Surrender

Gods word encourages us to be grateful in all situations. No matter where you may find yourself in this particular season be sure to ask the lord for a different perspective other than your own. Sometimes we tend to prejudge the reasons behind why we go through the various things in our lives. The danger with that is we can tend to put more energy and focus into the problem it self that we miss out on the blessing of maturing and growing through it. We may not always know the origin of where and why we go through things (*Hardships) but we do have the choice to choose Gods perspective and let the lord show us just how he can turn what even the enemy meant for evil and work it for our good. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Spiritual Gift Test https://red-letter-living.involve.me/spiritual-gift-quiz Instagram: @gggtt_podcast Email: [email protected]

All throughout the confession series I pray that the importance of confession and repentance was stressed enough. You can confess something but have no true remorse or sorrow in your heart towards that things. Confession and repentance go hand in hand. Being honest with God about a particular failure or mishap is one thing and honestly is a great place to start but it shouldn't ever just end there. True Repentance is more than opening up and getting things off you chest but it should lead to changed actions, mindset shifts, even a different heart posture. When we ask the lord for forgiveness we should also ask for the holy spirit to help us to stop doing whatever that "Sin" is. Now this doesn't mean that if your having a hard time walking away or saying no to that "Sin" that you just give up every time and don't ask for forgiveness. Each time wholeheartedly ask the lord to forgive you, (no matter how many times you've fallen). God's grace and mercy is everlasting. There should come to a point where you are so fed up with falling that you stop trying to break free from it in your own strength. I pray we all (me included) understand that without the holy spirits help we are not strong enough to break free from strongholds of sin. I believe that once we go to the lord and we seriously ask for his help he will help us. How he chooses to deliver me may look very different for you. So always seek the lord in prayer and know his word for yourself. There's power in acknowledging our weaknesses. We also receive power from the lord when we surrender and give up trying to fix ourselves and let the holy spirit do within us what we can't do. Matthew 5:4 (AMP) Spiritual Gift Test https://red-letter-living.involve.me/spiritual-gift-quiz Instagram: @gggtt_podcast Email: [email protected]

It's important for us to be honest with God and ourselves. It's super easy at times to point out the flaws and negative attributes in others before we even acknowledge our own. Let's be honest none of us are perfect. It's in our humility that the lord can fully meet us and truly perfect those things within us that are not like him. It's uncomfortable having to own up to the fact that without Jesus we are lost and ultimately bound to our sins. I thank God everyday for Jesus and his sacrifice he made for us to break the sting and stronghold that sin once had on us. It's possible to live a life of freedom, no longer having to be ashamed of your past or failures. It's in that freedom that we allow the lord to take what was once dirty and useless to the world and clean it up and make it whole and new again. Allow yourself to be used by God entirely by giving him what you think is broken and watch him use that brokenness and turn it into a powerful and glorified ministry to help others around the world. Spiritual Gift Test https://red-letter-living.involve.me/spiritual-gift-quiz Instagram: @gggtt_podcast Email: [email protected]

Today's episode I was blessed to talked with a friend of mine who was more than willing to share his testimony and struggles. We discussed specifically on topics with the temptations towards pornography and masturbation. I truly thank God that in all of our struggles we don't have to attempt to overcome them on our own. You'd be surprised just how many people around you are suffering or struggling with something but their either scared, prideful or ashamed to ask for help so much so that they end up finding themselves suffering/struggling in silence. God wants to help us, but what he won't do is force his way in. When we are open and honest with the lord about these things were actually giving him an invitation to come in and heal us from the root of the issue at hand. Galatians 5:16-18 "So I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law." Spiritual Gift Test https://red-letter-living.involve.me/spiritual-gift-quiz Instagram: @gggtt_podcast Email: [email protected]

Todays episode will be a discussion/confession around the topic of Coveting. Although coveting is a topic that we sometimes associate with adultery and stealing, coveting can show it self in many forms. Jesus emphasized to his disciples the importance of recognizing that it's not what a man consumes that makes him evil or perverse, it's what's already in his heart that defiles a man. With that being said I would find myself coveting what my neighbors around me had just through my thoughts alone. In some cases yes it moved from my conscience to my actions. But more than not it was almost always a built up of envy, jealousy all mixed into one another, with disappointment being at the root. I had to be honest with the lord and truly come to him with what was truly on my heart. It's still a process even now but I believe that being honest is a place we should all desire to get to in our own relationship with the lord, ourselves and those around us. It's a step i pray all of us get to no matter where we find ourselves in life. Exodus 20:17 (NKJV) "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's" 1 John 1:8-10 (ERV) "If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done. If we say that we have not sinned, we are saying that God is a liar and that we don't accept his true teaching." Spiritual Gift Test https://red-letter-living.involve.me/spiritual-gift-quiz Instagram: @gggtt_podcast Email: [email protected]

Trust the lord and let him leave you. Your steps are already ordered by the lord

Have you ever been a season where it felt like you were experiencing storm after storm ? It's so easy in those moments to sulk and think about the things we don't have. We don't realize that when we do that we can miss out on the new things that God has been doing in our lives. Take a step back and be grateful for everything you have. Just to breath in and out is a blessing within it self. Always remember the storms that God sends always comes to stretch us, renew us and bring us into a closer walk with in our faith with God. Storms and trials are meant to shape us not break us.  James 4:7 "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you".  Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth"

Gods timing is so perfect and only the lord knows when we are truly ready. Trusting in Gods timing will help us to let go our own human timeclock. A lot of our disappointment is tied to our own idea of how we imagine for things to happen and a “right away” timetable of when we desire what we are praying for. Sometimes God may not be always saying no but he may be saying “not yet” my child. If the lord were to bless us with half of the things that we desire it would have the potential of crushing us or distracting us from becoming whole in the lord and seeking a deeper walk with him. Surrender your will and trust that the lord knows exactly what he’s doing and Gods timing is always perfect.

Surrender is ceasing the act of fighting and holding onto something that can harm us in the end. How many of us are fighting against God's will for our lives ? When we resist submission we communicate to God that we don't trust him fully with the very intricate and sensitive details of our lives. Surrender is a process, it's not a one time thing.  Remember God is not a last resort, God should not even be an option. Undoubtedly he's the only answer.  So let me ask you; What does surrender look like in your life ?

As we continue to walk in wholeness with God our appetites, mindsets and though patterns start to shift. This shift is meant to conform us to who God says we are and not the world view. It’s important that we become mindful of the decisions we make on a daily basis. One bad decisions made without discerning or guidance from the lord can lead to the formation of a gateway to form and open back up what God told us to close.