The Strength of God Within You

Posted on April 4, 2023 by daaorg1214

Isaiah 40:29(ESV)
“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”

Because of his ministry and commitment to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s Word reveals that the Apostle Paul faced many hardships, including the threat of imprisonment and death. 2Corinthians 12:7 tells us that he was assaulted and tormented by a messenger of satan, which he referred to as a ‘thorn in the flesh’. Paul’s responsibility to the faith was huge, and as he progressed in ministry and notoriety, he had more than his fair share of enemies, but Paul didn’t allow any of this to keep him from carrying forth God’s work. He could have thrown in the towel and given up, but he had faith in God. He was confident that through the Holy Spirit, God’s strength was the foundation of his life, and it should be the foundation of our lives as well.

This is an especially important truth for those enduring the abuse of domestic violence. There are so many emotions involved in this struggle. We can be deeply devoted to the abuser, but terrified and angry at the same time. We desperately want to break free, but there’s a part of us that ultimately always gives in to what the abuser wants. These are controlling behaviors, and for many individuals in situations of domestic violence, this is their “thorn in the flesh.”

Whether this person is intimidating you by body blocking, sulking until you give in to what they want, or being menacing, mocking, and aggressive through their behavior and speech, it’s all an attempt to have dominance over you. To fall victim to this kind of treatment is not God’s Will for any individual, man or woman. Domestic violence and abuse is all about someone trying to have power over you. When you’re being controlled this way, despite your desire not to be, it is a sure indication that your mind and heart need to be nourished by the bread of God’s Word.

We can’t walk and live in a truth we don’t know, but when we know better, we have the potential to be and do better. When someone we love isn’t treating us the way all God’s children should be treated, we need a change of heart and mind. Our faith in God needs to be increased, and Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.

Many of us don’t believe that if we get out of an abusive relationship, that we’ll be okay. The person that is being abused may not have a support system or financial backing in place, and this can make leaving seem more riskier than staying in the situation. This line of thinking seems rational to someone that is used to being robbed of their strength and power on a continuous basis. The mind of a victim remains blinded to possibility and confidence when it is not stimulated by faith in God.

Reading His promises and gaining knowledge of His love is transformative. 2Peter 1:3 (NLT) states, “3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” According to the brilliance and perfection of His intellect, love, and power, God has gifted us everything that is required to live to the fullest. Right now, at this very moment, you are packed to overflowing with His gifts. His strength is inside you. Coming to know God through Jesus Christ is the thing that reacquaints us with the wonder of who He created us to be. We become better acquainted with our truest and highest self by learning about Jesus Christ and by following his example. Then what’s on the inside begins to impact and change our outside reality.

Ephesians 2:8(NLT) states, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” All God’s promises points to the magnificence of His plan to have us participating with Him in the way He purposed. What exactly is the way God has purposed? It’s to fully walk in His power and strength, and to be fully confident in the depth, width, and breadth of His perfect love. Paul said in Romans 1:16 (NLT), “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.” Through Jesus Christ, God has succeeded in putting humanity right with Himself. He’s done it all for us, and He has made it our responsibility to believe, trust, and make ourselves comfortable in all that He has accomplished through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

God desires us to exercise His power and strength in our lives so that we will no longer be blinded by fear and paralyzed by darkness and terror. His desire is that we walk in the liberty that Jesus Christ won for us. God’s grace and love is the winning strategy in life. So, it just makes sense that we should make it our life’s ambition to know Him more, because this is the way to put on more of His strength and wear it like a second skin.

He tells us in Isaiah 41:10(ESV), “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” If we lose sight of the greatness of God’s love and being, we will lose sight of all He has created us to be. We were not put on this earth to be blind-sighted, misled, and mistreated by a thorn in the flesh. We’re here to live in Christ through God’s love. To do this we must embrace God’s vision of who we are and get into His Word, because this is key to growing in faith and allowing the strength of God within to transform your life inside out.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Heavenly Father Comes to Your Rescue

Posted on March 28, 2023 by daaorg1214

2Peter 2:7-10(NLT)
“7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.”

Many of us wake up every morning and go about our daily business without giving thought to how God keeps our lives thriving. He protects us from hurt, harm, and danger, and He allows us to see another day. Ephesians 2:8(NLT) teaches us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” We can’t take any credit for the salvation God offers us through Jesus Christ, and we can’t take credit for the many marvelous ways in which He blesses us each day. Many individuals go through life feeling as though they’re trying to juggle too many balls, but make no mistake, God is the One keeping them in the air. He’s the glue that holds our lives together. We must not ever forget this, and every day is an opportunity to demonstrate our gratitude to Him.

God has done great things for us! Those of us that have children send our kids off to school, and we hope and pray they will be safe and sound. God has protected them, and we should never take this for granted. For years, we’ve gone about our routines of getting ourselves from one place to the next, driving to and from work, going shopping, taking care of our responsibilities and ourselves. We do all of this and more. Do you think it’s all you that’s keeping you and your loved ones safe and secure? Uh huh! It’s all because God has rescued us through Jesus Christ, and because of His grace, we can have access to a more than abundant life.

