Graced To Do God's Will

There will be times where God will have us doing some seemingly silly things. We see this all throughout the Bible.

Jesus had Simon (an experienced fisherman) launch his nets to catch fish at the hottest part of the day (Luke 5:4). God had King Naaman dip in dirty water seven times to be cleansed of leprosy (2 Kings 5:10). God had his disciples roll away a grave stone of a man that had been dead for four days (John 11:39).

Although it may seem silly or illogical, the miracle occurred because of their obedience to the instruction.

If God is leading you to give money to someone else knowing you have financial troubles yourself, do it. If He’s telling you to stretch your legs to be healed of a toothache, do it. No matter how silly it is, do it, and watch a miracle manifest in your life. It may not be tomorrow or next month, but our obedience plants seeds of miracle manifestations.

2 Kings 5:10 Then Elisha sent him a messenger, who said, “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored, and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out, stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the spot to cure my leprosy. 12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not have washed in them and been cleansed?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?” 14 So Naaman went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored and became like that of a little child, and he was clean.

1 Peter 5:9 (AMP) Withstand him (the devil); be firm in faith against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined, knowing that the same identical sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood the whole body of Christians throughout the world.

We all want to live a prosperous problem-free life. God doesn’t promise us a life without problems. There’s a devil and a fallen world, therefore, problems will exist. God promised that we’ll overcome them (1 Cor. 15:57).

We’re instructed to withstand the devil. This means, the devil will constantly be on the attack. His target is to destroy our minds, impact our health, break up our families, and deplete our finances. The end game for Satan is to have us lose faith in God.

So, don’t be surprised when it seems like nothing is going our way or when it seems like one problem leads to the next. These are satanic attacks that are attempting to destroy our faith in God. Let’s withstand these attacks by building ourselves up in the Word of God and combating these attacks with the truth in God’s Word.

1 Kings 19:5 Then he lay down in the shade and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel woke him up and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 Elijah looked around, and by his head was a jar of water and some baked bread. He sat up, ate and drank, then lay down and went back to sleep. 7 Soon the Lord’s angel woke him again and said, “Get up and eat, or else you’ll get too tired to travel.” 8 So Elijah sat up and ate and drank. The food and water made him strong enough to walk forty more days. At last, he reached Mount Sinai, the mountain of God,

When it comes to God’s instructions, everything may not be spiritual. He may tell us to do something practical.

In this story, Elijah was running from Ahab and Jezebel’s army for two days in desert like conditions. When he finally stopped, he was suicidal. He begged God to take his life. After resting, an angel woke him up and told him to eat. Simple and practical, right? After running for so long in the hot sun, it makes sense to have Elijah eat and sleep. These practical instructions mentally and physically strengthened Elijah to continue his journey.

When seeking God, don’t assume He’s only going to give us some deep spiritual instructions such as fasting or spending 3 hours in the Word. He may have us remove sweets from our diet, study for 2 hours a day for an upcoming exam, or walk a mile 3 times a week. It may be simple and practical, but it will benefit us greatly.

Leviticus 19:17 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

A lack of or poor communication can cause damage and division in any relationship. When a person makes a questionable statement, instead of asking what they truly meant, we assume they meant something negative.

After the statement is made, we should go to that person to confirm what they’re truly trying to say. If it’s just a misunderstanding, then we can move on. However, if their statement was hurtful or disrespectful to us, we should be honest with the person and tell them how it made us feel.

What they do next is out of our control. If they apologize, we can maintain a great relationship. If they don’t, then we know how they feel and we should allow the Holy Spirit to dictate the future of that relationship.

Regardless of how a person responds, we’ve done the work to clear our conscience by expressing ourselves to them.

If we look at parts of our bodies, we may see a scar from an injury we had from our childhood. We may remember how much pain we were in at the time, but we eventually fast forward and thank God for our healing.

Mental scars are different. With mental scars, we have two options. The first option is to remember the pain and stay in that dark place. We can think about the abuse, traumatic experience, or emotional pain and become angry with the person all over again, stress ourselves out about the situation, or make ourselves depressed.

The second option is glorifying God for our deliverance. When previous negative experiences enter our minds, we can thank God and praise Him for healing us from that hurt. We can excite ourselves thinking about the goodness of God. We can look at how far God has brought us.

