Tag: #keepyourgodfocus

EPISODE 335 BATTLE FOR HOLINESS

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The title of today’s episode: BATTLE FOR HOLINESS

The enemy will try to get us to fall into sin. He will lay every trap he can to trip us up. If he can cause us to sin, it opens the door for him to sneak past our armor. Then he can really cause us problems. The only way to make sure he doesn’t get a foothold is to be aware of what is happening in our lives. We need to pay attention and ask God to make us aware of anything that is in our lives that is an attack of satan.

Living a life of holiness will give us the strength to combat the enemy. But we cannot live this life fully on our own.

Matt 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

This verse tells us that the weakness is in our flesh. That is why the word tells us to walk in the Spirit. We will not fall into sin as long as we stay in the spirit. I know that statement may sound simple, but as long as we are in these fleshly bodies it is anything but simple. That is why God is faithful to forgive when we repent and why he gives us his amazing grace.

We should all aspire to be able to say what Timothy said at the end of his life.

2 Tim 4:7-8 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

How do we fight a good fight of faith? As with every spiritual battle. First, we have to know that we have protection from the enemy.

Eph 6:10-13 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

This passage tells us to put on the whole armor of God. The complete covering of protection. This is the only way we will be able to stand against the enemy. Verse twelve tells us that this is not a physical battle. We wrestle with principalities, powers, darkness and evil in high places. If we keep on the whole armor of God, we will be able to withstand the enemy. This is the only way we will be able to take a spiritual stand against the enemy.

2 Cor 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

This verse tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We have to fight this battle with spiritual weapons. We can pull down the strongholds of the enemy with God’s power.

We can win the battles one at a time, by the power of God that is within us. We can have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot win if we do not look the Lord. The enemy is stronger than our flesh. But with the Holy Ghost on the inside of us, our flesh is reinforced and strong enough to stand against the enemy.

Learning to walk in the Spirit is a lifelong journey. Overcoming our flesh is one of the biggest challenges we have as Christians.

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

As children of faith, we have to understand the weapons we have in our arsenal.

Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Prayer is one of our most effective weapons against the enemy. We fight our battles on our knees. But also, we can do like Jesus did in the wilderness and use the word of God. It is our sword. To combat the enemy’s words in our minds. When he tells us lies, we need to say the scriptures that combat the lie.

Just as Jesus told satan to get behind him, we have the authority to resist him and tell him to leave.

But if we have sin in our lives, that leaves an opening for the enemy. This is why I called this episode the battle for holiness. The whole bible is about making the right choices and choosing to be holy. If we can walk in the spirit of holiness, we will not leave a foothold for the enemy.

Eph 4:23-27 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. 26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.

We renew our minds with the word of God. When we are saved, we put on the new man, one created in righteousness. This tells us to not give place to the devil. It is so important to cut off his attacks immediately. When those thoughts come into our minds, this is why we need to take them captive and cast them down.

Stay alert, looking for his attacks, stay strong by building up your faith through prayer. He may be roaming to find someone to devour, make sure it is not you.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 334 KEEP WATCH FOR THE ENEMY

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The title of today’s episode: KEEP WATCH FOR THE ENEMY

If we look at the world with natural eyes only, we miss a large part of what is going on around us. Every day, spiritual battles are being waged. People often do not even know when they have been oppressed by an evil spirit. The enemy will send many our way to distract, deceive, and destroy us.

We have to have godly wisdom and discernment. Camouflage is often worn by armies in order to blend in with their surroundings. Sometimes soldiers even put on face paint to blend into their surroundings.

Our enemy will often come to us disguised as a good person. Many people have been taken down by people that were possessed or oppressed by the spirit of Jezebel. Many people at church have been hurt by those whom they believed were good people. Only to find out they were soldiers in the enemy’s army, who were planted in the church by satan.

Look at when satan tempted Jesus, he first questioned his identity. The enemy will often make us question if we are truly a Christian, he will attack our belief in our salvation. He questioned Jesus’ sonship. He will use others to pick at little things that mean nothing, to plant a seed of doubt in our identity as a Christian.

If he cannot get us to question our identity. He will move on to his next tactic. The second temptation of Jesus. He tried to get Jesus to prove that God’s angels would protect him if he threw himself off the high pinnacle. Again, Jesus quoted Scriptures to him. I am sure everyone has had a random thought go through their head. Something that would cause harm. The enemy will keep those thoughts coming, if he can make you feel unworthy and like you will never measure up.

