Confidence

"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God." 2 Corinthians 3:5

We go to school, college, university, learning and learning to the point of perfect knowledge on a specialised subject. But no matter how qualified and able we are, without confidence we will accomplish very little.

Confidence is trust or faith, a feeling of self-assurance, the belief of self-confidence, standing firm in the knowledge that you are acceptable and able.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

This scripture requires precise understanding. Jesus did not mean that we are not able to do anything at all. He means that we are not able to do anything truly worthwhile.

"Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

There are two main reasons that we are not used by God for greater things:

1. We think we can do something by ourselves

2. We don't know who we are in Christ

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

We try to accomplish things in the flesh, not realising that without God we are powerless. But if God is with us, our natural deficiencies are irrelevant and simply do not latter.

Anything you want to do in life is possible because Christ is inside you!

Integrity

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." Proverbs 11:3

 

Society has been declining in various ways for many years to the point that it no longer honours God. We live in a world that is not concerned about integrity. Our greedy, selfish world is generally more concerned about quantity rather than quality. People carelessly speak half truths and exaggerations, making purposely deceptive comments that lead those around them to believe something that is not true. This is not showing integrity.

As believers, we are in the world but not of the world and we need to always ensure that we do not act like we are of this world.

The dictionary definition of the word 'integrity' is a firm adherence to a code or standard of values. As a follower of Christ, our standard should be much higher than the world's. There are certain things we Christians wouldn't even think of doing, but there are too many compromises, even in the lives of God's people. There are things we do that Jesus would never do and it is Jesus that should be our standard of integrity.

If we want to experience and enjoy prosperity, we must walk in integrity. Integrity is being committed to a life of excellence, as our God is excellent, awesome and amazing!

Integrity is keeping our word, not promising something then reneging on the deliverance. Commitment is giving our all to everything we do and finishing any task that we start.

Keep your word, even if it costs you.

Be committed to your integrity!

Marriage and Change

It can sometimes seem that troubles in our marriage just appear out of nowhere, but the fact is that the Holy Spirit provides us with many warnings, it's just that most of us choose to ignore them in the hope that they will go away - they won't. In a troubled marriage it's not uncommon for both spouses to believe that it is the other that is totally in the wrong. This is not usually so and we need to take a good look at ourselves to see what part we are playing in the strife.

We want our life to change but want to retain our lifestyle and this is where we end up living in situations of resentment. Remaining with your spouse usually offers the same financial benefits, support raising your children, living in your nice house and other things. But choosing to separate from your spouse will usually incur a downgrade in all those things. Something which many just aren't willing to lose, so they remain in an unhappy marriage for the sake of nice bricks and mortar.

On other occasions when our marriage is on the rocks, we just give up, we won't do anything to change, and we expect our spouse to do all the changing. The reality is that we need to ask God to help us to change too.

We all need to take some responsibility. The decisions that we make throughout our whole lives affect our destiny, as does asking God for the right things at the right time. We need to change for ourselves first, then for others to ensure that we are living the life that Jesus died for us to have. We must be prepared to do the right thing all the time no matter what is going on around us.

In Deuteronomy 7:1-2 Jesus is talking to all the enemies. He probably didn't want to, but God had told him that the time was right. When God puts something in your mind, that is the indicator that it is time to deal with it. It is at that time that He is giving it over to you to do your part. Don't wait until you think it is your time, God knows when the time is right and if it is in God's time it will have an anointing on it that will make it easier for you.

We may proclaim in our head our out loud that we are ready to and want to deal with something but then we give a multitude of reasons for why we can't. This is a sign of something offensive in your life which is blocking you from God and it needs getting rid of. Don't keep on making excuses for it. Just change! Whatever decisions need making, it is you that will have to make them. God won't make them for you. Say to God, "God, I want to change, but I can't without your help and guidance." Whatever the change is that you want in your life, acknowledge it and pray to God about it on a daily basis. It's not our job to change ourselves, it's our job to agree with God about the changes that He wants to see in our lives.

Stay in the Word. There is power in it to save your soul. Feed yourself with the Word of God so that your spiritual side becomes greater and stronger than the flesh. Make right choices and get rid of your enemies - your personality and thinking defects.

Money

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10

 

Christians make both good and bad choices and we reap from whatever we have sown. God asks us to tithe and give away things, not just money, because he doesn't want us to become too attached to our money and love it too much. If we are in the habit of being generous then greed is impossible. The only way to fight greed is with generosity. The Bible says that greed takes away the life of its possessor and this is entirely true. We sell our souls and our quality of life for money. We might take a new job that offers untold benefits including a pay rise, but when reality hits, the benefits of the job begin to destroy your life, your family and your marriage. But once this higher salary has been attained, people are loathe to give it away for anything. If you let the spirit of greed get hold of you, nothing will ever be enough for you. You will always want more and more, and the 'more' won't make you happy, it will just increase your desire to get even more.

We should never make life-altering decisions based on money alone. There are many more factors that need to be taken into account, more important ones: family, happiness, marriage, benefits, disadvantages. No amount of money is worth you being robbed of your peace or you being stressed all the time. The lack of these will ruin your life and God has a far better plan for us.

Finding and fulfilling your destiny

"because a great door for effective work, has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me." 1 Corinthians 16:9

 

We move into the fullness of God's will in stages. The devil opposes and tries to interfere with each new stage of our progress. We need to understand this fact so that we do not become confused and think that we, ourselves, have made a mistake.

The devil seeks to wear us out. He is desperate to bring so much opposition against us that we become so weary and discouraged we end up giving up. Where there is opportunity there is opposition.

We must be aware of compromise. The devil doesn't want us in the will of God, fulfilling our destiny. If he can't keep us completely out of God's will, his next tactic is to tempt us to do a little less than what God has instructed us to do. The devil tempts us to compromise. But what he purposely doesn't tell us is that compromise causes us to feel empty, regretful, lonely, discouraged and unfulfilled.

The devil uses another deceptive tool - procrastination. Good intentions do not bring us into the blessings of God - only obedience does. Our wilful choice to obey God is the lifeline between our heart's desire and the finished product.

Walk through your life without looking back. The devil may think he is destroying you, but often he is actually providing valuable experience that will help you learn to stay out of trouble.

Lazy and Lukewarm

"For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." 2 Timothy 1:6

 

Passivity poses a very real threat and we need to be on our guard against the spirit of it. Passivity is one of the greatest tools that the devil uses against us, God's people. Procrastination and laziness are related to passivity and they usually all attack in a group. A passive person waits to be moved by an outside force before he will take action. We need to be motivated and led by the Holy Spirit within us, not by outside forces.

"So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3:16

In Revelation Jesus warns that He will not be satisfied with lukewarmness and that we need to be full of the zeal of God. Zeal isn't something we usually jump out of bed with on a morning, but we can learn how to call up the gift from within us. Speaking the Word of God through prayer, praise, preaching or confession are the best ways to encourage zeal. These ways will stir up the gift within and keep the fire aflame, stopping you from becoming lukewarm.

Refuse to be passive, turn away from procrastination and laziness. Act with diligence and zeal according to the Word of God and keep that inner flame alight!

Drinking from Jesus' Cup

"Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink from?" Matthew 20:22

 

This way the response that Jesus gave to the request of His disciples James and John to sit on His right and left hand.

Many people want God to bless them with a high position, but they are not ready to stop living a self-centred life. In God's opinion, selfishness is a low level of living. Until you are ready to surrender 'self' or your life will not progress to a higher level.

We have a choice to make. We can choose to spend our lives trying to get what we want when we want it, but it is a lower life. If we refuse to give up the lower life, we will never have the desired higher life. But, if we are willing to give up the lower (natural) life, then God will give us the higher (spiritual) life.

Before Jesus could be seated at the right hand side of the Father, he had to lay down the lower life before He got the higher life.

In order to be promoted as Jesus was, we must crucify the flesh. We need to forget about ourselves, stop thinking about ourselves, talking about ourselves, and trying to get our own way. We first need to make an investment, then God will give us a mighty gift in return.

If you want the higher life, be willing to drink the cup that Jesus drank - the cup of unselfishness. Break the bondage of selfishness off your life!

Self-control

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

 

Everyone wants to have the good life, but not everyone is prepared to live a disciplined and self-controlled lifestyle. However, without discipline and self- control, we will never be able to enjoy the good life that God has prepared for us.

