As Much As We Allow

You want to trust God’s promises, yet faith feels elusive. One moment brings a measure of peace, and the next brings fear. Jesus is the source of peace. He died and rose again to overcome that fear, but you cling to it rather than to Him. The enemy celebrates because you doubt the truth that would set you free. Jesus is your truth; He released you from sin and its damage the moment you welcomed Him into your life. He is yours, but you cannot know His peace without yielding to the reality of who He is in your life.

The Word declares, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” (Isaiah 43:18, NIV). 

“Forget” is a strong word. It means “being unable to call to mind, unable to summon up, or unable to picture.” Now that sounds amazing—not to even remember your fears, failures, and all the lies you are bombarded with. To know if something is a lie, you must know what God’s truth is. You must train your senses (what you see, hear, and feel) to determine good from evil. That comes through growing in the knowledge of the Word and using it. Spiritual maturity imparts the power to choose faith over any sin or fear.

Can you imagine not even remembering the person you were before Jesus claimed your life? Jesus forgets, so why can’t you? Don’t continually think about the past. God will keep your mind in perfect peace when you dwell on Him. Perfect peace is resting in the freedom of who Jesus says you are—not the bondage of who you once were. Hope springs up when you don’t dwell on the former things. 

 

“See,” the Lord declares, “I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it” (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)? 

“See” is another strong word, and it means “to understand, realize, or perceive.” It does not mean to just glance at the Word and then forget what the Holy Spirit is trying to reveal to you. When you dwell on God’s truth, you begin to “see” it come to life in you. You understand, realize, and perceive the new thing God is doing. You believe in this new thing even when nothing changes. You hold on to your promise because you are able to spiritually discern its truth. Your faith perceives your promise and frees you to believe.

 

“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland,” God promises. “The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise” (Isaiah 43:20–21, NIV). 

 

God is making a way for you. The life you once perceived as a wasteland is no more. Lies are just lies and have no power over you when you know who you are in Christ. The old is gone. Done. Buried. Forgotten. You are a new creation, restored in Jesus. You belong to God. He created you to love and praise Him. Praise Him no matter your circumstance! 

Jesus has given you everything you need to flourish in this life. You are thoroughly cleansed from the failures, emotional wounds, and offenses you hold on to. Repent, and release their control. Don’t own them. They have claimed and defined your life way too long. Stop dwelling on them, and dwell on Jesus’ love for you. He wants you to perceive in your mind and believe in your heart the truths you have received in your born-again spirit. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Get into the Word. Not just haphazardly or doubting it the moment it challenges a belief you have. Really get into it, determined to know its truth until it becomes yours. Let the Holy Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes, revealing the new person you are in Jesus. Each day, put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 

We experience Jesus as much as we allow. So trust Him. He is doing a new thing.

Receiving The Holy Spirit

Have you ever felt drained and worn out serving the Lord? Useless in what you do? Serving in your own strength will eventually bring spiritual, mental, and physical exhaustion. But when you help others using your spiritual gifts with the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, you are not washed out or drained. You are continually filled with God’s supernatural resources. As you give away what you have received from Jesus, you overflow with more of Him. The litmus test as to whether you will burn out or not is on whose strength you are relying on—yours or His. 

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts,” Paul wrote, “but the same Spirit is the source of them all (1 Corinthians 12:4, NLT).  

The Holy Spirit is the source of our spiritual giftedness, so when we attempt to serve without His guidance and His power, we ultimately burn out. We cannot empower ourselves. There is no spiritual fulfillment in self-empowered work, which only glorifies us. The only glory and joy and satisfaction we experience comes when we allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us, empowering us beyond our limitations.

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts,” Peter declared. “Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen” (1 Peter 4:10-11, NLT).

Use your gift well to serve one another, Peter says!  But do it with the strength and energy God supplies. And then it will bring glory to God through the power of Christ, who works in us by the power of the Holy Spirit! Yes, use your gifts in service, but use them in His guidance and strength, where you will be continually filled with His grace instead of being emptied by your own inadequacies. 

“Be filled with the Holy Spirit,” Paul wrote (Ephesians 5:18, NLT). 

