Liberty of the Spirit

By Richard Jude Spurlin

The book is a progression of daily reflections based upon the Book of Proverbs as viewed through the lens of a new covenant believer. The book takes verses from the chapter of Proverbs corresponding to the numerical day of a month and reflects upon the old covenant promise of salvation and the realization of the promise in Christ Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973630159

Richard Jude Spurlin

About the Author He is an ordained minister of the Gospel who has been set free from the slavery of addiction and alcoholism through the power of the Holy Spirit alive in his being. He has been the overseer of a Christ-centered residential community of men afflicted with life controlling strongholds such as addiction and has a passion for those similarly bound.

Book preview

January 1

… a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel … The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Pv1:5,7. The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and their tongue speaks justice. The law of God is in their heart; none of their steps will slip. Ps 37:30-31(MEV).

I pray that I am always willing to receive correction and that I am always cognizant that God can speak (and correct) through any thing and any one. I pray that I remain aware of the wisdom and power of God. His desire for me is an increasingly intimate relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. He, however is holy, righteous and just; He, therefore, cannot abide with the sinful desires of the flesh. My heart must be pure and devoid of self-love and self-interested motives. He knows the dark and hidden motives of my heart – even those hidden from myself. I pray that I receive revelation of my own sinful motivations with humility, contrition, repentance and gratitude. Purge me, O God, of anything that is not of You and is not centered on You and Your will. I pray that my tongue is only used to repent, thank, evangelize, edify, exhort, praise or glorify. Fetter my tongue from any idle chatter. Preserve me and empower me to refrain from arrogant speech. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

January 2

For the LORD gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Pv2:6-8(MEV).

G od is the only source of true wisdom. His word is the source of knowledge and understanding. Jesus Christ is the Word become flesh. I must be wrapped in Jesus and then I will be preserved in righteousness. He will illuminate my path and guide my steps in the way He has set for my life. Even when He guides me into storms, I know He will carry me through them for His glory. In this knowledge and with this understanding, I have peace in all circumstances.

Mark the blameless man and consider the upright, for the end of that man is peace … the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their refuge in the time of distress. The LORD will help them and deliver them from the wicked, and save them because they take refuge in Him. Ps37:37,39,40.

My righteousness is only through faith in Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross. He is blameless and His righteousness is imputed upon me by grace through faith. When I am abandoned completely into Him and walking in the Spirit, I have peace with God. Only by complete abandonment of self may I be blameless and have peace. Any self-desire will end in sin because the carnal nature is in enmity with God. In God, I have salvation from my self. He is alive in me and He allows me to knowingly and willingly enter His Presence within the Most High Place established in the tabernacle of my heart. He is my refuge He has built within myself. My cognizant presence (my soul – mind, will and emotion) may enter His Divine Nature abiding within my eternal expression of being (my spirit) and then manifest outward through my physical expression.

Dear God, today allow and empower me to recollect my self within Your Divine Presence abiding within me through the Holy Spirit and manifest and magnify Christ Jesus through my thoughts, words and deeds today. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 3

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Pv3:5-6(MEV).

M y trust must be in the Lord. Must trust must be complete or it is not really trust. Complete trust in God manifests with an acknowledgement of Him in all my ways. I must acknowledge His presence and guidance in every act I undertake. Complete trust in Him manifests with abandonment of self and complete submission to His will for every act and every word. Complete trust in God manifests with an abandonment of self-dependence and purely human reason. Complete trust in God manifests with abandonment of justifying self and attempts at imposing truth. Complete trust in God manifests with allowing Him to appeal to freedom through me. Meekness in the face of adversity magnifies the grace of God poured through me into whatever circumstance God has allowed into my life.

