Tag: #beboldbebrave

EPISODE 344 WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: What a friend we have in Jesus!

A friend is someone who will stand by you in the good and the bad of life. Especially, in the bad. Knowing that you have someone in your corner when many others walk away is a wonderful feeling. Jesus is our friend who will stand by us when everyone else walks away.

There are lyrics to an old hymn that goes, “What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer.” Do we look at prayer as a privilege? Do we feel blessed that we can carry our burdens to God in prayer? What about the burdens of those around us?

I am reminded of a story in Luke; Jesus was in a house preaching. A large crowd was gathered there at the house. They were all pressed in and it was impossible to get from the back of the crowd to Jesus.

Luke 5:17-19 And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. 19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

This man was very sick. These men were determined to get their friend to Jesus. They believed that He could heal him. Sometimes it takes determination to get a prayer answered. Sometimes it takes peeling back a few roof tiles to see things accomplished. How far are we willing to go to see someone get what they need from God?

Do we really pray when asked to do so, or do we say a couple of quick sentences in passing? Dear Lord, help so and so receive their healing. Amen.

There are times when it takes our faith to push a prayer through. There are times we have to take on their cause as if it were our own. If we were in the position of that man, needing healing and could not get to Jesus, wouldn’t we want someone to go the extra mile with us?

Luke 5:20-25 And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? 23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

When the Pharisees saw what had taken place, there was little that they could say, because the man was healed. Jesus honored the faith of that man’s friends. It was a good day for everyone but the self-righteous religious people.

We have to be willing to sacrifice and stand in the gap for those who cannot reach Jesus on their own. Today, there could be many reasons a person may not be able to reach Jesus. They could be too weak physically. They could be bound in a prison of guilt and drug or alcohol addiction. They may feel they are unworthy to pray. The enemy loves to tell people that they have gone too far for God to ever forgive them.

The reason is not as important as what we need to do to help. God will lead us to those we are supposed to help. We must be willing to peel back the roof if necessary and get them to Jesus. He has already done the hard part, he died for us all. They can be set free, as long as we are faithful and lead them to Jesus.

I am thankful for the friends that I have in my inner circle. I am thankful, for my wonderful family. But I am most thankful, that I know a man called Jesus, who will be with me to the end.

Thanks for watching,

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 343 GOD WILL MEET YOU

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GOD WILL MEET YOU

Paul and Silas found themselves in prison. This wasn’t one of those white-collar country clubs, but more of a damp smelly dungeon type prison. They could have given up. They could have chosen to whine about their circumstances, but instead they sang praises to God. And at the midnight hour, which is the dawning of a new day, an earthquake shook the prison and opened the doors for all the prisoners.

We often go through things that help set others free from their prisons. When you have overcome something, you have power to help others overcome too. God didn’t care that they were in prison, he met them where they were and shined his light into the darkness. All too often, instead of us praising God in our prisons, we complain and beg for him to get us out. Sometimes we are there to learn a lesson. Other times we are there to show someone else that they can be set free.

The woman at the well came to gather water in the middle of the day. The other women gathered early in the morning when it was cooler. The other women shunned her and treated her badly. They didn’t like or trust her because she had been married four times and was currently living with a man. Jesus understood her more than anyone else. The others judged her for her choices. Jesus came and met her in her circumstances, and she became a follower of Christ. Jesus understood that she was not intentionally evil, but her choices were made out of her emptiness. Remember what I said yesterday, All excess comes from emptiness. She needed living water and God’s unconditional love. Jesus met her where she was at, she didn’t have to try to be perfect before God would help her, he lifted her out of her mess.

Gideon was about to fight in a great battle. He was nervous but God allowed him to hear what the enemy was saying. Even though Gideon was apprehensive about the fight, he trusted God. God told him to send everyone home but 300 men. To the natural mind this seemed crazy, they would be severely outnumbered. But God was about to meet them in their need and let them see that If God Be For Us, Who Can Stand Against Us. Gideon’s army with the help of Almighty God won the battle without even fighting. The enemy ran when they broke the clay pots and let their light shine.

Sometimes our earthen vessels have to get into a position of brokenness before our light can truly shine. It is not about who has it all together. It is not about who appears the most righteous or wears the nicest clothes. We do not want to be like the Pharisees and look the part on the outside, but inside we are dead and dark.

