God Gives You #Peace But YOU Have To Keep It! ~

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Rom 12:18)~ It’s easy to be at peace with people you don’t know. It can be as simple as acknowledging their presence with a ‘nod’ or smile or casual greeting. But with people we know, things get very different. Peace in relationships is an important thing, whether it’s with family, friends or co-workers. When we don’t have this peace, the mere thought of a person can drive us into a new category of instability; drive our blood pressure through the roof and literally throw our whole day off. Our minds will ramble with thoughts that consume and disturb our every rational thought. Everyone has different personalities and emotions. Sometimes we feel happy, and other times we feel angry. How a person is feeling however should not change our peaceful state. Now YOU can’t control what the other person does or how they act and it’s easy to get out of sorts when they act in a way that disturbs your peace. But you can control YOUR reaction and you have the power within you to maintain your peace. If they are antagonizing things, God will take care of the negativity that person is creating; for the vengeance is His (Rom 12:19). But as fair warning, keep in mind that your reacting with a good cussing out or even worse only serves to give God a reason to deal with you. I don’t know about you but I cringe at the thought of God taking ANY type of vengeance on me! Getting along with those in your circle may seem like a lot of work some days. But a peaceful space is a true treasure, something worth working for! Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21) – DO THE WORK it takes to keep the peace, not trying to fix anyone nor straighten them out, but managing your own actions! And when it starts to get the best of you…take five and get into God’s presence! Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6-7) – May God bless you and keep you … in PEACE!

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ESPECIALLY When It Gets That Bad; He’ll See You Through It! #NeverForsaken ~

And after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace and peace, who has called us to eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us – 1 Peter 5:10

God comes to us in the brokenness of our health, in the shipwreck of our family life, in the loss of all possible peace of mind, and even in the thick of our sins. He saves us in our disasters, not from them. When we are in the furnace, our Father keeps His eyes on the clock and His hands on the thermostat. He knows just how much heat we can take. God does not lead us around life’s hardships, He leads us straight through them. But He leads us nonetheless! And amidst those hardships, He is nearer to us than ever before. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with us! Yes, when it gets THAT bad, God is still with us! Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed. It is an intruder and thief, and yet in the hands of God, adversity becomes the means through which His supernatural power is demonstrated best.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

 

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Getting Through Requires GOING Through! #Perseverance ~

And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he (Jacob) said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me (Gen 32:26)~ Getting to that great place in life doesn’t happen overnight. Having everything go right isn’t always automatic. Getting through things and situations requires going through them! Having good relationships doesn’t start when we first meet. We don’t go to bed broken and wake up fixed. It’s all a process and in all of these processes we have a tendency to want to give up because a new day is coming and we are still in the process rather than at our destination.

But look! You are STILL in the process!! You have to stay in the process! Stay with God! Don’t let go of Him because THAT is where He’s going to bless you. Jacob’s story goes on to talk about how  he continued to wrestle with God and God touched him in his hip socket, forever changing the way he walked… and blessed him ‘there’. When you commit to staying with God in the fight of the process, He will touch you, He will change you and He will bless you right there!!! All of this is the result of perseverance that God teaches us and we must practice through the process!

Perseverance: It is an emblem of the true spirit of faith and prayer. Jacob kept his ground; though his struggle continued long, this did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer. He will have a blessing, and had rather have his bones put out of joint than go away without one. Those who would have the blessing of Christ, must resolve to take no denial!!! Never give up on God, never stop believing, never lose faith…always pray…The fervent prayer is the effectual prayer and the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much!

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It’s a #ColdWorld Out There! ~

Because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold (Matt 24:12 NIV)~

No matter what the ‘world’ leads people to, or determines as the new ‘order’ of things, the Word of God remains as it was in the beginning and we must remain steadfast in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works. Our ceremonies, traditions, self-assertions and rewritings of the ‘laws’ we live by have no impact nor influence on our salvation in Him. No outward privileges or profession, social or economic status, position nor power on earth will bring us to acceptance with God, without sincere faith in our Lord Jesus. True faith is a working grace; it works by love to God, and to our brethren. Our two prime directives given by Christ were to love the Lord and to love others; that everything within the law hung on this (Matt 22:37-40).

But our world has gotten away from those two directives and has spun out of control. People have grown away from God – we would rather be on Facebook than have our face IN the Book. We’d rather have friends on social media than a friend that sticks closer than a brother. We want God to show up at our house, but we won’t go to His house. We want Him to talk to us, but we won’t even pray to Him. We’ve made great advancements in knowledge and discovery and there are many great and amazing things man has achieved. There is nothing wrong with how far we’ve come as a people. But as far as we’ve come, we’ve simultaneously fallen back as more and more the love for and dependence on God in this world continues to diminish – in our achievements we have become self-reliant and self-absorbing. More and more in this world, we see the lack of love and concern for our fellow man. Never has the hatred between us been so prominent. The value of human life these days is less than one’s own ambitions; love of money, love of material gain, love of position and title. People today LOOK for reasons to put down the life of another just to edify themselves. Where is the ‘love thy neighbor’ in that?

