How Should We Deal With Difficult People? Jesus Dealt With Difficult People, It Wasn’t Always Nice As People Ask (What Would Jesus Do?) Jesus Is Never Cornered, He Did Not Allow People To Corner Him, Jesus Knows When To Ignore. Jesus Is Flexible.

Ways to Deal with the Difficult People in Your Church, Christian Circles, Family, and Friends. How should we deal with difficult people? How to deal with “toxic” people, charitably and successfully. Some people in our lives may be difficult simply because they challenge us. Or they may be difficult because they are different. 

I Will Share Ways Jesus Dealt With Difficult People and it wasn’t always nice as people often ask (“What Would Jesus Do?) Jesus Is Never Cornered, He did not allow people to corner Him, Jesus Knows When to Ignore. He knew when to ignore people if they liked it or not. Jesus Is not Defensive, Jesus Is Flexible and Jesus asks questions. It is funny, but we humans tend not to ask a lot of questions. We assume, we pontificate, we lecture, we observe, we interrupt, and we judge. But we rarely make it a point to ask other people questions.

Have you ever had someone in your life that…

• That seemed to DIMINISH YOU
• That caused you to OPERATE AS HALF OF YOURSELF
• That squashed a PIECE OF YOUR HEART AND SOUL
• MADE YOU UNSETTLED just by the way they projected themselves?

Maybe it is someone who is an over-the-top NARCISSIST.

• Or the distrust feelings while being with a GOSSIPER.
• Or the anxious feelings of being a future the topic of your CRITICAL “friend”.
• Or the subservience feelings while standing down to a BULLY.
• Or the insecure feelings as you hope things are still good with a PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE
• Or maybe even the emotional drain of an ever-complaining NEGATIVE person.

How do you DEAL WITH such people? How do you STAY HEALTHY and RETAIN ENERGY for life? How do you REGULATE and live as your WHOLE SELF, rather than a DIMINISHED VERSION of you?

These people can be your parents, your friends, your siblings, your church family.

This about dealing with Difficult People. David Had to Deal With These People. But he goes on to recite the 23^rd Psalms. He begins with God, He leads me, He restores my soul.

PSALM 23:1-6 NKJV [David said] The LORD [is] my shepherd; I SHALL NOT WANT. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 HE RESTORES MY SOUL; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. SLIDE 05 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Now, he is ready to face the conflicts from dealing with difficult people. Difficult people tend to trigger our deepest fears. When he is talking about walking through the valley of the shadow of death, he is not talking about a literal valley but a relational valley. I WILL FEAR NO EVIL; For YOU [ARE] WITH ME; He is saying I do not have to fear evil; I do not have to fear what men’s choices are, what some lady said, what some cousin said, what my spouse said or what some friend said, I do not have to fear my security in that, I have already established that the Lord is my source and He is the one who gives me therapy besides the still waters.

Your rod and Your staff, they COMFORT ME.  God, you are big enough, You comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES; Say difficult people. Table represents nourishment, He feeds me, I have a seat at this table in the presence of my enemies. The gossipers, the bully’s the narcissist, now I am sitting across from my enemies, and You anoint my head with oil. You ANOINT MY HEAD with oil; MY CUP RUNS OVER. You anoint my head with oil when I am around difficult people. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER.

1 SAMUEL 16:11 NIV So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the YOUNGEST," Jesse answered. "He is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives." David had to deal with a toxic father who thought nothing less of him but that he is a nobody but a lad out herding the sheep.

1 SAMUEL 17:28 NLT But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. "What are you doing around here anyway?" he demanded. "What about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!" His brother demeaned him. Now Saul is trying to kill David every day. Toxic, and difficult people. David dealt with this his entire life, and it got him into a lot of trouble until he began to learn how to process the difficulties, the enemies of his life.

PSALM 69:4 NLT [David said] Those who HATE ME without cause OUTNUMBER THE HAIRS on my head. Many ENEMIES TRY TO DESTROY ME with lies…

Using Christian values to deal with challenging people.

