Here’s a question from a reader who is going through a difficult situation. You can leave her your encouragement in the comments.

Question:

I am so much confuse right now.  I wanted to move from the heartaches and for being abandon of a husband. We just married for almost 4 years but I never felt being loved instead he showed how he had hurt me for having an affair to many women and worse had already a child of their own.

He returned to us and I forgave but again he continue with his sin.

I am trying to forget him because he left us again but i am still hoping and praying that God will change him.

For almost 4 years of crying out to the Lord that He would change him why is it he gets even more worse. I love him as my husband even he doesn’t cares on me. Is it right of begging the Lord that he will give  my husband  and be transformed. Is he not the will of God for me? I have a hard time understanding  the plans of God. Please send me a message of wisdom to fully know the will of God?

Answer:

My prayers are with you. I’ve learned it’s much better to agree with God than beg him. What is His promise for you and your children, and all who are far off? I know at least it’s the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:39). There are a lot of more promises you can pray in agreement with God for your life. Don’t stop with that one.

That being said, your husband has broken his vow and his covenant with you. You are not bound to it. IF you choose to continue to show him love, I strongly suggest boundaries.

In either case, if you try to reconcile again or if you go your own way, keep on forgiving him. It’s for the sake of your relationship with God, not your relationship with him. Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting, it means turning him over into God’s hand. Paul told Timothy (1 Timothy 1:20) that he turned to people over to satan so they “would be taught not to blaspheme.” It seems to me that blaspheming is one of the things you’re husband is doing. He’s blasphemed his covenant, you and therefore God.

I’m assuming this doesn’t matter to him, but in 1 Corinthians 7:14-15 Paul is talking about a Christian spouse living with an unbelieving spouse. He says,

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

So you sanctify your husband with the grace you’ve accepted from God. Removing that sanctification from him is “turning him over to satan”.

If you’re not ready to do that, another thing you can do is stand in his place before God and ask for forgiveness. Jesus did this on the cross when he prayed “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what to do”. When we do that for people we pray for who only seem to get worse, we find they often get a lot better.

I hope something in that helps. I really felt I needed to get something out to you quickly. I am praying for you.

Trevor

I’m not sure always thinking about the future is the best way to live, but as long as do what God has for me to do today I knows the plans I make are guided by the steps He directs. I’m excited for RevTrev.com in 2012. I’ll tell you why in a little bit. I’m also excited about what God seems to be doing in other parts of my life. I’ll share those things with you in time.

I suppose you can guess most of the Christmas shopping is done and concerts are over and excitement is growing towards Christmas…think about that. Excitement is growing towards Christ’s Mass. I’m not part of a tradition that remembers Advent, but each of us in our own way go through the anticipatory cycle of Christmas. I enjoy it. I guess that’s why I teach so often on expectation…I’m digressing.

Next week this newsletter will start being sent out on Fridays. There are more reasons for that than I want to mention right now. Today I want to welcome the 47 new readers this week from RevTrev.com, Twitter Tips, and LifeAbovetheNegativity.com. I have a number of new email courses coming in 2012 that will be on training in areas I’m able to train in…but more about that below. On to this new looking newsletter…take some time to tell me what you think about it.

Twitter has changed since I wrote Twitter Tips from @RevTrev but the blueprint I lay out is still able to be done WITHOUT paying for other Twitter services. Although when I show you how to inexpensively do what I show you in this video you may want to spend the $10 a year to make better use of your time.

Here’s how to find out who’s not following you back on Twitter. Share it with your friends. There is no point following people who don’t follow you back.

View Now >>>

The subscribers to my weekly newsletter will know I have regular features that are usually included and special features that may be in and maybe out. Next week’s newsletter is going to be highlighting a couple of changes to both.

First off, the regular feature called “Blogging Buddies” has been changed to “RevTrev Recommends”

Gone From RevTrev Newsletter

New to RevTrev Newsletter

I started having “blogging buddies” because I found out when people commented on my posts, other people would also comment. I thought if I would do the same for others it would increase the conversation on their sites as well. It turns out I don’t have all the time in the world and I haven’t become a professional blogger yet so I haven’t had time to comment 2x a week on every other persons blog. I still read everyone’s blog posts every week, but that’s been a Saturday morning pleasure for me and I have well over 150 blog posts to go through.

