Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Friday 09/30/2011)

Are You Willing His Will?

Matthew 6:25-34 Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁵Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?  ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?  ²⁷And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?  ²⁸And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these. [I Kings 10:4-7.] ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?  ³²For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. ³³But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. ³⁴So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.

 

    My daughter and I went to see her school counselor last week. For weeks I had been telling her to write out her goals and to really pray and ask God to give her wisdom as to which way to go. You see my daughter is multitalented. She has been drawing diagrams of houses for years; in addition to that she has a love of foreign languages, culture and lifestyles.  If all of that was not enough she has owned her own little catering business since she was sixteen years old, and she is an excellent baker and cook. Instead of writing it all down, she devised her plan and went full steam ahead into the counselors office, thank God she did pray so the whole process was not as over whelming as it could have been.  When she sat down and the counselor pulled up her records and found she was a culinary arts major, she was fine, and began talking to her about that course study, but then she looked at my daughters placement exam scores.  She looked up and asked her “why are you here?”  I thought oh my, tough counseling 101 is about to start.  She said “I want to enroll in school.”  The counselor looked at her again and said “really why are you here?”  She said, “I want to start school.”  She said “well first off you are going backwards, because your test scores were on the level and above of someone attending a four year school not a junior college, and then she asked why she was a culinary arts major with all of that in her?”  Her face dropped as she relayed to her counselor that she owned her own business for over two years and baked and catered.”  Again the counselor asked her a few simple questions, she asked her the difference between chopping and dicing, and the different methods in which you could separate an egg to which my daughter told her three different ways.  Again she asked “why are you here, because you know what to do and these are things that she would learn in their culinary arts program, and you will be wasting your mother’s benefits and money.”  I sat silent, realizing that my daughter wanted her will, but the counselor wanted her to realize her potential and what was going to maximize her knowledge base and her strengths.  My daughter then began to pour out of her heart the truth of her desire to attend William and Mary and to become an architect with a minor in foreign language or linguistics.  Now it was about facing what she feared and moving into her real destiny. The counselor lovingly but sternly told her to get her buns to William and Mary and find out what she needed to get in, and apply and get busy, but to take the classes they outline that are needed to make her a better candidate for admittance, until she was able to get in.

My daughter was now pushed into a place of praying harder, not “my” will God but yours be done, show me what it is that you have for me.  In those moments and as we walked back to car, she looked shell shocked she looked and felt overwhelmed because she had to face the truth of who she really was and the wealth that lay within her that she was not willing to see and accept that I had told her continually but she needed to hear from someone else.  My daughter was like many of us, we are scared to will God’s will for us and pray for God’s will because we fear if we will be able to handle it or operate in it.  But she had been equipped, she was home schooled and had many life lessons incorporated with her academic environment that had prepared her well for the future.  We too have been homeschooled and we have had many life lessons that have prepped us for the destiny and work of the Lord.  But we are not secure enough in the fact that whom God has called He has equipped.  We don’t trust that what God has called us to He will grace us to handle and to successfully master.  That is why we will not will His will into our lives, that is why we refuse to pray God your will be done in our lives. We fear the unknown; we feel that we are ill prepared for what we will face because we fear that it is beyond our ability to handle it.  Well honestly it is, that is why we have the greater one that lives in us, and so that we can rely heavily I might add upon Him to make us successful in all that He has called us to do.  Our will is limiting and limited, but God’s will within us is limitless and takes limits off of what we are capable of obtaining or that God is able to use us to do.

Are we willing His will?  Are we asking for His will to be done in us, no matter what?  Or are we letting fear, people’s words, our life experiences and lack of dictate what we pray and how we respond to the will of God for our lives?  For many of us, the answer is yes we are, we are frozen with fear, or over thinking the situation by way too much. Remember God’s thoughts are far above our and His way of doing things is too, especially when it comes to using us and equipping us for Kingdom’s work. Just like that counselor was able to identify what was in my daughter, so God is far beyond able to do the same. It is time to get off the my will and way highway and onto the will of God freeway, that takes the limits off and allow us to reach our destination in Him without limitations of us!

