Tag: #beboldbebraveandkeepyourgodfocus

EPISODE 96 — IT’S YOUR CHOICE

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/vXoPGibDsjo

Welcome my friends,

The title of today’s episode is, “IT’S YOUR CHOICE”

God often wakes me with a song in my heart. A couple of days
ago, the song that was my spiritual earworm was a song by the Hinsons. “Who is
on the Lord’s Side? It was popular when
I was a teenager. The words got me to thinking about my post Friday. We have to choose to pick up the gauntlet. We
have to choose sides.

There are a few places in the word of God where the children
of Israel had gone astray. Once they were dancing around a golden calf and
saying this is our god that brought us out of Egypt. We are at a pivotal moment
in our own history. God is asking, are you going to trust me or are you going
to look to the little gods of this world.

Other than the stories of Jesus, Elijah at Mt. Carmel is one
my favorites. Jezebel was ruling everything with her cunning ways. Israel for
the most part was following Baal. Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a
contest. If your God be god, then let him send down fire from heaven.

1 Kgs 18:21-22 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if
Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I
only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and
fifty men.

It is time we stood boldly like Elijah. He thought he was
the only one still standing for the Lord. But he was determined to stand even
if he had to stand alone. If you don’t know the story read I Kings Chapter 18
and 19. For time sake, I will not read the rest of the chapter, but the
prophets of Baal cried and cut themselves and did everything to get their fake
God to answer with fire. It did not happen. Then Elijah prayed a simple prayer
and God sent down fire and consumed the sacrifice. The prophets of Baal were
taken and destroyed.

Then we find Elijah hiding in a cave and God asks him why he
was in the cave. He was hiding from Jezebel who threatened to kill him for
getting rid of the prophets of Baal. He
was feeling alone, like he was the only one standing for God. But God told him
he wasn’t the only one.

I kgs 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in
Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which
hath not kissed him.

God always has a remnant of people that stand strong. Elijah
felt like he was alone, yet there were seven thousand that had not bowed down.
There are many more of God’s people today than seven thousand that are standing
strong and keeping the faith. They do
not buy the lies of the enemy. The evil we see on the news is only showing a
small group of people that are trying to make us think they are many and the
enemy is winning. He is the forever
loser and will not prevail over God’s remnant.

Romans 11:2-5 God hath not cast away his people which
he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh
intercession to God against Israel saying, 3 Lord, they have killed thy
prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my
life. 4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself
seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5 Even so
then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace.

A side note I was curious if verse 2 the name Elias was
referring to Elijah on Mt. Carmel. I
googled, Is Elias and Elijah the same person? Google says: Elijah was a
Hebrew prophet who ranks with Moses in saving the religion of Yahweh from being
corrupted by the nature worship of Baal. Elijah’s name means “Yahweh is my God”
and is spelled Elias in some versions of the Bible.

I love that his name means “Yahweh, is my God.” Does our reputation or how we are known agree
with that statement? Does our lives say, Jesus is my God?

The story of Elijah on Mt. Carmel was not the first time
God’s people were told that they needed to choose. I mentioned earlier the
children of Israel, while God was writing the tablets of his laws for Moses,
they were breaking every one of them in the camp below. Moses was angry with
the people of Israel. He threw down the tablets that God had written the ten
commandments and broke them into pieces.

Exodus 32:26 “Then Moses stood in the gate of the
camp, and said, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? Let him come unto me.’ And all the
sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.”

The people were asked to choose which side, good or evil.
All down through time each person has had a choice to make; a choice of good or
evil, The Lord or a man made little “g” god that doesn’t have power. Some even
choose to follow satan who has some power to manipulate, lie and convince
people he has power. MY GOD is greater
than all of them combined. There is not even a comparison. Our God is so far
above the rest there should not even be a question.

JOSH 24 14-18

Joshua 24:14-16 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve
him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served
on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if
it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will
serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side
of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for
me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 16 And the people answered and said,
God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

Joshua 24:17-18 For the Lord our God, he it is that
brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of
bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all
the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18
And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which
dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God.

