Hearing God

 

God is always speaking to us. If we don’t believe this, we will have difficulty hearing Him. If we hear God clearly, He will direct us on how to get through problems and keep us from making poor choices that cause many of them. 

 

Do you know how to hear God’s voice? There are definite ways He communicates with us. If we learn them, it will be easier for us to recognize whether we are hearing from God, the enemy, or if we are hearing our own heart’s desires. 

 

We need God to guide us. We need His guidance to make the best decisions regarding our finances, health issues, and relationship problems. Whether regarding our body, finances, emotions, or marriage, we don’t need to make decisions independent of hearing Him. Knowing ways to hear God is essential to receiving His guidance to make the best life choices.

 

God uses our conscience to speak what is right for us. After sin destroyed our relationship with God in the Garden of Eden, a conscience became necessary to discern His voice. So, we have a conscience to discern right from wrong. Our consciences either excuse or accuse us. 

 

God speaks to us through the Word because the Word is who He is. What we believe beyond the Word should never contradict or replace it. The Word is the plumb line by which we measure everything we attribute to God. We should diligently present ourselves as approved to God, workers who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). How do we know if what we are hearing is not just our mind or flesh? We can know whether we hear God when we allow the Word to “discern between soul and spirit and the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

 

God speaks to your spirit. When you are born again, you are one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17). This truth is a reality in the spiritual realm. Many Christians do not realize this. They identify more with who they are according to the flesh than who they are in Christ. But who you are in your born-again spirit is the real you. You don’t have to live by the direction of the physical world, looking for God to speak to you through your circumstances or by a sign. You can walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) and allow His Spirit to speak to your spirit. Instead of God’s voice coming through an external sign or third person, you can hear God in your spirit in the first person. 

 

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in providing revelation. His wisdom goes beyond our human understanding, guiding us to see things from God's perspective. You don’t have to rely on your intellectual capability to figure things out. By allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s wisdom, you can gain a deeper understanding and make decisions that align with God's will.

 

The Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth and even show you things to come (John 16:13). Not only will the Holy Spirit reveal things to come, but He will also bring to your remembrance what Jesus has said (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit quickens the revelation of God’s Word in your heart.

 

Seek to hear the Lord’s voice. He uses your conscience to draw you to Himself. Don’t disregard or disobey the intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. That is foundational. Then go to the anointed Word of God, and God will speak to you through it. You can’t go very far in hearing God if you don’t know what the Word says. 

 

If you are born-again, you are one spirit with the Lord, and He will speak to you—His Spirit speaking to your spirit. He will lead you by the peace of God in your heart (Colossians. 3:15). Delight yourself in the Lord and put Him first, and He will lead you by the desires He puts in your heart (Psalms 37:4).

 

The Father seeks those who are hungry enough to hear Him. If we are hungry enough, we can hear God. 

 

Are you hungry enough, born again child, to allow God to express Himself to you and within you? 

 

 

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Incline Your Ear

 

 

We all have questions about our health, finances, relationships, and other issues in life. Some believers seek God for advice, and others ask a friend or someone else. Advice from even a godly friend is not the same as hearing from the Lord. When you hear from the Lord, His Words stir your faith. He speaks directly to your heart and not through someone else’s spiritual, mental, and emotional understanding. You will always lack if you continually seek someone other than God to guide you. Abundant life cannot come to you through someone else’s spiritual guidance. You were created to hear God for yourself. 

 

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

 

God created you to live by His Word. 

 

The Word of God is Spirit and life (John 6:63). The living Word is the only source of abundant life, health, peace, and purpose.  Until we hear God for ourselves, we will never receive the abundant life God has planned for us. Advice might be necessary for a new believer. But spiritual advice from someone else is not meant to be our spiritual food forever. We were created to feast on the living Word of God. If we commit ourselves to hearing His still, small voice, we will avoid many mistakes and the resulting issues they bring. 

 

God created us with the ability to hear Him. 

 

“Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:3).

