Cling to HOPE

Cling to Hope

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16

I must confess that over the last few weeks I feel like I have been in the boxing ring of life and knocked down hard, with the overwhelming feeling of defeat. I have experienced it spiritually, mentally and physically. I have arrived where the deepest hurts and wounds – those that seem to define me for my entire life - is being brought to the place where Dr. Jesus can do what is needed. It's raw, exposed and it hurts – overwhelmingly so.

I confess too, that I am believing that this “down for the count” experience will lead to a radical life changing victory. Defeat is part of life. I was thinking about the story of the woman with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus' garment and was healed.

43 "Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihoo...

 More than Conquerors

"Defeat is temporal, but only if you do something about it."

Defeated means: (a) Having been defeated in a battle or contest. “The defeated army” Yep, that’s right. It means you lost; you have been beaten; victory was not yours.

I don’t know anyone that likes to lose. It’s not a nice feeling. It gets you down, it makes you miserable and can even make you depressed. But defeat is part of life. We all experience defeat at some stage in our lives. Individuals, teams, organizations, armies, governments and even entire nations know defeat. We see it in news headlines, on television, we read it on social media.

But we also read it in the Bible. Yep, defeat is in the Bible! It’s not created by man or the devil. God uses it in His greater plan for us. Sometimes we need defeat to bring us to our knees. Sometimes we need defeat to realize that we are out of God’s will. Sometimes it's through our own doings, our own plans and ideas, our own disobedience.

Dis

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Turning defeat into a WIN

Read your Keys

Joel Lopez is the founder of Read Your Keys, a self-discovery business, and a Life Languages certified coach. He majored in psychology hoping to find insight and found none.

In his pursuit of wisdom, he attended personal development courses and conferences. Through his search he discovered God’s heart for him and his purpose.

His goal is to help men to discover their God-given identity so they can fulfill their destiny.

Originally from Southern California, Joel is married to his high school Sweetheart and lives in Arizona with their four young children.

Connect with Joel:

https://www.facebook.com/readyourkey/?

EXTRA SHOW NOTES

Finally, You Can Tear Up That Prayer List! Statistics show that conversational and relational skills are the MOST EFFECTIVE way to introduce Biblical truths and have a front row seat to miracles when YOU minister to YOUR friends and family. Imagine, no more lost relationships or closed doors to spi...

It's time to ROCK

A ROCK solid foundation is needed to transform and build life on

Erik Salzenstein's story is one that truly shows the power of change and what's possible. From greed and addiction to purpose and fulfillment. Erik found himself facing life in prison, with his back against the wall where he finally had to face his worst enemy up until that point.....himself.  

What stands out that he had to go to prison to find freedom and realized he was in his own prison long before actually being behind bars. He then went on to spend 4 years relentlessly pursuing personal growth, coaching, speaking, running workshops and even being published in a newspaper all while in prison. He developed a 4 step process using the acronym ROCK that allowed him to tap into his full potential and develop the ROCK solid foundation needed to transform and build his life on. He's since used this process with much success to his clients lives. 

Erik is a powerful and sought out speaker and tr...

Turning defeat into a WIN 

Take the lemons in your life and open up a lemonade stand

Losing a checker or ping pong game, a race or boxing match, a board game or not winning the lottery - these are examples of when we can "suffer defeat." Friendly, healthy competition has winners and losers. It doesn't define who we are as individuals.

However, in other life situations, we allow defeat to define us: bankruptcy, divorce, fired from a job, loss of a limb, debilitating disease, even things like tragedy, retirement, incarceration, or unexpected loss of a loved one. We often file these devastating events under "defeat" and go through a period of mourning, depression, or shame. We can feel as though "life is over" or that "we're a loser" or "we'll never amount to much because of...." (fill in the blank).

If we stay too long in these things they become baggage that we carry with us into each new season of life. The compounding weight can become very cumbersome.

A boxing match

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Turning defeat into a WIN  

You already have everything you need.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. Psalm 23:1

The famous king and poet, David, wrote this lyric as a man acquainted with pain. David was told from a young age that he would be king. Nothing pointed to that promise coming true for years. In fact, the sitting king hated his guts and chased him around the wilderness, trying to kill him.

David understood that even when he had nothing, and was on the run with his life in the balance, he already had what he needed. He learned to trust that the Lord was his shepherd, provider, protector... even when circumstances were at their worst.

It seems the bigger the promise, the greater the pain on the journey. The secret is believing along the way, “the Lord is my shepherd, I already have what I need.”

 

The journey of faith insists upon rest.

He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. Psalms 23:2-3a

When w

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This Episode: Holiness

In this episode Mama J and Chad have a great conversation about infectiousness, Love, Holiness and choice.

"Holiness is not infectious." Haggai 2:10-14

Haggai describes how God's glory will fill His house. We are God's house, His dwelling place. God was teaching His priests (which we are also) the principle that holiness and unholiness don't mix.

If I put a drop of saltwater into a container of pure water; it's no longer pure. If a moldy piece of fruit is in a basket with good fruit, what happens? The moldy fruit contaminates the whole basket.

However, the reverse is not true. Saltwater is not made pure by pouring pure water into it. Good apples in the basket will not un-contaminate the moldy one. Same with us. God gave Adam and Eve freedom, authority and access to Himself. He only had one restriction: "Don't eat from that tree!"

There HAD to be a choice involved. Otherwise their relationship with God would not be based on love-because-I-want-to,

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OVERCOMING ANXIETY 

Ketia Francis-Johnson is a Purpose Driven Success coach, inspirational speaker, educator, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder and President of the Alexandra O. Johnson Foundation, owner of God’s Girl LLC and 1 Royal Life, LLC.

She is a charismatic orator who has been featured on several platforms advocating for cancer patients, providing bereavement support for parents who have lost a child.

Ketia’s passion is to empower women who feel overwhelmed and uncertain
about the direction of their life connect with their true calling and embrace their God gifts, enabling them to experience financial abundance and the freedom to live the life of their DREAMS.

Ketia is a woman of faith who believes that with God all things are possible! As a result of experiencing unbearable grief after losing her beautiful 20 year old daughter, Allie, in a car accident, Ketia is compelled to share how faith in God and His unfailing love helped her regain the courage to move fo...

Be #EPICStrong

Chad says:

2021 #EPICStrong

The prophetic in the Bible is packaged in order to offend the flesh (to bring conviction) and to reveal the spirit. God's desire is for you to stay aligned to His righteousness.

Your best never comes easy!

The price you pay in the struggle is worth it for the reward that comes...
Freedom
True contentment
Victory
Wholeness
Joy
Peace...and more!

I recently heard an example of how this plays out: A husband said, "The other day, my wife was washing clothes.

The washing machine is a distance from where I was sitting watching TV, and she and I began talking loudly back and forth, and ended up, getting on each other’s last nerve.

This depressed me because earlier in the day, I had a real good prayer asking Father God to give me patience, and more love for others—trying to fulfill the “love your neighbor as yourself” instructions.

Agitated and frustrated I retreated to my “man cave,” my office.

I put on a CD by Dr. Clarice Fluitt. She asked: Do you know what the part in a

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