Wisdom And Revelation In My Knowledge Of God

The book of Proverbs isn’t meant only to help the foolish and ignorant. It will make a wise man wiser and give more understanding to those who already have understanding. As Proverbs 9:9 says, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

The fear of the Lord isn’t all there is to wisdom, but it’s certainly where wisdom begins. Those who have no fear of the Lord aren’t wise, regardless of how smart they are. This fear or respect of the Lord, honors His moral law and stirs obedience in us. Those who look for wisdom outside of the moral laws God has given are fools (Psalm 14:1, 53:1). Any search for wisdom must begin with seeking the Lord as the source of all wisdom.

“God gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:21). 

Daniel realized that God was his total source. Many more of us would get more revelations from God if we would recognize Him as our only source. But many of us think our power and the strenght of our own hands have obtained us all we possess. 

“Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26). Trusting in yourself  is being self-dependent instead of God-dependent. It’s pride, and it’s foolish. It isn’t in man to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10:23). We have that choice, but it’s the wrong choice. We need God as our source. We need His wisdom.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). 

God gives wisdom liberally if I ask. But if I doubt Him, then why should I receive wisdom from Him? Why should I receive anything from Him? When I don’t recognize Him as my source instead of myself, I end up having not because I haven’t asked. I have not because I haven’t sought. I haven’t received because I have doubted His faithfulness. However, when He is my unchanging and never-ending source, I can ask for wisdom in faith and receive it. He never withholds His wisdom from those who truly seek Him.

When God’s wisdom is sought, His truth is revealed, but just because you know God’s truth doesn’t mean you will submit to it. What you know cannot become understanding until you apply it in your life.

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). Godly wisdom comes as a gift through His Word. 

If I desire God’s gift, I’ll honor God and His Word as my only source. I’ll believe Him and not doubt. I’ll unceasingly seek wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of Him and submit to it so I can understand what He has given me. 

May “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you the 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” (Ephesians 1:17-20).

Lord, give me wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of you. 


 

Confidence In Your Relationship With God

 

 

The only way we can come to God is in humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Humility before God doesn’t demand anything based on what you do or your accomplishments or your worth. Humility is also not groveling and begging God to answer your prayer. Humility before God is coming to Him in confidence knowing that He gives mercy and grace in your time of need. It's knowing the worth Christ has placed on your life.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

When you come boldly to the throne of grace, it doesn’t mean you come instructing God. That isn’t the surrender that expresses humility. That is pride. When you come boldly to God, you come knowing who you are in Christ. You come knowing your right-standing with Him. When you know and believe in your heart the righteousness that is yours in Christ’s “once for all” atonement for your sins, there is nothing standing between you and God. You have confidence in your relationship with Him. He’s your Abba Father.
 
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15).
 
Do you have this confidence? When you are confident in your righteousness in Christ, you are at peace in your relationship with God. You walk in the freedom His grace has given you. You come freely to God without fear of reproach or judgment or retribution. You come knowing what the love of Jesus has redeemed for you. You come knowing your Father loves you and you will receive His mercy and grace to help. You come with a heart of praise because you believe.
 
True humility isn’t promoting yourself. Neither is it demeaning yourself. True humility only glorifies the Father. When you have confidence in your relationship with God, you don’t need to beg for mercy and grace. You don’t need to beg God to give you anything that He has already provided in the finished work of Jesus. You don’t need to beg for forgiveness, or healing or your needs to be supplied. Jesus paid the price for all these things long before you even existed.
 
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (James 4:6).
 
You have received the grace of Christ. God pours more grace into the lives of those who have confidence in their relationship with Him and walk in true humility. You must believe there is nothing between you and the Father. No sin. No sickness. No need. In true humility, neither inflating or deflating yourself, present your needs to God with the confident assurance that Christ has made you worthy to receive the petitions you have asked of Him.

