He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime and provided educational opportunities for the orphans to the point that he was even accused by some of raising the poor above their natural station in British life. He established 117 schools, which offered Christian education to more than 120,000.
It starts first thing every day—what you put your hands on. Where does the intuition come from to know what to respond to through the day? For instance, I’m making sure the news is not something I put my hands on through the computer, first thing each morning. Matter of fact, I’ve been fasting the news, and it feels great!
Most of us are familiar with the thought of having spiritual ears to hear what God is saying and spiritual eyes to see from a religious perspective. But what about the things we touch every day?
He spoke:
Do you want to take a step further into the inner courts with Me? Consider what the Holy Spirit would say to you about what you touch every day.
The whole point of sanctification isn’t to make you a perfect human. It is to draw you into unity with Me. Keep seeking My face; never give up. Don’t be discouraged by failures, regrets, or seemingly insurmountable odds. I am mighty in battle and the Lord of Hosts. Give yourself entirely to Me, and We can share the victory over the enemy and the spoils.
Take your hands and move out some of the things in your life you are wasting your time on. I’m not into sacrifices, except on this one instance. Offer me the sacrifice of clean hands and a pure heart.
“For My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13).
“Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out of the midst of her; be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord” (Is. 52:11).
We need to remind ourselves over and over again that we cannot love in our own strength. Our love will always run out at some point. Our love is not perfect; it will fail. It is only as we are wholly surrendered to the Spirit that we will be able to live according to God’s will and walk in love towards those around us. What I believe we have failed to realize is that we learn to know the person of the Holy Spirit in the secret place of prayer. You see, the Holy Spirit is sensitive; it is His nature. You will not become acquainted with the Holy Spirit amidst the noise of the day or the clamor of work. You must engage Him and listen to Him in the secret place.
Open your spiritual ears to hear now (Rev. 2:17, 3:6, and 3:22). You may know the fullness of God’s love on one condition: you must be strengthened by the Holy Spirit so that Christ may dwell in your heart. Take this message from God’s Word. Unless you are on your knees you cannot live in the love of Christ. A life of prayer will make a life of love to Christ, other Christians, and those without Christ a reality in your experience.
What in the world does obedience mean? Just the sound of the word conjures up thoughts of: don’t smoke; don’t drink; don’t this; don’t that; bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. But, if we want to access the fullness of the Holy Spirit and see answers to prayer, we better get a precise understanding of obedience. Is it vital? Check out the verse for the day above (Rev. 22:14).
Here is the short of it: obedience is simply doing God’s will and obeying His commandments. Do you think God gives commandments men can’t obey? Look at it this way. Do loving parents require their children to perform tasks completely out of their reach? Is our Heavenly Father less kind and compassionate than our earthly parents? What an irrational thought.
Our obedience is an act of love, an expression of delight in pleasing the beloved (1 John 3:22). Here’s what I mean. It is discovering what pleases our Lord and doing it with boundless joy and anticipation. Anticipation? Yes, the great anticipation of the “God possibilities” that simple obedience brings to our prayers.
The boldest statement possible exposes the fundamental truth surrounding prayer and character—without prayer there is no supernatural change in the character of the believer. Our sins are freely forgiven. God invites us to know Him intimately. God’s grace allows us the opportunity to experience the gifts of the Spirit. But, He does not give us character.
We do not become more righteous by doing righteous acts. Prayer creates the change in us that produces righteousness. Jesus commanded us to always be on our guard to cover our conduct (Luke 21:34). The most difficult thing about virtue is to live it out. Fervent, persistent, passionate prayer produces right thinking and right living. We have wasted the whole office of prayer if it does not produce godly conduct and character. The very nature of prayer requires us to stop praying or curtail our ungodly conduct. A life that is given to prayer can grow but one direction—in holiness and devotion to Jesus.
