Tag: #faithwalk

GOD’S FIRE

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The title of today’s episode: GOD’S FIRE

What made the burning bush that Moses encountered so special? What made it different from all other bushes? Why did he notice it?

It was on fire but was not destroyed by that fire. God used the fire to get Moses’ attention. How will God get people’s attention today? He will send down the fire. The church for too long has denied the power of God. If people cannot control it, they don’t want it.

Our God is a consuming fire. He burns out all that within us that is not of him. This is why our trials are called fiery trials. Because they are purifying us. But the fire I want to talk about is the fire of God.

The children of Israel were led by a pillar of fire. It also was there standing wall between them and the enemy. It gave light to God’s people and brought darkness to the enemy.

Just as the blood of the lamb on the door post represented Jesus atonement for sin. This pillar of fire represented the Holy Ghost that was given on the day of Pentecost. This fire from God will be our guide.

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.

We have to allow the Spirit of God to lead us. For too long we have had our programs and ideas of what church should be like, it is so programmed that there is not time for God to move and do what He wants to do for his people.

So the pillar of fire that goes before us, is God’s Spirit. The separation from our enemy is also the spirit of God. If it was not for God we would be overtaken by the enemy.

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

The Spirit will lift up a flood wall to keep us from being overtaken. We need the fire of God in our life. Most of you will relate to the little lady on the movie War Room. She is fiery, and I am sure the enemy shakes in his shoes when she wakes up in the morning.

If we can catch on fire, our fire will produce light that will shine out and others will see that we are different. That fire will not destroy us. We will be like the burning bush God used to talk to Moses. We will shine, but will not be destroyed. There were probably many bushes around but the only one that caught Moses’ attention was the one on fire. It was the only one God used to talk out of.

We can no longer be a body of lip service. We have to be the body of God’s light. We have to be able to pray for people and God will move in their lives. Many needs delivered from horrible situations. Only God can help them, it is beyond our human capacity to help most of them, but God can deliver. He can save, heal, deliver and set free. But only if someone catches fire.

Matt 5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

A candle will not light a room without fire. We need God’s holy fire to be stirred up in us. A camp fire will die down to only a few embers, but as long as the coals are hot the fire can burn again by adding some wood and blowing gently on the coals.

As the body, it is time we throw some wood on the fire of revival. Ask God to send the gentle breeze of his breath to cause the tiny coals we still have to turn into a roaring fire of revival once again.

Just as Elijah called fire down from heaven to prove his God. We too can be a fire starter. Many people on the mountain that day needed to see that God was real. We need to be the ones today that shows them he is not just a fairy tale from an old outdated book. This time the sacrifice is not a bull, like it was in Elijah’s day, but it is our praise and worship. It is about our relationship with the one true and living God. If we make ourselves a living sacrifice like the word says, we can be that light God wants us to be.

The world is waiting to see some light. They are needing the warmth to step out of the coldness and cruelty.

Ask God to make you his mouthpiece, allow you to be the on fire tree that is a light to someone. The world needs the church to be that beacon of hope full of God’s holy fire, once again.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 186 THE WAY OUT

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: THE WAY OUT

We often find ourselves in the middle of trial. These things happen for many reasons. It doesn’t matter how bad the trial, we can worship our way out. The word says that God inhabits the praise of his people. Praise and worship gets his attention.

We do not worship in an action only, as if to butter up God for a favor. He is not one to be manipulated. But if we can learn to praise him, from a sincere place in our hearts, he will come to our prisons of trouble, he will shake the jail and set us free.

I said it that way, because that is what happened to Paul and Silas. They had been taken prisoner for preaching the gospel. Other believers gathered to pray on their behalf.

Acts 16:22-24 And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: 24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Paul and Silas went about doing good. They had cast a devil out of a woman who was being forced to basically be a fortune teller. But once that spirit was cast out of her, she could no longer make money for her masters. They stirred up the people against them and they were thrown into jail.

What would we do in their position? Would we complain about how much our backs hurt from our beating? Would we have a pity party and sit in the dark jail until someone bailed us out?

Acts 16:25-26 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Notice God shook the foundations of the prison, then the doors were open. The doors of all of them were opened. Then he loosed their bands. It took a shaking of the foundation to set them free. Sometimes we build our lives on things that are not the right foundation and God has got to shake the foundation to set us free from our prison.

For example: I keep feeling like God is calling for unity in the body of Christ. God is shaking the foundation of our religion so that we can be set free to just be His body. This is something everyone of us needs to be praying, “Lord remove religion and help me to see you in a deeper way. I want to walk in your ways and not be bound by man’s traditions and man’s religion.”

Acts 16:27-30 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

People are watching our lives. They see us in our storms and wonder how we are even breathing at times. When a tragedy hits us and we are stuck in the prison of our pain, sickness or grief for a season. But if we can keep praising God in the middle of our pain and our prison, God will set us free and use that to help others find Him.

When this jailor realized that he would not be executed for letting the prisoners escape he came and fell down before them and asked them to introduce him to Jesus.

