Category: Goodness

Why should the Lord bless you?

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Scriptural Foundation:

Isaiah 43:26 English Standard Version (ESV)

Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Psalm 37:4-6 English Standard Version (ESV)

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. 

Hebrews 11:6 English Standard Version (ESV)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Reflection:

Growing up, I remember that my father was a very busy man. In order for him to consider my request for something, I had to prepare my argument.  It annoyed me that I had to approach him like that, but at the same time it really had me think through decisions that I was considering.  Not all my request made it to my “board room” discussions with my father, but the ones that did more often than not I was granted permission.

The answer to the title is not “because I am a nice person” or that “I try my best”. Our Father God is a purposeful and succinct being. There are a lot of dependencies in the Word of God.  You have to act on the Word of God, for our Heavenly Father to respond to our request.  If it were easy then everyone would be doing it, however the walk of a Believer is very challenging.  I remember as a newly saved Christian, still looking through the lens of a Roman Catholic I learned that all good people don’t go to heaven.  There is only one way there and that is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  However that is not where our story ends, until we get to Heaven we will be bouncing back and forth between boot camp(the messages we receive at church) to combat (going back to our mission field to share the good news).

After years of being in the ministry, I have seen a lot of good people come and go. Let me rephrase that, I lot of great people come and go.  When it happens, the Holy Spirit brings to my remembrance the story of the rich young man (Matthew 19:16-22). He did everything he knew how to do since he was young…i.e great person. However when the Lord asked him to give up everything he possessed – But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions. We think by being a good person, we can keep all our negative thought processes and retaliatory actions separate and the Lord will bless our hearts desire.  The Bible says that the Lord is a jealous lover.  He wants to be a part of every area of your life. Then and only then after proving your case through scripture, will He grant your requests.  It is a high standard, but not an impossible standard with the help of the Holy Ghost.

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

  • What requests that you feel have been overlooked by the Lord?
  • Study out in the Word of God for the requirements/promises for your request.
  • Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hindrances on your end that may be causing the delay. In some cases, you mail here the dreaded four letter word…wait. Come to peace with the response and ask the Lord what you should be doing while you wait for your manifestation.

When the fire is the hottest…

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Scriptural Foundation:

Daniel 3:17-18 New Living Translation (NLT)

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

1 Peter 1:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Reflection:

In certain seasons of my life I have felt totally consumed by fire. I was constantly second guessing myself.  Did I say something or do something out of the will of God? I was doing everything to the best of my ability, asking the Holy Spirit daily what did I do to deserve this?  When the fire burns the hottest I have learned over time to hide in the secret place of the Most High.  What you need to understand is that consistently following Jesus will cause us to go through some things.  However the key word is to go through things.  Think about the process of turning clay into a beautiful teapot.  It requires that the potter mode the clay into a vessel and then place it in a kiln to keep that shape.  Then paint is applied and back goes the vessel into the kiln.  The Lord is the potter and we are the clay.  The process may not be the most ideal, but in the end, if we don’t lose heart, we become a beautiful vessel for the Kingdom of God.

I can hear some of you now….she doesn’t know what I am going through. You’re absolutely right I don’t know what you are going through, but I know who does, the Lord.  And if the Lord is for you who can be against you? So remember when you feel like you are melting under the pressure of the current moment, the Lord is using that situation for you to be strong and more radiant in His presence.  In times like those, we all need to cling to the only thing that can save us, the Word of God.

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

  • Recall all your past furnace experiences
  • Describe for each, what was the end product after that trial
  • List everything you are facing today.
  • Print out Daniel 3:17-18 and put it on your bathroom mirror, confess this scripture over yourself daily until the Lord manifests in that situation.

Keep Pushing…

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Scriptural Foundation:

Philippians 3:13-14 New Living Translation (NLT)

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. 

 1 Corinthians 10:13 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.

Reflection:

Last week we talked about holding-the-line. At some point, we have to gain our footing in the spirit and advance.  That is why we are on this journey together.  As Believers, we have to stop playing defense in our spiritual warfare and play offense.  One huge stumbling block to advancement is pride.  The world cultivates a thought process of self-sufficiency, so much so that husbands and wives sometimes think as individuals rather than as one, which is counter to the Word of God – ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. ’Since they are no longer two but one, 9 let no one split apart what God has joined together.” Mark 10:67-9 A prideful spirit says you can do all things yourself. That is not the order on which the world was formed.  God created the heavens and the earth.  He created man and women to be joined together as one.  The Lord tasked Adam and Eve with two things take dominion over the things He created and multiply the earth.  We all know how that story ended and humanity has been toiling ever since.

One of the best books I have ever read is Authority of a Believer by Kenneth E. Hagin. It is imperative as a Believer that you settle in your heart how much of a game changer accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior has done.  You went from the toil and shame to kinship and inheritance to the Maker of the universes.  Do you know how much power coming through you via the Holy Spirit?  There is no reason for living a defeated life.  God has given you all things to make you a victor in this life.  You have to keep pushing in pray, leaning in the Spirit, reaching out to touch the hem of His garment like the woman with the issue of blood.

We keep pushing forward in the Spirit not because of ourselves, but for the ones that are to come behind us on this journey of sanctification. – Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. John 6:68

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

  • List out your biggest struggles to date
  • Describe how God manifested in that situation.
  • Now look at the thing or things that are challenging you today.
  • Thank God ahead of time that through the help of the Holy Ghost finding your footing and pressing forward to your victory.

