Tag: #keepyourgodfocus

EPISODE 319 REMOVING THE CANCER FROM THE CHURCH

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: REMOVING THE CANCER FROM THE CHURCH

I attended a church for several years that I loved. The people were genuine and really cared about others. We were the spiritual emergency room for the town and surrounding areas. We did our best to meet the needs. If they were hungry, we got them food. If their babies needed diapers or milk, we provided. It was a place that those who were broken by life could come for encouragement and to find healing through Jesus.

In today’s society, there are so many hurt and broken people. They will come to the church looking for compassion and help. It is our job to love them and help them to find healing for their body and soul.

However, too many churches are plagued by the cancer of legalism and judgment. They end up hurting those who Jesus called them to help heal. We have to be loving toward those who are unlovable. We are called to lead people to Jesus. If they come into a church then half of the battle is over, they are inside the building. Our buildings, we call churches, should be a place of hope for those that are lost.

Instead of loving and helping them, the “Bertha better than you’s” of the church with their judgmental attitudes end up hurting those people. They react to people with almost hatred. Many are driven by the jezebel spirit; they don’t want to give up their control. These hurt people end up going back to the world because at least some people in the world are accepting them.

Matt 5:44-48 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

The word perfect in this verse means complete. We are complete in Jesus and by doing good to the hurting world. Jesus was explaining to the disciples that it is easy to love those like you. But it is harder to love those that seem unlovable. Even the publicans and sinners honor and love those that are like them.

It is time to get outside the four walls and love them like Jesus. We are called by God to share God’s love with the world. Many have forgotten and got wrapped up in having a bigger building or a larger worship team than the church on the corner. We are in competition and still not accomplishing our mission?

These buildings and all that we build on earth will burn up. All that matters is that we point people to Jesus. So that they may find rest and salvation for their souls. Jesus didn’t come and die to give us a better way, only to have us to return to legalism and divisions.

JOHN 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Nowhere in that verse does it say to hurt people by rejecting them. I know a wonderful woman of God that used to be involved in witchcraft as a teen. She when to three different denominational churches in her town. She was wearing black makeup and was dressed in all black. She went in and sat quietly and didn’t cause any kind of disruption, she was asked to leave and come back when she changed her clothes and washed off her makeup. This was a teenager that needed love and compassion. She needed those people to rally around her and to pour healing compassion out on her. Instead, they made her feel more rejected and alone. She felt like Jesus didn’t love her either.

By the grace of God, she found a woman that was a friend to her. A woman that loved her and prayed with her. Thank God she had a praying grandmother. But what happens to those who do not have a praying grandmother. Their soul ends up lost because the so-called church doesn’t like how they look. It is not all in the clothes it is all in the heart.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

By this verse, I have to question if some of these churches even know God. There is no love except the love they have for their little social group. God is getting ready to separate the wheat and tares. This type of behavior is a cancer to the body of Christ. It is causing spiritual sin sickness to continue, and this cannot be if the body of Christ is going to gather the end time harvest.

I know I talk about this a lot. I feel it is very important. There are many souls hanging in the balance. So many will be lost if we do not get rid of the judgmental, religious, legalistic, ways of doing things. Let us set aside religion and just love God and love people.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 318 PRAISE HIM IN THE FIRE

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: PRAISE HIM IN THE FIRE

When the fiery trials of life come to turn your world to ashes. God is there in your fire. He is not afraid of the fire, because our God is a consuming fire. He will not let the enemy win. We have to stand strong on the promises of God. He promised to never leave us.

Ex 14: 14 The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

What the enemy meant for destruction God will turn it around. Now is not the time to give up. We are in the fiery furnace moment. The enemy has turned up the heat, but we will not be destroyed. We need to have faith that he is going to burn off the ropes and set us free.

