Thanksgiving

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A Heart Of Compassion (Move with compassion like Jesus did!)

Heart of CompassionFrom the beginning of time God has always had mercy. It is Who He is. He never changes. His compassion for us never fails.

Compassion in the dictionary means: “A deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.”

Webster defines the word “Compassion” as; “Pity or Sympathy.”

From the Greek “Compassion” is defined as “Inward Affection, Pity or Sympathy, yearning.”

What compassion means to us today literally is “Suffering With Another!”

Compassion is action. Compassion moves. It doesn’t stand still. It doesn’t ignore the problem. And it surely doesn’t turn away when someone is in need.

Lam. 3:22 – 23 NKJV

“Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

Because of God’s mercy we are not consumed. God’s character towards us can be described well with the word: “mercy.” Its His “tender mercies” that moves Him to help us.

The Old Testament word for mercy incorporates three things. His:

  1. Covenant of compassion.
  2. Consuming commitment to bring us into..
  3. Everlasting communion with Himself.

Mercy and compassion are interchangeable. God’s mercy is His compassion towards us even when we deserve punishment. He is committed to restore us even though we deserve to endure the consequences of our sin, and His covenant of love and communion overwhelms us in the middle of our foolishness.

In this verse in Laminations “mercy” describes the Father’s intense emotional yearning for a wayward people – You and I.

God’s mercies are new every morning. This tells us that we need God’s mercy more then we think. Whether we feel weak or strong, we need God’s mercy everyday.

Psalm 78:38 – 39 NKJV

“But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; For he remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again.”

God is FULL of compassion. I am so thankful for this. Too many times I have messed up and deserved judgement and punishment. There are times God does bring correction. It is God’s compassion that brings correction, but with correction God’s compassion comforts us and gives us strength to endure any consequences we may have to walk through because of our bad behavior.

The Bible tells us many times that God is compassionate or has mercy for us. Jesus is exactly like His Father. Jesus was moved with compassion often in His earthly ministry.

We have been looking at “The Roads That Jesus Walked.” This week we look at the road of compassion. Without compassion Jesus  wouldn’t of had such an impact on the world. He wouldn’t have come to save us because there is action to compassion.

Compassion of Jesus

  1. Jesus has compassion for the Demoniac.  

Read Mark 5:1 – 19

Mark 5:19 NKJV

“However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”

This man was demon possessed and lived in the tombs or caves. He was an outcast and rejected by society. No one could tame him. Nothing could hold him, not even iron shackles. Night and day he cried out and cut himself with stones. But when He saw Jesus, even the demonic, have to worship Him. He ran to Jesus and worshiped Him. Jesus cast out the demons and they went into the pigs. 2000 pigs couldn’t take the legion of demons and they ran violently down the steep hill into the sea and drowned. This man was extremely tormented! Scripture doesn’t say how he became that way. But it gives us some light on the compassion of Jesus. When the man wanted to follow Jesus where ever he went, Jesus told him to go back home. Jesus gave His live back to him. His family and friends. No more being an outcast or a reject. No more torment! Remember compassion is seeing the suffering and doing something about it. Jesus totally set this man free and restored his life back to him. This is compassion!

2.  Jesus has compassion for the lost.

Read Matthew 9:35 – 38

Matt. 9:36 NKJV

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

Jesus was moved with compassion over the multitudes. He saw them wondering and weak. He saw the great work that needed to be done. The people were ripe for harvest and many workers are needed to reach them. This is the very heart of God: people. We too must have this heart of compassion.

Jesus was moved with compassion! Lost souls moved Christ to cry out to them, to seek them, to save them. Again in the book of Mark we see Jesus moved with compassion.

Mark 6:34

“And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.”

3.  Jesus has compassion for the sick.

Any miracle that Jesus performed was out of compassion.

Read Mark 1:40 – 45

Mark 1:41 NKJV

“Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.”

Matt. 14:14 NKJV

“And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”

The phrase “moved with compassion” here means “stirred to action.” Jesus didn’t just sit back and notice the needs of the people. He was moved, stirred in His heart. He felt their pain. There was more then an awareness of their situation, there was action.

So, what did Jesus do? He didn’t just talk. His heart was stirred at what He saw and He had a consuming desire to change things. The feelings of pity and sympathy He felt moved Him to action.

Compassion is not just pity or sympathy. It is more than being moved to tears or stirred up emotionally. Compassion means pity and mercy accompanied by a desire to help change things. True compassion moves us to do something!

“Compassion will cure more sin than condemnation.”

Henry Ward Beecher

 “Compassion without action is a wasted emotion”

Unknown

We need to have compassion for others. Not only do we need it, but it is a command in God’s word.

It’s not enough to have “pity” for someone. We need a deep awareness of the suffering of others and have the desire to do something about it. Compassion is actually something we are to put on and wear.

Colossians 3:12 – 14 Message

“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.”

This is a powerful eye-opener of what we are to wear each day. Your life is not all about you. Your life is about others. Just loving yourself and being kind and compassionate to yourself is NOT the way to live, not according to God’s word. We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

James 1:22 – 25 HCSB

“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts — this person will be blessed in what he does.”

If you call yourself a Christian, act like one! Show action with your compassion!

Pastor Kris Belfils

The antonyms of the word “compassion” are: “Cruelty, harshness, hatred, indifference, meanness, mercilessness, and tyranny.”

Do you have any of these traits? There is hope! We can ask Jesus to help us be more like Him and He will. The key is to be willing to change.

Christ didn’t HAVE TO do anything He did. He did the gracious, loving, kind, compassionate, wonderful things He did because He wanted to do them! They were the natural expression of His nature.

Christ’s compassion is available to us when we are hurting because He loves us and automatically wants to help us. In turn, we are to be compassionate towards others.

Of all the roads that Jesus walked, the “road of compassion” showed His love for others. I am thankful for the compassion of Christ. You and I need it desperately. To the degree Christ had compassion on you is the degree you should have compassion on others. We are all wretched people. There is no good in us apart from God. Any compassion in you is from God. When you think of it, we are helpless, hopeless until God, who moved with compassion, took action and sent His Son to save us. Shouldn’t we, in turn, move with compassion to give hope to others who don’t know Christ?

I leave you with this last verse:

1 Peter 3:8 – 9 Message

“Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless – that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.”

Your compassionate sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Loving People Into Transformation

Loving People Into TransformationEvery person on this earth wants to be loved and accepted. We want to know we are valuable and cherished. Even the hardest of hearts has a weak spot… Love.

Earlier this month we celebrated Valentines day. To many, they don’t like this celebration because they may be without a Valentine. We celebrate love as a Nation every year at this time. Why? Because everyone wants to be loved.

Songwriters have written songs like; “Love is all you need,” or “Love will keep us together.” How about; “I’m all out of love, and so lost without you.”

Let’s remind ourselves of the One Who has loved us first and the most:

John 3:16 NLT

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

God loved us, so He gave… He gave up the very person he cherished the most, Jesus Christ, because God had to save the world from utter damnation. This is extravagant love. Our minds have a hard time wrapping itself around the thought of this. But God loved people enough to send His only Son to save us from spending eternity in Hell. This is powerful love!

We, as the World, need this transforming love in us and we need to show this love to others. We need to cherish people like God does. We need to love people into transformation.

LOVING PEOPLE INTO TRANSFORMATION

(Based on 1 Corinthians 13:1 – 13)

Read 1 Corinthians 13:1 – 13. In it states if we don’t have love we have nothing. Love takes its time. It is not in a hurry. It comes with no expectations. It just is.

So what is 1 Corinthians 13:1 – 13 actually saying? Love is such a simple subject, yet very complex. Matters of the heart are hard to define. In this passage of scripture we will see the very basic important points we must consider to gage our love for others and their love for us, and our love for God and His love for us, and apply it to our lives.

1.  Love is superior to speaking languages or intellect.

1 Corinthians 13:1 (CEV)

“What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” 

Having the highest intellect or ability to speak languages known and unknown doesn’t mean a thing if you have no love.

People are more important then boasting about our abilities and knowledge.

What good is having the ability of speaking to any nation if you have no love for that nation? People know if you are sincere.

Noisy gong or a clanging cymbal makes a lot of noise, but really has no other use. This is what our intellect or the ability to speak in various languages has when compared to loving people. We are “noisy” when we put all of these above love. Love conquers all and sees all.

2.  Love authenticates spiritual gifts.

I Corinthians 13:2 

“What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others.”

I have seen people “prophecy” in a very judgmental, critical tone and think it is okay, but there was no love in it, not even tough love. It actually did more damage then good. Far too often Christian people put a higher priority on Spiritual gifts then they do loving people. Someone with a true Spiritual gift will flow God’s love.

We can have all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding and live a very lonely life, all because we choose to be selfish and not love others. People have spent years of their life trying to gain worldly wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, but without love, all their intellect is in vain. We can’t take our intellect to heaven when Christ comes to take us home, but we can take His love that is flowing through us to others to heaven. It originated there. Combining love with our knowledge is powerful. It will help you make godly decisions instead of worldly ones.

God knows what motivates us to do things. If you are ministering or confronting people and there is no love, it will come across as harsh, stale, and very mean. People respond to correction that is given in love. Correction that is given in just intellect or without love will have a negative affect on the receiver. People will listen and respond easier to correction given in love.

If you are correcting your children when they have done something wrong, but don’t have love, you are in the wrong. It will scar their lives forever. Yes, you need to correct your children, but take a moment to relax your anger. Take a moment to respond to them in a loving way. There are too many grown adults who were corrected and abused from their parents all because there was no love in their correction. Always remember your children will grow up to be adults and how you treat them today will form them into the adult they will become. Ask God for His wisdom and always put on love when correcting your children.

3.  Love is not self-profiting. 

1 Corthinthians 13:3

“What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.”

What if we gave all that we owned to the poor, but our motive was not backed with love? It is all worthless. We wouldn’t gain a thing.

“If we give away all we have, while we withhold the heart from God, it will not profit. Nor even the most painful sufferings. How are those deluded who look for acceptance and reward for their good works, which are as scanty and defective as they are corrupt and selfish!”

Matthew Henry Commentary

Giving to the poor is a selfish act if not accompanied with love. Selfish in that you want to be seen for your deed, instead of lovingly reaching out and helping someone.

“If all that a man had were dealt out in this way, in small portions, so as to benefit as many as possible, and yet were not attended “with true love toward God and toward man,” it would be all false, hollow, hypocritical, and really of no value in regard to his own salvation. It would profit nothing. It would not be such an act as God would approve; it would be no evidence that the soul would be saved. Though good might be done to others, yet where the “motive” was wrong, it could not meet with the divine approbation, or be connected with his favor.”

