God is in Control - Supernatural Provision and Help

Over the years of my walk with the Lord, I learned to stand tall in courage and strength that come from Christ in me. He never, ever leaves or forsakes me for any reason (Deuteronomy 31:6).

He alone is our refuge and He gives us strength and continual help in any trouble that comes our way (Psalm 46:1). There is no reason to be afraid of what life or people will do to us, because God is our helper (Psalm 118:6-7).

If we allow our self to fear what the devil, the world or evil people will do to us, it becomes a physical, emotional and mental liability. When we trust in the Lord and walk in His Spirit, He gives us peace and safety, even in trials (Proverbs 29:25).

Jesus proved these promises time and again with His disciples. He even has power over nature (Mark 4:39-40). He is a victorious warrior in our midst. He exults and rejoices over us with joy and His quiet, steadfast love (Zephaniah 3:17).

When we dwell in the shelter of the Almighty, we rest in the shadow of the Most High God. He is our refuge and fortress, our God in whom we place our trust.

He shelters us with the feathers of His wings and shields us with His faithfulness. We do not fear any darkness or pestilence or plague; because although thousands may fall all around us, His angels guard us on every side (Psalm 91:1-16).

Prayer:

Father God, since we love You and acknowledge Your authority in our life, You rescue and protect us. When we call upon You, You answers us. You are with us in trouble, and You honor and deliver us. We are assured that no matter what life throws at us, You are in the middle of the turmoil and struggle right along with us.

You strengthen us and give us courage, You help us and lift us in Your hands above the storms of life. You live within us by Your Spirit and You are greater than Satan and his evil doers in this world. We cast all of our cares on You, because we know without a doubt that You care for us.

Thought for the Day:
As we keep our faith and trust in Him, God strengthens us in the very core of our soul. and He lifts our spirit when trials attempt to drag us down in fear and discouragement and life tends to overwhelm us with circumstances beyond our control. 

When One Side Wins

When one side "wins" an argument, both sides lose. The person or group that was not allowed to make their point, or who did not have the opportunity to make their point, feels dejected and frustrated and unable to affect their own life.

This effects their relationship and attitude about the "winning" side. They may forgive, but they still feel discounted and misunderstood. They withdraw from the relationship both emotionally and possibly also physically, even if just a little bit.

The sad point of this scenario is that this is so unnecessary. There does not have to be a winner and a loser in an argument. There can be a discussion, which leads to a mutually acceptable solution.

This way everybody wins! No one person or group "gets their way", but they find an equally impartial solution that meets everyone's needs.

When we each have a need and our own solution, but we cannot agree on either one, we can pray or brainstorm together and find a third alternative that we both like.

We can do some research, ask advice from other people, read some articles on the topic, go to a counselor if necessary, and find a third alternative that both sides agree upon.

Then everyone is happy, everyone feels heard and valued, and everyone wins. In our society, we have a two party system and we tend to be black-and-white thinkers.

There is no room or tolerance for any gray areas that may require that we think outside of our little box, to experiment, and to consider the good of the group rather than for our self alone.

The only area that is not up for compromise is our belief in and devotion to God. We follow His Spirit's direction in every area of our life and we stand firm on the Word of God alone.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to be more interested in serving others than our self, putting the needs of others in the same degree of importance in our life as our own needs. Remind us not to neglect our self, but to honor others as our self.

You have a perfect will and way for our life and it is our responsibility to hear from Your Spirit in every aspect of our life (Ephesians 2:10; Proverbs 3:5-6). We draw near to You, refuse to allow Satan to wreak havoc in our life and we allow You to direct our paths (James 4:7).

Thought for the Day:

Once we purify the desires of our soul by obeying God's truth, we develop a genuine love for others, we love each other deeply and we maintain a pure heart for God to use in His service. - 1 Peter 1:22

Christ, Our Solid Rock

The power of prayer girding every circumstance in our life is laid on a foundation of the solid Rock of Christ and His sacrifice in our life. This solid bedrock supports us with both positive and negative experiences from our past. God used these incidents in our life to add to the emotional and mental framework of the house the Lord is building in our life.

Negative emotions are worm-riddled planks, which give our house an insecure structure. God replaces that rotting wood with His Truth about a situation. He may not use a Bible verse, but He will speak an impression in our spirit that is biblical and that we know is from Him. We renounce Satan's lies about this issue and renew our mind with God's Truth.

This frees us to forgive any person who harmed or wounded us in any way. The negative emotions, which plague us - especially people with a melancholy personality, are slowly replaced with thoughts that are factual, gracious, accurate, holy, divine, admirable and commendable. We focus on what we know is true about Christ in us, and His life in other Christians.

