Courage in Three Easy Steps!

Courage: mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.

My friends, did you know that while courage can open the door for favor to enter, it also implies a firmness of mind and will withstand in the face of danger. Courage is also about being brave in the face of fear. Courage is having the willingness to do the right thing in the face of danger, pain, significant harm or risk. Courage means that you don’t give up; you try new things and admit mistakes. This week, I would like to share with you three steps to having courage.

1. Feeling Fear, Yet Choosing to Act - Let’s take Esther for example, it took courage to put her life on the line, but she did it, knowing if the King refused to hold out the golden sceptre that she would surely die (Esther 4:11 and 5:2). Courage is not the absence of fear - it's having the strength to triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Being terrified but going ahead and doing what must be done is courage. The one who feels no fear is a fool, and the one who lets fear rule him is a coward.

2. Persevering in the Face of Adversity – The Shunammite woman mentioned in II Kings 4:23-26 demonstrated much courage. Her Son was dead, but she never said those words, her courageous words were, "it shall be well." Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we would make up our minds to walk boldly through them! Courage doesn’t always roar - sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, "I’ll try again tomorrow."

3. Standing Up For What Is Right – Daniel took a stand. He didn’t stop praying to his God even though he knew a decree had been signed that he was not to do so. He also knew what the consequences of his actions would be - the Lions den. Despite this, Daniel 6:10 tells us that David faithfully open his window and prayed to his God three times a day as he had always done. Sometimes standing against evil is more important than defeating it. The greatest heroes stand because it is right to do so, not because they believe they will walk away with their lives. Such selfless courage is a victory in itself.

Just as the Lord took care of Daniel, Esther, and the Shunammite woman, He will do the same for us! He said time and time again in the word of God to be of good courage. Good courage is having the right attitude; being positive; serving the end desired; seeing yourself victorious and believing that all is well. Just as we have to exercise our muscles in order to strengthen them in the natural, the Lord has to place situations in our path, so we can exercise that spiritual courage that He has already placed in each of us!

Go and be of good cheer and, more importantly, of good courage!

With all that said, let the church say Amen… and AMEN!

Some Of Our Responsibilities As Christians!

 Responsibility: Accountability for one’s action; Obligation

We all have responsibilities - in the home, in the workplace, or maybe even in the Church - regardless of where we are, we typically have some sort of responsibility in some shape or form. However, our first and greatest responsibility is found in Mark 12:30, where the word says; “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

So we know that loving the Lord our God is our #1 responsibility. Did you know that it's also our responsibility to be thankful? And not just in the good times. The word also reminds us “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Another obligation for us as a Christian can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:58. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast (firm), unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. We must not be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. We should always stand firm on the word; not on what we think or feel, but on what the Lord says.

We also have a responsibility to manage our money, time, our energy and our talents. How can the Lord bless us exceeding, abundantly if we aren't able to manage the small things He put us in charge of? Also, we have a responsibility to attend Church, have a prayer and study life, to be soul winners. After all, it would be pretty hard to share God's word if we don't know it, right?

So, as a recap:
1) Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
2) Give Thanks
3) Be Steadfast abounding in the work of the Lord
4) Manage our Resources appropriately
5) Maintain a personal relationship with the Lord and to bring others to Him

Often times people focus on what others are doing or what they are not doing, but keep in mind that we can't make choices for other people and besides, what they do (or don't do) simply isn't our responsibility. Let's stick with God's plan for our lives and take the high road, because to the low road is WAYY too crowded!

Let's keep our heads up, our focus up, and be very attentive to the responsibilities God requires of us.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen… and AMEN!               

It's Not Our Position That Defines Us, It's Our Disposition!

Position - place, situation, status.
Disposition - tendency, temperament, inclination liking, or preference.

Men and women of integrity, men and women of uprightness - we can't be influenced by what this one might say or what that one might say. What people say or think about us does not define us, what you think about yourself is far more important. In this life, people are going to talk about you if you do something, and they are going to talk about you if you do nothing. Good or bad, it's human nature for people to talk, but we don’t have to buy into that talk! Another important thing to remember is that it's not our title, our situation, or our status that defines us - it's our temperament, our inclination, our liking, and our emotional mood.

If we are happy and have a happy spirit, we are more likely to be kind to people and to show love toward others. In fact, when we are happy, we will often go out of our way to put a smile on someone else’s face - especially if they are sad, depressed, or maybe even frustrated about things going on in their lives. That’s someone we might work hard to lift up so they can feel what we are feeling. It’s our disposition and temperament that define us, so let's stir up the happy feeling that God has put in each of us, so we can be like mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord.

Consider Joseph, his emotional mood certainly defined him. Joseph was put into a pit, sold into slavery, and put in prison for something he wasn't guilty of. In all these things, he did no wrong. He had such an excellent spirit during these times that he was put in charge of all the prisoners. You see, it wasn't his position that defined him, it was his disposition - his positive attitude and happy spirit.

What another person does or does not do should have no effect on us. Sometimes we have to allow others to make their mistakes - don't talk about them and run them down to others - let’s simply pray for them, give it over to the Lord, and move forward.

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!

We Have to Give God Something to Work With!

Prosperous: to be successful; to achieve success

In our day to day lives, we always want God to bless us with this thing or that thing, but how often do we stop and think about what we need to do to receive those blessings? In order for us to get what we want, we have to step out on what God has put in our hearts to do. It's pretty hard to be blessed when we don't put something out there to be blessed. Take for instance, a person with a God-given talent to sing, but doesn't do so. How can the Lord bless their beautiful voice if they don't use it? How can they achieve a successful career in singing if they don't allow God to make it prosperous?

If we want to be blessed, we've got to give the Lord something to bless. Take me for example, I wanted to write blogs and I believed in my heart I could - but if I had not picked up a pen and paper to write, it would still be a desire or a great idea in my mind. Instead, I stepped out of my comfort zone in faith and I gave the Lord something to work with. Now, I may not have completely achieved success, but I have given the Lord something to work with and I have no doubt that He's going to make it prosperous! Have you ever heard the old saying, "if you take one step, God will take two?"

Look at David when he was tending his father's sheep - his sheep were attack by a bear and a lion. David didn't just sit there - no, he took a leap of faith and went after the bear. Because David put action to his faith, God caused him to be successful - He allowed David to take the sheep out of the bear's mouth. Not only was he able to take his sheep, but he successfully killed the bear as well. Now, what if David had just thought that he could protect the flock, but never put forth any effort to do so. It seems pretty reasonable to believe that the bear and that lion would have eaten all his sheep. David's willingness to step out on faith also led to his defeat of Goliath. Here was David - a teenager - and Goliath - a giant - but when David heard him defy the armies of God, he didn't hesitate. I bet it never crossed his mind that he was just a child, nor did he allow what his brother said in 1 Samuel 17:28 (his brother thought that David was coming just to show off), effect him in any way. He knew of his past success and wasn't afraid to give God something else to work with!

That's the way we must be my friends, if we want to be successful in certain areas of our lives. We have got to give God something in or from us to make prosperous. If we want money, we have got to give, because when we give, God has something to work with. He can make it (and us) prosperous and allow it to come back to us. Let's give the Lord something to work with each and every day!

With all that said, let the Church say Amen... and AMEN!