Walking with God in the Cool of the Evening--the study of a relationship with God

The Bible describes for us how God so desires to have a real relationship with us. God created Adam to be different than the plants and the animals. Adam was even different from the angels. Adam had will and dominion. He had a soul and a mind. He could rebel against or embrace God. He could reject or worship God. He could run away from or toward God.

Often we find ourselves trying to make up for what we have lacked in our lives and if we are not careful we can waste a lifetime attempting to create relationships with people who simply do not wish to have a relationship with us. I shared with my husband the other day that we are sometimes so invested in a cause or a person or an organization, but that investment is not requited. It is simply a bad relationship. But in all that we do for Christ we would never be able to beat God giving no matter how hard we tried.

Sometimes you long for relationships that just aren't meant for you and while you're longing for them you're ignoring God, you're neglecting your gifts and you are not being true to who God called and made you to be. There are times that the enemy wants you to feel left out and an island unto yourself because the damage isn't about you as an individual. It is about crippling the body as a whole. The devil wants to destroy generations. He wants senseless infighting because we are supposed to be known for our love toward one another. I have noted and have written that there are more and more sound bites about everyone having haters. We are a body in Christ. Who are our haters? Are we each others haters? Does an arm hate it's fingers or does a foot hate its toes? It is the enemy's tactic to divide and conquer the body of Christ. It's a great sound bite and it makes you feel good some where on the inside, but why? How does that promote a relationship with God? How does that edify the body of Christ? If you really took the time to think about it really really really hate is the lack of love. If we are one body--jointly and and tightly fit together then certainly we are done so with love. The relationship that we forge with God refreshes and renews and restores a very real love relationship within the body.

God desires a very real relationship with each of us like He had with Adam. The Bible says that God would walk with Adam in the cool of the evening in the garden of Eden. That reminds me of how my Grandmother and I used to sit on her front porch swing and talk or sometimes not talk--just keep each other company. God wants to be in our lives--not to the exclusion of others--we are social beings and even God said it is not good for us to be alone, but He doesn't want us to lose focus--trying to substitute what we feel we lack or what we didn't get as children for something or someone other than Him. No one can love you like He can. I hope today's blog releases someone. It has released me.

Now for the zinger. God is a Spirit and they that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. In order to experience a real relationship with God we must recognize that all that we know to be tangible isn't reality and all that we have experienced in the spiritual realm is very and eternally real. We have to draw on what we can not see through faith in order to be able to please God--this is where we are weak, but in this weakness is where God is pleased with us because it is where He is strong and His strength pierces through the spiritual into the tangible.

It is time. Let's praise Him with our whole hearts. Let's love Him with all of our might. Let's surrender all to Him. Let's call out to Him. Let's sacrifice our first and our best with love in faith because without our faith it is impossible to please God--that's why Cain's sacrifice failed. Let's walk with God like Adam and Abraham. Let's return to Him. Let's love our neighbor as ourselves. All of the law and the prophets hang on these things . . . Our relationship with God, how we are called, how do people know us?. . . How do we want them to know us? It yet remains the love that we have one for another. Do you want a relationship with God? The way to get there is to love your brother and to keep His commandments.

It's time to recover all!

David at Ziklag is one of my favorite scriptures (I Samuel 30). This scripture describes a time that David went out to battle and when he and his men returned their home was desolate, burned and empty. Their wives and children had been kidnapped and their belongings had been taken. When the men took all of the loss and tragedy in they began weeping and cried until they no longer had strength to cry. The men were angry and upset with David and were ready to stone him. 1 Sam 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him because the soul of all the people was grieved ... but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.

