The Positive Power

The Power of Being Positive

By Abraham Israel

The greatest of all the positive persons who lived life positively more than any other person in this earth is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our role model after whom we should pattern our life in this planet earth. Jesus lived in the present looking to the future reward. The writer of the Book of Hebrews confirmed this attitude of Jesus by saying “…who [i.e. Jesus] for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross….has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:2). Some people say that we should not serve the Lord expecting a reward for the things that we do. But it is unbiblical to think in such a way because the Bible says that “…he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). In other words to seek God diligently is to positively believe in the rewarding characteristics of God as an unchanging attribute, irrespective of time and space eternally.

The reward of God can be received only personally as we endure to keep on holding on to the promises of God in our lives. To endure patiently trusting the goodness of God in spite of the harsh circumstances we face is the will of God for our lives. If we tarry by faith during the waiting period we will surely receive the promises of God (Heb 10:35-36). So only the Jesus said, “If you have faith [during your waiting time]………nothing shall be impossible unto you [at the appointed time]” (Matthew 17:20).

When you are living your life by the faith of God, no matter what mountains of obstacles come your way, you can confidently assure your soul saying, “If God is with me who can be against me” [personalized] (Romans 8:31). Why has God given us such scriptures? The main reason is for us to live positively just like Him all the time (2 Tim 3:16-17). Our God is a highly positive God who sees and hopes the best even in the worst possible scenario. Just like Him He wants us to be positive all the time. Faith is the positive outlook towards life which pleases God and makes Him acknowledge us and bless us.

If you want some more confidence and inspiration read some more Bible verses like the above and personalize and write it in a piece of paper or your diary, then start to meditate and mutter it over and over. The word of God is the most positive hope giving source in this entire universe. As a result the positive power of the word will get imparted in to your being and will carry you in to your destiny of success that God has purposed for you in this life.

Attitudes are more important than facts

One thing that you must keep nailed in your mind is “Attitudes are more important than facts”. If you have got the attitude, you will be the most successful person in this life. Believe me because God is the one who strengthens the heart of those people who have good attitudes! To wait on the Lord is to meditate on the positive seed of the word of God expecting your circumstances to change. Until the appointed time of your miracle comes, God will strengthen your heart to keep you courageous through all the tough times that you will go through. People may mock you seeing your faith in God. They may even call you insane to the practicality of life. But look unto Jesus and His promises and never take your eyes off Him.

The Bible says, “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14) and “Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24). The Lord will never fail to strengthen your heart through your tough times if you are able to keep trusting in the Lord by meditating on the promises of God and whispering it to yourself. This is the process of encouraging oneself in the Lord which is the reality of waiting in the Lord (1 Sam 30:6). Always say to yourself words like “I can do all things through the anointing of Jesus which strengthens me” (Phil 4:3). The moment you get up in the morning say to yourself loudly, ‘I believe’ and think about the promises of God that you personally believe and expect God to do it in your life. Say it now at least three times now and then praise the Lord believing that all His promises will come to pass. Now rejoice in the Lord and be happy. To rejoice in the Lord always and to give thanks for all the things that He is going to do in your lives is the will of God for your lives (1 Thess 5:16, 18). Keep thanking the Lord and most importantly pray to Him without ceasing. In other words the more the problems you experience, and the more it challenges you to move away from the destiny that God has for your lives, the more you need to pray to keep your attitude positive and thus be happy and enjoy life. As the Bible says, “Happy people always enjoy life” (Proverbs 15:15). If you are not happy and positive you may easily sulk in to unbelief, fear and doubt of the onslaught of the devil that will continually try to clog and derail you from going forward in to your destiny. When you are continuously joyful, positive and happy, it will be like a sound of death knell to all the evil sadistic strategies of the devil. Satan will fail and become fearful seeing you positive all the time.

