One well placed nugget of hope!
As of this morning, there are billions of people all over the world, sitting around and thinking about a lot of things. Do I go out, do I stay in?
Will the economy rebound and what about the stock market? Am I going to be able to continue to work? When will all this end? When will things get back to normal?
TBS. (now keep in mind this is God talking, not mans conjecture...but this is God talking!) If My people will humble themselves and call upon my name I will heal their land!
It’s easy to read and hear that scripture and think ok Lord, get busy! Too many say ya okay, but soon there will be a cure...and in the mean time fear and panic continues to strangle the world.
We already have the solution to the problem! There is strength in unity and what scripture says here is, to (show some humility) realize this circumstance is bigger than any of us.
And when we come together praying and seeking God, knowing only He has the ability to meet our need, His own words declare His willingness to help and heal the entire planet, where we live!
Now notice...scripture Doesn’t say how many of Gods people, there is no magic number, it just says Gods people!
Are you a Christian? Then the time has come, if your a child of God this morning...to humble yourselves, to stand up and call on the great God almighty to intervene and heal the land of what’s going on!
God is looking for righteous men and women all over this land to cast their faith and their hope in His amazing ability and trust God with what you know, not what you are witnessing!
Every story we find in the Bible... we find the common denominator of faith and hope! From the children of Israel to the message of the gospel and the resurrection Victory...
Jesus accomplished the morning of the third day when He arose from the tomb.
Everyone of them, including Jesus...believed and pinned there hopes on Gods ability, for the outcome! From Noah to the women at the well, the world has consistently given the report of failure and doom and gloom!
But God has consistently delivered miracle after miracle in spite of how things appeared to be to the rest of the world, in the natural!
Forget about what the news media is reporting, forget about what the popular opinion is right now on the internet and start to focus and call on the only opinion that really matters! Gods opinion!
The politically correct opinion won’t tell you what I’m about to tell you, but This is a spiritual fight from the pit of hell with the focus of stealing, killing and destroying humanity!
I hear so many say we want to just get back to normal!
Is normal what we really want and are willing to settle for?
Normal is mediocrity, there is nowhere you will find in the scripture, Gods abundant life and Gods blessings with the description of normal or mediocre!
For far to many, normal has been a way of life for far too long! If you’re a Christian God has called you out of obscurity...to live anything but a normal life! Yet far to many are doing exactly that!
We haven’t been singing Jesus take the wheel, we have neglected the calling we all have been called to, to be salt and the light of Jesus to the world!
This crisis has come along and caught the majority of the church asleep at the wheel!
But that doesn’t mean we can’t unite together and call on His name and see salvation and healing take place in our land!
God has already given and equipped everyone with a measure of faith, (there is not one person who has not been equipped with Gods amazing faith gift) which is His spiritual defense mechanism with the ability, to put a thousand to flight!
To merely say to a mountain move...and through our faith in His ability, The MOUNTAIN MUST OBEY!
Here’s something to think about! Why is it when we’re young, we’re so willing try to test our abilities and are so willing to take test? You know what I’m talking about...the test designed to grade our ability to perform?
In fact we usually can’t wait and have anxious anticipation between each level of responsibility, life offers us.
Our Spiritual walk and relationship with God through Jesus our Savior should be no different.
I often wonder why we don’t look forward too and with the same anticipation of embracing our spiritual walk and level of relationship with God, as we do with our zeal for the adventures of life?
It’s time we who call ourselves Christians get involved in what’s going on! It’s time we got back to the basics of faith, that caused everyone of us to step out and trust our hearts to Jesus in the first place!
It’s time we fell in love again, with the things of God!
One common characteristic tied to every level in everyone’s spiritual walk is, the fact sometime or another their measure of faith is going to be challenged!
That time has come for all of us! This is a world wide challenge church!
The challenges from the accuser are always going to be daily, no matter what level of relationship they are at with God!
TBS “Life is but a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow” and all that matters in this life and will hold water on the day of judgement, is what we have done for the Kingdom of God! (That’s something that should never be very far from a Christians thought pattern!)
A lot of people when asked if they believe in God, almost always respond by saying yes. Very few are ever asked the follow up question of, “what have you done for God lately?”
Sadly, very few would be able to answer if asked, with something substantial or meaningful, they have ever done for God!
There has never been a greater time in history then right now, to call on the name of the Lord and stand in faith against the attack on humanity from the accuser and the pit of hell!
There are only two sides to every situation, good and evil! Is it really that simple?
While the accuser would like for you to think there is gray area concerning good and evil, there is no gray area! There is no sugar coating anything, when it comes to the accuser and spiritual matters!
If what’s happening is good, it’s from God. If what’s happening is not good, it’s not from God!
John 10:10 is very descriptive in saying that Jesus came so we could have life more abundant and the accusers main objective is and continues to be, to steal kill and destroy!
Philippians 4:8,9 Living Bible (TLB)
8 And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.
Does what we are witnessing and all the mayhem we are seeing happening in real time around the world sound like anything we just read?
The answer is no! What we are witnessing is meant for death and destruction from the pit of hell!
John 16:33 New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus has overcome the world and through Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross for us, we are also overcomers by the righteousness He has covered us with!
That is, if we are willing to activate our God given measure of faith and believe!
When we are willing to take scripture at face value and have faith in Gods promises, it’s not what can we do?
It’s what can’t we do! With our faith called to action believing in God and His amazing ability making a way for us!
