Tag: #beboldbebraveandkeepyourgodfocus

PREPARING FOR A STORM

Mar 4:37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. Mar 4:38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? Mar 4:39 And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mar 4:40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? Mar 4:41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

I often write about peace in the middle of the storm. Because there is almost never a day that goes by without someone asking for prayer because they are in the middle of some kind of storm. All around us, people are suffering and dealing with great big problems. However, we should never think that Jesus is asleep in our boats. He is ever vigilant, always looking out for us. Just because he hasn’t answered, or calmed the storm, doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. He is waiting for the right time to calm the sea.

There are things we can do before the storm comes. Think about what people do when a Hurricane is heading to their location. They go into preparedness mode. They get batteries, bottled water, and supplies in case of power outages. They put boards over their windows to protect the glass from flying debris.

We can sense that something is brewing on the horizon. The enemy will often give himself away before he sends a massive storm. We can prepare ourselves to be ready for attack by putting on the whole armor of God. (EPH 6). We can pray for God to help us face what is ahead of us. Ask for him to make our path straight and for him to light that path. Get in the Word and allow him to prepare us to be strong. Prayer is the final step to prepare us for the storms that try to come into our lives. We can declare that the storms will not overtake us. We can declare that God is our deliverer.

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.

God doesn’t want us to fear the storms that blow into our lives. Sometimes it looks really scary, like a tornado would look. But God is always there to see us through the storm. So hold on and keep believing that he will one day calm the storm. He will speak peace at just the right time.

Trust in the Lord and do not look at how things appear to be; we walk by faith. We can overcome any storm if we walk in faith; God will direct our path.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

BEING INTENTIONAL

We need to have a grateful heart. There are a few simple things we can do to develop a grateful heart.

PAY ATTENTION FOR OPPORTUNITIES

One is to pay attention and look for opportunities to show people you care about and appreciate what they did for you. Simply meaning it when you say thank you. If you were raised right, your parents taught you to say thank you when someone helped you. This is often just an automatic reaction to say. It’s not that you don’t mean it when you say it. But think about the words when you say them, show sincerity.

Example: Have you ever gone through a drive-thru at a fast-food restaurant? The cashier hands you the bag with your order inside and says, with a tone like they don’t care, they mumble, “Thank you. Have a nice day.” You don’t feel like they meant it but were being coerced to say it.

But you go through another time and the person is friendly and smiles. When they say the words, they are intentional and act like they mean it. It makes you want to go back to that restaurant.

We need to pay attention to our attitude when we say thank you to God and be intentional with our words.

TALK TO GOD OUTSIDE OF PRAYER TIME

Make a habit, before your feet hit the floor each morning to focus and thank God for waking you up. Thank him for the blank slate ahead of you. Depending on your day, this could also be a good way to get your mind set ready for your devotional time and prayer time.

Some people get all legalistic that you should read your bible and do your study at the beginning of the day. But not everyone is wired to do that and not everyone’s life is structured so that can happen. I think God understands if we don’t spend two hours in devotions every morning. As long as we start our day with gratitude and with prayer. But we need to find time in our day to be intentional about our study of the word and devotions.

You don’t have to be knelt down at an altar or on the floor to pray. It is good to not be distracted by anything else.

I used to drive an hour each way to work and back. That was my time to talk to the Lord and reflect on the things that I needed to do. I always have worship music going anytime I am in my car. I would sing and worship the Lord. Many prayers have been said behind the wheel of my car.

Sometimes I have had to pull over when going through something that made me need to dig down and pray hard. There is nothing wrong with pulling over in a safe place and focusing on prayer and worship. I had days that I considered that to be enough. It is like I checked off my prayer box for the day. But I now know better. It is not an obligation, like the cashier saying thank you. But it is because we really want to talk with him.

Our walk with God is not a checklist. It is the way we live our lives. Prayer time should be about lifting up others and asking God what he wants in our lives. This should come before any request we have of our own.

The second point under this category is at night after your day is done. After you’ve said your prayers. Take a moment to simply thank God for your day. If it was good, then thank God for a good day. If it was a hard day or what we would consider bad, Thank God for it. (In everything, give thanks) We can thank him for helping us through it. We can be grateful that it was not worse. Then say I release the stress of this day to you Lord. Because he is better able to deal with it than we are capable. I am thankful for a good night of rest ahead.

KNOW WE HAVE VICTORY

I COR 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have victory. There are times when we may not feel very victorious. Even in those times we have victory because of the blood of Jesus. We often don’t see things clearly because of our emotions. We can’t see the big picture of how things are going to work out. We feel like we are defeated, but that is the enemy’s way of distracting us from the goodness of God.

