God fills the longing in our soul.
There are people who will take their five talents and make five more and people who will bury it in the ground and do nothing with it. For the ones who want to invest, to find more of what they’ve been give, God has promise. For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness. (Ps 107:9) Continue reading “It’s Good To Be A Hungry Soul” »
Keep your joy when you get discouraged.
Don’t let discouragement rob your joy. I’m not kidding. If you are discouraged, then it may seem that you are already robbed of joy, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Keep one hand in the Lord’s and you’ll get through it.
The hard part of keeping your joy in the middle of a rough patch is actually taking the steps that you know you need to take to keep from going under. Listen to praise music. Maybe that’s all it takes. Call a friend who will lift you up. Not everyone is good to talk to when you’re down. Some people like it there and you don’t need that. Do what you have to do to find your joy.
Once you give into depression and despair, you’ve opened the door to a lot a negative feelings that will be hard to displace later on. God understands discouragement, so He’s always there with us. Just remember that. Call out to Him. He’s very encouraging and know exactly what will cheer you up.
When you can face a discouraging situation and keep your joy, you shatter the attack of the enemy to take you down. Joy is in the Spirit of God, so it’s always yours. Keep it close and you’ll be fine.
The body of Christ is there to help.
There’s a reason to be part of a church body. We need each other. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the day approaching. (Heb 10:25)
To exhort means to build up, or lift up. If you have friends who know you and love you, you have a net to fall into when you need it. Everyone will need to be lifted up at some point. Your friends are the best ones to turn to. You don’t have to explain anything to them. They understand and they know how to pray for you.
That’s why the church is a body. We need all the parts, not just to function as a church, but to help each other when we need it. Don’t hesitate to get help, ask for prayer, or counseling. We are here for each other. No one wants to see you fall or in pain. But you have to let people know.
The body of Christ is a beautiful thing. When it functions properly, it’s a safe place to grow spiritually and emotionally. Make friends. Be a friend. Be willing to help someone else when they need it. You’ll need it yourself some day.
Learn when to stop and get out of God’s way.
Faith without works is dead, but we need to be sensitive to knowing when to get out of the way. The church has a history of doing way too much ”work” and not enough faith. The fields are ripe for harvest. There’s a lot of work to do, but learning how to do that work with God instead of for God is a huge lesson.
We are no longer servants, but heirs with Christ, so we should hear God speaking to us as an amazing Father. When we hear His voice in our lives, we know when to walk and when to rest. There are times when we need to roll up our sleeves and get dirt under our nails. And there are more times when we need to step aside and let God do what He does best.
Walking in that balance of works and faith takes maturity, and the first step in growth is admitting that we need to grow. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you’ve been getting in His way. You can’t stress a problem to make it solved. You’ll be amazed at what happens when you do what you know to do, then give the rest to Him. Don’t take on God’s part. You’ll never get His results. Work without faith is dead.
You destiny depends on your faith.
We always want to know the future. Prophetic words are awesome because we get a peek at what God sees in us and what our destiny is. Your tomorrow has the potential to being the beginning of a new season of hope. The question is, how much of it will you give Him?
Your destiny will require you to be hands off in some respects and hands on in others. If you totally trust Him, He can guide you into positioning yourself for what He wants to do. If you do not trust Him, you will miss out on what is yours.
Don’t assume that you don’t have a special destiny. That’s just wrong. You have a calling that is unique and wonderful. You just have to ask God to reveal it to you and trust Him in walking it out. He may need you to stop behaving in a certain way. He may need you to trust Him to open doors for you.
Your tomorrow can be the beginning of wonderful times. Only you will determine if that will happen. God wants to bless. Will you let Him?
God always wants to heal.
When Jesus said to heal the sick (Mat 10:8), He did not qualify it with, if it is God’s will. He said–heal the sick. Why, why, why do we pray, if it’s Your will, God, please heal this person? Did Jesus ever not heal anyone who came to Him? No. He healed everyone. Everyone.
It is God’s will to heal. Why would it be His will to not heal us? Would you do that to your children? Would you ever say, I think this will teach you a lesson. I know it’s hard, but you’ll be better for it.
That is the wrong premise to start with. Always begin with the understanding that God wants to heal. I know the arguments are forming now. But So-And-So believed and didn’t get healed. So-And-So died. I know.
We do not have all the answers, we only have Jesus’ commandment. Heal the sick. We have His example–He healed all the sick. That’s where we have to start and believe. Once you start questioning if it’s God’s will, you have already given territory to the enemy.
By His stripes we are healed. There is too much sacrifice in that to question His will. Yes, God does want to heal and He always will.
Write down all the things God has done for you.
There’s a reason that the Israelites built monuments when God did something miraculous. We forget stuff. We forget important stuff. We need a way to remember the things that matter. When God does something awesome in your life, write it down. Keep a notebook, or a Word file, or something to track the answered prayer and blessings you receive.
Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth. (Ps 105:5) So it’s not just a good idea, God says to do it. He knows we’ll forget. He knows we’ll get discouraged at some point and need a point of reference to go back to.
Reviewing the good things that God has done will help tremendously when you feel like He’s forgotten you, when everything seems to fall apart. Pull out that list and remind yourself how He moved for you. Look at that list of blessings and your spirit will lift as well. Tell yourself to bless the Lord as you remember what He has done.
There’s power in the testimony. When you repeat what God did before, you set the stage for Him to it again, for you and others as well. God remembers His good works, do you?
