believing god

Acknowledge God

Success Keys
Trust in the Lord
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Last year my great-aunt went home to the Lord at the age of 103. I considered her the bedrock of our family and a strong woman. I admired her love and faith in the Lord. She always had a word of encouragement to give and for sure she would always direct you the word of God. Proverbs 3: 5-6 was one scripture embedded in our minds because Aunt Manie would always quote it to you.

Looking back I realized that her words and her life have influenced me in my Christian walk a great deal. I have held to these words and even more so when life is extra challenging.

God wants us to acknowledge Him in all our ways. Yes, God wants us to seek His will in all we do. In every move we make, in every step we take, in every decision, in every thought, in every word, in every act – the Lord wants us to recognize His sovereignty over us and seek Him to direct us. He desires us to involve Him in every aspect of our lives – in all we do, our daily activities, and our plans. No aspect of our lives must be left to us alone.

As much as this scripture is so well-known and for us in this family we have probably heard it more than others, it is often taken lightly. We need to make sure that God is the central point of our focus. I may have said this before but if we expect to see daily success in our lives we need to know how to acknowledge God in all we do.

Daily connection through prayer: We need to rise up early and seek Him. Tell God your plans for the day, the week, the month, the year and beyond. He can handle it. Ask Him to show you the best way to go about living a life that pleases Him. Ask for His anointing to do the insurmountable things that he has called you do. Also seek His anointing to carry out your day-to-day responsibilities in your roles as parent, employer, employee, business owner, sibling, child or any task you do.

Let the Word be your guide: The Bible is your life’s compass. God designed His word to answer the simple as well as difficult questions of life. It is your navigator whether the seas of life are calm or there are storms raging. It will tell you what to do. Follow its instruction and you will succeed in whatever you do (Joshua 1: 7-8).

Seek Godly counsel: Our aunt was a woman of wisdom and at times she would have a word of encouragement or express the unexpected but timely advise you really needed to hear. Scripture tells us that there is safety in counsel of many. Through Godly relationships and the teachings we receive in our various congregations we can receive the wisdom we need to triumph through life’s challenges. When we see believe God’s word spoken through others, God will give us success (2 Chronicles 20:20).

Trust God completely: Consider your wisdom as nothing (Proverbs 3:7). Do whatever God says whether you like it or not (Ananias was not keen about meeting Saul). Do whatever God says whether it makes sense or not (Joshua walked around the Jericho’s wall in silence at God’s direction). My Aunt Manie still trusted God even after her legs were amputated. She still prayed, went to church when she could, didn’t complain, became more of an encourager to the family and others and still worshiped God every day and had the most positive outlook on life.

Seeking God’s will in all you do isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do but do it anyway. We can reap every day success if we rely on our Creator God to show us how.

Do you seek Him in everything you do?

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Think Prosperously

Thinking Success

God's plan to prosper you

What kind of thoughts normally enter into your mind? Are they good or bad? When someone compliments you, do you counter it with words like, “Really, I don’t think so,” or “That’s nice to say but I am not really like that.”? When you are pursuing your goals do you often think that you are going to fail?

Prevailing negative, demeaning, limiting, unhealthy and sinful thoughts have a way of entering into our minds quite easily:

The world system: We are bombarded daily with negativity via television, radio, newspapers, internet, organizations and people.

Our sinful nature: We have an uncanny yet natural tendency to think and act negatively too. Even when we have accepted Christ our negative thoughts and ways can continue to prevail unless we constantly renew our minds.

Our immediate environment: Have you realized that when you were younger, you believed you could do anything and actually did most of the time? But as you grew into adulthood, your mindset shifted. Our family, friends, work colleagues and other people have shaped our belief system. The sad thing is we have learned from most of them to simply let life happen and don’t seek to change. Or someone told us not dream too big or try too hard at anything because they don’t want us to get disappointed if we fail.

The reality is this; we kill our dreams within before we even get started. We believe more in lie that in truth. We think we will fail more than succeed. We expect to struggle and not to prosper. But the truth is God wants the best for us. Recently, the Lord really impressed on my heart to diligently counter every negative thought of frustration, setback, failure, and lack with His Word. His Word is filled with promises of positive outcomes, success, prosperity, abundance, good health, strong families, great relationships and more. Regardless of the negativity around us, God actively works to bring everything in alignment to His will and for our benefit (Gen. 50:20). As a child of God, your focus should be on succeeding or prospering in whatever you are doing.