Look at what is happening in our world today. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t hear or read about some outrageous nonsense or worse, a needless violent or preventable tragedy. We should all say, “There but for the grace of God, I was spared.” We must be thankful to God for how He preserves us, and those we love and hold so dear.

2Peter 2:7-10 tells us about the Old Testament record of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Lot was vexed in his soul after witnessing wickedness daily. It was all around him, and no one was honoring God and giving thanks to Heavenly Father except Lot. It may feel to some of us that the wicked ways of many people haven’t changed much since then, and in fact, may have gotten worse. The truth that we must all comprehend is that God has not changed. He is good all the time. Just as He made sure His hand of protection was with those living in Old Testament times that trusted Him, God will do the same for those of us who love and trust Him today.

In the Old Testament, people who served God were His servants. Because of what God accomplished through the sacrifice and resurrection of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, not only do we have the responsibility and privilege to serve God’s Kingdom, but we are God’s children! We have His seed, the Holy Spirit, abiding within us through the new birth experience. If you and I will allow him, the person of the Holy Spirit will lead, guide, and direct us to the truth. Jesus Christ teaches in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”

Heavenly Father doesn’t leave anything to chance. When we are committed to remaining close to Him, He corrects us through His Word. He helps us go deeper into scripture to receive tremendous revelation and understanding so that we live victoriously in Christ! He doesn’t want His kids to suffer or to be lonely, sad, and without love. 1John 4:8 tells us that God IS LOVE! He wants us to let His love swell to overflowing in our hearts so that we learn to love through Jesus Christ. He commands us in Colossians 2:7 to let our roots grow down into Christ, to learn so much about our wonderful Savior that our lives are built on him. This is how we grow strong in faith and overflow with thankfulness.

God commands us in Philippians 1:27(NLT), “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.” We must be more vigilant about living by the example of Jesus Christ, and no one should confuse us with those who are of this world. God has called us to be set apart. Our responsibility is to pray without ceasing for everyone, this includes those who believe in God and trust His Word as well as those who do not. Through His unending and amazing grace, God will always come to our rescue because we are His children. This is the message we must give to others and that we must trust wholeheartedly ourselves.

Your Strength Renewed

Posted on March 22, 2023 by daaorg1214

2Corinthians 4:16(NLT)
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.”

Why did I turn on the radio? Of all the songs, it had to be playing one of my ex’s favorites. He said it reminded him to never give up on us. When I heard it, I immediately began to cry, and the tears just kept coming. I couldn’t stop thinking about the many years we’d been together. Now, six months after the breakup, I’m wondering how we got to this place. How did I end up where I never wanted to be, feeling alone, depressed, and hopeless?

When you’re in a relationship that you so badly want to last, you’ll keep trying to find ways to make it work. But when it is apparent that there is more harm and very little good, we must accept the reality that we’re not with the person that is meant to journey forward with us. Christians are not exempt from trials and tribulations. We make mistakes and have our fair share of battling heartbreak and sadness. Sometimes we choose to be in relationships with individuals that exhaust us mentally and emotionally. We put ourselves through the ringer for this person, because we want so much to have a significant relationship, but at what cost?

For many of us marriage is the goal, but sometimes we focus too much energy on the other person and not enough energy on our relationship with God. We need to settle our minds on the reality that every good thing in life is birthed out of the energy and love we put towards honoring Heavenly Father. The psalmist said in Psalm 18:2(ESV), “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” The Creator of the universe is perfect and magnificent in every way. He never has to do a do-over or a take-back, because He does everything perfectly from the very beginning. He is extremely intentional and on purpose, and all power is in His hands. God is worthy of all our praise, glory, and honor. He alone is God, and nothing ever slips by Him.

When we know this about God, it must be reflected in our faith. It must be expressed in how we think and feel about Him. He will not fail us, and we owe Him reverence and respect. It is also important for us to know that He cares about us, and He wants the best for our lives. John 3:16(ESV) declares, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, is extremely precious to Him, yet God did not spare him to save us. Romans 5:8(ESV) says, “But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This is how much God loves and desires to bless us.

As women, some of us find ourselves hungering to have a man love us, but we are not hungering to live more in God’s love through the example of Jesus Christ. We feel so sad once a relationship ends, and most of don’t see it for the new beginning it represents. When a relationship is over, sometimes we feel barren, numb, and don’t know what to do to ease the pain. There’s an empty place in our hearts, and God wants His love to occupy that space. Only His love can give us the spiritual strength that helps us to overcome any obstacle. We desperately need to become more acquainted with the person of Jesus Christ.

