“Our Daily Bread”   

http://odb.org/2012/07/20/blunders-to-wonders/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                  http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht

Romans 12:18-19… If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  (NKJV)

I just wrote yesterday about how Jesus was able to show love, even to Judas…knowing that Judas was going to betray Him the next morning (Matthew 26:47-49)… Jesus knew this, because of Jesus’ power of omniscience…(Jesus’ capability of knowing everything, as written in…Hebrews 4:13)…

From the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, Jesus commanded His followers to love even their enemies (Matthew 4:43-44)…  We see Jesus throughout His ministry, always practicing what He preached…

This opening scripture ties right into yesterdays writing… I testified that for me, it was impossible to be able to love someone coming at me with wrath in their voice, without the full power of the Holy Spirit helping me respond peaceably… It does depend on us, just like the opening scripture written by the apostle Paul suggests…

Years ago, before I became a Christian…I didn’t know any better than to yell back at someone yelling at me… This is the natural reaction of a natural man, without the influence of the Holy Spirit to help them overcome this reflex action to yell back… I didn’t spend any time in the Bible, to learn what God will teach His children, if we read it and apply God’s teaching to our lives… But even if I had read this opening scripture from the Bible, it would have been foolishness to me…

1 Corinthians 2:14…  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  (NKJV)

God gives all humans a conscience… And this conscience will help guide the natural man in many basic concepts of right and wrong…  But to help us with our tongue, relying on own strength, is impossible in my mind… The apostle James tells us that the tongue cannot be tamed (James 3:1-12)…  Here is the link for James’ teaching… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20jam3:1-12&version=NKJV )…  I believe our only possible chance of being able to return wrath with a soft answer, is with the full power of the Holy Spirit helping us overcome this impossible situation…

Solomon, given wisdom by God, and the smartest man there ever was (1 Kings 3:9-12)…wrote the following scripture that I am led repeat from yesterday…Proverbs 15:1… A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.  (KJV)

It may seem like I am trying to convey the same point over and over…  Well I am !!  Too many of God’s children suffer from living with either hidden sin…or known sins that we just don’t want to give up…  It may be monetary things that we put in front of God… It may be our family, our friends, or even our job that seems to come before the Lord… It may be the lusts of the flesh, which Satan will try to use to ensnare us until the day we are planted in the ground (1 John 2:15-16)…  It might even be our own flesh, like I can attest too…that has taken back control from the Holy Spirit…

Nevertheless…because of my experiences and failure as a Christian to remain filled with the Holy Spirit…I am trying to help anyone out there with similar problems, understand what they must do, to conquer this common problem many Christian’s face today, of not being filled with the Holy Spirit… As I have stated before…the Ephesians had this problem of backsliding, and the apostle Paul gave them what appears to be a command, when he penned this, in…

Ephesians 5:18-20… And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (NKJV)

As Christian’s, we must remain humble…never believing we know more than our Helper and our Teacher, the Holy Spirit… And God’s children must commit to loving the Lord with all of our being…all of the time… This was Jesus’ first and most important commandment for us to follow, as recorded in…Matthew 22:36-40…

When our heart is filled to overflowing with the love of Christ…we will find that we can love others even more than we love ourselves… At this point…just like Jesus teaches us…the rest will take care of itself…Matthew 22:39-40… “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  (NKJV)

Once we get to this point in our lives, where the peace of God dwells with-in us…and we are confessing and repenting of our sins, right after they occur (1 John 1:9)…the feeling of being set free because we finally know the truth (John 8:32), will hopefully become a continuous way of life with the Lord in charge of our lives, as we live in obedience to His will and His ways…

Heavenly Father, I pray readers will look to You, as the author and the finisher of their faith (Hebrews 12:2)… I pray Lord, that once Christian’s find this freedom from the truth found in Your Word…as the love of Christ takes over their lives…that this fullness of the Holy Spirit will become the everyday way of life for all us…  I pray for this perfect peace that only You can provide…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills