It's A Deal

 2 Chronicles 6:14 "He said, "Lord, you are the God of Israel. There is no God like you in heaven or on earth. You keep the covenant you made with us. You show us your love. You do that when we follow you with all our hearts."

God is the Ultimate Deal maker!

As a parent of a 3 year old and guardian of an 11 year old and 17 year old I've learned to "Make a Deal". Children always want something. "Dad I want that toy?" "Can you buy me that video game?" "Can I go somewhere?" "Daddy I saw this on tv can I get that?" The requests seem endless. And of course the love of a parent you want to get them those things because you love to see them happy but then you have to stop and think 'wait a minute ... do they deserve it?' And the deal making takes affect.

"Ok if you really want this, then..."

Do Your Thang!

2 Chronicles 5:14  "The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God."

As a pastor, leader, volunteer, or ministry worker it is so easy to get caught up in service. 

Some people grow connections to their services and to a point that's good because they may have found their purpose. However, at the same time they can kind of slip into the "this is my thang" service mindset. They can flow in their service, knows everybody's names and stories, and really have it down on how to 'run' that service; they can practically do it with their eyes closed. But is that the goal? To know how to 'run' our services? To master the art of positions? I would like to believe not.

For Who By Himself?

1 Kings 3:9  "Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Today I posted an update on Twitter which said "If I had everything I needed to complete the Task then I can say 'Yes I did it!' But if I don't have anything then I can say 'Yes God did it!'" Minutes later I came across this scripture in my devotion and was reminded by the Holy Spirit that I desperately need Him! We desperately need Him! "For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Pastors! Leaders! People in authority! We need to remember that we can't do it on our own. We can try and even become successful in the worlds viewpoint. We can hand out thousands of fliers or mailers.  We can even have huge events with major bands and the top games for kids.  And yes the church will grow in numbers; everybody loves free stuff. The bible even says, "The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many friends" (Proverbs 14:20). Spiritual success can only come from the Spirit and we need his guidance and direction in order to successfully lead people, His Great people!

The Unfinished Job

1 Chronicles 27:24 "Joab son of Zeruiah began the census but never finished it because the anger of God fell on Israel. The total number was never recorded in King David's official records."

 Have you ever started something, but never finished? Kind of like those projects you would do in school and you had til the end of class to finish and since you were trying so hard to do your best you ran out of time? Or like those cooking shows, where each person has to bake something in a certain amount of time and some people just didn't finish.  Yeah, I think we've all been there.

Where are the True Levites?

1 Chronicles 23:32 "And so, under the supervision of the priests, the Levites watched over the Tabernacle and the Temple and faithfully carried out their duties of service at the house of the LORD."

Fancy that!

Lesson learned from the Levites! Volunteers that were not only under supervision but faithfully carried out their duties. 

Many people want to be volunteers, or have good intentions to, but struggle with the submission of supervision.  Hahaha I like that word "supervision", the whole reason why you have a supervisor is because they have the SUPER-VISION, and they want to make sure you help meet it! Submission means that you are the Substitute for fulfilling the Mission at hand and so many fail to fulfill the mission, fail to submit!

Open the Gates!

2 Samuel 20:21 "'That's not my purpose. All I want is a man named Sheba son of Bicri from the hill country of Ephraim, who has revolted against King David. If you hand over this one man to me, I will leave the town in peace.' 'All right,' the woman replied, 'we will throw his head over the wall to you.'"

God isn't looking to destroy faithful people or towns.  His purpose is not to see his people suffer.  However, revolting against the King of kings must be dealt with. 

Christians are always looking for revival. Praying, fasting, and pleading for the Lord to bring growth and send another wave of revival that will start in our churches.  We want growth and maturity.  We want to see the gifts of the Spirit fully functioning. Miracles, signs, and wonders are still evident today and we want more of them so we are pressing in to the throne room of God.

When "Then" Becomes Too Late

Matthew 26:14 "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests"

It is easy to take this section of scripture and assume that Judas had no intentions in going to the leading priests because one day he just woke up and said, "Hmm I want to be the one who Jesus talked about and betray him". The thing that has to be noticed in the above scripture is the first word, "Then". You see something happened, "then" Judas went.

What happened? What was the event that led Judas to go and betray his Master?

Keep On Going

1 Chronicles 19:13 "Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight."

 

Honest truth? Ministry can take a toll on you. 

 

I have seen many people become weary and even give up throughout my years of ministry.  Hearing about leaders falling in sin or just giving up on ministry is not uncommon. Even myself at times I have been overwhelmed by the battle and I say 'battle' because we are in a battle. We are fighting against principalities and powers of darkness in ministry and sometimes I have come to the point where I just want throw in the towel.

 

Evaluating our schedules, the amount of people in need, as well as all the resources required, can almost put a person in the crazy house. Notice that I said 'evaluating' because in the midst of the battle if we are focused on the purpose, the people and cities of our God, then the Lord will do what's good in his sight and he will give us the strength we need to be victorious. But we live in a planned out, strategic society and we always try to contemplate the tasks before us. Don't get me wrong it's good to plan, budget and even at times evaluate, but when you start to allow the heaviness of the work to frighten you, that is when you will become weak to the point of retreat.

 

We need to remember our position to the Call of Duty and that we are called to be servants and soldiers.  Both those positions are selfless positions with selfless duties.  A soldier doesn't go fight a war for his own benefit, rather he fights it for his nation, the cities of our God. A servant doesn't serve for what he can get out of it, rather he has no rights and has to do what the master requires him to do; he is doing it for the people.

 

Once we catch the purpose of ministry without evaluating our own dilemmas then we will realize that the Lord will do what is good in his sight. We will then muster up the strength to be strong and fight bravely because we are not doing it for ourselves, but rather for our people and the cities of our God!

 

Every decision a person in ministry makes affects more than themselves because ministry is about the people we are serving. There are people and cities waiting for you to catch your purpose in order for victory to come to their lives. Ultimately, you can't do it on your own, you need to pull on the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Don't give up. Be strong and fight bravely!

 

KEEP ON GOING!

The Kings Table

2 Samuel 9:13 "And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king's table."

 

I come across many stories of members in my church who heard about all that God was doing at Praise Chapel and wanted to come visit. They heard about a family moving from across the country to start a new church in their home and how God was bringing the growth. As they come into the house of worship they are introduced to many people find themselves scoping out the place and trying to figure out who is the Pastor. 

 

Usually before a person is brought to the church I've heard about them from their friend or family who would be praying for them.  Since I already heard of who they are I go and greet them as if I already knew them and I thank them for coming. While I'm greeting I rarely give my name or title, after all they just got introduced to many other people I doubt they want to try to figure out another name. I have heard many times that upon their first visit they will come and see me and think oh that must be the Pastors son, hearing that the Pastor and his wife came with a son to start a church, until I reach the pulpit.  Once they see that I start preaching they're shocked that I am the Pastor!

 

I look fairly young for my age and have so throughout all my years. I say its a result of getting saved at 14years old and staying in the joy of the Lord. Sin did not add ages to me as it would have done in the world.  I'm currently 29 years old and my response when people say I'm young is that you're never too young to care for people.  I started pioneering our church at 27 years of age, but it was worse when I was back in California teaching Junior High class when I as 17 years old.  I had many obstacles, insults, and leeriness to overcome because of my youthfulness everyone would mistake me for one of the kids I was leading.

 

Many times what we can consider our "cripples" will cause us to run from the callings that God would have for us.  I knew that at a young age and looking young I would have to deal with many doubts.  Doubting if I would be capable enough to lead, to be responsible, and to protect the flock. I felt many times like restraining from doing what God called me to do because I didn't feel as if I would be capable of doing it due to my being young. 

 

Mephibosheth felt the same way. He felt that his crippled feet did not deserve him a place in the palace amongst the king. I could imagine he felt like he needed to prove himself worthy of royalty to all the other onlookers.  Why does he get to eat at the kings table being crippled? Even earlier in this same chapter of 2 Samuel, verse 8, Mephibosheth tells the King "who is your servant that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?" In reality our cripples make us dead dogs.  Dead because of sin and dogs because we keep going back to them.

 

When the king calls us it doesn't matter what anybody else in the kingdom may say.  Yes we don't serve to be eating at the kings table.  We don't deserve to be treated as royalty.  How can we do something for God, the King, as a crippled? Why would he choose me?

 

Honestly it doesn't matter how or why, but what matters is that we respond and join him at THE KINGS TABLE!

I Can!

Matthew 20:30 "Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!'"

 

 Last night my two year old son, Cody, was in bed quoting Philippians 4:13 to his Glow-in-the-Dark Dinosaurs.  Actually I think he was teaching them the scripture.  Softly in a childish voice saying "I ... can do ... all things ... through Christ ... who ... strengthens me ... Philippians ... 4 ... 13".  It seemed that once Cody was learning how to talk his response would be "I can't".

 

I have never like the words, "I can't".  Being a Youth Pastor for ten years I heard those words a lot from teenagers who would use that as an excuse for their laziness. Even still there are many people in the church that will pull those words as an excuse to not let go of their sins, their drugs, their addictions. Young strong men would say this only to have my wife come up and do what they said they couldn't, as they stood in a look of foolishness watching. Reality is you're right, "YOU CAN'T", but "I CAN" do ALL things THROUGH Christ who strengthens me.

 

So many times in life we like to use our weaknesses as an excuse for laziness and not accomplishing anything.  What you can't do in one area of weakness you may do in another area you are strong in producing the same final result.  You see the two men in Matthew 20 were blind, they couldn't SEE, but that didn't stop them! They used what they COULD they heard, used their ears, about Jesus coming near by.  Then they started shouting, using their voice, to get Jesus attention.  The final result was even when people were telling them to be quiet, that they CAN'T do that, the two blind men realized they CAN do all things THROUGH Christ and in the end THROUGH Christ they received their sight!

 

Don't make excuses of saying you can't do something because of an area of weakness.  Truth is God has given you many strengths and once you start using those, then THROUGH Christ he will give you the strength in the other areas.

