Stay on Task

2 Samuel chapter 7 deals with David sharing with Nathan his earnest desire to build a temple for the Ark of the Covenant. The scripture text opens stating that the Lord had granted David rest from all his enemies. As a result David had a lot of time on his hands. David loved God so much that he wanted to do something outstanding for God so he proposed to build a temple.

Initially, Nathan was on board and encouraged David to go for it; after all, it was a good desire, David had the means and the time on his hands to accomplish it and he had the heart to do it. As a man of God, Nathan didn't see anything out of order about David's desire. However, God came to Nathan that same night and instructed him to go back to David and to let David know that the opportunity to build a temple for the Ark did not belong to David. There are good things that we have the ability and the means to do, but that does not necessarily translate to those things being our job to accomplish. We get inspiration and ideas and we move; rather than seeking God first. The vision that you see may be set for someone else to accomplish. You may just be planting the seed for someone else to come along and water so that God can give the increase. The lesson to take in here is that we must stay on task with the will of God for our lives and the only way to know His will is to remain connected to our covering. David often sought God himself, especially, when it came to going into battle, but when the Word of God came to him through Nathan he accepted it.

It must have been an awkward situation for Nathan to have to go back to David and share with him that he wasn't the person that would be building a temple for the Ark. Interestingly, God gave Nathan further information to reveal to David. God revealed to David what was actually in store for him and for his legacy. To this news David responded in humility. He began to pray and talk with God. He shared with God how honored he was and most importantly this scripture text highlights that David accepted God's will. This is important to note here, because David's heart desire was a stake. He could have gotten caught up in his own ego--justifying himself with the notion that what he wanted to do was for God and it was a good thing. But he realized that if he were to press forward after Nathan had instructed him differently, then he would have been acting in his own will and not in God's will.

This is a nuance that Christians do not always grasp. We feel like if we do good we have done God's will, but that's not the message that God wants us to understand. Doing God's will is doing God's will. We know what that will is when we seek His face. What desire have you shared with your leadership and didn't get the green light on? Did you try to press ahead with it anyway? We've got to stay in position to hear and to know God's voice and to respond, to move and to act upon His bidding.

A good measure of knowing when you are doing God's will is to evaluate if God's people are edified and if God is glorified. Being in God's will provides us with joy, peace and people are developed and moved to position where they are uplifted and can give God glory. Proceeding with our own will provides us with self satisfaction, but there's no joy and no peace with it. Sometimes we tend to mix the two situations, but one is a constant state of being and the other is emotional gymnastics that can be swayed by people's compliments or criticism.

Did everything fall into place? Then chances are that was God's will. Were you challenged, but your faith was made stronger? Chances are that was God's will. Was it about God's people? Chances are that was God's will. Did you remove yourself, your attitude, your pride and your ego? Chances are that was God's will. Did God open up opportunities and doors for you? Chances are that was God's will. Did God send provision your way to help you? Did God grant you favor? Was the outcome reconciliation of souls to the Father or applause for you? Did you have to struggle or contend with your brother? Did you have to force your agenda or your idea? Did you feel a sense of urgency to get done what you wanted to get done?

I imagine that initially when David heard the news from Nathan his heart hurt because he loved God so much and he wanted to show it in this specific way, but I am impressed with and long to learn from the fact that David simply began to thank and to praise God. David heard the other part of what Nathan said. Sometimes we can even remember the other part of what God has told us because we're so focused on trying to do something that we want to do and to get everyone on board with it. David recognized that it's God's mercy that put him where he was and that kept him where he was. As a result David humbled himself. I can see why He was a man after God's heart. What God revealed to David was awesome and Nathan was very encouraging in his delivery. David went on to pray and to stay on task.

Be encouraged today that God will reveal to you the difference between your will and His will and if you desire God will begin to move you into a place where you recognize that your will must align with His will. What God has for you is meant to promote you not to pacify you. It's meant to be your testimony not your temper tantrum. God wants the best out of you and for you and as that happens in your life you will be pressed, but the result will be reproduction. Stay on task with what God wants you to do. Don't be detracted by what you feel you can do or what you wish people knew about you. Praise God for who He is and for what He's actually telling you to do and sharing with you about your future.

