I admit it, I have been in a dry season lately. Sometimes I get tired of fighting life and just hibernate. I know, not the best idea. But let’s get real, has that ever happened to you? When I look back over my life I can think of numerous times I have felt this way. I try to wish it away, listen to motivational preachers, listen to Christian music and pray, but the soil is still dry and cracked in my soul.
I know this will pass. It always does. I think back of how God rescued me from myself or others or situations in the past. He does it every time. Thank you Lord that You are faithful and have never forgotten me. Even when I don’t feel like it, You lift up my head and crown me with loving kindness and mercy. You have never left or forsaken me.
“Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in. Who is [He then] this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory [who rules over all creation with His heavenly armies]. Selah.” -Psalm 24-7-10AMP
“Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name. Bless and affectionately praise the Lord, O my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits; Who forgives all your sins, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you [lavishly] with lovingkindness and tender mercy; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.”-Psalm103:1-5 AMP
So how do you water a thirsty soul? I have to drown it with water – the living Word of God. The Holy Spirit promises to fill me up, even to overflowing! Spending time in prayer and in reading or listening to God’s Word pulls me up and out of how I feel. The rain of God’s Word will irrigate my dry heart and fill it up so I can receive the Word in my heart!
“Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,butwhoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give himwill become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”-John 4:13-14NKJV
From: wallpaper4god.com
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” -Psalm 23:1-6 NKJV
There WILL be a harvest in our lives – but only if we JUST KEEP PLANTING! Let us plant more seed, the Word of God in our lives to see the harvest. Don’t give up now, our stories aren’t finished yet. God is still writing…
Negative thoughts. Sometimes they come like waves. I had a night like that last night. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was tired. Maybe because I was under attack by spiritual forces at work – who knows. It really doesn’t matter why. What matters when this happens is what you do about it.
I have had struggles in this area before. I used to believe every thought that came into my head. Let me tell you – that is not healthy. I acted on bad thoughts and ended up in a world of hurt.
Today is different. I have learned that every thought that comes into my head may not be something I need to ponder on. I can choose to reject some thoughts. Some thoughts are from the enemy of our soul. Yes – the battle is for our minds. That is why God says to renew our minds and test every thought. That is why God tells us to think on good things.
How did I overcome those negative thoughts? I used the Word of God. I had to reaffirm what God said is greater that what I felt at the time. Feelings are not always real. Seriously. When I let my feelings rise above the Word I get myself in trouble. Feelings come and go. Feelings lie. The Word of God is the Truth.
Here are the things I told myself last night to overcome the wave of negative thoughts:
God says I am chosen and beloved
God says I am worthy
God says I am loved
God says He will give me life – not death
God says what He made is good
God says He will complete the work He is doing in me
God says He loves me and He will protect me
I refuse to entertain negative thinking. When I do I end up hurting myself or others. God has plans for us, plans for a future, and good things. I will retrain my mind to dwell on the good and let go of the bad.
Just going about my normal everyday life when God speaks this to my spirit,
“You can’t fly without resistance”
Hmmm. Ok. So I think about an airplane. It was made to fly. It may sit on the ground for years waiting to take flight. Yet it was engineered to fly. It has everything it needs already to succeed. It was made that way. The wings engineered in such a way that when they hit the wind it takes off and leaves the ground. Defying all logic and despite how many pounds it weighs you can’t keep it down. A flap here, a little acceleration, point it’s nose up and there it goes. Doing what it was created to do. Flying above the world and all its troubles. Just flying.
Maybe we are like that plane. God created us to succeed. God promised we would overcome the world just as He did. Yes in this work we have troubles. We have resistance from people, places, and things. And sometimes that resistance seems overwhelming. But we were made to fly. So pick up your head, look up to Jesus, and let that resistance hit your wings. God made you to fly. We will overcome – God promised!
Maybe all that resistance in our life was just to help us fly!
Isaiah 40:31
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
Fear is something we all deal with. We are all still human here on this side of Heaven. It’s ok. We can talk about it. Some of us are afraid of the future, some are fearful of the past repeating itself, some are afraid of not having enough, some are afraid of failing, some are afraid of succeeding. But what do we do with it?
It is possible to overcome those fears. We don’t have to live in that paralyzed state forever. Acknowledging that we even have fear is the first step. Then it’s important to find someone to share your fears with. I have found that ignoring it doesn’t work very well. They say DENIAL is a pretty big river, lol! And God is greater than whatever you are facing today. He is our strength and our victory. He will empower us to overcome!
Here are some inspiring words from people who have gone before us to show the way to victory.
