Tag: #keepyourgodfocus

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING — EP402–A PLACE OF SAFETY

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: A PLACE OF SAFETY

In ancient times, cities were fortified with walls. These walls would have high towers or places that overlooked the land around the city.

This would give them a good view to see the enemy coming. These towers were for protection, when the enemy would attack. They were heavily fortified to withstand weapons of the time.

For example: The walls of Jerico were so thick that they held chariot races on the top of the wall. No army, with the weapons of the time could penetrate the walls of safety. It took God to cause them to fall.

Just as these fortified towers were protection from physical attacks, God is our strong tower or place of safety that will give us protection from the enemy.

In order to be safe, people had to be humble enough to seek shelter. Just as one lone man could not defeat a huge army alone, we cannot defeat our enemy in our own strength. We have to seek God’s strength and protection. We must seek shelter in the shadow of his wings.

We are assured in Prov 18:10 if we seek refuge in Him, we will be safe.

Proverbs 18:10-The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.

One of the Hebrew names for God, Migdal-Oz translates to tower of strength. He is our tower of strength. A place we are safe and the enemy will not be able to touch us.

As we face uncertain times, we need to reinforce to ourselves that God is our strength, our safe place and our refuge. Getting this concept in our minds will give us comfort and strength when the enemy is trying to attack. We know that we have a safe place to run to when we need shelter. I googled a definition for refuge it said, refuge is a condition of being safe, sheltered from pursuit, danger or trouble.

The phrase sheltered from pursuit stuck out to me. God does this with the enemy. He shelters us from the enemy launching an all-out assault against us. We are safe because he will not allow us to be overtaken. We are sheltered from the pursuit of the enemy.

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

Let’s break this down. God is our refuge our safe place. The strength God gives will empower us with the ability to stand in the face of adversity. He is always available to give us immediate help.

Psalm 91:9-11 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.

Psalm 91 is a chapter full of encouragement. Because we trust in the Lord and make him our safe place or the place we dwell. He has said no evil will befall or no evil will happen to us. We will not be overtaken by a plague. Because he has given his angels the responsibility to watch over us and protect us.

As uncertainty in our world is on the rise. Many people are worried about the things going on around us. As children of God, we can be assured that none of it matters, because we are sheltered safe in God’s presence.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING–EP399–EMPTY TO OVERFLOW

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING, I AM THRILLED TO BE BACK AND HAVE EVERYTHING WORKING AGAIN.

THE TITLE FOR TODAY’S EPISODE: EMPTY TO OVERFLOW

I often think about Peter fishing all night without a catch. He was ready to give up. Peter had used his equipment and experience, all that he had within his power to catch fish. We too can do everything in our power to get a good outcome, sometimes, but in spite of our best efforts we fail. Then Jesus came by and said go out and cast your net on the other side. I am sure the last thing Peter wanted to do was go back out after a long night. But he listened to Jesus and went back out. He was obedient.

The first time he was out he was fishing in his own strength and wisdom. The second time he went on Jesus’ word. He caught so many fish; he had to call for another boat to help him. We may accomplish thing on our own. But it is always more profitable to listen to the leading of God.

When we are obedient, we go from an empty vessel to one that is overflowing. When we are obedient, not only will God bless us, but he will bless those around us. It doesn’t say, but I think it is safe to assume that the boat which came to help Peter had fished all night too without much to show for it.

The blessing that God gives us will always overflow onto others. He pours into us so that we can pour out to others. He fills us with encouragement so that we can encourage others. The hope he gives us to give us something to share with others. He gives us faith to share the good news of salvation.

When we are tired of trying, like Peter was that morning, remember God has a plan. We may be empty like the boat Peter was in, but God can fill us up to overflowing. We just have to cast our net on the other side. If we follow God’s instructions and are obedient, we will be blessed and many around us.

Now is not the time to sit in the empty boat feeling tired and frustrated. The world is depending on us to try again. We need to keep fishing, keep trying to win the lost to Jesus. Now is the time to look for answers, listen for God’s direction. He will not leave us empty handed but will tell us to launch out into the deep.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

VOL 1, WK3–HOPE–THURS–HIDING THE WORD IN OUR HEARTS

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Welcome to Hiding The Word In Our Hearts. A morning scripture writing devotion. The scripture for today is Prov 13:12. The subject this week is HOPE. We write the scripture in the heart labeled Thursday if you have the book or in a notebook. Writing the verse will help you to remember it.

Prov 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

When we hope for an outcome and it doesn’t turn out like we wish it can be disappointing. Some would even say heart sick. The disappointment can be overwhelming. When we receive the expected outcome, it is great satisfaction. It is like a life-giving tree.

God is there to give us a good outcome, as long as we put our faith and hope in him.

Until next time,

KEEP HIDING THE WORD IN YOUR HEART

VOL1, WK2–FAITH-HIDING THE WORD IN OUR HEARTS

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VOL 1 WEEK 2 – SATURDAY

Good Morning my God Focus friends. Today is Saturday. Week Two of Hiding The Word In Our Hearts. Week Two is all about Faith. Our verse this morning is: 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.

