Apicontent

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)

“How are your quiet times lately?” my mentor asked during my accountability session. “Well…kinda dry. I feel like I’m not as close to God as I used to be.” I replied. “I just don’t know what happened.” 

Do you sometimes feel that way? Maybe your relationship with God used to be vibrant and alive. You felt like you had a two-way conversation going with Him all the time. Your Bible reading was rich and your prayer time left you with a peace that lasted all day. Now you sit down to spend time with God because you know you have to. God seems distant and not listening to your prayers. You try to do all the things you think a “good Christian” should do. You smile when you don’t feel happy, you say “you’re fine” when you really aren’t, you say all the right things but you feel dead inside. You don’t really love your neighbor but you try to act like you do. Do you realize that you’re just acting? Acting loving is not the same as being loving on the inside. 

The Isaiah verses above tell us that when we have sin, or iniquity, in our life it will make God seem distant. The first thing to do when you feel far away from God is to sit down and look for sin in your life. If you don’t find anything, ask God to show you. God knows sin hurts us and will show us sin because He wants us to stop sinning and turn to Him. When He shows you sin, confess it. Then you need to admit to God that you are helpless to produce the fruit that He wants in your life, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since love is a fruit of the Spirit, if you don’t feel loving towards a person, ask God to give you His love for them. First comes cleansing, then comes strength; a strength not your own but God’s. Only God can change you deep down in your heart. Jesus was the only person who lived the Christian life perfectly. Only Jesus, in control of your heart, will enable you to live the Christian life today. 

The Holy Spirit is like a hand inside of a glove. Whatever the hand does, the glove can do. On its own the glove is powerless. When the hand comes inside the glove, the glove takes on the same strength that the hand has. Together they can get the work done. You are the glove and the Spirit is the hand. Go find a glove, either a garden glove or a rubber cleaning glove. Put your hand in the glove and move your fingers. Remember that the power you have, as the glove, comes from God. Now thank God for the power that He gives you, and trust in Him today!

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, NKJV)

Imagine what the world would be like if there was no longer any sin. Sounds like paradise, right? Unfortunately we live in a world where we will struggle against sin until we go to heaven with Jesus. Do you know what God calls a sin? If you don’t know what sin is, you will suffer from its effects and probably wonder why! The Proverbs verse above says that if you cover your sins you will not prosper, but if you confess and forsake them you will have God’s mercy. 

What is sin? One dictionary defines it as “an offence against God.” So what exactly is an offence against God? There are many places throughout the Bible where God tells us what His desires are for our lives, where He instructs us on how to and how not to act. Specifically Mark 7:21-23, Romans 1:28-31, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 4:25-31, and 2 Timothy 3:1-5 are passages where you will find lists of what God calls “sin”. Read through these verses and make a list of all the sins you find. Evil thoughts, lust, covetousness, adultery, lying backbiting, quarreling, anger, rebellion, selfish ambition, deception: pretty depressing reading, right? But that is not the end of the story! 1 John 1:9 above says that if you will confess your sin, God will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 

The good news is that no matter how many sins you have, you are just one prayer away from a supernatural cure! It all comes back to one thing; Will you agree with what God calls sin? If you do not, you will look for the cause of your pain and a solution for it in the world around you. But if you will call your pain what it is – sin, you are looking at the simplest problem in the world to solve. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins.

Take the list of all the sins you found in the above verses and ask the Lord to show you any that you are guilty of. Then confess and get cleaned up. You are just a prayer away from victory over your sin.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:19-23)

There are things in this world that we cannot see, but we can see the influence they have. For example, we cannot see the wind but we can watch the influence it has on the trees as the leaves move. The wind is made visible through the trees. 

So it is with the Holy Spirit. We cannot see Him, but we can see His influence in our lives when we turn to God and receive the Holy Spirit. When I ask Jesus Christ to come into my life and give me eternal life, He gives me the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not an it, but a person. The Holy Spirit is God. (Acts 5:3-4) What does the Spirit look like? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When I reflect those attributes I am filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled by the Spirit simply means that the Holy Spirit is in control of my life. 