Trust in the Lord must come from the core of my being – my heart. God has given me the freedom, through the perfect atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, for my cognizant presence (my soul; my faculty of self; my mind, will and emotion) to enter His Presence within the Holiest of Holies established within His tabernacle He has built in my heart. My cognizant presence, immersed in His Spirit abiding in the tabernacle of my heart, receives translation from animation from carnal desire into animation by Divine desire. My desires, thoughts and emotions are driven by His Spirit commingled with my regenerated spirit. I have become a partaker in the Divine Nature. Opportunities present where I must choose between a thought, feeling or act comporting with the way of the world and serving desires of self, or, contrary to worldly wisdom, serving the desires of God with my thought, feeling or act. Each choice either re-enforces the carnal nature or crucifies part of it. My thoughts and desires must be abandoned unto the Spirit of God so that no admiration of those serving themselves should enter my being. I must guard my eye gates and ear gates against any suggestion of benefits in serving self.

The battle is in the mind. God has set me free from the constraints of my human mind and has given me the mind of Christ when I choose to abandon self and submit completely unto Him.

Dear God, empower me today by Your grace to submit completely to the promptings and guidance of the Holy Spirit abiding within me so that I may walk in the way You have set for my life. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

January 4

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Pv4:23(MEV).

T ruth and grace came to humanity in the Person of Jesus Christ. His Spirit dwells within me in the tabernacle of my heart. He tells me through His word that he will never leave me nor forsake me. He is always guarding me but sometimes I turn my back and harden my heart to His instruction. God is just. The only way for me to be just is to accept the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ as the atonement for my sins.

Help me Lord to live a life of repentance. My sinful human condition persists. I sin in my thoughts and in my speech, as well as my actions. Thank You, God, that You delight in mercy. Thank You, God, that Your mercies are new every day and they endure forever. Thank You, God, that Your grace leads me to repentance. Thank You, God, that Your indwelling, infilling and enlivening Spirit empowers me to live a life-style of repentance. A life lived in the acknowledgement of the continual need for repentance is a life lived with a continually renewed heart.

My heart is the core of my being. My heart determines my desires, thoughts and emotions. If my heart remains broken, contrite and open to the continual correction and guidance of God by His Spirit, the physical expression of my being will manifest and magnify Christ Jesus. I must be diligent against any influence upon my heart that is not of God. What I allow into my heart will come forth through my physical expression. What comes forth through my physical expression are the seeds that I sow in this life. It is a spiritual law that I shall reap what I sow; I, therefore, should be careful to sow only good seed. It is, thus, imperative that I guard my heart so nothing enters it that will corrupt it so what comes out of it will not produce a bad harvest.

Dear Lord, help me to stay within the embrace of Your love and keep my heart open to the inpouring of Your grace. Guard my heart so that You may glorify Yourself through that which issues forth from it. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 5

My son, attend to my wisdom, and bow your ear to my understanding; that you may regard discretion, and that your lips may keep knowledge. For the lips of an immoral woman drip as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. Pv5:1-3(MEV).

S in is a lack of faithfulness. All sin is a form of adultery in that sin is infidelity toward God. Whatever is the object of my sin has been placed before God in my life. My sin has become my god. The immoral woman is a literal example of infidelity toward God and is a metaphor for all infidelity toward God.

Sin will present itself as something appealing. It will be enticing and appear as an appeal to some pleasure for which I have a proclivity. I am to speak to sinful temptation and rebuke it. I do not go near it, especially in my mind. I do not entertain it in any way. I take the thought of sin captive and bring it into the obedience of Christ. Continual meditation upon God and His instruction keeps me vigilant against the temptation of sin and keeps me ready to reject and rebuke temptation.

Dear God, by your grace allow me to continually meditate upon You and Your unyielding, untiring, unconditional love for me. Allow me to keep my eyes upon You through Your Son and remain on the path You have established for my life. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 6

For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a seductress. Pv6:23-24(MEV).

G od has sent His Light and His Truth into the world in the Person of Jesus Christ. Every follower of Jesus Christ has Him abiding within by His Spirit. His light and His truth are continually prompting the follower in the way He would have me go. I am not always willing to listen or obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He is continually prompting me to enter His rest. His holy hill and His dwelling place are within tabernacle of my heart.

