Monday, March 28, 2011
HHT!-1: Are you an Eagle?
Good morning! Welcome to G-UP!'s and College Connect's first Holy Hot Topic! Sign on and let us know if you are an Eagle! Bishop Woods shared with us yesterday from Isaiah 40:31 which states, But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Bishop Woods let us know that eagles are able to sustain the atmosphere of a higher altitude! Eagles can soar higher and fly above and beyond issues, problems and petty things. So Bishop Woods asked is if we were eagles or crows.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Winning the Battle Over Negative Emotions
Today's notes are from the first topic in the series Winning the Battle Over Negative Emotions. These notes are provided by Brittany Dixon from College Connect! Sign up to join College Connect today on Twitter (ue3College) or facebook (Urban Empowerment College Connect), blog at uecollegeconnect.wordpress.com or email directly at ue3collegeconnect@gmail.com.
Introduction
At some point your actions become dictated on how you feel.
Emotions are an active state of consciousness at which joy, hate sorrow or fear is experience as distinguish from cognitive or a volitional state of consciousness.
• In other words: You choose to act the way you act. Your Emotions are conscious.
Emotions are any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing the love, hate and fear and is accompanied by physiological changes such as
• Increase heart beat
• Increase respiration
• Crying
• Sharing
Some of us let emotions get the best of us. We sometimes let people get the best of us. If you have ever caught yourself shaking and crying because of someone else, you have let a person control how you feel.
Emotions are also defined as strong feelings
• Nothing wrong with this as long as they don’t control you.
• They can be destructive:
*They can destroy those around you: As Bishop says “hurt people hurt people
*Pastor Chris has found out: Bitter people bite people!
+When you are bitter, you don’t care who is being nice to you. A bitter person will bite someone else
+ Bitterness causes you to become critical of
+Other people
+ Church
+ What someone else does etc…
Negative Emotions cause you to be in denial about who you really are.
• When you are bitter, you put the blame on someone else
• But in actuality, where you go, if are you bitter, it MUST be about you.
• You might be the common denominator in every situation that causes you to be bitter.
• Negative emotions or bitter causes you to:
o Displace bitterness on someone. It’s really about who you are and how give someone the chance to control how you feel.
Studying Hannah’s bitterness and how she overcame it:
• 1 Samuel 1:10- Prophet Samuel was born out of the bitter and prayerful struggle by his mother Hannah.
o In the first 9 verses it reveals why Hannah was bitter.
Introduction of Story
• Hannah was burdened because she was unable to give birth.
• Sometimes there is a burden that will cause you to not give birth spiritually.
• Some of us have no peace, no satisfaction.
• But later Hannah does give birth. And before you give birth you have to have a burden. Birth follows the burden.
• Sometimes you struggle with something so God can birth something out of you before you can birth.
• Burden is:
o Something that God has placed on the inside of you so God can use exactly what He has given you.
Your life is a spiritual journey that will include
• A burden
• The birth
• A blessing
o Note: If what you are birthing is not turning into a blessing, it might not be a pregnancy from God!!
o Some of us has struggled and we have given birth to some things, but it isn’t giving birth to a blessing!
o If your birthing process is making everything around you miserable, it may not be a pregnancy from the Lord.
Characterizing Bitterness
• Bitterness becomes Personal because it can happen to you
• Bitterness is relational
o V2- Hannah had Children and was bitter with her Husband’s other wife.
o We see bitterness can destroy relationships.
o If you are involved with people there is a chance bitterness will creep in. The enemy knows that we as people are emotional.
• Bitterness can be residential
o V6- Bitterness can live with you.
o You cannot allow bitterness in your house!! Don’t let people in your own house dictate how you feel!
• Bitterness becomes physical
o When you let someone have control with you, it starts to show up in your physical.
o V7 – Hannah wept and did not eat. This is physical bitterness. She lost weight, lost her appetite. The strain of all her bitterness
o When we’re bitter it manifest through our mouth, we start to get passive aggressive against people.
• Bitterness becomes Emotional
o V8- her husband tells her “Why are you acting like this, I love you.”
o Some of us don’t know what love is and we allow our bitterness to determine what we believe is love.
o Sometimes we cannot love people because what has happened to us.
Hannah Got over it!
• We cannot continue to hold on to bitterness we’ve been learning for years.
• Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting on someone else to die.
• To overcome bitterness Hannah:
o Went to the house of the Lord. Forsake not the assembly of the saints! Is there is something wrong, go to the elders of the church and the will pray specifically for your situation. Don’t rely on TV church! Stay connected!
o She turned to God quickly. V10- Get on your knees and pray. Don’t put to much time between bitterness and prayer because bitterness festers and can lead to anger!
o V11- Have an honest talk to God.
Look at yourself and no one else. Focus on the Main problem, and that’s YOU
Stop blaming stuff on other people.
o Your Circumstance may not change, but you have to change your attitude!
o V13- Treat God’s people correctly with respect
o V20- In the middle of her bitterness she had to pray!
Introduction
At some point your actions become dictated on how you feel.
Emotions are an active state of consciousness at which joy, hate sorrow or fear is experience as distinguish from cognitive or a volitional state of consciousness.
• In other words: You choose to act the way you act. Your Emotions are conscious.
Emotions are any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing the love, hate and fear and is accompanied by physiological changes such as
• Increase heart beat
• Increase respiration
• Crying
• Sharing
Some of us let emotions get the best of us. We sometimes let people get the best of us. If you have ever caught yourself shaking and crying because of someone else, you have let a person control how you feel.