Albert Barnes Commentary

When you think about it, being selfish is the opposite of love. If you find yourself thinking about yourself and wanting things your way, this is not love. Which leads to my next point.

 4.  Love is selfless.

1 Corinthians 13:4 – 7

“Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.” 

Kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, arrogant, or rude: Can you place your love for others in these categories?

Taking the time with others when they need your help is showing love. When you are waiting for someone to do something you want them to do, do you wait patiently?

Do you show kindness and speak kind words, even when it is to your enemy?

Do you get jealous when someone you love succeeds or do you rejoice with them?

Do you remember the wrong people have done to you and bring it up to them? It is hard to love people who have wronged you. Seriously, it is hard to forgive someone who has wronged you. People will let you down. People will hurt you. Their lack of awareness to the wrong they have done can paralyze us if we let it. God requires us to love each other as He loves us. We are to abound in love. Knowing this gives us an insight on our own character. If we hold a wrong against someone, we truly do not love them… OUCH! The good news is that we can ask God to help us love one another. Paul wrote that we can increase and abound in our love for each other.

1 Thess. 3:12 (NKJV)

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you.”

How do we love our enemy or those who have wronged us? We pray for them. It is not easy, but pray for them.

We need to rejoice in truth and not in evil. Don’t be happy when evil prevails. Fight for justice for yourself and for others.

Do you remain calm when someone is angry, or do you get angry yourself which complicates matters worse?

The New Testament word for ‘love’ is ‘agape’. It is not the natural love for a friend or a relative. It is the kind of love that God shows to people. We do not deserve it and we can never earn it. So, when we know God’s love, we should show that same love to other people. (www.easyenglish.info Bible Commentary).

 5.  Love is eternal and imperishable. 

1 Corinthians 13:8 – 10

“Love never fails! Everyone who prophesies will stop, and unknown languages will no longer be spoken. All that we know will be forgotten. We don’t know everything, and our prophecies are not complete. 1But what is perfect will someday appear, and what isn’t perfect will then disappear.” 

Love never is to be out of use; it always holds its place. It will always be fresh and usable.

Prophesies, and unknown languages are gifts from God for us today, but this scripture lets us see the importance compared to having love for others. There is no comparison. These gifts are important, but loving others is even more important. It doesn’t matter if you have these gifts yet never show love to others.

Love is God, and God is love. It is the very essence of God. The gifts are just that; gifts from God. The gifts are for edification while we are on this earth. When we get to heaven these gifts will no longer be relevant or needed. But love will always remain. Love is eternal and imperishable.

All these things will pass away, and all that is not perfect will pass away, but love will never fail!

6.  Love is mature

1 Corinthians 13:11 – 12

“When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways. Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don’t know everything, but then we will, just as God completely understands us.” 

Don’t think like a child any longer. Put away childish ways of being selfish and arrogant.

Even in our pursuit of love on this earth, it really is a cloudy picture we have right now. Some sweet day we will see God face to face. We will see Him as He is. Then we will understand God’s love completely.

7.  Love is the greatest.

1 Corinthians 13:13

“For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.”

Faith, hope and love have been a well-known group of qualities. Paul speaks about them in other letters.

1 Thessalonians 1:3

“…remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father.”

Colossians 1:4-5. 

“…since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”

But now abideth faith, hope, love. These three shall survive. They are eternal. They continue to exist in the church, and shall not fail in its glorified state. As long as the redeemed saint shall have future ages before him, so long will trust in God and hope give them brightness, while love itself is the very atmosphere of the divine life. These three words explain the whole of the Christian life in this world. Christians have faith that God will forgive them because of Christ’s sacrifice. They have hope for the future, because of Christ’s resurrection. They live a life of faith and hope among Christian brothers and sisters whom they love.

The greatest of these is love. The greatest because it glorifies both faith and hope, sanctifies every faculty and Christian grace, is the very moving impulse of the gospel, and is the one quality that is divine. “God is love.” Love is the greatest, because God himself is love. A friendship with Him will never end, but it will continue into eternity.

1 John 4:8

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

If you are struggling to love people, take a look at your relationship with God. Do you really know Him? Chances are you don’t because God is love! He loved the world so He gave…. If we want to be more like Jesus, we have to embrace people and love them with the love He has given us. If not, we will just be a noisy clanky gong and live a miserable life.

Now after reading 1 Cor. 13 and studying it together, turn this passage of scripture around and see this is how God is towards us. Substitute the word Love for God in verses 4 – 8 and it will read like this: “4Love God is kind and God is patient, God is never jealous, boastful, proud, or 5rude. Love God isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It God doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others we do. 6Love God rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. 7Love God is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love God never fails…”

Even if that person is rejecting you or behaving badly, the love of God in you helps you to continue in a relationship with them. You are praying and believing God will change their hearts and outlook. You know that the same Holy Spirit Who works on your heart is working on theirs. God pursues us constantly. He doesn’t force us to love Him or even like Him. Yet He relentlessly pursues us. We are valuable to Him. He never gives up on us.

Jeremiah 31:1

“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love, With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

God is constantly pursuing us. He draws us with His love. His love is everlasting, and never-changing.

How did Jesus forgive the very ones who were crucifying Him? With Godly love. It wasn’t human love that held him to the cross. It was the love of the Father that gave him strength to fulfill the redemptive plan to save this world.

We are ignorant to the fullness of God’s love He has for us. Yet, we can taste a little of His love on earth by opening up ourselves and receiving His love. Often times we reject God’s love thinking, “We are not good enough” or “He could never love me after what I have done.” These are just excuses for not receiving His love. His love is unconditional. It doesn’t have attachments connected to it.

God just puts His love out for us to receive it again and again. Eventually, through circumstances and finding the right pieces to the puzzle, we see how much God loves us and we start receiving His love in our hearts. When we finally receive His love it fills us to the point we even wonder why we fought it in the first place.

God’s love is contagious. People will sense and see something different about you. You are walking in God’s love, which is not of this world, and the people will be drawn to you. Not because of anything you have done, but because of the Love of God in you.

Ministering to people, without having love in your heart for them, will not have the abundant fruit you are looking for. We, as ministers, have to be full of God’s love, and out of the overflow we will minister successfully to others.

Don’t Fake The Front

People know if you are fake or genuine.  We can’t “Fake The Front” and still be productive in the Kingdom of God. Faking the front is when you pretend you love someone and act like everything is okay when it is not.

God sees your heart and He knows you are not being genuine. Ask God to teach you to love with the love He has given you.

1 John 4:8 (NKJV)

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

1 John 4:11 (NKJV)

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

We can love others with Godly, Agape love. This is genuine love that will never fail.

Once you start loving people with the genuine love of God, you will see open doors before you. Why? Because God’s favor goes before you. You are oozing with God’s love and it can’t help but minister to others.

People will want what you have. They will see you are different from other people. You will get promoted at work over others that are more qualified, all because you finally have received God’s love and show it to others.

God opens these doors because you are His hand extended. You have been transformed by His love and now can be trusted with greater things.

Your demeanor changes. Your countenance changes. You are more pleasant to be around. You value people more. You show appreciation towards your work and the things you do at your job all because the love of God is flowing in you.

Love is…

“Saying ‘No’ to your self and ‘yes’ to someone else.”

(John 3:16 – God loved so He gave)

This has been taught and instilled in me from a precious lady, “Connie Hise.” She has shown genuine love for others and the Love of God flows out of her as she ministers.

I have seen this in my own ministry. People won’t care what you have to say until they see you care. It would only be a clanging gong if I ministered out of head knowledge and not a heart of love.

People take time to change. There is a process for healing. There is a process for understanding. There is a process to changing. All people have a higher level of potential they can climb to, but the very thing that is blocking their accent could be the lack of feeling loved or cherished.

Love people as they are transforming to be more like Jesus. There will be hard times, times you will want to give up on them, but don’t give up. You might even be misunderstood, but it is all worth seeing someone receive the love of God which will empower and change their lives.

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Be An Encourager

Be An EncouragerOne of the great tragedies of our time is that there are so few kind people around. There are plenty of mean spirited, critical, cynical people, but there are few who just take the time to be kind as a lifestyle.

I believe that this is how every child of God ought to be. Let’s be honest, all of us are at times opinionated, self-centered, rude and sometimes just plain mean in our dealings with other people. This ought not to be! I believe that the Lord would have us to practice a ministry of encouragement as we pass through this world.

Fifty-seven years ago, on June 18, 1956, a freak accident happened on a lake in New York. A speeding motorboat bounced on a wave and shot into the water two of its passengers, a 50-year old man and a little girl. To keep her from drowning, the man held her head above water while the boat circled back. They rescued the girl. But the man sank and drowned.

That’s how Dawson Trotman died, the founder of the Navigators, an international discipleship ministry. According to a quote in Time Magazine, “He lived to save others. His death was just the way he would have planned it.” I read somewhere that his obituary reads like this: “Dawson Trotman, always lifting someone up.”

Now that’s a legacy. Would that be yours, too? That you live to save others? That you always lift someone up? In a word, encouragement. Today, we will talk about “The Power of Encouragement.”

Be An Encourager

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the Greek, the word “encourage” means “to call to one’s side, to comfort, to console, to strengthen.” Basically, to put courage in. At the time of the writing of Hebrews, there was a great persecution. Our tendency during such trying times would be to save our skin or to each his own. But, the book of Hebrews encourages us to encourage one another.

“Encouragement is the kind of expression that helps someone want to be a better Christian, even when life is rough… To encourage is to inspire another with courage.”

Unknown

Your very encouragement could be the very thing to help someone survive!

It is interesting to note that the Greek word for “encourage” is the one used for the name “Comforter” of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). People usually equate the works of the Spirit with signs and wonders. But, when we encourage one another, we show that the Spirit really dwells among us. Encouragement, I believe, is the best indicator that the Spirit is working in and through our church.

The word “encourage” is in the present tense. It means a habit or a way of life. In fact, Hebrews commands us to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today” (Hebrews 3:13). It is also in the active voice. It means we don’t wait for others to encourage us. But we take the initiative. We must encourage even if others could not, even if others would not. Note that we are to “encourage one another”. That means that it is not only for pastors but for every one of us.

Hebrews 3:12-13 

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

When a person is discouraged, when we fail to encourage, sin can deceive and harden his heart to the point that it becomes sinful and unbelieving, leading the person to turn his back from God.

