Success and Failure Blog

~Hope is confidence, courage, and faith.

The hope is in the cross where God’s son gave up His life so we will have the hope of glory. We will have eternal rest with Him. Hope is given freely without cost to us for the price was already paid in the life of Jesus Christ. While Jesus Christ was on the cross his hands were nailed in an upright position as to surrender his life to his Father. So we have to surrender our life to our Father Jesus by rising up our arms in submission to His will for this new life with him.

Freely you have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8b) You have been given hope from Christ so now take this message and share it with all. To know I am no longer alone as a single female that Christ has my back is one of peace. No more striding to do all on my own I have a helpmate in the name of the Holy Spirit who keeps me warm at night. He equips me in the art of warfare and the knowledge of my creator. He has made a home inside of me and I know he is there. How do I know that he is alive in me? When I gave up my control of my finances; I heard a voice that wasn’t my own singing Halleluiah over and over again. Then, I felt the Holy Spirit enter me it felt like a warm river flowing through me. Hope is given in the name of Jesus Christ for you and me. Do not keep this gift to yourself spread it like wildfire.

“If only I knew how to find God! I would go where He lives.” (Job 23:3) Many have travel down this road but few have actually took the step of faith and walk through the gate. (Matthew 7:13) It takes confidence, courage, and faith to embrace the future with Jesus Christ.

Control is hard. Letting it all go and letting God into your life is humbling. Saying, “I can’t do this life anymore on my own; everything is so screwed up. I need your, help!”

But, woe to them who couldn’t take that step of faith for without hope they will surely die. We have church members who play church outside the gate just a step away from Christ. But because they do not trust Jesus or they love the things of this world; they will perish and be lost forever. Let us not have hope for this life, les we are miserable. (1Cor. 15:19) Let us not live for our life on earth and be lost forever in hell. Focus your attention on Jesus Christ and the inheritance we have in Him not in our worldly possessions. (Matthew 19:29) If we are miserable we are still pining for the things of this world. Throw off the old man and embrace the new and living way.

At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. (Job 14:7) I am this tree; that the Lord is training up to harvest the fields on my Father’s land. This scripture represents the power of God’s love for us. God prunes away the behavior that doesn’t belong and waters (word) the tender new shoots to grow into a beautiful tree. We will survive this and we will be stronger, more confident and have greater love for others.

My time living in the dark valley of death has its positives and that is my relationship with Jesus Christ has gone deeper. My tender roots have broken through the hard dirt finding the streams of water that is hope given. “A faith that has not been tested is one that cannot be trusted.” (John C. Maxwell)

I pray for other travelers on this journey that you too will experience a deep relationship with Jesus Christ. That your roots will go deep and you will stand strong and humble before the King of Kings. Lord, give my travel companions hope and patience for this journey. Thank you, Lord for giving me a travel companions who will guide and teach me about you. In your precious name Jesus. Amen.

As I was reading this morning, Matthew 14:29-33 struck me.  Jesus was walking onto the water towards the disciples.   The disciples thought they saw a ghost.  Peter said “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you.”  The Lord did.  The first sign of a wind Peter lost all faith and confidence and started to fall in.  He cried out to the Lord to save him.

How many times do we cry out to the Lord in the middle of a faithful act because they just seem to blow a little south, not exactly as we had expected or not as smoothly as we would like?

This verse led me to rethink a discussion in our womans group.  We are studying the Holy Spirit and leading a Spirit filled life.  This past week we had a chart illustrating Heart attitudes of the flesh and heart attitudes of the Spirit.  I have put the chart at the end of this post in order for you to peruse it and see where your heart lies and what you need to ask the Lord to assist you in.

The last one on the chart a fleshly heart’s emotions are controlled by their circumstances and a Spirit-filled heart has joy for the Lord always.  I checked this one in my book.  As I can definitely see where I can be controlled by my circumstances but I also have such a joy for the Lord.  Hmm?

So reading the devotion from Dr. Charles Stanley (Intouch.org) this morning “Looking for Fruit.”  He says “Fruitful believers are not controlled by their environments.”  Yikes I am not fruitful:(  I do not like where this is going.

