God Of The Next Level

Lately in my prayers, I have been talking with God about going to the next level in my Christian walk. While watching a Christian program the other day, my prayer was answered. The Pastor was talking about going to the next level in Christ, which is just what I was talking with God about, so I knew this was for me.  He said that you should start your elevation by asking God and yourself four very important questions:

1.                 How shall I live? Romans 3:21-26

We as Christians sometimes tend to think that once we become Christian we have to stop everything we do. We have to stop dancing and singing, stop going to concerts, stop hanging out with our closes friends who are Christians, but not as deep as us, stop dating or going to lunch with friends, stop watching crime shows and dramas, and stop going to the movies to see adventure of futuristic films, because these things are not Christ like. Who says they aren’t?

Jesus eat and drank with prostitutes and drunkards, He hung out with a loud mouth know it all and two momma’s boys. One of His best friends was a liar and a thief who betrayed Him, and He had a fish fry with His boys on the beach. I believe Jesus enjoyed life and had fun, but the thing that we must remember in all this is that, He did not allow these things or His friends to change Him from who He was and what He came to do. He stayed focused on His task and His purpose. If you are living a godly life in which God has called you to and the righteousness of Christ lives in you and you are fulfilling the will of the Father for your life, enjoy it.

2.                 Who shall I love? John 3:16

We are to love God, others, and ourselves as God loves us. We are to love all people, but the thing in loving all people is that we are to love them the way God wants us to love them, not the way we want to love them. You ever give someone a gift that you wanted them to have, because you like it for them? It might not be something they want, but it’s something you want them to have.

That is how most of us love others, we love who we want to love the way we want to love them. We don’t love them the way they need to be loved, but the way we need to love them. We have to learn to get out of ourselves and find out exactly what people need from us, so that we are truly loving them with purpose, compassion, and truth. Jesus loved us unto death, because that was what we needed for eternal life.

3.                 How can I serve? Galatians 5:13

I saw a video about a little boy who stole some bread from the store to feed his mother. When he got caught, the store owner wanted to call the police on him. A man off the streets who saw what happened asked the boy why he stole the bread and after finding out, he paid for the bread. Some years later the man who paid for the bread got very sick and his family could not afford to pay his hospital bill. One day when the man’s family came to the hospital they were in awe to find that everything had been taken care of. At the end you see the Doctor who operated on the man as the little boy who stole the bread.

That is how you serve, you give what you can to someone in need, you give a little food, some clothes, some money, a prayer, a help across the street, a smile, a shoulder to lean on, a story to a child, a blanket to someone in the cold, a pair of shoes to someone with none. Be a servant to as many as you can, in any way you can that is all God is asking of you. Jesus came as a servant to the lost and the needy. He is the greatest Servant who ever lived and He is requiring the same from us. Be a servant today and make a difference in the life of God’s creation.

4.                 What shall I give? 2 Cor. 9:7

Paying tithes is still one of the biggest issues plaguing the church today. People just don’t get it. They make up all these excuses as to why they shouldn’t have to pay tithes; they argue that it is not New Testament truth, or that God is ok with us giving what we feel like. The tithes belong to God, period. Obedience to God in paying tithes belongs to us, period. It is not for you to question what the church is doing with God’s money that is for Him and Him alone.

The Bible says that a man has robbed God when he does not pay his tithes, it also says that God will open a window of blessing when you do, and again it says that those who give to the poor will be blessed. The tithe is a 10^th of your treasures, a 10^th of your time, and a 10^th of your talents. This is required to grow the kingdom of God here in the earth realm. How do we grow without the help of the righteous who are already in Christ? We grow by helping one another with whatever means we have. Jesus paid His tithes, but He paid it with 100% of His life, not 10%, and He did not complain, question, or disobey. He gave Himself, period. Thank you Jesus.

 

 

Come As You Are

I’ve sat in Church’s where this phrase is used many times to express, that God does not care how you come to Church as long as you come. Although there is some truth to this, this phrase is nowhere in the Bible. Now before anyone gets bent out of shape, yes God wants you to come to church, but not with the wrong mindset and motive. Let me explain: Last week, my oldest granddaughter went to Bible study with her house shoes on. I did not see this until after Bible study, so I did not confront her until then. Then on Sunday, her sister went to Church with jeans on that were ripped at the knees (they were not purchased that way). The older of the two said, “God don’t care, He said come as you are.” I was upset to say the least, but if she has not been told the truth, she will believe that this is okay. I pulled the both of them to the side and explained to them that, that is not true and that people have taken that saying, (because that’s what it is, a saying) and turned it into something meant from God, yet there is no actual godly validity to it.

