TABLE OF CONTENTS

Meditation Was God’s Idea

Things to Meditate On

Negative Ways We Can Misuse Meditation

God’s Answer to People Problems and Tough Circumstances

To Declare or Decree a Thing

Scriptural Foundation of Declaring or Decreeing a Thing

A Declaration of Salvation

Scriptural Examples of Declaration

Jesus’ Declaration over Our Lives

The Law vs. the Work of the Cross

Voyage into Galatians

A Prayer

An Explanation of Law vs. Promise

A Call to Live by the Spirit

A Word on Motives

Defining the Flesh

Evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit

Practical Instruction to Live by the Spirit

Wise Words on Bringing Correction

Don’t Lose Heart and Keep Doing Good

Expedition through Ephesians

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Paul Prays an Awesome Prayer for Us

By Grace through Faith

Paul Prays for Our Spiritual Strength

Walk Like Jesus

Be Angry but Do Not Sin

Don’t Grieve the Holy Spirit

Dressed in Armor or Naked: My Choice

Trek into Thessalonians

Faith, Love, and Hope

Please God and Not Man

Live Lives Worthy of God

Are Your Life and Faith a Blessing to Others?

Increase and Abound in Love and Hearts Established in Holiness

Walk and Please God

How to Treat Leadership

Life Instruction

Words of Encouragement in Hard Times

Powerful Prayer

Don’t Grow Weary

Pilgrimage through Corinthians

The Temple of God

Temptations and Trials

The Love Test

Final Thoughts in 1 Corinthians

Comforted to be a Comfort

A New Creation: An Ambassador of Christ

Wage the War

His Strength Comes in My Weakness

Odyssey into Romans

Justified and Made Perfect in His Sight

While We Were Yet Sinners

The Die-to-Sin Lifestyle

God Works All Things for My Good

More than Conquerors

A Living Sacrifice

Marks of the True Christian

Don’t Be a Stumbling Block

Joy and Peace in Believing

Meditate

&

Declare

A Journey with the Apostle Paul

Lynn Dehnke

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing

Coming soon:

Meditate and Declare

Through Your Valley

We all experience valleys in our lives and God wants us to come out of those valleys in  victory, not defeat. This new book will provide a framework for that journey.

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Meditate and Declare - Lynn Dehnke.

Copyright © 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted by (Amplified) are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission (www.Lockman.org).

Scripture quotations noted by (Message) are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Verse Notations: When a Bible verse number is followed by the letter “a” or “b”, it indicates usage of the first part (a) or last part (b) of a verse when the whole verse is not being quoted.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing and it’s logo are trademarks of LIFE SENTENCE Publishing, LLC

First edition published 2012

LIFE SENTENCE Publishing, LLC

P.O. BOX 652

Abbotsford, WI 54405

www.lifesentencepublishing.com

ISBN: 978-1-62245-000-8

This book is available from www.lifesentencepublishing.com, amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and your local Christian Bookstore

FOREWORD

As followers of Jesus our words and thoughts have great significance. They are powerful embodying either faith or unbelief. In the Scriptures, we read that as people of faith our words and thoughts possess both life and death.

God is relational and so therefore desires to communicate with us in a variety of ways. God listens from heaven. He seeks after us. The issue for us is do we actually make the time to communicate with Him? Do we listen, do we seek after Him? The health of any relationship is measured by the depth, intimacy, quality, and frequency of conversational communication.

The means through which we relate and converse with God are practices such as prayer, mediation, scripture reading, declaration, dreams, conversation, etc. We see God throughout redemptive history initiating conversation of these sorts with people like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, or the apostle Paul. God continues these practices into the 21st century. What He does though in every generation is He waits for a response from us. This is why “the disciplines” of the Christian faith are so vital to our relationship with Christ.

I have personally known Lynn for over 10 years. She has a passion for God’s presence. She pursues Him. Over the years she has taught in a variety of local church contexts. She has a passion for the Scriptures as God’s Word and also seeks to be a blessing to others by utilizing her gifts and abilities of teaching.

In this book Lynn explores the role and place some of these practices or disciplines have in our faith journey. They in fact are our responses to God in this ongoing conversation with Him. They are how we have relationship with Him. We speak with Him in prayer and in our interaction with the Scriptures. We ponder through meditation the things He has said to us as we wait to get back to Him. And we display faith in the things He has said by our declarations. Allow this book at the most basic level to be a tool to measure your faith and relationship with God. What are the quality, depth, and intimacy of your communication with Him?

Paul Smith

Lead Pastor of West Ridge Church

Eau Claire, WI

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I acknowledge my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Without His saving power in my life, I would be lost and wandering instead of saved and purposeful. His revelation in my life is what produces fruit, and I’m so very appreciative of that gift.

Next, I would like to thank my son, Rev. James Leonard, who is a youth pastor and my spiritual editor. Your words of encouragement and feedback during this process gave me the courage to produce this life-changing book.

My family, Rick and Kaitlyn, were both wonderful during my writing days. Thanks for picking up the slack so I could follow my dream. Kaitlyn, it’s official, this Mom loves the most. Rick, I love you and our best days are ahead.

My Dad, who went to be with the Lord in 2005, will always and forever be a voice of encouragement to follow any dream I can imagine. I love you, Dad!

My Mom, who has said on more than one occasion, “Lynn will write a book someday.” Thanks for the encouragement and I love you.

My sister and IT Consultant, Rusty, who makes sure all I have to do is turn my computer on and start working. I’m glad we’re sister friends.

My dear friend, Julie, who has been a faithful and loyal friend and has always challenged me to grow deeper and higher in the Lord in all seasons of life. Let’s embrace this new season in both our lives and rock this world for Christ.

My Bible teacher, Reverend Debra Zimmer, who took me deeper and higher in understanding the importance of intimacy with Christ, the anointing and call on my life, and provided me a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Word.

To all the wonderful ladies who have taken one of my Sunday School Classes: It was during that season in my life that God challenged me to start stepping out in faith and develop my own material based on the Word. Each of you has been such a blessing and encouragement to me through the years.

CHAPTER 1

Meditation Was God’s Idea

In the recent centuries of Church history, believers have avoided or been afraid of a very important and life-changing concept. That concept is meditation, specifically, meditation on the Word of God. If you check the dictionary, you will discover that meditation means “to reflect upon; contemplate or to engage in contemplation.” Unfortunately, Satan took a great concept that was conceived by God and made meditation something evil or of little importance. Using the Word of God as our basis, we will explore together what the original intent of meditation was, how it was of benefit to a believer, and how to begin to put this important practice into your daily walk with God.

My working definition of meditation is to purposefully and continually consider all aspects of any group of Scriptures for the purpose of spiritual growth and maturity.

Moses has just finished speaking to the Children of Israel about God’s laws just before he is about to die and Joshua is going to take over: “he said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess’” (Deuteronomy 32:46-47). Now we know that when Christ came, the old covenant, which was designed to show us our sinfulness and our need for Christ, was overridden by the New Covenant of provision through Jesus Christ; however, there are timeless principles in the Old Testament that we want to hold near and dear to our hearts and practice in our lives because of their value. One such principle is of meditation on the Word of God.

Doing a study of the word “meditation” in the Hebrew language was very helpful to me and really cemented my thought process in regards to this matter. The word “meditate” as used in Genesis 24:63, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:2, Psalm 63:6, Psalm 77:12, and Psalm 143:5 comes from the Hebrew word “hagah,” which means “to ponder, imagine, meditate, morn, mutter, and roar.” In the Genesis verse, Isaac goes out and meditates and bows down in prayer. In the Joshua verse and in Psalm 1:2 as well, the instruction is given to meditate on the Book of the Law, or the Word of God. In Psalm 63:6, the example given by David is to meditate on God himself. In Psalm 77:12, we are provided the example to ponder His work and meditate on His mighty deeds. Honestly, as I type these things I find myself giving a roar of agreement. It’s as if my spirit, (that place inside me that has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb) is rising up and saying, “Yeah, that’s what will cause me to grow stronger. Feed me and feed me now.” Psalm 143:5 gives us instruction by David to meditate on all He’s done and to ponder the works of His hands. There are additional verses in the Old Testament that speak of the practice of meditation, and I would encourage you to use a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible to discover those treasures for yourself.

In Joshua 1:8, the Lord commands Joshua, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Clearly we can see that God is instructing us to meditate on His Word so that we do what is written in it for the purpose of making our way prosperous and to give us good success. Anything God asks us to do is ultimately for our benefit and good.

Joshua has just taken the place of Moses and is about to lead the Children of Israel over the Jordan River into the Promised Land when God gives him life-changing instruction about how to handle what was called the Book of the Law, which we now know as the Bible, or the Word of God. Meditating on the Word on a regular basis so that you observe and do what it says is one key to a victorious Christian walk

The second part of that verse states a condition with a promise. After you have meditated on the Word on a regular basis and are actively putting into practice the truths it contains, then your way will be prosperous and you will have good success. What you meditate on is as vital as the practice of meditation itself. The Word does not say that we are to meditate on the latest television show or the hot new bestseller to have a prosperous way or great success. Rather, it clearly lays out that if your meditation is on the Word, then you will have a prosperous way and success in your life. When Satan’s primary goal is to hurt God by hurting His children, it would make sense then that if he can get us to be wary of meditation and not fulfill this command of God, he will accomplish his goal.

As I studied this subject in the Word, I discovered that there are basically three categories of meditation. There are things to meditate on, things to avoid meditating on, and things to meditate on in response to problems or trials that are prevalent in this world.

Things to Meditate On

Genesis 24:62-63a: “Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahairoi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening.” It would appear that it was the custom of early believers of Yahweh that they would meditate and bow down in prayer. During their time, the primary Word from the Lord that they had access to included stories that had been passed down from one generation to another in verbal form. They also had all of creation around them that proclaimed the Creator. I believe that it was Isaac’s custom, as it had been his father Abraham’s, to have what we call today a daily quiet time with the Lord. I know in my own life when I meditate and bow down in prayer, I experience change deep in my heart as I absorb myself in thoughts of God’s goodness, greatness, and His love for me. I will find a passage of Scripture to just read over and over until I really begin to believe in my inner being the truth that Scripture contains. I also appreciate that this was an evening habit, because I am really not a morning person, and my focus is much better later in the day. We see morning and evening daily quiet times encouraged in the following verses: Psalm 1:2; Psalm 6:6; Psalm 16:7-8; Psalm 42:8, and Psalm 92:1-2.

Psalm 1:2 (Amplified): “But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.” A habit is defined as: (1) a pattern of behavior acquired by frequent repetition; (2) customary manner or practice; (3) an addiction. All three of these definitions can apply to the practice of meditation. In every verse we have discussed to this point, we have seen the first definition of frequent repetition at work. This is the application of meditating on the Word both day and night, over and over again. Through this frequent and daily repetition, you will gain a wealth of wisdom to apply to your daily life and decision-making process.

The second definition of “habit” is one of a customary manner or practice. We see this practice repeated over and over again in the lives of successful men and women who are in the Word. Just to consider a few:

- With Abraham we see an intimate relationship with his God evidenced in Genesis 14 and 17. We have already looked at one example of Isaac in Genesis 24:63 where it was his habit to participate in meditation.

- We see Jacob receiving an amazing dream in Genesis 28:10-22, even after he takes advantage of his brother’s hunger, buys his brother’s birthright, and then deceives his father in order to gain his brother’s firstborn blessing. Later we see Jacob wrestling with the Angel of the Lord in Genesis 32:22-32. I personally don’t believe he would have wrestled with God unless he had an intimate relationship with Him, one that was developed over time through meditation and time spent in His presence.

- Moses is one of my favorite examples because he was so close to God that he was allowed to see His shadow, and when he came down from the mountain after spending forty days and nights in God’s presence, his face was glowing so much that he had to cover it just so the people could look at him. You’ll find all the excitement of Moses in Exodus.

- Joshua is another example, and we’ve already looked at his commitment to meditation in Joshua 1:8.

- King David wrote many Psalms about his meditations of who God is and all that He has done. Take the time to read the book of Psalms and see for yourself.

- Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a wonderful encounter with an angel in Luke 1:26-38, and I would imagine that she did a great deal of meditation after that encounter. We see evidence of her ponderings of the work of God in Luke 2:19 after the Shepherds had visited her son.

- Jesus went away often to have time with His Father and He encouraged the Disciples to do the same. Clearly we have a rich Biblical history of meditation to draw from, and we would be wise to follow its examples.

The third definition of a habit is one that is often considered to have a negative connotation: that of an addiction. However, if you look at the second definition of addiction, you will see that it is simply “the condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.” What a different Church we would be if we were all addicted to the habit of meditating on the Word!

Psalm 63:5-7: Here, David writes, “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”

What awesome promises these verses hold for those who are willing to work their way through all they have to say: My whole being will be satisfied and my mouth will be filled with joy with the simple practice of remembering God and meditating on Him during the night watches. Insomnia takes on a whole new meaning in light of this verse. How many of us who have insomnia spend those night watches meditating on things we cannot change or control? How much better off would we be if instead we would train our minds to begin to meditate on the Lord and His Word during those sleepless nights? I for one am willing to try God’s idea of getting through a sleepless night by thinking about Him instead of my own thoughts or focus. Why? Because I believe the Word of God should be the standard by which I measure my life, and this verse clearly tells me that if I will but mediate on God during the night watches, then my entire being will be satisfied, my mouth will be filled with joy, and I will be in the shadow of His wings. One thing I do on those nights is to ask God to multiply my sleep so that I am able to function the next day. He almost always honors that request. It almost makes you wish for a sleepless night just to practice; well maybe, but not quite.

Psalm 77:12: “I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” If we were to spend every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every year meditating on the works and deeds of the Lord, we would enter into eternity before we would be finished. When was the last time you spent some serious time considering all His works and mighty deeds? Why not take some time right now to do just that, go ahead; I’ll be right here when you are finished.

Psalm 105:2 (Amplified): “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them.” Praise and worship to God is one of my most favorite things to do. If you are around me any length of time, you will have heard me singing or humming a praise or worship song. I know that praise and worship are both powerful keys in overcoming the enemy and all that he tries to throw my way. I praise God for what He has done for me and in my life. I worship God for who He is. The verse continues to speak of meditating on and talking about all His marvelous deeds. How different our world would be if all Christians took that challenge to heart and, instead of meditating about all that is going wrong in their world and talking about all their problems, would get their focus lined up with the Word of God? How different would your world be? I recently suggested to my women’s Sunday school class that they consider joining me on a word fast. The fast was simple in guidelines; only allow out of your mouth words that will encourage or build up whoever hears you speak them. That would also include the infamous self-talk that so many of us engage in. My sister took up that challenge, and she shares her experience following paragraph. It illustrates how God’s Word works when we cooperate with the truths that are in it.

I did take up this challenge, and it changed my life. It was a matter of crucifying the flesh in the times that I would say things in anger or out of frustration. In doing this word fast, it got to the point of knowing what things to say and not say and when to stay silent or to say something. I would recommend to anyone that is struggling with anger or even saying things in speech that are not encouraging or uplifting to give this word fast a try. If you are serious in going forward and want to see dramatic changes in your life, take the word fast challenge. I pray this will be a success in this area of your life as it was for me personally.

Psalm 119:11: “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” I memorized this verse while I was in my teens, and I still find it of great help and discipline in my life today. Memorizing the Word is very important because it gets the Word into your mind and helps to renew your mind to think the way God asks us to think. Meditating on the Word is what drops it from head knowledge to heart knowledge. This verse clearly states that I have hidden the Word in my heart for the purpose of keeping me from sinning against God. Wow, what a powerful tool! No wonder Satan has worked so hard to keep believers from the practice of meditation. One huge advantage to meditating on the Word of God is that it keeps us from sin.

Psalm 66:18-19: “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”

Isaiah 59:2: “. . . but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

1 Peter 3:7: In this verse, men are specifically warned that if they do not live with their wives in understanding and recognizing that they are joint heirs with them in Christ, that their prayers will be hindered. I fully believe that this also applies to wives. As wives, we need to be following the Scripture and treating our husbands the way God requires us to treat them, whether they deserve it or not, or our prayers will also be hindered.

Can you see the importance of hiding God’s Word in your heart to avoid sin? Oh, that we would become people who are more afraid of sinning against our God than pleasing people or fitting into our culture. In the Old Testament when sin had taken place against God, a sin offering was required. You can find this in Leviticus 4. In verse twenty-nine, we see clearly that the one who committed the sin was required to kill the animal as part of his or her atonement for the sin they committed against God. I am so thankful for the final and complete sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for my sin, but I am left to wonder if I were required to kill an animal and present it to the priest, would I be a bit more careful about sinning against God? Likewise, we see in Leviticus 7, that if they sinned against others, the one who committed the trespass was required to kill the animal that was being offered to atone for their sin. I am left again with the question of whether I would be more careful not to sin against a brother or sister if I knew what a bloody mess I would have to go through to be washed clean of my offense in their eyes, and in the eyes of God as well.

When we meditate on the Word, it gets into our heart, and that knowledge in turn offers us help and assistance to not sin against our Creator. Realize this: The Creator of the universe has provided for each one of us a way for us to know His Heart, and by thinking about that knowledge, we can avoid the trap of falling into sin. Powerful, yes? Meditation is one of the master-keys of the Kingdom, and the question is . . . Are you ready to start using it?

Psalm 119:15: “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” God gives us a multiple-choice test in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 that says, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Did you catch the test and the answer? Test: I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses. Answer: Therefore choose life. God’s precepts and ways are echoed in this multiple-choice test with the answer given to us. God is on our side, and He is crying out to us over and over again to choose life, choose life, choose life! If you have never taken the time to read Deuteronomy 28, you might want to take some time now to meditate on that chapter of the Bible. Why? Because it is filled with the blessings and the curses that are spoken of in Deuteronomy 30, and it is good to have that background for understanding. God’s heart is to bring us into a life overflowing with His blessings; however, we have to cooperate with Him. Think of it this way: If you have a two-year-old now you may want to bless them with a car when they turn sixteen; however, you are not going to provide that blessing if that child becomes a teenager who still acts like a two-year-old. God is the same way with us. As we mature in our walk with Him, and as we learn how to choose life, then He can lead us down paths that are abundant in life and blessings. One way to mature in our walk with God is through meditating on His Word. Oh, that we would choose life and meditate on the Word.

Psalm 119:148: “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.” This verse is so wonderful because it speaks of a lifestyle of prayer, a love for the Word, and a willing choice to meditate on His Word. What exactly is a lifestyle of prayer? I believe it is the active awareness of the presence of God on a regular basis throughout the day and a willingness to bring our requests to His Throne Room instead of charging ahead with our own plans or thoughts. Having a love for the Word and a willingness to meditate on it is something that I believe we grow into as we mature in Christ. It is never too late to begin to mature our walk with God. One way that I keep my love for the Word fresh is to read different versions of the Bible for my general Bible reading. Don’t be afraid to try something new if Bible reading seems stale.

Psalm 143:5: “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” The memory is an amazing tool that God has given to us. Unfortunately, many people misuse their memory keeping lists of things people have done against them or rehashing old hurts and wounds. This choice is a death choice and will only bring death into your situation.

A life choice would be one of remembering the days of old by reviewing the Word and finding situations that are similar to yours where God worked in a mighty way. It can also be a time of looking back into your own personal history and seeing the hand of God in your life from hindsight. Either of those uses of the memory would be pleasing to the Lord. To meditate on His doings and to ponder the work of His hands could literally take all of this lifetime if you were to do it correctly. Sometime this week, I urge you to find fifteen minutes to stop and do just that and see how your outlook on life improves.

The Apostle Paul has some wonderful words of insight and instruction for Timothy. In 1 Timothy 4:13-15, he writes: “Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”

To practice is to have a habitual or customary action or way of doing something. To immerse yourself is to be deeply involved or absorbed in something. In our culture, we practice and immerse ourselves in a number of things. Imagine how different your life would be if you turned some of the effort you are now spending on those other things into practice, immersion, and meditation of the Word. What changes would begin to take place in your world? How would you minister Jesus to this lost and dying world if that were to become your focus? Practice, immersion, and meditation, anyone?

2 Timothy 3:14-16: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” These were almost the last words that Paul would ever speak, so we should pay special attention to them. Below are words of wisdom that we can embrace as well.

Psalm 49:3: “My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.” Proverbs 1:1-7 speaks of the importance of wisdom. In James 1:5-6, you’ll find encouraging verses if you lack wisdom. They tell us clearly that if we are deficient in wisdom we should ask God for it without wavering in our faith about receiving it from Him. Plugging back into Psalm 49:3, we see that our mouth should speak wisdom, and the meditation of our heart should be a focus of applying all that is within us to see that wisdom accomplished in our lives. Proverbs 2:1-11 also provides great insight to the importance of wisdom and understanding and how they work to make our life productive and fruitful. And in Proverbs 4:5-15, we learn that we need to prize wisdom and that it will keep, defend, and protect us.

One way that I try to absorb the truths that are presented is to read a Proverb a day. There are 31 Proverbs, so you can read one for every day, every month. There are so many nuggets in Proverbs that, even if you make this a practice for the rest of your life, you will still not tap into the entire wealth of wisdom and knowledge that God buried in His Word in this book. Take time to really study, meditate, and declare the truths in God’s Word on wisdom. Go digging for your own nuggets of wisdom gold!

Psalm 104:34: “May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.” How do we make our meditation sweet before the Lord? Paul in Philippians 4:8 gives us a list of things we should be meditating on: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

So the question you must ask yourself is, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about the wrongs that have been done to you? Are you thinking about how you are going to repay an evil with an evil? Are you thinking about how life is not fair? Are you thinking about all the “if onlys” in your life? It is time for the Body of Christ to begin thinking like the Bride of Christ. We do that by and filling our minds with those things that will be pleasing to our Bridegroom. Are your thoughts sweet or sour before your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Psalm 119:97: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” I must confess that I have a lot of growing room with this verse. Obviously, we don’t want to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good, so how do we put this verse into practice? There are so many ways to meditate on the Word. There are many Scriptures that have been put to music, both in hymns as well as modern day choruses. Listening to that type of music, whatever your preference, is a great way to meditate on the Word all the day. The Bible on tape or CD is another great way to have the Word in your atmosphere. Instead of having a TV program on for background noise, play a tape or CD of the Word and allow that to penetrate into your heart and mind. Teaching tapes based on the Word are another great resource. I will often take a verse that I want to meditate on and write it out on a piece of paper so I can pull it out frequently during the day and just muse over it.

If you are from a region where cows are abundant, you know that they “muse their cud.” They will chew on their cud and it will drop down into their stomach, and then it will come back up and they will chew on it some more to get more out of it. It sounds really gross, but the spiritual application of this process is amazing. If we would muse the Word, let it drop down into our spirit, heart, and mind and then bring it back later to get more out of it, wow, our lives would change for the better. So, how are you going to grow with this verse?

The goal of a great teacher is to see their students become better than they are. Some teachers are afraid to allow that to happen; however, the great teachers not only embrace their students as they excel, they also encourage that growth within their students. Psalm 119:99 speaks of this very thing. It says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.” There are a number of truths that we want to glean from this verse. First, you are responsible for your own growth. It is not the responsibility of the Bible teachers or pastors in your life to “grow you up.” It is their job to plant the seed and pour forth in your life examples worth following; however, the growth of the seed planted and the examples given is your responsibility, and no one else can do it for you. Secondly, how does that growth occur? It is by meditation on His testimonies, His Word. Are you beginning to see the importance of meditation and why Satan has worked so hard to convince Christians that meditation is bad? I hope so. More than that, it is my prayer that you will make meditation on the Word of God a regular daily practice. Third, why should we care whether each generation grows deeper and stronger in the things of Christ? Because we have been commanded to further the Kingdom! That is the reason we are here.

While many things went wrong in the generation of those growing up in the fifties and sixties, one thing they were great at was common everyday manners. Some common manners that have become all but extinct in our society today include, but are not limited to, treating our elders with respect. The first and most basic way to do this is found in how we speak to them. Calling adults by their formal name by children who are not their equal is a great place to start. If the adult wants to be called by his or her first name, then how about using Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. in front of that person’s name to convey respect? This would also manifest in offering an older person your seat and standing in their place; in taking the time to listen to the stories of your elders and not rushing them when you spend time with them; in valuing their wisdom and not just brushing them off as the “old generation”; in caring for them to the best of your ability as they get older and, when you can no longer care for them, taking an active role in their lives even if they are being cared for in a nursing home. Consider, too, the everyday manners of saying “please” and “thank you” when asking for help or receiving it in some manner. All of the above are simple examples that, if followed, would really improve the civility of our culture.

Now let me give you a practical example of how things will begin to fall apart if each generation does not exceed the standards set by the previous one. The generation of those growing up in the seventies and eighties did not exceed or even come close to meeting the everyday manners that were modeled for them by the preceding generation. (I am one from that generation, by the way, which is why I feel I can share this example.) So what did we have in the nineties and early years of 2000? Even when the kids were wrong, we had some parents who defended their children against any authority that would dare tell their darling children that the world did not revolve around them. Today we have children who have no respect for their elders, don’t want to obey any rules that don’t suit them, and feel they are owed something from this world. My, how far we have fallen in fifty years! If this generation of parents doesn’t begin to go back to some of those basic common manners and character traits, things will only get worse. Psalm 145:4-5 clearly instructs us in this area: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.”

So, getting back to our verse, if this generation of believers refuses to seek to grow beyond their predecessors, we will begin to see the same type of decline in the spiritual area that we are seeing in the area of manners in today’s generation. Hard words, I know, but the Word is clear that we need to move past the milk of the Word and begin to hunger and feed on the meat of the Word. Hebrews 6:1a: “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity . . .” How does His Word allow us to leave the elementary doctrine of our faith and begin to move toward the maturity that God desires for us in our lives? The answer is that we need to meditate on it as we read it on a regular basis to allow it to have that place in our life. I have developed a taste for the deeper things of Christ, and if a master key to gaining those things in my life is meditation, then I want to press into that type of a lifestyle with every fiber of my being. How about you?

Negative Ways We Can Misuse Meditation

If Satan can’t convince you that meditation is wrong, he will try to get you to misuse this master key. Psalm 2:1 (Amplified) says, “Why do the nations assemble with commotion [uproar and confusion of voices], and why do the people imagine (meditate upon and devise) an empty scheme?”

