Word Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 02/01/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Brave Young Woman Tasked With Presenting The Hard Issues: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water

The Family Fool

Proverbs 26:11 (Amplified Bible)

¹¹As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly.

Today’s message in the music comes from the Stylistics’ song “Make Up to Break Up.” The chorus of the songs says, “Make up to break up, that’s all we do. First you love me, then you hate me. That’s a game for fools.” The content of the song is about the functioning and dysfunction of a relationship between a man and woman, but the intent of the blog is to look at the relationship between a mother and her child.

Webster defines a mother as 1. A female parent 2. An old or elderly woman 3. Maternal tenderness or affection and 4. Something that is an extreme or ultimate example of its kind. These definitions alone left me puzzled; where was the definition that states "who gives life, or one who endures childbirth?" I believe that the reason those definitions don’t appear in the dictionary is because the act of getting pregnant, carrying a child or giving birth are not the true qualifications of being a mother. If that were true, women that adopt or who use surrogates to have children would be disqualified.

When God first gave me this assignment I knew this was going to be the hardest topic for me to write. I was telling some friends the other day, that a person can call a father almost any name in the book( if the situation warrants) and its acceptable, but to speak against a “mother” is one of the biggest taboos a person can do. How can you not sing anything but praises for the one who gave you life?……then God told me that no human being in this world can give anybody or anything life but Him.

I remember when I was in a physically abusive relationship and my friends kept asking why I wouldn’t leave and why I kept going back. They knew as well as I did, that this destructive lifestyle I was living would eventually kill me emotionally, spiritually and possibly even physically. For me fear played a part in my decision to stay, but more importantly in my case it was the spirit of familiarity and ignorance that ultimately held me captive. Now looking back I see I was “a fool in love.” I allowed the love I had for this man to allow me to make excuses for him and by these means, it let him get away with treating me less than God ordained.

So should it be any different if that person is your “mother” (or any family member you need to fill in your gap with)? The fact God blessed them with the privilege to be used as a vessel to bring you into this world, doesn’t give them the right to misuse their power or the role that they play in your life. A mother is suppose to be a child’s first line of defense against the world and the first example of love, but in a lot of cases this is not what we are finding or what is true. Women are using children as pawns to get things from men, to fulfill their lost dreams, to get more from the system and in some cases to keep a man. God is extremely displeased and upset with some “mothers” right now, especially those claiming to be in His kingdom.

God never intended for us to be abused by any person, and He is getting ready to bless some of us with foster parents that are within the kingdom. God does not intend for you to stay connected to any person who will destroy you in any dimension of your being, because it will eventually destroy the purpose He has placed in your life. God says some of us need to cut off and leave alone some of these relationships, until He brings deliverance and healing. Some times we keep going back because we think things will get better, or that if we love a little more or try a little harder that change will come. But some mountains only God can move. Don’t be a fool one more day, turn it over to God and rest in His true unconditional love.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 01/29/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By a Yong Lady Who Has Love For The Father In a True Form: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water

You Are NOT the Father

Matthew 1:19-21 (New Living Translation)

¹⁹ Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement^[a] quietly. ²⁰ As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ²¹ And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus,^[b] for he will save his people from their sins.”

I laughed when God first dropped the title of this blog in my spirit. Of course my mind instantly flashed back to a few Maury Povich episodes I had seen in the past. Most of us know how the show goes. A female brings a man or several men on the show to prove that he is the biological father of her child. Some women test over ten different men, only to hear the same DNA test result……….You are NOT the Father. Ninety-Five percent of the time the men hearing the results are relieved. They jump for joy, call the mother out of her name, high five the audience and then proceed to act a plum fool.

Well, I’m delighted to say that this blog is a dedication to the other five percent. This is a blog to encourage the five percent who break down in tears at the news that a precious child is not theirs biologically, but still man up and stay in the child's life. They realize that the child is just an innocent product of choices of two adults. They look at the fact that they have bonded with the child or children on a level far beyond a strand of DNA. I call these men the Joseph’s of the world. They choose to stand in the gap and do the will of God, concerning that child. Today’s Bible revelation for me was that Joseph was struggling with the issue of whether to leave Mary on the down low. Joseph's desire was not to publicly humiliate Mary, so he was going to gracefully bow out to protect her……..and himself. But the Lord spoke to him in a dream and he choose to follow God's directive to marry Mary and raise Jesus for the time God allowed Him to live under his roof. Most women would argue, that not a lot of men would be able to live this life for a day, not even to mention for a lifetime. But I know from first hand experience, and from first hand observance……………..that more will than we realize.

God is such an awesome and powerful God, that not only will He send someone to stand in the gap in the life of a child. He will send someone who will have a greater impact on the destiny of that child, than originally thought. He will send someone with so much love in their heart, that only those very close to their situation would ever know, that not one drop of blood is shared between father and child.

Today if you are in this situation, it's not necessary to get caught up in a “custody” battle over who would be better suited to wear the title of Father in a child’s life; because just like having a male organ doesn’t make you a grown MAN, donating sperm doesn’t make you a FATHER. To those who stand and fill in the gap, here's to you. Keep doing what you are doing and know that God honors your sacrifice. Know that as that God ordained man in that child's life you are beginning the process of taking our children back from the enemy, one FATHER at time!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 01/28/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By a Young Woman Who Will Accept a Challenge and Excel In It: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water

Are Your Footsteps Worth Following???

Proverbs 23:26 (New Living Translation)

²⁶ O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

Recently, Shane and I had the “Jr” conversation, and it got me to thinking about a sermon our Bishop did a few weeks ago. The sermon was about “change the name”, and how Zechariah and his wife stood in faith and named their son John, instead of Zechariah, after his father. Historically, in Biblical days it was almost a given that a son would take on his father's name and everything else that came along with it. In present day, I would say it is equivalent to a man's first born son becoming a Jr or the II.

Well, as our conversation continued going back and forth with different, but valid, points being made on both sides, I finally gave in. Not because Shane had out witted me (although I let him think so), but because I see qualities in him, that I’d be proud to have in any child of ours. Of course this decision has years to come before it will actually be tested, but the point of the story is that a father is supposed to be someone worth adoring. The main voice of direction and vision of any child should be their father. Every son should aspire to grow up to be like his dad, and every daughter should grow up looking for a life partner who models him as well.

The problem in our society today is that fathers have dropped out of the picture. They are too busy and consumed with their personal agendas to step up and be the man of God their seeds needs for them to be. It’s almost the norm to say it takes two to make the child, but only one to raise them. During my study time in the Word, I learned that Proverbs is almost an entire book written from a father to his son. How profound of a statement that is, that God would have almost an entire book about wisdom, written as a father's legacy to his son.

It’s so sad to me when men teach their little girls to be young ladies, but their sons to be pimps and players. I wonder how many fathers today would be able to ask their child to die on the cross, and have them agree to it. I realize now, that although Jesus asked God to remove that burden from Him, He still trusted His father, and obeyed. He never doubted or looked back, he just obeyed. He did not look forward to the pain of the cross, but something in Him said: I will do the will of my father because He has never left me nor forsaken me. God had proven in birth, childhood, teenage years, young adulthood and as an adult man, that He would always be there and that He would always show up.

Christ was able to conquer the cross because He had His Daddy with Him. If fathers all around the world would man up and stand up, they could turn this world inside out. God was the perfect example for every man, every where. No matter what your Earthly father has done, know that you have a Heavenly Father waiting to love and guide you. He will shape you, mold you, love you, heal you, push you, protect you, and keep you. Just follow His footsteps……….you’ll be following the greatest steps ever laid and the best ground ever paved.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 01/27/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By a Young Woman Who Will Accept a Challenge and Excel In It: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water

No Ordinary Situation

Luke 1:26-31 (New Living Translation)

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. ²⁸ Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!^[a]” ²⁹ Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. ³⁰ “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

Yesterday as I sat reading my Bible, aspiring for a deeper understanding of the conception and birth of Jesus, I was surprised at the facts surrounding His beginnings. I've always known that Mary was a virgin, but it never registered to me that meant she wasn't married. So not only was Jesus born to a TEEN mother who was UNWED, but in addition to that, the man that was physically present in His life, was NOT his biological father.

Of course I know that I am not Jesus, but I too was born to an unwed mother and the man that was physically present in my life as a child, was not my biological father. So what does it all mean? What is God trying to teach us all? I believe that God wants us to know that the circumstances in which He allowed us to be brought into the earth, will not hinder the fulfillment of His purpose in our lives for this world. So many times because of the events surrounding how we came into the world; will make us look at where we came from and feel discouraged and disqualified.

Jesus was not born into an ideal situation, but He didn't allow that to stop His destiny. God wants someone to know that it doesn't matter what your father was or was not, what your mother did or didn't do, that in the end He will have the final say. Some reading this right now, grew up being called a mistake, a regret or a disappointment, but know that God doesn't make mistakes.

Today rejoice in the fact that God is your beginning, middle and end. He kept you through all the hell of your past, so that you can stand boldly now, and present yourself a living sacrifice to Him and others. No matter if you were conceived in a broken home, to teen parents, drug addicted mother, a product of rape, In Virto Fertilization, or you were conceived the good ole fashioned way…… you matter and you have a purpose. Jesus is the greatest example; it doesn't matter how you get here, what matters is what you do while your here.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 01/26/10)

Today’s Devotional Is Written By A Brave, Courageous Warrior That Has Been Chosen To Set The Pace: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water……

Blessed to Bear the Burden

Mark 6:3-6 (New Living Translation)

³ Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary^[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,^[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. ⁴ Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” ⁵ And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief.

This weekend I’ll be flying home to celebrate my grandmothers 75^th birthday. As excited as I am, there is a part of me that is scared out of my mind. Mrs. Lula Kate Thompson ( my Grandmother) use to drag me to church every Sunday morning, as a child I hated it. Now,as an adult I realize, she was not honored in her own home. My cousins and I favored my grand-dad because he was the cool one. He didn’t make us do anything that would force us to grow, change or want for something more, but she would.

A lady that I work with often jokes, that God has a sense of humor. Today I had the opportunity to touch and agree with her, in prayer. It wasn’t until I started the process of searching for a plane ticket, that it hit me: God had chosen this week, of all weeks to have me begin to write this family series. As if writing the blogs were not a hard enough test for me, He threw in some extra credit by adding a visit to family into the mix.

When this assignment to write this set of blogs was first given to me, God instantly reminded me of the referenced scripture above, and I was saddened. Why are those who are suppose to be the most supportive of us, the ones who break us down the most? Why do family abuse, misuse and slander us………..all in the name of love and loyalty? It amazes me that if God’s purpose for our life benefits those around us, then we are doing something good and we are all right. But the moment God speaks a word to us that no one else can understand, fathom, or get with- - - instantly we are seen as out of the will of God.

But just as God allowed Jesus to be surrounded by 12 disciples which helped to push Him into the fullness of His destiny, so will He do the same for us. God is not saying that all families are jacked up and twisted, but He is saying that too many are. Now is the time to start healing, mending and repairing years of generational baggage. In the beginning I was frustrated and upset to have to bear the burden of this cross of healing…….until God allowed me to see that I was blessed to bear this burden. God wanted me to be able to encourage all of those called to be burden bearers; by letting them know that they were hand picked by Heaven to change the atmosphere of their families. We have the opportunity to rewrite our family’s future. The choice of destiny or destruction, lies within us.

Today, begin to pray away every demonic or generational hindrance that is stopping your family from reaching the potential that God ordained. Today stand up boldly and represent Christ, even though some may spit in or step on your face. Today choose God’s will and watch Him turn it around. Remember, there was nothing ordinary about the family dynamics that Jesus was born into.

