EPISODE 92 — ALTAR / ALTER

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The title of today’s episode is: “Altar / Alter”

When we repent at an altar, we come out of the experience altered. In order to fully understand that statement we must fully understand the definition of each of the words that sound the same; alter/altar.

The word altar is a flat surface used for a religious ritual or for making a sacrifice or offering to a deity.

In Christianity, an altar is where we pray and repent of our sins. We make a sacrifice of our will and our lives. It is a place we return in order to continue to lay down our lives for the cause of Christ. When we come to Christ the first time, we repent and lay our lives bare before him on an altar.

We are saying to God, I give you my life, use it and do something with it. Fill me with your Spirit that I may have the strength and courage to walk right. As time goes by, our flesh reasserts its desires. If we are not careful, we can allow it to take over again. We need to repent daily and give our lives to God. He will change us as we learn and grow in him.

Which brings me to the second word Alter. The Oxford dictionary defines Alter as change or cause to change in character or composition, typically in a comparatively small but significant way. Example: A tailor would alter clothing for a better fit.

This change is the alteration we need to walk in the ways of God. It is a lifelong journey. God’s grace is sufficient to see us through as long as we try to walk right. But his grace is not a license to repent once and then do whatever we wish. That is not true repentance. True repentance means that we not only ask God for forgiveness, but we turn from our sin and do not repeat it.

In order for us to conform to God’s plan we need to alter our lives and try to not walk in the flesh. If we fall short, we go to the altar to repent and ask God to help us overcome our sins.

The altar can be anywhere we choose to pray. It doesn’t have to be a formal altar in a church building, like it was under the law. Under the law they sacrificed animals and sprinkled their blood for redemption of sin.

Christ became the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. His blood forever covers the altar. We can come and lay down our flesh or the will of our flesh. We then ask for the blood to be applied to our lives.

Apostle Paul understood that we are all human. None of the Apostles needed God’s forgiveness more than he did; he was persecuting and executing Christians until he had and encounter with God. He was forever changed. God even changed his name. He said that he died daily. Meaning he gave his life fresh daily to God.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

To present our bodies a living sacrifice means that we make our daily decisions to conform to the word of God and his will for our lives. That we renew our minds with the word and think about the things of God. Our desires and will must die in order for our spirit man to live and stay connected to God.

It would be a good idea, before our feet hit the floor to look up and recommit our lives to the cause of Christ. Ask God for his help to overcome the will of our flesh. Place our lives on that altar of sacrifice. This in turn gets our mindset right and allows us to stay focused on God and His will for our day.

Altering our lives meaning adding more room for God and taking away room for us to commit sins. This is why we need to resist the devil. He is there to tempt our flesh to commit sin.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Taking up our cross is another way of saying, staying committed to following the will of God. Just as Christ sacrificed his flesh on a natural cross. We are to sacrifice the will of our flesh and surrender to the will of God.

Verse 25 sums up the meaning of take up your cross. If we keep our life and not sacrifice it to God. In the end we will lose our life to an eternity in hell or death eternal. If we lose our life or sacrifice our life for Christ. We will find eternal life and not eternal death.

What is worth giving up our lives for, Christ. We could own everything in this world, and it would not be worth living this life without Christ. What is worth giving up our soul?

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Something to think on today as you go about your routine.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 90 — BREATH OF GOD

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Welcome to God Focus This Morning

The title of today’s episode is, “Breath of God”

When Adam was created God breathed into him the breath of life.

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

This was the beginning of physical man in the earth. Over the centuries we have multiplied and been through many things. I want to talk today about how God created a body of believers. There are more people that we know that believes in Jesus and the power of the cross. Those of us who are born again have been breathed on by God. As he did to create Adam physically, he breathed on the believers and the bride was born spiritually.

The spirit that was in Jesus returned to earth in the form of a wind to breathe life into the church. In Acts Chapter 2. This is when God came to earth in the form of the Holy Ghost to fill all the believers. That is why we are called the broken body of Christ. We all got a little piece of that spirit that unites us as believers.

We as a whole body have allowed the world to creep in and slowly change our beliefs and direction of our feet. Many things are tolerated in the name of love and acceptance. But our perception of love is tainted. If we truly love people we will tell them the truth. Not brutally, with anger or yelling, but compassionately with God’s love.

