"In the Secret Place #19 Giving Thanks

 

lifewords  "In the Secret Place"  #19  Thank You Lord   Spending time intentionally thanking and praising our King is the way to enter in to the Secret Place of His presence! A thankful heart pleases God. He delights in His children thanking Him and acknowledging Him with praise. A heart of thanksgiving will keep your faith airborne.  A heart of thanksgiving will keep your eyes on the Lord's faithfulness. Expressing our thanksgiving and praise to the Lord draws us near to Him. It keeps our mind renewed to the Truth of Who He is  and the surety of His promises. Thanksgiving is a powerful defensive and offensive weapon against our enemy. Oh Lord, thank You!!!!!!! Your goodness and faithfulness and love to us is overwhelming! You are worthy of all of our praise. Holy Spirit, teach us how to continually express our thanks and praise.   Psalm 100:4,5 "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him; bless His name.  For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting, and His faithfulness to all generations"   Psalm 107:14 "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good."   Psalm 105 " Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His Name.  Make known His deeds among the peoples, Sing to Him, sings praises to Him: Speak of all His wonders, Glory in His holy Name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad."   Psalm 95:1-3 " O Come let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.  Let us shout joyfully to Him with Psalms"   1 Chron 16:34 "Give thanks to the Lord for He is Good; His love endures forever."   Psalm 97:2 "Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His Holy Name."   Psalms 86:12 "I will give thanks to you Lord with all my heart."   Lifewords family, I give you a challenge for today and throughout the upcoming month. At five minutes until  the top of the hour, stop and thank and praise the Lord for five minutes, yielding all to Him and asking Him to fill you afresh with His love and presence.  If you are with someone at that time, invite them to join you in this time of thanks.  This will be lifechanging.  I am praying for you now and wishing you a very blessed season of Thanksgiving!!!!!!

 

"In the Secret Place #18 Keeping Watch, Plenty of Oil

 

lifewords  "In the Secret Place"  #18  Keeping watch, plenty of oil     It's just too good to be true but it is true!  That we can meet with the Lord, the Creator of the Universe,  the Lord of heaven and earth, the Author and the Finisher, our Redeemer, our King, the lover of our souls... in secret.  He says that we will find Him when we search for Him with our whole heart. In that secret place with Him, as we humble ourselves, worship Him, wait in Him, renew our minds with His Word, call upon Him in prayer.....He fills us.   He consumes. He transforms. He teaches us, leads us, guides us He becomes our All in All and teaches us how to live as a branch abiding in the vine. Thank you Lord!   I'm thinking about the ten virgins of Matthew 25 today.  Jesus said the Kingdom ofHeaven is like this, so we know it is a timeless truth for us today. Five wise. Five foolish. They all had lamps, waiting for the bridegroom's return, but the wise were prepared with oil for their lamps. When the bridegroom arrived, those who had prepared with reserves of oil to keep their lamps lit were recognized by the groom and went in with him for the wedding. The others were unprepared, scrambling to borrow oil or try to go buy some.  Their lamps went out. They tried to come late, but the groom replied with some of the saddest words in the Bible,  "I tell you the truth, I do not know you." And He shut the door on those poor unprepared ones. Following the parable, Jesus gives us the  admonition, "Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know the day or the hour."Every time I read the account, in my mind I want those who had oil to please share with the ones who are without.  But here's the truth. Every person has to get their own oil.  Everyone has to keep their own lamp burning. Every person is responsible to be ready and to cultivate their own relationship with the Lord. And the place where we do that is in the secret place of  His presence, in His Word, in worship, in prayer. In the Secret Place we will know Him, and He will know us. In the Secret Place we keep watch, and there is abundance of oil to keep our lamps lit for the day and for the journey and for the return of our Bridegroom.