Word Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 01/25/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who God Is Truly Anointing In A New Way: Tracy Koweh

Blood is Thicker than Water

The Family Series

Matthew 12:46-50 (New Living Translation)

The True Family of Jesus

⁴⁶ As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”^{[a] 48} Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. ⁵⁰ Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

Today’s message in music comes from the title of the Sister Sledge’s song “We Are Family”. A few weeks ago the Lord instructed me to do a series on family. I was so confused because my family situation is so totally not the American Dream. Since I was a child I’ve always had the ability to look at things completely different than the rest of the world.

I have a saying that “Friends are family you get to choose”, because in so many relationships in my life, I am closer to some people who share no DNA with me. The pressure this series has put on me; guided me into a preparatory fast last week, and then the Lord showed me the above scripture. I hadn’t truly understood it the first few times I read it, but then my eyes were opened.

Mary and Jesus’s blood relatives were standing outside of a home waiting to speak to Him, yet JESUS pointed to His disciples and said, “These are my mother and brother”. Not because they shared a bond because of their DNA, but because they shared the bond to do the will of God the Father.

When God first gave me this assignment, I replied, “God I’ve always been taught that blood is thicker than water”. He said, “Mud is thicker than dirt, and which one is easier to clean up”. As I look at where I am in my life, I realize a lot of things; I’ve had to dig my way back from, mistakes that were produced by past generations. Some of the demonic challenges that I have faced and that have come against me, have been pasted down through my generational blood line. BUT I am ready for God to perform a blood transfusion, to make my life better for Jaida and those who will come after us both.

Today as we begin another week, let us set our eyes upon those who are pushing us into the Will of God. The only blood line that should matter, is the blood of Jesus. As much as I love my biological family, grandmother’s blood can’t heal me, deliver me or set me free. As I prepare to enter into war, to save my family and get control back from the enemy, I invite you to join me. Satan has been running wild long enough, will you be the one blessed to bear the burden…………………….

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Friday01/22/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who God Is Truly Anointing In A New Way: Tracy Koweh
Someone loves YOU for YOU…………

Romans 8:38-39 (New Living Translation)
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every morning before Jai goes to school we do our morning routine. She attempts to put on her own coat, grabs her lunch bag, and we go to the car. Then we say her big girl prayer and I anoint us with oil for the day. Her favorite part (if she is fully awake) is when we sing a song together. I normally play one out of a few songs she really knows the words to. Well, yesterday morning the Lord dropped a song in spirit, that I thought was to teach Jai………………..but it turned out to be one of the greatest ministering moments to myself.

He told me to sing, Yes, Jesus Loves Me. I laughed for a second because it immediately brought back childhood memories of Sunday school. I think every person whose ever been to Sunday school, knows the word of that simply song. Yet, it’s such a very powerful and encouraging song. As I began to sing the song a bit slower and softer (so Jai could begin to learn the words), I didn’t just hear the words I was singing, but I understood and believed in them.

I can’t imagine all of the many different situations that each person reading this may be going through right now, but no matter what it is, I can tell you that Jesus loves you. Today find a secret place to sit alone and really just sing this song to yourself. Yes, Jesus loves ME, OH, YES, Jesus loves ME, For the Bible tells me so. Sing it not to hear yourself, but to hear the message the Lord is saying directly to YOU. Sing it a bit slower and a bit softer and watch a simple Sunday school song, turn your entire mindset around. Whether your battling with right or wrong, fighting for your marriage, your job, your sanity, your peace of mind, your home, your child or your very life………….remember that Jesus loves you.

As we prepare to enter into this weekend, know that God has sustained you for a reason. Jesus died on the cross, not for himself but so that you would be able to bare the trials that come to you. Jesus trusted in God to bring about the victory of the cross, and today let us follow in those same footsteps. Jesus loves you just the way you are. He may require you to change some things, He may stretch you, He may rebuke you, He may request more of you…………..but He loves YOU for YOU. Stop reading and go sing :o)

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Thursday01/21/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who God Is Truly Anointing In A New Way: Tracy Koweh
One Wing and a Prayer
Isaiah 40:28-31 (New Living Translation)
28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

One of my favorite movies growing up was Sparkle. It’s pretty much a movie about a music group of young adults who get turned around by different things going on in their individual lives. Within the group of five singers, three are sisters. And of the sisters the “Beyonce” of the group gets caught up with the wrong kind of people, because she is focused on living life in the fast lane.

The guy Sister ends up in bed with, abuses her and gets her hooked on drugs. She justifies her drug use to her younger sister, who adores her, by saying. “Sister, can’t fly on just one wing”. So she has went from being the star of the group, the prettiest sister, and the greatest voice, to being beat down, broke down and eventually dead. The situations she found herself in were too much for her to handle, so she turned to something to take the pain away. She turned to a substance that made the bruises not hurt, and the world not seem so cold.

She had the right idea, just the wrong thing sustaining her. It’s true that we as humans can’t fly on just one wing or even two for that matter. We have to realize that the tests from God, the enemy and our own doing are too much to handle. But I’m here to tell you that we serve a God that will handle all things, if we give it to Him. It’s only been 20 days into this new year, and I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count the number of tests God has allowed to manifest into the lives of Christians. It’s as if all the years of speaking about faith has pushed God into a season of wanting proof from His purchase.

