Victory!

It's late, I'm way behind in getting Rhema out, and I'm tired so I don't have much to say on this rainy Thursday night/Friday morning. However, I just couldn't close my eyes without sharing what has been reverberating in my spirit all day. Ready? It's so simple that it's deep. VICTORY! And you know what? Not just victory but victory in JESUS!

I don't know about you but I'm facing some real stuff in my life and the one thing that I can always stand on and trust is the Word of God. It is life giving and powerful. It is on time and relevant. But mostly, it is just plain consistent! It has spoken to me in joyous times and sad ones, in challenges and successes. I quite honestly can't do without it! Today, God used one of my favorite verses to remind me of His promises. He sent me to 2 Corinthians 2:14 “But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It’s like a fragrance that fills the air.” (2 Cor‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭GW‬‬) As I meditated on that verse, it just became clearer that the victory is in Christ. You don't have to fight because He is the victory and He is always leading the way back to himself. You know what else? The victory isn't stagnant! It's not just about you winning. Nope! It's about changing the world for Christ! You should be so changed by your encounter with Jesus that others not only want to know the God you serve but want to share Him with others. It's a living word and He is a victorious Savior!

I just wanted to encourage you to keep fighting the good fight of faith! Don't let the enemy tell you that you can't survive or bounce back. It's a trick!  Not only do you have everything you need, you have a teammate that never loses...

Amen

Lessons from the storm...

Anyone out there going through a storm? Anyone have a challenge that has tested your very faith? Anyone trusting God for some impossible stuff? Come on, tell the truth! I raised my hand! Well, I asked the Lord for a word to sustain and strengthen you today as you fight the good fight of faith. And you know what, He answered. He sent me to 1 Peter 1 and as I was turning to the chapter,  I heard Him say that there are lessons learned in the storm that can push you to your next level faster than anything else. Whoa! Blessed me!  It reminded me that out of my greatest struggles, have come some of my greatest gains. So I want to encourage you to check your perspective. Instead of looking at your problem, look at your progress! Instead of looking at your stress, look at the strength God has given you! Instead of looking at your pain, look at your prayer life. In most cases, God has used your struggles and challenges to grow and mature you in so many areas in your life. So, it made perfect sense for Him to lead me to this 1 Peter scripture. It felt like a quiet hug from God and when you're in the storm, there's no one that can love on you like Jehovah Machsi, the Lord our Refuge.

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:6-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Peter was talking about those lessons that come from struggle…endurance, faith, trust! He was talking to people that are “pilgrims”, “foreigners”, “exiles”. Scholars have debated what is meant by that description  but the simple answer is that they were out of their comfort zone. If you are struggling in your life, I'm sure you can understand what that feels like. Struggle is not comfortable! But these verses remind you that if you keep your faith in Christ through the storm, you will get to an unexplainable joy! If you look at your situation for the lessons instead of focusing on the magnitude, you will end up coming through the fire as gold. If you remember and hold tight to the love and trust you have in Christ even though you can't physically touch Him, you will find such a surge in your faith that your circumstance can't hold you captive!

Listen, Saints! Look for the lessons and you will find that the test doesn't seem so hard to pass! Don’t believe me? Just watch!

Amen…

Road tested!

Because I’ve been doing scholarship interviews since the beginning of the year, it’s been a challenge to get Rhema out early like I’m used to doing. I’ve found that I’ve had to really carve out time to write and hear what God was saying. Sometimes, it’s been very frustrating and I’ve wanted to give up or take a break but every week, God gives me something to share with you. Today, the same thing happened. I had an open spot on my calendar and someone filled it before I could block it out and I was not pleased! So I just kept sitting in my office, kind of staring off into space, hoping that God would drop a miraculous word on me and He did. He said, “Stop trying to do my job…” I kind of chuckled because my mind immediately went to Job 38, a scripture that my sisterfriend shared with me last night. I had jokingly told her that I wanted her to do a guest post on Rhema because that scripture had blessed me so much. It is God setting Job straight about who He is. By the time you get to the end, you will be repenting for ever thinking you can do anything without God. Read it!

But here’s the issue! There’s a lot going on in my life and I’m sure in your life as well and it’s very tempting to jump in the driver’s seat. You find yourself strategizing and planning how you’re going to work different situations out and when it doesn’t work, the frustration mounts. Any witnesses out there? You see, the enemy has not taken a vacation and he is hell bent on throwing you off of your game. He wants you mad, frustrated, bitter and busy. He wants you acting out of character or exhaustion. Truth be told, he just wants to distract you from what God has told you to do. This morning, I was prepared to talk to the Lord about what I needed him to do. I wanted Him to know what I was doing and how I needed Him to assist me. Can I tell you that Job 38 stopped me in my tracks? It woke me up so I thought that was what God wanted me to show you but instead He told me to share Psalm 18:30 with you.

What a God! His road
    stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
    Everyone who runs toward Him
makes it. (MSG)

God said to me, “I’ve already perfected the steps. I’ve already prepared the way. What you’re trying to do is not tried and true but my way is. Get out of the way.” Notice I didn’t use any exclamation points because He didn’t yell it at me but rather it was a statement of facts. He basically told me to stop trying to do what He has already done and done right. Drop the mic! Sometimes life can get so overwhelming that your natural instinct to “do something” kicks in and you mess up. Whether your “do something” is problem solve or enable or hide, stop getting in God’s way. Stop trying to solve what has already been solved! As the enemy attacks, and life keeps coming, keep your eyes on God and let Him do the fixing and the fighting. Your job is to believe. Your job is to stand still and know that He is God. Your job is to trust. Your job is to get of the way. And please, make note of the last phrase. If you trust Him, you will make it! The NKJV says that “He is a shield to all who trust Him.” That’s awesome news! Is there anyone else that can be a better protector than God? Nope! So…move over, God is driving and He knows exactly where He’s going!

Amen...

 

God's got it!

Can I just remind you today that God is God? Can I just remind you that He is faithful and present? Can I just remind you that no matter what your circumstance might be, He remains El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One? He’s a great God and He is in the fight with you! Sometimes when things happen in your life that are challenging and difficult, you can get caught up in the whats, whys and hows, when God really wants you to focus on the WHO! He is the Who and as long as He is in the battle, you are on the winning side.

I don’t have a long word for you today! I just want to leave you with the words of Paul in the Message Translation to trust God right where you are because He is with you! You see Paul was blessed to have a powerful relationship with God and was given great revelations of who He was. And because of that, He was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him humble. Sometimes, you can’t see that those things that seem to be a constant bother in your life have been placed there to keep you close to God. It’s hard to imagine when you look at your life that some of those challenges were for anything other than to mess you up. But God’s word to Paul is the answer to those concerns. He simply wants you to trust Him and His plan because when you are at your weakest, He makes you strong!

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then He told me,

My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. (2 Cor 12:7-10 MSG)

He’s with you, Saint! He’s covering you, Saint! He’s loving you in spite of you, Saint! He has exactly what you need and more so trust Him. He’s got this!

 

Amen