Your Journey to the Heart of God
You are invited to come on an amazing journey uniquely designed and different for each person, designed to heal any wounds in your heart.
146) The Power of Selfless Love
Something that has been on my heart for a long time, which God has been teaching me about, is the power of self-less love. It’s not an easy thing to talk about, because people don’t want to hear it, but I think it is really necessary to understand how God is working. I wanted to talk about this because the more we grow in self-less love of the Lord, the more we are going to be used by the Lord, and that’s why it is important that we understand what selfless love is.
This has a long history in Scripture; e.g., the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. Genesis 50:21: “So then, don’t be afraid; I will provide for you and your children,” and he reassured them and spoke to them kindly.
This is Joseph talking to his brothers during the famine, after they were rotten to him, “dissed” him, tried to kill him, and sold him into slavery. He returned their wickedness with goodness. He did this through the power of self-less love, because his objective was to love his brothers. This was more powerful than their wickedness. Self-less love is always more powerful than wickedness. Self-less love always wins. But few people ever experience it, because they don’t persist in it long enough.
Moses said in Numbers 11:29:“Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all of the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord’s power was on all of them.” He said this after coming down from the mountain and was asked, “Why can’t we all have it? ” He answered he wished they all could have the power of the Holy Spirit, too. Self-less love is a giving love. It is a love that you wish everyone could have, when you have love and don’t keep anything back.
Jonathan was a wonderful example of selfless love. In I Kings 18:4, it says, “Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.” Talk about giving! I’m sure he would have given more and even more, to David, too, if he had had it to give. But that is a selflessness, (read more)
147) Selfishness
Acts and thoughts of selfishness are plentiful in our lives. There is a constant struggle between our own needs and the needs of others. We often justify selfish thoughts by feeling that we need to take care of ourselves first. Jesus however lived and taught about a life of selflessness.
Selfishness is a block to our relationship with God. What we need to do is recognize it as our enemy and then deal with it. Selfishness can manifest itself in our lives in many ways. For example, the fruit of the spirit of selfishness leads to the manifestation of self-centeredness. The fruit of the habit of selfishness then leads to the manifestation of looking out only for #1. We become preoccupied with thoughts about ourselves. We are taught by the example of those around us to believe that this is a proper way to relate to other people, and to the world in general.
The basis of the spirit of selfishness is fear: “This is mine and I better protect it, otherwise it will be taken from me.” It is the fear that God is not going to love us and give us what we need (This can be about possessions). When we are afraid of losing what God has given us, then we are in trouble. It leads us to worship other things, making idols out of them. The gift rather than the Giver becomes more important. The truth is, that if we give of what we have, it will somehow be given back to us. God is generous and the devil is selfish. God gives out of His great unconditional love for us, and the devil gives only to trap us and to make us more selfish. (read more)
148) The Gratitude Attitude
Or How to Survive in an Ungrateful World
The gratitude attitude can be defined as the ability to be grateful in any circumstance. This attitude, comes from knowing we have a concerned and loving God, who cares about all the details of our lives.
Our Lord loves to give solutions to our impossible problems. However, this can come more quickly to us, when we can develop a grateful attitude, towards the different situations in our lives. We have a God who wants to do something good, and loving for us every day.
God told us that we would have trouble in our lives. He also promised us, that He would enable us to overcome our troubles. The Lord uses troubles to call us into a more trusting relationship with Him. His calling cards are not what we would expect of Him, but He often uses our weaknesses to display His strength and power.
God is busy building His kingdom, and He will not let our weaknesses get in His way. For every situation our Lord has created a solution. Sin and evil will not stop Him. Our deaf ears and our hardened hearts will not stop Him. All the plans of men will not stop Him. He will have His way and He will have His victory. The fastest way to receive His victory, is to develop an attitude of gratitude. I would like to explain the steps of how to have this attitude in our lives. (read more)
149) Prayer, Intimacy and a New Destiny
The Lord has a wonderful way of rewarding things done in quiet. Intercessors stand in awe and surrender at the presence of God. They are His powerful warriors, who both invite, and deepen His presence among men. They are the unlikely and often unappreciated ones who are called to stand in the gap. They have changed the course of history, saved many lives, and have helped to redeem many souls. Intercession has revealed the heart and character of Jesus to those who earnestly seek Him. Intimacy with God is the greatest treasure that He bestows upon men.
Intercession is our attempt to go to Christ to know Him so that His Spirit can be released upon us and upon the world. We don’t go to intercession to change God’s mind. We intercede to know who Christ is. This is the greatest reason and reward.
We stand guard. We pray we will be able to sense the Holy Spirit and respond to the Holy Spirit. Intercessors have discernment and wisdom. They are watching and seeing what’s coming. When we intercede, we get spiritual ears and eyes. When we pray for passion for God, we have passion to stir the heart of God.
Intercessors are motivated by love and not by fear. Intercessors just love to pour out their love for God. God’s attention is captured by those that love Him and seek Him.
An intercessor is a worshiper. The more praises and worship God hears, the more excited God gets about moving. Intercessors provide a foundation. Prayer happens first and then reality happens later. (read more)
150) Part 2
The ministry of intercession is the ultimate in spiritual warfare. It defeats Satan and his strongholds over people like a hydrogen bomb destroys an ant hill. It binds all the power that Satan has and unleashes the forces of heaven to attack and wage war, taking more territory and people into God’s Kingdom.
Intercession begins with us allowing compassion to flow through our hearts, which is the presence of the Holy Spirit. We then allow the Holy Spirit to make intercession through us, guiding us by compassion as to how we ought to pray. True intercession is God praying through you. True intercession is praying to the Father for His will be done on earth and speaking forth His Gospel to bring them into the Kingdom, which is coming with all power and authority.
Prayer and intercession is a powerful way of giving to another person. It is something anyone can do and we are commanded to do it, but it also comes with an awesome blessing from the Lord and the privilege of experiencing God’s presence and His compassion. (read more)
“Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. Quotations and/or reprints in excess of one thousand verses, or other permission requests must be directed and approved in writing by Zondervan Bible Publishers.” All verses are NIV except those that are otherwise noted.
The Eagles Cry 