Jesus IS THE ANSWER

2Co 10:4-5 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds ;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

What is your natural response when things go bad in your life?  What spirit do you allow to overtake you in times of pain, difficulty, or impossibility? Do you sing and pray to Him in the midnight hour as Paul did, or moan and groan and give the enemy the victory?  Do you run away from the problems and try to find someone to blame for what you are going through, or do you run to God and fall down to your knees and worship Him giving thanks for another opportunity for Him to be glorified? Is your heart at peace knowing that God is in control, and that somehow, some way He is going to work it out?  Or is your situation you’re in the foremost on your mind that you can’t even see Jesus?    Stop right now and check what is in your mind and in your thoughts, because no matter what you are going through, I want you to know that Jesus is the answer to it all. 

It seems backwards somehow, but the best way to make things better when you are facing difficult times is to worship and praise the Lord. It is so easy when we are going through trials, or even if something from our past is haunting us, to get the focused on the problem, and not on the Answer. The last thing our flesh wants to do when things are bad is to thank God, yet the word tells us to give thanks.

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1Th 5:18 

We forget that God needs to be our focus.  We forget that God IS the Answer to the problem we are facing. We think we know this yet how easy is it for the enemy to deceive us or to get control of our thoughts?  We forgot to take captive our thoughts, and we focused on the situation that should have been left in God's Hands.  We took our eyes off the Word of God, and somehow allowed our circumstances to take control of our thoughts and become our focus once more.  

God never intended for the trial that you are going through to destroy you. He intends for this very situation that you are facing right now to bring you closer to Him, not farther away. He wants you to be anxious about nothing.  He wants you to take your complete situation to Him in prayer, placing it at His feet in absolute confidence that He Is THE Answer and fully capable of taking care of it for you.  When you do this, in exchange, He will give you His Peace that surpasses all understanding!  (Philippians 4:6-7)  God is the Answer!!!

 

There are times while waiting to hear from the Lord that your hopes and dreams seemed to have turned into a prison.  You can’t make your dreams come true, and something so deep inside of you won’t let you stop believing in them.  You can’t go forward any faster than God will let you, and you can’t return to where you once were, because there is nothing there for you anymore.  Do you know why? God won’t let you give up!  It’s during this waiting time you feel like saying “I don't want to hope anymore!  I am tired of being pregnant with this promise! You begin to say - as Elijah did, "God, this is enough, let me die!  

1Ki 19:4  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

But no matter how much you want to give up, you can’t. Your love for the Lord is too deep, and you couldn’t give up if you wanted to.  Oh yes, you may feel like it because the conflict between what you feel in the Spirit and what is happing in the natural doesn’t make sense.  You feel much like you are on a Ferris wheel.  You’re up one minute, then down the next. You have your up times when you can see your dream's fulfillment far into the future, but you also have your down time when you cannot see or feel anything.  You think to yourself, "How long must I wait Lord?” “Will this ever come to pass?” or “Am I crazy to think that God could use me?"  

The enemy comes in like a flood and you begin to doubt, causing anguish to your soul.  You may not believe me, but this is the time when God is doing His greatest work in you.  When you are barely holding on, when you are at your weakest moment, when you are so far down that getting up means opening your eyes. Remember when we used to put medicine or ointment on, and if we didn’t feel
it burning it wasn’t working?  Well let me tell you this…when you’re hurting, God is working.

That hurting, that waiting, my friend, is our "valley season". Oh how hard it can seem to be! Nothing is happening.  Day after day you wait.  It seems everyone is progressing but you.  But the good news is, God is not a liar.  What He has promised you will come to pass.  God is so serious about His promises He has made to you, that He swore! Yes, that's right God swore. He swore that His word is the Truth, and that His word will manifest in your life, and will not return to Him void.

Hebrews 6:13 "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could SWEAR by no one greater, He SWORE, by Himself."

It doesn’t matter if you can’t see how He is going to do it. Faith isn’t just believing that He can, it’s knowing that He will. You just have to know that what you know, you know.  He may put people into your path to help you. He may just simply turn the situation around for your good. But rest in knowing that His word will come to pass.  But, you may be required to wait.  Are you willing to wait for His promises?  He waited for you.

Is 50:4 That I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary.

So you say if only you can hear from the Lord. God knows exactly where you are and He knows exactly when you need a "word" from Him. He may not speak a “word” to you when you think He should.  But God knows exactly who is weary.  He knows exactly when to speak a word to His people. He never leaves us without a word that will feed us and sustain us.   He will send you the Word when you need it most.  No matter what you are doing or going through, He will get His word through to you… For God is the answer.

You must remember no one can just live on the “mountain top” all the times.  There will be times that He requires us to “go through the valley". Without going through the "valley" there is no growth. You can't just have harvest all the time.  After you have reaped your harvest, there must be more planting, and/or preparation time so there can be another harvest.  And during the times of preparation, there is much pruning that needs to be done. 

God wants you to be encouraged during your “valley” times, and your pruning experiences.  These “times” are necessary for the next harvest in your life.  Many of you are in that spot right now, waiting for your harvest to come in. Your heart has been aching and crying out to God to see your dreams, visions, and prophecies come to pass. You are ready to see words that were spoken over you to begin to manifest.  Hold on and walk on through the valley.  Keep watering what you have planted with the Word of God and watch your harvest come in.

