Monthly Archive

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore; as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Just because we’ve accepted Christ, doesn’t mean we’re automatically sold out for Him. We have to make the decision and put forth the effort to live a life where our foundation and our future are in Christ.

This scripture says, as we received Christ, we should walk in Him, be rooted and built up in Him, and established in our belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How did we receive Christ? By faith. So, by faith (belief in what Jesus accomplished for us) we should walk in Him, be rooted and built up in Him, and be established in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God gave us free will and it’s our choice to apply our faith in this area. If our faith is not applied, we cannot, in our own strength, walk in Him, be rooted and built up in Him, and be established in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; making life a bit more challenging. If our faith is applied to anything else, outside of Jesus, our faith in that thing is destined to crumble.

Jesus is a firm foundation. Isaiah 26:4 calls Him the rock of ages. Let’s place and keep our faith in Jesus to live a victorious life, operating in our authority, and fully convinced in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Job 36:11 If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.

After learning about grace, there are some who have a misconception that obedience is not important. They have a deceived thought that all their sins are forgiven, therefore, they don’t have to obey the audible and written Word of God. There are benefits to obedience.

Obedience to God’s Word, promises us prosperity and pleasure. God wants all of us to experience His prosperity and pleasure, but we must obey. If obedience promises us prosperity and pleasure, disobedience brings us hardship and displeasure. It’s foolish to think we can blatantly disobey God’s Word and expect prosperity. Yes, grace has forgiven us of all of our sins, but disobedience still has consequences.

If we assemble a newly purchased table, the prosperity and fulfillment of that table comes when we follow the instructions in the manual. If we can understand the benefit of following the assembly instructions for a table, surely we can understand the benefit of following God’s instructions for our lives.

Our responsibility is to honor God with our lives by obeying His Word. Grace is made available so that if we miss the mark, we have an advocate in Jesus, Who has paid the price so that we can be forgiven of our past, present, and future sins. Enhance the quality of life through obedience.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.

One of the hardest things for some of us to do is cast our cares and concerns on the Lord. A lot of us believe we can handle our problems using our own strength and logic. It’s as if we don’t trust God to handle our issues correctly. For those who do cast their cares on the Lord, one may ask, “Now what?” We give it to God, but the problem is still staring us in the face.

Once we give our cares to God, God promises to perfect the cares and concerns we’ve given to Him.

Psalms 138:8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me: your mercy, O LORD, endures forever: forsake not the works of your own hands.

When we give our care of lack to God, He can perfect our lack into abundance. When we give our concern for our children’s future to God, He can perfect our children’s future into success. When we give our care of a recurring disease to God, He can perfect that disease into divine health.

If we don’t ever give our cares to the Lord, we don’t give Him a chance to perfect the things that cause us concern. Have faith to know when we give our cares to God, He will perfect those cares into successes.
#trustGod

There are times where our desires are so strong for something until it becomes deafening. We’re not listening to God, wise counsel, or even sound logic. We want our desire and we want it now.

We have to be in control of our flesh when these desires come because some of our desires can be harmful to us. The desire could be more expensive than we thought, it could require more maintenance, or it could be so distracting until it prevents progress in our lives.

Instead of making a quick decision, seek God numerous times to determine if He wants us to have the desire (James 1:5). The first couple of times we seek God, we may hear “get it” because our flesh is louder than the voice of God. Eventually, we will get a consistent answer from God. After seeking God, it would be beneficial to seek wise counsel from responsible people (Prov. 15:22). Wise counsel provides a right now audible answer that should align with God’s answer. Finally, there should be peace in our hearts regarding all our decisions (Col. 3:15).

Don’t allow flesh and feelings to overpower the voice of God and wise counsel. Quiet the flesh, receive the wisdom of God, and make wise decisions in every area of life.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

-I should have prayed for that guy.

-I should have asked if she knew Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

-I should have told them there’s a better way through Christ.

