Tuesday 26 February 2013

In Spite Of You

In Spite Of You

You are a winner in spite of your struggles.  You have not been chosen because you are great, you've been chosen in spite of your short comings.  In spite of yourself God chose you and He will continue to sustain you and open doors for you.  There are doors that may never open for you but that’s because those doors are not meant to be open to you.  He will open the right doors at the right time but you must believe in Him. The doors you can see are not always the doors that you need opened for you.  Your journey is not about what you can see but about what God has for you.  It’s not about what you can see in the natural but what you can see in the spiritual and if you can see it in the spiritual then you need to speak it into the natural (Romans 4:17). You must put your trust in Him in spite of your circumstances and believe in Him for better days.  Your life on earth is a journey to Gods kingdom.  All around you may crash but He will always remain (Matthew 24:35).  You will lose some things on your journey; some things will fall away but He will bring new and better things into your life.  You will go through some barren places, you will feel isolated, worn out but He will sustain you, in spite of your circumstance.

I went through a period of famine but He sustained me through it.  I was weary and tired but he strengthened me.  I stood still in His presence and sought Him and He was found by me.  If you stand He will stand with you.  He will provide for all your needs in spite of yourself (Luke 11:11-12). He is the same yesterday, today and forever; believe in Him today for your tomorrow. The life I am living now is my dream from yesterday. It’s my present but it was once my future and it will very soon be my past. It is temporary; be careful not to make permanent decisions in a temporary place. Last week this week was your future and next week this week will be your past. Don’t just sit in your present and expect your future to happen. Keep speaking your future into the atmosphere. Speak it; see it; believe it and live for it.

In spite of your challenges don’t sit in it. Accept its happening but fight back; it’s only the spirit of the enemy but you are armed with the Sword of the Word to defeat him. Speak your way out of your situation. God’s word is all you need, it’s your sword and it is powerful (Proverbs 18:21); it is the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:1-17). It is all you need to get out of your situation. Some situations cannot be fought in the flesh; the flesh will only buffer the situation but Gods word will break it. Don’t doubt that He can help you because you've messed up. He wants to and will help in spite of your mess ups; in spite of your situation; in spite of yourself. He is able and can do all things (Ephesians 3:20). He is the Master, the Creator of the universe and there’s nothing He can’t do.  He will let things happen, let you have your way but in the end He will have the final say in spite of your situation or what you've done. He could have stopped Daniel from being trapped in the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16-22); He could have stopped the three Hebrew boys from being thrown into the fire (Daniel 3:14-27) but He allowed it to happen because the enemy can do what he wants but God will always have the final word and His glory will be seen.  So let the fire burn, let the lion row, let the bills come, let the attacks come but keep God at the centre. In spite of what’s going on around you and in your life, say “Lord, I need to feel your presence now, I need to see your hand but if I don’t, I will still praise you.”  He will always be God no matter what.  No matter what the struggle He will still be God.  While you’re fighting to pay your bills, someone is fighting for their life but He is still God in both situations.  In spite of who you are or what you’re going through, keep Him at the centre and you will win the fight.  You were made to be a winner, a warrior, not for the armchair but for battles.  

One encounter with Christ changes your life and you will never be the same again. You will be a new person in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) but you will have to arm yourself because the enemy will fight to reclaim you (Luke 22: 31-34); to take you back to your old life and you will have to fight so arm yourself with the word of God and wear His armour always (Ephesians 6:13-18). The enemy will have you as a target and you will have to shoot back; arm yourself with God – you can either die standing up or lying down. Stand up for the Lord and fight, you will be whipped, broken and tired but He will reward you (Matthew 5:12).  At the end of every struggle is a reward. 

Some mornings I wake up and struggle to go to work. If I stay in bed I won’t earn to pay my bills so I may as well go to work. As long as I have the strength to work and pay my bills I will use that strength. If you've got God in you, use him. Your life is not yours anyway, it belongs to Him so let Him have His will and His way. It’s about what He can do not what you can do because you can’t do anything without him, He created you. He is God in spite of you, in spite of your inabilities because He made you and gave you your abilities. He gave you life so if He does no more, He’s already done enough.  He made you so that His grace and mercy can be seen in you. You've not been invisible because by His grace He made a way for you to prosper. You will have to fight to take back what’s rightfully yours from the enemy.  He gave His only Son to die for you in spite of your mess ups and your sins so why should you go through life with nothing happening to you. Just as Jesus was tested, ridiculed, beaten and battered you may also be but blessed are those who trust and love the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7-8).  God chose to come into a covenant agreement with you so you’re already blessed; the rest is a bi-product of His love for you. In spite of yourself He blessed you even before you was born and planned ahead to prosper you (Jeremiah 1:5) & (Jeremiah 29:11), so if He decides to put something in you to give to the world, you are even more blessed. What I have got in me, this message, His words, is a blessing and I am excited and humbled but I don’t boast about me I boast about God (Jeremiah 9:23-24).  His hand of favour is on me for you. It’s not about me; He can appear whenever He’s ready and bless me or take away the blessing if I don’t share it, if I don’t use it to glorify Him, if I don’t bless others with what He’s placed in me.  He has blessed me but just like you I go through struggles, dry places, I have concerns and sleepless nights but I am still thankful that even though I may not be having the best time God is so deep within me that in spite of all my struggles He still comes through for me.  He puts me under pressure so that what He’s deposited in me can come out.  Be careful of what you allow to get inside of you because when you’re under pressure what’s in you will be what comes out.  God will bless and has blessed you in spite of who you are, where you are, what you are; He doesn't need you to be God, He is God all by himself in spite of you.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A moment in time can either be your struggle or your triumph, not because of the situation but because of what it causes you to become, in what direction you grow,the time you spend in isolation will become your paradise, for when you were but a twinkle in gods eyes he had your life,your mind body and soul. When we don't just sit still and let god loose inside of us to roam and explore within, to remove all uncertainty with the seen and unseen what does that say about our walk with him, it says i don't trust you will come through, Those moments of drought/struggles are test of your faithfulness, do you trust god enough to do his will in your life, do you strip down to the baked nakedness,will you lay it bare for him to refresh, renew, to restore you, for you to drink from his living word, come all yea that will listen and take from me, for i am the lord your god, i will be your wings when you are weary, rest in me and i will make you fly to new heights, i will you make you rise, stand on a platform, not for your self but thine. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Isaiah 55:1-3 See god's covenant with us.
"Ho! Everyone who thirsts
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.”
And yes Carl in spite of you/me/us God is still God.