Does it sometimes feel like all the challenging people in the world are getting more and more, well – unpleasant? Perhaps some days feel like one never-ending prayer for patience, tolerance, and forgiveness.

As Christians, we are not exempt from difficult relationships and challenging people, but we have plentiful resources and abundant tools to call upon. Next time you’re faced with the temptation to lose it with someone who is tap dancing on your last nerve, try one of our five favorite methods of bringing Christian values into unpleasant interpersonal dynamics.

How should we deal with difficult people? Some people in our lives may be difficult simply because they challenge us. Or they may be difficult because they are different. Or they may be difficult because we live with them (and proximity amplifies foibles). Or they may be difficult because we are difficult and something about us just rubs them the wrong way.

Or they may just be difficult.

Regardless, we can learn to accept the inconvenient, the incongruent and the bothersome (people and events) in our life not just as necessary nuisances but as gifts.

First, expect it. As I mentioned above, the church is full of real people with real problems; conflict is inevitable. With that in mind, the first step in dealing with difficult people is to expect it. Knowing that it can and will happen should often remove the surprise factor so that you can properly prepare for those situations as they arise.

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede

Unconditional love for our brothers and sisters in Christ is an admirable goal to hold, but very few humans can consistently pull this off without divine assistance. If you know you're about to enter a difficult interaction with a person or group, petition the Holy Spirit to light the path before you and touch the hearts of all involved with the spirit of receptivity and reconciliation.

2. Don’t lose your cool.

It’s easy to get defensive when feeling attacked or misunderstood. But it’s incredibly important to keep your cool in a difficult situation. Chances are, you're a Christian if reading this article. As a result, you are setting an example to others that could either hurt or help your testimony.

If this is a challenge for you, see step number 8. That I will share.

2. Pray for self-control and discernment

If you have strong communication skills and are a fast thinker, it's easy to lash out in hurtful anger before you even realize you're speaking aloud. You cause a rip in the fabric of your relationship with the other that is often very hard to mend, and chances are, you feel badly about yourself for losing control.

Even if it’s in the heat of the moment, try to pause and pray for perspective and poise. If you can keep your composure, you’ll feel more dignified and better able to hear guidance about what to do and say next.

3. Diffuse the situation by depersonalizing it

Ask yourself: “Is this conflict really about me?” It could be that the other person has just experienced a horrible loss or is enduring a painful physical challenge. Try to become spacious and generous with your attention instead of contracted and self-focused. Put yourself in the other person’s situation, and open to the idea that this may have nothing at all to do with you. If you can bring some humor and levity into the situation, all the better!

 Don’t fuel the fire.

Another big don’t “don’t add fuel to the fire”. This goes back to defensiveness and wanting to protect yourself. It easily happens that a situation can escalate quickly with one wrong word.

Hold Proverbs 15:1 with some weight: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but hard words stir up anger.” Remember that a gentle answer can diffuse the problem almost instantly!

4. Swallow your pride.

Sometimes all we can do when the confrontation filter takes over is to protect ourselves--to, in all honesty, put ourselves first. Nobody likes being wrong, misunderstood, or accused of fault. But this is pride and pride only hurt situations and destroys relationships.

When you’re dealing with a difficult person, be willing to play your part and to be the first to offer a gentle word. Our pride makes it so hard but it’s very necessary when working with people.

In addition, be willing to say “sorry.” If you’re at fault, say you dropped the ball. Apologize. Offer the proverbial olive branch and allow for reconciliation to take place.

5. Turn the pointing finger around

Examine your own reactions, judgments, and projections. As distasteful as it can be, we are called to look inward with as much fearless self-scrutiny as we can muster to find where we’re at fault. Often, the other person is mirroring something about us that we do not care to claim ownership for. We keep the focus on their transgressions to avoid coping to our own.

Prayerfully search inside and ask yourself:

• How am I contributing to the discord here?
• Is this person reminding me of myself when I’ve done the same thing?
• What are my true motives for my words and actions?

Performed with a genuine intent to grow and heal, this exercise in self-discovery can lead straight into self-forgiveness. Remember that God loves to forgive us when we humbly confess our faults. And once forgiven, we have a lot more spaciousness in our hearts to extend mercy and acceptance to others.

