FACING LIONS

Two explorers were on a jungle safari when suddenly a ferocious lion jumped in front of them. "Keep calm" the first explorer whispered. "Remember what we read in that book on wild animals? If you stand perfectly still and look the lion in the eye, he will turn and run." "Sure," replied his companion. "You've read the book, and I've read the book. But has the lion read the book?"
When we experience excessive stress, whether from internal worry or external circumstance a bodily reaction is triggered, called the "fight or flight" response. Originally discovered by the great Harvard physiologist Walter Cannon, this response is hard-wired into our brains and represents a genetic wisdom designed to protect us from bodily harm. This response actually corresponds to an area of our brain called the hypothalamus, which when stimulated initiates a sequence of nerve cell firing and chemical release that prepares our body for running or fighting. 
Our world is filled with many lions. Many times when we come face to face with those lions, as humans we start to feel a sense of fear. Our "flight or fight" response starts to kick in and the first thing we want to do is head for the hills. Fear can paralyze us and prevent us from moving forward to where God wants to takes us in our spiritual and natural life. God's word tell us in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." The Greek word for spirit used here is Pneuma. This word means:the disposition or influence which fills and governs the soul,the vital principal by which the body is animated, the rational spirit, the power by which the human being feels, thinks, and decides.
In other words the way we respond, confront, make decisions to situations in our lives should not be done in fear, because fear is not of God. But what happened then to flight or fight?  Flight or fight has to do with immediate physical danger. There are times in our lives when our disposition, our feelings tell us to flee when we should be fighting. It is interesting that medically speaking Pneuma is an appendix (word part) for air and lungs.
Your lungs bring fresh oxygen into your body and remove the carbon dioxide and other waste gases that your body's doesn't need. Too much carbon dioxide can poison the blood cells. Although some forms of fear are necessary for survival, fear in regards to our future or in the midst of trials can poison our spiritual growth. 2 Timothy tells us that God has given us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. In other words God has given us the ability to rid ourselves things that can poison our faith such as fear. For those of us who have received Christ Jesus as our personal Savior, His Spirit comes and takes up residency in us and, literally, the soundness of His mind overtakes us. We don’t have to go it alone, and we should not go it alone. It’s in our weakness that God gives us strength, but we must realize that we’re not qualified by what we have or do, but by the spirit of God inside of us.
What are you fearing at this moment. What lion are you facing? Financial fear, fear of your future, fear of starting a new job, illness, a new home, marriage etc.. God has given you a spirit of love. 1 John 4:18 (New International Version), ¹⁸ "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." God has given you a spirit of power. The word power in Greek in Dunamis which mean (miraculous) power, might, strength, physical power, force, ability, efficacy, energy, plur: powerful deeds, deeds showing (physical) power, marvelous works. What ever you are facing right now,  a new job or career, illness, financial struggles, problems in your marriage, what ever it may be. God will give you the ability, efficiency, strength, energy to excel and to face it victoriously,  because greater is He that is in you that he that is in the world. Even if you are facing the uncertainty of your future,  you can face it with out fear because God is already there. God has also given you a sound mind.  This phrase is taken from the Greek word sophroneo, which is a compound word combining sodzo and phroneo. The Greek word sodzo means to be saved or delivered. It suggests something that is delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and now safe and secure. This suggests that the word sodzo could actually depict a person who was on the verge of death but then was revived and resuscitated because new life was breathed into him.

The second part of the phrase “sound mind” comes from the Greek word phroneo, which carries the idea of a person’s intelligence or total frame of thinking — including his rationale, logic, and emotions. The word phroneo refers to every part of the human mind, including all the processes that are engaged in making the mind function and come to conclusions.
When the words sodzo and phroneo are compounded into one word, they form the word sophroneo, which pictures a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and is now safe and secure. 1 Corinthians 2:16 tells us that we have the mind of Christ.

There is an old hym that says, Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, All fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives. God is in control of your future, God is in control of your finances, God is in control of you marriage, God is in control of area aspect of your life. Because of that you, we can face the future boldly, with confidence, and without fear.

KEEP IT PUSHIN!

