Power Of Standing

Key Scripture: “My brothers and sisters, you will face all kinds of trouble. When you do, think of it as pure joy. You faith will be put to the test. You know that when that happens it will produce in you the strength to continue. The strength to keep going must be allowed to finish its work. Then you will be all you should be.  You will have everything you need.”  James 1:1-4

Power Point:

     So you’ve had a rough time.  The waves have been crashing over you and they don’t seem to stop.  This is the test of your faith.  This is the test for your testimony of God’s goodness.  This is the place where you stand.

     You suit up with the armor of God.  You suit up with His strength.  You arm yourself with the weapons of righteousness. You pick up your sword and remember all those wonderful promises He has given you and you begin to fight back.  You shield yourself with faith.  You remember that this battle isn’t with what you see and know but with spiritual forces coming against you to rob, steal, and destroy.

     Many years ago, my friend Janet and I were praying and the Lord said, “Don’t let the devil dance in My space."  When things are tough we tend to do that don’t we?

We react to the attacks of the enemy instead of responding.  We forget who we are and Whose we are.  We forget that God is on our side against all viciousness and unfairness and injustice, and so we let the devil run over our hearts, and our thoughts, and fill us with defeat and fear. Don’t go there.

    

     Take a stand.  Plant your feet on the Truth of God’s Word and the Character of your God.  He is bigger than you are. He is bigger than your enemy, and He definitely has a plan.

He loves to show up and reverse the curses until they become abundant blessings.

He loves to change the unchangeable and or course, do totally impossible things.

     He gets a little testy when the devil breaks loose into His space.  When your thoughts are consumed with anger, sadness, disappointment or fear, the devil is dancing in God’s space.

When you’ve given up on your faith and you refuse to hope in Him, the devil is dancing in God’s space.

When your heart is broken and you can’t lift your head anymore, the devil is dancing in God’s space.

Kick him out.  Take a stand.  Remember what you know and Who calls you His Friend.  KNOW what you know. Run off into a corner somewhere where it is just you and God. Ask Him the questions that

You need answers to, and ask Him to change your perspective so that He can strengthen you.

     The devil may think he owns God’s space but your Heavenly Father, has prepared a table for you right in front of his face. It's full of His blessings.

As you go to the Lord and ask Him the questions you need to ask, He will comfort, encourage and create good out of evil, peace out of chaos and provide for you all the other blessings that Jesus died to give us.

     This is not the end. This is the middle of the muddle.

STAND UP!

STAND AGAINST the enemy.

STAND IN His space.
When we don't take a stand the devil runs all over us.

Power Thought:

Make the enemy eat his words, while you feast on what God has said.  Know what you know, Beloved. This is the place where you stand.

Power of Being SET

Key Scripture: "I have set The Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved."  Psalm 16:8

Power Point:

     My grandson JD, is only 11.  Its just been discovered that he has Type 1 Diabetes.  My precious family is living in the midst of a horrible hurricane of epic proportions.  Every single thing in their lives has been affected; the way they eat, the things they do, the way they spend their time, the dreams they dream.

     My friend Karen, was doing just fine thank you, and then one day the doctor gave her the bad news that she had ovarian cancer. In the last four months she's endured chemo and now surgery and then she faces more chemo.  The earth has definitely shaken under her.

     My friends Julie and David, suddenly had a law suit thrust upon them; a totally unfair, unjust law suit which has carried on for over two years. It's been draining in many ways.

    I could list many wonderful people I know who've seen cracks develop in the once solid earth under their feet. I bought a card for JD recently and it said, "Wouldn't it be nice if like were like a DVD and you could fast-forward through the hard parts?"  Yes. It would. And yet. Even in the wilderness times of life, God is with us and He is our Shepherd.  Shortly after my husband died, Holy Spirit led me to a passage in Isaiah 54.   It says, "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, BUT MY kindness shall NOT be removed,"   And it never has been. I'd like to have "fast forwarded" through the hard parts, but if I had, I would never have understood the kindness of God to the extent that I do now.  I would never have stretched my mind around the extent of His faithfulness and His love. And His preparation for the tempests.

