How can we experience the presence of God in our lives? How can we live and be led by the Holy Spirit? How can we set our lives on a course for spiritual breakthrough on every level?
The Christian life should not be lived by accident, it should be intentional.
I want to give you four quick points today on how you can intentionally experience more of God's presence and power in your life. Just remember to F.E.E.D. yourself.
FOCUS - Colossians 3:2 says in the Amplified Bible, 'And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.' In other words, focus! Focus on the things of God. Let that be what's on your mind, let your Spirit control your life patterns. In other words, when you spiritually focus you are bringing the mind into subjection to the Spirit. If you don't, you soul (mind, will, and emotions) will end up controlling you and getting you off the path God is walking you down.
EXPRESSION - There's just something about praise that attracts God! God will show up right in the middle of people that will praise him. It doesn't matter if you're in a lions den, in jail, or facing the biggest enemy you've ever faced, just begin to praise God and watch his presence show up! Sometimes we let our small problems get WAY too big; and what praise does, is it begins to make God bigger in our eyes than our problems are. So begin to lift your voice, your hands, clap, dance, sing do whatever you can to express your praise to him. Expressing your praise will bring your body into subjection to the Spirit
EXPECTANCY - The attitude of expectancy is the breeding ground for miracles. If you don't expect anything, you probably won't get anything. In Acts 3:5 the lame man looked at the disciples 'expecting to receive something', and then received more than he expected! The woman with the issue of blood expected to be healed when she touched Jesus' clothes, and she was! Don't let doubt rob you of your expectation.
DESIRE - Desire is the result of a spirit that is 'alive' unto God. I just think people who are born again should desire God. When desire leaves a relationship, it starts to die. Deuteronomy 4:29 says you will find God when you seek him with all your heart and soul. So many times we desire things from God, but neglect to desire him. The funny thing is, is that if we desire Him, He'll give us everything we desire!
So today F.E.E.D. yourself; begin to focus on Him, stop right now and express your praise to Him, speak out of your mouth what you're expecting Him to do in your life, and let your desire for Him become greater than your desire for anything else.
Outward expression of praise is something I've never done in my spiritual life; yet, I'm a pro at it in my mind and even in my professional life as a teacher. I think it's because I view my students as individuals who need praise to gain confidence and grow in their learning, but I view God as having it all, not needing my small contributions of praise, as they are somehow insignificant. I see flaws in that way of thinking, but I don't have answers for overcoming it yet. In fact, I'm just now, as I'm typing this, processing the idea that this is how I've been thinking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me think about this today, Michael.