Stop Tryin' to Change the Ppl You Love

 

 

 

God is at work within you, helping you want to obey Him, and then helping you do what He wants. Philippians 2:13

Stop trying to change the people you love and change yourself. Stop trying to change people who would take your money but won't take your advice. You will only drain your own mental, spiritual, emotional and financial reserves.

 

The truth is ... people change when they are sick and tired of being sick and tired or hit rock bottom. If you're dealing with addiction or irresponsible behavior from grown adults ... protect your wallet and your mind. It doesn't mean you don't love them. Your attempts to help may only delay what is inevitable.

 

Allow them to take the journey they have chosen for themselves. Pray for them, fervently. Choose to let go of the guilt and be at peace. You may require counseling or emotional support to stop being an enabler. If necessary, give yourself some distance so that you can stop being used or manipulated because they know that you care and you love them.

 

You have the right to enjoy a guilt-free, happy and productive life. Commit yourself to changing the only person you really can - YOU.

 

Father, bring our loved ones to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver them from anything (or anyone) that has them bound. You're the One that does the work, in cooperation with the person. Not us. Show us our part and help us to not get in Your way as You do Your part. Mend our relationships with them. Love on them. In Jesus' name, amen.

 

 

 

 see also:  Believing for a Loved One  and  Hands Off



 

Do You Know Jesus?

 Do you have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ?

Whether you are married, single, divorced, separated, or even engaged to be married, Jesus longs to be your Husband and best friend - the closest you will ever have or find that will never leave you or forsake you, no matter what.

Most important of all, He wants to be your Savior and Deliverer.

1 Thessalonians 5:9/AMP - For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His) salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

You see, Father God sent His Son Jesus so that we may have eternal life. He died on the cross and rose again. And He's coming back soon for His children.

Would you like to be considered His child, His bride, His friend? If so, pray this simple prayer:
 
Father, I come to you. I thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to take the punishment for my sins. Forgive me of them. I know that He died and rose again, just for me. Because He loves me. Come into my life, Jesus, and take control. Help me to renew my mind and refuse to believe the lies of the enemy any more. Let me be led by Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues. Thank you that You will never leave me or forsake me. Thank You for peace amidst the frustrations and stresses of this world. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Congratulations on your new life with Jesus!

Get into a good, Bible-based church. Get a Bible and read it as often as you can. Worship Him. Expect your Savior to speak to you, lead you, guide you, comfort you, provide for you, protect you, and be with you until the end of the world.
 
God bless you!

 


But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness; and all these
things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

 
 
 
 

Hands Off

Confess: As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

Pray against: Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of Me. Matthew 10:21,22





Don’t give up on the people you love. Circumstances make it seem hopeless sometimes, but that's just the enemy working through your loved ones, it's not them. Sad to say, those who are closest to us are usually the ones who wind us hurting us the most ... they think we'll be there no matter what.

If you have people in your life that don't know the Lord or that treat you and/or those around you bad, don't argue and fight with them. That's just what the enemy wants. Instead, pray for them because those who mistreat are usually hurting. Pray that the Lord shows you their heart and gives you insight to know how to pray and that He brings healing to them. Choose to forgive them (whether you feel like it or not) and let the Lord deal with them. He can do a lot of work when we take our hands off people and let God have them.

Your patient love and faithfulness may be exactly what they need to make a complete turnaround. Don't you go giving up on them or on God's power and ability to change them. It doesn't matter how much hate is in a person, or what they may be struggling with ... He can do ALL things, nothing's impossible with Him.

NO ONE is too far gone or beyond the reach of a loving Father's touch.

Father, help us to be a loving witness and example that leads others to Your grace and mercy, which will bring change for the better. Help us all to be able to get along and treat each other with respect. Give us hearts to love and forgive. Devil ... get your grubby paws off our family, friends and relationships, 'cause you CAN'T have 'em ... I curse you and command you and your attacks to go back to hell where you came from. In Jesus' name, amen.




see also: Believing for a Loved One?