So what I’m going to do with RevTrev Recommends is give you links for great blog posts that have encouraged me. If you have ones that have encouraged you that you think my readers will appreciate, let me know. You can send it by email, twitter or even stumble upon.

The new section to the RevTrev Newsletter I’m expecting to be a special feature, but hoping it will a regular one as more people share their good news with me so I can pass it on to you. This section is called “Kingdom News”.

Every week lately I’ve been getting amazing stories of salvation, healing, deliverance, and financial blessing. Most of these are coming from places like Pakistan, India, Iran, and several parts of Africa. News I get encouraged by I’ll be passing on to the readers of my newsletter.

So SEND ME YOUR STORIES! We need to pass on the good news of our Good God! As you can tell, I’m quite excited by all this. Now maybe I can get onto making the changes to revtrev.com…or maybe not. I just looked at the time. Better run.

Doesn’t a suddenly mean everything is changed? Yes…and no. It’s a lot like salvation. We have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved. The same principles apply to a suddenly. So we need to know how to steward it. A message by Trevor Lund of http://revtrev.com

Listen to an excerpt…

Download audio file (stewardsuddenlyexcert.mp3)

Download Immediately at Expectancy Press

I did it. I took the plunge. I swallowed the red pill. I transferred my many sites to a new server promising better security and faster load times. I’d better not be seeing those 508 resource errors again any time soon. I tell you, the more traffic you get to your site the more you have to learn about the technical side of hosting. I need thank all my new readers for being part of the problem of overloading my server. Really, I’m not being sarcastic. It’s a milestone for me and one I’m truly humbled by.

But assuming all those issues are solved for a while, let’s get on with this week’s newsletter. A warm welcome to the 97 new subscribers this week to the RevTrev.com Newsletter, LifeAbovetheNegativity.com, Twitter Tips and Expectancy Press. Don’t be a stranger. Drop me a line and tell me about yourself. Those conversations are the highlight of my week.

