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The LORD Is Our Deliverer

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” ~ Psalms 34:19KJV

We will have difficulties, trials, and even some failures. But we don’t stay down, we pick our self up, dust our self off and keep on going because the LORD is our help, He will deliver us out of all troubles.  Once there was a young man testifying in church, he stood up and said, “Please pray for me I’ve only been saved a few weeks but I’ve fallen down so many times already that I’ve lost count.”

An elderly gentleman got up next and said, “Unlike this young man I’ve been saved for 70 years and have never been down.” Then he sat down.

After the meeting, the young man found the elderly gentleman and said, “Sir, I find it incredibly hard to believe you’ve been serving the LORD for 70 years and have never been down!”

“Oh,” replied the elderly gentleman, “I’ve never been down because I’m either up or getting up!”

The moral of the story is, if you get knocked down, don’t stay down, God is for you, He will deliver you out of the many afflictions and trials that life will toss your way.

Heavenly Father, please deliver those today who are hurting. Provide a job for the one who is job hunting, finances to the one who is in need. Give your peace to the troubled and wisdom to the distraught. LORD to the one who is hooked on drugs or alcohol rebuke that spirits of addiction and destruction that want to destroy them. Give sight to the spiritually blind and show them the way of righteousness. Let all things work together for Your glory and for their good, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.

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The LORD Is Our Strength

“…O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” ~ Isaiah 33:2

Do you need strength? Are you in distress? Cry out to Jesus.  Isaiah cried out to the LORD to be gracious and to be his strength.  The LORD longs to do the same thing for you that He wanted to do and did do for Isaiah.  Do not think you are alone, cry out to the LORD He will hear, He will answer and He will bring you comfort.

Our Father and our God, this is our humble prayer, the cry of our heart. For we are nothing without you, you O LORD is our everything. Would you meet our needs today? Would you let us know we are not alone in our struggle, but that you’re right there beside us every step of the way even when it doesn’t feel like you are there. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

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Oh Mighty Warrior

“The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior’” ~ Judges 6: 11-12

Unbelievably, Gideon was hiding from the enemy, scared that they would find him and take away his lunch (the wheat he threshing), but God called him a mighty warrior anyway. Why?  Because a warrior was who God saw and not a scared little man hiding from the enemy.  What are you facing today? Bullying at school?  Maybe an overbearing boss or fellow-employee? Maybe it’s physical or mental abuse at home.  Maybe it’s a medical report you just received.

Whatever the trial know this, God sees you as He has equipped you. You are a mighty warrior as the result, armed, ready and able to achieve mighty feats for God.  Don’t let circumstances or people make you hide from who God has created you to be.  Instead, speak to your circumstances and call those things that are not as if they are, in faith.  Go on, take on the world, you are destined to achieve great things you mighty warrior.

Heavenly Father, please help us to see our self as You see us. Help us to connect with who You have called us to be. Please remind us of whom we are in Christ Jesus: we are mighty warriors in an army that has never known defeat. Provide the resources, whatever they are, according to Your riches in heaven. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.

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Let Go

““1Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” ~ Genesis 12:1-4

God promised Abraham descendants, that he would be made into a great nation… but he was in his old age, and Sarah, his wife, was barren. Abraham could have easily given up on this promise, but he didn’t. Now sure he made some mistakes along the way, but he never gave up on that promise. He may not have gotten 100 on the test, but he definitely passed. And that’s the key, he didn’t give up, though he did succumb to the temptation his wife put in before him. Don’t get the wrong idea this isn’t just Sarah’s fault, Abraham is the head of his household he should have corrected Sarah like Adam should have corrected Eve.

There’s a pattern in the bible… Sometimes men are weak. Men, you’re supposed to be the head if you fall, we fall… And woman sometimes we need to just sit back and let God do as He has promised… Sometimes as women, we try to control things because we don’t want to wait… The decisions we make today will affect the generations to come.

Exodus 34:7 says, “[God keeps] steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” And Abraham’s sin has caused his descendants to suffer both the Arabs and the Jews. But the good thing is even though we, both men and women, are impatient, and think we know best, God still says, ‘these are my children. Sure they’ve got a couple cuts and bruises here and there from disobedience, and sure they go left when I tell them right. But they’re my children, and I will never give up on them. I won’t forget them, but instead, I will slowly pull them back to Me. I would do anything for them because I love them. Though they do not deserve my love or my forgiveness, I will send them my Son, my one and only Son. He will be their deliverer. He will be the final sacrifice because He is the perfect sacrifice. And they will be spared if they only accept My Son.’