We never know how strong we can be until we are faced with the trials of life. But if we face them with prayer and praise. God can use our dark times to set free those around us who are bound. We will be able to be a witness for the cause of Christ if we can just learn to worship and war with prayer and praise.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 185 WORSHIP THE LORD

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: WORSHIP THE LORD

Never before in history do we need God’s presence like we need him today. It is impossible to turn on the TV, look at social media or even go to the grocery store without being bombarded by evil. The enemy has ramped up his spiritual attacks on everyone. He is determined to destroy the next generation. But God has other plans.

No one has a bigger heart for children than our God. He loves that they are completely honest and open. But their innocence and honesty sometime is a handicap when it comes to satan. But it is not just children that do not know how to handle the enemy. Many of us as adults struggle with it.

How can we get to a place that God will be there and listen when we call? It is all about our relationship with him. Once we are saved, that is not a place that we can get comfortable and sit down and wait until the rapture. That is the beginning of our work here on earth. We are called to go make disciples or followers of Christ. We cannot do that if we do not have a real relationship with him.

Opening our bibles only on Sunday and only praying over our food is not enough to really build a relationship.

Psalm 145:18 The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

We cannot have a relationship with someone we do not ever talk to, the same way goes for God. We need to spend time with him getting to know him. He inhabits the praise of his people. He wants us to worship him. We need to lavish love upon him.

Imagine being engaged to someone who only wanted to be kind to you when they wanted you to do something for them. What kind of a relationship would that be; not a very good one. But I am sure God feels like we don’t care unless we need him to fix something that is wrong in our lives.

Our prayer sessions are all about the needs of us and others. But do we stop and listen for him to speak?

Worship is the key that opens the door to everything else in the spirit realm. We open ourselves up to whatever we worship. If that is God or our evil enemy, worship draws us closer to what we praise.

Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

We are living in a day and time when God will not accept less than our whole heart. When we give our heart to Jesus, we cannot take any of it back to walk in the ways of the world.

We have been given his promise to seal our marriage contract. He gave us the Holy Ghost to be our engagement ring. The first fruits and down payment.

2 Cor. 1-20-22 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

The earnest of the Spirit, means our downpayment of His Spirit working in our lives.

God wants our worship more than that of the angels. They were created to worship. God created us for friendship, to have a relationship with him. Then sin entered our world. Now we have to connect to God through worship and prayer.

The book of Psalms is full of beautiful passages about praise. David learned in isolation what it would take to carry him when he stepped out in faith to walk in his calling. We all have things God has created us to do.

He will show us the way if we fellowship with him in times of worship. Every day is a new chance to raise our hands in praise and thanksgiving. Church, we are in the home stretch, the finish line is in sight, how will we finish our race? How many sheaves will we bring along in our harvest baskets?

It is all about Jesus and it is all about helping the lost give their hearts to Jesus. Not in word only, but to truly, fully, openly, to be 100% sold out to the cause of Christ.

Worship will light the fire in our hearts to go out and share what wonderful things God has done for us. I pray that God lights you up so brightly that you reach your area of influence. The harvest is ready and there are few laborers to gather them into the barns. Go out and make a difference in someone’s world today.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 35-STRIKE THE GROUND

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Hello My Friends,

The title of today’s episode is: “STRIKE THE GROUND”

II KGS 13:14-19 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. 15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. 16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands. 17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed. 19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.

In the Word, all the different kings that were over Israel and Judah it lists their names and says they did evil in the sight of the Lord, or they did good in the sight of the Lord. Every time they did evil, God removed his protection, and they ended up in war, being defeated in war, being taken captive…bad things happened.

In this passage I just read, they had been under the rule of someone who did evil in the sight of the Lord. The Syrian army had all but wiped them out.

Elisha was on his death bed when King Joash came to him to pay respect to the prophet. He was concerned with the pending battles with Syria. Elisha told him to open a window eastward and to shoot an arrow. This was a prophetic act; he was saying we are going to strike the enemy with your bow and arrow. Elisha placed his hand on the kings to signify that he could not do it alone but needed God’s anointing. It wasn’t that the king couldn’t have shot the arrow alone. He was a warrior and had used a bow many times. But in order to win the battles ahead he needed God’s hand covering his.

Then in another prophetic act Elisha told Joash to take his arrows and smite upon the ground. Joash hit the ground three times and then stopped. Elisha was upset with him because he stopped. He told him he should have hit the ground five or six times, and it would have completely wiped out the enemy.

Some say the king stopped because he had sympathy for his enemy. I tend to lean to the other explanation, he was King, and used to people bowing to him. He had to be a little arrogant and felt it unnecessary to humble himself and be obedient. He half-heartedly hit the ground three times, probably out of respect for Elisha and nothing else. Maybe he didn’t understand the significance of his prophetic act. Because he was not enthusiastic about the task he was given by God, he didn’t completely defeat his enemy. We have to be enthusiastic about the things God asks of us. We have to do them with all our hearts.

