Category: Reflections

Christianity · Prayer · Prophetic · Reflections · Thinking on paper

Trust Is Power

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The other night I was listening to the TV before falling asleep. The Duracell commercial was playing as I closed my eyes so I wasn’t paying much attention, until the tag line. “Trust is power.” It gripped me in that moment; I have not been able to let it go.

I’ve been in a season for a bit now where the highs and lows have been extreme. There has been a lot of tears, discouragement and disappointment, yet also laughter, joy and a realization that I’m not all alone. I would be lying if I said I have enjoyed every moment. A lot of it has sucked and sucked to the point where I’ve wanted to drive very far away and never come back. I have felt forgotten at times, overwhelmed, unappreciated, used, etc. But…trust is power.

You see, people will fail, disappoint, overwhelm, use, abuse, and ignore me. But God never fails. He always knows right where I am and what I need, and I find then that I’m not alone.

Trust is power. The enemy has been wreaking havoc lately and, frankly, I have let him. I lost sight of who I trusted in the moment of human weakness, but that one tag line from a battery commercial was the thing I most needed to refocus and recenter.

Trust truly is power. We are children of God! We are more powerful because of our trust in Him for He never fails, never forsakes and never leaves us on our own. He has our back and He knows what our future holds. The devil knows this, so he will do his best to cause us to question our trust in God and waver in our walk.

Not today, Satan. Not today.

Trust is power.

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You (Psalm 9:10 NKJV)

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” (Psalm 31:14)

Christianity · Reflections · Thinking on paper

Believing Our Words

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06716d14a5e50e76ff84a12b669ad104-prayer-request-so-true.jpg I’ve had a recurring thought pop through my head lately, to which I’ve become more attuned and attentive. It has taken a few different shapes and gone through many iterations, yet, it has the same base. Do I truly believe the words I sing in praise/worship songs and those I confess from Scripture? Do I have them so ingrained in my heart that when I open my mouth I know those words are true and faithful? Scripture is filled with examples of the power our words hold, as well as admonitions and teachings on how best to use our words.

In the beginning Papa created the world by speaking it into existence. He spoke. He saw. power of wordsHe declared it was good. He created man in His image and His likeness, which means we also have the power to create with our words. Proverbs 18: 21 tells us death and life are in the power of the tongue and we will eat the fruit of it. It is very important we understand the words we choose are the words which shape our very atmosphere.

I am not writing about our word choices. What has so captivated my attention is my belief, or unbelief, in what I am declaring. My faith in God and His word. Words are declarations and decrees. Praise and worship songs, prayer, regular conversations, secular songs – all are declaration and decrees. What is it I truly believe when I lift my voice and sing?

tumblr_n0bxmuL9fb1swm1iso1_400As a church, when gathered in worship or when alone, do we believe the words we are singing? Are they making an impact in our hearts and lives? For example, when we sing “Nothing shall be impossible
Your kingdom reigns unstoppable
We’ll shout Your praise forevermore
Jesus our God unstoppable” (Unstoppable God, Elevation Church) are we actually grasping how unstoppable He is? Do we fully know that nothing is impossible with Him? Or, are we simply singing along because the words are in front of us and we aren’t really paying attention to what it says? Another example is Break Every Chain. In this one, we are declaring the power in the name of Jesus to break every chain. Are we understanding the depth in these few simple words? It is easy to become caught up in the snappy beat, or the heart-tugging melody, yet miss the richness and power of the lyrics. The opposite is also true, we may not care for the melody or beat and therefore, completely miss the powerful message of the words.

What I’ve been thinking about recently has been convicting. The Holy Spirit pointed out my deafness to my confession through song because of familiarity. The same of prayer. Don’t ever discount those dry places and seasons – they teach a lot! I lost the beauty and vision of God when I stopped paying attention and simply put myself on auto-pilot. I had a crises of faith, I suppose you could say. Since He spoke so sweetly to my heart about this, I have had a renewed interest in what comes out of my mouth and my attentiveness to it. Do I still have fails? Yes. I’m not perfect, but I’m perfectly human and divinely loved. I pay closer attention to the words I sing; and I believe He is who He says He is, He does what He says He will do and His Word is living and powerful and never returns void. I believe what I am declaring through song, through Scripture and through my word choices.

Do you believe?

 

No Criticism
Christianity · Prophetic · Reflections

No Criticism

PrudenceLeave a comment

Romans 14:10-13

It’s beyond time that we, as the Church, stopped criticizing and cannibalizing our own. Oh I have heard the arguments “examine the fruit”. Yet, are we actually looking at our own tree as well? I’ve learned over the years that sometimes the best and sweetest fruit is hidden in ugly and unlikely skins which are often mistaken for rotten. I have also seen the opposite to be true; the fruit is beautiful and plentiful but rotten at the core. It really depends on whether or not an actual dissection of said fruit is performed.

