The other day while talking to my husband he made this brilliant statement, “People tell you to tithe from the day you are a child but they don’t take the time to tell you how to manage your money.” Interestingly, we sought God and found that the Bible does tell you how to manage your finances.
The first step to managing your money is found in Proverbs, “The thoughts of the diligent [tend] only to plenteousness; but of every one [that is] hasty only to want,” Proverbs 12:5.
This text is saying the plans of the discipline minded person towards finances will have plenty but the one who recklessly goes about his business will want, will lack and be in poverty.
The principle being displayed here is not one that has just been implemented it is one we have heard since a child but most people do not take seriously. It points out the basic principle of having a budget for your finances.
A budget is plan for money. It paints a picture of how your finances will look. The budget says, “This is how much we have, if we use it wisely staying within our means (meaning if we live our life according to what we have) then we will have plenty. However, if we are reckless, impulse buyers, thoughtless about our finances, give it all away; we are going to always be in need of clothes for the kids, lacking food, deficient in our finances, wanting, but constantly in shortage because we thoughtlessly spend all that is given.
God is not calling His children to poverty. He is not calling us to be idle about our finances. The Bible says, “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich,” Proverbs 10:4.
“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute,” Proverbs 12:24.
“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and [hath] nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat,” Proverbs 13:4.
“Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger,” Proverbs 19:15.
My friends, our finances matter to God. He blesses those that He can entrust to be diligent with finances so they can bless others. Why should our Father give to a fool with finances? Should you pray to God to give you money so you can go out to buy the house you lost last year because of mismanaging? Should you pray to God to give you money so you can give it away over and over to others and neglect to give to Him? Should you pray to God to give you money to buy another car like the one they just repossessed? Should you pray to God to bless your finances to get your business right and you will not even be diligent with the little you have?
God is serious about our finances are you? Consider allowing God to direct your steps. Pray to God to help you manage the money He has blessed you with today. Call upon the Lord to guide you with what you do have to be disciplined as He desires. Beseech the Lord to send someone to show you how to budget. Ask the Lord to forgive you for being reckless with what He blessed you with in the past. Forgive you for being an impulse buyer, thoughtless, stingy and not disciplined. Declare today I am not going to mismanage what the Lord gives me anymore. You are a child of God. He is observing you today, right now. Seek the Father to be diligent, for He rewards His faithful child over the little with the rewards of plenty.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Processing the Leader
When I was a young girl my mother would tell me, "I am a leader." I would not know what she was talking about so I would continue playing as if she said nothing. When she met my husband she told me, “Both of you are leaders...hum this is going to be interesting,” as she sighed saying, “give it at least four years before you all get engaged.”
I still did not know what this woman was talking about. After all the love was poured in our relationship the initial years, we found that we did wait four years as she suggested. Afterwards we had a daughter. Today as I look at the development of my daughter, I say, “she is a leader,” and I laugh sounding just like my mom.
Being a leader is an anointing that God places on an individual. I believe each person has something they lead. The most crucial part is identifying when to apply your leadership abilities because every situation does not call for your leadership; sometimes it calls for your pursuit after another.
David was a young man when the prophet Samuel came to the house of Jesse seeking the one that God had anointed as king, next in line to King Saul. Samuel was instructed by God to anoint David. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that Day forward,” (1 Samuel 16:18).
In this text oil is used to anoint David as king. David did not become king until he was 30 years old. The time in between he went through a preparation process and much pressure was incurred to molding him to be the king God called him to be.
Oil has a preparation process as well. Before an olive becomes oil it goes through several phases. First, it has a Cleaning Phase, during this process all stems, leaves, twigs and other debris is removed to get rid of all the dirt and pesticides. Next, the Grinding Process takes place. The olives are crushed to paste tearing the flesh cells to facilitate the release of the oil. This procedure is a 20-45 minute process that requires much pressure. Stone mills, metal tooth grinders or hammer mills are used to crush the olives. Following the grinding, the Mixing Phase takes place. This is called malaxing the paste. The paste that is formed from the grinding procedure is mixed creating small droplets of oil that forms big drops of oil. Finally, they separate the oil and vegetable water and solids, to seclude the oil from the rest of the olive components.