When I read the Bible I see how God wanted the Tabernacle and the Temple to be constructed and adorn. When the Israelites where getting ready for the Great Exodus from Egypt, God told Moses to ask the Egyptians for all their wealth, specifically silver and Gold, “Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor articles of silver and articles of gold (Exodus 11:2).” Then Moses told them again, and the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The Lord caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth (Exodus 12:35-36)! These items were used to make beautiful the Holy place where God would dwell among His people.

Then again when you read the book of 1 Kings 6 and 7 you see how the Temple was built with detailed instruction on the outer and inner materials to be used in its building. Again, silver, gold, and bronze, and other articles of finer quality were used to adorn it in beauty. This tells me God likes to be adorned with beautiful thing around Him. So why then do we as His people feel that we can go to the house of the Lord any old kind of way? The Church is the one place that we should give honor and glory to reverence the Lord. Would it hurt us to put on a nice dress, skirt and blouse, a suit and tie, and a clean pair of shoes, just one day out of the week? If you don’t have it for some reason or another, that’s fine, but if you do, don’t be lazy and disrespectful about it. Some of us will buy a new outfit to go to a dance, a club, a concert, even to a special dinner, but do you buy one to wear to Church? Hum, I wonder. Look at this story in the Bible, “Then he told his servants, ‘we have a wedding banquet all prepared but no guests. The ones I invited weren’t up to it. Go out into the busiest intersections in town and invite anyone you find to the banquet.’ The servants went out on the streets and rounded up everyone they laid eyes on, good and bad, regardless. And so the banquet was on—every place filled. When the king entered and looked over the scene, he spotted a man who wasn’t properly dressed. He said to him, ‘Friend, how dare you come in here looking like that!’ The man was speechless. Then the king told his servants, ‘Get him out of here—fast. Tie him up and ship him to hell. And make sure he doesn’t get back in. That’s what I mean when I say, ‘Many get invited; only a few make it (Matthew 22:8-14 MSG).’ The banquet guest are us, church members, the under dressed person is the person coming to church with the wrong mindset or attitude in their relationship with the Lord.

Yes, there are occasions where God tells us to come. “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28).” Or “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free (Isaiah 55:1)!” Or, come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world (James 4:8). Or, then said Jesus unto his disciples, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matt 16:24).” We are to come before Jesus with a pure heart, whether broken, hurt, ashamed, lost, depressed, fearful, hopeless, or helpless, we are to come, but come giving thanks, glory, and honor in your dressing, reverencing Him, for His is the house of the LORD.

God Knows What You Thought you Knew

 

 

Have you even found yourself in a situation where God ask you to do something and, because you don’t know how it is going to turn out, you refused to do it? Or maybe God ask you to give something to someone and, because you don’t know them, you don’t give it to them? Or maybe God ask you to say something to someone and, because it doesn’t make since to you, you are reluctant to say anything to them? Well, God knows the end result in any situation. He would not require it of you if He did not already have a plan in mind for it.

In the Old Testament, God chose Moses to bring His people out of Egypt. Can you image what went through Moses head? “What? You want me to bring all these people out of Egypt? God that’s a lot of people, how am I going to do this?” he probably thought about it over and over, and again and again until he final said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” So He (God) said, “I will certainly be with you (Exodus 3:11-12a).” God had told Moses His plan for Him to deliver Israel, but Moses looking inside himself and thinking about his own shortcomings still could not see what God was telling him, so again he told God, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice (4:1).” So God showed Moses some signs for him to know that God was with him, but Moses still did not want to do it. “Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Have not I, the LORD. Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say (4:10-12).” Now at this point, you would think, Moses would say, “Okay God, you told me what to do and how to do it, I’ll go,” but no, yet again Moses begged God, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whom ever else you may send (4:13).” The Bible goes on to say that this angered the Lord, can you imagine, four times God said and showed him, He would be with Moses every step of the way, but Moses still questioned his ability even with God on his side.

We do the same thing. God gives us direction in doing something for the kingdom and we question what He said, then we question whether or not we can do it, then, because we are still unsure, we complain about our weakness or inabilities to do what He has asked. What we fail to realize is that God knows the outcome. He knows exactly what He wants to accomplish by asking us to do what He wants done, but, because we don’t know, we hesitate with doubt and disbelief.