     He promises in Psalm 23 to prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies, I've come to understand that in a whole new light.  In this recent season of strong winds, before it even began, Jesus prepared the table. I found myself hearing two phrases being repeated over and over, probably more than twenty times in the last month.

Set your face.

I've got your back.

     I was reminded of Jesus life and how He had to make the choice every day to keep His face set toward His Father. He had to keep His face set toward all that the Father had for Him to do and for all that He had promised. In Gethsemane, knowing what lay ahead, He struggled with His soul; His mind, will, and emotions, but never with His Spirit. His Spirit was set on the Father's face. He knew that the Father had His back.

Dave Hamon

      In every situation in our lives, God has prepared a table for us. The settings are already in place but you get to help Him fill the plates.  Where you heart is set, that is what will set your table.  You can set it with good food or bad food. What you believe about what God has promised you is what will fill your plate. If you are full  of doubt and fear, that is what will fill your plate. If you believe and refuse to doubt, faith will fill your plate.  What you digest, is what will feed you, for better or for worse.

     When you set your face toward Him, it removes all the distractions from your peripheral view.

When you set your table and sit down to eat with Him, be sure to fill your plate with the good things He offers. He promises to feed His flock like a Shepherd.  He promises to come with His strong arms to rule in your situation. He comes with tables filled with the rewards of your faith. When you prepare the way for Him, your table will be prepared with all the food that you need to strengthen you to be carried through and carried forward.

     The friends,(and family), I mentioned above have found surprisingly good things on their tables.  They are sitting with Jesus, at His table, right in front of the enemy.  There were many times when they wanted to FAST FORWARD, but they've chosen to push "play", (though they were strongly tempted by "delete"). They've chosen to trust God to fill their plates with whatever they need for their journey.  Peace?  Definitely.  Hope?   Absolutely.  They've given Him a lot to work with. They've prepared a place for faith to fill their plates.  They've decided to taste the Goodness of God.  They've set their faces toward Him. And they are sampling delightful food that they didn't even know was there before.

Power Thought:

    What you set your heart on is what will fill your plate. He's got your back, Beloved. Feed on that.

copyright (c) 2014 Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.

Power Of Guilelessness

Key Scripture:  “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, (guile), hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, desire the pure milk of the Word that You may grow.”  1 Peter 2:21,22

Power Point:

    In John 1, Jesus sees Nathaniel coming toward Him and says of him, “Well, for goodness sake, would you look at this! Here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceitfulness!”  (That’s the Suzanne translation) He seemed surprised.  In the notes in my NSFB, it says that “Jesus discerned his transparency of spirit.”  What a proclamation!
     The truth is that Jesus had been watching Nathaniel.  He had been listening to his prayers.  The term, "under the mulberry tree", was a term used to describe prayer. Jesus was watching and Jesus was listening.

     When does it happen?  When do we become aware of the fact that the thousands of things that we say need to be pure?  When do we learn that we can’t say one thing to one person and another thing to someone else?  What happens to make us realize  that giving a false impression of ourselves is giving an ungodly impression?  When does holiness become important?

    We’ve read it hundreds of times:  “Be holy, even as I am holy.”

We tend to look at that command and consider it a “distinct impossibility” don’t we?  We forget that Jesus made us holy, when He gave us the privilege of being washed clean through and through by His precious blood. What we were, we are not now.  What we are now is a NEW creation, something never before seen or heard. 

     When you look at all the wonderful characters in the Old Testament, they all had these wonderful encounters with God, didn’t they?  Jacob wrestled.  David worshipped.  Abraham believed and Moses saw Him face to face.  And yet, none of them had the extraordinary privilege of being filled with His HOLY Spirit.  They were, in fact, faced with having to try to keep the law of Jehovah without the Spirit of Jehovah.

