Tag: #dailydevotional

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP522 BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77jpp0-god-focus-this-morning-ep522-being-led-by-the-spirit.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT

Now is the time to awaken out of sleep. Now is the time to ask for God to give us deeper understanding about spiritual things. We no longer have the luxury to ignore the things of the spirit realm. We go along acting like if we ignore anything spiritual, we will not have to deal with it. But that is not how the real-world works. We are spiritual beings and we will either serve God or Satan, there is no middle and no way to avoid it. We all will have to make a choice for ourselves.

I cannot stress enough that we need to be on guard. Evil is all around us, the enemy loves to try and draw us into temptation. If he cannot get us to sin, he will put people in our lives to tear us down. The attack always comes when we least expect it. Unless we are vigilant about keeping our guard up and our shield ready.

Our freedom is not in our circumstances. Our happiness doesn’t depend on lack of adversity. Our freedom lies in our trust of God. I spoke to you yesterday about trusting even when the feeling may not be there. When we are hurt and feel betrayed by people, we still have to trust God.

The body of Christ needs to hear the warning, “Be on guard.” We as God’s children were given the whole armor of God for a reason. To protect and to defend this is true, but to also go on the offensive and use our swords if needed. Swords are both offensive and defensive weapons. They can take out an enemy or they can block an attack or threat from an enemy.

It is time that we ask God for wisdom and discernment when it comes to spiritual things. The enemy does not lack tactics. He will use different ones until he reaches his goal of getting us trapped in sin. But for every weapon he tries to form against us we have a weapon of defense. It is found in the word of God.

Remember every time the enemy came at Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus used the word to deflect the enemies lies. He is the deceiver. It is time the church had open dialog about spiritual experiences, not all of them are from God.

2 Cor 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

The devil goes to church, he tries to weigh down the service. Satan’s servants are not all showy with their evil, some are stealthy like a panther. They want people to believe that they are genuine and really love the Lord, when they only love themselves. They serve only their own agenda.

People are clueless to the tricks of our enemy. Because he has had centuries to watch human nature. He studies us and knows how to drag us into temptation. For every real move of God, the enemy tries to fake a move of God to be deceitful. This is why there is so much church hurt in the world.

I was reminded of an experience I had several years ago. I had a job at a car dealership, there was an add in another town advertising for someone in my position. It was more pay, better benefits. I went for a job interview. It looked perfect. The building the dealership was in was beautiful, marble floors, beautiful glass offices, everything looked like success. I would have taken that job in a moment. But as I looked at the beauty and grandeur of the building God said to me, “All that glitters is not gold.” I went ahead with the interview and was offered the job. I told them I needed to give notice. But I went home and thought about what I felt like God had said to me. I turned it down the next day. Within six months they declared bankruptcy and someone else bought the dealership. They brought in their own office staff, so I would have been without a job.

We cannot always judge things by how they look, not every spirit is from God. The Holy Ghost doesn’t glorify anything but Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost does not move on people for show. He moves on people to transform their lives from being servants of Satan to being born again. The Holy Ghost came to be our guide it is time we give up and let him lead.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Notice the Holy Ghost aka the Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth. We need to listen to the leading of God’s Spirit, because he knows where to lead. It is up to us to follow. Now is the time to prepare to step out into deeper waters. Now is the time to be ever vigilant.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP351- LISTENING FOR GOD

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77hoim-god-focus-this-morning-ep521-listening-for-god.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: LISTENING FOR GOD

In the quiet silence, I sit and wait for God’s voice. I whisper quietly, “Speak to me Lord, speak to your daughter.” In my heart I am longing for him to share something with me that I can pass along to encourage you. My mind often reels with topics but they don’t seem right. I pray again, “Speak to me Lord, I need you to share with me what you want your body to hear.”

As I sat quietly a large portion of yesterday. God began to place on my heart, to remind his people not to fear what is coming. He has never let down his people. There has always been a hedge of protection around those who love and serve God. We have no reason to fear; God holds us in his hand.

