Dig the Trenches

"Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands" (2 Kings 3:16-18).

To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God.

Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom.

Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God.

The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," and "Go forward!" As we step out without any sign or sound--not a wave-splash--and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters.

If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all done, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours.

It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith!

Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.

Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain. --A. B. Simpson

***

There is nothing that you are facing that strains the strength of God. The prophet Elisha told King Jehoshaphat that God said that despite the fact that there would be no wind or rain, the trenches would be filled with fresh water for the men and their animals to drink from.

God calls us to stand in faith in order to receive those great blessings that He has prepared for us. Couldn't God have simply caused it to rain? Yes, of course, but there are those times that God will introduce you to that which is perceived as impossible and ask you to trust Him. He asked Moses to trust Him and then sent him into the most powerful nation in the world with a word and a wooden staff. He asked Abram to trust Him and leave his land, but never gave him a final destination, but promised him the world. He told Noah to build an ark on dry land before anyone had even heard of rain. There are going to be those moments in which God is going to ask you to dig trenches and wait on them to be filled. It is not your job to determine how the trenches will be filled. Your responsibility is to simply dig them and trust God to fill them.

Dr. Rick Wallace

Some of you are going through the most difficult time you have every faced. When you evaluate the situation with your limited perspicacity, the problem seems impossible; it is so much bigger than you. The first thing that you must do is stop viewing your mountains from your perspective. Stop measuring your moments based on their size in comparison to yours. Take the size of your problems and place them next to God and your perspective will change. The simple presence of God transforms the impossible into the conquerable.

God is asking you to dig trenches in the valley. While you are in the heat of the struggle, stop striving and dig trenches. Do not become consumed with the filling of those trenches, that is God's job. Simply dig the trenches and wait. The digging of the trench says to God, "I believe". God is about to water your drought stricken life with waters of restoration and rejuvenation.  God is about to bring strength to your weary and troubled soul. He is about to lift you out of the valley of despair and place your feet upon a rock of confidence and purpose. Dig your trench today. Dig and wait. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

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Hold Fast to What You Have!

"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11).

George Mueller bears this testimony, "When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my heart the truth of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, and to show me that I had made a great mistake in looking for the conversion of the world, the effect that it produced upon me was this: From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel compassion for perishing sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying in the wicked one, and considered, 'Ought I not to do what I can for the Lord Jesus while He tarries, and to rouse a slumbering church?"'

There may be many hard years of hard work before the consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that I would not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apocalyptic angel spread for its last triumphal flight in this day's sunset; or if tomorrow morning the ocean cables should thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted on Mount Olivet or Mount Calvary to proclaim universal dominion. O you dead churches wake up! O Christ, descend! Scarred temple, take the crown! Bruised hand, take the sceptre! Wounded foot, step the throne! Thine is the kingdom. --Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.

***


Hold on to that which you have. You have been given the truth of the gospel and that truth has worked in you to develop a faith that is the force that moves you through this ethereal journey of Christianity. You must not let go of that which you have now; that thing that allows you to stand and persevere when others will quit and fall by the wayside. Hold fast to that faith that believes all things are possible. Hold fast to that faith that declares that you work in the kingdom will not be in vein. Hold fast to that faith that promises that Christ is returning for a Church without a spot nor wrinkle and that you are a part of that Church.

Dr. Rick Wallace

The crown is rewarded to the one that wins his race. The Apostle Paul said that he had fought a good fight, he had kept the faith, and he had finished the course and finally there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness. You must hold on to your faith and that truth that establishes and under-girds your faith. For it is your faith that will provide the power to victoriously navigate the labyrinthine corridors of this life.


Hold on to all that you have been given in the way of fortitude, purpose, identity and destiny. Your Crown awaits you. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

Get Rid of the Contraband!

Socrates said, "A life unexamined is not worth living." and his star pupil Plato reiterated the same truth.

