Where would I be if it had not been for the Lord who was on my side? Innocence stolen by the age of 11, in foster care by the age of 12, dropped out of school at 16, pregnant by the age of 17, harvested illegal substances by the age of 20, forced out of my home during Hurricane Katrina, widowed by age 25 and almost lost my mind by 28…..

But God! But the Lord He kept me. Today and through it all, I’m still here. The Lord God Almighty picked me up and turned me around and I give Jesus Christ, my Lord AND my Savior ALL the Praise!

A scripture that I hold dear to my heart is Psalms 40:2 “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” Now, after all the hell I went through, the Lord said for me to go back through the trenches for the women and children. I said, “very well Lord, my misery has become my ministry” I will serve you until I die. You’ve delivered me and heard my cries, my life belongs to you. To Ahaya be the Glory!

Where are the Moses’s? Some of you, like me, have been through hell and you may be wondering why me? Sometimes the Great I AM will allow you to go through to bring you out just to send you back in, like Moses, to deliver his people from bondage. You may ask, “why me”? But I say, “why not you”? Who better to use than a shattered vessel to demonstrate Gods awesomeness and his ability to piece back together what man could not or would not. Jeremiah 18:6 states, “…cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.

Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand…” A potter removes all the impurities and takes his time in molding his vessel into what he envisioned it to be. As he pulls and stretch, twists and turns, the vessel begins to take upon character. So it is with the trials of life. Only a gracious and merciful God can take our misery and turn it into a ministry. So, rise up if The Lord has called you. He is the potter, you are the clay. Your misery may very well be your ministry. To God be the Glory!

Marcie Whitley | Create Your Badge

When one accepts Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God moves in, sin from then on becomes a decision that they consciously (albeit painfully) make. The battle between flesh and spirit is a glaring reality for every believer. Too often we find ourselves cornered, and instead of letting the flesh die, we reluctantly and bitterly surrender to sin.

A true believer does sin (for some, its quite often), but he never delights in it. Sin stabs the believer’s heart. It pierces his conscience. Remorse trails behind every sinful act in a believer’s life. That’s why we call them skeletons in our closets. We are not proud of them. They are dead, but not buried.

Still, Christ urges us not to lose hope… even when we lose the battle. Jesus has won the war. Self-condemnation is of the devil. Do not wallow in it. God’s Grace is sufficient. The last page of your story cannot be changed. You win… through CHRIST. Yes, He wins… in US.

Meanwhile – hold on, persevere. Fight the good fight of faith. Keep believing and trusting, even when your actions don’t echo your resolve. Be resolute anyway. #Sanctification

You and I are creatures of desire. Everything you ever choose, do, or say is the product of desire. Desire not only directs your choices, it also shapes your dreams. Desire forms your moments of greatest joy and darkest grief. Desire makes you envy one person while being glad you’re not another. Desire keeps you awake at night or puts you soundly to sleep. Desire makes you willing to get up in the morning or causes you to be frustrated at the end of the day. Desire makes you expectant and hopeful in one moment, and demanding and complaining in the next. Desire sometimes makes you susceptible to temptation and at other times defends you against it. Desire can lift you up to God or it can make you a willing friend of the Devil. Desire can make you celebrate or drive you to the pit of depression. Desire can make you the best of friends or cause you to drive people away. Desire can cause you to lovingly edit your words or make you let it rip with little regard for the damage your words will do. Desire will make you willing to give or cause you to hoard everything you have. Desire will cause you to submit to the King or set yourself up as king. Desire can cause you to fight for freedom or can be the very thing that causes you to be addicted. Desire can give you power or rob you of the power that could be yours. Desire is your biggest problem and one of God’s sweetest graces. There is one thing for sure: your life and your ministry is always shaped by desire.

