No More Delay!

Hey Readers!

Have you ever felt like God wasn’t listening to your prayers? Well, so did Job! In Job 21, he talked with some of his very insightful, but completely off based friends, about the incredible storm he was in, and he says to them his problem is not with man, but with God!

Woe! What a thing to profess. In fact, he said in verse 5-6 that it even stunned and scared him to say such a thing. His complaint was that the wicked seemed to prosper, while he suffered enormously.

In preparing for my first sermon in a few weeks, I heard the Holy Spirit saying that many people’s hearts felt the exact same way. You wondered where was God at in your situation? Why has he not answered my prayers, while everyone who has no reference for Him seems to prosper?

God indeed has an answer! It has always been his answer. Are you ready for it? “Those who accept my commands and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and REVEAL myself to each of them.”(John 14:21, NLT)

Regardless of what you may be going through, if you have a relationship with God, He will reveal Himself to you and you are not alone!

You may be saying, that you are loosing heart because you have been waiting so long. My answer to that is, prayer is hard work for those who are broken. When the answer seems delayed, it hurts and we can lose confidence; which can cause us to question the power of our prayers.

However, prayer is powerful, and the enemies strategy is to cause you to doubt what God said is true. There is a story in the Bible that exemplifies what we must do in situations like this. BE PERSISTENT!

Parable of the Persistent Widow:

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:1-8, KJV)

If an unjust judge can render a just decision, than cant our caring and loving Father react to our persistent faith? God will reveal himself to those who love Him, and Yes! He WILL show up for you!

Reveal in the Greek is emphazino…. Emphazino= is a verb that means fully manifest. It is future tense, voice is active, and mood is indicative. It occurs 814 times in the New Testament (verb).

Future tense= certain occurrence of an event which has not yet happened (faith).

Active voice= represents the subject as the doer or performer of the action.

Mood indicative= simple statement of fact. If an action really occurs, has occurred, or will occur it will be rendered in that mood.

Jesus is the ultimate means through which God reveals Himself! According to the definitions above, Jesus is certain to show up, He will perform the action you ask for (you just have to give it to Him), and that is just fact!

In other words…Jesus is the conduit through which God will reveal himself and He is THE PROMISE!  We can’t be deceived by what Jesus says, so if He said it, than it is fact (as mentioned above) therefore what Jesus reveals to us is the promise, and the promise is received by faith! (Romans 5:16, NLT)

God hears your cries, and He hurts just like you do. The Bible says “in all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:9, KJV)

The difference between that judge and our judge is that God is not annoyed by our request, nor is He waiting for someone to get on His nerves before He brings about justice.

“And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He [a]defer them and [b]delay help on their behalf?” (Luke 18:7, AMP)

You can receive the promise!

God’s promise is for you, even if you mess up sometimes. “If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.”(Romans 5:14,NLT)

it is our gift and only obtained by faith. “Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.” (Romans 3:27, NLT)

Therefore, be encouraged and don’t lose faith in what you are believing God for. Faith brings joy, loosing heart brings despair. There is greater for you, and you WILL have it. Be persistent and watch God reveal His glory in your life!

Know your strength!

Ever been down? I don’t mean sad, but easily cheered up, but I mean down to the point of no getting up!

I believe that even the strongest of us have felt so grieved about a thing in our lives that we may have had a hard time getting up. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one that was dear to your heart, or maybe you suffered a trail that kept you from seeing the victorious outcome; but one thing is for certain if we are in Christ Jesus we can get back up again!

You see, one thing I know is that in our dry season God will run rivers of water through them, and these rivers give us the strength to go on. The Bible says that “those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” (Psalms 126:5, KJV)

A couple of days ago, I found myself in that low state to where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel exiting my circumstance. I prayed daily, I worshiped, and I trusted; but at that moment I had accepted the enemies lies…the same lie he often tells you…”this is never going to get better.”

But I praise God for a relationship with Jesus that doesn’t allow me to fall to quickly from God’s grace. I took my cares and the devil’s lies to the Lord in prayer, and the Lord brought me out minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. He told me to focus on those things that are pure, that are good, and that are true.

What do we know to be true?

One thing He reminded me of, is that in my weakness He is made strong! And…

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isa. 40:29, NIV)

He used my husband to give me a beautiful card that read….

“You are a person of courage and strength and nothing can take that away. No circumstance that comes into your life can alter who you really are. You are a person of kindness and warmth with uncounted gifts yet to give. No matter how stormy the world is around you, your spirit still shines through. Whatever life may bring, please believe in these two things-you’re stronger than you may imagine, and you are never alone.” (Cheryl Hawkinson)

I want to encourage you by saying that nothing you go through will change the nature of your strength. No moment of weakness will change who you truly are! You are made in His image, and you are strong!