The pain eases as we let the love of God in. How do you let His love in? You surrender to it! You surrender your way and let God direct your steps each day. When you’re recovering from heartbreak, you might experience exhaustion on many levels. Nothing feels good, and it seems that all the excitement has left your life. God will replenish you if you trust Him with your whole heart. Isaiah 40:31(NLT) says, “But those who trust in the lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

As you take your hands off, you have no other choice but to let the Lord do the steering. Don’t be afraid that you will not love again, become “LOVE” yourself by allowing Christ to fill your heart. Let God take over and take your eyes off the man, because another human being can never be the answer that solves our life’s puzzle; only Christ can do this. Study God’s Word so that you learn to make wise decisions and choices, and don’t allow your feelings and emotions to make decisions for you.

You must feed your mind, soul, and spirit the truth and power of God’s Word. Don’t let despair win. You are the champion that God says you are. He says in Romans 8:37 that you are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, so fight the good fight of faith. Heavenly Father only wants what is best for you. Put as much or more energy into letting God renew your strength as you put in allowing heartbreak to take it from you. Have faith in His love, and you will be amazed by how He transforms your life.■

Overcoming the Discomfort of Dissatisfaction

Posted on February 20, 2023 by daaorg1214

Discomfort is often a calling card for change. This is a truism that we need to be reminded of constantly. We’re creatures of habit, and we like being able to count on the familiar. Even individuals we consider to be spontaneous and impulsive have made a habit of not adhering to plans and schedules. Inevitably, we will all come to a place in life where the status quo will no longer work for us. It’s a place where we begin to feel a strong sense of dissatisfaction with the way things are, and we know that something in our lives has to change. For some of us, going into the same building, seeing the same people at work, and doing the same job day in and day out has become very dissatisfying. For others, the dissatisfaction is closer to home, because they’re unhappy and unfulfilled in their relationships. Most of us can put up with agitation on certain fronts, but when we’re totally dissatisfied to the point of feeling feel down about ourselves, something must change, and it must start with our prayer lives.

Prayer should always be our first step
1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. Our Heavenly Father is not telling us to pray twenty-four hours a day. He wants us to rest and take care of our obligations and responsibilities. He also knows that we have occasions during the day when we can and should devote quality time to Him. This verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 instructs us to be very careful that we don’t neglect these opportunities. We are to use them to pray with discipline and diligence. God wants us to make prayer a habit pattern because prayer is one of the most powerful instruments of change that Heavenly Father has given us. Quite naturally, when we begin to notice that our lives are losing vitality and fulfillment, praying to God in the name of Jesus Christ should be our first step. Ephesians 6:18(NLT) tells us to “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

Prayer creates and maintains an open line of communication with Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. We talk to Him with an earnest and humble heart, and He speaks to us as well. Often, it’s not hearing the counsel of the Lord that develops a dissatisfaction with life. Heavenly Father doesn’t want us in this state because it opens the door to temptation. We saw this with Adam and Eve. God blessed them beyond measure and provided everything they could ever need. They were tempted by a plan of the devil to manipulate them. They allowed themselves to believe his lies over the truth of God’s Word. Once doubt entered their minds, the devil then landed a one-two punch with temptation, and they fell for it.

Getting to the Root
When the sadness of dissatisfaction with life persists, it can cause even the most mature Christian to abandon good judgment and opt for what they believe is an immediate fix. We can start to view money as the solution, and get ourselves into a debt situation. People have been known to pick up gambling and over-indulgence to put a band-aid on their pain. In marriage, a sense of dissatisfaction with our spouses may give the devil an opening to tempt us to step outside the marriage–to think that the grass is greener on the other side, when in actuality our souls are withering, and our partners are reflecting this decline back to us.

Spiritual maturity will always press us to recognize that dissatisfaction with external situations is a calling card to look within. Often, when Jesus Christ healed an individual, he pointed out to them that a mental and emotional adjustment had to occur first. In Mark 9, when a father sought him for the healing of his son, Jesus Christ clearly pointed out that the father had a responsibility to believe, because the son wasn’t in a condition to believe for himself. In Mark 9:22, the father begged Jesus, “Please have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” This word ‘IF’ nullifies faith. Jesus wanted to help them, but the father of the boy created an atmosphere where faith would not move.

Responding to Christ
1Timothy 2:5-6(NLT) are such powerful verses regarding our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This passage tells us, “5 For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.6 He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.” We have a Mediator in the person of Jesus Christ. To mediate is to intervene for the purpose of bringing about a result, reconcilement, and/or agreement. Mediation is what Jesus did for the father of the son that needed deliverance. Jesus Christ knew both the problem and solution. He told the father in Mark 9:23(NLT), “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Jesus Christ delivered a straightening rod in the form of a question and an answer. You can be guaranteed beyond certainty that Jesus Christ will respond to you, because this is what Mediators do; they respond, or else how can they mediate? In the world system, a person typically will trust a mediator implicitly. How much do you trust Christ? In the world system, a person would understand that the mediator only wants what is in their best interest; therefore, they would tell the mediator the absolute truth. Have you told Jesus Christ the absolute truth? Have you come to him with every detail of your pain? Are you using a person, situation, or thing to camouflage your doubt in God’s Word?

