|
THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTS YOU TO BE ENCOURAGED
Dear Friends,
It is wonderful when the
Holy Spirit is present in the worship service of a church and it is nice
to have the time to worship and focus on the Lord. The Holy Spirit wants
the Church to be encouraged and that can take place through worship. There
is warfare going on and all Christians are fighting in a war. The battle
is in your mind, it’s not something you can physically see but it is a
strong spiritual battle and the enemy wants us to be on the sidelines as
witnesses who are out of commission and silent. The Holy Spirit on the
other hand has empowered us to be witnesses who glorify the Lord and
overcome the besetting sins, which we can lay aside and claim victory by
faith. It is completely awesome what the Lord has given us and yet most
Christians don’t receive it because we condemn ourselves and become angry
because we didn’t do this or didn’t do that. We focus on the things that
concern us and there are all kinds of things to worry about so that we
could waste our whole life downtrodden.
We can spend our life that
way, but if we focus on the things of the Lord, we will overcome and rise
above every circumstance. This is why it is written so much in the Bible
for us to worship the Lord because it is for our growth, benefit and
blessing. This is where we have all the promises when we worship and focus
on the Lord, and that is how we can obtain victory, anything else puts us
on the sideline. We have this physical body which Paul referred to when he
said, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?” and there is a carnal part of us that wants to do what’s
wrong by worrying, being depressed, eating too much and be generally being
undisciplined. Who can deliver me from the body of this death? Praise God
we know the answer to that question! We are set free through Jesus Christ
but it is something we have to do on a daily basis and this is where the
battle lines are drawn. We have to recognize that we have been tempted and
resist that enticement in the name of Jesus and overcome it. The first
step is to recognize the problem and ask for help, then we can turn away
and do something else. Then we can walk in victory. “I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Praise the Lord!
Blessings in Christ,
Carole West
Volume 15, Issue 4 |
