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“Every time you think something positive, give it life with your words.”

A thought by Craig Groeschel, (2012-04-24) from his book, Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World (p. 63). Zondervan. Kindle Edition What a great thing to do.  The world does everything it can to put negative things into our mind especially now at election time.  But what if someone needs an encouraging word; they are just about to drop emotionally so God puts a positive thought into your mind to lift them but you let it pass.  What if you had shared it?  What would have happened?  How would they have felt and how would you have felt? Oh we think we are God’s tool to condemn them because they are so down and we are God’s voice to tell them what they should be or could be doing.  We are too quick to be that kind of person because it makes us feel important.  Maybe that thought is not from God but from our pride.  Maybe they don’t need a critic but a fan.  They may need someone who believes in them, who wants to lift them up. Let’s be quick to put our positive tho

“Prayer is the arena where our faith meets God’s abilities.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 153). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is so encouraging in our times of discouragment and frustration.  Yes prayer is a place of battle but it is where our faith connects with God.  And there is nothing that we bring to God that is bigger than His capacity. We need to spend more time in looking at who God is in order to have our faith strengthened.  He can do it.  Believe it.  What is it that is bigger than you are?  It is not bigger than HE is.  Just connect to Him through prayer. God is good and He is great.  And He wants to be a part of your situation but He won't force His way on you.  It is up to you to ask Him. So are you going to ask Him?

“Timid prayers are a waste of time.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 153). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is a real soul searching thought.  And it leads me to the question, am I timid with God and if I am then why? First of all being timid may mean I don’t really know the person.  I mean, I am not timid with Margaret my wife.  I know her better that I know any other person.  I know how she reacts to things, I know what she likes, what she is good at and whether I can trust her or not.  I know that I can because I really know her.  I am not timid with her and I am not timid with God because I have an authentic relationship with them. Now timidity can also come from guilt on my part.  Maybe I really need Him to help me in a definite way but I have been doing some stuff that I know He has asked me not to do.  That would make me timid. Maybe I just don’t believe Him when He said that if I ask He wou

“You’d never see how strong God is if there were no opponent for him to overcome in your life.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 142). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. We really don’t realize this or appreciate this but crisis can very much be your friend.  It is in crisis that God can become very real to you because of your great need of Him.  We don’t it seems look to Him in our good times.  We look to ourselves as the reason for our good times.  Success builds confidence in ourselves and crisis kills it but the opposite can be true toward God.  Our confidence in God can grow in our crisis.  He has to do it or we will fail. I remember when 9/11 happened, people came to church seeking God but when the crisis seemed to fade then our need of God also went by the wayside.  Crisis is the enemy of security but the great friend of faith. So how strong is your God?

“God’s goodness means that all his greatness is meant to work in your life for your good.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (pp. 101-102). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. I have been holding for the past few months on to the fact that God is good.  Oh I know and believe that He is great but His goodness makes Him more personable to me.  Do you really realize that as a committed Christ-follower everything that happens to you must first go through God’s goodness?  His greatness changes all the bad that is targeted for you by the evil one, He changes it for your good.  He has to because He is good.  That is who He is.  You say, “But it is bad for me.”   No it’s not, it’s good for you.  It has to be good for you because He is good.  And that fact changes our perspective on all of our life.  So is His goodness real to you?

“His faithfulness is your hope in every defeat and failure.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 123). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Are you defeated?  Do you feel like a failure?  Do you realize that God has not turned His back on you?  He hasn’t quit.  He is still at it.  He is still faithful in His love for you, His belief in you, His availability to you. Just reach out to Him and grab hold of His faith in you, of His faithfulness, of His being involved in making a difference in your life.  His faithfulness can make something out of your failure.  It just might be an opportunity for a miracle.  So what are you going to do?

“Until you believe God is with you and for you, fear and hesitation will characterize your life.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 102). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. Have you ever thought about the fact that if you didn’t have confidence in the ability for a certain chair to hold you, then you would hesitate to sit in that chair?   I mean, you might fall.  What if you had that fear about every chair then your fear would make it difficult for you to ever sit down? That would be a very frustrating way to live.  I am at Starbucks right now and I’m sitting in a chair.  I sat down with no hesitancy, no fear because I knew it would hold me up.  I have sat in hundreds of Starbucks’ chairs and not once has one let me down.  I believed that this chair could be trusted and I was right. I believe in a greater measure that GOD can be trusted with my life.  HE has never let me down even when life has thrown some unexpected things in my path.  I was confident because I trus