So Caught Up in Your Past You Can’t See Your Future!

How often do you sit with family and friends and just reminisce about the past? That’s what family reunions and get-togethers are all about. Certainly, the past can be awesome and awe-inspiring but it can also become a trap that prevents you from moving forward into greater things. You can get so caught up in your past; you can’t see your future!

I see people struggle through life because they refuse to accept necessary changes. I see churches stagnating and dying because “it’s always been done this way and it doesn’t need to be changed.” I see people get hurt by these attitudes and it grieves my heart.

While change is certainly painful; change is vital to growth. A seedling can never be productive if it simply remains a seedling. It must be planted so it can sprout and grow and fulfill its purpose. GOD wants His people to sprout, grow and fulfill their purpose.

In Isaiah, the LORD mentioned some of the great things He had done for Israel in their past. But, then He abruptly said to them: “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do” (Is 43:18 NLT).

He told them, you can’t move forward into the greater things I have for you if all you do is sit around reflecting on what you once were. Notice He didn’t say file those things away so you can bring them back up occasionally. He told them to forget about all that and move on. In other words, too much reflection on the past prevents forward movement into greater things!

Then He told them: “I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland” (v. 19). Maybe He speaking to you today? Maybe this word is targeting you? Maybe you are trapped in your past and need to move on?

Are there things in your past you are having trouble getting the victory over? Things in your past still haunting you and discouraging you? Problems, difficulties, bad situations—put them to death and move on—allow GOD to move your life forward into new things—new paths, new adventures, new opportunities—all of these offering greater things for you.

Pastor, maybe your church has stagnated and is dying? Maybe it’s time to release the past and move forward into the greatness GOD has for your future? Maybe it is time to move your people into greater, mightier works GOD has in store for you? Don’t get so caught up in your past you can’t see your future. Move forward in the name of Jesus Christ!

Scripture Reading: “But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-3 NLT).

Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I magnify You today for You alone are worthy of all my praise! I acknowledge that I have wasted a great deal of my life reflecting on my past achievements and in so doing, I have failed to achieve the greater heights You desire to take me to. Help me to bury my past and to move on into my future. Help me to put my trust in You and know that You are going to lead me places I never dreamed of. Take control of me today, LORD…I love you!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

FCC – Weslaco

Quit Fighting in Your Own Power!

What kind of struggles are you going through today? How long have you been struggling with the same issue, the same situation, the same circumstance? Just when you think you might be getting a break—feeling like you are about to overcome—the bottom falls out again. GOD has a word for you today? Quit fighting in your own power!

Think about this for a moment. Hordes of enemy soldiers were prepared to destroy Israel. Gideon summoned the Israelite army together in preparation for a battle. But, “The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength’” (Judges 7:2 NLT). How can you have too many warriors? What is GOD trying to prove? HE IS PROVING HE IS GOD!

In the midst of your problems and difficulties, GOD desires to be GOD! He doesn’t need your planning and preparation for the battles you are struggling through. He doesn’t need you to be trying to figure out how you are going to get through your problems. He wants you to quit fighting in your own power and to simply trust in Him.

When the odds are stacked against you—you stand ready for a GOD-thing to happen! When your troubles seem to have you beat—you stand ready for a GOD-thing! No matter what you are facing right now, GOD wants control of it so He can bring you through it in victory. GOD will bring you through to victory so others will know He is GOD!

Today is your day of victory. Lay your problems down before the LORD and walk away from them knowing He will take care of them all. QUIT FIGHTING IN YOUR OWN POWER!

Scripture Reading: “Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power! The LORD has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!” (Psalm 98:1-2 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, I have struggled hard and long with difficult problems and situations. I have been overwhelmed and defeated by them and their intensity gets me down so often. I pray that you will help me to understand that You are greater than all my problems. You are able to handle them all, if I will simply turn them over to You. Please help me, LORD! I love You and entrust my problems over to You today and I know that the victory is mine! Thank you so much…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Don’t Let Hardness Destroy You!

