Faith That Overcomes

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Our world is filled with difficulties. All you have to do is look around you for a moment to know this is true. As believers this should not catch us by surprise. Jesus warned us of times like these. In fact He said, “These things have I spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

The word tribulation means trouble or difficulty. While the world is in a mess, economically, socially, politically, and morally, as believers we have the promise that through Jesus, and the finished work of the cross, we have the power to overcome the difficulties and troubles that come our way in the world.

The above scripture teaches that if we have been born again we overcome the world. If you have made Jesus the Lord of your life, according to this verse, you are a world overcomer! That’s how God sees you. He doesn’t see you as overcome, barely getting by, or about to go under. No, He sees you as overcoming.

This is why it is so important to renew your mind to God’s opinion of you and not the opinion of others or even your own opinion of yourself. According to Romans 12:2, transformation or change can only take place as you reject the wrong opinions (what we call facts) and replace them with God’s opinions (the truth). Jesus said, “You shall know the truth (NOT THE FACTS) and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) One of the things I have learned in my walk with God is regardless of what the facts are they are always overcome or trumped by truth.

For instance, when my son was diagnosed with cancer, the cancer was a fact. It was real. All the medical evidence bore out the fact that cancer was working in his body. However, the word of God says, “By whose stripes you were healed. “ (1 Peter 2:24) Now that is truth. Truth is what God says. John 10:10 declares, “Thy word oh Lord is truth. As believers, we chose to believe the truth about the situation and not the facts. While we didn’t deny the reality of the problem, we did deny the finality of it! As a result of believing the truth instead of the facts we saw a miracle of healing in Devin’s body. We overcame the situation by faith in the finished work of the cross!

Now, it is important to understand that faith does not insulate the believer from trouble. Just because you are a child of God does not mean you aren’t going to have any trouble or difficulties in life. Just read the Bible and you find that many great men and women of God faced great difficulties in life. Scripture teaches, “It rains on the just and the unjust alike.”

While faith does not insulate us from trouble it does give us the ability to overcome the trouble. Our theme scripture today says, “This is the victory that overcomes the world – our faith!”

My challenge to you today is that you will get your eyes off of the problems you are facing and onto the solution to them found in God’s word. Get your attention off of the facts of your situation and on to the truth of God’s promises concerning the difficulties you are facing. Remember, through faith, you are a world overcomer!

The Turnaround Specialist

As a kid growing up in a Pastor’s home we moved around quite a bit. It seemed like every few years we were moving to a new place. Changing schools. Making new friends. Getting to know a new area. While it was always an adventure, at times it was very difficult because I would just get familiar with our new locale and have made some new friends, and then we would move again. I was often envious of other kids that had “roots.” That grew up their entire lives in one place with life-long friends and relationships.

As a young man I didn’t always understand why we had to move so much. However, as I reflect back on those times, and the reason behind all the moves, I have come to understand why we moved so much. You see, my father, Elisha Verret, was a “turnaround specialist.” He would be called in to take churches that were in trouble with declining membership, a building in need of repair, congregations that were split down the middle, and financial difficulties.

My father had the God-given ability and anointing to take troubled churches and turn them around. Though it’s been many years now, I can still remember most of the churches my dad was called to pastor. I remember the struggles, the long hours of hard work, and the times I heard my father in his study weeping before the Lord as he prayed for the people in the church and for wisdom to do what he had been called in to do. But more than anything, I remember the victories; the numerical growth in membership, the remodeled or newly built buildings, and a better financial situation than when we arrived. I remember the turnarounds that occurred not only in the church corporately but also in the lives of individuals.

Looking back I wouldn’t trade those days for anything in the world.

While, in my estimation, my dad was a great “turnaround specialist,” there is another “turnaround specialist” that I really want to focus on. His name is Jesus Christ!

When you read about the life and ministry of Jesus, you find story after story of lives that were turned around because of His ministry, His love, His touch, and His caring for the needs of others. You read about the prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers, lame, blind, deaf, demon-possessed, and religious people whose lives were totally changed and transformed because of this man Jesus! People who were outcast, hopeless, helpless, rejected, beat up, beat down; people whose lives were ravaged by life, by others, and by sin that were forever changed because of their encounter with the greatest “turnaround specialist” of all time. Jesus always left people better than they were before He found them!

The good news is that this Jesus “is the same yesterday, today, and forever!” He has never changed. His power has not diminished with time. His love, compassion, and grace have never (and never will) come to an end. His mission and purpose has never deviated from what it was when He walked in shoe leather on this earth. He is still in the business (if I can use that term) of “seeking and saving that which is lost.” He is still all about radically changing the lives and the circumstances of those who come in contact with him.

