A Gift Packed with Power

Have you ever received a gift that blew your natural mind; a gift that you remembered, even up to today? If so, do you still have that gift? I’m sure some of those gifts, even though you remember them, you no longer have.

Then Peter said unto them, repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, Acts 2:38. One of my closest, dear friends Veronica is celebrating a birthday today and even though she will receive many priceless gifts and even though she herself continues to be a gift to others, she like many of us will never receive such an awesome, powerful gift as in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The wonderful thing about this gift, we don’t have to achieve notoriety, attain a goal or work for this gift. We simply have to repent of our sins and receive Christ as Lord and as Savior and the gift is automatic. Once the gift is activated, he gives you the power to tread upon demons, power to understand God’s word more effectively and the power to succeed in life’s journey. Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Is He evident and working in and through your life today? Are you allowing Him to work through you?

Exercise your free gift so your heavenly Father may be glorified!

Your thoughts?

How Do You Know…?

When you’re walking in perfect peace?  What constitutes perfect peace? I mean really, is there such a thing? Have you experienced it?

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid, John 14:27. I’m so grateful for God’s word. We don’t have to wonder about anything, we only need to look for it in His word of truth. Perfect peace is given to us from Jesus and it comes from no other place; not from the world or the things entangled therein. If you’re in the land flowing with milk and honey and you have no peace, check the source of your flow. If you are in a relationship where there’s no peace, again, check the source! You see, our peace should not be predicated on how we feel because our emotions change like the wind, but our peace should be able to calm those winds.

Yes, there is such a thing as perfect peace and you CAN experience it. Here’s the secret: those who keep there minds on me (Jesus) shall be KEPT in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3, paraphrased)! The question is, do you wanna be kept?

Your thoughts?  

Not Getting What We Really Deserve

I’ve done some things while growing up that my parents did not like nor condone. But then there were things that I did that I simply got away with with my parents, because they couldn’t see or know EVERYTHING I was doing.

8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10. Do not get it twisted, our heavenly Father sees all and He knows all, so when I fall short, and I do, He knows all about it. The blessed part about being a child of God is when I repent (not just ask for forgiveness, but wholeheartedly try not to do it again, nor premeditate it) I will be forgiven instantly. The other awesome part of that is, although I will have to suffer consequences for my actions, I will not get the penalty in which my sin truly deserves. My God!!! Because of Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, I do not have to take on the fate of eternal damnation. Now that’s good news.

So, to the repeat offenders, why not have a change of heart and direction and truly walk away from those things that are keeping you in bondage and may cause you to miss out in heaven.

Isn’t it awesome we’re not getting what we REALLY deserve?

Your thoughts?

Giving God All the Glory!

How easy it is for us to take God’s credit. When we complete a task that we’ve been working on or after we’ve preached a message that may have moved the congregation; how easy it is for flesh to rise up and have us believe it was all our doing.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure, Philippians 2:13. It is God who gives us the power to accomplish His will. Many of us may not know specifically what the will of the Lord is for your life, but a great place to start is in His word. Another place would be to simply ask of Him what He would have you to do. Know that whatever He has called you to do; He has already equipped you to be able to accomplish it and is obligated to make you succeed.

Always remember everything we have and all that we do (according to the will of God); the praise should be directed towards God. All of our gifts and talents did not just haphazardly appear. Instead, they were given to us by our heavenly Father. Let’s not mistakenly steal His glory or take His praise. We should learn to be humble and point all glory and praise to the true and living God. We should also learn to show forth His glory in our daily living. Are you a glory carrier?

Have you taking time out of your busy schedule today to give God all the glory for the marvelous things He has done and is doing in your life? How about now?

Your thoughts?

Honestly?

How much can God trust you?

17 And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him, Genesis 18:17-19.

Throughout our spiritual life span (AAC/after accepting Christ) we have been given countless opportunities to show forth our faithfulness to God through Christ Jesus. We’ve experienced test after test after test. Our Scripture reference confirms the very word my Pastor (Rev. Tim Dates) spoke on this past Sunday concerning the promises of God revealed to His prophets (Amos 3:7). God will show us the promise, but may leave out most of the things that are designed to mature our character and strengthen our faith. We tend to view them as setbacks or attacks. But remember, God said ALL things will work together for good, even those things. The promises give us hope while we’re going through and waiting on them to manifest in the natural.

Where are you in your walk with God? Can He trust you enough to share His plan for your life or will you get discouraged and give up or possibly even quit? Do you even love Him enough to accept His plan for your life? Think about it and be honest with yourself.

Honestly!

Your thoughts?