Hold-the-Line

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Scriptural Foundation:

Ephesians 6:13 New Living Translation (NLT)

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

Jude 20 New Living Translation (NLT)

But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, …

Reflection:

I looked up the Hold-the-Line phraseology at yourdictionary.com and it said the following:

Verb

  1. (idiomatic) To firmly maintain one’s viewpoint, principles, or situation; to refuse to change one’s practices or plans.

Origin

Probably an allusion to a line of soldiers remaining steadfastly in position during combat.

I found the definition describing it this way solders keeping formation, while being under fire. Can you imagine that? Staying in place despite brutal attack. I don’t know about you, but being a Believer is not a walk in the park. Choosing to swim upstream when everyone around you is riding the current is hard. However this is what the Lord has called us to do. We are in this world, but not of this world and because of that we are enemy number one when it comes to the devil. So he comes after your loved ones, your finances, your health desperately trying to shake the hold that you have on the Lord. The funny thing is that even if we let go in our weakness the Lord still holds on – If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is. 2 Timothy 2:13.

So if you feel like life is beating the snout out of you and you are certain that you are in the perfect will of God…hold-the-line. When your spouse is being disrespectful – hold-the-line. When your child is being rebellious – hold-the-line. When the bank suggests foreclosure on your home – hold-the-line! There is nothing impossible for the Lord, after having done all stand. Stand in the gap for your marriage, stand in the gap for your children, stand in the gap for your finances having done all that you know to do. Know that God is working on your behalf and if you don’t quit you will see His glory in your situation.

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

  • List all the battles you are facing today.
  • Find a scripture, a promise in the Word of God that covers that need
  • Confess that scripture daily and expect that mountain to move.

Not by your might, nor by your power will mountains in your life become plains…..”but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts.” Without God we can do nothing, with Him landscapes (situations) are changed!

Hands up, boots down!

 

 

 

Thankful?

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Scriptural Foundation:

Luke 17:11-19 New King James Version (NKJ)

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.

So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Reflection:

My Pastor has been preaching on the apostate church.  He listed out six ways that could cause individuals to fall away. One of the items he listed was thankfulness.  Weeks after the message that word was still stuck in my spirit.  I was surprised that the Lord chose this for me to meditate on.

I thought to myself, I am a thankful person….aren’t I? It has been ingrained in me that when I receive a gift I should respond with a thank you note. Now it is a reflex, which surprises people at times because it is seen as old fashioned thing to do.  So for a person like myself, whom prides herself for thanking people (ahhhh..first discovered issue…pride).    The more I meditated on this Word, the more I began to notice that I took a lot of “little” things in my life for granted.  My health; my husband that helps me around the house; my well behaved children; getting into my car and it starting it like it suppose to…heck walking to the parking lot and seeing my car in the same spot I parked it (conversation for another time).  The list goes on and on.  Instead of focusing on the things that seem to be lacking at the moment, counter that thought with something that you are thankful for.  Just praise Him for the little things He has protected in your life and that thankfulness with give way to more blessings..

Seeking Revelation:

Grab your notebook:

  • List the things that you may take for granted
  • Ask a friend what they admire about you. Add to your list something that they may have mentioned
  • Consciously spend time thanking the Lord for your “little” things

Remember the small things that you thank the Lord for now will be the stepping stones to the larger victories in your future.

Dear Younger Me

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Scriptural Foundation:

Titus 2:1-5 New King James Version (NKJV)

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:  that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

Luke 6:42 New King James Version (NKJV)

 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

Reflection:

I am always amazed at what the Lord will use to bring home a message to my heart. Last year, I heard on the radio the song Dear Younger Me sung by the group MercyMe.  I love MercyMe!  The song is about self-reflection.  If you could go back and talk to your younger self what advice would you give that young woman? The more I listened to the song; the Lord provided a different perspective.  What would I say to my children in a heart to heart talk about where I have been in my life and what I would have changed if I had to do it all over?  The more I thought about the question, the more I realized that I would not change a thing.  Sure I made some mistakes, some bigger than others, but it brought me to this point in my life.  God has entrusted to my husband and I with three beautiful children to love on and to nurture in the spirit and in the natural to become soldiers in the army of the Lord.

In Paul’s letter to Titus (Titus 2:1-5) he encourages the fellowship between the generations -men encouraging men and women encouraging women. It is so easy to judge others for their current circumstances, but the truth be told upon self reflection, circumstances in your past and present could be judge too (Luke 6:46).  So what should we be doing as the Body of Believers?  We should draw from our life experiences and not condemn our fellow brother or sister in Christ, but to encourage them through their struggles.

Everyone has their own opinion from the outside looking into someone else’s life, but without discernment that opinion is unchecked judging on your part. 

Seeking Revelation:

  • List out what you perceive as your mistakes or regrets.
  • Pray over each item individually – God may reveal certain strongholds that can be tied back to that item.
  • Seek to forgiveness – for example, seeking the Lord for forgiveness, forgiving your self, or as the Lord leads maybe reaching out to an individual you may have affected and ask forgiveness
  • Moving forward, become more sensitive to others that may be in, going through, or just getting out of a challenging situation.