Recently I have added the name of a young man to my Prayer Roster. Joseph is a brilliant artist; one I hope the Lord will use in the ministry of His Kingdom.
He needs the power of the Lord’s Spirit within him to order and manage his life.
I relate well to this msn. My prayers for him include prayers for myself, especially in this latter stage of my life.
He, in his 30’s, and I in my 80’s, have much in common.
We have been given gifts from our heavenly Father, and we are both struggling to move forward with these gifts.
Beyond the fact that we see ourselves in a stronghold of the flesh, our procrastination keeps us bound to ourselves and limits the talents we are given – kept from God and hidden from others.
In Our Flesh
Our means of deliverance begins with understanding where we are in the flesh.
The apostle Paul speaks of man as ‘spirit, soul, and body.’ (1 Thess. 5:23)
The purpose of this post is not to start another book (which I might never finish) but to speak briefly about the work God calls us to and the work that He does in and through us.
Tendency to our Feelings
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
These words from Simon Peter to the believers of his day are as true today as when he wrote them. He compares two natures in the beginning of his letter. Anyone who meditates on these words will come away with a new perspective of where we are, who we are, and why we are here in this present world.
Oppression, Suppression, and Depression
Born into this world of ‘corruption’ we are always under a state of oppression.
Without understanding this, and turning to God’s Word for the knowledge of ‘life and godliness’ (our only means for a fruitful life in this state) we suppress the truth that He gives us in HIs Word.
Without the truth revealed by God in His Word,
we have nothing to hope in, stand on,
or live for in this world.
We search, reach for, and hold on to whatever is close and, in the end, have nothing substantial or relative to true life – nothing of godliness, which is the life God produces within us.
Depression manifests itself in different forms seen from one level to another in different stages.
Depression becomes the stronghold of our spirit, soul, and body, keeping us immobile.
Depression keeps us down, captivated by self, to obey the flesh in its weakness in all areas of life.
Depression leaves us deflated with no room for what is good or godly.
Where is our Hope?
As ‘spirit, soul, and body’ I must relinquish all that I am to God, our heavenly Father, who, with His Son and Spirit gave me life through the first man “Adam” through all generations.
I must see and know the One whose ‘divine power’ gives us ‘all things pertaining to life and godliness.’
I must admit my weakness and my need for His wisdom and strength.
I must submit all I am to Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, who has brought us to our Father through His death and resurrection to receive the power of His life in us.
I must commit to His direction by His Holy Spirt through His Word.
From the stronghold of oppression, suppression, depression, and procrastination, He, by the penetration of His Word, permeates our minds with His truth, and perpetuates His love and the life of Christ in us and through us.
As ‘partakers of His divine nature’ He fills us, lifts us, moves us, keeps us on the right path. In our struggles, He reminds us of His ‘exceedingly great and precious promises.’
He inhabits our praises, so that we speak to Him of His truth, never losing sight of Him and knowing the power of His presence with us. He, with the gifts He has given us, works in and through us to accomplish all He wants to do — for His glory and our joy in Him.
.Gracious and loving Father, We praise you that you have made us your children, not by anything we could do, but by your planning and covenant made with your Son before the creation of anything. How blessed we are to know you and to live in fellowship with you and your eternal family. I praise you that you have called us and given us the gift of eternal life and individual gifts through which you are working to reveal the power of your presence in the world today. In Jesus’ name I pray, I thank you, and praise you. Amen
Image: Google
“For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”