One of the greatest blessings of having the Holy Spirit dwell within Christians, is that the Spirit empowers Christians. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 4:6. The Holy Spirit works to empower Christians to live a life in response to the love that God has shown us. Any good things in our life are a result of the Holy Spirit and God's love at work in our lives.

The Holy Spirit works in the lives of Christians so that we focus our thoughts, words, and deeds on God’s Word. By spending time in God’s Word it will be clearer what the Spirit is leading us to do. God’s Word is powerful and leads to changed and improved lives. The Holy Spirit uses the time we spend in God’s Word to empower us. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6. 

Galatians 5:22-23 further describes what the mind governed by the Spirit focuses on. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. It is a tall order to keep in step with the Spirt, but the great thing is that it is not all on us. God has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us to keep in step with the Spirit. If we read God’s Word daily, talk to Christian friends, worship with a community of believers, pray daily, and watch what we see, hear, and experience there is no limit to what God can accomplish through us!

When worry comes, look back on your life for how God has sustained and carried you. Why would the future be any different? The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life. Psalm 121:7. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10.

The best way to remove fear or worry is to remember the Lord. I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6.

Pastor and author, Max Lucado, states it nicely, “Worry is an option, not an assignment. God can lead you into a worry-free world. Be quick to pray. Focus less on the problems ahead and more on the victories behind. Do your part, and God will do his. He will guard your heart with his peace…a peace that passes understanding.” With God on our side we can stop worrying about what might happen, and instead look forward to what will happen. This is because God is our help in the past, present, and future. We know that the blessed peace of eternal life awaits us in heaven! That is our sure and certain hope for the future! Bishop Francis de Sales states how Christians can approach each day, “The same Everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day of your life. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts.”

There are a variety of key points for effective communication that also tie into wisdom from God through the Bible. Some of the principles of effective communication from Author, Dale Carnegie, in his timeless book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, are (a) Don’t criticize, condemn or complain; (b) Give honest and sincere appreciation; (c) Become genuinely interested in other people; (d) Smile; (e) Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language; (f) Encourage others to talk about themselves; and (g) Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Let’s look closer at a few of these.

Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. The Bible says: Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” 2 Philippians 2:14-15. If we want to have the best relationships with others, we should keep this advice in mind. When we do have to correct others, it is always good to talk about a mistake that you have made first, in order for it to be more likely that a person will take advice the right way.

Give honest and sincere appreciation. I thank God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Philippians 1:3-5. In these verses Paul is showing thanks that the people of Philippi have partnered with him in the ministry of brining people to know Christ. These are words that we can share with others, whether it is co-workers, family, or friends. We can thank God for them being in our lives and let them know this. One of the best gifts that you can give someone is to thank him or her for being in your life.

Become genuinely interested in other people. Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:11. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. Romans 15:5. Pastor, author, and professor David Augsburger, has said, “Being heard is so close to being loved, that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”
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The motivation to care for and show love to others comes from God’s love to us. He cared about every individual in this world so much that He sent His Son to earth to die on a cross for the sins of all people. Through Jesus’ glorious resurrection, we are given eternal life! This provides us with great hope, endurance, and encouragement for our time on earth that we can pass on to others. Everyone is important to God and we in turn can show that this is true by showing interest in the lives of others. A simple way to do this is to ask questions about another person’s life or ask them about things they are interested in. In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4.

Smile. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4. Christians know that we can have inner joy no matter what our circumstances because God loves us and heaven awaits us!

​God’s vision for our lives is that we loving serve Him in response to the love He has shown us. God created you. He has a plan for you and a purpose for your life. Ephesians 2:10 reinforces this. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Knowing this can provide great motivation and joy as we approach each day! We can strive to make each day count for the glory of God!

Ludwig van Beethoven was a prolific composer and pianist. His music is among the most performed classical music of all time and he is one of the most admired composers in history. Over forty-five years of composing he created 722 compositions including nine symphonies. Beethoven drew on his Christian faith for motivation for this consistent effort. He described the aim of his music. “My chief aim was to awaken and permanently instill religious feelings not only into the singers but also in the listeners.”

Beethoven sought to develop the abilities that God had given Him. He wanted to keep learning his whole life. He described this God-given vision quite well. “Then let us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, develop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning.”

There is a joke about how deeply committed Beethoven was towards this goal. When Beethoven passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the caretaker of the cemetery was working when he heard a strange noise coming from the area where Beethoven was buried. The caretaker quickly ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Unsure of what it could be, the priest ran and got a police officer.

When the officer arrived, he listened and did not know what it was. By this time others from the nearby church had come out to the cemetery. The church organist bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, “Ah, yes, that’s Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, being played backwards.” He listened a while longer, and said, “There’s the Eighth Symphony, and it’s backwards, too. Most puzzling.” So the organist kept listening. “There’s the Seventh…the Sixth…the Fifth…”

Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the organist. He stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, “My fellow citizens, there’s nothing to worry about. It’s just Beethoven decomposing.”

