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Monthly Archives: April 2011

Mind Over Matter

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Everything that I enjoy or do not is in control within my mind. My complaints, my compliments are all from the mind as well! The mind is the head of my body! If my mind is corrupt, I am scattered! I’m lost with no direction, and need God to lead me. The mind is the one thing that is yours, that no one can change or control within you. They can take all of your possessions, but they cannot take your mind. That’s a powerful and yet revealing statement when it comes to our walk with God.

Direction Of Focus

Psalms 123:2-3

[2] Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
[3] Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

We also have to remember that we are servants also. That means that I am going to have to lead even when I do not feel like it. That means that I have to push on and continually have focus on God regardless of my trials. With that said, we have to learn to wait and be more patient. The first thing that we lean on is generally the very thing we trust in first. If that isn’t God, that should speak to us in a very great way. It is going to be an effort for me to trust God when I live in the flesh.

How God Reveals

Isaiah 53:1

[1] Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

Do we believe? What fuels our beliefs? How do we keep that kindled? Our faith! We have to begin in something greater than what our hands are able to do! God does not work on our timeline or resources. That should be encouraging to you! The report of the Lord sometimes is not what we want to hear, but we have to begin to hear what God is trying to speak to us and apply what is being sent our way.

Take Heed

Malachi 2:16

[16] For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

The keyword that comes to mind is “covereth”. We attempt to come in and hide our problems from everyone and God, and being too filled with pride to admit that we need help. We have to begin showing God exactly who we are so that He can transform us! We have to take heed to ourselves! In other words, we must begin to take inventory before we come into the doors and expect the “blessings to fall down”.

Beware

Mark 4:19

[19] And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

The keyword that comes to mind is “choke”. If we choke out the spirit that leads us from temptation and keeps our minds and hearts, we’ll begin to give in to things we would have normally never gave into. We will begin to become unfruitful and not be able to even help ourselves after a while. The cares of this world versus how important God should be will begin to shift into the favor of your flesh.

Look To Him

Isaiah 45:22

[22] Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

There is nothing else that will ever keep you! I tried to find everything out there and there was never a solution other than the Holy Ghost entering in and changing my life forever! I have never been the same, and I recommend it for anyone who is willing to make up their mind!

The Effects Of Our Obedience

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If we are in love with God, obedience doesn’t cost a thing, it’s a delight! It’s supposed to be anyways!

If we are not, our obedience costs others a great deal. Why? The battle of the flesh begins, for us as well as others!

When we reject the word of God, we’ll say “What about my plans?” or “I’m not going to accept what you say”

In all reality, who or what are we really rejecting?

1 Samuel 15:1-15

[1] Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.
[2] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
[3] Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
[4] And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
[5] And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
[6] And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
[7] And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
[8] And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
[9] But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
[10] Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,
[11] It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.
[12] And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
[13] And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
[14] And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
[15] And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

Saul was told to destroy ALL of Amalek, everything and everyone and took 210,000.

When we read verses 8-11, a red flag sticks out to me.

One of the first mistakes to anything is what?…it is when we thought we had a better plan in store than what God has for us to begin with.

The two worst mistakes you can possibly make are doing nothing and bearing the suffering or doing some and leaving part of it off.

Remember! Others around you are directly affected!

No effort = no encouragement

No tears = no hope

No humbleness = no selfishness

No love = no compassion

We have to learn to obey God and leave all the consequences with him, because they are all our own self-created consequences.

The question I ask myself is what do we do with:

All regrets that we have

All fears of criticisms from others

All on seeing eyes of rejection

Rebuke it and love what God has done! Don’t pluck the seeds out!

We cannot dictate by conditions! We have to hear to know!

Making Myself Remember

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As we are on our journey with God, there are plenty of moments that attempt to come along and steer you away. There has to begin to be something stirred up from within you to remind you of how powerful that God is inside of you.

So how do I make myself remember? How do I stir up? How do I fight growing numb?

2 Peter 1:12-14

[12] Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
[13] Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
[14] Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

What we stir up within keeps us. What keeps us is what defines us. What defines us is what people see!

There are plenty of reasons to make yourself stay stirred up, so that you define yourself in some of the following examples:

  • discouragement
  • depression
  • suicide
  • addicitions
  • sadness
  • anger
  • bitterness
  • spitefulness
  • hatefulness
  • rebelliousness
  • being unwilling
  • unhappy
  • easy influenced
  • hard-hearted
  • vengeful
  • disobedience

Needless to say, this list goes on and on. I have to often remind myself as well as others that we are ALL subject to fall unto something, no matter how strong that we consider ourselves.

Hebrews 10:22-31

[22] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
[23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
[24] And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
[25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
[26] For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
[27] But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
[28] He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
[29] Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
[30] For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
[31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

We cannot forget or forsake the fact that assembling ourselves together is a powerful factor when it comes to the spirit of God. If we work together, a church can have an amazing service. On the opposite token, if we work against one another or refuse to make any efforts we will not be in the place that God intended for us to be.

Let us begin to consider one another once more. Let us promote unto good works, or in other words, let us only work on something if it is going to allow growth for the greater good of God in someone’s life. People that are going to be coming in that are in desparate need cannot have us in a place where we will not encourage them. We have to be ready, in and out of season!

We are held accountable for those that come in our midst that do not receive what God had intended due to the lack of obedience of the church. We can get past that if we are always stirred up and fluent in the spirit!

Our Duties To Self And Others

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Duties demand us to realize that we are all one body, TOGETHER.

