Walk Through Life's Hot Spots

Living through the pressures of life can be compared to walking through fire. The Old Testament prophet Isaiah believed that if you have faith in God, you can walk through fire and not be burned. He didn't promise that you won't feel the heat, just that you won't be burned.

Keep On Walking.

A surefire way to get burned is to stop walking. When you are afraid, or under extreme stress, or hurting -- keep going. You will get through if you keep dealing with the everyday tasks at hand to the best of your ability. PERSEVERE

Remember That This Difficult Time Will Pass.

It may feel that you are in a repeating time warp, but realize that pain is time-limited. All problems have a beginning and an end. BE PATIENT

Make Rough Times Work For You.

Not everything is good, but the Bible reminds us that everything can be used for good if you submit your will to God. Look for ways to learn, grow, or cope in your pain or stress. HAVE COURAGE

Take "What Is" And Make The Most Of It.

Make lemonade from your lemons. You are not called upon to create perfection from every situation, only to make the most of it. Don't waste your time on ceaseless complaining, but look for meaning and joy in all situations. BE CONTENT

Clean Up Your Own Trash.

Stand on your own feet and don't try to blame others for your problems. You are not a victim. Choose to live the rest of your life with a controlled response to what is happening. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Be True To Your Self.

You will have more strength for dealing with ordeals in life if you have the courage to be true to your own values. Hypocrisy destroys internal energy. MODEL INTEGRITY

Be Gladder Than Madder.

Expressions of gratitude calm the soul and clear the mind. SHOW GRATITUDE

Have As Much Fun As You Can.

Anticipation of fun raises the level of your energy. Learn to laugh through your trials. DISPLAY HUMOR

Determine What Is Within Your Control.

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can choose the frame you put around your experiences. You can choose how you will deal with all situations. EXHIBIT INTERNAL CONTROL

Be Enthusiastic.

Enthusiasm literally means, "God in us." If He is in you, let your life so shine. Learn to love life. Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire. SHOW YOUR PASSION

God is my present help in times of need, he will sustain me.

Psalm 54:3, "Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for God." Does this describe every day of your life? Are strangers coming at you from every direction with no regard for God and determined to see you fail? Are troubles coming at you fast and furious? Maybe the attacks are not from ruthless men, but they are schemes of the devil: negative thoughts, destructive thoughts, tempting thoughts, vengeful thoughts, greedy thoughts, or hateful thoughts.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me." (Psalm 54:4,

• These thoughts should go with us as we face the strangers, the enemies, and the attacks that fall in our path: The Lord is the one who sustains me. The Lord keeps me alive. The Lord will keep me from falling, even when the odds are stacked against us.
• Should your husband come home and tell you that he has decided that he no longer loves you and wants a divorce, remember: The Lord is the one who sustains you. The Lord keeps you alive. The Lord will keep you from falling.
• If you receive a notice that your company is not immune to impact of the economic crisis and layoffs may be unavoidable, remember: The Lord is the one who sustains you. The Lord keeps you alive. The Lord will keep you from falling.
• If you find yourself alone in an empty house with no place to go and no one to talk to, remember: The Lord is the one who sustains you. The Lord keeps you alive. The Lord will keep you from falling.
• If you are forced to accept that the dream you have dreamed your whole life is probably never going to come true, remember: The Lord is the one who sustains you. The Lord keeps you alive. The Lord will keep you from falling.
• If you find yourself discouraged, defeated, and deserted, remember: The Lord is the one who sustains you. The Lord keeps you alive. The Lord will keep you from falling.

These words are not intended to minimize the difficulty of any painful situation mentioned above, or your own unique struggles. Instead, they are written with the hope that whatever attack you may face you will remember that it is the Lord who sustains us, it is the Lord who keeps us alive, and it is the Lord who will keep us from falling. We cannot survive the attacks of this world or the demonic world on our own. We must depend on the Lord. David's source of strength is our source of strength. The Lord is the one who sustains us. The Lord keeps us alive. The Lord will keep us from falling. He will deliver us from all our troubles.

Time to Leave

Starting school is no longer an issue for most of us. But leaving what's safe to step into the unknown is very much an issue for many of us. And some of us are refusing to take the step that will ultimately enlarge our life, like starting school enlarged mine.

Abraham is held up in the Bible as a model of faith that we should all emulate. And it's interesting to note the very first word God ever spoke to Abraham (or Abram as he was called at that time) in the Bible and Abraham's response. In our word for today from the Word of God, Genesis 12:1, it says, "The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." In other words, "Leave everything that's your security, everything you know, for a place you don't know but I do." Abram's response? "So Abram left, as the Lord had told him."

That willingness to leave at the Lord's command opened up a whole new world for Abraham and for his family in what would become the Jews' "Promised Land." But first he had to "leave." Most of the major advances in our lives begin by taking the risk of leaving. Moses had to leave his "comfy" life as a shepherd in Midian to become the deliverer of God's people. Peter had to leave the security of his business to become a world-impacting leader for Jesus Christ.

And God's expanding of your life may depend on you taking a great faith-step in the near future. Leaving what is familiar and safe and secure; what seems economically feasible. God's great adventure often begins with a command to leave - to leave what is geographically familiar, relationally familiar, and methodologically familiar. And God usually doesn't show you the whole picture of what He's leading you into, just that next step. He asked Abraham to leave for a future that was described simply as "the land I will show you." God wants you to trust the Planner, not the plan.

Maybe your Lord has sent this message into your life at this time to give you one more encouragement to obey His leading to let go of something safe and follow Him into something bigger and better, but largely unknown. Do what He's telling you to do. If you don't, you'll be like a child who refuses to leave the safety of Mommy to go into the unknown of the first day of school. You will miss the step that will enlarge your whole life and take you into God's great adventure.