　

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Thursday 09/29/2011)

Today's Devotional Written From The Pages and Life of Tracy A. Dixon, Wonderful Woman, Daughter, Mother and Wife!

 

 

 Contagious or Contaminated?

2 Timothy 3:12-15 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²Indeed all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution [will be made to suffer because of their religious stand]. ¹³But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves.¹⁴But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learned [them],¹⁵And how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus [through the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].

 

Last week we brought Jaida a dog to help with the transition of Shane going on deployment to Afghanistan for 7 months. When I went to pick him up, I was told that he had kennel cough and could not be around other dogs; he was okay to be around humans because his cough had no actual affect on people. Well, it wasn't until last night that I realized some Christians are the same way.

 

Some Christians can quote scriptures, speak in tongues and shout with the best of them....as long as they are with other Christians. They are contagious in their praise and vocal in their gratefulness, as long as they are in the presence of the saints. The problem however, is that the moment they are put in the presence of non-believers they have no influence, no power, and no witness. In some cases, the non-believer begins to influence them.

 

So the question becomes are you a contagious Christian or a contaminated one? When you walk in the midst of darkness does a light shine, or is your light overcome by the darkness? When you speak into the atmosphere do giants fall down, or do they knock you down? When you worship does God commune back with you, or does He say depart from Him because He knows you not? Being a Christian means to be like CHRIST, morning, noon and night. If people feel its okay to drink, smoke and curse around us we may not be doing that.

 

Today decide to go all in for Christ despite your circumstance, situation or audience. Determine in your heart to make God smile upon your living, your giving, your witness, your worship and your example of who He is. You don't get any credit or even a passing grade for living the life in front of believers. Remember growing up and asking to go to your friends house and hearing this, "You better not embarrass me when you get out of this house." Well, God is saying the same thing. Don't leave the house of God and then act a plum fool in the streets. The people that need the light, are the ones in the dark trying to find their way back home.

Words Of Encouragment For Your Day ( Wednesday 09/28/2011)

Today's Devotional Written By A Insightful and Knowledgeable Young Woman: Tracy A. Dixon

Off the Top

Malachi 3:8-12 Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁸Will a man rob or defraud God? Yet you rob and defraud Me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud You? [You have withheld your] tithes and offerings.⁹You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation. ¹⁰Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹And I will rebuke the devourer [insects and plagues] for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of host. ¹²And all nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

 

Yesterday some friends on my facebook had a discussion about tithes, and the statement that we all have battled with came up: I just can't afford to tithe right now. Instantly, the past lessons of my spiritual walk came back to my memory. My first spiritual parents instilled in me the principle that I can't afford NOT to tithe. Then this past Sunday my current spiritual father taught me that the tithe is a bill, just like your mortgage and car note. In the Bible, tithing is the only time that God gives us permission to test Him. He challenges us to truly step out on faith and trust Him.

 

So yesterday as I was driving home, I thought of how the tithe was like my bill for life. My tithe covers my home  and my health, its the greatest insurance plan my family has. The Bible says that tithe keeps the curse off of our possessions. My first spiritual mother taught me that my tithe gives me the power to speak things into the atmosphere. When my car acts crazy or Jaida comes under attack, I have the right to say, "Because I tithe and because I give this curse will not prevail".

 

The Bible says that your treasure is where your heart is, meaning your money shows you your priorities. When we sit to do our monthly finances, tithe is the first on the list- -we pay Him off the top, and on our gross pay- - because when He blesses us, we want it to be a gross and not a net blessing. We have gotten to a place where we are afraid of what will happen, if we don't pay our tithes. If God looked at tithes as our life bill, how many of us would be dead? If God woke up every morning and checked your bill, would you be paid in full, past due, or in collections? If your very breathe supply was based on your tithe, how much time would you have left? See we don't get nervous about that because we don't believe God will take His grace and mercy from us. We know that the car and mortgage company will take back the car or house so we make sure we pay them. What message is that sending the Father? Our money says in God we trust, but we don't trust Him with "our" money.

