Speak to the mountain

“And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done” – Matthew 21:21.

We’ve all had seasons when the challenges of life feel overwhelming. During those times, it’s easy to be tempted to talk about how bad things are. Maybe you received a bad medical report, or maybe you’re facing a financial obstacle. But the more you talk about something, the bigger it becomes in your mind. Instead, you’ve got to dig your heels in and say, “No, I am not going to give life to that defeat. I am not going to speak sickness over myself. I’m not going to speak lack. I’m not going to speak fear. I’m choosing a different report. I believe the report of the Lord which says I am blessed. I am favoured. I am prosperous. I am healthy. I am whole. I’m a victor, not a victim.”

Remember, even if you don’t see how things could ever work out, God does. You’ve got to speak to those mountains in your life and declare favour over those situations. Instead of talking to God about how big your problems are, talk to your problems about how big your God is! As you speak to your mountains, they will be moved, and you will move forward into the victory God has prepared for you.

Inspiration

An Awesome story very inspiring………………….

If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play. But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap, it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage, to either find another violin or else find another string for this one. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signalled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.

Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him modulating, changing, re-composing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before. When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering; doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”

Whatever circumstances you are in, try to make the best out it. Remember the people living in worst of conditions in different parts of the world.

Full of consciousness

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:12

You are probably familiar with the story of how David, with a sling and a stone, slew Goliath, a 10-feet-tall Philistine warrior. But have you ever wondered why David succeeded while the others in the army of Israel did not even dare to face Goliath? David’s secret was that he was only conscious of victory and not defeat, because he knew a God who had rescued him time and again.

You can just imagine him saying, “One day, I was taking care of my sheep when a lion came and took one of them. I was not willing to settle for that, I went after the lion, caught it by its beard and smote it. The Lord delivered me from the lion’s mouth. On another occasion, a bear came and took one of my flock. I went after the bear and smote it. So the Lord delivered me from the bear too. This same God, who delivered me from the paws of the lion and bear, will also deliver me from this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:34–37) David was conscious of what God had done for him. He knew that God was for him, loved him, favored him and would give him victory again.

You can also remind yourself that the same God, who did tremendous things for you in the past, will do the same for you again. Be like David, who was conscious only of God’s goodness and faithfulness. Don’t be like the army of Israel. The men were conscious of the negative words of Goliath. I believe that they must have talked about his threats, repeating his words to one another, and as a result, filled their hearts with fear. (1 Samuel 17:11, 24) Do not water the seed of fear in your heart, rather uproot it. Pump yourself up with God’s Word until you are full of the Spirit and consciousness of God, so that you might know the things that have been freely given to you by God.

Quick nudges

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you” – John 14:26.

“There is a story about a boy flying a kite. The kite was so high that it had disappeared into the clouds. A man came by and asked, ‘What are you doing, son, holding onto that string?’ The boy answered, ‘I’ve got a kite up there.’ The man looked up and said, ‘I don’t see it.’ The boy replied, ‘Well, I know it’s there because I can feel the tug.’ That’s like the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. We may not see the evidence, but we feel a tug in our hearts constantly, letting us know that we are in touch with God. That is the witness of the Holy Spirit.”

“I have determined that throughout each day I will be alert to the Holy Spirit’s working in my life. For example, one Sunday afternoon when I was about to sit down and relax with the newspaper, I suddenly remembered a relative whom I knew was lonely. I silently thanked the Lord for the quiet nudge and proceeded to follow through by visiting with my relative for part of the afternoon. I have come to realize that there is an effort required of us if we are to progress in the Christian life. But we need to trust God and rest in Him so that we can be aware of His quiet nudges” (Lorraine Joy Burt).

A firm grip of heaven

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself” – Philippians 3:20-21.

“Nothing can be compared with the home going of a believer who says goodbye here to all of the suffering, difficulties and the problems in this life, and then is surrounded immediately by angels and carried by them to a glorious welcome in Heaven. That is the reason I believe that death can be beautiful. I have known people to die with expressions of triumph on their faces.
No wonder the Bible says, ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.’ (Psalm 116:15).

No wonder David said, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:4). Many who read this may be fearing and dreading death. You may be in a hospital room, and soon God will be calling you to Himself. At the moment you are suffering, but because of Christ in another moment you will be transformed. The glories, beauties, splendor and grandeur of Heaven will soon be yours. If you know Christ, you can put your trust and confidence in Him because He died for you, and in that last moment, the greatest crisis of all, God will have His angels there to carry you gloriously, wonderfully into Heaven.

He holds the keys

“My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips”. – Psalm 89:34.

When God promises you something, do you take Him at His Word? Or do you, like Abraham, ask, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” (Genesis 15:8) God did not reprimand Abraham for failing to take Him at His Word. That is how gracious God is to His people. He even came down to Abraham’s level of faith and did something to assure Abraham that He would always keep His promises. He made a covenant with Abraham. (Genesis 15:9–17) God did not do it for His own benefit. God is a God of His Word. He does not break His Word. But He bound Himself to a covenant because He knew that Abraham needed to know in his heart that God would do whatever He had promised him.

