Tag Archives: Life

How to Be Thankful in Seasons of Loss, Pain, and Waiting

Being thankful isn’t always easy.

Most of us have lost loved ones or lost relationships once very valuable to us. Many have suffered financial hardship or emotional or physical pain. And there are those who are in a season of waiting for an answered prayer or who may be going through a spiritual valley. It’s hard to feel thankful sometimes when everything seems to be falling apart. When our thoughts and feelings dwell on our circumstances and on what seems impossible, we can lose a spirit of thankfulness. So, how do we maintain it or get it back?

Praise.

What is thanksgiving, after all? It is the expression of gratitude and showing appreciation. And what is praise? Showing admiration or great approval. When we offer praise to God, we tend to move into a spirit of thanksgiving. We praise Him for what He’s done. We praise Him for who He is. Praise and worship are the keys to maintaining a spirit of thanksgiving.

Job lost everything but still declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15a KJV). Job’s children were killed, and yet he could still bless the name of the Lord (see Job 1). In his season of loss, Job recognized the sovereignty of God.

When you focus on who God is instead of your circumstances, you will find that praise comes naturally. How can we not praise God for all He’s done, for who He is? Because no matter what we may go through, nothing changes that He is worthy, that He is faithful, that He loves us, and that He is good.

Our circumstances change; He does not. He remains.

There have been moments in my life in which I lost so much. Perhaps like many of you, I’ve lost loved ones and relationships. And I’ve dealt with anger, hurt, sadness, loneliness, and all the various emotions that accompany seasons of grief, depression, and waiting. The words “just be thankful for what you have” are not easy to hear or adapt to your life when you can hardly get out of bed in the morning and when grief muddles your thoughts and leaves you feeling sicker by the day. But as someone who’s gone through some of those seasons, I promise you that turning your focus from what you’re going through to who God is will bring some joy back into your life. It will allow you to feel more thankful because you’re no longer putting your focus on the natural but on the supernatural. You’re no longer putting your focus on the impossible but on the one who makes things possible.

And God is always a good God, no matter how trying times become. He’s never left me, and He never will.

I recently came across a song (linked here) that speaks so much to experiences I’ve had, and it demonstrates the faithfulness of God. Just look at the verses below:

“I have seen a lot of things, and I’ve been a lot of places. I’ve seen people come and go. I’ve been through a lot of changes. One thing I can always say, You’ve been here every step of the way. I have heard a lot said and sometimes believed the wrong things. I’ve made choices I regret, and I’ve doubted Your mercy. One thing I can always say, You’ve been here every step of the way. After all these years, You’re still good to me.”

After everything I’ve been through, God is still with me. After the things we’ve all endured these past few years, God is still present with us. When we remind ourselves of how good He is every day, we can maintain a spirit of praise and thanksgiving even through hard times.

The circumstances in your life may seem to grow worse or more complicated year after year, but hold to the promises in His Word. He will never leave us, He will never fail, He works all things for our good, His promises are “yes” and “amen,” He will provide for all our needs, and His mercies are new every morning.

We have much to be thankful for.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.”

Psalms 100:4-5 KJV

4 Ways to Be Consistent in Prayer

How often do you attempt to organize your day perfectly, so you can spend quality time with God, and you fail?

Consistency can be difficult when we get overwhelmed with life and busy with distractions, but it is the key to having a strong prayer life.

Today’s post is taken from Bro. David Brown’s pre-sermon message on this past Friday night at Missouri District Youth Convention. Below is the transcript of an excerpt from the beginning of Bro. Brown’s Friday night message as he describes 4 ways you can be more consistent in your prayer life.

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1. Make it a priority.

You’ve got to make prayer first. And I know that all of you, you have things that you do right when you wake up. Hopefully, it involves something like brushing your teeth.

But I wonder if you’re struggling to make prayer a priority in your life, I wonder if you could make up your mind just between you and Jesus to say, “You know what? Before I (fill in the blank).” It could be brushing your teeth. I promise Jesus doesn’t mind your stank breath. But say, “Lord, before I brush my teeth, before I pick up my phone, before I check a text message, Lord, I’m going to spend time with You in prayer and with your Word.”

So, make it a priority.

2. Place—designate a space and time to fully be with the Lord.

I would encourage you to designate a space and a time to be fully with the Lord. Have a place, whether that’s in your bedroom or a specific place in your bedroom. Maybe it’s even in your closet. But have a place where you can eliminate distractions, and you can set aside time just to be with Jesus.

3. A.C.T.S.—have a plan.

I don’t know about you, but at some point, I got tired of going into that time of prayer, and I say, “Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus,” about 1,000 times, and I say that’s prayer. So, I just have a very simple plan. I can’t even remember the first time where I saw it, but my plan is very simple: it’s A.C.T.S.

