Chosen

It's certainly been a long time since I have posted anything here. But, there is a message of hope that is playing within my spirit that I believe many people would benefit from hearing. My Pastor preached this in the church, and it still resonates within me, so I pray that you will receive...

The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation..." The Word 'chosen' stands out to me as I learn more about who I am. Chosen. When I reflect on the life I lived in my almost 40 years, there were many times I thought that there was no reason for my existence. As a teen, I used to write in my journals about how I felt lost and unwanted and had no purpose in life. Even after I got married and had my baby girl I found myself crying all the time because of the mental and emotional abuse I endured. I thought that I would have been better off dead! I believed that I was insignificant, worthless, ugly and alone. But, along the way I encountered Jesus. I found out that I was never a mistake to Him. I felt His love encompass me about and I witnessed Him showing up for me to defend, protect, provide and heal me, over and over again. Today, I know I was made to become and to accomplish great things! God takes nothing (like me) and turns it into something beautiful...

I am not sure what you had to live through. I don't know if you recognize that you were specifically selected - CHOSEN- by God for greatness! I declare today that you and I are chosen to reign. We are chosen to prosper. We are chosen to live an abundant life. We are chosen to have joy, peace and rest despite our circumstances. We are chosen to be loved. We are chosen to be accepted. We are chosen to have the victory!

Favor is Coming!

It's been quite a long time since I've shared my thoughts with you. But, today a word is bubbling up within me that I just want to burst it out to the world! For so long I've lived my life thinking that good things are only a part of my dreams and that my reality looks different. But, as of recently, I have reason to change that mindset - and His name is Jesus Christ!
The Bible says in Joshua 3:13

I believe now, that it is my time for favour. It is the time for the Presence of God within me to overtake me and go before me. I am about to stretch out into the unknown, out of my comfort zone, and I am confident that as soon as the soles of my feet shall rest in that new place, every obstacle, barrier, and hindrance will heap to the side, and the Presence of the Lord within me will go before me, and grant me favor indeed!

This is not for me only. This is for all of us. Don't be afraid to step out. Don't be afraid to go forth. Don't be afraid to DREAM. Don't be afraid of success. You are, WE are, children of God and success and prosperity are parts of our inheritance! I encourage you all today - move forward!

His Forgiveness

SO many of us in the Kingdom strive every day to walk uprightly with God. However, sometimes this can be a great battle, in which many soldiers have been consumed. When we give in to the temptations and fall backward in our walk, we are left feeling ashamed, guilty, and rejected - by people, and by God Himself. But, Acts 5:31 states that, '...God exalted Him with His right hand to be a Prince and Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Do you get what this scripture is saying? Imagine God sat on His throne and saw the evil in our hearts. But, His great love is so strong, so pure, so real that  He didn't want us to go to hell. So, He sent His Son, to come and lead us like sheep back into the fold - so that we could repent, so that that we could make a decision to turn away from the evil things that satisfy the flesh. And, when we make the decision to walk away from sin, God doesn't just leave us there stranded, but instead He pours out His forgiveness upon us! What a Mighty God we serve!
My brothers and sisters, God knows that we are trapped in flesh. He knows that even after we have chosen to live for Him we may fall back many times into diverse sin. For me, that may mean giving an attitude, or harboring evil thoughts, for others it may be going back to addictions and behaviors that are questionable. But, being the loving God that He is He already made provision for us for when these things happen. Lamentations 3:22 - 23 tells us that God's mercies are new for us every morning. He knew we would need His mercies every single day. He said that none of us are righteous and that we fall short of His glory, daily. God is not turning us away because of our shortcomings. He is offering us His mercy and His forgiveness so that we can move forward in our walk with Him...
Don't fall and stay down. Get up and Move Forward!

Evangelizing is Serious Business!