Enter Jesus.  Enter the GOOD NEWS that things were about to change.

The life of God, the ZOE of God was now being freely offered to us, by establishing His Holy Spirit in us.

Beloved, if we’re not growing, we’re slowing down the work of the Holy Spirit.  If we don’t grow in grace, and faith, and love, then the pure power of God cannot transform us.  We STAND in holiness through what Jesus did for us, but sometimes we don’t walk in holiness. I think that saddens His Spirit.

     Have you ever thought about the fact that God is completely without guile? There is not one ounce of deceitfulness in Him. That’s important for us to know because unless you understand that, you will never be able to grow in your faith.  You'll always be wondering what will happen next.  The truth is that if He says it, He means it.

If He means it, He’ll do it.  There are no ulterior motives.

When He says He loves you unconditionally, He does.  When He says He’ll always work things out for your good, He will.  When He gives you His word on anything, you can take it to the bank.

     And be sure to cash the check with His signature on it-because it’s good.
     I think Jesus is always looking for us to manifest the same transparency that He did. He knows that our holiness is absolutely critical to our becoming like Him. And He knows that being like Him is the way into an abundant life with Him. And when we think HIS thoughts, we are guileless.

Power Thought:

“For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us,

leaving us an example that we should follow His steps: Who committed no sin, nor was deceit(guile) found in His mouth.  1 Peter 2:21,22









Copyright(c) 2014 Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.

Power Of Mold

Key Scripture:  “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels (motives) of the heart. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  1 Corinthians 4:5

Power Point:

I hate mold. Actually I am allergic to mold.  A few months ago, I was viewing a house, which had been freshly remodeled.  Things were looking pretty good.  We went into the basement and it looked beautiful. There was crisp white paint on the bead-board siding and my favorite color of yellow on the walls. Well, I thought, this could be a keeper.  Then I began to wheeze. Then I smelled the mold.  In fact it was so strong that I had to get out of there very quickly. What was not immediately apparent became obvious very quickly.

      This morning I decided to fix some hot buttered toast. I knew the bread had been there for a few days but I examined the top piece and saw nothing but bread. Unfortunately, it burned so I had to go back for another slice.  Because I had checked the first one carefully, I only looked at the top of the second slice.  Looked good.  I toasted it and when I took it out, flipped it to put it on the plate. There it was, live and in living color.  Three large circles of MOLD! Another piece of toast went in the garbage.

     We all have mold that tries to worm its way into our lives.  No one is exempt.  Recently I have had to deal with some mold that I didn’t know was there.  A reader informed me that a person in their church was sending out the “Power UP!” under their own name.  It was a very big issue because that

person was on staff at the church and needed to be a person of great integrity.  When confronted with the truth, she denied everything.  She said that she was the writer/ghost writer of these Holy Spirit written messages. Mold invaded my space. I have spent the last week in much prayer, asking the Lord what He would have me do.  What I understand is that the “Power UP!” is not the main issue here.  The importance of integrity and honesty on a church staff is the issue. After having corresponded with some of the believers there, whose hearts have been broken over this problem, I am firmly convinced that God is on the move to answer their prayers to “expose any lies or deceptions”.  The mold is being exposed in order to be removed. Mold is always destroyed when it is placed in the bright light of the Son.

     Dear Readers, I hear from you all the time that you send my emails or copies of the blog to your friends and family.  I LOVE that! You cannot imagine how humbling that is! It blesses me to know that I heard from the Holy Spirit something that would bless and encourage you, and  that you were so blessed and encouraged that you wanted to share it.  The difference is that this woman was taking what was anointed for your encouragement, from the Holy Spirit, through me, and taking credit for it.

        Of course, The Lord is already turning it into a GOOD Thing on the way! 

11.   It has made me aware of the need to be more legally protected.  I sense that something large is looming on the horizon and that this is His way of preparing for it. 

