Luke 11:2-4 – “So Jesus taught them this prayer: “Our heavenly Father, may the glory of your name be the center on which our life turns.  May your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us.  Manifest your kingdom on earth. 3 And give us our needed bread for the coming day.  4 Forgive our sins as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.  And rescue us every time we face tribulations.” 

Today is unfolding as a day to be unfolded.   It seems each step has distractions and detours to navigate.  It is not bad, but each step requires a pause to ask, “What now, Lord?”   My daily routine is being pushed to the side.   It will be an exciting day, and God’s purposes will be attained.

As I began reading, praying, and pondering the Word, Jesus’s model prayer in Luke 11 captured my thoughts.   No matter how many times I read it, something fresh is discovered.

He began by directing the focus on the Father.  The phrasing in the Passion Translation spoke powerfully to my heart. “…May the Glory of Your Name be the center upon which our life turns.”    Think about that. The starting place of every day is God, and He is to be the source from which we live.    He is to be the center of every word, action and thought. That opens the door to everything!

He then asked for the ministry of the Holy Spirit to come, convict, convince, and convert us.   He desired that we be bathed in God’s mercy and grace and thoroughly purged of our sins.   God is central, and out of that recognition, we receive cleansing.

Those two factors open the door to revelation and enable us to experience the Kingdom.  The kingdom flows out of the manifested Jesus, and we enter that in a state of total surrender and spiritual regeneration.   Then, with God and the spiritual elevated to the pinnacle of our lives, we turn to our daily needs—bread for food, naturally and spiritually.

With God Supreme, our hearts are purified, and a consciousness of God’s manifestation (kingdom), our daily needs are supplied, and we do more introspection that exposes our hearts.   In the light of our own forgiveness from God, we forgive others.

In that heightened state of consciousness of God, totally surrendered to Him, saturated with the Spirit, and Spirit-led, we elevate our confidence in God. “Rescue us every time we face tribulations.”

The illustration that Jesus gave as an addendum is powerful. Persistence is the key!   We get right in our hearts, which translates to being right in our lives.   We often pray the model prayer without expectation.    We ask, and it doesn’t happen, and we quickly conclude it must not be God’s will.   NO!   Persist. “Be not weary in well doing, for in due season we reap IF we don’t quit!”

Pursue God above everything and then refuse to stop pursuing the promises!  There is power, promise, and provision in PERSISTENCE! 
No matter what, PERSIST!

In your questions of “What Next or What Now?” rest in His goodness and keep looking up, for our redemption is drawing very near!

Luke 8:10 – “He said, “You have been given a teachable heart to perceive the secret, hidden mysteries of God’s kingdom realm. But to those without a listening heart, my words are merely stories. Even though they have eyes, they are blind to the true meaning of what I say, and even though they listen, they won’t receive full revelation.”

As I rose before my usual early hour, I felt uneasiness in my spirit. Many of my friends and acquaintances are engaged in extreme spiritual warfare, and my heart is breaking for them. I was reminded of Peter and John’s act at the Gate Beautiful and a revelation contained in Peter’s words and actions.

The illustration in Luke 8, the parable of the Sower and types of soil, captured my thoughts with this understanding: ‘Listen with the heart.’ In verse 10, Jesus said, “You have been given a teachable heart to perceive the secret hidden mysteries of God’s kingdom realm. But to those without a listening heart, My words are merely stories.”

Many struggle within, and when pressure is applied, the fruit of the heart overflows.  We struggle with how to help those who are struggling.   In Luke 6, Jesus compared our lives to fruit trees.  We can only give what we have or what we truly are.

Luke 6:44 – “Every tree will be revealed by the quality of fruit it produces.”   In verse 45, “For the overflow of what had been stored in your heart will be seen by your fruit and will be heard in your words.” In verse 46, He emphasized that it is not what we claim to be but what we truly are that reveals the heart.  

The proof is in the pudding. We can’t hide the overflow. Love for God is impossible to hide. It is evidenced by love for others.   We cannot truly give what others need until we give God our whole hearts.   What they need is not simply natural.  Anyone can address material needs, but only God can address the needs of the heart.  We can only give what we have and what we are.

• If we want to bring others to wholeness, we must be made whole ourselves.
• If we want to see the captive freed, we must be set free!
• If we truly give God our lives, we receive His life and can then give that to others.

We need to gaze into the mirror of the Word, and as we see our glaring needs, we give them to Jesus.   We exchange our deficiencies for His wholeness.   It is out of that flow of wholeness that we give to those in need.   We are to flow through channels of grace!   What we need and what they need is at our disposal.   Our part is total surrender.   Then, out of our transformation, we give, and that gift releases the flow of wholeness.

Allow the Holy Spirit to bring you to wholeness so you can bring others into the presence of the Living LORD!

Luke 1:30 – “So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!” 

In Luke 1:30, when Gabriel came to Mary, he made a statement that captured my thoughts.  He said, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary…”   I can almost hear Mary thinking, “Wait, why are you telling me not to be afraid?  What is about to happen?  “  Gabriel continued, “For the LORD has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift.”

We read that in passing with little thought of the depth of Gabriel’s words.   Did it surprise her?   Yes, and everyone else, too!   What a wonderful gift!   Wait, an unmarried Jewish girl is going to get pregnant.    Believe me, that would be a great cause for fear!

