BE STILL AND KNOW BY: Anne Robertson

BE STILL AND KNOW

TEXT: Psalm 46:10

BY: Sermon © 2006, Anne Robertson

In our Daily Walk readings we go through the Psalms twice across the year, so this is our second pass, and before we leave it for good, I want to pause at Psalm 46. This is a relatively famous Psalm. It’s the one Martin Luther used as the inspiration for his hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” There’s also a bit of Bible trivia associated with it, so I’m going to give you a fun homework assignment for next week to see who can find the answer. If you’ve been with Bible studies with me before and know the answer, just keep it to yourself until next week.

When the Bible is translated, it has been common practice to find not only a good translator, but a good poet to help make the Biblical poetry not just accurate but beautiful. We turn back to the Psalms in the King James Version of the Bible again and again, not because it’s easier to understand…it isn’t. It represents the English spoken in Britain in 1611 and it can be very difficult. But we go back to it because it is beautiful.

Some claim that the poet who made the Psalms of the King James Version so memorable coded his name into the book…here in Psalm 46. You will have to find a copy of the King James Version to make this work, but if you take the King James, turn to Psalm 46. Skipping the instructions and beginning with the first word of the first verse, count 46 words down from the top. Now go to the end. Again, skipping the “selah” at the end, count backwards 46 words. Put the two words together and you have the name of the poet. So…only the KJV, skip the extra material that’s not part of the Psalm itself. Psalm 46…46 words from the top and 46 words from the bottom. Who is it? I’ll ask for the answer next week.

There’s a lot of comfort in this Psalm as we think about God as our refuge and strength…our mighty fortress. But there is also a great piece of wisdom, down in verse 10. “Be still, and know that I am God.” In many ways our culture is much more still than it used to be. Many of us sit at desks all day and then spend hours sitting in a car or on a plane. We sit in front of computer and television screens…I even have a TV that comes up on my computer screen, so I can do both at once! Many of us are so still that it is causing us health problems.

But the word used in Psalm 46 doesn’t mean to sit. It means to still the mind as well as the body. It means to relax, to let things drop, to abandon, to withdraw, to refrain. Most of us don’t do that kind of stillness at all. We have simply swapped out physical labor for mental labor and traded the still, small voice within for voices from without…the music from our iPods, the opinions on the radio, the diversions on the TV, and the information on the internet.

Many people actually fear being still…to really stop doing things and just be. Someone once pointed out that we are meant to be human beings not human doings. But we often find it hard to truly stop and see what might await us in the silence.

According to the Psalmist, it is God who waits in the stillness. Remember when we read the stories about Elijah? He got depressed and felt he was all alone doing God’s work. He went up a mountain and waited for God. There was an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake. There was a fire, but God wasn’t in the fire. There was a great wind, but God wasn’t in the wind. But then “the sound of sheer silence” came. And that’s when God spoke and ministered to Elijah.

Be still and know that I am God. In order to really connect with God, we need that stillness…not just sitting down, not just muting the TV, but a real time of withdrawal from all the things of the world. A time when we let go of work, refrain from taking up some nervous activity, abandon the efforts to think or talk our way into God’s presence…a time when everything about us is still, like a lake on a calm day when you can see the surrounding landscape like a mirror.

It takes practice. When you’ve been used to constant activity and sound, sometimes being still for even 60 seconds is hard. That’s okay. Try it, and increase the time by increments. Let go. It’s a kind of fasting…to give our full attention to God and let God run the world for a few minutes while we are still.

One of the reasons I have trouble sleeping at night is that I don’t have enough truly still time during the day. When I have finally decided that I’ve done enough for the day, shut everything off, and prepare for bed, everything that God has been waiting to share with me comes pouring out at once. If you’re looking at the parsonage bedroom windows at night…which I sincerely hope you aren’t…often the light goes on and off, on and off. I’ll lie down and be still and 30 seconds later there’s a sermon idea. I get up, write it down, turn off the light again and lie down. Then a nudge to be in contact with someone came. Sometimes I get up, go downstairs and send an e-mail. Other times I would turn on the light again, make a note, and shut off the light…and so on for quite some time.

