The God in Me

There is nothing more fruitful and beneficial than when the Lord reveals His truth to you! I'm always amazed that I can read and read the Bible and think I understand, but when the Spirit teaches me personally, I am opened up to a whole new level of understanding. "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26 That is my Graceland!

We must be reminded that the serpent of old, the enemy, the great deceiver has been on this earth as long as, or even before Adam and Eve. To say the least satan knows our weaknesses, our strengths, our fears, our joys, and he knows exactly how to manipulate our emotions. He is at work trying to confuse and hinder us from obtaining the truth. The great deceiver is exactly what he is.... until, we understand his tactics and ultimate plot to steal ALL glory from God no matter how significant or insignificant the situation may be. We must shed away the scales of worldly understanding to transcend this elaborate plot. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" Proverbs 9:10.

The first thing we need to be reminded of is that there is a war going on. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." So what then do we do? How do we fight against this great company that comes against us? Of course there is instruction found in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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."

Christ is the only victor in this great battle. Through Him we become more than conquerors, but we must take captive every one of our own thoughts and allow God alone to fight the battle for us. Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." John 15:4. We can have a close walk with the Father and allow the Spirit of Truth to personally teach us by inscribing his truth on the tablets of our hearts. He who is in me is greater than he who is in the world, so then we must not let the enemy deceive us any longer and rise with Christ and receive all He has for us. He says His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven! Our eternal walk started the day we received Christ, so lets walk Brothers and Sisters in the truth and in Love! How can I fail when I have Christ in me.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians

From Time to Time (Guest Blogger)

I was in the car listening to a radio preacher, a great way to spend my windshield time, when I heard the preacher say, “From time to time we are all going to fail; we are going to fall short.” When I heard this, my immediate response was (and I even said it aloud), “Are you kidding me?”

Since the Garden, the serpent has attempted to diminish God’s role while at the same time convincing man that he is more important, capable, and self-reliant than he could ever be. It is not surprising that Christ has been reduced to a helper, not a savior, and sin has been redefined as “falling short” or a “time to time failure”.

The Scriptures paint a much different picture. David in Psalms 51:5 writes “Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” And previously, in verse 3 he stated, “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”

David, a man after God’s own heart, doesn’t speak of sin lightly. Although sin is failure, and it is falling short, it is treated in Scripture with more gravity than a time to time unsuccessful attempt at doing right.

We must come to understand and accept that we all have an intimate relationship with sin. Sin permeates our being, our thoughts, and our actions on a daily basis. In our humility, we are guilty of pride. Our love is never perfect, and our faith carries doubt. We do not simply need God to help us, but rather we need to become utterly dependant upon Him, especially in the areas where we have been gifted and blessed.

Our prayer on a daily basis should be likened to that of David in Psalms 51:1 where he cries, “Have Mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies BLOT OUT my transgressions”.

“Wash me; Pardon me; Cleanse me; Restore me; Blot out my iniquities; Hide my face from my sins; Deliver me from bloodguilt and death,” – This is the language of the passage.

It is clear from this passage that David did not want to look at his sin. He wanted to be hidden from it. May this be our approach to sin, and may we come before the throne of grace in utter humility and repentance. And may we never think that we only sin from time to time.

Michael Silva http://backalleygospel.com/blog

Perspective

When God first opened my understanding, I viewed life differently than before. Everything was anointed, everything was inspired, everything was in perspective of His kingdom. There are so many forces working against our relationship with the Father and we must push past the lies of the enemy, the ways of the world, and our own fleshly desires and turn to obedience in Christ to see clearly again. Sometimes in the busyness of life, my perspective is clouded, I forget to seek the Lord and end up doing things out of His will, not to say that it can not be turned for His glory, but an unnecessary hardship it may very well become. Praise God that He is so graceful and can use ALL things to His Glory, even in our sins, trials, and disobedience. But of course to keep it in the right perspective we must be reminded of Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?" We live in a fallen world and our faith is continually tested, tried, and tested again; but of course there is an answer to why in James 1:3 "because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." Amen! I claim Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." I want to see the world as I did before when I first believed, I want to be MORE than a conqueror! Though my heart my tend to harden, God can soften it. Though my sight may be clouded, He can clear it. Though I might not make the time to seek Him fully, He seeks after me constantly and will never leave me!

Father God to you be the Glory! I pray you anoint my sight to see clearly that I may know you. I pray that you help me make time to seek you fully. I pray that you strengthen me to continue to walk the narrow path and walk according to your perfect will. My spirit is willing but my flesh is weak, take away any stumbling blocks and trials that are not according to your will and give me the strength to persevere through each trial. I love you and want to honor you with my life. Help me become less, so that you may become more in my life! Amen