Vultures of sin, tolerance, ignorance of the word, being distracted with building our own kingdoms, being laid back and in some cases being asleep have put the church on life support. The vultures have picked apart the bones of the church. Which brings me to the story of Ezekiel. It is time we are like Ezekiel and prophesy to the dry bones to live. God will send His Spirit like a whirlwind to bring to life, renew and make new the church. We will be a great army ready to fight our enemy and take back our territory.

Ezekiel was a prophet of God. He saw a future when Israel would stand strong as one army. God would breathe into the dry bones new life. The true church of today, is in desperate need of a fresh breath of air from God. We need him to blow away mans ideas and tolerances. Denominational boundaries have divided people for too long. We need a fresh anointing and understanding of who we are in the earth. We are children of the most high God. We are his chosen people. He called us out of death and breathed into us new life.

Ezekiel 37:1-2 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

Is the church as a whole dry bones? Many lack true anointing. We have slowly settled for crumbs of truth. Just enough to ease our conscience. But lack the desire for true change and a real and honest walk with God. Many are just going through the motions. I don’t want to settle for going through the motions. I don’t want crumbs of truth. I want to walk in God’s strength and the power of his love.

Eze 37:3-7 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

The army was just a bunch of flesh with no life. There is no life without breath. We need God to breathe on us a fresh understanding and anointing. We can speak life into our situations. It is about focus. The things we focus on become bigger in our eyes. When we look at the situations all around us, it is easy to get down and discouraged. But we have the power within our mouth to pray and praise. We can speak to our situations. We as the body of Christ can speak life into the situations of our country.

God adds and multiplies, the enemy subtracts and divides. Every time we speak negatively, we are only making the situation worse by giving the enemy fuel. Think about what we say as wood for a fire, there is a fire of good and a fire of evil. Every positive, encouraging, prayer and scripture we speak, every time we say God has got this, it adds flames to the fire of good. When we speak about how bad things look, how dark they are, how it will not get better, we throw wood on the fire of evil. We want God’s fire to burn out all the evil in this world. It is time we speak life and encouragement.

EZE 37:9-10 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

When we speak the word of God and speak about how God is in control and will take care of his people, we cause the army to get stronger. Right now we need to tell satan his plans will not work. It’s ok to talk to the enemy as long as we tell him he is powerless and the forever loser. We should never listen to his lies and fearmongering. Remember he is here to subtract and divide.

He wants to subtract our joy, peace, happiness, and strength and cause people to dismiss the message of the cross. He wants to divide the body with negativity and the doctrines of men.

Jesus came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. He wants us to be blessed in this life. He will pour out blessings, not to make us rich, but to give us resources to bless others.

It is up to each of us to speak life, speak victory and say the church will be full. The harvest is ripe and ready, people are starving for the message of Jesus.

We need to truly grasp the meaning of 2 Cor 5:7…for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Learning to walk by faith is not always easy. Our five physical senses get in the way. But even more than the five physical senses, we need to learn to walk with our spiritual senses. Allowing God to breathe life into us, so that we can be ready to fight the good fight of faith.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 89 — BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP BY PRAYER

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “Building A Relationship By Prayer”

As God’s children, we should have joy. We have every reason to walk out our faith walk with joy. Life throws us some hard and hurtful things at times. But in the times of our deepest despair, we can have joy in our hearts that God is with us. He will answer when we call in times of trouble.

Psalm 5:11-12 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

I have been thinking about all the different stories in the bible that we use for inspiration. Daniel in the lion’s den, the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace, David and Goliath and don’t forget Elijah calling fire down from heaven.

All of these miracles were preceded by a strong prayer life. Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den for praying. Each of these miracles happened because of the relationships these people had with God. They all had put in the prayer time and had gotten to know God in an intimate way.

If we ever expect receive anything from God, we have to work on our relationship with Him. Not for what He can do for us, but because we desire a deeper faith walk. Our relationship will grow as we create a time of prayer and fellowship.

Think of the old saying about the man that took a chisel and hammer and tried to break a rock in half. He hit the rock repeatedly, finally there was one last blow of the hammer that the chisel separated the rock into pieces. It wasn’t the final blow that broke the rock, but all the ones that had gone before including that final one.

Prayer is the same way. Do you think that God would have answered on top of Mt. Carmel with fire, if Elijah had not built a relationship with God. If that was the first prayer he ever prayed. It is highly unlikely, because the prophets of Baal would have never been in that challenge with Him.

The enemy knows when you have been with God. He knows if you have been with Jesus. Just like Moses came off of the mountain, he had to put a veil over his face because the people couldn’t stand to look at him.

