Enough: Hitting Your Breaking Point

He patiently endured their complaints. When they spoke against him he ignored them. This went on for a very long time. Finally, he broke under the pressure and cried out to God in frustration. “Why is this heavy load all on me,” he boldly questioned God. His composure fell apart under the weight of stress. Moses openly confesses that the situation is too much for him to handle. His specific words are:
11-15 “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here” (Numbers 11:11-15 The Message Bible).

Have you ever been there? You were handling a heavy load gracefully and then it just became too much. Well, God has something to say to you. Surprisingly, it is not an admonition to get yourself together or have more faith. God knows what we can handle. Truthfully, there are loads that are too heavy for us. There are situations that are too much for us. God invites us to speak openly with him and confess where we are and how we are managing things. He wants us to remind him of our covenant with him. Moses was not operating in his own strength. He was consistently relying on God. However, he hit a point of weakness that was overwhelming. God responded by letting Moses know that he would lighten his load. He gave Moses wisdom on how to manage what he had to carry. I know in my experience I have hit those low points where I have to confess that I am at the breaking point. It is in those times that I believe God pulls us in close, eases our pain and shows how to continue the journey.

Are you at the breaking point? Know that is okay because God is able to put you back together again and he will give you what you need to keep going.

Anger: Understanding Your Burning Bush

That’s it, get good and angry! Get angry enough to set and stand for your boundaries.

Anger is a God given emotion that has both purpose and power. When you feel anger understand it is a signal meant to draw your attention to a problem. Your anger works in the same way that God used the burning bush to get Moses to tune in. The tendency is to mistake the signal that anger gives for the actual message. I confess, injustice makes me angry. If I focus on injustice I get angrier. However, that does nothing to address the problem.

It only offsets my emotional and spiritual balance and distorts my thinking. When I am angry I have to avoid rehearsing the problem. My feeling is the right response but it is not intended to be the focal point. It should be a catalyst that pushes me to seek resolution. Just like burning bush it should grab not consume my attention. Uncovering the message behind the attention grabber requires that I consider the problem in light of God’s power and promise. When I do that anger fulfills its purpose and I fulfill mine in the situation. It takes discipline to resist the urge to dwell on the injustice. Remember, there is no benefit to that approach. It actually keeps us from productively moving toward resolution. That truth alone is motivation to stay on track.

Untouched the Grace of Clarity

He was surrounded and there was no way out. The number of those against him seemed uncountable. They released a round of fire. It came in like a swarm and he had no place to hide. There was nothing he could use to shield himself. It looked like the end. His body was riddled with holes. Death slowly and voraciously seemed to steal away his life. Through a miraculous act of God he was spared. Every step was hard but with each one he learned more about who he was and that he was created for a purpose. He stepped outside. This time he was more than recovered. He was different. He was new. Without a second of breathing time he saw the approach. They surrounded him again. For once, he was not afraid. The sound of weapons being launched filled the silence. He was without natural cover, just like the first time he faced their attack. There was nowhere to hide and no one to protect him. He stood his ground and stared at the assault as it approached. With one wave of his hand he stopped the fire in mid-air. It was as if he had frozen time. He took a moment to consider what had happened. He knew something this time that he had not known before. He knew who he was.

We all are under fire of some kind in our daily experiences. It may be the fire of slander, gossip, the threat of abuse, maltreatment or some other form of being denied. am a devoted Christian writer, lyricist, editor, single parent and social justice advocate. This site is dedicated to encouraging others through words that comfort, inspire and transform. The truth is that fire does not have any power to consume us. When we know who we are in Christ there is no weapon that can defeat us. We have an eternal connection to the source of life and truth. It gives sight to the blind, strength to the weak and hope to the hopeless.

I encourage you today to consider the fire that you are facing in light of who you are. The bible says it this way:

31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in

Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

I Call You…

Worthless, reject, loser, hopeless … the words played over and over in her head. She tried to ignore them but they had awakened something deep inside her. An overwhelming sense of inadequacy and despair washed over her. These were words she had heard many times before. She felt trapped by them. No matter how hard she tried to escape them they sat there deep inside like an anchor. They weighed heavily on her. The truth was, somewhere along the line she started to believe them.

Words have tremendous power. We can use them to call out the best and inspire strength. Alternately, we can use them to plant distortion, limitation and shroud others with a crippling sense of incapacity. Before Jesus was crucified and his disciples were tested he chose to call something deep within them. He called hope, restoration, purpose, identity and promise. His exact words were:

“…You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.”

