Tag: encouraging

FIERY TRIALS

I am sure that Daniel would not have wanted to be in the lion’s den.  The three Hebrew children probably would not have wanted to be put in the fiery furnace. Job would not have wanted to suffer the things he did.  But sometimes, the things we walk through are not just for us but to let the world see Jesus in us. Even Christ prayed, “Let this cup pass from me.” Yet he went to the cross and suffered because it was for the salvation of mankind.

I Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

We often wonder why good people seem to suffer while evil people prosper. The evil ones have their reward for a season.  But the Children of God will have our reward forever more. The fiery trials are to make us stronger.  The fire will burn out our impurities. The things we sometimes walk through are to teach us a lesson. The enemy will sometimes see how we walk through the fiery trials and be amazed at how God has worked on our behalf.

Do not be discouraged or allow the spirit of heaviness to lay on you.  He will remove the spirit of heaviness. Depression and discouragement have filled the earth.  But God will remove them if we look to him and trust in him.

God is looking for a few good men and women to be his army.  He honors the bold and the brave.  It will take boldness, Holy Boldness, in these days in which we live. We must have a made-up (determined) mind to follow Christ, no matter what it costs, even our lives.  He is starting to give marching orders.  Will we obey? Will we rise up and be the Christian Army the world needs to see or will we stay in our comfort zone? I am afraid those that choose the comfort zone over the fiery trials will be left behind.

The next time you walk through a tough time, remember that your fiery trial is working for your good and the good of others.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

COMPLACENT

Complacency is the most dangerous place for Christians to find themselves.  It is easy to allow life to get in our way.  We will say, “I am really busy today, I will skip my bible reading.” Or “I don’t have time to concentrate on prayer, I will say a quick prayer and I will pray longer tomorrow.” One day turns into a week, then a month before you know it a month has gone by and then…we find ourselves in a place that forces us to our knees.

The word of God renews our minds.  It helps us to keep our hands clean and our feet out of mischief. We can be fine one moment and under attack the next.  If we haven’t spent much time praying or studying, we will be weak.  Fighting off the attack will be harder.  The enemy watches to see when we are at what he thinks is a weak moment. We cannot get complacent and give him an opportunity to attack.

Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We renew our mind by being in God’s presence and allowing the Word to wash and cleans our mind. There are times when we feel like we get nothing out of our reading of the word.  But it is not just words on a page it is living and transforming. It will get in our spirit and gives us what we need, even when we don’t feel like anything is different.

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

 We hide the word in our hearts. It will be there when the enemy comes to cause trouble by lying to us. We will be empowered to say, “No satan, the word says ….” We can quote the word that is hidden in our hearts.

Reading, prayer, worship, along with fellowship with other believers will help us to keep our God Focus.  Jesus is the best thing to keep our focus on in this life.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

CLIMBING

Life is like a staircase stretching from earth to heaven.  There are people that are just starting on their journey with Christ that are behind us.  Others are on steps ahead of us.  Each one of us has a responsibility to help those on the stairs behind us.  None of us are perfect. None of us will ever be perfect enough to sit in the judgment seat. But we can reach down and lift up those who are not as strong.  Hopefully, the ones before us will do the same for us.

Phil 1:5-6  (5) For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;   6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

We can be confident that as long as we depend on Christ, he will keep us.  It is in him that we will grow in truth and righteousness. We need to examine ourselves and try to walk as close as possible. It is not our place to judge our brother. God will complete the work he started.

Matt 7:1-5 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

We need to pull the piece of lumber out of our eye before we can see clearly to help our brother with a speck of dust in his. In other words, we need to walk righteously before God and worry about our own issues and shortcomings.

Each day is a chance to climb higher in understanding and wisdom. We are called to love one another and help someone along their way.  Have a great week.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

WALK IT OUT

Some days it is easy to have a good attitude and a thankful heart. These are the days that I feel like I am walking like I should, as a child of God. Other days will test us. We often like to blame the enemy for our attitude, when it is just our flesh rising up. Situations will cause us to forget who we are and who’s we are; we belong to Jesus.  We have been bought with a high price. We need to walk out our faith.

Sometimes the noise in our head is louder than a Nascar race. It is hard to silence your thoughts and fears. I often refer to 2 TIM1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Fear, anxiety, mental stress and depression can cause us to be frustrated. We end up with an attitude that needs adjusting. It is hard to be a light when you are walking in frustration.

