BUILD YOUR SPIRIT

The Bible calls the human spirit the candle of the Lord (Proverbs 20:27); that’s
where the light of God is; that’s where He guides you from. Therefore, a
Christian who utters words that are inconsistent with the realities of the new
life in Christ deceives his own spirit. As a result, his spirit will no longer be a
trustworthy guide.

Corinthians 14:4

He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself…

Many Charismatics believe that when you speak in tongues, you edify or build
up your spirit man. Well, that is only one-third true. The Bible does not say that
the speaker edifies his spirit. No, it says that the speaker “edifies himself”. This
means his entire self — spirit, soul and body. So he who speaks in tongues
builds up not just his spirit, but his soul and body as well.

The Bible says, "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20). Speaking in other tongues is
therefore a necessary requirement for your spiritual growth and upliftment. If
you’re born again and have received the Holy Spirit, you can and should speak
in tongues frequently. You don’t need to wait for special prayer times;
wherever you are, speak in tongues. It will condition and programme your
spirit for the life of success and dominion.

Learn to meditate on the word of God

"What you will be in 5 years’ time will depend on what you have deposited in your spirit,"
Pastor said, assuring the brethren at Sunday Service that there is no use just waiting for things
to get better. "Waiting for things to change is living the life of a victim; children of God are
not supposed to be victims," he shared.

Be inspired to grow and build your spirit through God's Word

21 Ways to Build a Stronger Spiritual Life

Because we live in a culture that increasingly leans toward commercialism,

materialism, and secularism, it is not always easy to keep the soul nourished.

The challenge of these days, when times are not hospitable to spiritual growth,
is how to nuture, feed, heal, restore, and renew the soul. Here are 21 practical
suggestions for building a stronger spiritual life.

1. Be a river, not a swamp.

The Bible says: “Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of those who
believe in me” (John 7:38, margin).* Remember, it is the mountain stream that
carries fresh, life-giving water because it flows out. However, the swamp is
stagnant and life-devouring. A swamp collects and retains water that comes its
way. Don’t be the kind of person who seeks to accumulate much before
allowing a little to flow through.

As Christians we are to let blessings flow through us and on to others. When we

hoard and dam the blessings in our lives we are in danger of becoming
spiritually stagnant, emotionally detached, and intellectually cynical. Resolve to
break up the dam and let blessings flow like a river. The freshness is in the flow.

2. Identify blessings.
Too often we go through life oblivious to the good that comes flowing into our
lives. Try this spiritual exercise for one week: At the end of the first day,
identify a blessing that came to you from a family member. At the end of the
second day, a blessing from a neighbor. Third day, from a friend. Fourth day,
from a work colleague. Fifth day, from a stranger. Sixth day, from a child. On
the seventh day, a blessing that came from an “enemy.”

3. Be like Moses-speak words of blessing.

One of the most beautiful and compassionate passages in the Bible contains
these words of blessing pronounced by Moses:

May the Lord bless you and protect you.

May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace
(Numbers 6:24-26).

Get creative with language, and speak words that will uplift, encourage, hearten,
and bless other people. As you build them up, your own spirit will get stronger.
4. Nurture a shared prayer life.
Increase the amount of time you spend in prayer by sharing in prayer with
others. Some ways to do this include:

Letting friends know you are always available for prayer.

Attending regularly held prayer groups.
Participating in a prayer chain.

5. Take a step of faith.

Spiritual growth means taking a leap of faith from time to time. Rather than
trying to get everything in place before you start something important, why not
follow God’s leading and allow the plan to evolve? This means taking a step of
faith and trusting God to provide what may be needed for success.

6. Restore someone’s faith.

Today, make time to heal a wounded heart, to extend kindness to someone who
really needs a friend, or to help gather up pieces of a broken dream. Today, do
whatever you can to radiate God’s unconditional love.

7. Be a grateful person.
Start every day with a morning prayer of gratitude to God for the gift of a new
day. Do this even if the day ahead appears ominous. Conclude every day with
an evening prayer of gratitude to God for the gift of the preceding hours. Do this
even if you’ve had a very tough day.

8. Share the journey.

Hook up with one other person who is seeking to grow spiritually. Agree to
meet once a week for a period of time to study and reflect on spiritual matters.
A friend of mine, who is a busy executive in Toronto, Ontario, met for six
months with another man to do Bible study. “No matter how hectic our
schedules, we always met each week during our lunch hour at a downtown
church that kindly provided us with a room for our meeting. Those were good
months when a lot of spiritual growth took place,” he says.

9. Serve.
Look for ways to serve the community, especially tasks that promise no reward,
such as picking up litter on the streets. Read and reflect on the action of Jesus in
John 13:1-5.

