I AM PASTOR DEB: Recent Episodes
Pastor Deb
Pastor Deb is committed to spreading the Gospel while engaging and relating to people through sound teaching, relatable content, and humor. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We Want To Hear From YOU!
If we’re being honest, some of us have been held hostage by our “I need” lists for so long, we’ve forgotten what a real need even looks like.
We say:
- “I need this job or I don’t know how I am going to make it.”
- “I need a man or I’m going to die single.”
- “I need a woman or I’m going to lose my mind.”
No, beloved… You want that job.
You desire that relationship.
You hope that woman soothes your cravings.
But you won’t die without it. You might sulk a little. You might even cry and play your favorite sad playlist. But baby, you will live.
See, the enemy loves to convince us that our desires are needs, and THEN we start negotiating our dignity, our peace, and our God-given discernment just to chase after them.
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
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OMG Every Time I Think I Thank
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God's Reality
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I Own My Own Amen
4, No Other God
- A Different Praise
Follow "Deborah Ocasio" for more incredible music (Bible Study With A Beat) on Spotify, Apple Music, Padora, YouTube, Tidal, Sound Cloud, or Deezer
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
DON'T PAUSE MY PROCESS.
Because there is revelation in the process.
There is value added in the processing.
There is flavor developed during the process.
Because you understand something about food that we sometimes forget about faith:
Some things need time to become what they were prepared to be.
Oh, that's good right there.
The marinade is doing something you can't see.
The heat is doing something you can't rush.
The pressure is breaking down what needs to become tender.
And the waiting is allowing the flavor to move beyond the surface.
Maybe that's what God is doing with you.
Maybe God isn't just trying to put purpose on you.
Maybe He's allowing purpose to get in you
Closing Song: Lord, Don't Pause My Process written and produced by Deborah Ocasio
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
The enemy doesn't always have to tempt you to sin
Sometimes he will simply overwhelm you with many things so you never focus on the one thing
The one thing he has purposed
Busy.
Busy.
Busy.
Too busy to pray. 24 hours in a day, and God gets 2 minutes in the morning and maybe a full minute before you crash at night
And we are definitely too busy to sit still, to hear from God, to open His word
We’re too busy to think through crucial things that need our attention.
Far too busy to listen, we’re constantly talking over each other, so we can make our point and get on to the next thing
Too busy to notice that God has been trying to redirect you for six months.
And here's the danger of constant busyness:
You can't hear correction but wonder why we keep ending up in certain situations.
Psalm 46:10 says:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
Closing Song: "Busy Is Not My Brand" written and produced by Deborah Ocasio
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
Call a thing a thing.
Call it what it is so you know how to pray.
Call it what it is so you know how to get the help you need.
Call it what it is so you know what needs healing.
Call it what it is so you know what transformation looks like.
Call it what it is so when God steps in, there is no confusion about what He brought you through.
Because the truth about where you were becomes the evidence of how far God brought you.
And that's when truth becomes a defined and divine testimony.
Closing Song: Call A Thing A Thing written and produced by Deborah Ocasio
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
Does there seem to be a traffic jam on the road to your destiny, to God's purpose for you? I chose the cover photo of this message intentionally because, to illustrate this point, we have allowed obstacles to get in the way of what God wants to do and what God wants to release. And if we are honest, some of the stumbling blocks were not put there by Satan or based on our upbringing, nor are they any we can rightfully shift the blame to others; a lot of what is causing a traffic jam in our lives are things we have signed up for, things we have decided to incorporate into our lives.
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We Want To Hear From YOU!
This morning, I'd like to invite you not just to join me on a vacation, but to take it a step further and elevate your lifestyle.
I am asking you to escape to Eden, the divine destination where heaven kissed earth. Nestled in untouched perfection, Eden offers lush landscapes, crystal-clear rivers, and all-inclusive intimacy with the Creator. No stress, no shame, just pure peace, purpose, and paradise.
Here, you don’t just visit… you reconnect with God, with nature, and with who you were always meant to be.
Closing Song: Back II Eden by Donald Lawrence.
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I am here this morning to tell you that your gift is powerful, prophetic, and purposeful…
So stop whispering like heaven handed you a Post-it note instead of a calling.
God is not the one shushing you.
Life is.
Fear is.
People are.
Today, we unmute what hell is trying to muzzle.
Closing Song: Wake Up & Big God by Terrian
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What if the fire you’re in isn’t punishment but promotion?
Not destruction but demonstration?
What if the weapon formed wasn’t assigned to kill you,
But assigned to reveal who’s walking with you?
Closing Song: Another in the Fire by Hillsong (UNITED)
(The Life and Times of Daniel Part 4)
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(The Life and Times of Daniel Part 3)
God has pulled back the curtain for in our now. We are living what it looks like when God pulls back the curtain, and so the depth of the darkness we are basking in
Today, we’re living in a world where the ugly underbelly of humanity is no longer hidden:
- Greed parades in the streets.
- Selfishness gets celebrated as independence.
- Deception trends faster than truth.
- Manipulation is marketed as a strategy.
- Sexual sin has become our declaration of freedom.
- Political upheaval has become the norm.
- Satanic agendas are boldly promoted in music, TV, and policy.
- Children’s pain is ignored, minimized, or exploited.
- Human trafficking headlines grow weekly.
- Leaders are indicted while still campaigning.
- Wars erupt while peace talks crumble.
- Gun violence and school shootings headline the week.
- Economic instability shakes families daily.
- Celebrities normalize witchcraft and dark spirituality.
And the only reason we haven’t fainted like Daniel
is because we have been desensitized by a culture soaked in darkness.
Closing Song: Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass.
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(The Life & Times of Daniel Pt 2)
Everything man builds eventually cracks, crumbles, or collapses.
But the kingdom God is building in you?
Unshakeable.
Every lesson that you prayerfully embraced this morning was ignited because Daniel listened to God, and because he put his faith fearlessly in action, a whole nation was saved.
Closing Song: Waymaker by Sinach
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Daniel was trafficked into Babylon with one goal: to be reprogrammed, rebranded, and remade into something God never called him to be. Babylon wanted to strip him of covenant, dilute his convictions, and mold him into its image.
But Daniel’s life does something for us—something uncomfortable, but something necessary.
It shuts down the excuse of “I’m just a product of my environment.”
Daniel makes that excuse inadmissible in Heaven’s court.
Babylon was built to break him… and he still stood.
Why… How?
Because before he ever stepped foot in Babylon, he made a decision in his heart about who he belonged to. And that decision made him Babylon-Proof.
Closing Song: Surrounded ( Fight My Battles ) by UPPERROOM
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Once you know you’re not basic?
Basic starts to taste disrespectful.
And you realize that settling is a form of self-sabotage.
Closing Songs:
The Truth by Megan Woods
Big God by Terrian
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Lord, I’m desperate — not for things, but for You.
Desperate for Your peace in chaos, Your strength in weakness, and Your will above my own.
Teach me to see desperation not as defeat, but as divine redirection.
Because when I’m out of options, you’re never out of miracles or revelation
Amen.
Closing Songs:
Desperate by Jamie MacDonald
Goodness of God by CeCe Winans
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Let’s be honest — some of us have been riding the same emotional merry-go-round so long, we should have a season pass. Different people, same pain. New year, same nonsense. You think you’re making progress, but you’re just spinning around and around dressed in better outfits.
Why? Because unlearned lessons lead to repeated tests. God’s not punishing you; He’s preparing you. But He’s not about to promote you if you keep flunking the same exam with the same excuses.
So do yourself a favor — be quick to admit when you’re wrong. The faster you confess, the faster you correct. The faster you correct, the faster you heal. And healing hits different when humility leads the way.
Closing Songs:
Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham
My Redeemer by Nicole Mullen
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Jonah may have been disobedient, but he understood that his disobedience was what caused this horrific storm. When they threw Jonah overboard, the expectation was that he would likely drown. But Jonah didn’t drown. Nope. God arranged an Uber of the deep, do give in a ride —a giant fish, a whale—to keep him alive and give him a place to sit and get his attitude together.
Verse 17 reads, “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Jonah bought a ticket to anywhere-but-purpose, boarded a ship of disobedience, and wound up swallowed by circumstance. But here’s the beauty: what looked like punishment was actually protection. God didn’t let Jonah drown; He gave him a three-day sit-down session in the belly of grace.
Now picture it: dark, slimy, smelly—no Wi-Fi, no exit—just Jonah, God, and a whole lot of time to think. Because sometimes, you don’t learn in the spotlight; you learn in the stomach of a situation that forces reflection. Jonah didn’t just get swallowed; he got still. He didn’t just sit down; he woke up.
Closing Song: The Call by Isabel Davis
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PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for opening our eyes today to see Jesus for who He truly is — not an angel, not a messenger, but the very Word made flesh.
Thank You for a Savior whose blood is pure, whose power is unmatched, and whose love is unshakable.
Help us to never settle for a smaller version of You, and to live boldly in the truth that our salvation is not a maybe — it’s a matter of fact.
Strengthen our faith, silence every lie, and let our lives proclaim that Jesus is Lord, now and forever.
In His mighty name we pray, Amen.
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Closing Songs: The Blood by Donnie McClurkin and No One Higher by Aaron Shust.
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Let’s be honest — some of us are on speaking terms with God… but barely.
We love Him, we serve Him, but we’re also side-eyeing heaven like,
“Now, Lord, you’ve got some explaining to do.”
Because truth be told — we’ve all had those moments.
When the good die young, and the wicked live long enough to write memoirs. When the kindhearted get crushed, while the conniving keep climbing.
When prayers bounce off ceilings, and silence feels like rejection.
And if you’ve ever said, “God, why would You let that happen?” Congratulations — you’re in good company.
Closing Song: God Is In Control by Doe
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Pain doesn’t have to be your forever place — God can reroute your path.
You can be born in it and still refuse to live in it.
See, Jabez didn’t let his mother’s experience become his identity.
He took the label of pain and turned it into prayer.
That’s the kind of spiritual maturity that makes Heaven stop scrolling and say,
“Now this one gets it.”
Jabez, didn’t come from royalty, wealth, or fame. He came from a label that should’ve limited him — but instead, it launched him.
One short prayer turned a painful past into a powerful future.
And if you’ve ever felt like life tagged you with something unfair, this story is your reminder that your beginning doesn’t get to boss your ending.
Closing Songs: You Say by Lauren Daigle and I Know My Name by Cece Winans & Brandon Lake
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You’ve heard the headlines. You’ve seen the worry in people’s eyes.
The government shutdown has created real strain — and while you may not feel the pinch personally, this is not the moment to simply whisper, “Thank God it’s not me.” It’s time to show God how truly grateful you are — not by stressing less, but by bringing stress levels down in the world around you.
Closing Song: Glorify by Jordan Feliz
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Have you ever driven a car that’s out of alignment?
At first, it’s subtle — you’re holding the wheel straight, but the car keeps veering off.
You can compensate for a while, but eventually, your tires wear unevenly, your steering wheel starts to shake, and if you don’t fix it… You’re headed for a crash.
That’s what’s happening in our world today. From the White House to the littliest house on the prairie, we’ve drifted out of alignment with God’s plan, God’s purpose, and God’s passion.
Closing Songs: "We Just Need Jesus" by Terrian & "Lose My Soul" by Toby Mack
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Let’s play a little mind game this morning. If you were the devil, how would you win souls? We’ve been taught to picture Satan as a hideous creature — red skin, horns, and a tail — but that’s not the Bible’s description. Scripture says he masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). This means he can appear appealing, inspiring, and even godly. He can preach, sing, serve, smile, and seduce — all while scheming.
Satan can take the form of anything, and here’s the kicker — he’s well aware of what’s appealing to you. He has studied our habits, our patterns, our pain points, likes, and dislikes. He knows what peaks our interest and how to impress us.
While most believers don’t take the time to study his tactics, he’s been studying ours since Eden. He knows our type, our trigger, and our taste. He knows what flattering words feed our egos. He knows what to offer to bait your greed, and what version of “truth” to present that won’t raise your suspicion.
CLOSING SONG: "Holy Spirit" by Francesca Battistelli
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Stop living life with your “spiritual GPS" on airplane mode
Proverbs 3 said,
“Acknowledge Him in all thy ways and He shall direct thy paths,”
But half of us are behaving like spiritual crackheads, allowing emotional highs to direct our path and then wondering why we keep going in circles.
We’re praying for straight paths while taking emotional detours, walking in disobedience, pedaling on procrastination, as if we are afraid to enter into the presence of God alone
And God’s like, “You want Me to make your way clear,
But you won’t even check the map I have provided or thumb through the Words I have spewed. LISTEN - FOLLOW - SHARE
Closing Song: Word of God Speak by MercyMe
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I would feel spiritually dishonest, like I was ducking and dodging Satan’s tactics while pretending to stand on truth, if I didn’t address the most recent “episode” shaking the Christian community.
What truly grieves my spirit is this: when a religious leader takes a sharp left turn, somehow saints feel led to go left too. Maybe not down the exact alley they turned into… but left is still left.
And wrong is wrong, no matter the degree.
Closing Song: Order My Steps
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TRUTH.
And the truth is…
✅ Your life is not about YOU.
✅ Truth is: Jesus’ sacrifice bought and paid for your soul.
✅ Truth is: You are not your own.
✅ Truth is: Salvation wasn’t purchased on clearance.
✅ Truth is: Grace isn’t poured like samples.
✅ Truth is: Mercy is not microwaved.
The cross and the blood of Jesus are the currency that paid your sin debt in full.
So if God woke you up today, it was to reciprocate what He’s already given you.
From the moment your feet hit the floor:
✨ Let your words proclaim Him.
✨ Let your actions reflect Him.
✨ Let your reactions honor Him.
Because nothing discredits the kingdom faster than saved lips and sinful reflexes.
Closing Songs: Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns, I Know A Name by Brandon Lake & CeCe Winans, A Love For Truth by Dylan Woodward, Thank You For Your Grace by The New Birth Choir.
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We live in a “my truth” culture — where everybody’s remixing reality like it’s a Spotify playlist. But there’s only one truth that sets you free, and that truth doesn’t flex for feelings or fads. The problem with “my truth” is that it usually means “my comfort.” And comfort might soothe you — but truth saves you.
Closing Song: Real by Anthony Brown & group therAPy
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The core of righteousness is founded on truth.
That’s not just a catchy sermon statement — that’s biblical architecture.
You can’t build righteousness on denial any more than you can build a skyscraper on cotton candy.
Closing Song: The Truth by Megan Woods
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Salvation is worthy of celebration, so let's do it
Celebration Songs:
Love Never Fails by Fred HammondAwesome by William MurphySomething About the Name Part 1 & 2 Rance Allen & Kirk Franklin
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Salvation isn’t just about being saved from something — it’s about being saved for something: purpose, peace, and relationship.
That’s why we were rescued. His plan is for the devil not to consume you, because he wants to use you.
The mandate, the prayer is “let His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”
So live like you’ve been rescued.
Walk like you’ve been chosen.
Speak like grace has your name on it.
Salvation isn’t the end of your story — The blood of Jesus was shed to rescue you, it was meant to ignite the beginning of your becoming.
Closing Song: The Blood by Donnie McClurkin
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“…and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.”
This is where salvation moves from your lips to your life. It’s not about repeating words — it’s about releasing control.
It’s not about memorizing Scripture — it’s about internalizing truth.
Head knowledge says, “I’ve heard He’s risen.”
Heart conviction says, “Because He lives, I live differently.”
So today, ask yourself — has your belief stayed in your brain, or has it moved into your bloodstream?
Closing Song: I Believe by Marvin Sapp
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Confession isn’t about performance — it’s about public declaration.
