Expecting Breakthroughs in the Age of the Breakdown!

Expecting Breakthroughs in the Age of the Breakdown!

I think we are living in a time where it is incumbent for people of faith to draw on that faith in a greater manner than we ever have before. We are walking daily in one of the most challenging times that man has ever seen. The hearts of men have grown cold, and many of the tenets of old are fading so soon that it would make one’s head to spin. This is not a time for the fearful and the feeble. If there was ever an age for good men to stand up and be accounted for it is now. How many people have started out on this grand old Christian journey with us only to fall by the wayside and join the ranks of the hopeless? Why are so many choosing to breakdown in this day?

Why does the pain hurt so badly? Will I ever turn the corner? When will my day ever come? Many of these are questions that befuddle so many. People are throwing in the towel and waving the white flag in numbers that time itself has never seen before. That doesn’t make these people bad; they are just individuals who want the incredible pain that accompanies being a traveler in this world to stop. God why does it have to hurt so badly? God when will my day come? Lord do you see me here barely able to breathe? Where are you Lord while I am going through all of this mess? The punches that many of us having taken in this life are so excruciating that many of us didn’t know of any other way to get the pain to stop, but by our breaking down.

Isn’t it amazing that depression, and mental maladies afflict so many in this day? Some individuals have been treated so unfairly in this world that they literally want to put their shoes on their head, and their hat on their feet. Why does it seem like all of the 24 robbers from your days of playing hide and go seek; are now seeking to torment your soul? Many have released childhood dreams of greatness because of the pains that they have suffered. They are now popping pills to wake up, and to go to sleep. There are millions upon millions that don’t even know how it feels to have a good night’s sleep. The hearts of so many have fainted because of fear and apprehension. It is indeed a challenging day when many of our 401K’s now resemble a 101A! Many have seen their nest eggs which took an entire lifetime to save all go down the drain. The stability of the workplace is at an all-time low! There are millions that are jobless. Entire industries are feeling the pinch from the economic hard times that we are living in.

Child of God there is good news amongst all of the bad news. We serve a God that is literally the Lord and Master of every Breakthrough. The same God that delivered the sages of old in The Holy Writ is still on the throne to deliver you. So stop biting your fingernails, stop waving the white flag, and stop popping pills. God can break you through whatever lines of resistance that the enemy may have set in your path. We serve a God that relishes in talking out the forces of the enemy of our souls. Even though we are not fighting Philistines, Jebusites, Hittites, and Amorites in this day, we are still left to fight depression, despondency, and hopelessness. Are there any that are busy fighting the good fight of faith? Why are so many scared when our God can breakthrough the forces of the enemy? Are we comparing our big problems to a small God, when we should be comparing our small troubles to our great big God! We serve a God that is bigger than anything that you may be going through. God is ready to explode a wave of his favor on you!

God is ready and willing for his favor to become commonplace in your life. Are you bold enough to trust him? God is able to run his favor over your life, like waters that flow from a busted pipe. Can you grasp that God’s favor can make you flourish in such a manner? Can you believe that God can do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think? Can you believe that God can run though the ranks of resistance that the enemy has tormented you with for so many years? Can you believe that God can heal that part of your body that has bothered you for so long? God has an explosion of his goodness and his mercy that he is ready to shower your life with! God is ready to bust the bubble, and release you out of all the boxes that have kept you trapped for so long. Keep your ship running even when others are choosing to break down. You should never breakdown once you get a real revelation of how tremendous our God is. Don’t weary in well doing, don’t break down on the side of the road.

God is ready to break you through any and every form of opposition that you may face. God is ready to increase you on every side. Are you bold enough to grasp this truth in the age that we are now living in? Can you stretch your faith pass the level that most in this day have? Can you expect more than the norm? Can you believe that God is ready to stretch you? Can you believe that God has a quantum leap in store for you? Can you summer up the energy to walk by faith, and not by what your see, hear, and experience every day? Isn’t God bigger than your malady? Isn’t God bigger than your financial hardship? Don’t you believe that God is bigger than any stalemate that has kept you from greatness? Will you let the obstructions in your path hinder you from experiencing God’s best? Is there anything too hard for our God? Can you believe that God can rescue you from limiting restrictions that have left you living a second tier life? Can you believe God for a breakthrough in an age that others are breaking down?


