What's Breaking Your Breakthrough?

Many are on the threshold of breakthrough. A breakthrough is a moment of achieving success. Most have the faith to believe that we can get a breakthrough, but what is needed is the hope that we will breakthrough. There's a fear of the possibility of disappointment, so we pull back on hope. This is a season of renewed hope and confidence to face the fear.

We falter when we look around. Peter did that when he stepped out of the boat. When he fixed his eyes back on Jesus, Jesus reached out and pulled him up. When we are standing in front of our breakthrough we need to keep our face set like flint and don't let it waiver away from the face of Jesus. It is He who will reach through and pull us into the breakthrough.

The joy on the other side is greater than the fear on this side. Keep moving forward and don't let anything slow you down. Shake off every hindrance of fear and let your hope grow strong.

What's in a Name?

There's so much in the Bible that we glance over and move right on because we fail to see the relevance of it. I decided that if I wanted to get to know Jesus more I would take a look at his family. I thought one way to do that was to do a word search on the meanings of the names listed in the genealogy of Jesus found in Matthew 1:1-16. This is not an extensive study, but more of an introduction that will hopefully encourage others to do a more thorough study. I will share here what I found and some thoughts about Jesus - who his is and who he is toward us.

Abraham - "father of a multitude" - Jesus was referred to as the "firstborn among many brothers" Rom 8:29
Isaac - "to laugh" - Jesus must have been joyful as little children loved to come to him.
Jacob - "heel catcher, supplanter" - Jacob caught the heel of his brother and took the birthright. If we catch the heel of Jesus, we will get the birthright.
Judah - "praised, celebrated" - Jesus is worthy to be praised and we celebrate the life He gives.
Perez - "a breach" - Is.30:26 - The Lord binds up the breach of his people and heals the stroke of their wound.
Hezron - enclosed" - Romans 4:7 - Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Ram - "high" - Psalm 91:1 - He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Amminadab - "one of the prince's people" - We are the people of the Prince of Peace.
Nahshon - "enchanter" - Actually means to attract and delight. Some use a wrong spirit to do this, Jesus uses the Holy Spirit.
Salmon - "raiment, a garment" - The woman with the issue of blood only touched the hem of his garment and was miraculously healed.
Boaz - "in him is strength" - His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
Obed - "serving" - Jesus washed the feet of the disciples.
Jesse - "wealthy" - Psalm 112:3 - Wealth and riches are in His house and His righteousness endures forever.
David - "beloved" - Luke 20:13 - He is the beloved son send by the Father.
Solomon - "peaceful" - He is the Prince of Peace.
Rehoboam - "enlarger of the people" - Means to make larger, increase in size, broaden, expand
Abijah - "my father is Jah" - He is the son of Jehovah.
Asa - "physician, or cure" - Jesus healed their diseases.
Jehoshaphat - "who Jehovah judges" - II Tim. 4:8 says He is a righteous judge.
Jehoram - "whom Jehovah has exalted" - Acts 5:31 God exalted Him to His own right hand.
Uzziah - "strength of Jehovah" or "Jehovah is my strength" - Luke 1:51 He shows strength with his arm.
Jotham - "Jehovah is upright or perfect" - Col. 1:28 Every man is shown perfect in Christ.
Ahaz - "possessor" - Jesus possesses the keys to death and hell.
Hezekiah - "the might of Jehovah" or "strength given by Jehovah" - Rev. 12:10 "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ."
Manasseh - "forgetting" or "causing to forget" - Phil. 3:13 Forget what is behind. Strain toward what's ahead.
Amon - "builder" - Upon the rock, Jesus will build His church.
Josiah - "whom Jehovah heals" - Matt. 10:8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead..."
Jeconiah - "whom Jehovah establishes or appoints" - Ez. 16:62 He will establish His covenant with us and we will know He is God.
Shealtiel - "I have asked of God" - Jesus said to ask what we will in His name and we will receive it.
Zerubbabel - "born at Babel (confusion)" - God will bring confusion to scatter the plans of man.
Abiud - "my father is majesty" - Jude 25 "To the only God, our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Eliakim - "raising up by God" - Jesus raised the dead to life.
Azor - "helper" - Heb.13:6 "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid."
Zadok - "just" - I Jn. 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive them.
Akim - "the Lord will establish" - Jer. 33:2 The Lord formed and established the earth.
Eliud - "God his praise" - Phil. 1:11 The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus to the glory and praise of God.
Eleazer - "help of God" - Heb. 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Matthan - "gift" - Eph. 2:8 We are saved by faith through grace, which is gift of God.
Jacob - "heel catcher or supplanter" - Genesis 3:15 - the offspring of women will strike the heel of the devil.
Joseph - "let him add" - I Cor. 3:8 Neither he who plants or waters is anything, but God gives the increase.
Mary - "their rebellion" - This rebellion is not a negative one against God, but is where Jesus rebelled against the laws of man that were contrary to the laws of God. He rebelled against the kingdoms of this world to establish the Kingdom of God.
Jesus - "Jehovah is salvation" - Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Forgetting Those Things That Lie Behind

