Diet & Exercise

Controlling what we put in our body and what we do with our body is profound.  For some it is a matter of self control, while for others it is a matter of discipline; however, for me it is all about purpose.  Becoming physically healthy has been great, but becoming spiritually healthy has been amazing.  Daily feeding myself with the word of God and then exercising my faith by being a witness for Christ is the best workout there is.  When people see the change in me and ask what I am doing, my answer of diet and exercise shocks them as if there had to be more to it.  For me, it wasn’t the lack of knowing this; it was doing it.  When we reject the light, we are blind and when we walk away from it, we are foolish.

I made the decision that I was going to start seeing myself the way I wanted to be because how we see ourselves will determine the life we will live.  Our sight has to do with what we can see, while our vision has to do with what we can be.  Our imagination is powerful because all God needs to do is breathe in our direction to brings things to fruition.  God gives many of us pictures of things to come, as He did with Abraham.  God told him that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky.  The one thing we can be sure of is that God brings His promises to pass and our visions can become reality.  God wants to take us places that we have never dreamed of. 

One of the greatest needs we all have is of self worth.  Our value should come solely from the fact that we are children of the Most High God, but somehow we determine our self worth by what we think the most important person in our life thinks about us.  That is an interesting statement because if God is the most important thing in our life, our self worth would make us priceless.  We are God’s masterpiece and we have been chosen by God Himself.  Even though life is not fair, God is every time.  We all want a purpose in life and we all want to be happy so let me pose this scenario:  we were created to bring glory to God and the best way to do this is to spread the love of Christ to others; in doing so, we will find purpose and true happiness.

Angels & Demons

What are angels?

Angels are created beings that exercise intellect, emotions, and free will.  Biblical writers use the word angel to refer to both human and divine messengers, deities on occasion, as well as to holy and evil spirit beings.  Heavenly angels are spirits; therefore, they have no physical bodies.  For us to be able to see them, God has to grant us the ability to do so.  There are two distinct types of angels: “holy” and “evil” and within each, there is an order and rank.  The purpose of holy angels is to serve God and to minister to those He has redeemed.  The opposite is true with evil angels, whose purpose rest solely on opposing the gospel.  Angels are not restricted by normal human limitations, but the power they exercise is the power that God grants them.  Angels are immortal, but they are not eternal; only God is eternal.  Holy angels represent two-thirds of the innumerable number of hosts the Lord created, while the remaining one-third are evil angels which fell from heaven after they allied themselves with Lucifer.  ^“His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.” (Revelation 12:4)  After the fall, some angels were bound in darkness (Jude 1:6) while others were free to carry out Satan’s purpose. As a result, the devil attempts to strike back against God, by attacking His children.  There are several different kinds of holy angels, each with different characteristics and roles: cherubim, seraphim, and archangels.  Seraphim were created to declare the holiness of God.  They constantly worship Him and declare His glory.  “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.   And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  (Isaiah 6:1-3)  Cherubim are considered to be angels that guard sacred things, possibly even the throne of God.  They were over the Ark of the Covenant on the Mercy Seat and they also guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden.  Archangel means “chief angel” and the term only occurs two places in the Bible both of which are in the New Testament.  Only one of these scriptures identifies an archangel by name, but it does suggest there may be others.  Michael is referred to as “one of the chief princes” and his role includes: protecting the nation of Israel, battling Satan and announcing the second coming of Christ.  Gabriel is thought by some to possibly be an archangel himself, but the Bible does not identify him specifically as one.  He has had many important duties including: announcing the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah, announcing the birth of Jesus Christ to Mary, as well as, interpreting future events in a vision to the prophet Daniel.

When were angels created?

Scriptures like II Peter 3:8 make this a difficult question to answer, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”  Angels were created at the moment God commanded them into existence.  ^“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.” (Psalms 148:5) While the exact time angels were created is not revealed in God’s Word, some conclusions can be made.  We do know that God created them before He created man and that they were created out of existing matter, so it is reasonable to assume that God created them immediately out of nothing when He began His creative acts.  We do not see any mention of angels in the first chapter of Genesis, which details the account of creation, but in chapter three we are introduced to a fallen angel whose sole purpose was and is to hinder God’s purpose.  Angels witnessed the creation of the universe because as we read in Job, they were worshipping Him as He was creating the world.  We also know that angels existed before the Garden of Eden, since Lucifer was already there in his fallen form.

What is the place of angels in God’s purpose for us?

God is our ultimate provider, protector, deliverer, and guide and He has infinite resources to accomplish His will and purpose, one of which is angels.  Colossians 1:16 tells us, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”  Holy angels are ministering spirits that are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation, and while they minister to man, they also minister to God.  An angel has the power to provide physical and spiritual strength in our time of need and they also have the ability to protect us.  In Daniel 6, God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the lions and in Daniel 3 God sent His angel to protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  God can also use angels to deliver people out of or from perilous conditions and situations.  In some instances, He even uses angels to keep people from entering dangerous circumstances.  On two separate occasions, in Acts 5:17-23 and Acts 12:6-10, God dispatched an angel to deliver the apostle Peter from imprisonment.  Angels can also guide people according to God’s word.  Many times, He uses angels to minister to us without us even knowing it. 

What is our relationship to angels?

Angels are servants of God and exist to bring glory to His name; however, they are not slaves just carrying out his will.  We are not angels, nor do we become angels when we die.  When Jesus addressed this matter in Luke 20:34, He said that when we are resurrected, we will be like angels, not we will be angels.  After our resurrection, we will have glorified bodies in which our physical bodies will be majestically transformed.   Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”  One could argue that humans are more like God than angels, since we are created in His image.  Unlike humans, angels do not reproduce and they do not have gender.  We can be assured that when God sends either humans or angels to do anything that He will provide whatever is necessary to complete the task.  God uses angels to provide physical and spiritual strength and He uses them to provide protection over people and nations because He protects His own.  God can deliver us from, through, or by things and using angels is just one way in which He does this.  Angels can also provide us with guidance and most of our encounters with angels will happen without us even knowing about it.

What is the origin of demons?

Man’s fall is fairly detailed in scripture, but God has chosen not to reveal much of the specifics of evil angel’s fall from grace.  If there was a specific cause, it was pride.  Their pride robbed them of reason and in doing so; they wanted to be equal to God in power and position.  The rebel angels questioned God’s authority and joined forces with Lucifer causing them to lose their holy character.  This sinful act also caused them to abandon their authority and dwelling place.  They were angels who once were good and served God, but choose to exercise their free will and rebel against Him.  Because of God’s holiness, these once good angels could no longer be in His presence.  This sinful act caused God to cast them into hell, a bottomless pit and place of unknown misery.  Lucifer was the beginning of their end, giving way to a dark and corrupted kingdom of evil.  From Jude 1:6 and I Timothy 4:1 we can infer that some angels are bound and kept in darkness while other angels are used to carry out the devil’s bidding.  These demons are banished from God’s presence forever and live under eternal judgment.