Imagine that the control of your life is represented by a chair that we will call the “Throne of your life.” Who is sitting on the throne and in control? There are only two options to choose from. Either your sinful nature is in control or the Holy Spirit is in control. The differences between each nature are described in the verses above. The influence they have in our lives is easily seen by those around us. 

What qualities describe what you are feeling right now? Would you describe what is going on inside you as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Would others? If not, and you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you simply need to let the Spirit have control of your life. You can do this with a simple prayer: 

“Father, I am sorry that I took over control of my life. Forgive me. I give you back control and ask that you will live through me and make yourself visible to those around me through my life.” Amen.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

When we invite Jesus Christ to be our personal Savior and Lord, He actually enters our life. He promises to be with us forever through the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died and was raised from the dead into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside of us and give us power to live godly lives. (Ephesians 3:17, John 14:16-17, 1 Corinthians 6:19). This is not a second event, it happened when you were “born again”. God put His seal of the Holy Spirit on us. (2 Corinthians 1:22) You cannot lose the Holy Spirit but you can quench Him. To quench means to “put out the fire.” 1 Thess. 5:19 says “Do not (quench, subdue) put out the Spirit’s fire.” It is a personal resistance to something that God wants you to do, and you will not do it. God does not force His power on us but gives us the freedom to make mistakes. When we quench the Holy Spirit, God allows us the freedom to take charge of our lives. When we yield, or surrender, to the Holy Spirit we agree with God that we were wrong and allow Him to be in control. Letting God be in control of our lives is what it means to be filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is an ongoing process. We get ALL of Him, instantly, with our new birth. But… He does not get all of us. That requires learning, teaching, submission, faith, and trust. Our flesh always wants to be in control. If you find that you have taken over the control and want to give it back to God, you can do this right now if you:

• Sincerely desire to be directed and powered by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:6; John 7:37-39).
• Confess your sins. Then by faith, thank God that He has forgiven all of your sins—past, present, and future—because Christ died for you (Colossians 2:13-15; 1 John 1; 2:1-3; Hebrews 10:1-17).
• Surrender, or give God permission, to come into every area of your life (Romans 12:1-2).
• By faith claim the full power of the Holy Spirit based on His command and promise found in the Ephesians and 1 John verses above.

You are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith alone. However, prayer is one way we have of expressing our faith. If you desire to have the Holy Spirit take control of your life, pray the following prayer and by faith trust God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now.

Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have sinned against You by directing my own life. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.

Adapted from “Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life?” by Bill Bright. 

Other Resources:

Abidingroom.com

Know God Personally

The Saving Life of Christ by Major Ian Thomas

The Spiritual Life by Andrew Murray

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16, NKJV) 

“Walk in the Spirit” is a command God gives us. It is followed by a wonderful promise… “you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Most people get this backward. They try not to sin, or fulfill the lust of the flesh, so that they can walk in the Spirit. That is not possible! The Bible calls our flesh our sin nature. When we are walking around controlled by our sin nature, we will sin. The Holy Spirit is God, and because He is God, He cannot sin. If we are walking in the Spirit, we cannot sin. It is when we slip back into our flesh that we sin. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? 

God never gives us a command that He doesn’t give us the power to obey that command with. The power to walk in the Spirit comes from God. No human being has the power to say “no” to sin apart from God. It was by His power that we were saved, and it is by His power that we will walk obediently. Charles Trumbull says it this way:

“As someone once said at the Keswick Convention, we Christians all know that we are justified by faith, but somehow we have gotten the idea that, for sanctification, we must paddle our own canoe. Praise God, we don’t have to paddle our own canoe for anything that the grace of God offers. ‘Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 15:57, NKJV). God made your life plans before the foundation of the world. He just wants you to yield yourself to Him, and He’ll take care of your life plans. Surrender completely and unconditionally, or you’ll never have victory. The secret of complete victory is faith: simply believing that Jesus has done and is doing it all. The effortless life is not the will-less life. We use our will to believe, to receive, but not to exert effort in trying to accomplish what only God can do.”