 

God always speaks to us. He speaks through His written Word (John 20:31, 2 Corinthians 4:13). He speaks by the Holy Spirit to our spirit (Romans 8:16), and He speaks through the preaching of the Gospel (Acts 2:36-38). 

 

“My son,” God speaks, “give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart, for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22).

 

If asked, “What is God saying to you,” could you answer? 

You cannot have faith and God’s wisdom without hearing from Him. When left to your own limited knowledge and ability, you will ultimately fail. We have all made bad decisions when left to our own resources. 

 

Faith has only one source.

 

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17)

 

If you aren’t hearing God’s still, small voice or His Word isn’t stirring your heart, the time has come for you to redirect your life. It is time to focus on His Word, seek Him in His Word, and expect to hear Him in your heart. That is abundant life.

 

If you wish His abundant life of health, peace, and purpose, incline your ear to Him and feast on His Word. 

 

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).

 

 

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Faith in Christ Overcomes

 

 

 

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

—1 John 5:4

 

 

Faith is not a mental exercise born of emotions, feelings, and reasoning. It does not come from the logic of your mind. It comes from the Word, which has been heard in your heart (Romans 10:17). 

 

1 John 5:4 says whatever is born of God overcomes the world. You are a new creation in Christ, born of the Holy Spirit. The measure of faith God has given you (Romans 12:3) has the power to overcome whatever comes against it because Jesus has overcome the world. He has overcome sin. Death, fear, disease, and all the destruction sin has brought into this world have been overcome through God’s love poured out for us in His Son. Through faith, we receive Jesus’s finished work of grace. Our faith in Christ overcomes the charge of sin against us and all the destruction sin brings.

 

Exercising the measure of faith you have received from God is a choice. The Holy Spirit renews your mind as you read the Word with the mindset that it is greater than what you think, feel, or reason. As your mind is renewed, the seed of God’s Word is sown in your heart. When you protect the Word sown in your heart from doubt, fear, reasoning, and the lies of the enemy trying to steal it, the Holy Spirit bears witness to its truth. You believe it by faith. The sown Word becomes established in your heart, and the new person you have become in Christ is who you are. The seed you have sown produces the truth of the Word in your life, and you receive God’s truth. 

 

When whatever you are taught becomes established in your heart, you believe it. If it is the truth of God's Word, it speaks of life and peace. If it is wrong teaching, it speaks of death and curse. Wrong teaching is a roadblock to believing the Word of God. To believe, you must know God's truth. 

 

“For to be carnally minded is death” (Romans 8:6a, NKJV).

 

Any belief based on your feelings comes from your natural mind—what you sense and your emotions. Living by your feelings is detrimental to believing the Word of God. If you experience something that is a disappointment or a disillusionment, emotions try to overwhelm your heart. When your feelings and senses tell you that believing in God’s Word isn’t working, you begin to doubt. When you give in to doubt, you give in to defeat. You judge God’s truth with your feelings. When those feelings dominate your thoughts instead of faith in God’s Word, you are carnal—worldly—and naturally minded. 

 

“But to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6b, NKJV)

 

Don’t allow your emotions to mold your mind and what you believe. Renewing your mind with the Word is essential to overcoming your feelings and believing the Word of God is faithful and true (Romans 12:2). When you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into God’s truth, you renew your mind to believe and prepare your heart to receive. Being spiritually minded means you act and react out of the truth of God’s Word, no matter how you feel. Thinking about the things God says are true, just, pure, and lovely and are of a good report brings peace (Philippians 4:8-9). When your mind is focused on God, you experience His goodness and peace (Isaiah 26:3).

 

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:13-14).

 

God’s truth is only discerned spiritually. The natural man lives by what he senses and cannot understand the things of God. A man ruled by his feelings believes one way one day and another the next. A double-minded man is unstable in all His ways (James 1:8). His opinion changes based on what he senses. When you are double-minded, you have not decided in your heart what you believe. But when you allow the Word of God to take root and grow in your heart, you experience transformation. A change of heart from unbelieving to believing is difficult when you doubt the truth of God’s Word. 