“You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil.” (John 15:15-16, The Message Bible)

Jesus removed the labels that limited and restricted. He uproots them and plants life. He secures what he seeds in their hearts and minds with a reminder. “You didn’t choose me, I chose you,” he said. These words assure them that his decision is not dependent on them. Who they were or what they did had no influence on his choice. They did not earn his selection.  However, their identity, security and wellness was solely dependent on him.  No one and nothing they would or could ever do had the power to uproot what he established in them. He called them his friends. That declaration inspires awe, humility and deep gratitude.

What are you letting others call you? What identity have you adopted that is not your own? Let it go and let God’s declaration take root in your heart. He calls you chosen. He calls you friend.

Focus or Force

John 6:13 There were only five barley loaves to start with, but twelve baskets were filled with the pieces of bread the people did not eat!  John 6:14 When the people saw this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

John 6:15 Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him king, so he went higher into the hills alone.

Jesus, once again, had performed a miracle. He recognized and met a deep need. No one had to ask or tell him about it. The truth was he was always looking for opportunities to meet needs because he was selfless. When the people saw what he was capable of they attempted to force him into “selfless” service. There are a few problems with people’s mindset and approach. Let’s address the issues with their mindset first. Selflessness is born from within rather than imposed by outside forces. They misunderstand the very nature of what they propose.

John 6:14 When the people saw this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

The people learn through miraculous demonstration that Jesus is capable and gifted in ways they did not realize previous to their experience. However, Jesus is not just discovering his abilities or gifts. His knowledge of his gifts compelled him to identify and meet their need. They assume that Jesus has not recognized his purpose and needs their direction to maximize his potential. That could not be further from the truth. His momentary act of service was not intended to be translated into a lifetime of activity. His purpose was greater than the action they observed. In fact, they had only witnessed a minor display of his power. As a result, Jesus pulls away from them and goes where he can breathe and reaffirm his purpose.

John 6:15 Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him king, so he went higher into the hills alone

The second issue is with the people’s approach. They decide they are going to force Jesus to be what they want him to be. They are not interested in his thoughts about his purpose. Their actions are fundamentally driven by a desire to exploit Jesus’ gifts under the guise of promoting selflessness. Jesus already demonstrated he was selfless. He met a need without being asked or requesting acknowledgment. His selflessness was not debatable. He is without a doubt the epitomy of selflessness. Manipulators always test to see if they can diminish a target’s self-confidence and thereby gain control over them. The people assume he is unaware of his purpose and claim the right to direct his path. They unanimously take the position of authorities in his life and as such are not open to discussion. People with the right intentions are readily open to dialogue. The crowd Jesus faced intended to make Jesus do what they desired. There was no room for inquiry into Jesus’ perceptions.

You may have experienced this subtle manipulation. People go even further and launch assaults on your character because you will not be puppeteered. Jesus did not allow himself to be manipulated and neither should you. Hold on to the clarity granted by your knowledge of your purpose. God designed you to fulfill his plan no one else’s. Follow Jesus’ example. Move to higher ground where people respect you and allow you to breathe. Sometimes, like Jesus, that might mean being alone for a time. Avoid manipulators. Attempts to derail you or tear you down are based on your good character and immeasurable worth. Don’t let anyone keep you from your purpose or tarnish your self-perception.

Back to the Heart of Worship

The Lord has put this on my heart to share.

This last year and a half has been a hard season. It has been a wilderness season to say the least. Before moving to utah, I was involved in ministry, and worship, and was surrounded by such a beautiful group of women and people. In that time we experienced hardship in our marriage. Just months later, We moved to utah being uprooted from everything—every security I felt, and thought was going right in my life-to literally the desert. I experienced every emotion possible. We moved during covid, we weren’t able to go to church for a while, we didn’t have any friends, no family close by-just us and Jesus. I remember saying “oh, I will NEVER homeschool” and Wes saying, “oh, I could NEVER work from home-there is no way it would work with what I do”.  Well, you guessed it-With covid and other circumstances I was being led to homeschool, and yep, Wes started working from home. I remember thinking, alright God, you sure do have a sense of humor. Never say never-write that down! But humor aside, God was showing both of us that our ways are not His ways. There were days where I sobbed, and I wept, longing for connection with a church body, feeling isolated and alone. Absolutely, God was with me, but when your in the thick of it-all I could focus on was me and how I was feeling at the time. God was growing us in ways unimaginable, and certainly ways that I didn’t want to be stretched because it was uncomfortable.

