God's Blessings Through Transitions, Transfers And Changes

I've learned that nothing that God does in our lives is necessarily permanent. Though I thrive on changes, transfers and transitions, some that are unexpected and unwanted are very difficult to cope with.  As Christians, we are often ashamed to accept a change when we shared that God did the thing and blessed us.

We think because God did it that it is engraved in stone and can never change. God gave it and we have it, for good! When the blessing circumstances begin to change, we are apt to and often encouraged by less-enlightened Christians, to believe that we made a mistake. Maybe God did not do it after all, because things are now changing. If God did it, it would not change, right? As we grow in Christ, we learn that this is not true.

God gives and takes away, shifts and turns things in our lives, opens a door for a season and then closes it and opens another door. He even brings people into our lives temporarily to bless us in various ways.  He then moves them out because they were not meant to stay. We are confused and wonder why these relationships are not retained. We lament and look back, when we need to learn to let go and move forward.

We should anticipate the new things that God will do. It helps to remind ourselves that everything in this fallen world is temporary. It all seems so solid to us because we endure time while we are here. Time seems to make permanent things but that permanence is all temporary. God shifts all according to his will and we are not to hold on to what he allows to change.

Transfers and transitions are more often experienced in the lives of some rather than others. Despite this, we all can grow through God's big and small changes as we listen to and obey His Spirit each day. If you have proof within yourself that you made a mistake and God did not do it after all, admit it and move on. Growth is good and God knows where you're at.

When things begin to change, however, regarding a blessing that you know came from God, don't degrade your relationship with Your Heavenly Father by choosing to believe that he never blessed you. Don't allow others to convince you to demean your spiritual growth and your commitment to God. Know that God does not change, but he changes things.

Our Father does not intend for the changes to hurt us. Because of the condition of this damaged and swiftly-deteriorating world, hurts and pains must come. God allows his planned and ordained changes to bring about his purposes. His end result is not for us to suffer for no reason. He plans and allows changes in his blessings to benefit us now and in the New Heaven and the New Earth, in ways that we cannot imagine. We just need to stand firm in what we know and accept what Our Heavenly Father changes, as we grow in our understanding of how He does things.

God's Light Shines Through You

 

No matter what it looks like,

the God of Peace is with you. 

You are a channel for God's goodness.

It is not your flesh that is the channel.

It is your reborn spirit.

No matter what is going on with you,

your body is still the

Temple of the Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes it may not seem like it

but you are valuable to God.

The light of His life is always

in you and shining through you.

Be encouraged that the Spirit of God

operating in you is always working

 to promote life and peace,

in you, through you and around you,

to the far reaches of the earth,

to the end of time.

 

Overcome Evil With Good And Grow

Have you been feeling fearful or maligned lately? Been the target of malevolent or hateful treatment? What about persecution, harassment or oppression in it's various psychological and emotional ways? Do you wonder where your Father God is as you struggle to righteously endure the unceasing unfairness that he seems to be allowing?

Do not doubt that he is aware. Furthermore, he knows why you feel the way that you do. He knows the causes of your confusion and anger and he is not mad at you. When will he ever do something about what you are suffering? I don't know. Will he ever stop it? I don't know. Despite our uncertainties and intense anxieties, there is always a place where we can take refuge in a way that pleases God. We should always want to please and glorify him, no matter what. 

I pray every morning before I speak to or encounter anyone in person or online. I also do talking prayer to God throughout the day. When these distressed feelings are particularly severe, however, I need something else to help me. Rather than attack others (in my mind or outwardly) who may seem to be the cause of my troubles, I like to quote Psalm 91. I have it written on three little sheets of paper that I've taped together.

I keep the little packet in the place where I am most of the day. I can find it either on my art work table or at my computer. When I feel particularly distressed, I pick it up and walk around my home reading it aloud.

I bring the words out of my spirit and put them into my atmosphere, where they will grow and bear good fruit, within and all around me. I listen to myself speaking the Living Word of God, that which will transform and convert. I always feel better and equipped for the next stage of battle when I do this. 

Don't fight with others. Don't attack others in mind, spirit or physically. Don't repay evil for evil. Do good by speaking the Holy Scripture passage that will carry you to the next level of walking in God's light and growing in Christ.

How To Deal With Problems

See Any Problem As Something Good.

This goes for all challenges, setbacks, difficulties, trials, tragedies and tribulations. Even if nothing good seems to be coming from a problem, why go through the additional trauma of seeing it as something bad from which you will never recover?  Seeing it as something bad is the only other alternative to seeing it as something good. It's one or the other and we have the power to choose.

 

I realize that in some disastrous situations, some tragedies, some heartbreaking occurrences, it is next to impossible to stop and think that good will come from it. It would be difficult to do this but not impossible. If we are not able to do it in the midst of trial, we can take control and do it later. Do you realize how powerful the human brain is? Do you know that anything that exists began in the mind, then it was believed, then spoken or written, then it came into being?