Other times I am not still because I don’t want to hear what I think God is going to say, and my business is the equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears and singing “la la la…don’t tell me, God…I don’t want to know.” At still other times I don’t want to face the grief or emptiness that I know is inside but that I keep stuffing back in. But God can’t heal it until I am still…until I let go of the fear of falling apart, until I abandon the diversions and let the pain rise to the surface where God can tend it.

It isn’t hard for me to be in silence. I’ll drive for eight hours without once turning on the radio or putting in a CD. I can easily sit for an hour without a sound. But that silence is not always true stillness. Usually during those times my brain is in high gear…composing sermons, running scenarios through my mind to solve a problem, planning for the next event or season.

But the Psalmist advises that we be still so that we can truly know who God is and what God wants from us. It is a spiritual discipline, just as much as worship, giving, prayer and Bible study. In order for God to fill us, we must first be empty. A full cup has no room for the wine of God.

During our prayer time this morning we’ll practice being still, and I’ll tell you about that when we get there. But the point of the stillness is to let enough drop away that there is room for God to fill us from the Table of God’s love that is set before us. God is surely our refuge and strength, but we’ll never be aware of that or know its benefits until we can learn to be still and know the God who loved us enough to live and die as one of us. Come; share the Lord…first in the stillness, then at the table. Amen.

Ready to Worship & Praise??????????

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Jakes sermon on healing: Jesus as the healer

My house shall be called a house of prayers: Matthew 21:13

 

Jakes sermon on healing: Jesus as the healer

 

Matthew 9:20-22

            The woman is ill. Every part of her is aching. Her pulse is weak. Her body, trembling. She tries desperately to hide her pain. She is a woman whose trauma has become so all-consuming that she stands alone in the midst of a crow. Her problem are multiple, complex, and diverse. On one hand, she is impoverished. She has spent all she had on doctors. She is fresh out-outing of fiancé, out of friends and tragically with her blood flowing out of her almost out of time.

            Even religion, as it were, has denied that women are healing. The rabbinical law had for bidden her to touch or to be touched. What can a woman do when her mutiny is within? When she lives with a roommate of pain in a house of despair? What can she do when there’s no friendly touch to serve as a sedative to ease her discomfort? When a woman is sick, her whole body wars against her.

            Yet way down deep in the innermost part of her heart, a flickering flame defied the blowing wind disease and refused to be extinguished. A passion to live refuses to die. Oh yes she was sick and broken and lonely, but she was a long way from dead. She knew it wasn’t over. Her body didn’t know it. Her chambers of her being, down in the basement of her feminine spirit whispered a hope that none could hear: if I may touch the hem of his garment.

It is not what others say about her nor even what is said there that determines a woman, her destiny-but what she says about herself. And although an issue of blood was throbbing, her guts cramping, and she felt faint from an issue of blood, she kept whispering hope in the depths of her soul.

While death was stalking her, leering over her shoulder, it was the “if” that kept her alive. “If I may but touch…” No one dies as long as she‘s holding on to an if I believe, there may be a change. If picked up that bleeding woman and cause her to press through the crows, past the disdainful looks of prominent men. If gave her the courage to survive their stares and make her way towards the strangers called Jesus.

But when she got there, he wasn’t even look in her direction! What a woman to do when she’s in trouble and God is looking the other way? First of all, she refused to be discouraged. In spite of his distraction, she believed that just maybe she could still be made whole. What if Jesus decided to heal her? What if He changes her circumstances?

 

The waiting game was over. This was a woman who was taking charges of her life. No more standing around, hoping someone would get to her. She pressed through the crows, defying the social dictates of her day that said it wasn’t appropriate for a woman to touch Him, “She decided. And before they knew it, she had slipped around the system, and climbed over the pain and touched the hem of his garment.

