Pastor Lindell Ballenger

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Power. It is strong and resilient and when you become a citizen of this Kingdom through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you are a part of an everlasting, eternal, indestructible Kingdom. Many kingdoms of men have sought to destroy God’s Kingdom and its citizens. Every one of them has failed. They always have and they always will. Trying to do away with the Kingdom of God is like trying to alter the very fabric of the universe. Creation itself is bound up in and regulated by the principles of God’s Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Heaven is more durable than the kingdoms of the earth. Earthly kingdoms will all pass away, but God’s Kingdom will stand forever. One of the characteristics of durability is patience. Patience can accomplish things that haste never dreamed of. A loser in life is actually a winner who lacked the patience to wait and to keep trying. Patience is a precious commodity that is all too rare in our society today. It is so precious that it is listed as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23). I believe that patience is one of the greatest gifts God can give any of us. Proverbs 16:32 says, “Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city.”

The virtue of patience is largely lost in our “got-to-have-it-now” world of instant gratification. Many young couples think they are failures if they cannot immediately buy the kind of house their parents had to wait 20 or 30 years to afford. Many families today are buried under a mountain of debt because they could not wait until they could afford the standard of living they wanted. Insisting on having it all right now, they sold their financial freedom and made themselves slaves of credit.

The Kingdom of Heaven is more durable than the world. Why is this important? As citizens of the Kingdom of God, we need to absorb the fact that we are part of a culture that never gives up. Throughout the Word of God we are told to stand fast, run the race, fight the good fight and finish the course. Our problem is that we give up too easily. Many believers are not conditioned for hardship. At the first sign of trouble they throw in the towel. “Well, that didn’t work. I guess it just isn’t God’s will. Let’s try something else.” Or someone at church hurts their feelings, so they stop coming. The preacher gets too “personal” in his preaching, and they’re gone. They have no durability, no patience and no staying power.

Real faith is more than feel-good moments, and blessings. It includes all of these, but it also digs much deeper and demands much more. The call to this kind of faith is a call to endure. It is a call to stand strong and never give up in the face of trouble, hardship, opposition, or fear. As citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven we are part of a culture that can withstand any and all challenges, including death. There are countless multitudes of believers across two millennia that have suffered and died for their faith. If we could ask each of them “Was it worth it?” they would join in a thundering reply, “Yes!” No price is too high for a citizen of the Kingdom of God to pay in the service of his or her King.

Since in Christ even death itself is no longer a fearsome thing, as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we need not be afraid of the temporary trials, tests, and opposition. All trials are temporary. What we have to do is make sure that we are not temporary. As we have seen many times in recent weeks storms move in with fearsome winds and destruction, but they also move out again. Whatever you’re going through is moving, so don’t panic, stand firm in your faith and let it pass on through. Our King calls us to stand fast and equips us to do so. Faith is the key that gives us access. Faith clothes us in the armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-18) and is part of that armor that enables us to endure in the face of any foe or challenge, whether natural or supernatural.

Paul likens faith to a shield, a defensive weapon. If we never had battles to fight, we wouldn’t need faith. Faith protects us in the midst of the battles. Your tests are temporary, so wait them out. You can never know what breakthroughs and blessings may lie up ahead, so don’t let temporary troubles defeat you and cut you off from greater things to come.

Remember, your faith is the most important power you possess, so as you run the race of life, keep your faith. As you anchor your life in God through faith, let your beliefs and convictions, which come from Him, create confidence in you for daily living. Then as you rise to face the tests and trials that come your way, your faith will be revealed and be plainly evident to others. They will see God’s power at work in you and will glorify Him.

“Faith believes in things when common sense tells you not to.”

Imagine that you are engaged to be married. The wedding is just a few weeks away. All the preparations have been made; everything has been bought; all the invitations have gone out. Your anticipation and excitement are at a fever pitch. And then, all of a sudden …your fiancee dies. What would you do? That’s the kind of experience that makes a person want to quit, to give up on life, maybe even curse God. “Why did this happen to me, God? Why did You bring me this far only to leave me devastated?”

