Don't Stop Believing

Jesus was the Son of God, but he still suffered, and through his sufferings he learned to obey whatever God says.
(Hebrews 5:8 ERV)

God doesn’t send the suffering we endure, we either bring it on ourselves - by our fleshly desires or by another person’s hand or even the enemies doing. Does the suffering we endure mean that we deserve it, not necessarily. Does the suffering mean that we have done something wrong, not necessarily. Does the suffering mean that God is angry with us and is punishing us, NEVER!

While Jesus lived on earth he prayed to God, asking for help from the one who could save him from death. He prayed to God with loud cries and tears. And his prayers were answered because of his great respect for God. 
(Hebrews 5:7 ERV)

I can’t imagine any Christians arguing that Jesus deserved the punishment and cross that he bore, Jesus is the only one who has ever been without sin - yet he suffered - so how could the argument that God punishes his children be effective here?  God didn’t put Jesus on the cross - man did, Jesus did everything God wanted him to and he was still punished. 

Don’t be tricked by the lies of the enemy into believing that if someone is going through some trial or storm - God must be teaching them a lesson and punishing them for their wrongdoings.  That’s not how God works, that’s how the enemy wants people to see God - as some cruel God who is always looking down on us disapprovingly.  And when people get caught up in that belief, they miss who God really is -  a loving, faithful Father with endless blessings of grace and mercy.

Jesus bore the cross, because he knew it was the only way to save us. We were incapable of fulfilling the law, the only way to make us right with God was with the one final perfect sacrifice. That’s the beauty of God’s grace - receiving the gift of righteousness when we haven’t done anything to deserve it. Yes, we deserved punishment, eternal death, but God is a loving God and didn’t want that for us - so He gave us His Son as mercy - instead of eternal death, the punishment we deserve, He has given us eternal life as His adopted children.

So when you’re going through the storms of life and instead of trying to justify whether you did something to deserve this, turn to God in prayer, pray for God's mercy and grace, and then ask God to show you how you can serve God through this trial.

We are confident that God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan. (Romans 8:28 VOICE)


Don’t be fooled into thinking that your faith is lacking if your prayers aren’t answered either. God answers our prayers - not in our time, but in His time.  Remember, God answered Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane; in His perfect timing - three days after his crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected. 

Our Words are Either Blessings or Curses

Last year my husband and I decided to build a new house, our oldest son was going to be starting Jr. High that fall and we knew if we didn’t move to another area he would be going to a school that had many gangs and a lot of drug problems. We found the lot in the neighborhood that I had been dreaming of moving into, we found the perfect floor plan and put down our earnest money. Once my husband returned to work (he works overseas) I was having a hard time sleeping, thinking of not being able to sell our current house, finance issues, etc. I woke up one night and sent my husband an IM and by ‘chance’ he was in his room and asked why I was awake, I explained my mind wouldn’t turn off and we began to talk, after a few minutes I realized what was really bothering me – we had never prayed and asked GOD if buying this house was HIS will, and we needed to repent (you see we had come to an agreement a few years prior, that all major purchases we would seek GOD’s will and not ours, to help keep our flesh under control). So we both prayed and like a weight lifted off me, I felt peace, I knew GOD was going to bless us with this new house, I knew that no matter what happened during this process, that we had GOD’s blessings and that we were to get this house.

I had decided that as a new stay at home Mom (I had always worked and just ‘retired’ a few months prior) that our new house would be the home that all the kids could hang out at. I would know what my kids were doing and who they were hanging out with. I would take the neighborhood kids to church with us on Wednesdays and Sundays, our house was not only going to be a blessing to us, but to those around us.

We put down almost all our savings on the house after the financing was approved, but after we put that money down we started having issues with financing the closer we got to completion of the house, it became very nerve wracking. Everybody we talked to said we couldn’t finance because of my husbands income was foreign income in a war zone (lots of technicalities about the laws changed that January). We didn’t have a single showing on the other house either, now our other home was beautiful, we loved it and it really was a great home, but not a single person inquired about it from January until May. So here I have a few major issues going against us in the buying of our new home, but I had that promise from GOD, so even though the world was telling me NO, I remembered GOD had told me YES!

When people would ask how the showing was on the old house or how the new house was, I just kept speaking words of faith and saying everything was going to be perfect, this house was going to be a blessing to us and we were going to be blessing whomever bought our other house. We had already decided we were not trying to make a profit on the other house, we listed it only for what we owed on the house and were going to be giving them all the appliances and some furniture as well.

