Escape the "Spin" Cycle

Consider the two passages below:

And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. (Matthew 21:44)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Sometimes as Christians we neglect ourselves.  We neglect to stir up our gifts, neglect to read the word, neglect to pray, neglect to hear the voice of God, neglect to befriend one another and fellowship with each other.  We neglect the whole notion and the whole point of Christianity-literally, to be like Christ.  We neglect our churches, our leaders, our families.  We neglect to let the mind of Christ be in us.  We neglect our calling.  We neglect our savior.

What do I mean?  We get so caught up and swept up in the spin cycle of life; the day to day routines, the same old same old.  We stop seeing people and start seeing task fulfillment.  We stop seeing souls and start feeling the tug of the rigors of getting older, being overworked and getting little rest.  We trade friendship for acquaintance and trust for convenience.  We gloss over meaningful events because we don't have time to deal with anything of worth.  We know that our families, our friends, those souls, those relationships, our churches, our leaders, our gifts, our ministry and our God are waiting on us to slow down and give them some attention.  We know and we keep promising ourselves that we will give all of those things the attention that they need.  Then a few days go by, a few months, a couple of years.  Our spin cycle is full throttle now and every thing's a blur.  Our children are grown, the faces in our churches have all changed, our friends have moved on and we find ourselves moving ever faster, but accomplishing less and less.

What has happened?  I believe that God wants us to recognize that we may be caught up in a spin cycle.  The spin cycle is the very last cycle for a washing machine.  The clothes initially went in dirty; a cleansing agent was added and the clothes were agitated.  The clothes were rinsed and then sent into the spin cycle so that they could be taken out, dried and reused.  However, some of us are uncomfortably comfortable in the spin cycle.  See the spin cycle keeps you busy and distracted and every now and then some water will sprinkle in to remind you that you are still in the washing machine.  As long as we remain in the washing machine we are moving, but we are not useful.  So then we begin to substitute being busy for being a blessing.

These two passages of scripture were given to me in an effort to help me out of my spin cycle.  See for a long time--a very long time, I have been a victim of my own stinking thinking; meaning I have not been seeing myself as God sees me.  I've been devaluing myself, my worth, my talent, my position, my place, my voice and my anointing.  I've been silencing my own voice and quenching the fire in my own life and staying stuck in a spin cycle of mistrust, doubt, superficial relationships and discouragement.  None of this because I'm a bad person.  I just stopped seeing myself through the eyes of God.  I've been viewing my situation and my life through eyes of tragedies, disappointments, missed opportunities and miscommunication.

If you have had moments like this too or if you feel caught up in a spin cycle, there is an answer and His name is I AM!  Matthew 21:44 notes that whoever falls on the rock will be broken, but whoever allows the rock to fall on him shall be crushed and ground to powder.  With every new day that God grants us we can come to ourselves--like the prodigal son.  When we come to ourselves, we can stop the spin cycle and we can ask God to make us over again.  The way that He makes us over is by allowing us to fall on Him.  Certainly He is formidable and when we fall on Him our will and our way are going to break.  Fortunately for us He is an expert at mending brokenness; so much so that when He mends us we are made whole and new.

Matthew 11:28-30 addresses the stuff that we carry around that keeps us in a spin cycle.  Some of us are not only in a spin cycle, but we have an unbalanced load.  Have you every heard a washing machine with an unbalanced load?  The machine can sometimes rock violently.  God is beckoning for us to lay aside the sin and the weight and the burdens that keep us pinned down and unable to move.  As long as we carry burdens of stinking thinking, past hurts and current mistrust we are limited.

If you were present at Urban Empowerment Wednesday evening you had the awesome opportunity to hear Dr. Phillips admonish us to Break the Limits off.  Something that she shared struck me--no convicted me.  She said that sometimes we have baggage and we mistake our baggage for luggage.  Bishop Woods shared that if you have luggage it's because you are going somewhere.  Dr. Phillips expressed that baggage is not for traveling because it is filled with things from your past.  Baggage represents those issues and problems that keep you tethered.  She demonstrated how so many Christians are serving and faithful yet they are burdened with baggage and that baggage is messy and stinky.  It not only affects us, but it affects how we treat others.  It limits our ability to fully love. 

