“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”
Says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

Did you wake up today and say to yourself; “This just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

God doesn’t like the predictable because it does not require faith. When you are questioning God about your direction in life, remember He wants to bring glory to Himself. He does not want to share His glory with you or others.

God likes you to function without the ability to see the future. This causes you to walk by faith trusting in His promises.

The best course of action is to cease from trying to figure God out. God’s thoughts are not your thoughts and His ways are not of the world. Let go and walk by faith. This will delight His heart.

When you are living in a maze and can’t find any way out, wake up each day and pray “The Lord is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway.” This is the act of committing your works to God. You can now let go of the future with the assurance your life is in the hands of God.

As a believer, you have the mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit will speak to you in His perfect timing to provide wisdom and direction for your life. If you don’t hear from God you can have confidence you are in His perfect will and accept your life as it is today.

God creates seasons in your journey with Him. There is a time of abundance and a time of lack. Regardless of the season, you have to find hope in today. If you defer your hope to the future you will experience depression, anxiety, and anger. These feelings will distance you from God and can lead you into sinful actions.

Walk by faith trusting in this precious promise from Jesus; “I would have lost heart unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh” Genesis 6:3

God is loving and merciful but He reaches a point where He sees your rebellion and defiance against His ways and decides “I will no longer strive with your sinful actions”.

From God’s point of view you are flawed in your flesh and have no ability to please Him. So if you chose to live through your flesh God will eventually remove His Spirit from you.

He will allow you to follow the course of the world and suffer destruction, misery, and setbacks. He will let you hit “rock bottom” with no hope for life.

At this point, many will cry out to God for help with a sincere and willing heart. God will hear your cries and rescue you. Remember, Jesus comes by invitation only!

God wants you to repent from your sins and seek forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. This is the only way you can be restored to God. Regardless of whether you are a believer or not, this is the starting point with God and has to be ingrained in your heart and mind every moment of your life.

God will never get entangled in your sin or allow you to come close to Him if you are unclean. He is a holy and pure God. Jesus is your mediator who will enable you to come before the majesty and splendor of God.

Jesus desires to be the Lord of all your life. If you hold back parts of your life from Him you will never experience the fullness of God who has power and dominion over all things.

Jesus wants you to abandon yourself to Him and walk by faith believing in His promises. However, Jesus comes by invitation only. He will never force Himself upon you.

You have to give up your independence and invite the Holy Spirit to have authority over your life. Then you will see the greatness and glory of God!

Jesus comes by invitation only!

“That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” Philippians 2:14-15

God has been bringing to my mind the image of a believer straddling a fence separating good from evil. He moves back and forth across the fence.

The world is populated by a crooked and perverse generation. If you are a believer you can’t dwell on both sides of the fence.

The spiritual man or woman is committed to living for God through their thoughts, words, and actions. They do not associate with or participate in the evil actions of unbelievers who have no regard or respect for God.

You can’t play charades with God! This is projecting an image to others of someone whom you are not. And, you cannot masquerade or hide your true self from God. He knows you better than you know yourself and He views every detail of your life through His omniscient eyes.

The life of a believer takes on a new identity through Christ Jesus. Old things pass away and all things become new. You literally become “born again” through the work of the Water and Spirit.

You cannot cling to your old habits and thinking patterns and call yourself a believer. You are a new creature in Christ Jesus and have been baptized into the death and resurrected life of the Son of God.

The goal of a believer is to experience a personal and vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. You become one with the reality of the Living Christ and He becomes your reason to live and move and have your being.

The role of a saint is to be a bright light touching those living in darkness with the love and compassion of Christ Jesus.

“Cast your burden on the Lord,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

You and I experience many worries or burdens in life. And, at times they can be overwhelming and upset your inner being.

The burdens can be caused by a number of factors but the challenge is to get past what caused the burden and deal with the solution. Blaming, making excuses, or living in remorse will get you nowhere.

God has provided for a powerful method of dealing with your burdens. This will work for anyone and will never fail you.

Cast your burden upon the Lord. This is a recognition of the sovereignty of Christ Jesus and that He can do for you what you can never do for yourself. In reality, you are giving ownership of the burden over to God. You are releasing your control and emotions about this concern to God. It is now in His hands and He is responsible for dealing with the outcome.

This doesn’t necessarily mean God will take the burden away but it is a promise He will give you a freedom and lightness from the burden and sustain you with His peace, joy, and protection.

God will never allow a burden to cause you to move away from Him or shake up your relationship with Him.

The burdens of life are unavoidable but God has provided a supernatural method to reach out to Him and experience the reality of “My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Jesus died to comfort you over the burdens of life and supply you with the fullness of His resurrected life. Let go of the burdens or they will ruin your life and distance you from God.

Jesus is the perfect answer for your burdens and is waiting for you to reach out to Him. He will never fail you!

For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’ Isaiah 41:13

You and I look for help in all the wrong places. We look to our work, friends or family, our bank account, or a life coach. Or, we find hope in the stimulants in the world.

We find hope and security in what we can see with our eyes. We build our security on the things of the world. Unfortunately, these things can disappear quickly leaving you desolate.

When troubles come we look for solutions in everything except God. He doesn’t seem to live in our reality and we need something tangible to help us.

The mindset of a believer should be to turn to God immediately when troubles arrive in your life. This is a sign of your unyielding faith in God believing He calls things that don’t exist as if they did.

How can you overlook the God who has power and dominion over all things? God can shake the earth, turn the sun dark, and raise the dead back to life.

God wants to hold your right hand and confide in you to fear not. I am the first and the last God and will deliver you from all of your adversities. There is no one like Me!

The Lord wants to be your Keeper. He wants you to come to Him for your every need. It delights the heart of God when you seek Him out for your help.