  

          Now it doesn’t matter how you touch Him. It doesn’t matter where you touch Him. It only matters that you touch Him. The scriptures say that we have not High Priest who cannot be touched by the feeling of our infirmities. And on this particular day, Jesus knew He had been touched. Touched by a woman the law had declared unclean.

      

      She touched Him. Without need for recognition, status, or frame. With no ulterior motive, no personal agenda. All she needed was relief from her terrible pain. She was not looking for approval. She was not worried about women’s right. She wasn’t after a position on the board. All she sought was a position on her knees. And in response, His virtue came running down.

     

       That virtue flowed down to her terrible secret and healed her. The bible says that she knew within herself that she was healed. Isn’t amazing that her deliverance happened inside? Herself, she had whispered, if I may but touch the hem of his garment”. And in that same part of her inner self, she knew the instant s he was healed.

      

      But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus asked who touched me, now that woman could have kept quiet and never called attention to herself. She could have melted into the crows, clutching her healing to herself. But she decided to go to the public. Perhaps, if she told the secret-her embarrassing secret-some other woman who was all about over and bleeding could gather up the courage to let Jesus heal her.

            Perhaps you are dealing with some issues that seem insurmountable. No matter how badly you are wounded, how lonely no matter how many other have pushed past you on the way to the top, keep moving on to ward Jesus, the Healer. And when He heals you, maybe you should go public and let the world know that an unclean woman-a woman without a dime in her pocked or a friend to her name-can touch a holy God. Let the world know you made it from disgrace to grace, carried to him on whispers of hope.

       

     Source T.D. Jakes

 

Prayerful Meditations

Prayerful Meditations on….

"The Peace & Power of Knowing God's Name" by Kay Arthur

1. Elohim - the Creator  My mighty and strong Creator. Father, Son & Holy Spirit, One. My strong tower and unshakable refuge. I fear You Lord and trust in Your name. I was created for Your glory.

2. El Elyon - God Most High.  You are sovereign, ruler of all the universe. Possessor of heaven and earth. Giver of victory. Your purpose will be established. Nothing occurs that falls out of Your control. You have a purpose in everything. Your sovereign power toward me means nothing less than perfect love.

3. El Roi - The God who sees.  You are with me always. Your eyes are not shut. What's more - You know my future. You know my destiny. You know the sins committed against me. You will vindicate me. All will be used for good. I know You, believe You and put my trust in Your name. I seek You Lord. You see my loved ones. You know where they're at. I can trust that you'll never leave or forsake them.

4. El Shaddai - The All Sufficient One  God Almighty - I trust You. I rest in You. I let You supply my needs. You pour forth blessings, temporal and spiritual. You give me fresh life, nourishment. You are my protector, the unconditional lover of my soul, my comforter. You hold me in your love. You wipe away my tears. You are my rock, my refuge, my very present help in times of trouble. You're everything I will ever need.

5. Adonai - The Lord  My master, owner, Master of all that I am and have. I submit to you! You supply what I need in order to perform Your will. You have the right to expect obedience from me.

6. Yehovah - The Self Existent One  Your most sacred name - most holy, most glorious, the name you want us to know You by - You are - You have become - You have being and essence in and of Yourself. You have always been. You always are and You will always be. Everything that came into being came from You. This, Your personal name has limitless power. You are who You are. You are everything and anything I will ever need. You are the eternal I am…the Alpha and the Omega - the same yesterday, today and forever. All life is contained in You. I need not look elsewhere. I can rest in Your unchangeableness. You have never failed. You are our covenant keeper - deliverer. You are unchanging, faithful. As I long for someone who will always be there - You are that. You will not change, leave or move. Your love will never grow cold. You will always be here to comfort me. Everything and anything that I ever need will come from You.

7. Yehovah Yireh - The Lord will provide  You provide life Lord! You provide everything that I need. Yeshua is all that I truly need! Yeshua is the provision for my sin, not my own perfection! You see God. You foresee. You know the end from the beginning and thus in Your omniscience, You provide. You are true to Your name. You will provide. You are for us, not against us. In any test I can lay my Isaac on the altar. I can worship You in obedience and know that whatever the need, You will provide it.

