Strength for the Weary

Have you ever been in a place when you needed strength? Who do you look too? How do you receive this strength that you are needing? Do you know that in this life we can’t do it on our own, we need help, we need His strength.

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited…”

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me…”

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 

“Living this life can only be lived through His strength”

His strength is limitless. When we are at our weakest that is when His strength becomes the greatest! But are we seeking for His strength? Are we asking for His strength when feel as if though you can’t take another step?

Fact: Strength is grown and developed and we can’t grow or develop without seeking Him.

Q: Where can we find this strength? How do we receive strength?

There is strength for those who hope

“ My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him.”

Psalm 62:5

The true source for our strength only comes from the hope we have in Him. 

There is strength for those who seek 

  • “Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” – Psalm 105:3-4
  • When we begin to praise in our weakness, when we begin to look up, we begin to have hope and joy, joy is the strength of the Lord.
  • “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.” – 1 Chronicles 16:11

  • There is strength for those who wait

Isaiah 40:31 

“But they who wait (hope) for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.”

MARKS OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN

PART 1 – REJOICING IN HOPE

Have you ever been asked, “how is it possible to be so joyful in your situation?” or ” how are you being so patient with ___________?

Paul in Romans 12 shows us what the true character of the child of God has. A character of hope, a character of patience and a character of steadfastness.

Romans 12:9-12 “ “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

IN ANY WALK OF LIFE, THERE WILL BE TIMES OF GREAT BLESSING AND TIMES OF GREAT DIFFICULTY.

There will be times when we will be joyful, and times of desperation in the middle of our crisis. But experience in the Christian walk is to be a learning tool. You don’t learn truth by just remembering it you learn it by experiencing it in our lives. God teaches us His word through experience.

HOW TO REJOICE IN HOPE WHEN LIFE IS HARD?

  • IF WE KEEP THINKING THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN, AND IT DOESN’T, YOU END UP FEELING SICK, DON’T PUT YOURSELF IN THAT POSITION. DON’T LIVE YOUR LIFE IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU SET YOURSELF UP TO BE DISAPPOINTED.

PROVERBS 13:12 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

As you learn to rejoice in hope, you will not be overcome by life’s hardships. Instead, you will overcome them with good!

IN HIS WORD, GOD CALLS US TO PERSEVERE OVER THE LONG HAUL.

Are you pressing onward toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God? – Philippians 3:14

Your Ways – His Ways

I’m 29; hard-headed and very impatient. I like doing things my way and expect it to happen when I want it to happen. This Isn’t how God works and how He does things. While being a Christian for 15 years I still struggle with that thought. He says in His word ” For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

In everything we do, we have to believe by faith. Faith is what activates the impossible, it is the delivery system of God. And without it, no man can please God.

Where are you at with your walk with Christ? Are you like me who is impatient and wants things done instantly? Your not alone. We must do 1 thing and it’s this. Put Him first in all things and trust Him with your life. Don’t waver according to popular opinion or what your eyes see, look into the realm of His spirit. How? By faith.

He is the way, trust in Him and He will show you the way!

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Fan or Follower? Part 3

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Part 3
“Diversify”

“Diversify your walk in Me”

An afternoon dinner party a few months back at my sisters house. Enjoying the time off and not trying to think about anything even ministry (which is hard to block out). Having a good time that I needed, relaxing, away from work, away from it all. I try sometimes my best; not to be an absent mind from God, but to leave the “deadlines” that I set for my blogsite and messages that I constantly critique. When all of a sudden, God spoke “Diversify your walk in Me”.

I immediately Googled the word “diversify”, I knew that it had came from the word divide. Here’s what I got.
Diversifychange, expand, transform, alter, spread out, branch out

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HHMM? What God? Have I messed up somewhere? I immediately asked God to turn the spot light on in my heart to see if there were anything that did not line up with His Word. I heard nothing back, nor did I feel conviction. On the drive home, I began to think about that more, “Diversify your walk in Me.”

Point 1. Be Set Apart

Was I being serious in my walk with Christ at the time? We all say that we could improve on this but our number one problem to this is the word complaceny. If we are to be set apart, one cannot be complacent, it would defeat the term of being set apart, that would be like someone saying that they are going to workout seven days a week a couple of hours but yet eating a Snicker’s as they do so, it’s got protein, right? That’s the problem we always have the excuse of what our complaceny problem is good for. The Snicker’s, the protein, helps build muscle? No, but how much muscle? Not enough grams to make any difference, it’s got more junk than good. Instead of drinking the right protein, such as whey protein, we always go for the stuff that taste better, resulting in less performance. Spiritually speaking, yielding no fruit. But we do what we want to do. It’s human nature, right? WRONG. We must die daily, shedding our identity by dying to the flesh.

Point 2. Standing Still

There will be obstacles and situations that come our way as we question God as if we don’t think He is doing it the right way. Three years ago I had looked at what God had done in my ministry and the church’s that I had preached at and thought to myself, what happened? Was it laziness, complacency? My pastor had told me that God was going to use me in the local churches, and he was right, a month later I was getting calls, held a Revival, and so forth.

It all changed when I had gotten a promotion at my job a few years back that I had been wanting for a long time, the call’s to preach slowly declined. The promotion, I looked at it as a blessing. On the other hand, it hurt me inside, I was constantly thinking that God was done with me, he had seen that I wasn’t cut out for it. Was that a lie that I had believed? Why yes, God doesn’t make mistakes nor does He call someone to do His will without the proper gifts that He has gaven that person. Nor, does He call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I had been putting myself in the driver seat by not allowing God to use me when He was calling out to me. See how easy it is? I was looking at another option, like going to college and getting a degree in marketing and advertising. I prayed that evening that God would show me, tell me what is next, I was at my breaking point.

An hour before service started I had prayed, I knew God would answer me somehow, someway. I was at the alter for a simple alter call that the congregation came up for, I was the last one to leave that alter. Hoping, waiting, speculating an answer. A dear friend of mine who is also in the ministry, had came up behind me as I was knelt down and God began to speak to me “I am not done with you, there are doors that I will open, but at this time I am preparing you before you walk through those doors.” What a relief, I needed conformation, and God delivered.

{We constantly should be on the move, all the time, letting Him perfect our faith as we walk by faith, not standing still but running with all that is within us} “Run with endurance the race that is set before us”. – Hebrews 12:1

I was standing still. Waiting on Him when all that He was doing was waiting on me. We walk by faith not stand by it, we are scared of what’s in front of us if we don’t visibly see it. That’s where faith overcomes this “fear” We must work out faith by taking action. Or like me in this situation, we begin to stand still on the sidelines becoming a fan instead of a follower.

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be ready stay

Doubting Faith

Many in waiting upon the Lord find immediate delight, but this is not the case with all. A deeper sense of sin may be given to you instead of a sense of pardon, and in such a case you will have need of patience to bear the heavy blow. Ah! poor heart, though Christ beat and bruise thee, or even slay thee, trust him; though he should give thee an angry word, believe in the love of his heart. Do not, I beseech thee, give up seeking or trusting my Master because thou hast not yet obtained the conscious joy which thou longest for. Cast thyself on him, and perseveringly depend even where thou canst not rejoicingly hope. – Charles Spurgeon

Q: Are we walking by faith or by what we see in front of us?

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. – Mark 11:23

A: The second we lack in faith, is the second the doubt enters and turns our focus, which determines our outcome of the situation.