Spiritually Stretched By God

What Spirit-Living Looks Like

All Christians are Holy Spirit people. In fact, if you are not a Holy Spirit person, you cannot even be a Christian. While denominations have robustly fought one another over the gifts of the Spirit, there are many powerful and clear passages in the New Testament which force us all into the same room to learn together what the Spirit of God unquestionably does for and in all true followers of Christ. Romans 8:5-14 is one such passage, and in it we discover some profoundly encouraging truth about Holy Spirit’s work within us. These are things about which we cannot argue - they are undeniable truths clearly stated in the written Word. We must learn these, live these, and agree upon these.

Chained To Money

It is interesting that when Jesus confronted people to make a full and final choice to repent, believe, and follow God, He intentionally pitted our potential love for God against the potential love for money. Jesus declared that we will not be able to faithfully serve God and live for money at the same time. He forced us to choose. This is not a challenge only for the wealthy - it is for all of us. This Truth Shot walks us through multiple Bible passages wherein a strong warning is given about the dangers of living for wealth. Ancient truth is still binding truth. We must check our hearts to see if there is generosity or greed, Kingdom or mammon, taking or releasing.

The Listening Season

How do we respond to the presence, power, and glory of God? In one sensational account of the life of Jesus, He briefly displayed His radiant nature as God the Son. Three of His disciples were with Him on a mountain when this occurred. Glory broke through, and then one of the disciples responded by immediately speaking and moving into action. God the Father interrupted the noise and motion, and He told Peter to be quiet and listen to what Jesus would say. From this encounter involving both Heaven and earth, we can find instruction for ourselves as we seek for the glory of God to be put on display in our generation. For us to steward an ongoing move of God’s presence and power, we must be committed to stillness with quietness, and prioritize the essential listening season.

Three Wells & An Altar

The timing of God is a repeated testing that many believers do not succeed in passing. Christians are unconsciously driven by formulas - we believe that is we do what we think is our part, then God is obliged to make similarly predictable corresponding moves in a timing which makes sense to us. When God does not do what we desire Him to do within the timeframe we believe is best, we can experience weariness, frustration, and a crisis of faith. In the Old Testament, Isaac was a simple man seeking to do the right thing. He was much more of a worker than a worshiper. God blessed the work of his hands, but also allowed much conflict and strife to find Isaac. It seemed that the enemy would not leave this dutiful man of faith alone. This message reveals how endurance turned Isaac from a hard worker into a genuine worshiper. God employed a formula, but it looked nothing like what Isaac thought. In the end, his heart was powerfully changed.

Spiritually Stretched By God

There is no such thing as growing up without growing pains. Everyone who survived adolescence can remember those strange times as the body lengthens that there were occasional times of physical discomfort. The same is true in our spiritual growth: our God allows our sense of being stretched beyond our comfort. Psalm 30 walks us through one believer’s roller coaster ride of the ups and downs of his circumstantial and emotional stretching season. He knows God is good, trustworthy, and faithful…but he is also aware that what he is going through in life feels overwhelming. We are allowed to go on his journey with him and recognize that we also have been stretched by God at times. In the end, if we remain anchored in Him, we find our shout of praise and victory.