You’re saying, “I believe Jesus is who He said He is, and I’m aligning my life with that truth.”
Think of it like this: if you’re proud of your favorite team, you wear the jersey and shout their name.
Confession is your spiritual jersey.
It’s not for show — it’s a declaration of loyalty.
You’re saying, “This is who I belong to — and I’m not ashamed of it.”
But the problem is, can we be real for a moment? So many people have friends, colleagues, and neighbors who don’t know they are saved because they don’t confess it. After all, there is a hesitance to confess. Confession of faith also comes with accountability, because now that you said it, people expect to see it.
Confession pulls what’s in your heart into the open.
There’s power in speaking truth out loud because it breaks the silence where sin and shame love to hide.
Closing Song: Say Yes by Shekinah Glory Ministry
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You’d be amazed — there are folks who’ve been in church all their lives, can quote Psalms backward, but can’t explain salvation forward.
Salvation — the core of Christianity — and yet so many can’t break it down plain enough for a skeptic to understand or a sinner to desire.
So today, we’re fixing that. No fluff, no churchy riddles, no “deep revelation” that leaves people confused. Just straight truth — what salvation really is, why we all need it, and how it changes everything.
Closing Song: "He Decided To Die" by James Cleveland
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I am going to open this message with a word of advice: “Know the Flavor of the Kool-Aid Before You Take A Sip.”When I was growing up in Philly, we had a saying: “You're all in the Kool-Aid and don’t even know the flavor.”
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Closing Song: Speak To My Heart by Donnie McClurkin
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James 1:2-4, “My brethren count it all joy, when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing”
- “Lord, in this situation what are you trying to teach me”,
- “Lord show me what I need to be strengthened in”
- “Lord, what is it you want me to see”
- Lord what do you want me to incorporate into my and what do you want me to dismiss
- Lord what are you directing me to and what are you directing me from.
- “Lord, show me, teach me, strengthen me, so you can use me for bigger and better, blow my mind”
- “Lord, let how I walk through this, and when I come through this be a living testimony of who you are”
ENJOY SUNDAY'S BONUS VIRTUAL CONCERT!
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Embrace your uniqueness. Whether it’s in your style, values, or choices, own who God created you to be. You were designed for more than just keeping up with the trends.
Because at the end of the day, true style isn’t found in what’s trending—it’s found in the authenticity of who you are in Christ.
So go ahead, dare to be different. Walk like you know trendy ain’t timeless. Rock your God-given uniqueness—whatever that may look like.
Closing Song : Fearfully & Wonderfully Made by Kimberly Chanté
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Uncles are adorned because they let you get away with what fathers call you out on. Uncles listen to your story and just flow with it, but fathers know you inside and out, what you are capable of, and they push you, and sometimes it seems harder than it needs to be, but it's part of the shaping, moulding, and pruning that will define your character and your destiny
He’s not Uncle God, He is Father God.
Closing Song: "I belonged to you" by William McDowell
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Nobody gets excited about lukewarm. Not lukewarm coffee, not lukewarm food, and definitely not lukewarm faith.
God makes it plain in Revelation 3:16: “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” That’s not just Bible poetry—that’s a divine warning.
Lukewarm faith is faith that drifts with the tide. It just goes along with what’s trending, what’s popular, what keeps the crowd happy. Lukewarm faith bows to political agendas because it trusts man's provisions over God’s.
Lukewarm faith is more concerned about what people think than what God knows. It’s that Sunday-only, Instagram-filter faith—loud in public but no quiet time in the presence of God.
But when your faith is hot? You can change atmospheres and challenge division, and fixate on unity.
Closing Song: "Fire" by CeCe Winans
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I was blessed to spend the last week in Ethiopia. As we traveled into some of the most remote areas, places where clean water remains out of reach, I witnessed something that filled my heart with joy and sparked a new hope within me.
Closing Songs:
We Are One by Walt Whitman & the Soul Children of Chicago
Jesus is Love by Lionel Richie
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We need to put more emphasis on being grateful for our now and not be so consumed with longing for what's next. We are so consumed bigger, better, and more that we neglect to praise God in our now.
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If there’s one thing humanity has mastered, it’s taking God’s Word out of context to prop up our own agendas. From pulpits to parliaments, verses have been cherry-picked like grapes in a vineyard, fermented into a toxic wine of superiority, hierarchy, racism, and sexism. And just like cheap wine, it leaves people stumbling—drunk on pride but far from the Spirit.
My Heart Is In Your Hands by Kirk Franklin
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Unity is not weak, it is not soft, it is not naïve. Unity is bold. Unity is defiant against darkness. Unity is warfare. It means ripping up Satan’s contracts, torching his blueprints, and choosing God’s design even if it costs you your pride, your platform, your alliances, or your followers.
UNITY is God’s acronym:
- United we stand, divided we rot.
- No flesh can boast before God.
- In Christ alone, we find love that binds us together.
- The Cross is the only platform worth exalting.
- Yield to the Spirit of harmony or bow to Satan—no middle ground.
It’s time to burn the covenant of division and pick up the covenant of the Cross. Anything else isn’t just messy, it’s demonic.
Closing Songs:
"Unity" by Alan Walker
"Together" by Tiffany Hudson
"We Are One" by Frankie Beverly & Maze
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STEP IN:
- Not because it’s safe.
- Not because it makes sense.
- But because God said I will never leave or forsake you and that without faith it is impossible to please Him
- Declare with boldness: "I won’t wait for dry ground—I’ll trust the God who parts the water."
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Marriage is a spiritual covenant where two become one, but let’s be clear: a wedding in a cathedral doesn’t make a covenant.
Ceremonies are beautiful, but they’re not magical. The vows are not incantations. It is your commitment to God, your willingness to submit to His will, and your decision to walk out His purpose together that makes the difference.
God must be first, not your feelings.
He is the contract. He is the covering.
And to the Singles…
If you’re not married, but in a relationship or desiring one, prayer should start there. And if you’re uncomfortable praying with them, or they flinch at the idea of spiritual alignment, ask yourself:
“Is this my soulmate, or just someone I’ve got chemistry with?”
We often don’t want God’s input; we want His approval after we have made our decision. But the most mature and hardest prayer you can ever pray is:
“Lord, have Your way. Let Your will be done.”
Closing Song by DOE - "When I Pray"
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Now, some of you may be a little too sanctified for what you are about to hear. I began to reflect on the mindset of our culture today, where songs are often about materialism, shine, and bling. Unfortunately, we don’t hear many songs, including gospel songs, that exalt the truth that no material item can satisfy us beyond the flesh or that looking down on another because you’re up should not be satisfying.
Song: Be For Real by Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes featuring Teddy Pendergrass.
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Deuteronomy 11:18-19 says, "Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads." The Word of God is your exit plan. I urge you to make studying The Word of God a habit so that when life gets chaotic—and trust me, it will—you’ll already know the exit strategy; the bottom line is God has a plan of rescue in place, and he also has a plan of elevation in place. We just have to be willing to read itso that we are prepared.
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Your reactions will either bless you or prevent you from receiving all the blessings God has appointed you to.
Thank you for tuning into Sanctified Intelligence, where godly wisdom is magnified to equip you to embrace all God has for you. Be blessed
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The need to be or feel superior is ultimately an illusion—a temporary fix for deeper insecurities and selfish desires. It pulls us away from the virtues of humility, empathy, and genuine human connection, replacing them with competition, division, and moral blindness.
True fulfillment comes not from elevating oneself above others but from embracing humility, serving others, and recognizing the equal worth in every person.
As Christ modeled in His life, true greatness is found not in superiority but in love, humility, and selfless service to others.
Closing Song: Break Every Chain by Tasha Cobbs
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To intervene means to come between or occur between events or points in time. It can also mean to become involved in something, such as a conflict, to influence what happens. Upgrade your prayer and ask the Lord to "intervene."
Closing Song: When The Lord Intervenes by James Nee
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God’s promises to the faithful are abundant and reassuring. He offers strength, guidance (Isaiah 41:10), provision (Philippians 4:19), peace (Philippians 4:6-7), forgiveness (1 John 1:9), His constant presence (Deuteronomy 31:6), eternal life (John 3:16), heavenly rewards (Revelation 2:10), and victory over challenges (Romans 8:37). These promises remind us that our faithfulness is never in vain; God values our commitment and responds with His abundant blessings.
Studying God’s Word is essential for nurturing our faithfulness. Scripture guides us in understanding God’s character (Psalm 119:105), strengthens our faith (Romans 10:17), equips us for obedience (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and provides encouragement and hope (Romans 15:4). Engaging with the Bible keeps us connected to God, helps us grow in maturity, and empowers us to resist temptations.
Faithfulness is a growing, ongoing relationship with God, marked by trust, obedience, commitment, steadfastness, loyalty, repentance, and a deep connection to His Word. It’s not about achieving perfection but remaining faithful, even in our flaws. Let’s strive to be like the green leaf—full of life, resilience, and hope—rooted deeply in our faith in God. Amen.
Closing Song: Faithful Is Our God - Hezekiah Walker
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God’s covenant with us is our life warranty, but when something goes wrong, we reach out by dialing the wrong number because we haven’t read the warranty details to even know how to connect.
But if you know the scriptures, not necessarily the chapters and verses but the details of the words, we can incorporate the contract details when we call the warranty department in prayer.
By incorporating God’s promises into our prayers, we engage more deeply with His Word, stand firmly on His truth, and draw closer to His heart.
Closing Song: Faithful is Our God by Hezekiah Walker
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"Your existence, what you have been through, and the lessons you have learned are all a testament to be utilized in God's grand design. Align your life with His purpose and experience the fullness of His divine purpose." Be blessed.
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It is impossible to imagine what is not possible. The Bible says, "So a man thinketh so is he." Your imagination is just a sneak peek into your abilities; how you play out the movie of your life is up to you.
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In a biblical sense, appetites often represent more than just physical hunger; they can symbolize desires or cravings, whether for food, wealth, power, or other pleasures. The Bible acknowledges that humans have natural appetites, but it also warns about the dangers of uncontrolled or excessive desires.
Closing Song: "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" by Bonita Jones
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Spiritual bankruptcy will create an illusion that you are doing what pleases God when the truth is you've racked up debilitating deb that comes from trying to please everyone but God while jumping through hoops that are not godly or have no biblical context.
The Word of God says in Proverbs 16:7, "When a man's way pleases God, even his enemies are at peace with him." Matthew 11:30 says "HIS yolk is easy." So why does everything seem so hard? Why are so many hearts broken, and why are tears part of some people's daily lives?
CLOSING SONG: Alyssa Joseph - God's Plan
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We are good at making plans and establishing our dreams and goals, then going before God and asking Him to answer our prayers regarding those dreams and goals. The one thing we fail to do is count up the cost. Learn why counting up the costs is so crucial and godly.
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Patience does not mean being idle. Patience is about preparing and positioning yourself to pursue. Patience involves active engagement in processes and tasks, even when results are delayed. (Proverbs 18:9: "Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys." - Proverbs 21:5: "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance." )
Closing Song:
Worship For 24 "Patient With Your Process"www.BibleDeliverance.org
Ecclesiastes 7:12 reminds us of the invaluable nature of wisdom and its protective power. While money can offer temporary security, wisdom provides lasting protection, guides us toward a life that honors God, and prepares us to pursue purpose. I encourage you to make it a daily practice to learn something, grow in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, as these attributes genuinely preserve and enrich our lives.
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Today’s message is to discuss your options concerning God's 5-star plan vs. the 2 and 3-star plan that looks good right now. It may look like the Promised Land, but if you have cleared with God, you tapped into the wrong travel agent.
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Radical and obedience - two words that seem they would work against each other rather than together.
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Life and death are in the power of the tongue; you, like most, have likely only looked at those words from a one-sided- perspective. If you have 2 minutes, I want to share another perspective with you.
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Don't allow what is popular in the world keep you from your blessings.
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The Bible is clear: We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Because of our imperfect human nature, we will continue to make mistakes and miss the mark of perfection.
Our desire should be to strive to be better, To treat others like we would like to be
2 Corinthians 8:7
- "But as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you--make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too."
And then we must never become so carnal that we become comfortable in sin or so arrogant that we begin to make excuses for our sin.
- Romans 12:2
- "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind."
Once we have determined that mistakes, wrongdoing, and sin are part of our humanistic character, we should better understand our need for God in our lives. God knows better than anyone that we are flawed, which is why He made provisions for us to deal with the stain of sin. He is the cleanser, the sustainer, and the renewer.
**First and foremost, God wants us to own up to our sin and call it what it is—don’t rename it to justify it as anything less than what it is, which is a violation of God's mandate. When we begin to rename sin with flowery words, we also discount the need to be held accountable for that sin or the need for repentance.
closing song: Moving Forward by Hezekiah Walker**
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We have pools of grace and mercy stored up that God gave to us; it's time we issued some out to others.
Closing Song: Grace and Mercy by Marvin Sapp
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This is part 4 of our Forgiveness series; if you have made it this far, you are serious about laying all grudges at God's feet.
Lord, we thank you for your grace and mercy, for always forgiving us for going against your will and your way. Lord, we ask that you instill your grace and your mercy so that we can extend it to each other so that there is no division between us, just peace, which is what your heart desires. Amen
Closing Song: Anyhow by Byron Cage
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**We are quick to charge someone with a lifetime of unforgiveness because we were treated unfairly. This morning, thank God for not being fair to you and then ease up on the struggle to forgive others.
Closing Song: Look Out For Me by Kirk Franklin**
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We don’t like to forgive because we feel like we are letting the person off the hook for their actions, words, or attitude.
"**I was nice to this person," "I was there for this person." Betrayal runs deep and makes us feel justified in imprisoning this person in our cage of unforgiveness. The problem with holding hostages, keeping someone caged, is that we become prisoners ourselves.
What forgiveness is not is a set-up for you to continue to allow strife in your life, be abused, be disrespected, or be a doormat.
Closing Song: Moving Forward by Hezekiah Walker**
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You will not find the name Alice in any biblical translation; trust me, I have researched. However, what I want to tell you about Alice aligns with a few familiar biblical stories, and when I tell you about her, you will understand
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1 Peter 2:9-12 (Message)
But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life in your neighborhood so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.
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When we left off in Eden, God had already given Adam his only command at the time, which was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He then went on to explain to him that when you eat from it, you will certainly die.
The first thing I want you to pay close attention to is that God put the tree smack dab in the middle of the Garden of Eden. He could have fenced it in, put it on top of a mountain, or surrounded it with erupting volcanoes to make the tree in accessible to Adam and Eve, but He didn’t.
Nowhere in the Bible will you ever find where God enabled mankind’s access to sin or enabled our access to decide whether to obey or disobey Him or not?
The reason is quite simple and is outlined in John 14, which simply states: If you love me, keep my commandments. God wants us to choose to obey Him out of a sincere love for Him.
Love cannot be forced.
Love is not manipulated.
Love can only prove sincere if other options are accessible.
If you can’t trust your significant other around the others, for fear they will violate their commitment to you, you can really trust their love.
Sincere love is birthed out of choice and a willingness to sacrifice and is accompanied by genuine and unwavering commitment. God will never force His will, His way, or His Word on us. He gives us His commands, outlines the consequences, and leaves the decision to obey or not totally up to us.
So God decided that it was not good for Adam to be alone, so God put him to sleep and proceeded with a divine surgery, creating Eve from Adam’s rib, and the two are naked before God and unashamed.
And today, we pick up the story; if you don’t know it, the devil is mad. God has developed a new creation and given them dominion, and they are now basking in the presence of God, content and with nothing to be ashamed of. Satan begins to think, “Oh no, peace, obedience, and joy, I will have no such a thing; I have to begin working to make mankind obey me, not God.”