Man finds it hard to just believe words. For example, when you buy a house, a contract is drawn up and signed by both parties, and lawyers are involved. You need a contract because you cannot trust the other person’s words and he cannot trust yours either. Likewise, we find it hard to take God at His Word. So God made a covenant with us, not because He cannot be trusted, but because He knows that we find it hard to just believe what He says. God knows that man will wonder, “What if God wakes up on the wrong side of His bed tomorrow and decides to fry me instead of bless me?” But because God has made a new covenant with us, which is established by the blood of His Son, we can, like Abraham, not waver through unbelief regarding the promises of God, but be strengthened in our faith, being fully persuaded that God will do as He has promised. (Romans 4:20–21) We have the assurance that God will not wake up one day and say, “Forget the new covenant. I want to remember your sins now and curse you instead of bless you!”

The new covenant blessings for you are guaranteed because God has bound Himself to the covenant. And He is a covenant-keeping God who is willing and more than able to do everything He has promised you.

Still God performs miracles.

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” – John 11:40.

God, who parted the Red Sea, rained manna from heaven, caused the walls of Jericho to fall, shut the lions’ mouths, healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed the sea, still performs miracles today. However, some Christians doubt that God wants to work a miracle for them today. But God wants us to know that He is still the God of miracles today.

Martha was like one of those Christians. She wondered if Jesus could perform a miracle when her brother Lazarus died. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. So she thought that Jesus was four days too late. That is why she said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21) And even when Jesus said that Lazarus would rise again, she said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24)

Martha believed that Jesus could perform miracles in the past and would do the same in the future, but she did not believe that He could give her a miracle when she needed it right then. You see, Martha was someone who lived wishing that the past could be changed and believing that the future would be better. But she did not believe that the “I Am” was there to meet her present need. Today, God stands at the point of your need. What miracle do you need from Him? Believe that He is still the same miracle-working God today. Believe that you will see the glory of God. Believe and you will see your miracle.

God is our strength.

”Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”. – Ephesians 6:10.

When you say, “I can manage this problem by myself,” God says, “Okay, you do it then.” But when you say, “Help me, Lord! I need you. I cannot do this on my own,” God says, “Good, I have been waiting for you to say that. You cannot, but I can. Now, watch me!” That is how God is, He loves it when you depend on Him. You see, when you think that you are strong and don’t need God, He cannot help you. But when you need Him and look to Him, He will not leave you weak and helpless. He comes and becomes the strength of your life. He becomes the breakthrough that you need.

A man wanted to quit from smoking habit, he came to a counselor one day and said, “Please pray that God will help me. I want to stop my smoking habit.” The counselor told him simply, “You cannot, but God can.” He replied, “Yes, I know that I can’t. But with God’s help, I will discipline myself and try my best to quit the habit.” The counselor told him, “No, you cannot, but God can.” The counselor repeated this to him a few times until he realized that it was not his self-discipline or willpower that would help him overcome his smoking habit, but the power of God. He finally understood that true deliverance from this destructive habit would not come by his own strength, but by “being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might”. A few weeks later, he said, “Sir, since that day, I didn’t even try to stop myself from smoking. But each time I lit up, I told God, ‘I cannot, but you can.’ Then one day, the craving was gone! I has completely delivered from my bondage to nicotine!” This man experienced true deliverance, not just an outward form of discipline and willpower.

What report do you believe?

“I have heard a report from the Lord…” – Jeremiah 49:14.

Every day we get “reports” from the news, our experiences, our friends and family, and many other sources. We also get reports from the Word of God, which oftentimes, contradicts what others are saying. That’s when we have a choice: do we believe what we hear in the natural, or do we believe the report of the Lord?

We serve a supernatural God. Just because we don’t see a way doesn’t mean that He doesn’t have a way. God can bring one opportunity across your path that will thrust you to a new level. He has explosive blessings that can blast you out of debt and into abundance. “Well, I don’t think I’ll ever get well. You should see what the medical report says about me.” No, that may be true according to medical science, but we have another report and it says, “You will live and not die. God is restoring health unto you.” With men it may be impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Choose today to believe the report of the Lord. Stand strong no matter what is going on around you knowing that He is leading you into victory in every area of your life.

You’re Appointed Time.

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarry, wait for it” – Habakkuk 2:3

God has an appointed time to fulfill the visions, dreams, and desires in your heart. Just because it has taken a long time or because you’ve tried and failed, doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Don’t give up on those dreams. Don’t be complacent about pursuing what God has placed in your heart. Our God is a faithful God. No matter how long it’s been, no matter how impossible things looks, if you’ll stay in faith, your appointed time is coming.

Remember, every dream that’s in your heart, every promise that has taken root, God put it in there. And not only that, but He has every intention of bringing it to pass. Hold on to that vision today by declaring, “My time is coming. God is working behind the scenes on my behalf. I will fulfill my destiny!” As you continue to hold on to that vision and speak life over your dreams, you’ll see them begin to take shape. You’ll see your faith grow, you’ll see your hope strengthen, and you’ll see yourself step into the destiny God has prepared for you.