Power Of Gravity

Key Scripture:  “Lay aside every weight.”  Hebrews 12:1

Power Point:

My friend, Julie, had the most beautiful revelation from the Lord yesterday. It’s too good not to share.  It’s about the law of gravity. What God told her was that “In the heavenlies, there is no gravity to pull you down”.  Think about that.

When you encounter a test or trial, you will find that Satan keeps trying to weigh you down.  On the other hand, every single day, God will give you thoughts to build you up. He says He will plant your feet firmly. I guess that means you'll walk firmly on water or earth or clouds.  Satan will attempt to discourage, disappoint, and depress you. God says, “Think UP!”  That’s where we are supposed to live. If we don’t remove the weights, then we won’t be able to walk worthy of our calling.

     Peter is a good example of that. He sees Jesus walking on the water by their boat and he wanted to do that too.  Haven’t you experienced that? You’ll read God’s word and think, “Oh boy! I can do that.  I believe that!”  So you step out of the boat and on to a different way of walking.  The waves begin to stir themselves up and so do your thoughts.  Satan sits on your shoulder and whispers every negative possibility about how people can drown walking on water. You begin to falter. Your faith waivers on the waves and you start to sink.  Gravity is going to defeat you once again. Your grave situation has pulled your eyes down from heavenly places.

Ah.  But then Jesus stretches His hand out to bring you back UP!  His strength, His powerful love will not let you sink. He’s your anchor.  He is your hope.

     Holy Spirit sits on your other shoulder and whispers, “Come on! Let's lay aside every weight.  RUN! Look at Jesus, the One who is the author and finisher of your faith. He won’t let you down!  He won’t let you sink!  Make yourself so strong that the gravity of your situation will not overwhelm you.” He’s teaching you how to be a “water-walker”! 

     The definition of “gravity” is “the agent that weighs down objects and causes them to fall to the ground.”

You need to realize that when Peter began to sink, he did not declare his great faith.  He probably just called out one word, “Jesus!”  And there He was. In an instant, he was lifted back up to walk on the water with Him.

    Are you letting the gravity of your situation pull you down? Are you thoughts anchored on the weight you carry or on the anchor of your soul?

How about throwing off the weight of your cares that are dragging you under, and instead ask for the weight of God’s glory to fall on you?

How about yoking yourself to Jesus, the Author of your faith Who will help you to perfect your faith as you walk with Him?  The gravitational pull of earth does not exist in heaven. If you’re being pulled down, go back to your Bible and find the words that will lift you up, way up to heavenly places, where water walking is the norm.

Power Thought:

Nowhere in heaven is a force that will cause you to sink. 

    

Power Of Stealing Time

Key Scripture: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near." 

Revelation 1:3

Power Point:

     Okay.  I’m going to meddle today.   Do NOT push delete.

As is my normal habit, I get up, make my coffee and go to the computer.

I check emails while my eyes are starting to open and this morning I realized that before I knew it, I had wasted about 20 minutes addressing issues that were in them.  I know it happens at other times but that time is His time.  I stole time from my time with Him.

     Then I began to think about how many other things steal time that I could be spending with Him. Here’s where the meddling begins. One thing I’ve enjoyed over the last few years is a “brain game” called Lumosity. I’ve gotten several friends “hooked” on it. In itself, there’s nothing wrong with it but honestly I can sit down to do the ten minute game plan for the day and when I finish, I look at the clock and its been an hour. Darn.  In fact, my friend Bobbi, had the same issue and decided that she would NOT spend more time on Lumosity than she did spending time with the Lord.

Of course you know that TV is a time stealer. Or exercise.  Or talking on the phone.  Or shopping. Nothing is wrong with those things in moderation but let’s face it, anything that becomes more important to you than the important things is simply stealing time from Him.

     Why do I mention this?  Because I get a lot of emails from people that imply that they’re just “killing time” searching the internet. They must do it a LOT because I get a lot of “fluff” stuff.  I always wonder how different their lives would be if they had spent that time searching the Word for Life-giving words. Beloved, Jesus commanded us to seek Him first; to seek HIS kingdom first. There was a reason for that. He knew that we are easily distracted.  If the only thing in your mind today is playing video games on your IPad or reading your emails, then where will today end up?

Filled but wasted.  What we fill our days with is what really matters to us isn't it?

     Every day God is prepared to give you a fresh word of Grace, fresh snow to walk on, and a fresh supply of His goodness and kindness, and WISDOM.

Wouldn’t we be wiser to take time to listen to what He has to say? Isn’t that time well spent? If our faith only grows by hearing and understanding what He tells us, then shouldn’t we spend more time finding out what He has to say? Everyone needs a little “down time” don’t they?  But wouldn’t we be wiser to have more face time with the Father?

OUCH!

     I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes we just need to re-think how we’re spending our days. If God has a plan and a purpose for us, and He does, then how are the hours of our day filled with the pursuit of them? I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say, “I just don’t have time to spend studying the Word.”  

If you think about it, if we’re to be led by His Spirit, then our time is not really our own anymore is it?  When we commit our lives to Him, we’re committing our time to Him so that He can spend time with us to make us into the extraordinary people He has chosen to represent Him.

