His Divine Rest

A lot of people of God are worn-out, tired, and lacking Holy Spirit fire. We are worn-out and tired for several reasons. We try to please man and not God. We are more concerned about what people think of us or will think of us than what God wants us to do. We don’t want to let people down so we do things God has not told us to do. We have difficulty managing our lives and our lives are out of balance. We feel we have to be a part of every church activity and have to be at every church service. We look around at what others are doing and we try and do what they are doing, but God does not call everybody to do everything. There are some Christians who want to be “super Christians,” but that is not God’s plan for your life. God has something for each of us to do, but He does not have everything for us to do. We are worn-out and tired because we don’t say, “No” to our family and friends. There is a time to help when the Holy Spirit directs you and then there is a time to let it go and let God. If you are trying to be everyone’s Holy Spirit then you are not in His Divine rest.

As Christians we believe that if there is a need we must meet it, and if there is something my church is doing I must be a part of it. There is a Divine order to your life and it follows in this order: God first, marriage second, children third, and lastly work/ministry. That’s right, your main concern right now may not be to be helping everyone in your church but being there with and for your family. A lot of Christians have this order all wrong, and you especially see this order at of place in church leadership. I do not believe that is how God wants us to live; out of order. If your family life is falling apart or your children are in need of more family time, then it is time to reorder your life. You will risk burn-out, being worn-out, tired and frustrated if your life is out of balance.

A balance in your life will led to His Divine Rest. If you’re doing more in one area in your life, then chances are your life is out of balance. For instance if you spend most of your time doing church activities and attending church services then building your marriage; you are out of order. If you are tired and worn-out from doing; then stop doing and start being. Being in His presence more than being at this event or activity or even helping when it is not God-led.

Divine rest means your life will flow and it will have peace, rest, and order in each area of your life. One area in your life won’t be larger than other areas in your life. This is especially important to people in ministry, church leadership, or anyone else serving in His Kingdom. If you are not taking a Sabbath day in your week, and you are filling your time with needless things, you are in jeopardy of getting burned-out. There is such a thing as ministry burn-out. When you are “burning the candle at both ends” it is hard to see you may one day wear yourself out. A lot of people believe they have that kind of energy and endurance to last a lifetime, but we don’t. Our bodies are created for rest and balance. You don’t even have to be in ministry to get burned-out. You can just be a misled Christian believing that as a Christian you have to meet every need and have to help at any cost. This kind of thinking and doing will also burn you out. I have seen this time and time again working in ministry and being around Christians long enough. We are not supposed to be and do everything. We must pray and wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 When we enable, fix, try to control outcomes, and feel responsible for everything and everyone we are in danger of falling into Christian Co-Dependence. This type of Co-Dependence is different then secular Co-Dependence that you may know about. Christian Co-Dependence is a set of beliefs and behaviors that Christians do that support and enable others dysfunctions, addictions and bad habits. As Christians, we fall prey to this because of the belief or lie that as Christians we are supposed to do everything that comes into our path. This type of behavior will also led to burn-out and exhaustion. Co-dependence can get confusing because it is wrapped around doing “good stuff.” Co-Dependency is shame-based and motivated by the needs of others, usually this stems from behaviors learned from our family of origin.

There remains therefore a rest for God’s people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased form his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Hebrews 4: 9-11, NKJV

Reflections on Waiting on God

God understands our pain. It is good to share your heart with Him. Tell Him how you feel, and what you need. He is a friend to us, and is ready to listen to us.

Lord, how long will you keep me this way?  I am desperate for breakthrough. My heart has many desires that have gone unfulfilled. Lord, I have waited for you, let me not be ashamed for waiting on you.

Do you hear me Lord? Are you there? Don’t you see how my enemies have taunted me? I have seen my desires upon my enemies. Grief has struck me like a tidal wave, and my eyes have grown tired from crying. My heart aches for your promises to be fulfilled in my life. I am desperate for your touch. Lord, how much longer will you keep me this way?