This is a true story actually. A man was engaged to be married to a lovely young woman. All the wedding preparations were in place, and everything was in order; they were simply waiting for the wedding day to arrive. Then in a matter of days, his fiancee suddenly took sick and died. The grieving groom went into severe depression. He even considered suicide. He felt ashamed. How was he going to face his friends and family? How could he emerge from such tragedy?

He almost didn’t. His emotional depression became so severe that he was placed in an insane asylum where he received treatment. After a few weeks he began to come around, and after two months was released, having come back from the brink. He buried his sweetheart and went on with his life. Eventually he married and raised a family. But in that time of crisis as a young man, he almost quit; he almost committed suicide; he almost gave it all up.

That man went on to become the president of the United States of America. His name was Abraham Lincoln. Today he is still regarded as the greatest and most effective president in America’s history. He shepherded the United States through a devastating civil war and held the nation together. He emancipated the slaves. Lincoln truly was a great man. Yet he could easily have ended his days in an insane asylum. Faith carried him through.

 Faith in God teaches us that there is life after tragedy, a future after failure.

Who among us hasn’t wanted to quit at one time or another? We all have experienced times of disappointment or discouragement that left us feeling as though we could not go on. That is where real faith comes in.  Faith in God assures us that there is life after failure. It gives us hope, the confident assurance that our trials and troubles are only temporary, and that a greater, fuller, infinite life lies ahead for us. It is this hope, fueled by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that enables us to overcome the world. This God kind of faith makes it possible for us to remain true to Him darkest and most difficult times. Jesus said  “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John16:33)  In other words he is saying, “Take heart, be encouraged, relax, don’t panic.

With faith in God you can overcome the insane asylum and rise to become the president of the United States of America. You can overcome the pain and grief of great loss and be stronger on the other side. You can even come back from the desert after losing your dignity, character, and freedom, like Moses and still become the deliverer of many people. With Faith you will make it because Faith overcomes the world.

Faith Has Power!!

This is and inspiring story. A serious reminder that Freedom Is Not Free as we remember all who made the ultimate sacrafice for our freedom.

Each year I am hired to go to Washington, DC, with the eighth grade class from Clinton, WI where I grew up, to videotape their trip. I greatly enjoy visiting our nation’s capital, and each year I take some special memories back with me. This fall’s trip was especially memorable.

On the last night of our trip, we stopped at the Iwo Jima memorial. This memorial is the largest bronze statue in the world and depicts one of the most famous photographs in history — that of the six brave soldiers raising the American Flag at the top of a rocky hill on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, during WW II.

Over one hundred students and chaperones piled off the buses and headed towards the memorial. I noticed a solitary figure at the base of the statue, and as I got closer he asked, ‘Where are you guys from?’

I told him that we were from Wisconsin. Hey, I’m a cheese head, too! Come gather around, Cheese heads, and I will tell you a story.

(It was James Bradley who just happened to be in Washington, DC, to speak at the memorial the following day. He was there that night to say good night to his dad, who had passed away. He was just about to leave when he saw the buses pull up. I videotaped him as he spoke to us, and received his permission to share what he said from my videotape. It is one thing to tour the incredible monuments filled with history in Washington, DC, but it is quite another to get the kind of insight we received that night.)

When all had gathered around, he reverently began to speak. (Here are his words that night.)

My name is James Bradley and I’m from Antigo, Wisconsin. My dad is on that statue, and I just wrote a book called ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ which is #5 on the New York Times Best Seller list right now. It is the story of the six boys you see behind me.