“People live by encouragement. Without it they die. Slowly… Sadly… Bitterly.”

Unknown

Going back to:

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

“let us consider…” It means “to observe attentively, fix one’s eyes or mind upon.” In short, we are to focus on encouraging one another. It is never accidental but intentional.

I like how The Message expresses it: “Let’s see how inventive we can be…” Let us think of creative ways of encouraging others.

14 Ways To Encourage Others 101

1.  Encourage someone by using your gifts and talents and making something for them.

How special it is when we use our encouragement and God given gifts to help others. It’s such a simple thing to give to others using our natural gifts, whatever that gift is in each of us such as encouraging with a written card, or  cooking a meal for someone, or giving a piece of your art, or singing a song to them, etc…. I think we sometimes dismiss this idea because we don’t think the gift we have, could make a difference in the life of someone else, BUT IT DOES!

2.  Encourage someone by praying for them.

3.  Encourage someone by praising them when they do good! (Be specific and truthful)

Saying, “Good Job” can go a long way in someone heart. You know how it is if you worked hard on something and nobody noticed. Learn how to give words of praise.  (LIST of encouraging phrases)

4.  Encourage someone by giving them a hug.

A hug goes a long long long way! Never underestimate the power of a hug. A hug is comforting. It reassures the receiver that you care and are interested in their life. Hugging someone brings security. If you want to get closer to someone, give them a hug.

We could learn form the way team athletes freely pat, touch, and high-five each other in competition. Often even a touch on the shoulder connects you with someone else. A touch expresses connection. It breaks down walls and allows freer conversation and interaction.

“A hug is the perfect gift–one size fits all,

and nobody minds if you exchange it.”

–Ivern Ball

5.  If an encouraging thought comes to mind, share it!

6.  When someone is discouraged or hurting, offer specific, practical help.

7.  Remind fellow Christians of the specific promises of God for their situation.

8.  Write someone a note of encouragement when God places them on your heart.

9.  Make celebration a more regular part of your relationships. (Celebrate the good)

10.  If you are part of a church Bible study or Fellowship, be committed to showing up!

How does this help? You could be the encouragement someone needs. You could receive encouragement from someone. Being faithful in fellowship makes you stronger in your faith. Being faithful encourages your Pastor or leader!

11.  If someone you know is working on a large project, send her a flower, or text him words of encouragement! 

12.  Use encouragement as an outreach!

Encouraging a non-Christian shows your Christian witness. It shows you care. Encouraging someone is a form of love, and Christians should be known by their love.

13.  When you see someone making positive changes in their life, affirm them.

14.  Tell people how they have encouraged you! (Even an encourager needs encouragement!)

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Verse 24 continues, “let us consider how we may spur one another on…”

To spur means “to stir up, provoke, stimulate or incite someone to do something.” In other words, to create a thirst. A thirst for what? “toward love and good deeds.” That’s how we measure encouragement. It is not a fuzzy feeling. Always remember, as the song goes, “Feelings are nothing more than feelings.” If someone became a more loving person or a better person, then we really encouraged him or her.

Verse 25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

We usually use this verse to remind people to be faithful in attending church services. However, note the conjunction “but”. It gives a strong contrast between the clauses “Let us not give up meeting together” and “let us encourage one another”. That means that, even if we attend church services, if we fail to encourage others, we have not obeyed this verse to the full extent. Encouragement is the purpose of our meeting together, whether it is a worship service or a small group meeting.

“It is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.” 

William Barclay

So what about you? Are you an encourager? Even if it is not your personality, there is hope! Allow yourself to be more like Jesus and you are on your way to being an encourager. Jesus had compassion on people and touched them. Even when other people were ready to stone the Adulterous woman, Jesus was offering forgiveness and hope.

How easy it is to keep to yourself and not reach out to others who are hurting. But that is just being selfish and weak. It takes a strong person, willing to step outside of their comfort box, and help another human being. Let it be you!

Remember the time you needed encouragement. What if no one was willing to help you? Where would you be? What if Jesus decided to be selfish and not go to the cross for you and I? Where would we be?

This is a pretty simple message today, but it is so needed in the body of Christ. Hope Fellowship is a church built on family, love, and support. We are the “Imperfect who are perfectly welcome to passionately know Christ and make Him known.” This is our mission statement! May it begin with me. May it begin with you. Let us be a church who is known for our acceptance and ministry of encouragement towards others. Do you know this is what people crave?

Let’s read the main text again:

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Your Pastor,

Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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How To Put On New MIndsets – 2013 – A New Year For A New You – Part 4

2013 - A New Year For A New You (How To Put On New Mindsets - Part 4)
In Part 1, we learned how to “Demolish Old Mindsets.” We crushed those old mindsets which prevent us from walking in and obtaining the new. We learned to close our mind off from what we thought should happen and opened our heart and minds to the new God is doing, trusting God when things don’t go according to what we planned.

God’s intention is always superior to our expectation. What He intended for each one of us is far greater then any expectation we have had or could ever have on our own. God’s intentions are always good towards you. He sees our full potential, our vision is limited. This is why we need to demolish the old Mindsets so we can be open to what God intended us to be.

We also listen to God’s voice in everything we do and everywhere we go so we won’t miss His leading and direction. We let go of complacency and learned to not fight the new or any change we may be experiencing. Most importantly, we will never stop believing that God can and will do the impossible in our life. These were all choices that demolished the old mindsets we use to have.

Now, we are ready to put on the new God has for us. But, how do we do that? It is one thing to get rid of, and eradicate the old way of thinking, it is an entirely different thing to receive and put on a new way of thinking.

Always remember God has good things in store for you. Even though we may walk through trials, even though we may experience hardship, God is for us and wants us to live an abundant life. The biggest area we may struggle in is our way of thinking. It is time we break the mental bondage and walk in God’s freedom to be who we were created to be!

                                     How to put on New Mindsets:
1.  Open your mind and heart to new things.

God is doing new things!

Isaiah 43:19 (GNT)
“Watch for the new thing I am going to do. It is happening already – you can see it now! I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there.”

God is a God of the new. Yes, we need to remember history, and what has made us who we are today, but to progress, we have to be open to the new God is doing.

Change is the new. In other words, if you change something, it is different then what was there before. It is new. A new concept, or a new way of thinking has to come by changing what we thought before.

                                          Don’t hate change
If you hate change, you will become stagnate or complacent. We should always be growing in Christ. We shouldn’t be in the place with God now as we were last year. We should be climbing new heights! We should be ascending to deeper places with God. We should be more like Him daily.

If your spiritual life hasn’t changed in years, it is a sign you have lost your first love and become complacent. Then you have to ask yourself, “Am I hungry for God, and the things of God?” If your answer is no, then you desperately need change in your life. Chances are you have closed off your heart and mind to new things.

Matthew 9:16 – 17 (GNT)
“No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat. Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, for the skins will burst, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins, and both will keep in good condition.”

Allow the Holy Spirit to change you. Crave the things of God. Ask God for the “new” He has for you. Open your heart to more of His presence and more of His love. His love changes you. You can never be the same after you have experienced God’s love. Get rid of the old or fleshly wineskins and replace them with a pliable soft heart. Ask God to open your spiritual eyes and see all the new He is doing. Seriously, if you don’t, you will spiritually die. You will have no new life in you. You will be rotting and spiritually stagnate and become a stench to everyone. Do you want this?

2.  Yield to the promptings of correction from the Holy Spirit.

Correction is not fun. Correction says that your actions or way of thinking is wrong and you need to change. Correction shows God’s love as He prompts you to see the sin or the old mindsets in you and gently brings change if you are willing. We can fight God’s correction. I don’t advise you to do that though. Remember God has infinite wisdom, and we don’t. What seems to not make sense to us, like asking someone for forgiveness even when you thought you didn’t do anything wrong, is truly God’s kingdom on earth being manifested. Trust the Holy Spirit and His promptings. Don’t fight correction. We have to be broken so we will think differently and live differently.

Proverbs 13:18 (NKJV)
“Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.”

When we listen to and heed correction, it is honorable. A true sign of pride in someone’s life is when they get mad when you try to correct them. This reaction shows they are unteachable. Being unteachable is pride, arrogance, and just plane foolishness. We should always have a heart and mind to receive correction. A true friend will tell you if you are doing something that is not okay. They care, and are concerned for you. Don’t shun the correction of a friend.

Proverbs 13:24 (GNT)
“He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”

God always corrects those He loves. Don’t think you have arrived and will never be corrected again. From the oldest to the youngest, we all need to be corrected from time to time. In God’s correction comes a new way of looking at things, and a new way of thinking. Our job is to yield under His correction.

You will soon see how circumstances or trails you go through turn out to be God’s discipline or correction. Not all are, but God will use them to help you look at the new. There are tons of scriptures which talk about God’s correction. Look some up and see what God tells you through them.

Here are just a few:

Proverbs 3:12


“For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Job 5:17, 1
8

“Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole.”

Hebrews 12:6, 7


“For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”

Hebrews 12:10, 11

“For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

I would rather be corrected and be on the right path, then to do my own thing and be on the road to destruction. We need correction in our lives. Be open to it in what ever form God brings it to you.

3.  Look for the New!

The new can be right in front of you and you don’t even know it. It can be so obvious and yet eluding all at the same time. Be alert! Be fierce! Look around you and see what God is doing. Pray and ask God what new things He wants you to see and do. Be open to the unexpected. Don’t put God in a box. He is constantly talking to His people and doing new things. Be eager to dig and find new things.

Here is the main verse for this message again:

Isaiah 43:18 – 19 (CEV)
“Forget what happened long ago! Don’t think about the past. I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in the deserts, streams in thirsty lands.”

Do you see it? Anticipate that God is bringing new ways, new days, new life into every circumstance. Sometimes circumstances scream “There has to be a new way!”

A new circumstance, that you have never walked through before, calls for finding out how to deal with and overcome it. You are forced to look for the new.

2 Samuel 6 describes bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to the City of David from Obed-Edom’s home. This was a new circumstance. Previously David tried to move the Ark of the Covenant from Abinadab’s house but Uzzah died for trying to stabilize the Ark when the oxen stumbled. David was afraid and placed the Ark of the Covenant in Obed-Edom’s home. News spread that Obed-Edom’s home was being blessed and David longed to bring the Ark back to Israel. So he set out to try again, only this time he changed things up.