Emotions are also defined as strong feelings
• Nothing wrong with this as long as they don’t control you.
• They can be destructive:
*They can destroy those around you: As Bishop says “hurt people hurt people
*Pastor Chris has found out: Bitter people bite people!
+When you are bitter, you don’t care who is being nice to you. A bitter person will bite someone else
+ Bitterness causes you to become critical of
+Other people
+ Church
+ What someone else does etc…
Negative Emotions cause you to be in denial about who you really are.
• When you are bitter, you put the blame on someone else
• But in actuality, where you go, if are you bitter, it MUST be about you.
• You might be the common denominator in every situation that causes you to be bitter.
• Negative emotions or bitter causes you to:
o Displace bitterness on someone. It’s really about who you are and how give someone the chance to control how you feel.
Studying Hannah’s bitterness and how she overcame it:
• 1 Samuel 1:10- Prophet Samuel was born out of the bitter and prayerful struggle by his mother Hannah.
o In the first 9 verses it reveals why Hannah was bitter.
Introduction of Story
• Hannah was burdened because she was unable to give birth.
• Sometimes there is a burden that will cause you to not give birth spiritually.
• Some of us have no peace, no satisfaction.
• But later Hannah does give birth. And before you give birth you have to have a burden. Birth follows the burden.
• Sometimes you struggle with something so God can birth something out of you before you can birth.
• Burden is:
o Something that God has placed on the inside of you so God can use exactly what He has given you.
Your life is a spiritual journey that will include
• A burden
• The birth
• A blessing
o Note: If what you are birthing is not turning into a blessing, it might not be a pregnancy from God!!
o Some of us has struggled and we have given birth to some things, but it isn’t giving birth to a blessing!
o If your birthing process is making everything around you miserable, it may not be a pregnancy from the Lord.
Characterizing Bitterness
• Bitterness becomes Personal because it can happen to you
• Bitterness is relational
o V2- Hannah had Children and was bitter with her Husband’s other wife.
o We see bitterness can destroy relationships.
o If you are involved with people there is a chance bitterness will creep in. The enemy knows that we as people are emotional.
• Bitterness can be residential
o V6- Bitterness can live with you.
o You cannot allow bitterness in your house!! Don’t let people in your own house dictate how you feel!
• Bitterness becomes physical
o When you let someone have control with you, it starts to show up in your physical.
o V7 – Hannah wept and did not eat. This is physical bitterness. She lost weight, lost her appetite. The strain of all her bitterness
o When we’re bitter it manifest through our mouth, we start to get passive aggressive against people.
• Bitterness becomes Emotional
o V8- her husband tells her “Why are you acting like this, I love you.”
o Some of us don’t know what love is and we allow our bitterness to determine what we believe is love.
o Sometimes we cannot love people because what has happened to us.
Hannah Got over it!
• We cannot continue to hold on to bitterness we’ve been learning for years.
• Bitterness is like swallowing poison and waiting on someone else to die.
• To overcome bitterness Hannah:
o Went to the house of the Lord. Forsake not the assembly of the saints! Is there is something wrong, go to the elders of the church and the will pray specifically for your situation. Don’t rely on TV church! Stay connected!
o She turned to God quickly. V10- Get on your knees and pray. Don’t put to much time between bitterness and prayer because bitterness festers and can lead to anger!
o V11- Have an honest talk to God.
Look at yourself and no one else. Focus on the Main problem, and that’s YOU
Stop blaming stuff on other people.
o Your Circumstance may not change, but you have to change your attitude!
o V13- Treat God’s people correctly with respect
o V20- In the middle of her bitterness she had to pray!
Friday, March 4, 2011
Encourage Yourself!
Bishop Woods broke the Word all the way down on this past Wednesday with one of my most favorite Bible passages--the story of David at Ziklag--before he was king. This passage presents the culmination of David's experiences with God at a critical point in David's process or journey to become King. Keep in mind that David had been anointed King, but he had survive from the promise to the manifestation. Ziklag was the midpoint betweek the promise and the prize. Some times we give up at the midpoint, but at his midpoint or at Ziklag is where David learned to encourage himself in the Lord! He learned to recall all that God had done for him and to seek God first through prayer and supplication. The name Ziklag means pressed down. It is at the midpoint where some of us get depressed--we want to fall out--we want to give up. But the midpoint is where we--like David, must learn to encourage ourselves in the Lord.
Below is how Bishop Woods explained David's process.
The scripture text is 1 Samuel 30. A recap from Sunday is as follows:
1. David's destruction--Ziklag was property given to David, which had become his home. The Amlekites--a fierce fighting group--had come in and devastated Ziklag while David and his men were away. The Amlekites took everything including wives and children and burned what was left to the ground. A tidbit that I will deal with in a subsequent blog is that the Amlekites were long enemies of the Israelites. God had instructed Saul to wipe them out, but Saul was disobedient.
2. David's depression--when David and his men returned to Ziklag, they returned to utter ruin, devastation and destruction. To add insult to injury, their families were gone and they felt helpless to do anything about their situation. David and his men mourned until they couldn't cry any more and the men eventually decided that they needed someone to blame and they talked about stoning David to death.
3. David's decision--David decided that after all that God had done for him, after all that he had seen and heard of the Lord, he just couldn't stay in a depressed state. David decided to seek God. David went to God in prayer and supplication. He asked God some specific questions about how to handle the situation and he allowed God to work.
