Scripture of The Day
April 20. 2021
Jesus said, … “In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” (John 16:33, The Message Bible)
By Cheryl Henderson
The Lord spoke something to my heart several years ago that set me free. I don’t know about you, but I want all that the Lord has for me and I want to always be pressing through to the next level in Him. However, there are times when I seem to be at a dead end, in a desert, or just going through the wilderness. This was one of those times. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, “Cheryl, you
will not break up, you will not break down, you will not even break … You will breakthrough!” My first reaction to this statement was … Praise God!!! I fully expected God to just … poof … fix everything. Well, as a friend of mine once told me, get a grip, we do not live in a “poof” world. God does not work that way. The reality of it is, God does things, line upon line and precept upon precept.
One of the first things I learned is that breakthrough is a process. God can do things suddenly but usually it’s a process. He loves us and it is His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He knows what we are going through. Hebrews 4:12 says, “We do not have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all – all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.” (The Message Bible) Before my “suddenly ” could come I had to walk through the process. Part of that process was realizing that there are not five easy steps to a breakthrough. What God did show me was two things that can keep us from getting our breakthrough. In Matthew 14 and Mark 4 Jesus tells his disciples to get into the boat and go over to the other side. He is always telling us to get in the boat and go over to the other side. Go over to the other side of that financial problem, go over to the other side of that marriage conflict, and go over to the other side of the sin that so easily besets us. Be assured, as soon as you get the Word of the Lord and begin to move in His direction, you will go through “stuff.” The enemy will not give you an inch. You must take it by force!
Now here are the men who traveled with the Lord. In one case they had just watched him feed over 5000 people with only 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. They get in the boat; head for the other side, and in both cases a storm comes. The wind and the rain tossed the boat in the sea and in both cases the men were afraid, upset and troubled. In Mark 4, even though Jesus was in the boat with them, they woke him up and said, Lord, don’t you even care that we are about to die? (Cheryl’s paraphrase) Have you ever gotten the Word of the Lord and jumped into your boat only to see the storm come? My first lesson was this, when the storms come … DON’T ACT WORSE THAN THE STORM! We do not have to get into fear, doubt, and unbelief or even pitch a fit. We just have to know in whom we believe. I Peter 4:12 says, “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.” (The Message Bible)
Several years ago my husband Ed and I had just moved from Collierville, Tennessee to Jacksonville, Florida. This was a move that we knew the Lord wanted us to make. In Tennessee I had been able to stay at home and raise our three boys for ten years and I loved being a housewife and taking care of my family. We had not been in Florida very long when Ed said he needed my help. Well, one of the callings of a wife is to be a helpmeet to her husband. So I agreed to help in any way I could. I hadn’t worked in many years so I wasn’t even sure I could get a job. All I knew how to do was preach, pray and prophesy and I wasn’t sure anyone would pay me to do that. However, I did find a job as a bank teller. Well, to be honest, I hated that job. The women didn’t like me at all. I offended them the first day when I wouldn’t get in their lotto pool. I went to work griping and I came home griping. I got mad at Ed for even asking me to go back to work. How could he? He knew how much I loved staying at home … I went out the door complaining and came in the door complaining. Ed put up with it about as long as he could and then one night as I came in the door he met me there and put his finger in my chest and said, “You better quit cursing God’s blessing!” Oh my, how his words cut me to the heart. It was the finger of God and the Word of God. I repented immediately. Now I was very honest with the Lord, since he already knew my heart. I told him I still did not like the job, but I was so thankful for His provision for our family. From that day on I began to thank Him every day for that job. I went to work with a smile on my face. It wasn’t very long after that our Pastor introduced us to a businessman in our church who was starting a ministry to people in the business arena. Our pastor thought we would be the very ones to help him. We caught the vision for that ministry and for the next 6 years we saw over 10,000 people saved a year!!! We are still working with that businessman and for the last 19 years we have seen God move in a mighty way all over the world! If I had kept on cursing God’s blessing we would not be where we are today. Are you cursing God’s blessing? Look around. Watch your complaining and murmuring. The fruit of that hasn’t changed since the children of Israel. How many times do you want to go around the mountain?
Do you want a breakthrough? I do! I want to breakthrough to more intimacy with the Lord. I want to breakthrough to the next level of worship. I want a breakthrough in every area of my life!
My friend, the storms will come … Don’t act worse than the storm and don’t curse God’s blessing. Keep a thankful heart. For you will not break up, you will not break down, you will not even break … you will BREAKTHROUGH!
