How To Release The Hopes and Dreams Inside of You!

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

 Faith is the substance of things hoped for.    How can we bring the things we are HOPING for into substance, into reality?  We do so by faith.   Faith is the bridge between the unseen world which is the supernatural realm, and the material world that we live in.  The things we hope for are also things that are unseen.  Why would we hope for something that we have already obtained?  The things that we hope for are the unseen things inside of us that we desire to obtain.   Faith is the substance of those things that we hope for.  Your hopes and dreams have to move past ideas, past desire, past wishing.  The unseen hopes that we have begin their entry into the world by our faith.  Faith is expressed by what we say, and what we do.   The things we say and do can bring our hopes and dreams into reality, so that they have substance, so that our hopes and dreams become reality.

When God created Adam, he breathed into him and he became a living being.  The breath of God is inside of each of us, we are soul and body, but we are also spirit as God is Spirit.  When we let our hopes and dreams soar they reside in our spirit man.  This is why our hopes and dreams make us feel alive, full of life, desire to live, desire to overcome.   Our hopes and dream spark the spirit that God put within us to take those things that do not exist and bring them into reality. 

It starts with seeing.  You have to see what you hope for inside of you, and seeing is a gift from God.  You have to be able to see what God wants for your life.  Your dreams, hope and visions are made up of what God has revealed to you on the inside.  Those hopes and aspirations, are the unseen things inside of you that through faith can come into reality.  For some it may be an invention, for others a business venture, for others writing a song or a book, or going to College, or maybe a miracle.  Where ever your vision is set is the ONLY limits on your life.  Your potential is set by the size of the hope and dream that is inside of you. 

There are many people that have hopes and dreams inside  that are stuck inside of them, they can't figure out how to bring their dreams from unseen hope  to the real world.  FAITH is the bridge between the unseen world and the world that is tangible.  You have to add faith to your dreams.  Faith is expressed by the things we say and the things we do.  Living by faith is taught all the way through the Bible.  Faith is the bridge that makes the impossible possible.  I express my hopes and dreams by what I say, and I continue to express my faith by acting upon that vision with forward movement, and that forward movement is what brings my hopes and dreams into reality.  It takes faith to move forward and accomplish those things you dream of, faith is the key. 

First you have to have a dream or a vision.  You have to have hope, a reason to have a goal.    Then you add faith to it.  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  What does the Word say?   Read it in the bible.  Fear and anxiety and doubts, and things that cause us to 'sit' on our dreams instead of 'acting' on our dreams are the very things that God teaches us in the bible to OVERCOME.   When you HEAR the WORD of God instead of HEARING your doubts and failures, you will find your faith coming ALIVE.  And once you hear God you will be able to see in your spirit the things that God desires to birth into your life. 

If you could open your heart and mind to receive what I am saying in this blog nothing would be impossible to you.  For all things are possible for those who believe.  when you add faith to your hopes and dreams God blesses it and those dreams inside of become reality.

The LORD Will Bring Us Comfort In Our Time of Need

Form the time of Adam to the time of Noah man sinned and sinned more.  God was grieved that he had made man on the earth.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God cursed the ground.  And in later generations at the time of Noah, man had become so violent and wicked that God was grieved that he made man.   So shortly after creation when God looked at the earth and said, "IT is GOOD" we see the curse came upon mankind. 

Genesis 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because you have listened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;

Adam lived under a curse of the ground because of his sin in the garden, and that curse brought hardships and sorrows to him.  Then when Cain killed his brother Able, God cursed the ground beneath Cain's feet.   God said to Cain:

Genesis 4:11 And now are you cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand;

We see the precedent that disobedience to God's Word is sin, and sin brings on the curse which includes hardships and sorrows.  

So from the dawn of time we see man sinning which brings the curse of God.  But the birth of one particular human being turned the tide and brought a blessing.

Look at the scripture where Noah is born,  His Father Lamech said:

Genesis 5:29 and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.

Noah's dad spoke prophetic words over him when he was born.  What you say over your children carries weight.  Don't call them bad things, even as a tease.  Words are powerful and often carry weight that guide us through life.     But notice what was said at his birth.  This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands because of the ground which the LORD has cursed. 

Look at the life of Noah.  Noah was the only man on the face of the earth that was righteous.  He pleased the LORD.  God determined to destroy the earth, but because Noah blessed the LORD through his obedience,  God instructed Him to build a boat.   The floods came and once the waters receded God began to bless.

Genesis 8:20And Noah built an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21And the LORD smelled a sweet odor; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.

22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

So here we see that God made a covenant with Noah.  This was the first recorded covenant of God with man since the fall of Adam.  What did God promise?  I WILL NOT CURSE THE GROUND ANYMORE.. at the sin of Adam and Eve we see the curse of the ground.  And YET, one man pleased God and it made God so happy he promised to never curse the ground again, and also to never again smite all living things as he had done in the flood.

This world is bad, and people are crazy.   Things are hard, and times are tough.  But, it pleases the LORD if even ONE person is found righteous.  If one person honors God and serves him it causes God to decide to bless and not to curse.  Even if things are terrible in the USA, terrible over seas, terrible in our governments, terrible in our churches, terrible in our school systems...one person submitted to God can turn the tide and cause God to remember his covenant and to bless us once again.  

