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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: HIGHLY FAVORED

There are many in the bible that had God’s favor, some were even highly favored. When you walk in a place that you have God’s favor, the enemy tries even harder to take you out. He wants to destroy you because you have God’s favor on you life. He understands better than we do that God uses those he favors to tear down strongholds of the enemy.

The thought of being highly favored sounds like a good place to be, but before you sign up to be next think about it. There is a price to be paid for that favor. Gabriel told Mary she was highly favored.  Mary suffered things that no other woman has ever suffered. She watched that baby grow up and become a man. Then she watched him be beaten beyond recognition. She watched him, who was innocent, nailed to a cross and she watched him die. Do you want to be highly favored?

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ. He was highly favored. Because he stood for truth and honesty, he ended up losing his head. But before the end he got to go out and tell people about Jesus. He had the privilege to be the one to baptize Jesus.

His life was full of adventure and miracles, he had many followers that went on to be followers of Jesus. Do you want to be highly favored?

There was a movement a few years ago that everyone was favored. They would say God will give you the best seats in the house. He will give you places of prestige and honor. But that was not exactly accurate. I am really about to blow up some of your theology. God will do things for one that he will not for another. Pause and let that sink in, God will do things for one that he will not for another. It doesn’t mean that he loves them more, but it is about relationship and trust.

Think about it this way, a man has several children. He loves them all. But will only allow certain ones to drive his car. Only the one he knows has the skills to drive and the proper license. He won’t turn the car over to his six year old. Because the six year old is not mature enough to handle it. But the eighteen year old that has always been obedient he will give the keys. But the sixteen year old that is always in trouble he is not so ready to turn over the keys.

If we want God’s favor in our lives we need to be obedient and follow his laws. When he shows us favor, we need to be prepared for those who God will not turn over the keys. They will be jealous and may try to stand in your way. Instead of acting with jealousy, they need to yield more fully to God. They must be obedient in order to find God’s favor.

It is not easy to be chosen and walk in favor. Look at the twelve disciples, out of the twelve, Jesus only let three into his inner circle. One of the remaining nine was a betrayer; Judas.

Eleven went on to be part of the original church, the one hundred and twenty that received the Holy Ghost. These original eleven suffered many things for the gospel. Yet they had God’s favor on their lives.

They spread the gospel across the ancient world. But in the process, angered a lot of people not willing to give up their money, power and position. They had false gods that served their purposes and didn’t want to know the truth. These people were often in charge of courts and governments. This is how most of them ended up dying for the gospel.

Let’s look at history, Peter went to Antioch and Rome. He was crucified upside down in Rome for the gospel. Andrew was crucified in Greece. James was martyred in Jerusalem. John is the only one who died naturally at an old age. But he was exiled to and island called Patmos where he couldn’t influence other people. Philip was crucified upside down at Phrygia. Bartholomew was martyred in India with a sword and beheaded. Thomas was pierced with spears and martyred in India. Matthew was stabbed to death in Ethopia for the truth of the gospel. The other James was thrown from the temple in Jerusalem. Thaddus travelled to Mesopotamia and was martyred in Beirut. Simon was killed in Persia. Methias who was the one that replace the betrayer, Judas, was stoned and beheaded in the Caspian region. These men along with others spread the gospel and paid a high price to tell someone about Jesus.

Today, we don’t want people to think we are weird or that we are uptight. We don’t want someone talking about us behind our backs. We have gotten too complacent, yet we want God’s favor.

To be favored of God doesn’t always mean that everything will be sunshine and rainbows. It often means you will walk through hard things. But it also means he will give you grace to face the hard things with his strength.

Job was favored by God, because he knew he could trust him with the attacks of the enemy. He knew Job would let his light shine. Do you want to be highly favored by God? If so I can promise your life will never be boring, but it will be full of obstacles that you can overcome as long as you keep your God Focus.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: FORGIVE

This week we are going back to basics. It is good to be reminded and make sure our foundation is solid. I have been feeling like God is wanting the church to go back to basics and check to see that they are still on the solid rock.

