Good Deeds

Matthew 6: 1-4 states:

1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

James 2:1-17 states:

1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

5Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

6But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

7Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

11For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

13For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

 

Gave all that before I brought up the story of the "Good Samaritan."  We all feel good when we perform good deeds and it is especially rewarding when we do it for the Kingdom of God.  Question is though why are we doing it?  Think about the story of the Good Samaritan.  The fact that the Jesus goes so far as to call the Samaritan good is important in and off itself.  The Samaritan's were despised by the Jews so for Jesus to tell a story making a Samaritan the hero of the story and then calling him good really puts emphases on what Jesus was trying to communicate.

See we love to do good deeds if there is a way we can get credit for it or for someone to see us and make sure we are getting acknowledgement in some kind of way.  It is quite difficult for us to do something and say nothing and let it just be between us and the person we are caring for.  The Good Samaritan did something that no one else would do.  As the story goes, a man was robbed and beat up and left for dead.  A priest passed him.  A Levite passed him.  Not only did these men pass the man who needed help, but they made the extra effort to go to the other side of the road to avoid the man altogether.  But the Samaritan, the despised person, stopped and took care of him.  Luke chapter 10 explains that the Samaritan saw the man and took pity on him, he bandaged up his wounds, he put him on his donkey, he took him to an inn, he stayed with him took care of him, he left money with the inn keeper for the man and finally, told the inn keeper that he would take care of any bills that the man made because of his stay.  That's love.  Jesus asks those hearing the parable of the three people that were presented, which one was a neighbor to the man.

The issue is so many of us are like the priest or the Levite.  We base our helping others on what's in it for us.  The hurt man presented a problem and the question really became if the priest of Levite would see the real issue or would they say to themselves, that's not my problem.  We are humans and in fact at a higher level, which is what Jesus was trying to explain, the plight of one is a problem for all of us as it could easily be us and for many of us it was or is us.

I am often flabbergasted at people who have suffered so greatly and been the benefactors of someone like a Good Samaritan, but yet have so little compassion.  So it makes me ask why?  The Good Samaritan helped because he had compassion.  He would have done it for anyone.  I ask myself, do I exemplify this?  Will I help when needed or will I help to advance my own agenda or for some other internal reason?  Will I help others when it is convenient for me only?  Will I help others so I can talk about what I did later?  One of the things I so strive for is consistency.  There are a lot of good characteristics and manners that I lack, but I hope that there's no one who can ever say that I was impartial when it came to helping others no matter who they are or what the situation was.  When God calls us to do something we should administer that gift to whomever He presents to us.  The previous scriptures that I have included try to explain that.  So often we give place and much higher importance to those who look the part of being rich or well off.  We like to help those people because there is a possible reward in it for us, but who wants to help the poor and destitute?  Who wants to help a person who can't pay you back?  Jesus did. When He died for us He paid a debt that we could never repay.  He gave something that we could not work for so it was a gift.  

Think about giving a gift today to someone who can't pay you back.

Best Friends

God has blessed me - no not just blessed - rather, so very truly and richly blessed me with dear and precious friends.  As I am yet now making my way through one of the roughest patches of my life, I contemplated the story of Job.  Job lost so much; his children, his wife, property and even his health failed him.  Interestingly though, while his friends may have misunderstood his plight and criticized him undeservedly, Job still had his friends.  And unbeknownst to those friends, they actually helped Job through what must have been the roughest patch of his life.

Friendship is so important; stark proof of that is in the Word where Jesus felt so strongly about it that He told His disciples that He no longer called them servants, but rather He referred to them as His friends.  St. John 15:15.  I found some scriptures about friendship that struck a chord with me.  Proverbs 27:17 says, Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.  Proverbs 27:6 reads, Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

I am grateful for those individuals who have been able to look past my moodiness, flakiness and aloofness to see a "me" in need of their friendship and worthy of their continued efforts at relationship with me.  All of us need true friends and I am the benefactor of the truest and most loyal friends one can have in life.  We each need someone who can see" us" even when due to the circumstances of our lives we have learned to hide behind thick brick walls.  I thank almighty God that there are people who tap me on the shoulder every now and then to remind me that just because I'm still a little girl inside my mind hiding in the closet so my father won't find me and abuse me, that they can actually see the me that needs them and longs for healing through that tap.

