Waiting is not easy, especially when the stakes can be high. But it is a necessary part of our relationship with God.  But the truth about waiting on God is that there is a right way to wait and a wrong way to wait. The wrong way is to just “do nothing.” Waiting on God is not a passive activity…you need to actively wait.

What does actively waiting on God look like?

Pursue Him.

There is no down side to pursuing God. So why don’t we pursue all the time! Most times it comes down to a simple question, how bad do you want it? How badly do you want to see a change in your life? How badly do you want that breakthrough in your finances? How badly do you want healing, restoration, or peace? If it is truly something that is important to us, we will put time into it.

Our timing is not God’s timing. It is often a hard truth to swallow. But sometimes when our plans are delayed, we perceive them to be denied, but that’s not so. Delayed is not denied. So while you wait, continue to do your job…pursue. My pastor Justin Davis has said, “God is more interested in our character than our calendar.”

Be patient while you wait. Don’t lose your hope. Don’t lose your passions. But don’t sit around.

Every single one of us will at some point wait on God. It doesn’t mean you are necessarily doing something wrong, it is just part of life.

Next time you find yourself in a season of waiting on God, remember you can actively wait on Him.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

All of the verbs in this verse are action verbs…ask, seek, knock.

I can tell you with absolute confidence that if you honestly seek God, you will find Him. He is not going to play hide and seek with you. If you seek Him, you will find Him.

So as you wait…seek!

“Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed…The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain.” Deuteronomy 28:6,8 

Do you need a blessing right now? Do you want to walk in favor? Well you can!

Start speaking this verse over your life and see what happens.

This is a promise from the Lord and because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, it is ours for the taking The Lord says that everything our hands touch is blessed! That includes our family, our finances, our health, our careers, they are all blessed!

Today, whatever you may be going through…if you feel stuck, uncertain, frustrated at your job, just remember that you are called blessed.

Wherever you go and whatever you do is blessed!

Guaranteed!

“But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7

Are you a Christian that feels that they need to constantly repent in order to keep close union with God?

Do you feel like the health of your relationship with Christ is dependent on whether or not your have confessed your sins to Him?

Let me put you at ease. Your sins have already been forgiven…past, present and future. When Christ died for you and me on the cross, He bore all our sins. Anything and everything we will ever do, think, say that falls short, He has forgiven us for.

Let that sink in.

As believers then, we do not confess our sins in order to be forgiven…but we confess because we have already been forgiven. We can go to God without hesitation or condemnation because He has already forgiven us. You can see this truth from the verse above. It is not our confession that cleanses us from all sin, but it’s the blood of Jesus.

What a relief!

We don’t have to live a life of worry and anxiety about trying to confess every sin that we do throughout our days. And we don’t need to worry about whether or not we are worthy enough to approach God…We can live in freedom and approach Him with boldness because we have been forgiven. Nothing we do will ever change that!

What is also neat is the word ‘cleanse’ in the verse above. In the Greek, the tense for the word ‘cleanse’ denotes a present and continuous action. This means that from the second you receive Christ, His blood is continually cleansing you. You can visualize this like you are under a waterfall of forgiveness. It never stops coming and is always fresh and new.

Start to live free today. Live by the grace that you have been given. Let the reality sink in that you are continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus and there’s nothing that we can do to change that.

How does the image of a waterfall of forgiveness help you?

Today I just have a little reminder for you.

“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” Proverbs 18:21

Your words have power, whether you realize it or not. I don’t believe that our words will naturally bring life. We need to be very aware of what we say and the consequences that those words can bring. We have to choose to be a source of life and not death.

I’m sure you have heard the idiom, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”? Well it may be a good deflection as a child but it is most certainly not true. Words can do immense damage to people. They can cause wounds that last for years. But they can also bring forth life. They can heal and empower.

Be aware of what you say today…let your speech bring life, happiness, and love to people. Uplift and do not bring down.

Empower not belittle.

Bring life or bring death.

Your choice.

Have you ever found yourself discouraged in your walk with God because you feel like you don’t measure up? Or because you feel like you aren’t good enough to be in His presence?

I know I have felt that way before.

But the truth is, we should never let anything ever stop us from going into God’s presence. No matter how you feel, what you were told or if you think you aren’t good enough. Those are lies.

God wants us to come to Him as we are! Because of the sacrifice that Christ made for us on the cross, God now only sees us through the lens of Jesus. God doesn’t see a sinful, unworthy, wretched person; He sees a perfect, pure, without blemish, blameless masterpiece! Amen.

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21 NIV

In the Old Testament when people would bring an offering to the priests, the priest would examine the animal to make sure it was spotless and without blemish. The key thing to realize is that the priest examined the animal and not the person. They examined the sacrifice and not the sinner. And if the offering was indeed without defect, the Lord would accept the offering and this would purify the person making them (us) right with God.

This is a HUGE comfort to you and myself…

When Jesus died for us, He became our sacrifice and made us in right standing with God. So don’t be ashamed of who you are, where you have come from, or what you have done. Don’t be afraid to come before Christ with boldness, freedom, and joy. And don’t believe the lies that tell you that you are not good enough or perfect enough to enter into His presence…

Come as you are.

You are welcomed with open arms and seen as beautiful, spotless, and because of Jesus, without blemish.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matt. 11:28-30 MSG

Isn’t it a relief that we can come before God just as we are?

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Season come and go, as do trials and troubles. When going through a difficult season in life, you need to have mindset of perseverance and determination and not one of defeat. You need to remember your strength and joy come from the lord and not your circumstances, therefore, whatever you may be going through you can remain confident and remain at peace that the Lord will see you through…your troubles will soon pass.

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

I don’t know what you are going through right now, it may be some emotional distress, a financial problem, a relationship going bad, an unexpected health problem, etc. but I do know that God is with you.

Trust the Lord through these hard times, he knows the way through. If you were on a safari, you would naturally trust your tour guide because he knows the way, he knows what’s around the bend, and what the best possible next step is…how much more, then, does our heavenly father know the outcome of the season of life we are in? How much more deserving of our trust is He?

Stay determined.

Stay confident.

Persevere.

This season will pass.

“Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.”  Isaiah 45:22

One of the hardest things to do spiritually, in my opinion, is to stay focused and concentrated on God. And what I mean by that is to stay focused on Him not just during the tough seasons in life but during our rough times as well. With all the distractions that life offers, it is easy for us to give importance to things that should not hold importance. Often times the very blessings of God can be the very thing that trips us up…but is that Gods fault? No. It’s ours. Other times we can start to compare our life with those around us and start to weigh our circumstances against theirs…this is of no benefit to us.

Gods asks us to simply look at Him. To keep our gaze fixed in His direction.

The truth is, we will find all we need in Christ. I bet most of you reading this already have heard that or know that, but how many of us actually live that out? It’s amazing when trials come up in our life, how quickly we allow them to steal our focus, attention, and our joy. It is easy to become overwhelmed with worry, fear and stress when things don’t go the way we thought they should go in life. It may feel like you can’t escape your pain, hurt, or worry.

But all the while God will be saying, “Look to me” and you will find all that you need.

In one of my audio classes in school, I learned about something called the “cocktail party effect.” Have you heard of it? The cocktail part effect is the ability to focus our listening attention on a single source among a mixture of other conversations and background noises, ignoring those other conversations. It is basically how we can carry conversations in noisy environments. It is pretty neat.

We have the ability to tune out distractions and focus on what is truly important. If we can do this at parties then we can certainly do it spiritually as well.

God asks us to look at him and we will find all we need. So what if during our difficult seasons of life when the hurts, pains, and distractions are at their loudest, we focus our attention on God and, like our ears, let the rest fade into the background?

