Men

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Self-Inflicted Imprisonment

Isaiah 61:1 (Amplified Bible)

“THE SPIRIT of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the Gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted; He has sent me to  – bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound…”

“…to proclaim liberty to the [physical and spiritual] captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who are bound…” Christ came to set us all free, not only from eternal death, but also from spiritual and emotional imprisonment too.

Lately, I have come across people who are captives. They are bound in self-inflicted prisons. What do I mean by that? Let me give you some examples;

A woman comes to church and feels like she is invisible and no one talks to her. She feels like she is not valuable and that no one even cares if she lives or dies. In reality, she isolates herself from others emotionally and this creates a bubble around her. She comes to church with a chip on her shoulders thinking that people don’t care or that no one likes her. She doesn’t talk to people and just sits alone with her thoughts. It puts a barrier between people and her. People come up to her to say, “Hi” and ask, “How are you doing?” but she turns her head and looks away and replies, “I am fine.” They try to continue the conversation but she doesn’t respond. In her mind, the way that she is thinking, is truth. But she believes a lie. Her very own words to herself put her in a prison and she doesn’t even know it. The crazy thing is that her prison door is not locked, it is always open. She could walk out of this prison at any time if she would just look up and see there is way out.

A man comes to church and is on the Worship Team. There are younger people on the adult team. The Worship Leader allows youth on the team to help them learn and grow. Some of the youth have pride in their hearts. They feel they are well capable of being on the team and could even lead the worship if given the chance. But the man only sees the pride the youth have in their hearts. He gets angry and decides to leave the church service after the Worship Team finishes the praise and worship during the Sunday service. He is tormented by his own anger over the youth’s prideful heart. His anger, and lack of mercy and grace for others, cause him to miss out on a sermon about the very thing he was struggling with… anger.

Stories like these happen over and over again in our world. We can see things the wrong way or think people are thinking bad thoughts about us and this stifles or handicaps our relationships. We can’t afford to allow people to be our handicap. The truth is we could be set free from this captivity.

Steps to be set free from ourselves

There is hope to be set free from our captivity. We have to understand that the enemy is working overtime to defeat us. He never gives up. He will try anything and everything to bring us down and to take us out. We have to be wise to his schemes.

1. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ.

In the case of the woman thinking no one liked her, she forgot who she was in Christ. She was looking to people for acceptance and yet rejecting the very thing she was craving by pushing people away with her isolation bubble.

We can’t rely on people to make us feel accepted. People will come and go. They will disappoint us and let us down. The only one who will never reject us is Christ. He has His eye on you and loves you unconditionally. You never have to “perform” to win His love. You just have to be yourself; faults and all.

1 John 4:9 – 10 (Amplified Bible)

“In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins.”

We are deeply loved by God. There is nothing we have done or nothing we will do that will stop His love for us. Also, we are fresh and new. Your past is gone.

2 Corinthians 4:17 (Amplified Bible)

“Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” 

Not only are we deeply loved and our past is forgiven and gone, but we are dearly prized and valuable.

John 3:16 (Amplified Bible)

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”

We are loved and dearly prized, each one of us. God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to us. This is a gift from God. Jesus was given to us even before we were born, so that ultimately, if we believe in Christ, we will not perish, but be with God forever. This is love. This is God’s love for you!

We need to remind ourselves of these awesome facts.

2. Don’t listen to lies.

So many times people have come to me and share how they “think” about a given situation only to find out what they were thinking was not true. We have to recognize a lie in our mind. Anything that is contrary to the Word of God and what it says about us is a lie.

Thoughts will come into your mind that are contrary to what the Bible states, but cast down those imaginations and stand on God’s Word of who you are.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV)

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

I struggle with this from time to time too. We are human. It is natural to listen to your own thoughts. But we have to recognize a truth from a lie.

You can speak lies to yourself

 We can tell ourselves the worst will happen and inevitably it will because of our negative attitude. We can lie to ourselves about how good we are and how bad our neighbor is. We can listen to ourselves instead of God’s Word and make bad choices for our lives. We can sabotage our future.

Jeremiah 17:9 (Amplified Bible)

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?”

Mark 7:21 – 23 (Amplified Bible)

“For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; and evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride (the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness). All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.”

Ephesians 4:22 – 25 (Amplified Bible)

“Strip yourselves of your former nature [put off and discard your old un-renewed self] which characterized your previous manner of life and becomes corrupt through lusts and desires that spring from delusion; And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude], And put on the new nature (the regenerate self) created in God’s image, [Godlike] in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, rejecting all falsity and being done now with it, let everyone express the truth with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one body and members one of another.”

“…rejecting all falsity and being done now with it,” is what we have to do when we recognize a lie we believe about our self. If it does not line up with what the word of God says you are, reject it immediately, even when you’ve been in the habit of saying it to yourself over and over again. The only one who can stop lying to you about yourself is you!

It’s hard to know the difference between a lie about yourself and something that’s possibly true, that you can change. Yet, there’s a harshness the Devil uses that is usually direct and painful. Thoughts that bring doom and gloom, that bring no hope, are the key to knowing a lie.

When negative thoughts come into your mind, if you dwell on them for any length of time, they begin to take root in your heart. They start becoming your paradigm, or how you look at life. This is when it becomes unhealthy. As you dwell on how bad you are, you’ll begin to believe it and start to act or react out of that unhealthy outlook.

Be careful what you say out loud, or even to yourself. It is easy to say things you regret, or speak out negative words. Remember our words have power and listening to the lies you tell yourself will bring death. Choose life with your words and thoughts.

Why do we feel the way we feel? Perhaps it is because we talk the way we talk!

Proverbs 18:6 – 7 (CEV)

“Foolish talk will get you into a lot of trouble. Saying foolish things is like setting a trap to destroy yourself.”

The enemy will speak lies to you

Satan wants to destroy us all. What better way than to use ourselves against us? He will speak lies to you about yourself to get you to self-destruct. He will make you think thoughts that will self-inflict imprisonment upon you. He will speak lies to you about your future. He will speak lies about anything and everything concerning us. Here are a few verses that show his character.

John 8:44 (Amplified Bible)

“…he (the Devil) was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.”

“…of all that is false.” That’s the Devil’s character. He constantly tells us falsehoods about ourselves. If we are not careful, we will listen to those lies and act upon them. The enemy will fill your mind with feelings of worthlessness about yourself to destroy you. He’ll fill your mind with negative thoughts about you, your family and friends, and everything else you come in contact with. Thoughts like, “No one cares about me!” “I am invisible.” Or, as in the case of the man with anger issues, the Devil will fill your mind with thoughts like, “How stupid to stay here on the Worship Team with someone on it who is prideful?” (That statement in itself is pride). “I might as well quit the team and the church as no one sees it but me.” “Everyone else comes and goes as they wish so why can’t I?”

Please, if this is you, STOP listening to false information. It’s not true. God has a hope and a future for you. Have some mercy and grace for yourself and for others. No one is perfect. No one, not even you!

3. Understand Who God is in your life!

Now that we have looked at how to get out of the self-inflicted prison, I encourage you to take the first step and stop looking at yourself and what you can or can’t do and start looking at God and what He can do and who He is in your life.

El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty)

El Elyon (The Most High God)

Adonai (Lord, Master)

Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)

Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner)

Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My Shepherd)

Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals)

Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is There)

Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness)

Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord Who Sanctifies You)

El Olam (The Everlasting God)

Elohim (God)

Qanna (Jealous)

Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)

Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is Peace)

Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts)

We sing worship songs about the character of God; “All together lovely,” “Strong Tower,” “Jesus, Lover of my soul,” “Blessed be Your name.” But do we really listen to what we are singing? Do we allow those words to sink in and know who God is? Do we believe what we sing?

Take the time to spend some alone time with God. this is how you get to know Him intimately. Listen to His heart beat. Fall in love with Him. Realize you are never alone and that your King is always with you. Run into His arms when you feel lonely or invisible. Tell Him how you are feeling when you become angry. Anger is not a sin, it is what we do with that anger that can become a sin. Commit your life daily to please the Lord in your thoughts and actions. Look beyond yourself and minister to others in spite of their weaknesses. And above all, have the strength and courage to walk out of your prison once and for all! Don’t be a victim of “Self-Inflicted imprisonment any longer!

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Revival Of Our Future

The title of this message seems to be almost an impossible statement. How can we revive something that has not happened yet? The truth is what we do today affects our future. How you handle your life today; emotions, actions, relationships, your attitudes and reactions, will flow into your tomorrow.

If you keep carrying dead thoughts of your life or how you perceive yourself, you will be carrying those images into your future. It will become who you are. I want to plant good seeds now so that in the future I will be harvesting a good crop.

Imagine carrying a dead corpse everywhere you go. Remember dead corpse smell terrible and attract flies and other kinds of insects. This is what happens when we carry our dead thoughts into our future. People see and smell our stench, and like insects invading a dead carcass, the enemy suffocates us with his lies and schemes and it brings even more decay and decomposing. We will end up settling for so much less then why we were created. God has a destiny for your life. Don’t allow your past or present mistakes to infest your future.

Not only can people see and smell our stench, but we are carrying something that will never benefit us. Dead things have no life. There is no advantage of bringing your past into your future. The past is just that; past! It is past away and you will never be able to relive that moment again. If you are constantly thinking about your past it would be like sitting on the ground right next to a dead body. It doesn’t speak to you. It doesn’t help you. It just reminds you of your fatal mistakes.

Don’t misunderstand me, we can learn from our past, just like we can learn from an autopsy of a dead body, but once we learn from it, discard the body and burry it once and for all. Trying to take something dead into our future will only bring frustration and magnify the lifeless carcass.

Psalm 42:2 (NLT)

“I thirst for God, for the living God.”

This verse expresses David’s thirst for God. He was young and strong, yet he knew only God could satisfy him. He had spent time in God’s presence playing his harp and tending sheep (the normal things of life for him). Spiritual thirst is as natural as physical thirst.

There are churches today that want revival but the people in the church seem to think that revival will suddenly appear and affect them. This is not how revival works. Revival happens by us doing our part. We have to eagerly pursue God. We need to develop a hunger for God on a daily basis.  We have to be thirsty for the living God. The Bible says that if we are thirsty we should come buy and eat. What it costs us is our action and our will. What it cost is giving up our control and allowing God to have His way.

Isaiah 55:1 – 3 (Amplified Bible)

“WAIT and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing]. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your earnings for what does not satisfy? [] Hearken diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness [the profuseness of spiritual joy]. Incline your ear [submit and consent to the divine will] and come to Me; hear, and your soul will revive; and I will make an everlasting covenant or league with you, even the sure mercy (kindness, goodwill, and compassion) promised to David.”

I was traveling in 1993 and 1994 to churches all over the Pacific Northwest area of the United States ministering in Churches. Everywhere I went I saw this complacency and lack of thirst. It broke my heart. I felt I was experiencing just a touch of what God was feeling. I wrote a song that I ministered to the churches during that time and the words were taken directly from Isaiah 55:1 – 3. The very first time I sang that song a young man came to the alter while I was singing it. He wept and wept at the alter. He longed to receive the Living Water from God and he also ached to see others drink as well. The song is called; “Come Buy and drink!”

John 7:37 (NIV)

“Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

“… let him come to me and drink.” This takes action on our part. Again, revival doesn’t come to you, you go after revival!

Are you dehydrated in your heart, spirit, or emotions? 

It is time you get wet. It is time you dive into the Living Water and drink of God’s goodness and soak in His presence. God’s Living Water will not only take care of any dehydration as you drink it, but as you allow God to saturate your entire being you will be a “living well” yourself.

Others will smell, see, and taste this Living Water from you as Living Water never sits still. Living Water is just that…living! This water can’t help but affect those around you. They are watching your life and seeing your joy and passion and they will want to hang around you. They might not know why, yet they have a desire to talk to you and overall want to spend time with you. These are the affects of your time spent drinking and soaking in the Living Water!

We need to get rid of our dignity. 

It can prevent us from letting go of ourselves to experience something new in God. Who cares what people think of you. We should care more about what God thinks. He sees what truly is in our hearts and what we are thinking. We can’t hide anything from God. Why even try?

Our dignity can prevent us from experiencing more of God and it can prevent revival from coming in the future.

Do you have walls up that are preventing you from experiencing a revival in your heart? We need to see our humanity and His divinity and realize we are lost without Him. We need to get desperate for Him. Who are we to think we can survive without God in our lives, or maintain our life without giving God everything? This is a lie!

Are you tired of how your life is going today? What do you plan to do about it? What you change in your life today will benefit your future. Many people think their life will change by the Government, or by some rich uncle passing away and leaving them a load of money. When will they realize they are just wasting their life away? If you want change to happen in your life, if you want revival to come, do something about it! The first thing and the best thing we can do is pray for God to help bring change. Ask Him what your part is in changing your life. Don’t think you are too old or too young for change to come. Be determined to take the land that is rightfully yours. Caleb, at the age of 85 years old demanded, “Give me my mountain” (Joshua 14:12). That hill country was promised as an inheritance by God because Caleb “wholly followed the LORD God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14b).

Let’s follow hard after God!

Psalm 63:1-8 (KJV)

“ O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” 

This is a Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. He learned while in the wilderness how to follow hard after God by thirsting for water, it brought true meaning to thirsting after God.

