Filling the Gap

Filling the Gap: There are many amongst us that are experiencing a void in their lives. Human beings are born with a need to worship. Most are filling the void with something else....a spouse....food...sports....jobs...money..the list goes on.

As a witness, I declare that nothing can fulfill the void like God can. Many people would wonder why God would create a people to just to worship Him?! Many have stated that this is weird... That's a great question...

Think of worship as a homing signal; a tracker....the GPS built inside of you to get HOME to Him. Note that all GPS systems have a programmable home button....what is your home button set to?

Everyone is worshipping something. The ultimate question is what? The key to finding out what you worship is to assess what you spend most of your waking moments pursuing. Where ever your treasure is....your heart is there also.

When we worship God- it lifts our spirits and refocuses us on what's important. As His sons and daughters, our worship is to reverence and honor Him just as we need to honor our natural parents.  It is not a prison sentence, but the process to understand His heart and plans for us.

Be blessed!

Unoffendable

There have been many prophesies that have went forth concerning the promise of the harvest coming in....we understand that people are the harvest....

In my readings this week, I was reminded of lesson from Francis Frangipane outlined in his book- The Three Battlegrounds. He teaches that a part of being a believer is to be UNOFFENDABLE. No, this is not a word, but the principle is key. The bible states in Matthew 24:10 AMP
"And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred."

Some questions to ponder: Can you say that when people come at you- you can give up your right to be right? Can you stop seeing "attacks" that are not there? And even if they are there- what will you do to heap the coals of fire on their head? Will you allow yourself to be corrected? Will you stand and face your own attitude issues? Can you go to your brother or sister as outlined in Matthew 5? Or will you allow yourself to be delivered, set free, and unoffendable? Will you seek the Lord for the most excellent way in dealing with people? No, it doesn't mean being a punk or shrunken down, but it does mean giving up self for the sake of the call. Will you get out of the way and allow God to avenge you? Surely His way is better.

It is my sincerest prayer that all of us find our way in Jesus to be unoffendable so that we can be effective for the Kingdom. Unoffendable allows believers to stop shooting each other and opens the door of unity.

~Meekness is surely NOT for weaklings~

Pray and Complain about the President?

Lately, I have been seeing a lot of criticism concerning President Obama. It is one thing to disagree, but it is something else to be nasty and outright ugly, condescending and/or disrespectful. Where is the light of God in that? The older people used to say that if you had nothing nice to say don't say nothing at all!

It never ceases to amaze me that believers do more talking than praying. If believers could take that energy and that power and use it for good- perhaps the world would be better. Perhaps the enemy's voice wouldn't be so loud in his ear!

How is it that you can tear down a person in one post and then post your love of God in the next one? Give me a break! Early in 2012, God spoke to me about him. He said that the President belonged to him. We have no idea what it is like being the President and most of us will never know. We can disagree with him, but whether you voted for him or not, keep your mouth off him. God tells us to pr...ay even for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), why is this commandment so hard?

*Disclaimer: I have indeed complained about a President in my younger days, but God told me to stop it...repent and pray.

What is wrong with believers today is that they are too busy trying to legislate morality. Get to the ROOT of the problem! Worried about abortions? Get to the communities and show these children the power that they walk in to love and respect themselves! Love these children into abstinence and protection.

This is not a message of condemnation, but a message of provocation to see the hypocrisy of it all. How can you love a God that you do not see, but hate your brother? (1 John 4:20). He belongs to God, so if you have an issue with him, take it to the Father and stop it with the poisonous word acid. Sticks and stones break bones and words hurt to the core.

Letting Go......

Sometimes I really regret the things I've done wrong.... Lord knows I have done what I can to reconcile my past..a gentle reminder from a loving sister admonished me to remember that we are free from the past.....

That's the truth.... as long as we have turned away (repented) we are indeed free! Sometimes people want to keep us in places that God has redeemed us from...sometimes bridges just burn and it's okay. But my statement below puts it all into perspective for me...

It comes a time where you have to refuse to allow a fraction (past) of your life, dictate or overshadow the rest of it. #finishSTRONG 

Cannot change the past, but we can use it as a learning tool for the future. Be blessed.....

Love,
A repentant and fully redeemed servant of the most high God!

Losing some battles but winning the War!

