"When you are down to nothing, God is up to something."
I know I haven't been posting lately, and some of you are beginning to doubt my commitment to the blog. But as I have said before, this is a God thing. So I won't speak what He doesn't say. I was beginning to wonder, myself, if the blog had come to an end or whether it's short lived career had served its purpose. But God ...
It is my heart's desire to post every day, but the truth of the matter is that God doesn't give me a publishable word daily. That doesn't mean that I am spiritually dry nor does it mean that He hasn't given a word. Sometimes God speaks, and I am not listening or at other times, He speaks and I need more understanding.
For example, for the past two weeks God has been pouring new revelation into the earth. It is a season of shifting, and something mighty is happening in the earth. People may not perceive anything happening; others just think spring is on the horizon. But those of us who know that God is a God of season and timing, know better. Can you sense a change in the spirit realm? I bet you can without even realizing it. Many of you may be experiencing chaos in your personal life; things may seem like they are going haywire, but it is a God-thing! Remember God's ways are not our ways. God creates in the middle of chaos! Think about the creation. The earth was in chaos, the Bible says it was without shape and it was void. Does that sound like how your life appears lately? If you are in the middle of a mess, feeling empty, and can't recognize which direction your circumstances are shaping into, then you are in the perfect timing of God. God created a beautiful, perfected garden in the middle of ruin. The scripture declares that He is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. The same way that He created perfection out of nothing, He is moving behind the scenes of your life and perfecting His plan and purpose in your life! You should be rejoicing.
The enemy doesn't stand a chance. You are entering a Divine set-up by God to declare His glory in your life. Just when things seem hopeless, the God of hope miraculously shows Him self strong. Lately I have been praying and reading the Bible seeking a fresh experience in my spiritual life, as a result, I have been dreaming more than usual, "seeing" extraordinary things, and hearing the earth line up with God's plan. Then, just this morning, I encounter a Divine set-up. I walk into the office and discover two ladies singing and talking about the Lord. As I approached them, I sensed that this encounter was different and that I should not interrupt. At the end of their fellowship, one of the ladies asked if I needed a word. I smiled because I had really felt a heaviness before coming into their presence. One of the ladies began to share a God encounter that she had on the weekend, which led our conversation to Jewish feasts and seasons. She told me that she had met a man who shared with her that we were beginning Nissan, a Hebrew month. I laughed out loud because I have studied Biblical feasts, months, and seasons. She asked did I know about the "14th day of Nissan". I bubbled over with joy, because not only do I know the significance of that day, this year it falls on my birthday, April 8th.
You see this day is the Feast of Passover. When God delivered the children of Israel, He commanded Moses to celebrate with the feast of Passover. Before you wonder what is the point, remember our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ was celebrating Passover with the disciples when He was led into the greatest season of God's purpose in His life, the crucifixion! In the middle of chaos, Jesus' betrayal and trial, God was orchestrating His greatest purpose and plan in the lives of humanity. I hope by now that you are getting the picture. We are entering into a supernatural season. The Holy Spirit is moving throughout the earth, and God's glory is being made manifest. Although we are not Jews, we are joint heirs with Christ. Whatever is His, is also ours. Jesus stepped into His divine destiny as He celebrated Passover. If you are ready to enter into a new season, experience spiritual growth, and maximize your destiny, then prepare for Passover. That is right, begin to study the scripture and make a decision to make a sacrificial offering to the Lord during Passover. Now is the time to press in. It is a season of deliverance and new birth! Get ready for a Glory Experience like never before. If you would like more information on celebrating Passover and the Biblical references, either post a comment or email me privately!
Today is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it! God is in control and He has a plan for your life. Walk into your destiny!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Love is . . .
I know I am a day early, since it seems this has become a weekly blog rather than my initial intent to post daily. I am a work in progress, and God is not through with me yet.
I just couldn't wait any longer! I am bursting at the seems because Saturday is Valentine's Day, and I am hopelessly in love. I have met the man of my dreams and am completely smitten by him. He absolutely takes my breath away. Yeah, I can hardly believe it too. So I only thought it would be appropriate to focus today's pearl of wisdom on love.
There are many kinds of love, phileo - brotherly love; eros - sexual / relational love; and agape- the unconditional God kind of love. Phileo love is the affection people who share things in common have for one another. Eros is the infatuation and attraction that married couples share, as the scripture declares that the marriage bed is undefiled. The greatest of these is agape; it is a love that is based on the lover and not the beloved. This means that the giver does not focus on the receiver; the giver is blinded by love. It is the love that 1 Corinthians 13 explains. It is the love that is patient, kind, isn't jealous or bragging. It isn't proud nor does it seek its own way. It isn't rude, doesn't get angry, and never keeps score.
Love rejoices in truth, protects the beloved, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and love never fails.
So many people have their own views of love, but often our views have been tainted from God's original idea of love. I wonder how many times we are impatient, or mean, or jealous, and count how many times our loved ones mess up. That according to God, is not love. So how can we ever live up to God's expectations of love? Is it even possible to react with joy when people we love tell us the truth, do we speak life to people we love to protect the gift God has placed in them? Are we capable of trusting, hoping, and pushing forward to better love those we have been blessed with? Can we accept others' mistakes but continue to love without fail?