Our light shines best when we are just human beings trying to do the right thing. It is about His grace and Him meeting us in our circumstances. Whatever our situations of life we need to be like Apostle Paul.

Phil 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Paul wrote to the Philippians to be content in whatever state they find themselves. We can have inner peace through Jesus, even when our situations seem helpless and hopeless. We can abound in our relationship with God, while we may have needs in the natural world.

No one could have been in worse shape than Lazarus. Jesus didn’t say, He is not dressed right, so I can’t help him. What will someone think if I help him? He didn’t say that Lazarus was attending that church down the road, they will have to pray for him. No, Jesus went to where he was, in the tomb. He met him where was at, in the middle of his horrible circumstances. He called his name and told him to arise and come out of the grave.

He is God when we are sick. He is still God when we need a job or financial blessing. He is still God when we walk the floors at night praying for our lost family, when it looks like they will never see. He is still God when we feel battle-weary and want to give up. It doesn’t matter the situations we find ourselves in, one thing you can be sure of is that Jesus will meet us in our circumstances and he will deliver us out of them all. Our job is to simply trust that he will do what he has promised. He will take care of us.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 342 SELFISHNESS IS NOT FRUIT

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: SELFISHNESS IS NOT FRUIT

I think you would be hard pressed to find any sin that is not rooted in selfishness. When we become self-centered, we can fall easily into things that are the opposite of self-control. The enemy will try to encourage us in our selfishness. When we are looking at ourselves and what we want, we take our eyes off of God. His will for our lives is unimportant at that point.

All excess is rooted in emptiness. When we live a sinful life, we are searching for something we are missing. We look for that fulfillment in many places other than God. He is the only one who can give us the fulfilment we seek. Not having any fruit in our lives will cause us to be excessive in our pursuit of the wrong things or rotten fruit. It may look good at first glance, but once you bite into it, you find out that it is rotten, moldy, and bitter. However, the fruit that God gives is pure and perfectly balanced. Selfishness is the opposite of self-control.

God’s word teaches us to be selfless and walk in love toward others. When we become filled with the Spirit of God, our lives will start to develop fruit. We will walk less in our self-centeredness and more in our love and compassion for others. It is impossible to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the earth while maintaining a self-centered attitude.

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

As children of the Most High God, learning how to allow God to create fruit in our lives is important. Our flesh is weak and wants the quick fix, what is comfortable and appealing in the moment. The growth process is anything but quick and comfortable. We have to learn to wait on God to do his work.

The process is a little easier because we know we can trust him with our lives. He knows what is best for us, and he has our best interests at heart. God sees who we need to be in the future and develops strength in areas we are going to walk.

Allowing Jesus to penetrate our hearts will prevent us from betraying him with selfish motives. Not everyone who attends church is on the right path. Some are there to network and grow their businesses. Others are there to deceive and manipulate people into bad relationships. Some are there for monetary gain in other ways.

We cannot fully trust people until they prove their fruit. Every one of us has a measure of discernment. Some develop their discernment, and others choose to ignore it because they do not want to think badly about someone. Learning to be led by God and listening to our discernment will keep us out of trouble.

The perfect example in the Word of God was Judas. God allowed him to walk with them. He was selfish and sold out Jesus for a little bit of silver. But until that point, he could have gone either way. He could have resisted temptation and done the right thing. But his selfish greed outweighed his need to do the right thing.

We often think about Judas’ actions as something that was meant to be, but if he had not betrayed Jesus, the Pharisees would have found another way. Jesus would still have chosen to die for mankind.

God knows something we have to learn. We must allow people to make their choices good or bad. We never know when God will change those people and cause them to develop fruit. Not everyone grows fruit at the same pace. In order for anyone to grow the fruit of the Spirit, they must first receive the Spirit of God. It is the Holy Ghost that causes us to develop fruit. The more we surrender to the leading of God’s Spirit, the more fruit will grow in our lives.

It is almost like self-control is needed to develop the other fruit. We have to control our impulses to do selfish things for ourselves at the expense of others. Having self-control will cause us to walk in love, joy, peace and grow in Christ.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

If we walk in the Spirit, we will not be selfish wanting to do what our flesh say, but we will have enough self-control to keep our focus on God. We will desire to do what God tells us to do, not what we desire.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 341 WHAT IS IN YOUR CUP?

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: What is inside your cup?