We are all here today by nothing more than the grace of God. No matter how big or bad we really may be, we can’t handle all that we are going to be tasked with. The fact of the matter is that, if we could do it alone, why would God need to show up. So, today before you get ready to THROW IN the towel and GIVE UP………….why don’t you THROW UP your hands, and GIVE GOD the praise. Let Him be the wind beneath your wings. Let Him be the light in your dark tunnel. Let Him be your peace in the midst of chaos. Let Him be the one to carry you, while you carry your cross. Today rest in Him.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Wednesday 01/20/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who God Is Truly Anointing In A New Way: Tracy Koweh
Why Me Lord?
Why Not You?
Revelation 2:10 (Amplified Bible)
10Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. [Dismiss your dread and your fears!] Behold, the devil is indeed about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested and proved and critically appraised, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be loyally faithful unto death [even if you must die for it], and I will give you the crown of life.(A)

This past week on Facebook I reconnected with a very close friend of mine from high school. Her profile was picture perfect. Beautiful family - - - -her husband and two little girls…(one named Jaeda). They had smiles that would light up any room, but my God the darkness she is going through.

We were chatting and catching up when she asked if I was married. I told her not anymore, and began to share a small piece of what happened. To my complete surprise, she shared that she was headed down the same road and for the same reason. I almost fell out of my chair. What are the odds that we would find each other again and in this very moment of her life? I told her that at the time I was going through my situation I kept asking “Why Me Lord?”, and He would reply back “Why Not You?”. I didn’t get it then, but I’m slowly starting to get it now.

Sometimes, we go through things so that we will be a LIVING testimony for someone else. Some times God will allow us to carry a cross so heavy that only He can lift it off of us, so that when the story is told again and again, He will get the glory. Every time I’ve had to witness to a woman who is dealing with a cheating mate, all I can tell them is that it was God. I can’t give them a 3 day cure, a home remedy or a quick step program, all I can tell them is that it was God.

Back then, I would have never said what I was going through was fair, but now I can say I understand it. I wonder how much more I could have gotten had I said “Thank You for Choosing Me”. How much more could I have done? How many more could I have helped, had I took the focus off of me and put it back on God.

Today make yourself available and yield to the power that only God can bring to your situation. The load you’re carrying is too heavy, because God never meant for you to carry it. Our trails and tribulations come to test our faith and commit to God, and to be a LIVING witness for some one else.

Words If Encouragement To Start The Day ( Tuesday 01/19/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who God Is Truly Anointing In A New Way: Tracy Koweh

Keep My Name Out Cho Mouth

Jeremiah 5:3 (New Living Translation)
3 Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.



Yesterday I attended a step show honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and watching those girls step brought back a lot of high school memories for me. The thing I noticed in most of the performances was that each group wanted to make their presence known to the other groups. They had some of the strongest attitudes I’ve seen in a long time, but their message was received because of it.



As I sat and remembered my days on the step team, I began to recall a lot of the drama I had to go through. In high school, girls would talk about each other with no real facts to back anything up. They would say what they wanted and with no regards for the other persons feelings. One incident that I will forever carry with me, is the time one young lady told a group of girls “Keep My Name Out Cho Mouth”.



Had I known then, what I know now, I’d have given that young lady a high five. So many times people judge us, before they really get to know the heart of us. They hear something about us, and instead of clarifying or getting the truth, they run with that and label us. Before they take the time to think maybe God placed this person in my life for a reason, they destroy the very person that could have been holding the key to their breakthrough, healing or destiny.



The other night while chatting with the Lord, He said so clearly to me that some people need to keep His name out of their mouths. I had no response, but to ask what did that mean. He said some people call His name, that have no real relationship with Him. That people talk about Him, and they have never spent one real moment alone with Him. That people call on His name, that have no real faith that His name will heal, deliver or conquer anything. That people call on His name in their time of trouble, and then are embarrass to call on Him in public.



Today let us begin to push towards truth. Let this year be different than any before. Be bold and stand up to the calling on your life, or be wise enough to sit down and be quiet. God is not tolerating the same things He use to, and this is not the time to be caught in the middle. Choose this day who you will serve and let your life reflect that. If you don’t want true relationship with the Father, that’s your personal choice………but if you don’t know Him……….you should keep His name out cho mouth.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 01/18/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Ever Increasing Spirit: Tracy Koweh

Let Their Hate, Motivate………

Psalm 17:9-13 (New Living Translation)

⁹ Protect me from wicked people who attack me, from murderous enemies who surround me. ¹⁰ They are without pity. Listen to their boasting! ¹¹ They track me down and surround me, watching for the chance to throw me to the ground. ¹² They are like hungry lions, eager to tear me apart— like young lions hiding in ambush. ¹³ Arise, O Lord! Stand against them, and bring them to their knees! Rescue me from the wicked with your sword!

Today’s message in the music comes from Jill Scott’s powerful song, “Hate On Me”. The chorus of the song says: Go ‘head and hate on me, hate on. ‘Cause I’m not afraid of it. What I got I paid for. You can hate on me. Throughout the song Jill shows that no matter how much you try to give to some people, they won’t be happy, satisfied or supportive.

With only a few days into this new year, I find myself in a strange season. I find God restoring a lot of my dreams back to me, and yet at the same time the flood of haters are coming out just as fast. People look at me and the things I have and the love in my life and they don’t understand the price I paid for it. They don’t know the struggles I went through to have a child because I was physically beat by one man as a young adult and then emotionally beat by ex-husband. They see me progressing on my job, but they don’t know the lies, the backstabbing and the gossiping that I go through behind closed doors at work.

So many times in our lives we judge people and their situations off of our own failures, pasts and killed dreams. We’ve lost the ability to celebrate the goodness of God in others because we have found ourselves in a place of joylessness, hopelessness, and depression. We’ve allowed our dreams to be killed, and so now we try to kill others. I’ve been hated on, talked about and mistreated these past 6 months of my life, by people I’ve done nothing but pour into, pray for and care about, and it hurts. But God gave me this revelation……….If someone doesn’t know and understand Him, and I mean really know and understand Him, then its impossible for them to know and understand what He is doing in your life.