Four Things that Will Hinder Your Life

Here is a list of four things that are dangerous to us in this life.  Often we are looking for deeper revelation, trying to figure out why things aren't working for us.  But, most of the time the answers are simple.  This verse deals with our foundations in life.  If our foundation is faulty, nothing is going to work as it should.  Read these four warnings of Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 and check the basic foundation of your life.    

Colossians 2;8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, according to the elements of the world, and not after Christ. 

This verse is saying that whatever we follow for a guide in life that is not after Christ is dangerous!   Here is a list of four things that can and will harm your relationship with God.    Beware lest you are spoiled through (1) philosophy (2) vain deceit (3) traditions of men (4) living by the elements of this world   When someone says to beware, that means there is danger.  We are living in a time when men and woman in leadership are using philosophies, vain deceit, traditions of men and the basic elements of this world to instill fear in the heart of people to turn them away from the teachings of Christ Jesus and often for the purpose of greed and gain.  

First, the philosophies of this world are often dangerous.   Philosophy is defined as a set of ideas about how to do something or how to live.  Paul is saying beware because philosophies can spoil you.  Whole societies have followed after philosophies that ruled their governments that did more harm than they did good. Many school systems, businesses, agencies and churches  have followed after philosophies that go against the Word of God and these end up causing much damage to society There are people in prison today that followed after their own twisted philosophies and ideas of 'living' that proved to be dangerous to society.  Beware, lest you find yourself following a philosophy in life that goes against the way that Christ Jesus taught us to live.  Any philosophy that contradicts the teachings of Christ Jesus will be harmful to you.   All through out history, governments have risen and governments have fallen each with their own 'modern' philosophy for their age.  But, the Word of God endures forever!  

Also beware of vain deceit.   Vain here means producing no results, useless.  Deceit means the action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth.  There are those today that will deceive you on purpose just to push through their own agendas.  This happens from the very top of our societies, to the very poorest of our homes.  People who will lie, twist the truth, promise you just what you want to hear, just to get you to do what they want you to do.   Beware lest people spoil you through vain deceit.  If someone ask you to do something that violates God's Word and tells you it will produce good results in the end, they are just deceiving you into getting their own agenda through,.  Beware lest any man spoil  you through vain deceit.  

Third, beware of the traditions of men.  Not all traditions are Godly.  Whatever traditions are made both inside and outside of the church or your religious experience that does not agree with the teachings of Christ are a danger to you and to society.  Sometimes we can find ourselves associated with churches, clubs, political parties, that we inherited participation in because of the traditions handed down to us by our families.  There comes a time when our churches, clubs, political parties and associations have changed philosophies and no longer follow the teachings of Christ.  Sometimes you have to put away the traditions of men to follow Christ.  If we honor the traditions of our family above the teachings of Christ we are in danger, so beware!

Fourth we are warned not to live according to the elements of this world.    In each generation,  society and governments have politically correct ways of doing things.  Beware that in trying to be politically correct for YOUR GENERATION that you do not violate the teachings of Christ trying to 'fit in' to your culture.  In each generation there are pressures to conform to the world that violates the teachings of Christ.  Is it better to offend God, or to offend men.  If you have to chose between offending God and offending man, it is better to offend man.  Beware, that you do not try to conform to this world and thereby spoil your relationship with Christ.  

When we use the philosophies of this world, the foundation of our life is faulty.  When we believe the vain deceit or our generation that goes against the teachings of Christ we have a faulty foundation.  If we cleave to the traditions handed down to us by organizations,  even though those organizations do not agree with the teachings of Christ, we are built upon the wrong foundation.  Once we live by the basic elements of the age we have a foundation that is messed up.  Any foundation in our life that is not based on the teachings of Christ Jesus is a faulty foundation.   I challenge you to take inventory of your life and eliminate all that is not built on the foundation of Jesus.   For we are given this warning in 1 Cor. 3:11  For no other foundation can anyone lay, than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus.

Are You Stuck In a Rut? God Has The Answer. Learn More...

There are times when stress, anxieties and fears take us by force and overwhelm us to the point that we cannot escape their grasp.  I believe we are one of the most stressed out generations that have ever lived.

Each of us come to a place in life, sometimes more than once, in which we will decide if we are going to live by the flesh or by the spirit.   Every time we make a decision to live
by the Spirit it draws us closer to God.  Whenever we make a decision for the flesh it will bring more worldliness into our lives.   You cannot live by the flesh and get the fruit of God in your life.  And you cannot live by the Spirit and have the admiration of the world.   There are times in our lives that we come to critical points of decision.  What we decide in those times will point us towards God or towards the world.  Jesus said it this way:

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

The more we have and the more we excel in the world the easier it is to decide to live for the flesh.  But the flesh ultimately bring destruction.  Wanting material things also comes into play here because we begin to have this drive to acquire more and more wealth.  I'm talking to someone today that has allowed your finances to bring you to a point of bondage.   We can find ourselves in a place where we have to have a certain level of work or pay because our debt demands it.   I am reminded of the old saying,  "I owe, I owe so off to work I go."    You are feeling so much pressure from your bills that your health and peace of mind and spirit are starting to suffer.  And it feels like you are trapped in this cycle of debt and there is no way out.  Some people get to this place because they are careless with their finances, but others get here because they simply have had bad breaks, and they are struggling just to survive.  

