Start with what you have, don’t worry about what you don’t have.

Many people have big dreams and even bigger goals. We all want to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. The problem with many is that they want to start with everything that is needed. Sometimes things don’t work that way. Sometimes we must start with what we have. As we walk with God, things are added to us. Over time, our knowledge increases. Our wisdom increases as well. As we get older, we should be getting better. As we get better, we attract more. I read a quote that said, “Instead of chasing butterflies, just build a garden.” If you work hard enough on the garden, the beauty of the garden will attract butterflies.

That is how success is. Success is not something we pursue; success is something we attract by the person we become. I learned that from the late Jim Rohn, and I have never forgotten it. People all over the world are chasing success and unfortunately never catch it. We must learn to work on ourselves. As we work on ourselves, we become more attractive and attract opportunities that will enrich our lives.

God knows all the details of our lives. The Bible tells us that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” (Psalm 37:23) When you are assured of this, you don’t mind starting at the bottom of the corporate ladder. You are willing to start off small. Zechariah 4:10 (The Message) asks a very good question: “Does anyone dare despise the day of small beginnings?”

You learn a lot at the bottom. Starting at the bottom teaches you how to get to the top. My late pastor used to say, “The path to the prize is greater than the prize itself.” Oh, how he was right. The lessons learned on the road to success are so valuable. They are lessons that you can pass on to the next generation. They are lessons that will help you the next time you face a challenge in your life. God wants to take us from glory to glory, but it’s a process.

You don’t jump from the first grade to the sixth. You don’t go from elementary school to high school. You go from the first grade to the second. The second grade to the third. It is one grade at a time. You just keep going until, the next thing you know, you’re in middle school. You don’t stop there. You just keep going until finally you find yourself graduating from high school. It didn’t happen overnight, but as you kept going, you got smarter and you got better.

It is the same in every process. Don’t run from the process—grow from the process. Embrace the journey, one step at a time. God’s way is always the best way.

The Unstable Man

The unstable man is a man with two minds. A man with two minds is unstable, unreliable, and uncertain. This is the exact opposite of the Word of God. God’s Word is stable, reliable, and certain. It will work for us every time we work it. A man of two minds cannot receive anything from the Lord. We receive from God by faith. A man once said, “You cannot receive Abraham’s blessings with Thomas’ faith.” The Bible says of Abraham:

“He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb.

No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,

Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised.”
 Romans 4:19–21, Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

Abraham was fully satisfied and assured that God would keep His Word. That is how we receive from God. We must become fully satisfied and assured. Thomas would only believe if he could see something with his physical senses. That is a dangerous place to be, because circumstances can be manipulated by Satan. God’s Word is sure and unchangeable; circumstances are not. If you continue to look at the circumstances, you will be up and down—you will be unstable.

One man said, “The middle of the road is the most dangerous place to be.” If we are unsure about God’s will, we cannot receive from God. Find the promises of God that apply to your situation. Believe it. Speak it. Don’t let go of it. Having done all to stand, we stand. We stand regardless of outside circumstances. We stand knowing that God is coming through. It doesn’t matter how long it takes; we stand until we have what we are believing God for. He is watching over His Word to perform it. He is not a man that He should lie. Get single-minded, and when you do, get ready to receive.

Use Your Creative Power in 2020

What is 2020 going to be for you?

Will it be a year of breakthroughs? A year of open doors? A year of Favor? Will it be your best year yet or will it be like every other year?

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Your tongue will be a major factor in what you experience in 2020. We are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). When God created, He spoke what He desired into existence. In Genesis, God said: “let there be light and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3-4), God said “Let there be” in verses 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, and God saw what He said. The Bible says in Romans 4:17, that God “gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did”.

Because we are made in His image and His likeness we say and then we see. Our tongues determine what we receive in life. Proverbs 18:20-21 tells us we must be satisfied with the consequences of our words. God told the Israelites in Numbers 14:28, “Say to them, just as you have spoken in my hearing, so I will do to you.” What if God were to say this to you? Would it scare you? Would it cause excitement? If you have been confessing God’s Word, there should be some excitement. If you have been speaking doubt, unbelief, and fear there should be some concern, because it is just a matter time before those words will become a reality. The good news is that you can retract those words. You can cancel those words and start speaking those things that you desire to happen.

