Greg Mauro's Blog

By Greg Mauro

According to April Fulton at NPR News, it is estimated that about “45 million Americans go on a diet every year and we spend about $33 billion on weight-loss products, trying to find a magic way to slim down!”  (April Fulton, March 25, 2021)

It’s not a surprise that over time, Fulton found, most found frustration and disappointment in their pursuit of miracle weight loss…

I would like to suggest a miracle diet for you to consider this New Year that will cost you nothing but some time, and if you follow it, will produce amazing long-lasting results…

Dr. Morris Cerullo famously said, “Man lives in two worlds: a natural world and a spiritual world.”

While millions are rightfully concerned with how to deal with those unhealthy, unwanted excess pounds on their physical bodies, what if I told you that there is a simple change you could make right now to your current spiritual diet that would guarantee to cause the unhealthy, unwanted excessive weight of guilt, negative habits and anxious thought patterns, doubts, confusion, insecurity, and sin to fall off your life?

1,627 days ago, I made a spiritual dietary decision to add one small daily habit to my morning routine which has become the most consequential discovery of my life.

The no fail miracle diet that I pray you will consider is simply adding the reading of the Word of God to the beginning of each day, and then watch the unhealthy and unwanted emotional, mental, and spiritual weights fall off exponentially in 2023 as you do!

Jesus’ first recorded spoken words to Satan during His temptation in the wilderness, of all things was in response to the devil suggesting Jesus turn a stone into bread to satisfy His physical hunger, were significant for you and I today: “No, the Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God!’” (Matthew 4:4 NLT)

I have been a Christian for over 40 years, but I’ve never been more excited about the Bible in my entire life as I am today.  I see it is I have never seen it before.  I enjoy it as I have never enjoyed it before.  And without reservation I am convinced that the greatest investment you can make in your life this year is spending a little more time in the Word of God!

King David had a love affair with the Word of God and celebrated it by declaring the benefits of hiding God’s word in his heart in the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalms 119! 

Jesus declared in Matthew 24:35 that “heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away!” Our natural lives and diets will pass away, but a diet of God’s word will prepare you for a never-ending eternity!

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is found in Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to discover them!”

The Bible contains hidden treasure that is waiting to be mined. The concealed treasure we discover in the word of God is much more than the Bibles’ great life principles, dos and don’ts, or great miracle stories. 

The hidden treasure of the Bible is that it contains the greatest discovery of all – an unveiling of who God says He really is and who God says we really are, and what God says He has really planned for us!

We discover a Jesus we did not know through religion, philosophy, or who or what others have said He is. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

“…At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view, how differently we know Him now!” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Bible reveals the Jesus we may not have known!

Jesus said it this way, “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about Me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.” John‬ ‭5‬:‭39‬-‭40‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Why is the number one best-selling book of all time and in each and every year that book sales have been monitored the Bible?  It is estimated that 100 million copies of the Bible will be sold in 2022, and in 2023, and in 2024…

That is because this is not an ordinary book with just a good message, the Bible is a supernatural book that in and of itself has the power to heal, change, and restore mankind to God! 

Could it be that the Holy Spirit really did move upon the pens of 40 different men over 1,500 years to give us a book that in fact proceeded from the mouth of God through man, to us?

“Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NLT)

While Jesus was on the earth, He referred to the Scriptures often and treated the them as God’s inspired word, as did the disciples and the apostles.

The Gospels record Jesus and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John authoritatively referring to the Old Testament scriptures over 80 times with the Apostles referring to the Old Testament scriptures over 280 times throughout the Book of Acts and the Epistles!

THE GREATEST WEAPON FORMED FOR YOU TO DESTROY THE GREATEST WEAPON FORMED AGAINST YOU!

I want to share with you today from one of the greatest truths that I have ever discovered in God’s word.  It is found in the book of Isaiah chapters 54 and 55, I call it “The greatest weapon formed for you to destroy the greatest weapon formed against you!”

When Isaiah wrote the scriptures under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, there were no chapter or verse breaks…our current Isaiah 54 just continued to run into Isaiah 55.

There is a powerful truth that spanned Isaiah 54 and 55 that I believe can bring great blessing and revelation for us today.

God speaking in Isaiah 54:17 declares: “No weapon formed against you will succeed.  You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you!” 

Many stop and shout here, instead of continuing to Isaiah 55 to discover the powerful weapon God had in mind to ensure that no weapon formed against us will succeed…

Since the Garden of Eden there have been two opposing voices vying for control over our lives. I call them The Voice of the Accuser and The Voice of The Intercessor. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher!  The voice you believe will determine the temporal and the eternal trajectory of your life…

Simply put, the greatest battle over your life is what you believe about God and what you believe God believes about you. 

