Friday, January 31, 2014
2014 Forecast
I want to thank everyone for their prayers and words of encouragement. You are truly a blessing. It is now time to move forward so that we may impact the culture around us. This video outlines just a view things that will be taking place in 2014 -- more to come. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
Self-Examination
Self-examination
Socrates once passed on to his student – Plato – an
unshakeable truth, “a life unexamined is not worth living.”
The Apostle Paul iterated that believers should examine
themselves to whether we are of the faith (2 Cor. 13:5)
Let me explain something about this introspective
examination that is integral to an effective way of living. Examining one’s
self is about uncovering the truth, measuring yourself against the Word of God,
using it as mirror to analyze the progress that you have made. The problem is
that many believers look for their failures in their examination, without being
willing to acknowledge their progress. You are not to measure yourself off of
the reflected appraisals of others, but by the Word of God. In this examination,
you must see the truth, both in your failures and your accomplishments.
Just because others only choose to acknowledge your
shortcomings and not your progress doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. If all you
ever consider is what you have done wrong and what you have not accomplished,
you will develop a mindset that is fatalistic. You are not perfect, stop
judging yourself on a scale of perfection. Instead judge yourself by your level
of conviction.
Are you convicted to follow Christ?
Are you convicted when you stumble?
Are your convicted to make an impact?
 |
| Dr. Rick Wallace |
True conviction will drive your actions. It does not mean
that you are perfect, but it does mean that you are striving for perfection. In
life, no matter what we are doing. We never truly attain perfection. No one has
the perfect body, but many are striving for it. No one is perfectly astute in
finance, but many are striving toward. What we have discovered is that the
moment you stop striving, you regress.
David is the perfect example that God is not looking at our
level of perfection, but the level of conviction (the condition of the heart).
If there was ever a screw-up, it was David. The thing is that the moment that
David became aware of his wrong, he sought God – he was convicted.
For believers, perfection is positional for now. This means
that our perfection is attained through the expiating work of Christ at
Calvary. Simply by being in Him we are accepted as perfect. Our conviction, because
of this truth, drives us through experiential sanctification (striving toward
perfection) and it will be culminated in eternal sanctification when are leave
this life to be with the Lord.
Stop beating yourself up over the reality of your
fallibility and start striving toward your destiny. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
#reallife #convicted&committed #strivingforgreatness
#empowered
http://focusedChristian.blogspot.com
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
A Peace that Transcends All Understanding
God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early (Psalms 46:5)
"Shall not be moved"--what an inspiring declaration! Can it be possible that we, who are so easily moved by the things of earth, can arrive at a place where nothing can upset us or disturb our calm? Yes, it is possible; and the Apostle Paul knew it. When he was on his way to Jerusalem where he foresaw that "bonds and afflictions" awaited him, he could say triumphantly, "But none of these things move me."
Everything in Paul's life and experience that could be shaken had been shaken, and he no longer counted his life, or any of life's possessions, dear to him. And we, if we will but let God have His way with us, may come to the same place, so that neither the fret and tear of little things of life, nor the great and heavy trials, can have power to move us from the peace that passeth understanding, which is declared to be the portion of those who have learned to rest only on God.
"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out." To be as immovable as a pillar in the house of our God, is an end for which one would gladly endure all the shakings that may be necessary to bring us there!
--Hannah Whitall Smith
When God is in the midst of a kingdom or city He makes it as firm as Mount Zion, that cannot be removed. When He is in the midst of a soul, though calamities throng about it on all hands, and roar like the billows of the sea, yet there is a constant calm within, such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. What is it but want of lodging God in the soul, and that in His stead the world is in men's hearts, that makes them shake like leaves at every blast of danger?
--Archbishop Leighton
"They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." There is a quaint old Scottish version that puts iron into our blood:
Who sticketh to God in stable trust
As Zion's mount he stands full just,
Which moveth no whit, nor yet doth reel,
But standeth forever as stiff as steel!
Get the entire electronic Bible Research Library Here!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Understanding Delay is Not Denial
But the dove found no rest for or the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him... And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf (Genesis 8:9-11).
God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best; He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses. When He sends the visible evidence, that is well also; we appreciate it all the more after we have trusted Him without it. Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love.