To live a disciplined life we can't do whatever we feel like doing whenever we want. Discipline and self-control require denial of the flesh, but they lead to the good life, the kind of life in which we find peace, joy, power and so many other good things.

We don't need to live a disciplined life to receive God's love, He loves us without condition. But if we want to live the good life that He desires for us, we must choose self-control and discipline. Neither of these are easy on the flesh, they prove to be great challenges. But the victory we enjoy is worth the suffering we must endure to receive it.

Discipline is a choice, not a law, it's a decision that we make knowing that it will benefit us. It is a tool that we believers use to lead ourselves into victory.

 

Be a disciplined person who operates in the fruit of self-control!

Regret

How many decisions do we make each day? Hundreds probably; food, thoughts, bed time, words, money and so on. We make small decisions each and every day. If you don't make good choices you will go on to regret them. When you are old you will look back on your life and see nothing but a series of regrets for the actions we took and the actions we didn't. We all need someone to help teach us how to make wise choices and that someone is God.

As Christians we ought to make better choices, but many make very bad decisions. We wax lyrical about freedom but that comes with a responsibility. Being free to make our own choice means that it is us that chooses the seed to be planted which will then grow into either a good or a bad harvest.

We go through periods where we have to make life changing decisions; marriage, divorce, children, employment. The worst thing that you can ever do is keep on doing the same thing over and over and expect to get a different result. If you want to see a change you need to change what you are doing. Every new, fresh and correct decision that you make helps to reverse the effects of the wrong decisions you made in the past.

Within modern society it would be impossible to make truly good decisions if we followed current society's norms. Society is fast and infiltrated by the devil. We need to think before we speak. Is what we are about to say a wise decision or is it idle gossip or similar? If we don't think before we speak and make a bad choice about what we say we end up causing upset, then regretting it, then having to repent. If we think first, none of this will happen. We spend far too much time sowing bad seeds, take a step back and think about the decisions you are making.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." Deuteronomy 30:19

When we make choices they affect not just us, but people around us too, and also generations that come after us.

Jesus died for us to have a good life, but that's not a certainty. The promises of the Bible will not fall on us just because we wish them to. They befall us because we choose them to. If you want to do well you need to do what God tells you to do. We all hear that so often, but so few people actually put it into practice and that's why they fall short in their lives.

"For just as through the disobedience of the one man they many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." Romans 5:19

If we serve God for a long time there is a good chance that someone has come to Christ because of your witness. Maybe a change they have see in you or your lifestyle has intrigued them or you have invited them to church and given them an opportunity to know Christ. If we hadn't made that good choice to know God then that person would not have had that opportunity.

God never tells you to do anything if it is not for your benefit. God may tell you to forgive someone who has wronged you. This is for your benefit, so that you feel better and stronger about yourself and if you choose to disobey God then you won't feel the presence of God in your life of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It will also be difficult to have your prayers answered, as it says in the Bible, if you won't forgive others then you will not be forgiven.

Regret is an awful feeling, we grieve over and are disappointed about something wrong that we have done. We may have said something to someone then immediately want to take it back, but we can't, the moment has passed and we have made a bad choice. Some people choose to live with regret even though they don't have to.

Make the decision to grow up, wise up and make decisions now that you will be happy with later on in your life. Don't live like there is no tomorrow, because tomorrow, along with the consequences of today, always comes!

"Seek wisdom of God above all, above all things and we will make right decisions and not live with regret." Proverbs 8:11

Time and Priorities

"Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16

 

We are the generation that God has set apart to participate in the end-time harvest that is prophesied in His Word. God is searching for people He can trust to be accountable for the anointing, power, and authority that will be evident in these last days.

Learning to walk in obedience where we are right now, prepares us for the next level into which God wants to take us. Obedience prepares us for promotion. We can't wait until the days of glory to arrive before we get prepared. We need to get prepared now!

God is busy telling His people to get their house in order. This means that we need to ensure that we are not living fragmented, useless lives that have no purpose and direction. We must be accountable and responsible for the abilities God has given each of us. We need to decide once and for all to stop wasting our time, because time is a gift from God not to be sneered at.

Time management is vital to preparation and equipping. Channel your time appropriate to purpose. Don't look at your time as your own; see it as God's, something He has entrusted you to use wisely.

The Anointing

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us," 2 Corinthians 1:21

 

The anointing is one of the most important things in our life and ministry. It gives us supernatural ability and strength. The anointing is God's power, His ability resting on us to help us do things with ease that would otherwise be hard.

Every one of us has a purpose - a gifting and a calling. We don't need to be overly concerned about what it is or compare it with anyone else's. One of the devil's biggest tricks is to get us running around trying to get something that we already have and to be something we already are.

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." 1 John 2:20

This verse tells us that we have been anointed, as in it's already happened. Once we know we are anointed, we can learn how to release the anointing in us. It's possible that we experience the anointing as we use our gifts.

God did not share His power with us so we could sit and do nothing with it. We are empowered by the anointing for service. We have a destiny! We will never be anointed to be anyone else. Be aware of comparison and competition. Just be yourself!

Obedience to Who?

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' " Mark 8:34

"and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Ephesians 5:27

 

Jesus is coming back and he hopes to find a glorious Church which is perfect in every way. One of the best ways to become glorious quickly is through prompt and extreme obedience. Obedience and selfishness are polar opposites, opposing forces. If we are to be glorious, we must be obedient. In order to be obedient, we must be willing to say no to self on a daily basis. And in exchange we need to learn to say, 'Yes, Lord, yes,' quickly and sincerely.

 

We need to learn to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He lives in us and is continually attempting to lead and guide us. He subtly lets us know when we are going in the right or the wrong direction.

 

"Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

 

Obedience to the Lord requires developing sensitivity to His ways, which comes through His Word. We are not just to read the Word, but to do the Word. Make a decision today that you are going to come up into a new level of obedience. The rewards of an obedient lifestyle are well worth the price. Choose today who you will serve - flesh or the Spirit.    

Hearing from God

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come." John 16:13

 

Divine guidance is God's will for His children. We must believe that God does want to speak to us and that we can hear from Him. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to guide or lead us into God's will for each of us in every situation. We don't automatically know how to be led by the Spirit. We need to learn and it takes teaching, studying, training, exercising and making a few mistakes along the way.

Making a mistake is not the end of the world. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and don't just sweep them under the carpet and walk on as if they never happened. Adopt a pioneering spirit and be willing and open to learn. These are some pointers that will help:

1. Pray and have fellowship with God regularly

2. Create an atmosphere that is conducive to hearing God

3. Want God's will more than your own

4. Know that God will lead you step by step and will often not reveal His entire plan at the beginning

5. Be a thankful person

6. Be led by peace and wisdom

The Holy Spirit wants to lead you into God's good plan for your life. He will speak to you and you can respond.

The Price of Peace

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

 

The peace of the Lord is one of the most precious blessings in life.

From a spiritual perspective, it was Jesus' blood that bought our peace. But from a practical and natural position, the price that we must pay for a willingness to change is our approach to life. We will never enjoy peace without a willingness to adjust and adapt ourselves.

We must be willing to sacrifice worry and reasoning if we are to know peace. We can't have anxiety, frustration, or rigid, legalistic attitudes and enjoy the peace of God. Keep your mind and conversation on Jesus - not on your problem. Worry is useless, vain and prideful.

One of the ways we can start to adjust is to slow down. It is impossible to remain peaceful whilst hurrying and trying to hurry God. Be willing and obedient to make the changes the Holy Spirit is leading us to make so that we can walk in peace - the peace that Jesus provided.

Looking for Peace

"He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it." 1 Peter 3:11

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27

 

When Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you", He was talking about a special kind of peace, not a worldly kind of peace. The special peace that Jesus was talking about is the kind of peace that operates all the time in every situation. The believer who is experiencing God's peace through his relationship with Jesus can have peace even in the midst of the storms of life.

1 Peter 3:11 says that we are to search for peace, to pursue it and to seek it eagerly. This verse mentions three areas in which we are to seek peace: 1. with God 2. with our fellowmen. 3. with ourselves.

Learn to love peace and to desire it always and earnestly. Seek peace, because without it you cannot enjoy life and the blessings of God.

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

The Lord said that if you seek Him with your whole heart, you will find Him. Look for peace with your whole heart and you will find what you are looking for.