We're On His Mind

Have you ever wondered if God really understands the intimate issues of our heart? Does He even care how we feel? I know there are times when we question Him and it’s partly due to the simple fact, WE just don’t know. We may not know the answers to questions we have. We may not know which direction life may be ushering us to at this very moment of quietness and stillness from Him. What we do know is, the answer to it all lies in the pages of God’s Word.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end, Jeremiah 29:11. God does think about us and He is aware of everything we encounter; the good, the bad and the ugly. The good thing is His view of us never changes for it is He who is giving us an expected end. It is He who has given us a hope and a call. God is with us every step of the way, prodding us, directing us, correcting us and cheering us on as we walk out what He has purposed for us to accomplish.

We are indeed on His mind. My question to you today, is He on yours?

Your thoughts?

What's Your Testimony?

Do those around you know you by what you say or by what you do? Does the light of Christ shine through you so that others may see your good works or is your good evil spoken of? Can people truly say, you are an overcomer or do they see doom and gloom in your walk and in your talk?

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death, Revelation 12:11. These are some necessary questions we must ask ourselves from time to time. The Bible shares with us that we are able to overcome every adverse situation because of the blood of the lamb and by the words of our testimony. But, if we’re not sharing our testimonies how can others overcome the challenges they face? Every child of God must suffer tribulation, but God promises to deliver us from them all. If you didn’t go through anything, how could you get a testimony? And why do we hold on to them? Is it shame? Ok, there is now no condemnation to them who are in Christ and who walk by the spirit and not by the flesh. Is it fear? Ok, for God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. What!?!?

There is nothing wasted in God, for ALL things will work together for good, to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose! We didn’t go through for ourselves, but so we could show God’s power in this earth realm and in our lives. Share with others what you have been healed, set free and delivered from; you may be surprised as to who else may be struggling with the very thing that had you bound.

Do you have a testimony? If so, what’s yours?

Your thoughts?

A New Perspective

When difficult situations enter your life, how do you view them? Do you see them as setbacks or something that will harm you? Do they cause you to retreat into your own little world and possibly send you into a depression?

 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, James 1:2-3. If the things mentioned in the first paragraph happen to you, you need a new outlook on tests and trials. James reminds us to count it all joy when difficult situations come our way; even they have a purpose in molding our character to be that of Christ Jesus. If we didn’t have issues in our lives, many of us wouldn’t even call upon the Lord. Trials give us an opportunity to know God in His ability to perform in our lives and they also let us know exactly where we are spiritually. So the next time you go through in your marriage, on the job or even at church, know that God may be using this opportunity to make you more like Christ and reveal to you where you may need to improve.

How you view your trial is what you will get out of it. If you see yourself overcome by the enemy, then you will be. But if you see your way victorious through Christ, then you shall be an overcomer just as He was. We may not know what tomorrow holds, but we do know Who holds tomorrow!

Your thoughts?

Tic Toc!

The last couple of days I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts. I’ve been going about my daily routines as usual and even picking up a few extras along the way. But what I was feeling was the sense that something’s missing: there’s something I’m supposed to do, but I’m just not doing it. My brothers and sisters, this is something I recognize oh so well: PROCRASTINATION! Saints, procrastination and laziness are robbers of our time.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly, John 10:10. Make no mistake about it; the enemy wants to steal our time out from under us. We cannot continue to allow this to happen. Even though I was getting some things done, I wasn’t getting the thing God wanted me to get done. This, my friend, makes all the difference in the world. When I’m not doing what He wants me to do, I feel as though I am just aimlessly going about my day and not accomplishing anything. Have you ever felt this way? Today is a new day and I am making it my business to get done what God has purposed for me to do in this day, regardless of what that may entail. What most of us may not realize, when we delay doing God’s work, it delays our blessings because we are walking in disobedience. Yep, I said it! I woke up this morning and practically ran to my prayer room and began repenting. You see, God has given me a glimpse of what He has for me and I can barely wait as it is, I surely don’t want to delay it any longer than it has to be!

We must remain diligent and focused on kingdom business and guarding our time! Don’t give the enemy a foot hole to come in and steal your time. Stop putting off things due to laziness, fear and the unexpected. Remember, your expectation should be from God (Psalms 62:5)!

Tic Toc!

Your thoughts?

I Will Say!

I’m sure many would agree there are times when we do the strangest things. Things that make sense to us but to the rest of the population, it boggles the mind. One of which, we try to hide what we do from people but all the while, God sees it all. That to me makes no real sense.

42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put of out of the synagogue: 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. After reading today’s Scripture I find that we are more satisfied with pleasing man than we are with pleasing the creator of man. When situations arise in our lives where we must choose between integrity and the lack thereof, know that it was divinely placed there so we can see where we are. Far too often we, the Body of Christ, have a form of godliness but we deny the power thereof. We talk a good game but really, the Truth is not in us. Whatever is in us will come out of us.

We should live each day as unto the Lord, looking to please Him in all we do and say. I’m not saying every word we speak should be Jesus, but we should be so sensitive to His spirit that we won’t have to say a word, and our living still speaks! My God!!!

Your thoughts?