There is no Answer without a Question

What if Nicodemus never sought to meet Jesus by night to ask Him how to receive salvation? When I was in elementary school I learned a valuable lesson. I was always an inquisitive person and I would ask questions over and over until I was certain that I had received understanding of the subject matter. But as we get older we start to want to fit in and it becomes embarrassing for us not to already know something. But my teacher--Ms. Stella Fiddemont--told me not to ever stop asking questions. She said, "I'll tell you a secret. There are other people who want to know the answer too. They are just afraid to ask."

From that point on I was that person. You know the one I'm talking about, the person who prolonged the class session by asking questions, the person who would ask questions during Bible Study, the person who would write everything down and then go back and read and study and ask the teacher more questions. I would go to my professors' offices in college and ask questions after class. I would always find a Bible scholar and listen and ask questions. I believe Nicodemus was that kind of person too.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Not only that, but he was a leader among the Pharisees. The Pharisees were a sect of Jews who had some political and social power, but whose claim to fame mostly lie in their self touting ability to accurately understand and proclaim Jewish religious writings and historical content. In other words, they knew all that was to know about the law. As such the Pharisees like their more aristocratic counterparts--the Sadducee's--were religious elitists who often clashed with John' and Jesus' teachings. So we can see why it would be highly unusual for a Pharisee--let alone a leader--to break away from the pack in order to ask Jesus a question. What I love about this passage in John chapter 3 is that Nicodemus comes to Jesus and acknowledges, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
This acknowledgement seems to mean that there was some agreement among the Pharisees that Jesus was the real deal. Nicodemus goes further. Asking Jesus sincere questions.

Many times we observe in the New Testament--Jesus' disdain for the Pharisees and their questions purposed to try to discredit Him. He often confounded them and shut them up with what we see now as simple parables and stories. But Nicodemus' questions were real and sincere. He wanted to understand and Jesus had compassion toward Him.

What is the question that you are afraid to seek Jesus during the daytime to ask? As adults we start to believe that we cannot ask God questions, but we can. That's not to be confused with questioning God. It's not the same thing. In order for us to learn and to grow we must ask questions. It is the question that prompts the answer. And no matter is to small to bring before God. He is just and He will answer. We have to break down like Nicodemus did. No matter who thinks we should already know. No matter if we feel embarrassed. No matter if no one else is speaking up.

Be encouraged to ask God what you need to know. If its about understanding finances, budgets and debt--the Word has the answer! If its about parenting, marriage, living single and saved--the Word has the answer! If it's about how to cope as a child, a teen or as an adult in this world--the Word has the answer! Whatever you may need don't be afraid to seek God's face with prayer and supplication. He will lead you and guide you into the truth.

There's No Business Like Church Business

Luke chapter 2 and verse 49 presents a then twelve-year-old Jesus trying to explain to His mother Mary that He had business to tend to for His Father.

I am intrigued by this story because the passage reveals that Jesus was a child. He had no change of clothing. He had no money. He had no means. His parents Mary and Joseph were not around and yet He had no fear because He was walking in His calling and His purpose.

Oftentimes we hear that where God has given a vision He also provides the provision. I fear that we have a thwarted sense of what the term provision means because so many of us are yet waiting to act. We're waiting on money, a house, a car, a job, a spouse, a something before quickening our faith by joining it with our works. I am learning to change my perspective more and more. I'm not actually waiting on something to do what it is that God has purposed for me to do--to be about my Father's business, but what I find that I'm waiting for is release. God's Word is filled with promises of how He can, He is able, He will and He has. My memory runs over with how He did over and over--not just in my life, but all around me in the lives of the body of Christ. What I'm trying to say clearly is that our provision is within our reach the moment that God gives us the vision. What we must learn and what Jesus humbled Himself to here is the proper season.

Still there's something else that moves me in this passage. The scripture does not tell us if Jesus is fully aware of His destiny at this age, but what it does reveal is that even at the tender age of twelve He was armed with the Word and ready to launch out and do what He had been called to do. The Word equips us. It qualifies us. It provides us with our experience with God so that we will know His voice, His will, His timing and His leading.

