Tag: #Jesus

GARMENTS OF PRAISE

ISAIAH 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;    3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

Lately, a lot of people that I know have been dealing with a spirit of heaviness. Evil seems to press in from all directions. It doesn’t take much discernment to understand what is going on. The enemy is fighting hard because he is about to lose his control over our world. The Lord is about to release the Spirit on this earth.

As Christians we are all called to witness to the world. We are to bind up the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom to the captive. We can help people be set free from the captivity of the evil one. Everyone is in prison unless you are a set free child of God. We can be the one to help them find the key to unlock their prison. Jesus is the key.

He is there to help us have peace in our troubles. JOHN 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. We have no reason to fear. There is nothing that we have facing us that we cannot make it through as long as we are with Him.

We cannot allow the spirit of heaviness to overtake us.  It is a real thing to feel down and like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. The world is un chaos, but he is going to give us beauty for ashes.  As things in this life seems to be burning down our lives, God will take the ashes and make from it something beautiful.

He will wrap us in the garments of praise to overcome the spirit of heaviness.  Anytime we are pressed down and feel like the world is on our shoulders, we can start to praise and worship.  As our worship invites God’s presence, he will lift that heaviness off us. He will restore joy to us. I encourage you to put on the garments of praise and have quiet, alone time with Him.  He will deliver us from all our fears. Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight. It doesn’t matter how much the enemy tries to press in on us and destroy us. We have nothing to fear, because God is with us.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

Do you have a slave mentality?

The Children of Israel that came out of Egypt numbered over 600,000 men. This was not counting women and children. The Pharaoh took his army of 600 chariots after them. Each chariot normally held one person. The word doesn’t say if there were any men on horseback. But needless to say, the Israelites seriously outnumbered the Egyptians. They could have gone to war and defended themselves.

Instead, they complained that Moses had brought them out into the desert to die. They were afraid of the Egyptians. They still had a slave mentality. They didn’t understand who they were and who had been watching over them. Even after the ten plagues of Egypt, they could not grasp that God would protect them. They had been slaves their whole lives and it wasn’t easy to realize they were free. 

We have been held captive by satan. He is like the Pharaoh he doesn’t want to let us go.  He is so evil he wants to take as many souls as possible to hell with him.  Even though cartoons and television shows depict him as being in charge of hell, this is not biblically accurate. He will be there to be punished.

Satan has only the power we allow him to have over us. Just like Egypt used fear to control the children of Israel; satan uses fear to control us. He tries to keep us bound with fear. We have a blood covenant with God almighty, which gives us power over our oppressor.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

We are given power over the enemy. God is on our side. He is our protector and savior. He will never allow the enemy to overtake us. We have the power to let our flesh overpower us and give in to the enemy.  Because God gives us free will. It all comes down to us. Do we have a slave mentality? Are we going to believe in the enemy’s words or God’s? Are we going to let the flesh fear the enemy?

James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I have often heard the second part of this verse. Resist the devil and he will flee. But if we are not submitted to God, we will not have the power we need to resist the devil. The children of Israel had not learned how to submit to God. They let their fear be bigger to them than the fact that God had delivered them from the ones they feared.

We cannot allow our fear of the enemy to keep us bound. God has set us free. Freedom is scary sometimes if we have spent a long time in bondage. God will break off our shackles if we ask him to set us free. But because we have been bound so long, they have become a part of us. We have a hard time knowing who we are when we are free. Like the children of Israel, at the first sign of trouble, we want to go back to bondage.

The path of least resistance never leads anywhere worthwhile. This is why we need to stand strong and resist the devil. The understanding that we are free is a realization that every Christian needs to get a full grasp.

John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

It is time to shake off the shackles. Resist the devil. Embrace the freedom we have as God’s children. We are free because he made us free through and by the blood of Jesus. We have no reason to fear the enemy.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

JESUS THE LAMB / SHEPHERD

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.

13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Different passages in the scriptures say that Jesus is our good shepherd. In order to be a good leader, you need to walk through the places your followers need to go. Experience makes one a good leader.

Most people in the work force have been subjected to a boss that doesn’t have a clue about how to lead. They have never done your job. They do not know what it takes to get the job done. All they see is the bottom line and have unrealistic expectations of how they want you to accomplish your goals. They ask the impossible of you.

We will never walk through some of the things Christ had to endure. He will never ask the impossible of us. There are times when the tasks are intimidating. But he is with us every step of the way. What he asks will not be impossible for us as long as we follow his leadership.

THE PASSOVER LAMB

In the book of Exodus, chapter eleven. During the last plague on Egypt, God sent the death angel into Egypt to smite the firstborn of every house, even their animals.

As protection against the death angel. God told the Children of Israel to slaughter a perfect lamb without blemish. Then they were to take the blood from the lamb and spread it on the doorposts and lintel.

When the death angel passed by it did not enter the houses that had the blood applied. This was a type and shadow of Christ as our sacrifice. He shed his blood to save us from death. Not the death that we would think about in this life, but spiritual death.