God will always quench our thirst when we thirst and follow hard after Him. In these verses we can see that David learned how to worship God in the middle of a trial. He knew Who his source was. He remembered when he was laying in his bed who his help was. He praised God and meditated on Him “…When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.” The word; “watches” (ashmûrâh)  is translated; “watch, a period of time,” and the primitive root (shâmar) means; “properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, beware, be circumspect, take heed, keep, mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save, sure, wait, watch.”

In Bible times there were four watches (Matthew 14:25, Luke 12:38). David could be referring to the watches in the temple, or he could be referring to the watches at night with the guards which guarded his palace. At this point, he no longer was in the palace but the wilderness. I am sure he is remembering being with the congregation and in the sanctuary praising God. He is remembering on his bed, which could have been a rock for his pillow and dirt for his bedding, yet he is meditating on God and his goodness. David didn’t wait for a revival to come to him. No! He birthed it from his heart as he realized meditating on God, and the things of God, is better than meditating on himself and wallowing in self-pity.  Remember he was running for his life from king Saul. He feared for his life. If David complained we sure would understand, yet this man of God decided to keep his focus on God, even in the night watches. Albert Barnes expresses this thought well in his notes on this verse:

“That is, when I lie down at night; when I compose myself to sleep. Nothing can be more proper than that our last thoughts, as we sink into quiet slumber, should be of God; of his being, his character, his mercy, his loving-kindness; of the dealings of his providence, and the manifestations of his grace toward us, during the day; and nothing is better suited to compose the mind to rest, and to induce quiet and gentle slumber, than the calmness of soul which arises from the idea of an Infinite God, and from confidence in him. Often when restless on our beds – when nothing else will lull the body to rest, the thought of God – the contemplation of his greatness, his mercy, and his love – the sweet sense of an assurance of his favor will soothe us, and cause us to sink into gentle repose. So it may be – so it will be – when we are about to sleep the long sleep of death, for then the most appropriate thoughts – the thoughts that will best prepare us for that long sleep – will be thoughts of God.”

“My soul followeth hard after thee…” (Psalm 63:8) is a revival statement! It implies action. I like how the Amplified Bible states this verse:

Psalm 63:8 (Amplified Bible)

“My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

The word “hard” is translated dâbaq, which means: “properly to impinge, that is, cling or adhere; to catch by pursuit: abide, fast, cleave (fast together), follow close, be joined, keep, overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.”

All these are action words. We need to cling, pursue hard, adhere to and catch God. It is like two pieces of wood being glued together, inseparable! This is revival! It is not settling for the same thing over and over again. It is pressing in to touch God and not caring what the crowd will think (Luke 8:43 – 48).

Your future is bright. You can experience revival if you would start following hard after God today! Don’t let anything get in your way.

Love people into revival

Watching Jesus and his actions will show us how we are to respond to people. He loved them. He showed love when He healed the sick and raised the dead. He showed love when he wept when Lazarus was dead and raised him back to life. He moved with compassion to forgive the woman caught in adultery. He even loved the Roman soldiers who crucified Him with his statement, “Forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

It was part of His character and makeup. People were drawn to this love.

I believe with all my heart that if we love people walls will come down and revival will come. I have seen this in action where ever I travel and minister. I go in and love on the people, treating them like my true brother or sister that they are. This automatically brings down any walls or preconceived ideas they may have. They see that I am real and a “safe” person to be around. No one will let down their guard if they think you don’t care about them. Love conquers all.

Have you ever experienced the love of God to the point you felt free to be yourself, free to love others with the love He has given you? Within ourselves we do not and cannot love others unconditionally. God’s love is indescribable and yet all powerful. What do you do with a love like this? You fall in love with Him even more. In doing so you will change your character. You will begin to exude God’s love to others.

Revival of our future starts today! Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today. Let go of any dead corpse you are carrying from your past and reach for the new God has for you to revive your future. Your future awaits for a new beginning.

From one revivalist to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Revival Of Our Past (Part 2)

Endure or bolt

Running away from our problems will never solve them. I am sure you have heard that saying several times in your life. Running away is the easy road out of a sticky situation. How many times have you bolted from something that you didn’t like?

Have you ever waited for something you really wanted and in the middle of the wait you decided it was taking too long and you bolted? Maybe you’ve gone through a hardship and decided to leave because you felt you didn’t need to deal with it. I know of several times in my life I’ve done just that. Waiting is a hard thing to do, especially when you don’t see any results of your waiting. Waiting requires endurance. Endurance shows our character. How do we respond in hardships? What is the first thing you do when you are tried or tested? Do you whine and complain about the situation you are in? Is the first thing in your heart anger towards God for letting the trial come?

Take a ring, or a small item like a pebble, and place it in one of your hands. Curve your fingers around it as if you were making a loose fist. You are the ring or pebble and God is your hand. Nothing comes to the ring/pebble without His hand allowing it to come. Often times we don’t understand why we have to go through hardship. We can find in the epistle of James some answers.

James 1:2 – 4 (HCSB)

“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”

How can we consider a trial a “joy?” In order to really understand these verses we have to look deeper than the first few words. We can see that trials test our faith. It would be one thing if God created us all to be robots walking around on this earth just doing the commands He programs in our memory. We wouldn’t need faith for that. God created us with our own free-will and this allows us to make choices. These choices can be good or bad.

God wants us to see and know what we believe. He wants us to call on Him for help and guidance. He wants us to see our need for Him. The more we need God, the more our faith builds up in us! In other words, when we call out to God in our need, and He answers, our faith is built up. Even when we wait for the answer, this builds our faith.

There is power in waiting. I like how the Bible in Basic English puts it:

Romans 5:3 – 5 (BBC)

“And not only so, but let us have joy in our troubles: in the knowledge that trouble gives us the power of waiting; And waiting gives experience; and experience, hope: And hope does not put to shame; because our hearts are full of the love of God through the Holy Spirit which is given to us.” 

The “power of waiting” is endurance. It is patience. Whenever we have to wait for something, we have to endure. Be it a little thing like waiting in line at a store, or a big thing like waiting for God to answer our prayers; it requires endurance.

We know that “good things come to those who wait.” I am not sure where that saying originated from, but it is true when it comes to endurance. We are given a reward for our endurance.

We can see in James 1:2 – 4 that the testing of our faith produces endurance. Endurance and patience are interchangeable. They are synonyms of each other. God wants us to become mature sons and daughters. He doesn’t want us to stay young in our thinking and in our reactions.

When we were just learning to walk and talk, the first thing out of our mouth was, “MINE!” Baby’s are born selfish. They cry when they need changing, they get angry when they don’t get fed on time. You always have to teach them how to share, play nicely with others, and to think of others more than themselves. This is in the natural and it is the same for the spiritual.

When we first become a Christian and ask Christ into our heart as Lord and Savior, we are babies. We have to learn how to walk in the Lord. We have to learn God’s will instead of our will. We have to learn endurance.

Endurance means (Strong’s #5281): “Constancy, perseverance, continuance, bearing up, patient endurance. It is the capacity to continue to bear up under difficult circumstances, not with a passive complacency, but with a hopeful fortitude that actively resists weariness, and defeat.”

Hebrew 10:36 (NKJV)

“For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”

There is always a reward for enduring. I teach guitar to many students. The biggest complaint is that it is hard work to play the guitar. They have to practice throughout the week to be able to come back to me and have a lesson to progress into the next lesson and eventually to be a good guitarist. Some of my students were expecting to just pick up the guitar and be able to play. This never happens. A great guitarist has many many years of practice behind them and it shows with the reward of playing the guitar well. This is a small example of endurance, but I think you get the idea.

What are you going through right now? Do you have what it takes to endure?

We have to remember it is not what we go through, but how we go through it. Often I find myself in a circumstance I hate being in. Ultimately, my character, and what I am really made of, comes to the surface.

God wants you to see your character and respond accordingly. We have to remember who we are in Christ. We are warriors! We are over comers! We have resources to grab a hold of inside of us to help us stand as we go through the fire. But just think of the silver that is coming out in the middle of this refining fire process in your life! God gives you grace to endure. Endurance is staying even under pressure. Endurance is the ability or power to bear prolonged exertion, pain, or hardship. It is the active, energetic resistance to defeat that allows calm and brave endurance. This will bring spiritual maturity, and we won’t bolt again!

I have a bracelet that says, “Endurance” on it and I wear it whenever I need to remind myself to endure and not bolt. Find something you can do to remind yourself to “keep on keeping on” when the going gets hard. We are over-comers and we will endure and become mature, lacking nothing in Christ!

Conclusion

Jacob learned the hard way that bolting is not the answer. But he did confront his past and reconciled with Laban and Esau. In essence, Jacob’s past experienced revival and reconciliation.

What events in your past do you need to confront? Allow God to show you areas that you need to look at. Not to make you feel bad about yourself, but to deal with it once and for all. Don’t let your past overcome you, but you overcome your past as Christ is standing right with you every step of the way.

I remember teaching on this subject at a ladies Bible study. There was a lady there who became upset over the subject. She didn’t think it was of God to have to go back to something in her past to move forward. In fact, she was downright vocal during the class. All her words were negative about the subject I taught. She expressed that I was wrong and teaching wrong ideas. To be honest, I was a little taken back by her actions and reactions. But realizing now that her violent reaction was a sign that there were things in her past that needed to be confronted and her flesh was acting out. It let me know that I was right on target in teaching about confrontation of our past.

Jesus brought revival to Peter’s past. Peter denied Jesus three different times before the rooster crowed. In other words, Peter was faced with telling the truth of his connection with Jesus three different times before the next morning. All three times Peter denied even knowing Jesus, when earlier Peter said Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). Also Peter said if he had to die with Jesus he would, instead of denying him (Matthew 26:35). After Jesus was crucified and buried Peter decided to go back to his original occupation of fishing and Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, and a couple of other disciples went with him. They went out and fished all night but didn’t catch anything. Jesus came and stood on the shore and told them to “cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (John 21:6). So they did and they were unable to bring in their nets because of so many fish. John said it was Jesus and Peter plunged into the water to be with Him. The disciples came to shore and brought up the fish. Jesus asked for them to bring some of the fish and come and eat breakfast with Him.

John 21:15 – 17 (NKJV)

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.””

Now this is a scene of restoration and confrontation all at the same time. Jesus asked, “Do you love Me?” He could have asked so many questions that would have been acceptable like, “Why did you deny me?” or “Do you fear me?” He asked Peter of his love and devotion to Him.

Peter was repentant in his answers as he cried out the words, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” Jesus restores Peter right in front of the company of the other disciples.

Jesus was raising Peter up to be their leader and to feed His sheep. He didn’t and couldn’t entrust this position to someone who didn’t love Him. Jesus is so careful to not give His flock over to just anyone, but only to those who truly love Him. For when we, as ministers, love Jesus with our whole heart, we will tend His flock with care.

Ministers who don’t love Jesus won’t have a passion to see souls saved. They won’t stay in the ministry when it gets hard except for those who truly love Christ.  Jesus asked Peter three times if He loved Him. The same amount of times Peter denied Him. This was total and complete restoration from his past mistakes. It was as if Jesus was reaching into Peter’s past and taking the heart that was dead because of sin, and pumped life back into it again. Love will conquer all. Jesus’ love will make things brand new again.

Jesus didn’t leave Peter in his sad condition. It was Jesus agenda to raise him up in front of his peers and place him into leadership again. This is His desire for you and me too. He died on the cross for the sins we committed and He died on the cross for the sins committed against us. What He did is complete. This covers anything in our past that doesn’t bring life to us.

There is a revival of our past that Christ wants to bring to us. Even though it is painful or it might cost us something, it is well worth the revisiting.

Revival of your past may include:

 1.  Regrets

Everyone of us have regrets from our past. Worrying about our past is wasted energy. You can’t change your past, but you can change your present and future. If I try, I can think of many regrets. You have to find a place to make peace with what you did or what what you didn’t do. Remember that it doesn’t define who you are. Our past doesn’t have to devine us if we have a determination to make different choices and a different mindset then before.

2 Corinthians 5:2 (Amplified Bible)

“Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

2.  Mistakes

No body is perfect, not even you. We all make mistakes. We are all imperfect. Making mistakes is part of life. That is why Jesus went to the cross; to save us from our sin and past mistakes. Lay your mistakes down at Christ’s feet as an offering. It is what is in your hand. It is what you are aching over. Offering it us to Jesus is the only thing you can do. He has a way of taking our mistakes and regrets and making something new from them. He makes beauty from ashes, even from ashes that was set on fire from your own match!

Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)

“To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

It is all for God’s glory the changes He makes in you and I! We are His masterpieces and He is proud of His creation.

3.  Guilt

Once we have asked for forgiveness of the wrong we have done, and mean it, God forgives us. The enemy is the one who puts guilt on us. First he entices us to make bad choices and then, once we do, the enemy will try to put guilt on us. Either way it is torment. Don’t fall for this!

We are all guilty of sin. We are born into a fallen, sinful world. We are sinful by nature. Knowing we don’t have to live this way because of what Jesus did on the cross frees us. He took our place even though we were the ones who are guilty. Releasing the guilt and forgiving yourself brings freedom to your spirit.

Jeremiah 33:8 (Amplified)

“And I will cleanse them from all the guilt and iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will forgive all their guilt and iniquities by which they have sinned and rebelled against Me.”

4.  Shame

Shame is a heavy heavy burden to carry with you everywhere you go. I know as I have experienced it in my life. Shame can be very painful and stressful. It torments us and seeps into every pore of our being to the point you feel your aroma is exuding shame.

Shame can come with those sins we are ashamed of. Sins we would never want anyone to know we committed. Shame can come from an adult figure who might have said to you; “Shame on you!” We can feel shame over a choice or something we have said.

