Guard

It is a fact that temptation will at some point cross your path. There will be times when you are tempted to kiss the woman, pack up and run off with the guy, and fly wild off course from the planned out path, but you must remember the spiritual detriment it will bring to you and your house.

Scripture teaches that we guard our hearts. In 1 Corinthians 6:18, the Bible records, "Flee sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside of his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body." 

I encourage you to maintain your moral character and work to develop some good morals, if you find yourself lacking. Infidelity is one of the biggest reasons for divorce today. And unfaithfulness in relationships will break down trust and create a whirlwind of unnecessary ill-fate. Behavior that is less than moral causes you to break promises to those you love because sexual immorality is completely self-seeking and idiotic. And the really big deal is when you engage in sexual immorality (in whatever form) you sin against your own body and separate a gulf not only between you and your spouse, but between you and God.

I encourage you to maintain the spiritual ethics taught in Scripture and you will be blessed and build a reputation of honor.  It is a sad commentary indeed when we willfully lose our families over a few moments of sexual immorality. It's a downward spiral of sin and God is your only hope for forgiveness and deliverance. So always set a guard and keep your heart from unfaithfulness.

The Lord Builds

If you've ever built a house or hired a contractor for a specific task, you clearly understand how vital it is that the right builder build the house.  This can be a huge factor in whether or not the walls and windows are plumbed and everything is squared and comes together like the orchestrated pieces of a complicated puzzle.

Often in life we suffer broken relationships for one reason or another.  We are not always to blame, but these strained relationships can adversely affect us longterm.  Sometimes due to abuse, misunderstandings, distance, aging or a lack of forgiveness we face a strain in our relationship with our parents or others. 

It is completely necessary that we daily place God in charge of our homes, friendships, marriages, and families. It's so important that the Lord build the house. We are simply not smart enough to handle life without God. We need His divine help with every segment and every relationship in our lives.  The Psalmist declares, "Unless the Lord builds the house, it's builders labor in vain." (Psalm 127:1) 

Things like failure to discipline, bad decisions, poor parenting, and separation creates even more problems in our relationships. Incorrect perception of circumstances or failure to work diligently on a relationship can also result in complacency, lack of trust, and failed respect. The result can be broken relationships with our children.

Sometimes we face broken relationships also with our friends. Often, we hang around the wrong crowd, keep the wrong friends, and subject ourselves to the wrong influences and peer pressure. We fail to pursue healthy and positive friendships that can sharpen us and build us up.

Marriage is one of the relationships that are suppose to be eternal.  We need oneness, honesty, and unity in marriage.  But there is hope only when both parties in the relationship follow the same blueprint.  "By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established. And by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." (Proverbs 24:3-4)   

It is time that we let God be the Lord of our relationships. So wherever the brokenness lies - ask God for help and repair. Ask God to step in and bring remedy. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, He is the only One able to fix it. "Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power that works in us." (Ephesians 3:20)

Good Advice

Sometimes, we go to all our friends for advice and counsel.  We air our to everyone around us and we are curious what they would do or say or choose if in our situation.  But God is the only counsel you really need.  

The Psalmist declares in Psalm 16:5-8, "LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.  I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." 

Fine-tune your spirit to hear His voice and listen to His instruction.  Seek out the counsel of the Lord. He is your portion and sustenance. He knows and understands your future. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9) 

Avoid disappointment with family and friends for bad advice by going directly to God who is your flawless counselor and confidante. You do not have to be shaken by what you face. You can trust His guidance.  When the enemy lays a trap for your feet, He steers you around it.  

When you are tempted to choose ways against the Word of God, He grips your hand tightly in His to stable your footing.  When you feel you have no one to talk to, no one who understands what you are going through - God is your Advisor and Friend. 

The Promise

Do you realize that your prayers come with a Promise? Most christians do not realize the power they possess through prayer. John 14:13-14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." 

Here the promise of our asking is clear from our Heavenly Father. Anything we ask of God in the name of His Son Jesus, He will do. At our fingertips, we hold a precious promise that as children of the King, we can have the petitions we ask for.