 

Not believing the truth of God's Word holds us back from receiving from Him. To help us grow spiritually, the Holy Spirit meets us where we are in our faith and encourages us to believe in God’s truth. Feelings are easier to control as we are transformed by the revealed truth of God’s Word. It is easier to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Because Jesus has overcome on our behalf, we can believe by faith that the circumstances of our lives are also overcome.

 

The Holy Spirit wants you to experience victory in every area of your life. When you know God’s truth, it sets you free (John 8:32), and when you exercise faith by choosing to believe God’s truth over what your emotions tell you is true, you overcome doubt. Everyone has thoughts of doubt from time to time. Doubt becomes a problem when you sow it into your heart because as you think in your heart, you are (Proverbs 23:7).

 

We might be flawed in our natural ability to discern the things of God, but we receive understanding through the Holy Spirit. When we surrender our human senses and seek God’s spiritual sense, the Holy Spirit guides us into His truth. 

 

Your natural mind might not grasp the revelation of God’s Word, but your heart can believe and receive it. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Choose God’s Word over how you feel. Believe His truth. Be spiritually minded, and choose life and peace. You are born of God. You have the mind of Christ. You have the faith of Christ. You have the Holy Spirit, so you can know without a doubt and believe that Christ has overcome your world (1 Corinthians 2:11-12,16).

 

 

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Establish and Keep You

 

 

But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.

—2 Thessalonians 3:3-4

 

 

Paul is not saying in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 that nothing bad will ever happen to believers—that certainly is not true. But he is saying that the Lord is faithful to guard believers from the influence or control of evil. This protection is available to all believers, but we must respond in faith for it to be effective in our lives.

 

In the previous verses, Paul asked for prayer that the Gospel would succeed. There were “unreasonable and wicked men” who sought to stop the message of God’s grace. Paul often experienced their persecution. Even though Paul prayed for protection and success, he realized resistance would come. 

 

Paul suffered much hardship and persecution for preaching the Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:23-30). How did he handle it? How does anyone handle the hardships that come in life?  In 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Paul tells us how to deal with it. No matter what anyone else says or does, God is always faithful. The key to preserving joy during hardship is staying focused on God’s faithfulness instead of the unfaithfulness of others.

 

Paul revealed two parts of God’s faithfulness. 

 

First, God is faithful to establish us. The English word “stablish” was translated from the Greek word “steriozo,” which means “to set fast, i.e. (literally) to turn resolutely in a certain direction, or (figuratively) to confirm” (Strong’s Concordance). In Luke 22:32, this same word is translated as “strengthen.” The Lord is faithful to “strengthen,” “set us fast,” and “turn us resolutely in a certain direction.” Our incentive to be firmly established in the Lord comes from Him. 

 

Second, the Lord is faithful to keep us from evil. Jesus told us to pray for this in Matthew 6:13, and He prayed this for us in His prayer the night before His crucifixion (John 17:15). God is faithful to establish us and keep us from evil, but that doesn’t mean all Christians will automatically experience this. To receive, we must believe by faith.

 

In the next verse, 2 Thessalonians 3:4, Paul speaks of our part to be guarded from evil’s influence. He told the Thessalonians he was confident they would follow what he had commanded them to do so they would experience God’s faithfulness. We must do what the Lord tells us to do to receive this protection. But we don’t follow God’s commands to be deserving of His faithfulness. That would void the grace that Paul preached so passionately, but we do have to cooperate with God. His blessings are not just automatically poured into our lives. God provides for our needs, but we must believe He is faithful.

 

In Paul’s previous letter to the Thessalonians, he told the Thessalonians what they needed to do: to abstain from fornication, not to cheat the brethren, and to work with their own hands (1 Thessalonians 4:1-11). In 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Paul gave another command—to withdraw from any one of the brethren who is “disorderly.” Paul explained what he meant by this in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-15 and applied this to the command he had given in his first letter about everyone working. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10, he restated his command to say, “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” Paul continued with instructions about how to treat anyone who disobeys this commandment. 