8. Yehovah Rapha - The Lord Who Heals.  You heal Your people God. You bring health and beauty to sin-sick nations and people. I turn to You. You are a physician. You can bring refreshment and take the bitterness of life and make it sweet. If we give earnest heed to Your voice and do what is right in Your sight and give ear to Your commandments and keep all Your statues You put no diseases on us for You are the Lord, our healer. You can heal our souls. The Lord Yeshua HaMashiach is the Prince of Peace. You apply the cross to the bitter waters of our life and heal us of sins mortal wounds. You are the Shepherd and Guardian of my soul. Only You can heal the ills of our souls. Health, healing and obedience go together. I turn to You for healing. I open the medicine of Your Word and apply it to my wounds. Whether an illness is physical, emotional or spiritual I first seek healing from You, Yehovah Rapha. Examine my heart first Lord. I must deal with sin in my life thoroughly. You always meet me at the point of my obedience, and there, come to my side. I run into the strong tower of Your healing name

9. Yehovah Nissi - The Lord My Banner  I turn to You to find strength and will to stand fast and keep fighting the good fight. I look to You for help when the enemy comes in like a flood. Deliverance is found in the Lord My Banner. I let my heart thrill at the victory that is mine in You. A banner was an ensign or standard carried at the head of a military grouping. In battle soldiers looked across the confusion and chaos of the battlefield for a glimpse of their king's banner. As long as they saw it they fought with courage and confidence. You, God Yourself, are our banner. You are our confidence. You are the source of our strength in battle. You are our shining assurance of victory. You are powerful and bring us deliverance. I look to Jehovah Nissi in order to defeat my unyielding enemy, the flesh. The flesh must constantly be put to death. It can't be tolerated. It can't be catered to. It can't be spared in any way. If it is, it will devastate me. Death to the flesh is the battle cry of every child of God. Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I rally at the standard of Yehovah Nissi and I see the tide of the battle turn. I look up! I stand firm. I am strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. I'm not alone in the battlefield. I look to the Lord my banner. Under His banner victory is assured. Apart from it defeat is a certainty. I cannot battle the flesh under my own power. Apart from Him I can do nothing. I abide under the power, the standard, the banner, the ensign of Yehovah Nissi and I can have victory over the flesh, the world and the devil - my enemies and God's. I go to war and put to death what I need to. Messiah is there with me, interceding on heavenly Zion's holy mount. Victory is assured under the bright banner of His name.

10. Yehovah Mekaddishkem - The Lord Who Sanctifies You Your names, my God, bring strength to my heart, a lift to my shoulders and a spring to my step. I say them outloud - I worship You - You, God save me, redeem me and set me apart. I belong to You! You sanctify me. The purpose of the Sabbath is that we know that "I am the Lord who sanctifies you." I do not sanctify myself. You, God make me holy. Sanctification would never come through the law. It would only come through You. I enter into Your name. I enter into Your rest. Salvation comes through resting in You, God. I cannot obtain it through my own efforts. Holiness is the same. I live a holy life in response to what You have already accomplished. You carry me on eagle's wings. I call upon Your name and enter into Your wonderful rest.

11. Yehovah Shalom - The Lord is Peace  Lord I turn to you in distress. I turn to You when I'm troubled. When I go to You God, You hear my cry. You always have a solution. You lift anxiety from my heart. You clear the path. You give me peace. Your name is a strong tower. You are present with me in the midst of darkness and fear. In that place You are the Lord my Peace. In the midst of stresses and challenges You are Peace. True peace can only be found in right relationship with You, God. Peace cannot be based in circumstances and situations of life. I do not let my peace be centered in another person, sunny skies, a full stomach, a balanced checkbook, a healthy body, or a harmonious home. You God are Yehovah Shalom. You Yourself are my peace. When storms sweep over my horizon I run into the shelter of Your name. When I find You I find peace. You are peace.