What is Satan’s role as the head of demons?

Satan is God’s adversary and his primary goal is to frustrate God’s purpose by any means necessary.  Lucifer was the first being to ever sin.  John 8:44 tells us, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.  He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” He attempts to strike back against God by attacking His children in jealous rage.  His goal is for as many of God’s children to go to the hell that God created specifically for Satan and his evil angels.  Satan roams the earth like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and he masquerades as an angel of light.  Although he is powerful and cunning, he operates under limitations and he does not possess the same attributes that God does. His power is limited, his knowledge is incomplete, and his presence is restricted.  Satan is the originator of sin, he is the father of lies, and he is the great accuser.  His strategies are to lie, deceive, and kill and in doing so; turn God’s children away from Him.  Satan leads the host of evil angels and they carry out his purpose and sinful schemes.

What is the activity of Satan and demons?

Satan and his demon’s goals are to destroy or counterfeit every work of God.  Their tricks and schemes are time tested and they have become very proficient at them, since their fall from heaven.  Evil angels attempt to cause God’s children to become blind to the gospel and they plot to keep His children in spiritual bondage.  They use temptation because they know where we are vulnerable, they use guilt because they understand our emotions, and they use fear to play with our minds.  Their personal sin of pride is another one of their favorite tendencies because they understand how vain and envious humans are.  These are just some of the many tricks the enemy uses to hinder the effectiveness of a Christian.  Misery loves company and any opportunity to become a hindrance to the gospel will not be missed.  Evil spirits love to torment believers of past mistakes even though when we bring it before God, His answer to us is, “What sin”?  One thing we must never do is give credit to the devil for something he never had a part of because you can rest assured that he will take the credit.  Unlike unbelievers, demons believe there is a God and “shudder” “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” (James 2:19)

 What is our relationship to demons?

We are engaged in daily battle with demons.  ^“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) Satan and his evil angels attempt to retaliate against God by attacking His children.  Satan’s hostility toward God is unrelenting and he will do whatever he can to upset God’s plan of redemption.  I John 3:8 tells us, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  Even though Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work, Satan wages a desperate spiritual conflict.  Our sinful nature is what demons use against us as they attempt to afflict, tempt and even possess human beings.  This being said, Satan and his evil angels can only do what is permitted by God.  All angels have free will, just as humans, so they understand our weaknesses and areas of vulnerability.  They personally know the areas we are susceptible to temptation.  They know when we are told, “Don’t do that,” it just makes us want to do it even more.  I Timothy 3:7 talks about traps the enemy sets to catch believers unaware, causing them to fall.  We can be assured that the One who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world and we can have confidence that the spiritual battle we are engaged in is not one of equal powers.  Satan attempts to make us blind to truth.  ^“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (II Corinthians 4:4)  Another aspect of demons involves possession, in which one surrenders themselves over to an evil angel(s).  Humans’ fascination with the unknown and the demonic is not something new; it has existed since there was evil in the world.  Man constantly attempts to worship false gods in order to reveal things that God has chosen not to make known and they desire to worship something they can hold in their hands.  God and His plan are perfect; He knows the end from the beginning and He can even use demons to accomplish His will.  Although possession is very real; it cannot occur in someone who is a Christian.  Believers in Christ are off-limits to demon possession because once we accept Christ into our lives; our body becomes the temple of the Most High.  God purchased our lives with the blood of His Son and He will not share our heart with anything unclean.  Satan knows he is running out of time so he and his evil angels are desperately attempting to derail Christians and their walk with Christ. The reality of demons roaming the earth can be troubling, but Christ has already triumphed over them.   ^“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  

Goodness of God & Function of Angels

God is infinitely and unchangeably good (Zephaniah 3:17) and while He is infinitely powerful and majestic, He also desires to have a personal relationship with us.  After reading about the qualities of God, you soon begin to realize that they are not independent of each other; instead, they complement each other and encompass His very nature and being.

What makes God good?  Is it because He loves us, or is it because He is merciful?  He is good because of these and so many other reasons.  The love of God is a totally unselfish love and He demonstrated His love for us by sending His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.  God is good because He loved us even when we had no concern for Him and Christ died for us while we were still sinners.  Love is so important that Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).  The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love and whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8).

God’s love is a persistent unending love, even when people resist it and many scholars believe, in grace, God manifests His goodness toward the ill-deserving, but in mercy, He directs it toward those who are in misery or distress.  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).  Because of God’s mercy towards us, He also expects us to be merciful to others and by not showing mercy to others, we keep ourselves from receiving mercy from God.

To act out of true love, one must put their concern for someone else equal to or above that for themselves.  People know they are loved when they feel it, not when they hear it or if it is implied.  Loving someone as Christ loved us involves a decision to meet people where they are at in their walk in life and coming along side them.  It involves getting our hands dirty by reaching down to pick them out of the pit they are in or walking with them through a trial just like Christ has done for us time after time.  We quickly forgot what and where our Savior pulled us out from and as the Body of Christ that is how a lost and hurting world will feel the love and compassion of God.  We are His instruments and while He doesn’t need us to accomplish His will, we need Him and when we act according to His will, we bring glory to His name.

 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:7).  Mercy is shown by those who have authority, power, or control over another person. Jesus paid the ultimate debt with His life and He expects us to do the same.  In Matthew 18:23 we read about a king forgiving one of his servant’s vast debt.  In this story, the Lord was showing us that forgiveness must be in direct proportion to what was forgiven.  In the story, the servant was forgiven of all his debt and he in turn should have forgiven all.  Instead, he chose not to forgive one of his debtors who owed merely a fraction of the debt he himself had just been forgiven.  As children of God, we have been forgiven of all our sins, so in turn when someone sins against us we must be willing to forgive them no matter the circumstance or how many times it occurs.

God is our ultimate provider, protector, deliverer, and guide and He has infinite resources to accomplish His will and purpose, one of which is angels.  Angel means “messenger” and they are ministering spirits who are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.  An angel has the power to provide physical and spiritual strength in our time of need.  In Matthew 4:11, after Jesus’ tempting, angels came and attended Him.  God also uses angels to protect His children.  In Daniel 6 God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the lions and in Daniel 3 God sent His angel to protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  God can also use angels to deliver people out of or from perilous conditions and situations.  In some instances, He uses angels to even keep people from entering dangerous circumstances.  On two separate occasions in Acts 5:17-23 and Acts 12:6-10, God dispatched an angel to deliver the apostle Peter from imprisonment.  Angels can also guide people according to God’s word.  Many times, He uses angels to minister to us without us even knowing it.  Other times, as in Acts 10:1-8, Cornelius was reassured and instructed by an angel to send for the apostle Peter who could help make sense of the heavenly visitation he had received.