2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed with the ability to correctly understand and share the word of truth. It is interesting to me that this passage admonishes one to study to be a good workman. There is a season of preparation. That preparation endows us with the ability to internalize the Word of God and to comprehend it--not by natural understanding, but by spiritual revelation guided by the Holy Ghost.

Jesus came in a manger yet He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His glory was so great that a star brilliantly lit the night sky in His honor. However, His purpose was not to distract, but to usher in salvation for all. In order for Him to be about God's business, the business of reconciling souls, He had to be selfless. He had to be meek, but He was in no sense weak. He had to be humble. He had to be loving. He had to be thoughtful. He had to be caring. He had to be long suffering. He had to be patient. He had to be kind. He had to be peaceful. He had to be good. He had to temper Himself. He was equipped in the manger to carry out the work of the Father. Just like you and I are equipped to carry out the work of the Father for our lives.

In due season God moves men's hearts. He remembers the favor that He has toward us and He grants us favor with men. He puts us in a place where our gifts can be stirred and our faith can be tested. We grow as we learn that everything that He has given to us over the course of our lives has prepared us to be good stewards and good workmen.

Be encouraged today realizing that God's promises are yea and amen. What He has said He will do. It will come to pass. You have what you need for your journey. Arm yourself with the Word. Write His Word upon the table of your heart. Hide it in your heart. When God's ready to put you in the game, you'll be ready.

Just the Facts

Today's scripture reading is the entire book of Jude.

What strikes me as I read and reread this passage is Jude's candor and conviction. He does not hold back at all. In this passage He advises those who have clung to the faith and who believe that Jesus is Lord, to fight for that faith too.

That fight has several rounds.

Round 1 (Verses 1-4) Living Holy and Contending for the Faith

Jude expresses that we are called to live holy. Our holy living will glorify God. In this point Jude does not waiver. He also states that it is our mandate to earnestly contend for the gospel, but not to force it on others. We should share the gospel with grace and finesse and be consistent with the example that has already been given to us.

Round 2 (Verses 5-7) We have not arrived--we still owe God all fear and reverence

These verses remind us to renew our commitment daily. We must stay on guard remembering all that God has done for us and committing to continued obedience to His Word. If we are not careful we could suffer the consequences of those non believing Israelites who were destroyed after having been delivered from Egypt and after witnessing the miracles of God.

Round 3 (Verses 8-16) Beware of false teachers. Defend those who God owns.

These verses describe how false teachers creep in. How they are wise in their own eyes and desire to push their own agenda. They are passionate about their will and consumed with feeding their own appetites. It seems like they are doing good because they begin in the Spirit, but their ending point is in the flesh. Even though they speak well--they are all talk. They bare no fruit and do not reproduce. These will be cursed at the root. Their doom was foretold. Jude makes the point here that we are to follow men only as they follow Christ.

There is also an entry from Jude about how the archangel Michael contended with the devil over the body of Moses. This passage lends one to believe that it is important that we not only fight for the gospel and for our faith, but that we fight for those whom God calls His own. We do not have to dispute or to bring railing charges.

Round 4 (Verses 17-23) Real Faith

Bishop Woods began sharing with us this past Sunday on how to Faith it and not fake it. Faith works by love, which purifies the heart and overcomes the world . . . Our prayers are most likely to prevail, when we pray in the Holy Ghost, under [H]is guidance and influence, according to the rule of [H]is word, with faith, fervency, and earnestness . . . (Matthew Henry Commentary). The more that we concentrate on the promises of God and the more that we exercise our faith we will mortify our own lusts and separate ourselves from sin. All of this will help us to set a good example within the body and be the evidence of who we are to the world.

Round 5 (Verses 24 and 25) Exhortation

True believers have been given to Jesus Christ by the Father and have been adopted by the Father through Jesus Christ's shed blood, His death, His burial and and His resurrection. None that have been trusted to Jesus have been lost. As a result He is able to keep us from falling and to present us blameless before the presence of His Glory--not because of anything we have done, but because it is the will of God.

In spite of our doubts, our fears, our sorrows and our shortcomings Jesus as our savior and our redeemer has taken on our sins so that the Father considers us faultless. As a result we are able to enjoy a position in God where there will be no sadness and no sorrow and no sin; where there is perfection of holiness and perfection of joy. Therefore, in faith we ought to look to Him that is able to keep us from falling knowing that He will improve upon and maintain the work that He began in us.

Be encouraged today to contend for the good news that Jesus saves, to live holy, to avoid false teachers, and to trust that God has everything under control.

Lifesaver

10And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Matthew 9:10-13

Jesus' disciples must have thought that Jesus was crazy as He welcomed dinning with tax collectors and criminals. It really is shocking to the senses to think that Jesus actually came here to save sinners! Jesus was so very comfortable right in the middle of a crowd of people with issues. He was at home in the midst of people who were rejects.

This morning I was reminded of a friend, who has now passed away. When I first met her, I was newly graduated from law school and I had landed a great job as a loan officer with an investment bank. I was on my own and I believed that I was starting to experience some success. I started volunteering for a grassroots group that was interested in celebrating the gifts, talents and academic success of youth. I would meet with the youth once per month and the group would pay for the youth to take trips and to compete with their art, their drama, their spoken word, their scientific aptness and their business acumen.

This friend was a teen at the time. She had been labeled. Every adult in her life called her bad. Teachers, her mother, her friends' parents. People would warn me about her and tell me that she was a bad influence on the other kids. In hindsight it seemed like everyone had formed their opinions of her based upon her behavior rather than on who she was. People didn't really know who she was because her behavior oftentimes preceded her. I learned that she didn't know who she was. She was earning terrible grades, getting suspended from school and just generally acting out.

There came the divine appointment when she decided to participate in the program that I was chairing. It was my first year chairing the program and I didn't really know what to expect. She had come with another friend who was excelling in her field of competition. It didn't really seem like my friend had any purpose about herself. She didn't want to get involved, but she wanted to hang around. She didn't want to extend her self, but she was super sensitive and would get hurt easily. I can remember one day I was taking her and her friend home from one of the meetings. She got out of my car and slammed the door really hard. She began walking off. I backed my car up and made her get back in the car then get out and close the door gently. My comment to her was that whatever was going on in her life, it wasn't my car's fault. Now that I look back on everything that she subsequently shared with me, the slammed car door wasn't really a big deal.

Eventually, this young lady began to participate in the oratory competition. She wrote and spoke very well. She did so well locally that she was selected to participate in the state level competition. She won hands down. She had done so well that sponsors took notice and were proud to send her to the national competition to represent the state. Her presentation was so powerful that she received a standing ovation from the audience and the judges.

From that point forward she was empowered. She was never the same. Her grades improved and she got into college. She earned nothing but A's. She eventually got married and had a daughter of her own. She passed away shortly after. She came to visit me here in Missouri when she was still in college. She shared with me that she had never even been out of Pine Bluff, Arkansas before she started working with the NAACP ACT-SO program. She shared with me that I had believed in her and that encouraged her to believe in herself--in spite of being abused by her step-father, being abandoned by her mother and forced to live with her grandmother. She had been rejected by her father and he lived right down the street from her.

In this Christian walk we cannot be afraid of what people might say about us spending time with the people that we are assigned to. When I first started teach someone told me that It's not the A student who needs the help--any teacher can guide them. It is the troubled student who needs to be taught and it takes a dedicated teacher to reach them.

Other people's problems are uncomfortable to us. We begin to back track and back away when we are presented with real life tough situations. We say we're not equipped to handle it--and perhaps in many ways that's true. If we are not psychologists or psychiatrists we cannot begin just opening up wounds because we are not equipped to help the person obtain the tools that she needs to deal with their past and their pain. At the same time, that shouldn't stop us for dining with publicans and sinners because they need to know that there is healing and deliverance. Jesus did it out of His compassion. He did it because of His agape love. He did it to glorify the Father and to prove that people who others have written off and rejected, God can change. He confounds those who are wise in their own eyes and He gives supernatural insight to those who learn to humble themselves.

Looking at my own life I was drowning. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, very deeply stained within and sinking to rise no more, but the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry and from the waters lifted me now safe am I. I realize now that it was love that lifted me. Love was my lifesaver. God's love yet is my lifesaver. Jesus dined with publicans and sinners--not giving any power to what others thought of it because He is the savior of the world. Be encouraged today that we ought not to allow any divine appointments to pass us by--not even when it seems like a challenge. If you can't handle it Bishop and Pastor can. Love that person into the place where they feel comfortable sharing with our leaders. Be encouraged today that love covers a multitude of sins. People can be reconciled to the Father through your capacity to allow the love of Jesus to flow through you.