The reason some people do not like to be around Christians is that the Spirit of God in them, makes their demons nervous. They will know that you have spent time with God, because like Moses you will be shining with God’s light.

Building our faith and strength as believers starts with a healthy prayer life. There is power in prayer. My grandfather always said, little prayer equals little power. We need great overcoming power. It stands to reason, the body of Christ needs to amp up our prayer life, me included.

Ps 55:1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

Many verses in Psalms are similar to the above verse. David often felt unworthy of God’s attention. It is easier to fall than to get back up. David felt like God was going to give up on him.

God will not give up on us if we are sincere and wanting to grow. He will help to pick us up when we fall, if we ask Him to help.

BEFORE I GO, A QUICK REMINDER: Today is the National Day of Prayer. Take time today to slow down and find a quiet place to talk to God. Our country needs our prayers today more than ever before for good to triumph over evil. Ask God to pull down the evil leaders and set up righteous ones.

Pray for the hurting and the children of the world that are being trafficked for its even hard for me to imagine, for sacrifice to false gods, medical experimentation and evil sexual desires of evil people. God help set the children free.

I want you to know that I will be praying for all of you to be strong against evil. Let your light shine and hope arise in your heart. God is still on the throne and He will take care of it all, If we pray.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 88 –LITTLE PRAYER = LITTLE POWER

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE OF TODAY’S EPISODE “LITTLE PRAYER EQUALS LITTLE POWER”

Thursday, May 2, 2024, is the National Day of Prayer. This year’s theme is “Lift Up The World, Light Up The World.”

The theme verses are 2 Sam. 22:29-31 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. 30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. 31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

It is based on the idea that God’s word is a lamp and lights up the darkness and provides guidance and strength to those who take refuge in Him.

The information about the National Day of Prayer can be found at www.nationaldayofprayer.org

I love the theme they chose; our world needs to be lifted up and lit up. Only by letting our light shine can we reach the lost.

I want to encourage you to make plans on Thursday to carve out a little extra time with God on the National Day of Prayer. Our country is in more need of prayer than ever before in our history since the civil war that ripped this country apart. We are in a different kind of war this time, not being fought with guns and cannons but with prayer. We are in a battle for the very soul of our nation.

Our country is divided not by north and south this time, but by good versus evil. Right verses wrong. Love verses hate. There are a lot of evil forces trying to tear this country apart. We have to unite it with God’s love. The only way this will happen is through prayer.

Prayer is a powerful tool in our arsenal against the enemy. Satan has taken over a lot of people and there is total darkness in them. This is why we need to let our light shine now more than ever.

God will give us light in this dark world. It is time we moved beyond saying a prayer to actually praying a prayer. What is the difference? Saying a prayer is a bunch of words directed to God. Praying a prayer is when we make a heart connection to God while we are petitioning him for our needs and those of others.

Then you have intercessors. God has given these people a gift to be able to connect to the throne room. It is their calling to be prayer warriors. They get down to the business of spiritual warfare on behalf of others. We all need to pray at whatever level we are at, as long as we are sincere and make a heart connection to God, He will hear us.

2 Chr 7:14 – 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This verse is the key to how we can get our land healed. We need to humble ourselves and pray. It says we need to seek his face and turn from our wicked ways.

It is time we search our lives to make sure there is nothing between us and God. Little things can creep in sometimes unaware. If we find that all is well, then we can reach out on behalf of our country and all the lost souls. People are hungry for God, but don’t know what they are wanting. It is up to us to show them what they need. It all starts with prayer.

Prov 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.

God will always hear our prayers. He will always answer, but we need to pray according to His will. There are times we ask God for something, and it may seem like a good thing to us. But God knows what we have need of even before we ask. Sometimes he answers no, in order to give us a bigger and better yes.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

If we are dedicated children of God, we will pray and study the word of God. As followers of Christ, we are supposed to go out and make disciples. How can we do that if we don’t pray and don’t know the word of God?

Matt 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

God is wanting us to pray in the secret place. The Pharisees were big on praying for man’s attention. They would stand on the street and use big fancy words and eloquent speech in order to impress mankind. I have nothing against public prayer. I believe we do not do it enough. But if we pray in public it has to be with the right attitude and for the right reason.

God wants us to get in a quiet place where we can hear him speak to us too. We need to pray in a quiet, private place in order to enter into the secret place of communication with God.