A cup can be fancy and clean on the outside but inside can be carrying a deadly disease or poison. These are like the people that are poison to the body of Christ. They look the part of a Christian, they may even dress a certain way to impress those around them. They wear a uniform of their belief of what holiness looks like, but inside they are full of gossip, hatred, bitterness and anger. Some commit sin and hide it under a good reputation.

God will only allow this type of behavior for so long. When he gets to the point that he has tried to get them to change and they refuse, he will turn them over to a reprobate mind. If they continue to attend church and play the part of the “good Christian” but are full of evil, God will expose them.

Psalm 34:14-16 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

Look how long he waited for Eli’s sons to change. They were committing sins within the temple. He warned Eli to stop them, but he allowed it to continue. God killed Eli’s sons and when Eli heard the news that they were dead he fell backward and broke his neck.

Jesus warned the Pharisees that they were evil inside, but on the outside they dressed to impress and did things to make everyone think they were holy.

Matt 23:25-27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Jesus told them they were like tombs with whitewashed on the outside, but inside they were full of dead men’s bones. They were filled with all manner of uncleanness. This is why it is so important for us to be vigilant to check out those we listen to for our spiritual well-being. A large portion of those in the ministry are motivational speakers who water down the truth. As Christians, we cannot allow these people to pour poisons of complacency and wishy-washy half-truths into our cups. But we have to ask what we want in a minister. Are we asking for the full truth even if it hurts our toes? Are we telling the ministry that we desire the deep things of God?

If we seek God’s truth and make sure our cup is clean inside. We will find ministry leaders that have clean cups full of power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. These are the ones you want to align with and allow them to pour into your life. Because what they pour into your life will be anointed of God. It will strengthen your soul and help you walk a strong faith walk.

When God’s light is inside of our cup we will shine on the outside. There will be no poison within us. Others will be able to see with the reflection of God’s light within us.

This is why it is important to do all we can to walk in the light of God.

Deut. 28:1-2 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

If we try our best to walk in the commandments of God and do his will, his blessings will overtake us. In other words, if we do all we can to walk in God’s ways, his blessings will overflow from our cup. We want only good things to flow from the cup of our life. It is time to search and ask the question, “What is in my cup?”

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 340 VICTIM OR VICTOR?

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: VICTIM OR VICTOR

Are you a victim or are you victorious? Even if you have been a victim, you don’t have to stay a victim. The enemy wants nothing more than to destroy us. But we can have victory through our faith in Jesus. We can pray all we want but if we don’t have faith to believe God for what we are asking it is just noise going into the air. The word says faith without works is dead. Before some of you get excited. Works only will not accomplish anything either. It is like running on a treadmill; it expels energy but will not get you anywhere. But us working with God and believing for him to do what we have asked can accomplish great things.

It is time we look at the situations of life through our faith. We cannot see the Goliath’s of life, through our natural eyes. We have to always see our giants in comparison to our God. We cannot compare them to our own fleshly weakness.

It is easy to get nervous and anxious about situations in life. When we walk in our flesh, we can become anxious. But when we walk by faith, we are strong and bold. The strength comes from the Lord.

Phil 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

God doesn’t want us to be anxious about anything. The enemy loves to cause us to be anxious. Anxiety is one of his many tools. If we are anxious, we are not walking in faith. Our own emotions are in control of the situation. But when we pray, we can turn that anxiety over to Jesus and he will return to us the strength needed to walk by faith.

Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

God will take our anxiety and give us peace as long as we are willing to surrender it to him. But we cannot speak words out of our mouths about how anxious we are, or the enemy will have a stronghold.

Take some time and ask yourself if you are holding on to things that make you anxious. Maybe someone said something that made you feel inadequate. Maybe something happened to you that caused you to be afraid. It is not wrong to feel these feelings. We would not be human if we didn’t experience emotion. But it is what we choose to do with those emotions that makes us victims or victorious. If we walk by our flesh and pet those emotions and start feeling sorry for ourselves, we can end up in full-blown depression. But if we rise up against the emotions and ask God for help to overcome, we will be victorious.

How many times do we tell the stories of old: David and Goliath, the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace, the parting of the Red Sea, and other miracles. Each situation came down to faith over fear.

Moses had faith that God would see him through, after he had a God encounter. No bush had ever burned like that before, but it took him experiencing the fire of God to increase his faith. He knew that God would not bring them halfway out of bondage. Moses trusted that God would do what he had promised.

