When Your Back Is Against The Wall, Worship Your Way Out.

When your back is against the wall, worship your way out. When the enemy is coming against you, you need to worship your way out. Your worship is never wasted. God just wants us to be alone with Him. Your worship will not be wasted. You have to put your mouth on your mountain.  Mark 11:23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  God is able to take your anxiety and place it with His peace.  Peace on the outside comes from knowing God on the inside.  Lord I commit every bit of my life to you. Show me the way.  Thank you for guiding us Lord on this uncertain journey called life. 

WHEN YOUR BACKS AGAINST THE WALL – hit your knees, raise your hands and praise God through it all! People are watching and God is worth worshiping. 

Paul & Silas were en route to prayer meeting (church) and interrupted by a woman with a demonic spirit. She was the first “Damsel in Distress.” She made her living as a fortune teller. Paul and Silas in kindness but boldness shared her future was a dead end without trusting Christ as Savior. True friends and genuine Gospel preachers will tell you what you need to hear NOT what you want to hear. When Paul shared Jesus with her the demonic spirit immediately departed from her and she got gloriously saved! Moments before she was enslaved by Satan but now she is a daughter of God.

HAVE YOU EVER DONE THE RIGHT THING and yet, got in trouble. Paul and Silas extended grace but got grief. They just honored Heaven but now going through Hell. The leaders escorted these two Christians to the town square and didn’t bless them but beat them, shackled them and tossed them in prison with their “backs against the wall.” When you are in prison (solitary confinement) you do a lot of thinking with time on your hands.

The SITUATION was Paul and Silas were honoring God. They were going to church but God orchestrated their steps and enabled them to bring church to this woman in need of God. She now got her reservation for the Palace but they got thrown in the prison. Paul and Silas learned their SALVATION was still their SOLUTION. When your back is against the wall we need to do two things like never before.

PRAY – Paul and Silas began to pray. “When you are down to nothing – God is UP to something.” Plus, when you kneel before God you can STAND before any man. We need to fear (respect) the Lord more than worry what man can do to us. God is eternal. Man is temporal.

PRAISE – At their lowest point they worshiped God on High. You cannot worship anxiety and the Almighty at the same time. We need to stop telling God how big our mountains are and start telling our mountains how BIG our God is! They never pouted but began shouting praises to the Lord while in prison. The guards heard about their God. Convicts heard their carols of Christ, singing of their Savior and their HYMNS about Him!! Once again, these lost, shackled sinners couldn’t make it to church so their witness brought church to them! EVEN in jail!! FACT: Paul and Silas (not ELVIS) was the first to sing JAILHOUSE ROCK! #ThankYaVeryMuch

PROBLEMS – Will tempt you like never before to compromise, cut corners, cheat and leave Christ out of the equation. WORD OF THE DAY: “When you are TESTED. God can be TRUSTED.” Your world may shake but the Word of God never moves. Faith in Christ is a firm Foundation. When you read and trust God’s Promises your problems will evaporate and experience the PRESENCE of God in a powerful way. The Bible says: “I have yet to see the righteous forsaken” and true to His Word, the Lord sent an earthquake, the jail cells flew open and Paul and Silas were set free. The irony is they were free even when hand-cuffed. With the Lord we find liberty and you cannot contain God in a box or handcuffs. Atheists are actually in “prison” while walking with no shackles but Christians are free even in confinement.

Paul and Silas shared the Gospel with their jailers and led him and his entire family to the Lord (while they were in prison). Your disappointment may be a Divine Appointment to shine God’s Light and love to dark people in dark places (even dark prisons). The next time your back is against the wall may you be reminded to honor Christ even in your darkest dilemma. Plus, others are watching how you deal with adversity. Let them see the Almighty in you.

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com

If You Honor God, You Won't Have To Seek His Blessings, His Blessings Will Seek You.

Time to be about our Father's business.  After we hear the Word of God, we should then take up the work of God. God didn't call us to be busy, He called us to be faithful!  YOU can do everything God says YOU can do, in Jesus name.  God’s Word will never let you down. Instead, His Spirit will motivate and encourage you. 

If you honor God, you won't have to seek His blessings. His blessing will seek you.  The apostle Paul told the Ephesian elders that they too could never take a vacation from shepherding God's people (Acts 20). Caring for God's people includes feeding them spiritually, leading them gently, and warning them firmly.  At the end of the day we are all simply beggars telling other beggars where we found bread. Lord, thank you for your Word. It is truly the Bread of Life

Jesus Is My Co-Pilot Has Always Troubled Me.

Still at the wheel of your life? It's time to let Jesus drive. The bumper sticker " Jesus is my co-pilot" maybe a well-intentioned sentiment, but it has always troubled me. Whenever I'm in the driver's seat of my life, the destination is nowhere good. Jesus is not meant to be just a spiritual "co-pilot" giving directions every now and then, He is always meant to be in the driver's seat. Period! With Jesus in the driver's seat, the old destinations are off-limits. No more turning down the streets of self-centeredness, greed, or lust. No more off-road ventures into the swamp of pride or the ditch of bitterness. We were crucified with Him and He is at the wheel now! He died so that He alone can drive and define us. Your joy is to let Him drive and define your life. There may be a few bumps in the road, but you can count on it-He'll take you somewhere good.

