Better Days Ahead

I'm a 45 year old woman who is on an adventure to discover the purpose in all the trials and tribulations I have gone through. As I'm trying to discover what James says, "Consider it nothing but joy my bretheren when you go through many trials, that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.
I have two wonderful children and lost my husband Rob on April 19, 2014. I live in my father and step mother's home and was taking care of my step mother until she passed just recently on March 22nd. My father works away and is hardly even here. My 24 year old son who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder moved back with us last year, but seems to be not suffering delusions currently. My 15 year old daughter was in and out of behavioral health programs last year and failed 7th grade. We had quite a fight with the school who took us to truancy court for her absences. We now have more peace because she is home schooling online with a self-pace school. I am currently questioning what I should do to support my family, but wasn't able to due to caring for my sick stepmother. I have a dream to one day be self-employed. I just feel I need to get through the hurdles that seem to keep me back. So That is what this blog is about. I'm trying to find out what fears and mindsets keep me bound and keep me from pursuing my dreams. I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Dare to Take Your Place

 
by  Kenneth Copeland 
 
– Titus 3:4,6-7
A covenant of grace. That's what you and I have with Almighty God. If you could truly grasp the significance of that, you'd never be the same again.


What exactly is a covenant of grace? It's a relationship of favor that gives you access to someone else's power.

An illustration of a covenant of grace is the covenant the old Sicilian "family" members have with the "godfather" of the "family."

In that group, a weak person might come in and ask the Don for a favor. The Don would say, "I will grant this favor and I will ask a favor of you, and when that time comes, I will collect it."

Once that was said, the weak person would become excited. Suddenly he knew he would no longer have this problem because anyone who tried to rough him up would now have to face the godfather, the one with all the power. Suddenly, that little guy's attitude would change. He would leave the presence of the head of the family in the full assurance that he didn't have a thing to worry about. He was no longer small and powerless in his own mind. He had gained favor (grace) with the powerful.

He'd walk out thinking, "Everything is handled. All I have to do now is whatever the Don asks me to do--and the Don knows I don't have anything, so whatever he asks me to do, he'll provide the wherewithal to do it."

That's grace. God's willingness to enter into blood covenant with you and give you everything He has in exchange for everything you have.

He took your sin to give you His righteousness. He took your sickness to give you His health. He took your poverty in order to meet all your needs according to His riches in glory. Whenever He asks you to do something, He provides everything you need to carry it out.

The great Jehovah, God of heaven and earth, is your Father God. Can you understand that? If you're under the blood of Jesus, you've been made a covenant child of the most powerful being in the universe.

Dare to take your place in the family!

Scripture Reading: Luke 4:14-21

Monday, December 13, 2010

Don't Panic

by Gloria Copeland 
 
– Proverbs 16:3
       Right now you may be on the edge of a major decision... about to make a change in your job or your church or your personal life. You know you need divine guidance. And you're hoping desperately to hear from the Lord. If that's your situation, don't panic. Being led by the Lord isn't some complicated process that only the spiritual "pros" can master. I found that out years ago when I was a new believer. I wanted to live in a way that was pleasing to God, but I didn't know how to make decisions that were in line with His will.

Then one day as I was studying The Amplified Bible, I came across Proverbs 16:3. Immediately, I latched onto this verse and began to use it in my life--and I can tell you now from experience, it works!

It will work for you too if you'll do what it says. Roll your works over on God, commit your ways to Him, trust them wholly to Him. He'll start adjusting your thoughts to be like His until, at some point, you'll just know the right thing to do. Of course, faith is involved. One of the requirements is trust, and you won't be able to do that without feeding on God's Word. Then as you practice rolling your works upon the Lord and trusting Him, you become more confident in your ability to hear. Start now with whatever problem is bothering you. Pray and trust God with it. In other words, believe you receive when you pray. Stop worrying and begin believing.

Learn to live this way and it doesn't matter whether you've been a Christian 30 minutes or 30 years, your plans shall be established and succeed!

