Monthly Archive

1 Corinthians 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

We can mention over and over again all the promises of God and how they are made available to the believer however, we cannot access the promises of God without the Holy Spirit. When we get born again, we receive the right to embody the Holy Spirit. But, it’s up to us to activate the Holy Spirit in our lives.

It’s like having a credit card. We can have a credit card and the pin number to the credit card but, if we don’t contact the credit card company to activate the credit card, we can’t access the money. This was proven in Acts 19:2 where men were saved through Jesus Christ but they never activated the Holy Spirit since they believed. This is the same way today. People can be saved but, have not received or activated the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, how can we receive the promises of God? Sure, we can read and know where the promises are physically located in the Word of God but, to receive or take ownership of those promises, we need the Holy Spirit.

Invite the Holy Spirit in your life and receive all the gifts God has for us.

Be Blessed!

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Music itself, is neither moral nor amoral. Depending upon the lyrics, music can either enhance our faith or detract from our faith.

Faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17). So, whatever we hear, is what we will have faith for. If all we listen to is secular music and the only time we hear gospel music is on Sundays, our faith will be limited. When our faith is limited, it’s hard to stand in faith for the duration of the test. It’s hard to bind and loose things when negativity is staring at us in the face. It’s hard to understand the magnitude of God’s love when we feel heartbroken.

If we listen to music that builds our faith, it makes it easier to realize God can do the impossible. It makes it easier to declare that we are healed when the doctor’s report is negative. It makes it easier to realize we are forgiven when we just sinned.

I encourage everyone to build their faith by increasing their capacity of hearing/listening to faith building music.

Be Blessed!

God has blessed us with so much. God has blessed us with our life, our health, and strength.

The praise we owe God goes beyond our feelings and/or situation. When we’re in the mindset where we don’t feel like praising God whether in church or elsewhere, we should…

1. Think of Jesus.

-I’m sure Jesus didn’t feel like separating Himself from the Father and dying on the cross for us. But, He moved beyond His feelings and obeyed the Father.

2.   Think of the goodness of God.

-We hear this time and time again but, when we think about all the wonderful things God has done for us, I’m confident we can find at least one thing to give God praise for.

3.   Force the Praise.

-Some people feel like our praise is not honorable to God if we have to force ourselves to praise God. They have the mindset where if you’re not going to praise God with gladness and joy, we shouldn’t do it at all. That’s not true. God commands and deserves our praise. He doesn’t care how He gets it. As soon as we start forcing ourselves to praise God, God is pleased. Even if our emotions are not involved with our praise, God is pleased. The funny thing is, as we continue in our forceful praise, our emotions attach themselves to the goodness of God. Eventually, our praise becomes “real” where our emotions are involved and we can praise God with gladness and joy.

Move beyond your feelings and praise God.

Psalm 145:21 My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

Many times the plans we have for ourselves are not necessarily the plans of God. The end result is the same but, the pathway to reach our destination may be different.

Some of us may have had this vision that we would go to college, maybe meet the man/woman of our dreams, graduate college, get a great career, get married, and have children. This plan may seem ideal for most people however, due to poor choices or the redirecting steps of God, the pathway to get to this destination is subject to change. The order of events may be different. Just because the order of events change or there is a delay in the timing, doesn’t mean our plans, dreams, and promises from God will not manifest. It simply means there was a detour to our destination. Continue to trust God and His failure proof plan for our lives.

We may think we know how things should operate but, God knows the best way.

Be Blessed!

Isaiah 55:19 8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Job 22:21Acquaint now yourself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you. 22Receive, I pray you, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. 27You shall make your prayer unto him, and he shall hear you, and you shall pay your vows. 28You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you: and the light shall shine upon your ways.

Drawing near to God entails a surplus of benefits. We
1. remain in peace,
2. receive and identify the good in our lives,
3. get personalized direction and guidance,
4. can recall His Word as needed, and
5. have the power to speak healing, abundance, joy, and more and it shall manifest.

So, speak with, listen to, and obey God. Study, meditate on, and hear His Word. Then expect to reap the benefits.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Do you know who you are? You are heir to the King of every other king that ever did or will exist.

