God your comforter

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ~ Matthew 11:28 (NIV)

Some of us always have to be in control. We feel like if we're not in control, something will go wrong or we're going to miss something. We all want to feel needed and always being in control helps us feel needed. No matter what the situation good or bad, we worry, we stress, and we do everything in OUR power to fix it. That's part of the problem. The Bible says in Matthew 11:28 to give our burdens to God. What does that mean for you? It means that you don't always have to have it together. You don't have to have the perfect life. You never will. Being in total control can be very tiring. If things are not happening the way you want, you get tired of waiting, and trusting and believing. That's when it's time to let go and give it to God. Especially if it's something you have no control over anyway. I used to worry myself to distraction about issues in my life that I had no control over. Why was I doing that? My worry isn't going to change anything. I finally figured out that I needed to not only pray about it, but surrender it. That means truly releasing it to God and NOT picking it back up. (I'm still working on this part). I hate when I pick it back up. Especially when I didn't even realize that I've done it. I want to smack myself in the forehead like the V8 commercial! 

If you find yourself like me, always trying to be in control, and letting your burdens overpower your thoughts. I want to encourage you that you're not alone. We all struggle with this issue. The great thing about God is that you can surrender it back to Him anytime! You don't have to wait until Sunday. God is always with us. He's forgiving, and He wants to take our burdens. Let Him!  

The Worst Trouble the World Has Ever Seen

It will be a time of trouble, the worst trouble the world has ever seen. But your people will be saved from the trouble, every last one found written in the Book. Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame. ~Daniel 12:2 The Message (MSG)

Things are happening very quickly today. There are many signs and wonders that Jesus is coming back very soon. Our world is in trouble. A lot of trouble. It seems as though everyday we’re hearing about some type of attack. A few weeks ago, it hit really close to my home. A man with a history of mental illness attacked people at a movie theatre. Thankfully, a very observant and perceptive police officer was able to handle the situation. For us Christians, this is a call to action. We need to save as many lives as possible. There are many ways to do that. You don’t just have to be in a pulpit. We’re all the light of God, and it’s our job to let our lights shine as bright as possible to bring people to Christ. This is not a difficult endeavor. All you have to do is live a righteous life. Being righteous doesn’t mean being perfect. It does mean being nice, by being a blessing, be forgiving and being encouraging. There are enough miserable people in this world. Why do you want to be part of that? I know I don’t! I’m going to enjoy this life! I’m also going to save others in the process. Not by my will, but by The Holy Spirit who lives in me. 

The last verse says “many who are long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life and others to eternal shame.” Which do you want for the people you love? I want to see my loved ones with me in heaven. 

The Lord Our Shepard

He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace. — Micah 5:4-5

Be strong! Be independent! You don’t need anyone! You can do it alone!

These are things some of us may have heard growing up. I know my mom and dad taught me to be strong and independent, and not to “need” anyone for anything. Which is good in theory, however, God did not intend for us to be this way without Him. He doesn’t want us to conform to this world. Yes – he wants us to be strong, but He wants us to get our strength from Him. He wants us to have faith in Him, when tough times hit, and they will. If you feel like you don’t need anyone, you will try and fight the battle alone, and most likely will become discouraged, or bitter, or angry because as much as we want, we can’t control everything. 

Being independent for the right reasons is a great thing! Please don’t misunderstand that. But if you feel like you can do it without God, you’re wrong. We need Him; we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit. You can get rich and get all the material things you want, but you will never be satisfied, and you will always feel like you’re missing something and you are. God. If you question that, look at all the celebrities, athletes, and rock stars that stay in trouble and even take their own lives. Don’t be fooled into thinking you can do this without Him. You can’t. 

We all want things to go our way, but God is our Shepard – He is here to lead us, guide us and be secure in Him. 

Coming soon my new book Live Fearless! Check out the website and pre-order your copy today!

www.livefearlessbook.com 

Timing is everything

ECC 3:11 NIV ~ He has made everything beautiful in its time.

Timing is everything. How many times have we heard that? Being patient is not something most people today are willing to be. We live in a society of right now – this minute! We don’t want to wait for anything. As I write this, it brings back one of many memories regarding not only being patient, but trusting God while you wait. This may sound silly but it’s true. I have a thing about my bananas not having any brown spots on them whatsoever! My mom used to always tell me that if there were some brown spots, the banana is ripe and therefore sweeter. She said we needed to wait for them to ripen. It didn’t look perfect on the outside but on the inside it was just the way it was made to taste. She used to drive me nuts when she wanted to make banana pudding. They would be so brown! But her banana pudding was always great, and it was one of my favorites.

