Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The anxiety, the uneasy feeling, the stress, the weariness, What is it?

1 Chronicles 28 (the Message Bible)

9 -10 "And you, Solomon my son, get to know well your father's God; serve him with a whole heart and eager mind, for God examines every heart and sees through every motive. If you seek him, he'll make sure you find him, but if you abandon him, he'll leave you for good. Look sharp now! God has chosen you to build his holy house. Be brave, determined! And do it!"

20 David continued to address Solomon: "Take charge! Take heart! Don't be anxious or get discouraged. God, my God, is with you in this; he won't walk off and leave you in the lurch. He's at your side until every last detail is completed..."


We are in a season of Transition, and this is a critical point. It is a point at which many give in or give up. It is a point at which many change directions, trying to find a more comfortable path or route. It is a point at which many become overwhelmed in the responsibility and the challenges. Emotions and fear dull our thinking, and if we are not careful, we can forget. We can forget God's Assignment. We forget what God spoke over our lives. We forget what we asked of Him, we forget the promises we made to Him, and we begin to faint.

Let this word today serve as a reminder, and may you be refreshed and restored as you rest in God's presence and remember God's mission on this earth, and your mission in this season.

Look closely; you will notice Transition all around. On your jobs, in your home, in so many of our world systems... out with the old, then the "in between time", then in with the new. Transition. What you are feeling and experiencing now is not strange, for it is a fact, that during a time of transition, people lose focus and energy, and may feel isolated and displaced. However, our challenge as well as our responsibility as leaders in the Kingdom of God is to maintain stable performance during this time of instability.

God has given us weapons of warfare to deal with every spiritual attack and has truly opened the windows of heaven over our lives and flooded us with creativity and ideas - those that we need to walk out the assignment. It is time, actually past time, that we become diligent and consistent when it comes to implementing the ideas so that we are obedient to His instructions. This all seems extremely difficult now, because you may feel that you are by yourself; but that is a trick of the enemy.

Don't fall for satan's plan of making you feel that you are all alone...you know who your spiritual partners are, reach out to them. They likely feel unsettled and weary as you do. But if this word lines up with your spirit, I challenge you to share it with them. Pray about it together, and allow God to reveal its specific meaning and challenge to you both. This will help, for it is always uplifting and energizing when we discover we are not alone, and we have someone at our side. Pull your brother or sister close now, and hold each other accountable to stay on task. Pray with and for one another, help one another in practical ways. Provide wise council for one another, reminding each other daily of how close our God is to us.

Don't quit. Look back at the instructions He gave you - maybe even years ago, you wrote them down. Be reminded of your mission, for now is not the time to give up on it.

1 Corinthians 15:58 (The Bible in Basic English)
For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord

 

Copyright 2011 - Victoria L. Burse, Queens of the Kingdom

Purchase a copy of my new book Destination Destiny at victoriaburse.com
Connect with me on...
Visit my website and follow my blog @ www.queensofthekingdom.org

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

What's the Password?

Psalm 100 (The Message Bible)

 
A Thanksgiving Psalm
 
1-2  On your feet now-applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. 3 Know this: God is God, and God, God. He made us; we didn't make him. 
We're his people, his well-tended sheep. 4 Enter (His Gates) with the password: "Thank you!"  Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever. 
 
 
Often, just to say the words Thank You, does not seem enough. Recognizing how good God has been to us, how merciful, and how forgiving, we can't fathom that the words Thank You, would move Him in any way.

However, as we read these familiar passages of scripture, we are reminded that the words "Thank You" or the act of Thanksgiving is the key that moves Him to open His gates and allow us to enter into His presence.

A gate is defined as "an opening permitting passage through an enclosure." or "any means of access or entrance." Through His gates, we find the courtway that leads to His holy temple. That place where He resides. As we seek to come into the presence of God, to praise and worship Him, we must enter at the gate, and our attitude, the state of our heart - has everything to do with whether or not we are allowed to enter.

It is interesting that in these passages, the word of God does not list other attributes such as holiness, or righteousness, or any type of title or role that we must hold in order to enter the gate. It is as if God has put all of those other things to the side, and is simply saying, "I am looking for those with a Grateful Heart," and they are welcomed into my presence to commune with me. Grateful for salvation and forgiveness, grateful because we understand how undeserving we are. Grateful for Gods benevolence toward us. Grateful for family, friends and provision. I could go on and on. Then, as we commune with Him, we find that it is in His transforming presence that we through repentance exchange our filthy rags, for the garments of Holiness and Righteousness.

While it would be easy to assume that everyone reading these words today has received the love and the salvation of Jesus Christ, that may not be the case. Or, there may be a true believer that is presently separated from God, because of sin, and wants to come back to Him but is unsure how. Whatever situation you may find yourself in this day, I share with you the password found in the word of God. A heartfelt, sincere, "Thank You." While things may not be the best, things could be very different. If you are reading these words, you are amongst the land of the living, and therefore, you have another opportunity to say Thank You, to let the Lord know how much you love and appreciate Him, and then to Praise Him not for anything He has done, but just because of who He is! Our Creator, Our Lord, Our Savior, Our King, Our Brother, Our Friend.

No matter what you may have said or done, let me remind you how much God loves you, how much He has always loved you, and that He could never love you any more than He does at this very moment. In fact, He is waiting for you, waiting for you at the Gate, go ahead an enter, for now....you know the password! 


Copyright 2011 - Victoria L. Burse, Queens of the Kingdom

Purchase a copy of my new book Destination Destiny at victoriaburse.com
Connect with me on...
Visit my website and follow my blog @ www.queensofthekingdom.org