These signs shall follow…

I have been going out and praying for the sick, casting out devils and preaching the kingdom of God. This is something new that I just started doing, because this is what Jesus instructed us to do. I have seen some great results so far! I encourage you all to keep hungering after God, because I do believe He wants to use you in these last days. I believe we are coming near to the end of things, so what an honor it is that God called us worthy to be alive in this day and age. He has a call and a purpose for you, I encourage you, rise up, seek God whole heartedly so that you will be positioned to be used mightily for the kingdom of God! Here is a short video I made of just my first couple days of stepping out to be a witness in the streets of Milwaukee WI.

I recently started a new ministry for this, would love for you to go like and follow my story http://www.facebook.com/wakemycitymovement

The End Is Near

‘Wake My City Movement’ –

Be aware that there is good and there is evil, and you are either for one or for the other. The devil will disguise himself as an angel of light, he will disguise himself as a good cause, but really it is working against Jesus and the salvation He wants for us.

Please Subscribe so we can connect and stay in touch. This is just something I had on my heart with all that is going on in the world. I hope it speaks to you! Share with your friends and family
love Jon

We are at a day in age where idols and so called super stars are leading a generation. But where are they leading them, they lead them to love evil more than good, they lead them to love self more than God, they lead them to wage wars against what God stands for, they disguise themselves as fighting for freedom, for fighting for love, but how does hate and segregation lead to love
They lead them down a broad road that leads to destruction, but listen, the message is evil disguised as good. Be discerning of the times, be discerning by what spirit you speak from. Dig deeper than the shallow message that hollywood and media put out there. There is good and there is evil, there is truth and there is an ultimate line, an ultimate choosing. Eternity is at hand and this life, this day you choose.

I would love to encourage your Christian walk and faith and take this journey with you! Be blessed!

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The Struggle is Real

Identity Crisis

Lately I have been thinking about all the controversy, all the divided opinions and beliefs, and the questions of “What is your identity, Who are you, How do you identify yourself, with whom do you identify yourself with?” and so many more questions just like that. Since I am a believer and follower of Jesus, I find my identity in Him.

1 Corinthians 8:6
“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

God has created us (the human race) after His own image. He created us with free will in hopes of true fellowship with family. For those who believe and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, are adopted into the family of God. We become new people with new hearts and fresh starts. He created you and wants you to know Him.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”

I think a lot of the time in life people are searching for belonging, searching for an emptiness or hole in their life to be filled, so they look and look and find identity and belonging in places, fads, a group of people or things that they probably shouldn’t. I do see, just in watching tv that, The media and masses push things on to people through the slyness of entertainment. They make things funny, or look a certain way in a certain lighting and if they do it little by little for long enough, the people subliminally listen and decide they will take the same stance and say that it’s okay. They aren’t seeking for answers themselves, but listening to Hollywood, because it’s easy, because that is what they are feeding themselves on a daily basis. It’s kind of like the old saying “if it feels good, then do it”.

I’m here to tell you that there is a someone that can take that emptiness, that can take that hurt, that can take that confusion all away. Jesus loves you and he created you with a purpose. He is the one who can fill that hole and give you a new heart and make you new in Him. He pursues you and you may not see it, He loves you and you may not feel it, He knocks at the door to your heart but you may not hear it. It takes faith!

Hebrews 11:6 “ And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”

You see, to even come to God, you must have faith that He exists, and to find wholeness and to become new and fulfilled you must sincerely seek Him. Without that, you will only hear what the masses are pushing out. (Matthew 7:13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.”) If you do say “yes, I believe in God” and then you make a decision to seek Him sincerely and to pursue what He has for you. Then your eyes will be opened to the truth. For there is truth and there is black and white, but it is up to you to ask yourself, “is there an ultimate line, an ultimate choosing that I must do”. you see, God is knocking right now as you read this, and the question is will you answer and how will you answer? “No, I reject the thought of a Savior” or “Yes, I believe and if I believe, I choose to follow” even if you are shamed or ridiculed for believing and taking a stance that you believe in your heart.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

I find it a double standard, that people who call “Christians” judging, intolerable, hateful and so on are doing the exact same thing to us who have stood for what we believe and that its okay for them to do so to us. But wouldn’t that make them judging, intolerable, and hateful to us who find our identity in Christ. Are you who are standing up for what the world’s agenda is persecuting us for finding our identity in the love of a Savior? A question to ask yourself.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

If you are empty, he will fill you. If you are weak, you will find strength in Him. If you are lonely, you will find comfort in His family and in His arms. God is fighting for you everyday of your life, whether you see it or not. He will make you new!