These are the things we really desire to do, but the fear of man prevents us from completing our God-given tasks. What is it about the fear of man? Are we so concerned with our reputation or what people think about us until we don’t fulfill our God-inspired assignments?

Our reputation for a day is not worth the eternal destruction of someone’s soul. We may be the only genuine representatives of Christ someone encounters. They know the religion of Christianity, but they have not been introduced to Christ. We can be that vessel. So many people are lost, hurting, and sick and we have the solution through Jesus, but if Christ is not demonstrated, it’s just a fairytale in the Bible.

Breakthrough that fear of man and let’s make no reputation of ourselves. The world is getting darker and we are the light, love, and hope people from all backgrounds can consistently experience. 

Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

There are a lot of methods people use to look and feel young again. They exercise, use creams, and diet in a particular way to remove harmful toxins from their system. A lot of these methods are debatable, but the Word of God has a sure method to maintaining our youth. 

Psalms 103:2-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

1. Who forgives all. Condemnation, guilt, and shame have been proven to produce harmful toxins in the body causing the body to rapidly deteriorate. As believers, we don’t have to stress over our sins because God has forgiven us of our past, present, and future sins through the sacrifice of Jesus.

2. Who heals all. We are healed. Knowing we are healed of all our diseases, in spite of how we feel, allows our bodies to function, even in old age, the way God intended for our bodies to function.

3. Who redeems. There’s no need to fear about the next life. Through Jesus, God has redeemed us from our original punishment, the pit of hell. Therefore, we have joy knowing our final destination is with the Lord.

4. Who Crowns With Love and Mercy. There’s something about knowing God loves with an everlasting love and is merciful towards us that brings us a sense of peace. No matter what we’ve done or who else loves us, God loves us and He is not holding anything against us.  

The freedom of no condemnation because we’re forgiven, the divine health through the stripes of Jesus, the stress-free feeling of redemption, and the knowledge that we are loved renews our youth. Stay healthy and continue to look and feel young by receiving this Word from God.  

The term “illegal immigrant” has become very popular in politics in the United States. The President has vowed to stop non-United States residence from unlawfully entering the country and he has vowed to remove illegal immigrants from this country.

As passionate as he and other people are about illegal immigrants entering the U.S., from a spiritual perspective, illegal immigrants have been tolerated for the past 2000 years. Devils, imps, and demons are the spiritual illegal immigrants. For the believer, and for the believer alone, they don’t belong in our lives. They have no right in our homes, in our families, at our jobs, or in our marriages.

Jesus sacrificed His life, stripped Satan of His power, and gave us dominion over all the power of the enemy. If there’s trouble in any area of our lives (marital, financial, health, etc.), that’s Satan and his demonic forces attempting to illegally infiltrate and wreak havoc in our lives.

Research God’s Word. Find out what belongs to you. If you don’t have it, use your authority, in the name of Jesus, to remove those illegal immigrants and receive every blessing from God.

Hebrews 2:14 Because God’s children are human beings–made of flesh and blood–the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God has a plan to prosper us, but a plan without execution is just a dream. Some of us know God has called us to a certain career, ministry, or assignment, but, for various reasons, we haven’t executed the plan of God. God is not going to force His plan on our lives. He simply waits until we’re ready to submit our will to His will.

God’s plan is linked to pure prosperity. Sure, we can go the opposite direction from God’s plan and potentially experience the world’s definition of prosperity, but with God’s plan, there’s always more, better, and we’re able to be a blessing to others.

The only way to know God’s plan for our lives is to seek Him, remove every preconceived notion of prosperity, and allow God to place His plan for our lives in our hearts. It’s time to execute God’s plan to reach maximum prosperity.

Romans 12:1 (NCV) So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us great mercy, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to worship.

After we get saved or rededicate ourselves back to the Lord, at some point, we have a desire to give God our all. We think of His goodness and His mercy and all He’s done for us and we become so overwhelmed until we make statements like, “God, You can have all of me.”