We should be praying to God in the name of Jesus Christ, asking Him to help our unbelief. Like he did with the father whose son needed deliverance and healing, Jesus Christ will respond to our prayers, and will do so in a way that brings out the thing that is blocking our faith. He will direct the Holy Spirit that indwells us to point out any “IFs” in our mind-and-heart-set. It’s an internal thing, we can be most assured of this. We should then respond to Christ with full surrender, allowing him to guide us through as we leave doubt and dissatisfaction behind us. ■

Is a Flaw Keeping Your Blessing Hostage?

Posted on February 13, 2023 by daaorg1214

Aisha grew up in New Jersey, with three brothers. Even though she’s the oldest, her younger brothers were always very protective, and they still are today. She’s 43, has never been married, and has been in and out of relationships most of her adult life. She wants a man that makes her feel as protected as she’s always felt with her brothers, but inevitably, she ends up being disappointed. In her view, the men she’s dated haven’t been able to live up to this standard. She swore off dating for a while but is now open to it again. I had a conversation with her a little while ago. She had met someone new at her job and they went out on a date. She told me she experienced a really awkward moment on the date when he asked her a question. She really struggled to answer it and was embarrassed about it. He wanted to know, “What is a beautiful woman like yourself still doing single?”

Driving home that night, all Aisha could think about was why she had such difficulty answering this question. In her conversations with girlfriends, she had been accustomed to blaming character flaws in the men for her past failed relationships, but there was something about the manner in which this man asked the question that left no room for blame. She would have to look within for answers, and this was something she hadn’t done to any great degree before.

Aisha is undeniably a beautiful woman, but her manner at times can be likened to putting a bull in a china cabinet. She has a negative filter when it comes to a lot of things, and she views many people and situations through a very critical lens. Things that would be better left unsaid, she says them; and her criticisms are almost never tempered with love. The thing is, she doesn’t put herself through this same scrutiny.

All of us have flaws, but we can’t afford to use this as an excuse. There are certain flaws that impede our destinies, cause us to walk outside our purpose, and they cause us to miss out on the blessings God has stored up for us. Ultimately, these particular flaws take us so far outside the Will of God that they harm our relationship with Him severely. These are the flaws and weaknesses that we’re in the earth to address. They spawn the lessons that continue to cycle back until we either learn them or die. Arrogance will always keep us blind to this, but through humility, God will give us the grace to see it.

Romans 10:9-10 (NLT) tells us, “9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.” Believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths are required for the new birth reality. It is the only way to receive salvation. God makes it clear that it is the heart that makes the difference, for this is where love abides. We must swap out the heart that causes harsh judgement and undue criticism against others and exchange it for a heart that welcomes kindness and compassion.

Ephesians 5:25 tells us that God’s standard is that a man loves his wife just as Christ loves the church. Christ loved the church so much that he offered up his life for her. This allows us to know beyond a shadow of doubt that truly a man can love a woman this way, because God has told us it is so. The question for the woman is whether her heart draws this level of love. It will be challenging to do so if her heart is filled with remnants of fear and darkness.

Demonstrating the love of God must be at the top of our agenda in life and in relationships. Once we are anchored in it, this love then becomes actively engaged as we give it out, but you can’t give something you haven’t practiced within yourself. When Aisha was asked why she’s still single, she came up with, “I’ve been patiently waiting for the right fit.” It sounds good, but it didn’t feel authentic to her soul, and she couldn’t hide it. She very much wants things to work out with the man who asked the question. So, she has begun to confront some things that she has hidden behind for many years.

God doesn’t want us running away from the truth ever. And the truth is that, to the extent a flaw keeps our blessing hostage, we must confront it and do the work to get it handled. It can be very uncomfortable, there’s no mistake about this. Aisha must learn to lean on God for her protection, and not look to a man to be something more than what he is. God will often work through the man, but all protection comes from Heavenly Father, and we should never think anyone can do it better than Him. There must be room in our hearts to accept that the right fit for us may not be strong in all the areas we expect, but they will help to build us up as we seek to fulfill the purpose to which we are called.

Seven Things You Should Never Tolerate in Your Life

Posted on December 19, 2022 by daaorg1214

There is one thing that you can know for sure, and it is the fact that God has empowered you to shape and mold the quality of your existence. This power is extended to us through Jesus Christ, our powerful Lord and Savior. He made it possible for us to be the master builders that the Apostle Paul referred to in 1Corinthians 3:10. God never intended this vehicle called life to be one big, out-of-control mess. He is a God of supreme order, and through His Word and the example of Jesus Christ, we can take authority and begin to fashion our existences through the help of the Holy Spirit that indwells us. Part of doing this is drawing a line in the sand and being firm about the things we will not tolerate and give place in our lives.