The Bible also calls for us to take an introspective look at ourselves. We use the Word of God as a mirror to see what areas of our lives out of God's will. Paul mentions self examination in both of his letters to the Corinthian Church. Anyone that knows anything about the Church in Corinth, you will understand Paul's redundancy.

It is important to take a daily introspective look within. Many times we find ourselves in ruts that we can't seem to get out of. We find ourselves on plateaus, unable to advance any further. A lot of times we are in this state because we have yielded to our natural proclivity to tell God we know what is best for us better than he does. We do this every time God gives us clear direction on what to do, what direction to go in, what actions to take and we decide we have it figured out and we do it our way instead.

When we do that it begins to build a residue of dysfunctionality that hinders our progress. One of the areas in life where this is extremely prevalent is when God is trying to take us to new heights, but he tells that there are things and people that we can't take with us. We don't like letting go. I don't care how bad the situation is; when we decide that something belongs to us we will hold on onto it for dear life. You can have a dog that bites you every day when you come home from work and you will say that Spike had a bad day. No, spike doesn't like you! It is time to find Spike a new home.

Dr. Rick Wallace

God will tell us to leave a situation, and we will respond, "But God it feels so good." God will tell us that in order to proceed you must lighten the load and we will respond, "but God, how can something that feels so right, be wrong? So, we hold on to it or them and tuck it into the darker recesses of our heart as if God can't see it.  Ladies, if "he' doesn't value, love and honor you, the chances that he will do it next week are not too likely. Fellas, if she doesn't respect and reverence your God ordain leadership and responds to you with repetitive contempt, she is probably not the woman God has for you (make sure that you are where you should be as far as God's will before you make that assessment though).


So if you want to advance, make sure that you are not carrying any contraband. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

Who is Leading?

Who is Leading?

"O Lord , I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. 10:23).

"Lead me in a plain path" (Ps. 27:14).

Many people want to direct God, instead of resigning themselves to be directed by Him; to show Him a way, instead of passively following where He leads. --Madame Guyon

Living in the Light

I live and love in God's peculiar light.
Michelangelo 

Deliberate Confidence

Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.
Oswald Chambers 

The Incomprehensible!

God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive.
Ayn Rand 

A Clarion Call!

I am calling those that are willing to push through to their breakthrough to walk with me. Ladies, I want to make an extremely important point in this movement. God gifted you with the power to give life; both physically and spiritually, your men need you to stand with them. 

This is not a time for division. Put you personal differences aside and honor God by doing for your man that which only you can do: birth him into greatness. 

That starts with affirming him in his calling. One of the things I notice in this western culture in which the family nucleus has suffered greatly is the fact that everyone is looking to serve self. The marriage was not designed by God to foster narcissism. The one thing I see with women that is not biblical is they are out looking for this great man and not realizing that their great man has most likely not manifested his greatness. 

One of the main reasons is that the wife plays a major role in the birthing of that greatness. God gifted her that way. When you research the great men of this world, both biblical an secular, contemporary and those of antiquity, the common thread is great women. These women did not come into their lives after they were great. These women looked through their weaknesses and saw their strengths; they looked through their current state and saw their potential. 

Abraham was a member of a family of some noteworthiness when he married his half sister Sarah, but he was nowhere close to being what he would become, and even through impatience she was a part of his increase. Peter was a fisherman when he married his wife, though it is not mentioned we know, by the prayer meeting when Peter was in Jail that she was a woman of strength and she undoubtedly was a part of his growth. I'm sure after his big failure at Calvary, she spoke words of encouragement that was at least powerful enough for him to reunite with the other Apostles. Martin Luther King Jr. was just a young preacher's kid at Morehouse University when he met Coretta, but she saw the potential for greatness. Malcolm was preaching in small storefronts when he met Betty, but she saw the potential of a man that would change the world around him. I could go on; Boaz wasn't doing bad when Ruth came along, but she enhanced him through her virtue. David was a warrior on the run for his life when he met Abigail, but even when her soon to be deceased husband didn't recognize who David was, she did. When her husband died she road off into the sunset with the warrior on the run, but she was standing there when he was crowned king. 