What amazing confidence we can stand in each day when we humble ourselves to pray. We can stand completely certain that we will have answers to the petitions on our heart. When we practice the discipline of the spiritual life by reading the Word and praying to cultivate a close relationship with Christ, we can pray with great faith that God is on the throne and He cares about everything that concerns us. 

So Ask. Do not live beneath your privileges, But Ask. And then, thank God for Answers and ask again. Ask and keep asking. Trust and keep trusting. Remember the promise is for you.

Instant

I love waiting. Of course, I am just kidding. Most people do not. We want everything fast. We want everything now. Instant soup, instant oatmeal, Insta-Pot, etc. But sometimes, life is hard and things require waiting. And things do not always flow as planned. 

It is in these times that we must keep looking to the Lord and rejoice in our salvation.  He is a good, good Father who has given us many things. We were guilty, yet He died for our sins.  He offers us blessing, guidance, peace, joy and healing. He teaches in Scripture that life will be full of downturns, but that He will stand strong beside us as our hope.

"Though the fig tree does not blossom, nor fruit be on the vine, though the olive branch fail, and the fields yield no crops......I will rejoice in the Lord..." Habakkuk 3:17-18

Often, when things are not going well or circumstances do not seem to lean in our favor, it is difficult to keep your eyes focused on God. We tend to feel sorry for ourselves. We often complain, and become discouraged with negative happenings all around us. The prophet Habakkuk encourages you and I to rejoice in the Lord in these difficult times. He reminds us that He is the joy of our salvation.

The prophet was pointing us back to a Sovereign God who remains in control of all our circumstances. Even when we feel there is no answer, no glimpse of light at the end of the dark tunnel...God in fact remains in perfect control. So trust Him. Be patient and wait on Him. And rejoice in Him. He will restore your joy.

Healing Still Today

Often, there are many who question the healing power of Almighty God. But I believe He is still healing today. Many I have prayed for have been Divinely healed by God's power. In fact, I have proof. Because I am a living testimony that God is able to heal your body of disease. And yes, I am going to tell my story again.

When I was 29, my family physician sent me to an Internist after examining me. I was totally jaundice. My skin had turned golden and even the whites of my eyes and palms of my hands were yellow. They knew from my symptoms there was an urgent problem with my liver. They sent me for a series of scans, MRI, x-rays and bloodwork, and told me to prepare for emergency surgery due to my symptoms alone.

The surgeon showed me several scans and x-rays on an illuminated screen that revealed a huge mass that covered my right side. He told me that in thirty years of surgery he had never seen such a young person have such a large mass and that the report was bleak. The next day I was to report for exploratory surgery.

They operated and made a 11" criss cross incision across my abdomen, examined the situation, removed tissue, took biopsies, and drained infection, sutured me back together, and told my husband that if he knew God - he had better start talking to Him. The surgeon said the mass was too large to attempt to remove - it was infused around my liver and pancreas. They sent my lymph nodes to the lab for testing, but said the cancer was too far progressed for treatments like chemo and radiation. My husband was devastated.  He was at his wit's end and fell on his knees in the waiting room and called out to the Only One who was able to fix it, God Himself.

We waited for many days as I lay injecting morphine for the severe pain. My abdomen was swollen up like a pregnant woman. And my husband and the church continued to pray. At first when the results arrived, they refused to share them, but continued with even more testing. Finally after ten days, an internist came to see me and numerous specialists and professionals had absolutely no explanation for the fact that my lab results were now showing no signs of malignancy. These surgeons had seen the mass with their own eyes, they knew what cancer looked like after years of practice, yet God amazingly healed my body. 

Some scoffers may say, well the doctors just made a big mistake. But I believe God still heals disease, "with His stripes we were healed." And I believe He divinely healed my body.  I am still well today - decades later because God is My Healer. I am not special and God does not respect one person over another, but God is the same God for you whatever your need.  He gave me a testimony to share with you that His Healing is still real today. Trust Him for healing over your situation. He does not change. And He is able and desires to heal you.

