You Can Change Your Attitude!

You can’t change some things. You can’t change some decisions that you have made in the past, just like you cannot control what has happened beyond your control. You CAN control what you do from this moment forward, you can change your attitude towards your circumstances.

When I was growing up, I made some stupid choices. I still do some stupid things – make stupid statements and really put my foot in it some times.

The thing is, we can regret the things that we have done and said, or we can learn from them. Everything about your past has created your character – the person that you are right now. You can’t change your past there’s no reason why it should dictate your future!

Our attitude is so important. What really gets you going? What are you passionate about? What are you focusing on?

Are you looking backwards? How about looking forwards to the place that you CAN get to, rather than concentrating on your mistakes, on your regrets? Nothing happens without a purpose. It makes us who we are.

Lately I’ve had to focus on the way that I react to circumstances, especially those circumstances or situations that make me feel really uncomfortable such as confrontation. Sometimes you need to know when to back off, or stand your ground.

I’ve also had to learn that sometimes its better to not get wound up about the little things, they are so minor but they play on your mind! That’s just the devil trying to steal your destiny, don’t even contemplate it for one second! Why bother getting jealous or uptight about something that isn’t significant? Just chill 🙂

Spend some time praying in tongues. In the presence of the Father there is freedom, grace, peace and liberty.  He is the King that broke my chains, he set me free so that I can live a life of abundance. Times are getting short and to be honest, it’s driving me to be the man who God called me to be, rather than the man that the world shaped me to be. Fear has no place, shame has no place, it was all done for you on a cross over 2000 years ago so just live it out. Live the life that God has called you to live, a life without worry or fear!

 

 

Letting God be your Safety Net

Things have changed quite dramatically for me lately and whether that’s been because I’ve been praying – and I believe it is.. God knows! He knows what you’re going through and he knows your struggles as well as your highest hopes.

When you’re feeling lost, the things that you turn to are usually what I like to call your safety net.

For some, that is alcahol. For some that might be cigarettes, or sex, or whatever. It’s pretty much your fall back when you’re stressed and things arent going your way.

God said something to me at connect group tonight. Let go of your safety net and just trust me.

He won’t ever judge you. God is not in the business of condemnation or judgement. That has already been paid for us on the cross when Jesus died on our behalf. The enemy is out to steal kill and destroy everything that we have and we CANNOT let that happen.

Let go of your fears, there is absolutely no need to worry. Turn to people that are going to encourage you, people that can pray for you and ‘do life’ with you. Get God involved and start claiming everything that is rightfully yours in Christ Jesus.

God is for you, he has a plan for you to prosper not fail. He doesnt want to see you in the ditch trying to claw your way up or struggling through every day life.

He has your back, and so do the people that you call friends. Reach out and hold on because God will come through for you.

What you’re going through now creates a testimony and a safety in knowing that God is your comforter, he is your provider. He wants to love on you and HIS POWER is greater than we can ever imagine.

Feeling Unsettled

Lately I have been feeling really unsettled. My sleep has been all over the place and I have really felt such a struggle to move my life forward in a significant way. I guess I have become tired of the same old stuff, different day.

The way that my mind has been wandering into all sorts of negative spaces has been a big indicator , and why I have been worrying about things that I shouldn’t even need to worry about has been really getting to me.

So it really begs the question – What’s been going on in your world that has led you to become unsettled? And WHAT are you doing about it?

The Bible (Matt 6:25) says that there is no point worrying about things outside of your control, because God will provide for you. And God isn’t just interested in giving you the stuff to merely get by. He is pretty keen to ensure you live out of a space of abundance and overflow!

This means that you need to talk to God about it. Don’t think that your worries or fears aren’t important enough. God wants to hear from you!

James 1:5-8 (MSG) If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

We need to go back to our first LOVE. We need to have a fresh encounter with the King of Kings and you need to put your life before Him.

Pray and stand boldly in faith and KNOW that God is going to come through for you. Any anxiety that you have, any worries or struggles – He wants to set you free from all of your inequities.

Isaiah 53:4-5 (NLT) Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!  But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole.  He was whipped so we could be healed.

Believe it and receive it today, get before him and seek him. He will come through.

Coping with Inner Turmoil

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest in your souls – Matthew 11:28-29

Two things I wanna highlight from this piece of scripture…

‘All who are weary and burdened’ – have you ever found yourself in a space where everything is either boring, or everythings just getting to you, everything just starts to get on your nerves and you need to break free and do something completely different?

