When Job was suffering, the voice of his friends was not the counsel he needed.  As king David ran in fear, his emotions ran up a fever. His privileged son Absolam had taken counsel from foolish men, so David chose to preach to his soul as he ran for his life.  His decision to remember the Word of God calmed his soul. “The voice of the Lord is powerful.” The Hebrew word for powerful: Force, Might; Strength; Firm; full of Vigor.  Fully Equipped Write down your experiences to glorify God and encourage yourself like David did.

Psalm 42 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Why, my soul, (my emotions) are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” Where is God?

God never left! David is reminded from within. “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.” David chose to remember God and how God used a stone to take out the terrorizing giant! Our own voice has the greatest influence on our spirit. Our own voice will dictate the manner in which we choose to respond to every attack or offense. When we use our voice to recite the word of God, a powerful force is released. As we choose to recount our blessings with our voice and declare His promises, the Spirit of God breaks through as we submit to truth, rather than our emotions. Arrogance

Recount the blessings with your voice and declare His promises. The Spirit of God breaks through as we submit to truth, rather than our emotions. Place your hope in the everlasting God. His way is above ours, and His Word will remain as everything else shrivels. His Word blows away evil like dust. His Word dismantles fear. Psalm 105:1-5 “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced.”

Both king David and Paul, whenever they were in distress, they picked up a pen and wrote words down to encourage themselves. “Trust God!” Preaching to himself, David wrote his emotions down. “Why am I downcast?” Trusting that GOD never forsakes, he inquired of the deep. He cried out for an answer, and in the the depth of his despair, David met God there. He poured out His questions, his fears, his most anxious doubt. “Where is God?”  David exposed his deepest emotions, and in that bleak moment, the everlasting God gave David the light of truth. The Spirit of God drove out fear as it broke through with hope.

God never abandons us. He gives us the freedom to choose to stay under His umbrella of protection. We must CHOOSE to use our voice to preach to ourselves. After David’s exhausted, dehydrated soul poured out to God from his deep, God then ministered to David by giving him the physical strength he needed and spiritual renewal. If David had chosen to bottle up his emotions, his feelings would have tricked him into thinking he was doomed. 

Paul wrote the following to preach to himself. 1 Timothy 1:15 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves FULL acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE sinners—of whom I AM the WORST. But for that very reason I was SHOWN MERCY so that IN ME, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display HIS IMMENSE PATIENCE as an EXAMPLE for those who would BELIEVE in HIM and RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE. Now to the KING ETERNAL, immortal, invisible, the ONLY GOD, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

We choose to submit our mind and emotions over to the Spirit of God. We choose to hope firmly in God, as His Spirit never departs. Paul preached this to himself while in prison. Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

An arrow of offense will hit a deep spot in the heart of those who trust in God. Absalom hurt his father as he hunted David down.  Matthew was a traitor to his Jewish brethren as he collected taxes. His choices hurt his family and they offended Simon Peter. Church leaders not only hurt Jesus, they mocked Him as He quoted Scripture that pointed to Him. Those who choose to give their emotions power over the Spirit of God — will find themselves in a pity party. Our spirit man is kept from giving wise counsel, or correction whenever our emotions are given permission to undermine the Word of God. The command to forgive is hushed by a fleshy choice to be justified in holding onto bitterness, and resentment.

Sadly the victory “in Christ” is lost when we are not in submission to the Spirit. The devil seeks to destroy our faith in God, and in the power of the abiding Holy Spirit – Who is in our midst for counsel, direction,  wisdom and discernment. When a follower of Christ walks in the flesh, they are not submitted to the Spirit, and they fail to please God. Our Father’s consistent response to our fears and doubts is always grace. “Forgive them for they know not what they say or do.”  AGREED TRUTH: it is easier to resist the temptation of the devil, than to humbly ask God to deliver us through the repentance of our reluctance to obey God — Learning His way, takes time. Eventually, we humble our flesh, and we forgive every single dart of offense. Praise God for His patient endurance.

God has given us liberty. “You are free from the power of sin and have become a slave of God.” Romans 6:22 We all have the freedom to choose God in any tense moment. We can choose to submit to the indwelt Spirit as His slave, and surrender our emotions to His care. His Spirit leads us into peace, victory, and holiness. Our freedom in Christ is to choose Him over emotions. It is a life that agrees with God and gives voice to what God says. The truth trumps emotions stirred when we reflect on God’s Word and His Presence.

A Watchman Nee quote. “Whatever we are by birth, whether good or bad, whether useful or not, is a hindrance to the Holy Spirit. Our NATURAL strength, wisdom, wit, cleverness, disposition, shortcomings, virtues, and attributes, plus our character and habits, must all be dismantled in order that the Holy Spirit may form in us a new divine habit of yielding to the Spirit of God. His job is to give us a new disposition, a willing obedience to yield.  In order to accomplish this work of reconstitution, the Holy Spirit of God moves within to enlighten, inspire, and saturate us with the unlimited nature of the divine. Yield and grow.

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher and Guide. As we submit, He leads us and He arranges each detail for our notice. Ask the Lord, “Why this person,  or this unusual situation?  What do I need to see through Your eyes?”  He challenges us in various situations to get us to submit all our natural abilities to Him. He may arrange a meeting with a certain person in order to breakthrough our natural quickness or slowness. He may arrange specific situations to abolish our clever ways or the dullness of our attention. He may coordinate a difficult interaction in a way that makes our intellect insufficient.  The Holy Spirit uses all kinds of persons, and experiences to show us that we must rely on God, not ourselves. All aspects of our natural way then yields to Him in order that He can do His job: conform us to the image of Christ.”

The longer a tea bag sits in hot water, the water gets saturated by the content and becomes strong. The longer we sit quietly in the Presence of God, the more our spirit gets saturated by the Divine. As we soak in His rich content, our container fills with a most powerful blend of strength and courage. We then walk fortified with a force that cannot be overtaken. When life heats up, “Be still and know that God is the strong drink you need in times of trouble. He will quench your thirst and satisfy all pressing needs.” Soak in His Vigor.

Get to know the Holy Spirit’s heart.  Begin a friendship with Him. Unmasking My Beliefs