Wandering and Wondering

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:5

 

Most of us experience difficulty with a wandering mind from time to time. Trying to seize control of the human mind can be like trying to capture and domesticate a wild animal! The key to casting down thoughts and not allowing them to return is to replace wrong thinking with right thinking. Focus your mind on good things. Start to train your mind to purposely think good thoughts and this will encourage you to think God-like thoughts.

 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Philippians 4:8

 

Wondering about things by turning them over and over in our minds without coming to a solution, creates nothing but confusion within us. And when that turns to negative thinking we have trouble.

 

"for the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost, 'Eat and drink' he says to you, but his heart is not with you." Proverbs 23:7

Get yourself off your mind

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34

 

If all you ever have on your mind is yourself, you will be guaranteed nothing but a miserable existence. It can be a real challenge to keep yourself off your mind, but the more you obey the Lord's commands in this area, the happier you will become. We all develop the habit of trying to take care of ourselves. We want to make plans for ourselves and be sure that we are well provided for.

Obviously, we can't live our lives without ever giving any thought to ourselves and our lives. We need to make many decisions and plans so that we can move from day to day. But it's when we move into a selfish, self-centred mindset that we are no longer in God's will.

Christians fight a daily battle against society which has a 'me, me, me' approach to life which totally goes against the Word of God. It is crucial that we resist the pull of these worldly ways and refuse to be excessive in self-centred thinking.

Many people are depressed because they spend all their time trying to make themselves happy, usually unsuccessfully. But true joy comes only from giving life away - not from striving to keep it. Don't ruin your life by trying to keep it. If you are a blessing to others, you will in turn be blessed. Give and it shall be given unto you. The moment that you choose to die to self-centredness, you will really begin to live. Pray to God to deliver and transform you.

Normal versus Normal

"... be transformed by the renewal of your mind..." Romans 12:2

 

In order to be transformed and renew our mind we need to have a radical change of thinking. The issue with this is that we can't change our thinking unless we know what we need to change it to. So God teaches us new ways to think, because we cannot act differently if we don't think differently.

The desired normal mind for a Christian is very different to that of a non-Christian. What is normal to the world is not acceptable in most aspects for a Christian. For example, for a believer, worry is not normal behaviour, nor is confusion. These are desired normal qualities.

Negative thinking is another type of thinking which is not normal for a Christian. There are many other kinds of thinking that should be considered abnormal for a child of God. If we look at scripture there are many, many references to what the desired, normal behaviour is for us.

When we think hateful and judgemental thoughts about people, not only can we injure them but also judgemental, resentful, unforgiving thought patterns can cause us ourselves great harm.

Being a child of God we have an opportunity to think creative, loving thoughts about people and to pray positive, faith-filled prayers. This is normal to us.

We need to use our thoughts wisely. Think about other people the way that Jesus would. Approach life and others the way that Jesus would.

Private Property

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5

 

If we are going to give God all the glory, we need to manifest excellence. An excellent life begins with a mind filled with excellent thoughts and excellent attitudes. All fruit has a root from where it began to grow. The root of all our actions comes from thoughts. Each action comes from a thought. Each word we speak comes from a thought. Attitudes begin with thoughts and emotions also take root in our thoughts.

Choosing excellence in your thought life is a private matter. Only you and God know exactly what is going on in your own mind. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 the apostle Paul teaches us to cast down all wrong thoughts that go against God's Word. Paul is basically saying, "Keep your mind reserved for His Word and His Word only.

 

"Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost peace." Psalm 51:6

 

God wants to there to only be truth within our thoughts. Start paying more attention to your thought processes and your thought life. Your words, moods and attitudes are rooted in there. Live your life just for God, dedicate your whole self to Him and live as if you are reserved property, reserved only for God.

Our Inner Life

"Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in." 1 Peter 3:4 Message

 

We all have an inner life and an outer life. The outer life is the reputation that we have with other people. The inner life is our reputation that we share with God.

We need to pay attention to what is going on inside us. Thoughts, inner attitudes, motives and desires - all these things are important to God. As far as He is concerned, the inner self is the real person. A truly powerful Christian is one with a pure heart, one who wholeheartedly serves God.

Our inner life is made up of our soul and our spirit. Our human spirit is a gift from the Holy Spirit at the time of our birth. God's will and desire for us then is that we desire and allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in our soul. Our soul is our mind, our will and our emotions. Our spirit in cooperation with the Holy Spirit performs the function of conscience, intuition and communion with God.

We need to cooperate with God to allow the divine life force that came into our spirit when we were saved to dwell in and be at home in our entire being. We need to be accountable for our own inner lives.

Faith and Worry

We spend too much time worrying. Stop worrying and use that time to meditate on the Word of God and fight the good fight instead. Read the Bible out loud. The sound of your own voice will disrupt the wrong thoughts that you are having. It's a fact that you believe more of what you hear yourself say than what you hear anyone else say. Make the decision to live your life without worry. Learn what things you can do and what things you can't. Do what God tells you to do and stay away from anything He didn't tell you to do. Do what you can do and God will do the rest. Tell yourself that worry will not get you anywhere and instead of worrying, distract your mind in something joyful and meaningful.

If you worry in your mind, you will find that it comes out of your mouth too. This is what the devil hopes for as verbalising is so effective for getting us to believe and the devil wants you to believe your negative utterances so badly. We need to make a choice; we either give God permission to work in us or the devil by the words that we choose to release from our mouths.

"This is the day that the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Worry is a thief that steals your joy, your peace and your today. Don't waste a day due to worry. There is also no point in spoiling today worrying and being upset over the past or about the future that we are powerless to do anything about. Leave the past and future to God and focus on the present. The Lord is your strength and your fortress (Psalm 91:1-2). Let go of the past, have faith in the future and enjoy the moment of today.

The disciples had total faith in Jesus, He said "Follow me" and they did, no questions asked and no worries or qualms about where they were heading, which was all uncertain at that point. When God sends us to do something, he provides us with all that we need so we don't have to worry Trust in God.

There are two things you need to realise in order to stop worrying. First you need to adopt humility and realise that you are not clever enough to solve your own problems. You show humility by not worrying. Worrying passes a message to God that you think that you can take control of a problem, even suggesting to God what He ought to do! Secondly, you will never learn if you do not step out in trust in the promises of God. Put your faith totally in God and He will provide. Sometimes in the strangest of ways and circumstances but he will provide.

Why should you make yourself miserable over somebody else's bad choice which affected your life? If you are living with someone who does not want to be happy, why let them steal your joy? Don't be co-dependent on other people's messes with the stance of "if you can't be happy then I can't be happy either". Miserable people want to control other people with their misery. Being stable in your joy can help people come out of their misery. You don't have to get into their misery with them but your joy will help them see that their circumstances don't have to control them. It can be a huge revelation to realise how pointless it is to torment ourselves with worry. Just let God and live!

Take your part of the responsibility, pray and have faith, then cast your care on to God. Never long for the life that someone else has. God has an individual plan for all of us and it will be nothing like anybody else's. Just because He doesn't do for you what He did for someone else does not mean that you way will be inferior, it just means that it will be different.

"Trust in the Lord and do good" (Psalm 37:3)

Peace and Worry

"Let us go over to the other side." Mark 4:35. Jesus beckoned his disciples to cross over to the other side, the side after the middle ground. We all get excited when God says something to us which appears will lead to progress for us. This is what happened with the disciples, and by Mark 5:1 they had reached the other side. The actual middle ground was not nice, it was the hard part but they had Jesus to guide them over. Many of us never react the far side, our destination because we don't know what to do in the middle ground. What we need to do is seek God and He will lead the way. Mark 4:35-41 tells of Jesus and the disciples journey over the middle ground. We learn of a "storm of wind", in other words, strife. We worry and seek advice from anyone. We ask others for help to solve our problems when most of the time they don't even know how to solve their own. The person who we should be asking for guidance is God and God alone.

In Mark 4:39-41, Jesus calms the wind. The disciples are amazed that not only people obey Him but the weather does too. Their faith in Him is questioned by Jesus. It's one thing to have faith in Jesus but another matter entirely to take it into your daily life and let it keep you calm in a storm. There will always be a storm going on in your life, we need to go out there and live it. Whatever good things you learn in church, the devil will test you on. The church will sow a seed in you and the devil will immediately come to try to steal the seed that was sown. He does this by testing you on what you just learnt or heard. Jesus asked where the faith was in the storm. We have an obligation to God to act as Jesus did as we are the modern day Jesus that people are looking at. We are His ambassadors and witnesses and He does not want a group of sour faced Christians having that huge responsibility. Jesus needs joyful peace loving people who show the true faith to represent Him.

