03
Apr '18
DAILY DEVOTIONAL: WHILE YOU’RE WAITING
03
Apr '18
Waiting on God is never easy. Patience is not something that we have, it’s a fruit of the spirit. In other words, impatience is waiting in self, patience is waiting in God.
Remember, the bible says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Galatians 5:22). We don’t have patience, the Holy Spirit is patience beloved.
Jesus said, “God knows what we need before we even ask” (Matthew 6:8). Jesus! Think about it. The weight in the wait is not because of what we’re waiting on, it’s because of what God is working on.
Put This In Your Spirit: God knows what we need before we need it. The Holy Spirit knows the fruit we need when we need it, and intercedes on our behalf to ask God for what we need (Romans 8:26). In other words, the Holy Spirit is a fruit inspector. When it’s time for us to grow, the Holy Spirit uses time to produce fruit.
But it does not end there. The Holy Spirit wants our patience to bear fruit. Without the fruit of Joy and Self-Control, the fruit of patience won’t last. See, when the need is great, trust in God has to be just as great. Joy comes from trust, and self-control comes from Joy.
We don’t know how much we trust God until we have to wait on God — on new levels. Waiting in Joy turns impatience into God-fidence — All things will work together for the good (Romans 8:28). Joy is the keeper in storm. Joy is the calmer, the voice of reason. In other words, Joy keeps us from losing it while we wait for it.
Pray On This:
A man brought his son to Jesus who had been having convulsions from a young age. He asked Jesus, “If you can, heal my son.” Jesus said, “If I can? Everything is possible for one who believes. Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!“” (Mark 9:17-27).
Impatience is intensified by unbelief. In essence, impatience says to God, “If you can.” Whatever you’re waiting for, standing for or have need of right now, unbelief will activate impatience. While you’re waiting, ask God to help you overcome unbelief and to replace doubt with Joy — as often as necessary.
Sometimes the change we’re waiting on is waiting on us to change. Sometimes God is not fixing them, He’s using them to grow us — to turn our worry into worship. To walk in peace, work in confidence and to wait without weight is the victory that God is working on.
God knows what we need in the physical and He will supply it (Philippians 4:19). When God has you waiting, He’s working on your fruit — unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:8). Wait in Jesus and God will turn your fruit into favor.
Share and be blessed.
Click Here to view previous daily devotionals and to register to be notified when future devotionals are posted.
Join us each Sunday at FAITHHILL for an experience that will empower your faith to walk in victory!
Read more...
02
Apr '18
Beyond Resurrection Sunday
02
Apr '18
Resurrection Sunday is always a day of reflection and, for some of us, a day of reconnection or introspection. Whether you attended church or attended to thoughts about Jesus this past resurrection Sunday, we are reminded of how much God loves us.
Christ’s death represents the ultimate sacrifice for love. And God’s love is a love that keeps on giving. God’s love shows up when we’ve been knocked down. God’s love quiets our worst storms and heals our deepest hurts. God’s love gives us the courage to get back up again, start over again and to keep fighting. God’s love gives us the ability to forgive the unforgivable and to walk in peace even when we’re in pieces.
Love is a two-way street though. Love is hard. Love is powerful. Powerful love is painful and, it is never possible without sacrifice and submission. Submission to God’s will so burdened Jesus that He sweated blood in prayer: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:42-44).
When you think about it, Jesus loved God more than He loved life itself. He had to. Can you imagine God asking us to sacrifice our life for some strangers — even the people who are trying to hang us? God knows our answer: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).
God is not asking us to die but an intimate relationship with Jesus, abiding in the spirit, does require a sacrifice. Any relationship that will have the benefits and the power that it was created to have, will have sacrifice and submission (John 3:16-17).
We’ve all been in good relationships and some not so good. We’ve all met wrong people or people who did not understand the meaning of love — through behavior. Relationship without sacrifice is not a relationship — to most of us. Despite how He felt, despite asking for His cup to pass, despite every reason that you and I would have, Jesus was sold out to for God.
Put This In Your Spirit…Jesus said: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7).
It sounds like, and it means, if we abide in Jesus and the Word abides in us, we we can ask with expectation. Hope is justified and our power is empowered through abiding. Our desire to do God’s will confirms that the Truth abides in us. There is no other proof: “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).
Abiding is a lifestyle, not an event. Nobody is perfect and abiding does not mean that we are. We can abide and be flawed (1 John 1:8-10), we can abide and be weak (2 Corinthians 12:9-10), because it is through abiding that we are moved to ask for forgiveness when we make a mistake (1 John 1:9).