	Top 7 Visited Posts This Week @ RevTrev.com 4 Funny Animal Pictures 70 Functions of the Holy Spirit Am I Under a Curse if I Don’t Tithe? Why Were Joshua and Caleb Different? How I Can Seek the Lord – 7 ways How to Pray in Tongues 3 Steps to Cast Your Cares on the Lord
	This Week’s Guest Blogger I’m lining up a lot of great guest bloggers for RevTrev.com. If you want to be one, check out the guidelines. This week I was a guest blogger for The Pangea Blog. Why not check out my guest post there and read a bit more about the great discussions Kurt Willems is having there? How NOT to Be A Jerk On Social Media (Trevor Lund)   Contact me if you’d like to be a guest blogger. Find the guidelines here http://revtrev.com/write-for-revtrev/
	Questions of the Week How Can Non-Profits Raise Money Through Social Media? Here’s a question a very passionate person sent me about to fund-raise through Social Media and other “out-of-the-box” strategies. I had to point him the the expert in what I consider “out-of-the-proverbial-box” strategies. Let me know what you think. Read More >>> Don’t forget to share your comments.
	RevTrev Radio How God Heals Part 5 – RevTrev Radio How God Heals So many times we wonder if it’s God’s will to heal. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about that. There are also questions why healing doesn’t come. This is the final episode in the series. You can get all the past links when you listen now. Listen Now >>> Remember to ask me your questions I didn’t cover. Subscribe via iTunes
	Community Feedback I sent out an email and a test blog broadcast to see if readers signed up specifically to  RevTrev.com would mind if I send out a weekly email with information about the posts I’ve done that week. I want to include more people in the discussions taking place on the blog. I firmly believe that together we have a fuller understanding of the will and nature of God. (That’s just a theological way to say “I think some of you are smarter than me in some things.”) WHEN I send out a blog broadcast, it gets included in my Feedburner count, so I don’t need as many chicklets on my site. As each of them slow down how fast the page loads, I want to keep them at a minimum. So I was pleasantly surprised with the response.  87% of respondents have no issues or look forward to getting 1 email a week with information about blog posts that week on RevTrev.com. So I’ve set it up to go out Saturdays. I so much enjoy the discussion that happens on the site. Thank you all for telling your friends about revtrev.com so they be a part of the conversation as well. Thanks for your feedback. It helps me know what blog posts and resources I should focus on.
	Social Media Tip What Do You Do When Your Twitter Account Gets Hacked? If you follow me on Twitter you’ll likely see me tweet at least once a day “Today’s DM Phishing Scam “Today’s DM Phishing Scam ‘lmao! this pic i found of you cracks me up when was it taken?’ DON’T Click the link.  Pls RT!’” I do that daily because I was tricked once and had my account hacked. What’s a phishing attack and what do you do when you’re tricked by one? Here’s what to do when it happens…
	What People Are Saying I personally THANK YOU for all the work you put into publishing your newsletter. I pray for that passion. ~ Ryan I look forward to your emails and updates.  Keep up the awesome work Rev Trev! – Conrad God bless you. Thank you for the short story. (re: It was a Bad, Bad, Bad Very, Bad Very Bad Day” available for free to subscribers to revtrev.com) I liked it! Ultimately it brought a smile to my face. It reminded me of how you don’t really need to be a child to create a monster of worries in your head before your know the actual facts. It also reminded me that you don’t have to be a child to carry around stuff you should’ve come clean to long ago. Any one of us could be that little boy (as you were) young or old. Now on a lesser note good little story, that brings a smile to ones heart, any age:) -Josephine
	RevTrev TV Why is Jesus God’s Gift of Love to the World? In this episode of http://revtrev.com/tv I talk to Bev Fawcett of http://hopeinchrist.info about her book “Jesus God’s Gift of Love to the World” I’ve decided to stop syndicating RevTrev TV through iTunes until I can come up with a better hosting solution. I found out my site backups don’t work well when the files are over 7GB. I have close to 10GB of videos hosted on my site…oh well, live and learn. If you have any suggestions for syndicating through iTunes, let me know . Watch Now >>> View all the episodes:
	Posts From My Blogging Buddies   Free Tools for Creating A Custom Facebook Page For Your Church or Ministry  by Yohan of Virtual Preacher Getting Sound Advice  by Thomas McDaniels of The Favored Life Parenting Requires On The Job Training by Kevin Martineau of Shooting the Breeze Heartbreaking….part 4 By Janine Lund (my little sister) of From Mind to Page
	Changing the Things We Can Attributed as found on a tomb dated A.D. 1100 of an Anglican Bishop at Westminster Abbey: When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country. But it, too, seemed immovable. As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, Then by example I would have changed my family. From their inspiration and encouragement, I would have been able to better my country and, who knows, I may have changed the world. From No More Mondays by Dan Miller
	From Expectancy Press How to Prepare for a Suddenly (MP3) Does preparing for a suddenly make it less amazing? What if we need to prepare in order to see it happen? Listen to this message by Trevor Lund of http://revtrev.com and be encouraged that God is good and on your side. Listen to an excerpt>>>
	Imagine Ghostwriting Are you a writer wondering what ghostwriting is all about? Find out everything you need to know to have a successful ghostwriting experience or career. http://ImagineGhostwriting.com   I help people with vision create, market and sell their books, products or business online even if they don’t have a website, a product to sell, or if they even don’t have the time for social media. http://askandimagine.com
	One Last Thing… Can you let people know about this newsletter? I so much enjoy connecting with people and helping them as I can. If you’re on Twitter I’ve made it easy for you. Just click the picture…

Many Christians struggle with condemnation. We desire change. We want to break bad habits and develop godly character but our attempts often end in frustration. We have incredible encounters with God that change us for a short time, but back we go to the same behaviour. We desire to walk in another direction, to repent, but we keep on repeating the same sinful patterns over and over again. This booklet provides a way out by reminding us that the real change comes first in our hearts through confessing our sins and knowing we are forgiven. It’s not about self-help, it’s about positioning our hearts so that Jesus can change us from the inside out.

By Cheryl Shea of Shea Counselling

Learn more and Read An Excerpt

It is really amazing to consider what was accomplished at the cross. It’s even more amazing to work it out in every area of your life. Here’s a quick overview of some of the highlights for me. I can’t say this is an exhaustive list, but I see 7 things changed at the cross.

