Category: Holy Spirit

Flight Control

” But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again.
    They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; 
       they will run and not need rest; 
       they will walk and not become tired.”

Isaiah 40:31

To ‘renew’ your strength carries the idea of change– just as if you would change your clothes to go somewhere special.  The NCV translates this to “become strong again.”  I trade the clothes of weak patheticness, and wear intended strength that He gives.  God fully intends that we put on His greatness when we come before Him.

He does not want us to merely have a ‘changed life,’ but He really wants us to have an ‘exchanged life.’  He doesn’t intend to better us.  But He insists on exchanging His life for ours.  A trade if you will– the ugly for the pure, and the black for the white.    He absorbs our sin, and He gives us His righteousness.  We give Him desperate weakness, and He gives us an awesome strength.

But there is a time thing.  We will need to wait.  The transaction has already taken place.  It all has been transferred to your account.  Our waiting will never be too long.  The ultimate end will happen.  Until then, we must trust and obey, in anticipation of a wonderful thing.  We will not, or never be– ashamed.

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Touching Isn’t the Same as Plunging

” A man is only as holy as he wants to be.” —A.W. Tozer

Our will is always a significant issue.  Our heavenly Father never diminishes it, but it seems our will is inviolable and considered untouchable.  The Lord brings us, but He will never make us, or drive us.  There is a deep kindness in His mercy.  (And I think I love Him more because of this.)

There is a personal burden on us; it isn’t too popular or widely accepted.  But it deals with free choice choosing a life of remarkable awareness.  He shares His holiness with us.  It is one of those deep and certain principles– You can have as much of God as you want.  It seems there are no limits here.

One of our personal issues is how we see life.  Often we have gone with a “pie chart” mentality.  We cut our life into sections, some are bigger and others are just a sliver.  As Christians we feel noble when we give God a cut.  But this mentality only accentuates the reality that His presence isn’t as significant as it should be.  Really, if we are honest, the whole pie is His.

Moses is a profound example for us.  He decides that he can’t live out an illusion anymore.  He starts separating himself from Egypt.  He escapes and becomes a shepherd.  Many years pass, and the presence of God deeply overshadows him.  He is led into an encounter with God.  He embraces this, and we see God taking up this humble man as a confidante and a close friend.

Every person is as holy as they want to be.  Will you set your heart under the stream that flows continually?  Will you see yourself to be “set apart” for His purposes?  He intends that you will be different.  Set apart (holiness) for Him.  Like Moses, we need to act on this idea, that we are quite different.  We must understand this– we will never, ever mesh with the world around us.  And you need to make this decision yourself.

 
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CCM Spotlight–Jamie Owens Collins

 

“The Battle Belongs to the Lord” by Jamie Owens Collins

Jamie Owens Collins carried a neat anointing whenever she sang.  Furthermore she had a strong influence on later generation female vocalists, like Amy Grant and Twila Paris.

Unfortunately, few if any any videos of her ministering can be found.  I chose this song as its her voice (which was stellar) and the lyrics can be read while you listen in.

“No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you.”

Joshua 1:5

Don’t believe the liar nor his lies! =)~

“Hard Times” by Jamie Owens Collins

Another classic, around 1975 I think.

Interesting link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Love:_a_Historic_Gathering_of_Jesus_Music_Pioneers

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Walking Intelligently

  1. Faith–“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  2 Cor. 5:7
  2. Spirituality–“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Gal. 5:16
  3. Consistency–“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.”  Eph. 4:1
  4. Love–“And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”  Eph. 5:2
  5. Wisdom–“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” Eph. 5:15
  6. Light–“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”  1 John 1:7
  7. Christlikeness–“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”  1 John 2:6

 

These 7 verses all talk about our walk.  Each verse brings us a facet of that walk.  We must avail ourselves of every awareness, following Jesus is indeed a “walk.”  We take steps that will lead us into an vast eternity with our Savior.  We move spiritually from one place to a closer place.  We walk forward, and not back.  We move ahead, and each day closer to our Lord.  Time, you see, only exists to bring us that much nearer to Jesus.

To walk means progression.  It also is destiny.  Some of the greatest works in literature is the book, “Pilgrim’s Progress,” by John Bunyan.  It is a book about walking.  We are all walking toward home.  It is challenging to make this journey through tremendous issues.  We all are making progress as we travel home.

The issues are “faith, spirituality, consistency, love, wisdom, light and christlikeness.”  Which of these are we prepared to ditch?  If we concentrate on each of these, we find that we can’t give up any of them.  They all are dear and fundamental to an authentic faith.

Walking can be strenuous.  When we walk it means we have direction and a goal in mind.  It is almost never done aimlessly.  As we walk, we begin to unfold these seven issues.  We will find that the Father inserts us into situations and circumstances where we get to unveil these seven.  We will enter into events where we take on certain qualities.  As we walk we learn the behavior of our Lord.  And that dear ones, can’t be all bad.