Then the peace of God will fill every corner of the new house, which God is building with our life (Philippians 4:7-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17). These new planks, these strong and solid Truths, add to our firm foundation of prayer and God's presence in our life. Focusing on the Truths of God's Word calms our fears, builds up our confidence in Christ within us (Colossians 1:27, 3:1-4; Galatians 2:20), and releases His power in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Prayer:

Father God, with our eyes focused solely on You and Your Word, we realize that regardless of the battles we experience in our world, You already overcame them all through the blood of Christ. You are working out everything, even negative circumstances, for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Help us to rely on You, rather than in worldly wisdom and strength, to fight our battles. For You are our mighty stronghold (Psalm 18:2). Remind us that Jesus is our firm foundation and nothing and no one can shake us out of Your hand (Romans 8:35-39). Regardless of the negative activity around us, we remain peaceful and calm within, with trust and hope in You alone (Psalm 62:5; Isaiah 26:3).

Thought for the Day:

Do not be afraid or discouraged by the negative activity and thoughts in your life, no matter how overwhelming they are; because there is greater power in us through Christ, who helps us to fight our battles, than the power of the flesh, the world or the devil combined. - 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

For help with a wounded past go to:

( www.theophostic.com )

His Cherished Treasure

 

Husbands, did you know that if you do not treat your wife with consideration and respect as heirs with you of God’s merciful gift of eternal life, that your prayers may be hindered? (1 Peter 3:7) 

God made women, so He knows how emotional, unpredictable and irrational we can be sometimes. That is why He gave men this cautionary advice. 

The wise husband makes his wife his priority second only to God. He provides her with love, acceptance and a secure home environment. If he does, then she will never doubt his love for her. 

She will see it in his eyes, in his tone of voice, in his caring touch and in the amount of time he wants to spend with her. She is his most cherished treasure and is highly valued in his esteem.

Every human being has a love language. We often love others the way we want to be loved. However, if your mate’s, child’s or grandchild’s love language is not the same as yours, then they will not be impressed by your expressions of affection toward them. 

Some people enjoy gifts and others prefer physical touch, quality time, acts of service and/or words of affirmation. Take the time to discover the love languages of the people God gave you to love ( http://www.5lovelanguages.com ).  
Give your loved ones continual expressions of love and devotion throughout the day. Many couples have a date night, which is admirable and something to look forward to; however, do not limit your time together to once a week. 

Spend little increments of time together throughout the day. Maybe a shared lunch, family time after a dinner eaten together, a gift for no reason at all, a compliment for a job well done, a 15 minute snuggle, a walk in the park, a repair of that leaky faucet, a note tucked away in an obvious nook, a bike ride to a favorite place, taking her car to get it serviced or spending a few hours together walking on the beach. The possibilities are actually limitless. 

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that You created marriage (Genesis 2:22). We dishonor You when we allow Satan to destroy the love You place in our hearts for one another. 

In today’s easy divorce society, we are not expected to work through the hard times and communicate with one another about what we really need and how we really feel. Remind us to lay our life down for each other as Christ did for us.

Thought for the Day:

Nurture your romantic urges and express them often. This is not a stilted requirement, but a spontaneous expression of your love and devotion.

Hey, I'm Suffering Over Here!

 

Are you hurting right now, either physically, spiritually, emotionally or mentally? What happened? Who brought this pain and suffering into your life? Do you feel as if life is no longer worth living, or that there is no hope for you or that you are all alone and nobody cares about you? Do you want to end your life, because you see no way out of your predicament? We often suffer at the hand of an evil perpetrator that inflicts his/her selfishness on a family member, a friend or on us personally.

You may wonder why God would allow us to suffer? Well, have you tried asking Jesus to forgive your sins and then totally surrendering your life to Him? Your life will not turn around immediately, because you will still reap the consequences of your past behavior. However, as you start to sow good seed into the Holy Spirit, nurtured soil of your new life in Christ, you will see His benefits and blessings filling up every portion of your spirit, body and soul – your mind, will and emotions.

Many times we even suffer, because we are reaping the results of our own poor choices. We may suffer from debt, fear of financial collapse, unstable emotional relationships, physical ailments or wounds inflicted on us by some one or some force in this tragic, sinful world. God often uses suffering to draw us closer to Him, or to keep us from wandering back into a sinful lifestyle (Job 23:10). If we suffer according to the will of God, because we are Christians, we can commit our body, soul and spirit to God’s safe care, because He is our faithful Father (1 Peter 4:19).

If we choose to live according to God’s Word, then He will protect us from much of life’s suffering (Psalm 119:67, 55:7). We will have the same testimony as the three young Hebrew men facing the fiery furnace; or Job, when he lost his wealth, family and health in a brief instant of time (Job 13:15; 1 Timothy 6:12; Hebrews 12:1; 2 Corinthians 4). When we fellowship in Christ’s sufferings, we draw closer to Christ’s resurrection power in our life, even if we are put to death as He was (Philippians 3:10).