I used to be the Queen of Pretend Conversations. If there was a problem in my life, you can bet I spent wasted hours saying one thing in my mind only to imagine that the person involved in the problem would be saying another, and I would respond with some comment, to which they would say something else, which would make it necessary for me to say some other thing. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Many times after one of those sessions, I would speak to that person and be so angry with them that resolution to the problem was never going to happen until they apologized to me for all the things they had said. The only problem with that was that all the things they said took place only in my imagination as I meditated on the problem in a wrong way. I still get sucked into that wrong meditation pattern from time to time, but as soon as I recognize that I am misusing a master key of Scripture, I apply 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 and realize that I need to take every thought captive to the Lord Jesus Christ. Often overlooked is verse 6, which says, “being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” I just recently received a rhema word about the importance of this verse as I listened to a missionary who came from Kenya to minister to the lost and dying in the United States. A quick definition here is necessary. The written Word of God is called the logos. A rhema word is one where God reveals a deeper truth to you that you’ve not seen before in the logos. You see, it is not enough for us to take the thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ; we still have a part to play, and that is to then begin to walk in submission and obedience to the Word ourselves in the thought area that we just took captive to the obedience of Christ. One of the most impactful things he said was that delayed obedience is disobedience. I have also recently come to the knowledge that partial obedience is also disobedience. I can see in my own life where I have had a measure of victory because I brought those thoughts/meditations to Christ; however, I can see the additional victory that is available to me if I will take that next step and submit and obey what I know to be the right thing to do. In the case of meditate and declare, the next step would be for me to turn those inner musing into meditating on the Word for that situation so I can begin to declare out of my mouth the revelation that I receive from the meditation. Let’s agree together that we are going to put a stop to misusing the weapon of meditation as mentioned in Psalm 2:1.

Luke 21:14: (Amplified) says, “Resolve and settle it in your minds not to meditate and prepare beforehand how you are to make your defense and how you will answer.” Now, this verse is speaking specifically of times of persecution and trials, but I believe there is a principle here that can be rightly applied to any situation where you are required to give an answer for your actions or motives. The key here is whether you are going to rely on yourself, or on God? In the United States, we often lean toward relying on ourselves and our good answers or explanations to get what we want out of life. But God is calling His people to a place where we lean and rely completely on His presence, His provision, and His purposes in our lives. Are you willing to answer that call?

God’s Answer to People Problems and Tough Circumstances

People problems will be with us as long as the human race exists. Perhaps you think or have said that if you just didn’t have to deal with such difficult people your life would be so much easier. We have people everywhere in our lives. They are in our families, they are at work, they are in our day-to-day errands, and they are in our churches. Psalm 4:4 gives us some interesting instructions here. “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” To emphasize, be angry and sin not, and be sorry for the things that you say in your heart. God knows all and sees all, and we need to realize that people problems and tough circumstances are really just opportunities for us to surrender more of our carnal nature, old man, old nature, or flesh to Christ. When I speak of our flesh, I’m referring to our carnal man or our old nature before we met Christ. This is in direct opposition to our spirit, our new nature, which is the part of us that has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.

In those people-problem times when you are being mistreated, Psalm 119:23-24 gives us interesting instruction on this topic. “Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.” The principle here is that when you know people are talking against you, your job is to meditate on His Word, and that is a flesh burner. Remember that the flesh is the old nature, the thing we are to put off. When you are being talked about, your flesh does not want to meditate on the Word; it wants action. What parts of the Word would be beneficial at a time like this? How about verses on forgiveness, the Fruit of the Spirit, mercy, grace, the weapons of our warfare, and who our fight is really against.

Oh, how Satan likes to use the people in our churches to hurt the Body of Christ. If we can embrace the Word instead of our fleshly feelings when we encounter difficult people, we would be so much healthier in our souls and spirits. Satan would like nothing more than to create people problems within a church and watch us tear each other apart. Paul specifically tells us to be on guard against this strategy and deceit in Ephesians 6 and we will study that passage at length later in the book.

Too often we just focus on what the other person is doing wrong, instead of looking at the situation with our spiritual eyes and realizing that Satan has a three-fold attack option. First, he can use a person’s weaknesses to come against your strength, which will likely result in pride on your part and set you up for a fall. For the person who is operating out of a weakness, it can cause them to refuse to try again in this area for fear of failure. Second, the reverse can be true if you are operating in weakness and they are operating in strength and you feel inadequate and pressed down. Third, he can pit weakness against weakness, which will often leave the situation unresolved because neither party is strong enough to work out the situation in a healthy manner; or he may pit strength against strength, which will often end up in a major battle of wills resulting in many emotional scars when the smoke finally clears.

If you can remember the following the next time you are in a conflict with someone, I think you will find the situation easier to deal with: Be strong in your relationship with God, remember His armor, and remind yourself that you are not fighting the person, you are fighting the enemy. Again, remind yourself of the armor and, more importantly, put it on.

Circumstances are also a problem in our lives that Satan uses to trip us up. Psalm 119:78, says, “Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.” We need to realize that people will probably be at the heart of the circumstances that are afflicting us. Again, God makes it clear by His Word that we are to meditate on His precepts during those times of trials. Two precepts that come to mind are forgiveness and not repaying evil for evil. We can see those concepts in 1Thessalonians 5:15 and also in Ephesians 4:32.

We’ve laid the foundation for meditation being a godly principle; now let’s take a look at the second and equally important piece of this puzzle, which is to declare the Word over our life, the lives of others, and situations that arise in our lives that need the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit.

I have always admired and often cringed at the wisdom and depth of the Apostle Paul. In this book, I’m going to explore some of the books of the Bible that Paul wrote and examine his prayers and instructions for the believers he was writing to. But since the Bible is an eternal book for all generations, Paul’s prayers and instructions also extend into our lives today. Paul’s writings start somewhere around AD 48 and go until AD 67. His writings span about twenty-three years of his life, and we see his deepening maturity as we progress through his work. Paul was beheaded shortly after he wrote his thirteenth book. I have put his thirteen books in the correct order here, and we absolutely know that Paul authored Galatians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, Philippians, 1 Timothy, Titus, and lastly 2 Timothy. We will examine exhortations, statements, and prayers that he makes to believers in an effort to call us higher and deeper in Christ. Join me on this potential life-changing journey as we meditate, declare, and begin to walk in maturity of Christ as Paul demonstrated in his writing and in his life.

CHAPTER 2

To Declare or Decree a Thing

No matter what church you choose for worship, I believe that we can all agree that we have been made in God’s image and likeness. In parenting, one thing that I know is that my kids often imitate things I do or say. Sometimes I find this a blessing, and sometimes it shows the whole world some areas in my life that are poorly managed or attended to. So let me ask you this. How did God create this world? He said it. Did you catch that? He declared or decreed a thing and it happened. You just need to read Chapter 1 of Genesis to confirm this. There are eight times where His creative power spoken out caused something that was not there to come into being. The ninth time He said something, it was of an instructional nature to Adam and Eve about how they should live in this world that His words had created. The Bible tells us in Romans 4:17: “. . . as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

The concept of declare and decree focuses on what He has foretold and promised. You see, the written Word is full of promises that are poised and ready to become active and present in our lives; however, they are waiting for the creative force of our words to be activated. This is a sobering concept. Just as I laid the foundation in Chapter 1 that meditation was God’s idea, here in Chapter 2 I’m laying the foundation for the concept of declare/decree. As a teacher of the written Word, I have too much respect and reverence for this Holy Word to just expect you to buy into the truth that I am teaching without laying the appropriate foundation. I also have too much holy fear about misleading God’s people down a wrong path because I know that I will be held accountable by God for all that I teach. For my own edification and peace of mind, I have researched this topic and found it to be a solid Biblical teaching. My prayer is that as you read my conclusions and research this yourself in the written Word, you will come to a place where you can begin to call those things that are not as though they were in accordance with His plan and purpose.

Scriptural Foundation of Declaring or Decreeing a Thing

My definition of “declaration” is to speak forth a Biblical truth over your life or the lives of those with whom you come in contact, and stand in faith that those Biblical truths will come to fruition in your life and theirs. It is the act of calling forth things that are not into existence according to God’s Word, will, and purpose.

What exactly does it mean to decree or declare a thing? To declare means “to state officially, formally, or authoritatively.” Wow! How different would your life be if you began, with authority, to state the Word of God and all the promises in it over your life or situation? A decree is an “authoritative order or edict.” It is also a judgment of a court, meaning to ordain, establish, or decide something.” Again we see the word, “authoritative,” which is not a wimpy word; no, that is a forceful declaration because you know Whose power is behind what you are saying. It is time for the Church of God to begin to use its voice, the one God put within us to speak forth into this earth the will of God. The Lord’s Prayer reflects this when it says, “your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10b). Really ponder that for a moment. Is it God’s will that there be lack, confusion, sickness, or discord (just to name a few) in heaven? No. So why do we settle for that here on earth when Jesus taught us to pray, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”? We settle because we don’t want to look foolish, because we are deceived about the truth, and because our expectations weren’t met before, so why try again? We worry about what people will think of us if we get radical; we are afraid of failing; we are afraid of God letting us down; and we settle because this type of authority in His Word is hard work, and we just want to slide by with the least amount of effort. What reasons can you add to my list? Are you ready to go higher and deeper with your Lord and Savior?

David says in Psalm 22:22 that “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” Jesus has told us that if we will declare Him to people, He will declare us to the Father; but if we deny Him to people, He will deny us before the Father (Matthew 10:33). That is a very sobering thought. Oh, that we would declare the name of Jesus at every opportunity!

I live in Wisconsin about ninety minutes from the Twin Cities. On August 1, 2007, when the 35W Bridge collapsed, I was anxious to speak to my son or his wife because my daughter was also with them. When I finally reached them, I was so thankful for God’s protection because they had been traveling that bridge just two hours before it fell. The next day, I went to Woodbury, Minnesota, to meet my daughter-in-law and pick up my daughter. As my daughter Kaitlyn and I went shopping, that was the topic of conversation with one of the clerks. I had no problem giving praise to God that the situation had not been worse; and that, by the bridge being under construction, there were only two lanes of traffic open instead of the normal eight. God gives us opportunities daily to declare His Name. We need to look for those opportunities like we would seek lost treasure because, you see, the world is lost and we have the Treasure in Jesus Christ. Have you declared His Name lately?

Psalm 119:13-16 states, “With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” Understand that meditating and declaring are not about our thoughts, but about His Word, His ordinances, His precepts, His ways, His statutes, His Law, and our mouth. We are to take the infallible and inspired Word of God that was given by the Spirit to holy men of God and begin activating it in our lives and situations by speaking it forth. God has a part, which is to give us His written Word and move on it as He sees fit; and we have a part, which is to meditate on the Word and speak it forth from our mouth into the atmosphere.

Psalm 145:4: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” The retelling of His truth is so important. You have a responsibility to share not only the truths in His written Word, but also the amazing things He has done in your life personally. I love to share with my kids the things God has done for me in the both the past and the present, as well as my dreams and visions of what He is going to do in my future. I don’t just stop at sharing these things with my kids, however. As God’s Spirit prompts me in my everyday regular conversations, I share with people I come in contact with, both believers and non-believers. If I had eternity here on earth, I would not have enough days in which to share all that God has done in me, for me, through me, and in spite of me. God gave us a mouth to proclaim Him, so let’s make sure we are being good stewards with that mouth.

One thing that brings me great comfort about serving God is that every day holds new blessings or challenges that have boundaries by God just for me. What I mean by “boundaries by God” is that nothing comes into my life that God hasn’t given approval to or provided boundaries for. I base this conclusion on Job 1:6-12 and Luke 22:31-34. Both these examples show the challenge side where the enemy is being allowed to bring tests or trials into a believer’s life with God’s boundaries in place. If you will take the time to read Job 42:10-17, you’ll see that God blessed Job’s life richly after the enemy was allowed to test his life. In Matthew 16:18, we see Jesus’ promise to Peter that he would be an integral part of building the Kingdom of God. Peter was tested, but after he failed the test, he became stronger and fulfilled the declaration that Jesus spoke over his life.

We also see the blessing side in Isaiah 42:9: “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” God is in the heavens making declarations over each of our lives, and He tells us about them through His logos (written Word). He tells us about them when His written Word becomes an active rhema truth in our lives. God also speaks to us through Bible teachers and pastors who watch over the flock. He tells us about them through the gifts of the Spirit that are in operation today, the same as when they were poured out on the first-century church as recorded in Acts. He tells us about them through the Holy Spirit as shown in 1 Corinthians 2:10 (Amplified): “Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny].” God is speaking and making declarations over your life. Can you hear Him? Are you listening?

The book of Ezra holds a number of decrees made by kings who would seem to have been at odds with the people of God. I believe this shows that God is always in control, even of our enemies as He is working things out for our good. God moved in the heart of Cyrus, King of Babylon, to issue a decree that the house of God be rebuilt (Ezra 5:13). It had not been done by the time King Darius I came into power, and the records were searched to see if this decree really existed (Ezra 6:1-2). It was decreed that they should receive all they needed to carry out this work and be paid for their work as well (Ezra 6:3-9). A decree was also made in Ezra 6:11 that anyone who tried to stand in their way would be destroyed. Artaxerxes the King also got involved in this process in Ezra 7:21 by decreeing that whatever Ezra the priest was in need of should be provided for him immediately and completely. God can use anyone He wishes to make decrees that will impact your life and bring Him Glory. This section has revealed the power of kings of this earth. Now realize that the King of Kings is making decrees over your life daily, which means you need to start bringing your words, thoughts, and actions in line with that truth and watch what happens in your life.

We need to realize and be on guard for the fact that whatever good thing God has brought into existence, our mortal enemy will try to counterfeit. We see an example of this in Esther 3:15. Haman had a hatred for the Jewish people that went back many generations. You see, King Saul was told long before this time to kill King Agag and completely destroy his race. But King Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, disobeyed this command. Now, here in Esther, we see that Haman, who was son of Hammedatha the Agagite and an enemy of the Jews, is now trying to completely destroy the Jews. Esther was from the tribe of Benjamin.

God is amazing. When He decrees a thing be done and we disobey, He will keep looking for someone down our geological line to carry out His will. So now that we have the history, let’s take a look at how Satan tried to use Haman to destroy the Jews. Haman played on King Ahasuerus’s pride to get him to agree to a decree that would finally allow Haman to annihilate the Jewish people, but Haman was found out and killed, and a new decree was sent forth into all the land allowing the Jewish people to defend themselves. God’s purposes will not be foiled.

A Declaration of Salvation

We find a world-altering decree in Psalm 2:7: “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’” God has declared and decreed that Jesus is His Son, and in John 3:16 we are told that God loved this world so much that He gave His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins. When I really stop to meditate on the truth that God loved me so much that He gave Jesus as my sacrifice so that I could have everlasting life with Him, it makes me want to just fall at His feet in humble worship. Whether you are a mature believer, an occasional church attendee, or a non-believer who picked this book up because the title sounded interesting, would you join me now in making the declaration of God’s Lordship over your life?

Paul writes in Romans 10:10-13: “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” So with believing hearts, and out loud with our mouth, we declare and decree over our own lives that:

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I am saved by grace through my faith in You. I need You in my life. I accept the sacrifice that You made for me at Calvary, and I ask that You come and live in my heart and be Lord of my life for the rest of my days. Thank You for forgiving my sins: past, present and future. I will choose to receive You in my heart by faith and to begin to live my life by Your grace. Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to be my Savior. Holy Spirit, thank You that You will be my Faithful Guide and teach me the things the Father has spoken.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, take the time right now to find a phone book and look for a good Bible-teaching body of Christ to fellowship with this next Sunday. I would also recommend that you call a local pastor and share your decision with someone who can answer any questions that you might have. Once you have asked Christ to come into your heart, it is so very important that you begin to fellowship with other believers right away so that you can begin to grow in the things of God.

We serve a God who is absolutely trustworthy. Let me say this one more time: We serve a God who is absolutely trustworthy. Psalm 111:7-9 bears this out: “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name!”

A while back, I finished researching and teaching a women’s study about the ALL’s of God. My Sunday school class of women and I had a great time exploring a few of God’s ALL verses and discussing how we, and Satan as well, will at times put a “sm” in front of God’s “ALL” and make it small. Some of the verses we discussed were: 2 Corinthians 1:20, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 2:14, Hebrews 13:10-16, 1 Peter 5:5b-10, Colossians 1:9-11, Joel 2:12-32, Romans 8:26-37, and 2 Corinthians 2:14. Now we are all using John 10:10a as our test to see if the thing in our life is killing, stealing, or destroying. If that is the case, then we know that either we or Satan have put a “sm” in front of God’s ALL and made it small in our lives. I would encourage you to really take the time to study these verses and begin to walk in the fullness that God has for your life. John 10:10b says: “I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” (Amplified). God is absolutely trustworthy. Do you believe it? Will you declare it out of your own mouth right now?

God is absolutely trustworthy.

God is absolutely trustworthy.

God is absolutely trustworthy!

Scriptural Examples of Declaration

Now let’s take a look at some famous people in the Bible and the declarations they made at pivotal times in their lives that showed their belief that God is absolutely trustworthy:

- In Genesis 22, we are told that God was testing Abraham. God told Abraham to sacrifice his promised son, Isaac. Abraham was quick to obey, and when they reached the place where God directed him to go, “Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you’” (Genesis 22:5). Abraham had nothing at all on which to base his thought of returning with his son except the faithfulness and trustworthiness of God. Yet he made a declaration that he and Isaac would return after they had worshipped on the mountain. What kind of declarations are you making when in a test? Are they faith-filled declarations based on God’s character, or are they words that reflect doubt and fear about His boundaries for your life?

- Moses received a call from God for his life in Exodus 3 and 4. His declarations were more reflective of doubt and fear than trust in God. “But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue’” (Exodus 4:10). Moses had received many signs from God that God would be with him, yet his declarations were rooted in his weakness and not in who God is. The result is that Moses missed the full blessing of God on his life because God had to use his brother, Aaron, to speak to Pharaoh.

- Joshua took leadership over the Israelites after Moses died. In Joshua 3, we see that God speaks to Joshua, and then Joshua in turn speaks in faith to the people. They were crossing over the Jordan River into the Promised Land. The problem was that the Jordan River was at flood stage, and the instructions were for the priests to walk into the flooded river and stand there and then God would move. “And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap” (Joshua 3:13). What happened when they obeyed the declaration? “Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan” (Joshua 3:17). When God speaks and we come into agreement with Him, amazing things begin to happen in our lives.

- In Numbers 13, we see Caleb, the other mighty man of faith from that era. Twelve spies had been sent to scout the Promised Land. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, returned with a positive report. We catch up with Caleb forty-five years later as the Promised Land is being divided among the people. Listen to Caleb’s declaration: “And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me . . . So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:10b-11a, and 12).

Not only did Caleb nurture the vision God had given him to overthrow everyone in the Promised Land and take it by force, but he also kept his heart free from anger, bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness against the people who had delayed God’s will in his life for forty-five years. When another person delays God’s plan and purpose in your life for a season, can the same be said of you?

- Ruth is one of five women named in the linage of Jesus. Naomi, her mother-in-law, has released both Ruth and Orpah to return to their families since her husband and their husbands have all died. Naomi plans to return to Bethlehem. Orpah leaves, but Ruth makes a declaration: “But Ruth said, ‘Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried’” (Ruth 1:16-17a). Had Ruth followed the traditions of the day, she would have missed completely the will of God for her life to be part of the blood line of Jesus. By her declaration she went on to meet Boaz and eventually the great-grandmother of David, a King after God’s own heart, and the greatest King of Israel.

- Queen Esther had to go against authority and protocol to fulfill God’s call on her life. After finding out that her people were targeted for annihilation, her uncle suggests, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b). She then makes a request: “Go gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do” (Esther 4:16a).

At this point, she makes her declaration: “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16b). Sometimes we are called to rise up against authority or acceptable rules for our culture to take a stand for God. Fasting and prayer prior to those times would be advisable, and this action should not be entered into lightly. In a fallen world, there will be times when the earthly government for one reason or another fails to acknowledge God as the Most High.

- We see this in Acts 17:7 where we discover that Jason received Paul and Silas into his home to protect them from the government of Caesar, and they were all opposed to the decrees made by a mortal man against an immortal God. There are times in our lives where we need to stand up and be counted against the godless decrees of this world and firmly speak forth the decrees of a Most Holy God. My personal opinion is that we must stand up and be counted, but we should always do it in a manner reflective in Galatians 6:1-4 and not from a position of haughty religious snobbery.

- In the book of Daniel, we see three young men who refused to violate God’s law. King Nebuchadnezzar wanted the glory and worship of all people, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to his idol likeness. When he threatened them with their lives, their reply was, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:16b-18). The King’s heart was changed because of their faith.

Do you see the faith they had in God? Do you hear the acceptance of God’s will for their lives even if it meant their death? Are you willing to be that bold in your faith? Are you willing to trust God and stand your ground even if it means your death? In this next example, we will see the progression of faith by declaration.

- When David is being pursued by King Saul, he begins to again acknowledge that God is the only one who can save him: “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken” (Psalm 62:2). He continues to pour out his heart to God and in just four short verses we see him declare “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 62:6). When he starts making declarations, he believes he won’t be greatly shaken. By the time he gets to verse 6, he knows he won’t be shaken at all. I use this passage to show you that, through mediation and declaration, you can and will grow stronger in your faith and resolve.

- Mary, the Mother of Jesus, showed great courage for her day when she was told by an angel that she would conceive the Son of God. In those days, she could have been stoned for being pregnant out of wedlock, and Joseph had the right to throw the first stone. Her response to the angel’s revelation is a wonderful example to us when God speaks something to us that we feel is impossible: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Just prior to Mary’s declaration, we see that she was greatly troubled (Luke 1:29), and she asked how this would happen (Luke 1:34), but I think the difference between her response and our response now was in her complete acceptance of God’s will even though it did not make any sense and was potentially life threatening for her. Oh, people of God, can we begin to reflect Mary’s heart in our own and begin to walk in complete trust and acceptance of God’s will in our lives and leave the details to the God who created the universe?

- Jesus provides a great example of how to handle the enemy when we are being tested or tried. Read Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, and you will see that each time Jesus was tempted by the enemy He responded with “it is written.” The Son of God knew the importance of using the written Word of God to battle and we would be well advised to follow that example. I hope you will begin to use the written Word of God and declare over your life today.

- The Centurion also provides an example of understanding authority. Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10 give us the story of a Centurion who has a sick servant. He comes to Jesus asking for Him to speak words of healing for his servant. Jesus offers to come, but the Centurion says, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). The servant was healed in the same hour and Jesus marveled at the Centurion’s faith.

Jesus’ Declaration over Our Lives

Jesus made a bold declaration over each of our lives in Mark 16: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15-18). Are you ready to follow the example of the Centurion and act on the Words of Jesus? Are you ready to begin declaring those words over your life and step out in faith believing that when you pray for sick people they will be healed? That when you preach the Gospel, people will be saved and brought into His Kingdom? Are you ready to believe that signs and wonders will follow those who not only believe in Jesus but also actively have faith that signs and wonders will manifest through them? What impact would Christians have on this world if we would all start to walk in the authority that Jesus obtained for us through His death and resurrection and then declared that authority over our lives? I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

The Law vs. the Work of the Cross

When the decree of the law was given to Moses, the purpose was to show mankind how short our efforts would always fail in an effort to reach a Holy God. I am so thankful for the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Ephesians 2:15-16 says: “By abolishing in His [own crucified] flesh the enmity [caused by] the Law with its decrees and ordinances [which He annulled]; that He from the two might create in Himself one new man [one new quality of humanity out of the two], so making peace. And [He designed] to reconcile to God both [Jew and Gentile, united] in a single body by means of His cross, thereby killing the mutual enmity and bringing the feud to an end. ” (Amplified). Jesus abolished the decrees of the law by His death and resurrection and made provision for Jew and Gentile to enter into the Kingdom of God.

Colossians 2:13-15 also bears out this wonderful truth and shows His complete victory over the enemy, which He then declares to be our victory as well: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

Are you ready to step into all that Jesus died to give you? Are you willing to open your mouth and begin to imitate your Father and decree and declare all that is God’s will for your life and the lives of those around you? Will you begin to call forth those things that are not as though they were in faith?

The rest of this book is arranged by the general categories of the books that the Apostle Paul wrote. He has many great pieces of wisdom on how to live our lives to reflect God’s glory. I have by no means exhausted all that Paul had to say, but I have selected verses from seven of his books that I personally feel challenged by or believe the body of Christ could benefit from through meditation and declaration. After each passage, I have put together thoughts to meditate on and then written declarations from those verses in such a way that it reads as a personal application. Please don’t misunderstand my purpose here. This is not a book by which we dictate to God what He is going to do in our lives; rather, it is a tool to use to come into agreement with God in areas of our lives that need His intervention, one that can help us begin to follow His example of speaking out the answer before it shows up. As in every area of prayer, we make the request and God in His Sovereign Will determines whether or not to grant the request. I would rather err on the side of meditating and declaring things I see in abundance in the written Word than to have my Father in heaven say to me, “Lynn, you had not because you asked not, and I had so much I wanted to bless you with.”

Father, if I have wrongly presented anything I would ask that You would nullify it. Being confident that meditation and declaration are sound Biblical concepts, I trust and am confident now in Jesus’ name that lives will be changed as it is correctly applied in the lives of anyone who reads this book. I declare with the Prophets of Old that You will pour out Your Spirit on all flesh. I declare that You will show Yourself strong and mighty against any weapon that rises against us. I decree that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. I declare that no matter what the circumstances may look like, that You will work everything out for our good. I declare that You will prune us for the purpose of bringing forth better and richer fruit in our lives. I declare that You died to give us life that is abundant and overflowing with Your joy. I decree that Your Word will not return void, but that it will accomplish all that You have purposed for it to accomplish in our lives and in this world. Amen.

CHAPTER 3

Voyage into Galatians

I find it interesting that the very first book of the Bible that Paul felt led to write was written while he was in prison. I think this sends an important message to us that, even when we are in circumstances that are less than ideal, we still bear a responsibility to allow the Lordship of Christ to shine forth from our lives as an example of who we are in Him and how He has transformed our lives as we have cooperated with Him.

