Not one promise from God fails

“So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers and they took possession of it and settled there.  The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers.  Not one of their enemies withstood them; the Lord handed all their enemies over to them.  Not one of all the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”

Joshua 21:43-45

Not one - no, not one - of God’s promises fails.  He is the same now as he was for Israelites, and his promises hold true for each and every one of us.  Therefore, don’t give up, don’t look back, fill up in faith, stay focused on The Light, and know that God has miraculous wonders and miracles stored up for you each and every day.

Straight ahead.

“Go near and listen to all that the Lord God says... do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.  Walk in all the way that the Lord God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”

Deuteronomy 5:27, 32-33

Focus!  Straight ahead! Turning left or right, or making U-turns will only end in demise. 

So, again, FOCUS, straight ahead on Christ!  He is the way for you, he has the prosperity and longevity for you; he is the only one that you can count on for all the good things in life, for all of your prayers to be answered and blessed.  

Battles are for the Lord.

“... Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today... The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still”

Exodus 14:13-14

The fight is God’s; living is yours.  Therefore, let God fight your battles and you focus on living in peace, joy, love, health, and zeal.

Make a decision and stick with it

“...How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” 

1 Kings 18:21

It’s time to make a choice and stick with it.  Yes, someone will not like your choice, and not everyone in your life will be happy with your decision.  However, if it is the choice that God is putting in your heart, then make it.  Stop worrying about others, start focusing on God, do what’s right in your heart, and move forward.  The whole wavering part of life takes too much life out of life - totally not worth it. 

 So jump in with both feet, use God as your fins and swim baby!

SWIM!!

Do not be angry with yourselves

"And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you."

Genesis 45:5

If you've ever done evil to another and you still get sick to your stomach with guilt over the thought of it, do not worry.  For, although you meant to harm that person at that time, God had a plan all along.  He knew what was going to happen before it happened, and he knew what you were going to do before you did it; God, had the blessing awaiting the outcome of the whole situation, a blessing that you may never know, but a tremendous blessing all the same.  

Therefore, now is the time to forgive yourself, repent, stand up tall, focus on Christ, and move forward with your life.  It's all going to be OK, God knows your heart and for the guilt and repentance you feel - he will bless you for it.  Remember, everything works out for good to those who rely on Christ :-).

Going somewhere?

"Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

-Luke 9:62 NIV

Looking back will get you nowhere.  Focusing ahead and looking to Jesus will get you everywhere you want to go.

Don't look back, it is only a waste of your precious time and energy.

Be strong - Do not fear

“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come…”

Isaiah 35:3-4

Keep moving forward – listen to, and learn from God.

My friend, don’t stop, don’t look back, don’t give up… be strong.  God is with you every step forward of the way; he is with you forever and always.

FOCUS AND LISTEN

TO FOCUS ON AND LISTEN TO GOD CALLS FOR ONE TO IGNORE THE WAYS AND WORDS  OF THE WORLD AND TO FOCUS, LISTEN, AND FOLLOW THE WAYS AND WORDS OF GOD.

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You Sight, your Light

“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the lamb is its lamp.”  Revelation 21:22-23 NIV

Let God be your light – your sight, not the world; for with him, you will never fall off the steep cliff that the world seems to lead us to (unfortunately, more often than not L ).

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The prophetic Word of God

“… The prophetic Word was confirmed to us.  You’ll do well to keep focusing on it.  It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts…”

-2 Peter 1:19-20 MSG

Stay focused on the Word – stay focused on the Light; hence, stay focused on God.

My friends, God and His Word never fail, and soon, very soon, His Light and Star will come beaming through and see you through to your victory so close ahead.

Image graciously copied from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjqhJPHheDYAhXqSN8KHdk0A7oQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.enlivenpublishing.com%2Fblog%2F2016%2F01%2F22%2F3-ways-leaders-hear-gods-voice%2F&psig=AOvVaw2uybhUptNQqH1Nkqtr8FhO&ust=1516314417799657

Worry gets no one anywhere

“… People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves.  Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.”

-James 1:5-8 MSG

Worry is the same as insanity – it causes the mind to frantically do one-legged sprints around and around a mountain without realizing we have another leg to help, as well as keeping us blinded to the fact that there is a freeway running right through it.

Accept the hard times along with the good.

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"... keep your eyes on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive... " 

-2 Timothy 4:3-5 MSG

Dear World

Dear World,

It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion.  Nope, it doesn’t mean much; God is the only one that I live to please.

Therefore, with peace and love, I say this 

to you: Please mind your own business

and stop focusing on mine.

Love,

God’s precious child

Adapted from 1 Corinthians 4:1-4 MSG

Obsession in oneself

“… Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored... With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!”Romans 8:5-8, 9-11 MSG

Absorbed and obsessed with oneself is like being absorbed and obsessed with a brownie; self quickly gobbles it up, and digestion begins, which ends, as we know, into a certain darkness,  (pardon the visual - 💩💩💩 - LOL).

