Partnership

How well do you know what God is doing in your life and in the lives of people around you? In Genesis 18 there is an interesting dialogue that God has with Abraham, God is planning on destroying a city whose “outcry”, whose sin is so perverse that it reached heaven. Before God ever goes and destroys the city in verse 17, He says something amazing. “The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? …19 For I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.”  If you know the story, God and Abraham have a conversation and Abraham multiple times talks God down from destroying the entire city. It’s an amazing story when you stop and think about what’s actually going on.

Jumping into present time, I have two dogs, I love them, their names are Rocky and Leo. Rocky is a St. Bernard and Leo is a Newfoundlander so I have two very big dogs. The other day Leo, our Newfoundlander, was acting strange. It wasn’t the first time that he had acted like this though. First, he jumped up on our couch and refused to move, he knows at our house he isn’t supposed to be on the couch so that was unusual for him. After I dragged him off the couch he ran over to the kitchen and jumped up with his two front paws on the kitchen countertop, but then he motioned to the cookie jar that we have. At first I didn’t get it, but then it clicked. It had been an unusual work day at my house so the dogs didn’t get fed because our schedules were all over the place. He was hungry and trying to get my attention so I’d feed him. The interesting thing is that he did this in the past and I just thought he was being disobedient. It was only after seeing this happen a few times that I finally figured it out and clued in. Why am I bringing this up?Well, I believe there are a lot of Christians running around who have no clue about what God is up to and what He is doing because they haven’t spent the time to get to know God and become His friend.

Abraham was the friend of God, because of that, God almighty, all powerful  literally turned aside and said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?” Because Abraham had such a relationship with God, he knew what God was up to. If you jump to Genesis 19 verse 27, Abraham goes back to the place where God told him what He was going to do and looked out at the city and saw the smoke from the destruction, and it doesn’t faze him. He knew what was going to happen, so he was prepared not just ahead of time, but was able to walk in peace and safety as it was happening and after it had happened. Too many of us have not put the time and work in to get to know God. We look for the shallow things the easy wins and don’t really press in saying things like, “only certain people can be so close to God” or “I would, but I don’t have the time”. As a result we run around not knowing what God has for us or what He’s doing in our workplaces, relationships or world. Sometimes I’m sure we think the devil is causing things to happen around us when it’s actually God! Let me encourage you, just like it took me time to understand and learn what my dog Leo was actually doing,  it’s going to take

time to develop that relationship with God. However, we need to be people who are secure and know what God is up to if we are going to be effective down here. Not immature Christians but mature adults that God can count on to partner with. So today, tomorrow, as we go into a new year. Let me encourage you, God has not removed His presence from this earth. He has not stopped working in the lives of your children, in your life or in your workplace or school. God is on the move, we just need to open up the communication to be able to see it.

God Bless,

Terry.

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Stewardship

Stewardship, the dictionary defines stewardship as, “the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.” As Christians we hear that word a lot when it comes to finances. We hear people all the time talking about how we need to manage and be good stewards of our money. I completely agree with that, however, I rarely hear the word stewardship used outside of that context.

At the end of each year, like most people, I like to think back on the year. I like to think about the things that I did, the things I didn’t do, the high points and the times that were challenging. It’s been a busy year for me, I overcame a lot, I also probably had a bit more stress then the average 25 year old should have had, but as I look back all of my experiences have brought me, especially during this last part of the year to one thought.

Am I being a good steward?

As I said earlier, we are told time and time again that we need to steward our money, but what about our thoughts? What about our time and our emotional energy? The longer I live the more I meet people who allow every single thought in their mind to dictate how they feel and how they perceive and live life as if every thought that ever hit their mind must be exactly right all of the time no exceptions. It’s a pretty crazy thing to think about. What if we brought that back to money. Let’s say every month when you got paid an unlimited amount of people could at any point and time choose to spend your money in any way they thought they should? You’d have no money left for anything! I think that can be said a lot of the time in regard to our thoughts and emotions. We so easily allow every single thought or idea to stir up all of this negative emotion, we allow that one look someone gave us or that one comment on social media that someone made to completely sway and dictate our days and lives. Let me encourage you, if we are going to live successful lives for God, if we are going to do all that we need to do here on earth, we need to do a better job at stewarding not just our finances, but also our thoughts, emotions and time. There are some thoughts that should have no room in our minds. There are some people that don’t deserve our emotional energy if they are going to constantly be abusive. Just like we would never allow a random stranger to have access to our bank accounts we shouldn’t allow the people around us to have free access to our emotions or give the enemy free access to our thoughts.