The great spiritual war being fought for control of our hearts is a war of desire. (See James 4:1-4 and 1 Peter 2:11.) Remember this biblical principle: whatever rules your heart will control your words and behavior. We do not live by instinct. We have been designed by God with the capacity to desire. This means that everything you do or say is done or spoken out of the want for something. You and I are always seeking something. You and I are always living for something. Beneath everything we do is the desire for something. Here the war of right and wrong is fought. Here the direction of our lives will be shaped. In your personal life and in crucial moments of ministry response or decision, you cannot let yourself think that the war for what is right is a war of behavior. If you fight the battle of behavior alone, the battle will not be won. You must be willing to fight the spiritual fight at the place where your behavior is formed: in the desires of the heart.

You must humbly realize that every day, in all the situations and relationships of your life, this war rages. It is about whether you will minister out of fear of man of fear of God. It is about whether you will live to possess some part of the creation or live to please the Creator. It is about whether you will minister to achieve some personal success or live in the way the Creator designed you to live. This war is about what in ministry you treasure the most. This war is about what set of desires will set the agendas for the way you respond in the pastoral situations and relationships where God has placed you.

What Do You Really Want?

I invite you to be humbly honest in this moment. What do you really want? If you were to respond to the following, how would you fill in the blanks? “If only I could have ______________ then my life would be ______________ .” It is so easy for us to say that we are living and working for God, when, in fact, at the street level our lives are often shaped by the anxious pursuit of other things. Perhaps your desire to realize ministry dreams preoccupies too much of your thinking and shapes too many of your choices. Perhaps the desire to be successful has eaten your schedule with frantic workaholism. Perhaps the desire for physical things has left you empty and in debt. Perhaps the desire to avoid ministry failure has made you more demanding and controlling than you thought you would ever be. Perhaps the desire for physical health has reduced you to fearful body self-consciousness. Perhaps the desire for control has turned you into more of a mini-messiah than a servant. Perhaps the desire for comfort and ease has caused you to be self-absorbed. Or maybe the desire to be affirmed and respected causes you to ride the roller-coaster of people’s responses. Where does the war of desire rage for you?

Could you say with the psalmist, “There is nothing on earth I desire besides you”? Does this sound ethereal and impractically super-spiritual to you? Does it feel like a moral impossibility? In fact, he is expressing in a phrase exactly where God wants each of us to be. It is the reason each of us was given life and breath. We were made for God. We were created to love him above all else. We were designed to live with his glory as the single motivator of all that we do. It is why we have been called to ministry and what God wants to create in the hearts of others through us. Desire for him was intended to shape all the other desires.

It is not wrong to desire comfort, acceptance, peace, success, order, health. In fact, there would be something wrong if you did not desire these things. But these desires must never rule you, because when they do, they replace God as the ruler of your heart. Even in gospel ministry, the move from desire to idolatry is a shockingly short step.

So we all need to cry out for help once more, we all need to seek God’s rescue and his power. We must all humbly admit there is evidence in our daily lives and ministries that the war of desire still rages in our hearts. There are times when Jesus is our priceless treasure, but there are other times when we would rather have other things. This means that we cannot quit seeking his help until the day when we can say with complete singleness of heart, “There is nothing on earth I desire besides you.”

Source: The Gospel Coalition

This morning I woke and was so frustrated about all the stuff I’m dealing with, trying to get this studio open. I was about to open my mouth and start complaining when I remembered something that happened to me about a year ago.

I was walking to my car and this woman who looked to be homeless started walking towards me. I’m ashamed to say this but I thought, “I don’t feel like being hustled today.” Then I got quickly convicted. I felt guilty so I started digging in my pocket for some money. As she got closer I noticed that she had the kindest eyes that I had ever seen. As I was reaching into my pocket she started to speak. I thought, “Here goes the sales pitch”. She said “Excuse me sir, I need some shoes”. Can you help me? My eyes filled with water because I remember being out on the streets and having only one pair of run over shoes. I was taken aback for a second.

I took her inside the studio and had my wardrobe people find shoes in her size. As she put the shoes on she started crying, praising God and thanking Jesus, and saying, “My feet are off the ground! My feet are off the ground!” Several of the wardrobe people started crying. I was crying. But I never forgot that, “My feet are off the ground!”

