Tag: #beboldbebraveandkeepyourgodfocus

REMOVE THE BARNACLES

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The title of today’s episode: REMOVE THE BARNACLES

Have you ever heard of a church giving you points to add up to gift cards and prizes? I am not talking a game for the children, but for the adults. If you come to church you get so many points, if you bring someone you get extra points etc. This is not church this is a sad example of the social club. I repeat, this is not a church or should I say maybe in name only.

But the truth of the living God doesn’t need gimmicks, it doesn’t need point systems and entertainment. The real church, the real body of Christ will draw people to our congregations by old fashioned means, the Spirit of God. When we get serious about souls, the Spirit will draw them to church.

PSALM 127: 1Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

It doesn’t matter how hard we work if we are not listening to the leading of the Holy Ghost, it is all in vain. God will not draw people to our congregation to be hurt or abused by legalism and religion.

Being the Body of Christ is all about being collectively as Jesus would be if he were here. People came to Jesus for all sorts of things. He was what they needed. Collectively we need to be the way that people reach Christ, they way they find, strength, healing, comfort, encouragement, salvation.

How do we reach people in a better way that gift cards and entertainment? We have to be the real deal. Everyday, people watch our lives. People see us go through the good and the bad of life. Being a Chirstian will not spare us hurt, loss, heartache and pain. But being a Christian means we do not have to go through these things alone. We never battle a problem that God will not see us through.

I cannot tell you how good God is and then walk around looking like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. I know that sad things happen. But even in the middle of sadness it is possible to have peace and joy. I know that sounds impossible, but there is a deep down joy in knowing Jesus. This joy will stay with us, as long as we don’t allow the enemy to steal it through unbelief. All the emotions we deal with in this life we will still face, but that deep joy in knowing Jesus will give us strength.

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

God’s joy is our strength. We have to be genuine, authentic and full of integrity. We have to do the right thing when no one is looking as if everyone were watching.

Psalm 26:1 Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. 2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

We should ask God to examine our hearts every day. Ask him to help us stay on the level ground under the cross. We need to walk in integrity. Integrity means to be honest and have good moral principles. To always make the godly choice. It also means the state of being whole and sound. They say a ship that can float is sound and has integrity. If we live our lives whole in Christ, we will be able to stay afloat when the storms of life come blowing into wreck our world.

Psalm 26:9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: 10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. 11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. 12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

Some think that this little thing or that little thing will not matter. But the little things can destroy the big things. Barnacles are tiny creatures that live in the ocean. They connect themselves to ships. They will attach and form colonies. If you get enough of them they can destroy a ship. They will cause the ship to have drag, making it use more fuel. The presence of these organisms can lead to corrosion. If left unchecked they can jeopardize the integrity of the ship.

Part of the maintenance of ships it to remove barnacles often to prevent drag in the water and maintain the soundness of the ship. Just as barnacles are removed we need to make sure nothing is jeopardizing the integrity and soundness of our faith-walk. If we find something, we need to remove it immediately. One small thing we do may not sink our ship, but enough small things could create a stronghold that would hurt our witness, or our faith walk.

This is why I often pray and ask God to remove anything in me that is not in me for his glory.

Take a moment today to reflect on your faith walk. Ask God to reveal if you have anything hidden in your heart. This faith walk is not about points and earning salvation or anything else. But it is about walking like Jesus.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 180 –SOW GOOD SEED

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: SOWING GOOD SEED

As Christians we often speak about the golden rule, do unto other as you would have them do unto you. Today I want to talk to you about another rule of God’s word, you will reap what you sow. Meaning whatever we invest into our spiritual walk, that is what will guide our life. Our life becomes the fruit or product of our spiritual walk. If we invest in our relationship with God, we will reap in many areas.

I was reading Matthew Chapter 5 this morning. I never thought about what is normally known as the beatitudes, many can be something we sow in our lives.

Matt 5:1-12 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: ²And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, ³Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

If we sow meekness, we will reap from God’s hand; we will inherit the earth.

⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Starting with verse six, if we sow in hunger for God’s ways, his righteousness, we will reap in having that hunger filled.

⁷Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

If we sow mercy, we will receive mercy. If our heart is set on God and his will, we will have a pure heart. God can use a heart that is pure and doesn’t have any deception in it.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

We are called to be peacemakers. If we sow in peace, we will reap in peace.