22.  I have met via email and phone two wonderful women who bless me with their wisdom and their heart for their body of Believers- and who know how to war in the Spirit.

33.   I have been blessed by the friends who have come along side me with fervent, powerful prayers for the situation, especially for this precious church.

44.   I have felt peace beyond understanding and have stepped back to simply gain wisdom and strength and joy in His presence, while His Mighty Men and Women of Valor intercede.

     As a result of all this, I’ve learned the value of “setting my mind on things above and not on things on the earth.”  When we look at Jesus; when we “set” our face toward Him-that which is there to destroy and distract us becomes very, very small.  We become “hidden with Him, in God.”  That is a very good place to be don’t you think?

      Blessings to each of you!  I value and treasure each and every one of you who has been so faithful over these last years. Thank you for reading and thank you for sharing, and thank you for encouraging me with your comments. 

Love,

Suzanne

Power Of Knowing

Key Scripture:  "That you may really come to know-practically, through experience, for yourselves-the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge, for yourselves, the love of Christ."  Ephesians 3:19, Amplified Bible Power Point:

     You've probably heard the phrase "He (or she) is a real character!".  Usually that's not a good thing. Yet character is the thing we most rely on in our Heavenly Father isn't it? Some of the definitions of "character", are "fine, excellent, high grade, superior."  Other attributes that are important are kindness,generosity and loyalty.

      We NEED Him to be fine, excellent, high grade, and superior, don't we? We need Him to be kind and generous, and loyal to us.  We need Him to be someone we can rely on. We need to know that He's there for us. We need Him to keep His Word.

     I heard Graham Cooke say that eventually you move past faith to "knowing".  It took me a minute to process that, but I could see that it was a great nugget of truth.  We begin our Christian life constantly trying to walk by faith, pushing through barriers; not knowing but going. As time passes, we have thousands  of opportunities  to know Him. We've been through storms He's calmed, and walked through deserts where He's provided water, and opened doors of hope. We've come to realize that it is His nature to "be there" for us in any situation; that somewhere, somehow, He has a plan that will make even this thing work together for good. Because He IS good.  Because He IS love.  Because He IS full of grace and mercy.  Thank You Jesus!

      When you first became a Christian, you knew it was a wonderful

experience but I imagine that, like me, your walk of faith began in total darkness. You probably realised that something was different but you had to take the first step in darkness. Proverbs 3:19 says, "The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines more and more-brighter and clearer-until it reaches its full strength and glory..."   As life has evolved, and you have set your feet firmly on the Truths of Who God IS and What He has promised you, the path becomes brighter. You know that you know that you know that He is good, and that He keeps His Word. You just have to keep your little feet moving on the right path. You can do that because there is not a doubt in your mind that He will keep you safe. You just know.

     You know without having to "work up" faith, because you have a history with Him.  I was telling someone the other day about a situation in my life that is difficult right now. The Lord began to remind me of several instances in my life where the situation was exactly the same and He had kept me safe, and He had done it with kindness, grace and faithfulness.

     Beloved, at some point we have to come to the realization that God IS faithful. We don't wonder about it.  We don't worry about it.  We just know.  The decisions become easier to make because we know He's giving us wisdom to make them. We know that something good is on the way. We've seen Him in action. We have a history.

     Phillip asked Jesus to "show them the Father".  Jesus replied, "Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me?"  If you're still struggling to walk by faith, perhaps its time to remember what you know.  Knowing is the result of Faith that has grown into total trust in the character of God, because you have a history together.

      What you hoped for is now solid ground for you to walk on. The path is becoming brighter with every step. The Truth of God's character propels you forward.  You know that whatever He is going to do, it will be done faithfully, kindly, and with excellence.

     Go God!

Power Thought:

You will be like a well watered garden

Is your faith growing into knowing Him?

Copyright(c) 2014 Suzanne Roberts, Unpublished Work.