I’ve been looking for ways to continue my efforts towards making a difference in the world! I think I found another way to help people grow their knowledge and understanding of who God is and can be in their lives.

With that in mind, I decided to complete my training as a “professional christian life coach”. I am now prepared and trained to help people overcome the things in life that would keep them from growing, changing and truly understanding how to overcome the fears that keep us trapped.

Christ wants us to have an abundant life that contains peace, joy, balance and fulfillment. Some of us are content with just existing, never really exploring the possibilities of fulfilling and or exploring the many opportunities we have in Christ.

My professional christian life coaching business will be designed to help those who are struggling with change and or are fearful and can’t seem to move specific things in their life forward. With God’s help and some christian coaching, I know that being STUCK in a rut will be a thing of the past.

Come check us out at:

www.visiongoingforward.com

God bless you.

It was 4:30 am when I started the research on this passage and came upon this commentary and verses. I think the storyline is powerful and it certainly comes at a good time as we all make a decision to start the New Year off victoriously!

If we are struggling with the temptation of sin and we choose not to change our ways, we will eventually find ourselves in a very bad situation. Sin does that.

Great is your faithfulness!” Dare to believe. God is on the throne!

Read this story and remember that in God there is forgiveness and a fresh new start!

Purge Me…Wash Me… Make Me

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” Psalm 51:7, 8

Not until we see ourselves in our pitiful, corrupt “self” before the holiness and righteousness of God, do we cry out as David. He says,

“For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.”

Possibly he was thinking how sin had consumed him when he planned to have Uriah killed in battle so he could have Bathsheba for himself. Certainly, he would not think those actions were foreign to his deceived heart; rather, it was an indication of the “extreme depravity of his own heart.”

What inward grief and conviction must have reigned when Nathan said to David, “You are the man,” establishing his sin, not only before man, but also before God. David is deeply convicted and completely crushed with guilt and shame.

He acknowledges his sin before God and seeks to be restored to the holy communion and companionship he had previously with Jehovah. He cries out to God, “Purge me with hyssop and I shall be [ceremonially] clean.”

Hyssop was the little shrub with which the blood and water of purification were applied.

This he needed, as he bares himself before God, declaring all his hopes and fears, his grief and consolations. Then he says, “Wash me [continually] and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.” A once-and-for-all cleansing was not enough; he needed daily cleansing.

Then he prevails upon the grace of God, “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” To David, who had known such privileged, intimate communion with God, just to be purged and washed was not enough. He wanted to be restored completely; he wanted his repenting soul to once again sing aloud the clear “songs of deliverance!”

The cry of his heart was, “Restore unto me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

He was aware of the penetrating, heart-searching eye of God, which revealed that he had been “weighed in the balance, and had been found wanting!”

It is the same with us: With broken heart and contrite spirit, we can find deliverance!

It was with tender compassion, with anxious care, and with joyful satisfaction that God dealt with David. Well might we wonder how it must have been to have God’s divine wisdom seeking to lead him, His almighty power ready to uphold him, His fathomless mercy interceding for his sins and frailties, and His faithfulness making a reality His promises on David’s behalf!

Is it any wonder that when David considered these things, he was compelled to cry out, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

The more we are sensitive to our guilt and helplessness, the more God is ready to help, restore, forgive, and deliver us and “make the bones he has crushed rejoice.” A contrite heart He will not despise.

His arms of mercy and grace are ready to reconcile and restore! “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassion never fails. They are new every morning.”

Great is your faithfulness! Dare to believe. God is on the throne!

God bless.

Why do we fail to follow Christ when he wants to bless us?

Luke 9: 57,58 talks about denying ourselves and follow Him. Self interest continues to over shadow doing God’s will. In this passage, the people who said they wanted to follow Christ couldn’t stop worrying about things and wanted to do other things first, but doing those things may have prevented them from doing God’s will. This is why Christ said to let the dead bury the dead or why he said to leave your families and follow me.

Sometimes people can persuade us that it’s OK to not do God’s will right now and that your dedication to your family is more important than God’s will for your life. Your father or mother need you!! Again, it’s self interest. Do you honestly think that God would not take care of your family if you chose to do his work. He would take much better care of them then we could.

You can’t plow a straight row if you keep looking back, this was another parable used, meaning if you were a farmer using an old plow, how could you plow a straight row if you kept looking back? The row would be all over the place looking more like some zig zag line instead of this amazingly straight row that we often see in the fields. Is your life wild and crazy and all over the map? No peace, no happiness, always frustrated, always worried?

Distractions in your past will keep you from doing God’s will.

Why do people look back?

- They never let go of their past or all they can remember is their past. Oh the good times, oh the bad times…

- They feel the tug of old habits, relationships, etc.

You cannot stay focused on your relationship with Christ if you don’t look ahead. If you don’t make a commitment to Christ and be a follower not just a believer.

What’s the difference between a believer and a follower? A believer goes to church BUT only observes, yet he believes in Christ and never does anything more to grow. A follower focuses and gives his life to the service of Christ and follows God’s word, by trusting, obeying and serving. You can only be a follower if you have a personal relationship with Christ because that means you’d have to trust him.

Past guilt, past sins, regrets, past failures, past distractions, past pains and ideals and so on will not allow you to move forward. You must NOT look at your past, you need to do what’s right and change your behavior and look to Jesus for your future.

You can’t have peace, joy and happiness if YOU CHOOSE to not follow Jesus. Don’t be the type of follower that says Jesus I want to follow you BUT… I will change my ways, BUT…I will not lie, BUT… BUT…BUT…BUT…

Are you going to spend your entire life always saying this?

Why not put your full focus on what God’s will is for your life instead of making these silly compromises that keep you trapped in sin. You will never see what God is able to do with your life if you don’t trust him and be that follower that he has called all of us to be if we’ve accepted him in to our lives.

So, when you accepted Jesus in to your life you said you would do these things: trust, obey and serve. That’s what a follower does.

Why follow Christ?

Matt 19: 28, 29

28And Jesus said unto them, verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Pray with me this simple prayer:
God thank you for the patience you show me everyday, but it does not give me permission to continue in sin. Help me to totally trust you with my life so that I can do your will not mine which will have a much better outcome!

AMEN

So, remember this, when you don’t follow Jesus, self interest over shadows God’s will for your life. Meaning that you will do what you want and not what you know is right in God’s eyes. That’s a sad place to continue to live in because the consequences for that way of living can be devastating.

Choose to be a follower…

Be strong and do what’s right. God bless you!

Good morning, well at least it’s morning for me as I write this. I thought I’d share some thoughts that came from the book Killing Giants written by Chuck Swindoll.

I hope you find these little messages and thoughts helpful.

The topic is about fear. Ever met this beast? Sure you have, it creeps in at any opportunity given.

Fear of failure, fear of heights, fear of crowds, fear of sickness, fear about what others are saying or thinking about you, fear of being yourself, fear of the dark, fear of being alone, fear of earthquakes.

Lurking in the shadows around every imaginable corner, it threatens to poison your inner peace and outward composure. To one who falls prey to this attack, the creature displays no mercy. It falls full weight on his back, laughs with excitement as it cripples you and then circles around for another savage attack! This bully, fear, relies on scare tactics and surprise attacks. It watches for your vulnerable moment, then picks the lock that safeguards your security. Once inside, it strikes quickly to transform spiritual muscle into mental torment and mush. The prognosis for recovery is neither bright nor cheery.

David’s 27th Psalm, however, is known to contain an unusually effective antitoxin. A remedy that meets fear face-to-face at the door of his dwelling asking two questions:

Whom shall I dread? Whom shall I fear?

He slams the door in fear’s face with this declaration:

My heart will not fear… in spite of this I shall be confident. (Psalms 27 vs. 3)

You then prepare yourself to counteract fear’s repeated attacks. Ready?

PRAYER: I have asked from the Lord – (vs 4)
VISION: I behold the beauty of the Lord – (vs. 4)
GOD’S WORD: I meditate in His temple (vs. 4)
GOD’S PROTECTION: In the day of trouble he will conceal/protect me/hide me/lift me (vs.5)
MOMENT BY MOMENT WORSHIP: I will sing (vs.6)
REST: I had believed… wait for the Lord (vs. 13-14)
DETERMINATION: Let your heart take courage (v.14)

COURAGE: It has several names: Bravery, valor, fearlessness, audacity, heroism, nerve. It also has a few nicknames: guts, backbone, etc. Whatever the name is, it’s more than a match for fear. It’s another word for inner strength, determination to hang in there, to venture, persevere and withstand hardship. It’s got keeping power.

Courage. It feeds on giants. Fear. David had it when he grabbed his sling in the Valley of Elah and killed the giant. So many people showed courage in the bible, the stories are endless. We must show courage and we must not bow down to the things in our life that keep us from doing things God’s way.

Be strong and courageous. ( Joshua 1: 6,7,9)

Are you ready to face your giants?

You’ve heard the phrase before it’s almost cliche but I have to say it, “We have to step out of our comfort zone.” I believe that God is asking many of us to step out in faith and give him a chance! What do you have to lose? While it’s easy to focus on the spiritual implications of this we must realize that stepping out and taking calculated risks are an integral part of life. God doesn’t call us to step out only in matters of faith but in matters of the heart as well. God is interested in us as a whole person not just the spiritual stuff. But how do you know which risks to take or how to step out? This is the beauty of experiencing life with God.

Many people will never really get to know God because they are not willing to give him a try. The blessings and beautiful things he has in store for you, you’ll never really know or understand because you see him as a distant figure with no power, when in fact he has the ability to do all things. Even rescue you!

We so often want to fix the problem ourselves by trying everything in the world except for God. When God is standing by with his arms wide open saying, just try me and know that I am God.

I’m a living testimony that God can rescue people if we give him a try, he rescued me and I am forever grateful.