to wash away the past, get our feet on high ground and get us looking forward. God is all about forward. Although some things we have done in our past effect us and leave scars. God wants us to learn from those things and move on - not be defeated by it or let it hold you back. He wants us to allow the lessons of our past to help us make great decisions for our future.
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Isaiah 9 - For unto us a child is born… This prophecy foretells the birth of Christ.
God’s redemptive plan for earth was to come to earth Himself- as a child - and become relatable. God wanted to connect to the world. “A Son will be given…” The child was the entry point. Come into the kingdom like a child. Re-learn and re-think everything. By coming as a child, God introduced Himself to us in such a way that we could identify with Him. He became real, tangible and touchable. He came and did things people needed Him to do - provide healing, comfort, compassion, encouragement and hope. He did everything He could to ensure that people understood Him.
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Matthew 1:18
The Kingdom of God is something we can bring to the here and now. We can demonstrate it in this world by knowing God’s character and acting out our desire to be like Christ.
The Christmas story gives a clear demonstration of the nature and character of God. Joseph in this story was in a dilemma - the dilemma was between the law and his heart. He was struggling with himself between his compassion for Mary and the dictates of the law he had grown up following. The law commanded commanded strict punishment for women who cheated on their husbands or were pregnant out of wedlock. However, the angel Gabriel had told Joseph to go ahead with his wedding and to name his son Jesus. (Emanuel - God with us).
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….You stand before Him without any Faults…
The House of God should be a place where every person should be and feel accepted. Everything does not change when you meet God. Your humanity will still influence you and be the main contribution to your decision making. To overcome this influence, you must learn to take on God’s character. That takes time and sacrifice.
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There are three questions that God is consistently asking us. Each question acts as a gateway to the next, and the answers to these questions bring us to breakthrough and blessing in our lives. Christian life is a process. Following Christ is a journey. God uses these questions to get us through challenges, help us grow and move us from place to place. As such, we need to be happy when we face challenges and see it as an opportunity to grow in God.
God does not respond to our needs. He responds to the faith we have inside us that God will help us overcome our needs. Even in a place of blessing there will be pitfalls and obstacles (i.e. consider the serpent in the Garden of Eden). There will be things that can cause us to backslide when we aren’t managing our lives and seeing into the future - seeing through God’s eyes and with vision.
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Thanksgiving is an attitude. Everyday, you decide to be thankful. Jesus said love one another - all the time - not when you feel like it or when they love you. Love is a choice, not a feeling. You can’t base relationships, commitments or decisions on how you feel. Relationships based on emotion are unstable. Commitment has to be more lasting. Commitment is also a decision.
Thankfulness and gratefulness are daily decisions. They cannot be based on what we see or feel at the time. They have to be based in faith. God says that He works all things together for good for those that love Him. Despite what we see or feel, God is always working. What releases God’s work in our lives is the thankfulness, faith and belief in our hearts. Everyday, we need to express our thankfulness to God with words and actions. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do is thank God. We thank God not only for what we see but also - and most importantly - for what we don’t see. This both demonstrates and exercises our faith.
Thanksgiving is a lifestyle. We need to carry thanksgiving with us every day. We need to rise above our circumstances to see things as God sees them - look from a higher perspective. King David praised God amidst incredible circumstances. Paul rejoiced in prison because he was able to spread God’s word even while in chains. We can’t let the things we see trap us into a negative attitude. Negativity affects our vision. Without vision, there is no movement. Thanksgiving is about believing that God is in control.
Lift up your eyes and see what God sees. God is working for us when we give thanks.
Luke 12 is a chapter mostly about money. Beware, it says. Don’t be greedy about what you don’t have, because real life is not measured by how much we own. In today’s society, this is difficult because people measure you and themselves by what they own. In this chapter, Jesus gives a parable about a guy who had everything, but wouldn’t give God his heart. God took away everything he had.
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At the time of Jesus, people were jaded as they are today. The Pharisees were at the height of their power, imposing the Law on believers. The church had access to knowledge and Scripture, but were living under the pressure of judgement and rules. Jesus came into this situation to liberate people from the law and judgment and give us the perfect example of how to witness to people today.
In Luke 15, Jesus gives three parables that teach us how to view ourselves, reach the lost and walk with the heart of God.
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