I want to encourage you to make plans for Thursday to set aside extra time to pray for our country. America will be saved from the enemy if we humble ourselves and pray. God is the only one that can turn it around. He will if we do not give up, even if things appear worse for a while, God has us in the palm of his hand.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 87–THE SAME GOD

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “THE SAME GOD”

The same God that created the world and created Adam and Eve is the same God that watches over us today. He loves us so much, that he tries over and over again to redeem us from our nature. We can depend on him because he doesn’t change.

The same God who sent plagues to Egypt also protected his people in Goshen. He is the God that sent down fire to prove He was God when Elijah prayed a simple prayer on Mt. Carmel. He is a miracle worker.

When His people were being forced to bow to a golden statue, three Hebrew men stood strong. They did not bow and were thrown into a fiery furnace as punishment. God protected those three men in the middle of the fire. He is still our protector in the middle of the fire. It doesn’t matter what we face, he is there to see that we are not overtaken.

The same God that kept Daniel safe in the lion’s den when he should have been devoured instantly. He has a way of turning around the desperate situations of life. We are safe placing our hope in him. Look at all the examples in the word. There is no good thing he will withhold from them that love him.

We can be comforted that because God doesn’t change that we have stability. We have assurance that we can depend on him. He is not like a lot of people that we know, one day they are one way. Then you see them a week later and they act differently. God can be relied on to always be the same. His word doesn’t change what was sin in bible times is still sin. He doesn’t make exceptions for us today.

The same power that raise Jesus from the dead, lives within us. God is all-powerful. There is nothing he will not do for his children. Maybe one thing, he will not allow us to continue in rebellion and sin. Being our God means He will be all we need our deliverer, healer, hope, peace, strength, savior, friend, father and our safe place to run when life gets tough. We will be fine in the storm because he holds us in his hand. No amount of war, financial instability, or famine can affect us if we fully and truly trust in him.

Look at Elijah, during a famine God sent him to a brook and sent ravens to bring him bread and meat. Then when the brook dried up, God sent him to a widow to perform a miracle for her, then God used that miracle to sustain him, her and her son.

There is no wonder why governments try to ban the bible. Because if we could get down on the inside of us who God is and who He is to us there will be no stopping his people. We will walk by faith and not by sight. We will walk by who we know God is and not by how circumstances look.

He is the same God that came to earth as a babe and suffered horrendous things for us, to redeem us and change our circumstances. He does not change. But we needed a big change, we needed to learn how to walk in the spirit and not by our fleshly nature.

Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

All of the works of the flesh are about changing and not being stable. Living for self and being selfish. Not caring about others, but only what brings what we want at the time, for that moment. It is about acting in impulse. Then the next moment our flesh seeks some other sin to bring about that desire. None of this brings about stability.

Remember God is stability, he never changes. How can we have stability? Allow the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives.

Gal 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit is the character of God. Read the list again. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. The more God’s fruit grows in our life the more stable we become.

It doesn’t matter what the world tries to throw at us. We can draw on the examples of His word and it will give us power and encouragement to keep going. We have to believe that His word is true, and we learn stability by studying his word.

When people change, it implies that they lose some of their original identity. As a child of God, who has been born again, we do change. We turn from our sin nature and turn toward learning to be more like God. We allow His Spirit to be our guide and not our impulses.

Since God is perfect, there is not any need for Him to change. This is why he is the same as he was before time was created. We can depend on Him because he is the same yesterday, today and forever more.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 86 — COME AND SEE A MAN

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “COME AND SEE A MAN”

Many things have been said about the woman at the well. Some have gone so far as to call her a prostitute. I do not see evidence of that in John chapter four, where we find her story. Some have said she was there in the middle of the day because the other women would not have anything to do with her. I don’t see that in the story either, but it can be assumed because of their beliefs and customs of that day.

Jesus always used simple everyday things to convey a deeper message of God’s love and compassion. He didn’t judge the woman for any of the reasons others would avoid her. First, she was a Samaritan. The Jews and Samarians didn’t associate with one another. Second, she had been married five times and was currently living with a man that wasn’t her husband. Many considered that a horrible thing and that is why some would go so far as to call her a prostitute. Third, she was lonely for friendship from the other women in the village. No one knows what she suffered at the hands of the others in her village. She must have had overwhelming pain.