Trying to do good in our own efforts is like a man who is seen pushing a powerful sports car down the road. He is moving along, but with his own effort. Walking in the Spirit is when the man gets into the car and starts the powerful engine and now goes down the road fully powered by the engine. We are to surrender in faith trusting God that He has given us the victory and the power already. Walk in faith. Walk in the Spirit! 

Today as you are riding in your car thank God for the power He has given you and trust in Him and the victory that He gives. Then walk “fully powered” by His Spirit.

Other Resources:

Victory In Christ by Charles Trumbull

The Spiritual Life by Andrew Murray

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

(Psalm 139:23-24)

What’s something you do every morning before you leave the house? You probably check your appearance in the mirror to make sure that you look appropriate before you go out. If you find a blemish or your hair is messy, you take care of it before you leave. You would not consider leaving without a check in the mirror! How about your soul? Do you stop and check that? 

The verses above from the Psalms give us an example of how God wants us to open our hearts to His careful examination. Why should we do that? God gives us many warnings and directions to live a sin-free life that is pleasing to him and a blessing to ourselves and those around us. In the scriptures below list some of the other reasons we need a soul check:

In the same way that weeds grow up and eventually strangle the good crop that is growing, sin in our hearts will produce a bad crop of things like anger and unforgiveness. A soul check literally goes in and pulls out the weeds on a regular basis, before they can damage the crop. Sin in our hearts not only hurts us but it affects all of our relationships. Looking in a mirror may not be easy because we don’t always like what we see. Using the Bible as a mirror for our soul can be equally hard, but absolutely necessary. Since man looks at the outward appearance and God looks at the heart, it is vital to our spiritual growth that we take care of the inside as much as the outside. 

Put a reminder note on your bathroom mirror that says, “Did you check your soul today?” Make a point of sitting down with God every morning before you leave your house. Ask Him to search your heart and show you sin that is hiding even from your awareness. Give him a little time to show you. Ask Him if there is anything you need to get rid of like anger, wrath, or filthy language (Colossians 3:8-9). Then ask Him to clothe you in all the things listed in Colossians 3:12-13 like kindness, humility, and patience. You are not really dressed to go out until you do.

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:8-10, NKJV))

We don’t have to look far to find examples of people blaming someone else for their trouble. Children blame each other for the spill, spouses blame their mates for the marital problem, and drivers blame the other person for the accident. Who or what is really to blame? How can I find relief from my pain? 

We can blame our circumstances for our behavior, or we can even blame our background and the way our parents raised us. Is that really the reason for our rage, hostility, resentment, and hate? 

We can remove ourselves from a bad situation, leave the people who hurt us, or find relief in a multitude of distractions this world offers. But remember that is relief, not healing. It is like taking a pain pill for a problem that needs surgery. You find temporary relief but not healing. Healing happens when you go to the source of the pain and cure it. 

Where you turn for help, when you are hurting, will determine whether you find relief or healing for your pain. You can go to a counselor with either a humanist or a biblical perspective. A humanist counselor will tell you that anger and bitterness is caused by the way you’ve been treated. A biblical counselor says that these characteristics are caused by sin. If you fail to deal with the sin, any relief you experience is like taking a pain pill for a toothache without fixing the tooth. 

The questions really is: Do you want someone to blame so you can find some temporary relief or are you ready to find the real cause of your pain? Go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to guide you to a cure. Your prayer might be:

“Lord, I’ve spent my whole life blaming someone else for the way I react to situations. I admit that I react negatively when I do not get my own way. Give me the courage to look deep within myself for the cause of my reactions. Show me the sin that lies within so that I may confess it, give it to you, and accept your forgiveness as healing. Give me your healing and not the world’s relief.” Amen.

“What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean’. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.” (Mark 7:20-23) 

There are only two groups of people. You either fit into one group or the other. There is no middle ground. 

One group of people believes that there is no God, there is no Creator. To them God isn’t. These people believe that our personalities are formed by society and culture. If a person is hostile, rebellious, selfish, dishonest, or angry it is because their needs have not been met by the world somewhere in their past or they’ve been hurt. This group of people does not believe in the concept of sin. 

This first group of people believes that in order to help someone who is struggling, you need to unravel their life like a tangled web of memories trying to find the root of when all the problems began. That process can take years. Because this group believes there is no God, they think there is no one to save them and they need to save themselves. 