4. David's delegation--At a time when everyone was upset, confused, and ready to defect, David mustered up the courage within himself that sparked loyalty in his men. So in spite of the fact that they were ready to stone him, David's men fell in line and again followed his lead. Bishop made an excellent point here, which is that you may not always agree with your leadership, but their track record and credibility in God will engender your support even at the worst of times. This is a lesson for church folk. People too often defect without considering all that God has done for them through the leadership that God gave to them.
5. David's defection--not all of the 600 men that David had went with him. Some of them were still weary from the fight that they just came from so they stayed behind while David and the 400 went on to pursue the Amlekites. But recall the story of Gideon here. God wants to show and prove Himself--He is our source and provider. You don't have to take every body with you and some people can't go with you where you need to go to gain your victory. As Bishop Woods stated, Everyone who starts with you will not finish with you.
6. David's detection--although David had to move forward without 200 of his men, God gave David just one person who helped him to get ALL his stuff back. David and his men discovered an Amlekite who had been left for dead by his crew. He was sickly and hungry. David showed compassion toward him and fed him. This show of mercy is what secured David's ultimate victory. The soldier that had been left for dead told David everything. God blessed David to detect who could help him accomplish his goal.
7. David's determination--David got upset when he saw the Amlekites partying with his stuff. As Christians we should feel the same way. The enemy comes and runs roughshod all over us in our own homes and yet many of us seem unequipped to handle the attack. Take a lesson from David--seek God in prayer and supplication. Like David, when we seek God first, He will make sure that the enemy is unprepared to fight against you!
David and his men slew the Amlekites all night and into the morning. He recovered all and rescued his family. Not only did David recover all, but he also took spoils. When David returned he shared the spoils with everyone--including all 600 men, the Elders of Judah and his friends. Bishop Woods explained that the lesson here is that God will bless you with more than enough when He can trust you to give out and bless others. David did this because he understood that when you bless people that you don't know you set yourself up to be blessed by people you don't know. If you only want to be a blessing to folks in your own sphere of influence, then when you need something you can only reach out to folks in your small sphere and chances are they may not have what you need.
Everybody around you can't encourage you.
Everybody around you won't encourage you.
Not everybody that's around you wants to see you encouraged.
But there are some advantages in encouraging yourself:
1. Encouraging yourself will lead to supplication or specific prayer. When you pray a specific prayer God will give you a specific answer.
2. Encouraging yourself can lead to support. Everybody is not assigned to you, but those that are assigned to you, while they may not always agree with you, will always support you.
3. Encouraging yourself will lead you to surprises.
4. Encouraging yourself will lead you to supervision. Recall that David found an Amlekite on the verge of dying. He provided him with food even though he could have just killed him for all that the Amlekites had done. Even though the Amlekite was an enemy, David humbled himself and allowed the Amlekite to supervise him for a brief period of time so that David could accomplish what he needed to accomplish. God will allow people that you don't expect to lead you to lead you into what He has for you.
5. Encouraging yourself will lead you to success. David recovered ALL and rescued his family. God will always confirm His Word by producing manifestation in the revelation. What you need is all that God will give you in return. So your ALL is the fulfillment of your need. Some folks can't handle the all that they think they want. God will bless you with what He can trust you with. In David's case, God trusted him with his stuff and the Amlekites' stuff.
6. Encouraging yourself can lead to surplus. God will bless you to come out of the enemy's camp with stuff that wasn't originally yours. Start thanking God for the spoils. Some of us are not willing to wait on the Lord. You can't get to your surplus until God has it ready for you. If David had prematurely ran off he wouldn't have met the soldier that led him to his enemies and to victory. Take the time to seek God first. God will do the rest. David gave out of his spoils to others. Meaning that David gave out of the surplus to smooth relationships with other nations.
7. Encouraging yourself will lead you to survival. God had blessed David and his men in the battle of retrieving their stuff. You have to realize that although you are going into the battle God has already blessed you to survive.
The scripture text is 1 Samuel 30. A recap from Sunday is as follows:
1. David's destruction--Ziklag was property given to David, which had become his home. The Amlekites--a fierce fighting group--had come in and devastated Ziklag while David and his men were away. The Amlekites took everything including wives and children and burned what was left to the ground. A tidbit that I will deal with in a subsequent blog is that the Amlekites were long enemies of the Israelites. God had instructed Saul to wipe them out, but Saul was disobedient.
2. David's depression--when David and his men returned to Ziklag, they returned to utter ruin, devastation and destruction. To add insult to injury, their families were gone and they felt helpless to do anything about their situation. David and his men mourned until they couldn't cry any more and the men eventually decided that they needed someone to blame and they talked about stoning David to death.
3. David's decision--David decided that after all that God had done for him, after all that he had seen and heard of the Lord, he just couldn't stay in a depressed state. David decided to seek God. David went to God in prayer and supplication. He asked God some specific questions about how to handle the situation and he allowed God to work.
4. David's delegation--At a time when everyone was upset, confused, and ready to defect, David mustered up the courage within himself that sparked loyalty in his men. So in spite of the fact that they were ready to stone him, David's men fell in line and again followed his lead. Bishop made an excellent point here, which is that you may not always agree with your leadership, but their track record and credibility in God will engender your support even at the worst of times. This is a lesson for church folk. People too often defect without considering all that God has done for them through the leadership that God gave to them.
5. David's defection--not all of the 600 men that David had went with him. Some of them were still weary from the fight that they just came from so they stayed behind while David and the 400 went on to pursue the Amlekites. But recall the story of Gideon here. God wants to show and prove Himself--He is our source and provider. You don't have to take every body with you and some people can't go with you where you need to go to gain your victory. As Bishop Woods stated, Everyone who starts with you will not finish with you.