In keeping in theme with my last blog.  I remember that when I was in college I had a teacher that would use the saying "Keep It Pushin." It means to keep moving, forget about it and move on. Life has many trial, ups and downs and sometimes heartache. Many times it is hard to keep it pushin!
God's word tells us in Colossians 1:11-12 (New King James Version)
11 "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light."  The word STRENGTHENED in Greek is DUNAMOO, which means to be made strong, to confirm and to capacitate. God knows that we are week by nature. That is why we are exhorted to be strengthened. Sometimes we say to ourselves, but I have gone through so much heartache and pain. I feel like I just can't keep it pushin. 
The Bible tells us about a man named Jacob. A man who was used to getting his way through lies and deceit. He was used to doing things his own way. He had struggled with his brother Esau and with Laban. But finally, Jacob's past had caught up with him. He found himself fleeing from Esau. In Genesis 32:1-33:11 we find him struggling with someone else. This was no ordinary someone. Now he was struggling with God.
There has been times in my life that I have found myself struggling with God when I don't get my own way. When I find myself in the midst of another trial. I tend to get discouraged. I find myself wanting to complain and not move forward. There are times when I just don't want to KEEP IT PUSHIN! When I find myself struggling there is only one thing that can help me and that is to have an encounter with God just like Jacob. 
During Jacobs struggle, The Angel of the Lord touched his thigh, which was immediately out of joint. I can only imagine that at that moment Jacob was exhausted and in great pain. But even in the midst of his struggle, in the midst of exhaustion and pain, Jacob KEPT IT PUSHIN. You see Jacob was tired of doing things his own way. He knew that God had a blessing for him.

At that moment Jacob's determination and his desire to go for more of what God had for him, strengthened him with all might. Even though he was exhausted, in pain in fear of what his brother would do if he found him, Jacob KEPT IT PUSHIN.

God has more for you. More than you can ever dream. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (King James Version) ^9"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ¹⁰But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. God has treasures hidden for you."  He has hidden them, not so that you cannot find them. But they have been hidden so that no one can steal what belongs to you. He wants to reveal them to you through His Holy Spirit.  We cannot let life's trials hold us back. Even in the midst of struggles, exhaustion and pain we need to KEEP IT PUSHIN.

We have to have the complete conviction that God has so much more for our lives. In order to obtain those hidden treasures we need to have an encounter with God. We need to seek Him in prayer and say to God, I know you have so much more for me. I know you have treasures hidden for me. Therefore I will never give up, I will never let you go Lord, I will hold on to your promises. I WILL KEEP IT PUSHIN!

LADY IN WAITING

According to Wikipedia a Lady In Waiting is a female personal assistant at a noble court, attending to a queen, a princess or other noblewoman. A lady-in-waiting is often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but usually from a lower rank (i.e., a lesser noble) than the one she attends to, she is not considered a servant. Their duties varied from court to court.
Well I do consider myself a lady in waiting. But not according to Wikipedia's definition. Although I do attend to a noble court, but not a Queen however. I attend to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I am a Lady In Waiting for God's promises to come to pass in my life. 
Being a Lady In Waiting is not always easy. As years go by, at times I tend to loose hope and I start to complain and start to question God.  God what is taking so long.  Do you even care about me? So I have my little pity party, shed a tear or two. Well, more than one or two. But then I feel this warm hug around me and I hear this gentle voice that whispers my name and that says to me, "OK, the party is over. Dry your tears and pick yourself back up." 
As I read my favorite Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11, " For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I start to feel this renewed feeling of hope. 
The word plans in Hebrew is Machashabah, which means thought and purpose. God's thoughts and purpose for my life are filled with prosperity and peace. He desires to give me a future that will bring peace and prosperity into my life. The amplified version puts it this way: "For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome."
What is the outcome that you have been waiting for? God wants to give you that outcome. An outcome filled with hope. But many times that outcome takes time. As humans we hate waiting. We want things in an instant. We want microwaveable outcomes. We want things in our Chronos,  and we are not patient enough to wait for God's Kairos. 
Chronos is a Greek word, meaning time on the move, time as before and after, time as the future passing through the present and so becoming the past. In addition to chronos, however, the Greeks also spoke of time as a moment, time as occasion, time as qualitative rather than quantitative, time as significant rather than dimensional. This second word for time is kairos.
We need to learn to wait for God's Kairos. His appointed time, His perfect timing. Many times we get discouraged and rush into things and fail and get hurt because we move in our chronos and are not willing to wait for God's Kairos. When we wait for God's Kairos and grab on to God's word and promises that He has already planned for us, when we seek first His Kingdom and even though we have a pity party now and then. But if we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and continue marching forward waiting for God's appointed time, then we will receive the outcome that we have been waiting for.