It's Just One Ant

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

Proverbs 6:6-8

6Go to the ant, you sluggard;

consider its ways and be wise!

7It has no commander,

no overseer or ruler,

8yet it stores its provisions in summer

and gathers its food at harvest.

I think we often feel powerless as if the little we could give or contribute would not really be enough to make a difference. I believe the powers of darkness work over time to keep us thinking that way. What we don't realize is that if a lot of us did just a little, big things could happen. 

Click Photo To Visit and Listen to Healing Stream Stations

I hear my friend Mark Kenny of Healing Stream Media inviting people to help with launching another station or to support the 6 that already exist. Sometimes I am able to help and other times I'm frustrated because I'm not sure how I am going to keep gas in the cars or food on the table. Sometimes I allow that feeling of powerlessness to sink in and hold me back when I should take a step of faith even if its a very little one. What if you and I decided that we wanted to stand up and resist those feelings of lack and powerlessness. What if we heard those appeals and we decided that we would do something.

There is a different radio station my church supports in Alaska that reaches out to the Soviet Union it is supported by everyone, in every Covenant Church, giving one dollar, on one Sunday of the Year. There is power that is released when we decide to push past those feelings of lack and powerlessness  to stand together in unity to do something.  

Do you remember the scene in the movie A Bugs Life. The Bad Boss grasshopper is trying to impress on his minions that if one ant stands up, others might also and before you know it there goes their way of life. Its a powerful little clip. If you are getting this in your e-mail you will have to click on the post title to get back the main site to see it, or here's the YouTube Link http://youtu.be/VLbWnJGlyMU

I have been writing this week about God's heart towards the poor and the need for Mission Churches in America. We have churches that are thriving and others like my own that is made up of 3/4's homeless and poor people each Sunday that are not really able to support themselves. The question our staff and board wrestles with is how do you do church in America if most of your congregation lives under the bridge, or in shelters or subsidized housing? We pray and God has supplied in amazing ways to keep the doors open so we can continue to minister to our very poor neighbors.  It is however a constant struggle that we wrestle with and continually lift before the Lord. In most places it is enough to pass the plate on a Sunday. I sometimes ask God why there is such inequity with in His "Church".  Often we think we are doing great things for God by building cushy buildings for our people or erecting giant Jesus statues that eventually get struck by lightening and putting resources to building another.

Source: grist.org via Margot on Pinterest

Maybe rebuilding statues is a great testimony of faith but I have to think it is yet another thing that the languishing world around us mocks and laughs at particularly when our streets are filled with homeless people. We have a society of Christians who for the most part think their Christian duty is fulfilled simply by attending church services. So as I wrestle with the inequities, I find God saying to me "Who can I send, who will go for me." I realize that I am to be a voice for change. A voice that causes people to examine their priorities. 

I contend that if you are spending time in God's presence and enjoying amazing times of worship or in the word that you should get filled up and then go out and pour it out to those who are hungry or thirsty.  Perhaps you experienced personal healing and being set free from the things that have held you in bondage - that is great. That is certainly wonderful but you can't just stay there. You have to take that new found healing and freedom in Christ and do something with it. You have to come off the dang mountain and use what you have received to minister to a broken, lost and hurting world. Too often we are spending the anointing of God on our own pleasure and comfort. Isaiah had an incredible experience in the Lord's presence but he did not remain there. He heard God's call to "go" and he responded as should you and I.

Isaiah 6:7-9

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, 

“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” ⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 

“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

⁹ He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;

    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’    

I'm pretty sure it was a frusting call to be sent to people who would not hear, or understand. He was sent to people who had hard hearts toward God despite the fact that God had done countless miracles in their midst. Difficulty is not necessarily a sign that God is not working in something. His blessings often come in unlikely packages, that are harder than we might expect. It is because we need to learn dependance on Him.

Source: missionsplace.com via Margot on Pinterest

This picture is depicting a powerful article by William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army is forever etched in my mind. Look at the people on the bridge who have been saved from the sea. They have completely forgotten the sea full of perishing people from which they came.