I want to remind you that you don’t have to be bowing down
to a golden calf or dancing naked in the grove or burning incense to a false
god. Anything that we put before God is an idol. It is so hard and so easy at
the same time to allow things to get in our way. It pays us to be ever vigilant
about our spiritual life and faith walk.

As we are quickly approaching what many consider end times,
it is now more important than ever to have the matter settled. These stories
are a constant reminder to choose good and not evil. Will we allow how things
appear to sway us? Will we let fear
creep in and be our guide? Will we cave at the first sign of resistance to our
faith? No, we are going to boldly say, I will stand for the Lord if I have to
stand alone.

But we are never really alone. God stands with us, just as
He did with all the prophets of old. He will go before us and fight for us. We
just have to be willing to stand with him. Pray for God’s will in our lives and
never give up.

In history there was a brave man that led a resistance
against people that were oppressing his people. His name was William Wallace.
He had such resolve and determination to have freedom, that as he was being killed by his enemy, he
screamed the word freedom. It sparked his people to go on and win their independence
from oppression.

We never know, when we are standing firm on the truth of
God’s word, who we will encourage to stand strong. Freedom from our enemy is a fight worth
fighting. I ask, who do you choose today? Jesus or an idol? Right or wrong?
Freedom or bondage?

As for me? I will choose the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
only one who died for me and redeemed me from bondage. Take time to think about
where you stand today. Then go out and inspire someone to stand strong for
Jesus.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 95–PICK UP THE GAUNTLET

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/j-RSPNRYv74

Welcome to God Focus This Moring

The title of today episode is “Picking Up The Gauntlet”

I awoke a couple of weeks ago and I heard God say, “The gauntlet has been thrown down.”

I cannot say I had much idea of what that meant. I thought I knew what a gauntlet was, but I looked it up anyway. A gauntlet that is thrown down is an armored glove, or a part of the armor that protects the hand.

In Medieval times, a soldier would challenge someone by throwing down his gauntlet. It was meant as a formal challenge to a duel. If the opponent accepted the challenge, they picked up the glove that was thrown down.

At first, I could see several different things this phrase could mean. But I wanted to know what God meant by the phrase. I started to pray into it. As I researched, I came across the word gauntlet as slang of today. Gauntlet is slang for a situation in which someone is attacked, criticized, questioned by many people.

I thought, that describes the church of today. The remnant, that are standing for the truth of God and being attacked, criticized and questioned by society. They do not want the truth of God. I pondered how this affected the church as a body of believers.

As I prayed into what God told me, “The gauntlet has been thrown down.” I got an even deeper revelation that I want to share with you today. The gauntlet is everything the enemy is trying to do in the earth. He has thrown down the challenge. He says he is going to destroy the next generation and take away our rights to pray, read our bible or believe in God. He says he will make us a god that we can all worship in unity. One that won’t upset the agenda of the evil ones. The question is, are we going to pick up the gauntlet. Are we going to fight the good fight of faith and stand boldly. I have decided I am going to pick up the gauntlet. How about you?

Are we going to have the boldness of David and tell the enemy that he will not defeat us? Are we going to be cowardly and tremble with fear as the enemy tries to intimidate us? It is time to rise up and stand strong. We were not meant to sit quietly in camp while God goes out and fights our battles. Yes, he says he will fight our battles, yes he will defeat our enemy. We cannot rise up in our own strength and try to fight the enemy.

We are fighting a spiritual battle. It cannot be won by natural means. If we try to fight by natural means, we will end up like the seven sons of Sceva. We will end up naked and wounded by the enemy. Never think for one minute that the enemy cannot prevail over your flesh. He is a master manipulator; the enemy has a lot of power. If you do not know the Jesus that Paul preached then you could be headed down a rough road.

But as children of the most high God, blood bought by the work of the cross, filled with the Spirit of God, we have power over the enemy. He should not even try to challenge us. Because we will win this battle, not physically, but by what we do. We have something we need to do.

