Power Of Negatives

Key Scripture: "But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work,so that you may be (people) perfectly and fully developed (with no defects), lacking in nothing."  James 1:5

Power Point:

     The results of endurance and steadfastness and patience are perfectly wonderful aren't they?  We become a people perfectly and fully developed-how awesome is that?!  But to get to verse 5, it is necessary to live out verses 2-4.  We only need endurance and steadfastness and patience when we are enveloped in trials.  We need those qualities to be able to look at a trial with joy, and perfect faith in our hearts, and on our minds.

     When I was in the eighth grade, I was part of a 4H club.  Our principal was the leader and our project for the year was photography. I had a little brownie camera and I knew that when i took a picture all I had to do was take the film to the drugstore to be developed.  Imagine my surprise when my fearless leader decided that my project would be a self-portrait.  He had taken pity on my ineptness and took a photo of me and then we went to his home and developed the negatives.  I remember being surprised at placing the negative in the developing solution and watching as it turned into a picture. Mr. Nixon carefully moved the photo paper back and forth and bit by bit I saw myself looking back at me. At the perfect time, he took the photo out and hung it up to dry.

     Beloved, we all have dark places at times and the thing we need to remember is that Jesus is in that dark room with us. He has the negative of the print that He is developing in our life.  He knows just how long to keep it in the developing solution and He is very intent on that negative because He knows exactly what is supposed to develop from it. If He removes it too early, He will spoil the picture. During the time the process is going on, there is a red light alert outside the door that tells people to STAY OUT!  If someone opens that door too early, the final product will be ruined.  At the perfect time, and not a moment before, He will remove it and then and only then can you see what HE saw when He took the picture. He always turns the negative into a positive.

    Jesus has an image, a plan and a purpose for you.  He sees you differently and He sees your situation differently than you do or anyone else does.  That's why it is so important to ask Him to show You what He sees so that you can agree with Him and capture that picture on the inside of you.

     I was talking to my daughter yesterday about a difficult situation we are facing.  What came out of my mouth was, "It is what it is, but it's not what it WILL be!" That's exactly what God says to us continually.  The facts (the negatives) are what "is" but they are not what they will be after the Truth develops them.

      The image that God has of you is the image He wants you to have too.  That's why He is busy in the darkroom, the dark places, developing that image. Soon, He will decide that it's perfect and He will lift the image from the developing solution and hang it up. Then you will be able to see clearly what He saw at the beginning and carefully created.

     Beloved, we can look at ourselves and we can look at others and only see negatives.  That only means that Jesus is not finished with us yet.  We are still developing, as are they.  We haven't spent quite enough time in the darkroom with the Master Photographer who is quite intent on developing His perfect image in us. As we endure through the developing phase; as we stand fast on His promises of a flourishing finish, and as we patiently wait for the Perfect Image to develop, we become strong in areas where we were weak.  We have faith where before we had doubt.  We grow up in all things in Jesus.            Ultimately the negatives lead us to wholeness if we trust Jesus to develop them into a good thing-which He promises us in Romans 8:28:

"We are assured and KNOW that all things work together and are fitting into a plan for good for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose."

Is that you?  Well, no worries then! He's the Master Developer, and He knows just how long to leave you in the developing solution. You're on your way to seeing what He's seen in you all along.
    By the way, I got a blue ribbon for my portrait-mostly because I let the one who knew what he was doing-do the work!

Power Thought:

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction."

Lewis F. Korns

Power Of New

Key Scripture:  "Behold I make all things new."

Power Point:

     Recently I was praying for someone and The Lord reminded me of Lazarus in the tomb. When you think about it, Jesus didn't walk into the tomb and grab Lazarus' hand and say, "Rise up and walk." No. He purposefully stayed outside the tomb and called out his name, saying, "Lazarus, come OUT!" Lazarus had a choice, just as we do.  We can stay in the tomb, inches away from our Savior, our Deliverer, our living Hope, or we can walk toward Him and toward all the "new" He has for us.

     You see, Beloved, when you choose to stay in the tomb, all the "old" is in there with you.  All the failures, and rejection, all the hopelessness is written on the walls of that tomb.  It's what you see every day. It's what you think about every day.  The young woman we were praying for was consumed with fear and anxiety. She knew Jesus, but she had never taken off her grave clothes and put on the new clothing that Jesus had for her. She had never come out of the tomb of fear.  As I was telling her all this, The Lord whispered to me, "This is for YOU too!" And it was.  There were a lot of things going on in my life that had led me back into the tomb.  When He showed me that Truth, I could see so clearly that I needed to jump off that slab and run away from fear to the peace of God again.

     You have a choice.  Jesus has called you to LIFE and PEACE.  You can come out or you can stay in the tomb. You can stay in the tomb of fear or walk into Peace.  You can stay in the tomb of unbelief or you can walk into faith.

Is it time for a little resurrection?

     You can stay in the tomb, clothed in grave clothes or you can start walking toward Jesus.  When you walk toward Him, you are walking toward freedom.  You can be free from fear.  You can be free of unbelief.  You can walk toward hope.  You can walk toward Grace.  You can enter into all the provision and blessing of really knowing how much Jesus loves you and how many wonderful things He has prepared for you to walk in with Him.

     Jesus has called YOUR name today, Beloved.  Will you get off that cold stone slab, stand up and start walking toward the place in Him where ALL things are made NEW; new thoughts, new dreams, new power, new life in every way?

     You don't want to stay in the tomb when Jesus is calling you out do you? Isn't it time to think differently so that your thoughts are captivated by the goodness and kindness of Your heavenly Father toward you?

