Holy Spirit: Mentoring And Shaping Us

This little devotional gives a good understanding of who the Holy Spirit is and what his job entails.

It's thought provoking and simple and for me, that is what I need.

I don't need anymore complicating sermon's or ideas of who the Holy Spirit is. I just need the simple version and when I grasp understanding, then I allow myself to the freedom to let Him do His job in my life.

Wouldn't you agree?!

God Bless.

HOLY SPIRIT: MENTORING AND SHAPING US “

By Steven and Deb Kosteron Wed, 29 Jul 2015

Scripture Reading: John 14:15-31 

“The Advocate, 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

As Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving, he shares news about a new mentor. Jesus announces that the Spirit of truth is coming to be with his followers forever.

The Spirit has many mentoring roles in the lives of believers. Among other things, the Spirit reminds us of what Christ has taught us. The Spirit produces fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). The Spirit convicts us of our sin (John 16:8). The Spirit testifies about Jesus and challenges us to testify also (John 15:26-27). God has placed his Spirit within us to focus us on the truth. The Spirit mentors us by reminding us of God’s teaching. We will be convicted of our sin by his instruction revealed to us in Scripture.

The Spirit mentors us day by day without our having to schedule an appointment. All we need to do is come with a willing heart to hear God’s Word. The Spirit will do the heavy lifting of convicting our hearts and reshaping our lives.

Are you allowing the Spirit to mentor you and shape your life? Is there someone in your life who could use some reminding of God’s truth in Scripture? Follow the Spirit’s lead to bear fruit and testify about Jesus, allowing the Spirit to do his transforming work in you and others.

Prayer:

Lord, let your Spirit take up residence in us and produce the lasting fruit of transformation within us. Make us Spir-it-filled people who testify to your greatness. In Jesus, Amen.

Steven and Deb Koster

The Power of A Surrendered Will

Sometimes I surrender, other times, I don't. For me, it's more often than not. 

My heart is willing but my flesh is indeed weak.

This little devotional helps me to put my will in it's proper place and bring it under the full subjective will that God has for me.

I have learned over the years that it's not my will by Thine that usually get's better results. 

Hopefully you will agree after reading this.

God Bless.

The Power of a Surrendered Will

by Joyce Meyer - posted July 30, 2015

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach and cry out to it the preaching that I tell you.
- Jonah 3:1-2

We read in the book of Jonah how God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach repentance to the people there. But Jonah did not want to, so he went to Tarshish, which is geographically opposite to Nineveh. Running from God does not help us to be at peace with Him.

What happens when we go in the opposite direction from where God has directed us? What happened to Jonah? When he boarded a ship and headed in his own direction, a storm arose. Many of the storms we face in life are the result of our own stubbornness. In many instances, we have been disobedient to the voice and leadership of God.

The violent storm that came upon Jonah frightened the men on the ship. They cast lots to see who was causing the trouble, and the lot fell on Jonah. He knew he had disobeyed God, so he told the men to throw him overboard in order to deliver them from danger.

They did as he requested, the storm stopped, and a great fish swallowed Jonah. From the fish's belly (not a pleasant place), he cried out to God for deliverance and repented of his stubborn ways. The fish vomited Jonah upon the dry land; and in Jonah 3:1, we see that the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. God told him again to go to Nineveh and preach to the people there. No matter how long we avoid God's instruction, it is still there for us to deal with when we stop running.

God's will makes us uncomfortable only as long as we are not pursuing it. In other words, we always know when something is just not right in our lives. Eventually we see that being in God's will, not out of His will, is what brings peace and joy to us. We have to surrender our own wills, because walking in our self-centered ways is what keeps us unhappy.

From the book New Day, New You by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

I Will Not Be Moved

Are you in a situation where your being forced to back down on what you believe?

Do you understand why you shouldn't have to be moved from your beliefs?

Do you know where God is without a shadow of a doubt doing times of troubles.

Are asking yourself if you really heard from God and this is what He wants me to do?

Are you shaking until you get through a storm and you come out from the other side wishing you were more steadfast in your faith?

This little devotional will help solve the to move or not move debate.

Hopefully together, in the times ahead, we will all be able to say, I will not be shaken or moved from the storms of life or anything else that might crop up out of the blue.

God Bless.

I Will Not Be Moved

The storms come

to shake my faith
but I will not be moved
the winds blow
against my face
but I will not be moved
I will not move prematurely
going to wait for God to deliver me
though trouble is all around
there’s a blessing to be found
so come what may
yes come what may
God has called me here
and here I will stay
I will not
no, I will not
be moved

“Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” James 1:2-4 The Message (MSG)

Maybe God is asking you to do something you’ve never done before, and maybe you are being tested like you’ve never been tested before. Just know that you’re about to be blessed like you’ve never been blessed before. Don’t be moved, God is working. You’ve come too far to give up now. There’s a blessing after every trial, and there’s treasure after every war.

