Forward or Backward< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Isaiah 40:28-31, Jeremiah 15:1-9

As a child of God, when you are going at the speed of 100 miles per hour, make sure you maintain your speed limit in the race of life. In the race of life, avoid looking back, or else it will slow you down and you will not be able to catch up with your expected end. In your race of life, keeping up with your speed or increasing the speed will make it difficult for the enemy to catch up with you. Do you wonder if it is possible to maintain or increase your speed without becoming weary so that the enemy will not catch up with you? With God it is possible, but with man it is impossible. The only secret that will help you keep and maintain your speed is to continue to wait on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31, ÒBut those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.Ó If you know how to wait, you will know how to maintain your ground in the Lord. When you begin to reduce your speed, it is a sign of going backward. Going backward will no doubt lead you into forsaking God. Jeremiah 15:6, ÒYou have forsaken me, says the LORD, you have gone backward. Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am weary of relenting!Ó It is a dangerous trip when you being to go backward. As a child of God, the signs are always there when you begin to go backward. Just make sure you do not ignore signs of going backward or else your sin will sink you.

His Command< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

2 Chronicles 14

When you forsake His command, He will forsake you. Also, when you keep His command He will be your head. Asa the king of < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Judah fought an unimaginable war against Zera the Ethiopian. 2 Chronicles 14:8, ÒAnd Asa had an army of three hundred thousand from Judah who carried shields and spears, and from Benjamin two hundred and eighty thousand men who carried shields and drew bows; all these were mighty men of valor.Ó He fought against an army of a million men and three hundred chariots. Asa had the Lord on his side. 2 Chronicles 14:12, ÒSo the LORD struck the Ethiopians before Asa and Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar. So the Ethiopians were overthrown, and they could not recover, for they were broken before the LORD and His army. And they carried away very much spoil.Ó Are you facing an uphill task in battle? All you have to do is follow His command as He designated to Asa through Azariah. 2 Chronicles 15:1 ÒNow the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son Oded. And he went to meet Asa, and said to him: ÔHear me, Asa, all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.Ó That is the command for you. Do not forsake Him, dwell in His command; His command is His mind for your deliverance and victory.

Truth Prevails< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

2 Chronicles 18

King Jehoshaphat was established as king over < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Judah by God. He went and formed an alliance with King Ahab of Israel. They were to go to war that was disallowed by God. King Ahab gathered all the prophets together to inquire about going to the war. All the prophets gave him a green light claiming it was from God to go to war. Micaiah was the only prophet that spoke against the war because it was not of God. Ahab would not yield to MicaiahÕs message, but had made up his mind going to war. 2 Chronicles 18:29, ÒAnd the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, ÔI will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes.Õ So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.Ó As they go to war, Ahab disguised himself but Jehoshaphat did not. Disguising is deceiving, and deceiving is telling lies. God cannot be found where there is lying. Ahab wanted to play God. He provided himself security, forgetting that it is only when God protects that deliverance is certain. As the battle became intensified, Jehoshaphat cried out to God for help, which he got. 2 Chronicles 18:32, ÒFor so it was, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they turned back from pursuing him.Ó As Jehosaphat was enjoying GodÕs hand of deliverance and preservation before the enemy, king Ahab of Israel was ripping his disguise, his lying, and his faking. He died and could not overcome the battle. Are you going to quit deceiving yourself and let God be God?  Put on the garment of truth and be saved.

Stay Off< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Joshua 7

If you can, ask God to help you stay away from accursed things so you will not end up in a curse. The children of < ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>Israel lost the easiest battle they should have won. Joshua wanted to know why they lost at Ai. JoshuaÕs inquiry from God came up with reason. Joshua 7:11, ÒIsrael has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their stuff.Ó When you take from accursed things, it becomes stealing and deception. Many times, you have taken things that do not belong to you by looking and desiring. When you desire what does not belong to you, it becomes a case of covetousness. Joshua 7:24 spelled out the root of the curse, ÒWhen I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of Gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.Ó Achan caused the whole Israelite defeat because of his covetousness. Stay off covetousness. Colossians 3:5 ÒTherefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.Ó  Covetousness is idolatry, idolatry is covetousness. Idolatry is a definite killer and God does not tolerate it. As much as you can, by the grace of God, stay off from entering into accursed things that can lead you into a curse.

All about God< ?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Judges16

The life you are living is all about God. Thank God that He is not a slave master that forces His creation into what to do or not to do–He gives freedom. Man begins to slide when the ÒselfÓ rises when self begins to stay in the picture of accomplishment. Lately, if you listen to yourself in conversations, have you been using the words, ÒI shall.Ó, ÒI will.Ó, ÒI am.Ó, ÒIt is me.Ó? Your life as a child of God belongs to God. All that you have done and all that you are doing and the ones you will do are not behind God. God allows everything because your life is all about God. Do not let your shoulder rise above your head or you will enter into a downward slope. Judges 16:7, ÒAnd Sampson said to her, ÔIf they bind me with seven fresh bowstrings, not yet dried, and then I shall become weak, and be like any other man.ÕÓ If Sampson was focused, his thinking would have been based solely on God, and he would not have been self destructive. Your blessing will descend when your focus on God and your word changes to ÒMeÓ, ÒMyÓ, and ÒI shall.Ó Watch it! At the time Sampson woke up from sleep, he found out that it was not about him, it was all about God and what He will give or take. Judges 16:20, ÒAnd she said, ÔThe Philistines are upon you, Sampson!Õ So he awoke from his sleep, and said, ÔI will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!Õ But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.Ó It was not about Sampson, It was all that the LORD wanted to do with him. So, it is not about you, it is about God in your life.