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circumstances

The Greatest Tests Present The Greatest Opportunities

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There are many circumstances through life that we will encounter that will present themselves as a very obvious trial of our faith. A trial of faith as I have found through personal experience is revealed when it questions the integrity of how much that you trust God with a situation or moment. One day we might find ourselves in a position where it is hard to always say within ourselves, “God I know you are with me” or “God I know this is in your plan for me”, feeling the weight and pressure that life will bring when it proves difficult. There have been many that I have seen growing up through the years that have handled things in a variety of ways, but the persons that stand out the most to me are those who stick to their faith.

It is inspiring because they go against the substance of what would attempt to speak to them to go another way, believe a different opinion. The bible questions our faith in a multitude of ways; even Jesus in the prime moments of breakthrough was often left at the very question of the existence of faith. One of the more direct self-examination questions in the bible speaks to the effect of “which report are you going to believe”, or in other words, where do you put your trust when you are walking in life’s valley?

As for me, I hope to inspire as Job did. Job says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will defend my own ways before him.” When people or circumstances are the most difficult is when the greatest tests present the greatest opportunity to lead others to Christ!

The Reason I Go On Is God

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I tend to stray away from writing anything about me, but I feel led to start out with a few thoughts about me to make the bigger point of today.

The bulk of my personal ministry is tied in with my church ministry. In our personal ministry we host a media and message web site, put together a weekly radio broadcast, go to regularly scheduled visits to one of our local nursing homes, participate in a full-time writing and book ministry, as well as going to any church that God leads us to so we can sing and preach. Our church ministry that we co-pastor at is currently in an ongoing building project, holding choir practices, Sunday school, as well as our two regular services every week. And upon getting the call we go and perform house visits or will have group or family prayer nights at least once or twice a week. I add one last piece to say most of our family works full-time jobs and have up and coming families that attend different churches. In a way I am truly amazed, while in another I am brought to a thought.

When I go over this list sometimes it begins to attempt to discourage me simply because most of this does not allow for rest or time off. We have found through the years that helping people spiritually is a full-time job!

So with all of this said, why go on? I am sure you have asked yourself this question at some point in your walk with God.

As for me, the reason I go on is God. People have failed me along the way, but God has never let me down. Circumstances have attempted to destroy me, but the comfort of the holy ghost has came right on time. In summation, when all has failed you God will have opportunities to prove mighty and wonderful. I go on for others that in faith that in time they will come through something that will help them finally realize the fullness of God and the spirit that lives and dwells within them!

So ask yourself today, why do you go on?

Keep Your Head Up

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Today I am very thankful to the Lord above for everything that he is performing in my life. I am thankful for the great works in the lives of those that I see around me. At times the enemy would want all of us to feel discouraged and without a use or a place in this world.

I speak a word of encouragement to everyone to remind you that no matter how much rejection and persecution you face, that the rewards will far outweigh the costs of a few hindrances! Keep your head up and do not faint from the pressure!

Learn to simply endure where you are and God will eventually allow you to move from circumstances that are not promoting the best of a situation that promotes God’s will! Greener pastures will be ahead, joy will be ahead, and a more fruitful life is coming!

We speak it in faith to you in the name of Jesus Christ! Be blessed this day!

Feeling Frustrated? Find The Peace Of God!

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THE WORD

Philippians 4:7 – And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It is an unfortunate truth to accept but we all have learned through experience that it is impossible to avoid all the situations that will bring out the worst in us. Sometimes we will want to get upset because of the circumstance when trying to understand why it happened. Other times we get upset with ourselves because we could have made a better decision and yet chose differently. I think about when Jesus was out on the boat with the disciples. They all began to panic greatly and fear was present. I can imagine hearing “I cannot believe we came out here in this weather” or “we came out all this way for this?!?” There will be countless times where it will be hard to find clarity about the why or what of an event. We become frustrated, angry with life, and needing answers from our state of panic.

And as we read on the disciples went to rouse Jesus out of His slumber but only to hear Him speak to the storm, “Peace, be still” That stirs my heart and soul to not only recognize the power of the peace of God, but the awesome power of God. To be able to speak to the tempests of our lives and have dominion over it all is so amazing. It is wonderful to know that through our faith as we believe we can overcome the raging seas by speaking peace over our circumstances! Find the peace of God in your life today!

PUT INTO PRACTICE

To fully understand the peace of God you must allow it to be fulfilled in your life. This is done best in prayer. For practice I encourage you to take the issue that you are dealing with and enter into surrender by starting out your prayer with the following:

“God, you see this situation in my life. I accept that I may not understand the plan behind that which I am suffering. I put my trust in your will for my life and pray that peace will help me to get through everything that attempts to rise within my human nature. Help me to forgive those who have harmed me and to release bitterness that has come from my confusion. I will obey your holy word and make my best efforts to be a loving example.”

Are You Taking The Hard Road Or Easy Street?