Remember their brokenness.

6.A huge help when working with difficult people is to remember that they are likely broken and hurt. That they are probably struggling with something that overflows into their life.

Truth is, hurt people hurt people. If you can remember their hurt, you’re more likely to respond from a place of grace. Try to reconcile and make the situation better, lifting further burden off of them and setting an example of peace.

7. Pray for them. Pray for the person.

Prayer has this incredible ability of softening our hearts towards others. If you’re at odds with someone, one of the best ways of responding in a healthy and godly way is by praying for them. It’s hard to be mad at someone you are praying for.

Even if sometimes you pray through gritted teeth with clenched fists, try to call upon Matthew 5:44:

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”

Be aware that the grace with which you handle challenging interpersonal interactions might be the very catalyst that causes a troubled person to notice something “different” about you and ask, “Are you a person of faith? Tell me more about that!”

8. Play the “happy ignorance” card.

If someone says something that might seem a bit critical or inconsiderate, there are times it might be best to pay this card. It means responding in a way that shrugs off the critique rather than making a big deal out of it.

One person I know who uses this technique shared the example:

If someone says to you, “Umm. you’re painting your kitchen yellow?” Instead of Yes, it’s my kitchen and I paint it the color I want to.  You say, “Yea! isn’t it great?” Brush off a passing criticism and diffuse the situation.

9. Shower them with kindness.

Few things diffuse a difficult situation like kindness. It’s hard to remain mad at someone who is being incredibly nice despite a bad attitude on the other person’s part.

Take the high road and be a fountain of kindness that saturates the moment with the positive rather than the negative. Hopefully, the other person will soften and respond the same way.

10. Take a break.

Advice often given in healthy conflict resolution is the principle of walking away to get some space and perspective. Doing this allows a person to cool down and gather their thoughts and feelings, in the hope of dealing with the conflict in a healthy way.

I’m one of those people who is better fit for conflict with a small break. If you’re the type of person who needs to gather thoughts or cool down before speaking, don’t be afraid to briefly walk away from the situation and come back collected.

Matthew 18 a conflict.

One of the quickest ways of causing division in the body of Christ is by circumventing healthy conflict. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched someone go to people and slander somebody instead of talking to the person directly.

If you have a problem with someone, don’t go tell other people. You may feel you have the purest motives in telling an outside party, but that’s not biblical and it’s wrong. Matthew 18 tells you to go to that person if there is a fault; not a boss, not a pastor, and not anyone period. Bringing another into the situation only takes place when you’ve approached the difficult person without resolution, and you feel bringing another they trust into the situation might help them turn from sin.

Would you want someone to go to others and say negative things about you? Probably not. So don’t do it to someone else. ALWAYS Matthew 18 a conflict.

Ways Jesus Dealt With Difficult People. Seeing difficult people in such a positive light seems like a tall order. But we can start by learning to deal with other people in a Christ-like way. Scripture teaches us some ways that Jesus dealt with difficult people:

1.- Jesus asks questions. In Chapter 12 of Luke, Jesus is asked to settle a family dispute and basically responds, “Who do you think I am, Judge Judy?” (right, this is a loose translation, but you get the idea). It is interesting to note that Jesus asks a lot of questions in Scripture. Jesus’ questions were sometimes rhetorical, or challenging, and at other times he was also seeking feedback. By using questions, Jesus emphasizes his openness to the other person.

It is funny, but we humans tend not to ask a lot of questions. We assume, we pontificate, we lecture, we observe, we interrupt, and we judge. But we rarely make it a point to ask other people questions. In using questions frequently, I think Jesus is modeling the behavior of a good communicator, one who cares about the other person enough to engage with them and challenge them. Even, and perhaps especially when they are difficult.

2.-Jesus Is Never Cornered.

In Chapter 6 of Luke, Jesus is taking a Sabbath stroll with his disciples and the Pharisees pop up out of nowhere and accuse them of breaking the Sabbath by picking grain. Jesus is unflustered. He is never scared of the people who try to slip him up or think the worst of him, because what other people think is not his focus.

