God said Go; But I Like it HERE!
How many times do we want to be used of God yet we are afraid to step out when He gives us certain instructions? He tells us to “go ye into all the world.” He even told Abram to get up and go. Go is a word which moves us to action. I’m even venturing to say the word “go” may also sound something like “remove,” “stop,” or “let go.” God commanded Abram “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1). Abram obeyed God for a promise of greater blessing. God tells us to “go” however, in order for us to go we must leave some places, people, and maybe even some things! God did not ask Abram to go, remove, and let go of his father’s family and what he currently had just to keep things from him. God had a better plan and better purpose for his life. Think of this: because of his obedience to God’s command the nation of Israel came from Abram AND Jesus Christ came through Abram’s family tree! Can you imagine that kind of call on your life! When given the command Abram had a choice between setting out for parts unknown or staying right where he was – where the comfort level was just fine! He was faced with a choice of security or uncertainty. All he really had to go on was God’s command and promise to bless him.
You and I my friend are faced with exactly the same thoughts and feelings Abram had! He was just as human as we are, with the same thoughts, fears, and emotions. Abram had no idea the effect his obedience would play on this earth – even today! YOU have no idea what God is asking you to do which will effect others - even years down the road! We must realize that if we allow our comfort zone to lead us we will miss what God has for us – as well as for others! Remember God will never ask you to do something you can’t d0. You might not want to do it or even know how to do it; but if He asks you to do something or remove someone out of your life, or even go somewhere, He has already put in you the ability to do what He requests!
I know our comfort zone and fear keep us from doing what we are asked to do. Even when we are asked to let go of someone or something. This fear is our flesh rearing it’s ugly head. But remember God wants you to use what He has already given you. He created you – so just use what you have. Push through the fear and watch Him take over once you step out in faith. The woman in Luke 7:38 was memorialized by Jesus HIMSELF in Mark 14:9! He said she would be remembered, why? Because she did an amazing feat? Because she lead millions to the Lord? Because she went into a foreign country and served? NO! Jesus said she would be remembered and discussed wherever the Good News is preached because ”She has done what she could…” ( verse 8 ). Your Heavenly Father is not asking you to do any more than you can. Will you have to face some fears and get out of your comfort zone – yes! Settle it in your heart that you will do what God asks you to do, no matter what your flesh, family, friends, or circumstances are telling you! I am sure Abram’s family had some opinions when he was going away. Can you hear them? “Where are you going Abram, what will you do?” To Abram’s reply, “I have no idea, God just said go!” Can you hear the family arguments there? I think a family meeting was called don’t you! What about the woman with the alabaster box? The disciples of Jesus; the very ones who should be encouraging others and helping them “do what they can” were criticizing her for what she was doing! (Mark 14: 4-5). Does this sound like some people of the church today? Someone is serving how they can and that’s not enough or the right way?
You have a plan and a purpose in which God wants to use YOU! He wants to ask YOU to do what you can for Him, so His work can get done. You do have a choice my friend on what to do. Abram had a choice and so did the woman with the precious oil. The question remains will you get uncomfortable and push past the fear and nay-sayers? Will you say “Yes Lord here I am!” He is not asking you to do anything that He has not already set up and equipped you to do. He will not let you slip, fall, or fail (Psalm 55:22). Why would He? He needs you! Are you willing to do what you can and allow Him to do the rest? Ask Him now what He desires of you and then rely on The Holy Spirit to help you do what you can!
Know someone who is facing a storm they can’t seem to get out of? Sandra’s book The Drying Pot; And The Refining Fires Necessary to Become a Vessel Used By God is a book of trials and triumphs! She takes you through her real life trials and how she overcame! See how you can move God to change your situation!
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Am I Praying Properly?
Prayer is vital to our lives, as most of us know. However, most give their “grocery list” prayers I like to call them, which sound something like this: “God, help me pay my mortgage this month. Help my mom to feel better. Send me someone to give me some HELP. Make my spouse understand me more. Please God make my children mind! Thank you Jesus. Amen.”
Though prayer is important, it is of the most importance that we know how to pray properly. And as with anything we must look to the Bible for the correct answer, and who better to look at as an example than Jesus!
When we face times of trials, and storms rise up in our lives, we can seem to be like a tossed ship in raging waters. But God intends for us to chart those “storms of life” with the promises He has already laid out for us in His Word. Jesus knew this when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. Now you may say “I’m not being tempted to sin, I just need an answer to my prayer.” Think of this my friend, when we are worried we ARE being tempted to sin by not trusting God. God does not want us to worry or His Word would not declare “Be anxious for nothing!” ( Read here for more on why we should not worry). The point I want to show is not about temptation, it is how to follow Jesus when we have Satan bringing on a storm in our life.
