08
Mar '18
Your Hurt Is Your Help
08
Mar '18
So many of us have hidden behind pain and hurt, or have covered up our struggle to impress those who seem to have it going on (on the outside). I’ve been hurt as everybody has and the one thing that always seems to happen is that hurt helps.
God is more interested in our confession of weakness than our ability to confuse people with our mask. See, we don’t meet God’s mercy, His grace until we meet hurt that cannot be danced away or shouted away — or hidden away.
You remember Paul’s, “Thorn in the flesh.” Whatever his thorn was (and we don’t know), it hurt — it hurt bad. He prayed over it, He believed for his healing and he prayed some more (3 times). But God didn’t heal Paul by removing the thorn, God healed Paul by removing his belief that divine healing only happens when God stops the pain, fixes the outward problem or gives us what we want.
Put This In Your Spirit: “And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
I might be the only one but I cannot recall a time when the first thing out of my mouth when hell showed up was, “Thank you God for the thorn.” Like Paul, we don’t think that way — at first. Hurt hurts real people. I don’t imagine that the tea bag welcomes the hot water but the tea bag needs the hot water in order to produce its greatness. Have you asked God what He’s trying to produce through your hot water?
Here’s the truth, God already knows what our reaction and thoughts are going to be (1 Corinthians 2:11). God knows how to grow us because He knows us (1 Corinthians 8:3). God knows that we are not God and that His greatness shows up in our weakness — more than any other time. Hurt brings out of us an awareness of our vulnerability, our humanity and our dependency on God (Romans 7:19-25).
The bible says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Catch this: The bible didn’t say that we wouldn’t have troubles, it said that troubles achieve an eternal glory — it builds up and causes our faith to become unstoppable (Romans 5:1-5).
Folks who claim to know God or claim to know what grace is without going through the kind of hell or hurt that seemed impossible are, “Testi-lying.” If they have not had to stay in peace while walking in pieces, they haven’t met grace. If hurt has not helped them to see that at their weakest moment they were stronger than they thought they were, they have not truly grown in Christ. If God has not told them No and made them grow from it instead of fix it, they have not seen the salvation of the Lord (2 Chronicles 20:17).
Go ahead, “Boast in your weakness.” In order for hurt to help us, we have to know that when hurt happens, God is about to make something supernatural happen. When hurt happens, “The power of Christ is resting on us.” When hurt happens, sometimes God is working on our response not just our request — James 1:2-4. Grace shows up when hurt shows up to grow us to our next level.
Knowing what God is doing does not make going through pain painless. Surround yourself with people who aren’t just saved by the blood but who are not afraid of the sight of blood. Hurt helps but between hurt happening and grace showing up, we stumble and fall, pray and cry, doubt and believe — before joy rises back up (Psalm 30:5). We cannot be a conqueror without a battle, a victor without a valley or have a God promise without a God process.
Whatever you’re going through, God is using it to help you — This is your help. In this season, Christ’s power is resting on you. Embrace it, walk in it, talk to your destiny, and tell the devil that you don’t need to wear a mask to walk in power. Heal around real people — “No weapon formed against you will prosper,” does not mean that you won’t get hit, hurt or weak. When hurt causes our weakness, God is using His power to bring out our greatness — “His power is made perfect in our weakness.”
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. GET READY visionaries, aspiring and destiny minded Christian entrepreneurs, for FAITHPRENEUR! This free online experience is a 10 Week intensive and rewarding faith shift for powerful success. Click below to learn more about this life changing opportunity starting on March 12th.
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24
Feb '18
SEASONS CHANGE
24
Feb '18
We can sometimes become locked into a season forgetting that seasons do change. We’ve all been through seasons, and as long as we keep living there will be more seasons to come.
Every season has an expiration date. The bible says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The part about this scripture that we have to pay attention to is, “There is a time for everything.”
We go through it for a season, we hurt for a season, we fly high for a season but when we attach our joy to the season as opposed to the truth, joy becomes an elevator ride — sometimes up and sometimes down. In other words, when our joy is defined by the season, joy becomes happiness.