 

The best example my bishop ever gave us was when he placed ten rolls of tissue on the altar, then he removed one. God lets us have 90% of what He has blessed us with, and if we can't live off of that, we are already in financial distress. So for those that tithe encourage someone who may be struggling. For those that don't, step out on faith for six months and see if God won't bless your obedience. Tithe is what you have to pay, offering is what you give over that. If you don't tithe, you can't give offering: its like you not paying your cable bill for June, but sending in a payment to go towards your July bill.  

 

We have all battled this principle in the Bible at one point. No judgement, and no condemnation. Just encouragement to step out and trust Him. God has continued to show up and show out in our lives. Tithing for us is a lifestyle- - -come hell or high water- - -and trust me, test will come IMMEDIATELY- - -but keep tithing!! Its just a dime when you really think about it!!!!  Pay God first, so He protects you first. Take it off the top, or risk being on the bottom.

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day ( Tuesday 09/27/2011)

Today's Devotional Written From and by The Life Lessons of Tracy A. Dixon and Lil Jai

Sowing is Only One Step!!   

Deuteronomy 28:12-14 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. ¹³And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them. ¹⁴And you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

 

 The past few weeks Jai had been selling value books for a fundraiser at her school. The theme was centered around football. Each time they were able to make a goal within the set time frame they were allowed to win a prize. Jai started off a few days behind the rest of the students but she slowly started edging her way up the football field. In the beginning we focused on how many books she needed to sell just to say in the running, but then I  realized what a great opportunity to teach Jai some things.

 

So when week two rolled around we had a new game plan. We took our eye off of the competition and focused it on God. Then we got creative. We made a ten second video and posted it on facebook. Sent out emails and test messages to everyone we could. Then we had Jai sow two free books- - one to her Bishop and one to her First Lady. We wrote on the inside of the books, that there were seeds for her to be the top seller..........not of her class but of her school. Then we made another video and included God in it. We had asked some family and friends to sell them on their jobs and at their schools.

 

Well, even though the books could only be used locally, she received orders out of state to bless others. People offered to make donations and not even buy a book. It was crazy, how quick God moved. Jai learned that in order to get something even with God on your side, you still have to do something. We learned that sowing a seed was just one step of the process. The great thing is that our Bishop never once said a word, so that let us know it was God who brought about the increase. The strange thing is that some we just knew hands down would bless Jai never did, and some we never thought would have- - -stepped up the plate.

 

Well the fundraiser ended on Monday and Jai posted her final video with these words. "I sowed my seed, to be number one. Thank you God, IT IS DONE". The second place winner sold 41 books. Jai sold...drum roll please......60 books!!!

 

Today as you head out, apply these simple rules to your everyday living 1.in order to get the prize you have to hit the mark within the timeframe God gave you. 2. Think outside and take God out of the box  3.Make sure the ground you sow into is good ground 4.Include God in every step of you process 5. Don't count anybody out, you never know who is in your life to bless you and 6. God always does exceedingly and abundantly!!!

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Monday 09/26/2011

Today's Words Of or our Day Written By An Anointed, Loving Young Woman: Mrs. Tracy A. Dixon

Who Messed You Up?

Today’s message in the music comes from Lil Wayne’s song  “How to Love”.  The chorus says: You had a lot of crooks tryna steal your heart. Never really had luck, couldn’t never figure out. How to love. How to love. You had a lot of moments that didn’t last forever. Now you in the corner tryna put it together.
How to love.How to love.

