"Do not allow your heart to be swayed by the things that are large and looming, those things that deny My plans and My purposes for your world. Do not allow your mind to be captured by the lies that seem larger and more powerful than My Word. You know what is true. You know that you live in a world full of fools who deny Who I am. There are those who have agendas that are designed to distract you from My task for you. They will cause you to look at circumstances and forget what I have promised. They will attempt to lure you to walk in arenas that have little or no eternal value. Give them no notice. Those places are not for you.

"I have called you to rise above the lies of the world and live in the power of My Word. I have provided others who hear the same call that you do. Walk with them. Be advocates for one another. Together you will walk through the fires of darkness, fulfilling the light of My Word in those who need to see clearly. Together you will be My true church. Now is not the time to pull back because things are changing around you. Now is the time to draw near to Me.  Now is the time to implement what you have been learning on My lap, in My presence. Listen only to what I say and have always said. Listen to My Word. Listen and act upon only what you know to be true. That is where I am."

But Moses' hands were heavy and grew weary. So [the other men] took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

29) "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

30) Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

31) After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

32) All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

33) With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.

34) There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales

35) and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

Reacting to circumstances is never what God intends for His people. Those who accomplish mighty things for Him have learned that difficulties will always be present. They see challenges as opportunities to drive them into an intimacy with their loving Father. From His lap, the view of things becomes very clear. They take on an eternal perspective where God is completely in charge. As we respond to circumstances from God's perspective, there is an eternal impact, not one that is reactionary and possibly motivated by fear or anger or whatever else the enemy chooses to stir in us.

The world needs to see true followers of Christ. They need to see how He responds. They need to desire the more wonderful ways of His life. That can only be accomplished as each of us comes to know Him by spending time with Him. If He is our study and priority, His nature in us will then prevail over anything and everything that comes our way. His light will then shine brightly through us and be noticed by those who choose to see.