So in the face of difficulty don't make an excuse of saying, "I can't!" Shout it out, "I CAN!"

Keep Searching

1 Chronicles 16:11 "Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him."

 

One thing I've learned in life, is that we all search out things of value. 

 

Three large bags of bagels were donated this week for our Community Sunday Breakfast and lots of preparations needed to be done.  Thankfully we had two of our teenage boys hanging out that evening at the church and they were able to assist with preparations.  The bagels had to be cut for the next morning and the rest bagged for people to take home for the week. With seven people helping it was speedily accomplished.

 

In the midst of the work one of the boys removed his ring from his finger so it wouldn't become a bother while working with his hands handling the bagels.  Focused with determination of getting the task done he left his ring on the table without any concern.  So happens that my curious two year old son was innocently discovering new found items and came across the teenagers ring, "Ah, a new toy!", he must have thought in his little head as he took it to his collection of toys. 

 

After everything was finished, the boy began questioning where his ring had gone knowing he saw my two year old son take it.  But by now the ring was missing. Where it went only my two year old knew. The search was on! Under every chair, table, and counter searching and seeking for this lost ring.  My two year old son, Cody was asked numerous of times what he had done with the ring and he responded, "The Garbage!" Determined to find that ring the boy gloved up and searched every trash can in the place.  Then took the cans to the dumpsters and pulled every piece of trash out to double check. 

 

Much time had passed and I went into my room to continue my preparations for Sunday morning service. As I came back out the teenager was still in a search.  Feeling remorse for the boy as he seemed frustrated and a bit irritated the contagious act of searching and seeking now came to me and I was determined to help him find his ring, actually so did everyone else. We asked Cody again where he had put the ring this time showing him what a ring looked like and he responded pointing to his mom, "In the forest!" My wife was wearing a t-shirt with some tree print on it and we didn't understand what he was saying because he never handed it to his mother. Now quite a long time passed and my wife was finally going to call it a night.  When she went to change in to her sleepwear and laid on the bed she thought about what my son had said, "In the forest" and remembered while we were all preparing the bagels he kept sticking things in her back pocket of her jeans. She gets out of bed and grabs her jeans and eureka the ring was found!

 

My son wasn't lying that he was throwing things into the garbage because during all our work we were asking him to throw things away. As well as when his response was in the forest, in his two year old mind he was playing a game and the back pocket of his mothers jeans became a hidden forest unknown to anyone else simply because she was wearing a tree printed t-shirt.  The teenager was now relieved his ring was found and amused that it was so close all this time while he was searching in trash cans and dumpsters just to find it.

 

Sometime it takes the value of a ring to show us how our search for the Lord should be. He wants us to search him out! To seek him! When we put value on the Lord our search will become contagious and others will want to join in.  At the same time God speaks his word and tells us where we can find him.  In our search, we might find ourselves in heaps of garbage, but God will always pull us out and if we continue on our quest for the Lord we shall soon find that he was closer than we had expected. 

 

He was always there and we just needed to Keep Searching!

 

Don't give up and don't loose faith for the time of reaping is close at hand!

Like A Child

Matthew 18:3 "Then he said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

 

My two year old son, Cody, is so precious and I always have a great time being entertained by all that he does.  So young and so innocent. He doesn't have a care in the world as he trusts and believes that his parents will supply his needs.  To him everything has a mommy and a daddy and there is no wrong in the world. But he knows the difference between good and evil and will point it out.  When he sees something that represents evil he'll exclaim, "Monster!" and he'll run to us for safety.  Once he's in his place of refuge he'll say, "No monsters because we have Jesus!" Already at the age of 2 my son knows that in Christ we have nothing to fear.

 

We taught him early on as he was learning how to speak that he can do all things through Christ. When he would say he couldn't do something we'd respond with Philippians 4:13, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." Even as his parents when we tell him we can't he starts to quote the scripture to us and reminds us that WE CAN do all things. It is this type of faith and dependability that Jesus says we need to have in order to get into Heaven.

 

One part of the scripture we tend to overlook in quoting this verse is that two things are required in order to get into the Kingdom.  First is we need to turn from our sins.  This often gets overlooked as we quickly jump to the second requirement of becoming like little children. It is very important that we turn from our sins in order to become like a little child.  The reason why is because sin represents rebellion and independence. Sin is selfishness and there is no dependability in it. Without turning from our sins we will never be able to become like little children because we are too busy trying to be in a state of control. Even the very fact of turning from our sin is like a child realizing what is wrong or evil and running from it to go tell daddy. 

 

To become like little children does not mean to act like childish.  Even still some children seem to act more mature than adults in the way that they know things are wrong and will not do certain things, yet some grown adults continue running to the things they know are wrong for their lives. Those that are in Christ have become adopted by the Father and became his children (Ephesians 2), therefore in saying to become like little children Jesus is saying become like you are a Child of the Father and act like a Pure, Innocent, Loving Child would. 

