Hope Deferred

Proverbs 13:12 " Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But  when  the desire comes,  it is  a tree of life." 


There has been times in your life where you have hoped for something and because you haven't seen it come to fruition you've lost heart. You begin grow weary and begin to believe that all those things that you have been hoping for all this time will never come to pass. There's hope in God! He can see all the deepest desires of your heart and if you just hold fast and continue to believe in Him he will bring them to pass. Just believe!
Mark 11:24"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive  them,  and you will have  them." 

Mark 9:23 "Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things  are  possible to him who believes.” 
I know how difficult it can be to continue to believe when you have yet to see. But in believing lies the key. It's the weariness that causes you to want to give up, but just hold on. Keep the faith! Galatians 6:9" And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Your season of reaping is just on the horizon, don't give up. God loves you and wants to see you prosper. 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." Be encouraged today to not give up. Shake off the weariness and hold on to your belief in our loving Father who will take care of you. 

Be Blessed!!

Gods Plan

God has a great plan for your life. He has created you for great things. He is preparing you and placing you right where you need to be. Rest in Him knowing that He will guide your path and make your way straight. Sometimes we can get so intense in worrying that we are not where we are suppose to be. God will find a way to make it clear to you on where you should be. He will make your purpose clear and will see that you fulfill it.
Don't let the mistakes you have made keep you thinking God won't use you. Look at the apostle Paul, if anyone past excluded them from being used by God it would have been his; a persecutor of Christians. But just to make a point, God used a man that once stopped the spreading of the gospel to be one of it's greatest contributors in our History. Don't let anything hold you back from what God has spoken into your life. He will establish your way so that you can accomplish all He has set you out to do. Rest in knowing that God will bring about your purpose. Don't let anything keep you from running the race!!!

Be Blessed!!

Swift to Hear

  So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; (James 1:19 NKJV)

The tongue is a powerful tool. The Bible tells us that life and death are in the power of tongue. James tells us that the tongue is like a rudder of a ship having the ability to steer even the largest of ships: Jam 3:4,5 "Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!"
As much power is in the tongue, I believe our ears boast as much if not more power than our tongue. When I refer to our ears I refer to our ability to hear ( to comprehend, to understand-Strong's G191 - akouō). An art lost in a generation that always has something to say. While speaking what is on our mind is important it should be secondary to hearing. By taking the time to hear what others are saying we are establishing the importance of  fully understanding where their coming from. We are saying that what they have to say is important and we are going to show them respect by giving them our attention. This is something that has been lost in the age we live in. You can hardly talk to someone now days without them pulling out their phone to text or surf the Internet.

There is a reason why God tells us to be swift to hear and slow to speak. How many times in our lives have we got into arguments because we never allowed the person we were talking with to fully explain their point. We were so busy focusing on what we wanted to say that we cut them off or we didn't give them our full attention. I also believe that just as this scripture says that as we focus on hearing others and not so much on what we want to say it will cause us to not get as angry. We will be slow to wrath (movement or agitation of the soul, impulse, desire, any violent emotion, but esp. anger- Strong's G3709 - orgē).

Listening helps us to fully understand, which than helps us to be slow to wrath: Pro 14:29 "[He who is] slow to wrath has great understanding, But [he who is] impulsive exalts folly."
This is what exactly happens when we don't take the time to hear what others are saying. Because we don't hear them we act impulsively which leads to all kinds of problems. Remember to take the time to listen to those in your life. It will save you from acting impulsively which keeps you from saying things you don't really mean.

Be Blessed!!

Fulfillment

John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said,  “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

I stumbled upon this passage and it resignated deeply within my spirit. It was a good reminder to me of where I find my fulfillment. The reason I pursue God is not for what He can do for me, but rather because He's the only thing in this world that truly fills me; brings complete satisfaction. There are things in life that can temporarily satisfy but will never bring true satisfaction like He does. There is no better place than being completely reliant upon Him because it's only in that place that we can truly be satisfied.

A God Send!!

