Category Archives: faith

You Have a Choice

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“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”   Psalm 1:1

Godly CounselEvery day of our life we make hundreds of choices and each of those choices will produce an outcome.  For instance: we make a choice what foods we eat in the morning for breakfast; nutritious or unhealthy, we choose whether we will go to work or stay home and watch TV all day, and we choose whether we will ride a bike or a car on the highway to the mall.   In each of these situations we have a choice.  If we make the wrong choice; the outcome will be obvious in a short amount of time that we made the wrong choice.

The outcome can look like this: You will run out of energy if you eat an unhealthy breakfast, you will soon loose your job if you don’t go to work, and you may find yourself in the hospital if you choose to ride your bike on the highway.  The outcome tells you quickly if you made the wrong choice.

The same is true in our spiritual life.  David says in the Psalm, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly”. When you take counsel from an ungodly person, you will soon see by the outcome that something is wrong with their counsel.  It will be just as obvious as when you keep riding down the highway on a bike.  You are in danger when you take counsel from an ungodly person because if they do not know God they do not know His ways.

David said, don’t walk in ungodly counsel.  From the moment you hear ungodly counsel you have a choice; will you act upon it and walk down the wrong path, or choose the right path.  It boils down to a simple choice, and the choice is yours.  Wrong counsel can feel good at the moment, but if the counsel does not line up with the ways of God, the outcome will not be a blessing in the end.

Ask the Lord to show you where you are making wrong choices and listening to the wrong counsel; then pray this simple prayer and you will soon see the blessings of the Lord: Teach me thy way O Lord; I will walk in thy truth… Psalm 86:11

 

Faith to Stand Firmly Planted

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“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  I Corinthians 2:9

Firmly planted in FaithYour faith in God is the foundation that you stand on when times are hard.  The man that built his house upon the sand was swept away when the violent store came.  But, the man’s house that was built upon the rock stood strong.  You will be able to stand strong as you keep your faith in God and His promises.

In every situation look to the Word of God, declare and decree what His Word says.  Life and death are in the power of your tongue, so speak forth life. Don’t give in to the situation; declare what God says.  Take every fearful and anxious thought captive; overcome it before it leaves your mouth.  Those fearful thoughts must be overcome or they can cause you to fall and be swept away when the hard times come.

Put your faith in All Mighty God!  Be His representative.  Stand firm and declare His Kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Then stand back and watch God change the circumstances as you declare His Word!

 

Discouraged? Perhaps Look at Your Expectations

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“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”   Psalm 27:13

God is With YouWhen we delight in the Lord and set our hearts on the goodness of the Lord we can carry His goodness and His loving presence into every situation.  David knew he could not look at the circumstances.  He had to keep his eyes on the goodness of the Lord.   He said, “I would have fainted if I had not expected to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”  He set his heart and his expectations on seeing the salvation of the Lord in every situation, no matter what giant he faced.  David set his expectations high, higher than the earthly realm and he overcame his enemies.  If you are feeling discouraged and defeated, maybe you need to change your expectations.

Look at Peter, he also had to keep his eyes and expectations set high.  He kept his eyes on the Lord as he miraculously walked on the water towards Jesus.  It was a great day for Peter in the middle of that miraculous situation.  Peter placed his eyes on Jesus and stepped out on the water.  It must have been an amazing moment for Peter as he exercised his Faith and stepped out of the boat.  Of course, as long as he had his eyes on Jesus he was overcoming, but… when he looked down and then he began sink.

Obviously, it is vital that we keep our eyes on Jesus.  Don’t look down; keep your eyes upon the Lord and your expectations set high on miraculous places He wants you to walk.  Just like Peter and David, we will see God work amazing miracles in our lives.

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.  Psalm 62:5

The Lord Will Raise You Up

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“The Lord raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill, that He may seat them with princes, even the princes of His people.”  Psalm 113:7-8

God will Raise You UpThe plan of our Heavenly Father is to raise His children up to sit in heavenly places.  He wants to raise you up to a higher place than the place where you are sitting right now.  If you are poor and needy He wants you to shake off the dust of doubt and worry and trust in Him for your provision.

