Let us not lose Heart in doing Good!

This is definitely a great promise full of hope and encouragement!  Don’t give up, whatever the need is, Our God is still on the throne and He is ever interceding to the Father for His children. It’s not our time but in His time. Press on towards the mark of your high calling and we will see glorious results in due time. Our God is a great big wonderful God and He is always faithful.

“And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.” ~ Galatians 6:9

I feel patience is something that almost everyone struggles with. Patience is defined in the dictionary, as the will or ability to wait or endure, without complaint. We have all heard the story about the patience of Job, where Satan inflicted him with severe hardships, to test his faith in God, and try to turn him against God. Job suffered in a way that would have caused almost anyone to give in, and say, enough is enough, but Job had enough faith in God to endure the pain and suffering, and not give in. The reward Job received for all of his pain and suffering, was that he was made even more prosperous than he had been before. 

If we are following God’s will for your life, He will in turn, reward you with His blessings in His own time. We must be patient in expecting these blessings, and not get discouraged, if we don’t see an instant result. God allows us to grow and adapt to His plan, and when we are prepared He makes them become realities. God wants us to have all the good things in life, and be successful as long as our priorities are the same as His. Our focus must be on doing God s will, and doing it to the best of our abilities. Then, we have to be patient, and wait for God to work in our lives. If we do everything in the way God instructs us, He will also reward us with His blessings, in His own time.

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God Will Make a Way!

God knew there would be times when we would be tempted to waver in our confession of hope. Maybe you are believing for something and you’re starting to think, “Is this really for me? Will this really ever happen?” If that’s you today, remember, He who promised is faithful! And His faithfulness doesn’t depend on your ability to figure it all out. His faithfulness doesn’t depend on the plans we can make or the scenarios we can come up with; He’s faithfulness depends on His Word, which never changes!

“God will make a way For me. He will be my guide. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” ~~Isaiah 43:19

 

 

Declare His Word and hold on to your confession of hope today. Be confident that God can make a way when there seems to be no way. Even when your mind may waver, don’t allow your confession to waver. Declare that God is working behind the scenes on your behalf. Declare that He Who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it. Remember, there is power in your words and power when your words are in agreement with His Word. As you hold on to your confession of hope, you’ll see His faithfulness, and you’ll move forward into victory in every area of your life.

God is Still Good!

This message is for everyone to reflect on…

At some point in life we all face hardships. It may be something physically or emotionally challenging. Or it may be a dream or an opportunity that we missed out on. Whatever your difficulty is, don’t let it discourage you from believing in God’s best. The enemy wants to keep you focused on everything negative that’s happened, but don’t let him steal the dreams God has given you. He knows that if he can deceive you into thinking things won’t get better, you’ll lose hope and give up. There will always be obstacles trying to keep you from becoming all God’s created you to be, but God has given you a promise for good and not harm. He has plans for better things ahead. It’s important to believe God and keep an attitude of faith despite your circumstances. Choose today to hold on to God’s promises no matter what your situation looks like. Refuse to give up on the plans He has made for your life. God knows what challenges you’ve faced, and He has a way to turn things around for your good. Start thanking and praising Him for what He’s already done and what He will do.

You Can Overcome the Lie of Satan!

In my walk with the Lord and helping to minister to others I have seen many Christians fall into the traps that were set by Satan, the adversary of their soul. To fall into a trap of Satan simply means we believe a lie about ourselves, and we, therefore, remain in bondage to a demonic stronghold. A lie of Satan becomes a stronghold the moment we believe what he is telling us about a situation or a condition we are facing instead of standing on the Word of God. Remember Christ didn’t come to save us from sin so that we could die in bondage to its power. According to Luke 4:18, He was sent and anointed to set us FREE!!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Like many others, you may be in a trap of Satan today. Are you fighting a battle against something in your life that won’t seem to let go? Then you need “MORE GRACE.” This is not a cliche’. Instead, it is a truth that can set you free so that you can begin to walk out of the trap. You must not accept defeat. If you are a born-again believer, then Christ will cause you to triumph ALWAYS. The key is to turn to the Lord and submit yourself (including any doubts, fears, or unbelief) you may be holding onto in your heart. God is for you. However, you must be willing to believe and accept this truth before He can give you the power to come out completely.

Just because you have a stronghold in your life, it doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. The Lord has promised that He would never leave or forsake us. Even so, we must give Jesus our full attention and cooperation in this matter. When the Holy Spirit instructs you to make the first step or to take action, you have to obey His voice and let Him take care of the details. This will require you to submit to Him and trust His instructions at all times. As you take the initial steps, doubt, fear, and unbelief will begin to scream out, “You can’t do this.” Nevertheless, don’t worry; once you obey God’s voice, it’s not you doing the work. It is God’s strength and grace flowing through you.

