“Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety”. We should be afraid of no one. Referential fear is different, that is a respectful, honoring attitude towards men and women because of the office they have been appointed to, like the Presidency of the United States, or a King or queen. Certainly your parents are to be referenced with honor, it was never part of God’s plan for parents to abuse their children so the child would be in (negative) fear of them. When you fear others the wrong way, they sense it, and can use that fear against you to manipulate you and control you. No one has that right over you. Fear is a crippling spirit that is motivated by Satan himself to keep you down. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a clear thinking mind. If you’re having trouble in your thinking processes or cognitive abilities, there could be an underlining thread of fear in you. Putting our trust in God for everything we do will eliminate the fuzzy thoughts, the negative fear of people in general, and will free you to soar into your god-given purpose and destiny. There are many unseen forces in this world affecting us in a negative way, and they are designed to stop anything you do that’s good, and that will help other people. Because the spirit of fear works for the devil who is here to kill, steal, and destroy. Jesus came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.

“Stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for Him is worthwhile.” We are to be firm, steadfast, and immovable always abounding in the works of the Lord. Our labor is not in vain. Many times people or circumstances will try and take you off your path. That’s when we are to stand firm, and steadfast. Anything or anyone that tries to remove you from your God given purpose and destiny, has actually been sent to see if you’re grounded in your plans, secure in your thoughts and actions. Many of us have our God given plans in motion and we’re about our own business, and here comes someone that thinks they have a better plan or way of accomplishing yours. That’s because they haven’t found their own God given plan yet, and they want to run yours. Careful with people out there without a purpose in life but they act like they know yours better than you. Stay on course, stay firm, and steadfast on your pathway, God may have you take a left instead of the planned right turn down the road. Be sensitive to that still small voice in you, your gut feeling, that’s where God speaks to you.

“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.” We’ve all heard the saying,” If it doesn’t kill me it’ll make me stronger “. That has some truth in it as long as you learn through the experience. But if you’re saying or thinking, “why did that happen to me, that’s not fair, etc”, and that is a normal response indeed we’ve all been there, but if you’re thinking, once I get through this, I’ll make changes next time, or if this happens again I’ll know what to do, that’s the road to it making you stronger. On the spiritual side, the trails crisis, or storms of life are intended to grow your endurance, steadfastness, and patience. So when the trouble comes, because it’s coming sooner or later, you will be better prepared for it than last time. Once we understand the purpose of the trouble, it can be approached with a better knowledge of how to get through it, and why it’s really happening to you. That’s why the bible has the nerve to say, count it all joy when you fall into different troubles. We are branches that need pruning from time to time. No pruning is not enjoyable but the growth that happens afterwards is exponential and necessary to produce strong people, saint and sinner alike.

“But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.” All things that pertain to your God given purpose are possible to attain. As we believe Him, He will open doors and make the crooked places straight that might stop us . We are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Our desires, hopes, and dreams come true as we follow the way of the Lord who always leads us in the way we should go. Putting our trust and hope in man is not advised if you want concrete answers and direction in life. There’s a higher level, or lifestyle available to tap into for more sure results of what you’re going through, or dealing with. God will use His people to help you, but not just anyone. If necessary, change your way of living to conform to a more sure living experience, linked to success in your life overall. Jesus is the way the truth and the life. All things are possible to them that believe. Believe God to get you out of trouble, and to keep you in all your ways.