We have to learn to trust God. We have to learn to follow God. We have to learn to seek God, if not for ourselves, for our children. What we do today, affects what happens to not only us but everyone around us, tomorrow. We aren’t the only ones that our decisions affect. We have to learn how to trust God and understand that His plans for our lives are the best. We have to understand that God’s path is the best path, though it may not seem plausible, it may not make sense, it may not be the easiest, but it is the best way. It is the right way. We have to learn as both men and women, to stand firm in the promise God has given to each of us. We have to learn how to trust God and His plans. We have to learn how to have faith in God when it seems difficult. We have to learn how to let go and let God. We have to learn how to give up control so that God can lead us into our promise.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Let Go.

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Only Believe

“35While He was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ 36But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ 37And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39And when He had entered, He said to them, ‘Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ 40And they laughed at Him. But He put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41Taking her by the hand He said to her, ‘Talitha cumi,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’ 42And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43And He strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.” ~ Mark 5:35-43

Did you notice what Jesus told the ruler of the synagogue? He said in verse 36, “do not fear, only believe.” Do not fear only believe. The opposite of fear is belief. It’s faith. We have to trust God in order to receive what we pray for. In order to receive our requests.

Imagine if the ruler of the synagogue didn’t believe. The little girl wouldn’t have woken up. Why? Because he would have limited Jesus’ power. Mark 6:5-6, “5 And He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. And He went about among the villages teaching.” God is limited by our fears, our unbelief, our trust issues. We are the only ones who can limit God.

We don’t have to be Paul or Peter or John or any other of the new testament prophets in order to see the glory of God. We just have to have faith, and not allow fear to hold us back. The fear that what we pray for won’t come true. The fear that we will look a fool when it doesn’t come true. The fear that we don’t have the authority to do these miracles. The fear of absolute failure. Don’t limit God because of your fear, step out in faith and believe. That’s all you have to do is believe. Which is a lot easier said than done, but it is possible. Romans 10:17 tells us, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

If we want faith, we have to read our Bible daily. We have to have quiet time daily. We have to spend time with God daily. Not just once a week when we go to church on Sunday, but every day. We should start and end our day in God’s Word. Why? Because if we start our day with God, our mind starts out with clarity. With purity. With love. With joy. With peace. With the Armor of God, so that we can defend ourselves from the evil one when he attacks us during the day. It needs to be the last thing we do at night so that it seeps through our subconscious. Why? So that while we are asleep, our subconscious is on guard. So that our Spirit Man is strong and ready to defend when the evil one attacks us during our sleep, through our dreams. Our dreams are susceptible to the evil one if we are not on guard. If our Spirit Man is weak. We have to read our Bible so that we can grow our Spirit Man. We have to grow our Spirit Man so we can build our faith. We have to build our faith so we can defend ourselves from the evil one.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Only Believe.

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Do

“Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.” ~ Exodus 7:20

Notice anything? Maybe the fact that God always had Aaron do something physical before a miracle could take place. See this anywhere else in the bible? Maybe when Jesus healed the blind, lame, etc. They all had to do something. It wasn’t enough for them to just have faith they had to tie it together with works. They had to do exactly what they were believing would happen. See we serve a willing and able God, but we lack something… faith.

See faith is broken up into two parts believing it will happen and living like it has happened. We got the first one down, we believe it is possible, but we refuse to live our lives like it is. We all suffer from a disease called doubt. We believe it’s possible, but we doubt it worked. We contradict ourselves. We’re or worst enemies most of the time because we’re the only one that can stop ourselves from receiving what the LORD has given to us. Stop doubting. Stop second guessing. Stop questioning. Imagine what would happen if you fully believed. How many more mountains would be moved? How many more prayers would be answered? Imagine the army we would have.

We, the church, is an army, but right now we’re like Saul, we kill a couple thousand, No Big Deal. We could be David and kill tens of thousands, which is pretty cool. But what if we’re meant for more? What if we’re meant to be like the angel who killed 185,000 soldiers… in one night. What if that’s our destiny to be great and destroy strongholds, addictions, principalities, etc. in one night. Jesus said we would do greater things than He did, what if we just need to stop just believing and start doing. Start living it instead of just speaking it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Do.