The more we submit by faith to God’s will and His Word, the more grace He will extend to us so that we can come out of the traps of Satan.

Pay Day is coming!

Pay Day is coming! What we sow we will reap… it can be good or it can be bad. We love to blame someone or something else for our problems. No one else is in charge of your happiness except you! We always think someone else is supposed to make us happy, but that is not the right kind of thinking. God would like you to take this minute and think about this…. what are sowing? Are you criticizing? Are you gossiping? Are you sharing the love of God? Are you passing the tests? Are you forgiving others as God has forgiving you? Are you holding resentments that you need to let go of? Are you making your loved ones the brunt of your own problems? Are you uplifting your spouse? your children? your friends? Are you praying for others or just yourself? Are you complaining all the time? Are you speaking positive words or negative ones? Are you tithing? Are you asking God to help you to go out sow the right seeds or are you just doing what you want daily? Are you reading the Word of God for direction and wisdom? Start there and start praying!

You can radically change your life by the way you live your life, the way you think, the way to you talk, but it all starts by learning from God how to live, think and talk. God will help you and teach you and mold you into the person you were always designed to be. Retrain your brain! God is there to guide you and he is your hope and strength. Don’t give up for in due time you shall reap if we do not faint or quit! We may not come the way we think, but Pay Day is coming!

Waiting in Faith!

In this verse God is showing us what faith is. Today I hope and pray this message encourages you in your faith. Some of you are seeing this year pass by without those things, those promises which you have been given, that you have been hanging on to, not yet manifest. Many of you are shaking your heads in agreement while reading this.  “When Lord, when?” are your cries that echo up into the Throne Room of the Most High. Again I pray this message encourages you that even though you may have to wait for awhile to see what God has in store for you. Yes, the wait maybe a long one but it will be worth it.

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. It gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”~ Hebrews 11:1

Faith is putting your trust in what God says when everything around you says otherwise. Of course, you may well find it difficult to do, because distracting influences are pulling your focus from what God’s Word says. But it is a decision you have to take; believe what God has placed in your heart through His Word, even though you may have to wait awhile for the promise.

Throughout my last 6 years in Christ, there were many times faith would become the thing I had to depend on. It was the hope that God would, in fact, do as He promised. You see, I believe God had some changes He needed to make in me, and He didn’t tell me how long I would have to wait. And so I waited because I knew in my heart of hearts that God spoke. When God speaks, it is done, and even though I haven’t received one of the promises He made that He would bring me my wife I know it’s already done and I just wait on His perfect timing and that makes me have the biggest smile on my face. 😉

I have learned that without waiting, the satisfaction is not the same. It seems as though I appreciate God’s gifts so much more when I’ve had to wait for them. It seems I am more relieved, more grateful and more willing to praise Him. I have also realized that during times of waiting, once I get over my feeling of rejection and frustration with God (as if He owes me anything) that my relationship with Him grows. I spend more time on my knees, not so much pleading, but seeking. I find that during my waiting, my desires change. I begin to want what God’s plan is instead of my own. During the wait, God changes me every time.

As I thought about this verse today, I realized that faith would not be necessary if I never had to wait. If God gave us everything we asked for, when we asked for it then we would not need faith. We would not have to believe. We would not have to hope. God would be at my disposal giving me whatever we wanted. We would still be as selfish as we ever were. We would not be any more like Christ than the first day I chose to follow Him. Waiting and having faith are the tools God has used to draw me closer to Him. I guess I should be thankful for waiting. After all, anything of importance that has come into my life I have had to wait for. And I have to admit, all of it was worth the wait!

Lord, help us to have faith in Your promises while we wait.

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled!

You and I have this promise in hard times. God will not let our hardships destroy us. Though they may be tragic in and of themselves, He will use them for our good. You and I cast our worries on God because it’s His responsibility to give us what we need. As we trust him with the bigger picture of our lives, the weight is lifted and peace washes over our anxieties. 

 

Nothing makes us want to live safe in God’s love and protection than when we are plagued by fear and anxiety. The million dollar question is.. How do we get to a safe place in God where we run free and leave our anxious cares with Him? We follow the advice of Peter in 1 Peter 5:7. Even the most mature Christians today are apt to labor under the burden of anxious and excessive care such as personal concerns, family woes, cares for the present, cares for the future, cares for themselves, for others, and for the church. Peter saw this anxious care as a heavy burden and he gave us some wise counsel for dealing with it. Isn’t that amazing? You and I don’t have to carry the burden of our worries. God is willing to release us from our cares, and take our concerns upon Himself.

