And on that day, when evening had come, He said to them,

"Let us go over to the other side."       Mark 4:35

 

As we come upon the close of another year, it is traditional to take an inventory of accomplishments and to evaluate the challenges we faced during the year.  I know that for me, I was consumed the entire year with the voice of the Holy Spirit reminding me that He has given us the power to choose and that we can and should use that power to fulfill God's purpose for our lives.  He reaffirmed to me over and over again throughout the year to take special care to seek Him for guidance about measurable short term  goals that would lead to the fulfillment of His long term purpose for me and the ministry of Praise On Fire Radio.  His intention for me was that I should achieve my goals and use my faith and the "power of choice" to get it done! I started the year with an ambitious and yet do-able list of goals .  I am happy to report that over the course of the year, most of these goals have been met, not the least of which was to more than double our Praise On Fire Radio listenership.  Thanks to God's grace, a lot of hard work and your faithfulness to listen, we did it! In December we hit our all-time high of 13,000 Total Listening Hours in a thirty day period and came close to maximizing our top Single Listener capacity several times. It has been an amazing year! But, as I set out this year with my God-given strategy, it did not take long for me to come face to face with my adversary and with the devil's counter plans for me.  In recent days, as the year was coming to a close, the warfare was particularly fierce and caused me to reach up to the Lord again and again.  As the storms have raged, I've heard His calm and steady voice saying to me, "Stay the course, We are going to the other side!"

 

   You must understand that if you are going to set your heart to walk with and serve God, your adversary the devil is going to utilize every tactic at his disposal to keep you from fulfilling God's word to you.  In the passage of scripture we began with, Jesus spoke out God's word and strategy for Him and His disciples, "We're going to the other side!" You know the story. On the way, in the middle of the lake, a huge storm blew up, not only threatening the fulfillment of what God had told them to do, but threatening their very lives too!  Jesus said in John 16:33, "In this world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."  How do you hold fast to your victory when tribulation comes?  How did Jesus consistently overcome? Answer: Jesus always stayed focused.  He always stayed ON COURSE! He never let the devil control his focus.  He never let the devil set the agenda. No matter what kind of storm Satan kicked up, Jesus kept His eyes on what God had said.

 

   Your victory is 100% dependent on your viewpoint and the opinions you form about what you experience and see.  The devil wants to attack you and shift your focus to what he is attempting to do.  He wants to kick dirt on you and then get you to talk about it — dwell on it — rehearse it — perpetuate it! That's how he sets and dominates the agenda for your life.  Jesus never let him do that. Jesus stayed focused on God's word, God's strategy, God's agenda. Jesus stayed ON COURSE!

 

   Mark 4:38 shows how the disciples slipped into the trap of the devil and started letting him call the shots.  As the storm  raged, they cried out to Jesus, "Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?" Emotions and fear were dominating them. Mark 4:19 teaches that Satan uses the "cares" of the world to steal the word of God's agenda out of your heart.  The disciples got focused on the storm instead of God's agenda.  But, Jesus said, "We're going to the other side!"

 

   However, He also understood that when the enemy flares up, he must be dealt with.  In verse 39, the scripture says that Jesus rose up and rebuked the wind and commanded the sea.  One of the major differences between Jesus and most of us, obviously, is that when He rose up to speak out, He really "had the goods"! The Bible says that the wind died down and the sea became perfectly calm.  Everything about Jesus reflected His authenticity. The storm was calmed because Jesus was calm.  The calm came forth out of Him.

 

   When we are facing a storm, if need be, let us first go directly to the Lord ourselves and receive peace and calm, strength and faith from Him. Then let us, like Jesus, stand and speak forth out of that which the Father has imparted to us, and release from within ourselves, our bold confidence in the agenda and purpose of our Father! No matter what the challenge, let us stay the course and keep our focus on Him and His will for us.

 

   As you take inventory of your accomplishments for the year and evaluate whatever challenges were left unmet, do not let anything discourage you.  Above all, we are hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit say to us, "Stay the course!" There is still time and grace for the strategies and goals that you have received from Him.  Let Him continue to set your agenda and hold fast to His plan.  As you know, at the end of our story, Jesus and His disciples did arrive at the other side.  The example of Jesus for us is as victorious overcomer — one who completed God's agenda.  He stayed the course and finished His assignment from God.  His whole life and ministry demonstrated this as the strategy He employed.

 

   When the devil's bunch wanted to throw Jesus off of a cliff, He simply passed through the midst of them. (Luke 4:30) In Mark 2:6-11, Jesus spoke of forgiving a man's sin and the religious leaders, offended by what He was saying about Him having power to forgive sin, began to throw up a lot of flak in the spirit realm.  The Bible says Jesus was aware in His spirit of what they were thinking in their hearts, but He refused to be diverted.  He never missed a beat. He healed the man anyway.  Mark 6:1-6 tells us Jesus was rejected by His own home town, but still He wouldn't stop.  Mark 3:21 speaks of when His own family came to "take custody" of Him because they believed that He had lost his mind! No matter what, He never deviated from His course.  Here we see one of the secrets of Jesus' success.  He refused to let anything the devil tried to do set the agenda for HIm.  He stayed focused and on course, determined to fulfill all that His Father had given Him.  The result was that He was completely unmanageable for the devil !!

 

   God's word says, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain.  And I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus!   Run the race in such a way that you may win and hold fast to the end!"  Don't let the devil change the agenda, brethren.  Be courageous!  Stay focused!  Stay on course!  Use your faith!  Choose to win!

 

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