“Defeating the Whitecaps of Doubt”

Jesus didn’t say, “Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown.” Why did the disciples think they were going to go under in a storm? Did they not believe in the miracle working Lord who had fed 5000, opened blinded eyes, caused the lame to walk, and was moved with compassion to set people free? What was the disciple’s real issue? They didn’t believe Jesus when he said, “Let us go to the other side.” (Luke 8:22)

I love the lyrics Tim Shepherd wrote and the popular singing group, the Imperials, sang in the 70’s. "He didn’t bring us this far to leave us. He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown. He didn’t build his home in us to move away, He didn’t lift us to let us down."

ALL of us struggle with the fierce “Whitecaps of Doubt” that resist our faith. In order to get where we're supposed to go, we must use our FAITH to get there. Think about what He said to Joshua. “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For “then” you will make your way prosperous, and “then” you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8) ESV

This is the “only place” where the words prosperous and success are written in the bible together. God is saying; if you truly desire all that I have prepared for you, and if you really want to move forward to the other side, you “MUST” defeat the Whitecaps of Doubt. It is a fact, God does not lie, He never has and He never will. He ALWAYS brings to past what He has promised.

The word of God was written over 16 centuries by 40 authors with the same theme throughout the scriptures. Written by shepherds, soldiers, fishermen, physicians, tax collectors, kings, farmers and others. Written in three languages, in several different nations all with the same intensity to give us FAITH, to get us to the other side. That’s God’s promises for our lives.

Why would you allow some whitecaps to hinder, slow you down from God's intended purpose for your life?  Bibles have been burned by governments and banished from courtrooms, but God’s word still lives on today. This is the question before you today. Will you and I still allow His Word to LIVE inside of our spirit REGARDLESS of the Whitecaps of Doubt that fight our faith?

When you win in your faith, then you win with your vision, your purpose, and your destiny. Rise up today in faith and declare like Paul. “If God for me, who can be against me.” The Whitecaps are nothing for the power of our Master, our God. Jesus still speaks Peace to the Whitecaps of your situation today. Smile friend, God is still there, regardless of how rocky the boat gets. How is that?  Looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith! (Heb 12:2)

Turning Your Mess into Music

Max Lucado recently tells about some kids in Paraguay who are making music with their trash. They're turning washtubs in the kettledrums, drain pipes into trumpets. Playing Beethoven with their plastic buckets. Two men in that country became very creative with the trash in a landfill. They turned a paint can and a oven tray into a violin. Their next instrument was a cello. And these kids are making music of it.

But how is that possible? Somebody got creative and turned a mess into some music. Thousands of years ago, the creator of the universe, our supernatural God, created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. He spoke the moon and the stars into existence. He created man from the dust of the earth. When he spoke, the birds began to sing and the whales began to swim in the deepest oceans and the lions begin to roar in the jungles.

Today you may be despondent, discouraged and full of doubt about your future! If God can create a man from the dust of the earth, just what can he do with you and me. God’s word declares, "For we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God."  But when God gets a hold of you and me, He can transform an alcoholic and make him free.  He can take someone bound on heroin and cocaine and cause them to live a productive life. Is there anything too difficult for God to do in a human life?

There's never been anybody yet that God did not love. There's never been a creature yet that He could not change and transform. God specializes in creating miracles out of our lives.

Look at Peter, a fisherman who walked with him three years, but yet he denied Christ when he was being tried as a fake. He said, "I never knew him. " What could God possibly do for one like Peter? Fifty plus days later, The Lord restored and renewed him and caused him to preach on the day of Pentecost with 3000 people coming to Christ.

Look at Moses. The man who had a calling to see Israel delivered out of Egypt. One day he kills an Egyptian soldier who is beating on a Hebrew man. He then runs for his life, yet God is not finished with His plan. Whether you believe it or not, God can make some music out of your mess. After forty years on the backside of a desert in hiding, God produces a fire out of the bush in the desert. God speaks out of the bush and declares "take your shoes off, you’re on holy ground."

