Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

God is building us.  God is after our hearts.  God is chipping away at us until He is formed in us fully. This is no instant endeavor!  I always marvel at how everything in life takes time to build.  Nowhere else in the world are there "instant" results.  And yet sometimes, we Christians want the easy way through difficulties.  We want that miraculous, instant deliverance from the Lord. Yes, He is more than able to deliver and heal instantly.  But these cases are the rare ones.   It's not that the Lord wants to see us suffer.  But He is the Master Technician knowing exactly which tools to use to bring us to our knees.  He wants us humbly at His feet because that is where the power is!  When we are weak, He is strong.  Even the children's Sunday school song reminds us of that.  The paradox is that He wants us strong!  Over and over again in Scripture, He tells us to be strong and courageous.  He tells us not to fear. But where does our boldness come from?  If we rely s

I believe with all that is in me that we are never good examples when we think we are, when we are trying to be. I believe that when we are yielded to Christ, His life in us, His will for us, that then, and only then, are we influencing those around us.  And we never, no never, know when we are doing this.  We are not supposed to know because then we may become affected or, worse yet, we may think that we have something to do with it! Jesus never set out to be an example.  He simply was.  As He stayed connected to His Heavenly Father, the life of God poured out through Him in thought, word, and deed.  And of course, He really is the only example in life for all of us.   Leaders will fail. "Experts" are limited. Good deed doers may be acting out of the flesh, not from fellowship with the Holy Spirit. So of course, we look to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ as our only example because His example is flawless and true.  His example can come to life in us, but only as glimpses

God is Omnipotent.  There is no higher or greater power than Jehovah God. When we are born again, He comes to live in our hearts via the Holy Spirit. We now possess all that He is!  We are not God - nowhere near.  That is for the New Ager's way of thinking. No.  Where once our spirits were dead, darkened, and lost, they are now made alive!  We now worship, love, and obey God only because His Spirit lives inside us.  Up until then, we may choose to be "good" people, and do the right things in life.  But there is a vast difference between a person living a "good" life in the flesh, and the born again Christian who allows the life of Christ in her to rule and live His life through her. There is a power to God's goodness.  His Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  All of these attributes live within us as born again believers in Christ. Our job now is to allow  the Holy Spirit full reign in ou