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This morning, I want to discuss the illusion of independence. Independence is defined as freedom from outside control or support. The word independence was never recorded in the Bible because its very premise goes against the order of what God has established. From inception, God designed every living thing to rely on something else to sustain its own existence. Independence is not part of God's plan.
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Once, God gave Adam his assignment, purpose, and commandment. Then God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
When you dissect the word alone, in Hebrew "al" means single, of a single thought, incomplete. In Hebrew the “al” can also obtain its meaning from the text that follows. For example almost indicates the most as incomplete, not majority, but almost. In Hebrew alone, it means incomplete one, one of ‘single” thought.
So when God said it is not good for man to be alone, the scripture essentially says it is not good for man to be incomplete or of single thought. God then said, “I will make him a helper suitable for him,” another being to complete him and give him a perspective from a different thought process.
NEWSFLASH: This is why God created women not just physically but emotionally differently. Women tend to operate from feelings, while men tend to from logic. If men and women could come together and share their two perspectives instead of competing, then God’s plan for His image bearers regarding dominion could truly be realized.
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The biblical significance of God breathing into man's nostrils is His divine gift of our access to a personal and intimate relationship with Him. It is crucial that we understand our unique status in creation and our relationship with the Creator. When life seems to consume you, when your patience has run thin and your finances even thinner, when you begin to feel emotionally, spiritually, and physically suffocated, to the point where you can’t breathe, remember God, the Creator, breathe into us. Let the breath of God take over when you are struggling to breathe.
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As we honor mothers this morning, I want to talk briefly about The Mothering of a Mother. Today’s message is from 2 Kings 4:1-7.
Let me set the scene of the times. This story happened during a time when the law of the land dictated that a creditor could enslave his debtor and his children to pay off debts owed.
Verse 1 reads, “The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
Because the scriptures don’t mention that her husband died enslaved, he was likely making payments to this creditor to pay off what he owed.
But his creditor likely heard of her husband’s death and decided to take advantage of the law, which said they could enslave her children to pay off her husband's debt.
Right off the bat, we know this woman was a real mother, she wasn’t having it. No one was going to take her children from her, let alone compromise their freedom and subject them to who knows what. This woman went into “true mommy mode.”
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I consider myself a good cook, but like some of you, I enjoy skimming through Pinterest to see different recipes to spice up my traditional recipes. Every cook knows there are just some foundational ingredients you can’t omit. For instance, you need some flour to bake a cake, and you can make some desserts without real sugar, but let’s be honest, it is not as good as those made with real sugar.
This morning, I want to talk to you briefly about the secret ingredient God used when creating mankind. Before He pulled Adam from the dirt and blew into his nostrils, there was an ingredient that should never be overlooked.
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Let's add a little rhythm and music as we elevate God's name and give Him thanks for His love, provision, grace, and mercy.
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Good Morning Truth,
This morning, I need to share my truth with you. First, I want you all to know that all ministers and all humans, no matter what their title or position in the Kingdom is, every human, is flawed, capable of mistakes and missteps, capable of being discouraged, and apt to, at some point, be disobedient to God's word and principle.
Never set anyone above the mantle of humanity but God Himself. This past Sunday, I bought a message that talked about atmospheres and how they impact us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. It also discussed how God gave us the authority and power to shift atmospheres.
I also talked about the impact of sound and how sound prompts us to respond to it. We explored how we should respond to atmospheres and sounds in a manner that glorifies God. Well, I have to confess…
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Some of you, right now, under the sound of my voice, are uncomfortable in certain atmospheres in your life. Then others are being unrighteously influenced by ungodly atmospheres.
The power that God has bestowed upon you can shift atmospheres. His breath in you…. is life. His breath in you is the wind you need to push you into, out of, and through different atmospheres.
Closing Song - Breathe by Byron Cage
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When we set our minds on being more anxious to find the jewel of truth, our minds are renewed, and we become committed to testing, weighing things out, replacing anger with the act of analyzing, and exalting discernment, which is the utilization of godly principles to determine our actions and reactions.
We have to become more anxious to find the jewel of truth so that Team Satan doesn’t use our offenses to devour us.
Closing Song: A Love for Truth - Dylan Woodward
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The response to the question, "Did Jesus have a tattoo?" is unequivocally "no." While I could leave it at that, it's essential to delve deeper into why we can confidently assert that Jesus did not bear a tattoo. False perspectives tend to magnify other falsehoods, creating a stack of untruths that compromise the truth and lead to a slippery slope of darkness.
Let's be clear: Jesus frequently confronted and disregarded religious traditions that did not align with God's ways or contribute to the salvation of one's soul. However, we can confidently assert that Jesus did not have a tattoo for three key reasons.
Closing Song: I Give Myself Away by William McDowell
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Welcome to the inaugural lesson of our series "Lessons From Eden." Over the course of this series, we will delve into topics such as gratitude, faith, obedience, godly relationships, god-centered households, our free will, and God's favor. We kick off the series by examining God's power and authority to prayerfully assist in establishing or renewing the spirit of gratitude and magnifying godly obedience.
God’s power and authority are two crucial elements that we often underestimate, overlook, neglect, or disregard when discussing or contemplating the vastness of God's nature. We often confine God within the narrow boundaries of human comprehension, limiting His vastness according to our own understanding.
As our minds struggle to comprehend the full spectrum of God's power and authority, we tend to miss out on the invaluable opportunity to establish an intimate and close relationship with Him, which can be detrimental to our lives and our god-ordained purpose.
God is undeniably our refuge. He is our safe place, our shelter from the storms of life, danger, and deception. Psalm 91:4 tells us He will cover you with his pinions; under his wings, you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
CLOSING SONG; "The Maker" by Chris August
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I encourage each of you to evaluate where you are professionally, personally, and spiritually and decide what policies in your life need to be adjusted, revamped, tweaked or flat out replaced what is currently in place.
The hardest thing about implementing policy change will be those around you as some will have to be dismissed, as well as, brought up to speed on what is now tolerable and not tolerable under the new system.
Some folks you are going to have to tell me no you will no longer talk to me like that I have made some policy changes, no you I can no longer allow that to occur in my house there have been some policy changes. NO, I will no longer financially support that, there has been a policy change. Or moving forward, we will seek the word of God as our counsel, because there has been a policy change.
Every aspect of our lives requires change, shifts, renewing of our minds and policy changes.
We were all destined for greatness, failure to embrace change will hinder your access to the greatness that has been slated for you.
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”
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Sometimes we need to remember that God is with us every morning we wake up and throughout our day. This is a message from God extending some inspiration and encouragement to start your day.
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With sin and Satan running rampant, as a believer with a desire to walk according to the righteousness of God, please tell me if you know how we are not supposed to be at least a little uncomfortable. If you are a child of God and comfortable in the midst of sin and unrighteousness, please email me, I may need to schedule a one on one with you.
Bottomline is this, we would not have a need for a Savior if things never got uncomfortable.
James 1:2-3 reads “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”.
The definition of perseverance is to be persistent in doing something despite the difficulties or the delay in the achievement of success.
So I say to you this morning, stop complaining about what’s uncomfortable in your life, and start thanking God for what He has allowed to remain consistently comfortable, then watch him guide and protect you through that uncomfortable minefield.
photo by Jeremy Bishop
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Does Humility Still Exist in a World Focused on Social and Self Promotion?
The increase in self-esteem has corresponded to a decrease in humility. More and more we see people wanting fame, wanting to be noticed, wanting to be considered important, wanting eyes on them.
Unfortunately, we see this exalted from the pulpit to penthouse to the house projects. The spirit of arrogance, bodaciousness, and self-centeredness are all ploys and tactics that fall contrary to the will and ways of God.
As a matter of fact these are the characteristics of Satan Himself and what prompts God to dismiss Him from Heaven.Satan was kicked out of heaven because of pride. He desired to be God, not to be a servant of God.
We see this mentality exalt now in our political leaders, amongst entertainers and common folk who have created and become profit off false depictions of reality.
If you read Isaiah 14:12-15, you will see the extent of Satan’s arrogance, just reading it made me quench. In a boastful and arrogant manner he spoke these words:
“I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
Satan was likely the highest of all angels, the anointed cherub, the most beautiful of all of God’s creations. In Ezekiel 28:13 the scripture infers that Satan was a master musician as the scripture boasts of his workmanship of your timbrels and pipes”.
But he was not content in his position. Instead, Satan desired to be God, to essentially “kick God off His throne” and take over the rule of the universe. Satan wanted to be God.
Now not too many of us are bodacious enough to declare we want to actually be God, but our actions, pretensions, and since of entitlement declares it for us as we see to be worshiped by other, even revered, with all eyes on us, we want our voice to heard
over everyones else and we seek to be served and a servant.
A godly humility means being able to recognise that you are not the most important person in any given scenario. This could be with your partner when discussing a recent argument or in the workplace in a meeting when you let someone else have their five minutes.
Humility has become a rare quality to find in someone, as the act of being humble requires modesty and self reservation and these two attributes can be easily confused with being passive, insecure or submissive.
God’s idea of humility is not for us to downplay the magnificence in which He created us for we are incredible beings as we were made in the very image of God.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.”
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The gift I want to talk to you about this morning is bigger than your skills, and your title, it's even more astounding than your purpose. No priority or position supersedes its true value.
This gift is often discounted, not revered, and undervalued, as we are sometimes cavalier with it. We even at times have the audacity to measure the size of this gift with arrogance, and entitlement as we just walk day by day assuming we will always have access to this priceless gift.
But there is no doubt about it without this gift we are all worthless, completely incapacitated, useless. And no one can take the credit for giving this gift but God
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There comes a time in each of our lives when we will be challenged to have some hard conversations. You know conversations where you have to be absolutely truthful, and transparent and when you have to position yourself to hear the truth from someone else and allow them to be transparent.
The most difficult part of these conversations is that they call us into accountability, they check us. They often critique our actions, reactions, and perceptions.
Unfortunately, we live in a culture where truth is not widely embraced, criticism is deemed critical, offensive, and almost fatal. The popular perception is if “they don’t agree with me, then they are against me”. Constructive criticism is shunned but the Bible tells us in Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
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Now some of you may be too sanctified for this message this morning.....
.....The word devotion is defined as an enthusiastic form of loyalty, faithfulness and devoutness that goes beyond the surface and taps into the spirit.
God’s devotion to us has never shaken, never been in question, and He has never failed us.
But our devotion to Him is continually shakened, often questioned and when it comes to the true test of devotion we often fail.
And God knowing that we are not perfect being, and also knowing the traps of deceptiveness, and the things in the world that would compromise our devotion, he sent us a word…
Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
In that one verse God gives us instruction on how to deal with what He knew would be the primary source that would beckon us to compromise our devotion to Him.
Look around, pay attention, most of our crimes against one another, and violations of the mandates of God are spearheaded by greed, materialisms and desires of the flesh, as we are never satisfied.
God reminds us that we have no need to buy into a mentality that nurtures greed, or materialism, for He will never leave or forsake us.
He, the creator of all things, the one who hung the moon and the stars, the only one who can defy the laws of nature, and bring forth miracles that can change anything in an instant.
If He has devoted Himself to never leave or forsake us, how and why would we allow our devotion to him to be compromised by going after things on our own, when He is a better provider than we could ever be.
I will tell you why, because our devotion to him has not delved below the surface, our devotion to him has not seeped into our spirits, our devotion to HIM has not been embraced by our soul.
That is so evident that we can hear, see and do things and have no reflection of Him or maintain a consciousness that has no correction from him.
True devotion aligns every aspect of one’s being according to the standard of the loyalty upon which the devotion was established.
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I want to give you a brand new perspective regarding those 3 words; old as dirt.
Soil, sand, clay, and dust are all derivatives of dirt.
If we were to take the time to analyze the uses of these things we would have to humble ourselves and admit that dirt is an incredibly marvelous and underrated commodity.
Soil is the means by which sustenance is provided for grass, trees, shrubs, and all vegetation. So we see here that dirt, just like those proclaimed as old as dirt, has the ability to restore, sustain and add value to life.
Did you know that sand contains an element called silica aka quartz? This single element makes sand uniquely valuable, as the silica found in sand is needed to make products such as glass and it is also what makes sand an abrasive property, useful for traction on icy roads and railroads, and suitable for sandblasting.
The applicable life lesson we can learn from sand is that this derivative of dirt can produce unimaginable creations to be used in unimaginable ways, while also being influential in derailing what could be detrimental when things become slippery and unpredictable.
Then there is clay which has been proven to
- Balances & Combats Oily Skin.
- Soothes Itchy Skin and Rashes. ...
- Used for Internal Cleansing and Detoxifying. ...
- Aids Digestion. …
Another life lesson to grasp is that “clay” is the derivative of dirt that manages to assist in protecting and restoring our most vulnerable parts while aiding in our digestion, actions, and reactions to our environment.
Dirt is looked upon as worthless, insignificant, something to just trample on.
We don’t revere “dirt” with the accolades we should. Dirt has been around since the beginning of time.
Read the story of creation in Genesis 1; first came heaven, then came earth aka dirt, the two most important components of God’s infrastructure. After creating heaven and earth everything else He God created was created to be committed to heaven and resourced from earth aka dirt.
From the beginning, God shows how He valued dirt. As I went down the list and told you the value of soil, sand, and clay, I left out dust. Now allow me to tell you about the value of dust.
Genesis 2:7 scripture reads, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature”.
The creator of all things took dust, a derivative of dirt, when decided to create the one single thing He desired to be in His own image.
God took dust to create what He “purposed”. God took dust to bring Him glory. He used dust to form and shape mankind and then breathed into it, then pronounced what he created with dust and his breath to give Him praise.
So you are all of a certain age out there, when someone wants to discount your worth by referring to you as being as old as dirt, thank them. Then ask “What is the valued commodity of the substance of your being”.
Say what you want to say, I am proud of my dirt-infused heritage.
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God has blatantly challenged me to walk into all that he has ordained for me regarding my ministerial charge.
I have been charged to reach out to those who have been deceived by false religion, those who have been disfellowshipped and shunned.
Those of you who follow me know I don’t do ministry seeking any accolades, followers, money or fame. I am not looking to live off the ministry God has called me to walk in. God got me.
I have seen several post online where people have been raked over the coals by false doctrine, cults and dysfunctional religions. And because of how they have been treated in the name of God, they have turned their back on God, and denounced their belief in Him or their ability to trust Him
This is my public service announcement, God is still God, He is still the creator of all things, he is still the Alpha and Omega, he still loves you and the truth is He created you with purpose.
The greatest gift God gave to man also proves to be the biggest detriment to man and that is free will. Some use their free will to deceive others and others use their free will to put their trust in man instead of God.......
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Jesus turns to Mary and says “Where have you laid him”. Mary and Martha, along with those who were there to console them led Jesus to the tomb
Jesus said “Roll away the stone”
It is imperative that you understand that in the Jewish culture at that time, they did not embalm the body of the dead, they would put aromatic spice in the layers and folds of the cloth used to wrap the body.
But as you can imagine over time even the aromatic spices no long would hold back the stench of a dead body. As a matter of fact, Marther said to Jesus, “Lord by this time there is a stench for he has been dead 4 days”.
Jesus’ response to her was a faith-provoking question, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God”.
What Jesus was essentially saying is your faith has to be able to endure and believe God is able to get past the stinky stuff.
We have to be willing to deal with and get past the stinky stuff in our lives so that the glory of God can be manifested fully.
Now I am not talking about just the stinky stuff that people have done or said to you. I AM TALKING ABOUT the stinky stuff concerning how you have chosen to deal with failure and disappointment. I AM TALKING ABOUT dealing with your own stinky stuff, your ungodly attitude, bitterness, your true intentions, and your disregard concerning the wills and ways of God.
