Asking For Wisdom

We often find ourselves walking in circles. Our to-do list is long but we end up accomplishing nothing. Nothing except shifting messes from place to another and getting increasingly frustrated with ourselves. Many days we just plod along, hoping that somehow we will pull ourselves together and move forward. Sadly, our success rate with that approach is pretty low. Just doing more doesn’t help when our mind is scattered. Often when our mind is scattered. Often our biggest foe is our cluttered mind. When we don’t think straight, we can’t solve problems.

We become frustrated at our circumstances, confused about what to do, discouraged and defeated. It’s a downward cycle. Sometimes I think we never think to ask God for help with making little decisions. Maybe we will bring Him in on the big decisions, but the little ones we could figure we could handle ourselves. When this happens we miss out on so much clarity and focus.

If you are having trouble thinking ask God to clear your mind and direct your decision-making. Then trust He is doing just that. Once you ask God, expect it to happen. This expectation is crucial to hear from God. James writes that “if any of you lack wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” We should expect to receive from God.

If you do start to doubt, then take that thought captive and choose to trust God has spoken. Listening and trusting are important parts of prayer, because prayer is not always to get God to move.

Many times, prayer positions us to hear God’s direction clearer. Is the clutter in your mind making it hard to think clearly? Perhaps one of the problems is that you’re trying to figure things out on your own. We’ve been given the mind of Christ and we are offered the wisdom of God. So let’s ask and receive it.

Fear Is A Liar

I was saved at forty- four years old. I was addicted to pain medicine, filled with fear, anxiety, worry, and depression. I was living, but I wasn’t alive. Just going through the motions. Living on borrowed time. There was no Emotion or Love . I had put a defense wall so high around me, no-one was getting in and I couldn’t get out. No Emotions and no feelings meant no -one could hurt me anymore.

One morning I had a nervous breakdown grabbed a bag of clothes and left my house. I drove for hours shaking like a leaf, not know where I was going or where I would end up. I ended up at my sisters home five hours away. That night I feel to my knees and said ‘God, I can’t do this anymore. The way I’m living my life isn’t working . I even tried living like others thought I should. That’s not working either.’ I wanted a new plan for my life. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I was just done. I had hit rock bottom. I didn’t know God, but I knew His plan for my life had to be better than anything that I had come up with. I gave Him my life. I asked Him, “Lord I give you my life, the life of this messed up woman, and if you can do anything with my life, to do it.” After He did, He delivered me from addiction, anxiety, worry, and depression. I had lived my life in fear every waking day for forty – four years. He delivered me, from panic attacks. I had been in-prisoned by fear, and anxiety but now it was over. Psalm 34;4 says, I cried out to Him and He delivered me. After I prayed the prayer of salvation and truly meant every word shackles fell from me. From that point on. I had to renew my mind according to the Word of God. As I did I became able to maintain my deliverance.

Fear is called by different names: worry, anxiety, and panic. The dictionary calls it a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain; whether the threat is real or imagined. Fear can be rational or irrational. God defines fear as useless, a waste, the enemy of faith, and in direct opposition of Him. Fear makes things appear one way when God’s Word says something completely different. Fear is a deceiver. As believers, we are not to take part in any of it.

There are consequences if we allow fear into our lives. It wastes time, potential, and destinies. Fear paralyzes you. It stops you from following God’s call on your life, either, it becomes a generational curse, it infects children, grandchildren, and so on until someone decides to stop it. The delivered will lose their deliverance. Allowing even a little fear in your life allows Satan into your life.

There are some beliefs about fear that are absolute lies. First fear is a natural part of life. It’s believable because there are many who make fear a way of life. It’s not normal for believers though. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear…” Reading that, we see two things: fear isn’t of God and it’s a spirit. Therefore it’s not natural m but supernatural. To a demonic spirit that stops you from fulfilling God’s call on your life.

The second lie is that rational and irrational fears. The American Psychiatric Association lumps fears into two groups of fears that makes sense and fears that don’t. God doesn’t group fears because there are no rational fears. All fear is irrational. It’s not logical to be fearful when you claim to trust God. There is no one fear that makes sense in the eyes of God.

The next lie is a good amount of fear is healthy. Philippians 4:6 answers this by saying “ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything; by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The peace of God commands us to not worry about anything. He means it. We’re not to worry about the future. The unknown, our children, our jobs, our finances. The Scripture says that if we ask it of God, we will receive peace.