Let’s look at Matthew 4: 1-11- 1THEN JESUS was led (guided) by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness (desert) to be tempted (tested and tried) by the devil. 2And He went without food for forty days and forty nights, and later He was hungry. 3And the tempter came and said to Him, If You are God’s Son, command these stones to be made [loaves of] bread. 4But He replied, It has been written, Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. 5Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on a turret (pinnacle, gable) of the temple sanctuary. 6And he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will give His angels charge over you, and they will bear you up on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 7Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written also, You shall not tempt, test thoroughly, or try exceedingly the Lord your God. 8Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and excellence) of them. 9And he said to Him, These things, all taken together, I will give You, if You will prostrate Yourself before me and do homage and worship me. 10Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve. 11Then the devil departed from Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”
Notice Jesus had the same reply to everything the devil threw at Him; He said over and over “it has been written!” Jesus took the Word of God and declared “It is written” then He spoke out what the Word said about His particular situation! For example when Satan tried to tell Jesus he would give him all things Jesus said in verse 10 “Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.” Jesus spoke out it is written and backed it up with Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus also said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7). We must have God’s word abiding in us so we can declare it out when we need answer to our prayers!
It is vital we follow Jesus’ examples and instructions. He knew how to talk with His Father and get His prayers answered, as well as how to send the devil packing when he showed up!
First, find the scripture which has already been promised to you in God’s Word. If you need healing find a healing scripture like 1 Peter 2:24. If you need help in your finances stand and declare Philippians 4:19. If you have an unsaved loved one; bind up the devil over their life according to Matthew 12:29, and pray the Lord of the harvest according to Matthew 9:38 will send labors into their lives to lead them to Jesus! There is a promise from God to you in His Word for EVERY situation in your life! You must find that promise!
Second, you pray out “Father, in Jesus Name, it is written in your Word….” then add the scritpture you are standing on!
Third, give thanks to the Father IN ADVANCE for doing what He promised He would do. THIS is walking in faith! When we know BEFORE it comes that God WILL do it, THEN we are walking in faith. Faith is NOT hoping God will. Faith is not wringing our hands and pleading with God; it is declaring out of our mouths the Word of God. Declaring “it is written, and in Jesus Name” to the Father. Then we keep thanking Him that it is done, NO MATTER what we see in the natural!
We must come to the point where we know we must declare first “It is written” before we can claim “it is finished!”
Know someone who is facing a storm they can’t seem to get out of? Sandra’s book The Drying Pot; And The Refining Fires Necessary to Become a Vessel Used By God is a book of trials and triumphs! She takes you through her real life trials and how she overcame! See how you can move God to change your situation!
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Seasons of Change
Just like we have seasonal changes in the natural we also have seasons of change in our walk with God. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” Though seasons in our life change – God’s truth remains; His Word will not pass away. When God speaks it is sealed in Heaven; we can be sure of it, we can depend on Him!
One of the greatest obstacles Christians face is when they do not recognize the season they are in.
If a Christian is in a spiritual winter season and becomes nervous because there does not seem to be any fruit appearing in their life, they may commit to new ministries in order to force themselves to produce fruit. No matter how hard they try, they won’t produce fruit until God produces it in them. But what is worse is sometimes they blame God for the lack of fruit! I can not tell you how many times I’ve heard “I did everything right but God did not come through.”
God does not fail; we fail to recognize our seasons and we fail to work with God in what He is doing in our life.
Just like the natural seasons we go through; we go through spiritual seasons as well.
During our Spiritual Springtime we are to look for the leading of God in new activities and ventures into new opportunities. In our Spiritual Summer we need to take the time for spiritual development and fruit bearing. During our Spiritual Fall we may be feeling a need to return to the basics of our relationship with God, or a new commitment to the spiritual disciplines of fasting, praying, solitude, individual worship, and devotion; things which in themselves seem to produce little fruit but are essential for our Christian walk. Lastly, there is winter – Spiritual Winter is the most uncomfortable time for many Christians. In our society we tend to value people based on how much they produce. This “work equals value” culture is not godly and it is wrong to applaud people who are over committed as much as it is wrong to applaud people who are under committed.
God values people – not works and we should too. Spiritual winter is like the Sabbath rest. God instructed people to keep the rest holy to God and reflect on the things which God had done for them. God says in Leviticus 23:27 we must “deny” (NIV) or “afflict” (KJ) ourselves when observing the Sabbath. What should we deny? Whatever keeps our minds from reflecting on God’s good deeds and keeping a holy attitude before Him.
As you work unto the Lord and most importantly once you work or rest according to the season you are currently in, you will maximize your spiritual growth and your production of spiritual fruit. Some may feel they do not know how to hear God concerning the season they are in, however, John 2:20 plainly declares ALL believers have an anointing from God which provides them with insight of God’s will for their lives. Our responsibility is to spend time in prayer and even fasting to seek Him for His will in the season we are in.
