Worry and anger

Today I want to talk about worry.  A friend of mine was struggling with worry and having trouble sleeping.  I tried to give him some peace, and it made me reflect upon my own life. The more work you do for the kingdom, the more the enemy is going to fight against you. My experience lately is that if Satan isn't finding a crack in my foundation to get in, he starts picking away at me through my relationships with other people. Things get taken out of context and people make mountains out of mole hills. Just try not to get caught up in the moment, you are in control of your emotions and how you react to every situation. Love will always win, if you let it.

This is especially true with me currently.  I'm learning to control my anger.  I understand and deal with big issues, but when little things get blown way out of proportion I can get angry very quickly.  This is my biggest conviction and I'm working on showing love even when not given.  I'm starting to take a moment, and give a quick prayer for peace for them and myself.  I wonder what has gone on in their life today to make them so angry at something so little.  There is always going to be a battle to be fought, choose your words and actions with a calm mind.  Quick, angry decisions are almost never the right ones.  It only takes a moment to ground yourself and make a better choice.  Do not blame your anger for your own wrong doings, no matter the reason for any of your actions, they are still your actions.  You can not take back the steps that got you to your current location, but every morning you choose which direction you're going to walk. 

-Adam

Expect For the Unexpectant

Often times we feel as if people need to have the right intentions or the right expectations in order for God to move on their lives. Well Acts 3 gives us reason to believe this is not the case.

We can believe FOR and expect FOR others...just a Paul and John believed for the beggar. Their love for that man resulted in a miraculous move of God. It is time that we love others like this and allow God to move on them in a similar way!

-Point5

The Two Scariest Lies..

Just as God is a God of love and compassion He is also a God of justice. I pray this opens yours eyes and speaks to your heart as it did mine. Love you all.

-Nikki

Where is the love?

IMPORTANT: Whenever you find yourself being bombarded with scriptures by someone via social media that claims to be trying to help, immediately message them your phone number and ask them to call you! 

This will often show their true motive.

If they really love you, they will call. If they really care to help you, they will call. However, if their response is to send you more self righteous, psuedo-religious banter, then they are not led by the spirit of God and they are not FOR you. They are in fact AGAINST you.

See, the enemy wants to create division amongst the Saints and his greatest resource is the flesh! He can stir up pride in the average believer with relative ease. So often times even when someone means well, the enemy activates the pride of their flesh and they begin to believe that they are in a right position by using scripture to condemn.  However we must remeber, JESUS CAME NOT TO CONDEMN THE WORLD, BUT TO SAVE IT. 

Knowing scripture is incredibly valuable however LOVING GOD AND LOVING PEOPLE are the ultimate commandments. Love must be at the foundation of all that we do, and this is especially true when it comes to correction. 

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ASV)"

God wants us to know that if love is not the foundation of all of our actions, beliefs, and speach, then we not only have nothing, but we are nothing! 

God is love! So if ever something has no love, then it has no God.

So when that individual is unloading a duffle bag full of scriptures on your Facebook page, and you ask them to call, you are providing an opportunity to share hearts and  build a relationship. The enemy will run from that. He will hide behind facebook and fire away, justifying his cause but avoiding any and every opportunity to actually glorify God by "meeting you where you are at", hearing your voice, and learning your hearts desire. God is drawn to the heart of man and with every invitation, he crushes in like a mighty wind, ready to captivate the soul and show you his love! 

So with every conflict, be sure to invite God (invite love), and hastily seek a resolution that bring Him the most glory!

Here's to ending facebook condemnation! All across the globe! 

Share, Share, SHARE!

-Terrance Aye

Get out from Behind Yourself

One of the ways we hold ourselves down in our sin is keeping it to ourselves. One of the things Nate Larkin says in his testimony that resonates with me is when he realized that God never loved this false identity he was trying to portray for other people and God. I think sometimes we look at our lives and think "How can God love me?"

See, one of the things that was hard for me to understand when I was struggling with that question is the fact that God's love is UNCONDITIONAL. In other words, there are no conditions! I used to think God didn't love me unless I was doing the right thing. I used to think if I was struggling with problems or temptation I had to get myself fixed, so then I could present myself to him. The only thing wrong with that is the actual way God looks at me.

At the moment of accepting God's grace I received his righteousness not based on anything I did but based on what he did on the cross. Before I was born, before I knew him, he loved me. I didn't have to act and you don't either. We will fall, it's inevitable. But it's what we do after the fall that defines us. Proverbs says :For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.