And the greatest investment you can make in your life is spending a little more time meditating in the word of God and establishing the voice of God as the greatest voice in your life!

As you do, you will discover that the voice that pushes you away from God is NEVER the voice of God!

There are many legal references in scripture.  We read about the courts of heaven. Satan is referred to as your accuser, your prosecuting attorney.   While Jesus is described as your Mediator, your Intercessor, your Advocate, your defense attorney. 

As we know, every accusation and every defense require the presentation of evidence. 

The good news is that the evidence that Jesus is bringing into the courts of Heaven on your behalf declares beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are not guilty as charged or accused!

Isaiah 54:17 addresses this and continues: “These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from Me!” In the Oxford dictionary, vindication is defined as “the action of clearing someone of blame or suspicion.” (Oxford dictionary)

This scripture is telling us that God wants you to enjoy the benefits of what your Mediator, Jesus has done for you — His overwhelming vindication of you as He alone silences the voice of the Accuser/Prosecutor so that you could enjoy living free of blame, suspicion, and accusation…

Look again at Isaiah 54:17. It is telling us that the greatest weapon that is formed against a child of God is the voice of the Accuser. “No weapon formed against you will succeed.  You will silence EVERY VOICE raised up to accuse you!” 

The sometimes-subtle voices raised up to accuse you can simply be the negative conversation we are having with yourself, the intentional or unintentional voice of condemnation that can be spoken over you by someone you respect, or any thought or impression that makes you feel less than 100% loved, accepted, and empowered by God’s grace.

But now Isaiah 55 will take us from the promise of silencing every voice that rises up to accuse us to bring us into the secret to HOW to effectively silence the voice of the Accuser – and to enjoy complete confidence and total victory over the voice that pushes us away from God, the voice that tells us what we are not, the voice that brings guilt, confusion, shame, fear and separation from God…

So, let’s dig into Isaiah 55. Here we find God not giving an edict, but a glorious invitation to consider:

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.”  Isaiah 55:1-3 NLT

God is asking us to consider a better result from the money, energy, and time we spend on so many seemingly good and important activities, diets, entertainments, and pursuits – by asking a question, “For all the effort, are they really nourishing and strengthening your lives?”

Then God gives us this amazing invitation to listen to Him and take in what is good – as we come to Him with our ears wide open, listen, grow our faith, and find life!  Gid is inviting us in Isaiah 55 to diet on His word!

The Bible encourages us that “Faith comes by HEARING, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17)

God is inviting you and I to open our ears in a new way, and to grow our faith as we hear what He has to say to us about Himself and what He really says about us through His amazing, life-giving word.

During these past 4 years, I have discovered five powerful truths:

1. There are two voices over your life, the voice of the Accuser and the voice of the Intercessor…

2. The voice that pushes you away from God is NEVER the voice of God…

3. What you believe about God will either attract you to Him or repel you from Him…

4. The greatest battle over your life is in your mind – the battle of what you believe about God and what you believe God believes about us…

5. The greatest investment you can make in your life is spending a little more time in the Word of God…with your ears wide open establishing the real voice of God as the greatest voice in your life!

Romans 12:2 declares. “Let God transform you by changing the way you think!”

Dr David Jeremiah recently said, “The greatest source of good thoughts is the Word of God!”

God’s Isaiah 55 invitation to rise up from stinking thinking and “get a checkup from the neck up” continues in verses 8-11:

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Opening your ears to God’s thoughts for you will empower you to go further and higher…

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope!” Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV

Psalms 3:3 declares that “He is the glory and THE LIFTER of our head!” God is a lifter and if you let Him, He will use His word to transform you and lift you by changing the way you think about Him!

In 2023, the greatest atomic habit that you could add to your life that will cause you to rise and to grow spiritually – is spending just a little more time mediating in the thoughts of God for you – His Word!

You will discover a God who sees something greater in you and who sees something greater for you than you see yourself. 

And it won’t take big dramatic changes on your part to see life changing results as you give His word greater entrance into your life. (Psalms 119:130)

Dr. Morris Cerullo said many times, “Every promise of God contains the seed for your miracle!”

