Get your boxing gloves!

I have been thinking on this topic all day. I get two ten minute breaks and a thirty minute lunch each day and every chance I get I try to add a few more words to this article. I feel like God is really trying to get this topic out. As a person that consciously and subconsciously thought these thoughts I feel with certifiable confidence that I can write on this topic. 

It is a topic which pertains to the idea that "life is easy" and "fighting for what I want is not necessary because God will take care of it." Now already with this one statement I know you are thinking, "I know life isn't easy in fact it stinks!" Well yes but what I am speaking of is different than what you are thinking. Life in the material sense is not easy and we realize that. We know we have to fight to be successful. We know we have to fight to get extra money in the bank and fight to keep our kids out of trouble, and getting good grades. All these things in life we know take work but there is one area in our lives that consciously we know we need to fight but subconsciously we feel it will just come to us, that God will just "bless" us. And that is our walk with God, our ministry with God, our everyday spiritual life with God. 

Now I realize that statement is pretty generalized so let me narrow it down for you

If you ever want to see results in yourself, and in your family it will not just magically happen or appear one morning when you wake up. Your finances won't just magically fix itself, just as your depression and emotional solitude will not just disappear.

Your son will not all of a sudden love God and serve him with his whole heart if you are talking behind the pastors back at home, or not showing him a regular and loved prayer life, if he doesn't see the fruits of the spirit as a witness in your life what can he base his only relationship (or lack there of) on? He is only living out what you can't see in yourself.    

You mourn for your family but you can't yet see that you yourself are spiritually dying! Quit waiting for God to just appear and lift you out of the situation you are in. He's waiting for you to put your boxing gloves on and start fighting back. praying, fasting, serving in your church, community, and family are the ways  to pull your way out of the spiritual rut you are in. 

Now let me prefiss by saying that I don't want you to think that God is not willing at all to "bless" you or save you from your situation. Because believe me, God wants to do all those things and more BUT what have you done to grow your intimacy in Him? This relationship with God can be so one sided. There is a reason people are called "prayer warriors" and "intercessors" and the idea that you should put the "whole armor of God on" because these titles imply a sense of battle, of trials and many times pain. They also imply an intense call for action! 

But the truth is that You only pray to God when you need something which is most likely every couple weeks maybe months. You don't fast regularly in fact you maybe fast once a year OR never and you aren't involved in church or your community at all. 

I will share a secret with you. . . It all comes down to one thing. Are you Faithful? Because God is faithful but he can only work as far as you allow him. Are you faithful? Have you put your spiritual boxing gloves on lately?

Imagine the seclusion our creator must feel when He only hears you cry out to Him when you are in need. He must feel like a bank that MUST give out free money every time you come calling. Instead he wants to bless you but every time he calls just to visit or say hello, well you aren't around. He doesn't just want to be a bank. He wants to be your friend. Now I believe we have a hard time seeing God as having emotions but the Bible gives plenty of examples of him feeling many things. We have an example from the very beginning of the good book. When God created man after His own image. He wasn't just talking about his Adam's physical body He was also describing Adams nature. 

now put that into context with your relationship with Him. He wants your faithfulness. He bought you with a price and desires for that price to be paid continually. It really isn't a high price to pay when you have a relationship with Him. Because, you would desire to be as close to Him as possible every moment of the day.

we wonder why so many things that we go through or struggle with are even there. However, we come (hopefully) to realize all the fault lays with us alone not with God. 

Faithfulness is such a demanding word for us. It means that regardless of what happens, I will not stop kneeling on my knees and giving it to Christ. 

How many stories do we have where trials, and requests were made of Gods people. These were things that were asked not as a demand but because a great reward goes hand in hand with sacrifice and faithfulness. The rich man was asked to give up all that he had and walk with Christ but he refused because he was not truly faithful and he was not willing to sacrifice material things for a far greater reward. 

How about David, "a man after God's own heart" he was anointed as king but he didn't just gain the crown on that very day. He went through persecution,  trials, he was chased by the very king he respected and he was tempted another moment to take his life. But one thing that stands out from this story is David's faithfulness and sacrificing spirit for a far greater reward.  

Sometimes all we need is a reminder that even though we mess up does not mean that we can justify giving up on our walk with God. Faithfulness is having the courage to keep walking even when it seems like we don't have the strength to do it. 

" The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." -Psalm 145:8-9

Even though you may stumble does not mean that you should give up on God because He will not give up on you. Just as when David slipped and fell into temptation with the woman on the roof top. Not only did David lust after that woman, he had an affair with her, AND he had her husband murdered on the front lines of war as a means to rid him of the inconvenience. These were heinous acts that David did do; however, he still fell before Gods face in prayer and begged for forgiveness and continued to live for Him. Just as you should feel the NEED to continue to live for God regardless of the sins you have committed in the past or even the things in which you struggle with right now.

Remember God's faithfulness is forever, because if it isn't forever it isn't faithful! -Bro Jerry Jones. But for anything to come and bear fruit in your life actions should be made on your part. Are you willing to put your spiritual boxing gloves on and fight for what you want to see come true in your life? Are you willing to fast until you feel a break through in your spirit? Are you willing to pray until you feel his warm touch on your shoulder? Are you willing to give yourself to servitude towards others as a means of worship towards your creator? These are things that God loves and desires to see in His children. 

It is time we quit waiting for something to happen when we haven't even taken the spiritual first step ourselves! We need to take initiative and start living a godly and holy life for Christ and only then will we begin to see fruit begin to grow in our spiritual lives and in those that we love. 

Step into the spiritual ring and prepare to beat the devil up! Continue to stay faithful to Christ and the adversary will begin to see that you aren't going down without a fight!