Shame locks us in a prison cell. But the truth is we have the key to unlock the cell door and let ourselves out. Listening to good counsel and heeding what the Bible tells us to do will unlock our shameful prison. When the enemy tries to put that shame back on you, you tell Him you are forgiven and a new creation (2 Cor. 5:2). Remind yourself that Christ took all your shame on the cross and it was crucified there. It is finished!

Proverbs 13:18 (Amplified)

“Poverty and shame come to him who refuses instruction and correction, but he who heeds reproof is honored.”

Isaiah 54:4 (NKJV)

“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; For you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.”

Isaiah 61:7 (NKJV)

“Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, and instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.”

5.  Disappointments

We all experience disappointments in our life. It is what we do with those disappointments that shows our character. Are you rehashing your disappointments and thinking about what could have been? We have to place them in God’s hands.

I am sure Joseph was “disappointed” when his brothers sold him into slavery. If it were me I would have been deeply hurt and probably would have experienced un-forgiveness. Yet, God was with Joseph in every step of his life. God was with him in the pit. God was with him in Potpher’s house. God was with him in prison, and ultimately God was with him when he went to the palace.

Put your expectations in God and not man. Man will let us down always, but God never will. He has the perfect plan for our lives. He can turn a trial into a triumph you just wait and see. A disappointment can be a blessing in disguise. It could change your viewpoint or mindset over something. Our disappointments can be re-appointments as we place them in God’s hands.

So what about you? Is there anything in your past that you are having a hard time getting over? Now is the time to release, forgive, and be revived in your past so you can press forward to what God has waiting for you. No more road blocks to your destiny. Freedom to be yourself and to experience all that God has for you!

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com,

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Revival Of Our Past (Part 1)

What do you think of when you think of your past? Do you have fond memories or do you cringe when you think about the events? Either way, God wants to bring revival and abundant life out of, or maybe even in spite of, our past.

This might sound crazy or illogical yet, I have seen and even experienced revival of my past. God has taken me back a few times to re-visit events or choices in my past to finally overcome them, and in reality, to finally overcome myself. I would struggle or trip over my past failures and mistakes time and again. I would beat myself up with words and thoughts of how I could have done things differently. My regrets were huge and I didn’t see anyway of escaping them. Often the shame of my bad choices would consume me and overtake me in such a way of paralyzing me spiritually and ministerially.

I remember a time in my life where God was showing me areas of my past that He wanted to breath life into. Areas I thought were dead and forever unchangeable somehow God has resurrected His beauty and breathed His very life into. God wants to do this in your life too.

Sometimes God has us go back to go forward. 

I have been pondering this idea for some time now. I believe God sometimes has us go back to an issue or event in our life and deal with it so we can move on in Him. He wants to bring healing in that area.

I remember a bike ride I took on my mountain bike. I hadn’t ridden my bike for a long time, and wanted to do some physical fitness. I took a route that my husband takes all the time on his road bike. As I went on this ride I quickly realized I was out of shape. There were several big hills that I had to get up and after each one I had to stop and get off my bike and rest. After riding for a half hour I wanted to go home, but didn’t want to take the same route back as I knew I would have to go up more big hills and my body was so tired. I thought “There has to be a short cut across the river to my house.” I asked some bike riders if there was a trail that would take me down to the walking bridge to cross the river. One of them pointed to a trail and said, “We just came from that trail. It will take you to the bridge, but it is a hard trail.” I said, “Thanks!” and continued down the trail they showed me. When I started riding on the trail it was very bumpy and filled with boulders, stumps, and roots of trees. Bumping along I fell off the trail three times as it was steep. I kept saying to my self, “This is better than riding up those steep hills!” So I continued down the trail. Soon I came to a Y in the road. I didn’t know if I should go left or right. The left road went upwards away from the river a little, but I thought it would lead me to the walking bridge. The right road went down to the river and I thought it would be too close to the river and be at the water’s edge. So I chose the left road. The more I went on this road the more I realized it was taking me totally away from the river and leading me up the mountain instead. After riding on the road for about a mile I said to my self, “I’ll have to go back to go forward!” Instantly I knew God was speaking to me, but didn’t know exactly what that meant. Eventually I arrived back at the Y and took the road on the right instead. This path took me over even a harder path, but eventually it took me to the walking bridge. Even after I crossed the bridge, I had to ride my bike for about another forty-five minutes to get home. My ride was a total of three hours. Which I call that ride, “The ride from Hell!” Still, I pondered the thought, “I have to go back to go forward.” Lord, what does this mean? What area in my life do I have to go back and deal with to go forward?

God began to show me several areas in my life that I needed to confront and deal with so I could go forward with what God has called me to do. There are many examples in the Bible of people who had to go back to go forward. One big example in the Bible is Jacob (Genesis 27 – 33).

Major events in Jacob’s life

Jacob and Esau were twins, and while they were in their mother’s womb, they struggled together within her. She didn’t understand so she asked God and He said, “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). Esau was born first and he came out red like a hairy garment all over. Esau means hairy. Then Jacob came out and took the heel of Esau. Jacob’s name means supplanter or Deceitful.One who takes the heel. Esau was a skillful hunter and Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob (Gen. 25:28a), and Rebekah loved Jacob (Gen. 25:28b).

Genesis 25:29 – 34 (NKJV)

“Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom (Red). But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.”

When the day came for Isaac to give his blessing to Esau (customary for the older to receive), he asked Esau to go out and hunt game and make a meal for him and then he was to bless Esau. Rebekah overheard Isaac speaking to Esau and told Jacob. Rebekah sent Jacob out to get the choice goats and made some food and gave it to Jacob to give to his father. He also put on Esau’s clothes and the skin’s of the kids of the goats. He tricked his father in giving Esau’s blessing to him. When Esau came in with the prepared food it was too late as Isaac already blessed Jacob. This made Esau very mad and he vowed that after his father’s passing he would go and kill Jacob. Finding this out, Rebekah sent Jacob away to Laban’s house. Jacob fled, he ran for fear of his life.

Arriving at Laban’s house, Jacob meets Rachel and falls in love with her. He has to work seven years for Laban to get her. Jacob fulfills his commitment and is tricked into marrying Rachel’s older sister, Leah. When Jacob finds this out he confronts Laban and Laban says to fulfill his week with Leah and then he would give Rachel to Jacob for another seven years of work. Jacob agrees and finishes the seven additional years and then works six more years for livestock. Jacob works a total of 20 years for Laban.

When it was time for Jacob to receive all that was promised to him he runs and takes his wives and children and livestock with him. Jacob had a way of running from his problems. He ran from the wrath of his brother, and now he runs from Laban.  But we will never conquer what we don’t confront. Eventually we will have to confront our past to overcome it or it will overcome us. This is the case with Jacob. He flees and has a three day head start, but Laban eventually finds him and confronts him. Ultimately Laban was deceitful in his dealings with Jacob and Jacob fled with everything Laban loved and worked for. The two make a covenant to cause no harm to each other.

After leaving Laban, Jacob went on his way to his homeland. Jacob knew he was going to have to confront his brother Esau. He sent messengers to tell Esau that Jacob has been with Laban and stayed until now. I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and was asking for Esau’s favor. The messengers reported back to Jacob that Esau had four hundred men and were coming his way. Jacob was afraid. He thought his brother was going to destroy all that Jacob worked for over the mistake he made in the past of robbing his brother of his birthright and father’s blessing.

Jacob divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels into two groups. He said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape” (Genesis 32:8).

Jacob cried out to God for help and protection and favor. He took what he had in his hand to offer to his brother for reconciliation.

Genesis 32:14 – 15, 21 (NKJV)

“Two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty mild camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals… So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.”

Jacob sent the gift to his brother and sent his wives and children over the brook and Jacob was left alone for the night.

Do You Limp?

Genesis 32:24 – 31 (NKJV)

“Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” So He said to him, “What is your name? He said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.”

Truthfully, I have a hard time trusting people who haven’t developed a “limp.” People who don’t “limp” are usually weak, and fearful over little things. They don’t know what it means to perservere. Why? Because they give up too quickly.

Limping people show they’ve pressed through a struggle for a blessing. Their limp shows  up whereever they go. They walked through a fight or a struggle, even with God, to come out the other side victorious.

You can spot “limpers” everywhere you go. They are the ones who are tenacious in dealing with things that come up in their life. They are those who have faith and know who they are in Christ. They are those who know what it is like to lack and know what it is to receive. Those who have a spiritual limp have wrestled with God over things and come out stronger, better, and forever changed over it. They are people who say, “I am pressing, pushing through this in Jesus Name!” They don’t allow their circumstance to win, but cry out to God for help and a blessing!

Jacob made peace with his past

Right after that Esau came. Jacob bowed to Esau seven times. “But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept” (Genesis 33:4).

God granted favor with his brother in spite of Jacob’s deceitful past. This confrontation changed the stigma of Jacob’s past. Now, he and his brother reconciled as Esau received the gifts Jacob offered to him.

Genesis 33:11 (NKJV)

“Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. So he urged him, and he took it.”

Jacob’s Critical Confrontation:

1.  God had Jacob go back to face his relationship with his brother Esau before he could move on.

2. He finished or completed what he had to do (Gen. 32:4 “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.”).

3. He had to face his fear of seeing his brother again (400 men with him – Gen. 32:6). Jacob was afraid of Esau but knew the confrontation had to take place.

4. He had to pray (Gen. 32:11).

5. He asked for favor from his brother (Jacob humbled himself).

6. It cost Jacob what was in his hand (Gen. 32:13 “…and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother…”)

The word “hand” or yawd (Hebrew for hand), which is a primitive word means; “a hand (the open one indicating power, means, direction, etc.).”

If you let go of what is in your hand, God will let go of what is in His hand and give it to you. What are you hanging onto? What is so important that you can’t let go of it? When you let go, God will multiply it beyond what you could ever think it could be.

Think of the boy with the loaves and two fishes. See how it was multiplied thousands and thousands of times over. If the boy wouldn’t have given what he had, then it never would have been multiplied to feed thousands.

Give what you have in your hand. Don’t hang onto it. It might look good to you and you want to keep it, but God cannot multiply it for His glory until you let go of it. It is not yours in the first place, God gave it to you.

There is a story of a little girl who saved up her money to buy a fake pearl necklace. When she had saved up the money she joyfully went and purchased her necklace. That night, when her Daddy was tucking her into bed, she showed it to him with pride and joy. He looked and smiled at the necklace and asked, “Baby, will you give me the necklace?” The little girl was surprised that her Daddy wanted her necklace. She sadly said, “No, Daddy, I love this necklace.” Her Daddy gave her a kiss and said, “Good night honey, I love you!” and left her to go to sleep. The next day she wore her necklace and showed all her friends. She was so proud of it and all the little girls wanted one just like hers. That night, when her Daddy tucked her into bed he asked, “Baby, will you give me your new necklace?” She was devastated. Why did he asked for it again? He could have asked for anything else and she would have gladly gave it to him. She had say no, and was very sad he asked. Her Daddy loved on her and gave her a kiss and left her to go to sleep. When she woke up, all she could think about was her Daddy and how he wanted her necklace. She loved her Daddy more then her new necklace so she decided that if her Daddy asked her that night for it, she would give it to him. Sure enough, that night her Daddy tucked her into bed and asked her for her necklace. Immediately she took it off and gave it to her Daddy. She said, “I love you more then my new necklace.” As soon as she gave it to him, he pulled out from his pocket a real pearl necklace that he had for her all along and gave it to her.

Often God asks for what is in our hand. It may be our “precious” that we care about so deeply. Maybe a job, or ministry, or anything that we cherish. When He asks us for our “precious” He always has something better in store for us if we just are willing to give what is in our hand.

God never asks us to give away anything He hasn’t already given us.

Joyce Meyer

There was a cost for Jacob to go back in order to go forward. He wanted to give his brother a present. The gift went before Jacob preparing the way.

7. Esau ran and embraced Jacob. What Jacob feared turned into favor and forgiveness.

8. Once Jacob faced his relationship with his twin brother Esau, it was resolved and he never had to face that issue again.

Jacob was brave and decided to confront his past once and for all. The fruit of Jacob’s prayer, and all the preparation was the favor from his brother.

It is interesting that Jacob wrestles with God before he confronts his past with Esau. Whenever we have to confront something we don’t want to confront, we wrestle with it. God might ask us to look at something in our past and confront it. Our flesh will cry out in pain to flee. Human nature wants to leave it alone because it might be too painful to bear looking at again. Often we wrestle alone and have to get to the end of ourselves to give God control.

Maybe we are afraid of facing our past? Maybe we are bitter or unforgiving towards someone for what they’ve done to us. It could be we have done something we regret and have not forgiven ourselves. All these situations we bring into our adult lives and they make us who we are today. Yet, if we want to live an abundant life we might have to go back and deal with them to go forward to obtain our promised land the Lord has for us. Jacob is a wonderful example of this.

Issues with people, events, or circumstances need to be dealt with. If they are not, they will eventually start stinking in our lives and other people will start to notice the stench in us. They become a dead corpse. The good news is that when we decide to confront our past, God is always there with us. He is ministering to us as we turn the issue over to Him. God sees your heart and knows your motives. We are blessed when we obey His prompting and much good comes from obedience.

Write down on a separate sheet of paper any issue from your past that is unresolved, then take them to God in prayer and ask Him to help you resolve them. This takes courage!