My challenge to you today is that if you do not know who you are, why you exist, or what to do next. In your own private alone time, with a sincere heart pray to God this

“God, I don’t know you, I’m not sure if I know myself, but I believe that you exist and I want to know you, I want to know your spirit and your heart. Come into my life, forgive me of my past, I want to pursue what you have for me all the days of my life. In Jesus name Amen”

So Fresh and So Clean

In this life there are trials, temptations, troubles and hardships that we have to face. Life is not always easy and doesn’t always go our way. Maybe we have come from a broken home, maybe you have struggled with addiction your whole life, maybe someone broke your heart when all you have ever been was kind, maybe you struggle financially, maybe you didn’t get that job you wanted, maybe you struggle with loneliness or feelings of inadequacy. So many things in this life can leave you feeling hopeless and broken. But I am here to tell you that there is a hope for the hopeless, there is love, when you haven’t felt loved in a long time, there is peace you can find and it’s when you find and meet and begin a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus let us know in the bible in John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
You see the start to overcoming your trials and your troubles, your sorrows and your storms is to start that real relationship with Jesus. The relationship where you keep your eyes on him throughout each and every day you live. Not just on Sundays or here at Uprise, but it is an everyday real relationship. Jesus is referred to being a husband to the church. People who accept Jesus and live for him are considered the church, we are his bride. So just like a husband and wife relationship, it is an everyday relationship. Each day you think about that person, they are number 1 in your life, (aside from God). You grow to know them more and more, even to the point where you know what each other are thinking. That is the kind of intimate relationship I am talking about. Jesus will keep us full of peace and enveloped in his peace when our focus is on him, because we know this life will be tough, but we know someone who makes us strong when we are weak, who gives us grace to get through tough times, who reminds us that he is with us and he will never leave us.
*The Struggle is real, but Jesus is the strength to live a life that is full of peace.
We don’t need to go to God and tell him how big our problem is, but we need to speak to our problem, and tell it how big our God is.
I have a van that I drive, I’ve been driving it all winter long. I never really had any problems with it. But I did always drive it down to empty. In fact It was most of the time below a quarter tank and I drove it like that all winter. Come a few months down the road, last month sometime, my van started chugging, as if it was running out of gas, but there was gas in it, about a quarter haha. Any way it died out on me and wouldn’t drive. I had to get it towed to a shop. They looked at it and fixed the problem. It was a dirty carburetor. It became that way because I had been driving it all winter close to empty. Not to mention in the air filter there was what appeared to be a mouse’s nest with all kinds of hay, grass and even a good amount of foam. My car wasn’t running right and it’s because of my neglect to give it what it needed to run properly, and because something got into my car without me noticing that was draining my gas even faster and causing it to run improperly.
This is just like our lives. We can go days, months, even years without really giving our lives what they need and that is our focus on Jesus, our relationship with Jesus, the months may past and everything seems to be running fine, but one day you are going to find yourself not knowing what happened, you are out of gas, or you are broken down. Some things got into your life little by little that acted as a poison, you didn’t notice it because you weren’t staying focused and you weren’t intentional about your relationship with Jesus and now you find yourself alone. That thing that got into your life, maybe even a sin that has you restrained from finding true joy, that thing, whatever it was, was sucking away your time and your attention, from the one true source that will lead you to have true peace, joy, fulfillment, and strength.
When we live without Jesus as our daily source, some things can get in to our lives that can make us dirty and that can break us down. But when we give our lives to Jesus, he can make us So Fresh and So Clean and give us what we need to keep moving forward when life seems to be moving backwards.
*When we keep our focus on Jesus first, he gives us what we need to keep moving forward when life’s circumstances around us seem to be moving backward
Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”
Jesus blood was shed as the greatest sacrifice to wash our sins away and to give us a new start on life. A new life with him.
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
If and when we gave our life to Jesus Christ, we gave up our own lives and our old selfish desire, because he gave us his love and his life so that we can have strength in him and we can have eternity in heaven.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
It is only Jesus who makes us clean, this is not something that we can accomplish on our own because the bible says and we all know it to be true, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all equal and in the same boat, all in need of a savior to set us free from sin and death. Our hearts are dirty, hard and stained without Jesus blood and sacrifice to wash it away.
Ezekiel 36:26-27 “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”
When we give our lives to Jesus, he gives us a fresh and clean heart that is responsive to him. He takes away our dirty hard hearts. Living for Jesus daily is what we need to feel clean, fulfilled, satisfied, and strong in this life. The more you know him, the more you will grow to love him.
*A relationship takes love, work and commitment, and our relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship we will ever have.

