GOD'S WAY

By: Pastor Paula White

I believe a life of success is built on those things that are of great value in the eyes of God. A life of success will exhibit signs of inner spiritual maturity - not outward signs of material acquisition.

The Bible repeatedly describes the behavior, beliefs, and actions that will lead to a successful life. Some of the most notable marks of spiritual maturity and a level of true success in life include:An Ability to Love. Love is giving. Love flows from having received love and value from the Lord. Spiritually mature people are givers. They are motivated to help others succeed, even more than they want to benefit themselves.

A Joyful Outlook on Life.

True joy is not rooted in the material trappings money can buy. Spiritually mature and successful people realize that, often, the "things" we think will make us happy don't. True joy is rooted in an awareness of the greatness of God and the many blessings He showers on us on a daily basis. Joy flows from the inside out, and is not based on external things, people, or situations.

A Peaceful Spirit.

Striving for "outward success" can keep us restless, always on the hunt for something to satiate our anxiety, fears, or unsatisfied yearnings of the heart. Genuine peace is a feeling of wholeness and calm that stems from knowing one is in right relationship with God. Spiritual mature people have a genuine peace that stays with them even when the world outside is falling apart.Patience. Spiritually mature people realize that true success in anything is very rarely gained overnight. Success comes from being able to persevere, and when necessary, wait for the desired result. Spiritually mature people have learned that long-lasting fixes and cures take time, slow-cooked meals are generally far better than fast food. Rewarding relationships require patience and take time to build. Often, success is sweeter and more sustainable when it comes slowly!

Attitude of Kindness and a Humble Stance.

True success carries an attitude of humility, courtesy, and respect for others. A spiritually mature person allows others to express their opinions and make their own choices -- while still being strong enough to express and make best decisions for their own good. Before God, the successful person meekly carries the attitude, "Not my will, but Your will, be done."Faith in God. The spiritually mature person leads a life of success by putting their trust solely in God. They realize that to trust oneself is folly, and to trust others without question is naïve. They recognize the sovereignty, wisdom, and divine direction of God, and apply His Holy Word to their life on a daily basis.

Self Control.

The successful, spiritually mature person has developed willpower and restraint, seeking what is best for all involved, in the ways and times that are most beneficial and appropriate.

When we seek to develop these godly characteristics, we are well on our way to creating a life of success - God's way!

VICTORY WALK

Saturday, 12 September 2009

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. —Psalm 34:4

Maybe fear is telling you that you cannot handle another thing. Maybe you feel as if you have gone down for the last time.

The fact that you have a problem is proof God has provided the answer. He will slip His everlasting arms underneath you! You need not fear; you are going to make it.

The key to receiving God's answer is found in Psalm 34:4—seek the Lord! You do not need a healing—you need Him. You do not need deliverance—you need Him. You do not need joy or victory—you need Him.

Since He has provided the answer to every prayer you will ever pray, you can walk in total victory! As God becomes your passion, everything else will fall into place.

Everything is in the Lord. Every victory, need, longing, desire, plan, possibility, and dream is in Him. Don't despair. He is your all in all.

HOW TO HEAR GOD

By: Teresa Seputis


Have you ever thought God was saying something to you, but you weren't sure it was really His voice you were hearing? Have you found yourself thinking, How do I know it was really God I heard and not my own imagination—or worse, the enemy?

God's solution is simple: "'If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him'" (James 1:5, NIV). When we need to know if we are hearing God's voice, all we have to do is ask Him!

We can go to God, tell Him what we think we heard Him say, and then ask Him to confirm it or correct our hearing on the matter. God wants to give us an understanding of what He says to us because He wants to communicate with us. He is eager to teach us to correctly hear His voice.

What are some steps we can take to make sure we're hearing God?

1. Put your faith in the right thing. When I was first learning to hear God's voice, I went overboard in my need to double-check my hearing. I was so afraid I might hear God wrong that I tended to check and recheck my hearing on just about everything. I became very sluggish in obeying God because I spent so much time verifying everything I heard.

My problem was that I had placed my faith in the wrong thing. I was trusting in my ability to hear God—instead of in His ability and faithfulness to speak clearly and to correct and redirect me if I heard wrong.

I used to think that "correction" was the same as "punishment." But God revamped my thinking by reminding me of my old ice skating coach.

I really liked him. He would watch me try to execute a move and then offer feedback, saying something such as: "Your weight is drifting to the left when you turn. You need to keep it balanced over your skating foot."

I knew I had just been corrected, but I wasn't put down or made to feel small or punished. The intent of the correction was to help me excel, and as I applied what he told me, my skating improved.