Interestingly, he said, “Surprise you.”   It would be a total shock to anyone.    What we read in the Gospels does not give the cultural and religious ramifications of this.   Unless Joseph married her, she would be shunned and possibly stoned to death as a fornicator.  It was not a small thing that could be viewed with nonchalance.    This was serious! It was life or death!

In hindsight, we know it was wonderful, but Mary had to trust God with her life!   Luke reveals a key to banishing fear in several passages.  When Mary came to Elizabeth, Luke 1:39 says, “Elizabeth was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit!”   

Gabriel told John’s father that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit in the womb.  (Luke 1:15).   Once John was born and the name John was official, Zechariah was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.  (Luke 1:67).

Luke 4:1 – “From the moment of His baptism, Jesus overflowed with the Holy Spirit.”

Fear cannot exist in a life overflowing with the Holy Spirit.   We need the anointing to be and the anointing to do the work assigned to us.  Therefore, we should seek to overflow with the Holy Spirit.   Matthew 6:33 should be our daily objective, “constantly seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness…”  

Seek Him first and above all else!   Do not fear that you will become so heavenly-minded that you are no earthly good.   That is not possible!   If your heart and mind are consumed with God and you overflow with the Holy Spirit, you become the best you can be!  The converse is the problem: becoming so earthly-minded that you are no heavenly good.

God desires us to know Him and become devoid of fear!   He wants us to be and do what He has commissioned us to be and do.   We do that by becoming so saturated with God that we overflow with the Holy Spirit.  In that condition, we become lights in the darkness, and miracles accompany us, just as Jesus said.

My cry is, “Fill us to overflowing, Lord!”

Rejoice and keep looking up for our help, which is coming from the Lord. Sunday is coming!

Mark 13:32-33 – “Concerning that day (the coming of Jesus) and exact hour, no one knows when it will arrive, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son – only the Father knows.  This is why you must be waiting, watching, and praying because no one knows when that season of time will come.”

Most of us have heard, “Today could be the day for decades.”    Like those of the Bible, it sometimes becomes a wishful fantasy, almost mythical.    Year after year, we see the decline and depravity and wonder how much worse mankind can become.

Even with the declension of our society, there is no Jesus in the clouds.  That causes some to grow slack in their commitment and become drawn to the life of the flesh and the world’s offerings.  The focus shifts to the gratification of the flesh and earthly pursuits.

The signs should inspire us to live with anticipation and expectancy.  The conditions of the world and people fitting the biblical description of the Last Days should motivate us to watch, wait, and pray expectantly.    He is coming.   The only question is when!

Our task is to be ready and share the hope of eternity with everyone.  The more certain we are that He is coming, the more willing and motivated we are to tell others about Him.

As I went to bed last night, I was impressed that there were words to describe each day of the weak.   Tuesday was “Tenderness, Tenacity, and Treasure.”   

• If our hearts are tender, we are moved by the needs of others.
• If we are tenacious, we will refuse to give up and ferociously contend for the thing desired.
• If God’s gift of eternal life (salvation) is our treasure, we will share it with whosoever will.

Mark 16:17-18 is our amazing promise and commission.  He is coming back.  The evidence of our believing that is in our living!  When He is coming, He is not as important as the reality that He is coming!  One day, the trumpet will sound, and we will give an account of our lives.  What are we doing with what He has given us?  Where is our heart?  How valuable is our salvation?

One thing is sure: He’s coming!  Keep looking for Him; living like this could be the last you will have on the planet. God bless you, and may His presence, peace, and power fill your

2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Let me begin with the age-old question, “Who am I?”   Another way of asking is, “Who are you?”   The answer is in the Book of Books, the Word of God, the Bible.   In the Bible, we discover the pathway to peace and wholeness.   It is through the sacrificial blood of Jesus in the atonement.    In the Bible, we discover how to be Born Again and become members of the Body of Christ.   In the Bible, we discover how to live and realize the help that God has provided for us to make this journey into eternity.   What a Book!

As believers, we are alive forever!   That is an absolute fact.   Our fleshly bodies will die, but our spirits will live forever with Jesus in heaven if we are born again!    Jesus is the Way, the only Way to the Father. Jesus is the Truth, and out of that Truth, we find Life!   We must never forget that the Life He gives is abundant, not in material possessions but in peace with God and innumerable treasures that impact our lives and relationships positively.

Today, I encourage everyone to go to the Book of Books and see what God says about us.   Discover what He has provided for us!   As you see the Finished Work of the Cross and realize what Jesus did for us, we will be changed.   As we realize whose we are and who we are in Him, we will no longer tolerate defeat; we will live in expectation!

One day soon, our LORD will fulfill His promise to come back for us and take us to our forever home – Heaven!    I believe that day will be soon, and all the signs indicate we live in what the Bible calls, ‘The Last Days.’   

Even though the world is growing darker morally and spiritually, the Light of God shines brightly and is radiant in those who believe!  Rejoice; we are not alone!  Rejoice; we have Hope!  Rejoice; we have God’s person, peace, and power to guard and guide us!

I encourage everyone to make today a day of victorious expectation!  Align your heart with God’s word, and let Hope, excitement, anticipation, and expectation rise up inside of you!  Victory is yours!

God bless you, and have a fantastic day!