God was saying, I’m not finished with your life just yet. You just thought it was over with your dilemma, but I am about to make some music in Egypt like they've never seen or heard before. After 10 plagues and the drowning of the most powerful nation in the world, Israel is on the other side of the Red Sea singing, dancing to a song that no one would ever forget.

Why not believe today that God can write a new song out of the hick up, hurt, and pain in your own life. Why not use your faith in Christ today? The greatest creator who ever walked the planet earth is about to write the greatest chapters of your life. Why not believe today that God can still make some music out of your mess. When He does, you won't be the first one nor the last that can sing, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me."

Dealing with the “White Caps on your sea of life?”

Most of us would much rather deal with a calm sea than to face contrary winds and waves that threaten to sink our boat. Who wants to go boating when the waves and winds are ugly and mean? It sure makes for a bumpy, uncomfortable and challenging journey. Christ tells the disciples, “Let's go to the other side of the lake.” So they got in the boat and sailed. (Luke 8:22-25)

Jesus finds a place in the boat to take a nap. He’s already been working great miracles, seeing lives transformed, but now it's time for rest. But as they journeyed, a “Great Wind ” came down on the lake.

Where does this wind come from? Seemingly out of nowhere a force from hell is attempting to hinder their progress? Could God’s mission be derailed? Would his disciples faint and lose heart with the whitecaps on the sea? Would they learn something new about this Jesus who’s greater than any winds, waves or storms that show up in life? Now waves of water are coming in the boat. Now, what? Is this it? Is this the way our life is going to end?

The disciples wake Jesus up and say, “Master, we're going to drown, we're all going to die. Aren’t you going to do something about it?” Jesus rebukes the wind and says, "Quiet down!" And the sea becomes like glass. Then Jesus says to them, “Why can’t you trust in me?”

The whitecaps of the sea may come to drown your purpose in life, but God can use it to intensify and develop your courage, trust and faith in your God. David said, “So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do to me.” Just how are you going to boldly say the Lord is your helper if you’ve never seen the Lord “SPEAK PEACE” to your wind? What kind of boldness will you have unless you’ve watched God turn the whitecaps of life into a calm sea? Who will you become unless you've worked through the whitecap waves to the other side?

The word says, “The disciples were amazed that the winds obeyed his command. Is there anything to hard for the Lord to do in your life today? Has God lost his power and ability to move your mountains, defeat your giants, make a way where there seems to be no way in your finances, marriage, your blunder in life, your health or restore your kid back to God? Can God still open blinded eyes, cast demons out of one possessed? Just on the other side of the lake was such a person.

The Lord was on a mission to deliver one from demon possession. But even greater, He desired to coach and train his disciples to “NEVER BACK DOWN from the whitecaps of life.” Don’t be surprised, when Hell attempts to sink your ship.  Don’t ever forget, God has the final Word and Say over your life when you look to Him with faith and courage to get you through the whitecaps.

The disciples may have failed at that moment to believe they could survive through their storm, but Christ quickly calms the winds and moves them forward to “greater victories” than they had ever known before. Are you facing some whitecaps in your life today? Why not allow Him to do greater things in your life TODAY so you can complete the mission and journey that is awaiting you on the other side? "Be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil 1:6)

New Beginnings

Genesis 9:1-29

So many in life are overshadowed and are driven by their fears, their hurts, their blunders, their mistakes, their burdens and their hick-ups in life. Noah and his family are now back on dry ground. It's been a rough ride but now God has dried up the waters of the earth. God hangs a rainbow in the sky and says; " Never again will a flood destroy the Earth"

This is a sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. (12)

Even God says it's time to move forward. Too many of us in life live in the past instead of our future. None of us can do anything about our mistakes, our failures, our shortcomings, the things we wish we could change in the past. It's time to move ahead.

"Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do." Mark Twain

There is a reason that you are still on planet earth. God isn't finished with you. There are still more mountains to climb, valleys to cross, victories to win, storms to overcome, and challenges to conquer. God is taking you and me somewhere. Regardless of the past or the forecast, like Noah; "I have all intention of staying on the boat till I see the sun shine again, and I see the heavens open up over my life and fulfill the mandate and the promises of God in my life.

What are you dealing with today? What keeps lingering in your fuzzy thought life? Allow the Holy Spirit of God to overshadow you with fresh vision, fresh energy and fresh faith to go places you have never been, to do things that you have never done, to become someone that you have never been.

Through the spirit of God within you say; " No longer will I allow my past to overshadow my life, but I will be driven by Christ alone and the faith He has placed in my heart.  He will take the steering wheel of my life, and I will become all that He has created me to become for His honor and glory. In the days He has assigned my life on this earth, "I declare; today is a new day with new beginnings, yes new beginnings."

New Beginnings 2016

In the book of Genesis, 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth. Does God still create new dreams in the hearts and minds of people today? New plans, ideas, and new vision today? Is God still the author of "New life?" What about the new baby that came into the world last night? My daughter Dana and my son-n-law Jason are excited about their new baby that is due April 2016, and so is Poppy and Nana.What is it, that God wants to do NEW in your life this NEW YEAR 2016?

Isaiah 43 says,  "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. You say, "But Danny, you don't know about my recent setback, failure, and a nightmare that am I going through right now," 

Did you realize that before the butterfly can fly, it's wrapped up in its cocoon in the dark on the backside of some tree? It doesn't look like it has many options. But after it becomes a butterfly it doesn't just sit there and wait for somebody to drill a whole and let it out. No! That butterfly knows that it has to make a move if it's going to be set free to fly.

In the same way, we have to make our move by praying, seeking the face of God, seeking His word, possibly fasting. Then expect God to do what you can't do on your own. Pressing forward to reach the mark is the only option to our victory. Paul said, "I press." Not, I'm sitting waiting for a flash from the sky.  Not when somebody calls me and comes to my attention. God knows right where you are today. He knows the number of hairs on your head.

God hasn't forgotten you and knows how to get to you right in the middle of your stormy winds. Many times, God is in the middle of doing something new in our pain and discomfort. Have you ever seen a mother give birth sitting back on a sailboat? NO!!

I believe that many new beginnings come out of our discomfort and difficulty. Listen, God's plans never change for you, regardless. Look up, something new is in the making right now. God sees it and why don't you have the faith right now that if God is for you who can be against you. There's something in the wind that's coming your way. Get ready to spread your wings and fly like an eagle and soar to PLACES you have never been, and to DO things you have never done before.

“Made For More” 2

I’ve enjoyed coffee for several years, but when my youth pastor, Tim, bought me a grinder. Now that I grind the coffee beans myself, my love for coffee went to a NEW LEVEL! You can’t get the flavor out of the bean until it goes through the “Grinding Process.” Have you gotten upset about God’s grinding process? Then, a lot of us love our coffee in various ways. My dad loves his black, my wife loves her creamer and sweetener additives, and me, personally I love my Truvia, half and half with whip cream on top. For me, coffee was made for more than just plain black!

Did you realize that God has designed you just the way you are, but has MORE IN STORE for your life? Have you DISCOVERED what God has for your own life? Columbus believed there was more beauty and adventure beyond his own location. Man’s theory in his day was, if you go too far beyond the borders of the sea, you would fall off the earth. But something within him said, “I know there’s more out there that I’ve not seen.” He was driven to discover MORE.

God says, “Eye hath not seen, nor has ear heard the things that God has prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor 2:9) Are you stuck where you are in your journey with God? Have you gotten content, complacent, and satisfied with your growth in God?  Many times we don’t understand the valleys, storms, setbacks and dilemmas we are going through, but we need to realize that God has a process to bring about progress in our lives. God knows how to bring flavor into our lives, beyond bland.