I told a friend yesterday that my expectations of him had grown too high, but in fact God put him in my life to withstand my "me-ness".  I have a tendency to feel less than - no matter what I know and this particular friend always sees past that mess every time and challenges me to stay in my Word and to trust that all that has happened to me over the course of my life has not dug for me a pit into which I should through a party, but has instead created for me steps elevating me to a place of stepping over the challenges that could have and would have taken me out, had God not strategically structured my life in such a way that I would have friends at every step to encourage me to take the step and held me up as I placed my foot onto uncertainty.  Like Job's friends, my friends sometimes say things that reach into me and pull out things like prayer, deeper commitment, forgiveness and healing.  Those friends may not even have those fruit as their goal, but God put them in my path; nonetheless, to help prune me into spiritual productivity. 

So with today's blog I share that I very much cherish my friends and look forward to new friends that God will send my way and I pray that I can be as dear a friend as my lifelong friends have been to me; encouraging, lifting, checking in on, speaking life into, holding up, picking up, supporting, listening to, advising, reciting the Word of God, enlightening, inviting into a place in my life and my heart, reuniting and always reconciling, loving, hugging, ever longing for  belonging and finally, living a life showing that friendship is so important that the  Bible recites, that no greater love exists than that Jesus would lay down His life for us, His friends.

I encourage you as we approach "Best Friends" Sunday at Urban Empowerment Ministries, to connect or reconnect with your friends and appreciate them.  Tell them that you do appreciate them and show them.  Thank God for them and be ever referent of the relationship with them.  Most of all, seek to build a relationship with Him so that He will know you as His friend.  And don't just be His friend, but be the best friend to Him that you can be; faithful, loyal, trustworthy, thoughful, intimate and caring; obedient to His Word and open to His command; accepting of His will and every ready to befriend whomever He puts into your path for a divine appointment.

Is God Impressed with Your Press?

We find in three of the gospels the very well known story of the woman with the "issue" of blood.  As the story goes, this woman had suffered with her issue for twelve long years.  She had given all her living to doctors.  She had spent all she had.  She was an outcast due to her condition.  She was unable to live a normal life.  Imagine all that she missed struggling with this issue for all that time.  Interestingly we tend to focus on the woman's issue and perhaps we identify with her because we've got some issues of our own that are keeping us on the outside of the life we truly want to live.

But my instruction today is to reveal to you how impressed Jesus was with this woman's press.  Imagine, if you will, the pressure on her mind and on her heart in dealing with her illness over such a long span of time.  Some of us can't go through anything for two minutes, what if you had to be separated from everybody for twelve years!  What if you couldn't get out and go shopping or go to work or to school or to church even?  What if the issue that you were wrestling with brought so much shame and grief to your life that it kept you bound for 12 years?  That's the place this woman found herself.  She was broke financially.  She was tired physically.  She was drained emotionally.  She was just spent entirely.  But note that it was the very thing that she struggled with that compelled her to seek out Jesus.  She had become desperate for a change.

Are you at that place?  Are you desperate for change?  She was.  She was thirsty for a life altering divine appointment that she never imagined would impress Jesus.  This woman was so desperate that in spite of her condition and the law that made it illegal for her to be in the crowd of folks she pressed her way.  Can you see her?  Can you see her squeezing through the throng of people all trying to touch the Master?  Can you imagine her falling to the ground and crawling?  She's made it up in her mind that she doesn't need to get His full attention even.  She just wants to touch the hem of His clothes.  She just wants to reach out to Him.  And so she does.  So much so that Jesus stops turns and says , "Who touched me?". The disciples were confused. They looked on the crowd and saw a crowd of folks all "touching" Jesus, but they failed to see the one whom He had touched as a result of her faith.  The disciples saw many, but Jesus looked at the crowd and saw one.  One impressive woman who exercised great faith!