When I find myself in this place of total frustration, I do a few things. If I am at the office, I tell them I am going for a stress walk, then I walk out a prayer for God to adjust my attitude. (I physically walk it out) I repeat to myself  2 Timothy 1:7, then I tell myself he has not given me fear, frustration, anxiety and stress. He has given me a sound mind. The other thing I do I listen to worship music and try to adjust my thinking.

Having God’s peace means the noise becomes quiet and the frustration melts away.  God wants us to walk in peace.  It is possible if we remind ourselves that we have a sound mind and do not walk in fear. One of the biggest tools the enemy uses against us is trying to convince us that we do not have a sound mind. If he can get us to walk in fear, he will control us. We can not be a good light if we are under his control.

Jesus gave us power over the enemy, fear will not reign in our lives if we study the word and pray for God’s peace. My friends, I pray for the peace of God to reign in your hearts and minds.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

WORSHIP FIRST

Worship invites the presence of God. Many things have been written about worship. Psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him and bless his name. If we look at getting to God like castles were set up in ancient times. There were three levels inside the gate, which puts you in the courtyard. Level two puts you inside the castle in the outer court. The inner court has the fewest people. The inner court is where the king is sitting on his throne. In order to petition the King, you need to be in the inner court.

We enter his gates by offering Thanksgiving. Which means to thank God for all he has done for us. Going from thanksgiving to praise allows us to enter the castle. Worshipping God for who he is gets us into the outer court and eventually into his presence.

David made a lot of mistakes; he fell into sin many times. But God still said David was a man after his own heart. David wrote Psalms to God. He was a true worshipper. David understood that he was imperfect and that he needed God. Worship is a heart thing and we must connect our heart to God’s heart.

Worship changes the atmosphere. Sometimes things can look dark. The enemy can be pressing in from all directions; if we can press through in worship and praise, soon the atmosphere changes. We can be under a cloud of anxiety, fear, stress or sadness, to name a few, and we can start worshipping. Our worship will cause that spirit of heaviness to be lifted off of us.

God desires to spend time with his children. He wants us to worship him in spirit and truth. Satan hates it when we worship; I don’t mean just going through the motions. But when we connect to God through our Praise. Satan was the music leader, the head worshipper until jealousy entered him and he wanted to be God. God kicked him out of heaven and, along with him, him a bunch of angels that were loyal to satan.

Psalm 96:9 – O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Take some extra time this week to show God some love and make the devil mad at the same time. Lift your voice and hands to God in praise.

TRAINS

Trains travel on rails that run from one destination to another.  Everything runs smoothly until a train gets off track.  This is called a derailment. Many things can cause a train to get off track. Obstacles in the way, mechanical failure in the train or rails.

The reason is important only to help prevent a derailment in the future. More important than why is the prevention of future failures. As we travel life, we can be gliding along at a good speed when something major happens to derail us.  Sickness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, betrayal of a friend. Once we have lost our momentum, it may take a little while to get our life back on track.

It often takes great effort to lift the weight of the train and get it back on the tracks. This is where our determination to not be stopped will be crucial to our momentum.  Keeping our God Focus even in the middle of a derailment, can be done if we TRUST GOD. Jesus is always there to help us get things back on track.

Sometimes the enemy will build obstacles on the tracks for us to run into causing us to get derailed.  He custom creates temptation for each of us.  He will whisper, “you are not good enough” “who do you think you are to be doing what God has called you to do.” “Is it really that bad if you do this one little thing that God said no to do.” Like with Job, he will send you miserable comfort that will encourage you to curse God and die.

We have power over the powers of the enemy. All we have to do is speak the word. Use scripture to put him in his place. This will remove him and his obstacles from our path. Resist the devil and he will flee. Leaving us a clear path to reach out and cry out to Jesus so that we can always be in the presence of God to thank him for what he has done for us.

BURN THE SHIPS

The church needs to be like the people that came from Europe to the new world. When they arrived they unassembled their boats and used the wood for building or they burned their ships. In other words, we are here, no matter what happens we are not turning back. They knew they had nothing to go back to in Europe. Eliminating all other options but to go forward.

When we are delivered from sin we need to burn the ships. There is nothing in our old life to go back to, we are made new in Christ. He has given us a new life. The enemy will try to tell us that the new world before us is scary. He will try to work on our self-identity. Questioning us if we can actually be a Christian. If we let him talk to us too long we would be on the ship ready to return to a place we escaped from; our old life. If that life was so great, why did we want to escape it?