Complete In Every Good Work

There are two ways we work for God. One way is born of faith in Christ, and the other is born of the need for recognition and acceptance. One way is with the guidance and strength of the Holy Spirit, and the other is with our own strength. The first way surrenders to the righteous work of Christ in us. The second way works to prove its own righteousness. The first way is life. The second way is death.
 
“There is a way that seems right to a man,” Solomon said, “but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).  
 
What appears right to our natural mind is what we think is right. What we think is carnal. And to be carnally-minded is death (Romans 8:6).
 
“I am the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus said. “No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
 
We don’t work our way to God on our own merit. We come to God on Christ’s merit. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The only way to experience God’s acceptance and approval is by understanding spiritually who we are in Christ. And to be spiritually-minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
 
Yet, don’t we sometimes work for God hoping that He will heal or bless us—not seeing that if we spiritually understood the right-standing we already have in Christ, we would experience His life and peace? If we would labor with His power working in us and not on our own strength, wouldn’t we live the truth of the new person He has made us?
 
“To this end I also labor,” Paul wrote, “striving according to His working which works in me mightily” (Colossians 1:29).
 
Paul strived with God’s guidance and power. He shared the Gospel out of His right-standing in Christ. He knew He had nothing to prove to God. Christ had already proved him righteous.
 

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior” (Titus 3:4-6).
 
It is Christ’s mercy that saved us and His righteousness that works in us—not our own. The Holy Spirit draws and empowers us to work for Christ. We surrender to the righteousness that is ours in Him. We have God’s power but we must surrender our natural understanding—our ways—our ideas—our circumstances—our issues—our opinions—and everything to the new life we have received in Christ. Any work born of our need for acceptance and approval has no power. 

 

We are called to work for Christ. However, works born of our need instead of faith in Christ have no life (James 2:17). The difference lies in the motivation for our work. Is our work born of the incorruptible seed of God's Word in our heart or born of our own corruptible need to prove ourselves? 
 
When you know how much Christ values you, your life is no focused on self. It is focused on Him. You have no need to prove yourself. God’s Word transforms your understanding. You conform to your salvation by being renewed by His Word (Romans 12:1-2). Allow the incorruptible seed of God’s Word to take root and grow in your heart (1 Peter 1:23), and then you can labor out of the righteousness Christ has earned for you. Working without faith is death. Working out of the faith that is yours in Christ is life (James 2:20-22).
 
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).
 
It is God’s power that energizes us (Colossians 1:29).  It is His work in and through us that brings life to our “yes.” 

“May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). 
 

Follow God's Peace


And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
—Colossians 3:15


If there is one thing we can learn from hardship or worry, it’s that they can steal our peace. When we endure hardship or experience fear, we often look for encouragement from someone else or in improving circumstances. We attempt to reach a mental place of peace instead of allowing the spiritual peace God has given us to rule in our hearts. His peace isn’t the peace we receive from better circumstances or feelings. His peace comes from the perfect love we received in Jesus. And God’s perfect peace carries us through any hardship without fear if we choose to draw upon it (I John 4:18, Isaiah 26:3).

The peace of God is our guide to what the will of God is in different situations. We have to learn to listen to what the spiritual peace of God is trying to tell us. We need to give it priority in our lives and follow it. We cannot find God’s spiritual peace trying to reason out His plan with our carnal minds. The only way to life and peace is to be spiritually minded (Romans 8:6).

God’s peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is something that every born-again believer possesses. His peace continually attempts to guide us, but many times we just don’t listen. We go against the peace of God instead of letting it rule in our hearts, and we act according to our plan. Later, when tragedy results from a bad decision, we acknowledge the unease we initially felt in our hearts. That unease was the peace of God trying to guide us, but we were too determined to go by our rules instead of His.

There are some things we can do to help the peace of God guide us. 

