Romans 8: 14-16 (NASB) 
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God?  Verse 14 says that if we are truly children of God, then we are being led.  What does that imply?  For me, it means that I am not asking God for what I want, but asking God to instill in me a desire to follow His will.  That is the scary part… for God may want me to do and be something that is not in my plan.  I don’t know about you, but I am really good at planning, at least I tell myself so.  I then justify it all by telling myself that it must be the Spirit that is leading me by putting that plan in my heart.  I wonder…  If I’m not praying for the Spirit to lead me, no matter the consequences, then I may be fooling myself.

God is our Father, our Abba.  The apostle Paul tells us that we need have no fear that we are simply a slave, rather we are adopted and can, in faith, follow Him.  In fact, the Spirit of God within us will confirm to us that we are children of God.  What a comfort.  

Without fear, we can stop our planning and let the Spirit lead us.

Holy Spirit, quiet my heart so that I can listen to Your leading.  Then give me the faith that I need to step forward and follow You.  I know that You will never leave me for forsake me.  It is the prayer of my heart.  I’m listening now.  Amen.   

Always praying for the glory of God,

Ephesians 2:4-9 (NASB)
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

I was reminded today how God’s mercy is continuous in our lives.  Even though I may see His mercy at points in time, or in particular situations, it is a mercy that falls upon us without interruption.

In the broken world we live in, the world often conceals our view of the great mercy of God.  Certainly, anyone who doesn’t call upon the name of Jesus will see only mercy that is a result of our actions.  It is a self righteous view that gives us credit for the good acts we see.  And even those of us that are children of God, our sin nature causes us to ask “why” when bad things happen, not seeing that the justice we really deserve is so much worse.

That is why the Incarnation is so amazing.  It was the act of a merciful God that is purely righteous and unable to look upon sin.  Mercy that began before time and continues for eternity.  It is unbounded love for His creation.

Jesus, I cannot comprehend the magnitude of love required to sacrifice yourself for us.  It is a merciful love that You share with the Father.  It is a mercy from the Holy Spirit that revives our cold dead hearts and sings love songs to us.  You are worthy of my unending worship and I praise Your name and I cry it out in joy.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,

Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)
3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Armin Gesswein said that the promises of God are “the molds into which we pour our prayers.”

Praying the promises of God in scripture brings them alive to us.  We pray for what has already been foretold.  When we believe and expect them to be answered – that is faith.  It is taking God at His Word.

I have often prayed that God would increase my faith.  It is, after all, a gift from God.  But He has given us the means to increase our faith – to read His promises and then pray them back to Him.  What an honor to God to pray His vows; to have the faith to ask for what He has guaranteed to us.

Father, Your pledges are pure gold.  We can trust them, because we trust in You.  I pray that I would pour out prayers that would fit into the promise molds which You have given to us in Your Word.  Thank you that Your Word became flesh.  Thank you for Jesus, for I pray this in His name.  Amen.

Romans 8:28,31,32 (ESV)
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

In my last post, I mentioned the wife of a couple that recently died.  She was diagnosed with Leukemia a couple of years ago after a lifetime of no major illnesses.  I was fortunate to be able to attend her funeral last Saturday.  It was a great celebration of her life by her family and friends.

One close friend recounted a story about her that made an impact on me.  Her friend once asked her how she was doing and after the response made light of what she was going through, her friend looked her in the eye and said, “No, how are you really doing?”  

The answer she provided was unexpected.  “You know, cancer is often called the big C, when people don’t want to use the word.  It is understandably a word that people don’t like to talk about.  But I think of cancer as my little c.  My big C is Christ, and because I am His, everything will be alright.”

This was a woman of tremendous faith, who not only talked about it, but lived it each and every day.  It was a wonderful tribute to her at that service, but even more, it all pointed to Jesus, our Big C.

Heavenly Father, You are my Big C.  Help me to trust in You for all things, that I will respond to Your leading, that I will live my life knowing that You will provide all my needs.  I pray that your Holy Spirit will direct my steps today and that I will live my life in a way that is honoring to You.  Amen.