When you are in this kind of crisis in life it can take everything out of you just to survive.   You would  think that if a person had plenty of money and plenty of time that it would be easier to put the things of God first, but this is not true.  Think of the people you know that have plenty of money and time, how often do they use their benefits to put God first?   Some do, but that is not the norm.  Ultimately they lose everything because they did not put God first.   When you are in a situation where it is hard to really put God first because you are under such a load of debt it will require much faith to put God first.   You are in the perfect opportunity to walk in faith and to trust God with your life.  

When your need is great and you trust God with that need by putting him first instead of trying to fix it yourself you have just released 'great faith' and the tiniest bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, is enough faith to move mountains!
The world teaches us that we should be anxious, unhappy, depressed all stressed out over our bills.  You simply don't have to live that way.  The bigger your problem, the greater your opportunity to trust God for your answer the more chance you have to see a miracle.  

You may face a fiery trial like the three Hebrew children faced the fiery furnace.  You can look at all the flames or you can get excited that you will see the fourth man.

You may face the lions den like Daniel.  You can worry about the lions or you can rejoice that an angel will walk into the pit with you!

You may face the army's of Egypt chasing you like Moses and the children of Israel.  You can stress out that you are being chased, or you can dance with Miriam on the other side of the red sea as God opens up the way for you to escape.  

You can focus on the agony of the Garden of Gethsemane, or you can go to the empty tomb and say, "HE IS RISEN JUST AS HE SAID"

I know many people are facing pressures of many kinds.  Financial, physical, mental and emotional that is the way of life many times.  The good news is that the God of the mountain is still God in the valley.   What is going to help you overcome that anxiety and stress that has attached itself to you and won't let go?  Faith is going to set you free.  You have a choice today.  You can focus on the answer which is putting all your trust in God, or you can focus on the problems and take the chance of having a nervous break down.   Your finances may be limited, but God is not limited.  Your opportunities may be limited by God is not limited.  Your strength may fail, but God's strength endures forever.  This is your day.  Now is your time.  You have a choice today to live by the spirit or by the flesh.  The spirit brings righteousness, joy and peace.  The flesh brings nothing but gloom despair and misery.    It is time to look beyond your limitations and see the possibilities of the miracles that lie ahead.   God will not fail.  

Your Circumstances Will Move! Learn more on Today's Devotional

Circumstances can be like a cancer in that they wrap themselves around  us and won't let go. But God has the cure for cancer!   What circumstances are you facing today?    Sometimes our circumstances don't change until our position changes.  

Gideon was hiding, threshing out the wheat.  He got a revelation from God and that moved him to come OUT OF HIDING and into a public course of action.   Even with the angelic revelation that he received had he not changed his position, he would have remained in his circumstances.

Moses was on the back side of the desert tending his Father-in-Laws sheep.   He got a revelation from God and that moved him to go back to Egypt and confront Pharaoh.  Even with the voice of God that supernaturally came out of a bush that was on fire but was not consumed without a change of position he wouldn't have delivered his people.

Jonah was in the depths of the sea in the belly of a great fish.  He got a revelation there that obedience to God wasn't just one option for his life, but was actually a command required by God.   He changed his position and agreed to obey God and God brought him up out of the belly of that great fish.  His circumstances changed when he changed.

What has God revealed to you?  The power of faith?   The necessity of thankfulness?  The joy of giving?  The rewards of serving?   We all have a unique gift and revelation from the Father, when you get up and move according to the measure of faith and revelation that God has given you will find that God has moved.   Often when act upon the revelation that we have received this is the very thing that will propel us up out of our circumstances and move us towards the best that God has for us in this life.

Joseph The King of Dreams!

Joseph was favored by his father, given dreams by God, hated and betrayed by his brothers, enslaved by the Egyptians, accused by his master's wife, imprisoned by the authorities, forgotten by his friends, and promoted by God.   The favor of his father, and the dreams given him by God gave Joseph what he needed to endure the persecutions he received by the world.  We have received a precious gift from God,  the HOLY SPIRIT.  God's spirit brings us comfort, help, power,  and fellowship with God, as well as many other wonderful things.  When the trials of life try to weigh us down, it is the Spirit of God that empowers us to walk on in the power of  His might.  There are those that are like Joseph today, and the dreams and favor of God is all that you have to hang on to right now, because the trials you are facing in this life.  Let the comfort and power of the HOLY SPIRIT reside inside your life.  You may be facing multiple trials right now, just like Joseph, but hang on to God's promises to  you.  Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  

How is it that someone blessed, favored, and gifted like Joseph could keep having such rotten luck.  There are those today that have God's Spirit all over your life, but it seems like one bad thing after another just keeps coming against you.   I can imagine that every where that Joseph went that people were amazed at his gifting and favor, yet, they were equally amazed at the troubles and afflictions that he endured.  Do you think that the prison warden had any idea who he had in prison when Joseph was falsely accused and sent there?  The prison guard saw a truly gifted man, who he likely assumed was cursed by God because of his terrible fate.    Those men in that prison had no idea that the second in command of all of Egypt was sharing the same cell with them.  If they had known who Joseph was they would have treated him differently no doubt.  Maybe others see you as just plain and ordinary.  Maybe people wander of you are cursed of God because you have so many trials and tribulations.  Maybe you have wandered the same thing yourself.  The promise and the dream that God gave you has not been reversed.  There are so many would be prophets that are quick to try to steal your God-given dream by saying that your promise has been cancelled, reversed, or aborted.  Don't listen to the world be prophets who are jealous of you promise from God.  You blessing is just around the corner.  Joseph went from the prison to the palace in just ONE DAY.  Get ready, God is going to restore  your life quickly, your promotion  can happen over night in just ONE DAY.  