What is interesting about this scripture is the mention that David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. In this scripture the word for encouraged is translated from the Hebrew word chazaq pronounced (khaw-zak'). This word actually translates to mean to grow firm or strong. Instead of this situation bringing David down, he gained strength in the Lord. Why is this lesson important? Because so many situations occur in our lives and we become discouraged, disappointed and down. This happens because we are looking at the people involved or the tragedy that happened rather than looking to God as our source for deliverance. It happens because we do not seek God first. Let's be real; David's men wanted to kill him because they had just been robbed. Imagine how you would feel if someone came into your home took all your stuff and then kidnapped your family and to add insult to injury burned your house down and you didn't know where they were or why they did it. You didn't know which way to turn for answers. You would understandably be angry, sad, hurt and upset.

But the measure of your faith, your maturity in Christ and the development of your relationship with God is how quickly you are able to snap back and recover. Instead of this tragic situation continuing to grieve David, he had this epiphany in the middle of it all. He said to himself that God could handle the situation. David recognized that he couldn't solve this problem, but because of all that God had done for him, he knew that God could solve it! All of a sudden where David was weak, God's strength was made perfect.

As the story goes, David sought God and asked Him what to do. God told David to pursue the enemy and to do it quickly. While obeying the command of God, David and his men ran into the break that they needed in the case. There was an Egyptian servant out in a field on the brink of death. David fed him and gave him something to drink and found the information that he needed. He learned where the enemy was. As a result David was able to recover all! He got his family back. He got his stuff back and he took the enemy's stuff too! If David had hesitated at all the Egyptian would have died because he hadn't eaten or had water to drink in days.

What does this mean? You've got to seek God first. Then you must obey God's command. If you hesitate at all the information that you need or the door of opportunity may not be available. When you realize that God has the solution to whatever situation you encounter then you can proceed with confidence knowing that along the way your opportunities will be revealed to you. So what the enemy has taken something from you. Dig in and encourage yourself in the Lord. Seek God diligently and obey His command. When you do this you can recover all quickly.

Know today that God is your source. He is a loving God who desires to that you prosper even as your soul prospers. He is a righteous God who is moving behind the scenes on your behalf. He is working it out for your good. He sits high and He's looking at your situation. He knows you and how you operate. Think about how you've responded to situations in the past? Is that working for you? If not then this time--this time do something different. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. No you don't have enough money to make the ends meet. Yes your bills are all due and folks are calling you. No you can't save your family member. No you are not able to make yourself have the job and the house and the car that you want. No you cannot stop cancer, aids or diabetes. The answers are not in our power or in our might. We cannot even cause ourselves to grow with our thoughts, but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! There is deliverance in Christ. There is healing in Christ. Bills get paid and you don't know how in Christ. Depression is turned to joy in Christ. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

Today choose to recover quickly!

It is all necessary

Have you ever found yourself asking--no no questioning God as to why you were faced with a particular situation in your life? Me too! As a race of beings we go through experiences of famine, drought, hurt, doubt, joy, happiness, sorry, loss, grief, birth, change, growth, etc. Earth quakes happen, people lose jobs and family members. We sometimes lose our very hope because of the pressure that is placed on us.

If you are a Christian burn this into your memory. It is all necessary. What we do for Christ will last. As humans we all suffer--we all go through, but our labor and suffering as disciples of Christ is not in vain.

You may have been abused--God can work with that. You may have become promiscuous--God can work with that. You may have turned to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate--God can work with that. You may have simply become apathetic and done nothing--God can work with that. Or maybe you're the self righteous type--God can work with that too. Whatever we are and whoever we have become God can work with our clay and make us into vessels of honor for His glory.

All of our experiences bring us to the place where we need to be for God to work through us and get the glory out of us. When I was a little girl I had a vision of God wearing a tool belt. I imagined that I was a tool that He could use and I prayed as a child to be used by God. I didn't know then what that meant. I didn't realize what I'd have to go through to be able to minister the way I do and to witness the way I do. I didn't know about the struggle and the pains. But now that I know, I wouldn't change a thing if I could because then I couldn't be me and I couldn't be used by God the way that He is using me now. I am a willing tool that He uses for His glory and I am not damaged goods or left overs or sub standard material. Everything that I have gone through was all necessary to bring me to the place where I could experience the pain of other people and know how to stand in the gap for them with my father. You see God is a Spirit and in order to truly worship Him we must do so in Spirit and in truth. To move beyond the Vail sometimes we have to have a deep pain that takes us to a place where all we can do is cry out to God in a midnight hour. It's not about money or other people. It's not about status or how I look. But it is about being about my Father's business all day everyday to the point where I can say that it's for God I'll live and for God I'll die.