Yes, we can love with the agape, God kind of love while we are here on earth. The answer simply lies in receiving love from Jesus that He unselfishly gives to us. The next step is to turn our heart's affection to our loving Father, and then we are equipped to share and spread agape love to all those we encounter. You may wonder what about the person or people that are supposed to love me; what if they don't act like that? Well, that is not agape thinking. You are supposed to be consumed with being a lover not focusing on how your beloved reacts. Isn't that what Jesus did for us? He became consumed with loving you and me even though we didn't deserve it. But after He kept on loving us, we soon realized that we needed and wanted His love. So we began to love Him back. That is what we are commanded to do: Love one another. Not love each other if they love you back! That is the world's view of love, not God's.
So today, on Valentine's Day, and every day for the rest of your life, make a conscious decision to love. To offer unconditional love to those around you. You must remember whether its brotherly or sisterly love or romantic / sexual love, you must love like God, with everything that is within you regardless of whether you receive that kind of love from other humans or not. After all God is still in love with you!
This week's challenge is to show each kind of love to the people in your path. Why not perform a Random Act of Love to some friend, do something unexpected, not necessarily materially costly but sacrificial in love. Why not write a love poem to your spouse and with your pen and paper show him or her that you love them unconditionally. Remember love is about the lover not the beloved. So forget about his or her shortcomings and remind them why you fell in love in the first place. Don't forget it’s about how you feel not how he or she responds. That should free you to set your heart on your sleeve; no one is going to knock it off because you already know that God will touch them in his own time and way to be able to give you back agape love, when you are not even looking for it to happen.
Happy Love Day!
I just couldn't wait any longer! I am bursting at the seems because Saturday is Valentine's Day, and I am hopelessly in love. I have met the man of my dreams and am completely smitten by him. He absolutely takes my breath away. Yeah, I can hardly believe it too. So I only thought it would be appropriate to focus today's pearl of wisdom on love.
There are many kinds of love, phileo - brotherly love; eros - sexual / relational love; and agape- the unconditional God kind of love. Phileo love is the affection people who share things in common have for one another. Eros is the infatuation and attraction that married couples share, as the scripture declares that the marriage bed is undefiled. The greatest of these is agape; it is a love that is based on the lover and not the beloved. This means that the giver does not focus on the receiver; the giver is blinded by love. It is the love that 1 Corinthians 13 explains. It is the love that is patient, kind, isn't jealous or bragging. It isn't proud nor does it seek its own way. It isn't rude, doesn't get angry, and never keeps score.
Love rejoices in truth, protects the beloved, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and love never fails.
So many people have their own views of love, but often our views have been tainted from God's original idea of love. I wonder how many times we are impatient, or mean, or jealous, and count how many times our loved ones mess up. That according to God, is not love. So how can we ever live up to God's expectations of love? Is it even possible to react with joy when people we love tell us the truth, do we speak life to people we love to protect the gift God has placed in them? Are we capable of trusting, hoping, and pushing forward to better love those we have been blessed with? Can we accept others' mistakes but continue to love without fail?
Yes, we can love with the agape, God kind of love while we are here on earth. The answer simply lies in receiving love from Jesus that He unselfishly gives to us. The next step is to turn our heart's affection to our loving Father, and then we are equipped to share and spread agape love to all those we encounter. You may wonder what about the person or people that are supposed to love me; what if they don't act like that? Well, that is not agape thinking. You are supposed to be consumed with being a lover not focusing on how your beloved reacts. Isn't that what Jesus did for us? He became consumed with loving you and me even though we didn't deserve it. But after He kept on loving us, we soon realized that we needed and wanted His love. So we began to love Him back. That is what we are commanded to do: Love one another. Not love each other if they love you back! That is the world's view of love, not God's.
So today, on Valentine's Day, and every day for the rest of your life, make a conscious decision to love. To offer unconditional love to those around you. You must remember whether its brotherly or sisterly love or romantic / sexual love, you must love like God, with everything that is within you regardless of whether you receive that kind of love from other humans or not. After all God is still in love with you!
This week's challenge is to show each kind of love to the people in your path. Why not perform a Random Act of Love to some friend, do something unexpected, not necessarily materially costly but sacrificial in love. Why not write a love poem to your spouse and with your pen and paper show him or her that you love them unconditionally. Remember love is about the lover not the beloved. So forget about his or her shortcomings and remind them why you fell in love in the first place. Don't forget it’s about how you feel not how he or she responds. That should free you to set your heart on your sleeve; no one is going to knock it off because you already know that God will touch them in his own time and way to be able to give you back agape love, when you are not even looking for it to happen.
