It's Personal

    

To this point, my blogs have been general. This one will be different.  This one is personal.  Years ago I made a choice that put me in a situation.  It's not a sinful situation, just a difficult one.  It was a choice that I made years ago out of stubbornness, self sufficiency, and plain old ignorance.   My family tried to redirect me.  Friends of mine talked to me.  In hindsight I now know that God also dropped me several hints trying to give me clarity.  I chose to do things my way.  Today, years later, the decision that I made then still affects me.  I have grown so much since then but sometimes I find myself reverting.  When I feel like God isn't moving quick enough and I want the situation fixed now and fixed my way, I fall back into stubbornness, self sufficiency, and plain old ignorance again.  Well, we've probably all heard it said...to have something different you have to do something different.  My hands fashioned this mess and if I put my hands back in it the most I can do is refashion the mess. But it will still be...a mess.  So today I am choosing to do something different.  I am choosing to give it to God, with no allowances for myself to take it back into my own hands.  God's word says if we call on him he will answer us and show us great and unsearchable things we don't know.  It also says that he is a very present help.  I believe that's true.  So I when I finish writing this and click the orange publish button, I won't just be posting today's blog.  I am declaring my belief that God's word applies even to this situation.  This is a post of faith. 

 

I am sure you are wondering what the situation is.  Like I said, it's personal and to go in depth could be offensive for someone very important in my life.  So in the meantime, stand with me in prayer that I won't get in the way of God handling this thing for me. Then meet me back here each Sunday...because an in depth praise report is coming.

 

Scripture:

Psalm 46:1       

God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble

Jeremiah 33:3  

Call on me and I will answer thee and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.

Psalm 46:10     

Be still and know that I am God:

 

Prayer:

God you are my refuge and strength.  You are an ever present help in trouble.  I am calling on you. Help me to not get in the way of you helping me. Amen.

Who's Your Momma?

From your creation, you are an intimate and integral part of your mother.  God has designed a mother's spirit, soul, and even her physical body to cover and keep her child.  So protecting, nurturing, and providing are innate to her.  A mother will go to great lengths to provide for her child and will, at all costs, keep them out of harm's way.  When a women is pregnant she carries that child with her when she wakes, when she sleeps, when she works, and when she rests.  She can be tired, sick, even near death...they still are never separate.  That never changes.  Long after a mother has physically parted from her child and her child is then grown and gone, a mother still wakes, sleeps, works, and rests carrying her child in her heart.  The love that a mother has for her child is second only to God's love.  When a mother safeguards her offspring, she is safeguarding herself because to lose her child would mean certain death for a great part of her.  A woman who doesn't portray relentless love for her baby only fails to do so because something traumatic in their lives has broken them rendering them unable to function as intended.  Who's your momma? Pray for her today. It doesn't matter if you never had a relationship with her or if she is the best mother on earth. Matters not if she is your birth mother, step mother, adopted mother, God mother, or play mother.  Pray for her and thank God for whatever good she has done for you.

 

 

                  Scripture: Exodus 20:12

 

Honor your father and thy mother: so your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.   Prayer:   Lord please bless us to have the wisdom to honor our parents.  Also, give us the strength to honor parents who have been less than honorable.  Parent our children through us Lord that the earth would be full of your goodness. Amen.

 

It's In There

Like gems hidden in a golden chest, the Bible has priceless treasure tucked inside.  What ever word of wisdom you have need of, it's in there.  There are four especially invaluable pearls of wisdom that you should make it a point to dive in the Word for.  The Ten Commandments are one of them.  The commandments are God's recipe for having the good life.  They are guidelines that protect us from ourselves and help us maintain eligibility for blessings.  Psalm 23 is another nugget that can be found in the Bible.  Psalm 23 reminds us of the nature of our relationship with God.  It reassures us that God is for us and with us all the days of our lives.  Maybe you just want to know how to get a blessing. Well, the Beatitudes can help with that.  Read them and you may be surprised to see who God sees as blessed.  If you are just getting in to prayer and you need a little help with how to go about it, the Bible has something for you.  The Lord's Prayer is a diamond that Jesus himself used to exemplify a good prayer.  You can pray the Lord's Prayer to connect with God until you feel comfortable talking to God in your own way.  The Ten Commandments, Psalm 23, The Beatitudes, and The Lord's Prayer are only a small portion of the innumerable gifts God has given us in his Word.  There is so much more treasure to be discovered. So open your Bible and dig deep.