The instruction to "be filled" is in the past progressive tense. This tense indicates continuing action and also something that has happened in the past. Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not a one-time action. It is something that has happened and continues to happen. If you have received the Holy Spirit and are not continually filled with the Spirit, then you begin to serve in your strength and from your resources. The Holy Spirit flowing through us, directing us, empowering us, loving through us, is necessary to live a Spirit-filled life, which does not burn out. 

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus told the disciples that He must go to the Father for the Holy Spirit to come. Right before Jesus ascended to the Father, He instructed the disciples to stay and wait for the Holy Spirit. “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven” (Luke 24:49, NLT)

The disciples waited for the Holy Spirit to come, and when He came, they were all filled to overflowing with His power. That weakened little band of disciples who had lost their Master was no longer powerless. They had received the Holy Spirit. And they would go in His power to share Jesus’ message with the world. 

“When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted God’s message, they sent Peter and John there. As soon as they arrived, they prayed for these new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, for they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John laid their hands upon these believers, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-17). 

Have you received the baptism of His Spirit since you first believed in Jesus?  Do you continually yield to be filled? You can’t make anything happen. You can't make yourself perfect. You can’t fix anything. The Holy Spirit does the work in and through you. 

Pray. Seek Him. Meditate on His Word, and listen. Take by faith His Word and possess it as your own. Grow more in your knowledge of Him by receiving His Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Surrender yourself so He can fill you, direct you, and empower you. Employ the spiritual gifts He has given you under His guidance and in His power. Unused, they will not benefit anyone. Continually praise Him, and be filled to overflowing. 

You don’t have to burn out for Jesus to prove you love Him. Grace is about His love for you. Minister to others in His power and grace—lest you boast of your own service. Serve Jesus in His fullness—lest you get comfortable with your own resources. Surrendering to the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit brings the fruit of the Spirit in your life to a whole new level.

Let go and let Jesus have all of you—spirit, soul, and body. Quit striving to receive. The baptism is not about power. It is experiencing the most intimate fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Quit analyzing the experience. Take your mind off the gifts and what you believe you need. Instead, just love Jesus, and allow Him to love you more. There is no joy or fulfillment like His grace setting you free from your own limitations to receive all He wishes to pour into your life.

My Most High Redeemer

There is an Old Testament name of God that speaks of His power to redeem. He is “El Elyon,” my “God Most High Redeemer.” There is also the New Testament name of Jesus Christ, whose surrender at Calvary reveals more than just His power to redeem us. His surrender on the cross reveals His absolute willingness to redeem us.

“I will cry to God Most High,” the psalmist wrote, “who performs on my behalf and rewards me [who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]” (Psalm 57:2, AMP)! 

This “God Most High” moves on my behalf, and not only brings about His purpose for my life, but also completes what He begins in me.

My “God Most High” deserves my highest praise and worship. He deserves my love and faithfulness—not just when I need something from Him, but in those moments when a sacrifice of praise is all I have to offer. I must never put myself in His place, but I often do when I make my own decisions without seeking His guidance. I’m not my Savior; Jesus is the final judge of my heart.

Jesus had no sin in His life, yet He willingly took mine. He fulfilled the requirement of the law so I might come freely into God’s presence. The Old Testament “God Most High” became more than just the judge of my heart when I surrendered my heart to Jesus. He became my righteousness and my “up close and personal” Redeemer. 

A repentant heart leads to true freedom from the oppression of sin and all its evil manifestations. When I come to the Lord with a repentant heart, He delivers me completely from sin’s destruction. He washes away what the enemy condemns. He blesses and rewards me. He is my constant and unchanging Redeemer, who has chosen to love and manifest Himself in my life.

My Redeemer yearns for me to honor and worship Him—not for what He can give me or what I believe I deserve, but only because I know He loves me with all His heart. He wants me to choose to love and serve Him. As I yield my doubts and fears to His love, He strengthens my heart and resolve. He gains ground in my life. He reveals Himself to me. His desire is for me to know the ultimate fulfillment found in living the purpose He has designed for me. He never withdraws what He has purposed for me. He honors me each day with His presence, and I choose to honor Him with my life, surrendered without any doubt or hesitation to Him. 

When I am crucified with Christ, being in His perfect will is my only desire. I am renewed in the spirit of my mind by the Word and transformed by His power; I know His pleasing and perfect will. I surrender my personal agenda for His purpose. I persevere, believing in His promise and purpose. I believe in the supernatural of His promise, even when I don’t experience it in my natural existence. My existence is more than my experience. It is the eternal where there is no resistance to His truth—where Jesus manifests Himself in and through me.

