#holyspirit – herbcotton.org

Why Should We Wait on the Lord?

A Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton

God Speaks:

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version (KJV)

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

King James Version (KJV)

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Listen to God Speak & Obey:

Have you ever prayed and got weary in waiting on God to answer your prayer? If so, let me encourage you by saying you are not alone in feeling or thinking in this way. Let me welcome you as a member of the human race.

2 Corinthians 12:6-9 King James Version (KJV)

6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God Has Something to Say to You:

I don’t know what God has to say to you, but I have shared with you in the above passage what God said to the Apostle Paul.

Now, I will share with you some of the things God said to me today.

The storm comes before the glory.

The promise comes before the blessing.

The blessing comes to those who believe.

The glory belongs to God alone.

The price precedes the provision.

In my weakness, God provides His strength.

There is nothing too difficult for God.

God uses my problems as raw material for a miracle of sufficient grace for all my needs.

Philippians 4:19 King James Version (KJV)

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:13 King James Version (KJV)

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Father, we exalt You together as we look up to You in prayer. We give You thanks for who You are, and for how much You love us; even when we were unlovely.

Father, today we ask You to teach us to pray and to wait on You. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author’s Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton

Why Do We need to Focus on the Truth?

A Bowl of Encouragement by Herb Cotton

God Speaks:

Psalm 119:129-136 King James Version (KJV)

129 Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

131 I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.

132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

136 Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.

My Opening Prayer:

Father, open my heart so that I might see the truth, and open the hearts of your people who are seeking a word from you. Father, may all who pray, ask you to sanctify them by the power of Your Word. Father, we need mercy in this world so that we will not have to face the wrath of God when the time of mercy has expired at the first death.

Father, please save the lost from the penalty of sin, and keep the redeemed from the power of sin, and we look forward to the day when Jesus will deliver us from the presence of sin. Father, may we work while it is the day because night is coming when no man can work. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

Listen to God Speak & Obey:

Allow me to ask you a penetrating question about what I heard and received in last weekend sermons at my church. I got a double barrel of truth; Saturday night and Sunday morning.

I heard the truth that confession purges your heart of the shame that appears when the light of the Word of God shines into the dark places of your mind, heart; this darkness affects your total body; from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.

My family and friends, we are all imperfect people. We all miss the mark of our creator, and He gets the final word. The Bible says:

Romans 6:22-23 New Living Translation (NLT)

22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

It’s time for each one of us to have a real talk with God. The next step is to talk with three to five closest friends of the same sex in our circle of influence. Notice what the Bible says:

Galatians 5:16 King James Version (KJV)

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Prayer:

Father, I pray that men and women who are within reach of this message will surrender their hearts to You, and will surrender their shame in exchange for the deliverance of our mind, soul, and body from the darkness of death, and move into the light of the presence of God now and for eternity. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.

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Link to my new devotional book Amazon Author’s Page. Everything about the book is found there with pictures, and more to come.

https://www.amazon.com/author/herbcotton

God’s Plan for You

Text:

John 16:7-11 (HCSB)

7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you.

8 When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment:

9 About sin, because they do not believe in Me;

10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me;

11 and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Observation:

The disciples had walked with Jesus, and had the pleasure of seeing Him do wonderful and amazing things. In their minds Jesus leaving them was the worst possible outcome.

However, God had something better, and God’s best required that Jesus must return to be with the Father, and then the Holy Spirit would come and live in them.

Jesus leaving was God’s plan for His disciples then, and for us today. It is a part of God’s plan for the redemption of fallen mankind.

God has done His part; Jesus has been lifted up, and the Holy Spirit has come down to dwell in the hearts of God’s people.

John 3:14-16 (HCSB)

14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.

16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 14:16-17 (HCSB)

16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.

17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you.

God has done His part, and He has given a command to His people to do our part.

Acts 1:8 (HCSB)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Mark 16:19-20 (HCSB)

19 Then after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for sending Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and Your people to be Your witnesses to the whole world that You so love. Father, may we be faithful in going, so that others will come to You and find redemption in Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

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Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
¹¹ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

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Are You Using the Riches You Have?