But because of unbelief, those who were in bondage were never fully free. They were made to wander the desert for forty years. Only those born in the process got to see the promised land.

We are the same way, God finds us in bondage to sin. He starts the process of bringing us out. But our flesh will never get to the promised land. But only what is born in the process, our spirit man will ever cross over to the promised land. We will only cross over if we learn to walk by faith.

Faith is seeing with our spiritual eyes what we are asking God for, when in the flesh it has not shown up yet. But it is crucial to see it with our faith and know God will bring it to pass in the right season.

Many times, we ask God to open doors for us. We may be at the right door, but if we walk through too soon, we may not be ready for what we find behind the door. God, in his wisdom, knows just the right time to open the door.

Until the door opens, we have to have faith in the hallway. We have to continue to see with our spirit the things we have asked for that are behind the door. At just the right moment, God will take out his key and unlock that door. He will gently push it open, revealing what your belief and faith have built behind the door.

We have to know that God didn’t create us to be victims but to be victorious. Even when we have walked through seasons of being victims to the enemy. We will come out victorious, God is with us.

Be encouraged, keep walking by faith, do not be discouraged, God holds us in his arms. We are safe, forgiven, strengthened and empowered for what the new day will bring. We must remember that we always have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 339 -SPIRITUAL WARFARE – USING OUR FAITH TO FIGHT SATAN

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: SPIRITUAL WARFARE -USING OUR FAITH TO FIGHT SATAN

Today is the conclusion of the spiritual warfare series. In this time of struggle and stress that the church is going through right now, we need to know how to stand against the enemy. The subject of spiritual warfare goes far deeper and is more detailed than I have covered. I encourage you to dig into the word and do research for yourself.

2 Cor 5:7 We walk by faith and not by sight.

This is a reminder that we cannot go by what we see. We fight our battles with our faith. Part of the armor of God is our shield of faith. In other words, our faith is a defense against the enemy. Because we choose to see things through our faith and not how they appear to be at that moment.

A strategy is needed when we make our battle plan against the enemy. Picture a room full of generals with maps and intelligence reports scattered about, trying to create a plan. Sometimes we have to defend ourselves from attacks. Other times, we need to go on the offensive and take back territory.

We must understand the tactics of our enemy, his vulnerability, his territorial strongholds and how to break the lines of defense. We have to be determined to win. Belief in our cause will give us the strength to keep pressing forward.

We are in a battle for a billion soul harvest. I cannot think of a better cause than that, when heaven rejoices over even one soul coming to Christ. How can we not do all we can to tell the world that there is a better way.

When David looked at Goliath, he saw an enemy of his God. He was determined to take him out because he defied God. The Philistine had been mocking God and God’s people. David looked at him through his faith. He didn’t let how he looked in the natural shake him. He didn’t compare himself to Goliath. He compared Goliath to his God. Actually, the giant was minuscule compared to his God.

If David had looked at Goliath with human eyes not through faith, then Goliath would have seemed huge. David may have fallen into fear like all the rest of the army. He would have believed a bad report like the children of Israel when they went into spy out the land. But Joshua and Caleb looked at things through their faith. They stood boldly and proclaimed that we are more than able to take the land. They understood there were giants. But they chose to look at things in comparison to their God.

This is how one would walk by faith and not by sight. We have to look at our enemy through the lens of faith. Yes, to our natural, physical being, the enemy is more powerful. He has had thousands of years to manipulate mankind. He is good at the art of temptation and trapping. But we have to change the way we see our enemy. We need to look at him like David looked at Goliath. Compared to our God, he is minuscule. The enemy is nothing.

This is how we win our battle; we allow God to fight for us. He will guide us and lead us.

James 4:6-10 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James used a lot of wisdom when writing to the church. He called out the spiritual issues of the church. But he also encourages the church that they can walk in victory if they do certain things.

He tells us to walk humbly and submit ourselves to God. If we resist the devil, he will flee. But we have to resist. It doesn’t say play with him, allow just a little bit of sin, after all the enemy says a little will not hurt. We are wise enough to know a little opens the door to the enemy to get a stronghold.

James says for the double minded to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts. To stop being double minded. In other words, we must have a made-up mind. We cannot flip flop between two opinions. We have to choose the right side and not give room for the enemy to get a foothold.