Romans 12:1-2   I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 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.

How could Jesus lead us in this life as our shepherd if he had not first been THE LAMB? The lamb that was perfect, He knew no sin. He was tempted in every way we face today yet walked perfectly, avoiding all the pitfalls.

Jesus sacrificed for us. We are asked to sacrifice the things we (our flesh) want to do in order to follow him. We are living sacrifices because our lives are for others to see Jesus.

Heb 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Jesus, our shepherd, knows how to lead.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

ONE MOMENT

Life would be amazing if everyone was as happy as they appear on social media. For the most part, we only post the good stuff. But it is only a snapshot of our lives.  It only shows who we are in that moment. One moment is not a complete picture.

We often feel like we do not measure up to other Christians.  We watch as other people do what we know we are called to do, and it is intimidating. But we need to remember first that we should not compare ourselves to others for two main reasons.  One, if we see someone we aspire to be like, we will feel inadequate and never wish to try to do what we are called to do.  If we feel superior, we run the risk of being self-righteous and judgmental, and not seeking God’s plan for our lives because we can do it on our own. If it is truly a calling of God, it will not be a cakewalk, especially at first.  It will always be something that causes us to step out of our comfort zones.

That being said, we should never look at someone else and wonder if we will ever get to where they are because we are looking at only one moment in time. For example, I know I talk a lot about my grandfather; he was a powerful man of God. By the time I was born, he had been preaching for almost twenty years.

I never knew the man he was at twenty-two that said he couldn’t even testify. He knew he was called to preach.  He said he would study a testimony, and when he stood up, he would go blank.  I can sort of relate to the story. When I see the red light on a video camera, I go blank; that is why I must read everything.  He said one night, he got up to testify and God took over; he was on the floor for about twenty minutes.  After that, he never had any trouble with what to say. He had learned to yield to God and His plan for his life.

Walking out God’s plan is not easy. If it were easy, we could do it on our own; we wouldn’t need God. I didn’t see the young man who went to the woods with his bible and prayed for God to give him a revelation. I didn’t see the moments of hardship, moments of triumph, or any of the things he walked through to make him that powerful man of God. I only saw the result.

We can’t look at someone else and compare where we are walking right now.  Who knows what our walk will look like a year from now, five years from now? Only God knows what he is going to do with our lives. Only God knows what he will allow in our lives to make us stronger.

We look at that person who is anointed to sing and we are often in awe. We think, “Oh, to sing like that,” but we are only seeing one moment. We do not see all the times they hit their knees in prayer that God would give them an anointing to stir people’s hearts.  We don’t see the countless hours of practice and planning.  We don’t see the work involved; we only see that one moment.

We see a prayer warrior cut loose with a prayer that gives you goosebumps, and you feel like fire is going to fall from heaven.  Their words are precise and powerful.  They intercede with precision.  We stand in awe of such a prayer.  We feel like we are puny and cannot even pray. That is only a moment in time. We do not see all the hours of prayer that gave them the ability to move heaven.  We do not see the painful things that they have walked through to get them to the place where they pray with such bold authority.

On the other hand, we should not judge someone by the moment that they make a mistake. It is easy to look at them and judge them for not having better control. But we don’t know what they have endured and what made them make the choices they made. We may make the same choices under the same circumstances.

I Cor 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

This verse is a warning to not think that we are so perfect that we could never make a mistake. When we get to the point that we are so holy that we cannot make a mistake, God has a way of allowing satan to come in with just the right temptation to cause us to fall. I don’t ever want to be found guilty of judging someone in their one moment of weakness.  Because we do not see all the times that they are strong. Judging someone for one moment in their life is like judging a book by one sentence. That one moment is not the full picture. Just like one sentence cannot give all the details of a book.

Peter denied Jesus; in the moment that he did, some would judge him to be unworthy of God’s forgiveness.  But Jesus didn’t let one moment of weakness define Peter.  He gave him the keys to the kingdom.  Jesus called Peter a rock. Jesus knew how strong Peter was and would be in the future.

It is easy to get caught up in one moment and forget that life is a journey.  We are not meant to stay stuck in a moment.  But we are to make the most of every moment we have been given. We are supposed to forget the things that are behind us and press forward.

If you find yourself in the middle of a regretful moment where you’ve made a mistake. Do not let it define you. If you find yourself in the middle of trying to step into a new calling. Don’t let it hold you back.  It only takes one moment of faith to propel us into the future of who we are and are becoming.

RECOVER ALL

David and his army had gone away to war. While the men were gone, the enemy came to their camp and stole their wives and children. They set all of Ziklag on fire. When David and his army returned to Ziklag, they were all distraught because their families were gone.

I Sam 30:6-8  (6) And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. (7) And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. (8) And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

David was distressed because his men were upset and were talking about stoning him. He had no one to encourage him. He had to encourage himself in the Lord. We have all been there; sometimes, no one but God can understand what we are going through. Only God can help us.