He offered Jesus power and status on the earth. A short cut to what Jesus would have after his mission on earth was complete. Satan will often offer people money, status, powers of influence, in exchange for their denying God. It is sad to say a lot of preachers have fallen into this category. This is only one reason we need to pray for those in the ministry, they are attacked in ways we cannot even imagine sometimes.

Satan attacked Jesus after he had reached a point of baptism and God declaring how pleased he was with Jesus. It was an act of God giving Jesus authority. According to Jewish tradition, when a son gets to be at a certain level of maturity and age the father will declare that he is pleased with his son and that he has authority to speak for the family. That is what happened when God’s voice came out of the clouds on the day Jesus was baptized.

We cannot be ignorant of the enemy’s tactics. There are too many lives hanging in the balance. We have to be wise enough to see through a person’s actions and recognize that they are actions of someone being lead by our enemy.

Many people avoid the subjects of spiritual warfare because they do not want to believe it exists. They are afraid they will have to confront the enemy. The lessons that we need to know today are not being taught in our churches. The enemy is real, witchcraft is real, demons and satanism is real. These things have power, but God has given us more power. If the power of the Holy Ghost lives within us, we have power over the powers of the enemy. We will be able to pray, and God will respond.

We have to be wise enough to know when the enemy is trying to tempt us. Jesus knew he was dealing with his enemy. Often, we do not recognize until it is too late that we are dealing with an attack from our enemy.

The only way we are ever going to know when the enemy is trying to cause us trouble is to have discernment. This only comes by building up our faith in prayer. We can ask God for discernment to know when things are not of God. He has promised he will be with us and will lead and guide us.

The hard part for us often is that we ignore that still small voice that is telling us that something is not right. The enemy with his camouflage will sneak up on us. Most people do not get bitten by the snakes they see. Most of the time it is the snake that is hidden in tall grass or under a rock that they don’t see, until it is too late.

Being vigilant to watch out for the enemy is very important when it comes to combat. If the enemy can’t sneak up on you the less likely you are to be hurt by his weapons. Stay strong, be spiritually awake and vigilant, we will win the battle if we faint not.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 333 ANTICIPATION

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The title of today’s episode: ANTICIPATION

The word anticipation means to be expectant, have hope, be ready for an event. Some synonyms include suspense, excitement, and hopefulness.

The church has much to be in anticipation about in our modern age. This is the best time in all of history to be alive. We wake each morning with the expectation that soon we are going to see the next great awakening. God is going to flood the earth with his spirit. We will see things that generations before us have only desired to see.

We should be hopeful, even though things may appear to be smothering and dark. The enemy is on the prowl to cause fear, anxiety and depression. He wants to paralyze the believers with these things. He is also using fatigue and illness like never before to distract the body of Christ.

But we have hope. Our hope is in Jesus. We can be excited and have anticipation about the good things to come on the other side of the darkness. I have often thought about the early church after the day of Pentecost. They added three thousand souls to the body of Christ in one day. What an amazing thing it will be to have a great revival and add several souls.

Once the gospel has been preached to all the world and everyone has had an opportunity to be saved. Then comes the end. Jesus will come and gather up his bride.

Most women can remember how excited they were on their wedding day. Many hours and some even months and years went into planning the perfect day. The morning, they were to walk down the aisle, the anticipation was almost unbearable.

The bride of Christ is in this waiting place a short time before the rapture. I understand that the word rapture is not in the bible. However, it says we will be caught up into the air with him. The anticipation is getting real.

Now is not the time to be distracted by the things of this life. We cannot allow life to overwhelm us. Often the way to manage large tasks is to break them down into smaller ones. We have a period of time before this revival sweeps the land. If the anticipation and pressure of the enemy gets overwhelming, we can break it down to one day at a time. We can concentrate on the tasks we have to get done for that day.

Anticipation is a theme of the Bible to live in hope and readiness of God fulfilling his promises. There are different places in the word that God’s people acted with anticipation and hope of God fulfilling his word.

Instead of the anxiety that the enemy tries to give us, we need to cast it down and accept God’s anticipation. He has amazing things for his body. We have that hope to cling to with fervent excitement and anticipation.

The things we focus on will shape the course of our lives. If we focus on the evening news and how bad they tell you things are, it is easy to get down and depressed. Negative thoughts and words can get us in a position of being paralyzed.

