Tag: #beboldbebraveandkeepyourgodfocus

EPISODE 120–IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE OF TODAY’S EPISODE IS, “IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY”

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.

Jesus said there would be days like this; there will days when nothing seems to go right. Some days it seems like the whole world is coming down around your ears. There will be times that it seems like you are alone in the world. There are two ways to react to adversity. That would be with or without faith.

In the face of adversity one without faith is prone to panic. This is because without Jesus one must rely on one’s own powers to overcome. This often leads to lies and deception in order to manipulate those involved. Bullying is another popular tactic. Or they will offer some lavish reward for giving in. The big problem there is that a person often does not have the lavish reward or that once its given, you find out that reward is a white elephant.

The Devil promised Adam and Eve that their eyes would be opened. What Adam and Eve understood was that they had betrayed God and therefore could expect sorrow and shame.

You see in the face of the adversary himself, Adam and Eve reacted without faith. They trusted Satan’s tale that God did not have their best interest at heart when he denied them the Tree of Knowledge. As a result, we live in a cursed and broken world where bad things happen.

Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So, It will be that way until Jesus returns and makes all things new. We can expect floods, hurricanes, sickness and any other trouble that comes. That’s just the way things are. I also think that we give too much credit to Satan, as though he could create a storm that brings a flood, that spreads disease and so on. I know that some issues are a result of a spiritual battle. I also know that Satan would like to take credit for having as much power and glory as we will give him.

To react with faith is a little more work. Reacting with faith means that we believe Jesus will help us. When the storm comes, we seek shelter, (in the Rock of salvation.). When the flood waters rise we reach out for Jesus. Faith is an action word. We must be dynamic in our reaction with faith. With faith we find the way to use what resources that have been given us by God. In fact, if we believe God we will expect resources to be provided. As he promised, no matter what the circumstances.

Psa 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Psa 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psa 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Jesus leaves nothing to chance. He is with us consistently.

Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matt 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Matt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

With those kinds of promises it should be easy to react with faith. With faith we can rise above the floodwaters. You may not have that kind of faith that walks on the water but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have. The same God that walked with Adam, went with David into battle and walked with Moses lives inside (us) the believer!

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

With Faith we can avoid the snares of the enemy.

1Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common toman: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Ultimately, reacting with faith is believing Gods promises and looking for the next step. Then actually taking that step while trusting God with the outcome. He is able to keep us, if we mess up.

Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

We need to have faith during the times of trial. In the face of adversity we can have confidence, because Jesus holds us in the hollow of his hand.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

What have we to fear? What would hinder our faith? Reacting to any situation with fear is contrary to our promises. We don’t rely on the things of this world to see us through. We don’t need to because we have Jesus.

The next time we find ourselves facing adversity, we need to remember to look to Jesus. He will be there waiting to meet us in our faith.

Until Next Time,

Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep Your God Focus

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EPISODE 118 — SEARCHING THE HEART

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v520zyx-god-focus-this-morning-episode-118-searching-the-heart.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: SEARCHING THE HEART

King David’s writing is my go-to for encouragement. The Psalms are full of his humanity and humility. He was not perfect; he made a lot of mistakes like we all do. But what he lacked in making good decisions he made up for in heart. He had a heart of worship.

Some believe your works will save you and they go about doing good. They work in soup kitchens and raise money for homeless shelters. It is nice to do all sorts of things like this, some are called to that work by God. Others are called to work in nursing homes to take care of our elders. But no good deed will save you.

We have access to God’s spirit and rebirth only through and by the blood of Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that once we are born again that we can sit down and do nothing until Jesus comes. He will lead us to our calling. We are created for a purpose; we must walk in our purpose. We are all supposed to go out and lead the lost to Christ.

Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

David asked God to search his heart. This is something we need to do from time to time. Because things happen over time that we hang on to and don’t even realize it. We can develop envy, jealousy, hurt feelings or offense and bitterness. Often, we do not even realize that we are holding onto offense.

All of these things can get in the way of us being fully effective in our callings. It is good to take inventory from time to time and ask God to search our hearts. Tell him to expose any root of bitterness, hate, jealousy. The Proverbs are full of what happens when we are not wise in our faith walk.

