Category: living by faith

The Lord does not look
at the things man looks at.
Man looks at the
outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.
– 1 Samuel 16:7

Have you ever wondered how many potentially good friends you may have lost simply by judging them on your first impression of them? I’m amazed at how the first impression very seldom tells us much of substance about another person. We’re not really going to be able to evaluate people properly until the Lord reveals at judgment what is really in their hearts. Don’t you think that we should give them time to reveal what is in their hearts before we make a decision about them?! Let’s don’t just look on the outward appearance!

Father, you alone know each heart. Please help me be more patient with others before forming an opinion about them. Please give me eyes to see them as Jesus does. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Do not merely listen to the word,
and so deceive yourselves.
Do what it says.
– James 1:22

What we know and what we believe are not all that significant if they do not show up in the way we live our daily lives. Pure and simple, faith not lived out in everyday life is not faith; it is facade. Just as Jesus had told us to put into practice what we have learned from him, his brother James reminds us the same thing: when we learn the truth of God’s word, there is only one thing left for us to do: put it into practice!

Holy God, help me put into practice what I know is your will and your truth today. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11

The phrase, “keep your spiritual fervor” is an idiom that literally means “to boil in the spirit.” We are to be on fire with the Holy Spirit! That’s the key to “never be lacking in zeal” and “serving the Lord.” Inspired, empowered, and filled with the Holy Spirit, we can be passionate for Jesus.

O God, I want to honor you in all I do. I want Jesus to be seen in my actions and speech. I want to reflect your righteous character and your gracious compassion and I know that without the Spirit’s cleansing and power, I can’t do it. So fill me with your Spirit, cleanse my heart and make it yours. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Galatians 5:16 (NIV)

The spiritual condition in our country today allows for an “anything goes” type of belief system. This is not the plan that God has established for us. Chasing after gratification and satisfaction in the earthly realm is a sure formula for decay. Hostility toward God is being championed in our society today and the Christians largely remain silent. Let’s begin deliberately living by the Spirit and challenge those who defy and seek to destroy Christ.

Father in Heaven, forgive us our sins of complacency and kindle the fires of the Holy Spirit in our hearts once again. Help us to shine in a world of darkness and to be beacons of hope and grace to the lost and wandering souls of this earth. May our fervor for Christ show a love for all people while keeping distinct adherence to all that is holy and righteous as we endeavor to follow your will for us in daily living. Amen

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 
John 7:37-38 (NIV)

Streams of water — living water for dying hopes, cool water for parched hearts, refreshing water for those tired and weary. This is, of course, much more than a liquid we can drink with our lips. This is the ultimate water of the soul that God longs to give to us, his children. Let’s spend the month of August, refreshing ourselves with the promises of Jesus and trusting that, as we draw close to him, the Spirit will restore our soul.

Loving Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save me and the Holy Spirit to sustain and renew me. Please bless me, especially this month, as I seek to draw closer to my Savior and restore my soul with the refreshing living water of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Some of you were once [living sinful lives]. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
– 1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT

The verses leading up to this passage give a laundry list of sins (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Then Paul makes two points using the verb “were.” His first point is that some of us “were” people habitually living those sins! The second point is that now, however, we live with a new reality because we “were” cleansed and made right with God. We can call this “the grace of were.” We are no longer guilty of the sin we used to commit. We are no longer under the condemnation of our rebellion and failures. We are no longer slaves to the old way of life, to what we “were”! Rather, because the Holy Spirit entered our lives to sanctify us — to make us holy, new, clean, pure, valuable — we ARE holy and right with God. Each of us is a new creation and lives in a whole new world (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). Such is the power of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Spirit’s grace and presence.

Father, thank you that I am not who I used to be. Thank you that all the old is gone and the new has come. I pray that I will live out this new life in holiness and honor, empowered by the Holy Spirit and conformed each day to be like my Savior, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
– 1 Peter 1:1-2 NIV

“Sanctifying work of the Spirit” sounds so formal and religious. Some translations put, “his Spirit has made you holy,” but even that wording really doesn’t capture the essence of the meaning for me. What I believe Peter is trying to tell us is that our souls were like an old stained rag we used to clean up messes in the garage. When the Spirit comes into our lives, he takes this stained rag, and he cleans it, makes it new, and gives it incredible value. Instead of being the rag for messes in the garage, it is now a beautiful, clean, white tablecloth normally used for special occasions, but to be shared in all its glory in daily life. The Holy Spirit of God takes our broken, stained, and battered souls and makes them clean, new, and valuable — not just for us, but for God. This concept is crucial, as evidenced by it being repeated several times in the Bible (Romans 15:16; 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 10:29; 1 Peter 1:2).

Make me new, Lord God. Make me new and holy and valuable to you through the work of your Holy Spirit. Forgive and cleanse me, and make my heart and my life pure so I can bring you glory and live for your honor. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.
– 1 Samuel 3:19 (NIV)

Samuel began his ministry at such a young age and was so important in bridging the generations between the period of the Judges and the period of the Kings. During that whole time, God was with him and empowered his ministry, making his words true and effective. Let’s pray that God does the same with his spokespeople today. May God use his servants effectively all their lives and not let any of their words fall to the ground.

Today, O God, I ask you to empower your faithful servants who proclaim your Word all over the world. Please bless them with a season of freedom from satanic attack. Bless them with health, vigor, and passion. Please give them a long life full of useful service empowered by your grace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…
– 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)

I am so thankful for Paul’s confidence as he faces his death. He is all but abandoned and is worried about the future of the Church, but he knows two things: he has served the Lord faithfully and the Lord will receive him when he dies! Shouldn’t those two things be our most important goals in life? So if they are our goals, how do we live each day to fulfill them?

Faithful and loving God, you have so richly blessed me with salvation by your grace. Please strengthen me out of the riches of that grace. I am sometimes weak and falter in my faithfulness. I know your grace is lavish, but I don’t want to presume on it or abuse it. Please give me strength and courage to live faithfully and passionately for you until the day I see you face to face and share with you in your glory and victory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

The Holy Spirit confirms this: “This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts.”
– Hebrews 10:15-16 msg

The Holy Spirit used the prophet Jeremiah to speak of a coming new covenant with his people where the Spirit of God places the will of God on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34). There won’t be a need for a written law, because it will be written on their hearts. The apostle Paul connects this promise with the coming of the Holy Spirit to the followers of Jesus to conform them to Christ (2 Cor. 3:1-18). While we must seek God’s truth in the Scriptures, our ultimate goal is to have the Spirit write the will of God on our hearts. Let’s seek that to happen by seeking Jesus with all of our heart and inviting the Spirit to transform us us from the inside out.

Father God, I thank you for the Bible and I pledge to seek your truth in the Scriptures. At the same time, Father, I open my heart and ask that the Holy Spirit write your will on my heart. Give me discernment and wisdom so that I can understand truth, recognize deception, and resist temptation. I want to be your holy child — loving you with heart, soul, mind and strength. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.