GOD NEVER WASTE A CRISIS & NEVER WILL
No one can deny that we are in and have been in a major crisis that has affected jobs, businesses, personal fortunes and nearly every facet of our lives. Let me say that my heart goes out to the hurting and I pray earnestly for them every day,
Neither can we deny that God always takes of His own if we are fitting into His plans and doing the right things. We cannot deny that He is our provider, supplier. We must constantly be open to God given ideas and plans He has for us.
I refuse to buy into all this gloom that the news is giving us and I refuse to be a part of constantly talking about how bad things are. I’m here to tell you that our heavenly Father takes care of His children. A business friend told me recently I’m grateful I’m only down 10% while others are down 20-40%.
The good thing about Crisis is that it will force you to get back to the basics of living instead of the lifestyles that go beyond reason. It will get us back to sensible spending and living and eliminate the wastes that destroy us.
I was with a Christian brother last week who had bought a large expensive home when things were going good and now owes 1.2 million and the value of the house is now less than 600 thousand. He’s not blaming God or anyone he realizes he did not use wisdom. Thousands are in the same shape.
It’s amazing what you can learn in a CRISIS. It may come from a physically, relationally, financial, emotionally or spiritually situation. I am very much aware that many times we have no control as to the cause of a crisis. However I must confess there are times we are part of the cause.
An old proverb ‘what you look for you find’ is very true. A couple weeks ago Mark, our son, was in a Wednesday night practice session with about fifteen worship leaders. Some began to talk about how terrible everything was in our economy and a spirit of depression began to hover over the group. Mark spoke up and said this spirit doesn’t come from God. Others began to pick up on it. The Holy Spirit began to move and people began to thank God for their blessings and rejoice that God never forsakes His people.
Let me remind you a few promises from God’s Word.
No good thing will be withheld. It's in the Bible, Psalm 84:11, TLB. "For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold from those who walk along His paths."
When Joshua become the leaders of over a million people and his job was to lead them into the Promise Land and conquer it he was over whelmed. God began to talk to him and said “I will not allow you to sink or fail.” Jos. 1:5. Read that chapter…
2 Chronicles 7:14 reminds us “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways I will hear them from heaven and heal their land.” Do you belong the God? Have you done what He asks you to do? Then He will heal your land.
AMP Ps. 37:23-24. The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord… Though he falls; he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him. (He holds them by their hand)
David continues, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor their descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25).
The Lord says to the faithful and obedient “I have set before you an open door and NO ONE CAN SHUT IT.” Rev. 3:7-8
A crisis gives God an opportunity to demonstrate His love. It is in desperate times when people reach out to Him and to each other and find hope.
Some of you may be losing your home, job, savings, investments, and the stress of it is putting a strain on your relationships. Hear me God is still asking what He ask Abraham and Sarah – “IS there anything too hard for the Lord?” and the answer is still NO! Shout it – NO.
God says seek me and you will find me. Call on me and I will answer you. He says, “No good thing will I withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11).
It is in times of crisis the master sculptor, places us in the heat of adversity, where our contents can be tested.
It is a time when cosmetic Christians will be exposed as frauds whose faults and defects are hidden by the wax of phony religiosity. Whose character and integrity has been compromised. It is a time when “Cotton Candy” theology will be exposed.
Crisis is fertile ground for miracles.
Crises are opportunities in disguise.
Crisis encourages you to take new actions. To step into a new season.
God’s Word is the light that makes the demons of hell tremble and sets the prisoners free. What God promises in the light He will remember in the darkness?
When Satan’s forces batter us we can lift up our voices and shout, “The one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world!” (John 4:4).