#1 Draining Relationships
Jesus Christ taught us the importance of unity and respect in our relationships. He modeled this for us in the way that he interacted with the disciples. Ephesians 2:21(NLT) tells us, “We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.” As the body of Christ, we can see how dependent we should be on one another, but not everyone will see it this way. Rather than adding to our walk in Christ and blessing us to go higher in our walk with him, we may find that some people are very draining. They limit our enjoyment of life, and it doesn’t feel good to be in their presence. If you find that this person’s negativity is bleeding into important aspects of your life and keeping you from living a joyful existence, you are well within your rights to put some distance between you and them.

#2 Negative Conversations
One of the things that we will often dismiss is our responsibility to govern what we listen to and hear. God tells us in Colossians 3:8 to not let filthy communication come out of our mouths, and this should also remind us to steer clear of it all together. Proverbs 17:4 (NLT) tells us, “Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; liars pay close attention to slander.” This is not the person that God wants us to be. It is important for us to remember that participating in negative conversations or listening to them can have a long lasting and negative effect on our lives, because there is most assuredly a price to pay for indulging them.

#3 Defeating Self-talk
We’ve heard it said a number of times, but it really is the truth; we are often our own worst enemies. Never is this more true than in the case of beating ourselves up with thoughts of inadequacy, and feelings of self-doubt and insecurity. David said in Psalm 139:14 (KJV), “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.” David knew that he wasn’t a perfect man. He had made some mistakes, but he also knew enough to understand the omnipotence, sovereignty, and omniscience of God. Heavenly Father has predestined each of us according to His divine Will and plan. Having a healthy respect for our individual uniqueness will aid our Godly endeavors. So we can never dismiss or diminish that we are masterful creations in Christ. We don’t have time for defeating or negative self-talk. Instead, we should busy ourselves by honoring our standing in Christ and having confidence in our ability through the Holy Spirit, because this is praise to the Almighty.

#4 Ingratitude
Gratitude is a strong sense of being truly thankful for what has been done for you or on your behalf. Colossians 3:17 (NLT) tells us, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” Gratitude is a dominant attribute in the culture of heaven, and it is a legal requirement of operating by faith. Tolerating ingratitude in our Christian walks is not only harmful to our relationships with God, but also to our ability to remain in a state of well-being. Psalm 97:12 (NKJV) tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.” Our hearts should be so filled with gratitude that merely thinking about the goodness of God, and all that He has done for us should ignite within us feelings and thoughts of pure thankfulness. So we would do well to put off feelings of entitlement and arrogance, and to make thankfulness a continual and firmly engrained habit pattern for the duration of our lives.

#5 Living without Fun
None of us deserve all of the blessings that we have received, but the truth is that God chose us on which to lavish the fullness of His love, mercy, and grace. Not only that, He has made us worthy to receive these wonderful blessings through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In John 10:10, Our precious Lord told us that he came to this earth to make a more than abundant life available to each of us. It’s true that some of us are living beneath our privilege, but this is something we can change. We can start by having confidence that Heavenly Father wants us to have fun and enjoy life. This is a very meaningful aspect of living an abundant life.

We see so many unhappy Christians, and we should be the happiest of all people because we have the knowledge of what Christ has accomplished for us. Not only is it possible to be happy and have fun as a Christian, but the Spirit will help us to make the most out of every moment. He will help us discover new interests and to develop new talents. We just need to have faith in God’s desire to see us happy, and then make a conscious decision to enjoy our lives.

#6 Ignorance Regarding Your Purpose
Sooner or later, we will all come to a place where we’ll realize that journeying forward will be extremely difficult without knowing ourselves on a deeper level. You were handpicked by Heavenly Father to be His very own, and everything He does is purposeful. When we recognize this, we can then begin to reflect upon our lives more constructively.

So few people know why they are here, and most often it is because their eyes are closed to it. They take life as it comes without using the tools that God has given through His Word, the example of Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit to find out the purpose for their existence. God demands that we seek His Will and place it above all else, and we shouldn’t ever tolerate living a life without knowing our purpose and committing ourselves to walk in it.

#7 Living Outside of Your Integrity
Integrity is a deeply embedded allegiance to uphold qualities like being honest and having a strong sense of do-rightness. It is also a state of being whole, complete, and undivided. All of us have a register of integrity that is based upon things that we absolutely will not accept in ourselves and others. It’s a threshold that we understand and compute as a level that is too low to go. As we grow in Christ, our level of integrity should rise; not go lower.

God has created us with a trigger within our souls that automatically goes off when we are about to make choices and decisions that undermine the core of who we’ve been called to be. Some of us have become so accustomed to ignoring this trigger in certain areas of our lives that we don’t even recognize it any more. One of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves is to pause, listen to that inner voice, and examine whether something is well with our souls. In these cases, we need to wait for the ‘all clear’ from the indwelling Holy Spirit. He’ll give us warnings before we head in a direction that violates the integrity of our very beings.

