"I WILL TRUST YOU LORD"

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and to lean not to our own understanding or insight. How catchy this passage of scripture is, yet very difficult to follow through with. Because when the trials and pressures of life (earthly reality) starts pressing down on us, who do we trust then? We say we trust God, but in actuality, we are trusting ourselves.

You do realize that your "self" is fickle, flaky, and unreliable at best? And it ALWAYS has a mind to "make things happen". God wants us to trust Him to "make it happen" through our faith and trust in Him. The best time to try that trust is in the difficult moments of life. When deadlines are PAST DUE...still trust God! He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all you can ask or think. Keep that in mind.

What really helps us to trust God is to get acquainted with Him. How can you fully trust someone with your WHOLE heart if you don't know them? Impossible, right? The same with God. You will never trust Him with all of your heart until you really get to know Him. Once you start becoming acquainted with Him, He begins to impart Himself to you. He begins to reveal who He is to you in the midst of your situations. It's through the knowledge of Him that you can began to say that THE LORD IS....whatever you need Him to be.

Unlike man, God will never fail you. And since He will never fail you, why not trust Him? You've trusted in all sorts of people and things and I'm sure that you've ended up disappointed, hurt, or betrayed, which has probably challenged your trust with those people or things. But you serve a God who's not like mere humans. He is SUPERNATURAL and OMNIPOTENT! Meaning...He can't fail you! He won't hurt you or betray your trust.

So go all out! Trust, lean, depend, rely, have confidence, be secure in the Lord. His intent is to prosper you not to harm you. He's got your back...believe that!

Pastor Renee Roberts

"FAITH UNDER FIRE"

Does it seem as if all hell is breaking out around you? Does everything seem to go wrong even when you're doing right? Does it feel like the more you believe, the worst things get? Well, no need to fret, you are not alone. This is the normal part of the process of our faith being tested: your FAITH UNDER FIRE. God has to approve our faith before He just goes "all out" for us.

Humans are fickle creatures, and God knows this all too well. So He has designed this system called "the trial of your faith" that enables Him to test the genuiness of our faith in Him. 1Peter 1:6-7 reads "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

We see in the scriptures that our genuine faith is much more precious than gold that's tried in the fire. This is why we can rejoice through the trials of our faith, because we understand that the fire is only perfecting us. Praise God!

Psalms 66:10-12 reads "For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." You can begin to praise God in the midst of your fire, because the bottom line is...God is going to bring you out into a wealthy place once it's all said and done.

Endure the trials, endure the pressure, endure the fire. Fight the good fight of faith. Don't quit! Something awesome is happening to your faith as the fire purges, refines, and purifies it. Continue to stand firm in the faith. Your laboring is not in vain!

When it's all said and done, God will be able to look upon you and say, "Well done My good and FAITH FULL servant!"

Pastor Renee Roberts

"CULTIVATE YOUR CHARACTER"

Evangelism is about being a witness for Jesus Christ. Realize that your witness is only as great as the fruit you bear. Matthew 12:33 (Amplified Version) let's us know that a tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit. So it is vitally important that we are constantly cultivating fruit in our lives. The Father is glorified when we bear much fruit (John 15: 8). This is what our lives are all about...multiplying, being fruitful, and bringing God glory!

Now, fruit represents character. Galatians 5: 22-23 outlines nine character traits: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. All of these character traits should constantly be cultivated in the life of the believer. Why? Because people grasp who you are, not so much what you say.

Think about this: Can people follow you closely and still see the fruit being cultivated in your life? Apostle Paul confirms that this is possible (2Timothy 3: 10-11). It just takes us making an assertive effort to work the Word of God in our lives so that our inner character can change and affect our outer behavior and conduct.

Christian character, conduct, and behavior should be proper and befitting at ALL times as Kingdom representatives. Who are you representing? Let's not lose sight of that in the midst of challenges. God expects us to maintain "Godly" character. Remember, your character controls your conduct.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that has become desensitized to "right and wrong". Today's society doesn't care what people think. But the Kingdom of God is sensitive to what is right and wrong and does care what people think. The Kingdom is about God's people, isnt' it? Because of this sensitivity, we CAN operate in moral excellence. Thus, allowing the Holy Spirit to continue His work in us internally...producing fruit of the Spirit.

What are you bearing? Is your fruit edible? Can someone see Godly character in your way of living? God is looking for character that's useful in His Kingdom. Can He use you?

I challenge you to get to work...cultivate your character for the honor and glory of God!

Pastor Renee Roberts

"Play To Win!"

Romans 12:3 talks about God dealing to every man the "measure of faith". Our pastor gave such an awesome analogy of this by using a deck of cards to symbolize faith. He then dealt everyone a card, symbolizing our measure of faith. We were all instructed to focus only on what was in our hands, and to play our own hand. Through this we learned that God deals to every man the "measure of faith" according to his lot in life so we should never be desirous of another persons faith.

