Author: Servant of the Lord

Stifling The Spirit

Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 (NLT)

We stifle the Holy Spirit whenever we do not hear or listen to what He is saying to us. He speaks to us mainly through the Word of God and there are so many different ways we fail to hear Him speak as we read it. We often read it with our minds already made up as to what it says, instead of just reading it for understanding of what is being said. We do not set aside quiet time when we read it so we can hear the Spirit speak. We do not read enough of it to get a sense of what is being said. We do not read it with our minds engaged. We do not read it with the idea that we can learn new things. We don’t read it knowing we need to hear from God.

Silhouette of Woman thinking on Swing during Golden Hour

We stifle the Spirit when we shut out the Word being proclaimed. We sometimes hear the Word proclaimed and do not evaluate it in light of the Word. Instead of thinking over a text for ourselves, we blindly accept what others say about it. We need to put everything we hear to the test of God’s Word before we accept it. In order to do that, we must engage our minds when the Word is being spoken.

We need to hold on to that which is good and discard that which is not. If we hear the Word being spoken, we take that which is good and discard that which is not good. Just because someone may say it is true, doesn’t make it true.

We are to keep away from every kind of evil. In our minds, there should be a warning sign in front of evil when we encounter it. WARNING: DANGER AHEAD. DO NOT GO ANY CLOSER. IT IS DEADLY TO YOUR SOUL. We dare not take evil lightly. Stay away from it for the health of your soul.

Jim Hughes
https://cthroughmarriage.blogspot.com

We All Need A Point Of Reference To Help Us Not Get Lost… Or Help Us Find Our Way When We Do Get Lost

We all need a point of reference to help us not get lost… or help us find our way when we do get lost.

In God’s spiritual construction of the Church he also gives us a point of reference.

Apostle Paul describes the Church as lives being “built on the foundation” of the Apostles and Prophets with Jesus being the “chief cornerstone”

Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone

That foundation is Jesus Christ and him Crucified. The prophets “saw it” before it happened and the Apostles had revelation of what had happened spiritually after it had happened.

Apostle is not a title given by a man. It’s an anointing given by God – a deep revelation of Christ crucified. It’s not taught to him. It doesn’t come through a certificate. It’s imparted to him from above and enables him to lay the foundation of Christ crucified, in the Church. It’s not just a knowledge of the foundation. Rather a revelation and an authority from God to lay it with profound effect that can’t be imitated.

Everything above the foundation – meaning our lives – is positioned with reference to the cornerstone – Jesus Christ.

The fullness of God’s plan is that he gives us men to help position our lives to line up with Christ …men who have anointing and authority from Him to build us spiritually… the five fold ministry team of Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers and Evangelists.

Together are accountable to Jesus himself for the Church. It’s the only way Jesus has given to effectively build the spiritual Church. Personally I’m so grateful that my life is being “built” in this way.

Ephesians 2:20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

Ephesians 4:11 -13
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge

Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),

Galatians 1:11-12
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

  • Mark Saunders

Keep On Praying

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians (NLT) 5:16-18
People jumping with joy at the beach
Rejoice Always

I don’t know about you, but I wish the Lord had not put that word always in this verse. How can anyone always be anything, let alone joyful? Maybe the key to success is found in the next sentence. Keep on praying. Prayer certainly helps us to be joyful. How can we not be joyful when we are in the presence of the Lord? Now, I am not talking about what often passes for prayer. Prayer that causes us to be joyful is unhurried and it is focused solely on who the Lord is. It is time spent enjoying the presence of Christ and lingering to get to know Him better. It is not what we normally do. We have our own agendas and when we are done, we hurry on to the next thing. We don’t like staying in our prayer closets any longer than we have to. When was the last time you simply waited on the Lord without an agenda? Is it any wonder joyfulness escapes us?

We need to learn how to linger in God’s presence. We need to learn how to not be time conscious when we pray. The busier our lives become, the more time we should be spending in prayer. The more complicated our lives become, the more time we should be spending in prayer.

Always be thankful. The more we value life in Christ, the more thankful we will be. We live like it is not that big of a deal. We carry the Lord around like added baggage to an already full life. We often fail to stop in awe at the life we have in Him, except for maybe at Christmas and Easter time. We scarcely pause to worship Him in love and adoration. We get so caught up into life that we neglect our appreciation for eternal life. We are created in Christ Jesus for worship, thanksgiving, and praise.

We are created in Christ Jesus through faith for fellowship and fruitfulness. Without faith there is no fellowship and without fellowship, there is no real faith.