Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Tuesday 02/01/2011)

Today’s Devotional Written By An Insightful Young Woman: 

Mrs. Tracy A. Dixon

I Got a Question...

            1 Timothy 5:8 (New International Version, ©2011)

8 Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

            What would happen if you decided not to show up for work for 30 days, no call, no email, no notice? What would happen if you decided not to eat or drink anything for 30 days, no fasting, no praying, no faith? What would happen if you decided to drive until you ran out of gas, and never stop for gas? What would happen if a student missed school for two months straight, no illness, no reason, no communication with the teachers? What would happen if you decided not to pay any of your bills for six months straight, no explanation, no documentation, no reason at all?

            In the real world that person would get fired, die, be stranded, become homeless, carless and have bad credit. That student would fail or be expelled from school. So my question becomes: when did we stop living in the real world. How does one not call their child for weeks on end, no reason, no explanation and no apologies? How does one not nurture, help feed, help clothe a child they helped create, no guilt, no shame, no second thought? How does one feel they can just show up when they want and act like everything is all good?

            In the real world the company most likely wouldn't take you back, your body wouldn't come back to life, the foreclosure and repossession wouldn't stop, because you finally picked up the phone after months of just doing your own thing. But for some reason, that reasoning goes out the window when it comes to our children. The active parent is suppose to continue to expose the child and make visitation a priority, when the other parent has proven the child to them is only an option and a matter of convenience.

            Sadly, we carry this same dysfunctional behavior into the kingdom. We come to church when we feel like it. We hit the important Sundays, a few Bible Study's when things get rough, and give a few dollars when they pass the offering plate. We type and text OMG more than we actually speak to G-O-D. How then do we expect to receive God's abundance, peace, joy, love, healing and blessings as if we have really put in the wok? His grace and mercies are new everyday, but maybe that means they are suppose to be used on new issues, and not the same shortcomings over and over again. Is God asking you today: does your heart, time, devotion, love and life really belong to me? Answer is: He shouldn't have to ask!!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Monday 01/31/2011)

Today’s Devotional Written By A Young Woman Who Hears With New Ears:

Mrs. Tracy A. Dixon

The Addams Family

Matthew 15:7-9 (New International Version, ©2011)

7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.

            Today's message in the music is from MC Hammer's song "Addams Groove", from the movie the Addams Family. The chorus of the song says: They do what they wanna do, say what they wanna say,Live how they wanna live, play how they wanna play,Dance how they wanna dance, kick and they slap a friend. The past few weeks I've been reading posts on facebook and observing the behaviors of some, and this song just hit it dead on.

            It wasn't until I sat to write this blog that it hit me, Adam and Eve lived these words in the Gaden of Eden the moment they allowed Satan to conceive them to go against God. So many "Christians" are living how they want to live, doing what they want to do and being a daily contradiction to the person they are claiming to be. This year God must really be getting ready to expose some people, because He won't let up on this topic of hyprocrisy in the kingdom. He's not concerned with those not claiming to be His child and living in sin on a daily basis. He is upset with those who are claiming they know Him, yet they have more devil in them, then an unbeliever.

            I can't tell say that we have one hour, one day, one week, one month or one more year to get our walks right, but I do know the hour is near. God is getting ready to blow up on Earth in two ways: 1. He is about to pour out His blessings on those who have been faithful, and 2. He is about to expose those that have been fake. He is sending warning after warning for us to set our own records straight. As the Bible says: he that has an ear, let him hear. Don't miss what God is saying to us all in this hour. Its time to be about it.

            Today look into God's mirror and get real with yourself. Take off the spiritual eye lashes, fake nails, weaves, muscles from steroids, botox and make-up. Take a good look at your mind, soul and spirit. God is not a bully, you are free to walk away at any time. The choice that Adam made years ago, affect generations even now. Don't keep tainting the world with generational perpetration. He gives you the choice to do you, so stop wasting His time and ruining His image.

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Friday 01/28/2011)

Are You Just Willing To Lay Still?

Genesis 22:9-10 (New Living Translation)

⁹ When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice.