 

Everyone wants to be apart of the Kingdom of Heaven, but we do not want to turn from our sins or become like little children.  We all want riches and the glorious things of Heaven, but do not want to pay the price of surrendering our lives. When we choose to have a faith like a child then the Father can show us how awesome and powerful He really is.  The Father loves to be the super hero to his children that run to him from the fears of this world and into His arms for refuge.

 

Embrace the Kingdom of Heaven. Become LIKE A CHILD!

Losin' It

Matthew 10:39 “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

It was a about a month ago that the Holy Spirit quickened my wife and I, as we walked into our home after leaving members of our church whose car was their only means of shelter and others who find their serenity in the cover of local parks, that we did not come here for ourselves, but for the people of this city. 

We came to a realization that we were throwing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars into a place that we considered home for the purpose of only laying our head down to sleep. It was Jesus himself who said, “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). We spent most of our days at work or church and realized our home of comfort was becoming a retreat from the call that God had for us. Our resources were now being subdued by this house when every service we would be praying that God would bring more resources to help the needs of the community. My wife and I knew we had to make a decision and it wasn’t going to be a very hard one.

We surrendered our gated community home for a simple efficiency we created at our church. But oh did the scripture in Matthew 10:39 ever come true.  We were living to pamper ourselves, but who were we to deserve it.  It would have been easy to come up with excuses to justify the means of our living.  After all we had just lost all our furniture in our previous home to the war of bed bugs. Didn’t we deserve a fresh new life? Yet we felt a yearning in our spirits that something wasn’t right.

Living in this efficiency we now have a peace that surpasses understanding, as we lay down at night knowing that we can minister to those who are in need and can provide more resources to our community. They see our intentions and know that we are not helping with an outstretched arm only to run back to our so-called fortress of safety. 

Since the move we have seen growth and faith in the lives our people.  It is wonderful to wake up in the morning and go into the sanctuary before the presence of God, as well as maintaining it, without a time limit of having to rush to get home. Surely we have found life by loosing what we considered to be life here on earth.  The life we live may not be ideal to the world, but this is the call that God had for us and we are willingly embracing the shelter of the Almighty.

One thing is for sure to all believers, that God did not call us to build our lives here on earth, but to build our lives in Heaven’s gates.  Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of creating your life. Lose it in Him.

Live a life of obedience to God even when it calls you to give up what you consider life because only then will you find it!         

http://praisechapelhollywoodfl.com/help/how-we-help-you/

Raffle Tickets

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK TO PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS - SUNDAY IS THE DRAWING

 

Praise Chapel's 2 Year Anniversary Celebration is October 2, 2011

 

I'm selling $5 Raffle Tickets to support this Celebration.

 

CASH Prizes:

            1^st = $100

            2^nd = $75

            3^rd = $50

            4^th = $25

Winners will be announced at the Celebration Service but does not need to be present.

 

Prizes will be given out in person or mailed to unknown individuals.

 

If you would like to purchase tickets let me know. J

 

You can pay on our website via paypal http://praisechapelhollywoodfl.com/help/donate-2/

 

Feel free to forward to people who maybe interested.

 

Check us out for more info:  www.praisechapelhollywoodfl.com

 

Or if you would like to give a generous contribution towards our 2 Year Celebration to help with the festivities that too would be greatly appreciated!

 

Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Psalm 63:2 “I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.”

Whenever I come across the word sanctuary, I think of the Disney cartoon-movie “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”, where a woman is running to the church screaming ‘Sanctuary! Sanctuary!’ in hopes of being protected and sheltered from her accusers. That is exactly what the church is supposed to be; a place of refuge, a shelter for the needy, a beacon of hope, a sanctuary. The place where you can see God and gaze upon His power and glory!

In modern day churches we have learned to accept the tax collector and the CEO’s of Bubba Gump’s (fisherman). We say yes bring them to the church, get them connected, and allow them to turn their lives back to God. Having the affects that Nicodemus had where he wanted to return all the money he had cheated people. Sounds like a big Tithe! Don’t get me wrong, that is great and has the power of God in changing a life around.

But what about the people who can’t do anything for you? The gypsy, who has no place to live and rejected by society.  The hunchback people frown upon because he looks different. The poor man that smells as a result of days without showering.  The alcoholic lady who drinks her problems away and fears people are going to judge her if she steps foot in church.  The man who lost everything because of medical bills for his sick wife. Can they run into a church screaming, “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!” and actually see the Lord and gaze upon His Power and Glory?

Have we allowed church to become so high tech that people are afraid of touching anything in fear that something expensive would break? Or that those in real need of sanctuary won’t dare to enter, in fear that they would be the first to be accused if something was missing simply because of their appearance? Do the preparations of media systems, stage lights, displays, and handouts consume our minds more than the faces of the hurting that are present in the service? Creating an inviting atmosphere in the church is significant, but not at the cost of keeping people away.

The “Sanctuary” is the Lords! It is His sanctuary and He says go! Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame (Luke 14:21). Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full (Luke 14:23).

These are the people whom his house are supposed to be full of.  Sure we can go out and put door hangers on every suburban house because the Lord cares for them too.  We can target a specific group and build a mega church on that type of people, but what about the call to go into the alleys and behind the hedges?