Without faith working by love, all else is worthless, and compared with it other things are of small value. God’s promise restores ‘integrity’ back into His creation as it was at the foundation of the world. May we learn to be still; leaning not to our own understanding; but in all ways acknowledging Him and His finished work; and allow Him to do His works of restoration in us. May we be of the number of those who, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. May we recall and return to a point of living under the directives Christ put before us: “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; Love thy neighbor as thyself”!

#Anxiety ~ God Won’t Leave You In It! ~

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Ps 23:4 )~

Do you know a valley like this? Where you feel isolated and alone, as if no one understands the crushing load you are under, nor the enemy you fear? Or is your valley less defined—a hard to describe cloud of doom that descends on your best thoughts, turning life into a shadowy mist of confusion? God is offering to walk with you through this valley. He does not lead you to the valley, and He won’t leave you in the valley, but He promises to lead you THROUGH it. This current place of struggle will not be the end of you.

Walking free from panic attacks, depression, fear, and worry is a process, one with many steps and turns. But the key to living untangled from anxiety is not a plan, but a person. Jesus, the Great Shepherd; He is the way, the truth, and the life. And He will lead you through whatever you are facing in this world. God understands that we get stressed in life. He will lead and guide us through every season. God promises to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, that dark place where we doubt everything good and fear every possible negative outcome.

You may feel like God is a billion miles away. You may believe your voice won’t even get past the walls of the room you are in if you were to call on Him. But, the name of Jesus is power and He is here! Call on Him now. Tell Him you can’t see Him, but you have heard He is near. Yes, you can trust Him even if you can’t trace Him! Ask Him to stop by and walk with you in the pit of depression you are in. Tell Him you want Him to lead you through your valley of anxiety. Ask Him to shine light into your darkness.

We have the God of all that is…. standing in front of … US, offering to be our shepherd in whatever valley we find ourselves in. Jesus is offering to lead, provide, protect, and preserve you through the darkest valleys and most imposing nights. I invite you to call on Him right now, out loud. 

Your hope is in Jesus. May we all come out with the same hope today

—God is fighting for you!

Work The Word Against #WildThoughts ~

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5)~ God has given you authority over every aspect of your life, including your own mind. But you have to USE the Word for it to work!  Every day you will have the opportunity to go back to old ways of thinking. From your interactions with others, to personal decisions, you will have to choose God’s thoughts over your own. 

Wrong thoughts don’t have to rule your life. Make a consistent effort to keep wrong thoughts of your past out of your mind. Learn from your mistakes and press forward. Get rid of “stinking thinking” and fill your mind with the truth of the Word by studying and meditating on the Word daily. Guard your mind by being careful about what you look at, listen to and talk about with others. God isn’t going to defend your mind for you; it’s YOUR responsibility – YOU have control over what you keep there and let fester!  The Word will work over all of the things that don’t belong but like the bad, you have to let the good in and let it reside in your mind! 

Want the Word to work? You’ve got to work the Word!! Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are Noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – think on these things! (Phi 4:8)

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Love Can’t Be #SELFish – It’s Not All About You! –

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others (Phil 2:3-4)~ Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, sacrifice, just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. Hence where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the initiative. Each forgets self and lives for others. But where there is selfishness it hinders joy. One selfish soul will destroy the sweetness of life in any home. It is like a weed in the midst of a garden of flowers. It was selfishness that destroyed the first home and spoiled all the loveliness of Paradise; and it has been blighting lovely things in the earth ever since. Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves and we need to guard against this spirit! We must be severe upon our own faults, and quick in observing our own defects, but ready to make favorable allowances for others. We must kindly care for others, but not be always driven to further our own gain. Neither inward nor outward peace can be enjoyed without humility of mind. It’s not always about ‘you’. 

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#Trust HIS Will; HIS Way! – God Is In Control ~

Leaders in the Bible struggled with their specific callings as well as with one-time acts of obedience. Moses protested God’s call—even while he knelt barefoot as God spoke to him out of the burning bush. He didn’t want to confront Pharaoh. He told God he wasn’t a good speaker. Jonah ran from God’s call. He didn’t want to preach to the Ninevites. He knew that if they repented, God would forgive them, and he didn’t want that. He spent three days in the depths of misery before he said yes to God, and even then he continued to be angry with God (Jonah 4:1-2). Jeremiah didn’t want to be God’s spokesman. He told God he was too young to speak (Jeremiah 1:6). The rich young ruler didn’t want to sell his possessions and give to the poor (Matthew 19:22). Even Jesus, in a moment of humanity struggled with the reality of His calling as He prayed “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.”(Luke 22:42).

Surrender means that we give up control, that we deny self and relinquish things like needing to be in charge, needing to have all the answers in advance, needing to look good or to be famous. It means walking with God, often into the unknown. Trusting God to lead and provide. Trusting God to come through. Stepping away from what WE would do and following what we realize God would have us do. When we heed His calling, we are always called into this obedience because His will MUST be done His way in order to remain absolutely perfect.  Imagine these scenarios and how they may have played out if these people had done things their own way. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways are higher than our ways. The submission He calls us to is to get us out of our own thinking and habits so that what He intends to do in us and through us will not be challenged.