Why should we lose our dreams of a brighter future and God's enduring promises as we get older?   Do you think that God is limited by  our age, our health, our time left on this earth?  NO none of these things limit God.  Is he limited by our past, our failures, our lack of talent or opportunity?  He is not limited by any of these things.  Joseph had a dream and promise from God, and he was no closer to that promise in the prison as he was serving Potiphar.  Yet, as each day passed, and he got older he was ONE day CLOSER to God's promise coming to pass.  Are you getting older?  Hey, it isn't time to sit down and give up.  If you are getting older,  you are closer now to receiving the promise,  than you were when you got the promise. Did God give you a dream?  Did he give you a promise?  Don't let time, or old age strip you of your hope that God will fulfill all that he promised.   No matter what you circumstance, you are closer to the promise now than  you were before!   Glory!   Each day your are closer to the promise than you were the day before!  

Joseph had a lot of time on his hands.  Nothings worse than being in prison.  But there were a few things he didn't have time for.  He didn't have time for bitterness.  He didn't have time for pitty parties.  He didn't have time for blaming other people and pointing fingers.  He didn't have time for revenge.  He didn't have time for regrets.   He kept his heart PURE by keeping the dream alive.  Oh, someone needs to catch this today.  Keeping your dreams ALIVE keeps your heart PURE.   Without a vision, God's people perish.  When we lose our dreams we lose our will to keep moving forward and pressing on in the good fight of the faith to see a brighter tomorrow.   God wants to restore your dreams tonight, because someone has been lied to.  Someone has been told that it is too late.  That you done  missed the boat, and your life is never going to be what you dreamed it would be in God.  God took Joseph from destitute to second in Egypt in one day!  What could God do in ONE day in your life?  

There are would be prophets in the world that have a kindred spirit with Job's comforters.  They assume that everyone that goes through trial and tribulation must have sinned, or lacked faith, or must be ignorant of God's word of blessing and prosperity.  Joseph started out with such a promising future.  He had his father's coat.  He had God's dreams.  He had a pure heart.   But none of those things stopped tragedy from striking his life. But, there is hope.   It was the tragedy that hit his life that POSITIONED him in prison, the place that God NEEDED for him to be, so that he could promote  him to the second position in all of Egypt!  If he had stayed in his father's house, he wouldn't have been in the place to be promoted to that position.  His father's home wasn't even in Egypt at all.   That trial that you are going through may have broken you to the point that your pillow has more tears in it than what you have left in your body, yet, God is getting you into position.    You haven't missed your calling, your dream, your purpose...God is moving you into position through every fiery trial that you have faced.  

The Blessings of Abraham

Genesis 12:1But the LORD had said unto Abram, Depart out of thy country and from thy nature and from thy father’s house unto a land that I will show thee; 2and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. 3And I will bless those that bless thee and curse those that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

In Genesis the 12 chapter we see the great call of God to Abram to continue on from Haran to the land of Canaan.  Abram believed God and obeyed the Word of the Lord and entered  Canaan.  His wife Sarai was barren. One of the worst things is when your life is barren, empty, unfulfilling.  In spite of the fact that her husband had a covenant with God, Sarai had an empty womb.   When a woman was barren this was seen as a sign from the LORD that you were not blessed.  There was great stigma in not being able to bare children.  Later on she said to Abraham, "give me children lest I die!"

When our lives are unproductive and do not pan out to be all that we thought it would be it can leave us with the feeling that we are under a cloud of defeat all the time.  I know people that as soon as they start something they expect things to go wrong.  I know people that expect failure more than they expect success.  There are those today that feel like God is not for them, but is against them.  Sarai had every reason to believe that she was cursed, and that God had no good thing for her in life.  She was barren, unproductive, unfruitful and it was a disgrace for her to be this way in their culture.  Even in a place of productivity, Sarai brought barrenness to everyone and everything.   How terrible for her!

  17But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19Why didst thou say, She is my sister? I might have taken her to me to wife; now, therefore, behold thy wife, take her, and go away. 20Then Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away and his wife with all that he had.

She was a beautiful woman, and Abram was concerned that Pharaoh would want her for his palace.  So he said to Sarai, "if they ask who you are, say you are my sister."  So she was taken off to the palace of Pharaoh.  Did her experience change there?  NO!  After she came to the house of Pharaoh the WHOLE house of Pharaoh also became barren.  How would you feel if you brought barrenness and unproductiveness?  What would it be like for the whole house to go from fruitful to barren just because you arrived in it?   This had to be a terrible experience for Sarai. 

