22
Jul '20
It’s An Inside Job
22
Jul '20
Haven’t you noticed that the biggest fights come from what you cannot control, what you cannot work out, or what you cannot change — on your own. When God is working on the inside, the outside is impossible to change, impossible to fix, and impossible to control.
The power, the wisdom, the favor we desire and should expect, is a result of God’s ability to mold and shape our faith through adversity, challenges, and weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:10). When God is working on the inside, He’s preparing us to produce His fruit on the outside: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” (John 15:16).
Obedience is not just about doing what’s right, obedience is about the position. When God is positioning our thoughts, emotions, or growing us out of our comfort zone, life shows up to make blind spots visible and to make us uncomfortable being comfortable where God is trying to grow us from. God desires to give us the desires of our heart but our heart has to desire what is in God’s will, what is in God’s plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11), and that our faith is mature enough to handle.
The breakup, the letdown, the struggle, the argument, the disappointment, the difficult choice, the hurt that cripples us, the relationship that nearly breaks us, the career that stalls, the job that quits us, the faith in wrong things all present a fight that will cause us to go deeper in Christ or go crazy in emotions.
Haven’t you noticed the more it hurts, the harder it is to pray? The more afraid we are, the angrier we are, and the more disbelieving we are, the more distracted we are? The bible says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35). Are you separated from God by the problem, is your obedience to the truth subject to what’s happening? Can you trust God, own your peace through confidence in what God said even when all hell is breaking loose…when you’re in the fiery furnace or the lion’s den?
When God is working on the inside, the outside will tell us why. Did you give up on your life because a season ended? Did you trust the enemy and doubt God because the situation looked impossible, because doing what comes next was uncomfortable or because emotions overrode the wisdom of God (Proverbs 4:7)? God is saying, “A storm is a Situation That Overrides a Righteous Mind.” The only thing that can and will bring us back into position to be blessed is obedience to our truth — lining up our thoughts with the wisdom of God, our hope in Christ, and God’s plans for our life (Psalm 23:4, 2 Corinthians 10:5).
If God is working on the inside, He’s not working on what’s going on outside. He’s not trying to fix them, He’s working on you. He’s not working on that job, that turndown, that failure or that rejection, that closed door or that wrong, God is working on the inside to keep what happens on the outside from destroying us. We have this assurance, “God works all things together for the good…” (Romans 8:28).
God wants your obedience to His word. No matter how bad it hurts right now, no matter what emotions say, God desires our heart to tremble at the truth and not the situation: Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the LORD. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
You’re not being punished, you’re being prepared. This is God’s power move. God is proving that you were stronger than you thought you were. He’s drawing you closer to unstoppable, fearless faith. He’s building up your confidence, He’s making your path straight and He’s reminding you that, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” This is your setup for your divine come up. Get in position, get in the truth, God is getting ready to turn your fire into your fruit.
Share and be blessed.
Pastor Patrick
Read more...
15
Jul '20
When Storms Come
15
Jul '20
If you’re like most of us, a storm can seem like all hell is breaking loose. Winds of confusion can beat up against our faith, and problems can look like rivers overflowing the banks of our hope. A storm can come from any direction and can occur at any time.
The one thing we know about storms is that everybody will go through them (Matthew 5:45). Every storm has clarity in it, a blessing in it, and destiny power in it. The biggest problem we have in a storm is getting over the initial reaction. We don’t have to pretend like we’re not hurt or that the storm feels good — hurt hurts real people and to hurt is human (2 Corinthians 4:17).
When a storm comes into our life, a storm is almost always necessary. Storms bring clarity. The disciples went through a storm with Jesus (Matthew 8:23-27), just like we will. They were with Jesus when the storm came, just like we are. They were frightened by the storm, they got in their feelings and their feelings overrode their trust in Jesus. Sound familiar?
While the disciples were stressing, Jesus was sleeping (Matthew 8:24). Can you imagine what God is thinking about the storms that come up against us? Are you able to see the storm as God sees it? God sees, “No weapon formed against you will prosper.”
When the disciples woke Jesus to tell Him about the storm, Jesus said, “O you of little faith” (Matthew 8:26). Here’s where the clarity comes in. Jesus was not telling the disciples that they had a little amount of faith, He was telling them that they were not even using a small amount of the faith they have (Romans 12:3). Every storm will give us clarity about the level of faith that we’re on; the level of faith we’re on decides how “Furious” the storm looks.
There’s a blessing in the storm. To get the blessing out of the storm, to see the mess turned into a miracle, we have to move past the initial shock, awe and hurt to remember that the storm is not the threat, a lack of faith is the threat. The bible says, “Be it, according to your faith” (Matthew 9:29). Faith does not mean the absence of a storm, faith gives us power in and over the storm (Matthew 17:20, Hebrews 11:6).
