Sometimes I forget that people, even people ministering in the pulpit, do not grasp the core of the Gospel.

Every Monday, while working in my cubicle, I listen to Sunday’s sermon from my old church. This particular week they had a guest speaker. The minister did great until about ten minutes from the end. He made the Gospel and the message of the Cross all about us and not Christ.

Literally I sat in my cubicle praying for him. Under my breath, of course.

No part of the Gospel is about us. Christ died for our sins (II Corinthians 5:21). He is the One who delivers us from our addictions. He is the One who causes everything to work out for us (Romans 8:28). Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

For the most part, we are taught that we have to sin less. We have to overcome those habits, those addictions. What happens when we focus on sinning? WE sin all the more.

Instead we need to focus our attention on where we want to go. Racecar drivers are told when they are about to crash not to look at the wall but to focus on where they want to go. The car will automatically move in the direction of their focus.

Same goes for us. Whatever we focus on is the direction our lives will take. If we focus on sin, we will sin more. If we focus on Christ and what He has done for us, like saving us (John 3:16), healing us (Romans 8:11), protecting us (Psalm 91) and providing for us (Philippians 4:19), then we will become the people He created us to be.

What are you going to give your attention today?

#attention #focus #Gospel

As human beings, we tend to look at what we don’t have rather than what we do. We focus on how much money we don’t have, the spouse we haven’t met yet, the children we haven’t conceived yet, the job we hate.

We make it an all or nothing proposition. We think that if we haven’t received it by now that God just doesn’t want us to have it, that we will never have it.

God is all about timing. Not ours but His. He sees the Beginning from the End. He knows why the men you have been dating are not His best for you. He knows why you didn’t get that job.

Many times we are settling for less than God’s best for us. God wants to send us the best, like He did when He sent His Son to die for our sins (II Corinthians 5:21). Instead we settle. We settle for a mediocre existence. We settle for Ms. Right-Now. We settle for a life far from what God has for us because we don’t want to wait.

We have been waiting, but we can’t wait a minute longer. We decide to help God out like Sarai did when she sent Abram in to lay with her handmaiden Hagar (Genesis 16:2). This is where we run into trouble.

To this day, the descendants of the son conceived by Hagar and the ones of the promised child Isaac are still fighting.

When we try to help God out, we add drama to our lives that would not have been there otherwise.

We need to focus our attention on God, our Provider (Philippians 4:19), God, the Source of all that we need When we do, we find ourselves at the right place at the right time to receive the miracles God has for us.

#miracles #waiting #God’s_Best

Many of us think if only I was pretty enough, if only I was talented enough, if only I was smart enough, if only I was brave enough. We think good things would happen to us if we were enough.

Only we are enough. We are enough just the way we are. We are enough with all our flaws, with all our mistakes, with all our fears. We are enough just as we are.

God accepts as-is. We accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6) not based on our flaws, not based on our past, not based on us at all. He accepts us based on one qualification and one qualification only (Ephesians 2:8)–whether we have accepted what His Son did when He took our sins at the Cross (John 3:16).

God is not judging us. He is not judging our sin because our sin has already been judged. He knew we would sin. He knew that we would mess up and make mistakes, but He also knew that He could not let our sin go.

He sent His Son, His perfect, sinless Son, to live a perfect life as a human, to follow all the laws and regulations without fault (Matthew 5:17). Jesus went to the Cross, and while on that Cross, Jesus became sin for us (II Corinthians 5:21). God took the wrath and punishment for all our sins–past, present and future–out on Jesus.

God is no longer judging us. He already judged us and our sin. Does this mean that we won’t suffer the consequences for our actions? No because for every action there is on this Earth, there are reactions that follow.

We are enough as is. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to be better, to learn more, to be more, but we have to accept ourselves the way we are.

God loves us. God accepts us. God is not judging us. We need to start loving, accepting and stop judging ourselves.
#love #acceptance #Stop_Judging #enough

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. – Romans 1:16 (KJV)

I love to tell people about the miracles God has done in my life. I love to give Him the glory, but I find that more and more Believers are staying silent.

The people of other faiths, other beliefs, speak out. They let their voices be heard, but, we, as Believers, don’t. We don’t share the good news of Christ. We instead let the people in our faith speak who are the extremists, the people who make Christians seem dumb or ignorant.

