All posts tagged: Holy Spirit

Not by might nor by power

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After Israel returned from their 70 year Babylonian exile- God raised up a prophet of restoration. His name was Zechariah. His ministry was to encourage and mobilize God’s people to accomplish a task that they had begun – but lost the momentum for completion. I’m I talking to anybody today who God assigned a task to accomplish but you lost your momentum? Due to adversed circumstances, demonic opposition, or jealous people – you lost your momentum. God says, get ready for acceleration… He said to tell you that it will not happen by might, nor by power. Might represents – a collective of super smart and innovative people. You’ve assembled a team of gifted leaders and very talented people – God says, you did good – but there’s another source. Power represents – the one superstar, the show stopper, the headliner, the gifted speaker, the talented musician. You thought, if we can only get him, if we can only get her – it’s gonna be a game changer – but God says you did well …

Jabez, a man of travail

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There are levels in prayer that we will never know until pain becomes a friend. Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:9 The name Jabez is a name associated with pain. He got his name from his mother while she labored in pain to bring him forth. Being a man of prayer, himself, I believe the knowledge of that experience left an indelible mark on Jabez’s life. It opened his eyes to see and understand something much deeper about prayer. He understood that nothing of immense value comes about without pain, suffering, hard work and travailing prayer. The birth of a child “Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.” John 16:21 The deliverance of a nation “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is …

Day #7: I am the temple of the Holy Spirit

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Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live. Jim Rohn 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,” I can’t help but notice the question in the verse above. Do you not know? Obviously, Paul’s hearers didn’t know because they were living in such a way that prove they didn’t. So he had to remind them that, indeed, their bodies were the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we become the place of God’s dwelling. He comes by His Holy Spirit and makes a home within us. What that means is, now that He has come to dwell inside of us, we must allow him to clean house so He can actually reside. We can no longer bring in other tenants that are incompatible with the Holy Spirit’s presence because our bodies are now temples of the Holy Spirit. Dig Deeper: …

The Holy Spirit has feelings too

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Somewhere along the way we learned that through humble prayer and pursuit, radical consecration, deep worship and diligent study of God’s word, we can experience His supernatural power – and rightly so. As a result, we run after the Holy Spirit just for Him to make us look good, successful, anointed and powerful. We run after Him just so He can help us teach with power, lead extraordinarily, and do “greater things.” I believe it’s about time we start running after the Holy Spirit not because of the comfort he brings; the needs he meet; the dreams He fulfill or the power He gives, but simply because of who He is – God – deserving of our pursuit, our worship, our longing and our honor. When we wait for Him – we wait not because we want to take, but because we want to give Him our very lives. We want to expose the very fiber of our being, till everything we’re made of burst in endless love and adoration. When we run after Him – …

Habitation vs Visitation

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Have you ever heard someone pray for God’s visitation? “Visit us, Lord!” Have you ever prayed that prayer? I have prayed the prayer before, and one of my all time, old school worship song is entitled, “Visit Us.” So, I am not trying to scold anyone for praying for God to come near to where they are. Depending on what one may actually be praying for, I think it important to pray for habitation instead of His visitation. For several reasons, I will explain. But for starters, what does the bible have to say about God’s visitation? Visitation carries a biblical idea of God coming to deliver us from captivity, bondage, slavery, darkness or sin. Also, the Lord visits us to show us acts of kindness, care, and love. (Exodus 3:16; 4:31; Jeremiah 27:22; 29:10; Luke 1:68, 78, 79; Ruth 1:6; Job 10:12; Luke 19:44). It also carries the biblical idea of an investigation, a probing and consequently a reckoning or judgment for sin or rebellion. (Isaiah 10:3; Jeremiah 8:12; Hosea 9:7). Visitation is twofold when it comes …

What does it mean to Gain Christ?

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“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8 When my oldest daughter was about three years old, I would pick her up from preschool and bring her back to the office every week day. We had a little play area at work for kids to hang out until parents were done working. So she would just play in that space until it was time to go home. One day, as she played and I sat in my office putting finishing touches on my weekend message, I kept hearing this noise coming from the play area. It sounded like someone was tapping on a table with a hard object. So took a little peek to see what she was doing. Well, she was playing with one of those educational toys that help children learn different shapes. I noticed that she was forcefully trying to …

7 Things To Do With Your Plans

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A few weeks ago I came under fire from one of my critics for telling him that I had planned several months ahead of what I felt the Lord was leading me to share with our congregation. This individual took my words and twisted them, and began to spread in the community that I had no place for the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the Word of God in our Church. If you’ve read “My Beautiful Tension,” you can see how ridiculous it is for any pastor to plan sermons without the help of the Holy Spirit or even do ministry for that matter. Even though I have addressed the subject here, I feel the need to talk about it again. There is school of thought in certain circles about the subject of planning that I believe is out of sync with scripture. A lot of well meaning people believe that planning is of the devil. I am not one of those. I do not believe planning is of the devil. …

My Beautiful Tension

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Every Sunday morning before I take the pulpit to speak, I wrestle with what I am about to deliver: Is this of God? Is this what the Spirit wants me to share today? Have I study enough, prepared enough? Many mornings I am led to preach something other than I prepared. Other times I walk to the pulpit, heart pounding, not knowing what I am going to say. I would love to say I am spot on every time, but that wouldn’t be true. I miss him sometimes – but when I do hear Him and obey Him, it’s glorious. Every afternoon I take sometime to reflect upon the message preached. I celebrate what God did during service. I praise him for the response of His people to His word. Sometimes I second guess what I shared, even though, I know He was in my preparation. Did I miss God? Was I obedient to His voice? I thank God for testimonies heard I weep sometimes – especially when I don’t see Him move Than again …