Six boys raised the flag. The first guy putting the pole in the ground is Harlon Block. Harlon was an all-state football player. He enlisted in the Marine Corps with all the senior members of his football team. They were off to play another type of game. A game called ‘War.’ But it didn’t turn out to be a game. Harlon, at the age of 21, died with his intestines in his hands. I don’t say that to gross you out, I say that because there are people who stand in front of this statue and talk about the glory of war. You guys need to know that most of the boys in Iwo Jima were 17, 18, and 19 years old - and it was so hard that the ones who did make it home never even would talk to their families about it.

 (He pointed to the statue) You see this next guy? That’s Rene Gagnon from New Hampshire. If you took Rene’s helmet off at the moment this photo was taken and looked in the webbing of that helmet, you would find a photograph…a photograph of his girlfriend. Rene put that in there for protection because he was scared. He was 18 years old. It was just boys who won the battle of Iwo Jima. Boys. Not old men.

The next guy here, the third guy in this tableau, was Sergeant Mike Strank.. Mike is my hero. He was the hero of all these guys. They called him the ‘old man’ because he was so old. He was already 24. When Mike would motivate his boys in training camp, he didn’t say, ‘Let’s go kill some Japanese’ or ‘Let’s die for our country.’ He knew he was talking to little boys… Instead he would say, ‘You do what I say, and I’ll get you home to your mothers.

The last guy on this side of the statue is Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian from Arizona . Ira Hayes was one of them who lived to walk off Iwo Jima . He went into the White House with my dad. President Truman told him, ‘You’re a hero’ He told reporters, ‘How can I feel like a hero when 250 of my buddies hit the island with me and only 27 of us walked off alive?’

So you take your class at school, 250 of you spending a year together having fun, doing everything together. Then all 250 of you hit the beach, but only 27 of your classmates walk off alive. That was Ira Hayes. He had images of horror in his mind. Ira Hayes carried the pain home with him and eventually died dead drunk, face down, drowned in a very shallow puddle, at the age of 32 (ten years after this picture was taken).

‘The next guy, going around the statue, is Franklin Sousley from Hilltop, Kentucky . A fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. His best friend, who is now 70, told me, ‘Yeah, you know, we took two cows up on the porch of the Hilltop General Store. Then we strung wire across the stairs so the cows couldn’t get down. Then we fed them Epsom salts. Those cows crapped all night.’ Yes, he was a fun-lovin’ hillbilly boy. Franklin died on Iwo Jima at the age of 19. When the telegram came to tell his mother that he was dead, it went to the Hilltop General Store. A barefoot boy ran that telegram up to his mother’s farm. The neighbors could hear her scream all night and into the morning Those neighbors lived a quarter of a mile away.

The next guy, as we continue to go around the statue, is my dad, John Bradley, from Antigo, Wisconsin, where I was raised. My dad lived until 1994, but he would never give interviews. When Walter Cronkite’s producers or the New York Times would call, we were trained as little kids to say ‘No, I’m sorry, sir, my dad’s not here. He is in Canada fishing. No, there is no phone there, sir. No, we don’t know when he is coming back.’ My dad never fished or even went to Canada. Usually, he was sitting there right at the table eating his Campbell’s soup. But we had to tell the press that he was out fishing. He didn’t want to talk to the press.

You see, like Ira Hayes, my dad didn’t see himself as a hero. Everyone thinks these guys are heroes, ‘cause they are in a photo and on a monument My dad knew better. He was a medic. John Bradley from Wisconsin was a combat caregiver. On Iwo Jima he probably held over 200 boys as they died. And when boys died on Iwo Jima, they writhed and screamed, without any medication or help with the pain.

‘When I was a little boy, my third grade teacher told me that my dad was a hero. When I went home and told my dad that, he looked at me and said, ‘I want you always to remember that the heroes of Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back. Did NOT come back.’

‘So that’s the story about six nice young boys. Three died on Iwo Jima , and three came back as national heroes. Overall, 7,000 boys died on Iwo Jima in the worst battle in the history of the Marine Corps. My voice is giving out, so I will end here. Thank you for your time.’