Many things can come into our lives slowly. We don’t even think about them at times. But the enemy can slowly chip away at our rightness and cause us to become wrong.

There is power in forgiveness. First, I want to share with you the most amazing power of forgiveness. Jesus was brutally beaten, mocked and tortured. But still he had forgiveness in his heart. He had forgiveness for every one of them that hurt him. He had so much forgiveness for us that he suffered for our sins.

After those people had beaten him, whipped him and tore open his flesh and after all the mocking then nailing him to a cross, he said, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. Such love and forgiveness goes beyond our human capacity to let go. It takes the spirit of God to help us to let go of certain things, but we have to be willing to try.  

Jesus was our example, as followers of Christ we are to strive to walk as much like he did as possible. Walking in forgiveness is something that we all struggle with from time to time. Things happen that cause us hurt and disappointment. People do not always have our best interest at heart. Which causes us pain and unforgiveness.

Carrying the weight of what has happened comes with the weight of unforgiveness. When we do not forgive, we keep ourselves tied to the situation. Not forgiving keeps us tied to the situation and the hurt. It is impossible to heal from being hurt when we don’t forgive.

Some say, I forgive but I won’t forget. This statement is true and false. Yes, our memory will recall the situation from time to time, like so many of our experiences. But not forgetting, means you are purposefully holding onto the situation as if you are waiting for the right time to retaliate.

Matt 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We do not forgive for the other person, we forgive for ourselves. It doesn’t matter if they are sorry or not. It makes no difference if they ever admit wrong doing or ask for forgiveness. We have to live by Jesus’ example and forgive them even if they don’t know what they have done.

God will hold us accountable for our unforgiveness. In order to accept his forgiveness, we have to give the same courtesy to others. Even if they don’t deserve it. Because we do not deserve to be forgiven for trespassing against God’s laws. Yet he extended to us the ultimate forgiveness. When we truly forgive, we are releasing ourselves from the hurtful situations.

Is the situation worth holding on to so much that you would risk not being forgiven.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

We cannot fall into the enemy’s trap to allow unforgiveness to harden our hearts. God cannot use a hardened heart. He can only use a heart that is surrendered to him. A heart of compassion, love and forgiveness.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: STAND STILL AND WAIT

Standing still and waiting for God to move is always a hard thing to do. We pray, and then we have to stand on our faith, knowing God will answer. He rarely answers the way we think he will. His timing rarely happens when we think it should or want it to be. If we wait on him, doors will open that we could not have even imagined.

We are not the first to be surprised at how God chooses to help us in our situations. There is no way the children of Israel could have known that God was going to provide them an escape through the Red Sea. Many of them didn’t even see God delivering them at all. They accused Moses of bringing them out into the desert to die. But God came through for them and saved them from their enemy. I am sure that many responded first with shock, seeing the waters part.

God sometimes shows up in ways we cannot even imagine. He is never late, but always right on time. There is often a wait between the realization of the problem and God showing how He will deliver. Moses told the people to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. 

Standing is the hardest thing to do. I am sure the time from the revelation to the time that the answer was revealed was quick for the children of Israel. For us,  sometimes it takes days, weeks, months, or even years to see the solution. But he is still God. It is in the time of the “standing still” that our faith is tried. We cannot be guilty of doubting the Lord. Doubt and worry are not faith, but break down our faith. He will see us through if we stand strong on his promises. I want to share a few verses with you.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

The Lord is not slack but is long-suffering. He wants what is best for us. He loved us so much that he didn’t want to see us perish and die in our sin. So, how much more is he willing to do for those who are his children and have accepted the work of the cross? Those who carry his Spirit inside of them. We should have faith to believe He will do what He has promised. It may not happen the way we think or want it to happen. But He will take care of our situations and answer our prayers. He has promised us eternal life if we choose to follow him.

Number 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?    

If God says He will do something, you can be sure He will do it. He is incapable of lying. Because God is the truth.

