The Word for You Today
1. “Put Your Foot Down!”
· Be strong and of good courage…” (Joshua 10:25)
· Do not live according to your five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching), but live by faith…and victory is yours
2. “You Are a Translator”
- Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. (John 5:19)
- You represent Jesus, who represents His Father…act like it!
- To experience intimacy with the Father:
· Arise in the predawn hours to pray
· Talk with the Father throughout the night when you cannot sleep
· Turn from the demands and expectations of the world around you, and make sure you are on God’s agenda for your life
· Only spending time in God’s presence brings about the intimate relationship with Him that you desire and need to be a powerful witness to others
3. “At Home in God’s Presence”
- Lord, through all the generations you have been our home! (Psalm 90:1)
4. “Mighty Men and Women of God”
- You must have balance…you have the gifts of the Spirit, which give you skills, and fruit of the Spirit, which give you Christ-like qualities. You need a balance of each to get the work accomplished which God has given you to do.
- You must understand the situation and follow God’s leading, receiving His wisdom, not the wisdom of men.
Sparking Gems
1. Ephesians 2:2
· You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
· You once walked around trapped and stuck in a rut, being shaped by the society in which you lived.
· Then Christ redeemed you and you became a child of God, and were set free from the past, and had a purpose to live.
· It is your responsibility now to share the good news with others who are trapped, for the truth can set them free.
2. Galatians 3:13
- But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- The death of Jesus on the cross bought our redemption and set us free
- “rescued” – redeemed, purchased out of the slave market to be set free, released forever from captivity.
- The death of Christ paid the penalty of our sin, and also set us free from living under the curse of sin.
- The whole purpose for Jesus coming to earth was to go through His gruesome death to set sinners free…what a sacrifice of love!
- Jesus not only bought us, He gave us a place in His family.
- Choose to walk in the knowledge you are set free from sin, and follow the example of Jesus, your Redeemer.
3. James 4:4
- You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
- “friend” – close friends, fondness, deep affection, a relationship that carries responsibilities
- To be a friend of the world means there is a fondness for it, a sense of obligation to it…the deep affection for God has been transferred back to things of the world – backsliding.
- “enemy” – an opponent, one you hate
- When a believer transfers his allegiance from God back to things of the world, God feels rejected and betrayed, much as a spouse feels when his mate has an affair.
- You cannot love God and the world because God is holy and will not be corrupted with worldly affections.
- Because Jesus has saved me, delivered me, and changed me, I no longer desire to flirt with the world—I only want to serve Jesus.
4. Ephesians 6:10
- A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
- “be strong” – the supernatural power is found only in the Lord, in an intimate relationship with Him
- We are to be “in Jesus”…habitually in His presence, a spiritual residence.
- We are “in” Jesus and so is His power – so we are constantly living with this power of the Holy Spirit, and we can be constantly filled with this power
- By faith we must open our hearts to God’s power and allow it to be released within us
5. 2 Corinthians 2:11
- …so that satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
- “outsmart” – to trick, use sneaky ways
- satan wants to control us and destroy us, so he sets traps for us
- “schemes” – devices, plotting, demonic attacks
- Allow the Holy Spirit to teach and guide you so you are aware when you are under satanic attack and will call upon God to deliver you, to defeat the enemy
6. I Corinthians 1:5-6
- Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.
- “enrich” – to have an abundance of resources
- “by” Him – we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ, with all the promises of God, when we accept Jesus into our hearts -- the
- We are continually blessed by God as we remain in Him…spiritual blessings, wealth, the kind of riches that lasts, the kind of riches that will benefit others
- God has given us knowledge, wisdom, discernment, and continues to increase them as we walk with Him.
- We have the riches of Heaven awaiting us.
- We are enriched with God’s presence in our lives.
- Allow the Spiritual gifts and fruits to work through you for the benefit of God’s kingdom.
7. Hebrews 6:12
· Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
· "spiritually dull” – sluggish, no drive or passion, lost zeal, lost enthusiasm, stuck in neutral and going no where
· Seek to renew your passion and keep the fire burning.
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