Thursday, September 10, 2015

SPIRIT-LEAD 9.9.2015 - missed post)

Have you thanked Him?
Have you praised Him?
Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?
Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?
1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)
1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.
“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”
FAMILIAR phrase. 
FAMILIAR prayer…
The question is have you prayed it over yourself today?
Joyce Meyer in a recent talk regarding SELF CONTROL said this “proactive prayer” approach is VITAL to preparing one’s MIND, BODY and SPIRIT for the inevitable challenges of EACH day.
She got that idea from a very credible source…JESUS.
Who also said this…
"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." – Matthew 26:41
Truth is, every day is a fight between two forces that ironically reside in each of us.
For each day the continuum between our flesh and spirit is set. 
And our will and choices are the pendulum that swings over that line; that continuum.
The question is will today be a day motivated and swung by our flesh or will today be a SPIRIT-driven day? 
It could probably be better asked this way. 
Will each decision, each moment of today be motivated by our “selves” or the Spirit?
The choice IS ours.
And we can be better equipped for those choices by getting to know God’s Word, praying for protection, and basing our daily decisions on TRUTH and GODLY principles; praying for the Spirit to guide and empower us each day and in each moment. Just by pursuing a closer relationship with GOD every day and focusing fully on Him will help propel that pendulum toward the SPIRIT.
And that will open the doors to greater self-control.
That will open the doors to grace, peace, love, kindness and the like.
Galatians 5: 22-25 (PHILIPPS)
…The Spirit…produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, tolerance and self-control—and no law exists against any of them. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their old nature with all that it loved and lusted for.
If our lives are centered in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit.
Don’t you love what that last line promises?
If our lives are CENTERED in the SPIRIT they will be guided by it.
Then:
Temptation can come and the SPIRIT will guide us past it.
Evil will knock and pester yet we will be able to flee it.
Unfortunately we often discount the power of that little line from CHRIST’S model prayer as a sign of weakness or helplessness. But we are “fleshy folks”. We need the SPIRIT’S strength and wisdom to truly stand each day and each moment.
So pray that over yourself today. 
The temptations are real out there today. 
The evil is real out there today. 
“You do not need to swindle yourself into thinking that you are strong. You can face your weakness with joy because you know that you have been given grace for that weakness; grace that is not a thing, but a person—the Holy Spirit, who makes you the place where he dwells in power.” - Tripp
Swing that pendulum to the SPIRIT and allow Him to lead the day!
“Among the gifts of the Spirit, scarcely is one of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment. This gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indispensable in these critical times. This gift will enable us to distinguish the chaff from the wheat and to divide the manifestations of the flesh from the operations of the Spirit.” ― A.W. Tozer
I love you ALL!
FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)

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