God has placed His law upon the tablet of my heart, as well as the hearts of all believers in Christ Jesus. As one in Christ Jesus, the Counselor is constantly instructing me to stay upon the path the Father has laid out for my life in this world. I am strengthened by the light of His infilling, indwelling, enlivening Spirit who gives me discernment and wisdom to recognize infidelity toward God in all its deceptive and presumptively alluring guises. God gives us His law for the benefit of His children. He instructs me for my protection. Remaining in the light of His love assures me of life.

Dear God, by Your grace allow my cognizant presence to enter Your Presence within the Holiest of Holies established in Your tabernacle of my heart. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

January 7

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Pv7:1-2(MEV).

G od’s law should be the lens through which I view the world. His Word has been placed on my heart. His word is alive inside of me. I must abandon my self (my natural soul animated by desires of my flesh) and allow my cognizant presence to be assumed into His Living Word abiding within the tabernacle of my heart. My cognizant presence must enter into the Holiest of Holies within His tabernacle of my heart and be consumed by His Presence. When His desires, thoughts and emotions my fleshly desires, thoughts and emotions, I will be blameless. I have faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. I have faith that the same power that resurrected Him from the dead lives within me and I share in His death to sin and His resurrection to a new life empowered unto obedience toward Father God and His will for my life. His statutes will be the lens through which I view the world. His commandments are to love God; love my neighbor and my enemy; and, forgive without keeping track of offenses.

God is faithful. He is unchanging. He will never leave nor forsake me. I shall be strong and courageous because God is with me; He is in me; and, I am in Him.

Dear God, continually remind me today that You abide within me through Your Son by the power of the Holy Spirit and that You empower me to walk victoriously through the circumstances You allow in my path. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

January 8

All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverse in them … I love those who love me, and those who seek me early will find me … Hear instruction and be wise, and do not refuse it. Pv8:8,17,33(MEV).

D o not refuse instruction means do not refuse correction. I must remain moldable. I must remain teachable. I must remain open and receptive to correction. I cannot receive wisdom if I cannot receive instruction. If I am seeking wisdom, I am seeking correction. If I love wisdom, I love correction. God is the source of true wisdom and the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. If I am seeking wisdom, I am seeking correction that may result in behavior that makes me appear foolish to the world.

No one and no thing can compare with God or His wisdom. Any reliance on self, others or things is futile. Any dependence upon my intellect, ability, position or possession is vanity. God alone is sufficient. I must recognize and acknowledge my own poverty. I must recognize and acknowledge my inherent inadequacy in the face of God. He alone reigns. He has all knowledge and wisdom. He knows every need and every abundance. He knows every thought. He desires to show me mercy. He desires to carry me in my time of weakness, to capture for me those thoughts that are contrary to the knowledge Him. He desires my dependence upon Him. God will vindicate Himself. I am lowly and incapable of vindication in myself. Only in complete abandonment of my self may I become complete in Him

Dear Lord, I seek to be consumed by You. In Your righteousness remove me from me and replace me with You. Consume all of me that is not of You. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 9

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Pv9:9-10(MEV).

I must embrace the attitude of repentance. I continually fall short of the glory of God by my sin. I continually need the intercession of the Holy Spirit to draw me back to the foot of the cross and receive the forgiveness already given to me through the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ. My cognizant presence must continually be reminded to enter the eternal expression of my being (my regenerated spirit infilled and indwelled by the Spirit of God) must be continually reminded to enter the Holiest of Holies and His Presence to be saturated with the Divine Nature and receive instruction of His will for my life right now. Submitted entirely unto His will and His Nature, the physical expression of my being shall manifest and magnify Christ Jesus into the present circumstances of my life today.

God never said His call would be without trials, tests and tribulations. Jesus Christ admonishes me in the gospel of John that there will be trials, tests and tribulations because I am His disciple. He promises me, however, that I have His peace through every circumstance because He will never leave me nor forsake me. He will always be my strength because He is in me and I am in Him. He will never allow me to be confronted with more than I can handle. He tells me that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in my weakness. He reassures me that nothing is impossible with God and anything I ask in His name, the Father in heaven will do.

