No Corners Cut, No Pacifying, No Round-About Way

Lou Coleman

One of the things that the Bible gives us is incredible testimonies. It gives us a glimpse of the struggles and successes of people that went through some things. Without these testimonies, we would think that we were the only ones who went through what we are going through. I’m talking to somebody today who’s agitated, and stirred in your spirit, because you sense God is calling you to another level. Many times the agitation and frustration you feel is the unwillingness of the flesh to make the necessary adjustments. Don’t think that what you are experiencing is some strange or unique battle. On the contrary, you are in good company! Recall Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, David, and Paul. Perhaps like Paul, you are being pressed beyond measure, tested beyond your endurance and you’re on the brink of giving up. I just stop by to encourage you to keep your faith; because God is going to see you through. When you think you can’t go on another hour, when everything looks absolutely hopeless, cry out to God with all that is in you, “Lord, help!” Consider the counsel of the psalmist: Psalm 58:16-18; 18:1-6; 32:2-3; and the key verse 72:12.

Can I tell you about Jeremiah?  Jeremiah was called at an early age, and he was called to a great assignment, but Jeremiah felt that his assignment was too great for him. The persecution that he endured as a result of doing what God called him to do force him to throw his hands up and tell the Lord that he wanted to quit!”  This message today is for people just like Jeremiah. You know that God has a great assignment for your life, but the truth is you are at a place in your life where you are contemplating just giving up. Some of you woke up this morning declaring, “If I don’t get a Word today I AM DONE!”  You have decided that you are not going to fight for it anymore. Your frustration is at an all time high. You love the Lord, but you have decided that God is going to have to find somebody else to finish your assignment.  But isn’t it amazing how God will send His Word at the right time so we cannot walk away from the awesome thing that He is going to do in our life.

There are two things that I would like for you to REMEMBER ALWAYS. No matter what the devil is doing with you, you must know that you are necessary and that you are significant to the Kingdom. You see the enemy is trying to corrupt you, “He don’t want you to know the truth”. In fact he don’t even like you because when you made up in your mind that you’re going to serve God, the devil got real angry with you. But, “To Hell with the Devil!”    When you have gone through Hell, and High Water, and you know God brought you out, you don’t mind saying something; you don’t mind telling the devil, “The Hell with You!”  The devil realizes that if he can make you give up, he will literally manipulate God’s agenda for you. That’s why Quitting is not an option! You may say, but you don’t understand! Oh I understand alright. Assignments are tough! Jeremiah assignment was to prophesy concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Jeremiah’s assignment was to go to the people of God who had fallen into apathy. These were people that had become lukewarm and had chosen to fall away from God. These were people that God had been good too, but had chosen to live contrary to His Word and as a result had become so arrogant that they walked around saying they could do what they wanted to do because God was with them. These were the people that Jeremiah had to prophesy to. When God gives you an assignment, the assignment is never to make the comfortable more comfortable. The assignment is always to make the comfortable uncomfortable. The assignment is always to effect change. It is to push them into their destiny whether they like it or not. Your conflict, agitation, frustration is because God has placed a call on your life. And the enemy is trying to stop you so the assignment will never come to fruition. But the devil is so stupid, he don’t realize you can’t hinder God’s work.

All of us have cried over what we have gone through while trying to do God’s will. It is a test of our character. God wants to know if you will represent Him while you are going through what you are going through. It is about how you will act under pressure. You were anointed for your assignment. This is really about a commitment.  You have to realize the Sovereignty of God. You have to realize that you didn’t choose the assignment, the assignment chose you. If you give up, somebody’s life will be affected. God has sent His Word to remind you that you have been anointed for the trial. You have been consecrated for this. “I Want You to Know That…You Are Not the Only One!” Thank God for His Word – Revelation.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

To trust or not to trust, that is the question, and the decision that you make between those two choices, is either going to give you sweet peace of mind, or make you worry your whole life through! Listen, the answer to stress free, worry free living, is to seek God, seek out His righteousness and TRUST Him to see you through! I tell you, “I’ve got a Feeling; Everything’s Going to Be Alright!”