A few weeks ago I received a call from a teenager crying her eyes out. I asked her what was wrong, and she replied she thought something was wrong with her because she didn’t know to let people in. She didn’t understand why it was so hard for her to open up and trust people. Why it almost killed her to try to express the desires and pains of her heart to people she could tell cared about her.

As I listened tears began to fill my eyes, as I was forced back into my emotional past. I was in that moment a young lady fighting through years of baggage from my adolescent years. I remember the horrible relationships the damage of earlier years allowed me to subject myself to. I remember feeling like everyone was out to get something from me, take something from me or destroy something in me. I didn’t trust easily and I replaced love with abusive/destructive relationships.  

I calmly told the young lady not to worry, that she would get past this season. Not because of any scripture I could quote at the time, but because I was a living witness. My fathers absence in my life from childhood damaged me in ways and depths that I would never come to know until I began transitioning into a young lady. My healthy turned dysfunctional relationship with mother caused baggage in me that I carried over into my adulthood.

Although I had a great relationship with God as a teen, it wasn’t until I was able to let go and be healed, that I was able to truly and fully receive God’s love first, self love second and the flawed love of others third. It wasn’t until I was able to be honest with who and what affected me that God was able to come and began to restore all that was stolen from me. Some of us can’t receive or give love to ourselves or others because we still hiding, running and covering up who messed us up. You may have been hurt, but you can be healed.  My transformation is still on going, but my process included spiritual and natural help. I had a great spiritual mother and an awesome Christian therapist help bring me up out of my dark place. Today take your future back, and let God deliver you from your past and the people who left you broken! Doesn’t matter who messed you up, God can still fix you up!!

Isaiah 57:14-19 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁴And the word of One shall go forth, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way! Take up the stumbling block out of the way [of the spiritual return] of My people.  ¹⁵For thus says the high and lofty One--He Who inhabits eternity, Whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent [bruised with sorrow for sin].  ¹⁶For I will not contend forever, neither will I be angry always, for [if I did stay angry] the spirit [of man] would faint and be consumed before Me, and [My purpose in] creating the souls of men would be frustrated.  ¹⁷Because of the iniquity of his [Judah's] covetousness and unjust gain I was angry and smote him. I hid my face and was angry, and he went on turning away and backsliding in the way of his [own willful] heart  ¹⁸I have seen his [willful] ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him also and will recompense him and restore comfort to him and to those who mourn for him.  ¹⁹Peace, peace, to him who is far off [both Jew and Gentile] and to him who is near! says the Lord; I create the fruit of his lips, and I will heal him [make his lips blossom anew with speech in thankful praise].

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Thursday 09/22/2011

Not My Fight, But My Right!

Isaiah 54:17 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.

Last night in Bible study our Bishop taught on “How to Frustrate the Enemy.” I thought to myself oh I need this message, because I have been thinking for the last few weeks the enemy was on a personal mission to frustrate me, and destroy parts of my life.  But yesterday I was reminded by several people indirectly that this wasn’t my fight, but to be victorious was my right as a child of God.  My peace and my security, my victory and my righteousness are a heritage that was passed down to me by my elder brother Jesus from God our Father through the person of the Holy Spirit.  After my Baby girl prayed for me, my husband prayed over me and my mom did the same and spoke into my spirit the legacy that not just Jesus bestowed upon me, but the legacy that my Grandmother and she have placed in me, it was a lot easier to be less frustrated, and more thankful.  It was easier to understand that why on one of the days that I perceived was pretty awful that God saw fit to send people that required ministry and counsel, and had provided some of the most profound counsel.  I had to begin to understand that this isn’t my fight, it is my right to stand up and be the child of God that I am and to receive the promises of God that His word outlines are mine!

