During this month, I have spoken with several people who feel that the enemy is winning the battle in their marriage, their family, their finances, their job or their life. The pressure of the trials and tests has consumed their thoughts. It has caused negative speech to rise up and pour out.
During trials and tests, the primary way that the enemy uses to attack Christians is in their minds. The Lord has an answer for us. It’s in the Word. The Word of God is the tool that the Lord uses to change the way you think. Proverbs 23:7 says that as a person thinks, so is he. Your thoughts are like prayers. What you think about yourself determines your speech and actions. Until your thoughts line up with the Word of God, you will not fully realize who you are in Christ and what your inheritance is. Read the Word, write down a scripture, put it up in the places you spend time and meditate on it.
When you are under pressure from a trial or test, what is in you will come out. The key is to replace your thoughts, fears and insecurities with God’s Word. You can trust the Word. It will change your life and cause you to walk in total victory. His Word does not return void, but it accomplishes everything it sets out to do (Isaiah 55:11). Hold on to the Word. It will not fail you.
The Word of God will penetrate and change your thoughts. Hebrews 4:12 – 13 says God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what. When the Word begins to change the way you think, it will change the way you speak. God’s Word begins to come from your mouth. God’s Word begins to change the situation. Instead of saying what you used to say, what the world would say or what the circumstance would dictate, you say what the Word says.
Are your thoughts holding you captive and telling you that your mistakes have disqualified you? Let’s take a look at the life of Moses in Exodus. We see that he was saved as a baby by Pharaoh’s daughter because her father had given orders to kill all newborn Hebrew boys. He was raised in the palace with the best of everything. One day he killed and hid the body of an Egyptian while trying to protect a fellow Hebrew. He thought his life was over when he went into hiding……but God knew where he was and in His timing He used a burning bush to speak to him. He thought he disqualified himself. He had years in the desert tending sheep to think a lot of negative thoughts. But the Lord had a plan for his life. God created him to be a deliverer. God did not change His mind about Moses and He has not changed His mind about you.
His thoughts about you….it’s in the Word……His plans for you…..it’s in the Word…….His solution for your situation…..it’s in the Word. The Lord knows the plans that He has for you; plans to prosper you and give you a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
In the history of the nation of Israel there was a critical moment when the leadership of the nation changed. Moses had successfully led the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. He brought the nation to the edge of the Promised Land, but was unable to bring them in. God selected Joshua to assume leadership and lead the people into their Promise.
Immediately following the death of Moses, the Lord spoke to Joshua. He ended the commissioning saying, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God is with you wherever you go” (cf. Joshua 1:1-9).
After Joshua’s time a similar conversation took place between God and Gideon. In the days of Gideon, the people of Israel were being oppressed by the Midianites. God chose Gideon and commissioned him as a deliverer. Yet Gideon was full of fear and questioned himself and God’s choosing. In the face of Gideon’s fear, the LORD responded saying, “Surely I will be with you and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man” (cf. Judges 6:11-16).
The New Testament record of the Great Commission reveals the conversation Jesus had with the disciples:
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20
Many also include Acts 1:8 as a part of the Great Commission: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
As with Joshua and Gideon, Jesus told the disciples that He would be with them as they fulfill their commission. As followers of Christ, we too have a commission – to make disciples. Jesus promised to be with us and empower us with the Holy Spirit’s abiding presence. We are called to be witnesses of God’s kingdom to the world. We are to share the love of Christ and the testimony of His works with the world around us. We are to be the salt and light of the world that points people to Hope and Life.
This can be a challenging thought, and for many our response to this commission is like Gideon’s – full of fear and trembling. Yet the next time fear tries to keep you from sharing the good news of the gospel with someone, remember the words of the Lord: “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God is with you wherever you go.”
Share your faith with confidence knowing that with God’s commission comes His presence.
Mason Phillips
A few weeks ago I shared a message entitled “God’s Love Demonstrated”. Demonstrate means to prove of make clear by reasoning or evidence. Aren’t you glad that God’s love is demonstrated and not just a word!
Many times we say that we love our spouse, God, or our neighbor but do our actions demonstrate or prove what we profess?
God gives us a wonderful example in His word of His love being demonstrated to us.
Romans 5:8 says, God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God did not just say that He loved us, he demonstrated it! He gave the best that he had in His Son Jesus Christ. He gave not to His friends but to his enemies!