As Christians, the way we move throughout our existences daily should be built upon the mind and heart of Christ. Each of us has the capacity to build up ourselves to extent that we flat-out refuse to accept things that move us away his example. The bottom line is that when we take a stand on the integrity and authority of Christ, we will find that everything in our worlds will follow suit. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

For Best Results, Do It God’s Way

Posted on December 12, 2022 by daaorg1214

The other day, I watched some kids practicing soccer in the park. During the practice, I heard the coach instructing them to pace their breathing, so that they wouldn’t become too exhausted while running in the game. “If you want to play long and strong, breathe slowly and steadily, rather than quickly, so you don’t overwhelm your body.” He said. I thought to myself, “Wow! I’ve never thought about the importance of breathing techniques, and how they impact the body’s performance.” I figured the body would do what it does automatically, but the coach was teaching the kids to take command of their physical beings in order to sustain peak performance. That’s what a good coach does, and this is what God’s Word does for our lives as well.

There are times when we become so used to doing things the same way that we’ve always done them, that we don’t think to slow down and ask God if we’re doing them His way. Many times it’s not because we don’t care, but more so out of not being aware or not having proper instruction. We’ve heard this saying time after time, “you can’t get different results from doing the same things.” If we want different results, and that’s exactly what many of us are praying to receive, we’ve got to do things differently in certain areas of our lives.

We are incredibly blessed to have God’s perfect instruction manual on how to get our lives right. 2Peter 1:3(NLT) tells us, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory.” We get to know the nature of God through His Word. It is through this knowledge of God that we can actually begin to put this Word on in our minds and hearts, so that we embody the example of Christ.

Psalms 91:2 (NLT) tells us, “This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.” There is no way we can lose out if we put all our trust in God. If you are a person of good intention, you will want to make the most out of where you are in life. Whether it’s in your family, in a new relationship, or on your job, you want to make a positive contribution and have a positive impact; but there are so many things going on from one moment to the next, we can’t possibly handle this on our own. We need God’s help. He sees all the details. He knows all the ins and outs, and He also knows exactly how, where, and when we can be the most effective. This is one of the many reasons why we should totally depend on Him, and learn to love and live His way through His Word. It’s the best way, and it will cause us to thrive and prosper under His continual covering and care.♦

The Place God Has Prepared for Us

Posted on December 5, 2022 by daaorg1214

Exodus 23:20-22(NLT)
“20 See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you. 21 Pay close attention to him and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion. 22 But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.”

“Sometimes I just want to give up! Nothing in my life is easy! Every time I turn around, there’s another hurdle to jump through.”

Can you sense the frustration and disappointment in the statement above? Sometimes, the Christian journey isn’t easy. There can be jubilant highs and gut-wrenching lows. There are hurdles to jump through, and many trials and tribulations to overcome. These are all a part of life’s journey. But somehow, many individuals think that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are exempt from challenges and adversities. We are not. The difference between those that have made Jesus Christ their personal Lord and Savior and those that have not is the victory that he offers us through our faith! 1John 5:4(NLT) declares this! It states, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”

You may feel as though you’re on the losing side, but this is where faith comes in. We must trust that God set up our journeys in Christ to be victorious and triumphant, not downtrodden and powerless. When we’re struggling to believe this, God commands us to renew our minds so that feelings of defeat and sadness are not our go-to emotions. He wants us to replace these with faith and confidence in Him.

Our struggle begins when we believe that we must strive to be good enough and that we must force ourselves to have confidence. Jesus Christ tells us in John 6:63(NLT), “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” He’s teaching us the difference between the realm of the flesh and the realm of the Spirit. You and I didn’t save ourselves from the bondage of death and darkness, there was no way we could have possibly done this. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. Through the finished work of his sacrifice and resurrection, God has set us free through His beloved and powerful Son.

He tells us Galatians 5:1(NIV), “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” This means that we’re to abandon the mindset of trying to make ourselves right and lay hold of the mindset of accepting God’s way of making us right through Jesus Christ. We are spiritual beings, and our new way of responding to God and life is through His Spirit.

God teaches us many spiritual lessons about His provision, protection, and power through the Children of Israel in the Old Testament. We see His faithfulness and His desire for a family. And we also see how God expects us to behave as members of His family. He is our Heavenly Father, and He commands us to lean totally and completely on Him for everything. In Proverbs 3:5-6(NLT), He instructs, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” So, even in our emotions and feelings, Heavenly Father expects us to make them submissive to our faith in Him.

We can learn a lot in the Old Testament from the mistakes His people made when they didn’t trust Him. They witnessed God part the Red Sea to rescue them from slavery under the Egyptians. He rained manna from heaven to feed them, and when they complained about the manna, He caused a wind to bring quails to them from the sea. In the wilderness, He split open rocks and caused water to burst forth like a spring. The miracles God showed them were too numerous to count, but even with all His miraculous works, they still did not remain faithful. With everything that Heavenly Father did for them, they were not totally convinced of His love and power.