When our enemy is about to lose his grip, he will throw everything at us at once. We have to know how to navigate the storm. But the great thing about the enemy’s storm is that God is above it. We will be elevated above the storm, because our God will lift us up.

What do we do to prepare for the storm? The best thing we can do is pray and ask for God to give us wisdom to navigate the upcoming days. We will ride out the storm because we are sheltered under God’s wings. It comes back to us getting in the secret place of the Most High God.

Psalm 91:1-3 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

If we dwell in the secret place of the Most High, we will be protected under his shadow. He is our fortress, which is a safe place that has been reinforced against the enemy. God will deliver us from the traps and snares of the enemy and from pestilences, which are diseases.

Psalm 91:4-8 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

The key to being protected and covered is to get into the secret place with God. I read this out loud over my home almost every night.

Psalm 91:9-12 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Because thou hast made the Lord thy habitation, no evil will befall thee. He has angels that watch over us and protect us. Think about hiding under God’s wings, the enemy will not be able to touch us. Because of this, we have no reason to fear.

In summary, it is good to anticipate our future; God will show up with his glory. The enemy will not win. Do not be discouraged, do not allow anxiety to overtake you. We are living in a great time to be alive, and we have to hold onto our hope and anticipation of what our God will do.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 328 STANDING IN THE GAP

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: STANDING IN THE GAP

All through the Bible we find stories of people who stood in the gap for their nation, people, and family. Standing in the gap means we fill the void space between those who are in need of God to reach God. Jesus is the ultimate example, without him standing in the gap for our sins, we would not even have a right to ask for God’s help. The largest gap ever created was the one Adam and Eve made when they sinned. Jesus came and filled in that gap.

John 14:6-Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Moses interceded on behalf of the children of Israel several times. Asking God to give them mercy when they deserved punishment. Many times God was weary of their idolatry and disobedience, but Moses prayed for God’s mercy.

Esther called a fast and prayed for God to save her people from Haman’s evil agenda to kill all of her people. Once the time of fasting and prayer was over she went to the king at risk of death. She asked for her people to be given into her hand to do as she wished. When his plot had been revealed to the king. Evil Haman was hung on a gallows he had prepared for Mordecai a Jew that would not bow to him. God’s people were spared because of Esther and her call for prayer.

Nehemiah was grieved by the news that the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruins. Because of his intercession and excitement of rebuilding the wall. Others got on board. Nehemiah stood in the gap and the people were lead into a time of repentance and renewal. The walls were fortified and once again Jerusalem was a strong city.

Sometimes all it takes is for one person to get excited about something. Their vision can become the vision of others. Nehemiah wanted to rebuild the walls, but it took a group of people to accomplish it.

Abraham pleaded with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah. He asked God to spare it if he could find fifty righteous. He did not. Abraham kept bargaining down to ten people who were righteous. God could not even find ten in all the city that was righteous.

After Lot, his wife and his daughters left the city, fire and brimstone started falling from the sky on the evil. God told them to not look back, but Lot’s wife turned and looked back, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

It is safe to say that God spared Lot and his daughters because of Abraham’s prayers.

For years, there has been a movement in our country of intercessors who have prayed for our country and the world to be free from evil rulers. Many have cried out to God for mercy on our country, our states and local areas.

Being an intercessor takes time and energy. It means going beyond the words and feeling the emotion of the weight of where our country is spiritually. We have been taken over by evil agendas and the worship of satan.

I am sure that the only thing that has spared America is the large group of God’s people that feel compelled to intercede. Now more than ever we need for God to reveal the evil, make know satan’s agenda. God will spare our country, but we have something to do, we need to intercede.

I am sure we all have someone in our lives that needs us to stand in the gap of intercession for them. They are bound in sin and need God to intervene on their behalf. There are people that are dying of sickness and bad choices that need God.

We cannot be the church of recent years where we look at these situations and say a surface prayer and go on about our lives. Now is the time to get serious and get down to business. We need to allow our prayers to penetrate heaven. Many prayers never leave the earth. The difference one is saying a prayer. “Lord help that situation. Amen.” The other is getting on our face before God and praying until we feel like we cannot pray any longer. We need to P.U.S.H, Pray Until Something Happens.

Are you willing to stand in the gap for that loved one or friend? Are you willing to invest time in crying out for our country? God is needing us to keep pushing and praying. We are so close to our breakthrough but we need to keep going. Keep walking by faith.

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.

Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can come boldly to the throne of God and petition for mercy and grace. We can be bold in our prayers and intercession for those in need of God’s intervention.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 327 DON’T BREAK THE FLOWER POTS

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The title of today’s episode: DON’T BREAK THE FLOWER POTS

Why did the father in the story of the prodigal son run to his son? We often think it is because he missed him and was glad to see him. Which I am sure would be true, but there is so much more to the story. It is hidden in Jewish customs that most do not know about unless you study their customs.

When a Jewish son would take his inheritance and go off and waste it among gentiles living wildly, against the customs of his people. The whole village would take a clay pot and set it aside for his return. At first, this sounds like they would be happy about his return. However, the custom of Kezazah is a ceremony in which the neighborhood surrounds this person and tosses the clay pot down. The breaking of the pots meant that this person was severed from the community. The ceremony of excommunication or cutting off. This meant that the person would never have any standing in the community.

The prodigal son, was planning on going to his father’s house and being a servant or slave in his house. He knew he had done wrong and wasted his future on wild parties. When he was slopping the pigs he came to himself and realized that even the servants of his father had good food and shelter. He was preparing to be a servant in the house of his father if he would allow him.

I always thought the father was watching because he desperately wanted his son to come home. But instead, he was watching to be able to get to his son and forgive him, before the people could cut him off from the community. The father saved his son from a life of slavery or servitude and restored him to a place of sonship. He ran and embraced him. He had them kill the fatted calf, and he put a robe and ring on his son. The very people who were going to cut him off were probably invited to his welcome home party.

Without the father running to him, they would have gotten to him and cut him off from their village. He would have had no rights of sonship. This is why we cannot stand in the way of others with judgment. Only God is the judge.

When I heard about the ceremony of Kezazah. I found the story of the prodigal son even more amazing. The people of the church are often like the community, ready to judge and cut ties with those who have done wrong. But our Lord, being our heavenly father, runs to greet them with open arms. His love cancels any judgment of people trying to cut off ties.

The church needs to throw away their clay pots or plant flowers in them and do something nice with them, instead of casting down the clay pots in judgment. We will never win people if we treat them like they have a plague.

We will never win the lost and backslider to Christ, by treating them badly. I know there are places in the word that says not to be unequally yoked with people that are living a sinful life. We are not to have fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness. This does not mean that we are to avoid them completely.

I know of several preachers who tells you to cut off all ties with those who do not believe in God. They are afraid that if you are around people that they will cause you to fall into sin. However, what if you stand firm on what you believe, you can be a light to those people.

We are called to love the sinners and hate the sin. There has to be a separation in our minds that they are a soul that needs Jesus. We do not approve of their choices, but we have to love them the same.

I personally struggled with a choice a family member of mine made a few years ago. It took me a little bit of time to separate the fact that she needed me to be kind and loving toward her, even if she did wrong. It is not always easy to not throw the clay pot or, as in Jesus’ day, the stone.

But we all have come short and deserved the stone to be thrown. The word teaches that if you are guilty of one sin you are guilty of all. We cannot judge therefore that someone else is worse than we were, before we gave our lives to Christ. The ground is level and there is no room for judging. We all deserved to be cut off from the father or eternity. But instead, when we came to Him he openly embraced us.

Luke 15:7-10 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

If the angels rejoice over one lost soul repenting. How much more should we embrace them? It is time to set aside judgmental shunning of those who are not perfect. It is time for the body to pour out love on the prodigals and allow them a safe place to return to Christ. It is time to check the one in the mirror for any flaws. Make sure the one looking back is on the straight and narrow. Then go plant flowers of love in the flowerpot, instead of breaking it in judgment.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 326 SPEAK LIFE, SPEAK LOVE, SPEAK JESUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: SPEAK LIFE, SPEAK LOVE, SPEAK JESUS

Many in our world today are blind to the truth. They follow their own way. They follow false religions created to worship evil spirits. Then there are those who have chosen to follow satan. I recently saw an unbaptism ceremony on social media. These people who were once baptized decided to follow satan. They were denouncing their ties to the one true God and all that baptism means. It saddened my heart.

Being baptized, as a follower of Christ, is to take on the family name. It is sort of our adoption papers. It shows that we have been buried with Christ and raised to a new life. To denounce that baptism is to say, I do not want the life that Christ died to give me. I want back my old life or a life of spiritual death.