Heb 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

One example of the root of bitterness is the story of Cain and Abel. If Cain had not let bitterness take root in him. Then it would not have festered and turned into hate and then to murder of his own brother.

Cain had several opportunities to turn from his bitterness. God wanted Cain to surrender to him. Cain believed that God loved Abel more, because he accepted his offering. God loved Cain as much as he did Abel. He blessed Abel for his faithfulness. He would have blessed Cain too if he had surrendered to God. But instead, he held onto offense until it became bitterness. Many carry things for a long time until they don’t even realize they are jealous, envious, bitter or are carrying hate. Sometimes we carry the heaviness so long it becomes a part of us.

This is why we have to look diligently and search our lives to make sure we are not carrying things we were not designed to carry. Think of it this way. The maximum capacity of weight you can carry is one hundred pounds. If you are carrying forty pounds of bitterness and thirty pounds of jealousy you only have thirty pounds of capacity left to carry everything else, joy, responsibilities of everyday life, your family obligations and last but not least your calling of God. If we can get rid of the bitterness and jealousy, that leaves more room to carry the good things.

There are things that God wishes to give us, but our hands are not open to receive. Our hands are full of all these things we need to release. Many need to release man’s religion to make room for God’s plan and relationship. We need to ask God to empty our lives of anything that is not pleasing to Him. So he can fill us up to capacity with his love and light.

Sickness can be caused by lots of things. Sometimes, however, it is caused by the physical manifestation of what is inside; our pain and bitterness. These emotions can be powerful and will make us sick if we cannot learn to let go.

Bitterness ties us to a situation like being unforgiving keeps us chained to a situation. Being bitter and angry can have long term effects on our health. When God tells us to put away bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, it is for our good.

This is where we have to ask God to give us the strength and power to lay down what is potentially harming us. I often pray “Empty me of me and fill me with more of you.” As we walk in the fruit of the spirit and not in our flesh we will find true freedom. If we can learn to search our hearts.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 117 — THE PEACE OF GOD

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Hello my friends

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

Peace can be described as the absence of fear, anxiety and depression. Only in Him can we find true peace. Just turn on the evening news; there is plenty of news to cause anxiety. But God’s children can have peace even in the middle of the worst conditions. Things in this world can cause all sorts of fear and anxiety. We are facing scary times, but we can still have peace. God will give us peace if we allow him to work. There are times that God wants us to just stand still, in the quiet of the moment and trust. Being born again or filled with His spirit gives us the peace that passes all understanding.

Many feel like they can only find peace in a quiet place such as camping neat a quiet mountain streams. I love walking the beach early in the mornings while the sun is just starting to put a soft glow on everything. There are only a few people out that time of day and all is quiet except the waves gently rolling in and out. I love to talk to God and let his peace wash over me. I feel like God is surrounding me like a big soft comforting blanket. The feeling I get praying on the beach, in the early morning, reminds me of the verse in Philippians. It says a peace that passes understanding. For me I feel like I can connect to God quicker at the beach. But God is everywhere and peace is not a place as much as it is a state of being. Even in the middle of chaos we can have peace.

Paul and Silas had every reason to be anxious. They were in prison, not sure of the outcome. They decided to praise the Lord. They sang songs and prayed. God caused an earthquake and set them free. Now they could have run away, but they chose to help someone else instead. That is what Christians do. Help others, even when you need help yourself. Why? Because they had peace and security in Christ.

Phil 4:6-7 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

What does it say keeps our hearts and minds? God’s peace. When we are in a place to have God’s peace we do not have fear, anxiety or depression. It says we can have his peace by not allowing our circumstance wash over us and cause anxiety. With prayer and worship we are to make our requests known.

We can have peace even when everything is falling apart around us. I hope this encourages you to seek God’s peace. Look to him when trials and troubles come your way. He is there to listen and give you the peace which truly is beyond our understanding.

Today is flag day, and I am reminded that the reason we have peace in our country is because so many have died for our country. So happy flag day to all the active military and veterans. Thank you for all you have done for the cause of freedom.