In other words, there was a deep loneliness and pain in this woman. Think of all the heartache she suffered. She didn’t have any friends; no one in her inner circle to cheer her on, when life got tough. She had entered five marriages thinking that she had finally found the right one, only to find out he wasn’t. What kind of pain and disappointment that must have been each time. Emotional pain is cumulative, it builds on other pain of the past. She kept making bad choices because she kept layering pain on top of pain. All the time desperately seeking wholeness.

Her soul thirsted for acceptance, love and compassion. She had just been looking in the wrong places. Placing her faith and hope in the wrong people. Then she met a man called Jesus. He asked her for a drink to start a conversation. Then told her he could give her living water, that she would never thirst again.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

He is explaining to her that soon, He would break down all barriers and even the Samaritans will be able to drink of that water, given by God. Until the Messiah came only Jews could be saved. After Jesus, all people Jew, Greek, bond, free, male or female could have the living water.

John 4:23-26 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We receive that living water when we are born again. God’s spirit enters us and will help heal all of our brokenness. If we allow him, he can take all of our damage from sin, troubles, trials and bad decisions and make us whole.

John 4:25-26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

She left her waterpot and went into the city and told them about her encounter with Jesus. People knew she was a broken individual. But they believed her and many believed that Jesus was the Messiah because of her testimony.

John 4:29-30 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

Never feel like your mistakes and failures make you too bad off to be used by God. He can fix the brokenness and make over the heart; making it whole. All it takes to allow God to give you a drink of living water. You will never thirst again. Then we too can go out and compel the world to come and see Jesus.

Jesus says the well of living water will spring up into everlasting life. I know this to be true in my own life. Whenever something gets me down I can focus on God and suddenly the hope and strength I need comes springing up in me. I know that whatever I am in need of God will put it inside of me. Joy, peace, strength, the determination to set right an injustice, the patience to just be still and know He is God. Whatever I face on this side of eternity, I know I do not face it alone. The love of God, that he placed in me, will give me all I need to get through whatever I face. This is what it means to never thirst again. He is a constant companion, our Father and our friend. Our soul can find rest and peace in Him. It will not long for good things, because God has placed them in us. Go out today and tell somebody about Jesus. Tell them about God’s living water.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 85 — TIME TO UNITE

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Welcome to God Focus This Morning

The title of today’s episode is, “Time To Unite”

It is about time that the body of Christ realized we need to be united. We need to function as one body on the earth.

I Cor. 12:12-18 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

It says, because I’m not the hand, I’m not important. Because I’m not the foot, I’m not important. We’re all part of one body. We are the broken body of Christ. We all have a function. We are not supposed to be like everyone else. God made us unique for a purpose. I cannot walk in your calling, and you cannot walk in mine. We all have a job to do to gather the harvest.

Take a clock for example. It is one clock, but inside of that clock is all these different little gears and springs and screws. All these different little mechanisms actually make the clock do what the clock needs to do, which is tell time. Every gear is important. Every little screw, every little spring, every little thing that moves, and everything that’s supposed to stay stationary. Every bit of it is necessary for that clock to keep the correct time. It doesn’t matter if the clock is fully functional if it is not powered. We can have all our gears in order, and everything is where it belongs, but if the power is not there it will not work. But if we can get connected to our power source, we will function the way we were created. God is our power source. We need to let the power of God work in our lives. It is the source of accomplishing everything, we need to do in this earth.

Matt 18:12-14 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

So don’t feel like that because you’re not the preacher that you’re not important, or because you’re not the song leader, you’re not important. Every single person is important in the Kingdom of God. He left the ninety-nine to go get the one, and the one he came to get was you. The one he went to get was me. I’m so thankful that he left the ninety-nine to come and find me.

We are the body and in order for us to function and be a light to this world. We have got to have the power of God working in us individually as well as collectively. People are getting bored with church. I’ve felt that way before; there’s been times I just didn’t want to go. Because you knew what was going to happen before you left the house. It had become a routine, a programmed church service.

Worship should never be routine. Every time we come into the presence of God, we should allow him to do a work in us. The encounter should be what we need at that time, strength, peace, encouragement, boldness or deeper understanding. Being with the other believers should create an atmosphere where we all are growing. Because that’s where we all come together, and that’s where the power of God is concentrated. Because each one of us is supposed to bring him with us.