Suddenly, the monument wasn’t just a big old piece of metal with a flag sticking out of the top. It came to life before our eyes with the heartfelt words of a son who did indeed have a father who was a hero. Maybe not a hero for the reasons most people would believe, but a hero nonetheless.

We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in-between that sacrifice was made for our freedom…please pray for our troops.

Remember to pray praises for this great country of ours and also …please pray for our troops still in murderous places around the world.

STOP and thank God for being alive and being free due to someone else’s sacrifice.

God Bless You and God Bless America.

REMINDER: Every day that you can wake up free, it’s going to be a great day.

One thing I learned while on tour with my 8th grade students in DC that is not mentioned here is . . that if you look at the statue very closely and count the number of ‘hands’ raising the flag, there are 13. When the man who made the statue was asked why there were 13, he simply said the 13th hand was the hand of God.

MAN UP

FINISH STRONG

Jubilee Mens Conference 2011

June 10th – 12th

There is something powerful about men standing together for a cause - to fight for their future and seek God for their lives. “Man Up” Conference is packed with incredible preaching, rich fellowship, and awesome praise and worship. It will have you equipped with faith, wisdom, strength and power to become the man God has called you to be. Join the fight. Respond to the challenge and finish strong!

They run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of war; every one marches in formation, and they do not break ranks.” Joel 2:7

Guest Speaker Marios Ellianas

Marios is pastor of Valley Shore Assembly in Old Saybrook, CT. During the first year of their ministry at Valley Shore, Marios and his wife Danielle had a life changing encounter with the love and power of the Living God. Since 2006, the Ellinas family and their congregation at Valley Shore have been experiencing a spiritual renewal, through which lives are continually being transformed by the resurrection power of Jesus. Marios has authored two books: Running to the Impossible (2008) and Warrior Material (2010).

COST: $25 (includes Steak Dinner on Friday night, Shirt and giveaways)

Pre-Registration ONLY $25

Register online at www.jubileeintl.org

REGISTER NOW!

For more information call 850-474-9484.

Night services free to all.

Genesis 29:31-35

We only have one life on this earth. Regardless of hardships we have faced, and in spite of the mistakes we have made, the life we each return to God at death can be full of praise and thanksgiving or misery and complaint. In defining the quality of the life we have lived, one might say, that life was a good as the desires we had fulfilled, or it was as bad as our disappointments.

Difficulties are a part of life on earth, and most of the time we handle them quite well. But every time we suffer a major disappointment, a heaviness or a loss of joy settles upon our hearts, Proverbs 13:12 says “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Deep disappointments have a way of never leaving us of actually shaping our personality and our outlook on life.  The quality of life we experience is diminished by these disappointments, Our future wellbeing is also affected because carrying disappointment makes us: less outgoing and less socially attractive to others, which causes further emotional setbacks in other areas of our lives Gradually, unless we learn to handle disappointment and heartache in God, we can become the type of person that others withdraw from a person who is forever talking about his problems.

I know many people whose desires are their gods. They desire wealth, they desire marriage, they desire friends and they desire fame or security. These desires rule them and make them their slaves. Are such desires evil?  They are not in themselves, but if having our desires fulfilled is the reason why we have come to God, our life will not change until our priorities change.

An example is found in the story of Leah, Jacobs’s first wife in Genesis 29.  She was unloved by her husband. She was in fact somewhat unattractive and Jacob was already in love with her younger sister, Rachel.           Leah’s father tricked Jacob into marrying her and Jacob resented her because of it. Yet, the Lord saw her pain. Leah, though unloved by her husband, was loved by the Lord, and the Lord gave her a son.  Leah’s reaction was, “surely now my husband will love me.” (Genesis 29:32)

Leah’s desires were for her husband, and she assumed that the Lord favored her so Jacob would love her.  Two more times she gave birth to sons and each time her heart’s desire was for her husband saying, “now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.”  Yet Jacob still did not desire her.

