Faith Building Series

Break Through So You Can Show Up

March 2, 2021November 6, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

The struggle is real…and that’s okay. Just in case you’ve never been acknowledged in your struggle, I wanted you to hear it from me. Now that I have your attention, I’d like to talk to you for a bit. This may touch a very tender part of your heart, but I promise it’s worth it to stick with me until the end. This post is a call to action of sorts and is meant to encourage your heart and motivate you to move your feet toward meaningful action. To take some pressure off of you, I’ll start.

What happens when God releases you but you’re too afraid to walk in freedom?

Over the last few months, God has been making it clear to me that He has released me in certain areas of my life to walk in territory that I was once kept from due to His pruning hand of protection. He had been doing a work in me that needed to be completed before I could safely walk in true freedom. It has been a journey that has taken me down many roads I never saw coming and revealed parts of myself I never knew existed. To sum it up in one word, it was cleansing.

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Faith Building Series

Use Your Weapons

January 11, 2021November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

It is a trick of the enemy to get you to put your trust in anything other than God. That’s not news to many, but let me make this very clear. The enemy is very good at playing his role. He is committed. He has rehearsed every line and prepared ahead of time to use every opportunity to his advantage. With that said, we are not left to fend for ourselves against his schemes. We have a solid line of defense available to us in every situation we face. We have the full armor of God.

Whenever something is repeated in scripture, it highlights an important point for our understanding. In Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV, the words “put on the full armor of God” are repeated twice within two verses (v. 11 and 13). The most significant word in this repetition is “full.” We must put on the full armor, not just parts of it. This repeated command has crucial information sandwiched in between and I think it would be negligent for us to move forward without briefly exploring what is listed:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.“
Ephesians 6:12 NIV

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Faith Building Series

The Real “G” Moves In Silence

December 14, 2020November 6, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

There are many instances in the Bible where God makes it clear that He is well acquainted with the heart of humanity. In His choosing of David over all of his other brothers. In His acceptance of Abel’s gift over Cain’s. God is no respecter of persons and He makes it abundantly clear that living a life of honorable service to Him is primarily a heart issue. With this understanding of the God who created the universe, who exists outside of time, and has all power in His being; Shouldn’t we be able to trust Him at His word?

The short answer is yes. However, our thoughts and behavior often show otherwise, complicating what God originally intended to be a simple solution to address our needs. You may be familiar with the quotable found on many t-shirts, mugs, and other collectable items: “Keep Calm and…” The end of that statement has an extensive list of suggested things, people, and places to put your faith in. Yet, every believer is aware, to some degree, that the only true source of stability that we can put our trust in is God. This year, 2020, has quite rudely interrupted the norms that humanity has created for ourselves and made it abundantly clear that many of the things, people, and places we have put our faith in are not able to hold us up when life takes an unexpected turn.

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Faith Building Series

Little Faith Can Still Move Mountains

November 14, 2020November 6, 2022by wordsforthetemple4 Comments

²⁵Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. ²⁷But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ^[a]“Be of good cheer! ^[b]It is I; do not be afraid.” (Matthew 14:25-27 NKJV).

The disciples were in a dire situation. They were caught in a storm that had been raging for some time (according to the passage, it would have been after three o’clock in the morning and, based on verses 22-23, they set sail prior to the evening’s start). In the distance, they saw something that looked unfamiliar coming towards them. They were troubled by what they saw and began to cry out in fear. What are you inviting into your life during difficult situations? The disciples were inviting fear to take hold of them. Jesus, knowing where fear would lead, was swift in His encouragement of their faith, attempting to assure them of who He was. Since they already knew Jesus and witnessed His track record, one would think that this would be enough to quell their fears. However, that did not appear to be the outcome.

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Faith Building Series

Are You Willing To Be Broken?

August 22, 2020November 6, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”
-Isaiah 6:5‭-‬8 ESV

In this passage, the biblical prophet, Isaiah, went from insecurity in his present circumstance to boldness through swift obedience. There was a crucial process that occurred in the few lines between those two versions of him. His lips were touched with burning coal (he went through a refining process, brief but transformative) and life-giving words (blessing) were spoken over him. In that blessing, he was made aware of the purpose of the process, which encouraged him to let go of the guilt he felt and step confidently into his calling.

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Faith Building Series

You Are Not The Mistake

August 15, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetemple2 Comments

I have a question. Have you been in a breaking season recently? Perhaps you’re in one right now. Amidst all that this year has had to offer, you may be aware that there is something really personal happening in your life. Something that is shaking the foundation of who you believed you were at your core. If you can relate to any of what I just mentioned, please know that it’s not just happening to you. A breaking season is meant to uproot the things that never belonged to you as God replaces them with His truth, His love, and His plan for your life. For many, this means that you lost one or more of your employment positions or opportunities. For others it means that your family or friendships have been turning up recently. Still, for others, everywhere you turn, you can’t seem to catch a break. Whether its been physical, emotional, or psychological, your well-being has been difficult to maintain due to the pressures you’ve been facing.