At the Cross:

1. Guilt was removed

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:23-24 (New Living Translation)

2. The price of sin was paid.

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. Romans 3:25 (New Living Translation)

3. Our sins were washed.

Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11 (New Living Translation)

4. We were made friends again with God

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 (New Living Translation)

5. We are no longer fallen.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-6 (New Living Translation)

6. Satan’s Rule Was Ended.

In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Colossians 2:15 (New Living Translation)

7. The curse of the law was canceled.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Galatians 3:13 (New Living Translation)

What part of “finished” don’t we understand? The battle is over. All that’s left is the mop up operation. We’re on the winning side. We have His power and authority. We don’t attack on our own merit or passion, we’ve waited for the commander’s instructions and we obey what the commander says. When it’s time to fight for hope, fight knowing the battle is already won.

This is another question from a reader. I’ve put my thoughts together for her. You can share yours in the comments below. You may have other thoughts I haven’t come up with.

Question:

Pastor, I have a question. Before I got saved I had a big ego thank God that is gone  now that I am saved.  

My sister-in-law used to envy me and compete with me on looks.  Then I got saved and a new person came out. I witness to her but no good outcome.  I no longer hang out with her and her husband when they party but I stayed friendly enough for family functions.

Three years ago I had my son and this year was a tough one for me.  I was always thin. my whole life. This year in a short period of time I started eating out of God’s will and gained weight.

Well the question is: I decided to take my son to a water park pretty far from my home. The day before I went this sister in law called me and when we hung up I prayed for her salvation. The next day I said, “gee this sister in law wouldn’t bring her daughter to this park being so far from home.  I do not want to run into her being in a bathing suit she would gossip about how big I got.”  

I then had really nice thoughts about her and that was it.  Well an hour into the park lo and behold she was with her kid…and this place is far for her to travel.  And the worst?  

She looked me up and down and laughed!  ugh.  So later on I said “Lord are you breaking me down?”  

Did God do this to me to use shame to get me to change my eating or did the devil?  Or did I manifest it by fearing her being in there?  

Any advice?

Answer:

OK. So I did the research and can’t find anywhere in Scripture that tells us we should conform to the patterns of the world. In fact Paul told the church in Rome:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (New Living Translation)

I know people quote 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 to say we need to take care of our body:

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (New Living Translation)

But when we look at it in context, it has nothing to do with exercise and what we eat. It has everything to do with avoiding sexual sin:

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (New Living Translation)

God wants us to be healthy. In fact I believe we can have divine health – and we have a part to play in it. But let’s get on with your questions:

Did God use shame to get you to change your eating habits?

I think you’d be making a mistake to think that what the church does is what God does. Shame never produces life. It never can change the root problem. At best it alters what other people see in us. Shame is never from God. In Christ there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). God’s not shaming you. He’s not ashamed of you.

Did the devil use the laughter?

I see a lot of insecurities in your question. These come from what you’ve learned and experienced in your past. You may have heard people you trust try to shame someone else or more likely you’ve been teased and shamed by others.

So in that way the enemy was doing a number on you by pushing those buttons he’s been working on for some time.

These aren’t God’s thoughts for you. He’s out to heal your insecurities by showing you in Christ you are eternally secure.

A tool that helps me is available at http://lifeabovethenegativity.com/resources/ it’s a personalized Identity in Christ. It helps me to think God’s thoughts above the negative thoughts that so easily interrupt me as well.

This is really the main issue in your question: Where are you getting your identity from? It can’t be in other’s opinion of you. God’s entrusted you much greater gifts than your appearance.

Did you bring it about by trying to avoid it?

You may have an example here of what Job experienced:

What I always feared has happened to me.
What I dreaded has come true. Job 3:25 (New Living Translation)

Fear is faith in the lies of the enemy. You went out of your way to not be shamed in front of someone. Everything not done in faith is sin (Romans 14:28). Do you see why what we fear comes true?
Ask for forgiveness and don’t be afraid you won’t get it, because you will.

I’m interested to know “Where do you go from here?”

Why don’t you use this to improve your relationship with her? Whether you recognize it or not, you are her mentor. Tell her how you feel. Share your struggle. Tell her she’s begun a new life and needs to grow up in it.

Forgive her and don’t let her laughter lead you into condemning thoughts. God’s not condemning you so agree with His thoughts for you.

I’m praying you’ll know God’s pleasure in you. He’s not disillusioned with you as He had no illusions of you in the first place. He looks on your heart, not your outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).  Don’t forget:

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. ?Proverbs 31:30 (New International Version 1984)

I sense that you are a women to be praised…for fearing the Lord.

