5things God has shown me through all of this that He would want me to share and to encourage you men in:

1) We all go through very difficult times and hardships in our lives. God’s plan for those hardships is to build Godly character in our lives, to mold us into the man he wants us to be. On the other hand Satan’s plan is to use those hardships in our lives to literally kill and destroy us.

I encourage you men that whatever trial you are in today, whatever hardships you have faced your entire life, to simply ask God what He wants you to learn from it? To ask God what exactly He wants to develop in your life in His refinement process for you?

James 1:2-4 ‘My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’

2) To develop an intimate quiet-time with the Lord everyday-
This includes reading the Word, praying to God and also to just listen quietly for His answers. Why a daily time of reading His word and praying? Because when you are in the Word continuously you get familiar with what’s truly going on and how to deal with it. Examples would be scriptures in Ephesians that explains that we do not fight against flesh and blood but against principalities of darkness, that we must put on the armor of God and do spiritual battle to thwart Satan’s attacks on our lives. Psalms speaks of delighting yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Proverbs speaks on trusting the Lord, how to live a prosperous life, how to find wisdom, the value of a good reputation that far outweighs wealth, and so forth. Genesis speaks of how powerful yet also how loving our heavenly Father truly is and why He created just me and just you! The Bible is full of life giving principles that we must first know and understand and secondly then we must obey and live by them. A quick example of one scripture that says we do not live by bread alone but by every Word of God. This scripture is just not a recommendation Jesus is giving us, this is our Creator, our Designer instructing and commanding us how to live. This is how He designed the human body to operate and let me tell you from personal experience that this scripture is a spiritual principle. When I am not in the Word I am spiritually dry, things just don’t go as well but when I am in the Word consistently and I am depending on it to live life fully, when I am trying to find answers to my problems something just naturally inside of me comes alive! I am rejuvenated! My spirit comes alive; things just start clicking for the good. How is it that I am just understanding to live by this principle? As all along that scripture of we do not live by bread alone but by every Word of God has said that right in front of me for all these years! But I failed to recognize that value, failed to recognize that instruction! Let’s be familiar with Gods Word and His principles and be living them out, impacting our lives! You guys we have the Word of God, we have prayer and we have the Holy Spirit in our lives and we have access to them at anytime and we must exercise these things in our lives- it is a must! So develop an intimate quiet-time in your life everyday and throughout the day and get ready to see your answers promised through God’s Word!

Hebrews 4:12 ‘For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’

3) Be faithful where God has you right now

God has us all exactly where we are for a reason. God has us all in different seasons for different purposes. Learn what God wants you to develop in your life and be faithful in all areas (whether its work, family, ministry, time with God, schooling, preparation for marriage, your wife and kids) and God will be pleased that you were faithful in your trials and that you developed a more Godly character piece of your puzzle. He will see that you were a faithful steward of your area of influence and He will add measure and responsibility to what you already had. My pastor once said, God isn’t looking for the influencers to make faithful but instead He is looking for the faithful to make influencers!

Luke 16:10 ‘He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much’

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven’

4) Practice humility in your life

When pride is in our lives we unknowingly create walls that hinder us from God, from our wife and children, from God’s healing to take place in our lives. Pride is a blinder. When I decided to share all that I was going through with my family and friends I found out that most of them were going through very similar issues and when I decided to be open and completely truthful and vulnerable I instantly tore down walls that was hindering that person. They shared similar problems and we grew closer in relationship. God through humility and not being prideful allowed for my family and friends to establish a friendship with purpose! A friendship of purpose looks like two people sharing similar troubles and trials in life and keeps each other in prayer and accountable and they do not have to live life alone. I encourage you men to practice being vulnerable, practice being humble and being open to share what we are going through- our fears and our joys. Through humility God can establish relationships of true purpose! You will then be able to walk in more freedom and power than ever before!

James 5:16a ‘Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed’

5) Through all of this God will create a masterpiece in your life; He will make sense of all of the confusion, all that didn’t make sense before

God has our best interests in hand but we must trust Him that He is in control- We must make Him complete Lord of our lives and not make ourselves Lord over our direction and life. Through a life of despair and uncertainty and hardships God created something beautiful in me and He has given me very clear direction what He wants me to do in my life, He’s given me an anointed purpose and direction and the zeal and passion to complete that purpose! Everything I went through I now know why, everything I went through was so all worth it, everything I went through was necessary to complete the man that God wanted me to be. And I am still on the endless journey of becoming more like Jesus! Will you join me in this Journey? Jesus is asking us simply to follow Him!

Isaiah 43:18-19 ‘Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old, behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth. Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.’

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