You have struggled and you have been through a terrible storm. Know that it was all necessary so that God could pick you up and prove that you were exactly the willing tool that He wanted and needed to accomplish His good will. You have value because you've been proven through your purging process.

You are where you need to be. Don't doubt that. He is going to do what He promised He would do in your life. No He isn't through with you yet. Yes God loves YOU! He will never leave you and He will not forsake you. You are not alone. You are His child. You are blessed and highly favored. Go through it and know that there is a way of escape so that you can handle it. Give God glory with your whole life.

In case you missed it. . .

Here are a few notes from Bible Study from 07/14/10 . . .

When we worship it is a sacrifice unto the Lord and it brings His presence.
When we serve God it is our work and it brings Him glory.

Dorcas was a disciple that worked and worshiped God.
Dorcas was full of good works and almsdeeds
Good works are things done heartily in obedience and love to God for His glory in an attitude of faith and thanksgiving.
An almsdeed is an act of mercy so much so that u can only perform an almsdeed when you give out of your own abundance to meet the needs of others.

Dorcas was rich and able to give out of her abundance because of how she lived. Her life had great value because of how she lived it.

God allows us to go to a certain point. After that He steps in and makes things happen so that all will know that it was Him and so that He can get the glory out of our lives. He takes us to a point where we know that we did not make things happen for ourselves. We must acknowledge that its not my power nor by might, but by God's Spirit.

When others let you down or begin to look at you as if your life is over, God will step in and raise you up so that He can get the glory. Dorcas died and people were morning her death, but God had another idea.

Dorcas prepared during her life for a supernatural return on her investment. She lived her life giving out and doing for others worshipping God and being disciplined to follow after the Word of God. When she died, they washed her body and took her to an upper chamber. The upper chamber was where she was used to going to give her sacrifices to the Lord. It was a familiar place to her because it was where she worshiped the Lord. When we are in a place of great need God will take us back to our place of sacrifice for a revival!

Dorcas' promotion was on the way! Peter made the crying people get out because although they brought her work, they were focused on the work and not on what God could do through faith. They were focused on how the situation looked and it looked like Dorcas was down for the count. But Peter was ready to put his faith in God into practice. He was the only one who could see that it wasn't over for Dorcas.

After Peter put the whinners out it became easy to do the work. It was easy because of the life the Dorcas had lived. Her work and her worship had ushered in the esscence of God's presence so all Peter had to do was instruct her to get up.

When we work and worship we set the atomosphere for God to enter in and to do for us what no one else can do and what we cannot do for ourselves.

All Things Work Together for the Good . . .

The Bible says in Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Recall in your mind all that you have overcome and all that you have been through. Think back through all of the people who have passed through or who are yet now in your life. Think about the good times and the bad times. Think about the triumphs and the struggles. Remember the prayers and the hopes, the wishing and the low points. Total it all up and give God thanks because every yesterday brought you this far by your faith as you leaned on Him. As First Lady Christine sings, He meant it for your good.

God wants you to experience abundant life. He wants you to prosper just like your soul prospers. It is not His will that anyone should perish, but that we all enjoy everlasting life. Knowing that then you must now know that everything that happens in our lives is for our benefit. It is for our growth. So be thoughtful and introspective about what you've seen and what you've been through. There is a greater purpose than one moment in time. Keep your head lifted up and know that God is invested in our best outcome.