It's easy to think the problems in our world will be solved by someone else. That it's not our problem that people live under the bridge, or are held in bondage to poverty or addiction. That people are still in our century sold in to slavery. Sometimes our attitude is they made their bed - now they can lie in it. I'm not convinced that is the heart of God. 

Blessed is he who is poor in spirit....(Matthew 5:3)...for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Most of us are not farmers and our's is not an agricultural society, but I think we have to think how this verse fits and apply in our technological world of today.  Leviticus 23:22
“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 15:11
“There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.”

Proverbs 14:31
“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”

Proverbs 21:13
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”

Isaiah 58:6-7
“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.”

I've only chose a few of the many verses one can find on this subject - and lest you think it all old testament here are more expressing the same heart of God toward the poor in the New Testament. 

Luke 3:11
“John replied, ‘If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.’”

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free.”

There are a lot of places where one can help to advance God's kingdom. My friends at the Healing Stream have 6 wonderful and very different stations that will bless and encourage you. Take a listen and then visit the donation page and help keep them on the air. Click the line of photos to get to their site they have easy secure online donation buttons all set up under the donate tab.

My own little church could use your help consider giving to a mission church that is regularly feeding and ministering to the homeless and poor. Our seats are filled with poor people and our offering plates are filled with change. I don't think its God's intention for them to stay poor and homeless but it is a considerable journey that requires a lot of love, patience support and prayer. Please pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send workers into this harvest field. I invite you to be part of what God is doing, it is a work of transformation and hope. If you can't go to such a mission field - than give.

There are two places on our web site http://www.fccspokane.org/ 

where you can give an online donation. 

1. If you want to help support a church for the homeless and poor pull down the "About" tab an at the bottom you will find Tithes and Offerings and that will take you to a paypal donation page.

2. If you would like to help pay to feed the homeless a hot meal each week you would use the "Streetwise" tab and donate though paypal to Streetwise.

                                               Thanks, Margot 

Heavenly Authority

A Devotional by Mark Kenney

The word “authority” appears 91 times in the bible.  There is absolutely no question we are called again and again in scripture to submit to authority.  The question must be raised however of who or what authority looks like so we know two things clearly. The first thing we will know is who and what to submit to. The second thing we will know is who and what we are not supposed to submit to.

The biggest single mistake we make in this area is assuming that just because a person is in charge of something that they have Heaven’s authority to be doing that thing.  The bible clearly draws a line between a person’s position or title and their Heaven given authority.

In Matthew 7, Jesus has no earthly title. He is not in charge of anything or anyone. No one of earthly authority has given him any authority mantle yet the scripture says in verses 28 & 29, “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”  Even the people of that time had trouble seeing the difference between someone who truly had Heavenly Authority and someone who simply claimed that they did.

People miss stories like when David was the King and yet Nathan being a Prophet didn’t roll over and submit to him.  In fact, Nathan came and brought a prophetic word of correction to him. Nathan was indeed a man of Heavenly Authority and while Nathan respected the office of the King, He held the honor of God’s throne above that of David’s.
In Matthew 21, the modern people in charge counted on everyone believing they were the ones put in place by God with God’s Authority.  This is one reason why they publicly challenged Jesus’ authority flat out by asking in whose authority Jesus was operating in and who gave it to Him. They didn’t truly want to know of course, they were just trying to raise doubts about the validity of Jesus authority in the minds of the crowds. Jesus knowing their hearts refused to directly answer but instead gave them a riddle of His own and basically outsmarted them and left them standing there looking like fools.  Point is that even though they were in charge, Jesus did not honor them as  leaders with Heavenly Authority because they did not have such.
In Matthew 28 Jesus declares “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”. This is critical to see as it puts Jesus in the driver’s seat meaning that He and only He dells out the authority of Heaven to others. After all, He’s the only one that has any to give at that point and you can only give what you have.

Luke 7 is where Jesus heals the Centurion’s servant.  In it we see a couple very powerful things.  One, we see one of the only times a person makes Jesus marvel. How would you like to be a person that it can be said about that you made Jesus marvel over you?  Well, this guy did just that.  It was because the Centurion came to Jesus with a proper understanding of the Kingdom of God being the Government of God and accordingly He knew Jesus didn’t even have to be there in person, Jesus could just give the instruction and Jesus authority would empower the word and bring the healing and that is exactly what happened.

