Time For A Spiritual Makeover

Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6:25-33 Jesus teaches about worry. Because of the ill effects of worry, Jesus tells us not to worry about those needs that God promises to supply. Worry may damage your health, cause the object of your worry to consume your thoughts; disrupt your productivity, negatively affect the way you treat others and reduce your ability to trust God. The difference between worry and genuine concern is worry immobilizes you, but concern moves you to action.

To seek first his kingdom and his righteousness means to turn to God for help to fill your thoughts with his desires to take his character for your pattern and to serve and obey him in everything. What is really important to you? People, objects, goals and other desires all compete for our priority. Any of these can quickly bump God out of first place if you don’t actively choose to give him first place in every area of your life.

The television show Extreme Makeover Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families. Each episode features a family that has faced some sort of recent or ongoing hardship such as a natural disaster or a family member with a life threatening illness. Extreme Makeover is considered a spinoff of Extreme Makeover, an earlier series providing personal makeovers (often including plastic surgery) to selected individuals. Both of these shows specialize in renovating the things we can see. However, In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. In other words get our priorities in order.

In our request for a spiritual makeover, our priorities need to be the same as our Heavenly Father. There were times in my life where I set priorities, and I wish I could tell you they were all Godly priorities. There were times when I did not set priorities and other people tried to set them for me. To prevent someone else from trying to establish my priorities, I began to seek God first and ask him to help establish my priorities for the day.

In 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 the Macedonian Believers were going through great trial of affliction and deep poverty. Both of these things would be enough to cause some anxiety and worry. Yet they had an abundance of joy. Oftentimes in life we will go through situations which try to rob us of our joy. But the Macedonian Believers gave us a key in 2 Cor 8:5 which says that they “first gave their own selves to the Lord” They esteemed Him above and though all that they were experiencing in their lives. Instead of focusing on their problems, situations and circumstances, they chose to put their trust in God.

God wants to bless you. He wants us to have abundance of joy even when we are facing tremendous challenges in our lives. To receive a spiritual makeover, we must give up all that we are that we may receive all that he died to give.

Prayer: Father I depart from evil and do good. I seek, inquire for and crave peace. Instead of worrying, I will pray I will let petitions and praises shape my worries into prayers, letting you Father know my concerns, not forgetting to thank you for the answers. Your peace will keep my thoughts and my heart quiet and at rest as I trust in Christ Jesus my Lord. Amen. God Loves you and so do I… Pastor Tammy

If you cant trace His Hand; just trust His Heart

I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." GOD's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you.(Jeremiah 29:10b-14-the msg)

Why is trusting God so difficult at times? The bible tells us to Trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not to our own understanding. (Prov 3:5) Still, most of us have difficulty trusting God at least at one point or another in our walk with Him. There are many reasons why we find trusting God difficult.

There are times in our life when things will happen and we wonder where is God? Does he not know or understand what is happening to us? As a pastor, I have experienced a mother whose only child was murdered. There was yet another family whose only child was about to be taken away from them because they had no place to stay. Both families found it difficult to trust God in their hour of greatest darkness. I remember standing outside of the location where the mother’s son was killed and we were praying to God. Our prayer was simple, God, we do not understand why you allowed this to happen, But we trust you. We know that you are too wise to make a mistake. You see we could not trace his hand in these events, but we trusted his heart.

Many of us want life to make sense. The truth is there will be times in your life when life makes no sense at all! How can a parent who has done all the right things still have a child who turns to drugs? What about the person who has dedicated 20 years to a company and one day unexpectedly this job is gone?

God works on a different timetable than our minds comprehend. Many of us want what we want, when we want it and most of the time that is NOW! It is difficult to trust in a plan that requires us to surrender all control. In order to trust in God, you must totally surrender your will, your ideas, your desires, and your future in to God's hands. If you don't believe that God loves you fully and really does have your best interests at heart and desires the very best for you, trusting Him is going to be extremely difficult. God is calling us to believe what seems impossible. Ask him to help you believe.

Most of us have a tendency to claim trust in God. However, at the first sign of any difficulty or trial, we think that God must not love us because He is allowing this difficulty to happen. The trial is exactly what God is using to test the level of trust that we have in Him. This is not for His benefit but for ours. This is to show us the true accuracy of our trust meter. Things are always the most difficult when we can't see the other side of our troubles

I received an email from a friend which simply said: "I will handle all your problems today. God" And here are a few reminders that if you can’t trace his hand, just trust His heart:

• Believe in God.

• Believe in God's abilities.

• Believe in God's willingness to help you through a tough time

• Believe God can and will work things out for good

The Scripture reminds us that God will show up and take care of us. He has a plan for our lives, plans to take care of you, not to abandon you, to give you the future you hope for. God encourages us to call on him and when we pray he will listen. When we come looking for Him, he promises we will find Him and we will not be disappointed. “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. (1 Chronicles 28:20). If you can’t trace his hand; just trust his heart. God Loves You and so do I……Pastor Tammy