At It's Finest

At It's Finest

Do you feel like you’re in the middle - emotionally, financially, relationally? Your situation is better than it used to be, but you’re not where you know you’re supposed to be. 

In James 1:2-4, James tells us “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience haveits perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

For some background, the book ofJames is one of the oldest New Testament writings. James was a prayer warrior. He was also known as “Camel Knees” because his knees showed evidence of much time in prayer. He died a martyr. He was pushed from a building but didn’t die, so was beaten to death. He prayed the whole time he was being beaten. Most significantly, he was Jesus’ half-brother. Even though he grew up with Jesus, he questioned the idea of Jesus being the messiah until after he had seen miracles and the resurrection. In his book, he never refers to Jesus as his brother, but as Lord and Savior. I believe his words carry some weight.

James starts this passage with “count it all joy when”.WHEN. NotIF. We are going to face trials and they will come in all different types. Don’t be surprised when they come. It’s good to note that James is writing to converted and Jewish Christian’s who have been dispersed because of persecution. But he tells them to count it all joy!

Trials are part of life but, we tend to ask “why” when we’re going through trials.  Know this, your trial could be divine. God is not trying to take you out. He has a purpose. The goal is not to quit in the trial but to go through it. Trials are different from temptation. Temptation lures you away from faith. Divinely purposed trials are like gold in a fire. The impurities rise to the top and the dross is skimmed off…and then the gold is put back in the fire. Trials perfect our faith.

In trials we look for when it’s going to stop. We wait for God to intervene. We say “When” but James says to say “Win”. Stay with it. Go through it. Get the victory. Realize the truth that we are more than conquerors through Him. What are we winning - God’s purpose for our life fulfilled. 

How do we get through the trial? We have a choice. When you’re being hit from all sides, count it all joy. Joy is different from happiness. Joy conditions and sets the environment. Joy is the unrelenting thankful trust in God in spite of circumstances.Have feelings but don’t let feelings have you. Working on your mind, what you listen to and watch, helps you command the feelings. Don’t go by what you see. Go by faith in God. Faith is stepping out when you’re not sure, knowing God’s got you.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. The trial of the cross was on the way to the benefit. There is something waiting on the other side of your trial. The devil will work to convince you that God is not a good father and will lie to you regarding your situation. And, enduring with joy does not mean we won’t experience pain. But in joy, we will have hope and purposethrough the process. Joy yields patience. Trial produces active endurance, like a runner finishing a marathon, one step at a time. If we deal with trials opposite of faith we can become bitter, fearful, and full of doubt. It limits creativity. God is producing something in you so count it all joy, no matter what it feels like. God is more concerned with your character than your comfort. 

Set your mind and let God produce what He wants for your life. Faith is tested by trials so understand, faith is already there. All you need is alreadyin you. You are tested to reach your potential. Let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Perfect doesn’t mean without flaws but finished rightly and with better maturity, matured to the reflection and nature of its purpose, God’s will for your life. Trust that God’s got something in mind for you. 

When is faith at its finest? Is it a good church service or a much needed miracle? Is it answered prayer or when everything falls into place? No. It’s in the middle of the deepest and darkest times. Think of the three in the fiery furnace, joined by a fourth. Think of David with Goliath declaring “Who are you compared to my God?”  Think of the thief on the cross saying “I believe!” and was with Christ that same day in paradise. It was Jesus on the cross, proclaiming “It is finished”. In the middle of the trial, faith is at its finest. The trial is working for you. It is producing everything needed to bring God glory. Don’t listen to the enemy. He’ll make it someone else’s fault. He does not want you to produce and bring what you have to the world. He wants you to stop in the middle. But faith is at it’s finest, not when everything is right, not when everything feels good but in the midnight hour when God turns it around and you win. 

You’re going to have trials. Are you going to complain? Retaliate? Give up? Count it all joy.  The question to ask is “Where am I going to grow through this?” Don’t get stuck in the middle. Maybe you’re in the trial because your faith needs to be perfected.If you will furnish the faith, God will furnish the finish. Trust Him. Don’t quit. And watch how He will bring about your victory.