A few weeks ago, I was sharing with a friend about my book and the effort I need to put into marketing and promoting this work. As I was outlining the industry suggested time lines to begin seeing a certain level of success with the book, she stopped me in my tracks. She reminded me that although it is good to learn the market and how it works, I must view this all from God’s perspective. I should do the work and trust God to prosper what I am doing. I should always put God in the midst of everything I am doing to have good success.

Psalm 1:1-3 says that if we don’t do evil but find or have pleasure in God and His word, He will make us prosperous in what we do. He will bring our work to maturity or cause it to be successful. Other scriptures like Joshua 1:8, Jeremiah 29:11, 3 John 1:2 remind us to connect with God, know His word intimately (eat, drink and sleep His word), live out loud His word and He will cause our lives to prosper.

God’s Word says you can succeed in life but do you believe this truth? You can say all the right words. You can do all the right things. But what you believe determines what you will achieve and receive. Remember, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Furthermore, God blesses you based on and above what you ask or think.

Therefore approach everything you do believing that God will help you to succeed. Rearrange your thoughts to accept that whatever you do shall prosper. Think prosperously.

How do you counter thoughts of failure? What helps you to keep thinking in line with God’s good will for you?

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10 Ways to Move Forward in the New Year

Success Habits, Success Keys, Success Traits
2013
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I like this time of year. Yes, it is filled with much excitement. However, I also like it because it’s an opportunity to start afresh. The New Year is a new season, a new beginning. It’s a time to keep moving forward but with renewed hope and energy.

As I look back on the year it was indeed for me a Year of New Beginnings. The Lord helped me to make some new and wonderful starts in my life. I started a new job, began a blog, purchased a much-needed vehicle, worked hard at completing the writing, editing, and interior and cover design for my new book and published the e-book in December. I achieved more than I expected but frankly it was all that I desired.

As I reflect on last yer there were some habits I developed and things I did which I will continue to do in this year. I hope that by sharing these you too will adopt one or two of them to help you through this year:

  1. Step out in faith. Do that thing you have always wanted to but didn’t because you were afraid that it won’t work or that people would laugh at you. Whatever was holding you back don’t let it anymore. Faith requires corresponding action.
  2. Start and continue with prayer. Try to keep a visual of your yearly goals (in short form) in your Bible, on your cell phone, on your computer desktop or even on your fridge door. At church the Senior Pastor challenges us to write our goals and to present them before the Lord even before the New Year begins. With those goals in hand, throughout the year, as you work at them you would also pray about them. What goals would you like to accomplish this year?
  3. Put fasting in the mix. It’s a good practice spend some time at the beginning of the year before the Lord. Although I normally spend time in January reading through the Bible, in 2012 I added fasting. I felt that I needed to know the heart of God concerning many areas of my life.  Prayer along with fasting helped me to focus more on the Lord’s will for my life.
  4. Keep working steadily. It takes discipline and diligence to keep working toward your goals. Sure, we are not perfect and we may at times fall off track but we have to get back up and start moving again. Revive yourself if you have slackened your pace and start again.
  5. Trust God to help you. Don’t rely on your strength. I like Isaiah 41:10. God promises to help me and strengthen me. I need that reminder very often. Sometimes we can get discouraged and become afraid of those things that are seemingly bigger than us, we need to remember that God is with us and will help us. Not only that He will sustain us and give us success.
  6. Take short breaks. Refresh yourself. I am always on the go and sometimes find myself too exhausted. I have experienced the benefits of taking short breaks – sometimes just 15 minutes during the day is enough to recharge me.
  7. Don’t beat yourself up. If you don’t accomplish the goal when, where and how you want to, make adjustments and keep moving forward to your goal. Tell yourself that you can make it instead of being hard on yourself.
  8. Ask God for favor. You need His goodness all the time and you need others to show kindness to you too. It starts with asking God to touch the hearts of others to help you in your daily activities.
  9. Make adjustments. I can’t begin to mention how many times I changed my timeline for publishing my first book. With family commitments, other responsibilities and the unexpected events of life, I had to make changes along the way but still I was able to achieve what I wanted. Changing course does not mean giving up. A traffic diversion does not mean you won’t reach your intended destination.
  10. Give thanks along the way. Sometimes we can get caught up in the busyness of life and forget to honor God with thanksgiving. As I mentioned in an earlier post, create seasons throughout the year to review and celebrate where you are, where you’ve been and where you are going. Pause (Selah) and think about how God has helped you and give Him thanks for His blessings.