The Gift within the Gift

 

The
GIFT
is
JESUS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Savior, Jesus Christ was the gift that our Father God gave to us. There were 7 gifts that Jesus brought us with the gift of Himself.

1) He's our Salvation

    Luke 2:11 - For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

2) He's our Redeemer

    Galations 3:13 - Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for
    us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).

    Galations 4:4-6 - But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a
    woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might
    receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His
    Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’

3) He’s our Healer

    Psalm 103:3 - Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.

    Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

4) He’s our Deliverer

    Romans 11:26 - And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of
    Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob’.

5) He’s our Wisdom

    Isaiah 11:1-3 - There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out
    of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and
    understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
    Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor
    decide by the hearing of His ears.

6) He’s our Counselor and Our Peace

    Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon
    His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
    Prince of Peace.

7) He’s our Soon Coming King

    Acts 1:11 - Who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same
    Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go
    into heaven.’

    Matt 16:27 - For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He
    will reward each according to his works.

    Matt 24:27 - For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the
    coming of the Son of Man be.

    1 Thessalonians 4:16,17 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
    voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then
    we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
    Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Jesus gives peace that the world cannot give. He’s the King of King’s and Lord of Lord’s.

People say that Jesus was born to die. That is true. But He was also born to rise again. He sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us and will soon return and draw those who belong with Him in Heaven.










My Pastor, Rev. Wanda Meadows, preached this sermon this past Sunday and I wanted to share it.

Believing for a Loved One?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3,4




The Lord has really been good to me, I AM so grateful that He spared me from the road I was traveling on. God's no respecter of persons. What He did for me, He CAN do for your loved ones.

The best advice that I can give is to not grow weary. Do what you know to do (pray and be supportive). What's left after having done all is to STAND. The Lord is loving and cares for our loved ones deeply, and He knows just how to reach each one. The Lord's gonna be patient and wait for them to come to Him for help, just like we all have to. We all have to get to that point of desperation. I know that our heavenly Father is pleased with us, sees and feels our heart, and will answer our prayers in His timing. We can't rush the work of the Father.

Our loved ones are really blessed to have people like us in their life, who loves them and hasn't given up, even if everyone else has. We're doing right when we aren't judging or rejecting them... just loving them ... LOVE WINS ONE OUT.

LOVE WON ME OUT.

Prayer: Father God, I pray that You woo our loved ones by way of the Holy Spirit. Draw them to You. Love on them. Be there for them. Help them to call out for You, for You have never rejected those who seek Your face. Minister to them, love the hurts and pains of the past away, take away ungodly addictions, help them to live for You. Keep them safe from all harm and be gentle with them as You work to reach them. Help us to know our part, be loving and supportive (but not enabler of ungodly actions or addictions) and give us peace and renew our hope as we wait on You to move ... suddenly. In Jesus' name, amen.

The Unpardonable Sin

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9




If you're worried you committed the unpardonable sin (rejection of Christ forever) you probably haven't, if you had you wouldn't care.

Hearing the thought in my head that I'd committed the unpardonable sin kept me from seeking Jesus FOR YEARS, stupid devil. I still remember when I first heard the lie. I was about seven, and I was sitting in the back seat of my parents station wagon. It was night time. I heard the lie in my head so loud that I'd committed the unpardonable sin that I could have sworn that everyone in the car heard it, too. Scared me half to death. I believed the lie. I received the guilt. Ashamed, I buried the thoughts, didn't think I could ever talk to or come to Jesus (even though occasionally I tried), and didn't tell anyone about it for years. Every now and then when I tried to talk to Jesus, I'd remember the words I heard all over again and feel hopeless and like I was unworthy to approach Him.