We can seek to serve God our whole life. The Beethoven joke has a good message besides being funny. When we die, we know that death is not final. We will have eternal life in heaven where we will continue to praise and worship God. Psalm 23:6 describes this promise. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

​In 1522 Martin Luther gave a brief, simple, but expressive eulogy for a pastor named Nicholas Haussmann. Luther said, “What we preach, he lived.” We can strive to emulate this statement in our lives. What Jesus preached, we strive to live out!

God knows what is best for us and longs to help us. When we focus on God’s Word, we will have wisdom in our daily decisions. Colossians 1:9-14 describes expertly what a long-term desire to follow God in our lives will bring. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

​There is an old saying that our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another. The saying should really be that our potential is one thing. What God can do with it is quite another. With God’s strength we have unlimited potential. It is important that we do not get caught listening to the lies of the devil that tell us that we are no good and have no worth. God loves each one of us and each one of us is valuable to Him! In 1921, Myra Brooks Welch wrote a wonderful poem that lets Christians know of their worth as a child of God.

​The Touch of the Master’s Hand
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Twas battered and scarred and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
 
“What am I bid, good folk?” he cried.
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?
A dollar, a dollar…now two…only two…
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
 
Three dollars once, three dollars twice,
Going for three”…but no!
From the room far back a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow.
 
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet,
As sweet as an angel sings.
 
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
As he held it up with the bow.
 
“A thousand dollars…and who’ll make it two?
Two…two thousand, and who’ll make it three?
Three thousand once and three thousand twice…
Three thousand and gone!” said he.
 
The people cheered, but some exclaimed
“We do not quite understand…
What changed it’s worth?” And the answer came;
“Twas the touch of the master’s hand.”
 
And many a person with soul out of tune
And battered and scarred by sin
Is auctioned cheap by the thoughtless crowd
Just like the old violin.
 
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul, and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the master’s hand.
 
O Master! I am the tuneless one
Lay, lay Thy hand on me,
Transform me now, put a song in my heart
Of melody, Lord, to Thee!

It has been said that the only person who likes change, is a baby with a wet diaper. Those who have lived long lives know that change is inevitable. We can embrace change and improve, or avoid it. If we avoid improvement it is not living what God calls us to do. Prolonged inactivity dulls our senses, numbs our minds, and atrophies our muscles. God desires for us to seek continuous improvement motivated by His love.

It is important to note here that change does not refer to God or His Word. Malachi 3:6 states, “I the Lord do not change.” We can trust that God’s Word and His promises to us are true. 2 Corinthians 1:20 reads, For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Amen means, “so be it,” and it is an affirmation that what was spoken or written is true. We can wholeheartedly trust God in our lives!

The change that God wants us to embrace in our lives is change that strives to diminish sin in our lives. God desires for us to pursue change for the better so that we build our relationship with God which in turn enables us to better serve others in our life. When God’s will directs our life, our heart’s desire will align with God’s Word. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4. God seeks to change us so that what we desire is what God desires. The next verse in Psalm 37 describes how to do this. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this. Psalm 37:5.

​Poet Deborah Ann Belka has a great poem, Change me Lord, that we can pray to seek God pleasing change in our lives.

​Change me Lord,
I know that I should be.
A different kind of person,
Than the one that I call me.
 
Change me Lord,
There’s so much You can do.
Take this old life of mine,
And make me someone new.
 
Change me Lord,
From the inside out.
To trust in only You,
And never need I doubt.
 
Change me Lord,
Make my heart grow true.
Help me to see the sin,
In the things I say and do.
 
Change me Lord,
Show me the things I do wrong.
Take away my weakness,
And make me someone strong.
 
Change me Lord,
So I can see You’re all I need.
To live my life like my Savior,
In my every act and deed.

We all have days when we feel tired or lacking in energy. Sometimes all it takes is the right words from someone else to provide us a renewed spirit for our calling. In the eleventh century, King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch. He went to a local monastery, and asked to be accepted to spend the rest of his life in the monastery.

The leader of the monastery, Richard, replied to the King, "Your Majesty, do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a king."
           
             "I understand," said Henry, "The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you."
            "Then I will tell you what to do," said Richard. "Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you."
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King Henry did just that and served until his death. When King Henry died, a statement was written: "The King learned to rule by being obedient."
 
If we ever tire of our roles and responsibilities, it helps to remember God has placed us in a certain place and with certain people for a reason. God wants us to be faithful in the responsibilities He gives us. He will provide us strength and encouragement to do our work with joy. Nehemiah 8:10 states, The joy of the Lord is your strength.

​God’s love is more than enough for what we need in this life. In response to God’s love we can strive for excellence, do small things well, care about others, work to improve ourselves, and give our full effort. With the right mindset and encouragement from others we will have energy for each day.