The purpose of holy angels is to serve God and to minister to those He has redeemed.  The opposite is true with evil angels, whose purpose rest solely on opposing the gospel.  As a result, we are engaged in an ongoing spiritual battle and it becomes evident that angels play a significant role in God’s plan.  With 175 references to angels in the New Testament, it becomes apparent that there is an increase in the activity of angels or that the writers of this period simply decided to write more about them.  Ultimately, spiritual warfare began when Lucifer exercised his free will and chose to rebel against God.  At that instance, he and a third of the angels fell from grace like lightning falling from heaven and as each day passes; Satan’s earthly kingdom becomes less secure.  After the fall, some angels were bound in darkness (Jude 1:6) while others were free to carry out Satan’s purpose. As a result, the devil attempts to strike back against God by attacking His children. 

To win a battle, understanding the weapons and tactics of your opponent is essential.  To battle Satan and his dominion and to wage war in the heavenlies, we must grasp what it truly means to put on the full armor of God and we must know how to stand firm against his attacks.  Our key to victory rests in our ability to not give the devil a foothold because he is the great accuser and he is the tempter.  The same ploy he used in the Garden of Eden was the same ploy he used in heaven – why worship God, when you can be God?  His tricks and schemes don’t change and he knows where we are vulnerable to temptation.  Satan roams the earth like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour and he masquerades as an angel of light.  Understanding this and knowing that whatever God calls us to do that He will grant us the strength and power required is our key to fighting the good fight.  Satan operates under limitations and he does not possess the same attributes that God does. His power is limited, his knowledge is incomplete, and his presence is restricted.  The greatest pay-back the devil could deliver would be to have as many of God’s children going to the place in which God created specifically for the devil and his angels.

Lola

I am exactly where the Lord has called me to be and I am doing exactly what He has called me to do, but I haven’t always been where I am now.  I love telling people what God has done in my life and how He has changed me for the better and running into old friends is always interesting.  It seems like every time you go to Wal-Mart you are guaranteed to see someone you know.  Most people think it is great to hear what God is doing in and through me; some don’t know what to say.  However, the other day as I was sharing with someone about my plans to become a pastor; their response shocked me.  They said, “We have too many churches.”  I couldn’t get that statement out of my thoughts. 

Having a heart to do right and being willing to change has given me great peace in my life.  My faith in God has only increased because even though I’ve fallen short of God’s glory thousands of times, He did not write me off.  He welcomed me back with open arms, He set my feet upon the rock and He put a new song in my mouth.  I used to feel as though I had wasted years of my life until I began to see how God was continually recalculating my destiny.  Bad decision after bad decision was leading me to a place where I didn’t even know where I was or where I was going.  Many of us have GPS navigation; I named mine Lola.  Even after wrong turns and missed exits, she gives me a new way to reach my destination.  Many times I chose to ignore her because I thought I knew a better way or I didn’t trust her.  Like Lola, God is also giving us directions in life and many times we too think we know a better way.  Time after time, we end up no place close to where we thought we were headed, but when we turn  back to God, He will welcome us back and He will point us exactly where we need to go.  No experience we go through in life, good or bad, is ever wasted.  No matter how many years, miles, or reasons we go in the wrong direction, the instance we turn back to God, He will meet us where we are and He will show us the way.  The LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in. (Proverbs 3:12)  Even mistakes we saw as dead ends and things meant for our harm, God takes and creates a new route and uses them for our good.  God sees the end from the beginning and our destiny and our God is bigger than our mistakes.   What we’ve done is not who we are; Who we put our faith in is what we are.  We are children of the Most High God and as a follower of Christ; nothing can separate us from the love of God.  He never gives up on us and He never turns His back when we call out His name.  When we think God is saying don’t, what God is really saying is, “Don’t hurt yourself.”  God knows the pain and hurt our bad decisions and wrong turns will lead to.  The Lord is full of grace and mercy and when we make mistakes, we should run to God, not from God.  Hebrews 4:16 tells us, “Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  God knows where we are at all the time and He knows our thoughts; He knows us by name and He wants nothing more than for us to listen to His voice in our lives.  For me, it wasn’t hearing, “At your next available intersection, please make a U-Turn” it was, “Turn around now and don’t look back; I the Lord your God have made the way straight.  Trust in me and I will neither leave nor forsake you.”  I have and I always will trust the Lord with my future travels.

A New Season

A New Season

Life is full of different seasons and if we are going to become everything God has created us to be there are going to be seasons of growing and there are going to be seasons of pruning and sometimes in our seasons of pruning it feels like we are being cut down to nothing more than the trunk.  Life’s circumstances pile up: we lose our job, we lose our house, our health, friends, loved ones-the list goes on.  In my own life, it took a season like this for me to hear from God.   C.S. Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasure, He speaks to us in our conscience, but He shouts to us in our pain.”   I went through a season of great loss and yes it was difficult, but I knew that season was not permanent and I knew that what the enemy meant for harm that the Lord would somehow use it for good.  Once I began to truly believe that God was in complete control, that He had me in the palm of His hand, that it was He that was directing my steps; He became my vindicator.  Once I saw past my circumstances, I became excited about my future, my purpose, and what God had planned next.  Even when it felt like I was taking steps backwards, God was allowing me to discover talents I never knew I had; He was showing me hidden treasures and truths that I would have never known existed.  When I felt as though God had completely abandoned me, He was simply stretching my faith; He knew my limits and what I could handle.  The circumstances of life will either shrink or stretch your faith because real faith is about trusting the word of God and believing the promises we have in it.  Believing and trusting that His ways are higher than our ways, believing that we are more than conquerors, and believing that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.  When God allowed a season of pruning to happen in my life, I had to ask myself, “Will I do the thing which God has asked me to do and will I trust Him to do the part only He can do?”

Some of life’s greatest setbacks turn out to be our greatest opportunities.  God never takes something away from us without putting us in a place to receive something new.  Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego went through their own fiery trial.  They were bound and thrown into a furnace heated seven times hotter than normal, yet they came out unharmed without even smelling like smoke.  The only thing the fire burned were the cords that were holding them back. God can do the impossible and if God is for us, who can be against us?  The hotter the fire gets, the closer we are to victory.

Listen, I know what it is like to really mess up, to make so many foolish decisions, and to end up in long-term situations that I myself asked for.  I know what it is like to live life thinking you are getting away with a life of sin, but I also know what it is like to be welcomed back into my Saviors arms not even smelling like smoke.  I know what it is like to have God use the very things I was ashamed of to better His kingdom.  God kept telling me, “I’m warning you…You’re going to get hurt…It’s fixing to get ugly, but I chose to ignore Him and walk my own path.  Even after personally witnessing the supernatural power of God in my own life I chose to walk my own path.  An attitude of pride and self righteousness in my life had to be cut off.  God literally reached down into the pit I made for myself and brought me out and set my feet upon the rock.  When He reduced me to nothing more than a stump, He protected me and watched over me so I could once again grow strong branches and produce bountiful fruit.   Because of that season, I now know what it feels like to be redeemed and to be made whole.  Praise God He does not treat us as our sins deserve, praise God we don’t have to earn or deserve His grace and praise God for love, acceptance, & forgiveness.  God disciplines us for our good so that we may share in His holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, and I’m sorry that it took me learning the hard way to learn His way.  Even though, the enemy tried to make me feel paralyzed, damaged, and beaten because of my mistakes; the more he tried to convince me of how big my mistakes were, the more he was proving the power, the awesomeness, and the might of the Lord my God to redeem me and make me whole.

