4GIVEN

Quiet as it’s kept, the number one cause of death is typically linked to some type of stress. Unbeknownst to most, stress leads to all kinds of mental breakdown issues. The physical effects of stress are also numerous, including a greater susceptibility to illness, a lack of energy, problems with sleep, headaches, poor judgment, weight gain, depression, anxiety, and a host of other ills. The three main causes of stress is money, work, and go figure, poor health! Satan has used this stealthy and often undetected, “below the radar condition” to kill, steal, and destroy many marriages, relationships, and lives. (John 10:10). Oftentimes, we use words to cover up this deadly illness like, “I am feeling”—pressured, strained, tension, loaded, weighed down, anxious, concerned, uneasy, and worried. Satan screams at us to lust after the perishable things this worlds offers whereas, Jesus whispers in our ears that whoever does the will of the Father will love forever (I John 2:17). The reality is stress of all kinds is a natural part of life (Job 5:7, 14:1; 1 Peter 4:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13). But how we deal with it is up to us. If we choose to try to do it on our own, we will not find lasting relief. The only way we can consistently and successfully deal with stress is through Jesus Christ. First, we must believe in Him. Second, we need to trust Him and obey Him. Perhaps no passage in Scripture better captures how to handle stress than Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Lord tells us not to be anxious about anything, but rather to turn everything over to Him in prayer. Lifting our burdens and concerns to a holy and righteous God daily will most certainly mitigate and/or completely eliminate the stress in your life. It is only by His grace, mercy, and love that the stress in our lives can be properly managed.

#JesusIsTheRx4Stress

An all-purpose cleaner is a cleaning agent, usually a liquid, used to remove dirt, grime, and stains from multiple surfaces. The difference between an all-purpose cleaning agent versus a specific cleaning agent is acutely obvious. But for the sake of this illustration let me make this clear…specific purpose cleaners are not recommend for all surfaces. Now then, let’s lift this up spiritually! God is an all-purpose God and He can do anything because He created everything. Conversely, we are singularly purposed. We are here to fulfill the singular and sometimes multi-faceted purpose God planned for us before our conception (Palms 139:16). The paradox of life is that we often foster an ill belief that we are in someway all-purpose when in reality we are not. Too often people choose to do what they want to do and not what God designed for them to do. So what happens next?? When they experience defeat they insulate themselves in bitterness and disappointment all because they failed to confirm with God what their purpose is in life. We can’t live out what other people believe our purpose to be much like, an orange tree can’t bear apples! Psalm 57:2 says, “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me.” This is the key in understanding God’s purpose for your life. make note that God has numbered your days and He will fulfill every purpose He has for you. If you don’t know your purpose in life all you have to do is ask Him!

You may not see what your life will look like 5 days more less 5 years but if you walk in faithful obedience you’ll receive the tailored made promises that God designed specifically for you. You don’t have to see the promise to believe the promise will manifest! Ask yourself, when was the last time God said something that didn’t come to pass?!! Independent of internalized faith cannot be viewed through carnal lens. Testament faith is only found in the depths of God’s spiritual truths. Abraham didn’t see nor did he know there was ram in the bush. However, he believed in the spiritual truth that God would provide. This is why in Genesis 22:14 we learn that Abraham chose to named that place where he was to sacrifice Issac Yahweh-Yireh; which means “the LORD will provide”. Conversely, we will find ourselves in big trouble if we can’t embrace the concept of personal faith. We must never forget that we are not God and we will not know all things. This kind of attitude or disposition is what caused the fall of man back in the Garden Eden. The serpent spoke to Eve in Genesis 3:4-5, “ You won’t die!! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” We all know what happen after that…..the woman was convinced and in v6 we find her munching on “that” fruit in lieu of “the” fruit of faithfulness (Gal 5:22-23). So if you want to walk by faith…close your carnal eyes and start walking in the light God’s spiritual truth. Faith is best seen in the dark and in the light of God’s spiritual truths.

Ok, here is my paraphrase of Hebrews 11:6, “We can’t please God without faith and we can’t see him moving in our lives doubting him!” We have the tendency to gloss over this passage of text but think about it for a minute…if we can’t please God without faith what makes us think that we can truly live without faith. Yes, we can possess the money, cars, jobs, houses, and all the luxuries this dying world offers but are we truly living. Faith is as important to life as breath is as important to breathing. Faith is your spiritual muscle and the more it’s exercised, the stronger it becomes. On God: FAITH OVER EVERYTHING! Each of us have been given a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) but it’s what we do with it that makes the difference. I’ve heard people that are infected with Eeyore Syndrome say, “Well Lowell, my faith is not that great!” Well, my response to that disposition is, “So what, you don’t need that much faith!!” In Matthew 17:20 Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” So how do you build the measure of faith bequeathed to you? Well, you will never build spiritual faith working out in an earthly gym. Romans 10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” Now drop down and give me 50….not push ups but read 1 of the 50+ scriptures about faith everyday for the next 7 days and allow God’s word to permeate your heart, mind, and spirit! And like Saul in Acts 9:18, His word will remove the scales from your eyes so that you can see God powerfully, prophetically, and strategically moving in your life! Your faith has the power to move mountains in your lives or create them!