For the rest of “Revival Of Our Past” go to Part 2.

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com 

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Overcome Or Be Overcome – Part 2 (Are You A Hoarder?)

UN-FORGIVENESS IS…

1. Un-forgiveness is Disobedience

2. Un-forgiveness gives Satan an advantage over us.

3. Un-forgiveness is Bondage.

4. Un-forgiveness is Poison.

Un-forgiveness is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. Being mad at another person only hurts you. You might pull away from the other person thinking that you are punishing them, but you are really putting yourself in prison and drinking poison. Every time you think about what happened, instead of getting angry, start to pray for them.

Mat 5:44 KJV

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

Don’t hold on to feelings of bitterness and resentment and let them poison your future. Let go of those hurts and pains. Forgive the people who did you wrong. Forgive yourself for the mistakes you have made. You may even need to forgive God for allowing it to happen to you.

You will never be truly happy as long as you harbor bitterness in your heart. You will wallow in self-pity, always feeling sorry for yourself, thinking that life hasn’t dealt you a fair hand. You must let go of those negative attitudes and the accompanying anger. Change the channel of your thinking and start focusing on the goodness of God.

CHANGE THE CHANNEL

We all know how to use the remote control to change the channels on the TV. If we see something we don’t like, no big deal – we just flip channels. We need to learn how to mentally change channels when negative images of the past pop up in our minds unexpectedly. Unfortunately, when some people see those negative experiences on their minds’ “screens,” instead of quickly changing the channels, they pull up a chair and get some popcorn, as though they’re going to watch a good movie. They willingly allow themselves to relive all those hurts and pains. Then they wonder why they are depressed, upset, or discouraged. They wonder why they NEVER get over it. Learn to change the channel. Don’t let your mind or your emotions drag you down into despair. Instead, dwell on the good things God has done in your life.

How do we overcome un-forgiveness?

1. TAKE THE GARBAGE OUT ON A REGULAR BASIS!!!

Don’t allow this junk to fester. Don’t pet the pity monster or it will get bigger.

2. WALK IN LOVE

Un-forgiveness is the opposite of love. What legacy are you leaving behind when you die? When you pass away people will not esteem you and remember you fondly for being standoffish or filled with un-forgiveness. NO! They will remember you for the love and warmth you showed to them and others. Forgiveness is a choice; based on obedience of God’s command, that is clearly set forth in His Word… that we “walk in love”.

Think about being out in your yard, watering your garden and your flowers, and you get a kink in the hose… the water stops flowing. If you don’t water your flowers and plants, eventually they will die. Here you are, you have ten million gallons of water sitting in a water tower somewhere, but one little twist, a kink in the hose stops it from flowing.

Listen: We have all of God’s power, God’s blessing, and God’s grace, but a kink, a twist in your heart, of bitterness or un-forgiveness can stop it from flowing in your life. It is important that we get all of those areas free, and the river of life flowing at all times. We have to remember that; out of the heart flow the issues of life. Guard your heart, keep it with all diligence, Solomon said.

We know that Jesus dealt with the inner man, the “hidden man of the heart“, as Peter referred to it. Paul spoke of the inner man, guarding and keeping on the inside.

We are living in an hour where the Holy Spirit is saying: “walk in love.”

Eph 5:2  (KJV)

“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.”

I like how the Message Bible states this verse…

Eph 5:2 (MSG)

“Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us, but to give everything of himself to us. We need to love like that.”

3.     WE FORGIVE OTHERS THROUGH GOD’S FORGIVENESS FOR US!

How can we forgive? Where do we get the strength? We get it through God’s forgiveness for us. He forgave through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ on the cross. Because He forgave us, when Jesus died and bore our sins and took our penalty, was crucified and buried and then raised from the dead, so that God could offer forgiveness and salvation to every person. This is our pattern, our example, and our help, through faith and obedience to forgive others.

Close your eyes right now. See Jesus on the cross crucified. Do you see his wounds? Can you see the effects of the beatings and lashes he took? Do you see the blood coming down off His forehead where the crown of thrones was placed? Do you see the nails in his hands and feet? Do you see the anguish and love on his face? Place the person who has wounded you into the wounds of Jesus. He died for your sins and those done to you. Have a conversation with the Lord, and choose to forgive “anyone” and “everyone” who has ever offended you. He may bring to your remembrance people who have hurt you and you have not yet forgiven. Speak out of your mouth, through faith, that you choose to forgive and let it go.

Whenever that person comes to your mind, and you think of how you were hurt or offended, or even destroyed, remind yourself that you have chosen to forgive, and each time it will get easier because the Lord will give you the strength. Once you have done this, and choose to walk in love through faith and obedience in the future, hold on to your chair because the Lord will begin to release all those things you have been believing Him for. Weed the garden of your heart and keep all things that are not of love far away from you.

Ephesians 4:31

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor (quarreling) and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice (malice gets into that area of hatred because of bitterness and resentment).” 

Notice these are all cousins, they are all related, and they are in the un-forgiveness family. Bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, evil speaking (talking ugly about people you are bitter against, you say vile things, slanderous reports, remarks that degrade) and malice (angry hatred) let it be put away (this means to get rid of it; get over it; deal with it; overcome it) it is a command from the Lord.

Eph. 4:32

“And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.”

In verse 32, the Lord commands us to be kind toward one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving. So don’t just get rid of it, but put positive things in its place. Replace being bitter, angry, speaking evil, and unforgiving with love, mercy, grace, self-control, and forgiveness.

Ephesians 32, continues …as God in Christ forgave you.”

♥God was willing to forgive you before you even thought about repenting.

♥Jesus didn’t wait to die on the cross until after you decided to repent. He died on the cross long before you thought about repenting. He chose to forgive you.

♥If we choose to forgive, as God forgave us, then when are we actually going to forgive?

♥God’s forgiveness is based on His love. It is not based on that person’s response, actions, or repentance.

♥It doesn’t matter what that person does or doesn’t do in order to bring you to forgiveness. It is not about the other person and what they need to do.

♥It’s our being the bigger person and forgiving, that will allow restoration with people who don’t yet know how, or even deserve it.

♥You say “how can I forgive them, they don’t even want my forgiveness, they might not even be alive today.” It doesn’t matter, your choosing to love and to forgive is not based on their response, it is based on God’s love that is inside of you. It is based on what you need to do to be set free from the torment un-forgiveness brings.

♥Forgiveness is a decision not a feeling. We speak our choice to walk in love, and God will give us the strength to let it go. Even if you have to speak out that choice over and over again; “I choose to forgive!” it is better then holding it all in and ignoring it.

Remember you are walking in obedience to God when you choose to forgive. This pleases His heart, and the sin that separated you from God is gone and you become closer to Christ.

♥It wasn’t a suggestion, it wasn’t a pick and choose which person you want to forgive and who you will not; it was a command of God to put away anger, malice, strife, and get rid of it – and learn how to walk in love by keeping it out of your life.

4. BE UNDERSTANDING

We don’t know what that other person has gone through. Don’t say he doesn’t deserve your understanding. Don’t be quick to judge and condemn them in the court of your mind. There is always a reason behind every action. The real purpose in understanding is to help us see the difference between the sin and the sinner. Don’t try to understand the other person. Try instead to be understanding. Forgiveness brings restorations. We are commanded to dwell together in unity!

Psa 133:1-3 KJV

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.” 

The Bible says, even though you “understand all mysteries and all knowledge but have not love, you are nothing” (1 Cor. 13). Be understanding. This is what love is. Love is an open, listening ear. Love is a warm, accepting heart. Love is an understanding friend.

Col. 3:12 – 14 

“Accept life, and be most patient and tolerant with one another, always ready to forgive if you have a difference with anyone. Forgive as freely as the Lord has forgiven you. And, above everything else, be truly loving, for love is the golden chain of all the virtues.”

Again the Message Bible says it well…

Col 3:12-14 MSG

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” 

Understanding doesn’t mean you agree with the other person or what they did. Understanding is not unconditional acceptance, but it is acceptance in any condition, in any situation.

5. LEARN TO VALUE OTHERS

All their strengths and weaknesses. No body is perfect! Don’t expect others to be perfect.

Look at that unforgivable person in your life. They are human. They are someone whom Christ died for. No one whom Christ died for can be my enemy. If I love God, how can I keep from loving my brother?

1 John 4:20-21 HCSB

“If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: the one who loves God must also love his brother.”

Before you write off the other person stop and think…

♥No one is too low to be an object of God’s love.

♥No one (however evil) is excluded from the forgiveness of God – only if they choose to walk away from it.

♥No one can be considered worthless, when Christ—God Himself—died for them.

♥No one is unlovable—if God loves them, then God can love him through me!

CONCLUSION:

WHAT TRASH DO YOU HAVE?

We all are human. That means we are not perfect. There might be past experiences that have hurt us, or attitudes we’ve developed that are not healthy and need to change. There might be memories that we need to give to God and allow Him to heal, so He can bring closure and help you forgive and get beyond it. These “issues” are the trash that we need to empty from our hearts. They are issues in our life that have built up through time, which will only cause stench if we do not take care of them.

What is stinking in your life?

Are there areas that you have not given up to God? Are there people that you have not forgiven? Do you need to forgive yourself? Do you harbor bitterness, anger, or resentment? Do you have self-righteousness piled up like dirty rags? Do you have pride stinking in your life? Have you not given God control of your life totally and completely? Do you see how you’ve tried to manipulate people or circumstances? Do you have fear built up that paralyzes you? Maybe you are an approval addict and now you see it for the first time. Do you criticize or judge people? Do you always look at the negative or look for the negative report? Do you see your lack of trust for God and want to start learning how to trust Him again? Do you find yourself always complaining? Maybe you don’t have a forgiveness issue, but you have actions or attitudes that you need to change to be more like Jesus. We all have areas in our lives that need God’s tender touch to bring change. Be encouraged to lay down your desires and dreams and allow God to direct your every step.

THE TRASH WILL NOT GO AWAY BY ITSELF!

Wishing the trash would go out will not get the trash out. Hoping the trash would be gone will not get the trash out. Even ignoring the trash will not prevent it from stinking up our homes. This is the same in our spiritual lives. We can wish, hope, or even try to ignore the issues in our hearts that keep coming up, but it will never go away until we turn it over to the Master Garbage Man and let Him take it all away. You will be surprised and stand amazed at what God will do as you yield your life totally to Him. He has a plan for your life and He is just waiting for you to let Him have the steering wheel to take you places you’ve never dreamed before.

Can you think of any Trash that has been piling up in your life? No matter how much trash you have, God has a container bigger! The key is to put your trash out and leave it there. As you do, your life will smell fresher and look cleaner because the Master Garbage Man has come and taken away all the trash that you have left out for Him. You can trust God to take it all away. He is faithful. He will make something new and fresh out of something that was thrown away or forgotten. Then your trash will not overcome you but you will overcome the trash!!

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Overcome Or Be Overcome – Part 1 (Are You A Hoarder?)

One day I came home with my daughters and opened the door to our house and smelled a terrible smell. We immediately began sniffing around trying to find where this bad smell was coming from. We sniffed until we found the culprit. It was coming from under our kitchen sink where we put our garbage. Quickly I took it outside and disposed of it into our bigger garbage can. I just could live with that terrible stench in my home.

We all have garbage.

We all have GARBAGE that needs to be taken to the garbage can everyday! We are consumers. We buy something at the store and after we use it, we throw away the package it came in. After our garbage container is full in our house, we take it out to the larger container outside and empty its contents into it. Then we take the smaller garbage container back into our houses and put more garbage back in it. This cycle goes on and on, week after week, month after month and year after year.

If we don’t take our garbage out to the trash, we will smell the results in just a matter of time.

►Well, guess what? We are all full of it too!

I want to look at the trash we have in our lives and see it for what it really is, and also show you how to get rid of it! We all have garbage that the Master Garbage Man needs to take away. We need to do some “Spring Cleaning” and get our trash out. If we do we will look better, feel better, and yes, even smell better to those around us.

Remember the smell in my home?  I just couldn’t live in an environment that smelled so horrible. Yet, we all do this in our spiritual lives. We walk around with excess rubbish from our past and try to ignore it thinking it will go away. Too much trash in our lives will stink up our homes, and too much fleshly garbage in our hearts will stink up our lives.

People will smell your trash because the stench leaks out. The reality is it will never go away until you “smell around” to find were the stink is coming from. This is not a fun thing to do. There will be pain involved. You will have to work at getting the “stench” out, but in the long run it will pay off and be well worth the house cleaning. The good news is that God is the Master Garbage Man and He is always there to help you get rid of your trash.

Video:  “Garbage Hoarder” (Viewer Discretion Advised)

 Garbage stinks! 

 What garbage do you find in your life?

Un-forgiveness?

Bitterness?

Judgmental attitudes?

Critical spirit?

Rejection?

Fear?

Let’s look at a few pieces of trash you may have…

1.  Rejection:

You know the scene. It is in the middle of the day. The children are out to play on the playground. They choose team members to play the game. One by one everyone is picked until it comes down to the last person. By now they really don’t want to play because they were the last to be chosen. The reject! The one no one wants.

Rejection! We’ve all experienced it. Not getting that promotion we were anticipating. Or not getting the job you interviewed for and someone you know did.

We all want to be valued and accepted. Being valued is a natural human desire. When we don’t feel valued we tend to draw back and isolate ourselves, or get mad and lash out. Maybe you have been rejected from a friend, or relative. How about wanting to go out with someone on a date and they said, “No!” Rejection can lead to un-forgiveness and then bitterness.