Before we get on with our busy lives let me leave you with some wisdom from Proverbs 4:26, “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” In the same way, let me encourage you to choose the things that you allow in your mind, then all of your ways will be sure. What if you woke up and started to feel anxious about the day but chose that anxiety is not something that God wants to give us therefore anxiety has no place in your thoughts and you dealt with it? How would our lives look.

Ask yourself that question, am I being a good steward? Not just with my finances, but with my time, my thoughts, my emotions?

Who Told You That You Couldn’t?

Let me ask you a question, what do you think you’re capable of? Now why do you think that? Was it because you’ve tested your limits and figured that out. Was it because someone told you that you could only go that far because you were that gender or race, or is it maybe just because you assume that you’d never be able to do anything more then you are doing right now because you assume that you’re currently at your max?

I’ve been playing piano for about 15 years, I remember learning this particular song once, to help me learn it I did what I probably shouldn’t of done and went on youtube to get tips. There was a woman who was talking about it and as she was talking about the piece she got to a tricky part in the song and started to go on and on about how hard it was. I’m talking minutes worth of talking and explaining why it’s just so hard to play that particular part in the song. Because of that I started practising and whenever I got to that spot I’d stop and have such a hard time with it.  I remember bringing the piece of music to my piano teacher and as we were talking about it, I pointed out that tricky place and I said something along the lines of, “Man, isn’t that such a hard part in the song, it’s so difficult” she stopped looked at it and said, “It’s not hard you just have to distinguish the multiple voices…etc” I was convinced that it was so difficult yet she took one look and was convinced it was easy.

For time sake I should probably stick to just one story, but I also remember a similar situation. I was learning the different adobe products when I first got into video editing. I heard about this program that everyone was using called photoshop, so I was talking with the person who was teaching me video stuff and he heard I wanted to learn photoshop and said, “oh man that’s such a complicated program, I heard that the creators of photoshop don’t even know how to use it fully, they can’t even keep up with their own program it’s so complicated.” It’s been years since that conversation, and I can honestly say, it’s not that complicated. Actually I find it kind of easy once I started to learn it.

I shared both of those stories to say, who is it that we are going to listen to? How many things have we been believing that aren’t even true? How many people have come up to you and told you that you can’t because they couldn’t? How many parents because of their own un dealt with insecurities have passed on fears and hopelessness to their kids only for those kids to grow up and pass it down to the people around them? In a day and age where the enemy has mastered the art of convincing you of things that aren’t true, let me encourage you to get back to the simple truths. What does God say of you, who does He say you are and what does He say you can do? Anything more or less misses the mark.  I’ve watched friends of mine time and time again stop short of what I knew they could easily do.  Because someone or something had convinced them they couldn’t, they didn’t. Here’s the thing, we are all going to stand before God one day. With all that we did and didn’t do before Him. I don’t want to have those two words “what if” come up. Let me encourage you, you can. God would never give you anything that was beyond you. Believe, get that faith up and walk with confidence knowing that it’s not you, but God with you that is able to accomplish anything!

Faith Killer

Our emotions can be major faith killers. They can tell us to do something out of a state of fear or out of a state of hopelessness that can go completely against the will and perfect plan of God. Recently we’ve been talking about faith, how we are to live and walk by faith not by the things that we see or by the things that we hear. Today let’s talk about walking by faith not by the things that we feel. I remember talking with someone once and they said, “emotions are not wrong, everyone has emotions”. I think that’s true, it’s like a thought, thoughts can come sometimes, it’s what we do with them that gives them the ability and power to be right or wrong. However the danger is when we treat our emotions like a majority shareholder in a business. When we give unhealthy weight to the things that are playing out in our minds. Sometimes where we get into trouble is when our emotions are seemingly good. I remember one time I wanted something so bad, it was a good thing, to be honest it was a good thing for someone else not even me. So I pushed and pushed for it and to be honest again, I brought a lot of stress to the situation. When all was said and done, even though I wanted something that was good and beneficial for this particular person, God corrected me and spoke to my heart and showed me that I never stopped to pray or seek Him on whether or not what I was doing was justified. My emotions completely deceived me.