The Apostle Paul wrote five books of the Bible from prison: Galatians, Ephesians, Philemon, Colossians, and Philippians. Again, his prison material is so rich with instruction for the believer that I’m only discussing the first two of them in this book. My hope is to eventually produce a revised and expanded version that will deeply explore the valuable truths we find in the remaining three prison epistles.

Galatians is Paul’s earliest letter to believers in Galatia. Here, he clearly lays out that we have liberation from the law in Christ, and that we need to walk in that liberation in our daily working out of our salvation and not get caught up again in legalism to rituals and empty works. Rather, we need to walk in and by the leading of the Spirit.

A Prayer

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:3-5).

There are so many rich life-changing tidbits to unpack in this verse. First, grace is a greeting to the Gentile people. In that one word we speak forth God’s unmerited favor toward us, His ability to meet our need when our ability falls so very short, and a conduit that allows us to tap into the holy supernatural realm where God works. Second is the spiritual blessing in this verse. Spiritual blessings in our lives are for both our daily lives as well as for our eternal benefit. We enjoy many spiritual blessings such as forgiveness of sin, sanctification, justification, deliverance, healing, and the blessed presence of God in our lives while we are here on this earth. We have the spiritual blessings of eternal life and ruling and reigning with our Lord and Savior for eternity. Third, peace is a greeting to the Jewish people. In this context, however, since we see that in the original language the word “soul” was inserted before the word “peace,” we can understand that God was telling believers through Paul that God desires us to have a peace in our souls as a gift from Him.

Our soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. God wants us to have peace in our mind, which is where our thought processes begin and where we meditate on issues. God wants us to have peace in our will, which is where we make our decisions. God wants us to have peace in our emotions, which is where we feel all that we have thought and decided. Isn’t God great? He not only wants to convey to us that He wants us to have His unmerited favor and help at all times along with spiritual blessings, but He wants us to possess and walk in soul peace as well. How different would your life be if you began to walk in soul peace? I know personally that I have plenty of room for growth in this area. I want the peace of God in my mind as I think about issues and decisions that need to be made in my life as well as in the lives of those around me. I need that peace as I make decisions that impact me, my family, and those in my sphere of influence. That peace helps me to know that I have made the right decision. “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts . . .” (Colossians 3:15a). I allow peace to be the umpire in my life. I need that peace that passes understanding to flood into my emotions on a daily basis; in the good moments of each day, but especially in those upset moments where I’m in turmoil. Grace, spiritual blessing, and soul peace are the very first things that Paul wants to make sure we experience in our walk with God. Are you personally living in, walking out, and breathing in those gifts from the Father? Take a few minutes to sit before the Lord and ask Him how you can more fully cooperate with Him to have these three superpowers active in your life and, as a result of that, begin to impact your world.

As if that wasn’t enough on which to meditate and declare in your life, we need to move onto the next verse. The will, purpose, and plan of our God and Father are to save and sanctify us from this present wicked age and world order. Jesus didn’t suffer all He went through just so we could have a cookie-cutter life. He yielded Himself up to pay the price for our sin so that we might be reconciled with God our Father. John 10:10 tells us that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Are you overflowing? Is your heart so full of love from the Father that it flows out not only to those you care about, but also to those you can’t stand and those who can do nothing to better your life?

Jesus died to pay the redemption price necessary to buy us back from a sinful fallen world. He came to sanctify us. To “sanctify us” means to set us apart. We are to be set apart in this world so we look different, sound different, and act different. As Christians, we are different. Are you set apart? Is there enough evidence in your life that you could be convicted of being a believer in Christ without your saying a word?

Verse five of Galatians 1 clearly lets us know that to God is all the glory through all the ages and eternities. Sometimes I think we forget that it is all about God and not at all about us. He sent Jesus because of His great love for us. He is a merciful, compassionate Father God who desires that not one of His creations be lost. To sum up what Paul has prayed in this passage, we need to remember that God desires us to have grace, spiritual blessings, and soul peace. God wants us to realize that Jesus yielded Himself up to atone for our sins and that it is God’s will, purpose, and plan that we be saved, sanctified, and delivered from this present wicked age and world order. Finally, we have a reminder that it’s all for and about God and that He should and will get all the glory.

MEDITATE: I think about God’s grace and ask myself what this means in my life. How does His grace lift me above my circumstances? Do I recognize His unmerited favor and blessings in my life? Am I living in a supernatural realm of expectation, faith, and provision? Am I currently walking in His spiritual blessings here on earth, or am I just plugging along waiting for my reward in heaven? Am I determined to have my soul peace? Is my mind at rest? Is my will submitted to the Father in all things? Are my emotions running my life, or are they at peace and ease because I know God is in control? Am I in a personal relationship with Jesus? Remember that it’s not about religion or ritual, but about your personal relationship with Him that matters. Am I set apart enough that I impact my world? Am I giving God the glory and praise, or am I trying to get people to see how “great” I am?

DECLARE: I walk in the grace of God daily. I receive His unmerited favor in my life and the circumstances that are currently a challenge for me. I tap into God’s supernatural realm where He has provided for my every need, and I declare that His provision is flowing into the natural realm to meet my every need. I walk in every spiritual blessing that Jesus died to give me. I choose to walk in forgiveness and freedom from sin. I walk in liberty to be Christ-like. I have the mind of Christ helping me to make decisions daily. I have healing and deliverance in every area of my life that needs it. I am justified, made right with God because of the blood of Jesus, and my Daddy Papa God sees me as right, clean, pure, and holy. I am sanctified and set apart to God, and the world around me knows it. God’s presence is always with me and I determine to be aware of His presence all the time. My Father is always with me and will never forsake me. It is God’s will, purpose, and plan that I am forgiven, sanctified, rescued, and delivered from the evil one and all his plans for my life. This is appropriated to me through the precious blood of Jesus, my Savior and Lord, and I receive it. I give God all the glory for every good thing in my life, and I know that He will work out any bad circumstances for my good as well, and He alone is to be glorified. AMEN.

An Explanation of Law vs. Promise

“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Galatians 3:11). “Why then the law?” (Galatians 3:19a). It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made. “But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe” (Galatians 3:22). “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:29).

So the Galatians had gotten a bit off track. They started out their journey by believing in Christ for their salvation, but they were now trying to live their lives by the law in order to be counted as righteous. Paul felt it necessary to remind them that to live by the law brings death. The purpose of the law was to show man his sinful nature and need for God. The law showed man how sinful he was, and then Jesus stepped into our sin-filled world to pay the price for us. Jesus’ sacrifice superseded the law and all its rituals. Jesus paid the price once and for all, and now we come to the Father and walk in relationship with Him in this manner: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The written Word of God trumps any man-made doctrine out there that tells you that we are saved by our works or by our religious activity. Step out of that cookie-cutter religion that boasts of obligation, tradition, and ritual for salvation and begin to walk in the freedom of the above verses. They show us that our relationship with God and our love for Him are truly an overflow of His love and provision for each of us provided by His grace and activated by our faith. It is time for the universal church to take away the religious activity to try to earn God’s favor and instead begin to put focus on developing a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. One word of caution: If the motive of your heart is to read the Bible to fulfill an obligation, you are then participating in a religious activity to earn God’s favor. If you are reading the Word for the purpose of getting to know God’s heart and will for your life, then you are focused on the relationship and development of intimacy. The same can be said for prayer, worship, and fellowship with others. It is all about the motive or intent of your heart.

MEDITATE: Having accepted Christ by the Spirit, am I now trying to live my life by my own effort and just be “good”? Do I really understand that it is the Spirit living in me that gives me the ability to do what is right and not my own effort? Do people see my relationship with Jesus and my faith walk, or do they see just my ritual of attending church and doing good works? Do I make my relationship with God a priority by spending time in the written Word, in God’s presence, in prayer, in worship, and in fellowship with other believers with a heart attitude of intimacy with Him?

DECLARE: I have accepted Jesus by faith, and His Spirit is working in my life. I focus on my relationship with Christ and not my own effort or religious activity to make me righteous before God. I realize that my salvation is by grace through faith, and I refuse to trade away my vital living relationship with God for the dead works of religious activity. I desire intimacy with God, and I make time daily for that life-changing relationship.

A Call to Live by the Spirit

Galatians 5:1 and 16: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

The yoke of slavery can be a couple of things here. First, it can be a yoke of sin and living by the flesh instead of the Spirit. Second, it can be the yoke of trying to live your life after salvation by religious activity rather than by the life-giving relationship that comes by God’s grace through our faith in Him and the work of the cross. Jesus provided our freedom from both of these things that strangle the life out of us, and Paul tells us to stand firm in that freedom and to refuse to submit again to that yoke of slavery. This is the foundation needed to be able to accomplish the command in verse 16.

In the Amplified Bible it says: “But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God)” (Galatians 5:16). That covers our attitudes, our thoughts, our actions, and our motives. I’m not sure about you, but I know I have a lot of work to do in each of those areas. I have grown a lot in my walk with Christ, but I still have plenty of room to grow.

As if a call to walk and live in the Holy Spirit isn’t enough, Paul goes on to say that we should be responsive to the Holy Spirit, controlled by the Holy Spirit, and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever considered the thought that you needed to be responsive to the Holy Spirit? What does that mean, and how does it show itself in your life? It means being so in tune with that inner voice of the Spirit that you will change your plans to make room for the divine appointment He has prepared for you.

For me, one day it meant stopping and talking to a homeless person and giving him the money I had planned to use for my dinner that night. Another day it meant going up to a perfect stranger in a wheelchair and asking him if he could use the electric wheelchair that my dad didn’t need anymore because he was now in heaven and walking the streets of gold. I’ve found that being responsive to the Holy Spirit almost always means going outside my comfort zone; yep, usually way outside my comfort zone. I don’t like it, I often feel very awkward, and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being responsive to the Holy Spirit also means listening to Him in my conversations, and sometimes that means I need to stop talking. Sometimes it means adjusting my attitude when I feel justified to display my attitude for the entire world to see. Sometimes it means addressing my motives as I do, or refuse to do, something. Other times it means I just have to think about what I’m thinking about.

If we choose to be responsive to the Holy Spirit, this could be a year where we make a point to really think about our thinking and evaluate whether it is worldly, carnal, or Godly. We could trust God to help us crucify our flesh as we respond to His Spirit in this way. We could also believe and expect that we will experience great growth in our spiritual life as we surrender to His will and Spirit. Are you ready to be responsive to the Holy Spirit with your attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives?

Being controlled by the Holy Spirit is the next step. You have to be willing to be responsive to the call of the Spirit before you can be controlled by the Spirit. Being controlled by the Spirit means you let Him be in charge of your attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives. For example, if I need to walk in forgiveness, I need to be willing to be controlled by the Spirit instead of my feelings as I walk that out in my life. In my giving, I need to be controlled by the Spirit instead of my budget. There have been many times when God has asked me to give my last dollar and allow Him to provide for me. Being controlled by the Spirit means He is in charge and I’m not. Now, as someone who likes to be in charge, I can tell you I still have a little ways to go in this area. I have discovered that if He is in charge even when there are problems, somehow there is a solution that I didn’t expect or realize was even an option. Does the Holy Spirit control your attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives?

Allowing yourself to be guided by the Holy Spirit has just a little different flavor than being controlled by it. Let me give you a practical example that makes my point. In July of 2009, our family went to Washington, D.C. We took Gabby, our GPS girl, with us. She was our guide. We put in the address we wanted to get to and she told us how to get there. At times, I had no idea where we were or how to get to our destination, but Gabby did. How much more does the Spirit of God know how to guide us in the ways of the Father? Much more than the GPS knew how to guide us in D.C. As we continue to explore the depth of Paul’s words of growing in Christ, we need to allow the Spirit to guide us into uncharted territories of new, deeper growth in Christ.

The whole purpose of walking and living by the Spirit, and being responsive, controlled, and guided by the Spirit, is found in the second half of this verse, which is to avoid giving in to the cravings and desires of our flesh (our human nature without God). Every decision we make will be for God or against God. Refusing to forgive someone is against God. Overlooking people in need is against God. Giving in to sinful anger, resentment, and bitterness is against God. Get the idea? Loving your enemy is for God, showing kindness to your enemy is for God, and crucifying your flesh is for God. If you start looking at every attitude, thought, action, spoken word, and motive as something that is for God or against God, it starts to be pretty black and white.

MEDITATE: Do I want to make a decision to walk and live after the Spirit? Do I want to be responsive, controlled, and guided by the Spirit? If not, why not? Do I believe that this is not to take the fun out of life, but rather to provide a way for me to live above the circumstances of life and avoid walking after the flesh? Am I willing to have the Holy Spirit examine every attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives in my life? Do I realize that my words come from the overflow of my heart and also need to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit?

DECLARE: I declare that in my life I am going to examine my attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives against the standard of “Are these things for or against God?” I will stop measuring myself by what I see other people do or fail to do and instead live on a higher plane; a spiritual plane of being responsive, controlled, and guided by the Holy Spirit. I will begin to recognize the times in my life where I am feeding my flesh by walking in my human nature without God. As soon as I recognize my flesh is in control, I will make a choice to surrender my attitudes, thoughts, actions, words, and motives to the Spirit, knowing that the Spirit only represents the will of the Father. I declare that I will cooperate with the Spirit to grow in these areas. I will be aware of the words I speak, realizing that they represent what is really in my heart. I will choose to speak words of life rather than words of death over my life and the lives of everyone I come in contact with.

A Word on Motives

Attitudes, actions, words, and thoughts are easy to understand, but motives are a bit trickier to discern. We are going to look at Nehemiah 1:6-7 for some insight here. “let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”

Not once in this prayer do we find a wrong motive. A wrong motive as we come before God is one that is just seeking His hand in your life and not His face. As parents, we would be offended if our children came to us just for the things we can give them and not because we are their parents and we love them. Our motive should reflect a desire to repent, to be reconciled to God, and to be obedient to what He has called us to, or to be a blessing to others. We see this motive reflected in this prayer. As we continue on this journey with Paul, let’s take the time to really evaluate our motives because our thoughts spring from motives and our actions and attitudes and words spring from our thoughts, so our motives are at the center and have a huge impact in how we live our lives.

MEDITATE: Father, please show me when my motives are self-concerned and not centered in Your will. Help me to realize that why I do something is more important than the thing that I actually do. Am I willing to evaluate my life on a regular basis to see if my motives are more about wanting what God can do for me than who He is?

DECLARE: I seek God’s face and not just what He can do in my life. I determine that my motives will be pure and holy before the Lord, and I regularly allow the Holy Spirit to evaluate my motives. I choose to be God-centered in my motives and crucify my selfish motives every time the Spirit brings a wrong motive to my attention.

Defining the Flesh

Galatians 5:19-21. In these verses, we find a good list of things that will help us identify when our flesh is at work. “Now the works of the flesh are evident; sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

There is a warning in verse 21 that those who participate in these fleshly activities will not inherit the kingdom of God. At the risk of stomping on some toes, let’s take the time to honestly assess our own personal life. Christians are good at looking at others and pointing out their failures; however, God asks us to examine ourselves, not others. Christians who have had a real experience with Christ usually don’t participate in things like immorality, impurity, indecency, sorcery, drunkenness, or carousing; however, (and this is the stomping-on-the-toes part) how many Christians have enmity or strife with someone in their life? Is there something in your life that is more important to you than your relationship with Christ? If so, that would be a form of idolatry. Is anger a part of your life? What about selfishness? Do you put your wants and needs above those around you? Do you have a religious spirit instead of embracing your freedom and intimacy in Christ? Do you want what others have? We often come to this part of Scripture and take on an “I am holy” attitude; or worse yet, we compare our “little sin” of anger to someone else’s “big sin” of immorality and say, “Well, at least I’m not doing that.” But when we do either of those things, we become a stench in the nostrils of God.

A heart check might be appropriate. I know if I am not fully surrendered to Christ, I can easily fall into these types of fleshly sins. Remember, sin is sin. There is no scale of little sins or big sins. It is all ugly and unacceptable in God’s sight. The Holy Spirit is faithful to shine a spotlight into your heart and mind and expose these things if you will ask Him to show you your flesh. Will you be brave and undergo His Holy examination? Are you willing to surrender to that examination on a regular basis?

MEDITATE: Do I allow the Father to shine His Holy Light into my mind, heart, and attitude to expose those fleshly things that offend Him? Do I choose to humble myself, and am I willing to look at myself with the same scrutiny that I apply to those around me? Am I quick to repent and let go of my pride? Do I determine to be willing to undergo His examination on a frequent basis and be obedient to walk away from the things that offend Him? Do I repent of the times when I am a stench in His nostrils with my arrogant comparisons of my sin to someone else’s?

DECLARE: I declare that I do not walk after the things of the flesh. I determine in my life that I allow the Holy Spirit to examine my attitude, actions, words, heart, motives, and mind on a regular basis, and I am quick to repent of any sin that offends Him. I determine that I will walk after the Spirit so that I am a light in a dark world. I surrender my pride in these areas, and I am determined that I will walk humbly before my God and my Redeemer.

Evidence of the Fruit of the Spirit

In complete contrast to the flesh is the Fruit of the Spirit, as explained in Galatians 5:22-23 (Amplified): “But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].”

As believers in Christ, we should begin to develop the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We are often compared to trees in Scripture (Psalm 1:1-3); in Matthew 12:33 it says, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.” Do you see the importance of fruit in our lives? Let’s take a look at each facet of the Fruit of the Spirit.

- Love. How is your love for others? John 14 tells us that our love walk will reflect obedience to God and His written Word. John 15 tells us that our love walk will extend to others, at times to the point of death, and that there will be great fruit in our lives if we are walking in love. Just a thought about loving someone to the point of death: I believe there are those who have literally lost their life out of love for another human being, but what about the act of dying to your flesh or your wants/desires/needs in order to show love to another human being (Romans 14:20-21)? At times I think the enemy convinces us that we can’t really “die” for another person in the literal sense, and that robs us of the blessings of dying to sin and self out of love for another person. How is your love walk? Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 to see how ripe your “love fruit” is during this season of your life.

- Joy. Have you ever met a person who had many trials in life yet remained joyful? Evidence of ripe “joy fruit” in your life means that you focus on who God is in your life rather than on your circumstances, which may be less than joyful. Happy people are generally happy when all is well in the world; but joyful people have a deep abiding joy even when they have tears running down their face due to the circumstances.

- Peace. I could write an entire chapter or two on peace, but here, I’ll just go back to John 14:27 (Amplified): “Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]”

You and I have control over whether we allow ourselves to get upset or remain in peace. Jesus tells us to stop allowing ourselves to be upset and to not permit ourselves to be fearful, intimidated, cowardly, or unsettled. It is time for the universal Christian Church to stop reacting like the world and begin to respond as Jesus commanded. In Colossians 3:15, we will see that Paul instructs us to let peace be the umpire in our lives. He gave us that instruction while he was in prison. Peaceful people in unsettling times stick out like a bright light in a dark world. Do people see you at peace in your storm, or do you act the same way they do? (I typed that sentence and said “ouch!” How about you?)

- Patience. First of all, let me say that patience gets a bad rap. A few years ago I taught a class on “Walking in Your Joy,” and let me tell you that every unjoyful circumstance you can imagine came out of the woodwork. So when it comes to developing any fruit, I say they all have growing pains. Patience is only developed in trying circumstances. Can you think of a single time in your life where you saw a ripening of patience in your life when your circumstances were pleasant? So let’s look at a practical application. Are you patient in the grocery store line? How is your patience in heavy traffic? Do you show patience to your kids when they make mistakes, or you are tired or stressed out? Let’s determine to have enough patience in our life that others will look to us as an example in trying times.

- Kindness. Are you kind in word, thought, and deed? I seem to have areas that are well developed in kindness and other areas that are a bit on the green side. My personality is a bit judgmental. Even when I try not to sound judgmental, at times I still sound that way. I’m generally kind in my deeds and actions, but sometimes my thoughts and my mouth really need some help. What about you? Would people say that you are a kind person? That you are kind in your speech? Do you realize that Scripture tells us that our words are an overflow of what is in our heart (Matthew 12:34), and what influences our heart is what we think about. If your speech is not kind, then stop to think about what you are thinking about in that situation. You might find some green kindness fruit that needs time to ripen before you “serve” it to those around you.

- Goodness. Are you a generous believer? When there is a food drive at your church, do you bring the best you have, or do you offer the old canned veggies your family won’t eat? When you donate to the Church in goods or in money, is it your best offering, or just some old thing you want to get rid of, or a little change from your pocket? When you see people in the world struggling, do you help or keep on going your busy way? What good thing could you do today that would bless someone else?

There is a radio station in the Twin Cities that encourages its listeners to make “a drive-thru difference.” It’s a simple concept. You pay for the person behind you in a drive-thru or similar situation, and you leave a little note about God’s love. I think this to be a practical way to ooze goodness to a hurting world.

- Faithfulness. Do you do what you say you’re going to do? Can people around you depend on you? Are you faithful to prayer and Bible study? How’s your church attendance? What about your giving? I’m so thankful that Jesus was faithful to fulfill the will of God in His life. If you look in Matthew, you will find that three times Jesus went to God in prayer about the path before Him, first in verse 39b: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” The second time He prays in verse 42b: “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Finally, in verse 44b, Matthew tells us that “…he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again” (Matthew 26:39-44). Jesus had the fruit of faithfulness ripe and in abundance in His life. He is our measuring stick, not anyone here on earth. How does your faithfulness measure up against His example?

- Gentleness. In the Amplified Bible, humility and meekness are also words that are connected to the idea of gentleness. To me, that quickly identifies pride, harshness, and a hard or sharp reaction whether in word, thought, or deed to be green, green fruit. In my life, this is a fruit that my personality has to pay attention to in some daily detail. Jesus was gentle. The one time we see Him get angry it is a righteous anger over how people are treating His Father’s House. When He spoke to the woman at the well, He was full of compassion, love, and gentleness. How much of an impact would believers have on our world if we would all pay a little extra attention to making sure that we always speak and act in gentleness?

- Self-Control. I heard once that love and self-control are the bookends of the Fruit of the Spirit. If you are short on either, I think it really makes it hard to mature in the other seven facets of the Fruit of the Spirit discussed above. Self-control is one area in the Church today where the enemy is having a heyday. When known Christians do things that non-Christians know are wrong, the cause of Christ is hurt. Are you hurting the cause of Christ with a lack of self-control in your life?

Let’s end our discussion of bearing the Fruit of the Spirit in Jeremiah 17:7-8: “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

MEDITATE: Do I want my intimacy with God to be so strong that I bear fruit for others to see and benefit from even in the worst trials of life? Am I willing to surrender to the Holy Spirit and cooperate with Him in the process of seeing the Fruit of the Spirit be developed in my life? Is the fruit in my life green, ripe, or spoiled? Do I realize that if I have fruit but don’t share it, that’s when it becomes spoiled?

DECLARE: I walk daily in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. My walk with God is so strong that I bear fruit that others can see and benefit from even in the dry seasons of my life. I choose to walk in the higher path of the Fruit of the Spirit and not the easy path of my flesh. I love others to the point that I die to myself and my sin choices daily. I have joy in all circumstances in my life. I walk in peace and don’t allow the circumstances of life to upset me and steal my inheritance. I allow patience to develop in the hard seasons of my life. I am kind in word, thought, action, and deed. I love being good to people. I look for people I can be good to every day. I am faithful to all God has called me to. I am faithful to the Body of Christ. I am gentle, meek, and humble. I choose to die to my flesh that wants to be hard, harsh, sharp, or prideful. I exercise self-control in my spirit, soul, and body. People around me are able to benefit from the Fruit of the Spirit in my life in good times and in trials. I am blessed by God; therefore I choose to be a blessing to others.

Practical Instruction to Live by the Spirit

Galatians 5: 25-26: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

We live by the Spirit because of our life in Jesus Christ. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Spirit indwells our being. We are one-third Holy Spirit, one-third body, and one-third soul or flesh. We decide which third takes charge of our life, and the Apostle Paul gives us practical insight and instruction about how to allow the Holy Spirit to be the third in charge. This is not a feat for the weak at heart. This is not an easy choice without backbone; rather this is a flesh-burning, daily self-denial that at times must be a minute-by-minute choice to allow the Spirit to reign supreme in our lives. It even means going against the world which will try to influences our choices to be fleshly rather than Godly.

There are times when we claim we have no control over our actions. I would like to challenge that thought. Have you ever had an experience where you were acting very fleshly, losing your temper, or perhaps yelling at your kids or your husband, and then suddenly you see someone from your church or someone you respect? What was your immediate reaction? Was it to continue your fleshly behavior in front of that person, or was it to reign yourself in and put on your “church face”? If you reigned yourself in and put on a better face, you understand that you are in complete control, and that you can choose whether you will react according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.

The Apostle Paul encourages us to not become full of pride, not to challenge, provoke, or irritate each other, and to not be jealous or envious of others. I believe if you boil down every argument or disagreement, you will find one of these things at the heart of the issue. When we are operating in these things, we are walking in the flesh. The sooner Christians start to mature in these areas, the sooner we will see Christianity begin to impact our culture instead of culture impacting the Church. This is not the time to be looking around and pointing a finger at others for their behavior. This is the time where you need to allow the Holy Spirit’s spotlight to shine into your heart, mind, will, and emotions and begin to honestly assess if you are walking in the flesh or by the Spirit.

MEDITATE: Do I allow the Spirit to shine His light into my heart, mind, words, and behavior and begin to recognize the times that I have chosen to walk by the flesh instead of His Spirit? Do I recognize that still small voice within my spirit and know that it is His Spirit trying to call me to a higher walk in Him for the purpose of holiness and to provide an example to a lost and dying world? Am I willing to lay down my rights, as Jesus did, for the greater purpose of showing the world Jesus instead of getting my way?

DECLARE: I will choose daily, and at times minute-by-minute, to walk according to the Spirit instead of walking according to my flesh. I will choose to examine situations to see what is at the root of the conflict. I will look for pride in my life. I will look for times when I have provoked or irritated others. I will examine my life to see if I’m jealous of others. As I examine situations to see if my flesh has taken control, I will choose to submit myself to the Spirit that resides inside me and surrender whatever needs to go so that I can walk by the Spirit instead of by my flesh, so I can be like Jesus. I will be patient with myself as I grow and mature in this process. As long as I see progress, I will be patient with myself. I will not make excuses, but I will be patient.