Abiding simply says “Yes” to God’s will and His Word — as our sacrifice. Through our sacrifice we gain access to the power of the resurrection: “I want to know Christ–yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10). In other words, if we really want power in life, we must abide, sacrifice for the cause of Christ.
Abiding does not always feel good, it’s not always convenient but as Christ showed us and we celebrate as part of the “Resurrection,” abiding is the requirement for power (Matthew 28:18). Church fellowship is not optional when we abide in Jesus (Hebrews 10:24-25, Ephesians 4:11-13). Serving each other (Galatians 5:13), sacrifice for the cause of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19), saving the lost (Matthew 28:16-20, John 21:17) and defending the defenseless (Isaiah 1:17), is not optional when we abide in Jesus. Bearing fruit (John 15:4-5), Loving each other (1 John 3:14), submission to our spouse (Ephesians 5:21), and forgiveness (Mark 11:25, Matthew 6:14-15), is not possible — although sometimes difficult, unless we abide (John 15:5).
Real relationship will cost you — more than a Resurrection Sunday. It will bless you. It will reward you. It will take you places that you never dreamed of. It will take you deeper through experience. It will take you higher through obedience. It will grow us, change us, and fill our faith deposit box with hope (Romans 5:1-5).
If we trace our ups and downs, despair and struggles in any area of life, they will always be connected to our abiding. Are you ready for more, for higher, for greater, for supernatural increase and favor to overtake your life? Abide — find a powerhouse church, plug in and access the resurrection power for powerful living (John 10:10).
Share and be blessed.
Click Here to view previous daily devotionals and to register to be notified when future devotionals are posted.
Join us each Sunday at FAITHHILL for an experience that will empower your faith to walk in victory!
Read more...
30
Mar '18
DAILY DEVOTIONAL: THIS IS THE LAST TIME
30
Mar '18
My God! We’ve all had that experience, been through that hell that we’ve said, “This is the last time.” This is the last time we’re going back, this is the last time we’ll be unprepared, this is the last time we will let them treat us that way.
God knows just how much to let it hurt to let it be our last time. It might just be me but haven’t you noticed that the last time isn’t the first time. No, for most of us, the last time comes after many times. It usually doesn’t come until we get tired enough, wise enough or strong enough to say, “enough is enough.”
Have you had one of those last times that came after praying for more proof for the proof? Or allowing yourself to sink so low that by the time the last time comes, you’re so numb that the decision that you couldn’t make all of a sudden becomes the only decision you can make?
God is in the last time business. If you’re in that place where the Holy Spirit is saying, “Not again, no more, enough is enough,” stay woke. If it is happening to you it is happening to the Holy Spirit — If it is hurting you or will hurt you, the Holy Spirit is hurt by it: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).
Put This In Your Spirit: Our heart cannot accept what the mind rejects. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a person, a temporary loss or a necessary change, if our mind rejects the truth, our heart is helpless. God is saying, “If we hold on to what holds us back, whatever it is, it becomes our God” (Exodus 20:3).
If you have experienced depression, mild depression, you have had to deal with unconvincing the mind of something that was not true. No matter how strong we are, we all have a weakness. The truth is, if we didn’t have a weakness we wouldn’t need God (1 John 1:8-10).
What can make it hard for us to accept the truth, to stop praying for more proof for the proof, is not so much what we’re believing as much as it is what we’re not believing. The wrong person is not going to do the right thing. You cannot make somebody change, self-love does that. You won’t keep everybody in your life — if you’re not losing people, you’re not growing. The business was a good idea but that does not mean that your difference, your gift, was created to be the best at that. You emotionally committed without proof, and now that you have proof your decision will turn into a struggle if you refuse to make the right decision. It was a loss but a loss with God is gain — all things work together for your good.
If you’re emotionally suffering or struggling with a decision that keeps chasing you down — because of their behavior or because of your refusal to do right by you, you’re grieving because the Holy Spirit is grieving.
The bible says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). In other words, God is saying, “I will let it hurt until it hurts enough to be the last time.” God is faithful to His promises, even the one’s that we forget: “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son” (Hebrews 12:6).
God is working in us and through us to keep us moving forward, growing stronger, and walking in victory. God’s desire is to bless us but we’re not in the position to be blessed if our mind is rejecting God because we’re rejecting truth. Anybody who’s had to snatch themselves back, love slap themselves to wake up or to put a faith period where there was an unhealthy emotional question mark, will tell you that it’s not always easy but it’s necessary.