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Break Contracts

“Esau said, ‘Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.’ Then he said, ‘Have you not reserved a blessing for me?’” Genesis 27:36

Isn’t this interesting? Esau, two chapters earlier sold his birthright for some stew, and the bible says he despised his birthright, but now suddenly he was cheated out of it? Doesn’t that sound like us today? We say the Devil stole this from us and that from us when the majority of the time we sold it to him at a weak point in our life. But what we sell to him isn’t the full birthright and blessing at once; instead, we sell not only the keys to the door, but we also sell the rights to the room which enables him to not only claim but take whatever he wants.

See, when we do something (considered a small thing), we’re now making a contract with the devil. For instance, if we allow horror movies filled with demonic activity and spells and witchcraft, we are now making a contract with those things in the spiritual, so that they have the right to be in our house. They have the right to torture us. To take away our sleep. Our peace of mind. Our shalom, that was promised to us by Jesus.

What many of us don’t understand is that everything we do has either a consequence or a reward, no matter how big or small it may seem. Now we know this to be true, but the majority of us don’t fully understand what that means. And because we don’t understand, we don’t take heed to this.

For instance, we will allow movies/books filled with sexually explicit jokes, scenes, etc. and then get shocked and wonder why we are struggling with lust. See just like Esau, we unknowingly sell our birthright not realizing that it also takes away the blessings that Jesus promised us. That God promised us. Instead of making side contracts with the devil, why don’t you try to stay true to the contract you have with Christ. I know this is easier said than done, but it isn’t impossible. Jesus promised that we would be able to overcome because he overcame. And if you think that there is any sin Jesus was not tempted by, you are wrong. Because the writer of Hebrews ensures us that “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

There isn’t a sin that Jesus hasn’t overcome or hasn’t dealt with himself, so there is no need to feel too dirty to bring your struggles before Him because He understands and empathizes with us.
Now, just because He has empathy, does not mean He will give any of us a free pass. He expects us to strive for perfection. To strive for excellence not just settle for mediocrity. Which is what the majority of us strive for. The majority of us will overlook the sin, close their eyes and sign the contract, so that they feel better. That’s what we do when we make excuses for our sins, we close our eyes then sign the contract as if that makes everything okay.

Our goal shouldn’t be a mediocre or less life, where we are slaves to Lust of the Eyes, Lust of the Flesh, and Pride of Life, but instead where conquer each and every sin that falls under these categories. Ensuring us not only happiness but joy. For happiness is affected by our situation, but joy nothing can steal and nothing can shake.

But how do we get past the mediocre lifestyle we’ve come to enjoy and feel comfortable in?
We have to start with cleaning our inside. We have to read our bibles daily, we have to pray more than just bedtime prayers, or before meals, we have to seek God during quiet time, we have to spend time in worship, and we have to take every thought captive. Once we have strengthened ourselves, we can start to break every sinful contract we have made. We can lock and close doors we should have never opened. We can cast out every evil spirit that torments us.

But we have to first start with cleaning ourselves from the inside. Because as Christ followers, we have to do better. We have to deny our flesh so that we can overcome. Because once we overcome, we can help another person overcome, and so on. Just remember to keep God first, deny your flesh, and take every thought captive.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Break Contracts.

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Go Dirty

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

6 Now the Lord God appointed a plantand made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” ~ Jonah 4:1-11

This amazes me that Jonah both fled and disobeyed God, and didn’t feel he would be punished, yet he wants the people of Nineveh to perish, he wants them to be punished but not him. He then goes on to say he is so angry that he would rather die than live because he didn’t want to see an entire race or nation of people be saved from destruction.

Then when he is uncomfortable, because God took away the plant, he would rather die than live. He is mad God killed the plant, but mad he wouldn’t kill the entire city of people, the entire city of souls… He would rather them go out into eternity unready than to have another chance? If these are the people God chooses to be His prophets and representatives of Him, it makes me feel like okay maybe I can be saved. Maybe I can stand as a representative of God and not feel ashamed of all of the stuff I have done.

It shows me who God really is. That God is truly a God of mercy, patience, love, and forgiveness; not a God of anger, vengeance, and hate as the world tries to make Him out to be. Sure, He punishes His children, but every GOOD parent punishes their child when they have done something wrong. Keep this in mind, when you feel too far gone or too dirty to be clean remember that God doesn’t choose people who are clean and perfect.

