Daily Word – Page 16 – Daughters of Z

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

As we stay in God's Word and busy ourselves with doing the Kingdom's business, He busies Himself with our steps to bring us to our, 'such a time as this'. We must stop putting God and His Word to us on trial. When will we just simply believe, and quit trying to make an all-knowing [omniscient] God fit into our limited reasoning and understanding? "If a person really loves Me, he will keep My Words, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him. Anyone who does not [really] love Me, does not observe and obey My teaching.." (John 14:23-24) We can take this verse and see if we are keeping, obeying and observing His Word, or, are we constantly trying to get God to keep our words, and obey us? This is what we find ourselves doing, "We humans keep brainstorming options and plans; but (except for the fact) God's purpose prevails." (Prov. 19:21; The Message) Purpose means the end or aim to which the view is directed in any plan; the intention and design of a thing; that which is before one as an object to be reached or accomplished. God, our Father always keeps the right view. When your view becomes selfish, or gets obscured because of testings and trials, or because you have to many highways erected in your mind, He stays constant. If you lose focus, all you need to do is go back to the One Who hasn't been moved. God knows our intention and our design. He established that, even before we were in our mother's womb. Again let us be reminded, "like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day." (Psalms 139:16; The Message) He knows how to get His purpose and plan from us, and the path to accomplish it. Since He loves us so much, we need to trust that when He tells us to do something, that it is for our own good, to bring us to His plan.

There have always been people that have loved God enough to simply trust Him enough to obey Him. I choose to join that group. How about you? Enoch was such a person as this. He believed God in the midst of a generation of doubters and unbelievers. What made him different? I believe he made up his mind that no matter what anyone else did or didn't do, he was going to love God with his whole heart. "Enoch walked (regulated his life and conducted himself in union with and in conformity to Him) in habitual fellowship with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him]." (Gen. 5:24) This is the picture of the end-time church, where we must be headed. Just switch in your mind, that place where everything has to be your way, and let it be His way. Serve Him from the place of loving Him without all of your self-centered criteria. "And I am confident of this very thing that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Phil. 1:6) Confident means to trust, yield; bold to a vice; having an excess of assurance; trusting without suspicion. Have you trusted God without suspicion? Has everything He said to you been under suspicion? Suspicion means to doubt the trustworthiness and reliability or favor of; to distrust or mistrust. Only God has been proven to be above suspicion. "As for God His way is perfect! The Word of the Lord is tested and tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge and put their trust in Him." (Psalms 18:30) Come on family, let's be bold and have an excess of assurance in Him and simply live our lives regulated by His Word. Everything will work together for our good, and we will be like Enoch. One day we will disappear and be home with God!

"Trust God without suspicion"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

"But relative to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and our gathering together to meet Him, we beg you, brethren. Not to allow your minds to be quickly unsettled or disturbed or kept excited or alarmed, whether it be by some pretended revelation of the Spirit or by word or by letter [alleged to be] from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has already arrived and is here. " [II Thess. 2:1-2] As we see the day of the Lord approaching we need to be more careful concerning what we allow in our mind and heart. We can't afford to be disturbed by all that is going on in the world. Listen again to the importance of what we let in our minds. "But take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the giddiness and headache and nausea of self-indulgence, drunkenness and worldly worries and cares pertaining to the (business of) this life and lest that day come upon you suddenly like a trap or noose." [Luke 21:34 ] In order to remain fruit-bearers during harsh seasons we have to keep our mind stable. "And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful." [Mark 4:19] When we let worldly worries, cares pertaining to this life, deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things stay uppermost on our minds, we end up with unsettled, disturbed, alarmed, and an excited thought life, which when not dealt with will lead to overburdened and depressed hearts. One thing leads to another. This chokes the Word and causes the fruit to spoil. Choke means to strangle completely; to drown or crowd out. When your mind wanders off onto those other things it drowns and crowds the Word out of your heart. All of us have allowed the Word to be strangled out of us at one time or another in our Christian life. Yet, we cannot afford to do this anymore, we need to sharpen our skills as we see the day of the Lord approaching.