Another lie is fear and worry are ways to show love and concern. Living this lie will destroy your children. Satan will take your good intentions, distort them, and still your children’s destinies. If they don’t draw the bloodline of Jesus, they can expect it to continue down the family line.

Jesus’s words in Matthew chapter 6 commands us not to worry about our futures. He compares us to the birds of the air and the grass in the field. They don’t worry about their futures, but God sustains them. He goes on saying, “So do not worry saying, “what shall we eat?” Or “what shall we drink?” Or “what shall we wear?” For the pagan run after all these things, and your Heavenly Father know that you need them. But first seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be given to you as well. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Pagans – the unGodly – act in fear. When believers respond to situation with fear, we’re teaching others that fear is acceptable and that God can’t be trusted. We’re the redeemed of the Lord and have nothing to be anxious about.

The final lie is there are people who are attacked with fear more than others. This is absolutely false. Satan delights in attacking believers. The difference between defeated and victorious believers is the defeated give in to fear while the victorious stand again fear. When we live in defeat, we’re not making decisions based on faith.d contrariwise, when we live in victory, we’re only making decisions asked on faith. Even if fear is still present, the victorious believer will continue on. They take up their faith shield, hold it high, and follow after God.

They enemy will do anything he can to delay you. It’s possible to have peace in your spirit. But have anxiety in your mind. You can also experience peace in your while you have turmoil in your spirit. Learn the discern between the two. If your mind is at peace and your spirit is in turmoil, though, your heading down a path of devastation. Too often people wait until they get their head wrapped around a situation to move forward in life. And they never get anything done. Always be sure to check your spirit.

There’s a song written by Zach Williams called Fear is a Liar. Zach says it’s for anyone who struggles with fear or going through something. I hope this song gives them hope, to call the devil out.

To Hell And Back

Life is indeed, funny and unexpected.

Thinking back to when I was a little girl, I never dreamed of being , locked away in a closet, ignored, been, sexually molested, have 3of my brothers pass away from suspicious activity. Several suicide attempts, along with a emotionally neglecting marriage.

Thinking about it now, it’s hard to imagine everything I’ve been through. Through mental illness an alcoholic father. It seemed like the Devil was going to take me out at every turn. I was a small frame little girl with, no care, no love, and no friends.

Alone in the world from the get go. At the age of three, I spend 3 months in the hospital for malnutrition, and again at 5 from second degree burns on my body.

Thinking about it now, it’s seems like I’ve been fighting for survival all my life.

Through life’s many interventions, we experience chaos, mental wreckage, physical desertion, and are left with just this emptiness. It is when we’re at the end of our rope and we have nothing left to give.

Misery Loves Company.

When I was at my lowest, when I couldn’t take any more of my destructive behavior. It’s amazing I was able to save myself. I managed to fight my battles all alone, it seemed.

I know the pit of hell I was in.

I know how far I have come as a woman, daughter, wife, friend and human being.

I have fought through bitterness, hate, anger, desolation, depression, anxiety, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and so much more. I managed to learn how to be my own support system when I felt like no one else was on my side.

If your searching for that one person who will change your life, take a look in the mirror. This is your life. So, you need to be the one to decide to take control of it. No one else will want to help you if you can’t help yourself. No, it will not happen overnight. It will likely feel like a every day battle, and for some, it is. That’s okay. When you wake up every day and choose you. Be your own cheerleader. You have to prove your worth to yourself, not anyone else. Never be ashamed of your story, because it will inspire others. Your life will inform in proportion to your courage.

We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work for both is the exact same. So, it’s up to you which one you want to be. The quote “good things come to those who wait,“ is a bunch of crap. Good things come to those who work their butts off and never give up.

Everyone breaks down temporarily, but always pick yourself back up along with the pieces, rebuild, and come back stronger than ever.

I love the person I’ve become because I’ve fought like hell, and walked through hello become her.

Dealing With Uncertainty

Uncertainty is a difficult thing to bear. We want to know where the provision is going to come from or if we’re going to die of a disease or how our child is going to turn out or if our job will still be there next month.

In Luke 9: 57-58, Jesus made it clear that His disciples must be able to bear uncertainty if they were to follow Him.

“I will follow you wherever you go.”