This is your sign. Enough is enough. This is your time. If it hurts so bad, it’s for our good. God will not let what is not right for us feel good to us — He can’t (Jeremiah 29:11). Thank God, He can’t! Pray and watch…pray and watch! Whenever our mind is holding on to what’s killing us, what’s beneath us, or whatsoever is taking us away from God — it will hurt until we make it the last time.
Share and be blessed.
Click Here to view previous daily devotionals and to register to be notified when future devotionals are posted.
Join us at the Hill
Resurrection Sunday
It’s going to be happening this Sunday at the HILL in San Leandro, CA! The message, “It’s Finished,” is not a repeat of what you’ve heard, it’s power for where you’re going. You don’t have to buy a new outfit to worship with us — we worship together without having to pretend like we have it all together. Click here for directions and more information!
Read more...
27
Mar '18
DAILY DEVOTIONAL: THIS IS YOUR SEASON
27
Mar '18
We’ve all been told that, “This is your season.” This one statement is perhaps one of the most profound and confusing for us as Christians.
Jesus died so that, “We might have life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10). If you believe in Jesus, you better believe that God’s divine plan is to prosper you and not to harm you (Jeremiah 29:11). There is no devil in hell, situation or circumstance that can stop God’s will for our lives. No matter what the weather forecast is, no matter what the obstacle is, God’s plans to prosper us are always true.
If you’ve lived and walked in faith for any length of time, you know that prosperity and increase are seasons. Not one of us has a problem with the seasons of prosperity or increase, most of us struggle in our seasons of Preparation or Plowing, Planting and Growing.
Lord knows it would be nice if we could skip the middle and just go straight to the harvest but without the middle, we miss out on the most critical parts of a God promise. Every season is a God season, and when our position of faith is tied to God’s timing (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), it causes a supernatural mind shift.
We don’t control seasons, we control our faith in our seasons. This is something that we have to let sit in our spirit and let produce a harvest of understanding in every season.
Put This In You Spirit:
Season of Preparation: Before any God seed can be planted, the ground has to be prepared. The season of preparation is the one time that there is nothing in the ground. This is your season of tilling and plowing. Uprooting the old and getting your heart and mind ready to be fertile for God’s seed. In this season, you’re going to experience the most uncertainty because it’s not your appointed time, it’s your anointed time. In this season, you may need a second touch for clarity (Mark 8:22-26). In this season, you may experience famine, lack or be unsettled as God tills the soil of your heart in preparation for planting season: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Our season of preparation is our most intimate time with Jesus.
Planting Season: Our planting or sowing season, builds off of our Season of Preparation. The bible tells us that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). We cannot sow a doubt seed and get a faith harvest. Remember the parable about the seeds (Matthew 13:20-23)? Some fell on stony ground, some fell among weeds and some feel on good ground. Our planting season is only as good as our ground is — and God knows what that is. Don’t despise your season of preparation. In our season of preparation, God works out anything and everything that will cause our seeds to die. You can imagine the problems that would, and do, occur when somebody prays for a marriage harvest but neglects or bypasses the season of being healthy single. Or the bigger salary before we learn to be faithful stewards. Or a powerful position before we’re powerfully humble. No matter what the seeds are or our hope is, God protects our harvest by ensuring that our ground, our faith, holds our seed to the end. Good ground produces good harvest — not hope, desire or wishing (Hebrews 11:6).
Growing Season: God knows that the best of us hurt the most, struggle the most and doubt the most in our Season of Preparation and our Season of Growing. Growing is never easy in the flesh (Matthew 19:26). It does not matter who we are, how long we’ve been saved or what our faith level is, growing hurts. Growing takes us from the level we’re on to our next level of faith. It takes us from our comfort zone to our uncomfortable zone. Preparation Season and Growing Season are the seasons of our most intense spiritual warfare. The seed can be good — what we hope for, but the growing takes faith work. Our growing season always matures the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Without fruit, there is no harvest. See, spiritual fruit can only be produced through experience and our faith in Jesus — and only through our faith in Jesus can we receive anything (John 15:5-7). In other words, our growing season grows us deeper in relationship with Jesus so that God can take us to higher promises!
What season are you in? How are you handling it? The better we understand God’s seasons, the less stress and struggle is wasted on fighting the process and resisting the enemy. If you noticed, seasons aren’t punishment, they’re God’s process to produce a divine harvest. The world cannot give a divine harvest and the world cannot take it away.
No matter what season you’re in, you are always in God’s plan. Jesus is the beginning and the end, the vine and the answer, the strength and the fruit in every season. The Apostle Paul said, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). By “learning,” Apostle Paul means that we’re growing through every circumstance or season!