God, I hurt so deeply at times, and feel misunderstood. I have been rejected by family and friends. Why are you so afar from me? Why has your presence left me? What have I done Lord, just show me so that I can make this right. Who on earth can I run to but you Lord?

Can you make this pain stop? Can you restore me God? Hope deferred makes the heart sick, God my heart is sick. My hope has vanished like the night air. I don’t have the strength nor the faith to even pick myself up again, but I know you can Lord. I believe you can make these dry bones live again.

Lord, have mercy on me. I have grown weary from the continued trials and testing of my faith. I have felt like Job at times, and have wondered will you restore the things that have been taken from me? I want to believe that I am waiting for restoration like Job and Ruth. I have waited for years for your promises to be fulfilled in my life. I have waited for you Lord. I have never lost hope in you Lord.

I am desperate. I am afflicted on every side. Troubles have come my way as I wait on you Lord. I have been broken, refined by the fire, taken into the wilderness, and pruned over and over again. Is it over yet Lord? Oh, Lord, I have waited patiently for you.

I feel alone and abandoned, but yet Lord, I know you have never left my side. Why does it feel like I have been forgotten at times, looked over? Do others know what I have been through, do they even care? Do they even ask if there is anything they can do, or offer to take me for a coffee? Or do they judge me for the things they do not know, and offer unsolicited “words from the Lord” to me? Does anyone truly see me but you Lord? And Lord if you fail me, where shall I turn?  God, what shall you have me to do? Please Father, not another day waiting in brokenness.

Father, I trust you, even though I don’t understand your ways for me most of the time. I have felt the stings of rejection since my youth, and I have felt I have lived more cursed than blessed at times. I have felt misplaced and misjudged, and have seen my enemies get the very things that I have been praying for. I have felt “slapped in the face” so many times, yet, I still hold onto to you Lord. I have lived with shame because my prayers go unanswered for a time, while my enemies get the desires of their hearts. I have waited in thanksgiving and waited in offering sacrifices of praise. But now Lord, my waiting is becoming like a vice grip to me, and it is strangling the life from me. The enemy has tried to get me to turn from you, and say, “Your ways are not good.” I know that is a lie.

Thank you Lord that I can come to you and share my heart. I know you have not forgotten me. I will wait for you. You alone are my hope.

I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and He heard my cry. Psalm 40:1

Cry out to the Lord in your desperation. He hears your cries. Talk to Him like your very best friend. He is waiting to hear from you today.

Feeling Stuck? You can Start Again and Move Past your Past

Are there hopes and desires that you once had, and now there somewhere in the distance? Maybe you have tried to step out many different times, only to see things crumble and lay by the waste side. Perhaps, you’re tired of trying to get back up again, and you feel you’re your hope has been deferred one too many times. So, now you feel stuck, stuck to go forward and try again. You may feel what the point in trying again is.

You may be in a season in your life where you feel stuck; you can’t go back but you’re not moving forward either. Let’s explore some reasons why you may feel stuck.

               

You may feel stuck but in fact you are not, God has you in the transition of waiting until the next season opens up. It could be that it is not time to move forward, yet you feel antsy in your flesh to move ahead. There is a grace and a flow when it is time to move ahead with the things of God, and when it’s not it feels like you are in quicksand and cannot move no matter how much you want to.

You might feel like you have tried many times before to mend a relationship, start a ministry or business, heal an old wound, break free from addiction and sin, get out of debt, or just enjoy your life, but each time you try it seems to fail. This has caused you to feel hopeless and like a failure. You have become tired and weary in the trying, and now it is comfortable and convenient to stay where you are.

Maybe you just don’t know what to do. You don’t know whether to go left or to go right or stay in the middle. You don’t have clear direction about moving forward, yet you desire to go forward; you have become tired of the waiting.

There could be resistance from the enemy. The enemy has seen your potential and is trying to defeat and discourage you, and thwart the plans that God has for you. You listen to the lies of the enemy and you stay bound where you are at.

What are you to do when you are stuck?

1.     Detach from your regular routine. Take time and step away and gain perspective and vision from God. Get a journal and ask God to give you a new vision. Even if you feel like you have already done this before.

