Pathways Press.com

Written by Anne Graham Lotz, a contemporary evangelist and author. This is an excerpt from her book “Joy of My Heart.”

What is hindering you from being filled with the Holy Spirit? To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be under His moment-by-moment control. He has not been given to you so that you can keep Him confined to a particular area in your life. Let Him loose! He is Lord! The amount of power you experience to live a victorious, triumphant Christian life is directly proportional to the freedom you give the Spirit to be Lord of your life!

For we know, brothers and sistersloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.  [1 Thessalonians 1:4-5].

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Written by the Lead Like Jesus Team, an organization founded by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges that promotes a transformational leadership model based on following Jesus.

Lord my God, Great I AM, Your love for me is transforming me from the inside out. Transform my heart so that I live and breathe the awareness of Your love today. Let my whole life be about you, I pray in the name of the One who lived only for You, amen.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  [2 Corinthians 3:18]

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Written by Michelle Lazurek, a contemporary speaker and author.

Blessings held such high importance in the Old Testament. Fathers often blessed their first born sons in the hopes God brought them prosperity and a long, fruitful life. Blessings were intended to bring peace, protection, and joy to their children. God blessed many people around him… In society, it is rare for people to bless each other. We are known more for what we are against, rather than what we are for. If we are to be like Jesus, we need to be known as people who, when others are in our company, feel like they’re in the presence of Jesus. There are many types of blessings. The most common is that of verbal affirmation. People want to know that they are seen, appreciated, and special… Make people feel special when they’re in your company. Above all, love them. Although blessings are often verbal, a non-verbal blessing can be equally as effective. Identify a person’s love language and speak it well. Do a kind gesture as an act of service. Hug people and let them know you love them. Spend time with them, letting them know they’re special to you. The purpose of a blessing is to let another person know how much they are loved by God and by you.,, Allow every person to feel like they are in the presence of Jesus simply because they are in your presence. By loving others, you will find you are blessed equally in return. 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26.

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Written by J.D. Watt, a contemporary American pastor.

And this is the secret of transformation. As we receive His righteousness by faith, we can by faith release our sinfulness. As we receive His wholeness, we can release our brokenness. This is the miracle of grace. God is not holding back waiting on us to get rid of our sinfulness so He can come in and replace it with His righteousness. He stands at the door and knocks. He comes to give us His righteousness which displaces our sinfulness, empowering us to then release it.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. [Revelation 3:20]

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Written by Michael Curry, a contemporary Bishop of the American Episcopal Church.

The late Dr. Martin Luther King once said “We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love, and when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world.”  Love is the only way. There’s power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even over-sentimentalize it. There’s power, power in love. If you don’t believe me, think about a time when you first fell in love. The whole world seemed to center around you and your beloved. Well, there’s power, power in love, not just in its romantic forms, but any form, any shape of love. We were made by a power of love and our lives were meant and are meant to be lived in that love. That’s why we are here. Ultimately the source of love is God himself. The source of all of our lives. There’s an old medieval poem that says, where true love is found, God himself is there. The New Testament says it this way, beloved, let us love one another because love is of God and those who love are born of God and know God, those who do not love do not know God, why? For God is love. There’s power in love. There’s power in love to help and heal when nothing else can. There’s power in love, to lift up and liberate when nothing else will. There’s power in love to show us the way to live.

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.   [2 Timothy 1:7]

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Written by Lucy Finn Borgo, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “Faith Like a Child.”

Failure is part of learning. We don’t fault a child as they learn to eat; in fact we take pictures instead…But we adults see failure as a final mark of our efforts, rather than as part of the process. Our preoccupation with outcomes can become a compulsion. We can become so debilitated by perfectionism that we alienate ourselves from all risk and even joy. In our walk with God, failure offers us many gifts. Perfection doesn’t prepare; presence does. There is no learning without failure. What we understand about ourselves, God, and even others will always be a mystery. When we experience failure, we come up against that mystery. We are invited to remember that the depths cannot be plumbed or tamed.

There is a sure way for us to know that we belong to the truth. Even though our inner thoughts may condemn us with storms of guilt and constant reminders of our failures, we can know in our hearts that in His presence God Himself is greater than any accusation. He knows all things.      [1 John 3:19-20]

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Written by Brian Morykon, a contemporary communications director and writer.

I don’t think it’s going too far to call unforgiveness an act of idolatry. Because holding someone in contempt means sitting on God’s throne and saying I know better…Not forgiving others leads to bitterness. Bitterness is a hairball clogging the pipe of God’s life flowing into and through us, a chain that binds us, a distorted lens that blinds us. “We don’t forgive because people deserve it,” songwriter Jason Upton once declared in spontaneous worship, “we forgive so we can see again.” Forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer comes right after asking for daily bread. Maybe they’re linked. Maybe receiving and extending forgiveness is part of our daily sustenance. Bitterness devours; forgiveness feeds … It can be difficult to forgive and to receive forgiveness by ourselves. We need Christ in a sister or brother to hear our hurt and help us release our offender, and to hear our sins and help us release ourselves. A book could be filled with caveats and cautions: forgiveness doesn’t mean the offense is less severe; it doesn’t mean a relationship is always restored; it doesn’t mean being a victim or staying in abusive situations. You know this. Perhaps, like me, you just needed a reminder today of what forgiveness is. It is giving what you’ve been given: the bread of mercy.

Then leave your gift before the altar, go to your brother, repent and forgive one another, be reconciled, and then return to the altar to offer your gift to God. [Matthew 5:24]

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Written by Whitney Hopler, a contemporary writer, editor, and website developer. 

When I encounter an especially stressful situation, I focus on my breathing while saying a silent prayer to God. It’s simple, yet significant. There’s something powerful that happens every time I inhale and exhale prayerfully. I notice God’s presence with me as I breathe. As I use the physical gift of breath that my Creator has given me, I connect with him spiritually. I become aware ofGod’s Holy Spirit inspiring me. The English word “inspire” comes from the Latin word “inspirare,” which means “to breathe or blow into or upon.” This reveals the profound linguistic connection between inspiration and breathing…Jesus gives his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit – and he does so through the simple act of breathing. When Jesus breathes on his disciples and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit, he shows us how the act of breathing can welcome in God’s power. God has given us all the remarkable gift of breath. Genesis 2:7 reveals that God breathed life into the very first human being when he created humanity… Breathing sustains life in us physically. Each inhale draws in the life-giving oxygen that fuels our bodies, while each exhale releases carbon dioxide, cleansing us of waste. But our breathing not only sustains us physically, it also can inspire us spiritually…Embrace the gift of your breathing as a sacred way to connect with God anytime and anywhere! 

Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.  And with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. [ John 20:21-22]

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Written by Peter Kreeft, a contemporary apologist, philosophy professor, and author.

The great divide, the eternal divide, is not between theists and atheists, or between happiness and unhappiness, but between seekers (lovers) and non-seekers (non-lovers) of the Truth (for God is Truth). We can seek health, happiness, or holiness; physical health, mental health, or spiritual health as our summum bonum, our greatest good. But Christ’s first question in John’s Gospel is the crucial one: “What do you seek?” This question determines what we will find, determines our eternal destiny, determines everything.

Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”  [John 1:38]

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Written by Ray Stedman (1917-1992), an American pastor and author.

We are not the ones who do the soul winning, ever. We do not have the power to convince people to become Christians, nor is a person won to Christ by our trying to argue with them. This means we can relax in our approach, and if the Holy Spirit has not already prepared a heart and made them ready and willing to listen, there is nothing we can do to make them so, except to pray for them.

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. [John 14:26]

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