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Matthew 14 tells us the story of Jesus walking on water. The disciples think he’s a ghost but Jesus calls out,  “Take courage! It is I, don’t be afraid.” Peter is the next one to speak. He demands that if it is Jesus that He should call out to Peter and tell him to come on the water. When Peter steps out of the boat he walks toward Jesus but when he looks at the wind and waves he becomes afraid and cries out for Jesus to help him.

The problem here is that Peter took his eyes off Christ and glimpsed at what was happening around him. This story hits hard in my life right now. Because Peter let one distraction get the best of him, fell into the water. Because of the internship, I work less and therefore don’t make as much money (obviously!). At first this took a huge toll on me mentally and physically! I would literally be sick because my bank account was low.

If we let the storms of life distract us from Jesus we will fall. I refused to let a number determine the quality of my every day life, and I don’t mean by what I spent money on, but how I feel and handled situations. I choose not to let money distract me from God’s purpose in my life. This is a season in my life where I need to learn to life with less, and budget better. Ill keep my eyes on the bigger picture and what God has for me.

The Bible teaches us to not to turn to the right or to the left Proverbs 4:25-27 tells us:

“Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil”

When Lot and his family was leaving Sodom and Gomorrah the Bible says that the Lord rained down burning sulfur on the city. In Genesis 19 Angles warned Lot and said to flea and run to the mountains! They also instructed them to not look back or stop or you will be destroyed! When they were leaving the city verse 26 says; ”but Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” Lots wife couldn’t help but take one more glance at the life she had, and in doing so, she died. Leave you past behind, because even things you’ve done or gone through can be a distraction.

One distraction can ruin our lives. I think it’s so important that we grasp the concept that just one action can have devastating repercussions. We need to walk lightly, life and breathe on purpose, and set an example of what Jesus looks like. People watch everything we do, If we become distracted, then were distracting them from Jesus. Live in such a way that when distractions try to arise we don’t even notice them because were focused on Jesus!

 Jesus was asked in Luke 3:18, “What is the kingdom of God like? His description follows in Luke 3:19, it’s like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden, it grows and becomes a tree and the birds make nests in the branches.  In Luke 17:6 Jesus also says “If you have faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, “may you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,” and it would obey you.  If we all could have that much faith in just one little mustard seed, can you imagine how much more we can grow within ourselves and what we could accomplish for God’s kingdom.  Once the tree is fully grown, it produces more seeds.  Every new seed it produces shows growth in your faith.  God represents the tree. It’s rooted, strong, beautiful, giving and produces air we breathe. We are the branches. We live off of the tree with the word of God.  The more faith we have the more fruit the tree will produce.  More fruit, more seeds, more souls for God’s kingdom.

God has given us many scriptures throughout the bible that indicates how much power we have through Christ Jesus.  But in order to call on this power and have God work through us, we must have Abraham’s kind of faith with no doubt and no confusion.  Faith is a substance that you have to believe for calling those things that are not as though they were.  For example:  Abraham had such strong faith that if God asked him to cut his sons head off, he would.   Abraham knew God would put a new head back on.

We all need to have the confidence and faith to call on him and know that what we ask of him and if its Gods will, it will come to pass.  It is impossible to please God without Faith.  With guidance from God, the Holy Spirit and with the faith of just one mustard seed, the possibilities are endless to bring the Lost to His kingdom.

These are a few issues that we personally step out in our lives by FAITH:

F – Family Protection

A – Ambitions

I – Income

T – Trust

H – Healing

Matthew 17:20
“You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible. ”

Matthew 21:22
     You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it.”

Hebrews 11:1

      Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Ephesians 3:12
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s                        presence.

Romans 4:16
So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

Romans 4:20
Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Galatians 3:14
Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.

“Without FAITH you have nothing.”

Honestly, I could not count how many times I wanted to make that left hand turn.  Driving down Hwy 111, I would think to myself, “Just drive by and see what it is like. Maybe, it will be like one you have attended in the past.”  It became a harassing thought in my head, JUST TURN LEFT!  As quickly as the thought entered my mind I would keep on driving. 