Happiness is predicated upon what’s happening, joy is regardless of what’s happening. Seasons don’t define us, they tell us what time it is — time to grow, time to shift, time to mature, time to rest, time to regroup, time to reposition, time to get closer to God. When joy is based on the truth, we get better at understanding our seasons.
Everybody who comes into our life is not meant for a lifetime. When we confuse a season with a lifetime, emotions tend to do overtime in our seasons. Some relationships have an expiration date. As you grow, you will grow out of some people, you will grow out of accepting less than you deserve, you will grow out of trying to force yourself to fit in with wrong people, you will grow out of talking to turtles about giraffe visions, and you will grow out of trying to make an emotional meal out of emotional crumbs.
Seasons come for a reason. They come to teach and then they expire at the appointed time. Some dreams have an expiration date — they come, they inspire, they open our mind to a new world of possibilities, a new level of confidence and then they get replaced by new dreams.
Seasons of lack, loneliness, chaos and even depression have a time limit. Put this in your spirit: “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Nighttime is a season of doubt, fear or despair but joy comes when we get the courage to let the light of truth outshine what we see.
In every season you are blessed, you are in God’s hands and if you watch, walk and work in faith, every season will produce a harvest. Speak life over your season, embrace it, grow through it and remember that a season comes when a season is necessary.
Share and be blessed.
Meet us at the HILL, FAITHHILL Church, every Sunday at 9:30AM and experience the shift.
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17
Feb '18
The Struggle Is Real
17
Feb '18
The struggle is real. We’ve all heard that before and we know that there is nothing easy about this faith walk. You can be on the mountaintop one day and in the valley the next. Some days you got it going on and some days you got to pray to get out of the bed.
What makes the struggle really real is when we add expectation to it. Expectation for more, for better, for a shift or a breakthrough. You were fine when you didn’t want more but if you noticed, as soon as you said, “I want more,” as soon as you started to get back up, as soon as you started working on it, as soon as you started climbing out, all hell started to break loose.
People started acting crazy, stable turned unstable, comfortable turned uncomfortable, good was no longer good enough, strong was no longer strong enough, emotions started to have a mind of their own, and joy stopped getting up when you did. Don’t Panic.
You won’t struggle in Christ until you start pushing in Christ. A faith struggle can only come from a faith push. Struggle without a push is not a faith struggle, it’s just a life problem. A faith struggle is bigger than we are. A faith struggle happens when the natural starts to access the supernatural promises of God.
The enemy wants to block this delivery. The enemy wants you to forget about the price you’ve already paid and walk away from this promise. You’re pushing for supernatural and you are being supernaturally attacked — “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
The enemy is not interested in us when we aren’t interested in the supernatural, the impossible, the divine pardon, the grace escape, the Goliath victory. When you demanded more, when you made up your mind to claim your victory, when you started going after your recovery, your healing, your promotion, your dream, your breakthrough, the enemy said, “Not over his dead tricks” (1 Peter 5:8).
The struggle showed up because you rose up. You declared war. When you started going after your more the enemy started going after your mind — and now you have to get into position to fight right (Isaiah 26:3). Put this in your spirit: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Submitted to God is the position that we have to be in to resist the struggles caused by the enemy (Psalm 94:19).
When the struggle comes — mental or emotional, step back, put it down, pray and wait on the Lord. You’re entering a new level, the next level of faith that you need grace for (2 Corinthians 12:9). You’re being blessed beyond your comfort zone, above your last level of faith, and now you’re going to have to square up with truth, mind up to see and hear the enemy coming, and God up to go up: “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Remember, sometimes we have to thin out our circle, put people on a time out and remove negative people when we’re in a power struggle. When you fight the fight, a friend to your weakness is an enemy to your greatness. Keep your circle tight, your faith right, your fight right and with God, everything will turn out right.
Share and be blessed
Pastor Patrick
Join us at the Hill, every Sunday at 9:30AM and experience dynamic word for dynamic people for dynamic results.
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12
Feb '18
TELL HELL NO
12
Feb '18
You don’t have a choice! You’ve lost enough, you’ve paid enough, you’ve waited long enough. It’s time to tell hell, No!