There is a lesson to be learned here that is most important. We cannot make another person love us.  In fact, the pressure and striving that we place upon others to accept us actually makes them reject us more. Such striving is repulsive. Leah was striving for acceptance; she was incomplete without her husband’s love. But her hopes were not just deferred; they were dashed brutally upon the rocks of life and after ten to fifteen years of trying, Leah’s hope of being loved by her husband died.

Yet, something else occurred in her heart that was the most significant turn of her life. She became pregnant again with a fourth son and during the months of this pregnancy, out of her devastation she began to seek the lord for herself. She started falling in love with the Almighty. When she gave birth to her next son she said, “THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD.”

Perhaps you have been struggling with a desire that as the years pass seems further than ever from fulfillment.  You may have reached a place where certain hopes are dying and you are suffering with great heartache. The pain you feel is attached to your desire.

The first verse we read Proverbs 13:12 said “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” But the verse concludes with “…desire fulfilled is a tree of life” That which makes life joyful is having our desires fulfilled.            When we have wanted something for a long time and that desire is finally satisfied it becomes a tree of life to us. Because it is the fulfillment of our desires that is life to us.  The key to a wonderful life is to choose your desires carefully, according to the will of God.  Make sure your priorities are correct that the first desire you want fulfilled is your

Desire for a pure walk with God.  If fulfillment in life comes from your desires for god your life will ever be filled with elation.

Here is a truth that you have needed to know all of your life. There are things wrong with you. I know you are shocked; you never dreamed it was possible, but it’s true. Perhaps we all can say we know we are not perfect. However, the problem is with most of us is that the things we admit are wrong are not the things to which I am here referring. Few can see the flaws that really hurt them, but they are there.      

As we walk with God, He changes us from the inside out. If you find that most of your thoughts orbit around your unfulfilled desires, you are becoming obsessed by those desires and you are not just flawed like everyone else.  Your striving for fulfillment is making you more and more emotionally unbalanced.

The process is painful, but it a possible that unless you change, your desires you may never be fulfilled.  What a waste your life will become. The sense of fulfillment for which you strive must come from the Lord. He is your fulfillment. “In him you are complete” (Colossians 2:10)

You may say that is easy for you to say, you are blessed.  But you don’t understand my problems.  Yes I do I have had the difficulties and heartaches too, but I have had to come to the place where I say THIS TIME I WILL PRAISE THE LORD.

Leah named her fourth son JUDAH - PRAISE and her life turned around when she chose to delight in God in spite of her unfilled desires.

Psalm 37:4 “delight yourself in the lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Delight, does not mean go to church.  It does not mean Read the Bible.  It includes those things, but to delight in something is to take great pleasure, gratification and joy in it.  It is that which gives us Extreme Pleasure.  Delight yourself in the Lord.  Make him your chief pleasure in life and life will be full and joyful.

THE OUT COME OF LEAHS LIFE

What happened to Leah?  Years came and went. Both Rachel and Leah had died and as Jacob lay on his death bed, he spoke to his sons. 

I am about to be gathered to my people bury me with my fathers in the cave which Abraham bought for a burial site. There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah and there. I buried Leah (Genesis 49:29-31)

Notice the words “there I buried Leah.”  Oh, how those words, though few, say so much. They tell us that God had beautified his afflicted one, Leah, with salvation.   Over the years as the natural beauty of both wives faded, the deep inner beauty of what God had wrought in Leah shone forth.  Jacobs heart had been knit to her in love.

The final point is this: We are not in this world for our desires, but for Gods.  The scriptures tell us, “all things have been created for him, not us.” (Colossians 1:16) lf we will make Him our chief desire, we will find fulfillment and peace in our lives no matter what hardship or circumstances we face.           

