So why is Jesus sleeping in the boat when your world seems to be caving in, nothing is going right, and life might just end soon? Because he trusts you. At least four of the disciples were trained, skilled professionals at boating. Jesus was sleeping then because he knew that the disciples could handle it- even if they thought that they couldn’t. God likes to let you steer your boat through the storm. That’s just how much he trusts you to do what you know to do- he is sleeping! Trust God that he will do what he said he would do, when he said he would do it.

One more thing: Jesus deals with your storm when you can’t, but then he deals with you. He calmed the storm, but then straightaway, he asked the disciples why they were scared. He was in the boat with them; they must have known that they would have been safe even if the storm had crashed their boat. So why are you scared? What is keeping you from doing what you know to do? He trusts you, so do it!

God offers us a big life! It is a life filled with big dreams and big opportunities! He is a God of BIG plans! He encourages us to think bigger, to act smarter, to see further, and to come up higher so that we can catch a glimpse of hat He has planned for us and what He says about us! However, this BIG PLAN must be balanced with a reality check. God wants us to look to HIS plans while also being mindful of the present. He wants us to focus on the here and now!

Where do you want to go in God? What is the big dream He has placed inside of you? Why aren’t you there yet? When we focus on the future, we neglect the present–a present that has problems that need to be addressed. Take inventory of your life. You dream of a great marriage; how is you marriage right now? You dream of owning a thriving business; how is your business right now? There are details in the present that must be addressed before the BIG LIFE God has for you can come to pass.

Don’t fret, though. We are all a work in progress. We all lack. We all want to be better, to be what God wants us to be; however, we lack the ability to do so. Don’t focus on what you don’t have, least you get down on yourself and begin to think about what YOU can do to fix it. That leads to a work’s mindset, and a work’s mindset is dangerous territory. Focus on GOD! God has more than enough to meet where you leave off! God never lacks.

As Paul wrote in the above passage, God has unlimited resources! If you want to love, He gives you love. If you want faith, He gives you faith! He wants you to work at it. He plants the seed so that you can work it and grow it, but He is always there to help feed the seed! Whatever you don’t have, GOD has for you.

It is hard to believe in a BIG GOD when life gets hard. Finances get tight. Prayers don’t get answered. Relationships fall apart. Suddenly, feels God is a million miles away and the Bible becomes bland. How do you cope in this sort of situation? How do you apply the promises of God when all hell is breaking loose? You go back to the place where you trusted God. There, as Paul writes, you find the inner strength given to you by the Holy Spirit. Ask God to reveal that strength to you.

The BIG LIFE is out there! But there will be moments in your world that will so radically test your resolve that all you can do is cling to the inner strength and wait! You CHOOSE to wait! Choice is the key. Choose now to hold on! Choose now to make that change. Choose now to work on your marriage. Do it NOW! And when the good days come, strengthen your relationship with Christ. He will become more and more at home in your heart. Then, when the chaos of life swoops in, you will be strengthened to stand against it. With Jesus by your side and the strength of the Holy Spirit inside you, you will have the ability o pursue you dreams!

So, choose now! Choose now to pursue the BIG LIFE God has for you. And choose now to hold onto the strength of the Spirit inside you. Choose now!

When we deal with spiritual warfare, if we don’t understand what we’ve been given, it is difficult to carry out our lives the way God intended us to.

The reality is everything changed when the cross came. The spirit realm changed and we now win every time. We can never lose because God lives inside of us. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us and movies in our lives.

When we accept God and allow Him to move and breathe in our lives, just as He did in Jesus, we are set free from that old dead life of defeat. When we realize God is already there and is already working and has already won, there is no room for worrying about the devil.

God is continuously working and is always there. We are living our lives trying to collide with the river that is already flowing.

Grab hold of this truth that is in the Bible and know that we are winners every time. The devil cannot win and will not win. We are victorious in every situation through Christ.

The best thing you can do for your growth is to be open for the Holy Spirit to move in your life. The Holy Spirit is an integral part of the trinity. While he is not the Father who created us, or the Son who came to die for us, he still is God. The Holy Spirit comes upon us and speaks into our lives. When we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, he regenerates us. He lives inside of us, and becomes a part of who we are, making us holy in the sight of God the Father.

It is God’s will for the world that none should perish. His will is not being done on this earth; people perish every day. If we do not get with his plan, then people will continue to perish. Position yourself for the plan of God. Jesus promised us that we would do bigger and better things than he did. The Holy Spirit helps us do that.

Galatians 2:20 (NLT): My old self has been crucified with Christ.It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The House of God is a place to come to be refreshed. It is a place where the Holy Spirit moves; to convict where conviction is needed; to bring change where needed; and to refresh the believers. When we make room for the Spirit, He moves on our behalf.

There are four aspects of the House where one can encounter God and His Spirit:
–Fellowship: God moves in friendship; no one can truly survive the trials of life alone, we need friends to walk beside us and hold us up.
–Worship: We encounter God in worship. The worship leaders worship; they lead us into worship, and it is there that we encounter God.
–The Word: the Word is preached in this church. No matter who is speaking, they are speaking from the Word. The seed is scattered, and when it hits your heart and takes root, your world will change.
–The Alter: The supernatural happens on the alter. Healing, repentance, freed–it all happens here.

Now, the Spirit of God empowered Jesus. Wherever Jesus went, the Spirit went with Him. W have a spirit in us–upon conception, something eternal was created in the physical. It is part of being made in the image of God. That spirit part is the part that will never die. The human body will die, but the spirit will live on. When we are born in the physical, we are born into a fallen world; God waits for us to come to Him for a rebirth into the supernatural. This happens upon accepting Jesus’ sacrifice. When we come to that point, we encounter the Holy Spirit and are filled with Him!

