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If you got a minor cut, scratch, or bruise—put some hydrogen peroxide on it. If you got a swollen ankle—put some ice on it. But if you got troubles and cares—put some WORD on it.

The other day I was wondering if I had done the right thing concerning a matter. My doubts opened the doorway for the devil to pitch in a few of his lies. Even though earlier that day, I had prayed specifically for God to direct my steps before I had to meet with a client. However, after I returned home, I couldn’t tell if I had made the right moves or not. That’s when the Holy Spirit said this to my spirit:

You put WORD on it!

The Spirit wanted me to know that I had already put His Word on it when I asked Him to guide my way. Now, I had to have faith that He did. The Lord brought Proverbs 3:5-6 to mind.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

God wanted me to understand the full impact of . . . lean not unto thine own understanding. The enemy can bombard my mind with his rationales if I depend on my justifications and analyses for clarification. But to lean on God means, the whole matter is released to His charge. It doesn’t have to make sense to me, as long as my heart is obedient to His ways.     

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. I did acknowledge God in the matter when I let Him know that I was dependent on Him. It was then up to me to believe His Word, and that my actions were directed by Him.      

Put some WORD on it!

When you are facing difficulties, don’t waste your time in confusion trying to figure things out. Instead, incorporate Scriptures into your circumstances; weave in what saith the Lord. Find out if the Word supports or refutes what you want God to do. If the Word supports, hang on in there; be obedient to God, and let Him guide your moves. If the Word refutes, turn your mindset around because God isn’t going to change His.

When Christians tell me about their woes, I’m listening to find out if they asked God to intervene. If they only speak defeat—no mention of the Holy Spirit, then that’s a major faith problem. That breach of trust must be resolved, because the answer they’re looking for is found in their ability to believe God’s Word.

God speaks through His WORD.

Personalize Scriptures to read as a personal word from your heavenly Father. When you do that, you feel closer to Him. For example: Fear not Paulette; I am with you (paraphrased from Isaiah 41:10). Paulette will call upon Me, I will answer her: I will be with her in troubles (paraphrased from Psalm 91:15).

Whatever you’re facing—Put Some WORD on It!

Side note: The Bible is not a read-only document full of historical facts of days gone by; but it’s a hands-on instructional manual for your life today. Yes, make it personal as it relates to your circumstances. As you read the Word, keep your spiritual ear opened to hear how God wants you to apply what you read to your current situations.

Once we receive revelation of how our everyday lives connect to the Word, we’ll never want to be caught without it. It becomes our lifeline.

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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When someone throws you insults, offenses, and other hate balls—don’t be so quick to react. Those balls are meant to arouse and distract your flesh with a bunch of slurs, eye-rollings, and neck jerks while the real enemy, the devil, sneaks into your spirit and dumps a truck load of contaminants. By faith, let God catch those balls.

You don’t have to catch everything that’s thrown.

God is working on me in areas that I’ll share at a later time. However, there’s one area I conquered over twenty years ago: Hate balls. As a matter of fact, now when I see one coming, I get a kick out of watching the Holy Spirit intercept.

Let me share one of the lessons the Spirit taught on hate balls. One day at work, a lady was throwing me hate balls left and right. Her face became distorted and monstrous as she viciously gave me a piece of her mind—as she would have described—getting me told. What she was spitting out was incorrect, which didn’t matter; her only motive was to destroy and cause pain.

I didn’t listen that closely to her long-winded rampage; instead, I used that time to think how I was going to slam her down with my comeback.

Arms of flesh throw balls pitched out of hell.

Just at the moment I couldn’t take it anymore—tongue ready to butcher, when God spoke this to my spirit: “Shut up!” In other words, don’t catch that ball—it’s laced.

The woman kept yakking, but after God gave me my orders to stay quiet, I felt peace in my soul. I didn’t get a fleshly satisfaction that you would normally get after you put somebody in their place; I received something better, a spiritual satisfaction of knowing I passed my test with God. My stillness freed the Holy Spirit to handle that lady on my behalf. At the same time, He taught me a lesson on how to fight battles beyond the devil’s reach.