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.” Galatians 5:17 ESV

Today let me encourage you, God has blessed you with an amazing mind, full of creative and innovative ideas that only you have. The mind however, is also a battlefield. The good news is that God is good to help us navigate it. Remember, don’t trust your emotions, trust God’s Spirit within you. His ways are higher and His wisdom is perfect.

Commanding Mountains

If we don’t have faith what do we have? Odds are if you are a Christian and I asked you if you believe in God and believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, you’d say yes. Of course  you would, that is a major foundational belief that we as Christians have. If I asked you if God was big enough to heal your body or renew your mind or erase the pain of your past would you still have faith that it’s possible? Why do we choose when we are going to believe what God says instead of keep faith as a constant way of life. 

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

I guess the question that’s been on my mind for awhile is, why do we choose faith in one area and then automatically say that something else is impossible? Every Christmas we celebrate faith and friends and we give gifts and decorate our houses. As Christians we also celebrate the fact that God sent His only Son to earth to save us from what was impossible for us to get ourselves out of. Take a second to think about that, we were in the toughest spot possible, and the only possible thing that could get us out of it just so happened to be the most impossible thing, yet it happened. Our entire life as Christians is built on faith. Why do we read it and claim it but then not apply it? I can’t wait to share my testimony with you. God, even this year, has brought me out of things that I thought were impossible. I gave these situations no room in my mind, because I refused to have anything but complete victory, I got victory. I didn’t want to live life on medication, so through faith I moved forward, accepting nothing but complete freedom from what I was going through. Do you want to know the interesting thing though? I fought and fought and fought for freedom for years, but in one moment of faith and authority I was delivered. On a day that was regular, it wasn’t with anyone else around. There was nothing about that day that was special or out of the ordinary, except one thing, in one moment I was so fed up with fighting that I spoke out and said, “I will not experience any side effects (of the thing I was going through) in any way shape or form. I forbid it from effecting my day in any way shape or form in the name of Jesus!” I want to share that testimony in depth at a later time, but I promise you I have been completely set free from what I thought I’d have to deal with my whole life. Why? Because I had the faith that activated the belief that then forced the miracle to happen in my life. Should I be surprised though? Mark 11:23, “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.”

My miracle happened in an instant but it took a life time of faith and trust and perseverance to get there. I dare you to get bold with whatever has been coming against your life. Is it an addiction? Is it a sickness? Is it a condition that everyone accepts as normal? I live by a simple rule, if God hasn’t specifically named it as something that He has given to His people, don’t accept it. Do you think God wants people walking around depressed or anxious? Why would He have sent His son to die? So He could give us a life plagued by things? Absolutely not! Let me encourage you, if God didn’t give it, don’t accept it. I promise you that your victory is not as far as you think it is. It starts with you though. Give whatever has been plaguing you no room to grow, no room to speak, no room to affect you. Get into the word more than you ever have, see what God has spoken over your life and accept nothing less. Stop giving your best to the devil and calling it God’s will or normal. We walk by faith not by sight. We walk by faith not by what people say or how we feel. Don’t ask your mountain to move, command it to move. Don’t settle. If God can save us from our sins, if He can restore us and do the impossible, He can deliver you from anything that comes against you. Have faith. 