Again, imagine the scenarios… some great things happened as the called of God acted in submission to God. We have to let go.. even of who we see ourselves to be and allow Him to be who He is in us. God gives each of us a cup of His calling. As you prepare to drink from that cup, know that it may taste bitter and you can’t sweeten it with your own thoughts, habits and ways. You have to surrender to His will and His ways… and sometimes it will be a little tough to swallow but the end result will be the sweet taste of victory in Him! Taste and see that the Lord is good!!

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Have #Faith #NoFear ~ God Has Not Forgotten About You! ~

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent (Ps 22:1-2)~ In times of “grief and tears” we all feel forgotten – even by God. The “fear” of being forgotten by Him brings with it frustrations: “I can’t figure out why this is happening to me – and why is it taking God so long to bring me out of it?”.  We’re in a crazy place where nothing seems to be going right; everything’s falling apart, no one else understands or even cares. (Ps 22:12-18) – all of your strength is dried up and you’re ONE step away from losing your mind. And GOD is silent (?!?!??!???).

When God seems silent; don’t let your faith get low because the enemy wants you to operate in fear. Fear is the darkroom where the devil will take you to develop your negatives! Look again at the frustrations that have started and where it takes you from there. You become cynical about how things go in your life, about how people are and how your life itself is. You become a negative person and you look for the negative in everything – and to your own detriment, you realize the truth in the phrase “Seek and ye shall find” because now everything around and about you is NEGATIVE.  In the eyes of the enemy, you are “picture perfect”.

But friend: BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. No matter how you feel; no matter how things look – you have to remember, God is right there. Resist the devil and he will flee from you! You have to fight those negatives with positives. Rather than complain, you have to praise the Lord for strengthening you through your trials. Say to the Lord “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee” (Ps 22:22). Wherever you find yourself, “life” will know God is there by your praise. You have to be at a point that your love for God is so strong it causes you to refuse to be afraid of the attacks of fear on your mind that the enemy throws in your life. All of this can be done JUST by your love for God! Because there is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). Don’t succumb to the fears and torment of the enemy….don’t allow yourself the suffering of negativity in your life! 

When God is silent, don’t assume He’s gone from you or that He’s betrayed you.  Don’t let your heart fill with worry and your mind start conjuring thoughts of doubt and disbelief in the promises of His Word.  Stand on what you know of Him,  not what you think He might be doing.  God is not ignoring you, He hasn’t forgotten you and He CERTAINLY will never leave or forsake you! The devil is a lie!  God is always there,  even in His silence. 

Be at peace… in Him!

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The #Word Encourages But Also Cuts Deep! ~

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb 4:12)~~  We all love statements of affirmation, encouragement, empowerment and self improvement. We love all the verses in the Bible that tell us how we are more than conquerors and how God will exceedingly and abundantly bless us. We will take to heart statements from scholars and create monuments of wisdom based on the statements of the most controversial of men; even if it means we shun the Truth of God, especially if that Truth convicts or exposes something within us. But all the nice, warm fuzzy, feel good cliche quoting does nothing but trap us in a euphoria of false security and enslaves us to the ways of the world. 

But in the Word, that two-edged sword cuts away all of the unprofitable that is on us… Rightfully dividing Word and fables, we shall know the TRUTH and be set free. And Jesus answered and said to them:“ Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many (Matt 24:4-5); Jesus meant for us to beware of the many churches and religious leaders claiming to represent Christ (calling themselves “Christian”) leading people with ‘feel good’ and ‘prosperity’ doctrine, but not teaching the Bible accurately.

Some are insincere and have wrong motives. Others are sincere but they are sincerely wrong! Some will even “show great [miraculous] signs and wonders to deceive” (Matthew 24:24). It will be extremely easy to be misled and confused if we aren’t continually turning to the Bible to see what is true and what is false. Study to shew thyself approved! There are many who would have you believe differently, turning the truth of God into a lie, justifying worldly and even worse, their own ways; even unbelief with “human” rationalization and speaking to those with itching ears, that would rather hear man’s doctrine of do what makes you happy and what feels good and what YOU want; over that of God’s truth which carries a greater promise but also comes with a foundation of responsibility; standards and a stern truth that opposes the mindset of worldly doctrine!

God’s Word tells us that in our days, we will have plenty of trials and tribulations (Job 14:1) but IN HIM is where our victory lies because He has won it already (John 16:33). To deny, hide, ignore or suppress the Truth of God; smoothing over the rough stuff, the responsibilities and the rules so that we ‘feel good’, have what we want and are happy all the time; is a very dangerous thing! God’s Word is sharp and designed to cut away that which is wrong in us but keep that which builds us stronger in HIm. That doesn’t mean it will always make us happy and give us pleasure, riches and worldly prosperity. But if it means I’m right in Him, then cut me to the bone! Friend, Don’t be misled because you don’t want to hear the truth! Not reading the book of Revelation won’t keep the end from coming!

Know the truth, be set free ETERNALLY and Be Ye Also Ready!