While we don’t like waiting, God has us where we are because we may not be fully ripe yet. He wants us to be that sweet delicious and perfectly ripe piece of fruit so we can handle all He has for us. I encourage you today not to give up if you’re in the “ripening” phase. God will bring you out better than you were before!

Sometimes I look back on my life, and I think about the times that I’ve begged, pleaded and cried out to God to bring some of His promises to pass and I would get so discouraged, but now I understand God’s perfect timing and His perfect will for my life. So I don’t get discouraged or upset as much. Instead I pray and let God do His work.   

Staying in peace

Peace. What does it mean? The definition of peace is: freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety an obsession, etc. tranquility, serenity. What your ideal situation be like if you were in total peace? What does that mean for you? For me it means a lot! Being in peace means even though my world may be crashing around me, I know whose I am. I know it's just temporary. Our mind and emotions play such an important role when it comes to having true peace. You can't have peace in your heart if you don't have it in your mind. It's easy to say I can do that, and of course it's easy when nothing is going wrong. But what about when it's not? What about when your world is crashing in, and you don't feel like you can go on? This is when our faith comes in. The key is to remember that God is here. He's always with us, even when it feels like He's not. He can keep us in perfect peace in every storm in our life if we let Him. Part of our problem is that we want total control. Relinquishing control means total surrender. Then the peace comes, because no matter what happens, you know that God has already gone before you. 

When Peter walked on the water, he asked Jesus if he could. Jesus said yes, and Peter was doing great at first. But he took his eyes off Jesus when the water got rough, and he got scared and took his eyes off Jesus. He started sinking, he wasn't sure if he could fully put his trust in Him. Peter cried out, He put his hand out and caught him. You see, the wonderful thing about God is even when we don't trust Him completely, He's still there.

God is Jehovah-Shalom - our peace.

John 14:27 (MSG) ~ I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

Expect the unexpected!

Sometimes we have set goals and dreams in mind. There's nothing wrong with that, however sometimes we have to be open to expect the unexpected. We get an idea in our mind, and how we believe it’s going to happen, we don't want to waiver. However we must remember this, God has incredible and amazing plans for our lives, bigger than we can ever begin to imagine. But if we keep ourselves stuck on OUR dreams, goals and plans and OUR way of doing things, and not letting God be God, we'll never experience His amazing power in our lives. I don't know about you, but I know I can't out dream God and I don't want to try. His plans are way better than mine! And His plans can happen in an instant! Just like that, a door can open that you never even thought of. I was recently playing a game and I was at around 18,000 points. I was thinking how cool it would be if I could get to 20,000, and was resigned that it might take a while to get there. The game gives you an average of about 100 points. I played my next round and won 3,000 points. I remember thinking "wow, just like that I got something unexpected and it was awesome. Something as simple as winning a bunch of points in a game made me think about the Promises of God and how we expect God to bring it one way, and He completely surprises us and brings it another. If we're open to it. 

Are you open to experience God’s best for your life? Or are you determined to do it your way?

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says 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. ~ Isaiah 55:8-9

Are You Sabotaging Your Breakthrough?

Praying daily and asking for a breakthrough is something every Christian has done. Many times when we’re in the midst of a crisis is when we cry out to God asking for that breakthrough. We all want a great life free of crisis and bad things. We want great families, career, and health. We expect God to take care of that and we'll never have any issues. But we all know life does not work like that. The bible in fact tells us that we WILL encounter problems. So there will be a time when you need a breakthrough. A lot of times when we’re praying for it – we don’t stop to listen for the answer. Or worse we hear the answer, but don’t listen to our part of it. Yes- OUR PART. If you’ve prayed for something and gotten your answer, there is probably something that God has asked you to do. Are you willing to hear Him AND obey Him? We all WANT the breakthrough; we just don’t necessarily want to put the work in to make it happen.

I have a friend who prayed for a breakthrough in her business. God responded, and He revealed the plan, and in it she had a part. But she didn’t get that part right away. She didn’t realize how crucial her part was in bringing it to pass. Once she obeyed God her breakthrough happened almost overnight. I for one can completely relate to this scenario. In my case, I actually thought I was doing what I was told, but during a sermon it was brought to my attention that I wasn’t. So I prayed about it again, and I listened. Once I did, everything started falling into place.

If you’re waiting for a breakthrough today and you’re wondering why it hasn’t happened. I’m going to challenge you to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart about what you should be doing. You might already know, and it may be something you don’t want to do, but remember this. God knows what’s best for you; He wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t necessary to reach your destiny. Take the step and just do it!

“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. ~ Luke 11:28