IT’S ONLY A TEST!!!

It’s only a Test

Many of us wonder if God is present when we go through trials and tribulations, we often try to pray away our trials and wish God would just take us out of the situation, this is common as our flesh is weak: we should always remember who we are in Christ. James 1:12 Says

 ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him’’. 

You see trials are an important part of a believers life and come with receiving salvation; in order for us to receive the crown of life we have to keep our faith and pass the test. There is always a testimony after every test; when you get born again, do you realise who you are? YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH! The day you gave your life to Christ; something amazing happened to you. The same spirit which raised Jesus from Dead is the same spirit that is residing inside of you.

Romans 8: 11 ‘But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.’

So you see you are invincible, nothing of this world should cause you no sleep. Learn to do everything through Christ our Lord. Wake up every morning, give thanks, and ask for protection and for the Holy Spirit to guide you throughout the day. Be a representation of the word, walk, talk, Love and carry yourself like a child of the most high.

Starting your day right

In our previous article we talked about Love; God’s Love that is. Now before you leave your house there are a few things you ought to do.

1. Always pray… spend some time with the Father. I am not talking about the rushed kind of prayer, I’m talking about a good 15-20 minutes before you do anything. Set your alarm early. These 15-20 minutes are much needed trust me; it’s not safe out there! You cannot leave your house without the protection needed from the enemy and his army. Even you are a Danger to other Christians if you leave your house without the guidance of the Holy One.
2. Always say your affirmations. If you do not already have yours ready, this is what you need to do. Take a piece of paper write everything you’d like to achieve. See the picture below for an example.

Remember Genesis 1;3 ‘And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light’ He created the heavens and earth through the WORD. And we have that same power to turn our words into flesh. God spoke the earth into existence; there is power in his words. Jesus is the word that became flesh, so realise that everything that you say concerning your life is manifesting itself. With every word you speak, the Angels are at work! Speak your words into existence. I’ll explain this in more detail in our topic on Words and the Power of the Mouth (stay tuned).

These are all the things that you need to do. The same way that you take your purse with you  or your wallet before you leave the house is the same thing you need to do whilst preparing your day with the Holy Spirit. A soldier does not go into battle without putting on his full armour; so why would you leave your house without the armour of God. This is not our world John 15:9 says, ‘If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.’  So if the ‘world’ hates you, how many things do you think will come against you? So you see why you have to put on the armour of righteousness just as you put on your raincoat to shield you from the rain on a rainy day. Ephesians 6: 13-18 says

‘ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

But the amazing thing to know, is that with God on our side, we have already won the battle. We are already VICTORIOUS! For the word says, ‘You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.’ (1st John 4:4)

LOVE your Enemies

During our trial, remember the greatest commandment of them all is LOVE. So with every trial remember what God said. He said love the same people who persecute you with all your heart and soul. You should be slow to anger, speak politely regardless of the situation. And always remember you are the child of the most high, the enemy has already been defeated, and there is nothing he can do to you. Just smile and think to yourself DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?  You are above them all and you should know this. The only person who can keep you from passing your test is you. Believe everything the bible tells you and you will receive salvation.

Psalm 18:33-35

He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

So everyday start your day with a prayer, followed by your affirmations. Remind God of his promise to us and put on your amour, avoid confrontation and remember Proverbs 15:1 says,  ‘A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger’

For example if at your job they are talking about letting some of the employees go. You as a child of God should know that this does not include you. Even if you have been called to the office and told you may be one of the people to be made redundant. Remember who you are, don’t talk defeat. God made it in such a way that no one can stop us from our Destiny. Activate your Faith. Fear and doubt can come and attack you, refuse to fear in the name of Jesus, be strong and courageous. Refuse to be discouraged AND REMEMBER THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NO!  Never say out loud what your fear says to you and remember the power of the tongue.  Imagine you have the power of the Holy Spirit inside of you anything you say with that power is DONE!

When we stumble

Yes we all stumble at times. God created us the way we are after-all. He knows our weaknesses, you are no surprise to God! Just tell the enemy to go away, he has nothing to do with you! He will come with his doubts but they cannot touch you! Remember you are a warrior in Christ! Shake the dust off your feet and keep moving!! Psalm 37:23 -24 says, ‘ The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.’

