Friday, August 19, 2016

Praising God through the hard times


Praise God even through the hard times.

Do know this verse?

Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?"

I am reminded of that verse whenever fear and anxiety creeps up on me. Even the most faith-filled people still experience fear and anxiety. Look at Peter, he walked directly with Jesus, loved Jesus, experienced Jesus’ direct miracles, but yet he was said to have denied knowing Jesus. We can easily praise God when everything seems to be going well for us. We are driving around in our Mercedes, our mortgage is paid for the month, we have a new Chanel bag and all these materialistic things that can sometimes define us. Our job seems secure and we have health insurance and all the benefits available, life seems so peachy.

What happens when those things are taken away from you?

Do you know this verse?

Matthew 19:21 Jesus told him, " If you wish to be complete, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

 Things begin to turn for the worst, your company lays you off, they’ve decided to down size or hire another person for your position. Your car gets repossessed, you are running short on available cash to even pay your rent and put groceries in your kitchen. You begin to wonder, well, God what have I done to deserve this? I was faithful at church, I praised you, I worshiped. Why me?
Soon enough you get angry, you can’t find a job because no one is hiring you and you refuse to get a job at McDonald's. You question God and his existence, you begin to resent God, and then suddenly you have no motivation to even wake up from your bed. You start drowning yourself on social media and everyone else’s life. You are watching reality TV shows and all the terrors on the news. Your life has suddenly turned to hopelessness. You stop praising or worshiping and give up all together.

SISTER, SCREAM IT RIGHT NOW “ENOUGH!”

Your intentions are extremely important.

Ask yourself this question:
Were you praising God for what you can get out of Him?

It’s time for a reality check! Your life needs reexamination.

Do you know this verse?

Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me.”

It’s time to sell all your things and follow Him. When our intentions all along has been for our own self-glorification, we completely miss the point of following Jesus. You’ve placed material objects before God, you’ve placed your job before God. You've been a lukewarm Christian. God doesn’t want you to half way praise him, to only praise him when he is acting right. You’ve placed him in a kennel like a dog and brought him out for a walks when you felt like it. We are to put God before everything in our lives. We are to desire him at all cost.

Do you know this verse?

James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”.

When your faith is being tested, you will face many trails and obstacles, this is the ultimate time to begin to declare your victory. Your faith is an extreme factor when walking with Christ. This is the division battle, the ultimate strategy that separates the sheep from the goats. Are you totally in for Jesus no matter what your circumstances are? Are you ready to worship him fully without restrictions? Are you willing to leave the world behind and follow Christ? Even if you lose everything you own today, will you still follow Christ?

Believe me it is a huge responsibility to follow Him, but the reward is greater. I don’t know about you, but I certainly do not want to be the girl that was rejected at the doorway to heaven because I cared more about my Mercedes and Chanel than Jesus. These things are so temporary, they bring only satisfaction for a short period of time and if you are miserable, it will not fix your misery. But GOD will and we must submit to him in everything, by trusting him. Even when we are losing everything, we need to praise him more. Count it all joy, because the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Don’t get so attached to this materialistic world and lose your salvation. This is exactly the enemy’s strategy against us, to lure us into the pretty superficial things in the world and we lose focus on God.

You can do this! And yes you will!

Do you know this verse?

  HEBREW 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”.

So yes! You need to scream out loud right now “ENOUGH!” Get out of that bed you are laying on and wash your face and clean yourself up. Thank God for His love and grace. He will surely provide. Begin to believe and have faith that God will take you out of this mess and surely your mess will be your victory. When we place our faith in Him, and seek him diligently, we send a message to the enemy that our God will surely provide and we are not afraid of the illusions placed in front of us. We reject the circumstance of lack and begin to declare the word of God upon our life. We know that our God will never leave us or forsake us. We praise him more, worship him and desire a closer relationship with him.


Whatever you are going through today, remember that God is on your side. He makes all things work for the better for those who love and seek him. Do you know Jesus?

Pray this prayer:
Father in the name of Jesus, I ask you to come into my life. I make You my Lord and personal savior. I repent of my sins and I forgive those who have hurt me in my past. I want to know you more. Teach me your ways and make me new again. In Jesus’ name amen


P.S: I love you guys and I’m believing God for a miracle and breakthrough in your life.

You may read my prayer on fear and anxiety here
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Enjoy

2 comments:

:)thanks in advance, I truly enjoy reading all your comments. I hope we become friends
hugs and kisses. Osato