Sometimes people corner us with their assumptions and judgments, and we can begin to wonder if the way they see us is more objective than how we see ourselves. It is hard when we feel like others misunderstand us or do not take the time to get to know us before judging. But, like Jesus, we do not have to feel defined by the projections of other people. Our identity resides and is found in God, not in what other people try to push on us.

3.- Jesus Knows When to Ignore.

Remember that time when Jesus ticks off all his former neighbors and friends in his hometown of Nazareth? They are so worked up that they decide to throw him off a cliff. Jesus, seeing that there is no reasoning with these people, walks through the crowd, ignores their rage, and “went on his way” (Luke 4).

Sometimes difficult people throw tantrums, speak harshly, or treat us in an abusive way (this happens online all the time). This is the cue to disengage and walk away. Jesus knew how to keep his blood pressure in check and his eyes on the prize. Of course, if we must deal assertively with someone who does this in person, a face-to-face discussion might help. Later.

4.- Jesus Is Not Defensive.

In Chapter 10 of Mark, James and John basically say to Jesus: “We want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Wow. Talk about overstepping boundaries! But Jesus is not codependent, so neediness and boundary crossing is not threatening to him. He knows when to say no and when to say yes and does not beat himself up when he doesn’t make other people happy.

Sometimes people can demand more from us than what we can give them. They may try to sway us with guilt trips. Before we know it, we find ourselves bending over backward trying to satisfy a needy or aggressive person (who is rarely satisfied!). But Jesus does not try to people please. Jesus does not need to protect himself from other people; God’s will is enough security. This is where his non-defensiveness comes from.

5.- Jesus Is Flexible.

In Matthew 15, a Canaanite woman demands that Jesus heal her daughter and Jesus says no. But then he is moved by the woman’s response of faith and heals her daughter. Jesus approaches others with an open mind. Even when he had preconceived notions, he allowed the Spirit to move him.

When a difficult person approaches us, we may think, oh great, here we go again, or I know how this will go, but Jesus kept an open mind when he was approached by others. You never know. The Spirit may move you, or the person who is normally difficult, to act in a different, unexpected way. Being close to others closes us to the Holy Spirit who is working in us and in the other person.

Jesus, help us see You in everyone, even the people who challenge us. Light us up with Your radiant love so that we may see You even in the most difficult of people. Every human being is made in Your image. Help us to recognize You and love You in them.

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.journeyintotheword.com

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What Makes You Different. 2024 Is The Year Where GOD Will Put You Where People Do Not Think You Belong. PREPARE FOR AN UPGRADE! Prequalified For Double. My Message Is Amazingly Simple: Quit Letting Other People Get You Upset And Steal Your Joy.

My Prayer for Today

Father, thank You for setting us apart with Your distinctive favor and for shining Your face upon us. Thank You for guiding us, protecting us, favoring us, and giving us an advantage. I believe that we are blessed to be one of Your own special people. Father, we are so thankful that Your steadfast love endures forever. That means it does not change with life’s circumstances.  We can count on You in our times of distress to love us as Your precious children without fail. May God shower you today with an abundance of peace, love, and joy. May God strengthen you in your weakness today. May God make a way for you where there seems to be no way. “Father, thank You that before we even call, you answer us; before we even pray, you already have the answer lined up. Thank You that You go before us and work in ways that we cannot even imagine. I believe we will come into our land of unprecedented favor. Father, thank You for giving us gifts and talents to fulfill our destiny, and they are different from what others have been given. Thank You for the blessing of being different and the privilege of making the most of what You have given us. I will be content. Father, thank You that You have already lined up favor connections for us. Thank You for the people who are ordained to help us go further. Help us to disconnect from people who are hindering our growth and connect with people who are favored.  God bless you and keep you today, in Jesus’ Name, Amen. Together in His Grip.

