Tag: 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

SEASONS

ECCL 3:1-8

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The scripture in Ecclesiastes lists different seasons that will happen in our lives. There are many things listed there, good and bad. Nowhere in that list does it say there is a season to give up and sit down. It doesn’t say a time to throw up your hands and let satan win. He can only win if we quit. Other than that he has no power over our lives.

I Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

We are to fight the good fight of faith. We need to dig into the Word and find things to encourage us in our faith. We need to be a light to the world. Giving up and quitting because someone hurt our feelings is not a reason. That is allowing our circumstances to seem bigger than our God. No one or nothing is bigger than our God. There is no reason to give up on Him. He has never given up on us.

We need to use the sword of the word against the enemy. When he tells us we are defeated, we can turn to the Word. And say satan Romans 8:37 says…Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

We need to be steadfast, unmovable in our faith. We can only have such faith by putting on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10). By growing in strength, grace and wisdom through the study of the word. We can only be unmovable in our faith, once that faith gets into our spirit. Our inward man is renewed day by day. We cannot be renewed if we don’t talk with God and spend time listening for him to speak to us. If there is dust on the bible, that is a good sign we do not study the word enough. It needs to become a part of us.

Remember when things look bad, there is a miracle in the making. I am sure it was scary for the three Hebrew children right before they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Right before deliverance. Things looked scary as the Pharoah and his army came racing toward the Israelites and they had nowhere to go. Right before the sea was parted. God is always on time and will protect and deliver his people, we just have to stand firm on the word of God. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for every purpose under heaven. It doesn’t say giving up is one of the things we have time to do.

It’s time to burn the ships and be determined to not turn around. We have nowhere to go but forward. There is nothing behind us but slavery to the enemy and his minions. There is nothing but grief and spiritual death behind us. We are almost to our father’s house, why would we turn around and quit.

I have walked through a lot of seasons in my lifetime. Everyone has taught me a lesson. The constant lesson I learn is that I can put my trust in God. He will never leave us or forsake us, he has promised to be with us through every season.

MEEK

The fruit of the spirit is also meekness, which means humility; to be humble. Meek is defined as quiet, gentle, mild-mannered, submissive, not proud, or boastful.

Sometimes people will get in a position where God will use them. And then they start to feel like they’re superior to everyone around them who God is not using currently or hasn’t used in the past. People that are just learning to be in a position where God can use them. They get all puffed up like they’re better than everyone else. Look at me, look what God used me to do. What’s wrong with you that God didn’t use you?

God will use people and things to further his purpose. The next time you get all exalted, puffed up like you think you’re better than everyone else, think about the story of Balem found in Numbers 22:21-38. He was a prophet that was heading the wrong way and God sent an Angel and put it in his path. And this guy was so determined to not listen to God. That he didn’t even see the Angel. But the ass, he was riding, turned twice away and then stopped. It would not go any further. He yelled at it. Beat on it. Still, it refused to move. Because it was more afraid of the Angel in its path than it was him. Then the ass talked to him. If God can use an ass to turn a corrupt prophet around, who are we to be getting puffed up? Thinking we’re better than everyone else.

You know, we need God to guide us and to go before us. And to lead us to where we need to go. But God’s plan and his purpose will be fulfilled, with or without us. He will find someone willing to do what he has asked them to do. So, when you start getting a little bit puffed up, think about it. God just wants us to be real. He wants us to be authentic. He doesn’t want a counterfeit. You know, there’s too much stuff in the world that’s fake. He wants the real deal. He wants us to worship him with our heart and not just with our lips. He wants us to be meek and humble, before him and mankind. The more we stay in the word and get to know God, the more fruit he will produce in our lives.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

GUARD DUTY

Philippians 4:6-8 KJV (6)Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus., (8) Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

There is a song that children often learn in Sunday school. It goes, “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father, up above is looking down in love. So be careful little eyes what you see.” It goes on with ears what you hear, tongues what you say, hands what you do, feet where you go, heart whom you trust and mind what you think.

This is amazing advice that adults should follow. We need to be ever-vigilant to guard ourselves against the enemy. He is waiting to destroy us and try to use our human emotions and reasoning against us. He will show us shiny things to lure us away from doing the right thing. Our eyes can see things that create emotional responses that get our minds to question the right path. If we don’t guard our eyes. We need to ask God to give us spiritual eyes so that we can see the things of him.