"As you have therefore received Christ, even Jesus the Lord, so walk (regulate your lives and conduct yourselves) in union with and conformity to Him. Have the roots of your being firmly and deeply planted in Him, fixed and founded in Him, being continually built up in Him, become increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving." [Col. 2:6-8] Roots are the means of growth, it represents stability, steadiness and strength. It brings security, regardless of the environmental circumstances. Just like the the roots of trees, we are to be made firm and certain, fixed and established by the water of the Word and keeping out the pesticides of worldly worries and cares pertaining to living at the same time. "Blessed are the ones who trust in the Lord and whose trust is in the Lord, for He will be like a tree that spread out his roots by the river: and he will not fear when heat comes; but his leaf shall be green. He will not be anxious or full of care in the year of drought, nor will he cease yielding fruit." [Jer. 17:7-:8] Let's keep our roots going down in His Word and let the Word take root in our heart and we will not be moved by anything other than God and His Word. "So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves in the beginning. It's still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion. It won't be long now, He's on the way; He'll show up most any minute!" [Heb. 10:36-37; Message]

"Guarding the mind"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

Well, this is truly being reminded again, about resting in Him. Leaning our entire human personality on Him, and trusting in His power, wisdom and goodness.

As we look all around us we can see that our Father is cleaning His House. He has warned us through His Word that He would have a holy remnant. Nothing has caught God off guard, for all that has been going on He knew. He is bringing all that has been done in the dark to the light. Our stand should be to pray for healing and restoration of hearts and minds, especially for those who are being uncovered. This is the beginning of God's cleaning, and He is thorough. Remember, we are God's house, we are where He dwells. So, the House cleaning is an inside job, that is where it begins. Every man and woman that is being exposed, God has dealt with while they were covered. God covers our sins, iniquities, and faults not for the benefit of keeping them hidden so that we can continue in them, but in order that He may heal us if we yield. Read Ezekiel 16:1-15, even though it is spoken to Jerusalem, we can take it as God speaking to anyone that He delivered from the ashes of life and made beautiful by His Word.

Through all that is happening in the Church, we as the 'true' church, should have a heart that is willing to lay prostrate as the Father walks through His House. In fact this is the scripture that the Lord wants us to look at; "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." [Psalms:139:23-24; Amp] Search means to examine intimately; penetrate; sound out; and try. Try means to test; investigate and trial. Notice the psalmist is making it about his personal relationship with God. Last week we were asked to examine ourselves to see if we were in the faith. [II Corin. 13:5] Now it is God that the psalmist is requesting an examination from. When was the last time you asked the Lord to penetrate your heart, thoughts, and actions? I have never requested a trial from God to examine me intimately and see if there is anything wicked in me. Wicked comes from the word 'wicker' which means bending that which was straight, by entanglement, interconnecting and interlacing. Wicked is an entanglement of God with anything that is not Him. In Hebrew, wicked is an idol that causes bodily or mental pain. It is wicked to say we love God and not obey Him. It is not only the leaders in ministry that are being uncovered because of the wickedness of adultery, fornication, all kinds of sexual perversions, it is everything that we have made idols in our lives that must be destroyed. So, we must ask God to search and try us, while we stay humble enough to keep covered.

II Peter 5:6 says, "Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you." Humble by obeying God, this is lowering yourself. We know that our biggest idol can be ourselves, for we are always trying to do what brings us the greatest satisfaction. God gives grace to the humble while He resists the proud (self-deifying). God resisting means that He will oppose, frustrate and defeat you. Yet, He will give you His ability to defeat any sin, weakness, iniquity, or fault, if you will humble yourself. If we don't humble ourselves, it is not easy when we are made to be humbled. As we yield our ways to God, then He will exalt [raise you; set you up; elevate and advance] you. While this great House cleaning is going on, stay humble, lay prostrate in your heart, for He is washing us thoroughly and repeatedly by His blood! Are you yielding?