Bible history tells us that God likes to do amazing things in our lives when we untie His hands with our faith. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” There is such a sweet peace that only God can give when one finally places it ALL in His hands. And it’s a wonderful place to live! But sometimes we stop short of God’s blessings. We think that three times is good enough. Then we want to quit! But I tell you, instead of turning back or contemplating quitting you need to say to yourself, I’ve come too far to turn back now!  In Joshua 24, Joshua calls all the tribes, elders, officers, and people of Israel together to Shechem. He reminded them of all the glorious things God had done for them. Joshua, in essence was saying, look here, I’ve thought about this thing, but all that keeps coming to me is how good God has been. So “make your choice whom ye are going to serve, but I’ve come too far to turn back now. For me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

I want you to know today if you have been saved one day, one hour, one minute, or even one second, you too, have come too far to turn back now.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not faint.  I tell you; in God the possibilities are endless! Don’t Quit Now! Too much is at stake! Instead dig deeper and grow to new heights in Him. God is able! He’s the God of the impossible. Besides, the Bible makes it very clear: If we don’t believe this about Him, we don’t trust Him at all. John writes, “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar” (1 John 5:10).  Get a hold of faith- believe God to absolutely change and transform your life. If He provided for the destitute widow, for the demon-possessed boy, and for Jarius daughter, He can provide for you. Our God can fix anything. Tell the Devil, “It’s too late! You’ve come too far to turn back now.

I know many of us have been and most of us are at that place where we need God to work it out for us RIGHT NOW! We need a breakthrough NOW! Not tomorrow, but RIGHT NOW! I want to encourage you though, to hold on because change is coming “Jesus told me, everything’s going to be alright!”  I want you to know that it was in the belly of the whale when Jonah was at his breaking point that God stepped in. Hannah was at her breaking point when she began to pray. They thought she was drunk, but it was at this moment that God stepped in on her behalf. Even Jesus in the garden was at his breaking point, desired that his bitter cup be removed. I tell you, “I’ve Got A Feeling; Everything’s going to be Alright!

So in every venture you undertake in life, give it your all. Whatever you take upon yourself to do in life, give it everything you have and NEVER let quitting become a commonplace in your life, no matter how hard things gets.  Because faith is trusting that even when nothing makes sense, God still has a plan. Faith is knowing that when everything is crumbling around you, your hope is never misplaced when it’s put in the loving hands of God.  So before you give up and walk away from something, do what Mary did at the tomb: look again!  Because In every situation you encounter, you can trust that God will send and provide just what you need, just when you need it the most! Mary had almost given up; her spirit was low; she had little faith. She backed out of the tomb, but then she turned around and looked again! This time, she saw Jesus! He may not come when you want him to, but He’s always on time!  DON’T GIVE UP… LOOK AGAIN! “Jesus told me, everything’s going be alright!”

My hope is that through these messages you will come to understand new dimension of God and the distinct mentality necessary to pursue God’s promise of new life. It has been my heart’s desire to ENCOURAGE and inspire you to step out in faith in order to grab hold of the good things God has in store for you. “I’ve Got a Feeling; Everything’s Going to be Alright! Be alright, Be alright, Be alright!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

“Mama always said, “Stupid is as stupid does” – Forrest Gump. 

I tell you, too many of us “Believers” get stuck on stupid. We can be orthodox, faithful in our church attendance, givers, read our Bibles, pray regularly and still be stuck on stupid. Jonah was. In the beginning Jonah was stuck on stupid and he hadn’t learned a thing. And if we continue to keep repeating the same stupid sin, then we too are stuck on stupid.  Yes, the truth cuts, but truth never fears scrutiny.

The problem with most of us is that we have an arrested theological development. We go back to the way we always thought and don’t want to be shaken. But as Forrest’s sergeant asked in the movie, “What’s the matter with you? Are you stupid or something?” And just like Forrest, we stand at attention and bark, “Stupid is as stupid does, sir!”

Where am I going with this? Actions speak louder than words. Christian is as Christian does, faith is as faith does, and love is as love does. My friend, if you are still repeating the same sin that you did five years ago; ten years ago or even twenty years ago, and if you’re not growing; if you’re not even baby-stepping spiritually, then you’re probably stuck on stupid. The good news is that you don’t have to stay there. You can grow. You can change… starting today! As the writer of Hebrews challenged, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1). God wants all of us to keep growing in grace until He graduates us and takes us home.

You know there is a huge difference between knowing the truth and living the truth. All the things that Jonah said while he was inside the fish were all things that he knew to be true before he set foot on the boat. But even though he knew it, he didn’t live it. Even though he knew all that about God, it still didn’t stop him from running away from God. I tell you at that point we can be a lot like Jonah. We can know the truth about what God has done for us in Jesus, but that doesn’t mean we always live it out. We can know that we have been saved from our sin, but sometimes our lives don’t show it. Jonah never got it. He was stuck on stupid. He never got over his sin of prejudice. He was still bitter and angry as the book closed. He still had a high opinion of himself and he’s hung on to the petty. Jonah never learned the lesson that God was trying to teach him.  How about you? Or are you a modern day Jonah? “Stupid is as Stupid Does!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

Nelson Mandala said,-“I Am the Master of my Fate and the Captain of my Destiny”… It’s true… The one thing in life which you have complete control over: You’re thinking!

Unfortunately, I have heard parents tell their children they were stupid and would never amount to anything. Ten years later, the child does not work, is on drugs, and is an alcoholic with a wasted life. Those words got into the heart and spirit of that child and directed that life. Everything said, came to pass!

Hear me and hear me good. If someone says to you, “You will never be successful.” “Your dreams will never come to pass” and you dwell on those words then by your own action you have given them life. Things people say about you cannot hurt you UNLESS planted, watered, and nurtured. What do I mean? You plant it by believing it. You water and fertilize it by dwelling upon it. If you do that, it will produce fruit. You must realize that YOU control your own destiny through the power of YOUR WORDS. You cannot control what people say about you, but you can control if those words take root and grow in your life. Don’t you know that WHAT YOU SAY about yourself SUPERSEDES anything that anyone says about you? You need to begin saying about yourself what God says about you. God says, “You are more than a conquer” (Roman 8:37). God says, “You can do all things” (Phil 4:13). God says, “You are the head and not the tail. (Deut. 28:13.) God sees you, “healthy and prospering” (3 John 1:2). You are an overcomer (1 John 4:4). NOTHING CAN STOP YOU! Not even the Devil (1 John 2:14). Your attitude must be, “I don’t care what anyone says about me, I am destined to win. God is on my side. He has a plan to prosper me and give me a hope and a future.” Because if you are going to live a victorious life you must think victorious and not allow negative words to take root in your heart. Refuse them and begin speaking God’s vision for you over your own life. God’s plan for your life is so much larger than you have every imagined.

Remember David? He had a dream to be king of Israel. At every turn, people were negative. His dad left him out of the selection process when Samuel came to anoint the next King. With Goliath, David’s brother Eliab was negative towards him (1 Sam 17:28), but can I tell you what David did? David just turned away and kept pursuing success (1 Sam 17:30). Your family may not understand but don’t let that stop you. People in authority may not understand. David didn’t allow that to take root either. David saw himself as God saw him – Victorious! You got to see yourself as God sees you. It doesn’t matter what people say. I have been criticized in every way you can imagine, but I refuse to allow those words to take root. I refuse to allow those seeds to be planted. I am reminded of Isaiah 54:17 that says, “No weapon formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shall condemn.” Do you hear what I’m saying to you?  We are the ones who are to condemn every tongue that accuses us.  And yes, I know that some of you have had people do nothing but push you down and tell you what you can’t do and what you will be. But I want to encourage and challenge you today. I want you to hear God saying, “You can do all things. You are destined to do great things. You are destined to sit on the throne.” God has seated you in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Break free from every trap set by negative words. Change your way of thinking and see yourself as God sees you. Refute every negative word formed against you.

