Disappointments

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. - Proverbs 13:12

Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God's greatest servants experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution, doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three years could be justified.

When life doesn't add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master's robe is all that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies!
~Longfellow

There is only one answer to life's disappointments. Like the psalmist, we must "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken" (Ps. 62:5-6).
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I know for each of us we have lived through many seasons of life.  We have known good times where we had so much joy and peace we felt it could never be snatched away.  However we also have been, or may are right now, in that place where our soul is begging for rest.  It is important to remember that God tells us to receive His promises and gifts.  That takes action by us.  Remember that God tells us to kick the dust from our shoes when we are among those that do not desire to share in the peace we offer and then to "take" our peace with us as we leave.  These are also actions initiated by us.  Christ told many individuals that they were healed by their faith not by rituals done etc.  Again, this is prompted by an action of the individual.

We are constantly reminded of Ephesians 6 with our groups ( go into the archives and or search area and type "stand" for more encouragement).  I prayerthat we all be empowered by His will and that the supernatural presence of His spirit enables our success'. Along with this I am copying Ephesians 6: 14-18 (GWT) this is the action we must take!
With Love,
Candace

So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God’s approval as your breastplate. Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace. In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also take salvation as your helmet and the word of God as the sword that the Spirit supplies. Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people.

Where Christ is There is Liberty

I praise God that His words are faithful and true.  I praise God that He had a plan to bring all things to the focus of Christ - that He is the word, God's word in the flesh.  I thank Him that His word is alive, living right here within us and eternal.  I thank Him that He discloses all things to us so that we can comprehend that it is His word living out moment by moment within us and around us as we converse with ourselves and others that determines the position and countenance of physical and spiritual lives.

I believe what He says, I trust what He promises and I will stand on it - what about you?

In 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV) God states "The weapons we fight with are not weapons of this world.  On the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds."

How can we read that and not grab hold of the liberty with hope and joy - the only way is if we don't believe it.  OUCH!  So I am leaving off with The Message translation of 2 Corinthians 10: 3-6.  I pray for us all, we need to do that all day long.  We are one body - every part of us effects the whole whether we know the entire body or not.  Let's grow to see that, let's embrace what God knows.  Let's be mature in Christ so that He can receive in full what He suffered so much to obtain.  He already paid for it, we are just slow to allow Him to have it in His possession fully.

God bless each and every one of you - in Love,
Candace

3-6The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

Trusting God's Story as Truth

We know from yesterday’s verses that God put the greater and lesser lights in the governing positions. He stated that this was Good.


Let’s break down some of the verses from yesterday and relate them to other scriptures in context in order to go a bit deeper with understanding God’s way of comprehending, discerning and living out or journey’s.

Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Yesterday in our group meeting we were speaking about spiritual warfare, speaking God’s truth into our battles and waiting on God to show us the proper plan/ way out.

I would like to support this with Ephesians Chapter 6:9-20 (using GWT).

Masters, treat your slaves with respect. Don’t threaten a slave. You know that there is one master in heaven who has authority over both of you, and he doesn’t play favorites.

Finally, receive your power from the Lord and from his mighty strength. Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil’s strategies. This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with rulers, authorities, the powers who govern this world of darkness, and spiritual forces that control evil in the heavenly world. For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground. So then, take your stand! Fasten truth around your waist like a belt. Put on God’s approval as your breastplate. Put on your shoes so that you are ready to spread the Good News that gives peace. In addition to all these, take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Also take salvation as your helmet and the word of God as the sword that the Spirit supplies. Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. Use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God’s people. Also pray that God will give me the right words to say. Then I will speak boldly when I reveal the mystery of the Good News. Because I have already been doing this as Christ’s representative, I am in prison. So pray that I speak about this Good News as boldly as I have to.

In Matthew 4 we see Christ utilizing all these principles. Christ went before us to show us: what to believe, how it will help us, and allow us to have the faith to persevere.

