Have you ever had someone say. . . “I’ve been thinking about you?”

While we assume those thoughts are good. . .we have no idea what they’re thinking or how long they thought about us.

On a spiritual level. . .God does bring people to our minds. . .people he wants us to pray for.

In this teaching, I want to talk about someone who thinks about you 24/7.

1 Peter 5:7 in The Living Bible says:

“Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.”

He is “always thinking about you.”

Not only that but He is “watching everything that concerns you.”

Can somebody say “Hallelujah”?  You need to stop and really embrace that.

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 40:17 in The Living Bible which says:

Over the years, I have sadly had a large number of people talk to me with tears in their eyes about how they lost everything they owned because of bad advice from well-meaning friends and family members..

Couples who got in on the ground floor of a ‘can’t miss,’ explosive money-making opportunity at the urging of a family member or friend only to watch the company go belly up and their money disappear faster than an ice cube on a hot summer’s day.

Dreamers who were robbed of their dreams by the doubts of someone who’s biggest decision is whether to have next Saturday’s breakfast at iHop or Cracker Barrel. 

Listening to the wrong people give unwise advice.

I could go on with other sad stories I’ve heard but let’s move on with seven reasons not to take their word for it.

First, when I say don’t take their word for it. . .let me clarify who ‘they’ are.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

I remember learning The Golden Rule early in life.

Later in school. . .I learned the modified version.

“Do unto others before they have a chance to do it unto you.”

As an adult, I learned yet another version of The Golden Rule.  This one says:

“If you’ve got the gold. . .you make the rules.”

The Lord led me to: 1 Corinthians 15:20-22:

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

As I was meditating on this scripture. . .I felt the Lord leading me to write on this passage.   At first, I wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted me to write about.

Did He want me to write that Resurrection Sunday should be celebrated 52 weeks a year?

Did God want me to remind everyone that He is the greatest giver?  That He gave us His only begotten Son that we might have eternal life?

Did He want me to remind everyone that He allowed the birth, life, death, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus because “. . . He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.”  1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT

But then, at His urging, I looked up the words “. . .in Christ shall all be made alive” in the Strong’s Concordance.

What does it mean to be alive?  Is it just or only the opposite of being dead?

According to the Random House Dictionary the primary definition for alive is:

“having life; living; existing; not dead or lifeless.”

So in essence by the dictionary definition, if you can fog a mirror. . . you’re not dead. . .therefore, you are alive.

If your life feels complicated, stressed and out of control. . .you may need to simplify your lifestyle.

I realize that the word simplify is not in the King James Version of the Bible but we’re definitely directed to live a life free of complications, confusion, stress and anxiety.

Simplify means:  “Remove anything that complicates your life and preventing you from freely pursuing your purpose for living. . .while enjoying the journey.”

When we were in the process of selling our home once. . .my fine wife Bev had done an excellent in “feng shuing” (Chinese term) the house. . .which means removing the clutter and simplifying the look. . .so the room has an energy. . .thus allowingg potential buyers to see themselves living there.  Bev calls her process Holy Ghost "shuing" it because the Holy Spirit helped her make the decisions thus empowering the appearance of the room.

Here are seven ways to simplify your life.

1.  Remove spiritual clutter which causes confusion

According to dictionary.com clutter is defined as:

“to fill or litter with things in a disorderly manner; a disorderly heap; a state or condition of confusion.”

God would never do anything or for that matter. . .want you to do anything which would create confusion or clutter in your life.

1 Corinthians 14:33 in the Easy-To-Read Version says:

In a time of special prayer for our partners. . .God allowed us to see the intense spiritual battle faced by many His children.

Like others. . .you may have prayed for change. . .about birthing a new habit. . .turning lack into more than enough. . .and accomplishing your goals for 2022.

Suddenly. . .God directed my attention to Daniel 10:12-13 where He drew a direct parallel to what happened to Daniel and what may have happened to you.

“Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come as a consequence of [and in response to] your words.”

Let's talk about the seven keys to getting your prayers answered, that were  underlined in these two verses.

1.      Fear Not

If a quarterback's timing is off...he's going to have a bad day with more interceptions than touchdowns.   That's clearly evident in every National Football League game you watch and that's true in the Super Bowl which was just played.

If a basketball player, whether high school, college or professional, has his timing off. . .he won't be able to make a free throw. . .no matter how big the rim is.

In life. . .if your timing is off. . .you can miss possibilities. . .and opportunities for success.

Timing is critically important in life.

Something can be a good idea. . .it can be a great idea. . .it can be a God idea but for it to be successful it must be in God's timing. 

Here are seven facts you ought to know about His timing.

1.      The Holy Spirit gives you the timing.

Have you ever wondered if it was the right time to make a career change. . .to ask someone to marry you. . .to present your ideas to your supervisors?

Knowing when to speak. . .is equally important to what you’re going to say.

Acts 1:7-8 in the Message Bible says:

Sickness is evil. . .so how can evil come from God?

We never see God introduce it in the Bible.  We only see it show up after Satan comes into the picture.

There are some well-meaning and devoted Christians who feel it is a cross God wants us to bear, I just can’t find that backed up with scripture. 

James 1:17 says:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."

According to Strong’s Concordance the Greek word for good is G18 and it means:

“of good constitution or nature; useful, salutary; good, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished”

If it isn’t obvious that we’re living in the end-times. . .just read the headlines in your local newspaper about COVID19 and other attacks of the enemy.  You can also check out your favorite internet news source.

There’s an old Ray Charles song entitled “If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck.”  One refrain of the song says:  “if it wasn't for bad luck y'all. . .Oh! I wouldn't have no luck at all.”

It seems the news media has adopted that philosophy and terminology.  If it wasn’t for bad news. . .there would be no news at all.

We’re not minimizing the troubles in the world. . .they are plentiful. . .but we don’t need to get caught in despair over what’s happening around us and to us.

Here are seven ways to overcome the pandemic and every other attack of the enemy.

1.      Don’t RSVP The Pity Party

In 2 Timothy 3:1-4 it states:

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

² For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

³ Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

⁴ Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God….”

And Timothy goes on to list more of the problems of his times … which we can all pretty much agree … are the problems of our times.

When we became born again believers, we were called to Kingdom business. 

We may or may not be looking the end of the world in the face but that essentially doesn’t matter because no matter how much longer the earth remains… we have all been called to do Kingdom business. 

What we are doing in the here and now will be what we are judged for in the by and by.  And the by and by is going to come sooner or later for all of us.

I’m pretty sure that as Nazi Germany was attacking countries and gathering Jews across Europe, they felt this had to be the end of the world. It certainly looked like the end of theirs. 

It is said that 3 million people were annihilated in Poland alone, one of the few countries that had always been open to the Jewish population.  It is said that half of those killed were Christians who aided in trying to protect the Jews but that is often forgotten or put in the last sentence of the article.

Jesus’ disciples also felt the end was imminent.