 

Scripture:

Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments

Psalm 23: The Twenty-third Psalm

Matthew 5: 3 - 11 & Luke 6: 20 -22 The Beatitudes

Matthew 6: 9 - 13 & Luke 11: 2 - 4 The Lord's Prayer

 

Prayer:

Lord compel us to get into your word and compel us to get your word in us.  Bless us to receive the wisdom, understanding, and truth offered to us in the Holy Bible. Amen.

Walk.

      You can walk on water. Yes, you.  You may have already.  For example, you defied the odds and went to college when no one else in your family ever finished school and as a matter of fact they did all they could to keep you down. That was walking on water. Or...they never promoted women to partner-ship level in the company you work for. It had gotten to the point that you were beginning to believe it would never happen for you either. But you pushed past your doubts and kept putting your best foot forward daily and you got the position! That was walking on water. Some way, some how...you've done it.
      Walking on water means defying gravity by overcoming the things that weigh you down. It means doing the impractical. You have to step out and get your feet wet.  You must get out of your comfort zone and take steps that push the envelope of your mindset.  To walk on water you need faith.  You have to believe that God can empower you to do more than you have ever been able to do.  With his leading, you will be able to see beyond the apparent and create a new reality.  This also requires work. God will call you to the water, but it's up to you to take the steps he's directing you to take. You can't be stagnant. If the water you've been walking on is a puddle. It's time to step it up to a pond. If you've already mastered the pond, move on to a lake, then a river,  and then to an ocean. In other words, do something new in your life. Keep challenging yourself to do more and to be more.

      Yes, we can walk on water, but God didn't build us to walk on water by ourselves.  That is because if he did, we would keep on walking and would forget where we came from.  On our own power, we would eventually get lost or sinksink.  So to walk on water without peril, it is imperative that we stay connected with our creator.  God knows the ins and outs of all waters, so we need his wisdom to stay afloat.

      God wants us to defy the odds and do great things.  We are a reflection of his power and majesty.  So if you are feeling a nudge on the inside to get out of your box, pray to God for the wisdom to follow his lead. When you step out under his guidance, he will part the seas for you and sometimes he will just walk you right over them.

Scripture: John 14: 12-14

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works that I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Prayer:

Lord, compel and empower us to walk on water in our day to day lives. Help us to understand and operate in the truth that you have not give us a spirit of fear, but you have given us a spirit of power.  May all that we venture to do be done in honor and respect of you.

Fallen Angels

     He was the one who touched your life and brought you to the Lord.  Those fiery sermons and uplifting messages melted the ice cap on your hardened heart and awakened your spirituality.  You never missed a Sunday he preached.

     She was the person who wrote so eloquently and beautifully. Her words spoke directly into your situation and raised in you a desire to learn more about God.  Every book she had written, you read and displayed on your shelf with pride.  

     She had the voice of an angel and the way she sang often lulled you into a deeper connection with the Holy Spirit and moved you to tears. It was one of her songs that introduced you to Jesus and you accepted him as your savior right in your car.

     Then some how that person that brought you into the kingdom fell from grace.  They were found guilty of fornication, or adultery, or poor parenting, or got a divorce, or mismanagement of funds...whatever the case may be.  Of course that meant that nothing you experienced was real and the whole Jesus & God bit is a fraud...right? WRONG! 