Now that we have entered a new year, you have the opportunity to determine what the year will be like for you. Would you like for this year to be a year of open doors? Speak it. A year of favor? Speak it. A year of breakthrough? Speak it. Job 23:28 tells us that “you shall also decide and decree a thing and it shall be established for you…” Decide that 2020 will be the best year yet and then speak it into existence. Whatever you decide and decree will become a reality.

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Getting Out of the Boat Means Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Getting out of the boat means getting out of your comfort zone. It means doing something you’ve never done before.  I’m not talking about jumping out of an airplane, or going bungee jumping. I’m talking about doing something you’ve always wanted to do. Many people have dreams burning on the inside of them, but they are afraid to step out and pursue them. They are afraid to step out of their comfort zone, because they are afraid of the unknown. Let’s look at the story of Peter walking on the water.  In Matthew 14: 25-31 it says: 

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,[b] he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 

Peter wanted to experience what Jesus was experiencing and wanted it so bad that he stepped out. He started walking on the water. Something that is totally impossible in the natural. There may be something that you want to do, that in your eyes, it seems impossible. You might want to start a business. You may want to go back to school; but now you’re married with children and working, so you’re wondering where you will find the time. Sometimes there can seem to be too many obstacles standing between you and your dream. Sometimes those obstacles look like insurmountable mountains. But I have good news for you: there is nothing too hard for God! The Bible says that all things are possible to them that believe. Can you believe God to pay for school? Can you believe God for the money to get that business started? Well like Jesus said, “Be it unto you according to your faith”. In the Message translation it reads, “Become what you believe”.  

When Jesus told Peter, “Come”, Peter believed in the words of Jesus and he started doing the impossible. We have to do the same thing. We must meditate the Word of God and think on the Word of God until we know that we can become what we believe. Peter was doing fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at the waves and turning his attention to how hard the wind was blowing. It was only then that he began to sink.  

We must take our eyes off of circumstances. Yes, the circumstances are real. Yes, we have to count the cost before we step out. But we must remember that once we know that we are in the will of God, and God is telling us to step out, we must be like Moses when he was facing the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army were behind him and the Red Sea was in front of him. God didn’t tell him, “I’m sorry man. I wasn’t prepared for the Red Sea. I guess you’re stuck”. No. God told him to stretch out that rod and move forward. When Moses did, God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked on dry land. It would have been okay if the Israelites walked on muddy ground, but the Bible says the Israelites walked on dry ground! When God tells us to move, we must trust that He will go before us and make the crooked places straight. Remember Jesus told Peter to come out on the water. We must step out when Jesus tells us to. We must move when we are prompted in our spirits and when we know that we are in God’s timing. 

I graduated from ministry school at the end of 2012. At the beginning of 2013, I began the process of getting on one radio station and I was attempting to get on a public access station here in Charlotte, but the timing was not right. My pastor told me to wait on God’s timing and get busy working in my church, so that is what I did. It wasn’t until this year (2017) that I began ministering the Word of God on the radio; and starting October 15, I will be on Inspiration.tv. What I am doing now, I wanted to do four years ago, but God has timing. It’s natural to want to pursue the dream that God has given you, but we must seek His will and His timing. God knows when we are ready to walk in our calling, but we must wait on His promotion. The Bible says in Psalms 75:6-7, 

For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor form the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one and setteth up another. 

God is the judge and we must trust His timing when it comes to promotion. God told Joshua in Joshua 3:7, 

And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 

We must look to God for our day, but God knows when we are ready to be launched into our calling in the eyes of the people. It is our job to be diligent in our preparation and know that we will reap in due season if we faint not. We must not put our trust in man. Our trust must be in God. Man can be flaky. Man can change his mind, but God will not change His mind concerning us.  We must step out in God’s timing and know that when we do, we have no choice but to succeed for if God is for us, who can be against us? Peter tried to walk on water like Jesus, but He was not where Jesus was spiritually. Peter had not put the prayer time in. He did not study the Word like Jesus did, and yet He wanted to do what Jesus did. Eventually in the Book of Acts, Peter would do the acts of Jesus, but it was after spending time in prayer, in the Word, and being filled with the Holy Ghost. It wasn’t until after that, that he began healing the sick, to the point that his shadow was healing people. So many times we think we can do what someone else is doing but we must realize that until we have paid the same dues, we won’t have the same outcome.  

God has great plans for us. He wants us to step out of the boat that we are currently in; but when we do, we have to make sure He has called us out of the boat, and we must make sure we are prepared for what is outside our boat. When we are, and we start walking, get ready! You are about to do the impossible!