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Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirit. Show all posts

Friday, January 17, 2014

Spending Time with God

Spend Time with God
                                       
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We go out of our way to spend time with friends with we love.  It shows we love and care about the relationship we have with them.


In the same manner, God wants a Personal Relationship with us and wants us to spend time with Him too.

There are two things on a personal basis we do to develop our Personal Relationship with God.  Prayer and Bible Study- It is the most effective method to develop our Personal Relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

God shows us clearly in our Bible Study He loves us.  God, who can do anything in this universe, and of all the things He did do He sent His Son to us, because He loves us and wanted us to know the True way to live.

John 3:16 KJV
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish ,
 but have everlasting life.

He is the best friend we could ever have.  We like to talk to our friends, we should feel the same with God.  In prayer we communicate with God, out of those prayers, we listen, In listening, we learn to trust His timing to answer our prayers and in His timing, we Trust Him all the more. 

Jesus came to Save us, if nothing more than our selfish selves.  But, truly it is more than that.  Jesus too wants our love. His love was expressed on the cross.  He died showing us how to live, to live for God and live for Him.  We have to get over our selfish selves and love and live for God and Jesus. We do that as our Personal Relationship with God bears fruit.   But, there is more.  Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to help sustain us daily in our journey of a Personal Relationship with Him and God.

God and Jesus knew we cannot walk the talk of Jesus' teachings by ourselves, we need help.  In John 16*, Jesus predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples.  And Jesus delivered the Holy Spirit to the Disciples after His resurrection.  When the disciples were gathered and most troubled after Jesus' death, Jesus came to them.  In a second, in receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples went from being scared little boys in John 20, to men ready to die for the teachings and Life of Jesus.  In our Relationship with God we should feel the same.   

21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

But, that is not the end of receiving the Holy Spirit.  In our acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, St. Paul tells us that we too receive the Holy Spirit!

6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neitherindeed can be .8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if anyman have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christfrom the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.12Therefore , brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live .14For as many  (us) as are led by the Spirit of God, they  (we)  are the sons of God.15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father.16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

God and Jesus, truly loves us so very much to provide to each and every one of us the Holy Spirit, God Spirit's.  He predicted this for the disciples and the Holy Spirit comes also to us.  We receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit dwells within us to guide us, comfort us, and help us each and everyday, just as it did with the disciples.  We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit through our humble prayers, seeking to live as Christ lived and taught, and the feeling of being nudged in certain directions, sometimes new to us.  We understand Jesus better though Bible Study and prayers.  This, all because of the Holy Spirit's Guidance giving us Wisdom in our vision of the Holy Scriptures.
  
So, it is clear, God and Jesus wants a relationship with His children.  In accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior we receive the Holy Spirit!  In our humility of humble prayers and Bible study we know Them better.  In our prayers we further demonstrate our faith and Trust in God/Jesus, and in those prayers we seek our Personal Relationship with with Them. 

But truly in our prayers daily, in our Relationship with God and Jesus be become more open to the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If you have to, go out of your way and Spend Time with God.  To fully feel the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, Pray and Pray and Pray .......  EVERYDAY, ..... OFTEN EVERYDAY.  In praying often everyday, you will soon learn, it is not out of your way to Spend Time with God.

Prayer, done right in humility, will truly most assuredly change your life. 

Finally,  One more thought:  We have Prayer, Bible Study, and the Holy Spirit to help us and lead us in our Personal Relationship with God and Jesus.  One more element does exists to help us.  Find a Worship Experience, commonly know as a church, that has preaching, prayer, and Bible Study that leads to and outwardly speaks of  a Personal Relationship with God.  

Thanks Be to God
TB2G



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 *  John 16: 5-16

The Work of the Holy Spirit

5  "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?'6  Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.7  But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.8  When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:9  in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;10  in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;11  and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.12  "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."

