Find Your Purpose and Stay in Your Seat

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“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places” Ephesians 1:20

“And He has raised us up together and made us sit together in Christ Jesus”. Ephesians 2:6

Jesus is seated by the right hand of the Father and He doesn’t get up out of His seat. But we get up, just as a little kid has a hard time sitting still in church. They squirm, wiggle and always need to get a drink of water or go to the bathroom. Maturity is all about learning how to sit down, and stay seated in our seat, our place of authority, not distracted and pulled by our fleshly needs and the world around us.

Once you finally find your seat, your position or God’s purpose for your life, you need to stay seated in your seat. God’s power that worked in Christ and raised Him from the dead also raised Him into His final seat of authority. The power of God placed Jesus at His right hand in heavenly places. That same power is working in me to lift me up out of sin and to break behavior patterns that have been learned and embraced due to generational iniquities. As I overcome these sins and the pull of iniquity, I can feel myself getting lighter and lighter, until I am seated in heavenly places, high above my circumstances, high above principalities and powers of darkness

Deal With Offenses by Magnifying The Lord

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“Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:3

Have you noticed the increase in the opportunities to be offended? Even after 25 years of marriage to my husband, I sometimes get offended by what he says. As a wife, I may know he doesn’t mean something the way I took it, but I still feel a huge pull to be offended. I believe in the day we are living, the days prior to the return of the Lord, there will be a greater pull than ever before to be offended. Jesus taught us in Mathew 18:7 that offenses will surely come. In Mathew 24, when the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of His return would be, He said in verse 10, “And then shall many be offended…” So we should not be surprised when we feel the pull to be offended. The question is: how fast do you move past an offense? Jesus made it possible for us to be able to move past offenses very quickly.

I must constantly remind myself that we are in “the time,” the days before Jesus returns. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that there would be a great falling away in these days. I believe the falling away is due to being offended. If your love waxes cold according to Mathew 24, you will fall away.

I know when I am offended, I must quickly forgive. Forgiveness is the only answer! It is the way of escape! The quicker I forgive, the quicker I come back into my right mind. When I am offended my soul is in control. When I forgive, my spirit rises up above my soul and takes back over.

I have learned that when I am offended everything is distorted and even my emotions become out of control. When I am offended at a person I will see them in a distorted way, bigger than they really are. I will become overly focused on them. They become the center of attention and all I talk about for days. Every conversation even goes back somehow to what offended me.

The more we put our focus on those who offended us, the more magnified they become. This could cause our heart to wax cold and may lead us to sin against God. He is the only one we are to magnify. When we focus on others and what they did to offend us, we make them bigger than God.

Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:3).

So right now press the minimize button and minimize the person who has offended you. Bring them down to the right size and forgive them. Remember, if it were not for the grace of God you might have done the very same thing

Hold On To Hope

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“We who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope that has been appointed for us” (Hebrew 6:18).

What are you hoping for: a new job, a husband, a wife, or healing of a loved one? For that which you are hoping, let me encourage you to tighten your grip. It is time to securely grab hold of whatever the Lord has promised you. Don’t let it slip out of your hands and don’t give in to even the slightest disappointment. Spend time with the Lord and this is what happens: “We who have fled to Him for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope that has been appointed for us” (Hebrew 6:18).

There is something God has appointed for you. When you give-in to disappointment you are in essence saying, “I no longer believe that what God has appointed for me, will take place.” Disappointments will cause you to let go of the hope. It is like you have been swinging on a rope across a huge cannon, and you let go of the rope right before you get to the other side. When you give in to disappointment, you can feel yourself sliding down the rope. If you give in, your strength will grow weary and you will completely let go.

I know this is how it works. Right now I have burn marks on my hands from letting the rope slip through my hands. Disappointments are coming from every side. I have been so bombarded by disappointments that I gave in to them. When a friend pointed out that I was disappointed, I said “You better believe I am disappointed”. I began to give her a list a mile long. I wanted her to understand all the things that disappointed me.