Text:

Galatians 4:6 (HCSB)

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

Observation:

I was reading Romans 8 recently, and I was gripped by the revelation of an amazing truth that leaped off the page, and into my heart.

The verse that leaped off the page, and into my heart was this one.

Romans 8:15 (HCSB)

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

What an amazing thing God has done for us when He provided the means of our redemption through Jesus.

Romans 5:1 (HCSB)

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every believer has the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit of God living in our heart.

‘Romans 8:9 (HCSB)

9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

Do you know where you learned how to cry out to God, “Abba Father?” I tell you where; you heard it from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 4:6 (HCSB)

6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

Hallelujah! Its prayer time.

Prayer:

Father God, Abba Father, I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit spoke into my heart the words “Abba Father”, and now I am able to speak them to you in prayer.

Father, thank You that the Holy Spirit enables us to yield our will to the will of God, and that He guides us on the pathway of righteousness all of the days of our life.

Father, we express our gratitude to You for all Your blessings. In the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

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Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

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The Word of God – Spirit and Life

Text:

John 6:63 (ESV)

63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Observation:

The lyrics of this song is in my head as I read the focal passage for today. It is “Wonderful Words of Life”.

“Sing them over again to me,

Wonderful words of life,

Let me more of their beauty see,

Wonderful words of life;

Words of life and beauty

Teach me faith and duty.

?Refrain:

?Beautiful words, wonderful words,

?Wonderful words of life;

?Beautiful words, wonderful words,

?Wonderful words of life.”

If our spiritual life is to grow we need to feast on the Word of God; not just one day a week, but every day.

These are the final words of Peter to the first century believers who were facing persecution because of their faith in Jesus, and the Gospel of Christ.

2 Peter 3:17-18 (NLT)

17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.

18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

These are the words of Jesus:

John 17:17 (HCSB)

17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.

Are you willing to fast from the words of the world, and feast on the Word of God?

Prayer:

Father, I pray that You will stir the hearts of Your people until we have a burning desire to seek You, and abide in You with our whole heart in this New Year.

Father, thank You for the promise that if we trust You with our whole heart, and walk in Your ways that nothing will be impossible.

Father, I pray that Your people will never forget the hope we have because of the wonderful gift of love that You have given to each of us who belongs to Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Psalm 40:8 (NLT)

8 I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

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Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

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Welcome Holy Spirit We Welcome You

Text:

Acts 1:4-5 (ESV)

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;

5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Observation:

It’s so amazing how God works in the lives of His children. I have been thinking about the office work of the Holy Spirit, and I wrote this draft several weeks ago.

When I turned on my computer this morning I had a text message from my brother and friend that greets me every morning with a blessing. This morning the blessing mentioned the Holy Spirit. Then I scrolled through my draft documents, and found this message.

This is what I wrote one Sunday evening. I was listening to an album by George Beverly Shea, and he begin singing this song just as I completed pasting the scripture text to my document, “Welcome, Welcome”. Holy Spirit, you are welcomed in my heart.

This is the big idea I get from this reading and focusing on the text, and the illumination that the Holy Spirit revealed to my heart. I am convinced that the God who calls us for His purpose and His glory will give us the wisdom and the power to accomplish whatever He assigns our hearts to sense and our will to obey. It is true what Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi.

Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

The child of God is the most powerful when he or she is weak, and is the most independent when dependent upon the power of the Holy Spirit. The triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are doing the heavy lifting. O, that my life was lived every day, and every hour in the power of the divine presence of God living in me.

Prayer:

Father, hallowed be Your name; the name that is above every name on earth and in heaven. Father, we give all the glory that is due to You because You are God all by yourself. Great is the Lord, and You are greatly to be praised.

Father, I thank You for the forever presence of the triune God in the lives of Your people. Father, I pray we will not fail the faith test; that we will believe, receive, and appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit as He does His office work in our lives. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Romans 8:9 (ESV)

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

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Read the Daily Devotional by Herb Cotton; click here:

http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

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