Get season ready. Speak the word in every season! It’s not happening to you, it’s happening for you. Pray over and thank God for what He’s doing right now — growing you. Being content does not mean we’re satisfied, it just means that we know that as long as we are working our season, God will work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28).
Your harvest is coming! Hope will never make you ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:5).
Share and be blessed.
Click Here to view additional daily devotionals or to signup to receive email notifications when Daily Devotionals are posted.
Join us at the HILL every Sunday for a life changing word for powerful living!
Read more...
26
Mar '18
DON’T LET THE DEVIL TURN YOUR PROMISE INTO A FIGHT
26
Mar '18
You’re in that cycle of fighting that makes no sense. We’ve all been there — those times in life where no matter how hard we swing, no matter how hard we pray, no matter what we do, it seems like nothing changes.
Sometimes, we can fight so long and so hard that we get punch drunk — Punch Drunk is a term derived from boxing where a boxer gets hit by the opponent so many times that they become disorientated — similar to being drunk. That’s how it can feel when we’re taking too many punches for our promise.
Put This In Your Spirit: When we feel like we’re losing control, we’re not fighting for the promise, we’re struggling with the Holy Spirit to grow the fruit of Self-Control. When we start to lose it, the Holy Spirit is saying, “Your victory is in the fruit, not in the fight” (Galatians 5:23).
Remember, the enemy is not fighting folks who are sitting on the sidelines. You wouldn’t be Punch Drunk if you weren’t at least in the ring going toe to toe for your promise. You came to win and the devil came to stop you. You refuse to lose and the devil refuses to give up. If you didn’t have a blessing waiting on the other side, if this was not a promise, the devil wouldn’t be fighting you so hard.
Haven’t you noticed the more we try to control the fight for a promise, the more we tend to lean to our own understanding or walk by sight instead of by faith?
Watch This…
A friend has a daughter who did not get along with her step-mother. They could not make it through a day without a blow up. His daughter felt like her step-mother was taking her daddy away and the step-mother felt like her step-daughter, who was fine in the beginning, started to view her like the enemy.
He tried everything he knew how to referee the situation but the more he tried it his way, the more out of control it became. Sometimes we forget that in order to prosper God’s way we have to use God’s way. So one day he decided to have another family meeting. Only this time, he was bringing God to the table. The conversation started off like it always did — finger pointing. Then suddenly, he just busted out with, “God showed me that I am losing both of you because I’m fighting for you and not with you.”
Everybody got quiet. He went on to say, “The enemy had me choosing sides and defending positions, which was creating division. He then says, “God showed me that a house divided cannot stand. I’ve been trying to balance my love 50/50 but the balance God wants is 100/100. when I fight for one of you, I’m fighting against the other — I have to fight for wisdom to give you both the love that you need without taking away from the other. I have to fight right in order to win right.”
In other words, sometimes we’re fighting for the right thing the wrong way. When we start to feel punch drunk, like we’re losing control in a fight for our promise, God is saying, “You will lose control when you take Me out of the fight” (John 15:5).
Put This In Your Spirit: When we’re fighting the right fight the wrong way, we will experience Moses Moments. Remember when Moses got punch drunk in the wilderness? He said to God, “Where can I get meat for all these people? They keep wailing to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!” I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.” (Numbers 11:13-15).
What Moses forgot, and what we forget too when we’re overwhelmed, is that the battle is not ours, it’s the Lords (2 Chronicles 2:15). This is easy to say and harder to do but when we’re swinging for our promise we have to remember that it is a promise and not a fight. When we turn our promise into a fight, we lose it. Haven’t you noticed that the majority of the blows we take when we’re fighting the right fight the wrong way come from beating ourselves up over what we cannot do?
God is saying to us, like He said to Moses, “Get your mind right. I don’t need what you have to win what I’ve already won.” Moses felt that if God was going to leave him to do this on his own, it would be better that He take him home to Heaven — Take me now! Haven’t you felt that way? Haven’t you felt like just throwing up your hands and saying forget it? That’s when we know the enemy has caused us to lose control — our fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). The enemy knows that if he can get us to lose control, forget God, he can cause us to lose sight of the promise.
You know you’re fighting the right fight but now you have to know that the right fight is for what God promised. When we start to lose it, we have to stop. Just stop, and recognize what’s happening. When we run out of self, it’s time to run to God for help. Just like God did for Moses, when we tell God we need help, He will provide what we need (Numbers 11:16-17).