10. Cultivate a little solitude.

“Solitude makes us tougher toward ourselves and tenderer toward others; in
both ways it improves our character,” noted philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm
Nietzsche. Spend some time away from the crowd and the noise of life. Set
aside a few minutes to be alone-just you and God. In quietness we turn our
minds away from the problems of life and fix our thoughts on the mind of God.

11. Fast and pray.

Prayer linked with fasting was often done by people in the Bible. Ezra 8:23
reports: “So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us,
and he heard our prayer.” The next time you are asked to pray urgently for
someone in difficulty, consider combining your praying with some fasting.

12. Turn worries over to God.

This is a clear teaching of Scripture: “Give your burdens to the Lord, and he
will take care of you” (Psalm 55:22). Do this each time a worry crops up.

13. Spread love wherever you go.

That is the advice of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who advised: “Spread love
everywhere you go: First of all in your own house. . . . Let no one ever come to
you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s
kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile,
kindness in your warm greeting.”

14. Keep your priorities straight.

Know what is ultimately important and what is not. Consider the words of
former President George Bush: “I am blessed with a close and wonderful
family, and I want to spend the rest of my life letting them know how much I
love them and appreciate them,” he said. “One of my most important
accomplishments, one I am still working on, is to be a huge success in the
grandfather business. I would like to be remembered for integrity, service, and
family.”

15. Strive for excellence.

The Bible tells us: “Whatever you do, do well” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Be the best
that you can be at whatever station in life God has placed you.

16. Use it or lose it.

God has generously endowed each of us with unique gifts and talents. Make use
of them or you will run the risk of losing them. “Use your gifts faithfully, and
they shall be enlarged; practice what you know, and you shall attain to higher
knowledge,” noted ninteenth-century poet Sir Edwin Arnold.

17. Meditate on Scripture.

The Bible is loaded with verses of comfort, encouragement, and wisdom. Make
it a habit to read and study your Bible in a regular, disciplined way. Highlight
verses that speak to you. Meditate on those words. Memorize some of the
passages so you can recall them from memory at a future time.
18. Be reliable.
Do what you say you will do-whether it’s convenient or not. Follow through on
all of your commitments, large and small. By your actions, show others you are
a person who can be trusted and counted upon.

19. Ask God to make you a blessing today.

A great way to grow in wonder and amazement is by asking God to turn your
life into a blessing. Do this each morning before resuming your daily activities.
Offer a short, simple prayer like this one: “Dear God, on this day make my life a
blessing to someone, somewhere.” Then pay close attention to every person you
encounter during the day, as God will honor your prayer, sometimes in
surprising ways.

20. Spend time in nature.

This was something done by the psalm writers, and they gleaned spiri-tual
lessons from their time in nature. “The heavens tell of the glory of God. The
skies display his marvelous craftsmanship” (Psalm 19:1). “When I look at the
night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you have set
in place-what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you
should care for us?” (Psalm 8:3,4). “Mountains rose and valleys sank to the
levels you decreed. Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would
never again cover the earth” (Psalm 104:8, 9).

21. Exercise your power of choice.

No matter what happens to you, you always have the freedom to choose. You
can select joy over despair. You can select love over hate. You can select
forgiveness over revenge. You can select growth over stagnation. Remember
that a crisis can evoke the best in us or the worst in us. The choice is ours!

Train Your Spirit To Discern His Voice – Monday August 5th, 2013

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27).

If as Christian, you find it difficult to discern the voice of the Spirit, it’s not
because His voice is weak when He speaks. It's possible to train yourself to
discern the voice of the Spirit, and here are a few thoughts that'll help you.

First, you must develop a voracious appetite for the Word. Study the Word and
know it for yourself. The voice of God's Spirit is made known to you through
the written Word. Secondly, learn to act on the Word quickly. When you
receive instructions or counsel from God's Word, don't delay; act at once. That's
learning to train your spirit.
Thirdly, pray the Word. Prayer helps to condition your spirit to become a
dependable receptacle of God's ideas, visions and promptings. So, how you
pray, what you pray about, and the content of your prayer, on the basis of the
Word, determine how sensitive your spirit will be to His voice.

Also, desire spiritual things; things that matter to God: desire them from your
heart and pursue them. The proof of desire is pursuit. Engage yourself with
activities that'll edify your spirit such as soul winning, participation in church
meeting and services etc. Commit your resources – time, money and attention to
the things that matter to the Lord.

The 11th verse of the same 1 Corinthians 2 reveals that the human spirit also
operates the same way:

“For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.”