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus tells us he will leave peace for his people. He tells us to not let our hearts be troubled. He tells us to not be afraid. We do have some control in the situation, we must look to him when we are hit with the emotion of fear. We cannot allow the emotion to take root and become fear in our spirit. When we fear, it is an act of unbelief. We are telling God we do not believe he will protect us or take care of us. This is not a message we want to send to God.

Our message should always be, “I trust you Lord, I don’t understand what is happening, but I trust you, Lord.”

There are different seasons we walk through. Sometimes outside influences cause us to react differently. Like right now, if you pay any attention to the news, then it is easy to allow fear to take over. But we have to know with everything we see, God has it in his control. He will take care of his people.

The enemy comes to cause division; he comes to destroy those who are determined to live for the cause of Christ. He is not stupid; he knows those who have that deep down faith and determination. He will try to cause us to fall into fear.

Psalm 56:3-4 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. 4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

We must get Psalm 56:3-4 into our hearts and allow it to seep into our soul. This way when the enemy comes to attack us with fear, we can send him on his way. We have the power to send him packing, simply by saying, I resist your lies, you have no place here, I belong to Jesus, I am covered by the blood.

When I have faced hard situations in the past, there has been times I couldn’t understand why thing happened like they did. I didn’t have answers, I didn’t know how to pray. I would just sit and say, “I trust you Lord, you are wise and know what you are doing. I don’t understand, but I trust you, Lord.”

We can never allow fear or anxiety to get a stronghold. It is hard to get that stronghold broken. But nothing is impossible with God. Even if there is a stronghold, ask God to break it and tell him you trust him, until you feel that trust. He truly only wants what is best for us and will deliver us from all fear. Our job is to trust and not fear.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP520 HOLY

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77dfhc-god-focus-this-morning-ep520-holy.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: HOLY

Satan tells us lies every day. Some we believe and fall for, causing us to fall into temptation. Other lies we see through immediately. It is the lies that are close to the truth that are the scariest. They are the most dangerous. Our enemy is the father of lies. He came to destroy anything that is good. This is why the children are on his radar. He is trying to destroy the next generations.

John 10:10 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.

Jesus wants to give us an abundant life. He cares about us. Just as much as Jesus is love the enemy is hate. He hates us, because God loved us enough to die for us. We will one day be in a place he was removed from and never allowed to see again. He hates us because we are God’s chosen. The enemy loves to draw people into sin and uncleanness. God is pure and holy. He wants us to walk in holiness.

I Thes 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

God’s word many times states that he is holy. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah. It talks about a vision Isaiah had. He saw the throne and angels that were created by God just to fly and sing. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty the whole earth is full of his glory.” That is their single purpose for existing.

But what does it mean to be holy? “holy” in the bible is the Hebrew word Kodesh. It means set apart from common or ordinary. We have to walk by the faith of God. We must keep ourselves clean from sin.

Satan comes with his lies that we are not strong enough to live holy. We are not strong enough on our own. But God has placed authority in us to be strong enough to rise up above the temptations and lies of the enemy.

Isaiah 57:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

The enemy will often try to form weapons against us; weapons of doubt and fear. But God comes along with his peace. He restores, he strengthens and he delivers us.

I Pet 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Peter was quoting a verse in the Old Testament from Leviticus. God would not tell us to be holy if it was impossible. If we walk fully in our flesh, it is impossible. But we have the Spirit of God on the inside of us as believers. He will lead and guide us into all truth and righteousness or holiness. All things are possible when we allow the Holy Ghost to be our guide, even being holy.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP519 DON’T SELL OUT

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77bqw4-god-focus-this-morning-ep519-dont-sell-out.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: DON’T SELL OUT

Every moment in time is unique, every wave that crashed against the sea shore will never crash again, even though the water goes back and more waves crash. Every step we take gets us closer to our goals or it takes us further away. Depending on our direction. Are we boldly crashing the shore of the future or are we retreating only to be tossed in the waves.

