Category Archives: Holy Spirit
Shallowness
Mark 4:16-17 “Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.” (NIV)
The first growth trap that keeps people where they are in spite of all the power that is available to them is Familiarity. The second trap of growth is Shallowness. Read the rest of this entry
Now!
Hebrews 3:15 “But now is the time. Never forget the warning, “Today if you hear God’s voice speaking to you, do not harden your hearts against him…” (LB)
The third thing that causes and strengthens familiarity is Declaring Without Doing. The problem is we tend to blame the things we are familiar with as the hinderance to our personal growth. Read the rest of this entry
Get Busy
Romans 2:13 “Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.” (MSG)
I am sure you know people who always sit in the same seat in church. In fact, even ushers don’t want trouble, they just allow them. Why do we do that? We do that because we have become familiar. Read the rest of this entry
Mindful
Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
Let’s start with a quick recap. Familiarity is the first trap of growth that keeps people where they are despite all the power available to them. The first thing that causes familiarity is Hearing Without Responding. Read the rest of this entry
The Danger
James 1:22 “Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!” (TPT)
The first trap of growth that keeps people where they are despite all the power available to them is, Familiarity. The danger of familiarity is this; it is not the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, or the purposes of Heaven that suffer. Read the rest of this entry
Familiarity
Matthew 13:10-11 “His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.
Mark 4:15 “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” (NIV). Satan will not succeed in stealing the Word of God Read the rest of this entry
Likeness
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (KJV, emphasis added).
We will begin today with the final thought from yesterday’s devotional. The question is what are you beholding? The truth is you become what you behold. When people behold strange things, they become strange things. Read the rest of this entry
Temporal & Negative
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”
Yesterday, we highlighted three types of strongholds—Negative, Positive, and Temporal Strongholds. We will kick off today by looking at the Temporal strongholds. Read the rest of this entry
Add, Not Subtract
Isaiah 54:2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.” (NIV, emphasis added)
When God says, enlarge the place of your tent, there are implications of the concept of the “tent” and the enlargement thereof. Over the next few days, we will look at five of such implications of “tent” and the enlargement thereof. Read the rest of this entry