~Trevor

I so enjoy getting questions from my readers. Most of them are quite difficult and this one is no exception. I don’t assume to have all the answers, but with your comments we can come to a better understanding of God’s will in this.

Question:

I am a very trouble woman in her 50s.  I am still supporting my two adults kids in their twenties, one is in university, the other has not worked for a long time.  I am so soft and feel so badly I can never say no.  I know I am doing the wrong thing but I don’t know how to change.  I am so ashamed that I am still supporting both of them 100%, I will never retire now and even though they continue to take advantage of me, I continue to give give give.  I am divorced and have been for years and their dad gives them NOTHING and I envy him because he can do that and criticizes me all the time but still I do do do.  I think I must be out of my mind and need serious counselling but it is so difficult if you have a soft giving disposition and your kids take advantage of you.  HELP ME…I so hate myself right now but do not know how to change, I am in serious debt right now and have nothing to show for it.  PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME SOME DIRECTION BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO LIVE THIS WAY ANYMORE, I AM SAD ALL THE TIME WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT…ALSO AM ALONE, NO MAN IN MY LIFE BECAUSE OF ALL THE SHAME I HOLD IN…

Answer:

I’m praying for you. Prayer does make a difference. You also need someone to walk with you and help encourage you.

I know this seems heartless, but why are your kids living with you?

Supporting one going through university is admirable, but not always possible. Supporting another one not working…

I don’t know where you are so I don’t know the difficultly in finding jobs. But I do know that people rise to the level of need. If you’re taking care of everything for them, what need do they have?

I have a friend who’s a counsellor and who we’re setting up to do counselling on Skype. If this is something you’d be interested in, I can put you in touch with her.

Let me know.

You’re a good mom. God’s not angry with the mistakes you’ve made. He doesn’t agree with the criticism of your kid’s father. He delights in your prosperity – body, mind, spirit and finances. He’s going to see you through. It’s not going to be easy, but He’s already prepared you for that.

God doesn’t hate you so don’t agree with lies the enemy is saying about you.

I can across this prayer for depression. Why don’t you take a look http://revtrev.com/hope/a-prayer-against-depression-by-ignatius-of-loyola/

Love on your kids and tell them to grow up and pitch in.

I’m praying for you.

~Trevor

I’ve just completed changes to LifeAbovetheNegativity.com

Some people using IE8 were having real issues viewing the site. I was using an old theme called Frugal that has been replaced by Catalyst. (It’s what’s running RevTrev.com as well) There’s a plugin to transfer frugal to Catalyst and it went rather smoothly. I’ve done it enough that I know what I need to change.

The biggest change is I took off the blog. I’ve been wanting to do it for some time. I much prefer using RevTrev.com as the main blog for all my ministry sites. I don’t have a blog on ExpectancyMinstries.com or ExpectancyPress.com and HopeInTransition.com is transitioning into something all together new.

That reminds me I need to put “I Don’t Have Time to Be Busy! – a primer for simplicity” available for sale on Expectancy Press and tell you about the next e-books waiting to be published – “Why? – examining your heart when life is a mess” and “How Big is Your But?”

It’s a good thing I know how to get a lot done without being busy.

So can I ask you a favor? Can you check out http://LifeAbovetheNegativity.com and tell me what you think?

There’s been a lot of behind the scene work this week. Just now made time to update you.

Top Posts This Week @ RevTrev.com

• 9 Tips to Maturing in Christ
• 70 Functions of the Holy Spirit
• 10 Ways to Fulfill a Vision from God 1-5
• Four Reasons for the Laying on of Hands
• Angels – 20 Characteristics of Angels I See In Scripture

This Week’s Guest Blogger

Defining Your Vision By Len Buttner (Auckland, New Zealand)

We met Len in New Zealand and really came to appreciate his ministry. I’m so blessed to have him as a guest blogger for a series of posts on Vision. It will continue through the month of November.www.eagleascend.com

News From the Front…

I heard this week that we should never tell people our goals because it actually makes us less likely to achieve them. So instead of blogging about all the nitty-gritty details I thought I should wait to tell everyone at the same time.

http://ExpectancyPress.com is open for business! With 51 resources and more on the way I’d love to have you come by and check it out. Maybe you know someone who’d appreciate Hope In Transition for Christmas? You can sign up to download our catalog. It has details about ordering bulk for greater savings including free shipping.

