Monthly Archive

John 3:27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.

We are all blessed with different gifts, talents, and skills. Some are blessed to sing while others are blessed to communicate. No matter what gift God has given to us, we should learn to be content with that gift. There’s no need to be upset or envious of someone who has a gift that’s on public display. Discover the gift God has awarded to you and use it for His glory.

Be blessed.

John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Everyone has sinned and everyone is still working on something. We have no right to judge or condemn anyone about anything. Judgment is privileged only to God and condemnation has been taken away through the blood of Jesus (James 4:12; Romans 8:1). It doesn’t matter if a person is a homosexual, fornicator, liar, or a thief; no one has the right to judge or condemn. It doesn’t mean we welcome and accept this behavior but, we definitely don’t condemn.

What is a Christian to do? In spite of a person’s faults, we love them. In God’s timing and with the love of God, we expose them to the truth in God’s Word about their actions. If a person continues to remain in sin after their exposure, we continue to pray that one day they will receive their deliverance.

John 7:13 (AMP)But no one dared speak out boldly about Him for fear of [the leaders of] the Jews.

1. Praying in public.
2. Letting people know what we’re standing in faith for.
3. Sharing the gospel with strangers.
4. Post status updates about the goodness of God.
5. Live an uncompromised life.

Here, we have a list of things some people choose not to do because of fear. They fear they may be mocked or judged. They fear they may be ostracized by their friends or co-workers. They fear they may be viewed as hypocrites. They fear they will have to give up their “fun.”

With the world moving further and further away from God and His Word, someone has to be bold enough to speak the truth in God’s Word. That someone is us. The world may have changed their mind on what’s acceptable, but God’s Word has not. Let God be true, but every man a liar (Romans 3:4).

Romans 10:1 BRETHREN, [with all] my heart’s desire and goodwill for [Israel], I long and pray to God that they may be saved.

Our heart’s desire should be to see everyone get saved. If we’re not praying for the lost, what are we praying for? Cars, cash, clothes? There’s nothing wrong with praying for materialistic things, however, our prayer priority should align itself with the will of God. Don’t know God’s will in this area? God’s will is to have all men saved (1 Timothy 2:3, 4).

Broaden the body of Christ by prioritizing your prayer and praying for the lost.

Jeremiah 17:7, 8 AMP [Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit.

As a believer, the conditions of the world shouldn’t frighten us or cause us to panic. In spite of the world’s conditions, we (the believers) will flourish. It’s not because we’re so good and perfect but, it’s because we put our total trust in God.

If they are laying everyone off at our job we say…so what, God is our Provider. If the stock market is down, we say…God is our Source. If gas prices are high, we say…God is our Way-maker.

Once again, we don’t panic because of the conditions of the world. We place our entire trust in God.

1 John 4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 19 We love him, because he first loved us.

1 John 5: 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome.

Accepting Christ as Savior is acknowledging that God loves us. Making Him Lord of our lives, is taking advantage of the opportunity to love Him back. To make Christ Lord is to spend time with Him, getting to know Him and His Word more intimately. It is allowing His Word to direct our decisions, regardless of Its peculiarity when contrasted with the world’s perspective. It is sacrificing ourselves to become all that He has called us to be. Loving God, making Him Lord of our lives, requires our time, obedience, and sacrifice. And now, finally, we get to love Him, Who loves us beyond measure, back!

Inspired by “To Love You Back” by Jamie Grace

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

So many times we want to handle situations that arise in our lives on our own. In reality, we need to step back, and allow God to handle our situations and fight our battles. Our ideas, thoughts, and suggestions only lead to death and destruction (Prov 14:12). God’s plan will always work in our favor.

We decrease when we allow the Holy Spirit to direct and govern our lives. If He tells us to “shut up” and hold our tongue at a specific time, that’s what we should do. If He tells us to be bold and take a stance, that’s what we should do. If He tells us to pray for the person who harmed us, that’s what we should do. Whatever He tells us to do, that’s what we should do and anything we do outside of God’s will, is done out of our flesh.

Decrease so that God may increase every area of our lives.

Mark 3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Church of God in Christ (COGIC), Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Non-Denominational, and whoever else, we all believe Jesus is the Son of God and He died for our sins. With this foundation, let’s put away our differences and advance the Kingdom of a God.

Unfortunately because of this division, the Kingdom of God has not impacted the world as much as it could. The world should be coming to us for answers. The reason why we see so many miracles and manifestations in the bible is because the Kingdom of God, in those days, were all on one accord. The enemy has created division in the body of Christ by magnifying the minors.

If we can put away our pride, doctrines, and ideologies from now on and be on one accord, we could turn this world upside down.