2.     As with Jonah (read Jonah Chapter 3), he ran away from God and his calling, but God was giving him a second chance in God’s work. You may feel as though you are disqualified from serving God because of your past mistakes, but God may be giving you a second chance. Believe God is not done with you, no matter how many mistakes and failures that you have had.

3.     If you feel you can’t go back to the past but not able to go forward yet, seek God and ask Him to you if you are in a transition period before your new season comes. Many people do not like to wait for things, and if you are truly in a waiting and transitioning season then it is important to wait on God for His leading.

4.     As you live your life for God, determine not to trust in your own strength or abilities. Sometimes, we are fearful to move forward because we believe we can’t, not realizing it is not us but God that can. Do what you can now, even if it seems small and insignificant because God rejoices in what is right not necessarily what is big. Be faithful right where you are, and whatever God has given you to do now. Begin where you are at and do what you can, and leave the results to God. Don’t try and force promotion, recognition, your ministry, or even change. Let God on His time promote and give if He sees fit. Reframe your mind. Do not despise the small beginnings. Rethink your new opportunities, even if you feel they are small, and prayerfully consider that God may have you exactly where He wants you.

5.     Don’t compare yourself where you are at in life to where others are at in life. This will cause you to move ahead of God’s timing, or resent where you are at now. There is a season for everything, and a time for everything.

6.     Be willing to release and let go of your past and as the Holy Spirit leads you to move forward. Leaving the past behind you may feel sadness, depression, isolation, and loneliness, these negative feelings may cause you to cling to your past because it’s too painful to let go. Ask the Holy Spirit what you need to let go in your past.

7.     Be free and at peace to wait for God to open the door of new opportunity, and step out when He gives new opportunities.

Embrace new opportunities and see them as second chances from God. If fear has a tightening grip around you to move forward, know that God is not sending you fear. Be strong and very courageous. Never think it is over, God is in the business of do-overs. 

Hope in the Waiting

HOPE AND WAIT FOR HIM

What have you been waiting for God to answer, or what promises are you waiting for Him to fulfill? Waiting is most difficult, and if we are not careful we can grow weary and despondent as we wait. Sometimes we may even lose hope, as hope deferred can make our hearts sick. What lies have you believed about God and His love for you because you are tired in the waiting?

Here are some practical steps that you can take as you wait:

1.      Enjoy your time as you wait. So many of us do not enjoy our lives as we are waiting for things in our lives to be fulfilled.

2.      Stop being all wrought up, anxious, and worried all the time. Have peace as you wait, peace that God does hear and know your prayers and desires.

3.      Stop fretting. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and stop your self-pity. It will only make matters worse. CHOOSE to be thankful for the things that are good in your life, and don’t CHOOSE to reflect on what you don’t have. Actively look, seek the good in your life.

4.      Revive your hope and stir up your dreams and desires again. Take time to ask and seek God for a new vision for your life, and to rekindle the promises that he has already given you.

5.      Seek God first above everything else you desire, you want, or you are waiting for. Simple, but so many of us just don’t put God first. Time in His presence will fill you up and bring answers to your thirsty soul.

6.      Stay away from desiring to have someone else’s life. You are unique and God has a unique plan for your life, so don’t compare your life to others or want what they have.

7.      Be content with the lot you have been given and the lot you are currently in. Contentment breeds peace and joy.

Here are some scriptures that have helped me personally get through the waiting times:

Wait for the Lord,

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. 

Psalm 27:13-14, NIV

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

For His compassion never fails.

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion, therefore, I will wait for Him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25, NIV

Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.

For He does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of God.