God told me that I should look to Him as my coach when it came to hearing His voice. He promised that He would let me know when I got something wrong and how to correct it so I could excel in following Him. Suddenly correction became something to be desired instead of something to be feared, and I found out just how faithful and committed God is to the process of teaching us to hear Him.

2. Look for scriptural precedents. It is wise to get into the habit of checking what God says to us against Scripture. God will not say something to us that contradicts what the Bible says. There will be certain "words" we can eliminate immediately as "not from God" when we line them up against what God has already said in the Bible.

At the same time, there are many areas that the Bible does not address explicitly. Still, God is often willing to give us a scriptural precedent for what He says to us. For instance, imagine that you are trying to decide which of two job offers God wants you to accept. You believe He is telling you to take job offer No. 2, one that will put you in contact with hurting people to whom you can minister. But job offer No. 2 is a much lower-paying job than job offer No. 1, so you want to be sure you are hearing God.

You ask Him for a confirmation, and as you're considering your decision, God directs your attention to Matthew 9:12-13: "'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick....For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.'" Those words come alive to you, and you realize that you have just received the confirmation you need to take the second job. God will often use such scriptural precedents to help confirm His communication to us.

3. Don't fleece God. We must not give God an ultimatum about how He is to confirm His word to us. That's called "putting a fleece before the Lord," and it refers to the experience of Gideon found in Judges 6:36-40.

God wanted Gideon to lead Israel in battle against the Midianites, but Gideon was not feeling very confident in his calling—or in his hearing from God. So he laid a fleece (a sheepskin) on the floor and asked God to make the morning dew come only on the fleece, and not on the ground around the fleece. God did this for him, but poor Gideon was still unconvinced. The next night he asked God to reconfirm His word by covering the ground with dew but leaving the fleece dry. Once again, God did as Gideon requested.

Based on this passage, some people assume that they can tell God precisely how to confirm or correct what they believe they have heard Him say to them. In essence, they believe they can dictate the "supernatural hoops" through which God must jump to prove He really said what they believe they heard.

God allowed Gideon to fleece Him, but there is no indication that He was setting a precedent for the rest of us to follow. In fact, there is a strong scriptural precedent against telling God specifically what to do.

Jesus Himself refused Satan's suggestion to put a fleece before God by casting Himself off the highest point of the temple. Instead, Jesus said, "'Do not put the Lord your God to the test'" (Matt. 4:7).

When we go back to God for confirmation, we need to allow Him to choose how He will correct or confirm what we heard. It is not our place to dictate how He does this. Instead, we must trust that He will do it in a way that we can clearly recognize as being from Him.

4. Avoid making assumptions. When hearing God's voice, we need to be very careful about making assumptions. God can speak to us very clearly, and we can hear Him accurately.

But we can still go wrong by making an assumption about what God means by what He says, only to discover later that we heard God but didn't understand Him. We have to be very careful not to put words in God's mouth.

Let me give you an example of how this can happen. A close friend of mine had been praying for some time about a deep and painful rift in her relationship with her sister. Then she received a prophetic word from a lady who seemed to really hear from God.

The word had to do with the restoration of a broken relationship in my friend's life. However, the lady proceeded to assume that the relationship in question was between my friend and her husband, and she began to minister to my friend about her marriage (which was, in reality, rock solid).

The prophet had received a very keen word from God about my friend's situation, but the power of that word was almost lost when she assumed the relationship involved was with a spouse. This is an example of how we can accurately hear from God and then make assumptions that mislead others and us. We want to be careful to avoid doing that!

5. Recognize areas of "hearing loss." We need to remember that there are certain areas of our lives in which our hearing is likely to be less accurate. It is more difficult to hear God clearly in areas where we have "big stakes" in the answer, where our hearts are tremendously engaged or where we know we have a history of hearing wrong. We must double-check these areas and ask God to confirm what we've heard.

Here's an example. A friend of mine who hears God pretty well in most areas of her life recently went through a divorce. After a "recovery period" of a few months, she met a single man who seemed to be everything she wanted in a husband. She thought she began to hear God speaking to her about this man, telling her that indeed he was the man He had for her.

I strongly suspected that this was her own heart speaking, not God, and I tried to find a gentle way to tell her this. But she thought God was saying more and more detailed things to her. She thought she heard Him tell her that her Christmas present from this man would be an engagement ring, with the wedding following shortly after that.

She was so sure she was hearing God's voice! But December came and went, and she didn't receive any Christmas present from this man—much less an engagement ring. Later he told her that he considered her no more than a casual friend.