Your storm is pushing you into your destiny. A storm says, “It’s time to move, it’s time to go higher, it’s time to let go, it’s time to trust on a destiny level. When destiny is growing us out of our comfort zone, it gets uncomfortable. What is God growing you out of? What were you afraid of before the storm? What was holding your confidence back, your peace back, your love back, before the storm? The storm becomes a blessing when we understand its purpose.
This is not just a storm, this is a divine wind, this is a supernatural force that is pushing you to trust God on a whole new level. When Jesus rebuked the storm it immediately calmed. Jesus was not only speaking to the storm, but He was also speaking to the emotions of the disciples. Before we can have peace on the outside, we have to calm the storm on the inside — through faith and confidence in Jesus.
Get your blessing out of the storm. Your destiny is too important not to!
Share and be blessed.
Pastor Patrick
Read more...
16
Apr '18
RELATIONSHIP DEVOTIONAL: THE GOD IN GOODBYE
16
Apr '18
Nothing draws us closer to God like the hurt that comes from relationship. Love exposes the soul to human extremes, pleasures, and hurts that only love can.
If you’ve loved and lost — to win, had to sacrifice a relationship for your greatness, or had to surrender your will to God’s will and let someone go, you’ve had to walk in a closeness with God that does not compare to most other situations.
Don’t get me wrong, we don’t start out with the plan or the intent to be hurt just so that we can get closer to God. No, emotional heart attacks push us into God’s Emergency Room — bleeding, bruised and broken.
One of the divine lessons that love will continue to teach us, until we learn it, is that we are not love. Repeat, we are not love. God is love (1 John 4:8). When we’re loving on purpose with whom God planned for us, God is loving through us for them. The bible says it this way, “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
If, then, God is love and it is His love that is working in us and through us for His pleasure, who we emotionally pick as a mate or to date does not mean that they are a divine match. We would have to say that we were using or know the mind of God in order to convince ourselves that we know, in advance, if someone is meant for us. We don’t have that ability (Romans 11:34. 1 Corinthians 2:11). We can only use proof, evidence based on behavior that agrees with our Savior (Luke 6:43-45). Emotions alone are not qualified, and can be too contaminated, to be relied on as the only proof of a divine match.
We’re not our own, we belong to God and the supernatural blueprint for our life is not subject to our emotions — it can’t be. We have to pause when we think about the hurt that comes from who walks out or who we have to remove from our life. Think about it: If someone who is not meant for us leaves our life, a surrendered will would pray for them and wish them well — knowing that God has put a love period where we had a love question mark. If we cannot genuinely pray for a season and wish them well, we have not surrendered our emotions to God’s will for our life.
Put This In Your Spirit: If you aren’t for them, then that means they aren’t for you either. Two wrongs don’t make a God right. God’s plans for your life, and theirs, were created before you were born (Psalm 139:13, Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 2:10). We either are on plan or we’re off track with everybody we meet. Whenever God steps in, it’s to keep our lives on track with His plans: “For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Emotions that override God’s divine plan, warnings and signs, are disobedient emotions (2 Corinthians 10:5), that are influenced by seductive evil spirits — Our emotional condition will determine the influence familiar spirits can or will have over us. Jesus came so that we might have life and life more abundantly — only demonic forces are at war with God’s plans for our life (John 10:10).
Consider This: Trees shed leaves when it’s time to change seasons — for self-preservation. In other words, even the tree will shed leaves in order to save its life. But know this, when the tree sheds a leaf, not one leaf that falls to the ground kills the tree.
Walking in divine truth leads emotions. It’s a position worked-for, hard-fought for that usually requires retraining our emotions to acknowledge, submit and abide in the will of God. This is not hardly natural, in fact it is impossible without an intimate relationship with Jesus (John 15:5).
Fighting back thoughts and emotions that come from the enemy takes work. In fact, without abiding in an intimate relationship with Jesus, the work will wear us out (James 4:7) — Especially when the emotions we’re trying to fight are emotions that want what we don’t need.
You don’t have to fake it. Unless you have an iron brain, it takes a minute to submit to God’s will — every new test requires a new level of submission. But what we have to remember, consider for our own sake, is this: Emotions that can tell God what to do or tell you to do anything that harms you or your destiny, are influenced by the enemy – no matter how good they feel (2 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Break up with fear and emotions that tell you to harm yourself. Break it off! Cry if you have to, crawl if you have to and even if you stumble on your way out, submit to God’s will for your life. When we’re not walking in our divine truth, every season will look like a lifetime and if we’re not careful, long and wrong seasons can become unhealthy soul ties.