You may not agree with the outward appearance of a ministry, or a person, or how someone approaches their Kingdom service, but you should never criticize. If there is something legitimately wrong, pray for God to intervene. He already sees what is happening; He doesn’t need help.

We do a great disservice to the Body of Christ, and the pre-believer, when all we talk about and argue for is what we are against and what we find fault with. Who wants to be associated with that?

Perhaps the real issue for all the criticism is jealousy and envy. Perhaps it is because someone is stepping out in faith and preaching a message more in line with an ambassador of Jesus. Maybe it scares us because it doesn’t reflect our particular doctrinal view. Perhaps it is the realization that Grace is not a tool used to control others and truly is liberating. We will not know until we let go of all we think we know and allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide. He is the one who leads us into all truth; sometimes that path will have different perspectives and points of view than what we have been taught in the confines of our particular churches. However, He will never stray from the fundamental truth of the Gospel, He will never complicate or over-theologize it, and it will always have Love at the core.

God is Love.

Love covers.

Love conquers.

Love completes.

Jesus, the Son of God, was born of a virgin woman.

He suffered horrifically, died, and was resurrected after three days so that our belief in Him and what He did for us gives us life eternal with Him.

He is seated at the right hand of God and, as believers, we are seated with Him.

Christianity · Prophetic · Reflections

Little Things

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Little things, over time, add up to big things. It might be a slight demand on your time, a situation that requires your attention, or a question that you have to answer. Those small things, while not necessarily bad things, can multiply, crowd out and overtake the things God wants us to focus on, especially our time with Him.

I’m not much of a Star Trek fan, but when God recently spoke to me about allowing the aforementioned little things to build up in my life, I was reminded of the episode of the Tribbles. I don’t remember the episode details, but those cute little balls of fur multiplied so fast, it caused problems for the crew. They weren’t bad, but they weren’t good either and they became so prolific that they were everywhere. Scripturally, the Holy Spirit brought to mind this verse: Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming (Song of Solomon 2:15 NLT)!

Often it is not the major events that disrupt our time with God, it is the small, ordinary, every day things that pop up. Those things that happen and we say “I’ll pray in a bit” or “I can catch up reading later”, those things that alter our schedules or seem like great ministry opportunities. Then, all of a sudden a week (or more) has gone by and we haven’t had any meaningful conversation or study time with Jesus. Sometimes it isn’t even a tangible thing, it can be a small disappointment we linger on, a relationship (family or friend) that has fizzled out, or thoughts we’ve dwelt on. Most of the time, when we realize we’ve strayed off the path a bit, it is usually when things seem to be going really good.

As for those little foxes – well, Scripture says they will ruin the vineyard at the time when the vines are ripening. We must be guard our time with Papa jealously and fervently pursue Him, especially when things are going well because that is where the foxes are going to pop up. Let us not allow small or (cute) little things to build up in our lives and crowd out the one person we need to focus on. No is an anointed word and we could use it more often than we do. I’m going fox hunting, are you?

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (Matthew 6:33).

Christianity · Prophetic · Reflections

I Tell You the Truth

Prudence

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John 6:28-33 NLT They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
 
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
 
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
 
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
 
The only work Jesus wants us to do is believe in Him. That’s it. It’s not really work, actually, it’s faith. The rest of what we are to do is, well, rest. But what I want to point out in this passage is what the people said to Him after He told them to believe. They asked for a miraculous sign and told Him that Moses fed their ancestors while journeying through the wilderness.
 
Say what? Since most of the teaching they heard at the time was verbal, how do you suppose they learned that? And, it had to have been reinforced many times for this outlook to be a general consensus. It’s as if they took God out of the equation and lifted Moses up on the “Provider” pedestal and put their trust in miracles and people. I love verse 32 – Jesus tells them it wasn’t Moses that provided the manna, it was God our Father.
 
I sense the Holy Spirit speaking in this, whispering that we must be careful of the sources we listen to and follow. It doesn’t matter how long they’ve been teaching or how longe we have followed them, we must be attentive and listen for Truth. Weigh it against Scripture, testing the spirit behind it. Jesus is the Truth and the Spirit of Prophecy, we are to lay our questions at His feet for scrutiny and answer. Just like in the above Scripture, He will lovingly correct us and set us on the right path. The Holy Spirit will lead us into truth and we must rely on His guidance.
 
The bottom line is if something sounds too good or makes you feel confused or simply isn’t sitting right, lay it at the feet of Jesus and examine it together with Him.
 
Shalom!