It’s a command to be on guard and stand firm in faith (1 Corinthians 16:13). NOW is the time to stand firm. It doesn’t matter if we started on fire; the end of the matter is better than the beginning.
(Ephesians 3:16) Life is unstable like a gym balance ball, but the ground under the balance ball of life is the solid Rock – Jesus. If we are in Christ, we are in stability.
(Matthew 7:24-27) Stand firm on God’s word and what He has told you until it comes to pass in your life because if we don’t stand on God’s promises, we will fall and crash (1 Timothy 1:18-19).
(1 Corinthians 16:13) Be a person of courage. Life is hard, but God is good. It takes courage to walk this walk of faith.
Don’t focus on the outside, but on the inside. Your spiritual muscle is growing within and will show without. Don’t allow the devil to discourage you. God is working even if it doesn’t look like it. The worse it looks like it is getting, the louder our praises should be.
When God wants to do the extraordinary, He makes the ordinary pass you by.
We have to remain consistent in obeying God, whether in secret or in the open, that is only when we will see the reward. (Joshua 1:8-9) Tell yourself, “I am strong and courageous. I refuse to be discouraged.”. Rise up and stand firm, and wait and see what God has for you at the end. Receive courage from the word of God and remain in it.
Stand firm in faith to be able to get to the finish line.
When God tells us to be strong, He is not talking of self-sufficiency. God is telling us:
(Psalm 19:7-11) Our faith comes from us staying in the word of God. We are sustained by a greater Power, God Himself. Only in God’s word will you find perfection while everywhere else you will find mistakes. Nothing will sustain you like the word of God. When we stay in faith, there is a greater reward.
God is releasing His sustaining and strengthening grace on us to continue to fight the good fight of faith so that in the end, He will be glorified in our lives.
Certain principles apply when we cook. We don’t keep opening the pot to check on the food because we may interfere with the amount of heat needed to get the food properly cooked. God is asking us to trust Him as the God of process (Proverbs 3:5-6) for all of us are walking in some sort of process
The path of life is the process that we go through in every area of our lives, and in no way can we escape them for they are crucial for our growth. These processes are not God’s punishment but God’s good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). There is nothing that can come to you unless God has ordained it. God’s grace abounds; He gives mercy as we go through the processes of life.
The processes that God takes us through are like well-oiled machine, that is trusted and true. There is an anointing released when we go through processes with God for that which we need to fulfill. This anointing carries and sustains you throughout the process up until the peak. You can never get to the pinnacle of a matter without process.
If the process is not complete, your purpose will not be fulfilled.
PRAYER: Lord take me through the process that prepares me for the thing that is awaiting me. Test my character, break my pride, remove arrogance, teach me to forgive, make my heart big with love.
We need to allow ourselves to go through the processes that are anointed and ordained by God to fulfill that which we are called for.
DECLARATION: No process, no purpose!
For the olive fruit to become olive oil and for grapes to become wine, they have to go through the process. Sometimes the processes are painful because their is breaking, there is sifting, there is isolation, etc.
If we understand that processes are necessary, then it is possible to praise God in the process for the process, for we know what comes at the end is worth it. We don’t need to wait to come to the end of the process so as to praise God.
(Psalm 20:7) If you are trusting in God through the challenges of this life, then only will you able to praise Him. ‘Sweet pains’ is being able to praise God in our pains. Just like in a massage, the pains bring about a relief. Trusting in God enables Him to do the work.
Avoiding the process or taking short cuts means aborting the purpose. God’s promises for our lives are pregnant with vision, and we need to walk into the steps that will make us walk from the dream into the realisation of the dream. Going through the process means surrendering to God, sacrificing, leaving things behind, taking a new unpopular path, going against the grain, etc. We need to push and to trust God. The negative symptoms we see are phantom symptoms; they are lies.
PRAYER: Lord is there anything that I avoided dealing with that caused Your purpose in my life to be aborted? Lord show me. Lord forgive me. I surrender to Your processing.
It is not only about us. Everything that God does in our lives is for us and others as well.
We may have support around us but God is our ultimate Strength. Keep meditating on the truth of God’s word. We need to face the battle/fear/intimidation with faith. As we step out by faith, little by little, we can see God working. Focus on what God is doing and what He says. Work with the Holy Spirit and walk with Him to birth the purpose He has for you.
You can’t just jump from the prison to the palace. The process allows God to work on you. God deals with our character in the little things that we take for granted. The easy way out in the world seems appealing but it leads to nothing, but as God’s children the easy way out is to trust in Him.
