MAY YOU EXPERIENCE THE LOVE OF CHRIST, THOUGH IT IS TOO GREAT TO UNDERSTAND FULLY. THEN YOU WILL BE MADE COMPLETE WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF LIFE AND POWER THAT COMES FROM GOD
(Ephesians 3:19).

I live in the mountains and I love to take a walk each day on one particular dirt road that forms a complete circle.  During my walk, I always talk to God about everything and everyone in my life.  Sometimes I have specific questions for Him.  Sometimes I feel hopeless, lonely, or angry.  Sometimes I talk to God about a perturbing perception.  Sometimes I walk around the whole circle crying.  Sometimes I laugh and rejoice.  Whatever happens in my life, I share it all with God on my walks around the circle.

Do you know what?  I have noticed that the Lord Jesus has been walking with me around this circle of dirt road and giving me His Understanding, so I might know Him who is true.  There is this one particular spot in the circle where Jesus addressed my condemnation—where He clothed me with His Righteousness.  Then, there is the other spot where He addressed my shame—where he promised me that He + I = ENOUGH.  Then, there is the spot where He just embraced me with His Presence when I was going through the valley of the shadow of death.  On another spot, He addressed my rejection and crowned me with His Acceptance and Honor.  The whole circle is marked with spots where the Lord Jesus met with me.

I have EXPERIENCED the Love of Jesus on my walks, although it is too great to understand fully.  With each EXPERIENCE of His Presence, I have come to know Him better. Thus, He has been making me complete with all the fullness of Life and Power that comes from God.

WE KNOW ALSO THAT THE SON OF GOD HAS COME AND HAS GIVEN US UNDERSTANDING, SO THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM WHO IS TRUE
(1 John 5:20).

Have you experienced the Love of the Lord Jesus in your life, even though it is too great to fully understand?

If not, I encourage you to choose a special spot, somewhere, to communicate with Him, daily, about everything and everyone in your life.  Start where you are with your feelings of disappointment, loneliness, and despair.  Soon, by getting to know Him who is true, you will experience the Love of Christ in your heart, and you will be made complete.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I desire to walk with You through this life to experience Your Love when I feel forsaken, rejected, and condemned. I yearn for Your Embrace when I go through the valley of the shadow of death, so I may know You. I long to be made complete with all the Fullness of Life and Power that comes from God.

IF YOU THEN, THOUGH YOU ARE EVIL, KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM!
(Luke 11:13).

Precious Child, today, I want to remind you that I have sent you a Gift—My Holy Spirit. I want you to know that My Holy Spirit can do something very supernatural. He can make things that are dead come alive. He can change your darkness into Light, your brokenness into Wholeness, and your guilt into Blamelessness.

THE [HOLY] SPIRIT MAKES ALIVE
(2 Corinthians 3:6).

What need do you have, today, that needs the supernatural touch of My Gift, the Holy Spirit?  Is it hopelessness, helplessness, or powerlessness? Is it sadness? Is it confusion? Is it bitterness?  Maybe you need love for someone you have not been able to love.  Maybe you need to forgive someone you have not been able to forgive.  Maybe you need patience for the people in your life…or for your circumstances. Understand that the father-of-lies has come to kill you, steal from you, and destroy your heart from the inside out. But My Holy Spirit has come to make you alive, no matter how bad your circumstances are, no matter how bad the damage in your heart is, and no matter how black your darkness is. Will you receive My Gift, today?

NOT THAT WE ARE SUFFICIENT OF OURSELVES TO THINK ANY THING AS OF OURSELVES; BUT OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD
(2 Corinthians 3:5).

What is there in your life that is dead—that needs the touch of the Holy Spirit, in order to come alive? Name it and then ask the Holy Spirit to work His supernatural Life in your heart and life.

PRAYER: Perfect abounding Father, I thank You for Your Gift, the Holy Spirit, who came to make alive in me what is dead. Thank you that You did not abandon me here on earth to deal with life and death on my own.  How encouraged I am that Your Holy Spirit can do what I am not able to do.