There is only one answer.  The answer is not for Bishop to get some body else straight.  The answer is not for me to tell someone off.  The answer is not for me to stop talking to people and stop attending church.  The answer is what it always has been-give it to God.

I know this blog is long, but I feel a tug to talk about this.  When you've been hurt deeply, when you've suffered at the hands of a family member, spouse, friend or trusted person, you carry that hurt around.  You might pack it up in your baggage and not see it for a very long time, but as soon as God is calling for you to go to another level in your life you unpack that hurt and re-experience it again and as a result wind up distracted and unable to move to your rightful and more effective place of ministry.  There are three words that are so easy to say yet so hard to do; Let it go.  God is loving enough to handle whatever you got.  The blood of Jesus can take it.  His stripes can heal you from it.  Now, according to Dr. Phillips, you can't just turn lose of your baggage.  No.  That's not enough because as previously stated you will go back to it eventually.  You've got to ask God to break it and to break you from it.

Examine your life today.  Are you as effective as you could be?  Are you caught up in a spin cycle or a holding pattern that's keeping you from being useful?  If so apply the Word of God.  Fall on Him, cast your cares on Him, leave your burdens with Him.  Escape the Spin.

The Casual Observer

Matthew 14:22-31 reports to us the story of Peter's walk on the water. To the casual observer this may seem like just another Bible story, but between Peter and Jesus, this was the testing of faith that would solidify Peter as the rock upon which the modern Christian church would be built.

As I read this passage of scripture I note that Jesus purposefully sent the disciples away in the boat. He directed them that He would meet them on the other side so they had a promise. He went up into the mountain to pray knowing that the waves would come and toss the boat. He knew that the strong wind would come and rock the boat. He sent His disciples into a tumultuous situation hoping that they would hold on to the promise of His meeting them on the other side.

We oftentimes question why God allows us to be tossed and driven in our own lives. Why does He send us into tumultuous situations? To the casual observer it may seem like He is unaware of what's happening to us and that He's not nearby to calm the storm, but I'm here to tell you that the causal observer doesn't know what I know and what Peter knew. You see when I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that He has done for me . . . my soul cries out hallelujah! I begin to praise Him because I know that He sent me purposefully into a stormy situation in order to test my faith and to make it stronger. Great faith isn't great faith until it is tested just like a muscle doesn't gain strength until it is exercised and used.

In the middle of the night or in the middle of the situation with the boat being tossed by the waves and driven by the wind, Jesus came to His disciples, walking on the water. They in turn thought He was a ghost and began to scream. Isn't this just like us? In the middle of our storm and our tumultuous situation we don't recognize that it's a test of our faith? We can't even see that Jesus is there and that He is calling for us to step out of the whirlwind into the peace of knowing that He has everything in control.

But one person in that boat that day dared to think, "This could be Jesus." Peter called out to Him and said, "If it is you, command me to come." Jesus simply answered, "Come." Peter climbed out of the boat and begin to walk on the the water to the Master.

To the casual observer it looked like Peter was crazy. But like a popular rap song once stated, You can't see what I can see, 'cause you're blind to the facts! People on the boat may have had a lot to say. They were all terrified because they saw a being walking on the water toward them claiming to be Jesus. Instead of trusting they began screaming with fear. But Peter simply saw Jesus. He saw his friend. He saw his teacher. He trained his eyes on his savior. He looked to the hills knowing that his help was coming from the Lord! So Peter was able to walk on the water.

In my spiritual imagination I wonder what the people on the boat were thinking. They were all in the same boat and they all had the same opportunity to walk on the water to Jesus. But they did not all have the same focus, revelation or the same recognition. See in the midst of the toss and the shake Peter saw Jesus. Do you see Jesus in the middle of your bills being due? Can you see the Lord in the middle of your heartache? Because if you can see Jesus while you're in the middle of your struggle, then He can work signs and miracles in and through you for His glory.