Fast forward, churches opened, we tried one , and we tried another, then we bought a house in a new area, and tried another. It was hard after all we had been through, to not compare it to what we had before. What a unhealthy place that can be when we live our lives looking back not leaving room for God to work in the present. Finally, I came to a place where I let it go. I surrendered that to the Lord, realizing that the more I try to control the situation, the less I am trusting God to work all things according to His purpose, His will, and His plans for MY GOOD and HIS GLORY! And hey, what do you know? A  few weeks later, He lead us to a church where I couldn’t have hand picked it if I tried. This was the hand of the Lord. It reminded me in many ways of the church we were involved in before we moved. Oh how He wants to give us good things, but to trust Him in this process and let go of MY wants, MY control, and rest was such a lesson.  Funny how we always see in hindsight what God was doing-why do you think that is? But, God was still dealing with me, putting His finger on another area. After several weeks of attending, knowing this is where God had led us-My flesh was getting in the way when I saw people in ministry positions that I once was in. I think more so than anything I just missed the connection and involvement. But I knew in my heart I wasn’t supposed to get into ministry/serving right away, because I really just want God to lead me, and not step into a role just because I am familiar with it or want it. (Or have a “title”) So, still struggling with a few things, trying to figure out where I fit in, my purpose, who am I, What does God want me to learn? Then Bible study was soon to start, and the study is on our IDENTITY IN CHRIST. Whew. I just need to gather myself for a moment. 😭 HE KNOWS. I knew-but my flesh!!! I was being fought in even going to the study- with all these things going through my head and He’s gently saying ok Katie, are you ready to give me ALL of you?!? I have stripped you of almost everything you have put your identity in. It’s not your spouse, it’s not your marriage, its not your control, it’s not your kids, your family, your friends, your hobbies, your position in ministry, your home…IT IS ME. WHOLE HEARTEDLY ME. Apart from me you can do nothing! My burden is easy, and my yoke is light!!! Trust ME, walk with ME, Abide with Me. Heck-he even used my kids to speak this into my life-ON A BAD DAY I MIGHT ADD. This journey, this wilderness season has come down to this. Which has been a PROCESS!!! When I am stripped away of everything-what anchors me then? It HAS to be Christ-he is the ONLY firm foundation, and refuge for the poor in spirit, the broken, the lost and the saved. As I was thinking about all this and being stripped away -It reminded me of an old worship song-that I  Ioved-but never really understood or full grasped until now when it says “I am coming back to the heart of worship”

In being completely stripped, it is quiet, just me and the Lord, that is when I can offer him something beautiful in the mess of life-Something that will bless his heart-because he has searched deep into mine-I can come back to worship with a humble heart-where it truly is all about Him, and not of the things I WANT TO MAKE it about. Whew. Man is the Lord ever good to love me(and you) so much-to show me(us) these things. 😭❤️🙌 He is shakin that orange tree and trimming those vines!!!! 😜

Sometimes I think that we can get so wrapped up in someone else’s identity, someone else’s spiritual journey, that we forget when we die WE will be judged for the things that WE have done with Gods word. NOT that persons this, or that. We are to teach, and to train, to pray, to love and to speak truth in love ALWAYS. And no this is not always easy-But, we are to let go, and let God be God. (Daily) Yes, I have let things go, AAANND then taken them back because-well it’s just not happening the way I WANT it to go-which totally defeats the purpose of TRUSTING and ABIDING. But his Grace. His mercy. Oh has it met me more times than I deserve.

As I have felt led to share and post this, I feel like it is that last thing the Lord is wanting to rid me of. The looking back and living in the past and all it entails-because what is to come is SO much better, even in a broken world. Friends, you are known, by the ONE who created YOU, YOU are HIS masterpiece-and no matter how hard the season is that you are in-lean into Him. He is there. Trust Him in the process. He is growing you, stretching you, And He is making something beautiful out of YOU. It hurts, I understand-BUT GOD! Maybe your good, and you don’t have these exact struggles-or you struggle with something else-or maybe you have been here and know all to well what I have shared with you. Ask God how He can use you to encourage someone else. He uses our mountain top moments just as much as He uses our valley moments and he will continue to do so. I have been told-when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Maybe you just need to take a step back, find a quiet place, pray and ask God to give you His perspective and His peace in the PROCESS! ❤️❤️💐 hugs!