John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

This type of freedom covers every area of bondage in our lives. If we choose to accept this freedom, we can be free from sin, low self-esteem, lack, disease, fear, worry, pain, and so much more. But, we must accept this freedom in its entirety.

We may quickly accept being free from lack but, how quickly will we accept being free from pride? We may accept being free from disease but, how quickly will we accept being free from worry? The only reason we hold on to these bondages is because we feel like WE need to handle these situations instead placing our trust in GOD. We feel like once WE overcome these bondages in our own way, WE can feel good about ourselves and overcoming this bondage made us stronger. The truth is, we can’t overcome anything without the help of God. The bondage that some of us choose to hold on to is destroying us like a cancer.

People of God, it’s time to walk in this freedom that Jesus so graciously provided.
Stand up and be FREE!

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

For those who want to know the next steps in life, read the Word of God. Some may say, how will reading the Word of God show us our future? As we meditate in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit reveals things to us that will bring clarity towards our next steps.

We could be reading Mark 11:24 and the Holy Spirit could remind us to have faith for that job we’ve observed on the internet. We could be reading Isaiah 53:5 and the Holy Spirit may have us declare we are healed even though we don’t have any symptoms of sickness. He has us declare we’re healed to prevent us from a future attack He knows about. We could be reading about pride in Proverbs 16:18 and the Holy Spirit may reveal areas in our lives where we have pride. With the removal of this pride, the Holy Spirit could be preparing us to meet the love of our lives.

Don’t discredit the power in the Word of God. Choose to read the Word of God to see what’s next.

John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

If we hear His voice but don’t follow Him, we have to ask ourselves are we really His sheep? Jesus desires that we make Him Lord over our lives. The word “Lord” encompasses every area of our life at all times. When we pick and choose the days and areas we want to follow Christ, we make ourselves lord. When man makes himself lord, his ways lead to death (Proverbs 14:12).

Follow the ways of Christ because He knows what’s best for us.

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Since everything we do flows from the heart, our motives, actions, and words, then how do we make our hearts flow Christ? We choose to be mindful of the thoughts we dwell on and the words we say (Romans 12:2). To exude confidence, we confess who we are in Christ (Galatians 3:29). To exude love, we meditate on God’s love for us and seek Him for ways to show that love to others (1 John 4). To manifest prosperity, we seek His direction regarding our health, wealth, and life (Proverbs 3:5-6).

At the root of heart flow is what we ‘feed’ ourselves. When we fill ourselves with the Word, meditating on it, declaring and hearing it, and renewing our minds to it, we will outpour the power of the Word. So, to guard our hearts, let’s stay full of the Word.

John 1: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:17 (AMP) For while the Law was given through Moses, grace (unearned, undeserved favor and spiritual blessing) and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Law- Is a set of over 600, God-given, commandments we must keep to the letter. If we fail do just one of these commandments, we are guilty breaking them all (James 2:10).

Grace- Is where we believe in the finished works of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law just like He said He would do (Matthew 5:17). It doesn’t take any work or effort on our part. All we have to do is believe.

Which one sounds better? Which one sounds easier to live by?

Grace is something we must receive by faith. When we live under grace, we accept EVERYTHING Jesus has done for us. Anytime we feel like we need to do or say something to earn God’s approval of us, we are living under the law. God approves us because of what Jesus accomplished.

Believe in the finished works of Jesus Christ and live under grace.

Joel 3:¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”

Why would God want us to say something we’re not? It’s called the law of confession. There is a concept in the Word of God that allows us to speak life or death, blessings and curses. We have the ability to bind and loose and call those things that be not as though they were. We have this authority just by speaking.

With this understanding, let’s say what we want to see. If we’re poor, say we’re rich. If we’re weak, say we’re strong. If we’re emotionally unstable, say we’re emotionally stable. This law not only applies in our life, but in every area. If our children are “acting up,” speak life by saying our children respect all authority. If it’s too cold and icy, speak warmth into the area.

Just remember, whatever we say, we shall have (1 John 5:14).

Speak Life.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

One of the greatest deceptions by the devil is the deception of a problem-free life when we become Christians. Many people believe that once we get born again, we won’t have any problems, issues, or situations like the rest of the world. This is far from the truth. Jesus said, “In this life, we will have tribulation.” The benefit for the believer is we come out victorious ALL THE TIME.

The deception of a problem-free life is making people lose hope, faith, and confidence in our God. They feel like because they are going through trials, God is not present, God is angry with them, or God is testing them. These are all lies. One thing we must remember is although we go through a trial, that’s exactly what we’re doing, going through. On the other side of our trial, is our victory.

Be Blessed.

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. (Ephesians 2:10 AMP)

There is a good life that God prearranged however, there are some steps we must take to partake of this good life.