Without faith we cannot please God. He wants us to trust him. He wants us to believe in him and his word. Anyone who comes to him must believe or have faith that he is. Some do not believe that God exists. He is a rewarder of those who believe in Him.

God desires for us to have faith and trust him. He will pour out blessings on his people.

Faith is seeing things with our hearts that we cannot yet see with our eyes.

Until next time,

Be bold, be brave and keep your God Focus

VOL1 WK2 FAITH

https://rumble.com/v6xqb5q-vol-1-wk2-faith-hiding-his-word-in-our-hearts.html

God Focus This Morning will return in a few days. I am going to continue these videos for a short while also. I would love your feedback about them and the other videos. Please send all comments to angela@godfocus.net

The scripture for today is Luke 17:6. The subject this week is Faith. Faith is having complete confidence in God and is promises. To trust that he will answer our prayers. It is seeing the outcome we are praying for even when things appear a different way.

Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Some versions of the bible says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed. It is not in the size of the seed but the purity. People will say it only takes a little faith. But actually, it takes pure faith. Mustard seed is pure; it will not mix with any other herb. In that regard we cannot have faith like a mustard seed if we mix it with doubt and unbelief.

Thanks for watching

Until next time,

Be bold, be brave and keep your God Focus

VOL. 1, WEEK 1, THURSDAY

https://rumble.com/v6xexo4-hiding-the-word-in-our-hearts-vol-1-week-thursday.html

EP396 THERE ARE NO WORDS

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: THERE ARE NO WORDS

People sometimes use the phrase, There are no words, when they are surprised or in shock. Events unfold in ways that are beyond our imagination and we cannot find words.

Five days a week, I come to you with words of encouragement. There is so much in the Word of God to discuss and share. But there are times when there are no words. God, at times, touches us on a level that goes beyond words. When all we can do is sit quietly in his presence or softly cry in worship. In those times, there were no words.

How do we tell someone how good God is? There are no words to describe that place in his presence. Surrounded by his peace and love. He is more powerful than powerful. He is more loving and compassionate than we can fathom. His vastness is beyond measure.

Isaiah 40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?

It is hard to imagine being able to hold heaven in the span of your hand. God is amazing. He could do anything, but he chose to make us and be our provider, protector and friend.

There are no words for what he endured on the cross of Calvary. If you really think about it, it is hard to comprehend what he endured. The modern-day church has watered down the description of what he suffered. They feel it is too gruesome to mention that he was beaten beyond recognition. They display pictures of his perfect, almost porcelain skin with only small trickles of blood from the spikes in his feet and hands. There are even smaller dots of blood around the crown of thorns. They are afraid to preach the truth of how he shed his blood. He was beaten beyond recognition.

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

The word remission means to cancel a debt. Jesus cancelled our sin debt with is own blood. I think about how he suffered for me and there are no words. It is unimaginable how someone could make a choice to be brutalized in this way, just to save mankind. There are no words for the amazing strength it took for him to not cry out for his father to send angels to stop it.

His love is beyond measure, beyond comprehension; there are truly no words. Take some time today to reflect on all that God has done for you. I am in awe of how much he loves me. I think if you take the time to ponder what I have said today, you will be in awe, too, of his great and compassionate love for us all.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EPISODE 397 –LOOKING FOR A CLOUD

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The title of today’s episode: LOOKING FOR THE CLOUD

I want to encourage you today with a thought God gave me while driving home from work yesterday. The enemy will hold on with everything he has to try to destroy us. It’s like on TV you see the person hanging over the side of a building by their fingertips. They do everything in their power to hang on, but when the time comes that they can’t hold on, they fall. Satan too will have to let go, he knows he cannot hold on to us forever. The stronghold he may have built, will crumble if we turn it over to Jesus. The battle always gets the most intense right before the enemy falls.

We have to be encouraged and determined not to give up. When we turn it over to God, he will give us what we need for our battle-weary souls. It takes us being just as determined to hold onto God and his promises.

I Kgs 18:41-43 And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.

What if Elijah was like a lot of us. He sent his servant, and he came back and said there was not a cloud. Most of us would complain or say, “well I don’t know if there is any use to keep praying or not.” But Elijah was not shaken by how things appeared; he simply told him to go look again. This happened seven times.

He would pray and send his servant. I am sure by the sixth trip the servant was starting to wonder if Elijah was just trying to run him ragged. Elijah didn’t give up, but knew God would answer in his perfect time.

I Kgs 18:44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not.

The seventh time the servant saw a little cloud come up out of the sea. The cloud represents God’s presence. We have to hold on and keep praying until we see God’s hand in our situations.

Think about the tent of the tabernacle that was a place God designed, and the children of Israel built. It was a place of worship. When God’s presence would come down and rest upon the tabernacle, it would be overshadowed by a cloud. It is interesting how His presence shows up in a cloud.