Satan is the father of lies. He will come whispering things that sound so close to the truth that many are deceived. We need to ask God for us to be able to hear with spiritual ears what he wants for our lives. Proverbs 4:20:21 KJV My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. (21) Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thine heart.,

I have often warned about the words we say out of our mouths, they can be a blessing or a curse to our lives. We need to be ever-vigilant about the negative words we say. I am not even speaking about gossip, although most of us know how God feels about gossip. Our words have the power to transform our lives and the lives of others.

We need to keep our hands busy doing the things we should do to build the kingdom. Having loving hands to carry a meal to a family in sickness or grief. Mowing a sick neighbor’s grass, anything that can show God’s love to someone.

Our feet are to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost of this world. We don’t have time to be going to places where God cannot be found. It is easy to get into trouble when our feet go where they don’t belong. Proverbs 4:26 KJV Ponder the path of thy feet, And let all thy ways be established.

The battle starts in the mind. The things we see, and hear, will cause us to speak, do and go places. If we don’t keep a guard on our mind lust will draw our hearts away from God and allow us to speak, do and go where we do not belong, falling into sin.

James 1:12-15 12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

We are wise to teach children that information in a song. It is harder to forget. We are even wiser to use the advice in the song as a guide for our adult life. Make no mistake, God is there to help us guard our hearts and minds. We just have to lean on Him and build our relationship. If we have a relationship with Him, we will want to please Him. That gives us strength and incentive to guard our lives against all the ways the enemy can attack.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

BELIEVE GOD

There is a story in 2 Kings 7 – Samaria was in a bad famine. The Lord spoke to Elisha to tell the people that the famine was ending.

7:1 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.

The king’s assistant didn’t believe Elisha and went on to speak negatively out of his mouth. (Our words are serious business.) Elisha told him he would see the fine flour to be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, but he would not eat of it.

There are lessons about the lepers that are in this story. But I am going to skip over them for now except to say. God used them to scare off an army. They went back to Samaria and told them their enemy had left their camp and there were a lot of spoils. This is how that flour came to be at the gate for sale.

2 Kings 7:17 And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said, who spake when the king came down to him. (18) And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: (19) And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. (20) And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.

The man died because of his unbelief and the words in his mouth. Pause a moment and think about that…he died because he didn’t believe the one God sent and he spoke against what the prophet of God had said.

Any time God does something the enemy has to counterfeit it. God has prophets, the enemy created fortune tellers and psychics. The difference is a prophet of God gets their words from God. Psychics and fortune tellers get information from evil spirits or witchcraft.

The seriousness of the man’s words cost him his life. We are living in serious times. We are on the edge of a breakthrough. Many people are saying that God told them things that are going to come to pass. One being a great harvest of souls. Another is that God is going to give his children back our nation. The one I pray about everyday is for God to set free the children that are enslaved in human trafficking. All of these things sound amazing. But before we get negative, remember how serious it is to doubt God. When someone tells you God said, first of all check your bible, does it line up with the word of God.

GAL 1:8-9 (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

If it does not go against the Bible, pray about it. Ask God to show you. Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. God will give you confirmation if you are humble before God and ask him. Never just assume that they are wrong and speak negatively out of your mouth against it.

It is easy to get wrapped up in our ideas, theologies, and religion. It is easy to dismiss things we do not fully understand. God did not create a body of believers for us to not be in unison. Denominations and man’s organizations have divided the body for too long. We have warred with each other over ideas and doctrines that mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

It is time for God’s people to unite and seek him to give us the answers. If we seek him with our whole hearts, He will reveal Himself to us. He will show us His plan. Set a guard over your mouth and watch your words and ask him for a revelation.

NO TIME

Feeling pressed for time seems to be a part of the American lifestyle. We never seem to have enough time to do what we need to do and want to do. Often, we feel like we do not have time to pray or read God’s word. It is a fact that people make time for what is important to them. Martin Luther said, “Show me where a man spends his time and money and I will show you his god.”

Many are driven in business and are very successful because they work hard all of their life. What does it really profit us if we gain earthly things and lose our souls? Fame, Money, Recognition and Adoration of the masses all mean nothing without God. We need to be like Joshua and Elijah. It is time we choose God. The battle lines are being drawn. Make sure you are on the right side when the dust settles.

