Upon hearing this the apostles said to Jesus, “Lord, you must increase our measure of faith!” Jesus responded, “If you have even the smallest measure of faith, it would be powerful enough to say to this large tree, ‘My faith will pull you up by the roots and throw you into the sea,’ and it will respond to your faith and obey you.” Luke 17:5-6 TPT

And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him. Hebrews 11:6 TPT

We’ve each been measure of faith, but Jesus said even that is big enough to what needs doing. There is not even inanimate objects that can remain rooted when your faith in what you say is activated.

As I was meditating on these verses, I saw something that perhaps we’ve missed over the years. It’s not how big our faith is, it’s what it’s rooted and grounded in. If our faith is rooted and grounded in Love, which we know that God is Love, how fertile is that soil and what is the potentially great things that will grow out of it?

That second verse found in Hebrews tells us that it’s impossible to please God without faith. Everything we do and believe as Christians takes faith. As we approach God, we do it by faith. When we read the Word, we take it by faith. We weren’t there when Jesus died on the cross, we believe the account of others who were there and saw it–that takes faith.

What does God reward? He rewards the faith of those who passionately seek Him. Why, because it takes faith to connect on that level to a God you can’t see. It takes faith to trust what He sees that you do not. It’s that deep rich faith that God is drawn to and rewards.

The moment when you throw down your understanding and reasoning and surrender to Him. It’s surrender that creates the passion. It’s not easy to do, but when you reach that point of exhaustion from trying to do it all on your own, you discover Him on another level and your passion meter hits new heights. You’re forever changed. It’s not about getting your own way, it’s about surrendering your way for His.

Hope you get that and keep seeking.

Sandy G

There is no God except the Lord. There is no Rock except our God. God is the one who gives me strength. He clears the path I need to take. He makes my feet as steady as those of a deer. Even on steep mountains he keeps me from falling. He trains me for war so that my arms can bend the most powerful bow. Lord, you have given me your shield to protect me. You support me with your right hand. It is your help that has made me great. Psalm 18:31-35 ERV

Today I’d like to focus on the middle of these verses, “He trains me for war so that my arms can bend the most powerful bow.” I want to point out that to do that, takes training. Not a day, a week or a month, but years of self discipline.

I think sometimes we forget that our life experience becomes our training ground so that we are able to do what God has purposed and planned out for us. David was a warrior, but also a king. He fought so many wars and led so many battles that God wouldn’t allow him to build a temple for Him. Remember? He had David’s son, Solomon do that.

What does that mean for us? It means that although we may desire to do something, that may not be what God has proposed for us to do. He trains us in things that we’re not even aware of until the time comes for us to do a specific thing. Davids training began as a shepherd, killing lions and bears, protecting and leading sheep, so that one day he could lead men and slay his enemies.

What have you gone through that was hard at the time and you never wanted to go through it again? What did it do to your faith? Allow God to continue developing you in that area so that you will be ready to do what He sets in your path to do. Be ready.

Sandy G

God’s way is perfect. The Lord’s promise always proves to be true. He protects those who trust in him. Psalms 18:30 ERV

What does it mean to trust someone? I looked up the word ‘trust’ in the dictionary and found this: reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence; confident expectation of something; hope.

There have been times that I thought I trusted in the Lord in a situation, but when it came down to it, I was trusting that the Lord would see fit to do it as I wanted it done. That is not what trust looks like.

Trust throws out the possibility of control. It’s content with the outcome knowing that this will fit into a much bigger plan and purpose that merely can’t see right now. It places the end or a thing with the One who knows the end from the beginning. It’s confident that He who began a good work, is faithful to complete it.

Surrendering my will for His, that’s trust. I’m but a small speck of paint in a very large canvas. All I see is what surrounds me, but God, He sees it all. There are times He allows me to see a bit of the bigger picture, but His goal is to gain my trust without showing me the details.

I’m good with that! Someday I will see it all but for now, I’ll just lay back in His arms and trust Him.

Sandy G

Show your amazing kindness and rescue those who depend on you. Use your great power and protect them from their enemies. Protect me like the pupil of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. Save me from the wicked people who are trying to destroy me. Protect me from those who come to hurt me.

They think only of themselves and brag about what they will do. They have been following me, and now they are all around me. They watch me, waiting to throw me to the ground. Like hungry lions, they want to kill and eat. Like young lions, they hide, ready to attack. Lord, get up and face the enemy. Make them surrender.

Use your sword and save me from these wicked people.

Use your power, Lord, and remove them from this life. But as for the people you treasure, fill them with food. Give them plenty for their children and their grandchildren. I have done only what is right, so I will see your face. And seeing you, I will be fully satisfied. Psalm 17:7-15 ERV

This is my prayer today for you, my friends. Let it carry you through your weekend and always remember, He is the God who keeps His Word.