How many times have we experienced a time when the enemy has attacked our camp? He has taken something from us and we are left with ashes. Our immediate reaction is to be human and weep bitterly until we are not able to weep another tear. This is when we find ourselves discouraged. We feel alone and like no one can help us. Tragedy and grief can be powerful motivators.  We can allow the grief to overtake us and we can wallow in our self-pity. The other choice is to cry out to God for strength to take back what belongs to us.

I like the eighth verse, God answered, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

How much more power do we have as children of God than people in David’s time. We have a blood covenant with God. We have the Spirit of the living God inside of us. We should have more power to take back what the enemy has stolen in our land.

David and his men went to war and recovered all that was stolen. It is time we go to war and recover all that the enemy has stolen from us. Not with earthly weapons, but with the power of the Holy Ghost through prayer and faith.

Sometimes we must stand strong and, after the tears are shed, we must encourage ourselves. We need to ask God if it is time to take back what was stolen. He will tell us to go forth and recover all.

Many souls hang in the balance; they need to see victorious Christians. Are we going to sit still in the ashes of our lives or are we going to get bold and recover all? It is up to each of us to do what we can to accomplish victory on this earth.

Victory will be ours if we are willing to fight this battle on our knees, we will not only recover what was stolen, but we will also spoil the enemy.  David not only recovered what was taken, but he also ended up with the enemy’s possessions.

Go forth, my friends, in the power of the Holy Ghost and don’t let the enemy win. You can recover all.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

WHICH ROAD?

Pro 4:11  I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. Pro 4:12  When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Pro 4:13  Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. Pro 4:14  Enter not into the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men.

Most of us have stood at a crossroads of decision.  Not really sure what to do or say.  We pray for God’s guidance and direction. This scenario is sometimes a decision about which job to take or what city to live in normal life choices. Other times it is about fighting the temptations of our flesh. The path God tells us to go down is always the road less traveled, usually the rocky and steep path.  While what appears to be a smooth road stretches out before us. There is a danger with the smooth road many have gone that way before, it could be the way of the wicked. The word says that broad is the way that leads to destruction. It stands to reason that a smooth road is well worn.

If we are brave enough to do what God says and climb that steep hill; take that road less traveled.  Somewhere down the road, I am sure, thinking back, you will wonder why you ever wanted to walk that smooth road in the first place.  God always knows best.  It will be best for us when we take time to ask and listen at the crossroads.

God will always lead us down the path of righteousness and wisdom. Our flesh will always lead us down the path of the wicked. It is important that we always choose the road that points us toward God. That is the only direction that matters.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

TIMING

Ecc 3:1  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Capturing a beautiful sunset on camera is all about timing.  If the sun is out too much all you get is a white dot.  If you wait too long you miss it completely.

Opportunities to be in God’s timing to help someone is often the same way.  Do you ever wonder why he sends us to strangers so often.  So we will not interfere with his timing.  When trying to help a friend or family sometimes we get in God’s way.  But if we are going about our normal day and God places us in a situation that we know is his timing to help someone, it is easier to do so without all the things we do to get in his way.

For example: We may have been praying hard for a friend for family member. The subject may come around to Jesus in a conversation. In our enthusasism we can come on too strong with too much information and they may react the opposite way from how we had hoped.

But with a stranger, we will listen more to the prompts of God and only say what we need to say. This reminds me of a well intentioned man that I knew growing up. He would go out and pound on anyone that would listen about how they needed to be saved. He was right in his theology, his zeal and desire to help people. But he went about it the wrong way and often did more harm than good.

My grandpa tried to help him tone it down a bit. He would tell him, “No where in the word does it say, skin my sheep. No where in the word does it say drive my sheep.” Pastors are called to lead the flock as Jesus our good shepherd.

There is a time and a season for everything. I am excited about the season the body of Christ is about to walk into, it’s going to be amazing.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR 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

Acceptable In Thy Sight

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

We have all said something unkind that we would like to take back.  The Bible says the tongue is hard to tame.  We have, at times, allowed our minds to get fixed on a goal or material thing.  But only in Jesus can we have true peace.

Only when we focus completely on him will all of our words and our actions be acceptable in his sight? He is so faithful to be there, to help us up when we fall.  Our strength comes from the Lord.  He is our Lord, Savior, Father and Friend.  He is the one who saw something special in each of us, enough to die to save us.

We were created to worship the Lord.  The word tells us to have a pure heart that worships the Lord in Spirit and truth. We need to worship Him with our whole hearts. If our words are acceptable in His sight, we will be speaking God’s love and truth.

If the meditation of our hearts is acceptable in His sight, we will have our hearts fixed on the things of God. We will be thankful and grateful for all He has done for us. Our hearts will be for the things of God. Our desire will be to see souls saved.

Every day we should wake with a grateful heart and ask for God to guide our day. If we put him first and focus on his direction, we will accomplish what is necessary for the day. This is a verse that we should pray every day.

Psalm 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.