Tag: God Focus

THE WORLD NEEDS LOVE

I Cor 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

In this verse, charity is another word for love. The greatest thing is love. God is the very essence of love. But sometimes love is painful. But Christ’s love for us was very painful for him.  He suffered horrific things out of love for all mankind. People committing sin and walking in evil need God’s love and truth. They don’t need our judgments, our doctrines, or our ideas.  They don’t need denominational bylaws and legalistic ideas. They need God’s love.

We need to love people despite their sins.  They need our compassion.  I am not saying we are to get in the pit of sin with them. Embracing people in love can be done without ignoring or accepting their sins. We need to be kind and share our faith. Sometimes it is a long process of small seeds being sown. Sometimes they just need to know someone cares about their situations or needs.

People think in order to love someone, we have to accept everything; we have to be inclusive of their sin. We can love people without embracing their sins. They need to know we love them in spite of their sin.

A friend of mine shared a dream with me recently. She dreamed that a homeless man entered the church and the pastor started yelling at him to repent.  This man had been homeless, beaten up and hungry.  He kept telling the pastor he didn’t understand, that he was in pain. Finally, in the dream, my friend went to him and told him that Jesus loved him and that she would help him.

I thought that was a good illustration. People don’t need us to be judgmental; they don’t need us to scream “repent” at them.  They need us to help them with their wounds and needs.  Like the good Samaritan.  He didn’t attack the guy with a judgmental attitude; he saw to his needs. If we gain people’s confidence, they will be more willing to allow us to share the gospel with them.

1 Cor 16:14 14 Let all your things be done with charity. Another word for charity is love.  As the children of God, we need to walk in love.  Showing people the compassion of God.

Make Love A Priority This Week

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

NO ONE COMPARES

I Cor 12:14-18 For the body is not one member, but many.  15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is therefore not of the body.  16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body?  17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing?  Where were the smelling? 18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. 

Notice verse 18 God hath set the members in the body the way he wishes.  We have to accept the perfect will of God. Sometimes we look at other people’s callings and they look more glamorous than our own. But when God was creating each of us, he made us with the talent and temperament to walk in our calling.

If you compare yourself to others, it is easy to get down on yourself. Sure, everyone would like to have the perceived glamour jobs in the body.  What people don’t often understand is the day-to-day, behind-the-scenes things people do. Every function in the body is important. We all needed to see this lost world saved. The harvest is ready; what if everyone wanted to drive the truck to the storage barn. No one wanted to pick the fruit of the harvest. Nothing would get accomplished. 

Life is better if we just do what God has asked of us and allow everyone else to do the same. The plan will all come together because God is a master at planning. We all have a task to do for the end-time harvest. What is yours? If you know, go and do it with all your heart; souls are depending on it. If you don’t know yet, that is ok too.  Seek His face and all will be revealed to you at the right time.

Comparing ourselves to others can cause harm in two different ways. One, if you feel like others are better than you, you are in danger of the enemy causing you to give up.  You may feel like you will never measure up.

Two, if you feel like you are above others, you are in danger of developing a superior attitude. You may feel like you have arrived and will quit trying. This could also make you judgmental. Life is best when we are just simply who we were created to be by God.

Remember, you are fearfully and wonderfully made; there is no one like you.  So don’t waste your time trying to be someone else.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

GET UP

You know, sometimes we feel like that; we are one mistake away from God doing a facepalm and saying, “Uh, I’m so done with them. They just make too many mistakes. They fall down too many times. They’re just not what I thought.” Because that’s how we get with people sometimes.

People often test our limits, and we’re like, “I just can’t deal with them anymore. Not one more thing can I deal with when it comes to them.” Then, we tend to walk away from people, which gets us to the point of being so exasperated that we just can’t take one more thing.

But God never feels that way about us. He sees the potential of what we can be. He sees our worth as far greater than we can see in ourselves. He never shakes his head and goes, “I just don’t know what I’m gonna do with them. I just can’t believe they have done that.” Again, He’s not surprised by anything. He knows everything. He knows why we make the choices we make. It’s because of some trauma or experience in our past. Most of the time, we have a tendency to react instead of stopping and thinking about what we should do? It is easy to just react. But sometimes, we lack self-control when those situations arise.

 But God has never been surprised. Nothing we do shocks him. And you know He says, if we are His child, “I will never leave you, forsake you, or fail you.”

 Deut 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Heb 13:5 6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

I am so grateful that God shows us grace when we fail. I am so glad he doesn’t give up on me. Over the years, many people have disappointed us, hurt us, taken advantage of us, and lied to us. It is a great comfort to know that we are in good hands with Jesus. We can trust his hands because they are nail-scarred for us.