Even Moses asked Who is on the Lord’s side? This was after Israel had committed idolatry by making a golden calf. While Moses was on the mountain getting the ten commandments, they were breaking each of them in the camp below the mountain. Only a few stood back and didn’t participate in idol worship.

Joshua 24:15-17 14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

Later in the Bible, in the book of I Kings, the people were asked to choose again. Ahab met with Elijah and they talked about how Ahab thought Elijah was troubling Israel. Elijah answered back that Ahab’s father’s house had forsaken the Lord to follow Baal, a false god. Elijah suggested that they gather all of Israel and the prophets of Baal to the top of Mt. Carmel.

20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24 And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.

The prophets of Baal went first; they cried and cried from morning until night. They cut themselves with knives and bled for their god. Nothing happened. Elijah got his turn and he said a simple prayer, then suddenly, an explosion of fire fell from the heavens. It not only consumed the offering but the wood and the water in the trench.

Notice verse 21. Elijah asked them how long they were going to try to serve the Lord and serve Baal. The church of today is lukewarm and trying to “straddle the fence.” The lines are being drawn today. People’s fate hangs in the balance. I encourage you to choose the ONE TRUE GOD, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. There are many things and gods of this world to distract us. But make no mistake, when God is ready to call his children home, there will be “no time” to get ready. Everyone’s fate will be sealed. Don’t be left behind because of a lesser god. The one true God is waiting to hear your choice and accept your answer.

It is time for the warriors of God, to make sure you are battling on the right side. We can defeat the enemy, by investing the time to pray and speak faith. We will find time for what is important. I encourage you to make GOD a priority, and see how life will change.

A LESSON FROM JEHOSHAPHAT

Rejoice, for victory is ours. Just as in the days of Jehoshaphat, we can sometimes find ourselves surrounded by the enemy. He did something that, to the natural world, looks stupid. He put worshippers out in front of the army.

2 Chronicles 20: 1- It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.

He received word that many others were plotting to come against him from beyond the sea. He feared and he started seeking God. He declared a fast throughout all of Judah. The people prayed and God honored their prayers.

God told them to go down before their enemy.

In verse 17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, not be dismayed; tomorrow go our against them: for the Lord will be with you.

They worshipped the Lord for what he had said to them. The next morning, they rose early to start the march to the wilderness. Jehoshaphat stood before them and said (verse 20) ….Believe in the Lord your God, so shall be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.

21 And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. 22 And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. 23 For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 24 And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. 25 And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

God took the enemies of his people and turned them against each other. By the time they arrived, the enemies had destroyed one another. All that was left for Jehoshaphat’s army was to collect all the spoils of war. It took them three days to gather all the riches of the enemy.

God will take what the enemy tried to use against us and give us a blessing while destroying our enemy. Today we have an enemy that is determined to destroy us. He hates us because God loves us. He wants to take each of us to hell. He cannot harm us if we keep our focus on God. God has made promises to his people today just as he did in the Old Testament. He wants to prosper us and bless us. He will go before us and fight for us.

We need to remember how Jehoshaphat put his worshippers out front before the battle. In the natural, that seems like a ridiculous idea. They would be mowed down by the enemy without protection. But God told them to march, but they would not have to fight. Worship invites God’s presence. The word says he inhabits the praise of his people.

He will go before us and fight for us. We need to go to war on our knees. We need to first invite God’s presence to us through worship. Then we pray for God to destroy the evil in our country. America needs to be saved from an enemy that is not a country but satan himself. The pure evil that is consuming and taking over everything.

By faith, we can reach out and pull down the enemy’s strongholds in the land. By faith, we can ask God to allow the evil to be revealed so that it can be destroyed. We will not have to fight if we have prepared for battle with prayer and worship. God is calling for his prayer warriors to go to battle on their knees. He is asking for his worshippers to arise.

He will fight our battles if we keep our eyes on him. He is craving a relationship with us. He wants us to get back to the place where he is the center of our lives. He wants to have his rightful place and that is first. If we keep our God Focus, we have nothing to fear.

Have a good week, my friends.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

NO OTHER gods

The Old Testament is full of stories that say this king did what was right in the sight of God and the whole country was blessed. But when a new king would come to power, they would be less than enthusiastic about God. They would create false gods made of clay or even gold. They would build up the groves (a place to worship false gods). The whole country would suffer. America is in a state of things looking bad. Evil is in charge of making our laws and we are doing things that are not right in the sight of God. The darkness of evil is so smothering we do not have a clue just how bad it really is around the world. Idolatry and evil are out of control. Children are being harmed as a result of false idol worship.