Know someone who is facing a storm they can’t seem to get out of? Sandra’s book The Drying Pot; And The Refining Fires Necessary to Become a Vessel Used By God is a book of trials and triumphs! She takes you through her real life trials and how she overcame! See how you can move God to change your situation!
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Keep on Keeping On
We don’t have the right or the privilege to stop. We must keep on keeping on. We keep on going after what we are seeking – enduring the storms of life which blow over us all the while. Matthew 7: 7-8 declares “Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened.”
We all face the storms of life where we feel we just can’t run any longer. Times when keeping on no longer seems an option. Our spiritual legs are aching and we are out of breath. Our lungs hurt and the finish line is nowhere in sight. Storms are a fact of life. We need to know how to weather the storms and keep on keeping on until the end. I think about a beautiful bent tree covered road. Those trees did not just become bent. They were bent over by the storms of life – yet they are beautiful and strong after the storm has passed! You and I are to be like the strong tree, maybe bent, but now we can be used in a beautiful way by God! But how do we weather the storms life sends us?
Jesus taught us how to weather the storms of life through prayer and faith. Matthew 8:23-27 says “Now when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold! A severe storm arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves; but he himself was sleeping. Then they went and woke him by saying, “Lord! Save us! We are perishing!” So he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” After he got up, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became absolutely calm. Then the men were astonished, saying, “What kind of a man is this One, that even the winds and the sea obey him?””
Look again at verses 23, 24 “Now when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold! A severe storm arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves; but he himself was sleeping.”
A lot of Jesus’ disciples were already fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. They knew from experience this body of water was notorious for sudden storms. The storm on this occasion however was especially furious. The high winds churned into vicious waves. The waves swept over the disciples’ boat, spilling huge amounts of water into it, threatening to capsize it and to throw them into the sea. The disciples were very frightened.
While all this was happening Jesus was sleeping calmly in the back of the boat. We might wonder how He could sleep so calmly through such a storm while His disciples were so frightened. Here we see the genuine humanness and faith of the man Jesus. He got tired physically and needed sleep and He slept so calmly because He knew His heavenly Father was with Him and watching over Him. (Most of us can’t even sleep through the night for worry and fear has come upon us.) He simply put Himself into His Father’s hands, unafraid of whatever storm of life might overtake Him. If only we remained so calm and trusted in our heavenly Father’s providential care through our storms of life, right?
From the disciples we can learn to turn to Jesus in our storms of life (v. 25). What troubles or hardships or dangers have swept down upon us? How are we weathering them? Storms are neither pleasant nor easy to cope with! When the storms of life are crashing down around our ears, they are frightful and sometimes painful. What do we do then to batten down the hatches and bail out our sinking boat? We need to do what the disciples did–turn to Jesus. Pray: “Lord, I trust you to save me from drowning. I may feel like I am about to perish but I know you won’t let me!”
As Jesus was present with His disciples in their storm of life, so He is with us in our storms. He does not forsake us, leaving us to struggle alone and to drown. He is with us to hear our pleas for help. Even if our plea must be “help me Jesus to keep on keeping on through this storm!” (Notice I did not say deliver me from the storm, sometimes we must keep on keeping on through it in order to be changed!) Jesus however is there to answer us in the midst of our troubles. He tells us in Psalm 50:15: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” So in our storms of life we must rely on Jesus to carry us through them and to deliver us from them.
This requires faith in Him and His promises. This is what the disciples lacked in their storm of life. They allowed themselves to become frightened. They saw themselves perishing in the sea. Think of this – they were fishermen, they knew how to weather a storm, yet this time, even though they were already equipped, they allowed fear to overcome instead of relying on what they had been previously trained to do. Jesus rebuked their littleness of faith in the face of danger. They had nothing to fear. Jesus was with them. He would not allow them to perish. He then acted to still their storm and to calm their fears. Thanks to Jesus the disciples’ storm of life was over. His almighty, powerful word was sufficient for the task. His word was authoritative. His word accomplished what He said and commanded. And His Word, the Bible, still speaks for Him today on our behalf. We however must speak His Word aloud over our storm!
How is our faith during our storms of life? In the face of hardships, troubles, and dangers is our faith strong and as firm as a rock? Are we determined to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in the midst of our storm- trusting in God’s Word? Or, is our faith no better than the faith of the disciples on that day? Would Jesus rebuke us also for the littleness of our faith?” Would He say to us, “O you of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
How confident are we when we must undergo hardship? How strong are we when we have lost our job and bills are raining down on us? How firm are we when our children or spouse has gone astray? What will build up our faith so we are confident, strong, and firm is the power of God’s Word. His Word! His Word is authoritative. His Word accomplishes what He commands and promises. He can speak God’s Word and still our storm of life. He can deliver us from danger with the power of His Word BUT you and I must speak out His Word over our storm!
