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Because I know prayer changes things, we must pray and keep on praying. Here are some posts that will build your faith and inspire you to persist until you breakthrough to victory.
I love salt. Now I understand it is very important not to get carried away when I‘m pouring it from the round blue box. Still I must admit, I’m a little heavy handed on the salt when it comes to French fries, sweet potato fries. That saltiness on the sweet fries is “delish”, to quote […]
I had been warned that it was cooler in the mountains, so I wore long pants and a quarter length sleeve. A light drizzle started as we approached the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we ate our picnic lunch in the car. I knew the mountains held the last of the mountain laurels and this would […]
I don’t know if this happens to you, but sometimes I loose my might to fight, because I feel overwhelmed. Because I’m faced with too many things and everything s
eems to much for me to tackle.
Let me explain. In the last few weeks we uncovered a termite invasion in our house, horrors! Our truck had a very expensive break down. My computer crashed. The dishwasher broke. The refrigerator went out. The dryer quit drying. Family crisis. When it all happens at once it’s overwhelming. And that’s how it usually happens. It’s not just one thing, it’s multiple things, one right after another! Ahhh!
Not only that, my yard. I have taken out locust trees repeatedly. Wayne is a craftsman, so I do things that don’t require carpentry skills. So sawing down the locust trees has been my job. He helps, but it’s my job. I cut them down in the fall. Pulled the roots up as far as I could pull. In February, for every place I had one in the fall, I now had two. So I chopped and hacked. I pulled and chopped some more. I’ve poisoned. I’ve cut. I’ve pulled, but now they have taken over the entire hillside! Ahhh! I was totally overwhelmed. I just wanted to go to bed. I had no more might to fight the locust.
But going to bed doesn’t clear off the hillside.
In spite of how I felt I had to tackle my mountain. This is what I did.
I think my strategy for clearing the locust from the hillside is a viable strategy for whatever may be overwhelming you. Whether it’s financial, physical, disobedient children or organizing a closet. Life can be overwhelming. Problems can be overwhelming. When that happens we can loose our might to fight. Instead, tackle it. What strategy do you use when you feel overwhelmed.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
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I wanted to see the Mountain Laurels in bloom so we decided to go to church in Spruce Pine. As I entered the restroom a nice lady greeted me. We began to chat. She was originally from Florida too. Actually, everyone I met that day had lived in Florida at some point in their life. Here’s the story the nice lady shared with me in the restroom. She said I could share it with you, so here goes.
She explained they had lived in Melbourne, Florida for many years. Her husband had been an engineer at NASA. Their daughter understood the power of prayer and finding the right man was high on her agenda, so she prayed. But her prayer was incredibly specific. So specific it worried her mother. The girl prayed, “God this is what I want in a husband. I want him to be a committed Christian. (Amen) I want him to be musically inclined and love music. And…I want him to hate mayonnaise and pickles. In spite of her mother’s concern and mild protests, this is how the high school senior prayed.
During her senior year, God began to deal with her dad to quit his job and move to North Carolina. At the end of the school year, the family moved to North Carolina, 400 hundred miles away. They moved to Spruce Pine. A small town with only a few hundred people. There that young woman met and married a young man that loves God, and music and hates…mayonnaise and pickles. Now he is the worship leader in that church.
Don’t you just love it when God’s plan comes together in such a way you just know it has to be God. There have been times in my life I prayed so specific that I knew only God could have made it come to pass. Those times are memorials that keep me believing and standing in faith when I want to give up. Remembering those significant times stimulates my might to fight!
So pray, and yes pray specific. Don’t be hesitant to tell God what you need and want. Sometimes in the process God will fine tune the prayer and narrow it’s focus with clarity and understanding. That’s how a conversation works. As God fine tunes your heart and prayers, your relationship with Him will grow. Your faith will grow. Your answers to prayer will increase. I really like that part of the process. But I also find that the richness of my relationship with Him is as precious as receiving my answer to prayer.
