#197 - Thoughts Matter

Good morning! It already feels like a warm day here in Columbia, we may have to hit up the pool for a bit. Well, let's get started in to the Word.

Proverbs 21:5 - The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone who is impatient and hasty hastens only to want.

Proverbs 31:27 - She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.

As I sat reading in my journal and reading through today's Proverbs, I couldn't escape the concept that "Your Thoughts Matter." Yesterday as I sat, listening to what I felt the Holy Spirit was telling me, here were some of the things I got from it:

• You are not subject to your circumstances. When you do things God's way, your circumstances are subject to YOU!
• Your expectation and believe DOES matter!
• People SEE your beliefs by how you live. 

Then as I sat down this morning, I felt like with the theme of "A Journey of Belief" or "A Journey of Faith." Have you ever felt like you were on a journey in your spiritual walk? One day you believe, another day you may be a bit down, the next day is better... and on and on the cycle goes. Ultimately you want to be rooted in faith and rooted in belief, unlike the person in James chapter 1 who is like a wave, tossed to and fro in the sea, wavering, unstable in all his ways.  Thankfully, being in the Word on a consistent basis has a way of keeping one grounded. Keeping one emotionally stable and headed in the right direction, though my question yesterday was this: How does someone steer clear from doubt or discouragement? 


The gist of the answer was something like this: Have a clear vision. Have the stories of faith and victory, a plan, the vision, the pieces of the puzzle INGRAINED in your mind and on your heart. Have it SO ingrained there that you know it like the back of your hand. So ingrained that every bit of it is real to you. Continue to RENEW your mind to THAT story, that vision!

This is where your thoughts come in. Your daily thoughts matter. Down to the minute, those things that you allow your mind to dwell on really matter! One thought can lead you down the path of doubt & discouragement, or one thought can lead you down the path of faith, belief, victory and favor. One thought! The Bible does not say that "doubt" won't come. For a believer, it most likely WILL come. The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10), and if he can steal your faith and belief, he has won! As believers, we need to be PREPARED when the enemy comes, when he tries to plant thoughts in our mind. We need to know HOW and WHAT we are going to do when that happens. It's not a matter of IF it will happen, it's a matter of WHEN it will happen. How are you going to stay on the path to hope, faith & belief? How are you going to keep from getting discouraged? The vision, needs to be there, firmly. We need to be able to QUICKLY look to something, an idea, story, vision, plan, promise, scripture, whatever it is for you, but we need to be able to IMMEDIATELY access those thoughts and dwell on them. When the enemy comes, we need to be able to take EVERY thought captive and put it under the obedience of Christ Jesus. BUT, with the thought that Satan tries to plant, we need to be able to replace it with something else. Replace it with a thought of victory. Replace it with the picture or idea, the story of victory that we've ingrained on our minds and heart. If we are scrambling for that vision, unclear of how or what to think on, we are headed down a road of doubt and disbelief.

Thoughts matter. Today, take the time to PLAN your thoughts. Be ready when the enemy comes. KNOW what your thoughts are going to be! Know what you are going to think on . Philippians 4:8 reminds us to,  Think on THESE things, "... whatever is pure, lovely, of good report....meditate on these things." 


Your thoughts matter.

#179 - Hold the THIEF Accountable!

Good morning! It's going to be a blessed day here in SC, what about where you are?? Let's jump right into the Word this morning!

Proverbs 6:30-31 - Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; But if he is found out, he must restore seven times [what he stole]; he must give the whole substance of his house [if necessary--to meet his fine].

The thief! Another verse that immediately jumps to my mind when thinking about the "thief" is John 10:10,  "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." Who is the thief? Most often known as Satan! He is the thief and out to steal whatever he can get his hands on, it it makes us unhappy, he is after it. If it takes our focus off of our calling on our life, he is after it. If it puts us in strife & anger, he is after it. Satan comes to steal, kill & destroy, and IF we let him, that is exactly what he will do. 


I remember several years ago, Tyler's car was broken into. The broke the window, tried to unsuccessfully steal his CD player from the dash, but they did get away with a set of golf clubs & his new iPod. He was obviously upset about it. He's not much of a golfer, so he wasn't too distraught over those, but he had just got his iPod and was really upset about that. Being the "techy" that he is, he had downloaded several books, Success CD's, songs, etc onto the iPod and was using it a lot. Though the iPod was a gift, it was adding a ton of knowledge to him as he was working out, driving, or just out and about. Tyler was constantly putting good stuff in him. 


Several days after the iPod was stolen, he was still really upset. The police hadn't found the thief yet, and we weren't totally holding our breath on that happening. Then... I had an idea. I said to Tyler, "Why don't you just sow the iPod and bless the person who took it." We know how sowing and reaping works, and when you sow you can expect 30, 60, 100 times back what you have sown. BUT, we also knew about Proverbs 6:31. He blessed the PERSON that stole it, but the spirit behind the person that stole it was Satan. Satan is the thief! And we were holding Satan accountable to what the Word said! Satan was going to have to repay 7-fold of what he had stolen because that's what it said in the Word! Satan had to repay SEVEN TIMES the cost of the iPod, as well as the cost of the knowledge Tyler was gaining from what he had downloaded!