We cannot wait until church time to pray and worship. That should be what we do every day. Then on days we attend service it should not be any different, except we are with other believers. Many have fallen into the trap of compartmentalizing their lives. I understand, I have been there too. We have our Monday thru Friday routine of work, dinner, chores. Then comes our Saturday, this is the day we try to put everything else into, time with family, running errands, buying groceries and doing all the chores we didn’t get finished during the week. Then Sunday comes and we are exhausted, but we go to church because that is our routine.

God should never be our routine. He should never be our afterthought. He is supposed to be the center of our lives, yet somehow, he gets shoved to the back burner. Remember the clock will not work correctly without power. Neither will our lives. We need that connection to God, we need to feel His presence and power working in our lives.

In order for us to be the best gear or spring we were meant to be, we have to trust the clock maker. He will put us where we need to be, doing exactly what we were designed for all along. But He will not use us, if we don’t have that relationship and fellowship with Him. How can he lead us and guide us if we only give him an hour on Sunday? He has given us all the time we have, we should be willing to share some of it with him.

This is something to think about the next time the enemy tries to tell you that you don’t need to go to church because you are not important anyway. We are all important and needed. Remind satan that Jesus left the ninety-nine to come and find you. That makes you special in the eyes of the master clock maker. The one who controls all of time.

Until next time,

Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep Your God Focus

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EPISODE 84– SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY ROOM

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v4rfl6u-god-focus-this-morning-episode-84-spiritual-emergengy-room.html

Welcome to God Focus This Morning

The title of today’s episode is, “Spiritual Emergency Room”

Prov. 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Prov. 25:12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.

Many think we are to go about screaming, “Repent, you are going to hell if you don’t.” But that will not work unless this person believes in God, heaven and hell. Most people not raised in church will not react to that approach.

People must build a relationship with the one they are trying to help. Praying for God’s timing is also crucial. Think about someone you don’t know telling you to “Repent or you are going to hell.” More than likely you would dismiss that person. But what if your brother, sister or close friend talked to you? It would be better received. Why? Because of the relationship. You know that your brother, sister or friend has your best interest at heart.

Our society is very untrusting of strangers. Sad to say they have seen enough fake preachers that are just out for monetary gain. Some would think you are trying to get them to repent so they will add to the numbers on the Sunday school attendance or to the offering plate.

The main thing is to have God’s timing. Learning to listen to that still small voice is the first step in being a good witness. If we can learn to hear God’s voice, he will give us the right words to say to people.

I have a friend who does street ministry. She doesn’t approach it like most people would by setting up a table and giving away tracts. When she wakes up every morning she asks God, “what do you want me to do today?” She will go where He sends her. Then she waits for the person that she feels drawn to, she approaches them and starts a conversation. As far as I know, she has never started with, “Repent, you are going to hell if you don’t.” Allowing the Spirit of God to lead, He gives her what to say.

Once someone has made a decision to follow Christ, we need to remember that they are a newborn babe in Christ. They are not instant, mature Christian, they are a baby. Just as babies need the bottle and not solid food. These newborns need the basics of God’s word or the milk. Learning to trust God and understand His word will help them to become the mature Christian.

It is not our place to interfere with the process, by overwhelming them with a bunch of rules. That is what religion does, it smothers out the spark of enthusiasm with legalism. We want to encourage people to let their light burn brightly.

When a baby is born, they have to learn to walk, talk and eat solid food. This Christian faith walk takes time to learn. It takes a lot of time for us to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

We are all on a journey, down the same road. It is up to each of us to not leave stumbling blocks behind us, but road signs of encouragement. When life gets hard, Jesus is the one to turn to for encouragement and peace.

They need to understand the power of their words. Our words have the power to hurt or heal, build up or tear down. An encouraging word at just the right time can be just what someone needs to keep going. There is not one of us that is immune to being discouraged sometimes. We need to go out and do all we can to be a beacon of hope.

The church as a whole is failing these people, especially those who are different. I have a godly friend who was saved in the living room of a mutual friend. Many years ago this woman was involved in some dark things like witchcraft and she cut herself. She dressed in black and wore lots of dark eye make-up. She went to three different churches, each a different denomination, in her community. Each one told her to go home and change her clothes and get rid of the make-up and then come back.

That would be like someone going to the emergency room and them sending them home saying, “When you get that bleeding under control come back and we will look at you. If you go home and get your fever to break, then come back because we don’t want sick people here in this emergency room.” How crazy is that? The church should be a spiritual emergency room. Ready to spring into action with prayer if someone comes in who is obviously in crisis.