I can also become so focused on what I believe is God's promise for my life that I miss the spiritual growth that is His will for me. The truth is: when I am transformed into the person He says that I am, I find myself in the freedom of His perfect will. I discover my destiny in Him.

A repentant heart leads to true freedom. And true freedom comes from encounters with “My Most High Redeemer.” When I seek the Lord in true humility and faith, I receive deliverance and freedom from all that has claimed me. The fullness of my Redeemer lives in me. He has come into my life for more than just a moment. I’m no longer the same. I’m transformed by His power. I’m free. Unhindered. Rejoicing. Praising Him. I belong to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is in me, and I in Him. It all begins with a repentant heart, continually changed by His grace. A repentant heart that is free to reign in life with Him.

Is this finally the moment I will surrender all of myself? Will I allow Him to prune my life for greater growth and purpose?  To know in my heart that the God who has the power to redeem has truly redeemed me, spirit, soul, and body? The Lord will redeem in me only what I offer Him.

Jesus yielded His power to become my Redeemer. I yield my life to become all His power can purpose in me. I no longer live from the past to the present; I live from the future to the present. The Kingdom of God is right now. He is more than wonderful. My Redeemer lives in me.

Waiting On The Lord

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

—Isaiah 40:31

 

Waiting on God is not waiting on Him to move or to serve us. God has already moved and served us by sending His Beloved Son into the world to perfectly redeem us. Jesus is God’s love for us fully and completely expressed, and out of this fullness, we have received. Hence, we lack nothing. Such an amazing love calls for our response. Waiting on God is serving Him and being attentive to His needs, just as He was attentive to ours in sending Jesus. It is drawing by faith upon His fullness within us. Our account in Jesus is full. God has given us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. His fullness in us is just waiting to be drawn upon and invested in our lives. 

 

Waiting on God is mounting up on wings like eagles. An eagle soars on currents of air without flapping its wings. It flies on the wind, not of its own strength, and therefore can ride air currents for hours with little or no effort. Those who wait on the Lord are like an eagle, moving in the flow of the Holy Spirit and not their own effort. They can serve stronger and outlast those who serve on their own strength. The work they do endures and stands the test of time. Those who do not draw upon the Holy Spirit within themselves trust in their own strength and ability. They will not soar through hardship. They will give up. Instead of being established on the foundation of what they have received in Christ, they are built on sand that washes away. 

 

As we seek the Lord and trust Him for our needs and direction, He will replace our human strength with His supernatural strength to endure and not grow weary. This is not just a one-time thing. You must continually be filled with His power. You must continuously draw upon the fullness of God that is yours in Christ. Isaiah 40:30 states that the youngest and strongest will faint. But those who look to the Lord for their strength will never fail. They will draw on the limitless strength of the Lord. The Lord has already moved and served us. He has already provided. We must draw from His complete and unlimited supply within us. His well is just waiting to be tapped.

 

Samuel told Saul that God loves obedience more than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). When our work for the Lord becomes our sacrifice instead of our obedience, we fail. Jesus made Himself the perfect sacrifice for us because we could not do it for ourselves. Jesus’ obedience to His purpose is the fuel that powers our obedience to serve God.

 

You can prime a well with your own human strength. Water will come for a while, but it will not last. It has to be primed again to flow. When your new life in Christ is primed by faith in the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf, it will flow and last. Its work will endure and stand strong. 

 

Submit to God what you consider your own ability and strength. Submit to Him what you consider your weakness and inadequacy. It is in your willingness to humbly submit to God that you receive more grace from Him (James 4:6). When you wait on the Lord and serve Him in the power of the Holy Spirit, you have no need to prove what He has already proved. You have no need to gain what He has already gained. You are serving Him out of the fullness you have received because He became the perfect sacrifice for you.

 

"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psalm 27:14)!

 

Don’t be discouraged. Your account in Jesus is full, just waiting for you to draw from His never-ending supply. Draw by faith upon the well of God’s Word that is yours in Christ. Draw upon every truth you have received from Him. If you wait on the Lord and serve Him in the strength of the Holy Spirit, your heart will be strengthened. His work in and through you will be greater than you ask or think. He is faithful to perfectly perform His Word in you. 