--C. G. Trumbull
Believing Him; if storm-clouds gather darkly 'round,
And even if the heaven seem brass, without a sound?
He hears each prayer and even notes the sparrow's fall.
And praising Him; when sorrow, grief, and pain are near,
And even when we lose the thing that seems most dear?
Our loss is gain. Praise Him; in Him we have our All.
Our hand in His; e'en though the path seems long and drear
We scarcely see a step ahead, and almost fear?
He guides aright. He has it thus to keep us near.
And satisfied; when every path is blocked and bare,
And worldly things are gone and dead which were so fair?
Believe and rest and trust in Him, He comes to stay.
Delays are not refusals; many a prayer is registered, and underneath it the words: "My time is not yet come." God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation orders also the time of our deliverance.
--Selected
How often have I said that delay does not mean denial. The believer must learn perseverance. Not every battle is won expeditiously, in fact, most battles call for patience and perseverance. They demand that we execute faith, and faith is only required when pragmatic and empirical evidence is not forthcoming. We look for signs when faith does not require them. We allow the vicissitudes of life to set the atmosphere of our existence, when our faith should dictate our position.
God is still God in the midst of our darkest moment. Our circumstances don't confound or surprise Him. We must learn that theconceived machinations of the enemy is not the end, but the beginning of the movement of God on our behalf. It is your perseverance -- sustained by your audacious and radical faith -- that transfers you from the depths of darkness to the middle of a move of God. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
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Check out some additional resources by
Dr. Rick Wallace
1. The Invisible Father: Reversing the Curse of a
Fatherless Generation - Dr. Wallace examines the destructive force of absentee fatherhood
in America from a biblical Perspective
2. Renewing Your Mind: The Dynamics of
Christian Transformation - Dr. Wallace discusses the power of your
thought process to completely transform your life
3. Elevation through
Revelation - This book was written to encourage and inspire you as you
travel through life.
4. When Your House is Not a Home - Dr.
Wallace engages the enigmatic issues that face marriage in America -- from a
biblical perspective.
5. The Power of Healing Affirmations -- This
short book goes straight to the matter of how you word and thought affect
healing in your life. (A must read)
Blogs
1. 100 Men of Purpose --
Encouraging and teaching men to rise up in their God ordained design
2. Master Fitness 21 -- This
site focuses on believers living healthy lives spiritually and physically
3. Anointed Inspirations -- A
little something to get your day going.
4. Christian Impact -- The
revelations of God that reveal the call and ability of believers to impact the
world around them.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Mighty Man of Valor
Mighty Man of Valor
“The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man" (Judges 6:16, NCV).
16 The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man (Judges 6:16 NLT).”
This powerful promise from God comes in midst of a dialogue with Gideon. The Angel of the Lord, a theophany (an appearance of Yahweh in the physical sense in the Old Testament), appears to Gideon as he is threshing wheat in the wine press, which in itself is a sign of fear. Yet the Lord addresses Gideon as a mighty man of valor. Now at first glance, the superficial reader and casual bible student might say where in the cowardice behavior of Gideon does God see anything mighty. The answer is that God sees us through the eye of unactualized potential. He is calling Gideon not as he is, but by what he would become in the power of God.
This is much in the same way that God called Abram a father of many nations before he ever experienced the joy of being a father. God does not see the believer in the weakness of his natural existence, but in the fullness of his design. God calls things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). God is saying to Gideon, I know what it seems like right now, but my design for you is so much greater than the mediocrity you now walk in. Gideon I designed you for greatness.
Out of fear of the Midianites, Gideon was threshing wheat is the inconspicuous coverings of the wine press. Under normal circumstances wheat was threshed out in the open so that the wind could separate the lighter chaff from the heavier grain. The chaff would blow away, but the wheat would fall to the ground and be gathered. The Midianites would allow the Israelites to sow their crops and then raid them and take it at harvest time. What is noteworthy here is that the Midianites are actually operating as the hand of God in punishing Israel for its apostasy and disobedience. Israel had fallen into idolatry. Yet we find God honoring His covenant with His people.