Wise Words on Bringing Correction

Galatians 6:1: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.”

First, this is not a license to impose your personal convictions onto other people. This specifically speaks about misconduct or sin. Second, you must be walking by the Spirit, which means you must be a clean vessel. You must be free of anger, frustration, pride, a sense of superiority that you are better than the person you are correcting, a personal agenda, and anything else the Holy Spirit brings to your mind as you pray about confronting the person or issue. Third, you are to provide that person with clear Biblical evidence about the wrongdoing. Fourth, you are to restore and reinstate him into fellowship and relationship. Finally, you need to remain humble so that you yourself don’t fall into sin yourself during this process.

MEDITATE: When I see a brother or sister in Christ in sin, after I have prayed and sought God’s guidance and I know I am a clean vessel, then and only then will I go to them for the purpose of correction and restoration. I will provide them with clear Biblical guidance; I will restore them, and reinstate them into fellowship. I will keep an eagle eye on myself during this entire process so that I don’t become prideful and fall into sin myself.

DECLARE: I will address sin in a Godly manner. I will be prayed up and cleaned out before I ever approach the one who has fallen into sin. I will offer forgiveness as freely as I have been granted forgiveness by the Father. I will walk in humility through this process, knowing that I could easily fall into sin myself. I will restore fellowship with the person I’ve corrected, and we will grow and mature together in the faith.

Don’t Lose Heart and Keep Doing Good

I will close out Galatians with verses 9 and 10 from chapter 6: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

In the verses above, Paul is talking about sowing and reaping. He is specifically speaking about our choice to sow to the flesh or the Spirit, and that we will reap or walk in the harvest of our choices. If I sow to my flesh nature as mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21, then I am going to reap a fleshly harvest. If I sow to the Spirit, as mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23, I am going to reap a spiritual harvest, both in this life and for eternal life. Sowing to either takes effort. I believe in my life it takes less effort to sow to my flesh or my human nature. It takes greater effort and conscious choices to sow to the higher calling of sowing to the Spirit. For every believer, God has placed His Spirit on the inside of us to lead and guide us in the right choices. We must make the choice to take that path, and that goes against our lower fleshly nature. Just as water will always flow along the path of least resistance, our natural choice will always be what is easy on our flesh. It takes a strong person to choose not to be offended, to walk in love instead of anger, and to forgive instead of holding a grudge.

We have a wonderful promise from God that if we do the right thing, we will reap a reward in due time. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, God’s due time and our due time are not usually in the same time zone. In due time, and at the appointed time, we will reap or harvest the good we have sown in the Spirit. Hold on; don’t let the enemy rob you of your harvest by getting you to give up! So what do you do while you’re waiting for the harvest? God always has the answer. Read on.

Galatians 6:10: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” I like to look at this like a math equation. If I include all the pieces in place, then I’ll reap the reward in God’s time. If I leave any part of this out, then I risk missing the full blessing of God in that situation. Put this equation somewhere you will see it, and practice it daily: Sow to the Spirit + Don’t lose heart, grow weary or faint + Do good at every opportunity + Be mindful to be a blessing to everyone = Reap the reward in God’s Time.

Just like any math equation, if you leave a part out you will not get the correct answer, so it goes with applying the written Word of God in your life. God is watching, and He’s the one who matters.

MEDITATE: Do I realize that God is not fooled? I will reap what I sow. If I sow to my flesh, I will get flesh or human nature results. If I sow to His Spirit, I will reap from His supernatural storehouse in my life. Do I grow weary while waiting for God to move? Do I spend my “waiting” time in faith, doing good to everyone?

DECLARE: I will choose to sow to the Spirit instead of my flesh. I will not get tired of doing the right thing or give up because I don’t see results. I will appropriate good at every opportunity given to me. I will choose to be a blessing to everyone, especially those who are believers. I will trust God’s timing and goodness and I know that in His time and at His appointed time, I will reap my spiritual harvest.

Let’s close this amazing book of liberty in Christ with Paul’s words at the end of Galatians 6:18: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”

Father God, as we have journeyed through this amazing book, strengthen our determination to make the choice to walk by your Spirit instead of by our flesh. Cause deep spiritual growth in our lives as we embrace the deep truths of Your Word. Appropriate growth and maturity to us in these areas according to Your Word, and allow our lives to shine Your light forth into this dark world. Amen.

CHAPTER 4

Expedition through Ephesians

This prison epistle was written in about AD 60. It is the first of four prison epistles written between AD 60 and 61. Look at the depth and growth Paul has experienced in the twelve years since he wrote the prison epistle Galatians at the start of his ministry.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Ephesians 1:7-10: “In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Do you realize that everything we have and experience beyond our redemption is frosting on the cake? God could have left us in our mess, but He chose to provide our redemption through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus. We have been forgiven of all our sins so that one day we will be with Him in heaven for all eternity. Beyond that great gift, which would have been enough, we are told in this passage that He lavishes on us wisdom and insight so that we can know the mystery of His will. At the center of God’s will for all mankind is that we be united to Him. Just think with me for a minute. The God who created our universe and all those universes that we know nothing about, put a plan into motion so that each one of us could know His will and be united with Him. That thought leaves me speechless.

MEDITATE: Do I realize that I am the redeemed of the Lord through the sacrifice Jesus willingly made for me on the cross? Do I accept the truth that I have complete forgiveness of all my sins? Am I willing to accept that by His grace He lavishes wisdom and insight on my life so that I can know His will and purpose for my life? Am I united with God in Christ?

DECLARE: I am the redeemed of the Lord, and I have been forgiven completely of all my sins. God’s grace provides me with wisdom and insight, and I am able to know His will and purpose in my life. I have unity with God, my Father. I am rich in spiritual blessings, and I walk in those blessings daily. I freely share with those around me the wonderful truth of God and His plan of salvation so that others can be brought into unity with God, too.

Paul Prays an Awesome Prayer for Us

Ephesians 1:17-21: “. . . that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

We need God to give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation about Him because, frankly, we cannot wrap our heads around His greatness. I enjoy worship songs a great deal because they give me the opportunity to really lose myself in my Father God. I would like you to take a few minutes and think of your favorite hymn or worship song and just sing it to yourself and really think about God’s greatness as you do. As you did that, could you feel your spirit connecting with His Spirit? God wants to bless you with the knowledge of how great He is. He wants to give you new insight, wisdom, and revelation about Him so that you can grow deep in your faith of Him and in Him. The mistake we make in our drive-thru mindset is we want to order a bit of wisdom with a side of revelation and get it all down in just a few gulps. Going deep in the revelation of God is going to take both a commitment of time and a purposed heart if you are to be opened up to all that He has to share with you. Are you ready and willing to receive a deeper revelation of who God is?

The next part of the prayer talks about having the eyes of our hearts enlightened so that we might understand the hope that He has called us to. I think this is a two-pronged powerhouse of enlightenment. First, God wants each of us to really grasp and understand the work of the cross and the truth that we are reconciled to Him because of what Jesus did for us. We are no longer separated from God, but we are free to enter into the most Holy Place and fellowship with God with a boldness that allows us to receive His mercy and grace for every need we will ever have (Hebrews 4:14-16).

The second thing that I think is often overlooked is that God wants us to live in victory over everything that comes into our lives. He wants us to rise above every circumstance and walk with Him in confidence and faith. I had an amazing realization at a conference where I heard two speakers share a portion of their personal testimonies. Both speakers had troubled relationships to deal with. One had the blessing of reconciliation. The other did not. I’m sure both of these speakers would have liked improved relationships, but only one did. But here was my realization: Both speakers were walking in victory over their painful past relationships. God wants us to walk in victory in both the good times and the bad, and that is part of the hope and glorious inheritance Jesus died to provide for us.

Next, Paul wants us to gain an understanding of the immeasurable greatness of God’s power toward us who believe. We are talking about the God who created the worlds . . . the God who destroyed all His creation, save for the animals and one family of eight. The God who sent His son to die for us because He desired a restored relationship with us. The God who worked through Jesus to raise the dead, heal the sick, and free those who were captives. God wants to work in us and through us, and Paul was praying that we would understand to a greater degree this awesome God and all that He wants to do for us, in us, and through us.

One day when I was really struggling with an issue that had been ongoing in my life for some time with no relief in sight, I was out walking in a field. As I looked up into a cloudless and beautiful blue sky, a feeling of the awesomeness of God overwhelmed me. As I looked into that blue sky from horizon to horizon, I realized that the God of the universe is so much bigger and greater than I could ever understand, and that He was behind, under, around, and above me and my seemingly hopeless situation. Have you had a moment like that? A moment where you realize that God is so much bigger and powerful than you can grasp; one that simply leaves you breathless?

MEDITATE: I’m going to ask you to do something that might be outside of your comfort zone. I’m going to ask you to take fifteen minutes for meditation. Put on some soft worship music and purposely consider who God is in your life. Consider the hope that He’s called you to for eternity as well as the victorious life He wants you to live here on earth. Also think about the immeasurable greatness of His power toward you. I’m willing to say in advance that if you really start to meditate on those things, your fifteen minutes may turn into a much longer time before the Lord. As that time wraps up, make sure that you keep these thoughts before you: When you feel stressed out, begin to meditate on the great power that God wants to extend to you and your situation. When you feel defeated, begin to meditate on the victorious life that God wants you to live while on this earth.

I challenge you to do this fifteen-minute exercise twenty-one days in a row and see what amazing things God reveals to you and how much your outlook on life shifts from an earthly focus to one that is God-centered. I know you will be blessed and changed.

DECLARE: God gives me a spirit of wisdom and revelation about Him many times each day. The eyes of my heart are enlightened, and I know the hope that God has called me to both here on this earth and for eternity. I have a glorious inheritance in Christ. God has immeasurable greatness of His power toward me because I believe in Him, and because I believe that His immeasurable greatness of power is for my life. My God strengthens me in everything I do when I trust in Him and rely on His power.

By Grace through Faith

Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The grace of God brings salvation into my life when I believe it to be true in my life. The same can be said for each of us. There is no way that any of us could “work” our way to heaven. Jesus’ main conflict was with the religious leaders of His day. Why? Because they were trying to earn a relationship with God. The law was still in effect because Jesus had not yet died, but those leaders were making living under the law even more unbearable than God ever intended it to be. Jesus came to fulfill the law, and they just couldn’t wrap their minds around that. Now in our time, we often make the same mistake by thinking “If I do one more good work, if I serve on one more committee, then I’ll be right with God.” Wrong. Being right with God is about relationship, not religion, and that relationship comes only by His grace that allows us to have faith. This is a free gift that can never be earned, so learn to rest in His grace and believe.

We are His workmanship. We’ve been created for good works, and God has even prepared them for us ahead of time. And if we walk closely with Him, we will walk in those good works. Not for the purpose of earning our salvation, but for the purpose of showing the grace and love of our Father to the world. I mentioned that I’ve been spending time in Psalm 139 lately. Verses 15 and 16 illustrate this idea so beautifully that I have to share it with you: “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” I think the most heartbreaking thing that could happen in heaven would be for God to show us what we could have done or accomplished here on the earth. I know I have not always lived up to the potential that God has put within me, but I try to forget what is in the past and press on toward cooperating with His plans and purposes for my life now. I am His workmanship, and I want Him to be one proud Daddy.

MEDITATE: God’s grace through my faith brings me salvation. What “works” have I been doing to earn my salvation? I recognize God’s salvation in my life as a free gift to me. Do I believe that I am God’s workmanship and that I’ve been created for good works? Do I believe that God has prepared, before the beginning of time, many good works for me to perform?

DECLARE: I am saved by grace through faith. God’s salvation in my life is a free gift, and I can do nothing to earn it. God loves me for who I am, not what I do. I am God’s workmanship, and He does not make junk. God has plans for my life and I will seek His wisdom and understanding and begin walking in those plans right now. I repent of lost days or years of worthless activity and turn toward God for direction for today.

Paul Prays for Our Spiritual Strength

Ephesians 3:16-21: “. . . that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

What do you think would begin to happen in each of our lives if we started to pray in complete faith and expectation the concepts Paul has presented in the above passage? I think that Christians would begin to rock their world. The first concept is the foundation for what will happen in the rest of the verses. Let’s take a deeper look.

I think we can all agree that God has unlimited riches and that His glory is unfathomable, so when Paul prays that each of us will be strengthened according to those riches, and from His glory in our inner being with power through His Spirit, we have an unstoppable force powering our lives. I love the “so that” parts of Scripture because they make me pay attention to what’s important and the reward for paying attention to them. We have a “so that” in this passage. Why does Paul want us to experience a strengthening in our inner being through the Spirit and from God’s riches and His glory? So that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

Think of it this way. Christ is an honored guest in our hearts, and our hearts should be prepared in such a way that He feels welcome and at home. When we are strengthened by the Spirit and have the blessings of all the riches of God’s glory in our heart attitude, then Christ is going to feel very much at home. However, it’s not just for that purpose; the verse goes on to say that we, “being rooted and grounded in love,” will have the strength to comprehend the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ for us so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I’m a frequent houseguest at the home of my son and daughter-in-law, more now that they have given me a wonderful grandson. I go there to spend time with them, but I also do my best to be a blessing to them and leave things better than I found them. Not because I find lack in what they do or provide, but because I want to be a blessing to them. God is the same with us. Jesus comes to spend time with us in our hearts and minds, so we should want Him to feel comfortable; and yet He wants to leave us better than He finds us. Christ wants for us to fully comprehend and understand the love of God for us and how He wants it to flow through us. He also wants us to be filled with the fullness of His Father. Being a Christian is anything but boring.

The next promise is amazing. God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us. Did you catch that? The power is at work within us and God is able to do far more than we can ever begin to imagine. Imagine with me for a moment how different your life might be if you were to allow yourself to be strengthened in your inner being by the Holy Spirit. Why? So that you could comprehend the expanse of God’s love for you and be constantly filled with the fullness of God. If you were to do that, you would then begin to realize and cooperate with the power that is at work in you to begin to believe God can do more than you could ever imagine in your life for you, in you, and through you. Would your prayer life be different then? Would you start taking on more difficult projects? Would you begin to walk taller and speak with more authority? Wow! If we could just grasp these ideas and begin to cooperate with God in the execution of them in our lives, we would become a force to be reckoned with on this earth. Wait a minute . . . that was God’s plan from the beginning.

MEDITATE: Are my heart and mind filled with things so that Christ will feel comfortable dwelling in them? What things do I need to surrender to make my heart and mind a place for Christ to dwell? Am I rooted and grounded in love to the point where I understand the scope of God’s love for me and for those around me? Do I have high expectations of God, or have I let the enemy convince me to just survive? Do I realize that God’s power is at work in me, and do my attitude, actions, and speech reflect that? Do I realize that God is able to do more than I could ever imagine according to His power working in me? Am I willing to start walking in that authority?

DECLARE: According to God’s unlimited riches in His glory, I am strengthened in my inner being with the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ dwells in my heart through my faith and I am rooted and grounded in His love. I grow every day in my understanding of the scope of God’s love for me and for the love He wants to reflect in my life to those around me. I am filled with the fullness of God in my thoughts, attitudes, actions, motives, and words on a daily basis. I have high expectations for what God is doing in my life and in the lives of those around me. I understand and embrace that I have a part to play because it is His power at work in and through me. I determine now that from this day forward I will be a conduit of His love and power to a lost and dying world.

Walk Like Jesus

Ephesians 4:1: “I, therefore a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Paul is calling us to walk like Jesus in this verse. As we look at the way in which we should walk like Jesus, we will see our Father’s heart in each one.

It was with great humility that Jesus left heaven to come as a helpless babe so that He could really understand our plight as human beings. Time after time once His ministry started, we see Jesus walking in gentleness. The one story I think of is the woman caught in adultery. He was so gentle in confronting her in her sin and restoring her to who she really was in God. We only have to look at His encounters with the Disciples to see His patience. But even after three years of walking and ministering with Him, they still didn’t get it. Jesus was so very patient with them and continued to reach out to them. I think the best example of showing love was in the garden where Jesus was so loving and gentle with Judas as he was about to betray Him. He showed us the heart-wrenching willingness to be in unity with the Father in the garden where He asked for this cup to pass from Him but said, “Nevertheless, not my will but Yours.” The example of peace in His life as He was being led to the cross blows me away. That was a walk worthy of the calling on His life.

What about your walk? Does it reflect the calling on your life? Some people might look at the verbiage and think that this verse is only for those called into ministry, but that is not so. We are all called to walk according to these character traits because they reflect the personality of our Father. As parents, nothing makes us more proud than when our children do something that reflects the hard work and training we have instilled within them. The same is true for our Father God. He sees each action and attitude and hears each word and thought we express. It makes Him a proud Papa when we, His creation, reflect His nature. Let’s determine today to walk like our Father in all our ways and with all the people that come into our life.

MEDITATE: Do I realize that I have a calling on my life? Do I walk in humility and gentleness on a regular basis? Am I patient, especially with those who don’t deserve it? Do I put love at the center of all my relationships? Am I eager to stay in unity with the Lord and with those around me? Do I make peace in every situation my focus?

DECLARE: I walk in a manner that reflects that I am a son or daughter of the King. If I am called into ministry, my walk is uplifting to those I minister to. I determine to follow Jesus’ example and walk in ways that are humble and gentle, and I turn away from proud and harsh ways. I pay close attention to my love walk on a regular basis so that I reflect the love of God in my life. I am eager to maintain unity in my relationships. I strive for peace in my life and in any relationship I have. I have determined to walk according to the example that was given to me by Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit as my Helper.

Be Angry but Do Not Sin

Ephesians 4:26-27: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.”

“Fly off the handle” and “explode like a volcano” are common expressions used to describe anger. Emotions are neutral; we assign good or bad to them depending on how they manifest. No one looks at Jesus overthrowing the moneychangers in the temple as being “bad”; rather we look at that as Him cleansing the temple of something that should not have been there. Paul tells us that we can be angry, but we should not sin. I must confess that my personality type is one that can have explosive anger. If I’m angry, even if I’m keeping my mouth shut, you can take one look at my face or my body language and know that all is not well with the world. I think that anger is going to look different for each person. You can have a personality where you never show your anger, yet you have unforgiveness and bitterness in your heart because of the unexpressed anger. Or you can have my personality, where you explode on everyone around you and worry about the fallout after you calm down. Both of these are examples of being angry and sinning, but remember that Paul tells us to be angry and sin not. So, for the quiet person, this might look like expressing your anger or frustration in a quiet conversation so that it doesn’t become unforgiveness or bitterness in your heart. For those with my personality, it may look like a calm discussion where you express your anger, but you don’t make people afraid of you. The thing to remember is that you may express your anger in the right way, and the other person may have a completely different perspective and not think anything was wrong with what they did. At that point, you really have to guard against sinning because their opinion about the situation is different than yours. You have to look for the way to come back into unity and peace and basically agree to disagree. This can be done without sinning, but it will take a determined effort on your part to keep your heart pure and right before God and treat the person with love and kindness in the disagreement so that you don’t sin. Our next section will reveal why being angry but not sinning is so important.

I think it is important to take ownership of our own feelings and realize that we have complete control over our responses, and that when we get angry, it’s because we have made that our choice. Now I know that is going to upset some of you, but it is the truth, and the truth will set you free. While it is true that people may do things we don’t like, we have complete control over our own response to those things. We should be saying, “I get angry,” rather than “You make me angry.” I promise you that if you will make this change in how you look at things, and realize that you are in control of your emotions rather than a victim of them, life will be easier to deal with.

Dealing with our anger on the day it happens will keep us from giving the devil a foothold into your life. I tend to stew about things for a time and then blow up, and that pattern is not beneficial for me, and it also opens me up to giving access to the enemy. That is the reason why Paul advises us to not allow the sun to go down on our anger. I remember hearing someone say one time that they never let the sun go down on their anger; they just stay up all night. I don’t think that is what Paul was after here. There may be times when you’ve gotten angry about something, and you may not be able to confront that issue right away. Rather than become sleep deprived, I would suggest that you take that situation to God in prayer and give Him your anger. You can still confront the issue on a different day if necessary, but you will have submitted the anger to God, and that will cause the enemy to flee. We see this pattern in James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Often this verse is misquoted without the first part about submitting to God. But just trying to resist the devil in one’s own strength will fail every time. Anytime you have anger, if you will take a few minutes to submit that anger to God. He will help you defuse the anger to the point where it doesn’t give the enemy a foothold in your life. You can still confront the issue if necessary, but the “heat” of the anger and the possibility of sinning will be reduced.

MEDITATE: Do I assign “good” or “bad” values to emotions? Do I think that other people make me angry, which makes me a victim, or do I realize that I get angry and thus need to take ownership of my feelings? What is my pattern for expressing anger? Am I a silent-anger type of person, or an explosive-anger type? Do I allow the enemy access into my life by holding onto anger from one day into the next? If I can’t confront the issue that day, am I willing to submit the anger and the situation to God before that day ends so that the enemy will flee from me? Even if I could confront the situation that day, would I be willing to submit my anger to God and gain His perspective on the situation?

DECLARE: I may get angry, but I will determine not to sin in my anger. I will not let my anger carry over into the next day. I will take ownership of my anger rather than be a victim because “people make me angry.” I will take my anger and submit it to God and get His perspective on each situation, because His ways are higher than mine and I might be wrong. I know when I submit my anger to God that I am closing the door on the enemy, and he will flee from me.

Don’t Grieve the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:29-32: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Looking at the context, I believe we can grieve the Holy Spirit in a number of ways. We grieve the Holy Spirit when:

- We speak corrupting talk that does not give grace to hearers.

- We hold onto bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice.

- We clamor, which by one definition is a vehement expression of discontent.

- We slander others, which would be saying anything false about someone that would be injurious to his/her reputation.

- We are unkind to ourselves or others.

- We are hard and harsh toward others or ourselves.

- We refuse to forgive.

When I was growing up, our church family really didn’t put any actions to the thought of grieving the Holy Spirit; it was just “this thing that we should never do.” So I think we need to take this “spiritual” idea and bring it down to a place where we can fully understand what it means. If you grieve someone, you cause them to be sorrowful or in distress. I think we distress the Holy Spirit when we act in ways that hurt the reputation of God, and I think we cause the Holy Spirit to be sorrowful when we refuse to extend to others the very grace and mercy that have been extended to us through Christ. So we need to stop looking at the phrase, “grieve the Holy Spirit,” as some “spiritual” thing and start to put some practical application into our lives so that we are a blessing to the Holy Spirit and do not grieve Him.

I think Paul gives us quite a list to work with here in Ephesians these passages. How is your conversation? Does it give grace to those who listen to you? Do your words speak life into the hearer? If not, then you are grieving the Holy Spirit. Bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice are next on the list, and we need to realize that harboring any of those emotions/feelings are counterproductive to what God has called us to do, which is to love and be kind to others. We can find no love or kindness in bitterness, wrath, anger, or malice. Part of the reason these things grieve the Holy Spirit is that it causes us to fall short of all that God has for each of our lives, and it also gives the enemy easy access to our lives. Being discontented grieves the Holy Spirit because it says to God that He didn’t get it right in your life.

I’m sure you can think of a time when you purchased a gift for someone and you were so excited for them to receive everything the gift represented. But when they opened it they were unhappy, and this caused you pain because you were trying to be a blessing to them and they didn’t receive that from you. It is the same way with our walk with God. When we express discontent about where we are in life, we grieve the Holy Spirit because we are basically saying to God that He didn’t get it right in our life, or that we could do a better job. When we slander others and hurt them, we grieve the Holy Spirit because we are speaking against another child of God.

Every Christian life should be marked by kindness toward others, a tenderhearted attitude, and over-the-top forgiveness of everyone, especially one’s enemies, and when our lives are not a reflection of those things, we grieve the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we are the light to the world, and if they don’t see these hallmarks in our lives, then why in the world would they want to become Christians? We grieve the Holy Spirit in this area because we hurt both our reputation as believers and the reputation of God. Therefore, let us make it our determined purpose to be very aware of these areas in our lives and to repent of the times we grieve the Holy Spirit. To live above the normal standard, we must begin to depend on His power in our lives to show forth His strength in our lives.

MEDITATE: Do I understand how detrimental to my faith and Christian walk it is for me to grieve the Holy Spirit? Is my speech an encouragement to those who hear it? Is my speech appropriate for the situation? Does my speech give grace to those who hear it? Is there bitterness, wrath, anger, or malice in my heart or mind against anyone, myself and God included? Does my life reflect a discontented attitude? Do I say false things about anyone that hurts their reputation? Am I kind to those around me? Am I tenderhearted, or harsh? Do I harbor any unforgiveness against anyone, myself and God included? Do I treat myself more harshly than I treat those around me?

DECLARE: I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit and will be quick to repent when I realize that I’ve have grieved Him in my actions, attitudes, motives, or words. I will make sure that my speech is an encouragement to all who hear it. I determine that my speech will be appropriate for each occasion and realize that sometimes silence is the best option. I will make it my goal to have my speech be words that will give grace to those who hear my conversations. I will let go of any bitterness, wrath, anger, or malice I have against anyone, myself and God included, as soon as I realize it is there. I will have actions, attitudes, and words that reflect a contented life rather than one of discontentment. I refuse to say anything about myself, anyone else, or God that would be harmful to me, anyone else, or God. I will be kind to everyone who comes into my life. I will be tenderhearted and not harsh or hard. I will choose to forgive those who have wronged me in any way, and I refuse to allow the devil a foothold in my life due to unforgiveness.

Dressed in Armor or Naked: My Choice

Ephesians 6:10-18: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints . . .”

The first thing I would like to do in this section is recommend that you buy a book called Dressed to Kill by Rick Renner. That book changed my life. It is a deep study on the Greek words that make up this section of Scripture. It gave me a completely different and deeper understanding of each piece of armor, its purpose, and my responsibility to myself and to the body of Christ to take up the armor on a regular basis. I will warn you to expect a great deal of spiritual attack as you work through that book and this passage as the enemy does not want you to gain any knowledge of this area, and he will come against you in any way that he can. Remember that greater is He that is in you then he that is in the world, and move ahead with determination to learn all God has for you in this area. I also want to help you understand that our life here on earth, every part of it, is the battlefield. You may not always be on the front line of the battle, but you are always on the battlefield itself, and to be on the battlefield without your armor is spiritual defeat.