Believe and conquer

Even the old adage says, ‘They conquer who believe they can.’ Say now, ‘I can’ at least three times and praise the Lord. When you are able to believe all the promises of God and live positively all the time, whatever you believe will surely happen to you in your life. That’s why when the blind men who asked Jesus for healing believed that Jesus is able to heal them, Jesus plainly told to the blind men, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt 9:29). In other words Jesus told them, ‘Because you have believed, whatever you have believed will happen automatically because of your faith.’ O what a truth! So keep believing no matter what circumstances you are going through in your life right now. God will suddenly change your wilderness to bloom as a fragrant lush garden. Praise the Lord always to keep yourself positive! Because the Lord God dwells only in the praises of His people and then He gives liberty and prosperity to the place where He dwells (Psalm 22:3; 2 Cor 3:17; 2 Sam 6:11-12).

You should never forget that no matter what kind of things have happened in your lives or is happening in your lives now or will happen in the future, remind yourself that, “All things God is working together for my good because I love God and am called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). Say to yourself in such situations of trials and testing’s, “….I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ who loves me all the time” (Rom 8:37). There may be times when the devil will impose negative things constantly in to your mind to make you move away from God and it will seem to you that you have nothing but only obstacles and troubles in your life. But do not believe in your negative feelings that have been imposed subtly by the devil. Instead trust in the Lord and say to yourself, ‘No matter what the circumstances I go through, God is always My God and He will never ever change His goodness towards me. These problem too will pass away as fast as it has come.’ Keep reminding yourself that the only constant in this life that we can truly experience without change is God Himself.

As we take everything in a positive way, everything in life will be transformed in to a positive experience of enjoyment by the power of the Holy Spirit. As you get up in the morning say to yourself, ‘This is the day of rejoicing that the Lord has made for me and has given it to me to enjoy (Ps 118:24). I will choose to be happy and everything I do today will be successful because God is with me and is empowering me to be successful in this life.’ Always learn to say and perceive each day as a pleasant day. The real success in one’s life is living this reality of experiencing this positive God- attitude in one’s life. Such kind of positive thinking will relax your mind and will give hope to your soul every day and will take you to the height of success in your life, because of your positive attitude God will acknowledge and bless you immensely.

Attitudes are more important than achievement

Attitudes are more important than a person’s achievement because God sees and rewards each one according to their heart attitudes toward God and life. If you have got a positive attitude in spite of the negative and depressive circumstances you are facing in your life, you are the one who will be blessed tremendously by the Lord than the people with great achievements and abilities. When you notice King David’s life, he was not a great person with special abilities in him to be elevated to a stardom status in a single day. He was just a shepherd boy who was considered the least valued person in his whole family. But he had a contagious positive attitude of faith and confession based on the ability of the God whom he believed with his whole heart. This made the Lord to stoop down low to cherish this unknown boy and elevate him to super stardom status. This is the single greatest magnitude of victory till date which was pulled in to existence in spite of hopelessness and impossibility of faithless fear-filled and discouraging people all around.

God gave the responsibility of leading the people of Israel in to the promised land of Canaan to Caleb and Joshua which even Moses the veteran did not get, because God noticed a different spirit of faith operate in the young Joshua and Caleb (Num 14:24; 2 Cor 4:13). God is always excited to use people who live in the positive category of faith. If you want to be successful and be blessed in this small life while we live in this planet earth, you better learn to live as a faith man. These men lived as faith-warriors and were blessed beyond description.

Achievement can be reached by hard work but cultivating a positive attitude cannot be acquired just by hard work alone. We need the help of God to inculcate it in our lifestyle. Being positive is the character of God that will get rubbed upon us as we daily walk with God day in and day out. As he speaks and communicates with us through dreams, visions, riddles, signs, the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in our spirit man, prophecies, circumstances and ministers of God, the positive energy of God will get imparted in to us. This positive energy will draw us more towards the things of God and His word. As we keep our mind filled with the word of God, the positive pattern of thinking will get programmed in our mind and will change the way we see, think and act. Our soulish mind will start to get more and more influenced in the way God thinks and acts. As a result we will begin to see and live as God’s true Sons and Daughters in this planet earth. This is the original plan of God for every human being. In other words we are basically created to be positive, happy, joyful and rejoicing all the time in God. Being negative is alien to our natural make up and thus will sap out the life which we were created to enjoy.

