Blog – Page 10 – Ask Jerry Mercer

“What I Said to You, I Say to Everyone, Watch”

What you are watching for has everything to do with your spiritual wellbeing.

Your expectations will fuel your desire to look closely at your surroundings and situations. If the burglar is already in your bedroom in the middle of the night, it is too late to lock the door.

Although just locking a door or even adding a deadbolt for greater security and holding power will not keep the strongman out, you must also set a watch around your heart. Amen!

We as people must advance in the ability to look inside ourselves, get in tune with the candle of the Lord, which is the spirit of man. That light or fire that God is, and is burning in man controls the very fulfillment of our lives.

We must set a watch or watchman at the entrance to our conscience, guarding against the enemy of our soul (the wicked one). Our conscience can only lead us if we keep it clear, clear from the cares that try to overcome us, clear from the thoughts that lead to bad choices, and clear from all uncertainty.

If we are not awake when the thief breaks in, we will not be able to respond quickly enough to avenge ourselves. It is too late to train in self-defense; we are emerged in a fight we are unprepared to fight.

While in this position, who else in the house will be overtaken because we chose to leave our door unlocked. We chose to be lead astray by the luring of, the lustful eye, and the pride of being who we want to be instead of being who we were created to be.

The subtlety of our wrong choices leads us to believe the lies of the world like; you can have the American dream, you can be whatever you want to be, or you can live your life the way you please. These are all untrue and lead to a wide-open house, you don’t have to worry about locking the door, your whole house is vulnerable.

If you knew the day and hour of the break-in, I am sure you would have been awake, guarding the door, walking the perimeter, armed, and ready.

We as people would never purposely allow this total burglarizing, allowing ourselves and others in our family to be put into a penetrable position, asleep, unarmed, and spiritually dulled down.

We must remain watchful at all times, we must keep our spiritual ears open at all times, and we must guard our heart at all times, because you see, not only does the thief come unexpectedly, but Jesus said He is coming back the same way, “as a thief in the night”, at an unexpected hour.

What hour are we living in, are we keeping track of time, what time is it? At 2 am we have a different level of fear than we do at 2 pm, when we hear a loud noise. Why? The difference is the “Light”, we must walk in the Light and remain in the Light. Amen!

Guard your heart against all darkness, set a guard around the light you have inside, by trusting in The Word of God and locking out fear and unbelief. Keep a watch on your mouth, take all negative thoughts captive, and renew your mind with The Word of God. Amen!

The Bible is God’s prophesies about life leading up to Jesus Christ, the life of Jesus Christ, and our life by choosing Jesus Christ. Do you know Him? He knows and loves you!

God said in Matthew 17:5, “this is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him”. Jesus said in Mark 13:37, “I say to you what I say to everyone; watch for Him”. Listen and watch, expect and exhort, hear and receive, believe, and love.

You see, it is too late to stop the thief or the strongman when he is already in your bedroom; you need to stop him at the door, the door of your heart. So guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus, be alert through Christ’s power and protection, place a watchman to control what enters in, and especially what dwells in you.

What we say and do, and who we become is the result of how much darkness or light we have allowed in our heart, we need to put on the whole armor of God to have a withstanding heart.

So put on God’s full armor and be watchful, to keep ourselves in a constant state of readiness.

I was at a church service one time when a little lady stood up and belted out, “you don’t have time to get ready, you have to be ready”. Amen!

Let’s all live with enthusiasm and eagerness to stay alert and spiritually active, always on the watch and ready.

“Don’t be taken by surprise, or be surprised to be taken”. We need to live a humble, open, forgiving life, doing what God said “listening to Jesus”, and doing what Jesus said “Watching”.

As we put on the full armor of God, we will be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore! Ephesians 6:11-14.

Jesus said, “behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him”.

Do you know who is at the door? Open up the door to Jesus and lockout the wicked one!

Our best days are ahead of us!

If you need a faith boost today please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scriptures of encouragement and content.

Mark 13:37, Proverbs 20:27, Ephesians 5:14, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Philippians 4:7, Ephesians 6:11-18, Revelation 3:20, and 1 John 1:5-7, “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin”.

Vision – The Spiritual Gauge

What kind of vision is our nation producing for us today? Can we trust the vision that we see being produced is the culmination of the nation’s strategies producing in us an uplifting vision?

We have many spiritual openings available for us to take; paths that lead to a desired destiny, our preferred destiny would most often be in stark contrast to the “way of the world”.

Our spiritual destination will be the end result of our vision. Amen!

We need to walk on a level path, a straightway, a smooth course, to end up at a spiritual destination allowing us a high measure on our vision gauge. As we utilize our measure of faith, it will produce in us a vision of a destination that is worth waiting for and then arriving at.

All of us remember a trip that sticks out in our minds and causes us excitement when we think about returning there. We get an immediate picture in our mind of the good we experienced at that spot. That picture or vision produces a desire in our heart to return to that spot, a longing to re-visit, not only to re-visit the destination but also to re-visit the satisfaction and fulfillment we associate with it. Our inner man longs for the emotional and spiritual attachment that was formed there.

Let God send you a postcard of His favorite place for you, it is in your future, it is postmarked and stamped by His Son Jesus. God sees you, in Him! Amen!

What vision do you have in your life right now that is causing you to become emotionally and spiritually stable? Stability should be another high measure on your spiritual gauge, not being moved by every option coming at you, but remaining constant and steadfast, smoothly moving towards your vision.

You see vision is the heart gauge that is raised by a connection to God. By having a vision of victory through His Son Jesus we can live a fulfilled life. Don’t let all the di-visions around you keep you from your God-ordained destination. Our spirits actually long for and are only settled by the internal and external gauge of Grace!

When we are shown grace we have a feeling of provision, we sense a destination that is filled with all things necessary to fulfill our vision, at this point our spiritual gauge is spiked at freedom! Amen!

In our nation, we need to remain thankful for our constitutional rights, but our main purpose is to pursue a Godly vision that leads to a heavenly destination. Our spiritual rights allow our arrival into a majestic lifestyle, with a glorious King, that produces for us an eternal vision that sends our spiritual gauge off the charts.

What is your gauge set on today? Increase your Bible time and watch your gauge rise higher and higher, like an edifice, until we all reach the fullness of our vision and arrive at our God-ordained destination, our spiritual home.

God has a spot reserved for you! See you there!

If you need a faith boost today please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

If you liked this content, please consider signing up for my newsletter to receive emails directly.

Scriptures of encouragement and content.

Numbers 12:6, Ephesians 1:11, Romans 12:3, Romans 1:11, Hebrews 3:14, Jude 20, and

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.”

Encouragement, Not a Pep Talk

Encouragement is a call to action for an extended period of time, unlike a pep talk that is utilized for a current, in the moment realignment to get you through the task at hand.

To give encouragement we must first establish these three criteria for being a persuasive encourager. Modes of persuasion are: ethos, which convinces others of your qualifications and gives you place in their lives; pathos, which shows you have compassion and a genuine care for the good outcome of others; logos, shows and directs folks towards logical solutions, a persuading of the thought process.

Changing the thought process is an ongoing solution to a negative pull that would stimulate and develop a state of certainty in one’s ability to deal with the now, and thrive in the future. Engaging you and enlightening you as to what is immediate and can be carried out in the now moment, but also staying with you as you persevere in the future.

As we continue in counseling and encouraging, words are supplied to cause an image of overcoming, a stimulation of your core being that enables you to move forward purposefully. “I believe in you”, “you are a perfect fit”, “you got this”, “you are making a difference”. All these words grouped together form images, so that you can gain confidence in yourself, and become self-assured.

You see, we as people tend to be our own persuader of uncertainty and that leads to our being unsettled in our abilities, whether that be physical, mental, or spiritual. Physical hurdles are overcome by spiritual action, the main persuasion of the spirit is hope, hope is an action of expectation and expectation believes the future will be bright, it sees ourselves as more than conquerors. Amen!

A self-stimulation formed by an outside – image or a word of encouragement that brings hope would cause recognition of an accurate discernment of the truth. Then the truth about your situation is the basis for your persuasion, but when we allow contrary ideas and images into our vision we become discouraged. We in essence are discouraging ourselves, by seeing a distorted image of ourselves and our situation.

We need a renewed vision, and I encourage you to listen to a special word of persuasion; “Jesus Christ by His Grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, so encourage your hearts”. This scripture would bring a distinct vision of future encouragement and some Bible hope. Amen!

