Make Your Life Count

Matthew 7:12 “Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

Titus 1:6 They profess to know God, but in their works (by their actions) they deny Him.

How do you make your life count for today and FOREVER? As I said yesterday, it took me over 20 years as a Christian to realize that God does not get any glory from my life if I am constantly walking in distress, defeat, and disobedience. As Joyce Meyer once said, “You can be pitiful or powerful, but you can’t be both!” The world is watching. Does your life look any better than theirs? If your God is so powerful, why aren’t you living at a higher level than unbelievers?

Those are tough questions I’ve been asking myself lately. I know I’ve gone through a lot that many people don’t have to go through, and I’ve experienced a lot of awesome victories through the power of God, not through my own abilities. But I have a burning desire to live at an even higher level.

Many Bible teachers are saying that a great wave of judgment is coming on our nation. Whether that is an indication of the end times or a consequence of our disobedience doesn’t really matter. What does matter is, are we ready for that wave of judgment? The Bible tells us in I Peter 4:17, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?” When it’s all over and we stand face to face with Jesus, will our lives have made a difference for Him?

The Lord has shown me that I need to do three things to prepare for this coming judgment and to make my life count for eternity:

1) To the best of my ability, walk in obedience to Him. Love what God loves, hate what God hates. Always be looking for opportunities to bless and minister to others in His name. (That’s what we’re here for, right?)

2) Confess victory at all times, not defeat. Don’t flinch, don’t slow down, and don’t let the enemy see my weaknesses or that he has hurt me. The same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead is living in me, and I need to constantly remind myself of that.

3) Settle it in my mind and heart that God’s word is true—for ME. SETTLE IT that I’m healed, that I’m prosperous, that I’m a new creation, that I’m more than a conqueror. Be SO SURE of God’s word that no one can talk me out of it any more than they can talk me out of breathing.

Make your life count. Strive to live at a higher level than ever before.

Cathleen

Vision Check

1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Romans 8:37
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

I’ve been getting up around 5:30 every morning to read the Bible, pray, and exercise. I’m not a morning person, so this is a pretty big stretch for me. I generally can’t make myself exercise alone, and I don’t have any willing volunteers to do it with me, so I usually turn on an exercise video to keep me motivated. Last week, I even got tired of that and decided to turn on the TV and bounce on my rebounder for 30 minutes.

That turned out to be a good decision, because there was a Bible teacher on TV talking about the importance of clarifying God’s vision for your life. The very first thing out of her mouth got my attention. She defined vision as a MENTAL PICTURE OF YOUR FUTURE STATE.

Pretty obvious, right? But I was suddenly struck by the fact that my “mental picture of my future state” is often pretty hazy. It’s a lot easier to put out the daily fires of crisis in my life than to really sit down with the Lord, figure out what He wants my life to look like, and focusing on that picture.

I heard a secular speaker teach on “the millionaire mindset.” His number one point was this: “Where attention goes, energy flows, and results show.” If you focus on your problems (sickness, sin, weakness, lack), they grow. If you focus on the way you know your life really should be (abundance, victory over sin, health, vitality) and start picturing yourself living that way, it will start to become your reality.

Do you think this sounds too “New-Agey” for you? Consider this. Proverbs 23:7 says, “…As he thinks I his heart, so is he.” Here’s another thought: It’s not just about you. How much glory does God get from your life if you are walking in defeat, distress, sickness, and lack? How attractive would your Christianity be to an unbeliever? Your thoughts—that mental picture—determine who you become. So start picturing yourself in victory!

Cathleen

James 4:7-8

James 4:7-8
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
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Yesterday I talked about healing, but what about all those can’t-be-controlled circumstances, like the death of a loved one, loss of a job or home, or even a natural disaster? How could we possibly be responsible for those kinds of circumstances?

It’s true that sin is all around us. We live in a fallen world, and Satan will take advantage of whomever he can. He’s a “roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The Bible says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). But you don’t have to set yourself up as a target through isolation, sin, wrong confession, and wrong beliefs. When you do get hit, you can resist the enemy. You don’t have to receive everything he throws your way.

1) Isolation. I’ve learned through painful experience that the best way to avoid Satan’s attacks is not to make yourself an open target by isolating yourself from other believers. Think about it. In a flock of sheep, which ones get picked off by the wolves and coyotes? The stragglers, the ones that get separated from the flock. So, if you’re a “Lone Ranger” Christian, out there on your own without a church family, you can expect to get picked off by Satan.

2) Sin. If you’re practicing sin or consciously disobeying what God has told you to do, you WILL get hit. One of the most common forms of disobedience is unforgiveness. It’s easy to ignore or excuse, but it’s spiritually deadly because it removes your spiritual protection and leaves you an open target for the enemy. And Satan won’t always hit YOU. He might hit your children instead, if that’s where he can hurt you the worst. Another easy way to fall into disobedience is by walking in strife instead of walking in love.