When the time came in my life that I knew I needed to get back into church, I did everything but turn left.  I spent my time making right hand turns, going straight and standing still.  Really, it took me two years to make the turn.  Time was running out, I was running out of excuses and when things are not getting any better, its best to try a new way of doing things. My way of thinking, my way of living was only creating more chaos and heartache.

The day came when I finally made that left hand turn and it brought me to Champion Life Church.  If I was God I am sure that I would have said, Yes, she did it! and started raising the roof with my hands. 

I’ll be honest, getting back into church was not easy.  In relationships, of any type, mistakes can happen.  Proverbs 26:11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.  This verse sounded a bit harsh when I first read it but after reflecting on it, I get it.  I felt that I could find God in my “own way” all of these years.  Turning right, standing still and really just running in circles.  At the end of the day, I was still as lost as when I woke up.  I would repent, feel a little warm and fuzzy inside and fall so easily into my old ways.  My folly’s of, falling back into hurtful relationships, unhealthy habits, and selfish-thinking.  We are human, we make mistakes, we brush ourselves off, and have hopefully learned to change the behavior.  For my change to occur,  I needed to be part of church family again.  I needed this family to gain the tools I was lacking and experience the Holy Sprit to have a renewed mind, a new way of living my life.     

After I had made the commitment to renew my walk with God three years ago, I was so excited about faith, God and everything that encompasses it.  But, as quickly as we are saved we can also fall victim to sin.  If we spend our time surrounded by sin, our flesh can help but fall into old patterns.  Yes, this may mean a change in friends, places we hangout, what we watch and what we are reading.  How can we expect to stop repeating ourselves if we do not change?

Romans 6:4 Because my old life was buried on the cross, I now live a new life in Christ.

Now I know it was that still small voice of the Holy Spirit inside of me trying to get me to make that Left hand turn to Champion Life Church.  It was my lack of understanding of the Holy Spirit that was allowing my flesh to squash anything the Holy Sprit was trying to guide me towards.  I didn’t know what it was like to be filled with the Holy Sprit.  What it would feel like to be able to breath and have the weight of the world released from my shoulders.

Galatians 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 

With ONE turn, and the rest is history.

 WHAT COULD HAPPENED WITH ONE WRONG THOUGHT

What could happen with one wrong thought one act of disobedience based on one wrong thought?  The thought that I can’t do this it is to hard why are you asking me to do this Lord, why me, why can’t you just do it for me?  The wrong thoughts that tell me I am not good enough,  that what God has done for other he won’t do for me because I don’t deserve it  who am I?  But the bible tells me that God is no respecter of persons.  The Word tells us that God Love’s us as much as He loves Jesus.   It also tells us that we should not be moved forever we should trust in and lean on the Lord , those who are righteous will be long remember They are confident and fearless  they can face their foes triumphantly.  Psalms 112:6-8. 

When I have a wrong thought, I am not seeing myself the way God sees me, the way the Word talks about me.  If allowed to grow and fester that one thought can take over my day, my week, my month, my year and in time my life.  But If I see myself the way God see me , as living proof of Christ in me with the Holy Spirit producing fruit in my life:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control there is no law against these thing Galatians 5: 22-23.  If I turn one wrong though or act of disobedience into one act of obedience then I will have the fruit of the Spirit.

What could happen with that one act of obedience to God?  One commitment to do what His words says one commitment to believe what is written about me in the Word of God.   Obedience to God is freedom to me.  Obedience to God is liberty to me.  Obedience to God is joy to me.  Obedience to God is prosperity to me.