Jehoshaphat was told to put his worshippers out front. To a natural mind that seemed silly.

I Cor 2:14 -But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We have to remember that we are not warring in the natural. We will fight on our knees the battle that is set before us. The Holy Ghost that is in us will fight for us. We just have to open our mouths and declare the word of God.

Oh, I feel this so strong in my spirit. Things are shifting, the battle lines are drawn. We are staring at the enemy across the battlefield. He is not hiding all his evil any longer. It used to be the enemy only worked in the darkness, hidden where society as a whole could not see. Maybe that is why the church fell asleep.

But now, they are blatant, open and challenging with their evil. They are doing sorcery and witchcraft on stage at concerts and Christians are buying and sending their teenagers off to see this evil. Christians dress up for Halloween as witches and television characters that they shouldn’t even be watching, let alone emulating. Then they wonder why their children are not acting like they did before but are rebellious. Two hours a week in church cannot counteract the 24/7 bombardment of evil. This is why it is important to pour into your children the things of God. Also pray and declare God’s word over them. Witchcraft is rebellion, it is rebellion against God. It is one of the works of the flesh that make God sick.

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.

Until we stand up and pick up the gauntlet, the enemy will continue to destroy people through the works of the flesh. Sometimes people get in so deep into these things that the only one that can get them out is God. They become bound, the enemy gets a stronghold and builds a wall of resistance against God.

Do you think God is moved by the walls of the enemy? Jerico was six chariots thick and all it took for God to knock it down was for his people to be obedient. The church is marching around quietly, but it is coming the moment of truth when God says to shout. Are we going to obey or are we going to be quiet because we don’t want to offend someone?

I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or purposely set out to offend anyone. But as a child of the one true living God, I have to obey my daddy. We are to speak boldly the word of the Lord. It is time we took a stand against evil.

When we pick up the gauntlet the battle plan must be as follows: worship, pray, declare and watch.

Worship the Lord—worship brings us into the presence of God. It allows our Spirit to make a better connection to be able to hear our instructions. By worship I don’t mean go to church and listen to a song or two. I mean allow your spirit to connect with God in quiet reflection.
Pray – pray against the evil of this world. Pray for God’s presence to bring down evil and for him to release his sweet presence in the earth. No one can come to God except God draws him.
Declare the word written in the bible, declare what God is going to do in the earth. Making declarations is not a name it, claim it doctrine that went around some of the churches in recent years. But it is about binding and loosening.

Matt 18:18-20 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal or fleshly. Our weapons are worship, prayer and declaring the word of the Lord and declaring things that agree with the word of God.

A few examples of declarations:

I declare and decree, that God is going to bring down the evil strongholds. Satan’s plans will not prosper against God’s people. We have victory through the blood of Jesus.

I declare and decree, that the enemy will not have my lost family, but all will come to know the Lord. The prodigals will return to the house of God.

I declare and decree, that God will bring down the evil child trafficking rings and they will be punished for harming the children. God will heal the children and give them a good life.

I declare and decree, No weapon that the enemy had devised will prosper against God’s people or the upcoming harvest. We render their weapons null and void.

I declare and abundance of provision over God’s people that they may take the gospel to all the ends of the earth.

I declare that all the incantations and spells put out into the atmosphere by the enemy will not prosper because God’s people are praying and decreeing that all evil weapons will be destroyed and not have an affect on God’s people.

I declare the words of Psalms 91 over my household and over my family. The Lord will deliver us from the enemy and his traps. I declare that I have protection under his wings. I declare that I will not fear what is going on in the news, because he is my protector from evil plots, viruses, destruction and storms, both spiritual and physical storms. I declare that his angels watch over me and my family, because we choose to worship his name.

Watch – The final thing is to stand back and watch God move, he will send revival and freedom to the people of the world if we pick up the gauntlet and tell satan he will not win.