God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, but unfortunately all Gideon sees is the natural circumstances that surround Him. God is made a proclamation of power and victory, but all Gideon can see are the physical circumstances that encapsulate him. One of the reasons that there was very little if any spiritual insight is because idolatry in whatever form it manifest itself in the life of a believer creates spiritual blindness. You can say that anything you place before God, anything that takes priority over your relationship and responsibility to God becomes like spiritual cataracts in that you become blinded to the spiritual truths that lie before you.
Now there are many of you that will contend that there is no idolatry with the ranks of the Christian faith today. I would beg to differ. Anything that is placed before God, not simply the worship of other God's, but the consideration given to our selfish desires. It is my position on what the Bible teaches is that all that we have placed in priority over God has blinded us, stifled our growth and hindered our ministry. One of the quickest test and dependable standards of measure to see where you lie in this situation is to analyze the fruit you bear. Take an objective look at your actions and the fruit that is born from these actions. Now I am not speaking of your self-inflated egotistical evaluation. I am speaking of measuring yourself by the standards of the infallible Word of God. It is simple, how much time are spending doing the will of God in comparison to how much time is spent is serving your desires. Now these selfish desires that I speak of do not have to be inherently evil; meaning that standing alone they may even be considered necessary and good, but when placed before our service to the kingdom, they become evil in that they are detracting from the plan of God.
Any time this takes place, we loose power, we become ineffective in our walk and most of all, our fellowship with God is negatively impacted. Gideon's own father was influential within his tribe and he had a statue of Baal on his land and was obviously a Baal worshiper. That impacted the home in a way that is lucidly visible in Gideon's response to the declaration that he was a mighty man of valor.
(O)He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." (Verse 15)
All Gideon could see was what the natural circumstance dictated. His clan was the least in Manasseh and he was the youngest in his clan or family, meaning that he had no influence, power, or respect among those God was calling him to lead. His exposure to idolatrous living had rendered him ineffective in the task of living out his destiny. Through the infiltration of outside influences and beliefs, he had been weakened to the point to which he was useless in the carrying out of his purpose. In the same way we have been rendered ineffective in living out our destinies because secular philosophies and paradigms have found their way into belief our system and taken us away from our callings and destinies. Can you honestly say today that you are doing what God designed you to do or are you actually living your life for you. Yes we are to find joy in this life, but this joy has to be centered in the fulfilling of our destiny and purpose. It is in the living out of our purpose that we are to find the greatest and satisfaction.
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:1-10)
Where is your focus? Are you serving God or your own selfish desires? The answer to these questions will bring clarity to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness in your prayer life, Christian walk, and more. God is speaking to you in the manner that he spoke to Gideon. He is calling you mighty. He is asking you to step out and lead. He is asking you to resist the mediocrity that has become common place in the Christian walk.
God is asking you just as he asked Gideon, to tear down the erections of Baal in your life. Those things that are representative of all that you have placed before God, He is asking that they be destroyed so that His strength and power can be seen in you. If you have been called to teach, teach. If you have been called to preach, preach, If you have been called to heal, heal. If you have been called to sing, sing. Your life should be a living testimony of God's awesome power. What about your life says ministry? What about your life says God? What about your walk says that you live for kingdom? What about you walk says you are soldier on the battlefield for the Lord?
God promise Gideon that through his obedience, he would make the Midianites seem as one man in battle and that the victory would be eminent. He is saying the same thing to you right now. Put away the gods of your life, selfish desires, materialism, liberalism, nihilism, and all of the other secular world views that have taken over the thought processes of the church in this age. I dare you to walk in the power and might of your calling and then watch God move emphatically and conspicuously in your life. God is waiting to do a new thing in your life, but He needs you to line yourself up with his will for your life.
What does Romans 12:1-2 say about this situation?
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12:1-2)
Know what the will of the Lord is and then execute the will of God. Paul further clarifies that the transformation from living outside of the will God (which results in living short of His glory) takes place as we renew our minds. What is feeding your thoughts right now? Is it the narcissistic paradigms that are being propagated through the media at every turn or is it the thinking of God?
