Power of Gods Word

Something I've been thinking about for a while is the power of Gods word that we don't take advantage of.  Isiah 55:11 says " so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire & achieve the purpose for which I sent it." God has given us His word & all of the power & promises in it.  I don't know about you, but I spent a lot of my early Christian life not realizing that power & not knowing how to use it. I did my devotions & read my chapter because that's what I was supposed to do.  It wasn't until I realized I needed to really pursue a relationship with my Lord & Savior that I really started digging into Gods word. The more I get into it, the more I'm realizing the great gift He has given us.  I'm starting to realize the need to prayGods word, to speak Gods word, & to get in agreement with Gods word.  I believe it brings great joy to Gods heart when He hears His children speaking it.  I think when we do that,He wants to move.  Remember , He says that His word will accomplish what He desires when it is spoken.  So what would happen if we started speaking & proclaiming His word.  His word could accomplish what we can't.  It heals, restores, leads, comforts, & on & on.  Today I challenge you to dig into Gods word & start speaking it, praying it, & get into agreement with it.  If you do, it will change your life!

My healer

At our church, we are asked to share a promise of God that we have claimed for he week.  We have done it since the beginning of the year & it's been very powerful.  I have been claiming many promises lately & the one I'm claiming this week is Psalm 103:3'" He forgives all my sins & heals my diseases." What a powerful God!  He is powerful enough to remove our sins for them to never be remembered.  That's freedom!  And we can go to Him when we need healing, & know that He created us & He knows how to fix us.  So our sins are gone forever & our diseases are gone forever.  He doesn't do things halfway.  Once He does something, it's done.  As I said last night, we need to understand what a powerful God we serve.  When we go to the throne of God in prayer, we need to understand the power He possesses.  Take your sins & your sickness to His feet & leave them there.  He is more than capable of taking care of them.  He is Jehovah Rapha- our Healer, Jehovah Nissi (Battle Fighter), & Jehovah Tsidkenn (our righteousness).  God has really been working on me about faith this year (specifically increasing mine).  I don't think any of us have a clue how much He loves us, how big He is, & how much He wants to bless us.  I think the more we can understand those things, the more we can see His power in our lives.  I don't know about you but I'm ready to see His power more & more in my life.  Not just a trickle but a flood.  How about you?  Do you think God is who He says He is & that He could do that in your life?  Are you ready for it & believing for it?

By their love

It seems like today I hear a lot about Christians not practicing what we preach & I'll be the first to admit that sometimes we do fail & some are just playing at their Christianity.  But I have to tell you that I was at two different churches today & was around some real deal Christians.  At both services, I had hands payed on me as I was prayed for.  They prayed for me for healing & they also prayed for me in my ministry.  I have also had numerous real deal Christians who have contacted me over the last few weeks & my original church home praying fervently for me.  So I would like to tell you that there are a lot of sincere, committed Christians out there demonstrating Gods love.  If you are missing out on this wonderful blessing you can & need to find one of those churches & get involved in it.  The bible says the world will know we are followers of Christ because of our love.  I have definitely experienced that & it is indescribable.  To know that people are truly concerned about you & that they are praying for you daily means more than words can express.  So the most effective witness we can have is to show the love of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.  And thanks to all of those who have been showing it to me so effectively lately.

More than conquerors

Alright, we'll its been a few days since I've written.  I've been out for just a little bit having surgery.  Thanks to God for His healing power & for bringing me out stronger.  I feel like God had some things that He needed me to deal with & I feel like that's what we've been doing the last couple of weeks.  One of the verses that has come to me a lot lately is Romans 8:38. " No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us." I think the important part of this is "through Him".  We are nothing but defeated without Him but through Him we are more than conquerors.  I realized over this last couple of weeks that daily I have to trust & rely on Him.  It has been another reminder that its not about me. I have to trust that if I can rely on Him He will overcome my obstacles, heal me, make me strong, etc. all to do His work.  He is always faithful to me  & oh how I've been reminded of that lately.  So today I would like you to encourage you to place your name in this verse & realize that if you are His child, you are more than a conqueror through Him as well.  Don't let Satan tell you otherwise.  Remember this verse is what God says about you.  You can disagree with me but you shouldn't disagree with Gods word. As the book says that I've been reading lately by Beth Moore, "Believe God!"