When our burdens are more than we can carry, He says let ME help you, because I care about you (1 Peter 5:7)
We can never be defeated, for “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
It’s in Crisis that He purifies. He drives out spiritual cowardice and faint-heartedness. He draws us “out of the closet and into open warfare. The first-century Christians were in constant crisis. It called forth the lion-hearted that never lost faith in God’s supernatural power to stand in the face of impossible odds and never back down
They turned Jerusalem upside down. And I hear God saying I am the same today as I was then and I will use My people to turn their cities upside down like I did with the early Christians. He says to us today Believe me; trust me, turn to me for I am still the God of the impossible. It’s time for the redeemed of the Lord to say so as the song says.
I believe God is beginning a shaking in the church world in ways we have not known before. Some will wonder if it will destroy the church. I say to you it won’t ruin the church—it will revive the church. I say to you the gates of hell cannot stop us. From what I’m sensing in my spirit I see churches demonstrating a supernatural power for the world to see.
I see a cloud of supernatural rain hovering over our churches and in our worship and praise. I hear an abundance of rain. Join with me as I feel supernatural spiritual currents running through my body right NOW. It is happening. Believe it -- shout it and give him praise for victory.
May God open our spiritual eyes to see, right now, that a host of angelic beings are surrounding us waiting to be activated by our words of worship and command? God say I have placed an encampment of My angels around you all the time. Thank God for them right now. SHOUT – SHOUT – SHOUT…
I say to those who love God like I do in these troubled times we will not intimidated by loud-mouthed mental midgets. We will be calm and secure because we have warm hearts, not hot heads. We are filled with faith not fear. We are an anointed people filled with His Spirit and we’re ready for battle. The opposition and scorn from the fallen world around us will not stop us nor hinder us. Hallelujah!!!
We know where our hope is. It is not in the president of the USA. I pray for him and all of our leaders God know they need it. Our hope is not in the government or some trillion dollar stimulus package. Our hope is not in the church but the father of the church who said the gates of hell will not stop His church.
My hope is in Jesus Christ the Son of the living God, the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, my Savior, my healer, my deliverer, my provider. My hope is in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
My hope is in the one…
…Who fed the thousands with three loaves of bread and two fish and sent the boy home with twelve basket of food that was left over. .
…Who can comes walking on the water in my violent storms of life…
…Who stopped a funeral and gave a mother’s son back to her…
…Who stopped by a pool and healed a man lame for 38 years…
…Who stops and heals the blind, the cripple the deaf and dumb…
…Who healed Ernestine of cancer 9 years ago…
Who healed me of a stroke two years ago at 3 am when Ernestine prayed for me.…
My hope is in the one who was murdered on a cross placed in a tomb and the third day arose with the keys of death hell and the grave in His hands. My hope is in the one who stood on a hill and ascended into the heavens and said I will come again. My hope is in the one who said I will not leave you comfortless and promised that the Holy Spirit would come and abide in us and He does.
Shout it HE’S MY HOPE!!! This hope is available for ANYONE TODAY.
There is hope for your family, your relationships, your fears, your depression, your failures, your habits, and your finances…
He’s ready to break the strongholds that bind you. Remove the yokes that burden you, and break the chains that bind.
You don’t have to let the devil get you in a deeper pit. There’s freedom for you today.
I have some great news CRISIS ARE THE BREEDING GRAOUD FOR MIRACLES And you are a miracle in process right NOW!
Be blessed, Wallace Swilley
Today’s topic is about LIFE’S DETOURS. Detours in life are unwelcome and uninvited. They cause delays and distractions. HOWEVER...I’VE NEVER BEEN ON A DETOUR THAT DIDN’T LEAD BACK TO THE MAIN ROAD.
God has given me this for some of you that are on a detour and feel like it will never end or you feel devastated and so far from the main road that you’ll never get back. That doesn’t come from God.
