DEAL WITH YOUR UNHEALED WOUNDS!

DEAL WITH YOUR UNHEALED WOUNDS!

Physician, heal yourself! – Luke 4:23 (NKJV)

Did you know that in the Old Testament a priest could not serve in God’s house if he had a scab, which is an unhealed wound or a bleeding sore (See Lev 21:20)? Why? Because when you’ve a scab you’re not up to par. You can’t get close to others in case they bump into you and knock the protective layer off it. You’re not at your best because pain-drain is sapping your strength.

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You’re afraid to talk about your scab in case people reject you, so you wear a mask, live on two levels and become insecure and controlling. Worst of all, you’re so busy working for God and taking care of others that you don’t think you’ve time to stop and take care of yourself. The Bible says: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’

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Does this mean people with issues can’t work for God? No, quite the opposite. It’s the broken, who become masters at mending. But first you must take time to be healed. Jesus said that when the blind lead the blind they both fall into a ditch (See Matthew 15:14). It’s hard to talk about victory to others when you yourself are living in defeat. It’s hard to bring emotional healing to others when you’re still battling the unresolved issues of your past.

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When you are still bleeding, you can’t treat peoples problems with the same kind of aggressive faith you’d have if you’d already worked through the problem. Is it wrong to have a wounded heart? No, but it’s wrong not to deal with it. So, spend time with God and let Him make you whole so that He can use you to minister more effectively to others.

START YOUR DAY WITH GOD

START YOUR DAY WITH GOD

In the morning I lay my request before You and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:3

We think everything rests on our shoulders, but it doesn't! It's God's world, not ours. At the beginning of each day God reminds us that He has His way, that He controls outcomes, and that He cares about every detail of our lives.

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The way we get up in the morning sets the tone for our entire day, so try this; first thing tomorrow, get along with God for a few minutes. Don't try to make it last an hour, just start with five minutes. Go over your plans for the day. If you have calender, look over it with Jesus. As you're going through it, you'll have some concerns. Just hand them over to Him. Maybe you'll notice a meeting or a particular problem you're worried about. Ask Him for wisdom. If He doesn't give you an immediate answer, realize that it's because He wants you to trust Him.

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He has something better in mind, something that you haven't thought of yet. So many of us start our day anxious, hurried, fearful or rushed. But we don't have to. We're going to start our day anyway; why not start it with Jesus? Do we have any better offers? We're going to have a first thought anyhow, a first word, so why not let it belong to God, before Whom all our anxieties flee? We can do this. We really can. We can start our day with God.

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Take a moment and meditate on this Scripture ; "Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad for all our days." (Psalm 90:14 NIV)

SPIDERS PART TWO

SPIDERS (I)

The spider taketh hold with her hands.

and is in the kings' palaces.

(Proverbs 30:28)

When it's time to lay eggs, the spider produces a particular type of silk-thread and spins it into a protective sac, then deposits them. When an enemy comes to steal the spider's offspring, it gets trapped on the sticky fluids that line that the silk. The spider wraps the enemy in another kind of thread, and turns it into food.

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What's the message if the spider??

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The battle is over your future!!

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Don't let the enemy have your children. Don't let him rob you of your potential. Don't let him steal your destiny. When those with weak wills, weak knees and weak faith saw the giants in the Promised Land, they wanted to go back to Egypt. But not Caleb.

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He said, " Neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us." (Numbers 14:9). When you understand what the battle in your life is about, you actually begin to feed off the stuff the enemy throws at you and say, "Bring it on, what does not destroy me will only make me stronger."

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Be like Shammah. "When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled...But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory" (2 Samuel 23:11-12). Shammah knew what he was fighting for. That lentil patch put food on his table. It represented his family's future. It was his legacy. And when Shammah stood up to the enemy," The Lord brought about a great victory." And He'll do the same for you!

SPIDERS PART ONE

SPIDERS (I)

The spider taketh hold with her hands.

and is in the kings' palaces.

