My Journal |

FEAR NOT, STAND STRONG, MOVE ON

Do not be afraid. Stand firm….Be still…. Move on (Exodus 14:13?15).

1. “Do not be afraid.” . Don’t be afraid of fear. (2Timothy 1:7  For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. )It reminds us we are alive, human. The same channel of our emotions through which fear flows can be the riverbed for trust and loving obe­dience. Fear is the opposite of faith. When we surrender our fear by telling God how we feel, we allow faith to force out fear.

2. “Stand firm.” Do not let the circumstances in your life affect you in a way that you will give up on life. Stand your ground. Don’t give in to your fear and run away. You have to face your fear. Stop for a while, calm down, and then see the fear from God’s perspective.

3. “Be still.” Don’t panic thinking that you will not be able to overcome your problems. The effect of panic is that we tend to override God’s direc­tion, God’s peace, and God’s presence in our lives. We can listen to the voice of God quietly.

4. “Move on.” We should face our problems and be able to overcome them. When we fail to move on, we procrastinate, and procrastina­tion is not God’s plan for us. Procrastination is fear that has forgotten the promises of God. It is our effort to make life stand still for a while when God has clearly instructed us to keep moving. Don’t be a stagnant Christian. Don’t allow fear to control you. Don’t be afraid to come closer to God.

Take a few minutes to reflect on this. But be sure you “move on.”

Galatian 6:9  “But we should not lose heart in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint.”

Let us not let the work of the enemy prevail. Do not give up in doing good for your fellowmen and for God. Do not get tired of helping other people. Do not get tired of working for the Lord. Do not get tired of serving Him. God has His perfect timing in everything. Whenever you feel that you cannot bear your problems any longer, just cast them all to the Lord. Surely, He will not let you fall if you believe and have faith in Him. God bless you in  All Jesus Mighty Name.

John 15:7  “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you.”

Let us be obedient in following the commandments of God. By doing this we will never get lost.

Let us never stop praying for each other and for the people around us. Let us crave for the word of God more than anything else in this world because His word is POWERFUL and His POWER is ABOVE ALL THE POWERS in this world.

1Thessalonians 5:17  Pray without ceasing.

Philippians 4:6  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Have a wonderful time with God memorizing and reflecting in these verses. God bless you all in Jesus Name!

Are you easily moved by the problems that you encounter in life? Do you sometimes feel down and tend to become bored with your ministry or ministries? When problems get in the way, do you easily give up?

Expiration dates are printed on just about everything nowadays, even on cans of soda. One place you will not find an expiration date, however, is on salt. Ever hear anyone say, “This salt tastes old. It must not be very fresh”? Probably not.

Salt never goes stale.

Jesus said “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out” (Luke 14:34-35)

If there is no such thing as fresh or stale salt, how could Jesus say this? There are two ways salt can lose its saltiness.

One is by dilution. The other by pollution.

Put some salt in a glass and add water. Stir, taste, and then add more water. The more you dilute the salt, the less you will taste it. Soon it has no value as salt.

Or, take some salt and add to it other things. Continue to mix in things, polluting the salt, and eventually you will not notice the salt. Its saltiness is lost to the pollution.

Followers of Jesus are to be the “salt of the earth.” (Matthew 5:13) But our saltiness can be lost the same way. Our testimony can be so watered down that by dilution it loses its saltiness. Or, so much other stuff can come into our lives that our testimony is lost due to pollution.

Stay salty! That is what Jesus wants. Do not let into your life things that will dilute or pollute.

(c) firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 8.46. Live for God, on purpose, affecting the world around you for the cause of Christ, not becoming diluted or polluted by this life.

As servants of God let us not stop from becoming “SALT” to all those who find their lives meaningless, to those who are lost. We should be the ones to encourage them in serving the Lord.

Our lesson for today is about the Book of Philemon in the Bible. Philemon has only one chapter but this gives a big impact to every person’s life. It is about a letter of Paul to Philemon asking Philemon to reconcile with his runaway slave which is Onesimus. But the time came when Onesimus changed and became a servant of God. Paul asked Philemon to forgive Onesimus of whatever he has done him wrong without forcing him. Instead Paul makes him realize that a servant of God should know how to forgive. For forgiveness cleanses our hearts and makes us more worthy to serve God.

An unforgiving heart is a hindrance in becoming an effective servant of God. How can we serve God and tell the world of His love if we ourselves don’t know how to forgive? It is hard to forgive if you don’t fully understand what forgiveness is.

We should forgive with the love of Christ. How can we learn to forgive? First, we must come to God and pray for the person who has done us wrong. Pray that God will forgive him. Pray that God will give you a humble and a forgiving heart. The next step to remove our anger is to think more of your happy moments together with that person. The important thing here is let the love of the Lord stay in your heart.

