It's My Birthday!

One year ago today I was born.  Born into a world that I had created of confusion, hurt, leading while blind, and a will determined not to fully submit to my God, but rather controlled by my many gods.  We all struggle with this at some point in our life.  Maybe not to the degree upon which my tribulations seemed to affect me; but no less traumatic, and just as devastating to other people, did I cause pain and suffering.  Similar what others actions have done in their own lives and to those they love.  Side note: For those “we” affect, it’s not intentional, and if we could we would take away all the pain, and suffer the rest of our lives, just to see you smile again.

What I realize now is that all the things that lead up to my “birthday” were only contractions, forcing my birth to occur.  The strife of trying to gain something tangible, the women, the alcohol, all were pains I felt as my “birthing” drew near.  And what a “big baby” I was when I was born.  No way to take care of myself, no way to fend for myself, and no one to care for me and protect me. 

After screaming and crying, as most babies do right after delivery, I pondered my new surroundings.  This was a whole new world.  And I wondered, “Who will be there for me?”  I called out, yet no one answered.  I looked for the familiar, but everything was strange.  I tried to find a place to hide, but there was nowhere to run.  I suddenly realized I was naked, alone, and afraid.

Then I heard a voice, calling me gently, “Son, Son, I am right here waiting for you.”  Was this my mother, who had always been there for me?  Was this my father who never stuck around? No, it was the One I least suspected.  My Savior came to get me, and drew me near unto Him.  In perfect love I felt the sheer magnetism of His love for me and the unmistakable desire He had for me to, no longer suffer, but to experience His fullness of joy.  He called me ever so softly, and with great anticipation, but an unexplained calmness, I ran to Him as He stood with arms wide open. “Father, Father!” I exclaimed.  “You are the only thing that matters, and truly You are the only One who can always be right where I need You.”

As the days moved on, I would wake up in the “night” of my new world.  Everything seemed dark and scary, yet He covered me with His blanket of peace.  I watched my so called “life” crumble around me, and He said, “Will you trust me and lean on my Word?” (Walking by faith not by sight -2 Cor 5:7) I agonized as I struggled to sit up, crawl and stand.  But He was there, ever lifting, ever giving, ever loving me as if I was something special; His only child.  (I will never leave you nor forsake you –Heb 13:5) There was no where I went that He didn’t go with me (Matt 28:20); nothing I said, that He did first give me (For I will give you words of wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict Luke 21:15) nothing that I thought that He didn’t show me why (Commit thy works unto the LORD and your thoughts shall be established – Prov 16:3). We were in paradise, here on earth: He and I.  Now I know what Adam and Eve felt like before the fall.

He strengthened me, molded me, raised up the things my mother has instilled in me.  He took my past life hardships, which I had suffered and began to show me why and how they would now be my footstools (I will make your enemies a footstool for your feet - Luke 22:43).  He gave me new vision, new hope, and new desire (I will put my Spirit in you and cause you and cause you to walk in my commandments and to keep my judgments, and to do them – Eze 36:27).  I humbled myself and He gave me a right desire for the right reasons, for the right things (Be afflicted, mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to heaviness, Humble yourself in the sight of the LORD, and He shall lift you up – James 4:9-10).  He made me a true son of His, which makes Him my Father (I will be a Father to you and you will be my son – 2 Cor 6:18).  Do I have it all right yet?  Do I know all there is to know? Am I now made perfect?  Do I now do all things perfectly?  No, that is reserved for my glory in heaven.  Are all things great now?  Do I have all that I need?  Have I received all that He promised me the day I was born? No, but that is developing as I grow older: remember I am only ONE year old today. 

What have I learned you ask?  In the end, rewards here on earth prove insufficient.  For even when time turns the community in which I live into history, history standing alone, is infinite and hence ultimately tragic.  It is tragic only because it must end- eventually history, too, will die- but in its refusal to be perfected.  Hope and history are always light years apart.  The final human good must lie elsewhere.  That is where my Heavenly Father sits.  Watching over me, loving me, protecting me, and guiding me.  For in serving Him, I fulfill my earthly desire to be relevant (gaining something tangible), to make love (the women), and to be free from the pain that I was not, nor could be satisfied fully while setting my sights on things of this world, (the alcohol [to mask] the pain).

