When God feels that we have learned what we need to know on one level, He will take us to the next spiritual level where we are to learn new things.  Just like school children, Believers are to be growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ year after year.  The events that you have gone through should have added wisdom to your life and if that same thing should happen to you again, you would respond differently because you know more than before. In other words, you should be forever changing, becoming more and more Christ like as time goes by.

This change in your development is a transition from one degree of faith to the next.  It is the job of the Holy Spirit to make these changes within us.  God wants your life to be forever developing you so that you fulfill God’s plan and purposes for your life.  There are certain steps that you need to remember as you go from one level to the next.  The first key is when God is ready to move you, you must ‘go’ when He tells you, and you must continue to follow the Lord in your next level.  Don’t be anxious and get ahead of God; let God lead you. If following God has gotten you this far, why would you want to stop doing the very thing that got you this far?

Secondly, you must be prepared to leave the multitude behind!  There isn’t room for the crowd in your destiny; the crowd didn’t pay the price you paid to get promoted.  The multitude mentality is one of negativity. The multitude is more concerned about what you can do for them and not what they can do for you! Next, you must watch your confession.  We must be careful about what we say, especially during the storms of life!  We must remember to say what God says about every situation! Stand on God’s word and its promises.

Last, learn to handle the storms you encounter along the way. If you will get to know Jesus during the quite times of you’re life you will know Him during the storms!  Don’t let the crisis in your life discourage you, interfere with you or stop you from fulfilling God’s plan for your life.  Once you have the revelation of where God is taking you next, get on the offensive and tell Satan that you are more than a conqueror.  When in a crisis remember that there is nothing you will ever face that God cannot control.

As you journey through life, you never know what lies ahead of you. Don’t get so blessed and then forget about the Lord.  Being in the same boat with Jesus is where you want to be no matter who you are or where you are going.  Jesus makes all the difference and He wants us to trust Him on the good days and on the bad days.  Don’t live your life in fear.  Your response to the challenges you face will tell God if you are ready to go to the next level.  First the test and then the promotion.  Trust in the power and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life and you will move forward successfully.

As Christians we all want to be successful in what God has called us to do.  True success is determined by our ability to walk by faith, growing from faith to faith.  The righteousness of God is walking in the will of God.  We must be people of faith who are allowing the righteousness of God to dwell in us as we go from faith to faith.  There will be times in our lives when we need an extra measure of faith to get us to the next level God wants to take us.

Your growth as a follower of Christ will depend on your ability to submit to God’s authority.  Abraham submitted to the authority of God and showed his obedience by not withholding his son when told to sacrifice Isaac.  He passed this test of obedience and was allowed to keep what he was willing to let go of.  You, like Abraham, should be totally convinced that nothing is impossible with God.  It’s also important that you press on no matter what you are facing.  It doesn’t matter if you are in the valley or on the mountain top, God has promised never to leave nor forsake you and your faith should propel you to keep fighting the good fight of faith no matter what.

People of faith do not allow their faith to waiver even when others are living in doubt or mocking them for their belief.  Faith causes you to do what God has called you to do regardless of the support you may not receive from people who don’t understand your commitment to God.  You have a calling on your life, and you should walk in humility knowing that God is for you and believing that it is better to obey God rather than man.  Walking by faith will also allow you to act and not just talk about what you believe.  Your actions speak louder than words and saying that you believe but living a life that shows no evidence that you believe is meaningless.

God is calling all of us at various times to new levels of faith and some of these levels will require great faith.  Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”   Great faith says that you are fully persuaded, you are 100% convinced, you have no doubts.  You might have come this far by faith, but it will take great faith for you to receive all that God has for you.  Your journey on this earth will take you through many experiences; some will be hard, some will be painful and some will convince a person of less faith to throw in the towel, but remember that ‘without faith it is impossible to please God.’

Christians have so much to be thankful for and at the very top of the list is the gift of salvation.  This week, known as Passion Week, commemorates the last week of Jesus’ ministry on earth.  It began as a celebration with the people not understanding that this King of kings did not come to set up a political kingdom on earth, but He came to establish the spiritual kingdom of God which is powerful and eternal.