Even in the most horrible conditions, we can trust in God to lift us up.  He is a very present help in times of trouble. (Ps 62:1)  Even if, like the Prodigal son, you look around and wonder how you got yourself into such a mess.  At this very moment, you can come to your senses and realize as a child of God you are in the wrong place.  The low places are not the places where God’s children are to stay.

He wants to lift you up.  So, look up to your Heavenly Father and ask Him to take you up to the place where you belong as His child.

The Lord Will Answer You

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May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!  Psalm 21:1

God will answerMay the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high and defend you. Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh and strengthen you from Zion. Psalm 20:1-2 Amp

There are times that we need supernatural support and strength to make it through the challenges of the day. When we call on the Lord He will dispatch help from His throne. Psalm 20:2 says, “He sends help from the sanctuary.” He will send help, sometimes even angelic assistance. Scripture tells us that the angels of the Lord excel in strength at His command. They are like an emergency back up support system that is on call twenty four–seven waiting for the next assignment. When we call out to the Lord for help, He sends them forth in strength. When Joshua was preparing for the battle of Jericho the angel of the Lord appeared to him in Joshua 5:13-15 and told him he was the Captain of the Lord’s host. Joshua had the Lord’s host on his side as he fought and won the battle of Jericho. Scripture tells us the angels of the Lord are always encamped round about us. Could it be they are just waiting for the next assignment?

A house cannot stand without a strong support system. In a house you cannot see the support beams but you know they are there. It would seem foolish to sit in your living room fearful that the house was going to cave in. When you put your trust in the Lord, you can be assured the house will stand, the support system is in place and you shall not be moved. The Lord establishes the support system so you can stand even when the strong winds of adversity come.  We cannot see them with our natural eyes but we know the support system of the angelic army is in place.

The Right Path: Ask God to send help from the Sanctuary if you need extra support and strength.

God’s House Plans

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Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it… Psalms 127:1

Gods House PlansGod is the Master Builder and in His kingdom He is building many houses. When He is building a house He draws up the plans, and then He shares the plans with you through a vision or dream. This is how His house plans are delivered to the earth.  If you have a dream that is much larger than anything you could do alone, then there is a good chance that God has revealed one of His house plans to you.  He showed Noah a huge boat and Solomon a massive tabernacle.  Each of these houses was unique and perfectly laid out by God to minister to His people, but He did not show the plans to everyone.   He showed these plans to Noah and Solomon, because they were to ones He chose to build the house.  He could trust them with the plans, because He knew they trusted in Him.

God must be able to trust you to hold the vision and wait on Him for each step. Hold on to the vision, and don’t let time discourage you. The very fact that He gave you the vision indicates that He intends for His house to be built. If the Lord is building the house wait on Him and trust in Him and in time the construction will begin. Always keep in your mind focused on whose house it is.  You are building His house and not your own.

A vision from God is like a fire, and it burns within you and can’t be put out. If there is a fire within you that can not be quenched it is the fire of God. At just the right time He will poke at the embers and the vision will blaze up. Just hold on to the vision, this is the embers, and at just the right time the fire of God will been seen and He will build His house.

Drink From the Fountain That Will Never Run Dry

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“Oh God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land….”  Psalm 63:1

There is a deep well within us that must be filled up daily.  When this well has not been filled, you will find yourself dry and thirsty.

Jesus said, “If any man thirst let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37) Jesus is the fountain where we go to drink; He is a fountain that will never run dry.  When we spend time with Him praying and reading His Word, we are drinking from the “living water.”  The Word brings life and refreshing to our spirit just as a drink of natural water refreshes us when we are dry and thirsty.

Are you stressed, tired, and burned out from the pressures of life?

If so, I would like to encourage you to get up early in the morning and spend some extra time drinking from the Word of God.  Drink until you are filled up with a renewed strength.  As you spend time in the Word, you will also experience a renewed hope that everything is going to be all right.