Who needs to see the testimony that will come out of your test? Who is going to see the miracle that comes out of your mess? Who is it that will experience their own deliverance out of your own dilemma? God’s ways are higher than our ways! What’s hindering God’s Progress in your life?

• Has FEAR hindered God’s Progress? Israel allowed fear to keep them from Progress. The Promise Land was waiting for them. Only Joshua and Caleb used their faith to go in. You cannot defeat giants in your life without believing that God is greater than your setbacks, storms, and struggles.
• Has DOUBT hindered God’s Progress? Doubt tried to keep me away from going into fulltime ministry and being a pastor in Jacksonville, Florida. God brought many challenging processes to bring about His progress in my life. Quit questioning every step toward your progress! God knows what He’s doing and is the MASTER engineer of your destiny.
• Has COMPLACENCY hindered God’s Progress? This is where you become unmoved, apathetic, and unconcerned in life. Years ago after an injury in sports, I developed a frozen shoulder. Because of the pain, I refused to use it. It wasn’t till my doctor gave me instructions to stretch beyond my pain that I was able to get my full motion back in my shoulder.
• Has ANXIETY hindered God’s Progress? Anxieties are part of life. But life is too short to live uptight, flustered, and a bundle of nerves. Break through your uncertainties and be confident that God is for you and has MUCH MORE in store, and that no devil in hell can stop you from God’s design and plan for your life. “Be confident that He will complete what He’s started in your life”

      -Press on through God’s Process and you'll see God’s Progress in your life.-

“Made For More” 1

As a boy, I grew up thinking, “One day, I want to be a professional baseball player.” Playing and being a starting pitcher for my High School brought hope where I might spend my future. But one night in my bedroom, God came to me in a way like I’d never experienced. He spoke to my heart and called me to preach the gospel. Not with an audible voice but way down in my spirit man. What I thought would lead me into the sports arena, God began to declare to me that I was “Made for More” than my thoughts with sports.

Where are you in life? Have you had thoughts that there may be more that God has in store for your life? Satan comes to steal and kill the plans and thoughts that God has ordained for your life. But have you asked, “God, was I Made For MORE”?

What hinders many from “More” is, they focus on where they have been, what they have done and think it’s too late to get where they need to go.

Moses could have easily gotten stuck in the house of Pharaoh. He had it made in the king’s palace. He was Pharaoh’s grandson. Pharaoh’s daughter saved him from the Nile River. He had all the security, provision, power, and stability at his fingertips, but is that what he was Made for?

God had other plans, but God also had a process to get Moses where he needed to be. As he grew up, he noticed all the pain and suffering of Israel. One day in anger, he became fed up with a soldier who was mistreating and beating one of the Hebrews. Moses ended up killing the soldier. He buried him, but someone saw the whole deal. Moses ends up running for his life and ends up on the backside of a desert for forty years.

God always has a PROCESS to get us where we need to go. Most honest people will admit, “There’s no fun in God’s process to bring progress in our life.

Maybe you’re going through your desert season like Moses. Perhaps you’re in your run like David from King Saul. Are you in your own cave experience like Elijah who was ready to die! Possibly you’re in your prison cell like the apostle Paul who questioned: “What good could come from this?” Maybe you’re like Peter who denied Christ three times. Yes, you have made your mistakes, but God IS NOT FINISHED with you. He has not completed the assignment designed for you, nor had he completed His work in these great men of God.

So will you stay on the assembly line that God has ordained for your life?  In spite of your hick-ups, hang ups, and hurts? Will you continue to fertilize the garden He started in your spiritual man? Will you wait for the fruit to blossom, and not give up because there’s only three oranges on the tree this year? That’s all I have on my orange tree at this point, but one day I’m expecting three hundred plus oranges. And in my life, I expect greater things ahead. Because, I was “MADE FOR MORE”.  Friend, so were you.

-Press on through God’s Process and you'll see God's Progress in your life.-