All the stinky stuff that we tend to cover up with aromatic spices, with excuses, with blame. To get to the resurrection of some things in our lives, we are going to have to roll back the stones. You know that tough persona we have created, that wall of protection, the wall of sarcasm, that wall of pride, jealousy, resentment, and unforgiveness. We have to roll back the stones and really deal with all the stinky stuff.
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Our human minds have been tainted with predispositions concerning age. We are quick to assume someone is too young for this or too old for that.
Our Bibles tend to tell a different story. Our Bibles provide us with insight that proclaims loud and clear that AGE IS NOTHING BUT A NUMBER.
We tend to boast the ages in the middle of what we gauge as young and old as being the best years of our lives. Now, if we were honest with ourselves that middle age span is where we make the biggest mistakes and exalt the most sins against God.
Come on you know in our 20s we are like teenagers on steroids, in our 30s the concept of complete freedom from parental guidance has us in such a foolish state of mind that our mistakes and sins are made solely from nurturing an attitude of arrogance
And then in our 40s our priorities begin to shift, but our new refined character tends to also boast a tint of self-centeredness birthed out of disappointments and life’s hiccups, making us boldly announcing with a shade of entitlement, I’m just going to do me.
As we approach 50 and settle into our 60s and 70s - wisdom, balance, and the residue of many life lessons began to guide and guard us.
But the problem with this is oftentimes at this age, we allow what we have lived through to guide and guard us too much as we begin discounting possibilities and counting down our days left as opposed to God's “purposed” plan being still in effect.
The lifeline I have just journeyed through with you is indicative of a journey of mindsets that are absent of or sometimes inconsistent concerning one’s commitment to God.
Have no fear we have all been inconsistent in our faith walk at one time or another. We all have had to revamp, recalculate, realign, and reset at various points in life.
The first lesson of maturity we will learn today is that a mature mind seeks the heart and Word of God. And in doing so, we come to realize and admit we are out of alignment and then we inhale Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”
The one thing we know is the absolute truth about our youth is that it is a time when we tend to be more fearless than we will ever be in our life. Why? Because….
The young think outside of boundaries. The young have a grand imagination and an attitude that says they are unstoppable, invincible.
The sad commentary is the older we get the more we look a the characteristic of the young and discount them as silly, foolish, and immature.
But let’s hear the words of scripture In Matthew 18:1-5 Jesus says “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
God looks at the characteristics of the young and He desires us to have and maintain these characteristics.
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No one could see what Tim saw in that old house. They saw brokenness; he saw potential. They saw chipped paint, falling gutters, and a leaky roof–not to mention dirt everywhere and enough cobwebs to catch an ant farm. He saw the builder’s original intent–and what that house could one day be.
Others couldn’t understand why Tim worked hour after hour, nailing in broken pieces, sanding down the chipped paint. His hands often got splinters or ached from his labors, but he didn’t stop. He spent lots of money, but he didn’t care. He saw not what was, but what would be–and that house had been made to shine.
You see, Tim knew something the others didn’t. He knew what the house had been built to be…because he’d built it. A terrible disaster had destroyed the home many years back, but Tim wouldn’t give up on that old house.
It took years–one could even say a lifetime–but one-day others saw it too. No one could recognize the elegant mansion the once-forsaken home.
1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
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How many of you, know what it is like to get caught up in an unsavory relationship because the foundation of that relationship was built on a foundation of how someone made you feel and how you made them feel rather than who they were and who you are at your core. This is an example of a relationship based on superficial mutual selfishness.
The thing about the human species is that we are creatures of habit, which is why we have all been guilty of professing our belief and love in God the same way, based on how God makes us feel and what He has done for us rather than who He is at His core.
Thank God, He doesn’t define His love for us based on how we make Him feel or how often we make Him smile or feel good enough to brag about us.
Think about this for a moment God has viewed the videotape of all our lives, He know every decision we will make in life, every mistake, every time we will be presented with the opportunity to present the Gospel and don’t and with all that in-depth information He knows about us, He still loves us.
See God’s love for us is unconditional. God is selfless with His love. Can we be honest for a moment, if God were to base His love for us solely on what we do for Him, in His name, imagine how shattered His love for us would be.
True love has no contingencies. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Now I am not saying nor is the scripture indicating that true love should be acceptant of disrespect, verbal or physical abuse, violations of vows, or anything that degrades or compromises one’s integrity or God-ordained purpose.
Romans 12:9-10 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves”
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I am sorry you may have been deceived. If any of you were told that giving your life to Christ makes your life easier, you were deceived
You thought by giving your life to Christ everything you now asked God for was going to begin falling from the sky, you were deceived.
I am sorry if you accepted Christ thinking you would never shed another tear, never have your heart broken, never be angry, or never be tempted by sin again.
Is giving your life to Christ, Fulfilling, yes! Joyful, absolutely!
But easier? Absolutely not. In some ways, life gets more difficult after we come to Christ. The struggle against sin, laziness, gluttony, swearing, anger, envy, self-centeredness, materialism, covetousness, and sexual sin seems never-ending.
The world, the flesh, and the devil don’t go away because we have stepped into a relationship with Christ.
Accepting Christ as Savior means we receive instant justification before God, but not the world. Romans 10:10 “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved”. Accepting Christ as our Savior gives us divine and legal rights and privileges as sons or daughters of God, Romans 8:17 tells us we are joint heirs with Christ.
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Have you ever thought about how obvious it is how into measurements God really is? The entire chapter of Ezekiel 40 focuses on measurements. We see in the scriptures when Noah was building the ark, the specific measurement and materials details.
In Zechariah 4:10 God measures and makes reference to small things vs big things as the scripture read, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin”
For the truth is no one who understands God, His capabilities, power, and plan look down on small things, for the same understanding of God recognizes that small things come before the big things. Perfect example; regardless of the size or age of a tree it started with a seed.
When we measure a thing or compare size, we use a fixed proportion as the standard. Measuring is judging or basing something against a standard, to see how accommodating something will be for the space, or in its ability to meet the desired goal.
God’s display and usage of measurement show us that He is not only divine but detail-orientated, the measurement of standards matters to Him. Measurements are used to create patterns and templates.
Judgment Day is all about the measure of a person’s ability to comply with the pattern and templates outlined by God, and it's according to their patterns and templates that will determine if one's measurements are fit for the Kingdom of God.
God looks at and considers the details of measurements and our hearts.
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When God shows up and answers our prayer, we should be prompted to shift our lifestyle so that we do not repeatedly fall into the same situations. However, what we tend to do once our prayers are answered we get comfortable and go back to business as usual
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Imagination, what a beautiful ability God has gifted our minds with. Think about it every invention, every business idea, every self-made millionaire, and every impactful charity, or ministry all started with the imagination of someone.
Ultimately, imagination influences everything we do regardless of our profession or level of education. Imagination is the key to innovation, it is the key to our successes and the lack of imagination is oftentimes the reason for our failures.
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” It is faith that calls us to imagine.
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Did you know there is no explicit difference between happiness and joy?
Both involve emotions, both are pleasurable feelings, and both are mentioned in Scripture in passages that equate the two.
A dictionary definition of happiness is “a state of well-being; a pleasurable or satisfying experience.” And the definition of the word joy is “to feel great delight; to be glad.”
Now depending on the translation, the Bible uses the words happy and happiness about 30 times, while joy and rejoice to appear over 300 times.
Jeremiah 31:13 says, “I will turn their mourning into gladness; / I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.”
Here, the words gladness and joy are used synonymously.
And Proverbs 23:25 says, “Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.”
Being glad is the same thing as rejoicing in this verse, showing us that joy and happiness are linked.
The common belief among some believers is that there is a difference between joy and happiness. Some choose to believe that Happiness is worldly, but joy is divine.
You know, sometimes we as believers want to be more intense than God and deeper than Jesus, according to scripture there is no such distinction made between happiness and joy. If a person is joyful, then he or she is happy. We cannot drain the joy of emotion and still call it “joy.”
Yes, the spirit of God gives us joy, so Christians should be cheerful people, joyful; happiness should characterize our everyday lives.
James 1:2 says, “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials.” Christians, believers, and those who believe and trust God can be happy, even in the midst of difficulties, because we know “the testing of our faith produces endurance.
Joy is sometimes also presented as “true” contentment based on faith. Happiness, in contrast, is often thought of as a “false” or “superficial” emotion dependent on circumstances. This too is a false dichotomy. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests we separate joy from happiness. The two are equal. So go ahead be happy! It's God approved.
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This morning I want to help some of you who may be struggling with understanding the importance of Jesus and also help others be able to better explain who Jesus was and why it is so important that our faith rest in Him.
John 1: contains two of the most important verses in the Bible, as these verses give insight into the depth of God’s love for us, access to salvation, and the core of the strength of our faith.
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I want to tell you this morning that God is calling us to put our lives on ICE for the sake of His Kingdom. I am talking about integrity, commitment, and execution. All three of these characteristics hinge on the element of truth and how one handles and prioritizes truth in their life.
ICE is often times used as a preservative, keeping things from spoiling in the heat. And if truth be told, we live in a culture, where it's getting pretty hot. Hot with things that violate the mandate and the principles of God, and if we are not willing to put lives on ICE, we will become spoiled, tainted, and compromised by the heat.
See the heat I am talking about is the heat that comes from complacency with sin, the heat that causes us to discount the truth and authenticity of the Bible, the heat that causes us to proclaim to be children of God, the heat I am talking about creates a boiling over of greed, jealousy, covetousness, and addictions.
The heat I am talking about keeps selfishness, anger, hatred, jealousy, racism, and sexism simmering.
To be spoiled by these heat-generating behaviors, actions, and reactions, distance us from God and will disqualify us from entering the Kingdom of God.
If you understand and see this heatwave, you then understand its time to prepare ourselves to put our lives on ICE for the glory of God, so that we are preserved and the temperature rises all around us.
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You know we all have formulated norms in our lives, specific ways we do things, and we’ve gotten comfortable with our norms.
However, the truth is when you want different you have to do be willing to do different. It is said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing things the same way and expecting different results.
Don’t get so consumed with life’s patterns, your own norms, your work, or how the world says you should proceed, or when you should proceed, when we become consumed with these things we begin to forget what Jesus looks like.
The scripture tells us none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord, the game changer, the one who is not bound by anything, the one with unlimited power.
When you shift away from the patterns and norms and become open to the instructions of God, Jesus will show up and you’ll know its Him.
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A Damascus Road experience can be different for each of us it is a point where God gets "real" with you and His truth shines so bright in your face like it did Paul that you can’t ignore.
It may be like the young man Casey in the story, God may have to sit you down and get you off to yourself.
The truth is we don’t have to wait for a Damascus Road experience, truth is we don’t know what price we may have to pay to get there. We can just be honest with ourselves and God and pray this prayer.
Lord, I have sinned against you, even been comfortable with sin. But Lord I come before you today, committed to living my life according to your Will and your way. Lord, I ask that you protect me and direct me as I seek to give you glory, with a heart that has been transformed by my sincere desire to please you Amen
Then I suggest you commit to studying the Word of God, pick up your Bible, and don’t start in Genesis, begin with the book of John.
I say start with John because John wrote his Gospel to convince us that Jesus is exactly who He says He is—the Son of God, the promised Rescuer to whom the whole Bible points. The Holy Spirit inspired John to write this book in a way that would lead us to believe in Jesus. John’s ultimate goal is that we would come to know Jesus personally and be reconciled to God through Jesus, that we would experience the life that is truly life.
Hopefully, you can see why this book would be a fantastic place to begin your Bible reading.
Whatever road you are on, whether you are a believer needing to renew your faith and commitment, or whether you never have accepted Christ as your savior, you can have your Damascus Road experience today.
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Why do we allow ourselves to be entertained by what is displeasing to God allowing seeds to be planted that disrupt God’s plans for our lives?
What we look to entertain us is in turn entertaining Satan. Imagine the real reality show he gets to enjoy at our expense.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
This morning I would like to encourage you to be more conscientious of the company you keep, and what you allow to enter the gateways to your heart and mind through what you watch and heart. Let your true reality not be what entertains Satan and displeases God.
In closing, I would like to read:
James 3:17-18
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
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Answering a submitted question about polygamy with scriptures, and an outline of God's purpose for marriage, covenant and leadership.
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1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
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I want to make a public announcement, Juneteenth is not a black holiday, it is a holiday to celebrate the exaltation of humanity, and the victories of freedom.
If we limit the celebration of Juneteenth to just celebrating the freeing of black people from slavery, then only blacks will deem it necessary to acknowledge and or celebrate.
But when we as a nation embrace the exaltation of humanity and begin to calculate the victories realized and utilized by the entire human race through the freeing of slaves, then humbleness, unity, gratefulness, and mutual respect become a possible reality.
Hebrews 3:13 “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Let’s put aside color and race for a moment, whether you are black, white, or brown let’s recognize the fact that because black people in these United States were set free the world now has pacemakers, technology to execute blood transfusions, and we have bared witness to successful neurosurgery on conjoined twins, and beyond… not to mention because blacks were freed, we have seen repeated successful open heart surgeries.
Because a free black man became interested in researching the preservation of blood, we have blood banks and have been able to save millions of lives repeatedly year after year.
It was a free black man who developed what he called the safety hood, which we now refer to as a gas mask, after noticing how many firefighters were being killed by smoke inhalation.
It is because of a free black man that families can keep their grass green while allowing kids to jump around and play in the water in their own yards. What are you talking about pastor, it was a free black man that created the lawn sprinkler system.
And let’s not forget it was the research of a free black woman that led to the development of touch-tone phones, and the fiber optic cables that make phone calls crystal clear.
I could go on and on about the contributions of blacks. I want every human being with blood flowing through their veins and a pumping heart to understand the contributions made by black people because they were free to be educated, free to dream, free to express themselves, and their contributions did not just impact and make lives better for black people, but better for all humanity.
So again I say the celebration of Juneteenth is not just a black holiday.
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Much of Lot’s life is a picture of the consequences, decisions, and dysfunction birthed out of greed and complacency regarding sinfulness. YES, Lot knew God, but he chose to live among people who would lead his family into sin, he knew God, but turned from the will and way of God and settle in the complacency of a sinful atmosphere.
A lesson stems from this question that prayerfully invokes an awakening. When one is content in a lifestyle of sin, not only are they slaves to the sin or sins they have become comfortable in seeing, in being in the midst of, they also become blind, distracted, and so focused on what is irrelevant, so focused on superficial that what is important, what is righteous is no longer part of how anything mentally or spiritually is being processed. That disconnect from God and righteousness also targets and positions us to become involuntarily tools to manipulate, sustain and exalt more sin.
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It is easy for us to impress one another with our rituals and words, but impressing God is not so easy, for He knows our hearts and sees into the depth of our souls. He knows if we have truly embraced the Holy Spirit. And we need to understand that God is more concerned with "after the morning after" than what we do when everyone else is watching. After the hymns stop, after we lead a bible study, and after we're speaking in tongues, how devoted are we to being in a genuine relationship with God and the building of His Kingdom?
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The problem is that the who and what we represent in our daily lives do not sync with our God-ordained purpose.
**We move throughout our lives, barely scraping the surface of our talents and with little focus on fulfilling our God-given life assignment.
We too often look to others to direct our purpose. In turn, we adopt patterns, habits, and norms that steer us to look outside ourselves for consistent approval and establish our identities.**
Material things and money have become what the world has programmed our minds to accept as validation of achievements and, essentially, our own worth.
