I would be in bad shape if my only communication with God came through other people. If I had to depend on others to get a Rhema word—utterances from the Lord specifically for me, or relying on them to do all my praying, I would be missing out on some of the best times of my life, one-on-one with the Holy Spirit. I can only describe those times as absolutely scrumptious.

It’s great if you have daily family prayer; by all means, please continue. But don’t think that will take the place for meeting with the Spirit alone. If Jesus had to set time apart to be with the Father, so do we.

Doesn’t God deserve our full attention—Prime time?

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he [Jesus] went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed (Mark 1:35).

Twenty years ago, I learned the value of meeting with God one-on-one when I started working in a hard-pressed school as an assistant principal/disciplinarian and later becoming the principal. The only way I survived those trying times was through those daily private meetings with the Holy Spirit. As I look back, I know He gave me that job because He knew I would run to Him.

Later God inspired me to write a book: Traveling Under Concealed Orders—A School Almost Left Behind, which detailed that life-changing experience. Please visit my online bookstore if you would like to purchase a copy.

Meet until it becomes a habit.

Now that I’m retired, those one-on-one meetings have become a habit that I love and look forward to each morning. When trouble strikes, I automatically take myself straight to the Father. He has proven to me over and over again how faithful He is to meet my needs. Through His comforting arms, I have hope. Under His wings, I’m protected, and by His wisdom, I find the right answers. I want those who don’t have the God habit to discover this awesome privilege to come before the Almighty.

In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears (Psalm 18:6).

When we are in trouble, we’ll find all kinds of time to get before God. How would that make you feel if a person only found time to be with you when they wanted something; how genuine is that relationship? We need to be in hot pursuit of the Holy Spirit in the good and challenging times. Meeting God on our sunny days grows our faith when we need to trust Him during stormy times.

There’s no need to feel intimidated if you are not in eager pursuit of God; ask Him to put that desire and passion into your spirit. Ask Him to put a spiritual hunger and thirst in you that only He can satisfy. You don’t have to entertain the Holy Spirit with fancy words; you can be silent and just listen to what He has to say. The key is consistency.

And please don’t let the enemy deceive you into believing these meetings aren’t necessary. These daily one-on-one meetings with God are vital, and the devil knows it.

If you haven’t already, schedule your one-on-one meetings. © 2021

Traveling Under Concealed Order is an intriguing account of how God miraculously called six women from different walks of life together to pray fervently for a very troubled inner-city school. Click here to get your copy today

 

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If we could take a glimpse of the world’s landscape from an astronomical standpoint, we would see earth in excruciating pain—bruised and inflamed by hate. This wretched spirit is on a rampage and has executed some horrendous acts—leaving in its aftermath sorrow and suffering. I have never seen such intensified evilness in my lifetime as I see today. I can only describe it as hate on steroids.

Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. ⁹ Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too (1Peter 5:8-9, LAB).

What is God showing us—about us?

God has pulled back the drapes so we can see the mess we created by ignoring Him. He will not tolerate being relegated to a position other than number One in our lives. Every time the world tries to remove God, the results are our downfall. Jesus said in the last days iniquity will abound, and the love of many shall wax cold (see Matthew 24:12).

We can certainly attest to that when we see strangers hating one another on sight for no apparent reason. Racial tension is mounting as prejudice and injustice are normalized with hypocrisy. Hate crimes are performed without showing any signs of remorse. We can’t even come together on one accord in a worldwide crisis.

We’re never going to agree on everything, and that’s okay. It’s healthy to bring different points of view to the table; that broadens our perspective and understanding. However, what’s not okay is when we rely on hateful measures to settle our differences.

Those of us who know Christ recognize we are in a spiritual war, and you don’t bring toy weapons (egos, biases, and squabblings) to a spiritual fight. The only way to fight demoniac spirits is with the Spirit of God. (See Ephesians 6:11-18.)

I keep telling you I don’t write these posts off the top of my head; I wait for the LORD to inspire me in the direction He wants me to go. And for this week and last week, He’s warning us to love one another, without exception. We don’t have to like a person’s ways, but we do have to love them by treating them the same way we would want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12)

The gates of hell are flung open, and hate is charging out on steroids!

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

© 2021

(LAB) Life Application Bible copyright © 1988 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189.

