We might wish our lives were predictable and manageable, defined within clearly identifiable boundaries and absent the unexpected or unplanned-for moments that create our anxiety and fear. It is fun to live life with the wind at your back…to feel the push of momentum taking you to an intended destination with little effort and only the desire of anticipation. But life is not so! Rather, life consists of constant challenges and repeated experiences testing our courage and raising our capacity to believe in God. Without these kinds of experiences, our lives would be unprepared and incapable of surviving the attempts by our enemy to distract us from our Kingdom assignment.

Never underestimate the strategy of the enemy to keep you locked in on your struggles and keep you from focusing on your future. It is your potential that scares the devil. He understands the promises of God—that God has determined a life for you that is abundant and fulfilled in the completion of a Kingdom assignment. He knows a simple truth that when our lives are surrendered to God and we allow Him to work His purposes and plans in us; we become partners with the Living God for all He has ordained for our lives. So struggles come and will come. Things will test your faith and resolve because it is the way life is. However, this moment now and others that come are the not the full picture of who you are and who God has chosen you to be. You must know this. God has great plans for you and the thoughts He thinks concerning you are ones filled with hope, anticipation and joy. I’ve often said that the final chapters of our lives are still being written and this moment is not the end but is part of a larger picture God is painting.

Link to Forward Leadership Blog

Too many people today are over-medicated.

In some cases, the issue is not physical but spiritual. Only Jesus can heal the spiritual issues in our lives. Jesus came to give us a full life but the devil is working full-time to steal it away. Let us join with the crippled woman of Luke chapter 13, as we go to where Jesus is and make our presence known. Then, when Jesus touches us, we too, will be enabled to “straighten up” and live life to the full.

Here is the general outline of a message that I shared last week:

Here I Am!

I. The devil steals, kills, & destroys (Jn 10:10)

• Woman was crippled: bent over unable to straighten up
• She had been in this shape for 18 years
• It was the work of a “spirit”

II. We only need to come to Jesus

• Jesus was teaching in a synagogue
• She WENT to the meeting
• She made herself visible

III. Jesus gives Abundant Life

• Jesus saw – called – spoke freedom
• Jesus touched her & immediately she straightened up
• She praised God (Lu 8:35; Jn 10:10)

Conclusion: A FULL life is to have and be everything God intends us to have & be

• The devil & his demons attempt to steal & destroy the good things in our lives
• If we want to live to the FULL, we need to get to where Jesus is & make ourselves known
• When Jesus frees us & gives us life, He ENABLES us to “straighten up” & live a FULL life

If you want to download the entire notes file, click here.