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

God tells us to not fear because He goes with us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He says He will uphold us with the right hand of His righteousness.

Is 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

This verse says If we wait on the Lord. In other words, stand still and be patient for him to work out our situations. If we wait on him and not try to fix things on our own, He will lift us up as if we are carried above our circumstances. Soaring high above the issues like an eagle would fly. He will give us the strength to run this race that is set before us. We will keep going and will not faint or give up. Because He gives us the strength to keep going.  But it takes standing and waiting on the Lord. His timing is not our timing.

There is nothing in this life that we will ever face alone if we are His children. He has promised to provide for us. He has promised us power over the powers of the enemy so that we can stand strong. The comforter will be our peace, our guide, all we need to empower us to stand still and wait on the Lord.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: BE CAREFUL

There is a children’s song that should apply to all of God’s people today. It says, be careful little eyes what you see. We are in the middle of an information explosion of evil that has been done right under our noses with our tax payer dollars. In our quest for understanding there is a lot that we need to guard our hearts from taking in through our sight. Once you see something, you cannot unsee it.

I have a friend that clicked on a video, and it was disguised as one thing but ended up being a video of a man abusing a child. It crushed her spirit for days. She had to pray for several days to shake the evil she felt. This was a few years ago.

I was reminded of her experience recently with all the talk of witchcraft at the super bowl. There was at least one woman with a voodoo doll of a player, she sat the whole game poking it with needles. Some may not think this stuff is real, but the enemy has power.  The powers of darkness are real, but God’s power is stronger.  We need to be careful about what we watch on television and what we open on social media.

These people use click bait to flaunt their evil. It used to be evil was hidden in dark alleys and secret clubs. Now satan knows his time is short and he has it all out on display for all the world to see.

Psalm 101:2-3 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.

We need to pray over our homes, our children and pets. Pray over our phones, TV’s and computers, that God will protect us from evil. I don’t say these things to cause fear, but it is a reminder to be wise and aware of what is going on it this world.

Be careful little ears what you hear.

There is an agenda by evil people in this world to make sure the air waves are bombarded by music and other forms of so called entertainment, that is full of evil. Their agenda is to see how much of their evil they can spread. They do not care about people they care about money. It is their god, and they will do anything to gain more and more of it.

Romans 10: 16-17 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

People will not always believe our report. But we are obligated to keep telling them. Because they will gain faith by hearing the word of God. The word will eventually take root and grow as long as the ground is good.

This also goes the opposite way, if we are listening constantly to the wrong things it will take root in our lives and suddenly the things that used to bother us, we have grown numb to and will overlook. Just as we need to guard our eyes we need to guard out ear. Pray for God to tell you the things he has for you. Speak his word out loud as you read, hearing his word and understanding it will give you faith and spiritual strength.

Which brings me to my next point, the words of our mouth. I often have spoken about how our words have power in our lives. It is easy in a moment of frustration to speak negatively about a situation. With that one sentence we have undone our prayers. Because we have to believe and have faith in what we are praying for, speaking the opposite only serves to void those prayers because we are showing God we don’t really believe He will come through for us.

Matt 12:33-37 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.  37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Human beings are naturally negative, we have to train ourselves to not listen to our flesh but to speak life and the things of God. We need to guard our mouth and make sure we are saying things that are words of faith. Words that God would have us to say.

Never before in any generation of America have, we had to fight such evil. It is time we prayed for God to help us to set a guard on what we see, hear and say. Be vigilant; our enemy, satan, is trying to destroy us all, but we will prevail as long as we guard our hearts.

God is trying to get his church ready for the harvest. Soon there will be a large amount of people flocking to the house of God. We have to be ready to help them by being in a position that God can use us to not judge them, but share His love with them all.

Take some time to think about what you see, hear and say. If Jesus were in the room, would you be ok with him watching, hearing what you hear or say? Then remind yourself he is in the room, because he is everywhere.

He only wants what is best for you and so do I.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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