Walking in Circles

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us. –Psalm 123:2

Sometimes in our walk with God it can feel as if we are going in circles and not making any progress.  I’ll be walking, making what I see as forward progress and then bam—I end up right back where I was.  This can be deflating and discouraging.  It causes me grief and doubt.  I say why Lord? Why am I back in this situation again?  Will I ever be delivered?  Will I ever see breakthrough?  Will the walls ever come tumbling down to set me free?

I asked the Lord this recently and His response was very simple:

“Keep walking.”

The Lord showed me something in the story of Joshua and the destruction of Jericho.

And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days. –Joshua 6:14

They kept walking!

The walls didn’t fall after the first day.  The walls didn’t fall after the second day.  The walls didn’t fall after the third, fourth, fifth or sixth days of walking.

I’m sure during this process of literally walking in circles some of the Israelites thought, “What on earth are we doing?  How is this making progress?”  But despite any thoughts they may have had, they remained obedient and kept walking.  Then finally, on the seventh day they marched around the city seven times.

And the seventh time it happened… -Joshua 6:16

The wall fell down flat!

If you feel that you have yourself been walking in circles I would like to encourage you to keep your eyes on the Lord.  God does not measure success in the way we do—by accomplishments—He measures success on faithfulness, and He desires for you to keep walking.  He desires for you to turn your eyes and look to Him until He has mercy on you.

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. -Hebrews 12:1-2

Related articles

• Joshua 5 & 6 – Reading Note – The wall of Jericho (ferlans.wordpress.com)
• 2 Kings 2:9 Ask Anything (writedownthesewords.com)
• Joshua 6:15-16, 20 And The Walls Came Tumblin Down (writedownthesewords.com)
• Joshua 7 – Reading Note – The Sin of Achan (ferlans.wordpress.com)

God is Bigger Than ALL!

This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
-Psalm 118:24 

Give glory to God today in all situations!

God is bigger than all of our worries.
God has a solution for all of our problems.
God is stronger than all of our weaknesses.
God has forgiven you for all of  your sins.
God is worthy of all of our praise.

I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:12-13 

Give God your all today because God is all you need.

May His presence be with you as you read this and throughout all of your days, in Jesus name.

Where Are All His Miracles?

In Judges Chapter 6 Gideon asks, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?”

God answers him by saying:

“Have I not sent you?” and “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites.”

Notice that the Lord was not upset with Gideon’s question but simply answers him and basically said, “I am with you, so step out in faith and see what I will do. You will be victorious!”

Gideon’s question really spoke to me because I have asked this exact question.  I read in the Gospels and the book of Acts of miracle after miracle and then say, “Where are all His miracles today?”

God has answered me in the same way he did Gideon and says:

“Have I not sent you? Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the enemy!  So step out in faith and see what I will do, and you will be victorious!”

We are entering a new era.  Western Christianity’s “lukewarmness” is coming to an end.  It is time to either be hot or cold.  God is raising up a generation that will minister in signs and wonders in the same way as the Apostles in Acts did.

“And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people.” –Acts 5:12

Paul told the Corinthians that his speech and preaching “were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

The power of God is literally within your hands children of the God! It’s time we start yielding to the Spirit and give God back control of His church.  Many have already started and God is releasing His power all over the world.  I started a new website (http://bythebloodofthelamb.com) to keep up with some of the testimonies and every new story I hear is so exciting!

I recently heard someone say that they had figured out the 7 most powerful words you can say to someone, and those seven words are:

“Can I pray for you right now?”

Jesus said, “Many are called but few are chosen.”  You have already been called but do you know how you become a chosen one?

You step out in faith and accept the call! You say, “Yes God, I will go!”

I choose to accept the call. How about you?

Trust Past Understanding

There are some books in the Bible that I’ll read and think, “Well, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me right now.” What’s interesting though is how at a different point in my life I may return to that same part of scripture and go, “Ooh, now I see!”

Sometimes we understand things and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we think we understand things and then later realize we really did not… and many times still don’t. Being a disciple of Christ is not about having all the answers. It’s about trusting in God through the unknown. It’s about having a peace that surpasses our understanding.

Remain humble servants of God! Remain humble.

Fear the Lord and gain faith that overcomes the fear of man and the world.