“FEAR NOT” FROM MUSICIANS
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” ― Jim Morrison
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ― John Lennon
“It frightens me, the awful truth, of how sweet life can be…” ― Bob Dylan
“FEAR NOT” FROM AUTHORS, MOVIES MOVIE STARS, AND PHILOSOPHERS
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
― Plato
“He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.” ― Aristotle
“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” ― Jack Canfield
“I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear.” ― Oprah Winfrey
“I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.” ― Yann Martel, Life of Pi
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ― Nelson Mandela
“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” ― Michelle Obama
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. -Psalm 23:4
The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid? -Psalm 27:1
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? -Psalm 118:6
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. -2 Timothy 1:7
You who fear him, trust in the LORD– he is their help and shield. -Psalm 115:11
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children. -Psalm 103:17
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. -Psalm 112:1
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” -Deuteronomy 31:6
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. -1 Chronicles 28:20
When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? -Psalm 56:3-4
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. -Isaiah 41:13
“Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. -Isaiah 54:4
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. -Matthew 10:28
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “”Abba,” Father.” -Romans 8:15
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. -1 Corinthians 16:13
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” -Hebrews 13:5-6
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” -1 Peter 3:13-14
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. -1 John 4:18
The following are my notes from a wonderful class my husband and I took to learn about the Kingdom of God.
We are KEY PEOPLE. The Lord has anointed us to open key places in your city, country, and time. See yourself as the key to open the doors in your area. We bring breakthroughs! We open doors, we enter in and we overcome the darkness with the Light of God. We are key to what God is doing here and now in this region.
How to See Yourself as a Key Person:
We are the key to what God is doing here. We are a key to a slot in this society to unlock territory and breakthrough.
Only the righteous can open the door. We have been declared righteous by what Jesus did for us, not by our works. We are a key because Christ is in us. It is he who does the work.
We are the solution to war the darkness in our area.
If you don’t see yourself as a key person, then others won’t see Christ in you. The Kingdom of God is within you. The Kingdom of God is here, now.
We work together in a team to push a cause – the cause of Christ.
This cause is bigger than the giants in your land. The Cross of Christ is bigger than the obstacles.
Push the Gospel Message through your ‘house’ to change people. God changes the hearts of people when they get a vision of being a Kingdom Person. That’s how we change the World.
The Lord will anoint you with His Spirit and His Power to do His work. It’s not about us or our agendas. The Lord will lead you and the Holy Spirit will teach you on your journey.
God will send the rain and the blessings because of the Presence of Jesus in us, not because of what we do or don’t do.
This Spiritual Rain makes things grow. God has a purpose and a plan.
Relationships create life. Jesus wants relationship, not religion. It’s the LIFE in the plant that produces the structure. The structure does not produce LIFE. The more Godly relationships we have – the more LIFE. Connect to LIFE. We are all Key People in the Kingdom of God.
We are safe people and we create safe places. When you know who you are you can bless people. When we work together in faith ALL of God’s people are key components.
Our faith and our relationships will grow. Just as a baby born with a baby skeleton grows over time, we will adapt and change to facilitate growth.
We will all bear fruit. We all have something to say. Don’t disqualify yourself! God has already qualified you for the work He has for you. God has make you for such a time as this. You are a Key Person to unlock destinies and overcome the darkness in the world around you.
Let go of old concepts and embrace the new ones that God shows you. We are dynamite. and we receive power from on High to be His Witnesses. He will accomplish amazing things through us.
Have you been considered? By God? Remember Job? Remember Joseph? Are you going through a test right now? I am. I believe that this is a test, it is is only a test. God is more than able to meet all of my needs in Christ Jesus. He knows what I need even before I ask. I have asked and I will receive. I know I am in my season of testing like Job. He was doing everything right. God even bragged on him to Satan.
I sit in the ashes with Job today. In the past three years I have lost my job, we have lost our house, we have lost loved ones, we have lost animals, even the van died. We used the last of our gas to get to Church yesterday. My husband has 12, yes 12 jobs now, that he has done and is waiting for payment on from various IT Buyers. All have been delayed. Have you been there? I know I am not alone here…
You find out who you are in the valley. And you find out who your friends are and who they are not. Some people will pray for you and some will laugh at you. We have had the ‘naysayers’ tell us that we are creating our own problems and it is all our fault. We have had ‘Christians’ brag about how much money they have and shame us for not coming to events that cost money. They have no idea the valley that we walk through as they point fingers. I have leaned much here in the valley. And yet, I know God is still good, and our ending will be better than our beginning. He promised!
“And though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.” (Job 8:7 AMP)
It is times like this that I remember the Word. And I cling to the promises that God has given us all. He is with us. He knows. And the gold we receive will be well worth the wait.
