Jesus wants to be your best friend and He is very accessible. And, He is not looking for squeaky clean people.

Abraham became a friend of God because He believed in Him and was obedient to the instructions of God. Abraham was far from perfect just like you and me.

There are two choices in making a decision for Jesus. You can enter through the wide or narrow gate.

Most believers enter through the wide gate because it is less threatening with fewer hardships.

The narrow gate is very difficult and few enter this gate. They do not want to experience what Paul endured.

He said “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

The friend of Jesus is willing to give up his independence and rights to himself. He severs the ties to the world and surrenders to Jesus.

The believer who wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The Christ follower invites the Holy Spirit to have authority over his life.

The friend of Jesus has a personal and passionate devotion to Him. He walks by faith and hears the voice of God. He is obedient to Jesus regardless of the personal cost or the lack of purpose. 

For in Him, we live and move and have our being!

The first step in walking with Jesus is the ability to see yourself through the eyes of Jesus. All human beings have been “sold under” sin due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

We all have a corrupted inner nature stemming from our natural life at birth. This life wants to satisfy self and defy God.

There is dark valley in your personality and spirit which is below human consciousness. Some of this darkness comes from genetic dispositions from your ancestry.

This hidden part of your personality is where you can get in trouble and find yourself in bondage to Satan.

In contrast, Jesus has no ego and is without sin. No one can match up to the standards of God. And, He is omniscient and sees every detail of your past and future.

The epiphany is seeing yourself compared to Jesus. The contrast causes a sickening feeling like Isaiah experienced. He said “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips”.

It takes a very humble and contrite heart to see that all righteousness comes from God.

Jesus is not looking for perfection but he wants you to recognize who you are and how you can be transformed into His character.

The righteousness of God cannot be obtained through human effort, doing works or keeping laws. It comes by your faith and obedience to the voice of God. Nothing else works.

The Holy Spirit lives in all believers. He is the life of Christ. He wants you to walk in the light and avoid darkness. He convicts of sin and teaches the values of Jesus. 

The Christ follower must invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over his life. This action will allow you to walk in oneness with Jesus and be filled with His thoughts in all the moments of life. 

Embrace Jesus and abandon yourself completely to Him. Ask Jesus to cover you with His blood. Seek repentance and be open to the correction of God.

Remember, what may seem right can lead you into misery and destruction!

Christianity has ingrained believers with a false picture of what it is like to follow Jesus.

The leaders have deviated from the importance of developing a personal and loyal relationship with Jesus to creating a disciple model of laws, mandated works and religious habits. 

The easy path with Jesus is to live by rules and habits. It is very difficult to live by faith and submit to the work of the Cross.

Jesus was very unpredictable and controversial in His words and actions but perfectly aligned with His Father. He broke many of the Jewish laws, confronted the leaders over hypocrisy and rejected worldly ways.

God desires for believers to be devoted to Jesus not to a religious culture.

 The spiritual journey is developing consistency in devotion and obedience to Jesus. This is a walk of faith grounded in prayer, studying the Bible and yielding to the Holy Spirit.

The believer who surrenders to Jesus will identify with the Cross. 

The Cross crucifies self motives and creates humility and meekness. It is a life of dwelling in the presence of Jesus and dealing with trials and adversity.

The order of Jesus can be like a roller coaster. Jesus is unpredictable and tests believers endlessly. He measures your faith and asks you to be obedient to His instructions which at times make no sense. 

The reality of Jesus in a “born again” believer is found in all the routine moments of life. This is where you will learn how Jesus thinks and adopt His values.

It is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit!

This begins with your relationship to Jesus. The most important priority is abandoning your life to Jesus without any exceptions.

The Christ follower must have a personal and symbiotic relationship with Jesus. He must know the Living Christ and hear His voice with regularity.

He must be free from religion and the control of laws and mandated works. 

