Waiting

I don’t know about you, but I understand what it’s like to have to wait for things you declared to finally manifest.

Waiting/Patience is truly a virtue because it takes a lot for some of us to wait on something or someone. Patience growing up was my biggest weakness, I wanted things now, and especially if someone already said they were going to do something or say something.

One thing that I have learned over the years is that the more you try to rush things the more likely that the outcome will be disappointing. I would always try to rush things because I wanted things now and if it depended on someone else’s actions I would try to do whatever it is to help them speed it up.

Those times when you feel like you can’t take it anymore, and that you want what you want now, stop yourself and say “Lord I know you have your perfect timing and I know that I have what I declared and because in Your word said in Mark 11:22-24 that I have what I say and I thank you that I have what I say, in Jesus name, Amen.”

If you feel anxious or any other unsettling emotion, just bind the emotion(s) by saying, “I bind the spirit of _______ (i.e. fear/anxiety,etc…) for You said that I have Your peace, not the peace of the world, I thank you that I have peace and not ________, amen.”

The results from waiting in God’s timing is sooo much better than something that was rushed when all I needed was patience. I hope you can benefit from this and not get frustrated waiting on your declaration/prayer for something.

Word Works For Those Who Believe

Hebrews 4:1-3

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Promise of Rest

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them,^[a] not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. ³ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’”^[b]

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Many people have tried to prove the bible worthless by randomly taking something from the bible such as praying and receiving, and fail at it therefore thinking that the bible is useless.

Contrary to popular belief, not everybody has the authority that it takes to speak things into existence. The word of God doesn’t work for everyone, aside from His love, forgiveness and praying to accept Him into your hearts.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t some difficult exclusive club that you have to past tests in order to join-it’s just FAITH!

Never has the Lord turned away anyone who has come to Him in prayer asking Him to come into their hearts. This is what brings joy to His heart! The more the merrier! Not one person was meant to follow anyone or anything else except Him, so this is why He made it so easy to come to Him, without having a litany of prerequisites.

Don’t be fooled by the unbelievers claiming that there are inconsistencies in the Word of God. Think of it this way, would you trust the word or even habits of a mechanic on how to play the stock market?  Or trust a real estate broker to inform you on how a train functions?

So don’t be quick to rely on the “experiences” or advice from unqualified sources. A qualified source would be someone who has been in the word for an extensive period, has maintained their faith in Christ, and has continuously bare good fruit (are good people who actively operate in love, patience, kindness, and so forth as well as live in the blessings of the Lord and are able to help others). So far this excludes most if not ALL of those out there trying to use the bible as something silly, fun or a way to discredit it, because they don’t know how to work the word.

Tempted

Hebrews 4:15

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

The reasons as to why we are told not to sin even though we will be tempted each and every day, is partly because Christ was tempted and made it through with out sinning. You can argue that He wasn’t just any man and that He had divine authority and protection, however so do we thanks to Jesus. He came as God in the flesh to serve as an example of how we should be and to “pay our debts”.

It is possible to get through life without giving into sin, however most of us will at some point or another, if we haven’t already done so. The point isn’t necessarily going from birth through death without having sinned once, that would be great, but we learn from our mistakes, how great God’s love is and how forgiving He is, among other things such as being able to relate to someone else and help them or vice versa.

Never stop trying to be sinless, but also don’t be ashamed that you have sinned, but ask for forgiveness and move forward. It doesn’t matter if you mess up in life, God won’t turn His back on you because you feel prey to sin or a particular sin-but you must return to Him or go to Him (if you weren’t already a believer).

He understands that we have to face temptation on a regular basis and that it can be trying on our flesh, because He went through the same things despite the fact that he was born miraculously and without sin.

Abstain

This is one of the most controversial subjects probably in the world. The church as a whole has become the poster child of “abstinence, guilt and strict confinement” to the world. Unfortunately because of this it quickly became an insult to “accuse” someone of being a virgin or abstaining until marriage, especially if the person claiming to be doing so is male.

Being abstinent is not a punishment or unthinkable task to do. I believe that if society hadn’t automatically deemed abstinence as moronic or old school thinking, more people would be abstaining from many things, not just sexual activities.