Dear Lord, today pour Your grace into me and through me unto every circumstance You allow into my life. Remove me and allow me to be a yielding vessel through whom Christ Jesus may manifest and be magnified, bringing glory to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 10

The mouth of the just brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaks what is perverse. Pv10:31-32(MEV).

I have been saved to be an instrument of peace. Before speaking (or acting), I must ask myself, Is this spreading darkness or light? Jesus tells me through Scripture that if I am not gathering with Him, I am scattering. The Lord draws us. He lifts us up. His sorrow and patience lead to repentance and life. His Spirit convicts us which leads to repentance and salvation.

My speech should always be with power in the furtherance of the Gospel. Idle chatter has no place in the mouth of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul was in chains, persecuted for preaching the Gospel. I should be chained by my love of God and be constrained to the pursuit of furthering the Gospel with every effort of word or deed. My desire to please God should fetter my tongue and define my actions. The Lord is continually opening doors to utter the mystery of Christ. His grace empowers me to reveal it clearly.

The enemy condemns. I cannot read the heart of someone else. Before I reprove someone, I must be careful to ask God to reveal to me my own motives for the reproof and then ask for His guidance to be certain I am doing good and not harm.

Dear God, chain me to your love. Fetter my tongue and allow me to only speak to further the message of salvation through the precious shed blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, and proclaim Your goodness. Pour Your grace into me so I am empowered to recognize the prompting of the Holy Spirit and act upon each opportunity to spread the Gospel today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen

January 11

When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom … Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Pv11:2,4(MEV).

W hen I realize that I cannot please God under my own efforts I begin to receive His free and undeserved help to respond to His call to be His child. With the humility of recognizing my own poverty, my insufficiency, I have opened myself to receiving the riches of His grace. With humility, I receive wisdom. Personal gain, which results from self-seeking (whether it be property, position or prestige) I am doomed to failure in the end. Righteousness, which only comes from God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and my faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ made complete by my obedience is the only way to be delivered from death.

The ruinous storm is the delusion of self-sufficiency and any other self-deception. I am the source of the worst storms for myself. As long as I remain in this human condition, I will seek refuge from my own carnality in His shadow.

Dear Lord, allow me to receive revelation of my own insufficiency and apprehend the riches of Your grace. Keep me aware of my need for Your abundant wisdom and my continual need for Your intercession. Today, please allow me to be Your instrument in this world and conduit for Your unconditional love. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 12

Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is brutish. Pv12:1(MEV).

I should be careful to receive the instruction of the Lord and not stiffen my neck at his correction. Only the Lord knows the way that I should walk. I must present my self unto Him as a living sacrifice. I must disown all pretense of human knowledge or understanding. What may appear as the desirable choice may be contrary to the will of God because He has a plan different from my own. I know that God sees the end from the beginning and His thoughts are above my thoughts. If I desire to grow I must realize that I will require correction.

God is righteous. He requires me to be righteous to be in His presence. He provided the way for me to be. By His grace, I am cloaked in the righteousness of Christ Jesus through my faith in His perfect, substitutionary sacrifice upon the cross. Even my faith is a gift. The throne of God is founded upon His righteousness and justice but, He also gave us grace and truth in the Person of Jesus Christ. We are to magnify the grace, mercy and righteousness we have received from Him.

God gives me the power to magnify Christ Jesus with gift of the Holy Spirit. I am cleansed of sin by the precious shed blood of Christ Jesus and made into a suitable dwelling place for the Spirit of God. When I believed in and confessed the Gospel of Christ Jesus, the Spirit of Christ entered my heart and regenerated my previously dead spirit. He infills and indwells me and has commingled with my spirit. He is my Comforter, Counselor and Teacher. He is my guide in the way Father God has established for my life. I must remain sensitive and obedient to His promptings and corrections. My natural instinct is to serve and satisfy self. The Divine Nature is motivated by selfless, unconditional love of others. My life in this world is limited so I should be careful to seize every opportunity to show the love of Christ Jesus to those whom God allows into my life on a daily basis.