Do your actions reflect who you are? As royalty belonging to the One identified as Love (1 John 4:8,16), we should operate in reflecting the God-love with our actions. We should do things that draw positive attention to our Father to bring glory to Him and attract others to want to be in His presence.

Do you utilize your authority? With expectation of abundance, peace, joy, healing, and love, we should study God’s Word so that we can use His Word (Luke 10:19).

Fulfill your destiny; be who God designed you to be!

Revelation 12:11
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

What does it mean when people say, “I plead the blood of Jesus?” Pleading the blood of Jesus allows our logical mind to wrap itself around the fact that the blood of Jesus has already overcome every situation.
When we plead the blood of Jesus over our finances, what we really are saying is, the blood of Jesus has overcome any lack or shortage in my finances.
When we plead the blood of Jesus over our children, what we really are saying is, the blood of Jesus has given our children the protection that’s needed to stay safe in the world.
Pleading the blood of Jesus does not do anything extra spiritually and it does not make God move quicker. We are simply acknowledging the fact that the blood of Jesus has conquered all.

Revelation 3:8 I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

What do we have to fear or be anxious about? No man, including us, can close a door that God opens. So, there is no such thing as a lost opportunity for the believer, the man that trusts God. Our role, is to continue to stand strong in faith seeking God (read and declare His Word, pray and praise). Then, expect the manifestation of all that God has promised (Ephesians 3:20, Matthew 6:33, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 7:7).

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

Have you ever had someone ask you what you want for Christmas or your birthday and after you give them a response they respond by saying, that’s all you want? They ask this question because they expected for us to say more.

Guess what? God is the same way. When we pray and make our request made known to God, some of us are asking for the most minimalistic thing we can fathom. We lower our needs/desires because…

1. We want to lower our standards so that God can meet our expectations.
-The lower our standards are, the easier God can meet our expectation and if God doesn’t meet our expectation, we’re not too disappointed. This is a lack of faith.
2. We have minimalistic thinking.
-Some of us have been raised not to ask God for anything and if we ask God for something, we shouldn’t be greedy. This is minimalistic thinking. God promises us prosperity beyond our wildest imagination.

We should read the Word of God, know what God has promised, and expect God to manifest what He has promised.

Be Blessed!

During this time of year in America, we often criticize each other for their political views. It seems that politics splits a country apart more than anything else. So many people focus on politics while souls are lost to eternal damnation. Remember, it is God Who brings one down, and exalts another. We may vote on a particular candidate but, our source(s) does not come from the government. Our source is in God.
So, no matter who is in office at anytime, remember, our reliance is in God and since we rely on God, no man nor government can affect our prosperity, wealth, or health.

Psalm 75:7 But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

Be Blessed!

Inspired by: Christine Brown

Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Hope is continuous, unwavering expectation. We may grow tired and weary, but our hope does not fail. Continue to seek God purposefully, praise God intentionally, and declare the manifestation of His Word actively.

Proverbs 27:10 Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you–better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.

Previously, we mentioned the traits of being a true friend. We mentioned how a true friend will speak the truth in love, support and encourage one another, and lift each other up in prayer.

It’s great to encourage and lift each other however, we SHOULD NOT do this without the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we are acting out of our flesh and no man can please God through his flesh. The Holy Spirit knows exactly what to say, when, and how to say it. If we just randomly attempt to encourage our friend in love on our own accord, they may not be ready or mature enough to receive it yet. That friend may view our encouragement for criticism or “judgement.”

When we’re speaking to a friend or in any arena in life, we should allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us every step of the way.

Be blessed and be a true friend.

Job 3:1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

Job was at the point of a mental breakdown due to the fact he lost his family, servants, land, and his health. In all of verse three, Job cursed the day of his birth and in my opinion, Job was borderline suicidal. What stopped Job from completely destroying himself was the supporting, yet honest words from Eliphaz, his friend.

Job 4:5 But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed. 6 Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?

