Your Power Is In Your Authentic

I wanted to send out some encouragement tonight. You are a threat, a threat to the plans of the enemy. Not just in your life, but in the lives of the people that are connected and close to you.

There’s a lie going around that would try and convince people that if they are not living a quote-unquote perfect Christian life if they aren’t a person with a title of pastor or reverend (or whatever other man-made title) they have a less than calling on their lives. What a lie that is.

Can I encourage you, by being authentically you, authentically who God has called you to be, you are a massive force of destruction that the enemy can not silence. The Holy Spirit isn’t looking for perfection; He’s looking for you and me to be willing, when we are, the most amazing things can happen. 

Recently I spoke with someone who was discouraged and unsure, then someone else came into my path, and I was able to encourage them with the truth. The bible says it is the truth that will set people free, not a title or a fancy phrase that you speak or religious practices; it’s when you and I look into someone’s eyes and speak the truth of Jesus Christ to them that real change occurs. 

Let me encourage you, don’t allow the enemy who, hello, is called the father of lies, to tell you that you are not capable or enough. Don’t let anything keep you living life small; you have people that need what only you can authentically bring. 

You’ve come too far to quit now.

We do a disservice to ourselves when we quit.

I’ll never forget a story that a friend of mine shared. He was in a line at the grocery store, there was a woman in front of him. You know those people that make the check out such a complicated thing? She probably had coupons and savings cards, maybe she struck up a conversation with the lady at the cash. Whatever she was doing, it was taking an extremely long time. My friend waited and waited until finally he couldn’t take it anymore and he left to go to another line. When he did, though, something interesting happened. The lady paid and left, and now he had to wait again.

That story made me think long and hard about a lot of things. See, we have no idea how close we are from a breakthrough, we have no idea how close we are from God’s promises coming to pass over our lives. Some of us, though, get tired, we get impatient and try to solve things for ourselves, therefore, taking ourselves out of what God has for us. What if everything you ever wanted, all that God has for you, is on the other side of the situation that you are going through right now? What a disservice it would be to our past selves to throw in the towel and quit. Let me encourage you, if one thing is for sure, it’s that God’s promises will always, without exception, come to pass. All we have to do is be still, remember that He is God, know that He is in control and do all that we can do in the meantime. Do not be a person that throws in the towel, you’ve come this far! Your breakthrough could be on the other side of this next hardship, but you’ll never realize it if you quit now. Seek God, get the wisdom you need, and then continue to stand, believing that His word will come to pass over your life at the perfect time!

Getting it done in 2020

What’s happening friends! One thing that I have been seeing pretty clearly recently is that we set the bar too low in our lives (for the most part). I think we can all accomplish a lot, but will we put in the effort. That seems to be the determining question.

Let me share a story with you from my past. I remember when I was younger, I was maybe 16 years old, I was really big into soccer, like the FIFA world cup, Italy beating France, Cristiano Ronaldo fresh on the scene, I loved everything soccer. I’d be out playing soccer all the time and I remember seeing Cristiano Ronaldo and how great of shape he was in and wanted to be like that too, I’m not going to lie this had nothing to do with health I was just like, “dang I need me some biceps and abs”. I remember talking with God about fitness and He said something that I will never forget. He said something along the lines of, “You can achieve that level of fitness, you just won’t put in the work to get there”.

He was absolutely right (obviously He’s God), I wasn’t willing to put in the effort to get those results. Now it’s a different story, I’m consistent, I go to the gym on specific times on specific days every week. When I feel like it, I go to the gym, when I don’t feel like it, I go to the gym. Here’s what I’ve been thinking recently, what if God had something for you that would change your children’s children’s lives? But because the new call of duty came out you rather waste away in front of a t.v? There is time for leisure, hear what I’m saying, but there are times where we need to get up and say, I can’t live beneath what God has called me to, let’s get things done! 

God Thoughts

Isn’t it easy sometimes to think to ourselves, “God doesn’t see what’s happening to me, He doesn’t understand what it’s like. He doesn’t know.”

Those are some really big statements and even accusations to make. When we go about our days, it can really seem like God is far removed from our situations, can’t it? Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve seen someone who legitimately did something wrong get off barely being punished or slip under the radar and go completely unnoticed. While in a similar situation someone who may very well be innocent get’s all the blame and punishment. I’d say that’s pretty unfair. Odds are though, if you breathe air, these things happen around you all the time.

Have you ever worked for someone and thought, “I could do that better” or “If I was running the company I’d do this like that?” I bet that thought has crossed a lot of our minds. The thing is, we are operating from a place of limited information. Sure we can look at a CEO or President or Prime Minister and think that we could and would do better; yet until we are in that seat we don’t really know, because we are seeing things from a different level and vantage point with limited information.

Isaiah 55:8-9 is very interesting when it comes to thoughts like these: It says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

We have a limited ability to see things for how they really are. Our thoughts are not the thoughts of God, and our ways are not His ways. He sees situations from a different place altogether. 

I was reading the other day about a time in the Bible where there was a person who saw the injustice going on around him. He went to God (which is the right thing to do) and basically said to God, “I’m confused, I’m seeing people prosper that are wicked while at the same time seeing the righteous be abused…” God was gracious to this person and responded but His response was from a higher place of thought. God told him that He does see, that He is raising up another nation to take care of their enemies. Just because this person could not see justice, it did not mean that God was not acting completely consistent with his favour for those who honour Him.