Dear Lord, enlarge in me Your thoughts, emotions and desires. Give me knowledge of You and empower me to respond to the correction of the Holy Spirit with humble obedience. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 13

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but scoffer does not listen to rebuke … Whoever despises the word will be destroyed, but he who fears the commandment will be rewarded. Pv13:1,13(MEV).

G od created me out of love. His desire is for me to be in communion with Him. He is, however, my Creator. He is worthy of my praise and it is just that I worship Him. My life should be one of repentance, praise, thanksgiving and worship. I should embrace all four of these attributes in every aspect of my life. Every desire, thought, word or act should be in accordance with these attitudes. He is constantly speaking to me and drawing me closer to Him. He knows what is best for me and I act in wisdom when I welcome and heed His correction. When I refuse, or, simply fail, to adhere to His admonitions, I wander out of His light and into darkness. If I continue into the dark I will arrive in perdition. He is showing me the way to life – as He has it!

He has provided His Son as the perfect atoning sacrifice to cleanse me of my sins and the Holy Spirit to empower me to partake in the Divine Nature and graze in the pasture of life as He has it. Jesus Christ is the Word of God become flesh. God instructs me to listen to Him. Jesus tells me that the only way to the Father is through the Son. Jesus warns me that my heart must be with Him or He will tell me that He never knew me. Jesus teaches me that the greatest commandment is to love God with everything that I am; the second commandment is to love my neighbor as myself. If I despise this word I will be destroyed.

God, thankfully, delights in showing mercy. It is part of who He is. I await a deeper revelation of His divine mercy. He empowers me to reflect and reveal His divine mercy to those whom He allows or brings into my physical presence. Jesus Christ is Divine Mercy Incarnate. I am called to reveal and magnify Jesus Christ in and through my life to everyone with whom I come into contact. It is only through Divine intercession that I am empowered to reflect His love, mercy and grace upon the lives of those around me.

Dear Lord, may I glorify, magnify and exemplify Jesus Christ in and through my life today. God, allow me to be a conduit of Your thoughts and ways. Please allow me to be Your living tool to achieve Your purposes in this day. Gather my thoughts and desires and extricate any that are self-loving. Bridle my tongue so that pride and self-righteousness are not expressed. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

January 14

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death … The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. Pv14:12,27(MEV).

F rom the very beginning, the reason death came into the world is because man pursued his own way and turned from the way of God. Man, obeyed his own desires rather than obeying the will of God. My reasoning is a trap. It leads to self-love and self-service. The biggest lie and the biggest pitfall for me is the fallacy of self-sufficiency. The way that appears right to me is usually the way that appears easier and softer. The way that appears right to me is the way that satisfies my carnal nature, my earthly desires: to be recognized; to be comfortable; to be powerful or influential; or, to be lazy. The way that seems right to me is the way that leaves God out of my focus. God is light and life. Outside of God is darkness and death.

The fear of the Lord is to be in respectful awe of Him. The fear of the Lord is to recognize and acknowledge His sovereignty and dominion over all things and circumstances, seen and unseen. The fear of the Lord leads me to persevere in endeavors I know He set me upon and not be distracted by other developments. The fear of the Lord is to seek His guidance when other developments appear. The fear of the Lord is to leave prior endeavors when He shows me that a new undertaking is to be assumed. The fear of the Lord is a contentment with anonymity in pursuit of His will. I should be satisfied that God that God knows I am doing His will and not be concerned with the attention or approval of others. The fear of the Lord is contentment in doing what He directs and knowing that the results are His. The fear of the Lord is knowing that He is the power and He is doing the work, I am but an instrument. The fear of the Lord is joy and peace in the knowledge that I am being used as His instrument.

