Life…

Life is more than working and making money. There’s a greater story of redemption at work, and God is calling us into that story He is calling people to their true identity, radical relationship with Him. We’re all made for more than mediocrity; God calls us to shift cultures because of His love…

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The Waiting Room

The other day, I was sitting in traffic on 9a and just started thinking about all the time we spend waiting in life. We wait in traffic, wait in line at the grocery store & starbucks, wait for a promotion, wait for a relationship to turn around or wait for a prayer to be answered. It seems we spend a lot of time in the waiting room of life!

God sees us and is saying to us today, “I want you to wait the right way.” What is the right way to wait? If you look up the word “wait” in the original Hebrew, it’s translated to mean “hope and expectancy”. See, God wants you to wait in Him. He wants your hope and expectancy to be in Him. Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (NKJ)

God has promised that if we wait the right way, then we’ll have the strength to wait. We won’t feel overwhelmed, frustrated and “zapped” of all of our energy. If you wait in Him, you’ll run and not be weary, walk and be lifted up, and soar like the eagle. This verse tells me there are seasons of waiting. Sometimes we have to walk through some things while we wait. Sometimes we run and the season goes by quickly. And sometimes, we’ll just rise above the circumstances and soar through the season of waiting. No matter what, God promises to strengthen and empower us when we wait on Him.

How do we wait in Him? First of all, we need to wait with praise and worship in our hearts and mouths. Praise always precedes the victory. God says He inhabits the praises of His people, and when God shows up, the enemy has to flee!

Another way to make sure you are waiting the right way is by watching your words, thoughts and attitudes. Your thoughts direct your words which ultimately direct your life. Make sure your words line up with His Words. Come in agreement with Him because your strength comes from your unity with Him.

You’ve probably heard it said that your attitude determines your altitude. If you want to rise high above the storms of life, you have to set your mind on things above, not on the cares of this earth. You have to keep your focus on Jesus because He is the Author and Finisher of your faith.

Today, if you’re waiting, make sure you’re waiting the right way. Keep an attitude of faith and expectancy and a song of praise on your lips. Know that He is faithful, and He will renew your strength and lift you up when you choose to wait in Him.

A Grace That Sets You FREE

 

Grace – Grace is God’s unmerited favor. It is kindness from God we don’t deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor we can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God. Grace is divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration (rebirth) or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine favor

If there was anyone in the bible that understood grace, it would be the apostle Paul, he started out as the chief of sinners, and he ended up the chief of the apostles. The way he made the transition from the chief of sinners to the chief of the apostles was because of GRACE.
Someone once said that if you ever seen a turtle on a fence post he didn’t get their by himself,. So if you ever seen a saint of God seating in church with there bible and their life straighten out there addictions broken and their name written in the lambs book of LIFE.. You know this that they did not get there by themselves or if you have ever seen someone praising God in freedom you know this they didn’t get there by themselves. You can know that God and his grace lifted them up to where they are at. You see Grace is a gift that gets us to the place that we could not get on our own.
The estimate of any object is determined by what a person is willing to pay for that object. When God looked at us, silver and Gold wasn’t enough to pay the price for us. That our worth was more than silver and gold that it was worth his only son’s blood being shed, and if you ever wondered if God loved you, Calvary is God’s answer. You have great worth to him.

In 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 Paul is talking about sufficient grace three times he asked God, get me out of this trial, and three times God said my grace is sufficient for you, I will not remove it, because I am teaching you something I am allowing you to go through the darkness there is treasures out of this darkness, Jesus says what I teach you in the darkness you will proclaim in the light ! (Matthew 10:27). Your going through something and you don’t understand and it’s so dark and you almost want to give up and your on the brink of surrender and walking away from everything. But you have to understand Jesus said that I will talk to you in the darkness about things that you will proclaim in the light. You see the law came by Moses but the grace by Jesus Christ.
In John 8:3-11 there is this woman caught in the act of adultery, meaning since she was caught in the act she was probably barely clothed and dragged in humiliation and thrown down at the feet of Jesus, and the Pharisees said Moses and the law says stone her. Well you see one problem with judgmental people is they don’t know when to shut up. They hear something and They will text and talk on their cell phone about it until the phone is dead and then go home and get on the house phone and talk and talk, cause they don’t know when to shut up and they talk to much. You see if the Pharisees would have just stopped talking and said Moses and the law says stone her. They could have picked up rocks and been in line with the law. And Jesus may have watched it happen. But they talked to much, and they turned to Jesus and said what do you say Jesus?.. But at that moment Jesus made a transition out of the law that came by Moses, but grace and truth came by JESUS, he stepped in Grace stepped in and looked at the woman and listened to her accuser and then.. he stooped down and began touching dirt, maybe the reason he started touching the dirt was a sign to the woman who felt so dirty that he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to rescue her, that when you can’t get to him he will stoop down and touch dirty messed up shameful filthy lives with his nail scared hands that he isn’t so high and holy that he can’t get his hands dirty. That’s enough but then he stood up and said if any of you without sin throw the first stone, they all dropped the stones and walked away, and Jesus stood and he said where are your accusers now? And she said there none. The only one who could have accused her because he was the only sinless one didn’t have any rocks in his pocket. The bible said as though Jesus thought she still didn’t get it. John 8:8 says he stooped down again, put his hands in the dirt as to say to her that I don’t care how many times I have to stoop, I don’t care how many times I have to get my hands dirty , or how many times you do this over and over I’m going to stoop down and I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty I’m not afraid to touch the dirt in your life because I love you so much I’ll keep stooping down and getting my hands dirty until I get you saved.
Sometimes we think God, I’ve messed up to bad you can’t use me, but you see he stooped down and through his basin of mercy he has poured his grace on you to clean you up. He doesn’t care about your past the messes you have made. He is offering his grace, he paid a price for you and he will turn the bad in to good for his glory.

You see there is NOTHING that you can do to separate you from the love of God. And it’s not what you have done but it’s about what Jesus has done he has stepped in and he gave his life, so you may live. Don’t let your past hold you back from where God wants to take you, because by his grace we are saved. And by his Grace my sins are washed away.
God can and will move in any circumstance, just give it to him and let his grace set you free.