¹⁰Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹²Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Then comes the ones we don’t want to talk about, Being persecuted, falsely accused and had evil lies spread about us. We are to stand against it by not defending ourselves. If we do not defend ourselves, God will fight our battles for us.

He will shut the mouth of the accuser.

Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

With God on our side we do not have to go out and try to defend ourselves. God is our defense.

It is hard to take the high road at times. Our flesh wants to get scrappy with people. But we have to walk in our humility and keep our head up high. The only opinion that matters is what God thinks. We are to continue on doing God’s will and he will take care of the rest.

We are in serious times, now is not the time to be playing games. Now is not the time to sit on the fence. We are either Children of the Most High God, or we are the children of darkness. There is no middle ground.

It is time that we examine ourselves and look to see which side of the fence we are on. Are we sowing the right seeds in our lives? Are we daily sowing prayer seeds that will bring forth God’s blessings, power and strength in our lives?

Time is short, we want to hear him say, “Well Done” the saddest thing to ever hear is “depart from me I never knew you” I pray that you think about it and do something this weekend to strengthen your faith walk.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 179 — UNMOVEABLE

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: UNMOVEABLE

Many of the prophets have said that we are going in to a season of shaking. God is allowing the shaking to wake people up. He is also shaking our enemies, those who God has determined to be like Pharaoh and has hardened their hearts toward God. These people believe they are God and cannot fall.

As we move into the season of intense shaking, stay strong. I spoke to you yesterday about the fiery trials. We may have to walk through a rough spot or two to get to the other side. God will not leave us nor forsake us. He will take care of his children.

I want to encourage you today to walk by faith that God will not let the shaking be too intense. Walk by faith that he will lead and guide his people. We cannot walk by sight. Things may look scary. Things may seem intense, but just as the children of Israel had the blood over the door post of their house. We have the blood of Jesus applied to our lives.

I Cor 15:57-58 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The synonyms for the word stedfast: committed, dedicated, dependable, steady, determined, relentless, unwavering, firm and true.

A person that is steadfast, has their minds made up that a course of action or a belief is right and they will not change from that belief. In other words, they are unshakeable. This is something we need to pray, “Lord help me to be unshakeable and steadfast when it comes to your truth. But anything that is a man made idea or religion, help me to shake it loose from my belief system, until nothing is left but Your truth.”

The above verse tell us that we have victory through Jesus and we need to be unmoved by the things the enemy is doing. We need to be full of the work of the Lord so that our labor is not in vain.

Psalm 1:1-4 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

There is a lot packed in these four verses. Blessed is the man that does not do evil and does not stand in the way of sinners finding God. Some so-called church people will stand in the way of sinners finding God by their judgmental and self-righteous attitudes.

We are to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night. If we do, we will be like a tree that is planted by the rivers of water.

These trees must have deep roots to keep from being overtaken by flood waters. Remember that when the enemy comes in like a flood the spirit of God will raise a wall or dam to protect us.

Trees planted by the water will not suffer from drought, they will always have water. If we are planted in God we will not suffer spiritual drought, because we stay in the word. We will have all the living water we need to keep us strong enough to bring forth fruit. God will prosper the work of our hands.

But the ungodly are not planted and are like chaff which the wind blows away. They are not unshakeable. Their foundation is on the sand. There is no one they can trust to not betray them and their evil plans.

But the Godly are on a firm foundation, the rock, Christ Jesus. The storms can come and the winds may blow, but we will still be standing when the storm is over, because we are steadfast and unmovable.

Seriously, take some time to think about how determined and steadfast you are about standing on the word of God. What if you had an ultimatum, bow to the evil ideas and deny Christ or die? People, this is a serious thing. I try to be upbeat and encouraging every day, but I want you to be steadfast and strong in your faith. I don’t want you to be caught off guard.

We must have a made up mind to follow Jesus at all costs. I know from other hard things I have faced in life, that God gives us strength when we need it. He would give us strength in that moment too. If we are prayed up and have a firm foundation of his word in our hearts.