If you’re not reading this on http://RevTrev.com come by and check it out. I’ve got the new theme up and while their are a few things to tweek, it looks good enough to go for me. Since Expectancy Press is up, I have reason to have ad space around it. Of course the ad space is for sale, so if you’d like to support us and target our readers, you’re more than able to.

I apologize to all our subscribers who got an email out of order. I didn’t expect them to be sent out until I set everyone up on Day 1. It’s there now, so you’ll get the same request again…my bad. I had to do it because I wanted you all to get my new e-book “How to Steward Your Destiny”. I often get asked by people how to live the dream God’s given them. This booklet is how I’ve learned to live out mine.

http://LifeAboveTheNegativity.com has also seen changes. I’m no longer selling subscriptions for the 40 daily emails. They are now FREE. I still need to put ads for Expectancy Press in them to offset my costs…oh there I go sharing my plans again…better get on with this. I’ve been behind the computer too much today.

Posts From My Blogging Buddies You May Like

• Stop, Look and Listen by Pastor Tom
• 7 Ways to Spark Inspiration By Ingela Johansson in a guest post of Julie McElroy
• Who Takes Care of the Pastor When They Are Hurting – By Pastor Kevin
• Why Distraction Steals Your Purpose By Sue Miley

I’m still open for more blogging buddies. Let me know if you’re up for it.

Prayer Items

• It looks like I’ll be doing two seminars this month in a couple of churches in Edmonton called “Hope for Healing” we’re looking for miracles so please help us pray for them.
• Praying the right advertisers will partner with us. Praying they’ll be abundantly blessed by doing so.
• Praying for everyone who reads “Hope In Transition” that people will be encouraged and lives will be changed.

Have a great week everyone. Next one is an exciting one on RevTrev.com.

-Trevor

What Does Repenting from Evil Deeds Mean?

I got this video from Pastor Tom’s blog The Favored Life. It’s a powerful story you’ll want to listen to. Makes we want to know more about Hope‘s journey. What do you think of it? Enjoy.

Truth:

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” Numbers 20:12 (New International Version)

Thought:

God almost always punished the children of Israel when they grumbled against Him as they spent the 40 years wondering in the desert. There was one time He didn’t. Instead He punished Moses – the one who interceded for the people time and time and time again.

It was the time Moses’ reaction to the sin of the people was in direct disobedience to what God told him to do. Look at Numbers chapter 20. The people once again complained to Moses. He went before God and was told to lift up his rod over the rock. Instead he struck it twice and was told he wouldn’t bring the people into the land of promise.

Seems a bit harsh, doesn’t it?

Maybe we should see how seriously God takes our response to negative situations. Moses’ reaction to the complaints of the people made him sin against God.

Do we ever allow our negative circumstances to let us choose to sin against God?

One of the lessons God is teaching me through these 40 Days for Life Above the Negativity is I need to be careful how I react to actions, attitudes and spirits that set themselves up against the knowledge of Christ.  When people who should know better seem to act under the spirit of stupor I want to confront them and challenge them and get them to see it right… I need to digress; I’m fasting from negativity and as you can see, I may have a way to go to make it a lifestyle.

I know how God wants me to react. I’ll share more of that in about two days. But for now it’s enough for you to know that how we react to those around us is important to God.

Moses couldn’t enter the promise land because of how he reacted to the grumbling of the people of Israel.

So how are we to act positively in extremely negative situations?

The key is to practice the presence of God.

Brother Lawrence was a 16th century Carmelite monk and was the first to popularize this discipline. He saw God in everything. All his work was “as unto the Lord.”  He wrote in what in what would become “The Practice of the Presence of God”:

“As often as I could, I placed myself as a worshiper before Him, fixing my mind upon His holy presence, recalling it when I found it wandering from Him. This proved to be an exercise frequently painful, yet I persisted through all difficulties.”

Practicing the presence of God is focusing on His holy presence wherever we are, whatever we do.  When you live within a negative environment, you need to live with the understanding given to us by JB Philips’ translation of Romans 12:1-3:

“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands, and moves toward the goal of true maturity” (Romans 12:1-3; Phillips)

Don’t use your negative environment as an excuse to remain negative. As a child of the one who created the weather, you bring your own weather wherever you go. As you allow God to renew your mind from within, you will begin to change the world around you.