The first thing I’d like to draw your attention to is the statement to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” This is the call to intimacy that we as believers need to answer if we are going to tap into His strength and begin to make a difference in our world. I know we live in a busy world, and we have many things that call for our attention, but we must make time on a regular basis to spend time with the Lord. This can be in prayer, Bible study, or worship, but it must be a priority in our lives. You are not going to know how to put on the different pieces of armor if you don’t spend time getting to know the One who provided it for you, so I urge you to make or renew your commitment to the Word, to prayer, and worship on a regular basis.

“Put on the whole armor” is a phrase that clues me into the fact that this is my choice. God has made the provision of the armor for me, but it is my choice to put it on and use it, or not. After my Dad died, I went through a severe depression because I was angry at God for not healing him. The enemy saw this as a weak time in my life and did his best to take me out of the game, and I was cooperating with him because I was on the battlefield naked without my armor. I honestly believe that it is only by God’s grace and intercession by people who knew what was really going on in the spiritual realm in my life that I came out of that battle with my life. The only thing that kept me from taking my life was the thought that my children would experience the same pain in losing me that I felt over losing my Dad, and I couldn’t put them through that. Do not go on the battlefield without your armor! You are no match for the enemy. Verse 11 tells us that we must put on the armor so that we have the ability to stand against the schemes of the devil. The armor is God’s provision for our protection and victory in this life. Please be proactive about putting on His armor daily.

In verse 12, we see the word “against” used five times. This word against in the Greek means “face-to-face combat.” So we see that we are not in face-to-face combat with people around us, but rather with different levels of Satan’s kingdom. We need to understand that Satan takes hurting us very seriously so that he can hurt God. When you are in the battle and things are coming against you, don’t be surprised. There are five layers of demonic forces for us to deal with here, and we need to take that to heart. You should expect anytime that you’re about to grow, whether in a growth season or coming out of one, that the enemy of your soul is going to do his best to come against you.

One word of caution here: Many times we think we are in the battle with the enemy, but the reality is that we are in battle with our uncrucified flesh or human nature, and we just need to grow up and die in whatever area that might be. Let’s not over-spiritualize everything to the point where we are just chasing ourselves in a circle and Satan is busy laughing at us, because we are trying to do spiritual warfare over something that needs to be killed in our own flesh. A house divided against itself will not stand, and if we need to die to sin within ourselves, trying to fight an outside evil force will never give us a victory because we are fighting the wrong battle.

Verse 13 tells us to take up the whole armor of God so that we can withstand everything the enemy might throw at us, and after we’ve done everything we know to do, we are to stand firm. A couple of years ago, our family visited the Washington, D.C. area. We made our way to Gettysburg and toured the battlefields that day. I would imagine that, on Little Round Top and the next day during Picket’s Charge, the Union Soldiers were told many times to “hold the line.” We need to realize that sometimes the only thing to do after we’ve done all we can is simply to stand firm. I’ve heard it said many times that there is no armor for our backside, and I think the reason for that is because God expects us never to retreat. Let’s take a look now at each piece of armor and what it means for us as believers.

The belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness are the first two weapons we need to acquire. We know that the Word says in John 8:32, “and you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We need God’s truth in our lives, and we need to live lives that reflect His truth. In the heat of the battle, we need to examine things that are being done and said against the truth of God’s Word. The belt is what everything else is connected to, so if truth is not your foundation point you are going to be in trouble at some point in the fight. The breastplate of righteousness is so necessary because, as believers, we must know who we are in Christ. So often the enemy will attack our actions or our character and we walk away feeling defeated because, after all, we can’t do it all right anyway. That is exactly the reason that Jesus came. Our righteousness is like filthy rags to God, and if we are trying to put on the breastplate of our own righteousness, then we are going to lose the battle. One thing I always told both my children was, “I might not like what you did, but I will always love who you are.” Why? Because they are my children and I love them no matter what they do or say. The same is true with God. He loves us for who we are: His Creation, His Workmanship, and His Children. He may not like our attitudes, words, thoughts, or actions, but He always loves us and sees us through the shed blood of Jesus, and that is our breastplate of righteousness. If you don’t know who you are in Christ, then you are subject to come under some heavy fire. Make some time to do a Bible study on the Righteousness of God and how it has been provided to us as part of the salvation plan.

The shoes of peace are the next piece of armor we need. In John 14:27, Jesus tells us that He gives us His peace, which is not like the world’s peace; and in the Amplified version, it amplifies the verse out so that Jesus tells us to stop allowing ourselves to be upset. Shoes help us get from one place to another, and on the battlefield our shoes should be full of peace and not fear, doubt, or worry. In Colossians 3:15, it is worth noting that Paul tells us that peace should be the umpire of our lives. What do umpires do? They control the game, and their rulings are the final word. That is how the shoes of peace should operate in our lives. They should control our actions, thoughts, words, motives, and attitudes. Have you ever made a good decision from a position of fear, doubt, or worry? Don’t allow the enemy to rob you of a tool that will keep you open to hear the Holy Spirit in the midst of the battle. The pursuit of peace in our lives should be a high priority as believers.

The shield of faith is a powerful piece of the complete armor because faith is a belief in God, who He is, and all He can accomplish. Faith and trust go hand in hand. Recently I had the joy of listening to my son, James, preach on the topic of trusting God. He said something that really ministered to me: “Trusting God means having faith in His purpose and will regardless of the outcome. Testing God is having faith in a specific outcome.” I know without a doubt that part of the reason I went through severe depression after my dad died was because I thought I’d been trusting God to heal my dad, but on hearing my son preach, I had the sudden realization that what I’d really done here was test God because I was looking for a specific outcome.

Jesus tells us that we will have trouble in this world, but to not fear because He has overcome the world. The shield of faith needs to be held up so that when the enemy is flinging every fiery dart he can throw in your direction, the shield of faith will protect you by quenching the lie or attack. Our faith should not depend on the outcome; our faith should depend on the character of God and the fact that He tells us that He works every situation out for our good. There were times while I was grieving when struggling with issues that I would begin to declare that “God is good all the time, and though He slay me, I will trust Him.” I have found in my own life that when I get to a place of confusion, chances are I have put down some of my armor. When you get to a point where you start to question God or His ways, that should be a clear sign to you that you’ve dropped your shield of faith.

If this is a problem area for you, I would encourage you to do a Bible word study on the character of God. Don’t allow the enemy to convince you to doubt God. That literally is the oldest trick in the book as doubting God is what the enemy used to defeat Eve. Doubting God is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, so raise that shield of faith and attack!

The helmet of salvation is one piece of armor that often gets overlooked. It is so important that you know who you are in Christ and that you have a firm understanding that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was for all your sins. When He said, “It is finished.” He didn’t mean “except for that one sin that seems to have a hold on you.” He meant it was finished. The enemy will do his best to cause you to question your salvation, so you need to stand firm in the saving power of Christ and the cleansing stream of the blood. Once you know who you are in Christ and have a deeper understanding of the complete work of the cross, that helmet will stay on as if it has been super-glued to your head. Hold your head up high because you have been bought with the blood of Jesus, and God’s salvation is complete.

Another part of the complete armor of God is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. When I was growing up, we used to have “sword” fights at church. The way they worked is that someone would call out a Scripture verse, and the first person to find it would stand up and read the verse. I must admit that I’m a very competitive person and I’m really good at finding verses in my Bible, but if all you can do is find the verse and it never has application in your life, it is of little use. We see that Jesus understood the importance of the written Word in His life when He was in the wilderness being tempted by the enemy. All three times when the enemy tried to tempt Him to do something that would take Him off the path God had for Him, Jesus responded with a Scripture verse. Satan could quote the Scripture as well as Jesus, but the difference was that Jesus was submitted to the will of God and Scripture, whereas Satan was rebellious against both. The lesson to be gleaned from this is, as we mature in Christ, we should become more submitted to God and the written Word and apply the Word actively in our lives by following Jesus’ example.

One of the best ways to have your sword sharpened and ready to use at a moment’s notice is through memorization. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” When the enemy of your soul comes after you and tries to get you off track, and maybe even sin, that is the time for the Scripture on the inside of you to rise up and take him out. I would challenge the thought that “I just can’t memorize Scripture.” On a daily basis, we memorize things of less significance, so let’s stop the excuses and give the written Word the importance it deserves in our lives. Memorizing the Word is not something you do to make God happy; it is something you do to benefit yourself so you’ll have the Biblical weapons you may need at a moment’s notice. I would also encourage you to keep a “Bible Promise Book” with you or somewhere handy. These books, which are divided according to topic, are a great tool to utilize the written Word at an opportune time when you’re under attack. Don’t allow the enemy to trick you into giving the written Word less importance in your life than it deserves. It is one of your primary offensive weapons, and Satan knows it and will do anything to cause you to devalue it in your life.

Let’s consider the instruction of praying at all times in the Spirit and with prayer and supplication. I grew up in a Pentecostal Church known as the Assemblies of God. We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in an unknown language or “tongues.” That fundamental truth is based on Acts 1:8 where Jesus tells the Disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. For those who believe this was only for the Disciples, we also look at Joel 2:28-29 where Joel prophesies that the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, even to those who are far off. In John 15 and 16, we also see Jesus telling us that it is good for Him to go away so that the Holy Spirit can come and draw us into close fellowship. Paul himself tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:18 that he “prays in the Spirit” more than anyone else, and he was not one of the original Disciples. He also tells us that he prays in the Spirit and prays in his understanding. In Romans 8:26, we are told “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.”

I was blessed with my prayer language when I was eight years old. When I don’t know what to pray, I pray in my prayer language. If this is new to you, I would encourage you to search the Scriptures and ask God for His guidance in this area. The Holy Spirit resides in all believers at salvation, but the prayer language comes to those who are open to the gifts of the spirit as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-14. This weapon also includes praying in our understanding and making supplication as we understand the situation. Your prayer options are to pray in your understanding, or to allow the Spirit to pray through you with a prayer language. Both are impactful, but I do feel that you have a more effective weapon if you take your own human self out of the situation and allow the Spirit to pray through you in God’s perfect will. If you’d like more information on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, look up any Assemblies of God church in your area and call and speak with the Pastor. I have no doubt that he/she would be thrilled to have the opportunity to answer any questions you might have, and even pray with you for a prayer language if that is what you desire. Prayer is the connection that keeps all the armor pieces strong.

MEDITATE: On a scale of one to ten, how would I rate my level of intimacy with God right now? On the same scale, how would I rate my level of commitment to daily time spent with God so that He can speak to me though prayer and His written Word? Do I put on the armor, or do I walk around spiritually naked? Do I understand that the armor is a gift to me from God for the purpose of being able to withstand all that the devil could ever think to throw at me? Do I realize that my fight is not against people or situations, but rather against five levels of demonic influence and authority? Do I realize that if I serve the Lord, Satan’s greatest desire is to steal, kill, or destroy me in any way he can? Am I willing to hold the line? Do I realize that my entire life is played out on the battlefield? Is the foundation of my life the truth of God’s Word? Do I understand who I am in Christ, and do I stand in His righteousness? Do I walk in peace in my life, or do I allow the enemy or circumstances to bring fear, doubt, or worry? Do I take up my shield of faith in every situation, or do I allow the enemy to trick me into leaving it on the ground? Worse yet, am I just too lazy to engage and use my shield of faith? Do I understand that I am saved by the Blood of the Lamb, and that there is nothing I can do to earn my salvation? Do I memorize the written Word so that it dwells in me and can bubble up when I need it? Do I use the Sword of the Spirit as the offensive weapon it is, and take some ground on this battlefield of life? If I am filled with the Spirit and have a prayer language, do I use it on a regular, even daily, basis? If this is a new concept to me, am I open to this wonderful gift from God? Do I also pray in my understanding on a regular basis and cultivate a rich personal prayer life? Are my prayers a reflection of trusting God no matter what, or do they reflect a testing of God for a specific answer? Am I willing to clothe myself in the powerful and effective armor that God has provided for me daily?

DECLARE: From a loving heart and not from legalism, I will continue to grow in intimacy with my Lord and Savior to whom I belong. I will put on my armor daily and determine that the days of my being spiritually naked are over. I acknowledge that God has provided the armor for my benefit and success, and I will learn to use each piece to its full capacity. Every time I’m in a battle on this battlefield, I will make a conscious effort to realize that my fight is not with any human being. I will recognize that I am fighting levels of demonic forces that are going to be in my face and on the attack. I declare that God in me is greater than anything the enemy on any level can throw at me, and I am victorious in Christ. My life is on the foundation of the truth of God’s Word, and it is secure in my life. I measure everything against the Word, and the Word is the final authority in my life. I am the Righteousness of God in Christ even when I make mistakes or sin. God looks at who I am, not what I do. My righteousness is not because of who I am; rather it’s because of what He’s done for me. It has nothing to do with what I’ve done but is completely dependent on who He is. I seek peace in every situation and allow peace to control my actions, words, attitudes, and thoughts. I refuse to trade away my God-given peace for the enemies of fear, doubt, or worry. In every circumstance, I take up the shield of faith in my life. I trust God and His purpose and will in my life regardless of the outcomes I see, because I know that my God is working out all things in my life for my good. I refuse to test God by expecting a specific answer to prayer. I will allow God to be sovereign in my life. I realize that my shield of faith can quench every fiery dart the enemy launches at me, and I will not be tricked or talked into putting it down. I understand the work of the cross, and I know I am saved by grace through faith. I memorize Scripture so that it can bubble up inside me when I need it. I also use a Bible Promise Book that has Scriptures organized by topic so that I can use my sword as needed. I give the Word of God the honored place in my life it deserves. If I am Spirit-filled, I pray in the Spirit often, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray the perfect will of God through me. If I’m not, I’m willing to search the Scriptures and pray about this. I want every good gift that God wants to give me, and therefore I will seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I pray in my understanding and cultivate an active personal and corporate prayer life. I do not neglect the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible reading; instead, I value them highly in my life. I determine that I will no longer be caught spiritually naked on the battlefield of life, but I will put on the whole armor of God and I will fight the good fight until the Lord raptures me away, as spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, or I draw my last breath and I enter His presence.

CHAPTER 5

Trek into Thessalonians

I would like to start this section by pointing out that just because these passages are considered “pastoral instruction” does not mean that we should ignore them or think that we need not apply their wise words to our lives if we don’t hold the official title of “Pastor.” Rather, we need to realize that while our occupation may not be that of a “pastor,” we are all part of the Royal Priesthood, according to Peter in 1 Peter 2:4-5: “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Peter goes on to say: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In Galatians 3:28-29, Paul tells us: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” So these books hold truths to be applied and matured into regardless of your occupation.

Paul’s pastoral books in the order in which he wrote them are 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Titus, and finally 2 Timothy, the latter of which was written shortly before he was killed for the faith. There is so much rich material in these books of the Bible that I have chosen to focus only on his first two books of pastoral instruction. At a later date, it is my goal to produce a revised and expanded version of Meditate and Declare, focusing on the pastoral books written in the last years of Paul’s life.

First and Second Thessalonians are two of the early pastoral epistles, and both are dated somewhere around AD 51 to 52. The Thessalonians were courageous under heavy persecution. These letters not only outline how to live our daily life in the Lord, but also encourage us to realize that this world is not the end, and the return of Jesus Christ for His Church is a fact from which we can draw strength and hope.

Faith, Love, and Hope

1 Thessalonians 1:2-3: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul starts out by declaring that grace (spiritual blessing and divine favor) be on the Thessalonians, and that they are to have peace in their hearts. He reminds them that they are continually in his prayers. Verse three, while a prayer, is a snapshot of how these brave Christians were then living their lives in the face of adversity.

By what is your work and service energized and motivated? Many in the faith are energized and motivated by what other people think or say about them. Oftentimes we want the approval of men more than we want the approval of God, which is opposite of what God calls us to (John 12:43). Some Christians are energized and motivated by guilt, but where does this guilt come from? Its source can come from within us or outside of us. We can feel that we just don’t measure up and so, maybe if we do good works, we will be good enough. This is a never-ending treadmill that will only cause us to become more disillusioned with following Christ. The outside pressure can be real or imagined, and it comes from comparing ourselves to what others are doing instead of focusing our attention on what God has called us to do ourselves. What energized and motivated the Thessalonians? It was faith . . . but faith in what? Faith in what Jesus had done from them that they could not do for themselves. Faith in whom? Faith in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Thessalonians were motivated by love. Love for their fellow man and love for God. Faith and love are powerful motivators that can bring renewed energy into a worn-down life. Their service was also motivated by an unwavering hope in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not knowing when He would return caused them to be motivated to serve others with a faith and love that reflected a sense of urgency. Is there a sense of urgency in your life to show forth a life lived in faith and love? Are you energized by your faith? Are you motivated by your love for others and an unwavering hope in the return of Christ?

MEDITATE: Am I walking in grace and peace? Is my work energized by my faith? Is my service motivated by love and unwavering hope in Jesus’ return?

DECLARE: Father God, I determine that I will walk in Your grace and peace daily. I will be aware of my feelings and emotions and come back into grace and peace the moment I realize that I have let go of these Godly provisions for my life. I examine my work, both secular and Christian, to see if they are being energized by my faith and my trust in You. I will check to see that I am making decisions from a position of faith and trust instead of from a position of doubt and worry. I examine my service opportunities, both in the world and in the church, to see that they are motivated by Your love and my unwavering hope in Your soon return. I will make the most of each day, looking for opportunities to do good both to the household of faith and to households of unbelievers. I will choose to do these things even if I am under persecution or stress.

Please God and Not Man

1 Thessalonians 2:4: “. . . but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.”

Every believer has the responsibility of carrying the Word to others. Jesus gave us that command in Matthew 28:19-20 in what is known as “The Great Commission.” In all our conversations we should make it our goal to please God rather than man. These conversations are limitless. They could be centered on sharing the Gospel with a lost soul. They could be centered on giving a word of encouragement to a saint who is at a low point in his or her walk with God. They could be words fitly spoken in conversation with a non-believer, not specifically of a spiritually nature, but nonetheless in an uplifting manner. The measuring stick for our conversations here is two-fold. First, did the conversation please God? Second, did the conversation reflect the good in our heart instead of evil?

If God were standing right next to you in your conversations, would He be pleased with what He heard you say? So often we “witness” the Gospel to people, but then when the person we were witnessing to evaluates the rest of our conversations, they find unseemly things such as gossip, inappropriate language, doubt talk, discouraging or harshly spoken words, or criticism. How can we share the glad tidings of the Gospel and be pleasing to God when our speech at other times is not pleasing to Him? Does that mean we shouldn’t share the Gospel until the rest of our speech is “cleaned up”? No! It means that we need to be aware that people in the world and in the church are listening to all our conversations and weighing the words that are not related to the Gospel message against the validity of the Gospel message we are trying to share. Would you really pray with someone to accept Christ if you knew they talked about others in a critical manner and used swear words? So, as previously indicated, our challenge seems to be two-fold: First, share the Gospel and don’t worry about what people think of you. Second, make sure your speech is pleasing to God so that when you share the Gospel message it is delivered from a whole vessel rather than one with a lot of holes that lose the effectiveness of the delivery.

MEDITATE: Would I say what I’m about to say if Jesus were standing right next to me? (He is, you know). Do I share the Gospel freely, or do I worry about what people will think of me? Do I hurt the impact of the Gospel message by my non-spiritual conversations? Would I want to pray with a believer who sounds defeated? Would I rather pray with someone whose conversations sound uplifting, God-glorifying, and full of faith? Which person do I sound like? Would I like to pray with someone who sounds like I do?

DECLARE: I accept the Great Commission spoken over my life by Jesus. I will boldly share the Gospel message when I have the opportunity. I will be aware of my speech in general to make sure that my daily words and way of speaking do not poorly reflect the Gospel message I’m called to share. I will not come under condemnation when I fail; rather, I will confess my sin and shortcomings, ask for forgiveness if necessary, and continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of appropriate speech before my God.

Live Lives Worthy of God

1 Thessalonians 2:11-13: “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

Paul charged the Thessalonians to live a life worthy of God and to continue to embrace the written Word of God as words directly from God and not just words penned by mere men. The Word of God is effectually working within all of us who believe, and it brings a supernatural power into our human world. It is by walking according to the Word that we are able to live lives that are worthy of God. So the question that begs to be asked is: Do you believe in your heart and mind that the Bible is the inspired written Word of God? Do you believe that God used many writers and each of their strengths and weaknesses to bring His thoughts to His people? I do. When God imparts any of His gifts to us, He uses who we are, both good and bad, to get the message out there. Sometimes we fall short. Sometimes we hit a home run out of the ballpark. I believe Paul is a great example of this.

Here was a man who persecuted Christians and yet, when God got his attention, this man wrote thirteen books of the Bible. His experience before Christ was valuable to the Lord to be able to present the pure message of salvation and living in a way that is worthy of the Lord. That blows my mind when I apply it to myself. How can my failures and shortcomings be valuable to the God who created everything with His speech? To my Savior, who died in my place? To the Holy Spirit, who dwells on the inside of me and is my guide? The written Word of God in the life of a Christian should be accepted as God speaking directly to each of us, acted upon to the best of our ability, and received in an attitude of belief. That is how we live a life worthy of God.

Mark 13:31 (Amplified): “Heaven and earth will perish and pass away, but My words will not perish or pass away.”

Psalm 138:2 (Amplified): “I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” His Word is exalted even above the name of Jesus, which is the highest name above all. We need to accept once and for all that the Word is the final authority in our lives. It does not matter if we agree with it or not. My point is that we as believers need to stop picking the parts of the Bible we want to live by and start living by the whole counsel of the Word. To see the importance and absolute authority of the Word, I would encourage you to spend some serious devotional time in Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible.

Some of my favorite books in the Bible are Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. These books, all written by Paul, provide so many practical statements on how to live a life worthy of the Lord. Colossians 3:16a says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,” If the Word is your measuring stick, although you may fall short because you are human, you will be on the path of righteousness doing your best to live your life in a manner that is worthy of the Lord.

MEDITATE: Do I accept the whole counsel of the Word, or just the parts that don’t cause me to die to sin? Do I use the Word as my measuring stick for success, or do I compare myself to other Christians? Do I hide His written Word in my heart so that I won’t sin against Him? Do I want to live a life worthy of the Lord, or do I just want to avoid hell? Do I make reading the Word a priority in my life? Do I realize that just as food is fuel to my body, the Word of God is fuel to my spirit?

DECLARE: I recognize that the Word of God is the final authority over everything in my life. I acknowledge that the Word is God’s spoken and revealed will, which provides me with His guidance for every situation. I choose to feed my spirit with the written Word on a daily basis just as I daily feed my body with food. I use God’s Word as my measuring stick for success and refrain from measuring myself against other people. I make it a priority in my life to memorize His written Word. I am able to memorize no matter what the enemy tells me. I desire to live a life worthy of my Lord and Savior, and I will use His Word as my guide to know how to walk that out in practical ways. I love the Word and give it high priority in my life.

Are Your Life and Faith a Blessing to Others?

1 Thessalonians 3:6-7: “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you—for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.”

If someone who knows you were to speak to a spiritual mentor in your past and report to them about your faith, life, and love walk, would your former spiritual mentor be comforted in their trials by all they might hear? As believers, we need to realize that we can impact people’s lives by our conduct and our faith. Those who are going through times of struggle may be looking to your example as a beacon of light to help them safely navigate through their rough seas. Paul was encouraged to hear that his spiritual children were strong in the faith, that they walked in love, and that they remembered him in a kind way and wanted to see him again. Strive to be that same kind of encouragement to those around you, both past and present. You’ll be blessed in the life choices you make to sustain that attitude, and those who look to you as an example will see a clear path through their struggles.

MEDITATE: Is the fruit of my faith green, ripe, or spoiled? Would my spiritual mentors be blessed to know that I have continued to grow in my faith and be encouraged in their struggles? Am I an encouragement to those around me?

DECLARE: I am determined that the fruit of my faith will be ripe. I am willing to share with others all that I have learned, both the good and the bad, so that they might grow in the Lord and be made strong in Him. I will contact at least one spiritual mentor in my life, offering words of thanks for all they’ve taught me and telling them how I’ve grown in Christ.

Increase and Abound in Love and Hearts Established in Holiness

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: “. . . and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Do you realize that God wants your love walk to increase and abound for everyone? “Everyone” would include, well, everyone. Not just the people you like or respect, but also those that drive you crazy. Those people that you have no use for and can’t do a thing to help you. Those who have hurt or wounded you in some way, whether by accident or on purpose. How exactly does God cause us to increase and abound in love? He does it by giving us opportunities to practice being loving and kind. Sometimes these opportunities will come at the worst possible time or place, or may involve the last person to whom we really want to show love. The thing we need to remember, however, is that increasing and abounding in our love walk is for a purpose. What might that purpose be? So that God can establish our hearts to be blameless and holy before Him. To be blameless or without fault does not mean you’re perfect. Rather it means that you are a good witness to those around you who need an example of love or perhaps need to feel the love of a Father flowing through someone in human form. To be walking in holiness means that we recognize that God is Holy and He wants us to be a holy people set apart for Him. Think about it: the unsaved world can show a loving attitude to someone they like, appreciate or get along with; however, it proves to be a bit much to show love to an enemy or someone who just rubs them the wrong way, as confirmed in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Can we determine that we will allow God to bring about the growth and maturity that He desires in our lives?

MEDITATE: Am I willing to allow the Lord to cause me to increase and abound in love to everyone? Are there people in my life to whom I choose not to show love? What reason do I have not to show them love? Do I look for opportunities to grow in this area of maturity?

DECLARE: Realizing it’s the Lord’s will that I grow and mature in my love walk, I will choose to look for those opportunities that God brings into my life. I determine to increase and abound in my love walk for the purpose of being blameless and holy before my Holy God. I will be responsive to the Holy Spirit inside me and acknowledge the sin in my life that keeps me from showing love to those around me. I will actively look for areas of unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, disappointment, resentment, or any other sin that keeps me from growing in this area. The next time I have an encounter with a person I find hard to love, I will grow through the situation even if I feel uncomfortable. I choose to surrender my love walk to God and allow Him to grow me however He sees fit, not how I want to grow.