Be steadfast and unmovable, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 178 INTENSITY MEANS VICTORY

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: INTENSITY MEANS VICTORY

There is no doubt in the minds of Christians that we are in a battle. We are in the most intense battle of our lives. Evil is being portrayed as good. It seems that evil has taken over and even praised. The mutilation and slaughtering of children is praised as a choice. Child trafficking for all sorts of evil purposes is, for the most part, ignored because people do not want to face what is happening to these innocent souls.

Drug abuse is on the rise. Satan wants everyone to be numbed by drugs so that they do not pay attention or even care about what is happening. People are dying every day at their own hands because their minds are confused by satan and his lies.

There is a tipping point in every war. The point where the few find a backbone of steel. Where they become determined to stand up for the truth and for good. Many of my grandparents’ generation died on the beach of Normandy and all across Europe to stop an evil man called Hitler. He had his mind set on wiping out all the Jewish people.

Many died on American soil during our civil war in the late 1800’s. Because they felt it was wrong to enslave another human being, just because their skin color was different.

All of these things seem to be separate issues, but really they all boil down to a spiritual war. Trafficking of children, slavery of a race, the total annihilation of another race (who happen to be God’s chosen people) it is all a spiritual war backed by satan.

Since the Garden of Eden, satan has been trying to manipulate people into not believing God. Satan wants people to trust him and his lies. Every time people choose to stand against him, it is a battle. But we never have to fight this battle alone. GOD IS WITH US!!!

John10:10-11 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Our Shepherd will not leave us to fight off the wolf that is trying to kill and destroy us. Satan wants to steal the things that God has for us, because he is jealous that God gave us power. We can overcome him, as long as we stay plugged into our power source, who is Jesus.

When the king told the three Hebrew men that they had to bow to his statue. Who do you think was in charge of that idea? Satan doesn’t care that we bow to a statue, he doesn’t care that we idol worship a celebrity. Because he is in it for the long game. He knows if we bow to the idols of this world we are really bowing to him.

When the Hebrew men refused, the king commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace. The furnace was turned up seven times hotter than normal. Notice the enemy always turns up the intensity right before he loses.

God did not let any harm come to his children. Only what had them bound, their ropes were burned. When we pass through a fiery trial, God will use it to burn out our impurities and what has us bound. They were dancing and shouting their victory in the worst of their storm.

Satan hates it when we worship God, because we are stepping into the place God made him to be, he was in charge of worship. Above anything we can do, worship gives the enemy a black eye and connects us more closely to Jesus.

I hope you are getting what I am trying to convey to you. Things seem to be getting more intense every day. We are on the edge of our moment of decision. Will we bow or will we stand? Will we say I don’t care how hot the fire, I will not bow to satan?

Satan comes at us by slightly manipulating the truth. Until, our way of thinking believes his lie. He will tell us that God is far away. Then he turns things on us and makes us believe that we are our own worst enemy. He uses condemnation to make us feel less than and that God can never use us, because we made a mistake.

He tries to make us forget that we are children of the most high God. One who has promised to never leave us. One that has promised to fight our battles for us. Certainly, satan wants us to believe that God is far away. This will give him more time to talk to us and try to discourage us.

If we grow in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not believe his lies any longer, then he comes at us with fatigue, busyness and discouragement. He will try to make us tired and apathetic.

I want to encourage you today to stand strong. If the enemy has turned up the fire in your furnace. Be Bold and take a stand. Do not bow to whatever he has brought into your life to get you to give up. Your relationship with Jesus is more important than bowing to anything else.

Do not allow fear of what the enemy is doing to cause your faith to waiver. We will be victorious. The battle is not ours but God’s, we just have to praise him and keep marching forward. We cannot allow the enemy to turn us around.

Once we survive our fiery trial:

Daniel 3:28-30 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were promoted. Our fiery trials serve only to elevate us. We will come out on the other side with more overcoming power and a stronger witness.

They were not the only ones promoted. In the story of Daniel and the lions den. He was forbidden to pray to any god but the king. Daniel was not quiet with his prayers but opened his windows and prayed loudly to Jehovah. He was bold and brave and knew his God was the only one to answer prayers.

When he was caught the punishment was to be tossed into the lion’s den. He would be torn to shreds by a pack of hungry lions. But God had other plans. Daniel had a peaceful nights sleep. God shut the mouths of the lions. They didn’t touch Daniel.