In Luke 10 authority is given to empower people to do certain things. In Luke 19 authority is given as a reward of being faithful.

Romans 13 is where many get messed up. Here are verses 1, 2, and 3.
1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.
Notice that it does NOT say there is no one in charge that is not put there by God. It says there is no AUTHORITY except from God. Big difference.  Hitler ruled Nazi Germany and slaughtered countless millions but he certainly did not have the authority of God, even though he was clearly in charge.  Jim Jones, David Koresh and many like them have been in charge of their given organizations, but they had no true Heavenly Authority. If a person rents a police uniform for a costume party, they may look just like a police officer in every way, but in reality they have no real authority.  At the same time, if a leader in the church has the title of Pastor or Elder or whatever, that in no way automatically gives them Heaven’s authority. It just gives them influence in the natural and nothing more. In fact, in the later chapters of Revelation, we see that the dragon gives out earthy “authority” (or the ability to b ein charge of things) to the beast. This is not Heavenly Authority from God spoken of in Romans 13.  The authority of Heaven is handed out by Jesus Himself since He is the one who has it all in the first place.
When a person has authority, they have the right to represent and act on behalf of.  For married couples, Paul uses authority as an example in 1st Corinthians. “The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does“ Its important to see too that authority will one day be done away with. Heaven is not ran by authority as God is God and doesn’t need us to represent Him in Heaven as He is there in the fullness of His Glory all the time. It is only within the sin stained walls of earth that we are in need of Heaven’s authority.  (1st Corinthians 15)

In Summery, it becomes very important to see the difference between someone simply being in charge of something and being anointed with Authority from Heaven. You are only called by God to submit to those who do not violate clear scripture, not just anyone who happens to be in charge.  If Jesus does not return until after the great tribulation, we as believers will be forced to chose between death and the mark of the beast. This will be enforced by people in charge, but with no heavenly authority. I could keep giving many other examples, but the point is, a leader is not a leader just because they call themselves one. GOD has to call them one before they have true Heaven given authority.

All the best,
Mark

Safe People

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio

We are all un finished works

“But I will sing of Your power; 
Yes, I will sing aloud 
of Your mercy in the morning;
And refuge in the day of my trouble.”Psalm 59:16 

 This morning I seem to be struggling to find what I want to write about. The verse above it the verse of the day at Bible Gateway and seemed as good as any. I'm still kind of tired this morning and can't at this point seem to find a thread of inspiration to write about. There are some thoughts that may become things I write about but those are things that I am still processing.  Processing - Perhaps that is a topic in it self. I was thinking this morning how it is very hard for me to get to memories from the past. Things I did not know how to deal with or did not want to feel the emotions of got locked away and with them the things that would trigger those memories.  In my mind I needed to be the strong one, and encourage and support everyone else and my stuff could wait till later. There were things that needed to be done and I just kept moving forward and would sort it all out later.  So I have done that for a very long time and in some ways later has come and I am now having to sort through that stuff and try to reconcile it in someway. Given that I have not created mental pathways in my brain to those memories it is very hard for me to find them now. There are some memory paths, and from those I can sometimes get to others. A friend told me recently that it was the mercy of God that I can't remember the past clearly. Perhaps it is - but I seem to be a the mercy of God because he brings up things and then I find that I must feel them and now deal with them in some right way. In some cases I must grieve the loss of people who were dear to me, or feel the pain of the hurt caused by the choices of others. In that I must forgive. In some I see the hurt and pain my choices have caused to others - in those I must try and understand the pain I caused and I must repent. 

I was talking to my friend Mark Kenney yesterday, who is forever posting on face book little nuggets of wisdom that he some how profoundly spins out. Here's a couple just from yesterday.

Fear's job is to limit and stop you. Thus, your choice to move ahead and take action is how you resist fear's effects.

 A Religious Spirit always double accuse you of not being what you could be and the instant you start to become that it accuses you of pride. ~ Shatter it off your life by humbling yourself enough to accept 100% of the divine elevation that God has truly called you to.