Yet, we know that in the end even after she had gotten past being able to bare children, she bore a son and named him Isaac.   Maybe you are getting older and you look back at your life and it looks like one failure after another, one set back after another, one heart ache after another, one broken promise after another.  Even so, stick close to God.  He can and will turn your life around if you will patiently wait upon Him.

You Can Have The Peace of God!

In Philippians the fourth chapter we are taught how to have the peace of God in our lives.

Philippians 4:4-7  4Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

5Let your fairness be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

6Be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

7And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Paul is teaching in these Scriptures how to release the peace of God into your life as well as explaining some of the barriers that keep us from receiving his peace.   Note that peace is from God.  Peace is not the absence of upsetting things, peace is a gift from God.   How do we as Christians receive his peace in the midst of troubling and trying times?  Philippians 4 gives us an insight into these things. 

First in verse four we are told to REJOICE in the Lord always!   Now this was so important that he said it twice!  and AGAIN I say rejoice!   Until you learn to rejoice in all things you will always struggle with the peace of God in your life.  When you rejoice no matter what your circumstances  you are protecting your heart, and you are teaching your heart that the set backs and disappointments of this world cannot touch you, that your joy is in the LORD.  Hey, this joy that I have the world didn't give it to me, and the world can't take it away.   

Now this doesn't say rejoice if you feel like it.  Or rejoice for a while and then pout later.  How long should I rejoice.  ALWAYS!  Think of this.  What if your spouse said, "Do you love me?"  And you replied "ALWAYS!"  Wow!  What a statement.  You are telling them that no matter what happens, through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs you will always love them.  That is an awesome love!   Well, if you want God's peace, when are we going to rejoice?  ALWAYS!

Hey, most of us don't understand the importance of rejoicing in the LORD.  This will guard  your heart and mind, it will put the garment of praise on you, and this keeps the spirit of heaviness off of you.  Do you understand that a big key to living this life is to REJOICE ALWAYS! 

verse 5 says let your fairness be known to all men.   That means if  you want the peace of God you can't be doing shady deals, shady things and shady character!  The more you break the law the less peace you are going to have.  The more you cheat and hurt and live in selfishness the more you will lose your peace.   Is it too much for God to ask us to be FAIR!  Have you ever seen two kids playing and one of them didn't want to be fair?  What was it?  Nothing but STRIFE!  If you want the peace of God REJOICE ALWAYS, and be FAIR, do what is right in the eyes of all men. 

verse 6 says be anxious for nothing but by prayer and supplication let your request be made known to God...what leads to an anxious spirit?  THINKING!  You are going to have to stop thinking all the time and start praying all the time.  If you want the peace of God REJOICE ALWAYS,  BE FAIR, and replace your thinking with PRAYER!   

verse 7 and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus!

Wow! Isn't that simple?  REJOICE Always!  Be fair, and do what is right!  And stop thinking and start praying!    

Now most people I know will GRUMBLE, PLOT REVENGE, AND think about their problems all day!  no  wonder we have no peace! 

It is time to rejoice!  To do what is right and fair!  And to trade our  thinking cap for our prayer hat!

It's Time to Start Hoping and Dreaming Again!

Do you know why some people don't like to get their hopes up?  It is because  Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.  I have ministered to many people that quit counting on hope a long time ago.  As a matter of fact if you start talking hope, they quickly look away.  It isn't that they want to be depressed, it is just that they cannot take another hope that ends in frustration and pain.    Wow.  It was a shock to me that HOPE can actually make ones heart sick if what you hope for doesn't come to pass.  So some people just can't bare to hope again.

But look at this verse:   Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the substance of what?  The things we hope for.  So without hope faith has no way to materialize into substance into our lives.   Faith is a spiritual thing.  It is the spark that ignites hope and erupts it into reality in our lives.  Do you hope for a brighter day?  Faith will ignite that hope and bring it to pass.  Do you hope for a physical healing?  Faith will ignite that hope and bring it to pass.  So without faith it is impossible to please God but without hope Faith has  nothing to bring to pass.   

Look at this verse:  Romans 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall your descendants be.

Abraham didn't have ANY hope in the natural.  He and Sarah were already past child bearing years.  It was impossible for her to have Isaac now.  Since he didn't have any thing to hope for in the natural what did he do?  He believed in hope itself!  

Maybe in the natural you have no hope, can you believe in hope itself.  Against all hope can you believe in the hope that God will do what he promised he would do?  YES!  You can!

Look at Proverbs 13:12 again.   Hope deferred makes the heart sick...

The enemy cannot stop the plan of God, so he tries to defer it, to delay it, to put it on temporary hold, so that your faith is tried, and if your give up hope, than you forfeited the promise, and it never comes to pass.   All the enemy can do is defer your answer from God, but if you wait patiently for it and do not give up, you will receive all that God has promised.   It is time to reignite your hopes and dreams, because faith is the substance of the things hoped for!  

Don't let Sickness, Poverty, Depression And Fatigue Run Your Life!