According to our self-analysis, we think that we have matured in our walk in God, yet God sees it differently. He wants to bring us to the place of total dependency on Him for He alone orders our steps and is the dependable God (Proverbs 16:9; Psalm 25:3). We can’t say that we trust in God, yet we are depending on ourselves. Make sure your plans and dreams are in alignment with God’s perfect will for your life. Trusting God does not mean that the process will stop or become easier. It means that we will change.
The dispensation of signs and wonders needs us to be FULLY AND TOTALLY dependent on God alone. No interference (Isaiah 40:13). No counselling the Counsellor Himself; the One who knows all things. To enjoy rest in every area of our lives, we need total dependency on God and stop worrying (Matthew 6:27). We worry because we don’t believe that His words are good. There is no need for us to be afraid (Isaiah 35:4) but we should allow God to do only what He can do (Jeremiah 17:7-8).
God is pouring on us His grace to go through the process. Tell God what you need and reach out in faith and receive.
We say God is a Covenant-keeping God, but do we truly believe in this truth?
Covenant: Agreement between parties that each side promises to fulfil
God is the only Faithful God. If you mess with other gods, there is no certainty of assurance from them (Deuteronomy 7:9).
We are beneficiaries of the new covenant with God through the blood of Jesus. What made the old covenant faulty is not God, but us (our sinful life) (Hebrews 8:6-13).
No longer do we have to rely on others to receive from God. We can have and enjoy the full benefits of the covenant.
God initiates covenants with us. He always keep His part of the deal by ensuring it is done. Our part is to take a hold of it. Though the old covenant is outdated, its promises still apply to us for Christ has made that possible (Galatians 3:29).
From beginning to end of the Bible, we are partakers of everything because we are under the covenant of Christ and descendants of Abraham.
Everything may be shaking in your life but God’s covenant remains. Anything that makes you hopeless and discouraged, remember that God keeps His covenant, you have access to it and ensure you are keeping your part of the agreement (Hebrews 6:13-18)
Even when you forget, God doesn’t forget. When God chooses to do things in His timing, it doesn’t mean He has flouted His covenant (Psalm 105:8; 89:34).
Beneficiaries of the promises of God are those who keep their part of the covenant because God has already kept the part of His deal.
Continue doing what God wants you to do and at the right time you will benefit of God’s promises.
Wait for Him patiently and be convinced of His promises.
(Matthew 10:29-31) God is preparing us for rest. God knows that fear will present itself even if He has told us that this is the year of rest. Are we going to let fear in? The devil will go above and beyond to bring us out of the rest and for this reason, we must purpose to focus on the promises of God. We need to make the effort to stay in God’s rest.
Jesus will never tell us to do something that He will never enable us to do. When He sees us going off, He will take hold of our right hand with His powerful right hand and lead us back to the right way (Isaiah 41:10,13). When gymnasts swing back and forth on the trapeze, their aim is to let go of one end as they grab onto the other end. Whatever you are holding onto at this moment of time, don’t be afraid to let go and grab onto His promises that are able to give you rest. Just as the gymnast, it takes focus and single-mindedness to let go of what you are holding and focus on God.
Sometimes we want to rest from that thing that is causing us unrest, but at the same time, we are holding onto it.
God knows it is not in our nature to rest, that’s why He reminds us continuously not to be afraid. Before this year ends, rest will become second nature to us because as God’s children, we are called to live from a place of rest not from a place of works and fear. Rest seems scary because we are relinquishing full control to God: is it your marriage, your kids, your finances, etc? It seems scary because rest feels like we have lost control – a lie that the devil wants us to believe. When we rest, we don’t lose control, we are instead handing over control to God.
God won’t force you to rest. He is waiting for you to hand over control. Are we partially holding on while at the same time handing over to God? This makes us stretched out, exhausted and drained. When we are afraid, we trust God (Psalm 56:3). God wants us to be aware of the spirit of fear so that we don’t walk in deception and be kept from enjoying His rest.
What to do when fear attempts to take you out of God’s rest:
Surgery cannot be done unless you are asleep. Sleep/rest in Him so that He can do what He want to do. As long as you are ‘awake’ and holding on, He cannot do the ‘surgery’ or do what He needs to do. May the Lord empower you to hand total control over to Him and do what He knows to do best. Every spirit of fear is cut off from you in Jesus name and God’s peace that surpasses all understanding will fill your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ!
When the Lord speaks, more often He speaks on the things concerning the Spirit (Matthew 6:33). We are in the abundant harvest, a new spiritual level, no longer waiting; We have broken through into a new season, therefore, God is calling us to come up higher into holiness (Luke 12:48). The closer we get to God, the holier our lives become. Just as a promotion comes with better benefits, it also has an increase in responsibilities.