He said to His disciples that He knew that someone had touched Him because virtue went out of Him.  Does your press compell God to act on your behalf?  Does it compell Him to bring attention to your faithfulness?  In spite of the millions upon millions that pray to Him daily does your press cause God to pause and to respond to your situation?  When we get desperate enough and when we have no more means to try to make something happen on our own maybe we will press our way into the presence of an awesome God.  Maybe we will lift our hands to the Father for Him to pick us up like a child does with her parent.  Maybe we will press our way with our faith into a place in God where He is compelled to heal and deliver us.  Today be determined to impress Him with your press.  Don't stop trying to touch Him because He so wants to touch you too.  If you have got to crawl, do it.  If you've got to just touch the very hem, do it.  Whatever you need to do to impress Him with your press, do it! Get to the place in your Christian walk where your heart is fixed and your mind is completely made up that it's for God you'll live and for Him you'll die.  Don't allow your issue to keep you from the Master; rather, allow it to draw you to Him seeking the life altering change you need.  Healing is one press away.  Keep pressing your way!

Listen up

It's so awesome to see a new year. For the first time in many years I made no New Year's resolutions. The only thing that I'm resolved to do, for the remainder of my life, is to be absorbed into God's perfect will. In the words of the Psalm , I wish to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. To that end, I've made up my mind not to make any moves without hearing from God. Yesterday, a friend admonished that so often people hear what they want rather than what the person is actually communicating. I agreed. I think not listening is at the center of so much miscommunication and hence ruined relationships.

 Consider the eleventh chapter of John. It is the well read and well known story of Jesus' dear friend Lazarus. As the story goes, Jesus was informed that Lazarus was ill and it was feared that without Jesus' intervention that Lazarus would die. Upon hearing the unctioning for Him to come, Jesus stated plainly what was going to happen. Here is where my friend's statement comes to life. No one really listened to what Jesus said. Jesus was clear that Lazerus' condition was not about his dying, rather it was about showing the power of God. So folks went their way with the hope that based upon the love that Jesus had for His friend and the relationship that had been built, that Jesus would come quickly and address the matter, make Lazarus whole again and all would be right in their world once again. But this is why it is so important to listen and to accept what is actually said. It must have pained Jesus greatly to fully realize that His words were entirely mistaken and that as a result people whom He cared for greatly would wind up hurt, disappointed and frustrated. But Jesus knew the greater purpose of His work and in spite of how much it must have pained Him, he stayed away, allowed His friend to pass and for people to feel toward Him as they must. The Bible says that Martha met Jesus and advised Him that Lazarus was dead. Jesus' response was to "groan" inside Himself. Why? Because He already recognized that there had been some mis-understanding. Before He could get into the town good, folks were mad and hurt, Mary-that same Mary who had anointed Jesus' feet with oil and washed His feet with her hair, was among the most hurt. She didn't even go out with her sister to meet Jesus when her sister went be ause she was dealing with her hurt and disappointment over her own misunderstanding. The issue? She didn't listen to Jesus' words. She heard through the filter of her own desires. I imagine her mind went through what most of us go through at similar junctures of misunderstanding.  She probably thought back to all she had given up and done, including washing Jesus' very feet with her hair!  Can you imagine her thoughts?  Sure you can.  She felt hurt because she hadn't really heard what Jesus actually said and all she saw before her was a missed opportunity for Jesus to have prevented her brother's dying.

When our will doesn't line up with God's will the result is misunderstanding on our part because every message that God sends to us gets garbled through the filter of our own personal agenda and desire. Instead of trusting God at His Word, which by the way is always meant for our betterment, edification and for His glory, we settle for the misinterpretation. God's Word speaks plainly and clearly. So as the story goes, Mary finally goes out to meet Jesus. She is visibly upset and says to Jesus that if He had only come earlier, Lazarus would not have died. Now, her statement is true, but be that as it may, and in spite of the anguish that she suffered, Jesus knew there was a greater good and purpose. So He did next, what He stated He would do in order to yield the results that He stated would come to pass in God's plan.

What's the lesson? Hear God's Word and then listen to it. God has plans for you. He has plans for your life and for your future. You don't have to stumble through this year blindly trying to figure out what God is doing in you or through you. You don't have to struggle trying to comprehend why you are experiencing the issues, trials or tribulations that you are dealing with. Because the Word of God is plain on its face. He has told you that if He is for you He is more than the world against you. No one can pluck you out of His hand. He will never leave you nor forsake you. All things work together for your good. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. You are peculiar. You are sanctified for His use. His Words are clear! Did you hear them? Are you listening to them without filtering them for your own interpretation? If you want to make a New Year's resolution that you can keep, vow to be a sheep that hears and knows the voice of God. Vow to take Him at His Word. Vow to apply the logos to your life and to stand still and see the salvation the Lord. Make it up in your mind not to fall out and be hurt when tragic situations and circumstances come your way because it's for your good and for His glory!