With these things we can practise instant forgiveness. When you become angry you should resolve conflicts quickly. The apostle Paul teaches, if you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin and do not stay angry all day. When anger is not dealt with quickly, it can turn to resentment and, then into bitterness. Resentment and bitterness are wrong attitudes that we consider them sin. There is such thing as small or big sin. All sins are the same. Sin separates us from God.

For us to continue the race that will lead us to the right path we should be obedient enough to forgive other people and we should also know how to ask for forgivess.

“Lord God, we ask for your mercy. May you teach us how to have a forgiving heart. May we be able to forgive easily those who did us wrong . Give us the humility to accept our faults and ask for forgiveness, in Jesus , amen.”

Philippians 4:13  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

James 1: 2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Romans 11:36  “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever! Amen.”

All of us are made to glorify God. How can we bring glory to Him? Sin starts when we fail to glorify God. There are many ways to glorify Him but they can be summarized into 5. We can glorify God by:

1. WORSHIPPING HIM. Our first priority in life should always be to worship Him and enjoy His presence as we praise and worship Him. We must praise Him because we love Him and not because it is only our duty.

2. LOVING OTHER BELIEVERS. We  are made to love others because the bible says that whatever we do to others we do it to God. If we love others we show our love for God. We must learn to love the family of God by becoming a family to them.

3. BECOMING LIKE JESUS CHRIST. Having spiritual maturity thru the way we talk to others, how pure our intentions are with the way we think and feel.

4. SERVING OTHERS. Sharing your talents and gifts to others is one way of blessing them. God gave you your ability not to hide for your self but to share it to them.  These abilities will benefit them the same way that their abilities will benefit you also.

5. TELLING OTHERS ABOUT GOD. We should always be glad to share the goodness of God and that God loves each and everyone of us. Help others to know their purpose in life that is to glorify God with all their heart.

It is not easy to do these things but I believe that God will guide us along the way just as long as we BELIEVE that God loves us and that we are made to last forever. That what bad things we did in the past will not be a hindrance to glorifying God if we will just confess our sins and repent to God and He is always ready to forgive us. RECEIVE Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, RECEIVE his forgiveness, power and spirit because whoever accepts and trusts Him gets in on everything life complete and life forever.

“ Lord God, give us strength to live for your glory. Jesus Christ, I believe in You and I receive you. Amen.”

I believe that some Christians need Spiritual Revival. There are circumstances in our lives that make our spirits weak. How do we know that we need spiritual revival?

1. If we don’t experience joy. When a person becomes dissatisfied with God’s blessings. Being discontented in life and  we become easily discouraged in serving God. Paying attention only on the negative side of things. We should always remember that we cannot please everybody but we should always please God.

2. If we no longer desire Spiritual things. If we seldom or stop attending fellowship. There is no joy in praising God. If we neglect communion with God. If we no longer properly give to God our time, our tithes, our best. It was written in Luke 10:27  “And answering, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

3. If we no longer patronize Christian books and music. We forget to hear and sing Christians songs for the Lord. We must always remember that as we sing for the Lord we are praising Him. If we read articles or devotionals about God this reminds us of the love of God for us and will make our spirits grow.

4. If we are easily overcome by temptation. Satan identifies the desire of our hearts and he gets you to doubt about sin by deceiving us with his lies if our spirit is weak. Satan will make us disobey God so we must always get in line with the works that will please God.

5. If we notice that our old nature reign. The person who can identify this is our own self. If we dress improperly and come back to speaking bad words and many others. We should always be conscious with our attitudes.

6. If we experience difficulty in exercising Spiritual Gifts. 1Co 12:4-11  “But there are differences of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are differences of workings, but it is the same God working all things in all.  But to each one is given the showing forth of the Spirit to our profit. For through the Spirit is given to one a word of wisdom; and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;  and to another faith by the same Spirit; and to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;  and to another workings of powers, to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; and to another kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues.  But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing separately to each one as He desires.” We cannot worship God if there is something that hindering us from worshipping Him which sin.

7. If we are no longer sensitive to the Lord. We neglect to ask for forgiveness from God when we sin. We neglect to confide to God in making decisions. We neglect to live by the spirit by our bad attitudes and actions.

8. If we no longer feel the burden for the lost. If we only think of our own satisfactions and our own salvation. We forget to remind our brothers and sisters with the words of God.

Now if you just realized that you need Spiritual Revival here are the 4 Steps for Spiritual Revival coming from 2Chronicles 7:14  if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

4 Steps for Spiritual Revival

1. Humble ourselves to the Lord. 1Peter 5:6-7  “Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time,  casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you.”

2. Pray. Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

3. Seek God’s face. Isaiah 59:2  “But your iniquities have come between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, from hearing.”

4. Turn from wicked ways. Psalm 51:11-12  “Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

Always remember, ONLY A REVIVED MAN CAN LOVE GOD.”

“Lord God help us realize our shortcomings and repent our sins and let us always be reminded of Your love for us. May we reflect on these things. Help us accept our faults and make us confess our sins to you. Guide us always in everything we do and give us wisdom always. Amen.”