Everything Old is New Again

As we age things become routine. We begin to take the people around us for granted. We begin to rely on the alarm waking us up, the coffee, the car starting up, the school bus, the traffic, the normality of life.

We see the same people struggling with addiction, with pain, wrestling with the devil--maybe we in some ways too are that person struggling with an unkind past of poverty or abuse. Yet somehow God reaches into our normality and He calls us to become new.

1 Corinthians 13 reads:

1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity

Verse 11 reminded me of my age, but as I thought about my age I pondered if I had really put away childish things as the writer described. Or had I instead pulled childish things into my adulthood with me. Had I toted selfishness and self centered behavior into adulthood? Had I held on to the grudges to envy or jealousy that I used to entertain? Was I still as blind as I was as a child; as intolerant and unopened to others? Was I still as judgmental? Was I still as naive?

I started writing this blog today because God revealed to me that I CAN and am still learning and changing. Growth is slower. It takes me longer to realize my bad habits and my biases. It takes the shock of preaching, the thoughtfulness of teaching and the steadiness of discipleship for me to recognize my lessons now. But God revealed to me that I CAN and I am still learning and changing.

I used to think it was all about my own salvation, but more and more when I see hurt people I know that it's about extending myself in someway to persuade someone else that Jesus saves. It's about enduring with patience to be an example. Its about pressing when I don't want to--not for me, but so that I don't miss the divine appointment that God has set up--that juncture where someone will share their story and ask me to pray with them. I don't want to miss any more. I don't want to miss any more opportunities to tell others about Jesus. I found my mind racing today to tell another woman about the WEW meeting. I searched my mind to remember people that I had invited to church before that I hadn't seen in a while. Do I still have their numbers?

What does the totality of my experiences, my knowledge, my struggles or my life mean if I live it all without extending love. When I was a small child I once heard my Grandpa say "Loving somebody doesn't mean anything if you never get the love to them." How can I pass up one more person without sharing Jesus? When I was a child, I talked like a child out of ignorance. I could only comprehend what I was mature enough to handle at that time. I thought as a child because I had no other experience. But now that I'm grown I have learned to put away my childish ways. It's high time that we move into the rich destiny of the calling on each of our lives--out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Once in the light we should walk in the light as He is in the light. He loved. He taught. He shared. He cared. He healed. He relieved people of their burdens. He cast out devils. He performed miracles. He sacrificed. He developed people. He gave. He laid down His own life so that we could freely receive salvation.

I'm growing up. I'm maturing in Christ. I CAN still learn and change. I can make a difference. I can touch somebody who's hurting. I can share that Jesus is still saving.

God Will Post a Guard Around Your Heart

Good morning. The Bible establishes that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind. Yet there are times in our lives that we can be plagued by fear. For some of us it's because of generational curses, abuse, mistrust or misuse. Whatever the reason the Bible provides a real answer for how to overcome and eradicate the spirit of fear from our lives. Philippians 4 1:11 provides the solution:

1 Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. 2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life. 4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say , Rejoice . 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 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. 9 Those things, which ye have both learned , and received , and heard , and seen in me, do : and the God of peace shall be with you. 10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again ; wherein ye were also careful , but ye lacked opportunity . 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned , in whatsoever state I am , therewith to be content.

Verse 6 encourages us to not fear. The New King James translation uses the term be anxious for nothing. There's no need to live a life held hostage by fear. You can live in the No Fear Zone when you follow the advise of the scripture above. Let's see those steps below:

1. Let God know all of your requests. The first step in eliminating fear from our lives is to tell God everything. We should communicate with God all of our desires, goals, ideas and dreams. The scripture tells us that we can do this through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. Prayer gets God's attention. Supplication is petitioning God or earnestly expressing to God what you want. It's your opportunity to explain your need. We must also make our requests know through thanksgiving. We must thank God for what He's already done. We must approach Him with a praise that shows Him that we know that He can and He will move on our behalf. We must have the perspective of David or of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that our God can deliver us--even if He doesn't, we won't lose our integrity, we won't bow down to the enemy because we know that we know that we know that we know that He is able!

2. Once we have made our requests known then the peace of God, which passes all understanding will guard or keep our hearts and minds through the power of the Son, Christ Jesus.

3. We must use our mental capacity to think about things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report; virtuous, and worthy of praise.

4. The last thing that Paul admonishes in this text is that we apply all of the things that we have learned and all of the things that we have observed through the example of our leadership. He expresses that those that he's writing the letter to must have had a problem with fear, but that he has lived an example of how to force fear out and replace it with the peace of God.

If we are careful to do all of these things then we can win the battle of the negative emotion of fear. We can oust the spirit of fear and we can rest in the peace of God. We can cast our cares, our fears or our worries upon Him because He does care about us.

Read Hebrews 4:15-16. We must realize that God does not want us to be down. He does not want us to be plagued by fear or to live in a constant state of worry. That is why He sent His Word to encourage us. We've got to hide the Word upon the tables of our hearts because as Bishop Woods has stated, it is a mind game and a heart thing. Those things that we hold in our hearts become our outcome.

Be encouraged today that you CAN overcome the spirit of fear through prayer, supplication and thanksgiving!

You Ought to Take it Personally!

St. John 10:10 reveals, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Bishop Woods continued Bible Study last night on the attributes or the character of the mind of Christ. Philippians 2:5 admonishes to let this mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus. With that mind God can expand our capacity to handle more--more blessings, more evangelism, etc. With the mind of Christ God will increase our ability and allow us to have room to prove our capability. With the mind of Christ we will do right because it's the right thing to do as we exercise our integrity. With the mind of Christ we will learn to be still and see the salvation of the Lord. We will be able to endure and to keep pressing toward the mark!

Toward the end of the Bible Study Bishop Woods introduced two internal forces that can and will quench your gift(s). These are the spirit of discouragement and the spirit of offense. Have you have been feeling down, like no one cares about you, or have you been stewing in a past hurt and you are right now in the middle of feeling like someone has harmed you in some way? Do you feel stuck like you can't make any forward progress? There's a reason for that and it's most likely because of these two internal forces.

Make no mistake that the enemy is less concerned about "what" distracts us and more pleased that we become distracted from expanding our capacity, maximizing our ability, utilizing our capabilities, exercising our integrity and standing in our stability. God wants to us to have greater room inside and outside. Therefore, you ought to take it personally, that the enemy wants to steal your joy, kill your gift and destroy your soul. He wants to remove your potency, your influence and your effectiveness. You ought to take it very personally, that he wants to run roughshod all up in and through your home. He wants to steal for your future and the hope that God has for you. He wants to silence your praise and hold up your blessings. He wants to block your healing and hinder your testimony. So yes you ought to take his attacks on your life very personally. You ought to take his attempts to keep you, your friends and your loved ones in bondage personally. It should make you want to fight your way out and through. It should make you want to break out and break through from the chains of bondage into the liberty that Jesus is calling us into!

I admonish and encourage you today to realize that there is an answer and it begins with you. We have to recognize when we are under siege. See some of us are unable to get out from under the blows of the enemy because we refuse to admit that he keeps knocking the mess out of us. We don't want to admit that we've succumb to his tricks--like the spirit of discouragement or offense. We don't want to be viewed as that Christian who fell for Satan's lies. But believe that the enemy will continue to whoop up on you as long as you allow him to.

I thank God for Bishop Woods' boldness in ousting the spirit of Jezebel and the spirit of Absolom! Those spirits were oppressive, binding and blinding. And I truly believe that anyone who spends a whole lot of time in hurt, offense, depression, discouragement or disappointment makes himself or herself vulnerable to an attack from the spirit of Jezebel or Abosolom. Read these scripture passages and get those Bible Studies! Jezebel and Absolom started out from a place of offense. That offense escalated in their minds and created a divide between them and those that they were offended by, but ultimately between them and God. These individuals decided that they could handle the situation themselves and by doing so invoked spirits that still thrive in our society today.

The Bible, in Matthew chapter 5, gives us clear instruction on what to do when we feel offended:

22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

As Christians we want to keep up appearances. We want to show up taking our sacrifices to the alter like everybody else knowing good and well that before we got to church and as soon as we leave we are talking about what folks have done to us or how we feel hurt and wronged. Why is it that we want to look right but we don't actually want to get right? Until we learn to be right the enemy will keep on hitting us upside the head. We have got to learn to swallow our pride and apologize sincerely. We have got to learn that love covers a multitude of sins. We can do this! Relationships can be restored. We can get along. We can work together to build the kingdom and to run with the vision. Bishop and Pastor have enough capacity to love all of us. It is what they have been anointed to do. They can handle it! And we can handle all that God has promoted us to do. This about kingdom work and advancement. We have to change our focus and lose some pride.

Today's reading might be cumbersome, but please take to heart the message. We are not fighting with carnal weapons. In fact our weapons are so mighty that we can tear down and destroy strongholds as Bishop Woods has proven. Sometimes the easiest way to defeat the attach of the enemy is with an apology or with reaching out to explain to someone that they have offended you, reconciling with that person and moving forward. We cannot continue to allow the devil to rob us. We just don't have the time. It is time to mature, to get in order, to be discipled and to work.

Take it personally that the enemy wants to sift you as wheat. Once you recognize the enemy's games, his tricks and his intent you can come to the realization that perhaps you've been influenced by the spirits of discouragement or offence. When you realize this then you know how to fight. If that means fasting, praying, seeking assistance from Bishop and Pastor Woods, going to your brother or sister and reconciling and spending more focused time in the Word of God and in His presence with praise and worship then do what you have to do so that you can move forward. So that you can take back some things. So that you can influence and impact again. So that someone else can overcome by the word of your testimony. So that someone else can be reconciled to the Father. We have much work to do as the harvest is ripe.

The Great Divide--Bridged

This morning I was considering the following scripture:

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

It occurred to me that maybe I've been taking God's plan for me for granted. I've been resting in the salvation that He freely gave me. I've been hesitating to trust who He made me; often doubting myself. But in the middle of these thoughts this scripture came to me. It was one of the first passages of scripture I can recall reading on my own as a child. As a young one reading this it meant the whole world to me that God counts me as His child. But now as I'm knocking on 40 years old, it made me ponder the scripture more deeply.

God is at enmity with sin, which means then that because of my sin nature there would have been no way that I could have overcome the divide between us. It would have been like God having a restraining order against me. But His love--I'm about to cry writing this today--His love was so deep for me that He couldn't bare to have this divide between us so He made a way, He made a truth through the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus became my propitiation--making a straight path for me to enjoy a relationship with the Father. I can get to God through Jesus! The sacrifice that God made for me encourages me to realize that He made me who I am so that I can do what He's called me to do. As I do what He's called me to do--just as I am--in my weakened state--His strength becomes perfect so that He can get the glory by someone else being reconciled to the Father through what Jesus has done! There is a way to Him. It's like we were lost wondering in the darkness, separated from God and unable to repair the gulf between us, but Jesus became my salvation. He became my brother and as Bishop Woods so eloquently put it, Jesus--my big brother--seeing my situation and how I was living, went to God on my behalf and asked God to adopt me--to take me in--to save me. God listened to Him and now here I stand folded into the body of Christ and swallowed up in the love of God.

So when we say our ministry movement is a bridge--we are simply mimicking the Bridge--Jesus. We are doing all we can to touch a sinner; an unchurched, a backslidden, one of those ones that Jesus was sent here to reconcile. We want to lead them--through the testimony of what He did for us--into the revelation of a true and personal relationship with Jesus. A relationship that makes that person a brother or a sister with Christ. A relationship that allows Jesus to again and again go to God and ask Him to adopt another and another. That's love that can bridge an insurmountable divide. Not only does it make me part of a family of redeemed, but it entitles me to the promises of God.

Thank you Jesus for being my savior. Thank you for adopting me. Thank you for reconciling me. Thank you for reaching way down to pick me up. Thank you for empowering me through discipleship under my Bishop and Pastor. Thank you for bringing me to the understanding that when you saved me--it wasn't over, but you commissioned me to tell somebody else about the good news of how YOU SAVE! You are yet saving. You are yet beckoning for more.

Be encouraged today realizing that what God has done for you is to make you a son and a daughter. You are bought with the ultimate price. Now it's time to take back the Kingdom with the force of your testimony, of your living and of your heart's desire to become a bridge for someone else!

What We Have Here is a Failure of Confidence

Philippians 1:6 states: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

There are Christians who do not hold on to this promise. Life's circumstances toss us to and fro and the enemy introduces thoughts of doubt that find a foothold and grow in our minds. As Bishop Woods stated Wednesday, Its a mind game and a heart thing. What we ponder and think about obsessively we eventually will say, when we say it there's the opportunity for those words to turn into actions, then those actions can so easily become habits and those habits will then make up our character and finally we have planned out our destiny. God wants us each to have more abundant life.

If He started a ministry in you why aren't you confident that He will give you the provision to fulfill your vision? Too often we get side tracked by mole hills. A mole hill would barely be noticeable if it had grass on it yet we can become so fascinated with them that they begin to look like mountains that we cannot simply walk over or around.

This is why it is imperative that we change our minds and that we hide the Word of God in our hearts. Bishop Woods shared the characteristics of the mind of Christ with us. Those are:

Capability

Stability

Ability

Integrity

Capacity

I was talking with a friend last night and she confessed that when she lost a coveted director position a few years ago, she initially started looking for another directorship. That's what she felt she deserved--what she had earned. But she couldn't find that kind of position anywhere. No one wanted a director. So she found herself having to take on what seemed to her at the time to be a lower level position. Soon after though she was blessed to obtain another position a bit higher, but still not her former directorship.

She then came to the recognition--to the glory of God--that the two positions that she held that she felt had been lower level positions in fact prepared her for her current position by providing her with experience that she had not and would not have gained as a director. God wanted to expand her capacity. Sometimes we get so caught up on the title and on the pomp and the circumstance of a matter that we neglect to gain the experience that God wants us to have so that He can elevate us to another level. Therefore, He will provide a wake up call--because He loves us so. He'll shake us up to shake some stinking thinking off of us.

The point is that we must change our perspective--how we look at the trials, the tribulations, and the sheer experiences that happen to us in life. We have to begin to look at each as though they may be a challenge, but they are not going to wipe me out. There may be some struggle, but I will not be overcome, instead I will be an overcomer. What may at first appear to be a step back is really a stumble forward into the opportunity for God to prove our ability. We can't know what we can take or what we can do until we are presented with the challenge.

God wants qualify you and give you capability so that there will be no question that your promotion came from above. When God promotes you spiritually, every other area of your life begins to fall in line and come within His order. Stop looking that negative things negatively and look at them positively. There is an outcome that is ultimately for your good. Use your integrity to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord rather than to seek a way to side-step trusting in in Him.

Do not cast away your confidence in the Lord--therein lies your faith and we build our faith by hanging on to our confidence and our hope. Are you struggling with this concept? Then simply do this, the next time you find yourself questioning if you can make it, if you can pay your bills, if you can buy a house or a car, if you can find a new job, if you can do what God has already predestined and preordained for you to do--just remember some things that He's already done for you.

Remember, like David remembered all of the times that God strengthened his hand. God has done some magnificent and marvellous things for us. Remember those things and give Him glory. Then make it up in your mind that if He never does another thing for you--He's already done more than enough. Once you find yourself in this stable place then you will see your mind begin to concentrate on things that are lovely, that are good, that are pure and of a good report. Next thing you know you begin to open your mouth and give God praise. Then you're waving your hands, stomping your feet and putting action with your faith. Then your active faith becomes your habit and eventually your character. When people see you they will know that you are a woman or a man of faith. Then faith and trust in God becomes your destiny and all the things that you thought you may have wanted fall in line and in order with God's Word and His will. You want what He wants for you and as a result you have what you asked of God.

That's how you praise our mighty God in advance. You praise in the morning--just because. You praise Him in your car--just because. You praise Him when bills are due and you have no way to pay--just because He's Jehovah Jireh.

Be encouraged today to count on your confidence knowing that God has begun and will complete the good work that He has started in YOU!