Faith Filled Words - Part 1

Shady Grove Church has been declaring promises in the word of God for over 100 days. Out of these 100 days have come many testimonies of how God has moved through His word on behalf of people's needs. These 100 days are over however Pastor Olen has encouraged us to not stop declaring the word of God over our lives and I whole heartedly agree. I believe we often declare doubt and unbelief instead of the word of God and the promises God has given us in His word. The word says "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God." "Life and death are in the tongue." Speaking God's word is important and speaking Faith-filled words is very important over our lives, our children and grandchildren.


The following are 5 things that I believe will encourage you to speak faith-filled words from the word of God:

1. Don't speak defeat over your life. - Our words do have creative power.
Where are you today, where do you want to be? Make a declaration from the word of God that will propel you forward: for instance, "Rejoice for this is the day that the Lord has made." "His favor is for life." Psalms 30:5b - This is a great day and I have God's favor. When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2002 the Lord gave me a scripture to stand on and I said it sometimes 100x a day out loud. The scripture was "I will live and not die and declare the works of the Lord." Psalms 118:17, After a few years the enemy quite telling me I was going to die. I was declaring life from the word of God over myself.


2. When you voice your faith, you bless your future.
You declare favor, increase, health, healing and divine opportunities. Let me ask you what have you been declaring and calling in? It is not enough to think of faith and hope. It's not enough to just believe it. We give life to our faith when we speak out about our dreams. Change your words, change your life. Express gratitude and hope. A thankful heart opens up the windows of heaven. I liked what Pastor Olen said, "Today is yesterday's future and today is the platform for tomorrow's future." So what are you going to declare over yourself today that will affect your future?


3. Words are like seeds. Plant your words carefully and nourish them with your faith.
The scripture says we have to call the things that are not as if they already are. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Heb. 11:1 That's Faith! Switch to the language of faith. Talk about the way you want to be, up and over! Not down and out. Romans 8:37 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Through Jesus we are conquerors.!


4. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" Psalms 107:2
It doesn't say let the redeemed of the Lord think so or let the redeemed believe so. All of those are good but the word says to say so! If you plan to be an overcomer then say so! Nothing happens until you speak it out. It is imortant to believe and to think right but something supernatural happens when we speak out what God says. The favor of God is on His word!


5. Everyday pray faith filled words! For example: "Father, I want to thank you that I have your favor on my life today, Father, thank you that you are directing my steps, causing me to be at the right place at the right time. Thank you that your favor is bringing opportunity, bringing increase, promotion and blessing me so I can be a blessing to someone else."

In Jesus Name. Amen

These five things were taken from Joel Olsteen's book "It's Your Time". I've added my own thoughts, scriptures and experiences. I recommend this book to anyone. I want to encourage you to put into practice these five things.

Blessings,
Kaye Green

Christmas a Time for Salvation

“When the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law. “Galatians 4:4

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year to share with others our testimony of how we came to experience salvation through Christ Jesus. People’s hearts are so open at this special time of the year. Their hearts are open to give and to receive. I would like to encourage all of us to pray for divine appointments during this Christmas season.

The announcement of salvation for anyone in the world who’d accept it was the angel’s second declaration of good news to the shepherds of Bethlehem at the first Christmas. “Today… there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11
This Savior is “for you”! When someone says, “Jesus Christ is my personal Savior,” or when anyone asks, “Have you been saved?” what are they referring to? What do you need to be saved from?
When people think of spiritual salvation, they often have a very narrow concept of it; they think only from being saved from hell. God’s gift of true salvation is freedom, purpose and life in three dimensions. It includes your past, your present and our future:

• Jesus saves you from something·
• Jesus saves you for something.
• Jesus saves you by something.

Jesus Came to Save You from Sin & Yourself

Many years ago I heard John Wimber (Founder of the Vineyard churches) share how he was a little boy during WWII and he had never seen a Bible or heard about God. His family was lost. One day John was walking by a church and there was a big sign in front of the church that said, “Jesus Saves!” He thought to himself who is Jesus and what does he save. In his family they saved paper, rubber and cans. John was raised in the U.S.A.

You know there are many people in our country that have never heard that Jesus came to save them from their sins. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” IJohn 1: 8-10 We are sinners and we need a Savior. Does anyone have to tell us when we’ve done something wrong? No because God gave us a conscious and He sent the Holy Spirit to convict us. Sin keeps us disconnected from God. But through salvation we are re-connected to God and our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus.

Salvation is Freedom
Another word for salvation is “freedom”. Psalms 118:5. What is Jesus setting us free from? Romans 6:23· Free from guilt over the past – Jesus paid for your sins from the past. The gift of forgiveness dissolves the guilt. We know longer have to carry the load of guilt and shame.
· Free from bitterness and resentment – We can’t control what others do to us, but we can choose how we respond. Resentment is a cancer of your emotions. Jesus can set you free from being resentful through forgiveness.

· Free from the expectations of others – “The fear of human opinion disables.” Prov. 29:25 Constantly worrying about what other people think about you is a dangerous trap, It will rob you of confidence, limit your potential, drain your energy, and keep you from becoming all God intends for you to be. The antidote to fearing disapproval is to build your life on the foundation of God’s unconditional love for you. I John 4:18

· Free from addictive habits. – God has the power to break the addictive habits in your life and bring you freedom. If you are trying to get free by your own power it won’t work. It is by the power of God that we are free.He is waiting for you to stop trying and start trusting Him.