Lamentations 3:31-33, NIV

Here are some things to meditate on from the above scriptures and to replace any lies that you have been believing about God and His love for you as you are waiting:

1.      God encourages us to wait for Him.

2.      The Lord has great love for us and His compassion for us never fails.

3.      The Lord is faithful.

4.      The Lord is good to those who hope in Him, and to the ones who seek Him.

5.      Though God does bring grief, He shows us compassion and great is His unfailing love.

6.      God does not willing bring affliction or grief to His children.

To order a copy of author’s book, Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ go to www.createspace.com/4036785

Be Still

Trials, heartaches and debilitating circumstances may be weighing you down. Perhaps you have endured more than you think you can handle. You may be voicing to God that you are at your limit. You may be wondering if others go through such distress and trauma. You may have even thought you have done something wrong to bring on such calamity in your life. If you have ever read the book of Job in the Bible you feel like you can understand his situation because you feel like Job. You feel like there is little or no direction for your life. You are just filled with heartache and grief. You have begun to wonder what the purpose is for so much pain and turmoil. Your grief runs deep and your trials seem endless. You are desperate for peace and rest. Your zest for life has fizzled out and you drag through the days.

Consider and reflect on this scripture: The thief comes only to steal, and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. John 10:10, NIV.

What do you need to take back that the enemy has stolen from you, destroyed or killed? Has the enemy stolen your peace and joy? Destroyed your family? Or killed your passion? Are you living the abundant life that Christ came to give you? If not, maybe it is time to reclaim your life.

If you are at a place where you just cannot make sense of anything anymore; be still. Be still and listen and wait for God to show you and led you up out of the pit of despair. Being still means not trying to figure out everything or analyzing your problems. Being still means resting in God. To rest means to seize from work. You may be at “work” trying to solve your problems and trying to understand what went wrong and how to make things better. Rest your weary soul and mind. Take shelter upon the Most High God and seize (refrain) from trying to figure out outcomes and your life. Let go and let God. Embrace His comfort as you wait upon His deliverance.

Rest knowing that God will fulfill all His promises and will work all things out for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). And if you’re feeling like Job, remember that God blessed Job’s later life more than his earlier life (Job 42:12-15).

Contact this author at:  www.christianhopecounseling.com

Adjustments and Transitions

Adjustments and major transitions can be difficult, especially if you have problems with control. If something changes and you have an issue with control you can be easily side-swiped. It is important to take it one day at a time. You can’t say you will go here or do this tomorrow for certain because you do not know what will happen. We have to make adjustments and transitions and they will go a lot smoother if we realize that we have to hold our plans loosely and be ready for change.

A definition from Wikipedia.com for adjustment is regulating, adapting or settling in a variety of contexts. If you are not able to adjust easily to transitions and changes it will create disequilibrium and unbalance in your mind, body, and spirit. You will begin to feel stress in all of these areas. When an adjustment needs to be made, in the beginning you may feel some stress, but then you need to enter into the flow of the Spirit of God. That means seizing all control and outcomes of the situation and trusting that God has a plan and He will work it out for you good. It means stop trying to figure out why and instead remaining calm and peaceful. Sometimes adjustment periods can take a while to work out. For instance if you have a step family, or your teenage daughter is pregnant and needs help, or even divorce; the adjustment period may take longer. All are considered a crisis and all can pose a threat to our well-being. Under stress our bodies will either fight or flight, that means stay and fight or run away. Fight or flight is usually seen in stressful or threatening circumstances. There may be a time to run, but from what I know of God He does not want us to stay running He wants us to rest and get up and fight.

Taking it one day at a time is the only way to stay and fight in your situation. If you decide to stay and fight you cannot project tomorrows fears and concerns. God gives you grace for each day, not stored up grace. If you are living out on tomorrow’s grace, you will not survive the adjustment and transition period.

With any adjustment or major transition eventually you will adapt and begin to learn new coping skills. It is amazing how God created us to cope and adapt in the most stressful of situations. So no matter what you are adjusting to, know that it is not permanent. Get up today, stop wallowing and having pity parties and say, “This too shall pass.” Nothing in life is ever permanent. As the seasons change, so does our lives. There is a season for everything. Though it may be painful and dark today, tomorrow is new and full of possibilities.

Rest in your adjustments and transitions. Hasah, is Hebrew for trust. It means taking refuge in God. Batah, means to have confidence in.

Hasah Batah, Trust, take refuge and have confidence in God.

And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today, at the latest, tomorrow, we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.”