When we won’t or can’t do what God’s love requires us to do — learn from the past and step aside, the Holy Spirit will protect us in our weakness by interceding on our behalf (Romans 8:26) — even when we don’t want to be protected. When someone is not for us, right for us or not ready for us, God steps in. It might look like a breakup but if God stepped in, it’s a divine shakeup. God lets wrong things fall apart so that He can make right things fall together.
Put This In Your Spirit: Haven’t you noticed that when you lie to yourself about how you’re being treated by someone, the truth drives you crazy? No matter what we tell ourselves to try to make wrong right, the truth won’t allow us to be at peace with emotions that break our heart.
When people leave your life or have to be removed, it is confirmation that their season is over — not your life. When you love you with the love of Christ, you don’t ever have to be with somebody to be somebody — happy, healthy and powerful. The evidence of our surrender to God’s will is in how we respond, react and ultimately recover from a God intervention.
When you know what you bring to the table, you’re not afraid to eat alone.
Click here to read and follow Pastor Patrick’s inspirational blogs.
Follow Pastor Patrick
Meet us at the HILL for life changing messages for your destiny! Click here for more information about FAITHHILL.
Download your copy of the 30 Day Devotional, “The God In Goodbye: Losing To Win“
This 30 day life changing devotional by Pastor Patrick, is a must have for every lover’s tool box. It is your guide, navigator and coach to reclaiming the power of I AM! Share this powerful, thought provoking and encouraging eBook devotional with someone you love today!
Read more...
09
Apr '18
Relationship Devotional: The Danger Of Talking To Everybody About Your Relationship
09
Apr '18
It’s tempting to just bear your soul with folks when you’re dealing with relationship troubles or decisions. We all need somebody to talk to and when we’re in an emotionally stressful or difficult situation, we, both women and men, tend to reach out to people we know.
The problem is, everybody we know is not always somebody we should reach out to about our relationship. God works through wise counselors — neutral, objective people to help guide us in the right path. The opposite is true when we put our business in the wrong hands. Putting your relationship business in the wrong hands is like giving your alarm code to a thief.
Put This In Your Spirit: Proverbs 10:14 says, “The wise don’t tell everything they know, but the foolish talk too much and are ruined.” When you’re struggling or going through it in a relationship, there are three people that you should never put in your business: 1) A gossip, 2) A wounded person and, 3) Somebody who is happy if you lose.
Likewise, you cannot put people in your relationship business who will hold on to what you should and will let go of. You will be surprised at the number of relationships that struggle because an outside influence is holding on to something that the couple has moved on from years ago. If you’re talking to somebody who will hold a permanent grudge, dislike or negative attitude towards your mate, you’re talking to the wrong person.
When we’re hurt, we tend to gravitate, emotionally, towards whoever will make us feel good about whatever we want to feel good about. If we want to feel justified about our wrong, we tend to talk to somebody who will go along with us — even when we’re wrong. These are poisonous conversations.
It is not abnormal or crazy to want to hear what feels good when we’re not feeling good. The problem is, when you expose your relationship to poisonous people, you will poison your relationship. Keep doing it and you will destroy your relationship.
Put This In Your Spirit: When we talk to wrong people about our relationship, before long, talking can turn into an unhealthy partnership with them against our relationship. Confiding in wrong people tends to create wrong, unhealthy emotional alliances that are never healthy for your relationship — it is very dangerous. Proverbs 13:20 says, “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.”
Does this mean that we shouldn’t talk to anybody? No. Talking is not the problem, who we’re talking to and the objective for talking can be the problem. Are you talking to the right person for an objective, healthy purpose? Or the wrong person to agree with half the story? Let’s say you’re dating a great person but they have a flaw that you’re trying to decide if it is or should be a deal breaker. Or let’s say you and your spouse are going through a difficult time. The last person you need to talk to is somebody who is emotionally hurt, unsupportive of your relationship, unhappy in their relationship, happy to see you single, negative or, somebody who does not believe in the power of God.
It’s not always easy to separate the good one’s from the bad one’s. At the very least, eliminate talking to someone who is obviously poisonous. Another tip is to always state your objective up front when you’re talking about your relationship with someone — “I want to fix my marriage,” or, “I am trying to look objectively at my behavior/decision,” or, “I need an objective/balanced opinion,” or, “This is not about bashing my relationship or my mate or me leaving,” etc. If you’re talking to the opposite sex, eliminate anybody who is not a friend/supporter of the relationship or who has a romantic interest (spoken or unspoken). The devil uses open doors — put a lock on obvious foolery.
Whoever you choose to share your relationship business with, just remember that you don’t want to lose a good relationship over bad advice, or turn a temporary problem into a worse or permanent problem. And you don’t want to make a decision based on somebody else’s hurt or ignorance. Word to the wise: Don’t give someone the ability to speak death over your love life when you’re trying to save it.