I plan to continue using these habits and principles during this year. I hope you will too. This year, keep moving forward. Challenge yourself and set goals that take you outside of the box.  Expect the goodness and mercies of the Lord to follow you and overtake you.

This year may the blessings of the Lord increase in your life and His goodness be more real to you. Happy New Year!

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5 Qualities of a Different Spirit

22 Comments / Success Traits

But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

—Numbers 14:24 (NKJV)

What kind of spirit do you have? Would God say that you have a different spirit to other people? Would your family say that you have a good spirit?

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God described Caleb as one who had a different spirit. He was compared his character to the ten men who went with Joshua and Caleb to spy out the Promised Land. Other translations interpret the words “different spirit” as different attitude (NLT, GW) or another spirit (KJV). Whichever way you look at it, Caleb and Joshua because of this spirit or attitude they had were able to receive the promise of God.

In Numbers 13 and 14, we can learn from Joshua’s and Caleb’s actions what it means to have a different spirit. Some of the qualities they expressed were:

A Conquering Attitude – These two were courageous warriors. They were willing and ready to fight.

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”    Numbers 13:30

A Positive Outlook – Caleb and Joshua saw the possibilities or the opportunities that were ahead of them instead of focusing on the negative.

“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.”  —Numbers 14:6-7

Faith in God – They had complete trust in God to help them succeed. They believed God would do as He had promised.

“If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’”        —Numbers 14:8

An Awareness of God’s Presence – Joshua and Caleb knew that the Lord was with them and therefore consider their enemies as already defeated. They recognized that with the presence of God any battle was already won.

“Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.”              —Numbers 14:9

Wholeheartedly Serve the Lord – An attitude or a spirit such as theirs comes with this very important quality (Numbers 14:24). No measure of success can be gained without this attribute. It is on account of their different spirit and their full service to God that both Joshua and Caleb not only survived 40 years of wandering in the wilderness but received their inheritance in the Promised Land (Joshua 14:6-15).

The spirit of Joshua and Caleb wasn’t negative in any way. They weren’t fearful of their enemies. They didn’t speak negatively and transfer the spirit of fear to the people of Israel. Instead they spoke with confidence and tried to encourage others not to fear but to believe they could make it with God’s help. What an attitude!

Their attitude is one to imitate if we want to receive the promises that God has for us. If we want to succeed in our Christian walk and experience God’s best then we must work on our attitude.

We must ask God to impart such a spirit in us. This type of spirit has staying power to make it through the tough times. When we carry what God called a different spirit in us, we are likely to overcome all and live victoriously.

Aim for a different spirit.

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10 Essentials of Effective Prayer

3 Comments / Spiritual Success

And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly].Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him. For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].

—Mark 11: 21-24 (AMP)

Prayer
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Prayer is simple. It’s a conversation between us and our heavenly Father. Although prayer takes discipline, God wants us to enjoy the moments we spend with Him and to receive His blessings.

 

Sometimes when we pray and we don’t receive God’s response we often get frustrated and give up. However if we want to see success in our spiritual walk and receive answers to our long-desired requests we need to keep some basics in mind.

Praise God          —Matthew 6:9

I once heard someone said that when you don’t know where to start, begin by praising God. Attributing praise to God draws us closer to Him and He comes near to us because of our worship. Acknowledge Him as your God and your Father who is the most High God – great, mighty, gracious, loving and a lot more wonderful.

Ask the Father in Jesus’ Name   —John 16:23-24

Direct you prayer to the Father through the Son. Jesus said that the Father will do whatever we ask in His name. It’s so simple, “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Be Persistent     —Luke 18:1-8

Keep asking until you receive an answer from God concerning your matter. I understand, I’ve experienced for myself, some requests seem to take long but at the right time the answer comes. Please, don’t give up. Keep praying and don’t let go until God blesses you.

Don’t be Selfish               — James 4:3

This may sound strange but check the motive behind your asking. Yes, you have needs and desires but is your asking only beneficial to you all the time? Do you consider others when you are praying? Sometimes our prayers can be selfish, “Lord I want this and that and that.” We look out our own and not for others. Jesus expects us to pray for others too. Consider the needs of others.