To the ladies:

Just because all of your friends have participated in various sexual activities doesn’t mean YOU have to. What will YOU gain when YOU follow your friend’s patterns? How does it make you any better of a person if you have sex “just because” you thought you needed to. You dictate what you do with your body, but let the Holy Spirit operate it-meaning yes you can do whatever you want with your body because of our free will, but don’t be reckless and know that the Holy Spirit will guide you to not just any cute boy/man but instead will lead you to your husband. If you want this path of abstinence until marriage give your life over to Jesus, accept Him as your Lord and Saviour and then ask for your sins to be forgiven and ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

To the men:

Just like what the women go through, the peer pressure to hook up with a girl right away starting at a young age is almost impossible to escape. A great start is choosing quality friends, not just friends that you grew up with friends that have a similar mindset, professionally and relationship wise. But you can always start where you are, just let them know that you’re looking for a quality woman, one that will be your wife, not just any random girl that happens to be attractive. Of course there’s going to be one or two guys that are going to laugh or try to push you even more to hook up with someone, but you must stand your ground-if they’re your friend they’ll drop it and let you be you, but if they never let it go then you know to drop them!

Be Abundantly Supplied

No matter how many times a Pastor has brought up anything having to do with money, people around them get really uncomfortable and sometimes very dismissive because they feel that finances and faith are unrelated.

I cannot stress enough that God wants ALL His people to be abundantly supplied. Don’t get rich and abundant confused-because ‘rich’ has such an arrogant connotation, we have the ability to become abundantly supplied, meaning ALL of our needs are met.

Most people think Christians should be simple people living with the bare minimum and little money. This is not what God had in mind for us, don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that if you are in that state that you are not a Christian or that God is mad at you, He wants you to move up. We all have to want more for ourselves and others and in order to be effective. You have to have something in order to help someone else, to provide shelter, gas, help with bills, food, clothes, traveling to get to somewhere/someone and so on. All the basic things in this world needs money at some point and this is why we have to be abundantly supplied. This also includes the connections you make with other people who have things that can help you help another, such as because you had the extra finances to travel to the next town to meet a friend who is stuck on the side of the road, you meet a man at a rest stop that has a towing service and is willing to tow your friend’s truck back to their home for half the price!

These things don’t happen by chance they happen because you had the finances and the favor of the Lord to help someone else and gave you a lower price to help that friend.

Being abundantly supplied means you and your family have all their needs met and have extra to do what you please (hopefully you choose wisely as to what to do).

Don’t be living on the cusp of financial downfall, be at a state of having more than enough!

Be Prepared

 This is not some doomsday preppers take on being prepared for an emergency, but being wise as to how to properly prepare for the world’s events.

Matthew 24:6

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all^[a] these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

We are now at the point where almost all of God’s word has come to pass. We are in the stage of ‘wars and rumors of wars’ and gearing up for the end.

Luke 21:11

New King James Version (NKJV)

¹¹ And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

These events are already taking place now and will continue to develop over a short period of time. This is why we have to be wise and diligent to what the word has ALREADY warned us. He told us there things so that we can be prepared and not fumbling around in fear or complacency during these times.

Regardless if you believe we are in the end times, everyone should be prepared for any type of emergency.

Yes the Lord will protect His people, however protection doesn’t always come in the form of an invisible shield around you, sometimes it’s a knowledge that He gives us in His word. If we’re told, there will be earthquakes in diverse places, wouldn’t you make sure to have preparations for in case of an earthquake? These are common occurrences any, so why not be prepared! This also includes places that don’t have or usually have seismic activity.

Have a family plan to meet somewhere if something happens. Be prepared with food, water and protection (whatever that may be) and money if there are power outages or system crashes-which is not uncommon and will happen in the last days. Just be prepared regardless of what your local church believes. Be safe and pray when you read scriptures about the end times and ask for the Holy Spirit to clarify and give you wisdom about His word.

Armor

Ephesians 6:10-18

New King James Version (NKJV)

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,^[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸ praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

We have to be war-minded regardless of your stance on the issue. The difference is that we are fighting a battle everyday-all day whether you know it or not. There is a constant battle over your soul, between the light and darkness, looking for a point of entrance.

As believers in Jesus Christ, who have been saved by grace, we can’t be naïve to the notion that we are a part of a war.

The war is a struggle between Christ and Satan and the battles we fight daily is the demonic spirits trying to interfere so that they can pull us away from the Lord. Nonbelievers are already oblivious to the things of God so they are easy victims for demonic activity to interfere in such a way that they will ultimately never find salvation.

As believers we have to remember Ephesians 6: 10-18. We have armor that God has given us, spiritually because it’s a spiritual war, that will help us fight off those attacks of the enemy, even when we aren’t aware of what’s going on.

Don't forget to suit up!