When the king came to see if he had survived and found him alive he promoted Daniel.

Daniel 2:47-48 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret. 48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.

As we face the trials ahead, be strong in the Lord. Remember he will not leave us to fight alone. The more intense the battle the greater the victory. Once we are through the fiery furnace or lion’s den, a promotion is waiting for us.

We need to be praying today for strength to stand against what we have facing us. Ask God to go before us and fight our battles. Then all we have to do is to worship and wait for the time to pass, that we walk out of our fiery furnace or lion’s den.

Remember, the level of intensity, will determine your level of victory.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 177 BEYOND MEASURE

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: BEYOND MEASURE

When athletes are in training, the coach’s job is to push them to excel. They push them to go beyond what they think they can do. A good coach will require 110%. Teammates can help or hurt them. If the teammate is a team player, then they will want what is good for the team. They will encourage and push each other to be the best athletes they can be so the team can be the best it can be. A bad teammate can get in the way of your success. It is all about pushing for a higher level of excellence.

I want to be a good teammate to you and encourage you to follow Jesus with everything you have within you. I feel that it is my calling to encourage you to give this faith walk all you have to give.

People are not always what they appear. Some will act like they want what is best for you but are jealous of the gifts and talents that God has given. I have seen it many times. I have a friend, and I will not share the details about her situation. But needless to say, about a year ago, someone she trusted turned on her. This person was jealous of the calling God had put on my friends life. She went all about town, lying on my friend. The people who knew her didn’t believe the lies. God has recently showed up and vindicated my friend. Now the other woman has been proven to be a liar.

When the situation went down a year ago, we had prayer about it. Our group of intercessors felt like God was saying leave it alone and do not defend against the lies. It was a difficult thing for our friend to do. Because she wants people to like her. She didn’t want it to hurt her witness.

She kept pressing on doing the things God had showed her he wanted her to do. I know she probably spent many hours in prayer alone about the situation. But because she didn’t try to fix it, God stepped in and fixed it. He has a way of fixing things beyond all measure. There is no human way that my friend could have fixed things like God has done.

When we give our situations to God, then step back and let him handle them he is obligated to fight for us. Just like the story I often share about Jehosophat. He had three armies coming against him. God told him to send the worshippers out front and march to battle. When they arrived at the battlefield, the enemies had taken each other out. Jehosophat gathered the spoils of three armies. He never lifted even one sword against his enemy.

God’s love for us is beyond measure. It is hard to imagine, he was beaten beyond recognition. This is just my opinion, but I often think that if he had not been half man and half God that he would not have survived long enough to be crucified. The beating would have killed him.

What do we have that we can give God? Are we team players that only want what is best for the body of Christ? God wants us to surrender all to him. That is not an easy thing to do in some ways, while in others it is easy. We say we trust him, and in many areas of our lives we do. But we all have an area that we hold back. It is not intentional. We just haven’t learned how to surrender that little part of ourselves to him.

Surround yourself with people that are on the same team you are, ones that encourage you to surrender more of yourself to God. I wake up most days wanting to do more, walk closer and shine a light into the darkness. On the other days, I have to pray and ask God to empower me to surrender my will to His will.

Think about the vastness of the universe and how there is no way to measure it. Yet our God holds the universe in his hand. What ever we have need of, God is able to give us. Because there is nothing impossible with God.

Matt 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Jesus was talking about the rich young ruler that went away sad because Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it away. Then come and follow him. But the man loved his things and his money more that he wanted to follow Jesus.

He said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. Growing up I thought that meant a sewing needle. But in Jerusalem there is an opening in the wall that a camel has to be unburdened of their pack in order to crawl through the opening. It is called the eye of the needle.

People sometimes feel that other things are more important than their walk with God.

Learning to lean, learning to surrender all, is a process of growth until we can learn to give all we have beyond measure. I want you to search your life and ask God to help you give him all that he wants for you to surrender to him. Because his love is beyond measure.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 176 LEARNING TO TRUST

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: LEARNING TO TRUST

During the Friday night prayer meeting, I heard my friend Bonnie pray, “Oh, God, are we praying away the very storms we need?” Over the past few days, I have been thinking about the storms we need and the ones we don’t.

