Half Hot and Half Cold

by Jilly Lyon Taylor

 "Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other." Galatians 5:16-17, NIV

During the recent cold weather some of us were meeting to pray in a room where the radiator was not working properly. The hot water was coming into the bottom of the radiator through a pipe on one side, and flowing out  through a pipe on the other side. The lower half of the radiator was hot but the top half was not receiving any heat and was stone cold. As a result there was partial warmth coming into the room, but not nearly as much as there should have been.

During the prayer time I sensed God speaking to us about the radiator, equating its state of being half hot and half cold to our own lives. We can have times when we are on fire for God, full of the Holy Spirit, bringing God’s light and warmth to those around us. But we can also have times when we are lukewarm or even cold; when the power of the Holy Spirit is not evident in our lives and we are therefore not able to be used by God to affect those around us.

When a radiator is not working properly, it is usually because of a blockage of some kind – an air lock or an accumulation of sediment that prevents the flow of hot water to the whole radiator. What blockages might be hindering the full flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives? It could be wrong attitudes such as unforgiveness or resentment towards others; it could be resistance coming out of our own flesh or carnal nature (such as pride, independence, greed, and self-centredness); or it could be another specific sin that we are reluctant to acknowledge or lay down. Any of these things can be in conflict with the work of the Spirit and block His working in our lives.

Whatever the blockages might be, let’s confess them to God, repent and ask Him to cleanse us so that we can be fully on fire for Him, bringing His warmth to those around us.

Prayer: Lord, I’m sorry for the times when I’ve been lukewarm or even cold towards You. I confess to You now the things that have caused blockages to the working of the Holy Spirit in my life, and I repent before You. Please forgive me and cleanse me of everything that is hindering Your working in my life. Please fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Daily Smile:

A man visiting a graveyard saw a tombstone that read: “Here lies John Smith, a lawyer and an honest man.”

“How about that!” he exclaimed. “They’ve got three people buried in one grave.”

Comfort My People

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God!" Isaiah 40:1, NIV

The Lord never made a secret of the fact that wars and warfare were to be expected around Israel and Jerusalem. Isaiah spoke prophetically about the rise and fall of kings and nations, and how Jerusalem wouldn’t be spared, even if the judgment wasn’t going to be as imminent as it had

seemed at first.

Then Isaiah’s prophecies took a sharp turn. He stopped speaking about judgment and retribution and started bringing words of comfort and hope. This

was so sharp a turn that some commentators have even questioned that it was Isaiah speaking! The important thing is that it’s the same God, beginning to speak to the needs of His people.

Before the thirty-ninth chapter God was revealing Himself as the Lord of history. He was causing the rise and the downfall of empires and deciding times and sequences. But He isn’t

just the God of world events. He’s not only concerned with the latest, headline-making news. He’s also God the Father, caring for the weak and downtrodden, with a heart for those in need. So from chapter forty onward

He becomes very personal, and shows how He takes the side of ordinary people, those who will suffer under the marching armies and warring kings.

It’s interesting that God is

never called the God of the mighty and the strong, but rather ‘the Father of the fatherless and defender of the widows’. Who would choose such a title for himself? Only God would do that! God’s immensely

interested in every human being: ‘You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down, you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my

tongue, you know it completely O Lord’(Psalm 139:2-4).

TV gives us up-to-the-minute news and reporters give us stories which sell their newspapers.

Compared to the few people who make it to such fame, or shame, in the newspapers we may feel very, very insignificant. But not to God! He cares for us. He knows that we live in a world that’s shaking. He knows that the

foundations of many countries are quite wobbly. In such times He speaks comfort to His people. “Don’t be afraid, I’m still in charge!”

God the Father has a deep interest in the lowliest of His

children. He loves to comfort His own. If we’re under pressure and attack, in difficult circumstances or hopeless situations, He’s there with us, comforting, encouraging and speaking hope. The outlook for the

world at large may seem quite bleak, but the people of God have a secret lifeline. God Himself will comfort …comfort … comfort! Receive it for your situation right now!
Today's Writer : Goran Andersson

Daily Smile:

April teaches many aerobic classes. She told a lady who was looking to sign up for the class to just wear loose fitting clothing to the class.

"Honey," the lady replied, "if I had any loose fitting clothing, I wouldn't be signing up for an exercise class."

Happy Valentine's Day

"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." - Isa_44:22

Spurgeon

Attentively observe THE INSTRUCTIVE

SIMILITUDE: our sins are like a cloud. As clouds are of many shapes and shades, so are our

transgressions. As clouds obscure the light of the sun, and darken the landscape beneath, so do our sins hide

from us the light of Jehovah’s face, and cause us to sit in the shadow of death. They are earth-born things,

and rise from the miry places of our nature; and when so collected that their measure is full, they threaten us with

storm and tempest. Alas! that, unlike clouds, our sins yield us no genial showers, but rather threaten to deluge

us with a fiery flood of destruction. O ye black clouds of sin, how can it be fair weather with our souls while ye remain?

Let our joyful eye dwell upon THE NOTABLE ACT of divine mercy-"blotting out." God

himself appears upon the scene, and in divine benignity, instead of manifesting his anger, reveals his

grace: he at once and for ever effectually removes the mischief, not by blowing away the cloud, but by

blotting it out from existence once for all. Against the justified man no sin remains, the great transaction of the

cross has eternally removed his transgressions from him. On Calvary’s summit the great deed, by which the

sin of all the chosen was for ever put away, was completely and effectually performed.

Practically let us obey THE GRACIOUS COMMAND, "return unto me." Why should pardoned sinners live at a distance from their God? If we have been forgiven all our sins, let no

legal fear withhold us from the boldest access to our Lord. Let backslidings be bemoaned, but let us not persevere in them. To the greatest possible nearness of communion with the Lord, let us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, strive mightily to return. O Lord, this night restore us!

Daily Smile:

Q. What did the baby corn say to the mama corn?
A. “Where’s POP corn?”…

how to abound

"I know how to abound."  - Phi_4:12

Spurgeon

There are many who know "how to

be abased" who have not learned "how to abound." When they are set upon the top of a

pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his

profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The

crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the refining pot of prosperity. Oh, what leanness of soul

and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God!

Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much

he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he

was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of

mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, "In all things I am

instructed both to be full and to be hungry." It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites

were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked

for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts’ lust. Fullness of bread has often made fullness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of

spirit. When we have much of God’s providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God’s grace, and little gratitude for the

bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry-so desperate is the tendency of

human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God. Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you "how to be full."


Daily Smile:
Q. How do you get a mouse to smile?

A. Say "CHEESE!!!!!…