“God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.” Every temptation goes through the hands of God before being allowed to come to you. He examines the severity of the temptation, and He knows your ability to handle it even though you don’t know your limit. Get your head out of the way, we can over think unto defeat if not careful. We are all tempted in one way or another and we must be careful how we handle the temptation, because on the other side of it, there’s a much better blessing waiting for you. Don’t take the bait of something seemingly too good to be true. Everything should be analyzed from a renewed mind set based on God’s word, which will make you sensitive to something afoot. Temptations are one of the devil’s favorite tools to take you off track. The person with little to no self-control or discipline is Satan’s easy prey. We can deal with temptation and it’s not sin, Jesus was tempted and never yielded to it. When you yield to the temptation, then it is sin, wrong before the Lord, but He’s forgiving. God knows we are prone to missing the mark without Him involved. At one point in life we need to grow up, invoke your will and resist the temptations.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my [firm, impenetrable] Rock and my Redeemer.” Are the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart acceptable in the Lord’s sight? It may not be as hard as you think for that to be a reality in your life. Our thoughts and meditations can go into action before we check them to be sure the thoughts should be allowed to be spoken, or acted upon. There’s no sin in the thoughts entering your mind, it’s what we do with those thoughts after they come into our mind. Jesus was tempted like that when He walked the earth. He never yielded to the bad thoughts that came into His mind, and we don’t have to either. What happens to some of us is, once a thought or idea comes into our head, we think, we’ll I thought it so I may as well do it. There’s no sin in the temptation of that thought, otherwise Jesus Christ would have been in sin. “This high priest of ours (Jesus), understands our weaknesses for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin”. He did it by working God’s word. Every area of life is dealt with in the bible. Get the knowledge and live above your bad thoughts, then the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart will be acceptable.

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and the earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and Yours it is to be exalted as Head over all.” The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. He created the heavens and the earth from nothing visible. He is great, and powerful, and glorious, splendid, and majestic. He is to be referenced and honored as King of kings, and Lord of lords. We are the kings He’s King of, and the lords He’s Lord over. He is the Lilly of the valley, and the bright morning star. He is the life giver of all living things. The First and the Last. The Beginning and the End, and the Author and Finisher of our faith. He is our all in all, and better understood by meditating in His word. We can’t even begin to understand the ways of God without reading the bible and it helps having someone you trust help you understand it. The Spirit of God is the teacher who helps us get revelation knowledge of the scriptures, and brings to light many mysteries of the faith we may not understand. Almighty God is Head over all, and Satan’s days are numbered.

“THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).” To have peace with God, we must be justified by faith. Accepting the finished work at Calvary gets us justified. Justified could mean; Just-As-If-I’d- Never- Sinned. Our sins have been remitted not just covered up, but washed away. Having peace with God is knowing you’re in right standing with God based on what His word says about the subject. Your only enemy is condemnation, feeling unworthy. The reality is Jesus took your sins, and dropped them off in hell. Everyone would have to go to hell for doing the bad things we’ve all done, but submitting to the plan of salvation and getting saved, born again, takes us out of the kingdom of darkness and translates us into the kingdom of light, where God is waiting with open arms to receive you. You have not been justified for approval into God’s kingdom until you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, bottom line. Know God, know peace. No God, no peace.

“Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” Jesus is laying down some very important guidelines for discipleship. It usually comes down to whether or not you want to do the work of keeping your flesh down. You know, those appetites our bodies have, keeping that hunger under control. Having our own will isn’t for doing anything we want to, or having anything we want all the time. Our will is to be invoked when our bodies don’t feel like moving, or doing what’s right. Bringing into subjection every thought that comes into your mind, under the scrutiny of God’s word, is the beginning of discipleship. The renewing of our minds using the word of God, so we can begin to think and act like God. He’s our Father and we are made in His image and likeness. Jesus said whoever wants to be His disciple, (it’s optional), but strongly recommended for victorious living, and service to the Lord. There are christians who are saved on their way to heaven but, living however they want to, not following God’s plan for their life, and living a mediocre life compared to what their full potential could bring them.

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” We have plans that may be good plans but not a God plan for you. As God is allowed to direct your steps, He will make them sure and then, success is on the way. Most heart plans are effective but how we go about executing those plans could ruin the whole thing. Acknowledging the Lord in all our ways will secure the integrity of the plan and proper steps to take towards fulfilling the plan. We are laborers together with God, without Him we can do nothing of importance that lasts. We all have aspirations and goals for success and prosperity, and they are attainable with the right guidance behind it. The footsteps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Our right standing with God is an open ticket to treasure’s beyond our imagination. He said He will do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think. And this happens through your trust and confident favorable expectations of him coming through for you. Your belief system has the power to conquer the world that you experience regularly unto total victorious living.