Walk and Please God

1 Thessalonians 4:1: “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.”

The Apostle Paul is never satisfied. He never says, “Okay, you’ve grown quite a bit, now feel free to just skate by.” No, rather you see his instructions here to be an encouragement for how far his brothers in Christ have come, with further encouragement to continue to press higher and deeper in the things of God. So how do we walk to please God? We increase our love walk. We grow in faith. We spend time in intimacy with our Father. We let go more and more of our human nature, and we embrace the Kingdom principles that Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount. We choose to put off “the old man” (our old carnal way of thinking) and instead choose to embrace the new creation in Christ that we are in all the fullness that brings. The list could continue, but I think you get the point. So the question is . . . are you willing to walk and please God more and more in your life? In your thought life? In your finances? In your relationships with others? In your reactions to others when they hurt or wound you? As you go through the day, if you will pay close attention to the Spirit on the inside of you I think you will find that He is there giving you moment-by-moment suggestions on how you could walk and please God the Father more each day.

MEDITATE: Have I stopped making it a priority to walk and please God in my life? If yes, at what point did I stop? What were the circumstances that surrounded that choice? Chances are it was a time when you was hurt or wounded and began to put up walls of protection to keep it from happening again. Am I willing to surrender those areas to God and allow Him to put me back on the path to walk and please Him in my life?

Have I become complacent, just looking “to skate by” till Jesus comes? Can I trace back and find the time where complacency began to take over? What was the cause? Was there a situation that caused me to stop growing? Have I allowed my walk with God to become stagnant? Have I stopped doing those relationship maintenance things that are so important, such as being in the written Word on a regular basis, being in regular fellowship with other believers, and spending time in prayer and fellowship with God? Am I willing to confess my stagnation as sin and begin fresh and new today to make it a priority to walk and please God?

Am I being careful to avoid being prideful or judgmental of those who seem less spiritual than I think I am? Am I allowing God to challenge areas in my life that might be a bit weak? Am I willing to allow God to clean house and maybe take out some things that to this point have been acceptable, but now as I am growing higher and deeper in Him, I see they are beginning to hinder my walk with Him? Am I willing to allow God to begin to challenge me to walk and please Him in new, fresh ways and grow me in ways that I’ve not grown before? Only God and I need to know the answers to these questions, but what I should realize is that God already knows; He’s just waiting for me to acknowledge where I am so I can begin moving forward with Him from this point forward.

DECLARE: Father, I’m willing to allow you to examine me and see if I’m in a growth stage, a retreat stage, or a stagnant stage. God, if I’m in a growth stage, I declare now that I will be obedient to whatever you ask me to do to continue my growth. I realize that in growth there are seasons of pruning, and I give you permission to prune off anything that will not produce a walk before you that is pleasing in your sight. If I’m in a retreat stage, I choose to stop, turn around and begin to walk back to the path I know You have prepared for me. I choose to allow You to break down the walls of protections that I have erected to keep myself safe. I choose to trust that You are the only one who can truly keep me safe. If I’m in a stagnant stage, I confess this as sin before You. I acknowledge that it is Your desire that I continue to grow and please You throughout my entire life. I ask that You prune off any attitude that would keep me in a stagnant place. I declare with my own will and with my mouth that I desire always to walk in a way that is pleasing to You.

How to Treat Leadership

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13: “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

Being in leadership is never easy. Leaders are held to a different level of accountability than followers (James 3:1). This doesn’t mean that leaders are perfect or that they never make mistakes, but God requires that we as followers respect those in all forms of leadership, hold them in high esteem, and love them. Doing those things doesn’t mean that you will always agree with your leadership; it means that as a follower, you trust the call of God on their life enough that even if you disagree with them, you are able to still respect, support, and love them. In any well functioning relationship there is a final authority that is held accountable for decisions that are made. When you come into a church, you are submitting to the leadership that is in place. That leadership will be held accountable by God for the decisions they make and how those decisions impact the people that are under their authority. We are held accountable for how we respect, esteem, and love those in leadership. Paul is admonishing us to make sure that we do all three things and do them well. One word of encouragement if you’ve made mistakes in dealing with leadership in the past is that you should learn from those mistakes and grow from here. Don’t allow yourself to be put under guilt or condemnation or to become stuck in the past. Move forward in God’s grace and forgiveness the same way Peter did after he denied Jesus.

Paul also tells us to be at peace among ourselves. Walking in peace with your leadership is very important. The Lord blesses peace and unity. Psalm 133:1-3 shows us clearly that there in that place of peace and unity is where God commands the blessing. Let us do all that we can to be at peace with all men, but especially with those that are in authority over us. A word of caution: Your personal opinion of how things should be done needs to give way to submission to leadership; however, sin in leadership needs to be dealt with according to the pattern laid out in Matthew 18:15-17. Any confrontation should be bathed in prayer, and you need to have right motives and a clean heart before you engage in correction. Again, allow peace to be the umpire of your life and strive to still walk in respect and love with everyone.

MEDITATE: Do I pray for my leadership on a regular basis? Do I treat them with respect, hold them in high esteem, and show love to them? Am I walking in peace with them even when I disagree with them as long as they are not in sin? If they are in sin, do I confront in the Matthew 18 fashion? Do I keep my heart right and clean while in confrontation? Am I quick to apologize and ask for forgiveness if I mishandle a situation?

DECLARE: I pray for my leadership on a regular basis. I support the ideas and programs that they have put into place. I trust and support my leadership’s decisions even if I don’t agree, so long as they are not in sin. I treat my leadership with respect, high regard, and love that comes from the Father. If correction needs to take place, I determine to follow the Matthew 18 model and seek unity and peace in the solution. I commit to bathing any correction situation in prayer and focus on sin issues only, not personality conflicts or personal preferences.

Life Instruction

1 Thessalonians 5:14-22: “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

Wow, we have a ton to unpack in these short but power-packed verses! Imagine with me for a minute how different our world would be if Christian lives were marked by these verses alone. Can you say impact? Let’s break this down.

- Admonish the idle. I don’t believe this is just speaking of idleness in living activities. I believe it also means being idle in spiritual things. Even as I type this I can feel the Holy Spirit shinning a light on a couple of spiritual areas in my life that need some attention. We should be making progress in every spiritual area of our life. We should never be in retreat, and we should not be satisfied with defending our past victories. We should be walking in the confidence of our past victories, maintaining those areas, and moving out to conquer more ground.

- Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with them all. Those who are fainthearted, lack conviction, courage, and boldness need encouragement and patience. Paul tells us to encourage those people. That encouragement might come in the form of instruction, but you might need to follow that up with a season of walking through some situations with them and helping them to see, by your example, how to live the faith walk in a bold and courageous way. Take the time to look up the word “weak.” There are many different examples of what weakness looks like and what can cause it, but here I’ll focus on weakness being the inability to do what you know you should do. Our world today is not being impacted by the Church, and I believe weakness is one reason. We know what we “should” do, but being weak Christians, we lack the strength to do it. Jesus did not die for that purpose. He died so that we might be strong in His might. Paul tells us to “be patient with them all”; the idle, the fainthearted, and the weak. At some point in our walk with Christ, I believe each of us will fall to one of these three faith-killers. Let’s not judge those who are there now; rather let us come alongside them and restore them to their right position in Christ and instruct them patiently on how to be productive, bold, courageous, and strong in all situations and circumstances.

- Don’t repay evil for evil, but rather seek to do good to one another and everyone. Any thought, any spoken word, or any action or reaction that does not show the love of God is evil. Yep, I’m typing this saying to myself, “Ouch! That is painful.” How different would we look to the world if we lived out that sentence in our day-to-day lives? I’m personally challenged by that thought, and I hope you are as well. I would encourage you to write that down and keep it before you so you can measure your thoughts, words, actions and reactions against it for a few days and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to minister to you. Instead of being a minister of evil, Paul calls us to be a minister of good; both to other believers as well as to the entire world. In contrast to the above “ouch” statement, any thought, spoken word, action, or reaction that reflects God’s love in us is good. Let us determine that we are going to flow in the good and dry up the evil for the Glory of the One who suffered and died to give us the ability to do just that for a lost and dying world.

If you want to know what God’s will is for your life, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 is a really good place to start, Let’s look at verses 16-18: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Let’s deal with “Rejoice always” and “give thanks in all circumstances.” God doesn’t tell us to rejoice or give thanks for the things in our lives that go wrong; instead, He calls us to walk a path different than this world and to always rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances. Not for them, but in them. Why? So people can see that we are different, so that the enemy doesn’t get a foothold in our lives, so that we don’t fall into the fainthearted and weak Christian mode. So that we show Him we trust Him with our lives and realize that He truly is sovereign in our lives.

Do you realize in the word “sovereign” that “reign” is the larger part of the whole word? God reigns in our lives, and either we trust Him or we don’t. Let’s rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances that rest on that foundation. “Pray without ceasing” is sandwiched in the middle of these two instructions. To cease means to come to an end. I don’t believe Paul is telling us literally to never stop praying, but simply saying that in all things we are to pray without coming to the end of dependence on God who answers our prayers. When you have an answer to your prayer and it’s not what you want, then begin to rejoice and give thanks for every circumstance knowing that the Sovereign Lord has heard and made a decision. When you have an answer to your prayer and it is what you want, then begin to rejoice and give thanks in the circumstance. When you don’t seem to have an answer, then begin to rejoice and give thanks that you serve a God that is absolutely trustworthy and wait. God has given us some key thoughts here for our benefit, not to harm us, but to bring us into a deeper walk of trust and dependence on Him.

Do not quench the Spirit. Guess what? All the things we talked about to this point can quench the Spirit. I believe that’s why Paul put this in the verse. We can “quench the Spirit” in many ways:

- When we are idle in our life and in our spiritual walk

- When we are fainthearted and weak

- When we are not patient with those who are struggling in these areas

- When we repay evil for evil

- When we refuse to do good to those of the household of faith or refuse to extend His goodness to those in the world

- When we gripe and complain instead of rejoicing

- When we refuse to see the value of prayer and avail ourselves of its power in our lives

- When we allow the circumstances of this life in this fallen world to overcome us, instead of giving thanks to our Sovereign God who has allowed those circumstances to touch our lives.

I have some repenting to do because I have quenched the Spirit in my life and I need to come into agreement with God, confess my sin as sin, and begin again to let the Spirit flow freely in my life. How about you?

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22: “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” You’ll find more on the gift of prophecy in the Corinthians chapter of this book, but let me just say here that discerning prophecy in your life is very important, and if God took the time to speak to you in a prophetic word, then you need to examine that and be obedient to it to the best of your ability. Holding fast to what is good and abstaining from every form of evil both takes a lot of daily attention. Hold and protect the good truths in your life. Actively pursue those good things that God speaks of in His written Word; likewise, actively resist every form of evil. There are black and white areas in Scripture that clearly mark good and evil; however, there are areas that are gray and involve working out your own salvation according to personal conviction as you read the Word and begin to apply it in your own life. It is important that you make sure that the enemy doesn’t maneuver you into a place of judgmental legalism against someone over a personal preference or personal conviction in your life.

An example: Because I’m a teacher of the Word of God, I avoid things that involve witchcraft. This is a personal conviction based on my reading of the Word and the calling of God on my life. Yet, I know good Christians who love Harry Potter. I personally feel a conviction about watching or reading Harry Potter, but I don’t stand in judgment of those who do.

MEDITATE: Father God, reveal to me those areas in my life that are idle, fainthearted, or weak, and show me the times that I’m lacking in patience for those who are idle, fainthearted, or weak. Do I purpose in my heart to come alongside believers who are idle, fainthearted, or weak for the purpose of lifting my brother or sister up in the Lord? Have I repaid evil by my thoughts, words, actions, or reactions? Have I repaid evil by withholding God’s love? Do I show forth the goodness of God to both the household of faith and the world? Do I rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances? God, reveal to me the moment I quench your Spirit in my life in my thoughts, words, actions, or reactions. Do I embrace prophecy in my life? Do I test and discern any prophecy spoken in my life? Do I actively hold fast to what is good? Do I actively resist every form of evil?

DECLARE: I will cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He reveals areas in my life that are idle, fainthearted, or weak. I will show patience to those who for whatever reason are weaker in faith than I am. I will, on a regular basis, check my life for examples of repaying evil for evil in my life. I realize that anytime I have a thought, word, action, or reaction that does not show God’s love, it is evil; and I will repent and turn from that thing and begin to show forth the goodness of God to that person or situation instead. I will begin to look for more opportunities to rejoice always. I will show my dependence on God by always praying over situations until I have an answer from Him, and then I will accept His sovereign will in my life. I will give thanks in all circumstances; not for them, but in them. I will not willfully quench the Spirit, and I will repent and turn from that action or attitude as soon as the Spirit reveals to me that I’m quenching Him. I will embrace the prophecy that God speaks over my life. I will test the spirits so that I know I’m being led by the Lord and not by my own will or some other outside influence. I will actively hold to all that is good and actively resist every form of evil as I understand more about each and grow in my walk with the Lord.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it!” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Words of Encouragement in Hard Times

2 Thessalonians 1:3-4: “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.”

The Apostle Paul starts 2 Thessalonians with a word of encouragement for a people that are under a great deal of persecution and suffering. I doubt that they were doing everything right, but Paul felt it necessary to speak to the things they were doing well. I think we should follow in his example and begin to look for people of faith around us that could use an encouraging word. They may not have it all together, but there are always things in each of our lives that we are doing well, and during times of stress, trials, and struggles it is like a drink of cool water on a hot summer’s day to receive a word of encouragement.

Specifically, Paul wanted to encourage them because their faith was growing increasingly and their love for each other was growing and evident. So how is your faith? Can it be said of you that your faith is growing and increasing? There are times when our faith goes stagnant and we find ourselves in the same old rut of religion. Our Father in heaven desires that we recognize these times, and that we purposely begin to move out of the rut of religion into the river of relationship with Him. If we are flowing in the river of relationship with Him, then a natural outflow of that experience will be an increase of love for those with whom we come in contact. We see time and again in the Gospels where Jesus, being full of the Spirit and having spent time with God, begins to reach out to hurting people in love. God desires that we begin to reach out in love to the hurting people in our generation. Begin today to look for daily opportunities to show and speak love into the lives that God has placed in your path.

Paul also wanted to encourage them and draw attention to them because of their steadfastness and faith in all their persecutions and in the afflictions that they were enduring. Here in America we really have no idea what it means to be persecuted for our faith. There are Christians today that are in prison or being killed for their confession of faith in God. While we really can’t relate to that level of persecution, we can determine that in the trials and sufferings we do go through that we will be steadfast in our faith, and that we will continue to the end rather than give up and quit because things are just too hard. In my lifetime of being a Christian, I must admit that there have been times when my faith has not been steadfast. This has not been because God failed me, but because I have failed God and had a false expectation that He should just make everything better. It is time for the church in America to grow up and realize that nothing about this life is about us, and that our purpose here is to lead people to Christ. But we can’t lead people to Christ if we’re going to fall apart at the first sign of trouble. We need to allow God by the Holy Spirit to begin to deepen our roots so that we are not blown away at the first sign of trouble. We need to learn that steadfastness is developed in the enduring of a thing. It is not developed by walking away or looking for a way out, but is developed as we go through the hard times. Our faith and steadfastness will be strengthened as we determine to allow God to walk us through whatever is going on in our lives instead of asking for it to go away. Are you up to the challenge?

MEDITATE: So where is my faith right now? Do I believe that all things are possible with God? Do I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me? Do I believe that God still brings healing and wholeness into lives today? Do I believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection really paid the price for my sins? Do I believe that God really wants to move through me? How is my love walk? At the end of each day, can I look back and identify places where my love walk was evident to someone? How is my steadfastness and faith as I am going through struggles? Am I praying for the strength to go through my issue or struggle, or am I asking God to take it away? Am I willing to suffer through some things for the benefit of someone else?

DECLARE: I will move out of the rut of religion and begin to flow in the river of relationship with God. I will look for things in others’ lives over which I can speak a word of encouragement. I will purpose to walk in faith before my God and not settle for less than Jesus died to give me. I will challenge those places in my life that are stagnant and will begin to stir up my faith. I will pay attention to my love walk today and reach out to others the same way Jesus did. I will look at the struggles in my life as opportunities to develop steadfastness and faith in Christ. I will determine to endure the struggles I’m in and come out the other side in victory so I can be an encouragement to others around me. Rather than asking Him to take me out of these times, I will pray and ask God to strengthen me in these times so that steadfastness and faith can be built in me.

Powerful Prayer

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In and of myself there is no way I’ll ever be worthy of the calling of God on my life. If we look at the prayer above, we see that God makes us worthy of His calling. Every work of faith is by His power, and the purpose of all that is so the name of Jesus can be glorified in each of us and that we are glorified in Him. I have to be willing to stay where God puts me. I have to be willing to walk with steadfastness and faith through the things that God allows in my life so He can do the work of making me worthy of His calling. This is no powder-puff football game; this is playing with the big boys. Hard work, pain, and hard hits will take place, but the joy of knowing that at the end God will say. “Well done, my good and faithful servant” makes it all worth it.

MEDITATE: I want to cooperate with God as He makes me worthy of the calling on my life. I want to make every decision so that it is for good: the good of those it impacts, the good of spreading the Gospel, and the good of growing in my faith in God. I want to realize that every work of faith in my life is by His Power rather than my goodness or effort. I want the name of Jesus to be glorified in and through me.

DECLARE: God makes me worthy of His calling; it is not by my effort. I will allow God to do His work in my life and trust His plan when I don’t understand how it all fits together. I will make wise decisions so that God can work them out for good in my life and the lives of those I impact. I will step out in faith when God asks me to do something beyond myself, knowing that if it happens, it will be by His power and not by my effort. I will remain humble when I see God glorified in my life.

Don’t Grow Weary

2 Thessalonians 3:13 & 16: “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

As humans, we get tired and grow weary of dealing with issues. Paul is trying to encourage us to do just the opposite, to finish strong. I was interested to know exactly what weary meant. Weary is defined as being “physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, or feeling fatigued or tired.” We all grow tired in our walk with God and our efforts to do what He has called us to do. When we look at Jesus’ example, we see that he would get away and spend time with the Father. In America, there is never a lack of things to do, and I think that can be to the detriment of our walk with God. We need to carve out times where we are with the Father so that we can be recharged to continue the good work.

Daily time with the Lord, and having an intimacy with Him, is so crucial to this point. Our church recently finished going through the New Testament in ninety days. There were times when I fell behind in my readings, but for the most part I found myself being drawn to read the Word on a more consistent basis and was blessed to notice how much strength and encouragement I received each time I spent time in the written Word. Spending time in worship and allowing the Holy Spirit to minister to your soul (mind, will, and emotions) is a great way to break off any weariness you might feel.

Prayer is another avenue we have to recharge. If you’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit, you know that when you don’t know what to pray, you can begin to pray in your prayer language (see Acts 2 and my discussion in Chapter 4), and the Holy Spirit will begin to pray through you (Romans 8:26). We can also pray in our understanding, but I find when I’m weary that praying in my prayer language is the most helpful to me. Fellowship with other believers is another way we can recharge. The funny thing is when we are physically or mentally tired, it is easy for us to say that we are too tired to go to church, yet that is exactly what we need to do to be revived.

Finally, Paul closes with the idea of peace being with us at all times. There is a peace that passes all understanding, and it is available to every one of us. We may not always be comfortable with what God has called us to do, but we should always feel a peace in knowing that we are being obedient to Him. If you are without that peace, then I would encourage you to spend time with God and find out if you are doing the things that God has planned for you. It could be that you’ve taken on someone else’s Kingdom responsibilities or vision, and that is why you feel weary. Don’t use this as an excuse to not do Kingdom activity, but be aware that sometimes we are weary because God never called us to that work.

MEDITATE: Are there things God has called me to that I have grown weary in doing? Have I spent time with God, in His Word, in worship, in prayer, allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through me, and have I spent time in fellowship with other believers so that I am spiritually full, charged, and ready to minister? Am I walking in peace with God?

DECLARE: I will not be weary in well doing in all the things that God has called me to both spiritually and in everyday life. I will spend time with God, in His Word, in worship, in prayer, and in fellowship with other believers so that I can be full of the Spirit and ready to do good to everyone God puts in my path. I will allow the peace of God to be the umpire of my life.

CHAPTER 6

Pilgrimage through Corinthians

The Apostle Paul wrote three books (in the following order) that are considered general instructions for all believers: First and Second Corinthians and Romans. I have chosen to include important passages from all three of these life-changing instruction books.

Paul has been in ministry in Ephesus for almost two years when he receives reports from several sources about the condition of the church in Corinth. Sometime around early AD 55, he writes 1 Corinthians in response to this. A few months later in the same year, he writes 2 Corinthians while in Macedonia. Paul is again addressing some problems and issues that seem to be present in this church body. He also deals with false teachers and the damage that they have done to this body of believers. Romans was written in about AD 57. Paul was on the final leg of his third missionary journey as he penned this book. We would be wise to apply his teachings in all three of these books to our lives and churches today.

The Temple of God

1Corinthians 3:16-17: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy and you are that temple.”

You are the temple of God. I am the temple of God. We are the temple of God. But what exactly is a “temple”? There are two definitions that answer this question. First, a temple is an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity or deities. Second, a temple is any place or object in which God dwells, such as in the body of a Christian (according to 1 Corinthians 6:19).

So the first question that each of us must ask ourselves is, “Am I a person dedicated to the service or worship of God?” You see, God in His faithfulness takes care of the second part for us. As soon as you make the decision to become a follower of Christ, God begins to dwell in you. The part that belongs to us is the choice we make, often on a minute-by-minute basis, of whether we will allow ourselves to be dedicated to the service and worship of God. He is not looking for a world full of puppets that He can control, but for people who are willing to surrender control of their lives to Him in service and worship.

If you are a Christian who is not actively involved in dedicated service to Him, the next question you must answer is, why not? What is holding you back? Is it that you don’t want to give up your personal comforts? Perhaps it’s that you haven’t yet found your niche of service in the church you attend. Maybe it’s a feeling of unworthiness. Or could it be the busyness of this world and your life that are keeping you from being able to commit to serving?

The final question to be dealt with is . . . now what? Now that this issue has been brought to your attention, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue on as if you had never read this section, or are you going to examine your life in the realization that you are the temple of God, and He deserves your dedicated service and worship? What personal comfort keeps you from being the temple of God with all the fullness and fervor our God deserves?

How about the idea of not having a place to serve in your community of faith? Is it a matter of not having a niche that fits you, or does it go back to the personal comfort issue? I think there is much to be said for the attitude that “it might not be your area of ministry, but there is a need in the Kingdom of God and you will fill it until your niche comes along.” I’m not talking about being guilted into works that have no eternal value, or someone else’s dream or vision, but I am suggesting that if you see a need in your church that you can meet, then you should try to fill it.

Do I hear echoes of “I’m not good enough” to serve that way? Truth be told, none of us are worthy inasmuch as our righteousness is like filthy rags before God. However, we are all worthy to serve as His temple in our churches because of the Righteousness of Christ that has been imparted to each of us who believe in Him. Stop allowing the enemy to keep you down and out of service. Stand tall and begin to walk in the fullness of all God has for you.

You may have heard yourself saying, “I’m too busy.” We live in a fast-paced society that encourages more, bigger, and better. The problem with that concept can be two-fold. First, it can keep you from being the temple of God in service to Him because you just don’t have any time other than the one church service a week you attend. I think the second one is more dangerous to your spiritual health in that you are so busy with activities of regular life and spiritual activity that you don’t make time for the second part of being a temple of God, which involves worship to and for God. If the busyness of church activity has kept you from connecting to God, then you have a serious problem that needs immediate attention. Finding the balance point where you are actively serving God as His temple while also maintaining your worship of God and growing in Him can be a challenge. If “I’m too busy” is your battle cry, I would suggest that you take a long look at all you are doing and begin to bring some margin in your life so that you can really be the temple of God in all the fullness that our Holy God deserves.

One other thought on being the temple of God: We need to take care of our body, making sure we put appropriate food and hydration fuel into it, not junk food and harmful liquids. We need to make sure we are getting adequate sleep and we are not abusing any substance that would harm the temple of God. We should make sure that we are keeping ourselves fit for service so that when we are called to physical activity as the temple of God, we can respond with a healthy fit body. We are to respect this miracle creation of our body that God has chosen as His temple, His place to dwell on this earth.

MEDITATE: I am the temple of God. As the temple, this means I am a place of dwelling for the Most High God, a place where dedicated service and worship take place. Being the temple of God also means I have a responsibility to take care of my body so that it is fit for service. What are my reasons for not having a dedicated service area in my church? Am I too busy with church and life activities that I have failed in my worship responsibilities as the temple of God? What am I going to do differently so that I can truly say I am a temple of God dedicated to service to my King, and I am full of worship for a Holy, Living God?

DECLARE: I am the temple of God. I am the dwelling place of the Most High God. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, lives on the inside of me. Accepting that I am the temple of God, I determine that I will offer my body as a living sacrifice for Him. I determine that my life will be filled with service to my King. I declare that I will live my life in a way that reflects worship to a most Holy God. I commit to taking care of my body as the temple of God. I make a commitment to healthy living, responsible nutrition, and reasonable fitness all in recognition of my status as the temple and dwelling place of God. I make these commitments because my God is Holy and He deserves a temple that is fit for a King.

Temptations and Trials

1 Corinthians 10:12 & 13: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands to take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

2 Corinthians 1:8-10: “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.”

We have all heard and perhaps even said, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” Based on the Scriptures above, I would like to challenge that concept. Two things that stand out to me in the 1 Corinthians passage are that, with the temptation, God provides a way of escape, and the purpose of that escape is so we can endure the temptation. As I look at my personal experience, I can see times in my life where temptations that were more than I could handle were allowed in my life, but if I looked for it, there was always a path that allowed me to maneuver through the temptation and come out on the other side a stronger believer. We have to be looking for the way of escape that God promised to provide; otherwise, I believe that temptations can overwhelm us. I’ve found myself in the last year or so really looking at different things we say as Christians and considering how those sayings might impact a young Christian, seasoned struggling Christians, or non-believers. For example, after a wonderful report of a successful surgery that removed all the cancer from a fellow believer, the statement was made that “God is good.” Yes, I agree that God is good, but wouldn’t God still be good even if the doctor’s report was bad? I’m beginning to wonder if all the “Christianisms” might be part of why we aren’t reaching our lost and dying world here in America, and why God is calling men and women of God from third-world countries to come and be missionaries here in the United States.