A Thankful Tribute

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“Peace, Peace to him who is far off and to him who is near! Says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise]”   Isaiah 57:19

As I traveled up a winding road I have traveled many times before, I had one thing on my mind, the old apple tree at the top of the hill.  When I arrived at the top, I was disappointed to find a barren and withered tree.  Then I remembered that back in the spring, I had not seen the blooms of a fruit tree. Blossoms on an apple tree are a picture of the fruit to come.  The blossoms in the spring give us a glimpse of the fruit that the tree will produce in the fall.

We can learn so much about our lives when we look at the apple tree.  God say’s we are the apples of His eye. Once we are a tree, He prunes, waters, and watches us as we blossom and bring forth fruit in due season.

On another day, I traveled up the same winding road and I saw two “trees” standing on the hill.  As I got closer to these two “trees”, I saw beautiful blossoms.   These two “trees” were a husband and wife around eighty years old, whose life reflected the fullness of the Lord. From their lips came words of thankful praise, their heart was full of joy as they rejoiced in God’s goodness that day.  The words that came from their lips revealed a thankful heart.  Even in the midst of troubling times, they were truly grateful for God’s blessings in their life.  Their spirit was strong, even though they had weathered many storms.  Their braches were low with fruitful words you could take home. As I left that day, my basket was full with more fresh fruit than ever before. I had been with two people whose lives truly produced the fruit of the Lord.

Burdens Will Roll Away

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“Commit your ways to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.”  Psalm 37:5 Amp.

You have probably found, as I have, that every problem has a weight to it, and some are heavier than others.  If you have committed your ways unto the Lord and are trusting in Him to work things out, then you must release the heavy weight and not take it back again.  As you trust the Lord, you can have peace in knowing your burdens will roll away.

Do not worry about it.   Trust Him.  This does not mean you are not involved or concerned about the situation.   It simply means you are not anxious or worried about it anymore.  And most of all, it is not up to you to fix it.

You are now trusting in the Lord and waiting on Him to work everything out for good.  Waiting is hard, but you can trust God to be faithful to His Word.  Grab hold of His promise and then wait.  It is hard to wait at first, but the more you resist taking things back into your own hands and working them out yourself, the easier waiting becomes.

So today, if your problem feels heavy, just pray and release it to the Lord.  Roll it over and reposition the weight on Him, and He will carry it for you.  All you need to do now is stand back and watch as He works everything out according to His plan and purpose.

Be aware that if you have never lived life without a weight on your back, it may feel funny at first.  If so, resist taking the weight back again.  Psalm 37:3 says, “Trust in (lean on, rely on and be confident) in the Lord and do good, so shall you dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness, and surely be fed.”   This tells me we are not to worry, because He will provide for all our needs.  We are to feed on His faithfulness, and He has a banquet table prepared for us.

Another important teaching on burden bearing.

 

Joy Comes in the Morning

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“Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

awaken my faithIn Psalm 6:6-8 the psalmist says, “I am weary with my groaning.” Some people weep outwardly, but most weep silently, choosing to walk through dark valleys all alone. Silent weeping will cause a night of sorrow to turn into months or even years of sadness, like a dark, sleepless night that you think will never end.  But just as the morning sun comes up to announce that the night is over, and a new day has begun.  When the first feeling of joy returns to your soul, you know the night of sorrow has come to an end.  Joy comes every morning; be careful not to miss it.

A major part of healing is grieving the losses. When we have experienced losses, they must be properly grieved in order to be released.  This is why we don’t have peace; we are trying to cope with buried pain from the losses in our life.

For years of my life, instead of releasing a person, or relationships that ended, I was holding on to the sadness trying to figure out a way to cope with the painful emptiness.  I had so much pain and I was running hard, trying to keep it from catching up with me.

In Jeremiah 6:14, the prophet gives us understanding of why many people are inwardly weeping.  They have been hurt by the actions of others and have not received complete healing.  They are saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace.  Look at every area of your life where you are not experiencing peace.  The amount of peace in your life is directly related to the amount of healing you have received.  The painful events like separation and divorce create many losses that must be grieved.

Ask the Lord to walk with you through the pain and give you the ability to release all you have lost.