Why do we, of good intelligence, phenomenal ability, and incredible thought process, allow the names of other people who we don’t know to define and provide any indication of our status, value, or worth?
I was reading Forbes magazine the other day, and it gave the name of the richest man in the world. His name was one no one would readily recognize, but his fortune was built through his company which owns and runs a conglomerate of designer labels. This man has completely built an empire from the imploding identity crisis globally.
Why is it important for some of us to own a Che Che’ Po Po bag costing $3,000?
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Tired, frustrated, and feeling like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. It's time to stand down, pass the baton and let God take it to the finish line.
Col 3, Ez 2, and Psalms 46
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Don't be so quick to pop off, responding to situations, gossip, and so forth like the commoners. Hold your head high and conduct yourself like royalty because your father is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and everything you do, and everything you utter reflects on Him.
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When was the last time God answered your prayers? Regardless of how long ago it was. Regardless of how big or small you deem the prayer request was. The fact that your prayers were answered is your personal evidence that God does answer prayer.
Some of us have been praying awhile for something or about a situation, and it seems God does not hear our prayers.
Let me assure you God hears every prayer. And for every prayer, He answers. We tend to think our prayers are not heard or have gone unanswered because we didn’t get what we asked God for or because things didn’t work out how we imagined they would.
Let me fill you in on a little secret; God is an All-Knowing God who, because of His love for us, covers and protects us even sometimes from ourselves.
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~Noah was a drunk
~ Abraham was too old
~ Isaac was a daydreamer
~ Jacob was a liar
~ Leah was ugly
~ Joseph was abused
~ Moses had a stuttering tongue
~ Gideon was afraid
~ Samson was a womanizer
~ Rahab was a prostitute
~ Jeremiah and Timothy were very young
~ David was an adulterer and a murderer
~ Elijah was suicidal
~ Isaiah preached naked
~ Jonah ran from God
~ Naomi was a widow
~ Job went bankrupt
~ John the Baptist ate bugs
~ Peter denied Christ
~ The disciples fell asleep while praying
~ Martha worried about everything
~ The Samaritan woman was divorced (more than once)
~ Zacchaeus was too small
~ Paul was too religious
~ Timothy had an ulcer
~ Lazarus was dead!
So you see, it doesn’t matter what you look like, your marital status, your weakness, or your circumstances. God says in 2 Corinthians 12:9, NLT My grace is sufficient and that God’s power shows up best in our weakness
1 Peter 4:10, NIV Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms
God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called.
It’s not about our ability; It’s about our availability.
In closing this morning, I would be remiss if I let you dwell in the attitude that this is all about you, be mindful in the same way God can use you; he can and will use others too.
God will use the most unlikely individuals to be a blessing to you. There are some who are equipped and have made themselves available to be used by God to bless you, and they don’t always come wrapped in a perfect package; they may seem like the least likely ones that could be a blessing to you. Treat everyone with the love of Christ. Don’t miss out on your blessing by making assumptions about another.
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Walk obedient to the the word of God, being light in darkness Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:1-2 ESV / 93 helpful votes
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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We honor our mothers, not their perfections but their imperfections as well. For it is because of who our mothers are wholely as women, flaws and all. that have nurtured, steered, and loved us unconditionally.
Happy Mother's Day to all mothers, even those who have mothered children not born from their wombs.
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Every morning we get up, we’re blessed, with every breath we take we’re blessed. And out of love for God and in compliance to His will we need to be more intentional about being a blessing.
Some are so narrow-minded they think to be a blessing to someone means you have to give of your finances and or resources, and there is nothing wrong with that when you are giving because of your love and faith and God there should be nothing that you are comfortable withholding.
But kindness can be a blessing to someone,
A word of biblical wisdom can change a person’s life,
Truth shared in love can turn someone to God,
And sharing of testimony can keep someone from stumbling and falling.
A sincere compliment and soothe one'S insecurities.
A listening ear and sincere concern can boost someone’s confidence
A good morning can shift the atmosphere and tone of someone’s day.
A smile can turn anger into humbleness.
These things are all blessings, blessing that if exalted can in turn bless you.
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Don't miss the beauty and the scenery of the journey God has you on while gazing in your review mirror.
Forget the job you didn't get
Forget the bad business deal
Forget the failed marriage
Forget the relationship you thought was the one
Forget the ugly words someone spewed at you
Forget those who to advantage of you.
There is so much ahead of you. So much more God has in store for you.
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Sometimes, we as believers become so consumed with policing people that we forget our mission is the exalt the word of God and be the example of righteousness. We tend to be more committed to who is right; political party, man, woman, domination, or affiliations based on our personal preference, than we are to the righteousness of God. We have to shift from who is right to what is right according to the Word of God.
There comes a time, likely several times in a believer's life when they have to say "I like their movie, their music, their political goals, and or their personality but according to the word of God, that is not right".
And we must be able to stand on that proclamation while humbling ourselves to God so that we don't stand on righteousness with a spirit of arrogance, or self-righteousness for that in itself is unrighteous.
Being someone's ride or die, sets us up to ride and die, for when we become more loyal to ANYONE than we are to the righteousness of God, we become like a dead man walking, useless to the Kingdom of God.
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Pastor She & The Kingdom of God - Some of you might have read today’s sermon title and pondered whether this message would be edifying to your soul. In short, yes. This message will prove to be edifying to everyone who listens and embraces the word of God, whether male or female.
I was recently asked a question concerning female pastors by someone who I love and hold dear to my heart. Someone that I know loves God and studies the Word of God. So my thought was if this person is asking questions about female leadership and its place in the building of the Kingdom of God. I am sure many are a little puzzled or confused, even if they haven’t taken to time to ponder over the issue long enough to formulate some questions.
My ministerial goal is to always focus on Biblical truth regarding spiritual revelation as it is revealed and documented in biblical accounts of historical events. Many only think of the Bible as only being useful spiritually. But that is detached and inconsistent with God's plan and purpose.
The Bible itself teaches us first natural, then spiritual. 1 Cor 15:46 reads, “The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.”
When we think about it and examine the truth of this scripture, we can better understand why Jesus spoke in parables. His parables sought to use the natural to establish in our hearts a natural connection to the truth of the spiritual.
As we move forward into this message, I want to offer a disclaimer, y’all ready. Ok, here we go; Common sense is one of the greatest assets God has given us. Common sense repeatedly validates God’s purpose and will for humanity.
God’s desire is not for us to set aside “common sense”, then pick up the Bible and read it as a guide to the do’s and don’ts of life.
A lot of the false doctrines that are being taught are based on the absence of common sense, absent of the very common sense Jesus exalted as He utilized parables.
As we unveil the consistency of God, we are consistently hit with the element of common sense.
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There is a difference between being in a covenant relationship with God and just having an affair with him.
We can be deceived into engaging in just an affair with God. An affair feels good, an affair will stroke our egos and even pacify some insecurities.
But it is a covenant relationship that leads us to trust God despite the trends of the world, despite our title, income, valleys, and victories.
It is in a covenant relationship where we embrace that God loves us totally and completely despite our flaws.
It is in our covenant relationship with God that our praise is not based the material assets he has allotted us access to.
The closest thing we could probably relate to that dictates a bond even close to a covenant relationship with God is marriage.
In a marriage, everyone wants their spouse to be able to look beyond the physical and see who they are at their core.
Spouses desire mutual respect and appreciation for the sacrifices and their participation in the desired goals of their marriage.
The same principles are consistent in our covenant relationship with God.
When was the last time you gave God some praise just for being him? For creating landscapes that are beautiful backdrops for an existence, we have been given free will to construct and contribute to.
When was the last time you gave God some praise for masterfully pulling together the authors of a life manual that addresses everything we could ever face and that transcends time, trends, and opinions?
In a covenant relationship, praise, appreciation, and respect are only of any value if it is selfless.
In Psalms 150, the Bible says let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
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Day in and day out, I hear people talk about their goals, desires, and dreams, which are usually followed by comments of defeat. Things like if I had this, or knew this one, or if I was better at this, or if I could do this then I could…And the kicker statement is… I have been just praying for a miracle, praying God opens some doors or releases his favor on me.
Winners don’t pacify defeat; winners are not just dreamers; winners are more than talk. Winners are doers. A winning athlete understands the hard work it takes to secure a win and the determination and focus required to be declared a champion.
Ecclesiastes 5:33 A dream comes with much business and a fool's voice with many words. In other words, stop talking about your dreams and complaining about your inability to fulfill them. Fulfilled dreams require that you be about your business, begin working on them, make the sacrifices, and elevate your level of determination.
I talk to people every day who have dreams of owning their own business, but they profess to need more start-up capital to move forward. And guess what? They live and embrace that excuse, and guess what? They will likely die never owning that business and fulfilling their dream. Why? Because they accepted defeat.
Sometimes our biggest enemy is our dreams. Why do I say that? Because we have envisioned exactly how we think everything should play out. We envision success but never plug in the plan for obstacles, never pull in the plan that includes the what if and the stumbling blocks. And because we dream big, we think we have to have all the finances intact, and we don’t put enough thought into downsizing our dream to get it off the ground.
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Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are glorious celebrations; it is a time when we are intentional about paying homage to the sacrifice that Jesus made and what it meant to humanity.
As awesome, miraculous, and life-changing as the resurrection of “Jesus, the Christ” was and is, there is much more Christians need to understand to be more effective in our witness.
Because what good is our faith if we can’t effectively minister to an unbeliever?
Consider today's message a training session for the evangelism you, as a believer, are charged to embrace. If you are a skeptic or unbeliever, adjust your headset, as we may answer some of your questions today.
Resurrection 101 calls for us to understand and embrace all that occurred between the cross and the resurrection and the significance of it all collectively.
To properly address what happened after Christ’s resurrection, we must look closely at what happened within those last 3 hours of Jesus on the cross before His physical body died and was placed in the tomb.
First, let’s not ignore that the most crucial times of Him on that cross were the last 3 hours. Three, which biblically is always the divine stamp of wholeness, completeness, and perfection.
I want to take the time to embellish on the 3 hours because depending on what biblical translation you read of Matthew 27, verses 45 and 46, you may find different wording, but all mark the time as 3 hours being lapsed.
Some translations read Matthew 27:45-46 as “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out loudly, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
While other translations may read Matthew 27: 45 reads, “From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out loudly, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”.
In our humanity and adoption of religious mindsets, sometimes we allow ourselves to become so distracted by how things are perceived in today’s culture that we lend no consideration or homage to the cultures that precede us.
We often unconsciously, thanks to our humanistic character, want to find a way to discount the Bible or find some justification that would leave just a little doubt as to if EVERY word of the Bible is true.
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Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by my name, I created for my glory
Life busies itself all around us. The very atmosphere of the world in which we live is filled with distraction, demand after demand, and noise that goes beyond what we can hear but what convolutes the essence of our existence.
To embrace that we were created for God’s glory and govern our lives according to requires discipline, intentional effort, and a sincere relationship with God.
Think about it for a moment; I mean, really think about it. If we were created to give God glory, then whatever we declare as our purpose as our life’s goals should give God glory.
We tend to look out for what is good for us. What feels good to us, what magnifies us, what we can get compensated for. And all of that is fine because although we serve a jealous God, he is not a selfish God.
What do you mean, Pastor? God’s jealousy rises when we put anything before Him, when other things become our priority when we essentially forget the truth that we were created for Him. However, at the same time, God is not selfish; he wants us to enjoy life, have the best experience, and indulge in laughter and fun.
Where we fall off the rails is we buy into what Satan offers as we think to win at life, someone has to lose, so we operate from a self-centered perspective. We tend to think to have the best is only worth it when we have more than those who have the least, and what we have adopted as the principles for our laughter and fun tends to align more with the standards set by the world than those set by God.
It does not give God glory when we are entertained by arrogance, blasphemy, anger, disputes, and disrespecting another person. It does not give God glory when we would rather boast division if it deems to get us what we want. It does not give God glory when we seek positions of hierarchy to control and manipulate. It does not give God glory when we put more value on the making of dollars than the saving of our souls.
In John 17:4, Jesus is talking to God, and Hw utters these words, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.”
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This morning I want to talk to you about “Detaching the Cross From Religion.” You may think, “Hmm, that is an unusual topic for Resurrection Sunday.” Give me a few moments, and you will better understand why it is the perfect sermon for Resurrection Sunday.
I never understood the surprise of the people when they found an empty tomb; Jesus prepared them for His resurrection during His life as He raised Lazarus from the dead.
My thought would have been, “OK, Lazarus was dead, laid dead for four days, and all Jesus did was call His name, and he was resurrected, so my thought would have been just maybe Jesus will resurrect himself in three days; that would have been my thought…. Just based on common sense alone.
But the religious leaders were so stuck on what they imagined the Messiah to be, to look like, to act, and even to come from; they refused to put aside the religious beliefs they had concocted in their minds, despite the foretold prophecies Jesus had been fulfilling since His miraculous birth.
Despite bearing witness to Jesus calming the storms, defying mathematical principles while feeding 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread.
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Matthew 27
The Crucifixion of Jesus
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him
The Burial of Jesus
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 58 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
65 “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
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We are still exalting Passion Week, aka Holy Week, and today is Passion Thursday, also known as Maundy Thursday. Maundy Thursday is the name given to the day Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, known as the Last Supper. Two important events are the focus of Maundy Thursday.
The word Maundy is derived from the Latin word for “command.” The “Maundy” in “Maundy Thursday” refers to the command Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should love and serve one another.
The Last Supper is what we call the last meal Jesus ate with His disciples before His betrayal and arrest. The Last Supper is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:17–30; Mark 14:12–26; Luke 22:7–30). It was more than Jesus’ last meal; it was also a Passover meal. One of the important moments of the Last Supper is Jesus’ command to remember what He was about to do on behalf of all mankind: shed His blood on the cross, thereby paying the debt of our sins (Luke 22:19).
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It's Passion Wednesday. Today we commemorate the anointing of Jesus' feet and the betrayal of Judas.
The anointing of Jesus was an act of worship, God deserves our worship. He doesn’t hold back from us and we should not hold back from Him, we should be willing to worship and exalt God at all costs.
So, like Mary in this story, we should give our wholehearted devotion to God. Jesus reveals in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment of all is to, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’” Love is more than an emotion; it’s an action.
Judas’s story contains another important lesson for parents, leaders, and friends who grieve over someone they love who has abandoned the faith. They worry:
- Where did we go wrong?
- What more could we have done?
- Did we fail in our teaching?
- Did we fail in our example?
- Should we have immersed our son or daughter or friend in a different environment?
But Judas teaches us that even the best example, the most compelling evidence, and the finest teaching—the ultimate environment for incubating faith—cannot, in and of themselves, change the human heart.
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When someone is dying, and they know their days are numbered, their words, the last things they choose to speak, the last wisdom they are intentional about sharing, their loved ones deem their words as priceless.
I had the pleasure of experiencing that when my dad passed, and in the midst of his talking, it dawned on me, “you should be recording this,” so I did. I am so glad the last words and the last things Jesus’ was intentional about doing and saying on His way to the cross were recorded and that we all have access to the priceless gem of the words and teachings of Jesus.
The first of the four parables Jesus was intentional about conveying is in Matthew 24:45-51, and it reads.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The lesson of this parable is about accountability and how we as servants will have to give an account to our master for how we conducted our lives here on earth. We like to proclaim that we are independent and don’t have to report to anyone. I told you all a while ago that independence is an illusion, and is never mentioned in the Bible.
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Passion Week, aka Holy Week, is about commemorating and acknowledging what Jesus did and deemed important enough to address before making the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
Holy Monday is the day Jesus cleansed the temple, was praised by local children, and cursed the fig tree (Matthew 21:12–22).