I read Psalms 91 almost every night over my home and in my life. It is time we got fired up. We have been in basic training too long. It is time we take up the gauntlet and GO TO WAR against our enemy. I listen often to a preacher named Tim Sheets and he calls the devil the Forever Loser. I love that so much, because against God’s people he is the forever loser, if we stand strong and declare the word of the Lord and pray, we cannot be defeated, because God fights for us.

Until next time,

Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep Your God Focus

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EPISODE 94–BE STILL

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/_aZ8z67kuBM

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “BE STILL”

Yesterday, I talked to you about standing still and seeing God deliver us from our enemy. It got me to thinking about the verse that says be still.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The word still means calm, quiet, peaceful. When he tells us to be still, he could also mean don’t move but stay in one place. If we hold our peace and let the Lord fight for us, we will have victory.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

Every tongue that rises against us in judgment He will condemn. The word condemn means -express disapproval in public or sentence someone to be punished. If we are under an attack on our character it is hard to not defend ourselves. The enemy wants to tie us up in knots and get us to fear what people think and say about us. It is one of the hardest things in the world to not try to defend against lies of an enemy.

If we launch a defense, then we are judged guilty of trying to cover up what we didn’t do in the first place. The more we try to fix it, the bigger mess we make of the situation. Then the enemy will take what we said in defense and twist it too. No one understood this better than Jesus.

Jesus stood before Pilate, the Jews were accusing him of all sorts of things. He didn’t utter a word in his defense.

Matt 27:12-14 And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13 Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14 And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

Jesus could have convinced Pilate to set him free. But he chose to go to the cross. Defending himself would have been counter productive to his end goal. However, he was our example.

I Pet 2:21-23 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Neither was guile in his mouth. This meant he walked with integrity and was not deceptive. He did not attack them with evil words, even thought they reviled or attacked him with evil accusations.

Romans 12:17-21 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We don’t need to look for payback. We are to live as peacefully as possible with everyone. He tells us to not avenge ourselves. Not to defend ourselves. We are to go one step further and repay evil with good. If we can get ourselves in a state of peace we have won half of the battle. Because half is what is done to us, the other half is our reaction. When we defend, we give them power over our peace. If we can give it to God, we keep our peace.

The enemy is all about distraction right now. He doesn’t want us to spend time with God. He doesn’t want us reading the Bible. He is doing all he can to tear down our knowledge of who we are in Christ Jesus. It is time we show him that we know God is in control. We know that God will go before us and fight for us. We understand that all we have to do is stay strong in our faith and hold on to our peace. If we can be still and know God is there for us. We will win the battle every time.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 93 — STANDING STILL

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v4tv7h8-god-focus-this-morning-episode-93-standing-still.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “STANDING STILL”

Eph 4:13-15 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

One definition of still is calm, quietness or peaceful. The enemy is trying to destroy God’s people. But God is saying, stand still, be calm and walk in peace. I will be with you and will deliver you.

Now is the time to stand still and wait on God. The enemy is on the prowl preaching pretty sermons that have no real truth. It is easy for us to fall into negativity. God is needing us to be consistent and not give into the enemy. The bible is full of encouragement to stand strong, have faith and walk in love. God wants us to be united against our enemy. He is waiting for us to speak truth in love which will help us to grow in the things of Christ.

We as the body of Christ have been deceived by religion. God is wanting a real relationship. He has always protected his people. He will not fail us. Understanding needs to come to the body. Do we know how big He really is and what he wants from us? He wants us to trust and stand still, waiting for him to bring deliverance.

Exodus 14:13-14 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

The children of Israel were up against what appeared to be an impossible situation. Moses said “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” We need to stand still in this day. Things look impossible, the enemy is trying to bring chaos and fear.

But God is reminding us that we have to trust in Him and he will bring light to our darkness. The enemy may appear to be on the attack, but God says stand still and he will fight for us. We just have to have faith in our God.

God also told Jehosphat the same thing that he said through Moses. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Jehosphat had three armies coming against him and God told him to go to battle and he would fight for them.