3) Wrong Confession. You also open yourself up to trouble if you are constantly confessing and expecting negative things. Satan doesn’t even need to attack you, you’ve already attacked yourself. What you confess is what you’ll begin seeing in your life. Make a point of listening to yourself closely for an entire day. I’ve been trying to lose the same 15-20 pounds for two years. Every time I look in the mirror or my clothes get a little tight, I say, “I am so fat!! I hate being fat! I want my old clothes to fit again.” Just this week, the Lord made me aware that I needed to confess the results I wanted, not the bad circumstance I’m in. Now I confess that I eat only what my body needs for nourishment, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and that the excess fat is melting off my body every day.

4) Wrong Beliefs. For years, I believed it was more spiritual to be poor and suffering than prosperous and walking in victory. That was the major contributor to most of the problems I went through. But we serve a God of grace and mercy who can even turn our stupidest mistakes into blessings.

When you do get hit, how do you resist the enemy? Just like Jesus did: by confessing the Word out loud: That you are more than a conqueror, that no weapon formed against you will prosper, that the Lord delivers you out of all your afflictions and supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory. In your time of need, open the Bible and ask the Lord to give you a scripture to hang onto until the storm is past. I could not have survived all the trials I’ve been through over the past 3 years without the power of His word.

Cathleen

Seeds Come to Life

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…

Yesterday I said that where I am today in my life—and where you are—is a direct result of the seeds we’ve planted. You might be thinking that’s pretty nervy of me… After all, you didn’t cause your boss to lay you off, or your landlord to kick you out so he could sell the house your were living in, or that storm to come and blow the roof off your house, or your child to get sick and die….

No, you didn’t cause all those things to happen, but you contributed to some of them by your patterns of behavior, thought, and especially speech. The Bible teaches that death and life are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). And when a bad circumstance comes that is beyond your control, you have the ability to conduct spiritual warfare against it and turn aside or lessen the bad effects.

I know, most of you think I’m crazy. But you have more power and authority than you like to think. If you’re like me, it’s a LOT easier to just passively accept the circumstances in your life—sickness, poverty, loss, lack. That’s just the way life is, you think. That’s what you’ve always been taught, right? Unfortunately, now I know better.

Let me give you an example that I’ve shared before. For about two years I have had a recurring infection that can make my entire leg swell up to the point where it’s extremely painful to walk or sit. I couldn’t get antibiotics because I didn’t have insurance, so the infections would typically last 2-3 weeks. Since I started attending my church about 18 months ago, I have had my pastor and elders lay hands on me and pray for me and the infection would go away within a few days. But one day I felt a little “nudge” from the Lord that I was allowing this condition to keep coming back and that I needed to be responsible for my own healing. If that was really the voice of God, that meant I was being pretty stupid.

So I went to my church bookstore and got a little book by Dodie Osteen, “Healed of Cancer.” In the back she lists 40 scriptures she called out every day to receive and maintain her healing. If it worked for cancer, surely it would work for my infection… The next time I got the infection, I called out those scriptures. By the second day, my infection started clearing up. I admit I don’t call them out every day. I get tired, I get busy. When I let too many days go by without calling them out the symptoms reappear. But as soon as I call out those scriptures, the symptoms start to go away within a day. Now if I can just remember to call them out every day, I can be rid of this thing forever…. How about you?

Cathleen

The Blame and the Glory

James 1:13-17 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
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My pastor really got my attention this week when he said, “Don’t blame God for the bad things in your life, and don’t give glory to Satan for them, either.”

For many years as a Christian, I was taught (and believed) that God sent sickness, death, temptation, poverty, and sorrow on Christians to build our character and make us more like Christ.

Then I graduated to the next level, where I believed Satan brought those things on us so we would spend all our time focusing on our problems and not have time to serve God. In fact, I have met many people who turned away from their faith in Christ because of trials and temptations.

But just over the past couple of years, I’ve come to understand that where I am today is a result of my own thoughts, words, and actions. That’s a painful realization. I really felt better about things when I could blame God or Satan. But Satan doesn’t have to waste his time sending sin and death and temptation on individual Christians because there’s so much of them available in our fallen world. We give Satan too much credit—to the point of “glorifying” him beyond his actual capabilities.

The good news is, if you caused the problems in your life, you also have the ability to change them through the power of the Holy Spirit. God never asked you to “fix” your life. He knows you can’t do that in your flesh. He said to cast all your cares on Him and He would care for you. If we will just make a dramatic change in what we “fill” ourselves with and what we allow to come out of our mouths, we will see a dramatic change in our circumstances. More on that tomorrow…

Cathleen