The Mountain before you!

During prayer time last night at Cowboy Junction, I quoted the scripture found in Mark chapter 11. Jesus is speaking to his disciples and telling them to have faith. And with faith they can speak to the mountain and it shall fall into the sea. The struggles and difficulties that stand before us often seem like a mountain standing in our way. These trials are keeping us from our "promised land" and there is nothing we want more than to see it removed. Well the Lord used a message I had recorded back in March to speak to me in August. I woke up this morning and turned on a previously recorded message by Bishop T.D. Jakes. In this message, he spoke something that gave me a different perspective of those mountains. He said that victory is not found in changing your mountain. Victory is found in your mountain changing you. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years in search of their destination that was only a few days journey away. Why? Did they pray and ask God to get them out of the desert? You bet they did. But there was something they had to learn in the desert before God would bring them into their promised land. Do you ever feel like you go around the same mountain over and over again? Be prepared to keep circling until you change what is keeping you there. Mark 11 tells us that with faith all things are possible. But we must also know that God cares about our future. He cares about our children and our grandchildren's future too. The decisions you and I make today can effect our offspring for generations. If there is something we must learn in order to prepare our path to our promised land, God will walk with us around our mountain until we are ready to change our course. The thing is, we have a choice. Do you want your mountain to change or will you let your mountain change you?

View From My Seat

I love having the opportunity to re-preach Ty's messages to other people. Yesterday I was given the opportunity to tell two different people about this weekends message. The content seemed to fit their circumstances just perfectly. I love how God does that for us. For those of you that missed it, please don't forget about our free podcasts at www.cowboyjunctionchurch.com. Every message preached at CJC is found on our website. In the meantime, here is what touched me the most. Ty spoke on our life being similar to a tree that is meant to flourish and produce a harvest. But circumstances don't always allow for easy growth. At times in our lives we fill like we are doing the very best we can and pruning begins to happen. Now pruning is necessary but it initially hurts. Ty reminded us that God is not in the business of hurting us and He uses everything for our good. The scripture he pointed us to is found in John 15:2. It says,"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit." When he explained this scripture in "Ty Bean fashion", I wanted to jump up and shout. When something is lost or cut off, God has plans for a bigger return. WOW!!!! I am holding on to this promise and I am remaining in the vine. Even fruit producing limbs get pruned on. Why? Because the greater harvest comes from what we gained in the tough times. I don't want to just bear fruit. I want my branches to bend. I want an overflow of whatever God has to offer. At the end of the service, Ty gave 2 scriptures that he encouraged us to make as our scripture memory. One of them being Galatians 6:9. I memorized it today and I am sure it will be useful in the days ahead. It says,"Let us not grow weary doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." In life, disappointments come. People hurt us and tough times can bring discouragement. But through all the pruning we receive, we can't give up. A great harvest is coming. More fruit than our tree can hold. God has promised to finish what He began in each of us. What the enemy meant for harm, God will make for good. Keep pressing on. Don't lose heart. And most importantly, stay connected to the vine.