Jesus experienced many things during the last week of his life, such as the Passover he shared with his disciples; washing His disciple’s feet and being betrayed by Judas.  He also spent time accepting the will of His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He was later arrested and horribly beaten,  and on Friday, He was crucified and laid in a tomb.  All of this came as no surprise to Jesus, yet it was the most difficult thing He was called upon to do – give His life for the salvation of mankind.  Jesus had one purpose and that was to save the lost and He fulfilled that purpose after living just 33 years.

The life of Jesus is an example of how every child of God is to pattern their own life.  The kingdom of God is the exact opposite of worldly principles.  When we are living in the flesh we want to be served, but Jesus came as a servant to all and expects His followers to show their greatness by their service to others.  It is the nature of man to want to be first, to seek recognition for their accomplishments, but Jesus taught us that the first will be last and the last will become first.  Jesus showed us what it means to be humble.  He showed us how we must fulfill the will of God for our lives and how to be totally submitted to our heavenly Father.

This week is a time to reflect upon all that Jesus Christ did for the children of God.  He paid the ultimately price to reconcile man back to God which only He could do.  Take time to thank Him.  Show God how grateful you are for His grace and His mercy. Finally, examine yourself to be sure that you have laid down everything that could keep you from fulfilling your destiny.  Make sure that you are fully persuaded that the Word of God is true.  Be confident that you are giving God the honor due Him by putting Him first in your life, loving and forgiving as Jesus did, and most of all make sure that you are telling those who do not yet know Jesus as their Lord and Savior that He is extending His arms out to them today and whosoever calls upon His name shall be saved.

People in general do not like to wait, yet it’s safe to say that we  spend a lot of our time waiting.  Probably all of us are waiting for something at this very moment.  You might be waiting for a new job or a new contract.  You might be waiting to see if you get a loan to buy a car or house. You might even be waiting for the right girl or guy to marry.  We all have to wait whether we like it or not and one of the hardest things we will have to do on this earth is to wait on God.  If you are seeking God about anything, there are 3 things you should commit to do.

The first thing you should do is to be faithful. The things you do every day, especially the little things that make up the routine of life, those are the seeds of your future that you sow every day. Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”  This verse challenges us to take seriously the ordinary responsibilities of life and make sure we do them right. Many of us spend a lot of time day wishing that we were someone else and in some other place and get tired on our daily tasks.  But we should do everything unto the Lord whether it is washing dishes, being a school teacher or being a surgeon – do it right.  Martin Luther King, Jr. put it this way: “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. If you are a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Beethoven composed music; do it so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, “Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.”

The second thing you must do is to always be ready. You don’t know when God will move on your behalf.  God didn’t invent the clock – man did.  God sees you, He has heard your prayer and you must believe that He is working things out for your good behind the scenes.  Keep the faith and show God that you are committed to Him and you trust Him.  Keep your eyes upon Jesus and be ready at all times.  Your dream could be just one prayer away.

The third thing is to be bold and courageous.  Go boldly before the throne of grace and lay your petitions at the Lord’s feet. Do a little self talk and remind yourself that God loves you and He has great plans for you.  God’s delays are not denials.  Don’t allow your present circumstances to hold you captive. Speak out boldly declare that nothing is impossible with God and stand firm on His promises.

Isaiah 40:31 “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  If you are waiting on God be faithful, be ready, and last but not least, be bold and courageous and your reward will be great.

All of us are, or have been, or will be at a cross road at some time in our life.  Standing at the crossroad, we begin to wonder how and when will we hear God’s word to us on what He wants us to do next.  The goal of every Believer should be to make their life count for something; to make sure that at the end of their life, the legacy they leave behind has made a difference and has left a mark on this world to make it a better place.  It’s not fun being at a crossroad because you don’t know where or what to do;  but you are sure of one thing – that something is changing within you.