So today I say “Happy Birthday” to me, who by God’s grace and mercy, I have been made free.  How did I get free?  The bible says, “You shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free.”   I got to know Jesus.  Not just religion, but a RELATIONSHIP.  Will you now come and learn Him for yourself?  Maybe next year we can celebrate our “birthdays” together.

If this touches you and you want to know more about the Jesus in my life, call me RIGHT NOW @ 214 725 9962.  He's waiting and calling you too!

Are you a "Fixer"?

So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

In talking with some people these last few weeks, I have had some ask me, “Are you trying to fix me?”  My answer is quite simply, “NO.”   For what I have found is that I am not the “Fixer”, nor am can I do the “fixing”. 

We go about our daily lives trying to “fix-it”.  Fix it for our children, “fix-it” for our spouse, “fix–it” for our family, “fix-it” for our friends, “fix-it” for our loved ones.  However the truth of the matter is we cannot “fix-it” at all.  In doing this we take God off the throne and place ourselves upon the throne.  Heed His words, “Thou shalt have no other gods, before me.”

Our “job” is to “Let our light so shine before men”, or to “leave our burdens for Him and to take His burden upon us”, to “love thy neighbor as thy self.” But nowhere do I read that we are to “fix-it” for anyone.  Its ok to want it for them, for that is what love does.  For all those who are parents you know that when your kids were little you would take their food and cut it up into pieces for them so they would eat.  You would do whatever it took to get it into their system, for you knew the nutritional value and life-saving, disease fighting, capabilities it had.  But given all that, you still could not make them chew.  But God did!  So you planted, and watered, but God gave the increase.

Today take what you have learned in scripture, what God has created you to do, and look for the places where you are to water and to plant.  Sometimes you may not know if you are watering or planting, but it matters not.  Let your light so shine before men, let them see the G O D in you, and fulfill your destiny, in Jesus’ name!

What's pushing you?

Today as I was walking into the office, a lady and I started to talk.  I knew right away that it was not a normal encounter.  As we walked from the parking lot into the building, she began to ask me a few questions about faith.  I could tell she was hurting and needing a Word, not from me, but from the Balm in Gilead!

I first asked God to give to me what HE wanted me to say.  Next thing I knew, I was talking to her about the seven Dispensations of the bible, and how we are not living in the Dispensation of Grace.  How it was made possible by Jesus’ death burial and resurrection on the cross.  And how that now made us FREE from all guilty shame, condemnation, and fear.  I normally take the stairs but something told me to bypass them today.  As we entered the elevator she was fixed on my every word.  Others joined us in the elevator and began to ask questions too.  Before I knew it I was the only one who had pushed the button to go to my floor.  We had actually passed their floors too. 

I am going to do a bible study with them in the lobby one day and I now have new people to personally pray for during my prayer time.

Why do I tell you this?  Proverbs  22:17-21 says, "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge; For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; Let them be fitted within thy lips, So that your trust may be in the LORD.  Have I not instructed you today, even you.  Have I not written to you excellent things of counsels and knowledge that I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, that you may answer words of truth to those who send unto you?"

This verse has been a favorite of mine for about a year now.  It pushes me daily to prepare study, learn, and gather knowledge from the things God has and is showing me daily.

What is pushing you?  What do you look to, that governs your life and daily steps?  Are you truly about our Father’s business?  We all fall short sometimes, but the key is to get back up and get back on track again!  You can do it, with HIS help!

 Thank YOU , LORD, for instructing me, teaching me, and healing me so much this past year.  Now continue to push me to be what YOU have called me to be.  And I will continue to give You the praise and present my body a Living Sacrifice unto YOU.

What’s pushing you?

Bitter or BETTER?

In Genesis 37, 38, 39, 40-47, we find the story of Joseph who as we know was sold into slavery and left for dead by his very own brothers.  It is an amazing story of one man’s determination to take whatever came his way and still look to serve and to honor God in all he did.

