Show Up!

There’s power and purpose in our praise!

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who wee invading Judah, and they were defeated. 2 Chronicles 20:22

In this continuation from Wednesday’s blog, we find the inhabitants of Judah about to enter into a battle with three separate armies. Keep in mind Judah did not want to fight them, but their enemies got it in their minds to attack Judah anyway. The odds certainly appeared to be against them, but as they began to sing and praise God, prior to arriving to the battle, the Lord set an ambush against their enemies.

Please know the enemy only wants to attack your praise (Judah means praise). If he can muffle or snuff out your praise, then he has a very good chance of shutting you down. When we begin to sing and praise God in spite of our circumstances, God will defeat our enemies and all those who oppose us.

But God had Judah do what they do best, praise, and their enemies began to turn on each other. So much so that when Judah finally SHOWED UP on the scene, they were all dead. When the battle is over, the one left standing has free reign of the spoils. Catch this, God is only asking us to SHOW UP to the battle and be prepared to take home the blessings from the work that He has done! Can you work with that? So when the opposition rears itself in our lives, lets just SHOW UP!

Your thoughts?

Look Up!

When hard trials come, we tend to get down in spirit and in our countenance. Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to react initially that way, but we should only stay there but for a moment: especially when we have a God who cares for us and who allows His Spirit to dwell in us. With that in mind, we should always have a reason to look up.

Our God, will you not judge them: For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. 2 Chronicles 20:12

In our text and its supporting Scriptures we find that King Jehoshaphat was about to be attacked, no triple-teamed by the Ammonites, Moabites and a few of the Meunites. Have you ever felt like you were being attacked on every side? In this instance and in our situations, God knows all and He sees all. Our reality should be to recognize there are some things not meant for us to handle (no power to face this vast army) but that belong to God so that He may get the glory and that others might believe in Him. King Jehoshaphat knew to call upon the name of the Lord and seek Him for wisdom and guidance. Have you done that concerning the things that come up against you?

As we look up with surrendered and humbled hearts to the Lord our God, we will gain wisdom and know that the battle isn’t ours but it’s indeed the Lord’s. Do you trust Him enough to fight on your behalf?

Your thoughts?

Maintaining Control

As believers, our response to situations is critical. The enemy is always looking for a way to set a trap to trip us up. His goal is to discredit us and in doing so discredit the God we serve. This is why we must set a watch at our mouth and keep the doors of lips manned at all times. How we respond matters!

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

Today’s text reminds us of that very truth. A gentle response will diffuse a situation, but if we respond angrily, we will be met with anger. It is important that we learn to manage our emotions and exercise self control. Self control is one of the fruit of the spirit and proves to be a very important one for me in particular. When you feel your temperature boiling, take a moment before you respond. Also, when you respond, always remember who you’re representing! Someone is always looking at how we react, especially God!

Your thoughts?

Faith Don’t Fail Me Now!

Appealing to someone or something that has died is useless, just as saying you have faith, but have no evidence to prove it.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26 NIV

In order for us to live out God’s purpose for our lives, our spirit must be alive in our earthen bodies. Here on this earth you cannot have one without the other and expect to get physical things accomplished. So it is in the spirit realm, which we as believers have been called. Our faith must be accompanied by works or actions! Simply saying we have faith will not cause mountains in our lives to be moved. But rather profession accompanied by a strong confidence in God and His word, along with a forward, physical motion toward what we are saying to be true; the mountain will move.

Situations arise to test our faith. They also give us an opportunity to exercise and even strengthen our faith. So when the test comes, don’t ignore it and don’t run away from it. Remember God’s word and believe exactly what it says and move forward in it! Don’t allow your faith or the lack thereof, to fail you!

Your thoughts?

(good lookin' out Kim!!!)

Do You Believe?

John 11:25  I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.

There was a saying my mother would say, "I brought you in this world and I'll take you out." Looking at it now, this shows me ownership of creation. Although she would never harm us, she wanted us to know what kind of power she possessed.

In our Scripture, Jesus is assuring us He has the power to resurrect that which is dead and give it life again. This life He speaks of is eternal life. But even in the here and now, with those who believe in Him, they have the ability to live according to God's plan and have new life in this earth realm.

Although everyone will die a physical death, only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God as well as believe God raised Jesus from the dead, their spirits will be resurrected and will live in eternity with God.

Do you believe?

Your thoughts?

Live to Give

2 Corinthians 5:15  And he died for us so that we will all live, not for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose from the dead (Voice Bible).

A great correlation between Christ’s relationships with us is our relationship with our children. Before I had kids, it was all about me and my needs. I was able to go whenever I wanted and do whatever I wanted. I sowed so much into myself; one could call me selfish because it was ALL about ME! But when I first got word that another person was about to come forth into this world, that I was responsible for, the first thing I could think of was, “dang,” I won’t be able to sleep as often as I like to.” But once I saw her beautiful brown eyes, I knew I had to do everything for her and put me on the back-burner.