As I look at my daughter, I am reminded of David. I know she too will have many phases to follow as God processes her.
Do you know a leader today that is going through? Perhaps you are the leader. What phase are you in pertaining to the leadership procedure?
Maybe you are being cleaned and have to let go of past relationships, let go of past thoughtless ways of thinking against the Lord. Possibly you are going through the grinding process and feel a tremendous amount of pressure as if a double hammer is pounding you. Probably you are going through the mixing phase and you are being allowed to facilitate bits and pieces of your leadership role. Or could it be that you are being separated from others, as you are being formed as a distinguished leader.
We all have a certain place that we lead in life. Consider going through the process of being molded to the person God is calling you to be. Pray to God to remind you of the strength that He has already endowed within you. Call upon the Father to bring you through as you stand in confidence in the Lord. Thank the Lord for His wisdom and might, for the Lord is upon you.
I still did not know what this woman was talking about. After all the love was poured in our relationship the initial years, we found that we did wait four years as she suggested. Afterwards we had a daughter. Today as I look at the development of my daughter, I say, “she is a leader,” and I laugh sounding just like my mom.
Being a leader is an anointing that God places on an individual. I believe each person has something they lead. The most crucial part is identifying when to apply your leadership abilities because every situation does not call for your leadership; sometimes it calls for your pursuit after another.
David was a young man when the prophet Samuel came to the house of Jesse seeking the one that God had anointed as king, next in line to King Saul. Samuel was instructed by God to anoint David. “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that Day forward,” (1 Samuel 16:18).
In this text oil is used to anoint David as king. David did not become king until he was 30 years old. The time in between he went through a preparation process and much pressure was incurred to molding him to be the king God called him to be.
Oil has a preparation process as well. Before an olive becomes oil it goes through several phases. First, it has a Cleaning Phase, during this process all stems, leaves, twigs and other debris is removed to get rid of all the dirt and pesticides. Next, the Grinding Process takes place. The olives are crushed to paste tearing the flesh cells to facilitate the release of the oil. This procedure is a 20-45 minute process that requires much pressure. Stone mills, metal tooth grinders or hammer mills are used to crush the olives. Following the grinding, the Mixing Phase takes place. This is called malaxing the paste. The paste that is formed from the grinding procedure is mixed creating small droplets of oil that forms big drops of oil. Finally, they separate the oil and vegetable water and solids, to seclude the oil from the rest of the olive components.
As I look at my daughter, I am reminded of David. I know she too will have many phases to follow as God processes her.
Do you know a leader today that is going through? Perhaps you are the leader. What phase are you in pertaining to the leadership procedure?
Maybe you are being cleaned and have to let go of past relationships, let go of past thoughtless ways of thinking against the Lord. Possibly you are going through the grinding process and feel a tremendous amount of pressure as if a double hammer is pounding you. Probably you are going through the mixing phase and you are being allowed to facilitate bits and pieces of your leadership role. Or could it be that you are being separated from others, as you are being formed as a distinguished leader.
We all have a certain place that we lead in life. Consider going through the process of being molded to the person God is calling you to be. Pray to God to remind you of the strength that He has already endowed within you. Call upon the Father to bring you through as you stand in confidence in the Lord. Thank the Lord for His wisdom and might, for the Lord is upon you.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Forgetting Former Things
As spring has pushed forward I feel like a flower in a garden pushing its way through a handful of surrounded weeds. I find myself asking for strength to focus on God and not the ongoing things of the past. I hassle with time because moment by moment something continues to pop up distracting me to move about.
Yet I look to the Lord and He reminds me of what He told the Israelites to, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,” Isaiah 43:18-19.