Faith, Roots and Fruits

Hebrews 11:1 [King James] reads, Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for.  The evidence of things not seen.

Ephesians 3:14-19 [Amplified] reads, "For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15  For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].16  May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].17  May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,18  That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];19  [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

I believe that understanding the Word of God is a process.  As we experience Him and grow in our relationship with Him, He reveals His Word to us in a way that gives life and that has an everlasting affect on our lives.  Recently, I asked God for a more applicable understanding of Hebrews 11:1.  This is what He told me and I share with you.

The faith, hope and substance can be likened unto a tree planted by the rivers of water.  Faith is the roots.  In order for a tree to be able to stand strong and tall above ground it must have a strong root system under ground.  The roots must expand deep into the earth and sometimes we find that the roots wrap themselves around rocks in order to be anchored.  If you recall, Bishop Woods said, that faith holds you in place while hope brings the thing or the promise that you are expecting to you.

Now depending upon the kind of tree that you have, there is an expectation or a hope that if all is well, the tree will be productive.  All while we are waiting for the tree to mature, its roots hold it in place through storms, through hot weather or cold weather.  The roots keep pulling in the nutrients that someday we hope will produce something.  This describes hope.  We hope that things will turn out well of our tree.  If we get the roots right and if we withstand the storms and the rain; the good times and the bad, there will come a time when our tree will bring forth her fruit.

The fruit is the substance that we've been hoping for.  It is what someone else can pick from the tree and can survive on.  

Today, ask God if your root (faith) system is deep enough and is properly anchored.  Asked God if you are getting the right nutrients and feeding that potential or the hope of bearing productivity.  Then ask God to bless you to yield and to have substance that someone else can survive on.  Your understanding and getting the concept of faith is what someone else needs to come to Christ.

 

Feels like starting all over again

When I was a little girl, I used to listen to a gospel song whose title was, Feels Like Starting All Over Again.  The song was about redemption and getting another chance from God.  But I submit that there are times when it feels like I'm starting all over again and having to relive, redo and relearn.  Most of the time it is because I haven't made it through the transition or the process that God is trying to guide me through.  Somewhere along the way I gave up or gave out.  

Bishop Noel Jones once said, "Just because God makes a way of escape doesn't mean that you have to take it."  When we are in the press, in the struggle, in the process and in the transition we are there because God is trying to get something to us.  When we do not make it all the way through we cannot claim that as a testimony.  We cannot yet say we have overcome.  There are so many people claiming that God is moving them to the next level, but in fact they keep starting over on the same level.

If this sounds familiar fear not, I have some answers today.  I was talking with a friend earlier in the week and I asked myself why is it that in spite of my achievements in academics and education, in spite of my work experience and in spite of my years of dedication at working, it feels like I keep starting over?  I'm not experiencing promotion like I want.  I'm not moving at the pace that I want.  I'm not achieving like I want financially.  I'm not getting to that place of break through.  But if you are like me you have found as I have that God answers prayers and questions.  So God answered this one, while I was talking to my friend.

God shared with me that the reason that I have not been able to move forward in the past was because I refused to endure my transitions and my processes.  2 Timothy 2:3 instructs us to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  Over the last few weeks several people have said to me that I am in a period of transition.  People are telling me how it was for them when they went through their transition and what I can expect.  People are encouraging me and letting me know that I need to stay in the press because the results of making it through the transition are that I win and I come out better than when I went in.  What I have learned of my God is that He will keep dealing with those who have retarded growth-as Bishop Woods advised us Sunday; preaching about the man who was made whole at the pool of Bethesda.  See what I learned from that sermon is that some of us are not getting our wholeness because we never make it through the transition period.

It is the transition, the process and the press that is the vehicle that takes us to our next level.  So if we cannot stand the transition, there is no way that we will be able to survive at the next level and because God is our Father and cares about our well being, He will not allow us to move on to another level that we cannot survive.