Testimonies of God’s Grace – BytheBloodoftheLamb.com

I have launched a new website:

http://bythebloodofthelamb.com – By the Blood of the Lamb [dot com]
Encouraging and edifying the body of Christ through testimonies of God’s grace in our lives.

The vision for this site is based off the scripture Revelation 12:11

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony…”

I hope for it to be an interactive site where believers can be encouraged by reading and sharing testimonies of what God is doing in the world!

Please check it out and share your story!

Submit your testimony to be posted here: http://bythebloodofthelamb.com/submit-a-testimony/

Who Among Us?

“Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, He who despises the gain of oppressions, Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, And shuts his eyes from seeing evil: He will dwell on high; His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; Bread will be given him, His water will be sure. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; They will see the land that is very far off. -Isaiah 33:14-17

The Lord spoke this to me and I thought:

“Who? Who is worthy enough that walks righteously? Who despises the gain of oppression? Who shuts their eyes from evil? Who of man has a heart pure enough to see God?”

I pondered these questions and thought:

“Will I ever be there Lord?”

That’s when He told me:

“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” -John 15:3

It’s still hard for me to accept. That Jesus died for me. It makes no sense. I don’t deserve Him but He tells me again and again that I do.

“Thank you Lord!” is all I can say.

Thank you.

Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?

I will! And if you have accepted Christ into your life and been grafted into the vine… You will too!

I Choose God!

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. –Matthew 6:24

Today this verse convicts me.  It is a realization that God does not barter.  We must choose if we will be slaves to Christ or slaves to the world.  I have struggled with alcoholism in the past.  When I dedicated my life to the Lord I went sober.  I stayed sober for quite some time but after a while I started lying to myself.  I would say, “One drink with dinner is ok.”  Or “Just drinking on special occasions is ok.” “Jesus drank wine.”  The problem with me is not that having one drink is some type of unpardonable sin, it’s that with myself I cannot just have one drink.  One drink always turns into more and more turns into drunkenness.  One drink is over the line for me.  One drink and I start serving alcohol instead of God.  I hate that our culture is so overly obsessed with social drinking.  I often wish alcohol did not exist.  Everywhere I go there is temptation.  Every corner I turn there is an ad for alcohol.  Two days ago I relapsed bad, so today I confess my sin and humbly ask for prayer and support from my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I thank God for the Holy Spirit’s conviction of this and the strength to move forward.  I thank God His mercies are new every morning and I know I’m already forgiven.  I thank God that Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible, and I thank God there is enough grace to cover all of my mistakes.  Today I look forward to the future of walking with Christ in sobriety.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. -1 Peter 5:8

You cannot serve God and alcohol.

I CHOOSE GOD!

 

Related post: Addicted To God

I felt led to re-blog this post today. I think there is someone who needs to read it. Rejoice for God is near!

iwanttobelieveingod

And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. –Deuteronomy 8:2-3

Have you been going through a time of struggle and hardship in your walk with God?  Has your faith been tested leaving you in trial and temptation so that you cry out, “Where are you Lord? I need you!”  If so, this is probably exactly where God wants you.  

Immediately after Jesus was baptized…

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Kingdom Lenses

I tell people, “Look at the beauty! The skies proclaim the glory of God!” but many reject the gospel saying, “Yes, there is beauty but there’s a lot of ugly too.”

I think we need to align our perspectives.  We need to put on Kingdom lenses. Perhaps one of the main reasons God has allowed sin to “ugly” up this planet is to give us perspective, and to give us free will of which perspective we will choose.

Is the glass half empty or half full?

Well, if there was nothing to put in the glass in the first place it wouldn’t matter either way.

Can good exist without bad? Would anyone recognize God’s righteousness without first knowing the opposite?

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.” (Genesis 3:22)

Which perspective are you looking from?

When I look at Jesus with the world’s perspective I am nothing like Him.  The fact is that many of us who are professed disciples are nothing like Him. But when I tell Him that He says:

“My child, you are more like me than you think.” 

Jesus sees the whole picture.  Jesus not only sees with the glass half full but He sees what it will look like when the glass is completely full.

Do I love as much as I should?

No, but thank God He has changed me to love more than I did!

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete  it  until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:3-6)

I once heard a pastor say, “When I look in the mirror I see a problem, but when I look at Jesus I see a solution.”

Amen and amen!