To those who are on a detour the Bible says three things: (1) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. The margin of the New American Standard Bible renders this last Isn’t that great! When you’re on a DETOUR or in a tight spot, God is abundantly available to help you. Notice, it doesn’t say that God will help you occasionally or reluctantly. No, He will do it abundantly and faithfully. What more do you need? (2) Therefore we will not fear (v. 2 NIV). You needn’t panic, talk defeat, or give in to despair. The songwriter said, He’s as close as the mention of his name. Just breathe His name in prayer, and He’ll be there for you. (3) Let the oceans roar. Let the mountains tremble (v. 3 NLT). When everything you once thought to be stable and dependable, is threatened and shaken to the core “you will be where you have always been “in the strong and loving arms of God; the One who is abundantly available to help on the DETOURS. phrase, abundantly available for help in tight places.
Remember this every DETOUR has a limited life span. Every mountain has a peak. Every valley has its low point. Life has its ups and downs. No detour is permanent. Believe they will pass. Storms always give way to the sun. Winter always thaws into spring. Your storms will pass. Your winter will thaw. Your detour will be resolved. You have an unlimited power resident in you for your personal use – the Holy Spirit.
Habakkuk reminds us of God’s faithfulness. God says be patient! I will work out My plans for you and they will not be overdue a single day. These are not man’s words but God’s Words.
James 1:2-3 doesn’t say if the way is rough, but when the way gets rough. James tells us to turn our rough times into times of learning. God will not leave you alone with your problems; He will stay close by to help you grow.
I know I have heard from God today. Receive it and be strong. Now go have a day with God’s safe keeping.
Wallace Swilley
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It is evident that America and the world are struggling economically right now. Terrorist organizations are threatening our security at home and abroad. Wallace
SO WHAT’S A PERSON TO DO IN TIMES LIKE THIS?
Frustration and anxiety are running rampant. This week a Government commission predicted that a catastrophic disaster would take place some where in the world before 2013 and it could be in America.
I believe at the core of this world wide crisis is a spiritual problem. I also believe that God is giving America and the world an opportunity to repent so He can heal our land. It is extremely important that we keep our partnership with God very active by honoring Him with our faithfulness to His house with our attendance, giving and much prayer. I believe traditional biblical values will become more appealing as a way out of the current crisis that has shattered economic values world wide. We can be survivors not causalities of this crisis. I refuse to give in to a spirit of despair and fear thrown at us 24/7 on the news.
Many in the world systems have belittled and mocked Bible believing practicing Believers. I believe the day is coming soon when the world will be seeking out people who have obeyed the Word of the Lord put their trust in Him and are blessed. Read the story of Joseph in Genesis how government leadership sought out a godly man to lead them when they faced a crisis. It can happen again.
God has promised His people special aid and comfort for hard times, but on one condition – that they call upon Him. So do as He bids, “Call upon me in the day of trouble” (Psalm 50; 15) and you will experience the truth of His words. Please read all eight verses of Ps. 121!
In a day when quick solutions to longstanding problems are too easily offered, I recommend the old paths, I having found them tested, tried and true. There is no crossless way to follow Christ. People are searching for new ways and quick fixes and seem to be open for anything that sounds easy and has no demands.
I believe it is in times like these that the church has a great opportunity and a tremendous responsibility to teach people how to manage their finances and plan their future with God’s help using His principles. If we don’t, who will, certainly not the financial institutions or the government. It’s been proven again and again that when the church teaches its people sound biblical principles on how to honor God - honor themselves and budget the balance it dramatically increases personal and church financial groweth. I have taught these principles for over thirty years and they have served me well.
Paul was no stranger to suffering; his several near-death experiences, beatings, imprisonments, and persecutions along with his thorn were enough to eradicate any Pollyannaism that might have lurked in his heart.
We must understand that God doesn’t pretend that evil doesn’t exist. God doesn’t contend that sorrow isn’t real, or doesn’t matter. However, He does say My Grace is sufficient and I’ll never leave you.
There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that situation create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He WILL do it again today.
If the red sea could not stop the children of Israel...
If the Lions den could not stop Daniel...
If the fire of furnace could not stop the three Hebrew men...
If Goliath could not stop David...