 

"In the Secret Place #17 Clothed with Humility

lifewords  "In the Secret Place"  #17  Clothed with Humility    I love what Daniel says to the King in Daniel 2:28...... "however, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries."  The Lord reveals mysteries  and secrets to those who will meet with Him in secret. One of the key mysteries of truly walking with the Lord and experiencing His presence is found in 1 Peter Chapter 5, where the Holy Spirit instructs us to clothe ourselves with humility, for God opposes (resists) the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Simple.  We humble ourselves, He gives His grace without measure!. In verse 6 is one of the most important habits we can cultivate in secret.  "Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.  Casting all your cares upon Him because HE cares for you."  In the secret place of prayer we choose to clothe ourselves with humility, knowing that apart from Him we can do nothing.  The Lord does not humble us, we humble ourselves. How powerful that we can get on our face, or our knees, or just simply lift our hands to the Lord in secret and yield completely to Him, repenting of sin, pride, selfishness, arrogance, fear. We can do it early. We can do it now. This is the safest place. Our praying and our life will be powerful in Him. The Holy Spirit will reveal to us the areas of our lives that must be brought into the light of the cross, He gives His grace without measure. He forgives us. He cleanses us. He fills us. He pours out His grace. He exalts us in Him.  Self affirmation is empty.  Self dependence is foolish. Self deception is likely, apart from Him.  He will exalt us above the circumstances of life. "Lord, teach us how to clothe ourselves in humility. Show us how to completely humble ourselves, yield to you, rely on you, trust in you, live in You. Lord, I humble myself now, knowing that apart from You I can do nothing, but with you all things are possible. In Jesus' Name. Amen"

"In the Secret Place" #16 In His Light we see Light

 

lifewords  "In the Secret Place"  #16  In His Light we see Light   You are the Lord's beloved one, and He delights to meet with you in secret! He loves for you to abide in Him, and  allow His Word  to abide in you. Did you know that you can know Truth today? Jesus said, "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) He is Truth! His Word is Truth.  He also said that "when He, the Spirit of Truth has come, He will guide you into all Truth; He will not speak on His own initiative but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will show you what is to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine, and disclose it to you." (John 16:13) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  Jesus said, "I am the Light of the World, He who walks in Me shall not walk in darkness but have the Light of Life." (John 8:12) As we spend time with the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in secret, we will learn to discern deception and understand God's Truth. He will open the eyes of our natural and spiritual understanding.  He will replace darkness with light, confusion with clarity, ignorance with understanding.  Fear will be engulfed by faith in the Living Promises of God and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, our Teacher, Helper and Comforter.  He is the Spirit of Truth. Honor Him and you will be amazed, for in His light you will see light. There are many voices clamoring for your attention every day. When you spend time with the Lord, at His table, in secret, you will be able to hear His voice above the rest. Thank you precious Holy Spirit.

"In the Secret Place" #15 Discovering the Holy Spirit in the Secret Place

lifewords  "In the Secret Place"  #15  Discovering the Holy Spirit in the Secret Place   As we follow Jesus' earthly example of meeting with the Father in secret prayer, the Holy Spirit is our intimate Teacher Helper.   Aren't you glad that Jesus came to this world, born as a man, lived a sinless life completely yielded to the Holy Spirit and the will of the Father and demonstrated  to us the love and kingdom of God?   Lord thank You that You paid for our sin by Your substitutionary  death on the cross, redeemed us from death and hell by Your precious blood, rose from the dead to guarantee us eternal life,  and   have brought us back into relationship with the Father!    Our Jesus has made us alive in Him,  and He has brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light! He has reconciled us back to a place of God's sons and daughters! We have been redeemed from the curse! We have access to His presence, no longer separated! We have the assurance of eternal life with Him!  Then, having finished all, before He left this earth to go back to the Father, He gave us instructions to  love our God, love others, be One and preach this Good News to all the Earth. He promised that when He left He would send Another, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, to be with us and live in us forever.  And He did!  Thank you Lord! This was the end game of the Father. He wanted a dwelling place not made with human hands but our very hearts and lives. So Jesus went back to heaven and the Holy Spirit came to this earth to live in us and through us, and prepare  us to be His glorious Church, His Bride.  Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is living in you and me. Jesus is the Head and we are His Body.    Jesus spoke much of the Holy Spirit and He said that the Holy Spirit will fill you,teach you, guide you,reveal truth to you, comfort you,empower you, transform you and demonstrate the Word of God in and through your life. He will give you power over sin and power to be a witness to fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray. He  illuminates God's Word. He helps us live a holy life, pleasing to God. He causes us to succeed, as we rely on Him through our weakness. He will cause His fruit to be demonstrated in our life.  You will know Him in the Secret Place, and He will show you how to abide in Him, be familiar with His voice and live every day for His glory.