Many times, we think that being a good friend is talking on the phone daily or regularly attending birthday celebrations. A true friend will speak the truth in love. A true friend will support and encourage one another when the other is down and out. A true friend will sincerely lift their friend up in prayer. When we see our friends destroying themselves verbally, physically, or through sin, and do nothing, we are doing a disservice to that person. If we allow those self destructive things to continue, we should ask ourselves, are we truly their friend?

Be a true friend and be blessed.

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

It’s interesting how most of the world is quick to complain about a certain thing. It’s very rare to have a person be genuinely grateful. For instance, if people are in an office building, they may complain about the temperature being too hot or too cold. They may call maintenance to work on the temperature to get it exactly how they want it. Once the temperature is just right, some people may be grateful but, a large majority will never say anything.

This is the same attitude some Christians have towards God. When things are not the way we want them to be, we’re quick to complain but, slow to praise and worship. We should praise God in spite of our situation. Our problems and issues should never outweigh our attitude towards God. Some of us don’t even say thank you. We should be grateful for the things that God has blessed us with. Some of our blessings may be ten years old but, God still blessed us with it.

Look over your life and be grateful for all the spiritual and physical blessings God has blessed you with and don’t forget to say thank you.

Be Blessed!

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Psalm 119:148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises.

A lot of people have the misconception that when we pray and spend time in the Word of God, God will reward us with blessings. They think the more you “do” the more He will bless. That’s not true. We are blessed because we are the righteousness of God. We are the righteousness of God because of Jesus. Because we are the righteousness of God, we are entitled to every spiritual blessing in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3).

When we spend time in prayer and meditating on God’s Word, we are doing this for our benefit and the glory of God. Prayer and meditation puts our spirit in a position to hear God clearer. Prayer and meditation strengthens our faith to believe in God overriding the impossible. Prayer and meditation allows us to assist others in their growth and development with God.

Grow is God and receive the best.

Be Blessed!

Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job lost his family, his wealth, his possessions and partially his mind. Job went through so much but, never wavered or quit on God. As soon as we get rejected for a career we desire, we want to quit on God and lose faith in Him. We need to go to the next level in our commitment, trust, and dedication to God. There is only one man who had a more difficult time than Job and that was Jesus Christ. With all the difficulty Jesus faced, Jesus allowed His joy to override the pain of death and separation from the Father.

Our problems and issues may seem big as we go through but, if we think about all that Job went through and all the suffering Jesus endured, our problems seem minimalistic.

Keep the faith and stay strong and trust and keep trusting God in every situation.

Be Blessed!

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Righteousness is only achieved one way; through Jesus Christ. Those who desire to receive this righteousness will be filled or satisfied.

Have you ever felt like something was missing in your life? Well, that void space was created by God and can only be fulfilled by God. A relationship won’t be able fulfill that void; a great career won’t fulfill that void, and money won’t fulfill that void. God, through Jesus Christ, is the creator and fulfiller of that void. Accept Jesus Christ and be completely satisfied.

Be Blessed!

By grace we are saved; through the sacrifice of One we are made righteous (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:19). Those things are true and not contingent on anything we do.

But, to experience the totality of what God has to offer, we must:
A.) Meditate on the Word, by reading, hearing, and declaring It.
B.) Bear fruit, by expecting the manifestation of the impossible, and giving glory to God as others witness it unfold.
C.) Abide in God-love, by keeping the new commandments, love one another with God-love, deny self, carry our cross, and follow Jesus (John 13:34, Matthew 16:24).

We will then experience relationship with God, possess full joy no matter the situation, receive all of our requested desires, overcome the world, and help attract others to God.

John 15: 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 9 As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Fathers commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

Habakkuk 3: 18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like deer’s feet, and he will make me walk upon my high places.

Psalm 71: 8 Let my mouth be filled with your praise and with your honor all the day.

We always have the option to praise. Regardless of the situation, we find our joy, strength, and peace in God. But first, we choose to praise!

1 Chronicles 16:34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Have you ever heard the term too good to be true? Many times people make that statement based on a negative experience they had or a negative experience they heard about.