I’m sure whoever made this public declaration to Jesus was sincere. They had likely hear Him preach and seen Him perform amazing signs and wonders. As Jesus’s fame increased, so did the number of His would be disciples.

What the person might not have know was that at that moment Jesus was homeless. Jesus and His cohort were traveling south from Galilee. He had set His face to go to Jerusalem, where His resolute purpose was to die. But to get there He had to travel through Samaria.

There was a lot of bad blood between the Jewish people and and Samaritans. More precisely, Samaritan had the bad blood. They were the result of centuries of intermarriage and religious syncretism between Jews and Israel’s former Gentile conquerors.

“Uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and our ultimate triumph are certain to God.”

Over the centuries the Samaritans had developed their own version of the scriptures and built their own temple on their own mountain. Their beliefs were defective distortions of Jewish orthodoxy. Therefore, the Jews had “no dealings with Samaritans” or vice verse. (John 4:9)

But Jesus had made a bit of a name for Himself among the Samaritans. For a Jew, Jesus spoke with and about Samaritans with unprecedented kindness and compassion. In fact, in the town of Sychar He had spoken with a woman of questionable reputation and as a result she and many from that town believed Jesus was the Messiah. (John 4:1-42) Be that as it may, Jesus was turned away from a Samaritan town when He attempted to make lodging arrangements there. If His face was set toward Jerusalem, He wasn’t welcome.

This really ticked off the disciples. The Samaritans weren’t just heretics. They were ingrates. James and John wanted to burn the town off the map.

But, Jesus hadn’t come to judge the world. He had came to save it. (John 12:47) So He simply moved on without any place to stay the night.

So when an adoring fan announced his desire to follow Him anywhere, Jesus deglamorized things a bit by replying, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58)

God doesn’t tell us how that person responded because what’s important is the implied question: can you bear uncertainty? Can you bear not knowing how God s going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that He will?

“Can you bear not knowing how God is going to provide for your most urgent needs and still trust that He will?

It is a question that Jesus wants all of His disciples to wrestle with. There are simply going to be times when we don’t know where the provision is going to come from. Circumstances will look precarious, sometimes foreboding and threatening. Plans are going to fall through. People are going to disappoint us. They may reject or misunderstand our mission. If these things happened to Jesus, we should not be surprised when they happen to us. And we are not to become angry when they do. If fact Jesus rebuked James and John for their response to the Samaritans. (Luke 9:55)

You Can Take Heart

Jesus does not want us to be governed by fear at such times. He wants us governed by faith. The reason is that the uncertainty is only apparent uncertainty. Our future and our provision and out triumph are certain to God. He has all the fore-knowledge, power, resources, and desire to turn everything for good for those who love Him and are called by Him. (Romans 8:28)

Apparently uncertain seasons are usually the most powerful God – moments we experience. They often put God on display more than other seasons. Demonstrating that God exists and rewards those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. You are likely experiencing what it means to have a God “who acts for those who wait for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4)

A Thorn In The Flesh

What is a “Thorn in the Flash”?

A “thorn in the flesh” is something given to us by God to keep us from becoming conceited. It can feel uncomfortable, like torment, or a form of torture, but God does not torture his children

Kristi Walker

God helps us! His help can come in the form of discipline and trials, but His purpose is always to strengthen us and conform us into the image of Christ. “We are given thorns that significantly weaken us in order to make us stronger,” Jon Bloom

Paul’s ‘Thorn in the Flesh’ Verses in Scripture

“… in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I [Paul] was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, in insults, in difficulties. For when I am week, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Paul’s Many Reasons to Boast

The Apostle Paul had reasons to boast and be conceited. He lists these in 2 Corinthians 11:21-28.

He was a Hebrew, an Israelite, and a descendant of Abraham, plus a servant of Christ. He worked harder that most, was imprisoned more frequently, flogged more severely, exposed to death repeatedly, beaten more harshly, stoned, and shipwrecked on three different occasions. He had faced danger from traveling, from non-Jews, from false believers, in cities, in the country, and at sea. He had gone without rest and seep, known hunger and thirst, and had been cold and naked. He faced daily pressure and concern for all the churches, spiritual weakness, and temptation to sin. He suffered all of this for the sake of Christ.