It’s easy to become hard-hearted in our increasingly wicked society. People will hurt you by their actions and their words. They will intimidate you, belittle you and even strike out against you. Your job may be chaotic and overly stressful—no one even notices the good things you’re doing. You may not feel your own worth any longer because of the way others have treated you.

A hard heart is a destructive force. It creates a callousness towards others that develops into a strong sense of negativity. Negativity, in turn, develops into a change in one’s personality. Even though all these things are terrible, the most disastrous outcome is the destruction of one’s personal relationship and interaction with God.

A hard heart creates a barrier whereby the love of God cannot pass over. It’s not that God cannot get His love to you; it’s that the hardness stands as a barrier in your life preventing His love and goodness from passing over to you. A hard heart creates stubbornness and hardness within the individual. A hard heart becomes like a stone, no longer pliable, tender and soft. A hard heart eventually becomes unresponsive to God’s Spirit. Soon, the individual is lost in a sea of despair.

Maybe that’s you today? A terrible home condition when you were young? Bad situations growing up? Abuse that you could not break away from? These and so many other situations eventually create a hard heart if they are allowed to continue to fester inside you.

It’s time to break free. It’s time to shed the hardness and allow God’s Spirit to take away the root of the hardness and all the damage it has done to you. Ezekiel 36:26 says: “I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (NLT). God wants to deliver you today!

Maybe you have tried to change; tried to find a means of escape from the hurt you have suffered through in the past but it just keeps coming back? Turn it over to God. Release it to Him today! Do not allow the hardness to destroy your life any longer. Be set free by the Spirit of God and allow Him to bring about newness to your life by bringing tenderness back into your heart.

Scripture Reading: “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (Psalm 51:10-12 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, help me to be ever mindful of the destructive nature of a hard heart. Help me to recognize situations in my own life that can easily destroy me if I allow them to fester and grow rather than releasing them by Your power and strength. Help me to maintain a pure heart by being sensitive to Your Spirit’s direction in all things. Lord, if there is any bitterness in my heart now, please reveal it to me and help me to let it all go for Your glory! I give You all praise and glory today. I love you, Lord…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Delivered from the Darkness of Despair!

Darkness is often associated with despair—a state of hopelessness or extreme discouragement. For some people, despair seems to be much too common. As life becomes difficult for whatever reason, the enemy of despair quickly settles in. Darkness begins to enshroud the individual’s life and every dream they ever had is shattered.

The first act of creation was to bring light into the darkness of the physical realm (Ge 1:3). It was vital for life to exist. Jesus came proclaiming to be “the Light of the world” (Jn 8:12). He pulled back the curtain of spiritual darkness that had encapsulated the world revealing the love, mercy and grace of Father GOD.

The Light of Jesus is vital for spiritual life to exist. Outside of Him, people live in despair—absolute, total darkness and hopelessness. He came as a Light to dispel your darkness and hopelessness. He came to give you life, hope, a reason to keep pressing on in the face of your difficult situations and circumstances.   

The Psalmist wrote these words: “You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the LORD ’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection” (Psalm 18:28-30 NLT). When we learn to focus our energies upon trusting GOD, we find He brings deliverance, peace, and strength.

You may be facing some tough decisions, have some pressing issues, be under a blanket of fear and hopelessness—GOD is able to deliver you today! GOD is able to bring Light into your darkness and to set you free. The Bible tells us: “if the Son [Jesus] sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36 NLT). Jesus is the answer to whatever problem you are facing today—simply trust in Him.

Scripture Reading: “I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud. You light a lamp for me. The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the LORD? Who but our God is a solid rock? God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights” (Psalm 18:23-33 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, despair and difficulty seem to be my lot in life. I seem to get out from under it only to find myself enshrouded in it all over again. It is difficult to live my life with all of this hanging over me. Please help me to turn my trust to You. Help me to recognize You are the Light that dispels this cloak of darkness. Help me to break free through Jesus Christ and to live in His freedom and security. Thank You, Father, for providing my means of escape through Jesus. I love You!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Don’t Be Overwhelmed By Your Today!