This weight is not going to let go of you beloved, you’re going to have to let go of it, you’re going to have to give the hurt back to them, you’re going to have to forgive for your soul’s sake and, you’re going to love you enough to walk by faith out of yesterday, yester-them and yester-doubt.
Drop this in your spirit: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). The you that can walk through fire, the you that can do all things through Christ who strengthens you, has to hope right if you’re going to think right and fight right beloved.
Hope says, I’m not putting joy on hold to get in somebody’s line to wait for an apology that won’t come. Hope says, my destiny is too important to burn down my emotional house to keep my history warm. Hope says, that was then and this is now. Hope says, God does not put anything we need for our destiny in our history. Hope says, what God has for you is for you, you are enough, you are OK even if you don’t feel OK right now. Hope says, I cannot lose anything that God did not intend for me to win with. Hope says, no man can close a God door — and no devil in hell can stop you from having what God said you could have.
This is your breakout. This is your time to refocus and release. Drying our eyes and wiping away yesterday is not always easy but we must (Psalm 30:5). Letting go of what we wanted and grabbing hold of what God is doing is not always easy but we must (Isaiah 43:19). Pushing ahead when we cannot see where we’re going is uncomfortable but the hope in you has to stand up and tell hell “No,” because this is not how your story is going to end” (Psalm 23:4).
When you hope right, wrong people won’t fit right. When you hope right, holding on to what’s killing you won’t agree with you. When you hope right, you cannot sit in that mess and wonder if it’s God’s will. When you hope right, you will say goodbye while some people are still talking! When you hope right, you cannot accept defeat.
You have it in you to do what you have to do to rise up beloved. Walk and bleed if you have to but tell hell, No. Cry and crawl out if you have to but tell hell, No. Everything that God has for you is right on the other side of telling hell, No! It’s your story, it’s your life, it’s your time to forgive you for not knowing then what you know now. It’s your time to get back up and fight for joy that comes from doing right by you. Grace looks so good on you!
Tell hell, No! Tell the enemy not this time and not today (James 4:7)! He cannot have your promise, he cannot have your potential, he cannot have your dream, he cannot have your family, he cannot have your joy! This is a new day, a new you and you’re activating the word: “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Write down what’s holding you down. Pray over it and loose it! Ball that piece of paper up and throw it outside in the garbage. Refuse to pick it back up again, refuse to talk to it again, refuse to let it define you again, refuse to let it dictate what your future is going to be and refuse to let it tell you what’s impossible for you, your life or your family (2 Corinthians 10:5). Believe it, speak it, expect it and walk it — and this giant will fall.
Doors are opening, connections are being sent and, divine wisdom and restoration are on the way. Your lifetime love is coming to love you like your season love never could. It’s time to put hope in the promise that all things work together for your good, and that God is standing behind you with the full weight of His glory. The bible says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psalms 91:11).
Jesus already covered it with the blood beloved! You aren’t what happened, you are what happens when you reach down deep in your soul and tell hell, No!
Share and be blessed.
Pastor Patrick
Visit us at Faithhill Church every Sunday at 9:30AM and experience the shift!
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09
Feb '18
Don’t Give Hell Your Victory
09
Feb '18
The last thing we want to hear when we’re going through a storm or a battle is that we’re doing something wrong. Sometimes we can fight so hard and be so consumed with the battle that we start to lose perspective, lose hope and get overwhelmed by the struggle.
If you have not said or thought, “God! When is this hell going to end or when is my breakthrough coming,” you’re probably not human. The enemy’s job is to fight humans who have a God promise (1 Peter 5:8). But when we get overwhelmed in a fight for a God promise, God is saying, “Slow down, calm down and repair your faith thoughts.”
Before the children of Israel ever crossed the Jordan to conquer Jericho, God said to Joshua: “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men” (Joshua 6:2). God told them that the victory was already won — and they would receive it by marching in victory! Obedience releases victory — the faith fight is against any thought or lie that rises up against or attacks our hope (Romans 5:5).
The most powerful, destiny determining thing we can do in a God fight is to think like a victor: The battle is already won — (2 Chronicles 20:17). To fight a faith fight right, we have to train emotions and thoughts to walk in agreement with our promise: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11).