 

Sight Doesn’t Walk

Here we are, only a couple of months away from celebrating a new year. How was your 2018? I don’t know why I’m surprised by this anymore, but there always seems to be situations that come up that I didn’t see coming. Not all of them are bad, but not all of them have been good either. I remember watching a movie with my family, the main character was walking down a dark path way and as he did the music started to build, the tension was getting  greater and greater. You knew something was going to pop out at any moment. I don’t know what it is about jump scares, they get me EVERY SINGLE TIME so people like to watch me when they happen. Once I literally threw my popcorn in the theatre 10 feet in the air only for it to go over everyone. But once the jump scare is over I’m fine with everything else after that. I think the thing that gets me about jump scares is the fact that you can’t prepare for them, you know something is going to happen but you don’t know when, so when it finally does it freaks you right out. I think life can be like that sometimes, if only we knew when something was going to happen we could prepare for it, but the reality is, we usually never get the chance, so when sickness hits our families, or when the temptation comes for us or when our lives aren’t looking like God’s promise, it can really do damage. That’s what it can do, but let me give someone some hope.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” There are going to be times where your life looks nothing like what God promised you. There’s going to be times where the people in your life that you thought you could count on let you down, times where people will go out of their way to harm you or to speak poorly about you. But no matter what happens around you, to you or against you, it never changes the call and plan of God on your life. We are the only ones who can take us outside of God’s will. Today, let me encourage you, don’t live life dictated by the people or situations around you, if you choose to go down that road you’ll always be dependant on outside sources to bring you joy and fulfillment. Instead, draw on the strength of the Holy Spirit and remember that you walk by faith, not by what you see, not by your emotions or fears or insecurities or peoples opinions, but by faith in what God has spoken. Believing with all your heart that He is good to complete every work that He started in your life.

 

10/22/18 focus

I remember going to dinner with a friend a few weeks ago, we walked in, the lady greeted us, we sat down and looked at our menus trying to figure out what we wanted to order. After we did, we started talking, it wasn’t one of those surface conversations either, we were having a great one, but as the conversation went on it got harder and harder to focus on what my friend was saying because behind him and all around us there were probably about 15 televisions. I couldn’t even tell you what was playing on T.V because I honestly wasn’t watching them but there were so many in my field of view that I couldn’t help keep glancing. My friend and I were having a good conversation, it was interesting but no matter how hard I focused on my friend no matter where I looked when I turned my head there were T.V’s everywhere!

It’s funny because sometimes I feel like that’s exactly what happens with my walk with God. I’m genuinely interested in the things of God, I want a stronger relationship with Him, I want to hear His voice clearly. Sometimes I feel like as much as I try and focus in, there are 15 other things screaming for my attention. The thing that I believe throws a lot of Christians off is when the things that scream for our attention aren’t necessarily bad things but good things. This person needs help, that person is having this crisis, feeling like we need to be God for the people around us, like we need to be the solution. The thing is though, we aren’t God. He can move through us and in us and give us the direction we need in tricky situations, but ultimately God is the one who has to do the work. There’s a person that I know who’s closed off to the things of God. I could come up with the most compelling arguments, have the best answers to all his questions, but when all is said and done, I can’t convict him and show him that he needs to change, only the Holy Spirit can do that. I can be lead on what to do and say, but I can’t change someones heart, only the Holy Spirit can.

Each and every one of us are called by God to do specific things. Usually we start off strong and excited, we see the plan and we’re going to make it happen but then as life goes on these distractions come our way, some of them look like health issues, some of them financial, some of them seem so close to the will of God that we think they are. The devil isn’t short of voices that are screaming for our attention. However, there is only one way to live a successful Christian life and that is by keeping our eyes straight ahead fixed on God and what He has called us to. The thing that I’ve noticed when I do, is God takes care of all the little and big things along the way when you keep your eyes and your purpose aligned with His will. I’ve seen people get consumed with situations thinking they were doing good only to realize that it was a trap. Last time I checked, God is the one who makes a way when there seems to be no way. When we keep our focus straight ahead, when we keep our eyes locked on God, we allow room for God to move in those situations. Let me encourage you, God is bigger than you think He is. I know it’s easy to think He is big enough for someone else’s situations, but let me encourage you, He is big enough for every single one of yours. So this week, today, this year and in your life, recognize what’s happening in your life, think about what you’re doing and where your focus is. Keep your eyes fixed on God, not depending on your wisdom or your interpretation of the situation, but recognizing that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly more then you could ever ask, dream of or imagine.