As children of God, we cannot even imagine what happened to these people to get them to make such extreme moves. Did they suffer from church hurt? Because being treated badly by other believers is the leading cause of people leaving the church. It is not just being drawn away through sin as most believe. Many are hurt by someone they trust in the church.

I have come to realize that church hurt is hard to recover from, however we have to keep going for Jesus no matter what happens. We cannot allow others to stand in the way of us being who God created us to be.

I am guilty of spending a long period of time away from church, because of church hurt. I know now that allowing that hurt to keep me from worship was wrong on my part. But I lost all faith in people that called themselves Christians. In the early 90’s my husband and I attended a large church. Several small things happened that I didn’t agree with, but I just prayed about it and pressed on.

There was a woman who attended services. She tried to commit suicide and was in the hospital for a week or two. When she returned to services, everyone should have rallied around her and been supportive. They should have said things like “I am sorry, I didn’t know that things were that bad.” Things like “I am here in the future if you need someone to talk to or pray with.” But none of the supportive things happened. Five people in the congregation talked to her that day. The rest avoided her like a plague. Their reasons for avoiding her were all different, I am sure. But sometimes we have to push through the difficult situations to be what God needs us to be. It is easy to get caught up in our own issues and not see what is going on with other people. We need to pray for God to open our eyes to the hurt of others.

As the body, we should all feel that pain. We should all know what it feels like to be in such dark despair. The word says if one hurts, we all hurt. Today is the day to start fresh and press outside of our comfort zone.

Many people are hurting, this world is a dark and cruel place sometimes. They are needing the love of Christ. Compassion is their desire. But instead at a lot of congregations they receive judgment and no compassion for their pain.

If we are going to gather the large harvest of souls in a short time. We who are in the body are going to have to spend time praying for restoration of those who have been hurt.

Some of those people were not ready to follow Jesus, they didn’t want to give up some form of sin. They were lukewarm and used church hurt as an excuse. But still these people need Jesus.

Prov 18:19-21 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle. 20 A man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

It is not impossible to restore those who are offended. But it is difficult. It will take much love, compassion and prayer. We do not realize the power of our words sometimes.

I saw a science experiment with water that I found to be amazing. In one room, people spoke negatively and hate to water. In another room people spoke positive words of love to water from the same source as the other water. The only difference was the words spoken over that water. Then after a period of time the water was frozen. The water that had positive words of love froze into beautiful snowflake-like patterns. While the other water that had all the hate and negativity spewed in its direction froze in strange blob patterns.

If our words have that kind of effect on water, then how much more do we affect others and ourselves with the words of our mouth? Speak life. Speak healing. Speak love to those you meet, you never know how close they are to the edge of the darkness. We can reach this world, one kind word or deed at a time. The kindest thing we can do is to speak Jesus.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 325 JESUS MY ROCK

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: JESUS MY ROCK

We have always heard the phrase, “Solid as a rock.” Meaning a person is dependable and can be counted on even under pressure. Jesus is our rock. He is that solid foundation we can rely on, starting with the cross. Jesus’ sacrifice was the beginning of our foundation.

Now as children of God there is not a storm too big that we cannot withstand it as long as we cling to our solid rock. He is the one we can depend on for our protection from the storms in life. Our faith in him is what is going to carry us through whatever we have facing us.

There is not a demon in this world that can overtake us as long as we hold onto Jesus. The enemy may try different tactics, but he will fail in every attempt. We have been set apart by God all mighty. He is our protector against anything the enemy wants to try.

Psalm 62:1-2 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

Do you have confidence in your foundation? Do you believe that Jesus will see you through whatever will come your way?

We can have confidence in our foundation. We have a hope in Jesus that we do not ever face anything alone. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Even when the dark clouds roll in and we can no longer see his face. We know he is there, even when we don’t see him.

We can rest in the fact that during the storms of life, he covers us with his hand. We are his and he has promised to protect us. As we face the uncertainty of life, we can be sure that no matter how things appear to our natural eyes, God has got us.

2 Thes 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Stablish is the Old English form of the word establish, which means make firm or secure. The Lord is faithful to make you secure and keep you from evil. He makes our foundation firm, beneath our feet.

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.

The children of Israel had to learn to trust God. Their enemy pursued them, and they immediately fell into fear. Their foundation was not solid. They did not stand on the promises of God. He had delivered them from the death angel and all the other plagues. Then delivered them from the Egyptian’s in the desert. But yet they did not understand who God was, they were on sinking sand. They decided to build them a gold calf.