Holiness is looking like Christ (2 Timothy 1:9). As His children of obedience, God calls us to be holy in ALL we do at ALL times (1 Peter 1:14-16; Colossians 3:23) for God saved all that has to do with us. When people see us, do they see our Heavenly Father? If we don’t look like our Father, who is holy, then we are illegitimate children. Everything that comes from God is holy. Having faith in Christ, doesn’t make us holy. Holiness is an ongoing process (2 Corinthians 7:1). We are called to follow after and live in holiness. If there is no true repentance, nothing makes us followers of Christ (John 8:31). Where we are today is not good enough to where we are going. Being holy is not by force, but it comes from our personal desires to be holy. We need to die to anything that is not in alignment to the will of God in us, to anything that is not of Christ. If you are living alright but there is no sacrifice, God is not pleased (Romans 12:1). We need to cleanse ourselves from anything that contaminates our bodies & souls – from sin – out of reverence to God (2 Corinthians 7:1). Purification results in holiness which makes you acceptable to enter into God’s presence. The lack of purification is a death sentence for us as priests (Exodus 30:17-21; Revelations 1:6). Jesus died to make us holy. To be holy & blameless before God, we are to wash ourselves with the Word (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Are we truly submitting to God’s Word and allowing it to wash us? When we stain a shirt that we bought, we try as best as we can to remove the stain because we like the shirt and spent money on it. How much more our heavenly Father, who sent His Son to die so that we can live holy lives to glorify Him, who wants to wash us daily and present us to Himself as a radiant church without blemish, wrinkle & stain? When we sit under God’s word and allow Him to wash us in His word, it hurts because we may be comfortable with sin, but once He is done, we are so relieved! The Lord wants His word to rule in every area of our lives. Repentance (turning away from sin & going after God) is the renewal of the mind (Romans 12:2).
Living a holy life in the fear of the Lord is not a decision of the will, but comes from Godly sorrow which comes from being in the Word (2 Corinthians 7:10). We should approach God in reverence (Hebrews 12:14; Matthew 7:23). Everything we do always reflects on the outside (1 Corinthians 15:33). If we understand that we carry the Presence of God wherever we go, we will flee from temptation and we’ll have no business with sin. When you don’t run to God and hide the word of God in your heart, sin will catch you (Psalm 119:9,11). We are to lead by example because many are watching us. We are a work in progress, yet if we are deliberately living in sin and assuming God will forgive us, we are wrong. God is merciful and will forgive us our sins, but He is also holy and hates sin.
God want to take us to higher places but this requires holiness. We are different, set apart like our heavenly Father, so holiness is required of us (1 Peter 2:9; Leviticus 20:26). We need to come to a point of introspection, allowing God to touch us, search us, and allow Him to expose anything in us that grieves Him so that He can take us to higher places of holiness (Psalm 139:23-24).
God has given us the gift of time which is important to the Lord. God does everything within time’s boundaries, yet He is not limited by time (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Our times are in God’s hands (Psalm 31:5) for it belongs to Him!
We are told not to boast about tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1), because tomorrow belongs to the Lord. Time is in His hands. Only God knows when one will be born and when one will die and therefore we must live as people who don’t know when our last day will be.
Time is not a luxury but a privilege. It is not at our disposal because God in His sovereignty is the one who decides when our time is up.
King Hezekiah was sick and the Lord sent His prophet to tell him to “put his house in order” because he was going to die (2 Kings 20:1).
Hezekiah’s time was up and and God was telling him to put his house (life) in order because evidently his house was out of order. Hezekiah was the greatest King Judah had ever had and did great exploits for the Lord yet God asked him to get his house in order (2 Kings 18).
God was not referring to Hezekiah’s physical house but rather his “inner house”. Our bodies are the temple/house of the Holy Spirit.
Is your house in order? Many of us do great things for the Lord yet we are not living right in everyday life. Many of us call ourselves Christians yet we want nothing to do with God, His house and children. We are one foot in and one foot out of the kingdom because we want to live our own lives.
A house in order is not a perfect one but we must make sure that we are living a life of actively seeking God. The scripture tells us we are strangers/pilgrims here on the earth. This is not our home. Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us but are we preparing for the place that has been prepared for us?
We must live with a sense of urgency and intentionality because we don’t know when our last day will be.
We invest in everything here on earth but are we investing in heaven? The Bible instructs us to lay up treasures in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal.
Are you ready for eternity? Because eternity could be any moment!