Singing Through The Rain!

Singing: To use the voice to make musical tones; a form of praising.
Soldier: A skilled warrior; to push forward.

There are circumstances and situations that are going to come that were preordained and tailor-made just for you and me. Now in our journey we must walk through them to see what's on the inside of us and how much we really trust God. We must be singing soldiers, because one day there will be a battle (i.e. circumstance or situation) that we are not going to want to fight.

We have to remember that these battles were preordained, so we must have the attitude that Paul and Silas had when they were locked up in prison (Acts 16:25) -- they understood and recognized what the will of God was for them and that He had already pre-purposed the situation. The scripture tells us at midnight that Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and He delivered them - just as He will deliver us when we become singing soldiers.

Paul and Silas had the right attitude, they knew the battle was in the mind and they did not want to be the victims they wanted to be victorious. The fight is in our thinking, even though the situation was bad, they did what a singing soldier would do, praise and fight through it.

Ephesians 5:17 - "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." The Lord wants us to understand that He's the head of all things - the author AND the finisher.

Never forget that we are singing soldiers - when circumstances arise, we must start speaking to ourselves in psalms and spiritual songs - singing and making melodies in our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19). This doesn't mean that we are going to be perfect all of the time - but we are soldiers - we get up and we push forward.

Psalms 96:1 tells us to sing unto the Lord a new song - NOT a song of murmuring and complaining. A new song - something like, "Lord you are too Holy, too just, too righteous to allow anything to cross my path that's not for my good and your glory."

My friends, keep trusting, believing and being a singing soldier and you will see that He will show up and show out for you.

With all that's said let the Church say amen... and AMEN!                       

Prayer Is Not A Request, It's a command!

Prayer: a devout request

Having a prayer life is so important because that's how we communicate with God. Without proper communication, relationships tend to fall apart. Take, for example, a marriage - if a husband and wife don't communicate, their marriage will fall apart because there is no connection. The Lord wants us to stay connected with Him. That's why having a prayer life is a command and not a request. Of course, the Lord doesn't need our prayers in order to perform His will in our lives. However, the act of prayer is a display of humility and a reminder that we are not in control!

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the word tells us to pray without ceasing. In other words, pray all the time. Prayer should never be our last resort, friends. It should be our first response, because it's really our secret weapon. We can't be everywhere, with our eyes on everyone we love -- but our prayers can! My friend shared a story with me about how the Lord woke her up in the wee hours of the morning one day and she knew that she needed to pray, so she did. The next morning, her daughter called and told her she had just been in an accident and had been hit head-on. Praise God, the only damage to her was from her air bag. What a blessing! My friend's prayers were already there in place. We can't be everywhere, with our eyes on everyone we love -- but our prayers can!

When we pray my friends, we must believe we are going to receive. Acts 12:5 tells us, "Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayers was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Verse 7 continues on to tell us, "And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands." When Peter went where the saints were praying and when they opened the door, they were astonished (surprised) to see him there. That's exactly what they were praying for, and  when God answered, they were amazed! When we ask God for something, let's make more of an effort to believe that we are going to receive!

Remember, complaining won't fix things and it won't solve any issues - but prayer can and prayer will change things. Pray and believe and you will receive, after all prayer is not a request, it's a command!

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

Where Is Your Faith?

Faith: A belief in the value, truth, or trustworthiness of someone or some thing, belief and trust in God

As Hebrews 11:1 tells us, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Even though we know God’s intentions for us are always good, don't we often get frustrated when we don't understand the why, when, or how of the situations we are facing... or am I the only one?! The thing we must remember is that if we know everything about everything, God would have never told us to have faith!

When we go out to start our car each day, most of us don’t stand there and wonder if it’s actually going to start. No, we simply get in, turn the ignition and have faith in that car and it's ability to start. In fact, most of us don’t give it a second thought - we just know that car is going to start. That’s the same kind of faith the Lord wants each of us to have in Him. If He has healed you from a sickness or a disease, it doesn’t matter what signs appear later on to make you doubt it; you have to know that God has healed you, and that you are indeed healed!

When we ask something of the Lord - as long as it lines up with the word of God - we must have enough faith to know that it’s already done! Keep in mind what the Bible says in James 1:6-8, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."