As they were bringing the Ark into the City of David, David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. He was bringing in the Ark in a new way, and with much joy. Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. As David worshipped and rejoiced that the presence of God was coming back to the City of David, Michal, who was not participating in the worship, but observed it all from a distance, despised it all in her heart. She rejected the new way of worship. She was critical of how David was dressed, and how he acted. This is so true for today and looking for the new. People can be critical of a new way of worshipping God or how people are responding as the presence of God is being manifested. Worshipping from a far and not participating and experiencing the new along with others, will make you critical. You can’t see it from their point of view as you are totally in a different place and see it from a different perspective. We have to change our perspective in order to experience the presence of God in a new way. This leads us to my next point.

4.  Don’t worry about getting your hair messed up!

2 Samuel 6:20 – 23
“Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself! So David said to Michal, ‘It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maid servants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.’ Therefore Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death.”

“…And I will be even more undignified than this…” We need to learn to lose our dignity for His deity! If we get caught up in what people think we will be in bondage to man. If we care about what God thinks, we will be free to experience new things.

Sometimes putting on a new mindset will mess our hair. What I mean is; it might make you lose your dignity. It might force you to re-evaluate why have you done what you have done and for what reason. Tradition can set our mind in such a mode that makes it hard or difficult to even see the new. Once you have seen the new, your traditional mindset will fight you and express, “It hasn’t been done this way before!” I am sure you have heard the definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” We will never overcome or have a breakthrough if we keep doing the same thing over and over. We have to change direction. If we don’t, we will become stagnate and complacent.

5.  Wear the New Mindset well; be Strong and Courageous!

Walk in the authority of God as you wear your new mindset. Don’t be afraid or timid when God reveals new things to you. Share them. Take action. Be bold in your faith! He will reveal more of who He is and what He is doing. Don’t be intimidated by the enemy and what they may say or do.

2 Chronicles 32 talks about how king Sennacherib of Assyria came and entered Judah and camped against the fortified cities thinking to win them over to himself. Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and his purpose was to make war against Jerusalem. He consulted with his leaders and commanders to stop the water from the springs which were outside the city; and they helped him. He strengthened himself and built up the walls that were broken, and built up another wall. He repaired the landfill in the City of David and made weapons and shields in abundance. He set military captains over the people, gathered them together to him in the open square of the city gate, and gave them encouragement:

2 Chronicles 32:7 – 8 (NKJV)
“‘Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

This was a new situation for Hezekiah and the people of Judah. The enemy put up every hindrance. They even sent messages to try and scare the people and their faith.

2 Chronicles 32:21 (NKJV)
“Then the LORD sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there.”

God will send his breakthrough in your life this year! This is a year of walking in our authority in God and believing for great things. This is a year of promised blessings to be fulfilled.

I am believing that every hindrance the enemy is trying to make will be lifted from you and I break the power of delays in your life. This is a year of victory over the enemy! Walk in the new mindset God has available for you. Break the mental bondage and walk in God’s freedom to be who you were created to be in Jesus mighty name!

Pastor Kris Belfils
http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com
http://www.krisbelfils.com
http://www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Demolish Old Mindsets – 2013 – A New Year For A New You (Part 3)

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What kind of mindset are you bringing into your new year? We can be defeated just by having a bad mindset. God has more for your life then defeat! Our outlook on life, ourselves, and others can make or break a successful year. Sometimes we carry old mindsets that have no life. Do you have an old mindset?

Old Mindsets will say, “This is how we did it in the past and we have to do it this way now.” New Mindsets will “Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago…” (Isaiah 43:18 GWT) It goes on to say, “I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it?” This verse tells us to forget what happened in the past. Forget how things were done. Forget any stigma connected with it. Embrace, and let it become a part of you, the new!

Constantly last year in 2012, and this new year of 2013, I have had to let go of some old mindsets I’ve been carrying because they just wouldn’t work with the new God was bringing me into. How I viewed things, especially myself and ministry, stifled me and put God in a box. After some major events that took place the beginning of last year, I found my old mindsets wouldn’t work in the new I was walking in.

This message has two parts. First, we will learn how to demolish any old mindset we may be living in, and then in Part 2, we will learn how to put on the new mind and new mindsets God has for us.

How do we demolish old mindsets?

1.  Close your mind off from what you think should happen.

If we are too focused on what has happened before and expecting the same thing to happen, we will miss the new God has for us. We might have a pre-conceived idea of how God works, but really, God works in mysterious ways. His ways are not our ways. We have to be open to new things.

Isaiah 43:18 – 19 (CEV) “Forget what happened long ago! Don’t think about the past. I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it? I have put roads in the deserts, streams in thirsty lands.”

Roads in the deserts and streams in thirsty lands. In the natural, the desert is a wasteland. There are usually no streams, and hardly any roads. But this verse wants us to open our minds and thoughts to something that is not natural. Streams in the desert are opposites. They are two extreme things. Yet, This is what God is doing in our lives, ministry, finances, family, and much more.

We can limit God just by having an old mindset. I was given a plaque/picture for Christmas from a close friend. It is beautiful. It has a Zebra background (I collect Zebra items) and looked very African. There was a verse written on it that says:  “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) It was a reminder of what God has placed in my heart and the vision He has given me. Christ is Whom I do things through, and He gives me strength to accomplish what He has placed in my heart. My old mindset would have said, “Well, this is what I know, and I guess I will keep doing what I have been doing.” God wanted me to close my mind and thoughts on the old way of thinking, so I could put on the new mindset to pursue the new.

We have to abolish the old way of thinking. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, yet He never does the same miracle the same way He did before. There is always a new way.

When the new way is coming forth, and you think it might not be of God, take a second look and ask God if it is from Him or not. He will show you if you are truly open to His answer. Check and see if you have closed off the new way of looking at things. Don’t be caught up in how things were, or how you think things should be. Get caught up in God and sensitive to His leading. Then, you won’t miss out on the new God is bringing.

2.  Relax if things don’t go according to plan.

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. Often times this is God trying to show you there is a better or different way of doing things. We can get all stressed and frustrated over trying to accomplish something and find out the way to accomplish it, or even if you should accomplish it, didn’t work. God sees the whole picture, we don’t. Our finite minds will think something should go a certain way, but God’s infinite wisdom knows all and has a plan. God has used the most foolish things to confound the wise. Be willing to let go of your way of thinking in order to receive new revelation and insight in a situation.

I have seen people get all upset just because things don’t go according to what they thought should happen. Then, out of their frustration, they criticize what IS happening and not only miss out on what God is doing, they also cause strife and division in the body of Christ. Usually these people are very verbal with their criticisms. They are thinking they are “right,” when in reality they are totally wrong, and missing it.

Proverbs 3:5 – 6 “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.”

Our own understanding can often deceive us. What we “think” should happen. What we “reason” to happen. Yes, facts are facts, and if you are basing your understanding on that alone, you are limiting God. You see, God is a God of miracles. A place where facts alone can not explain. If we take the God-factor out of an equation, we will end up with less then what could really happen.

3.  Listen to God’s voice in everything you do, and everywhere you go.

Lately I have heard on the Radio or seen in print my favorite passage of scripture in the Bible, Proverbs 3:5 – 6. I know God is telling me to just trust Him and to not rely on the way I think or to get worried at what I see. God has a way of talking to us, we just need to be open to his voice. In this case, His voice was broadcast through the radio two different times in one day, with also reading the above passage in an article I read. It was also the “verse of the day” on my Bible app on my phone. Can God use modern technology to speak to His people? He sure can! He will use any and everything to help us with our every day life. In point 2 we looked Proverbs 3:5 – 6, now I want to look at in a different translation.

Proverbs 3:5 – 6 (The Message) “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’S voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go…” If we are constantly listening to Gods voice and direction, the new mindset will automatically be put on you. You won’t be surprised at the direction God is taking you. In fact, you will be so consumed in what God is doing you won’t be distracted by the old mindset. Listening to God’s constant voice demolishes old mindsets.

There have been times God will wake me up from a dream and as I am waking up I hear a phrase or a statement. I use to ignore these times, but I have learned to tune my spiritual ear into God’s frequency and be open to His voice in what every way He wants to bring it.

One way to really know it is God’s voice is to ask the question: “Does it line up with God’s Word?” If it doesn’t then quickly ignore it and move on in your life. If it does line up with His word, take head and look at what you just read or heard and ask God for discernment and direction. He will give it to us. He is good at this.

When we hear God’s voice we need to head it and not rebel. Usually God will confirm His word several times to let you know He is telling you something. Don’t be stubborn and ignore it or even do the opposite of what He is asking of you.

Hebrews 3:15 (GNT) “This is what the scripture says: ‘If you hear God’s voice today, do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were when they rebelled against God.”

Let us be a people who are quick to obey God and His word!

4.  Don’t fight change.

I am one who enjoys change. Actually, anything new I totally love. A new home, a new car, new clothes, new job, all of that is enjoyable to me. I rearrange my living room and my office at church often. When things seem to get stale, I have to change it. It fuels me. Staleness can cause you to become complacent. We get comfortable in our pursuit of God and what we do for Him. Contentment and complacency are two different things.

Contentment:  “a state of happiness and satisfaction” (Oxford American Dictionary)

Complacency: “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies; a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better (Webster).”

We should all be content, yet, most people get confused and actually get complacent instead. Complacency is “Self-satisfaction” it is inward-satisfaction. We get satisfied with our efforts and stop pursuing God.

I have seen older people with the mindset, “I already did my time, now I can just relax!” This is an old mindset. As long as their is breath in you, pursue God and what He wants you to do in this life! Don’t allow inward-satisfaction to take the place of contentment.

Complacency shuts your eyes to the new God is doing. Complacency turns a blind eye to injustice. Complacency is extremely selfish. This is opposite of God’s character. God always gives his time and love to others. He never sleeps. He is older then time itself. If we want to be more like Him, then we have to up-root complacency from our lives. Don’t entertain thoughts of giving up, or retiring from God’s call.

I know of a wonderful lady who was the piano player of a church I was the Worship Pastor at. She was 65 years old but loved the contemporary Christian praise and worship. It fueled her. She couldn’t wait for me to place a new song in front of her so she could learn it. I have seen other piano players her same age fight me when I would pic a new song for them to learn. In fact, they couldn’t even play it as they had the old way of playing in their minds and it prevented them from even trying to play the piano in a new way. The lady who was open to change had a huge impact on the members of the worship team and they loved her dearly. She spoke into their lives often and they were eager to hear what she had to say. The lady who was not open to change, was often critical in most areas of life, and the worship team members literally hated it when she would be scheduled to play the piano. She didn’t speak into the lives of anyone, and often would be the first one to leave a practice.  Tell me, which one would you rather be?