Think and visualize each day

Each day of your life, think and visualize the promises of God that God has quickened in your heart through the Holy Spirit. The dreams, visions that God might have shown you or the prophecies that God might have spoken to you or the word of God that the Holy Spirit might have quickened to you in your spirit man are all the God-seed that has the potential within it to change, transform, prosper, supply, empower and release the power of God in your life and to make you a highly successful person in every area of your life (Acts 2:17-18). But the most important process that is needed in order for this power of God to be released in your life is the need to nurture the God-seed by meditating on it over and over again till you accomplish the destiny that God has set forth for you. So only men like David who was one of the very few people who fulfilled all of God’s purpose for their generation (Acts 13:36) said, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97). He also said to God, “49 Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.” (Psalm 119:49-50). Not only we see in the preceding verses that David received his comfort from the word of God but also he himself has confessed that the word of God has given him the life giving positive energy.

Say to yourself each day, ‘God is with me; God is helping me; God is guiding me all the time; He will never leave me nor forsake me.’ Always train yourself to picture “success” in your mind, no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment. This is the reason Apostle Paul told the Philippians, “8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” [The Message] (Philippians 4:8-9). From the preceding verse we come to understand that not only Apostle Paul is encouraging us to think positively, but also to see him as an example and learn from him. If we see the life of Apostle Paul, we can see literally the kind of difficulties, hardships, trials, tribulations that he went through, for trying to preach and teach the good news of Christ all around the world (2 Cor 11:23-33; 1 Cor 4:9-12). It is highly admirable to see that the Apostle Paul was able to maintain his positive attitude towards God, life, himself and his fellow beings in spite of all the difficulties that he faced almost daily. We can easily conclude that Apostle Paul was one of the most exemplary positive thinkers of his times because of the way he lived his life. Because of this attribute that he developed, he was known to be one of the most effective and the greatest man to reach the whole world within the shortest period of time in the first century. When we are living our life positively God will make us and work in us effectively to be seen and heard by others as the most excellent harmonies in this planet earth. Only living such life will impact us, our surroundings, our workplace, our city, nation and nations around the world uniquely by the grace of God.

Learn to create a positive picture and visualize it and commit it to the Lord to fulfill it in His appointed time (Psalm 37:5). The positive picture may be a vision, dream, beautiful scenery or good things that you might have experienced in your life, or a positive word of God which you received as a promise in your life. When you think about it, start to thank God and praise Him. These activities will usher you in to the peace of God that will pass all your finite understanding and will guard your heart from getting doubtful, fearful and negative (Phil 4:6-7). When you practice these things, your trust level in the ability of God will increase as time goes by. This will directly influence God to do all the good things that have been thought by Him and He will make it to come to pass in your life, because God by then will have started to materialize all His promises in His appointed time. This is the reason the Bible says, “Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.” (Prov 16:3). Your works are nothing but the creative thinking that God has given you in your life. By committing these faculties to the Lord by thinking positively God-ward, He will fill you and establish your mind with His heavenly thoughts. The thoughts that are described in the preceding verse are God-thoughts of peace, prosperity, comfort, wisdom, guidance, hope and a great successful future which are all the positive attributes of God (Jer 29:11; Psalm 139:17-18).

