God's Promises Will Test You!

Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him (Psalm 105:19).

 

The only thing standing between you and God’s promises being fulfilled in your life is time! That’s it! Faith calls those things that be not as though they were. Faith looks not at the things seen, but at the things that are unseen. Seen things are temporary. Unseen things are eternal. Faith is the substance of what we hope for. Faith is the tangibility, the materiality of what we are believing. Faith takes hope, which is in the future, and brings it into the right now! Faith is knowing that something is real even if we do not see it (Hebrews 11:1 – New Century Version)!

 

Faith and patience inherits the promises (Hebrews 6:12). Patience gives you the ability to calmly wait in faith until the manifestation of what you believe comes. Joy is what gives patience its ability to hang in there. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. Joy comes when you believe that God has answered you, when you know that you know that you know that the promise of God is yours now.

  

What you do between the time that God promises you something and the actual manifestation of that promises has a lot to do with how long it takes for it to manifest. The best thing to do during this interim time of waiting between the promises and its performance is to praise and thank God for it! Act like it’s already manifested. Speak as though you have the answer. Think as though you have the answer. See the answer with the eye of imagination!

  

If you do these things, the manifestation will be almost anti-climatic! You’ve been so caught up with the joy of receiving until it is such an expectation that when it does come, there is no surprise. It was yours all the time!

 

Stand in faith for your healing and act like it’s yours before the symptoms disappear. Act like the financial need is met by praising, thanking, and worshipping the Father before the money is manifested. Act as though the circumstance has changed before it actually changes. See that person in the difficult relationship through the eye if faith. See the end from the beginning!

 

Faith brings the manifestation of the promise of God into your life. Add patience to your faith. Walk in joy! Act like God has heard and answered you today! Allow patience to have its perfect work in you.

  

The only thing standing between you and that need being met is time. God lives in the eternal now. Call the need met now. Believe you receive now. The answer is yours now. The Word of the Lord is testing you! Pass the test of time!

Live In The Power Of God's Amazing Kingdom!

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Hebrews 12:28).

 

In these days prior to the rapture of the church, the Father wants us to shine in the darkness that is engulfing this planet! We are not just natural people. We’re citizen of the Kingdom of God. We are ambassadors of heaven while living here! We’re a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a purchased people!

 

Ambassadors living in foreign nations have diplomatic immunity from many of the laws that govern the country they live in while operating as an ambassador.

 

Now it’s time for us as citizen of God’s kingdom to operate in Kingdom law so that God can show Himself strong in our world through us! To operate in Kingdom law, our minds must be renewed with the Word. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). The Father’s challenge in this hour is for us to live in His highest and best by operating in His law, His kingdom rule!

 

To do so we must walk in faith and love. The kingdom of God operates on the principles of faith. Faith pleases God. He maintains a relationship of faith with us as He speaks and guides daily through the Word and by His Spirit. He doesn’t show us everything at once. He doesn’t give us the whole blueprint. He usually only shows us the next step, and expects us to respond in faith and believe we receive from Him at all times. That’s kingdom law.

  

He expects us to walk in love. God is love. Love is the atmosphere of the Kingdom. Love is the motivation for attitude, thought, motive, speech, and action in the Kingdom of God! Love brings the Almighty into our relationships and tags us as Kings kids!

 

In this Kingdom Law, as leaders we become servants; to truly live we must die to self-ambition and self-interests and live for our unseen commander; to receive we must give; to increase, we must decrease. As the armies of Israel, we must allow praise to fight our battles, and look to the unseen realm for victory in conquests. Fear must give way to absolute faith in the Word of God.

  

We must not be moved or shaken by what we see or feel, we must be motivated by faith in the Word of God at all times!

 

As we live in Kingdom law, we should expect the working of miracles to become prominent as the rapture of the church draws near. The Working of Miracles is part of the rule of the Kingdom of God. The spiritual gift Working of Miracles is where God literally sets aside the natural laws of physics, and invades our world with His supernatural power. Working of Miracles is where Kingdom law supersedes natural law, with no natural explanation that can be discovered by scientific examination.

  

Jesus fed thousands with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Tax money was found in a fish’s mouth. The storm cease by a simple word of command. The dead were raised to life again. The deaf and blind began to hear and see. The crippled walked. The insane became clear minded. A widow was supplied with flour and oil that never ran out during a severe famine. Men endured flames without being burned, without even the smell of smoke on their clothing. Wild animals became tame, not harming their potential victims. At one point, the sun even stopped in the sky for 24 hours as Israel fought their enemy! These are examples of Kingdom Law, Kingdom rule.