At SuccessConsciousness, these important facts about the power of our God-given brains are shared:

 

Mind power is one of the strongest and most useful powers you possess.
This power, together with your imagination, can create success or failure, happiness or unhappiness, opportunities or obstacles. This depends on your mindset.

Your thoughts are the main ingredient of this power, and when you add to them focus and emotions, thoughts become powerful and can affect your reality.
The thoughts that pass through your mind are responsible for almost everything that happens in your life.

 

Not all thoughts are equal. Stray ones that you think once or twice cannot do much, but your predominant thoughts, the ones you repeat often, influence your behavior and attitude, affect your actions and reactions, and shape your reality.

Christians know that God has the upper-hand in all that happens in our lives. It is, however, a fact that God works with us. He does not control us. He helps us with our infirmities but he does not control us. That means that we have authority in our lives and also power through our brains. We can decide how to think. With determination and the divine help of The God of All Hope, we can learn to see problems as something good. Problems are not good but they can be used by a loving Father to generate good in our lives.

 

Those who know God always have hope. Our Heavenly Father promised to turn everything for our good, one way or another. We have to choose to believe. If we don't yet feel it, see it, taste it, hear it or touch this conversion of bad to good, we can insist that God has or will convert it to bless us. We can persist in professing this everyday, throughout the day. Why should we confess such a statement when it is so hard to believe in our circumstance? Because he said it. It's as simple as that.

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, with those whom he has called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 GNT

Look up, even though your heart is broken.

Look up even though you are oh so discouraged.

Look up, even though it seems impossible.

Look up, even though you can't take it anymore.

Look up, even though nothing has ever worked out for you.

Look up, even though you don't think that God loves you.

Look up, because you are God's by your own choice.

Look up, believe and confess that this issue will work out for your good because your loving Heavenly Father said it would. 

You struggling with a challenge and just don't see how you are going to make it?

See It As Something Good. Start there and the answers and help will come.

 

Scripture Image Credit: Biblia

 

Is It All REALLY Working Together For My Good?

Sometimes, the trials that God turns into good for us we may never discern.

Often, this converting of these tribulations on our behalf moves into the realm of the unseen.

They can be the good that God does for us of which we are unaware.

We have faith that he does these things because the Word tells us so.

We may not always see the outcome of God working all things together for our good but we have testimonies of the times when we experienced proof that he did.

We also know that we live among bountiful blessings from our Heavenly Father every day.

 Any one of those unrecognizable daily blessings could be a conversion of bad to good, just for us.

Romans 8:28

 

How Do We Pray When Damage Is Inevitable?

We are never without recourse in a time of trouble.

Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed when I want to pray for those in catastrophic situations. Despite changes that can avert destruction, there is what seems to be inevitable in projected reports. There is the history of recurring events. Lastly, but not least, are the prophecies in the Bible about what will occur as the time for Jesus' return nears.

I wonder sometimes what the use of praying is. What good will it do in circumstances like this? This makes me feel like we are sitting ducks, and that there is nothing that we can do. We are never, however, without recourse, and that recourse is still prayer. There is never a time when prayer will not help.

First of all, if we have faith that God can do anything, we pray that absolutely no damage will be done. That's it! We pray that somehow the storm will be turned away from human harm. We pray that it will miraculously abate, dry up and dissipate.

Next, if we can't bring ourselves to pray that, because we find it incomprehensible to believe, we pray that damage will be minimal and no lives will be lost. We pray that everyone will find safe shelter and that homes will remain standing.


Finally, if that type of prayer does not resonate in the face of a catastrophic event, we pray that the hearts of everyone who does not know him will be turned to Jesus. We pray this for those who are in the eye of destruction and for everyone involved.

All of these prayers really can be combined into one cry to God for help:

Help Us Lord!

Help Them Lord!

Have Mercy On Us Lord!

Deliver Them Lord!

Dear Jesus My Savior

You said you would never leave nor forsake those who love you.

Help those in this terrible situation come
to love you in all circumstances.

I know that you are at the right hand of Our Father,
always praying for us.

Dear Father God

You said Fear thou not, for I am with you.
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you. I will help you.
I will hold you up with my right hand of righteousness. 

 For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand saying
"Fear not, for I am with you".

(Isaiah 41:10,13) 

Help those in this destructive situation come to love
and rely on you in the same way. 

Have mercy on them and everyone involved,

friends, relatives, neighbors, co-workers,

first responders, medical personnel,

city/government officials,

clergy.

So in writing this encouragement to help others, I talk myself into victory.

Victory in faith.

Victory in spiritual action.

Victory in prayer. 

I Believe In Prayer, No Matter What!