We should contemplate all our options. Wrong decisions are made when all options aren’t considered in prayer.  And we can’t let doubt rule out what might be God’s possibilities. As we visualize the results of each different option, we should perceive greater peace when considering the option the Lord wishes for us. This doesn't mean there will be total peace with any choice. Since we aren’t always spiritually minded, it’s not unusual for us to have some questioning and unrest. We need to be courageous enough to follow the decision that gives us the most peace. 

Often, we must step out in faith before the peace of God gives us direction. Sometimes we will make a mistake. When we make a wrong decision trying to follow the peace of God, the Lord will certainly bless it more than indecisiveness and indecision (Proverbs 16:3).

God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). God’s peace is the spiritual state of mind in which we are always called to live. When we allow His peace to rule our hearts, it settles the questions that arise in our minds. When we step out in faith following God's peace, He will guard our thoughts. Praising God for His spiritual peace, regardless of our circumstances, will guard our hearts and acknowledge His spiritual priority in our lives.

A naturally minded man will only know fear, and fear is death to his faith. A spiritually minded man will know life and peace (Romans 8:6). We have God’s power to be spiritually minded. We have received the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), but it is our choice to exercise the peace that is ours in Him.

Let the peace of God direct your thoughts, deciding and settling your questions. Surrender to His peace, and let it guide you. Follow His peace.


Already There In Christ

 

 

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
—Romans 6:4, ESV


Jesus’ burial in the tomb wasn’t the end of His life. His burial was the burial of sin itself. 

1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (ESV). 

Jesus bore our sins in His own body so we might die to sin and live the righteousness He has given us. When His body was placed in the tomb, everything that separated us from God was gone. Sin wasn’t being controlled or momentarily removed. The death Jesus died for our sin was once for all (Romans 6:10). When Jesus died, sin was destroyed once and forever.

My friend in Christ, you don’t have to try to bury your past. You don’t need to clean yourself up enough so that God will accept you. You have received what He has finished. Your old identity has already been placed in the tomb with Him. It’s dead and buried. This is the reason Romans 6:4 says we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as He was raised, we too might walk in newness of life.

We have died to sin so that we can live to righteousness! This is the new person you are in Christ. This changes how you handle guilt, shame, and past failures. When those thoughts of condemnation come, you don’t have to struggle trying to fix yourself. You tell yourself that what you are being accused of has already been buried. That body of sin has already been placed in the tomb with Jesus. You’re no longer that person.

You don’t have to strive to become new. You are living from what has already been finished. Just like Jesus’ body was completely placed in that tomb, your sins—your old life has been completely dealt with. There is nothing left undone. You can rest in the finished work of Jesus, knowing that when that stone was rolled in front of that tomb, it was sealing your old life away for once and for all. Just as Jesus was raised from death by the glory of the Father, you are also raised to walk in your new life.

Jesus didn’t die to help you become righteous. He died to make you righteous. He didn’t die to somewhat deal with sin and let you handle the rest. He took it away completely. He didn’t die to help you get to God. He brought you into perfect unity with His Father through His finished work.

Your life is no longer about trying to get there. You are already there in Him. It’s no longer about trying to be whole. It’s no longer about proving who you are in Christ. When you seek Him with all your heart, you will know you have found Him. Your burial clothing will remain in the tomb. You will walk out, living the new life He has given you.

Forgiven—Healed—And Whole

Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion;
they will not be defeated but will endure forever.
—Psalm 125:1 (NLT)

 

Trust is the ability to rely upon or place confidence in someone. When you trust someone, you rely on the integrity of that person and the security they give. You have faith in them. Those who trust in the Lord, the psalmist proclaims, have confident faith in His security. They know that in trusting God they will not be overcome but victorious.
 
The Old Testament God that Moses encountered on Mount Sinai offered security to the Hebrews if their behavior met His. Their security in God was conditional on their performance. They staggered in fright when God commanded them not to touch the mountain. Moses himself trembled in fear (Hebrews 12:20). The law defined what righteous living is. God blessed or cursed them based on their conduct. 
 