According to the Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, to Evangelize means 'to try to convert (a group or area) to a different religion (especially Christianity). In my understanding, I figured it was telling people of the great, awesome God I met, and how one encounter with Him changed my life. I believed that I had a responsibility to let them know how much they are loved by the God who created all things and that nothing they ever did - wrong or right - could separate them from the marvelous love of God. As long as the person had received the Word, and came to baptism, I thought the rest of Christianity was up to them. But, I am learning that it takes more from us. We still have work to do.
People get baptized and commit themselves to the house of the Lord for many different reasons. If those reasons do not center around desiring a true, intimate relationship with God, then sadly, we watch people fall back into sin. It's easy to sit back and think to ourselves that the person didn't truly connect with God, or that they were deceived by the enemy, or they simply gave in to the lusts of the flesh. But, I can't help but feel that we have to be more diligent and active in their spiritual growth as they move from babes to mature children of God. Maybe we need to pray for them, encourage them with a Word, listen to their problems and help them to seek counsel from the leadership of the church. Maybe we need to pick them up and bring them to church so they could develop a sense of commitment. Maybe we need to involve them in activities that would help them to fit in and feel accepted. Maybe we can help them develop their prayer habits, and pair up with them to fast. Maybe, just maybe, it is much more than 'leading to the pasture' but includes teaching them to graze!
I am saddened to see many men and women, with such great calls upon their lives, walk out of the Kingdom to return to the old things. It pains me to know that they felt so burdened, so hurt, alone, and broken, that the weight of their lives got too heavy, that they never truly experienced Christ and so they turned their backs on the ONLY one who could love them so deeply, so purely, so unconditionally...
Let's not look at backsliding as only their problem. Today let's search ourselves to find out where we could have been more instrumental in helping them to truly come to a place where they could seek God, and find Him, where they would refresh themselves daily in His Word, where they can be truly rooted and grounded in His Kingdom. Let us help people to come to Christ - and let us do what we can to help each other to STAY under the shadow of the Almighty...
Love You ALL in Jesus Name.

Are You Ready?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mLWdM4KAr0

The above video clip highlights strange loud booms like those of a trumpet being reported in various places around the globe. People are hearing these loud sounds for hours, sometimes days at a time, and cannot find its source.
As a Christian, I'm thinking it's a sign from Heaven that is warning us that the coming of Christ is near! In the book of Revelation, chapter 19, verses 11 - 16, tells us about the anticipated event of the figure of Christ clothed in white and coming on the clouds on a white horse. Here, He has an army behind Him dressed in the same way and all on horses ready to enter the earth! For me, I am not prophesying that this is the exact time, but I'm merely saying it is time for self-reflection and self-examination. I don't know if I am ready for the coming of the Lord. I don't know if I have made it right with Him daily. I don't know if my thought life glorifies Him. I am not sure that ALL my actions, words, behaviors, and deeds are well pleasing to Him. I know that I need to work on my prayer life more. I know that there is so much more I could be doing for Him. I know I am not perfect and still need Christ to work in me and through me before His coming. I know I am a work in progress. I may not be ready - but these sounds and other unexplainable happenings are surely enough to persuade me to GET RIGHT WITH CHRIST!!!!
Are You Ready??

Once Again, Fear God

Reference Scriptures :  Psa 19:9, Exo 20:20, Heb 1:9, Deut 4:10, Psa 2:11, Psa 103:13, 17, Psa 147:11, Isa 33:6, Luke 1:50, 2 Cor 7:1, 1 John 4:18

Recently, I have been facing a situation that seemed to have been pending for what felt like a lifetime. But, as I looked toward the heavens, I noticed the rains ceased from falling, the dark clouds parted and made way for the brilliance of a new, glorious season filled with promise! However, as I stepped out into the dawn of the day, I saw where the prospect of sin appeared tempting and enticing. As I watched myself be subtly deceived by the enemy, I was fortunate enough to hear the voice of my Saviour pleading with me to come back to Him - my first love! Running towards Him with fervour and determination in my step, I found my God with arms wide open before me, waiting with a loving embrace I didn't even realize I longed for.... 