I don’t know what you are going through today. Maybe it’s a sickness, a financial problem, an addiction you can’t seem to break. Maybe you are suffering from years of abuse, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. Perhaps you have been rejected by your family, your friends, you loved ones, or people whom you have trusted. You may be lost when it comes to your purpose, your reason for existence. Maybe you have given up on life, lost hope, feel helpless, and are of the opinion “what’s the use.” Or maybe it’s something I haven’t listed here. Regardless of what it is Jesus wants you to know that He can turn your life around.

Regardless of what you have done, what you have experienced, who you’ve become, or what you are going through at this very moment, there is hope. There is a way out. Your life can turnaround. Things don’t have to stay the way they are. You don’t have to be bound to a life of sorrow, regret, pain, rejection, or hopelessness. No, there is a way out. I believe today, that God desires to turn your pain into power for His purpose. He desires to change your life from the inside out. He desires to undo the mess of your life and make it a message of hope to others going through what you’ve been through.

You see, God loves you not because of what you do or don’t do; He loves you because you are you. He created you. You are the apple of His eye. You mean the world to Him. Unlike others you have come in contact with, He doesn’t see you for who you’ve become or what you’ve done, He sees you for who you can and will become through His power in your life. He sees the finished product not just the work in progress!

I write this today because in my own life I know this to be true. I have personally experienced the work of the “turnaround specialist” in many areas of my life. I have seen God heal my body when the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. I have seen God deliver me from things that had me bound from which I was unable to free myself from. I have seen God meet financial needs when there didn’t appear to be any way out of the difficulty I found myself in. I have seen God heal my broken heart from rejection, betrayal, and divorce. I have seen God restore the ministry He called me to as a young child, even though many had written me off as finished. (I could go on and on.)

Understand today, “God is no respecter of persons.” He doesn’t love or esteem one more than another. God doesn’t have favorites. His love for all man is unmerited. There is nothing you can do to earn his grace or favor. It is offered to ALL unconditionally. What God has done for one He will do for you. He desires to “show Himself strong” in your behalf. God desires to give you the “turnaround” you so desperately desire. And, He will, if you will come to Him and ask Him for it. If you will accept His grace and allow His power to begin to operate in your life.

Today is a great day! Why? Because today is the day when the greatest “turnaround specialist” of all times is going to begin to turn your life around for your good and His glory!

What Matters Most – Part One

Today I start a series of blogs to help you determine what really matters most in life. 

A few days ago, our adopted son, Eli, posted something on his Facebook page a few days ago that really got Holly and my attention. He said, “I miss what matters most.”

That got me thinking about life and what really matters most. In other words what is really most important in your life?

There are many things that seem to be important but when you step away from them and analyze them they really aren’t what matters most in life.

In our day we are inundated on a daily basis with advertisements and commercials of products that someone has determined we need and can’t live without. Many times without even thinking we plop down our hard earned money for things advertisers tell us will make our life better. In most cases the only ones whose lives are better off because of these products, are the ones that are doing the selling, because of the profits they made at our expense.

Most of the things we think we must to have in order to live a fulfilling life can be done without.

There are things that matter much more than a new car, a large house, the latest computer or smart phone. While these things may be nice to have, when it’s all said and done does it really matter what kind of car you drive, computer you use, or smart phone you possess?

Jesus made a powerful statement one day. He said, “A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of things which he possesses.” Some of the most miserable people you will ever meet have all kinds of stuff, but when it comes down to possessing what matters most they don’t. Howard Hughes had everything anyone would ever desire, yet he lived the last years of his life as a recluse, and died an unhappy man.

A big part of success in life is our ability to differentiate between what is really important and what isn’t. Every day we are faced with many situations and circumstances screaming for our attention. We are faced with choices of things that demand our responding or not responding.

In order to determine what matters most to us, and what we give our attention to, we need to ask ourselves some questions.

• Does this matter in terms of my values and my goals?
• Is it worth my time and effort to deal with what I’m presented with?
• Does this lead me closer to living my purpose or further from it?
• Could it be that this is a distraction from what matters most in my life?

Asking yourself these questions, and being honest in your answers to them, gives you clarity and helps you avoid the things that get you off track from what matters most in your life.

As believers, our priorities - what matters most to us – are many times at odds with the way the rest of the world thinks. Living for the moment, life is a party, doing the minimal, instant gratification, you only live once, get all you can, are all catch phrases of our society. In their search for happiness and fulfillment they seek after and pursue things that in the end to not produce true happiness and fulfillment because they really don’t matter most to living a fulfilled life.

