Aim At And Strive After His Word

I wanted to do a follow up to my last posting 'Direction for 2010’. I want to take some time to reflect on applying Matthew 6:33 to our every day lives. I really like the way the Amplified bible translates it.

“But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

The Holy Spirit is telling us here that every day we should strive (to exert much effort or energy; endeavor) after God’s way of doing things. He is saying clearly that our aim (determined course or direct, our effort) should be to seek His will and His way in everything we do. Our daily focus should be on what God has for us to do that day. How does He want to use us? Who does He wants us to speak to? How does He want us to handle certain situations?

When we put our focus on doing things His ways, the right way, we don’t have to worry about anything because we KNOW that He WILL take care of everything. He will work EVERY situation out for our good. No matter what the situation is. (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20)

To seek His way of doing things is to apply His Word to our life, living it out loud and being a doer of the Word. In order to be a doer of the Word we have to know what His Word says about whatever it is that we are facing.

If we are battling worry, fear, & anxiety His Words says,

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“Humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7

“Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” Psalm 55:22

If we are angry, bitter, or harboring unforgiveness His Word says,

“Don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” Ephesians 4:26-27

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:12-13

His Word can be applied to every area of our life (raising children,managing money, marriage,business,etc.). That’s why He had His prophets and apostles write His Words down. To lead us to Christ who is the Word made flesh. Today He uses the Word through the power of the Holy Spirit to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. He empowers us to do His will. He uses the bible to prepare and equip us to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) So if we want to know what we should do, when we need direction and wisdom we can find it in the Word of God. (James 1:5) I love what Proverbs 2:6-11 says, especially verses 9-10:

“6 For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. 8 He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. 9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. 11 Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.”

Brothers and sisters when we know the Truth of God’s Word we find direction, hope, and freedom! If we don’t know His Word then we will be consumed by our troubles and situations, we will be destroyed because of lack of knowledge. (James 1:22, Hosea 4:6) His Word grants wisdom and it is has the answer for every situation. We just have to study this Book of Instruction continually. We need to meditate on it day and night so that we will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will we prosper and succeed in all that we do because we are seeking HIS WAY of doing and being right instead of our own way. (Joshua 1:9)

Lord we want to seek You first in every area of our life. We want to do Your will. Guide us and led us daily. Give us confirmation and affirmation through Your Word. We trust you with our daily lives. In Jesus name. Amen!

Direction For 2010

At the beginning of this year I decided to take the first 21 days and commit them to seeking the Lord’s direction for the beginning of 2010. I was resting from ministry work and spent more quality time with my family. Of course I also reflected on 2009 and all that our Lord had done in me, through me, and in my friends and family. The past couple of years have been full of change and restructuring in my finances, friendships, and ministry partners. I have seen the Lord making my crooked paths straight and leading me the way that HE WANTS me to go. Every day I realize that I am far from perfection but in the words of the Apostle Paul,

“I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

In 2009 many of us saw wonderful break throughs and victories but now it is time to keep pressing forward to what lies ahead. We should not be living on the accomplishments and victories of 2009. This is a new year with brand new opportunties to help the helpless, to extend mercy, grace, and forgiveness, to love the unlovable, and to share the Good News that Jesus loves us and died for our sins. There WILL BE be new tests, struggles, and trials that we will have to overcome not by our own might, but by the Spirit of the Lord who will strengthen us, sustain us, and move us according to His will. (Zechariah 4:6, Philippians 4:13)

2010 is a new year full of new hope and expectation. We don’t have to look back or dwell o all the mistakes of 2009. It’s a new season! The old has gone and new things are coming. We should be excited knowing that our Lord has wonderful plans for each of us! We should be excited knowing without a shadow of a doubt that HE IS working everything out for our good! We should be excited as we watch how the Lord brings restoration, deliverance, and expansion of territory in our lives! (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28)

The Word that the Lord has placed on my heart since the end of 2009 for 2010 is Matthew 6:33

“But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.”