King Solomon said it best: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). This is necessary for three reasons.   Your heart is extremely valuable. We don’t guard worthless things. I take my garbage to the street every Wednesday night. It is picked up on Thursday morning. It sits on the sidewalk all night, completely unguarded. Why? It is worthless. Not so with your heart. It is the essence of who you are. It is your authentic self – the core of your being. It is where all your dreams, your desires, and your passions live. It is that part of you that connects with God and other people.  If your heart is unhealthy, it has an impact on everything else. It threatens your family, your friends, and your legacy. I tell you, it is therefore, imperative that you guard it.

When Solomon says to guard your heart, he implies that you are living in a combat zone – one in which there are casualties. Many of us are oblivious to the reality of this war. We have an enemy who is bent on our destruction he not only opposes God, but he opposes everything that is aligned with Him – including us. Satan uses all kinds of weapons to attack our heart, even our on family and friends. For me, these attacks often came in the form of some circumstance that led to disappointment, discouragement, or even disillusionment. In these situations, I was tempted to quit – to walk off the field and surrender. This is why if you and I are going to succeed and survive as individuals, we must guard our hearts. It is more important than we can possibly imagine.  If we lose heart, we have lost everything. Guard your heart. Don’t limit God and don’t limit yourself. God will take you to victory after victory. You will enjoy the abundant life that God has planned for you. Now give the Lord a shout. Amen!

Now to all you “Sanctified Christian, Wholly than Thou.” You need to stop saying things that hurt, offend or are actually untrue. You need to stop engaging in unhelpful gossip, as well as using any put-downs or derogatory language. This behavior not only hurts others, but also corrupts you. You might say that sometimes things just slip out, but is that really any excuse? According to the principles of “guarding your heart”, the answer is firmly “NO!” You need to think in appropriate Heavenly Kingdom ways, so that, as a result, you can speak in helpful and God-honoring ways. Now shout unto the Lord, Yes & Amen! “It’s Your Thang Do Whatcha Wanna Do!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

I tell you we should all be like Habakkuk… Instead of standing staring in the face of his problem he backed off from the problem and he stood on solid ground. He gave up on what he didn’t know and started remembering what he did know and instead of worrying about why things were going the way they were going, and why in the world God was allowing this and allowing that, he just stood back and said, “Now wait a minute, my God is an eternal God, He’s a righteous God, He hates sin and He never does wrong, He always does right.” Once he had established what he knew about God then it was much easier to cope with what he didn’t know about the events around him.

Habakkuk’s attitude was: God I don’t understand everything; I don’t understand why you let Israel go. I don’t understand why you’re bringing the Chaldeans to judge them. I don’t understand why you’re going to wait to judge the Chaldeans after that. I don’t understand any of the things, but I know one thing God, You’re the God that is righteous. You’re the God that’s eternal. You’re the God that never makes a mistake. You’re the God that hates sin. You’re the God that never does anything wrong and I’ll stand on that and praise you anyhow.

In Chapter 2, Habakkuk is standing in the midst of an absolute dilemma. He is afraid. He is afraid for himself, he’s afraid for Israel. He can’t seem to justify and rectify all the parts of the situation, though he understands that God who allowed the situation is always right. He’s caught in a dilemma, but he does not ask for deliverance, he does not ask for personal escape, he does not ask for ease, he does not pray that God should spare Israel, he doesn’t even pray that there would be no victory for the Chaldeans and that they would lose the battle, he doesn’t pray that Jerusalem wouldn’t be sacked, he doesn’t pray any of these things because he knows in view of the kind of God that God is, God must judge. So he doesn’t even bother with those things. What he does pray is this: that God will do His work and that God will have His way…. What a tremendous prayer. He knows how to pray, contrary to most of us. He knows what to pray for. He’s not praying selfishly, he’s not praying biased in favor of his flesh or his people. He is praying singularly that God’s work come to fulfillment.