Your Purpose

Many people from all walks of life have excelled in fulfilling their purpose in life because they chose to press on through difficulty and even pain to achieve great successes.  A grand future is positively within your reach.  I encourage you to cultivate your personal relationship with Christ and understand that He will give you guidance.  Create a bond with other believers and hang onto those friendships.

Proverbs 3:5-6 teaches, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” 

God has created you for a specific purpose.  He has a detailed plan for your life.  Remember the snowflake is created in extreme uniqueness and exquisite design.  No one can fulfill your purpose, but YOU.

While you were yet in your mother’s womb, God’s Hand was upon you.  You do not need to mimic, covet or compare yourself to another.  You were not created to be someone else.  You were designed uniquely you and different by God’s design.

God wants you to realize your own value.  He has placed gifts inside you that work alongside your interests and passions to achieve success. Daily strive to spend time with the Lord. Acknowledge His Presence and Direction in your daily life. And ask Him to order your steps so your life will fulfill His purpose for you.

Building the House

In Joshua 24:15, this man of God declared that his house would serve the Lord. Proverbs 24:3-4 shouts, "Through skillful and godly wisdom is my house built, and by understanding it is established, and by knowledge shall its chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

We must daily commit our families to the Lord. We must pray and intercede for our families. We must commit our families to God's charge, entrusting them to His protection and provision. We must trust God to set-apart our families in complete consecration and make them part of His Divine inheritance. It's a promise. The prophets of old prophesied by the Spirit, "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy..."

This trust can be maintained as we discipline ourselves daily to pray and read the Word. As we walk holy before God, we can trust that God will give us our families. Scripture teaches, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he shall not depart from it." That is a promise we can hold onto. Never give up on your children. Dedicate them to God and trust God to bring change in their hearts.

Let's continue to build the house!

Seek Earnestly

God desires that we seek Him with a sincere heart. When we misplace something like our wallet or car keys, we search the house diligently to find them. Why? because we are handicapped without them. We need them.

In the same manner, God wants us to understand that we need Him insomuch that we seek Him with diligence. Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him." First, it is of upmost importance that we understand that God is Jehovah God.  He is Mighty.  He formed the universe and everything in it in just 6 days.  He created man in the likeness of His image. Nothing is too hard for Him. He is God. 

Second, we must seek Him earnestly, committing ourselves to prayer. Apart from God, you and I are nothing.  Therefore, we must strive to maintain a personal relationship with Him.  We must learn to trust Him in everything for He is God.  He can do the impossible and He wants us to have faith that He will move in situations that may seem without hope. 

When we fail to trust Him and we doubt - we cannot possibly please Him.  But His rewards are rich and plentiful to those who seek Him earnestly and have faith.  Faith is trusting that "God will" although you cannot see the results just yet.  His answer is on the way.  Be patient and remember His rewards are rich.  Trust Him, seek Him earnestly and have faith.

The God of Impossible

People of all walks of life said that man could not possibly land on the moon; it was impossible.  Yet in July of 1969, Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed mankind on the Moon under Commander Neil Armstrong. What people said could not be done - happened.

Henry Ford was a man in history that was marked by many as a complete failure.  He was financially broke on five occasions and most of his early businesses failed.  Numerous people told Mr. Ford to quit, give it up, and that it could not be done.  Yet today his family owns one of the most successful motor companies in the world.

Mark 9:23 declares, “All things are possible to them that believe.”

Scripture also records the historical happening of many things that seemed unattainable. And as I see it, God is waiting on you and I to believe in the impossible.  With man, our situation may seem unfathomable, but with God all things are possible if we walk in faith. He is the God of impossible. 

So let your faith swell up within you and arise. Be assured that Christ Jesus is at work, He knows what we need, and He desires that we place our total trust in Him.  Scripture teaches, “He is the El-Shaddai, the All Powerful One.” Nothing happens apart from His Purpose and no circumstance is beyond the power of God.