When the people of Israel were at Kadesh Barnea, they had a 10 day journey before they would occupy the Promised Land. They failed to trust God. The sin of unbelief kept the people from experiencing all that God had for them.

A 10 day trip turned into 40 years of wandering around in the wilderness. Please note that their wandering was a result of their own disobedience and lack of faith.

When you read the book of Numbers, it is about the journey of the people to nowhere.

It is one complaint, grumbling and bad attitude after another. A better title for Numbers would be the book of murmuring.

From the time they left Egypt, all they did was complain. They complained and criticized everything. They were never satisfied.

They were people who only cared about themselves. It was all about them and they had no problem telling you about it.

Lack of faith and selfishness are two things that will certainly derail your relationship with God and other people. These things will also hinder you from experiencing all that God has for you.

What are you missing out on because of your lack of faith and selfishness?

Don’t allow yourself to be on the journey to no where!

Most people don’t know who they are in Christ nor do they understand what it means to be a child of God. Many have believed the lie of the evil one and hold false beliefs about themselves.

Wrong thinking always leads to negative emotions which leads to making bad decisions. Those decisions began in your mind…your belief about yourself.

Let me remind you today what God says about you…

I am free from condemnation: Romans 8:1

I cannot be separated from the love of God: Romans 8:35

I am a citizen of heaven: Philippians 3:20

I am born of God and the evil one cannot touch me: I John 5:12

I have been chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit: John, 15:16

I am a temple of God: I Corinthians 3:16

I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm: Ephesians 2:6

I am God’s workmanship: Ephesians 2:10

I can do all things through Christ: Philippians 4:13

I am saved, rescued, delivered, set free, cleansed, regenerated, adopted into the family of God, justified, sins propitiated and expiated, redeemed, all guilt and penalty of sin gone, reconciled to God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, one of the elect, baptized into the body of Christ, a new man, accepted into the beloved, a chosen one, brought nigh to God, a heavenly citizen, on the rock, Christ Jesus delivered from the power of darkness, translated into the Kingdom of the Son, a member of the Holy and royal priesthood, a  member of the family and household of God, in the fellowship of the saints, partaker of spiritual blessings in heavenly places and joint heir of Jesus!

That’s who you are and more. Don’t let the enemy attempt to convince you otherwise!

The Bible says that we have not because we ask not.

With that in mind, I am asking God for these three things…

1. Asking God to “set you on fire”                                                                                                                  Ask God to consume you; to help you let go of your sin and junk, and your hurt and pain and run into His arms with complete abandonment. Let God ignite you with passion once again!

2. Asking God to give you a burden for people.                                                                                      Beg God to give you His heart, His eyes, and His ears for people…for lost people who don’t know Him and for the Body of Christ who are limping around when they should be sprinting. We have become blind to the needs of others. Ask God to let you see the world like He does.

3. Asking God for the impossible.                                                                                                               Have you prayed any BOLD prayers lately? The early church saw the miraculous because they asked God for the impossible. Our prayers are too small and too safe. Let’s ask, let’s seek and let’s knock on heavens door with audacious bold prayers.

Lets ask!

We all feel the pressure. We all understand stress and distress.

Perhaps yours is in the financial realm. Maybe you have lost your job or you have an unexpected expense. Maybe yours is more relational in nature. Your marriage isn’t solid or your children are not acting right. Maybe you are trying to juggle all of life’s demands and balance things but you keep dropping the ball.

I know what it’s like to be at your wits end. The stress, the aggravation, the sleepless nights, the headaches and backaches…you feel like you are going to explode. It seems that more and more people these days are in the vice grip and it is getting tighter and tighter by the minute. Sometimes the pressure is so overwhelming that you don’t think you can stand another second.

But listen…you can! The pressure is there to mold you and shape you into the person God has for you to be. The pathway of pressure is also the gateway to a deeper walk with God.

Trust Him, lean into Him, Believe! Wait and watch God work in your life and watch the pressure be used to bring glory to God and ultimately good to you.

Hang in there Soon the vice grip will be released.

I have said to my children hundreds of times, “If you say you CAN’T, then you are right.”

The moment that you start talking about losing, you have already lost. When you start making excuses before the game, project or task is even finished, then you are already done.

Step out and set sail! Make a move, pull up the anchor and believe God for a great outcome.

People who constantly struggle with failed hopes or dreams and people who have a negative expectancy are people who are usually defeated before they even start. If you are convinced that your actions will not succeed, or if the reward will be less than the risk of failure, you simply will not try.

Do you focus more of your time seeking solutions or do you stay absorbed in the problem?

Do you look for the best in every situation – the opportunity that comes about or do you think about how you will feel when you have failed?

Have you ever seen a monument erected to a pessimist? Do we celebrate the people in history who were negative complainers who never took a risk?

No one would have blamed Christopher Columbus for turning back, but no one would have ever heard of him either.

Set sail and believe God!

Anyone who has known Vickie Flockhart will tell you that she is an incredible mother. If you have a conversation with her, it won’t be long until she is telling you about her 4 sons and 2 daughters.

I am not sure if our kids truly realize all that she has done for them through the years. Imagine all the diapers she has changed, midnight feedings for 6 babies, runny noses she has wiped, meals she has cooked, laundry she has done, homework help, book reports that SHE wrote the night before they were due, etc… A mother’s work is never ending and most times, there is no acknowledgement or appreciation.