 

Let’s expect God to meet us in awesome ways in the dark days ahead. It’s time for us to shine! Let’s walk in Kingdom principles. As we do, we will see the miraculous!

 

Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you Isaiah 60:1-2).

Just Don't Quit!

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. "For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:9-11).

  

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:9).

  

When the enemy puts pressure on you, lean on the Word of God! God’s Word is His power to deliver you right in the middle of the mess the enemy tries to stir up in your life!

 

Refuse to cower to unbelief and fear when the enemy turns up the heat by affecting circumstances and senses. Remember that he is a defeated foe. The only power he has is the power of suggestion, and when you make a decision to stand on the Word of God, his power over your life is immediately nullified!

  

During that time between the time you pray and believe that you receive and the time of the actual manifestation of the answer, it’s important to say only what God says about your situation. Call those things that be not as though they were! Say what you believe, not what you have. When you voice the Word of God out loud, fear falls in its tracks. Fear thoughts may come, doubt thoughts may bombard you, but your firm stand on God’s Word will nullify fear and doubt and faith will rise up within you!

  

If you’re believing you receive healing, declare boldly that with His stripes you are healed! Though the symptoms persist, act as though you believe you receive the answer to your prayer of faith! Talk the answer, praise the answer, act the answer, live the answer. Don’t for one moment yield to symptoms and thoughts of doubt. Doubt thoughts that come to mind die unborn if they are not voiced!

  

If you’re believing for finances, a job, or a change in some circumstance, take God at His Word. If He says He hears and answers you when you pray, then that’s it. Don’t move. Take a firm stand with God and His Word. His Word has stood the assault of doubt, fear, unbelief, cynicism, criticism, and negative circumstances for thousands of years. And in all that time, not one of His promises has failed.

  

Hundreds of times over the years God has proved Himself faithful to me as I stood my ground on the Word and did not cave in to doubt and fear. Faith and patience always inherits the promises! Don’t allow circumstances, feelings, thoughts, people, or demons to move you off of your stand on God’s Word today! You’ll come out on top if you don’t quit!

Unbelief Looks at Obstacles. Faith Looks at God and His Promises

And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan." Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight" (Numbers 13:25-33)

 

Only two out of the twelve spies that went to take a look at the land God promised Israel had a positive report to bring back to Moses. Joshua and Caleb had an attitude of faith. The other ten spies were steeped in the tradition of doubt and unbelief.

Unbelief looks at obstacles. Faith looks at God and His promises! What kind of report do you have of your life and your circumstances today? Do you have a God sized attitude, or do you have grasshopper vision?

 

With only human ability in view, the ten spies said they looked like grasshoppers beside the giants. Yet Joshua and Caleb sized up the circumstance in comparison to God and said, we are well able to overcome them!

Doubt and fear looks at the size of the problem. Faith looks at the bigness and greatness of God. And what we look at today determines whether we succeed or fail. Satan has an uncanny way of making problems look oversized. We must determine to look beyond what we see with our physical eyes and see the greatness of our God.

 

Allow God’s Word today to build you up. You and God are a majority! Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world! Let’s take our eyes off of the problems, and place them on God, His promises, His faithfulness, and His love! All things are possible to him who believes!

God's Time Tested Care Simply Leaves No Place For Worry!

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:31-34).

  

In these closing moments of the church age, the Father wants to shine through us! As the world situation continues to grow more challenging, our response is to trust the faithfulness of our God!

 

An ark was provided for Noah as God instructed him on how to survive the flood. The Israelites were fed by manna in the wilderness for almost 40 years! God provided water for them out of a rock when no water was in sight!

  

God fought for Israel when they trusted implicitly in the covenant, and they won every battle during the time they walked in the covenant. Lot and his believing family were spared the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as the angel delivered God’s word to them to flee. 

Elijah was fed by a raven as he sat by a brook. Daniel was saved from the lion’s terror. The three Hebrew men thrown in the furnace escaped without even the smell of smoke on their clothes. Jesus fed a multitude with a little boy’s lunch. Peter went fishing and found the money to pay their taxes!

 

God’s has a great record of taking care of His people. And He hasn’t brought us this far to leave us to fend for ourselves. He’s planned this day for a long time. The prophets have mapped out for us what will occur in the last days, and here we are.

 

We’re covenant people with the King of the universe! Don’t be moved by the naysayers that predict gloom and doom on us all. The Father will do for us what He has done in the past. He will guide. He will supply. He will set us apart. He will protect. He will empower. And one day, in the thick of the fray, Jesus will appear in the clouds and take us home!

  

Pray about every event and issue in your life. Believe that you receive the answer when you pray, and praise God for His provision. This is the day for us to shine. This is the day for celebration. Our God reigns. He honors His Word. He meets our needs. Let’s rejoice!

A Mindset To Succeed!

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Pessimism has no place in the life of a believer. Before I became a Christian, I looked on the negative side of everything. Instead of seeing the cup half full, I saw it half empty! God wants us to be full of expectancy, and wants us to believe Him for His best!

When you have this attitude, instead of complaining when things go wrong, you constantly look for the solution. In relating to others, you look for the best in them, and look beyond their faults. And with this attitude of triumph, you can see yourself the way God sees you; a work in progress.

Struggles turn into opportunities to exercise your faith and watch God do the impossible when you have this attitude of triumph! You simply don’t see failure as a possibility. When life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade!

I encourage you to stop looking at what you can’t do, and begin to see everything in your life as an opportunity for God to cause you to triumph! In the middle of that hard place, ask God for His wisdom, and ask Him to show you the solution; then expect things to work out, and live as though you believe they will!

Romans 8:31-32 reads, What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). And ALL THINGS are possible to him who believes. Expect the best!

Four Things to Practice When Life is Tough

Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire,

(2) and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.  (3) So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. (4) Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.  (5) And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. (6) Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

(1 Samuel 30:1-6 NKJV)

We all have those days when it seems as though we will never succeed. Struggle after struggle leaves us depleted of energy. Here are some suggestions that will help us during challenging days.

In this incident in David’s life, the enemy came and destroyed the city where they lived. When David and his men returned home, he found the whole city burned to the ground. And the wives and children of he and his men were missing, having been taken captive by the enemy army.

They wept until they had no more tears, and David’s men were so upset that they thought of stoning him! Now that’s a pretty desperate situation. Instead of giving in to the situation and walking away defeated, this passage reveals that David encouraged himself in the Lord! And the end of the story is that David and his men found the enemy army, defeated them, and rescued their wives and children without a single one being harmed!

Had David remained discouraged, they may not have recovered their families safely. Attitude when faced with a crisis determines the outcome. When the stakes are down, and we feel discouragement taking hold,we can follow David’s example and and encourage ourselves in the Lord. Here are several suggestions.

First of all, watch your mouth! It can really get you into some deep trouble. Don’t speak unless you can talk in faith. Doubt thoughts will die unborn as long as you don’t give life to them with your words.

Secondly, remind yourself of the promises of God. God says to the believer in Psalm 91:14-15: Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. God promises in Psalm 34:19: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

Thirdly, consciously remember the times that the Lord had answered prayer and delivered you from difficult situations in the past. In Psalm 42, David reminded himself of what God had done in his past when facing thoughts and feelings of oppression and discouragement.

Lastly, force yourself to praise and worship during difficult times. The sacrifice of praise will allow God to fight the battle for you, will strengthen you, and will chase away doubt, fear, and discouragement.

God hasn’t brought you this far to let you down now. Encourage yourself in the Lord your God by watching your words, reminding yourself of the promises of God, by remembering past answered prayer, and by forcing yourself to praise and worship God!

If You Allow It, The Power In God's Word Can Change You!

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).

 

The Word contains God’s very life and nature. Feeding on the Word is not like reading Shakespeare or classic literature. These contain no power to change. But God’s Word is the power of God unto salvation for spirit, soul, and body (Romans 1:16-17).

Time in the Word is time spent in the presence of the Father. And just as you take your car into the mechanics shop for a tune up, so the Word tunes us up spiritually. It rids us of the habits and attitudes that hold us back. It makes adjustments in all areas of life; our home, our business life, our private world, and has to power to break engrained habits of conduct.

The Word provides spiritual nutrition so that we grow into the likeness of Christ. The Word is spirit food. Keep your spirit richly fed with this manna from heaven.

One Word of caution though. Just reading the Word with no purpose to change or act will do no good. Spiritual growth will be stifled, and personal progress will not be realized. It becomes self-evident over a period of time whether or not we are submitting ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus through the Lordship of the Word.

Notice again James 1:22-25 (NIV): Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it — he will be blessed in what he does.