Faith that can’t be tested can’t be trusted!! Ironically, faith has very little to do with what we can achieve rather, it is all about to whom we believe. By placing our faith in God and in the truth of His Word, we are victorious according to His perfect will irrespective of the magnitude or complexity of our situation. Faith helps us to align ourselves with God’s perspective for our lives. Don’t ever forget that according to the word of God we are: Loved. Redeemed. Embraced. Healed. Satisfied. Sustained. Delivered. Carried. Strengthened. Free. Therefore, we really have no excuses not to step out by faith despite lurking opposition! One of the greatest benefits of our challenges is that it enables us to develop our faith. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow (James 1:3). As we face obstacles, it is an opportunity for us to trust and believe in God more and more. As tempting as it may be to try to take matters into our own hands, it is essential that we choose to surrender our cares into God’s Hands and keep our focus fixed on Him. When we keep our focus fixed on God, we are magnifying Him over and above our needs and desires. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “Everything is possible for Him who believes!” You might be saying, “Lowell, I don’t have much faith” and my response would be to start making deposits into your praise account because in order to grow in our faith we must learn to live a lifestyle of praise; for praise releases faith. That being said, don’t allow anything or anyone to stand in your way; do something today that’ll required activating your faith and witness the power of God show up in your situation!

If you would truly appraise your life and what God has done for you—you will always find a reason to praise Him! Psalm 113:1-3 (MSG) put it this way, “Hallelujah! You who serve GOD, praise GOD! Just to speak his name is praise! Just to remember GOD is a blessing— now and tomorrow and always. From east to west, from dawn to dusk, keep lifting all your praises to GOD!” Put your problem down and begin to start lifting up praises to God! Look at it this way, the walls of Jericho didn’t fall until the people started shouting!! You don’t have to wait till Sunday morning to praise God for what he has done for you every morning!!

If you are at the end of your rope, don’t let go! Simply ask God for more rope! When we can’t take anymore the first thing we want to do is walk away and for some run away! We want to throw in the towel or throw the towel at someone! So what should you do when you need God to show up in specific situation? Well, check out David’s response to his measure of persecution in Psalm 143:7-10 (MSG), “Hurry with your answer, GOD! I’m nearly at the end of my rope. Don’t turn away; don’t ignore me! That would be certain death. If you wake me each morning with the sound of your loving voice, I’ll go to sleep each night trusting in you. Point out the road I must travel; I’m all ears, all eyes before you. Save me from my enemies, GOD — you’re my only hope [rope]! Teach me how to live to please you, because you’re my God. Lead me by your blessed Spirit into cleared and level pastureland.” David pled for God’s presence, guidance, refuge, and a desire to do God’s will. Notice that he didn’t asked for an elaborate vacation, a new life, a new job, a new marriage, a new family, or a day at the spa! David is not any different than any of us. He was 100% man but in many cases throughout his life he chose to place 100% of his trust in God. We are only 16 days in the start of this new century but, if you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot, hold on, and just ask God for more rope [hope] and continue climbing!!

No earthly being was present when God fatten the universe. No one heard Him speak nor form all things into existence. So how do we know that it was God that did it? Hebrews 11:3 give us the answer; “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Now, place you’re hand in front of your mouth (not too close) and repeat after me, “BY FAITH”. You heard your voice but what did you feel? If you spoke loud enough, you felt breath behind those words, right? When God spoke, breath also followed and I am of the conviction that life inspiring words produce life much like oxygen. We all know that we breath in oxygen and release carbon dioxide. The difference between these two elements is one produce life and the other produces waste. Now then, when we speak with words that promotes faith, we release life producing oxygen into our circumstance and situation. My point is your words will either produce life or death. Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” I believe that when God fatten the planet, He also filled it with oxygen (His word) because He knew that we would need it to sustain our life!

Today’s Prayer by Noel Pinnock:

Dear Heavenly Father, give us vision to see the opportunities You place before us to bless others and to share Your gospel of grace with them. Give us wisdom to learn from past mistakes so that we don’t stumble over the same things that made us fall. Grant us humility to endure pain and infliction as well as trust so that we lean not on our own understanding but in every way acknowledge You so that You will direct our paths. Patience is oh so important in waiting for what we need or want, give us a double portion in these last days. Finally Lord, teach us values as You guide us through the consequences of poor decisions and unselfishness as we learn “how” to deal with difficult people that we need to be at peace with just as You demonstrated during Your walk and ministry on earth. All these attributes: patience, trust, vision, value, wisdom, humility and unselfishness are transformative and will guide us in conforming into the image of Jesus Christ, as your Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome. We heed this clarion call to be like Christ and integrate and will not separate from the body of believers when we do…in Jesus’ name, we pray…conform us so that we may the first among many brethren…because those You have predestined, You have also called; and those You called, You have also justified; and those You have justified, You will also glorify, so what can we say about these things….if God is for us, who can be against us. He who didn’t spare His own son but delivered Him up for us…how can He with Him not freely give us all things…in Jesus’ name…amen.

Prayer written by Noël Pinnock

Today’s Prayer

Father in Heaven, thank You for Your grace. Precious Lord and Savior, thank You for Your willing sacrifice for my sins. Holy Spirit, thank you for your transforming work in our lives. May our life on earth never be an affront to the grace given to us, the sacrifice made for us, and the Spirit who lives within us. Work in us the blessing that can be a blessing to those around us. When we have the power to change the trajectory of someone’s life by making a call, standing up, or being deliberate about given public support despite public opinion…may we not hesitate to render aid, word, or coin. You demonstrated how we should do this through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. We will not ever be all we can be if we don’t pour into those that need us to help them be all they can be! But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. We receive this gift of forgiveness and extend it to everyone, everywhere, everyday… no matter what. After all, we are extensions of Your love, grace, and mercy. Here us this day O Lord…we can and will never do anything apart from Your divine and perfect will and we decree upon Your command that everything that the enemy has stolen (joy, peace, wealth, image, etc.) will be returned unto us seven fold and the chains of the wicked whose hearts have turned away from the righteous will be broken…no matter who, what position he, she, or it holds, or dwelling place he, she, or it resides…all will be in the mighty grip of the Lord…in Jesus’ name, we pray with faith and with no exceptions, turning everything over to You…amen.