Let me introduce you to my God who is the Master and the Lord of your every breakthrough. He is the God of no limits! Our God eats the impossible for breakfast, and our God dines on the improbable on a daily basis. The God whom we serve is still a miracle worker! God is ready to break you through the ranks of all of the enemy’s opposition. Never let the harsh pains of living in this world make you lose the gift of expectation. This is a gift from God. We all claim to have faith, but there is no faith where there is not expectation. You must see things getting better. You must see good coming your way. Once you lose expectations of things getting better then you are well on your way to the ranks of those who are breaking down. Expect a miracle each and everyday and you will soon find yourself breaking through in an age where others have chose to breakdown.

Respectfully Submitted,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
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Can You Pass The Strength Test?

Can You Pass The Strength Test? One's strength is not determined by mountaintop experiences! It is determined by how one deals with the valleys of life! How can you possibly know how strong you are, if you haven't been through anything? The proof is in the pudding, don't call yourself a prayer warrior when the times are peaceful. Who attends motivational seminars by those who haven't gone through anything? Grace and Power usually follow those who are not afraid of being in the heat of the battle! Success usually follows blood, sweat, tears, and pain most times!

How can one know God as a healer if one has never been sick? How can one know God as a way -maker if one has never needed to have a way made! God's strength is made perfect(Mature,Whole, Complete) in weakness! Maybe we should thank God for the thorns, thistles, and sticker bushes we have to face in life! You are better because of it! Let that valley that you are going through right now prepare you for the sheer greatness that I am praying will come your way real soon! I see you in the future looking a whole lot better than you look right now!
Stay in the Chase,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
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Are You Living the Life of Your Dreams?

Are You Living the Life of Your Dreams? Would the child that you were be pleased with the person that you are now? At the end of any year, one will always seem to find the time for a little reflection, introspection,contemplation, and personal inspection.

There always seems to be a period at the end of any year were one will gauge the current status of one's efforts. Many of us remember the grand dreams that we all had in the days of our youth. If one were to enter nearly any elementary school and ask the students of that school what there dreams are, one would quickly hear some of the grandest dreams, aspirations, and hopes that one would ever care to hear. What happens to the dreams of men and women once they get older? Why do so many choose to live a life of settling for the average, settling for the mundane, and settling for the commonplace? Didn't God create us all in his image, and after his likeness?

Why are the dreams of our youth so foreign to us? Life is often hard, and the various paths that we have all traveled have not been loaded with flowery beds of ease. The pains of life have caused so many of us to give up on the dreams of our youth. Why so? We serve a God that can do so far beyond even our wildest dream. Is our vision of our God much too small when we only ask him for the ordinary, and the commonplace? Depression makes its greatest push when one loses the ability to dream big dreams. The pains of life and the bumps and bruises that come with it are tough, but one must never lose the ability to dream! Losing the ability to dream relegates one to the memories of days gone by. Why should our greatest days be those of days gone by?

I present to you a literal mirror to look at one that made in the image and after the likeness of God! In that mirror is the reflection of one that was fearfully and wondrously made! Looking in this literal mirror once again, and grasp the image of one that is the apple of God's Eye! Why are we settling when the God of the Heavens and the Earth has invested so much in each of us? Has life's bitter pills caused us to lose a hold on the sheer greatness that resides on the inside of each of us. My brother and my sister let's choose to recapture the sparkle in our eyes that the dreams of our youth used to produce. Very few of us can say that we are at the absolute zenith, the sheer apogee, and the highest nadir of accomplishment! Even if you name is a household name, there is still more that you should shoot for.