The Power of Positive Speaking

Proverbs 17:22 reveals that a merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones. Being positive and speaking the Word of life is good for us and those whom we come into contact with.

If you ever have a chance observe receptionists. I like to observe them because these individuals are the face of a company. They are usually the first contact that a person has with a company either on the phone or in person. A receptionist who is positive and warm can easily make a person like the company and feel good about it and about themselves. A receptionist who is not courteous and projects a poor attitude can make a person feel poorly about the company overall. It is interesting, but the receptionist's attitude doesn't reflect the company's stock portfolio or profitability; nor does it reflect its longevity or market share, but it can influence whether or not people support the business.

The same is true of the Church. It is so imperative to be a genuinely positive person at your church for the Lord. When people encounter a person with a poor or negative attitude at church they immediately project that same attitude onto the leadership and make the decision to stop coming or to spread misinformation without ever even getting to know the leadership themselves. It's just a rule of customer service. I often wonder why people at church can have some of the worst attitudes. We can be so high school when it comes to choosing who's popular and for what reasons. We can be so cruel with laughing jokes and dirty looks. We can project everything but the heart of our leaders and the mind of Christ.

God has been so very good to us there shouldn't be a day that we don't smile when we think of the goodness of Jesus. He saved us. He continues to bless us. If He should choose to never bless us again He has blessed us enough to last the rest of our lives. Maybe we ought to follow Philippians 4:8 which reads, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Perhaps thinking positively will lead to speaking positively and to changing how we view GOD's people--including ourselves in that count--in the grand scheme of things.

There is power in thinking and speaking positively. It can change someone's life. You could be responsible for leading a life that leads others to Christ.

What do we really know?

God measures the heart. He weighs it in the balance. We often complicate matters with human communication, miscommunication or interpretation. Proverbs 18:17 says, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him."

Just because someone tells us us something about someone else or about themselves doesn't mean that we should automatically believe it. For example, I used to work for a bank. I was the only African American in management. About a year later another young African American female was hired. A few months after she was hired I was called into my boss' office. The President of the company, my Director and my immediate Supervisor where there. The Director spoke of how the company had been so good to me and how they were disappointed in me. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and I supposed that look was coming through so they explained that the new hire confided in them that I had told her that the company was full of racists and that she should watch out. She said she was just telling them because I made her feel uncomfortable. I hadn't said two words to her because I didn't care for her and I was appauled that the accusation was made without anyone ever even asking me if any of it were true. There was the assumption that just because she came to them in sincerity that she must have been telling the truth. I was hurt. After having been with the company for nearly two years and peforming well on all evaluations I decided to leave the company. I told my Supervisor--who seemed most disappointed, that I was disappointed in him for not trusting me and for not asking me anything. All he could say was, "Why would she just do that out of the blue?" I supposed that made everything justified from the company's perspective. I went on to practice law, and was pretty happy because it was a solitary position where I didn't have to worry about that kind of traumatic experience again. Not six months later my former Supervisor called me to say that the young lady who had blantley lied on me had been arrested for embezzelment and was trying to sue the company for sexual harrassment. I had no sympathy. I felt like she and they were getting what they deserved. I'm sure that was wrong, but at the time it did bring some satisfaction. Later I learned that she had sued her former employer for sexual harrassment too. She most likely was bi-polar and for some reason--although we hardly spoke and did not work togther--I became a target.

From that experience I learned that it is imperative to hear everyone out. I never just accept what one person tells me because that one person has his/her version of what happened based upon their desire to seem innocent and to be accepted. But even when we do our best to see both sides and to judge fairly we can never judge the heart. God sees and knows our hearts. He knows our motives. He knows our intentions.

He really knows us. My most valuable lesson? Trust in the Lord and lean not unto my own undrestanding. In all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my paths.

We become what we see. Most of us need to change what we're looking at.