So what does obedience to God look like?  Good question, for me it is based on something I heard Jeddah say at the Encounters class.  Anywhere, anytime, and, anything God asks of me just do it.  Sounds good but what does it really mean to me?  Well it means just that, when I am asked to serve, serve, when I am asked to give, give.  But it means to give and serve with love in my heart to do everything because I love God more then I love anything else.  When I operate and move in God’s kingdom I am in sync with His will.  I doesn’t mean I have no problems or that my life goes the way I always want it to, but it does mean I live and walk in peace, knowing that by doing God’s will His great plan for me in unfolding how exciting this is to me it fills me with such joy to know how much He loves me and I get excited.  Many a years ago when I was a new Christian I read an article that stuck with me.  It talked about how walking with Jesus is a lot like riding a bicycle on a winding road you go up, and you go down, and you may not see what is around the next corner, but what fun it is the wind in your face and joy in your heart.  That is what it is like for me when I am obedient to my Lord and that is my focus for the next year.  ANYWHERE, ANYTHING, AND ANYTIME.  BRING IT ON LORD I AM YOURS TO COMMAND. 

I therefore do not fling away my fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward.  I have and need steadfast patience and endurance that I may perform and fully accomplish the will of God and receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is promised in the Word of God.   Hebrews 10:35-39 AMP

I only speak God’s words I bind them in my heat and in my mind Deuteronomy 6:9

My God it alert and active watching over his Word to perform it Jeremiah 1:12

Joy for Mourning                                                            

Isaiah 61:2-3

…” To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness..”

I had a Grama that I was very close to.  We were close all my hears growing up, and when our daughter was a year old, she came to live with us.  The 4-1/2 years she lived with us is one of my favorite seasons of life.  We were a help to one another, we were loving life, and we just plain had fun together!   I can remember one time, the mere thought of even trying to imagine what life would be like without her made me burst out in tears in front of her!  That thought was overwhelming to me, and yet I knew of course that “one day” I would face that.

She was 74 years old when suddenly one day she was dizzy.  Only a few weeks after the dizziness began, we were told she had a brain tumor.  16 days later she passed.  It was such a shock.  She literally went from being absolutely “fine” to “gone” in a matter of a few weeks. 

At first I was just in shock, feeling like I was in a dream state.  Life in slow motion and almost like watching life from the outside somehow.  But as that began to fade, I entered into a pain I had never felt before.  Deep grief set in and I didn’t know how I was ever going to crawl out.  In my MIND I knew people suffered loss and overcame it, but at the time, I couldn’t see how.

I remember crying out to God. I remember praying the Psalms for myself, reading thru David’s grief and relating to his pain.  I knew I needed all of God I could get and I needed Him in a way I never had Him before, if I was ever going to crawl out of the grief. I cried a lot, but let me tell you what else I did:  I went “all in” with God at a level I had never gone.  I gave him permission to do whatever He had to do in me, and to take from me whatever He had to take from me, to get me to a place where I could cope. I knew that nothing I “had” in my life was filling me enough to take that grief.  For me, it was my fork in the road.  I didn’t care what it took, I had to get out. 

And then one day, I will never forget .. I can remember feeling this joy come up, like bubbling up from the inside of me.  It wasn’t “peace”, although I felt peaceful.  It was different.   I knew what it was like to go from fear to peace, but I had never gone from mourning to joy.  I can even remember the first moment I felt it.  I was driving in the car, looking at the beautiful mountains that surround our desert.  I had joy, in the midst of the pain.  Strange feeling!  But so real.  I had JOY and I latched on to it!  And I would never ever be the same.

 As far as what God “took” from me, as I gave Him permission and went all in: He took guilt.  He took complacency.  He took compromise.  He took addiction to smoking and alcohol.  He took it all.  And then gave me total freedom in exchange.  Oh how I love our God .. who really DID come to console us when we mourn, to give us joy when we are mourning, causing us to praise as He takes off that spirit of heaviness!

“What can happen with ONE wrong thought”

Philippians 4:8 ”…Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

As a pre-teen in a prominent private school, I put pressure on myself to excel.  From school to church to various extracurricular activities, I wanted to be great at everything.  What kid doesn’t?  But the more pressure I felt, the more I believed this wrong thought – “I’m not good enough.” I was constantly comparing myself to other people or to the world’s standard for “good enough”.  Yes, maybe I got a 93 on a paper but it wasn’t the 97 so-and-so got.  How come?  What’s wrong with me? Or I would see a magazine cover or a commercial and think, “I’m not good enough.” 