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

We have got to keep our blinders on to be able to run the race and not be stopped. We know that when sin increases, so does the spirit of confusion and deception. We should be increasing at the same time in the grace of God, His ability over and upon our inability. Let's read "You were running the race nobly, who has interfered in (hindered and stopped you from) your heeding and following the truth. This evil persuasion is not from Him Who called you (Who invited you to freedom in Christ). A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump (it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church). [Gal. 5:6-7; Amplified Bible] Hinder means to beat back; to impede or interrupt; to prevent from acting or happening; an obstacle that restrains one from going forth. We must be wise about the enemy and his ways of causing us to be hindered. In the Greek language hinder portrays the moment when a runner comes alongside another and literally elbows him out of the race. That is how the Message Bible says it. "You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience. This detour doesn't come from the One who called you into the race in the first place. And please don't toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a minute amount of yeast, you know, to permeate an entire loaf of bread." Now I love what is said by faith right after all has been said, "Deep down, the Master has given me confidence that you will not defect." Defect means to abort, abandon or desert what you are doing to go to something else. This is not the time for quitting or defecting the faith, for what, hell, here and later. Understand all it takes is a little leaven or yeast to cause your whole walk of faith to be perverted. Pervert is to turn from truth or its proper purpose; to distort from its true end. Just think, to run the race and come down to the last leg and be hindered or pervert your run, because of something so small in comparison to what you would gain. The kingdom and all that the Father has prepared for us, for a yeast size obstacle. Whether it is unforgiveness, physical sins, emotional shortcomings, or trials, tribulations or temptations of any kind. It is not worth your race being restrained or stopped.

"I say this in order that no one may mislead and delude you by plausible and persuasive and attractive arguments and beguiling speech. For though I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your (standing shoulder to shoulder in such) orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ (that leaning of the entire human personality on Him absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness)" [Col.2:4-8; Amp.] Beguile is influence done by trickery; to delude or to mislead the mind or judgement of; to deceive by charm; or to falsely persuade others; to divert. As we draw closer to the end-times the enemy is trying to cause believers to become disillusioned and discouraged with their walk with God. Yet, we have more for us than is against us. We have Holy help from on high. We are going to lean (incline with your feelings, opinions, actions on God's power and ability). "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding." [Prov. 3:5] We must daily die, or, in other words, give up our rights to making our opinions, actions, or feelings the leader in our steps or the way we live out our faith. For example, at this very moment I am writing this word to you as I stand and receive the healing of my body. My feelings are trying to rule, telling me, you are much too tired and 'out of it' for this. I can't be body-ruled, I must lean my entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in his power, wisdom and goodness. "So watch your step, friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it's still God's Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn't slow down your reflexes." [ Heb. 3:12; The Message]

"Run the Race"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

"Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully." (I Peter 5:6-7; Amplified Bible) I was watching the movie, The Lord Of The Rings, recently, and I begin to think about the character Frodo. There he was carrying this ring around his neck which was constantly causing him to become weaker and weaker. Slowly the carrying of this ring was changing his personality, as well as what he thought about. His thought process was being overwhelmed. There was a point where he could not discern between 'good' or 'evil.' Toward the end of the show he no longer believed his armor-bearer, Sam Wise, who had his best interest at heart, he believed Smiegel, the one who had already been taken over by the evil of the ring. Smiegel had become schizoid due to the evil power of carrying the ring, he had developed a dual personality. Frodo chose to follow Smiegel, who only wanted to posses the ring at any cost, verses Sam, who was loyal, faithful and selfless when it came to Frodo. For the sake of this message, I submit that if we carry the cares of this world around our necks, we end up slowly being taken over by the evil that comes from carrying burdens. Our Godlike personality becomes warped, schizoid, just like Frodo and our ability to discern between 'good' or 'evil.' One day we are standing and the next we are falling. Instead of us magnifying the Word or the promises of God, we end up magnifying the cares, worries and burdens that we are carrying. "As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the word and it yields no fruit." (Mtt. 13:22; Amplified Bible) Care here in these verses, carries the idea of distractions that cause anxiousness or taking thought. As you see Fr odo throughout the movie, he is increasingly anxious. Yet, he has one purpose, and that is to get the ring to the fires of Mordor, where he can once and for all throw it off into the fire. This is what God's word tells us to do, casting. Casting means to throw off or away from. When we throw the cares or the distracting thoughts and anxiety away from us they will burn in the fires of God's glory. When we trust God, then we are in fact demoting or humbling ourselves in our own estimation, then "He will keep us in perfect peace, when we keep our mind stayed on Him."(Isaiah 26:3)