James says to cleans our hands. In other words, the things we do, our works or the work of our hands must be spiritually clean. We must have a pure heart. It takes work to fight against the enemy and not be double-minded, have clean hands and a pure heart. We can do these things, with the help of our God.

Never go into battle with an attitude that you will not win. If this is the attitude you may as well not go to battle. We have to believe we will come out victorious. We cannot win alone, but we have to go.

Like Jehosophat’s army, I shared with you yesterday. He didn’t have to fight with natural weapons. But they did fight with worship, they had a part to play. They had to show up at the battlefield to collect the spoils of war. We have to plan to be victorious by walking by faith. This refers to fighting a good fight of faith.

Eph 6:13-17 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

I want you to notice verse thirteen. We put on the whole armor of God so that we can withstand evil. Then the verses go onto list the different parts of the armor of God. It takes this armor to equip us to be able to stand against the enemy. We could not discuss warfare without touching on our protection or armor.

Every episode of this series has been to encourage you and give you a desire to study how to war and defend against the enemy. We have to go into training or boot camp to understand how to fight our battles. There used to be commercials that encouraged kids to read books then they would say, Knowledge is Power. When it comes to our enemy, the more we know how to stand against him.

Be bold and stand strong against our enemy. You can win the battle if you stand with God. Allow him to lead and be willing to face your fears and doubts, putting them under the shield of faith. Be sure to plan for victory, never allow the enemy to cause you to talk defeat. Our words have power. Using the word of God is the fiery darts against the enemy. I hope this series has encouraged you to stand strong and fight the good fight of faith.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 333 ANTICIPATION

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: ANTICIPATION

The word anticipation means to be expectant, have hope, be ready for an event. Some synonyms include suspense, excitement, and hopefulness.

The church has much to be in anticipation about in our modern age. This is the best time in all of history to be alive. We wake each morning with the expectation that soon we are going to see the next great awakening. God is going to flood the earth with his spirit. We will see things that generations before us have only desired to see.

We should be hopeful, even though things may appear to be smothering and dark. The enemy is on the prowl to cause fear, anxiety and depression. He wants to paralyze the believers with these things. He is also using fatigue and illness like never before to distract the body of Christ.

But we have hope. Our hope is in Jesus. We can be excited and have anticipation about the good things to come on the other side of the darkness. I have often thought about the early church after the day of Pentecost. They added three thousand souls to the body of Christ in one day. What an amazing thing it will be to have a great revival and add several souls.

Once the gospel has been preached to all the world and everyone has had an opportunity to be saved. Then comes the end. Jesus will come and gather up his bride.

Most women can remember how excited they were on their wedding day. Many hours and some even months and years went into planning the perfect day. The morning, they were to walk down the aisle, the anticipation was almost unbearable.

The bride of Christ is in this waiting place a short time before the rapture. I understand that the word rapture is not in the bible. However, it says we will be caught up into the air with him. The anticipation is getting real.

Now is not the time to be distracted by the things of this life. We cannot allow life to overwhelm us. Often the way to manage large tasks is to break them down into smaller ones. We have a period of time before this revival sweeps the land. If the anticipation and pressure of the enemy gets overwhelming, we can break it down to one day at a time. We can concentrate on the tasks we have to get done for that day.

Anticipation is a theme of the Bible to live in hope and readiness of God fulfilling his promises. There are different places in the word that God’s people acted with anticipation and hope of God fulfilling his word.

Instead of the anxiety that the enemy tries to give us, we need to cast it down and accept God’s anticipation. He has amazing things for his body. We have that hope to cling to with fervent excitement and anticipation.

The things we focus on will shape the course of our lives. If we focus on the evening news and how bad they tell you things are, it is easy to get down and depressed. Negative thoughts and words can get us in a position of being paralyzed.

When our enemy is about to lose his grip, he will throw everything at us at once. We have to know how to navigate the storm. But the great thing about the enemy’s storm is that God is above it. We will be elevated above the storm, because our God will lift us up.

What do we do to prepare for the storm? The best thing we can do is pray and ask for God to give us wisdom to navigate the upcoming days. We will ride out the storm because we are sheltered under God’s wings. It comes back to us getting in the secret place of the Most High God.

Psalm 91:1-3 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

If we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, we will be protected under his shadow. He is our fortress, which is a safe place that has been reinforced against the enemy. God will deliver us from the traps and snares of the enemy and from pestilences, which are diseases.