It seems everyone I’ve talked to in the last few days has serious things going on in their lives. The enemy knows we are on the verge of Jesus showing up in our fiery furnace. He is coming to set us free. But we cannot give in to the flames and allow fear, anxiety and worry to overtake us. We cannot allow the fatigue of being battle weary to cause our faith to falter. We have to stand strong.

What the enemy meant to burn down our lives, God will use to elevate us. Look at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were in the fiery furnace it was turned up seven times hotter. What were they doing? They were praising the Lord. I was in the middle of writing last night to film today’s video. I shared with a friend that I was battle weary. It seems like the enemy has turned up the intensity of his pressure to destroy God’s people.

She said God had been dealing with her to write about the intensity of the fire. She reminded me that the hotter the fire, the more we need to praise God. I wanted to share this fact with you.

When the enemy wants to turn your life into ashes, remind him that he has no authority over your life. God will quicken us, which means he will make us alive or revive us.

There is power in prayer. This is a Christian sentence we say a lot. But the statement is very true. Prayer clears the cobwebs that the enemy is trying to build in our minds. But Satan will not have his way as long as we stand against the enemy.

Praise is what invites the presence of God. The enemy wants to get us so downtrodden we do not have energy to pray or praise. But if we can find the energy to worship, the heaviness of the atmosphere will lift.

Is 61: 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.

He takes the ashes that are left after the enemy burns down things in our lives and uses those ashes to give us beauty. He gives us joy for mourning and will lift the spirit of heaviness the enemy has tried to put on us. He will give us a garment of praise to clothe us.

Saul was tormented by evil spirits, but while music in praise to God was played, they left him alone. The enemy cannot stand it when we praise God. It is torment to him.

I know sometimes it is hard to face the fiery furnace. We have to remember that God is not afraid of the fire, and he will show up. He will remove our bondage and set us free. He will take our tragedy and turn it into victory.

When the three Hebrew men came out of the fiery furnace they received a promotion. They were elevated to be over the providences of Babylon. Hang on during these fiery trials, God is working on your elevation.

We are learning to lean and trust. Every level is about fighting the devil in a new way. He would love to tell us that we are defeated, that God doesn’t hear our prayers. God doesn’t care. But he has come along to late in the game to tell me that my God is not real. If God is real then all the promises in the Bible are real.

He promised to never leave us, he promised to lift us up, he promised to protect us from the enemy. Our God is real and there is no other like him. He can be fire when we need fire. He can be living water to quench our dry and parched soul when we need it.

We have to guard our peace and protect our joy right now. Because the darkness will overtake us quickly with its smothering oppression, if we do not stand strong and praise him in our storms.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EP317 DENOUNCE RELIGION / FOLLOW JESUS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: DENOUNCE RELIGION / FOLLOW JESUS

I once had a person tell me they didn’t understand why I chose a religion that prevented me from doing sinful things. They suggested that I go to the Big Book of World Religions and pick something easier. I told them it didn’t work that way, there was religion and there is the plan of God for salvation. Religion is a waste of time. If you have a religion, you need to give it up. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. Although the church world has made following Christ a religion and not a relationship.

Britanica.com defines religion-human beings’ relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence.

According to this, religion could be the worship of anything you as a human being regard in high esteem and worthy of special reverence. In other words, people worship a lot of things. People worship animals, gold statues, celebrities, their accomplishments and status, false gods that man has created. All of this is idol worship. All the idols in the Bible, Baal for example is driven by a demon. Demons draw humans in to lifting up and worshipping things other than the ONE TRUE GOD.

I am sick of religion in the church that has divided God’s people. I am sure God is sick of religion. He came to give us a better life than religion. Think seriously about it for a moment. Jesus was killed by religious people. The ones that should have understood Jesus was the Messiah, was so wrapped up in the letter of the law and their fringe laws that they missed him. They were too wrapped up in their rituals.

Because of the blood of Jesus, I am no longer a sinner. I am no longer a slave to sin. That doesn’t mean that I am perfect and will not slip from time to time. But I have found that the more I am in God’s word and the more I pray the less likely I am to fall.