Joy too should not be contained to within the church. It should be out in your life even when you don't particularly have anything to be seemingly joyful about. Joy is not always extreme, it can be a calm delight. Delight in finding joy in perhaps a bee on a flower. On the other hand, true, great joy would be experienced when you realise how much you love your life and that is a wonderful feeling. It's not ok to just attend church and be joyful, bold and obedient there. We need to do it out of church too. We need to live God's Word, grow it and spread it. It's so easy to keep it confined to church as it takes so little effort but we need to put the effort in and let the world see God.

Jesus left us a huge legacy which includes many awesome things, including peace. But before you get peace into your mind you need to make a decision that you will have peace and forgiveness in your life by getting rid of blame, condemnation and anger. Make this decision and do not let anyone rob you of that whether that be the person or the devil.

So, Jesus provided the peace. It is up to us to maintain it and that takes effort. Effort that far too few people are prepared to make. You need to thank Jesus for the gift of peace and ask Him what you need to do to help keep that. We ask God for a lot of things we already have but don't realise that we do and it is only by stepping out in faith that those things will be revealed to us.

If we want to keep peace in our heart, we need to stop worrying. Worrying stirs you up, robs you of your peace and you will often find that in the end you are actually worrying for no reason. Therefore worrying is a complete waste of time. It never solves your problem, all worry does is torture you and torments you. Worry has no link to faith other than that it shows a distinct lack of faith.

One of the reasons why we worry is that we think that we can solve our own problem and we haven't realised yet that that won't happen as God wants us to lean and rely on Him to solve it. As soon as we start to try to solve a problem you will become aggravated and tormented, and the more you try to change something, the worse the problem will get. People who you may be trying to change do not want to be put under the law, and nor should you as that brings sin into the equation and the person will just get more determined not to change or conform to your standards. They need to have their own change of heart and only God can help a person to do this. Let people do what they want, don't try to change them in order to retain your peace. Worry can make you sick in so many physical ways. Refuse to worry anymore, tell the Holy Spirit within you then prepare to battle with the devil.

Your whole life could be turned around if you changed your attitude, accept that you have a lack of knowledge and start to wholly rely on God.

Fight the good fight and speak the Word out loud regularly to combat worry. Get some humility and realise that the things that you can and can't do. Stay away from anything that God didn't tell you to do and be sure to do all things he tells you to do.

Living by Faith

Faith is a deeply creative force that goes out into the spiritual realm with you when you pray. Words of faith are powerful and create movement and action. Confessing the world of God out loud is a powerful principle. It teaches us not to talk about ourselves and our problems all the time, something which those around you would get tired of very quickly. Instead, you need to talk about a solution by faith instead.

Faith heals, but not always as you expect. You may have to make a complete leap of faith and see what God does. Sometimes we have to do what God tells us to even if we don't want to: This is faith, use it and trust in Him.

When something goes wrong, the first thing we need to do is pray to God for a solution, but sometimes we actually need to use our wisdom first, especially with regard to our health. We need to be making the right fleshly choices. Everyone goes through hard times, even pastors. We just need to keep 'praying, saying and doing' and we will have a breakthrough. Hold on to your faith and trust in Him. Grumbling and moaning does not impress God, but asking Him for help does.

The Bible is full of people who did things by faith. Abel brought his best offering. Noah built an ark even though he had never seen rain in his life. Abraham left home and followed God even though God wouldn't tell him where he was heading. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea by faith. Moses left home by faith ahs he wanted to help bring deliverance to the people. He chose a life whereby he had far less in the natural but so much more in the supernatural. Modern day missionaries are similar. They step out in faith, leaving behind worldly goods. They get very little recognition from the world but God sees them, He knows that they are there and they will be rewarded.

It is far better to live life believing God for something, even if you don't get it than living with a bitter, negative and hopeless attitude. Faith makes you happy in a difficult world. Many of us have hope and vision inside of us but it seems at times as if the whole world is conspiring against you - God isn't. God is for you! He is searching for those who won't give up and who dare to believe in Him. Do you dare?

In Galatians 3:1-3, Paul, having received the Holy Spirit by faith asked people if they truly thought that they could achieve perfection through the work of the flesh after being saved in the spirit. Paul was trying to tell the crowd that the same way in which you are saved is the same way in which you need to live. Once we believe, we get another set of eyes - our heart. We can then understand things in our heart that we cannot understand in any other way.

"By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:3. By faith we can understand so many things that our head cannot fathom and this decreases our anxiety and worry. Being faithful to God is an awesome lifelong commitment. Faith is truly amazing once we fully give ourselves.

Romans speaks a lot about faith. We learn that "we live by faith" and that we are justified by faith (justified meaning that being made as if you have never sinned). We are justified in Christ, all debts are paid, we are made right with God.

Through the Holy Spirit we can look forward to many things in abundance. When we are sick we can look forward to health. When we are lonely we can look forward to new, good friendships by faith. The seemingly impossible happens through faith. Expect something good to happen to you today by faith and it probably will.

God does not want us to feel upset, undeserved and guilty. There is something very wrong with us spiritually if we feel that more than we feel faith. We need to use our faith to enable us to live guilt free. It takes a lot to smile when you feel glum, be enthusiastic when things are not going well, but tap into your faith and use it. Your struggles will never end until you decided to give it all up to God. Faith is the leaning of all aspects of you on God for everything.

Take Christ at His word, stop reading the Bible then acting like it is not true. Live by the Word, for as long as you trust God, He will keep you for He is faithful.

Release your Faith

God gives us the measure of His faith so that we can do what he has asked us to do in life. Jesus did not die so we can struggle. He died so that we might live a happy life and God gives us the faith to be able to do that.

The moment you decide to fully trust in God, so many issues and events can be healed and resolved. We need to learn and understand how important the childlike faith is in life so that we can experience pure peace and joy. Examples of faith on the simplest level would be things like parking your car somewhere fully expecting it to still be there upon your return. We operate in faith constantly. We use it so much each day but when it comes to putting our faith in God we find it so hard. In order to achieve and maintain faith in God we need to keep going over Scripture. Paul said that he never got tired of telling people the same message over and over because it rekindled his listeners faith and stirred them up.

If you are confused or worried then you are not operating by faith, especially about the thing that is making you confused or worried in the first place. But the moment that you put your trust in God the confusion will go and you will no longer have to deliberate about sorting the issue out. God will see to it.

Everyone has faith, but not everyone releases it. Faith is a powerful force, it is the only thing that allows you to enter the rest of God. Place total trust in God and you will never have to worry again. There are many changes in life that only God can do. Hand the reins over to Him. The best way to stop worrying, being jealous, upset and so on is to work things out by studying the Word. But few of us do this. Instead, we try to work things out our own way, usually getting it wrong and at the point that we give in we need to surrender to God. Let Him do any work in you that he wants to or needs to. Trust God to do what He says He will, things that only He can do and in His own way. Learn to learn to lean and rely on Him through your faith. The ability to be able to lean on someone so great is amazing. It takes the pressure off you and allows you to start enjoying your life.

"I live by faith in the Son of God" (Galatians 2:20). We come into the Kingdom by faith and we trust by faith but we still live in misery, thinking that we are constantly under attack. There is no need for your life to be controlled by your issues. We have the strength to get through them by Christ Jesus so use it.

Releasing your faith is not a one off action, it is a continual process. God will bring us what we need but in His own time. If He chooses not to deliver us from something, He will instead give us the strength to get through it with a smile on our face. Faith in God needs to be constant, not just when we are faced with a sudden crisis. This is not true faith.

"The righteous will live by faith" (Romans 1:17). Faith grows by using what you have. Sometimes there are issues that need to be worked through before you can see how great God is. Without humility, you will not be victorious in faith as you still have the mindset of that you can do it yourself and do not need to lean and rely on God.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:23-24). In God's economy you have to believe before you receive. You don't get it first then believe that you have got it, as that takes no faith. Pray and put faith in God to ensure that things go right for you.