12. Yehovah - Sabaoth/Tzvaot - The Lord of Hosts  When the odds against me seem overwhelming and the situation I find myself in seems unbearable…when I'm at the very end of my strength, in deep trouble - when I sense defeat and darkness - in times of conflict and warfare Yehovah Sabaoth is the name to call upon. It's the name that makes the very pillars of the universe tremble. When I'm harassed, powerless and I come to the end of myself and find life's conflicts unbearable I turn to You, Lord of Hosts. I call upon Your name, Yehovah Tzvaot. This is the name to run to when from my perspective there is no other help. This is the day to shelter in Your name. Yehovah Tzvaot which means mass - mass of heavenly beings - angels - an army of heavenly hosts. You rule over all the angelic hosts. You rule over the armies of heaven. You are Lord over all powers, principalities and rulers in high places. The battle is not mine. It's Yours! No one can stand against You. The righteous run into the strong tower of Your name and find safety.

13. Yehovah Raah - The Lord My Shepherd  Rather than believing in myself and trying to make my own way through life I turn to Your precepts God, and with faith in You say I can do all things through You who strengthens me. This is to think biblically, to believe what You say. And what do You say about me, and You? Over and over again You say we are like sheep, weak and helpless, and You are a loving, tender shepherd. Even though I do dumb things, I'm not perfect and I stumble in many ways, I can succeed and prosper because You Lord are my Shepherd. In You I find all that I need. How dumb are sheep? They will literally eat themselves right off a cliff. In such severe situations the shepherd would be forced to break the leg of that sheep and then bind up the injury, carrying, talking and singing to the sheep until it finally healed. Then he would remove the splint and let the sheep go. By that time the sheep would be so accustom to the tenderness, warmth and closeness of the shepherd that he wouldn't wander away anymore. He would be content to stay at the shepherd's side. Lord I seek You and I find You're seeking me. Every single lamb matters to you, the Good Shepherd.

14. Yehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness  What do I do? Where do I turn when I have no hope? Is there hope for hearts given over to sin and rebellion? There is hope. It is in the dark hour of judgment and failure that You, God reveal this name to the hopeless, who see only death. It's a blazing radiant beacon cutting through the darkness, pointing the way to heaven's gate. Yehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness… I can have a new heart. You will put the fear of God into my heart so I will not turn from You. You will give me a new heart and spirit and cause me to walk in Your statutes and observe Your ordinances. A new covenant - a new heart will come because of a righteous Branch named Yehovah Tisdkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness. I can be righteous. It's all wrapped up in understanding Your name Yehovah Tisdkenu. The righteous Branch (Jer. 23:5) who will reign as king and do justice and righteousness is You, God incarnate (God in the flesh) the Messiah, the Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. At Calvary's cross You made Him who knew no sin to be sin on my behalf, that I might become the righteousness of God in Him. What an exchange! My sin, past, present and future - for Your own measureless, incalculable righteousness and purity. I can only be right with You God, by receiving the righteousness of Yehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord Our Righteousness - Yeshua HaMashiach.. I run into the strong tower of Your name. The shining beauty of Your very righteousness belongs to me.

15. Yehovah Shammah - The Lord is There  What do I do when I feel alone, abandoned, forgotten - imprisoned in difficult circumstances? How do I keep hope bubbling up like a spring? How do I keep courage burning bright and strong? I obey Your word God, mediate on its precepts, cling to it in faith with all my heart. The more I open my heart and life to the ministry of Your Word and Your Spirit, the more I realize You are there. Wherever I am You, God are there. You are waiting and longing to be my future and my hope. I will not be absorbed by my captivity. I will be absorbed with You! Source:  "The Peace & Power of Knowing God's Name" by Kay Arthur  http://www.messianicbiblestudy.com/namesofgod.htm Retrieved April 17, 2009

Why is My Battle Cry My Praise???

Why is My Battle Cry My Praise???

     By. Beashua Spearman

Refer to: http://yourbattlecryisyourpraise.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-battle-cry.html

     Your battle cry is your praise because it glorifies our Heavenly Father, and when we give Him the glory, the honor, and the praise, we are worshipping him in spirit and in truth. We must worship God in spirit and in truth because God wants us to humble ourselves before him. It is not a control issue or a demeaning issue with God because he wants us to be spiritually armed, mentally steadfast, unshakable, and unstoppable. He wants us at our best but when we are at our worst is when our praise should be uplifted more. No matter what we are going through in our lives we must remember that our battle cry is our praise. When we shout to the Lord in scripture, song, hymn, humming, moaning, or whatever he places on your heart that is your battle cry! You are letting Satan know he can not stop you and he has no strength, reason, or purpose over your circumstances. Praise God like you have never praised him before! Shout to the Lord! Do not worry what others may think because it is not for them. Your praise is for God only!! Your praise intimidates Satan, Yes! DO NOT ALLOWTHE ENEMY TO MISLEAD YOU!!! Your praise is what makes him tremble because when you start to praise God... God is working on your behalf...When Praises GO UP, Blessings Come Down!

     Did you not know that YOUR GOD is an AWESOME GOD??? YES!!!! He is an awesome God who has and who will always be awesome. He is perfect and he is our fortress and our rock in a weary land. DO NOT give in, DO NOT give up, DO NOT lose hope, DO NOT lose faith!!!! 

God will never leave you nor will he forsake you! The battle is not yours to fight but it does belong to God and he will fight your battle! He already won the battle over 2, 000 years ago when Jesus defeated Satan and He took the keys away from Satan, Jesus defeated death, disease, famine, and all other circumstances you may face today. Jesus defeated Satan!!! The hard work is complete because Jesus has finished it and he loves us! He is the great healer if you believe in him and never doubt him. 

BELIEVE!!!!

     

Refer to: http://yourbattlecryisyourpraise.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-is-battle-cry.html

     Your battle cry is your praise because it glorifies our Heavenly Father, and when we give Him the glory, the honor, and the praise, we are worshipping him in spirit and in truth. We must worship God in spirit and in truth because God wants us to humble ourselves before him. It is not a control issue or a demeaning issue with God because he wants us to be spiritually armed, mentally steadfast, unshakable, and unstoppable. He wants us at our best but when we are at our worst is when our praise should be uplifted more. No matter what we are going through in our lives we must remember that our battle cry is our praise. When we shout to the Lord in scripture, song, hymn, humming, moaning, or whatever he places on your heart that is your battle cry! You are letting Satan know he can not stop you and he has no strength, reason, or purpose over your circumstances. Praise God like you have never praised him before! Shout to the Lord! Do not worry what others may think because it is not for them. Your praise is for God only!! Your praise intimidates Satan, Yes! DO NOT ALLOWTHE ENEMY TO MISLEAD YOU!!! Your praise is what makes him tremble because when you start to praise God... God is working on your behalf...When Praises GO UP, Blessings Come Down!

     Did you not know that YOUR GOD is an AWESOME GOD??? YES!!!! He is an awesome God who has and who will always be awesome. He is perfect and he is our fortress and our rock in a weary land. DO NOT give in, DO NOT give up, DO NOT lose hope, DO NOT lose faith!!!! 

God will never leave you nor will he forsake you! The battle is not yours to fight but it does belong to God and he will fight your battle! He already won the battle over 2, 000 years ago when Jesus defeated Satan and He took the keys away from Satan,, Jesus defeated death, disease, famine, and all other circumstances you may face today. Jesus defeated Satan!!! The hard work is complete because Jesus has finished it and he loves us! He is the great healer if you believe in him and never doubt him. 

BELIEVE!!!!

Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved.

What is a Battle Cry???

What is a Battle Cry???