Unfortunately, people subconsciously put God in that same category. Some people think it’s too good to be true that God forgives ALL our past, present, and future sins once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord (Colossians 2:13). They feel like you have to do more to be forgiven. Some think it’s too good to be true that we are made righteous based on our belief alone and not works (Rom 3:22). Some people and other religions believe our righteousness is based on our good works. The biggest and the saddest one of all is that some think it’s too good to be true that no matter how far we’ve strayed from God and His ways, He still loves us unconditionally (Rom 8:38-39).

Yes, God is that good. Put your thoughts, ideas, misconceptions and unbelief away and believe God and His Word.

Many times, people miss some of God’s greatest creations because of fear. Some people don’t take the opportunity to see foreign lands because they’re afraid to fly. Some people miss some of the most beautiful beaches because they’re afraid to be on a cruise ship. Some people miss some of the greatest adventures and thrills because of fear.

My question is, why???

In my opinion, the fear is not in the action of flying or cruising. At the end of the day, the fear is death. Some people magnify the fear of death over the Word of God. God instructed us to not be afraid (Isaiah 43:5). Psalm 28:7 says God is our shield or protection. Luke 10:19 says nothing by any means shall harm us. Jesus died on the cross and took the power of death away from Satan. This means, for the believer, death has no power over us. With all these scriptures regarding no fear and God’s protection, we should not have any reason to be afraid.

So, enjoy life and experience new things. Be a part of what God created and remove yourselves from the Spirit of fear.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

 Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–

We were destined for hell but, the grace of God saved us through His Son Jesus, made us righteous (in right standing with God), and allows us to have every promise of God.

 Today’s focus is how grace made us righteous.

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9) we are made righteous. We were destined to be judged and punished but, the grace of God allowed us to be in right standing with God. It seems, the longer some Christians walk with God, the more they rely on their merits and efforts to be righteous instead of God’s grace. We can’t read the Bible enough, pray long enough, or go to church enough to make us more righteous than we already are. A lot of times, people forget that it was grace that saved them and not their works. Interestingly enough, the more righteous works they do, the more they criticize someone else who is not “doing” as much as they are. Don’t get me wrong, righteous people are supposed to do righteous works but, righteous works do not give us the title of righteous.

 Remember, we should rely on the grace of God and make our righteous works a personal way to grow in the Lord.

1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

It’s interesting to see grace, mercy, and peace be at the beginning of these letters. Could it be that the early Christian magnified something we often minimize?

*Grace. Grace is the God given ability to do something we cannot do on our own. For example, it is by the grace of God we are saved, it is by grace we are made righteous, it is by the grace of God we receive the promises of God.
*Mercy. Mercy is the reason why we’re not all dead, ill, and hell bound. It was Jesus Who died for us and placed His blood on the mercy seat of God. Through the blood of Jesus, we can now receive God’s mercy. Anytime we miss the mark, God looks at the blood of Jesus on the mercy seat and grants us mercy. His mercy is endless.
*Peace. When we know we have God’s ability on top of our human ability (grace) and we receive God’s mercy for every deliberate or unintentional sin we commit, we can live in peace. In any situation we can count on God’s ability to get the job done and receive mercy along the way therefore, we have peace.

Receive and walk in this grace, mercy, and peace that is freely available to all believers.

Accept Christ

Mark 9: 23 Jesus said unto him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes.

Why would Jesus say, ‘if?’ Belief seems easy. We can believe a chair will support our weight. So, if we say we believe that Jesus is God’s Son, who died on the cross for our sins so that we can spend eternity with our Creator (John 3:16), then why would it be hard to believe the rest of God’s Word? Our belief must be tied to our faith, not our sight. Just like we sit in chairs often without reservation, we must choose to remain in faith for the manifestation of our beliefs. Faith is fact; believe without doubt.

Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Psalm 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works
Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

God is righteous. When Adam sinned, he tainted our appearance, so that we could not experience the original design of our relationship with God. The law was then created to make us aware of how sinful and imperfect we were and so that we could try to be righteous and enter back in to that relationship with God. But, the law was impossible for most to follow. So, God sent the ultimate sacrifice, and the moment we accepted Jesus as Savior, we were forever deemed righteous. If you believe in the power of that sacrifice, then believe that just as we did nothing other than believe to become righteous, we also can do nothing to lose that right standing before God, other than to not believe. Fully accept God’s gift, choose to honor Him with your life for it, and declare and receive every promise of God for the righteous (Promises of God: http://www.seekgod.org/bible/righteous.html ).

Matthew 9:29 says, Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you”;

Notice, it says according to our faith, not according to God.
There is an old religious mindset that says whatever happens in our life is the will of God. Whatever God allows us to have, is the will of God. That’s not true. The will of God is in the Word of God and the Word of God promises us an abundance of things including our personal desires.

God desires what we desire. If He didn’t, He would not have said it in Psalms 37:4 “I (God) will give you the desires of your heart.” If we want a three bedroom house, God desires a three bedroom house for us. If we want a Mercedes-Benz, God desires a Mercedes-Benz for us. Anything that pertains to life and godliness, God is willing to provide those things to enhance the quality of our life.

Once again, it’s according to our faith. Everyone’s faith is going to be different. Someone may desire and have the faith for great wealth and great possessions while another may have the desire and faith to just have enough money to pay their bills. It’s not wrong or materialistic for the first person to desire a surplus of things because it’s according to their (individualistic) faith. We shouldn’t look down at the person for wanting great possessions. Personally, I believe if God said it, I should expect it.

Whatever you desire from God will be possessed by your faith.

Acts 23:11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

God has done some amazing things in our lives. We know it was not our education, our efforts, our morals, or intellect that got us this far. The blessings we received start and end with God and God alone.

Testimonies are not strictly for church settings. What good does it do to tell your story to a believer who knows about the goodness of God and is experiencing blessings themselves? We should be telling our story to the man who has not been to church in years and may be depressed. We should be sharing the goodness of God to the single mother with three children who needs government assistance. We should be telling our story to anyone who is willing to listen.

Sharing the goodness of God will ignite people’s faith. It will give them the hope, courage, and stamina to continue moving forward. It will allow people to focus and place their total trust in God. Whether in the work place or in a casual conversation, never be ashamed or too proud to express how good God has been.

You never know, your testimony may save someone’s life.

Express it!

Knowledge is important in every arena of our lives. Without knowledge, we are sure to reap destruction. The most important kind of knowledge is spiritual knowledge because without spiritual knowledge, we are destined to be destroyed by the work of the enemy.

However, there are other areas of knowledge we should obtain or else, we’ll reap destruction.

If we don’t have knowledge regarding money, our finances will suffer.
If we don’t have knowledge of a healthy relationship, our marriage will suffer.
If we don’t have knowledge of networking, our careers and businesses will suffer.

It’s important to seek:
1. The knowledge of God and His Word.
2. The knowledge of whatever else we desire out of life.

Get Knowledge!

Hosea 4:6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.

Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

The Bible says, WE must keep ourselves in God’s love. This is our responsibility.

Everyday there will be tests and trials that attempt to get us out the love of God. Someone may cut us off while driving, a supervisor may micromanage our work, and out of nowhere, we may even get cursed out. These are all tricks of the enemy to get us out of love. The enemy knows that faith works by love (Gal 5:6). If he can get you out of love, our faith won’t work. If our faith doesn’t work, we can’t receive the promises of God.

Love your brother and your sister. Be kind and courteous to your neighbor. Pray for your enemies and all who persecute you. And, keep yourselves in the love of God.

Are we willing to declare what God told us even when it doesn’t make logical sense? Many people set faith levels based on what they can make happen. Maybe they are afraid that God will look bad. Many people consider themselves ‘realists’ and their expectations align with what they deem logical. And if something extraordinary occurs, they say praise God for that miracle, but they don’t reposition their faith levels to believe and declare the impossible again. They move through life being pleasantly surprised every so often.

As believers, we are directed to have faith. Faith goes beyond what we can manifest with our own ability. Faith trusts God completely and declares what God says even if it is deemed unrealistic by world standards. Activate and remain in faith, and expect manifestation.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.