Giving God our all is good until it becomes inconvenient. God may want us to serve in a certain area of ministry at our church, but that area requires us to stay 2 hours after church on Sunday which impedes on our time to relax. God may prompt us to give an additional $200 of offering we weren’t planning on spending. Did we really mean all or was that all predicated on our convenience? Being inconvenienced, some of us exchange the word “all” to “some.”

Here’s how to continue giving God all. Giving God our all will require some sacrifice. We don’t want our all to become legalistic where we feel guilty or condemned if we didn’t do a certain thing, but some sacrifice is necessary. The freedom of giving God our all resides in being led by the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit prompts to do a certain thing or give a certain amount, do it. But, if a similar circumstance occurs again, consult the Holy Spirit again because He may lead you to relax or not give.

When we align our will to the will of God, being led by the Spirit of God, we are conveniently giving God our all.

People in the world and some believers become upset when they hear ministers or people voice their disapproval of homosexuality or transgender individuals. They feel like the people who voice their disapproval are being judgmental and are quick to label them homophobic.

First of all, phobia has to do with an extreme fear of something. Just because a person disagrees with something, doesn’t mean they have a phobia. Here’s the second issue. When people are labeled homophobic, a hater of love, or archaic because they don’t agree with the popular idea, they’re actually being judged by the world. Just because the believer disagrees with something, doesn’t make them judgmental. It lets the world know that they have an opinion and their opinion is based in the Word of God.

Should people of the world be condemned, Bible beaten, or shamed because of their lifestyle choice? Of course not, but it doesn’t mean it has to be embraced.

People of God, we don’t have to compromise on our beliefs or become silent because an idea is popular in the eyes of many. With LOVE and GRACE, we can express our beliefs, encourage someone else, and let them know the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

Would you believe, God Almighty, the Creator of all things has competition? God’s only competition for our hearts is money.

Matthew 19:16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”

21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

When Jesus told the rich young ruler what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, the rich young ruler chose money over God. Whether we realize it or not, when it comes to money, some of us do the same thing.

We’ll spend our money on possessions we desire, but when it comes to giving to the Kingdom of God, we may give $5 or $20.

Where our treasure is, that’s where our heart is (Matthew 6:21).

When it comes to money, we want more of it; we’ll do whatever we have to do to get it, and we’ll do whatever we have to do to keep it. Wait a minute…the way some of us view money is the same way God wants to be viewed. We should want more of God; we’ll do whatever is necessary to get Him, and we’ll do whatever is necessary to keep Him.

Give God your heart by giving God at least a tenth of your treasure.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

2 Corinthians 9:10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,

Everyone wants increase in their lives. People want more money, a better career, and better outcomes in their lives. God wants to give us the increase we desire, but He can’t give it all to us unless a financial seed is sown to His Kingdom.

Would it seem logical for farmers of apples to tell themselves they will plant an apple seed as soon as the ground first produces an apple tree? Of course not. Or, how wise would it be for a person working a normal corporate job to tell their employer they want a month’s salary before they put the time in and worked? Not wise at all. A seed sown comes before the harvest. God cannot give us more, until we first sow the seed we have now into the ground.

The great thing about this promise is we control our harvest. If we sow sparingly, we’ll reap sparingly, but if we sow bountifully, we’ll reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6).

Begin to sow a financial seed in the Kingdom of God and expect to receive increase from that seed.

There is a 20 mile route I take to work and usually, the lights are all timed and for the most part, I get 20 smooth miles of green lights with minimal traffic. About two weeks ago, I noticed in my commute, there was severe traffic in this particular area. Initially, I thought it was an accident, but the next couple of days it continued.

My co-worker, who takes the same route as I, contacted the traffic department concerning the traffic in that one area. The traffic department heard his request and informed him that other people requested something be done about the timing of the lights. After a week of taking an alternate route, my co-worker told me he took the usual route to work and the green lights were correctly timed and the route is back to being smooth.