Humbling & Exciting

Well the journey for today has been very humbling & exciting.  I'd like to talk first about the humbling part.  Shortly after I posted on Facebook what had happened yesterday, my phone started lighting up from family & friends.  You all will never know what that means.  It says in Matt. 18:20 that where two or three gather together in His name , Christ is in the midst of them.  I am humbled & thankful that I have we'll over two or three joining with me in prayer.  I know that aged hears & moves when that many people are praying together.  All I can say is than you & to all those who talk about hypocritical Christians, the last couple of days I have seen the real deal Christians.  I have seen love, service, sacrifice, & prayer warriors go into action.  My family as always is tremendous & they strengthen & encourage me each day.  Also as someone who has only been on Facebook for a few months, it's been great hearing from all of my friends through there, texting, & calling.  You're all awesome!

Secondly, it's been exciting.  My sister texted me today about a church looking for a pastor.  I contacted them & well see what God brings about.  So he praying about that too.  And how it all happened, just lets me know that it was from God.  So after yesterday, I feel like God is saying we're going to deal with this giant & I've got work for you to do.  Isn't He amazing!  It brought to mind Philllipians 1:6 where it says when God begins a work in you that He will carry it out to completion.  Praise The Lord,  when you don't know how, he does.
    So from an unqualified Christian, I just want to say thank you!  Thanks to my amazingly family!  Thanks to all of my friends!  And most of all thanks to God for being faithful!  Thanks for all of your support & to God of or enabling me to do things I can't do on my own.

Facing my giant

Last time I talked about going into the Promised Land.  Today I got a view of my giant to be faced.  He is noisy, scary, & he yells a lot of scary things to try to intimidate & defeat me.  But remember Caleb's faith in God.  He realized that the giant didn't matter because the Most High God was walking with him.  Sometimes God doesn't just make our fears & giants go away but He has us face them to show how he delivers us through them & gives us the victory.  He wants to see that we have enough faith in Him to stand against that giant.  This year has been my year of facing a lot of my fears.  I believe that God is wanting me to move past those fears & into His grace & strength so that I can do the work He has called me to do.  Christ already knew this giant & He already knows the way to victory.  Not only that but He knows how to further use it to more "qualify" me for His ministry.  Today I give all praise to Jehovah Rapha & thanks to all my friends & family for the prayers that I know are going up on my behalf.  It's yet another step in the qualifying process.  The verse & promise for the day is : "I will give you back your health, & heal your wounds, says the Lord, "for you are called an outcast -Jerusalem , for whom no one cares." (Jer. 30:17 NLT)

Clobber your fear

Alright so today I had another thought.  I have to admit sometimes I feel like the Israelites wandering around in the wilderness.  That does get tiring sometimes.  But today I got to thinking that the "Promised Land" is right there & I thought why can't I get in there?  I realized that there are giants in the Promised Land but I also realized God has given me the victory over those giants.  Satan however likes to make those giants appear too big to handle but those giants are nothing for God to handle.  I think it's in how I view the Promised Land.  Are the giants too big or has God given me the victory & the milk & honey He has promised.  Satan wants me to believe the first because it keeps me from entering into Gods promise.
     I think I (we) need to be like Caleb.  He saw the same giants as the others but he had a different view of his God.  Numbers 13:30 says "But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses, "let's go at once to take the land ", he said "we can certainly conquer it." His view was not on the obstacle, it was on God.
     How many times do we do that?  We fail to reach what God has given us because we let Satan scare us & take our focus off God.  We just keep wandering & struggling because our focus is in the wrong place.  As I heard in "Facing the Giants", "your fear is about to clobber your faith".  I think it's time to switch things up & let our faith clobber our fear.  It's time to go in!