Deconstructing Pride

Deconstructing Pride

Today, I want to talk about pride. A message on pride, for purposes of actual change in people’s lives, is a frustrating topic because the people who need to hear it don’t think it’s for them.

I want to challenge you as you read this article to be open to considering that you have a little bit of pride. Keep in mind that if you’re not open to receiving this message you probably need to hear it.

Most of us don’t typically see pride as a real sin. But God detests pride (Proverbs 16:5). No one wants God to look at us like we’re detestable! But, we tend to dismiss pride as a sin. For a different perspective, what if I was talking about lust and I admitted to checking people out. Your response would be “that’s gross” and you wouldn’t want to hear from me anymore. Pride is just as bad. 

Pride is not necessarily ego. Pride is tricky and can manifest by drawing attention to yourself by appearing pathetic. The end result is you are still after people’s attention for yourself. Our job is to put all attention on God. We want to show off who He is. Are you worried about what people are thinking about you all the time? You may be struggling with pride. 

Pride is a pervasive matter. No one wants to admit to it. Honestly, it’s easier for me to admit to it when I’m writing a message about it. Pride is usually why we get our feelings hurt and why we feel rejection. Pride is the reason we can’t admit to making a mistake. Pride causes us to take ourselves a little too seriously. We will resent criticism if we are prideful. Insecurity is a result of pride because we are seeking for others to notice and praise us. Pride causes us to see ourselves as overly important or more special to God than others. Pride will make us want to blame others for our problems.

Mark 7:21-23 gives us a list of things that defile us including pride. 

“For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

So how do we become humble? How do we develop a humble attitude? Humility is not a look. It’s not the way we dress or what we drive. Humility is not about letting people walk all over you. Humility is knowing that God is our source - that all we have comes from God. We’re created to bring glory to God. So often we want to draw attention to ourselves but we need to focus on and bring focus to God.

Humility of all the virtues is the hardest one to gain and maintain because we all want to be first and we want to be noticed and we want to be important. But, we must have everything in Christ and nothing in ourselves. I don’t deserve all God has allowed me to do and be a part of in the natural, but God can do anything with anybody who stays humble before Him.

When I started, I had a big vision with little reality. I kept pressing toward that vision and God, in His faithfulness, taught me humility along that way. I was insecure and wanted to be great and important, but I had to get rid of that attitude. It's humble people God can help. He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.

We are to have the same attitude as Christ. He is our example of humility. He came from heaven and took on a human body. He never defended himself. His depth of humility is unfathomable. He loved everyone even while He was mistreated. Instead of focusing on Himself in those moments, He was thinking about what those who were persecuting Him were doing to themselves. Those who mistreat you don’t know what they’re doing. He prayed for them! Jesus forgave them. He loved them. 

Humility treats everyone with care and love no matter who they are. Pride is boastful and high minded, thinking of yourself more highly than you should. We don’t have to think of ourselves as below others, but just not more highly than others. Have a servant’s attitude. Judging and criticizing others is the fruit of pride. One of the most important things that reveals our level of pride or humility is how we treat other people, especially people that we or the world might deem as unimportant. 

If you’re going to be in authority, you need to know how to be under authority. You need to learn how to be under authority without complaining and gossiping, even in the privacy of your home. It’s the words you’re putting out there that are the problem. Zip your lip. Use a glue stick instead of chapstick! When you are going through tough times that make you want to complain and be vengeful, remember, often the things that hurt you the most will teach you the most.

Are you in a dark place? God will give you treasures out of this if you submit to Him in the process. Pray for God to do what He wants with you. But be ready. Like a puzzle that has a lot of plain blue or green pieces, one by one as the pieces come together, the big picture will emerge over time as God does a good work in you. We’re each called to do something. God wants to use you. But it will only be under the condition of humility.

How often are we dealing with pride and don’t know it? It's a priority and imperative that you get your heart in the right place, and know who you are in Christ. God is not impressed by the positions we hold, but is drawn to our love, our hunger and our thirst for Him. After seeking His righteousness first, are we pure in heart? How are we treating other people that the world thinks are unimportant? Let’s work at getting ourselves off of our own mind. Look for those who are hurting. Work to bless and encourage someone else. 