God revealed to me that if one man can exercise his authority and make a difference in the flow of traffic, how much more can we, as believers, exercise our authority to make a difference in our lives and in the world? Just like my co-worker, contacted the traffic department and made his request, we can contact God to make our requests. There was no guarantee that the traffic department was going to fulfill his request, but with God, we have a guarantee that our prayers will be answered (1 John 5:14-15).

Not only do we have a guarantee with God regarding our lives, but God’s Word tells us we have dominion over the enemy and we can collectively change a situation (Luke 10:19; Matt 18:19). So, anything we see that doesn’t align with God’s Word, we have the authority to change that situation. If there’s a neighborhood filled with violence or marriage filled with strife, we have the authority to remove every demonic influence from that situation.

If we don’t make our requests known to God and use our authority over the enemy, nothing will change.

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

There’s a TV show called Ninja Warrior. The concept of the show is that people from all backgrounds attempt to complete an obstacle course that includes running, jumping, balance, etc. Very few people complete the obstacle course due to the fact the course is intentionally designed to be difficult. For those who can complete the course, a reward is given.

Thousands of years ago, the most difficult obstacle course was created by God, through Moses. Only, this obstacle course had nothing to do with physical abilities, but lifestyle choices that honored God. This course was known as The Law. Numerous people attempted to complete this obstacle course, but one by one they all failed.

Jesus was sent to the earth by God to complete this obstacle course. Jesus not only represented Himself, but because of His love for us, He represented mankind. There were over 600 obstacles or laws Jesus had to keep. In His life time, Jesus completed the course. Because Jesus completed the obstacle course and was obedient until death, God exalted Him and gave Him the name above all names (Philippians 2:9).

Since Jesus represented mankind, we don’t have to keep all 600 laws to be in right relationship with God. We simply have to believe that Jesus completed the obstacle course on our behalf. By our belief in what Jesus has accomplished for us, we have access to rewards. Our rewards are righteousness, holiness, authority in the earth, divine health, and everlasting life. We didn’t and we don’t have to do anything to earn these rewards. These rewards are freely given to those who believe that Jesus finished the obstacle course on their behalf. Only believe.

Romans 3:25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands…3 Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

As we can see, God desires that every believer financially prospers. Unfortunately, the world’s system makes it difficult for every believer to prosper financially. Some are born into money, while others are born into poverty. Those born into money have more of an advantage to become “successful” than those born into poverty. Those born into poverty, may become desperate and attempt to get ahead by breaking the law, making it even more difficult to become financially prosperous. Regardless of the world’s system, God’s promise remains the same. All should prosper.

The great equalizer amongst believers is the blessing. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the blessing is on our lives. The blessing is an empowerment, given by God, for every believer to prosper in every area of their lives, including financially. It doesn’t matter if we’re a CEO of a major company or we work as a janitor, if we have a Ph.D. or only a High School diploma, if we lived a spotless life or we messed up and had our “come to Jesus” moment later on in life, the blessing levels the playing field and provides every believer the same opportunity to become financially prosperous.

The blessing is available for everyone who is willing to believe. If we’re willing to believe the blessing is more powerful than our past or where we currently are now, this blessing will accomplish its goal and empower us to prosper. It only takes one idea, through the blessing, that will have us financially stable. The blessing will put us in contact with people who will educate us on how to enhance the quality of our lives. The blessing will make our purpose prosperous.

Place your faith in the blessing because it has the power to prosper your life.

Proverbs 10:22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Lately, the church has been singing and saying, they want all and more of God. God gave us the greatest gift we didn’t ask for. He gave us a piece of Himself in Jesus the Christ. Now, we are redeemed, made righteous, and have 24-hour access to God. To top that, He filled us with His Spirit. How much more of Him can He give us?

The depth of God is infinite and we control how much God we have in our lives. We spend a little time with God, we get minimal results from being in His presence. We spend a lot of time with God, we experience great results. He’s not withholding Himself back from us.