Seek God’s wisdom — don’t just read the bible but search the scripture for God’s wisdom about the problem you’re having. It makes no sense for us to read the bible without purpose when we’re needing a answer about a specific issue. No matter what you’re dealing with, the bible has a wisdom principle that will guide you to right thinking, right people and right answers. If you don’t believe it, leave a comment below for a topic/issue you’re dealing with for a wisdom scripture(s) that will address it specifically.
Trust God for your destiny love decisions. Always make the love of your life the first and the last conversation about your destiny together. Relationships are hard enough, don’t add gasoline to the fire.
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!
Have you downloaded your copy of the thought provoking, uncut and life changing eBook, “Where Are All The Good Men At?” Whether you’re single, dating or married, this powerful, short eBook is a must read for God’s leading ladies.
Testimonials
“The eBook by Pastor Patrick,”Where Are All The Good Men At?,” takes the gloves off as Pastor Patrick keeps it real and tells you what your heart needs to know to take the weight off your wait and to keep your emotions in check while God prepares your Mr. Right.” LW, Atlanta
“So real, so deep. Every woman should give this powerful eBook to every woman — young and old, she knows as a gift of love, honesty and power. REALLY.” MG, San Francisco
Read more...
05
Apr '18
RELATIONSHIP DEVOTIONAL: ALONE AND LONELY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS
05
Apr '18
Being alone can sometimes feel lonely but single is not a death sentence. Yes, we all love companionship and yes we enjoy good company. We’re human and, we were created to love someone who loves us intimately and uniquely.
But alone is who we’re with and lonely is being miserable with who we’re with. Lonely has to be with somebody to be somebody. But people don’t cure our loneliness, loneliness is an inside job.
No, we don’t have to be satisfied being alone but content, yes (Philippians 4:11-12). Why? Contentment or Joy is a fought-for, struggled-for fruit of the spirit that the fruit of self-control relies on (Galatians 5:22-23). Anybody who has ever hooked up with somebody while they were lonely will tell you that, 1) A spirit of loneliness makes you feel out of control, and 2) A spirit of loneliness robs us of our joy, and causes our heart to leak with low self-esteem, low self-love, distrust and obsession.
All of us have gone to the grocery store hungry. When we shop with hunger, starvation, we don’t make wise decisions, we make desperate decisions — something quick, something easy and something right now. When we shop hungry, we almost always buy something that we don’t need.
Loneliness that causes unhealthy emotional hunger is no different. Unhealthy emotional hunger tends to use temporary emotions to make long-term decisions — in the heat of the moment. If you’ve gotten into a relationship because you were lonely, hungry, chances are the relationship didn’t last long — if you knew you were only looking for a snack, that might have worked for you.
But if you were looking for a lifetime relationship, you probably found out that as soon as the hunger was satisfied, emotions filled up, the attraction wore off. After you sobered up, you might have even experienced Hunger After Shock — that feeling of, “Did or why did I choose that?” A relationship initiated out of hunger is usually intense in the beginning — that’s why it can be confusing, but it’s always mild in the middle and it melts down after a short period of time.
Loving on purpose takes soul work. When our soul is right, healed, healthy and content, we are ready for our soul match. Remember a soul mate can be an unhealthy match but a soul match is that person who God planned for our best self. Our soul match compliments our willingness to be by ourselves if being with someone else means being miserable.
In other words, we tend to mate with someone who matches our soul condition. Loneliness is not a condition that you want to attract or mate with. A lifetime love is somebody who we choose to do life with, not somebody we have to put up with for the rest of our life. How we choose to be alone is up to the individual but however we choose to be alone, we should enjoy it to the fullest — Date, learn, grow.
When you know what you bring to the table, you don’t mind eating alone.
We have to check our heart before we check into a relationship. God will guide us into the path that He planned for us when our heart is ready, willing and able. We don’t and won’t always get it right but before you get emotionally caught up, pray this simple prayer: “Lord, create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10) — and listen with honest ears. One thing is for sure, we cannot recognize a swine when we’re out of our emotional mind (Matthew 7:6).
Share and be blessed.
Have you downloaded your copy of the thought provoking, uncut and life changing eBook, “Where Are All The Good Men At?” No matter what your relationship status is, you owe your destiny to read this powerful, short eBook by Pastor Patrick.
Testimonials
“The eBook by Pastor Patrick,”Where Are All The Good Men At?,” takes the gloves off as Pastor Patrick keeps it real and tells you what your heart needs to know to take the weight off your wait and to keep your emotions in check while God prepares your Mr. Right.” LW, Atlanta
“So real, so deep. Every woman should give this powerful eBook to every woman — young and old, she knows as a gift of love, honesty and power. REALLY.” MG, San Francisco
Read more...