I remember one time when God asked me to tell this young lady sitting next to me in church, something. Not having heard God speak to me before, I first looked around to see who was talking to me, because I heard it so clear. I looked at the lady next to me to see if she heard it too, but she had no reaction, so I said to myself, “No, I’m not telling her that.”  Then I heard it again. I really thought I was trippin. Looking back, that was the first time I knew God was talking to me and I could hear Him. He told me exactly what to say with in-depth details and I refused. Then I found myself with no choice, but to tell her. After I said what He told me to say, she grabbed me and cried so hard on my shoulder, she said she had been sitting there praying for an answer from God and what I said was her answer. I cried too, because all I could think about was my first thought, refusing God.

We are not alone in our stubbornness to obey God when He tells us something to do. The story of Jonah recounts his disobedience to God. God asked him to go to Nineveh. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come before me (Jonah 1:2).” Jonah did not answer God with words, but his actions refused God. He got in a boat and went in the other direction away from where God sent him, and because of his decision to flee; he ended up in the belly of a whale for three days. Then God spoke to him a second time. “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you (Jonah 3:2).” Reading this story hurt my heart, because I realized that when we refuse God in his directions to us, we could be hindering someone’s salvation. We are called to help Jesus in saving the lost; if we refuse to help, they could live in eternal damnation forever, because of us. Wow that is a very heavy burden to bear.

Jesus encountered the same thing with the disciples when He feed the five thousand. After He had healed many people of their sickness and diseases He took the disciples up on a hill. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming towards him, he said to Philip, “where shall we buy bread that these may eat?” but this he said to test him, for He himself know what He would do (John 6:5-6). God knows what He is going to do when he calls us. He has already planned for it to have a victorious end, but we have to stop questioning Him and just believe Him. Philip went on to say that even two hundred denarii worth of bread would not feed that many people. Then Andrew, Peter’s brother chimed in by saying, “There is a lad here who has five loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many? (John 6:9)”

There are also some who do exactly what God says do when he says do it. Reading the story of Jesus death and resurrection we hear about Mary Magdalene who after she went to the tomb and found Jesus no longer there, she sought after him. When she came upon Him, He told her to, “Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me (Matthew 28:10).” The Bible doesn’t say if she went and did exactly what Jesus asked her to do, but later in the story we read, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them (Matthew 28:16). So we know that she told them.  

God knows what He will do in any given situation, the problem is; you don’t know. People always say, “What would Jesus do?” I don’t know what Jesus would do and neither do you. The bible says that God’s thoughts and ways are not like ours, so how can we possibly know what God will do? We could imagine what He might do, we could do what we think He would do, but when it comes down to it, He is the only one who truly knows exactly what He is going to do. So the next time you know God is asking something of you, don’t try to reason it, analyze it, or try to figure it out on your own. Just say yes Lord, and do it. The blessing to you is in your obedience to Him who sent you. Amen.     

God Is Calling, “Come With Me”

While studying Proverbs 1:11, I noticed something that started me thinking about Jesus when He began calling the disciples to follow Him. Verse 11 reads: They may say, “Come join us. Let’s hide and kill someone! Just for fun, let’s ambush the innocent.” This verse and the verses that follow are actually Solomon speaking with his young son about the corruption of joining a gang and following after evil and wickedness. A lot of times our youth will join gangs, because they are looking for somewhere to belong, they want to stand for something, they want to believe in something or someone and they cannot find in the home. Our lost youth will join a gang thinking that it’s going to fulfill the emptiness they are desperately seeking to fill. Gangs initiate members by fighting, asking them to steal, kill, or stab someone. Their minds are so imbedded in hate and anger that they no longer care for preserving their own lives that they will ambush the innocent with no care for human life. They give the members hope for becoming leaders if they do what the head of the gang ask them to do. They claim streets as their own territories and don’t allow other gangs or people who didn’t live in the neighborhood to come around without trouble or consequence.  

Now on the other hand you have Jesus calling a gang of men unto Himself, Matthew 4:19 Jesus called out to them, “come follow Me and I will show you how to fish for people.” He was the Messiah come to save the lost. He was God with us, come to be an example of the Father in heaven. He was the true word made flesh. He was the embodiment of unconditional love giving Himself to us unto death. That’s the gang I want to roll with. In Him we stand in love, peace, belief, trust, faith, hope, and joy. In Him we are the head and not the tail; we are conquers and not defeated. In Him we have life more abundantly and completely. In Him we are the righteous and the just. In Him we are kingdom kids redeemed from sin and death to life.