Thanks for watching,

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BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

EPISODE 116 — I SURRENDER ALL

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: I SURRENDER ALL

There is much to be said about the lyrics of old hymns. These words were inspired by God and peoples relationship with Him. We sing, “I surrender all.” My question is do we really surrender all or are we holding back. This song was written by a man in the late 1800’s. His name was Judson Van DeVenter. He had a passion for art and a passion for God. He was called to preach and wrestled with what to do. One night he came to the conclusion that he had to leave the art world behind and preach the gospel. He wrote the lyrics to “I surrender all.”

This old song and many others have been sang among congregations for years. But do we actually listen to the words. “I surrender all” other phrases like “all to him I freely give”. What are we surrendering? What are we giving him? Are we singing words or do we mean them? Do we fully surrender to Him?

I think at times we do fully surrender. But then over time we take back pieces of ourselves from God. It is a daily decision to do the right thing. It is a daily surrender.

Luke 9: 23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

If we surrender to the will of God each morning and ask for his leading our day will turn out differently than if we get up and allow our flesh to dictate our day. We are sacrificing our fleshly desires for the cause of Christ. That doesn’t necessarily mean sin. Maybe we really want to sleep instead of going to church. Maybe we want to watch Netflix instead of reading our Bible. But we crucify those things and do what will strengthen our spirit man. It will make us more useful to encourage someone else.

For example, what if a friend needs a word of encouragement but by skipping that reading for a clean movie you don’t have the right words.

Other song titles come to mind like Amazing Grace. We know that his grace is beyond anything that we could imagine. Therefore his grace that he gives is amazing.

Many come from the scriptures. Like “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.” It reminds us that God will take care of us. He takes care of the small sparrow, how much more should we trust Him to take care of us.

At Calvary, teaches us to not make light of the great gift of the cross. His mercy was given freely to us. We found freedom at Calvary.

Because He Lives we can face tomorrow. If he had not risen, we would have no hope. Because of the work of the cross we do not have a reason to fear.

We all know that it takes prayer and communication with God to stay on the right path. But how many of us look at prayer like the song, “Sweet Hour Of Prayer”. How many even pray for an hour anymore? I have been guilty of drive by prayers. Those are the ones we say to God in passing. The emergency room prayers, we pray only when there is a desperate need. God wants us to sit in his presence and listen for his voice as well as make known our requests.

In His presence is where we find the strength to face each day. I Surrender All, because of his Amazing Grace. I know that His Eye Is On The Sparrow because of what was done At Calvary. We have Blessed Assurance that Jesus is our Lord.

When life throws us hard things and it seems like everything is crumbling to the ground we can call on Jesus. We know he is greater than the hard things we face. It seems like trouble always comes in bunches. I don’t know if that is true or if we are more sensitive to the things going on because of the stress of the biggest problem.

Jesus has the answer, but it seems like he is not going to share the answer at times. We have to remember he is the master of perfect timing. Think about all the pieces he has to move to make your miracle happen. Sometimes it takes time for all the pieces to fall into place.

He will work it all out in his time. It is our job to surrender all to him. Lord, I surrender this issue to you. Lord, I surrender my will to you. Lord, I surrender my fear of how things will work out. (That is a Big One). We give God something, then we turn around and worry about it. Let me remind you, worry is not faith.

But His mercy is new every day. He anxiously waits for us to wake and talk with him. He wants our fellowship. He is our faithful friend and will not allow the enemy to overtake us. As long as we stand and do not wave the white flag of surrender to the enemy. They only way satan wins is for us to give up. If we stand strong and resist the devil he will have to flee.

We cannot be fully surrendered to God if we are walking by our flesh. It is when we get into our human nature that we get into trouble. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves listening to the whispering of the enemy. This is why it is important to surrender fully to Christ Jesus.

I choose today to serve Jesus and follow him. Every day is a new day, a clean slate to start fresh. If we messed up yesterday, we ask for his awesome forgiveness and press on today.

Heb12:2 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.

Thinking about the work of the cross and what a price Jesus paid for each of us. We should all be saying with conviction and purpose, “I Surrender All To You Jesus.”

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 115 – GOD IS NOT SQUARE

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v5126z7-god-focus-this-morning-episode-115-god-is-not-square.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: GOD IS NOT SQUARE

God is not square or rectangular, therefore he will not fit into a box. God is so big that he can hold the universe in his hand. But he is so small that he can fit inside the smallest heart. But he is not square.