Why does rejection wound us so deeply?

Rejection is painful because…

●It attacks the very person who we are.

●It destroys our self-esteem

●It makes you think something is wrong with you

●It makes you feel like you are not valued or wanted

●It makes you feel “less-then” the one who rejected you

This is why it is one of the most common tools the devil will use to destroy a person’s life. God never wanted us to feel rejected or abandon. He desires for you to know who you really are, and realize how deeply God loves, accepts, and appreciates you, so that you can live out the fullness of what all God has ordained you to be.

Rejection has a way of destroying a person in which few other things can. The sad fact is that the number of people who are affected by rejection is staggering. If we want to be all that God has created us to be, then overcoming rejection and its affects is vital and absolutely essential.

Remember; God will NEVER reject you! He will always receive you.

We have to OVERCOME OR we will BE OVERCOME

2.  Un-forgiveness:

Un-forgiveness and rejection are truly a war that is going on inside of you. It is safe to say that everyone has experienced rejection or has un-forgiveness in their life. If you don’t overcome this WAR, it will overcome you! These are pieces of trash which can pile up and begin to make us stink! It becomes the “clutter” in our lives that prevents us from being who we were created to be, and to live our life free from the clutter, shame, and isolation garbage can bring.

Why do we allow this war to continue?

War: H1993: “to be in great commotion or tumult, to rage, war, cry aloud, be disquieted, rage, be troubled, be in an uproar.”

UN-FORGIVENESS IS…

1. Un-forgiveness is Disobedience

We are forgiven because of what Christ did on the cross for us. We deserve damnation and hell, instead of mercy and grace and eternal life. But there is something further we have to understand about our forgiveness. If we forgive others what they did to us, then we are forgiven. But, if we don’t forgive what others have done to us, we are not forgiven either.

Look at your life and what has been done to you. Does it even compare to what YOU have done yet Christ forgave you?

Matthew 6:14-15 KJV

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” 

Why does God connect our forgiveness with forgiving others? It is easier to receive forgiveness compared to giving it. Dead people don’t have rights. We are crucified with Christ (Galations 2:20). Forgiving others has to do with laying down our rights.

It doesn’t make sense that we are forgiven and yet we don’t forgive. It doesn’t make sense that we are loved and yet we hate. We would be a hypocrite and so would God if we are forgiven and yet have un-forgivenss in our hearts. They have to be connected so we will see the depth of what Christ did for us on the cross. We are not forgiven if we don’t forgive others. Forgiveness is why Christ went to the cross. So you and I would be forgiven.

It is plan disobedience to God if we don’t forgive others. Disobedience is Sin!

Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

►Un-forgiveness is something that can really hold us back from escaping the corruption of sin and living for God.

►Un-forgiveness comes in many forms, such as bitterness, hatred, malice, holding grudges and resentment.

►Un-forgiveness can actually block God’s forgiveness towards our sins and provides a foothold for the devil to influence our lives.

►Un-forgiveness is probably one of the biggest yet-unnoticeable sins in the world today.

►Un-forgiveness is not only a sin, but it’s a disease. It carries with it paralyzing and life-threatening symptoms that can end in spiritual death.

►Un-forgiveness can spread division and strife throughout our church as well as our home. Not to mention the chain of bondage it places on our lives.

►Un-forgiveness will start to spread throughout the mind, taking over the thought process interfering with what should be our focus, paralyzing and causing us to miss the important move of God.

►Un-forgiveness causes our responses, actions and body language to become inappropriate.

When we release the other person and forgive them, we release ourselves too.

We also release them to be forgiven by God.

2 Co 2:10 KJV

“Whom you forgive I also forgive, for if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ.

2. Un-forgiveness gives Satan an advantage over us.

2 Cor. 2:11

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” 

One of the things we learn is that un-forgiveness is one of Satan’s devices, an instrument, a weapon, a plot, a scheme, a tool, which he uses.

People, who Satan couldn’t get to rob a bank or shoot someone, he gets to them through strife, bitterness, resentment and un-forgiveness… things that many people wouldn’t describe as awful sins. Some people look at some folks and say oh, they are a wonderful Christian, they love God, they read their Bible, they pray, and yet that person could be soaking with strife and un-forgiveness. Why? Because we don’t always identify it as one of the things that is a sin. Yet, the scripture says that it is a device of Satan. We have to remember that sin is sin. Sin is all the same. It separates us from God.

Un-forgiveness in our heart can give Satan an advantage over us, a way of controlling us, robbing us of our joy, our deliverance, our peace, our love, harmony in the home, the victory of overcoming, from possessing all of the promises of God, our prosperity, our salvation.

Wake up and understand that we are in a culture right now in the world that is fostering, festering, stirring up, strife, bitterness and un-forgiveness.

Talk shows are really into it, talking about how upset they are, angry, and how they are going to take revenge and get people back that hurt us.

News commentaries feed into this too. Are you watching the news during the Presidential Campaign? Mud is slung everywhere on both sides. It seems every campaign has to slander the other to make themselves look good. I would just like to see a campaign run without slander and pointing fingers, but not sure if that person would be elected. The world expects you to stand up and fight for yourself, even if it means to slander someone else.

Ultimately, bitterness and un-forgiveness will take people in that direction, and it begins with strife.

3. Un-forgiveness is Bondage.

We can get all bound up thinking about what happened to us to the point that it binds us up from growing in Christ. It prevents us from having healthy relationships.

If you don’t let go of un-forgiveness and bitterness you won’t just lose relationships, you will lose yourself! Forgiving others benefits you the most!

You will repel others away from you because of what un-forgiveness is doing to your emotions internally. Release them and forgive, then you will enjoy your life and others will enjoy you!

If we are bitter and resentful, it’s because we are allowing ourselves to remain that way.

Anyone can make excuses and blame the past for his or her bad attitudes, poor choices, or hot temper.

If you want to live in victory and overcome, you cannot use past emotional wounds as an excuse for making poor choices today. (The video: “I am going through emotional problems right now” to justify the garbage in her living room.)

You dare not use your past as an excuse for your current bad attitude or as a rationalization for your unwillingness to forgive somebody. It is time to allow emotional wounds to heal. It is time to put your garbage out for the Master Garbage man to take away for good.

Be looking for OVERCOME OR BE OVERCOME – Part 2

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com

http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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A Cry For Revival Series: “Revival Of Our Hearts” (Part 2)

Revival Of Our Hearts Part 2 by Pastor Kris Belfils (Audio Sermon)

Guard Your Heart

When you think about it your physical heart is the most vital  organ  in  your  body. Without  it  you  will  die.  If  it doesn’t work properly your entire body will suffer. We strive to have healthy hearts by watching what we eat and getting enough exercise. We wouldn’t do something intentionally  to  harm  our  hearts.  By  getting  enough sleep, exercise, and proper foods our heart will work and function properly.

What about our Spiritual/Emotional heart? Are we vigilant in guarding and taking care of it?

Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified Bible)

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”

In the King James Version of the Bible this verse reads like this: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

In the original Hebrew (Strongs Hebrew and Greek Definitions H3820 and H3824) I want to look at a few of the words we just read. The word “heart” means: “Feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the center of anything. Courage, mind, and understanding.”

As you can see by the definition, our heart has such a big roll in our survival. If we don’t have courage or understanding, we will not advance, but retreat. Again, what are you feeding your heart? Feed it with things that will build courage and bring peace. It is vital for your survival to do this!

Diligence means: “A guard (the man, the post, or the prison), office, ward, watch, hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc., beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep, mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save, sure, wait, watch (-man)” (Strongs Hebrew and Greek Definitions H4924 and H8104).

From this definition we can see we need to view protecting our hearts seriously. To protect or attend to the condition of our hearts daily should be a priority. Everyday the threat of something or someone can infiltrate our hearts and cause us to fail or worse, give up. Surround yourself with encouragers. I would even go as far as to say surround yourself with “yes” people. People who will say, “You can do it!” They see you through God’s eyes and not your own! They are vital to your survival! Our hearts are in desperate need of life. Why would you surround yourself with naysayers? They only bring death!

Let’s go back to Proverbs 4:23 KJV again; “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

The phrase “issues of life” is translated; “To go, bear out, break out, bring forth, carry out, depart, escape, get away, go abroad, going out, grow, proceed, shoot forth, spring out, and take forth.”

It is the very thing that comes out of us on a daily basis. It’s the outgoings, the springs that flow or come forth from us. They are the thoughts we think, and the words we say. They will determine our present and our future. No wonder why we are told to guard with all diligence or vigilance, it becomes the very essence of who we are.

A guard at the Buckingham Palace never leaves their post. They never allow outside influence to distract them. They are there to make sure no one or nothing gets in the palace that shouldn’t be there. They are armed and always on alert.

This is what we need to do with our own heart! There are things we can do to protect our heart so it will work and function properly.

Guards to place in front of your heart:

1.     Don’t give your heart away so easily.

Too often we give our heart and trust way too quickly and easily. We want to think the best of others. It is nice to get attention, be it in a friendship or a dating relation ­ ship. I have witnessed single friends dating and on the second or third date they start making statements like; “He is everything I’ve dreamed of.” or “We will get married within the year.” I see them neglecting their regular friends, family, or duties to “be” with this new person. Too often these relationships end up leaving them empty or hurt. Why? Because they gave their heart away too quickly.

God has given us a command in Proverbs 4:23 to guard our heart with everything inside of us. We never think a sour relationship will happen to us, but they do. I like how the New Living Translation stats this verse: “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” The entire course of our life can change for the worse just because we gave our heart away too quickly.

If we continue reading in Proverbs 4 verses 25 ­ 27, we will see some ways  to not give our heart away too quickly.

Proverbs 4:25 ­ 27 (NLT)

“Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what  lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet;  stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

2.     Fix your eyes on Jesus!

Keep your focus on your relationship with Jesus and allow Him to be all that you need. Don’t turn your focus onto something else or someone else. If you do, they become your idol, your god, instead of the Son of God!

Remember that God is the strength of your heart and not someone else.

Psalms 73:25 – 26

“Whom have I in heaven but You: I desire You more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.”

Why would you give up the “strength of your heart” for something or someone on this earth? Many people want someone tangible to touch and be with. When that person becomes more in their heart then God, they are in an unhealthy relationship, and their feet are following evil (Proverbs 4:27).

3. Listen to what you are saying.

We can learn a lot about ourselves if we would just listen to what we are saying. Our heart can deceive us if we don’t take the time to listen. If you are repeating things often, or talking about a person or situation often, it is a good sign that is where your treasure is.

Matthew 6:21 (KJV)

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

What have you been saying lately? Is there something or someone that you find yourself talking about more often then other things? If so, take a really good look at why you are doing this. It is understandable if you are talking more often about a situation if it just happened, but if it is something or someone that has happened months or even years ago, chances are you are obsessed with it.

4.     What are you feeding your heart?

Are you watching inappropriate movies or television shows? Do you listen to music that is not edifying? Are you reading material that is questionable if it is good for you or not? We will become what we are feeding our heart.

Luke 6:45

“A good person produces good things from the  treasury of a good heart,  and an evil person produces evil things from the  treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

Just like our natural heart will be affected by what we are feeding our bodies, so too our emotional/spiritual heart will be affected by what we are filling it. One thing about a “treasury” is that it will accumulate what is put into it.

This is true of our heart; The more junk you put into it the more junk will pile up in your treasury. Your heart will flow with what is in it and the junk you allowed to pile up will flow out to others because that is what hearts do. They pump out what is put in.

5.     Exercise to strengthen your heart.

Spend time with God in prayer and Bible study. Allow God to be the strength of your life. Spend time helping others, as this will get the focus off of you and onto others. Remember point number 3; Listen to what you are saying. If you are talking about yourself often, you are not taking and giving. You are stagnating. What would happen to our natural heart if it never received blood and it never pumped out the blood inside of it? It would eventually get damaged and affect the entire body. This can bring death. We have to exercise our hearts on a regular basis to prevent this from happening to our emotional heart as well.

Keeping a guard over our hearts doesn’t mean to put up walls and not allow people into our life. Keeping a guard over our hearts is putting up healthy boundaries to protect us from creating an unhealthy heart.

If you feel like you have been hurt or struggling with heart issues, allow God to bring His healing. Prevent any heart issue from coming by guarding your heart with all diligence.

Don’t allow any heart issues to prevent you from experiencing true revival in your life.

6.    Don’t lose heart.

Luke 18:1 (NKJV)
“Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart.”

Prayer is such a vital exercising component to help us not lose heart. We can pour our hearts out to God in prayer and tell Him all that is weighing on us. We can express our frustrations and our concerns. We are human. God already knows, but something happens when we are honest with God and share a true heart response.

Sometimes God will change our circumstances, and sometimes He changes us in the middle of the circumstance. Either way change comes and it is all because we didn’t lose heart, but went to the One who created us and told Him how we were feeling. Believe it or not, this brings  peace. When you are  all  upset  and  frustrated about life, nothing is better than to go to God and tell Him how you are feeling. You will be a better person to others if you take the time to go into your secret place with the Lover of your soul, and allow His peace to sooth and calm you down. Then, we can respond to people better. Then we can face our day better. Often just spending time soaking in God’s presence does a heart good.

7.     Don’t Harden Your heart.

A final note I want to leave you with is to always keep your heart tender. It is easy to harden our hearts after experiencing hard times in this life. Once our heart is revived, the enemy will try and harden your heart to God, people, and even yourself. Don’t let this happen. Pray for a tender heart. God will give it to you!