In this text it says don’t stay focus on things of the past. God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians in an astonishing way. However, the Lord God was telling them, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” You think your former deliverance was glorious but when I send the Messiah all other things of the past will not be worthy of your remembrance and consideration.
It continues saying, “I will do a new thing, “a work that has never been seen before. As we look further it says “making a way in the wilderness.” The wilderness is a desert, a dry land that is uninhabited, and abandoned. In the desert only a few things sprout, the ground is cracked from having no moist.
If we have our eyes fixed on the aches and pain of yesterday we won’t see how God is making a way out of what society calls recession. We will be in depression in a slump, if we keep our eyes off of the Lord.
The text continues stating in the “rivers in the desert," not only will God go to the abandoned place but He is going to the desolate, underground streams, a place of waste.
God today has something for us that He is working new but He is saying to His children, “don’t live in the past because the past is just that, it is the past.” God is a forward moving God. As He moves forward we have to go with the flow and move right along with the Lord.
How are you living today, is it in the past? Are you consumed with ancient memories? As long as we keep our mind frame of what happened long – ago, it is going to be hard to see where He has for you to go.
If we stay in the past too long we will miss what God is doing in the present and in the future.
Consider letting go of the past and moving with the thrust of the Lord. Ask God to forgive you for holding on to the things of yesterday. Beseech the Lord to help you study His Word so you can be renewed in your mind. Pray to God to create in you a new Spirit that thrives after His heart. Call upon our heavenly Father to help you evaluate yourself so you can discern what He has to say as you move forward.
Yet I look to the Lord and He reminds me of what He told the Israelites to, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert,” Isaiah 43:18-19.
In this text it says don’t stay focus on things of the past. God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians in an astonishing way. However, the Lord God was telling them, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.” You think your former deliverance was glorious but when I send the Messiah all other things of the past will not be worthy of your remembrance and consideration.
It continues saying, “I will do a new thing, “a work that has never been seen before. As we look further it says “making a way in the wilderness.” The wilderness is a desert, a dry land that is uninhabited, and abandoned. In the desert only a few things sprout, the ground is cracked from having no moist.
If we have our eyes fixed on the aches and pain of yesterday we won’t see how God is making a way out of what society calls recession. We will be in depression in a slump, if we keep our eyes off of the Lord.
The text continues stating in the “rivers in the desert," not only will God go to the abandoned place but He is going to the desolate, underground streams, a place of waste.
God today has something for us that He is working new but He is saying to His children, “don’t live in the past because the past is just that, it is the past.” God is a forward moving God. As He moves forward we have to go with the flow and move right along with the Lord.
How are you living today, is it in the past? Are you consumed with ancient memories? As long as we keep our mind frame of what happened long – ago, it is going to be hard to see where He has for you to go.
If we stay in the past too long we will miss what God is doing in the present and in the future.
Consider letting go of the past and moving with the thrust of the Lord. Ask God to forgive you for holding on to the things of yesterday. Beseech the Lord to help you study His Word so you can be renewed in your mind. Pray to God to create in you a new Spirit that thrives after His heart. Call upon our heavenly Father to help you evaluate yourself so you can discern what He has to say as you move forward.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
In Distress
There was this noble man that took his staff in prayer daily. As he prayed for them he began to look at them as more than people that worked under his supervision. He looked at them as his family. Years passed and this noble man began to blossom. His staff was being asked to make adjustments with the company yet they became radical. They formed many allegations in effort to get their boss fired.
Their boss whom had spent years in prayer for them, who had spoke out about keeping his staff whenever cut backs were brought up; their boss who looked at them as family, was being attacked by those He prayed for. Now this man’s feelings was low and he would rather remove himself than be attacked in such malice way by those he grew to have such compassion for.
This situation captured my attention to Jesus being in distress. Sometimes in life we feel betrayed, abandoned and full of distress. Jesus prayed in the garden in distress.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,”” Matthew 26:36-38.