 

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What an awful sinking feeling to find out you put in long hours studying—for the wrong test. It’s even worse when it’s the Life Test. I view life as one long test with pop-quizzes sprinkled in daily. Here’s the good news about the Life Test; there are only two questions on the entire exam. The bad news, those two questions are humdingers—they cover every eensy-weensy aspect of our being.

Life Test Questions:

1. Do you love God?
2. Do you love your neighbor?

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).

The Bible is the Study Guide.

Let’s take a closer look at the first question: Do you love God?

We can say we love God all day long; however, that doesn’t make it so. Jesus said if we love Him, we’ll keep His commandments. Check the Study Guide (John 14:15).

To love God means He is first in our lives. We put no other gods before Him. We schedule our day around Him—not Him around our schedules. We want to be with the ones we love, and God should be no exception. To love God means we’ll surrender our will to do whatever it takes to please Him.

Loving the LORD isn’t an essay question—we can’t bluff our way through with elusive, slippery words.

Now let’s take a closer look at the second question: Do you love your neighbor?

This second question is linked to the first one. But to start, we must determine who our neighbor is? In Luke 10:29, when a certain man tried to justify his lack of love for particular individuals, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered him by telling the parable known as the Good Samaritan (see vs. 30-37).

As portrayed in the parable, a neighbor is anyone in need. The Samaritan didn’t know the man on the road, but that man needed help. Therefore, that man was the Samaritan’s neighbor.

To love means be nice.

God didn’t say to love only those who love us back. God expects us to love our enemies. Check the Study Guide (Matthew 5:44). The Life test wasn’t designed to be easy but to mature us spiritually.

God wouldn’t command His people to do something that He didn’t equip them to do. If they say they can’t love someone, are they saying God failed to prepare them properly? They might not want to love, but they are equipped for the task. Jesus’ enemies nailed Him to a cross, and He still chose to love.

Don’t study for the wrong test.

Don’t allow a person’s evil spirit to provoke you into taking your focus off the two test questions. Instead, see that person as one of your daily pop-quizzes; react the way Jesus would, and stay on course.

Examine how you treat others under the microscope of Matthew 7:12, known as the Golden Rule. And, while you’re at it, reread Mark 12:30 to see if your love for God is more than just words.

Study for the proper test!

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

© 2021

 

 

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COVID is not the only pandemic we’re facing. Have you noticed the world is drowning—in lies? I mean, people everywhere are lying about everything—and everybody; it’s off the chain. Of course, the father of lies (John 8:44) tries to normalize this behavior; but it’s a sin before God.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

Why count on a world that’s benefiting from these falsehoods to tell us the truth?

Remember the popular saying: What would Jesus do? It would serve us well to reword that to say: What would Jesus believe? Let Him be the litmus test to sort through all the mendacious rhetoric we’re being bombarded with these days.

A few months ago, I accepted an opportunity to study the four Gospels. To be honest with you, I wasn’t enthusiastic; I felt like I already knew Jesus’ life story. However, I thank God I went through the course, because to my surprise, when I read each gospel writer’s version of particular events this time, I received a more thorough picture of Who Jesus is. I understand now what God wanted me to know about Jesus’ character.

Imitating Jesus cancels our wrong ideologies, prejudices, and prejudgments.

You can trust me when I say this: Jesus wouldn’t believe or go along with anything that involves: cruelty, injustice, or any other satanic maneuver—He would expose the devil for the liar that he is (Matthew 16:23). Take Note: Jesus saw straight through the Pharisees and Sadducees’ hypocrisy.

Don’t indiscriminately go along with the crowd.

Jesus was the Master of parables, and after studying His life, I think about: If Jesus put my conduct in a parable, would I be on the side of right—or wrong? What would be the story’s moral? Yeah, we must keep our actions under that type of scrutiny to keep from drowning.

The enemy can’t keep us drowning in lies when we align our actions with Jesus.

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

© 2021

 

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Our heavenly Father made us a lot of promises, but tomorrow is not one of them. No matter how secure our current stance might be, vulnerability says it can change without notice. If we think we’re invincible, we had better think again. All flesh is vulnerable; God created us that way with good reason.

Now, that doesn’t mean we’re to live in fear of life’s uncertainties; but what it does mean we should live humbly, graciously, and purposefully before our Lord. And since vulnerability puts us all on the same playing field, we should treat each other with compassion and respect.