All of our kids played sports and Vickie was the chauffer to get them back and forth to practice 99% of the time. She was in the stands for most of their games and she was and is their biggest fan. I won’t go into detail but let’s say she has had a few serious discussions with referees! Our kids are adults now but when they are involved in a sport, their mother is still in the bleachers cheering them on. (and arguing with the refs!)

My kids were taken to church as soon as they were born. It was not uncommon for me to be out of town preaching on Sundays, but my wife would load up an 8 yr. old, 6 yr. old, 4 yr. old, 2 yr. old twins and an infant and get them to church. She taught them Bible stories, she sang songs about Jesus with them, she taught them how to pray and she taught them how to tell other people about Jesus. Vickie strongly feels that a mother’s greatest missionary opportunity is to her children as they are growing up and she was dedicated to raising children who loved Jesus.

I will be honest enough to say that the “intense discussions’ my wife and I have had through the years are usually about our children. I am ‘the hard one’ and she is ‘the soft one’ so I like to think we balance each other out. Our six children have no stronger advocate then their mother and she defends them like a mama grizzly bear.

Now, she has entered the stage of being a grandmother and I can tell you, she is in her element. At the very mention of the name ‘Finn” or “Lakely” (our two grandbabies), the world stops. The love and adoration that she has for her six “babies” is now being shared with her “babies’ babies.”  

I praise God for my wife, the mother of my six children and “Mi-Mommy” to our two grandbabies (and third one coming in September!)

We all have feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. We all fear rejection and we all want to be accepted.

I believe the number one problem that people face is not knowing who they are in Christ.

Our understanding of identity impacts how we live out our lives. If you do not establish a clear sense of personal identity in Christ, you are going to struggle throughout your entire life.

Why is it so important? Because we cannot consistently behave in ways that are different from what we believe about ourselves.

If you do not think right, you will not believe right and you will not behave right. If you think wrong, and believe wrong, you will act wrong.

The Bible tells us in John, chapter 8, verse 44 that Satan is a liar and the Father of all lies. He has been lying to you and for many of you, he has stolen your identity in Christ. You are n bondage to the lies that the devil has told you that you believe about yourself.

Aren’t you tired of an unfulfilled and unproductive walk with Christ?

Remember who you are. Remember WHOSE you are!

Stop believing the lies of the evil one. Who do you think you are…that will determine how you live.

What percentage of your day from this past week was consumed by a negative attitude versus a positive, proactive and optimistic attitude? Take a minute right now and reflect on that question. Go ahead, close your eyes, shut yourself off to the world and really ponder over that question and your answer.

Is your attitude positive enough? Or are you consumed with negativity? Do you focus on the abundance of blessings God has given you? Such as air, water, food, your health, your family, etc… or are you choosing to focus on that which you feel you are missing? Do you have a long list of things that you want or feel you deserve?

I love the quote by Patricia Neal, “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug!” Isn’t that true? Just the power of a positive attitude will do wonders.

Irving Berlin said, “Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it.” It really does all come down to attitude.

Do you realize that attitude is the key?

· Attitude affects our outlook – how we see things, how we look at things.

· Attitude affects our outcome. How things turn out is based on what kind of attitude we had during the process.

· Attitude affects our altitude – how high and how far you will go in life.

The question today is, do you need an attitude adjustment?

“There is little difference in people but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”              W. Clement Stone

I’m not sure how the first half of your life has gone so far but let me encourage you to make the second act of your life the best.

It doesn’t matter if you started strong and you have experienced great success, you still must dream big and believe God for more.

Do something that makes the first half seem mundane. Don’t rest on your past laurels, GO FOR IT and make your second act amazing!

If your first half has been nothing to talk about, then step up and step out…make the second act your priority. Find your purpose and live out your destiny!

If you are like most people, the first half may not have been your best performance.

You have experienced some bumps and even some crashes along the way. You have even felt like quitting at times. Listen to me, change directions! Start a new course!

The curtain is rising, the second act is just starting.

Don’t just sit there moaning and groaning over past failures, past regrets, or what “could have been.”

Begin your second act and make it spectacular. The crowd may not cheer you on but your Heavenly Father is cheering for you. As we read in Acts, chapter 7 just as He did for Stephen, Jesus will give you a standing ovation!

You have so much more to do and the stage belongs to you. Begin your second act with confidence and determination to make it amazing!

I love seeing people get saved. I love watching people grow in their faith. I love to see God’s church grow and people come from everywhere.

I am addicted to divine activity! I have had this addiction since July of 1985. Ever since I experienced this divine activity in my life, I can’t seem to settle for the “normal.” Vance Havner once said, “Christians have been subnormal for so long that if they got just got normal, people would think they are abnormal.” I love seeing God do things that only God can do. I am grateful that I get to see divine activity.

Don’t you long for the supernatural; the eternal; the life changing, life altering power of God? If you are not careful, your life will be explainable. Unfortunately for the most part, people and churches struggle half-heartedly through life hoping that tomorrow will be better than today. That’s not the life that is made by divine activity…that is human predictability.

Do you have any outrageous prayer requests?

Can you think of anything that has happened in your life that is unexplainable? Any divine activity lately?

When you take your natural ability and His super divine activity, you get supernatural Please don’t pray for my addiction to go away. I must see divine activity!