6. David's detection--although David had to move forward without 200 of his men, God gave David just one person who helped him to get ALL his stuff back. David and his men discovered an Amlekite who had been left for dead by his crew. He was sickly and hungry. David showed compassion toward him and fed him. This show of mercy is what secured David's ultimate victory. The soldier that had been left for dead told David everything. God blessed David to detect who could help him accomplish his goal.
7. David's determination--David got upset when he saw the Amlekites partying with his stuff. As Christians we should feel the same way. The enemy comes and runs roughshod all over us in our own homes and yet many of us seem unequipped to handle the attack. Take a lesson from David--seek God in prayer and supplication. Like David, when we seek God first, He will make sure that the enemy is unprepared to fight against you!
David and his men slew the Amlekites all night and into the morning. He recovered all and rescued his family. Not only did David recover all, but he also took spoils. When David returned he shared the spoils with everyone--including all 600 men, the Elders of Judah and his friends. Bishop Woods explained that the lesson here is that God will bless you with more than enough when He can trust you to give out and bless others. David did this because he understood that when you bless people that you don't know you set yourself up to be blessed by people you don't know. If you only want to be a blessing to folks in your own sphere of influence, then when you need something you can only reach out to folks in your small sphere and chances are they may not have what you need.
Everybody around you can't encourage you.
Everybody around you won't encourage you.
Not everybody that's around you wants to see you encouraged.
But there are some advantages in encouraging yourself:
1. Encouraging yourself will lead to supplication or specific prayer. When you pray a specific prayer God will give you a specific answer.
2. Encouraging yourself can lead to support. Everybody is not assigned to you, but those that are assigned to you, while they may not always agree with you, will always support you.
3. Encouraging yourself will lead you to surprises.
4. Encouraging yourself will lead you to supervision. Recall that David found an Amlekite on the verge of dying. He provided him with food even though he could have just killed him for all that the Amlekites had done. Even though the Amlekite was an enemy, David humbled himself and allowed the Amlekite to supervise him for a brief period of time so that David could accomplish what he needed to accomplish. God will allow people that you don't expect to lead you to lead you into what He has for you.
5. Encouraging yourself will lead you to success. David recovered ALL and rescued his family. God will always confirm His Word by producing manifestation in the revelation. What you need is all that God will give you in return. So your ALL is the fulfillment of your need. Some folks can't handle the all that they think they want. God will bless you with what He can trust you with. In David's case, God trusted him with his stuff and the Amlekites' stuff.
6. Encouraging yourself can lead to surplus. God will bless you to come out of the enemy's camp with stuff that wasn't originally yours. Start thanking God for the spoils. Some of us are not willing to wait on the Lord. You can't get to your surplus until God has it ready for you. If David had prematurely ran off he wouldn't have met the soldier that led him to his enemies and to victory. Take the time to seek God first. God will do the rest. David gave out of his spoils to others. Meaning that David gave out of the surplus to smooth relationships with other nations.
7. Encouraging yourself will lead you to survival. God had blessed David and his men in the battle of retrieving their stuff. You have to realize that although you are going into the battle God has already blessed you to survive.
Encourage yourself in the Lord today! Recall all of His works in your life and all of the times that He has strengthened your hand.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
One Year Ago
A little over a year ago I asked God how I could make a different kind of impact in ministry. At that time, I had been writing a blog a few times a month. Someone from my church shared that she wished that there was a place that she could go to see Bible Study notes because she often missed that service. It was then that God showed me Gear UP!
I shared the idea with my Bishop and Pastor and they allowed me to launch the Blog on February 23, 2010. Over this year I have matured through the Blog. When I look back at older posts I can see how God is yet growing me through the Word that comes forth at uE. I can see how He has changed my heart and my mind. I can chronicle my struggles and when I let go of those struggles. This experience has been life changing for me.
I want to say a sincere and warm "Thank YOU" to each person that reads G-UP! and encourages me to keep on. I thank my Bishop and Pastor for seeing the value in this ministry effort. I thank my church family for all of their support.
The second year of G-UP! will be exciting as we continue our collaboration with College Connect, host guest bloggers, continue to bring you excerpts from Bible Study and Sunday Morning services, and introduce the Holy Hot Topic!
This year I really hope that more people will respond to the blog topics and as we continue to grow and reach new people I pray that God will keep growing G-UP! so that His will, His way and His Word prevails.
Thank you so very much,
Shannon A. Robinson
I shared the idea with my Bishop and Pastor and they allowed me to launch the Blog on February 23, 2010. Over this year I have matured through the Blog. When I look back at older posts I can see how God is yet growing me through the Word that comes forth at uE. I can see how He has changed my heart and my mind. I can chronicle my struggles and when I let go of those struggles. This experience has been life changing for me.
I want to say a sincere and warm "Thank YOU" to each person that reads G-UP! and encourages me to keep on. I thank my Bishop and Pastor for seeing the value in this ministry effort. I thank my church family for all of their support.
The second year of G-UP! will be exciting as we continue our collaboration with College Connect, host guest bloggers, continue to bring you excerpts from Bible Study and Sunday Morning services, and introduce the Holy Hot Topic!
This year I really hope that more people will respond to the blog topics and as we continue to grow and reach new people I pray that God will keep growing G-UP! so that His will, His way and His Word prevails.