God is faithful to pull us through anything we face in life. When bad news hits us like a semi-truck, we don’t feel victorious. We feel pain that has flattened us and taken the wind from our lungs. God is right there making sure we have air in our lungs to just keep breathing.

He already sees the way we will rise from our ashes and hurt. He sees us victorious. Even when we cannot imagine ever being in a place of victory. The same thing goes for anyone struggling with an addiction. God sees them on the other side of that struggle. He sees them victorious. But they cannot imagine a time when they will have victory.

Job is the perfect example of this; he had the victory. God knew that he would not let his circumstances dictate his victory. Satan tried everything. To everyone things looked like Job would never have victory again. But he held onto God through the process. He came out the other side victorious. Victory was always there; they just couldn’t see it for the circumstances. (We walk by faith and not by sight)

We need to be intentional with our prayers and our Christian walk. We never know when we are being watched by someone. The way we live can be a light to the world if we are walking with integrity. Looking unto Jesus in all things.

Until next time, BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.

GETTING RID OF POISON

2 Kgs 4:38-41 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. 40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

There was famine in the land. Elisha sent his servants to make a pot of stew for all the sons of the prophets. One of his servants found a wild vine and gathered wild gourds. He cut them up in the stew. When they poured out the stew and started eating, they realized that the gourds were poisonous. Elisha told his servants to bring meal and he threw it in the pot with the stew. He told them it was ok to eat.

America is known as the melting pot of the world. It is unique among all the nations. We became a nation because people came here for freedom of religion. Somewhere over time, we lost our sense of direction. We allowed the enemy to shred poisonous ideas into the mix. The church did not guard the stew and now we have a lot of mixed ideas and doctrines that are poison.

We didn’t uphold God’s standard and allowed the world to dictate what was right, instead of standing for truth. In order to get rid of the poison we have to come together and pray for direction. We need to pray down the strongholds of the enemy. The meal of the word of God will neutralize the poison.

Rev 18:1-4 18 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

The above passage reminds me of the modern church. God is telling us to come out of the church that is plagued with sin, greed, lust and the list goes on. The body of Christ will not be effective in the harvest if we have poison in the message of what we are trying to show the lost.

God is telling us to come out from among her and not partake in her sin. He is coming after the bride who has made herself ready. He is not coming after a harlot that chases after the evil of the world. Each of us individually can change our local congregations by just being genuine. We need to walk in our integrity and be who God has created us to be. He will take care of the evil, at the top levels of our society.

He wants us to pray for the Babylon system to fall. Pray for evil to fall. Thank God for our freedom and ability to serve the Lord in the right way. We have to stand up to keep that freedom. God will do great things if we apply the word to the poison of what is being fed to us. The word of God will neutralize all the poison of the world.

I encourage every one of you to take a moment to dig deep and search your life for poison. Make sure the enemy is not talking to you, feeding you lies of temptation.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

NOT DOUBLE MINDED

James 1:6-8 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

We are to walk in pure faith. If we allow our faith to waiver, we can become double minded. Have you ever been at a crossroads in life not knowing which way to go? It helps sometimes to seek direction with someone who is wise. When I am trying to decide which way to go. I can normally see both sides of a situation, so it is easy to get confused. But I have to take a step back and get past the sympathy, empathy and the emotions of the situation, before I can logically decide.

When we ask for God to do something, we believe he will …until circumstances start looking the opposite way. Then if we are not careful, doubt will creep in and cause us to waiver in our faith. God moves for those who believe, but when we doubt he will not move for us. We need pure faith not mixed with anything else.

Take the mustard seed for example. Many say if we have a little bit of faith that is all we need. But it is not about the size as much as the mustard seed is pure. It grows when planted but will not mix with any other herb. Therefore, mustard is pure.

The seventeenth chapter of Matthew has a story of the disciples that tried to cast out the devil but could not. After the man brought his son to Jesus, he cast out the demon and the boy was cured.

Matt 17:19-21 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

A mustard seed grows quickly. It produces fruit quickly. And also makes a bush large enough for the birds to nest in or to hide in from predators. Our pure faith can grow a tree for people to take shelter in when they need God. We can have faith for others when they cannot have faith for themselves. Like the people who peeled back the roof and lowered their sick friend to Jesus. The man was too sick to have much faith on his own, but they had faith that Jesus was going to heal him. Jesus did. This is why we ask others to pray for our situations. Sometimes we lack faith because we are too close to a situation. It is easier to have faith for others than for ourselves.