You and I can be assured that witnessing God’s miracles doesn’t necessarily cause our minds and hearts to change towards Him. This is a tremendous lesson for us to learn. Jesus Christ commands us in Mark 12:30 to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. This means that we are to love our Heavenly Father with all that we are. This kind of love comes from Jesus Christ, and it is not dependent on the wonderful things that God does; it is dependent on the reality of who God is. We must love Him because He is the ‘Great I Am!’ He’s holy beyond holiness, brilliance beyond brilliant, perfect beyond perfection, and majestic beyond majesty. He is worthy to be praised because He is who He is. This is the truth on which our faith must be anchored.

This race that you and I are running in life is the race that God has set before us. We didn’t set it, He did. Our lives belong to Him. He knows every detail, experience, and encounter in our lives before these things occur. In Exodus 23:20, God shows us that He will even send His angels ahead of us to protect us, and He will keep our feet from falling while we’re running this race of life, but we must trust Him and He will not force us to do so. Everything we do, think, feel, and say is completely up to us. We are the ones to determine whether we will walk in the victory of Christ based on the choices and decisions we make. God desires that we choose Him and His Word every time. He desires us to walk in the victory of Christ so that we will not be defeated by the tricks of the enemy. He wants us to know that we will outsmart the devil by thinking, speaking, and behaving like Christ, and having the kind of faith that Christ has.

Notice also in Exodus 23:20 that God tells His people that He had prepared a place for them. When He told them this thousands of years ago, He was referring to the Promised Land. But because of what God accomplished for us in Christ, we can walk in the Promised Land every day because God has set us free! We need to focus on the reality of who God is more than we focus on our emotions and feelings. We should never want it said about us that we value our emotions and feelings more than we value the truth of God’s Word.

It’s a mistake to think that God can’t relate to the troubling times we face on earth as His Children. He absolutely does, and He tells us in Romans 8:37 that He’s made us more than conquerors over those things through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Many of us have a pattern of relying on how we feel, and we allow this to govern us, but feeling low, sad, and defeated is not the place God has prepared for us. He wants us to put all our trust on the reality of who He is. He is faithful and has all power in His hands. When we trust in the totality of His goodness, grace, and mercy, He will go before us and lead us every step of the way. He will handle those that talk about us and try to cause us trouble, as we have confidence that victory in Christ will always be our destination when we continue to place all our trust in God.■

Kick Pain to the Curb!

Posted on November 28, 2022 by daaorg1214

Release the pain and anger of past heartaches and embrace the
victory God gives us through Jesus Christ!

The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14(NLT), “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” In order to get the full impact of what God is teaching us through Paul in Philippians 3:13-14, we need to know a little bit about Paul’s background. At one time, his mind was so blinded by satan that he actually authorized the persecution, murders, and imprisonment of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The things he had been taught were wrong, and because of this, he was going backward instead of forward. He fed his mind and heart lies and misinformation. He became full of arrogance and surprisingly, he thought he knew what God wanted.

Before Paul was converted and gave his life to Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he made humongous mistakes. Again, in his past, he was notorious for persecuting the very people that God commanded him to preach to after his conversion. So, when he started ministering the Gospel, as we can well imagine, it was an uphill journey. He understood that this was his purpose and destiny in Christ, but people had reservations because of Paul’s murderous history. They knew the things he had done, and it was hard for them to accept that he had been transformed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul became such a devoted and masterful teacher of the Gospel that the people could not deny that God was working through him. This is such a poignant example for us because Paul counted the things that he gained in Christ to be far superior to anything he had possessed or done wrong in his past. In Philippians 3:8(NLT), he proclaimed, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.”

This is the posture, mindset, and attitude that God expects from us. We have made many mistakes in our past. We didn’t know the Lord as we do today, and we may not have had the desire to please Him as we do today. Some of us have gone through painful divorces. We’ve injured others and we’ve been injured ourselves from broken relationships. The emotional heartache and hurt of this pain can be very challenging to get over, but like the Apostle Paul, none of us can afford to allow our pasts to define our present or our futures.

This is a choice! Each of us must choose to let the past remain in the past. We must do this for our own sake and for the sake of God’s Will and plan for our lives. God tells us in Ephesians 4:31-32(NLT), “31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” I recently had a conversation with a woman that is still enraged over the infidelity of her ex-husband. She refuses to get over how he treated her and their marriage. He’s moved on and is now in another relationship, but she is stuck in her past. This isn’t what God wants for any of us. He doesn’t want us to be blocked in our hearts and minds by something that occurred a long time ago. And if we’re keeping it real, none of us can change what has already occurred.