If the storms could not sink the disciple’s boat...
If the grave could not hold Him... and the list goes on. LOOK UP!
With GOD on our side no person or circumstance can STOP US!!!!!
I have found through the years that the steps to better days and a better life never schedule themselves. It is done in partnership with God.
I heard a financial commentator say last week even though the unemployment is the highest in recent history yet 94.5% of people still have a job. Even though thousands of people are losing their homes 99% are not losing their homes. 15% of people are suffering financial distress but 85% are doing ok or great. My heart goes out and I pray daily for those suffering during these troubling times. When one of us hurt we all hurt.
Think on this. All the water in the ocean cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside. Nor can all the trouble in the world harm us unless it gets within us.
Wallace Swilley founder and editor of “Power Talk”
HOW TO HANDLE LIFE CHANGING DECISIONS
You and I both know ... Life is FILLED with decisions SOME are life-altering. They can only be made after much soul searching and prayer. The good news is God’s strength is sufficient.
The question is how do we evaluate and discern the best course of action? Clearly, gathering information and carefully analyzing our options is essential coupled with much wisdom and clarity of thought based upon the facts at hand and our understanding of God’s will.
We must not allow ourselves to fall into the “paralysis of analysis”. The devil will use a negative past to abort God’s plans for your future. (Jer. 29:11) God also says. Rev. 3:7-8 “I can open and no one can shut, I can shut and no one can open. I know your record of works and what you are doing. I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name.” POWERFUL!!!
We need to ask ourselves where have I been the most successful in life where and with whom. What or who do I need to help me maintain my commitment to God? What causes or gives me the most satisfaction in life. Am I pleased with my life as it is now? No decision made will be void of difficulties and adjustments. Again NOONE can stop what God wants you to do and with Him you can withstand any and all opposition.
To be in the place God wants us to be, we must let the past stay in the past, be willing to deepen our roots, increase our courage, and expand our vision and hope.
Everyone has made poor choices at times. Most of us have a catalogue of bad choices, and we revisit them from time to time, imagining how things might have been different if we had chosen wisely.
The wisdom comes from above is given to us through four primary avenues – God’s Word, God’s Spirit, God’s Providence and God’s people. This will ensure good decision-making. Making decisions affects everything a person does. Life is too short to miss God’s will. Your greatest days are ahead of you if you allow each day to be a new beginning.
God enters into people’s lives, deals with families, judges fairly and most of all, God loves.
For example: Abraham’s prayers and his bargaining on behalf of Sodom illustrate the biblical truth that God mysteriously incorporates our prayers into his eternal plan. The Lord saw Abraham’s love for his nephew’s family and agreed, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake.” That was not possible. Abraham then asks what about 40, then 30, and then 20 and finally Abraham said what if I can find ten will you save the city. God answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy the city.” It always amazes me how far God will go to help those He loves.
Based on God’s perfect character, it appears that He provides us with a relative – rather than an absolute – perspective to stress the dignity of human choice and interaction with Him.
Good decisions require accurately processed information along with passionate prayer. “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” Proverbs 1:1-6
A great Christian leader writes: Human judgment is always limited and sometimes wrong. Sometimes our best notions about what ought to be said or done are ill-advised, dangerous, even destructive. When it comes to the key decisions in our lives, we almost always need deeper insights and a broader perspective than mere human wisdom can offer us. A helpful spiritual rule of thumb might be “When in doubt, always, always, always trust the wisdom of God.
No decision is wise if it’s made independently of God. Ronald Reagan is credited with saying, “I recognize we must be cautious in claiming that God is on our side, but I think it’s all right to keep asking if we’re on His side.” If we blindly assume that God is always on our side, we will fall headlong into deception. We should search ourselves regularly to make sure our thinking is in line with his will. We should strive to develop the character and conviction to make decisions that are products of our relationship with God and not others.