If we want more, go get Him. Spend time in prayer, reading His Word, listening to His prophets, listening to His Spirit, and experience great manifestations from God. The more of God we desire is waiting on us to take Him. God gave us His best. He gave us His all.

John 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

It’s difficult to experience joy when we’re mentally and physically fatigued. Sure, we can be amused by a TV show or have fun with our friends and family but, that joy is temporary and incomplete. When the TV show turns off and there’s no one around, there is a joy we need to pull from. That joy only comes from the Lord.

Knowing Jesus loves us and loved us enough to sacrifice Himself for us, is the joy we can consistently pull from on a daily basis. The love of Jesus made us free. The love of Jesus made us righteous. The love of Jesus released the blessing on our lives. The love of Jesus caused us to be in right relationship with God. The love of Jesus allowed us to receive anything we desire from God. The love of Jesus healed our bodies. The love of Jesus gave us the victory over every situation. The love of Jesus allowed us to have authority over all the works of the enemy. This list can go on and on.

When we think about what Jesus has done for us, wherever we are in life, we can experience complete and perfect joy. Draw from the joy that Jesus provided.

John 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.

On a daily basis, darkness attempts to enter our minds. Darkness includes, lustful thoughts, living in fear, anger, depression, and more. Darkness will deceive us into thinking we’re enjoying ourselves or doing the right thing, but in actuality, we’re going nowhere. Every second of every day, we must resist the urge to give into the darkness.

To stay above darkness, we must fix our focus on Jesus. Jesus is associated with the light. The light includes, the fruit of Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23, holiness, and our righteousness. Fixing our minds, actions, and behavior on the finished works of Jesus keeps us associated with the light.

We can try to stay away from darkness using our own strength, but we’ll eventually be overtaken by darkness. It is Jesus that gives love, joy, and self-control in the midst of a trying time. It was Jesus that made us holy (Hebrews 10:10). It was Jesus that made us righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Resting in Jesus keeps us in the light because it was He that overcame the darkness.

James 1:6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

When we’re standing in faith for a thing, there are forces, conditions, and circumstances that will tempt us to doubt. These thoughts of doubt are brought on by the enemy because he knows a person who doubts can’t expect to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7).

When these thoughts of doubt come, we must resist them and remain in faith. To determine if we’re in faith or beginning to doubt, we must identify the areas of doubt.
1. Has your desire reduced? Initially, your desire was great. After a period of time and looking at the circumstances, you’ve reduced your desire to what you logically think is possible.
2. You’ve convinced yourself that you don’t want or need the desire. Usually, because of the circumstance or the magnitude of the desire, along with delay, you’ve convinced yourself that you no longer want the desire. A “deep” believer would even say, they’re content or it’s not meant for them.
3. You begin to get frustrated or worried due to the time delay of the promise.
4. You’ve been convinced that you’re not worthy to receive that desire. In actuality, the blood of Jesus has made us worthy to receive every promise of God if we’re willing to believe (2 Cor. 1:20).

Now that you know the areas of doubt, we can examine our lives to determine if we’re remaining in faith or succumbing to doubt. Remain in faith.

Matthew 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Jesus proclaimed there was no one greater than John the Baptist. What made John so great? John baptized the masses, encouraging them to repent, and confess their sins. Most importantly, John preached the coming of Jesus and placed Him on a pedestal (Matthew 3).

John was great, but Jesus also stated the least in the kingdom would be greater than John. Although John did great things, he lived before the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. No blood was shed for the remission of his sins, therefore, in the eyes of God, John was still a sinner, considered unrighteous, and not accepted into the kingdom of heaven at that time. The least in the kingdom is made righteous because of the sacrifice of Jesus, making them greater than John.

We live in a time where we can be greater than great. We have the opportunity to combine what John did, while still recognizing ourselves as righteous based on the sacrifice of Jesus. We can and should be preaching the gospel and placing Jesus on a pedestal, but at the same time, recognizing we’re righteous and all our past, present, and future sins are forgiven.

Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ with no condemnation and maximize your time to be greater than great.