The Russian Connection

 FEAR
OF THE UNEXPECTED

If there is one thing more incompatible
than oil and water, it’s trust & worry.

They are complete polar opposites.

When you worry, you are not trusting.
When you fully trust, you don’t worry....

There is a famous saying:

"WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES;
it takes away today's PEACE."

If you spend your time with regrets over yesterday, and worries over what might happen tomorrow, you’ll have no today to live in.

Did you know that worry can actually wear you down not only emotionally but also physically?

• Worry can have the same affects as stress.
• It often gives a small thing a big shadow.
  

 TODAY: 

When wrongs can't be righted or circumstances can't be controlled, accept the things you cannot change and give the rest to God.

Sometimes,

I Think We All Wish This Was A Little Easier........

James 1:2-4:

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." 

Notice it doesn’t say, it IS joy when you fall in to hardship, but he says COUNT it all joy.

Learning to stay steady and not rock the boat in a storm is one of the hardest, but ultimately rewarding character-building things we can do. 

Patience in your faith signifies trust in your God.

It’s not that God is really slow and takes a long time to work, because sometimes things happen very quickly, it’s just that things get set in the spirit realm when you pray before you ever see them manifested in the physical realm.

Don’t tear down the building blocks of your faith with doubt and lack of patience.

Saadi said:
"Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy."

TODAY:

 Let your patience & faith work together.

It's a winning combo.

         WHY
               stay when you

            don't have to....

Today I pray that a “NO” is birthed within you.

A NO to the norm.

To the status quo…

A NO to a dull, lifeless existence .

A NO to a life consumed with sin.

In the midst of life, we have to make a decision to answer to the call of God on our lives over the call of the world.

In Ephesians 4:1, Paul urges us to walk worthy of our calling.

....What does that mean?

To give it all we’ve got. Honor it. Respect it.

Don’t allow your consciousness to be so seared by the world, that things no longer bother you or feel wrong. Walk worthy of all that God has entitled you to. Not by your own strength, but in Jesus and completely through Him.

WHY

ARE ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD.....?

This morning I came across this, and thought it was worth sharing.

In light of recent events... earthquakes, terrorists attacks, food shortages, rise of crime, tsunamis & hurricanes, scandals and all the other things, this might help to give you some good insight.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show when Jane Clayson, on of the reporters asked her:

“How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Hurricane Katrina).

I love Anne Graham response.

She said: “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

 TODAY: 

Maybe you've gotten really upset about something and told God to get out of your life...and now things have started to fall apart.

I want you to know that it's not too late. If you'll ask God to come back in to your life, He will help you. HE IS the one who holds all things together.

The Last Thing The Disciples Asked Jesus To Do

There is absolutely nothing that you’ll see manifest in the natural....
that you haven’t first prayed through and spoken out in the spiritual.

When the disciples heard Jesus say that He was going to die and give up His life, their reaction lead to a request that reveals a lot about their discipleship to Jesus. 

Even with all the miracles the had seen Jesus do, it doesn’t say that they ran up to Him and said,

“Master, Master! Quickly please show us how you turned the water in to wine before you leave!"

Or “Master, Master! Please remind us- how was it that you did that ‘walking on water’ thing again?”

Or even  “Jesus, will you PLEASE just give us 1 more class on how to cast our demons and raise the dead!”

Do you know what they asked Him?

How to pray.

• They followed Jesus closely enough to know that everything He did, came from His relationship with the Father.      

TODAY: 

If we could only understand that our prayer life isn't about some pattern, or schedule or what we want, but it's about loving God and just being IN love with Him.....THEN I believe it will give us that cutting edge & fire we're looking for.

HAS YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE BECOME......

BORING?

If it's one thing life can do to us, it's disorient us.

If you've felt lost lately...or wondering who you really are & what you're supposed to do with your life...I encourage you to take action and settle these 5 things.

I believe it will help you a great deal at times just as it has me.

1. CLARIFY- What was your mission from the beginning? What do you feel like God called you to do? What do you believe? 

2. PURIFY- Purify your heart. Sin can be one of the biggest things blocking you from the blessings of God &seeing Him move in your life, because it separates you with shame. 