Thank you so very much,
Shannon A. Robinson
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
I Got this Part 2
This past Sunday Bishop Woods continued with Part 2 of I Got This. He used this opportunity to explain the Signs of Surrender. The initial question that was asked was "Have you ever really surrendered to God?" Sometimes we lean to our own understanding or fall back on our own ability to get something done rather than fully trusting that God has got this. Bishop explained that you know you are trusting God when the situation is too big for you to handle on your own yet you believe that God has got it. When we practice this trust all the time then that habit of trust becomes faith, which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
Like Moses many of us may ask Why me? It is okay to question God initially--like Moses did, but be sure that as you spiritually mature that you accept that God's working it out for you that He has a plan for you for a hope and a future and that all things work together for your good.
The Signs of Surrender look like this:
1. God gives you a unique assignment. You know that you are yielding to the power of God when He trusts you with an assignment that's just for you. Moses was tasked to be a prophet, an ambassador and a priest to the Children of Israel. These are unique assignments for someone charged with watching someone else's sheep. Remember this God is not concerned with your present employment. He is only concerned with your present assignment. Many of us feel like Moses. We believe that we are ill equipped to do what God has called us to do. When Moses was working with his father-in-law's sheep he was actually performing a task that was beneath him, his training and his upbringing, but God takes us through various experiences to qualify us for our assignment.
Moses was a prince that wound up tending to sheep. Moses may have felt at some point that tending to sheep was not what he was called to do, but God wants us to lose some stuff in order to gain some stuff. Moses had to realize that tending to sheep, being a prince, learning many languages and being raised in the palace, having to humble himself to his father-in-law, etc would eventually lead to the assignment of tending to God's people.
2. God gives you an uncompromising and blessed assurance. God's assurance is absolute. God gives security that He is behind the call, God provides succession so that you know that it is His intention for what was started to continue, and the people that you lead serve in the place where you served.
3. God provides an unconventional answer. In our example, Moses questions God because he realizes that he is in a hot situation about to address some hostile people and those people were going to want to know under whose authority Moses was speaking. So Moses had an uncertain assay or inquiry of the Lord. God's unconventional answer was to tell the people, I Got This! God said to tell the people that I Am (Jehovah) That I Am (The one who is or the one who will be) sent you. He instructs Moses to let the people know that whatever it is that they need God's got it under control because He is Jehova-Jireh--our provider (Genesis 22:14); He is Jeohvah-Nissi--our battle fighter (Exodus 17:15); He is Jehovah-Shalom--our giver of peace (Judges 6:24); He is Jehovah Rophe--our healer (Exodus 15:26); He is Jehovah Tsidkenu--our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); He is Jehovah Shammah--our ever present one (Ezekiel 48:35); He is Jehovah Rohi--our good shepherd (Psalm 23:1); He is Jeohvah Mekadesh--our Lord who sanctifies us (Leviticus 20:7, 8); Jehovah Sabbaoth--our Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:5).
In other words EVERYTHING that you need is in God so for Moses to say that I Am That I Am sent him was Moses saying that God is in control. It is a sign of reverence. It is surrender. In order for God to work in our lives the way that we need Him to work all the time in every situation we must surrender ALL to Him. Because there is no other name given under Heaven that can do what the name of Jesus can do. So today resolve that it's all in His name. Call on Him. Surrender to Him. Get out the way. Watch Him work.
Like Moses many of us may ask Why me? It is okay to question God initially--like Moses did, but be sure that as you spiritually mature that you accept that God's working it out for you that He has a plan for you for a hope and a future and that all things work together for your good.
The Signs of Surrender look like this:
1. God gives you a unique assignment. You know that you are yielding to the power of God when He trusts you with an assignment that's just for you. Moses was tasked to be a prophet, an ambassador and a priest to the Children of Israel. These are unique assignments for someone charged with watching someone else's sheep. Remember this God is not concerned with your present employment. He is only concerned with your present assignment. Many of us feel like Moses. We believe that we are ill equipped to do what God has called us to do. When Moses was working with his father-in-law's sheep he was actually performing a task that was beneath him, his training and his upbringing, but God takes us through various experiences to qualify us for our assignment.
Moses was a prince that wound up tending to sheep. Moses may have felt at some point that tending to sheep was not what he was called to do, but God wants us to lose some stuff in order to gain some stuff. Moses had to realize that tending to sheep, being a prince, learning many languages and being raised in the palace, having to humble himself to his father-in-law, etc would eventually lead to the assignment of tending to God's people.
2. God gives you an uncompromising and blessed assurance. God's assurance is absolute. God gives security that He is behind the call, God provides succession so that you know that it is His intention for what was started to continue, and the people that you lead serve in the place where you served.
3. God provides an unconventional answer. In our example, Moses questions God because he realizes that he is in a hot situation about to address some hostile people and those people were going to want to know under whose authority Moses was speaking. So Moses had an uncertain assay or inquiry of the Lord. God's unconventional answer was to tell the people, I Got This! God said to tell the people that I Am (Jehovah) That I Am (The one who is or the one who will be) sent you. He instructs Moses to let the people know that whatever it is that they need God's got it under control because He is Jehova-Jireh--our provider (Genesis 22:14); He is Jeohvah-Nissi--our battle fighter (Exodus 17:15); He is Jehovah-Shalom--our giver of peace (Judges 6:24); He is Jehovah Rophe--our healer (Exodus 15:26); He is Jehovah Tsidkenu--our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6); He is Jehovah Shammah--our ever present one (Ezekiel 48:35); He is Jehovah Rohi--our good shepherd (Psalm 23:1); He is Jeohvah Mekadesh--our Lord who sanctifies us (Leviticus 20:7, 8); Jehovah Sabbaoth--our Lord of Hosts (Isaiah 6:5).