The resistance is in your mind... Take personal dominion and press THRU it.. don't park and do not make choices based on it... go THRU it

Your value is not in what you look like... but the perceived value that others usually judge you by is. ~ You get one chance to make a good first impression. Those who know you well don't need that but those who don't know you yet do.

When the devil can't destroy a person or ministry, he will always fall to plan B which is to attach a word of controversy knowing most of the body walks by sight and not by Faith.

So the one that got me yesterday was...."Transparency is the seed for Intimacy ~ Some of life's greatest pleasures and rewards are based on mutual transparency. Your refusal to open up is only stopping you from God's very best. ~ Find someone and pour yourself out!"

So anyway at that time I got a chat message from Mark Kenney about some information that he had said he would get to me about one of his business endeavors.  I guess what he had just posted was still pretty fresh on both our minds so the chat drifted that way towards the topic of mutual transparency.   Let me say I've known Mark for 20 years and he's like a younger brother to me, and we have seen each other go through a lot of stuff in 20 years of walking with the Lord.  So the question was can you be open about the things from your past that you keep secret.  So Mark started our conversation with I bet you did'nt know....  and then I had to decide if I was brave enough to share. My first response was to turn the conversation to something safer. He would have been none the wiser. But then there was a pause and I had time to see my own defensive action and made a choice to share the thing I was currently struggling through.  While I am not ready broadcast that conversation, let me tell you that there were a few things I needed to talk through. Things that had just in the past day or two come to the surface for me and God was offering me a safe friend at the right moment. Would I take that opportunity or let it pass by with empty chatter. 

There is something to be said for mutual transparency in that both parties have shared a hurt, or a vulnerable thing and there is a balance of safety in knowing that what was shared is safe and that the other will not use that information in a way that will hurt the other. There is also in "safe" people a knowledge that they will not feel the need to pass along or gossip about what has been shared.  The other thing I have found to be in "safe" people is that - they don't have to have the answer, they do need to listen, they do need to not condem or judge and to try to understand, they do need to be someone who will pray and point you to Jesus. Sometimes they need to be the voice through which God speaks and impart His understanding, love, mercy, compassion, healing and grace.

For me it is very hard to trust people - and I have to really work at being open.  I have levels of trust that has grown over time with various people. Some people I trust them but they have enough of their own burdens to not need to have to shoulder mine.  Most stuff I just work out with the Lord in my quiet time but there is sometimes a need to confess a thing to break the power of it in your life. The gossip thing is a major thing that rules out this kind of sharing with most people.  I watch what people do with information and decide their level of safety. There is also a safety in friends that are far away in that they are not in the middle of your life and can't meddle or try and fix things and so they are powerless to do more than encourage and pray.  All that to say there is a powerful thing that happens when we confess our sins, our pain, our broken places to one another.  I will end with James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  

I want my heart to heal and to be strong and healthy and I imagine that you do as well so I encourage you to find the safe people in your life, and to work on being a safe person.  I think we reap what we sow. If you sow seeds of being a safe person for others God will provide safe people for you when you need them.  Let me say lastly that God will bring the right person at the right time for the things God is having you deal with - trust him.  He wants you to be healed and to walk in greater freedom. Much freedom comes from confessing - push past the fear -it is bigger in your mind than you will find it to really be, once you have confessed it. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help each of us to find those safe people in our life. Those people who exhibit Christian character and maturity. Help us to find the courage to confess the things that we have carried as burdens, shame, as twisted ideas and beliefs. Help us to get free. Even more so I pray that we would each become safe people, ministers of the good news of Jesus, who can rightly divide Gods word and know how to apply it to various things we and people around us are facing.  I pray Lord that you will lead us to greater freedom and wholeness and health in you.

 

 

 

 

A Display Trophy For His Glory

A Devotional by Mark Kenney

If you'd like more of Mark's writing visit http://letterly.net/markkenney

Psalm 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

 





Psalm 110:2 - The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.


Look at these verses closely. See the resemblance? Neither time does God promise or even suggest that he will eliminate our enemies. In fact He promises to use us as a display trophy for His Glory right in front of them all. We need to stop fearfully avoiding conflict and troubles. There is never a victory without a battle and we are in a season where the Lord is pressing us to confront for the purpose of victory.