Jesus knew what was before Him, the betrayal of Judas, being torched by the people, denial of Peter and He felt sorrow knowing He would have to leave the disciples. His heart was heavy and it seemed as if no one that surrounded Him could understand the distress that He felt. He went to pray and asked the disciples to look out but they kept falling asleep.
He was so hurt that He called out to God saying, let this cup pass Me. In this text Jesus was implying to just stop this all and get it over with; however, when Jesus said “nevertheless” to God He was saying I will be obedient unto your will not my will.
Sometimes in life we get in so distressed and our will says put the brakes on, but God has a plan for all we are going through. The Lord desires for us to desire His will over our fleshly will. God desires for you to be obedient so that He may prepare us for the destiny He has on your life.
What situation are you in today? Do you feel like you can’t take it anymore and you want God to just pass this cup form you? Have you taken time to evaluate the entire situation so that you may keep your eyes fixed on the Lord?
Maybe you are being pulled on the job. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed with life itself.
Consider not growing faint and allow the Lord to heal you where you are weak. Pray to God to help you keep focused on Him in the midst of the distractions. Call upon God to bring you through with peace that surpasses all understanding. For in your hour of prayer of distress He hears your cry and has His hand out for you.
Their boss whom had spent years in prayer for them, who had spoke out about keeping his staff whenever cut backs were brought up; their boss who looked at them as family, was being attacked by those He prayed for. Now this man’s feelings was low and he would rather remove himself than be attacked in such malice way by those he grew to have such compassion for.
This situation captured my attention to Jesus being in distress. Sometimes in life we feel betrayed, abandoned and full of distress. Jesus prayed in the garden in distress.
“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will,”” Matthew 26:36-38.
Jesus knew what was before Him, the betrayal of Judas, being torched by the people, denial of Peter and He felt sorrow knowing He would have to leave the disciples. His heart was heavy and it seemed as if no one that surrounded Him could understand the distress that He felt. He went to pray and asked the disciples to look out but they kept falling asleep.
He was so hurt that He called out to God saying, let this cup pass Me. In this text Jesus was implying to just stop this all and get it over with; however, when Jesus said “nevertheless” to God He was saying I will be obedient unto your will not my will.
Sometimes in life we get in so distressed and our will says put the brakes on, but God has a plan for all we are going through. The Lord desires for us to desire His will over our fleshly will. God desires for you to be obedient so that He may prepare us for the destiny He has on your life.
What situation are you in today? Do you feel like you can’t take it anymore and you want God to just pass this cup form you? Have you taken time to evaluate the entire situation so that you may keep your eyes fixed on the Lord?
Maybe you are being pulled on the job. Perhaps you feel overwhelmed with life itself.
Consider not growing faint and allow the Lord to heal you where you are weak. Pray to God to help you keep focused on Him in the midst of the distractions. Call upon God to bring you through with peace that surpasses all understanding. For in your hour of prayer of distress He hears your cry and has His hand out for you.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
A Gift
Yesterday, I sought my prayer partners and requested that they join me in prayer of direction to get my book in the book stores. I was reminded by my husband to go in the Bible to see what the Lord has to say about my request. I was reminded to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not to your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths, (Prv 3:5-6). I continued to speak this over and over throughout the day.
As I was before God in prayer this morning about what to write, He lead my heart to the book of Proverbs, " A man's gift makes room for him; and brings him before great men, " Proverbs 18:6.
In this text "gift" refers to what has been implanted in you by our heavenly Father. Gifts include your talents and abilities, your personal significance, who you are. The phrase "makes room" is preparation of a distinct place for you. It is the appropriate moment or time where God places you, and you blossom, without failure. Finally it says, " brings him before great men." This implies you are being escorted or ushered before destinies you never imagined.
This takes my mind to being presented as a bride to be escorted to the groom. A present is a gift. In the time that God formed us He included a gift in each of us. This gift is the part that makes room for the destiny of our very purpose that God created.
You are a gift! Maybe life has tugged you from left to right. Perhaps you have felt like you have been in a ship wreck. However, God keeps His promises.