Start Each Day With Thankfulness

I thank God 

For a successful day

Filled with faith, hope and focus

 

 

Matthew 6:22

 

Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body.

When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. 

(NLT)

 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is sound,

your whole body will be full of light.

  (WEB)

 The light of the body is the eye; if then your eye is true,

all your body will be full of light.

  (BBE)

 The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is healthy,

your whole body will be full of light.

(CEB)

 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single,

thy whole body shall be full of light.

  (KJV)

 

Finding Romance, Love And A Christian Spouse

We should always pray and expect God's confirmation when we feel we have met the one.

I recently saw a video that someone shared at an online group, where a young Christian woman was advocating that we don't have to wait on God for a mate. She said that this principle was a part of Christiandom, or some contrived word like that. She felt that too many Christians sit around waiting for God to give them a marriage partner, when they can pick the person themselves. I feel that it is a combination of both. We should make an effort to be active and put ourselves out there to meet people.  Along with that, we should pray and expect God's confirmation when we feel we have met the one.

Moderation and merging of both searching and waiting for Christian love is important.

I think that to put all of the responsibility on ourselves to choose a holy person to marry is foolish and dangerous. However, I think to wait indefinitely on God to drop the person into our laps, while doing nothing to be friendly and attractive, is also foolish and self-defeating. Both attitudes are needed, but a moderation of both, a merging of them.

Don't go by feelings, which got you into romantic trouble before.

Dating around to feel our way to finding someone with whom we click got us into trouble before. Going by our feelings got us into trouble before. Depending upon our own devices is the reason that we are alone today. Being led of the flesh is the reason that we have so much baggage today, so that the Holy Spirit can barely get our attention.

We Christian woman have to learn how to submit to a man after God's own heart.

My point is that Christians lean too far to the right or the left about everything. The Bible plainly says to not lean to the right hand nor the left, keep our feet from evil. (Proverbs 4:27) The order of the relationship and marriage has to be established by God, in the beginning, for the union to be successful and righteous. This is even more so in today's world, where for generations women have had to assume the authority of men. This is because men have become so slack and lax in being men and heading the families as God desires. We, as Christian women, don't have any idea how to submit to a holy and righteous Christian man. Most of us have only known strong, overbearing women and weak men. We don't have healthy examples of the order in the Christian marriage.

God will confirm in the heart of the woman that indeed that man is the one.

So, to establish the relationship on Holy ground or a powerful foundation, we have to be able to submit in the beginning. In that regard, I believe in the way that many other Christians believe, that God will confirm with the man that yes indeed he has found a wonderful Godly woman who would be a faithful, holy and diligent wife to him.  The man will then show his interest in her and she will return that interest. Most important though, not the man, but God, will confirm in the heart and spirit of the woman that indeed, that man is the one.

God never changes and his order is supreme.

Basically, God will tell the man and the man will tell the woman, and God will confirm to the woman. It may sound old-fashioned and distasteful to some, but no matter what the variation is, you will find this holy process in all of the great, true, authentic and enduring Christian marriages. God never changes and his order is supreme.

The sad thing is that most of the time we operate in the flesh when it comes to romance and marriage. There is another, more excellent way, to work with God to put the flesh under. As reborn spirits, we possess the power to crucify the flesh that seduces and misleads us. We can learn a new way of experiencing romantic love. That infallible way is God's holy way.

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Dear Lord Help Us

A prayer and reminder for when you are feeling anxiety, distress, depression, hopelessness or unhappiness.

DEAR LORD:

Help us to keep our minds on you.

We thank you for the peace that passes all understanding and for joy unspeakable in the midst of struggle, fear and disappointment. We know that our joy in you is where our strength will always lie, and that YOU will keep us in perfect peace, because we choose to bring our minds back to you always.

AMEN.

Is Knowing God Without Jesus Christ Possible?

Scripture shows that man cannot know God without Jesus Christ.

Decades ago, when I lived in Los Angeles and worked in West Hollywood for a self-employed contractor, he made a pronouncement to me. It was because I was a babe in Christ, and had enthusiastically shared my new conversion with him. One day he stood before my desk with a harsh look on his face and spit out that he knew God and didn't deal with anyone else. I knew he was speaking of Jesus Christ, because he even added a mumbled "that Jesus person"-type of comment. He made me know he was rejecting anything that had to do with the so-called Savior that people like me promote. 

Can man know God without Jesus Christ? If a person believes that, then he/she cannot know the Word of God very well. Scripture plainly shows that we cannot know God without going through His Son. Why would anyone who professes to know God not read what has been revealed as God's Word? Why wouldn't he/she read The Book that has stood the test of time better than any other tome, and is the most popular book on earth?  And when read liberally, how could any person come away still believing that God can be known without acknowledging His Blessed Son Jesus Christ?  I believe that anyone with that stance cannot be reading the Bible.