Perfect Father, I am not adequate in myself, but my adequacy is from You. I need the help of Your Holy Spirit, every day, every hour, every moment. Come into my heart, Gift of God, and change my darkness into Light, my brokenness into Wholeness, and my guilt into Blamelessness.

Holy Spirit, come and create Love in my heart for those I have not been able to love.  Create Forgiveness in my heart for those I have not been able to forgive.  Create Patience in me, so I can deal with the difficult people and circumstances in my life. Make alive what is dead in me.

We all have life patterns of sin where we continually get disturbed by the same perturbing perceptions and then always react to them in the same way.  The father-of-lies does his job well.  He suggests unworthiness and we ACCEPT it, each time.  He introduces shame and we RECEIVE it, every day.  He offers hopelessness and we BOW to it, all the time.

DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT IF YOU CONTINUALLY SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO ANYONE TO DO HIS WILL, YOU ARE THE SLAVES OF HIM WHOM YOU OBEY, WHETHER THAT BE TO SIN, WHICH LEADS TO DEATH, OR TO OBEDIENCE WHICH LEADS TO RIGHTEOUSNESS?
(Romans 6:16 AMP).

Beloved One, you need to understand that if you CONTINUALLY accept the beliefs of unworthiness from the father-of-lies, you will be taken captive by them.  If you CONTINUALLY receive the thoughts of shame from the father-of-lies, you will become trapped by them.  If you CONTINUALLY bow down to the suggestions of hopelessness from the father-of-lies, you will be hobbled by them.  If you CONTINUALLY heed the counsel of the father-of-lies, you will become his slave, obligated to wait upon him, hand and foot, as you perform his duties.

BUT NOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN AND HAVE BECOME SLAVES OF GOD, THE BENEFIT YOU REAP LEADS TO HOLINESS, AND THE RESULT IS ETERNAL LIFE. FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD
(Romans 6:22-23).

Child, there is a different counsel available to you, every day, moment-by-moment—My Counsel of Hope, Love, and Truth. If you CONTINUALLY receive and believe My Counsel, your life will change. You will be set free from the suggestions of the father-of-lies and your reactions to these. The benefit you will reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal Life.

Whose counsel do you heed continually, every day, moment-by-moment: the deceitful counsel of the father-of-lies…or God’s Counsel of Hope, Love, and Truth?

I urge you to start living in a new way.  When the counsel of hopelessness comes, yield it to the Lord Jesus…and receive Hope.  When the counsel of unworthiness strikes, lay it at the feet of Jesus…and receive Truth.  When the counsel of shame enters your mind, surrender it to God…and you receive His Love.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for showing me that I become a slave to him whom I obey, moment-by-moment. Help me to choose and heed Your Counsel of Hope, Love, and Truth, today.

In this world, most of us need some sort of antidepressant to numb the pain we experience here.  It hides the pain from us and us from the pain.  We are afraid of pain.  We do not want to feel it; therefore, we avoid it.  The problem is that we might not pursue the pain, BUT THE PAIN WILL PURSUE US.

As a little girl, my earthly father had his own solution to pain.  Whenever I would share my pain with him and start crying, he would hush me with the words, “Don’t cry, then you will feel better.”  But it did not help.  The pain was still in my heart.  My daddy was afraid of pain and taught me to be afraid of it too.

JESUS ANSWERED HER, ‘IF YOU KNEW THE GIFT OF GOD…YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED HIM AND HE WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU LIVING WATER’
(John 4:10).

Precious Child, I, the Gift of God, am here with you. I am not afraid of pain. You do not have to be afraid of it, either. Rather, you need to understand pain—that it comes from the negative, destructive beliefs of the father-of-lies when he tells you that it is too late, now…that there is no hope, now…that all is lost, now. Beloved, I did not come to offer you a band aid for your pain, but to save you from the negative, destructive beliefs of the father-of-lies that are causing the pain in your heart.  I did not come to tell you to stop crying. Instead, I came to give you a drink of My Living Water of Truth that will flow deep into your wounds.  This will make your pain go away…and dry your tears. 