I have a very timely message this morning and I believe God has given me this good message for today! I have been having some great times of refreshing in God's presence this past week!  Philippians 4:19 says, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God is our all-powerful, all-compassionate, all-wise and all-loving heavenly Father. NASB

What Makes You Different

When God sent plague after plague on Pharaoh and his people to free the Israelites from slavery, what is interesting is that the Israelites lived right next door, but the plagues never touched them. Whether it was swarms of flies, hordes of frogs, or their livestock, the Israeli side was untouched. God put a distinction of favor and blessing upon His people. God has also put a distinct favor on you that causes you to be different from those who do not honor God. The Scripture talks about how you have been called out, set apart as God’s people. It says that His face shines down on you and causes you to stand out. There is a marked difference. You have an advantage. You are not doing life by yourself. It is not up to just your skill, your talent, your connections. There is a force behind you breathing in your direction, protecting you, guiding you, favoring you. The Highest God has set you apart. Take advantage of every opportunity that God has placed before you. This will be a year of opportunity. Jesus took advantage of every opportunity presented to Him.

GOD is not just a way maker. He is THE WAY. He can create what you need. That is why HE’s called the great "I AM."

I AM whatever you need.

I AM favor.

I AM breakthroughs.

I AM healing.

I AM victory.

We are in position for a move of God. What do you think? Ps 85:12 Yes, the Lord will give that which is good! Psalm 85:6. Will thou revive us again oh Lord that thy people may rejoice in Thee? Vs 12 THE ANSWER!! YES! Ingredients for a move of God.  KJV ¹² The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.

Just like cold weather has knocked out power in recent weeks, so has coldness knocked out power in the church! Time to get the power of God back into His Church!! The greatest gift given to us! It is access to the throne of God given to us from the Son of God. God and Jesus gave us this wonderful privilege and we must use it! The Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Let us come boldly to His throne of Grace! If you are going to look back at your past, make sure it is to Thank the Lord! When life does not turn out the way you thought, you must learn to kiss negative things goodbye. People may walk away. It is tempting to get bitter, hold a grudge, lose your passion. You must kiss the bitterness goodbye, kiss the person that left you goodbye, kiss the dream that did not work out goodbye. You cannot embrace the new things God has in store if you are holding on to the old.

Our Position is "In Christ" God knows where you fit best on His Team. Most people do not know where they fit!!!

Your Father's World

I knew a phenomenally successful widowed man who remarried, and at the age of sixty-five found out they were going to have his first child. When his wife gave birth and he held his baby boy, he was overwhelmed and began to weep for joy. He looked his son in the eyes and said, “I cannot wait to give you, my world. That is the way our heavenly Father feels about you. He has been thinking about you for a long time. He did not create you to be ordinary, to just make it through life. He is lined up with amazing opportunities, good breaks, and the right people. He is saying to you, I cannot wait to give you, My world. His world is big, filled with joy, filled with favor, filled with blessings, and filled with love. In His world, you are His prized possession. What He has in store for you is going to boggle your mind. My question is, are you expecting your Father to give you the kingdom?

Remember you have a history with God. When Abraham was old and close to death, he told his assistant to travel back to his hometown to find his son, Isaac, a wife. The assistant asked him how he would know if it was the right girl, and Abraham was saying, do not worry because I have a history with God. I have seen His faithfulness over and over down through the years. I am confident it will happen. I have walked with God and seen His goodness. Instead of wondering if something is going to work out, worrying about your health, or stressing out over your finances, remember your history with God. Look back at what He's done. As Abraham did, you will see times when God brought a promise to pass that looked impossible, He provided when you did not see a way, He showed you mercy and turned a situation around. Whatever you face, keep walking in faithfulness and be confident that He will do it again and make your journey a success.

Sometimes we act as though God has a limited supply of favor, but He has unlimited resources. When God laid out the plan for your life, He put in it everything you need to fulfill your destiny. He is already lined up the right people, the right breaks, favor, and increase. If you keep honoring God, you will come into a stored-up blessing at the right time. You will not have to go after it; it will find you. What God has destined for you cannot go to anyone else. When you understand this, it takes the pressure off. You do not live frustrated, wondering when a dream is going to come to pass, worried that a problem is not going to work out, or jealous because a friend got a promotion. You stay in peace knowing that what has your name on it is not going to go to anyone else. You know your time is coming. You know that God will get you to where you are supposed to be.