Dr. Rick Wallace

What am I saying? I'm saying that some of you have lost sight of the potential and light that attracted you to your husbands and now you spend the majority of your time telling him what he is not instead of confirming and affirming who he is. Others are looking for Mr. Right but are not willing to take the raw material God has given them and polish the strengths while influencing the weaknesses. Women, your man's greatness is dependent upon your willingness to invest in it. 

We are entering one of the most pivotal times in the history of the Church and we need our men to be at full strength and ready for battle. When the man is right, focused, and centered in Christ, the family nucleus will become strong, there will be a paradigmatic shift in the community, and the Christian impact this country once knew will return. I am calling the men to rise, but women they need you to be at your best at their side in order to pull the load that I am asking them to pull. If you will stand with them, the body of Christ is about to make the boldest statement it has made since the times of the early Church, but it will require men that are committed. Let's do this. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace 

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Stay the Course

When desperation tempts you to change course in search of expediency, don't do it. Stay the course. God is not limited by your deadlines and He can move even after the 12th hour to bring about deliverance and elevation.

Stay the course, even when it seems that the results are slow and the deadline is approaching. Whenever you are attempted to abandon the current path for one that seems more expedient you fall into the enemies plan to distract you. Though your situation may linger for what seems like an eternity, stay the course. God rewards faithfulness not capriciousness. Be still, look ahead and do what God has given you to do and trust that He is going to do what he said that he would do. Has He ever failed? Has he ever come up short? Have you ever looked for Him and He wasn't there? Of course not, so why become frenetic and unglued because things are awry. So what if life is not bowing down to you, so what if the enemy is incessant, so what? Nothing seems to work? Stand in there and refuse to give in.

God wants to bust a supernatural move in your life. Some of you are experiencing a breakthrough right now, but you are going to let delay convince you to walk right out of it is search of an easier and faster way. Every break through comes in phases. Like everything is the walk of faith, true breakthroughs are dynamic and the move in harmony with your commitment to stay the course.

Dr. Rick Wallace

By the time you actually witness the physical manifestation of the breakthrough you have already experienced the spiritual breakthrough which is the product of your perseverance. Once you have achieved your spiritual breakthrough in which the angelic forces from both sides are warring either for you or against you (See Daniel Chapter 10), the enemy becomes desperate because now your victory is eminent. His only hope is to convince you to move out of position to receive what the forces of good have fought so hard for you to have.


Trust me, stand still and trust God, your breakthrough is coming. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

The God of the Second Chance

Week of November 23
Second Chances

It was small enough to overlook. Only two words. I know I’d read that passage a hundred times. But I’d never seen it.

But I won’t miss it again. It’s highlighted in yellow and underlined in red. You might want to do the same. Look in Mark, chapter 16. Get your pencil ready and enjoy this jewel in the seventh verse (here it comes). The verse reads like this: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.

Did you see it? Read it again. (This time I italicized the words.)

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”

Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure.

If I might paraphrase the words, “Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples,” a pause, then a smile, “and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.”

What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again. “Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out. Tell him that one failure doesn’t make a flop.”

Whew!

No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.

Those who know these types of things say that the Gospel of Mark is really the transcribed notes and dictated thoughts of Peter. If this is true, then it was Peter himself who included these two words! And if these really are his words, I can’t help but imagine that the old fisherman had to brush away a tear and swallow a lump when he got to this point in the story.
It’s not every day that you get a second chance. Peter must have known that. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you’ve ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.

It’s not every day that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.

But in Jesus, Peter found both.

Listen to UpWords with Max Lucado at OnePlace.com

At Wit's End!

At Wit's End
"At their wit's end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out" (Ps. 107:27, 28).