At our final walk through of the new house, I received a call from the loan officer and was told that they wouldn't be able to help us get the house. Well, I didn’t believe that was the final word, so my husband and I went up and talked to him, and he went to the President of the bank and he signed off on the loan for us!

We moved into our new home and blessings were still abundant, we decided to rent out the other house and maybe do a lease to own financing. It took a few months, but we found the perfect family for our other house, but at this point my words changed. People would ask how the new house was and I stopped blessing it and began cursing it – I would say, "well, it’s great, BUT you know we put all our savings into it and we still have the other house and now I’m making two mortgages, two electric and water bils, it’s really draining our finances."

At first I had the neighborhood kids coming over, I took them to church, I did all that I had said I would…but then my words began to put me in bondage. I was depressed over our finances, I didn’t want kids over, I didn’t want to do all that I had told GOD I was going to do with our blessing – because now I was speaking curses, even though I was still believing in GOD to change our circumstances, even though I was praying and serving GOD, my words were destroying all that GOD had given us.

Just this past week, I learned the power of my words, and the power I had given those words over our situation. The situation we are in will only improve or get worst, depending on the words we speak over it. When we were in the process of buying the new house, I had stood firm on faith and cast out all those negative words before they could get into my thoughts; but once we were in the house, my words changed, I began listening and worrying, and I would speak out negative, a foothold became a stronghold. I even knew when I spoke those words, that they were death and cursing and not blessing and life, I felt that check from the Holy Spirit in me, telling me that I ought not say those things, but I did anyways. I’m a full disclosure kind of person (obviously) so I’ve learned that sometimes, I don’t need to say everything, I don't need to say what 'is', but speak out in faith of GOD's blessings. I should have been saying, 'The house is great, GOD blessed us abundantly, we are going to be a blessing to others and GOD will continue to bless us through our new home and the selling of our old home!'

Our situation just received new life, GOD is good like that, HE breathed new life and blessings into our finances after my husband and I joined together in prayer over our finances, and I confessed the cursing of my words. I honestly couldn’t believe how fast GOD blessed us with this, literally days after I confessed the cursing and prayed with my husband, GOD gave us mercy (I’ve been told before, when we confess, that the faith channel is unblocked and that mercy flows quickly and I believe it did for us). The bondage of the last 8 months has been huge, but the freedom from it has been life changing!

I honestly believe the breakthrough in our prayers and receiving mercy, grace and blessings from GOD concerning our prayers was due to alignment of our words with GOD's Word and our prayers without ceasing. Below is what I learned concerning the power of our words, I hope it blesses you and encourages you!

GOD created the heavens and the universe with HIS Words, HE spoke and it became. GOD created us in HIS own image, we are in HIS likeness. Then Adam corrupted that likeness, and our spirits were given death instead of life .

But the Lord warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden – except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 NLT)

When HE sent HIS Son to die for us, and we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became ‘new creations’ – we no longer were born to death that Adam brought on us, life was breathed into us again from GOD, our Spirits were new and full of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)

As a believer you know, that all it took to be a new creation in Christ was to confess with your mouth and SPEAK the words that Jesus is the Son of GOD, that HE died on the cross for our sins and that GOD raised HIM from the dead on the 3^rd day and that HE sits at GOD’s right hand in heaven – those words spoken, that confession; made you an adopted child of GOD, gave you full rights to GOD’s Kingdom, gave you the authority of Christ. So those WORDS breathed new life into you and gave you the power of GOD’s Word.

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations (or peoples), baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)

Wow, you see, we are disciples of Christ, Jesus gave us this authority. Why did HE give us this authority, because HE knew we would need it to fight the enemy. Satan is the ‘god of this world’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) but his powers are limited to this world, we have Christ’s authority to fight Satan and defeat him!

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. (1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT)

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (2 Corinthians 10:4 NLT)

Those false arguments are those whispers of the devil, the lies and deception that the enemy tries to convince us of.  The weapon that is our main defense against the enemy is the Word of GOD, we can speak out GOD’s Word and claim the promises of GOD and defeat the enemy with the words we speak!

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17 AMP)

We have to have salvation to be able to use the Word of GOD to defeat the enemy, we have to be believers to speak out and win against the devil, without salvation, we don’t have the Holy Spirit and we are not new creations with the authority of Christ.