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© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.


lonnie

Publication  0198




intro
Just as we are with our best friends, God truly loves you and His very real desire is to have a Close Personal Relationship with you.  Clink the link below for some thoughts on how to make that happen.  Share on your fb page as you feel lead to do so and check my FB page for more 'thoughts'.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/01/spending-time-with-god.html

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Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Joy found in a Beacon in the Night

The Joy of a Beacon
                                       
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The Validity of Jesus' Testimony

12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."13The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."14Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going.15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one.16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me.17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
In 1975, Wake Island in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, had one low power beacon working on a very dark and dangerous night. The danger on that fateful night inroute to Wake Island from Hawaii was in a unanticipated series of packed thunderstorms my crew and I flew into in our Air Force C-130 far from our destination.  For two hours we dodged the lightening as we picked our way through little openings in the fierce storm.  As the navigator, I just tried to make sure we stayed on a path headed generally west because we did not have the fuel to turn back to Hawaii.  We were committed to finding the tiny two-legged little island about two miles long and a 300 yards wide..

As we broke out of the storm the navigation beacon on Wake Island was not yet available and I knew we were well off course.  With navigation off the North Star and a star in the west, I soon found we were 70 miles off course.  After making corrections for the pilot to fly, I felt comfortable we were headed accurately to a safe arrival at Wake Island.  I told the pilot we would receive the beacon in about 45 minutes and we would be on a heading of about 268 degrees.    I was confident, but the pilot was elated when the beacon came up and about as I predicted.  The pilot trusted me, but still most elated to have the confirmation of what the stars had accurately told me in determining the aircraft position.  In reality, the stars told me more information than the beacon told the pilot.  The difference was, the pilot could control and tune in the beacon but had no concept of what I did to determine our position over the ocean.  For me I had the most accurate information based on the stars God put in the sky for my navigation.

In the picture above recently seen on Facebook, I thought about how a lighthouse is a beacon to boats and ships just as the electronic beacon was to the pilot, and the stars were a beacon to me on that fateful night.

We all navigate from storm to storm in our lives and we need help in our storms that is secure to help guide us to safe landings, successful dockings, and accurately finding our destinations.  Many people use their self confidence to guide themselves from storm to storm in life and just like the beacon at Wake Island self-confidence is fleeting and  is not always there to safely guide us.  But, for me, I was always accurate and most secure with my navigation using God’s stars.  They were always there in the right place, shining for me to depend on, and never ever leading me to anything but successful destinations.  This is the same with the teachings and the life of Jesus.


Jesus came too as The Beacon, The Beacon to save us from ourselves and our inbuilt sometimes fleeting self-confidence.  We depend far too much on ourselves and lead a bumpy life because of it.  God and Jesus does not always push our bumps out of our way, does not always remove us from our circumstances, and life is bumpy even with Jesus as our Lighthouse, our beacon, and our stars.  But,  just as the Lighthouse showed the ship officers the bumps in the water and the smoother water to navigate around them, just as my radar showed me where the most volatile dangerous storm clouds were, Jesus and His teachings show us the way through our often stormy lives.  The storms can push us around and rough us up, but when we keep our focus on the Light of Life, we know better waters and smoother flying is ahead.  We just have to trust God, Trust the Light of Jesus; and accept the Guidance, the nudging, the inward feelings presented by the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Spirit to guide our lives; in this, navigating our storms is still a task we must do, but the vision we gain with our Beacon helps us over the bumps, guides us through, and sometimes at our lowest of lows will carry us through..

 Trust God, Trust Jesus, Trust the Holy Spirit,
   Trust changes your life.

Thanks be to God.

© lonnie coggins
Please Join 'A Daily Thought Group' on Facebook.  It is designed to be an uncluttered library of only ‘A Daily Thought’ postings.  

 Thanks and God Bless.


Click Here to go to  "A DAILY THOUGHT GROUP"


==============================
Sharing these messages

You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

 It was a dark night, storms everywhere, and for most people trying to find an very tiny island in the middle of the Pacific, it would have been a scary time.  But, a calmness reigned in my life even when I did not realize its source.  This is a true story that I now easily give God the Glory for my calmness.  The Holy Spirit is with believers, even when we do not realize it.  Click the link for a story about a dark and stormy night.  Share on your fb page as you desire.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-joy-of-beacon-in-night.html

lonnie

Publication  000




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Saturday, September 28, 2013

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Living in the Spirit                                       
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It has been said, "Timing is everything."  When a someone tells a joke, timing of the unexpected words, the punch line, has to be timed to just right moment to get the biggest laugh.  Timing is needed when making an investment; to buy low and sell high you have to know the product and the readiness of the market for the best time to get the greatest return on your investment.  But in receiving the Holy Spirit, timing does not matter.  In accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, as having Risen from the dead, and because He is the Son of God you receive the Holy Spirit as your guide in Life, counselor, comforter, and teacher to know God's Will.  

