Author Archives: lrbartel

Jan 20 2017
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Devos

The power of Spirit guided and prompted intercession… A request

intercession

Can a person pray effectively when they don’t have the details of an urgent need? According to Romans 8:26-27 they can! “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for works. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

I am aware of an urgent need and situation right now that requires Spirit-led and assisted intercession! I cannot give the details but request that my “coffee with the Lord” friends join me in Spirit-prompted and guided prayer. Would you join me in this kind of prayer this weekend? Thank you!!!

Jan 19 2017
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Devos

The secret to Spiritual victory… the indwelling Holy Spirit!

indwelling-holy-spirit

I’ve had enough conversations with sincere, committed Christians about the quality of their journey as followers of Jesus to know that Apostle Paul’s agonizing cry at the end of Romans 7 sometimes expresses their struggle and sentiments: “I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death!?” (From Romans 7:21-24)

Gaining and sustaining Spiritual victory as a Christian is at times a big issue! How can it be experienced?

Well Apostle Paul gives the short (and accurate) answer to that question in Romans 8:25: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” But then he expands on the answer in Romans 8:1-17. I’ve highlighted some of the key elements of gaining and sustain victory that he provides in the passage for you below. But then, at the end of that, I want to give you a brief personal reflection… Here goes… First from the Bible…

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh [self under the influence of sin], could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit! …

“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God! You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But…if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you!

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die! But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live! For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God!” (From Romans 8:1–17 ESV)

OK, so here is my personal reflection on the issue of gaining and sustaining Spiritual victory! Praise God for Jesus and the victory that is to be found in Him! He graciously provides the Holy Spirit to live within us and help us! He is at work within us animating, empowering, prompting and promoting the will of God within our lives! The key to Spiritual victory then, is recognizing and responding to His presence, activity and voice within our lives every day! An incredible, powerful, inner “Helper!” Praise the Lord!!!

Jan 18 2017
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Devos

Enemies… To love them or try to get even with them… What are you going to do?

revenge
My observation is that the broader culture, as a whole, is a “get-even,” retaliatory culture. If someone does us wrong the inclination is to “sue ‘em,” “stab in the back,” discredit them or find another way to “get even.” We’re kind and loving to our friends – those who are “nice to us” (but even that operates with a short memory) but we’re retaliatory to our enemies. It’s just how things are… It’s the cultural climate. Nothing has made this more evident than the recent political climate… “Nuff said!”
That’s not the set of values – the “cultural climate” – that ought to characterize followers of Jesus and those who claim to embrace “Kingdom values” however! Here’s what Jesus had to say about it in His great “Kingdom manifesto” that we call “the Sermon on the Mount” (I read and reflected on it again just this morning during “coffee with the Lord”)…
Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven! For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors [those thought of as vile sinners] do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles [the irreligious] do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect!” (From Matthew 5:43–48 ESV)
So here is what I prayed sincerely – from my heart – this morning after reading that passage! “Oh Lord, help me to behave like a child of Your Kingdom and not like a child of the broader culture! Help my righteousness to be remarkable and authentically characteristic of Your Kingdom (see Matthew 5:20)! Oh Lord, work within me, and instill Kingdom values in my heart and life!
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