It’s up to us which option we’re going to choose.

Let’s look at our scars and begin to praise Him for our deliverance. It may have hurt at the time but now, we have a testimony.

*For those who are in the midst of their hurt, there’s one option. Praise Him in advance for the deliverance God has made available.

Psalm 54:6 Freely I will sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good. 7 For He has delivered me from every trouble, and my eyes have stared down my foes.

Psalm 130:3 (AMP) If You, Lord, should keep account of and treat us according to our sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You just what man needs, that You may be reverently feared and worshiped.

There is forgiveness. No matter what we’ve done or how far we’ve been on the wrong path, God is there to forgive and forget all of our sins (Heb. 8:12).

God not only forgives and forgets our sins, but He’s not going to punish us for anything we’ve done wrong. He’s not going to strike us down, cause us to get into a car accident or put a disease on us for anything we’ve done wrong. There are natural consequences for our actions, but He’s not punishing us. The punishment for all sin was placed on Jesus (Rom. 3:24).

Finally, God is not holding our sins against us. He’s not charging them to our account. He’s not going to weigh the amount of sins we’ve committed and compare it with the good deeds we’ve done. Jesus paid the debt for all our sins and God sees us as righteous (Gal. 3:13-15).

Thank God for Jesus Who allowed us to receive God’s complete forgiveness and forgetfulness of sin without punishment.

Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

A lot of times, we call people when we have something to say or when we want something from someone else. But how many of us contact people just to say hello or to see how they’re doing? We don’t want anything. We’re just checking on them.

Reaching out to people can be more beneficial than we think. That text message, call, or email can make a person’s heart smile. They may be having a tough day and our outreach may make the difference in their day. The simple fact that we took the time to solely see how they’re doing, with no strings attached can positively impact a person’s life.

Let’s keep our unity by reaching out to our friends and our family and reconnecting with that person we haven’t spoken to in a while.

Psalm 103:13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

A lot of us know the characteristics of a good father. A good father is loving. They care about the well-being of their children, they want the best for their children, and they’re the biggest supporter of their children fulfilling their purpose in the earth.

God is no different. In fact, He is the Creator of fatherly characteristics. He loves, He protects, and He cares. He’s our provider and our number one supporter. His love is untainted, unbiased, and unconditional. God, our Father, loves us and wants us to fulfill our purpose.

As we approach Father’s Day, don’t forget about our Heavenly Father Who has done so much in our lives and has been there for us every step of the way. Let’s thank God for being a great, great Father.

We may have heard or read, that as believers we shouldn’t socialize with sinners because they may corrupt our souls and make us backslide. We may have also read where Jesus socialized with sinners in the efforts to present Himself as the way, the truth, and the light. So, which one is correct? The answer is both.

There are times where we need to distance ourselves from sinners to spend time with God and strengthen our inner man and there are times where we need to sit with sinners so they can experience a genuine loving non-judgmental light in a dark world.

Look at Jesus. Although He spent times with sinners, there were times where He distanced Himself and was alone with God. He successfully accomplished both.

We must have balance. We can’t be so spiritual until we’re no earthly good and we can’t be so worldly until it’s hard to tell if we’re saved. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide. He’ll tell us when to socialize and when to temporarily distance ourselves.

Matthew 17:1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

Matthew 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.

Job 1:5 And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

Job didn’t sacrifice to the Lord because he was grateful for all He had done. Job sacrificed to the Lord out of fear of his children’s sin. If we’re not mindful, we can give, serve, or pray from a place of fear.

A fear based prayer usually comes as a result of numerous demonic thoughts entering our minds. If the devil has been placing thoughts in our minds that our children are going to die prematurely, we may fret and pray, “Lord please don’t let my children die early.” Or, if thoughts of financial lack are constantly entering our minds, we may pray with a worried mindset, “Lord protect my finances.”

These are fear based prayers and there’s no guarantee that God will answer that prayer.

We must pray in faith (Matt. 21:21-22). We must believe what we said will come to pass. Instead of saying, “Lord please don’t let my children die early,” we should say “God, Your Word says, with long life you will satisfy us, therefore, my children won’t die early.” Instead of protect my finances, we can say, “according to Philippians 4:19, all my needs are met.”