God guaranteed our victory (1 Corinthians 15:7), favor would surround us like a shield (Psalm 5:12), and that He would provide what we need for the process (Philippians 4:19).
If you’re at the end of your rope, emotionally beat down and drunk from the punches, writer Fred Fries says these 3 things will help us to sober up: Remember, Rest and Rely. Remember that we don’t fight for promises, we fight to keep the tricks of the enemy from causing us to doubt God. Take a spiritual timeout, sit and talk with God about His promise. Rely on God for the wisdom, the resources and the way that you need to claim the victory. Pray, listen, walk.
Jesus already hung, bled and died for your victory, your fight is fixed. Don’t let the devil turn your promise into a fight.
Share and be blessed.
Join us at the HILL every Sunday for a life changing word for powerful living!
Read more...
23
Mar '18
GOD IS SHIFTING YOU INTO POSITION
23
Mar '18
God is shifting you into position for the promise that you’ve been praying for. Sometimes a God shift looks like chaos, setback and even defeat but God is saying to you, “When the dust settles, you will understand why you had to go through what you’ve been through.”
If you’re in the middle of a shift, you’ve already noticed that change is happening that don’t make sense. When a God shift starts, your whole world can seem to be turned upside down, all hell can seem to be breaking lose, wave after wave of tests feel like you’re being punished.
Don’t Panic: In order for God to shift us “into” position, He has to shift us “out of” conditions that prevent our shift. God is putting periods where you had question marks. God is closing wrong doors to wrong plans, wrong relationships, wrong decisions and even some wrong places that have taken you on a detour from His plans.
Sit in the spirit and listen. You know it’s a God shift because the Holy Spirit has been whispering to you. Situations, losses that would have made you snap are giving you peace. You’re letting go without losing it. You’re saying, “Yes God,” without even knowing it.
When you’re in a God shift, keep people on a need to know basis. Keep your God shift on the DL — Divine Low. In the bible, God told the children of Israel that they already won the victory against Jericho. But in order to receive it, He told them to walk around the walls for seven days — silently. Then, on the seventh day, give a shout and the walls would come down (Joshua 6:1-5) — manifestation!
God is saying to you in this shift, follow the instructions. Keep quiet. You got this. This victory is already won. If you keep marching by faith, Suddenly, everything that’s been in your way is going to fall!
Put This In Your Spirit: Jericho was a city that stood between the wilderness and the promise. There was no way around it, and no way to avoid it. A God shift will always take you through situations that prove that with Jesus, if life brings it to you, God is going to bring you through it (Philippians 4:13).
Now is the time for you to put drama on a timeout. Detach from relationships that God has shown you are expired. Let go of what God is showing you is holding you back. Don’t let temporary emotions make permanent decisions. Everything that’s happening is shifting you into position to walk into your promise.
God found you faithful through the hell and the high water, the stresses and the struggles. He’s seen what people have done and He’s seen the work you’ve put into your faith. Keep your head up, keep walking. The prayers and the hopes that you’ve been watering with tears are about to produce your supernatural harvest!
Share and be blessed.
Click here to learn more About FAITHHILL, our San Leandro, CA campus and our mission to impact lives through genuine worship and ministries that minister to the whole person for whole victory.
GOT FRUIT?
Free eBook
A powerful affirmation study of the fruits of the spirit. This inspiring eBook is practical and empowering! Download your Free copy today and be blessed.Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Read more...
17
Mar '18
Daily Devotion: HOLY PEOPLE HURT TOO
17
Mar '18
How are you really doing? I know you’re blessed and highly favored but I’m asking you about your condition, not your position. Blessed and highly favored is our spiritual position — depressed, stressed and a mess is our condition. Do you ever get the feeling that as Christians, we need to tell people how the Spirit is doing when they ask us how we’re doing instead of how our soul is doing?
We’ve created an underground culture of suffering, all because we think we need to hide our hurt from other Christians. The devil is a liar! We don’t need to play the, “I’m always OK game,” with people who aren’t always OK. One of the most intimate moments we will ever share with Jesus and the people we love is when we’re capable of being vulnerable about pain.
As Christians, we must remember that we’re human, and if we let ourselves become emotionally constipated to appease or hide from people, or to deny our own humanity, we can make our condition worse. Hurt is caused by what happened, misery is caused by what we do about what happens.