If you have arrived at your decision with the sincere intention of pleasing the heart of God, incorporating biblical principles and wise counsel, you can proceed with confidence knowing that God will work out his purposes through your decision.
I am in prayer for the decisions that you will face or that you are in the process of making. Nothing will be perfect and never will be but there is no way to lose walking with God IF you keep your mind and spirit focused on your assignment.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)
In Jesus name we accept the door that you open that no one can close. Amen
Wallace Swilley, founder and editor of Power Talk
WHAT DO YOU LIVE IN A HOUSE OR A HOME?
What are you doing to make your house a home? Are you helping or hurting? Don’t wait for others to take the first step. Do what matters TODAY!!! For many tomorrow may be too late.
Listen to this. On the front page of the Atlanta journal was the sad story of a wife and mother that put a garden hose to the exhaust pipe of her car and killed herself and her three children.
A sign in the yard told the tragic story – it said “HOME FOR SALE”. Love had slipped away and a divorce was pending. Love dies so slowly and two people who were once madly in love allow tragedy to destroy them and slowly and sadly walk away.
A house is where miserable people eat and sleep fuss and fight. It is a place filled with uncontrolled stress and strain. A home is where love lives. It’s a place where there is kindness, forgiveness and love in action, a place where people work together and communicate love.
What we need is distinctively Christian homes – not merely houses where Christians live, but homes where Christ lives. Home should be a place where a world of strife is shut out and a world of love shut in.
Home is where life makes up its mind, the future is molded and character in formed. Children usually produce the kind of homes they were raised in. My question to parents is - look at how you live and ask is this the way I want my children to live? My heart is saddened so many times when I see the examples being set for children.
Happy homes and strong families don’t just happen. A house becomes a home when the occupants do something to cause it. Saying the right things is never enough they must be backed up by our example.
A home must be a place of teaching – Duet 6:6-9 and training – Prov. 22:6
My dad and mom taught me to assume responsibility for my own life to never go around blaming others or circumstances. They taught me to find some joy in each day and to never go around complaining. They taught me by example to love God, love our family and to love our church and in that order. I never remember my dad talking about his God, his family or his church without a tear in his eye. I never remember my mom ever saying a negative word about others or the church. I lean heavily on that legacy every day
Also growing up I became a collector of inspirational thoughts. My first collection began with my Mom and Dad. I don’t care what people did my mom always demonstrated love. Mom had a look that was a mixture of surprise and sadness when one of us did or said something that wasn’t right that did more than a rebuke. My dad was known for handling sensitive situations with very firm but kind words. He was a master in his timing. He knew when to speak and when not to speak. He would always say in emotional times “Sit steady in the boat.” And statements like “Use head for something besides a hat rack if you want to make the right choices.” He would tell me, “Son you can get in more trouble in five minutes than you can get out of in a lifetime.” These and many other statements have guided me through some turbulent times.
Respect in the family between each member and each generation is absolute for perpetuating a godly family heritage. Without love and respect for one another there is no bonding and no legacy worth leaving or remembering.
The things that you reverence in your home will be what your children reverence in their home. Such as: devotions, Bible reading, prayer, good communication, good books and good music. Every night in our home we took time for devotions and Ernestine saw that our sons went to sleep listening to good music. Forty years ago 50% of Christians home had family devotion – today less than 5% have a family devotion.
Are changes needed to make your house a home? The size of a house doesn’t have anything to do with making it a home. You could have the best home in town to empress others with your success and still be unhappy. If you can’t make what you live in a home and find contentment it want matter what you live in it will never satisfy. Don’t sell your future to a credit card or a mortgage company. This is one of the major reasons homes become houses.
I know two brothers one lived in a very small house. He had hardly enough money for food, severely burned as a child, blinded in one eye from an accident, but he was the happiest most contented person I ever knew. The other brother had a big house on a very large lot with thirty five fruit trees around his house, a good position in the city government, his wife was a very successful business woman yet he never knew the happiness that his brother knew.