Have a Pure Heart           —Mark 11:25-26

Hidden sin such as unforgiveness, bitterness, unresolved conflicts, hate, hurt, etc. can keep us from receiving answers to our prayers. As Psalm 66:18 says, the Lord will not hear us. If the Lord does not respond to our prayers then no blessing will come. Jesus said if we have issues with someone, while we are praying forgive them. Forgiving others benefits us because we receive forgiveness from God. Therefore, set your heart to forgive and receive God’s best.

Don’t Worry       —Phil. 4:6-7

This scripture deeply resonate in me. It is a constant reminder that nothing in my life should cause me to be anxious. True prayer brings inner peace. It does not mean that we see immediate results but we have God’s peace protecting our thoughts and our hearts from constant worry. When we pray the effect on us should be an inner confidence in God’s ability to help us.

Don’t Doubt God             —James 1:6-8

Doubt – regular instances of negative thinking – contradicts your prayer. Doubt will result in unanswered prayer. If you are uncertain about what you want God to do, how can you expect a definitive response to your prayers? Like the father who had some doubts that Jesus could heal his child, ask God to remove any doubt from your heart.

Have Faith in God           —Mark 11: 21-24

Believe you have what you asked for. Believe that God exist and that He is willing to bless you (Heb. 11:6). As Almighty as God is, God will only do through us and for us what we believe. The success of our prayers is dependent on what we believe God can do. Faith in God leads to salvation, victory, success, provision, healing, and so much more.

Think & Ask the Same Things     —Ephesians 3:20

This may seem like a repetition of the above but we need to align our thoughts with our prayers. If there is any contradiction between the two then we are hindering the answers we need. What we think works with what we say. Therefore we must be careful about what we say not only in prayer but in our day-to-day conversation. We must also what keep renewing our minds in Christ so what we are thinking is brought in line with His will.

Seek God First  —Matt. 6:33

The best solution to answered prayer is to seek after God first. Make Jesus, His kingdom and His will your priority. It’s not like God doesn’t know what His children need or want. He certainly does but He desires a relationship with you too. Let your first priority of prayer be fellowship with the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.

I hope that as you reflect on these points, you will ask your Father God to help you draw closer to Him. Prayer is not only about asking for what you need or want but it’s about building a relationship with your Creator, the Most High God. What a blessing we have to be able to connect to this great and awesome God!

What do you do to help you prayer more effectively?

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How to Keep Your Dreams Alive

2 Comments / Spiritual Success, Success Keys

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” (Genesis 22:15-18, NKJV)

Stars in the night
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We all have dreams. We have the desire to either accomplish different goals for ourselves or we carry within us promises that God has given to us. Sometimes we are able to keep carrying those dreams until their fruition. At other times, these dreams or promises we have may seem so long in coming that we give up before they become reality. On the journey we tend to lose sight of our vision, get weary, and stop moving forward.

Our Heavenly Father, knowing our human nature so well, understood the importance of giving us visions. He knew that to keep our faith alive and keep us forging ahead towards His promises and the God-assignments we have, He would need to create pictures for us. God used picturing (visualization) to help His children believe in His word and receive His promises.

God promised Abraham, when he was childless and too old to father a child, that he would be the father of many nations. God used pictures like the dust of the earth, the sand of the seashore and the stars in the heavens show to him how many descendants he would have. God also had Abraham confess His word. How? Every time he said, “My name is Abraham”, he was speaking God’s truth about himself – that he is a father of many nations. Along with his confession, the people in Abraham’s life participated in keeping this vision alive when they called Abraham by his new God-given name. They were not just calling his name but they were agreeing with God: “Abraham you are the father of many nations.”

Picture this. You are walking in the seashore in the early morning and you feel the grains of the sand under your feet. You pick up a handful and attempt to count each of them only to lose many through the cracks of your hands. You quickly realize that it’s impossible to count them. Imagine a promise from God like that to Abraham. You can’t help be in awe of God. To keep this promise alive, I believe Abraham took time out to feel that sand under his feet and in his hands. What promises of God do you need to keep visually before you so that your faith would stay alive?

Consider this too. At night you go out to your patio or you look through you window at the stars. It’s such a clear night so you decide to go for a walk. As you gaze into the sky you pause to see how many stars you can count but it’s just not possible to count them all. You remember God’s promise and in awe you worship and praise Him for the wonderful works of His hands and the blessings He has given. Abraham had a visual of his promise both day and night. Do you have a picture of your vision before you?