Have you been in that place in which all rational responses have been exhausted? Have you arrived at that place in which your limited perspicacity of the universal affect of process on the human life has left you perplexed? Have you found yourself languishing in the most darkest of places with no answer to the enigmatic conundrum that plagues you? We all have and we all will. We will reach that point in which all effort expended is useless in achieving the desired end. We will come to that moment in which we are scratching our heads and wondering; "what next?"

The aforementioned scripture points to the fat God specializes in handling those perplexing moments in which all seems lost. God is moved into action when faith engages what the world deems impossible. Your perplexing moment is but the clarion sounding to God that the opportunity for the supernatural to be expressed in the life of one of His people has presented itself.

"At their wit's end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble..." This is important to grasp; after reaching their wit's end, they called out to God while in the midst of their trouble. They had tried everything possible and had achieved nothing. They had reasoned and pressed, but still found themselves in peril. Their comprehension was not broad enough to take hold of the moment, but their cry got the attention of the one who was. God responds to the cry of His people (Exodus 3:7-8).

When the people cry out, God brings them out. Sometimes the answer is to cry out. Even the infant has this inherently instilled function embedded in its person. God responds to the  cries of His People. He shows up and He delivers.

No matter what you are going through at this moment, no matter how dark the night, God wants you to cry out to Him. David said, "I waited patiently on the Lord, and He inclined to me and He heard my cry..." The Hebrew word translated "inclined" means to bend or bow toward or away from. So, God bends down to engage His people at their place of need.

Dr. Rick Wallace

God hears, God sees, God knows; He knows every problem, every struggle, every disappointment, every heartache, God knows. He is superbly cognizant of your situation and your cries have already called Him in to move on your behalf. I encourage you to wait patiently like David, so that you may have the testimony of David. David said, "...and He brought me up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay and placed my feet upon a rock." He went on to speak of this new song that God placed in His heart in the midst of the process of deliverance.

God wants to give you a new song. God wants to expose you to a place of blessing that is inexplicable, yet very attainable. God wants to change your perspective of of the word "impossible". He wants to introduce you to the pinnacle of praise and promise. So, dance! Praise Him for what He is about to do in your life. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

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The Heart Sings in Darkness

Remember My Song in the Night

"I call to remembrance my song in the night" (Psalm 77:6).

I have read somewhere of a little bird that will never sing the melody his master wishes while his cage is full of light. He learns a snatch of this, a bar of that, but never an entire song of its own until the cage is covered and the morning beams shut out.

A good many people never learn to sing until the darkling shadows fall. The fabled nightingale carols with his breast against a thorn. It was in the night that the song of the angels was heard. It was at midnight that the cry came, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."

Indeed it is extremely doubtful if a soul can really know the love of God in its richness and in its comforting, satisfying completeness until the skies are black and lowering.

Light comes out of darkness, morning out of the womb of the night.

James Creelman, in one of his letters, describes his trip through the Balkan States in search of Natalie, the exiled Queen of Serbia.

"In that memorable journey," he says, "I learned for the first time that the world's supply of attar of roses comes from the Balkan Mountains. And the thing that interested me most," he goes on, "is that the roses must be gathered in the darkest hours. The pickers start out at one o'clock and finish picking them at two.

"At first it seemed to me a relic of superstition; but I investigated the picturesque mystery, and learned that actual scientific tests had proven that fully forty per cent of the fragrance of roses disappeared in the light of day."

And in human life and human culture that is not a playful, fanciful conceit; it is a real veritable fact.  -Malcolm J. McLeod

***

I am not sure if you can relate, but I have encountered a darkness so thick that I could reach out and touch. It was so thick that I could feel it move up against my face as I moved. I've been in that place where those I loved the most were the ones that caused me the most pain. I have been in that place where I look for a friend to to turn to, but there was not a friend to be found.