 In this, Timing, waiting for just the right moment, means nothing as Jesus' timing is always now.  Always, in our "I believe", He immediately fills you with the Holy Spirit and accepts you as His.  He is on duty 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  He never takes holidays, vacations, or breaks, always ready to provide for your needs.  With Jesus, time is of the essence, the words are not joke, all that matters are the words "I believe", and the 'right' timing is always now.  In the decision of that moment, your real life begins.
------- So, you have said "I believe"- now comes the time of
   "Seeking the Will of God in your life by 
          Living in the guidance of the Holy Spirit" 
as presented in the example of Jesus.

To do this, first look at the New Testament scriptures as the foundation and motivation to live in the guidance of the Holy Spirit:

In this first scripture, we see Jesus doing exactly what God desires for us to live in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  His desire is our public acceptance of the Holy Spirit into our lives, baptism.  Accepting and living in the Spirit brings powerful changes to your life.

Matthew 3:15-18 NIV

15Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented.16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.

  • John 20:22 NIV

    And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
    Read John 20 | View in parallel | Compare Translations

    Here, Peter verifies that we too receive the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Savior.


    First, 
       Pray daily to be in the Guidance of the Holy Spirit and
            to Live Obediently in the Will of God just as Jesus did.
            Trusting God and Trusting Jesus.- It is a command to do so.
           That is God's plan!  Jesus said so!  He prayed often!
    To know God's will for living life-
       Study Scripture, 
              especially the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 4-7).
       Jesus knew Scripture, Follow His example!
       Remember, Jesus quoted scripture three times 
            in His desert experience and
            bang, the evil one was gone.
        When you feel tempted, pray and think scripture.
       Prayers and answers to your prayers, build Trust in God!

     Then, in Seeking the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33-4)
       Seek to Live as Jesus Taught and 
         Seek to Live as He walked His Talk and
            Seek to live Righteously before God in Jesus' example to us.
        And again, Trust God, Trust Jesus!

     Finally, just as First,
        Most importantly,
             "Pray and pray and pray, Everyday, 
             often Everyday for the Holy Spirit 
                  to fill your heart and guide your life in
                  everything you think, everything you say, and 
                      in everything you do."
         This, my friend, will change your life.  It did mine.

    Faith- it is all about Trusting God and Trusting Jesus!
    Now, 
        We all make many decisions every day and most of them are
              not very difficult, but
        When a decision you make is difficult, 
          when you have prayed in Righteous Obedience to God, when 
           you have examined the scripture concerning your need, and 
             when in your heart you are truly and righteously at 
             peace with your decision then 
    perhaps you are in the Will of God and 
         in the path the Holy Spirit is leading you.

     In doing this, we must leave worry out of daily life because
          Jesus counseled us not to worry in Matthew 6:25-34,
               Jesus did so because
          worry presents barriers to our relationship with God
             shoving inteference into our decisions,
               making difficult the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

     As you live out your decisions, 
          discern your needs as they are different from your wants,
          continue to examine scripture,
          continue to pray that you are in His will,
          pray often daily for the Spirit to lead you,
          live in acceptance of and trusting in His will,
          live in Righteousness before God by
               following the words and life of Jesus
    then
          as you seek answers in His Grace to
             the decisions you daily make,
         you will come to know the peace you seek in
         the life God has planned for you
    and 
          in His answers to your Righteous prayers
          the peace you find builds Trust,

     Thanks be to God
    © lonnie coggins





     ==============================

     Sharing these messages

     You are welcome to share these messages.  You can send the links to your friends,  copy and insert the link on FB or you can print the message and share it with your friends.

     You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

     © Lonnie Coggins
    ldcoggins@gmail.com

     If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

    Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

    lonnie

    Publication  0000
    Intro:

     We all make decisions every day.  It has been said that most people make just as many decisions in their daily lives as Presidents do, they just do not affect as many people.  But, to make the best decisions, President or not, you need guidance.  Click the link for more on making decisions in our lives.

     http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2013/09/decisions-decisions-decisions.html
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