Jesus was reunited with the Holy Spirit upon His baptism. From then on, Jesus and the Holy Spirit worked hand in hand to reach the World. Jesus would withdraw to pray. He, The Holy Spirit, and God would be one for a little while, then Jesus would return to perform the miracles growing inside of Him. The Holy Spirit would work through Him to change people’s lives. And when Jesus died the physical death on the cross, it was the Spirit that brought Him back three days later.

Then, in John 20:22, Jesus imparted the Spirit to His disciples. It was like receiving a new toy; they weren’t certain what to do with it, but they went for it anyway! They followed Jesus example: they went to pray. And when they prayed, the Spirit showed up! (The Spirit is in us; the Spirit fills the room around us.) Then, Peter–the disciple known for sticking his foot in his mouth–stood and preached! He was a fisherman! yet, when the Spirit came upon him, he did something he had never done before–he spoke with power, eloquence, authority, and theological accuracy! When the Spirit comes upon you, you do things you never would have done before! And what’s more, Peter already had boldness; the Spirit used his boldness to bring honor and glory to God! The Spirit takes what you already have and magnifies it for use in the Kingdom! He takes you into things you’ve never done and uses the gifts you already have! It is all for the benefit of the Kingdom!

The Holy Spirit is powerful! And He empowers us to perform miracles! He is in us! In every aspect of who we are. Paul said it in Galatians. It is no longer we who live, but Christ’s SPIRIT lives in us. He is in our hands, our minds, our hearts, and our feet. Where we go, He goes. And where the Spirit goes, there is also freedom! The Spirit brings freedom.

As God is three in one–God, Jesus, Holy Spirit–so, too, is humanity. We are created with a body, a soul, and a spirit. All three parts are sanctified when we accept Christ as our Savior. We commune spirit to Spirit with God through the relationship established by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. It is in our spirit that we feel God the most. However, there are days when we don’t feel particularly spiritual. That is when we engage all three parts to seek God again.

All things of God engage all three aspects of who we are. The human body struggles to submit to the spirit. The soul is the battle ground where we battle our broken sin nature with its corrupted thoughts and propensity to lean towards the ungodly with the new nature God gave us upon Salvation. These two aspects of who we are, the parts we sometimes feel is what makes us less godly, are parts that have also been sanctified by God. And when we feel less spiritual, we engage these two parts to stir the spirit: We go to our God Zone.

The God Zone is prayer. We pray. We physically take ourselves to a place of solitude. We pour out our souls before God. We pray and seek Him; we seek His will. And our spirits are revived. God said in Joel that He
would pour His spirit out on all people, and they would Prophesy! In the God Zone, we engage that gifting. All three aspects of humanity come together in prophesy. The spirit stirs–whether upon hearing bad news or seeing something tragic or whatever else–and the body and soul engage.

Prophesy is speaking out truth into your world or into the worlds of others. You literally speak. The power of God manifests in speech. God spoke and the world came into being. When we speak, we change our worlds. Good or bad; believer or non-believer; as long as you have faith in what you are saying, it will happen. This principle goes across the board. Imagine what would happen if you align your words and belief with God’s Word? The Word of God is the Power of God. When we align ourselves with His Word and speak HIS truths into our worlds, great things happen. What He promises comes to pass.

When you speak His truths over your world, your world is changed. You can speak His truths over the worlds of your family and friends, over your situations, over your finances, over everything! That is prophecy. Speaking into the future changes the future for the better! Speaking GOD into your future opens the doors for HIM to do what He does best: Be Awesome! He will go above and beyond your expectations! So, speak out in faith! Believe it! Engage your body, soul, and spirit, and let God move.

Today is Father’s Day, but I would like to call it “Fathering Day”. Do you know why? Just because you have children, it does not make you a father. Get your children to tell you how you did in the parenting field. It might not have gone how you thought it did. Your children have a completely different view on things.
The biggest thing in parenting is discipline. Don’t be too strict, but do not be too lax, either. There is a balance between the two. Discipline realistically. You should let your children make decisions for themselves, but teach them what they should do, first, and warn them about what is out there and what could happen should they get themselves stuck in it.

Throughout all of Paul’s letters, he tells the churches to be like Christ, however, in verses sixteen and seventeen, he tells the Corinthian church that he is their spiritual father, and that they should imitate him. He brings correction into the here and now, telling them to do as he does, not as Christ did in the past. The Bible doesn’t do the hard stuff for us; we do it. We show our children how to live by what we do. If your children see you treating your wife or husband badly, that is how they will treat their spouse. Take responsibility for your life and the actions you take.

There is a difference between instructing and fathering. Fathering requires heart. Do not only tell your children what to do, and how to live their lives. Love them. Affection is modeled. If you do not show the love you have for your children, then they will have a hard time farther down the line, when they try to show affection of their own. Speak well into your children’s lives. They want it. Be honest and real; make sure that they know that correction comes out of love.

Father’s Day is either the best day, or the worst day. Many people have horrible memories of their fathers. Many fathers out there are either missing or abusive. However, the greatest redemptive moment is when you use your mess to help someone else who is going through it. There is a point in time, and it becomes easier to forgive and forget the hurt and pain that was caused to you.

Never forget that your children are watching you, and that what you do in life will become apparent in their own lives. Be real with them. Show them that they are loved, and make sure that they never forget it.