God honors the bold and the brave. He is calling all of us to be bold and stand for the truth. It is going to take a bold church to stand up to the brazen, blatant display of evil that is in our face 24/7. The enemy is trying harder than ever to destroy as many people as possible. Because he knows his time is short to lock people into a life they cannot get out of. One of blaspheming against God’s spirit.

Matt 12:31-32 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

The Pharisees committed this unpardonable sin when they said that Jesus cast out devils by the prince of devils. They looked like holy men on the outside, but inside their hearts were pure evil. They were very insecure that Jesus’ popularity would take away their standing in the community. When they heard he had cast out devils.

Matt 12:24-26 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. 25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: 26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

In trying to sway the people away from Jesus, they actually sealed their own fate. It is no small thing to speak negatively about the Holy Ghost of God. He was sent to this earth to be our help and guide.

Matt 8:14-16 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Matt 8:15 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:

There is nothing we face as children of God that we cannot get through, as long as we are led by the Spirit of God. We are no longer in bondage. It is not wise for us to allow man made things to bind us up. Look at the Phariasees, they were bound by their religion. I say their religion, because they took the ten commandments and made hundreds of rules to keep them from breaking the original ten. Jesus came to set us free from bondage. We cannot allow man made rules bind us up in religion.

Today is the day of salvation, today is the day to dig deep into the word, today is the day to pray and intercede against the enemy and what is coming. If the Spirit of God dwells within us, we need to ask that we develop spiritual sensitivity to understand and discern the voice of God.

We are standing on the edge of our Red Sea, life is about to change. How it changes for us will be determined if we are listening to the voice of God or falling into fear. Will we be a wave that penetrates the sand, or will we be drawn back out to sea. Because we have given in to the enemy and his lies. So don’t sell out to the enemy.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP518 OUT OF THE WILDERNESS

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77a2ok-god-focus-this-morning-ep518-out-of-the-wilderness.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: OUT OF THE WILDERNESS

The place we find ourselves is often referred to as the wilderness. Many things happen while in such a place. Trials happen and growth also happens in the wilderness. There are different reasons we end up in the wilderness. Sometimes it is because of our disobedience. Other times it is a place God allows to grow us.

If you find yourself in a wilderness, ask yourself why you are there. If you cannot think of a reason of disobedience. Then God has allowed it to grow you. Embrace the wilderness and watch vigilantly for the enemy to attack.

Matt 4:1-4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Notice, he was led into the wilderness by the spirit. He had to overcome the enemy in that quiet place away from prying eyes. If he had not overcome the enemy there, he would not have had the power to resist turning his back on the assignment of the cross. Because the crushing of the time leading to the cross was even greater than the temptations, he faced with satan in the wilderness.

The Spirit of God leads us and guides us where we need to be, even if we feel alone and isolated.

Matt 4:5-7 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Satan took Jesus up to a high pinnacle, trying to tempt him into jumping off. He was trying to destroy him. Hoping that those angels would not show up and he would die. When he couldn’t take Jesus out by suicide he tried to play to his ego by offering him great power.

Matt 4:8-10 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

How many people have set aside the calling of God on their life for power and a short cut? How many people have sold their souls to the devil for fame and wealth? They have a false sense of power. Jesus knew anything that the enemy offered in the wilderness was not going to get him where he needed to go.

People today need to realize that the things of this life are temporary. We must live our lives to the fullest and make sure that we are listening to God and not the enemy.

Once Jesus came out of the wilderness he started his ministry. Everyone’s wilderness looks different, because God has allowed your wilderness to propel you forward to your calling. My wilderness would look different because my calling is different. Every day, if we yield our lives to Christ, we will be one step closer to stepping into what God has for us.

