Power Of The Spirit Filled Life

Key Scripture:  "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this that our old man was crucified with Him and we should no longer be slaves to sin." Romans 6:5,6

Power Point:

The concept of the old man versus the new man causes many of us to struggle.  As a new creation, we are something uniquely new to the world.  We get to be like Jesus. He was the first man to become filled with God's Spirit, anointed with His Spirit, and be able to live His life in total peace and partnership with God.  He lived in His purpose.

Jesus was living in the Kingdom of Darkness yet He brought God's light to the world He lived in.

He manifested the perfect example of a man, filled and led, and anointed with the Spirit of God.

He did not divide the two into different compartments.  He did not say, "This is what the Carpenter's Son can do."  and "This is what the Son of God can do."  He was both entities at all times.  He was sinless, and yet He had the perfect freedom to choose one without the other. There's no more striking example of that than in the Garden of Gethsemane. The pressure to give into His dread of what lay ahead for Him eventually had  to yield to His purpose. His desire to please His Father and set us free ultimately changed the world.

In Christ.

Those words sometimes trip off our tongues without any real depth of understanding, don't they? In the garden, Christ KNEW Who He was and WHAT He was called to do.  He had a love for His Father that none of us can truly comprehend.  His fleshly man was constrained by that love. He KNEW His Father's heart.  I believe He reminded Himself in those moments, that His Father was the kindest, gentlest, most joyful, happy and loving Person ever. He KNEW that God's power would keep Him, even when He could not keep Himself.  He KNEW that what lay ahead was only a moment in time compared to an eternity of freedom for us.  He KNEW that there was JOY on the other side of the cross.  
Have you ever thought that Jesus KNEW stripe by stripe exactly what was going to happen in the next few hours and He could have said, "No!"? But He didn't.  He KNEW that if He endured the next few hours He would march into hell and take back the keys of authority.  He KNEW that the Spirit of God that was in Him was GREATER than he that was in the world.  He KNEW that if He persisted, you and I would always have a choice to live in the Kingdom of Darkness or the Kingdom of Light.

He KNEW that some of us would choose to stay in darkness even though Light was now an option.

And most of all, He KNEW how valuable, precious, and profound it would be for us to live in relationship with His Father.  He KNEW that the cross meant that we would become part of God's family. And so He yielded His fleshly fear to the encouraging presence and power of the Holy Spirit within Him.

We have the same privilege. IF Jesus is indeed alive in your heart, the Holy Spirit is there as well.  That simply means that you have the same freedom to choose to  ask for His help, yield to His directions, and KNOW Him and KNOW Your heavenly Father.

Jesus KNEW all that.  If you KNOW Him, you'll know that too.

Power Thought:

His power towards us is according to His power in us.  Did you KNOW that?

Copyright ©2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.

Power Of Flying High

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

(Isaiah 55:9, NIV) I'm so thankful Lord that YOUR way is the HIGH way! Even in my "low" times, Your thoughts take me higher.

"And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth with Me."

Isaiah 58

Thank You Father that there are no limits to where I can go with You.  I can even go above and beyond above and beyond.

Thank You for helping me to fly high above the things on earth.

"The heavens are declaring the glory of God."

Thank You Father that today all I have to do to remind myself of Your love and power is to look UP and see the heavens declaring the glory of God.

So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.  Colossians 3:1,2 The Message

Thank You Father that I don't have to be absorbed into what is happening around me.  I can stir up the Power of Resurrection IN me and become alert to what is going on right over my head-where the action is.

"Christ's resurrection from the dead is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above."  

Father, thank You that all that is above is mine, NOW.  That all that You have, all that Jesus has, is NOW offered to me.  I can pick up whatever I need whenever I need it.  There is always more than I know, and there is always more than I need.  Thank You, for fine-tuning my lenses so that I can see that clearly. Thank You for showing me that you want me to dream, You want me to yearn for heaven on earth.
You are a Very Good Daddy!

Power Of Making Room

Key Scripture:  "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God."  John 11:40

Power Point:

     Do you have a situation in your life-perhaps a financial issue, a relationship, a dream that has died with no hope of being resurrected?  The medical report says "NO."  The financial report says, "Absolutely not!".  That marriage, that friendship is a very noisy "NO! No more!".  The situation seems deader than dead.  Beyond repair. Beyond redemption.  No hope. No way. No how.

Until Jesus comes by.

     You may remember the Bible story of the young girl who had died.  When Jesus came into the house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping." And they ridiculed Him." Jesus put the noisy, wailing mourners out of the house. He went in and took the girl by the hand, and she arose.  Jesus came by.

     And of course all of us remember the story of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus who died.  Again, Jesus identifies Lazarus as "sleeping".  Again the mourners are wailing, and everyone is confused.  Lazarus has, after all, been dead for four days. But then Jesus comes by.  You know the rest of the story. 

     Beloved, Jesus doesn't just bring dead people to life, He brings everything in our lives to life.

The word for "salvation" or "Savior" are very similar.  They mean soundness,  prosperity,  and rescue. The word "SAVIOR" also includes the idea of a deliverer, or a benefactor. In other words, whatever part of your life needs rescuing,(to wake up) Jesus is ready to come by and help you with that. His plan is to make your life safe and sound.  His plan is to bring His goodness into every part of your life. There are no exceptions, no restrictions. Abundance is not limited to one area.  It's meant to flow from one area to all the other areas.