But the Lord would not allow me that privilege. He lovingly said, “That is what you receive when you are in kindergarten.” Then I remembered. In kindergarten when it rained and we were disappointed because we could not go outside and play, my teacher would give us a sucker. The Lord reminded me, “You are not in kindergarten and you cannot give in to disappointments.” I must adjust my grip and hold on. Paul said it in Hebrews 6:18, “hold fast to the hope that is appointed for us.” The word appointed means it has been prearranged and set before me. All I do is grab it and hold on tight to Hope. Hope is the anchor of my soul.

Place Your Cares on Him, and Rest in the Lord

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“Cast your burdens upon the Lord” (Psalms 55:22).

Rest in the LordCasting a burden upon the Lord means you turn the burden over and release it to Him. Every burden has a weight, and some are heavier than others. The Lord knows we can only carry a burden for a short amount of time before we begin to slip and fall under the weight of it. God calls us to bear one another’s burdens only long enough to bring them to Him. Remember, the Lord will not put more on you than you can carry.

If you are weary, it is time to cast your burden upon the Lord.  He says, “Come unto me all ye that are weak and heavy laden (weighted down) and I will give you rest, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  As you rest, learn of me, and find rest for your soul.”

You will know you have cast the burden down when you begin to experience His rest. So why not enter into His rest today?

In His Presence, There is Fullness of Joy

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“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; prayer, that goeth not out for feigned lips.”

(Psalms 16:11)

“Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.”

(Psalms 17:5)

As we travel down the path of life, the Lord will make the path very clear.  The right path of life leads you to do what is right.  You know you are on the right path by the peace that comes as you choose to do what is right. Sin draws you away from God’s presence and the right path.  When you continue in sin, you travel down a path farther and farther away from God. You feel lost and alone, far away from home.  The steps to get back home can be found in His Word.

The Psalmist declares  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”   (Psalms 119:105)

Just like Adam, we still run and hide from God when we feel guilt or shame. When we have sinned, we need to run toward Him for forgiveness. We need to say, as David did, “I said, Lord, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned” (Psalm 41:4).  We are all, at times, like a prodigal son that needs to run back home. As we repent, we begin walking on the right path to our Heavenly Father, who is always waiting at the door for us with His arms open wide to receive us.

Pray and ask God to help you to get back on the right path that will lead you home.

It is Blessed To Be A Blessing

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For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence. Psalm 21:6  Amp.

BlessingsIt is God that makes us to be blessed!  David said in Psalm 21:6, that God actually makes you to be blessed.  He makes or rather He prepares you to receive His blessings.  Think about it, right now He is preparing you for His blessings.

You are like a storehouse that He must prepare to pour his blessings into.  If you are a little four room house, He may require you expand to receive a blessing.  You can’t have the “us four and no more” mentality and expect God to bless you beyond where you presently are.  It could be that where you are right now in your thinking is not large enough to hold all the blessings God has planned for you.

Think of all the men of old who were blessed by God such as: David, Joseph, and Abraham.  They had to expand.  Each of these great men was blessed by God, but each one was blessed in a different way.  They had to obey God in order to be prepared for the blessings. Their storehouse had to be prepared so they would properly manage blessings when they were poured out.

We are always blessed by God so we can keep the blessings flowing and be a blessing to God’s people. If you are blessed by God, as Joseph was blessed, it means you must learn how to govern the blessing and release it to God’s people at the appointed time.  Blessings from God indicate He has entrusted you with something, and all He asks of you is to be a good steward and properly maintain the blessing.

When God abundantly blesses someone, they are a storehouse on earth where God places His blessings.  He doesn’t bless us just so we will pile up the blessings and say, “look at me.”  He blesses us so He can use us to pour out blessings to others.  In Psalm 21:6, as we bless others the flow of God’s blessing continue to flow to us and we are a blessing forever.  “Give and it shall be given to you.”

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (New International Version)

Be a blessing to others with the blessings God has entrusted you with.

Moving to the Big House

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“Now I say that an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he is Lord of all.” Galatians 4:1

Living by FaithLike going to any new destination, you will need a vehicle to get you to the Father’s House; the only vehicle that will get you there is the vehicle of faith. It is by faith that we receive the promises of God.