In a multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise (Proverbs 10:19).   

Don’t Catch that Ball!

You have been warned!

 © 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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Can God count on you to defend Him in the presence of scoffers? Do you stand in silence when He is being mocked? Is status—power, money, and fame more important than defending the Lord? Do you ignore the Holy Spirit when He prompts you to say something in His defense? Do you appease your denial with: “God understands—He knows my heart”?

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 10:33). (Also, Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:12).

There are times when it’s inappropriate to speak out. However, we all know the difference (God certainly does) between when our silence is proper, and when our low profile is because of what it will cost us. Persecuted Christians who are tortured in order to spread God’s Word, might find it a little hard to swallow—for us to put self above coming to the Savior’s defense.

God will put us in situations so we can know the scope of our dedication to Him. Are there certain circumstances He can’t depend on us? Many times, we won’t know what we’ll do until we are confronted like Peter was the night Jesus was taken into captivity.

Peter told Jesus he would never deny Him; he would die with Him. But, when that night’s drama unfolded, Peter ended up denying that he knew Jesus three times in order to save his own neck. (See Matthew 26:31-35.)

³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. (NIV)

Representatives—represent!

I’ll admit there were times when I didn’t speak up; missed golden opportunities to plant seeds of salvation as the Holy Spirit instructed. I allowed the spirit of pride to override my duties as one of His representatives. My focus was centered on me: How I would look if I said the right thing—the wrong way.

The Spirit anoints His people to speak up on His behalf. He certainly wasn’t counting on my words, but rather the words He would put into my mouth.

• When Moses told God he couldn’t speak for Him because he was slow of speech, God told him, “Who made man’s mouth”? (See Exodus 4:10,11)
• When Jeremiah gave God excuses why he couldn’t speak on His behalf, the Lord put forth His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said, “I have put my words in thy mouth.” (See Jeremiah 1:9)

Do you have the faith God will speak through you?

I believe those opportunities I chose to remain silent would have not only blessed the listeners, but would have helped me with my spiritual growth.

Whenever we are placed in predicaments where God is being disrespected, or need us to speak up for Him, we should use our faith and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Those sticky-awkward moments could very well be the times when He wants us to represent Him as lights in a dark world. If God can’t depend on His own people to defend Him, then who else is there—rocks?

Can God count on you to defend Him?

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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When Satan takes a victory lap—flaunting his control over our families, our dreams, our health, and other matters of concern, we shouldn’t let that shatter our faith. Don’t forget, he took a victory lap when Jesus was nailed to the cross; and we all know how that turned out.

The distress Satan manages to pull off, nonetheless, still produces toe-curling pain. He knows exactly when and how to strike; what’s precious to us. Like a maestro, he knows exactly when to strike that perfect pitch. Everything is fair game—nothing is off limits.

Sometimes God will empower us to outwardly fight; then there are other times when He will instruct us to be still—incognito. I think being still can really challenge our faith when we think we have the wherewithal to make an impressive knockout punch.

Jesus stood still.

Imagine how Jesus must have felt when He stood still before Pilate while the chief priest and elders interrogated Him. (See Matthew 27:1-12.) Now imagine how He must have felt when His accusers nailed Him to the cross; all the while, He had the power to call a host of warring angels on the scene.

To understand how Jesus restrained Himself as Satan took those victory laps, we must understand what He did in order to prepare Himself for that moment. Jesus didn’t wait until the day—all that drama unfolded in the Garden of Gethsemane—to start praying. He didn’t wait until the adversary approached Him with a kiss—to establish a close relationship with His Father.

If we want to be victorious and defeat Satan, we can’t do anything less than what Jesus did. Developing an intimate relationship with the Father, is paramount. Satan fights dirty; on our own, we’re no match against this evil-vile spirit. But when God is the Referee—calling the plays, we can expect:

• We can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us (see Philippians 4:12).
• His grace is sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).
• If God be for us, who can come against us? (See Romans 8:31.)
• For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are unable to perform (Psalm 21:11).