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1 Peter 1:7 – That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

2 Corinthians 7:4 – Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

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When we begin to hear about the lives of others and the state of their condition, often we begin to get emotional towards ourselves without even helping it. Phrases like “well that must be nice” or “that is so terrible, must be sad for them” come out of our mouth without as much as a second thought. It is quite the same when it comes to the way we handle receiving word from modern day media. Once we gain knowledge of the news and immediately process it by discarding it there remains little affect upon us in any way. I have found this quality to be in me sometimes, especially when I find myself tired and worn from my long day, week or month of things that I have been dealing with. So what’s your point?

We are numb! We are discarding other people’s circumstances and tragedies with a common catchphrase and without as much as a prayer anymore. I am here to remind us to call out for them! Even if we have to get back to the basics of simply saying “help them God”, it is far better than the alternative of “that must be sad”. The word of God talks about the power of life and death being in the tongue we possess! Let us remember to speak life through our prayers for people when we cannot reach out to help them. Because when it finally hits home it truly hurts when all that someone says about your tragedies are, “gee, that’s really sad”. Let us step up and do better than that! Let us not take the hard road of cold hearts and zero compassion. Let us take the easy street where in the word of God it says “for my yoke is easy and my burden is light!” Speak life into others and lead them in a path of life!

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Put Into Practice:

I am not sure if it is possible to preach the words off of the page, but I am trying for the next two sentences. Come on lovers of God, stand in the gap today! Spend 10 more minutes in prayer for now on for others! Spend more time in the altar with those who come forward in your services! Give no regard for when it is that they do either! Stop letting a form and a fashion stand in the way of God’s intentions of starting a brand new life in the lives of others! Let us attempt to walk in the same love that Christ did and remember that each and every one of us must come to know God’s love. And for those of us who are aware of how wonderful it is, we should not be so selfish to give up on obeying God in areas of being a witness either! We WILL face persecution for executing the message of the love of God, but we will also save lives. Remember how you are continually in need each day, and never forget compassion. Do it for the behalf of others who are weak that look to you to be strong!

Do Not Be Surprised By Anything

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Proverbs 4:23 – Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

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Although this sort of reminder is now becoming more popular in today’s world, I feel it necessary to give a reality check about preparation. There are going to be many situations that will come up in the months, weeks, or even days ahead that will take you by surprise! These occurrences may be good or bad, wonderful or tragic, or simply just something you could not have put together in your mind to ever happen. There are also going to be circumstances, objects, or people that will be involved. Now that I have presented the reality, I would like to also give the solution to this reality: We cannot always be prepared, but we can be guarded! Regardless of how you put it all together before it happens, you have to learn to get yourself in the mindset to always be on guard in your mind through prayer. God has began showing me that in theory thought I may be surprised I can still be on guard and protected by the covering of His spirit!

I have learned as of late that the only thing you can put your trust in is God. Some of the best things are learned the hard way, right? Wrong! I cannot stress enough that the hard way is not the best way! Do not wait until you are in a real bind with your guard down before you begin to trust in God. God is the only foundation that will be solid that gives you a place you can seek for peace over the worries of your mind. I believe that is why the word of God talks about watching and praying. It bears more significance now more than ever!

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Put Into Practice:

When it comes to testing yourself for being surprised, there are many things that came to mind that could be fun and silly and would more than likely leave you forgetting this quickly. What I would like to do instead is to go a step further than a physical activity.

Think and consider a time where you heard something that did not affect you at first but did over time. Think about another time where something you hear had an immediate effect on you, bringing forth emotions that are normally not exposed in an everyday scenario. Perhaps you may have opened a letter in the mail or read an email about something that affected your finances, or you were informed about the passing of a loved one. There are many things that you could get a hold of here, but I would just ask you not think about the event, but the reaction.

Begin to pray and seek God to prepare you for the “next time”. Sometimes we will have a good run for a while before something else will arise, but God wants us praying daily and continually so that we can abide in all of the benefits of the spirit. By doing this I can boldly guarantee that you will handle the situation much better than you would have without prayer and a guarded heart!

Tear Down Your Inner Walls

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Luke 5:16-26

[16] And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
[17] And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them.
[18] And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.
[19] And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus.
[20] And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
[21] And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
[22] But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
[23] Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
[24] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
[25] And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
[26] And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day.

As I began to read this I saw three things that I needed to immediately put into my life. Jesus withdrew himself before he prayed. We have to began to allow ourselves to be mentally and physically separated from circumstances so that we can begin to pray with a clear mind and heart!

This passage inspires me, because there were a few people that were willing to press pass the crowd of people that were in the way for the needs of SOMEONE ELSE. All I ever hear about anymore are about the needs of “me, me, me”. Sometimes people think that I am honestly crazy when I try to maintain the attitude of preferring my brother over myself. Have we got to such a place where we wouldn’t tear down the tiles for our sick in body and mind?

We have to begin to do some work on ourselves! Let’s begin to tear down the inner walls (our inner man/woman).  Let’s get past mine and your flesh! Let’s get past the multitudes of problems and have faith and take action like they did to believe that the presence of God can begin to heal all of the broken pieces in your life!