All of your labors have not been in vain, God has seen every seed sown, and every labor you have made.  God saw every time you got up in the midnight hour to pray, every morning when you fought sleep to get out of your bed and seek His face.  No, God has not forgotten your labor of love.  You can’t give up now, your blessing is on the way.

Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name,

I hear the Spirit of the Lord saying that you have done well, and that He is pleased with you, keep your heart and mind set in Him, confident of reaping His promises for your life AND DON’T GIVE UP BEFORE YOUR MIRACLE.  Do not give up before your "harvest comes in”.  Stay the course He has given you, stay in His word. Don't let go of it or allow yourself to become discouraged before your miracle, before your harvest, before your releasing!  Those are only tactics of the enemy to kill your harvest.   Make His word the ultimate authority in your life and settle for nothing less! ULTIMATE HARVEST IS ASSURED!  Jesus is the Answer!

Galatians 6:9 So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. 

Now I want you to see yourself wrapping up every problem that plagues you, binding them up in the name of Jesus.  I want you to actually visualize the name of Jesus wrapping around the situation, over and over until all you can see is the name of Jesus.  Come on now I know we all know how to visualize. It’s important that you do this; it’s your way of letting the enemy know he doesn’t have the victory in your life. Then release them unto Jesus, and while we’ve cast our burdens upon Him, we need to turn our eyes away from the situation and lift them up to Jesus.  Lift your eyes unto the hill from whence cometh your help. Then begin to praise and worship Him for Who He Is, for what He is doing in your life right now. He is more than worthy to be praised.

Then I want you to walk away knowing that you have laid down your burdens in the hands of the only One that can fix them. That’s right turn your back on the enemy and don’t look back. You are now facing the Lord and you will trust the Lord to handle that which you could not. You will draw closer to Him by showing Him that no matter what happens you know that He is the Answer.  No matter what the enemy tries to tell us, we will rest in knowing that He is the Answer.  If we can get this deep within our spirit the enemy will flee from us every time.

Now every time that you feel that situation, be it personal, business, or whatever come into your mind, take control of those thoughts, take them captive with name of Jesus and remember Jesus IS the Answer!

Do You Feel There is No Hope

In your times of deep despair,
Do you feel there is no hope?
As the darkness closes in on you,
Do you feel you cannot cope?

As you struggle on through every trial,
Do you say "When will it end"?
As you cry yourself to sleep at night,
Do you wish you had a friend?

When your body's racked with aches and pains,
Do you feel you are alone?
When you think about the future,
Do you fear the great unknown?

There is someone who really cares,
And He hears your every cry.
His arms are reaching out to you,
And on Him you can rely.

When things close in around you,
He sees your fear and doubt -
He wants to hold you in His arms,
And He will never cast you out.

As you stumble through the darkness,
He will be your guiding light.
He wants to wipe away your tears,
For you are precious in His sight.

Reach out right now to Jesus,
And let Him take complete control -
He'll take that heavy burden,
And He'll touch and make you whole

He's reaching out His arms to you,
And He wants to be your friend.
Let Him take you in His loving arms,
For His love will never end.

GIVE THANKS IN TRIALS
From Minister Lise

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1Thess. 5:16-18

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God. Give thanks when you are going through struggles, knowing that struggles produce patient endurance. Understand that I am at work behind the scenes. I am at work to give you the desires of your heart. I am at work to whittle away at rough edges in your life. So be patient when trials hit and understand that with each test you are developing faith in God.

Do not be impatient, but with patience look to the outcome. I will never allow more than what you are able to handle, but I will always make a way whereby you shall grow and mature in your faith. In essence, each trial is a stepping stone to greater faith.

Do not believe the enemy when he comes like a roaring lion to devour you. Do not back down to his schemes, nor be intimidated by his viciousness. He is unable to make you fall, for I have posted my angels round about you and my banner is over you.

You have heard of impending judgment, of storms ahead, but understand that the fiery trials are to perfect your faith. Instead of taking for granted the goodness of your God, you will grow into a deeper awareness of My presence in and with you. You will begin to see great resolve emerging in your life. Trials and testings will only prompt you into praise and prayer once you understand the purpose for them in your life, once you can look above the circumstance and see what I am doing in it.

So do not be afraid when trials of all sorts come, but embrace them, and give thanks to your Heavenly Father who is working on your behalf to produce fruit in your life that will last.

IT’S IN THE VALLEY I GROW
Jane Eggleston

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
 Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
 It's then I have to remember
 That it's in the valleys I grow.

 If I always stayed on the mountain top
 And never experienced pain,
 I would never appreciate God's love
 And would be living in vain.

 I have so much to learn
 And my growth is very slow,
 Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
 But it's in the valleys I grow.

 I do not always understand
 Why things happen as they do,
 But I am very sure of one thing.
 My Lord will see me through.

 My little valleys are nothing
 When I picture Christ on the cross
 He went through the valley of death;
 His victory was Satan's loss.

 Forgive me Lord, for complaining
 When I'm feeing so very low.
 Just give me a gentle reminder
 That it's in the valleys I grow.

 Continue to strengthen me, Lord
 And use my life each day
 To share your love with others
 And help them find their way.

 Thank you for valleys, Lord
 For this one thing I know
 The mountain tops are glorious
 But it's in the valleys I grow!

Contributors to this newsletter:
THE HOLY SPIRIT
Dana Ahern – Editing

And all of your prayers and words of encouragement