But truly this is not a Word for 2010. It is a Word for every day of our life. He wants us to seek Him first and His way of doing things, then everything else that we are worried about will be taken care of. He put it simply to me a couple of years ago. The Spirit of the Lord said to me, “Lisa, you take care of My business and I will take care of your business”. He has been faithful to keep His promise to me. I have seen Him constantly working everything out in my life for the good of our family. There is nothing that comes against me that I really need to fear because I KNOW that I am in His hands and He cares for me. All my fear and doubts are no more because I KNOW that HE IS in control. When I truly began to put my focus on seeking Him and what He wanted me to do on a daily basis, instead of doing what I thought was right do in my own eyes, my life was transformed.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

I remember being on that path. That path is the broad road that Jesus said many take which leads to hell. (Matthew 7:13-14) Doing things our own way, being lead by our fickle and selfish emotions, and submitting to our sin-ful desires leads to destruction and turmoil in our lives as well as those around us. Our way is not the right way. If we want to know which way God wants us to go then we must seek the One who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Jesus is the Way. His way is found in the Word of God, the Holy Bible. It will be the lamp to our feet and a light for our path in this dark world.

I pray that each of us would committ to seeking God’s way and will for our life everyday of 2010 and for whatever remaining years we have left here before Jesus Christ comes back for His Church.

Blessings to you all in Christ Jesus name,

"Please God Help Me!"

I want to share with you a short story. It was a little over 14 years ago when I was at one of the darkest places in my life. I was strung out on drugs, homeless crashing at my aunt’s house, and in violation of my probation. My first daughter had just turned a year old. I sent her to live with father’s parents. I was so depressed and sick. I didn’t know what else to do. I believed that Jesus was real and that He would help me if I prayed and cried out to Him. So I did.

I will never forget that night and the series of events that happened from then on. I was lying on the top bunk of my cousin’s bed crying, “Please God help me! I am tired of all of this. I need your help! I want my daughter back. I want my family back. Please God help me!” I cried myself to sleep that night. The next morning I went ahead living my dysfunctional life. I went off to work and on my lunch break I got high and ended up committing a crime. I was arrested for not only that charge but for violation of probation. I knew that I was facing a prison sentence. I was scared, but I also had a sense of relief. No more running. No more hiding. Finally!! All of sudden I remembered my prayer from the previous night. “God this is your idea of answering my prayer? Ok??”

Our Lord in His mercy and grace gave me favor once again with the judge. After three months in jail I was sentenced to a drug rehabilitation center as an alternative to prison. If I completed this six month program my probation would be reinstated and I could move on with my life. But I was still so full of rebellion. I ended breaking the rules and violating my stay. Back to jail I went to await sentencing. This would be the third time that I would violate and the judge promised me that if I messed up again that I would be sentenced to prison for sure. That’s exactly what happened. I was sentenced to five years in the Florida State Prison.

Seems like a terrible story huh? Well it isn’t! What I didn’t share with you is that from the day that I got locked up I began drawing close to God and He drew close to me too. I got a bible and I would read and ask God to help me understand His Word. I did not know that what I was asking would result in the process of renewing my mind. I began to pray and seek Him like never before. He put a beautiful woman of God in my life, Sonia, who was not only strong in her faith but strong in personality too. He knew I needed someone like her to mentor me and speak into my life words of faith, truth, hope, and power. We meet at the rehab center where she had volunteered for an outreach event. She promised that she would write me. I did not believe her but she wrote me letters weekly from then on. She became my spiritual mother. It was through her that I first really experienced the love of Christ. She is still by my side today.

By the grace of God my five year sentenced ended up being eighteen months instead. Those eighteen months the Holy Spirit taught me the Word of God and filled me to overflowing with His Spirit. One day I received a card from my Sonia with my name and the meaning of it. Lisa comes from Elizabeth, which means consecrated to God. Consecrated means set aside, or to declare or set apart as sacred. All of a sudden I realized that the Lord allowed me to be sent to prison not only to save me from my destructive path but so that I could be set apart for Him and His purpose. Without the rest of the world and drama in my ear I could finally hear from God. My life has not been the same since. Everything that I lost and that the enemy took from me God has been restored to me in abundance. The years of pain, loneliness, and sadness have been replaced with joy, peace, and hope. Today I am surrounded by people who love me. I have undeservedly been rewarded with the blessing of several children. Our God has been faithful to build me up in Christ Jesus. I am no longer a victim of life’s circumstances. I am an over comer in Christ Jesus!