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

It is easy to get wrapped up in a list of do’s and don’t, but being a Christian is not about living by a list. It is not about living in fear that at any given moment, God is going to send a lightning bolt down and incinerate you for making a mistake.

It all comes down to relationship. If you have a relationship with Jesus, you will want to spend time with him. You will want to worship him. You will not spend time doing things that break His heart.

Think about it in terms of a bride. We are the bride of Christ. What kind of marriage would it be if we never talked to Jesus? If we never said nice things to him? If we betrayed his trust and committed adultery by following other gods. If we never spend time in his word, because that is his story, his love letter to help us to know him. That sounds like a marriage that would not last.

The Bible does have a bunch of things we are forbidden to do. We have to live by what the word of God says. God doesn’t put things in his word that he forbids for his benefit, but for ours. All sin leads to pain, heartache, destruction and death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our right to salvation is a gift from God. We do not receive this gift by choosing a denominational, religious set of rules. We receive salvation through the acceptance of what Jesus did on the cross. By being born again.

We cannot follow Jesus simply to escape hell. It will not work, because the fear of hell comes and goes with our choices. We have to choose Jesus because we are tired of bondage and want to be set free. We have to want Jesus to fix our brokenness.

Gal. 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

This says that we need to stand fast, but what does that really mean? It means that we need to be unwavering, hold your ground and be strong in your commitment in spite of all the reasons to waiver or give up. We cannot give up our liberty or freedom that Christ has given us to make us free and be entangled again into sin.

Every day we are given choices. Will we choose Jesus or something sinful that we know we should not do? Every choice we make leads to the next choice. We can allow God’s word to shine a light on our path so that we make the right steps, or we can choose to walk in darkness.

Following Jesus is not a religion it is a choice to have life as opposed to sin and death. Sin may look appealing for a season, but the glitz and glitter that satan paints it with wears off soon and we are left with the reality of what is under the glitz and glitter.

This is why we cannot choose a religion from the big book of religions. We have to make a choice to follow Jesus instead of following a religion. Only in Jesus will we have true freedom.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 313 DUCK AND COVER

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: DUCK AND COVER

The first thing to do when you are being attacked is to duck and cover. Think about someone throwing rocks at you, you want to find a place of protection. The phrase duck and cover was made popular during the 1950s as schools and people all over did safety drills. It means you get under something solid, like a table or desk, and cover your head.

While the enemy bombarded my mind with all sorts of attacks today. I had to duck and cover. In other words, I made sure I was under the shadow of his wings, and I prayed against the attacks of the enemy. I had to worship my way through his attack.

We all have days when the enemy tries everything possible to wear us down or wear us out. I only ducked for cover for a few minutes. Then it was my turn to wage war. After crying out to God, I took my place on the offensive. I started sending “God shells” back to the enemy in the form of scripture. He really hates it when we quote the word.

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

Devil, God’s word says if I submit to God, which I just did, then it says if I resist you, you must flee. It is time for you to go.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Devil the word says that God is my sun and shield. In other words, He is my light and protection. He will not withhold anything good thing from me.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Devil, no weapon you can create will accomplish your agenda. The word says no weapon formed against me will prosper. This is my promise from the Lord, God Almighty.

I took the authority that God has given me and told him to leave my presence. He would not win. He only wins when we give in and start speaking negatively out of our mouths. When we feel defeated and tell ourselves there is no use in trying. And we voice those thoughts out loud.

2 Cor. 5:7 We walk by faith and not by sight.

It is in this verse that I often find strength. The enemy will attack us by how things may appear at the moment. But we have to open our mouths and say what God says,

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.

Nothing shall harm us, because God is on our side. We cannot allow the enemy to attack us with fear. When he tries, we need to duck and cover. Duck down to our knees and cover our lives with prayer. God is there and will not allow us to be overtaken.