Satan will dig deep into the trenches to bury us alive; but does he not know—

El Shaddai: God Almighty,

Jehovah-Elohim: All powerful God,

El Elyon: God the Highest,

Yahweh Shalom: The Lord of Peace,

Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord will Provide,

Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord our healer,

Yahweh Nissi: The Lord is My Banner,

Jehovah-Rohi: The Lord is my Shepherd,

. . .is with us?

When the greater One is within you—take your VICTORY LAPS!

© 2020

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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I’m sure you’ve seen signs posted at construction sites that read, “Your tax dollars at work.” Well, the Lord brought those signposts back to my memory the other day when He unexpectedly did me a favor and sequentially dropped this into my spirit:

“Your prayers at work”

You see, that favor was just to encourage me to keep the faith, because I’m still waiting for Him to answer a ten-year-old prayer. So, when I received that favor, I took it as God telling me:

Paulette, I heard your prayers, but the time has not come, yet; stay faithful.

The size of the favor was inconsequential, and to tell you the truth, I can’t even remember what the favor was. The favor was not the point; it only served for the Holy Spirit to let me know: Your prayers are at work. However, the devil wanted me to think that speckle of favor was just a stroke of luck, a coincidence unrelated to the matter at hand. The enemy told me too much time had lapsed—making the prayer impossible to materialize.

We are unnerved by the level of difficulty—not God!

We are compelled by time—not God!

For with God nothing shall be impossible (Luke 1:37).

I can’t overemphasize the fact that our prayers must be in God’s will. (See 1 John 5:14,15.) The enemy will use our vulnerabilities when we are waiting for long-awaited prayers to be answered; he would love for us to fixate our minds on wrong construction sites. Therefore, it’s imperative that we continue to develop a close relationship with the Lord, so we can discern the route He wants us to go. (See Proverbs 3:5-7.)

A good way to keep your faith stirred up and encouraged: Any movement towards your prayers being answered (large or small), acknowledge secretly to yourself:

My prayers at work; Glory to God!

© 2019

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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After you get a long-awaited prayer answered, don’t get so excited that you trash the box it came in. What I mean is, we shouldn’t overlook the framework—the spiritual lessons that we learned as we waited for our blessings. Lessons like patience, humility, and other godly characteristics that crucifies the flesh, conforms us into His image. I think what we learn during the “wait” is more important to God than the answered prayer itself.

“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, you feed him a lifetime.” There are those who question the origin of this old saying; nevertheless, I think it explains perfectly the importance of growing in knowledge.

What are you learning?

Take the time to think about what the waiting period has taught you or is teaching you spiritually. If your prayer has already been answered, what did you gain besides getting the answer you wanted? If you only focused on the end results and bypassed the lessons along the way, then I’m afraid you trashed the box. Go get it—and reflect!

Those struggles you went through in order to remain faithful during the wait, formed spiritual muscles that will come in handy when you have to trust God in the future. In addition, the ups and downs your faith went through can benefit others when you share your testimony.

Even if your prayer wasn’t answered the way you wanted it, there are some valuable lessons hidden in disappointments. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand, so the letdowns won’t stifle your spiritual growth.

The dynamics of the box:

Listed below are some of the valuable lessons I’ve learned, and still learning as I wait for my prayers to be answered. Your list might include some of the same things, or it might differ. Spiritual growth plans are individualized.

Intimacy – I’m drawn more to God. The more time I spend with Him—the more time I want to spend with Him.

Patience – I’ve learned to appreciate my present moment.

Discernment – My ability to discern the Holy Spirit’s directions is becoming clearer.

Peace – I’ve learned to value stillness.

Faith – I’m learning how to let go and trust God.  

God uses every opportunity to grow us into His likeness. Think about what you are learning as you wait for Him to answer your prayers.

Don’t trash the box!