Today as we celebrate the man known for “Having a Dream”, make up in your mind that you won’t allow anything or anyone to kill your dreams. If God promised it to you, then you hold on until He brings it to past. My bishop told us Sunday, that just because the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy…………doesn’t mean he can. So just because haters may be on assignment to take you out or tear you down, doesn’t mean they will. You have the power to overcome every tongue that would rise up against you and every weapon that would try to bring you harm. Live your dreams, and not someone else’s nightmare. Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 01/15/10)

Called To A Higher Place…

1 John 4:20-21 (Amplified Bible)

²⁰If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen.

²¹And this command (charge, order, injunction) we have from Him: that he who loves God shall love his brother [believer] also.

This week has been one of those weeks where I have been tested in many areas, but I was not alone. It would appear that God is testing many of us in the area of our responses in situations, and with people and what is looked at as “their foolishness.” Whether it has been people that have hurt us coming back into our lives or whether it has been those we are closest to acting the plum fool and stress’in our last nerves. I have heard stories that made me fighting mad and made me laugh, but all of them made me ask, “God what is really good, what are you doing?” As I sat tonight texting my sister over one such situation the Lord kept saying you are called to a higher place. You have to get delivered from people and do the right thing in spite of their motivation, actions or words. My sister made me laugh when I read her words in response to that very statement. Her retort was one that spoke most of our sentiments which was “well, I want another place.”

Being called to a higher place means called to accountability and responsibility. Being called to a higher place means loving the unlovables in our lives, and praying for those who have used us. It is pressing through to people even when they have blamed you, when you weren’t to blame. Being called to a higher place makes us diligent, to not just speak the word, recite a scripture, but to actual live it. Every thing that God commands us to do is not just a nice suggestion that we can have a spirited discussion about. It is a force, yes a force that is to be reckoned with, or should I say a force that will reckoned with us. It will deal with us in such a way that it will reveal who we are; who we belong to and what level we are on. We are responsible not just to ourselves for what we know, but to God’s kingdom. We should want to uphold the standard for Kingdom purposes alone, and so that we are not displeasing in God’s sight.

Challenge yourself to exhibit love and compassion even when it is not being given to you. Listen even through accusation and judgment, and choose to respond in love, instead of in anger. Let God’s character be manifest and not your flesh. God is requiring of you this day, your life to line up with your declaration. It is time to come on up to the High place, God will give you hinds feet to make the journey if you let him.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 01/14/10)

What Is Overshadowing You?..

Luke 1:35 (Amplified Bible)

³⁵Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.

I use to wrestle with the spirit of anger. I had been through a lot of things in my life time and I have suffered a lot of things at the hands of a lot of people. These events left me feeling out of control of my own life and swallowing a lot of anger. So I would find that the things I could control often were the areas I would exhibit anger. I would be fine one minute and all of a sudden (as if for no reason) I would feel angry, upset or agitated. The results would often be that I would withdraw, or my responses or answers would be sharp and pensive. I was allowing something to overshadow me that was counterproductive, something that would ruin many of my hours and days, and even sometimes the time of those around me. I know people that have articulated the same thing whether in the area of anger, fear, depression, anxiety, the results were still the same, nothing good.

Mary when she conceived Jesus was overshadowed by the Holy Ghost and as a result she gave birth to someone holy, pure, and sinless. She made manifest something beautiful and strong, who was the Savior of the world. But you see she could not have done that if it was within human means, because sin will manifest sin. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow us, the ways and attributes of God to over take us, the ways of Jesus to override ours, we too will produce what is good, pleasing and holy. It is our lack of ability to recognize what has us, which precludes us from being in God’s will, to be used to be a producer, a vessel and vehicle for God’s use. If we would place ourselves in God’s presence and cry out to Him to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit, and purge us that we may be clean He would do just that. He would wash away the dirt from our eyes and allow us to see more clearly what is not acceptable in His sight, and He would clean out our ears so that we could hear His voice clearly to know what is and is not satisfactory in our living. If we were to go to God daily and ask Him to allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow us, how much more would we be worth in the Master’s hand, what beautiful things would we be producing? If we did that the things that would be birthed from us would be pure, lovely and of a good report more often than not.

Today is a good day to begin to inventory what has a hold on us. To assess when feelings whatever they are overshadow us and take us to a place that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. It is time to put ourselves in a place with God that He can reveal truth on the inward part of us and clean us out so that He can take up true residence (not just a space in the corner). God wants us to produce for Him to give birth to things that look like Him, act like Him and bring His name glory and honor, not disdain and despair. God through the Holy Spirit is waiting for His time to come upon you and overshadow you in a way that causes you to conceive and give birth to His will here in the earth.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 01/13/10)

Can You Just Work With Me?

Job 22:21-22 (Amplified Bible)

²¹Acquaint now yourself with Him [agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to His will] and be at peace; by that [you shall prosper and great] good shall come to you.

²²Receive, I pray you, the law and instruction from His mouth and lay up His words in your heart.

^{My son and I have a different kind of relationship. He is 19 and loves to be cantankerous and antagonistic. Many times I have to remind him, I am still the mama and he is still the child (although he is a young man). In order to keep myself from losing control in conversations I will often use my catch phrase with him “can you just work with me here.” This is a phrase that I use when I need to get things done and I am focused and in my mode; I use to use it all the time when I was in the military and I needed to get something done and people around me were being less than cooperative.}

^{Aren’t we just the same way? God has a plan and a purpose for us but we have our own agenda, and we have our own way of doing things so we resist the system and give God attitude or try to make His job more difficult by resisting His leading. But all He wants to do is grow us up, bless us and use us for His service. Why is it that we find it so hard to trust God and flow with His agenda? Many times because we have been disappointed or hurt by people and we place God in the same frame work of those who have let us down. Then it becomes hard or near impossible for us to trust God. But God is not a man, He is not a person with limitations and frailties such as a human being would have. We think of God in terms of what we think is appropriate and God does not think, operate or work within the confines of our time and space systems; remember His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts.}

^{We always want God to work with us, why not try working with Him first? If we seek Him first, acknowledge Him first and place His agenda above our own, He promises to add all other things to us. He will prosper and cause us to have success. It is time we stop viewing God as a man and Get to know Him for the Great I Am that He is, realizing that trusting God and following His ways are the way for us to receive peace, love, joy, deliverance, salvation and so much more. To have our needs met and our desires realized. Don’t you hear Him asking you today, “Can you just work with me?”}

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 01/12/10)

Under Stimulated…

Jeremiah 3:20-22 (Amplified Bible)

²⁰Surely, as a wife treacherously and faithlessly departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously and faithlessly with Me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.