Slang in the 1970’s the word square was used to mean not cool, boring, conventional. Not up with modern times.

Those who would say that God or serving God is not cool are not doing it right. It is exciting to serve God, every day is an adventure. Christians that are yielded to Christ never know what miracle He may work through them that day. God is bigger than any box we could put him into, but religion tries.

Religion says, God only works one way. Religion says there are no more miracles. It says that you cannot go out and witness unless you go through “our program” to learn how. Religion has divided God’s people.

Jesus came to set people free from religion. The Jews had religion, but they didn’t have freedom to enjoy life and really know the heart of God. We have that opportunity because of Christ. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion, he came to start a relationship with mankind.

From the time Adam sinned God had few that he had a real relationship with, most went by man’s ideas of God. He had such love for us, he desired for us to know him, that he came and died for us. All so we would know his heart for mankind.

The body of Christ needs religion broken off of it. Religion says, there are no more prophets. I am here to tell you that there are prophets today. But not everyone that says they are a prophet of God is the real deal. As a matter of fact, many more that claim to be prophets are not true prophets.

How do we know the difference? The word of God says that the Holy Ghost will lead and guide you into all truth. Our Spirit will bear witness to what they are saying. It will always line up with the word of God; Always, no exception.

But people fear the deep things of God. Therefore, religion says God doesn’t talk to people like that today. But then will turn around and say that God told them to go pray for someone. They will say God laid something on their heart to do or say, but cannot stretch their minds to accept that God still has people that operate in the office of the prophet.

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

These are offices in which the ministry works. There are still apostles today. They have a special task of planting churches. They are the ones God uses to unite his body.

The Prophets hear from God. They discern the heart of God and hear what he is saying to His Body as a whole. We willing accept the prophecy in the written word. Why would we not accept prophecy from God through a prophet of God? As long as it lines up with the word of God.

We accept that there are evangelist today. These are ministers that are used by God to travel between the churches to be an encouragement, to preach salvation and help bring unity to the body. They can preach the word without apprehension because they do not know people in the congregation as personally as the pastor.

Evangelist most of the time do not hold positions of pastor. They can be pastors short term. A pastor is one that is set over a congregation to be there to help the people to walk closer to God. He is there encourager, their friend, their guide. He is there to warn them if they are making a wrong choice. A pastor is one that feeds the flock and guides them toward Christ.

Then there is the office of teacher. Some ministers are called to dig into the deep things of God. They want to know the little gems hidden in the word of God. They take these revelations and share them with the saint of God. This is so all can come to a deeper knowledge of God.

Eph 4:12-13 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 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:

Why did God set the five offices of ministry into the church? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry and to edify or build up the body of Christ. So we can come into unity of faith and understanding of the Son of God. These different ministries work together as a full ministry to create a strong body that has the fulness of Christ.

I know that some of you will not agree with me. All I ask is that you pray about it. God is trying to break religion of man off of his body. If you have the Holy Ghost allow him to lead you into the fullness of God.

I was raised in a denomination that there were miracles, signs and wonders. But not any denomination is completely right. I have had to break free from a lot of religion myself. I pray every day for God to empty me of me and man’s ideas of him and fill me with only what he wants me to know about Him.

I believe that God is getting ready to start showing up in these miracle ways again. I don’t want people to be too afraid of the move of God that they miss him. My greatest fear is that many people will be too religious to see God. They will be like the Pharisees and not know Jesus, because he doesn’t fit into their religious box.

When people would ask me why I didn’t do certain things I used to tell them it was against my religion. (Shame on me). Now I say it is against the word of God and I try to walk according to the word. I no longer want anything to do with religion, but I do desire a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

Religion is the worship of a deity. Many worship false gods and gold statues. But many Christians are not fully following the Real Jesus. They are only following an idea of who he is, one that has been filtered through the lens of religion. Mans ideas and traditions of who he is and not the full picture of the one who loves us so much that he died to have a relationship with us.

I want to end with a prayer today: Dear Lord Jesus, I pray you break the bondage of religion. Bring unity to your body. Help us all to not be so stuck in religion that we miss you. Help us to draw closer to you and really truly know you. Help us to share your heart for the lost and the broken. Help us be the body and not a group of people that say we are the body. Help us to not to try to put you in a box of religion.

