God is faithful.

God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand!

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13

Hear this point clearly. If Satan can’t get your soul, his next goal is to at least keep you so busy fighting personal battles. The more time you spend fighting personal battles, the less time you have to serve God. That is why overcoming temptation is so important.  The Bible clearly teaches us that evil comes from our heart. The actual progression is that it starts in our heart, moves to our mind, and is manifested in our actions. That is why “creating a clean heart” is so important. That is why it is important to stay in that deep, intimate, daily contact with the Lord so that what flows from our heart is pure and clean…since that is what dictates our actions. Temptations flow from the sin and evil still in our heart, and then goes into our mind. It is in our mind that the temptation finds fertile ground to grow. That is why is it so important to “renew our mind”, how important what we put into our mind on a daily basis is. It is in our mind that temptation grows and ultimately manifests itself in our actual conduct.

This scripture is one of God’s special promises. God tells us that He will always provide us a path of escape. That path of escape occurs while the temptation is still in our mind. THAT IS THE TIME WE MUST OVERCOME TEMPTATION. Once we allow it to live in our mind, the die is cast and will ultimately result in our rebellious behavior.  There is not one person reading this that can say God didn’t give you a path of escape. The problem is, you chose to ignore it. Many times, He gives us many chances to escape, but we choose to keep going right through the stop sign, right through the red light, right through the barriers….and then wonder how we could have gotten into such a mess. To overcome temptation, you MUST use the path of escape God gives you while that temptation is still in your mind. Once you decide not to use that path of escape, it is only a matter of time before that temptation actually results in rebellious conduct. I love you and care about you. I know so many of you are fighting the battles of life each day. You are in very difficult situations. My goal is not only to help you overcome those difficult situations, but help you to avoid getting yourself in those circumstances in the future. Jesus loves you so much. Having walked this earth, He understands your weaknesses and has promised to help you to avoid the temptations of this life.

Your intimate daily contact with Him strengthens you, and your love and desire to live for Him give you the motivation to take that path of escape He offers and overcome temptation. You can count on my prayers, that you recognize each day the temptations this life offers and use the tools God has given you to live victoriously.

Think of the incredible peace, joy, and abundance this life can be when we are living for Him, serving Him, and not constantly wrapped up in those personal battles. May you be committed today to take that path of escape he offers the next time you face temptation, and live in the victory Christ won on Calvary!

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I will put my Hope in God!

We need to commit this verse to memory to use when you become discouraged. Practice praising the Lord even when you feel discouraged. You will be amazed at how it will lift your spirits. How many times do we despair about our circumstances, or become discouraged because of a situation? It is easy to do if we take our eyes off our Redeemer, the One who can save us.

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again, my Savior and my God!” ~Psalm 42:5

The book of Psalms is such an incredible wealth of inspiration, encouragement, wisdom and insight. There are so many times we can relate to the Psalmist David. He cried out to God in times of deep anguish and despair. He rejoiced and praised the Lord during times of blessing and provision. The one thread we see throughout the Psalms is this – whether he was praising the Lord, or asking for His divine intervention, he recognized God’s hand in everything that took place in his life. He knew that no matter what happened around him the Lord was mighty to save and would provide a way of escape. He never took his eyes off the Lord and placed them on his circumstance.

This passage explains very clear instructions as to how we are to handle distress, disappear, loneliness, depression and a myriad of other emotions that can so easily plague our minds. Put your hope in the Lord. Maybe we can’t see the relief that is coming, there seems to be no light at the end of that tunnel. We need to constantly be checking where our focus is. Is it on the end of that tunnel? Are we more focused on where and how the answer is coming than we are on the One from whom it comes? How, where and when is up to the Lord and His timing. If our focus is right this will bring the peace that is evading us in our present situation.

Where is your focus today? Do you need to take some time to refocus your thoughts on Christ rather than on your circumstances? Meditate on Psalm 42:5, asking the Lord to let it sink deep into your spirit. Doing so will bring your spirit peace.

Trusting God when His Plan Doesn’t Make Sense!

But the Lord said to Joshua, “Jericho and its king and all its mighty warriors are already defeated, for I have given them to you! Your entire army is to walk around the city once a day for six days, followed by seven priests walking ahead of the Ark, each carrying a trumpet made from a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to walk around the city seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets. Then, when they give one long, loud blast, all the people are to give a mighty shout and the walls of the city will fall down; then move in upon the city from every direction.” Joshua 6:1-5

Imagine God taking Joshua aside and telling him that all they need to do is march around the city one time for six days. Then on the seventh day march around seven times and shout. It made no sense. Naturally speaking, it was ridiculous!

All of us will face our Jerichos, and sometimes God’s plans won’t seem to make sense. Our part is to listen and obey—even when God’s instructions don’t make sense to our natural minds.  He has had a lot more experience winning battles than we have!

That is where Joshua found himself one day. Here is a man that loved God, who knew God intimately. Joshua was also a great warrior, he was a great war general of his day. Can you imagine what Joshua thought when God gave him the battle plan for taking the city of Jericho? Talk about trusting God! What kind of battle plan calls for walking around the walls of the city for 7 days, on the seventh day blowing trumpets, a ram’s horn, and shouting to make the walls of the city come down? Joshua must have been convinced it was not God speaking, but a bad pizza from the night before!

Here is the bottom line, my friends. God often calls us to do things that don’t seem to make sense so that only HE gets the glory! Let me repeat this, please listen carefully. GOD OFTEN CALLS US TO DO THINGS THAT DON’T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE SO THAT ONLY HE GETS THE GLORY!!! Amen!!! When Joshua and the children of Israel took the city of Jericho in such an unconventional fashion, it was obvious to everyone that it was GOD who did it. GOD OFTEN CALL US TO DO THINGS THAT DON’T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE SO THAT ONLY HE GETS THE GLORY!!!

I pray that in the course of your daily life, you will trust God. I pray that in the course of your daily life, you will not be afraid to follow God. The truth is, God’s way works! Our challenge is to trust Him and to be faithful. In the end, that is what God is asking each of us to do… BE FAITHFUL! God simply asks us to be faithful each day, and to trust Him. I want to encourage you today to be like Joshua, and TRUST GOD!