Sandy G

“For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world, with everything it could offer you, at the cost of your own life? And what could be more valuable to you than your own soul? If you are ashamed of me and my words while living among sinful and faithless people, then I, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of you when I make my appearance with my holy messengers in the glorious splendor of my Father!” Mark 8:36-38 TPT

I’ve been renting out a room by the weekend, week or month for two years now. It’s been a great supplement to our income and I have to say that for the most part, I love hosting people. I’ve adopted a couple of young women as their Florida ‘mom’, met people from Germany, Chili, Puerto Rico and Singapore. From every walk of life, Christians and agnostics, gay and straight, it doesn’t matter, we welcome them into our home and treat them with respect and kindness.

This past weekend, we ran into a bit of an unusual situation. Our daughter, Shannon, was out in her courtyard area listening to worship music and spending time with God as she always does. Not being loud or obnoxious, but respectful of the noise level. All the sudden, this young woman begins to taunt her but asking why she believes in God, claiming that she is God and wrote the bible. She became very nasty, then went into her area and began chanting.

Shannon came in to to tell me of the situation and we began to pray as a family. We came against that spirit and every curse she tried to place on Shannon and our home. Walt couldn’t sleep that night, so he went out into the living room and felt prompted to pray protection over his home and family, praying in the Spirit most of the night. He spoke that every curse hurled on us would be stopped before it could ever start.

Shannon could have just gone back into the house and ignored her, but she chose to stand up, to speak the truth in love and not be ashamed of her God, her healer and provider. There are times to be a peacemaker, and there are times to stand for truth and righteousness, even if it means a bad review or an angry guest.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Everyone has the right to choose, even if their choices lead them down a slippery slide to hell. God will not be a dictator, He is a loving Father who allows us to come to Him or run away.

So my prayer today is for this young lady who left a day early because she couldn’t stand the presence of God in our home. Makes me sad, but I’m sure it grieves the heart of God even more.

What will you do when you are asked what you believe?

Sandy G

I love this phrase in I Peter 1:2, “May you have more and more of God’s special favor and wonderful peace..”

I saw in my notes that I wrote this definition of peace: perfect well being, freedom from all fear, perfect healing, nothing missing or broken. I don’t know about you, but I could use some of that today.

No wonder when Jesus spoke to the storm, ‘Peace, be still!’ everything calmed down and came into order. Nothing missing or broken.

In the name of Jesus, I speak peace to you my friends. Not peace as you’ve known it in brief spurts here and there, but Gods pure and perfect peace. The everything you need kind of peace.

As the waves of life threaten to overturn your boat, PEACE! As the stress and pressures of home push you close to the edge, PEACE! Whatever you face in life that is shaking your world, PEACE. Come on now, speak it with me outloud, right where you are and watch everything you need fall neatly into its place. PEACE!

Thank you Father for Your own special brand of peace. I walk in that today! I don’t understand it, but I need it. I can’t see it but I feel it. Forcing its way from the inside out, I walk in it everywhere I go, I bring the peace of God with me.

Sandy G

Jesus, however, called the children to himself and said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:16 NABRE

There are occasions where I just ask God questions. Questions I don’t really want to ask anyone else for fear that I’d sound foolish. But definitely questions that I would ask my Father.

So my question was, why do people think it’s not an issue to get an abortion? How has it been damaging to your Kingdom and the plans you have on the earth?

I can’t say I heard an answer right away, but I was forwarded a video that I watched where they were addressing some documents that had been reworded by using the term birth person instead of mother.

The person who made the video was talking about how men protect women not because they are weak, but because they carry a womb that populates the earth. It was a very moving statement that triggered a conversation with God.

We all know the plan of the enemy is to steal, to kill and to destroy. What I think some of us struggle with is the fact that people are so easily deceived into believing that it is their right to destroy another life. I know I do! Who are we to make that decision. Regardless of the way a child comes into the world, God has plans for that life.

So I began to see God’s plan unfold before my eyes and the role the enemy plays in destroying that plan. I thought of this and the death of thousands of babies that have been needlessly killed because of selfishness or deception.

Then I was told of this preschool in Texas where a couple of young men went in and killed all of these children and even some of the teachers. My heart was so grieved. And the Lord took me back to the question I had about abortion. He began to unfold before me why it grieves His heart as well. Why Jesus honored the little ones and loved them.

Do you see how important it is for the enemy to kill our children? At any age! He is stealing the plan of God for their lives. He’s taking away our future generation. This is a plan that goes so deep and so far in our history. It’s gone on for centuries and we have been so blinded to it.