Thanks for watching,

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 114 –JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v50urg6-god-focus-this-morning-episode-114-judgment-begins-at-the-house-of-god.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: “JUDGMENT BEGINS AT THE HOUSE OF GOD ”

I am going to talk to you today about wheat and chaff and wheat and tares. The chaff are people who enjoy the rituals of having faith. They look at church like a social club and not a place to gather and learn of God. They go through the motions but are not fruitful. They never grow fruit. They are an empty shell. The wheat farmers used to toss wheat into the air and the wind would blow away the chaff or husk.

Wheat represents those that have produced full fruit. It is that fruit that is harvested. The rest is thrown away. As we grow in wisdom and knowledge of God’s will and plan, we too become full of fruit. It is a good thing to be growing in the will of God. If you don’t grow, you become stagnate and empty. A husk without fruit.

Then they came to the threshing floor, in ancient times, there was not machinery to separate the wheat fruit from the rest of the plant that had grown. The wheat was extracted from the rest of the plant by beating it on a hard surface that was flat. This was known as the threshing floor. Sometimes they would have oxen pull carts across the wheat to separate the fruit from the chaff.

The threshing floor symbolizes judgment in both the old and new testaments. The prophet Hosea prophesied that God’s judgment would be on Israel because they went after false idols. Hosea said that God’s judgment would scatter them in the wind like the chaff is scattered on the threshing floor.

We all go through persecutions, troubles and trials. God allows each one to make us stronger. He protects us from a lot of stuff we do not even know about, but the things he allows in our lives is to make us more fruitful or spiritual.

We are in fast changing times, God is allowing things to happen that will separate the wheat and the tares. Only the ones with fruit will be left standing. Only those with fruit will be able to be a light and hope to the lost.

I Peter 4:16-19 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. 17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

We will not be able to bring in a large harvest as long as we are a divided body. There is a harvest that needs us to be who we were created to be by God. Notice verse 17 For the time is come that the judgment must begin at the house of God. He is weary with the preachers that have the fake smile and are only out for their gain. They tell people lies and half truths, because people want a feel good message.

Do we remember the crucifixion? It was not pretty. It was horrible. Jesus didn’t die to give us an ear tickling message every week. Those messages do not transform lives they are like a pacifier. It gives people a sense of comfort, but there is no food to live on and their soul dies a little more every week.

This is not fruitful. The first chapter of the Psalms is all about being fruitful. As we grow in our faith walk, we will produce fruit. Verse Three says we will be like a tree planted by the water and will bring forth fruit in his season. As we bring forth fruit, whatsoever we do will prosper. Verse Four is the opposite of verse three. Verse four is all about how the ungodly are like chaff which is blown away in the wind. We want to be the fruit and not the chaff.

*******

Another way to look at the church as compared to wheat is when the bible discusses the wheat and tares.

God says let them grow together. In the early stages of the wheat, it doesn’t look much different than the tares. God warned that we may pull up wheat by mistake, but to let them grow together and He will separate them. The tares looks like young wheat that has not produced buds yet.

We are not to judge anyone. We will see soon enough if God’s fruit is produced in their lives. If they have the endurance to fight adversity and trials sent by the enemy. Troubles have a way of separating the wheat from the tares. Many that say they are wheat will turn from God at the first sign on trouble.

Matt 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Enemy comes in our churches often as false teachers and preachers and tries to deceive God’s children. This is why it is important to have God’s word in our hearts. So we will not be deceived. Tares will sow discord and cause trouble.

Matt 13:24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

This is Jesus’ way of saying. We need to plant good seed. Then when the tares appear we are to leave them alone and pray for the ultimate judge to take care of the situation. In the end, they will be tossed into hell. The wheat will be gathered into the storehouse.

This is why we are to produce spiritual fruit. It is the easiest way for harvesters to tell the difference between wheat and tares. Remember that judgment is coming to the house of God. It is my prayer that we all produce fruit and walk in God’s love.