Notice when Jesus resisted the enemy fled. The word says if we resist the devil he will flee. Which means he has no power to make us do anything we don’t want to do. Remember that there are good things on the other side of the wilderness. Just embrace your alone time with God and find peace and rest. One day you will come out of the wilderness, changed by the experience. When we kneel in prayer, we will find our purpose and will not need the shortcut of the enemy. Stand strong, resist the devil and embrace the lessons of the wilderness.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP516 ARE YOU READY?

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v77058i-god-focus-this-morning-ep516-are-you-ready.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: ARE YOU READY?

I Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Are you ready to give an answer? If not, I have a few ideas to share today to get you started on having your answer ready.

We are all without hope until we accept the blood of Jesus and his plan for our lives. That is the simple answer some would brush off as being religious. Generic answers will not work, it’s about relationship. But if we can share a rock bottom moment with someone, then give God the glory it will be more accepted.

For me my rock bottom was when I fell into deep depression. Someone else’s, may be drug addiction or losing all they had financially. It could be alcohol addiction, porn addiction, there are many rock bottom moments. They are as individual as the people who suffered them.

It all starts with honor and reverence in our hearts for the Lord. Making Jesus the center of our faith. When we share the hope we have we must share Jesus, because his love and sacrifice are the reasons for our hope.

This verse doesn’t mean that we have to have an answer like a legal defense to fight against those who will not accept that Jesus gives us hope. If we take that approach we will not effectively share why we have hope.

We believe the word of God is true, that word is full of reasons to have hope. One of the main reasons is that when we become children of God we have hope of a home in heaven far away from the punishment we deserved for breaking God’s laws. His forgiveness gives us hope that we are never alone.

Another way to look at the key verse is that if we are full of God’s hope, we will live a life that causes people to question, why we have hope. The world could be flying apart and we have peace, because of Jesus.

I COR 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

This verse is a reminder that our hope is in Jesus not only for this life but the one to come.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP515 FIRE ON THE ALTAR

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v76xxdg-god-focus-this-morning-ep515-fire-on-the-altar.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: FIRE ON THE ALTAR

Across all denominational boundaries almost all would agree that we need to see revival. We often think of revival as a meeting set up weeks in advance. There is a preacher from another church to bring the word. But if he doesn’t bring the fire, no one will come to know Jesus. If the people have not prepared the altar, there will be no fire.

Mirriam Webster online defines revival as: the restoration, re-connection or to bring back to life something that has declined faded or died.

The word revive means – an improvement in the condition or strength.

If we allow God to revive us, we will gain strength and improve in condition, we will re-connect with him. It is easy to let life get in the way of our relationship with God. Revival can restore our faith walk.

A congregation can have church services every night for a year and call it revival, but it will accomplish nothing until the saint are re-kindled with God’s holy fire. Until they pray the fire down.

Which brings me to my next point. The story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. A large portion of these people were God’s people who had turned aside to serve baal. We too at times allow things to creep into our lives. Often ours is more subtle than turning to worship a false little “g” god.

Elijah was tired of watching God’s people chase after the false god. He put forth a challenge and said, we will set up an altar and worship. Which ever God answers by fire, let him be God.

For times sake I am starting at verse 30, I suggest you read the whole chapter and think about how amazing that God answers by fire. We pick up with where the prophets of baal had spent all day crying, cutting themselves with knives and nothing happened.

I KGS 18:30-38 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Notice the sacrifice that was on the altar to baal was not the sacrifice Elijah used. He prepared his own sacrifice. Just like we must put ourselves on the altar and rededicate and re-surrender. We need to become broken before him and allow him to send down the fire to consume our sacrifice.

He asked the people to pour not four, not eight barrels but twelve barrels of water on the altar, the sacrifice and the area around the altar. Think about what a sacrifice it was to use the water, there was a famine and drought in the land. But they still offered it to God.

Notice Elijah didn’t use the altar of the enemy and try to pray to God. He repaired the altar before adding the sacrifice and water. He didn’t have to cry and cut himself with a knife, like the prophets of baal. He just said a simple prayer and all off the sudden there came a fire from heaven. God not only answered by fire, he consumed the sacrifice, the wood, stones, dust and all the water.