More Links on Prayer:
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
One of the reasons we lose our might to fight is we get discouraged. In a culture of instant gratification, we want to say a quick little prayer and poof there’s the answer. Most of the time, God uses time to test our determination and our persistence. He builds character and endurance in us as we discover how to walk with Him into the strong, turbulent winds of adversity. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to walk into storm winds, but they push you backward with every step. It requires you to grab hold of something and pull with all your might to process. If you’re in a storm, the something is really a someone, Jesus is with you in the storm, but you can’t lay down…you’ve got to stand in faith.
So many times I’ve heard my grand-daughter protest, “It’s hard.” The meaning behind those two words was, “I quit. I’m done. This is hard and I don’t do hard.” And the reality is way too often as believers, we give up on people. We give up on situations when we don’t see results on a time table that is consistent with our agenda.
But using the words from Casting Crowns song “Courageous”. “Lord, Make us courageous,” must become a mindset and a determination, not an excuse. We must arm ourselves with a bull-dog tenacity and the courage to persist in the face of hardships and adversity if we are going to win the battle. There are several stellar lines in this song, but one of my favorites is; “The only way we’ll stand is to start on our knees.” I can only say, Amen! You are not called to be a watcher. You are called to be a warrior!
Listen to the Lyrics. They’re powerful.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
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Yes, Florence Chadwick broke the world record in 1950 when she swam across the English Channel in 13 hours and 20 minutes. And yes, she is notably the first woman to swim the English channel both ways in 1951. Still she’s best know for her “not so successful” swim in 1952.
Ms. Chadwick’s new goal was to be the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, a 21 mile swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. Rough waters, bone chilling waters and sharks make ocean swimming arduous and dangerous. Long distance swimming adds another layer of complexity to the challenge that lay before Florence. The shark infested waters alone, would be enough to keep this “land lubber” from attempting such a daunting task.
Her support team armed with medical supplies and rifles to shoot sharks, accompanied her in a small boat. In another boat held moral support-her mother! Yeah mothers! Of course, I must mention her dad had accompanied her on the English Channel record shattering trip, so yeah for dads too!
Florence swam methodically hour after hour in the cold waters pulling herself toward her goal. A thick, soupy fog settled over the waters making visibility impossible. When the bleakness of that fog began to blind her inner vision, she began to doubt her abilities. She complained to her mom, “I don’t think I can make it.” Still she swam for another hour. Florence had been swimming for almost 16 hours. But without that inner vision, all she could see was a never ending struggle and that drained her energy. That lack of vision and lack of hope defeated her. She called for her support team to take her out of the water. When she was sitting in the boat she discovered she was less than one mile from land.
Brian Cavanaugh, in A Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, noted that she told a reporter, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I know I could have made it.” (Read more:
She didn’t know just how close to victory she was. She was less than one mile…one mile. If only she had known…if only you knew just how close to victory you are. Life doesn’t give us mile markers to indicate how close we are to victory; like an interstate highway marks our progress to the next town. Without those indicators we must have confidence in our guide and a clear vision of where we’re going. If you don’t; you’ll lose heart. You’ll lose your might to fight.
While our vision must include a picture of victory, our vision must go even beyond the fight, even beyond the victory to the person holding the victory. That is essential as a believer. Jesus wants to give you the victory. As you behold Him, His promises, and His love for you, your heart will receive hope. That hope is a light that enables vision. If it’s dark where you’re cowering this morning and you’ve lost your might to fight, then go to God’s Word. Find a promise for your situation and begin to declare God’s truth, God’s reality over it. Look to Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven.”
I talked with a dear friend recently that is fighting a huge battle, I asked, “How are you doing?”
My friend responded, I’m deliberately building my faith. It’s a fight, but my confidence is in God.”
Two months later Florence Chadwick tried it again. This time she kept the vision of land in her heart the entire swim. The entire trek was completed in a record shattering “13 hours, 47 minutes, and 55 seconds”. Not only did she break the record by two hours, she began the first woman ever to swim the Catalina Channel. She did it and you can be victorious in your circumstance as well. Fight the good fight of faith by keeping your eyes on Jesus.