First, I want to set the scene for you. Although the people were praising Jesus, most did not believe he was the Messiah. However, they were willing to honor, worship and give praise to one they thought could meet their need.
The honor and praise they gave Jesus was similar to the honor and praise people today give psychics, celebrities, and those with wealth, with no foundation of godliness in their actions or intentions.
Matthew 21:12-13 scripture tells us. “Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.’”
We pay homage to Jesus for setting the standard against people using what should be sacred as a marketplace for profit, which deters believers from their mandate to give tithes and offerings, which in turn robs the people of God from the full release of the blessings of God in their lives.
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Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, it's when the people laid down palms and branches in front of Jesus as a sign of honor.
The big question I have for you all today is, as the people chose to honor Jesus with such grandeur and praise ritualistically, how sincere were their hearts?
In Luke 19:41-42 the scriptures tell us that as Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, and HE WEPT over it and said, “if you, even you, only know on this day what would bring you peace, but it is hidden from your eyes”.
What I want to say to you this morning is don’t get so caught up in the physical exaltation of praise and the grandeur that comes with a celebration that you forget who Jesus was, His message, and what His sacrifice meant not just to the body of Christ but to you individually, to what God created for you to fulfill.
Like the people welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem, if we get caught up in the physical, in only what is seen with our eyes, we cheat our hearts and discount our souls, and then find ourselves living lives as hypocrites while declaring to serve God and love Jesus.
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You know, in everyone’s life, there comes a time when you will have to slay a giant and sometimes several giants and different times in your life.
I want to talk to you about being victorious over the giants in your life. Many of you know the story of David and Goliath, but there are some details I want to elaborate on that are often missed. Very important information and lessons to be equipped when slaying giants.
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Initially, this message was to address just the importance of walking in the truth. We serve an all-knowing God and He knows there is someone who needs to hear the “love” component side of truth as well.
My mother used to say, “it's your lil red wagon; you can pull it or push it.” This was her way of telling someone that how they utilize their free will in making decisions and choices for their life comes with the weight of accountability.
The real truth about truth is it weighs much less than lies. Lies get heavier and heavier because to sustain one lie; it will oftentimes require that another lie, and then another, be added to the equation. And before we know it, we have a wagon filled with bricks of lies, and we’re trying to pull it up a dirt road.
Some of us must accept the truth about some of the people we engage with daily, even those to whom we have attached our souls.
Then some of us must also deal with the truth about ourselves, our faults, our abilities, and our inabilities.
And we all need to set the standard concerning every aspect of our lives based on God’s truth.
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This morning I want to talk to you about self-love. Believers have been tricked into believing self-love is selfish and nothing can be further from the truth.
The truth is THE WORLD has warped every perception of the definition of love.
We think that to love God just simply means to believe he exists and be nice to others.
We think loving our family and others means we have to give of ourselves til we are drained physically, emotionally, and financially.
And finally, we believe anyone bold enough to proclaim self-love only loves themselves.
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"Fruitfulness", has nothing to do with the number of children you have or the size of your bank account, nor how many people like you. None of that impresses God. Fruitfulness has to do with the quality of one's life as it aligns with the will and plan of God.
We ought to strive for fruitfulness to be our primary goal, making sure that the fruit of the spirit of Christ is the core ingredient in our spiritual diet, what we feed to and breed from our soul.
You know, those who are successful with dieting are usually successful because they find healthier more nutritional options to replace foods that have no nutritional value.
We must do the same thing with our spiritual diets
Replace selfishness with love
Replace grumbling with joy
Replace gossip with a spirit of peace
Replace anxiousness with patience
Replace greed with kindness
Replace wickedness with goodness
Replace ungodliness with faithfulness to God
Replace arrogance with gentleness
Replace promiscuity with self-control.
I feel the need to close with John 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me? “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.
I ENCOURAGE EACH OF YOU THIS MORNING TO STRENGTHEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THROUGH HIS "WORD" SO THAT BEARING OF FRUIT IS A CONSTANT IN YOUR LIFE.
There are many who dispute the reality of “hell”, even some Christian denominations and other religions who denounce “hell” proclaiming, “a loving God would never send us to hell”. And they are absolutely right. God wouldn’t and He doesn’t, Jesus the flesh of God was sacrificed for the sole purpose of us having access to salvation.
The price Jesus paid on the cross bought a ticket into heaven and the ticket remains at the “will call” window, awaiting each of us to pick it up. But some of us choose not to pick up the ticket that has been paid for, choosing to attempt to explore a different journey into eternity.
Where the problem arises is that any different route, any different ticket other than the one Jesus paid for is a one-way ticket in the opposite direction of the Kingdom of Heaven. So “no God doesn’t send anyone to hell, every occupant in hell will have arrived there based on their own decisions, not God’s.
GOD’s desire is not for anyone to suffer the eternal torment of hell (Jeremiah 29:11). GOD doesn’t send people to hell, people purchase their own tickets, with currency entitled, “disobedience”. Submission to the will and ways of GOD is an insurance policy protecting us from eternal torment.
The worst case scenario is if Christianity is wrong, the only thing anyone will have lost was a life absent of being conformed to the ways of the world. But if Christianity, heaven, and hell are true, one will lose everything including their soul.
You know the perfect metaphor for “Christian life” is the enlisting of one in the army. Upon enlistment, the soldier immediately surrenders control of his or her life. Where the enlistee lives, when he or she moves, what clothing they wear, how they behave, and what he or she will do, are all given over to the commanding officers to decide.
Being a Christian requires the same level of surrender. And the surrender is voluntary because no one is ever drafted, as a soldier in God’s army service is always voluntary. However, the term of service is not limited to 4 years, 10, or 20 years, it is a lifetime commitment. Without surrendering a soldier is not useful to the army and a Christian is not useful to God.
We tend to not totally surrender our lives to Christ because we don’t want to sacrifice our civilian pursuits, you know the things we possess, the habits we have acquired, or the attitudes we have come to live by.
2 Timothy 2:4 tells us “ No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him”.
We insist on doing things our way while enlisted in God’s army which is equivalent to insubordination, in the actual military penalties could include: dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and/or. confinement of up to 3 years, but because of God’s grace and mercy we have not suffered any penalties. He won’t discharge us, as he promises to never leave or forsake us, he continues to provide for us and does not restrict or revoke our free will with any confinement.
The world in which we live presents many civilian attributes to pursue, and please know God has no problem with us having stuff, even position and titles. What He, our commander and chief has a problem with is when we allow stuff, positions, and titles to determine, “righteousness”.
There is no righteousness outside of the will and ways of God. Contrary to popular belief, any valued truth is godly, for God is truth as His word proclaims, I am the truth and the life.
The first command in God’s army is in Matthew 6:33 which reads, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness. I encourage you to take inventory of what you pursue, what you value, and where your faith lies and then fall in line as a soldier.
Know and understand that just because we ask over and over for a thing and finally, God allows us to have it. It's not necessarily a blessing from God.
God will extend His permissive will when we bask outside of alignment with Him and when we lose faith and patience waiting on the manifestation of His perfect will.
God’s permissive will is often perceived as a win because one gets what they desired, but only in God’s perfect will is their true victory. Conquerors don’t settle they only pursue God’s perfect will
The people of Israel thought they had won, and received a blessing from God when Saul became their King because their wish was granted. And I say wish granted as opposed to prayers answers because prayers reverence the will and ways of God.
“Winning” is just a temporary fix to a challenge and repetitive wins of the same challenge are what is required to maintain the status of winner, while “conquering” is one and done.
You may face challenge after challenge, but when you “conqueror” something, you don’t keep competing at the same level or playing the same game.
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We have to be careful not to resist change. Resistance to change is known to invoke negativity. Those who refuse to accept change will find themselves in a state of depression, rebellion, and dealing with insecurities, bouts of jealousy, resentment, anger, and even rage.
No one is exempt from the continuous pattern of change, everyone has either just endured significant change, currently dealing with change, or is about to enter into a season of change.
Going against change is equivalent to trying to go “DOWN” an “UP” escalator. It can be done but it's exhausting and will never get to the greater awaiting on the next level of your life.
The only thing we can be assured that never changes is God and His Word. In the midst of change, whatever the change, be it good or bad, happy or sad, immediate or slow, our only true navigating source is God who is unchanging.
The only consistency we should long for is a love for Him and our faith in His Word. One of the hardest scriptures to accept regardless of what life brings is Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”
\It’s through change that we receive salvation, revelation, experience growth, obtain wisdom, and can truly embrace the awesomeness of God
I used to hear my grandmother and her friends refer to something or someone who changes like the weather”. There is so much depth in that old saying because change like the weather can bring storms and sunshine.
We have seen that weather can bring tragedies and even take lives, but the weather is also the reason why we have the beautiful gift of seeing a rainbow and flowers bloom.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Life is a compilation of changes, reactions, choices, and decisions. CHANGE… expect it, embrace it and find excitement in it.
We are in a unique political climate. Never before has this nation seen such a divide and such discord amongst our leaders. And with this mantle of ministry on me, I would be remiss if I didn’t address what is on the minds of so many right now, as the Word of God is our life manual meant to be the staple that guides us through the most difficult challenges and issues in our lives.
Let me make this very clear this morning; Democrats are not perfect, and Republicans are not perfect. And please note there are just as many Christian Democrats as there are Christian Republicans and true Christians don’t have to continuously make a public announcement, there are so many hypocrites and false prophets, the Bible tells us “you will know them by their fruit”.
It’s a person's fruit that determines their walk with God, not their proclamation. We are to follow the example of Christ who looked at the heart of a person and had compassion for the people.
Romans 14 tells us that we will have to stand before God and give an account. Don’t just vote but cast a ballot that is pleasing God.
You know sometimes life comes at us fast and hard. It seems like as soon as we settle one issue another arises. And in the midst of our personal lives, world issues seem to cause us additional stress. We find ourselves constantly looking for blessings from God, some form of relief, a restart, or a new path.
What I am here to tell you is that the secret to being blessed is hidden in your desire to be a blessing. I know you are saying, I don’t have anything to give anyone to be a blessing to them. For a moment I want you to set aside what the world has us programmed to view blessings as.
Your attitude can be a blessing, your act of forgiveness is a blessing, your words of encouragement are a blessing, and when you invest quality time in helping someone reach their goals that is a blessing.
God really has no reason to bless us if our lives don't magnify His glory. God is not into pacifying and gratifying what only pleases us as individuals.
In Hebrews 13:2 the scripture tells us “not to forget to show hospitality to strangers for by doing so some have shown hospitality to angel without knowing it”
An anonymous writer once wrote Where there is righteousness in the heart there is beauty in the character. And where there is beauty in the character there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home there is order in a nation
(Eph. 5:19) tells us in no uncertain terms how we should live as it read “making melody in your heart to the Lord”. In the midst of the craziness in this world, check your response, check what you initiate and participate in and ask God to show you what is not creating a melody that is pleasing to him.
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We struggle with giving anyone that measure of control over our lives even God. When we say Lord, order my step that is complete submission to the will and ways of God, even when you can’t see the road ahead, he has you traveling on.
The lyrics to the song say, “lead me guide, every day, teach me, and while you are working help me be still. Oftentimes, we know God is working but we are inclined to want Him to hurry up and we see what we think is a much easier path.
When then become tempted to start meddling in God’s business, disrupting His plan as if we could honestly know better than him. Some of you listening to me right now, need to shout right now, Lord while you are working help me be still.
Psalm 46:10 tell us to be still and know that I am God
Sincere faith in God trust that regardless of what it looks like God is working it all out for our good. Sincere faith in God has made peace with the 23rd Psalm which declares the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Don’t let your faith in God become waivered and disrupt His green pastures or cause wave in the waters he has called to be still.
God hears our prayers. We tend to think our prayers are going unanswered when God didn’t grant our wish, our way. The truth is every prayer you ever uttered has been answered. Always be mindful that God doesn’t grant wishes, His priority is the building of His Kingdom, so each and every request that comes before Him, it’s not that He doesn't want us to have the desires of our hearts, He needs to be able to see how our request fit into His Kingdom plans.
So some prayers are answered with a yes, with a no, with a wait, or with a not now, but they are all answered. The best way for our prayers to be manifested requires us to align our desires and our ways with His will and His Word.
The spouse you have been praying for, how will your marriage magnify the Kingdom of God?
The job you have been praying for how will that job and or your income magnify the Kingdom of God?
How will the house you have been praying about magnify the Kingdom of God?
God heard your prayer. I want to close with Matthew 6:33 which read seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
You know we all have experienced progressive loss or growth at some point in our lives, and sometimes change is hard to deal with or difficult to become acclimated to.
But it is the situations that come and disrupt our lives in an instant, be they good or bad that throw us for a loop, baffles our minds, and oftentimes leave us absolutely speechless.
Life is a compilation of our choices and decisions, but we have no control over the changes that come, when they come, or the impact they will have.
Truth is our plans can derail, the trust we had in certain resources can fail or prove faulty, in an instant friendships and loyalties can shift and be redefined, and in an instant, our health can be lost.
On the flip side in an instant, we can experience unexpected elevations, as well as, an outpouring of blessing. Also in an instant, healing can take place.
Change, be it progressive or instantaneous, will test our faith and show in whom or where our faith lies.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven. Change is as consistent as the seasons. The question today is are you able to stand in the midst of change?
When we make a conscious decision to not be around someone because of their lifestyle, behavior, or habits, that is not “judging”, that is discernment which is rooted in wisdom. Which is supported by 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.
Discernment brings clarity, and true perception, whereas judgment, is done to soothe egos and make comparisons that feed on negative perceptions and outcomes.
This morning I am being led by the Holy Spirit to pray for our nation, A nation that has been divided for too long, a nation about to enter into another political climate unchanged, an unrepentant.
A nation that according to the Word of God is destined for desolation because of the magnitude of the division.
We have become more committed to political agendas than to the Word and Ways of God.
My prayer this morning is that God would help us, and deliver us for we have gone so far as to redefine what it is to be Christian based on political and personal agendas that want to exalt the Word of God, without the spirit of God.
Lord, rejuvenate the hearts and souls of true believers, standing committed to God while understanding, embracing, and serving You in Spirit and Truth.
Conversations in this country lean more toward whether one is a democrat or republican than toward the well-being of the lives and souls of our citizens........
Pastor Deb answers questions, from the Word of God, in an interview concerning the issues of our times. This interview will give insight, provide revelation and prayerfully ignite a fire in each believer to pick up the mantle of dominion.
When we talk about Mary we pay homage to the woman who gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who came as the Messiah to extend to us access to salvation.
What we often take for granted is who Mary was as a believer and the evidence of who Mary was as a woman of God before becoming pregnant.
Mary was committed and faithful to God and it showed apparent as the angel declared that God had blessed her.
But the scripture said Mary was startled, even a little afraid by the presence of the angel.
I imagine Mary to be a woman who knew scripture so she knew the story of an angel coming to Lot to forewarn him to leave the city before God annihilated it. She likely also knew the story of the angel coming to Daniel with an answer from God concerning his prayers.
But the angel took the time to reiterate that God had shown her grace, assuring her that his presence was nothing for her to be afraid of.
As the angel told her about the will and plans of God. Mary was inquisitive when she was told how she would be used to bring forth the son of God, she had no doubt this was a God thing and she was fully engaged and onboard.
Despite, the rough road she knew she would have to bear, despite the oncoming discomfort, inconveniences, and ridicule she would face, Mary still chose to proclaim that she was up for the challenge of God using Her for His glory
Let’s also be mindful that pregnancy in those days was not the easiest thing to bear. Women just imagine the painstaking chores women endured which required incredible physical demands, in high temperatures.