Its taken me a while to get where I am, but I am finally in a place where I can get excited about an enemy. Enemies are God's sign post that divine elevation is about to power you up and above where you are currently. We need to enjoy the tables before our enemies. We need to rule in the midst of our enemies. That means that you need to stop trying to avoid them and instead be yourself around them. Let God bring elevation. When you do that they will usually get intimidated and run away fulfilling Proverbs that says the wicked flee when no one pursues.

Stop fighting against the blessing of God... enjoy your enemies... pray for them... look forward to being around them... it's a critical key of maturity and unlocking your own future.

 

The Blind Man

I am thrilled that my friend Mark Kenney has sent us another excellent post. I know that some of you reading this are struggling with health issues and are in need of other miracles. You are welcome to comment so our growing family of readers can join you in praying for your need.

~ Margot

Click Here to Visit Mark's On Line Radio Stations

The Blind Man

A Devotional by Mark Kenney

 John 9 5-7
  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
 After saying this, he spit on the ground, 
made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  
“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” 
(this word means “Sent”). 
So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

The blind man in scripture undoubtedly cried out to God for his sight several times in his life. When a strange man he had heard fables about came up and rubbed spit laced mud on his face I'm reasonably confident he wasn't thinking God had answered his prayer for healing in that moment.
How sad for him if he stayed critical and just wiped the mud off right there.

He had to get to the pool!

On the way to the pool, everyone he knew and many he didn't know all saw him with mud on his face and all saw that he was blind. They all saw he was helpless to even get to the pool on his own and needed others to assist him. His decision to obey was really a decision to get absolutely and completely out of any and everything comfortable or familiar and do a task that was very emotionally challenging to himself.

Some people reading this have been all caught up in the fact that they have mud on their face. They are caught up in the fact that God's most recent instruction will most likely embarrass them to others. The Lord would say to you... stop focusing on the mud and get to the pool!
The only thing the devil can do to keep you blind is to keep you focused on the mud. If instead you will ignore the mud and get to the pool, there you can wash the mud off and reveal your awaiting miracle!

Dear Lord, 
Help me get my focus right. Remind me of any instructions you have given me that I brushed aside because they seemed too embarrassing.  Help me be obedient to do the things you are calling me to do. Help me to not worry about the mud and help me get to the pool where your miracle answers are waiting for me.

When My Faith Seems Small

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When My Faith Seems Small

A Devotional by Margot Cioccio
 

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see. 

 

I have faith in chairs, that when I sit in them they will hold me up. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. I have faith that Mt.Rainier is still there on cloudy days when I can't see it looming over the Western Washington landscape.

Do I have faith to believe that God's promises in His word are true? Beyond that do I have faith to believe the things He has spoken to me in my quiet time with Him? Do I really trust him like Abraham even when every circumstance seems to shout the very opposite of what God has said?   I do - I'm not saying I don't have days when doubts creep in and my faith seems very small - I do. We all have those days.  I want to share some of the things that I do on days when my faith seems small. 

 

I Spend Time With Jesus: The first place you will find me is at the feet of Jesus. I lay it all out before the Lord. He already knows the condition of my heart and I ask like the father in Mark 9:24b
 “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

 

I Remember: I remember the mercies and the goodness of the Lord. I make a point to tell others on those days about some time that the Lord has helped me in the past. In Revelation 12:11 "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." The word of your testimony is a powerful weapon by which we overcome the enemy. 

 

I Use My Weapons: I  remember 2 Corinthians 10:4 -5 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." We have already been given powerful weapons for demolishing the strongholds in our lives and in the lives of others. If I know the Word then I will know when an argument is setting itself up against the knowledge of God. The more of the Word I have in me the less likely I am to sin against God. Psalm 119:11 is a good case for Bible memory. It say's "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you". Now I have some friends who really work at Bible memory, they practice in their spare time and they have many passages memorized word for word. I am not very good at memorizing. I may not be able to quote word for word, or give you chapter and verse but the Word is in me. For example just in writing this devotional post I am able to remember key words and concepts so that when I can quickly find the verses that I want to use. I have may not have spent time consciously memorizing, but I have spent lots and lots of time reading the Word. I have spent lots of time singing the Word. God wired me in such a way that allows me to remember things that have been set to music. We all have little tricks that help us remember the things we want to remember. My point is that knowing the Word is a powerful weapon against the enemy. 