In order to release faith you first need to pray for what you want, tell God what you need. Next you need to keep saying to yourself that you know that what you want is on its way. Finally, you need to forgive others. If you don't then God cannot forgive you and give you what you want. (Praying, saying, doing).

One of God's great passions is peace, and he expects us to share that passion and do whatever we can to spread the peace. Where there is peace there is blessing. Where there is peace and unity there is anointing. The power of God is clearly there at work. We need to do what we can to be peacemakers. This makes us true Sons of God.

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). We can get something in the spiritual realm before we get it in the physical. But people always, always want physical proof, deeds, paperwork and so on. There is no faith. But faith is the spiritual deed that we have of the proof of what God has given us.

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6). We need to have faith in God in order to succeed in this life.

Believe to be Simple

Start each day with the right attitude, say out loud, "Something good is going to happen for me today." God is good and faithful and will help us transform our lives if we let Him. He will help keep you with a hopeful and positive attitude if you put your faith in Him.

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24

In God's economy, you always have to believe first, then see later. So while you are still hurting, pray for healing, then believe that you have been healed. Realise that you are already blessed just by being alive and having the awesome opportunity to have a relationship with God.

An important aspect of leading a simple life is to keep it decluttered. In your home, only keep what you need, love and enjoy. Throw out the 'it might come in useful one day' items as 'one day' will probably never come. Keep your diary streamlined and simple. Plan events and engagements well paying attention to times and locations. Avoid complicated friendships and relationships. Don't take on a friendship with someone who is complex and likely to compromise you and your belief system. Mary and Martha led pretty much identical lives. Mary kept it simple, smiled and sent her worries up in prayer to God. Martha on the other hand had a very complicated and chaotic life. They had very similar lives, the difference was that Martha was a great worrier, she worried over anything and everything and this caused her much stress and complexity whilst Mary was sat beside her leading a simple life. Don't be a worrier, give it all up to God!

We are all guilty of multi-tasking, especially women. Whilst this has practical benefits, it does nothing for our mind but cause chaos. When approaching a list of tasks, adopt a mindfulness stance and focus on one task at a time, one minute at a time. Be in the moment enjoying each small detail. Don't miss a moment in the present due to focusing too much on what lies ahead.

Enjoy where you are on the way to where you are going!

Simple and Forgiving

Life can get complicated at times. What we perhaps don't realise is that it is us who are making it so. We tie ourselves in knots totally unnecessarily.

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17

We need to learn to be more childlike, revert to our childhood ways. Children are so simple, forgiving, loving, believing and trusting. They keep their lives simple. Many people are living in the Kingdom of God but are not enjoying living there as they have the wrong approach, as in, they persist in making everything complicated when what they need to do is accept simplicity for what it is.

One of the biggest problems of complexity is a lack of forgiveness among us. There are too many angry people out there who are bitter from holding grudges which achieves nothing but steal peace and joy. This is not pleasing to God. When we get hurt by someone, we need to make the right choice for us; choose to let it go, just as David did with Iliad. Turn away from the things that wound you. Most people or issues that have hurt you have done so unintentionally, ergo the perpetrator has no idea that they have hurt you, so it is the wounded person that is hurting the most.

The power of forgiveness should not be underestimated. When you forgive you are not doing God or your enemies a favour, you are actually releasing yourself from the hurt, giving yourself much needed freedom. But yet again, we complicate this by giving reasons in our mind not to forgive. This is a total waste of time. It will get us nowhere except a more painful place. God will be our vindicator if we are obedient and open the door for Him.

The highest form of spiritual warfare you can ever enter into is being sincerely nice and kind to someone who has badly hurt you. The Bible says, "Love your enemy". Do yourself a favour - forgive and let go!

Job had a tragic life full of hurts and wounds. His friends abandoned him in his time of need. They turned up one day when Job was in a real mess, Job prayed for these friends who had done him so much wrong and forgave them. As a result, Job's life was transformed. He came into great wealth, lived to be over 250 and experienced great joy. Job 42:10-16 This proves to us that there is life after hurt.

Joseph's brothers hated him. They disowned him and sold him into slavery as a young boy. There came a great famine in Egypt many years later. By this point Joseph was no longer a slave but was in fact in charge of food for the entire country. Joseph was totally forgiving, provided his brothers who had been so mean to him with all the food that they needed. Consequently Joseph lived to be at least 120, had wealth and a heart full of joy.

We need to follow these scriptural examples, forgive and love others as God would. Make the right decision to release our hurts to God and trust in Him to make it right. We can then go on and enjoy the life that we still have left. The life that Jesus died for us to have!

Obedient Lifestyle

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you, life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." Deuteronomy 30:19

 

God created us with free will. This means that throughout our life we can pretty much do whatever we want. We also have the awesome responsibility of choosing His way or rejecting it. God loves us so much more than we can ever imagine or understand. Consequently, He wants the very best for us, but His Word says that He gives us a choice. He respects our right to choose and will never manipulate or control us.

The Holy Spirit seeks to work in our lives to lead us down the good path God has planned, but if we are rebellious, disobedient and persist in walking our own way, we will be allowed to do so, even though it saddens the heart and Spirit of God.

There are untold amounts of believers who have never enjoyed the good life that God has prearranged for them because they have refused to be obedient to Him. Far too many of us are not living the abundant life that God wills because they choose to walk their own way.

Throughout your life, you will be faced with many opportunities to obey or disobey. God has promised that if you choose to walk in His will, you will walk in the good life. The choice is down to you and you alone.

Managing your Emotions

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." 1 Peter 5:8-9

 

An emotional person in someone who is easily affected or stirred by emotions. Their way of being and their behaviour is ruled by emotions rather than reason. A person who lives by emotion will generally live without principle.

We all have emotions, we need them and they will never go away. But, we cannot trust them. We need to seek God to learn how to manage our emotions and stop them from ruling our lives.

We were created to function in the fruit of self-control. Self-control is freedom, not bondage. We are free to use wisdom, obey God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We are liberated from being pushed around by our feelings. We don't have to do what we feel like doing; we are free to do what we know is wise.

Be honest with yourself. If you believe that you are not managing your emotions, pray and seek God about emotional security. Bear in mind;

-If you live by your emotions, you live without principle

-Emotions cannot be trusted

-You cannot walk in the Spirit and be led by emotions

-Emotions will never disappear, but you can learn to manage them.

Make emotional maturity a main goal in your life and you will reap the benefits in many areas of your life.

When you are hurting

"If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgotten, if there was anything to forgive, I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." 2 Corinthians 2:10-11

 

Most people know what it is like to be emotionally hurt. Emotional wounding comes through various sources. The devil is the originator of our wounds, and he works through situations and people to hurt us for two main reasons.

Firstly, the devil enjoys destruction and he wants to build a dam in our lives that consists of emotional wounds. Secondly, he wants to have total control over our feelings. The devil knows that when we have been hurt emotionally, we usually act emotionally. If he can hurt our feelings and get us to react accordingly, he will be able to keep us separated from many of God's messages.

It is pretty impossible to go through life and not get hurt at some point. The reality is that we can expect to get hurt many times. But we can expect to learn how to stay in control of our reactions when we get hurt. We need to aim and expect to be the victor, not the victim.

In those hard times you need to turn to the Holy Spirit and not to people. Keep yourself stable and remember that God is your vindicator. He will ensure that you are repaid for your pain and loss.

 

Don't fall into the devil's trap: Be the victor, not the victim!

Help for the Lonely

"...God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you..." Hebrews 13:5 Message

 

There are so many lonely people in this world. Loneliness doesn't necessarily mean that you have no friends or family around you. We all know the phrase 'alone in a crowd'. Loneliness is felt in your mind and in your heart and the feeling does not necessarily fit in with the perception that people have of you. You may be the life and soul of a social gathering but feel like you are dying of loneliness on the inside.

There are many factors that can leave a person feeling lonely, confused and abandoned, the death of a loved one for example. Your circumstances do not have to be severe for you to be lonely. You may have moved to a new town, started a new school or begun a new job and you don't seem to fit in just yet.

'Social poverty' (political term), is becoming much more widespread due to modern living; working from home on a computer, commuting alone in the car, fast food, iPods, internet to name but a few factors.

This is not how God wanted us to be. Pray for favour. Step out and be friendly, don't wait for someone else to make the first move before you are willing to enter into fellowship. Don't be passive, get involved and you will receive companionship, joy and love. Touch someone else's life today as well as your own.