Verse 30 reveals that Peter perceived the strong wind and he began to sink. To the casual observer, it may look like destruction is upon you and is about to overtake you. See some folks are waiting for your fall. They can see that you had the faith to step out of the boat and to walk on the water, but they are still looking at you and not the Lord. They still have their eyes on what's going on with you because they are waiting on you to fail in your faith. But like Peter all we have to do is call out to Jesus and ask Him to save us and as verse 31 shares, Jesus instantly reaches out His hand to catch us.

These are the situations when we all know that no body but the Lord could have done it. God will show up in the middle of your nighttime situation and in the middle of your storm. He will allow the testing of your faith so that you can grow and know that He will deliver you and give you peace. Then He will show Himself to the point where it cannot be denied that He alone is God.

In the end everyone in the boat glorified God because of all that they had witnessed. God was able to get the glory out of the storm. Ask God today to help your faith, to save you and to show Himself so that someone else can glorify God because of all that you are going through.

You're Not the Weakest Link. Hello!

Joshua chapter 2 reveals the story of a prostitute-or as the King James version reads-a harlot-who hid two Israeli spies. These two spies had been sent by Joshua to bring back a report about Jericho; a report needed to help Israel prepare to possess the land.

As the story goes, the King of Jericho learned about the spies and their whereabouts and he sent a message to the harlot asking her tell where the spies were because they knew that the spies were sent to scout out the land. For the King of Jericho, this was an urgent matter because it was an indication to him that the promise of God to the Children of Israel was imminent. He had heard that God promised the Israelites that they would possess the land.

But this woman, this harlot, in fact refused to give up the spies or to alert the King to their presence. As a matter of fact she not only hid these spies, but she also lied about where the spies went. She didn't deny that the spies had been to her home, but she advised that they were no longer there and that if the King wanted to find them, he'd better hurry up and go after them. Lying to throw the King off of the trail was a treasonous action. But this prostitute decided that after all that she had seen and heard about God and the people of God, that she'd rather take her chances hiding out the spies of people who were about to take over her home than to be loyal to her country and her king.

Let's examine this situation. First of all, this woman's occupation was not favorable and put her into a class of individuals who's behavior was not acceptable. It made her less credible in the eyes "good folks." It made her less desirable to be associated with in pubic. Interestingly though it also apparently made her the target of much observation and gossip, because the spies weren't at her house good before word got back to the king that there were some spies in town and that they were at her house.

From the spies' perspective, this must have seemed like the worst place to hid out. They must have been thinking, "We've only been here a few minutes and already folks are here looking for us!" They must have thought Joshua was wrong and the whole plan was about to be exposed because they were with the weakest link.

There are times in our lives when God entrusts us with ministry, with people's secrets and to do great things, but we do not see ourselves in a favorable light. We begin to wonder why God would choose us to do His will in our wretched and undone state. We feel like the weakest link.

But like this woman, God places the future of His people in our hands so that He will be glorified and so that His people can be edified. Where we may feel inadequate, God is saying, "My strength is made perfect in your weakness." He wants us to know that He's putting order, rulership and governance in the hands of those that others may have shunned or talked about or ignored or put down. He's trusting you to understand what it's like to be lied on and gossiped about. He's betting that your experiences will give you compassion and a soft heart. So where you couldn't see yourself as the best choice, God made you the perfect choice.

There was a game show where the host would say to the player who couldn't answer the question, "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" But I'm sharing with you that God says today that, "You're not the weakest link. Hello!" You are the head and not the tail. You are above and not beneath. You are the lender and not the borrower. You can carry out the will of God for your life. You can evangelize. You can start a business that benefits God's people. You can take care of children. You can get your education. You can minister from your experiences. You can share your testimony. You can share the Word of encouragement, life, reconciliation and redemption. You can by faith.

The woman in this passage of scripture had seen and heard about the wonders of the God of the Children of Israel. She had heard about how He delivered them over and over. She was in awe of God and His people and it must have dawned on her when the spies showed up at her home and even more when the King sent to try to find them that she was involved in something huge. It must have occurred to her because she asked the spies to remember her and her family and to keep them alive when they returned to occupy the land.