Prayer: Father God, I bless you. You know how to minister directly to my heart and to my situation. Thank you for being my rock and my Savior. I put my trust in you. Help me to stand fast and not be moved by anything I see, hear or feel. Help me to only be moved by you. In Jesus name, Amen.

(Read Psalms 62:6)

________

A sincere thanks to our Contributing Devotional Writers.

To give into Daughters of the King International Ministries, Inc., click here. May God bless you in abundance. Love, The DOTK Family

Christian's First

This little devotional is a gives a good sense of who we should be and act as Christians.

And in this world today with all it's craziness, a little guidance helps go a long way to remind of who we are and why we do the things we do and why being different is the new normal.

God Bless.

One thing must be kept in mind: 

We Christians are Christians first and everything else after that. Our first allegiance is to the kingdom of God. Our citizenship is in heaven. 

We are grateful for political freedom. We thank God for democracy as a way of life. But we never forget that we are sons of God and citizens of another city whose builder and maker is God. 

For this reason, we must not identify the gospel with any political system or make Christianity to be synonymous with any form of government, however noble. Christ stands alone, above and outside of every ideology devised by man. 

He does not join any of our parties or take sides with any of our great men except as they may come over on His side and try to follow Him in righteousness and true holiness. Then He is for them, but only as individuals, never as leaders of some political faction. 

The true Christian will be loyal to his country and obedient to those in authority, but he will never fall into the error of confusing his own national culture with Christianity. Christianity is bigger than any country, loftier than any civilization, broader than any human ideology.

Tozer

Simplify Your Prayers

I have a tendency to babble and go on and on and say more than I need to say when it comes to things that matter to me.

And when I pray, yeah, I find myself babbling because I'm trying to be big man on campus. Not only that, but I've tried to pray for hours to become more spiritual only to wake up hours later forgetting what I was babbling about.

Surely I can be the only one with this problem. So when I came across this little devotional, it put my mind at ease knowing I don't have to be some spiritual wing man for God filling Him in in all the things I think He needs to fix but I can be myself and just have a short conversation with enough impact to change the world.

God Bless.

Simplify Your Prayers

I've learned that simple, heartfelt, full-of-faith prayers always get God's attention. Unfortunately, we often overlook this and turn our prayers into a big show.

We have to beware of talking to impress ourselves when we're praying. Sometimes I think we just want to sound eloquent. We want to impress God with our phrases and sound holy. But God just wants to have a little chat with us.

He wants us to talk to Him like we would a friend, not with a different tone of voice. If we don't speak Elizabethan English during the day, we don't need to use it when we pray.

We also don't have to pray for hours on end. It's good to schedule prayer time, but we should just pray until we're finished and then go about our business until the next time we feel the need to pray some more.

The only way prayer will ever be satisfying is if you simply use it as an opportunity to get God's help and involve Him in everything you do. He's not here to be impressed...He's here to live life with you. Don't perform. Just invite Him in.

Prayer Starter: Holy Spirit, don't let me turn prayer into a performance! I don't want to overdo it and try and pray too long just to impress You. I want to invite You, as my closest friend, into every aspect of my life.

Joyce Meyer

Be Strong And Courageous

When I was a little girl, and since then, my biggest fear has been the fear of abandonment.

Now that I'm older, I still struggle with it but not as much as I used to.

This little devotional helps me put this matter to bed. Not only does this devotional help but also knowing that I serve a God who will never leave me in any circumstances. I may not see His working hand all the time,
but I know and will continue to know my Redeemer lives and I don't walk this earth alone!

God Bless.

"So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you." -Deuteronomy 31:6

The Lord will never abandon you. In life we feel abandoned by friends, family, or even the church. But we can always count on God to stand by us through thick and thin. If you are feeling alone, don't believe those feelings, they are lies. God is always with you. So be courageous, because you are not alone.

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Be The One God Is Searching For

I know I've said it before but some times you just come across something that speaks to your heart and makes you want to be a better person and push yourself to become more like the person God wants you to be.

And this little devotional pushes me to become a better person and I don't want to be the only one who jumps on board. I want others to join me in this quest and save a dying world!

God Bless.

Be the One God Is Searching for

God is looking for people who are passionate about the things He is passionate about. He is looking for people who will wholeheartedly pursue Him. He is looking for people who will love people on their jobs, in their neighborhoods and homes; those who are committed to loving the lost, the poor and the needy. He's looking for those who are willing to start doing what the Bible tells us to do.

Second Chronicles 16:9 says that God is always searching to "show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him."

Are you one of those people? If not, I want to encourage you and let you know that you can be that person who God seeks.

Whether you have known the Lord for many years or are just beginning your new life in Him, you can be that person who will passionately seek God and listen to the Holy Spirit. You can be that person who can actively make a difference in the lives of hurting people.

Today, rise up, and be the person God is looking for.

Prayer Starter: God, more than anything, I want to be the kind of person that You are searching the world for. Lead me and guide me in the way You want me to go, and shape me into a person who loves others, obeys Your Word, and truly knows You.

Joyce Meyer Ministries