Monthly Archives: April 2012

What Are You Believing?

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'Believe necklace' photo (c) 2010, Indalo Art - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

What goes through your mind when you first wake up? Do you approach each day with excitement and expectation? Or do you wake up dreading the day ahead? I think for the most part, many of us start our days with dread. We wake up thinking about all the things in our life that aren’t right or how we would like them to be. And I’ve found that this is a surefire way to have a bad day. Jesus said “…it shall be done for you as you have believed.” (Matthew 8:13) So if you’re expecting to not enjoy your day, you probably won’t. 

Honestly, most of us don’t even want to start our day with excitement and expectation of anything good because we actually FEAR thinking positive. We believe we’ll be let down. So we think, “If I don’t expect any good, I won’t be disappointed when I don’t get any.”  But with that you’re basically saying…”I don’t believe anything good will happen, so instead I’ll believe for bad so I’m not surprised.” Notice what you’re “believing” for…that you’ll be let down. Hmm, no wonder you keep getting let down…you’re faith is in action.

Faith simply put is belief in something; and it works on whatever you’re believing, whether that’s for the positive or for the negative. Generally we don’t call it faith when it’s negative, we call it fear. We say I’m afraid this is going to happen or that is going to happen. So you’re basically putting your “faith”, in the thing you don’t even want. How about instead of saying “I’m afraid that I’m going to get sick”, you say “I believe God is protecting me from every sickness”. Or if you’re worried that you might lose your job,  when that fear comes instead of focusing on that you say “God knows I need a job and He is making sure that I have one at all times!” Stop believing for the worst to happen, and start believing for the BEST to happen. 

Think about how you feel on a day when you’re expecting something good to happen. We wake up totally different on those days, with a whole different attitude. We are happy and excited, and even when we go to sleep the night before we are anxiously anticipating the next day. We don’t have any trouble getting out of bed that day! 

But why can’t we start EVERY day like that? Psalm 118:24 says,  “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Everyday is a day that the Lord has given us, so for that reason alone we should be happy. Many people didn’t get to see today. So, I think we should approach each day with excitement, looking and expecting for God to bless us and come through for us in whatever way we need Him to. For instance, if you’ve asked God for something, and you’ve been waiting to see it come to pass, don’t go around sad and depressed because you haven’t seen it yet. Instead, start looking for God to be working on your behalf. 

Starting today, when you feel afraid about something, determine the reverse of that, pray to God for the positive thing, and then watch Him go to work for you! He really wants to! In fact, He’s looking for someone like this…

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]! Isaiah 30:18 AMP

Did you catch that? He’s actually looking for someone to be gracious to. He wants to lift Himself up so He can show you mercy and loving-kindness. And it even says that if you wait and expect for God to be all those things to you, you will be blessed. Now that’s something to get excited about!! The God who is in charge of everything and has all power, is waiting to do something for YOU! 

So, go to Him, tell Him what you need, and expect Him to listen and help you. It might not be how you expected it to happen, but God is surely full of surprises! All you have to do is BELIEVE…

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 John 5:14-15 

God bless you!!!

The Call

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Hello! Did you know that God had a specific purpose in mind when He put you here? It’s TRUE!!! Everything that God wants to do on the earth, He uses a PERSON to do it. And all throughout the Bible, whenever there was a need, He would select a person, and then tell them what He wanted them to carry out for Him. The most interesting thing is that, most of the time, the people who He called could not understand why He would choose them. In their own eyes they didn’t have any special talent or gift and in fact they would look at the things they DIDN’T have and basically tell God that they thought He had made a mistake in choosing them! 
Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 AMP
 
In the verse above, God told Jeremiah He had chosen him to be prophet. Jeremiah responded by saying, “Oh Lord, I cannot speak, for I am only a youth.” He was basically telling God, I’m too young to do what you’re asking me to do! But God answered him by saying “Don’t say that you’re too young and can’t speak, because I will tell you what to say. Don’t be afraid!” And then God actually touched his mouth and put His own words in Jeremiah’s mouth. (Jeremiah 1:6-9) The end of the story is that Jeremiah went on to become a great prophet, predicting future events!! 
 
So the question I have for you today is, what has God called YOU to do?? And are you doing it? Or are you still arguing with God (and yourself, and possibly others) about why you CAN’T do it? If that’s the case, I’m here to tell you that whatever you think you’re “missing” that would prevent you from doing the great things God is calling you to do, God is saying that He Himself will give it to you (whatever it is)…if you will just decide to step out in faith and do it!!
 
Maybe you’re someone who is saying, “I don’t have a call on my life”. I would beg to differ! God is very purposeful. And you simply would not be here on this earth if He didn’t have a reason for it!  So, if you don’t think you have a purpose in life, then you have some homework to do! 🙂 And because God created you, He is the only One that knows what that purpose is, because it is precisely the reason why you are here. The first thing you need to do is ASK HIM what that is, so you can get started on that path! I can assure you that whatever it is, IF you accept the call, He will bring tremendous joy and blessings into your life! 
 
‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’ Jeremiah 29:11
 
Here’s a short prayer to help you get you started… 
Lord, I know you’ve called me to do something great for You. Please show me what that is and give me the courage, so I can do it! Help me to not to look at my own abilities, but at Your ability, because I know that You will be with me every step of the way! In Jesus name, Amen. 
 
If you prayed that prayer, I already know that you are on your way to something WONDERFUL! I am so happy for you!! 
 
God bless you!!! 
 

Do You Have a Dream?

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'4:365 Dream' photo (c) 2008, RandyA38 - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

 

“How could you have a dream and not make that dream come true?” -Unknown

When I read that quote, something inside of me was awakened! It’s such a simple question, but it points out just how much power (and responsibility) we have for making our dreams come true. For most of us, when we think of our dreams, we think of a distant future where everything in our lives will finally be just as we would like it. Where we finally have that nice beautiful home we’ve always dreamed of, really nice cars that will bring us lots of haters, a great career doing what we love to do and makes us lots of money, and wonderful relationships with those we love. We think about it often, and when things aren’t going well in our current reality, we say things like “I can’t wait until…” and fill in the blank with descriptions of what our lives will look like once all of our dreams come true. 

Most often though, we aren’t actively making any plans to see those things become a reality. We just believe that somehow, someway, all those things will simply fall into place one day. God will “work it out” and make it happen for us because we’re good people and we deserve to be happy and live a good life. Right? 

But that’s rarely what happens. Most often people live and dream, live and dream, and eventually get to an old age wondering, “What happened?” They think about all the hopes and dreams they had for their lives, and they look around and wonder where the time went and how come they never got to live “the good life.” Some of you may feel this way right now, and you’re not old at all. 🙂 I know because I’ve had these thoughts myself at various times! 

I don’t want that for any of us! And I bet it scares you to even think that you might get to that place one day. But it doesn’t have to be that way! YOU have the power to ensure that doesn’t become your future. 

The first step is to pray about your dreams and ask God to show you what you need to do to make them a reality. God will help you, and He will give you the ideas, insights, and resources necessary to see your dreams come true. But you have to do what you CAN do in the natural, and God will add His super-ability to your natural ability.

I want to encourage you to dream big, and not only dream, but make plans to bring your dreams to reality. And don’t just think of all the big huge things that most people dream about. Think of your mind as a dream factory. Where you are constantly dreaming and implementing. Once you achieve one dream, start on a NEW one! I bet you will find that your life could be much more fruitful than it is now. No dream is too small or too big. Whatever you can conceive, you can achieve, if you just believe. That’s not just a cliche!


Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. Proverbs 16:3 AMP

May God richly bless you!!!