Depression can sneak upon you and overtake you, but there are warnings.   Once depression overtakes you it can become a way of life that completely takes over your personality and turns you into someone else.  Someone that God never intended for you to be!  Sickness, poverty and depression go hand in hand.  I learned this by serving the community with a food pantry over the past five years.  Sickness or pain comes upon the body, and this LIMITS your ability to make money and those to strikes often send people into a downward spiral of depression.  And once you get there it is like a tide that holds you.  Have you ever walked along the beech and stepped into the ocean and felt a current that was pulling you a direction that you did not want to go?  This is how sickness, poverty and depression take over the life of an individual.  It is like a downward current pulling you under.  It can make  you feel like you are at the mercy of the tides of life.  That you are at the mercy of whatever life wants to throw your way.  How can we pull up out of this pit?  

You come up out of it the same way you got into it, you must fight the sickness, poverty and depression and WIN!   To get out of a current that is pulling you under you must find a place to exit.   Walking the opposite direction of the current will just wear you out and the current will pull you under through fatigue.  And here we see the fourth chain of bondage that goes with Sickness, poverty and depression...and that is fatigue.   Often the fatigue doesn't even have a medical reason to be there.  It is there because you have been fighting off the currents of life that have been trying to pull you  under and you are just so fatigued you no longer have the strength to stand or fight.

So what do you do when sickness and poverty have you limited?  What do you do when depression and fatigue have wrapped themselves around your head and they are trying to push you under.  You must fight!  Not in the strength that you have inside, but in the strength of the LORD.    For every issue in life, there is an anointing from God that causes us to rise above that issue and win the fight.   If you have ever tried to get close to someone with an anointing you know this can be hard to do.  People with an anointing upon their lives are often in high demand.  Their time is limited.    But the good news is that the Bible says that WE ALL HAVE A MEASURE OF THE ANOINTING!

1 John 2:20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.

How important is that?   Well it is the anointing that breaks the yoke of the enemy.  It will take the anointing to break that sickness off your life.  It will take the anointing to break poverty, depression and fatigue.

Isaiah 10:27  And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

Even Jesus did what he did by the anointing of God

Acts 10:38  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

Do you realize that YOU have an anointing upon  your life.  We teach at Praise Assembly of God that you don't need a priest or a preacher to lay hands upon you.  That same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you!   People in our church lay hands on the sick and THEY RECOVER!   It isn't just the Pastor who has an anointing, you all have an anointing.   You don't need a big name preacher to pray for that sickness to leave  your body.  You have an anointing, and the same God that dwells in them dwells in YOU!

Why Hasn't The Promise Of God Been Fulfilled?

There are many today that are in such dire circumstances that the idea that things could get better, that God could actually move, that your situation could change is a laughable thought to you right now.   It's not that you haven't served God, it's not that you haven't prayed, it's not that you haven't searched for the answers, on the truth the opposite is true.  You have served God,  you have prayed, you have searched for answers but God has NOT answered you a Word.   You have received a lot of PROMISES from God, but you haven't seen any real answers materialize to date, and it just goes from bad to worse each day.   You are in the same situation that Abraham and his wife Sarah were in many years ago. 

They had served God, they had obeyed his Word the best that they could, they had honored God, and yet his promises had not come to pass.  Sarah was without child, and to make matters worse both Abraham and Sarah were not past child bearing age. 

Three men who were heavenly beings sent from God came to meet Abraham one day.  Abraham fed them and washed their feet, and they began to speak words to Abraham about God's promise to him.

Genesis 18:9-14 9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

10And he said, I will certainly return unto you according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have grown old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

13And the LORD said unto Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a certainty bear a child, who am old?

14Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Sarah had heard the promise of God SO MANY times, she had counted on that promise, dreamed that it would come to pass, but had gotten too old, it became impossible for the promise to happen because of the age of their bodies.  Just because something is impossible for YOU does NOT mean it is impossible for GOD.   Sarah was no longer hoping for the promise to come to pass, she was now laughing at the idea that it could ever be so.  Do you have promises from God that are unfulfilled in your life to the point that the idea that things could ever change is just laughable?  Don't laugh too hard, because God is listening, and He doesn't get the joke.  As sure as the sun rises each morning in the sky, If God gave you a promise,  keep holding on no matter what, because He will not break a promise, His Words are always fulfilled in His time!  

How Can I Have the Fourth Man with me Through the Fire!

Fire is often a purifying agent.   When we think of someone going through the fire we think of trials and tragedies in life that 'melt us down' until their is nothing left but what is really important.  But there are times when you go through the fire and the fire cannot burn you, it cannot melt you, it cannot harm you!    The three Hebrew children wouldn't bow, wouldn't bend and the King could not make them burn!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace.    They did what was right and entered into persecution and trouble.   Why do bad things happen to good people anyway?    When we do good and fiery trials come our way we must have the resolve to respond in a proper manner.   Some people begin to blame God and accuse him of forsaking them.  It is during these times that some people turn bitter towards God and do not continue to serve  him with their whole heart.   Some people begin to look at themselves and imagine that God is punishing them in some way for their past faults.   They become condemned and certain that God is mad and angry.   Some people blame the people around them and become embittered by their trials and circumstances with anger and malice towards others.  

Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego went through the fire, but the flames never touched them, the smoke never even penetrated their clothing.  What was there response to the trial they had to face?

Daniel 3:16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.