Have you ever noticed that you spend more time in prayer during bad times than during the good times? We forget to praise the Lord for His blessings, but we certainly have a great deal to say when something goes wrong in our life. However, if we turn our tragedy into an opportunity to seek God and pray, He will most assuredly deliver us (Psalm 50:15). We will also see the fruit of His Spirit manifested in our life, as we are refined by these fiery trials (1 Peter 4:12).

Prayer:

Father God, we want to bring glory to Your name. Sometimes, You use our suffering to spur us to live as a testimony to the world around us. We are living examples of the fact that You will sustain and deliver Your Saints through every trial and tribulation (John 9:3). Remind us to look to the eternal consequences of every situation, because the aspects of this world are simply temporal and fleeting (2 Corinthians 4:18). Thank You for comforting us in all of our trials, and help us to share this same comfort with others who are going through similar circumstances (2 Corinthians 1: 4-5).

Thought for the Day:

Our suffering in this world will provide for us an exceptionally, enormous, eternal compensation in Heaven. – 2 Corinthians 4:17

Victim to Victor

Read: Romans 8: 31-39

“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.- Romans 8:34

Did you grow up and/or are you living in an abusive situation? Are you living in a perpetual downhill spiral that never seems to end? It is very easy to model our current life on the basis of our history and to choose to believe that our past and present is our “reality”. To be stuck in this victimized thinking, however, will continue to create negative energy in our soul and it will perpetuate the idea that we cannot help but to be victimized by life and others.

There is a huge need in most people today to be liberated in our beliefs, thinking, words and actions by the Word of God. Do you know how fortunate we truly are? God gave us the wonderful ability to make decisions. In reality we are never truly stuck. We can decide to create a new life and move forward no matter what our “reality” looks like. It may seem that we are powerless, but the truth is: we are actually more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

Even when you have a supportive family and friends, at some level you know that you are the only person who can get you out of the negative spiral in which you are living. This fact can feel terrifying. After all, aren’t you so grieved and broken already that the thought of getting strong and motivated and making balanced and authoritative decisions feels about as feasible as climbing Mount Everest without any equipment?

When we are shattered by hurt and loss, anything new, self-confronting and empowering seems light years away from our capabilities to achieve. However, the Good News is that when we are weak, God in us is strong for us. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Even if we are terrified and have to crawl along, or curl up in a corner somewhere and grieve for a while, Christ is waiting to help us to find the victory.

When we finally understand that God has a plan for our life, we realize that we really do want to hold onto and honor the life He has given us. Through His power, we can let down the walls within us that keep our shattered soul from being healed and set free.

Christ gives us the victory to know that our life CAN change for the better. This is how we overcome depression and defeat. This fact keeps us from getting sidetracked and drawn down by the upheavals and chaos of our circumstances and the people in our lives.

Humility is incredibly empowering and transformational. Humility admits that we cannot, but God can. The humility to admit that we are powerless leads us to surrender to God. Our most important function in our road to recovery is to submit to God as He develops His character and fruit within us.

It isn’t until we are forced to our knees that we finally understand God’s purpose in all the pain we experienced throughout our lifetime. As we release the pain of the past and survive, we start to realize that we truly will thrive through Christ in us. Then, He gives us the potential to experience the aspects of our life that our heart truly desires.

The key is to create a solid sense of Who We Are in Christ (see former post on this blog). Then regardless of what is occurring in our outer world we have these truths filling our personal concept of who we are. Jesus is our inner security, anchor, direction and purpose in life. Godly principles do not react to anything – they remain constant and consistent. Life evens out and things flow more smoothly. This strongly formed core of values is consistent in the face of outside influences. Life may be changeable, but Biblical values and principles are timeless and unchangeable.

This inner security comes from knowing our true identity in Christ and having healthy self-worth based on the fact that you are a child of God. With this fact firmly planted in our mind, we know that we have the ability to emotionally, and if necessary, to physically detach from situations outside of our self that we have no control over. This gives us a firm mental, emotional and spiritual foundation within our self.

Since Christ lives within us, Godly values and principles become our ultimate reality. All of our experiences are viewed through this lens, and our world completely changes. Even our vision of life, circumstances and ourselves begin to take on a new shape and are viewed from an eternal rather than an earthly perspective. We no longer react to life, but we act according to the direction of His Spirit within us.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus help us to submit our past, present and future to You, one moment at a time. Help us to view life from Your perspective and to love the things You love and to turn away from the things You despise. Help us to make Jesus the center of our focus and to walk in Your joy and peace throughout our life.

Thought for the Day:
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinthians 15:57