Many of you as you start to do and practice these things in your daily life, Satan will try his best to bring fear and disillusionment in to your lives. In such times resist the devil by directly speaking verbally against him in Jesus mighty name because Jesus has already given you authority over all the demons and devils that are trying to discourage you (Luke 10:19). Say to yourself, “God has not given me the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” [personalized] (2 Tim 1:7). Fear is a spirit and it is not an emotion as some people consider it. If fear still persists, rebuke and command it to flee in Jesus name and it will. Say to the spirit of fear directly, ‘In Jesus name I rebuke you spirit of fear, go and never come back.’ David was such a man who practiced to be positive and he too fought against such demonic fear in his life. He said to God, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” (Psa 56:3). To trust in the Lord is to believe his promises and to expectantly do what God says in His word. The Bible says “…Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7). In other words it means, ‘Speak against the devil and he will run away from you because Satan is not omniscient to know your resisting thoughts, but only fears when you start to speak against him in the authority of the name of Jesus.’ He is powerless before your God who always lives inside of you. As the Bible says, “…in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28). In such fearful times increase your faith and calm yourself by saying, “My God who is in me is greater than all the devils and demons that are present in the world.” [Paraphrased] (1 John 4:4). Jesus also confirmed this in another place when He said, “…the kingdom [i.e. King’s dominion and authority] of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). If you choose to use the King’s authority which is inside you by using the name of Jesus against all the demons and devils that are acting against you from the pit of hell, all of its evil activities will be crushed by God under your feet with in a very short time (Rom 16:20). As the proverb says, ‘Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.’ In other words: Don’t stop doing what you are able to do with the empowerment of God, which is present inside you to make you successful in all your endeavor.

One of the poems that I have read has always been an inspiration to me. You too learn what it means to be persistent enough to be positive and enjoy the ‘winning ways’ that are our birth right in Christ Jesus. This is the real recipe for success.

Winning ways

[Part of longer poem called “it couldn’t be done” by the British–born American poet –Edgar Guest.]

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

There are thousands to prophesy failure;

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of grin,

Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start to sing as you tackle things,

That cannot be done, and you’ll do it.

Now pray with me this prayer, ‘Father God, I have come to understand you to be a positive God. I thank you for adopting me to be a child of you and thank you for helping me to grown in your character to become mature as your son in your family to glorify you. Help me be positive all the time by believing your promises, help me victoriously conquer over all the bad and negative circumstances around me through your mighty power that works with in me. Help me live with your positive attitude all the time. Help me think and visualize good things all the time and to meditate on it all the time. I praise you that you are transforming me to be like a river out of which positive current of energy flows and feeds the multitudes. Help me to live and persist in your ‘winning ways’ which can only keep me positive and full of possibilities, to see success in this negative, gloomy and fallen world. I thank you and praise you for hearing and answering my prayer in Jesus name I pray. Amen and Amen.’

Can a believer lose His salvation -Answer from Jack Kelley?

Dear Brother Jack,

Greetings in the sweet name of Jesus! I have been blessed by your gracethrufaith.com immensly. I read an article about 'More On Gay People In The Rapture'. In this article you said that ' John 15 teach us that a believer out of fellowship will live a defeated life, of no more value than pruned branches.' But you have not read the verse fully to the end which says, "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them [i.e. angels are gatherers(Matt 13:40)]and throw them into the fire[ hell fire (Matt 13:41-42)], and they are burned [i.e. forever]." This shows that a withered leaf will be burnt in fire at the end.

The other view that I disagree is 'When you tell that Jesus has promised not to lose none of us, it should be balanced with the view that he said this only to those who will hear His voice and follow Him (John 6:38-40; 10:27-30). So believing is hearing Jesus and following [i.e. obeying His command] Him, only such people are know by Jesus.

The other thing that I want to know is, 'Whether a believer should call himself a sinner or a saint or both [i.e. a saint who sins]?'

You say that a believer cannot lose his salvation even though he sins intetionally, but if it is right why did Jesus say to the believers in Rev 3:5, "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." In other words Jesus was saying to the believers, 'If you do not repent and overcome, I will blot out your name from the Book of life [i.e. which is the only proof of our salvation (Luke 10:20)]'. Is this not losing one's salvation because of an unrepentant heart?

If one cannot lose salvation why did the writer of the Book of Hebrews say, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." (Heb 6:4-6). The people who are described in this verse are believers and not unbelievers.

I believe that a believer cannot lose his salvation as long as he follows Jesus and hear's his voice to be obedient to Him. Such believers are those who will live their life with a repentant attitude which is very important for not trampling the Son of God underfoot, and counting the blood of the covenant a common thing to insult the Spirit of Grace (Heb 10:29).

What is your thought about these questions? May the Lord bless you and use you much more to minister to the saints in our generation!