Clinging To The Call

It happens in all of us. However for others the devastation is irreparable. Have you ever seen the hollow emptiness in a person's eyes. You can even see it in the brother that sits in the pew in front of you. These are people that at one point in their life slowly but surely let hold of the hopes and dreams they so deeply cherished. It doesn't happen over night. Sometimes its the circumstances in life that slowly chip away the confidence you once had in your future. Or other times, its the mistakes or "failures" in your life that you feel with immovable conviction can never be redeemed. Regardless of the reason for the death of your dreams, it happens and it happens to many of us.

Death is a common occurrence. It happens daily and with every passing second someone dies around the world. However I would declare that for one physical death 5 deaths of a vision, a hope, a dream has just perished in a persons heart. Why is it so easy for humanity to let go of what is burning in them? Some say it is because the youthful lust for life slowly dissipates until at one point in life we just settle into the reality of the world. They actually encourage the abandonment of "childhood" fancies. We let go of our deepest desires in place for second best, compromise and even settling for something we never really even wanted.

Letting go of your dreams is an emotional suicide, a lifetime of stagnation and an indefinite retirement of movement in life. And yet when the going gets tough it is the first thing that gets thrown over board in an attempt to survive the bumpy ride.

1. Heart aches and disappointments motivate us to give up on our goals
2. When something doesn't happen in our timing we settle for the "next best thing"
3. When God gives us a vision we so easily "forget" over time that we had it
4. And most of all when it comes to love, we have a tendency to settle, compromise, and even forfeit convictions for convenience.

Why do we do these things?!
If we are going to be anything in Christ. If we are going to be used in any capacity as ministers we must keep the faith and cling to the dreams God placed in our heart.

Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. But he was used so mightily by the Lord. He prophesied in a time of extreme peril for the children of God. The chosen people had completely forsaken God for idolatry and pagan practices. Jeremiah's messages basically consisted of warnings for impending destruction of Israel but also exile of the chosen people.

As a result of his extreme messages he was not particularly liked by the people and was persecuted by them. His life was constantly threatened. There came a point in Jeremiah's walk with God where he questioned why he was born and wished he could not even speak the word of God to the people of israel.

It got to the point where he decided that he would no longer speak for God as a messenger for israel. However his silence did not take away the call God had placed in him, nor did it take the message out of his heart. He ended up admitting that there was a fire in his heart that was "shut up in his bones." he could not escape what God had called him to do. Jeremiah had a purpose. One purpose, and that was to be a mediator for God to his people. He could not escape that.

"O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me. For since. I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jeremiah 20:7-9

Where has the burning fire in your heart gone? Why is his word no longer shut up in your bones. Why have you let the purpose God has placed in your life go for the convenience or even the confusion of today?

We as children of God. As called saints and servants of the body of Christ must cling to the calling God has put in our heart. You may feel lost right now, you may feel worthless and of no value. But you can't let go of the purpose placed in your heart, the dreams he placed in your mind, and the word he placed as a burning fire in your bones. Keep dreaming! Because when we stop dreaming, we stop living.

I want to have his word like a fire shut up in my bones! I want to think of nothing else but the call he has placed on my life. My goals, my desires, my dreams, my everything should be centered on God and His plans for me.

What we forget is that God is faithful. He will never give you more than you can handle. He will never forsake you or overburden you. He will test you and he will put you through trials that will strengthen you and prepare you for tomorrow. We as humans are constantly growing, learning and struggling because that is life. We cannot escape sorrow. Just as Jeremiah could not escape his own sorrow, But what we can do is cling to the things that God gave us as a beacon of hope and lean on Him when times get tough.

Don't forsake truth just because you don't understand why you are hurting. Jeremiah could have walked away from God. He could have shut his mouth for the rest of his life and never spoken the prophetic word of God to the people of Israel. But if he had done that the Children of Israel probably would not have found hope, comfort, peace or even known God was there during their exile.

In chapter 20 Jeremiah was angry, he was frustrated and he did question God. But if he had stopped clinging to the call, or even clinging to God. The many messages that God had for his people would never have been spoken. And a silent prophet is no prophet at all. Jeremiah, isaiah and Ezekiel were mighty prophets of God because they stood for truth when all the world had forsaken the call of God for pleasure.

Do you honestly think that because God is silent in your storm that he is not present? Do you honestly think that because of his silence you are entitled to forsake holiness for worldly beauty and pleasures? Your trial is not there in your life to destroy you, it is there to mature you, to break you and humble you. It is there to mold you into the person God would have you to be for His purposes. Don't think that by reverting back to old ways that you are some how progressing forward. You are only hurting yourself more and you will only find more sorrow in life than you bargained for.

Only God can give you pure joy, peace and contentment. For it is in him you can find your true purpose. Seek him first in all things and the rest will come together.

Bro McClintock preached one sunday morning and said this, "Some of you are in dark times in your life, and you are reading the signs wrong because you are focusing on the obvious. But you can't see the big picture. fear not God has a plan, even though you can't see it!"

"And he answered, fear not for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." 2 Kings 6:16

Elisha was saying we have God on our side, who do the syrians have?! They have no one. You may not understand why, but all you need to know is that God is faithful, that He loves you and He has a purpose for your life. And though the trial may feel unbearable cling to the calling God has given you, allow the fire and passion to burn uncontrollably and undeniably in your heart, allow God to feed the flame so that it will be shut up in your bones. For as children of Christ we are all called to a higher purpose than our own.

In closing, I want you to pray and ask God if your heart is right. Pray and ask God if you are doing all that you can do to keep the dream and call alive in your life. Don't compromise in life! Don't cause unnecessary sorrow for yourself just because you don't understand what God is doing in your life right now. Because when you look back later you will realize that "they that be with us is greater than they that be with them."