Pray with me. Lord Jesus forgive me for letting my desire for the things of this world rule my heart. Master, I choose you, I give my life to you and I entrust to you my desires. Beautify my life by letting me fulfill your desires. Amen.

The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not make life easy rather it tries to make us great enough for life.

(Source: mail.aol.com)

This is a repost of a blog from Joel Stockstill, Pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center North, Baton Rouge, LA.

Isa. 53:2b-3 declares “There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

There is a trend in the Church of today that would try to give Jesus a “make-over.” This trend would do everything possible to make Jesus relevant and desirable. Is this right??? According to this verse (which is from arguably the most powerful and important chapter in the OT and Bible as a whole) there was nothing about him that was beautiful or desirable. Does this mean we should try to make things difficult for those outside of the Kingdom? By no means no! But we better be very careful in pursuing anything that does not reflect the true nature and heart of our Crucified Messiah.

There seems to be more and more “acceptance” and less and less “despised and rejected.” There seems to be an ever-widening path to eternal life and less mention of the narrow way that Jesus spoke of in Matt. 7:13-14. The Church has gone from persecuted and martyred to celebrated and celebrity. When was the last time we felt the sting of rejection? When is the last time a church was persecuted for telling the truth? In the age of the megachurch, we see churches seeming to explode with limitless growth and ease while around the world the Church is being persecuted like never before. Is this a season of favor or a straying from the trouble Jesus promised would be ours in this world (Jn. 16:33)?

I believe, according to the Word of God, that we as pastors, leaders, and believers should be very careful in trying to make Jesus more appealing to the masses. I’m all for utilizing technology and saying things in a diplomatic way but there has to be some balance of truth. From the stretching of grace to fit any and all compromise of lifestyle to the blatant acceptance of abominable sins such as fornication and homosexuality, the Church of today must return to the hard core truth of the Word.

If Jesus gave nothing to the world that would attract them to Him, then why should His Body? OUCH :)

1 Thess. 1:6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. in this way, you imitated BOTH US AND THE LORD.

    Life will always be filled with mysteries and questions we cannot answer. We will always face tests, circumstances, and situations that challenge the very core of our confidence and stability. There will be times when we will encounter moments of fear, despair, hopelessness, and confusion that will give birth to doubt that renders us helpless and immobilized. Life will bring us the unexpected and the unbelievable, sending shock waves through our traditional convictions and causing us to wonder if there really is a loving Creator who cares about our plight.

Life will many times hit us from the blind side with obstacles and pressures that have no pattern. In essence, for each of us, life is an earthly journey that does not come with a map. I have come to the conclusion that we were created to live by trust and explore the unknown with the compass of faith. To live effectively on this earth we must accept the fact that we will face opportunities to doubt and that everything we believe will be challenged. This is the nature of life, and if you live on the planet, tests and trials will be common and normal.

If you accept the reality of trials and tests as the nature of life on earth, then you will be neither disappointed nor overwhelmed when they arrive. In fact, the best weapon against trials is to see them as tools in the hands of a skillful Sculptor dedicated to the task of unveiling from the block of your existence a perfected image of the real you. I challenge you to trust the divine Sculptor and have faith in His vision of who you really are. May you live a life that embraces the spirit of the words of the apostle James who declared,

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4).

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12).

Listen to the words of Peter, who reiterates the same sentiments in his statement: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:6-7).

The apostle John further injects this spirit of faith, giving us the secret to overcoming every obstacle in life: “And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:3-4).

The writer of the Book of Hebrews sums it all up in these words:

But My righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, l will not be pleased with him (Hebrews 10:38).

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

So I challenge you to live a faith-filled life. May you rise to every occasion and face the future with a confidence that intimidates trials and embarrasses the skeptics, knowing that nothing can stop the power of your belief. May you live by this motto: “When in doubt…have faith.” Be always mindful that you have the image and nature of your Creator, a nature that is fearless, bold, and stronger than death and life. As long as you believe, you win. Protect your capacity to believe knowing that everything except your destiny is temporary. Doubt is not an option, and faith is a necessity. Live and walk daily by faith. FAITH OVERCOMES THE WORLD – GUARANTEED!