God will bring steadiness to the chaos of life. He wants to be involved in our lives and not a spectator. In order to build our lives on the solid rock that is Jesus; we are going to have to learn to lean on him. We need to trust that he will watch over us.

We can have peace, even in the midst of a storm, when we have Jesus as our foundation. If he is not our foundation we will be tossed by the winds of the storm and never find true peace.

As the world is shaken, we need to be sure we are anchored to the solid rock. He will never let us down. Like the words of the old hymn says, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 322 ARISE OUT OF SLEEP AND FIGHT

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v6s5gln-god-focus-this-morning-ep322-arise-out-of-sleep-and-fight.html

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: Arise Out Of Sleep And Fight

Almost everyone I talk to is struggling with fatigue, stress, anxiety, fear of the unknown. The enemy is trying to wear us out, but we have to fight. We are on the edge of something happening that will change the world as we know it. God is going to begin to pour himself out in the churches that are ready to accept him.

Some churches, as I have said many times, are social clubs. They are happy with the status quo. They do not want God’s presence in their midst. If he were to show up, they would have to measure up.

Other congregations of people are starving for fresh bread of God’s anointing. They desire a closer walk with him. They want to know him, not just know about him. Not in word or deed, but truly know him. These are the people that he is going to visit. He wants to be welcome in the buildings that bear his name. He longs to communicate with us and give us direction and a better understanding of what he wishes to do with us.

Far too long, the harvest field has been ready, and the church has been asleep. It is time to wake up and arise out of sleep. The Pharisees of today have bound up God’s people for too long. God doesn’t give us a checklist and expect us to live by it.

By this list, you will know you are my disciples. Don’t do this; you can’t do that, and on and on. No, the words says, we are his if we have love one to another. If we love him, we will do what his word says, but we do not get salvation by works. It all comes down to a personal relationship. How much time do you spend with him? How often do you think about God and his wonderful mercy outside of church services?

Today is a grand and glorious day. It is an opportunity to change things for the better. Today is the day to get serious, arise out of sleep, and press forward. Do not allow the enemy to wear you out. He is trying to make everyone battle-weary.

But we do not have to allow satan to wear us out. We can praise our way through. Praise will break the heaviness. Praise helps us power through whatever the enemy is trying to do in our lives to wear us down. If he can get us to fall into fatigue, depression, or fear, he knows we will not have the energy to fight him. He knows we will become weary of trying to witness to the world.

But we can break through and break out of the chains he is trying to bind us up in by praising the Lord. There is not one thing the enemy can do to us if we can keep our God Focus.

When we feel weak, we are strong in the Lord. He draws near to the humble and the weak. He will see us through whatever comes our way. We cannot give up; we have to stand strong and fight. The enemy will not win unless we give up. Let the boldness of the Lord arise in you and stand strong. Look to the Lord, and He will restore our peace.

I want to leave you with a verse for the day.

Gal.6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 321 GIVE ME FIRE

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GIVE ME FIRE

There has to be toe-stomping preaching in order to save our souls. I long for the days when preachers were full of fire and not afraid to preach the word. I love for a message to step on my toes, because it makes me better and stronger. Today, too many churches have motivational speakers. But we need powerful messages that make us grow and not always the fluff of living our best lives. Sometimes life is hard. Jesus told the disciples that they would face hard things. It is not different for us today. But in those hard things, we grow and become stronger. With our new level of faith, we can be a beacon of hope in a dying world.

Unbelief is the new norm; people do not know how to have faith. The ministry has to start preaching with fire the things the church needs to hear about growing faith. They need to hear that it takes prayer and a lot of prayer to grow your relationship with God. People need to be told and understand that they are signing up for a life of service and sacrifice. Everything will not always be wonderful. Being a Christian is not about having a pampered, cushy life. People need to be taught that there is a difference in saying a prayer to check off a to do list for the day of Christian things and getting down to business and pouring your heart out to God in prayer. One is saying a prayer, and one is praying a prayer.

When we desire sermons that get on our toes, it means we want to grow in strength and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The truth sets us free. The truth is hard to swallow sometimes. But it is always best for us in the long run.

The truth is like a medicine, bitter to swallow, but it will give you strength and make you stronger. I don’t know when it became the norm to not tell the truth, especially behind the pulpit. Be encouraged, there are real ministers of God out there and they are standing tall to proclaim the truth of God. If you know such a preacher, stand behind them, encourage them and back them in anyway you can.