I tell you when you can arrive at that kind of position in prayer you have arrived. When you can look at the problems around you and the problems in your life and the problems in your world and say, “God I don’t care about those things, all I care about God, that you be glorified.” What a tremendous, tremendous prayer. Habakkuk had one thought in his mind and that was that God receive the due glory for doing His work. He says, God, if you’ve got to do it that way I want you to do it, revive your work in the midst of the years. His one desire was that things be right according to God’s plan, not comfortable according to his desires. Not peaceful, not easy, not happy, just right like God would have them. He wanted things to be the way God wanted them, and if you want a New Testament equivalent to that kind of a prayer you’ll find it in the prayer commonly called the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come.”

Habakkuk had made a fantastic transformation from fear to fate. He started out shaking like a leaf in Chapter 1, but he come to the consciousness of faith in a God that he knows is doing right. Our prayer ought to sound something like Habakkuk’s. We ought to be praying daily God be glorified in my life. God be glorified in my church. God be glorified in this world. That should be the cry and the prayer on the heart of every believer. Habakkuk had the right perspective. He had first things first. What really mattered to him were not the circumstances in the world around him, or his problems, although there were unbelievably bleak. The thing that really mattered to him was that God receive the glory. And that ought to be the thing that matters number one to us. Our concern should be the things of God that God’s work is coming to its fulfillment. What a tremendous lesson here. What can a person do in a state of human weakness? What can you do when you’re faced with all sorts of problems? Habakkuk said,” I’m going to stand here and love God and just keep on loving Him and praising Him no matter what happens.” Job said, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

Unless we see the big picture of what God is doing through the difficulties of life, the suffering, the pain, the iniquities, the injustices of life, we will miss the profound and foundational truth that God is using all of it for our ultimate good and His glory. So when all hell breaks loose in your world; when the worst comes to the worst; when everything is lost, step back from your problem, remember your God and start to rejoice with a holy joy based on love and adoration that nothing will ever touch. That you’re His and He’s yours and He cares for you and nothing will ever affect that in anyway. The sweetness of the spirit of Habakkuk. His problems were solved, not because he understood everything, but because he knew his God and he put his trust in Him. His circumstances caused him to shake, but his relationship to God was absolutely unshakeable. “Praise God Anyhow!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

It is amazing how many people have little or no convictions. They are ruled by the flesh instead of the Spirit. They think, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else and it gives them a sense of pleasure it must be okay. Living for the moment is their rule of life. Boy, how wrong could they be. This kind of living always leads to regrets.

Let me tell you something. To live a life for eternity means you live with certain convictions. It means your life is guided by something greater than your earthly desires and momentary pleasures. READ 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Convictions are more than personal preference. It goes deeper than that. A conviction is a basic scriptural principal which we purpose to follow, whatever the cost. There are things we feel are worth fighting for and maybe even dying for. Convictions are the center core of our faith. Convictions produce an inner strength and provide protection from wrong influences, desires and deceptions. These core convictions guide me and help me live my life. I refuse to compromise the name of Jesus to be politically correct. I live my life with purpose. I take seriously the issue of holiness in my life. I set boundaries for myself. I am motivated to live up to my new identity in Christ. I work at living a balanced life. These core convictions and values help me navigate life. Does it mean I have no regrets? Of course not. There are times I live selfishly and complacently and let the pressures around me dictate my time and actions instead of my convictions. There are times I over commit and lose focus. I have regrets like everyone else. We all have regrets in life. My goal is to minimize my future regrets and help others just starting out to understand what is truly important as we learn to live with eternity in our hearts.

Don’t wait for a crisis to take the steps you need to take now. You can’t recapture this moment, so live it boldly with conviction and with a view of eternity. Listen, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God in our lives. We all have regrets, but when we bring them to Jesus, He forgives them completely. I don’t want you walking around with guilt and condemnation. If you do, you missed the whole purpose of what I’m saying. Let me make it plain. We can’t rewind our lives. This message is about the future. It is about learning some lessons from the past so we live differently. It is about developing some core convictions to guide us in making wise choices as we go forward. The message is about hope. It is about living for eternity now. So shake off any sense of shame or condemnation and lift up your heads. We are all part of the company of the redeemed, and God will continue to redeem our past regrets. Hallelujah!