© 2019

              See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

 

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As long as we are in these mortal bodies, we are susceptible to the devil’s attacks. But that doesn’t mean he can demolish whomever he pleases. When we see him targeting our: peace, dreams, families, and other concerns—we can’t sit idly by and just hope he’ll leave us alone. Of course, we don’t feel like being bothered with him—but that’s neither here nor there. We must be wise enough to recognize this evil; and be ready when the attack comes. His disguises and tactics will vary, but don’t be fooled—it’s him.

Not you again!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12).

The devil’s most effective hideaway is to run his corrupt operation inside people. You might think it’s your boss, or the sale’s clerk, or your neighbor coming at you, but it’s the evil spirit within them that’s the culprit.

You don’t want anyone taking advantage of you; however, you don’t want to act impulsively; fly off the handle—leaving yourself opened for an imp to set up shop inside you. You can play around with that demon if you want to, but if you want to respond effectively and appropriately, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you concerning the matter; His Word will not return to Him void. (See Isaiah 55:11.)

Suit up; fight the good fight of faith—and win!

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)

We have to be sober so we can fight strategically. Keep in mind, strategic warriors don’t wait until they’re on the battlefield to start their training. They prepare daily:

• Devote quality time enriching your relationship with God. How close do you want this relationship to be depends on your dedication. (See James 4:8)
• Spend time reading and studying His Word.
• Ask the Holy Spirit for revelation as to how the scriptures apply to your circumstances.
• Communicate with God; pray intermittently throughout the day.
• Listen to what the Lord has to say; obey Him.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern His voice. It’s a process of trial and error.

Now when the enemy comes, he won’t just see you; he’ll see that heavenly entourage that’s backing you. He’ll take his best shot hoping your faith will balk; nonetheless: Stand firmly! The devil will flee—momentarily—he will be back.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

(James 4:7)

And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him [Jesus] for a season. (Luke 4:13)

Not you again!

© 2019

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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God can take us down some muddled-precarious roads that will leave us wondering: This road? Yep, that’s the right road. There are people who missed their blessings because they didn’t like God’s way of doing things; so, instead they decided to take the path of least resistance.

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil (Proverbs 3:7).

Before Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace, they could have taken the easiest route by honoring the king’s decree; but they chose to honor God. Who do you think was in the safest place: the men in the blazing furnace or the king in the palace? (Read Daniel 3:1-25.)

A smooth trail without God—is the most dangerous road we could ever travel.

If we pay attention, wisdom will teach us: just because the pavement is level and the scenery is beautiful, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right road to take. If we only determine our paths by our five senses, then we are an easy mark for the devil to exchange our faith for his deceptive trickery.

Look—it doesn’t matter if we take God’s road or not, life will still present some pretty scary challenges; there’s no way around it. We can decide to go through those challenges with the power, guidance, and comfort of the Holy Spirit, or take our chances and rely on our own instincts.

Do we trust God completely?

We say God is our Rock, our Refuge, our Comforter, our All-in-all; but do we put those claims into practice when we are led down uncertain roads? Professing to have faith is not synonymous with using it. Going through fiery tests, is the only way to truly find out the resilience of our faith.

God is bigger than our problems.

1. Imagine you have an inflatable balloon inside your body.
2. Now, imagine that balloon inflated—covering you head-to-toe.
3. Finally, imagine that balloon is God.

If the enemy manages to wedge himself in, it’s only because you let him in when you took his bait to doubt God. Why focus on the lesser when MORE than enough is within you? God knows EVERYTHING about you. (See Psalm 139.)

Once we receive the understanding that the greater One is in us, our faith will walk us (quivering knees and all) down any road God selects.

God’s path is the safest road.

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10).

© 2019

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

 

Your help cometh from the Lord. There’s nothing too hard for Him to handle; and nothing is impossible for Him to do. God, who is omnipotent and omnipresent, will walk you through WHATEVER situation you find yourself in. God already knows every aspect of the matter; after all, He’s omniscient. No foe can withstand His might; if God is for you, then please tell me, who do you think can come against you? (See Romans 8:31.)

We are being monitored!