Humble believers know that God understands what we go through and that we have nighttime’s in faith — “…Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Put This In Your Spirit: Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Hurt is a reaction to what happened, not a cancellation of what we believe. When hurt overwhelmes us, we still have joy but we’re not smiling or grinning — because we’re hurt. If we didn’t have human reactions to human conditions, we would not be human. Even Jesus cried. If we try to play the super human game, we can cause ourselves a lot of trouble and even negatively effect our ability to get honest feedback or wise counseling. If we let our soul get backed up we can get messed up.
Psalm 23, tells us that God sees and desires to restore our soul: “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul…(Psalm 23:2-3). Restoration follows devastation, and God is in the restoration business. Why would God need to restore our soul if our soul is never involved in accidents?
The bible reminds us that we’re made up of three parts: May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We don’t need to pretend like one part is turned off, our soul, because we’re saved.
When we can hurt right, we can heal right. Our human condition is real — this is a faith walk not a cake walk (Matthew 26:41, Romans 7:14-25). Growing in faith happens when we grow through conditions that cause us to have to lean more on God. Let somebody know, we don’t meet grace when we read about it, we meet grace when our soul is too weak to fight (2 Corinthians 12:9).
When pain comes, human reaction to pain happens. Healing is not microwavable, we have to claim it before we feel it, and sometimes we have to talk it through in order to make it through — even argue our way with God sometims. Job said, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him” (Job 13:15).
We don’t have to suffer in silence or hide our struggles from each other — or God. Jesus cannot help us, people cannot help us (Hebrews 10:24), by masking pain. Our flesh wars with the spirit, and anybody who says that they’ve arrived and no longer battle the war within is self-deceived (1 John 1:8).
Through faith in Jesus, we have the power to heal, grow and recover. We cannot ignore, hide or fear the weeping that endures for a night (Isaiah 40:31, Romans 8:37) or be spiritually intimidated into silence. Sometimes it takes an overwhelming breakdown to have an overwhelming breakthrough but whatever our soul pain is, it is not a destination. It’s OK to have a breakdown but we cannot let ourselves unpack and stay there — our destiny is too important.
The next time you ask someone, “How are you doing,” ask with the intent and interest in knowing how their soul is doing, not how the Holy Spirit is doing — the Holy Spirit is always doing great. Their position is blessed and highly favored but the pain in their soul is their condition. Don’t judge them or their faith, be the light in their night.
Share and be blessed.
Join us every Sunday at the HILL in San Leandro, CA at 9:30AM. Ministering to the whole person for whole victory!
Read more...
16
Mar '18
Daily Devotional: No Matter What, You Can Win
16
Mar '18
Hello devil! That’s what Christ said to Judas when he showed up to betray him. Jesus knew His purpose, His destiny and that made even his attackers his friends (Matthew 26:50).
There is no way we can be in a, “Hello Friend,” state of mind without being in a relationship with Jesus. I don’t mean a relationship of convenience — when it serves us or when we need a tow. A relationship of convenience does not create trust, it creates a giver and a taker — with only one doing the taking. We want so much more from Jesus.
Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus was rolling with God and his swagger came from his knowing that if God said it, you could take it to the bank. Is that the relationship you want with Jesus? The kind of power that cannot be shook, the kind of peace that tells storms to hush, the kind of confidence that you can look at your Judas and say, “Hello Friend, do what you came to do?”
I figured out that the relationship that most of us want with Jesus is based on what we want for ourselves, what we want out of life and whether or not we want to live life with little assurance or a lot of assurance. Whether or not we want to have a little power or a lot of power. This is all personal but that’s why relationship with Jesus is personal.
Put This In Your Spirit: “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me” (John 15:4).
The fruit that Christ is talking about is the fruit of the spirit, “…love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). What in the heck does fruit have to do with how we act, react or respond to life?
Fruit are the Holy Spirit’s personality, qualities and power. Not just the fruit but the fact that without being plugged into Jesus, we cannot bear fruit. In case anybody thought being plugged into Jesus was just about bearing fruit, it’s not. It’s really not ya’ll.
Did you know that we cannot even resist the devil without abiding in Jesus — we don’t have the power or authority to rebuke the devil. The bible actually says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The devil does not obey us, the devil obeys God. The devil will not flee from us unless we’re plugged in — “Submitted to God.” But wait, there’s more.
We don’t even have the ability to expect to receive an answer from God for a need or a want without being connected. The bible actually said, “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you wish, and to you it will come to pass” (John 15:7). I don’t want to sound preachy but it sounds like God is saying, “If you’re not into Jesus, you’re going to be into some problems.” We cannot bear fruit, we cannot resist the enemy and we cannot even ask God for anything with honest expectation unless we’re abiding in or connected to the vine: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:16).