1. We must ask ourselves, are we recreated in Christ?
We get recreated by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

2. Are we doing good works that God predestined specifically for us?
We can’t be associated with drama and mess. We must do good works.
Those works must be specifically for us. We can’t look at someone else and desire to do their works. We must do what we are called to do.

3. To do those good works, we have to know those good works. To know those good works, we have to hear those good works. To hear those good works, we have to spend quality time with God.
How much time are we spending with God?
The more time we spend with God, the more clarity we receive towards this predestined path He has previously made available.

Enjoy the good life!

Jude 1:14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.

Have you ever heard a person who listened to a plan, once the plan was expressed, that person points out what’s wrong with the plan? Or, have you ever attempted to show a person something you were excited about but, when they see it, they magnify the flaws? The Bible refers to this as fault-finding. Fault-finding is where a person is critical, judgmental, or negative towards everything that is presented to them. Don’t be that person.

2 Corinthians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

We are designed to be extensions of our Father. Never allow a trial to be debilitating, rather rely on our Source of comfort and peace. We then position ourselves to sow into the life of others. And those seeds of comfort may just save the life of an unbeliever, or improve the lives of believers as we exemplify Christ.

So, when in the midst of challenging times, know that while God does not cause the trials, He has an awesome way of guaranteeing that it all works out for our good. And when given the opportunity to comfort others, be willing to be a vessel directing others to Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus had nothing to gain when he came down to earth and sacrificed himself for mankind. God didn’t promise him anything in return for his sacrifice. Jesus did this out of love for mankind and love for his Father. Jesus has so much love for mankind and his Father until he bought into the God ordained plan to redeem and reconcile mankind with God. As a result of his obedience, God exalted Jesus and made his name above every name (Philippians 2:9). But prior to this honor, he was redeeming us out of love.

Praise God for Jesus who redeemed mankind (Galatians 3:14).
Praise God for Jesus who healed us through his stripes (1 Peter 2:24).
Praise God for Jesus who gave us victory (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Praise God for Jesus who gave us peace (John 14:27).
Praise God for Jesus who shed his blood so that we could be forgiven of our past, present, and future sins (Colossians 1:13-14).

There is more…so praise God for Jesus!

Have you ever had a prompting to pray? We go a day or two without praying and something in us has us saying, “I need to start praying more.” That something’s name is the Holy Spirit. God wants to be so involved in our lives until He’ll use the Holy Spirit, people around us, and messages like this to prompt us to pray.

It’s pretty awesome to know we have a God Who wants to converse with us daily. We have a God Who desires to be a part of our lives. God doesn’t need us to pray for Him to still be God. He will still be God if no one prays, however, He desires an intimate relationship with His children.

I encourage the body of Christ to increase their time with God. God has things He wants to show us and things He wants to manifest in our lives but, it can only be done through the power of prayer.

Pray.

Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked: but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ (Matthew 20:9-12 NKJV)

In the Kingdom of God, it doesn’t matter if we have been a Christian for 10 years or 10 seconds, we all (Christians) have an equal opportunity to receive all of the promises of God. God doesn’t look at the veteran Christian and say, “I’m going to bless you more because you’ve been a Christian longer.” Once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, in God’s eyes, we’ve been a Christian all of our lives. With this Christian privilege, we all have a blood bought right to receive all of His promises equally.

Align your faith with God’s Word and expect to receive His great promises.

Psalm 47:6 Sing praise to God, sing praises: Sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

Our God is amazing. He is a great God. He blesses us time and time again. Even when we don’t deserve good things, He provides them to us anyway. The successes we have in our life are because of Him. The blood of Jesus has allowed us to receive eternal life, all the promises of God, and victory. He has healed us from all sickness, disease, and pain. He protects us from all hurt, harm, and danger. For that, we should be grateful.

Today’s Challenge:
Let’s take at least one literal minute out of our busy day and tell God what He really means to us.

Acts 9:20 Immediately he (Paul) preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

So many times we think we need to be saved X amount of years in order to be used by God. We may think we need to have our house in order with every “i” dotted and every “t” crossed. The only thing we need to have in order to be used by God is a willing heart. Look at Paul. Paul was not raised in a church, his background was far from perfect and yet, God used Paul to write over half the New Testament and perform a number of miracles. Once Paul got saved, he was committed. All we need is a willing heart.

Let’s not be so quick to disqualify ourselves based on our past or where we presently are, because once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, we are qualified.

We must build our faith by declaring the peace and protection that God has promised us. When we choose to believe those promises, we are prepared when the enemy attempts to thwart our peace by interrupting our sweet sleep, or trying to get us to succumb to fear based on the reports of the world. So, declare and believe the covering that God has prepared for us:

Psalm 91: 9If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.