I was reading a book, “Charged To Change,” by Pastor Abba Godwin (Abuja, Nigeria, Word Alive Revival Ministries). He states, “Tradition is a pothole in the highway of acceleration.” I believe it. Doing things the same way, and not looking for the new God is doing, will prevent you from arriving at your destiny. In Nigeria, the streets and roads are so bad. They have huge potholes, and sometimes the paved street is broken and gone all together. This is such an eye opener as to how tradition and religious mindsets can detour us from our prophetic destinations.

5.  Don’t stop believing.

The enemy wants you to give up on the dream God has placed in side of you. You  might have been waiting for this dream to come to pass twenty or more years ago. I am sure the dream is bigger then you. If it is, that is a true sign that it is from God. If it was the size of something you could fulfill on your own, then God wouldn’t get the glory, you would.

Don’t allow setback or hardship to prevent you from believing the God-given dream will be fulfilled. God has His time-frame. He knows everything. Again, “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” (Prov. 3:5 – 6). This is a promise.

Bring the dream before God in prayer. Remind Him (although He always remembers) and remind yourself of the dream. Pour your heart out to God and express your desire and His dream He has placed in your heart. Ask Him for the grace to finish the race to see the fulfillment of that dream. Remind yourself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Stir up faith in your spirit. Let faith arise in your heart again. Look back and remind yourself of all the things God has done in your life. He is faithful! Don’t allow the tool the devil uses; “Discouragement” to become a part of you. Shake it off and press onward! God has big plans for you.

It is up to us to demolish any old mindsets we may have. Ask God to show you them and be determined to get rid of them. Once we get rid of the old, there is room for the new.

Next week, Part 2: “How To Put On The New Mindset?” Get ready to be changed by the power of God! He has GREAT plans for you this year and beyond. Do you part and let go of any old thinking patterns that hinder you from reaching your full potential and all that God has for you.

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils
http://www.hopefellowshipspokane.com
http://www.krisbelfils.com
http://www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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2013 – A New Year For A New You (Part 2 – Obedience Brings Blessing)

2013 - A New Year For A New You (Part 2 - Obedience Brings Blessing)2013 is here! We have walked in it now for several days. There is an expectancy I sense within myself, and so many people I have met. 2013 will be a powerful, abundant year of blessings and breakthroughs. Do you believe it? I sure do.

What are you believing for this year? Allow your faith to arise in your spirit that God will do great things. He is for you! He is on your side!

Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”

Ephesians 3:20 (Message)

“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

There are no exceptions to this promise. God can and WILL do exceedingly abundantly above all that you could ask or think. Think BIG for this new year. When the dream is bigger then you are, or what you can accomplish, it makes you rely on God and follow His leading.

Let’s be those who dream for the glory of God! I love the Lord so much, and I have seen Him do impossible things that were bigger then my wildest dreams. You see it gives God all the glory when we dream bigger then ourselves. If we only dreamt what we could accomplish on our own, we get the glory because we have fulfilled it with our own strength. When we dream bigger then our abilities, power, or strength God is the only One who can make it happen and therefore He receives the glory when the dream is fulfilled, especially beyond our biggest dreams we have dreamt.

Obedience Brings Blessing

We are successful not because of anything we can do, but because of God’s ability. On our own, we will fail. Everyone of us have weaknesses but when you put God into the equation it always adds up to more! God wants us to succeed. He is for us.

Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

“This Book of the Law shall not depart form your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

This verse shows that we will be successful when you do what the Bible says and obey what it teaches. It’s pretty simple. Actually is not a hardship. God has such basic things we need to follow in His Word for our safety and success.

Obedience use to be a hardship, a dread in my life. I remember when I was a little girl, when my Mom told me to clean my room, I did it with drudgery. I would always say to her; “It’s too hard of work!” I would put a hardship on my Mom just because of my attitude. I found a joy in making my Mom happy when I obeyed her quickly when she told me to do something. This is true with our relationship with God. Often we think it is “too hard of work” to obey the Word of God. Maybe we get rebellious and decide to do our own thing thinking; “Who can tell me what to do?” “I am my own person and I can do what I feel like doing!” Have you ever said or thought those words?

To obey is hard, but we have to obey so many people in our lives. We obey our bosses when they ask us to do something at work. We obey our spouse when they ask us to do something for them. We obey our parents, which there are many promised blessings in God’s Word when we do.

Obedience. Most of the time it is not fun. But I am here to tell you there is a joy in obedience we can have. This joy compels me to obey God all the time, not just when it is convenient, or when it feels good or doesn’t cost me anything. There is joy in obedience and God’s favor follows.

I had a dream the night before I was to write this message. In the dream I was in charge of a group of children. All the children obeyed me except one. He seemed to be disobedient to everything I asked the class to do. I would try everything I knew to get the child to obey and be a part of the class. Still, this child had it in his mind to ignore, or blatantly disregard the rules and choose to be stubborn and self-willed. It caused havoc in the class. Chaos would erupt just because of one child’s disobedience. I was at my wits end when I asked someone from his family for help and insight. They told me to just say, “Do I have to get your Daddy?” When this family member said this, the entire room I was in transformed into a beautiful room, kind of like a living room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was peace, all chaos was gone. I couldn’t wait to use this new secret on this challenging child. It worked! As soon as he started to act up, I said, “Do I have to get your Daddy?” and immediately he quieted down and listened and obeyed me. From then on the class was productive and in harmony.

This reminds me of our walk with Father God. There is a love that He gives which no one else can ever give, and in turn there is a respect we give Him because He is the ultimate authority and power in our life. Often we live our lives not believing or even ignoring our Father. It is easy because in today’s society there is so much disrespect for parents and for leaders, or presidents, or anyone who has authority over us. Let’s be a people who obey quickly. Let’s be people who realize how Holy God is. If you choose disobedience, it shows you do not have a close relationship with God. Obedience to God shows your love for Him. It shows humility. It speaks clearly that you are not your own, but God’s.

Truth about obedience:

  1. God loves you unconditionally. 

We all make mistakes. Truly the mistake you made is not the issue, as much as, your actions and steps before and after the mistake. God sees you. He sees what you are doing right now. He knows if you will obey Him or not. Still, He loves you with an everlasting love. There is nothing you can or can’t do that will take His love away from you. All that said, remember God will not destroy you if you disobey. He gives us chance after chance to start over.

Romans 8:38 – 39 (NKJV)

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The closer you get to God, the quicker you will obey. God will love us back to Himself. When we realize this, It makes for an easier comeback.

2.  When we obey we are blessed

First, and foremost, we make good decisions when we choose to follow God’s Word. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.

Psalms 119:105 (NKJV)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Obeying God’s word will help shine light on the next step you should take. We can look to God’s Word for any situation we may be facing in life. God has the answers for us. Are you willing to look?

Second, when we obey God, our life has less trials then one who disobeys and continues to make poor decisions for their life.

Proverbs 4:18 – 19 (The Message)

“The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine. But the road of the wrongdoing gets darker and darker – travelers can’t see a thing; they fall flat on their faces.”

I almost titled this message: “Right living = Right Results!” If we choose to live right, and follow God’s word, we will achieve right results in our life. Isn’t it awesome that God gave us His word to help bring right results and success in our lives? This makes me want to obey God even more. It shows His love for us.

Proverbs 3:35 (The Message)

“Wise living gets rewarded with honor; stupid living gets the booby prize.”

I don’t want anything except the very best from God. If my choices of obeying God brings good results, I will all the more obey Him.

3. When we obey God’s word we choose life!

Deuteronomy 30:19 – 20 (NKJV)

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may life; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

We choose good health when we choose to obey God and His word. He is for us and His word has life. God will not lead us astray. No! God’s direction is always the right direction to take. We can trust God with our life. He created us in the first place. Surely the Creator knows what is best for His creation. He has given us a blueprint, a roadmap for our lives with His word if we choose to follow and obey it. We will live a prosperous, productive, successful life when we do.

4.  When we obey it shows we trust God.

What ever happens, whatever you face in 2013 say to yourself: “I trust You, Jesus!” Remind yourself of His power, glory, and love He has for you. This helps trust to build in your heart so you can stand on His principles and His word.

Proverbs 3:5 – 6 (The Message)

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.”

Our own understanding can deceive us at times. God sees all. Trusting our own understanding is like the blind leading the blind. We can’t see beyond where we are at, but God sees the past, present, and future. When we are trusting in our own intellect and knowledge there is no room for faith.

5.  To obey is better then sacrifice.

There is a story of obedience in the Bible that is so true today (Read 1 Samuel 15). Saul was anointed as King over Israel by Samuel. He was given a command to go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they had. They were not to spare anyone or anything (1 Samuel 15:3). Saul went and attacked the Amalekites. He took their king, Agag, but destroyed all the people. Saul and the people also spared the best sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless was destroyed (1 Samuel 15:9). Then God spoke to Samuel that He regretted setting up Saul as king because he turned his back from following and obeying Him. Samuel grieved all night over this. He left in the morning to meet Saul and it was told him that “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed he set up a monument for himself” (1 Samuel 15:12). Saul sweet talked Samuel saying “Blessed are you of the LORD!” and lied and said he “performed the commandment of the LORD” (1 Samuel 15:13). Samuel asked what was this bleating of the sheep and lowing of the oxen he heard? Saul passed the blame onto the people and said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD you God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed” (1 Samuel 15:15). Samuel told Saul to be quiet and told him what the LORD told him that when Saul was “little in his own eyes” or thought low of himself, God anointed him as king and was the head of Israel. Then the Lord sent him on a mission to go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they were consumed or exterminated. Why did you disobey and take the spoil and do evil in the sight of God (vs. 17)? Saul proceeded to change the command of the Lord and said He did obey God and brought back the king of the Amalekites, Agag, but utterly destroyed the people. Then he passed the blame onto the Israelites, who He was king over, and said they took the plunder the sheep, the oxen and the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal. Then Samuel replied:

1 Samuel 15:22 – 23 (NKJV)

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”

Saul confessed he did sin and disobeyed the commandments of the LORD, and that he feared the people and obeyed them instead. But wanted Samuel to make it all right and sacrifice and worship together. Samuel refused because the LORD rejected him as king and walked away. Saul grabbed and ripped his robe and Samuel said, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:28). Even after all this Saul still wanted Samuel to honor him in front of the people. This shows Saul was afraid of man more than God. He wanted man’s approval constantly and at a huge price – losing the kingdom and being king of Israel.