He must be walking in oneness with Jesus by yielding to the authority of the Holy Spirit. 

He seeks the wisdom of God through the Holy Spirit and rejects worldly ways.

He allows God to speak through Him and asks God to keep self motives out of his ministry.

The power of God works through Him and he is anointed with the Spirit and equipped with the gifts of the Spirit.

He is grounded in God and walks by faith. He relies on the Holy Spirit to strengthen his faith during seasons of adversity.

He lives in personal contact with Jesus and inquires of Him in all decision making. 

He is a man of zealous prayer and intercession. He meditates on the truths in the Bible. They are like precious gold to him.

He lives and breathes Jesus!

As human beings, we all encounter difficult trials in life. The trials create a range of feelings including anger, depression, and sadness. 

If you choose to stay in the emotional distress your faith will crash and your confidence in Jesus will bottom out.

Prayer will help if consistent and you seek out the Holy Spirit. But more than likely the feelings will return.

This cannot be resolved by an intellectual approach or “feel good” therapy.

Jesus is in heaven and not available for a personal meeting to help you navigate through your moods.

The most viable remedy is to go back to your beginning with Jesus and rebuild your faith based on your experiences with Him.

Think about the miracle when you received the gift of salvation, meditate on the personal promises made to you from Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to help you recall the visions and dreams in your life and reflect on the signs and wonders witnessed from the transfigured Christ.

These life experiences will embolden your faith and give you steadfast confidence in Jesus.

Finally, read about the powerful attributes of our God in 1 Chronicles 29:11.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And You are exalted as head over all.

Pray everyday. Ask Jesus to take away your mood swings, fill you with joy and restore your confidence and faith in Him.

Jesus reigns!

You might think Jesus is sitting by His Father in a comfortable place in heaven. In actuality, Jesus is surrounded by clouds and darkness and He is preoccupied with fighting off the demons of Satan.

Jesus reigns over the earth but His priority is destroying sin and restoring people to His Kingdom.

The Bible tells us a fire goes before Him and burns up His enemies.

Jesus defeats Satan with the help of a powerful force of angels.

Jesus is omnipotent. He is like lightning covering the earth with His glory and power. The earth trembles at the presence of Jesus. 

The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Jesus. Nothing is impossible for Him.

When you meet the Living Christ and develop a personal relationship with Him the world of intercession, judgment and the righteousness of God is revealed.

Today, Jesus is measuring your faith and looking into your life. He is at work to remove sin and transform you into the character of God. 

At this very moment Jesus is attacking darkness all over the world. He never sleeps.

If you want to be in the presence of Jesus and participate in His work then your priority is prayer, intercession, and living under the blood of Christ. You must be listening for the voice of Jesus with a compliant heart.

The Christ follower submits to the authority of the Holy Spirit and is filled with the thoughts of Jesus.

The reality of Jesus appears in these words. “He is a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway”.

You might think you are in control of your life but this is nonsense with God. The providential will of God creates trials, circumstances, and places people in your life.

The Holy Spirit is bringing a workload which has been designed just for your ministry. The spiritual assignment is to make intercession for those living in bondage to sin or facing difficult challenges.

The discipline of intercession is following the example of Jesus who made intercession through the Cross for the world. Intercession is agonizing prayer fighting off the demons of Satan.

The biblical definition of intercession is filling up the flesh with the afflictions of Christ for His Body the church. The entirety of your spiritual being participates in this invisible war. The work is intense at times and the intercessor will identify with the feelings, thoughts and actions of those he is praying for release. 

The Holy Spirit is doing this work through you to bring down strongholds. Listen carefully to the voice of God as He will give you wisdom and show you how to pray for those dealing with darkness.

Intercession draws a believer very close to Jesus and is a ministry of integrity and purity without hidden motives or self seeking.

The beauty of intercession is Jesus does the work and has earned the victory through the Cross.

Good Morning,

The Holy Spirit reminded me today that Jesus is indelible. He cannot be changed, removed or washed away.