Because of Jesus and the powerful, life saving and giving words He has spoken, we have no reason to be spiritually timid and of little faith. For Jesus with the perfect life He lived for us and the innocent death He died in our place has already delivered us from the power of death. Hell cannot claim us. Death and the grave cannot hold us! We who put our trust in Jesus and the Words of His promises will be able to keep on through any storm! Jesus has atoned for our sins with His Holy, precious blood. He has purchased with His blood the full forgiveness of our sins. (If you have not asked Him to do this for you, do it now!) He has delivered us from the storm of death and hell. We have no reason to be afraid.
Since Jesus has delivered us from the most vicious storm to threaten us — death and hell, we can be sure He will deliver us from the lesser storms of life that sweep over us. Whatever the storm of life may be, we must weather that storm through prayer and faith and keep on keeping on-keep asking, seeking, and knocking in faith believing Jesus and His Word!
Know someone who is facing a storm they can’t seem to get out of? Sandra’s book The Drying Pot; And The Refining Fires Necessary to Become a Vessel Used By God is a book of trials and triumphs! She takes you through her real life trials and how she overcame! See how you can move God to change your situation!
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Joy vs Happiness
Remember the song “Don’t worry be happy!” Or when the bright yellow smiley faces were everywhere and bumper stickers proclaimed every possible source for happiness insisting to us “Happiness is being married,” “Happiness is being single,” or ”Happiness is being (fill in the blank)!”
Happiness my friend is fleeting. As the word implies – happiness is associated with happenstance, happenings, luck or good fortune. It boils down to our circumstances being favorable – then we feel we are happy; if circumstances don’t seem to stack in our favor then unhappiness moves in sending our emotions reeling. To experience happiness we think we must feel good emotionally. Some will even try to convince us that happiness is a journey. We all are aware it is impossible to be happy when we rely on our emotions. So how do we handle our emotions when we want peace but our circumstances are not favorable?
The Lord is both our source and the object of our joy. Knowing Him brings joy that transcends all of our temporal circumstances. Nehemiah 8:10 gives us assurance by boldly declaring “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” We can rely on His joy to strengthen us through whatever trial we are facing. So many of us are facing intense trials where we have to stand and fight off the enemy yet we feel we have no fight left in us sometimes. This my friend is the time to rely on God’s joy to give you the strength you need to endure.
Joy is directly related to God. Joy, in contrast to happiness, is the firm unshakeable confidence that all is well no matter what our circumstances are telling us. Joy is every believers gift from God. It is the fruit which the Holy Spirit produces within us according to Galatians 5:22. It is a characteristic of God Himself.
We all face trials in our lives however these trials need not rob us of our joy. James 1:2 says we should be joyful when we encounter various trials because these trials produce spiritual endurance and maturity. They also prove our faith is genuine. According to Peter a proven faith is the source of great joy (1 Peter 1:6-8).
Let’s look at Habakkuk 3:17: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crops fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls…” My goodness these are some intense problems here my friend! Now hold on look at what he says next…
“YET!!!!!!!!” (emphasis mine because you have to get this!!!!) Though it all seems to be falling apart he is not going to surrender, he is not going to let his emotions determine whether he is happy. He says, “Yet I will REJOICE IN THE LORD, I will be JOYFUL IN GOD MY SAVIOR” (v. 18). He is going to choose to REJOICE because, “The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights” (v. 19). Habakkuk was a man who decide he was NOT going to allow his circumstance to determine his state of mind. He was going to be strengthened by the Lord’s joy and he was in no way going to stay defeated. His circumstance could have allowed him to be unhappy and defeated, but he chose to allow the joy of the Lord to help him to rise up out of his circumstance and move on! The difference between the person who chooses to stay in defeat and unhappiness – and the person who is victorious, by relying on the Lord’s joy, is the one who will come out of their storm quicker.
I’m not saying you are not going to have problems or that hard times won’t come along and take the wind out of your sail. However we have the choice in how we are going to react. We live in a world corrupted by sin and filled with turmoil. But your hope is in a living God – not in this dying world. He is more than “able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24). That is our assurance – eternal joy; a joy which comes from trusting the Lord in the MIDST of the storm. And while we wait on this earth until Jesus returns we must not neglect His Word, despise the trials we face, or even lose sight of our eternal reward. These are all key ingredients of our present joy. Happiness is fleeting however the joy of the Lord is eternal.
Know someone who is facing hard times? Sandra’s book The Drying Pot; And The Refining Fires Necessary to Become a Vessel Used By God is a book of trials and triumphs! She takes you through her real life trials and how she overcame! See how you can move God to change your situation!
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