(Proverbs 30:28)

Everything a spider needs to survive and succeed in life, God put within it. Swipe it with a broom and before it hits the ground, its fall is broken. It just reaches inside, releases another protein-filled silk-like thread, slides down, finds a safe place, then comes back stronger than ever and builds a new web. What's the message of the spider?
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Everything you need, God has placed within you!!
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The Bible says," His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness...he has given us his very great nd precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:3-4).
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What has God given us? "Everything we need." What has God made us participants in? "His divine nature". Wow! Your future is not determined by who you know and who you don't, who likes you and who doesn't. The power to fulfill your destiny is within you! The warfare over your life and the struggle you're in, is about what you were born, called and gifted to do. So, "Stir up...the..gift of God..that is in you" (2 Tim 1:6). In other words - start producing!!
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Life may have knocked you down, but it hasn't knocked you out. What's at work within you will triumph over what's at work around you. Stand on God's word, draw on your faith, hold on, and when the smoke clears, rise up and anoounce, " By the grace of God, I'm back!" You say, " But I've lost so much." As long as you still have what God put within you, you can make it!

LOCUSTS PART THREE

LOCUSTS (III)

The locust have no king,

yet go they forth all of them by bands.

(Proverbs 30:27)

The locusts have one more important lesson to teach us: Instead of following, lead the way! If you keep hoping someone will take you by the hand and tell you how it's all going to work out, you'll never get anywhere. "The locusts have no king [ leader], yet they go forth" Note the word "go". Has it occured to you that God may have called you to blaze the trail and set the pace? You've sat in church for years and heard all the sermons, now, "it's time to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you" (See Joshua 1:11)

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But you say, " Nobody in my family has ever done anything like this before." Good, then you'll be the first! Who are you going to listen to? The voices of your dysfunctional past or the God who is saying to you, " Be strong and courageous... for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). Having folks think your ideas are crazy, is just part of every success story. When God moves, He doesn't commission a focus group or call for a vote.

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No, He looks for someone like Isaiah to say, "Here am I. Send me!"(Isaiah 6:8). Then He underwrites them, equips them and sends them out to be , "The head, and not the tail....above only, and ...not .... beneath" (Deut 28:13)

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And the people God uses are people He can trust with success; people who say, " My wings are too small to travel this far. It wasn't my flapping around that got me here, it was God."

LOCUSTS PART TWO

LOCUSTS (II)

The locust have no king,

yet go they forth all of them by bands.

(Proverbs 30:27)

Locusts can't really fly; their wings are too narrow, But they can jump two hundred times their own height. And timing is everything! The locust waits till the wind blows, then he jumps, and the wind carries him to his destination, What's the message of the locust?

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(1) When God moves, be sure you move! A locust cannot navigate where he goes, or fly against the iwnd, or chart his own course, or change direction. No, he's totally dependent on the wind. Thank God for self-help books and leadership seminars, etc. But there comes a moment when you have to trust God, recognize his timing , take a leap of faith and let the wind of His Spirit take you where you need to go. All your flapping around and wearing yourself out won't get the job done.

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(2) Stay sensitive to the wind. God, not you, determines your life's purpose. He's the One who schedules your seasons of opportunity. But spiritual lethargy can dull your senses and cause you to miss your time. "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again" (Hebrew 5:12). Perhaps instead of flying, your life is falling apart because you let the fire of God in your heart go out. Well, it's not too late! The wind will blow again. So start praying, "Lord, I may have missed my time before, but not this time, I don't want to end up wishing I'd done something I didn't get to do, not because You weren't ready but because I wasn't?

LOCUSTS PART ONE

LOCUSTS (I)

The locust have no king,

yet go they forth all of them by bands.

(Proverbs 30:27)

In Bible days people feared a cloud of locusts more than all the armies of their enemies combined. They could literally black out the light of the sun, devour everything in sight, and bring down a kingdom. They were unstoppable!! What's the message of the locust?
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(1) Don't quit, your victory is assured! The locust is not big, but he's bold! If he can't get through the wondow, he'll climb down the gutter and come up under the porch. But he never gives up. So keep praying, keep believing, keep fighting, your victory is assured. "If God be for us, who can be against us?"(Roman 8:31). Pastor, a hundred locusts will do more to win your community to Christ than a thousand bench warmers.
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(2) Alone you can't , but together we can! The locusts operate in "bands". Some of us have issues when it comes to letting people into our life. Because of fear, insecurity or pride, we don't want to talk to anybody, or open up and admit to anybody that we need anything, To reach your destiny you must surround yourself with the right people.
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You can't run with weak, satisfied, laid-back, mediocre people. No, you need people with an appetite for life and a hunger for God. In God's kingdom the mathematics are different: "One can face a thousand but two can chase then thousand" (See Dt 32:30). "If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven" (Matthew 18:19)