Let’s face it.  He had sufficient enough reasons, enough to become bitter: to give up, to become mad, hateful, and resentful: to start to question the who(s) in his life, the what(s), in his life and definitely the why(s).  He could have started to doubt God’s providential care, provision, and ultimately, when the opportunity came for God’s power and purpose to be shown forth in his life, Joseph could have been so bitter that God would not have gotten the glory from the situations and circumstances that GOD had led Joseph through.  And we would not have this incredible story of overcoming.

Thank God, for us, that Joseph did not become bitter, but rather he became BETTER!  He used his circumstances and situations and trusted in God, fully.  No matter what came his way, betrayal of his brothers, enslavement, rise to authority, fall from position because of a lie, being forgotten by those he helped, and then ultimately the rise to power and the opportunity to do good to his brothers, who had done so much wrong to him in his life. 

You see the circumstances and situations that happened in his life were ultimately NOT about him.  They were about the saving of nations, and lands, and family.  If Joseph would have become bitter, Egypt may well have perished, the land would have stayed barren under famine, and his family would have surely died. 

What has happened in your life that you don’t feel is fair?  Do you feel betrayed by the very ones closest to you?  Are you wondering, “why God, why?”  Well maybe it’s not about you, but rather those around you, your land, and most importantly your family that may or may not have hurt you. 

It’s ok to forgive.  It’s ok to move forward.  Become BETTER not bitter, and look for the opportunities that God is trying to bring to you, to show forth His power and glory in your life.  And maybe, there is another BETTER “Joseph” in the making.

Here is a test for you

Here is a test for you!  See if you are nice or bad? Can you be honest with yourself?

"A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. A wrathful man stirs up strife but he that is slow to anger appeases strife.  The heart of the righteous studies to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things."  Proverbs 15:1, 18,  28. 

How do you do?  How will you do TODAY?

Now hear the Word of the LORD!  Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest (in these actions which you do daily), adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, WRATH, STRIFE, Seditions, heresies, envying, reveling, and such like (them) of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that THEY WHICH DO SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

If God has spoken directly to you today, repent (stop and turn from what you do) and go to Him.  Don’t worry about what people may say, for they will always talk, but rather ask yourself, “Father, today how can I be more pleasing in YOUR sight?”

This might be the day!

Luke 13:10-13  “And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God."

Here we find Jesus teaching in the synagogue as He regularly did.  The bible tells us that in came a woman that had a Spirit of infirmity for eighteen years!  We all know the story, Jesus heals her and the Pharisees and Sadducees become indignant with Him for He exposed the ineffectiveness of their ministry.  But is that all that the Spirit is trying to teach us here?

When we look a bit closer, we find that this woman had been coming to the "Church" for at least 18 years straight.  And not only did she come but she came not being able to lift herself, or in other words, she was dependent upon someone else to help her get ready for church, go to church and return home again.  Let's not forget the many times I am sure she needed assistance for everyday bodily functions to say the least.  She was in a state of total dependency for eighteen years!  It’s a scary thing having to rely upon someone for your every need!  What if they get mad at you, or leave you for "something better"?  Can you imagine all the fears this woman must have experienced in her eighteen years of infirmity?

As we read further, we see that Jesus also asked her to do something that she could not do; to lift herself.  It says, "He called her to Him..." How was she to come to Him?  The bible just told us that, "she in no wise could lift herself up."  She was broken, weak, feeble and totally dependent upon others.  But Jesus asked her to do something that she could not do?  So for all those out there that think God will never ask you to do something you cannot do, you are wrong!  He will always ask you to do something you cannot do.  That’s how you know it God! So that thing you are facing that seems impossible right now, know that God would not be asking you to do it if He was not going to empower you to go through it!

By faith, we see this woman lift herself up and praise God.  She had gone to church for eighteen years.  She had worshiped before a veil, where God no longer resided.  You would think, that not having received a healing yet, she would have given up by now. In my book she had every right to give up, to quit, and to never come back.  But she persisted against all odds, in the face of adversity and why did she go to church on this day and every day prior to that?  Because "This might be the DAY!!!!"

What excuses are you still using?  What "dependency" are you letting stop you from coming to the place where God is?  Will you choose to day to stop wallowing in your excuses, and no longer be content to die in your history, but by faith raise yourself up, come to Jesus, and be made whole from your infirmities?  After all, "This might be the day!"