One of the most unique and amazing plants in the world is the Chinese Bamboo Tree. This tree is much different than most trees in that it doesn’t grow in the typical fashion. Once planted, one must water, feed and nurture the seed every day. It must be placed in an area of sunlight to receive nutrients from the sun. This process continues for four agonizing long years. For four years there is no evidence of growth. For four years there is no evidence of life. For four  years it seems like one is totally wasting their efforts. But then in the fifth year an amazing thing happens; The tree finally breaks the surface of the ground and in the space of five weeks grows to an astounding height of 90 feet. It is as if the tree grows right before a person’s eyes.

When I read of this amazing wonder of life, I can’t help but think of the time and effort we invest into our ministries, often without any evidence of growth or life. There have been many times I have personally invested my time, talent and finances into a person or ministry without evidence that it would pay off. There have been times, because of this, that I have given up on a person. Yet, there have also been times after giving up, that I have seen a breakthrough, and that person I worked with finally accepts a bible study. They finally come to church. They receive the Holy Ghost. Those years of hard work and effort finally pay off.

The Bible states;

Gal 6:7-9

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows, that  he will also reap.

8 For he that sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

9 And let us not grow weary while doing good: for in due season we shall reap, if we do not loose heart.

I have come to learn that God’s growing season is much like the Chinese Bamboo Tree. There isn’t anything typical about it. There is no rhyme or reason to it. We will never understand how God operates, we just need to understand, “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. I sometimes wonder if God placed the Chinese Bamboo Tree on earth for us to learn from.

What most people do not understand about the Chinese Bamboo Tree is that the growth is not all occurring during that five week span in the fifth year. But underneath the ground, the seed has actually sprouted within days of being planted. During those first four years this Bamboo Tree is actually growing a very strong, deep and extensive root system below the surface of the ground. This extensive root system is necessary to sustain the life of this amazing tree. One cannot see this growth with the naked eye, but one who understands plants knows exactly what is happening. They cannot see it, but they know the seed is growing. They keep feeding, watering and providing sunlight to it because they understand if they stop, this plant will die. This is a great picture of faith.

Those of us who truly understand God know that He is going to do what He promised He would do. Our faith in God is what keeps us going. We continue to invest our time and energy into his Kingdom because we understand that something is happening just beneath the surface. Whatever is happening beneath the surface is a necessary part of the answer. We may not see the answer today, but that doesn’t mean the answer is not being worked on today. Our faith in God gives us the patience to keep working and waiting until His answer does come.

James said it this way;

James 1:3

3 Knowing this, that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Heb 6:12

12 That you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Most of us have enough faith, but few of us have enough patience. I encourage you today to allow your faith to work patience in you. When you allow your faith and your patience to work together, God said, “you will inherit your promise!”  You will receive your answer. You will succeed.

Don’t quit now, you have come too far to turn back. Don’t give up. There is something happening just beneath the surface! Keep working. Keep watering. Keep witnessing. Keep praying. Keep serving. Keep giving, and “in due season you will  reap, if you don’t quit”

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails.

In First Corinthians 13:4-8, Paul describes the characteristics of agape love. God designed these verses to help you determine whether or not you are walking in this kind of supernatural love in your own life.

You can be sure that the agape love of God will never fail you or let you down. This love is constant, unchanging, and unbendable. It is a love you will always find to be reliable and true — a love on which you can depend.

God wants you to learn to function in His Agape Love, which is why the Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to write these amazing words in First Corinthians 13:4-8. This passage of Scripture is God’s mirror, designed for us to look into so we can see how well we fare at walking in the agape love of God.

Following is a compilation of the words in this passage. Carefully consider them; then ask yourself, do I pass the love test? Or does this reveal that I need to mature more in this part of my life?

