BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING

What do you do when God has answered your prayers and given you rest? You help other people come into their rest. You don’t necessarily give them rest, you fight with them and for them until they enter into their rest. For you to give them rest is like giving fish to the hungry man in other words you’re sharing your rest with them which is god but not good enough. Rather work with them to learn how to fish, so they can stand on their own, not depending on you all the time. They too have an inheritance in God, help them possess it!


And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, 13 "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.' 14 Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, 15 until the LORD has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD'S servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise." (Josh 1:12-15 NKJV)



Shalom!



Angela

CARRYING A HEAVY CROSS?

Are you carrying a cross that seem heavy beyond your ability to bear one more day? Do you feel tempted to cast it off and just walk away from your faith? My word to you is… do not give up. There is a crown for every cross carried to the finished line. Live one day at a time. When the going gets too tough, let your tears pray for you. When all that is done don’t forget to count your blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you how faithful our God is. This is a proven secret to staying on course when you can’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul (Heb 10:35-39 NKJV)

 Shalom!

Angela

Fill Your Valley with Ditches

Hi Everyone, My dear friend Laurie shared an amazng insight into God’s word with us last Friday at our Ladies Lunch time fellowship. It was so enriching I asked her permission to publish it on my blog. I hope it blesses you as much as it did me. Enjoy it!!



                                    Fill Your Valley with Ditches


                                         By Laurie Warwick


My life has gone through some changes this last year. I have heard the Lords voice calling me from my own “wandering about”. Having received the Lord into my life at an early age, I have experienced His blessing and provision throughout my life. I acknowledge that God has a purpose for every person who accepts Him as Lord of their life. Yet often when facing the giants in my own life that I must conquer in order to lay claim to that very purpose, I find myself parched, weary, and lacking the strength or even desire to stand and fight.
Today I want to share with you three reasons to dig and keep digging spiritual ditches. Read with me out of Gods Word, I Kings 3:5-24.


First, God will bless others through the obedience of His children. Notice that the Lord gives wisdom and direction because of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. He is the only king present who is serving the Lord at this time. The other kings were wicked in the eyes of the Lord. (1Kings 22:43, 2Kings 3:1-3) Our Father is “the only source” of provision. (James 1:17) When we continue in faithful service to God, He will be faithful to flood our valley and provide for us in such a way that we will have the abundance to bless those around us also. All of the armies received because of the righteousness of the one obedient king. God wants us to serve Him and keep on serving Him so that when his Spirit flows it will bring salvation and life to those around us.


Second, He wants to sustain us. When I was young each summer our church sent bus loads of kids out of town to a bible camp just outside of Glacier Park. The excitement of being away from home with friends, hearing anointed preachers, and hours spent at the alters were the Spirit of the Lord would wash over me and refreshed me has made this camp one of my favorite places to go each summer. I sent each of my children to the same camp. Now, me and my husband and children go each year for a week to a family camp and relive all those wonderful memories. As a youth I longed each year for a new refreshing with the Lord. As an adult God is showing me that He wants me to dig some ditches in my life. Cut out roots that try to take hold in my life, form godly disciplines, and allow Him to change some attitudes that don’t serve Him. All of these can be stressful, tiring, uncomfortable tasks. His Holy Spirit is the tool to use and He has promised to complete the work as we cooperate with Him. (Phil. 2:13)
The beauty of this exercise is that when His Spirit flows now, it’s not like when I was a child and the refreshing flow washed over me and several months later I felt dry again. I am learning that each ditch I allow Him to help me dig, the Spirit fills and I am sustained.(Isaiah 40:28-31) I don’t want to live my Christian life like I’m on a rollercoaster ride. Weary and dry one day and euphoric the next. I want to walk out my life with a consistent joy in the knowledge that my Lord and Savior walks beside me and refreshes me with each new day lived in His presence.


Finally, He desires for us to live in victory. Because of the abundance of water in that dessert valley the enemy was confused and unprepared for the battle, resulting in their slaughter. I don’t just want a temporary defeat over the enemy of my soul. I want to put to death the sinful nature that seeks to rise up and take control of me. I want to slaughter it! When Christ died on the cross and rose again He disarmed the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them. (Colossians 2:13-15) Digging those ditches allows the power of God to pour into our weakness and His power is made perfect in weakness! Feed your spirit man on God’s word, worship, and fellowship with fellow believers, and constant prayer and the dry old ditches will begin to fill with His Spirit. Hallelujah!


Are there ditches you have put off digging? Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you and get digging! There is a great out pouring coming. Be ready. (Joel 2:28-29)




Shalom!!