I wanted to share this with you because I believe that there is someone who has been crying out to God, “Help me God! Please help me!” and it may seem that your situation is getting worse, but it isn’t. God may not answer your prayers the way that you think He should but you cannot rely on your own understanding. His ways are so much higher than ours. His ways are so much better. You may not see it right now, but God is working in the midst of everything. Learn to walk by faith and not by sight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

I don’t know what your situation is but as I’ve shared I had created such a mess of my life that even though He saved me the moment I believed and cried out to Him, He still needed to do some major reconstruction to my entire life from the inside out. In my rebelliousness I planted some bad seeds and I still needed to reap what I had sown and face the consequences of my actions. I could have gotten angry at God but it wasn’t His fault that I ended up in prison. It was mine. It was my own foolishness and rebelliousness that got me there. It was our Lord in His mercy and grace by the power of His Holy Spirit that gave me the strength, courage, and perseverance to endure through it all without becoming angry and bitter.

Proverbs 19:3 says, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD.” There are people who get made at God when they are overwhelmed with debt but they mismanage their money and are tightfisted, scared to give their tithes and offerings. Others get mad at Him because they don’t see a breakthrough in their families but instead of speaking words of faith in their home they are speaking words of unbelief, doubt, and defeat. They are tearing apart their own homes by the words of their mouth. There comes a time where we have to accept responsibility for our disobedience, repent, and ask God to help us back onto the narrow road. We have to learn to desire God’s will more than our own.

When God is restructuring our life we cannot get angry with Him. We must remember that God is the Master Potter. He is working at His wheel. We are the jar of clay that He had a very specific plan and divine purpose for from the time that we were in our mother’s womb. However, because of our desire to have our own way and all the resistance we gave Him we messed the jar up some. So he has to start over remolding and shaping us. But this is a good thing because when God is working with a willing vessel they become one of His vessels of honor which He uses to make the riches of His glory shine through. (Jeremiah 18:1-7, Romans 9:21-23)

I want to encourage you to let go of your own plans and your own will. Become a willing vessel and trust the Lord through the remolding process. Allow Him to continue the good work that He has started. He knows what He is doing. We can trust Him with our lives. We can be sure that the end results and reward will be better than the beginning. Hold on to the verses in Isaiah 43:18-19

“But forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

You cried out, “God Help Me!” now it’s time that you let Him help you HIS WAY, NOT YOUR WAY! Obey and trust Him you will not be sorry.

May The God of Hope Fill You With All Joy And Peace As You Trust In Him

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

This one little verse is so powerful and full of insight. If you are facing extreme testing and trouble, trials and persecution hear what the Spirit of God is saying to you here in this verse.

Our God is the God of hope. There is no situation that any of us will ever face that is too big for the God of hope. Our problems don’t surprise Him. He is not moved by them. He saw them before they ever manifested themselves. In fact He has been preparing us for this time. We are equipped in Him to face this situation. The testing and the trials may seem too much to bear ALONE, but we ARE NOT ALONE! His Holy Spirit is with us and in us.

Often times when we are in the middle of the fiery furnace we allow our emotions to get the best of us. When we begin to focus on our problems and listen to our fickle emotions instead of the Word of God we will surely get off track. If we allow our emotions to manage us instead of us managing our emotions we will lose our peace and joy. Emotions are just feelings that we have in the moment and THEY WILL CHANGE. So we cannot be lead by them. Instead we have to be led by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that never changes. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It is stable and secure. It is true and infallible. It is our hope and confidence. We have to trust it above our emotions and what we see.