Mystery of Majesty

“God whispers to us in our pleasure, He speaks to us in our conscience, but He shouts to us in our pain” (C.S. Lewis)

                Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world and God can use pain in our own life to get our attention.  It may sound drastic sometimes, but God will actually allow a person to experience hell on earth, in the hope of awakening their faith.  A righteous love makes the hard choice to release a child to the consequences of their rebellion.  God’s love is not always a pampering love, but it is always a perfecting love.  The problem we run into is how we think; we have a way of only looking at things in the natural, even though we serve a supernatural God.  When we don’t see a way out, that doesn’t mean God doesn’t have a way.  Even when we can’t fathom why something happened, God has a plan.  With men, things may be impossible, but with God all things are possible.  Most people simply live to survive, but with God in our life we should be living to thrive.  God’s power is limitless and He supersedes any human law.  All He asks in return is for us to do is believe and have faith in Him.  When we dare to believe, God outdoes Himself supernaturally every time.  When we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.  If we will keep God in first place, if we will honor Him with our life, He will even cause people to want to be good to us and His blessings will chase us down and overtake us.  Think for a moment about your enemies wanting to do good to you.  I think about the line out of, “The Breakup” with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston where he says, “Why would I want to want to do the dishes?”  With God in control, anything is possible, even things we thought never could or never would happen.  In order for this to happen, we must move from the place where we are at and pitch our tent in the land of hope.  When we do, we will find the land of more than enough and we will discover that there is nothing too wonderful or too hard for our Lord.  When we take the limits off of God, He will amaze us and He will give us the secret petitions of our heart.  God has endless ways to bring our wildest dreams to fruition and that is why Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Lean not on your own understanding.”  God is in complete control; He knows what we need and He knows how to get it to us.  He has us in the palm of His hand and He orchestrates everything.

                Sometimes we find our calling and our destiny on the road we travel to avoid it and even though we can go days without thinking about God, not a moment passes that He is not thinking about us.   Everything we walk through shapes us like the clay on the potter’s wheel.  Back in my pottery days, I can remember a time when I was making a vase.  During the final phase of pulling the clay and shaping the pot, I felt pain on my finger and jerked away.  An imperfection in the clay had cut my finger and I thought the pot would be ruined, but after the bleeding and the pain subsided I looked at the pot and realized that I had created something totally unique as well as something beautiful.  God can use any imperfection, any trial, and any pain in our lives to make us unique and beautiful and though our weeping and pain may endure for a night, joy and peace will come in the morning.  Though there might be times when things get so bad that we are willing to stop being His children, God will never be willing to stop being our Father.  Nothing can separate us from God’s love.  “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  As a society, we are fascinated and fixated with figuring things out; we want to know the why and the how, but when it comes to God we must not forget what Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  As the heavens are higher than the earth; so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  Once we understand that it is His will that the world be saved, it is then our job to align ourselves with His will.  When we make even daily decisions, we should be asking ourselves which outcome would contribute more to the kingdom of God.  By spending time in God’s presence, we learn His will and just as complaining kindles God’s anger, praying kindles God’s compassion and the power of our Lord is triggered by it.  Our prayers and petitions move God to change the world and actions in heaven begin when someone prays here on earth.  Long before we knew that we needed someone to provide for our needs, God already had.  Everything we have comes from God and we only give Him what is already His.  All of us are here by grace and at some point all of us have to share some of that same grace with others.  God is calling each one of us to accomplish His will, but He can use anything or anyone He wants, even the devil.  Satan is still a servant to God and his pride was his downfall.  He was not satisfied to give God worship; he wanted His throne.  Because he sought to be like God, Satan fell away from God and has spent all his days since trying to convince us to do the same thing.  Satan has no power, except that power which God allows.  Satan can’t touch us without God’s permission.  Our Lord is our Shepherd and the wolf cannot get to the sheep without the permission of the Shepherd, and the Shepherd will only permit the attack if, in the long term, if the pain is worth the gain.  No one has suffered more than our Heavenly Father. No one has paid more dearly for the allowance of evil and sin into the world. No one has so continuously grieved over the pain of a race gone bad.   No one has suffered like the One who paid for our sin with the crucified body of His own Son.   No one has suffered more than the One who, when He stretched out His arms and died, showed us how much He loved us.   It is this God who, in drawing us to Himself, asks us to trust Him when we are suffering and when our own loved ones cry out in our presence (I Peter 2:21, 3:18, 4:1).  Trust God because He will never leave you and He will never forsake you.

Down But Not Out

People that succeed are not always the most talented; they are the most determined and not everything comes naturally; sometimes, it comes supernaturally.  Daily life is full of setbacks, disappointments, sickness, obstacles, unfair situations and most people simply give up because the battle becomes too much.  However, when we choose to have a holy determination, no person, no obstacle, no setback, no betrayal, and no powers of darkness can keep us from our God given destiny.  God did not create us to give up; He did not create us to get discouraged when we face obstacles; He made us to be more than conquerors.  When He breathed life into us, He breathed victory, strength, perseverance, determination, courage, endurance and He empowered us to outlast every attack and repel every fiery dart the enemy throws in our path.  We are anointed to make it through difficult times and the enemy has done his best, but I am still standing.  What was meant for my harm, God is using for my good. 

Our circumstances have a way of weighing us down, and it is during these times that we must dig our heels into God’s promises and say, “Although my problems are big, I serve an even bigger God.”  Nothing that has happened to us can keep us from what God has for us.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  As long as we live in faith, nothing can snatch us out of the hand of God.  It is darkest just before the light and the harsh season you may be in will soon pass.  “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”(Psalms 30:5)  A new season is on the horizon and the setbacks, roadblocks, detours and obstacles in my own life have strengthened my faith and my resolve.  Your new season could start today!

 Blessings, favor, and promotions await us when we walk by faith and not by sight.  We need to get in agreement with God; anybody can get discouraged or give up; that’s the easy part, but it takes a person of great faith to look past the things you can see to know and believe the things that God has promised.  I trust in God that my latter days will be better than my present days.  Isaiah 61:7 tells us, “Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.”  What a promise!  Our guilt, our shame, and our troubles promise us a double portion of God’s favor and blessing.  Instead of focusing on our current state and what we are going through, we need to focus on where we want to go and where God is taking us to.  When life becomes difficult and you don’t see any way out and your thoughts tell you to just quit and give up, if you just hold on a little longer, the very thing that was meant to destroy you will be the very thing that helps you rise up.  The greater your challenge the greater your future.  A new season of God’s best is on its way and if we want to live the good life, we must live our lives to do some good.