17If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.

18But if not, be it known unto you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

Their attitude was that they were going to serve God if they got a  miracle or not.  They were going to do what was right even if God did not move on their behalf.  They were going to be faithful to God even if God did not come through for them at all.  Wow.  What devotion and faith.   And what happened?  There came a fourth man in the fire, and they were not burned at all!

Maybe you have odds that are against you and you need a miracle today just to survive.  Do you need a miracle in your finances?  In your body?  In your relationships?  For your kids?   Have the attitude of the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  Determine that you are going to serve God and be faithful to him no matter what!     

Can you praise him even if he does not come through for  you?  Will you serve him even if you have to suffer for doing what is right?  Will you worship him even if nothing ever gets better for  you?  If so, you have the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!   It is through that kind of consecration to God that one can see the fourth man standing with them in the fire!  

It is Time to Stop Beating Yourself Up Over Your Past!

  I am talking to someone today that is beating yourself up because of your failures and past mistakes.  God loves us unconditionally.  When we are unfaithful he is still faithful. That means when we mess up he calls us precious. When we do wrong, he calls us precious. When we don't listen, he calls us precious. When we didn't love him, He still loved us. Maybe our opinions change with new information, but God's opinion of you does not change, because he knew ALL ABOUT you since the foundation of the world. He called you precious then, and he still calls you precious now.  We will never be 'good enough' to win God's favor.  But he loves us anyway.  The children of Israel going through the wilderness weren't perfect, and God knew they wouldn't be perfect.  He had set up sacrifices, by the blood of animals to deal with their imperfections, and now we have to blood of Jesus that removes our sins.  But God wants to take us beyond our imperfections into living a life of faith.  It takes faith to please God.  What God truly desires is that we be people of faith.  We all desire to please God.   The quickest and simplest way to do that is to PRAISE HIM!    Why?  Because when you are going through a wilderness and you don't have what you need in life it takes a lot of FAITH to PRAISE HIM.  People who praise are people of faith!   

It takes faith to praise him when your bills are not paid.  It takes faith to praise him when your children are in trouble.  It takes faith to praise him when your spouse is driving you crazy.  It takes faith to praise him when you have not received what God promised you that you could have in Him.  It takes faith to praise the LORD.  Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please God; for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.   Don't you know that your praise is pleasing to God?

      Have you ever listened to the birds in the morning? They all blend together to make a noise that is beautiful. This is an example of how our praise sounds going up to heaven. There are times when one of the birds get desperate, and gets louder than the others, as if it is in distress. Instantly your ears begin to focus on the one that is desperate and crying out louder than the others.  When  your praise goes up to God, it blends in with the sounds of those who are praising Him and it is a beautiful sound in the ears of God.  It pleases HIM.  And he knows how bad things are for you right now, he knows that you have every right to complain.  Every right to grumble, every right to yell and scream, and yet, because of your faith in God, you have chosen to praise him.  Wow.  God hears you when you praise.  He is pleased with your praise, he knows that when your praise him you have chosen to believe that he is more than able to meet your needs.  

Psalms 150:1   Praise you the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Are you ready to praise the LORD.  He is waiting for you to resound in praise!  

We have a limited number of dates to minister at your church

This is the ministry page of Pastor Bob and Patty McCann of Praise Assembly of God in Columbia, KY.  Pastor Bob and Patty both operate in all of the gifts of the Spirit, and in the past two years have seen people saved, healed and delivered on a daily basis.  We are available for a limited number of dates to come and minister.   JoAnn Halloran of the Healing Rooms in Somerset Ky says:

                  I am writing this letter in recommendation in reference to Pastor Bob McCann.  Pastor Bob ministered to us at the Healing Rooms in Somerset, Ky.  We were blessed and he really brought forth the Word of God with Revival Fire.  There is a fresh anointing upon him that ignites a fire with signs and wonders following.  He is truly carrying the anointing of Isaiah 8:18.  I would highly recommend him to minister at  your church if you would like a  move of God.   God is working  miracles through Pastor Bob in his ministry.  There have been healings, salvations, and many things happening in his services.  They have been in revival in his church at Praise Assembly of God for several weeks.  Pray and see what is the right time to have pastor Bob come and minister at your church.
                                     In Christ,
                                     JoAnn Halloran
                                     Pastor of Life Abundant Ministry


We have a limited schedule of dates that we are available to minister.  Contact Pastor Bob or Patty at
pastorbob24@yahoo.com for more information about having us come to your city.

                                      God Bless
                                      Pastor Bob McCann

Why Do Some People Get All The Breaks, While Others Stay Stuck In the Same Spot?

Why do some people seem to get all the breaks, and doors opened to them, and others can't seem to get anywhere?  Is optimism the key?  Did God ask us to be an optimist?  God asked us to be so MUCH MORE than an optimist.  God asked us to believe in the impossible, because all things are possible with God.

The children of Israel were pressed up against the red sea and Pharaoh on their backs.  They were hemmed in and death on all sides.  Have you ever been in a circumstance where you were stuck between a rock and a hard place?  Have you ever been stuck in circumstances where you have no way out?  Some people seem to always find a way forward, and others seem to always be stuck.  What is the key?