The entire Bible is about standing strong against our enemy. It is all about God’s covering. We are covered by the blood, baptized in His Spirit, and the enemy doesn’t have a chance as long as we remember who we are in Christ.

Romans 8:37-39 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We have nothing to fear. We belong to the King of kings who has all power. We are his, and he will not allow the enemy to overtake us. We need to be encouraged and stay strong. We need to say we are strong even when we feel weak.

It is a good thing to tell God that we feel weak and ask him to reinforce our strength. But we cannot show any weakness toward our enemy. When the enemy looks at us, he needs to see fierce warriors ready for battle.

His time is near; he is about to lose control of this world for a harvest season. We need to be ready for the harvest is ready. I feel it is one of my missions in life to encourage you to be strong. It is my prayer that you will be encouraged to stand strong. Find the warrior God put within you, and stand tall against our enemy. Do not let him gain ground in your mind. Because that is where he often wins his battles. Then we spend a lot of time and energy taking back ground that we gave up. When we should have reached down deep and resisted the enemy.

Be encouraged, it is never too late to put him in his place. It is never too late to rise up. Because anytime we go into the duck and cover prayer. Look out, devil, when we rise up, because we do not rise alone. Our God shows up to back us up.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 312 THE SCARLET THREAD

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: SCARLET THREAD

A tapestry is a piece of cloth that is used for rugs, curtains or blankets. They have intricate designs created by weaving different colors of thread into the cloth. These colors make pictures or beautiful abstract designs.

Our lives are often like a tapestry. If we stand back and look at it as a whole, we will see the masterpiece that God is creating. But up close, often we do not see the whole picture. We may feel at times we have failed or fell. That failure is a dark thread that we would like to remove from our lives. Maybe, when the white thread was used, we became too self-righteous. But it takes all the colors to create a picture.

Jer 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Not just anyone can sit down at a weaving loom and make intricate patterns. It takes someone who has practiced the art of weaving. Just like God has so lovingly planned out each thread of our lives. He has even allowed for the times that we have strayed and will put us back on track as if nothing happened. He has a plan and just wants us to say, “I trust you Lord.”

It is time we let go of the way we look at our lives. Jesus only cares that there is a crimson thread that shows we are his child. That crimson thread says we have given the tapestry of our lives over to the master planner and creator.

Thinking about a red string reminded me of the story of Rahab. She didn’t live a perfect life. She was known as Rahab the harlot. But after God saved her family from destruction, she married into the lineage of Jesus. Talking about a transformation.

The story goes that Joshua sent two spies into Jericho to see the strengths and weaknesses of the city. Jericho was in the area that God promised to Israel. They were going to take the city. The spies entered into the house of Rahab. As the soldiers of Jericho started to search for the spies, she hid them and helped them to escape.

She told them that she had faith in their God and asked that they spare her and her household. The spies told her to hang a red cord out the window. It would be a sign to the soldiers not destroy her or her household. They told her to get everyone inside and they would be spared. Those outside of the covering would be on their own. The cord was a mark of protection.

We too have a scarlet thread of protection, called the blood of Jesus. By accepting Christ, we defy the ruler of this world. Just like Rahab defied or betrayed the king over Jericho. When they went to battle, no harm came to Rahab or her family.

This too is a reminder of the Passover lamb that the Israelites put blood over the door of their house. Any house with the blood of the lamb, the death angel passed over and spared all inside. Just as Jesus’ blood is our covering from the enemy being able to destroy us.

We sometimes look at things in our life with regret. I am sure that everyone at some point has wished they had made different choices. We cannot go back and pull-out threads from the tapestry of our lives. There is no going backwards only forward. All that matters is the scarlet thread running through the fabric of our life. That gives us access to God’s forgiveness and grace.

God has many plans for us, he just needs our surrender. When we give our lives completely to him, he can turn an average weaving into a beautiful tapestry. When we live our lives to bring him glory, others will want to bring him glory also. We each have more influence than we know.