²¹A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and pleading of the sons of Israel, because they have perverted their ways, they have [eagerly] forgotten the Lord their God.

²²Return, O faithless sons, [says the Lord, and] I will heal your faithlessness. [And they answer] Behold, we come to You, for You are the Lord our God.

Tonight I went to see a friend in the hospital, as we entered the room the nurse instructed us not to touch her, but to sit off at a distance and just let her know we were there. She explained that her blood pressure had been high and people visiting and touching her was causing her to move around far too much and cough which was elevating her blood pressure. She said her day had been filled with too much stimulation, and she wanted us to decrease the stimulus that was being presented.

As we drove home I thought about all the nurse had said and I began to think about a case study in a psychology class I had taken, where they studied baby monkeys and the effects that stimulus from a mother produced, but the study’s main focus was the study of removing stimulus from a baby, by removing it from it’s mother. Without contact the little monkeys lay life less and lethargic, eventually wasted away and dying. I thought back to my hospital visit and then to the study, it was as though God was saying look at the whole picture. It all of a sudden became clear in that moment. Touch produced stimulus which produced activity, excitement and life where as lack of stimulus which was separation caused deterioration and death. When we neglect our relationship with God and we do not reach out and touch Him regularly we begin a process of deterioration. We remove the very stimulus that provides us with what we need to drive our Spirit man and keep us living. When our relationship with things and others takes the place of our relationship with God we begin to lose sight and lose our ability to see the necessity in touching God through His word, prayer and fellowship. Our spiritual waves go under stimulated and they cause us to lessen God and magnify things that can not provide us eternal life and a means to live in the fullness here in the earth.

Today is a good day to look at how often we reach out and touch God. Do we have enough of God to keep us stimulated, progressing and moving forward in Him, or do we lack the stimulus needed to actively keep us alive in Him? Are we under stimulated not focused on what is above but what the world has to offer, or are we stimulated enough by time spent with the Father to keep us living a life at its fullest? It may be time for a little shock therapy to get our right balance of stimulus.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 01/11/10)

Today’s Devotional Written by a Young Woman Seeking to Walk Worthy for Her Lord: Tracy Koweh

Time to “Step” it UP

Psalm 37:23-24 (New Living Translation)

²³ The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
²⁴ Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Today’s message in the music comes from Season 25 of Sesame Street, with Destiny Child singing “I Gotta New Way to Walk”. When I heard it on Jai’s TV a few weeks ago, I instantly remembered how much I loved that song as a kid, but it wasn’t until these past few days the words hit me as adult. The song pretty much just keeps repeating: I gotta new walk to walk, WALK, WALK

Last week, due to a number of reasons our travel plans changed from a week in New York to a week in St.Louis. Then for a whole set of different reasons, those plans changed from a week in St.Louis to four days in Atlanta. My oh my, what a Holy Ghost set up that turned out to be. Although it was not our original plan, intent or even a back up plan, it turned out to be just the thing we all needed. It was four days of rest, tests and revelations.

I remember speaking to Lisa because there were some things that had went down, that I felt like I should have went off about, but I didn’t - - - -- I couldn’t. I told her I had felt weird and strange in my own body because I wasn’t use to letting God handle “my” business. I felt out of place and in unfamiliar territory, but I gotta tell you that I adapted to it quite easily. I remember at one point hearing my spirit sing, “I gotta new way to walk, WALK WALK, and then it made sense.

It wasn’t that the people, situations or circumstances around me had changed in anyway, but that I had finally come to place of true surrender to God (not that I don’t still try to help Him out at times). Although it’s only been 10 days in this year 2010, God has tested my faith, my relationships, and my priorities already. He has shown me that He is serious and that while the world is expecting great things from Heaven, Heaven is expecting the same from the world.

Today take a moment to do a self inventory check and in those areas that you are still trying to control- - - -change your step, change your approach. The walk and stride that carried you though 2009 won’t make it through 2010. Just as we are expecting God to step up in our marriages, our finances, our healing and our God we need you to do it list, God is expecting us to step up our prayer life, our devotion time, our faith, our giving, and our obedience to His word. The steps of the Lord have been pre-ordered………….are you walking into Heaven, or straight into Hell.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 01/08/09)

Prepare For War Pt IV

James 1:19-20 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁹Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. ²⁰For man's anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].

Proverbs 21:23 (Amplified Bible)

²³He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from troubles.

1 Peter 4:7(b)-8 (Amplified Bible)

⁷(b); keep sound minded and self-restrained and alert therefore for [the practice of] prayer. ⁸Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

Last night in Bible study the lesson was on love in leadership. It was interesting that these two elements were connected by an author to provide such insight and a different approach. As I pondered the lesson today, I began to think of some of the main points in the lesson and one that impacted me most was in the area of communication. The point that choosing one’s words wisely was important and how one started and ended a conversation impacted the communication process as well as the atmosphere that was to follow. I thought about how difficult it often was to tame that little thing that provides us a vehicle for speech and taste. It seems harmless but can be deadly if provoked, and for some even when it is not provoked. Taming our tongue and taking control over our method of communicating especially in times of displeasure can be a challenge to even the most mature of Christian, let alone those of us who are still being processed. It can be a war that we often do not win, and it can cause many casualties.