Sometimes We Need To Get Out Of The Safe Zone!

Sometimes we need to get out of the safe zone and step in the faith zone with God.  Some of us simply need to make our mind up that we are going to follow God's will and not our own.  If you want to know God, you got to get involved with God. Having faith in God is the opposite of trusting in ourselves.  Do not think you can hear and comply with the Word of God on your own terms. You must humble yourself first!   When we start acting the way, God wants us to act, we get JOY in our life! It's the same as Prayer:

The power of prayer lies not in how much we pray, but in how much our prayers line up with the beliefs of prayer found in God's Word. There is no substitute - for reading God's Word and getting to know His voice. Get out of your safe zone. God has already given you the faith to take you through any trial. Use it!  When No One can Help or Assist you, don't let the Lord be your Last Option. Allow Him be your first Option. The Lord is not going to Change You, until you have a Willing Heart to be Changed. Otherwise, He will let you Keep Doing, What you are doing; but when you are willing, even when at times you are unstable, in Christ you can find yourself. He settles you with a peace no words can describe.

J.P. Olson

We Were Not Promised Comfort, but We Were Promised a Comforter in Our Discomfort

If God is with you, it doesn't matter if you're in the furnace or out of the furnace. Sometimes, God will deliver you from the fire. Sometimes, God will make you fireproof.  Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it. Whatever way is His will, TRUST HIM! Whatever God says we will have, we will have.  All we have to do is simply believe and receive it. Loving the thorn's builds our character. Thorns symbolizes hardships and struggles, accepting these would make us a better person.  Father today, if we have to go through the fire, if we have to go through the thorns, please help us to withstand it. Help us to understand that we were not promised comfort, but we were promised a comforter in our discomfort. Thank You for the Holy Spirit. We Trust You.

Never Lose Your Appetite for God. Continue to Hunger and Thirst After Him

Never Lose Your Appetite for God. Continue to Hunger and Thirst After Him.

You have to leave Circumstantial Faith, and Finally Attain Concrete Faith!  Satan’s attacks can actually develop you. Yes, it stresses you, but it also stretches you spiritually. In Hebrews Chapter 11 we see two things:

1.      The Deeds of Their Faith; and

2.      The Depth of Their Faith.

Which is why it always amazes me how God’s saints of old could worship Him in the midst of absolutely anything, yet we can’t seem to worship Him in the midst of anything. They pursued God on just promises, and even the ones that weren’t fulfilled in their lifetime, never caused them to lose their appetite for God. They continued to hunger and thirst after Him. Maybe that’s why they were so Full and we’re so Deflated. The depth of their faith propelled them to continue in their deeds for Him, despite what was being done to and against them. They maintained such a Faith Under Fire. They mastered how to Press In and Press On.  I know struggles and attacks can make it hard sometimes to press in, but you’ve got to press in anyhow! 

No matter how bad it may become, remember your God is always good and will always bring about good on your behalf:  

Remember This: Fiery Trials Work For You, Not Against You! Think about it: Where did God prove His faithfulness to Daniel? In the Lion’s Den. Likewise, think about this: Where did the Lord reveal Himself to the three Hebrew boys? In a fire that was heated seven times over! “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. Sometimes God will bring you through the fire and sometimes God will make you Fireproof.

John bowed, Jonah worshiped, Daniel trusted, the three Hebrew Boys maintained their resolve, But I Reiterate, HE IS STILL THE SAME GOD…YOUR GOD! So whether He takes you out, or leaves you in, you ought to serve Him with gladness anyhow, because He’s already promised to never leave you or forsake you,

In a Nutshell: You have to leave Circumstantial Faith, and Finally Attain Concrete Faith!

May God Deliver the Answer You've Been Waiting For.

This is a week of special prayers. Dear Lord please wrap your arms around those that are hurting today, and let them feel how much You love them. May God open the heavens, and break through the clouds, and deliver the answer you have been waiting for.  So many of us have made our request known to Christ, there are many looking for prayers to be answered. We bring You our burdens and You know our situation.  Many times in our life we have struggled and needed You to get us through. The devil does not know what to do with somebody who just WON'T GIVE UP!   Satan chances are hopeless as long as we stay in the Word & Will of God. Hard times will consistently be there, but so will CHRIST.  Like a slingshot, the farther we pull back into God, the farther He will launch us. 

God is the only one who can make the valley of trouble a door of hope. You always brought comfort to our hearts and gave us the strength and the will to carry on. May You shore our faith and strengthen our heart, and overwhelm us with Your grace.  May you know deep within that God is with you, for you and will never let you go.  He is mighty to save.  Rest well tonight knowing that God has heard your prayer.  Father today we declare that we trust you. We trust Your faithfulness and Your goodness.  

We know that You are working things out in our favor and Your timing. We declare that through faith and patience, we will inherit every promise You have for us in Jesus name.  The Day We Stop Asking God For Help is the Day We Start Asking For Trouble. 1Thessalonians 5:17.

Blessings