Well, I don’t know about you, but from this day forward, I want to live without regrets. There is no rewind button on this life. Once this day is over it is forever gone. I want to live with the end in mind, with eternity in my heart. I want you to know that you can live a life of significance. You can become the person God wants you to be (Matt. 7:24-27). But you must know that living a life of few regrets begins with having a set of convictions that we live by. Let’s move forward. James 4:14 ask, “What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Life is short. Do not wait until tomorrow. You need to obey now.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

The quote implies that a person can identify an unknown subject by observing that subject’s habitual characteristics. Follow me I’m going somewhere with this.  It is sometimes used to counter abstruse, or even valid, arguments that something is not what it appears to be. Oh, help me Jesus! Ah…

Too many of us that claim we know we’ve been changed still come into church with the same old crippled walk, the same old dry praise, the same old mope, frown, and hung head. When you act like you know you’ve been changed, your posture will change. You’ll come into the house of God with your head held high, no matter what you’re facing, and every time you experience God making a change in your life you’ll have a new shout, new run, new holler. Acts 3: 1-3: 10 tell us that, “We gotta act like we know we’ve been changed!

When you act like you know you’ve been changed, you don’t have to wait for other people to do for you what you can do for yourself. Before the lame man experienced a change, he had to rely on others to carry him where he needed to go. When he got his change though he automatically was able to push himself to a place of praise and worship in God. When you really know you’ve been changed, you don’t have to wait for nobody else to push you to a mindset of praise and worship in God! You don’t have to wait for the preacher, ministers, choir, praise team, or musicians, to push and provoke you to praise, you’ll come in busting the door down with praise because you know you’ve been changed!

When you act like you know you’ve been changed, you don’t allow your location or those around you to control whether you act like you know or not. Notice that the man didn’t wait until he got beyond the vale to praise and worship God, but he started doing it at the temple gate! Too many of us that say we know we’ve been changed only act like it in the house of God if that. When you know you’ve been changed you don’t have to wait until you get into the house of God to give Him praise, but you’ll bust loose with praise anywhere! When you know you’ve been changed, you ain’t worried about whose around you, who’s watching you, or who’s talking about you, you just give God glory. Amen!

In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul says to the Corinthian church, “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves (emphasis added).” If there is no evidence of salvation in your life now, you need to face the fact that you may not be a Christian. You need to examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith. How does one do that? Compare your life with the standard Christ presents in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:7) One word summarizes His standard: Righteousness.

Remember, the scribes and Pharisees went to the Temple regularly, paid tithes, fasted, and prayed constantly. But Christ wasn’t impressed with their religious performance. God expects a transformation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” In Matthew 5:13-14 Christ referred to believers as “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” A Christian’s life- style will be easily distinguishable from the worlds. Is it evident to those around you that your life is different? Evidence of salvation is always present in a true believer. Meeting Jesus opens up a whole new world to a person. You have a new nature in your heart – a new influence in your life – new confidence and outlook on life… you laugh at impossibilities. There is a new sense of happiness, usefulness, honor, safety.

Here is the Lord’s challenge – “Let me take you, remold you, change you.” I tell you, “It doesn’t take much of a man to be a Christian, but it takes all of him there is.” “If It Looks Like a Duck, Swims Like a Duck, and Quacks Like a Duck, Then It Probably Is a Duck.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

When you get an understanding,  understand that it’s not your job to figure out how God is going to do what He said He would do. The Word of God is true, pure ,tried and it has already been settled in the heavens,  never to be changed. So, if God speaks, that settles it, Period!