We can learn so much from this story. God wants to see obedience. There is a reason He asks, commands, and states what He wants us to do and how we are to live. God sees everything, we only see what is in front of our eyes.

We can do all these good works, but if we don’t obey God, we are wasting our time and energy. Obedience trumps works. You may say, “Isn’t that the same thing?” No, Works, or trying to be good, is not the same thing as obeying God’s word and following Him. We can still have our own agenda, or our own motives, which very possibly may be selfish. Works will not please God, and will not get you into heaven. Believing in Jesus and receiving Him into your heart is the only way to heaven. When we do this, we start to change from the inside out. Our heart learns and wants to please Him and then our actions will follow. It is not the other way around.

6.  Obey even when you are afraid.

Fear wants you to run and hide. It wants you to please man, or your flesh. God wants you to finish what you started. Our very obedience could be the catalyst to launch us into something new. It could be the very thing that is needed to obtain our promise land!

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

As we read about Saul and his fear of man and how he was seen by them, do you fall into that category? Saul was insecure with who he was. We know this because 1 Samuel 15:17 states: “So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?”

In Saul’s promotion, even when he saw himself as “less-then,” God promoted him to be king. Saul didn’t overcome his insecurities. They actually grew bigger because he was a people pleaser.

Fear of man will paralyze you from being who God created you to be. Fear of man brings bondage. You will never measure up to the expectations of others. It is a never ending battle. I know, as I was trapped in this snare for much of my earlier years. I always wanted people to approve of me. I would do anything to win the favor of others, when I should have been more concerned with God’s favor and walking in obedience to Him.

Fear of any kind is torment. Fear brings present torment concerning future situations that may never happen. God wants to free you from the inside out. Remember that perfect love cast out all fear (1 John 4:18). Love drives out fear. Love makes the insecure, secure.

Ephesians 3:17 (Amplified Bible)

“May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.”

7.  When we obey we have joy!

There is joy in obedience. Why? Because it stems from your love for God. When we love somebody there is joy involved. Love is something you do. Obedience to God is our love in action.

Psalm 84:5 – 7 (TLB)

“Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow Your steps. When they walk through the Valley of Weeping it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! They will grow constantly in strength.” 

Something happens to the heart of an obedient Christian. It finds a place of contentment and rest. It knows that all things are possible with God. It has stood the test after every trial and circumstance to see that their obedience to God is a safe place to live.

“When we choose the obedient life, we are permitting God to make our lives all He dreamed they would become. We no longer need to ask what God’s will is because we are continually living in His will. Our goal in life is obedience to Him in the midst of each situation.”

Hope MacDonald

Discovering the joy of obedience

I like that quote. It shows we don’t have to strive to know the perfect will of God. The only thing we need to do is live a life of obedience.

What happiness, what joy we can have in obeying God and His Word! There is blessings for those who obey God. 2013 will be a year of promised blessings and much abundance and advancement. Walk in obedience and do not fear for God is with you wherever you go!

From one obedient child to another,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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For Unto Us A Child is born

For Unto Us A Child Is Born (Christmas Even Service 2012)We have been given a special gift at Christmas. This gift we all know of and have heard about. Jesus came to the earth as a baby, grew in favor and wisdom, died on the cross for you and me, and rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.

Jesus came to be a light in the darkness. The prophet saw in vision the darkness and gloom of the nation, and saw also the son that would be born to remove that darkness, and to enlighten the world.

Jesus is a gift from God. He was given to the world to save her from sin and eternal damnation and darkness. He was sent as a rich gift from God.

Act 4:12

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Eph 1:22-23

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Of all the gifts you will receive this Christmas, the gift of Jesus Christ and His salvation he brought, is by far the most precious.

I want to look at a passage of scripture in the Old Testament to really see what we received in this precious gift from God.

Jesus: The purest gift ever given

Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given…” Jesus was given. Given to us as the purest gift we could ever receive.

There is power in a name. In the Bible, names, and their meanings were extremely important. Today, names have lost their meaning and people really don’t think about giving their child a name that reflects that child’s character or prophetically what they will accomplish.

Jesus’ name is the most powerful name on earth or in heaven. Let’s look at this passage in Isaiah and find out more about Jesus and His name, and what an awesome gift we really have.

Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

“The government will be upon His shoulder…”This implies that the government, or authority will rest on Him. He shall rule. The government shall be vested in Him. He shall be a king. He will reign over all. His authority trumps all other authority.

When you think of the Child being “given” to us, and that His authority trumps all other, it gives you a sense of security, hope, and expectation because Jesus fights our battles and intercedes for us. The One who has all authority knows you inside and out. Not to condemn you, but to lift you up and win battles for you.

Romans 8:34 (NLT)

“Who then will condemn us? No one – for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

 “And His name will be called…”

1.  “Wonderful…”His name, His attributes, who He is, and what He does, will be called “Wonderful.” It is separated from the ordinary. It is to excite amazement, wonder, and admiration, whether it be miraculous or not. wonderful in the dictionary means: “(adjective) inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvelous.”

I love that definition! Jesus is extremely good! Not just kind of good, or occasionally good, but extremely good all the time! Jesus is wonderful. Some synonyms are (From http://thesaurus.com): “Admirable, amazing, astonishing, astounding, awe-inspiring, awesome, brilliant, cool, divine, dynamite, enjoyable, excellent, fabulous, fantastic, groovy, incredible, magnificent, marvelous, miraculous, outstanding, peachy, phenomenal, pleasant, pleasing, prime, remarkable, sensational, stupendous, super, surprising, terrific, too much, tremendous, and wondrous.” Jesus is all that and more!

Some manuscripts combine the word “wonderful” with the word, “counselor.” All those synonyms we can place infront of the word Counselor to describe who Jesus is.

2.  “Counselor…” expresses a distinct attribute, or quality. The name “counselor” here, is one of honorable rank; one who is suited to stand near princes and kings as their adviser. It is expressive of great wisdom, and of qualifications to guide and direct the human race. The Septuagint translates this phrase, ‘The angel of the mighty counsel.’ The Chaldee, ‘The God of wonderful counsel’ (Albert Barns notes on the Bible).

Jesus gives the best advise. He can bring about healing far better then any counselor on this earth. He can help us deal with any issue in our life and bring wholeness and completion. Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor!

3.  “Mighty God…”  Or God the mighty One. He is God the Son. Christ is God. Jesus is not a god who has no strength, no, He is a god who has all the power and might to deliver and rescue us from anything in this life. He is all powerful. There is no weakness in Him. There is nothing that is impossible with Him. He doesn’t know or ever experience defeat. He is the only true God, all other “gods” are not real and have no power. He and the Father are one. Mighty God refers to and implies both the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

4.  “Everlasting Father…”  How can Jesus be the Father and the Son? We have to remember that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are separate and yet all One God.

There is but one Father in the Godhead, and that is the first Person; Christ and the Father are one, and the Father is in him, and he is in the Father, and he that has seen the one has seen the other.

John 14:9 (NIV)

“Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

Taking the word “Everlasting” and applying it to the word “Father” makes this name for Jesus even more powerful. Jesus is the Everlasting Father: He lasts for all time. He will never stop being who He is. He is all encompassing and all consuming. Jesus doesn’t know or experience the word; “Quit!” He never fails. From generation to generation God is always there and is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Jesus supplies us with everlasting provisions, He clothes us with everlasting raiment, He gives us an everlasting portion, promotes us to everlasting honor, saves us with an everlasting salvation, and giving an everlasting love towards us always.

5.  “Prince of peace…”  Jesus is the Prince among princes. He is supreme. Being a “prince” only happens with royalty. You can be the Prince of Whales, or one of the Princes of a country. Having the word “prince” in front of a name gives authority, special treatment, and honor.

Jesus, being the Prince of Peace means that He has all authority, honor, and power of peace. Jesus is the author of peace. Christ is a Prince.

Eze_34:24 (NKJV)

“And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.”

He is so by birth, being the King’s Son, the Son of God, and by office, power, and authority. He is called the “Prince of peace”, because he is the author of peace; just as he is said to be the “Prince of life.”

Act 3:15 (NKJV)

“And killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”

Jesus is the one who brings peace between God and man. He is our mediator.

1 Tim. 2:5 (NLT)

“For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity–the man Christ Jesus.”

Jesus is our Peacemaker. He is our moderator in quarrels. If we look to Jesus when we are experiencing a hurt in a relationship, He will bring reconciliation if we swallow our pride. He is our vindicator and will bring justice.

He is the Prince of Peace in every situation. He has authority over all chaos. That is why He could calm the sea by just saying; “Peace be still.”

Mark 4:37 – 41 (NKJV)

“And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

This Christmas realize what you are really receiving in the gift of Jesus Christ coming as a baby. He is more then you think. As you unwrap this gift you will see more and more of all He has for you.

Luke 1:30 – 33 (CEV)

“Then the angel told Mary, “Don’t be afraid! God is pleased with you, and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end.” 

Isa 7:14-16 (KJV)

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good…” 

Immanuel, God with us. We are never alone. Having God with us is better then having the best, strongest, loyalist person on earth with you. Jesus never fails. Receive the gift of Jesus today. You will be forever changed by unwrapping this precious gift.

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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ThanksLiving – Living A Life Of Praise

Hebrews 13:15 (Amplified Bible)

“Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of the lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.”

A simpler translation is found in the Contemporary English Version:

Hebrews 13:15 (CEV)

“Our sacrifice is to keep offering praise to God in the name of Jesus.”

As a Christian, we should always live a life of praise and thanksgiving. Being a seeker of God it is not only a privilege but also our responsibility.

Worship and praise is the purest form of prayer because it focuses our minds and souls entirely away from ourselves and on to Him. What it communicates is pure love, devotion, reverence, appreciation, and thankfulness to God. It’s exalting God for who He is. It’s communicating our longing for Him. It’s drawing close to Him for the sake of being close. When we worship God, we are the closest to him we will ever be. That’s because praise welcomes His presence in our midst.

Praise is a declaration of who God is and what He’s going to do!

Praise is something that comes from within us… “I will praise God even in the midst of the storm.”

Praise is something that comes from without us… “I don’t feel like praising God, but I will because His word commands me to and I know He is worthy.”

Praise goes beyond our emotions and feelings and walks in obedience.

Obedience shows that we love God.

John 14:21 (NKJV)

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Praise is a beautiful thing

Psalm 33:1 (NKJV)

“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful.”