You begin to ask yourself the inevitable questions:  What will I do when God makes His will known? What if I don’t want to do it?  Do I have the time? Do I have the gifts and talents, the skill set for this task?  Am I a “good enough” person to fill this role?  But God’s Word is proof that the one who calls is also the one who quips.  Therefore, if the call is of God, the answer to all the above questions is yes.

Do you feel like you are being challenged for something bigger, something unfamiliar?  If so, it’s important to learn to wait on God and not get ahead of Him.  You  don’t want to go off on your own, doing your own thing without the blessing and favor of God on your life.  There are four things you should do when at a crossroad and that is to stand, look, ask, and walk.  We are to stand on the promises in the Word of God.  We are to look or keep our eyes upon Jesus who is the author of our faith.  Next, we are to ask God for wisdom and guidance on what He would have us to do, and last we are to walk in the ways of the Lord.  If we follow this formula, we will please God and be successful in all we do.

I would like to paraphrase a couple of lines from Robert Frost.  My version goes this way: “Two roads diverged in the woods, and I took the one Christ traveled by, And that has made all the difference!”

The Bible tells us that in this life we are going to face troubles and all of us have found that to be true.  The goal is stay calm and maintain our confidence when we are encountering storms in our life no matter how fierce they may be.  The longer a storm drags on in our lives our hopes begin to sink but we must make the decision to keep moving forward because giving up is not an option.

The challenges we face in life are to drive us closer to God and the safest place to be in this world is right in the middle of God’s will for your life.  It’s the safest place but it does not mean that it is the easiest, but God has promised never to leave or forsake us and we have the promises in His Word to stand upon.  Storms are not meant to scare us but to save us, perhaps even save us from ourselves.  It’s been said that when you don’t see God’s plan, just trust His hand!  The key is you must go through your storm and learn from it and not look for a way to get around it.  Only in the storm will we see the power of God.  Isaiah 43:2 says “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

You are going to make it through the difficulties you face; it’s just a matter of time and it’s a matter of trust.  There is much God wants to do through you, so it’s important that you trust God, stand on HIs Word and never give up.

Not many people realize that the favor of God is awarded to someone to be a shield for them. Psalm 5:12 says “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” Walking in divine favor opens up the windows of heaven in your life and its effect is so amazing that the recipient knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that only by the grace of God are they able to receive such blessings.

What is it like to be blessed with God’s divine favor?  It’s easy to recognize God’s favor upon you when you are the one selected for a position when many other people also wanted that position.  The same is true when you are chosen for a position that you are not naturally qualified for but someone believes in you and gives you an opportunity that would have taken you years to get on your own.  God’s favor is also evident when help comes to you at a time and from a place you would never have expected.  Divine favour will do certain things for you. For example, people will always want to bless you and do kind things for you.

If you want to keep the favor of God in your life you must refrain from being disobedient to God’s word.  You must also be humble and avoid becoming prideful because God will not tolerate pride.  In fact, pride has such an adverse affect on God that He will deal with it appropriately.  Giving back to God what is rightfully His, and helping others in need will cause God to continue to bless you.  God loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that we might have eternal life.  It’s only right that God expect those who are blessed with much to give to those who have less.

The favor of God is a gift like no other.  Every one desires to have this favor but only a few will live the life that causes God to honor them in this way.  It’s not wisdom to go through life unprepared.  Do all you can do to become successful, but if you want to be more than just prepared, become righteous and God will do the rest.

One of the most important character traits we all need to have, yet it’s so hard to achieve is the art of being patient.  A patient person has the ability to suffer for a long time.  Patient people are hard to provoke. Their temper can withstand a lot before they “lose it.” Patience gives you time to think so that you don’t become angry and do something that can cause other major problems.  Patience is the ability to accept delay or disappointment graciously.  Patient people possess a calmness about them because they have a firm belief that God is in control.

It is not easy to develop patience because patience goes against human nature. We aren’t born patient.  Also, patience is difficult to develop because it’s contrary to our culture. We don’t live in a relaxed culture.  We are always in a hurry, whereas in some countries they are laid back and seem to understand something that Americans don’t and that is life is so precious and passes so quickly and we must enjoy the moment.  How many of us take walks just to enjoy nature and listen to the sound of birds?  Life would be more meaningful if we stopped to smell the roses once in a while.