Psalm 91:4-8 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

The key to being protected and covered is to get into the secret place with God. I read this out loud over my home almost every night.

Psalm 91:9-12 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation, no evil will befall thee. He has angels that watch over us and protect us. Think about hiding under God’s wings, the enemy will not be able to touch us. Because of this, we have no reason to fear.

In summary, it is good to anticipate our future; God will show up with his glory. The enemy will not win. Do not be discouraged, do not allow anxiety to overtake you. We are living in a great time to be alive, and we have to hold onto our hope and anticipation of what our God will do.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 330 KNOW THE ENEMY

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: KNOW THE ENEMY

This morning, I sat and pondered all that is happening in our world. People are blinded to what satan is doing. A large portion of the Body of Christ is blind to the tactics of the enemy. We need to be wise to his tactics to keep us from falling into a trap.

Matt 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Jesus told his disciples he was sending them forth as sheep in the middle of a bunch of wolves. Sheep are vulnerable animals, they do not have many built in natural defenses. It is not like they have razor sharp fangs or sharp claws. When a predator comes around sheep are vulnerable without their shepherd. They do not have much chance of survival. They will be consumed by wolves. Just like satan, he is a predator, he will devour us if we do not stay close to our shepherd.

Understanding the enemy will give us wisdom on how to avoid his traps. However, we do not have to go down the proverbial rabbit hole and study satanism to know how to avoid his traps. God’s word tells us all we need to know.

I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

We think sober just means not drunk on alcohol. But it also means: serious, solemn, clearheaded, temperate. Temperate means mild, balanced and self-restrained. Vigilant means to be watchful, careful, alert to danger.

The word is telling us to pay attention and not be distracted, be clear headed and self-restrained. The enemy’s biggest tool in his arsenal is to draw us away from God, he tempts us with something that our flesh desires. If we lack self-restraint it is easy to get caught in the trap of the enemy. Satan is out there, roaming and watching for us to get in a vulnerable place for him to try to pounce on us. Everyday, we have to make sure we have on the whole armor of God. We have to be watching out for the enemy’s attack.

Think about all the evil that is on open display in our society today. We cannot even imagine the evil that is being hidden from us all. God is going to expose the evil. All the evil will not stand if we pray for exposure and for God to remove it.

Luke 12:2-3 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

God will reveal every evil plot and plan of the enemy. Part of God’s protection as our shepherd is to reveal the plots of the enemy to us. He has given us discernment. Which is an instinct that we know in our spirit with deep understanding the plans of the enemy.

We can overcome it all by resistance. We can resist the things he is plotting and planning. If we resist him, he has to flee.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We resist by being temperate or self-restrained enough to say no to satan’s temptations. In resisting we take away any right he has to overpower us. He has to leave us.

We overcome the enemy with the blood of the lamb and the words of our testimony. We need to speak out of our mouths how great God is, when we speak it, we reinforce it in our own belief system. Our testimony will encourage others as well as ourselves.

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

We have power over the powers of the enemy. We are wise to his devices. We have to stand together and stand strong. Hold onto our faith and nail scared hand of our shepherd.

2 Cor 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

We have to know the tactics of our enemy and how to combat them. Our Lord is there to keep us safe. God will not allow us to be overtaken by the enemy as long as we look to him. He has promised to be our protector, savior and friend. So be vigilant, keep watch for the enemy so that you are not caught in his trap.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 328 STANDING IN THE GAP

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: STANDING IN THE GAP

All through the Bible we find stories of people who stood in the gap for their nation, people, and family. Standing in the gap means we fill the void space between those who are in need of God to reach God. Jesus is the ultimate example, without him standing in the gap for our sins, we would not even have a right to ask for God’s help. The largest gap ever created was the one Adam and Eve made when they sinned. Jesus came and filled in that gap.

John 14:6-Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel several times. Asking God to give them mercy when they deserved punishment. Many times God was weary of their idolatry and disobedience, but Moses prayed for God’s mercy.

Esther called a fast and prayed for God to save her people from Haman’s evil agenda to kill all of her people. Once the time of fasting and prayer was over she went to the king at risk of death. She asked for her people to be given into her hand to do as she wished. When his plot had been revealed to the king. Evil Haman was hung on a gallows he had prepared for Mordecai a Jew that would not bow to him. God’s people were spared because of Esther and her call for prayer.