OUR DAILY BREAD

There are some requests we have to put in to God on a daily basis. I’ve heard some people say praying about the same thing everyday makes prayer boring or a mere ritual. I must say that there are necessary rituals in life. Like breathing in and out, eating, drinking water whether or not you feel thirsty, and sleeping. These are rituals that are necessary to keep our bodies functioning at optimal levels. In the same way, there are daily spiritual rituals necessary to keep our whole being – spirit body and soul at optimal level of performance. Jesus taught us to ask God the Father for OUR DAILY BREAD (Luke 11:3). What is bread? That which sustains, satisfies, and energizes us, enabling us to attain peak performance. Will this mean just physical food? No, much more than that.
The bible says wisdom is the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7). If you have wisdom as a companion, you will always have food on your table. If you possess wisdom, your life will be marked by the 20/80 principle – where 20% effort yields 80% result as opposed to the other way around. Wisdom sustains, satisfies, energizes and enables peak performance. If there is one request you need to present before God repeatedly and daily, it should be the request for wisdom.

Wisdom is multifaceted, so when you ask, be specific about the kind of wisdom you need. Are you at a cross road? Then ask God for decision making wisdom. There is wisdom to develop self control, there is wisdom for marketing ideas, wisdom for relationship building. There is wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent. There is wisdom to pick your battles because not all battles are worth fighting. God has all kinds of wisdom awaiting those who will remember to ask.

If you have not put in your request for wisdom today, this is a good time to stop and do so. Ask for wisdom daily and see your world transformed.


Shalom!
Angela

YOU ARE A VIP (Very Important Person)

You are a VIP because you are very important to the Boss of the Universe – God.

You are important to God so much so that He kept His secret wisdom awaiting your arrival and destined it for your glory before time began (2 Corinthians 2:7-8). Meaning He did all this before Genesis 1:1. Better start seeing yourself as God sees you – VIP.

You are a VIP because the Ancient of Days, deems you so precious, that He tattooed you on the palms of His hand (Isaiah 49:16)

You are a VIP because the Uncreated Creator has His eyes watching over your stuff, day and night! (Isaiah 49:16)

You are a VIP because the Unconquerable conqueror’s thoughts towards you are of peace and not of war (Jeremiah 29:11)

You are a VIP because the Mighty One in Battle, is with you like a mighty Warrior to make that which persecutes you (whether they be circumstances, people or principalities) stumble and fall and be utterly disgraced (Jeremiah 20:11)

Child of God, do you get it? You are a VIP! Think and act like one!


Shalom!


Angela

THE MISSING LINK

Are you tired of living a boring Christian life? Are you sick and tired of reading about or meeting people who are on fire for God but can’t seem to figure out how to catch that fire? If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, then I got good news for you!!! The Christian life was not designed to be mundane or boring, it was designed to be full of adventure. However, anyone one with the “Missing Link” will have no clue what an exciting Christian life is all about. The “missing link” is none other but the person of the Holy Spirit.


The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us to link us from the natural to the supernatural. He is our link from the carnal to the spiritual. He is our link from the ordinary to the extraordinary. God’s Spirit is our link from the mundane to the exciting life.

I just got done reading the book of Samuel and currently reading the book of Judges and what is currently leaping out of these passages of Scripture is the amazing transformation that occurs in the life of a person once the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them. For example, Saul was a totally changed man once he became filled with the Holy Spirit. His transformation was so evident, people noticed and began to say, “is Saul one of the prophets”

And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a band of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came mightily upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? 12 And one of the same place answered and said, And who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? (1 Sam 10:10-12 ASV)

All through the book of Judges, I noticed that those who judge Israel where ordinary men and women until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Every single one of them went from possessing natural abilities to supernatural strength as they became empowered by the Holy Spirit to route the armies of their oppressors.

If your Christian experience is becoming boring, get connected or reconnected with Holy Spirit, He will transform your life.

Shalom!

Angela

THE GOD OF JOY

Do you know God wants you to be happy? In life challenges are inevitable. You will have ‘mountain tops’ as well are ‘down in the valley’ experiences and no one is exempted. It’s easy to accept that God wants us to be happy when life is going good and everything is happening as planned, but doubts sets in when it seems someone is pulling the rug from under our feet. The truth is whether we are in a season of rejoicing or sorrow, God’s thoughts towards us never changes. He delights in our well-being so He supplies our needs and fills our hearts with joy (Acts 14:16-18). Why does God do this? It is because He never leaves Himself without a witness, He cares about us and we are always on His mind (Jeremiah 29:11)

In our happy moments we easily grasp His love but in our sad moment we get so beclouded with our issues that though God reaches out to supply our needs and fill our hearts with joy, we fail to receive from Him.

God wants you to be happy, God wants your joy to be complete. Keep your focus on Him both in the sad and glorious moments of your life because it is the secret to being able to receive His joy at all times.

In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." (Acts 14:16-17 NIV)

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (John 15:9-11 NIV)


Shalom!

Angela