The Spirit and the Heart..Craig Denison Ministries

  The Spirit and the Heart

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. But those perceptions aren’t the truth of Scripture. Those beliefs are founded on misguided notions of God’s character. God is after the heart. More than he wants us to do right, he wants us to see him rightly. He wants going to church, reading the Bible, worshipping, serving the poor, and living righteously to come from a heart filled with a true revelation of his loving-kindness. May your heart be wholly God’s this week.

Scripture:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” 1 Corinthians 6:19

Devotional:    

Abundant life is given in the communion of the Spirit and the heart. It’s our hearts the Spirit speaks to. It’s our hearts he fills with love, joy, peace, and hope. It’s our hearts in which he dwells. To acknowledge the communion between the Spirit and the heart is to open ourselves to the wellspring of life abundant. And to live seeking a greater awareness of the union that was formed in us with the Spirit at salvation is to position ourselves to receive all that God longs to give us.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” Scripture tells us of a greater level of communion with God than we are right now experiencing. Scripture tells us that when Jesus died God tore the veil in two from top to bottom. Prior to Jesus’ death, God’s glory had to be contained within the temple. Now through the sacrifice of Jesus we have become the temple of God. We now have union with our Creator in the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” To say that God dwells in our hearts isn’t just a figure of speech. If you are a believer, you have been sealed and filled with the Holy Spirit. You have constant communion with God. All that’s left is to grow in your understanding of this wonderful, supernatural union you have with your heavenly Father.

The Spirit longs to reveal how near he is to you. He longs to make you more aware of his manifest presence. He longs to lead you, speak to you, fill you, satisfy you, heal you, set you free, and empower you. He longs for your heart to find freedom and security in him. He longs to be your best friend, companion, and teacher.

Take time today as you enter into guided prayer to gain a greater revelation of God’s nearness. Ask him to reveal himself to you that you might know to greater depths how unified you are with him. May your time be filled with a greater measure of God’s presence and love.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on what Scripture says about the Spirit and the heart. Reflect on the communion you already have available to you with the Holy Spirit.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

“But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” 1 Corinthians 6:17

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Romans 8:9

2. Ask the Holy Spirit for a greater revelation of his nearness. Open your heart to God and receive his presence. Take notice of how close he is to your heart.

3. Rest in the presence of God. Allow a revelation of his nearness to establish within you a new reality founded on God’s manifest presence.

Allow the Spirit to permeate everything you do today. Seek to live in constant awareness of his presence and love. You don’t have to strive to be with God. You don’t have to strive to encounter him. He is already with you. He is already in you. All that’s left is for you to simply open your heart to him moment by moment. Don’t live as if God is separate from you. Don’t talk to him or worship him as if he is distant. Rather, live in light of Scripture and experience all the abundant life he has for you in his nearness. May your life be changed by the powerful, constant, unfailing, and wholly satisfying presence of God.

"In your presence there is fullness of joy." Psalm 16:11

Extended Reading: 1 Corinthians 6

The First Empty Tomb..Dr. Charles Stanley

 The First Empty Tomb

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

Jesus is the only person who has an empty tomb. Everyone else who's died has returned to the dust, but Christ is alive and seated at the Father's right hand. Because He overcame death, His followers are also guaranteed empty tombs someday. When Jesus returns for His church, those who have died in Him will be resurrected into glorious bodies. And believers who are alive at that time will instantaneously be changed.

Knowing this, we naturally wonder, What kind of body will I have? The best way to answer that is to see what Scripture reveals about Christ's body after He rose from the dead. He didn't come invisibly in the form of a ghost but rather had a literal, physical body. He talked, walked, and ate with His disciples. Yet although He was recognizable, He was somehow different, and at times it took His words or actions to jog their recognition.

Here's one thing I can tell you about the resurrection: you will look better than you do today! God is going to give you a strong, glorious, eternal body which is perfectly fitted for your life in heaven. Believe me, you will not be disappointed, because God has far more in store for us on the other side than we can ever imagine. You will be more alive there than you could ever be here.

A more important issue we must face is how to get ready for that day. This life is just a puff of wind compared to our eternity. It's my personal opinion that the way we live here on earth will determine our capacity to enjoy heaven. The time to begin living for God is now.

The Empty Promise of Retaliation..Ashley Moore

 The Empty Promise of Retaliation

By Ashley Moore 

“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9, NLT

A family member, deeply wronged by her husband, decided revenge would be better than forgiveness. I understand her desire for retaliation, but her choice to "get even" only further strained and deepened the riff in her marriage. We all fall for the empty promise of retaliation sometimes, don’t we? We delight in zooming past the creeping car in the left lane as if that could make up for our lost time. We seek justice from the spouse who forgot something important by giving them the silent treatment. Or we continue to believe we will feel better if we hurt people as they've hurt us.

But when we choose those actions, do we ever truly feel better? Does the outcome deliver what we think it promises? Maybe we get some sort of temporary gratification, but it is fleeting. Retaliation never completely takes away the pain of the injustice we experience. Is justice right and good, when it's handled God’s way? Absolutely! But in our hands, justice is an emotional reaction that will only produce another injustice. It never has the power to heal our wounds. What could it look like for us to refuse to take the bait of the empty promise of retaliation and instead do what God has called us to do? 