Yet, in the darkness there was the most tenderest of truths revealed. The heart sings sweet melodies of praise in the darkness. It seems that in the darkness, the soul yearns joy, but it is not readily available, but the heart, against nature, begins to sing. This singing of the heart defies human logic because it is not the natural propensity of the human to sing his song of joy in the heart of despair. It is not the nature of man to muster joy from defeat, but yet, the heart sings. It is the natural leaning of man to complain in the midst of the storm, but yet, the heart sings.

What is this madness that takes over the moment. Where does the heart learn to move against nature and find joy in pain? What is it about the heart that allows it to disagree with volatile circumstances and see peace and tranquility. I have come to find out that the heart simply knows. It knows that no weapon formed against it will prosper. The heart knows; it knows that weeping may endure for night, but joy will come in the morning. The heart knows: the heart knows that God has plans of good and not of evil, plans to prosper us and give us a future and a hope. Yes, the heart knows.

Dr. Rick Wallace

The heart knows; it knows that God inhabits the praises of His people. Yes, the heart knows.

This is why the faith warrior can embrace the darkness; because he knows that the darkness does not quench his light, but it is the opportunity for his light to shine brighter. The phosphorescent light of the Christian shines brightest in the fierce winds of adversity. The heart of the believer dances in the darkness and sings songs of praise because it knows.

I invite you to dance in the darkness as your heart sings. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

Radical Faith

The following testimony was posted on a comment field in a discussion about faith. I decided to share it with the masses. My grandfather's faith during this time was the foundation of my faith that dares to believe God for the impossible. All I can say is, "Read and Praise!"

At 78 years old my grandfather's body begin to swell in ways that could not be explained. After a series of test, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 leukemia, and the prognosis was 2 weeks or less he would be dead. The doctor told my grandmother and I that we did not need to worry him with it, they could simply sedate him and he would die comfortably in his sleep. My grand mother said no, you are going to tell him just in case there is something that he has not settle with God or others. So when the doctor told my grandfather he had to weeks to live, my grandfather looked at the doctor and this is what he said: "Doc, I'm sure your went to school for a very long time to learn all you needed to know to be able to tell me what you just told me. I'm not an educated man, in the way of books and schooling, but I know something that is extremely powerful and that is that God is good and God is able. I'm sorry, but in two weeks I will not be dead. I am not leaving this place until I get to walk down the isles of my church and praise my God." The lead doctor was an atheist and shrugged it off. Well my grandfather lived five more years and through many more predictions of his demise. Finally, the atheist doctor came to me and said I have become convinced that your father will not leave this earth until he gets good and ready, there is truly a God in heaven. You see brother Breaux faith is so powerful that it transcends facts. Faith is so powerful as it moves through the life of those willing to believe in a way so powerful that it converts the non-believer. Faith shakes of doubt and presses on.

That is faith people. I tell you that the same God that my grandfather served is the same God we serve. Stand in faith and claim all that God has for you. 

What is Faith...

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.
D. Elton Trueblood 

Receive the Cup of Sorrow

Receive the Cup of Sorrow

"Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink?" (John 18:11, Weymouth).

God takes a thousand times more pains with us than the artist with his picture, by many touches of sorrow, and by many colors of circumstance, to bring us into the form which is the highest and noblest in His sight, if only we receive His gifts of myrrh in the right spirit.

But when the cup is put away, and these feelings are stifled or unheeded, a greater injury is done to the soul that can ever be amended. For no heart can conceive in what surpassing love God giveth us this myrrh; yet this which we ought to receive to our souls' good we suffer to pass by us in our sleepy indifference, and nothing comes of it.

Then we come and complain: "Alas, Lord! I am so dry, and it is so dark within me!" I tell thee, dear child, open thy heart to the pain, and it will do thee more good than if thou wert full of feeling and devoutness.  --Tauler

***

I can surely relate with the those who have experienced the darkness of sorrows and griefs. There seems to be nothing pleasant amidst the pain. A superficial evaluation of the struggle and difficulties reveals no intrinsic value. However, when you understand that the struggle has come to build, not tear down. When you understand that the heartache has come to strengthen not destroy; you will get a glimpse into the power of pain.