Dear God, today empower me to abandon self and the way that seems right to me and submit to Your will. Allow me to be Your instrument of compassion and mercy in every circumstance which You allow into my life today. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 15

The ear that hears the reproof of life abides among the wise. He who refuses instruction despises his own soul, but he who hears reproof gains understanding. The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility. Pv15:31-32(MEV).

G od will use the circumstances of life to instruct me. He will allow the consequences of my choices to lead me, if I am willing, in the path of His will. I must be attuned to His Spirit that I may recognize His voice in the events transpiring before me. He will use situations experienced by others to teach me if I diligently seek to hear Him. I hate myself if I do not heed the correction of the Lord, even His correction coming through those whom He has allowed into my life. When I recognize, acknowledge and obey Divine correction in the events of my life, I attain a deeper, fuller, more powerful apprehension of the nature and working of God. Recognition of God’s voice begins with an acknowledgment and understanding of His perfect omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence.

The motives of my heart cannot be hidden from God, but I can, and often do, deceive myself. God will allow circumstances and people into my everyday life to confront my cognizant presence with the reality of my heart and the reality of God’s will for my life. I must be humble enough to receive both.

Dear God, today I am grateful for Your voice in the lessons of life. Grant me the grace to learn from those lessons today and allow me the wisdom to recognize Your voice. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 16

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. Commit your ways to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established. Pv16:2-3(MEV).

I must rely on the leading of the Lord to ensure that I have the life God intended for me. It is a function of a life-style of repentance. I most remain in a continual, humble willingness to receive the correction of the Lord in all the myriad forms He presents. I must recognize continually that my carnal nature tends to seek desires of self. I must continually present my self as a living sacrifice unto the Lord and allow Him, in His time and in His manner, to circumcise those parts of self that do not conform to the image of His Son. I must remain willing to receive and acknowledge the revelation of any aspect of my being that is not pleasing to God. Upon receiving and acknowledging such revelation, it is incumbent upon me to knowingly and willingly submit the unwanted character trait unto the Lord so He may remove it from my being.

The course of my life is determined by my desires. My will is the seat of my desires. My will is the battleground. The strategy is to change my will through the operation of the mind because the mind operates to justify and facilitate the satisfying of my desires. When I commit my ways to the Lord, I am committing my will to Him; I am committing my desires to Him so He may replace my desires with His desires. I turn my will and my life over to the care of God. With God in charge of my desires, my thoughts are changed.

God desires an ever deepening and broadening relationship between He and I. He establishes a hunger to know Him better through the reading of His word, prayer, meditation, praise, thanksgiving and worship. He also desires that I know His heart better through service to others.

Dear Lord, I have been holding on to my self-desire. All contingency plans evidence my desire to serve self. Empower me with Your grace to release all self-desire and embrace more fully Your desires. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 17

Wisdom is before him who has understanding, but the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth. Pv17:24(MEV).

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U nderstanding can mean knowing how things work, or, it can mean compassion". If I have compassion, I understand how people work. I need the compassion of others and, mostly of God. It is just to assume everyone else needs the same compassion. God is concerned for people. If I have compassion for others, I am on the cusp of Divine wisdom. When I have compassion for others, I am focused within the will of god and in pursuit of spiritual growth and wellbeing. When I have compassion for others, my heart and my mind magnify the Spirit of Christ infilling and indwelling the temporary vessel of my true being. When I have compassion for others, I am attaining to who God created me to be.

If I am focused on the physical, I have been deceived by the temporary. If I remain aware that things unseen are more real (and are eternal) than things that are seen (those things in the earth), I have attained further wisdom. The fool’s end is destruction and his god is his belly. I, however, am set apart in Christ Jesus, the Anointed One of God. I am in Him and He is in me. Jesus Christ in me energizes me to love others in Him. Christ in me strengthens me to have compassion for others. Christ in me empowers me to focus on the eternal rather than the temporal. My eyes are on Him and not on the earth.

God has given me everything I require to be Christ-like. I only need to abandon self unto Him. I only need to disown self. I am not my own. I was bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ. I should start to think and to act in the reality of that truth. I must choose to take off self-love and any desire of self so that the circumcision of Christ will release my eternal expression of being through my cognizant presence and my physical expression of being.