The scarlet thread is the symbol of atonement found through out the entire bible. If God has you in a season of reflection and sitting quietly with him. He is allowing you a moment to catch up and ask him to take you deeper into what he has for you. The quiet prayer season is not a time to pick at the threads of life. It is not a time to look back with regret at the mistakes. It is time to say, “I trust you Lord, I do not know what the end result will look like, but I trust that you will make my life a beautiful picture of your mercy and grace.”

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Look around us at the beauty of the world. The landscapes, sunrise and the seas. He created everything with amazing beauty and it will all be destroyed one day. How much more time and planning do he give each of us? He wants only what is best for us. He allows different seasons to shape us into the person we need to be to accomplish the life he has chosen for us.

Prov 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

We all fall and fail when we lose our God Focus. The lesson is not always in the falling, but in the rising up again. It takes courage sometimes to get back up. But Jesus is there to give us a hand and pull us up, all we have to do it reach out and take hold of his hand.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 308 WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE?

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE?

I was talking to a friend the other day she was telling me that she saw a bumper sticker that said, “What difference will it make in 100 Years?” I had heard that before and after her reminding me, I pondered on it. How often do we worry about things that are not worth our time. Like the saying, “Only one life will soon be passed, and only what is done for God will last.”

Other things are important and are aggravating to us. But we cannot worry about the things that are beyond our control. Yes, they may be upsetting but we just have to try not to let our emotions get the best of us. We have to just do the best we can to handle the situations of life.

Anytime the world throws things at us, we can allow it to affect us or we can give it to God. He will see us through the trials of life and the times the enemy is trying to cause chaos. Either way, prayer is our key. It keeps us grounded and helps us to unlock the door to correct thinking.

The enemy will try to plant seeds of negativity. If we allow them to grow, they will be negative words that will produce negative fruit. Think about it. If we can take control of our negative thought seeds that the enemy is trying to plant in our lives, they will not germinate and produce negative words that cause the fruit of negativity to grow in our lives.

Our outward lives show the fruit of our spiritual lives. If our heart is evil, we will do things that are evil. If our hearts are set on doing the will of God, then our actions will be ones that are of children of God.

We cannot take credit, because God is the one to get the glory. It is him who gives us strength to stand. This is why it is so important to take control of our emotions and take them to prayer.

I Cor. 15:57-58 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

The things we do to build the kingdom of God will last forever. The impacts we make to encourage people to follow Jesus. The things of this life are temporary and will not matter in the future.

James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Life is short we need to use what time we have doing the things of God. Using our energy to handle what we can and not getting stressed about things we cannot control. For example: worrying about the broken down dishwasher or the fact that the lawn mower will not start. Or that the neighbor is talking bad about us. People at work are back stabbing us. All the things that can be frustrating to us, will not add anything to the eternal and will only steal our peace. Life it too short to not walk in the peace of God.

I think about how a candle smokes for just a few seconds when the fire is extinguished then the fire is no more. The things of life that causes us stress is like that smoke. We will pray about it and it will be worked out. Until the timing of the answer comes, we have to keep speaking faith. Like, “Lord I have given you this issue, I know you are working it out in your timing. Help me to leave it in your hands.” “Lord, I thank you for taking care of this situation. I refuse to let it wear me down.”

This is not easy, and takes a lot of prayer and practice. I have often looked at the older saints and they are so laid back. Jesus will take care of it all. That is their attitude. I hope to one day be completely that way. Because worrying about it is not going to fix it. It just steals our peace.

It is my prayer that you will be encouraged to give it all to Jesus. Let him work it out. Even when it seems like it is too late, he is always right on time. God holds the universe in his hand. Everything is a finely tuned clock. He will always show up right on time. So lean on him, hold on to that nail scared hand and pray for his leading in every situation.