 

And remember God's words: "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Attaining Peace

The devil has a clear plan, He wants us to be upset, worried, poorly behaved and in turmoil. But one of the best inheritances that we have from Christ is peace. Though at times it can be hard to know how to access that peace, but remember that God is in you, and therefore everything that is in Him is also in you.

However, you can't have peace until you know who you are in Christ, and you can't have joy until you find peace. Our inheritance gives us everything that we need for peace; security, righteousness and triumph over all opposition (Isaiah 54:17). Stop battling in the war within your head and focus on seeking peace. The more of your life that you give to God, the more peace you will experience.

The devil is a peace stealer and he knows exactly how to upset us and push our buttons. It's possible that he knows us better than we do. You need to learn what things steal your peace and then adjust your life so that you can no longer be robbed. Do this and you will see amazing changes in your life.

Contrary to what many believe, all our worth and value is based on who we are in Christ; not our race, job, bank balance, political stance and so on. If we took all these things out of the equation then there would surely be world peace (Ephesians 2:14).

Jealousy is an awful emotion. It comes from the devil and it causes great catastrophes. Wars have been fought on the basis of jealousy. It can be so easy to allow the devil to stir up jealousy within us, but there is no need to be jealous and resentful of others for God will give us all what we need.

God has a plan for each and every one of us. Trust in Him to do things His way in His own time and you will see nothing but good things. Whilst you are being greedy and jealous you will not get anything from God that you are hoping for. In the meanwhile, learn to be happy for those who have been blessed, even if to you they seem undeserving, whilst you pray for the things that you need in your own life (Philippians 4:4-7).

Stop meditating on all the wrong and negative things in your life and count your blessings frequently for all the good things you have. Learn to have a thankful nature. Refuse to be a complainer. God's will for us is peace (Colossians 3:15). Let peace rule in your life. One of the reasons that God gave us peace was so that we would be able to see right from wrong in our lives, so let peace be the umpire in your life.

Just before the Ascension, Jesus said that we have all the peace we will ever need right there in our spirits. But when we are not living in the spirit, we allow irritation in and peace cannot reign. We need to die to self and our lives will be changed forever in untold ways as you walk in the spirit.

Refusing to give in to the devil and being rules by your emotions allows your spirit to gain power and to continue doing what is right which helps allow peace to reign.

 

If you are not currently a peaceful person, the good news is that you can learn how to have peace.

Wait on God

If you are negative, grouchy, critical or jealous, you will also probably be prone to sickness and disease. Whereas if you have a happy and cheerful nature you are more likely to be in good health and be easier to heal. Laughter really is a healing medicine!

Sickness is a result of sin, Man's sin. God's initial aim for Man was that we were all to be joyful and full of peace. But Eve ate the apple, sin entered and we died spiritually. God then had to plan on how to redeem us.

Where there is sin, there are germs, disease and sickness. There is no way that we can avoid sickness, but we can wait on God for healing so that we no longer are an open door for disease. You then need to get in the right mindset; think young, think strong, think happy. Joy is connected to good health. The more good things you do and experience, the better you will feel. Medicinal cures have their important place but we also need to trust in God as our healer. Wait on God to give you the strength to live your life to the full.

If you suffer with an illness, never, ever take ownership of it. Don't refer to it as "my illness". God cares about every part of you, not just your spiritual side. Put your trust in God to heal you of the illness.

Accept that the Lord your God is a healer. Stop trying to figure out the hows and whys and just proclaim, "I believe in God". But we also need to play our part in our wellbeing. If we totter around in stiletto heels day in day out, there is no doubt that at some point we will experience problems with our feet. If we always lift heavy weights from our lower back and not our knees then we are asking for problems. Use your common sense. Don't ignore good health advice for the sake of fashion or laziness. Make a point of changing your bad health habits.

So, repent for making unwise health choices, then wait on God. Tell Him what you need and expect whilst meditating on His Word. Then start to take more care of yourself. Take things out of your life that bear no fruit and learn to say no. This will reduce the stress in your life. Eat well, get enough sleep and most importantly do not do or take part in anything that God would not approve of.

Knowing God

We all need a certain revelation in our life: That is to know that no matter what happens in your life, God will still love you.

 

Some people get so excited about meeting a famous person in the flesh. They want to touch that person, get their autograph and so on. But how many of those would be so excited about an encounter with God?! Any saved Christian could truly say that that they know God, and that He knows them intimately. How awesome is that! Celebrity figures just pale into insignificance at the very thought.

 

How do we get to know God? We do this through reading and meditating on His Word. We cannot get to know Him through association. But we can know His promises and what He expects of us. He expects us to believe, "Only believe and you will see the glory of God". The more we get to know God's character, the greater we will know what to expect of Him.

 

We expect God to forgive our sins, but what else do we expect of Him on a daily basis? We should all have daily expectations and we need to tell them to Him. By getting into agreement with God and our of agreement with the devil you can turn yourself and your life around. You can have peace, joy, happiness and fulfilment in abundance.

 

To 'wait on God' does not mean to wait as in wait for a bus. 'Wait' in this sense, the Hebrew meaning, means to expect or long for. We need to wait on God for physical healing, a job, a revelation and many other things. God said that if we wait on Him we will never be put to shame.

 

God is omnipresent - how awesome! He is never surprised by anything about us or anything that happens in our lives. Why? Because He knows everything about us from the very beginning to the very end. If we put our trust in God, we can be at peace knowing that He will see us right.

 

God is so huge and amazing and He wants to come live in us. It does not matter what sort of a state you are in, He still wants to be within you. But sometimes we spend too much time thinking about our problems and issues and this leaves no room to let God in. However, if we are willing to have a clear out in order to let Him in, we will prosper, have our needs met and be in good health. In order to aid this process we need to get accustomed to the fact that our spirit is more important than our physical self. The greater we mature in our spirit, the better we will feel.

 

God's Word is our life medicine and we need to take it every day. We also need to be on the offensive, seeking medicine ahead of time in a prepared way. God's medicine heals not just ill health, but also lives, careers, families and many other things. God said, "I am the Lord your healer". Trust God and let Him heal you.

What does guilt accomplish?

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1-2

 

Guilt and condemnation are huge problems for so many believers. The devil loves to make us feel bad about ourselves. He never, ever tells us how much progress we are making. Instead, he takes great pleasure in constantly reminding us of how far we still have to go.

When the enemy attacks we need to say to ourselves, "I'm not where I need to be, but thank God I'm not where I used to be. I'm okay, and I'm on my way." We must keep ourselves encouraged in the Lord, like David (1 Samuel 30:6). None of us are perfect and we cannot perfect ourselves: sanctification comes from the Holy Spirit alone, and it is a process in our lives, not a one off action.

The Bible teaches us that we can have complete forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. Let Jesus do his job. He wants to forgive you. He does not want you to feel guilt. All you have to do is receive His forgiveness, complete forgiveness.

Fellowship with your problem or with God?

"Looking away to Jesus, who is the Leader and the Source of our faith" Hebrews 12:2

 

Do you find yourself fellowshipping with a problem you are experiencing or fellowshipping with God? The devil desperately wants us to think about our problem, worry about our problem, talk about and try to reason out our problem. However, God wants us to spend time with Him, talk to Him, and think about Him and His Word.

It is Jesus who we need to look to in order to have our needs met. If we dwell in Him, our problem will have no power over us, but if we dwell on the problem, not only does it become magnified, but we magnify it above Him. The more attention we give our problem, the more we feed it, the more power it has over us. When a problem arises you need to focus on the Word and cast your care on the Lord.

The devil starts the problem rolling. The more you think, worry, reason, talk, plan and scheme about it, the bigger the problem gets. If you look to Jesus, you will experience the miracle power of God as you trust in Him.

Fellowship with God, not your problem and you will enjoy your life tremendously.

Lack of Wisdom

One of the main problems that we followers of Christ have is that we possess so much knowledge but so very little wisdom to go with it. This is one of the reasons that there is so much absurdity in the world. Knowledge doesn't work without wisdom, and it is this wisdomless knowledge that is destroying the world. It is obvious to see that some people of power are trying hard to get us to ignore the presence of God. We need to pray for these people to have a revelation.