We moved from entertaining fear to activating faith. Let your prayers be faith based and not fear based.

God gave us an imagination for multiple reasons. One of those reasons is to see what we say. God gave us power in our speech. What we say, positive or negative, will come to pass. When we understand the power we have, we can use our imagination to see what we said.

For instance, when we declare sickness to leave our bodies, we should use our imagination to see a blob of sickness coming out of our bodies and going back to hell. When we declare our finances to increase, we should imagine the number in our bank account with three extra zeros. When we declare demonic influences be removed from a person, we should envision an ugly creature coming out the person and being destroyed.

These are the types of things that will solidify our faith in what we say. Negative thoughts and current circumstances will attempt to make us lose sight of what we’ve imagined. But, if we hold on and continue to see what we said, what we said will manifest into reality.

God having Abraham use his imagination.

Genesis 15:5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

When situations arise, our flesh wants to turn to other outlets outside of God. There are positive and negative outlets. Positive outlets include, exercise for stress, therapy for depression, or a financial adviser for our finances. Negative outlets include, drugs for stress, self-harm for depression, or investing in a get-rich-quick scheme to ease our financial troubles.

Regardless if the outlets are positive or negative, relying solely on these outlets pushes God out. Prioritizing something else above God is called idolatry.

God knew we would face negative situations in our lives and between His Word, His Spirit, and the finished works of Jesus, God’s already provided our help. God may direct us to some of these positive outlets. but He doesn’t want us to rely solely on them.

Let’s not push God out of our problems and reach towards our outlets. Let God be THE only Outlet in our lives.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

Revelations 12:11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.

We’ve all gone through some difficult situations. Some of us have overcome abuse, addictions, and endured tragic events. Regardless of what we’ve gone through, it’s beneficial to share our story with someone else.

When we share our story, it can help someone else in a few ways. They can relate. They’ll say within themselves if they overcame, I can overcome. Or, they’ll minimize. They’ll say, I am going through problems but, it’s not as bad as what they’ve gone through. Or, they’ll find an outlet in us. Since we shared our story, they may feel comfortable sharing their process with us.

It’s also beneficial to share how we overcame. We know it’s God Who delivered us but, between our negative event and our deliverance, there are several steps we should share. Those steps may be practical as well as spiritual. Those steps may include counseling, daily confessions, physical exercise, or meditating on the Word of God.

When the opportunity presents itself, don’t be ashamed to share your story. Your story may save someone’s life.

Luke 12:25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?

What if it doesn’t work? What if my spouse is having an affair? What if we can’t pay the bills? What if it doesn’t get better? What if I don’t get the promotion? What if my business is not successful? What if the sadness never goes away?

Negative what if questions are forms of worry from Satan. Worry is a form of fear. Satan’s goal is to make us lose faith in God. He’s wanting us to believe the lie of God’s Word won’t come to pass in our lives.

When negative forms of what if questions enter our minds, minimize the questions and counter them with the Word of God.
What if my spouse is having an affair?…I rebuke fear. My spouse loves me the way Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25).
What if it doesn’t get better?….Never mind, I’ve been healed by the stripes of Jesus (1 Peter 2:24).
What if I don’t get the promotion?…Oh well, no good thing will God withhold from me (Psalm 84:11)

Don’t entertain Satan’s thoughts, ideas, or suggestions any longer. Counter them with the Truth.

There’s power in consistency. The thing that will benefit us the most is our unchanging faith in God.

Negative circumstances will come. How we respond to those circumstances determines the level of our faith. Enduring faith, a short burst of faith, and no faith are our options.

Example: You and your family are standing in faith for a new house.
Negative Circumstance: Your spouse gets laid off which forces the household finances to be cut in half.
Option 1: You continue to stand in faith for the house. You continue to look at floor plans, make confessions, and watch HGTV for ideas.
Option 2: You remain in faith until the bills are due and you realize you barely have enough to pay the current bills. After a month, your faith for a house is tainted with doubt and you slowly stop believing.
Option 3: You immediately stop believing because you can’t logically see how buying a house now is going to happen.

God can work around any negative circumstance if we continue to believe.