But He knows the way that I take [He has concern for it, appreciates, and pays attention to it]. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold [pure and luminous]. My foot has held fast to His steps; His ways have I kept and not turned aside. (Job 23:10-11 AMP)
Then Job arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped And said, Naked (without possessions) came I [into this world] from my mother’s womb, and naked (without possessions) shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed (praised and magnified in worship) be the name of the Lord! In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly. (Job 1:20-22 AMP)
It is great to be called by God, and then it is great to become obedient. and then God rewards you by touching the seeds that you plant, watering your seeds with your faith, and your trust and your belief in God and how you are reaping a harvest.
When God calls you He never leaves you nor forsakes you.
Denominations has nothing to do with the Body of Christ. That’s only something that the Devil uses to divide us. It’s all about the Name of Jesus.
The thing about Job is that he was a man that loved God. When we left the Devil’s Team and joined God’s Team, we are saying that we love God. Job loved God so much that God bragged on him.
Satan came up, God asked Satan, “Where you been?” God said, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him in all the Earth.” We want God to put our name in the place of Job. Satan is still walking to and fro the Earth. Satan is still trying to kill, steal, and destroy. He is still on the job 24/7.
God brags on, “Job hates evil and He loves me more than anything.”
We could put our name in there, “______Loves me more than Desperate Housewives, more than Grey’s Anatomy, more than shoes…”
Satan says,”Yeah, I have seen Job, but because you have a hedge of protection I can’t get to him. He don’t love you like that just for nothing.” Satan says,”He loves like that because of all you give him, because of all the things You have blessed him with. Job is rich.”
God says, “To prove it to you Satan, I will take down my hedge.”
God will ALLOW it. God did not cause it, he allowed it. (We have the ability through prayer to change things for our brothers and sisters. A prayer from a friend will avail much. Prayer changes things.)
God says, ” Ok, I’ll allow you to touch Job’s stuff. The things I have given to Job I will allow you to have power over those things, but just don’t touch him.” Isn’t it great to know that God creates ALL things. No matter how much Satan wants to rule or tries to be a big man on campus’ he can’t do nothing unless God allows it.
Job gets bad news. A lot of times when we go through things It’s just a test. Not for God, but for us to know where we are in God. We don’t know how we will react until something comes up. Let a fire come and take everything that we have. Let a loved one get sick and bring them to being bedridden, Let something happen where you have no control over it, and then will you say, “God is good” ?
It ain’t nothing but a test.
Job’s children died, animals got taken away, some of his household died. But through all of that he still praised God. For the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
I will not put on you more than you can bear God says. We may go through pain and agony, God knows how much you can take and how much they can take. Sometimes with the loss of a loved one we can remember that they belong to God before they belong to us. God knows.
Job still prays, “God nonetheless.”
In the test we may ask, “Lord why me?”
And the Lord turns around and says, “Why not you? You say you’re my servant. You say that you love me, You said that any way I want to use you I can use you. You say that you want to be a light for the world. You say that you said you want to save souls. You said that you want to keep people from going to Hell. You said you want everybody that you know to go to Heaven. You said these things.
Blackbirds say they’re her friend
But their gossip never ends
Those Birds of a feather
really do flock together
The Bluebird sings as
She rides the waves in the wind
Down the river through the clouds
Her Spirit flies above the things they said
Bubbling brooks and rushing streams,
she’s chasing her dreams
Little boys with guns try to
shoot her down just for fun
Sunrise cracks open the skies
Out of her nest she flies higher
The Bluebird sings as
She rides the waves in the wind
Down the river through the clouds
Her Spirit flies above the things they said
Bubbling brooks and rushing streams,
she’s chasing her dreams
Through the heartfelt mercies of our God, God’s Sunrise will break in upon us, Shining on those in the darkness, those sitting in the shadow of death, Then showing us the way, one foot at a time, down the path of peace. (Luke 1:78-79 MSG)
We all feel down from time to time. How do you combat the blues? What’s one tip you can share with others that always helps to lift your spirits?
How to beat the blues? When that cloud of depression tries to follow me I have found I can run into it or run away from it and into the arms of Jesus. My circumstances do not control me. We all go through stuff. The best advice I ever got –
If you can’t change your circumstances,
change the way you look at them.
My attitude is my choice.
Psalm 57:1-11 AMP
Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, be merciful and gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge and finds shelter and confidence in You; yes, in the shadow of Your wings will I take refuge and be confident until calamities and destructive storms are passed.
I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!
He will send from heaven and save me from the slanders and reproaches of him who would trample me down or swallow me up, and He will put him to shame. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! God will send forth His mercy and loving-kindness and His truth and faithfulness.
My life is among lions; I must lie among those who are aflame—the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows, their tongues sharp swords.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over all the earth!
They set a net for my steps; my very life was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way; into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody.
Awake, my glory (my inner self); awake, harp and lyre! I will awake right early [I will awaken the dawn]!
I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great, reaching to the heavens, and Your truth and faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be over all the earth.
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And all that is [deep] within me, bless His holy name.