I Thes 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

It is hard to give thanks for our trials and troubles. But God allows them to strengthen us. They help us to be ready to help our brothers or sisters face their trials. Be strong and give your worries to God.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 306 -GOD OF THE BREAKTHROUGH

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GOD OF THE BREAKTHROUGH

He is the God of the breakthrough. When things seem like they are going wrong we realize we need a breakthrough. We need God’s anointing to break whatever is holding us. It takes God’s anointing to break our chains that hold us bound. Worship will bring the flow of anointing.

Isaiah 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

One definition of “Break Through” is to succeed in forcing your way through something. I think about breaking down a wall. We often do not want to worship when needing a breakthrough. When we worship, we make a deeper connection to God. Worship helps to get us in a position of breakthrough, because our focus shifts when we worship. It goes from us and our problems to just how big, wonderful, helpful, loving and amazing our God. His intervention on our behalf brings about the transformation of events. We achieve victory in the moment that we feel like we cannot hold on one more second.

Many examples in the word of God show the moments of breakthrough. The Red Sea parting. The falling of the walls of Jericho. When God shut the mouths of the lions for Daniel. The thud when the stone from David’s sling hit Goliath in the one spot he didn’t have armor.

All it takes for a breakthrough is circumstances to look like there is no way things could possible work out for our good. Then God says stand still and watch what I will do.

Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

We have to hold on to this verse. When things look like they are not going to work out and we are down for the count. God will raise us up and put us back onto our feet. Once we are back on our feet we have the ability to walk out our faith. We have the ability to encourage others.

It is almost impossible to keep our minds on God all the time. Many things are in our lives to distract. I don’t even mean the enemy. But the responsibilities of this life. He will help us to focus on the things that matter if we look to him for all the answers concerning our lives.

Our first real breakthrough is when we are born again or brought from death to life.

We will always get breakthrough when our challenging circumstances meets God’s intervention. How do we know we are on the verge of getting our breakthrough. The enemy will throw everything he can at once at us to get us to give up or speak negativity out of our mouths. He wants us to say that we cannot go on. We will never make it. There will be numerous obstacles and an overwhelming feeling of being stuck.

The enemy will send toxic people to encourage us to give up. Saying things like maybe it’s not God’s will. They will spew negativity and if we are not careful, we will find ourselves agreeing with them. But God says, We are his children and he will take care of us, no matter what the need may be.

God will send us real encouragement, if we pay attention. Maybe it’s a song, a verse of scripture, or someone to speak life into our situations. He will not let us down or leave us all alone to fight for ourselves. Even when we go through times, we do not feel his presence. He is not far from us, as long as we have not allowed sin to creep in and separate us from him.

Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Be encouraged, when life seems like it will never change, you are on the edge of your breakthrough.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODEN 305

Below is the link to the video for the Thursday blog, “Facing the Fire.” I had computer and internet issues all weekend. Hopefully, I will be able to get back on track. Have a great day!

https://rumble.com/v6r3ya8-god-focus-this-morning-ep305-facing-the-fire.html

EPISODE 305 FACING THE FIRE

THERE WILL NOT BE A VIDEO VERSION TODAY UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING. I AM SORRY BUT I HAD SOME ISSUES WITH MY EDITING SOFTWARE.

WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: FACING THE FIRE

Don’t waste the trials. Just as a blacksmith tempers a blade with fire, so are we tempered with fiery trials. It is in the fire that our edge can become ready to be sharpened. Until it has an edge put on it the blade is useless.

Further using the analogy of the blade, imagine you are the metal that is being pounded, stuck in a fire, stretched, dunked in cold water, then pounded again. If the metal was able to think, it may wonder why this is happening to it. Just as we often wonder. We question what we have done for things to cause us such distress. Is God disappointed in us? Many times, it is not because we have failed, but because we have set our minds on doing God’s will. The things we are dealing with we realize is an attack of the enemy and not a trial at all. Having a good prayer life will help us to discern the difference.