Satan will try to paint a pretty picture. He will make things look like they are good. When in reality they are anything but good. We need to tell him we have a new name, we are no longer defeated, no longer a slave, no longer without a father, but we have been adopted by the KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS. We have an identity, we are a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

With our new life comes a responsibility to be a light to those around us. Many that knew us before we became born again of God’s Spirit will know we are different. But what about the person that meets us for the first time as this new creation. They should still know there is something different about us. God’s love and light need to shine upon us and out of us.

We are living in dangerous times. If we watch the news fear can grip us quickly. Things will look bad. I am sick of these prosperity preachers telling you that life is a bed of roses if you follow Christ. He will give you material things and you will be wealthy by man’s standards. When my bible says you will know they are my disciples because they have love one to another. Not because they own 50 pairs of alligator shoes or own twenty houses and have a large bank account.

It’s time to grow up Church; leave behind materialism and things the flesh desires. God never promised that the road would be easy. Look at our examples in his word. These people faced hard things; scary things. But not once did God leave them to struggle alone and He made a way of escape for each of them. He promised to never leave us to fight our battles alone. He said things would look scary, but do not fear for He is there to see us through.

It’s time to burn the ships. Put aside childish things and grow up. There is a great big world out there full of lost people. We sit in our churches each week and want to hear how God is going to bless us and give us things that are going to burn up. The only things that are going to last are the things we do for the kingdom of God. Reaching the lost.

It is time for us to burn the ships, don’t look back, go forth and take back what God has given us that the enemy has stolen. We have an amazing opportunity to be the light this world needs. But we cannot be that light if we are weighed down by the cares and fears of this life. We have nothing to fear, GOD IS with us.

Heb 12:1-2 (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, (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.

If we could just keep the zeal we have when we are first saved. We are excited about our life in Christ. We feel like we can take on the world. Then we go through a few hard spots and that excitement is gone. The only way we can be renewed is by asking God for that renewal. We need to build up our faith through prayer. Our inward man is renewed day by day. THe prayers I prayed yesterday carried me through yesterday. But to renew my strength, I need to talk to God today, to get through today. We do not know what is facing us in the next 24 hours. But if we are prayer warriors we can be ready for whatever comes our way.

Galatians 6:9-10  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

We will reap a harvest of souls if we faint not. If we don’t give up and go back. If we don’t sit down and get comfortable in a routine or in feel-good doctrine. We will reap if we burn the ships and not look back but keep looking up to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

WAKE UP

Our world is in darkness and that is partially due to the state of the body of Christ. The church has let the world creep in a little bit at a time until we find ourselves in a lukewarm state. We have been so obsessed with things that do not matter that we have lost sight of the important things.  We like to brag about how many bodies fill our pews on Sunday morning but forget to ask God to enlighten us. We go through the motions of a service, but never stop to ask God what he wants to do for us or say to us. We never question if someone got what they needed for their soul. We warm the pews but are never changed by anything we see or hear during service. We have lost our GOD FOCUS.

While we were asleep the enemy was busy destroying our world.  People everywhere have a skewed view of God because we have not been walking in the light.  We have not been the light. We have been asleep.  I feel like God is saying, WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP!!!! You don’t have long to work.

John 9:4-5 KJV I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

God doesn’t want us to be lukewarm, this is a dangerous state to be in because it gives the lost a false impression.  If we are cold, then we are in sin and not claiming to be anything. No one notices or judges the cold.   If we are on fire, everyone will see our light shine.  God will use us to be a light and witness to others.  If we are on fire, people will know we are who we claim to be; disciples of Christ.  But being lukewarm is a state of misery. We have no victory and no power. 

Lukewarm people are walking in their flesh more than they are in the Spirit.  They care more about superficial things or being politically correct. They don’t want to offend anyone with “THE TRUTH” of God’s word. The lukewarm (asleep) church allows sin in and accepts it, just to keep their numbers and offerings. They clear their conscience by saying they are not as bad as the world.

Rev 3:15-16  (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

WAKE UP, WAKE UP it is time for old-fashioned preaching that is so on fire that it burns out our impurities.  I want a sermon that makes me hit my knees and ask God to set me free or set me on fire for him.  Sin will not enter into the kingdom of God.  He is coming after a bride without spot or wrinkle. We need to do all we can to walk free of sin. His grace will take care of our shortcomings.

However, grace for too long has been an excuse to walk in continual sin.  Jesus didn’t die on the cross to have us be nonchalant about sin.  I Peter 1:16-16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.-KJV We cannot allow sin to abound or the enemy to prevail. WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!!