Nehemiah was grieved by the news that the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins. Because of his intercession and excitement of rebuilding the wall. Others got on board. Nehemiah stood in the gap and the people were lead into a time of repentance and renewal. The walls were fortified and once again Jerusalem was a strong city.

Sometimes all it takes is for one person to get excited about something. Their vision can become the vision of others. Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the walls, but it took a group of people to accomplish it.

Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God to spare it if he could find fifty righteous. He did not. Abraham kept bargaining down to ten people who were righteous. God could not even find ten in all the city that was righteous.

After Lot, his wife and his daughters left the city, fire and brimstone started falling from the sky on the evil. God told them to not look back, but Lot’s wife turned and looked back, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

It is safe to say that God spared Lot and his daughters because of Abraham’s prayers.

For years, there has been a movement in our country of intercessors who have prayed for our country and the world to be free from evil rulers. Many have cried out to God for mercy on our country, our states and local areas.

Being an intercessor takes time and energy. It means going beyond the words and feeling the emotion of the weight of where our country is spiritually. We have been taken over by evil agendas and the worship of satan.

I am sure that the only thing that has spared America is the large group of God’s people that feel compelled to intercede. Now more than ever we need for God to reveal the evil, make know satan’s agenda. God will spare our country, but we have something to do, we need to intercede.

I am sure we all have someone in our lives that needs us to stand in the gap of intercession for them. They are bound in sin and need God to intervene on their behalf. There are people that are dying of sickness and bad choices that need God.

We cannot be the church of recent years where we look at these situations and say a surface prayer and go on about our lives. Now is the time to get serious and get down to business. We need to allow our prayers to penetrate heaven. Many prayers never leave the earth. The difference one is saying a prayer. “Lord help that situation. Amen.” The other is getting on our face before God and praying until we feel like we cannot pray any longer. We need to P.U.S.H, Pray Until Something Happens.

Are you willing to stand in the gap for that loved one or friend? Are you willing to invest time in crying out for our country? God is needing us to keep pushing and praying. We are so close to our breakthrough but we need to keep going. Keep walking by faith.

Heb 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can come boldly to the throne of God and petition for mercy and grace. We can be bold in our prayers and intercession for those in need of God’s intervention.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 323 GETTING TO KNOW THE SHEPHERD

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GETTING TO KNOW THE SHEPHERD

It is easy to look at a younger generation and shake our heads in amazement at their lack of responsibility. I am sure the generation before me felt the same way about my generation.

In the church today, so many people want everything spoon-fed to them. They beg for prayer but are not willing to pray for themselves. They want easy religion but not a faith walk that requires something. We are the fast-food, convenience generations. This life is about walking through tough things sometimes.

If we are not willing to put in the work, we will not reap the rewards. The word says many things about reaping what we sow. That is seeds of good and seeds of evil. Whatever we sow will grow.

Gal 6:5-8 For every man shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

These people want someone to search out the scriptures for them and just give them the CliffsNotes. But if we do not dig into the word for ourselves, we are vulnerable to deception. It is hard enough to walk in truth when you are digging in the Word every day.

We are each responsible for our own souls. We cannot base our salvation on what someone else says. We have to compare what is being said to the written word of God. See if what they are saying lines up with what God’s word says.

It is time we take responsibility and grow up. God needs a mature church in order for us to reach the lost world. Because we have the freedom of religion in America, some people are under the misconception that any religion will do. We do not need religion; we need a faith walk with the one and only real God of the universe, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Col 3:23-25 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

It is time to get down to business and dig in our heels. It is time to get serious about our faith walk. This world is shaking and things are about to change. We can either get on board or be left behind. I don’t want to be left behind.

When Jesus comes to get his bride, I want to be found faithfully doing what he has asked of me. I want to be found faithful.

Matt 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I believe that these are the saddest words in the bible. These people will come before him with their Christian lists of things that they have done. But they were too busy doing all this stuff to develop a real and true relationship with him. He says I never knew you.

John 10:27-28 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Jesus said if we are his sheep we will hear his voice and he will know us. If we hear his voice, we will follow him. It is time we get serious about hearing the voice of God. It is either hear him now and follow or hear those awful words, Depart from me, I never knew you.

If we are truly his sheep, we will hear, Well Done!! That sounds so much better.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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