He’s also stealing our children’s identity. Women who hold within their womb great leaders and history makers, men and women who hold the hope and promise of the future of our world, deceived into thinking that they are nothing. A binary creature. Where women wish to be men and men wish to be women. Our Adams and our Eves.

I’m not so concerned about losing readers, I’m more concerned about losing valuable people with their purpose threatened. Those who would love the Lord with their whole heart. The children who have been persuaded to believe a lie and there are no Spirit-filled believers who will intercede and fill that gap.

Father, Open the Eyes of the blind. Cause them to see what they have missed and where they have missed it. It has always been about your plans and your kingdom. May we not become so self-focused that we miss that.

Those intercessors who have become so discouraged and disillusioned and have lost Hope and Faith, cuz hope to once again rise in their hearts. You are the God who sees and you are the God who hears. May your kingdom come and your will be done here on this Earth as it is in heaven. May there be nothing missing or broken in the hearts of our children. I call them back to God! I call them back to their purpose!

I will continue to trust You Father for what You began, you will indeed finish.

Sandy G

Jesus had his disciples and the crowd gather around him. And he said to them: “If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely disown your own life. And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways.  For if you let your life go for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, you will continually experience true life.” Mark 8:34-35 TPT

If you have ever heard anyone say to you, “Happy Memorial Day!” they truly don’t grasp the meaning of this day. It saddens me that so many just look at it as another holiday, another day off work. Well that’s no where close to what the meaning of this holiday is all about.

It’s not even about honoring our Veterans. That is called Veterans Day.

It’s not about Independence Day (July 4th). That’s celebrating the day we became an independent nation no longer dependent on Mother England.

Memorial Day is the day we honor those who gave their lives to keep our nation free. It’s thanking the families of those who lost loved ones to pay that price for us. It’s a solemn day. A day to reflect and remember. A day to be grateful for those who did what we could not or would not.

Honor our men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. Thank the families they left behind and never forget.

Sandy G

Don’t set the affections of your heart on this world or in loving the things of the world. The love of the Father and the love of the world are incompatible. 1 John 2:15 TPT

Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when He said that we are in the world but not of the world. There is simply no comparison between Gods other worldly love and the love you experience in the world. If you can’t tell the difference, you’ve not experienced the Love of God.

Those who have learned to praise God through the hard times are those who know the difference because they’ve experienced the light of His love. They’ve learned that even in the dark, He brings a light that can’t be turned off.

I hope you’ve been encouraged this week in the Word with me. It always challenges me to stay in the light so that others can find their way to Him. You are indeed loved and appreciated more than you’ll ever know. Not only by God, but by me as well.

I will continue to pray for you as you reach out your arms and lay consumed in His love this weekend.

Sandy G

(Speaking of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah) These heroes all died still clinging to their faith, not even receiving all that had been promised them. But they saw beyond the horizon the fulfillment of their promises and gladly embraced it from afar. They all lived their lives on earth as those who belonged to another realm. For clearly, those who live this way  are longing for the appearing of a heavenly city. And if their hearts were still remembering what they left behind, they would have found an opportunity to go back. But they couldn’t turn back for their hearts were fixed on what was far greater, that is, the heavenly realm! Hebrews 11:13-16 TPT

Interesting in this version for sure. They saw beyond the now the fulfillment of their promises and gladly embraced it from afar. They lived their lives as those who belonged to another realm.

I remember a sermon once about how we are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and were sent to represent Him in the earth. That our lives are not our own for we were bought with the highest price. I believe that is why all of those great men and women of faith obtained their promise. Perhaps not the total, for some was left to future generations.

Everytime I hear the question; Why didn’t God come through for me? I think of these verses. God did come through for you. Perhaps not in the way you wanted, or even the way you would have done it, but it’s not about your plans, it’s about His. Will you trust Him regardless of the path He chooses for you? Will you continue to believe even through the loss? The pain?

What you see as a deficit today, just may end up being your greatest breakthrough. If trusting in Who you cannot see gets Him the greatest glory, are you willing to walk that path? The three Hebrew children stood before 1000’s and chose to not bow. They made the right choice even though they were tossed in the fiery furnace. What did they gain? You tell me!

I believe they gained an experience no one else came close to in that time. They were accompanied by the Son of God. Gods Word in the flesh stood in the fire and they came out with no smell of smoke on them.

Regardless of the outcome, you must be so focused on His Kingdom and His plans that you know without a doubt that Jesus is in the middle of your current situation with you. He’ll never leave you, never, ever, ever! Take a moment and thank Him for that alone.

Keep Your Eyes On His Kingdom-Not Yours,

Sandy G