But God can turn it around in a day. He is all-powerful. We have something to do about the state of our world. God has asked us to humble ourselves and pray. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. I feel like the church needs to wake up. At least a large part of the body. This starts with me; it starts with you.

One of the first things we need to do is ask God to search our hearts. Psalm 139: 23-24 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The only way we can point the way for someone else is first to be able to see clearly ourselves. Prayer for our country. Being humble before our God. Asking him to search us and help us find anything that is not pleasing to him in our lives. Once we have cleaned out anything that is not pleasing to God. The next thing we need to do is, encourage others to follow Christ. Encourage them to tear down the idols in their lives.

Some idols are obvious; you have an actor, actress, musician or sports figure that you think can do no wrong. People desire to meet them, and they make them seem more important than they are in reality. Other idols can be actual statues, like Budda or Morlock. Some people chose to worship the stars, the sun and moon. Wrong thinking and ideas can become a god. Like worshiping the earth. Idols are created when we allow the desires of the flesh to change our thinking patterns. We end up concentrating on the wrong things.

The definition of idolatry –extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone:

God says he is to be first in our lives. Many of us have a hard time putting him in his rightful place. Anything we put between us and God is at risk of becoming an idol. Most of us are not dancing around a golden calf or bowing to Baal. (Although some in our country are doing such evil) We can make many things a god to us. Our spouse, children, our car, our home, our money, or even a job.

Some people make a god out of their church. They are more in love with their fancy buildings with their big screens and man-made programs. They are in love with the idea of community and all the busy things they do to feel good about themselves that they make it a god. I am not saying we cannot have nice church buildings or anything that I listed. We do these things because we love God and want to do his will in the earth. Just that the things we do for God can not become something that defines us, instead of our relationship with the ONE TRUE GOD. He should be the one who defines us.

Exodus 20 lists the ten commandments. Verse 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

We can make sure God has his rightful place in our life by keeping our “God focus” and magnify him in praise and worship. Having an active prayer life does a lot for our perspective on God. There is One God; Our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the devil believes there is one God and trembles. No substitution will do. We must worship Him in spirit and truth.

The church needs to get back to its worship of God. Allowing him into our services to move and operate as he sees fit. That is when we will see people saved, healed and delivered from the things that have them bound. As long as we are happy with our routines and the Christian things we do, nothing will change.

How hungry are we for a real move of God? How hungry are we to see people saved, healed and delivered? How much do we desire to go to the enemy’s camp and take back what belongs to us? Satan, for too long, has had possession of our country. It is time we got on our knees and took it back.

I encourage you to think about your focus. Is it a “God focus,” or is something in the way of your “God focus”. Remember, prayer and time spent alone with him is the key to seeing our country saved, not only from the present evil but people delivered from their personal spiritual wars.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

UNDOING LIES

Almost everyone has played the telephone game. It is where a group of people sit in a circle and one
whispers to another. This goes on until everyone has a turn to whisper what they heard. When the sentence gets back to the original speaker, it is rarely what they said to
start the round. This is what happens with a lie. Normally the lie seems small, some call them little
white lies, but by the time the lie comes to the end, it is blown up bigger. With this game, it is all fun
and everyone is trying to actually share the original words.

What happens if someone comes along and whispers lies? This is Satan’s most used tool. He likes to
plant ideas, fears and regrets into our day. Moses sent twelve spies to look at the promised land.
Ten came back with a bad report. They said the giants were big and they allowed fear
to overtake them and they gave up too quickly on what God had promised.

By the time they talked about it for a while, they were saying, “we are like grasshoppers in their sight.”
Think about that for a moment. Yes, the giants were larger in stature, but to say the Israelites were like
grasshoppers compared to them was a huge exaggeration. Did you notice the spies that came back with
a bad report didn’t even have proof they had been in the land?

Then came Joshua and Caleb. No doubt, Satan had tried to whisper the lies to them too, but they
believed God. The lies Satan tried to sell them, they ignored because their faith was bigger than the lies of the enemy.

They said things like we are able to take possession of the land. In other words, they
believed that God had given them the land. Yes, they saw the armies of those who were dwelling in the
land. Yes, they saw the giants. But they chose to not believe the lies.