When God allows a storm in our life it will strengthen us and help us to grow. Some are God sent to shake us and wake us out of our slumber. He wants us to learn to trust him in a deeper way. Others are more sinister in nature, they are sent from our enemy to cause us to fall into sin, or at least into a spiritual slumber. He hopes the pounding waves will cause us to fall into fear and not trust our God.

Discernment will show us the difference. Once we know who is sending the storm, we can determine what to do about it. If it is God sent, then we pray for understanding. Learning the lesson is harder, it will tell us how to is listening to the voice of God?

Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

In order to survive the storms, we need a solid foundation. The Lord is our rock, our foundation. The core of our belief system that gives us solid footing.

A fortress is a place with walls, often towns or cities. It is strongly reinforced or fortified to make it strong against enemy attacks. It is not easily influenced by outside forces. The Lord will build a hedge around us to protect us from the attacks of our enemy.

My deliverer, God is there to remove the danger from our enemy. Things may appear to us to be dangerous and cause us to fall into fear if we are not careful. Fully trusting in God will help us to realize that he has already removed the danger from our situations. We just have to trust in him to see it play out or manifest in our lives.

My God, My strength, in whom I will Trust. God is the strength of our life. He will help us to keep going even when we do not think we can go another step.

My Buckler- A buckler is a small shield worn on the forearm. God is our shield. He will protect us from the darts of deception and the rest of the things in the enemy’s arsenal.

Horn of salvation is another reference for God. David said God was his horn of salvation, which meant he delivered him and empowered him. The ram’s horn was used for many things like calling the assembly together to hear the word of God. To sound the alarm to go to battle. They stored anointing oil in horns and would pour them out. One example would be when a prophet would anoint someone to be king. It gave that person authority to lead the people.

After breaking down just one verse we can see how God is everything we need. Storms bring darkness; Jesus is the light. Storms bring floods sometimes, but Jesus is that wall that will not allow us to be swept away by swift water.

Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.

When our enemy comes in like a flood. It seems like there is no direction to turn without being overtaken with his attack. God will raise up a standard, against him. A standard is a gauge in which everything is measured. It is what is considered the norm. I have heard that in the context of this verse that a standard is a flood wall that will be strong enough to hold back the flood and protect us. It is a measure set so that everyone knows the level that is normal and when that level is exceeded.

When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will set a gauge that says this is the limit, you can come no further. Which compares to God being our fortress. He puts up walls of protection against our enemy.

When faced with a storm, we need to remember Jesus is the one who can calm any storm. To us, in a small boat with huge crashing waves, it may appear scary. But we need to learn how to TRUST, even in the storm. We see the big scary waves; we see how things appear to us. The enemy will come along and whisper his lies. You are going to drown; your boat is going to sink. You are going to die today. But Jesus says, have faith in me, I am your standard, your protection, you will live and not die today, you will not drown or capsize. I am with you.

Prov 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

What will you say to and about your storm? The words out of your mouth will determine the outcome. Whose report are you going to believe? Will your boat be capsized in the storm, leaving you to struggle to stay afloat? Will you speak the words of Jesus and lean on him?

The power is in our mouth. Follow me for just another moment.

Matt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Jesus was speaking to the overly religious people of his day. Our mouth will speak what is within our hearts. We have to learn to trust God in our hearts in order to speak trust, love, peace, joy or speak in defiance of the enemy. Getting God’s word within our hearts will give us the strength to withstand the storms of life.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Just reach out today and thank him for his peace. Hold on to his hand, and he will pull you out of the darkest storms. Worship, can roll away a lot of storm clouds and help us to see S-O-N shine. Once our storm clouds roll away, we can take our light and be a light in someone else’s storms.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 175 DARKNESS TO LIGHT

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: DARKNESS TO LIGHT

I was thinking about how I got where I am today. I can trace my faith walk, my being an author and encourager to one time in my life. I have told you before that I walked through a rough time with depression in my late twenties. I was bound by fear, anxiety and depression.

I hated my life and at one point,D was listening to satan’s lies about everything. He even convinced me that everyone in my life would be better off without me. I seriously contemplated suicide. I am thankful for my praying family.

Lessons to take away from my dark time in the pit of despair.

If you have lost family that are bound by anything that is dragging them down, any form of sin or depression, don’t give up. Have faith and keep praying.