The first principle of a God fight is that it is not yours, it’s the Lords (2 Chronicles 20:15). Second, the victory is already won — We’re never fighting for victory in Christ, we’re fighting in victory because through faith in Jesus, we have access to God’s grace that not only guarantees our victory but our ability to endure the process in the promise (Romans 5:2, 1 Corinthians 15:57). Third, God’s will. Trust in God’s will decides if we’re fighting in victory or fighting against fatigue and fear — False Evidence Appearing Real. If this is where you are, have been or are trying to help somebody out of, keep reading and feed your soul.
A God fight is for God’s will to be done. Whether it’s a relationship or an argument, a job or a business, a breakthrough or a recovery, we have to remember Christ’s prayer: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). When we’re in a God fight for our promise, our will is and must be surrendered to God’s will. In other words, we have to fight to keep our emotions in check. Surrendering our will is not canceling our desire, it’s knowing that our desire is based on a partial view of God’s plans for our life and God’s will is based on the total view, the destiny view of our life.
How do we know when our will or emotions are not submitted to God’s will? Mainly, by the words that come out of our mouth and the thoughts that dominate our mind. Our mouth and our thoughts tell us what we believe in our heart (Matthew 6:21) — The enemy knows that doubt seeds will not produce a faith harvest (Hebrews 11:6). Half the battle in a God fight is resisting the lies that cause us to emotionally turn on our promise, cancel our hope and forget that, “No matter what, we win” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The Truth About a God Victory: A God Victory does not have to look like what we thought it would or dreamed about, it has to fulfill God’s will to prosper us and not to harm us (Jeremiah 29:11). They don’t have to come back, we don’t have to have it our way — we have to get what God has for us — that’s the victory (1 John 5:3-4). Without submitting our thoughts, expectations, desires and even our patience to God’s will, the enemy knows we have lost confidence in God’s word and our emotions are in control. Submitted emotions are confident that: “…In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Peace in a God fight is not the absence of work, resistance or struggle beloved — it’s confidence in the fact that the work, resistance and struggle is working together in our favor. Peace comes from confidence in victory — the more confident we are, the more peace we have. The more peace we have in a God fight, the more powerful our thoughts are, the better we fight and the better we sleep (Romans 5:1-5). There is no way to learn how to walk in victory, resist hell and to develop fearless faith except by experience. We don’t meet grace when we read about it, we meet grace when we fight about it.
We might get hit but No weapon formed against us will ever prosper! No mountain, no breakthrough and no challenge can defeat us when we put worship in our work (Spirit and Truth), faith in our fight (Confidence in God’s will), and victory in our heart (It’s already won).
Don’t give hell your victory! Faith Right, Speak Right, Fight Right and watch God work this together for your good (Matthew 19:26)!
Share and be blessed.
Pastor Patrick
Join me at Faithhill Church this Sunday, Feb. 11th, for the start of the powerful sermon series, “Declare Your Victory.” Real Talk for Real People for Real Power. Don’t miss it.
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02
Feb '18
God Favors You
02
Feb '18
Walk in your favor! We’re not waiting on God, we’re waiting in Gods favor — “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12). This is the shift, this is the power that changes the outlook!
No matter what you’re going through, no matter what it looks like, favor has you protected. The enemy is after your perspective, the enemy wants you to believe that he’s winning but the favor of God already blocked it!
We can’t see favor but favor can see us. We don’t have to see favor in order to know that favor will do what God said it would do. If God said it, that settles it: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
When all hell is breaking loose, when we feel like God’s forgotten about us, we have to shift out of our feelings and shift into favor: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9, Hebrews 11:6). Favor is not a maybe, favor is your DIVINE promise that no matter what the enemy tries, you are protected, your family is protected, your peace is protected, your potential is protected!
What am I saying? It’s time for a mind shift — We’re not waiting on favor, we’re waiting in favor! You’re not waiting on a promise, you’re waiting in promise. You’re not waiting on a blessing, you are already blessed and highly favored. Don’t let what you see, what you feel or what happened turn your heart against the favor of God. Favor does not put anything you need for your destiny in your history.