He Is Your Source

It is easy to look on people or to our job as our source. Yes, God uses people, jobs, and contracts, but they are not the Source. They are simply resources that the Source uses. If you are seeing anything or anyone other than God as your source, when something happens to that something or someone, you will think, “What am I going to do? My source has been cut off.” No, the Source is simply fine. God is still on the throne. That good gift may come through people, but it came from your heavenly Father. Your salary or contract may come through a connection, but it came from God.

That is why you do not have to play up to people at work or compromise to get a good break. You are not at the mercy of the economy, or who likes you, or what your boss does. People are not your provider; God is your provider. God has all kinds of resources He can use.

Increase in Favor.

Did you know that one way our faith is released is through our words? There is a connection between speaking God's favor and receiving His favor. You can increase in favor. It is not enough to just believe you have favor or expect favor; you must take it one step further and declare favor. Every day you should declare, I have the favor of God. I have favor on my business, my finances, my family, and my health. When you speak something out, you are giving it the right to come to pass. When you are in a difficult situation, instead of complaining about it, you need to declare, the favor of God is turning this around. His favor is bringing healing, freedom, vindication, and victory into my life. It is one thing to think about it, but when you declare it, things begin to happen in the unseen realm. You have hoped, you have prayed, you have believed that is good, but it is time to start speaking favor.

Many people get frustrated and soured on life because of their unanswered whys. Not everything along your life’s way is going to make sense. You may never understand why something happened the way it did, but God knows what He is doing. He would not allow it if it were not going to somehow work for your good. This is where faith comes in. Nothing that has happened to you can keep you from your destiny. The only thing that can stop you is you. If you get negative and bitter and lose your passion, that is going to keep you from God’s best. You may have had unfair things happen to you, but I have learned that the depth of our pain is an indication of the height of our future. The taller the building, the deeper the foundation. When you go through difficulties and unfair situations, God is getting you prepared to be taken higher than you ever imagined.

Be thankful for all the struggles you go through. They make you stronger, wiser, and humble. Do not let it break you. Let it make you.

I am fully persuaded God allows a lot of the stuff we endure to come our way, because it sends us running right back to the prayer room! At least in trouble God gets to hear our voice! But should this really be the only time God hears from us? When we are in trouble? And He's the last lifeline left?

What Makes You Different.

God has seen every unfair thing you have gone through, every person who did you wrong, every tear, every lonely night. He is your heavenly Father, and He knows how to pay you back for what is unfair. You do not have to live worried because God is going to make up for the wrongs that were done.

The prophet Isaiah says that when God pays you back, “He will give you a twofold recompense.” That means God will pay you back double. In the Scripture, it was not a coincidence that after all the heartache and pain that Job went through, he came out with double what he had before the testing of his faith. When you are in an unfair situation, instead of getting sour, have a new perspective—that just qualified you for double. They meant it to harm you, but God is going to use it to promote you. When He pays you back, you are going to come out loaded down with blessings.

Meek Is not Weak.

Meek does not mean weak. Meekness is strength under control. When you ignore someone's negative comments, when you do not pay attention to other people's insults and criticisms, you are not being weak; you are being meek. You have the power to fight, you have the strength to straighten them out and let them know how you feel, but your strength is under control. You are not wasting your time and energy on things that are not between you and your destiny. If you stay on the high road, God will take care of your enemies. He can defend you better than you can defend yourself.

Religious people always get upset when God uses the people they deem as unqualified.

My message is amazingly simple: Quit letting other people get you upset and steal your joy. You cannot control what people do; you cannot control what they say, but you can control how you respond. Quit letting their negative comments upset you. You are not defined by what they say. Do not give it the time of day. If you maintain your meekness, God will fight your battles.