God bless you,

Abraham Israel

www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com

Hi ...

You are reading way too much into these passages for my comfort level. For example, when Jesus said, /"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."/ (*John 15:5*) He couldn't have been talking about our salvation because salvation is not a fruit bearing event. Fruit has an effect on others where salvation is purely personal. In other words, fruit is not something that happens to the branch, it's something that happens through the branch. And the branch does not make fruit grow by its own effort. It's the vine that does the work.

John 6:40 is a summary statement of the passage and says, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The only condition mentioned there is belief. Understand this. The Lord didn't make incomplete or half true statements that have to be balanced with other things He said to find out what He really meant. Everything He said can stand on its own.

And *Rev. 3:5* doesn't say that our names can be blotted out of the book of life. It says just the opposite. Take verses 4 and 5 together. He's basically telling the unsaved in Sardis that if they put their trust in Him like some of their friends have, He will never change His mind about them. *Rev. 3:5* is one more promise, right from the Lord's mouth, that once our names are in the book they can never be erased.

Lord bless,
Jack

www.gracethrufaith.com

Enigmatic Footprints

Enigmatic Footprints

By Abraham Israel

Many times in our lives when the pressures of life burden us, we become very discouraged. Although we know that the Lord is with us, we allow our emotions to rule us in a completely negative way. But the Lord has not designed this life for us to live negatively, but rather in a faith filled confident manner as a son of our Heavenly Father.

The Lord has not promised to us a bed of roses in all our ways in this life. But He has promised us, “When you go through deep waters [of trials], I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” [NLT](Isaiah 43:2). Why should the Lord be with us and yet not completely stop us from experiencing such hardships? It is because without walking through the realities of life we can never understand what it means for us to walk through the tough times of our lives saying “For the LORD is my confidence, and He will keep my foot from being caught. “ [Personalized](Proverbs 3:26).

This walk of confidence with one’s head held high all the time is a warrior’s walk of faith. It cannot be taught but it can only be walked. Have you ever found a person honored as a warrior who has not even once fought a battle? It cannot be. A warrior is basically a soldier, usually one who has both experience and skill in fighting, especially in the past. They have a life style of victoriously fighting and winning all through their lives. We are trained to be warriors in this present life, so that we can live eternally with our God as His honored sons in the new heaven and new earth which He has prepared for all of us in the future. Cowards will not be allowed in to His eternal property which He has planned before the foundations of the world (Rev 21:7-8, Heb 4:3). We are the children of a God who Himself says “I am a warrior; Yahweh [i.e. Jehovah – the Lord] is My name!” [Paraphrased](Exodus 15:3). Now do you understand why we face all the trials and tribulations in this life? It is because our Heavenly Father wants to inculcate His warrior nature in to us. Praise the Lord!

Having all that we need to be successful

We as God’s children do not lack anything to become successful in this life. This is the reason King David said “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” [NLT] (Psalms 23:1). We already have all the necessary equipments [i.e. promises of God] with us to be highly successful warriors in this life. The instruction manual for warriors assures us that, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right. Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable [equipped and be lethal to cause carnage against Satan and his evil minions], having all that is needed to do every good work.” [NCV] (2 Tim 3:16-17). We become a capable and equipped warrior against evil when we are filled with the ammunition of Scriptures. Without the Scriptures in our heart we become powerless against the enemy of our souls [i.e. Satan and His cohorts] and cannot serve God effectively by doing the good works of God as his dear children on earth. Jesus as a perfect man like one of us was full of scripture, which is the reason He was able to destroy the works of the devil (1 Tim 2:5; 1 John 3:8; Matt 4:4, 7, 10).