Dear God, today empower me with Your grace to disown self and release Your Spirit through my desires, thoughts, emotions and actions throughout all circumstances in which You allow me to be. Glorify Yourself through the magnification of the Spirit of Christ in my being. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 18

He who separates himself seeks his own desire; he seeks and quarrels against all wisdom. A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart. Pv18:1-2(MEV).

W hen I lack concern for my fellow human beings, I separate from the desires of God. The heart of God continually outpours His grace and mercy upon His creation. If I distinguish myself from others based upon my own criteria or judgment, I am serving self. I am loving self when I set myself apart for my own purposes. I have separated myself from the will of God. If I am rationalizing, even to myself, my choices, then I have abandoned the wisdom of God and have substituted my own reasoning. All rationalizations and all self-justifications are quarrels against Divine wisdom. I cannot justly separate myself. I must await upon the Lord to separate me from that which He desires for me to be separated. When I decide for myself from what or whom I shall be separated, I exercise dominion over my will. If I decide what, where and when I will do something, I am no longer a servant of God, even if I am serving Him. A servant has no will of his own, but only does what his master wills and directs. When I take back charge of my will, I am impelled to refute any challenge to any self-exercise of will. Any attempt to bring me back into the light of God’s will is met with hostility. The more argumentative I am, the more likely I am to be pursuing my own will over the will of God.

Dear God, today reveal to me those areas where I am still attempting to exercise my own will and empower me with Your grace to knowingly and willingly submit the to You for removal. Grant me the willingness to fully submit to the Holy Spirit today so that I may be Your servant in all things. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 19

Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge. Pv19:27(MEV).

A fter he makes an offering to God which is rejected, Cain is crestfallen and sulking. God wars Cain that sin is lurking at the gate, but God encourages him to resist temptation, do well and rule over sin. We know from Scripture that Cain listened to the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge and murdered his brother out of jealousy and envy. Like his parents, Cain’s sin germinated from within himself and his own desires. In this instance, to receive similar recognition and approval from God as his brother. Satan cannot make me do anything that is not already within me. The opportunity to succumb to my own self-desire or choose the commandment of God is an invitation to submit more deeply into dependence upon the grace of God and His intercession of the Holy Spirit already abiding within the temple of my heart.

Dear Lord, empower me today with Your grace to submit to the control of the Spirit of Christ as He leads me upon Your path of truth for my life. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 20

Mercy and truth p reserve the king, and his throne is upheld by mercy. Pv20:28(MEV).

G od is compassionate. When we suffer, He suffers. His goodness permeates all creation. He is good to those who hate Him. He loves all of us with an unfathomable love. He is in love with each of us. God is faithful. In Him there is no deceit. He is able to do what He promises and He keeps all His promises. He is pure and holy. He continually does good. He cannot abide with sin, but He delights in mercy. When I acknowledge my sin, sinfulness and powerlessness over sin He answers me. When I proclaim my complete and utter need for Him, He strengthens me. It pleases Him when I assume an attitude and lifestyle of humility, repentance and worship. He pours His grace upon me unceasingly, but I must choose Him by abandoning self and becoming receptive to the transformative empowerment of His grace. Even His loving correction is intended to draw me, rather than push me, into the light of His will for my life. He is a steadfast love. His love does not change. What changes is my receptiveness to His love. God delights in mercy. He desires to show me mercy. I must allow my heart and my spirit to be broken and ground up so I may be absorbed into His steadfast, righteous love and I am transformed into the image of His Son. I may only be filled with His grace when I am emptied of self.

God delights in mercy. Another translation for the Hebrew word translated here as mercy is steadfast love. Mercy is steadfast love. God’s love for me is unshakeable, that is why He delights in showing me mercy. He loves me and continually offers me His mercy so I may return into communion with Him through Jesus Christ. I am to manifest His nature through my own outpouring of mercy unto others with whom I am in community. Truth manifests as mercy. Jesus teaches me to be merciful as your Father is merciful. The word of God repeatedly instructs me to forgive. Jesus admonishes me to forgive so that I may be forgiven. In order to be upheld in God’s word, I must show mercy.