She was devastated not only because the man was not interested in her but also because she had been so wrong in hearing God. She had failed to recognize her own heart imitating God's voice to her. She didn't double-check her hearing with God, because she so desperately wanted to hear what she thought she heard.

6. Be ready to obey. Once we hear God, it's important that we obey what we hear. There are two kinds of obedience: cheap obedience, which is obeying when the stakes are not very high or when it doesn't cost us much to obey; and expensive obedience, which is obeying when significant consequences are involved. The job decision mentioned earlier is an example of expensive obedience because it involved a choice between a low-paying job and a higher-paying one.

But money doesn't have to be the issue. For example, if you believe God is telling you to terminate a relationship because it's unhealthy, that is expensive obedience; if you've heard wrong, you put a relationship that is important to you at risk. You want to be sure you have heard from God before you do something that could require expensive obedience.

On the other hand, if the obedience required is low cost or low risk, then you should always and instantly obey. It may very well be God speaking to you, and you want to be in the habit of obeying God instantly rather than spending a great deal of time double-checking with Him first.

God understands that it can be frightening for us as we begin venturing out in hearing and obeying Him. He knows we need confirmation from Him to be sure we have really heard Him correctly. But God is not only willing—He is also eager to meet us and teach us to hear His voice. All we have to do is ask.

PREPARING FOR "I DO"

By Robin M. May
www.virtuespeaks.com

Have you ever asked yourself the question? You know the one I'm talking about. The one that is loaded with expectation, hope, fear, and anxiety. Almost all adults have wrestled with the question: "Is he or she the one?". Deciding to marry someone and prayerfully spend the rest of your life with that person is obviously overwhelming and as the wedding vows state, 'should not be taken lightly'.

But unfortunately so many people have taken it lightly. The divorce rate in this country is astounding. Whether you believe that half of marriages end in divorce, or even if you believe that statistic is exaggerated, all of us must admit that there is a crisis going on within the institution of marriage, even within what we call Christian relationships.

So what do we do? We would be wise to apply an often over-used but truthful quote: 'The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again but expect a difference result.' Think about your own life. How often have you declared that something was about to change in your life, yet you did absolutely nothing other than talk about it?

Maybe you declared that you would lose 10 pounds in one month but you never changed your eating or never even considered the gym. Maybe you committed to more quiet time with God but never set the alarm to wake up earlier. Simply verbalizing a desire for change is not enough. Action must follow.

How does that apply to the status of relationships/marriage? Well, again, we must do something different if we want different results. There are practical and easily applicable steps that can be taken to prepare for marriage. Obviously our first step is to be prayerful and seek the wisdom of God when moving towards marriage. In addition, it is important that we:

• Prepare ourselves for marriage - Before we can look for a life partner we must first ensure that we are mature, whole and ready for the responsibility of marriage. Have you established an intimate walk with God? Have you dealt with pain from past relationships? Remember, the romantic notion of "I need you to complete me" is only romantic in the movies.

• Don't be afraid to ask questions - Choosing a life partner on emotion only is a recipe for disaster. Be intentional about learning everything you can about your potential spouse. If your goal is to become 'one', there should be no question off limits. Be careful however because certain questions are only acceptable based on the level of intimacy. If you just met, don't ask deep, personal questions. Wait until the relationship has evolved and ask your questions accordingly.

• Seek premarital counseling - It is amazing how many people walk down the aisle without having had any form of counseling. Unfortunately, we often seek training in all other areas of life other than how to build a healthy relationship. Even the Bible tells us that we should listen to counsel in order to have wisdom (Proverbs 19:20). Seeking the trusted support of a trained professional will help you prepare for one of the most important life altering decisions of you life.

Many people have lost hope in marriage. Is that you? Have lost faith in the likelihood that you will ever get married? What if you have wasted several years with someone that isn't right for you? All of these are very valid questions with a very valid answer.

The answer is: Surrender to His will. Seriously. Just surrender. God isn't sitting somewhere thinking "Oh my God! I just don't know how I am going to find [insert your name here] a spouse!". Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Of course it does. If God has ordained that you will be married, you will be. If that isn't in the plan for your life, ask Him what is.

But whatever you do, don't operate in your own desperation. It's much better to be single and without a spouse than to be married and miserable.
Marriage can be one of the most rewarding, exciting, fun, and exhilarating events to happen in your life. Yes, there are challenges. Yes, there are times when you can't help but think your spouse is from another planet. But the good times can be so good that during the valley times you simply hold on tight until you get back on top of the mountain.