Being able to say "I know God" is so awesome. You know that God is there for your every need, to guide and lead you, and to love you. Everyone needs to know that Jesus died for all of us, not just those who have been saved. Once you know God, you will never again feel the need to compare yourself or conform to others. To know God means that you know His Word and that He is faithful. If you do what you can do, God will always do the parts you cannot do.

It would not be right to say, "I am going to be blessed one day." Instead, speak the accurate truth that you are blessed (Ephesians 1:3). In Philemon, Paul speaks to us. He urges us to acknowledge our blessings and all the good things that are happening for us. We are taught from the very beginning of our Christian life to acknowledge sin, so why should we not also acknowledge our right standing with God?

Acknowledging the power you have in Christ can be extremely life changing. It has been scientifically proven that you believe more of what you hear yourself say than what you hear others say. So you need to be conscious and careful of what you utter. If you speak negative, you will think negative and that will not only affect your mental wellbeing but also your relationship with God. Instead, make a choice to only express the great joy and peace that you have within you.

Knowledge to Revelation

The Apostle Paul prayed frequently for the Church, something we seldom do ourselves. He prayed, as we should, regularly, for revelation of God's love. In Ephesians 1:17 Paul prays that people will have wisdom and a revelation. We also need to pray and seek revelations for others, so that they can see the prospects and potential change that you can see in them. Sometimes though, people just aren't ready to see the change or to even change, so we just have to be patient.

These days we are so educated that it has got to the point of being far beyond our level of obedience. Some people do so much Bible study that it gets to the point where they forgive people before the act needing forgiveness has even been committed!

Information from study is pretty much useless unless it is turned into revelation. Knowledge can be pretty deceiving. We think that because we've heard new knowledge that we know it, but this is not the case. If we are not turning knowledge into revelation on a regular basis then learning is of no use. Sitting in a church each Sunday being spoon fed means nothing if you don't go away and meditate on it, speak it out loud and go live it. If you don't do so immediately, the pastor's Word will disappear into the ether. There is absolutely no point in listening, reading and watching if we are not prepared to move further with it (Mark 4:24).

There is a victorious life to be had for all of us - Go for it! Don't expect someone else to get you there. Meditate on it and make it real. We are meant to know God, not know of God. Hope should also be an integral part of our lives. It should be a habit, an addiction and should ensure that there is no room for negativity (Ephesians 1:18).

We are a co-inheritor of Christ. Everything that He earned, we get shares in. Jesus paid the price and we were set free from the power of sin.

God's power is in us. It is immeasurable and unlimited, so why are so many of us living such a weak and miserable life? Lack of revelation. We let our life circumstances take the Word of God away from us, take our knowledge away. Job went through so much but was victorious as he knew God and trusted in Him by revelation. Revelation is something that cannot be taken away from you no matter what. God has given us all a measure of revelation but non-believers are unable to acknowledge that.

 

The greater our revelation becomes, the more we see that the realm of God is all that we need.

Giving and Tithing

Giving is a selfless act; unfortunately, humans are inherently selfish. But if more people chose to give, the world would be a much better place. And when you give, God blesses you. He rewards faithful givers. Quite simply, giving is love in action!

Once you learn to be a faithful giver, you will find that it will become a life changing experience. It shows a whole new obedience to God, it's basically a whole new lifestyle that will develop and that is awesome! The ability to love unconditionally, giving with absolutely no expectation to receive is amazing and very pleasing to God.

Romans 21 tells us, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good". Giving is doing good. It forms part of this spiritual warfare. God loves us to give to others in order to help and gift them. Giving to others also helps us and our hearts. The devil hates this. He doesn't want us to give and spread joy this way, or in any other way. The devil will tap, tap, tap you to try to stop you from giving. But you need to be strong and not give in.

Getting into the spirit of giving totally transforms us: we have more joy and happiness in our lives, and when we give it takes us to a place where we are so much more like God's character. God, the awesome One who gave His one and only Son for us.

Tithing is an Old Testament (Malachi) principle. This does not however mean that the concept is outdated, far from it. But sadly many people use this fact as a reason not to tithe. This is sad as it means that they do not benefit emotionally from being a happy giver.

In the Old Testament tithing meant to give, by law, ten per cent of your income each week. This primarily meant money but could at times include things such as crop and cattle. The tithing law has never been abolished therefore it still stands. The question begs though that if we are to give 10% by law, what should we now be giving under grace?

As well as tithing our money, there are other things that we can tithe too, for example our love and our time. This will have untold changes for both yourself and others.

Even in times of hardship, we should still strive to tithe. Your heart needs to have a giving spirit in order for us to receive God's blessing. He wants giving to become an integral part of our nature.

Many people are bound up in bondage in the area of giving. Learning to give us life changing. If you pray to God to help you break free from this bondage, you will see very positive results.

Being a willing financial giver greatly shows where your priorities are. Time, talent or a listening ear can replace if necessary or preferably add on to our financial giving. In return, our sense of purpose increases, we get a feeling of satisfaction and of a new destiny.

It's great when people tithe and also give other things, but these things need to be given with the right motives. The correct motive is that we give to give, to help others with absolutely no expectation of receiving anything in return. This is the pure spirit of a giver, not just someone who gives.

Worrying over Nothing

"Casting the whole of your care on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully." 1 Peter 5:7

Worry does nothing but torment us. It is totally useless. In the natural realm there is always plenty that we could worry about. But as believers we do not have to live in the natural realm. We have the privilege of casting all our cares on God. God takes care of us. The seed we sow is our care of ourselves, and the harvest we reap is His care of us.

Our refusal to worry shows that we are trusting God. We may speak words that say we are trusting, but actions speak louder than words time and time over.

God has promised to take care of us. God is for us, upholding us, watching over us. He has us covered! He is our shield, our high tower, our fortress, our place of refuge and our foundation.

 

If God is for us, who can be against us?!?

Stop worrying!!!

Strife

"And the Lord's servant must not quarrel, instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful." 2 Timothy 2:24

We need to learn to control strife. If we don't, it will take control of us. Strife is a thief and we need to recognise and deal with it quickly.

In the dictionary, strife is defined as "the act or state of fighting or quarrelling, especially bitterly." It is being involved in a heated disagreement or in a conversation with an angry undercurrent. Strife is dangerous, it is a demonic force sent by the devil to destroy.

"Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers through the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." 1 Peter 5:8-9

The Bible says to resist the devil right from the beginning so that it becomes our nature to do so. Pretty much anytime someone hurts us, or offends us, angers rises up within us. It is not sinful to feel anger, but we must not act out the angry feelings in an ungodly way. Nor must we hold a grudge or enter into bitterness, resentment or unforgiveness.

"In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry." Ephesians 4:26

"because judgement without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgement!" James 2:13

If you have a judgemental attitude, you are leaving the door wide open for strife. We must remember that mercy triumphs over judgement. Judgement usually leads to gossip. Gossip spreads strife from person to person. It breaks down unity and harmony and takes us out of the realm of God's blessings.

When we are tempted to judge others, spreading our opinion through gossip and back-biting, we would do well to remember John 8:7 "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

 

God changes things through prayer and faith, not through judgement and gossip.

The Spirit of Offence

"Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flows the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23

 

The spirit of offence poisons lives and attitudes every single minute of every single day. The word 'offence' has Greek roots and historically means the part of a trap that holds bait to catch an animal; the part which lured and snared the animal.

The devil uses offence to lure people into full blown cases of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness. The devil uses offence to make us stumble and fail to move forward with God.

The temptation to get offended is a trap that should be totally avoided. If we would not take poison, we should not take offence. If we would be champions for God we must not be easily offended.

Many people never become what God wants them to be because they get offended. They get bitter. Offence becomes a huge stumbling block to them, and they never progress beyond that point. They lose. The devil wins.

No person can do permanent damage to you if you are willing to be mature enough to refuse offence, and instead trust God. This is a winning attitude and will stand you in good step in your walk of faith.

Dread

"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6

 

Dread is very closely related to fear. Both dread and fear scream out loud that we are not working and living in faith, which is the only way to please God.

Fear often prevents us from going forward and doing what we want to do. Dread robs us of the peace and joy of 'now' because we have a negative attitude toward what we are going to do even though we don't want to feel that way about it.

Understanding that God always equips us for whatever we need to do will bring deliverance from the spirit of dread. With our faith firmly in God there is no need to dread anything at all.