As we learn and practice casting our cares, then we will be less distracted in our thought life and we'll be able to think like Christ. "Since Jesus went through everything you're going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you'll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. (I Peter 4:1-2; The Message) That's demoting or humbling yourself, by always doing what God wants and you won't always have cares that distract your thinking. Listen to the seriousness of carrying cares; "But take heed to yourselves and be on your guard, lest your hearts be overburdened and depressed (weighed down) with the giddiness and headache and nausea of self-indulgence and drunkenness, and worldly worries and cares pertaining to the [business of] life, and lest that day come upon you suddenly." (Luke 21:34; Amplified) A person can become so distracted that they miss the Lord's coming. So, let's throw our 'mind altering, mood-changing, evil cares into the fire and begin to keep our minds stayed on Him. We will free ourselves, just like Frodo freed himself from the cruelty of the evil of Mordor and the control of Sauron, the wicked one.

"Cast your cares"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

Today I am on vacation, still my thoughts, like yours, I'm sure, are forever on the Father. I view this world and my life in it as a testimony to Him. How can I bring pleasure to Him? I want to please the One I love and the One who loves me. Well, we know the Word says that without faith it is impossible to please Him, and that our faith walk is energized and made effective by love. I can summarize by those statements alone, that a lot of the times I am not pleasing to my Father. Try as I might, sometimes it is not love that motivates me. It could be anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, selfishness, or all kinds of attitudes that would take me all day to list. God is not pleased with anything that is not motivated by the force of love. "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." (I Corin. 13:1-3: The Message Bible) This clearly states that without love, all that I say and do amounts to nothing. Every once in awhile all of us need to stop, sit down and be open and naked before God, and do a self examination to see if we have gotten off course in our faith walk. Listen to this, "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you, if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith." (II Corin. 13:5; KJV) How can we test ourselves and prove whether or not we are still living in faith, by love. The answer is, the Word of God, it is the true acid test to prove whether or not your faith is genuine. We tend to either, "think more highly of ourselves than we should", or have a low opinion trained by years of degraded ourselves (this is another message all in itself). But the Word has been tried and proven to be the sure plumb-line or measuring stick, it can be relied upon. This morning, I will give you the test I took. You must be honest, don't cheat, (by allowing the spirit of pride, or the false humility to lead you), remember you and God knows what is really in you. Sometimes, others on the outside can see or get the brunt of what is in you too, but they may not know what is really going on in you. So, make this test between you and God. When you finish taking the test, you must promise to go through the 'Textbook', the Bible and, "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."(II Tim. 2:15; KJV) Now, say with me, I will be a student of the Word and allow it to separate between the fine points of my mind, heart and the actions that I do. For it is the doer of the Word that is blessed in his doing of the Word, not the hearers (or the one who can memorize it, or the one who preaches the loudest, or the biggest financial giver, or the one who is the best actor, etc.) (James 1:22-25)

"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, piercing and cutting to the dividing between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12; NLT) The Word will dissect, inspect and correct truly, if we allow. Here's your test, remember it is for your good, in order to help you locate yourself, in order to bring correction. We will be workman of God's Word. Are you working on this test? Are you patient and kind? Are you jealous, boastful, proud and rude? Are you irritable? Do you keep a record of those who have wronged you? Do you rejoice when injustice happens to those who have wronged you? Do you rejoice only when the truth of the Word wins out? Are you always hopeful? Do you endure all things patiently, without weakening? These questions will help us at all times to test ourselves and examine our faith walk. I took them right from the 'Love Guide' for our faith. You can study and improve yourself by reading and meditating on them, until you are doing it. The answers are found in I Corin. 13:4-7; now let's become workers that need not be ashamed, let us do the Word, this pleases the Father.