Remember there was no air conditioning, no comfortable mattress to give a woman’s back relief, not even gel insoles to soothe their feet.
Then to add insult to injury, imagine a time when having a child outside of marriage was not popular, as a matter of fact, it was considered disgraceful and immoral, a woman who found herself in such a state was referred to as a lot of non-Sunday school words if you know what I mean.
Notice in the opening passage of the story the angel says, “Greetings! The Lord has blessed you and is with you.” The angel proclamation indicated that at the time he came to her God had already blessed her, because God knew Mary’s heart.
And although Mary had the free will to deny to be used by God. God knew her character and her level of commitment, just like he knew Job’s heart.
And because of what He had already observed concerning her, He blessed her. In all honesty, she could have just dwelled in that blessed state and not taken on all the ridicule, gossip, and ugliness that would come with walking out the will of God.
But imagine Mary knowing all of this was ahead of her, not to mention the first point of ridicule would come from the man she loved and was engaged to marry. Mary committed herself to the will and plans of God despite what folks would say, despite what they would think, even if it meant Joseph would walk away. Mary's faithfulness to God became real when she spoke the words “I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!”
Mary like each and every one of us today had access to free will, and the ability to guide her life according to her own will, her own desires, and her own plans, but despite the turbulent path ahead she chose to put the Kingdom of God first.
God brought to my remembrance how I prayed for Him to help me be able to simplify the answer to this teen’s question, and God answered my prayer.
But I didn’t understand why God was bringing this all to my remembrance now. As I traveled over these last few days, I began to understand, because I have been prompted to share this answer at least 6 times with skeptics, even believers, and ministers so they can be equipped to give clarity to one another.
You are probably wondering what the question was. The teen asked me, “how can we be sure that Jesus was God in flesh?”
If truth be told there are those who profess to be Christians, who say they believe, but in their heart of hearts they are not completely convinced and they certainly cannot explain their conviction in a manner that would provide clarity to a skeptic.
After praying for about 3 days asking God to help me provide the clarity this teenager needed to strengthen his faith in Jesus Christ, this is how our conversation went:
Jacob, I think I can give you the clarity you need regarding your question. Do you believe you are created in the image and likeness of God?
He responded, “yes”
My next question was do you believe you are greater than God?
He responded, “absolutely not”
I went on to ask, do you understand that the very essence of your being is composed of mind, spirit, and body?
His response was, “yes”.
I continued, so if you are composed of mind, spirit, and body and you were created in the image of God and you believe that you are NOT greater than God, then He must also at minimum possess the attributes you have.
Do you understand the head of God as it relates to the Holy Spirit which is the spirit of God?
Jacob said, “yes I got that”
So I began to pull it all together for Jacob with these words: Ok if we know God to have a mind and spirit, in order for the truth to be sustainable it has to be consistent. Because an inconsistent truth is a lie. In the consistency of who God is and with us being made in His image, God had to produce a body, a physical manifestation of Himself and that was Jesus Christ.
I explained that the validation of all truth is rooted in consistency. And told him this is why in In John 14:6, Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
When he said I am the way, those words proclaim Him as God, for who can proclaim to be “the way” but God?
When Jesus uttered “and the truth”, he confirmed God’s consistency manifested in Him which confirms, “consistent truth”.
And the words “and the life”, is Jesus further validating who He was by proclaiming to be the source of all life.
It's in our clarity and conviction of who Jesus was that also provided the depth of the significance of Jesus’ resurrection, proving that God reigns over everything including death, which in turn gives us hope that whatever the world throws at us, with the spirit of God dwelling in our hearts we can endure anything, we can rise above anything, even when we’ve been counted out.
I urge everyone under the sound of my voice to Walk in the way of Christ, embracing truth, for it is only through Christ that life can sustain value and purpose.
When you research all other religions, you can compare beliefs traditions, doctrines, the do’s and the don’ts, but Christianity is the one religion that will always weigh a bit different because it upsets all religious apple carts because every aspect of Christianity points to the game-changing component absent from all other religions, and that is Jesus, The Christ.
No other religion has a leader who professes to be the way the truth and the life, no other religious leader has ever proclaimed to be the exclusive means by which one has access to God. Every other religious leader who has died is still laying in their grave, but Jesus Christ, rose from the dead and walked among the living with his resurrections changing the lives of so many to the point they were willing to endure ridicule, pain, suffering, crucifixion, and beheading before denouncing Jesus as the Son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a sinless, life, was crucified, laid in the tomb for three days and rose from the dead.
The significance of proclaiming to be a believer, a Christian is because of who Jesus was and is. It’s because He had no sin nature because He was the living example of righteousness because when He rose from the dead, proved that unrighteousness will not overcome righteousness. When we proclaim to be Christians it's based on our commitment to the Word of God, the purpose of God and the depth of God's love shone through Jesus, collaborative these elements of belief and commitment are the recipe for a religious doctrine that is unprecedented, and unable to be duplicated. Jesus is the game changer that validates, personifies, and seals Christianity.
Although our ex abused us, deceived us, cheated on us, disrespected us, stole from us, and blocked so many blessings from us, we seem to maintain an unexplainable loyalty to him that causes our thinking to stray, our words to go against the Word of God and our actions to degrade your current relationship with Christ.
We say we broke up with our ex but
We still dress to entice him
We still hang out in the places he used to take us, and then we act surprised when he shows ups
The only ones we claim as our closest friends are those who are also close friends with our ex with very few friends who are close to the one you are now in a relationship with.
We claim to love Jesus Christ, to be in a committed relationship with Him, but our ex keeps showing up and we keep letting him in, we keep entertaining him, and our quality time is still being spent with your ex.
We still enjoy the things our ex promotes, and his agendas, instead of spending quality time with Christ and magnifying our relationship with Him.
It’s funny in an everyday relationship scenario, if we were talking to a friend about our their current relationship and their consistent interaction with their EX, we would have no problem telling them “you are going to ruin your current relationship” And we would completely understand if who they were in a current relationship with just broke it off with them.
Oh but or the grace of God. In Joshua 24:19 the scripture tells us God is a jealous God. But although he is not pleased with us still being connected and engaging with our EX, He is not one who will renege on His Word, and He promised to never leave or forsake us.
And because of the depth of his love for us, an untainted pure love, he will make no attempt to force us to engage with or love Him. Because He is the epitome of love, He understands that sincere love cannot be forced. So, He will wait on us to really break it off with our EX and recognize and embrace His love.
Every relationship and every aspect of love hinges on the depth of trust. You can trust but not love, but a sincere love cannot exist without trust
The biggest mistake on our part is we allow our ex to continue to have access to our hearts, our souls, our actions, and reactions. We waste too much time with what does not have the capacity to love, renew, revive, or sanctify.
We allow our ex, remember, as professed believers that is Satan to still have so much access to us, not because we are docile enough to trust him, but because of familiarity.
As we engage and invest in our relationship with Jesus Christ we must remember Proverbs 3:5-7
Trust in the Lord with all thy heart; (if you love Him trust Him and only Him)
and lean not unto thy own understanding (for your own understanding will always find it easier to trust what is familiar).
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (God’s love and intentions are clear, undeniable and because He knows all why would not acknowledge Him).
Be not wise in thy own eyes: reverence the Lord, and depart from evil (means let go completely of your ex, his ways, and his influences).
Let your ex know I am done with you, I am in a new sincere, and loving relationship with Jesus Christ, give me back the keys to my door, and don’t come around here anymore.
Every sermon, every inspirational word, every gospel song, every praise, and every act of worship all hinges on 9 words that are composed of just 34 letters.
These 9 words, these 34 letters have the power to shut down all components of hate, racism, sexism, political rhetoric, hypocrisy, deception, adultery, incest, greed, selfishness, materialism, disrespect, insecurities, poverty and so much more. I can hear some of you thinking, Pastor, spit it out what are these 9 words? I am so glad you asked.....
The Bible Has Always Been In Demand. Regardless of lingering opposition, disregard for scripture, and the lack of commitment to study from even amongst those who profess to be believers, there has always been and is a never-ending demand for the Bible.
Because we measure success and status by numbers, dollars, and cents, let’s review the numbers generated by The Holy Bible. The annual sales figures for the Bible average between $425 million and $650 million, repeatedly, year after year, it consistently dwarfs the sales of all other books. Because the Bible has always consistently been the bestselling book, it is no longer listed on the bestsellers list, as the “bestsellers” list is only interesting if the top spot is up for grabs, so the "real bestseller” has been indefinitely omitted from running.
The Guinness Book of Records reports as of 2021 between 5 and 7 billion Bibles have been printed since 1815. According to Words Rated, an average of 20 million Bibles are sold each year with 1.66 million bibles sold each month. 384,615 bibles sold per week. 54,945 bibles are sold each and every day.
Barna’s research indicates that 92% of American households have at least one Bible and on average each has three. And the very popular YouVersion Bible app has reported over 500 million bibles have been downloaded just on their app since 2016
The Bible continues to embark on annual increasing sales and distribution totals, without any coercion. No government has ever required anyone to buy, own, read or believe in the Bible. Unbelievers are free to disagree with the Bible publicly. They can swear at GOD, find fault with the Bible, disagree with those who believe it and debate the issues all without any legal ramifications. The Bible’s influence has always been implemented voluntarily.
The same can’t be said for Mao’s book or the Qur’an. Mao’s book is a book of quotations and statements from the speeches and writings of Mao Zedong, the former Chairman of the Communist Party of China. When this book came into print every home in China was legally required to have a copy and this regulation was enforced for many years. The penalty for not owning the book was severe and the Chinese population, being so large, accounts for several hundred million copies. The penalty for not owning a copy of Mao’s book was still not as severe as the penalty for owning a Bible. One book was banned, the other lawfully required, however, despite the ban, Bible distribution is now catching up with Mao’s books in China.
Like Mao’s book, the Qur’an’s popularity is also the result of enforcement policies. It is used profoundly in the educational systems of Muslim countries. Based on its teachings, many cultures are shaped. In Muslim-dominated areas, the Qur’an also influences many areas of public life: what people wear, what they eat, and how they interact socially and politically. Some countries host contests to see who can quote the Qur’an verbatim.
Christians in some Muslim countries are persecuted, beaten, and imprisoned regularly and conversion to Christianity is treated worse than murder. Amazingly enough, Mao's book of quotes and the Qur’an enjoy high print volumes due to political and cultural enforcements, and the Bible, which consistently, year after year, outsells any other book worldwide has never used force as a means of promotion.
“Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
“Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15)
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
Since biblical days, people have had their eyes set on a politician to be their Savior. In biblical times, they waged so much on the political aspects of a Savior that when the true Savior came, they didn’t even recognize him and ultimately crucified the very one who was ordained as their Savior.
Jesus did not fulfill, act or react according to what the people anticipated. See they were looking for an earthly king, not the ruler of a spiritual kingdom or even one more committed to spiritual righteousness.
They wanted a king, who would reign politically and fall in line with religiosity even if it were undergirded by hypocrisy just as long as this “Savior” supported their individual agendas.
Things haven’t changed much since biblical times, people are still looking for a political savior and their character does not have to align with the spiritual righteousness of the Kingdom of God, just as long as they are willing to stroke the egos of the people and fall in line with their agendas and economic goals of the masses.
Someone, please explain to me why people are more up in arms about our government going into the personal residence of a citizen to retrieve stolen top secret documents, that could compromise the safety of our entire nation than they are about the intentions of the person who had these documents in their possession.
When someone intentionally takes what does not rightfully belong to them, they are a thief. I am sure we can all agree on the definition of a thief. Well, position and status don’t change the definition of a thief.
The Bible is clear in conveying to us the intentions of a thief in John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” The Word of God is so prevalent because it shows no partiality, it doesn’t change based on individuals, circumstances, or opinions, as truth is just truth. Stole document, confirmed, now the next question based on biblical principles is what was to be killed and destroyed and politically speaking what impact were these actions to have on our nation.
If you want to assure that you are on the right side of righteousness, ask yourself this, “if God, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords were to manifest Himself physically before me, would I stand on this decision to support who I am supporting, their character, their actions, and their reactions?”
Always be mindful, that God may not be physically present before you, but He is always there with you and He sees, hears, and knows your heart.
Today is a magnificent day, a day granted to give God glory. A day to bask in joy. Today, I urge you to take time to pay attention to the natural beauties God created as the earth’s decor.
When was the last time you paid attention to the beauty of a flower? When was the last time you were in awe of the majesty of a tree, its trunk, and its branches? When was the last time you took the time to enjoy the sunset?
When was the last time or have you ever stood amazed by the darkness of night and the stars that hang so eloquently to give bursts of light when the sun has gone?
Now let’s talk about you. When was the last time you thanked God for the ability to laugh, for your sight, for being able to hear, for the rhythm of music, for keeping blood running through your veins, for a mind that can process thought?
We should also never get tired of thanking God for our uniqueness. Think about the one thing you do differently with no real effort, your God-given talent. Some of you possess creative artistic talents, when was the last time you drew or painted a picture? When was the last time you took the time to exalt the incredible voice God gave you, or play out the rhythms trapped in your head? What are you doing with your passion for children, your love of seniors, and your writing abilities?
Whatever your talent is, whatever makes you unique is your God-given talent and these are gifts from God intended to provide us joy, intended to direct us to purpose and give Him glory. And just like His word, I want to tell you this morning your talent has no expiration date.
Some biblical accounts such as those detailing speaking animals, the parting of bodies of water, and various other miracles, tend to fuel thoughts of the Bible being full of fables and fairytales.
Thoughts and measures of disbelief come easy when one doesn't believe in GOD or whose mind cannot phantom a truly Almighty GOD. Let’s address some of the biblical accounts people tend to struggle with. First, there is Eve’s conversation with the serpent. We may find it hard to believe that a serpent could talk and, in a language, a human could comprehend.
What actually should be more important to us than the actual speaking of the serpent is the lesson which is that we should always be mindful that Satan who possesses the character of a snake, comes prepared, relatable, and speaks our language.
Satan is a user. When a person is demon-possessed Satan will speak through them. Satan will use whoever and whatever will serve his purpose. Today he is more likely to use another human, but in the Garden of Eden there was no other human for him to use just Adam and Eve, so Satan used what was available and the snake was available.
The account of Eve and the serpent, by no means, suggests that snakes were ever of the intellect that would have enabled them to speak coherently. Bible scholars agree, that Satan was speaking through the snake and not the snake itself speaking on its own. This consensus is derived from the fact that there was no reason for any “uninfluenced”, GOD-created creature to seek to deceive or destroy another, so any plan of deceit or destruction had to be the workings of Satan.
Now in the story of Balaam’s donkey speaking to him, scriptures are clear, and bears witness to the power of GOD, as it reads “the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth”, Numbers 22:28. GOD using the donkey to talk also lets us know Satan does not have access to do or use anything GOD does not have access to use or do, for Satan is not greater than GOD.
Satan used a serpent to talk for him and GOD chose a donkey. The moral of the accounts of the speaking animals in the Bible is that deliverance and deception can come out and through anything or anyone. Therefore, it is important we know the Word of GOD, so we can discern the voice of GOD and not be deceived and ultimately destroyed by the agenda and manipulation of the enemy.
The second most questioned event in the Bible is the parting of the Red Sea. The Washington Post released an article alluding that the parting of the Red Sea, “in real life” would have been explained as a "weather event”. The article provides an analysis comparing the biblical account to what is scientifically referred to as a “wind set down”.
A “wind set down” involves strong winds, over 60 miles per hour, which creates a “push” of coastal waters, in turn creating a storm surge, which is known to blow harbors completely dry. The article concluded, that the parting of the Red Sea would have been possible in extreme weather conditions, in “real life”, but is “iffy” in biblical times because man cannot explain the timing which aligns with Moses holding out his staff (Exodus 14:21-31).