The enemy of our souls must be ecstatic that so many of the ranks of men and women on this planet have chose to just get by! Many of us have let a little pain, a little disappointment, and a lot of failure dash many of the dreams of our youth. Let's take a long hard look at the pains that we have suffered on our travels through life. Why should these pains be compounded by allowing these pains to negate the great dreams that God has given us all? The death of a dream often leads one into the Halls of Depression quicker than anything. What reason does one have to have pep in one's step, when one does not see anything to shoot for? Yes I know it hurts, but we must reach beyond the hurt and reach for all that God has intended for us to reach for! I stand with you in prayer that the dreams of your youth would be rekindled and the spark and vigor that you once possessed would be restored!

Can't we once again reach for the stars? Can't we once again imagine seeing our name in lights? God created you for greatness! God created you to make a difference in this world? God created you to be a Game Changer! God didn't create you to be ordinary, even if you are surrounded by ordinary circumstances! God has invested so much in you that you should never shy away from the game of life! Should we regret negating all of the great possibilities that we could have achieved because of fear? Should a bump or two on the road of life keep us from reaching for more? Why are we waving the white flag of surrender so soon? Shouldn't we enjoy life to the full until our last breath? Let's cut the cords of the commonplace, the average, and the ordinary and dream again. Let's once again pursue the life of our dreams! You deserve to have the very best that this life offers. Let's not ruin our acquisition of some of life's finer things by refusing to dream! I will see you at the top!

Respectfully Submitted,
Pastor Stephen F. Smith
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2009 Will Be the Year of Forward Progress!

Pastor Stephen F. Smith gives this prophetic word that 2009 Will Be the Year of Forward Progress!

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God is Calling You From Average Thinking!

Pastor Stephen F. Smith preaches that God is Calling Every Believer Away From Average Thinking!

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How to Make the Enemy Run!

The late Pastor E. V. Hill tells us How to Make the Enemy Run!

This is a good word!

Lions and Tigers and Bears? Oh My!

Lions and Tigers and Bears? Oh My! We are living in tumultuous times where every day seems to be laden with its own dose of drama, and disappointment. I have never seen a day in the 4+ decades that I have been on this earth where so many are gripped by fear. For those of us who are so driven by today’s 24/7 barrage of daily media, I will boldly state that we are now living in a day where fear is the order of the day! The economic ills of our land have so many panicking over the possibility that an entire lifetime’s worth of savings just might go down the drain in the days to come. The medical communities of our land are noting a rising spike in the amount of cases of depression, panic attacks, and other mental disorders. One would be remiss to not admit that we are now living in challenging times.

Isn’t it totally amazing that many of us are in the midst of feeling much like Dorothy did in The Wizard of Oz when she realized that the new land that she had come to know was not Kansas by a long shot? How did we get here? Did we miss this onslaught because we were so caught up with the hustle and bustle of today’s fast-paced lifestyles? Is there a way out of this mess that we are now in? Would the only solutions to the ills of this day, be those presented by the candidates of our political parties? Where does one go when one simply wants to scream? Does anyone know how deep-seated the pain is that many are dealing with? Where is God in all of this mess? Has God forgotten us? All of these are questions that many are asking!

My Brothers, and My Sisters, I am highly cognizant that we are living in a day that has many of the greatest challenges of our age. We face so many challenges from so many different corners that sometimes it would seem that it is just too much to keep up with it all. Well I want to let you know that God is yet on the Throne! God is called a very present help in times of trouble in Psalm 46:1. God is and should be our only true refuge in a day where the Tsunami-Scale Winds of Fear and Calamity are blowing so greatly. I want you to know that we as believers are not sailing on a sinking ship! You are not on a losing team! I would submit that we are now traveling into unchartered territory, but there is no reason at all to be swayed by fear.