Can I offer something to you that God took His time to reveal to me? It’s a perspective issue more than it’s an issue of your life’s circumstance. Let me take a step back and share a bit more so we can get a bit more acquainted. My issue is impostor syndrome. I have learned that impostor syndrome (at its core) stems from worry, which is brought on by focusing your attention on the wrong thing(s). Can I submit to you that you have probably been making the same mistake? I’m not here to pass judgment, I promise. As I just mentioned, I have my own issues to work out with God’s help. I simply want to encourage you to take a different stance as you face the giants in your life.

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Faith Building Series

Run, Don’t Walk.

August 8, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

More than likely, you’ve heard the saying, “Walk, don’t run,” often as a safety precaution to avoid accidents or injuries. However, there are some things that require a different level of pursuit, a much more urgent one. Our spiritual lives are at the top of that list. Whenever we find ourselves in need of reprieve, encouragement, protection or peace, we need to run to the only source that can provide the nourishment for our souls, remedy for the pain and the protective capacity for life’s trials and tribulations. We need to run to God.

Like a child running into the arms of a parent, we need to pursue our Heavenly Father. It’s one thing to acknowledge this truth and another thing entirely to believe it. Before we continue, I’d like to spend a bit more time on the last attribute of God that I mentioned above. Protective capacity refers to a caretaker’s ability to anticipate the needs of a vulnerable individual, namely a child. It encompasses behavioral, emotional, and psychological components. The behavioral component includes the caretaker’s ability to protect the child from physical danger and provide their basic needs (i.e. food, shelter, clothing). The emotional component involves the caretaker’s attunement to the child as well as their ability to nurture the child’s well-being. Closely tied to this is the psychological component, which highlights the caretaker’s awareness of and thoughts towards the child (i.e. thinking their child is good or bad as well as their expectation/perception of the child’s abilities and limitations).

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Faith Building Series

Childlike Faith: The Importance of Having A Teachable Spirit

June 30, 2020November 6, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

The biggest downfall of the Pharisees (Jewish priests) was that they believed they knew all there was to know about God. Due to this, they lived from a place of stagnancy in regard to their faith (this is where a lot of religious practice begins to replace true worship and relationship with God). In Mark 10:15, Jesus addresses a group of people, exclaiming, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” The confidence in His statement speaks volumes. Jesus essentially says, “Without a doubt, I inform you…there is no other way.” Jesus quells all confusion with those two phrases. All that is left is for the listeners to absorb the remaining information: “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child...” The focus of this clause in Jesus’s warning is the receipt of God’s kingdom in a specific manner, like a child. How do we go about doing that? Let’s explore this together.

First of all, what does it mean to be teachable? Romans 12:2 AMP gives us an understanding of this as Paul states:

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Devotional Content, Faith Building Series

Being Overwhelmed Can Be Beneficial…

May 20, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

You read that correctly. There are so many things that have the potential to overwhelm us: work, relationships, difficult life experiences, social media, etc. The word overwhelm doesn’t have a very good reputation but hopefully this can shed some light on another aspect of the experience. In this post, I’d like to share a recent encounter I had with God and what I learned from it, in hindsight.

When God speaks, things happen. They become. They change. They grow. As they develop, they sometimes outgrow their current environment and need a larger, more accommodating space. Stick with me here… A few days ago, I experienced an immense pouring out of inspiration from God. I rushed to write it down so that I wouldn’t forget it. In my doing so, I became overwhelmed with the thought of needing to expand on the concepts I recorded but felt the urging of the Spirit to make a plan (the urging made it clear that I am unable to produce at the level or with the excellence that God desires if I don’t organize the information He provides. What previously worked for me (writing spontaneously), is no longer sufficient. I need to make room in my schedule for intentionality). I could sense His desire for me to meet Him in obedience. God wanted me to make an effort to do the work as He instructed so that He could partner with me to bring it to fruition.

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Faith Building Series

For The Timid Christian…

April 27, 2020November 5, 2022by wordsforthetempleLeave a Comment

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 NLT

Let’s just start right out of the gate with the truth. God did not give us that spirit of timidity. Yeah, I said us. As usual, I am here to address something that God is working on in my life as well as sharing a word that I hope will encourage you to stand up and stop allowing the fear of failure or any other anxiety-ridden thought to prevent you from living in your God-ordained purpose.

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