We need the fire to be restored to the pulpit in order for it to be restored to the body. Our God is a consuming fire. The word consume means to destroy, ingest, swallow up, use, or utilize. Our God will destroy the things of our flesh. He will swallow up who we are and make us better vessels for his use. We have to be on fire, too, for the world to know we are different. In order for us to be a usable vessel for God.

Just like the burning bush in the desert. What made Moses go see what was going on, because it was on fire. The only one God spoke out of was the bush that was on fire. The only people today that God will truly use are those who are on fire for him.

We are the temple of the Holy Ghost; God’s fire lives within us. Only by allowing His fire to burn on the altar of our hearts, can we learn to walk in the light of his fire.

The Children of Israel had a pillar of fire that was a buffer between them and their enemy. If we keep the fire burning bright, it will keep away the evil of this world. They will not be able to look at us for the light of God that is within us.

People will know we are different and will be drawn to the warmth of the fire of God within us. We will be able to lead them to Jesus, the only one who can save them from the evil of this world and the evil inside of them.

God’s holy fire is important. The fire of truth will help us to understand the word of God. It will help us to know what God is calling us to do in this life. But if the fire has gone out in the church, then the people will starve. Their bones will become cold, and they will die.

Keeping the fire of God in our lives is crucial to our spiritual walk. It is also crucial to all those we will meet along the way that we are supposed to share Jesus. Pray for him to stoke the fire in your life. Pray for the body of Christ to catch on fire. It is the only way we will reach the world. Just like the burning bush, if we are on fire, they will come to see what God has to say through us. And through that word of God, many will be delivered and saved.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 320 OVERCOMING UNBELIEF

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: OVERCOMING UNBELIEF

Unbelief is a plague in the church today. Everything is by and through faith, so how do we grow faith?

Sometimes we can draw on past experiences where God has shown up in those moments we desperately needed him. We can be sure He will show up again. When I am sick and need healing, I remember all the times God has healed me. I will remember the times he healed others.

Growing up in a faith that believes in the laying on of hands. I have seen many miracles over the years. I watched my dad’s leg grow together one time when he had a bad cut. There is no doubt in my mind it was so deep that it needed stitches. But we battled through about thirty minutes of prayer. God came through with a healing miracle.

Other times we have to dig into the word of God and find inspiration.

There is a story for every situation that we face in life. The word of God has scriptures that will build us up and bring encouragement to our souls. There is nothing we face that others have not gone through and God brought them through it. Job’s story alone covers most everything anyone could suffer. But if we stay faithful and look to God, he will bless us for our faith in Him.

We can build our faith through prayer. Start with praise and transition into acknowledging what He has already done. Petition God for what you need. Then start thanking Him for it. We have to get into a spirit of prayer. This means really pouring out your heart to God and not just saying a few words halfheartedly.

Jude 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

It comes down to trust. How much do we trust God? Do we know in our hearts as well as our minds that he will answer our prayers? Many people will say he is able, but how many know without a doubt he will come through? If you know, you have faith, then it is just a matter of waiting until you see with your eyes what you know in your spirit. Faith is seeing light when your natural eyes see only darkness.

Think of it this way. Say you want to be a master piano player. You can study everything about all the people who were master piano players. You can study how the piano is made. You can study how many keys and how much a baby grand weighs, you can even learn to read sheet music. But if you do not put into practice what you know, you will never be a master piano player.

The same goes for our faith in God. We can read and study all about God. We can have knowledge about walking by faith. But until we try to walk by faith, we will never learn how to do it.

We must be firm in our belief that God will do what he has promised.

Prov 3: 5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

The word says for us to trust in the Lord with all our heart. This is what it means to fully trust. There is not a shadow of a doubt that God will do what he has promised. You know it with all your being. We cannot try to reason things out in our minds. God rarely answers the way we think. But he does answer. If we acknowledge him in all our ways, he will guide us.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines – Diligently – a manner involving great or constant activity. With great determination, intensely.

We have to keep at it and stay focused on God and not our problems. The more we focus on him the stronger we will grow in our faith.

Let’s recap.

We can draw on past experiences to encourage us.
We have to dig into the word of God and find inspiration.
We can build our faith through prayer.
Practice- until we try to walk by faith, we will never learn how to do it.
We must be firm in our belief that God will do what he has promised.

I hope this has been an encouragement to you to hold on if you are believing God for something. Remember everything happens in God’s will and his perfect timing.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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