PrayerLife

Our focus this week is our relationship with the Holy Spirit. There is a wonderful mystery at work in the lives of those who have placed their faith in Christ ... they have been born of the Spirit. Join me in prayer this week as we explore this mystery together in God's presence.

As those who have placed our faith in Jesus for our salvation, we are not only beneficiaries of the gospel, we are ambassadors for the gospel.

Salvation cannot be earned. There is nothing a man or woman can do in their own efforts to fix their sin and separation from God problem. How, then, does a person become righteous in the eyes of a holy God? The answer is amazing!

What is the relationship between CHrist's resurrection and our salvation? The answer may surprise you.

What is God's answer to man's problem? The answer is found in John 3:16.

We tend to evaluate things on a relative scale. Am I good enough to go to heaven? Am I better than I used to be ... or better than someone else? To understand the beauty of the gospel we need to be clear about God's requirement. God's requirement for you and I is nothing less than absolute moral perfection. As the saying goes ... "Houston, we have a problem!"

In order to fully appreciate our need for forgiveness, we need to understand the holiness of God.

The Gospel of Jesus isn't "good news" unless we understand our need.

Jesus is the master of encountering broken people and making them whole. Today is your turn to encounter Jesus.

Nicodemus was religious but he didn't understand the gospel until he had an encounter with Jesus. Who in your life needs to have a fresh envcounter with Jesus so that they might believe in Christ?

Jesus encountered a man who was possessed by a legion of demons. The man was living among the tombs and constantly harming himself. Jesus' encounter with this man gives us hope that any life can be radically changed.

There is perhaps no greater example of radical life change than the Apostle Paul. As a result of his encounter with Jesus he went from breathing threats of murder against believers in Christ to declaring the gospel message and inviting people to believe. How might Jesus want to radically change you today?

A man born blind had an eye-opening encounter with Jesus. Jesus can turn blindness into 20/20 vision both physically and spiritually.

Because of his encounter with Jesus, Thomas went from being a skeptic to a worshipper. How will todays encounter with Jesus impact you?

In the New Testament we can observe the life changing power of an encounter with Jesus. Let's pray for transformation in our ife as we see it in the lives of others.

2 Corinthians 11 reminds us that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. We must pray for wisdom and guidance to discern the truth from error.

1 Timothy 4 reveals that demonic activity and spiritual warfare will increase in the last days ... the days we are living in now.

Jesus reminds us of the vital importance of prayer in our engagemnent with spiritual warfare.

We need to grow in our understanding of spiritual realities. Daniel 10 reminds us of the constant unseen spiritual conflict that is taking place in the heavenlies.

The New Testament book of James tells us to "resist the Devil and he will flee from you, draw near near to God, he will draw near to you." The key to victory in spiritual warfare is to resist the enemy and draw near to our Lord and Savior.

We have human eyes that fail to see spiritual realities. We tend to rely on what we can see, hear, and touch. The bible reminds us that the vast majority of ultimate realities are unseen to us today. Join with me in prayer as we invite God to strengthen our faith and open our eyes.