Power Of Drawing Near

Key Scripture:  “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”   James 4:7

Power Point:

     Resistance is something I’ve had to work at.  I recently started working out with a trainer, (Nicole), and a Muscle Activation Therapist, (Jennifer).  Over the years my muscles had begun to atrophy.  You couldn’t see it on the outside.  (I still had arms and legs, after all!) but right beneath the skin, years of poor nutrition and lack of exercise had begun to destroy my muscles. Gradually, walking became more and more difficult.  Opening jars became impossible.  Through a series of God events, I was led to Nicole and Jennifer. I tried exercises to increase strength, but though I had some success, I was still struggling.  My muscles needed to be re-connected to my brain after all this time. They were short-circuited! When Jennifer was added to “Team Roberts”, she began to activate those poor, tired, worn out, disconnected muscles again.  Much of that process involves resistance.  The proof of my increased strength is my ability to resist.

     “Resistance”.  Even the word makes me tired. It's usually hard work isn't it? There have been many times when I skipped over the first four words in the above scripture and went straight to “resisting the devil”.  Unfortunately since I hadn’t drawn near first, I was resisting in my own strength. That was tiring and ineffective. Sometimes I’ve been on the wrong side of the equation altogether and I’ve resisted God.  You probably know that that is not wise, because then God resists YOU!  That’s a really awkward place to be, just ask Jonah.

    The key to being able to resist, is tied up in first submitting yourself to God.  The term “submit” that James uses here means to arrange your troops in order under the command of the leader.  You can’t follow the Leader if you haven’t submitted to Him first.

     The word, “resist” means to withstand or oppose something or someone.  In other words, it’s going to take some thought and some action on your part. So many times over the years, I’ve received glorious strength from God’s word and then I am given the opportunity to walk it out. That means God will test the Word He has given you in order to strengthen it in you. I meet resistance. I can either “fold up my tent” and go back to bed, or I can put my feet in God’s footsteps and move on. That means that God Himself will strengthen me, Angels will work on my behalf and the Holy Spirit will encourage me at every step. 

    When the enemy comes against me, God is the Lifter of my head. I can resist the enemy when God lifts me up.

     When the enemy tempts me to doubt, I draw near to God and I resist the enemy.

     When the enemy tries to destroy my faith, I draw near to God and I resist the enemy.

     When the enemy is flooding the atmosphere around me with negative thoughts meant to steal my faith, I resist him, firm in my faith in the goodness of God for me.

    Beloved, faith always draws near to God first. No matter how strong you are, you must come under His leadership to effectively resist.

Power Thought:

 The proof of your increased strength is your ability to resist.

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.

Power Of Overcoming

Key Scripture:  "Be of good cheer.  I have overcome the world!"  John 16:33

Power Point:

    I know you've heard people voicing their failures.  It seems to be a pattern in the news today that people who have made grievous errors in judgment and have failed to win their battles simply become victims of their circumstances. They tell everyone how hard things were and so it is okay for them to be overcome by the negatives. Have we become a nation of WIMPS?

We give up too easily don't we?  We excuse our failures instead of working through them until we take ground again.

     Beloved, losing is not an option for the one who trusts God. He doesn't like to lose. He never plans to lose.  If you remember, Jesus always overcame.  How? Because He trusted God. He pushed through the hard parts and came out smiling on the other side. He continually listened to His Father and lived His life by what the Father showed Him. He lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. Overcoming was always His goal.

These are some "Overcoming Declarations" that YOU can make today:

I overcome evil with good.

I overcome chaos with peace.

I overcome hatred with love.

I overcome sickness with faithful prayer promises.

I overcome weariness with the strength of God.

I overcome disappointment with fresh hope.

i overcome sorrow with determined JOY!

I overcome doubt with praise.

I overcome fear with faith.

I overcome lies with Truth that sets me free.

I overcome because I believe that God is Who He has said that He is, and that He will DO what He has promised to do. God is Love and Love is Good.

I overcome because I understand that God is good, all the time. He's always working out the good plans He has for me.

I overcome because I understand that because of Jesus, and His Spirit in me, I am who GOD says I am, and I can do what God says I can do!

I overcome because God is with me. He's on my side. I am not alone in this.

I overcome by faith, and I am never overwhelmed by my circumstances.

I overcome with persistent, powerful, praise.

I overcome with wonderful worship filling the air around me and stirring up my spirit within me.

Wilting is not an option today.

Wavering is not an option today

Winning is the only option. Overcoming is part of my inheritance.

Not only do I overcome I am MORE than a CONQUEROR;

That means my faith will take me over and above the enemy wherever he is and whatever he does. I am not only victorious, I am SUPER victorious.  I don't win ordinary victories, I win EXTRAORDINARY victories.  Because I have an extraordinary God. 

Now that's an extraordinary way to live.

 Power Thought:

"What if I fail?  But oh my darling, what if you fly? 
Anonymous
 Cheer UP!