Ezekiel 11:19 – 20 (Amplified Bible)
“And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God], That they may walk in My statues and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.”

Allow God to soften your heart and bring revival to you today. Why stay in the place of complacency, fear, or torment any longer? Today is the day for our hearts to awaken to God and what He wants to do in our life, our church, and our world! You can make a difference everywhere you go and whomever you meet. Open your eyes and your heart to a dying world without Jesus and be determined to live your life to build God’s Kingdom and not yours. May your prayer be; “Wake me up Lord, burn in my heart and bring revival to this land for Your glory, in Jesus name, Amen!”

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

http://www.krisbelfils.com

http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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How To Handle Disappointments

Disappointments happen to us everyday. We put our expectations into something or someone, and when those expectations are not fulfilled, we become disappointed. Sports teams experience disappointments all the time. One team wins, and the other loses. The one who loses, I am sure, are disappointed at the outcome because they wanted to win.

Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations or hopes to manifest. (Wikipedia.com)

dis·ap·point  (thefreedictionary.com)

1.To fail to satisfy the hope, desire, or expectation of.

2. To frustrate or thwart

3. To fail to meet the expectations, hopes, desires, or standards of; let down

4. To prevent the fulfillment of (a plan, intention, etc.); frustrate; thwart

Disappointments = Expectations not being met

Disappointments have the same flavor as regrets. The difference is that regrets usually have to do with the choices you make, while disappointments have to do with the outcome of what you put your expectations in. It usually means you didn’t get what you wanted or hoped for.

React in our flesh

The word “flesh” refers to self-nature or human nature or self-effort. To walk after the flesh is to do your own desires, usually it is the easy way out or it pleases you in an ungodly way.  Joyce Meyer states in “Living Beyond Your Feelings,” that “The nature of the flesh is to want what it thinks it cannot have, but once it has what it thought it wanted, the craving starts all over again. The one word that the flesh screams the loudest is more, and no matter how much it has, it is still never satisfied.” This reminds me of an older movie called, “Little Shop Of Horrors.” In it Seymour has a plant that needs to be fed all the time. When Seymour feeds it, the plant gets bigger and bigger and is never satisfied. It eventually takes over his home. This is exactly what happens when we feed our flesh instead of our spirit. The flesh is never satisfied and the more you feed it the bigger and more demanding it becomes.

It is natural to react to disappointments in our flesh. We might hold a grudge against someone who has let us down or has hurt us. Holding a grudge has a downward spiral attached to it. Holding a grudge is un-forgiveness and that is a sin.

Disappointments

a.  We put up walls. 

This happens often. We put up walls and don’t talk to someone or even totally close off all communication. I know because I have done this. It feels “right” at the time and it gives us a sense of control. We felt out of control when the disappointment came. There might not have been any thing we could have done to fix or change the outcome. It is a huge frustration to live with an outcome you didn’t have in your plans. It is very hard to live with circumstances someone else chose for you.

b.  We get mad at God

It is easy to get mad at God thinking He could have prevented what happened. Reality is God had nothing to do with it. People are given free will and they make choices all the time. Their choices might not line up with your choices or what you planned. Often authority figures over our life can make a choice that affects us. Our hands are tied as to the outcome. We can easily blame God, quit our job, or distance ourselves from this person or cituation. All of these choices are not good choices.

 c.  We get mad at ourselves

Handling disappointments is a process. Don’t get mad at your self if you are not over it quickly. It takes time to heal and to regroup after a disappointment. Give yourself permission to relax and allow God to heal you, and learn to worship in the middle of the Disappointment.

d.  We show emotion or get depressed

Often it is natural to be upset or get depressed when something happens that has disappointed or hurt you. There is a grieving process whenever there is a loss of any kind. There are 5 stages of grief when a loved one dies that can be applied to what we experience after a disappointment:

5 Stages of Grief or Loss

  1. Denial and Isolation
  2. Anger
  3. Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Acceptance

Video: “Stages of Grief”

Disappointment quotes:

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. – Martin Luther King Jr

Disappointments are to the soul what a thunderstorm is to the air.  – Friedrich Schiller

Our best successes often come after our greatest disappointments.  – Henry Ward Beecher

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.  – Joseph Addison

How To Handle disappointments?

Let’s face it everyone will be disappointed from time to time. It is what we do; our actions or reactions, that determine our character. Often disappointments shape our character. It is in these times we need to quickly seek God to help us heal and to learn from them. Know that disappointments can help you grow. They make you stronger for your future. We can try and fight having disappointments but really it is futile because we can never control people or circumstances. This is not what God wants from us; a bunch of controlling, manipulating people.

Here are a few things I have personally learned when it comes to dealing with and handling disappointments, and I pray they help you:

  1. Run to God

Running to God, and venting your frustrations about your disappointments, is the very first things you should do after being disappointed. Telling Him how you feel is the best way to get it out. Stuffing your feelings inside of you only brings turmoil. God knows and sees everything. He was there when it happened. He wants us to run to Him with our disappointments.

1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV)

“Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

1 Peter 5:7 (Amplified Bible)

“Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” 

God hears our cry. Crying out to God is a form of running to Him. Here are just a few verses in the Bible about crying out to God:

2 Sam. 22:7 (NKJV)

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.”

Psalm 18:6 (NKJV)

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.”

Psalm 30:2 (NKJV)

“O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me.”

Psalm 57:2 (NKJV)

“I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.”

Psalm 61:1 (NKJV)

“Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.”

Psalm 77:1 (NKJV)

“I cried out to God with my voice – To God with my voice; and He gave ear to me.”

God hears our cry and our humble plea moves His heart to action. Just the act of crying out to God brings healing, but to know God will move on our behalf brings security.

2.  Worship

Worship in the middle of the disappointment. Worshipping God takes our attention off of our circumstances and ourselves, and places our gaze, our focus on our Creator. Worship frees our spirit of the cares of this world. It puts life in perspective. Worship also helps us to place our trust in God in the middle of the disappointments.

Worshipping God reminds us of how good He really is. It helps build our faith to arise in us to overcome the disappointment.

Isaiah 52:17 – 19 

“His name shall endure forever; His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him; All nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only does wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen!”

God only does wondrous things! He will do wondrous things in your life as you place your cares upon Him. Don’t try to figure it out on your own. There are many things we can’t fix or change, but God has a plan. Even if it is teaching us to endure in the middle of the process of handling disappointments, we will come out the other side better for it and with much reward.

Psalm 28:6 – 7 (NKJV)

“Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”

Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness.

Psalm 42:5 (Message)

“Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God – soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.”

3.  Forgive

Release the person in your heart. Forgiveness takes away the power the other person continues to wield in your life, and it gives it back to you. Realize no body is perfect. If you are having trouble letting go of a grudge or to give forgiveness, talk to someone you trust, who will give you wise, Godly, and compassionate advice.

Forgiving is a process, at least it has been in my life. I would go through the stages of grief and then come to a place in my heart I was willing to forgive. Then I would even pray and might say it out loud; “I forgive _______ !” Then, something else would come up that would re-open the wound, and all the forgiveness I gave that person went out the window! I would have to come to the place in my heart to be willing to forgive again and then release them. Sometimes this happened over and over again. I knew the verses in the bible about forgiving seventy times seven (Matthew 18:22). I knew if I didn’t forgive my sins would not be forgiven (Matthew 6:12). These are things that motivated me to forgive, but the actual act of forgiving always seemed to take time. I finally gave myself permission that it was okay if I wasn’t at the place of forgiveness with them, knowing that was my ultimate goal.

Wounds take time to heal. Allow yourself the time it takes to be made whole again.

Jesus is my hero. He went to the cross knowing what was in the hearts of people, and even forgave them in the middle of the act of being crucified. My spirit wants to be able to do that, but my flesh wins out more than not.

Some people don’t struggle with forgiving others. They look like they just shrug it off and have no issue, but deep down inside a wound was created and only God and time will bring true healing.

I came across a post on Facebook the other day that I think will help us all in the process of forgiving others who have disappointed or mistreated us. The post was from the “Called Magazine” and they stated:“TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Give someone who mistreated you a kind word (genuine compliment/encouragement) or a thoughtful gift. — CAN YOU DO IT?” This challenged me to reach out in the direction of someone who hurt me and say a kind word to them. It was a step in the right direction. Baby steps are better then not stepping forward at all, and even better then stepping backward deeper into un-forgiveness to becoming bitter and resentful.

I could go into a sermon all its own on this subject. This message is to bring us to the awareness that forgiveness may be needed if your disappointment has to do with someone letting you down.

4.  Break walls down

It is natural to harden our hearts to life; let alone to people. You might have tried and tried to do something and was disappointed every time. Putting up walls and isolating yourself is not the answer. It only makes your turmoil worse.

Life has been given to us to enjoy, not resent. God has blessed us with many blessings if we would just look for them. We have to break down any walls we have built up, or possibly want to build up, or we will dry up and never have a healthy life.

Have you ever been dehydrated? I have. Your body will tell you it is drying up by how you are feeling and the symptoms you are experiencing. Signs of dehydration are:

2% body fluid loss:

  • Thirst
  • Loss of Appetite
  • Dry Skin
  • Skin Flushing
  • Dark Colored Urine
  • Dry Mouth
  • fatigue or Weakness
  • Chills
  • Head Rushes

5% body fluid loss:

  • Increased heart rate
  • Increased respiration
  • Decreased sweating
  • Decreased urination
  • Increased body temperature
  • Extreme fatigue
  • Muscle cramps
  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Tingling of the limbs

10% body fluid loss: (Emergency help is needed immediately)

  • Muscle spasms
  • Vomiting
  • Racing pulse
  • Shriveled skin
  • Dim vision
  • Painful urination
  • Confusion
  • Difficulty breathing
  • Seizures
  • Chest and Abdominal pain
  • unconsciousness

This is what happens to us spiritually when we put up walls and isolate ourselves from the real issue that God wants us to deal with. We become unhealthy and the signs will be seen. I think you get the point. What happens in the natural is similar to the spiritual. We have to keep ourselves spiritually hydrated, which includes breaking down the walls of isolation and anger.

5.  Be positive

Refuse to allow negativity to become a part of you after you have been disappointed. It is so easy to speak negative words about the situation, people, or life in general after being disappointed. Being negative about your circumstance never brings healing or help. Ask God to help you look at the situation through His eyes and from His perspective. Look to see what you can learn from it. Have a positive attitude that life will change in time. Know what you are going through is just a little bump in the road compared to the bigger picture of eternity.

I am sure you have heard the saying, “ You can either get better or bitter.” This is so true. Be determined to get better and to focus on the positives in your life. These are God’s blessings in disguise. We forget the good when we are faced with some bad. Learn to encourage yourself in the Lord like David did.

Psalm 30:10 – 12 (NKJV)

“Hear, O LORD, and have mercy on me; LORD, be my helper!” You have turned for me my mo9urning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.”

6.  Don’t try to get even  

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t speak evil against them.

1 Thess 5:15 (Amplified Bible)

“See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.”

This is very hard to do I know. If you have spoken evil about someone you have been disappointed and hurt by, ask God to forgive you and to wipe away the words you have said. Be determined to stop yourself when you start to speak evil against someone.

7.  Walk on

Get to a place you love people but you are not devastated when they let you down. Know life will have challenges but be determined to keep going, especially in the middle of a challenge.

Move on and keep going in your life. Disappointments do not determine your future if you have the right perspective and determination.

Walking on doesn’t mean you trust the person who disappointed you. It does mean you are willing to move past it and keep going. If you decide you are giving up, the enemy wins and what is life if you choose to give up? Nothing!

Know there is life after disappointments. Even if the disappointment is a life change, God can make beauty from ashes!

Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)

“To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Peace Robbers (Part 2 of Pursue Peace)

It is hard to find peace in this chaotic world. So many things are pressing for our attention, time, and sanity. Once we have peace, we have to guard our peace at all cost. There are “Peace Robbers” out there that will steal our peace away from us if we let them.

This is a two part message. In part One; “Pursue Peace,” we found out how to get peace and now in part Two, we will see what robs our peace and how to protect it.

Peace Robbers

1.  Being Busy

Being busy is the biggest tool the enemy uses to rob us of our peace. Business makes you think you are doing good. Often being busy is where you wrap your identity in. Have you ever answered someone’s question; “How are you doing?” with “Keeping busy!” It is easy to fall into the trap of business. After all, we are usually productive and have good motives. Yet, being busy keeps us distracted from the true purpose for our life. God cannot bring you to your destiny if you are too busy with insignificant things, which you have chosen, to take up your time.

Not all the business is wrong or bad. We have to decipher between the pressing and the important. There is a difference. Most of the time the “pressing” wins out. We add so many extra things on our plate that we can’t even finish eating what was there before. Have you heard the expression: “Your eyes are bigger then your stomach?” This is a statement to show you want more then you can handle. Our stomach is only so big, but our eyes see more “good things” and grab it and place it on our plates thinking we can eat it all.

“Simple active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work can actually be the counterfeit of spiritual activity.”

Oswald Chambers

Utmost For His Highest

Being busy makes one look like they are accomplishing a lot, but in reality their spiritual life suffers. Even if what you are doing is for God, it is still “simple active work” compared to where your relationship is with God and cultivating that relationship. Spending time with Jesus, the Prince of Peace, allows us to be more like Him and His peace fills our hearts. It is imperative to grow in Christ. If we are too busy doing vague, thoughtless and foolish things, our relationship with God suffers.

