Written by Keiko Chibana-Shinn | Rediscovering Prayer
Love must be sincere. Romans 12:9
God’s touch is all you need to experience true love. A single spark of His love illuminates your heart to yearn for the uncontrollable flame that is meant to bombard you. Your mind and spirit have now been gifted to receive the unsurpassable blessings of the goodness of God. For all who have opened their hearts and declared with their mouths that Jesus is both Lord and Savior, know God’s Word is true. His Word affirms faith is a two-way street.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7
Faith is to be continually exercised, challenged, and tested for the flame inside you to grow in strength and substance. Our salvation in Christ by the fatherly love of God, and the Holy Spirit’s seal of redemption is our firm foundation. Our faith is meant to prosper into new heights, new levels, to be further established in love.
Apostle Paul asserts: For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… Eph. 3:14-18
Communion is at the core of our existence. Out of our daily conversations with God we see the quality of our faith all the more. How we communicate with our sisters and brothers in Christ and how we dialogue with those different than us also speaks to the validity of one’s faith walk. Your words both in thought and in speech are a representation of who you are and whose you are.
Jesus’ love heals us. His heart isn’t broken like ours and His thoughts do not struggle in double-mindedness for He is the exact representation of God’s nature. Jesus represents the glory of God’s radiance because Jesus upholds all things by the power of His Word. His Word defines us and empowers us with a love that breaks the yolk of social injustice, family bondage to sin, and sets people free to walk out love in life-honoring ways.
I think Jesus is tired of our politeness. Somewhere down the line, we have allowed our flame for the gifts of God to diminish within us and our faith to be left trampled by life’s disappointments. More often than not, our words, our conversations have lost their saltiness; their spark of authenticity and love. Our verbal niceties denote kind words, seemingly gracious words but as our mouth speaks what is our heart really saying?
Today, let the prayer of our heart be:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Ps. 139: 23-24
Mere head knowledge of the things of God can easily pollute the reality of the condition of your heart. It blockades you from attaining the inner healing you are starving to receive. Renounce the stale head- knowledge and gain confidence to speak with an honest heart, knowing your words will enter into the ears of your Father. He will respond to your need of Him. He will execute His Word thoroughly to deliver and heal you.
The fruit of genuine communication sharpens, edifies our love and produces a hunger for godly wisdom. Jesus says to you today: Behold, I’m doing a new thing in you. I’m stirring in you renewed passion for my Word. I’m removing your emotional comforts and idle distractions that keep you at arm’s length from Me. I do this through genuine encounters with you. Because of them I will increase your faith and deepen your understanding of my Kingdom purposes. Fullness of righteousness, peace, and joy in my Spirit is what I offer you. Keep my Word and my peace will overtake you. Ask, seek, and knock… The keys of the Kingdom are yours to bind and to loose for abundant living. Allow my Word to reign in you, today.