Wait On The Lord

Have you ever prayed for something then decided God was taking too long? Or, maybe God wasn’t doing things the way you wanted them to be done, so you decided to help him out.

Well, believe it or not, God never has and never will need our help.

Now I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I hear from God I want to see, and expect to see results immediately. As a matter of fact one day God said to me, you can be excited, but don’t be anxious. I guess He knows, well of course He does. He knows how I am. He knows that I can be impatient, and He wants me to learn to wait on Him.

Psalm 24:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Oftentimes the decisions we make are out of desperation. Our heart may be weakened from stress, or worry. We don’t know how a matter may turn out, we are concerned, so we act based on fear of the unknown rather than waiting on God.  

Psalm 37:34 Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

Psalm 37:9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

God will bring to pass what He has in store for us, and we will witness the demise, or ill will that may come to those that mock our belief in Him.

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 49:23… and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

When we wait on God things will come to pass exactly the way He wants them to come to pass. We will not be ashamed, disappointed or embarrassed by the outcome that He has for us. We will be strengthen by our trust in God. We will persevere and we will prevail.

God’s plan is God’s plan. It doesn’t matter how we try to help him out or manipulate things. Lamentations 3:37 Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?

To listen to the message in its entirety click on the link below and select Wait on The Lord

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Determination

Last week we talked about believing is doing, and how when we have faith or believe, we will do. We will place action behind our faith or what it is that we believe.

Several weeks ago we talked about the sower sowing the seed, and how when the seed is sown the thief comes immediately to steal it. As you hear the word each week and make a decision to act on what you are hearing don’t be surprised if the very thing you hear you will be tested on. For as we read in Mark 4:15 and these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

Don’t let the words that you hear be taken away by Satan. Be a doer and not a hearer only.

How many times have you made a decision that you were going to do something, or that you were going to act on the word that you have head. You say to yourself or maybe even someone else, this time I’m serious, or this time I’m sticking with it.

As we talk about sharing what you are going to do with someone else I want to say two things. Oftentimes it helps to share what you are going to do with someone else. That person can help hold you accountable. It’s easy to disappoint yourself, but not quite as easy to disappoint someone else. We never want to hear I told you so, I thought you said, or when are you going to.

I’ve shared with you how I would tell my mother all of my great ideas, and how she would ask me are you going to finish it this time.

Her words are still with me today, and when I speak with her sisters they remind me of her words, and how proud of me she would be to know that I am pressing forward.

The second thing I want to say about sharing what you are doing is, be careful with whom you share. Everyone is not going to be as enthusiastic as you are about what you are doing. Some people may not even understand what you are doing or why you are doing it. They may even try to talk you out of doing whatever it is you are going to do. Never allow anyone to dissuade you.

Romans 8:30-31 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

For a guide on how to share and with whom you can share safely I recommend the Power to Speak Out Loud guide which can be found in my book, Secret Thoughts, Things We Are Afraid To Say Out Loud.

Determination is the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.

If we have made up our minds that we are going to act out on our faith or what we believe, that we are going to be doers and not hearer only, then we must be determined and hunker down and do so.

To listen to the message in its entirety click on the link below and select Determined

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Believing Is Doing

Are you a doer or just a believer? If you believe without following through are you really a believer?

As Christians we are often referred to as believers.

One definition of believe is to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so.

Well we know Jesus is the way the truth and the life and our confidence is in Him. I’m going to change this definition of believe somewhat to read the reliability of someone instead of something, with that someone being God. And I will replace without absolute proof that one is right, because our faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And as believers, we are right in having our belief or faith in God.

We read in James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, or act on what you have heard, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. You’re not fooling anyone, you’re only fooling yourself when you are not acting on what you hear, or what you say you believe. And you’re certainly not fooling God.

It’s kind of like me telling myself I’m going to exercise when I come home from work. I am morning person. When I exercise I exercise in the morning before going to work. I can count the number of times on one hand that I have actually exercised after work. It’s just not going to happen, so why waste my time even saying I’m going to do it. I’m only deceiving myself.

What about you? Are you deceiving yourself? Are you hearing the word but not acting on it, or acting like you believe it?

We also read in James 2:26 …so faith without works is dead also.

If you don’t have works, or place action behind your faith or belief, then your faith or belief has no merit.

When you truly believe you will act, or as I like to say, you will act like it’s so. I must say I’m guilty of not always acting like it’s so. I have my moments of believing without acting. But when you think about it, what do you actually have to lose by putting action behind your faith? You have nothing to lose, and a whole lot to gain.

You see, we can’t act on what we believe without knowing in whom we believe. Our belief represents our faith and as we read in Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

As I just mentioned, you have a whole lot to gain!

Now let me ask you this. Why is it so easy for us to place action behind what we think we know rather than what we believe, or what our faith tells us?

To listen to the message in its entirety click on the link below and select Doing is Believing

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We Win

Would you approach your journey, the roles you are given, your job or jobs, career or tasks, your relationships differently if you knew how each of them would turn out?

Well I’m going to let you in on a little secret…we win!

Over two thousand years ago, long before any of our ancestors were born, someone that knew all about us gave His life for us. This person knew every thought we would think, every word we would speak, and every step we would take. He knew everything that we would do, the good, the bad, the illegal, and the immoral. He knew the victories and the pitfalls that would come our way. In spite of all each of us would do that was contrary to who He is, He knew us, He saw us, He forgives us and He loves us.

To hear more about God’s unconditional love for us I recommend you get a copy of my spoken word track, I knew You.

God wants us to know that the time has come for us to take our rightful place in His kingdom. He wants us to recognize who we are and whose we are. He wants us to walk in the victory that He willingly gave His life for us to have.

We are not worthy in ourselves of His great sacrifice, but His grace enables us to receive the sacrifice and justifies our worthiness through His shed blood. When we ignore, or refuse to accept His sacrifice we commit a huge injustice.

You may say, well I do recognize Christ died for me. Are you living in victory, or are you living in defeat?  Do you have the same mind that is in Christ Jesus? If you are walking around doubting your victory, saying I can’t do this and I can’t do that. If you are saying you don’t know how you will make it, but will not say “Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief,” then you are refusing to accept Christ’s sacrifice.

We live in a carnal body with carnal thoughts, so of course when there is a physical ailment, or when the enemy sends his fiery darts towards our mind there will be times when we may think or even say ‘this is too much.’ But even during those times, even when things seem to be impossible we still have hope. That hope is our ever present help. That hope and that help is Jesus. 

You see, Jesus is never further away from us than we are from ourselves. What does that mean? It means He lives within us, so He is always present, and nothing can separate us from His love, which is Him.

Paul said in Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To listen to the message in its entirety click on the link below and select We Win

http://www.gretahillman.com/#!audiovideo/cd8l

Join the Sisters Steadfast in Faith meetup group at http://www.meetup.com/Sisters-Steadfast-in-Faith/ RSVP for our Empowered 2 Excel Calls Thursdays at 7p.m.EST, Dial 641-715-3610 access code 215480