How many times do we take off our earrings, want to whip out the Vaseline and pull our hair back in a ponytail and fight?  We get MAD when the enemy comes; which there is nothing wrong with that, but we immediately want to imply all tactics to try to change our situation on our own without asking God what type of fight this is.  Is it a brawl, a battle, a war, a little skirmish or just an illusion; but in many cases we aren’t really mad because he came, because realistically many of us know He isn’t going to leave us alone because we are pressing to live right, or we are in the will of God. You see Satan will rarely come when we are out  of God’s will because we pose no threat, it is only when we are walking after God’s purpose and destiny that he will come into our lives trying to throw up road blocks, distractions and confusion.  Many times we don’t see him, because we have just gone through a fight, and we think we are entitled to a break, even from the enemy or if you are anything like me, you are attempting to take care of everyone on the planet, pressing to seek chase after God and have neglected to allow God or anyone else for that matter fight our battles or care for us.  Some fights we should realize that no matter what God can handle it, all we need to do, is follow God’s lead and to learn what our rights are and what God through His word has said belongs to us. Bishop last night in His lesson said we need to learn how to confess, we cannot lay a foundation in our lives without understanding what the Word of God says and how it pertains to us; for every negative destructive thought, person or act of the enemy.

“It is written” are three of the most powerful things we can say when they are followed by the word of Almighty God.  Knowing that sometimes it is our right not to fight, but just speak to the situation and cause it to change. The power and authority given to us comes through the word of God and understanding who God made us, what our entitlements and benefits are and what is in our arsenal.  But if we never take the time to seek God about the fight to understand the nature of it and what our response should be, and we never read His word to empower ourselves not to lift a finger, but just say a word, we will enter into the fight almost the same way every time.  He will come and immediately we will hear the bell in the ring and the words, “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble.”  My husband taught me something recently; He said you have to know when not to even bother getting in the ring.  Some fights are just not ours, but we always have rights, so choose WISELY!

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day ( Wednesday 09/21/2011)

What If God Is Not Happy With Our Praise Or Our Lives?

Psalm 60:1-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹O GOD, You have rejected us and cast us off, broken down [our defenses], and scattered us; You have been angry--O restore us and turn Yourself to us again! ²You have made the land to quake and tremble, You have rent it [open]; repair its breaches, for it shakes and totters. ³You have made Your people suffer hard things; You have given us to drink wine that makes us reel and be dazed. ⁴[But now] You have set up a banner for those who fear and worshipfully revere You [to which they may flee from the bow], a standard displayed because of the truth. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! ⁵That Your beloved ones may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us [or me].

            There was a song that was sung by the Harlem Gospel Singers “What If God Is Not Happy With Our Praise?”  As I pondered this thought, I was engaged in a conversation about this self-same subject matter, and as the discussion evolved neither one of us really had a definitive answer outside of the Word of God, but we had some thoughts on the matter. Just as when my young people exhibit behaviors that are displeasing or unacceptable we first have a discussion about the action or behavior. If the behavior persist then we have a problem and since they are in school and I pay the bills, depending upon how bad things are we may have another discussion or I may just relay that if they are in refusal to change their attitude or behaviors, this is residence I pay bills at and if they don’t want to change, and they feel that they want to be that grown they are more than welcome to pack, what they brought and live, life to the fullest as a grown up outside the safety and confines of the place that is where I invest money.

            With the children of Israel, God did basically the same process.  He instructed, He warned and warned again and then, He allowed them to fall upon adverse times or into the hands of the enemy.  Why does God have to take such drastic measures with us just to get us to appreciate Him and give Him what He already deserves?  Why does God have to get quiet on us, leave us to our own devices or just allow the enemy access just to get us to enter into a place of thankfulness?  Many times we think if we say thank you that this enough, or if we just tell God thanks for another day we are good.  But what about all He is deserving of, what about all of the honor He is due and all of the praise that we should be giving Him just because He has kept us, saved us, delivered us and redeemed us, or simply put “Just Because He Is God!”  If God is displeased with us being half committed and halfhearted He has every right to cope an attitude.  It is He that has made us and not we ourselves!  With all that God has done for us, we owe Him a praise that comes from the depth of our soul and spirit; one that resonates one the inside that is impossible to contain, not just lip service that we offer Him in the attempt to give Him any old thing, just to say we did praise Him or say thanks.