We are to believe what He says, and  trust Him even when we don’t understand what is going on!  Can I tell you that trust requires us to have unanswered questions?  You need to get “comfortable – not knowing.”  Stop trying to figure everything out!  Stop “staring” at your circumstances and fix your eyes on Jesus, “the Author & Finisher of your faith.”  Mediate on His track record for He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. Focus on the unlimited supply of the God we serve, the God of more than enough!

I tell you, it is important that you do not try to figure out, calculate, or reason how God is going to heal, deliver, set free, meet your needs, etc… rather you must just believe. When you try to figure out in your mind how God is going to do something, then you are not trusting. God never told us that faith required us to figure it out; rather faith requires us to rely on the truth and integrity of His Word. Can I help somebody right now. I know your figuring it out, is your back up plan, just in case God does not come through. But  I want you to know that anytime that you have a backup plan for God, then you are not believing Him.

You must begin to believe God first, and not require Him to prove that He can do it. God must become your salvation in all things. You are not to try to figure out how He is going to do what He promised to do. That’s His job.  Your job is to release your faith. You must release it and trust God. Psalms 37:5 says, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.” So stop trying to figure everything out! Put it away and raise your hands in Praise, thus saying “I trust you God, and I give it to you.” And when you pray, thank Him and expect Him to honor His Word, for  “this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hearth us.” Don’t try and figure it out any more, just let go and let God. It may not make sense right now, but one day when God’s whole plan unfolds you’ll see what God was up to.

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

In this life, if you choose to follow God’s assignment and God’s call on your life, know that it won’t be easy. It will not be a bed of roses. The reality is, there will come times in your life, rather than whining about how bad things are, you have to develop the resolve to square your shoulders and look the devil square in the eye and tell him, “It’s going to take more than that.”

In the Scripture, Paul tells about all the things he went through. It is a litany of experiences from one extreme to the next. Out of the context of this crisis, he talks about how he went through it all to help us understand that our assignment in the earth realm has to be GREATER than our assault in the earth realm. The Apostle Paul had to face all sorts of threats and dangers. The detailed plots on his life, angry crowds, and storms at sea, shipwrecks, all the forces of hell seemed to have been intensifying their efforts to keep him from reaching Rome.  But after two weeks of hurricane storm at sea, he survived the storm; he made it through the shipwreck; he made it through the rain. He survived the snake attack unharmed, and then he turned around and healed a number of sick people on the island. What the devil intended for evil, God turned into good.Tell the Devil, “It’s going to take more than that!”

What makes us who we are is our resolve to tell the Devil that we are not rookies at this thing. That it’s going to take more that that to break us.That it’s going to take more than that to make us walk away. That it’s going to take more than that to uproot us. For we have been at this thing too long and we have seen God turn situations around and we believe in our Spirit that God is able to sustain us. Tell him that you have chosen to look to the hills from which comes your help. The Preservation of God. He preserved Noah and his family. He preserved Abraham when he went down to Egypt. He preserved the children of Israel in Egypt and in the wilderness. He preserved Jonah in the fish’s belly. He preserved Joseph in prison and made him prince in the palace of Egypt. He preserved Peter in prison and from death and He will preserve me. I tell you, “It’s going to take more than that!”

Can I testify for a moment. The devil tried to take me out and the crowd was watching and waiting happily to see me drop dead so they could get a kick out of it and throw themselves a devil’s party. But God kept me; He preserved me, and I’M STILL HERE. I refuse to die! I’m never going to quit! “It’s going to take more than that!”

What’s the point of all this?  Don’t be ignorant. Make no mistake about it; the Devil wants to deprive you of love and of life. He wants to destroy and do away with the very reason you were created. He wants to muffle and neutralize your glory unto God the Father. He wants to get you to neglect your purpose by allowing things and situations in your life to become distractions. He will speak lies and say you have no purpose here. He will begin to make you feel as if your life is useless, that everything you do is ineffective. I tell you, The Devil is a liar!  Even though he is powerful and he is out to kill our purpose, by trying everything in his power to get us to neglect and turn away from our purpose, “It’s going to take more than that!” “Greater is He that is in us, than He that is in the world.”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

You have got to choose! The decision that God is calling for this day is of more importance than any other decision you will ever make. This decision is whether or not you will come to Christ and serve Him. It is a personal decision. It is so personal that no one can make it for you. It is a decision that must be made now! Why? Because you do not know what tomorrow holds (James 4:14). What is your life? “It is even a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.”

