Crosslines

Do you test out theories with God? Do you take risks to see if He will come through? God might want to bring your theory, the question you are asking, into reality. There is no question we ask God that He won't answer. If we seek Him, it is a guarantee we will find Him. If we ask, it is guaranteed that He will answer, and when we knock, it is guaranteed He will open the door. Do you have an assignment in proving theories? Sometimes you have to not know what you are doing to be crazy enough to do what God is wanting done. 

Is there a spirit behind your problems that you aren't discerning? Sabotage is a spirit that works undercover. It works to make you the victim and perpetrator. Where you are unknowingly causing the very problem you are a victim to. God is a good God. It is His nature to give, so if there is good being withheld from you, ask God what you are doing to sabotage it and how you can defeat the spirit of sabotage. 

We are all a product of what has been blessed and cursed in our family lines. In Exodus 20:5-6 it says, the blessing of those who love God goes for a thousand generations, but the iniquity of the fathers goes to the children of the third and the fourth generations. The good news is you don't have to continue to live under the curse of past generations. The blood of Jesus has given each of us a choice. We can either passively continue living under the curse or break the power of the curse with the authority we have been given. Your choice will set the course for the next generations.  

Great callings come with great passion. It was Jesus' compassion for the people that caused Him to do miracles. And the reality of heaven and hell should stir us to do something to reach the lost. We tend to suppress passion because we don't think God likes extremes, but truly He wants us either hot or cold, all the way in or all the way out, never lukewarm. It is the passionate, those who are on fire, who get things done for the kingdom of God.

The secret to success is learning to hear God's voice. Deep down, you must believe that God is speaking to you and wants to speak to you. The devil's voice should sound like a stranger to you, not familiar, and the Lord's voice should sound like your Shepherd. Hearing the Lord's voice is not all-knowing on our part. It starts with a willingness to trust the leading of His voice, not knowing the outcome, but knowing that it will be good. 

Can we stay in unforgiveness and still go to heaven? In Matthew 6, Jesus clearly says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiveness must be of utmost importance to God. Forgiveness is not weakness. It is not God making you the world's punching bag. Nor does holding unforgiveness give you power over the person who wronged you. The truth is, the person or thing you don't forgive, you will eventually become. Forgiveness is actually the most powerful thing Jesus could have you do. It causes you to start becoming like Him. 

Can we stay in unforgiveness and still go to heaven? In Matthew 6, Jesus clearly says, "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiveness must be of utmost importance to God. Forgiveness is not weakness. It is not God making you the world's punching bag. Nor does holding unforgiveness give you power over the person who wronged you. The truth is, the person or thing you don't forgive, you will eventually become. Forgiveness is actually the most powerful thing Jesus could have you do. It causes you to start becoming like Him. 

The history of stress started in 1936. Now, a little less than a century later, according to the "experts," stress is responsible for every mental and medical problem under the sun. Is this true? The problem might be that we are believing the "experts" more than God's Word. It is the negative things we believe about stress that cause it to be detrimental to our well-being, not stress itself. Stress is a challenge, but it is not a threat. Stress, if viewed rightly, is meant to be beneficial. 

Sometimes we think of prayer as figuring out the best strategy to get something from God. After all, He has everything, and we have less. But have you ever stopped to think about what God is wanting? And what could you give Him? There are things we give to one another in relationships without a single word being spoken. It should be the same with God. Gratefulness truly makes a huge difference in what we receive from God because wholeness and gratitude go hand in hand. Ask yourself, is God getting what He wants out of your life? Are you meeting the unspoken request He has of you? 

What motivates you? The high side or the low side? John the Baptist sang the funeral song, and Jesus sang the wedding song, but still the people didn't move. What does it take for you to go deeper with God? Do you need to be yelled and told to repent like John the Baptist, or does the love and celebration of a wedding with Jesus move you? We may not realize it, but it is our choice whether we operate from the low side or the high side.