Need, Day 3

How do we know if we are using our needs for God or for ourselves? I think we should ask ourselves what our motivation is. If we have God's heart in mind we are probably on the right track..

When we are connected to the Vine (our Savior) and His fruit is alive in our lives it is easier to see that your needs are serving a great God. Okay, so let me give you an example. I have a need to be loved by my husband. Pretty simple need in my life, right? Maybe not, because a lot of marriages I know of are struggling with being loved inside their marriage relationships. What if, I take my need (desire) to be loved and I mix in God's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness......?

Now, are you wondering how this works. In the simplest form, I have chosen to serve God first and pour His love into my marriage. When I do that, my husbands natural reaction will be to respond to my behavior. If he feels me being more patient and notices that I have more self-control in my mouth, maybe in God's faithfulness I have become a bigger believer in my husbands abilities and not such a critic of his failures. Do you think my husband will respond with the love that I need? My need for love is now being fulfilled by my husband because of our service to Christ. Does my desire now serve our God? Does a marriage with Christ as its head set an example for the world around us?

Walking in the Spirit with our needs. Yes, all of our needs. Taking time to abide in our Savior, replaces our selfish needs with a servants heart. We need to remember that our first step towards fulfilling any need in our life is to first sit at the feet of Jesus.

Luke 10:38-42
At the Home of Martha and Mary
38As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Please continue to pray for Connie W this week.

Mind, Day 3

Mind, Day 3

Spirit of Mind

Jesus promised us that he would send the Holy Spirit to those who believe in Him. What separates us from doing right is our mind. If we allow the Spirit to control our mind and our thoughts, we will be better off than if we were to try to do good on our own.

Romans 8:5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[a] because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,[b] you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,[c] you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children[d] of God.

The Holy Spirit is sent to us to guard our hearts and minds. Do you know if you are a Christian? Do you have the Holy Spirit living in you? If you are not sure, then you can ask the Spirit to reveal itself to you. You can be assured that if you truly believe that Jesus Christ is your salvation, then he has sent you his Spirit. The Spirit reveals itself in everyone differently. Through dreams, prophecy, the language of tongues and other ways. I will always remember when I truly believed and received the Spirit. Subtle, yet the confirmation I needed. Give yourself a moment to receive him, even if you already have, reunite yourself with the Divine power of our God.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Please pray for Debi.

Lord, I thank you for your Spirit that lives in me. I am so blessed by the relationship I have with you. Please continue to guard my heart and mind. Lord, I ask that you hear those who are reading this. Confirm to them the indwelling of the Spirit in them. I am so thankful for what I am in you and what you are in me. May we turn from the patterns of this world and find strength in our renewal of our minds to overcome the temptations of sin. Amen.

Freedom Day 3

Because of Adam, we are all born to sin; death. We are separated from God

Because of Jesus, we are a new creation; alive. We are in relationship with God.

What is Freedom in Christ? Christ paid the price for you. He is the living sacrifice. You have been given the opportunity to live a life filled with the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead.

Romans 8:1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

Romans 8:3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

Do me a favor today, look at your life and ask yourself if people that see and know you believe you live a life of freedom. It is easy for some to believe, it is easy for some to have knowledge, it is even a gift to trust God for provision. In our world of to-do and need-to-succeed, even our Christian walks become competition. We spend days in prayer wondering what God wants us to do and how he wants us to respond. Although this is important, sometimes it takes away from the confidence we should have in our Savior.

Look at the highlighted scripture above. 1st says that we are no longer slaves, "freed from tyranny". AMEN!! Second says to "embrace what the Spirit is doing in us". Freedom isn't about what you are doing, how you are serving or how successful you are at your Christian life. It is about what the Spirit is doing.

Okay, for all of you that are wondering how to do this, I don't have that answer for you. I think it is a very personal experience. In my own life I embrace the Spirit in times of worship, in praise and thanksgiving. When I am acknowledging God's amazing grace, my perspective is transformed. My freedom in Christ isn't about how I feel when I get up everyday or how I end the day. For me, it is about knowing my God has conquered the world (John 16:33). I try to focus on things bigger then my struggles. Part of me refuses to live my life consumed by the bumps in the road when I know that in the end I will be with the Creator of the Universe, my Papa.

Heavenly Father, Your beautiful words from Romans 8 reminds me of Your sacrifice and my need for You in my life. You know my heart Lord, overwhelmed by Your grace and desiring nothing more then to live in response to You. Forgive me when I loose focus and cloud the freedom You have given me. Show me Lord the fruit of an embraced Spirit in my life. Some days, I am so human and desire the how-to's and the to-dos. Remind me today that it is our relationship, my reaction to your love that keeps my perspective focused on the things of you. ~Desiring more of You in your Precious Name.