Depending on what we were destined for, our faith may seem greater or lesser than the next person. But the TRUTH is, we all have an equal amount of faith distributed to us! PRAISE GOD! Its just up to us to play our own hand (the card we were dealt). My "measure of faith" is just as powerful and effective for me as the next person's is to him. What an awesome relief!

When playing cards, you may hear someone say "you better play to win!" That means you better come out of your hand strong, with no regrets. We should have the same confidence and tenacity with our "measure of faith". PLAY TO WIN! Play your faith card to the best of your ability, and watch God show Himself strong to you.

Be encouraged knowing that you have ALL THE FAITH YOU NEED! It's been apportioned by God to you! Now go and Play To Win!

Pastor Renee Roberts

"Honor God In Your Body"

Paul admonishes the Church of Corinth to honor God and bring glory to Him in their bodies (1Cor. 6:20). With these same words I admonish you today. God in all of His glory bestowed upon us such an awesome thing...this "body". He entrusted it to us just knowing that we would honor Him in it. How often we forget the true purpose to these physical bodies.

The Word of God tells us that these bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives within us (1 Cor. 6:19). That is so precious! This is why it is vitally important for us to exercise self-control in our bodies. Treat it right, feed it right, & lead it right! Don't abuse it or misuse it. Let God see how honored you are to possess His most valued creation.

Paul said that he handles his body roughly through discipline (1Cor. 9:27). Discipline your body to behave and to do what you know is right. Don't allow your body to dictate to you when you should be in control of it! Remember, God has entrusted it to you.

I encourage you today to be happy with the body that God, Himself, has created and uniquely designed for you. Take pride in it, adorn it elegantly (not trashy), and keep it holy. You are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works (Eph 2:10)! And the only thing He asks in return is that you honor Him with that same workmanship (body) He's given you.

"You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body."

(1Cor. 6:20 Amp)

Pastor Renee Roberts

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Everything that God says is "GOSPEL" (Good News)! And I believe that it is so important to remember that, especially in times of difficulty. Have you ever prayed to God in the midst of a difficult moment, asking for answers, and seemingly you hear nothing in response? I'm sure we all have had those moments. The critical thing to remember is that God ALWAYS hears us, but sometimes our hearing is impaired.

Impaired hearing comes from many things, but mostly from what we allow to go into our "ear gates". It is so important to guard hearing. Negativity is one of those things we definitely need to protect our ears from. Negativity gets in our hearing and clogs our thinking, perception, and understanding. And we do know that without understanding, you're really not hearing. AVOID NEGATIVITY!

Realize that what goes in your hearing will affect your outcome. Why not position yourself to hear only the positive today. I challenge you to unclog your hearing and see if you can hear what God is saying to you today. Allow the Word of God to irrigate your ears!

Remember, God ALWAYS hears us, and He's faithful to answer us. The Word of God says "he who hath an ear, let him hear..." Is it a bad connection that's impairing your hearing? Reconnect! Get a good connection with God today!

Instead of you asking, listen, God is asking..."CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?"

Pastor Renee Roberts

SELF CONTROL: "I've Got The Power!"

The dictionary defines self-control as "restraint exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires." Paul begins to instruct the Galatians concerning living and walking in the Spirit: allowing our conduct and behavior to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. This is why it is so vitally important that we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God. Through His leading He teaches us self-control: how to handle ourselves.

We live in a world that seems to be constantly growing out of control. People "popping off", "flipping out", "snapping"...simply "losing it", control. It's time for the body of Christ to start representing the character of Jesus Christ. We all understand that Jesus' life is a prime example of self-control. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5) So this does not afford us the opportunity to lose control, but to gain it through the diligent exercising of it.

Self-control should abound in the lives of believers, not self-will. (2Peter 1:5-8) It abounds the more we operate in it. Refuse to "lose it" today. Control your mouth, disposition, eating, thoughts, emotions...control everything that pertains to your life and start living the God-kind-of-life: Zoe'!

Let's choose to deny self-will and give self-control the opportunity to rule for a chance. It promises to be a much greater leader than self-will ever has been!

You've Got The Power in Jesus' Name!

Pastor Renee Roberts

"Overcoming OFFENSE"

There are so many different things in life that we find ourselves having to overcome, and seemingly, we overcome them. However, there seems to be one "enemy to our souls" that is very difficult to overcome: The enemy of "OFFENSE". I want to provoke you this year with a few tips to beat that enemy this year! I have come to realize that offense is the leading cause of many individuals setbacks and regressions, stagnancy and failures. But through the Word of God we have been given divine instruction on how to gain the victory over our lives once again.

1. Confront the offense within yourself (get real with you)


2. Confess the offense to the offender (this is not a confrontation, just bringing awareness)


3. Forgive the offender


4. Release the offense and the offender (let them go)


5. Walk in healing and restoration (live victoriously)

Remember, unattended offense leads to destruction. Don't rob yourself of victorious living...it's simply not worth it!

Pastor Renee Roberts