Purposely Belonging

“Minds are like parachutes, they work best when they are open.” (Rick Warren) 

Our ministry and our walk with Christ are like a marathon; it’s not how you start, but how you finish.  Our vision is our ability to see the opportunities within our current circumstances and the knowledge of how to act upon them while believing that wherever God guides, He provides.  It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners.  People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care, so taking the time to listen is the first step in meeting a need.  The fruit of a believer should be another believer.  Christ doesn’t expect us to produce more than we can, but He does expect us to produce all that we can by and through His power.  Our faithfulness is accomplishing as much as possible with the resources and talents God has given us.   “Many are the plans in a man’s hearts, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)  When I was a child, sure I thought like a child and acted like a child, but the passions I had when I was younger have not gone away.  I can’t believe that God didn’t have our childhood in mind when He was planning our destiny.   Think back to the things you loved to do when you were a child and visualize how those same things have not departed.  I loved adventure and creating things and to this day, when I am doing either of those, I am happy.  Now take those interests and apply them to how you can better the kingdom of God.  Our heavenly Father wants us to do the things that we are good at and when we do them to better His kingdom, we bring glory to God.

                Are we more worried about how much something will cost or is our main concern how many could be saved?  A clear purpose not only defines what we do, it defines what we don’t do.  “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18)  Jesus gave us two key directives: the Great Commandment & the Great Commission.  Any vision should have these directives at their core.  When we love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind and when we love our neighbor as ourselves, people see Jesus in us.  When people see Jesus in us, we earn the right to go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  By example, we are then able to teach them how to obey everything that the Lord has commanded us to do.  The Holy Spirit leads and empowers us and when it is the spiritual compass in our lives, we will have peace and joy.  That is not to say conflict won’t arise because unity without conflict is nothing more that artificial harmony.  When we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind and when we love our neighbor as ourselves, we come to an amazing place.  I love what Mother Teresa said, “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” 

Our circumstances have a profound impact on our outlook on life and our actions during the tough times are our testament.  Paul writes, “We are hard pressed, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”  We are all given a chance to rise up and show our resiliency and as long as we take control of our lives, we will be able to rebound from whatever life brings.  It is scary to think about all the things that we put our trust in that betray us or let us down, but God can even use those times as He is preparing each one of us for exactly what He has called us to do.  The more we immerse ourselves in God’s grace, the more likely we are to give grace.  Where the grace of God is missed, bitterness is born, but where the grace of God is embraced, love, acceptance, and forgiveness flourishes.  Though grace is available to all, it is only accepted by few.  And even those that accept God’s grace don’t always live graciously.  How can we who died to sin still live in it and can we be in this world, but not of it?  We must understand that being in the world, but not of it, is necessary if we are to be a light to those who are in spiritual darkness.  We must also understand that God’s power is made perfect in our time of weakness and that His grace is more than sufficient.  Would we love God the same if His only gift to us was His grace to save us and would we still praise His name if we don’t get our way?  These are tough questions to ask especially when we know He has our best interests in mind, but some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.  We all have our thorns, burdens, and afflictions and we have all been stuck in the mud.  Getting dirty is part of being a Christian, but so is being made clean and made whole.  When we know the way out; it is our intrinsic duty to help others out.  You don’t have to be a physician or therapist to come along side someone and help bear their burdens.   You don’t have to have a special degree or pedigree to speak words of encouragement into someone’s life.  Even Paul battled the flesh, “I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them.  I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do.” (Romans 7:18-19)  The moment we decide to do good, sin is there to trip us up.  Our immorality is nothing more than a shortcut to pleasure.  We who have been amazed by God’s grace have been equally amazed by our own sin.  If Satan can’t seduce us with our sin, he will let us sink in our guilt.  When we face battles, God has not abandoned us because we are a child and our Lord promised us He would neither leave nor forsake us and He swears by His own name because there is no name higher.  When we come to Christ, nothing can separate us from His love.  If our sin, past or present, were too great for His grace; He never would have saved us in the first place.  The very fact that we face battles and are under attack means that we are on the right side.  It could even mean that we are under attack, not because we are weak, but because of something great God has destined for us to become.

                We desire to do what we are not allowed to do and what we see as shortcuts, God sees as disasters.  God’s law isn’t for our pleasure, it is for our protection.  Thank God we are saved not because of what we do, but because of what Christ did.  We are special not because of what we do, but because of whose we are.  We need to ask ourselves what task or area of service God created us for.  We aren’t called to a life of leisure; we are called to a life of service.  Even though we are all created different; we are all the same in the body of Christ.  Each of us is given something to do that shows who our God is. Our life makes so much more sense when we find purpose.  Our abilities unveil our destiny because God endows us with gifts so we can make Him known.  Everything comes from God alone and everything lives by His power and everything is for His glory.  In life, we are constantly looking for the easiest way to do something, yet when we find God, we don’t believe it can be that easy.  Walking God’s path in our own lives is the only shortcut that will lead us to the land of blessings.  We don’t have to go through life guessing what we should do; we have a helper who lives on the inside of every believer.  He is there to lead us, guide us, and empower us.  If we are going to fulfill our destiny, we have to be sensitive to what God is saying to us.  The spirit prompts us and the Lord speaks to us, but if we aren’t sensitive to those birthing of ideas or those promptings, we will miss what the Lord is saying.  When we listen to what He is saying, He will not only protect us from danger, He will even tell us what our enemies are planning.  The Spirit of the most high God is alive and He is on our side and if He is for us, who can be against us?  The Spirit can give us unrest about something or it can quicken us so we can receive insight and wisdom into things that we could not have otherwise known.  He will give us discernment to show us right from wrong and He will show us what is true.  People are not always who they say they are, but if we listen to God, He will give us discernment.  God wants to lead us, but He is not going to drag us so when we have a check in our spirit, we must be obedient and listen to it.  When we feel unrest about something, it is not God trying to keep or take something from us; it is Him trying to tell us He has something better.  If we let God lead us, He will take us into the land of blessing.  It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.  God is working in us to help us want to do and be able to do what pleases Him.  Thank God that before we knew we had a Savior, we had one.

When, What, Why & How????

In a savage world full of lost souls, what is our view of our Heavenly Father?  Do we say, “What about Him, Where is He, or He doesn’t care about me?”  Awaiting His second coming and seeing all the pain in the world makes these questions not too hard to ask.  We are all sinners, every one of us, but our quest for knowledge and our need to reason clouds reality.  The more we know, the less we believe.  All the evil in the world angers God because it is evil that destroys His children.  Knowing this, we still trade our love of God for our love of flesh.  In Romans 12:9 we read, the One who urges us to “hate what is evil” hates what is evil.  The problem isn’t that God hasn’t spoken, but instead it is we who haven’t listened.  If there is no ultimate good behind the world, then how do we define what is good within the world?  We are not significant because of what we do, but because of whose we are.  The only thing that makes us special is the signature of God on our lives.  For some, the loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty.  Rather than worship the Creator, we would rather worship His creation.  It’s our job to hate the sin, but it is God’s job to deal with the sinner. 