     Wouldn't it be wonderful to live life in the plans that GOD has for you, in the way He has planned them?   Wouldn't it be amazing to live in what Jesus died to give you?

     Yes, Beloved, it would.  It's your choice.  He's already offered it to you. it's up to you to take the next step toward His open arms.  The first step is the hardest, but soon you'll be running!

Power Thought:

Tombs are places of death. The kingdom of God is a place of life.  You can't keep one foot in both places. You simply have to choose the new that Jesus died to give you! 

Power Of His Affections

Key Scripture:

Power Point;

      Those people that drive us crazy on a regular basis do not bother God at all. I guess we shouldn't be surprised at that.  I was talking to Him about someone one day, describing her shortcomings. He said "I like her. She's the object of My affection!"  What?  I tried to probe a little deeper.  "But Father, she's not doing ANYTHING right!" 

"I know", He replied. "I have high hopes for her! She's the object of My affection, and My affection will change her life!"

I tried another tack. "But Father, You said that we need to live righteously, have faith and spend tons of time with You. She doesn't do ANY of those things." (I was thinking He must have missed the latest report on her activities, and I wanted to be sure He was up to date.)

 "I know. She's a perfect target for My grace and mercy."

 I gave up!

     
     The thing is, when we are filled with His Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness and self-control, we have the same Spirit that Jesus did.  We can live in the same Spirit that He did. 

     
     When was the last time you prayed for patience and left your prayer time thinking, "We'll I've asked for it and He promises to give it, so things should go "just swell". I will be completely patient from now on.  Within the next five minutes you've found yourself with 100 opportunities to use patience. It's actually a bit sneaky isn't it?  He promises us patience.  He provides us with patience. Then He provokes patience. Honestly, sometimes I'm just provoked! He gives us a chance and a choice to grow that fruit by placing us in the perfect situation where patience is necessary. I certainly wish He had chosen another way don't you?

     We always have the option to trust God for any of the fruit of the Spirit. It's there to grow in us until it reaches the point where it can touch the people around us.  You can't have mercy and grace for other people without giving it an opportunity to GROW in you.  The difference between us and our Heavenly Father is, His grace, mercy, love, patience, kindness, etc, have always been filled to overflowing.  He's continually stretching us so that we can be more like Him.       
He allows people in our lives that stir up the flesh or the spirit.  It's a test, Beloved.

     
     How you respond and relate to someone should be a reflection to them of the same way Jesus responds to them: unconditional love, great expectations; showing kindness and mercy and all the rest of the best that God has for them.

That includes encouraging them when they're weak in faith and gently pointing them to grace.

      In "The Shack", one of my favorite comments that God makes is, "I'm especially fond of you."

     Just think what those words would mean to someone who has done their darndest to mess up their lives!  What if you treated them the same way Jesus did and let them know that their future will still be amazing because God's arms are wide open for them and He has promised to lead them to a flourishing finish.

    They are the object of His affection. Shouldn't they be the object of our affections as well?

After all, He is especially fond of them. We should be too, don't you think?

Power Thought:

Consider it all joy...when your patience has a chance to grow. You'll be just perfect in the end.

Were you aware the "It's Time To Power UP!", the book, is available on Amazon.com?

Power Of The Right Ingredients

Key Scripture:  "But also, for this very reason, giving all diligence, ADD to your faith... " 2 Peter 1:5

Power Point:

     Chocolate chip cookies are a big thing in my family. We are EXPERTS at making wonderful soft cookies; at least we were, when I used to cook.  We use fresh butter, and eggs and chocolate chips and my mom was always adamant about using natural vanilla extract.  To this day, I can taste the difference in artificial vanilla and will NOT eat anything with "artificial ingredients".

    I can remember being excited the first time I brought home a package of store-bought cookies. I got my glass of milk, opened the package and sat down for my treat. What a disappointment! They were not only hard as rocks, the flavor of artificial vanilla was awful and all the chemicals that had gone into them were NOT a good thing. They had put the wrong thing in the mix. They had taken shortcuts and chosen less expensive ingredients and when the final product was ready, it didn't measure up to the real thing!

     In my own life, if I want to have the "perfect mix" of God in my life, I have to add the right ingredients don't I? So do you, my friend!  If I want to have faith, I have to have an abundance of His words in my heart.  If I want to look like Jesus, then I have to add His Spirit to every step I take. If I want joy then I have to add a good measure of time with Him. A few minutes here and there will not produce the flavor I want in my life.

     Sometimes people look good on the outside but they're not adding the right ingredients to have a blessed life.  They've taken shortcuts.  Instead of peace, they've added anger.  Instead of hope, they've added disappointment.  The truth is that whatever we stir into our lives will be evident to other people. The artificial Christian will be evident after the first bite.

     The Pharisees are a prime example of that aren't they? They had added so much "law" to their lives that there was no room for "grace".  Because they didn't understand "grace"and love and mercy, they couldn't understand the love of God and they missed it.

     Taste and see that The Lord is good!  He has all the right ingredients, the BEST ingredients.

     His heart is pure love and kindness.  His thoughts are high about everyone. His Spirit is ready to mix in those same ingredients in us.  He's prepared a table of wonderful things for us to taste that will help us to know the real from the counterfeit. Kingdom life is a product of the power of God, taking its time to mix its wonderful flavors into His wonderful new creation.

Taste and see. He really is good! Why not ask Him to add the right ingredients to YOUR life?

Power Thought:

We are a result of whatever we mix into our lives.















Were you aware the "It's Time To Power UP", the book, is available on Amazon.com?