We can’t have a redo when it comes to our past. When those situations occurred, they may have impacted us in a very painful way, but instead of allowing them to trap us like quicksand, we should learn from them. We must understand that we can kick pain to the curb and keep it moving by attending to the things of God. We were born with God’s purpose in our DNA, and we will not be satisfied until we begin to walk in the destiny that He has placed us on this earth to achieve. We have victory in Christ! This is the truth! Paul recognized that everything outside of Christ is a lie, and everything in Christ is love, light, liberty, and life!

Everything in Christ is the truth! Our emotions may remind us of the past, but our emotions were never intended by God to govern our lives. Jesus Christ is Lord! He governs our lives, and nothing should ever come before him. We can be very emotional creatures, and as women, a lot of us base our emotional well-being on how the men in our lives respond to us. Instead, we should base our emotional well-being on how WE respond to GOD. It’s not that God doesn’t want us to be committed to our spouses, but He requires us to make Him the center of our universe. This is a space and place that cannot be shared with anyone or anything, because God is love and we can only truly love others because His love fills our hearts to overflowing.

1John 4:11-12(NLT) teaches us, “11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” This is the goal, to love better through Christ. Don’t hold grudges and resentment and be angry for a lifetime; don’t allow yourself to go there. It’s so destructive to our entire being. Don’t make room for emotions and attitudes that don’t serve you well. Instead, be committed to let God’s love fill you to overflowing. Believe the promises of His Word and repeat them to yourself continually. Pray and ask God to give you a new heart and be confident in His healing and His desire to give you victory in your life.■

Your Victory Status

Posted on October 31, 2022 by daaorg1214

Deuteronomy 28:12(NLT)
“12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13; If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.”

The other night, I watched an interview of a woman that had much success in her life, but she’d also experienced many pitfalls as well. A successful entrepreneur with a thriving business, she was asked by the interviewer, “What keeps you humble?” She replied, “The shoe is going to drop one day. I know it is, so I work hard to prepare for the hard times, and I never let my head get too big.” I thought her response spoke to what it means to have a level head and a good work ethic, but the reality is that the shoe dropped for all of humanity when Adam sinned against God. Adam fell and took all of us with him and Eve, but God had a plan. Through Christ, He laid the path for our victory, and all we need to do is walk in it.

In Luke 14, a large crowd was following Jesus Christ. They had no doubt seen and heard of the miracles he performed, how he healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, and caused the deaf to hear. They wanted to be where the action was. Some wanted to be entertained and others were only interested in what they could get from him. But there were a few who genuinely wanted to be a part of God’s Kingdom and to learn more about it. Our Master Jesus is the Great Discerner and Separator. Luke 3:17(NLT) says of him, “He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.” Our Redeemer separates what is real from what is fake. That is what he did with this crowd, and this is what he will do when he returns to the earth.

In Luke 14:26-29(NLT), Jesus Christ turned around and said to the large crowd, “26 If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. 28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost.” Our Lord and Savior is fully transparent. He doesn’t keep anything hidden from us. He wants us to know that there’s a cost to discipleship. There’s a cost to following him.

When we give our lives to Christ, we make him LORD! He is the head of everything in our existences, from the smallest to the greatest detail. Our lives belong to him totally and completely. 1John 4:4(NLT) declares, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” We belong to God! And Jesus Christ is Lord over our emotions, over our thoughts, over our conversations, our relationships, our going in and our going out. He is Lord over us, and we must honor him as the head. This is what it means to give our lives to Christ. In Luke 14:26-29, he makes it fully transparent that this is required, and if we’re not up for it, he tells us to consider carefully whether we should begin this journey.

In Luke 14:28, he tells us to count the cost. This means we should think about the price or cost of following Christ before we begin the journey. As born-again believers, our lives may be targeted for adversity and tribulation. This Christian walk is not always easy, and Jesus Christ asks us to pick up this cross and follow him. We do it because we made the choice to follow righteousness and turn our backs on darkness. God rewards this choice in a big way. 1Corinthians 2:9(NLT) declares, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

When we are going through the battles of life, it can get so bad sometimes that you can’t find the Words that God has imprinted on your heart. You want to declare that you are more than a conqueror in every situation, but your tribulations seem insurmountable. This is the time when you must trust God and do everything in your power to stand on His Word. It’s not about how we feel. It’s not about how a situation looks. It’s about believing that God does not lie, and that His Word is true! He has all power in His hands, He is faithful to deliver us, and He will set our feet on higher ground. This is what we must trust.

Never doubt your victory status. It was purchased with an exceedingly high price. God wants us to obey His Word because this is how we walk in the victory of Jesus Christ. Life will throw many things at us, because the devil is busy, but we must remember what God tells us in 1John 4:4, “the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” Our Heavenly Father has put us in this race. It’s a race that started when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and God has made sure we are all equipped to win it. He tells us in 1John 5:4(NLT), “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” We are destined for victory in Jesus Christ, and we are not defeated. We must keep the faith, continue to read and study God’s Word, and be willing to carry our crosses no matter what comes our way. ■

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