Jesus taught in the parable of the Sower and the seed one of the greatest secrets of His Kingdom – the exponential seed power of the Word of God in and of itself to transform the hearts and the minds of His children. (Matthew 13)

That is why the Bible compares the potential return on your investment in the Word of God to a small mustard seed that produces the greatest tree – a small seed sown in the soil of your heart and mind will do the work of germinating, growing, and producing a great return back to you of faith, confidence, peace, joy, and spiritual strength in your life. (Luke 13:19)

In another place the Word of God is compared to yeast – a small living organism which permeates the whole loaf and causes it to rise!  (Luke 13:21)

Isaiah continues along these lines…highlighting the power of the Word of God in and of itself to cause growth and produce fruitfulness and blessing in your life:

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.

It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”  Isaiah 55:8-11 NLT

Why not decide to open your life in a greater way to God’s word in 2023 and watch the living seed of His word as you take it in and meditate on it to cause a new level of fruitfulness and prosperity in your thought life – your faith life – your emotions – and your spiritual life – as you discover the greatest miracle diet known to man!!

A great way to add a daily dose of the Word of God into your life is to download the world’s number #1 downloaded Bible app You Version https://www.youversion.com/the-bible-app/which has lots off free add on resources and Bible reading plans including the One Year Bible plan that I highly recommend!

One of my heroes of the faith, Dr Ed Cole famously said, “What we believe about God will either attract us to Him or repel us from Him.” There may not be a more profound statement.

The greatest battle over your life is what you believe about God and what you believe God believes about you.

That is where the best-selling book (and maybe the most under read book of all time) comes to help us.

What we must appreciate is that the Bible is not primarily a book of do’s and dont’s, the Bible is first and foremost a declaration of who God really is and who God says you really are.

There are two voices over your life: The voice of your Accuser (the devil) and the much greater voice of your Advocate (Jesus Christ). The stakes couldn’t be higher. The voice that you and I choose to tune in to, believe, and dominate our thoughts and actions is literally the difference between heaven and hell in this life and in the life to come…

How do we know the difference? In a nutshell, the voice (the thoughts, feelings and emotions) that pushes you away from God is NEVER the voice of God!

That is why I submit to you that the greatest investment you and I can make in our life is spending time in the word of God and establishing the voice of God as the greatest voice in your life.

For the past 874 days, by the grace of God, I have done just that: challenged myself to start each day spending time in the greatest book ever given to mankind by God Himself, the inspired, inerrant, encouraging, powerful, word of God!

So let’s dig in to one of the most well known Psalms that speaks to us about who and where this God is in the midst of a pandemic that not only encompasses the deadly physical virus, but also speaks to the crippling personal pandemic of fear, isolation, and helplessness that many are facing…

Psalm 91 begins:

“Those who LIVE IN THE SHELTER of the Most High WILL FIND REST in the shadow of the Almighty…

Here is a great truth: You and I are as close to God as we choose to be.

We are now in the wonderful Christmas season, a spiritual game changing reminder that all the barriers have been torn down between us and living in the shelter of the Most High God because of God’s great love and desire for closer relationship with you and I: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) But the next verse is the kicker! “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that through Him the world might be saved” (John 3:17)

Psalms 91 is an encouragement to not just visit the presence of God, but to make a decision to live in the presence of God and there you will find rest.

Many times Morris Cerullo would remind us that God’s peace, God’s power, God’s provision does not travel through the repetition of words, incantations or formulas but through relationship!

Psalms 91 is a call to the reward of connection and relationship with God, which is really the message of the entire Bible.

God created us to find fulfillment in staying connected with Him and not just visiting Him every now and then.

Peace comes when we make an investment in intentionally fixing our thought life on God and God’s word. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”

Psalms 91 continues…

“This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust Him”

God wants to be our first resort and not our last resort! Do we run first for refuge to things that will eventually fail us (relationships, food, alcohol, money, drugs, our comfort zone) or do we run first to the One that will never fail or forsake us and longs to show Himself strong on our behalf?

Psalms 91 continues: “For He will rescue you from every trap and PROTECT YOU FROM DEADLY DISEASE”

Yes, God promises protection from deadly disease to those that make Him their refuge. Does that mean we don’t wear masks, social distance, wash hands in the midst of COVID-19? Of course not.

The devil quoted from this very Psalm in his temptation of Jesus, encouraging Him to throw Himself from a mountain because God promises to give His angels charge over us. Jesus replied it is also written, thou shall not tempt the Lord your God!

The promises of God are not a license to live as spiritual kooks! Morris Cerullo reminded us many times that we live in two worlds: the natural world and the spiritual world. There are laws in both worlds, that when respected bring peace, protection and power.

Jeri and I do our best to follow all the covid guidelines. Four or five times during these past few months we discovered after the fact that we had spent significant time with someone that later advised us that they were unknowingly covid positive. Each time we went to be tested. Thank God, each time the results were negative.