Copyright (c) 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power Of Rainbows

Key Scripture:  “ The rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  Genesis 9:16

Power Point:

     Recently, I saw this picture on Facebook.  I couldn’t stop looking at how extraordinary it was.  Of course the picture speaks for itself, as the storm was drawing the colors from the rainbow, the rainbow remained unchanged. It remained full of color.

I guess the reason that this spoke to me was that I have always looked at rainbows as a symbol of God’s promises to me.  What this storm was trying to do was to rob the rainbow of its power for color and life.  That’s what storms always try to do isn’t it?  They want to drain the color from our faces, the dreams from our hearts, and the promises of power from our faith.

If you look carefully, you will notice that nothing has diminished the rainbow.  It is still there in all its glory. But the storm is now being consumed with the colors of the rainbow. The storm is being transformed, not the rainbow.

     Since I have earned my graduate degree in surviving the storms of life, this gives me great hope.  What do I see?  Glad you asked!

I see that God’s promises always maintain their life and their color. They never fade.

I see that God’s promises change the atmosphere of any storm that comes against us. 

I see that the storm may initially look more powerful, but the rainbow remains intact.

I see that God always sees the rainbow. It’s been placed between heaven and earth forever.  Whenever God looks at earth, He sees the glorious beauty of the covenant promise He has made with us.

I see that if we choose to see the rainbow over our lives, we will continually be reminded of the covenant promises of our Father.  No storm is bigger than God’s promises to us is it?

No problem is bigger than God’s promises to us is it?

   

     Like Abraham, we need to know what God has promised us, and then we need to stop the storms from draining the color from them. We need to follow Him to find the pot of gold at the end.

      If you’re feeling a little pale today, look up Beloved. There’s a whole sky full of promises for you from the One who loves you so very much. Reach up and pull them down.
Your atmosphere will change color-and so will you!

Power Thought:

Keep going for the pot of gold.

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work

Power Of Staying At Your Post

Key Scripture:  “Why are you here, Elijah?” I Kings 19:13

Power Point:

     Elijah had a very powerful reputation.  When he SPOKE something, God DID something.  In 1 Kings 17, you can read the story of Elijah  and King Ahab, and his very nasty wife, Jezebel. Elijah goes to the people and to the prophets, and says, “How long are you going to be wishy-washy about God?”  (Suzanne Translation). He offers them a chance to have a challenge between Baal and the real God. Not surprisingly, Baal doesn't shows up. Elijah stirs the pot a little:

“Perhaps your god is busy, or he is meditating “Maybe if you cry louder, he will hear you and come. They cried louder. There was no voice, no one answered and no one paid attention."  I guess Baal was on vacation.

     Ultimately of course, Elijah calls on Jehovah.  And of course, there are lots of fire works and the people turn back to Jehovah.  It is an extraordinary story of God showing up for His servants.

Extraordinary. Amazing. God used Elijah to turn a nation to Him and He honored his faith.

     Then comes the most stunning turn around in Biblical history.  Jezebel decides she’s had enough of Elijah. Elijah hears that she is going to have him killed. Elijah leaves his post. He is depressed. He is afraid. He is discouraged.

      God finds him in the place he has run to, and says, “What are you doing here Elijah?”  Now that’s a question I don’t want to hear from God.  How about you?

      I’ve had times when I’ve moved away from my post haven’t you?

Then finally, one day, I wake up and hear God saying, ‘What are you doing here Suzanne?  You’re supposed to be there! That’s where My purposes are for you. Are you ready to move back to the place of My power and blessing?”

     In the Garden, (Luke 22:40)  Jesus gave the disciples one command:  “Stay here and pray that you may not enter into temptation”.  They fell asleep at their post. Twice. We all know what happened next. Poor Peter. Would he have betrayed Jesus if he had stayed at his post?
     The truth is Beloved, there is a reason why God has placed us where we are. There’s a reason why He cautions us to be alert and not be missing in action. His calling on our life is for our good and the good of His kingdom.  He’s got a plan. And He's given you His command. It may not make sense to you but it makes perfect sense to Him.

     One of the things that I treasure most about Jesus is that He stayed at His post.  He stayed in the Garden until He had the victory in His spirit that would help Him complete His mission.  He stayed on the Cross even though it was hell at its best.  He completed His calling. He finished his job.

     Today He is still at His post.  Where is that, you might ask?  Seated above all power and authority and every name that is named so that He can pray for you.  When you are AWOL, HE prays for you. When you fall asleep at your post, He prays for you.

     He stays connected to the Holy Spirit in you and prays for your deliverance, and for your strength. He's praying right now for your honor to be upheld, your body to be healed, and your dreams to be fulfilled.  He never leaves His post.

Isn’t that a great thought?

No matter where I’ve run, He knows where I am.  No matter how difficult my circumstances, He knows where I am.  No matter how much evil is surrounding me, He overcomes it in prayer.

      Right now, there are probably angels that He has sent, moving into position around you, ready to carry out the Word of His power in your life.

Where are you Beloved?

Get back to your post.

Power Thought:

Wherever God has placed you, it's a place you are supposed to be for Him to finish His work. Stay there until the job is done.

Copyright © 2014, Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work