RT: We don’t need to tell God how big our problems are, we need to tell our problems how big our God is. #Godiswithus
RT: Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice by dying for our sins, the least we can do is to give and live our life for Him #becausehefirstlovedus

Wide Awake

–        It’s important to live awake and aware of the presence of God at all times. He is with us in the Valleys and He is with us at the Mountain Tops.

–         God will never leave us nor forsake us

–         The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us

 

–        The fruits of the Spirit are a product of a life that is awake to the constant presence of God in our lives when we keep our gaze on Jesus

 

–         Galatians 5:16-26 “My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

 

–         Living wide awake to God does not just happen automatically, it is a choice, a decision that you have to make for yourself.  The bible tells us to put on our new nature. Just like when you get dressed in the morning, you make a decision to put on that favorite shirt of yours or to put on those shoes because they look good on you. When you became a Christian, a certain way of living looks a lot better on you than the way you did before. The way you lived before is comparable to old raggedy clothes and the new way of living is like putting on some fresh new gear everyday. When we are wide awake, we wake up and decide to put on our new nature. We give the day to Jesus in surrender. No matter how we feel, we say today I will be awake to your presence and that leads to a life that walks in the spirit, a life that walks in God’s way and direction.

 

–         Col 3:10-17 “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. 11 In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,[c] circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized,[d] slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

 

–         The more time you spend with God, the more you get to know him and the more you become like him (spending time worship, reading your bible, church, bible study, fellowship with other believers)

 

–         When we live wide awake and aware that God is always with us and we welcome Him in into our lives throughout our days, we begin to see with his vision of love, we hear his still small voice speak to us and lead us, we begin to change and become more like Christ daily. We begin to act upon what he has truly called us too

–         We see with his vision of love – we begin to look at the world around us differently, all of the sudden rockstars and celebrities become less appealing. We see rather eternal things as opposed to natural. We begin to seek to please God rather than to try and be relevant and please people. When you are awake to his love, you start walking in his love –kindness, forgiving, patient

–         We hear his voice speak subtle to our hearts and lead us to action to be a light to somebody who is need of encouragement, to tell that person about God’s gift of life Jesus, to help that person who looks like they are dealing with a lot right now.

–         When we live wide awake to God’s presence, all of these things begin to take place in our lives and in which case, we find ourselves changing more and more into the person God has called us and wants us to be.

–         Gratitude and thankfulness becomes part of our lifestyle because we are aware that God is helping us in hard times

–         Love becomes part of our life because we realize that God loved us when we didn’t deserve it, so we are to love others well even if they do not deserve it. We don’t know why people are the way they are. Everyone has a story, and because Jesus died for our sins and rose again to make Salvation and forgiveness available, they too should have the chance to experience the love of God and to know His grace. We can love and speak to them and be that light.

–         Worship becomes a part of our lifestyle, because we are aware of how big and awesome our God is and that He is so loving.

–         Keeping our focus on Jesus leads to peace

–         Putting our trust in God leads to miracles

–         Giving our lives in surrender to his purpose gives us vision

–         Using what God gave you, ability to speak life into others, leads to a living faith

–         I challenge us to live more aware and awake to God’s presence daily. A lot of times we can be forgetful of that. If we come to church or bible study and it doesn’t change who we are or what we are doing throughout the week we are missing the point. Daily make a decision to remind yourself of God’s presence with you where ever you go. Look for opportunity to be a light to people.

–         Wake up on purpose, your life is filled with purpose, to be a light to the world. (God has a plan for you every single day, it is up to us to be still and listen, to make a choice and follow

Christian Hypocrites?

To those who look at christians and won’t have anything to do with them or church because they think we are all a bunch of hypocrites. It’s true, no one is perfect and does everything they say they will, christians and non-believers alike. That is humanity, we all don’t measure up to the standard, but that is what the gospel is all about. Jesus meeting us where we are at and lifting us up with his grace, mercy, love, forgiveness and hope. Don’t use that as an excuse to not believe or to not go to church. People aren’t perfect and christians alike are still trying to get it together too, we all have ups and downs, but God in his faithfulness will stay true to you. Look and trust in Jesus’ faithfulness rather than trusting in what other “christians” are acting like. Look and trust in God’s word and love, rather than judging God by imperfect people. Don’t use the excuse I won’t go to church because there are hypocrites there, since when did that become a real thing, I’m sure you don’t say I’m not going to the bar, because there are hypocrites there, I’m not going to the mall to shop because there are hypocrites there. A word to you is to look to Jesus and not the christian person, because just like you, we fail, we fall, we make mistakes, we don’t act as we should all the time, we could never be perfect, but Jesus has come to be the link between us and God, come to give freely salvation to those who ask from him forgiveness and grace for this life.