 

Paul gave these commands to benefit the Thessalonians and to benefit us. Keeping these commands is not meant to win God’s favor. Keeping these commands is meant for our benefit. God has already favored us with the life of His Son. Jesus has established all we will ever need for an abundant life and to guard us against evil’s influence and control. But we must do our part and respond by faith to the leading of the Holy Spirit. We must walk by faith in God’s instruction and not by our sight or feelings. We have been crucified with Christ. We no longer live in the flesh because Christ lives in us. We crucify the flesh’s desire by drawing upon the new life Jesus has given us. The Holy Spirit motivates us, and we put on our new nature created in true righteousness and holiness.

 

Don’t look at the Word as a list of do’s and don’ts. The do’s and don’t’s will bury you in your inability to keep them without fault. Jesus fulfilled all of those perfectly on the cross. He is the only One who kept them without fault. You can only live the do's and don't's by faith in His complete and thorough work. 

 

Don’t dwell on your faults and failures. Believe in the new life Jesus has given you and that your old sinful nature is crucified with Christ. Receive by faith His promise to establish and keep you. He will strengthen and purposefully instruct you in His perfect will. You won’t lean on your own understanding but only on His. You won’t be consumed by the fear of not keeping the rules but joyfully living in His grace. You will live by faith in the righteousness He has given you.

Jesus changes you from the inside out.

 

 

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No Longer An Outcast

 

 

“For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,” says the Lord, “because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; No one seeks her.”

—Jeremiah 30:17

 

 

 

Once, you were lost and heard the voice judging you:

 

“No one seeks you. No one looks for you. No one cares about you. There is no hope for you.”  

 

And then one day, you heard God in your heart, “I am the Lord who sees you. I am the Lord who loves you and saves you.” 

 

You, once called desolate, are no longer desolate. You, once called forsaken, are no longer forsaken. You are no longer an outcast. Jesus sought for you, and He found you. 

 

You. Are. His. 

 

Do you hear the Lord in your heart?  He says, “I see you. You are mine. I am the Lord who restores your health and heals you of your wounds.” 

 

Or do you hear that voice? “There is no hope for you. Nothing will ever change. You will always live with this issue.”

 

The least questioning of your right standing in Jesus Christ will make you doubt the truths that are yours. The enemy will exercise the ministry of death to convince you you’re not worthy enough to receive the promises of your salvation. He will point out every fault of your past and mistake in your present and declare the lie he sees in your future. He will do anything to keep you from receiving the restoration and healing that are yours in Jesus. 

 

Never listen to the voice of condemnation. Don’t judge yourself as unworthy of God’s love. Jesus declared you worthy of His life. He didn’t die for your healing when you were perfect. He died for your healing when you were an outcast. Now, you are no longer an outcast. So don’t think of yourself as one. God has declared you worthy of His restoration and healing. He knows you. He has restored to you everything that sin destroyed. You don’t live in condemnation. You live the power of Jesus crucified. 

 

Don’t allow what you haven’t seen or experienced to keep you from believing and declaring what God has declared true. 

 

No longer an outcast, Jesus calls you to step out of the false security of all you have experienced and believe Him. 

 

“I AM the Lord who remembers your sins no more. I AM the Lord who heals you.” 

 

 

 

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The Principal Thing

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

—Proverbs 4:7 (NKJV)

 

Wisdom is more than having knowledge or understanding. Wisdom is the ability to prioritize and apply knowledge correctly. Knowledge collects facts and truth, and understanding organizes facts and truth. Wisdom correctly applies those facts and truths. When we understand what knowledge teaches, we organize it in ways we can access it. Wisdom applies our understanding of facts and truth to apply the correct principle of truth to people and situations. 

 

When you have God’s wisdom, you know what to do and what principle to apply in situations that produce good fruit and life. 

 

“If any of you lacks wisdom,” James wrote, “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, NKJV).