The twenty first verse says this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting. In other words, we need to have a close relationship with the father. We need to have our God Focus. Fasting is not about doing without food, it is about having power over our flesh. When we deny our flesh, we gain control over our impulses. It is about strengthening our spiritual man. The closer we walk to God, the less control our flesh has over us.

We are in constant battle flesh vs spirit. If we are strong in faith, with pure faith, we too will have power to cast out devils. But if we were weak in faith and it is not pure faith, then our fleshly ego may get in the way. If we walk in pure faith we understand that things God does through us has very little to do with us. Let me say that again, the things God does through us has very little to do with us. It is all about Jesus. It is up to us to learn how to have PURE FAITH and to not be double minded.

ARE WE SO DIFFERENT?

It is easy to allow the way things look to throw us into a lethargic and almost depressed state of being. Trouble is all around us pressing in, it feels like there is no hope. BUT GOD is there and is not moved by how things look. He is not moved by the plans of the enemy. God will destroy the plans of the wicked that are against us.

If God be for us, who can be against us? God is on our side. Maybe I should say we need to be on God’s side. Many times, people have been asked to choose who they are going to serve.

Elijah stood on Mt. Carmel and told the people they needed to choose. Then he gave them options.

I Kings 18:21 “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.”

This is where the prophets of Baal tried to get their false god to send fire from heaven. They cried and cried from morning to night. Cutting themselves and trying to persuade their god to act. But nothing happened. Then Elijah prayed a simple prayer and the one true God answered with fire. He proved himself to be God. We say we believe in God, yet we put everything else first. He wants first place in our lives. Can we give him that spot?

Joshua 24:15 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.

Joshua stood boldly before the people. They were once again serving false gods of other people. These Israelites were born and grew up in the desert. They were survivors of the ones that God delivered at the Red Sea. But the miracles their parents saw were just stories to them. They were not personal to them. Still, they experienced enough to know that God is real.

I often would sit in judgment of the people in the Old Testament when it came to false gods. I would ask how they could bow to a statue and say it was god? Are we so different today? God revealed to me that we are no different as a whole people. We bow to sports figures, actors, and singers, we worship our homes and material possessions. We worship the earth. We worship creation more than the creator.

God knows how flawed and weak we can be, he knows we are easily distracted. He also knows he has given us the power to be different and not be driven by our emotions and desires. But we have to learn that we have the power to choose. Life doesn’t control us. It may throw us for a loop every now and then, but we can control our reaction to what it tosses our way.

This is a lesson the children of Israel didn’t learn, and they had to wander the desert until they died. All because of their unbelief. Do we really want to spend our lives in a desert when we could be in the promised land? We are not meant to live in the stress and fear of this life. We need to figure out how to see God for who He is, not the god of the box we put him in. We limit him with our words and preconceived notions of who He is. It is time to set aside the idea of who we think He is and get to know Him, really know Him.

He desires us to know him in an intimate way. He wants our worship and praise, not for what he does for us, but because He is the one true God. He sacrificed everything for us so that we could be free. We have no reason to fear or look to anything or anyone else. If God be for us, who can be against us.

Romans 8:31-32 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

NOT OUR UNDERSTANDING

I am thankful for my wonderful family. I am blessed to have many wonderful friends. I am not only thankful on Thanksgiving Day for them but every day. I hope each of you had a good day with those you love. Since I spent time with family, this blog will be short.

PROV 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

God wants our whole heart. He wants us to trust in him. It doesn’t matter what is going on he wants us to trust in Him. It is easy for us to lean on our own understanding. Sometimes we get in God’s way because we lean on our understanding instead of waiting for Him. Our understanding can be tainted with our flesh. We may feel like something is not that bad. If God’s word doesn’t line up with our understanding, we are wrong.

This is why the word says to not be wise in our own eyes. We need to see things the way God does; through His eyes. Our wisdom can be tainted with many things like our experiences, our hurts and our influence from the world.

If we acknowledge the Lord in everything we do, he will guide us. He will make everything fine. The word tells us to fear the Lord and depart from evil. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can be wise by fearing the Lord and walking in his path. It will be life and health to us.

Take a couple of moments to think about your life, is there anything that seems right in your eyes that you know is not according to God’s word. If so walk away from it. Ask God for help. In all your ways acknowledge him he will direct your path.

Have a good and safe holiday weekend!

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

GARMENTS OF PRAISE

ISAIAH 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Lately, a lot of people that I know have been dealing with a spirit of heaviness. Evil seems to press in from all directions. It doesn’t take much discernment to understand what is going on. The enemy is fighting hard because he is about to lose his control over our world. The Lord is about to release the Spirit on this earth.

