During my communion time with the Holy Spirit He spoke of His followers not being consumed in worldly revelries of the festive season as we approach Christmas day. The Holy Spirit reminded me that it is a time of reflection and celebration of the coming of Jesus into the world to restore peace and goodwill with men. Once we have that true perspective we will not give the enemy room to use a Christian celebration as an instrument to rob us of the full benefits Jesus came to give us.

The Lord has not called us to presume that truth works automatically regardless of our conduct in events because the Lord always judges the intent and purpose of our hearts in all events in life. The truth must be worked out and not just assumed it will just work out for us. We as followers of Jesus are called to be sober and vigilant, because the enemy actively looks for moments when we are relaxed, distracted, or in presumption in order to strike us and rob us of our inheritance in Christ.

The Holy Spirit recalled a foundational truth He had revealed to me years ago which transformed my walk of faith and unlocked tangible manifestations of God’s goodness in my life. This truth became a central governing principle for how I positioned myself daily to experience the fulfillment of God’s promises on earth because the Lord desires His people to enjoy everything His Word promises. He never withholds any good thing from those who fear and revere Him.

This truth leaves us in the position where the question is not whether what the Lord has promised will happen , but an understanding of why believers often fall short of receiving what is promised them by the Lord and knowing how to remedy that failure by positioning oneself correctly for a daily manifestation of the promise of the Lord. This answer is found in 1 Peter 1:13–19, which calls believers to gird up the loins of the mind and, be sober, and rest our hope fully on the grace that shall be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ as we live in obedience and holiness.

The phrase to gird up the loins of our mind means literally preparing the reproductive faculty of thought to determine exactly what we will reproduce in action, being in full possession of sound judgment, free from anything that intoxicates or distorts discernment.

This truth aligns perfectly with Ephesians 6:14, where the Apostle Paul teaches that girding oneself with the belt of truth is foundational to putting on the whole armor of God. Without the mind girded with truth, deception will always be reproduced, regardless of the confessions or intentions of the heart. Truth is the foundation of God’s kingdom, and the Holy Spirit our Helper is the Spirit of Truth who always guides believers into all truth. This is because without truth, the armor does not function.

This understanding of girding up our minds with truth makes a critical distinction between truth and presumption because presumption is acting on one’s own estimation of truth rather than on Lord’s revealed will which is always truth. Joshua’s defeat at Ai in Joshua.7:1-12 serves as a sobering example that shows us clearly that although the Lord had given victory before, Joshua’s presumed action based on human intelligence rather than divine instruction, resulted in defeat and loss of life. Taking faith actions without the Lord’s present word of instruction becomes presumption meaning you are on your own.

By contrast, Moses throughout his service to the Lord in Exodus always demonstrated restraint while waiting for the Lord to give the go ahead instruction. Moses, even when Joshua and Caleb spoke in faith, refused to act without Lord’s command, declaring that if the Lord did not go with them, he would not move. We always find out that the Lord’s perspective and strategy differs drastically from our human reasoning.

We as followers of Jesus are therefore called to gird up our minds with truth, then be ready to act only on what the Holy Spirit reveals, and rest our hope fully on the grace that is the supernatural ability supplied by the Lord to accomplish divine assignments. Every instruction from the Lord carries grace to perform it, but that grace must be yielded to by faith because fleshly action, even with faith-filled words produces no supernatural results.

This principle is clearly laid out in Genesis 1, where we are told that creation only came into manifestation after the Holy Spirit hovered over the darkness. God spoke, but the Holy Spirit empowered the word to produce the reality of what was spoken. Likewise,we see in Luke.4 that Jesus Himself did not manifest miracles until He returned in the power of the Holy Spirit, fully girded with truth and submitted to the Father’s will.

Jesus affirmed this dependence on the Father’s instructions in John 5:30, by saying, “I can do nothing of Myself.” He again reiterated this fact  in John 8:26, when He clarified that although He could judge many things concerning the Pharisees, He only spoke what He heard from the Father. This reveals true maturity which is speaking God’s word rather than reacting from personal feeling, emotion, or opinion.

Moses’ failure at the rock to do as the Lord commanded Him illustrates the cost of ungirded emotion. His unresolved anger with the murmurings of the Israelites caused him to act outside God’s instruction, by striking the rock instead of speaking to it. Even though the people were complaining and in error  Moses’ response dishonored God, which cost him his reward of entering the promised land. This truth underscores this eternal principle that  it is more important to obey God than to address men’s complaints.

The Holy Spirit is calling you today to gird your minds with truth, by resting your hearts fully on the divine revelation of the Holy Spirit, and then follow through consistently in the grace He supplies. Stop acting and reacting on what you think, feel, or see and start operating this way girded with truth which will produce radically different outcomes of freedom, fruitfulness, and sustained victory in your life.

Presumption I learnt is a sin which carries penalties which are spoken of in Psalm 19:13, where David prays to the Lord asking Him to be kept from presumptuous sins, acknowledging that presumption can dominate and derail a life from the plan of the Lord. David learned the lesson to seek the Lord continually, and because of this heart posture, God called him “a man after My heart.”

So today arise in the grace flowing from these words  to adopt this same spiritual posture by seeking first, to hear clearly the instruction of the Lord. Then gird up the mind with the truth, by obeying exactly what the Lord says. This is the pathway to a fruitful, productive, Spirit-led life that consistently manifests the will of God in Jesus name. Amen.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, I declare that you choose purposefully to gird up the loins of your mind with the truth from the Lord. You choose for your mind to be sober and perfectly aligned with the Spirit of Truth. I declare that presumption will no longer have dominion over you and you will not act on assumption, emotion, or human reasoning any longer but will only move at the command of word of the Lord.

From today you will rest your hope fully on the grace supplied by the Holy Spirit as you receive the supernatural ability to obey precisely what God speaks, and you follow through in that grace without distraction or delay.

I declare that the enemy will have no opening in your life because you are now vigilant, watchful, and established in truth. Your actions going forward will only produce life, fruitfulness, and lasting results because the Holy Spirit leads and empowers every step you take.

Like David, you take the position of a person after God’s own heart by daily seeking, hearing, girding myself, and obeying the word of the Lord. I declare that your life bears daily evidence of God’s goodness, favor, and productivity as you walk free, victorious, and fruitful, by operating in the power of Holy Spirit and not in presumption, to the glory of God and the advancement of His Kingdom, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.