We need to keep our focus on God and look for him in every situation. He is not far from us when we seek him. He will answer. Sometimes we have to pray several times before we see his hand, like Elijah. But we cannot give up. Breakthrough comes from persistence and prayer.

Keep looking up, don’t give up, you will reap great things if you keep looking for God’s hand in every situation.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EP395 OPEN BOOK TEST

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: OPEN BOOK TEST

Some teachers, if a particular lesson is hard to learn, will all their students to take an open book test. This means that they will be able to read and try to figure out the answers to the questions. It will not be all from memory. This is not considered cheating if the teacher allows it and everyone has a fair chance to seek the answers.

Matt 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

We were never meant to carry the burdens of life alone. This is Jesus’s invitation to enter a relationship with him; to learn about him. When we begin this process of walking by faith the enemy will try to stop us. He will give us every reason to turn around. He will fill our minds with questions.

However, he thinks we do not realize that our tests can be overcome, they are all open book tests. God’s word has the answer to life’s toughest problems. There is nothing that we cannot find the answer for in the word of God.

If we are sick, the word says he is our healer.

Psalm 103:2-3 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

The next few verses list more of the benefits of trusting God. But for time sake I only chose these two verses. The whole chapter is a good read.

The word says he forgives all our iniquities and heals us from all our diseases. We can depend on him to do what he says in this Word.

If we are grieving or heartbroken, he has promised to help us to heal.

Psalm 147:3 – He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

If we are battle weary he will help us to continue to fight the good fight of faith.

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

He will help us fight our battles and give us strength to keep fighting. We just have to hold on and not allow the weariness of the battle to drag us down.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

The key is enduring temptation or passing the test. Encouragement for passing the tests is in the word. They are open book tests.

He was know as Jehovah-Jireh to the Israelites. He was their provider of their needs. They wandered in the desert for forty years and their clothes and shoes didn’t wear out. He provided them shelter from the weather. Food fell from the sky for them to eat.

Psalm 23 is full of ways that God leads and guides us. In many ways, he provides for every need. It is a good place to start when wanting to learn more about God’s character.

People often read books and wonder what the author was thinking. But they never get an opportunity to meet them and ask. Jesus is waiting for our questions and he will provide the answers we seek.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are to set aside the things that are holding us back and run our race. We must not allow the enemy to trip us up. We must focus on Jesus, who is the author and the one who completes our faith. Remember to look to him, study his word, and seek the answers. After all, our life is an open-book test.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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EP394 GOD KNOWS THE WHY’S?

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WELCOME TO GOD FOCUS THIS MORNING

The title of today’s episode: GOD KNOWS THE WHY?

Most Christian’s can look back on a time they did something wrong and wonder why? We cannot allow conviction of sin to become condemnation. There is a difference in conviction and condemnation. The Holy Ghost inside of us will nudge us when we have done wrong. This is so we can make a course correction.

The enemy will use condemnation to make us feel bad and unworthy of God’s compassion. He will tells us there is no use to try, because we will fail again. Satan will tempt us into sin and then use it to further beat us down.

God knows the Why of everything. There is not a question that he doesn’t have the answer. He sees the real version of us, the one we don’t show anyone, even ourselves. He sees the broken parts and He understands why they are broken. He also knows he can create a beautiful masterpiece out of our brokenness.

John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Jesus had every right to condemn those who had broken God’s laws. He was perfect and he was God. But he came to show by example compassion and love. Jesus never told them how awful they were, he showed compassion. We may not understand the why of our circumstances, but God’s sees the big picture.

Look at the woman at the well. She had plenty of people condemning her. She couldn’t even draw water early in the morning like every other woman in the city. She had to go in the heat of the day to avoid the stares and whispers of judgment. All those people didn’t see her heart like Jesus did, they judged her by her actions. She had been married several times and was currently living with a man that she wasn’t married.

Jesus understood the Why of her circumstances. Maybe she married so many times because she was looking for financial stability. Maybe all of them were lazy bums. Maybe they all talked a good game but were narcissists. Maybe she was just wanting to be loved and none of them had offered real love to her. Maybe she believed the judgements of others that she was not a good person and she felt lucky that anyone would pay attention to her. God was there every step of the way and understood the circumstances that led to each bad decision. He sees all and understands the why. He sees how the enemy manipulated us to trap us into a place of misery. We don’t know the why; it is not our place to judge another person’s issues. We often do not even understand our own whys.

When we turn our lives over to Jesus he can fix the issues that cause the Why? He came to give us an abundant life. He came to set us free, not bury us in a bunch of legalism and religion. Jesus knows how hard it is to deal with religious people. After all the religious people of his day had him crucified.

We are going to have to deal with this type of person. But the only one we have to answer to is God above and he knows our hearts and minds. He knows the Why’s. Do not be discouraged by condemning, legalistic people. Look to Jesus and ask him to show you the why’s of your life. He can take all the bad choices and turn them around to leave a good outcome. Because he is God and that is what he does, he restores the broken to a place of wholeness.

Until next time,

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

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