It is a beautiful thing to see people praise God. I was a Worship Pastor for over 32 years. It thrilled me to bring people to the throne of God in praise and worship. It was a zone that I new I was created to do. Seeing people praise God fueled my spirit. When we would worship corporately, and un-abandoned, I never wanted to leave. It was a beautiful thing.

What does praise do?

-It pleases God’s heart.

-It gives God much pleasure.

-It takes our focus off of ourselves.

-It is a great weapon against the enemy.

How is praise brought forth?

  1. The Spoken word 

We declare with our words who God is in our life, even when we don’t see the answer, God has all the answers.

-Speaking out loud who God is in a given situation helps you remember and also gets it into your spirit.

-It is heard in heaven, on earth, and in hell.

-It is a Decree! “I thank you God for healing me…..”

“I praise You Lord for being the God who sees me and You see me right now in the midst of my pain and trial!”

“I give You praise, Lord, for having a plan for my life and a hope and a future!”

We have to remind our selves what God can and will do in us.

2.  Our Singing/songs

Psa 40:3  

“He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.” 

Psa 149:1

“Hallelujah! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly.” 

Isa 42:10

“Sing a new song to the LORD; sing His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea with all that fills it, you islands with your inhabitants.” 

Singing songs of praise is a release. It is a time of action towards God to lift Him high. It frees our spirit to soar higher to new heights.

3.  Our Actions – Shout, Crying out how great God is. Corporate shouts of praise does a body good! Kneeling in humility or laying prostrate before God is showing praise. Obey God’s word is action because we want to please God’s heart.

4.  Our Thoughts/heart/soul – what we think and plan in our hearts

Psa 28:7

“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song.” 

Psa 103:1  

“My soul, praise the LORD, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.” 

Psa 103:22

“Praise the LORD, all His works in all the places where He rules. My soul, praise the LORD!” 

Sometimes we forget to praise God. Sometimes we forget how Good God is. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of both.

We are the only ones who can control the battle in our minds of any negative thoughts we may have about ourselves and our situation.

David reminded himself….

Psa 42:5  (MSG)

“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.” 

Praise and worship turns our focus to where it should be! We think about ourselves or things concerning us 24/7, surely we can live a life of praise and love on God as a lifestyle.

Praise should be such a part of our vocabulary that it spills out constantly.

I find myself constantly saying under my breath, “Thank you Jesus.” “I love you.” “Have Your way!” “You are so good.”

Praise will lift our spirits out of the mundane, out of the trial, out of depression.

ThanksLiving – Living a Life Of Praise

1. When I am troubled by Negative Thoughts and Emotions

Critical speech just cannot come out of a worshiper’s lips. Praise and critical speech

should not come from the same source. I prefer to give God praise then to criticize Him

or his creation (people or myself).

Whenever we express our love for God through praise and worship, we open up the channel through which His love flows into our heart. We invite His presence to come into our lives in a powerful way that, in the process, breaks down the strongholds of negative emotions. That is the hidden power of praising God.

Stormie Omartian

Negative emotions are never God’s will for you. Praise and worship is one of your greatest weapons against them. This is ThanksLiving.

2. When I have Anxiety, Fear, and Discouragement

We all have experienced anxiety, fear, and discouragement at some point in our lives. What do we do when we are experiencing it?

Much of our anxiety comes from “What if” thoughts.

“What if we don’t have enough money to pay the bills and eat?”

“What if I lose my job?”

“What if terrorists come and try and attack the US again?”

“What if the terrorists come to my neighborhood?”

“What if something bad happens to my children?”

“What if my husband dies, what will I do then?”

“What if my past catches up to me?”

“What if I have cancer?

“What if….

We all have our “What If’s,” the question is what will we do with those thoughts and feelings when they come? But God says to not be anxious about anything; Phil. 4:6 – 8 (Read from NKJV)

For me, I immediately start talking to God and say, “God I thank You that you are bigger then what concerns me!” “You are all powerful, all mighty, all knowing, and You are my hiding place.” “God You are in control of my life.” “I give You praise for Your eye is always upon me.” (Psalm 139) “Please give me strength to handle anything that comes my way.” “Please protect my family.” “Please shelter them from any harm.”

When God tells us to not be anxious bout anything, it’s not the same as someone telling us to “cheer up.” It’s not the same as when something terrible happens and a friend says, “Don’t worry.”

God is not just saying, “Forget about it.” He is giving us the solution. He says we should pray about everything and give praise and thanks to Him. When we do that, He promises to give us His peace that is beyond all comprehension. That means we will have peace even when it doesn’t make sense. That kind of peace will protect our heart and mind.

Praising God is the way to combat all anxiety, and it’s best to do it the moment you sense anxiety over anything. And then continue to praise God until all anxiety leaves.

Whatever your deepest fears are right now, bring every one of them to God. Thank Him that He is greater than any of them.

Fear will lie to you. It will tell you things that are not God’s truth for your life. Fear denies that God’s presence is fully active, and it cancels all hope and faith in God’s power to work in your behalf. But faith, prayer, praise, and the Word of God will conquer every fear. This is ThanksLiving.

3.  When I struggle with doubt

Complaining instead of praising is a sign that we are not grateful to God and doubt His goodness and faithfulness. It shows that we do not believe God is really who He says He is. When we complain, we indicate we don’t trust God and fear He won’t come through for us. We doubt that nothing is impossible with Him. Our lack of faith puts up a barrier between us and Him, and we cut off the avenue by which He can bless us.

Praising God in the midst of times of doubt opens up the avenue by which a fresh infusion of faith comes into our souls. This is ThanksLiving.

Complaining is the opposite of praising! Complaining is really lifting up the enemy. When we praise we lift up God. When we complain we lift up the enemy.

4.  When I don’t see answers to my prayers

When we praise God at the first sign of disappointment and loss of heart, He will open our eyes to the truth and help us see things from a perspective closer to His own.

When we worship God, we open the channel through which God works most powerfully to defeat the enemy on our behalf. We confuse the enemy and weaken him to the point he has to flee.

Even when all hope for our situation seems to be dead, praising God releases His resurrection life to flow in us. This Is ThanksLiving!

5.  When I am attacked by the enemy

Praise is one of the greatest weapons of warfare found in the Bible. We must have a revelation of the power and purpose of praise and worship. As a believer, you should be worshiping and praising with the revelation of what you are doing and understanding its value.

Praise chases the enemy away. The devil hates it when we worship the Lord. It repels him and makes him miserable. It confuses him and makes him weak. It reminds him that he used to be the worship leader in heaven (Isaiah 14) and he blew it! That’s why he will do anything to divert our attention away from worshiping and praising God.

The enemy wants to take our joy away. He wants to make us take our focus off of God and His abilities and transfer our focus onto ourselves and our inabilities. The enemy wants us to feel overwhelmed and out of control. He likes to bring confusion and strife.

All of these things come when we take our focus off of God and onto our situation.

Along with praise, God’s Word and prayer are also mighty to use in battling the enemy.

James 4:7 

“Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

One of the ways we submit to God is by worshiping Him.

One of the ways we resist the enemy is by proclaiming the Lord’s praises. God blesses us with His presence when we worship Him, and in His presence we are kept safe. This is ThanksLiving.

ThanksLiving is a lifestyle of gratitude.

ThanksLiving should be who we are 24/7.

ThanksLiving will propel you to your destiny and help you achieve what you were created for.

Prayer:

“Lord, I pray you would help me to live a life of ThanksLiving everyday, 24/7. I want to please Your heart and lift Your name on high with my words, thoughts, and actions. May my life of ThanksLiving draw all people to you as I know others look at me and are watching what I do. I thank You Lord for Who You are and I look to you daily for direction for every step I take in life. ~ Amen”

Blessings,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.HopeFellowshipSpokane.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

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Praise and Thanksgiving

We are celebrating 30 Days of Thanksgiving this month of November. It is a time to enjoy the blessings of God in our life and to express our praise and worship to God. It is a time of reflecting and appreciating all that God has given and done.

We should always be thankful and cultivate a thankful heart (as per last week’s message “Cultivating a Thankful Heart.”)

There is a powerful chapter in the book of Psalms that will help shed some light on our praise and thanksgiving we should offer.

Psa 100:1-5

(1)  A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

(2)  Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

(3)  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

(4)  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

(5)  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

These verses show how we are to enter into God’s presence. It helps us to see that we are to be joyful, glad, with singing. It helps us see that God is god and we are not. He is the one who made us. We are God’s people and the sheep of His pastures. He is our Shepherd. He is our high priest and we enter in to his presence with thanksgiving and praise. We are to bless the Lord with our words and actions. The Lord is good and we need to remind ourselves of His goodness.

We could sit on these verses and look at them individually, but I want to zero in on verse four.

Psalm 100:4

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”

Enter into His gates…

We are to enter into life and our relationship with God with thanksgiving. Coming with a thankful heart and offering the sacrifice of praise to Him. It is a privilege to come and worship God. It is an honor to have God in our lives. It’s an honor to know God.

In the Old Testament people were required to come to the temple and offer sacrifices for they sins. They brought their offering to the Priests and the priests would in turn offer their sacrifice to God for the people. Thank God we do not have to do that today because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice who willing went to the cross. That is why the veil was torn. We no longer needed a high priest to offer our sacrifice or petition to God like the priests did. Then, the priests would enter the Holy of holies on behalf of the people. Today, we can enter into God’s presence on our own because of what Christ did for us.

The word enter in the Hebrew means: “To go or come, abide, apply, or attain, be, bring, call, carry, come, depart, or employ” (Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries).

We are to come or employ ourselves into God’s presence with thanksgiving. We are to come and bow before God in worship.

Psalm 95:6

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.”

It is coming with a humble and thankful heart. Being thankful is the key to entering God’s presence that’s why Philippians states giving our requests to God “with thanksgiving.”

Php 4:6-7  (KJV)

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Emphasis added)

We are to magnify God with our Thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:30

“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Believe it or not the word “thanksgiving” is a form of worship. Thanksgiving in the original Hebrew means: “With extended hands, to revere in worship.”

Imagine every time you are thankful and expressing that to God you are actually worshipping Him! So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks.

Psalm 100:4

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”

The word “gates” refers to an outer perimeter of something that is on the inside. Gates in the Hebrew is translated “an opening, door, gate: city, door, gate, or port.”

When Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem he also rebuilt the gates too (Nehemiah 3:1 – 32) Some of the gates they repaired were: The Sheep Gate, The Fish Gate, The Old Gate, The Valley Gate, The Refuse Gate, The Fountain Gate, The Water Gate, the Horse Gate, The East Gate, and the Miphkad Gate. Each one of these gates had a meaning and were important to the overall walls of Jerusalem.