True revival will come when we see God’s fire. But first we have to repair the altar. It is not just a place for sinners to repent. The altar is a place to make changes in our lives through sacrificing what our flesh wants to do and spend time crying out to God for real change. Some churches have made a mockery of the altar.

What if Elijah’s sacrifice was like we are, as soon as the prayer gets serious our flesh wants to get up and call it a day. But in bible times the sacrifice was tied to the altar. What if our desire for God kept us tied to the altar until we were saturated with is presence? We must pour out everything before God. Re-connect to him in a deeper way.

There is no shame in needing renewal. Everyone needs to be refreshed (with the washing of the word), refilled with God’s spirit so we can pour him out to others. We need renewed so that we have fresh bread and not the same stale message for those who are lost.

If there was ever a time in history that needed God more than now, I do not know when it was. The only way people are going to be drawn away from the bone chilling coldness of this world is for the church to get on fire. It can only do that, if we sacrifice time to pray for the fire to fall once again.

As spring begins and people start to plan revivals in their churches, I pray each one prays for lost souls to come to know God. And that there will once again be fire on the altar.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP514 LIFELINE

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v76w9qc-god-focus-this-morning-ep514-lifeline.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: LIFELINE

You can’t rescue someone who doesn’t want to be rescued. Yesterday, I used the old illustration about the man that was on his roof in a flood. God sent a raft, a boat and a helicopter, but the man refused to get in the boats or to get in the helicopter. It didn’t matter his reasons; it was his choice to make.

Someone may be drowning and you throw them a lifeline, but if they don’t reach out and take it they are the ones to blame. The world is drowning in sin they are dying every day without God. But that is their choice. God gives everyone opportunity to accept him. He will not override free will.

Although, normally people refuse rescue out of fear. They do not know if they can live a Christian life; they are afraid of failure. Maybe they are too bound by evil and do not want to give up that life. They do not believe that they are that bad, they have their own set of right and wrong that doesn’t line up with God’s view.

But to the one in the raft, the one in the boat and the one on the helicopter they knew God sent them to help. Although it is disheartening, and the failure can make us question. We sometimes even wonder if they really heard from God of if we went on our own. The failure to help can be devastating, especially if the one in trouble is a loved one. God gave us all free will; we have to accept that they have the right to make their choices. People can be drowning deep in their sin but if they refuse our help, it is out of our hands.

We were obedient and did what we were sent to do. It is easy to question when we do not see the result we think will come from us being obedient. It is easy to question if we hear from God at all.

We are supposed to follow God’s plan and plant the seeds. It is up to others to make the choice to follow Jesus. Just because a few people that we talk to refuse to accept what we are saying doesn’t mean that we give up. Somewhere out there is someone who is searching for the very word we have within us. They are lost and alone, stumbling in the dark. What happens to them if we give up? They stay lost.

We have to be encouraged that we have the lifeline people are needing. Even if some refuse it. There is a great big world out there that is doing all they can to keep from drowning. They are searching, hoping and praying for the message we carry.

You can’t rescue someone who doesn’t want to be rescued. But continue to live out your faith and pray for them. People sometimes change their minds. Circumstances in life change every day. As long as they are breathing there is hope. That hope is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is time we stand strong and keep tossing out the lifeline. The rest is out of our hands.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP513 GET OFF OF THE ROOF

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v76utri-god-focus-this-morning-ep513-get-off-of-the-roof.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: GET OFF THE ROOF

There is a story that preachers often use as an illustration. It is about a man that is standing on his roof, with flood water rising quickly. Along comes a guy in a raft and offers him a ride to safety. The man or the roof says, “No that’s ok, God is going to save me.”

The water gets higher and the man prays for God to help him. Along comes a guy in a boat and offers to take the guy to safety. Again, he says, “No that’s ok, God is going to save me.” The water continues to rise now its up to the roof. Again, the guy prays for help, “Lord, save me, the water is getting deep.”