 

God does not withhold His wisdom from you. When you ask in faith without doubting, you receive His wisdom. If you doubt God will give you insight, you will not receive it. You will not know what to do and what principle to apply when needed. Without God’s wisdom, you will lack the ability to offer guidance that leaves people better off.

 

Solomon realized the value of wisdom after becoming King of Israel. He asked God for it so that he could rule effectively. 

 

“Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours” (2 Chronicles 7:10, NKJV)?  

 

The principles of God’s truth are essential in our lives but are of little effect without His wisdom to apply them. When we seek God’s wisdom above what the world seeks, not only will we find it, but other things will also be added to our lives.

 

“Do not forsake her,” Solomon declared about wisdom, “and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her” (Proverbs 4:6-8, NKJV).

 

Love God’s wisdom. It will keep and protect you. It will give you understanding and honor you. Wisdom will hold you in the grace of God and fill you with the discernable presence of God.

 

“Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;
for her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold” (Proverbs 3:13-14).

 

Wisdom is the primary thing you need to experience a fulfilling life. Its profit in your life is finer than all the world’s wealth.

 

There are things from God that are yet to be revealed, ideas to be discovered, solutions to difficult problems just waiting to be found, and lives and relationships waiting to be restored. God yearns for His Word to be known, understanding to be found, and wisdom to be applied. 

 

Know the Word, and seek understanding of God’s truth. Ask for God’s wisdom to apply the correct principle of truth to the right situation at the right time.  

 

“The excellence of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to those who have it” Ecclesiastes 7:12).

 

With His wisdom, His knowledge and understanding come to life in you.

 

Pray “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:17-19, NKJV).

 

 

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Trust Only in Him

T

 

“My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him” (Psalms 62:5, AMPC).

 

Unlike the Hebrew word used for “wait” in other verses in the Bible, the Hebrew word for “wait” in this verse means “to be astonished and to stop.” 

 

How many of us are truly astonished by God? How many of us stop our anxious thoughts and wait ONLY upon Him? How many submit to Him without trying to fix someone or something? This verse says that our hopes or expectations are from the Lord. When we place hope in ourselves instead of expectantly waiting upon Him, we rely on ourselves.

 

^“He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved” (Psalms 62:6, AMPC).

 

Victory comes when the Lord is our ONLY rock and salvation. Jesus told Jairus only to believe when others rushed to quickly tell him of his daughter’s death (Mark 5:36). When we trust in what someone says or something other than what God reveals, we weaken our faith. 

 

We can trust the Lord without question. Do we stand strong in His truth and not allow ourselves to be moved? Do we believe what He says about our situation or health, no matter how we feel or what anyone—learned or unlearned—says?

 

Psalms 61:3 says, “For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary” (NLJV).

 

We have a defensive position in Jesus. We must never be lured out of it. Never forget how the Lord has been your strength against the enemy. Don’t ever forget His promises. Don’t ever let His words depart from your heart. Guard them. His words are yours when you find them. They are healing to all your flesh (Proverbs 4:20-23).

 

^“With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God” (Psalms 62:7, AMPC).

 

Many people say nothing will lure them out of God’s defensive position, but when it comes down to it, few people practice it. Most people trust man’s words and wisdom as their defense instead of relying on the Lord. When we rest in God’s Truth instead of allowing anyone or anything to steal His word out of our hearts, He is our rock of unyielding and impenetrable strength. Nothing can tear us out of His protection. We rest in His finished work that delivered us. He is our refuge, sanctuary, haven, anchor, shelter, and unending protection in this world where the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

 

The New Testament equivalent to Psalms 62:7 is 1 Peter 5:7. This verse speaks of casting all our care upon the Lord. When we truly rest in the Lord, we don’t worry. We allow Him to capture any fearful thought. Because we trust in the Lord, we keep our thoughts upon Him, and His perfect peace guards our minds (Isaiah 26:3). We can sleep at night without obsessing about our problems. We can sleep because we know—we believe—we are safe in His victory (Psalm 4:8). 