On the cross, Jesus changed everything. His grace defined righteous living as not performing according to the law but by walking according to the Spirit. When someone is reborn in Christ, the righteousness of Christ becomes God’s standard of judgment for that person. Conduct no longer remains God’s standard of judgment. The law gives sin its power (Corinthians 15:56). God has given us victory over sin in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). Grace has overcome sin. Sin is no longer master over us. We are no longer under the law but now under grace (Romans 6:14). Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). The law is no longer our judge. Christ took our judgment. He took our condemnation and punishment and gave us His righteousness. 
 
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, NKJV).

The flesh can never fulfill the requirements of the law. Jesus has fulfilled them. We walk according to the Spirit who gives us life and peace (Romans 8:6).
 
"You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people” (Hebrews 12:22-24a, NLT). 
 
You have come to Jesus, my friend, who negotiated the New Covenant between God and you. You have no reason to fear God who became flesh and gave His life for you. His love is no longer conditional on your performance. God revealed His true character in the gift of His Son. He is love. He is grace and truth. Now you run to Him—without shame or dread. He is tangible. He is touchable. He is forgiveness, healing, and grace. You are His firstborn. Your name is written in heaven. You can trust God, your Father, who loved you enough to send His Son to perfectly meet the conditions of His law you could never meet.
 
Do you trust Him? If you trust Him, you know you are secure in Him. You have peace. You have joy. You believe His truth, and you receive His love. You have His faith to understand the integrity of the security He has given you. You have confident faith in Him because you know how much He loves you.
 
If you are dealing with trust issues with God, you must understand who you are in Him. You are His beloved. You are His child. He is your righteousness—your healer—your provider—your Abba Father. You can draw from the wellspring of His love for you. You can share your heart and leave your burdens in His care. You don't need to fear punishment. Yes, God is the judge over all things, but Jesus has negotiated a New Covenant for you. Jesus took the judgment for your sins on the cross and received your punishment. 

God sees you through the finished work of His Son. Forgiven—healed—and whole. How do you see yourself?

Lord, Help My Unbelief!

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
—1 John 5:14-15
 

Do you have this confidence in Christ?  Do you believe if you ask anything according to God’s will, that He hears you, and whatever you ask, you will receive what you have asked of Him?  When you know what God says about something in His Word, you can pray what He says with confidence that He will do it. 
 
If this is the case, why do some people—when they pray what the Word says, ask “if it be your will?” God desires for us to pray His Word. When the Word says that “by His stripes, you were healed” and we ask God to heal us if it is His will, we are questioning if what God said in His Word is true. Believing and confidently praying the Word is powerful. When you pray with confidence, believing God’s will, the Word promises that you will have what you ask of Him. 
 
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6-8). 

James tells us that we are to ask in faith without doubting. When you know what God says about something in His Word, and you pray “if it be your will,” you are expressing doubt in God’s will. Doubt hinders the Word’s power to work in your life. A person who doubts cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord, James says. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. 
 
There are times we pray when there is not a clear indication in the Word about God’s will—such as some decisions for our lives. These are the times to pray asking for God’s will. But when the will of God is clear in His Word, praying “if it be your will,” shows doubt that we believe what God’s Word says is true. We can’t be in a place of doubt about God’s will and receive. We have to believe what the Word says. The person who doubts has trouble believing in healing and other truths as well. They judge the issues they pray for based on their reasoning or feelings or experiences rather than allowing the Word of God to be their Truth.
 
In Mark 9:14-29, the father of a demon-oppressed boy asks Jesus that if he can do anything to help his son to please help him.
 
“If you can believe,” Jesus tells the father, “all things are possible to him who believes.”
 
“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” the father cries out to Jesus! He has heard the words of Jesus that all things are possible to the one who believes. His faith is stirred, and he desires above all else to believe!  And the boy is delivered.
 