I thought, “Wow! All she wanted was some shoes.” She quickly disappeared and never asked me for a dime. I realized that I still had the money in my hand so I went out looking for her. She was gone just that quick so I looked all around the neighborhood for her. I found her standing on a corner looking down at her shoes still crying. I was so touched I asked her how she had gotten homeless. She told me that she had AIDS and that she was waiting to get into a shelter. She said that her family had turned their backs on her and she had nowhere to go and that God would make a way for her. I said to myself, “He just did.” Her faith and her praise moved me.

I took her to a nearby hotel and put her up until she was able to get on her feet. I had someone that worked for me to check on her from time to time and make sure that she had food and clothes. After about a month or so we lost touch but I never forgot her.

This past summer I was shooting “Daddy’s Little Girls” and this woman walks up to me smiling. I didn’t recognize her face but her eyes were familiar. She had on a really nice dress and her hair was done. It was her! She told me that the little help that I had given her changed her life. She was in a house now and doing very well.

I said all of that to say this. After I met this woman, every time I think about complaining and mumbling I remember, “My feet are off the ground!”

I wanted to share this with you just to let you know that when I say that I am thankful for you, I really mean it. And when I say that you are a blessing to me, I mean it. We take so much for granted sometimes that I just wanted all of you to know that I am grateful to God for you everyday.

Thank you for being in my life,

Tyler

1. What prompted you to write about Satan in your new book, In your new release Living Free in Enemy Territory: Christ’s Triumph Over Satan, what caused your interest in writing a book about Satan?

Before I came to saving faith in Christ—- as a teen—- I became quite fascinated obsessed in by the person of Satan. I went through a horror movie phase that left me quite obsessed and nervous about the reality of the devil and the harm he could inflict upon the world. I would worry about the damage he could wreak if he found his way into my life somehow. After coming to faith, I quickly learned that I had nothing to fear in Christ. Years later as a pastor, I was surprised to learn that many believers, (even veteran Christians who have been walking with the Lord for years,) haved the same kinds of fears regarding Satan that I had BEFORE before my own conversion. It became a passion of mine to teach Christians about all the victory they have in Christ.

2. What are some of the myths people believe about Satan and why do you think they have continued to be popular, some even for decades?

Before my conversion, I bought into the “Hollywood” version of Satan. He was either the amalgamation of every “Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers” of horror folklore or a caricature in a red satin jumpsuit and with a pitchfork who was so silly no one could take him seriously. As lovers of Scripture, however, we need to let the word Word of God inform our understanding of the devil, not some special-effects obsessed Hollywood filmmakers.

The two “movie myths” that seem to lodge themselves in the minds of Christians are 1) Satan is a scaly beast, and 2) Satan is totally free to do whatever harm he wishes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I’m convinced that Satan would love to convince us that he is something like the creature from the black lagoon. Why not? Such a bogus picture will hidehides his true identity and tactics from us. But the Bible plainly teaches that Satan was an angel, a beautiful being of God’s glorious creation, before he rebelled against God. He is a charmer, a smooth talker, a courtroom prosecutor. Such pictures are more about “sinister” than they are about “scary.”

And one of the most crippling notions for the believer is to believe that Satan is “free to move about the country.” The book of Job is an antidote to such poor incorrect thinking. Before Satan can carry out one ounce of his wicked plans against God’s servant, the devil must get God’s permission. Jesus tells Peter that Satan has “asked” if he can sift the apostle like wheat.? Who does he ask? Obviously,- God. As Luther once said, “The devil is God’s devil.”

3. Why do you think the enemy enjoys these false views of himself?

Jesus said that the devil has been a liar from the beginning. Certainly part of his Satan’s deception is to get our eyes on some caricature of him him rather than on him Satan as he truly is. An enemy can do a lot of damage when we take our eyes off him.

One of Satan’s greatest weapons is to assault the believer with guilt and doubt. He is called the “accuser of the brothers,” and he loves to stand at our side with his legal pad in hand and pound away as he enumerates our many sins. If we don’t see Satan’s role in our sense of guilt and despair, we are apt to believe these charges as are legitimate before God. How many believers are paralyzed from living full full-out from for the gospel because they do not feel “worthy.”? But if we reject the Hollywood version of Satan, and stare right back in our accuser’s eyes, we can say, “I see you there, Satandevil, and you are a defeated foe. Jesus has paid for my sins fully and given me his perfect righteousness as a free gift. He’s ripped that legal pad out of your hands for all time. Leave me be!” There is gospel-rooted power in knowing who Satan is and how to properly respond to him.