A helicopter flies over and drops a rope. The guy yells, “that’s ok, I am afraid to fly, God will save me.”

It will come as no surprise that the guy drowns. When he gets to heaven he questioned God, “Why didn’t you save me?”

God answered, I sent you a raft, a boat and a helicopter, what more should I have done?”

Often God’s answers do not come the way we think. But he always answers. This is why it is so important to pray for discernment. We do not want to miss his answers. Often, we have to do something to get the right result.

James 2:20-24 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

If the man had stepped out and got on the raft, boat or helicopter. God would have protected him. He would have made it to safety. But because he refused to take a step of faith, he died where he was standing.

We need to learn to have faith to step out of our comfort zone. The roof at the time seemed safer than the boats or the helicopter. But the big picture, it would not always be the safe place. Walking by faith, doesn’t mean we know beyond our next step. If the entire plan was before us, we would probably be overwhelmed by it all. We would feel like there is no way we could ever be who God needs us to be in the future. But God grows us and when the time comes, we will be ready. God grows us very patiently one step at a time.

I often think of a scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Indy was at edge of a cliff. The ancient book he was using for a guide said something about the path to God being a leap of faith. To the human eye, it looked like there was a chasm, too far to jump across. The holy grail he was looking for was on the other side.

It looked like he would fall to his death, but he took the next step. There was a bridge to catch him. It blended in with the chasm and was invisible to human eyes. Faith is taking that next scary step, knowing that God has a bridge to catch us.

The answers rarely come as we think they will. I would imagine the children of Israel never thought about the Red Sea parting for them. We must open our minds and believe that faith means trusting God for the right outcome even when we don’t see even the next step.

Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

The question is, are we going to trust or are we going to stay on the roof top? Remember the comfort zone is only comfortable for a season. Something to think about today.

Thanks for watching,

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING EP512 EASIER SAID THAN DONE

https://rumble.com/v76p6c6-god-focus-this-morning-ep512-easier-said-than-done.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: EASIER SAID THAN DONE

Often, we read things in the bible and accept them at face value. We understand with our minds. But applying the word to our lives is often more difficult than we first thought. For example:

Matt 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Lets take verse 37, we can say we love God will all of our heart, with all our soul and all our mind. But our actions do not reflect that love. If we truly loved God with all of our heart we would want to be in his word more, in his presence more. But it is easy to allow the distractions of life to make our good intentions seem like weak attempts. This is why it is easier to say you love God and harder to do it.

It is even more difficult to love some people, because they do not treat us right. We are to love people and want the best for them. We can love their souls and pray they find God. It is our duty to show them the right direction. If they don’t want to be rescued from their life of sin, there is little we can do. They have free will.

Sometimes loving people means telling them the truth, even if it will hurt. I would rather be hurt by truth than be comforted by a lie.

Another verse I think of is:

Eccl 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

It sounds simple to fear God and keep his commandment. If we fear God we will keep his commandments. At times, it is easy for our flesh to override our good sense and fear of the Lord. When this happens we are not walking in all the love and reverence that God expects from his children.

He wants us to be hungry for his presence. To long to sit quietly and listen for him to sing over us and pour into us. God is so loving toward us and we all fall short of showing him that love in return. That is why God made grace, it is the filler that helps us to meet the mark of God’s expectations.

Don’t think I am trying to be judgmental and legalistic. I am simply trying to share that it’s not easy to love God and do the right thing while we are in this flesh. Our will can get in the way easily if we do not keep a tight reign on it.

We must strive to do our best to measure up and God will meet us where we are with his amazing grace.

Gal 6:8-9 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

I always want to share with you things that make you think and want to seek God just a little longer or with a little more passion. Because if we sow good thing into our lives those things will grow. If we sow unappealing things in our lives the weeds will overtake our garden of good.

I want to encourage you today to pray for God to help you to learn to love him more.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIKE, SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ENCOURAGMENT