The other day I was at work and I was having one of those days where you just can't shake the negativity that surrounds you. I couldn't seem to rise above the muck that all to often surrounds me at work. Instead of rising above it, I got pulled into it and found myself wallowing in self-pity. For a moment I found myself cursing everything about my job. The more and more my focus continued on my own situation and how it was affecting me, the further I found myself falling down the proverbial rabbit hole. Just when I thought I was going to disintegrate in self awareness, in walked a man (who also works at the same place as I do just in a different department, so I rarely see him) and he begun to talk to me about his concern with where the world is headed. He began to talk about how bad things are getting around the world and how the world needs a Messiah. He began to share how he's been more aware of spreading the gospel because the time is getting short. I stood there listening to this man share his heart with me. We finished up our conversation and then we both continued on with our day. As I walked away from this man I felt my burden lift. I thought it to be strange because although our conversation was good it wasn't exactly uplifting (so I thought). In the past talking about the world coming to an end didn't exactly excite me! But there I stood; burden lifted. As I got back to work God began to show me the reason my burden lifted. He showed me that my perspective changed. It went from a place of self-pity and how my environment was affecting me to a perspective of how am I affecting my environment. I've always known that self-pity never leads to a good place but on occasion I throw caution to the wind and dive in feet first. Often times coming out the other side worse off. But because of Gods goodness He sent a man to me to help change my perspective. To get my eyes of my situation and onto the bigger picture. I thought to myself, "the harvest is plenty but the labors are few." I immediately thanked God for helping change my perspective and getting my focus back on Him. I also had to go to this man (who I know is also having a difficult time rising above the muck at work) and share with him how his conversation with me affected me. I thanked him for taking the time to share with me what was on his heart. I explained how it affected me and for a moment we were able to encourage each other to keep our eyes on the prize, the big picture. This was such a good reminder for me of the battle that is being wagged. The battle for our attention and focus. The enemy is at work to keep our focus off of Gods commandment (the great commission) and onto our own problems that in return keep our focus on changing our own situation instead of changing the world around us. Remember that God is at work taking care of that which concerns you so that you can be at work being His hands and feet to a world in need.

Be Blessed!!!

A Work in Progress

Phl. 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete [it] until the day of Jesus Christ."

Whenever I get down on myself because I'm not where I think I should be in life; I just stop and remember that I'm a work in progress. God is still molding and fashioning me into who He wants me to be. And it will continue until I meet Him face to face. He will continue to direct and guide me on how I should walk and look in this life. He is in control and as long as I remember that, I can take confidence in who I am because I know I'm being shaped by the almighty God. I'm His workmanship. He is handcrafting me unto His pleasure. Having this understanding that He is at work in me until He returns also keeps me from ever thinking that I'm already a finished product; that I have already attained. It keeps pride from taking root within me because as long as I'm looking to Him as the Creator and finisher of who I am, pride has no place in me. I realize that I'm not who I am because of anything I've done but rather because of who He is in me. This is also my defense when people judge me. I can tell them to take it up with God because He is the one in charge of molding me into who He desires me to be. And it is my goal to allow His process to take its full coarse in my life. I'm just along for the ride. Remember to not allow the enemy to remind you of your deficiency's but rather take confidence that God has you right where He wants you and that He is at work in you.

Be blessed!!

Those that Have Gone Before us Cont.

Seeing that this has been apart of my philosophy to life, it has also caused me to be very aware of the example I'm leaving for those who come after me. This is a big part of why I choose to live the way I do. Just as I have learned from my parents Godly example, I want my children and their children to be able to look at the way I've lived my life and be able to use my victories and mistakes as lessons for them to learn from. I also want them to be able to see the benefits to serving God and living a life that follows after Him. I believe this all boils down to this simple principle: that our actions, good or bad, not only affects those around us but it also affects the generations to come. And when we are making decisions, good or bad, we should remember that the decisions we make can negatively or positively affect those around us. This is why God has called us to live a life of obedience to Him. Because as we follow after Him our lives begin to illuminate the goodness of God that leaves a lasting impression upon those who come after us. Keep your eyes on Him!!

Be Blessed!!