Getting back to our passage, how do you think Christians, young or old in the Lord, might be impacted if they were to face a temptation and then fail? Based on the “accepted” interpretation of this verse, God would never give them more than they could handle, so that must mean they just aren’t doing it right because, after all, God knows what each of us can handle. This Christian has responded to times like that with confusion, discouragement, anger at God, doubt, unbelief, shame, isolation from people and even from my relationship with God, and a fear of losing my salvation. Let’s stop making Christianity out to be something it’s not, and start being honest with ourselves, with other believers and unbelievers, and speak the truth that being a Christian takes effort and a lot of dying to sin.

Our passage doesn’t say that God will make a way of escape so that we don’t have to deal with the temptation, it says, “but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13b). Have you been under the impression that God would make a way out of the temptation so you didn’t have to deal with it? There is a big difference between God making a way out so that we avoid a temptation, and God making a way out so that we are able to endure it. I know for me personally that I not only look for the way of escape, but also God’s provision in my life through prayer, Bible Study, worship, and fellowship with others. I know this will then enable me to endure the temptation that God has allowed in my life for the purpose of helping me to become a more mature believer and be an example to those around me.

What about trials and sufferings? Again, I would like to challenge our thinking a bit because Paul clearly says of their trials and sufferings in Asia that “we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8b). That sounds to me like it was more than they felt they could handle. To make sure we are all on the same page here; let’s take a look at what “despair” means. It is defined in the free online dictionary in two ways: (1) to lose all hope; and (2) to be overcome by a sense of futility or defeat. Maybe you are made of sterner stuff than I, but, honestly, if I have lost all hope and am overcome with a sense of futility or defeat, then that is more than I can handle.

While in dictionary mode, I also looked up the word “handle.” In the context of the Christianism that “God won’t give me more than I can handle,” the following definition seems to be what we are talking about here: “to manage, deal with, or be responsible for; to manage, direct, train, or control.” So my question is this: Are we really depending on God if He never allows more than we can handle? If I can manage, deal with, or be responsible for everything that comes into my life, then why do I need God? If I can manage, direct, train or control all life’s circumstances that impact my life, then why in the world would I need to surrender my life to God? Rather than walk around with guilt, shame, and isolated from other believers because you are overwhelmed by what is going on in your life, wouldn’t it be better to face the truth that there are things that happen in this life that are so over our heads that there is no way we can get through them, except for the grace and mercy of God? Or would you rather keep the attitude that God won’t give you more than you can handle, so you just need to buck up and keep going or move on?

Let’s take a look at something that I think was more than Paul could handle, how he dealt with it, what God’s response was, and how Paul responded. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul writes: “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I’ll leave other authors to discuss what the thorn of the flesh was, but I want to focus on the fact that God allowed this thorn in Paul’s flesh, and when he asked three times for it to be removed, God’s response was that His grace was sufficient and that God’s power was manifest in this weakness in Paul. Paul goes on to reason that he is content with whatever comes in his life because when he is weak, then God is strong (2 Corinthians 12:10b). So I’ll ask the question in a different way. If you can handle everything in your life, how is God’s strength made manifest in your life?

This section is for all the Christians like me who get overwhelmed and feel so very isolated by the Christianism that “God won’t give you more than you can handle,” which is meant to give support but often makes one feel like a failure. I submit for your consideration that God does allow things in our lives that we can’t handle because we need Him, and He wants to be our provision instead of watching us deal with it ourselves. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, “Take what you need and leave the rest.” If it messes with your view of God to think that He allows more in your life than you can handle, then skip to the next section with no guilt or condemnation. If perhaps you are like me, take comfort in the fact that if you could handle everything, you wouldn’t need God, and because you recognize your deep need for something outside of yourself to guide and direct your life, God will manifest strongly in your life at your weakest point.

MEDITATE: Do I believe that God never gives me more than I can handle? Are there times in my life, maybe even right now, when I feel hopeless and defeated? Am I willing to surrender my weak areas to God so that His strength can be manifest in those weak areas? Am I willing to look for the way of escape out of temptation so that I can endure whatever is going on?

DECLARE: God, in the times when I feel hopeless and defeated, I will turn my eyes to You because You are my help. Father, like Paul, I will submit to Your will in my life, and if there is a thorn in my flesh that You’ve allowed, I will glory in that weakness so that Your strength can be made manifest in my life. I will seek out believers who understand that I am overwhelmed and take comfort in their fellowship as I walk my path. I will stop expecting God to keep me from temptations (which can be anything that keeps me from living my life the way God intended and outlines in His written Word) and instead recognize that they are great opportunities for spiritual growth, and I will look for the way out of the temptation as I embrace the growth process. I will be careful to not cause another believer to stumble by glibly telling them that God won’t give them more than they can handle.

The Love Test

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends . . .”

Anyone who has taken a Sunday school class that I’ve taught knows what is coming: The Love Test. The purpose of this exercise is not to bring guilt and condemnation, but rather to help you identify areas where your personal love walk needs improvement. This is a tool I use on a regular basis because I can always improve on my love walk. Be completely honest as this is just between you and the Holy Spirit. Pray and ask God to show you one or two areas to work on for a season. I think you’ll be amazed at how much your love walk will improve when you put practical application in place. Why is this important? The Word tells us that “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Who would be the “they”? The non-believers specifically, but also believers since they can spot another believer by their love walk. The “love walk” is the outward expression of Christ in our hearts. Imagine how different your world would be if the Christians you know all started walking in the kind of love that Paul talks about in these verses.

Take the following quiz twice. The first time, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how you react to the way people treat you. The second time, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how you respond to people in normal situations.  The reason I ask you to take it from two different perspectives is because if you are anything like me, the way you react will be different, depending on how people are treating you, than you will in normal circumstances when you are just relating to other people. For the first question I would have to rate my patience level at a 4 if I feel people are not treating me fairly or in a right way; however, my patience level in normal situations would rate at about a 7. Taking the quiz both ways shows that while I need to learn to be more patient in normal situations, the area that needs the most attention would be my reactions when I’m not being treated well. The questions that ask about thoughts, words, and actions will require three answers from each perspective. I think you’ll be surprised by these questions because often we think we are under control in our words and actions, but I think you might discover that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks,” and if your thoughts are not good, it will be hard to get your mouth and actions to stay in line.

- I am longsuffering (patient) with people no matter what._______

- I am patient even when other people make mistakes._______

- I am kind to people in thought, word, and actions._______

- I am not envious or jealous when other people are blessed._______

- I don’t say “I told you so” in thought, word, or action toward people._______

- I don’t exhibit pride toward people in thought, word, or action (attitude and behavior that clearly says you are better than them). _______

- I am not rude in thought, word, or action toward other people. _______

- I do not insist on “my way or no way” with people._______

- I do not seek my way at the expense of other people._______

- I am not touchy, fretful, or resentful of other people. _______

- I do not keep a list of wrongs done by other people. _______

- I do not rejoice when other people make mistakes. _______

- I rejoice when other people show growth and improvement._______

- I choose to believe the best when I don’t understand why or what other people are doing._______

(Reference: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; quiz created by the author)

MEDITATE: Why is my love walk important? Do I spend enough time and energy on improving my love walk? Is my love walk at different levels depending on who I’m dealing with? Do I realize that Jesus said that all the laws and commandments were based on the foundation of loving God and loving others?

DECLARE: I determine that I will begin to pay closer attention to my love walk. I will look both at how I treat others and also at how I react when I’m mistreated. I will determine to begin walking in love in such a way that people begin to notice a difference in me and are drawn to the One who gives me the strength to walk in love. Below is our passage in the Message Bible. It brings out a few things in plain language that we might miss otherwise. I’ve listed in parentheses the good or bad trait that portion of Scripture is addressing. Take time to pray through this list, based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, and begin to make declarations over your life.

Love:

- Never gives up. (Persistence)

- Cares more for others than for self. (Selflessness)

- Doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. (Contentment)

- Doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head. (Pride)

- Doesn’t force itself on others. (Gentleness)

- Isn’t always “me first.”(Denies self)

- Doesn’t fly off the handle. (Slow to anger/is patient)

- Doesn’t keep the score of the sins of others. (Forgiveness)

- Doesn’t revel when others grovel. (Pride)

- Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth. (Kindness/compassion)

- Puts up with anything. (Patient, slow to anger, forgiving)

- Always looks for the best. (Fruit of Spirit)

- Never looks back. (Faithful and forgiving)

- Keeps going to the end. (Perseverance, faithfulness)

Final Thoughts in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:13-14: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

Paul has a few final thoughts for us. We need to be watchful, meaning to be active in the process. Don’t allow yourself to be overcome by apathy. Pay attention to the ground you’ve gained for the Lord. Don’t give any of it back, and don’t be content to just hold your ground; be watchful and keep on the offensive in this faith fight. Then Paul tells us to stand firm in our faith. It is so easy at times to just throw our hands up in the fight, but Paul is encouraging us to stand firm in our faith.

Don’t give up. Act like men. I don’t believe that this leaves the women out; rather I think it is a call to maturity. Act like a grown-up instead of being childish. So many times when we are in the thick of the battle, it is easy to take the easy way out, but God calls us to keep going and be mature in Him.

Be strong. It takes a lot of strength to walk the faith walk. Many people, including me at times, will just wilt under the pressure that comes their way. We need to determine that we will be strong in all that God has called us to do. In case you missed the last section, Paul admonishes us again to let all that we do be done in love. Our love walk is critical to being victorious in our battles and spreading the Gospel to a lost and dying world. If we are not walking in love, we leave ourselves open for the enemy to gain access to our situations. The problem with maintaining a good love walk is that you need to die to your wants and needs and live in a way that reflects that death to self. That is not an easy thing to do, nor is it something our flesh really wants to participate in. You see, if you are walking in love, chances are that you are last on your list and, as humans, we naturally want to think about ourselves first. If the enemy can bog you down in thoughts about yourself and always getting things your way, then he has cut you off at the knees and you won’t be able to be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be mature, or remain strong.

So let’s determine today that we’ve given up enough ground to the enemy, and now we are going to not only start taking back what we’ve given up, but also start taking the new ground that God has called us to conquer. How will that be done? The foundation has to be love, and the details will be revealed to you by the Spirit in each situation. Living the Christian life can be the most exciting thing you’ll ever do. How about it? Are you ready to be mature, watchful, firm in faith, and strong in determination to do everything in love?

MEDITATE: Am I mature in all areas of my life? In what specific areas do I need to grow? Am I watchful of all that goes on in my life and around me, or do I just float through life? When storms come in my life, do I remain stable and firm in my faith? Do I have a strong determination to have a strong love walk with everyone?

DECLARE: I will be found faithful by God to have a walk worthy of His calling on my life. I will regularly examine my life and look for areas that need a new level of maturity. I resist being apathetic about anything in my life. I choose to remain firm in my faith regardless of my circumstances. I will make every effort to let all I do be done in love.

Comforted to be a Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

There is something to be said for walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. It gives you a completely different perspective than when you just watch what that someone is doing. The same is true for the things we experience in the world. No one understands better the pain, suffering, emotions, and way out of any given situation than someone who has been there. What we are talking about here is empathy. That is defined as “the ability to co-experience and relate to the thoughts, emotions, or experience of another without them being communicated directly by the individual.” I believe empathy is what Paul was talking about in the above verse. What experiences in your life have you experienced that would enable you to walk in empathy with others and bring them the same comfort that you’ve experienced? Do you look at the things in your life that have brought you pain and the need for comfort as an area of ministry, an opportunity to share with another person the comfort you’ve received from God?

Take a few minutes and jot down a few of your painful experiences and reflect on them to see if those are areas that you would be willing to begin to reach out to others and minister the comfort of God. Perhaps it is an area that is still sensitive and hurting. I would offer the thought that maybe to experience full healing yourself, you need to reach out in the pain you’re in and realize that comfort and healing will come as you pour yourself out for others. Some life experiences that I’ve walked through would include: a turbulent home life as a child, changing schools many times, an alcoholic parent, loss of a baby sister, sexual abuse from a family member, moving across the country with no family support, a failed marriage, two miscarriages, a brain tumor in a family member, cancer in a family member, an injury that eventually led to my Dad’s earthly death, being a power of attorney for health care decisions for a dying loved one, chronic debilitating back pain, death of all my grandparents, hurts and wounds from trusted people, one child leaving home and getting married and the “empty nest,” which is not that far off as I watch my daughter become a young woman.

I share this list to say that I could choose to let the bad things on my list make me bitter, or I can choose to receive the comfort that God offers and then reach out to others with that same comfort because I’ve been there and I know how they feel. What about in your life? Are there areas where you’ve received the comfort of God and are willing to reach out to others and bring them comfort and understanding?

MEDITATE: Am I bitter or better in the areas of life where I have been hurt or wounded? Have I allowed God to bring me comfort in the areas that are bitter? Am I willing to surrender those hurt/wounded areas now and receive His comfort? Am I willing to walk alongside another person who is going through something I have experienced in my life? Am I willing to bring them the same comfort I’ve been given?

DECLARE: I will face the areas of hurt in my life that are still wounded and receive the comfort of the Lord. I will choose to become better for my life experiences rather than be embittered by them. I will actively look for hurting people around me and reach out to them with the same love, compassion, and comfort that I have received from the Lord.

A New Creation: An Ambassador of Christ

2 Corinthians 5:17-21: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

We may not always act like it, but if we have accepted Christ, we are new creations before God. The enemy will try to beat you down when your thoughts, actions or words don’t reflect His Righteousness and who you are in Christ. So how do we make where we are and where we need to be come together? The truth is we don’t. We have to stop trying to do this and start being what the Word says we are.

Let’s look at the text again: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17a). It doesn’t say he tries, it says he is. Paul goes into this whole vicious cycle in Romans 7 about how we want to change, but can’t seem to make it happen, and then he has this revelation in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” As Paul points out, we don’t frustrate grace by giving in to sin, but we cooperate with God to walk a better path, one of Righteousness in Christ. I think this area is one that needs meditation and declaration in our lives perhaps more than any other. The enemy would have us believe that if we sin we aren’t really Christians, but the truth is that God knew all the mistakes you and I would make before the foundations of time, and Jesus came to die for all our sins and make us right with the Father.

If the enemy can’t get us to just walk away, he’ll work hard to have us walk a defeated life by telling us lies about what lousy Christians we really are. We need to begin to meditate on the fact that we are the Righteousness of God in Christ.

Declare over your life that you are a new creation in Him. It’s easy to make those declarations when things are going well, but the next time you really mess up, give into temptation, or fall into sin, I challenge you to say out loud, “I am the Righteousness of God in Christ; I am a new creation.” Yes, we need to cooperate with God and make wise choices, but we also need to stop trying to achieve by our works and actions the work of the cross that Jesus has already provided for us. When Jesus said, “It is finished,” He didn’t mean “finished until you messed up.” He meant that He did the only work necessary to make us right with the Father.

“Ambassador of Christ.” That is quite a title, isn’t it? It really means that you and I now have the responsibility of taking the Gospel message to those around us who are lost and dying. We have good news to tell them, and it is that Jesus paid the price God requires for our reconciliation to Him. We are called to be people of reconciliation. The thing that struck me as I was typing this text was that, just as God does not count my trespasses against me, I need to extend that same grace to those around me to be a real agent of reconciliation. I’m thinking how much better relationships would be in my world if I really stopped counting other people’s trespasses against them. After all, Jesus taught in Matthew 18:21-22 that we should forgive not seven times but seventy times seven. Even in the wording, we can see the reconciliation of God at work because the focus is on seventy times first and then our more human response of seven times follows. God always calls us deeper in this walk with Him, and I’m personally realizing that it is a new, deeper call in my life to not only extend grace, mercy, and forgiveness to people, but also to be that Ambassador of Christ, that agent of reconciliation, and stop counting peoples’ trespasses against them.

Said another way, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, then I believe that when God looks at us He sees us not as sinners in need of forgiveness, but as the Righteousness of God in Christ because all our sins past, present, and future were taken away on the cross. When I’ve been hurt or wounded, the deeper place I feel called to then is to see the person who hurt or wounded me as the new creation they are or could be in Christ rather than someone who has sinned against me. I think that if I can start to see people who hurt me as who they are, or could be, in Christ, rather than see the behavior they are showing, that my response might be more Christ-like and less human. Is God calling you to that deeper place as well? How will you respond?

MEDITATE: Do I really believe that I am a new creation in Christ? Do I feel that I need add to the work of the cross? Do I allow myself to become a slave to sin instead of a slave to righteousness? Do people around me notice my words and actions to be different than those of non-believers? Am I an Ambassador of Christ? Do I share the Gospel message? Am I also an agent of reconciliation? Do I follow my Father’s example and not count others’ trespasses against them? Do I realize that I’m the Righteousness of God in Christ even when I’m making mistakes or sinning? Am I letting the enemy get a foothold in my life in this area?

DECLARE: I am the Righteousness of God in Christ because I am a new creation in Christ. I will make that declaration over my life when things are going well, but more importantly after I have messed up, sinned, fallen short, or just given up. I will accept the finished work of the cross and stop trying to add to it to achieve righteousness. People notice I’m different by my actions and reactions to situations because I am an agent of reconciliation. I will not only extend forgiveness, mercy, and grace to people who have hurt me, but I will stop counting their sin against them. I am the Righteousness of God in Christ because I am a new creation in Christ.

Wage the War

2 Corinthians 10:3-6: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”

In the last section, I tried to convey that we need to start walking as the new creation in Christ we are and stop trying to work our way to that place. I think this portion of Scripture gives us a bit more information on how to do that. You see, I’m not saying that you should just stand in place and say, “Oh, I’m a new creation”; rather, I’m saying that you need to receive what Jesus died to give us and then begin to walk that out in practical ways. God’s way of warfare has rarely made sense to the human mind. Consider these examples:

- Gideon’s army was whittled down to about three hundred men.

- Joshua and the children of Israel marched silently for seven days to take the city of Jericho.

- David faced the giant with only five small stones and no armor.

- Esther fasted for three days before she went before the King to ask him to save her people.

So when we read the verses above we need to realize that God’s way of waging war over strongholds, arguments, and lofty opinions will be different than how we would do it. There are three key things in these verses. First, what we are coming up against has come against the knowledge of God. Second, every thought needs to be taken captive to obey Christ. Third, we have to be willing to punish the disobedience and be obedient instead. Let’s take a deeper look at each of these.

For a Christian, the Bible should be the final authority for every area of your life. The written Word of God is the knowledge of God that is being spoken about here. Let’s remember that we need to wage this war for ourselves and not be worried about other people. We are all at a different place in our walk with God. There are things in your life that I’ve yet to come up against, and things in my life that I struggle with that perhaps have never been a struggle for you. So as we unpack this verse, we need to make sure that we apply it to ourselves and not to those around us.

Have you given any thought to strongholds that might be in your life? I believe strongholds come when we ignore the authority of God’s Word in our lives. I know that I personally struggle with rejection, and I can trace rejection in my life going back to when I was a small child. In any battle I fight, I can almost always find a thread of rejection in there somewhere. So, working my way though this verse means that I first acknowledge that a stronghold of rejection is not what God’s written Word speaks over my life. That means I’m faced with a choice: I can either bow to the results of rejection in my life, or I can meditate and declare what God’s Word says about acceptance for my life. But it doesn’t stop there. I need to go to the next step.

Now, to obey the acceptance of Jesus, I must make the choice to take every thought of rejection captive. And this is where it gets dicey, because I know that Jesus accepts me, but He is not the one rejecting me; people I know or love are the ones rejecting me. Nevertheless, I need to take those rejection thoughts to Jesus so that He can then begin to tear down the stronghold that is holding my life back from being all God wants it to be. The downside to a stronghold is that while it keeps everyone out, it also keeps us isolated and away from everyone. The enemy loves nothing more than to get us isolated and alone so that he can torment us, and a stronghold is a perfect place for that to happen. Hold on . . . because now that we’ve done these two steps, ahead we have what I consider to be the hardest step.

Be ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. That means you don’t continue down the path you’ve been traveling, but you turn and begin to walk the way that God has planned for you. For me, this means that I must stay engaged in relationships even though I feel rejected. It means that I must continue to be an agent of reconciliation even though I feel rejected and want to withdraw. It means that I must acknowledge that sometimes the rejection is because I am in Christ and the people are rejecting Him, and so I will also be rejected. Do any of these steps make sense to my “natural man?” Nope. But I don’t wage the war the way a non-believer wages war. Because I’m a child of God, I wage war not with weapons of the flesh but with weapons of Divine Power. God’s Kingdom is oftentimes counterintuitive to our fleshly nature. As I was coming out of being co-dependent, I coined this phrase: “If it feels weird, it must be healthy; therefore I will do it.” You see, in my co-dependent state it was counterintuitive for me to have my own opinion and be my own person. Now as a healthier person, it is normal for me to state my own opinion and be okay with the fact that not everyone sees things the same way that I do. So, in waging warfare, it may seem counterintuitive to trust the Word of God over your feelings or opinions, take your thoughts captive to Jesus, and be willing to put down your disobedience and take up obedience to the Word instead. But if it feels “weird,” then I’m guessing it is just an area in which you need a bit more growth to become more like Jesus.

MEDITATE: Am I waging warfare according to my flesh instead of God’s way? Am I trying to wage war for or with other people instead of focusing on myself? Do I have strongholds in my life? Do I know what they are? Am I willing to see those strongholds come down? Am I willing, to the best of my ability, to allow God’s Word to be the final authority in my life? Am I willing to take my thoughts captive to Jesus for His consideration? Am I willing to let go of my disobedience and begin walking in obedience and freedom?

DECLARE: The weapons of my warfare are not carnal, but are mighty through God. These weapons have the ability to destroy strongholds in my life because they are Divinely Powered. I will ask God to reveal any strongholds in my life and then cooperate with Him to bring them down. I will take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. I will punish my own disobedience and begin to walk in obedience to Christ. No weapon against me will prosper. I am more than a conqueror in Christ. As I abide in Christ, I will cooperate with Him to remove strongholds in my life. Jesus is the only stronghold in my life. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and I will cooperate with God to pull down every stronghold in my life, in Jesus name. Jesus is the only stronghold in my life.

His Strength Comes in My Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:8-10: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul is honest with us in these passages, allowing us to see an area of frustration and weakness in him. Whatever the thorn in the flesh was (mentioned in verses 6-7), it obviously bothered Paul enough that three times he requested that God remove it from him. To pull this verse apart, it’s necessary to develop a working definition of grace, which is defined as: (1) unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification; (2) a virtue coming from God; and (3) a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace.

God’s response to Paul could be worded something like this: “My unmerited divine assistance given to you for your regeneration and sanctification is enough for you. You don’t need the thorn in the flesh removed because My power is made perfect in that weakness.” Paul’s response is not to continue to focus on his weakness as a source of problems in his life, but to embrace his weaknesses and see them as the very things that bring God’s power, strength, and grace into his life.

My brain goes “tilt, tilt, tilt” when I really stop to think about that. Paul was at a place in his walk with God where he trusted that God knew what was best for him, and rather than fight against that, he began to embrace the very things that troubled him as the avenue that would bring God’s strength and grace into his life. A different way to think about this would be that Paul stopped allowing his focus to be on the thorn and started to make his focus on God’s strength in his life. God’s grace is enough for any challenge as long as we focus on God and not the circumstance. Once we shift our focus onto the problem, we miss the outpouring of God’s grace for our life.

What about you? What thorn in your flesh have you been asking God to remove from your life? Are you at a place where you can trust that if God hasn’t removed it, He wants to use it to bring His grace into your life through it? Are you in a place in any area of your life where you can see that you’ve stopped the flow of God’s grace in your life by focusing on the circumstance instead of the grace? Turning your focus back to God and away from the circumstance is the quickest way to start the flow of grace in your life again.

Paul goes on to say that for the sake of Christ he is content, even though there are weaknesses to overcome, insults to be dealt with, hardships to walk through, persecutions to endure, and calamities to survive. He then makes a great declaration: “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10b). I like the Amplified Bible for these verses. Starting halfway through the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, the Amplified reads: “Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak [in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).”

What a beautiful word picture to see in my mind’s eye; that in my times of weakness the power of Christ is pitching a tent over me and dwelling on me. Do we trust God enough to realize that the very things He allows in our lives that sap our human strength are the red-carpet entrances to tapping into His divine strength that will overcome everything?

MEDITATE: Is my focus on God or on my circumstance? Am I willing to do my part, which is making the choice to look to God instead of looking at my circumstance so I can have a free flow of God’s grace in my life? Am I willing to be diligent to pay attention to my focus and turn away from the wrong focus to embrace and allow God’s grace in my life? How do I deal with weakness, hardship, or persecution in my life? Do I focus more on my problem than on God’s solution to it? Do I allow the enemy to beat me up over my weaknesses instead of seeing such instances as an opportunity for God’s grace in my life? If like Paul I have a thorn in the flesh, will I embrace it if God says His grace is sufficient for me?

DECLARE: When I am weak, then I am strong! I will focus on God’s grace and not my circumstances. I will be diligent to check my focus on a regular basis so that God’s grace can flow freely and with fullness in my life. In the weak areas of my life, I will accept God’s answer that His grace is sufficient and trust that His strength will get me through. I will look at hardships in the light of God’s grace instead of personal weakness or enemy attack. I will cooperate with God’s growth process in my life. At my weakest moment this week, I will boldly declare that when I am weak, He is made strong in my life, and I will stand tall and firm in my faith walk. I know the power of Christ rests on me in every weak moment, so I will relish those moments instead of resisting them. When I am weak, the power of God is pitching a tent over me and dwelling on me at that moment. When I am weak, then I am strong!

My prayer for each of you is that you would begin to walk in all the practical truths discussed in First and Second Corinthians so that your life will reflect the true nature of your Daddy (Papa God) to a lost and dying world that needs to see His glory lived out in your life so others can have hope that their lives can change.

CHAPTER 7

Odyssey into Romans

Paul wrote this book to the saints in Rome around AD 57. By then, he was near the end of his third missionary journey and hoping to visit them soon. The theme for Romans is to provide a revelation of righteousness through faith in Christ. Paul clearly shows that all people are unrighteous sinners in need of salvation. He is very thankful that he has received this righteousness in Christ, and he has no shame or hesitation in sharing the Gospel of Christ.

