August 2016 Spirit Food

Once you are presented with what the Word of God has to say about an issue, you are responsible for receiving His love, grace, & favor; and the gift of His righteousness. Remember, you are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved by your Heavenly Father.

This month, let’s focus on entering God’s rest and receiving His grace!

Luke 2:40 - And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

According to this verse, it says that the grace of God was upon Jesus. The Bible also says that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more. (Romans 5:20) Grace for mankind is God’s unmerited, undeserved favor; because of what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

Look at the word “grace” when it is first mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 6:8 says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”. Noah’s name means “rest”. So the verse is telling us that rest found grace. In other words, when you rest, trusting in Him, you find grace!

So, grace was upon Jesus because His life was a life of rest and trust in His Father. He said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself. He can do only what He sees His Father doing.” (John 5:19)

Likewise, grace comes upon you when you rest and trust God. If you have a wayward child, stop nagging at them and trust God to touch their heart. Say, “Jesus, I commit this child into Your hands. Only You can guide him/her.” If you have a persistent pain in your body, bring it to the Lord. Say, “Pain, you’re a name, bow your name to the name of Jesus. Then say, Jesus, I hand all my worries about this pain to You. You work on the pain.”

Worrying and faith are on opposite sides (so to speak), and your thought life is active. Are you thinking worried thoughts about circumstances? Or are you thinking faith thoughts; about how much your Father in Heaven loves you and what Jesus did on the cross to redeem mankind from sin?

Romans 5:5 - Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Hope is confident and positive expectation that what God says in the Bible is true! God wants you to have a confident expectation of good, because as His child, He favors you. Because Christ (the Holy Spirit) lives in you, the hope of glory (Colossians1:27), you can expect the glory of God to shine into every area of your life, including your family, job, health and finances! This hope does not disappoint when you are conscious of how much God loves you. It is a hope that springs from the heart of God, who loves you very much.

It is interesting that the first mention of the Holy Spirit in the book of Romans is tied together with the love of God. The book of Romans is considered foundational for Christians. Could it be that the first thing the Holy Spirit wants to do is to establish in our hearts that God loves us? After all, faith to receive Jesus as Lord most times comes from hearing about Jesus - the fact that God loved mankind so much, He sent Jesus to be the pure sacrifice to die on the cross for all mankind. When you made Jesus the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit came to dwell on the inside of you. The truth is that the Holy Spirit has come to reveal the power of love! The Holy Spirit is our comforter; when we fellowship with Him, He leads us and guides us in all our interactions in this life. When you have a mindset and believe that God loves you, you will have a positive expectation of good. You will have a hope that does not disappoint. So be mindful of what you hope for, because you are bound to get it when it lines up with His word.

3 John 1:2 - Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Have a mindset that your Heavenly Father loves you! And He desires only good for you. When you focus on His love for you, that you are highly favored, extremely blessed, and deeply loved by Him, you’ll be open to receive blessings from Him that will exceed your expectations in this life … in the here and now!

Consider the story of Joseph in Genesis 39, after he was done wrong by his earthly brothers, being sold to the Ishmeelites as the Ishmeelites traveled by. Then think of how he was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave in the marketplace, and how he was treated … but circumstances improved when Joseph was purchased by an officer of Pharaoh, a captain of the guard, an Egyptian. Verse 2 says “And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” (3) And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. (4) And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. (5) And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. (6) And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored.

The point to sharing this story about Joseph (and the story continues), is, the blessing of the LORD was on Joseph! Everything he set his hand to do prospered. Why? Because Joseph honored God … and this was hundreds of years before Moses.

Romans 14:17 - …the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Today, we are supposed to seek first the kingdom of God every day (Matthew 6:33), the kingdom of God is not something outside you flowing in—“the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking”, but something inside you flowing out—“righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”.

So to seek first God’s kingdom means to make it a priority every day to have your inner man flowing with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is not your own righteousness based on what you do. It is not good works. It is a gift from Jesus who is your righteousness. (Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30) God wants you to be established in the truth that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Honor your Heavenly Father by stating you are the righteousness of God in Christ!

“Peace be with you” were the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples when He appeared before them after His resurrection. He also showed them His pierced hands and side. (John 20:19–20) God wants you to know that His Son’s finished work has given you peace. Your conscience can be at rest because your sin debt has been settled. You have peace with God, and the peace of God.

Joy will come into your heart when you see Jesus in the scriptures, worship songs or anointed preaching. It is the same joy from the Holy Spirit which filled the disciples’ hearts when they saw Jesus, His hands and His side. (John 20:20)

So every day, make it a priority to see yourself righteous in Christ. Don’t be conscious of your sins. Instead, be conscious of your righteousness. And whether you are reading your Bible or listening to anointed preaching, see Jesus with His pierced hands and side, which speak of His finished work. See all your sins forgiven, and you will flow with peace and joy. When you do this, you are seeking the kingdom of God!

We don’t have to run after miracles or wisdom today. We just need to focus on Jesus, because He is “the power of God and the wisdom of God”. The more we know Christ and Christ crucified, the more we will have the power and wisdom of God.

So if you are facing a financial debt, Christ has the power to remove the debt. And because He is also the wisdom of God, He will show you where you went wrong and teach you how to stay out of debt!

Christ is both the power and wisdom of God to us. As the power of God, He removes obstacles in our paths. As the wisdom of God, He continually directs our paths!

Enter His rest by believing what His Word says and making it the final authority in your life! Receive His grace by focusing on how much He loves you!

If you’re reading this, but you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life, and would like to, pray this prayer out loud in an audible voice:

Heavenly Father, your Word says in Romans 10:9-10- “that if I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead, that I would be saved. For with the heart one believes unto salvation.” I believe your Word, Heavenly Father, and confess Jesus Christ (the anointed one and His anointing) as Lord of my life now. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess that I was a sinner, but now I’ve been saved by Your grace, and in Your thoughts, I am now in right standing with You. I denounce Satan and all he stands for. Write my name in the Lamb’s book of Life. In Jesus Name. Amen (so be it).

Congratulations! If this is your first time praying this prayer, please write and let us know!

Should you decide to give and financially support this ministry with gifts given in faith, I join my faith with yours to see the devourer rebuked (Malachi 3:11) and for you to receive a harvest; pressed down, shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38). Please remember to name your seed!

Dr. Mark Krom, Ph.D., D.Psy

Minister/Clinical Pastoral Psychologist