We may have a lot of “feeling” experiences in His sanctuary, but can a person walk in and actually say, “I have seen the Lord in His Sanctuary and have gazed upon his power and glory.”

Church has to be more than a Christianized pep rally and return to being the Sanctuary; a place of refuge. A place where the poor, the crippled, and the outcasts can come and say, “Sanctuary! Sanctuary!”

Today Is All I Need

Matthew 6:34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Oh, trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce, Or a trouble is what you make it. And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts, But only how did you take it. A line from one of my favorite, Classic Poems “How Did You Die?”, by Edmund Vance Cooke.  Troubles are going to come and according to the above scripture they will come daily! Note: there are troubles waiting for you tomorrow!

Planning and strategizing for the future and events are good, it keeps the vision flowing. We do it all the time in the church, the momentum is always moving, seasons are always changing, and direction from the Spirit is always leading. However, at the cost of worrying how they will be accomplished is something different and uncalled for.  Of course it’s only “natural” (emphasis on the word natural) for us to want to worry and figure out every means and end to our strategies. We’re not only natural beings, we’re SPIRITUAL beings and the testing of our spirit lies within these troubles.

Working with people in the church and outside of the church is always a colorful experience of different personalities.  Anytime you find yourself having to deal with people you will learn that people are not all the same and every person deals with things differently.  That said, its amusing to see the responses of people under pressure and it's amusing to see myself under pressure at times.  To see them in the midst of all the hustle of planning things out and wondering how things are going to get done.  Will we have enough? Where will the money come from? Who’s going to oversee it? It’s no wonder why the word ‘worry’ starts with a ‘W’ because almost all the questions associated with it do too! Who? What? When? Where? Why? HoW?  With so many questions of self concerns containing this single letter God is waiting for us to trust in him so he can take these questions and turn that W into a statement … WoW! God loves to wow his people when they learn to trust in him.

Worrying about the things of the future is not in our control.  Sure continue to plan and strategize, but don’t worry about its results.  Whatever happens is going to happen and we can’t control the outcomes, but if we did all that we knew we could do with all that we had available to us, then it was a job well done.  Many always quote, "All things happen for a reason", but it's in the times of trouble and worries that we forget about that. However all things do happen for a reason and if something didn’t go the way you planned or strategized, then know that God will use what you did wholeheartedly for the sake of his glory! 

I can’t control tomorrow but I can make my choices for today.  Today is all I need!

Praise Is What I Do

Psalm 34:1 “I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.”

In our Wisdom Wednesday Bible Study Groups, we are studying the book of Ephesians and in last nights study we were talking about understanding the Power of God. Paul’s prayer for the church was that we would "know" God, but also "understand" God (Ephesians 1). In our discussions we learned that understanding the Power of God will result in having a victorious attitude over Satan and our situations. We know that the enemy is out there to tempt us and is trying to destroy us. The outcome of these temptations and at times failures, are a series of emotions such as; depression, guilt, anger, shame, tears, etc.

Many times believers will walk into a worship service with emotional disturbances. They can’t enter into praise because they have become a prisoner to their feelings. Something happened in their day and that now disrupts God's time and now worship just doesn’t seem like an option.  Faces of anger, tears of defeat, irritable statures fill the seats of what are supposed to be children of God in worship to him.

Why should God be held accountable for the way we feel? Don’t we make our decisions? Can’t we decide what will bother us and what will not? Don’t we understand that Satan is at work in trying to destroy our lives? If we understood this then we should and would want to worship God react towards the enemy! Praising the Lord at all times is a constant attack towards the enemy in reminding him that he can try to mess with your life all he wants, but it will only produce constant speaking of his praise!

No matter how you feel or what you’re going through continue you to praise the Lord at all times! Speak his praises constantly.  Nobody can make you feel the way you do not want to feel. Everybody makes their own choices.  Choose to praise. Praise is what I do!

Watching You

Psalm 11:4 “But the Lord is in his holy Temple ; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.”

I once read a cartoon comic about an employee who was caught by his supervisor doing nothing.  When the supervisor asked why the employee wasn’t doing anything, the employee’s response was “because I didn’t know you were there”.  That is the way most Christians live their lives.  Christianity is about faith, believing in an invisible God.  However, because Christians can’t see God, the human instinct assumes he’s not there, he’s not watching.

Our minds assume that God is only present when we pray or when we go to church.  Presuming that God doesn’t see anything we do in secret or he’s too big and too busy to involve himself in our personal lives makes God into some type of genie that is only around when rubbed upon. We need to understand that he is Omni-Present, he’s always there and always watching.

Truth is, God watches everyone closely.  However, he’s not just watching in entertainment, he’s examining every person on earth.  The way we live our lives is not only being watched, but examined by God! Though he may be in his holy Temple and ruling from heaven, he is still very concerned with every person on earth’s personal lives.

If you’re a believer, start living a life like you believe God is real and really watching, examining, your life.  It’s funny because whenever a person knows that they are being watched by someone they value important, they tend to perform a whole lot faster and better. 