James 4:13-15, Message

To order a copy of the author’s book, Wilderness Mentality Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ go to the link: www.createspace.com/4036785

Confusion, is not God's way

Confusion, is not God’s way. Confusion is not of God.

For God is not a God of confusion but peace. I Corinthians 14:33, ESV.

What are you perplexed about? Is there something that keeps you up at night? Is there something you can’t seem to quiet your mind about? Rest assured, if you answered just one of the questions, yes, God is not involved. Have you been trying to figure out a problem and you just can’t seem to find the answers? Do you seem to get more confused if you try and figure out the problem?

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10, NKJV.

Is your mind at rest or is it in turmoil? The enemy loves to distract us from what God has for us so the enemy sends deceivers in our paths to disrupt the plan of God. You begin to lose focus and perspective and get of track. You know longer know God’s plan; you are confused and perplexed. You then become restless and agitated and lose your sense of purpose. Whatever came into your path seemed so innocent, but it got you off track and distracted. Your mind is like a war-zone; a battlefield. The enemy would love to entangle you and drag you back into the pit.

You may have a real desire to help, but if God has not given you a clear direction then you are trying to fix something or someone rather than waiting on God’s leading. You must never step out of God’s leading in a situation, no matter how great the need is. The enemy will use devastating circumstances to try and lure you into their entangled web. You might say, “But this is family, I have to help.” If you feel overwhelmed, unsure, confused, guilty, then the motivation is not coming from God but satan. Check the source before intervening in a situation.

The problem is not understanding we are in warfare and we do have a real enemy, and he does come disguised to take us off guard. Don’t follow the crowds because you most likely will be misled, but follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. If God remains quiet for a time, then it is not time to get impatient and decide to step out of God’s leading. In everything you do, it must be first brought before the throne of God.

God is a God of peace and order, God brings order and an easy flow. GOD DOES NOT BRING CHAOS AND CONFUSION. If God is in something you will know it, and you will not have to try and figure out what to do. If you have been interceding in a situation that God had not directed then you could be falling in a snare of the enemy. The enemy wants to set a trap to ensnare you with, and he will use the people closet in your life to do so. The enemy will entice you with their problems, needs, and threats. The enemy will show you their situations and magnify them. You will get the sense you have to act know and immediately because they are in danger. The enemy will use manipulative and controlling tactics to get you into his scheme. WHY DO WE BELIEVE God can’t step in and intervene in the most horrific of situations? The best help you can truly give someone is intercession prayer. Without satan and his cohorts being bound first in their lives, the enemies’ tricks and plans will try and infiltrate your life. There is a lack of understanding about spiritual warfare and so many Christians are getting themselves in situations that could put them in the line of fire for the enemy. We must never fear the enemy but we must know him and we must guard and be aware of his schemes to take us out. If you have been in a cycle of fixing and controlling people and situations then it is time to step back and let God have His way. God may not want you to intervene other than prayer. As Christians we believe every need and hurt is our cause, when in reality God may be having His way in that person’s life and we must step out of the way.

Confusion comes when we are in the way, and we hate to see people hurt and we try and figure out solutions to their problems. Get out of the way and the confusion will leave and when Christ directs you to do something you will not have to try and figure it out because Jesus will give you the answer. Be still and KNOW that He is God. Psalm 46:10.

To order a copy of my book, Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ go to www.createspace.com/4036785

The Journey's been long but the tide is about to turn

Circumstances, trials, crisis, let downs have captured the people of God.

Some have succumbed to the hardships of life. Some have even given up hope. While others have lost their faith and doubted God’s plans and purposes for their lives. This journey has been long and daunting.

The journey that you have been on has been unrelenting in trials and hardships. You may have even wondered at times what you have done to have such pain. Sometimes you have felt alone on this journey and that you have been misunderstood and even rejected by others closest to you. You have not known which path to take and have even found yourself going in circles or around the same ”mountains” again and again. You have tried to express to others how you have felt but it became apparent that you were not being understood. You may have lost all or most of your traveling companions on this journey. Others left because they could no longer figure you out or you realized at some point you were traveling two different journeys.