My brothers and sisters it is time that we walk in the fullness of our calling, in the complete function of our design, and in the path of our destiny. Who is prepared to put self aside and walk into their destinies today. Remember what Jesus told the Rich young ruler that came to him; give away all that you own to the poor and follow me. The Bible says that this made the young man sad because he had much. What Jesus was saying was not that he desires us to be materially poor, we know this by the many scriptures that speak directly to material prosperity. What Jesus is saying here is that as long as you hold anything in higher regard than Him, you cannot walk in fullness. How much of self are you holding on to right now?Can you honestly say that you are where you should be at this point in your life or can you see where potential has been left unactualized?
It is time to stand in the fullness of who you were created to be! ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
God Gives Life Purpose
Blessed with a New Purpose
When a soldier loses a limb, he can lose so much more. But he can also find a new mission in life.
As appeared in 
Major Pulido, we can’t save your leg.” The surgeon’s words seemed to echo in my hospital room.
This was the fourth Army medical center I’d been transferred to since the explosion in Iraq. I’d had so many operations. Skin and bone grafts. Surgeries to repair my abdominal wounds, my left arm and hip. My shattered left leg. It wouldn’t heal. But why were the doctors giving up?
I’d gone into the military willing to sacrifice for our country, to give my life even, for a higher purpose. But I wasn’t ready for this. To be crippled at 36. I couldn’t do that to my wife, Karen, and our daughter, Kaitlin, only three. I was supposed to provide for my family, not be a burden.
!
That was how I’d been raised. To my parents, especially my father, there was only one honor higher than serving your family: serving your country.
Papi immigrated to the United States from Colombia. He cherished the freedoms he found here and was so proud to be an American. He’d joined the Army in 1970 and served for 30 years.
I would spit-shine Papi’s boots for my allowance. He taught me to polish them until I could see my reflection: thick, wavy hair, intense dark eyes. I looked just like him.
Saturday mornings he’d tell me stories about the Army–the camaraderie, the sacred bond between soldiers. “You never leave a man behind,” he said.
Sometimes in the news there’d be stories about vets who couldn’t get the services they required and ended up on the streets. “That’s not right,” he’d say. What was happening to me wasn’t right either.
The surgeon put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll operate on the leg in the morning,” he said. “Before it’s too late.”
It was already too late. Life as I knew it was over. Ended by a roadside bomb six weeks earlier on a desert highway in Iraq. August 17, 2004.
I was driving an SUV in a convoy traveling to the Kirkush Military Training Base, my commanding officer in the seat next to me. This was my third deployment in my 16 years with the active-duty Army and Army Reserve.
Back home in Oklahoma I worked for the United Way, but when duty called I answered. With pride, just as my father had. My mission was to train Iraqi soldiers, a difficult but critical job.
We were cruising through the desert on a two-lane road. I had my left hand on the steering wheel, the barrel of my M-16 pointed out the driver’s-side window. My finger on the trigger. Up ahead I saw where the edge of the asphalt looked like it had been torn.Possible IED...gotta...
BOOM! Our SUV careered forward, the hood in flames. My head banged against the roof. Shrapnel rained down, biting into my flesh. My left leg, hip and arm. My abdomen.
The air bag went off, driving shards of glass and shrapnel deep into my skin. A searing pain shot up my leg. From the waist down my body felt like it was on fire.
“You okay, man?” My CO. His voice sounded far away.
I couldn’t move. I forced my gaze down. My body was covered in blood. Bone protruded from my left knee.
I remember choking on the fumes of diesel and burning rubber. Being pulled from the wreckage. A chopper took me to the 31st Combat Hospital in Baghdad. Surgeons operated on my leg for 17 hours.
More operations followed, at military hospitals in Germany; Washington, D.C.; and now here in San Antonio, at Brooke Army Medical Center, where I’d been for the past month. Karen and Mama had stayed with me ever since I came back.
Mama was a certified nurse assistant. She’d insisted on taking care of me and no one was going to argue with her. In her own quiet way Mama was just as tough as Papi. Maybe tougher.
Every day, when the mail was delivered, she’d read me the cards that friends and colleagues had sent. Then she taped them to the wall right across from my bed. On the front of one card was a beautiful depiction of Jesus. Mama held it up for me to see.
“Look, Eddie,” she said. “Just like we have at home. We’re praying, and all these people, they’re praying for you too. Jesus is with you.” I barely heard her. I was lost in my own private hell.