Consider allowing God to mold you through the preparation process. Give the Lord free will to bring you through makng you a resource to glorify His name. Thank God for the gift He has bestowed upon you and don't grow faint. Ask the Lord to direct you and guide you to His destiny. For God has not forgotten you!
As I was before God in prayer this morning about what to write, He lead my heart to the book of Proverbs, " A man's gift makes room for him; and brings him before great men, " Proverbs 18:6.
In this text "gift" refers to what has been implanted in you by our heavenly Father. Gifts include your talents and abilities, your personal significance, who you are. The phrase "makes room" is preparation of a distinct place for you. It is the appropriate moment or time where God places you, and you blossom, without failure. Finally it says, " brings him before great men." This implies you are being escorted or ushered before destinies you never imagined.
This takes my mind to being presented as a bride to be escorted to the groom. A present is a gift. In the time that God formed us He included a gift in each of us. This gift is the part that makes room for the destiny of our very purpose that God created.
You are a gift! Maybe life has tugged you from left to right. Perhaps you have felt like you have been in a ship wreck. However, God keeps His promises.
Consider allowing God to mold you through the preparation process. Give the Lord free will to bring you through makng you a resource to glorify His name. Thank God for the gift He has bestowed upon you and don't grow faint. Ask the Lord to direct you and guide you to His destiny. For God has not forgotten you!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Becoming One
I adore writing anything from poetry, essays, songs, plays, books you name it, I will write it. My husband is not so fond of writing. But he is a great singer, he is an awesome speaker and with his gift I can write songs for him to sing, I can help with speeches he presents. We become one with my gift and his gift forming the Harris team.
In the book of Genesis God told Adam, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh,” (Genesis 2:24).
To cleave in this text means to bond together. Adam did not have a father and mother to leave but he did have singlehood to leave. Adam had been single since the beginning and had no issues he was just happy go lucky in paradise. Adam had to let go of being single.
When you are single you can go out to eat when you want to, you can go as you please, all you have to consider is you. But when you get married the concept of being considerate, understanding, compassionate, and flexible to another person has to kick in. You can’t get up and go out of town without making sure it’s convenient with the family. It’s going to be some nights that you don’t have a steak, lobster tails and shrimp. It’s going to be some days you have to cook, clean, on top of other responsibilities. And you have to become one with the person to understand how to get this new thing to work. Using tactics from your parents to get your new family in order will bring about separation, not oneness. We have to let go of the old to form the new that God is forming.
In order to cleave, connect to your wife the spouse has to let go of his mentality as a single person, let go of the mentality of being a child being taken care of by their parents.
With me becoming one with my spouse requires me talking to my spouse, taking notice in his interest and incorporating his goals as well as my goals as one team. Becoming married, partners you with another to blossom that identity forming a new entity.
If my husband down played my gift of writing and never show me appreciation for what I do then it would be difficult for me to show appreciation for what he does. We would be divided, separated instead of united and dedicated.
How are you and your spouse today? Are you both showing interest in each other’s gifts? Have you incorporated them as a new entity? Perhaps you can’t see how their gift and your gift click, but God does. Maybe you are competing with your spouse instead of clinging with your spouse.
Consider leaning not to your own understanding and allow God to direct your path. God created husband and wife to be one, not separate. Call upon the Lord to help you be considerate, flexible, patient and undersanding towards your spouse. Ask God to help you to yield to His plan. Pray to God to continue to mold you and your spouse to be the one you declared to be the moment you said “I Do.” God will grant you a blessing as one flesh for when you married you became one.
In the book of Genesis God told Adam, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh,” (Genesis 2:24).
To cleave in this text means to bond together. Adam did not have a father and mother to leave but he did have singlehood to leave. Adam had been single since the beginning and had no issues he was just happy go lucky in paradise. Adam had to let go of being single.