 

Nothing has the power to stand against His Word. His Word is Truth for you. You only have to believe.

 

“The Lord, your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you” (Joshua 23:10, NKJV).

 

Just as promised, Jesus has fought for you and won. His victory is your victory. You can rest in His perfect work and life-giving power. 

 

When you rely on the wisdom of men and are told death and destitution should be what you expect, Jesus says, “Only believe.” Rely upon Him. Trust in Him. Put your faith only in Him. Allow nothing to lure you from His victory. Your faith in Him overcomes (I John 5:4).

 

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Keep Your Heart Free

 

But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

— James 3:14

 

The enemy always tries to divide people. This problem is nothing new. From the beginning of the New Testament church, there have been those who have allowed the enemy to use them to bring strife and division. 

James addresses the issues of wrong attitudes and a spirit of strife in James 3:14: “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.” 

The phrase “bitter envy” in James 3:14 is translated from the Greek word “zelos” and refers to a zealous ardor to promote your own idea to the point you defeat another’s idea. The Greek word “eritheia,” translated as “strife” in the KJV and “self-seeking” in the NKJV, refers to competition and ambition. It can also be interpreted as a divisive spirit. 

If someone is full of selfish ambition, if he has the zeal to promote his own idea to the point he defeats another’s idea, his actions to promote his idea will create division in his relationships. 

James goes on to say in James 3:15 that this kind of wisdom “does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”

 

The word “earthly” in Greek is the word “epigeios.” It describes something coming from an earthly source, not a heavenly one. The Greek word for “sensual” is “psuchikos,” and relates to the soul. James 3:15 calls this earthly wisdom demonic. This verse portrays someone whose mind or emotions have come under demonic influence. 

 

The enemy is cunning. You can fall into his trap and not even realize it. You can become so convinced that what you believe is right that no one else can possibly be right. If something minor becomes a significant issue, always stop and reconsider what you think and feel. The devil could be working in your mind, dividing you from the people you need and love.

 

The enemy always comes to destroy relationships and divide the body of Christ. Do you want to let him erect a wall between you and someone else over an issue that might not even exist in a few months? Is that problem so severe that you would break a relationship? Could the enemy be enlarging this issue in your mind, and you’re not seeing it clearly?

Through many long years, I have had to learn to keep my heart free from strife and offense. It hasn’t always been easy. The flesh doesn’t like it. But it is my decision to allow the Holy Spirit to have control and deny the enemy’s control. The enemy has tried to stir me up by appealing to my emotions. He has tried to make me aware of hurtful actions and the words and attitudes of people who bring pain. Many years ago, I allowed something to upset me and divide me from others. Now, I choose never to go to that place again. It is only the grace of Jesus that can accomplish this choice. I cannot live without His grace in every moment of every day. I need more of His grace to live an abundant and not a self-seeking life. 

If we can keep our hearts free of easily offended pride and strife, the door stays closed to the devil so he cannot disrupt our relationships. When you allow a spirit of strife to work inside you, your relationships, or your church before too long, people who used to love each other will be torn apart. This is how the spirit of strife operates and the destruction it produces.

Unless you give the devil permission, he cannot work in your mind and manipulate your feelings. Guard your heart from strife and a spirit of offense. Close your mind to the devil so he cannot disrupt your relationships and life. If you feel offended or have the smallest desire to be upset with someone, go immediately to the Lord and allow Him to help you see things from a clearer perspective. Let the Holy Spirit remove the sting of the disagreement and remind you how much you love that other person. Take time with God, and let Him search your heart and show you the truth. 

 

*******

 

 Lord, I never want to cause strife. Please help me keep my heart free of strife and my mind clear of criticism so I can have relationships that are pleasing to you. I want to bless others. I never want to confuse or hurt anyone. I don’t ever want to do anything to disrupt your freedom to flow in my life. I truly desire your love to flow freely through me and bring peace where strife once ruled. I choose to extend the grace you freely give, Lord Jesus. Help me keep my heart free. 

“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

 

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