Happy Love Day!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Choices
It is official; I have been asked over a dozen times, "What's happening with the blog?" Contrary to popular belief, I have not abandoned my commitment. Actually, I was on a slight hiatus from my computer because I have been very busy. I must admit although I am a self-proclaimed superwoman, it is difficult juggling a full-time teaching career, my part time job, and my Mary Kay and Jewelz businesses. At the end of a normal day, I have had little time to breathe. So it boils down to, "should I blog?" or "should I pray and read my Bible?" Let's face it, when my choice is either spend time with God or spend time talking about God in my life, it's quality time, hands-down!
Every day we are faced with plenty of choices. Many of the decisions that we face don't seem significant, but actually every day all day long we must choose how and when we represent Jesus. It is so easy to think that we are doing God's work when we go to church, or we spend our time talking about God or telling others how good He is to us. But that is not a balanced Christian life. Most of the time the people that we share God's graces with already know how good He is because they too have come to know the love of Christ. If all of our time is spent talking about God and little time is spent talking with God, then we fall short of receiving the full promises of God. After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He instructed the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise from the Father. The disciples obeyed and on the day of Pentecost they received "the comforter", the Holy Spirit. Since the disciples would no longer be able to spend countless hours in Jesus' presence, God sent His spirit to dwell in them so that they would always have access to His presence. We too have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our personal savior. We have full access to the presence of God, but it is up to us to choose to be led by the Spirit or to pursue our own lives. A lot of people have an image of God living in church or off in heaven somewhere, but the truth is that God is right here patiently waiting for you to encounter Him.
When we spend time in God's presence through prayer, meditating on Scripture, or listening to His divine answers, we are becoming equipped to bring others into the knowledge of who God really is. Our lives are supposed to model our prayer: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". It becomes our aim to see other people receive the love and wisdom of God. We thrive when we see other people have God encounters. It is our mission to activate heaven on earth. Think about it: there is no sickness in heaven, no poverty, no depression, no defeat! That is what we must through the spirit bring into earth's realm. When we choose to spend hours in prayer and worship, we activate heaven. We unleash God's love that comes in like a flood to where we are, on earth. Then we must connect heaven's resources with people who desperately need the Master's touch.
Living a supernatural lifestyle is a choice. You were created by God with a divine purpose in mind. You cannot afford to get bogged down in "your life" when someone else's life depends on your obedience, on you fulfilling your God-given destiny, and your choices to live in the spirit rather than walk in the flesh to fulfill your own wants and desires. You may never know on this side of heaven how many people you were actually assigned to, but when you see God face to face do you want to disappoint Him by showing up with less than all you could. The Bible says to choose you this day whom you will serve. This verse really means that it is up to you to decide whom you will represent (God vs. Satan). Remember God's treasures are people and not the things of this world. So decide today, to be an ambassador for Jesus. Make up your mind that today and every day you will choose to spend time in God's presence and that you will share the fruit of those encounters with those who need Him most.
Every day we are faced with plenty of choices. Many of the decisions that we face don't seem significant, but actually every day all day long we must choose how and when we represent Jesus. It is so easy to think that we are doing God's work when we go to church, or we spend our time talking about God or telling others how good He is to us. But that is not a balanced Christian life. Most of the time the people that we share God's graces with already know how good He is because they too have come to know the love of Christ. If all of our time is spent talking about God and little time is spent talking with God, then we fall short of receiving the full promises of God. After Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He instructed the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise from the Father. The disciples obeyed and on the day of Pentecost they received "the comforter", the Holy Spirit. Since the disciples would no longer be able to spend countless hours in Jesus' presence, God sent His spirit to dwell in them so that they would always have access to His presence. We too have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our personal savior. We have full access to the presence of God, but it is up to us to choose to be led by the Spirit or to pursue our own lives. A lot of people have an image of God living in church or off in heaven somewhere, but the truth is that God is right here patiently waiting for you to encounter Him.
When we spend time in God's presence through prayer, meditating on Scripture, or listening to His divine answers, we are becoming equipped to bring others into the knowledge of who God really is. Our lives are supposed to model our prayer: "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". It becomes our aim to see other people receive the love and wisdom of God. We thrive when we see other people have God encounters. It is our mission to activate heaven on earth. Think about it: there is no sickness in heaven, no poverty, no depression, no defeat! That is what we must through the spirit bring into earth's realm. When we choose to spend hours in prayer and worship, we activate heaven. We unleash God's love that comes in like a flood to where we are, on earth. Then we must connect heaven's resources with people who desperately need the Master's touch.
Living a supernatural lifestyle is a choice. You were created by God with a divine purpose in mind. You cannot afford to get bogged down in "your life" when someone else's life depends on your obedience, on you fulfilling your God-given destiny, and your choices to live in the spirit rather than walk in the flesh to fulfill your own wants and desires. You may never know on this side of heaven how many people you were actually assigned to, but when you see God face to face do you want to disappoint Him by showing up with less than all you could. The Bible says to choose you this day whom you will serve. This verse really means that it is up to you to decide whom you will represent (God vs. Satan). Remember God's treasures are people and not the things of this world. So decide today, to be an ambassador for Jesus. Make up your mind that today and every day you will choose to spend time in God's presence and that you will share the fruit of those encounters with those who need Him most.
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