Into the Mirror of Scripture

 

Any of us can experience genuine victory over Satan, sin and self on a consistent basis.  As we grow closer to the Lord, we become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit and He will then teach us how to recognize Satan’s traps, how to die to self, and how to overcome temptation. We can even learn how to identify and conquer things that grip our mind, soul and body. We can do this on our own as we surrender to the process of sanctification in our life.  This results in a deeper walk with God, powerful and mountain-moving prayer, and a Spirit-filled Christian life.

There is way too much apathy, complacency, worldliness and carnality in today’s church.  And yes, among the men of our churches.  I asked the question once while preaching about our inner-man:  If your inner-man was flashed up on a screen in picture form, would it look like a well-trained athlete or a starving refugee?  That’s a soul-searching question.  Can you honestly answer that question right now? What does your answer reveal about your priorities?  What does it reveal about the condition of your prayer life?

Until we each deal with the sin and disobedience issue in our life, our best efforts at prayer will seem like trying to cure cancer with a band-aid.  Just going to church will not provide the remedy to the problem.  We each must examine our own heart.  God will provide cleansing and renewing power to pray if we deal with the real underlying issue of the state of our heart.  Intense exposure to the revealing truth of the Word of God is a must! 

Meditate on James 1:21-25.  Look into the mirror of Scripture and deal with what it tells you.  Remember – the power of a pure heart and personal holiness is key to an effective prayer life and the master-key to taking it to the next level.


The Pastor's Pocket

Pastor Bruce Freeman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Ready?

Image
It’s that time of the year when the animals are getting ready for winter. They make sure their nesting place is ready for hibernation. They are gathering food or eating a lot of food now to sustain them during the winter months.   In the mornings when we wake up, we get ready for the day. When we are expecting visitors, we get ready for their arrival. The airline industry works hard to make sure their planes are ready to fly. Athletes warm up to get ready for competition.   Jesus tells us to get ready because He is coming.  Are you ready for His return? We must be prepared, for one day the Lord will surely come. How can you be sure you are ready for that moment? (1) Make sure you are saved, born again. (2) Be serving Christ in some capacity. (3) Make sure you are doing the will of God. (4) Be a worshipper. Practice now praising the Lord because that is what you will do in heaven (Revelation 4-5).   Are you prepared for an encounter with the Lord today? Have you positioned yourself to m
Read more

Shopping Season

Image
Our daughter was shopping at a wholesale store recently and sent my wife this text, “Insane how packed it is on Wednesday afternoon!” My wife’s reply to her was, “Tis the season”. The busy shopping season has begun. It’s a great time of the year for retailers.  During this season as Christians, we mustn’t venture out without asking the Holy Spirit to fill us with patience and give us the strength to maintain a Christ-like spirit.   This is a shopping season when many people are searching for, hoping for, something that will satisfy a craving, fulfill a longing, or give them a thrill. For some it will be a party, alcohol, a new car, new clothes, a new boyfriend/girlfriend perhaps. For some, their happiness comes from a sale at the mall, and their many purchases. It’s a season when many are looking for a “high” which turns out to be only temporary.   Friend, there is a “high” you cannot buy. It’s righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). It’s not something temporal
Read more

Trusting God

Image
You’ve never really given a problem over to God until you completely trust Him with the outcome. Too much of our faith in prayer is tied to getting God to do what we think is best. We rejoice if God does what we ask or if He responds as we think He should. What if God has other plans? Is He any less faithful?   The truth is, God sometimes does have plans that differ from our own agenda.   As we pray, we must be willing to accept whatever God determines best.   That’s never easy, but it’s a place we must come to in our understanding of the Holy One.   We all know the story of the three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and the fiery furnace.   The story is found in Daniel chapter 3.   An order had gone out from the Babylonian king that everyone in the province was to bow down to the golden idol, and anyone who refused would be thrown into a fiery furnace. I love the approach of these three men in Daniel 3:17, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us
Read more