Monday, September 13, 2021

DAY 33 (2021) - Lordship: Who is the owner of your soul? (Please go to FaceBook(silastyng) to watch my video of this blog)

 




 


Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:


     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”



2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."


    Bible link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%207&version=NIV

    Time with Abba one year Bible reading: http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/

    Today's passage:
   

Matthew 12

30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him. 

   
     My Listening
The topic I received from Jesus is: Lordship: Who is the owner of your soul?


“When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.” Matthew12:44 - 45 

This morning Jesus told me lots of things through Matthew and most of the messages I have never thought before or read in a commentary: 
1. The Fruit of Christlikeness (Matthew 12: 18 – 21) 
    Jesus used the first Servant Song of Isaiah(Isaiah 42: 1 – 4) to declare a prophecy was to be fulfilled and to show us what is the fruit of Christ-likeness. 
     The key word is “I will put my Spirit on him”. Even Jesus as a 100% fully God and 100% fully human needed the Holy Spirit to be in Him and not just with Him(John 14: 17). When the Holy Spirit is on you, then everything changed. You will have a new relationship with God to be His chosen servant, the one He loves and delights. And there will be fruits coming out of your life that you will be able to proclaim God’s standard to even in a national level. 
     Your life will not be in quarrel, comparison to others or a self-promotion of yourself. You will be a loving and caring servant of God to bring healing, comfort and victory and that you will be respected by many.
      This is very similar to the check list of the fruit of the Holy Spirit as in John Stott's prayer of Christlikeness. If the Holy Spirit is in you and you live by the Holy Spirit, then the fruit(singular number)will appears in your life(Galatians 5: 22 – 23). 
        This is like when we leave home, we’ll arm the house with security system. And if the alarm company calls you that your alarm has been triggered, then you need to go home to have a check. Anything happened contrary to this list should triggered your “spiritual alarm” and that you should ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your sin for that is His job to do so according to what Jesus said as in John 16: 8. 

     2. Blasphemy against the Spirit – Nothing to repent(Matthew 12: 31 – 32) 
         When someone does not allow the Holy Spirit to work, then he or she has nothing to repent and that is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit for there will be no forgiveness. Living a life in the Spirit or without the Spirit is just so simple. 

      3. Lordship: Wh is the owner of your soul (Matthew 12: 39 – 45) 
          Just to look at the picture of today's passage. It seems fine that an evil spirit comes out of a man and then he swept clean and put in order his house. But when we read it carefully, there is a key word that is very important: the house unoccupied. 
           That means we cannot be the occupied owner of our house for we are talking about a spiritual status of our soul. It is either evil spirits occupying or Jesus as our Savior and Lord of our lives!  
            That's why John Stott's prayer is so important for us to pray each day because if you find your spiritual check list is not OK, then you should REPENT! Only by repentance and forgiveness from Jesus can we return to the loving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ that He is our Lord, your Lord! 

       4. A Family Tie of Listen and Obey(Matthew 12: 46 – 50) 
           Jesus starts at Matthew 12 with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as the only key to Christlikeness. Then He points out that a life which does not allow the Holy Spirit to work is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Then He gives us a vivid picture of an unoccupied house waiting for any evil spirit to come in to take ownership of that soul to warn us. He then concluded with the importance of listening and obeying God as the only way to be sure you are in the relationship as in the family tie of Jesus. With a daily 'listen and obey' lifestyle, then you can be filled with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit can live in you and Jesus will truly be the owner of your soul, the Lord of your life. 

Dear Holy Spirit, 
Lead me, fill me, live in me that I can be able to live a life of Christlikeness because Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life.  
In Jesus name we pray,
 
Amen.

           
      Reflect on these questions:
     1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?
      
      2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus?
    
      Family Corner:
     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 
     
Please click this link for the video version of this blog:



        
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     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org

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