I start my time with the Lord by adoring Him, by worshiping Him, by just talking about how awesome God is. Then, I go into confession, and I confess the things I’ve done that I shouldn’t have done and the things I should’ve done that I didn’t do, for to him that knows to do good and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin. And I also confess each day that I could not live this day without Him.

And from confession then I move into thanksgiving, and I begin to thank the Lord for the incarnation, that the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. I thank God for the life of Jesus Christ that though He was tempted in every way as I’m tempted, He was without sin so that He might present Himself a sinless sacrifice. I thank God for every spiritual blessing, every good gift, every perfect gift. I thank God for every spiritual blessing, material blessing, physical blessing.

And after I thank God, then I begin to seek Him. I begin to seek the Lord, and I usually begin by putting on the armor of God, putting off the works of the flesh, and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then I allow the spirit of God to lead me where to pray and what to pray. So, a plan.

4. Playlist—Helps Clock Disappear

And last but not least…this is totally odd-school, but it’s helped me, and perhaps it will help you.

Have a playlist, a set of songs that you pray to, that you don’t necessarily sing to, but they just serve as a means of getting rid of the clock. You forget about the time because you build a playlist—you know exactly how long it is, and so if you’ve got to be somewhere in 30 minutes, have a 30-minute playlist. If you’ve got to be somewhere in 45 minutes or 60 minutes, have a playlist that serves that time.

And typically, I build my playlist to follow my plan. The first song is all about worship, and the second song about confession, and the third song about thanksgiving and seeking the Lord. Before you know it, if I’m praying a playlist, and I’m praying confession or adoration during a song, six minutes and seven minutes and five minutes passes, and before you know it, I’ve spent 30, 45 minutes with the Lord.

*****

The above tips from Bro. Brown are excellent helps for taking a practical approach to be more consistent in your daily prayer life.

If we want to get to the altar and allow God to change us, we must first be consistent in prayer. We must 1) make it a priority, 2) have a place and time designated to be with God, 3) make a prayer plan, and 4) build a playlist to pray along with.

Bro. Brown also mentioned that subscribing to Spotify or Apple Music might be worth the investment if you want to build a prayer playlist so that advertisements do not pull you out of the presence of God:

“There’s nothing like being there with the Lord, and all of a sudden an advertisement for Home Depot comes on. You’ll get out of the altar real quick!”

Bro. David Brown

If we build consistent prayer lives, we’ll be able to develop a closer walk with Jesus, allowing Him to mold and lead us according to His Will.

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Ephesians 6:18 (KJV)

“Pray without ceasing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV)

2 Truths and a Lie: Easter Edition

The cross at Calvary sits between the crosses of the two criminals crucified with Jesus.

Resurrection Sunday is less than one week away, and while we’ll be celebrating the resurrection of our King Jesus, there are still so many who will be celebrating Easter as a fun spring holiday about egg hunts and Easter bunnies.

Now, I love the fun aspects of Easter (like egg hunts, special chocolates, and picnics), but Easter is, of course, not about those things in the same way Christmas is not about receiving gifts or simply gathering with family.

It’s all about Jesus.

Sadly, there are many who forget that. There are many who fail to recognize the significance of this holiday, perhaps because they have fallen away from serving God or because no one has reached them with the truth. There are many forms of “truth” roaming around, especially around religious holidays, and there are many lies that distract people from focusing on the truth.

Today, we’ll focus on one lie that the enemy tells to keep people from finding Jesus and two truths that disprove this lie.

The lie: the days of New Testament miracles and spiritual gifts are over.

This is called cessationism, which is the belief “that spiritual gifts ceased after the closing of the biblical canon” (Apostolic Study Bible). Of course, we know this is a lie due to the truths below.

1. Jesus Christ is alive, and so are supernatural gifts and miracles!

Jesus Christ was crucified but rose again and reigns today. If He is alive, and His power still exists, then so do the miracles, signs, and wonders that all stem from His power.

Through the Holy Ghost, we have the power to reach the lost, tread on serpents, discern spirits, prophesy, and interpret tongues among many other things (see Acts 1:8, Luke 10:19, and 1 Corinthians 12). The fact that God’s people can pray for the sick and they be healed and that God’s people can rebuke spirits and perform other miracles is the evidence of Christ’s reigning power and presence.

Jesus is still performing New Testament miracles through His people, which brings us to the second truth.

2. Jesus Christ is still raising people from the dead.

Yes, that means both physically and spiritually. A person can suffer two deaths: physical and spiritual, but the spiritual takes place before the physical. While a physical death does not necessarily resign a person to eternal death (hell), a spiritual death can lead to eternal death if left untreated.

But our God does not abandon the weary, the broken, or the spiritually dead.

When I was struggling with the darkest depression I had ever experienced, I worried I was lost. I worried that there was no way out of that seemingly endless pit because I couldn’t see it. A mix of various emotions consumed me—grief, bitterness, despair, hopelessness. I found myself in a dry wilderness where there was no life and no peace.