Ask God for whatever you desire.

Matt 7:7-12 NIV, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent?If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

Before you assume you know what to do in a certain situation, ask God, or before you assume you know what that person sitting across from is thinking and feeling, specifically, ask God.

This is a good advice for all, old and young, whenever you need anything from him ask him that has everything within his reach and he will do it.

Before you lose your temper ask God how He would have you respond.

Before you assume you know all there is to know about all there is to know ask God.

Before you get married ask God whom He wants you to marry.

Before you tear into your teenager because it appears they have been disobedient, ask God to help you respond to this child you love with all your heart in the way He wants you to respond.

Before you change jobs ask God what He wants.

Before you assume you know how you should handle the difficult situation asks God to tell you how He wants you to handle the situation.

Before you treat someone with unkindness ask God to give you new words.

Before you quit ask God what He wants you to do.

Before you rush into the office ready to express how unhappy you are in the work place, ask God how He wants you to speak to your boss.

Ask God what He wants you to say. Ask God to show you what your boss needs from you.

Before you change jobs ask God what He wants.

Before you fuss at the lady behind the desk ask God to remind you of times when people have shown you patience. Ask God remind you what patience looks like.

Before you go too far into the day ask God to direct your path.

Shalom!

Living under pressure?

Prophet Isaiah believed that if you have faith in God, you can walk through fire and not be burned. He didn't promise that you wouldn’t feel the heat, just that you won't be burned, Isaiah 43:2. Living through the pressures of life can be compared to walking through fire.

You can walk through Life's Hot Spots when you:

Remember that tough times don’t last but tough people do:

This Difficult Time Will Pass. It may feel that you are in a repeating time warp, but realize that pain is time-limited. All problems have a beginning and an end.

BE PATIENT

Keep Walking:

Surefire way to get burned is to stop walking. When you are afraid, or under extreme stress, or hurting -- keep going. You will get through if you keep dealing with the everyday tasks at hand to the best of your ability.

PERSEVERE, DON’T RELENT.
Are True To Your Self:

You will have more strength for dealing with ordeals in life if you have the courage to be true to your own values. Hypocrisy destroys internal energy.

MODEL INTEGRITY.

Take "What Is" And Make The Most Of It:

You are not called upon to create perfection from every situation, only to make the most of it. Don't waste your time on ceaseless complaining, but look for meaning and joy in all situations.

BE CONTENT

Clean Up Your Own Trash.

Stand on your own feet and don't try to blame others for your problems. You are not a victim. Choose to live the rest of your life with a controlled response to what is happening.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Make Rough Times Work For You.

Not everything is good, but the Bible reminds us that everything can be used for good if you submit your will to God. Look for ways to learn, grow, or cope in your pain or stress.

HAVE COURAGE

Determine What Is Within Your Control.

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can choose the frame you put around your experiences. You can choose how you will deal with all situations.

EXHIBIT INTERNAL CONTROL

Be Enthusiastic.

Enthusiasm literally means, "God in us." If He is in you, let your life so shine. Learn to love life. Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.

SHOW YOUR PASSION

Have As Much Fun As You Can.

Anticipation of fun raises the level of your energy. Learn to laugh through your trials.

DISPLAY HUMOR

Be Gladder Than Madder.

Expressions of gratitude calm the soul and clear the mind.

SHOW GRATITUDE

Watch where you step

If you were to look back on some of the decisions you regret in the past, I'll bet you'd see that you failed to really watch where you were stepping; to see what this was going to cost you. For many of us, a lot of the frustration and pain we're dealing with today is the harvest of bad decisions that we've made in the past. Jesus wants us to avoid regrets like those by looking where we're stepping.

You don't just run into something because it feels good or sounds good or looks good. Before you go running ahead full speed, you have to stop your forward progress. First sit down, and asks yourself some cost-counting questions. How will this affect my family? My reputation? How will this affect my health? The other commitments I've already made? What could this cost me financially? How is it going to affect my time with God? My time to serve God? What temptations is this going to throw me into? What am I sacrificing to do this? Can I really live with what this might cost me?

Those questions anticipate the harvests that you’re going to reap from the decision you’re about to make - the price you'll be paying. Don't go charging into something until you have really looked at what you're about to step into!

So, watch your step.

Material wealth is like sandcastle, Don't Get Too Attached to them.

Imagine children playing on the beach, building sandcastles, they are giggling, enjoying their game when a big wave starts to close in. the children were not afraid, but rather they were very excited watching the waves wash away their beautiful creation. Even as little children, they knew the fate that awaits their creation, so they were not distressed or unhappy seeing it washed away into the sea.

The stuff of this world is about as permanent as sandcastles on a beach. Yet we get so caught up in it, defensive over it, and depressed over the loss of it. But God didn't create you for this world. Your destiny is not bound up in cash and bonds, land and houses, fame and monuments. So living to be a hundred years old is far less important than living well - Even if for a relatively short time. Beautifying your body is not nearly as urgent as living with a pure heart before God.

Children know that their castles in the sand are brief joys destined to be taken away by an incoming tide. So they don't fret as the waves approach. They typically watch their creations get swept away without shedding tears.

Everything about this life is so transient. The incoming wave of our mortality is going to sweep it all away. Like sandcastles at the edge of the ocean, nothing we do for the sake of this world can survive. Only what you do here for eternity will last. Only the treasures you send ahead will escape corruption.We are all vulnerable. We are all quite mortal. Everything about our existence here is about as enduring as sandcastles.

Life is God's gift. Revel in every good thing. Enjoy your castles in the sand. Just be careful not to let yourself get unduly attached to any of them.