 

Let me be honest. It’s easy to cast our cares upon God. The hard part is not taking them back. When it appears to us that God is not paying attention to our needs, worry returns and we feel the need to do something about it. I assume by casting our situation on God and asking him to carry the burden means our troubles would go away. What was the point of giving our burden to God in the first place if he wasn’t going to make it all go away? You may wonder.

 

The point is this. When you and I cast our cares on God we are acknowledging and recognizing that it’s His responsibility to care for us not ours. At first the weight is lifted until God doesn’t respond to our need like we think He should. Then, we are quick to retrieve the burden. We forget that God is painting on a large canvas. He sees the big picture. We only see what’s happening to us at the moment. God may allow events to come into our lives—good things and bad things; things that make sense and things that don’t. Every one of these incidents serves as part of his plan for our lives. What you and I may think is harmful and destructive God is using for our good—to bring us to completion in godly conduct and character. He will allow nothing to happen to us that isn’t first filtered through his screen of protection. In other words, what won’t destroy us God uses to better us. Ultimate harm would be if God left us in the state we are in.

Difficult Times!

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.~~ Romans 8:28

Perhaps, nowhere in Scripture is this better illustrated than in the experiences of Joseph. Despised, rejected and abandoned by his family, falsely accused and imprisoned by his employer, forgotten by others and yet throughout all this we read `and the Lord was with Joseph`. Finally at the end of the story when Joseph, as ruler in Egypt under Pharaoh, reveals himself to his brothers and forgives them for how they had treated him declares `But don`t be upset, and don`t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives` (Genesis 45:5). There are many other notable examples of those whose faith was severely tested, in some cases almost to the point of death. Paul, for instance, gives a whole catalog of his experiences which must have tested his faith (2 Corinthians 11:16-33) and yet he is able to say elsewhere `We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken` (2 Corinthians 4:8). Jesus didn’t promise us an easy road- just the opposite in fact (Matthew 24:9 -12) but He did promise never to leave us. In these days He is looking for those whose faith is strong enough to enable them to face the `lions` as Daniel did and to walk through the `fiery furnace` like Shadrach and his friends. How`s your faith today?

Let`s take heart from the words we read in 1 Peter 1:6-7. `So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

GOD’S STRENGTH WILL ENABLE YOU TO WAIT!

 

Patience probably is not easy for you. You understand that scripture tells you to wait on the Lord, but at times, waiting does not seem natural. It does not matter what it is, once you have learned to desire something, you want it now. God’s timing is not always your timing. God desires that you learn to place your expectations completely on HIM. God will show you the way you are to go, but you must learn to wait on HIM to bring it to pass. David was anointed king of Israel at a young age. Nonetheless, David had to wait many years for God to bring it to pass. David had many opportunities to take maters into his own hands and to kill Saul. However, David understood the strength of the Lord and David was willing to allow God to bring it to pass in HIS own timing.

 

“You are my strength, I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God are my fortress.” Psalm 59:9

 

It is because you do not fully understand God’s power that you desire to take matters into your own hands and try to help God out. When God’s strength is not fully integrated into your life, you fail to comprehend how God can do the impossible. It is because of your lack of trust in the power of God that prohibits you from being as effective for God as HE desires you to be.  Until you take the time to draw closer to God, you will not have a relationship that will enable you to understand HIS strength. As you fill your life with virtue, your mind will be filled with the good things God has done for you. As you share with others the good report of God’s power in your life, your faith will grow and your love of God will increase. God’s testimony of power in your life will give you the strength to resist the temptation to take matters into your own hands and instead to learn to wait on God and allow HIM to bring it to pass.  God is not asking you to do the impossible; all HE is asking you to do is trust in HIM and learn to rely upon HIS strength. Jesus understood what God’s purpose for HIS life was. Nonetheless, Jesus had to wait eighteen years for God to open the door for HIS perfect timing to begin HIS public ministry.  You need to fill your life with the things of God. You need to take the time to thank God for the good things HE has done for you. As you take the time to study God’s impact in your life, your frame of reference will change and you will learn to understand God’s strength. As you tell others of how HE has worked in your life, not only will the faith of the listener increase but also your faith as well. The good report that you share will give you the confidence necessary to wait on the Lord regardless of the storm.  God desires to receive the glory by working mightily in your life. As you learn to wait on HIM, not only will your faith grow, but also the things that God can do through you will greatly increase. You need to pray to have God open your spiritual eyes. You must open your eyes to see the strength of the Lord. The Lord will direct and deliver you. Allow God to open your eyes so that you do not allow yourself to worry about how God is going to work in your life. See HIS strength by sharing the good report of HIS strength.