Be careful who you vent to, not everyone is for you. Not everyone wants to see you overcome your struggle. Pay attention to your mood. Stop running your mouth in the heated moment. Emotions go away but your words live on forever. Do not take it to the phone, take it to the throne. As you waste your breath complaining about what somebody said or what somebody posted or what somebody did and that somebody has no clue that you have an attitude with them, that somebody is moving on with their life and their day. Some of y’all need to take those boxing gloves off & give them to God, he will throw them away for you. Stand outside the ring of life & watch Him fight your battle(s).

Every Need Supplied Abundantly

Sometimes religion can make you feel like it is wrong to be blessed and have resources, but David says, “God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Let the Lord be magnified, who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.” Psalm 35:27. It brings a smile to God’s face to make things happen that amaze you, to increase you in ways that you have never imagined. It gives our heavenly Father pleasure to see you blessed. You may not see how it can happen, but that is not your job. Your job is to believe.

You were created to live an abundant life. Today’s Scripture says that God will supply all our needs according to His riches. It does not say according to your talent or your education, or if your boss likes you, or if the economy is good, or if you have the right friends. It is not according to what you have; it is according to what He has. The good news is, God owns it all. If He does not have what you need, He can create it. You will have some storms but know this Peace does not come from finding a lake with no storms. It comes from having Jesus in the boat."

High Time

When God first put that dream or promise in your heart, you were excited; you told people what you were going to do. But now it has been months, maybe years, and things have not turned out like you planned. Today’s Scripture says you are closer now to seeing it come to pass than you have ever been. You are coming into a high time. High time is when things suddenly change in your favor when blessings chase you down. High time is when your healing shows up, you break the addiction, you meet the right person. God makes things happen that you could never make happen. Let us look at the Samaritan woman. John 4: 28-29.  Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” The Samaritan woman grasped what Jesus said with fervor that came from an awareness of her real need. The transaction was fascinating. She came with a bucket. He sent her back with a spring of living water. She had come as a reject. He sent her back being accepted by God Himself. She came wounded. He sent her back whole. She came laden with questions. He sent her back as a source for answers. She came living a life of quiet desperation. She ran back overflowing with hope. The disciples missed it all. It was lunchtime for them.

If you are going to see this high time, you must wake up out of your sleep. That means to get your passion back. Start believing again, start expecting things to change, start talking like it is going to happen. You cannot be complacent and step into the fullness of what God has in store. My question is, are you awake? High Time. Are you going to choose to stay comfortable, or are you going to step out on FAITH and take a risk? If you will leave the comfort and come into your calling, GOD will make things happen that you could not make happen. Doors will open that you could not open.

When God first put that dream or promise in your heart, you were excited; you told people what you were going to do. But now it has been months, maybe years, and things have not turned out like you planned. Today’s Scripture says you are closer now to seeing it come to pass than you have ever been. You are coming into a high time. High time is when things suddenly change in your favor when blessings chase you down. High time is when your healing shows up, you break the addiction, you meet the right person. God makes things happen that you could never make happen.

Beware of the Dream Killer. Do not let people kill your dream. Watch Out for Ones When You Say That God Has Called You to Something and They Say How You Are Going to Do That. Watch out for the dream killer. Watch out for the one that you share your ambitions with. And they laugh in your face. Watch out for dream killers. Watch out for the ones that cannot see your vision. Watch out for the ones that do not support you. Watch out for the one, when you say you are going back to get that degree. They say you are too old. Or you are just not smart enough. Watch out for dream killer. People that you think you can trust with your visions; people you think you can trust with your dreams will often try to kill your dream and vandalize your visions. Joseph had a dream and he said that dream to his brothers. That is when the enemy stepped in. You cannot tell everyone your dreams, even the ones that you think are the closest to you because everyone will not be excited about your dream. Genesis 37:5-11. ⁵ Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him more because of his dream and what he had said.⁹ Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers come and bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

If you are going to see this high time, you must wake up out of your sleep. That means to get your passion back. Start believing again, start expecting things to change, start talking like it is going to happen. You cannot be complacent and step into the fullness of what God has in store. You Will Either Stretch or Shrink Depending on What You're In. Move from Where You Are and Move Towards Where You Need to Be. My question is, are you awake.

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.journeyintotheword.com

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