Jesus left the Father, His throne of power, His glory, His position, and came in the likeness of sinful flesh! He lived a perfect life without sin, and then died a most horrible death.
Why would Jesus do this? It was all for LOVE! He came to demonstrate the Love of God to us!
The Cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love!
WIthout a doubt God has demonstrated His love to us in the cross of Jesus.
Now the question is how do we demonstrate our love for Him?
Jesus said in John 14:15 “if you love me keep my commandments.” Some translations read “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”
What are the commandments of Jesus? The answer is found in Matthew 22:34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
God demonstrated His love to us through action, and Jesus commands us to demonstrate our love to God through action.
By loving God and loving our neighbor we demonstrate that we are His disciples!
If you have been struggling to love God or your neighbor, I want to encourage you to ask God to give you His love.
It is impossible to love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself without God’s love. God desires to pour His love into us so that it can change our lives, and overflow to those around us.
You can start demonstrating the love of God today! Begin by asking God how you can demonstrate your love to those in your family, your neighbors and co-workers.
As we demonstrate the love of God lives will be changed including our own!
Until the nets are full,
James Grayson Jr.
This past Sunday, I spoke at the 8 am service on 1 Peter 5:10. It was the 1st time I have ever had a message from just one verse!! The message was entitled “After a Little While”. This verse speaks of our sufferings and trials and basically tells us that after we have suffered a while, the Lord will perfect, strengthen, establish, and settle us! Sometimes it seems as if a difficult season will last forever! But we have the Lord’s assurance that as we come through that season, He will do great things in our lives!
During a season of trial, the enemy would like to derail us. Many times as we are fighting a battle on one front, it feels like every area of our lives is coming under attack! During these times, we are tempted to feel overwhelmed and confused! We sometimes look to people for help and can be disappointed if they are unable to fulfill our expectations. There is a wonderful example in Paul’s life of a time where he went through a particular trial and faced it all alone. II Tim. 4:16-17 tells us that NONE stood with him and ALL abandoned him. But the LORD stood with him and STRENGTHENED him and delivered him out of the mouth of the lion.
The strength that is referred to in this verse is not just any strength. It is a MIGHTY, POWERFUL, strength taken from the Greek word “dunamis” which is where we get our word for dynamite!!
We can count on the Lord to strengthen us with mighty, DUNAMIS power to stand and come through any trial! And as we are in that season of difficulty, what should we be doing? 1st of all, we cast our cares on HIM. 2nd, we praise Him!! In Isaiah 60:18, we read, “But you shall call your walls salvation and your gates PRAISE’. In Revelation we read about the 12 gates that are made of solid pearl. Bill Johnson points out that pearls are formed through irritation and conflict. (as a grain of sand gets in the oyster shell, a pearl forms around it for protection) As we offer Him a sacrifice of praise while we are going through difficulty, a GATE of PRAISE is formed for the King to come in and impact our situation!
Pr. Chris and I went through a four year period of EXTREME difficulty!! At the time, I thought we would never get through it! Every area of our lives seemed as if it were under attack!! But that time did end, and the Lord strengthened and settled us in ways that we can recognize and appreciate in hindsight! I’d like to encourage you today if you are in that place. Praise Him in your difficult times, and know that better times are ahead! You can trust Him to perfect, strengthen, establish, and settle you as He promises!
Pr. Miriam
Today marks the beginning of the ROL Staff Blog. The first step in accomplishing anything is to begin. I’ve never finished anything that I didn’t start! One of the greatest promises in the Bible is, “He who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it.” (Phil. 1:6) God, Himself, gives us the pattern. Good work is nothing until you begin it and it’s incomplete until you show faithfulness by finishing.
Inertia is the great enemy of getting started. Inertia, in physics, is the tendency of an object to remain at rest. In our character it’s defined as a disinclination to move or act. Some people don’t get started because they’re afraid. Some are just plain lazy. Others are confused and have no plan. Some just dream of starting and are content to fantasize rather than act. Others wait for God, or someone else to do it. You wrap all these excuses up in a ball and you’ve got inertia!
What “good work” is waiting for you begin? What’s your excuse for not getting started? Achievement and accomplishment are waiting for all of us. I’ve found that God’s empowering grace never comes on me as I dream of starting something, or intend to start something. It always comes as I begin the good work He’s called me to do. Faith demands that I start before God’s power will be released, not the other way around.
Once God has clearly spoken, it isn’t spiritual to wait on Him. He’s waiting on you.
Let’s get started!
Pastor Chris