Verse twenty-five, of the same Chapter says that three times he went against the Syrians and three times he recovered the cities of Israel. Just imagine if he had been more obedient. What would have happened if had hit the ground with enthusiasm and many times? Elisha says that he would have destroyed the enemy.

After he went against Syria three times and recovered the cities of Israel the tide turned once again under the reign of Jeroboam II.

Take this to heart, we need to take control of things when we are strong. Because if we don’t the enemy will come back when we are weak and defeat us. Each generation has a responsibility to the next to overcome generational curses or it will continue to be passed along to the next generation.

Learn from the kings of Israel and do what is right in the sight of the Lord. Tear down the idols and places of idol worship from past generations. Never be too proud to look silly if God tells you to strike the ground with arrows; it could be significant to the future.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

NEW SHOES- A NEW LEVEL OF YOUR FAITH WALK

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Hello My Friends,

The title of today’s episode is: “NEW SHOES, NEW LEVEL OF OUR FAITH WALK”

We often are told to not judge someone but to try walking a mile in their shoes. In other words, we do not understand how difficult things are until we are in the same situation. Often, the things we think we would not do under the same circumstances, we find ourselves doing when we end up walking the same road. This is why we are told to not judge one another only God knows all and is qualified to judge.

We are not meant to walk in anyone’s shoes but our own. Just like a child that goes through the house wearing their parent’s shoes. They scuff along, dragging the shoes that are obviously like giant shoes to their tiny feet. God designs our lives in many different seasons. Sometimes, the shoes we are wearing must change with the seasons. For example, we wouldn’t want to wear sandals in the middle of winter. They would not provide the protections we need. But they are much needed in the hot summer months to keep our feet from getting too hot.’We are not meant to walk in anyone’s shoes but our own. Just like a child that goes through the house wearing their parents shoes. They scuff along, dragging the shoes that are obviously like giant shoes to their tiny feet. God designs our lives in many different seasons. Sometimes, the shoes we are wearing must change with the seasons. For example, we wouldn’t want to wear sandals in the middle of winter. They would not provide the protections we need. But they are much needed in the hot summer months to keep our feet from getting too hot.

When we are born, we are given baby shoes to wear. Because we do not know how to walk, these often do not even get dirty on the bottoms. As we grow, we learn to walk and have outgrown the first shoes. The new shoes help us balance and take our first steps.

Then we grow from toddler to child, we get other shoes. During the course of childhood to adulthood, we will wear many shoes. Some are just regular shoes, some for athletics, maybe even tap or ballet. Dress shoes for the first school dance, our first set of high heels, or hunting boots.

Our spiritual lives can also come with lots of shoes for different seasons of life. I mentioned trying to walk in our parent’s shoes. God never meant for our experiences to be exactly like those of our parents, grandparents, brothers, or sisters. God has specific shoes made for us because of the path that he is taking us down. He has created us to have our own “faith” walk.

We often feel pressure when our parents have walked their “faith” walk well. We do not feel equipped to live up to their reputation. In some cases, their expectations. If we are not careful, we will run in the opposite direction from where we need to be because fear causes us to take the wrong path. Suddenly, satan is giving us shoes. He will take us to a place where the terrain is not made for us. We may end up on a rocky terrain in flip-flops. Walking in his shoes will cause cuts and painful blisters because the shoes don’t fit.

We cannot ever let other people’s opinions of where we need to be in life change what God is doing in our lives. No one else is wise enough to create just the perfect size shoes for the size of our current “faith” walk.

I want to share a little story with you. I call it tennis shoe wisdom. When I was a child, just learning to tie my shoes. Dad told me I couldn’t go to the store with him unless I tied my own shoes. I struggled with it for a little while then I did what any kid would do, I went to someone older and wiser. I asked my grandpa to tie my shoes. But if I had not let go of the strings, he could not have tied the shoes.

Often, we try to do things on our own, struggling. Then we decide to take it to God to handle for us. But now comes the hard part, we must let go of the strings. He cannot tie our shoes and move us into the next phase of life if we are holding onto the strings. We must trust that He knows what He is doing and will take care of the problem.

Proverbs 16:9 – The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. God puts things on our hearts sometimes and we feel strongly that we need to step out in faith. We make our plans and start walking. But for those plans to be established, we have to commit them to the Lord and make sure they align with His plan for our lives.

In order to walk things out in faith, we have to trust His plan and His timing.

Proverbs 16:3 – Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

God has ordained our steps. What does ordain mean? To decree, command, order, fix or establish. This shows us that our lives are his craft, he has created with skill His plan. Workmanship is the sign of someone with skills to design or create something, a craftsman.

This verse is saying that we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that he has skillfully planned and established. We need to put on our shoes, allow God to tie them and walk this “faith” walk with the courage to know that he has established our path.

It is my prayer for you that you find yourself growing in your “faith” walk and that God will decide that you need a new level in him. When He does, you will get new shoes.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS