One day in the mail Richard Roberts and I received an unusual gift from a Partner of the Ministry. It was a can of Lindsay pitted olives. I thought it was a hilarious and thoughtful gift, but it also started me to thinking.

To begin with, olives have a pit for a purpose. The pit is the heart of the olive the part that connects it to the tree so it can grow. But once an olive is picked, the pit has served its purpose. And in order to make a can full of easy-to-eat olives, the pits have to be removed. Their time of usefulness is over, so the olive can be canned, sold, and eaten.

We can learn a spiritual lesson from a can of pitted olives. Sometimes we hang on to the past or the wrong things and we won’t let go. We won’t release things when it’s time. Maybe it was great for a season, but if that season is over, it’s time to let go.

Maybe you’ve experienced a radical change in your life. You’ve lost a relationship, a job, or something else that meant a lot to you. But that relationship, that job, or that way of life may have just been for a season. Its purpose in your life may be over, just like the purpose of a pit is eventually over in the life of an olive. Be willing to release it and move forward with God to the next assignment He has for you.

Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Like the pits in the can of olives I received, we must let go of the past and put some tings behind us in order to fulfill God’s call on our lives just like Richard Roberts.

Richard Roberts and I wants to share something to you. When Peter and John returned to their friends and they lifted their voices to God with one accord, they prayed, “Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30 NKJV).

This wasn’t a prayer of retreat. This was a group that cried out to God, “Lord, don’t let us lose our boldness! Let bold preaching continue. Let miracles continue!” The Bible tells us what happened when they prayed: The place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul…. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked (vv. 31,32,34).

When threats are coming against you…when you are starting to feel afraid…that is the time to pray for boldness and the supernatural power of God in your life. With the early believers, boldness returned in the presence of the threats. A new oneness in the faith was established. And God completely supplied the needs of the believers.

Isn’t that how you want to live? In boldness, in faith, in peace, and in total provision? You can overcome the enemy’s threats by refusing to give in to them, by calling upon people of faith to pray with you and agree with you, and by asking God for boldness and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Richard Roberts and I wants to share something to you. The third beatitude that Jesus gave says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5 NKJV). Some people may think meekness is weakness, but meekness is strength. To be meek means to submit and relinquish your will—all of it—into God’s hands. Meekness is obedience to God.

Moses was a meek man. When the Lord called him, Moses resisted at first, but then he obeyed God. And because he submitted and relinquished his will, God was able to perform great miracles through Moses, including bringing two million people out of Egyptian bondage and parting the Red Sea.

Richard Roberts and I believe that when we are meek—totally and completely submitted to the Lord—not only will we ultimately inherit the earth, but it puts us in an all-things-are-possible realm.

The next beatitude says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (v. 6). When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He told her, “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14 NKJV). The living water that Jesus gives satisfies not just your thirst but the longing of your soul.

If you stay in an attitude of, “Lord, I want more and more of You”—an attitude of readiness to receive from the Lord—I believe you can get more. His promise is that you shall be filled. The Beatitudes give us wonderful guidelines on the kind of attitude that pleases the Lord and the promises we can expect to receive when we develop such an attitude.

Richard Roberts came home one evening to find that his daughter, Jordan, who was two at the time, had crawled up onto the kitchen table. She got scared when she realized how high up she was and she couldn’t get down. As Richard Roberts came in, the babysitter was trying to help her, but Jordan didn’t want to be helped by the babysitter. She wanted me. I walked over to Jordan and held out my arms, and she responded by throwing her arms around my neck. She was off that table in a matter of seconds.

What was the difference between the babysitter’s attempts to help Jordan and my attempt? I was her father. She knew me. She trusted me. She knew that I loved her and that I would help her. Many people don’t see God, their heavenly Father, as a good and loving Father. They are fearful and distrustful of Him. Their picture of God is one of an old man sitting on a cloud, counting their sins. But that’s not an accurate picture of God!

To trust God, you need a true understanding of His nature. Nahum 1:7 MSG says, God is good, a hiding place in tough times. He recognizes and welcomes anyone looking for help. When you’re going through a tough time and need help, picture your heavenly Father reaching out to you with open arms. He loves you and is there for you!

My Declaration of Faith for Today:
“When problems try to pull me under,I find comfort and strength to over-come in the power of the Holy Spirit”

The years that I’ve been President of Oral Roberts University have been full of struggle. I’ve often faced insur-mountable odds, and there have been times when people were certain that I would fail and the university would close. But they overlooked the Holy Spirit who dwells in me. Now they are patting me on the back and telling me what a great job I’m doing. Of course, it’s not me; it’s the Holy Spirit!

God didn’t intend for us to face the world and its trials by ourselves. That’s why Jesus said in John 14:16-18, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nei-ther knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfort-less: I will come to you.

With the hectic lives most of us lead, we need “a comfort zone”—a haven of tranquility and rest, a place where we can escape the turmoil surrounding us. And God has provided such a place of power and restoration.

The Holy Spirit is your comfort zone! When everything seems to be crum-bling around you…when you’re in the middle of some hellish trial…by the miracle power of God, the Holy Spirit can give you the comfort and strength you need to pull out of the mess you’re facing. Ask God for the comfort and power of the Holy Spirit, and see what a difference it can make!