As christians, when we fall, get back up again and trust God as we endure life and hardships, he will be your grace and strength in your weakness. The Bible even says the righteous will fall seven times daily but he will get back up again. He will keep moving forward toward Jesus. It doesn’t mean you go screwing up on purpose, but it means when you do, you get back up and keep your gaze on Jesus above all else.

Don’t be a Zombie

I could have went two different ways with my title because I am talking about a two step process, but “Dont be a Zombie” just seemed right haha. My other title was “Noise Complaint”, so take both of those into consideration. I want to talk to you today about voices. So many voices in this world, in your personal life, in your head that we hear playing over and over again and again all throughout our day everyday. Whether we are voluntarily choosing to listen to someone or something or involuntarily. We have radio, tv, friends, family, commercials and so much more that is constantly feeding us with who we are supposed to be, what we are supposed to do, why we need to do this or that, etc. When there is only one true voice that should be piercing through all of the noise that is going on. That is God’s voice, the one we should be keen on listening to. He has a still small voice that beams through all the noise and it comes from the inside of us. It could come in the form as a strong desire or passion to do something. It could be a scripture from the bible that sticks out to you and stays with you through whatever you are going through. It could be an encouragement from somebody that keeps you strong at your lowest point. These are just a few of the ways that God talks to us. He is trying everything possible to reach you and to connect to you and to walk with you in life. So many distractions in life that are telling us who to be and what to do. For example, instagram is telling us we need to have these super awesome fun cool lives that we need to share in order to show other people that we are super awesome fun cool people. But what does that get you, we are looking to show off to people, when we should be searching and seeking to glorify God. I am not saying that instagram is bad, I love it and share sweet awesome super cool photos myself, but when that is what is speaking to us most and becomes a priority to want to please people, then that is a voice that we need to quiet down in our lives. Same goes with facebook, twitter, tv, magazines and anything else we are feeding ourselves that takes away from us hearing the voice of God and hearing his leading personally in our lives.

Things that can be easily innocent, can also be things that slowly chip away at the person God is leading us to be.

Psalm 37:4-5 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act”

We need to make a decision to seek God’s voice and leading in our lives and not only to hear it, but to follow it. When we choose to follow God and his voice, you are going to be following in the will of God for your life and then you are going to be able to witness God do mighty miracles through your life. Miracles like, seeing other people’s lives changed because you listened to God and obeyed and because you bought someone’s meal they are eager to listen to what you have to say about God, or because you took a step to serve in the church nursery, lives are being saved because a single mom got to come to church and hear God’s word in a way she never heard it before and in touched her in a way that she dedicates her life and her family to serving God for the rest of her life, and so many more scenarios that could play out.

What I am saying is, when you listen to God, he always has a plan and a purpose for you doing what he wants you to do and if you do it, the miraculous can happen. God can use you, no matter who you are or where you are, you are a disciple of Jesus and are called to be a light to the world. Don’t let life pass you by without ever realizing that God has a voice and he is talking to you, don’t let all of the distractions in life keep you in a zombie like state never realizing that God has a huge plan for you to change the lives around you that he has put there. Steven Furtick said it like this “Most believers aren’t in imminent danger of ruining their lives. Their facing a danger that is far greater. Wasting them.” It is time that you and I and we as a church, stand up and listen to God, listen to what step he would have you take next. If you notice that life is passing you by, day in and day out, then change something, make a decision to take a step of faith and follow God and his word.

Joshua 1:8 “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Yes you can watch tv, listen to decent music, read books, get on your social networks, but make sure that God has his place in your life and in your ear and heart. Listen to sermon podcasts, read your bible, talk with God in prayer time and let his voice take precedent in your life. Make a decision to listen, shut the world out for a bit and listen. God says “Be still and know that I am God.” Make sure his voice is the one leading you to action, and not the voice of your friends telling you who you should be. God made you the way you are for a purpose and only he can tell you how to be, who to be and so on. And know that his voice inside of you, the Holy Spirit’s voice, will always line up with the word of God. God is not telling you to do something that includes sinning in it, he is usually telling you to do something that is going to change your life for the better of it, or to do something that is going to change someone else’s life for the better. He has a plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

So let your heart plan your way in the way of the Lord and let him guide your steps.