Because I let this one wrong thought resonate over and over in my mind, it soon became my truth.   I wasn’t good enough…

To make the grade

To get that guy

To be like her

To make that team

 This one thought then led to many other self-defeating thoughts… 

 I’m not pretty enough

I’m not smart enough

I’m not funny enough

I’m not talented enough

I’m not athletic enough

I’m not…I’m not…I’m not…

This negative thought life took me down a dark path of insecurity, anxiety, and fear which led to many bad decisions including putting myself in compromising situations, suffering from an eating disorder, and marrying a man I knew I shouldn’t.  But even at my worst, God was still with me.  I came to a point where I had nothing left but Him and in the midst of a seemingly insurmountable situation God began to remind me of who’s I am, why He made me and how special I am to Him, just as I am.  I began to renew my thinking to line up with God’s word and nothing else!   It wasn’t easy and yes, the enemy would still try to creep in, but I would promptly stop and remind myself what God’s Word says about me.  I learned the truth about myself that no one can ever take away.  Whenever I find myself starting to think self-defeating thoughts, I quickly turn my thoughts to God’s Word and stand on the truth that is found in Him.

Psalm 139:23

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Psalm 94:19
When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Psalm 84:5

What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

John 14:27
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

Romans 8:6
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

1 Corinthians 2:16
For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

 Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

 Ephesians 3:20
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,

 Proverbs 23:7
For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

 Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 Psalm 92:5
How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!

What does being generous really mean to you?  In society we may have been taught that being generous is a positive act to provide to those whom are less fortunate then us but make sure you take your piece of the pie first before sharing it with others. 

In Church, we give through tithes and offering but is that it?  Generosity, is marked by an abundance but what if we do not have abundance in our life?  This question used to frustrate me to no end.  I have a desire in my heart to give more then I am able to give.  Lord, I am barley-making ends meet how can I possibly give more?  My answer was to stop thinking of my abundance to be generous in a fiscal sense. 

My desire was to be more generous.  The way that I found I could fulfill this desire was to be generous with what I had an abundance of and that was TIME.  I am fortunate that my career allows me to only have to work a couple of day’s a week.  My abundance was giving me a lot of time that was not being spent with purpose.  Unsure of just how I could begin using my time to serve at Champion Life Church I started talking with the leaders to get some ideas.  Translation: My life needed to be about HIS business and not about mine.

Maybe the abundance in your life is not financial but their is a gifting inside of you.  Don’t get me wrong, I think being able to sing like Beyonce or Preach like our Pastors would be an amazing gifting to have but it is not about having other people gifts.  Serving is not a competition.  It’s about being obedient to what the words say’s and discovering your gift and using it for his business, in his house.  When that gift is working for the house, for God’s business the blessings will become more abundant then ever imagined.   

Its not about what you have, it is about what you do with what you have.  Don’t ever feel that the gifting or abundance in your life is too small to be significant. The more you give cheerfully and of your abundance the more prosperous you will become.

I cast ALL my cares, worries and anxieties upon the Lord.  He is the strength of my life.   

I will walk by faith and not by sight. I am lead by the Spirit.  I will trust the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding.

I have the mind of Christ. I will make good decisions, think the right thoughts and say words that build up me and those around me.

No weapon formed against me will prosper.  I am more than a conqueror. God has made me the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. I am blessed when I go in and blessed when I come out.

I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I am a child of God; a joint heir with Christ. 

My husband and children are blessings and gifts from God. We walk in health, wisdom, favor, protection, and supernatural supply. God’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding build our home.

I know that my God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I could ask or imagine because of the power that works in me. I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. All things are possible with God. 

I trust God with my whole life and commit to live today for His purpose and glory.