The following is an expanded translation of First Corinthians 13:4-8 by Rick Renner:

• Love patiently and passionately bears with others for as long as patience is needed;
• Love doesn’t demand others to be like itself; rather, it is so focused on the needs of others that it bends over backwards to become what others need it to be;
• Love is not ambitious, self-centered, or so consumed with itself that it never thinks of the needs or desires that others possess;
• Love doesn’t go around talking about itself all the time, constantly exaggerating and embellishing the facts to make it look more important in the sight of others;
• Love does not behave in a prideful, arrogant, haughty, superior, snooty, snobbish, or clannish manner;
• Love is not rude and discourteous — it is not careless or thoughtless, nor does it carry on in a fashion that would be considered insensitive to others;
• Love does not manipulate situations or scheme and devise methods that will twist situations to its own advantage;
• Love does not deliberately engage in actions or speak words that are so sharp, they cause an ugly or violent response;
• Love does not deliberately keep records of wrongs or past mistakes;
• Love does not feel overjoyed when it sees an injustice done to someone else but is elated, thrilled, ecstatic, and overjoyed with the truth;
• Love protects, shields, guards, covers, conceals, and safeguards people from exposure;
• Love strains forward with all its might to believe the very best in every situation;
• Love always expects and anticipates the best in others and the best for others;
• Love never quits, never surrenders, and never gives up;
• Love never disappoints, never fails, and never lets anyone down.

After meditating on these verses, what is your answer? Are you walking in this kind of love?

Have you achieved the level of love that God wants you to have in your life? Do you manifest this type of love to others who are around you? Or do you now see that you still have areas in your life where you need to grow, develop, and change in regard to

This issue of God’s love in your life is so important. How you relate to others, love others, and impact others is the most important question in your life. Since this is such a vital issue, it’s worth your time to get into the Presence of the Lord and ask Him to reveal those areas in your love walk that need to be improved?

“Yes we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.” (2 Corinthians 1:9)

We all occasionally have places in our lives where we don’t know what to say, what to do, where to turn, or even how to pray. Sometimes it seems like we’ve come to the end and it seems like everything is finished. These are very difficult places

Through these kinds of experiences, you and I discover that in our own strength, we are no match for some of life’s problems. That’s why we must learn to depend on the power and wisdom of God!

This was the circumstance Paul experienced. By all appearances it looked like there was no way for them to escape or even to survive. It looked like they had come to the end; everything for him seemed to be finished. Death seemed to be the final verdict.

We have all had times in our life when it looked like it was the end of the road for us and our dreams? In those times it looks like there is no way out, so many problems are stacked against you that you think you can never survive what you were facing. This was the Apostles Paul’s situation. Death seemed to be imminent.

But in spite of how it looked, Paul didn’t die, nor did he fail at fulfilling the job God had given him. It may have looked like it was the end of the road, but it was really the beginning of a new supernatural flow of divine power into Paul’s life. That’s why he went on to say that through it all, he learned not to trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead.

Paul had been under such intense pressure that he felt death was unavoidable. Then right from the midst of this horrible situation, God’s power was released and Paul was rescued! Paul said it was as if he and his companions had been raised from the dead.

When you don’t know what else to do and when you have no one else to turn to, that’s usually when God’s resurrection power begins to operate in you to the greatest measure! You see, there’s no such thing as no hope. As long as there is a loving Heavenly Father you can call on, there is still hope for you! If you learn to rely on Him, what seemed to be the end place in your life that you’re facing right now can become a new beginning!

So call out to the Lord right now and expect Him to release His resurrection power on your behalf to turn your dead-end situation around! Declare that you do not trust in your own efforts or human thinking but in God and His life-giving power. Trust Him to perfect that which concerns you, and believe to see His life giving power made manifest in your life today!

When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.

Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.

(Source: mail.aol.com)