The Holy Writ states in 2nd Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. It is indeed mind-boggling how many of the scriptures in the Holy Writ can so soothe a troubled mind. God has not gives us the spirit of fear that so permeates the day in which we now live. He has nothing to do with the spirit of this age that has some so messed up that they would put a shoe on their head, and a hat on their feet. It is God’s intent that those who are called by his name would prosper and be in health, not only as it relates to their material lives, but also as it would relate to their peace of mind. Peace of Mind is one of the rarest commodities in our age. People are seeking peace of mind through the bottle, illicit sex, and the use of prescription drugs, liquor, and the dope man. Where can one go for a little peace of mind? Does anyone know how much it costs? I know that I have heard that God can make a way, but why hasn’t God made a way for me yet?

I know that we can defeat the spirit of this age by trusting, and believing in The Word of God. None of today’s challenges has taken the Word of God by surprise. The disappointments, and trials of today were foretold in The Holy Writ so long ago. We are even admonished to realize as the Psalmist extolled in Psalm 30:5 that Weeping May Endure for a Night, but Joy Cometh in the Morning. Our trials and pains will not be here forever. Disappointment, Distress, and Fear are not the permanent cards that any of us have been dealt in life. We serve a God that relishes in the Prosperity of his servants. I am not talking about Bling, Jets, Yachts, or the trinkets that so many in this world have come to lust after. However; God is concerned about your general well being and the daily needs that you need met. God is even interested in giving you the very desire of your heart if you delight yourself in him. How does one delight oneself in God?

Delight oneself in the Lord would mean that one would not spend hour upon hour watching television, and then only spend five minutes a week outside of Church studying the Word of God. The Word of God is essential if one needs a guide to weathering the storms of this day. The Word of God has stood the test of time, and it is the only offensive weapon mentioned in Ephesians 6 where we are admonished to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit in Ephesians 6. The Word of God is the only true offensive weapon that a believer has in this day of fear mongering. I wholeheartedly believe that if we are to defeat the spirit of fear in the day that we live in it will be with the Word of God. When we are told on a daily basis that recession, and depression are right around the corner for our land, would it not stand that more than ever we should hold on to the truths espoused in God’ Word? Can the God of the Bible bring us out of the mess that we are now in?

The Scriptures record that the God is no respecter of persons. God didn’t favor the sages of old more than he favors you, and I. The same way that God showed up in lion’s dens, fiery furnaces, prisons, horrible pits, in the midst of famine, in the miry clay, and in the midst of a stormy sea for those who took up his Holy causes in the Bible, he is ever ready and willing to do the same for us. God can deliver in this day because he is a present help. I would not be as excited about witnessing to others about the goodness of God if I believed that God’s deliverances were for days gone by. God is still a deliverer! In a day of escalating change, and distortion, The Word of God is the one constant that is not subject to change. Heaven and Earth may both pass away, but the Word of our God will stand forever. Should we not invest our attention to the one blessed constant in life?

While so many will be caught up with the lions, tigers, and bears of this age as Dorothy and Her Crew of Misfits were in their trek to locate The Wizard of Oz. Will we have to resolve to trust God during the most trying of times? These trying times are trying for each of us, but they are not trying for our God who has already declared the end from the beginning. While we are pondering so often to figure out viable solutions to the ills of our world, our God has already worked each and every concern that we may have out! Don’t let fear’s icy clutch grip you, and keep you from reaching for God’s Best. God has already prepared us a way of escape from the many lions, tigers, and bears that this age will present us with. Oh My!

Respectfully Submitted,

Pastor Stephen F. Smith

StephenFSmith.Org

My God is Still in Style!

My God is Still in Style! Pastor Stephen F. Smith preaches on Psalm 37 verse 25 in this powerful audio clip!

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Haters Can't Kill Your Dream!

Haters Can't Kill Your Dream! Pastor Stephen F. Smith gives his perspective on the trials of Joseph, and how he overcame each of them by trusting in God and doing what's right!

God Will Not Let Your Enemies Kill Your God Given Dream! The Haters and The Dream Killers Can't Stop The Plan of God in Your Life!

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