   Whatever is dead is not dead to Jesus.  It's simply sleeping until He comes by to wake it up.

If you have a lot of wailers and mourners in your life who are definitely sure that what is dead is dead, why not tell them as Jesus did, "Make room" and then make room for the Savior to wake the dead.

Power Thought:

When anything in our life seems deader than dead, make room for Jesus to come by. 

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power Of Showers

Power Of Showers

"Investigate My goodness", says The Lord of The Angel Armies, "and just see if I will not open up for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you such blessings that there will not be room enough to receive it all!"  Malachi 3:10

Oh my soul, BLESS GOD!  From head to toe, I'll bless His holy name!
Oh my soul, BLESS GOD!  Don't forget a single blessing!

Blessed is the man whose God is the Lord.

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you that when I made you my God, I got more than I bargained for!
You pour out Your goodness on your children with such generous abandon and I love being positioned under the showers of blessing.  I am blessed when I go in and I am blessed when I come out. Your perfect gifts bless me every single day of my life.
THANK YOU!

Power Of The Sky Zone

SKY ZONE

Key Scripture: "Feast your eyes on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities and not with the distractions of the natural realm." Colossians 3:1,  TPT  

Power Point:

 This was the picture that God painted for me in the sky one day last week. i walked outside to feed the birds and what I saw when I looked up took my breath away. My spirit leapt with the power and beauty I saw there.  

 My grandchildren were here for a visit and one of the things they most love to do is go to  'Sky Zone", or the "jumpy place", as almost four year old Hannah calls it.  It's a trampoline park and they love it. It made me think of another sky zone.

     One thing that Holy Spirit  has been teaching me recently is to look more carefully into the Sky Zone; to see in the Spirit. I am learning to focus on things above and not on the situations right in front of my eyes. Like Elisha, I am learning to see that in the "Sky Zone",where there are heavenly armies around me all the time.  There is a fiery cloud over me all the time.  When I forget to look up, and see Who is with me, and what is on my side, I can become I "cast down", as the psalmist said.

     The more I focus UP, the higher I jump and leap into the presence of all that God has secured around me. When we were at Sky Zone last week, there was a young woman who really knew how to jump.  I have never seen anyone jump that high.  She could do splits, and twist her body and then do somersaults with unbelievable skill.  It was obvious that she had spent a lot of time practicing. And she was having the time of her life!

     Beloved, it takes practice to be able to focus and jump into the awareness of the presence of God and His kingdom.  It takes skill to learn to draw near to Him in difficult times. It takes practice to set your faith on Him and become so aware of His kingdom that everything else fades into oblivion. It takes a genuine intimate connection with Him to be quiet enough to hear His voice over the tumult around you. And it takes the ability to trust Him to join Him in the Sky Zone.

The more you practice focusing on things above, the stronger your spiritual muscles will become. Like that young woman at Sky Zone, you will be able to jump and leap and enjoy every moment.  You too, will be a beautiful thing to watch. And- you'll have the time of your life!

Power Thought:

"Give it up for God, for He alone has all the strength and power!

...His mighty strength soars in the clouds of glory!"  Psalm 68:35, TPT

Copyright (c) 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.

    

 

Power Of Angels

Key Scripture:   “I plead with you to walk holy, in a way that is suitable to your high rank, given to you in your divine calling.”  Ephesians 4:1, TPT

Power Point:

     Earlier this week I made the comment in my post on the Throne of Grace, that we each had the opportunity to be a manifestation of His grace.  Yesterday He gave me an amazing opportunity to do just that.

     God has been talking to me about His timing. I believe I am beginning to understand more and more about being in the flow of HIS time. I left my house early with my friend Julie.  We go to the chiropractor on Wednesdays and usually stop for coffee afterward.  On the way there, I commented on the vast number of trucks on the highway and how most of them seem to be in front of ME!  We stopped to shop for a bit and then I dropped her off. I made a quick trip into Publix and then the Bird Store and then made my way toward the other places I was going.

Construction. SLOW moving.  I thought I might stop in Chick-fil-A and pick up some lunch, but it was too busy. Thought I might stop somewhere else, but couldn't get through the traffic. Then I remembered something I needed at Kroger's and finally parked my car there.  As I got out, something on the ground caught my eye. It was a check, written for $400 from the owner of the bank account to herself to get cash.  On the back, she had endorsed it AND put her bank account number on it. Fortunately, her phone number was also on it, so I called her, thinking she might still be there. She must have been listening

to the message I was leaving as she picked up in the middle of it, hysterically grateful.  Her husband had come back to Kroger and all I needed to do was walk up to him and hand him the check.  I wish you could have seen the look on his face. I told him that I had been thinking about all the places that God had slowed me down, and speeded me up in order to get me to that parking lot at the perfect time.  I was so amazed at the complicated efforts He went through to get me there. 

     The woman called me her "angel".  I'm not sure about that but I think I was part of God's Angel Army yesterday.  In the process I got to bring "relief" to someone, which is my heart's desire.  And of course, it's His heart as well.

     I hope you get to be an angel to someone today.  If you're being held back, instead of complaining, try saying "thank You Lord!” and be on the lookout for your own angel assignment.

Keep your eyes and ears open for someone who needs relief, and then lend a hand.

     You just might be part of God's Angel Army today.

Power Thought:

Demonstrate His love in such a way that people will fall in love with your God.

Copyright© 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work