In other words EVERYTHING that you need is in God so for Moses to say that I Am That I Am sent him was Moses saying that God is in control. It is a sign of reverence. It is surrender. In order for God to work in our lives the way that we need Him to work all the time in every situation we must surrender ALL to Him. Because there is no other name given under Heaven that can do what the name of Jesus can do. So today resolve that it's all in His name. Call on Him. Surrender to Him. Get out the way. Watch Him work.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Call, Command and Covenant
Last night Bishop Woods expanded on Sunday's sermon I Got This take from Exodus 3. He began by stating that many of us want to be blessed, but we do not want to go through what it takes to get to the blessing.
Pastor Christine has expressed this many times for us as well when she says that God won't show you what you have to go through because if He were to show you what you needed to go through to get to where you are going many of us wouldn't go!
Bishop explained that it is important for us to go through what God wants us to go through because the end result of our process is that God can then trust us to carry His name! Remember that we must develop a real, healthy, loving relationship with God. When we truly know God and He knows us then He can trust us, but God will not bless you with anything that He cannot trust you with.
God gives a call
God gives a command
God gives a covenant
It is important to operate within the call that God has given to you. When we operate outside the call God will allow and permit things to happen, which is why so many people say God did this or that. It's not that He did this or that, it's that He allowed it, but there are usually consequences to actions taken or things received outside of the call. Think about it. Too many people will make a preemptive move like buying a house or car because they can, but not at the voice of God. Yes God wants us to have these things to show that He's working in our lives, but it has to be in His time. Just because it looks like you can afford something now, if you make a preemptive move things can certainly change. Bishop Woods, put it rather well When you put your hands on it you will make a mistake.
Attributes for supernatural growth begin with surrendering to the will of God by aid of the Holy Spirit.
1. Find your Horeb. Marvin Sapp has a song titled Place of Worship. I love this song because it instructs that we must all find our place of worship where we can enter in and be intimate with God without distraction. This is what Moses did on the other side of Mount Horeb. But as Bishop warned last night be careful that you surrender to God for His sake and not just because you want something. You are not seeking the supernatural to occur--it is simply a result of your surrender. There are natural laws and there are supernatural laws. One of the supernatural laws is that God will show up and show out when we surrender.
Go to a place where you cannot be distracted. This is especially important if you are in the middle of work or a busy time. Escape and show our God that no matter what I'm going through Lord You are first. We have to get to a place where our worship cannot be contaminated by our conditions. Find a serene place to worship God.
2. Find God's Holiness. God wants you to get to the place where you are worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth not just asking Him for help or for things. You are worshipping Him for who He is. When we find ourselves in a place of pure worship we cannot be moved from it.
3. Find Humility. The reason why many of us have not moved in our process from calling to command or from command to covenant is because we lack humility--we are of the opinion that we can take it from here, we can handle things or we know what to do. Just because you have drive and motivation, talent and gifting doesn't mean that you just take off doing what you want to do. This is what happened with Moses. Moses saw the need of his people so he killed the Egyptian, but that act was premature and unnecessary. God has everything in control. There is no need to act without consulting Him first and finding out where He wants us to me or what He wants us to do at any given moment. When we submit our motivation, our talents, our gifts and our earnest desire to help God's people, He will lead us and guide us. As we humble ourselves God will move us in the right path and direction.
What has to Happen for God to Operate in Our Lives
1. Take off your shoes. In other words remove anything between you and God. Psalm 60:5-9. Step out of the shame of your past.
2. Move things off of you so that you can move forward. God didn't come for things, but He came for people. Remember not to be so caught up in the promise that you forget about the provider. Moses had to take off his shoes, because those represented the shoes that he killed the Egyptian in. Psalm 103:8-12.
3. Stay on track. Moses stepped out of pace with God and into his own wisdom. When Moses yielded his foundation to God by removing his shoes then God was able to sure Moses up with a strong foundation. Get out of what makes you comfortable--your foundation and take on God's foundation 2 Cor. 3:4-12--Trust in God. Don't just shout on credit, but praise God in advance because of who He is regardless of how things look around you. When you do this you are building up your ownership bank account.
Move when God says move and go when God says go only. When we do this we can count on these things:
1. Crazy Confidence--Philippians 1:6
2. Crazy Faith--Hebrews 11:1 & 6
3. Crazy Conditions--Exodus 3. Moses was in a crazy condition in the hot desert, in front of a hot burning bush, with an on fire God talking to him. Additionally he was dealing with some hot people. What we have to remember is that while everything around us maybe burning hot we still serve a Holy God.
Pastor Christine has expressed this many times for us as well when she says that God won't show you what you have to go through because if He were to show you what you needed to go through to get to where you are going many of us wouldn't go!
Bishop explained that it is important for us to go through what God wants us to go through because the end result of our process is that God can then trust us to carry His name! Remember that we must develop a real, healthy, loving relationship with God. When we truly know God and He knows us then He can trust us, but God will not bless you with anything that He cannot trust you with.
God gives a call
God gives a command
God gives a covenant
It is important to operate within the call that God has given to you. When we operate outside the call God will allow and permit things to happen, which is why so many people say God did this or that. It's not that He did this or that, it's that He allowed it, but there are usually consequences to actions taken or things received outside of the call. Think about it. Too many people will make a preemptive move like buying a house or car because they can, but not at the voice of God. Yes God wants us to have these things to show that He's working in our lives, but it has to be in His time. Just because it looks like you can afford something now, if you make a preemptive move things can certainly change. Bishop Woods, put it rather well When you put your hands on it you will make a mistake.