Dear God, strengthen me to show mercy today in my acts, words and thoughts. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 21

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Pv21:3(MEV).

D on’t talk about it, be about it. God saved me for good works, not for good conversation or donations. He does not need my money or property. It already belongs to Him. God desires for me to exercise His justice in this life so that He may be glorified through my acts of compassion and righteousness. He does not wish for me to brag nor criticize others. I should express the love of Christ Jesus through my acts of kindness and not only with appealing speech.

I am in constant need of God’s mercy. I am in constant need of teaching from God so I may apprehend His commandments as they pertain to each decision with which I am presented in the ongoing, unfolding drama of this life. His mercy, His steadfast love, keeps me as my self-love and self-desire cloud my thoughts and obscure e His commandments at the presentation of the evolving dynamic of my present physical experience of being. My heart requires continual circumcision and the inpouring of God’s grace to be receptive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit so that discernment of the Divine path for my life may manifest. Moreover, the Spirit of Christ is urging me to disown self so that I express understanding (compassion) for others through action. Then I will know experientially the testimony of God, to love Him and to love others. I will know experientially to consider the interests of others before my own interests. I will know experientially the act of loving my enemies. I will know experientially being crucified to the world and the world to me.

Dear God, grant me Your grace to live in accordance with Your will today. Empower me to act rather than just talk today. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 22

By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, honor and life. Pv22:4(MEV).

I am not the one who is important. God is the One who is important. He created me for His glory. My life should be repentance, gratitude, praise and abandonment into Him. My life is to be a witness unto Him. I should give no offense to anyone. Everything I think, say or do should be to benefit others. Imposition of truth does not draw others to Christ. An appeal to freedom draws sinners to Christ. The Word become flesh did not enter this world as a king, per se, but as an infant. Today humility is my paradigm. Abandonment of self unto Him is my attitude and life-style. Recognition of my insufficiency, obedience to His word and submission to His will, allows me to more fully receive the riches of His grace and energizes the release of the Holy Spirit through the physical expression of my being allowing for life as God has it in this age, as well as the next. Before I say or do anything I should ask, Is this going to shed the light of Christ into this circumstance?

Dear God, help me to achieve Your purpose today. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 23

Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge. Pv23:12(MEV).

T he very core of who I am should be committed to being corrected. This is the definition of a life-style of repentance. I know, acknowledge and submit wholly to continual correction. The indwelling Spirit of Christ unceasingly instructs my heart in the Divine way for my life. God, by His written word, teaches me to apply my inmost being to be receiving His continual instruction through His Spirit. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Ps51:20. When he comes to indwell and infill me, He desires to change my nature. The light of His Spirit continues to illuminate the dark, hidden recesses of my heart, revealing pockets of iniquity that must be removed. All the closets of my heart must be opened so that Light may enter and darkness overcome. The Spirit of Christ, the Light of the world, is the One to accomplish such cleansing. It is incumbent upon me to undertake daily, volitional abandonment of self

unto Him, allowing His desires, thoughts and emotions to animate my cognizant presence and manifest His fruit through my physical expression of being.

Dear God, today change who I am. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

January 24

Through wisdom is a house built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms will be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Pv24:3-4(MEV).

G od is wisdom, knowledge and understanding. God is love, mercy and compassion. Rely entirely upon God. He is the only One who will succeed entirely and completely. As soon as I attempt to do anything under my own power I am doomed for failure, confusion and fear. I must have the Lord God direct and empower each and every step. In Him I have comfort, rest, security and contentment. In Him I have peace. I have no integrity on my own. He knows only integrity. He is eternal and unchanging. In Him I am clothed in every good thing.

The Lord empowers me through His Son Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, to be attuned to His promptings and drawings upon me,