The World does not entice you to sin by offering pain and trouble, but by offering friendship, pleasure, and success. When Jesus calls He offers life and life more abundant. Jesus is calling us to come follow Him. He is calling us to be a part of building the Kingdom of God here on earth. We are called to; Come, help a brother or sister in need. Come love others as I have loved you. Come, hear My words and learn from Me. Come, give your life to Me and let Me show you who you are in Me. Come all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Come, fellowship with Me and the family of God on Sunday. Come, help Me feed and clothed the poor. Jesus is calling you today, will you come?

Prayer:

Father, today I come before your throne seeking Your face, I am tired of living this life without You. Father, I believe with all my heart that there is salvation in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ and I confess with my mouth that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness for all the wrong I have done to you, myself, and to others. Father, today I come and ask to become a part of the kingdom of God in Jesus name, Amen.

Thank You Father for Your acceptance, today I am a child of God, Amen

The God of Laughter and Joy

They say that laughter is good for the body and for the soul. It is good to laugh several times a day to relieve stress, dispel worry, dissolve anger, lower blood pressure, and even relieve pain in some cases. It can help you to relax, and even help you lose weight; in which case, I need to laugh all day every day. Ha-ha that made me laugh. We tell jokes to cause laughter, we watch funny movies or shows that make us laugh, and we sometimes see funny things that people do that make us laugh.

Do you wonder if God laughs? I think He does all the time. How can He as God look at some of the things we as Christians do and not laugh? We are truly a funny people, strange, odd, uncommon, and unusual, peculiar even, at least that’s what 1 Peter 2:9 sums us up as. People even joke, “If you want to make God laugh, just tell Him your plans.” We laugh at that, but nine times out of ten our plans are never even close to God’s plans for us. But why do we laugh at God’s plans? Is it because we don’t believe God, because it’s too hard to imagine, too big to believe, or just to ridicules to be true? Job said, “Yet, my friends laugh at me, for I call on God and expect an answer. I am a just and blameless man, yet they laugh at me (Job 12:4)

Let’s look at the story of Abraham and Sarah. God told Abraham that He was going to make him a father of many nations when Abraham was already an old man past the age of producing children. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah who is ninety years old, bear a child (Genesis 17:17)?” Abraham in a moment of disbelief laughed at God, no, not Abraham. Did this laughter come from the man whom God had just called righteous, because he believed God? Was he now disbelieving God? Later that same laughter of disbelief came from the month of Sarah when she heard the Lord promise her a child in her old age. Therefore she laughed within herself, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” (Genesis 18:12) God had changed Sarah’s name to mean Princess, which is royalty for the mother of many nations and kings, but how was this so, when she was a barren woman and ninety years old already, her biological clock and science says this is impossible.

The Bible says God laughs at the wicked, But the Lord just laughs, for He sees their day of judgment coming (Ps. 37:13). Now I can see Him laughing at them, the Big Bang Theory, now that’s funny. How about you, have you ever laughed at some of the promises of God in the Bible? I have, I have even sometimes said, “Yea right God, I’d like to see you do that.” I admit, before I really got to know God, I thought some of His promises were for the birds. When I read Hebrews and saw so many who didn’t see His promises fulfilled, like even Abraham, he didn’t see what happened with God’s promise to make him a father of many nations. Oh but God. I thank Him that I know Him and trust in all His promises to come to pass, even them that I may not see.

Maybe you don’t believe, because you think they are just for the saints of old, the ones in the Bible days. Nope, all of the promises back then apply to us right now. Like weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning, or lean not on your own understanding, but acknowledge God in all your ways and He will direct your path, or maybe, do not be afraid, for I am with you. All these are tried and true today. How about God’s promise to Noah? God told Noah that He would never send another flood upon the earth. He told him that the sign of this promise would be a rainbow in the sky after the rains. Have you ever seen a rainbow? That is God’s promise fulfilled today. We are filled with laughter and we sing with joy and the other nations said, “What amazing things the LORD has done for them (Ps. 126:2).

One year after God made this promise to Abraham, he and Sarah gave birth to a son whom they named Isaac which means laughter, because Sarah laughed at God. Isaac was the essence of joy manifested in the seed of promise. Today anyone who is in Christ is the product of the promise, because we are of Abraham’s seed. Next time you are tempted to laugh at the promise of God remember this, God is asking you the same question He asked them, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14a). For all God’s promises are yes and amen and you can believe that.