God chooses people who are dirty and are in need of cleansing. People who are in need of Him. Look at who He chose to be His prophet, a man that would rather save the life a simple, soulless tree than a city of people who had strayed because he didn’t have the same love and mercy God does. Jonah wasn’t perfect, and neither are you, so let God be the perfect one in the relationship. Let God slowly wash you clean until you see yourself the way he sees you, as His.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Go Dirty.

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The Wrong F Word

“Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” Genesis 6:22

We always talk about having Faith like Abraham, but never Noah. Why? Let me put it into perspective. Never once had the Earth rained before the flood. Genesis 2:5-6 tells us a mist came up from the Earth and watered the Earth. “5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—” Now this explains why no one believed that rain would fall from Heaven to cause a flood to destroy all of mankind because they never saw a raindrop before.

Imagine the faith it took for Noah to not only believe that it would happen, but he spent the next 120 years building an ark. He had not only faith but patience. This is where he and Abraham differ, because Abraham slept with Hagar to try to produce the child God promised, but only caused a problem for the generations to come. Whereas Noah never strayed from God’s plan. He waited with faith, patience, and obedience for 120 years.

Then the ark was finished. The ark was finally complete, but the rain still hadn’t started. Imagine the taunting he received. Imagine the doubt that tried to fill his mind. He just spent 120 years building an ark, but there’s no rain. Not a day after not even two days after. It took seven days after the ark was built, for the rain to come.

Then when they got into the ark, he needed faith again. Faith that when God shut that door, that door stayed shut. That door didn’t budge so that no water would enter the ark.

Then he needed faith that the ark would be able to withstand the aggression of the flood. He needed to have faith that the ark would not overturn or have a crack or leak.

Noah had to trust God about so many things that could very well put his life and the lives of the people he loved in danger. Imagine if we had faith like Noah. Imagine if we expected the best instead of fearing the worst. Imagine if we went out into our everyday life filled with the faith that God would shut us into our call and keep us safe from the flood of sin that plague the Earth.
We tend to walk into things with fear and worry, whether it’s our past we are afraid of coming back to haunt us or the fear of racism or sexism. We go into things with fear, instead of faith.

We’re using the wrong f word. It’s not an easy thing to change the way we think. We’re creatures of habit. But this isn’t an impossible task either. Whenever those fears try to overwhelm us, we have to change that thought. Whether we quote scripture or we pray, or we speak confident/encouraging words, the thought has to change.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Change Your F Word.

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Be Obedient

“1Then Naomi, her mother-in-law, said to her, ‘My daughter, should I not seek rest for you, that it may be well with you? 2Is, not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you were? See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3Wash therefore and anoint yourself, and put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor, but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4But when he lies down, observe the place where he lies. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down, and he will tell you what to do.’ 5And she replied, ‘All that you say I will do.’

6So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. 7And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. 8At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!” ~ Ruth 3:1-8

Naomi told Ruth to go, once Boaz had finished eating and was asleep, uncover Boaz’s feet and lay next to him as he was sleeping. Without hesitation or questioning, Ruth went and did as she was told. Imagine if we had the same obedience as Ruth did when God tells us to do something. Imagine if we obeyed God no matter what today’s culture or society tells us. Imagine if we obeyed God and ignored our laziness, our shyness, our fear, our doubt, our flesh. What type of miracles would we see happen? What kind of breakthrough would we have?

What’s keeping you from absolute obedience? What’s hindering your faith? Obedience is better than sacrifice. If we could only obey… but our flesh is weak. How then can we strengthen our flesh? We must strengthen our Spirit Man. How then can we strengthen our Spirit Man? Daily prayer and meditation on God’s word. Not yoga meditation, but meditation on God’s Word. Sitting in His presence allowing Him to speak to us through His written word. When we pray, meditate, and worship we strengthen our Spirit Man. When we strengthen our Spirit Man, we are able to crucify the evil flesh and strengthen the good flesh. Once our flesh is strengthened our actions will more so follow the gentle guidance of Holy Spirit.

Just as Ruth believed Naomi knew better than she did, we should believe that God knows better than we do. When we believe in God’s goodness, faithfulness, and wisdom as Ruth believed in Naomi’s, we reap harvests like never before. We see miracles take place. We see prayers answered. We see blessings poured upon us, just as Ruth did. I believe because of her obedience and faith, Ruth was blessed. For the Savior of the entire world came through a non-Jew. The promise came through Ruth’s descendants. Ruth was grafted into the promise because of her obedience and her faith. How will God use you with your obedience?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Obedient.

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