It is not God’s will that any perish, but they will have to yield unto God or be left behind.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 113–GET UP AND STAND

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The title of today’s episode is: Get Up And Stand

It is not a shame to fall. Everyone has fallen and many will fall again. The enemy is always roaming seeking someone to trip. We only lose when we allow him to win. If you find that you have fallen, Jesus is there to pick you up. He will not leave you there, face first in the dirt. Unless you choose to stay there.

Prov 24:16-18 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. 17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 18 Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

This doesn’t mean you have seven mistakes and on the eighth one God says “Sorry, I have already picked you up seven times.” Seven in the word of God means completeness. A just man always rises when he falls. The wicked will not always get back up.

We are not to be happy when we see someone else fall. It makes the Lord unhappy, because it means we are not walking in compassion and love. We are supposed to forgive our enemies. If we truly forgive them, we will have a heart of compassion toward our enemies. This requires the training of a runner. We have to condition ourselves to let go of offense. It takes a lot of practice and endurance.

Think about the track and field events. Runners train for a long time to be able to run their race. It is always hard to watch a runner fall. But the crowd will clap and be happy when they see that person get back up. It is an even bigger thrill when they start running again.

Another thing that makes for good drama on a movie is when the person that has trained and trained for the big race falls down close to the finish line. Another person comes and helps them up and they cross the finish line together.

That is what we are supposed to do if we see a brother or sister fall. We are to try to help them back up. It is important to finish the race. It is equally important to help others finish their race.

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

We sometimes carry things that weigh us down. We do not even realize that we are carrying them, because we have pressed on with the weight as a part of our daily walk. The enemy wants to give us things that weigh us down. He likes to pile on hurt, offense, physical pain, sickness, false ideas about how God works. Satan even creates false religious ideas about Christ.

Many of the churches across the world need religion broken off of them. Far too long each group holds onto their ideas. Not God’s ideas, but man’s ideas. That is a major weight. We can set aside religion for a relationship. Jesus is waiting for us to draw close to him. He wants us to get rid of the distractions of this life, even our religion.

He is waiting to give us joy and connection to him and all he has for us if we can set aside our religious hangup. It is all about our relationship. No one else can help us with our relationship but Jesus. We have to spend time with Him if we want to strengthen our relationship. Set aside distractions and weights and spend alone time with Jesus.

It is time we get up and stand still with our hands lifted in heaven. God is near when we worship. The enemy wants us to fall and stay there. Jesus has other plans, he is there to lift us up.

First, we have to set aside every weight and sin. Then once we have laid down our weight and sin, we have to run the race that is set before us. What does “set before us” mean? It is whatever we have facing us today. Each day brings things we cannot control. But we can control how we react to them. We can lean on Jesus and ask how He wants us to move forward. He will empower us to run the race that is set before us.

In order to finish this race, we do not have to have it all figured out. We just have to have faith that Jesus is running with us. He will pick us up when we fall if we let him. Nothing will be impossible as long as we trust.

Many places in the word, God told his people to stand. There are times, when we need to wait for God to move. We cannot take the next step until God opens the door. Then we have to take the next step only when he opens the door. Until the door opens we are to stand on the promise that God knows what is best.

Look at the children of Israel. They stood by the Red Sea not knowing which way to go. God told them stand still and see his salvation. He parted the Red Sea and they could not even imagine what would happen just five seconds earlier. God made a way where there was no way. We are no different from them, He will make a way where there seems to be no way. Sometimes we have to stand on his promise that he has got us.

If we fall, we have to get up. If we come to a door or a place that we cannot move any further, we are to stand still and wait on God which is not easy. He has never let us down and doesn’t have any plans to start now. He wants us to finish our race so we can make heaven our home.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 112 — SPIRITUAL GARMENTS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: SPIRITUAL GARMENTS

Today I want to talk to you about our spiritual garments.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

I want you to take a mental trip to your closet or dresser drawer. Wherever you keep it, you have that old T-shirt or some other article of clothing that should have been discarded long ago. Something that just fits right or feels good when you put it on. It is comfortable.

We all have one or more pieces of clothing that we do not need. Why do we still cling to them? We can’t put our robes of righteousness over top of worn-out rags. We need to get rid of the old rags. I wonder why we cling to the filthy rags of the past. Is it because we are comfortable in the role? Have we gotten used to all of our baggage? Some would say that they hold onto their rags because they don’t want to embarrass God. Don’t we think God is embarrassed to see his children spiritually dressed as though he cares nothing for them? We need to put on the robe Jesus bought and paid for with his own blood.