It is high time that you realize the situation that you are in. You have seen the scripture and heard the Word. You have seen what God can do for others and you have experienced what He has done for you. As a result, it is high time that you now realize that you have the opportunity to stay in position so that you can play your part in fulfilling the will of God. Hold your ground. Stay in place. Operate in your authority. You are not the weakest link.

Today choose to trust that God has a plan that includes you. That He is seeking your obedience and your willingness. That He makes no mistakes. That you are supposed to hid the Word in your heart and to share it with your family. That you are supposed to love people and through that love you are to cover a multitude of sins. That you are needed to share what God has done for you so that someone else can overcome. Trust that when you feel weak, God will be there to work through you so that everyone will know that only He could have done it. God will be glorified and the enemy horrified by you staying in position.

Every Day with Jesus

Like most Christians trying to walk out my calling in 2012 I daily look to the Word of God for guidance and listen for His voice to order my steps. I sometimes even imagine what it must have been like to be recruited by Jesus like the disciples. These men were approached and compelled to follow Jesus. They developed a bond and a relationship like Rabbi and students or Father and sons and at the same time Jesus loved them deeply and counted them as His friends.

They went where He went. They observed and heard all that He did and said. He advised them. He taught them. He helped their ignorance and their unbelief. He helped them to exercise their faith muscles and to get over their own self interests and sins to be the rock upon which the modern church was built, the evangelists that spread the gospel to the nations and the men that performed mighty miracles and healings chronicled in the holy manuscripts that we read today.

What I find interesting is that every day with Jesus these men were being groomed and prepared for greater works, for higher heights and for deeper depths. They were being prepared to shepherd and care for God's people. They were being prepared to heal the sick and to raise the dead. They were being prepared to do what Jesus did. Yet while Jesus was with them they never fully understood. Jesus knew that they didn't grasp the full picture, but he continued to guide them to take care of people's need like when he fed the group of 5000 men with the two fish and five loaves of bread. He showed them how to be compassionate for the people when he shared the story of the Good Samaritan. He instilled the need to forgive people when he knelt down and drew in the sand daring any one to throw the first stone at the adulteress. Jesus laid the example of obedience and submission to the Father when He taught the disciples to pray. And eventually, He showed them how He came to fulfill the will of the Father and to reconcile His people back to the Father through the ultimate sacrifice of His life to provide salvation for the world.

He enlightened these men and prepared them for the purpose of preaching, teaching, being apostles and walking in the gifts and calling of God so that they could share the good news of His life, death, burial and resurrection; so that they could tell the world that through His sacrifice the gift of salvation is free.

In other words, these men didn't follow Jesus just for the simple sake of following someone. After all, there were many false prophets that had followings too. No. Jesus taught these men to yield to the will of the Father and to obey Him. All of this because of the Love that the Father has for us. Jesus introduced these men to that Love. He showed them that there really was no greater love than a man that would lay down His life for His friends; than a God who would sacrifice His son's innocent life for a world of sinners. Every day with Jesus was a valuable lesson for the disciples to learn how to reach people with the message that Jesus is the atonement for our sins; that He took the sting of death for us. When Jesus ascended into the heaven He gave these men instruction to share with the world what He had lived out with them every day.

Every day I ask myself if I am fulfilling that same call. In spite of my failings, my own self interests, my faults, my mistakes, my weakness. In spite of my mess, my past, my struggle and my longings. Am I living out the example of obedience to the will of the Father? Am I sharing the gospel? Am I working to provide the Word of life, redemption and reconciliation to everyone that I influence? Do I understand why I follow Him? Am I leading people to Christ and letting them know that the gift of salvation is free because of His sacrifice? Am I telling people that Jesus lived, died, was buried and resurrected so that they can have abundant and everlasting life with Him. Or do I just believe it for myself? Can anyone witness that I told them that Jesus saves to the utmost?