What if we tuned our hearts toward Christ and allowed His voice to be the loudest in our lives?

No matter what you are going through right now, be determined to focus your attention on Christ and watch your trials, difficulties, and worries fade away. Don’t allow your circumstances to call the shots and be the loudest voice in your life.

To find relief, rest, peace, hope, or joy, just do as God asks us too:

“Look to Me, and be saved.”

What do you think, do you need to work on focus?

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

There is so much comfort in this verse. I know I have personally been resting in this verse recently. There have been lots of changes recently in my life and the lives of those closest to me and it can easily start to become overwhelming if I  don’t continually build  myself up with Scripture.

Let this verse be a comfort to you as well.

If you are wondering what the next step is in your life…take heart. If you are feeling a little lost and not sure what which path to take…take heart. Or if you thought you knew what the plans for your life were supposed to be and life threw a little curve ball, fear not…take heart. He has specific plans for your life. He has got it all under control. He will come through for you. Trust Him. Seriously trust Him.

Live without worry and fear. Live with the confidence that our personal Savior is working behind the scenes on our behalf every second of the day. Fear and worry are things that the enemy will use to take our focus off of God and back on us and our circumstances. They are false. They are merely distractions. Do not buy into the lies.

Even when life seems most confusing…take heart. He knows.

And he has a plan for you.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Are you in a season where you want to know God’s plan for your life more than ever?

Have you ever had an experience that seemed so strange, or so painful, or so traumatic that you thought, “No one can understand what I’m going through?” I’ve had that thought many times in my life. The absolute truth is that sometimes our friends and family won’t understand the pain that we have experienced, but Jesus will.

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

Jesus, who was made fully man, experienced all and even more than you or I will ever experience. He can identify with ever human emotion, temptation, trial, struggle, hurt, pain, etc. He went through it all and took it all upon himself on the cross.

I know life can sometimes throw unexplainable trials and hurts our way, and in these moments it is so easy to feel completely alone. But I am here to give you some hope. You don’t have to feel alone.

Jesus understands how you feel.

You have someone to run to. You can vent to Christ. You can ask for help, guidance, healing, freedom, and relief. 1Peter 5: 7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” He wants us to go to Him with our hurts, pains, shortcomings…because he understands what we are going through.

Joseph Prince said:

There is no trial, difficulty, challenge, or temptation that you face that Jesus cannot identify with. My friend, the moment you go through it, right there and then, He feels it too. That is the kind of representative you have in Jesus! That is the love of God so that you will draw near to His throne of grace (not judgment) to find mercy and grace in time of need!

Whatever hurt or pain that you may be going through today, just know that you are not alone. Jesus is right there with you and He understands how you feel. And He will help you through it all.

I need this reminder, do you?

“If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” Unknown

With 2011 behind us and 2012 under way, what are your goals for this year? Have you set any yet?

Every new year seems to be a great time to press reset and set goals. Even though nothing but the date changes, it’s a good time to reflect on the year that has passed and give some thought to what you want to accomplish in the year that is to come.

The truth is, goal setting is extremely important and something I really believe we should all do. If we do not set goals we are far less likely to accomplish what we want and have to accomplish.

I want to encourage you today, if you have not done so already, to set goals for this year. Pray about them, write them down, and then put them in a place where you can see them often. Writing your goals down makes them far more concrete in your mind.

“The mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord shows him what to do.” Proverbs 16:9

Don’t be afraid to dream big. Have both large and small goals. Don’t be intimidated by what you want to write down. The awesome thing about spending some time in prayer about your goals is that chances are your goals are desires that the Lord has placed inside you. The Lord would not give you a desire and not provide you a way to accomplish it.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” Henry Ford 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust the Lord with the goals that you set this year. Be bold and set ambitious ones. Let this year be different. Be faithful and work hard at them. Do your part and trust God to do his. Make 2012 be your best year yet!

Have you set any goals for this year?