But, as I pressed into my Beloved again, He spoke softly, gently and sweetly, these precious words that serve as a lesson for us all :

'The FEAR of the Lord is CLEAN' (Psa 19:9)

My friends, in order to really come to that place where we fear God, we have to be ready and willing to give up sin. This requires that we be diligent in seeking Him, by developing a true and intimate relationship with Our God that allows us to really get to know the 'person' He is. As we go into His presence and talk to Him in prayer, we begin to know Him and thus develop that fear for Him. When we truly fear Him, when we can say we reverence Him and are in awe of Him, we will see sin in our lives, almost automatically. This fear of God is not about fearing His wrath, but it's deep rooted in love for Him that comes only through a sincere relationship with Him.

God desires us. He doesn't want us the way men want us. He has a desire to be with us ever moment of every day. He desires to walk and talk with us, to fellowship with us, to hold us, to mold us, to shape us into the victorious beings he designed us to be. He wants ALL of us - the good parts and the bad... When we begin to understand the depths of His love, we will adopt a lifestyle of worship before Him. But, in order to worship God, in order to give Him worship that pleases Him, it must flow from the inside of us... it must come from the fear we have for Him. True worship is not an outward show for people to see, it pleases God when we worship Him because we respect Him, because we know He is ALL Mighty, He is Powerful, He is Supreme. Our greatest treasure, our most prized possession is having a fear of God. This fear causes us to draw closer to Him, to receive His anointing and His blessing. 

Our God is a just God, and nothing we do goes unnoticed or unrewarded by Him... Therefore, when we fear God, WE benefit.

Benefits of having a fear for God include...

1. He loves us (Psa 103:13)

2. His lovingkindness is continually upon us (Psa 103:17)

3. He favors us (Psa 147:11)

4. His mercy is upon us and our generations ahead of us (Luke 1:50)

Love God, Fear Him, and enjoy the benefits today!!

We will have our 3rd Day!

At this time thousands of years ago, one man, blameless, spotless, without sin, gave Himself up as a sacrifice to save the ones He loved. A man, whose very nature is love, saw the filth that enveloped the people He longed to enjoy an intimate relationship with, and couldn't love them any less... This same man walked into the torment, the mocking, the rejection, the persecution, the injustice, the denial, the ridicule, the insults, the beatings, and the torture, as a lamb to the slaughter. He battled the fear of His impending demise in His human form, never allowing Himself to be distracted from the purpose for which He came. He suffered through, all the while seeing the faces of those He longed to welcome into His Mighty Kingdom.

Jesus Christ came with the sole purpose of saving the ones He loved from an eternity in Hell. He Himself created this vile place for Satan and his demons... and it was not, and is not His intention that mankind accompany the devil into this everlasting place of torment. The Bible says that God took on the form of flesh - He lowered His own reputation to come to the Earth as a man, to die an undeserving death as the payment needed to save us from our sins. 
We know the story by now. Judas sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and thus He was taken captive, and was crucified. To die by crucifixion is no simple and easy way to go. This type of death is a method of slow and painful execution in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden beam and left to hang for several days until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation (an acute lack of oxygen). And He endured it all.
During this time and season, believers may be facing intense battles, feeling the pressures as if they are in the war zone and finding themselves constantly dodging the fiery darts as they are shot at them from all directions. Christ went through this too. But, the good news is that He rose again from the dead! He is not here, but Christ is Risen! Death, Hell and the Grave COULD NOT hold Him down. He rose triumphantly! Since we are now yielded to Christ and it is not we that liveth anymore, but Christ that lives in us, we too will go through some valley experiences at this time. Just as He rose again on the third day, so we too are going to rise up from the ashes with resurrection power on our third day! Rejoice then, and be glad. In all things give thanks. The difficulties are now part of the process. It is the road we must take to get to, and to arise with the same power that raised Christ from the dead!
Love You all in Jesus name!