The easiest way to justify the mistakes and sin in our own lives is to find worse ones in our neighbor’s house.  How dirty our neighbor’s laundry is depends on how dirty our own window is that we are looking through.  We need to remember that we are not only unworthy, but that we are also unqualified to judge others.  There is a fine line between everlasting life with God and eternal separation from God.  Jesus is the only way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus.  God is the one who saves His children and His name is the only name under heaven that has the power to do that.  Our sin is what separates us from God.  Not only does sin contaminate every human being; it contaminates the very being of every human.  When we are cut-off from God, our soul withers and dies, but God has a way to stop this.  He makes us right with Himself through our faith in Jesus Christ.  God’s solution isn’t to preserve the dead; His solution is to raise the dead.  The cost of our sins is more than we can pay and it is easier to comprehend His power than to grasp His grace and mercy, unless you have experienced them personally.  Until you have, it is hard to believe and almost too good to be true.  Grace fosters an eagerness for good and our faith causes us to be what God’s word calls us to be.  Those who choose to follow aren’t picked because they were good; they were picked because they were willing.

 There are three chapters of blessing in our lives.  The first chapter deals with our past; we can have peace because God has pardoned our previous mistakes.  The second chapter deals with our present; we now have a place with God because Jesus has presented us to the Father.  The third chapter is our future; with it we have a hope in sharing God’s glory.  So now what?  How do we feed our hunger and how do we quench our thirst for more of God?  We have to be able to see and discern God’s dreams and visions for our life and be able to grab hold of them.  When we are obeying and following God, we will know which way we are supposed to go.  When God has something great for us to do, He normally starts us with something small.  The road of greatness goes through the land of smallness.  We must prove to Him that we are faithful in the wilderness before we can be promoted to the promise land.  If we are not faithful where we are or where we are needed, we will never get to where God wants us to be.  We are not to despise the day of small beginnings because God is preparing us for something big.  We have to be established where we are at before we can grow to where God wants us to be.  My roots are going down deep into the ground because one day soon, my branches are going to reach out into many people’s lives. 

Harvesting souls is not the only job we have; there are times of planting, watering and fertilizing and it is our attitudes during those seasons that will determine when and how great of a harvest we have.  Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not get tired of doing right; for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.”  The longer something takes the bigger it is.  Luke 16:10 tells us, “He who is faithful in little can be trusted with much.”  We must do our best in whatever we do and we must be our best wherever we go.  The faithful will abound!  Life is a journey and every journey has a destination.  Knowing where we want to go can help give us a clear vision.  Finding your specific mission can give meaning to your life through your vision.  As a Christian, our main directive is to share the Gospel and God’s love, but individually I believe we are also called to something that can be an integral part of our main directive.  The clearer our vision is, the stronger the passion we will feel.  We are the outcome of something God envisioned and in His vision for all of us; He has prepared something specific for each one of us to do.  The sooner we see what direction God wants us to go, the sooner our lives will have reason and the sooner we will know which way to go.  One of the greatest tragedies in life is to miss out on God’s plans for us.  I recently finished a book by Andy Stanley called “Visioneering” and he sheds some great insight on casting a vision.  He says, “Vision is a clear picture of what could be fueled by the conviction that it should be.”  His book details the story of Nehemiah and his vision to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem during the reign of Xerxes.  Nehemiah’s vision turned into a moral imperative and for him to do anything else would have been in direct disobedience to God.  God has been working in me to prepare me for what lies ahead and my vision is nothing more than an extension of God’s vision for my life.  Throughout scripture there seems to be a correlation between the preparation time and the scope of the task in which people were called to do.  During the time of preparation it is important to remember that waiting on the Lord does not reflect a lack of faith; instead, it normally reflects an evidence of wisdom.  When we do not wait on the Lord, we see what we are looking for and miss what we did not expect to see.

Andy Stanley talks about the difference between dreamers and visionaries.  He says, “Dreamers dream about things being different, but visionaries envision themselves making a difference.”  Visionaries are looking for an opportunity to do something and when they are praying to God for something, they are praying for an opportunity to have a role in it.  God ordained visions are always too big for us to handle alone.  The plan that is unfolding in my life has been masterly crafted by God.  He has been working behind the scenes and is using all of my circumstances and experiences to position and to prepare me to accomplish His vision for my life.  Looking back and seeing God’s hand at work was the easy part; looking ahead and trusting Him takes faith.  No matter where we are at or what our present circumstances are, God is very much in control and He has positioned us here with a clear purpose in mind.  We must remain faithful to do what we can, while trusting in the Lord to do what we can’t.  We must remember that nothing is impossible with God and what He originates He orchestrates.  It is truly amazing what we can accomplish when we wait on God, and it is equally terrifying the disaster we can cause when we try to do things our own way.  God uses the time before our vision is launched to fasten our faith to Him.  A vision is always a solution to a problem; it attempts to alter the present for the sake of a potential future.  Nehemiah’s vision was more about a demonstration God’s power and promises than it was about rebuilding a wall.  No matter how big or small our vision is it is still a vital part of God’s master plan.  Our visions have immense power.  Larry Crabb says, “A vision we give to others of who and what they could become has power when it echoes what the spirit has already spoken into their souls.”  Our words point people in a direction; they can encourage or discourage, they can build or destroy, and they can heal or hurt.  Visions have the power to captivate us because they capture our imagination and engage our hearts and minds.  They can give us a sense of destiny and they can lift our eyes off of today’s realities and help us focus on tomorrow’s possibilities.  When we speak to someone’s potential and not their performance, something amazing happens.  What could be comes to be.  God chooses to work through people who are willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the burden He places in their heart.

 Whenever we attempt to bring about change, we must be mindful of the way people feel about change.  It plays on the insecurities of those who have grown accustomed to the way things are and have always been.   People with no vision feel threatened by those who have decided to do something with their destiny.  For a vision to thrive there must be an alignment between conviction and action and between belief and behavior.  We must walk the talk.  Trust can take a lifetime to earn, but can be lost in an instant.  As a leader we must be willing to do the right thing even if that postpones or threatens our vision.  At all costs, we must always do what is right.  Abandoning our morals is a compromise that will strangle any vision.  If it is from God, He will make a way.  The most powerful argument a person can make comes from personal experience and if you are not of sound moral character, no one will buy into your vision.  Saying what you would do and what you actually do are not the same thing.  The way we live speaks louder than anything we will ever say.