Let’s value our God and know that he is watching you.

Weakness

2Corinthians 12:8-9 “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

I used to hate talking in front of people, whether it was a small group or a big crowd I dreaded having to speak up in front of others.  Even if it was as simple as introducing yourself by saying your name in the class room, as the teacher went from student to student asking their name, my stomach would turn and I would begin to have a mild panic attack as sweat would form from my head and palms. Simply because throughout all my years of grade school I was made fun of because of my voice. I had a high pitched voice and it embedded fear and low self-esteem in me.  

This was my weakness.  I could recall many nights screaming in my pillow hoping, praying, that I would lose my voice only for it to come back deeper, normal. Kids were the worst because they have no fear of telling people what they think or how they feel such as, “Why do you talk funny?” That was the question I determined to avoid and it created so many roots of sarcasm and harshness in me. There were also many times I would cry my eyes out to God begging that he would take it away.  I felt like an outcast and bullied. Thoughts of suicide haunted my mind.

Even after my conversion the effects of having such a weakness would hold me back from many things that God wanted to do in my life.  Most of my prayers growing up were that God would change my voice.  I related to Paul, begging and pleading for the Lord to take away my weakness and he never did.  Still he chose to use me.  When I was 16 years old I was asked to start teaching the Junior High Sunday School class and the panic came back. I said no and that I didn’t like kids. I knew they would make fun of me, but God had different plans. He pressed upon my heart and spirit and I knew I had to do it. At the age 18 I was asked to become the Youth Pastor and again the same situation, but I had to be obedient to his commands. From there I even became a Bible Study leader. In every one of those moves I still dealt with my weakness and insecurity.

Just because a person becomes a believer doesn’t mean that everything is going to be perfect. You’ll still have to deal with insecurities and weaknesses, but the best part is you’re not alone.  His grace was all I needed and His power does work best in weaknesses. I couldn’t allow my weakness to stop me from doing the work of God because His will needed to be done. Yes I tried to run from it every time, but just as with Jonah, he will find you and you will end up doing his will in the end. I can now boast about my weakness because it was in it that the power of Christ did work through me.  He did eventually change my voice after a night of radical worship, but that’s another story, but I know it was only because of my faithfulness to him through my weakness.

So the next time you catch yourself begging God to take away a weakness, know that he hears your prayers, but now is not the time. He wants to use that weakness so that the power of Christ can work through you. His grace is all you need.  Don’t allow your weakness to birth insecurity, depression, or fear.  Tell the Lord; show yourself strong in my weakness.  “Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.” (Psalm 37:5) I can now boast in my weakness because His will was done and lives were changed!

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3 P's

1 Samuel 10:6 "At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them. You will be changed into a different person."

 

We know the scriptures say that any man who is in Christ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), but its just so hard to comprehend, regardless here it is; the evidence that we can be changed into a different person. It's only through the Spirit of the Lord coming upon a person that they can be changed. All the excuses of accepting our negative behaviors, attitudes, and faults all need to come to a halt because there is a solution. The 3 P's need to be applied in order for there to be change, Powerfully, Prophesy, Person.

 

Samuel just anointed Saul to be king. After receiving the call and anointing, Saul goes for the first time to worship the Lord and when he is in the presence of the Lord and His servants, its then that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him. The Spirit of the Lord just didn't tap him, but according to the text 'powerfully' came upon him. Finding ourselves in a place of worship and among other believers opens the door for the Spirit to come upon us. We need the Spirit of the Lord to powerfully come upon us if we want to be used by him.

 

After this impartation of the Spirit of the Lord powerfully coming upon Saul, he is now equipped for works of the kingdom and begins to prophesy. Man can try to anoint a person, but it isn't until the Spirit of the Lord powerfully comes upon him that he can finally flow in the anointing with heavenly abilities to prophesy. Once a person allows the Spirit of the Lord to come upon them they are now available for the gifts of the Spirit. Saul begins doing things of the Kingdom that he's never done before.

 

The final result of the power and prophesy is that it changes the man of who Saul was before.  In the previous chapter when Samuel is speaking words of affirmation to Saul he doesn't accept it and begins making excuses very similar to that of Gideon. But when the power of the Spirit of the Lord comes upon you and you begin to flow in prophesy, behold a new and different person will arise. Accepting the Spirit of Lord to powerfully come upon you, receiving gifts of the Spirit such as prophesy, will result in a that of being changed to a different person.

 

Believers need to start walking powerfully in the Spirit. Utilize the gifts of the Spirit and prophecy. As well as be changed to a different person by giving up status of our old lives. God has anointed you to be a child of royalty and to lead people into his Kingdom. Get rid of the old self and live a Spirit-filled life!

God Knows Best

1 Samuel 3:18 "So Samuel told Eli everything; he didn't hold anything back. 'It is the Lord's will,' Eli replied. 'Let him do what he thinks best.'"