3. SIMPLIFY- your life. Get rid of clutter and unnecessary things pulling for your constant attention. Not all "good" things are always "God things".

4. MODIFY- Don't try to live a life where you're always in the hunt for more & more & more. Modify your life to the things you need and then bless others. Give of yourself instead.

5. MAGNIFY- the Lord! when you praise God, you take your eyes off your enemy and on to the size of your God! Praise releases God's power and reminds you of your victory! 

 REMEMBER: 

Don't ever accept your situation if it's not something you feel good about.
Jesus gave His life so that you could be able to partake of His abundant life
and enjoy your life.

When A Light Is Lit.......  

                                   God Starts To Work!

Recently I’ve been studying a lot about light.

All throughout the Bible, God mentions light.

Everything from a real concrete light, to a symbolic light.

It all started in Genesis.
    -God spoke to the dark void and spoke light before He started working on the Earth.

 A bright light, the Star of Bethlehem shone above the place of Jesus birth. NUM 24:17

Jesus said I AM the light of the world! JOHN 8:12

 Then He calls us to be a light in dark places! MATT 5:14
    -Jesus is looking for us to be a shining light to those who are lost in darkness. When we proclaim His name and His works, it’s an opportunity for Him to go to work in that situation.

These are just a few examples of a huge subject & the countless mentions of light in the Bible.

TODAY:

God has put His light on the inside of you so that wherever you go, you can let that shine and help others around you by being a lifeline guiding them to the arms of Christ!

If you’re in the ministry and don't have a prayer life, then you just have a career in religion.

Someone once told me.

No prayer, no power.
Little prayer, little power.
Much prayer, much power.

......To say the least……I never forgot it.

  What's the big deal about prayer?

It’s that alone time with God where you learn to communicate with Him and hear His voice. You can’t have a relationship with someone if you don’t talk to them.

If Jesus would spend whole nights in prayer, and even pull away from crowds to be alone with His father at times, I’m guessing it was because He deemed it a part of life that was very important!

Because Jesus never did anything without it having purpose or a meaning.

So we should take the example of how to live life from Him!

 Some things about prayer: 

• It opens up our communication with God.
  
• It is the source for strength & power.
• It changes situations when you ask God to move on your behalf.
• It sets things in motion.
• Jesus did it constantly.
• It release what’s on our mind and heart.
• We become more familiar with the voice of God.

PAST VS FUTURE(Complete side note, but I think if someone had driven down the streets with that baby in the 1800's, people would of thought it was some alien space shuttle or something!)

TODAY IS A BRAND NEW DAY.

Don’t let your past poison your present.

Because your present will end up postponing your future. The devil wants to steal your future by keeping you focused on your past, and if possible, hold you back with it.

“Today is the day the Lord has made. So rejoice and be glad in it!”

PSALMS 118:24

 God put 2 eyes in front of you to keep you looking ahead in life because your future looks good and bright!

We are meant by God to always be making progression. To move forward and excel. When we don't....and all we do is "stand still" with life, we can become stagnant and frustrated.

 “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

– Alexander Graham Bell

Give yourself the permission to let go of anything from the past holding you back. 1 decision can be enough to forever change your life, and improve you on countless levels.

I don't care if you've missed it a thousand times before, or failed and given up.

REMEMBER:

Today is a new day. Don't bury your dreams in a coffin of the past.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BREAK APART.

YOU CAN BREAK THROUGH.

 It's never hopeless with God.

It's always hopeful.

He is an expert at giving people new beginnings.
He can transform us and take us to a new place, the right place where we need to be.

    -A whole new level of ease, productivity, positive energy and excellence.

God can take you from being sick, to being healed.
He can take you from feeling worthless, to priceless.
He can take you from being a sinner, to being righteous.
He can take you from absolutely broke, to prosperous.
He will take you from the curse to the blessing.

BUT HOOOOW? you may ask....

By first of all becoming saved & born again, and coming in to His family.

By spending time with Him and in His Word. When you spend time with God, and meditate on the things of God, you start thinking more and more like Him.

 TODAY:

Everything doesn't have to be a problem for you.

It can be a asset if you just let God get a hold of it!