However, being absorbed and obsessed with Jesus is like being a newborn baby; self takes a deep breath of new life and begins to experience a fresh new energy of really wanting to live – and wanting to live to the fullest.

You can conquer all your fears!

"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?  Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart?  Did he get inside you?" - Acts 19:1-2 MSG

How deeply rooted is the Spirit within you?  This is a great question to think about and answer honestly. If God isn't deep-centered in your heart, then healing and wholeness are going to be a constant battle, a constant uphill struggle.  Yes, you might believe with your mind, but until you open your heart to let him in, nothing that you are holding on to right now that has to do with your unhealthy habits, hurts, and hang ups will ever be set truly free from within you.  So really dig down within yourself and see what is at the root of your core:  Is it God, or is it you; your flesh, the world in which you live and try to please, your fears, your upsets, your worry...?  Whatever it, or who, it may be, if it isn't God then it is time to focus on Him with more determination and hope than you ever have before.  Soon, your world will lighten, your lungs will fill with a fresh new air of life, and the road to recovery will be set, ever-so-clear, before you!  

You are God's child! And with him you can face and conquer all of your fears, hurts, habits, darkness's, and upsets!

Choose to focus on God

“Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols…” 

Acts 15:19-21 & 15:28-29 MSG

CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON GOD:  

Whatever gives life, helps your life, isn’t fruitless in your life, and is healing to your life.

CHOOSE to rid  Satan:

Whatever is fruitless in your life, brings darkness to your life, causes you ill health, or causes anger and hurt in your heart.

Yes, CHOOSE LIFE!!

Consider Jesus

"He considered the contempt and abuse and shame [borne for] the Christ (the Messiah Who was to come) to be greater wealth than all the treasure of Egypt, for he looked forward and away to the reward (recompense)." Hebrews 11:26 AMPC

When you are tempted to sin; when you are tempted to fall into the world for what you think is a certain ease (although it is only a moment of ease, eventually leading to a long term heartache), remember the determination of Moses, and, like him, consider Jesus.  Jesus prevails over all worldly ease and quick satisfactions.  So, if you can focus on Him, not on the moment, then your decisions will be God-blessed, God-beneficial, and will bear God-bearing fruit of which you will never be ale to receive from the world.

Considering Jesus equals actions, thoughts, and decisions that reach into your eternal destiny, which is being seated in Heaven at the right hand of Jesus Christ himself.

What enslaves you?

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey?  You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” Romans 6:16 NLT

What are you worshiping right now?  What can you not stop focusing on that can overtake your mind at times?  What do you feel like you have no control over, such as temper, frustration, regret, food, man, money, exercise, etc.?  Or, what/who is making the decisions for you?  If any of these answers are anything, or any one,  but God, then it is time to get re-grounded and re-focused; it is time to dig in deeper with Christ and wash away the darkness that is suffocating your life.

I know I have one or two things that I need to let go of or they can eventually lead to destruction – mental and physical – so I am ready,  I am ready to breath again.  How about you?  Well, if you are ready, then join me, and let’s kick this darkness to the ground, stomp it back to HE**, and move forward with our beautiful lives set before us by God himself.  

IT IS TIME TO LET GO!

Your body is not your own. Your body is God's.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20New Living Translation (NLT)

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Are you honoring God with your body?  Are you following the Spirit of God, or your own spirit of never being quite up to par?  Are you consistently beating yourself up, putting yourself down, over-eating, over-exercising, over-critizing yourself, your looks, your body?  I know that most of us can answer these questions with a big ol', 'YES!', which means we are beating up God's beautiful creation; which means, we are basically living in sin - sin (all sin, no matter the sin) which leads to death.  

Well enough is enough!  It is time to stop focusing on death and begin to focus on God, LIFE! We must try to remember that He owns our bodies, He made our bodies, and, therefore, we must change our way of thinking about our bodies; the way we talk about our bodies, the way we torture our bodies with food, exercise, stress and strain, and the way we look at and see ourselves, (our bodies), in the mirror.  

Friends, change is in dire order if a good portion of your life is spent being unhappy with YOU; who you are and how you were made.  So, let's begin to live out the way God has made us.  Let's see our bodies the way that God made them: perfect!!  And, most of all, remember this: our bodies are God's and made by God, and He makes no imperfect being. 

You are beautiful!  Now, begin to live and believe like it!!!

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Staying focused in the midst of the storms

“When you focus on God, (a consistent focus, a deep focus), your sadness will develop into gladness [joy]; a joy no one can ever rob from you.  It will be joy like a river over-flowing its banks!”  

Adapted from John 16:21-24 MSG

Yes, when we stay focused on God in the midst of the storms, the waves will calm and the shores of peace will be awaiting our grand arrivals.

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