     Those moments I’ve wasted are gone.  Today I have a fresh start!

I will use it to His advantage and at the end of the day, I’ll know that my day was time well spent.

Gotta go! Time’s a wastin’!

Power Thought:

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."

C. S. Lewis

Power Of Infinite Possibilities

Key Scripture:  "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Matthew 19:26

Power Point:

     I don’t know what your life looks like on a regular basis but there are times in my life when things seem impossible. It may be a health issue or a financial issue. It might be a relationship that has hit bottom. It could be a task that you just don’t seem to be able to complete. Impossibilities seem to pop up often for us don’t they?

        The wonderful thing about things that seem impossible-those things that appear to be “unable to be, exist, or happen, or seem incapable of being true” is this:  Jesus said, that with God in your life, "anything and everything is possible.”  Yes and Amen!

If you remember correctly, Jesus came to show us what His Father, and YOUR Father is like.  He demonstrated God’s character and nature by going everywhere He could and healing the sick, casting out demons, and simply doing good to everyone He could. He continually taught about God’s power to overcome impossibilities. Perhaps we should listen to Him!

     The Word used the word, “Possible” as a description for what His Father could and would do. That word indicates that God has not only the ability to act but also the power to accomplish whatever He needs to accomplish in your life.

Jesus was making God personal-for you. 

     What seems impossible to you today?  You may have tried everything you know to do in that situation but nothing is changing.  It seems impossible. 

But what if it’s not?

Do you remember King Jehoshaphat?  He’s one of my favorite illustrations of how God does the impossible for His children.

2 Chronicles 20 has become my favorite “go to” chapter when I’m in a tight place. The enemy is surrounding Israel; A LOT of enemies.  There seems to be no way out of certain disaster, but Jehoshaphat goes to the Lord and says, “We have NO power against this great multitude coming together against us, not do we know what to do but our eyes are on YOU!”

Guess what happened next!  God promises that He will be with them and by the time they get ready for battle the next morning, every single enemy combatant is dead. They turned on themselves and killed each other. AND there was such an abundance of valuables that it took them four days to collect it. Four days!  I guess you could say that the situation seemed like a definite impossibility.

But it wasn’t.

     Would you like to see God do the impossible in your life today? I’ll give you the same counsel that Jehoshaphat received.

Believe (be firm and established and firmly persuaded) that He is your God and He will show up for you.

Praise Him.  For who He is and what He has promised and that He is making this situation a “good thing on the way”!

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

     In the natural there may seem to be no way out. But if you are His child, you are not limited to the natural are you?

As His child you can trust in the fact that even though you are in an impossible situation, you will receive the reward of your faith. You will not be ashamed of your hope in Him, because Beloved, you are just about to see the “impossible” become “possible”.

      Jesus said,  “Have faith in God FOR ASSUREDLY I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes  that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.”

     That seems impossible doesn’t it? But its the Truth.

Power Thought:

What if what you see is not all there is to see?

Power Of Going Through The Roof

Key Scripture: “ …they uncovered the roof where He was.”  Mark 2:4

Power Point:

     Sometimes when we need a miracle, we’re commanded to WAIT! At other times, we’re commanded to push through the barriers, move the mountains out of the way and get on with it!  In this story, in Mark 2, four men had compassion for their friend who could not walk. They knew that Jesus healed and they were quite determined to see a miracle happen for him. Imagine their surprise when they came to the house where Jesus was.  They could probably hear the praises of the people inside as they were healed. They could probably see the lame walking out the door and the blind touching the faces of their loved ones that they had never seen before.  Excitement filled the air. But the door was shut to them.   There was no more room in the inn.

When there’s no room, God’s children can make room.  When the door is shut-they are able to push it open-or find a different point of entry for their miracle.

     These men lifted up their friend. Imagine how hard it must have been to pull that pallet onto the roof of the house. Then they began cutting a hole in it.

     Can you picture the people below who had previously been intent on what Jesus was doing and they begin to hear the sound of the roof being opened up?  I imagine some of the straw began to fall on them. I can see Jesus looking up and simply watching their bold faith. He probably had a smile on His face don’t you think?

In fact, Mark says that Jesus saw their faith.  How? They were coming through the roof!  If they had had no faith the crowd would have turned them away. They would have said, ”Well, I guess this just isn’t the right time.” Or “Jesus looks too busy for us.” What was the end result? They received the reward of their faith. Mark 2:11 says,  “Get up! Take up your bed and go to your house! “   And he did.

Did the friends who carried him there wonder if they would have to take him back UP through the roof? I don’t think so.

When Jesus looks at us, I pray He’ll see and be blessed by faith that goes through the roof!   I pray that He’ll see a people who believe that He is who He says He is and He will do what He’s said He will do.  I pray that He will see faith that believes God and moves the mountains that get in the way of His promises for us. I pray that He’ll see His children bringing all the promises of heaven to earth.

Will you be one of those today?  Will you be firmly persuaded that no matter what is happening, Jesus has promised you a way out?  He’s promised you answers to your prayers. He IS the Miracle Worker after all.

Will you have a faith today that goes through the roof?

Power Thought:

Will you uncover Jesus in your life today? Or will you uncover Him for someone else?