Col 3:8-10 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

When we are saved we put off the old man and put on the new. Some have a hard time letting go of the old man, because they are used to being a certain way. The enemy will try to remind us at every turn about all the wrong we have done. He will try to entice us to put on that comfy old sweater of sin just one more time.

We have to be strong and close the door to the past. If we throw away the old clothes there will be nothing left for us to wear but our new ones.

The word tells us to put on certain things.

Col 3:12-14 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Notice some of the things we are told to put on happens to be fruit of the Spirit. Things like longsuffering and kindness. If we put on the garments that God gives us, we will not want to cling to our filthy rags.

Eph 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Do not allow others to be the ones to choose what you wear. Only you know who you are and who’s you are, a child of God. He has given us new clothes. It is our choice if we wear them or not.

At times in our faith walk, we get down. Things can press in from all sides causing us to have a spirit of heaviness or depression. This is a place the enemy wants us to stay. We cannot be effective if we are down and depressed.

Worship can lift us above the heaviness, if we change our focus from our problems to our God. If we enter his presence with worship and praise he will lift us out of our depression.

Isaiah 61:3 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.

Put on the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness. We are told to put on the whole armor of God in the book of Ephesians. Which gives us the tools we need to be warriors in the army of the Lord.

But all of this can be summed up by getting rid of the old garments and putting on the new one, the garments that come from knowing Jesus. We are to put on Christ.

Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

What garment are you wearing?

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 111- BECOMING SONS OF GOD

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HELLO WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: BECOMING SONS OF GOD

How do we know we are the sons of God?

Romans 8:14-17 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We often say we are filled with the Spirit of God. But do we listen to the leading of the Holy Ghost. The word says the Holy Ghost will lead us into all truth and righteousness. How can we be led by the Spirit? 1) Seek guidance daily through prayer. 2) Ask God to fill us with his Spirit or renew his Spirit within us. 3) Reading and studying the Word of God to understand God’s will. These things will help us to obey God’s command. Then we can walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of our flesh.

We have freedom from satan’s bondage. We don’t have to be afraid of that bondage any longer. Jesus has set us free. If we are all led by the Spirit, we are the sons of God. If we are walking as the sons of God, why are there so many denominations? God would not lead you one way and me another. There is One God, and he has One Way.

Who is missing the mark? This is not an endorsement for any denomination. All have their issues and flaws. All are partially right, but none are fully right. I will not start explaining all that is wrong. This is about our desperate need to be led by the Spirit of God that is within us. If we do not walk in the Spirit, we cannot win the lost. We cannot become the unified Bride of Christ.

Witchcraft, Idol Worship, Devil Worship, New Age Spiritualism is on the rise because people are sick of church and church people. They are tired of the lip service; they want to see the love of God. They deeply desire a connection. When they suffer church hurt, they run to these false religions and evil spirits. They need to feel empowered and have some connection to a power bigger than themselves. In the absence of true connection to the real God, they are left with counterfeit spirituality.

God always creates things and the enemy tries to counterfeit what God created. The counterfeit is never worth what the original is worth. Take a dollar bill, the original dollar bill is worth 100 pennies. A counterfeit dollar bill is not worth anything, unless you can find someone that thinks it is the real thing.

Some religions are cults that brainwash people into thinking they belong. They prey on the weak and hurting. Until they are so confused that they don’t know what is right. They put their trust in a guru or man that calls himself a leader. Others are so concerned about “the church” that they put the needs of “the church” above their own. If they do not comply with “the church” they are shunned and treated as an outcast. I ask, is this love? Nowhere does the word of God say that the church bylaws are more important than the word of God. Man can put anything in their bylaws.

We would be the first to condemn behavior of publicly shaming a member of the congregation, not for a sin, but just bullying them because they can. Telling them because they are pastor that they control every aspect of their lives. This sound a lot like a cult, but it happens in some Christian churches. I ask is that God’s love? Are they being led by God?

