We must trust God even when we don't understand!

Trusting God when everything is going our way is easy. But we have to trust Him when things look like we are never going to see our prayers answered. 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We have to meditate on the word of God concerning our situation in order to keep our faith strong. If we don't we will be overwhelmed with our circumstances.

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We have to be consistent in seeking God in prayer and his word in order to out last our bad circumstances. God is faithful even if our prayers are not answered how we think they should be. He will always give us what we need and He will always bring us through whatever we might be going through. Patience is the key to helping us to not give up!

“But we long to see you passionately advance until the end and you find your hope fulfilled. So don’t allow your hearts to grow dull or lose your enthusiasm, but follow the example of those who fully received what God has promised because of their strong faith and patient endurance.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:11-12‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Discouragement

Have you ever been discouraged about a problem or sin that you just can't seem to overcome? Well if you are human I know you have or are still struggling with something in your life. 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So what do we do when we are dealing with this nagging problem! This thing in our lives that keeps us from moving forward with God! 

We just go to him and ask him to help us with the situation and to show us what we need to do to get the victory!

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4:14-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

He will show us what we need to do sometimes it might mean us walking away from friendships that are not good for us. But we can be sure that whatever He tells us to do it's for our own good! God loves us and He is looking to bless us so we can be a blessing to others! Be encouraged you will get the victory just keep seeking God!

New Year New Beginning!

 

 

 

 

Philippians 3: 12-14 NLT

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Well we made through 2015 and we are into a new year! For some of you 2015 was an awesome year. But for some of us including myself, 2015 was a  very difficult year. So the question is what do we do now that 2015 is behind us?
Well according to our scripture text rather we had a good or bad 2015, we are to put it behind us.

Because if we do not put the past behind us, we will not be ready for what God wants to do for us this year. So let's be grateful for this new year and have an expectant heart. I understand that some of us may be hurting, but the only way we can be healed is by giving it to God.

God has great things in store for us and we have to not allow the past to keep us from experiencing the good things He has in our future. God loves us and even though sometimes it seems He has forgotten us. Trust me He always brings us through the dark places and into the blessings we are praying for. He always answers our prayers. But we must be open to how He answers. He knows what is best, so don't be so fixed in your mind about how you want Him to answer. In my 30 years as a Christian I can tell you that I am glad that He sometimes answers my prayers according to His will and not my wants. He is alot smarter than me and I have found that when He does things His way and not my way in the end it is what I needed most. Not having things go your way is painful at times but we have to trust God and realize that He knows what is best!  One of the greatest prayers we can pray is to ask God to change our hearts. I have been praying lately that God will just use me as He sees fit. I want to be in His perfect will for my life. So what would a successful 2016 look like? Well, for all of us to be doing what God has designed for us to be doing on this earth. He has a plan for each and everyone of us. Let us all find that place where one day all of us can hear Him say "well done thou good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord" !

Who We Are In Christ

Romans 8:1-2 NLT

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

One of the biggest challenges we will face as a Christian, is our identity. Life is always trying to put labels on us concerning who we are and what we can do.
We all have had failures and set backs. We all are limited in what we can do and what we can change in our own abilities. But with God, we can overcome any set back or short coming we may have.

Philippians 4:13 NLT

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Through Christ we can accomplish anything! The key to living victorious in Christ is totally depending on Him. We have to put Him first and seek Him and ask Him everyday to help us in every area of our lives. We can overcome any obstacle in this life, if we put our trust in God and obey His word. So be encouraged you have the almighty God on your side!

1 John 4:4 NLT

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.

Waiting On God

Waiting on God to answer our prayers is what we must learn to do in order to live a victorious life. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have patience but it must be developed. And unfortunately the only way it can be developed, is through difficult times. Because if everything is going the way we would like it to, well patience is not necessary. So God has given us everything we need to be successful, but we must be willing to endure. I don't know anyone  personally who likes to endure hardships. But if you are living and breathing you are going to deal with difficult situations in this life.

James 1:2-4 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

I wish I could tell you that these verses in James are some of my favorites, but they are not. But they are some of the most important verses in the Bible for us as Christians.
Because if you think about it, we are either coming out of difficult times or heading towards difficult times.

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

So be encouraged and keep seeking God. He is faithful and He will deliver you from whatever adverse circumstances you may be dealing with.

Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Remember that we are victorious in Jesus Christ, if we do not give up and quit.

Matthew 7:7-8 NLT

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

He answers our prayers, maybe not the way we think He should. But He knows what's best and is faithful to lead us to victory!

The Peace Of God

Isaiah 26: 3 NKJV

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on you, Because he trusts in you.

There are many people in the Body of Christ, predicting judgements coming to America and the rest of the world. I believe so myself, but as a believer in Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear. God promises us in His word to protect those who honor Him, by obeying His word. So as I see it, this is an opportunity for us to be a witness for Him, when things that people trust in start to fail. If you remember after September 11th, people were crying out to God. But unfortunately when things got better people went right back to living for themselves and ignoring God's Word. 

Well many well known men and women of God in the Body of Christ, are saying there are much worse things that are coming than September 11th. For me I can't even imagine such a thing. But there is one thing I do know is that every time this nation turned its back on God as a whole, something happened to bring us back to Him. So we must not live in fear. But I do believe it is a time to draw closer to God, and we must be ready to be a witness, to those who will be looking for comfort when times get rough. So no fear, but we must be prepared to be a light in these upcoming dark days. After all that is what our Lord called us to do.

The Joy Of The Lord

The Joy of the Lord is not the same as happiness. Being happy depends on our circumstances being favorable to us. We are happy because everything is going well with us.

But Joy is solely based on us allowing the Spirit of God to manifest in our lives. Joy is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, we also got the nine fruits of the Spirit too. Because they are the attributes of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5: 22-23 NKJV

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

We have to remember who we are in Christ and what we have in Him, if we are going to allow the Joy of the Lord to flow in our lives in adverse circumstances.

Romans 8: 31-32 NKJV
³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8: 37-39 NKJV

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So you see if we remember that we are victorious through Christ Jesus, we will be able to maintain our Joy in spite of living in adverse circumstances.
We must make sure that we are seeking the lord and fellowshipping with him on a daily basis. Because without that, we will not be able to flow in the fruit of Joy.

John 15: 4-5 NKJV
⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

I am not saying it is an easy thing to do, but with God's help we can do anything. We have to fight the good fight of faith in order to keep our Joy when times are tough. But it's possible with God.

Philippians 4:13 NKJV
¹³ I can do all things through Christ^[a] who strengthens me.

So make a quality decision today to allow the Joy of the Lord to flow in your life. Because that is an awesome witness to those who don't know the Lord. When they see us going through difficult times and we are walking in His peace and Joy. That's when they will see that we have something that money and success can't buy. And then they will be open to hear what we have to say about our awesome God!