Can you imagine being disconnected, lightly attached or having a shallow relationship with Jesus and relying on the full power of the fruit? Our ability to stay in peace even while we’re in pieces comes from the fruit of self-control. Without self-control we’re emotionally driven — without brakes. We cannot have self-control without Joy – trust in God that no matter what, you win. Without joy it is impossible to have peace. Jesus is saying, “If you want all of me, that’s great, I want all of you too.”
Let’s say you didn’t have a relationship or history with someone and they were supposed to pick you up after work. When you get off, they’re not there. Because you don’t know them, would confidence in them showing up be high or low? Maybe you’re just trusting like that and it wouldn’t bother you. Would your confidence go up or down as time passed — not knowing what’s going on? After even an hour and no call, would you bet your life on them coming or would you start making other plans? Doesn’t your lack of experience/intimate knowledge of them influence your thoughts — negatively? Could you honestly be confident that somebody will show up who you don’t know well enough to testify about their character?
When we don’t have a real, worked-for relationship with Jesus, we do the same thing. Emotions will make other plans whenever conflict happens. Jesus is saying — “If you want confidence in me, you have to know me, trust me, go through some stuff with me and see that I am not a man that I should lie (Numbers 23:19)
Can you imagine the difference in our response to life’s encounters, struggles, mess, drama, trials and tests with a fought-for, struggled-for relationship with Jesus? Maybe you can see why we go to pieces when life temporarily goes against us. If a door closed, a bad relationship ended, a delay occurred, a lack occurred, a test occurred, a hurt occurred, a rejection occurred or a loss occurred, would it break you if you knew for sure that because of your relationship with Jesus, “God’s going to work it together for your good?” (Romans 8:28)?
If we really want stability, power and control in an unstable world, we’re really saying we want a deep relationship with Jesus. If we want to heal, control our anger, rely on confidence for strength, get past the past or whatever we cannot do on our own, we’re really saying, I want a deeper relationship with Jesus.
We talk a lot about, “Connecting with Jesus, being in the vine and abiding,” but without practical steps, without repeatable steps, without steps to practice, it’s like telling somebody to go fly like the birds — without instructions. No matter how long we’ve been in a relationship with Jesus, flying like the birds or walking on water is not easy – every new level comes with new flying lessons for new challenges. Nobody will become a flying expert, just more confident about flying.
Whether you are an experienced flyer or a beginner, there are three things that you can consider doing everyday to develop, cultivate and stay woke in your relationship with Jesus:
- Commit at least 5 scriptures to your memory that you will meditate on and repeat daily — it’s best if you do this as early as you can before your day starts — but your time is the right time if your mind is clear. These are meditation scriptures, that means that they are reciprocal — promises tell us why God loves us, obedience or faithfulness tells us how we love God. They can change, they can be added to but these scriptures represent your worship, your daily meditation and devotion. If we can go to the gym and do whatever else we want to do every day, we can set aside 15-20 minutes to seriously focus on why we love Jesus.
- Self-correct or stay woke. Just like meditating on and worshiping Jesus takes practice, so does negativity, discouragement, doubt, fear and unhappiness. You have to work at being unhappy by meditating on and agreeing with thoughts and beliefs that completely contradict your truth. In other words, be your own mouth police. Correct and replace negative words. Don’t just say, “My bad Jesus,” practice replacing every negative with a positive — negative words, negative thoughts and negative behavior. Fix it, apologize for it, replace it — practice speed, the faster you fix it the more you begin to be conscious of it.
- Continuously work on God’s plans for your life — including serving and fellowship with the body. No matter what anybody says, every church is not for everybody but everybody who desires to abide in Jesus, will attend a powerhouse church that ministers to the whole person for whole victory. Followers of Jesus are not built to walk, sharpen, build up and serve alone. Develop goals, life plans, fun and new discoveries, and relationship goals that grow you, stretch you beyond your comfort zone and support a positive life.
A full life, loving relationship, serving God, positive attitude and a destiny mindset makes it difficult for the enemy to break us down or keep us down at will. The enemy should have to fight for your attention. Our ability to say, “Hello devil,” and know that no matter what we win, is based on what our worship with Jesus looks like. Desire a “Hello spirit,” that Jesus swagger, it will change your perspective, your mindset and your expectations for every area and aspect of your life.
Share and be blessed.
San Leandro, CA
Got Fruit? Is a powerful, practical short free eBook that will change the way you look at fruit. You owe it to your destiny to become your own fruit inspector.
Read more...