4. What power does this enemy have over us and what should be our response?

Satan has many powers to use against us (e.g., lies, doubts, temptations), but he has no power OVER over us. Jesus tells us that by dying for our sins he has driven out the “prince of this world” (Satan) out and he Satan has no dominion over the children of God. Before coming to Christ, we were held captive by him Satan to do his will. We did not have forgiveness of sins, the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit, or the encouragement of other brothers and sisters in the faith. Now we have all of these amazing resources, and we are no longer under his Satan’s tyranny. The believer must still live in this sin-soaked, Satan-saturated world, but he is a citizen in another realm—- God’s kingdom. He is living free in enemy territory.

On December 12, 2010, a witnessing experience changed my life.  By sharing Jesus’ love with a homeless man, God not only touched his heart but also gave me an incredible sense of joy and fulfillment.  Through that witnessing experience, God showed me that I had been missing out on an amazing part of my Christian walk!

I was never very good at witnessing and today’s culture certainly doesn’t make it any easier!  But when that man asked me for money, it was very easy for me to give him some cash and also a leather devotional that I had purchased earlier that day for a friend of mine.  I told him “Jesus loves you and I love you” – it was just that easy!  It was really cool giving him the devotional because I knew it could help him in a way that could change his life forever.  The concept of giving the Witness Challenge Coins and the Witness Bands came from this simple witnessing example.  Not only are the coins and bands an encouragement to witness to others, but when you give them to someone it can reproduce the same joy and excitement of sharing Jesus’ love that I experienced.

I realize that not everyone enjoys giving, but because it is one of my spiritual gifts, I receive great joy from it.  When you use your spiritual gifts to do God’s work and share the Gospel you will receive amazing joy and excitement from heaven above.  I encourage you to discover the spiritual gift the Holy Spirit has given you and use it to bring glory to God.

There is nothing more important in life than sharing Jesus with others.  We would not know Him today if someone had not taken the time to share His love for us.  Through accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, our lives are changed for eternity.  Nothing else in life is more important – change someone’s life for eternity by witnessing to them today.  It can be as simple as saying, “Jesus loves you and I love you.”

Join: The Witness Revolution

Marriage today is struggling. Divorces, adultery, misconceptions, etc are plaguing not only the marriage itself but products of those marriages (my generation and the next). My hope in this poem is to highlight the most frequent and problematic issues marriages face today while also pointing to Jesus as the ultimate healer, redeemer, and restorer of every marriage. Whether single or married, my intention would be that this poem would allow you to look more deeply to Jesus to either better your current marriage, or prepare for your future marriage. -Jefferson Bethke

I had a dream. In the dream I saw a vision of a cow. The  cow was huge and both of his back legs were bound with a sand colored rope. The cow was walking but, do to its back legs being bound, it wasn’t walking very efficiently. Instantly, I had compassion on the animal. I then took the rope off of its legs.

When the animal tried to walk its back legs spread wider than the front legs. It seemed to be in tremendous pain and fell down. The cow then looked back at me, put its legs together, and kicked them back laying on the ground for me to tie them back up. As I went to tie its legs I noticed a huge wound, with puss coming out, on the right leg.

I then went to get a napkin so that the puss would not get on my hand. It was a lot of puss. The animal was in so much pain that I didn’t care if the puss got on my hands. I just wanted to get the cow’s back legs tied back up. The cow then got up and started walking again, with his back legs bound, as he had been when I first saw him.

I  woke up weeping over  the cow. The cow could not walk without its legs tied because the wound was so bad. I believe if the cow had given the wound a chance to heal it would have been able to walk. I am asking God for the interpretation of this dream. I have wondered if the dream is about me or someone else. Lately, I have believed it to be about me. Let me know if God gives you a revelation.