Verses 1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, “MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU'; and ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'" Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.'" Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

God tells us that we have cloud of witnesses around us. He tells us He will never leave us alone or abandon us. He also tells us that the angels harken after His word. So we should believe that we stand against or up to the evil in our midst as Christ did speaking the truth appropriately. The governing power of this world is darkness, how deep that darkness is I have no idea….and do not care to find out. What I do know is that he comes to tempt us to “choose in free will” to give up, cave in and quit – “lay down like a doormat and let things trample over us- without speaking the power of the Lord God Almighty’s truth. He tries to make us tire out before we pick up our armor. Don’t do it. As Ephesians 6:13 states:

For this reason, take up all the armor that God supplies. Then you will be able to take a stand during these evil days. Once you have overcome all obstacles, you will be able to stand your ground.”

Listen ...

Today, the winds of change are blowing.  Today, listen to all the watchmen and what they say.  Know that the Lord is Almighty.  Trust in the divinity of His hand. The destruction is counted and measure, the debris will be swept from your path.  Do not look around you at the devestation, keep your eyes set on the horizon of your path.  Today know that He loves you and His tears rain down as a summer shower.  He is your deliverance and power to make it.  He is prompt and fulfilling for your good.  Trust Him, be watchful and waiting at times you will not want to speak.  You will know from his prompting...the one in your midst for your needs.

I love you all....all is well.  Say that and believe.
With a Holy Kiss and the Heart of Christ,
Candace

Proper Prospective by the Water’s Edge

– Reflections of a still heart

Be still my child; know that I am God
Stretch out your arm and reach for my hand
I have been calling you through all time; whispering gently “your name”
Sitting beside the still waters; which calmly run through your path
Here all tension is drifting, as you grasp to hold firm my hand

Rest as deep as the waters; which have no beginning nor will they end
Twisting, turning rolling inward then flowing over and out
All time is a continuum in motion; plunging deep while running at my speed
Years folding into seconds, the sorrowful desire to turn back the hand of time
I desire to wash away their broken memories; there is a lesson to for all to learn.

To return a wave, requires an earth movement; for man this is impossible to achieve
My hand, however, has strength and power; things your mind cannot comprehend
To stop the world from turning, you must watch closely to understand.

As I think, it surely happens, because my love knows no bounds
When flowing as life giving water it quenches the driest of sand
My time is the distant shoreline; the boundary for us all
Its water the lifeless’ lifeblood; running throughout each soul
My knowledge is everlasting power, the heartbeat understands
My energy is pure motion, pumping my lives over and beyond
My spirit propels each vision, empowering good and halting bad.

Sit by my still waters; come near to contemplate life
Listen to the distant babbling, of all the years we’ve passed by
Listen to only their laughter, forget all of their pain
My joy is through the Holy Spirit and peace is in my right hand

Lengthen your own shoreline, take the pure water in
Deepen your own tide pool, this way you will understand
Dive in with a deep breath, then kick hard to reach the top
Breath in all that freshness, allow your face to burst through the wet
Emerge in me a new life form, truly cleansed now from your past,
In beauty to walk as the righteous, upright and straight ahead

Now you can see forward, when looking as you wave goodbye
So wait for proper prospective, before standing to leave them behind
Always focus your pathway, designed from my trusted lead
Follow the heavenly highway, perfectly designed to carry you home
Together we will share this journey, it’s a walk to remember and enjoy.
By Candace Huffmaster ©

Story To Be Told

We are continuing on with "God's Story being told" today.  In the scriptures from Isaiah 48 we want to look at verse 6 specifically.

"You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I proclaim to you new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known".

In verses 4 and 5 He was saying that He told us everything before hand because He knew we were obstinate.  We have looked at our defiant natures several times.  Today I would like to look at our nature from God's view point. 

In understanding what He meant from all the verses we have been through,  we realize He has been disclosing everything to us bit by bit.  For instance His story starts from the very beginning.  He did not start us in the middle of what was going on.  He tells us step by step creation as well as the reason for it.  In the verse 4 and 5 He is reiterating the reason for this.  "Because we are Obstinate"  The word because tells it all.  It means the reason for the condition.  The only reason God would painstakingly and repeatedly tell us things is because He love us.  He desires a better life for us.  He desire a relationship with us.  He tells us that we do not have a high priest that cannot understand our dilemma.  Why would He allow Christ to suffer...because He loves us and cares for us.  We know He says He first loved us.  Do you believe that?  We know a lot of information about God, we say be believe it.  God stated in this verse that He did all this because He "knew".  The Hebrew word that we derive this from is Yada, meaning to know by experience.  It also means to discern be acquainted.  These are living words not black and white.  They are rich, full of experiential knowledge.  When we "know" things about God do we know them in this way?  Look at what the verse below states about this type of "knowledge"

I Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

Below I have put a few select verses on Love.  We know that love covers a multitude of sins.  We will be picking up here tomorrow.