12
Mar '18
IT’S IN THE FRUIT
12
Mar '18
The power is in the fruit. God is raising up a generation of fruit bearers who will cause the atmosphere to shift, favor to be unleashed and, cause influence to go before them to open doors and make even their enemies have peace with them.
They will be intentional and purposeful about producing power from their fruit. Their fruit will subdue giants, tear down strongholds, take the weight out of the wait, take the doubt out of deliverance and position them to be world changers.
The supernatural anointing that causes fruit to grow has a divine purpose — to change our world from the inside out. Visions will be decreed, valley’s will be turned into victory and battles will be turned into blessings through mature fruit.
Your time is now! Inspect, empower and challenge your fruit with this FREE, life changing eBook, “Got Fruit?” This is not a reheated conversation about the fruit. Got Fruit? is a practical, relevant and inspiring application of the fruits of the spirit for powerful living.Pages: 30
Cost: Free
Share and be blessed.
Read more...
09
Mar '18
TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO LOVE YOU
09
Mar '18
Every person that comes into our life is there by permission only. With the exception of family — we choose who we allow in our intimate space and they learn how to love us by what we allow and what we do — not what we say.
That part, what we allow, is not as simple as it sounds because allowance is often confused with tolerance. Healthy allowance is not the same as unhealthy tolerance. Unhealthy toleration is allowing the unacceptable. What we healthily allow, in general, should be based on wisdom, benefit or, healthy compassion or compromise. Note To Self: If you accept what you should reject, you will become unhealthy.
The bible says, “Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” (Amos 3:3). This is tricky because, as this scripture implies, before we can agree to walk together with somebody else, we have to have an agreement with and for ourselves about love.
Agreement with self is the beginning of teaching people how to love us or knowing when we’re with someone who wants to hold us but cannot handle the requirements of us. Think about an agreement, any agreement, that disagrees with the agreement that you have with yourself…Would you accept that agreement? No, not if you are convicted and convinced about the benefits of the love agreement that you have with you.
Put this in your spirit: Not only is it important to have an agreement with ourselves about love, it is also important to know whether or not our agreement with self is healthy.
A love agreement with ourselves is only as good as it is healthy. An unhealthy agreement with self is based on unhealthy, insecure, immature or damaged emotions, or an inability to trust or rely on self to honor your agreement. An unhealthy love agreement with self is the same as not having a love agreement at all. Note To Self: We cannot give, teach or walk in agreement with what we don’t have. Establish a healthy love agreement with self and pray for the strength and the courage to honor it by whatever Godly means necessary.
Not that you are perfect, not that the love of your life will be perfect and, not that love does not require work, vulnerability, flexibility and compromise, but the only direction that you can agree to go in has to prosper you and not harm you — or them (Jeremiah 29:11). Honoring your love with behavior that agrees with your Savior (1 Corinthians 13:4-7), goes for what you expect and what you give. We cannot convince somebody that we have a healthy agreement with self if the love we expect is not the love we give. Or if the work we expect is not the work we do. Agreement with self covers both — give and take.
Everyone who comes into your life will have a different meaning and understanding of the word love. Assuming that love means the same thing to everyone, that everyone is healthy or that everyone has the same capacity to love, is naive. People will be people — some will be right and some will be wrong. It is not possible to avoid every type of person but the reality is, it is possible to avoid letting the wrong person sit in your life without the responsibility or the ability to walk in agreement with you.
Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). In other words, Jesus is saying words without actions to back it up are just words, not a relationship (1 Corinthians 4:20). Note To Self: Everyone who says to you, “I Love You,” will not qualify to enter into or stay in your intimate space — and you have to be emotionally OK with releasing them. If actions don’t back up the words, you have a verbal agreement, not a love agreement. Verbal agreements can start a relationship but actions determine whether or not the relationship can continue, or what needs to be done in order for it to become a love agreement.
The love you give and the love you expect teaches people how to love you. If you don’t mistreat yourself or disrespect your agreement with you, if you love people the way you desire to be loved and, if you commit to continuously growing to become the best, healthy, lover that you can be, people will either fit in or fit out…But you won’t be walking in agreement with what you don’t agree with.
Share and be blessed.
Senior Pastor, FAITHHILL Church
San Leandro, CA
Download your free copy of INTAMACY: INTO-ME-SEE. A short, real talk eBook about intimacy from pastor Patrick. Attention Entrepreneurs, visionaries and aspiring business professionals, treat your destiny to this free, life changing online devotional. Get ready for a power shift! Starts March 12th.
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Read more...