            There is a saying, “if mama or daddy ain’t happy no one is happy.”  That is the truth.  If God isn’t happy with our praise then we are in a bit of trouble.  You see if we offer God something that is not satisfying or is distasteful, He can reject our offering and His ear will can be turned from us. It is only when we give Him what is pleasing to His ears and heart and what is sweet to His nostril, that He will again hear us and move on our behalf.  It is the fear of the Lord that begins the wisdom, that afford us the right mind set and the right posture to praise God in a manner in which He will be receptive to us.  It is here that we begin to understand the purpose and the need to praise God and that it is a privilege for us to be allowed to be created to praise.  Don’t let your focus and your desire to praise God be taken or derailed, for it is in the praise that we gain God’s attention.  Praise sets the ground work for us to enter into the very presences of God, to gain an audience with the King of Kings.  Psalms 150:6 says, “Let everything that have breath praise the Lord, Praise the Lord.”  Is God pleased with your praise, or is He having none of what you are offering?

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Tuesday 09/20/2011)

Daddy’s Working, And I Am Too?

John 5:17 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷But Jesus answered them, My Father has worked [even] until now, [He has never ceased working; He is still working] and I, too, must be at [divine] work.

            Recently I have had some challenging moments in life, anything from physical to you name it.  But I gained some insight the other day watching my daughter and listening to my son, who had decided to read the Bible and give us His interpretation of some Biblical stories.  I noticed that although my daughter was engaged in listening to the humorous, comedic version of the Bible according to Delvin, she never stopped her tasks, her work; as we were doing things in the kitchen she kept working and moving.  I was working and had not stopped, so she did not stop, she kept moving and cleaning and prepping even through all of the laughter and the side splitting moments that took place, she never let them deter her from the task at hand.  My husband always says we are being watched and emulated more than we realize.  He is always giving me lots to think about, and one of those things was do I want those who are watching to imitate my actions, behaviors, or ethics.  In this moment I was proud to see that my daughter had learned not only one good trait but several that caused her to remain even when there was an alternative that would have given her a moment to just chill and take in the show.

            We often will pray for things and about situation that are occurring in our life.  We like to say that we know God is working on our behalf and that He is more than able.  I have heard so many people say, He is God all by himself, well not one of these statements is false, they are all true, but they should never be used as an excuse to stop our work, to stop moving and trying to do what God has shown through Jesus as our example.  Many of us just want to sit still, chill and we get lazy and complacent on God, we want Him to do all of the work and us to do nothing.  The old Saints use to say, “if you make one step and He will make two.”  It is important that we understand the value of work, and of doing.  In the book of James the Holy Spirit through the writer made a point of pointing out not once, not twice but three times that Faith without works is DEAD, (See James 2:18, 20, 26).  Anytime there was a miracle something was required of the person, or in the case of those who were dead some was required of those left, they had to confess, affirm, make steps towards, they were required to do something.  Why should it be any different for us?  We want things to just magically appear, and God does do that, sometimes, but in most cases healing, deliverance, prosperity, salvation, etc… is a process by which we have to do something to get to it, grow in it or maintain it.  Many of us have not gotten to the point where we are desperate for it yet or really need God to move, because when we do become desperate we will do things we have not done before and we will move out of the posture we have maintained that has yielded us no results, or little to none.