Do you realise that God is holding your hand?! Don’t you dare let go of him! Now the only bad thing to do when we do stumble is staying down there in shame and allowing the enemy to tell us how we are not worthy or that God is angry with us for making those mistakes.  Don’t allow these lies to overtake you, rebuke the enemy. In Mark when Jesus was baptised a voice from heaven fell upon him and said ‘Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’  Matthew 4:3 tells us that Jesus being in wilderness and full of the Spirit was tempted by the enemy who said, ‘If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread, You see the danger was not in Jesus turning the loaves into bread, it was in the tempter questioning who Jesus was, after God had told him who he was. It is the same thing he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, ‘Did God really say that?’ And it is the same thing he will do with you, now that you are God’s beloved son/daughter. Especially when you sin, his goal is to try to keep you there. Rebuke him and ask God for forgiveness and remind yourself of who you are!

God knows our flesh is weak, that is why we need the Holy Spirit with us at all times. So that one morning you wake up late leave the house without praying. The bus driver sees you coming and drives off, you get a little annoyed, wait for the next one, the person sat right next to you makes u feel somewhat uncomfortable, you roll your eyes and rush off to work where your very angry boss gives you a piece of her mind even when you always come to work early and worked the hardest but she still chooses to shout at you anyway;  and just when you think that this is it, everyone seems to be on your case and in the end you have lost count of how many times you have acted ungodly on the inside or out. That day is the worst you’ve had in a long time and you wonder where God is just put everything down go to a private room or toilet and make that call to the Lord. He knows he is just waiting for you to come and ask for his help. 

Remember he died for our sins before we were even born. Which means every sin we make is already forgiven. All we need to do is just repent and his love is the greatest. It does not keep a record of wrongs nor does it give up, it is patient and kind… I Corinthians 13;4-8.

Is there a way out? 

Well sometimes you just feel you just need to sin. Make the necessary sin, eat the cake because it was staring at you, the necessary lie and tell God, well God I just needed to do that there was no other way out. BUT THERE IS A WAY OUT! 1st Corinthians 10:13 says,

‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.’

So you see God never allows us to go through a test without providing a way out and God’s Will is always righteous. Numbers 23:19-20 says ‘God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.’ You see God has you in the palm of his hands and what he has for you, no man, not even yourself can take that away.

So when we stumble God already knows the time and the date we will do it he loves us anyway;  what is up to us is whether we get up and seek his face or not. The sooner you get up and ask for forgiveness and guidance the sooner you can fully recover from that error and carry on with your trial.

Its up to you

It’s up to us how long we stay in our trials and tribulations. Sometimes we are in a mess because we simply put on Pride and told God we can handle our own problems. Now you’re wondering, ‘how can you say something like that when I’m in a mess?’ Well to be honest God loves you and he made you for his enjoyment, he does not like to see you suffer. You are his child. He wants to see you excel! He made you didn’t he. It is the enemy who comes like a thief to ‘steal, kill and destroy’! God loves you. But it is up to you raise your hands in the air and cry out to God in your time of need. How can you do anything without God ? Jesus says in John15:5  ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.’ God is talking to you right now, asking you to call him, you need me yet you do not seek me.  Seek him friends all he wants to do is love you. You wouldn’t let your child play in the street by themselves, its a dangerous world out there; in the same way God wants to keep you in his wing. He talks about this in Psalm 91, I urge you to read it. Do everything in Christ, EVERYTHING. Give God a VIP access into your life, a front row seat in your life, even the SECRET places. There is no secret with God. Let him in.

REJOICE in the darkness!!

Praise him through the darkness and he will bring you to the light and give you the strength you need.  Romans 12:12 says ‘Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer’. So the only response to whatever happens throughout your tribulations is to get home and get back on your knees. Ask Him to give you peace.  Whatever happens look at everything even yourself in the eyes of the Lord. When a person says something horrible to you, know that it is the enemy using that person to get you to sin. Love the sinner and ignore the sin. Always smile.

Activating your Faith

When a trial starts the door is never completely closed. Even though it appears to be; The Lord God always gives us a way. So the first step is to Get up and Face the challenge. Don’t stop saying your affirmations.

‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.’

Romans 8:28

Just know that as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death there is a light at the end of the tunnel. (Psalm 23)

Don’t hide. Run to him!! All he wants to do is take care of you. What’s impossible to man is possible with God. FIX your eyes on Jesus and He will fix you.