You may have experienced health aliments and even emotional distress during this time. You asked for prayer and maybe have been standing, waiting for your healing; and you are still waiting. You are not even sure which direction to take anymore. You feel you are in a waiting period, but you seem to still be waiting. Waiting on what you say, “those prayers, promises, healings, restorations, and direction.” You have held out and waited as you have seen the desires of your heart upon your enemies. The moms who have been praying relentlessly for their prodigal to return, the single waiting for their Godly spouse, family members waiting for family relationships to be healed and restored and for the sick waiting to be healed; these are the times to wait and trust a new journey will begin. It is not God’s intent to bring tragedy, pain, heartache and suffering for you entire life and you never receive good from the evil or harm that has come into your life.

There will be a day of reckoning, a day of restoration. What have you been holding out on? What are you still believing God for? Or what have you lost hope in? Be honest before the Lord, He already knows your heart. Is there something you have given up on already because the wait became too long? I will encourage you to read the entire chapter of Ruth. Ruth lost everything, husband and two sons and was beyond childbearing age. Her future looked bleak and hopeless. But then, God restored everything back to Ruth.

“And may He be a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.”  Ruth 4: 15

Ruth waited a long time for things in her life to be restored. I am sure she had no idea how God was bringing these things to pass in her life. You may be in a place where you have hoped and nothing has happened or you did hope for something but it did not last. You may have deep discouragement and be very disillusioned about God. Ruth was so bitter about her circumstances she asked that her name be changed to Mara, which means bitter. What if she would have given up before her life was restored. Keep hoping, keep believing, and keep trusting God is a restorer.

The time has come for many to receive a new direction for your life. There is a new tide that is turning for the people of God who will flow in it. This new direction will not be familiar, you will not have chartered this territory before. It may not look exactly how you planned, but it is exactly what God has planned for you and it is good. It may be difficult to transition over because we like familiar and comfort, but go with the new flow and direction of God; do not stay stuck or you will become stagnant. God has been refining, restoring, correcting, teaching, and now the time has come to embrace a new journey. Don’t pick up where you were before. Start fresh, a new, and don’t look back, or compare the past to the future.

The tide is about to turn on this very long journey that you have been on. Make sure you are obedient to what Christ tells you and cleanse and repent of all sins. Forgive yourself and forgive others. Embrace the new journey. God is preparing His people, do not be deceived and continue on the journey that the world is taking; stay the course Christ has for you.

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Wait on the Lord

So many of God’s people have grown weary and are tired of waiting for answered prayers and promises to be fulfilled. You may have experienced trial after trial in your life and you are exhausted; maybe even lost your faith. Perhaps you have begun to doubt God and His promises and plans for your life. Let’s get honest, we all go through those times. We may wonder where God is in all of this and if He has heard my prayers.

There is a battle raging like never before, and the enemy would love you to believe all his lies and deceptions. The war is on and a sifting is occurring among God’s people. Remain steadfast and remain faithful even if you can’t see what is ahead. God is coming; He has not forgotten His people.

Renew your commitment to Christ today. Though you may be wondering what is going on, don’t despair; help is coming! Remove any and all distractions that are keeping you from your relationship with Christ. Seek Him once again and expect that He will act on your behalf. If you have been waiting months or even years for something; keep waiting! But wait in expectation of God’s promises. Your only other choice to is step subtlety in the enemy’s camp. Once the enemy pulls you in he will destroy everything you know and believe about Christ. Do not be deceived there is a battle going on, and it is to take the people of God out of the Kingdom of light. The enemy will use your circumstances, trials, and times of waiting to destroy what you believe about Christ.

God has not forgotten you. He knows you intimately and He is passionate about you. He sees your desires and even knows your deepest longings. God does love you and wants nothing more than for you to trust Him. When you trust Him the wait gets easier. Waiting on the Lord is expecting that the promises of strength will help you rise above life’s circumstances. Be patient people of the Most High God; Jesus is coming. God is not here to fulfill every desire and longing we have but to reconcile us to Him and to bring others into His glorious reign. Our lives are not our own; but His.

Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints or grows weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and grow weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with the wings of eagles,

They shall run and not grow weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Reflection: What do you need to lay down today (unmet expectations, desires) and then ask God to renew your strength. Ask God to prepare you to align your desires with His desires and to want what He wants for your life. It is His desire to bring you good gifts, but not to fulfill all our desires of the flesh.

For more information or to order Wilderness Mentality, Stop Your Stinkin’ Thinkin’ check out this link: www.createspace.com/4036785

Word of Encouragement-Hold on in these end times!

His Divine Rest

A lot of people of God are worn-out, tired, and lacking Holy Spirit fire. We are worn-out and tired for several reasons. We try to please man and not God. We are more concerned about what people think of us or will think of us than what God wants us to do. We don’t want to let people down so we do things God has not told us to do. We have difficulty managing our lives and our lives are out of balance. We feel we have to be a part of every church activity and have to be at every church service. We look around at what others are doing and we try and do what they are doing, but God does not call everybody to do everything. There are some Christians who want to be “super Christians,” but that is not God’s plan for your life. God has something for each of us to do, but He does not have everything for us to do. We are worn-out and tired because we don’t say, “No” to our family and friends. There is a time to help when the Holy Spirit directs you and then there is a time to let it go and let God. If you are trying to be everyone’s Holy Spirit then you are not in His Divine rest.

As Christians we believe that if there is a need we must meet it, and if there is something my church is doing I must be a part of it. There is a Divine order to your life and it follows in this order: God first, marriage second, children third, and lastly work/ministry. That’s right, your main concern right now may not be to be helping everyone in your church but being there with and for your family. A lot of Christians have this order all wrong, and you especially see this order at of place in church leadership. I do not believe that is how God wants us to live; out of order. If your family life is falling apart or your children are in need of more family time, then it is time to reorder your life. You will risk burn-out, being worn-out, tired and frustrated if your life is out of balance.

A balance in your life will led to His Divine Rest. If you’re doing more in one area in your life, then chances are your life is out of balance. For instance if you spend most of your time doing church activities and attending church services then building your marriage; you are out of order. If you are tired and worn-out from doing; then stop doing and start being. Being in His presence more than being at this event or activity or even helping when it is not God-led.

Divine rest means your life will flow and it will have peace, rest, and order in each area of your life. One area in your life won’t be larger than other areas in your life. This is especially important to people in ministry, church leadership, or anyone else serving in His Kingdom. If you are not taking a Sabbath day in your week, and you are filling your time with needless things, you are in jeopardy of getting burned-out. There is such a thing as ministry burn-out. When you are “burning the candle at both ends” it is hard to see you may one day wear yourself out. A lot of people believe they have that kind of energy and endurance to last a lifetime, but we don’t. Our bodies are created for rest and balance. You don’t even have to be in ministry to get burned-out. You can just be a misled Christian believing that as a Christian you have to meet every need and have to help at any cost. This kind of thinking and doing will also burn you out. I have seen this time and time again working in ministry and being around Christians long enough. We are not supposed to be and do everything. We must pray and wait for the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 When we enable, fix, try to control outcomes, and feel responsible for everything and everyone we are in danger of falling into Christian Co-Dependence. This type of Co-Dependence is different then secular Co-Dependence that you may know about. Christian Co-Dependence is a set of beliefs and behaviors that Christians do that support and enable others dysfunctions, addictions and bad habits. As Christians, we fall prey to this because of the belief or lie that as Christians we are supposed to do everything that comes into our path. This type of behavior will also led to burn-out and exhaustion. Co-dependence can get confusing because it is wrapped around doing “good stuff.” Co-Dependency is shame-based and motivated by the needs of others, usually this stems from behaviors learned from our family of origin.

Side note: I will be teaching a Webinar on Christian Co-Dependence starting, June 17. Sign-up or refer someone who you believe would benefit from@ www.christianhopecounseling.com/online-bible-studies.html

There remains therefore a rest for God’s people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased form his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Hebrews 4: 9-11, NKJV