As Christians we are all called to witness to the world. We are to bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom to the captive. We can help people be set free from the captivity of the evil one. Everyone is in prison unless you are a set free child of God. We can be the one to help them find the key to unlock their prison. Jesus is the key.

He is there to help us have peace in our troubles. JOHN 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. We have no reason to fear. There is nothing that we have facing us that we cannot make it through as long as we are with Him.

We cannot allow the spirit of heaviness to overtake us. It is a real thing to feel down and like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. The world is un chaos, but he is going to give us beauty for ashes. As things in this life seems to be burning down our lives, God will take the ashes and make from it something beautiful.

He will wrap us in the garments of praise to overcome the spirit of heaviness. Anytime we are pressed down and feel like the world is on our shoulders, we can start to praise and worship. As our worship invites God’s presence, he will lift that heaviness off us. He will restore joy to us. I encourage you to put on the garments of praise and have quiet, alone time with Him. He will deliver us from all our fears. Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight. It doesn’t matter how much the enemy tries to press in on us and destroy us. We have nothing to fear, because God is with us.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

Do you have a slave mentality?

The Children of Israel that came out of Egypt numbered over 600,000 men. This was not counting women and children. The Pharaoh took his army of 600 chariots after them. Each chariot normally held one person. The word doesn’t say if there were any men on horseback. But needless to say, the Israelites seriously outnumbered the Egyptians. They could have gone to war and defended themselves.

Instead, they complained that Moses had brought them out into the desert to die. They were afraid of the Egyptians. They still had a slave mentality. They didn’t understand who they were and who had been watching over them. Even after the ten plagues of Egypt, they could not grasp that God would protect them. They had been slaves their whole lives and it wasn’t easy to realize they were free.

We have been held captive by satan. He is like the Pharaoh he doesn’t want to let us go. He is so evil he wants to take as many souls as possible to hell with him. Even though cartoons and television shows depict him as being in charge of hell, this is not biblically accurate. He will be there to be punished.

Satan has only the power we allow him to have over us. Just like Egypt used fear to control the children of Israel; satan uses fear to control us. He tries to keep us bound with fear. We have a blood covenant with God almighty, which gives us power over our oppressor.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

We are given power over the enemy. God is on our side. He is our protector and savior. He will never allow the enemy to overtake us. We have the power to let our flesh overpower us and give in to the enemy. Because God gives us free will. It all comes down to us. Do we have a slave mentality? Are we going to believe in the enemy’s words or God’s? Are we going to let the flesh fear the enemy?

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

I have often heard the second part of this verse. Resist the devil and he will flee. But if we are not submitted to God, we will not have the power we need to resist the devil. The children of Israel had not learned how to submit to God. They let their fear be bigger to them than the fact that God had delivered them from the ones they feared.

We cannot allow our fear of the enemy to keep us bound. God has set us free. Freedom is scary sometimes if we have spent a long time in bondage. God will break off our shackles if we ask him to set us free. But because we have been bound so long, they have become a part of us. We have a hard time knowing who we are when we are free. Like the children of Israel, at the first sign of trouble, we want to go back to bondage.

The path of least resistance never leads anywhere worthwhile. This is why we need to stand strong and resist the devil. The understanding that we are free is a realization that every Christian needs to get a full grasp.

John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

It is time to shake off the shackles. Resist the devil. Embrace the freedom we have as God’s children. We are free because he made us free through and by the blood of Jesus. We have no reason to fear the enemy.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

JESUS THE LAMB / SHEPHERD

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Different passages in the scriptures say that Jesus is our good shepherd. In order to be a good leader, you need to walk through the places your followers need to go. Experience makes one a good leader.

Most people in the work force have been subjected to a boss that doesn’t have a clue about how to lead. They have never done your job. They do not know what it takes to get the job done. All they see is the bottom line and have unrealistic expectations of how they want you to accomplish your goals. They ask the impossible of you.

We will never walk through some of the things Christ had to endure. He will never ask the impossible of us. There are times when the tasks are intimidating. But he is with us every step of the way. What he asks will not be impossible for us as long as we follow his leadership.

THE PASSOVER LAMB

In the book of Exodus, chapter eleven. During the last plague on Egypt, God sent the death angel into Egypt to smite the firstborn of every house, even their animals.

As protection against the death angel. God told the Children of Israel to slaughter a perfect lamb without blemish. Then they were to take the blood from the lamb and spread it on the doorposts and lintel.