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Mark Twain Get your fight back…more tomorrow.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Florence May Chadwick.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2012. Answers.com 07 Jun. 2012. https://www.answers.com/topic/florence-chadwick
Read more: https://www.answers.com/main/cite_this_answer.jsp#ixzz1x6XNivW2
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Kimberly made an interesting comment in my blog yesterday…”I know your prayers have helped me get back up when I wasn’t sure I had any fight left!” Her post actually fed a thought that was already rattling around inside my head.
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Everywhere I turn I see people facing huge challenges and battles. Many of those faces reflect what I imagine young David must have seen when he approached the battlefield at Elah.
He was there to supply bread for his brothers and cheese to their commander. He came with youthful enthusiasm to root and cheer for his team-the Israelites.
But David laid down his pompoms when his expectations of what a battlefield was like was dosed with the reality of what it is. David saw men running …not in the direction he expected. They were running away from the battle. Frighten men. Trembling men, trying to hide. Hiding from a single adversary, whose voice shot arrows of terror into the hearts of the would be heroes. They were too far away to see the muscles of the giant antagonist’s neck bulge as he bellowed , “Send me a man.” But they felt the blow of intimidation with every syllable he spoke.
Nobody wanted to be that man—the man sent to face the giant, so they hid. They cowered. They trembled while their accuser blasted them day after day. They had no “Might to Fight!”
That’s what I see in people’s faces and hear in their words. People seem to be looking for someone to fight their battle for them. And it simply doesn’t work that way. Maybe you’ve seen that same look or heard the resignation to defeat, come from the lips of tired warriors. Or maybe you’ve been there yourself, facing a battle without a clue what to do next.
But you must fight..there is a battle to be WON. Whether it’s a battle for your children or the nation, you must fight. Whether it’s a financial battle or a health battle or both. You cannot lay down or give up.
We all want victory, but victory is never automatic. I understand Jesus won the battle for us at Calvary. That victory should be our rally cry, not our excuse to be lazy. Remember the cross is our declaration of faith in the same sense that the Texans declared, “Remember the Alamo.” Remember, Calvary catapults us to take what is rightfully ours. It inspires us to stand our ground with the shield of faith and declare, “satan, you cannot have my kids. You cannot have my health. You will not steal my faith. I remember the price Jesus paid for my peace,you cannot have it without a fight. I resist you in the name of Jesus. Jesus you are my victory. You always causes me to triumph.” Victory doesn’t come without a fight.
In my next few blogs I want to talk about what we need to do to regain our might to fight. But before I can address the “how to get our Might to Fight back, let’s look at how we lost it in the first place. I think they fall under four maybe five categories. I’ll list them, then I’ll talk about them in the next few blogs, over the next few days.
Reasons we have No might to Fight.
· We loose our focus.
· We get discouraged. (That may actually be the same as loosing our focus, but I think it deserves special attention.)
· We compared ourselves or our situation to others.
· We get complacent.
· We feel hopeless.
Do you have some reasons to add to my five reasons? What have you seen that robbed people of their might to fight? Please share it in the comment section.
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Links on Prayer:
Think Missional! Pass this on to someone you think may enjoy it or need it.
Kimberly was down the street from where I walk, buying a few groceries, and I wanted to get to see her. So, I ran. It was not a pretty site, all that fat flapping in the breeze. It sounded like my bike did when, as a kid, I clothes-pinned a baseball card in the spokes. […]
Maybe you don’t need a definition, but I did. There’s a lot of talk about heroes. Somehow I missed the fact that there’s a show on TV now called “Heroes.” Then there’s all these super hero and comic book hero movies coming to the theatre. I haven’t seen any of the TV shows or the new movies, but I think I observed a hero night. Just in case it really was a hero, I thought maybe I should look up the definition.