The Latter Day Lukewarm Church

The church God established 2,000 years ago has once again managed to turn themselves into a corporate business structure in these last days, modeled after the world. With a degree in “Church Growth and Marketing” in hand, men have manipulated the church into some type of foreign entity, with goals of exorbitant salaries, lavish furnishings, and services geared towards herding a populous in through their doors so they may continue to fund their man-made plans. This isn’t to say that nothing good has ever come from it, or that God can’t or doesn’t use them, but when man takes the reins of God’s church and starts to devise his own plans, it loses the power and direction of the Holy Spirit and settles into nauseating carnality.

This my friends, is an abomination to God and He is about to put an abrupt end to those self serving plans. In fact, He has plans of His own, to replace many of the current leaders in the church with those He has been preparing behind the scenes for literally decades. Many of you who have felt out of touch with mainstream Christianity all of your lives, are now about to enter a time that God has ordained for you. Just when you thought you would never fit in, God is calling you to step out. The radical is about to become the normal. Those to whom God has prepared and filled with His Spirit are about to take center stage and disrupt “business as usual” of what we commonly refer to as mainstream Christianity. Gone will be the programs and ideas that man has invented to draw people into their plans. Sports teams will be funneled back into the secular world where they belong. Denominations will be dissolved. Multi-million dollar facilities that were built without God’s approval, will soon be up for sale. Carnal men and women of God who have lavished themselves in a comfortable lifestyle of wealth and luxury, are soon going to find themselves looking for work while God restructures His church.

It is going to be a painful process, though a necessary one. Many will blame God for the reorganization, and some will fall away from the faith as a result, consequences of a Christian life not built upon the proper foundation. The process that is about to occur is no doubt going to be a difficult one, but God knows what He is doing and when He is finished, a different church is going to emerge. A church where unity shall be restored and where true discipleship is evidenced by those walking in power and a boldness unlike anything we have seen in our lifetime. Though despised by many, they shall go forth throughout the earth as radical, relentless, uncompromising, and unshakable disciples of Christ whom God has raised up to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man…

Jeff Allen

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit. What it is and Why You Need it?

Although all Christians are indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit at the time we were saved, (Ephesians 1:13) not all Christians are “filled,” or “baptized” with the Holy Spirit. I’m not speaking about water baptism here, so let me explain. There’s a big difference in knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior so you can have the assurance of heaven one day, and yielding to Him as LORD in order to receive His power. God is looking for our “total surrender,” to His will and when we ask Christ to be our LORD as well as Savior, we are saying we want to yield completely to Him, which is His desire and will for our lives. (Romans 12:1)

When we confess and renounce all known sin and ask the Lord to fill us with His Holy Spirit, we can then experience His power to successfully live the Christian life. This is what’s missing in the life of many believers today, His power, being filled with His Spirit. This will give you the strength and the ability you need to overcome all sin and bondage in your life. It will bring power, joy, and peace into your soul unlike anything you have ever experienced before, and it is available for anyone who truly seeks to follow Christ.

One of the greatest revivals in modern day history was the Asuza Street Revival. (1906-1915) The Baptism of the Holy Spirit was responsible for what occurred there. It is not commonly taught in most churches, so no doubt many of you have never heard of it. I know I hadn’t, but when someone shared it with me many years ago, it was a game changer.

So, how do you become “filled” with the Holy Spirit? When you make Jesus Christ your LORD and are willing to “totally surrender” to His will. It is the very reason God created you in the first place, to know Him intimately and be filled with His Spirit. If you have been struggling in your Christian walk, if you lack peace and joy in your life, I encourage you to get alone with God, repent of your “self effort” of trying to live the Christian life, and ask Him to “fill” you with His Holy Spirit. His only requirement? To have a sincere heart and a willingness to follow Christ.