"Examine yourself"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalms 118:24) I have made a quality decision to be glad in everyday that the good Lord gives me to live in. How about you? It is a choice that we make, and then make our body and soul obey, by just living the most of that day in and for God. I know that all of us have experienced some difficult and hard to bear trials, but it is our choice how we go through. When I hear some of the tough trials that other people share with me, I know that they think that their trials are unusual and strange, and that nobody has ever gone through anything similar. Usually I think to myself, how I have been through some of, or close to the same trials. You know the Word says that, "there has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." (I Corin.10:13) So, every day we come closer to the good end that the Lord declares He is bringing us to. I like that word will, it means to choose to; to be inclined to; to elect and desire; to decide in the mind that something shall be done; implying power to carry the purpose into effect; once decided then embraced and pursued to the desired end. In other words we can decide to rejoice everyday and then pursue that course all the way until we are walking in what we have willed. Listen to Habakkuk 3:17-18; "Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, though the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the victorious God of my salvation." Here the prophet is declaring that no matter what he sees, no matter what trials, tests or tribulations that he may go through, he will rejoice in the Lord. Grant it, he is not rejoicing in the problems, he is looking past those temporary problems, and keeping his eyes on the Lord, Who he can rejoice in at all times. A lesson that we all need to take to heart. Remember the Word says, "While we look not at the things (troubles, tests, trials, tribulations, etc.) which are seen, but at the things (the promises of the Word) which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (II Corin. 4:18) So when we choose to rejoice in the midst of these "light afflictions which is but for a moment, that is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory," we become people whose 'will' to rejoice is steady and stable. (II Corin. 4:17) Then let us rejoice; be triumphant and jump for joy, let's be happy and in high spirits and celebrate the Lord and what He is working out for us and in us. We will join the prophets and we will 'yet' (nevertheless; notwithstanding; however; in spite of and nonetheless) rejoice in Him.

So you see, this is the day that the Lord has made. Everyday is the day that walks you right into your destiny, no matter what it looks like or how it feels, God has planned your steps to get you where you need to be. Keep looking to the good plan that God has for you, and you will rejoice in everyday that God gives. He cannot lie!

"I will rejoice"

Love,

Pastor D.

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

"Take with me your share of the hardships and suffering which you are called to endure as a good first class soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of civilian life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him." (II Timothy 2:3-4 The Amplified Bible) All of us have a share in the hardships and suffering that we are called to endure. Let's not try to make this mean something other than what it means. For to long as Christians, most of us that were brought up in the,'faith movement', went around acting as if we were never to have any hardships or suffering. In fact we thought that if we were to confess the Word of God and believe, that nothing even similar to hardships or suffering would touch our lives. In fact you would almost be an unbeliever to even mention that you were going through these things. As disciples of Christ, we must stand and fight the fight of faith. We are told to stand against the devil's strategies. We are warring with principalities, rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places not flesh and blood opponents. God has given to us everything needed to win. We only need to be strong in the Lord and in His power and might. (read Ephes. 6:10-18)

Notice, the underlined words like, share, which means portion, allotment, piece, slice, chunk, due; the full or proper portion or part allotted or belonging to or contributed or owed by an individual. The King James version says, hardness, instead of hardships and suffering, so let's see what hardness means it is to be afflicted; endure afflictions; suffer trouble, and to undergo hardships. Well, there is no other definition found for hardship, which means that every Christian will have troubles and afflictions and suffer hardships in their walk with Christ. The words tell us that we have a certain part that we will go through. The most important thing that we must remember is that there is no way to escape this, so then we need to know how to endure. Endure means to hold out against; to sustain without impairment or yielding; to bear with patience. Since we have enlisted in God's army, we should be engaged in His service. Every time we endure without weakening and yielding to the hardness of trouble, we become more skilled and experienced as soldiers. Our patience enables us to possess or control our souls; our will, emotion, and our intellect. Which makes us a trained and victorious soldier, being cautious not to become entangled (or intertwine, to involve in order to confuse or perplex), with the affairs of this life. Remember, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things, this is what entangles us, along with afflictions and persecutions. (Mark 4:17-19) Fight on soldiers, execute and contend with every carnal inclination. If we don't faint, quit, or give in, we win. The victory is guaranteed by the One who cannot lie! "So we're not giving up. How could we? Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today and gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever." (II Corin. 4:16-18)

"Endure"

Love,

Pastor D.

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Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

Today I'd like to share with you the word that the Lord spoke
to me this morning. I know that this will minister to you as well for we
all are touched by the same kinds of tests and trials. Be encouraged!