In addition, he was greatly used of God to change the world and received many visions and revelations from the Lord. He was after all, the great Apostle Paul. He encountered the resurrected Christ, wrote more books in the Bible than anyone else, transversed over 10,000 miles throughput Asia Minor, Greece, and later to Rome, planted and established many churches, and was arguably the greatest and most inspiring missionary of all time.

It would have been quite easy for Paul to become conceited. Consider how easy it is for you and me to become conceited, and we have accomplished a good deal less that Pail.

Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh

We do not know exactly what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, although many theories exist. Some believe it was a disease, an eye condition, a fleshy temptation, singleness, a speech impediment, etc. It could have been any number of the sufferings he listed in 2 Corinthians 12:7.

Based on that description, one logical theory is that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was the issue of the “super-apostles” he referenced in chapter 12.

“There we’re false teachers, claiming to be apostles, who had entered the church,’ “They promoted their own ideas at the same time sought to discredit both the person and the message of the apostle. Second Corinthians was written to defend the authenticity of both his apostleship and his message.”

Since these false apostles were a primary reason for Paul’s writing of the epistle of 2 Corinthians, it seems to be a decent guess. Plus, it would be fitting to refer to them as “messengers of Satan.” Since Paul did not explicitly tel, us, wondering believers will have to ask in eternity.

Why Didn’t God Remove Paul’s ‘Thorn in the Flesh’?

The apostle Paul pleaded three times with the Lord to take away his “thorn in the flesh.” We can all relate to this. Is there anything in your life life that you have prayed about repeatedly? Is there any circumstance you have petitioned God to change that Go’s might be allowing the suffering or trial to continue intentionally? That’s how is was for Paul.

God’s answer to Paul’s pleas was “no.” Maybe, in time, God did remove Paul’s thorn, but we don’t know that. Given what we know from the Bible, God denied Paul’s request. Instead, God answered “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Why Did God say ‘My Grace is Sufficient’?

What is Grace? Grace is unmerited or unearned favor, gifts, and blessings. God’s grace was not only enough for Paul but it is also enough for us!

Paul responded to God’s answer, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, insults, in hardship, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)

Have you ever stood on the shore of an ocean or lake and experienced the waves repeatedly lapping against the sand or earth? How often do the waves hit the shore? Depending on the strength of the wind, it could be anywhere from 4 to 15 waves per minute.

Now, have you ever considered how often God’s grace touch’s your life? The answer is constantly, or as John 1:16 says, “from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.”

We know that God’s grace was enough for Paul. He summed up his entire life’s purpose this way:

“ I consider my,I’ve worth nothing to me/ my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)

Whatever Paul’s thorn was, God’s power was perfect, and God’s grace was sufficient!

The Widow’s Oil

We often feel powerless to change our circumstances. When a spouse loses a job. A parent has a life changing health crisis and requires extra help.

We can learn from 2 Kings in the a Bible. The widow understood these seasons. She faced a season of loss as she mourned the death of her husband. It was difficult to be a woman without a husband in those times. Waking up every day, she felt alone and abandoned in her circumstances.

She was in a season of emptiness. Without a partner to share in the day to day decisions of parenting, she was a single mother trying to raise her children without enough income to provide. The widow lived in a season of threat. A lender was on his way to collect, and if it wasn’t about money, it was going to be her children, with the intent to make them slaves. She felt powerless to keep her children from a life she didn’t want for them.

Like the widow, in our seasons of loss, emptiness or threat, we can focus on our misfortunes instead of counting our blessings. Her misfortune was lack of income. Her blessing, was a little bit of oil. We, too, have blessings in our season of “Now What?” During this time, it is difficult to look past the problems were facing and notice the blessings.

But when we look beyond our present circumstances. God helps us see our blessings. We, like the widow, can look at our little bit and say, “It’s plenty.” With a small amount of faith, the widow poured and poured until every jug and bowl was filled with oil.

God knew the exact amount of oil the widow needed to cancel her debts. He took her little bit of oil and used it to not only change the course of her life, but the lives of her children. God knows what we need. He will take whatever small amount we have and multiply it to be exactly what we lack. The on,y thing we must do is offer ourselves as empty jugs and allow God to pour into us what we need during this season.

I sometimes go to my bed weeping about how powerless I feel. I’m sure many have done this also. Ask God to tell you how to overcome it? God knows exactly what we need. And never fails to provide that help.