When we are in a relationship with the Lord He gives us very specific details for our life and gives us clear instruction on which way to go. We don’t need to freak out when circumstances look the opposite of what God has promised us. Remember that His Word never returns void. So we must keep believing and pressing forward diligently. Most of all we need to be obedient to His direction and leading. We need to desire His will more than our own will for our lives. Unfortunately many people give up on trusting God and harden their hearts toward the Holy Spirit. They turn back to their own way of doing things. Their disobedience hinders their breakthrough and blessings. Brothers and sisters we cannot lose hope and turn away from God’s will for our lives. When we decide to turn away from God’s path we will affect not only our lives but the lives our friends and families too.

There is a saying that God will never put more on you than you can bear. But I think the saying should be that God will never put more on us than we can bear ALONE. When we try to face life’s problems on our own we will most assuredly not be able to bear up under the stress and burdens. We are not strong enough. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. He is our strength and comfort. Apart from Him we can do nothing and then we become hopeless. (John 15:5)

We WILL get our break through! We just have to believe and have trust in the God of hope no matter what. In Romans 15:13 the God of hope has PROMISED that AS WE TRUST IN HIM, He will fill us with all joy and peace so that we can overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t break His promises. He will give us hope in our situation because we trust Him, His promises, and His Word! We must remember that He always works everything out for our good. Even what the enemy tries to use to destroy or harm us He can turn for our good. We are never without hope because the God of hope is on our side.

So let us meditate on Romans 15:13 and allow it to go down deep in our hearts. Let His Word renew our mind so that when we are facing many troubles His Word will fill our thoughts with hope, joy, and peace.

Christmas Motions

For years I was just going through the motions of celebrating Christmas. I would decorate, send Christmas cards, buy presents, and go from house to house visiting family. Although I have always enjoyed celebrating Christmas, year after year I found myself dreading the countdown to December 25th. Every year my Christmas gift list got longer and longer. We went from spending a couple of hundred dollars to spending a couple thousand. Our children’s present wish lists were starting to get excessive and expense. I started allowing myself to get stressed about needing to buy certain gifts for those certain people in the family, hoping that it would be just what they wanted and what if it wasn’t? UGH!! “I just wish Christmas would hurry up and come and go! I can’t wait till it’s over!” I started finding myself complaining about the holiday. I was starting to become a Grinch! What happened?? I used to love Christmas!

I can tell you what happened to me; perhaps someone else can relate. I allowed a worldly mentality to come in and consume my idea of what Christmas was supposed to be about. I stopped focusing on the reason for the season, and as a result I could no longer rejoice or truly celebrate.

For the past couple of years now, my husband and I have been led by the Lord to re-evaluate our hearts and our focus during the Christmas season. The Holy Spirit has been faithful to teach and correct us where we have gone wrong. (John 14:26, 2 Tim. 3:16) He is filling us with new understanding and revelation to be handed down to our children. He is revealing to our family the true meaning of Christmas, and how we should rejoice and celebrate the birth of our Savior.

One of these lessons came a couple of weeks ago at a Wednesday night church service. The altar call was made, and I watched people moved by the Spirit of God to go to the foot of the cross for salvation. I became overwhelmed with great joy and love. I turned and looked at my father, and my spirit rejoiced inside of me because after years of praying for him he finally got saved this year. To have him there with me worshiping, praising, and receiving the Word of God always brings me so much joy. I began to reflect over the past couple of months: not only did my dad surrender to Jesus, but my entire immediate family had been saved and baptized in Christ Jesus. Suddenly I realized that this is what we are really celebrating during Christmas. We are celebrating the Gift of Salvation and the Source of Salvation, Jesus Christ. We are celebrating the birth of our Savior who was born to die and defeat sin and death so that all of us who believe in Him would be saved.

“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

I experienced overwhelming joy at this revelation that had come to life in my family this year like never before. Luke 2 came alive to me!

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I BRING YOU GOOD NEWS OF A GREAT JOY THAT WILL BE FOR ALL THE PEOPLE. FOR UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A SAVIOR, WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:9-12

If we allow our focus during the Christmas season to be about having to fulfill long wish lists, giving and receiving gifts, and spending excessive amounts of money (that usually we don’t even have), then we are just going through worldly motions of celebrating Christmas, which will not ever bring true joy. These are all just distractions meant to stress us out and keep us from rejoicing in the true meaning of Christmas.