 

Last night I was watching Evan Almighty with my family and the main focus of the movie is that God is using Evan as a modern day Noah to build an arch and rescue people from a soon to come flood. There is a part in the movie where Evan embraces this call from God and in doing so his wife decideds to leave with her three sons. Evan is standing in the middle of the driveway as they pull out, looks up to the heavens and says "I know you do this because you love me." Right then a sprinkler shoots in his face and he says, "Can you love me a little less?" Though this movie is a comical fiction film, truth is, God does have a plan and it's not always the way we think it is going to be.

 

God came to Samuel and told him that the time is coming where judgment on Eli and his family was going to take place. Eli's sons were doing evil things and even though Eli knew about it he didn't discipline them, but God was disciplining the whole family.  Eli's response to what Samuel told him of what the Lord was going to do was let him do what he thinks best.

 

The next time you find yourself in a hard situation in doing the work of God, just remember that the Lord does have a perfect will. Allow God to do what he thinks is best.  God's love is everlasting and yes, with his love does come discipline, but only as a reaction to our actions.  Let us live lives pleasing to the Lord and accept the good and the bad.  When you stay faithful to the Lord and do what you know is right, even though hard times will come, utimately His Will, will be done!

 

Jesus himself prayed not my will, but your will be done.  And we all know the course that Jesus took.  A road of momentary death and suffering in order to bring forth an eternity of life and peace. 

Let him do what he thinks best!

Redemption is Near

Ruth 4:14 "Then the women of the town said to Naomi, 'Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel.'"

 

Hope to the hopeless. Nahomi was a married woman with two sons that each married a woman of a different nationality. Her husband and sons all died leaving her widowed with her two daughter in-laws.  Though one of the daughter in-laws returned back to be with her immediate family, Ruth stood. And now we have two widows with no hope of a future, but God had other plans.  Ruth ends up marrying a close relative to her belated father in-law, Boaz and has a child who will now inherit their land. A child who is now labeled the redeemer of the family.

 

Ruth isn't a Hebrew woman, she's a Moabite. The fact that God would use her child to become a part of a master plan, would be baffling to a religious mindset.  Why would God choose to use her? She's not part of his chosen people. That's the beauty of our Lord! He doesn't live by the confines of what religion would label him as. You see Ruth's child was the father of Jesse who was the father of the chosen King David and we know that Jesus the Messiah was to come out of the line of king David. 

 

The words of those ladies to Nahomi were prophetic, but not towards Obed, but unto Jesus! The redeemer for our families! His name is famous throughout all his people!  

 

Hope is never too far out of reach when we place our trust in the Lord. Nahomi and Ruth at one point may have felt that they had no hope for a future. No husbands and no children. However, because of Ruth's obedience, faithfulness, and loyalty to Nahomi she now became the super-great-grand-mother of whom would be the Redeemer of the world. 

Stay obedient. Stay faithful. Stay loyal. Even when you feel your hope for the future may have died, God has a redeemer in your future!

Perception

2 Corinthians 5:16 "So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!"

 

Judging seems so easy to do.  Everything that a person says just seems right to themselves and for whatever reason their own opinions matter more than others. People fight to be the loudest and get their point across. People get angry and bitter because nobody took their advise or opinion and they get offended. Humanistic we're all like this! That is why we need a Savior.

 

When we evaluate other people from a human point of view we degrade people and place ourselves on a higher pedestal. Filming industries make millions of dollars on these type of movies especially geared toward high schools because the judging game is so easy and relates to all. To judge a book by its cover and accept or reject them socially by our own perception is not what God would want His people to do.

 

As believers we need to be careful not to allow ourselves to slip back into that easy trap of evaluating people by our human perception. Just like the scriptures states even before salvation we had our prejudgment about Jesus Christ and Christianity.  Sure we may have heard about him, but we just knew him as a religious figure in a story. Most of Christianity seems like a fairytale to an unbeliever, but once the veil of unbelief is lifted from our eyes, how differently we know him now!

 

The enemy loves to use our fallen humanity against ourselves and we need to be careful not to fall into the same perceptions that we had at one time. It's time to stop evaluating others and have the Lord start evaluating our hearts. When we start looking at people with a different perspective, just as we did with Christ after salvation we will be begin to know people differently too!

You Rule

Psalm 89:9 "You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves."

 

This has been a stirring week here in South Florida as the east coast sits on the edge of their seats, running to the gas stations, stocking their pantries, and arranging their shutters; waiting for the news to state the status of Hurricane Irene.  The unknown is exhilarating as the elements began to take their course. With all the expectation of what kind of disaster this hurricane can bring, it is easy to strike fear in the lives of people.

 

Last night we had a prayer meeting, as it was our usually scheduled Tuesday Night Hour of Power Prayer, except this time our primary focus was on preparation of Hurricane Irene.  After hearing the news about an earthquake in Colorado on Monday and one in Virginia just hours before our meeting, we knew that we had to get to the throne room of creation. We did not pray prayers of requests or demands of altering the Hurricane or for it to hit another place. No, we prayed for God's will to be done and to prepare us for if and when it does hit, so that we can be a beacon of hope and shelter to those that are in need. To pray "God don't let it hit us, let it go somewhere else" is proclaiming a curse on another place and in reality backing out of our responsibility as His servants to help in trouble times.