If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. John 8:42

He that is of God hears God's words. John 8:47

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1

I and my Father are one. John 10:30

He that believes on me, believes not on me, but on him that sent me. John 12:44

He that honors not the Son honors not the Father which sent him. John 5:23

It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes to me. John 6:45

If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honors me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him. John 8:55
None of God's creation can know him without accepting Jesus Christ, His Son, as the way, the only way to commune with God, to be saved and live forever in peace. God set it up that way out of necessity. So, if you are insisting that you know and love God and that you don't need any of that Jesus Christ stuff, read this,


And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God loved the world so much, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned. John 3:14-18
No matter how strange or bizarre it sounds, Jesus Christ is God's Son and God has made the stipulation that anyone desiring life after death has to ask Jesus to save them. Anyone who wants to approach God and have a relationship with Him has to do it through His Son, Jesus Christ. That's the way it is, that's the way it will be.

It's a simple little requirement, but for which pride and fear makes it almost impossible for a person to submit to. When you feel that tug, though, you know that God is calling through His Son. His Holy Spirit is pressing you to accept the Life that He is offering through His Son. When you feel that inner tug, that means the door is open and you are being encouraged to walk through. You're being invited to partake of life forever. It won't always be so. One day that tug will never be felt again, the door will have closed, and your chance will be gone, forever.

How To Be Saved

Romans 10:9

(NKJV)

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 

  If you would like to know that you are saved, say this simple prayer:

Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, and the only Savior. Come into my heart, and save me now. Show me the way to understand and turn away from all things that do not help me. I don't have to fear death anymore, and thank you for Eternal Life with You.

Amen.

How God Helps With Problems

God shows me over and over...

...that the answers to most things that trouble me are very small things. These small things are solutions that I would never discover if it was not for Him. These solutions are tiny compared to how I view my problems. 

When God reveals a tiny solution to me, whether it is temporary or permanent, it has always been there all along. Close and within reach, but hidden from me. My solutions, which are usually very involved, always take me in a different direction than where God would take me. That is why I can never see God's solutions. 

Whenever My Heavenly Father reveals a solution to me, I am always so elated! The tiny solution makes such a big difference! I feel hopeful. I feel optimistic. I feel faith-filled! I can rest, while working the solution.

I also feel bad that I worried so much. I feel like I did not trust My Father like I could have. It hurts my heart, but I know that He understands.

 

I Prayed And It's Getting Worse! Why?

Often, when we are believing God for big changes, and praying and standing on his promises, the opposite will seem to happen. When we think things should be getting better, some things may seem to get worse. Some areas in our lives may need to collapse, so that God can build upon a stronger foundation that which we desire.

This is not pertaining to the foundation of the life of a Christian, for that main foundation is already built upon the Rock of Jesus Christ. The foundations that I'm speaking about are the areas of our lives that are a hinderance to obtaining what we want. They are superflous things, people and circumstances that need to go, that usually were not introduced by God into our lives to remain in the first place.

Some definitions of superflous include unnecessary; uncalled-for; wasteful. The best definition, though, is obsolete, which means no longer produced or used; out of date. They may have been useful at the time, according to God's plan, but are no longer so. We don't realize that many advancements, relationships and situations that we encounter are not meant to continue along the road with us.

God rarely reveals to us that what is a blessing at one time will become dispensible at his appointed time. These invited-turned-uninvited blessings must be wrenched from our lives in ways that we don't expect, because we don't understand that we must let them go. While God is permanent, the circumstances that he allows or places in our lives are not always so.

How do we handle these potentially upsetting and distressing developments? We continue to stand on the original promise of God. While doing so, we also do what is best at any given time, facing the challenges that God places before us. We determine to continue to have faith in him, while doing our part to fearlessly manage our daily lives, fearing no thing.

We go with the flow and recommit to God daily, loving and praising him with every fiber in our being. The course may veer off along the path at times, but if we are sure of what God is doing in our lives, then the path is the same. It is time to move upwards and onwards to what we asked God for.

Definitions: dictionary.com , Google 
Image: pixabay.com

Encouragement To Give Thanks!

In Everything Give Thanks!

Everything Is Not Good,

But

God Is!

In Everything,

Using Humble And Earnest Prayer,

Tell Him

What Is On Your Mind. 

I Thess. 5:18, Philippians 4:6-7

It's hard sometimes to give thanks in difficult situations, isn't it? What we are really supposed to do is give thanks for a good God, who is good always and forever. We don't have to cultivate a thankful spirit for bad things, horrific occurrences or evil outcomes. Even when being grateful for difficulties that can strengthen us, we are really being grateful for a God who will take those unfortunate circumstances and convert the results into something that will bless us richly in many ways. When we understand what to be thankful for, it's not so hard to give thanks in everything.