LIFE ON PAUSE

For many Americans there is nothing more contrary to our dispositions than having to put our lives on hold!
 I admit, I don't like changing my routine anymore than the next guy but to tell the truth I am learning some very important life lessons as I reflect on that nasty four letter word... WAIT.


"Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength." Isaiah 40:31


I realized waiting is something God does to help me reach my potential. He is giving me time to regroup and build momentum for what lies ahead. I am learning to trust that His timing is superior to anything I could imagine for myself. With that misunderstanding resolved,  a tremendous amount of peace and awareness lifted me above my anxiety. Waiting is all about expecting to see God work on my behalf.

The second lesson I learned is God's strength is not the martial arts kind of mental determination I imagined. It's not me toughing something out until my prayer is answered. Instead, strength is a state of mind. It is in quiet, confidence that we place our lives, our families, our hopes, and dreams in the hands of our Heavenly Father knowing they are safe.
"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Isaiah 30:15

Thirdly, and most impotently, when our lives are up and running after this quarantine is over we will be refreshed, refueled, and ready for whatever new journey the Lord has planned for us.

THE ANCHOR HOLDS

Did you know when we look at a storm at sea all the waves and turbulence are on the top of the water? When you go down deeper, below the surface, the ocean is calm, almost at rest. On the surface, our world is being battered by the biggest waves we have witnessed in our lifetime. We might be tempted to ask where is God in this pandemic?

 God says, "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)  Be still in this verse is written in the context of trouble and war. Be still is not God's way of blowing us off, or just a kind suggestion. God is not asking us to go sit quietly in the corner. He is commanding us to rebuke this storm through the eyes of faith. When we are in the eye of the storm and we think we are going under, it's no time for weak knees. God forcefully says, "know that I am God." 

God is not suggesting we deny our fear, or pretend we have our emotions under control. On the contrary, He is saying be fearless. Dare to go beyond the waves of fear and anxiety into the deep, where the water is calm within your soul.  Fall on your knees and pray. When you get up, walk by faith not by sight. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in times of trouble". (Psalm 46:1)  Let faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, be your anchor.

There is life after this storm and when the wind and waves die down we can expect a sunrise worth waiting for.

If you are struggling with worry in this crisis please reach out for prayer. PRAYER LINE # 888-388-2683

Music to calm the soul

UNLEASH THE POWER WITHIN

The ancient ritual of fire walking  symbolizes the courage we have inside ourselves to face life's challenges head-on. After all, if you can make it through the fire you can make it through anything life throws at you.

There is no way to sugarcoat the COVID-19 pandemic that is raging around the world like an invisible firestorm. The truth is we don't know what the future holds, but God is bigger than the coronavirus and has already made a way through the flames.

"When you WALK through the fire you will not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." (Isaiah 43:2b)

When the Bible talks about fire it is referring to personal hardship. This verse gives us a clear picture of how we should react to trials when they confront us. Walking is a sign of confidence, not in ourselves but in the One who created the universe and is in control of every breath we take. Prayer and reading the Bible will fill our minds with the assurance that God has our back. This virus has many of us consumed with fear. The truth of the matter is adversity in its many fierce and fiery forms is inevitable. God did not say if we face the fire He said WHEN we face the fire we are to stay calm. "Unleashing the Power Within" is all about trust. God promises to strengthen us, help us, and uphold us with his own hand. Let go of fear and dread and take God at his word. Believe He is walking alongside of us in this pandemic and will be with us in all the fiery trials we will face now and in the future.

"Don't panic. I'm with you. There's  no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, and keep a firm grip on you." (Isaiah 41:10 MSG)

Link to scripture verses to pray over our families, neighbors, leaders and nations

prayinginvictory.com

MARRIED TO A HOOKER

Most people like to read a juicy love story once in awhile.  We cuddle up in our favorite chair, tune out the world, and expect all the elements of a great plot; passion, intrigue, betrayal, murder. Let me tell you... the book entitled Hosea in the Bible does not disappoint. Within the first few sentences God speaks a very hard word to this budding young prophet. "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great whoredom by departing from the Lord."
                     And the plot thickens. 
This squeaky clean messenger of God obeys the command and marries a beautiful woman named Gomer who sells herself to men for pleasure and profit.  The young preacher falls in love with her, cares for her,  protects her, and even raises her illegitimate children but they don't live happily ever after.  The wayward wife continues her life as a prostitute ignoring the love of her husband and his God. In a fit of rage, the prophet eventually throws her out.  Unlike today's best sellers that promote anger and revenge God had a different plan for this heartbroken family. He instructs Hosea to forgive Gomer and take her back. Not just one time, but over and over again. God wanted to demonstrate His message of repentance, love, and forgiveness to the unfaithful people of Israel through the living testimony of one faithful man.

Many times the people we are closest to hurt us the most. The sting of a parent's abandonment, the rejection of a spouse, the broken promise of a friend, the disappointment of a drug addicted child, the abuse..... Forgiving someone who wronged us is probably the hardest thing God asks us to do. Luckily, Jesus left us with a formula to help us navigate the process.  "But to you who are listening I say: LOVE your enemies, DO GOOD to those who hate you, BLESS THOSE who curse you, PRAY for those who mistreat you."  He goes on to say, "forgive others, just as your Father forgives you."