Don’t be a zombie living life by basic instinct and wondering about aimlessly, but be moved to action by listening to God’s voice.

My challenge to you today is to make a decision to cut out all the extra noise and make room to listen to God’s voice, and not only listen but be moved to action, follow his leading, be someone who he uses to change lives. That can look like anything, no small thing you do is unseen, God appreciates it all and even a small step like giving someone a glass of water is a step toward following God’s voice. I challenge to listen to God and follow what he says. He is speaking to you right now about something he wants you to do, so DON’T Be A ZOMBIE and get off your hinder and do it 😉 haha, but for reals though. Listen and follow.

Keep Standing

A lot of times people have faith enough to get things going and to follow God right off the bat and for a while, but then we lose faith when we begin to not see results right away. But when u r believing for something that God has told u to believe for I encourage u to keep standing in faith and putting your hand to it, if God said it then u will be so blessed when u see the outcome. Stand strong through the circumstances or when things seem stagnant because God is working it out. I heard it said that people quit digging 3 feet before they reach gold. Dont quit, stand strong and keep pressing towards God and your vision. God will work it out.

Promise, Process, Payoff. Not all of God’s promises come instantly when we pray. We see God’s promises in the Bible and what he did for others, We begin a process of standing on God’s word in faith (do not let your faith go, but believe beyond what circumstances and what you can see that God’s word is true), and in God’s timing you will see the payoff for why God did it in His timing and not your own. #Trust #Faith

Facing Failure

There is no justification for our sins, only God’s grace and Jesus’ redemption. When you fail and fall, it’s important to run to God and not from him. What else are we to do? Stay in a stand still, stay in regret, stay in the weight that Jesus paid the price for. God, our father wouldn’t want that for his child. He saved us by grace so that no man could boast. We all have areas in our lives that we struggle with, for some its unforgiveness, for some its lust, for some its judgementalism, for some its addiction and so on and so on.

We need to understand that we are all sinners and have all fallen short of the Glory of God. We all needs God’s grace just as much as the other. We can point out what we think others are doing that may seem “worse” to us to try and make ourselves look better, but really to God no sin is greater than the other. We need to be honest with OURselves and focus on how we can make OUR relationship with Jesus better, by spending more time with him, by casting our cares, by praising him.

Don’t focus on what others are doing and focus on yourself! We are all in this thing called life together, we have all fallen in different ways, we are all going through something that we can learn from and grow from, but please look to focus on yourself and not others. Don’t be judging others and condemning them for the speck or plank in their eye, when you yourself may have things that you could do better in your life. Maybe you’re not there where Jesus wants you to be, maybe you have your own marriage that could use some work, maybe you are out partying with your friends, maybe you are even just neglecting what you know is right to do and you refuse to do it because of pride, maybe you refuse to do it, because you plain and simple just want to do what you want. Well the more time you spend with Jesus, the more you will want to please him. It’s kinda a thing where you have to will it until you feel it. Make the decision to focus on your relationship with Jesus and stop looking at others. We are all jacked up in some way and we are all in this together. Wouldn’t it be nice to lift each other up when we fall rather than keep each other down?

I encourage you to really yield yourself to Jesus and your relationship with him. Spend time with him and you will walk away better for it. We all need God’s grace and none of us is better than the other. We all deserved to go to hell, but God’s grace provided us a way back into his kingdom.

There is no past to dark for the love of Jesus. We have to move forward with God, because that is what he asks us to do, he doesn’t want us not living for him or restoring our relationship with him just because we royally failed maybe time and time again. the devil may be sly and try and tell you “you’re not good enough”, “how could God love you anymore”, “you will never amount to anything”, “look at all those times you failed” – He will try to keep us stuck in our failures and our past. God, like a father, tells us to “keep going”, “you can do it”, “Nothing can separate my love for you”, “you can have mercy and forgiveness”, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. Take notice of the difference, the devil will try and keep you down and in your failures and in your past, God will pick you up and dust you off and tell you I know the plans I have for you and they are good, God will speak love, grace, and lead you to a brighter future. So I encourage you to spend time with Jesus, look at yourself and be honest with yourself about your life, don’t focus on what others are doing wrong, and listen to God’s voice and not the devils. The devil will always try and steal away the truth of God’s grace and redemption by bringing up your failures, but God will always speak life into your life.