Malachi 2:10

[10] Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

Proverbs 22:2

[2] The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

Do we not see whether we want to accept it or not that we are all one body? There are many occasions where people choose not to accept everyone in a church simply because “we don’t like them”. We have a given duty to be better than that, and love should be the driver of that duty!

We have to accept that we also have a duty to ourselves to stay continually “up”. We as individuals must begin to be in a good Godly place so that we can be of help to others also. We that are knowledgeable in this (or rich in spirit) have to learn to server those that simply are not of the understanding (or poor in spirit) yet.

Romans 15:1-2

[1] We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
[2] Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.

Romans 13:10

[10] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

We have to begin to realize that we as the church of today have a duty to our neighbors (those that are close to us). It is my given duty to edify you, lift you up and encourage you!

When I read the phrase “worketh no ill”, it tells me to not go out of my way to make someone mad or work against them. I have found that reading through the word of God makes us grow up and do things that mature Godly adults should be doing!

We cannot always assume that people know that we love or care about them. We have to actively begin to show through our obedience to God as well as our willingness to obey even when we feel weak or do not feel like it.

Proverbs 25:21-22

[21] If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
[22] For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.

Proverbs 24:17-18

[17] Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

[18] Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

With being willing to serve our enemies (those working against us) comes a love that we thought that we never had, thus entering the true love of God.

You will begin to demonstrate qualities to others that you never thought that you ever could: forgiveness, compassion, mercy, patience, etc. These qualities and more will begin to stand out in you all the more if you will allow them to.

One of the most wore out excuses about disobedience in church is that “someone offended me and I just can’t do it now”. Are we not grown up enough to move on past these things and go forward with our lives? Imagine the weight that would be lifted off of you if you moved on from things that have been hindering you for so long!

Leviticus 19:34

[34] But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Matthew 25:35-36

[35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
[36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

We are going to have those in our midst that need to be just as important as those we know and love. One of the integral parts of the ministry is our duties to strangers (those we do not know). We have to remember that we are only effective to people that do not know Jesus Christ when we are being virtuous in and out of service. I cannot emphasize this enough, but we must do this when we feel like it or when we do not! We have to always remember that everybody is somebody, and that Jesus is Lord! I hope that I spend the same amount of time for a stranger to find Christ as I would some of my closest loved ones!

Hold Fast To The Foundation

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2 Samuel 22:2-3,33 – And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.

Psalm 31:3 – For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

– – – –

In my personal life there have been so many things that people have passed on to me through wisdom and knowledge. I will always be grateful for each and every one of the things that have helped me along the way. Some of the values and thoughts may bear more significance than others (do not touch a hot eye on a stove vs. refusing drugs). I wish that I could say that there was a token of wisdom for every situation, but there will always be cases where you are searching for guidance through confusion.

What I want to remind everyone is about the spiritual ground that you stand upon. The grounded foundation of God is always solid, is never wavering, and will always be there for you; even when you feel as though all have forsaken you. You can always pray to God when everyone else has stopped listening or think they have given you something that should suffice (personal advice). What we often forget is that we can always read in the bible and seek for deeper understanding for situations in your life or even areas you were not aware of!

Host fast to the only thing that will keep you! Hold fast to God, His spirit, and His word!

– – – –

Put Into Practice:

There are many different substances on this earth that carry many different malleable properties. Some can be bent under pressure easily while others require a great deal of force. When I consider this, it makes me think about how solid my trust is with God. If I am stable with God on Sundays and forget about Him on Monday, I would imagine that my Godly faith and backbone could be snapped in two. I would fall quickly, right? Go ahead and feel the example in your hand of what we could walk around as. Take an empty plastic water bottle, remove the cap, and begin to squeeze the bottle. Do you feel how easy it succumbs to the pressure? To me, this is the easiest illustration of how we are when the first sign of pressure attempts to weigh upon us.

So what can we do to improve? We need to have a stronger material within. We must build within ourselves the power of God so we are stronger for each and every trial that is ahead of us. I assure you the more work you put in to getting stronger the less you will regret the effort.

Singing And Speaking At Beacon Of Light

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What better way to begin writing about this other than talking about what the night was for: the Lord God!

The presence of the Lord was surely abundant and ready to help whosoever would come! We only sang a couple of songs, but it was easy to do nonetheless! We always feel free and welcome when we go. The message was about as long as the last one, haha. I hope to have it on the web site in about a week. I get them on here as quick as I can. I hope that it blesses you! Enough about us!

The drama team there did an amazing job with the songs that they sang together. They even have enough youth to have their own praise band! I was totally digging that! They had at least two or three of them testify and it just blew us away! After their songs they performed 3 different dramas, and they were awesome! One in particular, performed to the song “Who Am I” by Casting Crowns was something that will reach out and bless anyone who sees it. As Rebekah said later in the night, they just do not realize what kind of program they have right now. We encourage the Beacon of Light to continue their focus on their youth! They truly are that generation ready to serve God.

Thanks to all of our regular church members and special visitors and friends for coming out and showing the support as well! You have no idea what it does for us sometimes!

It was truly a great miracle that we made it there! For me and my wife, it was just one of those days in traffic and a reminder that the ministry is not always going to be a bed of roses but is well worth the road trips!

I was so thrilled to have all of the family there. We call ourselves “Heart of Grace” as a trio (Me, Rebekah and Mona), but we have sang as an entire family (with Regina, Kay, and Dan) for many years. People sometimes just assume that people are glad or happy or that they feel the way that they do, but I like giving roses where they are due. We are a very tightly-knit family, and I appreciate what God had planned for us long ago. Everyone has a special place and part and without each part it just is not as special!