 Hosea was not a sinless man, he was an obedient man. God still uses willing men and women to showcase His mercy to an unrepentant world. Our Savior has not changed.  His desire is to pour His love into empty, broken lives through us. God forgives each of us freely then gives us the key for our emotional health: forgive others.  When we decide to live out the process we become a prophetic message to our family, friends, and co-workers.  Like Hosea, if we really listen to God, his desire is not always to take us out of messy relationships but instead our call is to live lives of love, faithfulness, and forgiveness.

Let God make your life a living testimony

SLAYING DRAGONS

 Fear is a very real enemy and comes at us in many forms and sizes. This monster makes us his prisoner locked behind bars of "what-ifs".
What- if my test results are bad, my book doesn't sell, my speech is boring, I make a fool of myself, I lose my job. All these negative scenarios slaughter our dreams and cripple our growth. This dragon is no respecter of gender, race or creed and attacks us causing physical illness, emotional turmoil and spiritual decay. These scrimmages infect our minds with feelings of inadequacy, failure and insecurity rendering many of us victims locked within prison cells of our own design.

Statistics say Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) runs the gamut from fleeting feelings of shyness to a mental illness that can disrupt the regular flow of life. Fear is a formidable opponent and speaking from personal experience this Nasty Beast needs to be cast down as soon as it attacks our mind.

So how do we slay this monster? Our Basic Training Manuel, the Bible, weighs in on this very serious topic."Fear not," is written 365 times in the Bible. For those of us who struggle in this area God wanted us to remember..."God did not gives us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7 This verse was written by the apostle Paul to encourage Timothy, a young leader in the church of Ephesus, to get his game face on. Like many of us, he struggled with feelings of timidity, insecurity and outright fear. Like you and me it was paramount to his life and ministry to learn to rise above his feelings.

• First of all fear is a spirit, a powerful force that is not from God. That's good news! We have authority over fear but we need to take a leap of faith and move the intimidating 'what-if's' out of our heads. Whatever we are afraid of we need to FACE IT AFRAID, trusting the promise of Deuteronomy 31:6  "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the Lord your God goes with you ; he will never leave you or forsake you."
• Second... God gave us His power and strength so we are not walking into the scary situation alone. The Creator of the universe supports us. We can trust him to help us be courageous in the situation that has the power to make us feel unglued. Instead of letting negative self talk infiltrate our thoughts deliberately see the occasion as an unexpected blessing, an opportunity to grow and become the champion God intends for you to be. When fear has nothing to feed on it disappears.
• Third... replace fear with faith by keeping some scriptures verses on the tip of your tongue to use when this dragon rears its ugly head and tries to fill our minds with lies. Memory verses are powerful weapons we should use against the onslaught of this enemy.

When we decide to fight back we will need to cultivate an attitude of boldness. Without this powerhouse incentive fear will continuously try to keep us from the abundant life God has given us. God gave us sound minds, brave hearts and a powerful testimony and fear will try to take it from us. Fight back. You have what it takes and you are not alone. People who learn to conquer fear will always accomplish more than those who succumb to it.

FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD

Video Joyce Myers Ministries

Statistics provided by National Social Anxiety Center
Larry Cohen

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

The second month of the year has a way of bewitching us with its promise of romance. But all the excitement of this season is short lived depending on your relationship status. There are only two ways to play February's "Love Song."

 If Cupid was kind you will celebrate Valentines Day with roses, champagne, and chocolates. But if the arrow of love missed its mark you will be hiding out in your room eating a quart of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream depressed and alone.
I have been on both sides of this melody.

In reality there is only one love that really lasts...the love our Heavenly Father has for us. His love is unconditional. Our good or bad performance has nothing to do with it. He doesn't take his love away because we have made some bad choices. He doesn't stop caring about us because we have bad habits that we can't (or won't) give up. He loves us even though we don't deserve it.

Many of us have a very rigid view of God and tend to think he is angry with us most of the time. As hard as it is to imagine God actually sings over us. He rejoices over us! Faulty and messed up as we are the Lord faithfully loves us, forgives us, encourages us, and patiently leads us into a life of freedom and peace 365 days of the year.

The Lord your God is in your midst,

the Mighty One will save;

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)

ESCAPE THE WHEEL...THE 2020 CHALLENGE

January is the official month of fresh starts. Across the world we frantically try to gather up all the loose ends we left dangling and unaccomplished from last year and stuff them into our to-do list for this year. Like hamsters on a wheel we keep running in circles  getting the same disappointing results.

Romans 12: 1-2 was written to encourage us to make little tweaks in our spiritual growth and gain lifelong satisfaction. After all, transformation is at the heart of our New Year's resolutions...right?

"Take your everyday, ordinary life-and place it before God as an offering." Romans 12:1 MSG

The best thing we can do is intentionally place our lives before God. Ask him to direct us daily and show us how to live a life of victory. Spend time with him in prayer, look for answers to life's issues in the bible and trust him with the outcome. When we shift our attention to what God wants, he changes us from the inside out. Our thoughts and desires mature and we learn to understand what he wants us to accomplish in the future.

Get off the wheel of good intentions and seek something better. God's resolution is to make our ordinary lives extraordinary in 2020 and beyond.  "For I know the plans I have for you." Declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11