Please continue to pray for Julz Y this week. Tomorrow is Friday so send in your Prayers and Praises to share. If you have a testimony of how Christs gift of freedom changed your perspective toward a situation, we would love to hear it. Please email us at womenofworship1@gmail.com or simply add it to the comment section. God Bless

Anger Day 3

Anger Day 3

Anger- The Spirit response

I am learning a lot this week about how God will use us. One thing I have learned is that if we have anger towards someone and we are stewing over it, our relationship with God will take a time out until we can make it right again. It is at this time that the following information will help us to "do the right thing". The rebel that I am wants to find a way to tell you that it is okay to be angry. But I have learned differently through this study and for a good reason. I guarantee you that God has dealt with me in this area many more times than I would truly be able to extend patience on another human being. So it is about time that I take the following very seriously. How about you? Should we pray first.

Dear Lord,

It is you that we want to be like the most. It is your Spirit that resides in us. We thank you for that gift and apologize for mistreating our relationships and the grace you have given us when we have been angry. Anger is mentioned in the Bible so many times and defined in so many ways, there must be a reason that we find ourselves practicing this confusing emotion from time to time. Will you help us to understand it's usefulness, it's reason in the big picture. Help us to see the warning signs before we are completely filled with rage and wrath. Help us to remember your Word so that it is written on our hearts and will grow patience, peace and understanding in the heat of the moment. Help it to guard our tongues and our hearts and especially our actions. Lord, if this is not something we struggle with, please help those that we know who are struggling in this area. How can we be here for them? It is in Jesus Name that we ask these things. Amen.

Today, I really don't need to say anymore. Will you please read these verses, God's Word, and commit them to your heart?

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.

Colossians 3:8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

Galatians 5:18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

2 Corinthians 7:11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right.

Matthew 5:22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone,[a] you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot,[b] you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone,[c] you are in danger of the fires of hell.[d]

Psalm 37:8-9 Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm. 9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

Romans 12:19Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge; I will pay them back,”[a] says the Lord.

Please continue to pray for Kelly M. this week and don't forget to send a prayer and praise for Friday( testimonies are great also)

Mind

Day 1

Mind collectively refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will and imagination; mind is the stream of consciousness. It includes all of the brain's conscious processes. "Mind" is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason.

Romans 8:26-27
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Day 2

"...be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I was in high school when I first heard these words. It wasn't because I heard it in a great sermon and it wasn't in a bible study. A Christian family that volunteered with my youth group had taken me under their wings, so to speak. One Sunday afternoon at there home they told me plane and simple that I could have all the hope in the world to change myself. But, if I didn't make a conscious effort to change the way I thought, things would never truly change for me.

I was 16. I had recently said the sinners prayer. I had been involved in "church" for just about a year. For the 15 previous years of my life I hadn't known what being a Christian even was. Many of the examples that had been set, the patterns of living were already part of who I was. How do you break free from abuse, sexual immorality, anger, self-indulgence? You have to renew your mind, focus in on the things you want for your life. For those of you who don't think teenagers are listening, they are. I heard the words spoken to me and it took me almost 8 years to understand what they meant.

The renewing of my mind was a process of understanding how truly great my God is. Trying to grasp the fact that his love is bigger and greater then all that I know. Now, each day I get up and focus my thoughts on Him and pray that my life be a response to how great He is. I keep God's word close to me, I fill my heart and mind with it. I trip up and wonder and make my mistakes but I know how to recognize the patterns I don't want in my life. My mind understands that when I mess up, I can turn to my God and be renewed.

Day 3
Romans 8:1-8
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

What did God do for you by sending Christ to die for you?

What things do you focus on that keeps your mind set on what the Spirit desires? (See Galatians 5:16-26)




Day4

Hebrews 8:26-27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

This verse comforts me in so many ways. Weakness and admitting weakness is not one of my best characteristics. To know that when I am weak, at a loss for words, in so much grief and heartache that my own mind is too full to see clearly, I have a Helper. The Spirit, praying on my behalf, knowing God's true will in all situations is truly going to get it right.

I truly believe that our greatest challenge as Christians is to understand God's great love for us. If you read a little further in Romans 8 you come to verses 37-39,

...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How would your life change if each day you woke up and knew that you are a conqueror? You will never be separated from the love of God.

Day 5

Ephesians 5:15-21

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Give thanks to our Loving God for the sacrifice that has been made on your behalf. Take time sit with your thoughts, are they lined up with the Spirit of God? It takes time to mature in our faith and change our focus. I think it is easy as a new or mature Christian to focus on the things we should and shouldn't be doing verses the gifts we are given. I truly believe that if we can change our minds to focus on love, hope, joy, self-control, kindness our lives become living examples of our thoughts.

If you don't know where to start, your mind is muddied with lives wrong lessons, find a mentor. Find a strong Christian who you can trust to help you get started. Fellowship is an important part of your faith and so is accountability.

Heavenly Father, Your love is Amazing. Because of your sacrifice I am given a love that I cannot grasp. Lord I pray my life be a response to your love for me. Increase my desire for your Word to fill my mind and my heart. For all of the amazing people that read this Lord, I pray you place a person in our lives to mentor us, I pray you place a person in our lives that we can help lift up. Challenge us to trust the Spirit to pray on our behalf when we are weak. Thank you for all that you are, all that you have done, are doing and will do in our lives. ~In His Precious Name.