All we need to do with the Scriptures is to meditate on it all the time which will help us be successful in our lives. The Lord told Joshua, “8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9). In the preceding verse we see Joshua the courageous warrior was instructed by the Lord to speak the word of God to encourage himself, meditate the word of God to have a winning attitude and observe [i.e. practice] the word of God to see God’s triumphant power manifested in his life. After this God did not say to Joshua, ‘…then I will make your way prosperous and I will give you good success.’ But God said, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” In other words God was saying to Joshua, ‘When you speak the word of God through your mouth, meditate it in your mind and practice it in your life….you will automatically enroll yourself as a success story because of your positive attitude as a warrior in your life’. What does it teach us? It clearly teaches us that the word of God has the potential within it to make us highly prosperous and empower us to self-script a great success story in our lives. In other words, whether you are a real success or a failure depends on how you use the scripture that God has given you to live by. Then the Lord commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous. To be strong and courageous is a good choice which will allow God’s faith and goodness to influence us and will make us trust God towards the target of victory. This is God’s warrior nature which triumphs always. To be afraid and dismayed [saddened, troubled, disappointed and distressed] is a bad choice which allows Satan’s nature of fear and evil to influence us and separate us from God. God has guaranteed to Joshua the warrior and to us His warrior sons that no matter what the circumstances you go through, “….I the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”. O What a promise! Confess now, ‘The Lord my God is with me wherever I go’. Say it at least three times! The reality of the word of God lived in our lives will bring the presence and assurance of God in perpetual manifestation, which is the secret behind every successful and prosperous person who made this life count for eternity.

The Winning attitude

God’s attitude is a winning attitude. Winning is not a onetime event, rather it is an attitude of our mind which propels us in to a higher altitude of faith and success as we learn to live in it all the time. Say for example a man may win on a particular day and as a result he may feel very happy to rest on the laurels he received on that day. But as he goes home, he slowly begins to realize that something has gone wrong on that day which was not in his control altogether. Suddenly without a second thought he becomes angry and upset with his whole family. The happiness this man had felt until then suddenly turns in to gloominess, and as a result of it the whole family gets affected because of his tantrums. What we see is a classical example of a loser whose attitude towards life is based on events happening at that particular time. If that person is able to handle it maturely by not giving in to anger and fear of what has happened, but rather if he has rather dealt those problems as an opportunity for God to intervene and correct it based on his unshakeable faith in the word of God which says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28). This man would have prospered in that particular situation and he would have successfully dealt those problems. Instead of reacting in unbelief, he would have acted in faith. Faith always will bring the presence of God to be involved in our lives and situation. Faith is a winning attitude of our mind which will attract God to intervene and bless us every time we face problems in our lives.

The winning attitude will always think in terms of what God can do in our lives rather than what we can achieve with our own limited ideas and strength. The winning attitude has no boundary to contain its enthusiasm because it is as big as God Himself. The winning attitude will make a person to confess positively like Apostle Paul who said, “I can do all things through Christ [the Anointed one] who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13). These confessions will saturate the atmosphere where we are with the Heavenly Presence of God which will spread very contagiously to others who are around us. Thus we will be fulfilling our destiny “…on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt 6:10).

The winning attitude is a warrior’s attitude which will make us as bold as a lions because we are essentially of the ‘the winning tribe of the lion of Judah’ (Gen 49:8-11; Rev 5:5). Judah means ‘praise or proclaimers of God’s praise’. We as the children of God should learn to praise God always. Praise is a royal robe that we wear by receiving it from God (Isaiah 61:3). Praise is highly positive and it aligns our life in the exact psyche of the winning attitude where we will live life abundantly at our best. Praise releases the goodness of God in to our spirit, soul and body. So only David after experiencing the goodness of God said, “Praise the LORD! For [it is] good to sing praises to our God; For [it is] pleasant, [and] praise is beautiful.” (Psalm 147:1). David had no more words left to describe the benefits of praise, so he finally said “…praise is beautiful” as though he could see praise as a tangible image. In fact he is right because God dwells and manifests physically when His people praise Him (Psalm 22:3). Inculcate the winning attitude of praising God all the time to become a mature son of God. Praise the Lord.