The Israelites had been brought up in slavery. They were used to people controlling their lives. They were
the victims. The ten still had a victim mentality. Somehow, Joshua and Caleb just believed God. They also
brought back proof that they were actually in the land. They wanted to show the people how amazing it
was there, in spite of the obstacles.

But we cannot allow Satan to be our excuse for our failures, sins and shortcomings. We need to take
responsibility for our choices and lives. We need to own our past and put it there where it belongs in
the rearview mirror.

We have to change our thinking patterns. The church world is in need of determination like Joshua and
Caleb. We need to just believe God and walk by faith and not by how scary things look. We do not need
to allow the giants of fear, anxiety, depression and sin to keep us from our promise.
God wants us to undo the lies the enemy has told us. We need to renew and retrain our thinking to
simply believe God. He always has our best interest at heart. Even if there are some giants to fight, we
never fight them alone.

Prov 4:23 – Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The things we think will eventually get into our hearts. They will become a part of our belief system. It is
important to not allow the enemy’s lies to get past our thoughts. We need to guard our hearts with
every tool we can find. Praying for God’s guidance. We need his word in us, in order to undo the lies of
the enemy.

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 may ask how we can undo the lies of the enemy. How do we transform and renew our minds?
Reading and studying the word of God will renew our mind. It will increase our faith and ability to trust
God. The more we trust God the easier it is to undo the lies of the enemy.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

INVENTORY

If anyone’s ever worked in a business or owned a business that handles inventory. You know, every so often, you gotta stop and take count of damaged or broken items? You write that off your list as being broken, and you get new. This helps to make sure the figures you show are correct.

I want to talk to you today about spiritual inventory. There are so many things in the Bible that we talk about Christians not needing in their lives. All the different temptations and sins, things that are contrary to what we should have as Christians. We are told to bear fruit and to love one another. We should be gentle, kind, good, humble and all these different things. This is a small list of the inventory we should have in our life.

There are times when we pick up different things which are contrary to what we need to have in our lives. Sometimes it’s important for us as Christians to slow down and ask God for help to take inventory of what we’ve got in our lives. We need to learn to not be swayed by people, sometimes they’ll come along and they’ll brag on you and they’ll brag you up. And if you let it go to your head, you can become self-righteous.

While other people come along and they’ll criticize and they will pick. That makes us self-conscious. We should never be self-righteous or self-conscious about anything. If we can get to the point where we walk in between those things, before God, we’ll be doing a pretty good job. It’s easy to look at people sometimes and compare ourselves, which God tells us not to do.

There are times when we find out things or suspect things that someone else is doing wrong. Instead of praying for them, we get self-righteous and judgmental. We start talking about it, “Well, I would never. I have never.” It’s easy to be judgmental of other people. Which falls into that being self-righteous, they go hand in hand. Be careful about what you say, because the very thing that you say, “I would never.” If you’re not careful, you will end up doing that very thing. But God is faithful, and God is good, and he is just to forgive us of all of our sins and all of our shortcomings and our failures. I’m so grateful for his mercy and his grace.

I was raised, in the Pentecostal church. In that denomination, there is not a lot of room for people to make mistakes. They teach you need to live right, live right, live right. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t. So much so that there is not a lot of room for God’s grace when we fall. Sometimes we forget about all the things that we’re told to do, because we’re so busy going you can’t, You can’t, You can’t. That we don’t tell people they can, they can, they can. They can walk humbly before the Lord. They can encourage one another. We can and should lift one another up.

I want to stand before God with a clear conscience. And I want to be able to say. Lord, I’ve done all I can to walk, the way you want me to walk. If he knows, we are sincere in our hearts. His grace is there to pick up the pieces. His blood cleanses all sins. The church, the body of Christ today, is just so easy to get wrapped up in the ideas of man and denominations. We get wrapped up in the number of people that sat in our pews last week. We get wrapped up in our programs and trips to amusement parks. Church, to many, is just a social club, a place to network business ideas over fried chicken.

Live right and do right. You know, love God and love people. And I mean, it boils down to that. Eccl 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (14) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Spend time with him this week. Ask God to help you with your inventory. I pray you find only good things. But if you are not perfect and find areas that need work, then that is a good thing too. Because now that it has been brought to light, God can help you deal with it and remove it from your life. That vacated space in your life can be filled with new deeper and more exciting things from God.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.