Sin is not pretty. Sinners are not always going to look like we think. But that doesn’t make them any less in God’s eyes. What would have happened to my friend if she had given up on God because she had been turned away from the churches. Thank God she had a praying grandma.

God has used this same woman to help countless troubled youth. She has authored books and blogs of encouragement. There are many people that God has used her to reach. She is an amazing prayer warrior and example of how to stay humble when people do not treat you with respect.

None of us have the ability to look at someone and know what they will become. Many may be on a bad path and we know if they do not turn around, it will lead to their destruction. But none of us knows what God can do with them if they will surrender to him. It is not our job to judge, but to show them Jesus and he will do the rest.

Which brings me full circle to our scripture verses above, a word fitly spoken is beautiful. The bible tells us to open our mouth and God will fill it. Only he can give us the right words to say to someone. It is all about the right words at the right time. If we pray for God encounters, he will create divine appointments for us to be able to let our light shine. He will give us the perfect thing to say that will uplift someone and not crush them.

Prov 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Until next time,

Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep Your God Focus

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EPISODE 83–PROVISION

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v4r86kb-god-focus-this-morning-episode-83-provision.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “PROVISION”

There are many examples in the word of God of how He is the provider of our needs. One example, that has been on my mind is the story of Abraham. God told him to take his son Isaac to the top of the mountain and sacrifice him. Abraham didn’t waiver in his faith. When he went, he took two servants with him, along with Isaac.

Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

He told his servants that he and Isaac would return. This was Abraham calling things as not as though they were, he wanted to be able to return with Isaac. It took Abraham a long time to get Isaac. He didn’t waiver in his faith when God asked him to sacrifice his son. Isaac asked his father where the lamb was for the burnt offering.

Gen 22:8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Abraham had faith that God would take care of the situation. But Abraham put his son Isaac on an altar and was going to do what God asked of him. But the angel of the Lord, stopped him. Then told him God had provided a ram.

Gen 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

God provided a sacrifice. Notice the ram was caught by his horns. If he had been caught in the thicket any other way, he would have had blemishes and could not have been a sacrifice. When God provides, he doesn’t do a halfway job. He knows exactly what we need down to every detail.

Gen 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen.

Jehovahjireh is what Abraham named that place. We know Jehovah Jireh means the Lord will provide. We can always depend on God to provide for all of our needs.

There are many examples in the word of how God provided when there didn’t seem to be a way. When things get to the point where there is nothing we can do, the circumstances are set for a miracle. God lets us exhaust our options, then says, stand still and watch me move.

As children of God, we must have the same faith as Abraham. It doesn’t matter what we face, we need to know God is there to take care of us. He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

Phil 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

This verse is often used in the prosperity gospel. Although it can mean money, it doesn’t have to mean money. If we need healing, He is our healer. We all need to be saved from sin. He will be our savior if we let him. Whatever we have a need of he will take care of us.

I Kgs 17:1- And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 2 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. 4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

I Kings 17 is the story of Elijah, God provided for his basic needs by warning him to go and hide by a brook. There was a drought an famine coming. God sent ravens to bring him bread and flesh. When the brook dried up God sent him to a widow woman.

Some of us today would have complained. Well, God said he would take care of me and sent me here, now he let the water dry up. But Elijah was obedient and went where God said and through a miracle, he was safe from famine. But God used him to sustain a widow woman and her son.

Sometimes, God calls us to leave our comfort zone, in order to help someone else. The woman was getting ready to fix her last morsel of bread for her and her son. But God had a plan, and through her obedience to the prophet, God caused her meal and oil to stay full until the drought was over.

She met Jehovah Jireh through the prophet Elijah. God worked two miracles for this woman through the prophet. One was that the meal and oil to sustain the three of them never ran out. The other was that God raised her son from the dead through Elijah’s prayers.

What do you need today? Do you believe that God can and will provide? If you learn to see him as Jehovah Jireh, he will provide your every need. Nothing is too big or small for God to care about. He provides out of his love for us.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 82 — FINDING FOCUS

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/FaJ_ToJn0yk

Welcome to God Focus This Morning

The title of today’s episode, “Finding Focus”

I end every devotional with, Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep your God Focus. I have often explained that I feel it is my calling to encourage the believers in Christ to stay focused. As someone who has lost focus along the road of life, I can tell you that is when life truly gets dark.