We must make a decision. Will we doubt, lose hope, and give up on God’s promises or will we stand firm and wait on the promises of God? Regardless of the circumstance, have unchanging faith and believe in God.

Jeremiah 17:7 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is Him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.

Matthew 21:21 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

People like consistency. We like consistency in our relationships. We want our spouse’s attitude to remain the same. Not, happy in the morning then angry in the evening. We like consistency from our supervisors. We want a supervisor to treat everyone the same. We like consistency from our children in school. Not, one semester making straight A’s then the next semester C’s and D’s.

God understands our desire for consistency. When someone is consistent, it makes it easier for us to put our trust in them. God reassures us that He’ll remain consistent through His Word. He told us that He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He did it before, He’ll do it again. That’s awesome.

Some of us know God is consistent, but certain situations attempt to scare us into thinking God won’t fulfill His Word. Don’t give into fear. If He said it, He meant it. He is and He’ll always remain consistent. Put your faith, hope, and confidence in God’s Word.

Malachi 3:6 “Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Satan’s plan is to influence our minds with his ideas. His schemes are so clever until they seem like our own thoughts. They appear logical and intelligent.

Revelation 12:9 says, Satan deceives the whole world. To be deceived means a person thinks they’re right but, they’re actually wrong. Since Satan is the master deceiver, he’s deceived the most intellectual people into thinking God doesn’t exist. A combination of Satan’s deception and facts provides great arguments as to why God doesn’t exist.

Since certain people are viewed as intelligent, they have a following. If we were the devil, wouldn’t it make sense to deceive intellectual people who can influence others? Those people learn deceptive arguments from intellectuals that can influence others.

At the end of the day, it’s all about what we choose to believe. We can be deceived into believing books as to why God doesn’t exist. These books give us no hope for our future. We just cease to exist when we die. Or, we can believe the book (The Bible) that shows us the way to get to God.

Don’t be deceived. Believe the Word of God.

Revelations 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

It’s important to know our enemy, the devil (2 Cor. 2:11). Satan’s only attack is to influence our minds with his ideas. His schemes are so clever until they seem like our own thoughts.

Another thing Satan has convinced a lot of people of is satanically influenced free will/free choice. We’re living in a time where people are encouraged to do whatever feels good to them. If people want to get high, that’s okay. If people want 20 sexual partners, that’s fine. If people want to spend all their money on clothes, do what makes you happy. And if anyone criticizes these behaviors, they’re in the wrong.

God’s Word is clear about these subjects but, satanic influence of free will often overrides God’s will. God didn’t make these rules for the sake of making up rules. He’s our Creator and knows what’s best for our lives. He knows these behaviors can destroy our lives, destroy His design for family, and destroy our future.

Don’t allow Satan to destroy what God has planned for you. Strive to obey God’s Word. He knows what is best for every part of our lives.

Revelations 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

It’s important to know our enemy, the devil (2 Cor. 2:11). Satan’s only attack is to influence our minds with his ideas. His schemes are so clever until they seem like our own thoughts. They appear logical and intelligent.

One thing Satan has convinced some of is his lack of existence. People believe Satan is not real and he’s not making people do bad things. People do bad things from their own decisions.

How clever is that? He’s convinced some that he doesn’t exist meanwhile, they’re unknowingly doing his will, but thinking it’s their own ideas. Those people are partially correct. He’s not making us do anything, but his influences can be so strong until it seems like our ideas.

People are spreading hatred, but thinking they’re just being honest. Their relationships are crumbling, but they’re thinking they’re just acting on how they feel. Impulse decisions are being made but, they’re thinking they were acting out of wisdom.

Satan is real. His influential thoughts that seem like our own or like good ideas are meant to destroy our lives. Before acting on any decision, consult God three times, if necessary, to confirm if it’s His will or not.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

2 Corinthians 2:11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

In war, a country uses spies to provide intelligence about their enemy. In sports, a team views film to know the strengths and weakness of their opponent. If knowing an enemy or opponent is important in the natural, one would think it would be very important to know our ultimate enemy: the devil.

The devil can’t just invade our lives without our consent. He can’t just freely possess our bodies like in the movie The Exorcist. The devil’s only attack is to bombard our thoughts with ideas and suggestions contrary to God’s Word and His will.