Here is a sample prayer that you can pray: Lord I come to you today seeking to know you better. I thank you for Jesus and that you have given me your Holy Spirit when I was first saved, but now I want to be filled with your Spirit so I may experience your power in my life. I realize I cannot live a Christian life on my own and I need your help. I repent and renounce all my sin to you and I want to make you my Lord, as well as my Savior. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit right now and give me the power I need to follow and obey you. Provide me with your peace and joy and make me the person you created me to be. In Jesus name, amen.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” (Acts 1:8)

Jeff Allen

The Heart is a Deceiver

My thoughts for today…
For much of my life, I’ve heard the expression “Follow your heart.” I’m guessing many of you have heard that same thing through the years. We have used that as a touchstone, a guiding light in the confusion of our lives. “What is your heart telling you?”, we ask when our friends are facing what may be a life-changing decision. “Listen to your heart – it always knows best.”
Famous people are often quoted on their insight into what the heart means to us, aside from its lifegiving job of getting blood around our body, that is.
Benjamin Franklin: “The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of a wise man is in his heart.”
William Shakespeare: “Go to your bosom; knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know…”
Edward George Earle Bulwer-Lytton: “A good heart is better than all the heads in the world.”
Blaise Pascal: “The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.”
So, that’s what we do. When we are faced with decisions, we ask our heart. And, we listen to whatever we think it is telling us.
But, have we been led astray? The Bible tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Isaiah 17:9)
So, which is it? Are we to follow our heart or not?
Perhaps that is why we are told in Ezekiel that the Father says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26), because He, our Creator, knows the malignancy that can exist in our hearts.
The answer is clear. The Bible also tells us “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21), so it becomes imperative that, instead of trusting some internal organ, we trust in God and in His Word. Instead of looking inside for answers, we go to Him and seek His will.
In these times, and with the challenges we are soon to be facing (if we’re not already), it is crucial that we “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
So, instead of following your heart today, I would ask each of you instead to “…guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Susan Mouw

Where is the Power of God Today?

If Jesus Christ was your pastor, would He hire interpreters for the deaf in His church?   If blind people came to His church, would they leave blind? If those with cancer came to His services, would they still leave with cancer? The church preaches about Christ every week, they preach about His great power, they preach about His great love, they preach about His ability to heal sickness and disease. So where is this great power in the church today? Why are we not seeing great signs and wonders by His followers like the early church did? Do you ever ask yourself these questions? I certainly do.

I believe the reason we are not seeing these great exploits among the majority of believers today is because the majority of believers today are carnal, not spiritual. (1Corinthians 3:1) They are babes in Christ. They have allowed themselves to become so entangled by the cares of this world that they have become unfruitful and powerless. “And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the Word, but the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.” (Mark 4;19)

Now I realize that we all must go through maturing stages in our Christian walk, and to be carnal at some point is natural, but for 20 years or longer? We have those in the body of Christ that have been saved for decades and yet are still babes in Christ. They are simply too lazy or too busy to study their bibles and renew their minds with the Word of God. They never grow spiritually and as a result, have become defeated and ignorant of the authority Christ has given us as believers. Another reason is that many churches are stuck in man-made traditions which quench the Holy Spirit and His power. Still others simply do not believe that the supernatural gifts are operating in the new testament church today. They do not understand spiritual warfare, how to use the authority God has given us in the name of Christ to combat demonic forces that are running rampant in the lives of our loved ones and people throughout our world.

Whatever the reason, this type of carnality and ignorance of God’s Word will cause us not to walk in the fullness of the power and authority that He intended. I am thoroughly convinced that the Lord has once again become weary concerning the condition of His church and has issued a change coming. Jesus tells us in the book of Mark, “these signs shall follow them that believe, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:17,18) Do you see this happening on a regular basis in the church? I certainly don’t. Although I do believe we are about to see the return of great signs and wonders to the church that will play a major part in evangelism in these last days.

If we look back at the evangelistic methods of Christ Himself and the early church, we see where they raised the dead, healed sickness and disease, opened the eyes of the blind, “and many believed.” (Acts 9:40-42) Signs and wonders are to shew forth the power and glory of God, and they were meant to be part of evangelism to bring people into the Kingdom. God isn’t just showing off, and our focus isn’t to be on signs and wonders, but on the saving of souls. For the last several decades God has been preparing a generation of believers behind the scenes. He’s raising up an army of believers who will refuse to compromise their faith, who seek not money or fame, who walk in a power and a boldness unlike anything we have seen in a very long time. They are the ones who will be leading the way in the coming days. So where is the power of God in the church? It’s coming, and when it begins to spread throughout this earth like wildfire, there will be no mistaking it.

Jeff Allen