Attributes for supernatural growth begin with surrendering to the will of God by aid of the Holy Spirit.
1. Find your Horeb. Marvin Sapp has a song titled Place of Worship. I love this song because it instructs that we must all find our place of worship where we can enter in and be intimate with God without distraction. This is what Moses did on the other side of Mount Horeb. But as Bishop warned last night be careful that you surrender to God for His sake and not just because you want something. You are not seeking the supernatural to occur--it is simply a result of your surrender. There are natural laws and there are supernatural laws. One of the supernatural laws is that God will show up and show out when we surrender.
Go to a place where you cannot be distracted. This is especially important if you are in the middle of work or a busy time. Escape and show our God that no matter what I'm going through Lord You are first. We have to get to a place where our worship cannot be contaminated by our conditions. Find a serene place to worship God.
2. Find God's Holiness. God wants you to get to the place where you are worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth not just asking Him for help or for things. You are worshipping Him for who He is. When we find ourselves in a place of pure worship we cannot be moved from it.
3. Find Humility. The reason why many of us have not moved in our process from calling to command or from command to covenant is because we lack humility--we are of the opinion that we can take it from here, we can handle things or we know what to do. Just because you have drive and motivation, talent and gifting doesn't mean that you just take off doing what you want to do. This is what happened with Moses. Moses saw the need of his people so he killed the Egyptian, but that act was premature and unnecessary. God has everything in control. There is no need to act without consulting Him first and finding out where He wants us to me or what He wants us to do at any given moment. When we submit our motivation, our talents, our gifts and our earnest desire to help God's people, He will lead us and guide us. As we humble ourselves God will move us in the right path and direction.
What has to Happen for God to Operate in Our Lives
1. Take off your shoes. In other words remove anything between you and God. Psalm 60:5-9. Step out of the shame of your past.
2. Move things off of you so that you can move forward. God didn't come for things, but He came for people. Remember not to be so caught up in the promise that you forget about the provider. Moses had to take off his shoes, because those represented the shoes that he killed the Egyptian in. Psalm 103:8-12.
3. Stay on track. Moses stepped out of pace with God and into his own wisdom. When Moses yielded his foundation to God by removing his shoes then God was able to sure Moses up with a strong foundation. Get out of what makes you comfortable--your foundation and take on God's foundation 2 Cor. 3:4-12--Trust in God. Don't just shout on credit, but praise God in advance because of who He is regardless of how things look around you. When you do this you are building up your ownership bank account.
Move when God says move and go when God says go only. When we do this we can count on these things:
1. Crazy Confidence--Philippians 1:6
2. Crazy Faith--Hebrews 11:1 & 6
3. Crazy Conditions--Exodus 3. Moses was in a crazy condition in the hot desert, in front of a hot burning bush, with an on fire God talking to him. Additionally he was dealing with some hot people. What we have to remember is that while everything around us maybe burning hot we still serve a Holy God.
Monday, February 14, 2011
How to Completely and Utterly Surrender
Good morning! Yesterday Bishop Woods embarked on the introduction to a new series titled I Got This. The scripture text was Exodus 3:1-5 and 10-14.
Bishop Woods reminded that in order for us to experience supernatural success we must first achieve spiritual success proven out in 3 John 1:2. Natural success follows God's anointing. Recall God's blue print for supernatural success given to Abraham;
1. God gave Abraham a call
2. God gave Abraham a command
3. God gave Abraham a covenant
After receiving the above the next step is following the unction of the Holy Spirit, which was sent to comfort and lead you. When the Spirit of God moves surrender and submit. Moses submitted to the will of the Lord and became an example of the necessary attributes for spiritual surrender;
1. Moses' Horeb First Moses was special. He had a calling--just like you. He was drawn out of the water and out of a terrible situation and put in a place of comfort and safety. While Moses was in the palace of the Pharaoh he was groomed for the work of the Lord. He was educated and developed for leadership. However, after he killed the Egyptian he went to work tending to sheep. Moses was in this period of his life for over 40 years. We cannot move to the next level until we really learn to worship God in Spirit and in truth right where we are!
When you come from a blessed place and you are in your in between place do not feel like you are not in the right place. Rather remember that you are in the best place for God to make you over. So Moses was in this place and he was at work. While Moses was at work he went to the back side of the mountain where he could give God his full attention and his sincere worship. God will lead you to the back side of the mountains in your life so that you can remember all that He's done and worship Him. Worship God in your Horeb and He will elevate you out of that situation.
Remember that where you are now is not a spiritual demotion. Just because you used to have the best and you used to have a fancy title and you used to . . . fill in the blank--and now you find yourself in lack and want--you have not been demoted. God is simply taking you to the other side of the mountain for a worship experience! When you begin to drop things off of you and out of your life that hinder you for worshipping God then your relationship with God becomes stronger and you get God's attention through your worship, which is now in Spirit and in truth.
2. God's holiness is shown through the burning bush. The holiness of God is where the fire is. God is able to show His holiness when you surrender in worship. Whenever you get God's attention with your worship He will perform something that gets your attention. Moses went to the backside of the mountain to worship and this got God's attention; however, God got Moses' attention by setting fire a bush that wasn't consumed. In other words, God worked supernatural through a natural occurrence.
Moses was in a dry place so it wasn't unusual to see a bush burning--that would not have gotten his attention. Just like in our own lives--we are used to burning issues in our life; however, what was different here was that the bush wasn't consumed. It wasn't being destroyed. The burning bush was defying natural laws and had changed from a natural occurrence to now a supernatural phenomena.