In the Presence of Beast

Scripture Reference Mark 1:13 “And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.”

I want to share a teaching I received, and now that God has made it a reality in my life, I feel the pressing desire to show forth this word, so that others can receive the healing and the blessing that the LORD has shown me.

This is a familiar passage of scripture.  Many of us know how Jesus was led, or driven into the wilderness by the Spirit of God to be tempted, or rather proven or approved of God, by the devil.  We know that after the testing, or trials, that the Angels came and ministered to Him.  But look closely, Mark is the only one who records this very strange middle phrase: “and was with the wild beast”.  Doesn’t that seem odd? 

First let’s back up.  In verse 11 of the same chapter, we learn that Jesus has just received the highest accreditation He could receive when God decides not to send an angel as a messenger from heaven, but rather chooses to rise up off of His throne and part the heavens Himself to speak so that not only the earth hears Him, but all of the host of heaven, and declares, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  It is interesting to note that Jesus, by the Spirit of God, was “immediately driven into the wilderness”.  So for all those who are wondering, “Why is this happening to me”, maybe God is pushing you out of your comfort zone to show forth His work!  Yes the LORD does lead us into a time of testing sometimes, how else would we know we can respond in a Christ-like way, to a certain level of test?

But let’s focus on the mentioning of the “wild beast”.  Why were they there?  You would think that if God were going to send ministry to you, that He would remove the “wild beast” out of your life.  Also notice that the “wild beast” didn’t do anything.  They were just there.

The “wild beast” represents all the chaos and confusion in your life.  The chaos and confusion in your life are all there as a distraction: to get you to take your eyes off of God.  We focus on our money problems, forgetting that the LORD is our Jehovah-Jireh (Gen 22:14), our Provider.  We focus on finding a way, forgetting that the LORD is Jehovah-Rohi (Psalm 23), our Shepard.  We focus on our weakness, forgetting that the LORD is our Jehovah-Tsori (Psalm 19:14), our Strength.  We focus on our unrest, forgetting that the LORD is our Jehovah-Shalom (Isaiah 9:6), our Peace.  We focus on our sickness, forgetting that the LORD is our Jehovah-Rophe (Isaiah 53:4, 5) our Healer.  We focus on our not being able to make it, forgetting that the LORD is or Jehovah- Mephalti (Psalm 18:2), our Deliverer.

The problems in your life cannot stop the blessing that God has for you, and His ministering that He is doing to you. It’s time we stop focusing on our “wild beast” and start focusing on our GREAT BIG GOD!  Jehovah, we praise YOU!

Its time to show forth His work!

Scripture Reference Luke 10:34 “And He went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on His own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”

We rejoin our “certain man”, again.  Look at Jesus here.  He has come to the wounded, the one whose life would be lost from the fight with sin, for we lose each one of us, for the bible tells us that we are born into sin and sharpened in iniquity (Psalm 51:5).  Not only does Jesus pour into us what we need to recover, and not only does He bind us up, but the bible tells us that He sits us upon His own beast.  Ever wondered what that was about?

In biblical days, most people were poor.   Having an ass or a donkey was the sign of wealth and of “upper society”, kind of like driving a Cadillac Escalade or Mercedes S500 today.  (No I am not against having those things, neither is God, but He is against those things having you, but that’s another blog!)

Riding upon the beast would bring attention to this man.  All on the road and in the city would look upon him and wonder who he was.  If you remember in verse 30 we read that the thief “stripped him of his raiment…”, so the man was naked.  And here Jesus sets him up on a beast for all to see.

You see, you may be wounded.  You may be half dead.  You may be just barely surviving right now.  However, the LORD has come to you, He has pour in His Spirit into you, He has bandaged you up and sealed you with His precious blood, and now He is calling on you to show to those around you that no matter what may come your way, my life is in HIS hands. 

We have been saved by Grace.  Bought with His blood sacrifice, and by His power we have been renewed.  We are to now go forth and proclaim the good news!  Yes we are still wounded, yes we may still be bleeding, but what He has poured into us, WILL WORK!