So if you decide to move towards a marital relationship, move toward it with hope and high expectations...I mean clearly marriage was God's idea, and He does all things well (Mark 7:37).

GOD IS AT WORK IN YOUR LIFE

"... And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"--Esther 4:14

The verse above presents a profound question, doesn't it? It asks, "What is God calling you to do?"

The book of Esther is one of the most intriguing in the Bible. It never mentions the name of God. There's not even a pronoun that refers to him! Yet Esther was someone who fulfilled what God called her to do.

And what we see in Esther is the miraculous hand of God at work through her to end a holocaust being waged against the Jewish people! We also see God orchestrating circumstances so that the king of Persia would choose Esther as his wife. And in his perfect timing, Esther used her God-given influence to save her people!

From our perspective, life can sometimes seem like a random series of events, when what we are really witnessing is the invisible hand of God at work around us.

That same hand... the invisible, sovereign hand of God... is at work in your life. No matter what you're going through, God is working progressively and providentially in your life right now.

So today, ask him to help you recognize where his hand is at work, and then choose to work with him to fulfill his purpose for your life.

GOD IS WORKING PROGRESSIVELY AND PROVIDENTIALLY IN YOUR LIFE.

SEEING GOD'S PURPOSE IN YOUR TEMPORARY SITUATION

"What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today." —Exodus 14:11-13

Sometimes you may complain about where you are living and your conditions, and God lets you jump out of the frying pan into the fire. You think, I'd love to be back where I was! That's the way the Israelites were. They complained so much that they made God angry. God went to Moses and said, "I'm fed up with the people. I am going to destroy them and start a new nation with you!" Moses said, "Oh no! Don't do that!"

Moses was free to leave at any time he wanted; he could have left them. For example, he could have gone to live with Jethro, his father-in-law, but he stayed right there. "So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them" (Ps. 106:23).

Moses accepted unhappy living conditions and stayed right there. Can you do that? Can you accept that God has put you where you are for a reason? It's not what you want to call home, but Moses made it home.

Do you have to live with so-called Christians? Do you have to live with family, but you get on each other's nerves—perhaps you would like some space? It's one thing to have family to stay for a day or two, but it's quite another to have to live with them.

Could it be that God has sent that thorn in the flesh so that we would get our real joy not from the situation around us, but from the joy of the Lord (Neh. 8:10)? God could change our situation here below, and maybe He will. When? My answer: the moment His presence becomes more precious than the external circumstances that we thought were so important.

THE MISUNDERSTOOD PRINCIPLE OF SUBMISSION

By: Adrian Rogers

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. 1John 5:3

DEVO THOUGHT:
Submission is a term that has been grievously distorted because there are men who have used the word as a weapon to club their wives rather than as a hammer to build their homes. When God tells the wife to submit to her husband, He also tells the husband to love his wife (Ephesians 5:22-25). When God tells children to obey their parents, He also instructs the fathers " to provoke not your children to wrath: but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4). When God tells you to submit to Him, it's for your good (James 4:7). Jesus is the head of the church, and He leads by love. The same should be true in the home.

HOLY SPIRIT ANOINT MY LIFE WITH A "BREAKER ANOINTING"

I will surely gather the remnant of Israel ... They shall make a loud noise because of so many people. The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out ... with the Lord at their head. —Micah 2:12-13, NKJV

Micah prophesied about a future day when the Messiah would lead Israel with such an anointing. In other words, He would help Israel break out of the old way and break open new dimensions of the purpose of God. Jesus is the ultimate expression of the breaker anointing, one who breaks open new dimensions of the Spirit for others to enter into. It's high time to break free from the fear of being considered too fanatical. Beloved, we are so easily enslaved by the opinions of people. We shouldn't feel the need to apologize for our lifestyle in God. We don't have to look respectable to other Christians. Many religious paradigms we hold dear today will be shattered by the Lord Himself. We should follow Him and embrace the breaker anointing He is giving to many of us. As we break out, God will use us to break open new dimensions in the Holy Spirit to the spiritually stagnant Western church. He will make the end-time church a dwelling place of God's power. The Holy Spirit is raising up forerunners today who will break out and break through because they are people of one thing, contending for the power of God and the fullness of the apostolic faith.

{ PRAYER STARTER }
Holy Spirit, anoint my life with a "breaker anointing." Let me break through my fear of being considered too radical, too fanatical, too "heavenly minded" in my pursuit of You. Let me be a forerunner for God.
We need men and women who have a"breaker anointing."