On the other hand there is an opposite extreme. I am not saying we need to be like some that have watered down the gospel until there is barely a nugget of truth left, under the guise of acceptance. We are to love people and not their sin. But we will never win the lost with a condemning spirit or judgmental attitude. Are they being led by the Spirit? My bible says we should not judge others for their sin. We are to show them the love of God and help them turn from their sin. However, we need to be bold about what is sin.

I John 3:1-3 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

The world didn’t know who Jesus was and they will not accept us either. We will be like him because we will see him and understand who he is. We will purify ourselves and walk as holy as we can, because we want to be led by the Spirit.

John 1:1-12 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Jesus came to the Jewish people, and they didn’t accept him as the Messiah. A few believed and he gave them the power, through his Spirit to become the sons of God. It is our responsibility to reach the lost people of this world.

This is why we walk by faith or our belief in Jesus Christ. We do not walk by how things look. As we walk by faith, we will let the world see that we are the sons of God. Because we are led by His Spirit.

Until Next Time,

Be Bold, Be Brave and Keep Your God Focus

EPISODE 110- KEEP LOOKING FOR GOD’S HAND

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode is: KEEP LOOKING FOR GOD’S HAND

There is much in the Bible about the hand of God. He formed man from the earth with his hands. His hand will protect, bless and provide for his people. There is an anointing he gives with the touch of his hand. But on the other hand, there is punishment for disobedience.

We often talk about the love that was in those nail scared hands. He holds us upright with his hand and helps us to walk. Like a parent would a toddler. There is healing in his hands. There is also rath for those that will not heed his word.

Look at Egypt, they received punishment for their disregard of God’s words. Pharoah looked at Moses as an annoying cousin. He was not going to heed his word. Pharoah didn’t realize that Moses’ identity had changed and he was now a prophet of the real God. Moses told Pharoah that God said to let his people go. Pharoah refused, his pride and arrogance would not allow him to bend. While God was sending plagues with one hand in Egypt, his other hand, was a hand of protection over his people in Goshen.

I was inspired by a recent conversion with one of my prayer partners. She was talking about the story of Elijah, and how he kept sending his servant to look for a sign of rain. This was a sign of Elijah’s faith. He didn’t give up.

This occurred right after the showdown on the top of Mount Carmel between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The one where God answered by fire. There had been a drought in the land, and everything was dying.

I KGS 18:41-43 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. 46 And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

Then my friend said something that was encouraging to me, and I wanted to share it. She said, “That is what we have to do when we pray is keep looking for a sign that his hand is moving.” This is how we show faith. We have to be expectant of the answer. What if Elijah gave up after six prayers? What if at the third time he said within himself, well I’ll pray again but it probably won’t do anything? No each time he sent his servant out to look, he was expecting to see the answer.

God had just proved himself to the people that He was God, when He answered by fire. Then Elijah prayed for rain, he was expecting to see clouds. His servant finally came back and told him he saw a small cloud rise out of the sea like a man’s hand.

When we pray, we need to be looking for evidence that God is moving. If we don’t see it yet, keep going to look and see. Because one day we will see that cloud like a man’s hand rising up to bring our victory.

ISAIAH 59:1-4 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4 None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Isaiah was telling the people of Israel. God’s hand is not short. Then he went on to say that he is not deaf. But because of their sin there was a separation. Many today are the same way. But they expect God to give them the desires of their hearts.

Some live their lives how they choose then expect God to bless them. They have one foot in the world and one foot in trying to follow God. The only thing about trying to walk that way is it will always cause you to fall. Only when we surrender to God and walk in His way will he give us the desires of our heart.

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Sometimes, God is telling us to wait when we pray. Other times we need to check ourselves to make sure we do not have any sin in our lives. Pray and put them under the blood then make the request. Sometimes we have to be determined in faith and expect the answer. If we don’t see the cloud. Pray and go look again.

Because Israel followed after Baal, God allowed the drought. Once the miracle on top of Mt. Carmel happened, and they had made right their sin, God opened the heavens and let it rain when the prophet prayed.

It wasn’t just a little rain; it was an abundance of rain. God knew the land was dry and all the crops were drying up. The people needed water for everyday living. So, he sent them an abundance of rain.

We too can have an abundance of whatever we are praying for, if we look to God with expectation.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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