Life is full of pain.  There is the pain of feeling alone… companionless…forsaken.  Then there is the pain of rejection…non-acceptance…condemnation.  Still yet, there is the pain of shame—a painful emotion caused by consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety.  There is also the pain of loss and of disappointment.  Which pain do YOU have, today?

Regardless of which pain you have, the determining question is, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT? Will you find the negative, destructive beliefs from the father-of-lies that are causing your pain, today, and lay them before the Lord Jesus? Will you receive the cup of Living Water He is offering you? Will you let Him dry your tears?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, today I choose to EMBRACE my pain. I choose to find the negative, destructive beliefs from the father-of-lies that are causing my heart-ache; then, I choose to EXPOSE these oppressing beliefs to You. Today, I have decided to receive the cup of Living Water You are offering me—to allow You to EXCHANGE my pain for Your Truth.

SINCE, THEN, YOU HAVE BEEN RAISED WITH CHRIST, SET YOUR HEARTS ON THINGS ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD.  SET YOUR MINDS ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON EARTHLY THINGS
(Colossians 3:1-2).

Where has your focus been, lately: on the present circumstances around you, on your past failures, or on the hopelessness of your future?

SO IF YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT LIVING THIS NEW RESURRECTION LIFE WITH CHRIST, ACT LIKE IT. PURSUE THE THINGS OVER WHICH CHRIST PRESIDES.  DON’T SHUFFLE ALONG, EYES TO THE GROUND, ABSORBED WITH THE THINGS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.  LOOK UP, AND BE ALERT TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND CHRIST—THAT’S WHERE THE ACTION IS. SEE THINGS FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE
(Colossians 3:1-2 MSG).

Beautiful One, do not shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with your own perspective. Instead, look up…and see Me. Up above is where the action is, not on the ground in front of you. As long as you are focusing on the circumstances, nothing is going to change. Set your heart on Me, because I have set my heart on you.  What is it that is bothering you? Tell Me. What is it that you want from Me? Show Me. What is it that you need, in order to be happy? Ask Me.

Lift up your eyes and call to Me. I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know about your present circumstances, about your past failures, and about your future. I will give you My Perspective…and you will live.

CALL TO ME AND I WILL ANSWER YOU AND TELL YOU GREAT AND UNSEARCHABLE THINGS YOU DO NOT KNOW
(Jeremiah 33:3).

What is your sense of value: that you are worthless…that you do not count…that you do not matter? Look up and ask the Lord Jesus to give you His Perspective.

What is your frame of reference: that there is no hope…no answer…no way out for your problem?  Look up and ask God to show you His Answer.

What is your sense of proportion: that you are not enough…that you are too small…that you are too wounded? Look up and let your Savior show you great and unsearchable things that will change your life.

PRAYER:  Lord God, lift my eyes above the circumstances to see You at work: to see Your Hope…to see Your Answers…to see Your Perspective.  I worship You with gladness.

WE DEMOLISH ARGUMENTS AND EVERY PRETENSION THAT SETS ITSELF UP AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, AND WE TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT TO MAKE IT OBEDIENT TO CHRIST
(2 Corinthians 10:5).

Does the following scenario sometimes take place in your mind? An oppressing thought enters your mind. You receive it and start entertaining it.  Before you realize it, a whole debate breaks loose in your mind. As if you were watching a movie, you replay the painful argument that happened that day over and over and over again. Going back and forth between your part and that of the other party, you relive all the accusatory thoughts…all the bad emotions…all the contemplated actions. At some point, you hear the little voice of the Holy Spirit, prompting you to demolish the argument that started in your mind, but you do not listen.  “Just a little while longer,” you insist, “I just want to replay it one more time.  I almost have the whole thing figured out in my mind.”