If I had not walked through that experience I would have never written my first book, let alone nine and several bible studies. I would not have this channel that encourages others to focus on God. I would not have been able to step in and prevent a woman from suicide. I would not have been able to encourage others to keep climbing out of their pit of despair.

If I had it to live through again, I would because that time has become my motivation. When something seems tough or hard to see my way through, now I pray. I tell myself I got through that depression; I can get through anything.

Our lives are like a tapestry. Every thread is intricately woven in a pattern. If we unravel even one thread, the picture changes. This is why God does not allow us to go back in time and “correct” our mistakes. Because he has our lives planned out. He can use our mistakes to turn us into people he can use for his glory.

Sometimes, it takes a storm to know you need Jesus. The darkness tells us it is time to find our peace in the only one that can give us peace. It is in those dark times that we learn to pray.

When we are walking through a dark time, we have to stay focused on the light. It doesn’t matter how small it seems. God is light and he is big enough to see us through any storm.

I have watched my grandparents walk through hard things in life, my parents and my in laws, I know that God has sustained them through the fiery trials.

I Pet. 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

This verse means we are called out of darkness of sin, into his marvellous light of salvation. When I was in the pit of depression I was walking in sin. I am not saying that all bouts of depression stems from sin. But unless it is an actual chemical imbalance in the brain, caused by Serotonin levels being off, then it is probably an attack of our enemy satan.

If the joy of the Lord is our strength, it stands to reason that the enemy would want to rob us of joy. In doing so he can weaken us. One of his tools is to get us to keep repeating over and over again how blue and depressed we are, then we change our focus. We take our focus off of God and become obsessed with our depression.

I will remind you again and again, because I am always reminding myself. The things we focus on become bigger to us. The more I focused on how depressed I was the worse I felt. The deeper I dug the pit.

This is why I always close with Keep your God Focus. As long as we focus on him, we will not lose our joy, strength or our peace. I pray that you are enjoying my channel. I say mine but it actually belongs to the Lord. I have told him to do with it as he wants. I keep getting people that want to help me grow my channel. But I feel like God will grow it in his time. If it never gets any more views, then that is fine too. Because I do this for him, and it will reach who he needs to see it.

If you enjoy my videos, hit the thumbs up, it will help push it out there for others to find. Feel free to share if a particular video encourages you. It is all about encouraging people to walk as close as possible to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is coming soon.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 174 — GRACE AND ACTS OF FAITH

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GRACE OR ACTS OF FAITH

Today, I want to talk to you about God’s grace. There is much debate among those who say they are Christians about what grace means. The definition of grace means the unmerited favor of God. Which means that there is nothing we can do to earn his grace, he gave it to us out of his love for us.

Many will quote scriptures and say that your works will not save you. Although salvation doesn’t come by works. We need to define works in comparison to acts of faith. If we feed the poor as we are commanded, then we are acting in faith. No amount of feeding the poor will save our souls, but if we are truly Christians, then feeding the poor is an act of our faith, not a work.

Attending church will not save you. You could be at every church service and die lost, if you are looking at it as your duty and not an outward showing of the faith in God that you have inside. Our faith will cause us to have works of our faith. But we do not earn grace, salvation or anything else by the works we do.

Heb 11:6-7 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Noah found grace or favor with God. But his favor would not have saved him. He had to be obedient or act on his faith. Everyone has God’s grace when it comes to salvation. He died for us all. But if we do not accept that grace and are not obedient to his word, we will never be saved. Just like Noah had a plan of salvation, the blueprint for the boat. If he had not built the ark, he would have perished along with all the rest. The word of God tells us what to do to be saved. Following that is not works but faith unto salvation.

James 2:14-16 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

I guess it boils down to why we have works. If you are doing “Christian” things thinking God is adding it up to see if you are good enough then that is the wrong attitude about works. There are not enough things that we can do to bypass the blood of Christ and earn our salvation. Why would we try to earn it when it is already a gift to us.

But we will not have living faith without works. Our light will not shine without works. But they must be carried out with the right attitude. If we do things just to be seen or gain favor with man, then we have our reward. But if we do them because it is the right thing to do, then it will be a light.