Genesis 22:9-10 (Amplified Bible)

⁹When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. ¹⁰And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took hold of the knife to slay his son.

            Writing these devotionals can be tricky and very dangerous.  It seems that most of the subject matters God gives or inspires me to address I am getting tried in, or I can rest assured that I am soon to face it, if I have not already.  This afternoon when I turned on my computer I received a very nasty email, from a person I had only encountered briefly.  I was shocked we had not been in touch for months outside of her receipt of the devotionals, so to receive an email of the nature was shocking and disturbing.  My first thought was to want to write back and do what…that is right give her a piece of my mind, but the Holy Spirit reminded, me it was not my battle.  My response was shocking even for me, I apologized for whatever I had done to irritate or annoy her, and prayed God’s blessings upon her. In those moments after I sent that email I sat and stared at the computer screen and in a very still small voice deep down I could hear, “there are parts of you that are being sacrificed, and parts of you that are being crucified.”  My eyes were as full as my heart in those moments; realizing everything did not need a response, nor did it need my input God was handling it, it just needed to let Him have it.
            Often times it is hard for us to be taken to the alter and laid their ready for God to sacrifice us, or a part of us that He wants yielded to Him, and we not call out or ask “Hey God why me, or does that really have to die now?”  We want to try to naw the ropes off and set ourselves free.  But we lack the understanding that God is testing our obedience and our willingness to really serve Him.  If we would just lay there and let Him have His way He will replace those things with something wonderful.  He will bring us into a place with Him that we can identify Him, hear His voice and see Him that much clearer.  But instead because our flesh does not often understand the purpose of the sacrifices that need to be made to get to God and be in His will and follow Him; or our flesh just does not want to go through the pain of submission, we wrestle with becoming the sacrifice and we call out or fight against what He is trying to do.  If only we could see that becoming the willing sacrifice is all God really wants, a yielded vessel.   He wants to see will we willingly give our lives to Him.  All of who we are, to gain all of who He is.  When we look at it that way the exchange hardly seems fair, it seems we are gaining so much more than we are giving.  God wants us to lay us all out before Him. It is amazing to me how so many of us try to hide, things from God, but He knows us better than we know ourselves, he knows the hairs on our heads, and the breathes that we take and the thoughts that we think, why should we not want to give it all to Him, surrender to Him, in humble and silent surrender, desiring that He make us over, creating in us a clean heart and renewing a right spirit, a better spirit and a better life.
            To maximize our relationship with God, and to really come into a place of worship, we must become the sacrifice.  We must become what we offer to God. Not pieces of us, but all of us; every desire, every thought, every character flaw, and every accomplishment.  All to Jesus we should yearn to surrender, understanding that God is a loving Father, and Jesus is our elder brother who will take what we offer and receive it and return unto us, more than we have given, and better than what we could have ever thought to do. You have to be willing to lay still and let Him do, what He needs to do in us, with no help and no input from, us believe me when I say God has got it well in hand!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Thursday 01/27/2011)

It Is Not For You…

Ephesians 2:1-10 (New Living Translation)

¹ Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. ² You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. ³ All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. ⁴ But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, ⁵ that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ⁶ For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. ⁷ So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. ⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

            I was having a conversation with someone recently about growing up in a household that always had either multi-generational atmosphere or my parents were sheltering or caring for family members, children that parents were irresponsible with or friends of the family that were in an economic crunch, personal crisis or struggling through some other life event.  I cannot understand now how we can see family friends or  anyone for that matter in need of help, encouragement, guidance, roof over their heads or food to eat and deny them, when we understand that they are there not because they were not trying, but because things transpired to cause a bad situation to manifest in their lives.  We look at things all too often through selfish eyes, and we are always assessing how it inconveniences us, but we never think about why God gave us the resources, space, time, talent or means to provide in the first place.