Understand our weakness is the very thing that draws us to God! We don't have to put up this front anymore. God loves us in the midst of our sin. Look at Luke 15 in the story of the Prodigal Son.

¹¹ Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

¹³ “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴ After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father.

As you see the son didn't go off, get himself straight to come back to his father. He was at his lowest point. Look at the Father's response to his son who had gone out and squandered everything his father had given him.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²² “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

God loves YOU for who YOU are. So be real and share your struggle. Like Nate, you have to power to change other peoples lives with your struggle and your story.

Blessings! Jared

Love and relationships

I often find that great men and women of God get tripped up in the matter of relationships. This truly pains me to see the enemy come in and begin to tamper with a relationship that God has ordained. So I felt the need to post this to try and help people in their troubles

First thing to know is that confusion is not of the Lord.
1 corinthians 14:33 "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace"

This is important because the first thing the enemy does is try to make you question your beliefs and commitments. He tries to confuse you and in your pain bad desicions are often made.

secondly psalm 55:22 reads "Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."

This says that He will never allow the righteous to be shaken! NEVER!! If you believe that, yet you are shaken then you must know the enemy is at work. SO it is often key not to go running to other people but instead Give it to Jesus, Remain focused on God and God alone. Often if you just focus on living for Jesus and not even worry about your relationship God will take care of your problems for you.

Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. "

In my observation, this is the biggest mistake I see people make. They get so worried and/or hurt that they start trying to figure it out on their own. Without Jesus you cannot succeed in knowing the solution to your problem.

For those who know this scripture, I see them often make a similar mistake. They dont ant to lean on their understanding, so they go to someone else and get that persons understanding. This is still problematic because it is still just a persons opinion. It has no more value than your own opinion.

Continuing on Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Are you seeking the Kingdom first? the answer to this question will be known when you see if the thing has been "added unto you."

Ultimately, If you are a follower of God, and in a relationship that God has confirmed is true to be his work, then you should expect troubles but know that God will not Give you anything you cannot handle. People give up far too quickly these days.

James 1:3 says "Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience."

Faith is to be proved to God and to one another, If you ahve faith in your relationship then you should be SURE of what you hope for and CERTAIN of what you DO NOT see.

Many times you will not see success, love, or even happiness, but if you walk by faith and not by sight then you will know that your success is nearby.

People of God, live in the scripture, don't allow your emotions to cause you to make bad desicions. God births beautiful lasting relationships but it is sometimes up to us to make them last.

If you are always confused, hurt, uncertain, emotionally pained, and faithless, then you know now that you are not casting your cares upon the Lord. It is time to change. It is time to prove your faith! it will test your patience, but be obedient to the Lord and after the Storm your reward will be great! I love you all. Blessings. .5

ALL thing will be added unto you!

1faith
Pronunciation:
\ˈfāth\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural faiths \ˈfāths, sometimes ˈfāthz\
Etymology:
Middle English feith, from Anglo-French feid, fei, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust — more at bide
Date:
13th century
1 a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1): fidelity to one's promises (2): sincerity of intentions2 a (1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust

Now that I have properly defined faith... I would like to share scripture from the book of Matthew chapter six starting at verse 25:
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

This is especially important for us to know...that Jehovah Jirah is our provider! Living by faith leads us into a lifestyle of trust and commitment to a God that has promised us many things. We are told in his word that we reap what we sow...we are told in his word that by his stripes we were healed... We must however learn to trust our God and know that his word is absolute truth.
It is time to stop the hurting...we are healed! It is time for us to be obediant to the things we have been instructed. We know that God said if we just seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; ALL things will be added unto us...

All things means those bills you have, that shelter you need, etc. it is all provided. Our God has so much and loves us enough that if we would just dedicate our lives to serving him and live by faith...All things will be added unto us as well.

It is so important that we dont put restrictions on a limitless God. Look at Peter. The man walked on water!!! Jesus didn't do it alone. Peter stepped out on that water too. and when he looked back what did he see? A boat full of faithless believers. So many times Jesus said these words, "Oh ye of little faith"...

I don't know about you but I never want to hear those words. So what's it gonna be are you going to be a water walker? or a faithless boat sitter?

And yes many of you will say that Peter fell into the water, and your right! He did eventually fall in........ BUT FIRST HE WALKED! thats amazing...He was a faith filled wet water walking man of God! Not a dry, unbelieving, boat sitter. That is faith! So whatever boat your sitting in, get out of it! take a step out into the waters of everyday life. you might get a little wet but you will have the favor of the Lord! .5