THE LORD DOES NOT LOOK AT THE THINGS MAN LOOKS AT. MAN LOOKS AT THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE, BUT THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART
(1 Samuel 16:7).

Beloved One, no matter how many times you replay an argument in your mind, you will never be able to figure it out by yourself. Child, you need to understand that I know you better than you know yourself. I know your thoughts from afar. I am acquainted with all your ways. I know your heart. I can figure things out for you in your own mind. Therefore, let go of the destructive debates that often take place in your mind.  Bring them to a stop. Demolish them.  Instead, hand the whole war-of-words over to Me. I will examine, deduce, and point out the Truth to you.  And My Truth will set you…and your debate partner…free.

O LORD, YOU HAVE SEARCHED ME AND KNOWN ME. YOU KNOW MY SITTING DOWN AND MY RISING UP; YOU UNDERSTAND MY THOUGHT AFAR OFF. YOU COMPREHEND MY PATH AND MY LYING DOWN, AND ARE ACQUAINTED WITH ALL MY WAYS. FOR THERE IS NOT A WORD ON MY TONGUE, BUT BEHOLD, O LORD, YOU KNOW IT ALTOGETHER
(Psalm 139:1-4).

What are your reasons for keeping destructive debates alive in your mind?

What will it take for you to refute the arguments in your mind, and hand the whole war-of-words over to the Lord Jesus, daily, in exchange for His Truth?

PRAYER: Jesus, I invite Your Presence and Participation into my daily arguments.  You understand my heart and the pain these debates cause.  Inhabit my mind, Lord Jesus. Cast down all arguments that form in my mind. May I be a bearer of Your Truth.

THIS IS THE VERDICT: LIGHT HAS COME INTO THE WORLD, BUT MEN LOVED DARKNESS INSTEAD OF LIGHT
(John 3:19).

For some reason, it is hard for us to choose Light.  Sometimes, we walk in circles for days or weeks to avoid the Light.  We focus on the other person’s darkness, knowing very well that the darkness that fills our own hearts is far worse. We reason that if we could stay focused on the other person’s darkness, our own darkness could stay hidden just a little longer.  But, darkness is like quicksand—it pulls you in slowly…until you suffocate and drown.

SO LET US PUT ASIDE THE DEEDS OF DARKNESS AND PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT
(Romans 13:12).

Precious Child, you need to know that your enemy, the father-of-lies, will try to persuade you to stay in darkness, because from this painful place of abandonment, condemnation, rejection, and shame he can manipulate you…control you…manage you. However, these negative, destructive beliefs will become irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you, wherever you are, whatever you do. Therefore, put aside the deeds of darkness and put on My Armor of Light. This will put ME in control of your heart and life…and drive the darkness out.

BUT IF YOU DO NOT DRIVE OUT THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND FROM BEFORE YOU, THEN IT SHALL BE THAT THOSE WHOM YOU LET REMAIN SHALL BE IRRITANTS IN YOUR EYES AND THORNS IN YOUR SIDES, AND THEY SHALL HARASS YOU IN THE LAND WHERE YOU DWELL
(Numbers 33:55).

This is how you might put aside your deeds of darkness and put on the Armor of Light: 

Stop playing mind games.  Be honest with yourself by looking at your own heart and calling a spade a spade.  Why are you really so upset?  Is it because you feel betrayed?  Is it because you feel overlooked?  Is it because you feel unloved?  Invite the Lord Jesus into the perturbing perceptions that comprise your darkness, and allow Him to show you His Perspective. His Light will drive your darkness out.

PRAYER:  Lord Jesus, thank you that You have come so I may see.  I invite You to shine Your Light into the dark beliefs of abandonment, shame, rejection, and condemnation that dwell in my heart.  Break through the darkness, Lord, and bring me clarity, as I expose these beliefs to you.  Clothe me with Your Armor of Light, so You may be in control of my heart and life.