And it’s only by faith that we enter into the Father’s House, the Big House where we receive our full inheritance.  By faith you take your rightful place as a son or daughter and a joint-heir with Christ.  As you read the Word and by faith receive the Word as Truth, you will find yourself dwelling in a new place, a higher place, high above the old life you once lived.

Galatians 4:1 says as long as we are children, we are as servants or as slaves, but when we put away the childish way of thinking—the old lies—we can by faith receive our identity and full inheritance.

Before faith, you are still a child—“thinking, feeling, and acting like a child”—living in the little house (I Corinthians 13:11).  Now is the time to get into the vehicle of faith and travel to the Father’s House, where your full inheritance awaits you.  You are no longer a servant or a slave; you have been redeemed and you are now an heir, a child of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ.

“God sent forth His son… to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 4:4, 5, 7)

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Romans 8:14-15, Amplified).

It is time to get on the Right Path

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“That we may do those good works which God predestined for us…” Eph 2: 10

Get on the right pathGod has preordained and planned before hand what your purpose is on the earth.  And He has used the situations in your life up to this very moment to teach you and prepare you for His purposes.

We can’t see clearly what God sees.  It is only after we pass through a situation that we see it clearly.  We can then look down from a higher perspective and see what good came out of it, what we learned, and how God will use it.  I know how it is to be in the middle of a bad situation.  We wonder what good thing could possibly come out of this! At that point, we can not see what God sees.  That is why all along the way and in every situation, we must learn to listen to His voice.  His ways are so much higher than our ways.  He has a plan that we can’t see so we must listen to His voice so we will choose the right way, the high way.

I believe God sets up situations just for learning purposes.  He wants us to learn from our past mistakes, so we will make different choices and take the right path the next time.  Paul said that if we take the path which He planned ahead of time, we will live the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.  This does not mean that once we learn to walk on the highway, we will not encounter difficult situations.  It does mean that we will always have a clear path to walk on during those difficult times.  That’s why we go through hard times so we can learn how to identify God ways and God’s path that leads us though the valleys and hardships of life.


Shaped and Molded for God’s Purpose

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“You are His workmanship…” Eph 2:10

You and I are God’s greatest handy work, the greatest work He has ever created.  He is shaping and molding you with His hands.  This is why Paul said, we are His workmanship.

You and I were created so we could be shaped and molded for a certain purpose as a vessel of honor.  It is good to understand the process that God uses to carry out the task of preparing us as a vessel of honor.

First we are on the potter’s wheel, going around and around.  We wonder “who are we?”, as we are being transformed from a simple piece of clay into a vessel.  As we accept Christ and embrace our identity through Him as a child of God, the spinning stops.

Then the painful maturing process begins.  He shapes us with His hands putting pressure on all the lumpy fleshly places.  Then on the places that will not submit to the smoothing out with His hands, He will use an instrument.  It is one that will rub us the wrong way until the ruff edges are smooth.  Just as things smooth out in our life and we feel good, all of a sudden we find ourselves in the fire, the refiner’s fire.  As we are wondering why this is happening, we must remember we are still in His hands.

We also must remember that this process is always going on.  God is using all people and all situations for our ultimate good, so that we will become a vessel of honor to be filled with His glory.

The Secret Revealed

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The secret of His will…Ephesians 1:9

In Him we also were made [God’s] heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose, who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own] will, Ephesians 1:11

Secret place of GodThe secrets of God can be discovered but they are hidden in the secret place.  We can go to the secret place and discover His secrets, His will, His plan and purpose for our life.  I believe we must spend time, maybe even hours daily in this secret place, to discover His will for our life.  Psalms 91 says that we can actually dwell in the secret place and abide there forever.  It is in this secret place where all the distractions of the world are blocked out and all you hear is His voice.

You were chosen ahead of time for a certain purpose.  You were actually appointed by God to do it.  You can’t wait on man to say it or depend on man; it is God that appoints you.  God may use a man or women as a mouth piece to confirm what He has already appointed for you to do.  Eph 1:11, says that God works everything out after the counsel of His will.  God will work all things together to accomplish whatever His will is.

Go to the secret place daily and listen for the secret for that day to be revealed to you.