 

I Stand on the Word: As I am praying and seeking the Lord often I will come across a verse that jumps out and speaks deeply to me in some way. That becomes a Word that I begin to stand on. It is like it jumped out just for me. We are promised that the Holy Spirit will teach us in John 14:26  "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." Those words I often put on 3x5 cards and carry in my pocket or I post it places where I will see them and be reminded. 

 

I Ponder: There are things that I don't know how or when God will work out - I just know that He will. I remember that He is able.  They are for me like money in the bank. I know it will be there when I need it in the future. I am making faith deposits for the future in the little steps of faith I take today.   I don't generally tell anyone those private things that God has spoken to me. Like Mary I take those things and treasure them or ponder them. Luke 2:19 says "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." I often journal those things so that when they do happen - I have created yet another testimony that will help me with things in the future. 

 

I hope that these little tips are helpful. This is certainly not an exhaustive list but these are some of the ways that I build myself up. 

Oh one last thing...

 

I pray in the Spirit - I don't always know how to pray but I trust that the Holy Spirit knows the mind of the Father and is able to pray through me. I love how the message explains this in Romans 8:26-28 "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good." I have to quote something my friend Mark Kenney posted today "Someone asked if I believed in tongues. I said I'm pretty sure that most everyone I know has one..so I'll say yes." I try not to make that subject a divisive issue. For me praying in the Spirit for me has been a huge blessing. It has added a deeper dimension my prayer life, particularly when I don't know how to pray. Its a gift - not a badge of spirituality.

 

I have found that I have faith for a given trial when I have been spending time at the feet of Jesus. It is a bad idea to wait for a trial and then to beginning cramming trying to work up faith. One must consistently be using faith and practicing faith in small things. Then when bigger things come our way we are able to look to the many small things that helped us to practice and grow in faith. David had practiced on lions and bears before he stood before the giant Goliath. Use what is going on now to build some spiritual muscle.

 

Prayer:  Dear Lord, Help me build some spiritual muscle in this trial I am facing. Help me to remember and to try some of the ideas in this devotional. Help me grow in faith so that I honor you in the situations that I face as I walk through day to day life. I invite you to be present with me as I go through this day.

Stop Waiting

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Stop Waiting

A Devotional by Mark Kenney

 Acts 22:16 

And now why are you waiting? 

Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

The older I get the more convinced I become that the devil is masterful at trickery, manipulation and redirection. Pride makes many in the body feel that they are above the devil's reach in these aspects and areas but humility brings us to the mirror and face to face with the knowledge that we could indeed be tricked into believing things that aren't really of God at all.

I believe waiting is one of these areas the devil has exploited.  Many Christians have embraced this idea of "waiting on the Lord" as a reason or excuse to not make personal decisions. In fact, when God is on you, He is on you so you can take action. Faith is action. The anointing of God is not for the goose bumps, it's to empower you do take action!  Yes, there is a place where we as humans truly do not have a leading in a given area but that is not a time to wait, that is a time to seek and actively seek.Then, once you have an answer of how to proceed, stop waiting! Move ahead and do what it is that God has led you to do.

As one example, the biggest single causes of obesity in the world is not over-eating, it's indecision. People will eat something while in their mind they are still considering if they really should eat it or not. Christians use "waiting on the Lord" to mask their personal fear of taking action. This needs to be repented of in those cases and the confidence of God be allowed to replace the fear that once was.

Suggested prayer 

"Father, I know you love me and are sovereign. I know you love me without condition or reservation. Let that Love so touch my heart right now that I never again hide behind me waiting on you and instead I commit afresh to move in your real time of the right here and the right now. Thank you for loving me even if I am wrong in my attempts to discern your timing. I repent of "waiting" and instead now choose to trust you in me enough to confidently move ahead with what you have for me to do".