The world is not your playground. It will only lead to death and destruction. Find your hope in the Living God! He will never disappoint you because He lives by His Word.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31

This promise from God is very powerful but difficult to understand. How come you and I suffer from all kinds of hardships?

The question is what will make God be for you? First of all, you have to be a disciple of Christ Jesus with a desire and commitment to live for Him.

God is for those who have a heart for Him and walk by faith believing in His promises.

This is no guarantee you can avoid trials and tribulations. In fact, you are preordained to suffer for the sake of Christ.

The promise is God will deliver you through all the trials of life.

God sent Jesus, His Son, to die for you. It is the desire of the Father and the Son to freely give you all things.

You are an heir of God and no one can bring a charge against you. You have the mind of Christ and the ability to judge all things but you cannot be judged by anyone.

Jesus justifies you to God. The law which was abolished when Jesus died on the Cross will condemn you. It is impossible to please God by keeping laws or doing works. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Jesus sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for you. He is at work to glorify you into His image.

The Father and the Son desire to freely give you all things:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:11

Adam was oblivious to sin until he ate the fruit from the tree. You and I know the difference between good and evil but the question is how do we deal with this threat to our spiritual being?

As a believer, you have many challenges in dealing with sin.

You have a genetic disposition for sin that has been passed on to you through your family ancestry.

You were born with an inner condition that is in rebellion against God and wants to live for self. This will never leave you as long as you are living on the earth.

Finally, you have to deal with Satan who wants to tempt you into entering the world of evil. He is prowling around looking for you to open a door so he can destroy your life.

We also live in a world that is not under the authority of God. You can be attacked at any moment by Satan working through others.

How do you deal with this matrix of sin? The answer can be found in this powerful truth in Romans.

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. This law was created by God and is your only hope to avoid sin.

Think about it this way, you have the Holy Spirit residing in you. He is the essence of Christ Jesus. So the challenge is to walk in the Spirit or yield to the flesh? This conflict will never end so you have to make the choice about sin or living for God every moment of your life.

If you yield to the Holy Spirit you can be free from the bondage of sin and live a life pleasing to God.

You won’t be perfect and you can never match up to the standards of God but the Holy Spirit is your only hope to present your body as a living sacrifice to almighty God!

He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world!

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. Galatians 3:5-7

God spoke to Abraham and made a promise to Him by faith. Abraham believed God.

This covenant was actually made through Jesus without the knowledge of Abraham. Jesus told the Pharisees “Before Abraham was, I Am”.

If you are a believer, you are a descendant of Abraham and an heir to this covenant.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The foundation of a relationship with Jesus is built on hearing and accepting the Word of God by faith. There is no other way.

The promise of salvation can only come to you by faith. Without faith you cannot please God or live in His kingdom.

God supplies the Holy Spirit and performs miracles in your life by your faith in His promise to believers.

Many believers come to Jesus by faith and then quickly transition to works or religion to placate God. Faith gets lost in their pursuit to please God.

Your walk of faith will bring the promises of God into your life. No one is justified with God through works. There is no obligation from God for those who attempt to work for their salvation. God will only respond to your unyielding faith in His promises.

Abraham heard the voice of God calling him to leave his homeland. He gave up his security, inheritance, and protection to follow God by faith on an unknown journey.

The question is are you living by faith and following the voice of the Living God?

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

The most important question to ask yourself; “Is the Lord really your shepherd?” Have you abandoned your life to Christ Jesus or are you just going through the motions?

Do you believe your help comes from the Lord who created the heavens and the earth? David lived out this truth every day of His life.

Faith is trusting God for your every need regardless of your circumstances. It is walking by faith not by sight. You believe the Word of God is alive and powerful and build your life around the promises of God. By faith you appropriate this precious truth into the depth of your heart and soul; “My God will supply your every need according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus”.

It is also important to differentiate between a want and a need. God promises you shall not want for the basic needs of life. However, some wants and desires fall into the category of waiting for the perfect timing of God. Think about your wants from the perspective of God and praise Him for His faithfulness!

As a believer, you live with Jesus through different seasons. There is a time of abundance and a time of deprivation. So you have to learn to be content with what He gives you.

God does not think or act like you. He may choose to fulfill your wants in an unconventional way. The Israelites wanted crops and livestock for their sustenance but God gave them manna from heaven.

The good news is God desires to give you an abundant life and bless you with more than you ask or think. Remember, God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!

You cannot substitute religion or works for faith. God calls you to walk by unyielding faith believing He calls things that don’t exist as if they did!

His name is wonderful!

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Exodus 20:18-19

This event took place at the base of Mount Sinai after God had given the Israelites the Ten Commandments.

God was on top of the mountain and there was thunder, lightning, sounds of a trumpet, and the mountain was smoking.

The people were terrified and distanced themselves from God. They told Moses we will listen to you but not God for fear we will die.

Moses told the Israelites not to fear because God has come to test you by showing His glory and power. God wanted the Israelites to experience His terrifying fear so they would not sin.

The challenge is are you willing to come into the presence of God and hear His words. It is much easier to hear the words of God through a pastor or read the Bible. There is no real threat to your life.

However, when God speaks you cannot skirt the issue. You have to obey or fall into disrespect of God. This is why many believers keep an arm’s length distance from God. They don’t want to hear the truth of God. It is too convicting and heart wrenching.

God desires to speak to you and demonstrate His glory and power. It is terrifying to come into the presence of God but it is a life changing experience.

Your encounter with the Living God will cause you to fear and respect Him because of His greatness and glory. You will personally witness the terrifying fear of God and know in the depth of your heart no one can compare to God and He is your only hope for life.

Invite the Living God to show you His presence and be open to hear His words. Your life will never be the same!