The Holy Spirit Confirms

…how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11

…the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things…

—John 14:26

The Holy Spirit continues to give me gifts of confirmation that my thoughts are not my own but His. It is a powerful realization to know the King of the Universe is in conversation with us when we accept Jesus wholeheartedly, repent, and walk in love instead of darkness. I just had to share my daily devotional reading today because it spoke directly about my latest blog post on understanding the Bible. The LORD is a loving Father who always gives good gifts to His children! He knows we are all learning and He will always be willing to teach us when we ask. Thank you Jesus.

AMEN

What are you not understanding?

Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a viper by the path, that bites the horses heels so that its rider shall fall backward. --Genesis 49:17

...of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed; --Revelation 7:6

I noticed this morning while reading Israel's (Jacob's) blessing on his deathbed over his twelve sons, many of them were not very positive--especially his words about Dan. I looked at commentary, which led me to discover that Dan is the only one of the twelve sons not listed as a sealed tribe (part of the 144,000 at end times). Instead, Joseph's first born son Manasseh is given that named seal amongst his dad (Joseph) and uncles, which consist of all of Joseph's brothers except Dan. After I noticed this, I initially told myself that "the Bible is so confusing and that's why I never put that together before," but the truth is not that the Bible is confusing, but it's that we are made confused when reading the Bible. I've said to myself before, "How could I ever get all these names and places fully figured out--especially all the Mary's or other repeated names?" Then, the Holy Spirit reminded me that I don't have a problem remembering celebrity names and all the movies they've been in, and even information about their personal life. I could do that with about five celebrity "Jennifer's" right now. A lot of people can also do something similar with sports figures both past and present. So, when we say the numbers listed in the Bible don't seem significant, they were important enough to take up the precious space they are printed on. There are sports fans that know years of big games, scores, players, stats, and averages. We certainly have a physical capacity to fully know, remember, and comprehend the Bible in its entirety, but we are being supernaturally distracted and confused. I'm certain of this. A solution that helps is prayer. I try to pray whenever I open my Bible--I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide me, for Jesus to teach me, and God to lead me on the right path. In Jesus name I pray all who show interest in Your Word are led by Light to understanding only You can provide.

AMEN

Offense and Defense

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. --Romans 8:16-17

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. --Ephesians 6:13

If a kingdom is never under attack it has no value. God gives us armor for battle because He knows the great value of His kingdom, and the battle faced by those who are co-heirs with Christ.

A war is on, but we cannot only be acting on defense from the attacks we face, but also making offensive moves toward the enemy. Offense is the action of attacking someone or something, and defense is resisting an attack. It is not okay to continually let the enemy bully you and break you down; we need to grasp the strength of our position by the power of Jesus's blood. I was reminded of this when I listened to a sermon from Charles Spurgeon called "The Shield of Faith". Not surprisingly, the Holy Spirit had me write the first two sentences of this post in my journal (the ones I have in bold), and I thought I was done, but then a few hours later I heard the sermon on the same topic! This confirms what I've realized for a few years now--God is at work in every moment of our lives, and they all count, from the seemingly mundane to the monumental ones. I also pondered my offensive strategies thinking I may be lacking, but I was glad to realize that I'm not just defending attacks, but I prevent many before they even get a chance to begin through prayer and the Word of God. My roots have been established in Christ and cannot be pushed down!