James 4:10 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

There is not anywhere we can end up that God is to able to save us.  We cannot fall too far for him to pick us up. We often talk about how we are not supposed to judge God’s children. Have you ever stopped to think about how that includes yourself?

I have, at times, been very hard on myself. This is a trick of the enemy.  If he can keep us distracted by being hard on ourselves, then we will not be doing what we need to do.

Gal 6:1-2 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

If we do what God wants us to do when others fail or fall down, we pick them back up. Then we also ought to pick ourselves back up, when we fall.  God is not ready to give up on us.  We should not give up either.

Zeph 3:17- 17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

He rejoices over us. He is not ready to throw in the towel and walk away as long as we try. He knows our hearts. I love this verse; it makes me think about how a parent rocks a baby to sleep. Holding them close and quietly singing over them. That singing brings peace to the child.

We have peace through Jesus Christ because He loves us. We can depend on him to be with us.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LITTLE FOXES

Song Of Solomon 2:5 15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

It is often preached how we must bear fruit.  The fruit is what attracts people to the gospel of Christ. But our fruit also attracts the enemy.  Just like in the natural when we grow a garden. We are growing it to sustain us and share with neighbors. But often we have critters that come along and destroy our garden by eating the buds before they can become fruit, or they eat the beginnings of the fruit.

The enemy wants to devour our fruit and to destroy our character. If he can get us to sin, it will hurt our witness.  Often it is not things that are considered the big sins. You don’t have to murder someone, get caught up in a lie or commit adultery for example. Maybe it is something small, the little things can destroy the entire vine.

A little fox will pull down the entire vine, breaking it and damaging the vine. A grown fox can reach the fruit and will not damage the vine. This is why we need to take this verse as a warning to watch the little things. They are capable of destroying the whole vine.

Take some time to check to see if there are any little things you can get rid of before they damage your life. Have a good weekend!

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

TAKE IT BACK

My friend Bonnie and I recently took a drive looking at fall leaves and ended up in a beautiful town in West Virginia.  I was surprised at all the witchcraft and demonic stuff that was in that town.  I am not talking about Halloween decorations. (Although, that is another topic. God doesn’t want us to celebrate evil or put horror movies before our eyes to get into our spirits) I am talking about the items for sale in the bookstore, for example. We asked if they sold bibles, and the clerk informed us there may be one in the religious section. In that entire section of 4 racks of books, there were 3 small shelves about 3 feet long with Christian literature.  These books were placed with the back to the back of the shelves so that the front of the books was facing outward. And there was one watered-down version of the bible.

The rest of the religious section was all about the occult and witchcraft. These books were on the shelves with only the spines exposed because they had so many different ones. They had tarot cards and all sorts of demonic things. We cannot fully blame the bookstore because stores just stock what sells. They are all about profit. But I blame the church. We have let down and allowed the enemy to get strongholds in places.  People turn to witchcraft because they want power to not feel helpless.  They want the power to not feel worthless. In the absence of truth, they turn to the lies of the enemy. He tells them that they can control their lives and have power if they do this spell or that incantation.  He tells them that there is a difference between a white witch and the dark ones who do evil. I tell you, it is all evil.

Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

The enemy will always try to copy what God is doing. But God has power he will pour out on his children to equip us to feel strong in our weakness. We are strong in him. Power to walk out a life of victory and not defeat.  They need someone to show them that the only real power is the power of God, that lives in us. Then show them that they can have that same power too. But they are going to have to see us walking in victory.

It is possible for the church to turn this around, but we have to walk in the authority and power that God has given us. We have to be the church God created us to be for this time period. God knew how evil would abound. He is not shocked. He has a plan; we just have to trust in him.

We can take back our towns, city, state, country, and even the world through intercessory prayer. Our weapons are mighty through God. He empowers us to pull down the strongholds.

2 Cor 10:4-5 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

WHAT IS INSIDE?

If I have a pitcher full of tea, it is impossible to pour out fruit juice. Just like our spiritual life. If our heart is full of good, then we can only pour out good to others. The opposite is true also; if our heart is full of evil, we will be able to pour out evil on others.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit; you don’t go to an apple grove and get oranges. The type of fruit is determined by the type of tree. What kind of tree do you want to be?

Mat 12:33  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. 

We are judged by our fruit, our kindness, our love, and our compassion. We are also judged very harshly when we fall down. It may not be fair, but it is how the world sees us.