I went through a time of severe depression. There was nothing anyone could say or do to make it better. I was stuck in a frame of mind without focus on God. Depression happens when we become obsessed with our inner workings, our emotions and failures. I was a very goal-oriented person with a plan. I woke up one day, at age twenty-eight, I felt like life was over because I was no where I planned to be at that stage of life.

Many factors played into my getting in the state of depression, but now I realize it was because I had lost my God Focus. We feel helpless often in life. I still have times that I feel like a situation leaves me little room for hope or optimism. However, now when I look at the things in life that would have sent me into a tailspin, I know where to go. I take my fears, worries, pain, disappointments, and uncertainties to Jesus. He is the only one that can pull us out of darkness.

We cannot ever allow our situations to become our entire focus. I understand when dealing with the issues of life that our minds will want to dwell on things. Especially, if you are hardwired to try to fix these issues. It is in these times that we need to put forth extra effort to get our focus right.

The word focus is defined as a focal point, center, an anchor or center of attention. If we make God our focal point or center we will be on the right path in life. Jesus is referred as the chief cornerstone. The cornerstone is the focal point or center of a building’s foundation. He is often referred to as our anchor.

I want to share some verses with you to encourage you to focus on God.

Prov 16:3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

If we commit (whicn means to pledge or bind) our works to God he will establish our thoughts. Establish means to start something that will last a long time, to set something in a particular way.) If we can commit what we do and allow God to help us keep our thoughts focused we will be stable.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

It is easy to allow our mind to get stuck in a loop of worry or anxiety. We can transform our minds by our focus. Every time something comes to our thoughts, we can push it aside and make a conscience decision to focus our attention somewhere else; preferably on God. Praise and worship go a long way to changing our focus. In doing so we renew or come back to a place in God that we can find strength and courage. He gives us the strength to be bold and brave.

Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Our enemy would like nothing better than for us to lose our focus on God. He does everything he can to distract our attention and get our focus on something else. If satan can, he will, draw us into the darkness of evil. But Paul is telling the Roman church not to allow evil to overtake them but to go out and overcome or overtake evil with good. This falls in line with the message of the gospel to show love to everyone even our enemies.

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Have you ever said something and then wondered where it came from, it seems it came out of the blue. The word says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Whatever is in our heart will come out. This verse is telling us to not let any deceitful, shameful, evil come out of our mouth. God hates lies and complaining. Because these things gets our focus off of God and His truth. In other words there is not a focus on God when we allow these things to come out of our heart and mouth. Lack of focus will allow the enemy room to start growing these thing in us.

Prov 4:23-24 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

Keeping our heart focused on God and the things He desires will help us to keep our words encouraging and not negative or disobedient. God encourages us to speak words that build up, encourage, strengthen others that is may help them to keep their focus set on God.

Prov 4:25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Eyes that look straight ahead and are not drawn to the right or the left we could say are laser focused. Keeping our eyes on this path that is set before us could also be considered focused. The things on the sides are mere distractions to take our minds off of God.

Prov 4:26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. There is that word established again, which means to set up something long term. If we ponder the path of our feet, we can get our God Focus, then our ways will be set up for the long term or the rest of our lives on this earth. As long as we can keep our focus on God.

The devil is a thief and a liar. He will try anything to get us to fall into a trap that causes us to lose our direction. Once we lose our focus, sometimes it is hard to get back on track. But nothing is impossible for our God. He is there, wanting to pick us up and set our feet on solid ground. He desires for us to be established in Him and His will for our lives. He loves us so much that he wants only the best for us. That best is a blessed life He has chosen for us.

Do not think if you are a child of God, you will not have hard times. There will be pain, heartache, disappointments, grief, illness and all the things that are a part of life. The difference in us dealing with these things and someone who doesn’t know God is, we have someone to run to when times are tough. He wants us to be bold and brave.

Prov 28:1 The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

When I tell you to be bold and be brave, it is not just a slogan. Many great adventures await us in this life. We have to be bold and brave in order to be in a place that we can be used by God. Our Focus on Him is what it takes to bring focus to our own lives.

I encourage you today to dig into his word, find verses that encourage your heart. Write them on index cards and tape them to the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator door and places that you will see them often. Allow them to get into your heart. Then check your focus; are you laser-focused on what God has in store for you. Not allowing the things of life to distract you. If your heart is set and your focus is on God. You are ready to run this race with the patience it is going to take to reach the finish line.

Thanks for watching,

Until next time,

Be Bold, Be Brave And Keep Your God Focus

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