We don’t hear about the Christ who loved us so much to take away the sins of the world, the Christ who heals, saves and delivers, the Christ of hope. We only hear about other faiths’ gods, and when we do hear about our God, it is about how He is in Heaven,  keeping a list of all our wrongs so that He can punish us for them.

We need to speak up about what God has done for us. Maybe not on a public stage but to our friends, family and anyone else in our sphere of influence. We don’t have to force our beliefs down people’s throats. We just need to tell our story. Maybe someone has never been introduced to Christ, the loving Savior who died for our sins and rose from the dead. It is our job to share our experiences with others.

Yes, they might not believe, but we are sowing seeds into their lives. We are giving them the opportunity to meet our Lord and Savior. The difference between an atheist and a Believer is experiencing Christ. Once a person truly experiences Christ and His love, hope and miracles, it is hard for a person to turn away.  The goodness of God leads to repentance (Romans 2:4)

The church, as a whole, is silent. We are not speaking up. We are not introducing this world to the True and Living God. We only had one job. And, we as a whole, have blown  it. Let’s rectify that today. Let’s tell our story, speak the Truth. Let’s change the world one life at a time.

#SpeakUp #Truth #God #ChangeTheWorld

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV).

Anxiety is an epidemic in our world. People miss work because of it. They miss out on things they once enjoyed. They are in a constant state of worry.

I used to be anxious all the time. I couldn’t talk on the phone without break out in panic. I didn’t want to go out of the house for fear I would have a panic attack. I was a prisoner of my life and my own thoughts.

I would love to say I don’t get anxious today, but I do. Not to the same extent. I don’t have full-blown panic attacks anymore. I don’t have my mind stuck on one thought like a broken record. I am able to function through the anxiety.

Why? Because I learned to rely on God as my Source. When I have a problem, when I am anxious about something, I pray, “Lord, the battle with this is not mine but Yours.” Sometimes with chronic problems, it becomes a daily prayer. But I have seen Him come through in ways that I couldn’t even imagine.

I give my problems to God because when we are burdened down, we aren’t doing what God called us to do. We are not helping others because we are focused on ourselves. God doesn’t want us to worry. He wants us to give our burdens, our problems, to Him, and let Him handle them. Then He will show up and show out in ways we didn’t think possible.

Today, give God your problems. Every day, pray, “Lord, this battle is not mine but Yours.” Then watch what He does in that situation.

#anxiety #stress #worry #Godisincontrol

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. – 2 Corinthians 10:12 (KJV).

Everyday we are being compared to others. When we are children, our development is measured in comparison to other children our age. When we are in school, we are compared to the others in our class. Our statistics every week at work are compared to our co-workers. We are constantly being compared to others.

We are not other people. We were not created to be like Sally next door or our co-worker in the next cubicle. We are created to be who God designed us to be.
To be someone other than who God created us to be is to be out of God’s will. It is not His will for us to be anyone other than who God made us.

God created each of us for a Divine purpose. He created us to play a specific role in history. How are we supposed to do that when we are keeping tabs on what everyone else is doing? How are we supposed to do that when we are comparing ourselves to those around us?

Our only concern in life is if fulfilled the purpose God put us on this Earth to do. When God asks us if we fulfilled our destiny, what will our answer be?

We need to look our lives. We must find those areas where we are comparing ourselves to others. Maybe it just when we look at the people on television, in the magazines, and say, “I wish I had her nose.” Perhaps it is because we feel that we should have been further in life by now. Everyone else seems to be. We have to work with the Holy Spirit in those areas to stop making the comparison.

When we compare ourselves to others, we are essentially saying, “God, You are not in control. You do not know what You are doing.”

God is in control. God made us for a purpose. There is a reason we are where we are at this moment in History. No matter how dark things look, God has a plan. No matter what we have done in the past, God still has a plan. Trust Him, and trust the plan.

#purpose #plan #makingthecomparison

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the LORD that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”  Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.  – Exodus 8:8-10

When do we want our breakthroughs?  Our miracles?  Our turn-arounds?  Now! Now!  Now!  But do we really?

Pharaoh wanted the frogs removed from his palace, but when Moses asked when he wanted them gone, Pharaoh said tomorrow.  Tomorrow!  If we were surrounded by frogs in our hair, in our food, in our beds, we couldn’t wait to get rid of them.  Right?

Too many times we adjust to our pain, adjust to our bad fortunate, adjust because we think this is how God dealt the cards to us, but too many times, we settle for what God never intended us to bear.