            Movement is a part of getting or taking us anywhere.  Work is a part of us being able to yield, reap, produce, cultivate.  There is a need for us to work at what it is that we feel called to do to further the Kingdom of God, what we desire for our lives and in the lives of our children and future generations.  We also must be willing to work on us, to work on who we are supposed to be.  Sitting still, or not working to get where you need to go will only produce frustration in us (because nothing is happening) and in those around us (because we are miserable and sitting back on our laurel’s complaining).  Jesus is our example.  He worked because He said His Father was working.  Well, our Heavenly Father and Elder Brother are working why aren’t we working? Why aren’t we moving towards what we need? Why aren’t we working towards our goals instead of just dreaming about them, thinking about them and talking about them why aren’t we getting to the business of being about them?  My husband has a saying in his business practices, “I can’t want it more than you do.”  This is true in all things and where God is concerned too, God already did the work and is still working, when are we going to do the work we need to do to get where we need to be?  Are you working, if you are keep pressing, if not you ought to be, it won’t get done by itself!  The scriptures even say a man that does not work should not eat; should you be eating in the natural or in the spiritual?

Words Of Encouragement For Your Day (Monday 09/19/2011)

I Finally Noticed How Much You Really Love Me

Revelation 2:1-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹TO THE angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars [which are the messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, Who goes about among the seven golden lampstands [which are the seven churches]: ²I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars. ³I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name's sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary. ⁴But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love]. ⁵Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God's will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent.

            Recently there have been some major changes within my life.  Some really awesome and noteworthy and some that make you think that it might be okay to ask God to turn His back for a moment while you handle some business in a not so “Christ-like” fashion, I would suffice it to say a mafia like fashion.  In the past few weeks, I have definitely been overwhelmed challenging news, and underwhelmed by its affects upon my life.  It seemed I wasn’t getting a break, and then I thought about some others that were in the same boat, and we all seemed to have one major thing in common and that was that we were all serving God and had stepped up our voice about who we serve and who we belonged to, we had been stretching in faith and action.  I began to feel a certain type of way about that, and not much of it was good.  I found myself angry, not at God more confused with Him, but just angry.  I had lost sight of something my Grandmother use to quote all of the time which was “all things work together for the good to them that love the Lord and are called according to HIS purpose.”  But I also forgot how much God loves me in those moments because all I could see was things piling up and news that challenged my stability in every way coming at me.  It was only yesterday morning after waking up wrestling with myself that I found a place of surrender and was able to push through and raise my hands and cry and ask God to forgive me for forgetting that He loved me and was present that I felt a weight being lifted and my praise return. 

Beyonce’s song entitled “Love On Top,” says “You're the one that gives your all.
You're the one I always call.  When I need you make everything stop. Finally you put my love on top.”  When I read these lyrics, it made me know that God is not like people, in anyway.  He loves us and He hears us, even when things are crazy and dark, and the walls seem like they are closing in.  He does not belittle or berate us, nor does He throw our love back on us, He places it on top.  He loved you and I so much He gave us a gift that has the ability to heal, deliver, save and set free which is His son Jesus; but then He turned around on top of all of that and gave us a comforter and guide and teacher that abides in us and with us through the vehicle of the Holy Spirit.    Even when we slack, God is not slack towards us or concerning His promises towards us.  He never leaves us; He always loves us, even when we make the choice not love on Him.  He is always desirous of relationship with us and to have fellowship and time with us, even when we have ignored Him or downgraded our relationship status with Him.  He prioritizes us even when we don’t do the same for Him.  Truly He is amazing!

But how fair is it for God to put our love on top, to make us the priority when we aren’t doing the same for Him?  How fair is it that He sacrificed something precious and uniquely His for us, but we don’t want to even give Him our time, our talent, our trust or our treasures?  It would be nice for us to give back, what He gave, a life for a life.  He is asking us to die, to self, to this world’s mentality and its demands and love on Him a while and seek Him and sit with Him a while.  He is asking that we trust Him understanding Jeremiah 29:11 that the thoughts and plans He has for us of good and not evil to prosper us and not to harm us to give us a future and a hope an expected end!  Just as I had to face that I had lost sight of some things many others fall victim to this too.  We should be determined no matter what to keep God’s love for us on top, just as He does for us!