According to Wikipedia a battle cry is a yell or a chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same military unit. They are often used to invoke patriotic or religious sentiment. It is to cause intimidation and fear to the opposing side or enemy. It must be as loud as possible! Some battle cries involved the use of instruments, for example: horns, drums, and bagpipes.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlecry  

Retrieved March 8, 2009

Encouraging Quotes & Words of Encouragement!

Encouraging Quotes & Words of Encouragement!

It's not what you go through in life...It's how you look while you're going through it!

 ---Anita Renfroe.

God will give you peace, grace, and love.

 Stop looking for love! God is love! 

He is the sunshine! He is your lifeline! Seek him while you can be found!

 He is your answer! 

- - - Minister B. Spearman

"There is a way to look at the past. Don't hide from it. It will not catch you -- if you don't repeat it."
~ Pearl Bailey~

" Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough." ~ Mary McLeod Bethune

" I feel that the most important requirement in success is learning to overcome failure. You must learn to tolerate it, but never accept it. "
Reggie Jackson

Have a blessed day in Christ!!!! :-) 

God loves you and so do I! :-)

 You are blessed! You are loved because God loves you!

In Him I will Trust!

In Him I will Trust!

By: Beashua Spearman

   

       I have not wrote anything for sometime but God has been very good to me and he has kept me. No matter what I have been going through, God keeps me and he keeps my mind, body, soul, and spirit in tact to do his will. I think about the sickness that some people go through and I have heard some people say... Well it is because they did not take care of themselves...but I do not see it that way when it comes to God's people. You see Satan will try anything to stop us from blessing someone and sharing God's love to others. Witnessing about God's love and his word is a part of being a Christian but the days when things are not going well...when we are in pain... or when life seems unfair...those are the times to pray harder than you normally pray because you are near a breakthrough. Yes! A Breakthrough! 
Those days when things are not going well, and life seems unfair are the days to smile at others, say Hello to a stranger, say God bless you even if they curse you, You are blessing someone who has a need even though you may not know what their need is.

     I think about God's goodness and how he has blessed me and how he uplifts me when I am down. 
I have to smile and think about God's love and how he loved us so much he gave his only son so that we may live for him and to live without worry. You see when you are down God is up to something and it is your breakthrough! I am so happy that God has blessed me and that he is healing me and I have family and friends who love me enough to pray for me. I am blessed and highly favored and no matter what may come my way I know I must be still and know God can handle the storms that rage against me. I can stand back and know that I do not need to help God and that he is a God who is bigger than Allah, who is bigger than Baal, who is bigger than the Wiccan god, money, cars, homes, and who is bigger than all gods past and present...My God is so big that when I call upon him...his answer is swift without tarry.
My God is so huge and so loving yet he is gentle like a lamb, but jealous when people create idols in his place. He sets up one person and he sets down another. Promotion comes from the Lord! He orders my steps and in him I will trust, yes, in him I will trust. 

Here are some scriptures for you to take heart and read but have faith and fasten your seatbelt! Sit in the 1st class section of the plane because there is no need to pilot or co-pilot because God is in control and he is good all the time and all the time God is Good! :-) 

(Exodus 33:14 NIV) The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

(Psalms 23 NIV) A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. {2} He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, {3} he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. {4} Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. {5} You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. {6} Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

(Psalms 119:50 NIV) My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life.

(Psalms 119:75-77 NIV) I know, O LORD, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. {76} May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant. {77} Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.

(Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV) You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. {4} Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

(Isaiah 32:17-19 NIV) The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever. {18} My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest. {19} Though hail flattens the forest and the city is leveled completely,

(Isaiah 38:17 NIV) Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.

(Isaiah 53 NIV) Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? {2} He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. {3} He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. {4} Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. {5} But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. {6} We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. {7} He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. {8} By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. {9} He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. {10} Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. {11} After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. {12} Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

(Isaiah 54:10 NIV) Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

(Isaiah 57:1-2 NIV) The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. {2} Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

(Isaiah 57:18-19 NIV) I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him, {19} creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near," says the LORD. "And I will heal them."

And Jesus said:
(Matthew 11:28-30 NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. {29} Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. {30} For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

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