It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, a strengthened heart is an encouraged heart, a grace-filled heart is a cheerful heart, and our cheerfulness will exterminate discouraging thoughts and replace them with, Godly vision. God speaks to our heart in vision, so my encouraging word for you today is, “be strong and courageous” and let these words form a vision in you that stirs you up, cheers you up, and calls you to the act of being persuaded.

Believe in yourself today, you are well able to achieve all that is required of you, all your desires, and all your dreams!

Dream big and let your dreams persuade you, you are the apple of God’s eye!

If you need a faith boost today please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

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Scriptures of Encouragement: 2 Timothy 1:12, Romans 8:37,
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, Hebrews 13:9, Deuteronomy 31:6 and
Titus 1:1 in the AMP classic “Paul a bondservant of God and an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to stimulate and promote the faith of God’s chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment and recognition of and acquaintance with the Truth which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to Godliness.” Amen!

Grief, Abandon it by Faith

Grief at times can be a misunderstanding, a confusion of the circumstances, a failure to see and sense the true happenings of a situation. We need inner strength to console ourselves, a substance of a hopeful future that is grasped “by Faith”.

Faith, our true inner beliefs, our deep-seated knowing, and understanding can lift us up quickly and establish situational clarity.

Clarity allows, or extinguishes our ability to process our grief in a healthy manner dependent on our past choices in regards to what we believe. Clarity is the necessary agent required to deal with, and understand the effects our grief will have on our ability to console ourselves.

This clarity can be defined as soul peace, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Soul peace would eliminate the discomforting feelings and emotions and deliver you out of the heaviness and oppression associated with the grief.

Therefore let us make every effort to do what leads to peace. Calling on God can enlist Him to lead you and start the healing process. Amen!

Unchecked grief robs us of our natural healing process, but faith in God propels our healing process by a soothing of the mind, heart, and emotions. Our faith in God becomes the seat of our emotions and that gives us a clear place to sit. Seated with God in heavenly places alleviates the pressure that is causing our grief.

If we continue to leave our emotions unchecked, we will allow our imagination the opportunity to oppress us, burdening us down with fear, anger, or guilt, and this weight will keep us from climbing out of a heightened state of grief.

As grief gets its grip we enter into sadness or a feeling of hopelessness and this is the point where we must look up to, and cry out to God for help.

In times of despair, we need spiritual encouragement and we need it quickly, calling a personal friend, a trusted minister, or a Christian counselor, without delay.

You see at this point we need to be guided in a different direction, set on a corrective trajectory, leading back to that soul peace that we allowed ourselves to drift away from. Amen!

Soul peace is a place where we find our grounding, soul peace is an inherent character of God, and this soul peace ends the agitation that is causing continued grief.

Soul peace is actually the desire of us all, but realizing where it comes from takes words of encouragement, words of Godly wisdom, and a hearing of the Word of God that would lead us back to “Faith”.

A spiritual sensation that would override all our sadness and grief and replace it with hope, a hope of things not yet experienced but longed and looked to ‘by faith”.

Heart faith looks to and accepts the feelings that it is longing for, reaching towards, and then that heart faith lays hold of the substance that it was clinging to all the time, Soul Peace.

Faith is the comforting inner peace that causes us to prevail over sadness and grief, then sadness and grief are replaced by unfailing love and redemptive compassion for others that propels us forward, up and out of our feelings of despair and back into caring for ourselves and others.

Giving and receiving care, being ourselves comforted by God, and then being equipped to care and comfort others, this is the true meaning of our living and being.

Living is being full of life, and life is the condition that distinguishes, our unity with God and others, and leads us on a path of continual change.

By faith, we change from Glory to Glory, and by loving one another as we love ourselves we are distinguished as children of God.

From grief to glory, that is the plight of everyone who chooses to accept God and His goodness over the negative pull that works to cut us off from true living.

So, mourn with those who mourn, even take time to experience and process grief, but remember that rejoicing is just around the corner.

Come back to life today, seek love and help today, while it is still called “today”.

If you need a faith boost today, please leave a comment and I will prayerfully respond.

If you liked this content, please consider signing up for my newsletter to receive my emails directly.

Helpful scriptures: 1 Corinthians 14:33, Romans 14:33, Ephesians 2:6, John 1:12 and Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen” TPT.