We all have a ministry and we all must be careful not to confuse our plans with God’s vision.  Whatever we do and wherever we go, we will most likely encounter people that are hurting.  Speaking just a word of encouragement into their lives can make us a healer.  We are never more like God than when we are helping hurting people.  Being sensitive to the needs of the people around us enables us to lift the fallen, to heal the hurting, and to restore the broken.  Sometimes we can be so focused on our own dreams and our own visions that we forget that we can become someone else’s miracle. To be a healer and someone’s miracle we must be willing to make a sacrifice and in some instances we must be willing to change places with those that are hurting.  We must take the time to care for them and to actually listen to what they are saying.  To be a healer and to have a vision, we must be part of the solution.  God puts people in our path for a purpose and part of that purpose is for us to love them back to wholeness.  We can’t see what is going on behind the scenes in people’s lives, but for so many, they are living daily with heartache and pain and as a society we have become masters of hiding and suppressing our true emotions.  Day-in and day-out we continually get dumped on.  It is one negative thing after another; our shields are always up and we exist just trying to keep it all together.  Love never fails and when we live as healers and take the time to care, walls will begin to fall and hardened hearts will become receptive.  In a lost and hurting world, our purpose needs to be to do some good.  Life is hard and people are looking for streams in their deserts and they are looking for safety and refuge in their wildernesses.  When the Spirit of Jesus is on us and reigns over us we can become a refuge, a shelter, a stream of water, and we can become a rock in His name.  How awesome would it be for someone to tell you, “Something about you reminds me of Jesus?”  Every single one of us can become a refuge of God to His people; this can become our purpose for living.  Every single thing we have been through can be used by God to make us a refuge.  Believing this and living this gives us peace and freedom.  God can use anything, especially our failures.  When we know the way out of a pit, it is our responsibility and it is our moral imperative to show others the way out and to bring glory to God by our actions.

It’s Time to Fight Back

The attitude we have while we are in the wilderness, will determine just how long we stay in the wilderness.  Let there be no mistake about it; there is a war going on in and over our minds.  I’ve recently finished a Joyce Meyer study called “Battlefield of the Mind” and she said some things that I truly believe will help you fight back and take back control over your mind and your thinking.  The Israelites’ forty year journey was only supposed to be an eleven day trip so why did it take forty years?  It took so long because of their attitude and lack of faith.

Lord, I pray that our minds would be renewed and that our eyes would be opened to your many truths.  What is going on in our minds dictates what is going on in our life, so we must continually guard our mind and our thinking.  The problem is that our minds have run rampant for so many years and our thinking, as a result, needs to be changed.  We also need to discover how we can live here and above the mess of our lives.  Controlling our minds is crucial in doing this, but knowing God’s word is even more important.  Knowing what Satan meant for harm, God will use for good gives us a different perspective on our circumstances.  When our mind begins to gravitate towards thinking: there is no hope, nothing will ever change, and I am no good; we must remember that God has a plan and a purpose for our life; a plan to prosper us and a plan to give us a hope and a future.  We can’t lose hope because God can turn our messes into miracles and He can turn our tragedies into triumphs.  Our attitude determines not only our perception in our circumstances, but also how long we have to walk through them.  I love what Joyce Meyer said, “You complain and you’ll remain and if you’ll praise you’ll be raised.”  If we can keep our mind full of thinking about good things, the devil won’t be able to fill our mind with bad things.  II Corinthians 10:4 tells us, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”  The only way for us to show if we know anything about God’s word is to take a look at what we are doing.  We can’t have victory in our own lives by osmosis.   We need to start having those victories in our own life and using them as testimonies of God’s faithfulness.  Feeling defeated leads to depression and depression equates to the devil robbing us of God’s joy.  Satan is a liar and a thief, but when we know God’s word and have it written on our hearts, the enemy can’t rob us of God’s promises and he can’t deceive us into believing his lies.  What we believe is reality and we must realize that we have weapons at our disposal to defeat Satan and his dominions.  We are to resist the devil and he will flee, but we are also to submit ourselves to God.  The best way to do this is to show love in all that we do.  We need to get up every day with the mindset that in everything we do, that we are going to be a blessing everywhere we go no matter how bad we are hurting or how horrible of a day we had yesterday.  If we do this, Satan will not know what to do with himself and he will have to flee.  Showing love is a catalyst that leads to joy in our life.

We love to talk about our problems and we all have people in our lives whose problems always seem to be bigger than our own, no matter the circumstances.  Sometimes after hearing the same thing over and over, I just want to say, “I think you’ve talked about that enough; move on.”  My well of compassion turns into a cesspool of frustration because dwelling on defeat and how bad things are is the exact opposite of what we should be doing.  The Israelites did this and instead of receiving manna, God rained down fiery serpents.  Philippians 2:14 tells us, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”  If we do this, it says that we will shine like stars in the universe.   We are supposed to be the salt and the light of this world, but when we complain about our circumstances, we don’t stand out.  Darkness is nothing more than the absence of light.  God hates sin because He knows the pain and suffering it causes and I hate depression because I see it for what it is.  Instead of wallowing in our self pity, we should be rolling scriptures off of our tongue declaring victory over our lives and we should be looking for God’s blessing in all of our life’s circumstances.  I’ve had some cards dealt to me facedown that turned out to be horrible and painful hands, but the longer we stay upset and discouraged, the more delighted Satan becomes.  The devil sets us up to get mad before anything ever happens.  As we wake up each morning the first thoughts and words we have should be praise to God for all the good things in our life.  If our mind starts thinking of things not of God, we must catch ourselves and tell the devil, “You are a liar and you won’t steal from me what God has promised me.”  There are two times when the enemy will come after us: when we are doing something right, and when we are doing something wrong.  The Bible tells us that the righteous will be persecuted.  When Jesus was tempted by the devil, Satan waited until Jesus was weak and tired, so we must stay clear-minded and alert even when we are at our weakest. The devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  We read in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Jesus was following the Holy Spirit when He was attacked and the first thing the enemy tried to do was to have Jesus question who He was.  The enemy knows if he steals our confidence, he has our life, so we must remember that when we are at our weakest, our Lord is at His strongest.  The second thing he tried to get Jesus to do was take an action that was not God inspired.  How many times in our own lives have we been tempted to do works of the flesh?  How many times is prayer the last thing we resort to?  The devil talks to us by putting thoughts into our mind, but when we know God’s word, we can reply to Satan as Jesus did by saying, “It is written, It is written, It is written.” When the devil speaks negative thoughts to us, we had better get in the habit of speaking back and I’m not talking about just saying the scriptures in our head; I’m talking about saying them out loud.  I’m talking about putting on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  I’m talking about waging war in the heavenlies.  A lifestyle of intimacy with Jesus is essential if we are to be involved in spiritual warfare even at the most basic level.  Prayer is one of most powerful weapons at our disposal.  We should pray, “Satan, we come against you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are armed with the blood and the Word of God, our sword.  Right now we pierce you with the truth that Jesus Christ came in the flesh to destroy your works.  Greater is He that lives in us and more powerful are those with us, than those with you.  Everything we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and with that authority, we cast you down.”  This is spiritual warfare, and we must never forget, we operate not in our authority but Christ’s authority, which has been given to us in order to advance the Kingdom of God. 