We are battling things that are not ours to battle and yet instead of getting desperate and crying out to God for help, for His solution for our problems, we settle in, thinking it is just our cross to bear.

Life is not fair.  It is never going to be fair.  It isn’t any more fair to the Unbeliever than it is to the Believer.  It is all in how we respond.  We are to respond in faith, knowing that, no matter what we are going through, God is going to turn it around (Romans 8:28).  He is going to make a miracle out of our mess.

We have to fight.  We have to be Believers not doubters.  We have to pick up our sword, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and fight against the wiles of the enemy (Ephesians 6:11).  Take your Bible and see what God has to say about your situation.

Are you sick?  Isaiah 53:4-5 says that by Jesus’ stripes, we are healed.

Are you having trouble with your mind?  I Corinthians 2:16 states that we have the mind of Christ.

Are you in debt?  Philippians 4:19 tells us that God supplies all our need according to His riches in glory.

There is nothing you are going through right now that God has not covered in His Word.

Take your Scriptures pertaining to your situation and meditate on them.  Say them to yourself over and over again when you are alone.  The more you do this, the more faith will rise within you effortlessly

Do this until your circumstances change.

Remember what Joshua 1:8 promises, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

#meditation #success #problems #solutions #GodIsTurningItAround

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM who I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

My patience with stupidity and lack of common sense is skating on thin ice. There are so many times that I just can’t. I just can’t deal with another person who has no common sense or who I have to explain something to five times only for them to ask me about it again.

When I can’t, I have to rely on God. Rely on His patience, His Ability, His Provision.

There are so many times in our lives when things look bleak, when things look like they cannot get any worse, and then somehow do. There are so many times when we just can’t.

We can’t move the mountains ourselves. We can’t stand the situation one more day. We can’t get up, can’t get out of bed, without a struggle.

Those are the times when we have to rely on God’s Strength. We have to rely on God to do what we cannot.

What can’t you do? What can’t you face? Remember that God is the Great I Am. He is whatever you need. He is your Strength. He is your Patience. He is your Provision.

Whatever you need Him to be in your life today, say “Thank You, Lord, that You are my ________.” And watch Him come through for you.

#ICan’t #GodCan #RelyOnGod

With every birthday that passes, we tend to focus on what we don’t have in our lives, those dreams that we have not fulfilled yet.

It is fine to re-adjust our goals or set new ones that we intend to meet, but we cannot allow ourselves to see only what we don’t have.

Instead we need to focus on what we do have. Maybe you have a spouse and kids that love you. Perhaps you have a wonderful career that you enjoy. Maybe you have a job that is tolerable and pays the bills while you pursue your real passion. Perhaps your co-workers have become your friends.

We have to take stock of where we are now. What do we have that we can be grateful for? Can we walk? Talk? Are we mobile? Do we have people who love us? Do we have a roof over our head? Food on our tables?

Too many times we focus on what we don’t have. We focus on what we want to accomplish, which is a good thing, but we have to learn to be grateful, to be content, with what we do have.

Whatever we focus on is going to happen in our lives, so if we focus on all the love in our lives, then love will multiply.

Look around you. What can you be grateful for today?

#goals #love #focus #gratitude

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14

“Yesterday’s a closing door. You don’t live there anymore. Say goodbye to where you’ve been. And tell your heart to beat again.” – Tell Your Heart To Beat Again (Danny Gokey).

As I am nearing my birthday, I have been thinking about my life, been thinking about people and situations that didn’t work out.

This is the time of year that I reflect and create new goals for the upcoming year. Only my mind kept going back to people, to places, in my past. Things that I cannot change. We have to close the door on the past. If those people are supposed to be in our lives, God will send them back. If those situations need to be revisited, God will cause that to happen.

We have trust that those people, those situations, are in the past for a reason…at least for now. God knows what is best for us. God knows what would happen down the road. God knows better than we do. He sees farther than we do.

We cannot move forward with our foot stuck in the past. We cannot move forward because we are wearing the ball and chain of the past.

No matter what happened in the past, if you are still breathing, God has a plan, a purpose, for your life (Jeremiah 29:11), but, in order to fulfill it, you must move forward.

The past has passed. There is nothing we can do to change it, alter it, in anyway. It is done. Completed. We cannot never go back.

Instead we have to focus on now. What are we going to choose to do now to change our future? What are we going to do differently so that we don’t make the same mistakes? We cannot change the past. We can, however, alter our future by the decisions we make today.

#Christian #past #letgo #future #Jeremiah2911