James 1:1-2. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

We experienced a very powerful service this past Sunday at TGPA. If you weren’t with us, I encourage you to listen to the podcast of Pastor Ginny’s sermon about the Holy Spirit. The presence of God was there and many of us were compelled to invite the Holy Spirit into fill our lives in a new and powerful way. 

Imagine living every aspect of everyday life on God’s terms. Seeing the world as God sees it, loving others the way God loves them, fulfilling the plans that God has specifically for your life. For those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, this is our new reality. We can live on God’s terms. 

What does that mean for you? If God were dropped into your body, what would He do with your day? With your job? With your social connections? With your free time? With your finances? With your talent? Consider this, and then realize that’s exactly what has happened. The very Spirit and life of God lives inside you and me and we are meant to live on His terms.

What will that look like for you today?

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6 ESV)

God wants to finish in us what He started when Christ entered our life. For me it was at a very young age. I’m sure God knew the project He was undertaking back then and all the work that needed to be done. As I look back on that beginning over 40 years ago I’m amazed at what He has done. The transformation is nothing short of miraculous! It took the power of God and help from a lot of other Christians to continue that good work.

There were many times however over those years I was resistant to His working. There were periods in my life when He was working on me rather than in me. I was wishing to be used by God rather than working on the changes He desired for me. I wanted transformation into the likeness of Christ without trials. In other words I wanted God’s work in me to be easy. I wanted to be used by God without pursuing Him. I wanted to form Christ in others without being transformed myself. I’m sure you can relate. It took me some time until I realized that God is working in us not just for us but, for the sake of others as well. God is working in us to mold us to be a tool to craft others more into the likeness of Christ.

So how is God working in you now? Are you resisting change or persisting through the pain to be changed? Are you simply praying for growth or pursuing it? Transformation in the image of Christ is God’s ultimate goal. Trust Him as He does His good work and see the end result. Let God’s grace work in you and on you so that you too can help others bring the good work Christ started in them closer to completion.

When it comes to spiritual maturity, we can’t simply take for granted that we’re going to grow without nurturing our spiritual life. But, how?

We know we’re growing spiritually when we become increasingly aware of our sinfulness and weakness. As I read biographies of godly saints, it’s clear that they don’t “get better” with age and spiritual maturity. Instead, they become ever more sensitive to their dependence upon the Lord. Moreover, progress is apparent when we respond to sin with quick repentance. Failure to deal with sin is rebellion against God. Growing believers turn away from wrongdoing and embrace righteousness. As we live with the good results of dependence and repentance, our desire to obey intensifies, and the attraction of sin lessens.

Growth is also marked by an increase in faith which is often developed through hardship as we learn to trust God instead of ourselves. Throughout Scripture we see that it was adversity that created spiritual giants. Just think about Paul, David, Daniel and Job. The more time, and attention we give to our relationship with God the more it will continue to grow. Find a time to read His word, turn on worship music in the car instead of something else, and talk to him every day. Take care of your spiritual rose bushes, and they will bloom bright and give off a beautiful aroma to others.

As I start to prepare for our new study of Joyce Meyer’s “Battlefield of the Mind” which begins in Sunday school on August 2, 2015, I found myself asking “I wonder how many words a person thinks a day?” So I started looking in to this question and the results I found are pretty incredible.  The results varied quite a bit depending on the researcher but on the low side I read the average person thinks around 120 words per minute. That is 7,200 words per hour! Now multiply that by how many hours you are awake each day and the number is staggering!  Now ask yourself: How many of those thousands of words that travel through your mind each day are positive and how many are negative?

It is no wonder the enemy fights us so hard in our minds! Each word through our mind is like a weapon and it is either pointed at the enemy’s camp, or our own. Imagine ten minutes of negative thinking is 1,200 negative arrows fired right at your spirit.  Did you know you can have control over your thoughts and change negative thinking patterns? It is true! The Word of God even tells us so.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says “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”.  We have Power over our minds and our mouths! Words are a powerful tool that can be used for the building up or tearing down and this is not just the words that come out of your mouth, this includes the ones that stay in your thoughts.

When we begin to think negative thoughts we must take action and take those negative thoughts captive and replace them with positive and truthful thoughts.  Most battles can be won or lost in your mind. Here are some practical ways to combat negative thinking. For more information and to continue the study on this, please join us in Sunday school when we kick off this study in August.

1. Replace negative thoughts with the truth of God’s Word. Get his Word into your mind and heart so when the enemy comes at you with a lie like “there is no help for you and you should be condemned / ashamed.” You can combat it with “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1

2. Replace negative thoughts with words of Praise and Thanksgiving for the good things you have in your life. Example: You feel negative about your Job and what you do, replace those negative words with thankfulness for Gods provision with a job and for leading you to the right one in the right time.

3. Worship. Turn on some music or sing aloud and get your focus off of the problem and on to the problem solver!

This whole idea of waiting goes against what we naturally and culturally do. When our natural inclination is to jump into things or move too fast, God is often telling us to hold our horses. Waiting is often difficult because we equate it with inactivity. But waiting, which can also be translated as hoping, means to wait with expectation, to look for. The implication is that we are waiting and watching with expectation towards what God is going to do. We tend to forget so many times that He is an on time God. That His plan is so different from our plans most of the time… I think I just heard someone say amen!

During these periods of waiting, God is often renewing us, molding us, and refining us for what He has in store. Often times we get worn out and we need rest, we need recharging. Think about your car, you have to stop for gas to continue driving it, your body needs to sleep, and your cell phone needs to be recharge In order to be used effectively. So, why can’t this be the case with our spiritual life as well? What may seem like inactivity from our perspective is often purposeful preparation from God’s perspective. Be encouraged that those who wait end up even stronger after the Lord renews them.

If you happen to be in one of these seasons…

-Are you allowing God to refine you?

Question? Do you feel the need to control everything in your life?  For those of you that answer yes, then this devotional is for you.  You see our Christian walk is a walk of faith. Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 5:7 “For we walk by faith not sight…”

I have been in ministry for over 20 years and let me tell you, even the strongest Christians struggle in the areas of faith at time. Remember that even Christ’s disciples struggled with doubt and fear at times, and they were physically walking with Jesus. Still, they would falter and were prone to casting their focus in the wrong direction. Remember Peter on the water? Or what about the story of Phillip?  Just before He was about to perform the miracle of feeding the 5,000, Jesus tested Philip by asking him where to buy bread for the crowd. The disciple’s response revealed that he was thinking of solving the dilemma through man’s ideas and worldly means, instead of God’s provision. What a lesson for them all that day!  Jesus performed this amazing feat of compassion and provision to prove who He was and always would be God, and fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.

In difficult times, when it seems all hope is lost, try not to assess your circumstances from a worldly perspective. Try not to “control” the situation by manipulation.  Don’t say well if I do this then I can cause God to do this.  Don’t ask, “What am I going to do” but rather, in a spirit of faith, ask, “Lord, what are YOU going to do?” Remember, He tells us to cast all of our cares upon Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).  Avoid attempting to engineer your circumstances. The virtues of patience, faith, and waiting upon the Lord will help you to know God’s grace and to experience His love and miraculous touch in your life.

Blessings,

Check Your Self-ie