TRUST IN THE LORD

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves who we are putting our trust in. There is a popular Christian Worship song out with the title I Trust in God. There is a line in the song that says “I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered”

Sometime the answer we are seeking from the Lord takes a long time to come. Sometimes it can seem like the answer will never come. Sometimes the answer will come instantly. Whatever the case, we can be assured that when we call on the Lord, He will hear and He will answer. He will answer!

Psalm 37:5 says Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

So, according to Psalm 37:5 not only do we call on Him in times of trouble. We must also commit our ways to Him and we must trust Him. I guess the question we need to be asking ourselves is this, “Do I trust the Lord”?

Do I trust Him to pull me out of the situation I find myself in? Do I trust Him to do what seems to be impossible? Do I really believe He will work all things out for good? I mean, do I REALLY believe and do I REALLY trust? I think each of us can ask ourselves the same questions. Only we know the answers.

Think back to a time when you sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. Think back to a time when it seemed like all hope was lost and then when you least expected it, the Lord showed up with an answer you never would have thought about.

Think about a diagnosis you received that seemed like your quality of life was over. Think about a financial situation where you were sure you were going to be ruined. Think about a family member who needed salvation that you thought would never get saved.

I am sure as you do you will find the same thing I find when I look back. The Lord is good! He hears and he answers. The Lord is good and His provision is never ending.

I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered! That is why I trust Him! As I wait on the Lord for my answers, I am praying that you know this trustworthy God. He hears and He answers. Seek the Lord, He will hear you!

I was at church this weekend and heard something that made me stop and think. The Pastor was talking about the Israelites and how Moses led them out of slavery to the promised land.

I have read this story many, many times. I have even preached this message many times. I am sure we all know the story quite well. Moses was directed by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery. They were to go to the land that God gave them. A land flowing with milk and honey. Sounds quite wonderful, doesn’t it?

We all know that trip took Moses and the Israelites 40 years to complete. I have also preached various messages on the amount of time it took them to make the trip. And really there are many points that can be learned from this event.

What never caught my attention before was this. That journey was only an eleven-day journey! What? Wait! Eleven days!? Yep, you heard me right! Eleven days. Instead, they wandered around in the wilderness for forty years! What a waste of time.

Why were they wandering around in the wilderness? Because they were not right with God. God was working something out in them. For one thing they were murmuring, complaining, and accusing God. How many times did they say “Did God lead us out here to kill us? We would have been better to stay where we were.” Seriously, better to stay in bondage than to follow and submit to God?

Got me thinking? How many of us have put ourselves in similar situations? How easy it would be for us if we would just choose to believe God. It really is a choice. Just trust and believe. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us God has thoughts towards us. He has thought of giving us peace. Thoughts to give us a good future. Thoughts to give us hope. How long are we going to stay in bondage instead of trusting and believing in God. Let’s choose to stop complaining about our situations. Let’s choose to stop speaking negatively about our circumstances. Let’s choose to thank God for all things,

WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN (final chapter)

As I mentioned last week, I am going to address the statement “God is Love” Yes, this is true, God is Love. In fact, the bible does say that God is love. What worries me, however, is the deception in which this statement is relied upon.

God is love is a comforting statement. And we know that God is love because the bible mentions it a few different times. The deception is that while He does love us, He is still a righteous judge. Loving someone does not mean that sin is overlooked. And since He is a righteous judge, that means there is a standard that must be maintained.

1 Corinthians chapter 6 has a lot to say about the way we are to live. Love is not the sweeping of our wrong behaviors under the rug. Love is not a license to sin. Much like the misconception of Grace, the confusion is that both will allow a person to continue is their lifestyle and still make heaven.

I know there are teachings and beliefs out there that will tell you that both God’s grace and His love will someone allow Him to turn a blind eye to our unrighteous lifestyle.

I know we are not perfect. I know we will suffer with sin as long as we are in these mortal bodies. But if we do not develop an attitude of repentance, we can risk the trap of thinking we are fine when we are not.

There is a story is the bible in Matthew 24:37-50 that talks about who will left and who will be taken. I can assure you the wicked and unrighteous will be left. I understand the argument that we are made righteous through Christ. But let me ask you a question.

How many of you have children that you love? Would you allow your children to live however they wanted to and do whatever they wanted to do? No! You want your children to grow and mature into the people they were born to be. Now we have God, our Heavenly Father, the Righteous Good Father. How much more does He want us to grow and mature into the people we were born to be?

The bible tells us in Hebrews 12:6 KJV, For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives”. There are many other scriptures that say the same thing. Please do not put your faith in a deception that will separate you from God.

WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN cont.

opposite signs on wooden signpost with the text quote truth lies engraved. Web banner format.

Last week we left off on the conversation I had with a person that sparked me to think about all the things we put our faith in. These are things that sometimes end up doing more harm than good. Sometimes these things are false gods. Sometimes these things are empty promises.

The person I had been speaking with had put her faith in her therapist. She had been for about 30 years. THIRTY YEARS!!! Think about that. Thirty years of rehashing every bad thing that ever happened to you. Thirty years of reliving every painful event and focusing on trying to remember even more.

I want you to really think about that for a moment. If you are daily rehashing every bad event in your life, you are doing yourself a huge injustice. We are all the sum product of all our events. Both good and bad. Life is full of ups and downs. Life is full of good choices and bad choices. Even in the bad choices good can come about.

God tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” So even in the downs of our life, ups can come out of it. Even in the bad times, we can look forward to good times.

If you are constantly focusing on all the hurt, you have felt in your life you will always feel hurt. If you constantly focus on how people have let you down. People will always let you down. If you were told you would never amount to anything, and that is what you focus on, then guess what, you will never amount to anything.

I am not bashing therapy; in fact, there is a time for therapy. But if you have been going for a number of years and nothing has changed, maybe it is time to try letting God help you. Try His principles and His ways. Follow His guidance. Try looking for the silver lining once in a while. Try looking for something good in your situation.

Believe me when I tell you, even focusing on just one good thing will start the process of bringing you memories of other good events. I do not think there is a person alive who can honestly say they have never had something good happen to them.

My prayer for you this week is that you will try to find something good to focus on. Find something that will make you smile and focus on that. Then let God turn your life around.

WHAT ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN?

I had a conversation with someone last week that I have been thinking about all week. God allowed me to see in full display what a person who is not living in the truth of God’s word looks like and acts like.

First of all, I want to say up front, I am not trying to condemn anyone for their beliefs, but I do feel God would have me speak the truth when it needs to be spoken.

This person who I was speaking with has a lot of hurt inside of her. She had an unsatisfying childhood, as I am sure a lot of us have had. She told me she has been going to therapy since she was five. From what I witnessed, therapy is not working. In my opinion if you have been in therapy for basically your entire life and you are still harboring pain, unforgiveness and anger, you might want to rethink your therapist.

This person was once a beautiful woman externally. But the pain and anger in her heart that she is harboring inside is beginning to show on her face externally. Even her makeup has changed!

This person focused on every unpleasant thing that ever happened to her. Repeated every story over and over again. It is all she could talk about. Telling me details of events about people I have never met, nor ever will I meet. Replaying images over and over in her head.

I suggested that maybe she should try to find one good thing that happened to her and focus on that. To which I was informed, not one good thing has ever happened to her in her life. Not one thing good has ever happened to her in her entire life!?

This person believes that if she keeps going to therapy twice a week, she will eventually be happy. She thinks that if she rehashes the events in her life, she will eventually find closure and be able to deal with it. This is a lie! This lie will keep you in bondage! This lie will keep you unhappy! Philippians 3:13-14 tells us to let go of past and press toward the future. This is the truth that will set us free. Leave the past in the past! Forgive the people and events that have hurt you. Give your pain to Jesus! Only then will you be happy.

A CALL TO JOIN THE FAMILY OF GOD

The Christian music concert, Holy City, is bringing together worship and praise to God in a peaceful environment. I invite you to raise your hand and join the worship.

This is a call to join the family of God. I want to ask each of you who are reading this article a question. Where will you be spending your eternity? Heaven or Hell? There is no middle ground! There is only Heaven or Hell for our final destination.

I know there may be some who do not believe in hell, some may not believe in heaven, and even some who do not want to believe in either one. There is a truth each of us know in our spirit about heaven and hell. There is a truth we know about the one true God. It is a knowing that God placed inside each of us.

Romans 1:20 says, For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.

We can look at creation and see there is a God! Some have tried to change the truth and declare we are formed from monkeys, a big bang, etc.… But the truth is staring at us in the face each and every day. There is a pattern to creation. That pattern was created by the Lord.

He is calling each of us to believe the truth. To turn away from the lies that are meant to confuse us. The truth is there is one true God. The truth is He sent his only begotten son so that we could have a relationship with Him. The truth is that Jesus, God’s son, is the only way to have a relationship with The Lord. The truth is that the Lord is calling you today.

This is a call to repentance! This is a call to accept Jesus in your heart! This is a call to turn away from the lies and embrace the truth. The truth is there is only one way to heaven. The truth is Jesus came to earth to make away for each of us. The truth is He died on the cross and rose again. The truth is He is alive and is calling you.