Ephesians 5:14 – 17 (Amplified Bible)

“Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise [sensible, intelligent people]. Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.”

Do you find yourself tired all the time and never seem to get enough sleep. If you have ruled out anything physically wrong with you, chances are it is because of being busy.  Seriously, if you can’t “Be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10),” something is very wrong in your life.

You might be afraid to be still. Maybe there are issues in your heart you are afraid to look at or address. Maybe God is pricking your heart about something and if you slow down, you will have to look at them. Ask yourself; “Am I peaceful?” In other words, if these things are robbing you of your peace, then by all means address them and deal with them and stop ignoring the Elephant in your living room! You are waisting time by running into business to escape dealing with these tuff issues. You will be free and find your peace the moment you decide to stop running and start dealing. The enemy uses this weapon agains people every second of the day. The sad thing is people think they are “okay” or “have a handle on it” when in reality they are drowning in their business that will eventually kill them. Let go of being busy and grab ahold of God’s joyful peace.

If you are afraid of all your business being taken away, and it brings pain in your heart, this is a sign your identity is wrapped up in what you do, instead of who you are in Christ.   I know first hand how this feels. I always wanted to be busy in ministry. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving a church without another position lined up for me to walk in. The busier I was, the more important I was feeling. I didn’t realize I was placing what I did before my relationship with God. It became my idol. Yes, ministry became my idol. You see even the good can become bad if it is placed wrong on our priority list.

Remember that everything is the Lord’s. The earth, and all that is in it is the Lord’s (1 Corinthians 10:26). The heavens, and the earth were made by the Lord (Psalm 115:15). Who are we to get wrapped up in the things of this earth to the point it takes our peace away? It all belongs to the Lord. We are just passing through. We are renters and eventually we will be moving out and moving into our mansion in heaven when God calls us home. Hold on loosely to the things of this world.

Proverbs 11:28 (Message)

“A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.” 

Being busy is a peace robber. Recognize it and make some changes in your life to let go of the things that really don’t matter, and to hold on to the truly important. Your family, friends, and even yourself, will be happy you did. Don’t settle for the “good” when you can have the best! It’s okay to say; “no” to protect your peace.

Proverbs 16:3 (Message)

“Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; GOD probes for what is good.”

2.  Walking in the flesh

a.  Emotions – Our emotions can rob us of our peace. We can get ourselves all worked up over something or someone to the point we have no peace. Constantly thinking about, or even obsessing about something is not healthy. Having healthy emotions should be our goal. Allowing God to help us manage our emotions and applying His wisdom to them, will help bring peace back in our life.

Proverbs 15:15 (Message)

“A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song.”

Proverbs 14:30 (NLT)

“A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.”

Jealousy is like a cancer. Thinking, dwelling, and wanting what someone else has is a sin. It will corrupt your life and rob you of any peace. Jealousy is the opposite and an antonym of contentment. Contentment brings peace. Jealousy brings stress and strife. When someone is jealous, soon their actions will show it and others will see it. How you talk, and interact with others will be affected too. This is letting our emotions runaway with how we feel. It is walking in the flesh. I like how the Message Bible states that verse.

Proverbs 14:30 (Message)

“A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones.”

Emotions are fickle. They come and go and often we can’t rely on them. Emotions are not good or bad, they just are. That is why we need a proper perspective on them. God gave us our emotions to enjoy and experience life. Jesus showed and experienced human emotions by weeping when Lazarus died, or by getting angry when in the temple and people were using it for exchanging money and buying and selling things. So to say emotions are wrong or bad, is not truth. But to rely on and express negative emotions to the point of hurting or affecting others is a battle of self-control. It is what we do with our emotions that affect our peace.

Proverbs 14:29 (Message)

“Slowness to anger makes for deep understanding; a quick-tempered person stockpiles stupidity.”

There are many emotions that rob us of our peace. The crime of uncontrolled anger vented towards someone or something is an instant peace robber. Believe it or not Self-pity is an emotion too and can rob us of our peace. Feeling sorry for yourself is trying to move forward by digging a whole underneath you. You will never go anywhere and end up in a big pit.

b.  Constantly being negative, critical or judgmental – Being critical often is an outward manifestation of an inward lack. We are feeling bad about ourselves or have low self-esteem and hate seeing others succeeding. Being judgmental is a sin. Pride is involved with judging others. Thinking you are better or could do better then they are doing.

It might just be that you don’t like a person and are critical of them and what they do or say. This peace robber happens all the time. The more you talk about another person, the more you condemn yourself. In reality we don’t see it that way, but we live in unrest and constant turmoil and don’t know why. When we judge others it will come back on us.

Matthew 7:1 – 5 (NLT)

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

Being a critical, negative, judgmental person will isolate you from others because they won’t want to be with you. They are afraid they will be the next topic of your gossip. Keep a guard on your tongue, this will keep a guard on your peace. Stop seeing the negative in life and in others. Negative people never reach their full potential. Critical people never enjoy life. Judgmental people will be judged with the same measure of judgment they give out. All of these people are robbed of their peace.

3.  Expectations 

a.  Expectations we put on people – Putting high expectations on others is a bondage builder. It puts people in bondage. They will never measure up to your standards and will fail in your eyes often. Yes, it is good to want the best for others, but not at the expense of someone always trying to please you. The only expectation we should have is in God and what He will do.

Psalm 62:5 (NKJV)

“My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.

Notice this verse states; “For my expectation is from Him.” We long for God to move. We have expectancy and it actually comes from God to us. He wants us to put our expectations in Him alone.

Psalm 145:15 (Message)

“All eyes are on you, expectant; you give them their meals on time.”

Are your expectations on God or man? When high expectations are placed on people and they are not met, stress comes to all parties, including ourselves. We can expect our friends, or our spouse, or our family to meet our needs. When they don’t, we get frustrated with them. It is not their job to meet our needs. Let people be themselves. God is the one who is more then enough for what we need.

Let go of high expectations you place on others so they can have peace and you can too.

b.  Expectations we put on ourselves – This is not easy to stop doing. We all expect more out of ourselves then we do others, especially if we are perfectionists. A perfectionist always feels they are never good enough, or that they never measure up. Their self-esteem is very low and they always feel there is something wrong with them. How do I know this? Because I have walked in those shoes a good portion of my life.

A perfectionist seldom has peace. Why would they after placing too high of expectations on themselves. They make goals and once they obtain them, they either feel it wasn’t done right, or they could have done a better job. Often times they reach a goal and never enjoy the reward because they placed higher expectations on themselves. Higher and higher the measuring rod goes for them to reach and they never really reach it because they push it higher. Give yourself a break. No one can live like that. Not only is there no peace in their lives, but no peace in their family, work, and anything they are connected with.

Let go of to high expectations on yourself. Allow God’s peace to flood your heart that you are acceptable just the way you are. It is okay to be yourself and being yourself brings peace and freedom.

4.  Unhealthy Relationships

If you fight low self-esteem, being a perfectionist, or feelings of inadequacy, chances are you pick unhealthy relationships with people that are not good for you. If it is not wrong people, then your relationships are extremely tense because of putting too high of expectations or expecting others to fulfill your needs. Co-dependency or emotional dependency comes when you are looking to others to meet your needs in stead of God. We can even be co-dependent on our friends or spouse. If you are placing people higher then God and your relationship with Him, chances are you are emotionally or co-dependent on them. This subject could stand alone in a book, but we don’t have time here. Mainly, I wanted to get your attention that unhealthy relationships can rob us of our peace, our time, our relationship with Christ, and so much more.

Hanging around the wrong crowd automatically puts you in unhealthy relationships. Their morals and standards might not be Biblical. They might not have any morals at all. We become who we hang around, so choose your friends wisely. Don’t allow your peace to be stolen by making a bad choice in a relationship. Ask God if you are questioning if you have unhealthy relationships, He will show you.

5.  Fear

a.  Fear of the unknown – Always worrying about tomorrow, or what is going to happen will put you in bondage and take away your peace. Remember the Prince of Peace holds your tomorrows. He knows what tomorrow will bring so it makes sense to rely on God every day. The good thing is that if you are a believer, we can rejoice that God is by our side. He is the One who fights our battles when we lean on Him. Remember that God loves you unconditionally. His love is perfect.

Perfect love cast out all fear, and this is the love God has for you.

1 John 4:18 (GW)

“No fear exists where his love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love.”

If you live your life in fear of the unknown you will never have peace in your life.

b.  Fear of man – Always fearing what people think or what they are going to do is bondage. It prevents you from being free to live your life. You will never please everybody. I have come to this harsh reality. For years I tried to make people happy. I was a Worship Pastor for many years and tried to do the songs or hymns everybody wanted, but I still heard complaints. I finally got to the point I would pick songs that the Holy Spirit told me to bring into the congregation. Then, when someone had an issue with a song, I just told them to take it up with the Holy Spirit. Soon, people stopped gripping about what kind of worship I would lead.

I also was afraid of what people thought of me. I could never be “myself” thinking people wouldn’t like me. But trying to be someone I wasn’t put me in turmoil. Christ died for our freedom, this includes being free to be ourselves. There will always be people who will disagree with you and think bad thoughts about you. Like me, you need to get over yourself and over this issue. It will rob you of your peace and put you in a trap your entire life. Then you will look back on your life and wished you lived differently. Now is the time to recognize you have the fear of man and what they think, and to release it to God and allow Him to heal you of any insecurities and events in your past, so you can truly live your life to the fullest being free to be yourself.

c.  Fear of failure – Always being afraid of making a mistake is torment. No one is perfect, even a perfectionist. Failure is only failure if you stop and give up. How many Inventors, Scientists, Entertainers, Public Figures, and more, who kept going even after failing time after time, till one day they found the answer? There are many. Don’t give up, you could be one step from your breakthrough. Don’t be afraid to fail. Just get back up and dust yourself off, and try again.

There is a story about a man who was walking across the street and tripped and fell down. The next day one of his friends walked by and saw him. They asked, “Are you okay?”  He said, “I tripped and fell down yesterday.” His friend asked, “Are you hurt?” “Do you have any broken bones or internal injuries that prevents you from getting up?” The man said, “No.” “You don’t understand, I fell down and I can’t get up.”

This would never happen in real life. If you tripped and fell on the ground, you would quickly get back up and look back to see what made you trip and fall. Far too often people fail and think they can’t go on. Even before they attempt to do something new, they give up because they don’t want to fail. They are afraid they will look bad in front of people. This will rob you of your daily peace. “If only’s,” and “should of’s” will haunt you for the rest of your life. Let’s be a people who are not afraid to try something new. The worse thing that can happen is it didn’t work for that attempt. Tomorrow is a new day, and with God on your side, all things are possible.

Matthew 19:26 (ESV)

“But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

6.  Self acceptance

a.  How do you see yourself? – I have notice often that most people really don’t like themselves. If we don’t get along with ourselves, we won’t get along with other people. When we reject ourselves, it may seem to us that others reject us as well. Relationships are a large part of our lives. How we feel about ourselves is a determining factor in our success in life and in relationships.

Our self-image is the inner picture we carry of ourselves. If what we see is not healthy and does not line up with Scripture, we will suffer from fear, insecurity and various types of misconceptions about ourselves.

People who are insecure about themselves suffer in their mind and emotions, as well as in their social and spiritual lives. I know as I have talked to many and have seen what their insecurities have done in their life. Also, I know as I myself have suffered in this area. Studying the Word of God and receiving His unconditional love and acceptance will bring healing to our life.

b.  God approves of you – God never intended for us to feel bad about ourselves. He wants us to know ourselves well and have self-acceptance. God approves of you, shouldn’t you approve of yourself?

Jeremiah 1:5 (Amplified)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew and approved of you [as My chosen instrument]…”

Proverbs 23:7

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”

What do you think about yourself? Where ever you go, there you are. You can leave the presence of friends, family, co-workers, but you can never leave yourself. When you go to bed, there you are with yourself. When you wake up in the morning, guess who is right there? You are! Do you like yourself? Start today accepting yourself. You cannot get away from who you are. If you struggle in liking yourself, ask God for help, after all He created you.

Genesis 1:31

“And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) and He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, and a sixth day.”

Rejecting ourselves does not change us, it actually multiplies our problems. Acceptance causes us to face reality and then begin to deal with it. We cannot deal with anything as long as we are refusing to accept it or denying its reality.

Webster’s II New College Dictionary defines accept in part as: 1. To receive (something offered), esp. willingly. 2.  To admit to a group or place. 3.  a. To consider as usual, proper, or right. b. To consider as true.

Notice from this definition that acceptance involves the will. If we apply this definition to self-acceptance, we see that we can choose or not choose to accept our self. God is offering us the opportunity to accept our self as we are, but we have a free will and can refuse to do so if we so choose. We also see from this definition that when something is accepted, it is viewed as usual, proper or right.

People who reject themselves do so because they cannot see themselves as proper or right. They only see their flaws and weaknesses, not their beauty and strength. This is an unbalanced attitude, one that was probably instilled by authority figures in the past who majored on what was weak and wrong rather than on what was strong and right.

The word acceptance from the same dictionary is defined in part as “approval” and “agreement.” If we are having problems accepting ourselves as we are, we need to get into agreement with God that what He created is good – and that includes us.

Amos 3:3

“Do two walk together except they make an appointment and have agreed?

To walk with God, we must agree with God. He says He loves us and accepts us; therefore, if we agree with Him, we can no longer hate and reject ourselves. Self-Acceptance will bring peace, self-rejection will rob your peace from you.

