I hear a clear call for the church to “be” more spiritual. The call is not to be spooky or increasingly strange but more spiritual. This is not spirituality from the world’s perspective but a call to experiencing life led by the Holy Spirit.  A more spiritual church is a powerful, power-filled, excellent, effective, joyous church. And you, beloved of God, are the church.  So then as a believer the call is for you to be consistently led by the Holy Spirit. You are to surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life which enables you to freely release the life of God on Earth.  To be led by the Holy Spirit is to stop heeding your own guidance and the world’s way of thinking and acting. It means to accept the Lord’s way and follow it.  Being led by the Holy Spirit is not a matter of emotion, feelings, or even supernatural manifestations.  It is a complete surrender to the will of God. It is recognizing that God’s way is perfect. It involves embracing it, loving it, and following it. Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”  This is one the greatest principles for your spiritual living. Each day you must remember and completely identify with the fact that the old man is dead (2 Cor 5:17).  He has met the cross. The cross is the instrument of death. Yet, the amazing life of God survived the cross.  It is in you.  In order to experience God’s plan for spiritual living you must be willing to die to carnality and walk according the Spirit of God. God gives you power for a purpose—fulfilling His purpose.  Today, commit to ensuring that all He gives you is not wasted but completely used to expand the Kingdom.  This topic is rich and I’ll share on it over the next few posts. I invite you to walk with me as I do and even share your thoughts, comments, and questions.  I look forward to great conversations on spiritual living.

Blessings to you!
MC

You’ve probably heard it said before, “Life happens.” Perhaps you’ve expressed the same sentiment.  I know I have.  Now, don’t misunderstand I am not a fatalistic thinker, nor do I pass the buck when it comes to accepting responsibility for decisions; yet it remains a truth of life, things happen.  Some good, some bad, and many times things seem to happen one right after another often before you’ve had a chance to completely recover from the first thing.

Since it is a universal truth, it’s important to understand that when life gets a little haywire there is a principle that comes in handy; a principle that when applied to the situation will earn you some heavenly credit.  And in times like these, divine credit seems to be the only thing that hasn’t lost its power. The principle is worship. 

When the stresses of life seem to be hitting you from every angle—you must worship.  By worship I do not mean putting on your favorite slow tempo CD–worship is more than that.  I don’t even mean throwing your hands up in the middle of a worship service or allowing tears to stream down your face– worship is still so much more than that. Worship in this instance is a life of complete obedience fueled by uncompromising faith.  When life happens, it’s time to steady your emotions and obey the word of the Lord.

A few years ago Fred Hammond released a song; “I Will Find A Way,” which comes to mind as I consider this topic. In all honesty, when I first heard the song, it wasn’t one of my immediate favorites of the CD but that all changed one morning as I was working out. As I listened to the song again, it hit me—no matter what is going on around you there is an opportunity to worship the Lord.  You just have to find it.  If chaos is present there is an opportunity to bring order.  If sadness is present there is an opportunity to release praise.  When there is confusion there is an opportunity to receive and follow directions. When offense occurs there is an opportunity to offer forgiveness.  There are also endless opportunities to demonstrate love and faith.  No matter what life seems to present there are opportunities to actively and positively demonstrate the authenticity of your faith through your worship of God.  Perhaps when it all seems just a bit overwhelming you should simply stop and ask the question, “What opportunity to worship God is present in all this?”

On this beautiful day the Lord has made, I encourage you to honor God with your whole life, commit to finding opportunities to completely obey (worship) Him even when life is chaotic, difficult, or challenging and even more so when it’s better than you could have ever imagined. 

Blessings to you!
MC
This article was adapted from the message, “When Life Happens,” click here to order the complete message.