According to Merriam-Webster a hero is “a. a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability”. I definitely have not met a hero that fits that description. It sounds a little scary to me. Samson is not on my list of “would love to meet” Bible characters. Even the next definition, “ an illustrious warrior” is way out of my league of experiences. And I thought I had experienced all there was—now I have a new thing to do on my bucket list; meet an illustrious warrior, unless that would be Samson. I would love to meet a real war hero. Anyone out there have any connections. But, I must confess that I tear up if I pass a soldier in the grocery store wearing their uniform, so maybe I have already done that too.
But like I said, she wears many hats. She and her husband rounded up the kids that ride the van for their trip home as we chatted. She knows all the kids stories; their hurts…the reality of their broken homes, broken lives and night mares come true. And not just the kid’s stories, she knows the parent’s and the grand parent’s stories. She shares more than their stories, she shares their pain. She cares. She listens. She hugs. Not the impatient, I’ve got things to do hug, but the lingering, full, but always appropriate, I really care about you, hug.
Yes, Thelma Bartmess, you’re my hero. Not the “a.” or “b.” definition as described by Merriam-Webster, but the “c.” definition “a man (in this case a woman) admired for his achievements and noble qualities.” Thank you for all you do to make our church a better place. Thank you for all the hugs. For all the years you’ve loved on kids and taught them Bible verses. For all your trips to Fine Arts. I’ll just stop here…you know what you do, I’m too tired to go on….
Our church, and I’m sure your church, has more than one Thelma; those ordinary people doing things with extraordinary love. Those people are my heroes, not the plastic imitation heroes with fragile egos that parade on the news and social media. While I don’t worship heroes, they inspire. Heroes like Thelma make me want to serve with greater love, give more generously and live louder.
To all the Thelma’s out there, even if you’re called by a different name, THANK YOU! Thank you for living your faith out loud by lovingly serving others. Thank you for making the difference even when no one noticed or no one seemed to care. You don’t need my thank you because that’s just what you do, but I needed to say it.
Think MISSIONAL. If you know someone that would enjoy this blog, please pass it on.
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If you follow my blogs you know I love stories, especially Bible stories. This young man loves them as passionately as I do. He has his doctorate, so what he does; his books, his preaching and his life is beyond story telling. Just when I thought I had a mental icon of what a successful pastor, author and preacher should look like along comes a man that changes that icon. He is passionate in his pursuit of God. He is humble, approachable and brilliant. He tells his story, his amazing and miraculous story of God taking care of a man following, obeying and giving his all to Christ.
I loved him for his riveting life story, but he does more in his book. But it’s the influence of HIS (God’s) story, the Scriptural weaving of powerful Bible truths into the fabric of his life that makes this book life changing.
If you want to read a book that will wrap you in God’s love and then release you into your destiny with renewed passion, you need to read this book.
Meeting and hearing this man at District Council in Louisana impacted my life. I’m seeing things differently…oh, how desperately I want to be more like Jesus!
Windows Live Tags: Extravagant,Bryan,Jarrett,Bible,life,icon,pastor,author,preacher,pursuit,Christ,Scriptural,fabric,destiny,passion,District,Council,Louisana,Jesus,Response,Outrageous,Love,Influence,Paperback,Price,Publisher,Description,iota,word,nature,extravagance,expressions,cycle,David,Mary,Bethany,Scriptures,heart,Experience,Recognize,Offer,gift,truths,hearts,talents,miracles
Forgive me. I intended to get this posted yesterday. By the time I juggled everything that had to be done, it didn’t get up. The wind and rain awaken me at 3:30 this morning. My first though was, “Do we still have power?” Even before we went to bed (we don’t normally get a […]
Pentecost Pentecost is a special celebration to the Jewish people. It commemorates the supernatural giving of the law at Mt. Sinai complete by getting all dressed up and watching a spectacular fireworks display. Pretty spectacular stuff! It was one of three feast that every Jewish male was required to attend. Pentecost means fifty and comes […]