 

I truly believe that the earth reacts to its environment. Sometimes areas are in need of a shaking to bring people back to repentance and crying out to the Lord. At the same time the results of hearing and seeing such devastation's can cause fear in the hearts and minds of people.  Yes, even God's people; the people whom he tells us to trust him with all our hearts and minds. As believers we need to remind ourselves that He rules the oceans, He owns the earth and everything in it (Psalm 24). Of course no one is ever fully prepared for what creation will bring through earthquakes, tornado's, or hurricanes, but one thing is for sure; when we put our trust in Him we have the confidence to know He rules.

 

Accepting the concept that God is in control in your heart and mind, will cast out all fear.  Perfect love casts out all fear.  And no matter what happens our response to God needs to be "You Rule"!

FOR MEN ONLY: "Humility"

 A DEVOTION FROM THE SOON TO BE: HIS MEETS HERS DEVOTION SERIES

Judges 12:14 "He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. He judged Israel for eight years."

 

The human nature of man is to be the biggest and the strongest. It is the battle of the fittest. To pride ourselves in our strength and win every competition. Many men work their entire lives to make it to the top. To be ahead of the game. It is not necessarily wrong.  Weren't we created to be dominate and to rule over creation as Adam did in the garden?

 

God wants man to rule, but not for the sake of power. Jesus came and demolished our human standards of what it means to lead. When Israel chose their first king they did what their human instincts would have them to do.  They looked for the biggest most handsomest man to become king. They chose Saul.  I once learned in school that even electives for Presidents have a better chance of winning if they are attractive.

 

Naturally we're looking for someone to come in on stallions, dominating and declaring their presence as leader or judge.  But the heart of God for leaders is humbleness. Here we see the prime example of a Judge of Israel teaching that to his children and his children's children.  We need to teach the next generation that ruling isn't about power and having it all. Rather go to the people. Ride your donkeys, not your horses, and show you are serious about being their leader, their judge.

 

Evaluate: In your mind, how do you think leaders should act? Think about a person in your life that you respected as a leader or an influence to you.  How did they act and portray themselves? Did it meet your expectations of what you think a leader should be? Learn to be humble and not to pride ourselves in our own glory.

Keep It

Judges 11:24 "You keep whatever your god gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us."

 

I read a blog this morning by Pastor Matthew Barnett, founder of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, CA, and in his blog he tells a story about a man who was interested in helping the Dream Center financially in the early years, but after the tour and hearing the vision he respectfully refused because he didn't believe the vision was possible.  The Dream looked too big. But in time the dream did come to pass and God had supplied all the resources.

 

All morning today, I have been hearing on the radio, in the scriptures, and on the internet, topics concerning finances. From the lack of finances, to giving, and God's provisions. And personally experiencing situations myself. As a blog reader, you get to hear the inside scoop.

 

Yesterday afternoon our power was shut off because we missed the bill and our check had already been used and stretched to meet the needs of the previous weeks obligations including gas, car payments, etc.  We had no idea where we were going to get the resources.  We even asked acquaintances, but they were going through financial situations as well and did not have the resources we needed. 

 

So we trusted God and I called the electricity company and they insisted we had to pay what we did not have so we just believed that God would bring us through. AND HE DID! After work, we got home and had no electricity. We were notified that it would take up to 24 hours until the power was restored, so I picked up my family and we went to the local bookstore to enjoy the pleasure of AC and light! After a few hours it was time to head back. We stopped by the local store to purchase candles in order to have light.  As we were driving back home, we started praying and had my 2 year old son repeat our prayers in hope that our lights would be on when we arrived. To the glory of God we arrived home and after turning on the circuit breakers the lights came on!

 

My family and I stood in the living room rejoicing and jumping thanking God for the electricity, but more so because we didn't have to borrow the money.  God met the need. We had a few items pending online to sell and that evening someone came and purchased a item. Even as I write this, my family and I are in transition of moving from our home of comfort, to live on site at our church property in order to be more accessible to the people physically and financially. I have felt the Lord tell me that if He is giving us all we "need", then why do we keep adding to the list of "wants". We need to learn to be content.

 

We have had our share of asking people for help and can really say we have used up our resources, but our trust must not be in man. Our trust is in the Lord. It is so easy to give into the requests of someone who comes and wants to sow a seed into the ministry if only we do as they request.  The problem is we don't share the same vision. And we can not change what God has called us to do simply because our resources disagree.

 

God is our ultimate resource.  As believers we need to work to build the Kingdom, not work to build a kingdom. God has blessed us with great jobs and finances not for the sole purpose of building our homes or obtaining retirement for our security. It is far beyond that. He wants to build our house and He wants to be our security. We take that privilege away from Him when we take what He's blessed us with and use it to do what we want to do.

 

So I say, "Keep it!" It is not wrong to want good things in this world. But when it causes you to shun your eyes to the needs of the body, then it is time to check your heart.  As for me and my family we will hold to the words of Judges 11, "You keep whatever your god gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us." 

 

If he blesses us with much or little, use it for His Glory. Let us be content in serving Him with whatever He gives us.