I’ve often ask myself the question what if? It helps me to keep on doing the right things. What if I left God and His church out of my life and become a castaway as Paul feared. And I died and went to Hell and one day I looked up and there was Duane and Mark, our sons and they looked at me with all the hate that Hell can create and said to me, “dad we thought you were the greatest guy that ever lived and we followed your example. We left God out of our lives, quit church like you did and stopped doing the right things and now we are in Hell because we followed you.” That would be more hell than anything I could imagine.
With all my heart and soul I beg you to be sure where you live is a home not just a house. A house without LOVE is just cold Real Estate.
If God, family unity and loyal church attendance are left out of the home it will eventually crumble. Mt. 12:25 “A family that’s in constant squabble disintegrates.”
PS. 127:1 God is the builder of our homes. We are the laborers and the Holy Spirit is the foreman.
Ernestine and I pray for you and love you every day.
If there is anything that needs repairing, restoring, changing go start NOW!!!!!
Jesus may Your Spirit touch every life that reads this and may change take place where needed. Amen
Wallace Swilley
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THANKFUL??? YES!!!
Thankful for 2008 are you kidding. There was a nasty election. There is an economic meltdown that seems to have no end in site where people have lost a lifetime of savings plus a long list of negative things. Some one said; don’t ask me to be thankful for this year.
Let me remind you that God is still saying, “when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.” Isaiah 43:2 NIV. I understand when you feel down you may find it difficult to give thanks. However, it’s in these times that, “we know that God works all things out for good if we love Him and are fitting into His plans.” Rom. 8:28. We thank God, not for the problems, but for the strength, He is building in us through our difficulties. You can be sure that God will see you through. Listen to 1 Thess 5:18 AMP He says, “thank (God) in every thing [no matter what the circumstances may be] ... for this is the will of God for you...”
In spite of all the bad that has happened this year, I have so much to be thankful for. Ernestine and I just had a physical and the doctor said we were two of the healthiest people he knew. This year we celebrated our fifty-ninth wedding anniversary. I am blessed to have a mate who has been a great source of strength to me.
Just thinking about thanksgiving and having our family together in our home in Atlanta is a major reason to be thankful. Everyone knows how proud Ernestine and I are of our family. I say a whole lot about Duane, Mark and Sunny. However today I want to say something special about five other family members that I love so very much.
Joshua and Keren are such an anointed team of worship and praise leaders. Listening to their new CD is a real joy. I am so pleased with the wisdom they use in planning their financial future. When Josh calls and says Granddad, I want to ask you a question. I know he and Keren have discussed this situation thoroughly and are ready to find out how Ernestine and I did it. They always say you’ve set an example we want to follow. Then he pops the question. Then we discuss the pros and cons and usually come up with a good solution. We are so proud of them.
Then there’s Joanie and soon to be husband Jason. I see in Joanie wisdom beyond her years. That is proven by TBN choosing her to be the production manager for their Miami TV station. She is showing signs of a true leader. In personal moments, we hear her saying things that reveal her true focus in life spiritually, financially and vocationally. On January 2, 2009, Jason will join our family as Joanie’s husband. She has found a very mature young man to share her life with and we are very thankful.
Now Esther is our drama queen. This lady has a serious side and a very hilariously funny side. She has been to hell and back with major repair that had to be done on her ankle from an earlier injury that took almost a year to heal. She had a steal halo on her leg from her ankle to her knee with steal rods connected to her leg bone. Most young people would have stayed home but not Esther she continued to go to school and make top grades. Sad to say I can’t relate to the high grades. By the way she is playing a leading role in her school production of “Fiddler of the Roof” congratulations Esther.
The fact that they all share in leading their father’s church in South Florida as Duane and Mark shared our ministry for many years gives their grandparents great personal joy.
Now go have a wonderful THANKSGIVING for all of God’s special blessings.
Wallace Swilley
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