Think Through the Choice to Retaliate.
At the height of an emotional moment, acting first and thinking later is easy. But oftentimes, our impulsive actions can leave us filled with regret. Before taking action, it’s wise to consider the ways a situation could go. Could we make things worse? Will the temporary satisfaction we receive from payback result in a lifetime of regret? Taking time to think through our choices is always a good idea. And if we find ourselves repeatedly in the same types of circumstances this may mean we need to take a deeper look. Is this an emotional trigger that exposes old wounds, and ultimately misplaced anger? These types of reactions are often indicators of old pain points that need attention and care. 

Remember the Gospel. 
Whether we are not yet Christians, new believers, or seasoned saints, we never outgrow our need to be reminded of the gospel. Remembering Christ sacrificed His life on the cross for our sins and the sins of others reminds us that retaliation is not ours to give, but forgiveness is. The gospel is our power source over sin. The gospel is the reason we can forgive because we know Jesus will right the score, vindicating the righteous, and punishing the unjust. Remembering the hope we have in the gospel is our weapon against the empty promises of retaliation. 

Before we react to something that hurts or offends by choosing or retaliating against the person who hurt us, let us do something else first. Let’s work to think through our choice by playing it out in our minds to see if it will achieve the desired result. And let us apply the truth of the gospel to the situation. If either of these two options reveals our choice to retaliate doesn’t hold, then may we have the strength to respond as God has called us to and receive His blessing instead. 

Intersecting Life and Faith:
When choosing between retaliation or forgiveness, before getting emotional, take time to think through the different ways to react and the coinciding outcomes. Look for trends from events in the past. Apply the gospel to each situation. 

 Further Reading: 

• Romans 5:1 

Are You a Spiritual Fighter?..Dick Woodward

 Are You a Spiritual Fighter?

By Dick Woodward

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.” - 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Heavenly Father, how can we possibly comprehend your will? In times of uncertainty, help us to put our trust in you.

When we read in the Bible about the great men of God we find that they all seem to have deep experiences with God. The details of their experiences vary greatly but the results are very similar.

Jacob wrestled all night with an angel. The angel forced Jacob to look up and wrestle his way through to God. Then the angel forced Jacob to look in and confess that he was a rascal who lived up to his name. The name “Jacob” meant “Grabber.” He was a mover, shaker, doer kind of man who was always running and would not stand still long enough for God to place a blessing upon him.

God could not get Jacob to wait on his Lord. He had to cripple him so He might crown him with His blessing. We might call it: “The cripple crown blessing of God.” When a man is crippled what else can he do but wait?

When God won the wrestling match He pronounced a blessing upon this man – the one quoted above from the book of Genesis. By changing his name to “Israel” God declared that Jacob was a fighter. He had fought his way through to his God and confessed to what he saw when he looked in. He was then ready to look around and fight through his relationships with people.

Are you a spiritual fighter? Have you fought all the way through your up look to God? Have you won the battle when you look in? Are you winning the battle when you look around and work out all your relationships?

A Prayer for the Spirit’s Power..Meg Bucher

A Prayer for the Spirit’s Power
By Meg Bucher

“For I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance,” Philippians 1:19 ESV

Prayer is powerful. We hear this a lot, but how often do we pray like we believe prayer has the power to affect our daily life? When a string of prayers goes unanswered, I can easily fall into a routine of listing off prayers without attaching my full confidence in God’s ability to answer them. It’s not natural for us to want what God wants for our lives. We want what we want …and we tend to want it …now. 

The verse above is part of Paul’s thanks to the Philippians for praying for him! They helped him in prayer, and with a need he had. The power of the Holy Spirit helps us to recognize the power of prayer. He translates our prayers to heaven, even when we lack the words to say them. He knows when we’re praying out of routine, and need to be reminded of the guaranteed listening ear of the Father, and assured answer. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: 

“You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayer of many.” 2 Corinthians 1:11 ESV

Paul had confidence in the power of prayer, and we can too. Ask the Holy Spirit to come into our lives daily and show us!

Let’s pray:
Father, 

You are the life and length of our days. God, You are our Provider, Healer, and Defender. Every need we lift up to heaven, You are already aware of. The state of our hearts is always known by You, who knows us completely. You see our pain and confusion and know our frustration and struggle to love the other people in our lives. Father, You see it all. You know it all. Thank You, for being in all of it with us. Thank You for listening to our prayers, and thank You for answering them. You are faithful, compassionate, and caring about our concerns. We are thankful You are a personal God. 

Today, we pray, Holy Spirit, for You to come into our lives and fill our hearts to the brim with everything we need to live this day to the fullest, as Jesus died for. Help us understand what we need, and let the rest go as we trust You, God, with our lives. Help us to heal from pain, even though answers to our prayers haven’t happened the way we want in the time we want them to. Increase our trust in who You are, and help us to trust in the power of prayer. 

This day, we surrender afresh to You, Jesus. Our arms are open and our hearts are fully devoted to You. Help us to follow you each day, discerning what to do and where to go. Help us to live in the moment, praying continually and trusting Your lead on our lives. Jesus, we know we can always look to You when we feel isolated, hurt, betrayed, and sad. We know You know how we feel. Thank You for walking with us, for setting Your Holy Spirit in us, to guide and comfort us. As we trust in the power of prayer, perhaps comfort is what we need the most. Comfort and encourage us, God, as only You can. 

Father, we want to know with the same confidence Paul had, a powerful effect of our prayers and of those who intercede for us. Help us to reach out in confidence when we need prayer, God. And help us to pay attention to the people in our lives who also need our prayers. We want to feel the power of prayer, and Holy Spirit rushing through our lives as we remain in constant conversation with You, Father. 

Thank You for faithfully meeting us where we are in our lives before we even call on You. The most dependable, reliable, faithful, Father. We love You with our whole hearts. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.