Dr. Rick Wallace

The pain is from the hand of God sculpting the masterpiece that you will become. The heartache is the result of God pruning away all that is not beneficial or conducive to the final product. There is a natural proclivity to attempt  to circumvent life's struggles in search of a life of comfort, but there is no reward in sidestepping suffering, because it is in the flames of testing that we are purified and proven. It is during the long winds of suffering that the intricate details of the masterpiece that is us is hewed out.

I know that the pain can, at times, be excruciating. The loneliness can be stifling. Understand this, God is in the midst of the mayhem working miracles. You will look back one day and realize that the heartache took you to new heights. You will realize that the darkness increase your light. You will find that the struggles expedited your elevation. It is okay to drink from the cup of sorrow for it produces greatness. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

Understanding the Power of Purpose

When Purpose is not known, Abuse is Inevitable..."Myles Monroe"

How true and powerful the aforementioned statement is. When you don't know the purpose of something, you will use it for anything and everything other than what it is actually meant for it, in actually abusing it and eventually rendering it ineffective in its true purpose. 

How true is this principle is in human relationships. Women have lost touch with the true purpose of their sexuality and their bodies. Sexuality is a vital part of the marriage and in many ways the most important. Yes, it is the intimate and physical connection made between husband and wife in the marriage bed that makes them one. It is not their vows, though they are extremely important. It is the physical connection between man and woman that make them one. Look at what Paul tells the church in Corinth.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?^(W) Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh. (1 Cor. 6:15-16, NASB)

So women every time you lay with a man you are uniting with him in spirit and giving him a part of you that you cannot take back. What we have now because of this behavior is a bunch of fragmented people trying to live whole lives. 

Ladies because you are not aware of the purpose of your bodies you are destine to abuse them and consequently, you give it to a man who has no idea of its purpose and he abuses it as well. You are left broken and fragmented spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally, but it all begin with an  ill advised misappropriation of your body (the physical). Live in your purpose and honor all that God has given you.

Although this was directed at the women, men we have to a better job of protecting the virtue of our women,, even when they are not able to do it themselves, it is a part of our God ordained responsibilities ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

An Attitude of Trust

"And it came to pass, before he had done speaking...and he said, Blessed be Jehovah…who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth" (Gen. 24:15, 27).

Every right prayer is answered before the prayer itself is finished--before we have "done speaking." This is because God has pledged His Word to us that whatsoever we ask in Christ's name (that is, in oneness with Christ and His will) and in faith, shall be done.

As God's Word cannot fail, whenever we meet those simple conditions in prayer, the answer to our prayer has been granted and completed in Heaven as we pray, even though its showing forth on earth may not occur until long afterward.

So it is well to close every prayer with praise to God for the answer that He has already granted; He who never forsakes His loving-kindness and His truth. (See Daniel 9:20-27 and 10:12.)  --Messages for the Morning Watch

***

When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had the blessing.  We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust.

When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact; and so when we take Christ as our Savior, as our Sanctifier, as our Healer, or as our Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for. -Selected

***

God answers prayer, its that simple. He said that he would be attentive to our prayers (2 Chron. 7:14-15). He has promised to listen to our desires and concerns (Jer. 29:11-12). If you were to speak with Abraham, he would tell you that God answers prayer. If you were able to speak with David, he would tell you that in the darkest of times, God answers prayer. If you would speak with Hezekiah, he would tell you that God answers death bed prayers. If you were confer with Joshua, he would tell you that God answers "Sun Stand Still Prayers". If you were to speak with Elijah, he would tell you that God answers prayer in the season of drought.

If you were sit down and discuss prayer with the prayer master, Daniel, he would tell you that even when the answer seems delayed, God answers prayers, from the very moment that you open your mouth to pray in faith, God has already answered the prayer (Dan. 10:2-12). So, delay is never denial with God, when you pray in faith by the authority and unity with Christ (Through the Authority in Jesus' Name, by way of spiritual Power of Attorney), it moves God into response immediately. Whether it takes the physical manifestation some time to appear is irrelevant to the one wielding faith.