In this season of life, do not allow
anyone to steal your dream. I have continued to breathe life into your
dream so that you will continue to pursue it. Never, never, let anyone
talk against the dream that I have rooted deep in your heart. The enemy
strategically sends voices that will plant seeds of discouragement to
assault you. Don't back down, these struggles indicate that you have
damaged the enemy's plans. Every assignment that I give, causes the
enemy great discomfort and anguish, that is why he tries to distract you
with snares and deception. But this is not the time for backing down,
no, this is the time for giving it all that I have placed in you. Well,
you feel like you're at your end, and that something has died within
you, this is necessary in order for you to stretch out and push forth. Think of it as the last leg of a race and you must stretch and give it
your all, in order to
cross the finish line. I will help you to go past where you have become
stagnant in order to get to where I would have you now. I will send
voices to speak encouragement to you, even to cheer you on. So stretch,
so that you may see all that I promised to you.

I keep hearing God say to me, not to
quit, not to give up, but stretch and push. Stretch
means to extend or force beyond normal. It means to burst forth, branch
out and to expand. Push
means to apply physical force, to advance, to assault,attack, to get up
and go with vigor and vitality. So, I would like to be one of
the voices that line up with the Lord and encourage you to stretch,
burst forth, branch out, expand, extend, and force yourself beyond the
normal limits and limitations. Now push and apply yourself by advancing
and assault and attack the enemy, as you get up and go with vigor. This
is not the time to slow up, but to push through and live the dream that
God has promised you. He is faithful to that which He promised.

"Hold on to your dream"

Love,

Pastor D.

Scripture References: Is. 54:1-5; I Corin. 9:24-27

Ears to Hear

Good Morning,

"The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat
dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight
our battles that way —–never have and never will. The tools of our
trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing
that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools
for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against
the truth of God,
fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure
of life-shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the
ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into
maturity." (II Corin. 10:4-5 Message Bible)
We must learn how to capture every loose thought that tries to
manipulate our lives. For we know that our thoughts chart a course for
our lives. We can actually be the gatekeeper of our thoughts and change
the course of our
lives. It is what we allow to go through our thought life consistently
that frames our lives. Warped philosophies are running rampant in our
culture today. If we are not careful to guard our thoughts, we will end
up allowing the unprincipled thoughts of this world to be the master of
our destiny.

Too many in the church have sought to
imitate the world in order to reach the unsaved. That has never been our commission from God. Our
example is Jesus, His holiness and obedience to God was the most
powerful and attractive pull for evangelizing the world. He still is. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:14)

We are to be
separate and unique and we will be that if we stick to God's Word. We don't need
to water the church down to become viable to this generation. Churches
have almost become the world to win a few, who were probably ready for
salvation anyway, and didn't need all the theatrics to come home. The Word is what will save and keep people
loving God. I'm not saying that we can't be creative, we serve the
Creator, and His DNA flows through our veins. What I am saying is the Word of God must be what
we build upon. Listen to what Paul says," For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers
together) with and for God; you are God's garden and vineyard and field
under cultivation, [you are] God's building. According to the grace (the special endowment for my
task) of God bestowed on me, like a skillful architect and master builder I laid
[the] foundation, and now another [man] is building upon it. But let
each [man] be careful how he builds upon it, For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which
is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (I Corin.
3:9-11 The Amplified) In other
words, my sisters and brothers, whether we are in full time ministry or a
layman for Christ, no matter what our station in life, we are
co-laborers with Christ and we are building the Kingdom, one stone at a time,
(people- stones). Build means to form by ordering
and uniting materials by gradual means into a whole; to develop according
to a systematic plan, by a definite process; to be constructed. Let's clear the ground of all that will obstruct the
building, all of the
barriers of this world's thinking, in order to lay the foundation
on Christ. He said, My Word and I are one. Therefore, we can't build
any stronger 'soul' than the one built upon the Word. Let's make
everlasting gifts to the Father. Come on, let's build ourselves, our
families, our churches, and every new convert, upon the Solid Rock. Let's not
remove the ancient landmark. The Word is a landmark that will never
change. You can't be more stable than that. All other foundations are
sinking sand.

"Be separate and unique"

Love,

Pastor D.