Confidence in Troubled Times

If God allows troubles, he will turn them into something for good.

We should not live for the future, we need to live for Jesus.

4 truths for giving us confidence in troublesome times:

God controls our circumstances--Romans 8:28

God will meet our needs--Romans 8:31-32

God is with us

God loves us with eternal love.

I have set the Lord always before me.  Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.--Psalm 16:8

Speaking quietly

When God speaks to us, it is usually a very quiet prompting.

The prompting of the Holy Spirit is a very strong feeling that you know can only come from God:

• To redirect us to greater fruitfulness


• To redirect us to greater satisfaction


• To redirect us to greater pain. Bleeding is part of the preparation for blessing.


• To test our faith


• To test our perseverance


• To equip us for the big opportunity


• To delay us for better timing


• When disobedience disqualifies us from his opportunities

3 Reasons We Are Called to Wait

• God may be preparing us to receive his blessings.



• The Father is often teaching His children to have confidence in Him.



• The Lord will at times withhold blessing to protect us from harm we can’t see.
  

No one goes wrong waiting for the Lord to send His best in His perfect timing.

Living a Crucified Life

Like Paul, we are called to live a crucified life—one in which we make the Lord first in our thinking, attitudes, and actions. Such a life includes learning how to walk by faith and stand firm against temptation. While we are unable to do this in our own strength, we can through the Holy Spirit. He empowers us to let go of our self-centered ways and replace them with godly ones.

Turn on your headlights!

God usually doesn’t show us where He is taking us. He just asks us to trust Him. It’s like driving a car at night. Our headlights never shine all the way to our destination; they illuminate only about 160 feet ahead. But that doesn’t deter us from moving forward. We trust our headlights. All we really need is enough light to keep moving forward.
God’s Word is like headlights in dark times. It is full of promises we need to keep us from driving our lives into the ditch of bitterness and despair. His Word promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).

12 Steps to Forgiveness

• Ask the Lord to reveal who you need to forgive and write the names He brings to mind on a sheet of paper. Don’t overlook yourself or God.


• Acknowledge the hurt. State the offense and how it made you feel.


• Understand the significance of the cross.


• Decide you will bear the burden of each person’s sin.


• Decide to forgive.


• Take your list to God in prayer. Start with the first person on the list. “I forgive (so and so) for (state offense and how it made you feel).


• Destroy the list.


• Don’t expect your decision will result in major changes in others. Pray for them.


• Understand the person but don’t rationalize their behavior.


• Expect positive results of forgiveness in you.


• Thank God for the lessons you have learned.


• Accept your part of the blame for the offenses you suffered.

10 Key Questions

• Have you spent daily time in the Word and in prayer?


• How is your relationship with God? Are all of your relationships Christ-like?


• Have you spent quality time with your family and friends?


• Have you loved somebody or shown the love of Christ to someone this week?


• Have you told any half-truths or lies to put yourself in a better light to those around you?


• Have you had any flirtations, lustful attitudes or temptations, or exposed yourself to any explicit material that would not glorify God?


• Have you taken anything that doesn’t belong to you or said anything about or to anyone that would not be an example of Christ?


• Are you eating, drinking or putting anything into your body that would not be Christ-like?


• Is there anything causing you to stumble or to stop you from keeping your focus on Christ?


• Have you lied on any of your answers today?

10 principles for living a blessed life

• Put God first.


• Use trials to make you successful.


• Knowledge—chase it and use it.


• Practice humility.


• Be grateful and trust the Lord.


• Discover your gift and step out.


• Be slow to judge and quick to forgive.


• Know the will of God and be willing to wait on Him.


• Don’t play games with your life.


• Leave the results to God.

Living Above Circumstances

The more we talk and complain about a situation, the worse it looks, until the problem looms larger in our mind than our faith does. Conversely, carrying challenges straight to God keeps matters in perspective. The Lord is bigger than any hardship. On His strength, we rise above the difficulty.

Problems can look so big and unwieldy that they distort our perspective. God invites us to live above our circumstances by fastening our eyes upon Him.—Charles Stanley

Words of Wisdom

Those who commit themselves to living for God’s purposes rather than their own will gain greater understanding of Him. The Holy Spirit will enable them to see circumstances and people from His divine perspective. This kind of wisdom reaches beyond human perception and gives us discernment to make decisions that fit into the Lord’s plan for our lives.

What's up with dis?

I thought on a day off you are supposed to sleep in. Instead, I'm up 2 hours earlier than usual! At least it will allow me to have a longer day off!

The job of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit…

• Convicts our hearts of sin so that we can repent and be right with God.
• Regenerates us.
• Seals us forever as a child of the Almighty.
• Teaches, guides, counsels and empowers us throughout life.
• Gifts and enables us to do the work God has planned for us.
• Bears fruit through us.