Fruitful believers will return harsh words with kindness.  They do experience pain and anger but in the end they always trust the Lord to protect them through these circumstances.

Now this part I like:  “Fruitful believers recover quickly.”  Fruitful believers are thankful for the trial and for God showing them their weaknesses.

Thank you, Lord!

After reading these words, I needed to meditate and speak with God.  He comforted me.  You see this past weekend I had harsh words said to me.  Although I walked away at first, when it reoccurred I know I did some ungodly actions and words before walking away again.  God said, Mary, you have come a long way.  Still a long way to go, but you have come a long way.  Let us think about what the old Mary would have done.  Well, Lord, she would have screamed and yelled.  She would not have walked away.  She would have stayed there crying and insulting with insult.  She would have become severely depressed and angered for days.  Forgetting of your love and graciousness.

Why did I walk away?  I wanted to be with God.  The second time I walked away my 7-year-old was getting ready to play a football game.  But I  needed to choose the 5-mile walk back home vs. staying there and being more fleshly.  It was a great walk with the Lord.  He let me get out my frustrations with Him and He relieved my hurt, pain, and anger.  He showed me to be more forgiving in the light of not wanting to be.  Thank you for that walk, Lord.  You have made me stronger.

Thank you for this revelation, Lord.  You are always so good to me!  You never repay us as our sins deserve.  (Psalm 103) You are an awesome God!  May all glory and honor be Yours, Almighty Father!

Heart Attitudes of the Flesh                                 Heart Attitudes of the Spirit

Gruff, abrasive, anxious                                          Sweet-spirited, pleasant

Stern, irritable, unmoved                                       Tenderhearted

Focused on self, impatient                                     Kind

Bitter, easily hurt, scornful                                    Gentle

Jealous, demanding                                                   Lowly in heart

Proud, selfish                                                                 Sacrificial

Lazy, irresponsible, wants credit                          Servant’s heart

Enduring religion, critical                                        Enjoying Christ

Self-righteous                                                                Faith is a delight, not a duty

Loose-tongued, judgmental                                    Mourns with godly sorrow

Unfriendly, wants own way                                     Meek, yields rights

Seeks own pleasure and comfort                           Hungers and thirsts for righteousness

Unforgiving                                                                     Merciful

Loves self and world;y pleasure                              Pure in heart

Gossip, stirs up strife                                                    Peace maker

Emotions controlled by circumstances               Full of joy in the Lord

from “The Spirit Filled Life God’s Power in You” pg 22

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We all go through these times in which we wake up and have other things on our mind except that which we should be thinking about.

I know just as well as the next person that the first and only thing on my mind should be the Lord. Not just a passing thought of His greatness but totally and emphatically the Lord and His almightiness.

So why do we cast aside our Heavenly Father when we know how unhealthy it is for us? Why do we say Father can I get to that later? Or Father God won’t mind if I just skip one day of reading His Holy Word as long as I pray?

Wrong! It is just like excercising physically or watching what we eat. What happens when we say well I excerised so intense yesterday what is one day to miss. Or that little piece of chocolate cake did not hurt my calories yesterday so what if I have one more piece. Well we skip one day then the next…we eat one more piece then another….we skip one day of devotion then another…

We do this because we are human and think we can get away with it without anyone knowing our downfalls.  We do this because we are human and believe we are immortal.  We do this because we believe our last efforts will give us everlasting effects.

Then we realize that not everything lasts forever and we start to feel the need to go back to our rightful ways of living, exercising, eating.

Staying in sync with the Lord is an everyday exercise. It is a commitment not to be taken lightly. It takes time, effort, and devotion. It is the biggest and best commitment to make in our lives.

We need to wake up knowing that we need Him.  That in light of our best efforts we will never have as successful of a day if we skip Him.  That the few moments of our day that it takes to devote to Father God are little in comparison to what we receive back from Him.

I want to stop taking my relationship with Him for granted.  I want to continue to devote my time to Him everyday not just some days.  I pray to you, Oh Heavenly Father, that I will stop taking you for granted.  That I will remember you need for me to be prepared as much as I need for you to be here with me.  Thank you, Father God, for your forgiveness and understanding to my human tendencies.  I love you always and forever.  Mary