If you are feeling “down” today, know that you can get back up! Realize that you have strength and power through His might! When you were born again, you were given power to endure.  Yes, you will have days of weariness, for the Word says “even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isa. 40:29-31, NIV)

God is with you! And when you don’t know what to do let the Lord know, “my soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.” (Psa. 119:28, NIV)

Stay in your Word, allow Him to encourage you through His Word, and remember who you are in Christ Jesus. You are an achiever, you will overcome, and yes, you are victorious!

Don’t be afraid to reach out to others in your weak moment as well because there is power in the story of your trail. Paul said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”(2 Cor. 12:9-10 NIV)

God is willing and He is able! Remember The LORD God is your strength, and He will make your feet like hinds’ feet. He will make you walk up that mountain. (Habakkuk 3:19) Today is a new day, and in this new day we are making new decisions to propel us forward. It may seem hard now, but know on the other side of through is a blessing you don’t have room to receive and your destination is higher!

I believe that in this season, those who have been seeking God are going to greater heights in the Lord, and I want to tell you, you’re greater is coming! That good getting up morning has arrived….greater anointing, greater power, greater health, greater finances, greater discernment, and a greater you! You, like Habakkuk wrote, will be the chief singer on your stringed instrument! You will have victory, you will overcome, and yes you will make it! Keep trusting and keep believing. I see greatness in your future because you, my friend, are strong!

 

Something Real!

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2

Today I want to present you with something real!

I’m not interested in teaching you how to attempt to manipulate God with scripture to get Him to act on your behalf according to your will! I’m not interested in telling you how to get rich quick off of a $1,000 seed, or selling you a miracle prayer cloth or vial of water; but what I am interested in… is telling you about the fullness of Jesus and how He is the end all to all of your hurt, all of your pain, all of your struggle, all of your iniquity, all of your anger, all of your sorrow, all of your agony, and all of your bondage.

When Jesus died; He bore ALL things. The cross for the believer is a point of deliverance. “But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5)

(Eph. 2:13) “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Being made whole is not just a physical healing…being made whole is healing emotionally, healing physically, and healing spiritually.

There is an old hymn that says “at the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away! It was then by faith, I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day!”

Why is the author of the song happy? He is happy because he realized that in Christ Jesus he is made whole. That when He believed and had faith that Christ died for him, He realized the Lord’s love for him and it was at that moment that he was no longer a slave to his sin, bondage, or brokenness. That it was in Christ Jesus that ALL of His needs were met. “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19) The scripture wasn’t talking about material gain. It was talking about Jesus…Jesus being everything that we need. In Him we have it all. In Him we are set free. In Him we are made whole.

How does that heal my hurt? How does that heal my pain? How does that deliver me from all that is going on around me? …..Perfect love HEALS all things! We’re not talking about man’s love; we’re talking about Agape love (admiration, affinity, affection, communion, amazed, authentic, unadulterated, unconditional, overwhelming love), and when you can visualize what Jesus’ crucifixion has really afforded you and the love that God has for His children….you can walk in healing of any sort because you understand His love and once you understand His love you can start to see that He is love and verses like John 3:16 start to become alive to you. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You start to see that this whole thing started out of God’s love for His children, and as you reach for Him you reach for His love…and in seeking Him and abiding in Him healing occurs.

You may ask how can I receive this when I am hurting right now today & scripture just is not comforting me? I’m tired of people saying “no weapon formed” and quoting scripture when I live in today and nothing around me is changing.

You receive it by BELIEVING…believing that He is!

If you can believe that God is real and He sent His son, who is also real, who died and took on everything because He loved me and His love is real…..Then, you can receive Him and His love, BY FAITH, and if you can receive Him and His love then you can receive healing in your mind, body, and soul.

And that’s what I come to do today. I come to supply you with something real for all that you’re going through! I come to point you to Jesus! He is the supplier of all of your need.

Does this mean that you won’t hurt after you come to accept Him, or that you won’t experience illness? No! (John 16:33) “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

In other words you may go through some things, but you don’t have to be trapped in bondage from your circumstance. That in Him you can overcome all things because he has already overcome the world. However, while you’re going through you will remember Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” In other words he’s saying, That in this world you may go through some things, but don’t let it allow you to neglect my love for you because I know how I feel about you and I have a future for you and in knowing that  you should have hope!

That although you’re going through, Isaiah 61:3 is the loving Father I am.  I plan …“To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

That (Isaiah 61:7) “Instead of your shame [you shall have] double [honor], And [instead of] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs [yours].”

(John 15:9) “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. (John 15:7) “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

In His Word He said lay your burdens down “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mat. 11:29) In other words, let me handle all your cares today…let me heal all your hurts and right all your wrongs. BELIEVE that I am!