As you face your new day, perhaps you have a great deal of worries, hardships, and troubles staring back at you. Your life has become overwhelmed by all you need to get done; life has become so hectic at times, frustration is all you seem to feel?

We can learn a great deal from what the Bible tells us. Think about this verse: “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength” (Proverbs 17:22 NLT). We have the ability within our own selves to fend off the frustration. We have the ability to find the “joy of the Lord” in all things and in all ways or we can allow them to sap our strength and ruin our day.

You see, it’s not what comes at you that creates the frustration but your response—your reaction. You make a decision how you will be affected by problems when they come. When you allow the problems to overwhelm you, they are sapping your strength—they are controlling you! You have the power to overcome or to be overcome.

People will attack you but how you respond to them plays a great part in the affect that attack truly has upon you. The power to overcome is in your own personal motivations of life. If you are finding your joy in “things,” you will be easily overwhelmed by frustration as “things” are unable to give complete joy; and confidence placed in them is always deceiving.

Paul learned contentment in all his situations (Philippians 4:11). He knew his peace and power was not within his circumstances but in the One who was capable of taking care of Him in whatever way He chose. When you learn to find your joy and strength in the Lord (Psalm 28:7), He helps you and your heart will overflow with joy.

Don’t be overwhelmed by what today might hold for you. Simply place your trust in the One who holds your life in the palm of His hand. Trust Him to carry you through whatever situations may come. Be filled with joy and from that joy you will find strength. Focus on the good things of the Lord and your day will be a day of greatness because it is the day the Lord has made!

Scripture Reading: “And Nehemiah continued, ‘Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!’” (Nehemiah 8:10 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, help me to place my trust in You today. Whatever may come my way, I do not want to be controlled by it or allow it to take control of my emotions, my thoughts or my responses. I simply want to live each day in the palm of Your hand—my life entrusted to Your care and direction. Help me, Lord, to be strong when the enemy attempts to make me weak; help me to overcome rather to be overcome by my situations and circumstances. I love You and thank You for all You do…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Accepting GOD’s Answer—Regardless!

How often do you find yourself grappling in prayer for an answer from GOD? How often would you say that GOD has answered already but you didn’t agree with His decision? You continue to “pray through” for an answer when the answer has already been given?  

Pray through? To what? Pray until you can change God’s mind? Pray through until you get what you want regardless of God’s divine wisdom and foresight? I recall many times in my ministry where people spent days and even weeks “praying through” for something that they knew GOD had already answered but it wasn’t what they wanted.

Consider how Jesus “prayed through” for a moment. He found Himself at the end of His earthly road. He knew the pain and struggle that the following day held for Him. But, He left it all in God’s hands. Think about this: “Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, ‘My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.’ When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again” (Matthew 26:42-44 NLT).

Now think back for a moment to how Jesus directed us to pray. His prayer was simple: “May your will be done” (Matthew 6:10 NLT). Just before that, He had established the principle by saying: “don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!” (vv. 7-8).

Frances Knight in her book, “Christianity Alive! With Prayer Power,” addresses this when she quotes the late Watchman Nee with this powerful saying we can all learn from: “Seldom are there those who pray aright. Many think of what they…wish to have, few pay attention to what GOD wants.” The principle is simple: learn to accept GOD’s answer regardless.

In the garden, Jesus prayed for another way but realized quickly the path He had to follow was the only way and He accepted GOD’s will. You and I would do well to simply trust GOD and His answer when it comes rather than trying to change the mind and heart of GOD.

Scripture Reading: “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT).

Prayer: Father, help me to learn to trust in You and Your answer regardless of what my wants or desires may be. Help me to accept You as my Divine Guide in all ways and to fully trust in all You lead me to do and the paths You lead me to follow. I love You!…in Jesus’name…AMEN!

Running Away from God Never Solves Anything!

How often do you find yourself running away from what you know you should be doing? Your life is spent searching for paths of fulfillment; yet, you seem to never find exactly what you’re looking for. Each new path of hope you travel down only ends in further discouragement and discontentment.