I love to talk; my brother says I am good at it. But I also love to listen, but this is something that I in my younger years I did not do well. Through many life lessons, growth and maturity in God I learned that the ability to close my mouth and surrender the floor to others was important. We battle to want our point heard and our side taken. We want to ensure that no one gets one up on us or that they can hurt us without us retaliating and putting them down further, than they have tried to put us. Jesus when He was being accused, often did not defend himself, why? Probably because He did not have to. He was truth personified. If the truth lies with us then why must we use words to tear others apart or make them feel bad about themselves? It is easier to let all that is on our minds flow out unfettered than it is to restrain ourselves, our thoughts, our words and pray. But when we are running around our house, our jobs and the community letting go and letting flow are we being a good representative of Christ? Are our words and conduct exemplary of who we claim to be and whose we claim to be? We are often falling short when we are running around giving people a piece of our mind; as my mother would say “you keep giving people a piece of your mind you aren’t going to have anything left.” It is important to listen and to let God fight the battle. For God fights differently, He will often require us to be nice to some one who has treated us wrong, or give a kind word to someone that has been nasty to us. To show love to someone that claims to hate us. But this doesn’t come easy, as one of my Pastors said we need to learn to study to be quiet. When we trust God with our day to day operations we realize that often words are not what is necessary, but consultation, prayer, submission and obedience to the Father is what helps us win the battle.

Today is one of the best days to begin to think before we speak. Stop making excuses and telling people I am just “straight no chaser,” no you just do not want to wrestle that tongue into submission and make it surrender to a higher power. It is time to put away childish things and childish behaviors that afford us to have diarrhea of the mouth and to kill people with our words. It is time make our communication acceptable in God’s sight. It is time to make that tongue a prisoner of war and make it confirm to the spirit and will of God our Father. Not my words Lord, but yours be said!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 01/07/10)

Prepare For War Pt III

2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (Amplified Bible)

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, ⁵[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), ⁶Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.

Romans 7:18-25 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] ¹⁹For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [^[a]fixed and operating in my soul]. ²¹So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands. ²²For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature]. ²³But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh]. ²⁴O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? ²⁵O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

One of the most challenging aspects of this walk with the Lord is guess who? You guessed it “us, you and I.” We are our own greatest challenge and greatest obstacle to progression in the natural and in the spiritual (if we are not put in check and our minds renewed). Our mind is such a powerful and useful tool, but, my, my how it can be adverse, if our thinking is not controlled. Our thinking will eventually give way to our actions which could lead us into a place that separates us from God, His will and the very knowledge of who He is. Sin usually begins with the inception of a thought and then it moves to the heart and then it is motivated into actions, words, or deeds. Our mind and our flesh can become that stumbling block that keeps us tripping, tripping over ourselves, and in some cases falling into or knocking down others in the wake of our own disasters. For many of us the battle is not coming from the outside but it is an internal thing.

The Bible says we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. So it is only through rebirth do we give our spirit access to a renewal and the recreative process. Everyday we have choices and decisions to make. There are inward battles that take places regularly over these very choices and decisions without us even realizing. Last week, my daughter and I were in Wal-Mart, and we picked some things, we had gone through the line and checked out. We got out to the car and as we put our groceries in the car I lifted both of our purses to discover two cards that I had intended to purchase. I immediately snatch the cards up and made a run for the entrance of the store, upon entering the store I showed the greeter and explained to her what had transpired, that my daughter mistakenly missed them when we checked out and I came back to pay for them…She looked at me placed her hand on her chest and said God Bless you. I could tell she was in shock and disbelief, because I am sure that this is and was not a regular occurrence. As I left the store after my purchase she smiled brightly and smiled back, knowing that I had done what was pleasing in God’s sight. That my spirit had won and not my flesh. I had spent enough time in God’s word, enough time sitting under Pastors that teach the word and enough time in prayer that the Holy Spirit in me overrode the fleshly mindset (I can say that 15 years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, maybe even five given the right day… that may not have been the case). It is decisions like this that are founded in integrity, truth, and selflessness that often are flesh, our sin nature will win in. We battle against what our flesh, society and even our peers would do or say, but the question that we should be asking is who are we living for? Are we living for ourselves, friends, or society or does God have dominance and supremacy in our lives? It is when we take up an active fight, campaign against our flesh our sin nature that it will die on the battle field and our spirit man will have the opportunity to live and declare victory ( it’s the God in us).

It is time to take up arms. Not against the enemy on the outside but against the enemy within. It is time to get rid of the stinking thinking and the bending of the rules (for some of us writing our own rules). It is time to let God be God and to submit to His ways over our own. To live a life that is a representation of Him and a true reflection of Jesus. The battle is raging who will win, will it be the skin your in and mind you were born to, or the mind that is in Christ (that should be in you too) and the Spirit that you have been resurrected and recreated to? The choice is always yours!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 1/06/10)

Prepare For War Pt II…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Amplified Bible)

¹⁶Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);

¹⁷Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];

¹⁸Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

This evening I received a phone call from a friend informing me that a mutual friend of ours had suffered a stroke; a beautiful woman in her 40’s had suffered a life threatening episode. As my friend began to relay the doctors recent assessment (which he gave a slim prognosis 2% survival to be precise), and that he asked that they call family, friends, chaplains and pastors alike, my heart sank, but within me, I heard but I have the final say. My mother and I felt lead to go and be with the family for what we thought was support, as we began to get ready to leave I could hear the Holy Spirit say, you can not be afraid, you are about to stare death in the face and you have to be bold in your conviction. I felt my spirit man shift and I felt almost a spirit of anger come over me and a concentration hit.