            When we were in sin Christ was sent to die for us, to provide a path back to relationship with God our Father.  It was not because we had earned that right, but it was because of His goodness and His grace, His unmerited favor towards us that salvation is possible for us, and it is a provision that is ours to obtain.  We seem to forget that God does not save us, give us provision or any other good thing for us to go into selfish mode and hoard what we have for ourselves.  The Bible says Give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down shaken together and running over shall men give unto us. That with the same measure we give it will be given again unto us (Luke 6:38).  That is not just in the area of offering, money, it is in life in general.   If we open our hands to those in need we are serving God.  For so many of us we only want to look at service to God as I dance in the dance ministry or I serve as a host or hostess, or I sing in the choir, but serving God is a lifestyle, it is a posture, in which we conduct ourselves.  It is not about doing something because people are doing what we want them to do, that is manipulation.  It is not doing because we are seen, that is seeking our own reward, and it is not about doing it when it is convenient, or does not cause us to be uncomfortable, or is not painful, that is being willfully disobedient.  Serving God is at all cost, and it is entering into an understanding that our life is not our own, and it is by God’s mercy that we have and are in the place that we are, not for any other reason.

            So before we make a decision to help or not to help, think for one second, what would God have of me, what is my reasonable service in this situation, and what would I pray someone would do for me?  We need to stop being so caught up in us, and see what is really going on around us.  Who is getting hurt by our lack of willingness to do, or us being more focused on ourselves than the fact that God called us and He placed us in a position to be a help and be A GOOD WORK!

Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day (Wednesday 01/26/2011)

Who Is Handling It?

Luke 6:27-36 (New Living Translation)

²⁷ “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. ³⁰ Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. ³¹ Do to others as you would like them to do to you.

³² “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! ³³ And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! ³⁴ And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

³⁵ “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. ³⁶ You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.

            My Goddaughter and I were having a conversation earlier today and we were talking about how we know there has been change that has taken place in our lives.  As I recalled a time in my life some years back that, I would get you told and quick.  If you did something to hurt me, or to try to dog me, I would find a way to get back at you.  But more over I would not waste any time of any words, I would tell you about yourself.  As one of my old friends shared with me, I was a head swinging, finger pointing, going way off on you somebody.  She said there were many a day she saw people walking away from me, and she could swear she saw body parts falling off as they walked away because my words had cut so deep.  I was handling my business, or so I thought.  I was ensuring that people were not going to take advantage of me, or get wise and not get what they dished out back in spades.

            Funny, how times have changed, I am a big softy.  I love unconditionally and give whole heartedly.  Although I still have some rogue in me, I handle myself with decorum, class and restraint.  I am about business, and if I feel the need to confront it is never meant to destroy only to express, teach, explain and even encourage to do better.  I will always add a positive in the conversation.  I am no longer a seek and destroy missile.  When I came back to God several years ago, the one things I prayed for was that He would soften my heart and make me a vessel for His glory and that the mistrust and disregard for others would be gone and that I would heal from the things done in my life that inspired and encourage that type of behavior in me.  I had to understand that I controlled little and that if I was going to live for Christ in a way that was pleasing to Him, and be submitted to His will, I had to release certain things.  I found that I could not handle everything the way, I saw fit, and I could not give into every feeling at every minute.  That to really be in God’s will was going to require me to allow God to handle things but more importantly handle people, especially the ones that came to hurt, harm, take advantage or mishandle me. I have watched every individual that has come into my life with ill intentions ( over these years), have to come back at one time or another and apologize because God had dealt with them, or I have watched circumstances arise in their lives that humbled them, to a point where they sought me out, or felt inspired to bless me.

            It is funny how I use to get all up in arms, and let my panties get in a bunch over people and their treatment of me, but now I realize that I can stand still and let God handle it.  I understand that He loves me enough, that He will take care of me.  He is my father and He will defend me when others seek to hurt or even annihilate me.  He is my friend so He is on my side.  He is my Comforter so He will keep me out of harm’s way, or move me out of the presents of those that will hurt me.  He is my shield so he will deflect and protect me.  If you are seeking to live for God, there are just some things you are not meant to handle, your way and in your time.  Let it go and let God, fight the battle for you, He always wins, and you will get the blessing in the interim. You are going to have to go beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary…Loving those in spite of!