Trials remind us to depend on God. They drive us to our knees in prayer for a good outcome. When we are able to give our situations to God, he will give us amazing peace in the middle of the worst storms of life. In our trials our weaknesses become strengths.

Nothing can touch us without it going through God’s hand, so even when things are tough it is for our good. It is to teach us a lesson that will grow us into the best version of ourselves we can be. In becoming the best, we will be the warriors God needs us to be to gather the harvest.

There are trials that shatter us into a million pieces. We don’t even think God can find all of the pieces to put our lives back together, but he knows everything we feel, hope, dream. He knows how we hurt and how the enemy lies to us. He is the only one able to put us together. He will bind our wounds and heal our brokenness.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Our suffering cannot compare to the spiritual gain that will be built up in us. The things of this life will someday pass. Of one thing we can be sure. Trouble comes to everyone. Just like thunderstorms come and go. But when the storm is over, the sky looks even brighter than it did before the storm. We just have to lean on God and ride out the storms of life, leaning on him. He will not allow us to be overtaken but will at some point whisper peace be still to our storms.

James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

I can honestly say that I have never rejoice and counted it joy when trials come, none of us want to suffer. Jesus didn’t want to suffer, he asked for the cup to pass from him. But he surrendered to the will of God and went to the cross. He will never allow more in our lives than we can handle.

Sometimes trials and suffering come to grow us. Other times we suffer because of bad choices and disobedience. The only good to come from this type of suffering is to learn not to be disobedient children.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

We as children of God can never allow the enemy to make us feel alone. We cannot allow him to put heaviness on us that we isolate from other believers. We need our brothers and sisters to pray with us and encourage us when we are fighting our way through trials of life.

Taking life one day at a time is the only way to walk through a trial. Allowing God to work in us will give us strength to see us through whatever storm we are facing. Sometimes, we need to reach out and help others through their situations. In lifting up another, we elevate ourselves out of our trials.

Through it all, we can trust that God is with us, he will never leave us. He will see us through whatever comes our way.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 303 THE DANGERS OF THE SINNER’S PRAYER

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO VERSION: https://rumble.com/v6qt82q-god-focus-this-morning-ep303-the-danger-of-the-sinners-prayer.html

The title of today’s episode: THE DANGERS OF THE SINNER’S PRAYER

I want to talk to you today about the dangers of the sinner’s prayer. Please listen to the end so that my point can be made clear. I know that many will take offense at my words, but I feel compelled to share them anyway. I do not want to see people lost because they lacked understanding.

I know from personal experience; I had a cousin that said the sinner’s prayer when she was around nine or ten. Then she grew up and refused to listen to anyone about her salvation. She lived a sinful life by even man’s standards. But when the subject came up, she said she was saved. She had said the sinner’s prayer when she was younger and considered herself a Christian. Even though she didn’t have any fruit of being a Christian. She died and I am ninety five percent sure that never changed and she died lost, because there was no conversion. There was no change. Although this is a beginning for some, I think it does more harm than good, on a grand scale.

Acts 3:18-19 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Because Christ came and died, we have a right to salvation through and by the blood. Verse 18 says that Christ has fulfilled the prophecy given by the mouth of all his prophets. Verse nineteen then says, because Christ has fulfilled the prophecies and the law, we now can be saved. Then verse 19 shows the next step is to repent and be converted. Let us deep dive into what it means to repent and be converted.

Websters Dictionary online says Repent means

1: to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life

2 A : to feel regret or contrition

B : to change one’s mind

Contrition means to be Contrite- feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for improper or objectionable behavior, actions, etc.

In summary repent means to show sorrow and remorse for our actions that break God’s law. It is not enough to say the words, we have to truly feel sorry that we have broken God’s laws. It is not enough to repent, but we need to allow God to work in our lives that we are converted or changed. This is how our sins are blotted out. So that our soul can be refreshed by the infilling the Holy Ghost.