Dr. Rick Wallace

So, take your burdens and cares to the Lord and trust that he hears. God told Moses I have heard the cries of my people in Egypt. He hears your cries as well. He knows your pain. He is cognizant of your struggles. Before you finish speaking your prayer, God has responded and the process of deliverance, breakthrough and elevation has begun. Do not lose hope, the season of harvest is near. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

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Your Season of Waiting

Season of Waiting

"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness…an angel of the Lord...saying....now come, I will send thee into Egypt" (Acts 7:30-34).

Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.

Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith's forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.

So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work.  --Days of Heaven upon Earth

***

Delay does not mean denial, it is simply the time allotted by God for recovery, preparation, and the refocusing of the vision. Don't lose heart in the season of waiting, that promise may tarry, but it will come.

Dr. Rick Wallacxe

It is a natural human proclivity to want to press forward when the goal is fixed in the mind, but sometimes rest and recovery is needed before that final push. Sometimes the road needs to be cleared to make way for your advance. God knows what lies ahead, so when he says hold your position and wait, the command is stern and obedience is paramount.

It is important to understand that movement is not always meaningful. Sometimes the most effective thing you can do is stand still. Your season of waiting is quite necessary to your victory, trust God and you will see the supernatural beyond the stillness. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

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Beyond the Ability to Conceive

God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive.
Ayn Rand 

Instant Obedience

Instant Obedience

"In the selfsame day, as God had said unto him" (Gen. 17:23).

Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Every time God calls us to any duty, He is offering to make a covenant with us; doing the duty is our part, and He will do His part in special blessing.

The only way we can obey is to obey "in the selfsame day," as Abraham did. To be sure, we often postpone a duty and then later on do it as fully as we can. It is better to do this than not to do it at all. But it is then, at the best, only a crippled, disfigured, half-way sort of duty-doing; and a postponed duty never can bring the full blessing that God intended, and that it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment.



It is a pity to rob ourselves, along with robbing God and others, by procrastination. "In the selfsame day" is the Genesis way of saying, "Do it now."  --Messages for the Morning Watch

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The scripture said that Abram did as God had asked the same day. He did not take time to mull over the answer. He did not delay his response of obedience to initiate the negotiation process. He did not ask why. He simply obeyed.

The sooner we learn that delayed obedience is not truly obedience and that it robs us of blessings and hinders the movement of God in our lives, the sooner we will begin to walk in the full power of all that God has promised.

Dr. Rick Wallace

So often we allow our rationale, fear, and trepidation to cause us to procrastinate in responding to God's call to move. Faith trusts God without reservation. Faith does not consider God's motives, it does not ponder the enigmatic ramifications of the command. Faith simply responds in obedience, not delayed obedience, but immediate, absolute obedience.

It is when our response to God's command is simply, yes, that we will experience unparalleled power and advancement in the Kingdom.

When God says move, move. You don't need to know why. You don't need to rationalize it to get a better understanding, as if you would know better than God what is best. To me, one of the greatest advantages to being a believer here on earth, is that through complete surrender to God, He does all the thinking. All I have to do is show up and do as I am told and the victory is eminent. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace

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The Radical One Kept it Real

Week of November 16

Why Did Jesus go to the Wedding?

Why would Jesus, on his first journey, take his followers to a party? Didn’t they have work to do? Didn’t he have principles to teach? Wasn’t his time limited? How could a wedding fit with his purpose on earth?

Why did Jesus go to the wedding?

The answer? It’s found in the second verse of John 2. “Jesus and his followers were also invited to the wedding.”

Jesus wasn’t invited because he was a celebrity. He wasn’t one yet. The invitation wasn’t motivated by his miracles. He’d yet to perform any. Why did they invite him?
I suppose they liked him.