  And the LORD said unto Moses, Why do you cry unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:  But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry out to me.  Speak to the children of Israel to move forward...

Move forward!  Oh!  Of all the brilliant ideas!  Hello, there is a sea in the way!  Do you realize that no matter what obstacle you are facing, God is expecting you to move forward.    How many times have I heard people say something like, "I can't do this because of this or that."  Or they will say, "After I get this resolved, or this other thing taken care of, or go to the bank, or get transportation..."   People often say, "I am waiting on God to give me this or that, or provide the way, or to open the doors."   Listen, Israel had NO OPEN doors here, yet God says, "Why do you cry out to me, tell the people to move forward." Too many people are waiting on an open door, or a better circumstance before they move forward in life.  But Moses had no open door here.  He had a closed sea in his way! 

What did he tell Moses?  Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand.  Oh,  we don't like to lift up and stretch out do we?  We want God to hand us an open door without us lifting up or stretching out.   We sit and pray.  We pray and wait.  But we hesitate to move forward.       How does God open a door for us?   We got to lift up, and stretch out!  If you can receive it, know that doors from God usually do NOT open until AFTER you take a step of faith and move forward where there is no door.  Those who want to see an open door before they get up and move forward usually stay stuck right where they are in life.  

Look at Joshua and the walls of Jericho.   They lifted up their voices and stretched out their legs to march, and the walls came down.  Are you lifting up and stretching out what you got, or are you sitting down making excuses?    Look at Noah.  What did he do?  He lifted up and stretched out, and built a boat.  He wasn't sitting around waiting upon laborers, and money, and better circumstances!    Why are you sitting around waiting upon more laborers to help you accomplish God's plan?  Get yourself up off your hind end, lift up and stretch out whatever God's already put in your hand, and move forward on dry ground.  When you lift up and stretch out, your will find that God miraculously opens up a door right in front of you!   It was there all the time!  Just keep moving forward!

A Beautiful Story About God's Grace!

God used my daughter Angela to help me understand his grace.  I was born a perfectionist, like my perfectionist MOTHER before me.    Perfectionist are usually full of anger and condemnation that when they SUPPRESS those things they end up in DEPRESSION.  They are angry and condemned because they try so hard to get everyone and everything perfect in this messed up imperfect world and they FAIL to do so EVERYDAY.  I lived under a load of anger and condemnation every day because I tried so hard to be perfect but couldn’t do it.   I gave birth to my first daughter and she was blind, mentally handicapped, and extremely autistic and her eyes rolled around.  The doctors said there was nothing they could do for her, just to take her home and do the best that I could with her.  When she was one year old and the doctors said she would never see, never walk, never be potty trained, maybe never sit up on her own…it was devastating.   And to make matters worse the autism made her so she did not want verbal interaction or touch interaction at all.  She cried if I said her name and touched her little hand.  It was difficult to say the least. 

 Being a perfectionist I was always down on myself.  Was I failing everyday?  Not in the mind of the people who knew me, but, in my  own mind I felt like every little thing I got wrong was TERRIBLE!      I was upset because of all of my imperfections.  How could God love me when I was so imperfect?   I was in tears.  The Lord spoke to me and said, “Patty is your daugther Angela perfect?”  Instantly I said, “Oh Yes!  She is absolutely perfect.”  The Lord said, “Really, IS SHE?”  Well, I stopped and looked at her and I said, “Well, no, I didn’t mean there was nothing wrong with her, what I meant was I love her, because she is mine.” Then my eyes were opened.  In spite of of the handicaps and problems that my daughter had, I said she was perfect, and to me she was perfect, I loved her just like she was!   Suddenly I realized that in spite of all my faults and imperfections God loved me, because I belonged to him.  I was giving my daughter grace when I said she was perfect and I did so without even thinking about it.  And now I understand the grace that God has for me.  

 I had a well-meaning person tell after I gave birth to her that they wouldn’t want to have a baby like that.  They meant well, but me being 20 years old holding this three month old very handicapped baby did not need to hear those words.  I went home and thought about it and made PEACE with it.  I decided that I wanted a baby like that because she was MINE, and that made her perfect to me.  I held her crying for quite a few hours and I told her over and over again,   “Don’t worry Angela, your momma wants you.  I want you, and I love you just like you are.”  I told her over and over again that I most definitely wanted HER.  She was only 3 months old, she had NO idea what I was saying, but I needed to say it and to hear myself say it.  It gave me peace and the resolve to raise her.  It was releasing GRACE into her little life.  Can you release grace to the people and things around you?  People ask me often how I can handle Angela.  I do so because of GRACE.  Grace will release your frustrations and help you overcome your anger. 

Most perfectionist realize that their perfectionist tendencies causes them more stress than blessings.  This can cause frustration,anger, depression and hours of condemnation and sleepless nights.

When we take our circumstance and add grace to it we find ourselves LESS frustrated.   How do we add grace to our circumstances?  When we look at our circumstances and realize they are not perfect and we find something in it that helps us accept and find comfort in our situation, we are making our peace through grace.

 There is a tool called GRACE.  GRACE is when you look at something or someone that is not perfect and you go ahead and overlook the imperfections and call it PERFECT anyway. God gives grace, and we need to give grace too.