He’ll tell us we can’t make it. Life is not worth living. We’ll never have that type of money.
He’ll tell us to cheat on our spouse. Cheat on our taxes. No one will know.
He’ll tell us to stay where we are for job security when we know God called us to bigger and better things.

If we act on those ideas or internalize those lies, we’re being influenced by the devil.

Get to know God’s Word and His will for your life. Submit to God’s will and resist the influences of the devil and he will flee (James 4:7).

2 Chronicles 20:3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set his face to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

13 And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.

The Ammonites came to battle Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat didn’t know what to do. As king, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to seek the Lord throughout Judah. Everyone, including children, sought the Lord for an answer. As they sought the Lord, the Spirit of the Lord came upon an ordinary person (Jahaziel). Jahaziel gave the king a plan of action that ultimately gave Jehoshaphat the victory (v. 14-18). Jehoshaphat proclaimed the fast, but Jahaziel provided the answer.

As heads of our households, if a problem arises and we don’t know what to do, have the family seek the Lord through a fast. A fast amplifies the voice of God. Like Jehoshaphat, the answer may come through someone else. It may come through our spouse or even our children. Some mistakenly assume that because children are young, they can’t hear the voice of God. Let’s not forget Joel 2:28 which says, our sons and daughters will prophesy. This concept also works with believers at work. Proclaim a fast to improve productivity or provide a solution to an unanswered problem at our places of employment.

So, fast and be in tune as we seek the Lord.

2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

When we don’t know what to do. Look to God. Life can be so troubling and confusing until we don’t know what to do. That’s when it’s most beneficial to look to God.

Look to Him through His Word. Read His Word regarding what He’s promised us despite what our circumstances say.

Look to Him through prayer. Communicate with God. Tell Him all that you’re going through and expect Him to talk back. He’ll provide a daily plan on how to maintain your sanity and how to overcome those circumstances.

Look to Him through fasting. One day, two days, or ten days. It doesn’t matter. Fasting silences the things within us and around us and amplifies God’s voice.

No matter if the problem is great or small, this is how we overcome. Look to God and get your answer.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

A born-again believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit can laugh. It may shock some people, but we can enjoy ourselves too. It’s not a sin.

We don’t have to be this deep somber person with only spiritual things on our minds. Through Christ, we have the freedom to laugh and have a good time (Rom. 8:1-4; Gal. 5:1). We can see entertaining movies, play games, go to a comedy show and more.

Just know, we don’t have to limit ourselves to reading the Bible, listening to only Christian music, and watching only Christian TV. That’s extremely beneficial for us but, it’s not the only thing we can do. We can be holy and have fun.

If we’re not in control of our emotions, our emotions can lead us down the wrong direction. We all know about negative emotions such as, depression, anger, and hatred. These emotions can lead us to suicide, imprisonment, and becoming a bitter person. We focus on negative emotions but, “positive emotions” can lead us down the wrong path as well.

We may have the positive emotion of excitement to make an impulse purchase. That excitement will eventually fade but, we’re stuck with debt or an item we really don’t use. We may have happy feelings in a relationship that will have us marrying a person too soon. After a year into the marriage, we may see the true side of our spouse and not be satisfied with our decision.

We were never meant to be controlled by our emotions. We are to be led by the Spirit of God. He will tell us how to handle that situation when we get angry. He will also show us how to calm down and make a wise decision. Let’s control our emotions and allow the Spirit of God to direct us in all our ways.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Inspired by Creflo Dollar

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

For every born-again believer, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Cursed means, empowered to fail. The curse is still operational and being felt by the world but we, the believers, have been rescued from the curse and placed into the blessing.

The curse of the law can be found in Deuteronomy 28:15-63. Some of those curses include cursed in our bodies, in our careers, and in our families.

Our redemption from the curse is good news for the believer. If we see something in our lives that appears cursed, we can use our God-given authority to declare that thing line up with the blessing. If it seems like our bodies are constantly being attacked with sickness, we tell our sickness we’ve been redeemed from the curse and we tell our bodies to line up with the blessing. If we’re being attacked with feelings of depression, we tell depression we’ve been redeemed from the curse and we tell our mind to line up with the blessing.

Whatever the situation is, reverse the curse and release the blessing. This is our covenant right we have in Christ. Use it!

Matthew 13:58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

God can do nothing apart from our belief. It’s simple. If we can believe it and it aligns with God’s Word, we can have it. But, if we allow doubt and unbelief to enter our hearts, we won’t receive a thing.

It’s the enemy’s job to fill our heads up with doubt and unbelief. He’ll use family members, friends, statistics, and logic to lead us down the path of unbelief. Thoughts of unbelief may come, but, we don’t have to accept them. We reject those thoughts with the Word of God.

The enemy may say, we won’t get that house, job, or healing because of…..whatever. We reject those thoughts by declaring the Word of God. We believe that we received our needs and/or desires met in Jesus name.

From the most basic need to the most out of the box desire, allow God to manifest it through your belief.

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

There are so many promises God has for us and a lot of us want them all immediately. God operates in wisdom and it would be unwise to give a maturing believer every promise at once. We would destroy ourselves and potentially forsake God. We must be patient and practice contentment.

Let’s be patient with ourselves. We’re still naturally maturing. We have to give ourselves time to grow in wisdom. It would make no sense for God to give us $1,000,000 if we’re still making bad investments with $100.

Secondly, we’re still spiritually maturing. In our maturing process, we should ask ourselves, why we want these promises. Is it so that we can boast about having the best? Or, is it so that we can have resources to impact the lives of others? We can do both, but if our motive is to boast, we still have some maturing to do.

Finally, be patient with God’s timing. When God blesses us, He has more on His mind than us. The timing of our manifested blessing will not only impact our lives but it could impact someone else at the same time.

Don’t be anxious. Be patient and continue to prepare yourselves for the expected promises of God.

Mark 10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many people admonished him to be silent, but he cried out all the louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man. “Take courage!” they said. “Get up! He is calling for you.”

Some have made it a sign of weakness to go to the church for assistance or go to God for help. They’ll say, since we can’t handle our problems ourselves, we have to resort to God. This concept is untrue.

As we can see from this story, people may try to make us feel ashamed for going to God for help but, God won’t. They tried to silence blind Bartimaeus from getting help from Jesus. They tried to shame him into thinking he was inconveniencing Jesus. Bartimaeus’ situation was bad enough for him to put his shame aside, reject all the naysayers, and find a solution in Jesus. We should do the same.

Don’t allow the words, giggles, or stares from others to stop us from going to God. Even if people are looking, if we have to whisper confessions to ourselves to prevent us from losing our minds, so be it. If we have to look crazy for going to our cars during our lunch break to have a moment of worship to prevent a moment of breakdown, oh well. If we need to go to the front of the church for prayer every Sunday, we have to do what we have to do.

God never created us to handle any problem ourselves. He always wants to be included. Never be ashamed to go to God and implement His plan for our solution.

Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,

If someone were to take this scripture out of context, they may assume there’s no sacrifice or forgiveness for a person if they knowingly and intentionally do what’s wrong. They may conclude there’s no forgiveness for the homosexual, adulterer, or the habitual liar because they knowingly live a life contrary to God’s will. That’s NOT TRUE because every sin we commit is knowingly and intentionally.

This scripture is referring to the sin of unbelief. If a person has heard the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ and still chooses not to believe in Him as Lord, there remains no sacrifice for their sins. There’s no sacrifice/forgiveness for their sins because they rejected the payment (Jesus) for sins.

When we accept the payment of Jesus as Lord, we receive full coverage for sins (Rom. 6:10). Every sin that we’ll ever commit has been covered by this payment. There’s not one thing we can do that’s not covered. This is not a license to sin but, this is an assurance that if we sin, forgiveness has already been made available for us.

Don’t allow condemnation to set in your hearts. God’s forgiveness encompasses all.

Romans 6:10 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. 11 So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with timbrel and harp. 4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. 5 Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. 6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, 7 to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, 9 to carry out the sentence written against them— this is the glory of all his faithful people. Praise the LORD.

A lot of times before battle, God would instruct His people to praise Him. This praise would remind them of where their help, strength, and protection comes from. In one instance, praise was all they had to do. When they praised God, their enemy turned against themselves and started killing one another (2 Chron. 20:21-23). As we can see, praise is a weapon.

We may not face physical battles but, we all will face spiritual battles. Mental exhaustion, low self-esteem, doubt, fear, etc. are all forms of spiritual battles. These battles are designed to separate us from God. It’s during these attacks we should use our weapon of praise. Like physical battles, we praise God to remind ourselves where our help, strength, and protection comes from. Under this New Covenant, we also praise God because we have a guarantee of victory over every situation (2 Cor. 2:14).

Whatever we’re going through and no matter how we feel, don’t forget to praise our great God.

Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.

Our confidence is attached to the promises of God.

The troubles of life are meant to separate us from our confidence in God. If we lose our job, get a divorce, or go through sickness, how will we respond? Will we maintain our confidence in God’s Word or throw our confidence away and make up some excuse as to why God’s Word won’t come to pass in our lives?

If we’re not confident is God’s ability to do what He said, we leave the door open for doubt. A person who doubts can’t expect to receive anything from God (James 1:6-7). However, if we maintain our confidence in God, we’ll have the faith for God’s promises that will eventually manifest in our lives (Romans 4:16).

If you have confidence in God’s Word, keep it. If you threw your confidence away for whatever reason, go get it and go get what God has for you.

Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

When we make Jesus our Lord, we become the just or the righteous. One promise for the righteous is a bright future.

Like any promise of God, this promise must be received by faith. Our belief in this promise will unlock wisdom in areas of ignorance, doors of opportunities will open, and people of influence will be placed in our lives.

Our future may not look so bright currently but, keep believing and standing on God’s promise. Eventually, every area of our lives will begin to brighten up.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In a world where everyone seems to be looking out for themselves, we forget to think of others. People may seem like they have it altogether but people are hurting. They put on a brave face but inside, they’re going through depression, financial struggles, or marital issues.

This is where the believer steps in and sincerely uplifts the person. This uplifting may take longer than a day and it may not be as convenient as we would like but, we’re putting others before ourselves. We should reach out to people and genuinely ask how they’re doing. We should see if they need things like a babysitter so they can work on their marriage. We should see if they need prayer for anything. And if we’re the ones going through it, we need to be honest with ourselves and others about our difficulties and receive that helping hand.

Let’s shift our thinking from focusing only on our affairs and establish a mindset that uplifts people too.

Psalm 74:20 Have respect to the covenant; For the dark places of the earth are full of the haunts of cruelty.

Background: David is experiencing oppression, destruction, and despair from his enemies. Due to his problems, he tells God to respect the covenant He made with him. Essentially, he’s saying, fulfill Your end of the deal God.

Wow! This is bold talk from an ordinary man to an all supreme God.

David can speak like this to God because of his personal and intimate relationship with God. David spent years in the field developing a close relationship with God. Now that trouble has come, he’s requesting God to fulfill His end of the promise.

If someone were this bold today, some religious people may say “How dare you talk to God like that!” Honestly, this type of boldness is what God desires of us. He doesn’t want us to be afraid to talk to Him on a personal level. When we’re angry or sad, He wants us to come to Him with our anger or sadness. Whatever the issue we’re facing, He told us to come boldly to Him (Heb. 4:16). Not only that, He wants us to remind Him of the covenant promise He made with us (Isaiah 43:26).

Note: We can’t remind Him of his covenant with us if we don’t know our covenant (Read His Word).

Regardless of the situation, be honest and bold with God. Remind Him of what He promised towards us. If the situation doesn’t look like our covenant promise, declare it be changed according to God’s Word.

Ezra 3:3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings.

Although fear had come upon them, they pushed past their fears and worshipped the Lord.

What fears do you have in your life that you need to push past? Is it openly worshipping God without worrying about what someone else may say? Is it opening yourself up to a potential spouse? Is it freely giving your tithes and offering to God without fearing what the church is doing with the money?

Fear is designed to keep us stagnant. Whatever fear that’s in our way, we have two options. We can allow fear to keep us in a place of bondage or we can push past and experience the joys of life.

It takes courage to go beyond our fears. On the other side of fear is a sense of freedom, accomplishment, and the potential for prosperity. Don’t allow fear to hold you hostage. Push past it and enjoy your life even more.

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Some say, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of healthy fear. People will begin to exercise because they fear getting decrepit or children may work harder in school because they fear getting left behind. The concept of exercising and working harder is good, but the motivation behind this concept (fear) is not.

As we can see, God didn’t give us any version of fear. If God didn’t give us fear, we can conclude fear is from Satan himself. If we’re allowing fear to dictate what we do or don’t do, we’re being influenced by Satan.

Any type of fear is designed to separate us from God. It may start “healthy” but, fear will end up ruling our lives. If fear is our motivator, where does God come in? Shouldn’t He be our guide and motivator? Being led by the Spirit should be our guide. Every decision we make should go through Him.

Don’t entertain one drop of fear (healthy or unhealthy). God didn’t design us to live that way. Fear will present itself, but we don’t have to live our lives by it.

Church hurt is tough to face. It’s difficult to experience because the church (body of believers) is supposed to consist of love, peace, forgiveness, and relief. Unfortunately, some churches consist of condemnation, judgement, and guilt.

A lot of times, the church is the last place people go before giving up on life. People come in feeling bad about the choices they’ve made. As they sit there, they have to experience disapproval stares based on their dress attire, they have to hear condemning sermons from ministers, and they have to hear the possibility of going to hell coming from a pulpit. That’s hurtful. No wonder so many people are leaving the church and finding other ways to be “spiritual.”

The church is meant to uplift and empower people. It’s there to inform people God still loves them and all their sins are forgiven. It’s there to be a blessing to their community. It’s there to teach people the Word of God in context.

For those who left the church because of church hurt, I encourage you to rediscover church because there’s great benefit in a church. Even if it’s 5 people meeting a Starbucks once a week, that’s still a church. If the church is not doing what’s listed above, that’s not the church for you.

No church is perfect but if we allow the Spirit to guide us, He’ll show us the best church for us.

1 John 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

A brownie point is an imaginary award given to someone who does good deeds or tries to please. Some of us think we can earn brownie points with God. We think if we pray long enough, read so many chapters in our bibles, or attend so many church services, we’ll earn so many points with God to receive our desires.

God doesn’t operate on a brownie point system. He operates on one system: faith. Faith is the only currency in heaven. Faith is the only way to receive our heart’s desire. We make our request to God, believe that we receive that request, and wait in expectation for that request to manifest. There will be thoughts from delay and circumstances that will tempt us to doubt but if we maintain our belief, we’ll have what we desire.

Prayer, reading the bible, and attending church services are good for developing our relationship with God but to receive God’s promises in our lives, we must operate by faith.

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

Some people view God’s love from an “if” or “when” perspective. They tell themselves, if I do this or when I do that then God’s love will manifest itself in my life. The problem with this perspective is it’s conditional. They’re hoping their works or behavior will further qualify them for God’s love.

What people fail to grasp is God’s love is unconditional. He’s not going to love us any more than He already does now. It doesn’t matter how often we read our bibles or how many times we went to church. He loves us with 100% of His love. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how many times we mess up and miss the mark, God’s not going to love us any less.

When we understand God’s unchanging love for us, we can navigate through life from a “because” perspective. We learn more about God by reading our bibles because God loves us. Because God loves us, we attend church. We’re not doing anything to increase God’s love for us, we’re living a dedicated life because of God’s love for us.

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There are unseen forces that influence people to do things contrary to the Word and will of God. A lot of us want to get mad at the person, but it’s actually demonic forces behind the scenes.

In Luke 10:19, Jesus gave every believer authority over these demonic influences. We have power over all the works of the enemy.

So, when we see our children consistently misbehaving, don’t get mad at them. They’re unknowingly being influenced to be disobedient. We can use our authority to rebuke every demonic force influencing our children’s minds. When our spouse seems to have an unpleasant disposition, don’t start an argument or tell them to fix their attitude. They may not know. They’re under demonic influence. We break every stronghold from their minds by declaring every demonic influence be removed from our spouse’s minds in the name of Jesus. For every unsaved person, there’s a demonic hold that convinces them they don’t need Jesus. We have an opportunity to use our authority to remove that stronghold from their minds in order for them to be open to receive Jesus as Lord.

Don’t just look at the surface. There’s a deeper force behind the scenes pulling the strings. Let’s cut those ties by using our God-given authority over the enemy.