When you are single you can go out to eat when you want to, you can go as you please, all you have to consider is you. But when you get married the concept of being considerate, understanding, compassionate, and flexible to another person has to kick in. You can’t get up and go out of town without making sure it’s convenient with the family. It’s going to be some nights that you don’t have a steak, lobster tails and shrimp. It’s going to be some days you have to cook, clean, on top of other responsibilities. And you have to become one with the person to understand how to get this new thing to work. Using tactics from your parents to get your new family in order will bring about separation, not oneness. We have to let go of the old to form the new that God is forming.
In order to cleave, connect to your wife the spouse has to let go of his mentality as a single person, let go of the mentality of being a child being taken care of by their parents.
With me becoming one with my spouse requires me talking to my spouse, taking notice in his interest and incorporating his goals as well as my goals as one team. Becoming married, partners you with another to blossom that identity forming a new entity.
If my husband down played my gift of writing and never show me appreciation for what I do then it would be difficult for me to show appreciation for what he does. We would be divided, separated instead of united and dedicated.
How are you and your spouse today? Are you both showing interest in each other’s gifts? Have you incorporated them as a new entity? Perhaps you can’t see how their gift and your gift click, but God does. Maybe you are competing with your spouse instead of clinging with your spouse.
Consider leaning not to your own understanding and allow God to direct your path. God created husband and wife to be one, not separate. Call upon the Lord to help you be considerate, flexible, patient and undersanding towards your spouse. Ask God to help you to yield to His plan. Pray to God to continue to mold you and your spouse to be the one you declared to be the moment you said “I Do.” God will grant you a blessing as one flesh for when you married you became one.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Extended Outbreak
My life has been a like a storm cell moving and reacting as a single entity producing a system of tornadoes without any break just a continuous flow of days of these reoccurring F1 and F2 tornadoes with the objective to come together and form a F5 tornado.
When a tornado is born the rotating cloud base lowers. Then the lowering cloud that is hanging, forms into a funnel continuing to descend as the wind builds near the surface, kicking up dust and other debris. Finally, the funnel expands to the ground; the tornado begins causing major damage.
A tornado has the ability to destroy homes, kill people, animals, destroy crops, spread diseases, contaminate water and demolish communities.
This is how my life has appeared for the past three weeks; it looks like an extended tornado outbreak.
My life’s tornadoes recapture the story of Job when Satan attacked his character. Satan came among God, “and the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
So Satan answered God and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it” (Job 1:7).
This text says that the enemy paces the earth, covering all of it backwards and forwards. This says that the enemy lurks around throughout the day and night. 1 Peter 5:8 says “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
God referred to Job as a blameless and upright man. I can imagine them speaking to one another and God telling Satan, there is no other like my boy Job. He has great respect for me as his heavenly Father and my son Job turns away from evil (Job1:8) Later on Satan tells God that Job is only good because you protect him all the time. You are guarding him on every aspect of his life from his family to his business. I can visualize Satan saying, “God Job is upright because you have blessed him. But if you would just take all that you have given to him away, if you would cause him some heartache, I guarantee you Job will turn his back on you”(Job 1;9-11).
Job had some extended tornado outbreaks that occurred after that because God gave Satan permission to cause some funnels to form but he did not give him permission to put his hand on Job (vs12).
I have been commissioned to the ministry of Healing of a Broken Heart. God has directed me in holding a marriage conference, helping the poor and broken spirit. As I move forward towards this mission each time I push forward with the marriage events out breaks occur heavy. My family members get sick, threats of lost of employment and the noise builds so much that you wonder, “should I stop.” However, it is all a set up.
Has your character been attacked lately? Are you walking around with a frown on your face because someone has made false accusations about you? Do you desire to just be free of the tornadoes?
Tornadoes come in various intensity levels, FO is considered light, F1 is thought of as moderate, F2 is considerable, F3 is severe, and F4 is devastating, while F5 is incredibly powerful.
