4 Essential Ways to Change Your Situation (Part 3)

Posted on by July 25, 2017

What You See

But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless…Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Gen 15:2, 5-6, NKJV

The third way to change your situation – You must see something different. In the book, The Principles and Power of Vision, Dr. Myles Munroe defines vision as, “the ability to see further than your physical eyes can look.” To keep Abraham from focusing on what seemed impossible God gave Abraham a vision. One evening, God sent Abraham outside and told him to look up into the night sky and count the stars because his descendants would be as numerous. God gave Abraham something different to look at because of his old age and Sarah’s barrenness was all they had seen up till now.

Sometimes, when you’re in a difficult situation, it’s hard to see past today, let alone see tomorrow. But consider this, when did God show Abraham the stars? It was at night. In the midst of darkness, God gave Abraham vision of a better future. It’s in the midst of the most difficult circumstance of your life God wants to give you a glimpse of something better. God will always show you a hope filled future.

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11 MSG

This verse in Jeremiah reminds us that God has a plan for each of us. Why is it important to know that? Knowing that God has a plan for each of us creates hope in our hearts so that our faith can thrive. I didn’t say survive, but thrive. Faith in God brings His plan into your life. In other words, your faith will bring to you what you need. Press into hope and see what God has next for you.

When God showed Abraham the stars, God gave him a snapshot of his future, and then God framed it. Every night, when Abraham laid down, all he had to do was look up into that celestial masterpiece God framed. The stars would be constant reminders of God’s promise of a miraculous future.

Spend time in God’s presence through prayer, worship and reading the bible. Wait before Him until He shows you something different. He wants to give you a renewed vision for your life and He wants to frame it in your heart. Don’t wait to see if there will be change, you must envision a new tomorrow – today.

4 Essential Ways to Change Your Situation (Part 2)

Posted on by March 7, 2017

What You Hear

As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”*) in the presence of Him whom he believed ó God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; NKJV Rom 4:17

The second approach to changing your situation is – To hear something different. In speaking light, it entails more than just speaking positive but affirming God’s word over your situation. In your speaking there is a side benefit– you change what you’re hearing.

Previously, I mentioned that darkness could represent the obscurity of tomorrow. In this passage in Romans 4, the Apostle Paul speaks of how God was calling Abraham to be the father of many nations when at the time; Abraham’s circumstances made it so impossible for him and his wife Sarah to even have a child. Abraham was old and Sarah was old and barren (Genesis 16:1-2,17:15). The impossibility of having children created their dark situation.   But God did something unique for Abraham. To illustrate this point, I’d like to expound on a comment I made in my book titled, “ 7 Dimensions to Fulfilling Your Call”

“In God’s eyes, Abram was already the father of many nations, but how could He convince Abram to see himself from this perspective? The father of many nations had never existed on Abram’s level before. God had a solution to get Abram to agree with Him and to change what Abram was saying about himself…To accomplish this, God changed his name from Abram (high father) to Abraham which means “father of a multitude,” to reflect what He had already said.

An echo was created in Abraham’s ears when God changed his name. Webster defines a human echo as one who closely imitates or repeats another’s words, ideas, or acts. So every time Abraham heard his name, or when he introduced himself, he and others were literally echoing what God said…God knew that if Abraham heard the echo enough, he actually would start believing it. Abraham was repeating God’s Word, God’s idea that eventually caused him to act God’s way. This process caused his faith to elevate to where it needed to be. Eventually his faith caused what did not exist to come into being.”

The more Abraham heard his name, the more he believed it. Instead of listening to the negative thoughts, he affirmed with his own mouth God’s promise to become the father for many nations. He kept saying it until it changed who he was. It changed his attitude. It changed how He saw God. It changed how he saw his wife. It transformed his way of thinking. It created hope.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom 10:17, NKJV

God wants to talk to you and He wants you to talk to yourself. Your own words can impact you more than the words from others. You need to hear yourself affirm what you believe. Don’t just take the attitude, “oh well, if it happens, it happens and if doesn’t…well.” You have to verbalize God’s word, God’s promise to yourself until it changes something in you. The more you repeat it; you’ll become the echo of what God said. So change what you are saying so that you change what your hearing.

4 Essential Ways to Change Your Situation (Part 1)

Posted on by February 7, 2017

What You Say

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Gen 1:1-3

 “Its dark out here!”

“Not even a full moon.” I thought.

The huge oak trees blocked our view of the sparkly sky. You could hear the sounds of the night creatures, which seemed to croon in unison, as if to remind us whose domain we were really on.

The campsite that night was the temporary home of the Royal Rangers Troops for our annual camping trip to earn Merit badges. Our troop specifically consisted of several troop leaders, about two dozen 9 – 10 year old boys and a few tag along fathers.

Later that night, in my tent, snuggled in my sleeping bag; I was awakened by a strange noise. It was my 10-year-old son.

“Dad, I gotta go!”

“Now?” I asked.

Of course I knew that was a dumb question as I extended my arms and legs out the sleeping bag. Half sleep, fumbling around for my flashlight; it was like my eyes locked on some strange, opaque painting of some sort. I couldn’t see my hands in front of me. But interestingly, no matter how thick the darkness was, when I finally switched my flashlight on, a focused beam of light pierced through the obscurity and illuminated our pathway to our destination – the outdoor bathroom.

Genesis chapter 1 describes how God awesomely created the heavens and the earth. What God creates is always good but something happened between verse 1 and verse 2 that caused the earth to be empty, lifeless and filled with darkness. Sometimes we find ourselves in the dark because of life circumstances.

For some the darkness represents the obscurity of tomorrow or the emptiness of today, or perhaps recurring thoughts of hopelessness because of our past. But I have good news. Like my experience with the flashlight, the bible shows us how we can experience light that can change our dark situations?

The first approach to changing your situation is – To say something different. According to Genesis 1:3, when God saw the earth’s condition, He said something. Nothing changed until God said something. Words were His first action but not just any words. God didn’t say, “Wow, that’s really dark.” He didn’t reinforce the gloom but rather reinforced what He wanted. In spite of earth’s abysmal condition, God said what He wanted it to be, “Let there be light.” As a result, the earth was filled with the light of the glory of God.

In the same way, you must believe and declare something different if you want your situations to be different. If God had said it was dark, it would have stayed dark. Acknowledging what you see is important but to continue expressing the negative aspects of what you see won’t change anything.

In Isa 46:10 and Romans 4:17, God shows us how to say something different. He asserts, “Declaring the end from the beginning…and call into existence the things that do not exist.” What do you want your circumstances to look like in the end? Believe God’s Word, trust Him, and affirm the outcome in advance (Mark 10:27).

You have every right to make declarations like, “I have the strength to overcome this challenge because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world and with God all things are possible.” You insert where you want to go, and where you want to be.

Change your outlook on darkness by doing what you heavenly Father did. God changed the world by His Words. You can change your world by your words. Begin to speak light.

To Pursue Your Call You Have To Step into a God Moment (Part # 3)

Posted on by February 29, 2016

5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? John 6:5,9

Finally, stepping into your God moment can activate others. I can only imagine that little boy’s excitement when he returned to school the next day? Let suppose the teacher asked,

“Hey class, who wants to share what they learned yesterday?”
“I do!” The little boy sprints to the front of the class.
“I helped Mr. Jesus feed the world!” he shouts! The kids in the classroom respond in awe.
“You can help to!”
“Next field trip, everybody, bring your lunch!”

In Mark 8:4-10, there is second occasion where Jesus feeds a crowd of over 4000 people who were with him in a desert place and were hungry. Like before, Jesus challenged the disciples on how the people should be fed. However, once again the disciples responded, “How can anyone find enough bread to satisfy these people in a remote place like this?” (Mark 8:4) They approached this new challenge the same way they did the first time.

But Jesus wasn’t done teaching His followers. He asked them what did they find? They responded, “seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.” And like before, Jesus took the bread and the fish, blessed it, and then gave it to the disciples to distribute and feed everyone. What’s interesting is that the Bible doesn’t note where the food came from. It sounds to me like maybe some kids made their lunch available, again.

When you step into your God Moment, you are sowing into the Kingdom of God. You are adding to the ingredients that make up the call on your life. Fulfilling your call is about the journey; and God will enable you to accomplish great things all along the way. So like that little boy, do your part and believe. Then God can do His part and produce miraculous results with your life.

To Pursue Your Call You Have To Step Into A God Moment (Part # 2)

Posted on by February 29, 2016

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?  There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? John 6:5-13

Don’t Be Discouraged

Previously, I mentioned to step into your God Moment, you have to participate. Secondly, don’t let others discourage you from your God moment. You might ask, “Why would God want to use me? Surely, there are others who are more talented, smarter, wealthier, or who even have more credentials than I.” Kinda like the disciples, right? Of course, the disciples followed Jesus, saw Jesus perform miracles, heard His teachings, ate and prayed with Him, and so much more. And yet, at that moment in John 6:5, they couldn’t believe that Jesus could produce a miracle on behalf of the people. In fact when Jesus told the disciples to feed the people, the disciples responded:

“This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away…” Matt 14:15

“Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money* to feed them!” John 6:7

In addition to all this, Peter’s response about the five loaves and two fishes was pretty negative. He responded, “What good is that going to do?”

Again, the disciples approached this challenge with limited thinking. They couldn’t see how their own abilities could meet the demand. But God wasn’t asking from them what they could not do; He was asking them to simply believe. They missed their opportunity to step into a God moment. Yet in that instant, the one who had the willingness to a make a difference was the one that Jesus called upon – the little boy.

So don’t let others put limits on what you can do or what you can believe God for. To step into a God moment, requires child like faith. This means you are not focused on what you can’t do but rather what God wants to do through you. Then leave it up to God to perform the miracle.

To Pursue Your Call You Have To Step Into A God Moment (Part # 1)

Posted on by November 23, 2015

image001When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? John 6:5,9

 

A Little Boy’s Lunch

He kneels down and looks into the little boys eyes and says, “Would you like to help me do something amazing?”
“Sure.” The little boy responds.
“How would you like to help me feed all these people with your lunch?”
“Sure, Mr. Jesus.” He answered.
Jesus stands and tells the disciples, “Make them sit…”
Then the little boy tugs on Jesus’s robe and asks, “Can me and mama still have some?”
“Of course” He replied. The boy gives his lunch to Jesus, and runs to his mother shouting,
“Mama, mama! Jesus said I’m gonna feed the world!”

Though the above was just an illustration of John 6:5-15 as I imagine it to have been; what we do know is that with only two fishes and five loaves of bread, after Jesus gave thanks and as the disciples distributed the food, an interesting phenomenon took place, the food multiplied. It was more than enough to feed over 10,000 people.

Jesus performed a great miracle that day and the disciples and the people experienced it first hand but I wonder how differently it may have turned out if that little boy hadn’t been there. For him it turned out to be a special day. Perhaps schools were canceled because word broke out that Jesus was teaching in town. Maybe it was a class field trip to attend Jesus teaching. So his mother had to pack his lunch. It was a defining moment for this child as he showed up with his lunch.

I believe we can learn something from this little boy that gives us insight relative to pursuing our calling. This little boy experienced what I call a “God Moment.” It’s when God opens a window of opportunity for you to achieve the tasks to which He has called you to do. On your journey to fulfilling your call, you will have opportunities to experience many God Moments. But it’s up to you to take advantage of them. I believe this story highlights three keys we should learn from this little boy about stepping into our God Moments.

First, to step into your God Moment, you have to participate. Jesus performed the miracle but the child had to consent to work with Jesus in order for the miracle to happen. It was not the disciples but the child who made his resources available to God. For the child to give up his food, I believe there was a joy down on the inside, where purpose and opportunity traversed.

You have to believe that God can produce a miracle just by your participation. He can do something spectacular in somebody’s life through your willingness to serve, your willingness to get involved, your willingness to use your hands and through your simple obedience to His leading.

How can God use somebody’s lunch to impact the world? God can use anything you make available to Him. In other words, start with what you have, start with where you are. Just being willing and taking action to step into a God Moment, can affect someone’s life for the better and you will never be the same.