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  (12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.-KJV

We are living in a time when people are starving for the word of God.  They have seen so much fake Christianity that they are sick.  It makes them wonder if there is really even a God. The world has turned to all sorts of false religions because they have not found the answers they seek. In our asleep state, we have let them down.

Warriors of Christ, we need to start standing guard and watch for the enemy.  Taking every opportunity to say, “satan, you cannot have that person, not on my watch.” It is time we become bold in our faith and speak out. We have been asleep too long, so tell everybody you know it’s time to WAKE UP!  It is time to make things right with God.  It is time to be the warriors he needs us to be, by walking in the boldness of the Holy Ghost. He didn’t give us His Spirit to hide it under a bushel and be lukewarm.  We have that fire to be bold and be a light.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

SPIRIT OF TRUTH

I was thinking about the human perspective and how people’s opinions are tainted by the things they have been through. For example, I work with several women and on winter mornings. Some of them will be texting. ‘All the roads are so bad; everybody stay home.’ Some of them will be like, ‘oh, I was just out and it’s not that bad. I’ll be there.’ others are like, ‘well, I don’t know what I’ll do’

The one that says the roads are so bad and it’s so horrible to stay home.  She had a scary accident on winter roads; so she’s afraid. They are not as bad as she thinks they are in her mind. But the experience of the wreck makes her afraid.

We are the same way about spiritual things. If we didn’t have the experience of growing up with a loving father, it is hard for us to relate to God being our father. But if we had a good father, then it is easy to relate to God being a loving father who only wants the best for us. It is easier to trust in spiritual things because of our experience.

Experience cannot be our entire driving force. Especially when it comes to spiritual things. God is a Spirit and we must worship him in Spirit and truth. We cannot allow our human experience to get in our way.  God takes the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

Education

Education cannot be allowed to get in the way of spiritual things. Some feel that they are superior to others if they have completed an education at a seminary or Christian school.  Education means nothing if they are not led by the Spirit. If they are taught man’s ideas or doctrines, they could even be dangerous, deceiving many.

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

Being led by the Spirit is critical to anyone in the ministry or really anyone that calls themselves a Christian. In order for us to walk by faith, we need to be empowered by God’s Spirit.  The Holy Ghost will teach us all things. He gives us the right words to speak to witness to and encourage others.  He is our guide and leads us in paths of righteousness.  He will give us power over the powers of the enemy. The Holy Spirit is the discerner of thoughts and will convict us when we step out of line.

God honors the bold and the brave. In order to have boldness against wickedness we need to grow a holy backbone; full of boldness. Allowing our God Focus to be on Jesus and not those around us. That holy boldness is what it is going to take in these last days to accomplish our tasks for the eternal kingdom of God.

Experience and education are good things in their place.  But none of it will replace being led by the Spirit of God. It should be our daily prayer, before our feet hit the floor every morning, that we be led by the Spirit and allow the fruit of the Spirit to show in our character. (Fruit of the Spirit is listed in Gal.5:22-23)

Take a few minutes and think about God’s plan for your life.  Then allow his boldness to arise in you.  He will empower you with His Spirit to be the light someone needs in their darkest hour.  One thing I do know he will never leave us alone, if we trust in Him.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

HERITAGE

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

The enemy is always scheming how he can tear us down. He is devising a weapon to destroy us. Each one of us has a different weapon that he uses against us because he knows our weaknesses. However, God says those weapons will not prosper.

It is our heritage. It is part of our bloodline as children of God.  We are born of the Spirit, we have Jesus’ blood, and we have the same rights to inherit things of God. Because Jesus overcame Satan and took the keys of death, hell and the grave from him, he cannot prevail against us unless we allow it.

What gives the enemy and his weapons power? It is the words that come out of our mouths. We start letting fear and anxiety take over and then we start talking negatively. This gives the enemy power, the things we choose to focus on, in this case, the negative things become bigger to us. If we can keep our God focus, He will be bigger to us. Because we know our God has our back. The enemy’s schemes will seem smaller and will not prosper against us.

We have power over the enemy because he is under our feet.  When I think about Satan being under our feet, I think about a little lady whom I was privileged to know.  She had such spunk, she took a black marker and wrote on the bottom of her shoe. ‘Devil, I am walking all over you.’  I learned so much from her. She suffered many things in her lifetime.  But she was always full of joy.  When she was buried, she had a golden fork in her hand. Because she wanted to remind everyone that it was not the end, but the best was yet to come.

The next time the enemy tries to attack, remind him that you are of the bloodline of Christ and no weapon he can create with prosper.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS