There is Power in the Word of God

Whenever our Heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus speak there is power released.  When the 300 to 600 band of Roman soldiers went to arrest Jesus, he spoke to them and the Bible says that they went backward and fell to the ground.  The great "I AM" spoke and a spiritual force was released and it caused this mighty band of military men to fall to the ground.  We want to be assured that the Word of God contains a spiritual force.  When we receive the Word of God into our heart over a matter, pray and speak the Word of God over a matter, we know that the spiritual forces of Heaven go to work. 
(John 18:4-6)

How do you respond when a friend doesn't listen when he or she should?

When you have a close relationship with a friend and he or she doesn't listen to you or let themselves be influenced by you, what should you do?  It is exactly at this time that this person needs for you to be a friend to them.  They need for you to extend the mercy, kindness and forgiveness that the Lord Jesus taught.  When you are able to do that, then you will open the door for that relationship to be healed and restored.  If the friend does not respond to your generosity in the Lord, then that friend will have to live with the decision that they have made.  But if the friend does respond, you will now have a friendship that is stronger and better then before.

Are all friends true and loyal?

There are people in  your life that call you a friend.  But are they really a true friend?  I think of the story of Judas and how he betrayed the Lord Jesus.  Judas was the bookkeeper and treasurer of the Lord Jesus ministry.  They must have worked very closely over the three and a half year earthly ministry of Jesus.  But Judas was carrying within himself a personal agenda or ulterior motives.  However, that didn't stop Jesus from demonstrating his love for Judas.  But Judas pre-planned and executed the plan that brought about the arrest and execution of Jesus.  When someone betrays you, remember that either the person was not who you thought they were in the first place; or you were getting the signals from the person but chose to ignore them to keep the relationship in place.  When our Heavenly Father gives us wisdom, we become wise when we act on it.  If we will, it will preserve us from harmful relationships.  (Mark 14:44)

We should not gossip

When someone confides in us with something that is of a very personal and intimate nature, how do we handle that?  It should be with the dignity and respect that the person has shown to us in confiding in us.  When someone shares something with us that is sensitive to them it demonstrates their trust they have in us.  When a person gossips they betray that trust and share these personal and confidential matters with others.  Children of God ought not to gossip.  We are admonished in the Bible to not to do so.  When we gossip it destroys the trust the person placed in us and potentially causes harm to the person we are gossiping about.  (Romans 1:29-30)

You have access to divine assistance

We all go through challenges in life.  I recently told someone that if you live on planet earth there are always going to be challenges and difficulties that come up.  It is just a part of living.  However, when going through the trials of life, it is nice if we have friends to support and assist us as we are going through these challenges.  But one source of support and assistance that we can be assured of is divine assistance.  When we cry out to our Heavenly Father in faith he will respond.  Our Heavenly Father will provide supernatural strength for us when we need it in response to our prayer of faith.  This is exactly what happened to the Lord Jesus in the Garden during his final hours before the cross (Luke 22:43)

Are you going through a pressure cooker?

There are times in life when individuals go through challenging times.  Perhaps someone is going through a job loss, having trouble with a child, going through a marital difficulty or experiencing financial challenges.  When we go through these times we will often reach out to friends and there is nothing wrong with that.  But there can be times when our friends are not as supportive as they should be.  It's at times like these that we can be assured that our Heavenly Father is always there.  We can always have a conversation with him, and those conversations bring results.  Just like the Lord Jesus did when he was about to suffer the cross, he prayed earnestly and our Heavenly Father came to his aid even though those closest to him couldn't pray for him even one hour.  (Luke 22:39-46)

Be careful during times of offence

We have to be very careful during times when we become offended at someone.  It is exactly at these times that we can make mistakes.  We have the potential to make so serious a mistake that it affects our life in a very strategic way.  We think of Judas in the bible.  He became offended when Jesus let Mary use the very expensive perfume on him instead of putting the money in the treasury box (John 12:3-6).  It is exactly during times of offence that the devil will thrust, insert, forcibly hurl or embed into us his thoughts. (John 13:2)  Which when acted upon drive a wedge between us and the people we love.  Rather, we should let go of the disagreement and forgive.  Instead of allowing a wedge to develop between us and the people we love, why not sow a seed of love, mercy and kindness toward that person and set the table for a reward.

Do we submit ourselves to the ministry of the Holy Spirit?

In the gospel of John 14:16, Jesus says, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that he may abide with you forever-".  This chapter takes place shortly before Jesus Christ was crucified.  The Lord Jesus was sharing some of his final thoughts with his disciples before he left his physical body on earth.  He was assuring them that he would send the person of the Holy Spirit to be with them and to lead them and to guide them.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit was to continue the earthly ministry that the Lord Jesus had begun.  This Holy Spirit would lead the Church corporately but also could inhabit each persons' spirit individually.  When we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, it is as if we are submitting ourselves to the Lord Jesus himself.  Because the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.

Should we make judgements on appearances?

How is it that we make decisions in life or make proper evaluations.  For some appearances alone are enough for them to decision on.  But not so with children of God.  The Lord Jesus admonished us in John 7:24 that "We should not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgement".  What does that mean?  It means that when we are living our life by faith we are not simply moved by what we see, but we are moved by our faith in the Word of God.  So when we make our evaluations, they are based upon the Word of God and the teaching laid into us by the Holy Spirit.  For then we know that we are building our life upon the rock of God's word.