Take some time out to assess what you really want. What is that thing that you have really wanted to do with your life? You need to get your joy back and you can only get this by being true to yourself, by following your passion and ditching what you think is safe and normal. Those barriers have to go before you can start seeing change. Step out in faith 🙂

‘and you will find rest in your souls’ – turn to God and He will give you the rest that you need to be fresh! Take some time out to just sit back and reflect, and position yourself. Positioning is important – if you aren’t in a position where you can turn to someone who can speak into your situation – then find that person! I have a couple of people in my life that I turn to when life really seems to get to me – and it’s necessary because they can see from the outside, they can provide clarity and wisdom! 

Take some time to rest, take some time to turn your eyes to Jesus and always have some important people in your life to connect with… and you will find that inner turmoil that’s been ripping you up won’t hold much power.

Blessings!

Who Would You Die For?

We can often struggle to cry out to God when we are hurting so much, because unless we have had the revelation that God wants to take away our pain and that he loves you so much, why would you bother? We can go through situations such as:

Our life situations/reflection stories: rumors of illegitimacy, taunts of insanity from our family and friends, rejection, betrayal by friends, people turning against you, being mocked and slandered, facing temptation and letting our past put chains around us so that we cannot move forward.

We can fail to realize that we can have a direct connection to God – who knows exactly what you are going through and wants to take away all of your suffering! We can fail to realize that Jesus came to earth as God incarnate to suffer through some of the same things that we suffer through, and he died on a cross to take all of our baggage on himself!

Can you imagine that? Can you imagine dying for someone you love? Think about the person that you love the most in the world, you would die for them right? Well think about an absolute stranger… would you die for them? Most of us would like to say that we would but the reality is that we would struggle to put our lives on the line unless we loved and valued a person.  I can personally relate – Sure I would die to save my family or my best friends, but if you were to straight up ask me if I would die in the place of someone I had never met before – the answer would unfortunately be a NO.

How do you know God personally? The answer is shockingly simple.  You know him the same way that you get to know anybody.  You introduce yourself, you might shake hands, strike up a conversation, inquire about their life and what they do, and with best friends you would even delve deeper into your most intimate secrets.  Because of Jesus we never need to doubt God’s desire for intimacy for us.  Does God really want a close relationship with us? … Jesus gave up HEAVEN for it.  He came to reestablish the original link between God and human beings, between the seen and unseen worlds.

When Jesus came down from Heaven, in the process he made us more comprehensible to God, and now not only do we understand God better because of Jesus, but God understands us better.  God senses our human condition in a different way, because Jesus came to earth as a human, he was made perfect through the suffering.  Because God is a spirit being, he never felt physical pain, but through Jesus he learned about pain.  He accepted that by coming to earth he would suffer physical suffering – which Jesus learnt in the most painful way. He was quite literally dying to be with us.

A Work in Progress

Is it not the desire of every person who knows God to be more like Him? To live in that constant grace… to do away with the things of this world and our fleshly nature and just seek Him?

It can be a frustrating time as a Christian when God imparts a vision and we get into the ‘lag’ time before that vision comes to fruition.

But God knows that by imparting vision, its the journey that you have to go through to get to that end goal that creates character within you.

‘…will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out… He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.’ Matt 3:11-12 (MSG)

You see my friends, He will put everything in its proper place, he will throw out all of the bad stuff – whether thats a selfish trait that we have or a crippling addiction. In time He will see to it. But the lag time or the journey to get to that end goal is what makes us, its what shapes us into that man or woman that God had planned for us from the very beginning.

He has given us such an amazing tool – an amazing Spirit that dwells within every believer which means that we don’t have to do it alone, and if we have a growing relationship with God – if we love Him and spend time with him, then He is going to change those things whether we like it or not. As you fall more deeply in love with God – your desire to take part in that addiction or selfish desire will diminish.

‘The moment that Jesus came up out of his baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit – it looked like a dove – descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: ‘This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.’ Matt 3:16-17

When Jesus was crucified, the life that he sacrificed on the cross ensured that every believer would inherit the Kingdom of God – they would receive the Holy Spirit which is the SAME POWER that saw Jesus resurrected from the dead. It’s the same power that saw miraculous healing of the blind, the deaf, the DEAD!

It doesn’t matter where you are at on your journey with God, you just need to know that as your journey with Him, as you spend time with Him and get to know Him more and more – He’s just going to pour out more and more of His love and grace upon you. You are Blessed and Highly Favoured to Him. He loves YOU.

Healed…

Isaiah 53:5 He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our inequities, the punishment that bought us peace was upon him. By his wounds we are healed