God's Roadmap

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in his eyes (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 TPT).


Sunday, February 26, 2017

The Power of Imagination

by Barbara Latta

Voyages to the moon and back were someone's idea.
Imagination. Some think the word only refers to child-like fantasies but places like Disneyland, voyages to the moon and back, and Henry Ford’s Model T were all products of someone’s imagination.

What is imagination? 
Imagination is the power to see with our mind. The ability to perceive mental pictures from words has created physical things. Building, toys, roads, bridges, art, and jewelry are a  that started out as ideas.

Using imagination helps develop minds and keep creative juices flowing. It is the power to achieve goals. Many athletes have shared how their success has come from visualizing the steps to victory before competing and they have been the ones to win the trophies. Jack Nicklaus said that he never shot a hole of golf without first playing the course in his mind. When on the ice, Wayne Gretsky visualized where he thought the puck would be going next.

David had meditated on God while tending his sheep and when confronted with a giant was able to bring him down with a stone because the greatness of God overcame the smallness of the thinking of Israel’s army.

Results of Negative Imagination
In the same way, imagination can be used in a negative way. Negative thoughts can create negative images which in turn bring about catastrophic results. As he thinks in his heart so
Take time to think about ideas.
is he
(Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). When encountering a challenge, if we let thoughts such as “I am going to fail,” or "I’m going to mess up” stir in our minds, actions will follow and failure will be the result.

The Israelites were forbidden from entering the promised land because they used their imagination in a negative way. They saw the inhabitants of the land and let fear form a mental picture of their defeat instead of dwelling on all the miracles God had performed to bring them across the wilderness.  Caleb and Joshua were the only two of the twelve spies to enter Canaan because of their ability to see victory instead of defeat.

Jesus Saw Victory
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2). Yes, even Jesus used the power of his imagination to defeat the
Jesus saw the joy set before Him and endured the cross.
challenge of the cross. He saw the joy of resurrection, the victory of defeating the devil, and the waiting arms of His Father in heaven.

God gave us an imagination and he wants us to use this powerful gift in faith to accomplish the dreams he has put into our hearts.

How can we use this power effectively in our lives?
  • Realize our imagination is a gift we should use. Pray and ask God for the desires to match His will.
  • Make a list of dreams and goals we wish to have. Take 10-20 minutes out of the day and just sit and think. Picture accomplishing each goal and see yourself winning.
  • Think big. We can limit God by thinking too small. God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.(Romans 4:17b AMP). Remember Abraham. God put a dream and a promise in his mind, but Abraham had to act on it when in the natural realm it looked impossible.

With God all things are possible. Share your imagination.


Sunday, February 19, 2017

5 Ways to Avoid Becoming Offended by Others

by Barbara Latta

We have the power to refuse to become offended.
Clicking the TV remote or booting up the computer is all that’s necessary to be blasted with someone’s rant or latest offense. Our ears and eyes can become bombarded with negativity and the constant stream going into our minds can have a lasting effect if we are not careful to stop the flow. Even when we think we are not affected, a mood change can be the key to tell us we are letting poison control our emotions.

We have the power to flip the switches on electronic devices, but we can’t turn off opinions spouted in our presence whether in the workplace, marketplace or school. Refusing to become offended is a choice we can make, but the power to make that choice requires discipline in the Word of God. I am not referring to opinions that merely differ from ours, but the destructive, vile and blasphemous words spouted in public and over the airways in the last few months.

Here are five ways to handle offensive opinions of others:

Sunday, February 12, 2017

The Unconditional Love of God

by Barbara Latta

Our tokens of love are emotional.
Chocolate, roses, fancy dinners, and cards are the primary gifts given for Valentine’s Day. These are physical reminders of affectionate feelings for another person. But after the day is over, do we revert back to old ways and forget the loving things said and done because of a special holiday?

Our tokens of love are emotional. Feelings aren’t wrong, but we can’t depend on them to guide our lives. Sometimes we don’t feel like being loving, we would rather be grumpy or rude. But real love performs the action even when the feeling is absent.

God’s love is unconditional. He loved us while we were still dirty, rotten sinners (Romans 5:8). He showed the one and only kind of real love when he gave Jesus to us as a gift wrapped in a little baby to grow into the man who would have all the foul sin of the world placed upon him.

He loved us without us loving Him.

God loved us without us loving Him.
Because He loved us, we can love Him (I John 4:10). And because He loved us, we can love others. Not with a feeling, but with a showing, a doing, a becoming what He made us to be.

Our works don’t bring us into a relationship with God. Faith does that. Receiving grace does that (Ephesians 8-9). But to bring someone else into that grace requires showing them the love of the Father. The action comes in by not retaliating against someone who has mistreated us, being kind to someone who was rude in the shopping line and keeping our mouths in line with the word when we get “blessed” out. These are the actions of love despite the opposite feelings rising within us.

Heaven's valentine wasn’t a card sent through an angelic mailbox. It was blood running down a wooden cross to soak into the cursed earth. One drop would have been enough, but He used it all to show us He goes over and beyond and does much more than we need.  He paid the highest cost and we were given the freest gift. 



What does this love mean to you?