This morning during my mother’s and my intercessory prayer time, I began to travail and weep and wail in the spirit. This spirit would not let go. I prayed for clarity or to understand where this was coming from, but it never came. All through the day I found myself praying in the spirit and feeling physically ill. It all made sense when that phone call came, this evening. It was the battle cry, the spirit preparing me for war. When we entered the ICU tonight, fear was no where in sight, I wanted to do what was asked of me, and without shame and hesitation I grabbed the hand of my friend who lay heavily sedated and unconscious and my mother and began to pray as the spirit lead. I prayed not an eloquent prayer but I followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and gave way to His direction, I touched her as he commanded and prayed until I felt a release. When we left we waited in the waiting room and the chaplain assigned came out and commended us as a family and friends for having faith and bathing her in prayer. He also gave us an updated report which said she had stabilized and was holding her own. We bowed our heads and prayed again to give thanks and to continue to call unto her spirit man and God to complete the work.

If God had not prepared me this morning and so many other mornings by training me to hear and obey His voice and His spirit would I have been in a place that would have prepared me to face and be used in this moment? Probably not. It is the effectual, feverant prayers of the righteous that avail. It is learning how to discipline ourselves to pray and to allow the Holy Spirit preeminence in our prayer life that helps us in times of war and crisis. It is learning to yield to God to be used (being able to take orders) that helps us to be an effective solider in God’s army. If you never exercise the gift how would you ever know if it will work when you need it? You wouldn’t. Pray not just for things that make your life more comfortable, but learn to in preparation for a crisis. Learn to intercede and pray on the behalf of others, letting the Holy Spirit guide you and God orchestrating that moment, you never know when you will need to put it to use…Will you be ready when your time comes?

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 1/5/10)

Prepare For War…

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified Bible)

³For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.

⁴For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,

⁵[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

As I sat in Sunday Morning Service and the message was coming forth our Bishop, who is a unique vessel that hears from God in such a clear and concise way, relayed to us that the number ten means testing. Although there is a spirit of expectancy and expectation, the blessings, revelation and whatever else God has for us will not come without a test, or a price. He went on to say, so many of us want to graduate, but never want to show up for class, do the homework, or take the test associated with the lesson that we are suppose to be learning, but this year was a year that we would have to put up or shut up. In my spirit I heard an echoing of, “Prepare For War!” It was chilling to my core, but I understood that although the promises of God are yea and Amen they are not without their battles and test. Not without circumstances that stretch us and make us have to sit up and pay attention, hit our knees all the more, or hold on trusting God a little while longer. But the questions are can one pass a test or win a war without preparation? The answer is emphatically NO! You have to study, to pass a test and you have to train to win a war.

Every year I begin my year by fasting to ask God for guidance direction and instruction, and to release control to Him. I begin towards the end of the year to look to God and prepare myself to fast and pray. This year was no different, but two days before my fast began, I began to be challenged and unrest seemed to plague my close relationships. I found that I was not alone. It seemed that people I knew were experiencing unexpected challenges that took them out of their element and provided great distractions, in some cases invoked fear and upset and even pitted family members against one another. In my quiet time the Lord spoke and said the enemy knows what your purpose is and knows if you ever get to it that you will be more dangerous, so instead of even allowing you to get a foot in the door he is trying to block the entrance way. But the beauty of having relationship with God is hearing His voice and knowing how and when to respond. Instead of running in the opposite direction, the press was now on and I became more determine to seek God. It required me to hit my belly (not my knees) and to pull on the word in me; it required me to search the word for more strength and to praise and worship my way to a place of peace. Just as a boxer puts in a mouth piece and tightens his gloves and they smear his face with grease to prevent cuts in the battle, so we have to apply the armor of God and gird ourselves up through time spent in the presence of God.

This year is not for the faint in heart and the weak in spirit. It is time to prepare for kingdom business by way of conflict. But the major benefit is that if we do the work, if we prepare sufficiently, if we trust God in all that we do, we know that we will win, and that the victory is assured us, because Jesus secured our victory on the cross. We have the victory, we only have to catch up to it, but it requires us to be ready for combat. In God we are strong, through God’s word we are more than conquers, through God’s spirit we possess strategies that would other wise elude us. It is time to enter into our briefing time with God and let Him lay out the strategies that will afford us a winning campaign. It is truly time to turn the pressure into praise, the test into a testimony. It is time to Prepare For War!

Word Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Monday 01/04/10)

Today’s Devotional Written By an Enlightened Young Woman: Tracy Koweh

Calvary Wasn’t Cheap or Free

James 1:2-4 (New Living Translation)

² Dear brothers and sisters,^[a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. ³ For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴ So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Today’s message in the music comes from Syleena Johnson’s song “Guess What”. The chorus says: “Wanna play the boss (Guess what), You got to pay the cost (Sho' 'nuff), You wanna wear the pants (Guess what) You got to be a man (Sho' 'nuff).”

As we begin this year of 2010 a lot of us have many expectations that we are waiting on God to fulfill, but how many of us have totaled up the cost of Cavalry. Sunday our Bishop warned us that biblically the number ten meant tests, and that in this year the Lord was going to require us to take a final exam before allowing us access to the benefits of Calvary.

So many times we want the accolades, praise and respect that comes with graduating at the top of our class, but we don’t want to show up for class, complete our assignments or take the final exam. The same is true in our spiritual lives, we expect all of the benefits of the cross, but we don’t want to live right, be in order, or walk in obedience at all times. In this new year, just as we are expecting mountain moving miracles from God, He is expecting and requiring faithful obedient wills from us.

We testify we walk in God’s healing, but one report from the doctors’ office causes us to question God. In front of the people we proclaim that God is the provider of all of our needs, but behind closed doors we wrestle with paying our tithes or our creditors. It’s easy to perpetrate the blessings of God, but it requires true faith and trust in Him, to stand when tests and trials come.

Today as we enter into the first Monday of the year, let us check out our own inventory and see what areas we need to strengthen to be better witnesses for Christ. Let us not take a list of what we want/need from God, but let us retrieve a list of what God wants/needs of us straight from His throne.