The Lord knows your desire to believe His Truth beyond what you see and feel. “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief” is an honest prayer. “Lord, I know what your Word says about my issue, but many around me say that nothing can change—that what I believe your Word says is impossible. Lord, I believe, but help me to believe and not doubt. When I know what your Word says, I will pray with faith believing and knowing that all things are possible in you.”
 
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When you hear the Word, again and again, your faith is stirred to believe its Truth. When you choose to believe what the Word says is true, unbelief weakens. If you keep putting God’s Word in your heart, each day you will grow stronger in believing Him until you can ask with confidence for what He says is true for you and, believing, you shall receive.

When Jesus prayed in the garden, “not my will, but yours be done,” Jesus knew what God’s will was for Him—that his flesh must take on our sins. It was the man within Him submitting to the will of the Father within Him. The words He prayed came from his flesh realizing the horrible pain of sin and death that was coming. But His surrender to God’s will revealed His belief that what He was prepared to do would bring the Resurrection promise. He did not doubt God’s will. He knew the result of God’s Truth. He did not doubt the benefit of His obedience. Do we honestly pray with such belief and conviction when we pray “if it be your will?”
 
The Word is all-powerful, but if someone does not believe its Truth, the Word has no power in that person’s life. It will not benefit someone who does not believe it. But when you apply faith to what the Word of God says is true, it profits you. You experience the result of its Truth in your life.
 
“Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!”
 

Resting In the Finished Work Of Jesus

 

 
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
—Hebrews 11:6
 
Your faith is so important to God that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Putting your faith in the finished work of Jesus is the opposite of striving to earn God’s favor. It is the work of Jesus that saved and favored you with unconditional love on the cross. You can’t save yourself or win favor from God. You can’t earn what has already been earned. You are favored by God because of the finished work of Jesus. Jesus took your sins, your sickness, and your pain so that they don’t have to own you. He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
 
Faith doesn’t create anything. It can’t create healing or deliverance or provision. Faith only appropriates what God has already provided. Everything good God has for your life is provided in the finished work of Jesus. When we make ourselves the authors and the finishers of our faith, we aren’t going to like the results. Anytime we make receiving about ourselves—anytime we think we have to prove ourselves to win God’s favor—we will be very disappointed and disillusioned.
 
“Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk’” (Acts 3:11-12)?
 
These two holy Spirit-filled men knew that this miracle was not anything they had done. They knew it was the supernatural power of God that flowed through them that had made a change in this man’s life. From lame to healed, this man was now whole. 
 
“Through faith in the name of Jesus,” Peter said, “this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes” (Acts 3:16).
 
You never receive through anyone else’s ability or through your own. You only receive through faith in Jesus’s finished work on the cross for you. Sin is the root of all sickness, destruction, and death. When sin is killed so is the evil fruit that comes from it. Sickness and everything that is not of God is overcome. Faith is trusting in the finished work of Jesus. It is resting in His finished work. Put your faith in Jesus, and seek His Truth for your life. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He receives glory whenever someone is forgiven or healed or delivered because Jesus is the One who did all the work. There is no more work to be done. It is finished.
 
Do you want your struggle, your fear, your pain and your questioning God’s love for you to end? Jesus has sat down on the right hand of the Father. His work is done. He has accomplished all for you. But you must choose to believe His work is complete. When you believe in your heart that Jesus’ work is perfect, then you know that there is nothing to be done to win God’s favor. You know you are favored. You live in a new dimension of joy that removes everything you thought you must do to prove you are His. You are free to receive all the benefits of His finished work in your life. 

Know I am Your God

Be still, and know that I am God.

—Psalm 46:10

 
 Be still. I know your situation before you speak one word to me. I haven’t led you into something that won’t come to pass. Your circumstance may seem like a wasteland right now, but let me assure you; it isn’t. Your promise is just as real as when I revealed it to you. Don’t get frustrated by what you don’t see happening. Just because you don’t see or feel your promise doesn’t mean that I’ve not worked it out. My work is in you. I have much to show you. I want you convinced that my Word is truth and life. But you have to allow me to reveal it you.
 
