Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

We overcome to teach others how to overcome. We are to share the ways that God has empowered us to overcome any or all of the following: bad attitudes fears obstacles haters doubts pain and suffering spiritual battles The list is endless! I don't believe there is one way - one catchall "help" for everyone.  I believe that the Lord's path for each of us is unique, and therefore the way in which He empowers us to overcome is unique to each of us.  He overcomes through us in the power of His Holy Spirit.  But how  we pray, how we worship, how we battle - each are unique to each of us. But all of us, at one point or another, have experienced one, more, or all of the things on this list.  Our problems are universal. How have you  overcome these problems?  That is what makes you you . Gideon fought his battle God's way - which made no sense in the natural - and won!  David only needed one small stone.  Joseph's battle took fourteen years or more to win, and he did s

You may or may not know but I have been fighting a very hard battle on the home front.  If I let it, it would have the power to crush me - like a tidal wave. Not going into details, but suffice it to say that I feel absolutely powerless over this situation.  I have prayed, fasted, asked everyone I know to pray - and still, the waves keep coming. In the past, at times, I let it all get to me.  I caved.  I got discouraged.  I doubted God's love for me.  Yes, me. But you know what?  I'm here to tell you that my faith in God is actually being made stronger in the storm.   I still trust God. I still know that He loves me with an everlasting, deep, abiding love. I still know that in His perfect time, He will  calm the storm around me.  For now, He is training me to find the calm in the storm within  me. These are hard lessons, hard trials. But I know that I know that I know that the Lord knows exactly  what He doing in my life and in all the parameters of my life.  Ha, devil!  You lo

In the natural, when wars are fought, each battle has a duration of time that it takes before it is over.   As Christians, we go into each spiritual battle knowing the outcome!  We are in Christ.  Christ is the Victor. Ergo, we are victorious in Christ! However (clear throat), some battles are "bloodier" than others.  Some battles take longer than others.  And if we are going to live the Christian life, we must be aware of these facts. We are called by God to be strong and courageous.  We see these commands all throughout Scripture.  Fear not!  Be very strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go! The Lord knew we would need courage, and lots of it.  He knew the battles each of us would face and the weapons we would need in order to fight them. I won't go into detail here about how we wage war in the heavenlies, or about the armor of God - you can find plenty of teachings on these online, articles and YouTube. What I am here to say is this:  Don

I asked the Lord why I don't always stay in His Presence, feel it.  He spoke clearly.  "You don't practice it." Right. He went on to tell me that it is not a given.  We don't naturally feel or seek God's Presence - even as Christians.  Because we're still in this flesh! It is a supernatural quest.  It is something we practice. And like anything that I practice, it should become more naturally supernatural(!) with time. I am a classically trained pianist with my Master's Degree in accompanying.  Before completing my degree, I'm guessing I logged in tens of thousands of hours of practice, if you count all the years I'd been at it, since age six.   Yes, I am a natural. It is a gift from God and therefore comes easy to me.  However, I still had to practice  the piano if I wanted to become the best pianist I could be. But I never practiced more than four hours at a time.  Maybe that sounds like a lot to you, maybe not.   I was disciplined about it.