Our lives are like vapor that vanishes in the air.

For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. ¹⁵ As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. ¹⁶ For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more (Psalm 103:14-16).

Would we change the way we live our lives if we thought today was the container of our last breath? I believe we would get really smart fast and not allow the “stupid” stuff rule: prejudices, unforgiveness, greed, offenses, and such.

One imaginary day:

Let’s suppose for a moment we knew this was our last day on earth, and we weren’t going to be held accountable for all our ungodly past behaviors—only judged on today’s actions. Do you think we would have a problem treating people of all races with kindness and respect? Do you think cheating and deceiving others would still override common decency? Do you think we would be able to distinguish hypocrisy from sincerity if we were only going to be judged on today’s performance? I think you get my point.

This one imaginary day should tell us how we should be living our vulnerable lives every day.

How do you know what is going to happen tomorrow? For the length of our lives is as uncertain as the morning fog—now you see it; soon it is gone (James 4:14, LAB).

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

© 2021

(LAB) Life Application Bible copyright © 1988 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189.

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Whenever I read how Jesus walked away from crowds to be with His Father or Moses alone in the mountains with God, my imagination allows me to vicariously experience the spirit-filled power surges they probably witnessed in those timeouts.

The other day when I imagined one of those gatherings, the Holy Spirit interjected this question:

Who do you think did the most talking—them or Me? Hmmm!

I believe God did most of the talking. I’m sure after Jesus dispersed His power ministering and catering to the multitudes—healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, His human body needed some R&R (rest and restoration) that only His Father could provide.

And Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, had to listen because he wasn’t born in the beginning when God created heaven and earth.

Do we talk more to God than we listen to Him?

Prayer is a conversation we have with the Lord. Do we, or a designee, do all the talking when praying? Do we have our prayer agendas and services so tightly planned that we forget to invite the Holy Spirit into the conversations? I know all prayer settings aren’t appropriate to wait before the Lord; however, seek Him as soon as possible.

Is the prayer complete without God’s input? Just asking!

Speak; for thy servant heareth (1 Samuel 3:10b).

Imagine you doing all the talking on the phone, and when finished, you say goodbye without allowing the other person to say a word. We often treat God like that other person; the only difference instead of saying goodbye, we say Amen.

Why should we talk less and listen more to God?

Consider:

• Who knows what we should pray for, God or us?
• Who has something to learn, God or us?
• Who knows where our icebergs are hidden, God or us?
• Who can stop the devil dead in his tracks, God or us?

 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.

 (Job 38:4, LAB)

By faith, listen to what God is saying.

© 2021

See you next time on Paulette Talks Faith.

(LAB) Life Application Bible copyright © 1988 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189.

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Lately, it’s been hard not to notice God ripping veils off, snatching curtains down, and opening closet doors uncovering imposters and crooked dealings. And since He isn’t a respecter of persons, we are all susceptible to this exposure—public figures and private citizens alike.

Publicly humiliated!

One day when Jesus spoke to a multitude of people, He warned His disciples about hypocrisy—people trying to appear upright when their hearts were rotten. Jesus continued to say what’s done in the dark will be proclaimed from the housetops.

… More than anything else, beware of these Pharisees and the way they pretend to be good when they aren’t. But such hypocrisy cannot be hidden forever. ²It will become as evident as yeast in dough. ³ Whatever they have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be broadcast from the housetops for all to hear! (Luke 12:1-3, LAB)

Some people think they can defy God without facing His wrath—not me. Once I saw all the unveiling taking place, I told the Holy Spirit: Please Lord, You, and I can straighten me out; public humiliation won’t be necessary.

Beware of hearts that marinate in hate!

The devil is always looking for ways to disgrace and discredit Christians. One of his cruelest ploys is to delude believers into thinking they’re doing the Lord’s work—even though that work involves mistreating others. Matthew 7:16 says we will know them by their fruits. How can they claim to love God while they hate their brother? (See 1 John 4:20.)

God is exposing those hateful hearts so onlookers won’t associate those despicable deeds with Him.

These people say they honor me, but their hearts are far away. ⁹Their worship is worthless, for they teach their manmade laws instead of those from God (Matthew 15:8-9, LAB).

No more hiding. Get it straight—or be EXPOSED!

© 2021

Scriptures taken from: Life Application Bible copyright © 1988 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Ill. 60189.