2 Chr 20:15-18 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you. 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshipping the Lord.

Notice verse 17- We do not need to fight in this battle, we are to set ourselves which means to be determined. Have a made-up mind that no matter what, we will stand strong against the enemy. We can stand strong against the enemy with prayer. Then we are to stand still and watch God move, he will fight for us.

What kind of battle are you facing today? Is it sickness? He is our healer. Is it financial? He is our provider. Are you under a spiritual attack? His Spirit inside of you will provide resistance to that attack and will protect you.

It doesn’t matter what the enemy tries to use against us. Whatever the attack may be, God will not allow the attack or weapon against us to prosper. It doesn’t say that he will prevent the weapons from being formed. The enemy is exposed by forming weapons against us in the first place. But God will not allow the enemy to prosper against his people.

Standing still means that we cannot move forward because there are obstacles. But God will remove the obstacles and lead us forward to what He has promised. He is the shepherd; we are his sheep. We will see how he has provided salvation for us from our enemies.

God has never let down his people. Even in what seemed to be impossible situations. For He is the God if impossible. He has not lost one battle. Again, I remind you of the two accounts where God said to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Pray for the body of Christ, that we can be strong enough to stand still and wait on the Lord.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 92 — ALTAR / ALTER

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/VvX39JgIt9c

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

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 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.

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 84– SPIRITUAL EMERGENCY ROOM

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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 80–ENDURANCE

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://youtu.be/8OWe0R4-CVI

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

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

We are in the battle of a lifetime. The church has not had to face such persecution and opposition for many, many years. We are in this to keep pressing forward and showing the world our faith. Jesus is on our side; we cannot lose.

Things may appear scary and if we look with our natural eyes, things do not look good. But we have to endure whatever is coming our way and stand strong in our faith.

Matthew 24:13 KJV: But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

We have to endure what is coming. As Children of God, we have to stand strong on our faith. We need to fight back with prayer. We can only win if we come together and pray for our nation, pray for the body of Christ.

James 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

We find that James is encouraging endurance and patience. He is explaining how the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth. This is all about the harvest. It is saying, Jesus is waiting patiently for the precious fruit which is the souls that will come in during harvest time. Until he receive the early and latter rain.

The early rain was His Spirit that was poured out on the early church. The latter rain is when His Spirit is poured out on the earth for the final harvest of souls.

James 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

James is encouraging the believers to establish their hearts. In other words, we need to make sure that our heart is set on the things of God. We are to be determined and have a made-up mind that nothing will keep us from God. We have to have our minds set on the things of God.

The best way to establish our hearts is through prayer and studying the Word. Prayer for an understanding of God’s word.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. This means we are not to judge or complain against other believers. We need to get our hearts right if we have grudges against anyone we risk being judged by God.

James 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. 11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

We need to look to the prophets as our example of how to stand strong during affliction. Job is one of the best examples of enduring. He was patient and trusted God even in the midst of horrible loss and sickness. He kept his faith and trust when everyone told him to “curse God and die.” But he kept his faith and he was very blessed for endurance. Just like we will receive God’s blessings if we can stand strong and endure our fiery trials.

Think about a runner. They train long hours to build up lung capacity to run marathons. They have to be determined to finish the race strong. They build up their endurance by training.

We build up our endurance to run our spiritual race by training. Training our minds to guard our mouths. Train our minds to fight against negativity planted by the enemy. We are learning to walk by faith and not by sight.

Every time we pray, we add to our endurance. Ask God to help his people stand strong. Every time we dig deep into the word of God, we learn something to give us endurance to stand against the enemy.

2 Tim. 2:3-4 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

We are just passing through this life. It is not our destination; it is just somewhere the road goes through. We cannot allow the things of this life to distract us from doing the will of God.

Enduring means that we will come through the fiery trials of life without compromising or allowing our faith to waiver. It all comes down to knowing God’s will for our lives. Then not allowing anything to keep us from carrying out that will.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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