He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.

The words of Jesus are everlasting and offer eternal life to all.

The promises of Jesus are indelible. They will all come to fruition in His perfect timing.

The conflict comes in the interpretation of His words. This is dangerous ground to tread upon.

Christianity has created many deviations of the Word to satisfy the needs of society and the changing values of our country. The motives of the religious leaders are twisted with self interests.

The safety net for a believer is to pray for the Holy Spirit to discern truth from fallacy in reading the Bible or attending church. He is the life of Christ which gives you an indelible Spirit dwelling within your body.

The Bible states that the Holy Spirit is the only teacher required of a believer. He will always glorify Jesus and can be trusted implicitly. Pray for the mind of Christ to compare spiritual truth with a spiritual life.

Some of the teachings of Jesus are very difficult to understand and the most effective solution is to wait upon the Holy Spirit for clarification.

Jesus speaks to believers. Listen for His voice with a compliant spirit.

Commit your works each day to Jesus and give the Holy Spirit authority over your life. You will be amazed at the presence of Jesus in all the moments of your life. 

Jesus lives so you can live!

Isaiah, the prophet, is speaking about the downfall and revival of the Israelites. He speaks in great detail with imagery explaining how the Israelites will be restored and esteemed as the apple of God’s eye.

God said where there was no peace there will be peace. Barren women will have babies. The afflicted will be comforted and given a foundation like precious gems.

God said His great mercies are like the waters of Noah and He will never again take His covenant of peace away from Israel.

God never changes so you can claim all these powerful promises. 

This scripture gives you insight into the mind and personality of God. 

God for a moment decided to forsake the Israelites. Remember, a moment with God can be many years for a human being. 

God admitted He was a little angry. If God was very angry the Israelites would have been destroyed. God hid His face from the Israelites for a moment but God’s everlasting kindness reflected mercy on the Israelites. 

God seemed aloof and distant with the Israelites and the Christ follower will experience the same feelings of abandonment by God at times.

God promises no weapon formed against a believer will prosper and every word spoken against you in judgment shall be condemned. This is the heritage of the servants of Jesus who have received their righteousness from Him.

As a believer you are entitled to speak against any weapon formed against you. This includes calamities sickness, evil curses, poverty and slander from your enemies. You have the authority of Jesus to rebuke all evil words and actions spoken against you.

God promises to restore your standing and give you more than you ask or think.

God reminds believers His righteousness comes by faith and not through any other source.

God does not function on our timeline so we have to be patient and wait upon Him. The timing of Jesus is perfect because He operates on an eternal timeline.

King David is a perfect role model for living by faith. He reached out to God for his every need even when facing death. 

David loved God and desired to please Him above all else. He had a heart for God. 

God anointed David with His Spirit and favor. God never relinquished His favor over David in spite of  his many dreadful sins.

David ruled his kingdom with the values of God and destroyed evil wherever possible but David was far from perfect.

David had sex with a married woman and then arranged to have her husband killed. 

David ordered the numbering of the Israelites against the desire of God and a strong warning from the commander of his army. This action caused God to kill several thousand Israelites.

The life of David clearly illustrates the truths of God about the nature of man. God is perfect and no one can compare to His standards regardless of how hard you try.

All human beings have an inner nature desiring to live for self and defy the ways of God. This nature will never disappear and can be activated in a moment’s notice.

We are self driven people and God has no ego. Jesus overlooks the sin and measures the love, faith and heart of a believer. Do you have unshakable faith like David and reach out to Him for your every need? Or, do you act like a faithful person but maintain strong ties to the world to meet your needs. 

Do you believe God delivers His people even when facing severe trials or death? David waited upon God with unyielding faith. 

David knew his sinful nature and consistently prayed for repentance and the help of God to live an upright life.

David walked with God by faith every moment of His life. The Spirit of God was always with Him!