The rest of the story? A few weeks had gone by, and we were still thanking God for a successful outcome. We were thanking God for the victory. Wouldn't you know it, Tyler received a phone call. The  company we work with had chosen Tyler among thousands of people to help pilot a program with cell phone applications. In being a part of this program he would receive a free iPhone and free service for 6 months. Now, this was when the iPhone was brand new and very expensive. It was most definitely the hottest thing on the market at the time and not many people had it. That along with the free service for 6 months added up to being a lot. We didn't add up the total value, but believe it was probably close to 7 times what had been stolen from him. 


The Word works when you WORK THE WORD! God's Word is true ALL the time, we just have to first KNOW the Word and then Work the Word through confession and continually meditating on the Word day and night. 


Has the enemy stolen from you? Hold him to repaying! Don't just let him ride off with a "free car" or "free TV" or "business partners" or whatever it is that he has stolen! Satan is accountable to the WORD OF GOD! Expect that YOU will receive a 7-fold return for what he has stolen from you! Stand strong, and watch your victory come! 

#147 - PLANT THAT WORD!!!

Good morning! I must say.... my apologies about some inconsistencies as of lately with posts. I slammed my finger in the garage door and for about a day and a half couldn't even touch anything without being in pain.... so typing was out of the question. Please say a prayer for my finger though! COMPLETE HEALING & NO PAIN! It's still a bit tender, but praise God, BY JESUS STRIPES I AM HEALED!


Alright... go with me to Mark chapter 4. 

 ³ Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
 ⁴ And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
 ⁵ And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
 ⁶ But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
 ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
 ⁸ And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
 ¹⁴ The sower soweth the word.
 ¹⁵ And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.

This parable I'm sure many of you are familiar with... it's a very popular one. I wanted to share an experience where this was real in my life.... just one of many stories I could tell. 


Tyler woke up one morning and told me, "Hey, the Holy Spirit told me that this morning we are going to lay hands on *Mark, and he's going to be healed." So... I was excited about that. Mark had been in the hospital and recovering, but was unable to walk. He was using a wheelchair or walker, or any assistance he could use, but could not walk on his own. Well, praise God, today was the day he would walk! 


We arrived at his house, sat down and Tyler asked him if he would like to be healed. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said "Yes." As Tyler went through some scripture, he firmly agreed with the Word. He was excited. He believed that the power of Jesus could still heal today! He stood up with the assistance of a walker and we laid hands on him and began to pray. We prayed. We thanked God. We put God in remembrance of His Word and we rejoiced! Mark received!!!  As we came to a close in the prayer, Mark stepped away from the walker. We made sure he was careful. But he said, I CAN WALK! He took a step forward without help, then took a step backwards without help. He was laughing and crying all at the same time. Then he took several steps forward and even jogged in place! He was so excited! He was jogging in place! He told us he wanted to go up the stairs, he hadn't been able to do that in months. Mark made his way to the stairs, and flawlessly made his way up, and then back down. He was shouting he was so excited! Tears streamed down his face. This was really happening. 


We all went back to the living room for Tyler & I to get ready to leave... I'm sure Tyler gave him some parting instructions, we rejoiced with him and then were on our way. 


Later we found out that Mark did not keep walking.... sure he walks today. It was like he relapsed into the same state he was in when we had first arrived. That brings me to the whole point of today's devotion. When you receive something new or a revelation from the Lord, it is CRUCIAL that you begin to FIRMLY PLANT that Word in your heart! It is crucial that you begin to meditate, ponder, and just pour in, pour in, pour in the Word! That you get that new revelation so PLANTED & GROUNDED that NOTHING or NO ONE can take it away from you. 


What happened with Mark? The WORD, in regards to healing, was not firmly planted in his heart. And we know what happens next when the word is planted... right? The THIEF IMMEDIATELY comes to STEAL the Word. In this case, when the thief came to steal the Word, he walked in and stole the word right from Mark with no fight. That is what Satan does! He comes to STEAL, KILL & DESTROY! 


I have had to really fight this recently. The idea of PLANTING FIRMLY new revelations that I have received from the Lord. I have WATCHED the enemy come and try to STEAL these truths right out from under my feet. BUT, I am FIGHTING! I am fighting to keep these truths and revelations that I received. But it takes a CONSTANT, SOLID, FIRM, CONSISTENT, STUBBORN effort to PLANT the Word. Continue to PLANT! PLANT! PLANT! Plant the Word so deep that the roots can not come up! Plant the Word so thoroughly that the truths are there for good! And NOTHING can shake your tree! Like the palm tree in a hurricane.... it may bend, but it doesn't break! God made it to withstand fierce winds and storms. God made US to withstand the enemy too! We have EVERYTHING we need to WIN! AND.... JESUS HAS ALREADY DEFEATED HIM! JESUS HAS ALREADY WON, so WE have already won! 


But... I encourage you.... get those truths, those revelations firmly planted. Don't let the enemy come and steal them from you, because THAT my friend is what he is going to try to do! Be ready! PLANT THAT WORD!!!

* Name Changed.