Years later, as the Holy Spirit started wooing me, I began to hear a bombardment of the lies that I'd committed the unpardonable sin again. And right behind it came this voice, which I now know was coming from the Holy Spirit and I just knew I was supposed to say it aloud when I heard it. I heard, and confessed 'If there's even a 1% chance that I didn't commit the unpardonable sin I've still got a chance to serve Jesus and go to Heaven. I'm gonna take that chance.' Keep in mind, that in hearing this voice I hadn't even dedicated my life to the Lord yet. But saying it gave me power to believe there was STILL hope for me ... and there was.

I'm leaving you well and whole. That's My parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left - feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught. John 14:27

I used to be in the clubs every night boozing and partying. Bless His heart, the Holy Spirit, tried so hard to get through to me any way He could. When I would be getting dressed and ready to go clubbing, He started telling me 'I love you.' I thought it was satan lying to me trying to get me to serve him. So I'd say back to the voice, 'I rebuke you satan, in the name of Jesus' ('cause I had a Christian upbringing). The Holy Spirit would say, 'I love you, MICHELLE.' I'd say, 'That ain't gonna work, I rebuke you satan, in the name of Jesus.' I just knew in my heart, wounded as it was, that Jesus certainly couldn't love ME. God forgive me, I was rebuking God because the voice was His, not satans. The Holy Spirit followed me right in to the clubs - I would be out on the dance floor, where I was so often, and it would be like there all of a sudden was no one on the floor but me (alone in the crowd). I felt so out of place. It was becoming less and less fun. The Holy Spirit was trying to change my desires, so that the wrong I was doing would no longer be fun for me, so that I'd see the void & need for Him that I was trying to fill with other things.

Looking back I love how the Holy Spirit kept working with me, refusing to give up on me, being patient, till I came to Him. It actually took severe heart and breathing problems to get me to the point of desperation (stupid stubborness) and to call out on my Jesus and ask Him to come into my heart (for the second time - the first time was twenty years earlier - I didn't stay in the Word and went back to my old self after a week).

God will NEVER give up on us. God still loves us even when things go wrong, He's still our Father and He still loves us.

The enemy's tactic - draw us away from God by planting seeds of doubt - RESIST. Don't live under the guilt and fear like I did, any longer ... Christ WILL NOT cast out any who come to Him with a sincere heart.

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (drive away). John 6:37

Ultimately, rejecting Christ forever is the only way we can commit the unpardonable sin - come to Jesus and repent if you need to.

The Lord knows how to reach each of us.

Father, I pray that You quieten the voice of the enemy. Help us to trust and focus on Your voice alone, give us discernment for it. Remove any guilt that we've committed the unpardonable sin after we confess our sins to You. In Jesus' name, amen.

How's That Waiting Thing Working Out for You?

Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 / Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7 / Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5




Don't you just enjoy a nice, long WAIT? Oh, if we could have simple faith in our heavenly Father, that He's going to take care of our needs and rescue us when we need it. So often, we either don't believe He's going to come through for us (and why, because deep down we know He ALWAYS does), or we don't think He's going to do it for us like He would someone else.

What God does IN US while we wait, is as important as WHAT WE ARE WAITING FOR. There's important growth that can only happen to us in these times when we suffer through long periods of waiting. God knows waiting is good for us. AS WE WAIT, He's at work in us ... molding us and shaping us ... maturing us.

The people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. It helped them to grow up. He took away their pride and proved that He would provide for them. God wanted them to reach the Promised Land, but He was more concerned that they arrive PREPARED than that they arrive SOON.

Remember how the Lord your God has led you in the desert for these forty years, taking away your pride and testing you, because He wanted to show what was in your heart. He took away your pride when He let you get hungry and then He fed you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had ever seen. This was to teach you that a person does not live by only eating bread, but by everything the Lord says. During these forty years, your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell. Know in your heart that the Lord your God corrects you as a parent corrects a child. Deuteronomy 8:2-4

We need to learn to be PATIENT. Often we want God's resources, but we don't want His timing. We want His hand, but we don't want His calendar. We forget His work in us while we wait, which is as important as what we're waiting for. We must learn to trust that God knows what He's doing.