Big deal? I think so. I think it’s significant that common folk in a little town enjoyed being with Jesus. I think it’s noteworthy that the Almighty didn’t act high and mighty. The Holy One wasn’t holier-than-thou. The One who knew it all wasn’t a know-it-all. The One who made the stars didn’t keep his head in them. The One who owns all the stuff of earth never strutted it.

Jesus could have been all of these, but he wasn’t. His purpose was not to show off but to show up. He went to great pains to be as human as the guy down the street. He didn’t need to study, but still went to the synagogue. He had no need for income, but still worked in the workshop. He had known the fellowship of angels and heard the harps of heaven, yet still went to parties thrown by tax collectors. And upon his shoulders rested the challenge of redeeming creation, but he still took time to walk ninety miles from Jericho to Cana to go to a wedding.

As a result, people liked him. Oh, there were those who chaffed at his claims. They called him a blasphemer, but they never called him a braggart. They accused him of heresy, but never arrogance. He was branded as a radical, but never called unapproachable.

His faith made him likable, not detestable. Would that ours would do the same!

Listen to UpWords with Max Lucado at OnePlace.com

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Victory in Testimony

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Messiah
have now come,
because the accuser(K)of our brothers
has been thrown out:
the one who accuses them
before our God day and night.
11 They conquered him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not love their lives
in the face of death. (Rev. 12:10,11, AMP)

They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. There is power in your testimony. It is an account of your deliverance. It is the verbal expression of your account of God's movement in your time of need. 

The Greek word translated "testimony" is G3141
marturia
mar-too-ree'-ah
From G3144; evidence given (judicially or generally): - record, report, testimony, witness.
Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

Your testimony is the verbal presentation of the evidence of God's power being executed in your life. This scriptural passage verifies that the testimony of believers carries the power to overcome the assault of the enemy. 

Let me explain. Victory in Christ is complete; no matter how many times you find yourself in a situation in which the enemy is attacking you, the victory has already been won. In the Bible the victory always comes in two parts, in the same way it happens in military battles. In a military battle the first victory is the strategic victory and then there is the tactical victory. 

The strategic victory is the planning of the best line of defense and the mode of attack. In military battle the general develops a strategy and the best strategy presents its possessor the initial advantage. The one with the best plan has won the strategic victory; however the strategy must be executed as planned for the victory to be complete. The execution is called the tactical execution or deployment. The greatest strategy in the world doesn't mean anything without tactical execution to to close the deal. It is the same in spiritual warfare. God's strategy was flawless. It was called grace and was sealed by the blood of Christ. With grace, God covered sin (expiation), Satisfied His penalty against sin (propitiation), restored fellowship between Himself and man (reconcilation), declared the believer righteous (justification), and return dominion to man (restoration). That is a complete and dominant strategic victory, but for the victory to be complete, the believer has to do his part. 

Just as when God gave Canaan to the Israel, they had to go in and possess it. It is the same with the Church Age believer; we must walk in the power of the cross to lay hold of the victory. When we do that we become more than conquers. One of the ways we do that is recognize that we are covered by the blood, meaning that the Accuser has no ground on which to accuse us, because the price for our failure has already been paid. The next step in the tactical victory is our testimony; the verbal declaration of what God has done in his plan of grace. When we give our testimony it solidifies our stance by reminding us of God's love and faithfulness, as well as Christ's selfless act at Calvary. It also bears witness to others of God's love and faithfulness.  

Dr. Rick Wallace

To seal the victory the believer must be faithful, even unto the point of death. The believer can't be deterred or driven back by fear, delay, discomfort or even death. This is the perfect execution of the tactical victory which closes the door on Satan's assault. 




So, speak life and truth, even when everything around you is so dark that it is impossible to see. Speak life, even when your friends have become your accusers. Speak life, even when no one will stand with you. Speak lifel, even when weariness settles in and defeat looms large. Testify of all that God has done for you. Defeat the enemy with the truth. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace