Inspired living is not an option. Negative thinking is as natural to living on earth as the effects of gravity. So if a human is not aware of the pull downward, they could wake up one morning in a state of paralysis from all the negative thoughts that bombard the spiritual and natural airwaves.
In my car, the GPS was picking up street signs while my radio was picking up satellite programs, and my phone was receiving a signal from an overseas conversation. All this was happening at the same time in the same car! The air is impregnated with signals that we can now capture with our state-of-the-art electronic devices. Likewise, we also pick up feelings, ideas, and insights from the spiritual realm we live in that are both good and bad.
We must choose to live an inspired life just like a plane is required to start its engine before it can move to break free of and overcome the law of gravity. When we put on Christ and walk in the Spirit, we are living an inspired life.
Staying inspired is also our choice, because the people of the world are tired and hurting. Hurting people will naturally take something out of you. We are here to give to them, but we ourselves must be up to lift them up.
It is your choice whether you live an inspired life or are dragged and held down by negative thinking. Listen to your vocabulary…is it up or down?
If a brush fire was coming your way as you stood in an open field, there is no way you could out run the fire. What would you do to avoid the flames? The only thing that you could do would be to start another fire and burn an area of land for you to stand on—because burned land cannot be burned twice! You would then have to stand, unmoving, on that scorched land as the brush fire’s flames passed around you.
This is what God has offered. When we stand in Jesus, we stand on sacred, holy ground already burned by the fire of judgment. Jesus took on the sins of the world and has already gone to hell for us. Therefore, the land cannot be burned twice!
I do not want to stand before God as my Judge and be found lacking, so I stand today before Jesus as my Lord. My identity is not just a positive thought of how I would like to be. No, my identity is forever established in heaven as righteous, redeemed, holy, washed, and new—because of Jesus’ finished work here on earth!
In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Paul tells us that we have been called Christ’s ambassadors. What does that do for me? I don’t know if you travel, but I travel a lot and when you cross that national border there’s always a line that says, “Ambassadors.” They get to go through the front line at customs and security, they’re always treated special, and they move through first.
So when I hear him calling me “Ambassador,” I put my shoulders back and stand a little taller! You see, I don’t have to cower and bow my head and look down because I’m a Christian and everybody seems to be against Christians…no! I lift my head high, I put my shoulders back and walk with a spring in my step because I know in Whom I have believed.
And even more, I know the One Who has believed in me. The Apostle John says in 1 John 4:19 that it’s not that we first loved Him, but that He first loved us! Hallelujah!
Scripture says that “all who touched Jesus were healed.” So, is God willing? We see in the story of the leper whom Jesus put forth His hand and healed that yes, He is willing.
The Healer who walked 2,000 years ago among the people in the villages of Judea is today the very same — alive, willing to come into your world and heal you now. Is God willing? Yes! He is reaching out to you today!
If you answered yes to that question then you have answered wrong.
There are some things that scripture says God can NOT do:
He CAN NOT lie (Titus 1:2).
He CAN NOT die (Rev 1:8).
He CAN NOT violate His Word (Ps 138:2).
David spoke: “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou has magnified thy word above all thy name” (Ps 130:2).
Why is it important to know that God cannot change His Word even if He wanted to? Because we need to realize that our free will can override even God’s will! God does NOT will that any man be lost, yet it’s very clear that many will find themselves in hell regardless of God’s will for them.
And if God’s will won’t override your free will in this choice, then He won’t override it in other choices that affect your life either. He sets before us the blessing and the curse and encourages us to choose the blessing, but He will not override your free will.
Choose today to be an influence for good in the earth. Choose today to reach for the goals in your heart. He and a host of angels will help you in what you have chosen.
Speak the positive promises He has put in His Word and He is obligated to His word to make those beautiful promises a reality for you. Why? One translation says “Because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name” (Psalm 138:2 NLT).
I have been in the center of Bangkok, where at lunch time they come out and crawl on their knees to these beautiful idols and temples so they can put food on these little houses to sacrifice to the gods.
I’ve been in Mexico where they walk for hours and days, sometimes on their knees, in order to offer sacrifices at certain times of the year. I’ve been in the Philippines when they are literally crucifying themselves again because it’s Easter. I’ve been in India, where they say there is over 300 million gods, where every place on every corner, everywhere you look there is an idol, a temple, a statue, a place to offer an offering to the unknown god who does NOT answer prayer.
But for you and me, we have a faith and not a religion, we have a RELATIONSHIP. A relationship where Jesus tells us to ASK that our joy may be full. ASK that we might receive. ASK that it might be done unto us. ASK so My Father can see it come to pass.
We are not beggars, we are believers! Hallelujah!
Imagine giving a gift, something very precious which you have taken painstaking effort to prepare for the one you love so much. You’ve taken time, money and energy to plan the specific moment you will present your gift. And then, the unthinkable happens—the gift is rejected. The answer is NO. The reality dawns on you—this person I love so much is not interested in me or my gift.
I wonder how God feels? He sent His precious Son to carry our burdens, to take away our sins, to be beaten for our diseases. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53). This amazing substitution is God’s gracious and loving gift to us. It can’t be earned, it’s a free gift! Yet multitudes still reject His love!
Today, I encourage you to remember what Jesus has done for you. Receive this free gift! Simply dare to believe that He died for you and that He rose from the dead. You will never be the same!
GOOD NEWS STARTS WITH GOD!
He revealed Himself to us as “I AM”:
I am what you need me to be.
I am your comfort.
I am forgiving.
I am not mad.
I am healing.
I am loving.
I am delivering.
I am a giver.
I am a friend.
“[I thank my God] for your fellowship (your sympathetic cooperation and contributions and partnership) in advancing the good news (the Gospel) from the first day [you heard it] until now…” Phil 1:5 AMP.
Today we are celebrating you, our partner. This great Christian Adventure we have embarked upon together is having untold impact among the nations. You are a change agent for thousands of lives each year! Your love for the lost and hurting expressed through your giving is you going to the field.
Billy Graham once said that the paycheck you bring home each week represents the value of what you did with your time that week. When you take a portion of that check and give it to a ministry, you are giving away a portion of your life. In other words, you are sowing yourself into the field through the time you have given to produce the income that you are now releasing into the nations.
Wow! Our time is our most precious commodity. Your giving is not just a check you stick in the mail or a contribution you make on-line. It is the energy of your life force given to GOD for HIS work—which has now become your work!
Friend, when you partner with this ministry this is your seed—your life touching the Nations! We celebrate you and never forget your compassionate cooperation with GOD’S plan—our plan for reaching the world!
“Beloved, now are we the sons (and daughters) of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
There is no ‘if” in this verse. It doesn’t say we qualify if we are good enough, if we pray enough or if we give enough. He has qualified us by His sacrifice, His blood, and His victory over Satan.
When do we become more like Him? The key is to see Him and practice His presence. As we see Him here in this life, we are changed into His likeness in word and deed!