Maybe you're single and you feel a legitimate longing for intimacy. You're tired of being alone. Waiting is so hard and maybe there's a relationship at your fingertips that promises to take that loneliness away but you know that it's not honoring to God. You know in your heart this isn't the right person for you ... but you are tempted to think, I've been waiting long enough. I'm going to reach out for whatever satisfaction I can get in this life and worry about the consequences later. But when we're faced with times like this we must find the courage to WAIT on God and to be patient and trust His timing to say, Ok God, I will take You at Your Word. I will not get mixed up with a relationship that I know would dishonor You and bring damage to the souls of those involved. Even though I don't know what tomorrow holds and even though I sometimes feel like nobody in this world understands how painful it is to be alone, I will trust You. I will wait. (FYI - I'm not looking for anyone, this is an example.)

Maybe you've been ill for a long time, and you've almost exhausted yourself at the feet of Jesus, waiting for the illness, pain and suffering to lift. Know that God works all things together for good and He's not only going to manifest the healing that He's already provided for you, He's going to bring some other good things from that trial as well ... like the fact that people are encouraged when you go through instead of giving up, and giving you compassion to pray for others in similiar situations. (FYI - I am awaiting healing in several areas of my health.)

We may be tempted to take things into our own hands, but we must learn to trust our God, to say with the Psalmist, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in Your hands (Psalm 31:14,15). We must cling to Jesus' promise in Luke 18:7 where He said, God will always give what is right to His people who cry to Him night and day, and He will not be slow [according to His perfect timing] to answer them. When we experience seemingly endless times of waiting we need the patience of the man who prayed, God, I cannot grasp Your mind, but with my whole heart I trust Your love.

We need to be HUMBLE. To wait for someone is to realize that I'm not in control. I'm not calling the shots; the timing is not up to me. To grow in times of waiting on God we must remember that we are not in charge. We're the creature. He is the Creator. He is the Potter. We are the clay. This is the principle that Proverbs 3:34 refers to when it says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It's right that we should wait on Him for when we trust God with this kind of quiet humility we are saying that we understand that He is able to take care of us in the waiting times. God's God and we're not. He sees the big picture and we can't.

We need to have an inextinguishable HOPE. Hope believes that things will get better eventually. It gives us the strength to endure until tomorrow again and again. Romans 5:3-5 says, Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. Hope is the fuel that keeps a person going in tough times. While waiting, we need to act on what we know, obeying God as though we can see the outcome. When we do this we become more confident in His instruction, more hope filled people.

Thomas Merton wrote, 'The more we seek God in daily prayer; the more we study His Word; the more we trust Him enough to follow His commands ... the more we see that He is worthy of our trust and then the more hopeful we can be - even in times of waiting.

We don't get to know God and then do His will. We get to know Him more deeply BY DOING His will. We enter into an active relationship with Him. And in this relationship we develop a faith that is ... sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1), a faith that is confident that He who began a good work [in our lives] will carry it on to completion no matter how long it takes (Philippians 1:6).

Wait ... patiently. For it's in the waiting that we gain our strength (Isaiah 40:31).

Prayer: Father, I pray that even though I may be having a tough time waiting on You, You will help me to find peace in Your timing and Your ways. Give me the hope and the strength that I need to continue, and to make right choices. Help me not to grow weary in well doing. In Jesus' name, amen.

Lord

Philippians 2:10,11 - At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells us that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

One day, everyone in every corner of the world will recognize His power and authority over everything. Either willingly or unwillingly, everyone will one day admit that Jesus is God and Master over all.

Don't wait - bow your heart and life to Jesus and confess that He is Lord.

Prayer: Father, I pray that You woo us by way of the Holy Spirit. Lead us to repentance. Draw us close to You. Help us to call You Lord and Savior, for You are worthy. Give us grace to follow You and to be obedient. We submit ourselves to You, completely and relinquish control. In Jesus name, Amen.