Matt 6:3-4 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

God sees the intents of our hearts. He knows our plans, our motivation and our thoughts. He knows when we do things to be seen of man like the Pharisees. He knows when we do things because of the love he has put within us to be a light.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 173–GOD SINGS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: Hello my friends

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

Zep 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Reading this verse always gives me a picture of a loving father looking down on a sleeping child in a crib. He hums as he stands staring at the amazing creation God has entrusted him with to protect and care for. The child is sound asleep, not a care in the world. They trust that their father will be able to take care of them. They do not wring their hands in worry or doubt. They do not worry about their next meal or if they have shelter. There is no fear of what tomorrow will bring. They feel at peace because their father watches over them.

God wants to bring us comfort and peace. He finds great joy in us, his children. He will bring us peaceful sleep if we turn our cares over to him.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. He is so worthy of our praise. I am so thankful that he never gives up on me but is merciful toward me and you. As we sleep, he watches over us as a parent would their child.

He is one we can depend on and trust. Friends may let you down. Family may let you down, but Jesus never fails. Take time today to thank him for his renewed compassion, mercy and his great faithfulness.

Prov 3:21-24 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

These verses seem almost impossible to walk out. It says we will not stumble. It says we will have sweet sleep. If I were to ask when was the last time you walked though a day without stumbling. That would let me know if you were walking in God’s wisdom.

If you are awake at night, that can be all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, God has us awake to battle the enemy in prayer. But when we sleep, we will have peaceful rest, just like that baby in the crib. When they are asleep, they almost glow with peace. That is because nothing is troubling them; they are at peace.

If we keep wisdom and discretion, they will strengthen our faith walk. We will walk and not stumble. When we lie down to sleep, we will not be afraid.

Psalm 3:5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.

Every day we wake up is a blessing and an opportunity. Everyone has nights that they just can’t turn off their thoughts. Things in this life can weigh on the mind. As children of God, we are not immune to a sleepless night now and then. But if we can turn our cares over to him in prayer, he will cause us to have peaceful sleep.

He wants to bring us comfort and peace. He finds great joy in us, his children. This is why he sings over us, because he delights in us.

Prov 3:11-13 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: 12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. 13 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

A good parent will correct their children when they step out of line. The Lord will correct us when we are disobedient. We need his correction to make sure our path stays straight. It is for our own good. His word tells us to avoid sin, not because it is terrible, but because it will kill us spiritually. He knows what is best for us. He understands how sin can destroy. We can only see the shiny picture that satan paints. But God knows the consequences of our sin.

The next time you lay down to sleep, look up and thank God for watching and singing over you. Remember how important you are to him that he would so lovingly care for you, that he watches over you while you sleep in peace.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 172 — SUNSHINE

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: “Sunshine”

One beautiful Spring Day I was sitting outside. I was thanking God for the warm bright sunshine. It had rained for several days prior to this bright day. I started thinking about the sun. It is always there, even in the darkest night. We don’t see it at night, it is on the other side of the world. But it is right where we left it.

Sometimes during the daylight, we cannot see it for storm clouds. But the sun is always there. If the sun were to burn out and not exist any longer, the Earth would freeze. Even when we cannot see or feel the brightness of the sun, it gives us warmth.

We know that God exists because everything has precision. If the sun was any further aways from earth, we would freeze. If it was closer, we would burn up. We have just the right amount of distance. But with Jesus, we cannot get too close, the fire he give us, we will not consume us.

Jesus is our spiritual sun (son of God). This son shines brightly and gives us warmth and spiritual light. During the storms of life, even when dark clouds hover, He is always there. He is a small ray of hope shining out from behind the darkest clouds.

Take the time today to notice the sun, then thank the SON for his love and warmth. Remember he is always there for us, day or night, in happy times or sad. Look to Jesus, he will brighten your day, even in the midst of the darkest hour.

When you find yourself in the middle of a storm, look to the son he will brighten your day. There is nothing that we face today that God cannot handle.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus has his pen, and he is writing out our story. He has each day planned for us, as long as we follow his plan it will all work out for our good.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Thank God for another day, enjoy the sunshine and rain, because it takes both to make the flowers grow. It takes joy and sorrow to make our lives blossom into what they need to be.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

The Lord is a sun and shield, in other words David is saying, God is our light and our protection. He will not keep any good things from his children that walk in his way.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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