The author of Hebrews likewise gives us this warning: Hebrews 5:12-14 (NIV).

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

 

Be sure to feed on the Word daily with the attitude of acting on what you read. Be determined to change any action, word, attitude, motive, or conduct that disagrees with the Word. Keep a sensitive ear to the Holy Spirit by consciously asking yourself what the Word says about what you’re doing throughout the day.

If you’ll practice this for 21 to 28 days, you’ll begin to form a habit of walking intimately with your Father. This time next year, you’ll not be the same person!

Leave The Fear Based Life Behind!

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7 – Amplified).

A fear based life is an unsettled life. What’s going to happen in my future, in my home, in my travels, in my body, in my finances? A faith based life expects God to act in every circumstance and situation that life brings.

 

A fear based life is based on feelings and circumstances. A faith based life is a life that is lived by the Word! What God says settles everything to the faith based life. A calmness, a rest, a hope, a security, and great joy accompany the faith based life. Depression, gloom, irritability, dread, hopelessness, and tiredness accompany the fear based life.

Make the switch today to be a person who lives by faith and not by fear based sight! Each day will become an adventure as you and the Father go through the day talking with one another, strategizing with His Word about the details of what you’re doing. Faith based living does not consult with the flesh, circumstances or opinion. Thus says the Lord rules the faith based life.

 

Fear attracts satanic activity, and draws a person into difficulty. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). Job ascribed his troubles to his fear that opened the door for the enemy to attack him. For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me (Job 3:25).

Don’t allow fear to rule your life. Fill yourself with the Word. Ask yourself what the Word says about every area of life. Refuse fear and the emotional baggage it brings. Lift your hands, praise God, and declare the Lordship of His Word over your life! Speak the Word and run fear out of your life today!

 

Psalm 23 - Thoughts About God Being Your Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever (Psalm 23).

The Father sees us as sheep, and He has the role of a shepherd in our lives. Here are some practical truths about sheep and shepherds that apply to our relationship with the Lord.

 

A shepherd knows his sheep by name and the sheep train themselves to know the shepherd’s voice. Sheep are helpless to defend themselves against enemies, and easily wander into danger.

 

The Father makes us to lie down in green pastures. A good shepherd will give his sheep the best food, and will lead them for miles to the greenest, most lush pastures. Good food means a healthy flock. Life is sustained by water, and the shepherd always looks for an abundant source near the grazing field. The Father is Jehovah Jireh to us. He provides us with everything we need to live in blessing. He’s always looking for the best supply for all of our needs!

The Father restores our souls. A shepherd looks after each sheep, and seeks to make it feel secure and cared for. The Father wants to minister to us and heal the emotional wounds that life brings. The Father as our shepherd restores our soul. He leads us to partake of the engrafted Word that will renew our minds and release pain from our emotions (James 1:21). He will lead us away from the activities of the flesh that rob us of peace and inward rest, and urges us to spend time with Him so that He can brush away our fears with His comforting Word.

The Lord our shepherd is with us in times of danger. The valley of the shadow of death is a gulley on the side of a mountain that the shepherd and sheep must pass through to get back home. Animals of prey watch from the surrounding hills for sheep that stray. The shepherd has a rod to defend the sheep from the prey. On the other end of the rod is a hooked end that the shepherd uses to grab the sheep by the neck when they are about to leave the fold. Sheep feel secure from danger as long as they know the shepherd is nearby to defend them.

 

The Father prepares a table before us in front of our enemies. A shepherd will look for a flat place in a field where the sheep can lay down, eat lush grass, and rest. As the sheep eat and rest, the shepherd is ever watching for the prey that seeks to harm his sheep. The sheep eat and rest in security as long as they can look up and see their shepherd.

 

The Father anoints our head with oil. A Shepherd will anoint his sheep on a hot, dry day. Oil soothes the parched skin and brings refreshment in arid eastern countries. Wounds from brier scratches or snakes bites are cared for by being dressed with oil. The Father ever seeks to bring healing, health and restoration to our parched lives.

 Our cup runs over. It’s one thing to have a full supply, It’s another to have so much that your cup runs over! That’s what our shepherd desires for us as His sheep. He wants us to have more than enough!

 

His goodness and mercy are extended to us every day of our lives. His mercies are new every morning! Blessing chases us every day! Allow the Lord to be your shepherd today. Listen for His voice. Watch for the guidance He brings through His Word to you. Expect Him to nurture you and care for you spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. He is a good shepherd!