God wants to get your attention by showing you that we will suffer burning situations in our lives, but those things will not consume us. Instead when God allows something to burn in our lives it actually makes us better because Fire Purifies, Fire Ignites, and Fire Spreads. We are able to experience the grace, mercy and unmerited favor of God in our lives and that fire spreads from us to others. The Devil can't handle the fire of God so thank God that He's burning some things up in your life and yet you are not being consumed! That is a supernatural phenomena!
3. We see Moses' humility. Read Proverbs 15:33 regarding humility. Moses could not deny that God had his attention! And when God calls you to get your attention you MUST respond. Don't look over what God wants you to look directly at. God instructed Moses to remove the sandals from his feet stating that Moses was entering holy ground. God had created a space and time to have a real relationship with Moses. God didn't want anything hindering that relationship. He didn't want anything to come between His presence and Moses so that Moses could fully know and reference God. God is touchable and He wants to touch us. When we get God's attention through worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth then He begins to develop a real relationship with us where He isn't concerned about anything that would hinder that relationship. This then proves out that He came for you. He gave Himself for you. He sacrificed just for you--not for what you have or don't have-or what you do or can't do. He simply did it all for you so today let's choose to move all that's between God and a real relationship so that He will bless us in a mightier way.
The way to completely and utterly surrender is to learn to steal away and worship God in your work place--when you are at your busiest--just stop and give Him reverence. Once you do this you will get God's attention and when you get His attention His holiness will show through and He will get your attention. When God calls come before Him with humility. These are the necessary attributes to spiritual surrender.
Bishop Woods reminded that in order for us to experience supernatural success we must first achieve spiritual success proven out in 3 John 1:2. Natural success follows God's anointing. Recall God's blue print for supernatural success given to Abraham;
1. God gave Abraham a call
2. God gave Abraham a command
3. God gave Abraham a covenant
After receiving the above the next step is following the unction of the Holy Spirit, which was sent to comfort and lead you. When the Spirit of God moves surrender and submit. Moses submitted to the will of the Lord and became an example of the necessary attributes for spiritual surrender;
1. Moses' Horeb First Moses was special. He had a calling--just like you. He was drawn out of the water and out of a terrible situation and put in a place of comfort and safety. While Moses was in the palace of the Pharaoh he was groomed for the work of the Lord. He was educated and developed for leadership. However, after he killed the Egyptian he went to work tending to sheep. Moses was in this period of his life for over 40 years. We cannot move to the next level until we really learn to worship God in Spirit and in truth right where we are!
When you come from a blessed place and you are in your in between place do not feel like you are not in the right place. Rather remember that you are in the best place for God to make you over. So Moses was in this place and he was at work. While Moses was at work he went to the back side of the mountain where he could give God his full attention and his sincere worship. God will lead you to the back side of the mountains in your life so that you can remember all that He's done and worship Him. Worship God in your Horeb and He will elevate you out of that situation.
Remember that where you are now is not a spiritual demotion. Just because you used to have the best and you used to have a fancy title and you used to . . . fill in the blank--and now you find yourself in lack and want--you have not been demoted. God is simply taking you to the other side of the mountain for a worship experience! When you begin to drop things off of you and out of your life that hinder you for worshipping God then your relationship with God becomes stronger and you get God's attention through your worship, which is now in Spirit and in truth.
2. God's holiness is shown through the burning bush. The holiness of God is where the fire is. God is able to show His holiness when you surrender in worship. Whenever you get God's attention with your worship He will perform something that gets your attention. Moses went to the backside of the mountain to worship and this got God's attention; however, God got Moses' attention by setting fire a bush that wasn't consumed. In other words, God worked supernatural through a natural occurrence.
Moses was in a dry place so it wasn't unusual to see a bush burning--that would not have gotten his attention. Just like in our own lives--we are used to burning issues in our life; however, what was different here was that the bush wasn't consumed. It wasn't being destroyed. The burning bush was defying natural laws and had changed from a natural occurrence to now a supernatural phenomena.
God wants to get your attention by showing you that we will suffer burning situations in our lives, but those things will not consume us. Instead when God allows something to burn in our lives it actually makes us better because Fire Purifies, Fire Ignites, and Fire Spreads. We are able to experience the grace, mercy and unmerited favor of God in our lives and that fire spreads from us to others. The Devil can't handle the fire of God so thank God that He's burning some things up in your life and yet you are not being consumed! That is a supernatural phenomena!
3. We see Moses' humility. Read Proverbs 15:33 regarding humility. Moses could not deny that God had his attention! And when God calls you to get your attention you MUST respond. Don't look over what God wants you to look directly at. God instructed Moses to remove the sandals from his feet stating that Moses was entering holy ground. God had created a space and time to have a real relationship with Moses. God didn't want anything hindering that relationship. He didn't want anything to come between His presence and Moses so that Moses could fully know and reference God. God is touchable and He wants to touch us. When we get God's attention through worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth then He begins to develop a real relationship with us where He isn't concerned about anything that would hinder that relationship. This then proves out that He came for you. He gave Himself for you. He sacrificed just for you--not for what you have or don't have-or what you do or can't do. He simply did it all for you so today let's choose to move all that's between God and a real relationship so that He will bless us in a mightier way.
The way to completely and utterly surrender is to learn to steal away and worship God in your work place--when you are at your busiest--just stop and give Him reverence. Once you do this you will get God's attention and when you get His attention His holiness will show through and He will get your attention. When God calls come before Him with humility. These are the necessary attributes to spiritual surrender.
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