I certainly spent a great deal of time running away from the Lord’s direction for my life. I was under the impression that His path would be boring—something you do after you’ve enjoyed all life has to offer. Yet, it didn’t take long to discover the mistakes I’d made and the cover-ups required to continue fooling myself into thinking I was doing the right thing.

One of the best examples found in Scripture is Jonah. The Scripture says: “The LORD gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: ‘Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.’ But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the LORD” (Jonah 1:1-3 NLT). God had mapped out a plan for Jonah’s life. But Jonah wasn’t happy with it and very quickly headed off in the other direction.

You feel God trying to lead you but you’re not happy with the direction He has chosen—the possible outcome is not what you really had in mind for yourself. Your mind begins whirling; you think about all you’re going to miss out on and before you know it you’ve high-tailed it off in your own direction—doing your own thing.

Maybe your life is in a mess today because of bad decisions, bad choices, and a bad sense of direction? Jonah found himself in the belly of fish. In the midst of this terrible situation, he said: “I cried out to the LORD in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead, and LORD, you heard me!” (Jonah 2:2 NLT). God hadn’t given up on him. God didn’t write him off as a loss! God heard his plea for help and came to his rescue.

The same goes for you today! God has not written you off. He loves you and desires to have you back following His leading and the path that He has mapped out for you. Jonah was not only saved from his own personal destruction but God went on and used him in a mighty way for the saving of many souls.

Running away from God never solves anything! Turn your life around today. Seek God and His way and He will free you from the path of destruction you have gotten yourself onto.

Scripture Reading: “Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, I have struggled against You and Your will for a long time. I know You love me; I know You have a path for me that leads to victory, peace, joy and eternal happiness. I know You have my best at heart. Please forgive my wandering. Forgive my rebellion against You. Purify my heart and life and help me to re-focus upon Your direction. I thank You that You never gave up on me but continue to tug at my heart and life through Your Holy Spirit! Again, thank You, Lord! I love You!…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!

Unfailing is Your Love, O Lord!

A quick look back at our lives and we see a rather consistent pattern of failure toward GOD. We fail Him by our unbelief, our daily sins and shortcomings, and our disobedient ways—if we seriously step back and consider our lives, we can easily recognize an established pattern of failure. If a close friend consistently failed me in the same way I fail GOD, I would be wondering if the friendship were really worth continuing. What about you?  

GOD had intervened in the issues of the Israelites for centuries. He was always there to get them out of the trouble they had created by walking away from Him. He sent His special messengers, the prophets, to warn and attempt to redirect their lives; yet, their response was to ridicule, persecute and even kill these special emissaries from GOD. Finally, he sent Jeremiah to give them a final warning concerning the impending Babylonian invasion that would destroy their homeland. He sounded the warning but to no avail!

In the midst of their ongoing, flagrant rebellion, the LORD expressed His unceasing love by saying: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” (Jeremiah 31:3 NLT). In the very midst of your outright rebellious ways, GOD continued to love them and desire for them to return to Him.

Today, you may be struggling against the Spirit of GOD? You might be rebelling against His direction, choosing to follow after your own path? As you continue your venture, you discover dead-ends, GOD’s way of redirecting you, but you choose to go around the warning signs taking your life into your own hands—continuing to follow a path of eventual destruction.

It’s time to turn around before it’s too late! It’s time to turn your life back to GOD and allow Him to lead and direct your steps. He loves you! He will forgive all your past sins and shortcomings. He will trade them all in on His free gift of eternal life! By His unfailing love, He continues to draw you unto Himself.

Scripture Reading: “Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” (Psalm 63:3 NLT).

Prayer: Father in heaven, in the midst of my rebellion, You continue to love me and gently pull me back to You! Please forgive me for even thinking I could do life without You. Please forgive my rebelliousness and help me to get on Your path and remain there. I love You and thank You that You have never given up on me nor will You ever. Your unfailing love reaches out to me always…in Jesus’ name…AMEN!