What a Privilege

Isaiah 61:10

Delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his. (NIV)

What a privilege it is to be a believer. To follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Savor is an honor. Out of His love we were called to greatness.

There was a time when the law was needed. People of Moses' time did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit and they needed laws to keep them on the right path. Yes, even though the Lord knew they could not keep them.

Yet some still live the scriptures out of their heads. What I am trying to say is that they are still under the law trying to keep the commandments and traditions of religion. It seems like some are always falling short according to their rules and are dealing with shame and guilt.

Galatians 5:17-18

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you [h]please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (NASB)

It is because of God's love for us that we yield ourselves to Him. His love for us is expressed by His grace to us. God in His love has given us His grace which does not give us an excuse to sin but a reason to obey. Paul has proved that we are not saved by the Law and that we do not live under the Law. For many this would mean that we can sin all we want because they don't understand the wonderful constraining and controlling power of love. Love is what gives the strength or ability to obey. (Romans 6:14-23 according to Dianne)

John 15:9-12

I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. (NIV)

When we begin to live the scriptures out of the very fabric of our being, we will find that it is love that placed it there in our hearts and it is love that allows us to change and move and live as Jesus taught. When we fail it is love that lifts us up and that carries us to the places in God to accomplish what He has for us here on earth.

Our divine Father makes a way where there is no way and it is He who supplies the possibilities for the impossible to happen! All of that say, Think on the process and the part you play in the greater good (through the obedience to your call) for the glory of our Lord.

Direct Connection

Galatians 1:11-12
I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. (NLT)

When flying on today's airlines it is difficult to schedule a direct connection between two points. There are major hubs most airlines fly through and that is where you end up waiting for that next connection on your journey. When you can find one, a direct connection gets you right to your final destination the quickest.

In this world of education we spend years learning how others do what we want to do before anyone will hire us. And yet most often we end up as clones of those that came before us. We do things the same as they have been done before; younger hands getting accomplishing the same tasks.

Don't get me wrong. Education is a good thing but there are times when we need to bust through the walls and be creative. Success does not come from doing what we learned from others. It comes from how we used what we were exposed to combined with our God given abilities; our direct connection to Him.

Paul did not run to the leadership, the apostles at that time, to be trained in how to be a Christian. He took time to be with God. His training did not come from man. It came from Jesus. And Paul did not come up with his own teaching program complete with books and DVD's to make others follow his way.

Paul preached Jesus as the Holy Spirit led him to do. And wherever Paul went signs and wonders followed the preaching of that truth. People were delivered, healed, and set free to develop their own personal relationship with Jesus.

Don't let the fact that you have not been formally trained hold you back from what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do, and don't let man stop that which God has placed in motion.

Shepherd of Faith Ministries

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