Apart from Abraham there are many others who received the promises of God and God used imagining to help them keep the dream alive (Hebrews 11). Joseph had dreams of being great one day; those dreams were so real he had to share them with others. Through the years of hardship, I believe that those dreams kept Joseph from giving up on the promise of God.

We too have been given a visual. We have a word picture of what heaven and hell would be like. As Christians, we made a choice for heaven and we know that’s where we belong and we are going to when we pass from this earth. We just know it. That visual of heaven propels us each day towards God and His will.

Here are some benefits to visualization:

  1. The more you see your vision the more you believe it will happen. You believe the more you see.
  2. You become more focused or driven to reach your goal and to see God work on your behalf.
  3. Your expectation grows and your excitement increases. This makes the journey more pleasant one.
  4. When you imagine what your dream looks like, you make it real. A picture is worth a thousand words.
  5. Having a visual will cause you to have a more defined and clearer path (baby steps) towards your goal.
  6. Helps you to make better choices and act in harmony with your vision.

Keep a visual of your dream ever-present before you. Here are some suggestions for keeping the vision alive:

  1. Post pictures, scriptures or inspirational quotes around your home or wherever you frequent the most (e.g. fridge door, dresser or bathroom mirror, doors, poster board in your home office space).
  2. Add wallpaper to your computer or mobile screen. This year my laptop wallpaper constantly reminds me that this is my Year of New Beginnings.
  3. Create a photo gallery of what your vision looks like and review regularly.
  4. Keep pictures in your journal or Bible, and believe God’s promises to you.
  5. Take time to dream – take a 15-minute to rest and reflect.
  6. Review your goals daily and take at least one step toward a goal.
  7. Write the vision out – in present tense – like it’s actually happening now. Make a short story of what your future life is like.
  8. Use goal setting software that includes a visualization feature to help you keep the vision alive.
  9. Frequently and persistently seek God about your dreams and His promises.
  10. Always give thanks to God for His promises even before you actually receive them.

Every goal starts with a vision – a picture we have in our mind of what we want to accomplish. Often when we go off track or don’t reach our aim it’s because we have lost sight of the dream we originally had. As such like Abraham we need to get a picture and a word and daily see it until it becomes real in our lives.

With God’s help we can make it happen. Keep the faith.

Share with us: What do you do to keep your dreams and God’s promises alive in you until they become reality?

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Believe God

Spiritual Success

I Belive_2818333115_0d9cc0fb9f_oI have often heard people say, “I believe God,” or “I’m believing God for a breakthrough.” The question is: Do we really believe God?

In Mark 9:17-29 when Jesus delivered the man’s son from the deaf and dumb spirit, Jesus said, “If you can believe all things are possible to him who believes.” It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Yet it is a hard saying for most of us. This father, as much as he wanted his son to be well, as much as he believed Jesus could help him, still had some lingering doubts (Mark 9:22, 24). The doubts were so probing that he asked Jesus to help him overcome his unbelief.

As we read the conversation Jesus had with Martha prior to calling Lazarus back to life, He focuses on believing (John 11:17-41). Although Jesus asked Martha if she believed He was the Resurrection and the Life and that all who believe in Him will never die, her response wasn’t direct. Her positive answer was qualified,“Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (John 11:27 NKJV). Somewhere there was a hint of unbelief in Martha. As they went to the tomb and Jesus requested the stone to be rolled away, Martha raises an objection to this (John 11:39). Martha still didn’t realize that Jesus intended for Lazarus to come alive then and that He was the Resurrection and the Life through whom all men will live now and eternally. Jesus again reiterated the need to believe, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

When we believe God all things – everything – will be possible for us. When we believe God, we will see His glory in our lives. Our faith in God is directly related to the success and triumphs in our lives. The extent to which we believe God determines the miracle we receive. If you believe God and His ability to heal you, to give you success in all you do, to provide for you, to help you do anything, then indeed nothing will be impossible for you.

Jesus is challenging us to believe Him and not the negative things we see happening in our lives. Unbelief lurks when we put our focus on the problem and not on God and His power to save, to heal, to deliver, to provide and to make the seemingly impossible possible. Unbelief comes if our focus is off base – when we focus on the problem and become overwhelmed, when we take the ill advice of well-meaning others that is against God’s will or when our negative self talk bombard us. Whatever you focus on the most, you believe the most and you receive also. So it benefits us to purposely focus on God, His promises (the Word) and His power to make all “impossibilities” happen.

At all times, let’s BELIEVE GOD.

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