God's been reminding me the power I have in Him when facing difficult and discouraging circumstances. How great it is that God has given us everything we need to overcome in every situation we face. Check it out.
“So God not only prepares us for conflict, He leads us right into it. I’m not saying He is the cause of difficulty in our lives. He is not, nor has He ever been, the sort of Father who brings torment, sickness, or persecution into the lives of His children to teach them how to be more Christ-like. The point is that when we are pursuing our God-given purpose, every situation in our lives works together to accomplish it. We never have to live in a moment of conflict without divine purpose because God can win with any hand, even a pair of twos. In reality, He already has won. Our job is to align our hearts with the reality of the victory of the Cross so that we can see His purposes and redemption at work around us. Then we can recognize how to partner with Heaven in our circumstances. People who have this perspective stand out because they get happy when they encounter a problem. They know it is their assignment, privilege, and joy to see impossibilities and problems bend their knees to the name of Jesus.”
–Bill Johnson in “Strengthen Yourself in the LORD”
“So God not only prepares us for conflict, He leads us right into it. I’m not saying He is the cause of difficulty in our lives. He is not, nor has He ever been, the sort of Father who brings torment, sickness, or persecution into the lives of His children to teach them how to be more Christ-like. The point is that when we are pursuing our God-given purpose, every situation in our lives works together to accomplish it. We never have to live in a moment of conflict without divine purpose because God can win with any hand, even a pair of twos. In reality, He already has won. Our job is to align our hearts with the reality of the victory of the Cross so that we can see His purposes and redemption at work around us. Then we can recognize how to partner with Heaven in our circumstances. People who have this perspective stand out because they get happy when they encounter a problem. They know it is their assignment, privilege, and joy to see impossibilities and problems bend their knees to the name of Jesus.”
–Bill Johnson in “Strengthen Yourself in the LORD”
“I really feel to
highlight the part of this prayer report, where it says to focus on how blessed
you are. I know this can seem strange, and even difficult amidst some of the
circumstances, but I feel this is really quite important. There is this one
phrase which I’ve heard repeatedly which simply states that our attitude
determines our altitude. Seems simple. But it can be hard. I feel like we often are looking for an
“out” to explain away why things may seem difficult. We can blame it on the
enemy or on spiritual warfare, but sometimes it is something as simple as our
attitude. If we are having a crummy attitude and expecting hardship, heaviness,
discouragement then we are opening ourselves up to this. It is a discipline to
take these thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. This does not discount that there may
be discouragement in the air, for example. It doesn’t mean to live in denial
and paste a fake smile on. It means that we may feel all the discouragement or
whatever negative emotion and then we turn in the opposite spirit and meditate
on the immense blessings in our lives. We turn to praise and thanksgiving in
the midst of the discouragement. It’s not denial, it is responding to it
through a Kingdom perspective.”
–Kayle Mumby
–Kayle Mumby