But God breathed new life into me.

Through a series of sermons, He began to speak life into me again. After studying certain Scriptures, I began to feel His love and mercy again. After calling out to Him on several occasions, I began to get closer to Him than I had been before, and He brought me out of darkness into His light.

He renewed me. He resurrected me.

If He did it for me, He can do it for you.

Those are the truths we must remember, especially as we celebrate His Resurrection.

Jesus Christ is still on the throne.

He is still healing the sick.

He is still mending broken souls.

He is still saving the lost.

He is still reviving the dead.

He is still moving, and He is not done.

For our God is alive!

Happy Easter, everyone! Thank God for His blood that He shed to cover our sins and give us the chance at eternal life with Him!

I pray you all have a wonderful time celebrating our risen King this Resurrection Sunday!

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said….”

Matthew 28:5-6a (KJV)

Prioritizing the Kingdom

So, I have this need. A time-sensitive need. It’s one of those needs that you try not to worry about too much, but as the days go by and nothing changes, you start to worry a lot.

“God,” I say, “I have this need. Now, You know I have this need, and I know You know that, so if You could maybe speed up Your need-fulfilling machine and meet this need ASAP, that would take a load off my mind. We’re dealing with a time-sensitive issue here, and the funny thing about time is that it’s always running out. Right, God? God? Is this thing on?”

I scratch my head and wring my hands and ramble on and on until all I can think about for the next hour and day and week is that one need that keeps coming closer to its deadline.

And then I read Matthew chapter 6, and I realize God is speaking to me:

(30) “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

From these verses, God reminds me, and us, that we need not allow worry over our needs to consume our thoughts. Sometimes, we prioritize our cares on earth over Kingdom concerns too much.

What should we do?

We should seek first the Kingdom of God and trust that God will meet our needs. My Apostolic Study Bible explains it as actively pursuing the Kingdom while passively expecting the meeting of our needs.

Indeed, Matthew 6 says it perfectly as well. If God takes care of His creation, then how much more will He care for His children? For He knows our needs. And so we should not busy ourselves with overloaded concern for our own selves. Rather, we should busy ourselves with His Kingdom.

Prioritizing trust in Him breeds more trust in Him and the assurance that God will take care of us no matter what life throws our way.

I may still have a need, as do we all, but I also have the promise that my Savior who knows my need is working on my behalf and will come through for me at precisely the right moment.

If we are faithful to Him, then He will provide for all our needs in this life, for the righteous are not forsaken.

How to Live a Balanced Life

There’s something about birthdays that spins the wheels of reflection in my mind. As I turned 25 this week, I began to reflect on what I’m most grateful for during this first quarter of my life, and I settled on one of the most important aspects of a Christian’s life that I realized has helped make my life balanced—having (and listening to) consistent leadership.

Having balance is the only way we can survive in this world and still live for God. Life gets hectic, and we get distracted, and then we find ourselves guilty because we’ve been spending more time on distractions and less time on God. He is the one for Whom we exist, after all. Consistent leadership is an essential element that we must not only seek out but also appreciate to create a healthy balance and make God and righteousness the center of our world.

We find consistent leaders in our pastor, ministers, mentors, and our parents who lead us according to God’s Word so that we might grow up as a well-watered child of God. As we grow from childhood into adulthood, we need pastors and leaders who will not only preach the Word as it is but live the Word. What’s even more essential, however, is not only listening to consistent leaders but applying their teachings from the Word to our lives.

My pastor during my childhood and into my upper teenage years taught many lessons rooted in truth, and because I could see from his lifestyle that he loved truth, I valued his lessons all the more. There is one such lesson that I will never forget—

the dogfight taking place inside ourselves.

He explained that there are two dogs waging war inside each of us—the carnal dog and the spiritual dog. But which dog will win in the fight?

The one you feed the most.

As I went from high school to college and into the adult world, I learned how much more balanced my life and each day were when I fed the spiritual dog inside of me through prayer, spending time in the Word, and fasting. It became obvious that this was a daily battle against the flesh, and I knew that consistency was key because I’d seen my childhood pastor and many other leaders apply this lesson to their own lives by living consistently for Jesus.

We’re all human and obviously make mistakes, but if we lean on God for strength, we can win this daily dogfight within ourselves and strengthen our walk with God.

We find balance by consistently serving Jesus no matter what.

It’s what my spiritual leaders have taught me and what my parents have shown me.

Maybe today isn’t your birthday, but it’s as good a day as any to take stock of your own life and reflect on what your leaders, parents, or mentors have shown you. It’s a good day to show your appreciation to them for their leadership and faithful service to God. It’s a good day to start feeding the spiritual dog within you more than ever before. And it’s a good day to endeavor to live a balanced life for Jesus no matter what may come your way.