· Free from the fear of death. If you accept what Jesus did for you on the cross your eternal destiny will be secured and you’ll no longer fear death. Hebrews 2:14-15
Many years ago I was in a near death situation. I was traveling down a country road in N.C. when I lost control of my car due to a bee being in the car and I was trying to get it out while traveling 55 mph. The car went around and around in the middle of the highway with traffic coming from both sides and a ditch on both sides of the road. My hands came flying off the steering wheel, as I could not hold on to it. My mind was saying, “you are going to be killed” but my mouth was "praising God" and "thanking Him." I was surrounded by God’s presence that was so heavy that there was no fear. I’ve been in car wrecks before & I’m a screamer. But that day the Lord showed me that His presence is so strong when you die that there is only peace and love surrounding you. Jeus took the sting out of death for the beliver. Praise God! The car came to a stop in a ditch and there was no damage to my car or me.

Jesus Came to Save You for a Purpose

We all ask these questions– Why am I here? Does my life matter? What is my purpose?Acts 13:36 David served God’s purpose in his generation, and then he died. You use your life to serve God, (like David) which is timeless, an eternal (God’s purpose) and in your generation. What you do for God will reap eternal rewards and will make a difference in your generation. We were all born for purpose and without it we feel lost. Romans 6:13 You were just not created for success but for significance. Significance comes from service – giving your life away for a purpose greater than yourself. Mark 8:35

Jesus Came to Save You by His Grace

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”Eph 2:8-9Religion is man’s attempt to please God. Grace is God reaching down to man. Every religion boils down to one word: do! Salvation is based on the word” done”. When Jesus died on the cross he exclaimed, “It is finished!” So what was finished? The payment for you salvation! The phrase “it is finished” is actually a single word in Hebrew that Jesus cried out. It was stamped on bills that had been paid off and on prison sentences that had been completed. It meant, “Paid in Full!”I John 4:10 We are declared righteous because of our faith not because of our work.” Romans 4:5 It takes you believing which is faith that Jesus is the Son of God which comes by His grace to be saved.

So as we celebrate the good news that a Savior Jesus Christ has come. What are we going to give Him for His Christmas gift? What do you think He wants from you and me?

Merry Christmas

Kaye L. Green

Christmas a Time for Celebration

What are you Celebrating this Christmas?
One of the purposes of Christmas is to Celebrate.

“This is the day of the Lord’s victory; let us be happy, let us celebrate!”
Psalms 118:24

When we say Merry Christmas we are celebrating Christ’s birth.
Our parties are to be centered around Christ. Sadly many Christmas parties never mention Christ.
God’s Christmas Gift to you has three qualities that make it unique. We should be celebrating this awesome Christmas Gift.
1. It is the most expensive gift you will ever receive.
2. It is the only gift that will last forever.
3. It is a gift you will use everyday for the rest of your life.

The Angel said “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.”
Luke 2:8-14
Good news of great joy for all people! Wow that is something to Celebrate!

What is the good news?
· God loves you!
· God is with you!
· God is for you!

God Loves You!
Can you believe it that the God that created the Universe loves you and me.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall perish but him everlasting life."
Christmas is about God’s love for you and me!
God came in the form of a human so we could relate to Him. Before Jesus came our understanding of God’s love was limited. So God invaded earth and it was the greatest invasion this earth had ever seen. The word of God says that God is love. It doesn’t say He has love but that He is love! Psalms 145:9, Ephesians 3:19 - Jesus so loved us that He stretched out His arms and died for us so that we could have eternal life.

God is with You!
God came to earth to let us know that He would always be with us.
Heb. 13:5 "I will never leave you or forsake you."
We have all experienced rejection and abandonment in our lives. It is very painful. However, Jesus will never abandon you. When a child is born here in the states we usually give that child 3 names. Jesus has many names and just one of His names is Immauel which means God is with us! His names describe God’s charater. It is so awesome to know that no matter what Jesus will never leave me!


God is for You!
When Jesus would meet people His first question was “What do you want me to do for you?” Matt. 20:32, Mark 10:36, I Cor.11:24
God wants you to run to Him when you have problems or when you are afraid. There are over 365 scriptures that tell us not to be afraid. There is a Fear Not for everyday of the year. You might want to start yourself a fear not calendar/devotional. I John 4:18 “Perfect love cast out fear.”
God is mad about you! He is not mad at you!
When we make mistakes and sin. Jesus rubs them out by His blood when we confess and repent of them. He does not rub them in and make us feel guilty. He came to save us not to scar us.

This love coming from Jesus is a reason to Celebrate!

Since it is Jesus’s Birthday what gift will you give Him this Christmas?
Merry Christmas
Kaye Green

"I've Been Waiting for This"

Have you ever wanted something and you've waited and waited and waited. Finally one day it comes to you and you say, "I've been waiting for this." Today I purchased a bicycle for my youngest grandson, Michael who is 8 years old, very energetic, very athlete and very sweet. It wasn't his birthday, it wasn't Christmas. I purchased for him a brand new red and black sharp looking bike with a shinny black helmet just because I love him. Michael had out grown his bike and not had one to ride for sometime. His sister just turned 4 years old last Saturday and she was given a brand new bike. Not once did I hear him complain or be jealousy that he didn't have a bike to ride.
As his Papa was getting the bike out of the car that Michael had picked out at Target. Michael said "I've been waiting for this." It touched our hearts and we almost cried.
How much more does Jesus love us and want to give us gifts. How much does it touch the heart of God when we give God the very gift He wants, Us. Does God not say "I've been waiting for this."