You are the salt of the world and light of the earth. You preserve and illuminate the area where you are. The gates of hell cannot prevail against you so live the promise of Isaiah 26:3:

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (NLT)

Prayer:

Lord, I know it matters to You how I respond to other people’s negativity. Forgive me for responding negatively myself. Help me, Holy Spirit, to recognize the holiness of God wherever I go. Enable me loving God to bring Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control wherever I go.

Challenge:

Take up the 16th century challenge of Brother Lawrence and as often as you can today, place yourself before God as a worshiper and fix your thoughts on His goodness and holiness. Bring Him into your thoughts and conversation today.

Declaration:

I choose to change my negative environment by seeking God and pursuing His peace.

We can honor the Father because He’s first honored us. He has lifted us up and seated us in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4-6). He has changed our relationship from being a servant to being a friend (John 15:15), He’s called us His co-workers(2 Corinthians 6:1), and He’s made us joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

Why has He done this? Why does He cause the sun to rise on the evil and good and send rain on the righteous and unrighteous (Matthew 5:45)?

It’s the same reason why we need to honor all people:

He can’t allow another’s lack of honor to affect who He is.

I can’t allow another’s attitude to change who He has called me to be.

Biblically speaking, honor isn’t simply for the honorable. Honor is…

Raising another up to my level, because I can’t allow their attitude to change who I am.

If honoring someone is raising them up to my level, we should find evidence of it being done in Scripture. There are plenty of examples. I’ll give you three:

Jonathan did this for David when he gave David the servant his clothes (1 Samuel 18:3-4 ).

And Jonathan made a solemn pact with David, because he loved him as he loved himself. Jonathan sealed the pact by taking off his robe and giving it to David, together with his tunic, sword, bow, and belt. (NLT)

David did this for Mephibosheth when he gave the crippled grandson of his enemy room at his table (2 Samuel 9:8 ).

Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” (NLT)

Most vividly, Jesus did this when He washed Judas’ feet after Judas was already prompted to betray Him (John 13:2-5).

It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

Have you ever caught that in the story? The devil had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus, and Jesus washed his feet. His example is why I can assert “Honor is raising another up to my level, because I can’t allow their attitude to change who I am.”

Jesus did it. He gave us the Spirit to help us. This is how and why we honor all people. Lord, help all your children to grasp this and not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications into every area of our lives.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:25 (The Message)

Love to hear your thoughts. The next post will be on how we can honor in conflict.

Too many followers of Christ are confused about forgiveness. They live out of lies they hold to as truth.

We don’t forgive because we believe the violator needs to pay. We feel the one who did us wrong needs to understand what we were put through. We want the one who sinned to acknowledge what they did and make amends.

But we must awaken to the fact that un-forgiveness leads to bitterness and separation from God. He has forgiven us and wants to enable us to make the choice to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Here are some questions I’ve come across over the years. If someone else has asked them, I know other people are thinking them. Let’s use Scripture to clear up the confusion.

Q. Does the offender pay if I don’t forgive?

A. No. But you pay. You only harm yourself when you refuse to forgive wrongs done to you.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.(Matthew 6:14-15 NRSV)

If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.
(Luke 6:37 NLT)

Un-forgiveness is a sin God cannot look upon. It separates us from our loving Creator. If you want to see how serious it is, check out Jesus’ parable of the unrepentant servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

Q. Does forgiving someone let him or her “off the hook”?

A. No. It puts them into God’s hands.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19 NIV)

Q. Shouldn’t I wait until they change before I forgive?

A. No.
Forgive as Christ forgave you (Col 3:13).

How did the Father forgive us?
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8).

Before we deserved it… He showed us grace. You must choose to forgive whoever has wronged you.  We forgive for the sake of our relationship with God, not for the sake of the other person.

Q. Shouldn’t I wait until I feel like forgiving?

A. Don’t wait until you feel like forgiving… you never will. Forgiveness is a choice, a decision of your will.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

Q. Do I need to trust someone I forgive?

A. No. Forgiveness and trust are two separate issues.
Forgiveness is given while trust is earned. Forgiving someone does not mean they don’t face the consequences for their actions. It does not mean you put yourself into harm’s way. You are not a doormat for those who would hurt you.

This is excerpt from “The Freedom of Forgiveness” by Trevor Lund