Consciousness of God’s Presence

We cannot experience the consciousness of God’s presence to the full in a single day. It takes day after day, and year after year of obedience to the voice and the word of God to maturely dwell continuously in the presence of God. But it is easy to attain once we set our sight on it because God’s original desire for every human was to fill every man to such an extent that they will be more conscious of God’s presence than the clothing that they wear to cover their nakedness, which is nothing but the consciousness of one’s self in contrast to God consciousness. Adam and Eve were covered by the glory of God initially before the fall of man, so only they never felt that they were naked until Satan took control of the soulish realm of humans (Gen 3:8). When Adam confessed to the Lord that when he heard His voice, he was afraid because of his own nakedness and hid himself, the first question that God asked Adam was, “Who told you that you were naked?..” In other words God was saying, why have you started to believe all that the devil has been telling you. Even in our times if we keep listening to the voice of God daily in our Soul constantly we will lose consciousness of our self and will start to focus on God’s greatness and his love towards us which we were created for, so that we will start to enjoy every moment of our lives on earth. The Glory of God is the tangible weightiness of God’s presence. If you desire to be clothed by it in our generation with an intense desire for it as in the beginning of creation the Lord will clothe you too. Glory of God is the physical and visible manifestation of the Spiritual presence that God chooses to reveal to us.

The Bible shows how God by His presence fellowshipped with Adam and Eve in Gen 3:8-10 which says, “8 And they [i.e. Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”” From the preceding verses we can understand that the presence of the Lord God once focused will make us hear the sound of the Lord God in this earth. When the Lord God called Adam, he responded saying that he heard his voice and was afraid and hid himself, because negative emotions took over him from the devil which Adam was not able to realize at that point of time because of the fallen nature. Still the modus operandi [i.e. a particular way of doing something] of the devil have not changed a single bit. When a person starts to desire for the presence of God, Satan will immediately start to stir all the negative emotions in his soul to make that person afraid. If we desire to really feel the presence of God daily we need to discipline ourselves to pray continuously no matter what kind of feeling Satan stirs in our heart. This kind of persistent prayers sometimes will suddenly usher us in to God’s presence or else God may choose to manifest later. But know one thing the Lord will be watching your intense desire and will slowly start to bless you with his tangible presence which will get deposited in you and will be with you for eternity. By the way tongues are one of the main ways of communicating to God persistently according to His will. If you have not yet received it, believe that the Lord’s will for you is to speak in tongues and then by faith speak it out (Mark 16:17). God will give you the utterance from your spirit man. Tongues are one of the best ways to renew and edify your mind. It is one of the greatest weapons in the weaponry of the warrior. It is exclusive only to those who long to feel the consciousness of God’s presence all the time. Speaking in tongues is like a sweet music that you listen to soothe your soul when distressed by the burdens of life. Joy will swell from the depth of your soul because God will be very pleased that you are speaking to Him exactly His will to get fulfilled through your life. It will edify your soul and bring the consciousness of God’s presence (1 Cor 14:4).

Mysterious Footprints of God

One of the greatest mystery questions to many is ‘Why I do not feel God all the time?’. At the same time one of the greatest truth to remind ourselves and confess is, “The Lord will never leave me nor forsake me” [Personalized] (Heb 13:5). God can choose to withdraw his tangible presence from us in order to test us so that He might know how we will react when we consciously do not feel the nearness of His tangible presence (2 Chron 32:31). The word of God says that God tests the hearts of men, has pleasure in uprightness and rewards every man according to the results of the doings of the thinking of man (1 Chron 29:17). This does not mean that He has left us. One thing we must understand is that we cannot run away from the long arm of the Lord. King David understood the awesomeness of the omnipresent nature of God in his life because God revealed Himself in that dimension to him. So only David said in Psalm 139:7-10, “7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.” From this preceding verse we can clearly understand that the presence of God is the Spirit of God. He is present everywhere, in heaven and also in hell. In heaven He chooses to manifest the glory of His presence. In hell He chooses to withdraw His presence from those who are present there. Don’t think that it is just the fire and worms that torment people in hell, but it is the lack of the manifestation of the presence of God and His goodness that will torment people in hell (2 Thess 1:9; Rev 22:15; Matt 25:41, 46; Mark 9:44). A person can be in midst of fire yet be more confident and joyful than any other person in the universe if he has the presence of God and His glory over him. This was literally proved by the three friends of Daniel named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who enjoyed their adventurous journey in to the fire because Jesus the fourth man was standing with them pouring His glory anointing all over their bodies so that not even one hair in their bodies got burned due to the ravaging fire (Daniel 3:23-25). But the fact is, He is present in all the places and there is not a single inch in the universe where He is not present in person (Jer 23:24).