Mat 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  Mat 12:35  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. 

This says once again what I said before: It has to be in our hearts before it can come out. I want you to notice out of the abundance or fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks.  If our heart is full of evil. We will speak evil.  If our heart is full of love, we will speak with love.

Psalm 119:10  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. 

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

Hiding the word in our hearts will always give us a stored-up treasure to draw from when needed.  Like a savings account. I cannot tell you the times I came up against a situation, and God would bring just the right scripture to mind.  If it had not been in my heart already, I could not have drawn from it.

If we take a coffee cup and fill it as full as it can get, what happens when we add a drop. At least a drop of water will splash out because it is to capacity. If our heart is full, we will only have love to give. 

Every treasure needs a treasure map. In the old cliché pirate movies, X marks the spot. The pirate even hides his map to keep someone from searching for his treasure. This is where we differ from pirates. We want to share our treasure map (our bible). There is plenty of treasure for everyone. Our treasure map is the bible. It is God’s word that will lead us to the ultimate destination where there are treasures beyond our imagination.

1Cor 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 

The word talks about heaven having a street paved with gold.  Walls of jasper and gates of pearl. There is plenty of treasure for everyone.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

CHURCH COME FORTH

Lazarus had died, and the mourners were with the family. In a normal situation, this would be the end.  He had been buried.  But Jesus came on the scene. He didn’t make a big production.  Jesus asked that they roll away the stone that sealed the cave where Lazarus was placed. He simply said a prayer for the sake of the crowd that had gathered, then said, “Lazarus, come forth.” Soon, Lazarus came walking out of the tomb.  He was still bound in his grave clothes and had his face covered with a napkin.  It took others to set him free of his grave clothes.

To look at the modern church, one might say we were all but buried. We were in a coma, allowing sin to enter the church and lull us into a deep sleep.  Jesus is calling us to come forth. He is calling for the warriors to arise and be the army we are supposed to be in this day. Every day, we need to put on our armor and go to battle.  Satan is after the body of Christ.  If he can keep us depressed and stressed, we will not be able to focus on our tasks. He is trying to cause us to not stand for the truth of God’s word.

We can be the church that the world needs by each being fully focused on God and what he asks us to do. We all have a job to do in the body of Christ. The task of seeing that the harvest is gathered before the night comes when no one will be able to work it is up to each of us. We need to do all we can to bring in the harvest before the rapture takes place on the earth.

We are at the stage where we need someone to help remove the napkin from our faces and set us free of our grave clothes. We can be the ones that help the body of Christ to arise and go forth in power. It is time for us to unite against our adversary, the devil.  People’s lives and souls depend on our ability to learn to get along and bind together in prayer and power. There is no greater purpose than to walk in our purpose and see souls saved.

Many souls are hanging in the balance; will they be saved? Will someone go out of their way to reach them? Will someone pray for them to be saved? Will that someone be you?

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LESSONS FROM DAVID

Part of our daily walk is to make sure we keep our focus fully on God.  In a world that is fighting every second for our attention, it is harder than ever to stay focused. David is one of my favorite people in the bible.  His heart that is revealed in the Psalms is inspiring. He understood most of the time how to keep his focus.  

He talks to God about his worries and the fears of his enemy’s coming against him.  Like we often tell God when we have troubles and feel like everyone is against us. Life can press in causing tremendous pressure.

David also understood the difference between thanksgiving and praise. Thanksgiving is thanking God for what he has done. We praise Him simply because He is God.

Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

David’s life as a shepherd prepared him to be king. The shepherd provides for the sheep in many ways. They make sure they are on land that has food and water. Shepherds protect them from predators. They anoint them with oil to keep away harmful flies that can lay eggs in their noses.

God is our protector. He protects us from the smallest microscopic thing to something huge that could destroy us. He is our provider; our source for all we need. Because He is our shepherd and He loves us.

God gives us times that he isolates us and gives us peaceful time to reflect. In the isolated times he is helping us to grow and prepare us for a new level. We don’t always understand the isolation, but God doesn’t do anything without a reason. We have to trust His plan.

Isaiah 55:8-9     8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Other times, He gently nudges us to the outside world where we are supposed to make a difference. We are supposed to all be a light to those who are in darkness. It doesn’t matter what we are dealing with or what phase of life we are in we need to look to Him.

I Chr. 16:11 Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.

Notice this says continually, not when things are bad. Not when we slow down or our lives are falling apart.  It says continually. We need him at all times, not just when things look bad. It doesn’t matter the phase of life we find ourselves in, as His sheep, we know he will take care of it all. We just have to be strong and follow where He leads. He gives us light to shine into the darkness of this world.