The second group of people believes that there is a God and that He is the Creator of all things. To them God IS. They agree with the first group that there is a dark side to human behavior. What they disagree with is the origin of that dark behavior. They use the Bible as their guidebook. The Bible puts all the words used to describe the dark side of human behavior into one heading. That heading is sin. 

In the Mark passage above Jesus tells us that what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. What comes out of a person originates in that person. Paul describes what our sin nature looks like in Galatians 5:19-21: The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. 

Society only reveals what is already inside of us. There is no human remedy for sin. We need a Savior. If what is inside of us is sin, and our undesirable behavior is sin, that’s good news! Sin is the simplest thing in the world to deal with. Jesus Christ is our Savior and died to cleanse us from all sin. 

Where are you? Do you believe that God is the Creator of all things or do you believe that He isn’t God at all? You will need to decide for yourself. Did everything just fall into place or is there a Person who is indescribable in human terms that made us and has the power to save us from our natural dark side. What you decide will affect how you live. Ask God to reveal himself to you through his Word. Read Job Chapter 38 and read how God speaks of Himself as Creator.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Ever wish you could make someone do the right thing? Parents often watch their children make bad decisions and feel powerless to do anything about it. Unfortunately, many just give in and put a “band-aid” on a situation by giving money instead of time, ignoring a situation instead of disciplining, or trying to be their child’s friend instead of their parent. The best way to love your child is to care enough to correct them when they need it. 

God, who is the perfect Father, gives us His thoughts on correction and discipline in the following verses:

Proverbs 3:12 The Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul. 

Proverbs 29:15 The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.

You can’t change your child’s heart, but you can correct their behavior. If you love your children you need to do what is necessary to enforce righteousness. If you know your child is headed in the wrong direction, do something about it. Don’t be afraid they will run away and you will lose them. If they are in rebellion, you have already lost them. Go after them and get them back. Don’t try to make your children happy; it’s God job to be their joy. Your home is a training ground and you should be the one doing the training. In too many homes the children are training their parents by having a good attitude if they get their way, and a bad attitude if they don’t. Correct your child with firm, loving discipline, not abuse. Look to God for the fruit of the Spirit and find your peace and joy in him and not in your children. Then you will be a parent with power! 

When you do this you will teach your children to look to God to be the source of peace and joy in their lives. God wants the best for us and knows that sin hurts us. Keep your heart clean by confessing to God and being a righteous parent. Be a role-model by confessing to your children. Ask for forgiveness when you “blow it” with them. It will open the doors of communication and your relationship and will teach them to confess to God and you later on. Never underestimate the power of God when someone wants to be restored and renewed. When God gets involved, it’s a real transformation!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV) 

When confronted with a problem, many people sit down and try to figure out how to fix it. If you call a friend for advice, they will try to fix it for you. At what point do you turn it over to God? It’s been said that there is not a problem that the Bible does not have an answer for. Do you believe that? God will allow trials to come our way so we can strengthen our faith, learn perseverance, and deepen our prayer lives. (James 1:2-7). 

God gives us a promise in Proverbs 3:5-6 that He will direct our path. However, there are conditions that we have to meet in order to receive the promise.

• Trust in the LORD with all your heart. The word “trust” means to lay helpless, facedown, like a servant waiting to obey his master’s command.

• Lean not on your own understanding. Human insight is never to replace the need for full trust in God’s superior ways. Do not be wise in your own eyes.

• In all your ways acknowledge Him. In the easy and the hard situations we must know God well enough to know that He is in control. Everything comes from Him, through Him, and we can trust Him. We acknowledge that He is the One whom we can lean on. 

The Bible also tells us in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

God will direct our paths by guiding us, removing obstacles, and bringing us to the appointed goal. God directs us through the Bible, prayer, and sometimes through other people. When we seek counsel from others we need to make sure that it does not contradict what God has told us in His Word. God never changes and will not tell you to do something He has stated not to do in His Word. 

The next time you have a problem, who are you going to call? Don’t reach for the phone, reach for God in prayer and in His written Word. It is His desire.