So it is when we give (not say, but give) our lives to Christ. Our lives are no longer to be lived for selfish pleasures, but to glorify our heavenly Father with everything we do and say. So when I want to sleep in when I know He wants me to get up and pray; I have to get up because lives are at stake. Lets go back to the day we asked Him to come into our hearts and save us, that in asking, we not only received salvation and the opportunity to sanctify ourselves daily, but we gave up what the world taught us in being selfish for doing what the WORD teaches us and that is to love and live as unto God. We've been purchased by the blood of Christ and our lives are no longer ours but we belong to God.

Your thoughts?

Truth or Consequence?

Exodus 23:2 – Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

Most people would like to be popular, but popularity comes with a price. Being popular or with the “in” crowd, one must submit to the ways of that crowd. If you venture to do something different than the majority, then you are viewed as an outcast or a trouble maker and could possibly be extricated from the group. According to our text, we must be careful who we CHOOSE to follow and what philosophy we choose to live by. Crowds that view God’s way as the wrong way are crowds we want to stay clear of. There will be consequences to every choice we make!

Remember, there are always three sides to every story: the two people giving their side of the story and the truth, God’s side!

Your thoughts?

"Looking Beyond What the Natural Eye Can See"

Proverbs 11:27 Whoever seeks good finds favor, but evil comes to one who searches for it.

God is so wise! We can take two words that are derived from the same source, but they each take on somewhat of a different meaning. The words look and see! When you see something, it is usually right there in plain view, whereas looking, takes a bit more effort. God looked beyond our faults and He met our need(s). This was done in spite of the current flaws He could see we possessed.

In light of our Scripture reference, we too are to look at situations and people through eyes of faith and believe they will be saved, set-free and delivered. Its time, we look (seek out; search) for the good and not expect the bad in life. Whatever we search for,be it good or evil, it will be that in which we will find. Evil is always looking for a place to rest, have you been making yourself available because you refuse to seek/look for good? Let's start seeing ourselves where we want to be. We have the power to move mountains if we would just say so and see it already done!

If you want favor to continue in your life, then seek good!

Your thoughts?

What's Your Egypt?

Exodus 20:1-2 And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

In Scripture Egypt represents a place of bondage, slavery or oppression for God's people. Being in bondage means we've given up our authority to someone else or some THING. Each one of us have been in "Egypt" when we were sinners and enemies of God. But thanks be to God, we heard the Lord's voice when He whispered that day, I am the Lord your God! It was at that place of acceptance that He delivered us from the bondage of the penalty of sin. It is now up to us to denounce things that lure us back into bondage.

What's your "Egypt" today? Is it overeating, laziness, procrastination, lying or unforgiveness? The Bible encourages us to stand fast in the liberty where Christ has made us free and not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). Just as the Lord our God set us free through salvation, He also gives us the opportunity to keep us free through sanctification and regeneration by the washing of His Word.

God has spoken, so today let us walk in the freedom He has so graciously provided!

Your thoughts?

Surprise, Surprise!

I Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange we're happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

I love a good surprise. It's normally difficult to surprise me but when you can get something by me without me knowing about it, you are good! 

Okay, now let's go to school! A synonym for surprise is "unexpected," while the antonym is "expectation." So, if we're expecting and therefore know our faith will be tested, how on earth can we be surprised when trials come our way? Why should we allow our foundation to be shaken? Make sense? Not really!

When we get it into our thinking that yes, we will endure hardship and heartache, but neither can take us out, and both will build our faith and character, then we will be able to see God's glory revealed as He rescues us from the hand of the enemy and strengthen us through our suffering.

So although there maybe times when things appear to be too much, just know that they shouldn't come as a surprise and know that God's gonna get the glory out of it. The joy of the Lord IS our strength. Are you leaning on the Lord today?

Your thoughts?

"Say You're Sorry"

Luke 13:2-3 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

I can remember as a child, doing something I had no business doing. Sometimes it was an offense against another child and the adult would tell me "now say you're sorry!" I'm sure I was reluctant to do so but under the persuasion of the adult I'm certain I quickly repented.

Looking at our text I believe we as Christians have problems with repenting because  first, we compare our sins to others and believe since ours isn't greater than someone else's sin we don't have to repent. And secondly because we feel we don't have to say we're sorry for selfish reasons. Saints this is a bad habit to have because if you're not willing to say you're sorry and really mean it, then the Bible says (and I'm paraphrasing) your eternal resting place will be hell.

Sometimes life calls for us to say we're sorry even when we're not in the wrong. So let's put our big people pants on and do what God has called us to do and that is, to repent, say you're sorry and keep it moving.

Your thoughts?