You will find strength in quietness. You will find strength when you place your confidence in me. Don’t lean on your own understanding. Let go. Quit trying to fix my work. Your work frustrates my grace. It hinders. Just because you can’t see or feel what I’m doing right at this moment doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I reveal myself all the time. Often, you allow other things to pull you away from resting in me and to keep you from hearing me. Be still. Listen to me with all your heart. Be expectant. I want to reveal to you the work I’m doing in you. Don’t make my promise to you a work that you try to achieve. Don’t run ahead of what I alone accomplish in you. In seeking—in rest—in everything, acknowledge me. I counsel you and reveal myself in you. 
 
You have received my greatest gift. New life in me! Always rejoice in the gift of my life for yours! Praise me! I declared at the moment I gave my life for you that your life was worth my righteousness. I have given you your promise. You will see this with my understanding when you let go and believe me. Dwell in me. Rest in me. Trust me. I remain always the strength of your heart. I am in you, and you are in me. Nothing that comes against you will prosper.  I am your righteous victory over everything. You have inherited my blessing. All my blessings are yours. Open the gift of my life. My promises are yes to you, and they are amen. 
 
Now, cease your striving. I have overcome. Trust me to do this work in you. Believe me. Nothing separates you from me. Take what only my love could earn. Know that I am your God.
 

 

Pour, Holy Spirit

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.
—Isaiah 44:3 (ESV)

Life may appear dry and without hope to some, but to someone who knows they are filled with your presence—who believes in your promises—it is a life flowing with milk and honey and bursting with great promise. My heart hungers to know the new person that you have made me, Lord. My thirsty soul drinks in all of you—consuming your Word and receiving your truth. 
 
“For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise (Isaiah 43:20b-21, ESV). 
 
You created me to know you, Lord—not just know about you. You have chosen me to be yours. You have blessed me (Ephesians 1:3-4). When I hunger and thirst to know the righteousness you have given me, I am filled (Matthew 5:6). I see your spiritual blessings instead of my own natural limitations. When I continually receive your never-ending truth, I am renewed by it (Romans 12:2). I see with your eyes instead of my own. I see your promises instead of a life without hope. 
 
My life reaches beyond myself, Lord Jesus. It impacts those you love. My life speaks life or death. It offers either despair or hope. It imparts failure or success. It either kills a heart or encourages someone to reach beyond their natural limitations to receive spiritual understanding of what you have given them. If I don’t know whom you have made me, Lord, I can’t encourage others to receive what I don’t spiritually understand. Continually teach me, Holy Spirit. Teach me the depths of your joy. Teach me about your gift of righteousness within me. My soul renews like the eagle. I soar above everything that comes against the knowledge of who I am in your love and grace (Psalm 103:5, Isaiah 40:31).
 
I was created to praise you, Lord. I was created to know you—to remain in fellowship with you—to be filled with wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of you—to be enlightened to know the hope of your calling—to know your power in us who believe (Ephesians 1:17-19).
 
I shall continually drink of You, Lord, so I shall never thirst again (John 4:14). I am loved, cherished, and blameless in your grace. Your love made everything right. There is nothing I need to make right. I am yours. I have hope and promise. And upon those I love—my offspring and upon theirs—upon those I care for—upon those I pray for—upon those you have brought into my life—you pour your life and your blessing. 
 
Grace imparts more grace (James 4:6). Love breeds love through the generations to come. I am yours, and you always remember the prayers of your children. Your golden bowl is full and ready to pour (Revelation 5:8).
 
“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,” He says, “and great shall be the peace of your children” (Joel 2:25, Isaiah 54:13, NKJV).

This is your promise to me. I believe. Pour, Holy Spirit.