Webster’s says converted means- to bring over from one belief, view, or party to another, to change from one form or function to another, to alter for more effective utilization.

Being converted means that we change from the person we were when living in sin. We will start looking to Christ for our direction. Does it mean we will be perfect doing this, especially at the beginning? No, that is where God’s grace comes into the picture. His grace is not a license to continue like my cousin to walk in our sins.

Many churches have adopted what the mainstream television ministries have created, it is known as the sinners prayer. They will tell them to repeat these words and then say now you are saved. When they most of the time have not even repented, let alone been converted. Then they continue to live their lives believing that they are saved. Because the preacher told them they were saved. This is a huge lie of the enemy. He wants people to be lulled into a false sense of security.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Believe in thine heart…. How can I tell if you believed in your heart or if you just have head knowledge. Who am I to tell you, you are saved? This is just simply wrong and sending a lot of people to hell with false security. Because no conversion was ever made.

I often use this for example to prove my point: When I was in elementary school we used to say the pledge of allegiance to the flag. We said the words but didn’t know what they meant, it didn’t create allegiance within me to the flag. It was just words. Just like all the nursery rhymes before we learned to quote.

Saying the sinners prayer is just words. People may be a little happy since others have told them that they are saved, but in many there is no real change. We need to stop creating a false sense of security in people. We need to explain to them that they need to just talk to God and sincerely tell him that they are sorry. They need to understand that it is a journey of repenting daily. A journey of enduring and walking out our faith.

They need guidance that true repentance in a heart thing. (Believe in thine heart) Being converted means that you no longer wish to break God’s laws, and you strive to live a life pleasing to him. You will no longer live a life of sin.

We should never tell anyone they are saved. We don’t know their heart. They need to ask God for the answers to those questions. He will not allow any to be lost that truly love him and want to live for him.

There is coming a move of God in our world that is going to shake things to the foundation. God is sick of religion and division. He will call those who truly love him to higher ground in him. He will not leave any behind that want to follow him. But it is going to take more than repeating a few words after a preacher. It is going to take us being sold out to the cause of Christ. To be so wrapped up in him that people will not be able to tell where we end, and God begins. It means walking in his spirit and not fulfilling the desires of our flesh.

I have wrestled with this for weeks. Trying to find the right words to get my point across. I understand it is hard for people to find words sometimes. But we can encourage them to pray by simply talking to God. Explain that there has to be a change, we have to change what we can and let God change the rest. But we do not say a magical bunch of words and are instantly saved. It has become a religious ritual. Jesus didn’t come to start a religion. He didn’t come to burden us with a bunch of rituals. There were already people bound by religion and religious rituals. He came to set the captive free. Those who were captive in every sense of the word. From those bound by satan to those bound by religion.

Just because you went to the altar at age six doesn’t mean you are saved for the rest of your life, and you can go out to live like the devil until you die of old age. Nothing in a life like that glorifies God. We are here to help others find God. To live a life that he is pleased with, not to be a bad light by telling people we are Christians when living what is obviously a sinful life. Please stop the religious rituals and stop telling people that by saying this magical formula that they are saved. Saying the words only will not change people. Unless those words come from their heart.

I hope my point was made clear and this was not an attack on anyone. I felt compelled to warn people to think about it. God is trying to bring up his church to a higher level. It is time we think about everything we have always done to see if it lines up with the word of God. Nowhere did Jesus send out his disciples and tell them to have someone do a religious ritual of saying certain words to be saved.

We are in end times, evil is strong in our world. The only way we will survive is if we as the body grow together and level up. It is time to be serious about our faith walk and our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only in being who he fully needs us to be in the earth will the church prevail over evil.

He cannot use a sick body as effectively as he can a whole healed unified body. We are each responsible for our own souls. But we have to make sure we are helping the lost and not empowering them to stay that way.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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