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 AMP)

Words are the key to blessings and cursing. The Bible is full of scripture that warns us about our words and almost every chapter of Proverbs has at least one scripture related to our words, this isn't by chance, no it's because our words are that powerful!

My father taught me, “Take my words to heart. Follow my commands, and you will live. (Proverbs 4:4 NLT)

The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain…(Proverbs 10:11a NLT)

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. (Proverbs 12:18 NLT)

The tongue can bring death or life..(Proverbs 18:21a NLT)

For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart and always ready on your lips. (Proverbs 22:18 NLT)

By keeping GOD’s Word in our heart and on our lips, it is easier to speak out the truth that comes from GOD instead of the lies of the devil.

…For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. (Matthew 12:34b NLT)

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can SAY to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.  (Mark 11:22-23a NLT)

I capitilaized the word ‘SAY’ because Jesus told us that we have to have faith and then SPEAK out, it’s a two part process, believe what you say and when you say it, it will be. I’m going to end this with James 3, there’s a whole lesson in our words because they are so powerful, I cannot do it all justice, but wanted to share with you a part of what I have learned. If you want to, do a study on Words on Bible Gateway, it’s amazing all the scripture for our words, GOD has given the power and the authority to defeat the devil, we just need to know our weapons to be able to use them effectively!

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.  Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.  And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.  In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.  And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.

People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish,  but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.  Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!  Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?  Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.  (James 3:1 – 12 NLT)

Since we started building our home, this scripture was impressed on me to be on our entranceway, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. " Joshua 24:15

My husband, me, my oldest son - Hunter, Max and my step-daughter Celina outside our new beautiful home

Pray Without Ceasing

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16b NLT)

Sometimes answered prayers can take you by surprise, not that they came to be, but that they came so fast! In my joy and excitement of winning one of the faith fights that have been occurring my life, I wanted to share what I’ve learned during this ‘Battle’ I’m in.

If you haven’t had a breakthrough in your prayer, do a self evaluation and make sure you haven’t missed something. I recently learned that taking offense was a sin and that I cannot expect GOD to answer my prayers when I haven’t forgiven someone else of an offense they’ve done to me.   An offense is a stumbling block, it’s a trap and a snare of the devil, don’t let that grudge keep you from receiving what GOD has for you; seek forgiveness and be blessed!

 “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” (Mark 11:24-25 NLT)

After you’ve done your evaluation, ask a friend to pray with you and stand in agreement for your request, Jesus told us that…

I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. (Matthew 18:19 NLT)

GOD will answer our prayers, it might not be the answer we expect, but HE does answer them in three ways 1) with a ‘Yes’, (2)  ‘Yes, but you need to grow your patience’, (3) ‘No, I’ve got something MUCH better planned for you’. I wonder how people go about their lives without GOD, I can get totally bogged down with stress and feel like I’m dying from all the physical symptoms and yet, I have GOD with me, I know HE will not allow any harm to come to me….

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17 )

No weapon means any worldly force, you see the devil can only use what’s available to him on the earth, he doesn’t have the ability to use anything supernatural. BUT remember we have the Armor of GOD, we have the Authority of Christ, we are adopted children of GOD, we are the brothers and sisters of Christ, we are the Body of Christ –we have a supernatural GOD that can ‘make’ anything happen.  The phrase ‘shall prosper’ means that for a time, things might happen to us, we might go through more ‘fights’ in our battle, but remember the VICTORY is already ours, Jesus already won.

Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:15 NKJV)

So why do we worry, why do we let fear sneak in and gain a foothold, that foothold can become a stronghold and then we can end up hanging on to the lies of the enemy instead of the promises of GOD. It doesn’t come about overnight, no, the whispers begin as soon as we get bad news or if something happens that disrupts our plans, then if we dwell on that news and then start speaking out the negative from those whispers; well our spring shower can turn into a Tsunami.  We have to learn to block those thoughts when they enter our mind, and speak out GOD’s Word and promises, before those whispers become something bigger than the lie the devil is deceiving us with. That’s why it’s so important to get into GOD’s Word, HIS Word is full of HIS promises for HIS children, GOD wants to bless us. We need to change our focus, tell the devil to shut up and remember that GOD sent HIS Son to die on a cross that we might live and live abundantly, free from sickness, burdens, and depression. GOD never changes and HIS Word is always the same.  So don’t stop praying, keep believing and you will receive your blessing!

Rejoice always;  pray without ceasing;  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)

For I am the Lord, I do not change. (Malachi 3:6a NKJV)

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8 NLT)