Last night as I was playing Words with Friends, I took a look at my stats. I had lost quite a few games in the past week or so. My mind took a parallel look at my life and for a second, I begin to focus on my losses. Sometimes when your life is not going in the direction that you thought it should, it is easy to get discouraged. Our plan is great, but God's is greater. Hence my post from earlier this morning.

In the game, one of my opponents pretty much said, "give up," but I would not and I continued to the end. I lost that game but was comforted in the fact that I endured to the end. My parallel is that there are indeed some people who are praying, wishing, and plotting your demise. There are some failures that will occur in life.  There is no stopping this fact of life; but if God is for us- who can be against us?

The gentle voice of God told me to look at the top of the application, where I am sitting at the top of the leaderboard even with all of the losses. He said that our lives are like that. We sometimes look at the losses, but we have to look up to see that we are still winning despite of it all. We have to stop looking at our losses and take the "birds-eye" view of our lives and situations.We have been through some tough times, but we are still overcomers.

Key thoughts to take with you always:
~Remember who you are.
~Remember Whose you are.
~We operate and function from a Kingdom perspective. We have access to resources beyond our wildest imagination (spiritual and natural).
~We keep our eyes on the Master planner and architect of our lives.

Our latter is indeed going to be better than our former. Receive it. Believe it. Stand on it.

Be blessed on purpose! Love you to life, for life!

The Dream: Fifty Years Later

Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the famous "I have a dream" speech at the largest demonstration to date at Nation's capital. That speech  placed him among the ranks of men who have shaped America.

I learned that Mahalia Jackson encouraged him to improvise the Dream speech while he was on stage.

Fifty years is a long time. Thankful that we are not where we used to be and hopeful for where we will be, but as I look around- I'm concerned about where we are and how to get to a better future. I could list all of the stats that show disparities among blacks and other minorities, but we know that we have a long way to go.

As with every killing and act of wrong doing, I know that it breaks God's heart...I often wonder what Dr. MLK would say about Treyvon Martin, racial profiling, sagging pants, the use of the "N" word in ANY capacity, the noticeable disparities in pay & opportunities that still exist....and I could add more things to the list...

It is my prayer that we can all (or more of us) start to operate from a position of what we have in common versus our differences. I pray that we can erase racism....ignorance is no longer an excuse that we can tolerate. We have to all do our part.

Be blessed on purpose!

Children: Our Responsibility and Future

We love the children!

It is so easy to get caught up in the mindset that life is easy for our children, but we have to remember that they have the same struggles that we had as well as a few we didn't. Self esteem,  confidence,  subjects in school we hated or didn't do well in.....and the era of technology that makes bullying quick, recurrent, and widespread.

Here are some tools to assist:

1. Pray for your children often. As their parent, it's important to pray for them because your words are a powerful force in their lives.

2. Teach your children how to infuse the Word of God into their daily lives. As an example, in our Bible study, we spoke about the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Each child was given a fruit to work on that we knew they needed to work on and gave instructions on how to hear God show them how to navigate situations where this fruit would be needed.

3. Establish a daily routine...children based on age need a certain amount of sleep. They need regular meal times..they need exercise daily......it's hard sitting in a class ALL day...that's why Charlie Brown's teachers sounded like that.... (joke).

4. Pick a time where you can listen to their school stories...this is a good time to hear areas for growth and infusion/adjustment of godly principles and moral awareness.

5. Make homework and some level of reading a priority. In our home...grab a snack...and hit the books..

6. Be a safe place for them....what are your plans if they suddenly need something or you need to get to them? We cannot stand by as parents and say..."oh well." God has entrusted them to you! Check their phones...their social media; etc. It's okay to be a stalker in this case. Most of you remember the event where we had to deal with that on FB. Parents, we have to be diligent and aware.

7. See your children everyday before they leave the house...look them in their eyes...some days, I fail at this because I'm in another part of the house and I yell "love you! Have a great day!"..etc etc...

8. Speak life into them....use your words to equip them, edify them, build their confidence, and launch them into destiny. Regularly. Daily.

No parent is perfect and I don't have perfect children. I pray for parents and teachers often.. God wants us to be good stewards over everything He has entrusted us with. Especially our children. They are worth our 100% effort and remember......they are our future!

Feel free to post other items below that are helpful tools to others. Some of these are just my thoughts and recommendations. Tweak them for your family...Be blessed on purpose!