There are only two requirements for God to use anyone in the world and make their name a household name for the whole world to know! 1. Be willing to be used by God and 2. have faith (believe) God can accomplish the task you’ve been called too!
I believe most people would say they believe and most would also say they would be willing. Sadly, very few are willing to attempt to do both at the same time!
I don’t know about you, but the word EVERYTHING comes to mind when I think of the things I’ve tried to help God figure out in my life, at one point or another!
Fact is, we’re all guilty of doing the same thing! And by that, I mean trying to attach some degree of difficulty to our need multiplied by our ability, rather than (using our God given measure of faith) and just trusting (resting in) Gods ability to answer our need!
Our human nature is taught at a very early age, to try to determine every degree of difficulty for every situation! Society calls it, “self dependency!”
Having faith in God to meet our needs, is all God (faith) dependency! Thus requiring us to (rest) be totally God dependent, rather than the self (labor) dependent nature we have learned to lean on in life!
It’s 180 degrees different, a complete turnaround from what the drummer is playing and the beat of the worlds way of living!
We weren’t born to be self dependent or reliant! We came into this world quite the opposite! Our life was completely dependent on someone else for everything!
And thing is, we were 100% completely ok with depending on others for everything.
Our measure of faith and trust, we were born with! Amazingly enough, we were also born with the ability to use both from day one!
Everything we have ever needed or will ever need, God made sure we were equipped with from the moment of conception. (Read again!)(one more time?)
Every day of the learned behavior of the world and self dependency, the accuser has used to try to steal, kill or diminish what we had 100% trust in, on day one!
Our parents told us they loved us and expected us to trust them, from the moment the first time we met them and we did, without issue!
God’s Word lovingly instructs us to do the same in our relationship with Him, through His Son Jesus.
But human nature and learned behavior continually raises our question of what to do with our desire to control our circumstances, with our self effort!
God’s Word instructs us to relax our grip of control, to trust in His immeasurable capabilities! To let our self effort “rest” in Gods amazing love He has for each and everyone of us!
Philippians 4:6,7 TLB
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. 7 If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.
100% of the time resting in someone else’s abilities is hard to do!
Because Warriors, want to do something valiant!
Singers, want to sing a song the whole world will want to sing!
Composers, want to write the score for something so compelling every musician will long to play their work!
Everyone wants to do something!
We’re not alone in both this self imposed, and continually reminded accuser dilemma! In fact “all” of the recipients of the miracles we read in the Bible, faced the exact same dilemma we’re discussing right here!
Their needs were all bigger than their abilities! They all needed God to step into their situation and come through for them didn’t they?
If we want to receive the full benefit and blessing of what God wants to do in our lives! By faith we must follow his instructions and wait or rest for His perfect timing of deliverance!
To keep the faith, keep believing, resting in His most capable hands until God provides! When we do that, God is duty bound and held accountable to accomplish what we ask by His Word, which never fails!
Otherwise if we don’t, we end up settling for less than we deserve, called mediocrity!
Mediocrity is easy...Normal is easy!
Resting in the easiness of Gods instruction is not easy! Because our human nature wants to impose degrees of difficulty, self effort continually thinks it’s labor can bring to the table!
Here’s what God thinks and I’m inclined as you should be also to think! We deserve so much better than what we can bring to the table!
TBS. with man nothing is possible! With God all things are Possible!
You see, God knows even or our best day, we’re fortunate to be able to make it to the table, let alone bring something of value with us!
The last hurdle for all of us, before we see God work in our circumstance is resting in God’s ability instead of our own (self effort) to deliver our desired results!
Elijah, Joseph, David, Moses, Ruth, Esther and the list is long, through their faith, gave Gods people a well placed nuggets of hope.
Today we have hope, because of Gods gift of grace, delivered and administered by none other than His very own Son Jesus!
How much more are we blessed who know Jesus as Lord and Saviour, who has become our hope, our qualification for every promise and blessing God wants to give us, including healing, safety and protection from all things, seen or not seen!
We have been called to use our hands, feet and voice to place everywhere we can, the nuggets of hope Jesus offers to all!
There is no hard and easy for God! And for us to think such thoughts, doesn’t limit God, those thoughts only inhibit our ability to believe and receive!
We need to focus our energy of self effort into resting in Gods love and giving nature He has always had towards us!
Using our energy to rest sounds foreign to us, but if God designed our DNA ? Don’t you think He has already given us the ability to do what He asks of us! The answer is yes, friend!
All God ask of us is, “use our energy of self effort and allow it to be consumed by resting in His ability and willingness to work all things for our good!”
Matthew 19:26 MSG
Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”
If you are willing to ask God, to help you level up and trust everything to His plans for your life? God will take you to levels you never dreamed of and places you could’ve never imagined, with His Goodness and Blessings leading you every step of the way!
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Help us all, to put away our desire of self effort and embrace the unforced rhythms of God’s sweet grace and rest completely in the amazing plans God has for His children!
Plans of hope, plans for our welfare and our neighbors welfare as well! The amazing plans for the abundant future God has already created for us and the entire world we live in, to arrive at as well!
When you are willing to believe, God is able to deliver!
Amazing Victories you can’t imagine, indescribable destinations beyond belief, Devine health and prosperity, all the glorious things Gods idea of abundant life has placed in your future and destiny!
This week go out of your way to be kind and help renew humanity’s outlook and show the world Gods Love through your actions and ability to place nuggets of hope, in a world full of despair!
Raise your expectations and let’s call on God for His help and both expect and rest in Gods amazing ability to heal humanity and our land!