7.  Not giving God Control

Many people struggle with this issue. They fight over having control of their life. Trying to make things happen or not happen in their own strength, and then get frustrated when things don’t go the way they want them too.

Not giving God control is a peace robber. If you have asked Jesus in your heart as Lord and Savior, that means you have made Him Lord of your life. Being Lord, means He has full reign in all areas.

Written from my journal July 12th, 2012: “There is a place in my love walk with God, a deep desire to please Him in every area of my life. I have to be pro-active and guard it. This love I have for God compels me to give you control. You see everything and know all. There is nothing I can hide from you, nor do I even want to. Having an open relationship for you to show me areas I need to lay down or change is what this Christian walk is all about. Why would I ever want to hide or prevent you to have total freedom in my life? This relationship is not like any other earthly one. My relationship with You is so precious and tender and stable. The fact that you would never leave me no matter what I do is truth that this relationship transcends all other relationships. I never want to allow my flesh or self-will to hurt my relationship with you, my loving God. I want to get to the point it grieves my spirit if ever I demand my way by not giving control.”

Giving God control doesn’t mean He will change you into something you don’t want to be, or do something you don’t want to do. Giving God control is saying, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Self-will is a peace robber when it comes to giving God control. It is not worth the struggle. To be truthful, the moment you give God control, you will find peace. You will say to yourself, “Why didn’t I do that a long time ago?”

Guarding your peace at all cost is vital to your Christian walk, and a healthy lifestyle. Don’t allow these []“Peace Robbers” to take away your peace. Be vigilant. Be alert! Be pro-active in who you are. Yielding to God’s correction and love is the only way for a peaceful life.

From one Peace Keeper to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Does God Order Our Steps? (5 Steps in our Walk in Life)

We are all on a journey. This journey is to the heart of God. This journey is to be more like Jesus more and more each day. It is to live our lives and follow God’s direction. This journey is to the purpose and destiny God planned for us. But how does one travel on this journey? Each one of us use a certain form of transportation as we go. It is the steps we take in our walk with God. We are all confronted with decisions and choices. We need guidance and wisdom to make the right steps.

Life is a walk. Each day we take steps. Our tomorrow is determined by the steps we take today.

One thing I’ve found out in my own walk: 

-When I am following God’s word and obeying His voice, I step correctly.

-When I try to do things on my own, or ignore God’s word, I end up taking the wrong steps, and find myself down a road I never wanted to be on.

Did you know that the words, “Path, steps, ways, walk, and go” can all express our journey?

Psalm 119:105 (KJV)

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

I like how the Contemporary English Version stats it:

(CEV)  “Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.”

And the Message expresses it this way:

(MSG)  “By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path.”

We all need a “beam of light on our dark path.” God is the light of the world! He is Light.

1 John 1:5 

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”

Why not ask the God of light to show you where to take your next step? Stormie Omartian states in her book; “Just Enough Light For The Step I’m On:”

“Sometimes only the step I’m on, or the very next one ahead, is all that is illuminated for me. God gives just the amount of light I need for the exact moment I need it. At those times I walk in surrender to faith, unable to see the future and not fully comprehending the past. And because it is God who has given me what light I have, I know I must reject the fear and doubt that threaten to overtake me. I must determine to be content where I am, and allow God to get me where I need to go. I walk forward, one step at a time, fully trusting that the light God sheds is absolutely sufficient.”

Stormie Omartian

(Copyright 1999 by  Harvest House Publishers)

There have been many times in my life I didn’t know what to do in some desperate or troubled times. I would seek God and ask Him for direction. Sometimes He did not answer as quick as I would like. During the waiting time, I would love His word and walk in His ways. I did this because I love Him, not because I am obligated. There is pleasure in obedience. We worship God with our obedience. God honors our obedience and brings blessings to us. King David spoke about walking in His righteousness and how that pleased God;

2 Samuel 22:20 – 25, 33 & 34, 37 (TNIV)

20)“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God. All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight…33)It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and causes me to stand on the heights…37)You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.”

One might read this passage and think David is full of himself, and pride and arrogance. We can have a critical eye and think David is full of self-righteousness. But these passages are not written from an arrogant heart. They are from a heart who knows he is walking in obedience to God’s word. David realized that God rewards and helps those who follow His laws. David wrote what He saw God do in his own life.

I write in my journal often. It is literally writing my heart to God. I look at David’s writings as his journaling to God. He poured out his thoughts and emotions, and expressed praise of what God had done in his life!

God does reward and direct the steps of the righteous!

Psalm 37:23 & 24 (KJV)

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

Rejoice for the steps of a righteous man or woman are ordered of God. God does order our steps as we follow and obey Him. We can be comforted to know that His rod and staff are there to correct and guide us (Psalm 23:4).

Good News; our Good Shepherd is always with us guiding our every step. If we start to veer to the right or the left too much, the Good Shepherd comes with His staff of guidance, and His rod of correction, and gently nudges us back on the path we are to take. Our job is to yield to His correction. If we don’t heed to His gentle nudges, God will use His rod and staff a little firmer until we change our direction, even if it takes breaking our legs (like shepherds have to do at times to the sheep) to bring the correction. He will help us heal and to stay on the right path if we yield to His correction.

We are such creatures of habit and so resistant to change that God sometimes has to shut off the way things were in our lives so He can bring us into the way He wants us to be. New beginnings don’t happen without something ending.

Steps in our walk with God

Step 1. Seek God’s will. 

If you don’t know what to do about a decision you are facing right now, seek God and ask Him for direction. Stop trying to figure it out with your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6(NKJV)

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

We need God’s wisdom! Our own understanding or thinking can be wrong. Seek the Lord when faced with a major decision. Seek God’s wisdom in every area of your life.

King Solomon gave great advise to his son about wisdom and we should do the same.

Proverbs 4:10 – 12, 18, 26 – 27 (NKJV)

“Hear my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble… But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.”

Remember that the choices we make today will mold our tomorrow. Think about the steps you are taking today. Are they good steps? Are you stepping correctly?

Ask God to help you make good choices. We need to give up our control and allow God to have control of our lives. He knows what we need. He knows what steps we need to take and why, this is why we need to seek God’s will.

Step 2. Look for His direction. 

He will show you where to walk if you would just look for His direction. Sometimes God directs us through His word. Other times He directs us through hearing Him speak in our hearts. God uses people, places, and even things to direct us and get our attention.

God can place a thought in your heart and then confirm it by His word or by other ways. God will always confirm what He has been speaking to you. A friend might say something that pricks your heart to what God has said to you earlier. You might be driving down the road and you notice something and it brings to mind what God has spoken in your heart earlier.

There are never coincidences in a Christian’s life. Those so called, “coincidences” are really God speaking to you and giving you direction. Don’t overlook God’s confirmations and His flashes of light to bring vision to your path. You asked God for direction, receive it as an answer and take action.

Step 3. Obey what God tells you to do. 

We can find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time simply because we didn’t do what God was telling us to do, or we neglected to ask Him what we were supposed to be doing before we made decisions. Or perhaps we asked Him, but we failed to wait for an answer before we went ahead and did what we wanted to do. So much grief can be avoided by living an obedient life.

We serve a God who will pick us up if we fall or stumble. God knows we have trouble hearing Him. He is patient with us. Remember; the closer you get to God, the easier it is to hear His voice! I encourage you to snuggle right up into His lap and rest there knowing He receives you and wants to be close to you too. When you are in God’s lap, and leaning on His chest, you truly hear His heartbeat, and know His voice. It is a safe place.

If we make a mistake and fail, God will not condemn us. That is the work of the enemy. When we make a mistake, and come to the Father for mercy, He will give mercy.

What ever you need from God today; be it direction, love, acceptance, wisdom, financial healing, emotional healing, or whatever you need, God will always receive you and listen to your cry for help.

Step 4. Never be in a hurry.

Don’t be in a hurry to make something happen in your life. That will only lead to a mistake. Steps take time. A baby never learns how to run first, they learn how to walk. Their steps are clumsy and unstable. That is the same way we are too. Don’t be ashamed of your “baby steps” you are taking right now. They will eventually lead to bigger steps and take you places you’ve never been before.

If I am pressured to make a decision, I see it as a “red-flag.” I’ve learned to wait and not make a decision under pressure. When in doubt… wait! It doesn’t hurt to wait a few hours, a day, or even longer.

Make sure while you are waiting that you don’t take things in your own hands. Too often people don’t wait for God’s direction. They think God didn’t hear or he is taking too long to answer, so they decide to take a step on their own, in their own wisdom. This is a wrong choice. The word “wait” use to be a four letter word to me. Well it still is, but it was hard for me to wait. I wanted the answer right away and I wanted it my way. But God requires us to wait sometimes. It doesn’t necesarily mean you did something wrong and the answer is “no.” We humans give up  too easily on God and waiting for His answer. Remember to not be in a hurry. God’s time table and ours can be two different things. Trust that God is working on your behalf. It takes time to work out the details for your miracle, especially if another person is part of your answer. God is working on their heart too. God weaves circumstances together, at just the right time, to bring our answer. You might be ready, but someone or something else isn’t.

God is not a God to pressure you into a decision. That is the character of our advisory, the devil. When God directs, He will allow you time to make a choice. Remember He is gentle and loving. He never pressures you to quickly make a choice.

God will direct your steps and show you what path you are to walk as you give Him control and desire what He desires. If you are confused as to what to do in a decision you have to make, now is the time to seek what God wants. Lay down your desires and listen and wait for God to direct you into what path your feet are to walk.

How do we know we are walking in God’s path for our life?

Deut. 8:6  (HCSB)

“So keep the commands of the LORD your God by walking in His ways and fearing Him.” 

Obey the Lord and His instructions of His word. This is walking in His ways. Do it with a loving heart to please your Lord. God will always bless an obedient heart.

Step 5. Take a step!

We can go from one end of the pendulum swing to the other. At one end we are in a hurry and step too quickly into something, and on the other end, we never take a step at all. God wants balance in your life. He wants to bring you to a place you are not one extreme or the other. Again, this is part of trusting God. It is also self-control.

Sometimes fear grips our hearts and it frightens us to not do anything. We are afraid of making the wrong choice. We are afraid of failing. But if God has shown you something to do, step out in faith and take a step, even if you are afraid. Joyce Meyers has a saying, “Do it afraid!” 

God will meet you in your act of faith and soon your fear will turn into strength to endure the unknown. It will feel awkward to step out in something you’ve never done before or walk where you’ve never walked before. I am sure Peter, when He stepped out of the boat onto the water, felt awkward. His flesh felt uncomfortable because he never stepped onto water before. Peter pushed past his fear, and pushed past what his flesh felt like. He took the first step and began to walk on water.

Your flesh will scream at you to STOP! Flesh wants comfort. Flesh wants its own way. When you die to your flesh, and press into what God has for you, you step into a repositioning of God. Joseph was thrown into a pit. It was not at all the dream he had of his brothers bowing down to him. What looked like a demotion, God was making it his first step in his promotion.

Remember baby steps lead to bigger steps. It was a process Joseph had to go through to see the dreams from God come to completion. In the meantime, he lived an upright life and loved the Lord in all he did. God does not look away from that. As a matter of fact, it draws God to us. Joseph’s steps were ordered of the Lord because he was a good man who followed His God.

I would like to share from my journaling I wrote when God was teaching me how to walk.

“The steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. I am righteous because of what Your Son did on the cross for me. I am Your righteousness.  I strive daily to follow Your will and continually ask You to show me what you want me to do in every area of my life. Therefore, I know my steps are ordered by You, and You show me the right path for my life. I desire to increase and not decrease. I desire your way, your path, your steps for my life because you created me and You know exactly what I was created for. I might have an idea, but truly You know all and I lean on and trust the One who knows all. I take one step at a time and I know you are there at every step. If I stumble, You are there to pick me up. I don’t have to be perfect to walk the path you laid out for me. I just trust You for each step knowing You light every step I am about to take so I can follow Your leading. I love You Lord for who You are in my life.”

Sin can tie God’s hands of direction

If you find yourself in sin, or in the middle of some bad choices/steps, God is there waiting to help you. God will show you where to step if you ask Him. He is waiting for you to repent and turn from your sin. You tie up God’s hands to help until you repent and turn to God for His direction. He can pick you up from the wrong path, and place you back on the right path, as you give Him back control of your life.

Take one step at a time as the Lord leads and directs you. Don’t get frustrated when you don’t see the entire path in front of you. We are in a “faith-walk.” Each step is a step of faith! Always know that God is there to make sure we stay on the right path.

You may ask, “Why doesn’t God illuminate the road before me so I can really see clearly? Remember that too much light is hard to take. It can blind our vision. No, God only gives us the right amount of light so we stay dependent on Him for the next step and not get overwhelmed with the road ahead.

We can trust God with our life. He sees clearly and see the entire road ahead of us. He knows what we need to stay on course. He has all the answers to our questions. Sometimes our questions seem unanswered. Can you praise God in the middle of unanswered questions? Can you worship God in the middle of the unknown? I say we can! This becomes a sacrifice of praise that God is looking for.

God will give you enough light for the step you are to take next in your life. Don’t be in too much of a hurry or you may take a wrong turn. So to answer the question; “Does God Order Our Steps?” the answer is, “Yes” as we trust and rely on Him to guide us and not try to figure it out on our own.

Enjoy the journey in this life and God will take you places you never dreamed were possible.

In His steps,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com