In this though, remember to see the heart of God. He sent His son to die for everyone, not just for a select few, not just for you and I but everyone. His will is for everyone to turn from sin.

Honestly, I don’t know why there is so much intense suffering in this world, I don’t know why there must be martyrs and why wild things are happening all around us but I know God’s character (at least what my small human mind can understand of it). Let me encourage you, God is 100% just. If someone has wronged you, if things have come against you, He sees and He knows. Never loose sight of the fact that God will not let these things go unanswered. We will all give an account one day for the things we did, the thoughts we thought and the words we said. God is just, have faith and continue to walk in peace as you remember that He is actively working the circumstances of your situation out for good.

 

The discipline, but not the heart

Do you ever feel like there’s just not enough of you to go around? It’s an interesting thing to find yourself in a place where you feel like you have done all that you can do but still can’t come up with enough. I was getting into devotions this morning, praying, asking God for help with a few things and while it may be a bit out of context I think it still applies, I felt God saying, “You’ve built up great discipline, but you haven’t built the heart within you to be set free.” Now seeing as that message was for me it makes sense when applied to my specific circumstances, but I think that can also offer up encouragement.

Sometimes we think it’s for lack of trying, so we go to God and we get angry, “God I’m doing all I can do over here, I’m trying to balance raising the kids with work, I’m trying to be nice to that person or trying to be a good provider”. We try and try and try, but maybe it’s what’s in our hearts that is really holding us back. I say this all the time, if you’ve hit a wall, don’t just stop there, find a way over it, find a way around it,  you are not a victim. If God has given you something to do, believe that it can be done, we just may have to look at the situation in a different way.

Why things aren’t changing.

I think when I am at my best on my show it is only because I have been seeking God in my own life, and seeking Him for the words to say and things to share on air. This morning as I was reviewing my previous week and thinking about the upcoming one I had this question come to me, what are we, what am I tolerating?

Over this past weekend at my house, where I work, there was a big bug on the wall. At first I was like, “Well, it’s not bothering me so I won’t bother it.” So I left it there. Do you want to know something interesting? This morning, days later, it was still there. I tolerated it, even though it wasn’t supposed to be there, even though it was out of place, and it never left. I know there are people right now that need a miracle, finances are in a tough spot, marriages and relationships seem to be falling apart, you feel like you aren’t moving forward in life.  John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Christ came so that you and I would have life abundant, not so that you and I would be a slave to our habits from the past or our mindsets. With that in mind, let me ask you a question, what are you tolerating that you should be ripping out of your life. That’s right, ripping out of your life. These things that we are stuck in didn’t happen casually so we can’t casually expect to get them out of our lives, it will take relentless intensity. What are you inviting in the name of entertainment or pleasure that really you should have nothing to do with. The thing is, it’s all a lie, those things will steal and kill and destroy your life, it will leave you feeling empty, not fulfilled. Let me encourage you, we need to confront these things and get them out so we can start living the lives that we were always called to live by the grace of God. 

Lasting Change

As the temperatures get colder this time of year, I like to take advantage of the times I have left to go outside for walks. Last year when I did I was walking down my maple tree lined driveway when I noticed a few trees that were dead. Was this the first time I noticed them? Not even close, I knew they had been dying for years, but to cut them down would leave this big gap that in my mind, would stand out as ugly. I wrote a blog about it earlier this year, to summarize it the Holy Spirit was showing me, in the way that only He could, that I need to stop calling alive what is dead. As much as I wanted those trees to not be dead, to not have to be cut down, it didn’t change the fact that they needed to be. 

If you haven’t already, I’ll link that blog below so you can check it out. Today though, I wanted to go a step further. When you acknowledge something isn’t right in your life and when you deal with it. What happens next? As I was going through and doing my devotions the other day I had this picture in my mind of a pipe, like one you might find in your basement or under your sink. I’m no plumber, but if a part of the pipe was corroded and leaking, you can’t just cut that piece of pipe take it out and then turn the water back on. You have to replace the old with something new, and then seal it. I think as Christians we get ourselves into trouble when we do the right thing, but don’t bring it to completion. We may see that there is something in our lives that needs to be removed, we may gather the strength to deal with the lack of forgiveness or the addictions and habits, but then we stop there and wonder why we never fully let go or get over the things we need to get over. The Holy Spirit was showing me that it’s not enough to just take something out of our lives, because when we do, we leave a place for something else. We need to replace it with the right thing.

Let’s get practical for a second, let’s say you have struggled with a self image problem in the past and realize you’ve been believing lies about yourself. You go to God, and you deal with past hurts or events that hypothetically caused that problem. But then weeks go by and you’re still thinking the same thoughts you used to, still listening to the same voices that cause you doubt and end up in the same place not to long after. See, you dealt with the problem, but you were not relentless in seeing it through, you left room for familiar thoughts and voices to come back in. However, if we run it again and after you were set free instead of allowing room for old voices and patterns to come back in you instead started getting into the word of God, and you started filling yourself with who God says you are, there would be a completely different result. 

When we deal with the situations in our lives, we need to make sure that once they have been overcome we finish the work by replacing what was a lie with the truth, with what we used to think of ourselves with who God says we are, with thought patterns that don’t honor God, to a spiritual way of thinking that brings lasting change. 

 

P.S Here’s a link to the blog I mentioned earlier:

Stop Calling Alive What God Calls Dead Pt.1