Just because we don’t believe in something doesn’t make it any less real.  We may not believe in hell, but that won’t stop anyone from going there.  One of the greatest tricks the devil has ever played is convincing the world that he does not exist.  I Peter 5:9 tells us, “We are to withstand and resist the devil at his onset, knowing that our brothers and sisters in Christ and enduring the same torment.”  We must come against the lies of Satan right when they present themselves.   When the devil throws a pity party in our honor, we have the right not to RSVP.  We can’t be pitiful and powerful at the same time. We must get in the habit of not worrying about our needs as much and instead we must start to focus on sowing seeds.  Real change will begin to happen when we put the needs of others before our own.   So never worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).  Christ instructs us to throw all of our worry on him, because he cares for us.  When we cast our burdens upon the LORD, He will sustain us; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

We have many weapons at our disposal; the Word is a weapon and praise & worship is a weapon, but one thing we must remember is that being thankful is a huge part of praise & worship.  We do this by thanking God for every little thing that goes right in our life.  We must stop thinking about the things that haven’t gone our way and start thanking God for the things that have.  We need to realize that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers, but when things don’t go our way, we feel let down or discouraged.  God alone knows what is best, but somehow our minds seem to automatically go to what’s wrong in our life.  When this happens, we must remember that His ways are higher than our own.  Joy will begin to come back into your life if you will give to God what is wrong in prayer and begin to praise God for the things that are right.  Like Paul, we all have thorns in our flesh.  No matter how holy we get, no matter how much we change, no matter how far the process of sanctification goes in our life; there will always be something we struggle with.  I’m not saying this to depress you; I am telling you I believe God leaves something in us to force us to realize and remember our humanness and forces us to stay humble before Him and forces us to lean on Him and press on.  God’s strength in our lives pushes back our adversaries and His strength tramples down those who rise up against us.  Even when we get over what we are dealing with right now, something else is bound to pop-up in its place; God just hasn’t shown us what it is yet.  We need to stop thinking about what’s wrong with us all the time and start thanking God for the changes we’ve seen, the hope that we have, and for the changes we are expecting.  It’s time we start believing the word of God!  The next time the enemy tries to bring all the wrong things you’ve done to mind, you say, “I may not do everything right, but I don’t do everything wrong, I may not be where I need to be, but I praise God I’m not where I used to be.”  It’s one thing to read about the promises of God, to talk about the promises of God, to hear about the promises of God, but it’s another thing to be living in them and experiencing them.

We all go through a wilderness time, but how long we stay there is up to us.  We turn ant hills into mountains and it is up to us to either move them or move on.  A humbling reminder of our journey can be found in Hebrews 5:12.  “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”  Ouch…  Even though we should be teaching each other, we still have to be spoon fed.  We have to let go of the things that have been holding us in bondage.  Our lives are a mess because our minds are a mess.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he…” I Corinthians 2:16 says that we have been given the mind of Christ.  The devil can’t have our joy if we won’t give it to him and he can’t have our peace if we won’t give it to him.  We’ve got to stop being angry at other people’s bad choices and begin to realize and believe that our past does not dictate our future.  We must release our pain, our suffering, our hurt, and any injustice we have felt to God as an offering.  When things are out of our hands we can have confidence that they are in His.  I love Isaiah 61:7-8; “Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion.”  Our God is a god of justice and He will make everything right and the more screwed up your past is, the more God can bless you if you will let Him.  Turning back to Egypt like the Israelites talked about doing repeatedly is not the answer.  Beth Moore talks about going back to the land of Ur as going back to our Usual Routine.  Why when all of our past experiences have ever caused us is pain and strife do we want to go back into that bondage?  Unless we get in agreement with God, He can’t do anything in our life.  Two cannot walk together unless they have agreed to do so (Amos 3:3). 

We’ve got to stop waiting for someone else to fix our problems.  God’s promises are ours, but we have to grab hold of them like we are holding onto the horns of the altar.  When you think that you can’t hold on any longer, remember that God’s timing is perfect in everything and He will make all things right.  God will not allow anything that is beyond us; even when we can’t hold on any longer, He is still holding onto us.  He tells us in Deuteronomy 30:11, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.”  When the voice in your head says you can’t do it, you say Philippians 4:13 aloud, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  We can’t know if the devil is lying to us if we don’t know the word of God.  In our daily routines, we have to slow down so that we can discern things and be able to pray in the spirit about them.  We need to be listening for God at all times, not just when we need something.  Our faith and our obedience move God and bring Him glory so we need to start keeping our mind tapped into the Spirit.  Romans 8:6, tells us, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”   Our problem isn’t in knowing what God wants us to do; our problem is doing it.  Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are those who make peace. They will be called God’s children.”  Just reading Philippians 4:6 has the power to calm my spirit: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  If we will do this, then verse 7 promises:  “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Facing your daily challenges head-on is challenging if you are worried about the past and future.  We must cling to God in the here and now.  The strength and answers we seek come exactly when we need them.  Real faith is: trusting in God and walking one day at a time.  I used to be so disappointed with the way my life had turned out, yet I was too afraid of trying it God’s way because I was afraid of being disappointed.  Looking back, I realize how crazy my rationalization was; I was disappointed and afraid of being disappointed.  Once I truly started living in the spirit, I found true peace.  One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 16:20.  “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Knowing God’s word and His promises empowers us, but not knowing them cripples us.  Having a deceived mind produces a deceived life.  Deception in essence, means that the devil tells us a lie and we believe it or the devil works through someone else and we believe them.  Matthew 24:4 instructs us to not allow anyone to deceive us nor lead us astray.  We are to be as gentle as doves, but as wise as serpents.  One of the most deceptive things we can do is think that we know everything, but if we don’t know God’s word, we won’t know if we are being lied to or led astray.  Praise God that if this is where we are at, it is not where we have to stay.  We’re not a failure when we fail; we’re a failure when we quit trying.  Our reasoning and our rationalization causes more confusion than anything else in our lives.  I used to try to figure everything out and my mind stayed in constant overdrive, but the more I tried to figure things out, the more I was confused.  We need to be open to what God wants to teach us.  We must set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  We serve the Prince of Peace, not the author of confusion.

When we remove areas of strongholds in our lives, we must guard ourselves for the retaliatory strike.  Matthew 12:45 tells us, “Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”  When a stronghold is broken in our lives, we must make sure that we fill that void with Godly thinking and Godly living.  When we do this, God becomes our shield and He repels the fiery darts of the enemy’s attack.  Life may not be fare, but God is.  He will take things that were meant to harm you and He will use them to your advantage.  God wants us to dream a new dream so that He can connect the dots of our life.  What we see as a set-back is a set-up for something better.  When we are down to nothing, God is up to something.  God dreams and the devil schemes and God’s dream for you is bigger than you could possibly imagine.  I’ll close with John 15:7, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” Trust God and you won’t be let down.