If you have ever played a video game, I'm sure you can identify.  Video games have levels and each level has challenges and enemies that must be defeated.  But if you fail to make it through the challenges or to defeat the enemies, you wind up having to start the level over again.  The interesting thing is that you can keep practicing until you get good at meeting and beating the challenges and the enemies.  

Dedicated video gamers learn that there are cheats that help us to move to the next level without having to face all of the challenges.  The cheats instruct one on how to manipulate their controller in order to push the right keys in the right sequence in order to pass up some of the challenges and move on to another level and it is counted to them as though they had the experience that they were supposed to gain.

Christians have the same opportunities available to us.  Our secret moves involve, prayer, praise, thanksgiving and worship.  I have learned that the fastest way though my trials is to keep my face to the Lord in prayer, supplication and worship; to seek Him first.  

Having the cheat codes doesn't mean that there won't be any challenges, it just makes the transition easier.  Matthew 16:19 puts it like this:

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Ephesians 3:20-21 puts it this way:

20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,21. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

This scripture indicates to me that I can make it through my transitions and I can withstand the press according to the power that is in me.  The power to pray, to worship and to offer up thanksgiving.

So consider this today, if it feels like you are starting all over again, are you using your cheat codes?  Do you have the keys?  Do you have the power to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ?  Of course you do.  Make every effort to give God the praise and adoration He is due; to worship Him in spirit and in truth and to pray to Him; all the while keeping your eyes on the hills and your mind on kingdom work.  You will get to your next level, where not only will you survive, but you will thrive!

God's got some new new for you.

2 Corinthians 5:17 reads, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

There's a popular saying that the definition of insanity is to keep repeating the same behavior again and again, but then expecting different results.  If we continue to conduct our lives the same way hanging with the same people and doing all the same things then we will continue to have what we currently have, but how many of us realize that God is trying to get something new to us?  He's trying to get us a new mind and a new outlook.  He wants us to have a new perspective. 

We say we want to change, but what are we doing to evoke that change?  We say for example, that we'd like to lose weight, but we don't change what we eat or our level of physical activity so we must ask the question do we really want to lose weight?  Every change that we want will require us to go through a process and every process will have its good and its bad, but we must accept that in order to change.  We must be processed by submission to the power of God.

We approach every relationship the same way too-including our relationship with God.  We treat every new beau the same way.  We look in the same places for our good thang.  We act the same way with the new person as we did with the last.  We treat our family members the same way.  We go to work and perform at the same level and wonder why we do not experience promotion.  We go to church the same way. 

Actually, I'd even argue that we lower the standard of God in our lives and begin to just except anything for ourselves.  Elder Larisha Jones told us yesterday how important the banner or the standard of God is.  As long as we can see the standard we can prevail in battle.  When the standard is lowered we begin to go back to our own old ways and we forget the new that God has for us.

We need to stop.  Just stop.  Concentrate on the words of this scripture.  If any be in Christ, he is a new creation.  Our old things are behind us and all that is before us is new.  So we must find ourselves in Christ.  Not in a person.  Not in ourselves.  Not in our own world, but in Christ.  When we find ourselves in the secret place and in the Word and in a place of worship and praise then we will recognize that we have all things new new.  We have a new walk.  We even talk differently.  We treat God differently.  We have confidence that He will complete the work that He started in us.

God is a good God and what I like about Him is that when He gives me my new, it's just mine and all mine. I'm not borrowing someone else's new.  What God has for me is just for me and I am thankful and grateful for all that He has in store for me.

In God is the only place where brokenness is newness, where falling is a new beginning and where void becomes a testimony.  My God is beautiful in every way and He is teaching me my value and my worth.  He is restoring me.  He reminds me of the power that He put inside me. He reminds me of how He has always been right here with me never leaving me nor forsaking me.  He is asking me to share with you that He has something new in store for you.  He wants to make all of your rough places straight.  He wants to remove the spots and the wrinkles.  God wants to rescue you from sinking.

Today commit to God's new new for you.  Commit to reading the Word and to hiding it on the tables of your heart so that He can abide in you.  Commit to speaking the word of life over your own life so that you can abide in Him.  Ask Him to create a clean heart in you and to renew a right spirit within.  Ask Him to make it so that you will never be the same.