No matter how much we tell our children to do what we say and not what we do, children wind up doing exactly what we do and that annoys us so! We want better for our children, but we don't make better decisions or live better lives and somehow we have fooled outselves into believing that our children will be come something other than the example that we live in front of them. My mind is boggled by that.

I see myself in my daughter. Sure she has her own personality, but I see my temper, my shortness, my lazy streak, and pretty much all of my bad habbits in her. When I see these things I try to consciously make an effort to change so that she will have a better example to live by. Case in point, one day I was listening to my daughter talking with a friend of hers. She was rather rude and curt. Maybe the next day or so I found myself being rather rude and curt with her about something. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I cringe when I see my own behavior reflected out of my child, but I'm putting this in her. I can't blame anyone else. From that incident it now crosses my mind to be thoughtful and patient when I'm explaining things to her. I'm still working on this because my tendency is to revert to behavior I saw as a child, but I have learned that I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me. That means that I can change--even now and I can set a better example for my daughter and point her toward the Father so that she knows where her help comes from.

Make no mistake you cannot hide your behavior from your children and hope that they'll be different. If you are inconsiderate to your husband, a cheater on your wife, an abuser toward your spouse and family, a liar, or whatever, your children see and adopt that behavior no matter how young they are. Studies even reveal to us that a baby in the womb can react to and feel what we experience. This is why it is advised that mothers remain stress free during their pregnancies.

Many of us--especially those of us who have suffered abuse--have a warped standard of experiences from which to draw and to try to guide our lives. If it were not for God ( . . . but God), it would seem that we would be doomed to repeat the examples of our parents and grandparents. But the Lord knows what we have need of. When I look back over my life I can see all the places where God filled in the spaces. We can change our futures when we accept that God wants to provide for us and care for us. We may have an example, but God can take from where we are when we come to Him, broken and make us new.

Look to the hills. That's where our help comes from. When we make Jesus our standard we experience a life changing pardigm shift that allows us to overcome what didn't work for us in the past and to embrace the Word. We can live by the Word and walk by faith.

Hide the Word on the Tables of Your Heart

Psalm 119:11 states: Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Bishop Woods has been sharing with us how to live by God's Word and the advantages that will enhance our lives when we live by the Word. In order to live by the Word we have to read the Word, hear the Word, speak the Word, put the Word into action in our lives and watch it work. When we allow ourselves to become saturated with the Word, the Lord will bring it to our memory when we need it most and when we have divine appointments to share it with others.

I believe most of all the the Word is meant to be applied to our daily living. When I was a little girl I wrote a song from Psalm 119:11 because I wanted the Lord to know that I needed the Word to become a part of me. I often ask the Lord in my time of prayer to continue to open my understanding. I grew up seeing preachers, teachers and pastors fall on the side of arguing/defending what they knew of the Word, but I always believed that when the Word of God is applied it takes care of the needs of each person that it touches--there's no need to argue about it. Not because the Word changes, but it reminds me of caulk that fills the cracks of our lives to make us whole. My wounds and cracks are different from yours so when the Word hits me it fills me in the way that I need to be filled and it will do the same for each person that allows it to fill and heal them.

The Word needs most of all to be shared through our confession based upon our experiences. When I share the Word of God with someone I do so based upon my confidence that I know that God can and He will. I know He's a healer because I read the Word believed and experienced healing. I know He's a redeemer, a savior who'll reach waaaaay down, the keeper and lover of my soul, my friend, my comforter, my delieverer, my provider, my shelter and my way maker because He's been those things and much more to me personally.

He sends His Word to educate, to guide, to reach and to encourage me and when I allow His Word to flow through me I am able to share a testimony of His goodness.

God's Word will anchor you and allow you to stand in the midst of storms. At your most lonely times and when you are in the middle of a tempest He will give you the Word and a way of escape. To know the Word is to grow in faith, trust and to bear fruit. Hide it in your heart. Like Eli--keep it in your memory so that when your assignment is at hand you can meet the challenge.