In Joshua Chapter 24, Joshua was faced with a great choice. That choice was related to who he would choose to follow in life…” If God is God, then this settles the matter. Joshua said, “For me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We should be either infidels or faithful followers of God. The very nature of this issue leaves no room for a middle position. There are only two paths that we can take in life and Jesus defines them in Matthew 7:13-14. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Two roads, one is good, the other is evil. One leads to life, the other leads to death. One will bring the blessings of God upon your family. The other will bring the curse of God upon your life which can affect your whole family. You have got to make a choice…Now!

Don’t get caught up in the false gods in the world — the god of consumption and materialism, the god of militarism, the god of fame and celebrity, and the god of individualism.  Don’t pursue things, pursue God. Choose to live God’s way. Living God’s way is a life of confidence and less worry. Living God’s way is a way of liberty knowing that you are held in His hands regardless of what happens to you while living on this earth. Live God’s way and be motivated by His Way. Don’t live according to the way of the world because at best the world is meaningless in the entire context of true life. Serve God and not the world.

Throughout the Bible we find that God holds up choices to people – life or death, righteousness or sin, justice or deceit – and He does not force us to live the good life. It is a choice. It is your choice. But He continually encourages us to make the right choices.  You know, Jesus said that those who refused to come to Him did so because they were evil and knew that their evil would be exposed in His light. I tell you, what was true of Moses day is true of today. You have got to choose! What way will you live: Godly or Worldly?

There is one major revelation that all Christians really need to grab a hold of and that is this: This life is for just a very short period of time compared to the eternal time frame that is operating in Heaven. Heaven is for eternity – our earthly life is not! The time we will spend in Heaven, and then eventually the New Heaven and New Earth, will be for the rest of our eternal lives – forever and ever. This earthly life is not even a blink of an eye compared to the eternal time frame that is operating in heaven. So ask you sure you want to call all of your own shots and do what you want to do in this life – all for earthly wealth that will completely perish and pass away the second you die and cross over to Hell? Or do you want to go with God’s perfect will for your life, accomplish the missions and goals that He wants you to accomplish for Him in this life, and then receive your full and final just rewards that will last forever once you enter into Heaven? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Heed the signs and Heaven will be your home. Ignore the signs and you are headed for a tragic ending.

You may not like this message, but you need to know where you are going when you leave this world more than anything else in this world or the one to come. Jesus makes it clear that man must choose which gate he goes through and what kind of life he lives. If you make this decision, then you also decide where you spend your eternity. I ask, or you a fool or are you wise? The Bible tells us that many will find their way onto the broad road than onto the narrow way. That is a sad thing! But, what’s really sad about the whole thing is that God continue to give us many chances throughout our lives to change roads. However, we ignore these opportunities and plunge headlong toward Hell with reckless abandon and without visible concern for our souls! Please do not let this happen in your life. You have the opportunity to change today, take advantage of it and come to Jesus for salvation! What are you holding on to today that is keeping you away from the Lord? Let me tell you, whatever it is, it isn’t worth the price you will have to pay to keep it! Throw it down and cast yourself on Jesus for salvation!

If the Lord is speaking to you about your soul and your salvation, heed His voice and come to Him right now! “Imagine a driver traveling down a highway passing sign after sign telling him that the bridge over the river ahead was out. Imagine that same driver plunging to his death in the river because he ignored all the signs. You say, “No one would do something so foolish!” Oh No? Isn’t that just what you are doing? You are speeding down the road of life toward your death and the bridge is out. Yet you ignore sign after sign telling you to stop and change roads. Don’t plunge into Hell! Come to Jesus and be saved. Come today. Come now!” It’s later than it’s ever been!