     Sometimes we put too much stock in the messenger. We have to be careful not to allow admiration to slip into idolatry.   It is not the medium of the deliverance that holds the power, it is the source.  Any powerful Godly connection you experienced may have come through him/her, but it was not by him or her.  Only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have that power and they use people as a means to get the message out.  That person who you are so disappointed in was human all the time; never perfect, and never without sin.  Instead of being angry and disheartened, pray for him/her and be a catalyst in that individual's deliverance as he/she was for you.  We are supposed to help keep one another on the right track by being patient with one another and correcting one another out of a spirit of love.  This is the nature of God.  

   So remember, give the messenger your ear, but give God your heart.  Then you will not be disappointed.

Scripture:
I Timothy 2:1 
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
Psalms 45:11 
He is Lord, and worship thou Him

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your servants who lead us to you.  Let us be merciful with them and one another even as you are merciful.
      

Don't Be Afraid

Fear strikes us in so many ways.  We leave our homes, secure the locks, and activate the alarm because we fear our belongings will be stolen.  We carry mace, knives, or loaded weapons, because we fear we will be attacked.  We put up fronts and pretend we are someone other than ourselves, because we fear we won't be accepted.  We develop prejudices and preconceived judgments against others, because we fear those who are different.  There are talents that we have and ideas that God has given us that we don't pursue because we fear they will be rejected or they will fail.  We even hide our Christianity and pad our evangelism, because we are afraid others will think that we are too holy or strange. Fearfulness is wicked and giving in to it is dangerous.  That is not to say that we will never feel fear.  God knows that we are human and that we live in an imperfect world.  He acknowledges that fears will come.  He just doesn't want us to let fear take us over.  God has our back and there isn't anything God can't handle. So stay strong, pray long, and don't be afraid.

Scriptures:
Psalms 27:13 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?...Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall, not fear

2 Chronicles 32:7,8 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid or dismayed...with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles

Prayer:
God, if you are for us, who can be against us?  Help us to live above and beyond our fears.

You A Drinker?

Are you a drinker?  When you're happy, you drink.  When you're mad, you drink.  When you're frustrated, you pour it up for that too.  You drink to remember.  You drink to forget.  You drink to get over things and you drink to get through things.  Well consider this.  Noah was a man who had a good relationship with God.  God spoke to him and he listened to God.  His relationship with God was so good, in fact, that when God flooded the earth he only spared Noah and his family. After the flood, Noah grew a vineyard. He drank the wine from it and got drunk.  I don't know if it was Noah's first time being drunk or if it was even his intention to get drunk.  But I do know the Bible says he was passed out drunk, so he must have had a few.  While Noah was passed out, his youngest son disrespected him. Noah spoke a curse over his youngest son's youngest son due to the disrespect.  He spoke a blessing over his other sons.  Both the curse and the blessings came to past.  So Noah maintained his effectiveness and God still heard from him.  The thing about Noah is that more than anything, Noah was about God's business.  In the Biblical account of Noah, it is apparent that Noah lived for God not for drinking. So if you are a drinker, can you say the same?  If we ran the stats on the time spent in your day to day life would the percentages weigh heavier with God or with drinking? What about effectiveness? Has drinking taken you forward in your life or backward? Whatever the case, know this. God loves a drinker.  God is more than willing to do for a drinker. But God will only do for a drinker, what a drinker will allow God to do.  If your drink has become your saviour, God will leave it to you and your drink to work through the issues in your life. It won't end well. If you're reading this and you feel like drinking has overtaken you and you can't seem to overcome the desire no matter how you try.  Tell God that.  Tell him that right now you want your drinks more than you want him, but you choose him anyway. Tell him you need his help. God will make you stronger than your drink.

Scripture:

Psalm 46:1 (NLT) God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Prayer:

Lord, give us the wisdom to turn to you when we are overwhelmed with disappointment. You are our rock and our fortress.