Psalm 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

As we start a new work week, take your light and go light your part of the world.  It is needed now more than ever before in history.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

Why Does God Allow Evil?

As I sat watching a small sparrow flutter about in a tree, I thought about the verse that says God takes care of the sparrows.  He is so amazing; He also wants what is best for us. Many people question how such a good God can allow such evil to go on in the world.

When He made man, everything was perfect.  Then, sin entered the world through disobedience.  It is in that disobedience that all the evil we see entered the world. Because God is long-suffering and good, he wants to give everyone a chance to be restored. He wants nothing more than for them to repent and change their ways. He watches from above with sadness at the evil.

When He is pushed beyond the longsuffering and He has given people their last chance to change, He moves quickly to cut off evil. Sometimes, bad things happen to cause us to rise up in just anger and make changes or to push for changes in our government.

We cannot blame God for what is wrong in the world when we are not willing to be obedient to Him. God wants us to look to Him and trust that He will move quickly. He will bring justice to each and every one of us. Through the blood, we are justified.  Through sin, we are condemned by not allowing God to purify us by His blood.

Things appear scary as prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes. At least, they appear scary to the average person.  But to those of us who trust in God, it is a sign that God is shaking loose the evil to set free His people.

God needs his warriors to arise and be strong.  We are to be the light, we are called to be in this world. Light is often thought of in the scriptures as enlightenment.

 Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

But light also exposes what is hidden in the dark. Luke 12:2-3 2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.  3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.

Luke 8:17-18 KJV  For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.

God will bring every evil to light. Nothing that has been hidden will stay hidden. Now is the time to pray for his light to expose any darkness within us.  Ask him to help his body to get rid of everything holding us back from doing his will.

Now is the time to make everything, everything right before God. He will only tarry so long. The time of judgment is coming soon. If you don’t know Jesus, get to know Him.  If you are already a child of God ask him to search your heart. 

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.

Make sure you are on the right side of the line God is drawing. Choose this day who you will serve. God is tired of “Christians” who are worldly and Christian in name only. He wants us to be strong and stand for what is right. He wants us to have integrity and walk every moment as if someone is watching.

I want God to look down on me and look at my life with a smile and say, She is the real deal. If everyone who claimed with their lips that they were a Christian would walk that way, we could take this world by storm. The harvest would be gathered without one grain dropped to the ground.

“Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why doesn’t He stop the evil?”  He is waiting for His body to rise up and be the prayer warriors we are called to be; only a body of believers who have the heart to be intercessors (prayer warriors) will be able to call down the power to stop this evil.

Bringing Down Walls

I’ve often read the story of the walls of Jerico. It was always a miracle that the walls fell. But until recently, I didn’t realize that the walls were so thick that chariots raced on top of the wall at least three wide. Now it seems even more amazing just how awesome our God is. I used to wonder why the men on top of the wall didn’t attack those who rode around. They would have been easy to pick off, just marching in circles. But God had told them to be silent and just march. The only answer I can come up with is that the people of Jerico didn’t feel threatened by them marching around. It wasn’t until the last time they circled that they shouted. When they did, God brought down the walls of the city of Jerico and God’s people were triumphant.

 Joshua 6:20  So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

In 1982, Pastor Christian Fuhrer of Leipzig’s St Nicholas Church started a weekly prayer meeting to pray for peace and deliverance from the communist regime in East Germany. Although the authorities watched everyone closely, including churches. They didn’t pay any attention to the pastor or his church because not many showed up to prayer meetings.

After consistently having prayer meetings, the number of people grew, and on Oct 9, 1989, an estimated 70,000 people showed up for a protest. A month later, the Berlin Wall fell, and they were free. This wall fell by prayer and people standing up for the right thing.

Today, we have walls of a different kind. They are not actually made of brick or stone.  Some are personal walls of fear, anxiety, jealousy, negativity, sin, hate, anger or depression, for a few examples. Others are walls of political and economic policies of our government. These walls can only be brought down by God.  Like the walls of Jerico, these things are often massive borders that prevent us from living in victory.

The only way we can see these walls crumble to the ground is through prayer. The only way deliverance will come is through prayer. We can speak words of victory. We can shout to the Lord and cry out for freedom.  He is there to deliver us and help us to tear down the things that are in our way.  Victory can be ours if we do what God tells us. He will cause the walls to crumble. God will transform our walls into victory if we will just shout out to him.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS