FRESH WIND

There's a song by Keith Staten titled "Such Joy", and there's a line in the song that goes like this:  "There's a joy no bounds can hold when the Spirit blows a fresh wind through my soul."  I love that.

Lord, blow a fresh wind through my soul.  

Open the windows, all the entry points to my soul:

the senses--the sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch, and the thoughts.

Lord, open and clear them by Your Spirit of all the debris.

Clear the dust of compromise, the secret corners that are dark,

the webs of self-interest and self-obsession,

the entanglements that steal my time,

the stale air of my own perspective.

I give Your Spirit free reign over mine, today, right now.

It is a choice I must make every moment.

My Spirit answers like a rushing wind, unleashing prayer with power according to My will.  Pray.  Love.  Pray.  Each moment that you choose My Spirit's rule over yours will have the potential to change you and the world around you.  Pray My word over this world and be a participant in My sovereign kingdom.  Today, right now, moment by moment.

WIND OF THE SPIRIT

We've had rain; now we have wind,

an amazing and powerful force.

We hear it.

We feel it.

We see its effects.

The wind blows, but we cannot know

where it blows from or where it blows to...

...So is everyone who is born of Me, the Holy Spirit.  My presence in the life of My child is a mystery.  How did I come?  Where do I go?  How do I lead?  When do I speak?  Yet when I move in power it is like the wind which, though itself unseen, is unmistakable in its effects.  Do not hide yourself from My work by trying to remain sheltered in your religion and your safe ideas about who I am and how I do things.

It is My desire to not simply take up residence in your life and give you holy little nudges and warm fuzzy feelings.  I am the HOLY Spirit, and I would make you holy, as well.  It is My desire to burn away the chaff and useless trappings that collect in your heart and life.  I would have you full of My word and dressed in My armor to be a warrior in prayer, unafraid to ask, seeking for My will, and knocking until I answer.

I am your only source of love and compassion for the world around you.  I see every need, know every thought, and catch every tear in the lives you encounter day by day.  Do not jump to your own conclusions, but look to Me and know My heart for that person.  What you discern from Me is shown to you so that you may pray, never so that you may judge.  If you fall into a spirit of judging, you will no longer hear from Me with regard to that situation, and you will be deceived, having given Satan a foothold.  He is a clever and scheming enemy, and your only place of refuge is Me.  Let your heart constantly behold My face, and you will be able to test every thought and know whether it comes from Me, from yourself, from the world, or from the very pit of hell.  Any thought that does not come from Me is to be tossed aside and replaced with the truth of My word.

As your Comforter and Teacher, I will guide you in every area of your life, whether big or small.  There will be those holy little nudges, and you must never ignore them.  They are the key to your future usefulness in My kingdom, for if you are faithful in little I will entrust you with much.  Do not turn away from a path I lay before your feet because you are afraid you are unable to make the journey.  You are never intended to do anything in your own strength, and I will be faithful to do through your life all that My will intends.  It will be My work, My strength, My resurrection power working through a broken, but surrendered, vessel.

Let us go now into the unknown together.  Each day is an adventure and full of opportunities to see My hand at work.  Live with a present awareness of Me and be filled with thanksgiving.

John 3:6-8; 1 Peter 1:14-16; Ephesians 6:10-18; Matthew 7:7-8; Ephesians 4:20-32;

2 Corinthians 2:6-11; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Matthew 25:21; John 15:5;

2 Corinthians 4:7-18; Colossians 2:6-7

THIS MOMENT

I pray, Father, that all I do and say would

glorify You.

Set a guard, Lord, over my heart and mind and mouth

in order to establish Your kingdom rule in every exchange,

both incoming and outgoing.

Make me sensitive to what offends Your Spirit

and avoid it at all cost.

Help me to see the boundaries You have set for me

to guard against defilement of Your dwelling place

in me and in Your church as a whole.

You have set me apart; You have set Your people apart,

not to be unapproachable or withdrawn from the world,

but to offer a fragrance and light and hope in the darkest of places.

Help me fill my part in Your purpose.

There is a power, My child, in each one that belongs to Me.  That power is not a ramped up version of your best intents and abilities.  That power is a person, the Holy Spirit, who has taken up residence in you.  He is Me.  He is not some nice influence or better part of your personality.  He is not the sum of the strengths you may try to rally while you resist the pull of temptations that have mastered you in the past.  He is Me.

You intend for Me to have rule over your life; you want Me to do My will.  But you find yourself caught up in things that should have no place in your life and leave you feeling like you have wasted time and energy on what is worthless.  This is the sad state of many of My people living in defeat and not understanding how they got there.

I live in you.  I LIVE in you.  I live IN you.  I live in YOU.  Let My truth sink deep into your heart.  You will live in defeat until you understand that your life ended at the cross, was buried, and is raised to a new life, My life in you.  I am a part of every breath you take and every moment you live.  Live out from My life in THIS moment.  Do it again in THIS moment.  Allow into your heart and mind and life only what I bring you in THIS moment.  Give the world its walking papers.  It has no place in you.  When you take in the good things that I have for you, you will have no appetite for the refuse the world offers.  Focus on the intake and what you are feeding on.  The outflow will reflect and be in character with what you have taken in.  When you feed on Me and My goodness, love will flow out and express itself according to the opportunity I place before you.  Again you will depend on Me in THIS moment to show My love, make a choice, offer a cup of cold water, be broken bread or poured out wine to someone else.  I do not separate you from the world; I transform the world where you are standing into My kingdom in THIS moment.  Do not look for the over-arching purpose and plan for your life.  Live by Me in THIS moment.  ALWAYS.

Romans 7:14-25; Romans 8:1-17; Galatians 5:16-25; 1 John 2:15-17;

2 Corinthians 2:14-16; Colossians 3:16-17; Colossians 4:5-6; Hebrews 13:20-21