Philippians 3:13-14 "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
If there is one thing we need to do - it's to forget the past. Forgetting our own mistakes is top of the list of what to forget. Taking our past into the future will guarantee that we will not reach our goal. It's like wearing a weight around our neck. We would want others to forget our past, but then we don't forget it ourselves.
We need to forget our past successes. If we find something that works, we will continue to try and replicate that rather than relying on Holy Spirit to follow what He would have us to do. We develop a pattern and a crutch when we don't let go of past successes.
The third thing we need to forget in order to achieve our future is to forget the sins and actions of others. We often see people as being frozen in time and that they have not and cannot change. We see ourselves as changing, but don't envision that others could change. We need to release them because holding on to them keeps you held back.
Yesterday is over. It ended last night. Today is the only day you have and what you deposit into it today will cause you to reap the reward of it tomorrow. Regrets will always cause you to look back and go back. Worry will cause you to look around you and not move. Faith causes you to look up and move forward.
"Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am going a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wilderness." Isaiah 43:18-19

All About Love

Because God so loved He gave, so also should we "so love" and give. We need to allow the light of His love to shine out from us. How does love show itself? How do we know we are operating in love?

Once I was listening to a lady speak that I have great admiration for. She said if she could ask for just one thing from the Lord...I listened intently thinking it would be surely be "love"...and she said "peace". I was so surprised and began to ponder that. I discovered that peace is the barometer or measure of love. To the degree that we feel peace in our lives is the degree that we have love in our lives. We cannot walk in peace to all people without walking in love toward them.

The expression of love is goodness. Jesus went about doing good. When we are filled with love there is a natural goodness that come out of us wanting to serve and to help others. We don't stop to think how serving others would benefit ourselves, but only see it will help those we love.

The essence of love is gentleness. Love is not harsh or rude or demanding it's own way, but is filled with kindness and honoring others.

The test of love is long-suffering. It's standing by others when they are hard to stand by. Love stays when it would be easier to walk away.

Faith is the power of love. Faith only works with love and love stands strong with faith. It's believing for greater things for each other. When we love others we call upon the love of God to move on their behalf.

Temperance or self-control is the inner working of love. Love changes things on the inside of us without us having to work on changing. It's knowing that we don't have to respond out of our own feelings or thoughts, but to allow the love of God to flow through us.

The realization of loves results in meekness. When one is fully walking in love there is an automatic meekness. It's easy to walk in humility when operating in love for others.

Joy is the result of love. What a delight there is in the heart when love is fully expressed and received. There is such a sense of security and confidence when we fully love and are fully loved.

Reflections

In order to reflect, water must be still. The more still it is - the more exact will be the reflection. In order to be a more exact reflection of God's nature and glory, we need to be still...very still before Him. I also saw in this picture the verse where Jesus said "greater works shall you do" as the light that is reflected off the water is actually brighter than the visible sun in the sky. This is a season where those who have prepared themselves in stillness will find that they are reflecting a greater light because of the increase that He is bringing. He desires greater works from us more than we desire it, but He can not do it with those who are tossed to and fro with every wind, but can only use those who are willing to stand in quietness before Him and allow His glory to be reflected. They must also enlarge their borders so that the trees by the shore will not obscure the sun from finding it's reflection. So all the things in life that would want to grow up around us and block His light have to have their distance and we must be large enough to accommodate their need for water without draining us and making us too small to reflect the light.

Rivers are a glorious thing and needful, but sometimes God wants us to be lakes of tranquility. There is still water, there are still rocks and trees and life inside, but a different purpose and different setting. Sometimes it's about diving in and sometimes it's about floating. We can go from the river to the lake in the same day depending on the need. Sometimes even within the same hour. But both places are needful in our life. Some people stay too long at one when God is telling them to move to the other.