Another positive aspect of patience is that it makes you grateful.  Patient people take time to think about their blessings and they love to appreciate the little things.  Patient people have a healthy perspective on the issues in their life.  They don’t get upset or angry at everything that does not go the way they thought it would.  Someone once said that we “should not sweat the small stuff.” You have bigger concerns in your life than to become upset when a driver cuts you off on the freeway. Patient people have the wisdom to take the things they can’t handle to God.  They realize that they are limited but know that their God can do anything.  So they  wait on the Lord when it comes to the big stuff.  We can choose to wait for God right where we are now or become impatient and try to make something happen without God.  Which one do you choose?

The fruit of patience helps us  when dealing with other people. Remember that God is patient with you so be patient with others.   Instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their place. If you lack patience, attach yourself to people who are patient. Anger is contagious.  If we can learn how to be angry by hanging out with angry people, then we can learn patience by spending time with those who are long-suffering.

God wants us to become patient because patience shows God that we trust Him completely, and that we have learned that He is all we have and He is all we need.

We all have goals, dreams, and visions in life. We pray about them all of the time and we try to hold onto them, because with faith in Jesus we know they will come to pass.  When it does happen, when our dream becomes a reality or when our prayer is answered, our faith in God grows stronger and we experience the most wonderful feeling.

But there are times the enemy will cloud the vision that God gives us. Satan may not be able to read your mind, but he can hear your words. He sees your actions and knows just what buttons to push, and when to push them to get your mind off the vision. He wants nothing more than to steal our dreams. But he can’t steal our dreams unless we let him. This is why it’s so important for us to hold fast to our confession of faith and believe in God’s Word.

If you’re praying for something and it just hasn’t arrived yet, keep praying! PUSH! Pray until something happens.  There are times when we pray to God for an answer, and it seems that all hope is gone.  We then begin to worry instead of praying but don’t do both.  Praying tells God that you still believe; worrying tells God that you have stopped believing.   If you believe God is working all things out for your good, you also have to believe that His timing is part of that.  It all comes down to how much you trust your heavenly Father.

I want to encourage you not to be discouraged at what appears to be a lack of results in your prayer life. You have no idea what the Lord is doing right now on your behalf to answer your prayers.  You cannot see it, but rest assured God is working it out. What He requires from you is faith to believe that His Word is true.  Keep your eyes focused on the Lord, and keep praying in faith, remembering to thank Him and praise Him for all He has already done.

God’s destiny for you isn’t based on how you feel, or what you are going through or what you can’t see ahead of you.  You might think that you are stuck in a situation and that nothing good lies in your future, but nothing is further from the truth! You must grow in your faith and realize that you are just as anointed today to do what God has called you to do as you were 20 years ago!  Destiny is the predetermined, inevitable or irresistible, course of events that will happen to a particular person in the future, and it is important to remember that God’s destiny for you will not change.  Your actions might cause you to wander in the wilderness for a period of time, but ultimately you will realize that God is in control and you must yield to His will for your life.

We are more than conquerors.  You have more than enough within you to walk into the destiny that God has already ordained for your life.  Get beyond the hindrances in yourl ife; conquer them, rise above them. Too often people allow adversity to become the final verdict over their lives because they faithfully poured themselves into something that was close to their heart only to one day see that it did not turn out to be what they had envisioned.  There is a feeling of defeat that can penetrate your soul that could cause you to question your self-worth, let alone think that you have a bright future.  This would be true if you allow the enemy to have his way, but God’s word says that you can do all things through Christ who will give you the strength.

Somewhere on the road to greatness, you find yourself in a fight – you must fight the battle going on in your own mind. Talk to any great person and they will tell you that their journey was not an easy one but they had to fight to get to the top.  You don’t know the end of your story. Even if the worst has happened to you, it is not over yet.  Expect a miracle that will take you from where you are now to where you are going.  Stand on the promise made in Psalm 23:6 which says “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”