Now I looked down at my body. I’d gone from a muscular 195 pounds to 118. And tomorrow they were going to amputate my leg. There’d be nothing left of me.
That night I tossed and turned, my fears metastasizing by the hour. How will I support my family? I don’t want to drag Karen down with me. I should tell her she’d be better off without me. And my little girl. Kaitlin. She’ll be afraid of me.
I was almost relieved to be wheeled into the O.R. and have the anesthesiologist put me under. I came to in the recovery room. Karen, Mama and Papi were there. “You’re alive, Eddie,” Mama whispered. “Thank the Lord.”
Papi squeezed my hand. “We’re here for you, son,” he said. “Whatever you need.”
I smiled, my mind still foggy from the anesthesia. Then I remembered. My leg. It was gone. I fought back tears. Put on a brave face. I didn’t want their pity.
During visiting hours, when my family was with me, I tried to act upbeat and positive. But at night I lay in my hospital bed, alone with my despair. I’d never be fit for duty again. Fit for anything.
I felt lost. Abandoned. Left behind like those Vietnam vets my father and I used to talk about. Other vets I’d known who had struggled to find their way. Injured vets in this very hospital whom no one ever came to visit.
Maybe that was the reality of being a vet. Maybe it was only the lucky few who weren’t left behind.
One night, after the nurse had made her rounds, I looked over at the IV bags, the tubes that pumped antibiotics, pain meds, nutrients into my bloodstream. Everything that was keeping me alive. But for what? I should just end it. Pull out the lines. Get it over with.
My eyes moved slowly down my body, past my hips and thighs. A blanket covered the bottom of the bed, where my leg should have been. Slowly, my hand trembling, I slid the blanket to the side, then the sheet underneath.
There was nothing but a stump. A thick bandage wrapped tightly around my mid-thigh. I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t live like this.
Take charge. I opened my eyes, reached for the tubes, wrapped my fingers around them.
One tug and you’re done. I couldn’t look. I turned my head. There on the wall, staring back at me, was the face of Jesus, almost illuminated in the gloom. His picture was surrounded by cards, hundreds of them.
They filled the entire wall. Every card sent by someone who cared. Someone who was pulling for me. Praying for me. An entire battalion of people I could count on. People the Lord had put into my life to help me, to love me, to give me strength.
When I awoke, Mama and Karen were there. Mama took my hand, her face serious, as if she somehow knew how close I’d come to ending my life. “Eddie, you have a choice to make,” she said. “You can stay in this bed and grieve over your lost leg or you can get up and walk.”
I pulled my hand away from the tubes. Lord, forgive me, I prayed. I was so close to abandoning the life you’ve given me. But you have not left me. I know that now. You are here. I drifted off to sleep, the best rest I’d had since the explosion.
The next day two physical therapists lifted me out of bed and guided me to a walker. I clung to it, my arms shaking. Slowly, I shifted the walker a few inches forward. I lifted my good leg ever so slightly and took a step. One tiny step. But it felt as if I’d crossed over a huge chasm.
Going back and forth to physical therapy I looked into the rooms of other patients. Too many of them were all alone, no visitors. That’s not right. They needed to know that someone cared about them. That there was someone who understood what they were going through.
What Papi told me about his Army days came back to me. You never leave a man behind. Here was a way for me to serve. I would do everything in my power to make sure no veteran was left behind.
I volunteered as a peer counselor in a program sponsored by the Amputee Coalition of America. Sharing my story, listening to the other vets, gave me the strength I needed to face my own challenges.
Back at the United Way I switched the focus of my work to veterans’ needs. I heard from vets who couldn’t get services, people falling through the cracks. I started my own nonprofit group, Warriors for Freedom, to help struggling veterans and their families with mental-health issues.I left Brooke, after almost a year, with a state-of-the-art prosthesis. Karen and I made the eight-hour drive home to Oklahoma. When we turned up our street, I could hardly believe my eyes. The entire front lawn was planted with American flags.
Now I work full time for Folds of Honor, an organization that provides educational assistance and college scholarships to soldiers’ families. I have a new purpose, serving the brave men and women who have served our country. I can think of no higher honor than that.
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