Won’t you call on Jesus today? Just call His Name. Ask Him to come into your heart and be your Lord and your savior. You won’t regret it.

DAY OF PRAYER

Yesterday our President hosted the Day of Prayer at the White House. He quoted 2 Chronicles 7:14 which is God speaking to His people. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Whether you like our President or do not like our President is not important right now. What is important is that our Leadership, the person who is the head over our nation is publicly declaring that we are a Nation who needs to turn back to God.

It is always the head of the thing that drives the thing. Hopefully you know what I am talking about. The head of our Nation just turned this ship back to the Lord! This is a very exciting turn of events. Only after true repentance and an acknowledgement that only the Lord can save us will true change take place.

A few years ago, we had a President who declared we were no longer a Christian Nation. That started in motion events that would begin to turn us away from the Lord and change our nation. I won’t go into many details here other than to say, our nation was surely fundamentally transformed away from the Lord.

I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do to turn things around in our nation. I would like to encourage all of us to pray for our nation. To repent for our nation. To fast for our nation and to turn from our wicked ways.

2 Chronicles 7:15 says, “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place”. The Lord is telling us that once we turn from our wicked ways, once we repent, the Lord will heal our land. Then He will turn His ear to hear our prayers and He will be attentive to our prayers.

Let’s all use this time wisely. Let’s all make a point to turn from evil, embrace the good and the true, and pray with fervency. Pray, people of God Pray!

PRAY MAMA PRAY!

So many times, we do not realize the power of a praying mama! I have heard many mothers over the course of my 23 years of salvation tell me they have no hope about a situation in their family. They have tried everything they can think of and now they are out of options.

I have heard this from mothers who are desperate for the doctors to find answers to heal their sick son or daughter. Mothers who are desperate for their children to get off drugs. Mothers who are desperate for their older children to make wise decisions in their relationships and business options.

They have come to me crying and seem to be barely clinging on to the last bit of hope they can dig up. I have done everything I can think of, they tell me. I am at the end of my rope. My child is going astray, or my child is making bad choices, or my child is very sick with an incurable disease. I have nowhere to turn.

Then they usually say something like, maybe I should pray. Maybe God can help. My reply to them is usually something like Maybe? Maybe? God not only can help, He will help! The first thing we should do is go to the Lord in prayer. Mother’s bring your children to the feet of Jesus. Lay them at his feet! Cry out on behalf of your children!

There is a scripture in James 5:16 that says the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Which basically means to be at work in prayer. To put forth power in prayer. To speak with authority over the situation you have before you. Pray with power! Pray with authority! Speak words of truth over your children. Pray the outcome you want to see in their lives! Pray for God’s will to be done.

Many times, we go to God last. Try to remember to go to Him first. Sometimes we repeat the problem over and over again. All that does is reinforce the problem. Don’t pray the problem, pray the solution.

A mother’s heart in prayer will move many mountains. The cry of a mother for her children, there is nothing more powerful. My prayer this week for all of us is that we would remember to bring our children to the Throne room of the Lord.

BE STILL AND WAIT ON THE LORD

Did you know that blessing comes to us from the Lord when we wait on Him? He is a good God who loves to bless His children. He is also a sovereign God who has everything timed out as it needs to be.

Isaiah 55:9 Tells us that God’s ways are higher than our ways. He can see the end from the beginning. He can see all the little twists and turns in our lives, and He already has every detail worked out for our good.

Yet even though we know that God is in control, we get anxious. We get impatient. We want our situation to change now! Then what do we do? We start looking for ways to take control of the situation.

We start looking for solutions. We start thinking about options we have. If you tell me that you have never done this, I will have to question your response. I believe we all have. The idea that we know better than God dates all the way back to Abraham in the Old Testament.

In Genesis we learn how Sarai, (Sarah), and Abraham decided they were done waiting on the Lord and took matters into their own hands. Sarai was so impatient to have the child that God had promised her, that she told her husband to sleep with her maid.

That is definitely the decision of an impatient woman! Imagine being so impatient that you think that if God said He was going to give you a child, you would have to figure out how to get that child on your own. If you have read your Bible, you know that idea did not end well, for anyone in the family or in the surrounding area.

We are told that Ishmael and his descendants were like wild men. They loved war! Everyone was against them and they were against everyone. To me this sounds like a lot of drama and strife that could have been avoided by simply waiting on God’s plan.

Psalm 46:10 tells us to be still and wait on the Lord. Be still! Don’t look for your own solutions. Don’t examine the options that seem right in your eyes. Wait on the Lord! Wait for His timing, wait for His solutions. Be still and wait on the Lord!