Many times in our lives we do not feel the nearness of God when going through very tough situations. We feel as though God has left us and we are left alone to defend for ourselves. But the fact is those are the times, when God carries us in His arms. God says in Isaiah 46:4, “Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” In other words God is saying, I am the God who carries you now, I do not change, when you become old and strength less with grey hairs, My nature to carry and deliver you from difficulties will never change. What a great comfort to know the loving character of our Lord and to rest in the assurance that “…God is faithful, who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that we will be able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13). The way of escape is the time after we take a quality decision to stand with Him, when His power becomes strong in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9-10). These will be the times in which the Lord will literally carry us and comfort us through His Spirit (2 Cor 1:3-4; Acts 9:31). When we fail to stand with Him and take a quality decision, we will not be able to feel the tangible presence of God after our failure. But you know, we can escape from those times of loneliness by immediately and boldly approaching the throne of grace by confessing our wrong doings, so that we can align ourselves again right in the midst of God’s favor (Heb 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9).

The moment you approach the throne of grace, don’t say to God, ‘Please forgive me and start to cry day after day, begging for forgiveness as though God is not ready to forgive you and angry enough to tear you to pieces.’ If you are doing such things, know that the devil has deceived you to live in unbelief because of your lack of knowledge about God and His word (Hosea 4:6). The word of God says, “The moment we confess our mistakes and sins, He is faithful and just enough to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [Paraphrased] (1 John 1:9). Your confession for your sins must be faith-filled like the following confession statement, ‘Lord I am sorry for doing this thing that you don’t like. Thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me by being just and faithful, help me overcome this problem the next time, in Jesus name, Amen.’ Remember, God forgives us not because we ask Him sorry but because He is faithful and just to keep His covenant that He had made with Jesus. This new covenant of forgiveness is active and powerful for all those who come to God through Jesus, by faith in the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus (Heb 10:15-18; 9:22, 14). We have a failure proof exit of escape from Satan’s condemnation and his lawlessness because of God’s overcoming, forgiving and cleansing power which is available freely and perpetually to us (Rom 8:1).

The following parable will give you more understanding about the invisible footprints of God in our lives which we are not able to see tangibly daily. I believe that this parable will edify us with the eternal truth that ‘God carries us now and then perpetually in our lives because of His love towards us as His beloved children. Because of the fallen nature of the world, we “will have tribulation” as long as we live in this world (John 16:33). But be joyful and of good cheer, for our Jesus has already won the battle against all the satanic depressive and destructive influences of the world! He will carry you in all your trials and tribulations as He has promised faithfully!

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it had happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it, “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My child, My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you only see only one set of foot prints, it was then that I carried you.”

When you go through harsh times of trials and hardships in your life, always remember the invisible footprints that have profound meaning to it. If you can see with the eyes and understanding of God you will begin to thank and praise the Lord through all your trials joyfully. This is the reason Apostle James said, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4). When God’s presence is with you in its fullness you will lack nothing! Without going through the trials you cannot receive this completeness of peace and prosperity in your life.

Pray with me now, ‘Thank you Lord for all the trials, tribulations and hardships that I go through in my life because you are with me, carry me and will deliver me from all these temporal things, which you are working together for my good. Thank you for giving me all that I need in order to be successful. Help me live daily in your presence, expressing the warrior character of you in my life. Help me meditate on your word always and live my life with a winning attitude, by being conscious of your living presence within me always. Help me see my life with your eyes and understanding, seeing it with an eternal perspective. Thank you for your promises and your guidance in my life. Thank you for making me successful through your empowerment in my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen and Amen….’ Praise the Lord!