When the death angel passed by it did not enter the houses that had the blood applied. This was a type and shadow of Christ as our sacrifice. He shed his blood to save us from death. Not the death that we would think about in this life, but spiritual death.

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.

How could Jesus lead us in this life as our shepherd if he had not first been THE LAMB? The lamb that was perfect, He knew no sin. He was tempted in every way we face today yet walked perfectly, avoiding all the pitfalls.

Jesus sacrificed for us. We are asked to sacrifice the things we (our flesh) want to do in order to follow him. We are living sacrifices because our lives are for others to see Jesus.

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.

Jesus, our shepherd, knows how to lead.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

ONE MOMENT

Life would be amazing if everyone was as happy as they appear on social media. For the most part, we only post the good stuff. But it is only a snapshot of our lives. It only shows who we are in that moment. One moment is not a complete picture.

We often feel like we do not measure up to other Christians. We watch as other people do what we know we are called to do, and it is intimidating. But we need to remember first that we should not compare ourselves to others for two main reasons. One, if we see someone we aspire to be like, we will feel inadequate and never wish to try to do what we are called to do. If we feel superior, we run the risk of being self-righteous and judgmental, and not seeking God’s plan for our lives because we can do it on our own. If it is truly a calling of God, it will not be a cakewalk, especially at first. It will always be something that causes us to step out of our comfort zones.

That being said, we should never look at someone else and wonder if we will ever get to where they are because we are looking at only one moment in time. For example, I know I talk a lot about my grandfather; he was a powerful man of God. By the time I was born, he had been preaching for almost twenty years.

I never knew the man he was at twenty-two that said he couldn’t even testify. He knew he was called to preach. He said he would study a testimony, and when he stood up, he would go blank. I can sort of relate to the story. When I see the red light on a video camera, I go blank; that is why I must read everything. He said one night, he got up to testify and God took over; he was on the floor for about twenty minutes. After that, he never had any trouble with what to say. He had learned to yield to God and His plan for his life.

Walking out God’s plan is not easy. If it were easy, we could do it on our own; we wouldn’t need God. I didn’t see the young man who went to the woods with his bible and prayed for God to give him a revelation. I didn’t see the moments of hardship, moments of triumph, or any of the things he walked through to make him that powerful man of God. I only saw the result.

We can’t look at someone else and compare where we are walking right now. Who knows what our walk will look like a year from now, five years from now? Only God knows what he is going to do with our lives. Only God knows what he will allow in our lives to make us stronger.

We look at that person who is anointed to sing and we are often in awe. We think, “Oh, to sing like that,” but we are only seeing one moment. We do not see all the times they hit their knees in prayer that God would give them an anointing to stir people’s hearts. We don’t see the countless hours of practice and planning. We don’t see the work involved; we only see that one moment.

We see a prayer warrior cut loose with a prayer that gives you goosebumps, and you feel like fire is going to fall from heaven. Their words are precise and powerful. They intercede with precision. We stand in awe of such a prayer. We feel like we are puny and cannot even pray. That is only a moment in time. We do not see all the hours of prayer that gave them the ability to move heaven. We do not see the painful things that they have walked through to get them to the place where they pray with such bold authority.

On the other hand, we should not judge someone by the moment that they make a mistake. It is easy to look at them and judge them for not having better control. But we don’t know what they have endured and what made them make the choices they made. We may make the same choices under the same circumstances.

I Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

This verse is a warning to not think that we are so perfect that we could never make a mistake. When we get to the point that we are so holy that we cannot make a mistake, God has a way of allowing satan to come in with just the right temptation to cause us to fall. I don’t ever want to be found guilty of judging someone in their one moment of weakness. Because we do not see all the times that they are strong. Judging someone for one moment in their life is like judging a book by one sentence. That one moment is not the full picture. Just like one sentence cannot give all the details of a book.

Peter denied Jesus; in the moment that he did, some would judge him to be unworthy of God’s forgiveness. But Jesus didn’t let one moment of weakness define Peter. He gave him the keys to the kingdom. Jesus called Peter a rock. Jesus knew how strong Peter was and would be in the future.

It is easy to get caught up in one moment and forget that life is a journey. We are not meant to stay stuck in a moment. But we are to make the most of every moment we have been given. We are supposed to forget the things that are behind us and press forward.

If you find yourself in the middle of a regretful moment where you’ve made a mistake. Do not let it define you. If you find yourself in the middle of trying to step into a new calling. Don’t let it hold you back. It only takes one moment of faith to propel us into the future of who we are and are becoming.