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Divine strategies for success are created from the dream fibers of moral excellence, character, integrity, and love. God gave Jacob the ability to gain wealth through a dream. Jacob worked for Laban for many years, and Laban was a controlling and manipulative master. The time came for Jacob to move on and begin to provide for a family of his own. In a dream, God showed Jacob that he was to ask Laban for all of the newborn speckled, streaked, and gray-spotted lambs and rams. Jacob was owed payment that he'd so tirelessly worked for over the years.
"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." (1 Peter 5:10 KJV) It's perhaps the most widely misunderstood theme within all of life and a theme that seems all too often forgotten about, suffering. I'm so pleased to announce to the world the release of my newest book, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger; now available worldwide – with members of my monthly book club receiving the very first, signed copies, as always. Suffering isn't popular. It isn't easy. Let's face it, no one wants to hurt.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. Job 13:15 There is a trust that goes deeper than exercising faith for specific things. It is a trust that cannot be shaken, even when the circumstances of our lives seem to go against the promises found in the Word of God (the Bible). It is a trust that remains intact even when things we have prayed for, confessed and exercised faith for seem to remain elusive, stubbornly refusing to manifest in our lives. So how can a believer know if he/she possesses this deeper trust?
1 Kings 19:1-8 (HCSB) Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don't make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!" 3 Then Elijah became afraid[a] and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-Sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, 4 but he went on a day's journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, "I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I'm no better than my fathers." 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.
While on vacation, I was privileged to hear an astronaut share his experiences living on a space station and walking in outer space. He shared that all the training he went through for the launching of the spacecraft was nothing like the real thing when the launch pad button was pushed. He said, "The shaking was far more than what I had trained for." As the spacecraft climbed higher, there were stages when parts of it were discharged, accompanied by an explosion that would thrust them higher. Finally, they landed on the space station where they would live for several months. From his new home, he would often "space walk" to work on the outside of the station. The only thing that connected him to the space station was a long rope called a tether. While looking down upon the earth, he said there were moments when he wondered, "Did I attach that tether right to my waist? Did I really connect that thing right? If I didn't and it would come loose, I would drift off into oblivion."
For those who grew up in the Church, are there specific visuals from scripture that sank in the deepest? One of the most vivid for me is when Jesus talked about the small gate and narrow road. It wasn't until the last few years that I started to understand it differently. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) Then: Most people will go to Hell. Very few people will go to Heaven. The majority of all humans to ever live will be separated from God for eternity.
Several years ago I was driving in my car with an elderly lady named Florence. She was a born again believer but she wasn't Holy Spirit filled. I had worship music playing as I always do, and the presence of God began to fill the atmosphere. Florence was in awe at what she was experiencing and I'll never forget her words. She said "I don't know what is happening to me but it feels like the music is electric and it is going right through my body." As the anointing continued to ascend I explained to her that she was feeling the presence of God. The Holy Spirit wants to visit every one of us in our everyday lives.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him and makes His abode in Him. Rest in the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is always there with you leading you and guiding you into all truth. He is the fullness of all grace and truth. He enables you to walk in His perfect will as you lean upon Him and depend on Him. There is never a thing He would ever ask you to do He would not give you the enabling, the grace, to do it.
The One Spiritual Step This Woman Took to Push Past Her Weight-Loss Barrier by Teresa Shields Parker
After surrendering sugar and learning how to go forward, I began losing weight and keeping it off. I was finally headed in the right direction and had processed and dealt with many things that had held me back on my journey. Then, I hit what felt like a brick wall. I was at the 200 mark and I so wanted to go into "onederland." I had been steadily losing weight, but when I would see 199, I would panic. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.I was exercising. I was eating all the right things and none of the wrong things, but I just couldn't stay at 199. The next day I'd be back to 200 and I would feel myself internally breathe a sigh of relief. It felt a lot like the Romans 7:19 conundrum. "The good I desire to do, I do not do, but the evil I do not want is what I do."
Sometimes, it seems like things just aren't going our way. We pray and have others pray alongside us. We read scriptures and declare what we seek. We go to our respective services, religious or otherwise, and sometimes utilize fasting as an approach. All these things sound and are great on the surface. I am sure many of us have tried some combination of these things and, if we are honest, have all been frustrated when we are not seeing results. Perhaps you have had thoughts like, "Maybe it's just God's will for this situation to never change," or "It was selfish for me to believe for a new car (or money or whatever) anyway."
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