Author: LB

How Are We Doing?

Ephesians 5:1-8 (NLT)

Living in the Light

5 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[a] and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.

6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!

How are we doing? Can people recognize us as belonging to God by the way we talk and act. Can God recognize us? Can God say, “That one is mine, I can tell by the way he acts/talks”?

Can people see our Heavenly Father in us?

Don’t Be Selfish With Our Prayers

When raising kids, we often hear people advise us to pray that our kids will have good friends and that we should pray a hedge around them that only good kids would be able to get in and the bad would not be allowed in. That just sounds selfish.

We could definitely pray that the bad stuff would not influence our child but it may be the contact our child has with the other that could somehow make a difference in both their lives. These kids that you may consider a bad influence are someone’s child and we can’t just wish them away. They are just as much God’s creation as anyone else.

How about pray that they would somehow be changed or influenced for the good. Maybe God would work in their situation and bring people into their lives that would make a difference. Our children will always have someone around them to sway them in the wrong direction. It would be better that we have prayed for their strength so that they develop enough to withstand the stuff that will come against them as they grow. We all know the stuff we endure when little seems big at the time but we also know that when we are older the stuff that we face is bigger.

The individuals that come into our lives through our children will need help and prayer just as much if not more that our children. Our children are and will be covered by our prayers. The ones that may be considered a bad influence may have never had anyone pray for them. Let’s be the first.  We can be sure that it would be God’s will to work in everyone’s life, not just the life of our kids. God uses all to His glory and our betterment.

Don’t Live in Darkness

1 Peter 2 (NIV)

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

You can be called out of darkness to live in God’s wonderful light.

You can win the war that is fighting against your soul.

1 Peter 1 (NIV)

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Once you are set free from your bondage, be sure to stay in prayer and Bible reading. Do not turn back to the evil desires you had when you were living in ignorance (darkness).

Matthew 12 (AMP)

43 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any.
44 Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated.
45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation.

Deuteronomy 31 (ESV)

6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Be sure to have Christ occupying your soul that it will not be found empty.

Stay in God’s word and prayer. Christ will not leave you or forsake you if you are seeking Him.

What Does God Want To Do For You?

We cannot expect others to solve our problems. We need to take steps to solve the problems that we face. We need to start by making sure we are right with God. We cannot always solve our problems on our own. We should give them to God before we even try. Once they are submitted to God, we should allow Him to work and we should be listening to what He wants us to do.

God want to help us overcome all that comes against us. He is waiting for us to give those problems to Him and trust that He will work them out to our good and His glory. If we truly seek Him, He will move. We must live in faith, knowing that He is able and willing. If we are not right with Him, we will lack the confidence we need to have that faith.

We try in vain to solve our problems on our own. The flesh will fail us. Ask the Holy Spirit to come in and guide you. This can be a process so keep seeking, don’t give up. Christ came that we can live in the Spirit and not the law. The law represents the flesh and our own strength. The Spirit is of God that is all powerful. He can do for us what we can’t even imagine. He will want control over every aspect of our life but He will make it good. We can’t settle for only allowing Him to work in certain areas. We must submit it all.

Even though God is all powerful, He will not force Himself on you. If you decide to work in your own strength, He can choose to allow you to struggle in your problem. He can allow your problem to escalate until it seems too big to handle. He can allow you to live without His blessings. He wants to help but He allows you to decide. We will someday bow before Him. Why not do it when we can be blessed? If we decide later in life, we cause ourselves and our families strife that could be avoided. If we decide to wait until our life on earth expires, we will still bow but we will only be cast out for not making the choice when we had the chance.

People think they lose control of their life by giving it over to God. It is actually the opposite. When  we don’t chose Christ, we actually leave ourselves open for Satan to come against us without having any defenses and then Satan is ultimately in control. By choosing Christ, we actually can feel a freedom that cannot be felt by any other means.

Living in the Law (our own strength)

vs.

Living in the Spirit (allowing the all knowing and all powerful God to control every aspect of our life)