Gates signify the outer edge to enter into something more personal or intimate. It allows access. You have to enter through a gate so you can be in more of an intimate setting as you walk through the courts to go into the Holy Of Holies. The same is true when you “enter into His gates with thanksgiving.”  Again, Thanksgiving is the key in entering into God’s presence.

Whether with our families, in public, or in secret we come and give God praise and thanksgiving (worship). It is an honor and privilege to do this.

This verse in Psalms 100:4 refers to public worship. We are to join joyfully in public worship to God. Gates take you from one realm to another. They are there to help and guide you into something new, or something precious.

If you read a verse about a gate being left open this is often referring to being yielded or surrendered to God. It can also mean that the gates are open to receive new converts or people into the house of God, and it shows free access in and out with no hindrances.

Isaiah 60:11

“Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day or night, that men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, and their kings in procession.”

Isaiah 60:18

“Violence shall no longer be heard in your land. Neither wasting nor destruction within your borders; But you shall call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.”

God is constantly bringing peace into our borders and because we are His children He watches over our land.

Psalm 100:4

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”

“…and His courts with praise…” We are to enter God’s courts with praise. In His court is where He is. It is the beginning stages of truly going into the Holy of Holies in worship. The courts of the Lord can also be His house, or His church.

Psalm 84:2

“My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”

I don’t know about you but I long to be with God constantly everyday. When we give God praise and thanksgiving we are giving ourselves access through His gate to come and be with him in His courts.

Praise is a powerful weapon. Praising God can release any fear, anxiety, or insecurity we may have. There is power in Praise. Especially when we praise God in hard circumstances.

I can think of Kim, who just lost her Dad this week. I was talking to her on the phone the day her Dad went to heaven and shared; “We can praise God in this storm!” She said she thought of that song earlier that day and was doing just that.

Video:  “Praise You In This Storm”

I am thankful when it is sunny and when there is a storm. Praising God in the middle of a hardship is truly a sacrifice of praise. God is worthy when things are going good and when we struggle. Praising God gets our mind off of ourselves and onto the One who can calm us down. ~ Pastor Kris Belfils

We will become what we worship. The more we worship God, the more we become like Him.

The more we worship God the more we get to know Him. If you ever wanted to know God more, give Him praise! If ever you wanted to go deeper in God, worship and adore Him and He will take you farther than you have ever dreamed.

This is where I am right now. This is what I’m experiencing. I want more of Him so I worship Him. I am captivated by His presence. I just want to stay there. As I do, God imparts new revelations of Himself to me.

Every time we praise God for who He is and all that He has done, it unleashes His life-changing power in our lives.

Lets meditate on Psalm 100 during this Thanksgiving season and all year through.

Psa 100:1-5

(1)  A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

(2)  Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

(3)  Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

(4)  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

(5)  For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

God is the strength of our life and He is worthy of our praise and thanksgiving!

Your sister in Christ,

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.krisbelfils.wordpress.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com

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Cultivating A Thankful Heart

Eph. 5:20 

“Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Read Luke 17:11 – 19

Leprosy is a physically debilitating disease. You lose limbs and it deforms your body. Faces are unrecognizable. Often you lose fingers, hands, arms, and legs. It can affect your nerves and respiratory system too. Without proper treatment you will die from it. It is highly contagious and is easily transferred. That is why in the Bible, all lepers were ordered to stay outside the city to keep the rest of the population safe.

People were outcasts if they had leprosy. No interaction with their families or friends. The colony of lepers were their only social interaction.

How many of those ex-lepers do you think felt glad to be free from leprosy as they walked away from Jesus, completely healed of their incurable, disgusting, socially isolating disease? There’s no question about it—all ten did. But how many came back, threw themselves at Jesus’ feet, and thanked him, and was made whole by their gratitude?

Just one.

They all received the outward cure; only one received a spiritual blessing:  wholeness (verse 19).

Luke 17:19

“And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”

Just like the lepers we can receive a healing too, yet the one leper knew what it was like to be made whole.

The nine thought they were whole. At least they were not suffering like they use to. Their skin healed up, and I believe their deformities from the leprosy were also healed. Yet, the nine had no idea what it really was like to be totally and completely whole.

How can one be completely whole without the Master’s touch? We cannot. We cannot be whole on our own; we need a Savior to make us whole.

The one who came back to thank Jesus was thankful, humble, and broken all at the same time. He shouted praises to Jesus and fell on his face at Jesus’ feet. This was brokenness in action.

Leprosy is progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes.

Ten lepers were healed of leprosy, but only one was healed of spiritual leprosy. Why didn’t the others go back and show their thankfulness?

Was it because of…

►Pride?

►Self-centeredness?

Were they too self-centered wanting to go back to their families, their jobs, and their lives? How quickly they forgot the hardship they endured before their healing.

How simple it would have been to go and thank Jesus, the One who healed them of their disease and deformities.

Why did the one go back and thank Jesus?

►He was truly thankful and wanted to show his gratefulness.

►He recognized who Jesus was and he couldn’t help but show it outwardly

Do you think he knew he would be healed from his spiritual leprosy just by saying and showing his thankfulness? No, but what an awesome benefit for a thankful heart.

Cultivating a thankful heart is imperative to our spiritual life.

Another example is the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Mark 5:25 – 34

“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” 

She was an outcast by this time, as women, who were on their monthly, were sent out of the city for the week because they were considered “unclean.” She constantly bled. She constantly was unclean. She was an outcast, and I am sure was scorned by society. How do you think she felt? I believe she felt insecure. She felt she had no value or future. All her hope was gone. Yet she pressed in, through the crowd, and touched someone. This act alone was forbidden by anyone who was bleeding. She didn’t care. She went against society and the law to receive her healing. The woman was broken and fell at Jesus’ feet.

She also received an extra blessing of being made whole. I believe this was not only a physical healing, but an emotional and spiritual healing as well.

In these two examples, neither of them knew they needed to be spiritually whole; they just had a need to go to Jesus. Jesus is the only One who can make us whole. When He touches us we are healed. This alone should bring thankfulness out of your heart.

Cultivate a thankful heart

There are several steps in cultivating a thankful heart. Before we look at those steps, lets look at the word: “Cultivate” for a minute.

The word “cultivate” from the Dictionary means:

1. Prepare and use (land) for crops or gardening.

• break up (soil) in preparation for sowing or planting.

• raise or grow (plants), esp. on a large scale for commercial purposes.

• Biology grow or maintain (living cells or tissue) in culture.

2. Try to acquire or develop (a quality, sentiment, or skill): he cultivated an air of indifference.

• try to win the friendship or favor of (someone): it helps if you go out of your way to cultivate the local people.

•apply oneself to improving or developing (one’s mind or manners).

World English Dictionary

  1. To till and prepare (land or soil) for the growth of crops
  2. To plant, tend, harvest, or improve (plants) by labour and skill
  3. To break up (land or soil) with a cultivator or hoe
  4. To improve or foster (the mind, body, etc) as by study, education, or labour
  5. To give special attention to: to cultivate a friendship ; to cultivate a hobby
  6. To give or bring culture to (a person, society, etc); civilize

This shows us that we need to be constantly tilling and working our hearts to grow thankfulness. It doesn’t come naturally. We really are born selfish. We have to teach ourselves to share and be nice to others. To cultivate a thankful heart takes work, yet it should spring from deep within when it comes to being thankful for all God has done in our lives.

Steps to cultivate a thankful heart:

1. We have to focus on the good and not the bad. 

Far too often we humans only see the bad in our life. We have to open our eyes to the bigger picture. God has blessed us with many blessings. Even for the fact of you breathing is enough to be thankful for. Still there’s more! Take a look in your life. Refuse to look at all the bad. Take inventory of all the blessings and good. I know you can do this. Remind yourself of all the good: Family, home, food, vehicle, health, relationships, freedom, and so much more are reasons to be thankful.

Romans 1:21 (GW)

“They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness.” 

We have to praise and thank God for being who He is. It keeps our focus on the good and not the bad. This verse expresses that they didn’t praise and thank God but that their thoughts were pointless, misguided and plunged into darkness.

There is much good in your life if you would just choose to see it!

2.  We have to learn to praise God in the middle of the storm!

It is easy to be thankful when all is well in your world. Praise comes easily when you are on a spiritual high. It is when we walk in the middle of a storm, or a valley that our true character comes out.

Being thankful to God even when things are not so good shows a sign of maturity. We as adults know life has its ups and downs. We also know seasons change. Learn to be thankful in the winter as well as the summer season of your life.

Ecc. 3:1 (NKJV)

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Being thankful is not denying the circumstance, it is trusting God in the middle of the battle knowing He is with you and is always victorious!

~ Pastor Kris Belfils

3.  We have to look for ways to help or bless others.

Getting our focus off of ourselves and onto others is one of the best ways I have found to help me to be thankful. We can get so self-absorbed we can’t even see our neighbor is hurting. Helping others forces us to look away from ourselves. It immediately shows us we don’t have it so bad, as others may have a harder struggle then we do.

Being self-absorbed shows immaturity. We are not being like Jesus, who gave His very life for us. What if Jesus was self-absorbed, where would we be right now? Lost!

1 Peter 3:8  (GW)

“Finally, everyone must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble.”

John 13:34  (GNB)

“And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” 

4.  We have to open our hearts to receive from God.

When was the last time you allowed yourself to receive something from God? Why do we toil and struggle to figure things out on our own? Maybe it is because we feel we are not worthy? Maybe its human reasoning? Maybe it is pride?

John 3:16 (Amplified)

“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.”

It takes faith to receive this verse as truth! If you receive this verse, you have to receive the entire Bible and all that it says about you. God loves you with an everlasting love. You are deeply cherished.

Jer 31:3  

The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” 

Knowing we are deeply loved brings thankfulness. 24/7, 365 days a year is how much you are cherished and loved. God chose to create you! He chose to breath life into you! You are His favorite. Makes me giggle inside to think about that! It brings a sense of belonging and purpose. It brings a heart of thankfulness.

5.  We have to cultivate a thankful heart! 

There is always something in your life to be thankful for. Choose to focus on the good. Choose to praise and thank God even when the storms come.

Helping people and being compassionate is being like Jesus, and opening our hearts to receive from God daily will help us to grow in Christ and spread His love to others.

Being thankful is the only way to live. God has done so much for each of us. Let’s quickly give Him the thanks and praise He deserves.

Pastor Kris Belfils

www.krisbelfils.com

www.hopefellowshipspokane.com