Pray and ask God to show you every time you’re in pride. “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us” (Romans 12:3 NLT).

Do Your Part

God has amazing things in store for you! Scripture says that the plans and thoughts He has for you are beyond anything you can think, ask or imagine! But maybe you find yourself in a place where you are asking, “God, where are you? I do not see you in my current situation. I am believing for a miracle but I am not seeing any movement. I am discouraged and becoming hopeless.” As the epileptic boy’s father said to Jesus in Mark 9, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” We must do our part. If we engage, as we worship, the atmosphere will shift. We have a certain amount of faith but we can increase our faith. We can break the barrier that separates us or holds us back from our victory. Have you been hurt? Maybe you have had a bad experience at church even. Is this holding you back from what God has for you? You can't hold someone in contempt because that person was foolish. Get to church. Enter into worship. Break through that barrier. Take hold of expectations. Expectation is the breeding ground for miracles.

As a baseball player focuses and pays attention to be able to run bases and get to home plate for a score, we need to focus. We don't need to be told how to run the bases. We just need to do it. Just run! But, as many of us have discovered, the need for miracles happens most between third base and home base. When we are closest to the score, closest to breakthrough, the enemy works harder against us, Weariness sets in. We begin to have anxiety about finishing. We may think God has forgotten us or that this victory wasn’t for us. We might begin to believe we were hoping for something that was not ours to have. Focus! Believe! Be intentional. Take time with God. Worship Him. Ask for Holy Spirit to open up Scripture to you so that you receive new levels of understanding. Then watch as God works on your behalf. Are you believing? Losing hope will keep you from running that last 90 feet between 3rd and home. Get with God and He will renew your hope. We add more faith to our existing faith through worship, learning the Word and prayer. Ask God to show you scripture that reveals His promises for you. Then speak these words, declare them, until your belief increases and you have added that extra pound of faith. Cut out those things that work against faith. Are you being critical? Are you complaining and confessing things that work against your victory? This is pollution and if we allow pollution, our faith gets diluted.

Jesus tells us to come to Him, we who are burdened, and He will give us rest. When we put our faith in Him, when we come to Him, faith will activate. God is cheering us on. Don't stop now. God is always talking to you. Are you listening? Are you looking to hear from Him more? The more you fill up with God's Word, the hungrier you will get. Faith is a muscle and for it to grow you have to stretch it and work it. Learn how to read and declare scripture so it pours out of you and affects those around you. Check out the story of Paul & Silas in Acts 16. They were praising God at midnight, in prison, in chains and their praise changed the atmosphere and broke the chains. Declare God and His Word in the middle of a storm and watch the circumstances shift. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God. Declaring victory coupled with knowledge of scripture will shift the atmosphere.

Listen for your direction from God through His Word and in your prayer time, then keep following the instruction He gives until He tells you a new direction. Just like the player on third base, stay the course and don't quit. Sometimes we let our guard down. We allow sin to enter in. But this pollutes and dilutes our faith. If you find yourself in that place, clear out that pollution. Confess your sin and He is faithful to forgive you your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Then embrace what He is saying and be diligent to declare it. This will add to your faith. Remember to be intentional with believing for your miracle, be clear and concise about your expectations based on Scripture, and be patient during the process. God sees you on third base so don't quit now. Help others find their miracle to open your heart for your miracle. This is trust and surrender in action. Develop a hunger for God's word and get a passion for His presence. Take those scriptures that resonate with you and declare them. This increases faith. It gives God something to work with. Don't allow yourself to be desensitized, fearful, weary, or fatigued. Stop looking at the dead. Shift the atmosphere through worship, time in the Word and prayer. Declare your victory.

God is in the miracle working business but He needs your participation. This is the power of agreement. If you are working in agreement with God, there is nothing that can’t be done. You've got to have a victorious mindset and create an atmosphere of expectation. He wants to do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ask, think or imagine. But, you must do your part.