Scripture Reading: Psalm 37:1-7

Friday, December 10, 2010

Walk in obedience to the Lord

Psalm 128

A song of ascents. 1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
   who walk in obedience to him.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
   blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
   within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
   around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing
   for the man who fears the LORD.
 5 May the LORD bless you from Zion;
   may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
   all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—
   peace be on Israel.

Lord I do desire to walk in obedience to you.  My heart cries out to you you know that we don't have enough in the natural to meet our needs.  I'm praying for our needs to be met and that we have seed to sow.  You say in your word that you do provide seed for the sower.  Help me also to sow good seed in what I think and say to and about people. Let me not be a people pleas er, but pleasing to you oh Lord.  I know that others do things that they shouldn't and tell you you can too, but you aren't of this world.  We don't have to live like the world, stealing and thinking oh everyone else does. Even stealing a grape from the grocery store. A christian is judged more severely than the world for doing the same as it does.  Let me not be conformed to this world but let me be transformed my the renewing of my mind.  Holy Spirit convict me when I am doing as the world does.  Help me give me the courage to stand up for you even though it is going against the crowd.  Help me to remember to say Father forgive them for they know not what they do when they ridicule me.  Someone once told me as they handed me a devotional booklet oh I'm gonna make you Holy and not tell anyone.  That was wrong only God can make us Holy and He doesn't want us to keep Him a secret.  Well have a blessed day!  May the Lord bless and keep you.

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Get the Two Together

by Kenneth Copeland
 
 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
– Colossians 2:6-7
Established in the faith and abounding with thanksgiving. These days it seems that's a rare combination.

A lot of people have been taught faith over the last several years, and a lot of people have been taught to abound with thanksgiving. But it's been hard to set the two together. Faith folks want to confess the Word all the time, but they don't praise God very much. And those who like to praise God just want to jump and shout and dance and have a good time in the Lord. You can't get them to get very serious about the Word.

Success comes from combining the two.


So, do it! Put them together in your life. When you run into a challenge, don't just stand around grim-faced and white-knuckled holding onto your faith. Raise your hands high and praise. Start thanking God in the midst of what's happening around you. Keep thanking Him for the answer until it comes.

Instead of just standing on the Word, let the joy of the Lord enable you to dance around on it a little. It will get you where you're going a whole lot faster...and both you and God will have a much better time on the way.
Scripture Reading: Colossians 2:1-10


Sunday, December 05, 2010

What Riches Were Meant to Do

by Kenneth Copeland 
              Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is   good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.– Ephesians 4:28

It always amazes me when I preach about prosperity and someone comes up to me and says, "I don't need much prosperity. I'm a simple person with a simple life. So I just ask God for enough to meet my needs."

They think that's humility, but it's not. It's selfishness! They don't realize it, but they're actually saying, "All I care about is meeting my own needs. I have no ambition to help meet anyone else's."

They could ask God for a million dollars, take out just enough to meet their needs, and give the rest away. But that doesn't even occur to them because when it comes to money, they've been brainwashed by a world that says if you have it, you've got to keep it.

That philosophy has hindered the ministry of Jesus Christ on the earth today. It has caused preachers to set aside their calling and get secular jobs just to survive. It's handicapped churches and stunted the growth of ministries that could have reached thousands more for the Lord.

It takes money to preach the gospel. Jesus Himself knew that, and contrary to what some people think, His ministry was not a poor one. He had so much money coming in and going out through His ministry that He had to appoint a treasurer. His name was Judas.

But Jesus didn't store up that money for Himself. He gave it to meet the needs of those around Him. He had such a reputation for giving that on the night of that last Passover when Judas left so abruptly, the disciples assumed that Jesus had sent him out to give to the poor.

Can you imagine how much and how often Jesus must have given to the poor for the disciples to make that assumption?

Jesus never built a worldly empire for Himself. But that doesn't mean He was poor. It means He was the greatest giver who ever walked the face of this earth, and it's time we started following in His footsteps.

Don't turn down the wealth God wants to give you just because you don't "need" it. Dare to accept it, then pass it along to those who do. Stop working for a living and start working for a "giving." Discover for yourself what riches were really meant to do.
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:15-31

My prayer is that the Lord provide me seed to sow into the kingdom.  I pray not to just meet my needs but also to meet the needs of the building of the Kingdom.