Talk to the Lord, daily! Communication with Him is the only way to survive when you get anxious.

Taking matters into our own hands will always lead to more drama, more trouble, more strife. We cannot possibly know all the potholes that lie ahead of us. We do not have the timing of events in the power of our hands. The best option for us is to just wait on the Lord.

My prayer for each and every one of us this week is that we would choose to wait on the Lord. Whatever your situation, whatever your timeline, whatever your circumstances, wait on the Lord. That the Lord would speak to each and every one of us individually and give us the plan we need to move forward. That we would all have the patience to wait on the Lord and that we would not make a move until He tells us to.

Thank you for reading.

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS

This past Sunday evening I preached a message during the evening service. I knew ahead of time that I would be preaching on Sunday. So, it wasn’t like I was unprepared. Yet, somehow, I allowed the enemy to get in my head, and I started listening to old lies.

If you are like a lot of people, when you get in your own head, you can go down a path of unrest and displeasure. It can start with just one thought that is contrary to the truth of God’s word. That is all it takes to set you off on a path of negativity.

The next thing you know is you are unhappy and unthankful with an angry attitude. I started focusing on everything that is going wrong in my life and forgot about all the great things going on. Instead of rejoicing in the Lord and being thankful for all He has brought me through, I started focusing on the mess in front of me that I have yet to walk through or that I am walking through.

Through that experience God gave me a message of hope! He reminded me of His goodness, His mercy, His grace! I got happy as soon as I changed my focus from negative to positive.

You may be asking yourself how do you change your focus from negative to positive? How do you exchange a nasty unhappy unthankful attitude with a happy positive attitude? How do you change your way of thinking?

Philippians 4:4 states, we are to rejoice in the Lord always! In face the Amplified Bible says it like this, “Rejoice in the Lord always [delight gladden yourselves in Him]; again, I say, Rejoice!

Psalm 37:4 of the same version says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

So there it is ladies and gentlemen! The first step is to rejoice in the Lord always! Remember that is His direct instruction! Rejoice in Him. He has you and He will carry you. Whatever you are going through He will sort it out. Rejoice in who He is! Rejoice in His unfailing love! Rejoice and remember all the things He has brought you through so far! Rejoice because He is faithful to bring you through whatever you are facing now!

Do you have unanswered prayers? Then rejoice in the Lord! Delight yourself in remembering all His goodness. Thank Him for your situation! As hard as that is to do, remember that He will work it out for your good and His glory!

He is a good God; He will not leave you hanging! He will take care of you. You are His child! He loves you! Even those secret petitions that you dared not ask. He knows and he will give you the desires of your heart. Trust Him!

Before you know it the darkness will flee. The negativity will flee. You will actually feel the brightness break through the darkness, and you will be free. It might be hard to do at first. But keep focusing on the Lord and His goodness. I promise you that the words of the Lord are true!

Rejoice in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart!

TRY SOMETHING NEW!

Have you ever noticed that we get stuck in a rut sometimes? Either we are comfortable with our situation, so we do not feel the need to change or we have never had the thought that something needs to change.

I can remember a time in my life when I was in a rut that I did not think I would ever find my way out of. In fact, I never even entertained the idea that I could get out of it. I was stuck going through life unhappy and not knowing how to change my circumstances and not even thinking there could be the option to change.

It could be that things in your life are going fine, except for this one area. Maybe your relationships are good, but your finances are in shambles. It could be that your health is great but your unhappy. Whatever the area may be, you would like it to be better.

There is a quote that says,’ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result”. It is time to stop insanity and start doing something different. Take a moment to look at your situation and find something to change.

I understand, sometimes change can be scarry. It is hard to try new things. We can be nervous about what the outcome will be when we change our behavior. We do not like the unexpected. But living in the unexpected is sometimes right where God wants us to be. Letting loose of our situation and turning it over to God can give us freedom and flexibility.

See God is a big God! He can see the end from the beginning, and He knows the best course of action for every area of our life. We are limited to seeing the little physical area surrounding us right now. We cannot know what tomorrow holds, nor can we fully remember all the details of yesterday.

Why should we keep banging our head against the wall expecting the wall to move? Why keep doing the same thing over and over again only to get nowhere? When seeking the counsel of the Lord is what will change our situation!

Proverbs 1:5 in the Amplified Bible says, “The wise will hear and increase their learning, and the person of understanding will acquire wise counsel and the skill [to steer his course wisely and lead others to the truth].

Jesus Christ is the Truth in any situation, in every answer to every question, and to every need in our life. Let’s learn to seek His counsel and change our behavior. Let’s stop banging our head against the wall expecting it to move.