Justified and Made Perfect in His Sight

Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Think of “justified” as standing for “just as if I never sinned.” This is easy to remember, but it does not even begin to uncover the depth of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Let’s develop a working definition of justification using the Amplified Bible, which expands and further develops the meaning of words in the Greek or Hebrew. Justification means to be acquitted, declared righteous, and given right standing with God (Romans 5:1). We see a number of examples in Scripture where we are declared justified or righteous in Christ. Here are a few of them: Romans 10:10, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Galatians 3:8, and Hebrews 10:14. I get the most out of these verses when I read the Amplified Bible.

There is a two-step process taking place here. First, when Jesus died, He made us forever perfect in God’s sight. Second, He is in the process of making us holy. Did you catch that? When Jesus died, He made us forever perfect in God’s sight, and He is in the process of making us holy. It is not what we do, but that we accept by faith what He did for us, and allow Him to continue the ongoing justification process by trusting Him to do the work in us (Romans 3:28 and 4:4-5).

Titus 3:7a: (Amplified) “[And He did it in order] that we might be justified by His Grace (by His favor, wholly undeserved), [that we might be acknowledged and counted as conformed to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action] . . . ”

Isaiah 53:11a: (Amplified) “He shall see [the fruit] of the travail of His soul and be satisfied . . .”

Do you realize that you are the result of His hard work and sacrifice on the cross? Beyond that, do you realize that He is satisfied with you because of the work He did on the cross? Are you willing to walk in the justification that Christ died to give you and to allow Him to do the continued work of making you holy before God?

MEDITATE: I am made justified and righteous before a Holy God only because of the work of Christ on the cross. There is nothing I can do to add to that justification and righteousness. Likewise, the things I leave undone don’t cancel out my justification and righteousness. I am perfect in God’s sight because of the blood of Jesus. I am declared innocent before God because I am justified in Christ. I have right standing with God as a frail human because of the justification of Christ in my life.

DECLARE: I am justified by my faith in Christ. I am the Righteousness of God in Christ. I am innocent and accepted by the Father. Despite my human failings, I have right standing with God because I am justified and righteous. I cooperate with the work of Christ in my life that is making me holy.

While We Were Yet Sinners

Romans 5:6-9: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

So the amazing thing to me is that God didn’t try to clean us up before He justified us with the blood of Christ. Before we ever existed, and knowing we would end up in a sinful ugly state, an amazing conversation happened in the heavenlies. I think it went something like this, using Genesis 1-3, Hebrews 10:1-18, John 10:7-18 and John 14:16-17 as my inspiration to imagine the conversation and share it with you:

God: “I’m going to create this wonderful world full of people We (the triune Godhead) can be in relationship with. The unfortunate thing is that before they even get past the first generation, they are going to bring sin into the world. Being a Holy God requires a holy people. For a time We can give them the law with rules and regulations on blood sacrifice necessary to wash away their sin and make them holy before Us, but no one can keep every point of the law so they are going to be frustrated at their lack of ability to stay in relationship with Us.”

Jesus: “Father, I see all the ugly sinful things each person We are going to create will do, but Father, I love them, and I want to be in relationship with them in unbroken fellowship. A Holy God requires a blood sacrifice to make a righteous and justified people, and since Adam will introduce sin into the world, I’m willing to go to earth and become one of them and show them the relationship they can have with Us. I realize that I will need to lay down My life in blood sacrifice to take away the sin of the world so that We can be in unbroken fellowship with Our Creation, but the sweet fellowship We have with them is so important to Us that I’ll gladly and willingly do this thing for them.”

Holy Spirit: “Jesus isn’t going to be able to live there forever, but My Spirit has been hovering over earth since before it existed. When Jesus comes back to heaven after He has paid the price so they can be justified and made righteous before Us, I’ll go and live in them and teach them all the things they need to know to walk holy before Us and enjoy Our fellowship.”

God loved us so much that while we were still in our sinful state, Jesus came to die in our place to make us justified and righteous before God. Jesus said it was good for Him to go back to the Father because the Comforter would come to be in close fellowship with us (John 16:7-11). The Holy Spirit now dwells within each believer to lead us into deeper relationship with God. What a beautiful picture . . . and how much the entire triune Godhead must love us to go to such great lengths to create, establish, and maintain a relationship with us.

MEDITATE: Before time began, the triune Godhead had a plan for redemptive relationship with me. While I was still in my sinful state, Jesus came and died to take away my sins and make me holy and righteous before the Father. The Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of me, guiding me to a deeper relationship with God.

DECLARE: Jesus died willingly in my place so that I could be in right standing with God. My faith in Jesus brings me into a place of peace with God. I am justified and righteous before God. I am the Righteousness of God in Christ. I stand before God, innocent and pure because of my relationship with Jesus, not because of any works I may perform.

The Die-to-Sin Lifestyle

Romans 6:10-14: “For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

One of the amazing miracles accomplished on the cross is the fact that Jesus once and for all overthrew the control of sin in the lives of human beings. Any sin you commit, you commit by choice, not by compulsion of the sin nature that entered the world in the garden. This is clear in the verse above when it says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body . . .” To sin or not to sin in our lives is a choice we Christians must make, and one we need to choose wisely. We treat the work of the cross as incomplete when we choose to sin instead of doing the hard work of dying to sin and walking in all that Jesus died to provide for us. Now, I’m not saying that choosing to die to sin, and not sin, is an easy task. What I am saying, however, is that this is exactly what we have been called to do, and when we rely on God instead of ourselves, it is possible to do.

Notice in the passage above that we are instructed to present our members not to sin for unrighteousness but rather to God for righteousness. What exactly constitutes our “members”? Our mind, heart, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, body, feet, and hands are what I believe make up our “members.” What we think, speak, look at, listen to, attend, and participate in are all opportunities for us to present our members to God for righteousness. Where we go, what we do, how we conduct our inner life, and what we say are all so very important. Multiple times each day you are presented with the choice of whether you will show forth righteousness or unrighteousness. What you do with each choice impacts three areas:

- The first area is your witness to a lost and dying world. Whether we like it or not, as Christians we are to be the light to the world. The world oftentimes judges God by what it sees in our lives. If our lives don’t look any different than the lives of non-believers in the world, then when we say we are Christians, the world fails to see the power of the cross and the need for a Savior.

- The second area is your witness within the Christian community. Right or not, human nature looks to other humans to see how to live and what to do to be accepted. The problem for Christians is that there is an expectation from other Christians of certain behaviors, and when those behaviors aren’t apparent, the enemy uses those situations to hurt the body of Christ. Satan likes nothing better than to use one Christian to hurt and wound another Christian. If that doesn’t cause enough trouble in your life, then the third area of impact is revealed.

- That third area is your own personal walk with God. Every time you give in to sin instead of making the harder choice of righteousness, Satan has the opportunity to beat you up and make you feel like a failure as a Christian. In that defeated moment, you may start to doubt God and His work in your life, and that causes you to hurt your witness to a lost and dying world. This is a vicious cycle that can be stopped in its tracks if you will follow the example of Jesus and die to yourself and surrender yourself to righteousness instead. Of course, you will never be perfect, and you will make mistakes along the way, but every time you and I choose righteousness over our sin nature, we will experience more and more of Christ in our lives.

The reason I say we need a die-to-sin lifestyle is that we are called to live as if we are dead to our sin nature. When we present our members to God for righteousness instead of to sin for unrighteousness, we are in effect dying to sin. Jesus paid the ultimate price of His life so that we would have the ability to choose to die to sin and our sinful human nature. There is no sacrifice that we will choose to make that can even begin to compare to His sacrifice. God has given each human being free will to make this choice, so choose wisely.

MEDITATE: Just as sin came into this world through one man (Adam), freedom from sin came once and for all through Jesus. Do I believe that I have the ability to choose to live a life of righteousness? Do I believe that since I’m human, of course I’ll sin sometimes? Do I consider myself dead to sin? Do I present myself as a living sacrifice of righteousness? Is there any sin that has dominion over me? Do I realize that, if I repent of that sin and trust in the work of Jesus and choose wisely, I can walk in all that Jesus died to give me? Do I want to live a die-to-sin lifestyle? If not, why not?

DECLARE: Jesus died once and for all to sin, and I can, too. I must consider myself dead to sin in order to live to righteousness. I will not allow sin to reign in my life. I will not present my mind, heart, ears, eyes, mouth, body, feet, or hands to be used for any purpose that is unrighteous. I will present my mind, heart, ears, eyes, mouth, body, feet, and hands to God to be used as instruments of righteousness. Sin has no dominion over me! I am not under the law, but under grace. I will purpose daily to live a dying-to-sin lifestyle. I realize that every choice I make impacts unbelievers, believers, and my own walk with God. I will choose wisely and live the die-to-sin lifestyle before my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

God Works All Things for My Good

Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

When life is kicking me when I’m down, this is my go-to verse. I will be the first to say that I don’t understand all that has been allowed in my life, but if I’m honest, I can name some good things that have come from those situations. The hurts and wounds of my life have given me a deeper understanding of people and situations that mirror my own. The struggles of life have caused me to welcome the calm and peaceful times with a deeper determination to enjoy those times rather than take them for granted. The dry seasons in my walk with God have caused me to seek out a deeper understanding of who God really is and what He means to my life. I come to a place in each trial or struggle where the pain of where I’m at causes me to be willing to make changes to bring me into a place of healing.

There have been times with tears pouring down my face that I’ve reminded God of this verse and communicated to Him that I was looking with expectation to see how in the world He was going to turn my mess into something good. Guess what? I really can’t think of anything in my life that God hasn’t used as a vehicle to bring good of some kind into my life. Do I have hurts, wounds, losses, and situations I’d rather not have had in my life? Yes! However, I know that my God, who created the universe and holds me in His hand, has a bigger plan than I can see or understand right now. I’m either going to trust God or not, and part of trusting Him means that I must view hard things in my life through His written Word rather than my own evaluation or understanding of what’s happening at the moment.

A word picture here might be helpful. If you have ever looked at the underside of a quilt, you will see chaos and mess; however, if you flip it over you will see order and beauty. That’s the way it is for us. We are looking at things from the underside of eternity, and one day God will show us our lives from the perspective of eternity itself, and oh, what a beautiful picture we will see then! It is faith that will make this verse alive and active in your life. Faith in God to know more than you do. Faith in God to realize that His ways are higher than your ways. Faith to trust that even when all you see is the chaos, you know that somehow, some way, God will cause good to come out of it for you.

The second half of that verse should also be addressed. This promise is for those “who are called according to His purpose.” Looking at this verse in context, the Scripture is talking about those who have come into relationship with Him. I believe that is the purpose being talked about here. God’s purpose in sending His Son was that all of us would be reconciled back to right relationship with Him. Don’t allow the enemy to rob of you this rich promise because he talks to you about not knowing what God’s purpose might be. God is not an angry God looking for people to punish, but a loving Father who desires relationship with all of His creation. God’s purpose is that all might be saved and be in relationship with Him.

MEDITATE: Have I accepted Christ as my Savior so I’m in right relationship with God in line with His purpose for my life? Take a moment and write a list of things you’ve experienced in your life that have been painful. Now take the time to think about each situation and look for the good that God promised. Determine in your mind and heart that, from now on, you will trust God’s promise that He will work everything out for your good.

DECLARE: No matter what my circumstances are saying to me right now, I declare that God will work this situation out for good in my life. I will not be robbed of the good that God intends for me because I listen to the enemy or my own self-defeating thoughts. I will look in my life for the times when I have experienced pain or hurt and will purposefully look for God’s hand and see the good that He brought out of the situation.

More than Conquerors

Romans 8:37-39: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the verses prior, Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword?” Paul’s strong answer is that we are more than conquerors over all these things and nothing can separate us from the love of God. What things are you going through right now that seem to have you on the ropes? What lie is the enemy telling you right now that has convinced you that God is far from you?

Remember from our previous passage that God works in all things in our lives to bring good from them. You may be in distress or tribulation right now that has you feeling as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and you may feel as though you are about to cave under that weight. I’m here to speak life into your weary soul. You are more than a conqueror through Christ, and although you may be down, you are by no means down and out. Stand up and begin to declare over your life and your situation that you are more than a conqueror and that nothing will ever snatch you from the presence of God.

I’ve been so blessed during the writing of this book as I’ve meditated on Psalm 139:1-18, verses 5 and 6 in particular: “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” I’ve been dealing with feelings of being alone in many areas of my life even though there are people in those areas, and these verses have been a balm to my hurting soul. Here’s the issue for me: I have to be willing to accept the authority and truth of God’s Word in my life over my feelings. I’ve been in a place where I’ve been angry because I felt it was my right to be angry, but all that has gotten me is more isolation and an increase in my anger. I had to come to a place where I was willing to give my anger to God instead of holding on to it. As I’ve meditated on these verses and begun to declare them out of my mouth, I’ve discovered God’s presence has been there all along. It is a lie from the enemy that any of us are ever alone. There is no place that we can run to that is outside of God’s presence.

MEDITATE: What areas in my life seem to be overwhelming right now? Do I recognize God’s presence in my life? Am I making time on a daily basis to be in God’s presence? Am I willing to put down whatever feelings I’ve been experiencing about my situation and allow God to minister to my emotions and bring healing?

DECLARE: I am more than a conqueror over __________________! I actively look for God’s presence in my life daily. I value God’s presence so much that I make time for His written Word and prayer daily. I will surrender my right to feel ____________ and embrace God’s plan for my life instead.

A Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Once again we see the concept of “dying to sin”. This is our spiritual worship to the Lord, and in the Amplified Bible it even says that this concept of being a living sacrifice is not too difficult for us. We need to realize that it is not by our own determination but by the mercy of God in our lives that we will accomplish this task. In presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, we are to be aware of what we think, what we say, where we go, and how we act. I don’t know about you, but when I try to do this in my own strength rather than relying on God’s mercy and grace in my life, I fail. When we present ourselves as living sacrifices to God, we are holy and acceptable before Him. We are a holy people serving a Holy God, and that is an awesome thought.

In verse two, we are told to not be conformed to the world, but rather be transformed by the renewal of our mind. When you are “conformed” to something, you are similar to that thing, and acting in accordance to whatever that thing might be. Paul clearly tells us to not be conformed to the world and goes on to say that we must be transformed by renewing our minds. If we are “transformed,” it means we have changed our nature, our function, or our condition. God has given us His written Word to be used as the main catalyst for that transformation. At that point, we begin to see things from God’s perspective rather than our own. We begin to treat everyone, even our enemies, the way God would treat them. We begin to speak and act in ways that reflect our Heavenly Father rather than our fallen nature. This concept in its simplest form is, “What would Jesus do?” The problem is that this concept is now being treated as a cute phrase rather than the impactful life-transforming statement it truly would be. In a nutshell, to conform is to be like something; however, to be transformed means to become that thing. God is calling us to be transformed into a living sacrifice, and we do that by renewing our mind with the Word of God.

MEDITATE: Do I depend on the mercies of God to become a living sacrifice, or am I trying to do this task on my own effort? Am I willing to lay down my wants and needs and become a living sacrifice? Am I willing to embrace a dying-to-sin lifestyle? Do I consider being a living sacrifice as part of my spiritual worship? Do I think this is too hard? In what ways do I conform to this world? Am I in the written Word enough to be transformed by it? Am I willing to be transformed into a living sacrifice, or are there areas in which I still want my way? If I never opened my mouth, would people think I was different from the world based on my actions and attitudes?

DECLARE: I present my body as a living sacrifice to God. I consider this to be my spiritual worship, and I agree with God that it is not too hard for me to accomplish. I depend on the mercy and grace of God rather than my own effort. I identify areas in my life that are conformed to the world and bring those to the altar of God to and allow Him to begin to transform my life. I love the Word of God, and I make time daily to allow it to work in my life. I keep my eyes on Jesus, my example of a transformed life, and I endeavor to follow His example. I choose to live a dying-to-sin lifestyle in every area of my life.

Marks of the True Christian

Romans 12:9-21: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Let me start by saying that I have a long way to go. This would be where being transformed by the renewing of my mind with the Word becomes the rubber meeting the road, so to speak. None of us will be perfect in each of these areas while we are here on this earth; however, God clearly is providing goals to work toward as we walk with Him. It doesn’t hurt God’s reputation when we work toward those goals but fall short, but it does hurt God’s reputation when we conform to the world even as we are claiming to be Christians. Unsaved people don’t expect Christians to be perfect, but they do expect us to be real about how we are doing, and they need to see that we are willing to take ownership when we mess up.

Let’s pick these verses apart to see what attitudes and actions we can display that would cause the world to ask, “Why are you so different?” I have identified three groupings in these verses: First, each of us having genuine love for others; second, hating evil and holding fast to what is good; and third, the things for us to focus on in our daily life. Following is a discussion of each:

- Show a genuine love for others. This is the first thing listed in the above passage from Romans. (Remember that this was also covered at length in 1 Corinthians.) Love is a continuing theme throughout Paul’s writing, I believe, because love is at the center of who God is and all that He has done for us. Some specific things Paul reminds us of are to show real brotherly affection for others and outdo each other in the way we show honor to those around us. Be quick to meet the needs of people as they are brought to your attention. Practice hospitality. Live in harmony with everyone. But Paul doesn’t stop there. He has two more challenges for us. Let’s take a look at the next group.

- Abhor or hate evil and hold fast to that which is good. Buckle your seat belt, because the ride is going to get a bit rough on the flesh. First, Paul instructs us to bless those who persecute or hurt us and not curse them. In a very practical way, we need to realize that we bless or curse people many times each day by the words we speak to them or about them. Simply put, if “bless” means to lift up or encourage, to “curse” then means to tear down or discourage. Just think about today and the words you’ve spoken. Have your words been a blessing or a curse to those around you? Paul continues the challenge by telling us not to repay evil for evil done to us, but to do what is honorable for everyone. I can honestly say that when I’ve been hurt, it has not been my gut reaction to be honorable toward that person. That is the challenge: to die to yourself and your gut reaction and choose instead to respond in love rather than react from the flesh. It is in that choice of response where we have the ability to be honorable to anyone who hurts us. It is in making the right choice that we will experience the dying-to-sin lifestyle.

If that isn’t enough of a challenge, Paul has another instruction for us: Don’t avenge yourself, but instead trust God to repay the evil if need be. Allow God to be your vindicator. That is a difficult thing to do because God doesn’t always vindicate you, and the enemy can use that to tell you that God is not fair. We need to grow to a place where we can trust God to be our vindicator if needed, and also trust Him when He doesn’t feel vindication is necessary. Understanding this fact is a major maturity point. Paul goes on to tell us that we need to take care of the needs of our enemies, and that we are to overcome evil with good. And there is the key. When we take care of the needs of our enemies, we are in fact overcoming their evil in our lives with the goodness of God. Are you up for the challenge? But wait, there’s more.

Paul gives us keys to unlock our maturity in Christ in our daily walk, things to focus on in our daily lives. He starts by telling us not to be lazy in our zeal, but rather to be fervent in spirit and serve God. Basically, Paul goes on to tell us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer. These are important things to remember. Rejoice and be expectant to see what God will do in your life. Be patient when you are in trials, realizing that it is from these trials that your character is being refined like fine gold. Remain constant in prayer. Sometimes when things are going well, we forget our prayer life, so we need to aim at consistency in our prayer life no matter what our circumstances are. A practical word of instruction is to rejoice with those who are having good things in their lives and weep or grieve with those who are struggling. The bottom line is to be sensitive to where other people are in their daily walk so you can share in their victories and support them in their defeats. The next instruction for our daily walk is not to be proud and arrogant. We need to help the less fortunate and seek out wisdom from the Lord. The final instruction is for us to live in peace with everyone as far as it depends on us. To make the choice to live in peace with everyone as much as it is in our control (and that is all we really can control), is another mark of a mature believer. Paul has set the bar high. How do you measure up? What areas do you need to submit to the Lord so you can begin to reflect His resurrection power in your life?

MEDITATE: Resist the urge to beat yourself up, and realize that while you may have a long way to go, you have come a long way already. Realize that all three concepts work together, and keep the main idea of each concept at the front of your mind. Ask yourself how you can show genuine love for others? How did you reject evil today and hold fast to what is good? Do you allow God to be your vindicator, or do you feel the need to vindicate yourself? How were you paying attention to your daily walk with God today? Now that you’ve identified something good that you’ve done in each area, select one thing from each area to improve upon tomorrow.

DECLARE: People see Christ in me in my speech, my attitude, and my actions. I show genuine love for those around me. I outdo others in showing honor. I daily meet the needs of someone else with a good attitude. I live in harmony with everyone and show brotherly affection for all. I walk away from evil and hold fast to all that is good. I bless those who hurt me, and I do not curse them. I refuse to repay evil, and instead choose the higher road. I trust God enough to believe He will vindicate me if necessary, and I won’t try to take matters into my own hands. I will look for the needs in the lives of my enemies, and I will do my best to meet those needs with genuine love. I will overcome evil with good. I will be fervent in my walk with God and walk away from a lazy attitude. I rejoice in hope and expectation, even in tribulation, and I will be patient in times of trial and allow these trials to refine me like pure gold. I am constant in prayer when life is going well and also during times of trials. I am sensitive to what other people are going through and support them in appropriate ways. I help those who are less fortunate, and I don’t think I’m better than they are because I know that “there but for the grace of God go I.” I will seek out God’s wisdom for my life. I live in peace with everyone as much as it depends upon me, and I realize that I’m the only person on this earth that I truly have control over.

Don’t Be a Stumbling Block

Romans 14:13: “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.”

As I’ve mentioned before, my personality type naturally falls to the judgmental side of the scale. I was at Life group, which is our Church’s version of small groups who support each other and study the written Word together, and we were reading some verses about how to relate to people when the above verse jumped out at me. I’ve heard the verse about not judging others lest I be judged, but this verse has a whole new level that has really caused me to stop and think before making a snap judgment. I would never purposely put something physically in front of someone for them to trip over, yet this verse clearly tells us that when we pass judgment on another person, we are doing that in the spiritual realm. I think the first step to living out this verse is to be able to recognize this behavior in ourselves. The next step is to catch ourselves when we do it and repent and turn away from that hurtful behavior. Finally, a wise course of action would be to check from time to time to make sure we are avoiding being a stumbling block in someone’s life by being judgmental of their actions.

MEDITATE: Am I a judgmental person by nature? Am I quick to rush to judgment about people or situations? Has there been a time recently where I can see that I put a stumbling block in someone’s path by my judgmental attitude or words? Am I willing to admit my judgmental attitude and begin to make changes?

DECLARE: Now that I know that my judgmental attitude or actions can put a stumbling block in other people’s path, I refuse to continue in that behavior. I will be on guard for judgmental behavior, attitudes, or words, and stop that behavior as soon as I recognize it. I will choose to be an uplifting blessing to those around me rather than a judgmental stumbling block.

Joy and Peace in Believing

Romans 15:13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Hope, joy, and peace should be interwoven in our lives as believers. Paul is looking to the God of hope to fill us with joy and peace as we believe so that the power of the Holy Spirit can cause hope to abound in our lives. We are filled with joy in knowing what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and we are able to be at peace with God and ourselves because of that sacrifice. Hope wells up within our souls in even the most difficult of situations, because we know we serve a mighty God who is able to do far more than we could ever imagine through His power at work in us (Ephesians 3:20).

Ask yourself this question: When your faith is dim, how are your joy and peace levels? When faith is small, how big is your hope at that point? As our faith goes, so goes our hope, joy, and peace. Why do you think the enemy tries so hard to cause us to doubt? Because doubt is the opposite of believing or faith. What walks hand in hand with doubt? Worry and a mindset of despair. Paul is reminding us here that we should walk the high road of hope, joy, and peace rather than the low road of doubt, worry, and despair. Once again we are given the choice. Which road will you choose?

MEDITATE: God fills me to overflowing with joy and peace as I go deep in faith. Where would I be if I lost all hope? If someone were asked to evaluate my life and identify my default position, would it be one of hope, joy, and peace, or doubt, worry, and despair?

DECLARE: I decree over my life that I will look for the joy and peace that God provides to me as I stand in faith. I will encourage myself in hope rather than discourage myself in doubt. I will speak words that reflect hope, joy, and peace. I will choose to believe that God is working in my life even when I cannot see any progress. I will flee from doubt, worry, or despair because I know those things are not God’s plan for my life. I will walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is causing me to abound in hope, joy, and peace.

FINAL THOUGHTS

My prayer is that as you’ve read this book, you will have come to the conclusion that meditating on God’s word and speaking it out over your life and the lives of those with whom you are involved are indeed activities designed and ordained by God. I also pray that this will become a life habit for you and not just a good book you talk about. I implore you to take time in your daily Bible reading to develop the habit of breaking down the passages into thoughts on which you can meditate, and that you will then create active voice declarations you can speak out over your life and the people and circumstances in it. Determine that from now on you will grow through your circumstances with meditation and declaration instead of just surviving them. Embrace all that God has purposed for your life. Walk in every spiritual blessing Jesus died to provide for you. Allow yourself to be responsive, controlled, and guided by the Holy Spirit who resides on the inside of you. Stand firm against the enemy and be willing to die to your own flesh and sin choices so that you can be all that God has purposed you to be. Be active on your battlefield of life, and always wear and use your God-given armor. Live your life with your speech, attitude, and actions in a way that leaves no room for doubt that you are a Child of God. Positively impact and be a blessing to the people God has placed around you. May you be blessed and live in the richness of His Glory.

Your Sister in Christ,

Lynn.

Will you help me put this book into the hands of someone who is truly in captivity? Life Sentence Publishing has a working relationship with a prison ministry.  Because prison books are shared among prisoners, your gift of $25 will put this life changing book into the hands of up to 324 prison inmates who desire to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Your donation pays for printing and shipping only, no profit is made by myself or the publisher.  Jesus told us to set the captives free.  What an amazing gift of freedom we can give them to help them grow in their walk with God so that, like Paul, they could say that they rejoice in the Lord always and they are content is whatever their circumstances.  Will you help us set the captives free?  Jesus said, “when you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me.”  May our God richly bless you!

Lynn Dehnke

To contact Lynn to schedule a speaking engagement, go to:

www.meditateanddeclare.com

or write:

Lynn Dehnke

PO Box 514

Fall Creek, WI 54742