There's a song that says Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before, every day with Jesus I love Him more and more, Jesus saves me and keeps me saved, He's the one that I adore, every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before. The Bible tells me how I love the Lord; by keeping His commandments. Matthew 28 19 and 20 says it this way 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Make everyday a day to follow the example that Christ provided and to keep His commandments.

God's Longing for His People

The book of Hosea chronicles the story of a man whom God led to marry a prostitute. Interestingly, little is known of the man himself, but much attention is given to Hosea's relationship with is wayward wife Gomer. We know that this story in fact is a representation of the relationship between God and the Children of Israel.

Fast forward now to 2012. Our Bishop prophesied at the beginning of this year that this is our year to experience governance, order and rulership. It is our time for God to put some things into our hands and to set our lives in order, yet for many of us this new season of our lives has brought us to a Hosea like place. God has been dealing with me on this for months and I am only able to write this morning.

God has revealed that so many of His people are wrestling with the enemy. People are dealing with Gomer situations because they are prostituting the gifts of God. People are refusing to come to the alter and to seek God, but they can't because of the rift they feel is between them the people of God, the leadership of God and God himself. People are wrestling with addictions, with loneliness, with false doctrine, with hard heartedness, with hatred, with demonic forces and all of this is leaving them in a dry and desolate place where they cannot feel the Lord.

God has told me that this is a time to learn. The lesson you ask? That lesson is found in the love story of Hosea and Gomer. Yes, I said love story. Hosea loved Gomer and every time she would stray, he would find her and redeem her. And although their relationship was used by God to express the struggle that the Children of Israel went through--constantly pursuing false gods--the story also shows us God's unrelenting love because of His covenant with His people. No matter how Israel played the harlot, God's love found her and redeemed her each time. That's love. How many of us are up to the challenge? It's not pretty. It's not convenient. It's not comfortable. It's not easy. It can be a lonely place.

How does all of this relate to the words of our Bishop? God's word is true. This is our year for rulership, governance and order. However, this is not our year for forgetting the body and forsaking the reason why God has chosen to move us into a more deeper relationship with Him. I believe that we are experiencing this Hosea like place so that we remember the people of God and so that we use whatever resources that He blesses us with to give the word of redemtion and reconsiliation to the people. What we have been struggling with and what we have been experiencing is only a light example of what our community is struggling with and what our children are going through. God wants us to use our own experiences as a way to see how He is longing to redeem our community, our children, our mothers, fathers, our school teachers, our police officers, our leaders, our smallest to our greatest. He wants us to be sold out like Hosea so that no matter how many times someone leaves the church, WE don't shun them and WE don't stop talking to them or loving them. He wants us to continue to speak the Word of life and redemption over them, after all, if it wasn't for God's grace and mercy, our sins and iniquity would be exposed. None is perfect except our Savior.

What should you take from this? God is constant. His word is true. That means if we are wrestling with something then there is a lesson and a blessing in it. If God promised you that you would see your family saved then why have you stopped inviting them to church? Why have you grown tired of forgiving and of sharing the Word of God? Why have you stopped praying? If God promised you that you would own a business then why have you given up? If God told you to preach the Word and be instant in season and out then why have you stopped studying? If God told you that you were part of a body, then why is it okay for you to move forward without your legs or arms? If God told you that you were an evangelist then why have you stopped fishing? If God called you out of darkness then why aren't you doing everything within your power to help reconcile others to Christ? If God delivered you from your fall and your backslidden condition when you were sinking to rise no more then why for heaven's sake would you watch your brother or sister drowning and not lend a hand; why wouldn't you reach out to restore?

God's word reveals that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Most of us wouldn't have lived out Hosea's experience to serve as a warning and a lesson to God's people. Hosea suffered. His life was messy. His experience was grueling and difficult. Yet out of Hosea's sacrifice came a message of how far God's love would reach, and just how fierce God's love for His people really is.

Today reflect on what you have been going through and ask yourself if this is an opportunity for God to be glorified because of your efforts to reconcile others. While you are going through the devil just might mean it for bad, but know and trust that God is working it for your good because greater is He that is within me than he that is within the world.