Maybe you have had some possessions taken away and you are at level F0. Perhaps you have had some relationships shaken up, lost your job, the car has been repossessed and you are at level F1. Possibly you have experienced a demolished marriage, left to be homeless, and you are at level F3. Have you lost your family, been beat, rejected, you feel like you have no one to talk to, no place to go, feeling invisible, then maybe you are at level F4. Perhaps you have had a family of tornados take place and you feel like this is the extended outbreak all combining to form an F5.
Friends today Satan still has to get permission to go back and forth. The enemy continues to prowl like a lion but we serve a God that “neither sleeps nor slumber” Psalm 121:4. The enemy is still out to attack the character of the Lord’s children. The Father delights in us as His children and will not allow the enemy to lay a hand on us.
Consider not growing faint but pour out your heart to the Lord. Pray to God to help you trust Him as He directs your path. Ask God to give you bold confidence in Him for you are His child. Seek the Lord to hear His voice for in the midst of all the commotion you will find His still small voice. “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. From this time forth, and even forevermore,” (Psalm 121:8).
When a tornado is born the rotating cloud base lowers. Then the lowering cloud that is hanging, forms into a funnel continuing to descend as the wind builds near the surface, kicking up dust and other debris. Finally, the funnel expands to the ground; the tornado begins causing major damage.
A tornado has the ability to destroy homes, kill people, animals, destroy crops, spread diseases, contaminate water and demolish communities.
This is how my life has appeared for the past three weeks; it looks like an extended tornado outbreak.
My life’s tornadoes recapture the story of Job when Satan attacked his character. Satan came among God, “and the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
So Satan answered God and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it” (Job 1:7).
This text says that the enemy paces the earth, covering all of it backwards and forwards. This says that the enemy lurks around throughout the day and night. 1 Peter 5:8 says “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”
God referred to Job as a blameless and upright man. I can imagine them speaking to one another and God telling Satan, there is no other like my boy Job. He has great respect for me as his heavenly Father and my son Job turns away from evil (Job1:8) Later on Satan tells God that Job is only good because you protect him all the time. You are guarding him on every aspect of his life from his family to his business. I can visualize Satan saying, “God Job is upright because you have blessed him. But if you would just take all that you have given to him away, if you would cause him some heartache, I guarantee you Job will turn his back on you”(Job 1;9-11).
Job had some extended tornado outbreaks that occurred after that because God gave Satan permission to cause some funnels to form but he did not give him permission to put his hand on Job (vs12).
I have been commissioned to the ministry of Healing of a Broken Heart. God has directed me in holding a marriage conference, helping the poor and broken spirit. As I move forward towards this mission each time I push forward with the marriage events out breaks occur heavy. My family members get sick, threats of lost of employment and the noise builds so much that you wonder, “should I stop.” However, it is all a set up.
Has your character been attacked lately? Are you walking around with a frown on your face because someone has made false accusations about you? Do you desire to just be free of the tornadoes?
Tornadoes come in various intensity levels, FO is considered light, F1 is thought of as moderate, F2 is considerable, F3 is severe, and F4 is devastating, while F5 is incredibly powerful.
Maybe you have had some possessions taken away and you are at level F0. Perhaps you have had some relationships shaken up, lost your job, the car has been repossessed and you are at level F1. Possibly you have experienced a demolished marriage, left to be homeless, and you are at level F3. Have you lost your family, been beat, rejected, you feel like you have no one to talk to, no place to go, feeling invisible, then maybe you are at level F4. Perhaps you have had a family of tornados take place and you feel like this is the extended outbreak all combining to form an F5.
Friends today Satan still has to get permission to go back and forth. The enemy continues to prowl like a lion but we serve a God that “neither sleeps nor slumber” Psalm 121:4. The enemy is still out to attack the character of the Lord’s children. The Father delights in us as His children and will not allow the enemy to lay a hand on us.
Consider not growing faint but pour out your heart to the Lord. Pray to God to help you trust Him as He directs your path. Ask God to give you bold confidence in Him for you are His child. Seek the Lord to hear His voice for in the midst of all the commotion you will find His still small voice. “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in. From this time forth, and even forevermore,” (Psalm 121:8).
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