Over the next few blogs, I will be sharing my thoughts as to what I have personally discovered to matter most in life. Things such as

1. Your relationship with God
2. Your relationship with your spouse
3. Your relationship with your family
4. Your thought life
5. Your habits
6. Your divine design
7. Your dream and vision
8. Your career
9. Your health
10. Your finances

In my next blog I will be sharing more about what matters most in life, especially when it comes to our relationship with God.

Someday I’ll…

Years ago, I heard author/speaker Denis Waitly say something I have never forgotten. He said most people live on a fantasy island called, “Someday I’ll.”

Someday I’ll…

• Pursue the dreams in my heart.
• Find my purpose and live it.
• Set goals and do what it takes to reach them.
• Write that book I’ve been thinking about for a long time.
• Start the business I’ve dreamed of starting.
• Get married and start a family.
• Start an exercise program and get healthy.
• You finish the sentence, Someday I’ll_____________________________________

Sadly, most people will never realize the fulfillment of their dream, or live the life they were created to live, not now, not ever.

Why? Because they are waiting for the perfect timing, the right circumstances, someone to give them a break, or the assurance they will never fail.

I am reminded of the scripture that says, “He that observes the wind shall not sow; and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4) There is no such thing as the perfect time or the right circumstances. If you are going to live your purpose and see your dreams become a reality you have to get started regardless of the time or circumstances.

Well, I have exciting yet sobering news for you, someday doesn’t exist. Yesterday’s someday has become today. Today is the day you can make the decision to follow the dream in your heart; God’s plan and purpose for your life!

If you are going to experience God’s best for your life, if you are going to live your purpose, if you are going to make a difference in the world around you, then you are going to have to leave “Someday I’ll” and do something today.

The greatest thief of time is procrastination. Putting off till tomorrow what needs to be done today has become the biggest hindrance to success and accomplishment for most people.
My challenge for you today is to get off of “Someday I’ll” and begin right now to live the life God has for you to live. Make the decision to start right now doing something that moves you toward your goals and aspirations.

Today is your day to start living the life God intends for you to live. No more excuses. No more putting it off till later. No more allowing fear to stop you in your tracks. As the old adage goes, “Today is first day of the rest of your life.” Make it count.

Share your comments below.  What have you been putting off till later, and why?

The Power of a Dream

The world belongs to the dreamer. Everything that has ever been created or developed started as a dream or idea in somebody’s mind. All of the technological progress that we have experienced started as a dream.

You will never be successful if you don’t have a dream. 

Dreams are the foundation for personal success. A dream is a mental picture that you have of something that you would like to see accomplished. It is a true definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 declares, “Faith is the subject of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In other words, it is the inner image of the finished product. It is seeing things as they can be instead of as they currently are.

Seven things about dreams:

1. Dreams give you purpose. Life is meaningless without purpose. In order to be fulfilled in life you must have a purpose or reason for being. Your purpose in life is found in the dream of what you want to accomplish.
2.  Dreams give you direction. They help set the right goals and set you the right priorities. They give you something to aim at. Dreams help you do what you were created to do.
3. Dreams help you focus. Through having a dream you are able to fully concentrate on what needs to be accomplished. We are all faced with many things in life that can distract or deter us from what we were created for. Dreams help us to not be distracted.
4.  Dreams motivate and inspire you. They are what give you a passion for life. When you truly have a God-given dream you think about it all the time. It fills every waking and sleeping moment. You become obsessed with it. It encompasses everything that you do. You eat it, sleep it, drink it, talk about it, study it, read about it and pray about it. It is what gets you up in the morning. It is something you can’t wait to get up and pursue.
5.  Dreams keep you going inspire of adversity. When you have a God-given dream it doesn’t matter what opposition comes your way, it can’t stop you. Adversity cannot slow you down, deter you or keep you back, when you have a dream. It doesn’t matter what comes your way, lack of finances, health problems, interpersonal relationship problems, a dream gives you a reason not to quit or give up. A dream will cause you to be persistent. “Quitters never win and winners never quit.”
6. Dreams are the seed to your future. What you dream about today determines where you will be tomorrow. The key to your future is found in the dream you have today. Instead of accepting life as it now is, get a dream of where you want to be and what you want to do.
7. Dreams must be acted on. I saw a sign not long ago that said, “Don’t just dream it. Do it!” Dreams can produce powerful results, but only if acted upon. At some point in order to accomplish great things, you must put legs on your dreams. They can only be effective if acted on. I like to say, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary!”

What is your dream?  What are you going to do about it?