When we received Jesus, the Gift of Salvation who is also the Light of the World, He put His light inside of us so that we could shine bright for the entire world to see. This is the time of year that people really need to see Jesus shining through us. We should be like the star of Bethlehem which led the wise men to the Lord. We can shine during this season and all throughout the year by giving priceless gifts such as true love, understanding, forgiveness, peace, a kind word, a sincere smile, a joke, or a shoulder to cry on. We should be ready to share the gift of the Good News of Christmas with others. Telling them about the Gift of Salvation that we received and how they too can have it. Jesus is the best gift we can give anyone.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to reveal the spiritual meaning and gifts of Christmas to our family and to yours too. Lord help us to keep our focus this Christmas and the Christmases to come so that we are not just going through the motions. We want to be shining stars that lead others to the manger and then to the cross. Thank you Father for sending your Son to save us.

Merry Christmas to you all and Happy Birthday to Jesus!

But Those Who Wait On The Lord

There are times when we are going to feel tired, stressed out, and weak from life’s struggles. Sometimes circumstances will seem too much to bear. If we begin to meditate on our problems and feed our emotions with thoughts of defeat we will become exhausted and worn out. Thinking about all the “what if’s” and constantly asking “how much longer” will eventually cause us to stumble and fall under all the pressure.

When we feel like we just can’t go on any longer in our troubles or battles we need to remember what the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah.

“He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.” Isaiah 40:29-31 (Amplified)

I love how the Amplified translates these verses. Our Lord has not left our side. When we are about to faint and give up He is by our side giving us the power to keep going. He is there for us when we are weary and have no might to continue on. It is Him that causes what strength we do have left to multiply so that it will be enough to press forward. He never leaves us or forsakes us!

Let’s look at the first part of verse 31.

BUT THOSE who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] SHALL CHANGE and renew their strength and power;

Those of us who choose to change our perspective from dwelling on the negative and focusing on our problems to expecting, looking for, and hoping for the Lord to act in our situation will truly be changed. We have to realize that looking at our circumstances and meditating on our problems only feeds worry and births fear and anxiety. Our perspective is what is causing us to faint and become weary. We are focused on the wrong thing. We should be focusing on the Word of God not our circumstances.

When we begin to change our perspective from hopelessness and defeat to faith and hope in the Lord we will go from faint and weary to full of strength and power. Our faith pleases the Lord and He rewards us with a hopeful assurance and a peace which surpasses all understanding because we are trusting in Him. It is our faith and hope in the Lord that causes His power to rise up in us. When we put our faith in His Word and promises our minds will be renewed. Our faith will heal us and make us whole. When we truly wait on the Lord and expect Him to move in our lives we know that we are close to God. We know that He is not far away from us. This knowing inside of us is what will cause us to keep pressing forward and not get tired. We will be able to walk and not faint along the way. Then we will reap a harvest of blessing because we did not get tired and give up. (Hebrews 11:6 Galatians 6:9)

Putting our hope in the Lord will never fail us. He is faithful to His Word. He never leaves us or forsakes us. No matter what situation we are facing if we are a child of God and we love Him we must know with all of our heart that He causes EVERYTHING to work together for our good. He has a purpose and plan for our life. We have to trust Him no matter what! We are in good hands with Him.

Do not fret or worry anymore! Put all of your hope and trust in Him today. Wait expectedly for Him to act. Fill yourself with His Word and meditate on His promises DAILY, day and night. Put on some praise and worship music for the spirit of heaviness that will try to attack you. Praising the Lord will lift your spirit because He inhabits the praise of His people. I promise you that your faith will increase if you do these things consistently. Then you will soar high on wings like eagles. You will run and not grow weary. You will walk and not faint. (Romans 8:28, Isaiah 61:3, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Philippians 4:6-9, Joshua 1:8-9)