Hell can’t make a move against us without heaven knowing about it. Just the fact that God knows what’s going on in our lives—should be consoling. With that said, why should our faith bow under the thought help isn’t coming? Our heavenly Father knows we need His support. Things might get rough waiting; but He’s in control—focus on the One in charge of scheduling. No demon has any say-so over us when we are walking in obedience to the Word; God gives us HIS peace, HIS comfort, along with HIS warring angels to battle on our behalf. (See Psalm 91:11,12.) God is not moved by the enemy—so why should we?

Why worry?
Help Cometh!

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1,2).

Let me share the latest revelation I received from the Holy Spirit about how worrying and fear can hinder the very help we’re waiting for. The Lord led me to read Exodus 17:9-13; when the Israelites had to fight the Amalek army, they prevailed as long as Moses held up the rod in his hands. But when he got tired and relaxed his arms, the Amalek’s prevailed. So, Aaron and Hur stood on each side of Moses, and held his arms up; as a result, the Israelites won.

From that passage of scripture, here’s how it relates to my life: As long as I keep my faith in God, and do what He instructs me to do—He will command His angels to fight for me. But, when I start to worry, and allow fear to overtake me, it’s as if I “lowered my arms.” Why should the angels continue to fight when I walked away from the battle? That illustration gave me a Holy Ghost slap of reality. (See James 1:6,7.)

Is your faith faithful to God?

In Daniel 10:1-13, Daniel’s prayer request was received in heaven the first day he prayed. But it was delayed for twenty-one days because the angel of God had to fight his way through the evil spirit of Persia. Nevertheless, as Daniel waited for his answer to come, he devotedly continued fasting and praying. To put it another way, Daniel never lowered his arms; therefore, the angel had reason to continue fighting.

By faith know, there’s a lot of activity happening in the spiritual realm that we in the natural know nothing about. The angels are fighting on the behalf of every prayer that is and was prayed in God’s will. Stay in position to receive because:

Your help cometh!

Side note: No matter how many times we’ve read old familiar Bible stories, we must keep reading them. Those stories are packed with eye-opening revelation that we can use in our current circumstances—right NOW. I told you how reading about Moses spoke straight to my situation. The Word of God is Alive!

© 2019

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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We cannot hate people then expect God to bless us; it doesn’t work like that. And, God loves EVERYBODY; not everything they do—but He loves everybody. We are deceived if we think we can embrace hate and not get burned. Even when doing the Lord’s work, our good intentions turn corrupt when the devil’s tactics are used to get the job done: lying, cheating, stealing, and mistreating others—that’s not doing the Lord’s work—that’s a heart gone rogue.

Who merits so highly that a person would sacrifice their blessings to hate them?

The enemy knows most people don’t want to be associated with hating—anybody. Therefore, he will shrewdly disguise hate under more acceptable headings like: self-preservation, tough love, justice, and so on. The One who thoroughly examines the heart—is God. He searches the hidden chambers where the motives, of these “acceptable” behaviors, are stored.

Can our motives pass God’s in-depth examination?

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: ²⁴ and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

We will reap what a rogue heart has sown.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Assuredly [I pledge it] the wicked shall not go unpunished, but the multitude of the [uncompromisingly]righteous shall be delivered (Proverbs 11:21, AMP).

No one wants to reap what a rogue heart has sown. But then again, the way some people disregard others, makes one wonder if they ever stop to consider the repercussions they will face? No one is above God’s Word!

We must ask the Holy Spirit daily to search our hearts; let us know if anything seeped in that doesn’t reflect Him. After we ask Him to search, we must be willing to accept His findings; and by faith, do His instructions on how to change. What the Spirit shows us will probably have something to do with how we respect or disrespect others.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these (Mark 12:30-31).      

In the end, after we have worked hard to achieve a productive life on earth, it can all be summed up with two questions:

1. Did we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior?
2. How did we treat people?

I don’t think—anything else matters much.

Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; test my heart and my mind (Psalm 26:2, AMP).

© 2019

See you next week on Paulette Talks Faith.

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