30 Days of Prayer and Praise–8!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.Psalm 100 NIV

Day Eight

O Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth! How wonderful it is to know You and how You love us. How precious is the gift of salvation to all who understand the sacrifice of love You gave to all who will believe!

We magnify Your name this day O Lord, for what You are doing in the hearts of those who love You, for those who are determined to do what is right for all people.

Lord, we love You because You first loved us and desire for all to have every good and perfect gift from You. We give You praise because there is none like You, no one who can satisfy us like You do, no one who cares about us the way You do, no one who is willing to forgive our shortcomings and keep loving us, giving us chance after chance to get things right before You. All the honor, all the glory, we give to You!

Now, Lord–we thank You for speaking to hearts, giving us wisdom and direction in all things so in all things we know You are with us and will never abandon us. We thank You for all who are hearing You speak, ready to receive a Word from You and willing to do what is right no matter what others may think. For we know it is better for us to obey You rather than man; it is better for us to commit to Your Word, rather than the laws of man.

Lord, we thank You for strengthening us with Your joy, for giving us boldness in the face in the enemy, courage to stay in the battle no matter how things look for we know–with You going before us–we are victorious in all things–for the battle is not ours, but Yours.

Thank You O Lord, for finding us worthy to be Your spokesmen, Your Watchmen, Your Messengers of love and hope, and giving us the right thing to say to all to keep them encouraged and looking to You–our comforter when distressed, our joy when sadness tries to seep into our souls, our help in time of need, our light when darkness falls upon the earth–You are everything we need and we thank You for Your love that never ends and Your faithfulness that endures for all generations!

Lord, we thank You for knowing that in Your infinite Wisdom, You created one human race, infused us all with red blood, and give us all the same choices—to receive love and love, to be thankful for Your mercy and grace, to be obedient to You in all things and live a life that speaks a loud message about who You are in our lives.

For all You are yet doing, yet speaking to the hearts of all, we thank You and praise You with our whole hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

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Insight Into The Mystery of Christ Jesus!

“Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to people in other generations as it has not been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together in the promise of Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 3:2-6 NIV)

What is a mystery? By definition–anything that is kept secret, unexplained, or unknown. Here Paul tells us that the mystery–the unknown has been explained to him by the Spirit of God because of the grace–unearned, unmerited favor given to him.

If the mystery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been explained, then why is it that some are still left in the dark, shaking their heads either in amazement or unbelief?

The answer is quite simply this: For those who do not have the Spirit of God living within them, they cannot understand the spiritual wisdom given to those who are totally dependent upon His teaching and are always listening to Him who knows more than any mere man will ever know.

Though some of us have experienced spiritual revelation about God’s Word, we will never know the totality of God’s Word because if we did, we’d be arrogant enough to think we are gods. Even without the revelation experience, there are some individuals who think they are gods and attempt to corrupt and manipulate The Word to control others. In an effort to appear “spiritually deep” some people have caused others much anguish and pain, they eventually turn away from the One true God because their little gods treated them so miserably.

Who are these little gods? Anyone who thinks they are the only ones who have rightly interpreted the Bible and misuse their interpretation for a variety of reasons that include appeasing flesh. One such group is those who “reinvented God’s Word” to justify practicing sin–the “Rainbow Bible” which has eliminated any reference to homosexuality. Then there is the New World translation which eliminates any references to hell, and any translation that denies the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the Godhead totally. Let’s face it–there are so many translations which eliminate gender reference that many are confused.

God is a spirit–and Jesus called Him Father, therefore, He is a male archetype of what men should be–and He shall ever be a He, not a she or an it. Those of us who have Holy Spirit living within us know this because truth is only revealed to those operating in the spirit and others will not understand for they cannot understand.  Therefore, the mystery of the Gospel will remain a mystery for those who refuse to accept spiritual revelation.

But for those of us who have received the indwelling power of Holy Spirit, He can reveal to us–all the Father directs Him to give us. Notice that Holy Spirit will not say anything the Father has not said, or until the Father directs Him to speak to us. This is why we must receive the indwelling of Holy Spirit, so we can have access to revelation knowledge (revealed by Holy Spirit) and share what we’ve been given to others so they will also have access and insight to the mystery of Jesus Christ.  None of what we receive from Holy Spirit is intended for us to keep to ourselves, but to share the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ so all will come into the knowledge of God’s Truth. We are not responsible for whether people receive the information; we are only responsible for sharing it.

So pray in the spirit, study God’s Word, seek Him about everything and receive the revealed Truth to share with others, not to manipulate them as so many have attempted to do.