God promises those that find shelter in Him to protect you from evil disease. Does that mean precious, godly people that somehow have contracted covid are not connected to God? Of course not. God is faithful to show Himself strong in many different ways on behalf of those who love Him…

Psalms 91 continues: “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”

That is why it is such a great opportunity to spend more time in the word of God, so that we can truly KNOW for ourselves what God has promised us, since the above verse declares His promises are for our protection. Faith begins at the point that the will of God is known and understood. We can’t have faith for that which we don’t know to be the will of God.

Psalms 91 continues: “You will not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you…

“If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.”

God is not a God of fear, He is a God of love. He does not use fear to motivate us, His love is what He wants to motivate us to run to Him for refuge and relationship. The Bible declares that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind!” (2 Tim 1:7)

“For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”

Angels are real. Angels are all around us. Every child of God has a personal angel. One of the names of God is the Lord of Hosts (Angels). He commands His angels and they move to protect you, keep you, help you. He also gives us power over the powers of darkness, demons, which are angels under Satan’s authority…

“You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents (demons) under your feet!

“The Lord says, “I will RESCUE those who love me. I will PROTECT those who trust in My name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will REWARD them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91:1-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here’s what I want to say in closing. God is not your punisher, God is your rewarder.

The Bible says that there are two things we must believe about God. That He is. And that He is a REWARDER of those that diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

God wants you and I to be motivated to know Him and to pursue Him not out of fear of punishment but out of the incredible opportunity to live in the REWARD of His many amazing promises for your life, your family, your finances, your health, your future, and so much more…

2000 years ago Jesus took the punishment you and I deserved, once and for all.

Is God a corrector? Yes. But a punisher? No. God is not looking for ways to short circuit your destiny and His blessings for your life, God is looking for ways to FULFILL His great destiny for your life.

I pray this Psalm will encourage you to make a greater investment in your relationship with the God of peace, protection and power that is for you, is on your side and who wants to be your refuge, your peace even in a pandemic and beyond!

“…Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the Tribes of Israel?”  (1 Samuel 15:17 NLT)

Five chapters after Saul was found hiding from his promotion, the prophet Samuel revealed the character flaw that ultimately cost Saul his destiny…

“Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!” “What did he tell you?” Saul asked.  And Samuel told him, “ALTHOUGH YOU MAY THINK LITTLE OF YOURSELF, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel… So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:16-23 NLT)

Saul was a giant on the outside, but thought much less of himself on the inside…I know how that feels…

But thinking little of yourself is not a virtue. Insecurity is not healthy humility. It is a demonic destiny-destroying lie that if left unchecked will feed fear and unbelief!

Proverbs 23:7 NKJV says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…”

How you see yourself is how others will also see you. You can not rise above how you see yourself.

Insecurity, thinking little of yourself, is what caused the ten spies and the nation of Israel to miss their destiny, “We were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”  (Numbers 13:33 KJV)

It is what caused the one-talented servant to fearfully hide his talent in the earth.

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, “Master I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money so I hid it in the earth.  Here is your money back.”  But the master replied, “You wicked and lazy servant!”  (Matthew 25:24-26 NLT)

No doubt the one-talented servant compared himself unfavorably to the other “higher talented” servants that were entrusted with five talents and two talents, as the Bible records all three received their talents at the same time and place. But God never created you to be like anyone else!

Comparison is a trap.  

Comparison is a destiny-destroyer. 

When we compare, we either think less of ourselves than we should or more of ourselves than we should.

The one talented servant thought less of himself…

Regarding comparison, Stewart B. Johnson said, “Our business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves, to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterday by today, to do our work with more force than ever before!”

The one-talented servant thought little of himself because he fell into the trap of comparing himself to others that seemed to have more. 

He then revealed that he saw God through the lens of his inferiority and fear when he said, “Master, I knew you were a harsh man.”  (Matthew 25:24 NLT)

My dear friend and great men’s ministry pioneer, Edwin Louis Cole always said, “What you believe about God will either attract you to Him or repel you from Him.”

The one-talented servant’s life was a do-nothing life that was frozen by fear, inferiority and the lie that God is a harsh God…

Because he thought little of himself, and because he saw God as a harsh God, he gave in to fear and laziness, stalled in his comfort zone and did nothing. 

To step into your season of promotion, you must move.  Put feet to your faith!  Your promotion can only be in motion when YOU are in motion toward it!

Action changes feelings…

Inaction reinforces negative feelings…

IT IS BETTER TO DO SOMETHING WITH FEAR OR LACK INSTEAD OF DOING NOTHING!

Like the loaves and fishes, God can take what you think is your little, bless it and multiply it to make it more than enough to fulfill His greater destiny for your life, when you put even what little you think you have into His great hands.

God’s power, supernatural provision, divine intervention and spiritual breakthrough come when you do something!  That is what happened when the four lepers, who were SITTING just a few feet from their miracle, at the entrance of the gates of Samaria, decided to MAKE A MOVE…

“Why should we sit here waiting to die?  We will starve if we stay here, but with the famine in the city, we will starve if we go back there. So we might as well go out and surrender to the Aramean army.  If they let us live, so much the better.  But if they kill us, we would have died anyway.  So at twilight they set out for the camp of the Arameans.  But when they came to the edge of the camp, no one was there!  For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the clatter of speeding chariots and the galloping of horses and the sound of a great army approaching…when the men with leprosy arrived at the edge of the camp, they went into one tent after another, eating and drinking wine; and they carried off silver and gold and clothing…”      (2 Kings 7:3-8 NLT)

These four lepers may have been the weakest – most improbable people for God to use in the entire nation of Israel.  They had nothing to give to God, but they decided to feed their future and not their fear – and God used these unlikely four lepers as His instruments to bring incredible blessing and promotion, not just to themselves – but also to the entire nation of Israel!

Here is a game changing truth I discovered: God promises to turn your weakness into strength, under one condition…

Hebrews 11:34 NLT  says, “God will turn your weakness into strength and will make you strong IN THE BATTLE.” 

He will not make you strong on the sidelines!  He will make you strong IN the battle, when you get back in the game and begin to make a move toward the greater thing that He has called you to do…

If you will use what God has given you – and take a step toward the greater thing God has called you to do – he will turn your weakness into strength – make you strong – and give you more! 

Why don’t you declare this again: “I am not what the devil says I am.  I am what God says I am.  And today, I am stepping in to my end-time destiny!” 

Your Master is not harsh…

He is full of praise and encouragement – and will even take the little you think you have and multiply it many fold, if you will just begin to use what God has given you.

“Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.  The master was full of praise.  Well done, my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities.  Let’s celebrate together!” (Matthew 25:20b-21 NLT)

The five-talented servant – and the two-talented servant – understood that what they had been given was not for them to keep – or to bury – but to give to somebody else – to invest!  They valued what the Master had given them and why the Master gave it to them…

Don’t hide what God has given you.  Don’t think little of what God has given you.  Somebody needs what you have.  Somebody needs your words of encouragement.  Somebody needs your prayers.  Somebody needs the gift of God in your life.

Many times since that day in 1987, I have remembered that great truth Morris Cerullo spoke at the ORU chapel,

“Jesus is not depending on anything that I possess, He is depending on one thing – what He can make of me!”

Thirty plus years later, over and over again, God has proven this word true in my life and in the lives of countless others.

Without fear of contradiction, I boldly declare to you, “God is not depending on anything that you possess – God is depending on one thing – what He can make of you!”

Remember, because “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV), thinking little of yourself is not a virtue, it is really thinking little of God and His workmanship in your life.

Why not decide to see God as He really is and see yourself as God sees you, because you are His great workmanship, and your promotion is in motion!

This is an excerpt from Your Promotion Is in Motion:Seven Game Changing Words From God That Will Promote You To Your Greater Destiny by Greg Mauro. To order the Kindle e-book or a printed copy go to Amazon.com or click here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1084143569/ref=cm_sw_r_em_api_i_c_SMfrDbEC61XZ2

Source: We Didn’t Meet By Accident: A Simple Gospel Tract You Can Easily Share With Everyone You Meet!

Was honored  to share the message, “Your Setback Is God’s Set Up For Your Comeback” as the guest of Pastor Matthew Barnett at Angelus Temple, Dream Center in Los Angeles, California on October 9th, 2014.

If you or someone you know is in a season of setback, or you are climbing out of a setback, I’ve got a word from the Lord for you that will accelerate your comeback….

A setback is an unexpected change from better to worse, a disappointment, a reversal.

Have you recently experienced a setback in your family, or in your personal life, in your physical body, at work, in a relationship, loss of a loved one, in your finances, in your relationship with God — and it’s begun to make you worry and wonder where God is – and if you will ever recover…

I have a word for you.

Your setback is not God setting you aside…

And it’s not God’s setting you down…

Your setback is God’s set up for your comeback!

I want to give you a word right now that is not some preaching word. This is a word for you to take hold of and receive right now…

And this is the word…

This is the day…

I’m not talking about a comeback that’s off in the future somewhere. God said to tell you that this is the day and…

Now is the time for your comeback to begin!

Your failure is not final.

Your failure is not fatal.

But if you will let God, He will use your failure as fuel for your future. In fact, your future is wrapped up in how you respond to your failure.

It is time for you to see your setback as God’s opportunity and even as His setup for your comeback!

Isaiah 61:3 says He gives you “… beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness – that you might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified!”

What does God call you? God doesn’t call you failure. He sees more in you than your best friend, than your family, even more than you do – even in your setback, He calls you righteous!

Your mess can become your message; your test will become your testimony!

A divine exchange is about to take place in your life.

There’s no condemnation if you find yourself in a setback, in an unexpected change from better to worse, a disappointment, a reversal.

There’s somebody that’s saying I have heard this before. This is not for me, I can’t change…

I have prayed for you, and I wrote this to tell you that this time will be different. Change is coming to you now in Jesus name because I know that your setback really is God’s setup for your comeback — and your comeback is beginning right now!

A comeback is a return. This is your time to return!

A comeback is a resurgence. Now is your time for a mighty resurgence in your life!

There’s somebody God is speaking to that is at the very brink of giving up. You are out of fuel; your tank is on empty. I want to tell you that a resurgence is coming to you now. Your comeback has already begun! It’s a resurgence. It’s a recovery.

Somebody say recovery is coming to me!

It’s time for your rally! Listen to this…

When a stockbroker has a stock that is plummeting and is experiencing a major setback, what a stockbroker does is they sell and they cut their losses. That’s what many people do to you and me when we fail or disappoint them in one way or another. But God said to me, “Greg, when My people begin to plummet, and when My people begin to fall and have a setback, I don’t sell. I buy more. I invest more in them!”

You see God invests more in you when you’re low so that He then gets a greater return when you rise. Just like the stockbroker that buys the troubled stock at its low point – and sees the great growth potential – is rewarded when he invests and it rises, God too gets the glory and receives a greater return when he invests in you – and you comeback!

God is fully invested in your comeback!

A comeback is a return to success. You will not only return to the success that you once knew – you will far exceed it!

I want to take you to an incredible, great hidden nugget from the Word of God…

44 words that give an awesome insight into the person and into the heart of the God of the universe. This one verse literally sums up the nearly 800,000 other words of scripture and pulls back the curtain on what really makes God tick…

King David experienced a terrible setback in his family. David’s daughter Tamar is seduced and raped by one of David’s sons, Ammon, who is then murdered by another son, Absalom, to take revenge. Oprah, Dr. Phil have nothing on this!

As a result Absalom is banished from the kingdom. So David lost a son to murder, had a horrendous thing happen to his daughter, and then his beloved, yet murderous Absalom is banished from the kingdom because as King, though he loved his son, he was charged to uphold the law. That’s where this entire world was before God sent Jesus. We were banished from a loving yet just and holy God because we all have broken the law.

After some time, the Bible says that King David longed to be reunited with his son Absalom. Created in God’s image, David had the same longing as the Father heart of God to be reunited with his children…

It was sadly reported recently that the last recorded words of the Liberian national, Thomas Duncan, who passed away from the Ebola virus in the Dallas hospital were, “I miss my son. I want to see my son”.

And here’s David, he longed to be reunited with his son Absalom.

Out of this brokenness in David’s heart was delivered one of the most insightful revelations of the heart of God that you will find in scripture, delivered to King David by a little widow woman from Ketoah in 2 Samuel 14:14:

“All of us must die eventually…
Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground…
That can not be gathered up again…
BUT God does not just sweep life away…
INSTEAD HE DEVISES WAYS TO BRING US BACK WHEN WE HAVE BEEN SEPARATED FROM HIM” (2 SAM 14:14)

This one magnificent verse reveals five eternal truths…

All of us must die eventually…

Hebrews 9:27 declares, “…it is appointed unto men ONCE to die, but after this the judgment”

It’s appointed unto every single one of us to die and then the judgment. Not then the reincarnation. Not then the purgatory.

There is a heaven. There is a hell. Jesus never would have come and paid the price that He paid if there was some other way that we could have made heaven. All of us must die eventually.

Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground. Which cannot be gathered up again…

You can’t get your past back, but God isn’t interested in holding your past against you, He is interested in your great future.

The Apostle Paul said, “…I focus on this one thing: FORGETTING the past and looking forward to what lies ahead” (Phil 3:13)

Paul focused on forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. If you will do that today, you will be on the comeback trail!

I love how this magnificent verse that was delivered to King David in II Samuel 14:14 continues…

But God does not just sweep life away…

God doesn’t give the divine back hand to anyone. You are inestimably valuable to God. Your value was demonstrated by the unspeakable price that God paid to redeem you. God doesn’t just sweep you away because you have fallen in this area or you have fallen in that area. God invests more in us. Jesus left the 99. He gave more of His time to the one than left than the 99 that stayed.

II Samuel 14:14 says, God does not just sweep life away.

Instead, He devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him!

That is our God. God doesn’t devise judgment. God doesn’t devise revenge. God devises ways to bring us back when we’ve been separated from Him.

If you have a relationship you cared deeply about that turns on you, disrespects you, betrays you, doesn’t want to be near you, would you be devising ways to bring them back? No. But the overwhelming message of Scripture is that we serve a God who even when we disrespect and dishonor Him, devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him.

He devised a way for Jonah. There’s somebody reading this — you have the call of God on your life. And God told you to go to done thing – and you did the other — just like Jonah did.

You see, God didn’t have a plan B for Jonah. There was not someone else God had lined up to do what He called Jonah to do. There is no one else that can do what God has called you to do. If God had someone else to fulfill Jonah’s destiny, He never would have gone to the incredible extremes that He did, devising a way to bring Jonah back…

First, the storm that Jonah and all those with him encountered on the ship that was taking him away from the place God called him, then Jonah getting the short straw and being selected to be thrown off the boat, and finally getting swallowed by a fish! God devised a way to bring Jonah back. Sometimes it’s not pleasant.

God has chosen to be committed to you and to His plan for your life.

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11)

God has a great plan for your life. If you’ve had a setback in obeying God’s will for your life, as you are reading this you have an opportunity to step into your comeback by just saying God I want to take the first step back to what you’ve called me to do.

Maybe you have experienced a setback in the relationship you once had with the Lord. Your relationship right now is not as strong, it’s not as on fire as it used to be.

God wants you to know that there are three words that can immediately get you back on track. It’s the three words that the prodigal son said. And they’re simple words. It’s the same words that the thief on the cross said. It’s the difference between two people. It’s the difference between Saul and David. It’s the difference between the thief on the right and the thief on the left,

They’re simple words, but for some people they’re the hardest words to say, “I HAVE SINNED”. You have an opportunity to pause right now — because your comeback can immediately begin with those three words. You can be restored and the blessing of God can be released upon your life NOW.

I want to encourage you. God does not sweep life away, but instead He devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him…

You see, God devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from Him!

The dictionary defines devise as “to cook up”. Did you know that God spends every moment cooking up ways to bring you back!

He’s like a master chef mixing together the sweet and sour ingredients of your life to cook up something gloriously delicious!

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to His purpose for them” (Romans 8:28)

The dictionary also defines devise to mean mastermind, blueprint, and design.

God is masterminding, blueprinting, and designing your comeback!

Finally I want to close with an incredible man that many will relate to. He found himself in a terrible setback.

Sometimes our setbacks, if we become overwhelmed with them, if we become consumed with them, and many times we do, they begin to define us. They begin to define how we see God. This is Satan’s ultimate plan – using our setback to define us and accuse our God.

There was a man named Gideon. He was in an incredible setback. I’m not going to go through the whole story but you can read it in Judges Chapter 6. The Bible says that he was in fear.

He was threshing wheat at the bottom of the wine press. The wine press was where the grapes were trodden, not where the wheat was threshed. Gideon was in fear and as a result was out of place. Maybe you’ve allowed your setback – and your fear – to cause you to be out of place.

There were two voices over Gideon’s life. There are two voices over every person’s life. There’s the voice of the accuser and there’s the voice of the Intercessor. I wrote this to tell you that Jesus is praying for you and the devil is a liar.

The accuser will tell you, you can’t. The intercessor will tell you, I will.

I’m going to tell you something — you are not under the judgment of God. I’m going to say it again. You are not under the judgment of God. You are under the intercession of God!

God is not punishing you. I’m going to say it again. God is not punishing you. Now He may be correcting you, but He punished Jesus 2,000 years ago and He who knew no sin became sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

So you don’t listen to the lie — “Well this is just God getting back at me— this is just God showing me who’s boss…”
You know what God’s doing? He’s devising ways to bring you back because He loves you so much. You know what God is doing? He is praying for you. The devil loves to use our failures to lie to you and to condemn you. But if you will stop looking at the bigness of your need and begin looking at the bigness of your God, you will find that starting right now; He will take you step by step. And each step will be a miracle!

Judges 6:11 says: “The angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the tree in Ophrah”. He just observed Gideon. The angel sat there, he watched Gideon threshing the wheat in fear behind the wine press. The Bible says that Gideon was “threshing wheat at the bottom of the wine press…”

There’s somebody reading this, maybe you feel like you’re at the bottom. Gideon was at the bottom yet the angel wasn’t so high and holy and mighty that he didn’t come and meet Gideon right at his very bottom point.

Judges 6:11 says that Gideon was trying to hide the grain from the Midianites because they would come and steal it. I don’t know if there is anybody that ever feels like, my harvest keeps getting stolen. I tell you, your setback is God’s setup for your comeback!

Judges 6:12 says the angel of the Lord that had been watching him, revealed himself and appeared to Gideon and said these words, “Mighty man of valor, the Lord is with you.”

What a word for Gideon! I can hear him saying to himself, “So, I’m at the bottom. I am shaking with fear. I am getting ripped off. I am going further and further behind and you’re saying to me, Mighty man of valor, the Lord is with me!”

How could this angel say such a thing?

Because God was not depending upon Gideon…

God was depending on one thing…

God was depending on what He could make of Gideon!

My friend, I wrote these words to unequivocally tell you that God is not depending upon what you are or what you are not…

God is not depending on your failures or your righteousness…

God is depending on one thing.

God is depending on what He can make of you!

Yet Gideon gives an incredible response. He says, “Sir, I just want to make sure I understand what you’re saying. If the Lord is with me why has all this happened? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? But now, the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites!”

In a time of setback who has not questioned God? Have you?

I love what happens next…

All of the sudden there is a game changer in the very next verse. No longer is it an angel speaking to Gideon. Judges 6:14 says, “Then the Lord turned to him…”

The Hebrew literally means the Lord faced him!

I think of John 1:42 when Jesus faced Simon Peter for the first time,

“Jesus looked at him and said, you are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas – which translated is Peter (Rock)”

He wasn’t depending upon what Peter possessed. He was depending on what He could make of him.

How can Jesus call unreliable Peter a rock, or fearful Gideon a mighty man, or conniving Jacob a prince with God, or childless Abraham a father of many nations? Because Romans declares that we serve an amazing God who, “…calls those things which are not as though they were” (Romans 4:17)

The greatest faith in all the world is not the faith that raises the dead…it’s not the faith that believes in God’s grace and miracles. The greatest faith in all the world is the faith that God has in you!

Now full of compassion, the Lord is facing Gideon. The Lord heard Gideon’s words of unbelief, fear and doubt. He didn’t react. He just said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites, I am sending you!” (Judges 6:14)

I’m going to tell you something, your greatest days are ahead of you if you will just begin to move in the right direction. You don’t need more strength – it will come as you begin to move in the right direction with the strength that you have. You don’t need to have the strength of Morris Cerullo, or this man of God or that woman of God…

The Lord told Gideon “Go with the strength you have!”

And then of course, Gideon begins to give more excuses why he couldn’t…

“How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest…and I am the least!” (Judges 6:16)

Anybody ever said, “How can i?”, or felt like they were the least? Did you know that God specializes in using the least?

When Samuel came to anoint the next King of Israel and he went to the house of Jesse — Jesse brought out 7 sons and Samuel took the oil and tried to pour it out and it wouldn’t come out for son #1, or #2, or #3, on down the line until #7.

Samuel said Jesse, do you have another son? Oh yes, but that is David. He’s out tending the sheep. He’s the youngest. Samuel said bring him in. And in comes lowly David, and low and behold, Samuel turned that vial over and oil poured out! God chose David. There’s oil that’s reserved for you.

I love again how the Lord responds as Gideon tries to disqualify himself for who God has called him to be and what God has called him to do.

Jesus says this to Gideon, and He is saying this to you – it is the greatest secret to your better than ever, victorious comeback…

“Surely I will be with you!” (Judges 6:16)

Whoever you are and wherever you are reading this, the Lord wants you to know that He has not forsaken you or left you – surely He is with you! God wants to restore you and release a fresh anointing and blessing into your life.

Your setback is nothing more than God’s setup for your great comeback story, and your comeback begins now.

I would be honored to pray with you:

“Father, I thank You for Your love. I thank You for Your power that is setting me free. Jesus, I believe that Your blood cleanses me and I confess my shortcomings to you. I ask You to wash me with Your blood. Restore me to the Father. I want to serve You Lord. Thank You for hearing my prayer. I am stepping toward you and your will for my life and my comeback begins now! In Jesus Name, Amen!”

About the author: https://gregmauro.com/about/