Be blessed...BeCause you are Blessed.  My prayer is that today you walk under His cover this day and Know what He knows...in all ways.

With Love,
Candace
 
Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

John 14:21"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

John 13:34"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Gephyrophobia, the Fear of Bridges

Hebrews 12:1 (GWTW) Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up.

We have looked at Hebrews 11 many times over the past year. Anyone that I have mentored over the past 5 years knows my deep gratitude for what God has shared with us through the faithful family history folded between the pages within the book of Hebrews. To paraphrase a few verses from chapter 11 as to not restate its entirety: I could keep talking about it because I seem not to be able to exhaust their faithful efforts or to tire of seeing the effect it has as it passes throughout generations. I too am enthralled with what I see on the horizon, desiring to keep the road behind and ahead well marked for others to follow”

So, today I desire to add a connecting piece to some of the perspectives we have been viewing. Between the verses in Chapter 11 and the verses in Chapter 12, which entwines all our topics on running the race, not being crushed and standing in the fullness of Christ, we have this beautiful verse of instruction. It is the bridge that connects these two continents of wisdom.

If Hebrews 12:1 is a bridge telling us we must get rid of everything that slows us down….especially sin that distracts us. We must look at the functionality of a bridge to put it in perspective.

Let’s think about what a bridge is utilized for, it is the intersecting point where we have to decide if we are going to take action. This action is movement, in the form of actually walking across to the other side. We have to decide it is time to walk away from the land of knowledge and facts. We must step out of the safety zone of the land from where we have been and actually walk across the bridge in faith that the land we have heard about will actually be there when we arrive.

Think about what is beneath that bridge. It must not have been an area that could be traveled without someone understanding what it took to safely be transported to the new land. Yet we did not see the engineer that built it. We have heard and seen others have made it. So we go… without hesitation.

We will be discussing this point by point for the next few weeks.

I pray that we will think about the land we are in asking for God’s perspective of the things we have seen; heard and experienced – looking unto Jesus…he is the author and finisher of our faith. To Him be all the glory always in all ways.

Kisses,
Candace

Do you believe more in Jesus or the Devil?

That sounds ludicrous to even ask; doesn’t it? Well what are we really stating when we doubt when we should have faith? We become afraid or worried in situations that Gods word says we should believe He is faithful and true. Don’t you think God is saying “Why do you doubt; that’s ludicrous!”

I pray that we come to each situation, cast down our false imagination and see the truth, which is Christ….and then STAND!
With Love of Christ,
Candace

He Doesn’t Stand A Chance

READ: Ephesians 6:10-18
He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. —1 John 4:4

In 2004, Josh Hamilton was an outstanding pro baseball prospect, but he was suspended because of drug abuse. Then one night Josh had a life-changing dream. He was fighting the devil. “I had a stick,” he said, “and every time I hit him, he’d fall and get back up. I hit him until I was exhausted, and he was still standing.”

After that nightmare, Hamilton vowed to stay clean. The dream returned, but with an important difference. “I would hit [the devil] and he would bounce back,” said Josh. But this time Josh was not alone. He said, “I turned my head and Jesus was battling alongside me. We kept fighting, and I was filled with strength. The devil didn’t stand a chance.”

The Bible says that the devil doesn’t stand a chance because the Spirit, who is in us, is greater than he is (1 John 4:4). Christ came to destroy the works of the devil through His life, ministry, and sacrifice (3:8). At the cross, He disarmed and triumphed over the devil (Col. 1:13-14; 2:15).

Though defeated by the cross, the devil remains active in this world. But his final defeat is certain (Rev. 20:7-10). Until then, we take up the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18), standing firm against him by Jesus’ blood and His Word. He doesn’t stand a chance. — Marvin Williams

And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us. —Luther

The devil is a defeated foe.