 

“It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect” (Psalm 18:32).

 

 

Humility Experiences The Blessings Of God's Grace

Many Christians place trust in themselves before they trust God. They put their opinions and experiences above God’s Word. They look to themselves instead of looking to God. As a result, they struggle to believe. Since they haven’t given their worries to the Lord, they have trouble receiving His care. They get weary. Pride traps and keeps them from experiencing the blessings of God’s grace.

 

Our words reveal what is in our hearts (Matthew 12:34), and our words will either absolve or condemn us (Matthew 12:37). The Lord knows when we are full of conceit and pride. Yet, He is gracious (Psalms 145:8). He does not treat us as we deserve (Psalm 103:10). 

 

Pride is full of jealousy, bitterness, and anger. It never produces righteousness (James 1:20). Pride declares that the end justifies the means. However, a good outcome isn’t so good when a morally bad thing is used to achieve it. God grants us time to accept His grace, repent, and humble ourselves (2 Peter 3:9). But a time will come when God will judge our pride (Hebrews 10:30).

 

Job discovered this truth. Job lived around 2200 BC. He was a man of integrity who followed God even when no law required it. Job feared God and rejected evil. He was wealthy, but in just one day, his wealth was taken away, and his children and many of his servants died. And then painful boils covered his entire body. 

 

When Job’s friends heard of his plight, they came to ease his pain. They sat and grieved with him for seven days. Finally, Job opened his mouth, emitting the bitterness and anger in his heart. He cursed the day of his birth and wished for his death (Job 3). Then Job’s friends responded, not easing his pain at all.

 

“Bad things don’t happen to good people,” they said. “Your own sin has brought all this adversity on you.”

 

“If I’ve sinned,” Job responded, “show me my sin. I don’t know why this is happening. I’m innocent.”

 

The advice of his friends only caused Job more grief. During their back-and-forth conversation, Job began to question and doubt God. He went from “I don’t understand why this is happening to me” to “God isn’t fair to me, and there is no benefit in serving Him.” 

 

Job 32:1 says that Job’s friends stopped answering him because Job was “righteous in his own eyes.” 

 

When God finally spoke, He didn’t explain Himself or answer Job’s questions. He only addressed Job’s foolishness. In chapters 38-41, God reminded Job who He was and who Job was.

“Of course, Job, you know everything because you were born before it was all created, and you are so very knowledgeable! If your righteousness is so much greater than mine, do what I do! Clothe yourself with excellence and glory. Cast forth your anger! Behold the proud, bring him low, and put him in his place!” (Job 38:21; 40:10-12).

 

It’s God who brings the prideful low and exalts the humble (1 Peter 5:6).  

 

Look at Job’s response. 

 

“I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance” (Job 42:2-3, 5-6, NLT).

 

Humility and repentance are the right responses to God’s correction. Job humbled himself and repented, and God exalted him by restoring everything Satan had stolen. 

 

Look at the responses of others in the Bible to the glory of God. Each time they saw His glory, humility was the consequence.  When Isaiah saw the Lord, he repented (Isaiah 6:5). When God spoke to Abram, he fell on his face (Genesis 17:3). When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses hid his face from God’s glory (Exodus 3:5-6). When the angel appeared to Joshua, he bowed to the ground in utter devotion (Joshua 5:14). 

 

If we ever genuinely see God’s glory, we, too, will humble ourselves and lose all conceit and pride. My own opinions and those of others will mean nothing.

 

When faced with adversity, we don’t need to go from “I don’t know why this is happening to me” to “God isn’t fair, and there is no benefit in serving Him.” Pride keeps us from experiencing the blessings of God’s grace. God exalts those with a humble heart—just as He exalted Job when he repented. 

 

God’s glory was once hidden from us because of our sin, but God, in His love for us, sent His Beloved Son to become our sin, so we could be justified and glorified in Him (Romans 8:30). For those who believe in Jesus Christ, God no longer judges us from without. Jesus has justified, glorified, and humbled us from within. Disgrace may come with pride, but grace and wisdom come with humility (Proverbs 11:12). God gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6) and wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). 

What shall I say to these things (Romans 8:31)?  How can I not respond in true humility to the Lord who humbled Himself for me?