When David went out to fight against Goliath, he said "...who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God" (I Samuel 17:26)? David had so much faith in God that he was not at all afraid of a giant. "David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" (I Samuel 17:37). Although David was just a teenager, he had so much faith in God that he did not waver in the midst of such a humongous obstacle. That just goes to show you, it doesn’t matter how small you are or how big you are, all it takes to overcome is having faith in God!

The word tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Mind you, we don’t always have to be in church to hear the word - we can simply read our bible. In fact, you can read it out loud so we can actually hear the word. Remember, we walk by faith, not by sight. Just because we don’t see our prayers answered within the next week, that doesn’t mean that it's not going to happen! Besides if faith is the evidence of things not seen, that leads me to think that if you can see it, it's probably not faith!

Faith is a key element required when you are going on for God. As Hebrew 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him." I want to please Him - don’t you?!

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

We Need Much Wisdom!

Wisdom: knowledge guided by understanding

Wisdom is a highly regarded and cherished attribute in the Bible. It's so important that we get and use it and as James 1:5 points out - it's very easy to get: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

We need wisdom in every aspect of our lives and it's right there for the asking! Jesus is the source of it - in fact Christ is wisdom. We don't need to seek wisdom from this person or that to see what they think, we should instead seek wisdom from the Lord. Afterall, it is His master plan, and He is the orchestrator of it all.

The Word of God tells us that wisdom is crying out in the streets, in the openings of the gates, and in the high places (Proverbs 1:20-21). The question I pose to you is - Are we listening? 

In 2 Chronicles 1:10, Solomon prayed; "Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?" This prayer pleased God so much that not only was Solomon given the wisdom and knowledge that he asked for, but he was also given riches, wealth, and honor like no other king before him:

"And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 

Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like."
2 Chronicles 1:11-12

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of such! And the awesome thing about it is that the Lord will do the same for us if we will ask for it as sincerely and humbly as Solomon.

Let me share with you two points:

1.) Wisdom can and will deliver us from evil. Proverbs 2:10-13 tells us that, "when wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things, who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness." Wisdom can and will lead and guide us from evil, but we must pray for it every day.

2.) The rewards of having and using wisdom are given to us in Proverbs 3:2 and 4: "...length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man."

There are so many benefits to having and using wisdom. It can teach us how to raise our children, how to respect our spouses in marriage, and even how to manage our finances and make sound decisions. So I say again - I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of such!

My friends, I leave you this week with Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding."

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

God Is A Balanced God!

Balance: Equalize; to be an equal counterpoise

God is balanced! He created hot and cold, big and small, peaks and valleys, up and down, good and evil, pain and pleasure... and the list goes on. The Lord doesn't like an unjust weight - you know, where it's always cold and never hot; where it's always pain and never pleasure. Imagine a scale where one side is always up and the other side always down - thats unbalance. Our Father doesn't want us to be one-sided. He adds to the other side of the scales just what we need in order to be balanced.

Proverbs 11:1 tells us that "A false balance is adomination to the Lord: but a just weight is His delight." God is a balanced God. If we always had sugar and never had anything else to balance that sugar out, we would have one bad stomache ache, right? We're not going to always have pleasure and never have pain - if we didn't have pain, we wouldn't appreciate the pleasure. The same goes with hot; we would be most miserable if it was always hot and never cold to balance things out.

The Lord has a reason for all of this - He allows us to have valley experiences - those painful situations, so we can learn to praise Him, to trust Him, and to lean on Him. In these times - those valley experiences - He seems so far away, but let me assure you, He's right there. You see, if we never had a problem, we wouldn't know that He could solve it. When He sees that we have humbled ourselves and have come into agreement with His headship, then He puts pleasure in the scales on the other side. That way we have the same amount of pleasure for just as much pain as we had - that way the scales are balanced. As it says in Proverbs 16:11, "A just weight and balance are the Lord's: all the weights of the bag are his work."

Just remember - you must have humility before exaltation - that's God's order. Joseph had much pain, but there was a lesson in each situation and God came back and balanced the scales tremendously and as a result, Joseph was highly exalted. Just think - that could be YOU!

With all that said, let the church say amen... and Amen!