Favor says, they didn’t leave you, God removed them. Favor says, you didn’t lose, you were protected from winning what you didn’t need. Favor says, it’s not over, God is working all things together for your good! Favor says, I might have been hit or hurt but I’m unstoppable. Favor says even though it looks impossible, confidence in God turns the impossible into possible (Matthew 19:26)!
Rise up. Put on the mind of favor. When you walk in a favor mindset, you walk in the abundance of God, the wisdom of God, the power of God overflowing (2 Corinthians 9:8). In other words, if God’s favor be for you, then who or what can be against you? (Romans 8:31). Speak it, walk in it and tell the problem that you are blessed and highly favored!
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02
Jan '18
Hurt Hurts Real People
02
Jan '18
Have you or somebody you know been hurt or emotionally injured? If you haven’t, or you don’t know anyone who has, you’re one of the few. Many of us go through stuff, we get hit, life and people knock us down, and yes even Christians get overwhelmed.
A big part of our faith walk is learning how to deal with hurt. It is the most impactful, most difficult and one of the biggest challenges to our faith. Nobody is immune, pain does not have a respect of person and no amount of faith can prevent hurt (Matthew 5:45). This is perhaps why we just need to get this out on the table — in case there is any confusion: Hurt is called hurt because it hurts.
Despite the false claims that Christians have a magic hurt pill, the bible does not tell us that we are immune to hurt (2 Corinthians 4:17). All we have to do is go to the bible and God will show us that to hurt is human. The bible tells us that even the Holy Spirit Grieves (Ephesians 4:30), Jesus wept (John 11:33-36), Elijah, God’s world wind prophet, was so emotionally distraught that he asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4).
If we keep living, hurt will come down our street. We expected the right thing from the wrong person. We didn’t get what we wanted or we are seemingly being denied, hindered or blocked from what we need. They mistreated our love, our kindness or our goodness. They walked out without trying, without giving God a chance. They fired us without notice, without reason. If it wasn’t for bad breaks, it seems like you wouldn’t have any breaks at all. Life is piling up problems, breaks between the hell seem to be getting shorter. The kids are out of control, communication is breaking down with a spouse and the picture of family you hoped for seems impossible. We were not ready or prepared to lose a loved one.
What am I saying? It’s OK to have a breakdown but your destiny is too important to unpack and stay there. The beginning of healing from anything is truth. It’s not easy but following truth is the only way out of pain (Proverbs 4:7). Pain without truth is like a prison without a door.
But Pastor you just don’t understand. No, being a pastor, a minister, a volunteer or anything else does not make us immune to hurt of any kind. Gifts, ministries, talents or assignments don’t stop hurt. Humans hurt regardless of who they are or what they do. We don’t know what the Apostle Paul’s thorn was but we do know it hurt — and it hurt bad (1 Corinthians 12:7-9).
In our darkest hour, in our despair or distress, that’s when faith meets the road. That’s when, like the Apostle Paul, we meet grace. We don’t meet grace when we read about it, we meet grace when we cannot do anything about it — and we invite God to step in. Our emotions will war against our spiritual truth, and our weeping will endure for as long as emotions are winning (Romans 7:23).
Find your praise. Sometimes we have to start praising God before we feel better. Sometimes we have to stand in victory, talk like victors and expect like victors before we can see victory. Sometimes we have to commit our weakness to God and trade our weakness for His strength (Psalm 18:2). Walking out of pain is an inside job — pain does not stop because the problem is reversed, pain stops when we reverse the lies of the enemy: “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
We need you to survive. We need you to recover and be restored. This is a chapter, a season, not a lifetime and we all need to see what God is going to do when you trust in Him to work all things together for your good. We need you to believe, your hope is light for us — if He did for you, He will do it for us (Revelations 12:11). Your breakthrough is going to break somebody out.
No matter what, if you don’t give up on you, your potential, your power or your promise, you win! If you let it, pain will grow you into the next version of you. Cry if you have to, seek help if you need to, pray and walk. If you keep truth in your heart, you’re going to find out that you can walk with your heart in pieces and still be in peace. Look in the mirror with the hope of Jesus in your heart and keep reminding yourself that your destiny is worth it!
Be blessed.
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