God is, so I am

Have you ever noticed that when people ask you who you are or what you do, most people will always answer by saying, I am so and so. Well today we are going to take claim to who we are in Christ Jesus. Knowing who you are and who's you are, helps you to live as you truly are in this fallen world.  

Because I am in Christ Jesus:

I am the beloved of the Father… I am loved… I am blessed… I am free… I am accepted… I am a saint… I am redeemed… I am a holy nation… I am a royal priesthood… I am prosperous… I am a conqueror… I am highly favored of the Lord… I am a child of the living God… I am encouraged… I am full of joy… I am living in peace… I am content with what God has given me… I am full of faith… I am a Believer… I am hopeful… I am trusting God… I am healed and have been made whole… I am debt free… I am a blessing to many… I am well able to do what God says I can do… I am going to have all that God says I can have… I am a hearer of the word of God… I am a doer of the Word of God… I am a worshiper… I am washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ… I am filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit… I am the righteousness of God in Christ… I am fearfully and wonderfully made… I am thankful… I am self-controlled… I am victorious… I am forgiving… I am forgiven…I am kind… I am sanctified… I am grateful … I am fearless… I am becoming a better Christian… I am in right standing with God… I am strong… I am worthy… I am valuable… I am holy… I am pure…I am faithful… I am bold for Christ in sharing the Good News… I am a soul winner… I am the head and not the tail…I am God’s masterpiece… I am God’s greatest miracle… I am above and not beneath… I am willing to pick-up my cross and follow Christ daily… I am faithful to do the will of God, my heavenly Father…I am not the Great I AM, but I am who and what God says I am. Amen

Me, God, or God, Me, Weighing my Choices

I have been doing a study in Proverbs in my daily devotional. I came across a sentence that read, ‘All men were born simple, ignorant, and foolish; without correction and instruction they will be perplexed and punished by life.” Proverbs ain’t no joke, it shots straight from the hip for real. Anyway, as I pondered this for a while, I thought about the effects this statement has had on my life, ladies, this goes for us as well. I have been simple in my understanding of most of life’s situations and circumstances. I have been ignorant in raising kids, in marriage, in relationships, in work and career choices, and in business dealings. I have done so many foolish things; I can even count them and don’t care too, but in all the bumps, bruises, beat downs, blisters, and bang ups, I have learned the many lessons needed to grow in life.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan for our lives, one where He has worked out all the details for us, one to give us peace, one with a wonderful future, and one filled with hope. How awesome is that? The thing is we also have a plan for us, one to do any and everything we want to do, one to live selfishly, self-centered, self-righteously, and self-fulfilled. How senseless is that? The problem is we always want to live in our plan first; we want to see where we can get in life on our own, with no help from anyone, not even God. The study goes on to say, “We lack the ability to quickly and accurately discern, comprehend, analyze, and choose wisely, so we remain gullible, naïve, silly, and stupid.” Man this is harsh. I have never looked at myself in this way. I thought I was a fairly smart individual able to make good decisions concerning me and mine. They say the truth hurts, so I have to except my situations and circumstances along with the consequences that have followed.    

It is not until our plans have gone terrible awry that we begin to seek God and His plan for us. Oh what a simple, ignorant, and foolish people we are. Oh, but what an awesome God we serve. I’m so glad God is a God of second, third, fourth, and more chances. Say thank you and hallelujah somebody. He will allow us to stumble and fall until we have had enough and then like Peter walking on water, He is right there to pull us up when we fall and put us back on the path that He has planned for us, one of love, promise, and abundant living in Christ Jesus.

You always here Christians walking around telling everyone, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good.” I have a question for you, do you really believe that? If we really believe it, we would trust Him in His word instead of getting irritated in waiting for His perfect timing, thinking, “I can do this by myself.” We would trust Him when someone dies instead of blaming Him for our loss, “Why did you take so and so from me?” We would trust Him to find our mate instead of looking at everything walking as our next spouse, ending up in divorce court two years later, “God is that him, is that her?” All of these actions in believing God is good are simple, ignorant, and foolish. A man who truly believes in the goodness of God is stable, knowledgeable, clever, and wise. Next time you consider the goodness of God make sure you believe it and live in it with thanksgiving. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.