God will always make a way

One of the assurances that we have with our Heavenly Father is that he will always make a way for us.  If we will stay in faith and keep a good attitude, God will provide.  Sometimes when we're going through a situation we don't see any earthly way that it could be resolved favorably.  But we are admonished by the Apostle Paul that we don't walk by sight but we walk by faith.  Sometimes to get to the ultimate resolution there are some twists and turns.  It doesn't matter.  If we will stay in faith our God will see us through.  (Isaiah 42:16)

God wants us to be healed and whole

Our Heavenly Father does not want us to suffer with sickness and disease. I don't believe the Lord Jesus was sick a day in his life. If sickness tried to present itself, he would just speak to it. The Lord Jesus walked in divine health. This is also God's desire for you and me. In the Lord's prayer Jesus prayed that the Heavenly Father's will be done in earth as it is in heaven. That reveals the Heavenly Father's desire for you and me. (Isaiah 41:10)

Do we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us?

We cannot allow ourselves to be led by our feelings, emotions, circumstances and messages that are common in this world to us. It is so easy to get caught up in our emotions and to let them lead us. The problem with that is that our emotions tend to change and when they do then we will feel led in a different direction. In other words, we will become unstable. In that instability we will position ourselves not to receive from the Lord. We should inquire of the Lord and let him lead us. When we are led from a place of righteousness, we are assured that we can walk in a place of security and stability. (1 John 2:20)

Do we show empathy?

The Lord Jesus empathizes with us in our weaknesses.  In other words, he was tempted in every way that we are.  So the Lord Jesus knows first hand what we are going through and he empathizes with us.  When we have friends that are believers that are going through challenges in their life, how do we respond?  Do we empathize with them?  In other words, do we let them know that we are going to pray for them or otherwise support them until they are through the situation they are going through?  This is what the Lord Jesus does for us and this is how we should approach our support of other believers.  (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)

We should not talk rashly

When we get our emotions involved and we get angry about something, it is very easy to talk rashly.  In other words, we speak before we engage our brain or think about what we are going to say.  It's not a good practice to get in the habit of.  I often say that it is very difficult to un-ring a bell.  Once the bell is rung then we have to deal with the consequences.  We as God's children want to be thoughtful before we speak.  If we don't have something positive to say, then perhaps we can keep quiet.  I am sure that as we keep a positive attitude and stay in faith, that our Heavenly Father will provide us with something positive to say.  If there isn't something positive to talk about then talk by faith.  (Psalm 106:32,33)

We should not talk corrupt

It is very easy to get caught up in conversation that is not that helpful.  It has been said that the lowest form of communication is when we talk about others, the next highest form of communication is when we talk about things, and the highest form of communication is when we talk about ideals or positive ideas.  We should not allow negativity to dominate our conversation.  We want our conversation to reflect our morals and values.  We want to make sure that we maintain the quality in our conversations. The test is does our communication build up others around us and does it reflect God's grace. (Ephesians 4:29)

Do we strive for Excellence?

As God's children we should strive for excellence in everything that we do.  Our Heavenly Father sends us out on assignment and we represent him in this earth.  When people observe us what do they see?  Do they see responsibilities executed with excellence?  To do our work with excellence requires that we make a quality decision about our work.  We have to make a decision that we are going to do excellent work and that nothing else will do.  Our Heavenly Father will only entrust to us to the ability that we are able to perform well that which he has already given us to do.  (1 Timothy 1:11)

Do we keep the devil under our feet?

There was a minister one time who said a believer came to him and said that the devil was beating them all upside their head.  He told the believer, that shouldn't be.  The devil should be under your feet.  He shouldn't be able to get up to your head.  That is exactly true.  If the devil is having victories in our life then something is wrong.  Jesus Christ defeated the devil (Colossians 2:15) once and for all.  So we don't let him have place in our life and we have victory over him in Christ.  Just take authority over him in the name of Jesus and speak the Word of God to him.  The devil will flee and you will experience your victory in Jesus Christ.
(Ephesians 1:22)

We have to come into agreement

Not everything that our Heavenly Father or the Lord Jesus shares with us will be something that we immediately identify with.  For example, the Chief priests and elders of the religious authority questioned Jesus by what authority He spoke in Matthew 21:23.  They weren't questioning His authority because they were in complete agreement with him.  They were questioning His authority because they disagreed with him.  This is also the same for us at times.  We may not on occasion immediately agree with the Word the Lord Jesus has shared with us.  But we have the privilege to pray about it and to then adjust ourselves according to the Word of our Heavenly Father.

We create our life with our words

What we say is very important.  In Proverbs 18:20 it says "A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth;  From the produce of his lips he shall be filled."  The 21st verse says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit."  Words are very important.  They are the containers of life or death.  It is up to us to determine what we will speak.  We have a choice set before us.  Our life will follow our word choice.  If we choose words of life and blessing, that is exactly what will follow us and how our life will unfold.

Do we win souls for Christ?

We all have occupations and things that occupy our everyday life, and those things have to be done.  There is typically much emphasis placed on our natural career or accomplishing and getting things done.  But that is not our ultimate calling here upon the earth.  Our purpose here on this earth is to advance the Kingdom of God; to win souls for Christ.  When we occupy ourselves with our ultimate purpose here on earth, it gives our life so much more meaning.  It means that we occupy ourselves with something eternal versus just transitory.  (Daniel 12:3)

God has a path that will run right through it

No matter what kind of obstacle a child of God may be facing or barriers are confronting them or wall that may be standing between them and victory, God has a path that will run right through it.

We set our mind for success, victory and progress.  We cast down every negative thought.  Any thought that is negative, that brings fear, worry, doubt or unbelief.  We keep confessing and declaring God’s favor over our life.  God has a pathway for us that will lead us to the promised land of victory in Christ.  God is working on it right now.  Stay in an attitude of faith, hope and victory. 

(Psalm 77:14-20)