We can face life with a confident attitude, knowing that wherever God guides us, He will provide. God gives us grace one day at a time. Every time you realise you are dreading something, make the choice to stop dreading and just believe that you can do whatever you need to do, with joy, because God is with you.

I will not fear

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

 

Fear robs many people of their faith. Fear of failure, fear of man and fear of rejection are some of the strongest fears employed by the devil to hinder us fro, making progress. But no matter what kind of fear the enemy sends against us, the important things is to overcome it. When we are faced with fear, we absolutely must not give in to it. It is so important to our victory that we do not fear.

There are two standard reactions to fear; flight and fight. The devil wants us to run (flight). God wants us to stand still and see his deliverance (fight).

Because of fear, many people do not confront their issues; they spend their lives running and running. We need to learn to stand our ground and face our fears knowing that we have the power of God behind us.

Fear of failure is something that torments so many people. We perhaps fear most what others will think of us if we do fail. But it is far better to try something and fail than to have never tried at all.

 

Show no fear - the Spirit of the Lord is in you!

Fighting Fear with Prayer

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16

 

Fear attacks all of us. It is the devil's way of tormenting us and preventing us from moving forward so that we cannot enjoy the life Jesus died to give us. Fears are not realities, they are false evidence having the illusion of being real, planted by the devil. If we accept the fears that the devil offers and give voice to them, we open the door for the enemy and close the door on God.

Faith is released through prayer, which takes tremendous power available to us if we choose to tap into it. The devil endeavours to weaken us through fear, but God strengthens us as we fellowship with Him in prayer.

 

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Matthew 26:41

 

We need to watch ourselves and guard against the attacks that the devil launches against our minds and emotions. When these attacks are detected, we need to immediately pray. It would be foolish to think that the attack will go away on its own - it won't. It is praying that releases the power against the enemy.

 

Pray about everything and fear nothing.

When fear knocks at the door, let faith answer.

Dying to Live

"Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless." Mark 4:19

 

If we want to live the 'higher life', we need to be willing to die to the 'lower life'.

One of the main reasons that people are not rooted in God's Word is that they have too strong an attachment to the world. They want the higher life, but they are just not willing to give up the lower life.

There is a life to be lived that is so superior to anything that this world has to offer. No comparison can be made, but we must die to self and all its ways and demands in order to attain it. We must die to our own ways of being and doing - the fleshly ways of handling situations. We must also die to our own thoughts and our own idle and contrary talk. We need to learn to live beyond our feelings.

The bottom line is that God relentlessly pursues the flesh and is intent on setting us free from its control. Choose to die to self and all things of the flesh so that you can live the higher life that God has prepared for you.

Understanding your Emotions

"Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise," Ephesians 5:15

 

Our emotions and feelings are part of the soul, given to us by God. A life without feelings would be extremely dull and boring. But, on the flipside, if we allow feelings to control us, they can become dangerous and actually make us quite miserable.

Whatever God gives us for our enjoyment, the devil will try to use it against us. God gave us feelings so that we can be a blessing to others and to the Kingdom, but the devil tries to use them to cause upset and angst. The devil wants us to make all our decisions based on our emotions so that they rule us.

Feelings become dangerous and tormenting when we do not understand that we have a choice whether or not to allow them to hurt us. When someone hurts our feelings, it is actually our choice whether to feel hurt or not.

To walk according to our emotions is to do whatever we want now, whatever feels good to us at the moment. Our future is being affected by the choices we make today.

 

Make your emotions serve you, don't spend your life serving them!

Let God be God

"For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome." Jeremiah 29:11

 

God has a plan and a purpose for each of us and a specific way and perfect time to bring it to fruition. Many of our frustrations and much of our misery comes from either not believing that fact, or believing it but being determined to do things our way and in our own time, determined to exalt our own will and timing above God's.

 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord" Isaiah 55:8

 

According to Isaiah, God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. We want what feels good right now, but God has something far greater for us.

We are constantly trying to figure out something we do not understand or trying to make something happen now that is not happening yet. It seems as if we are always trying, but as believers, all we actually need to do is ... believe!

Frequently asking God 'Why?' and 'When?' will do nothing but keep us frustrated and stop us enjoying peace. Many times we just don't understand what God is doing, but that is what trust is all about.

 

Let God be God in your life!

How to be Content

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11

 

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

 

The Bible, in Hebrews, teaches us to be content no matter what our circumstances may be. We are not to be upset about anything, no matter what is happening in our lives. Instead, we are to pray about it, and tell God what our needs are. Whilst we are waiting for Him to act, we ought to take stock and be thankful for all that He has done for us already.

 

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6

 

The secret to being content is to ask God for what you want, and know that if it is right then He will bring it to pass at the right time. And if it is not right, He will do something much better than what you asked for.

We simply must learn to trust God completely if we ultimately want to enjoy a peaceful living. We need to meditate on what God has done in our life instead of what we are still waiting on Him to do.

 

God loves you. He is a good God who only does good things. Be content in the knowledge that God's way is perfect and He brings with Him a great reward for those who trust in Him: "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." Hebrews 10:35

 

Trust in the Lord completely and live a peaceful and contented life.

Casting all your Cares

"Therefore humble yourselves...casting the whole of your care on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully." 1 Peter 5:6-7

 

Worry, anxiety and care have no positive benefit on our lives. They certainly never bring a solution to our problems. They do not help us achieve good health, in fact they have the opposite effect and make us ill. Most worryingly, they prevent our growth in the Word of God.

One of the ways that the devil steals the Word of God from our heart is through cares. The Bible says that we are to cast our cares onto God, which is done by prayer. The truth is that we are unable to handle our own problems efficiently, we are simply not built to be able to do so. We are created by God to be dependent upon Him, to bring Him our cares and challenges and to allow Him to help us with them.

It is important that we do not take the care upon ourselves. Keeping our cares is a manifestation of pride. It shows that we think we can solve our own problems and that we don't need God.

We need to show humility and we do this by leaning on God. Worry, anxiety and care are not manifestations of leaning on God, but they clearly state by their very existence that we are attempting to take care of ourselves.

 

We need to learn to pray about everything and worry about nothing.

No Flesh shall Glory

"And God also selected what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, so that no mortal man should boast in the presence of God." 1 Corinthians 1:28,29

 

God often chooses unlikely people to work through. He does this because there is a better chance that He will get the glory if He uses people who are nothing and have nothing going for them in the natural. It remains yet to be seen what God can do through a man or woman who is willing to give Him all the glory.

All good comes from God. Any good that occurs through us is a manifestation of God flowing through us. This should provoke in us a thankful heart, that we are thankful to God that He has chosen to use us.

It would be wrong to look for human honour or mortal fame. Instead, we should be seeking God's approval. If we begin to live our lives glorifying God and not seeking glory for ourselves, God promises that we will be blessed and honoured.

 

Being recognised in a positive way in the spiritual realm is the desirable goal: being known among men is not.

Grace, Grace, Grace

"But He gives us more and more grace. God sets Himself against the proud but gives grace to the lowly" James 4:6

 

All human beings have evil tendencies, but James teaches us that God will continually give us more and more and more grace to meet these tendencies.

Seeking grace can be a trying time as we have to stop being proud. We need to reach a place of humility and learn that God gives grace to the humble and not the proud.

We all have our ideas about what we think we can accomplish, but often we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We need to have a humble attitude, knowing that if we are away from God, we can do nothing.

Some people plan to do things their own way, trying to make things happen in the strength of their own flesh. This is where they stumble as things will not usually go to plan. But, trust in God's grace and things will begin to go right.

 

Just relax and let God be God

Now!

"The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance." John 10:10

 

We need to learn to be 'now' people, get to grips with the fact that life is happening now, live our life now and not put things off until the future. The vast majority of things that we put off to a later date never actually get done.

We need to make a stand and get more passionate about possessing and making the most out of what Jesus gave us - life! We can think about life, dream about it, talk about it, but now is the time to actually have and enjoy that life that Jesus made for each of us.

God's blessings don't simply fall on us. We must stand our ground and seize possession of what is rightfully ours. It would be very wrong to think and act like our time on earth is simply a time of idly waiting for the blessings of heaven later on.

Have a seeking and aggressive faith toward the covenant blessings that God has promised. Start to confess with your tongue that you are blessed and that the good things of God flow to you in abundance.

The Greater One lives in you, and you can do whatever you need to do with His power within you. Turn your mind. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today!