Science seems to be willing to give GOD a little credit for His ability to control nature, but at the same time, limit the extent of His power and His timing, based solely on only what the human mind can perceive. “With man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible”, Matthew 19:26. The parting of the Red Sea is the single greatest act of salvation in the Old Testament and represents GOD’s ultimate saving power and shows the depth and extent GOD will go through to save us.
Some question the validity of the Bible. Even those who believe in the Bible and God, cannot explain why they believe what they believe or the dynamics of the validity of the Bible. This series is designed to give clarity to the validity of the Bible and equip believers to better explain why their belief is concrete. GRAB A PEN AND PAPER AND LISTEN.
The Bible has proven itself to be a historical document that boasts accuracy and reliability. Historically, culturally, geographically, and scientifically, the Bible has stood as reliable and has been verified as factual by even non-biblical resources. The Bible exposes the history of religious and cultural customs, politics, languages, ethics, humanity, and the earliest days of Western civilization.
If you read a single passage of the Bible, then skip to another verse, hopping around from scripture to scripture, you will discover what seems to be contradictions, as this would be true concerning any book. However, if anyone reads the Bible chapter by chapter they will find what they deemed as contradictions to be just different revelations of a unified and consistent message. There are a total of 31,102 verses in the Bible, but because of spiritual laziness, lies are spread, deceptions are created and cults are established based on one or two scriptures without referencing the remaining scriptures that would certainly provide clarity.
When one really begins to crave The Word of GOD, the commentaries included at the beginning of each of the books of the Bible become appealing as they provide, background, and cultural accounts of each chapter. As believers our desire should be to understand and draw closer to GOD, His Word, and His will, not being satisfied with just being able to quote our favorite scriptures.
The Preservation Process
The preservation process of the Bible prompts disbelief in many. The preservation of the Bible was done in a thorough and sacred manner. This concept is so hard to grasp because we maintain and exist in a culture where dedication to anything is almost obsolete and integrity is often dismissed, especially if it requires one to be inconvenienced.
The original Bible manuscripts (called autographs) were written on papyrus, a material that deteriorated quickly. Consequently, scribes needed to copy and recopy the Old Testament books letter by letter. These copyists knew they were copying the Word of GOD, so they committed themselves to operate with excellence and integrity. We must also be mindful there was no reason for scribes to change or misquote scripture.
Because of their diligence and commitment to accuracy, the Old Testament in our Bibles today is virtually identical to the autographs written over 2,000 years ago. Bible scholars have demonstrated this by comparing ancient copies of the Bible with more recent copies.
For example, prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scroll manuscripts in 1947, the oldest existing Old Testament manuscript was the Masoretic Text, dated around a.d. 900. Upon the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls the fragments were compared, and proved the writings aligned almost identical in wording and exact in context.
We were created to desire more, the best, for we were created with a spirit of royalty interwoven into our DNA for we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God. Let that just marinate for a moment. We take what that means for granted. We casually refer to God as the King of Kings without really embracing the depth of what that means.
If God is the King of Kings, and you are His child, then your position outranks all of Queen Elizabeth’s heirs. We don’t embrace that because our minds immediately begin to calculate our worth based on money and material things. William and Harry never questioned their inheritance because that was a given, they just grew up preparing for their position, and the handling of their legacy. No need to brag or boast about who they are because they had no reason to feel they had to prove who they were to anyone.
True royalty just walks in their inheritance, doing all they can to maintain their legacy and steer their heirs.
The God-given desire for more, for better, for excellence we have allowed the world to taint, taking our more and redirecting it to desire more stuff, not more of ourselves, not more to expand the Kingdom of which proclaim to be tied to.
Where we fall short of the glory of God is we prioritize the things of the world. We place too much value on money, things and the opinions of others, which deflects from what secures our Kingdom inheritance.
Proverbs 2:6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
Proverbs 16:1 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get an understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.Proverbs 24:14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
When spending our time not seeking more of the Word of God, but more money, more material things, bigger houses, and finer cars, nothing that secures hope
I need to talk to the children of God this morning just for a few moments. Now if that is you listen very carefully, I am going to tell you how to make sure you are not blocking your blessing and have positioned yourself to receive all of God’s favor.
As a child of God, you are required to conduct yourself differently. I don’t know about you all but I had a mother who if as a child began to act like a monkey in public she would quickly check me and warn me, you better not embarrass me.
God is the same way, His children are held to a higher standard, and we don’t get to do what most do. Do you know what I mean just because this one was rude to you, you decide to be just as rude to them. As a child of God…. you are not privy to rudeness.
As a child of God, you are charged to shed light on the situation with words similar to this, I don’t know if you are aware of how rude you were, I am sorry you are having a bad day, we all have those, but let’s not take it out on one another and recognize that God is bigger than all we are going through.
I know that may sound a bit corny, tweak it anyway you want to. My point is this don’t let someone else’s issues derail your blessing, because you are charged to be light in dark situations, and God holds us accountable when we know the right thing to do and don’t.
Romans 12:17-21 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”[e]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I am not going to make this easy. YOu will have to discipline yourself to change how you react, but once you repeatedly do it, before you know the character of light will overtake you, and watch and see if the favor of God seems to be coming at you from the left and the right.
For anyone to prove or to be absolutely certain there is no GOD, he or she would have to actually be GOD themselves, possessing at least 2 godly characteristics. One would have to be omnipresent (the ability to be present everywhere at once and have been present before the beginning of time and able to be present after end-times) and omniscient (the ability to possess all awareness and understanding of all things: past, present, and future).
The Bible tells us, “In the beginning, GOD created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of GOD was hovering over the waters” Genesis 1:1-2. The most profound evidence of the existence of GOD is incredibly outside the writings of the Bible, it is the universe. If GOD does not exist, then the universe would have had to create itself.
Now let's examine that possibility. For the universe to have created itself, it would have had to both exist and not exist at the same time. Puzzled? Follow closely. For the universe to have created itself, it would have had to first exist and be prior to itself. Because in order for anything to create something, it has to first exist itself. Since nothing can exist prior to itself to bring itself to be, this leaves us to draw the conclusion that it is impossible for the universe to have created itself.
Here are 2 questions for skeptics who hold firm to the Big Bang Theory:
1. What existed before the universe, to cause it to be and even generate a bang?
2. And whatever that was, should we not at least research it and upon discovery, honor and, even worship it?
GOD, Himself is pure existence, or what some call “pure actuality”, meaning with no possibility of not existing. Put another way, many things can have existence, but only GOD can “be” existence. Other things have “being” but only GOD is “Being”.
GOD alone is a self-existent being and the initial cause of everything that exists. John 5:26 simply says, “The Father has life in Himself.” Paul preached, “He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” Acts 17:25.
GOD is a necessary being whose non-existence is impossible. GOD is the only necessary being; all other things are contingent beings. If GOD did not exist, then neither would anything else. Job states: “If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust” Job 34:14–15.
When we operate independently of GOD’s principles we create our own gods intentionally or unintentionally, as we establish our own "truths", which fall contrary to the mandates and will of GOD.
We live in a society where “GOD”, is utilized for such things as Christenings, invocations, and benedictions, while we remain distant from Him concerning everything in between. We pray to GOD when things aren't going our way, worship Him as long as things are going our way, but really don't trust Him enough to live according to His principles. We, like Eve, are deceived by Satan (Genesis 3:4) into thinking GOD is perhaps withholding from us assets that could better our existence and life experience.
We worship pagan gods; false religions, cults, celebrities, material things, immoral acts, independent truths, and even self. None of these gods are new, as references to them are mentioned all throughout Old and New Testament scriptures.
As believers, our allegiance and alliance should be to the One true GOD, The Alpha, and Omega, The One who is The Beginning and The End, The Creator of all things.
GOD in His consistency is also triune in the nature of His character as He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient.
I remember my Aunt Reidy who was determined to stay up all night so she could witness her 80th birthday come in because that was a milestone her mother or father didn’t have an opportunity to celebrate. With all the death and dysfunction, life and milestones should not be ignored.
There is no biblical mandate against a Christian celebrating birthdays, nor is there anything to indicate we are required to observe them. Scripturally speaking, whether we as Christians celebrate birthdays or not is a non-issue.
The Bible does mention two individuals celebrating birthdays: the Egyptian Pharaoh in Joseph’s time (Genesis 40:20) and King Herod in Jesus’ time (Matthew 14:6; Mark 6:21).
Some want to use these two birthday celebrations as evidence that celebrating birthdays is wrong; because both men were non-believing individuals, so the thought process is that a birthday celebration is seen as some form of a pagan ritual or practice.
However, that conclusion is NOT founded biblically in either passage. The Bible does not even hint that it was wrong for Pharaoh or Herod to celebrate their birthdays.
The Word of God is consistent and can be trusted, so we have to believe and trust that if the celebrating of a birthday was against the will or mandate of God, He would have made it clear as He does with everything that He finds displeasing. The Scripture also does not indicate anywhere that a Christian was discouraged from celebrating a birthday.....
I want to talk to you about something that is the underlying cause of some sins, wrong decisions, bad relationships, family dysfunctions, procrastination, racism, abuse, manipulation, unforgiveness, hatred, insecurities, and lack of faith.
I am talking about fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 tells us for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Notice the scripture reads God has not given us a spirit of fear, so if God didn’t give it to us, where did it come from? There are only two sides to the spiritual realm, what doesn’t come from God, Satan will gift wrap and present to us.
Let me breakdown the impact of fear then you will see how our fears play right into the hands of Satan:
- Fear shuts down faith, as we act and react out of fear that God won’t do what he promised he will do.
- Fear pushes us into wrong relationships based on a fear of being alone, fear of being rejected, fear of lack, and fear of no provision.
- Fear also rises its head making us fearful of failure, we don’t want to be embarrassed, we don't want to invest and not succeed, so we walk away from pursuing God’s purpose, living a stagnant unfulfilled life.
- Fear also gives life to insecurities, fearing we are not smart enough, not the right color, from the right side of the tracks, all this which lays the foundation for dysfunction and generational curses as we instill these fear in our children.
- Fear overtakes us as we stress over losing material possessions, status, title, positions,
As we turn the pages of the bible there are several people in the Bible who had to overcome the spirit of fear and had they not pushed past fear we would not be talking about them over 2,000 years later.
What does it really mean to know God? Knowing God goes beyond the surface of belief. "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives" Colossians 1:9.
Knowing God is the establishment of a true relationship with God, that will guide and direct your life according to the principles and will of God.
www.BibleDeliverance.org
There is no difference between a billionaire and a beggar, it doesn’t matter whether you are young or old, tall or short, we all have the same amount of hours in a single day and we all have access to the gift of free will. What makes the difference in any life is how time and free will was and are utilized.
You know what establishes value in our economy, supply and demand, when supplies are low or demands are high, the value goes up, and the valued price of the product or service goes up. Time is so valuable because the supply is consistent it doesn’t change, day in and day out we get 24 hours a day regardless of the day of the week, the climate, who is in office, or regardless of popular trends, or the economy.
Our supply, our allotment of time never changes. The demand for time is high because we have no ability to control it. When it comes to “time”, we cannot stop it, pause it, sped it up, or slow it down. So the measure of time, its supply, and its demand make time valuable.
And how we invest in the time given defines our individual lives. There used to be an old lottery slogan that said, “you have to be in it to win it”. The same thing applies to time and life. Each of our lives is measured by time. When we are asked our age, we respond with dictation of time, 30 years old, 50 years old.
When you apply for a job, the questions are asked concerning your experience, the expectation is that you respond with a measure of time. Time is the passing of our existence. In Job 14:5 the scripture reads “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
In other words, the scripture is telling us.. each of us… has an expiration date, a day when our time will be up. We can’t postpone it or change it all we can do is make the best of the time we have, for the scripture says we have set limits that we cannot exceed.
The scripture goes on to advise “look away, let him alone”, in other words, don’t waste your time wasting someone’s else time. The same scripture continues with “till he has put in his time like a hired laborer”. When God purposed your life He hired you to fulfill a purpose, and some of us have been sleeping on the clock.
How many of you have ever gone on a travel excursion or cruise. Those of you who have, understand that excursions and cruises have to be paid for upfront in their entirety before departure. We have to look at our eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven in the same light, we have a prepayment plan in place, and we need to earn our keep for eternal access to the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus’ final instruction to His followers was to (Matthew 28:19–20)“go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”
We know from reading the book of Acts that the disciples did just that. After the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they began to proclaim God’s message boldly (Acts 2:4). God gave them the supernatural ability to speak in other languages so that people from many foreign lands heard the good news (Acts 2:6). Those people believed and then took God’s message of salvation back to their homelands, and the gospel spread.
Despite attacks throughout history to annihilate Christianity, the message of the gospel continues to spread as lives are transformed by the love of Jesus. There are missionaries who have left everything to travel into difficult regions to bring the good news to the natives there.
Through personal evangelism, radio, television, the internet, literature, and many other means, people around the world are hearing of Jesus’ salvation and responding. We hear of Muslims in closed countries receiving visions and dreams wherein Jesus appears to them and they are convinced of His identity as the Son of God.
Yet, as the world’s population expands, so does the number of unreached people. Despite the efforts of the church, millions of people have still never heard about Jesus or have never embraced the Gospel because of a lack of exposure to good solid teaching.
Another reason much of the world remains unevangelized is the apathy among many Christians. The words of James may apply to those of us who are wealthy compared to the rest of the world: (James 5:1–5) “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. . . . You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence” .
Those are harsh words to our ears, but we should examine ourselves to see if they apply to our attitudes.
Rulership vs Headship
Genesis 3:14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!
Genesis 3:16 Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule (be consumed by, controlled mind and body, (dictionary- the standard of judgment) over you.” NOT A CURSE
Genesis 3:17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil, you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
Genesis 3:23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
The head is not regarded as the seat of the intellect but as the source of life (Mt. 14:8, 11; Jn. 19:30)
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. So when a man is spoken of as the head of the woman (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23; cf.Gn. 2:21f.), the basic meaning of the head as the source of all life and energy is predominant. Ephesians 5:22-24 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Malachi 2:16 “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,”[b] says the Lord Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
1 Corinthians 7:15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases, the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
Hebrews 13:4
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Psalm 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Father God in the name of your son Jesus, we come before you today first thank you for waking us up another day, thank you for giving us another day, to serve you another day to be an example on this earth of your good, your majesty, your grace, and your mercy.
Lord, we thank you for your Word for in your Word you told us we would face these times, and your Word has proven over and over to be true and prophetic. In Matthew 5:18 you confirmed, “until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished”
As we approach your throne this morning, know that your Word is true, all we can do is humble our hearts, renew our minds and ask that you steer and guide us, give us a spirit of discernment, and let us not become consumed to the ways of this world. Let us seek truth over popularity, “celebritism”, money, and fame. Let us not walk in a spirit of selfishness, guard our tongues that we do not speak a slanderous word again another for we know all souls were created engraved with your divine destiny, we respect and humble all that you create and every purpose you have laid out in your plans.
Lord and every household and family represented under the sound of my voice, Lord I ask that you bless, protect, cover, exalt, and elevate in your purpose. Anything that is not of your will working against the households and families represented, we ask that you take control of it, shift the atmosphere in each home to align with your will and your purpose, and let praise to you oh God be the paint on their walls, let humility be rooted in the floors they walk on and let the Holy Spirit consume the water they bathe and drink, align each household with your Kingdom.
We give you glory, we give you honor we give you praise. And we thank you in advance for your continued protection, direction, grace, mercy, and blessing. Amen Amen and Amen
Thank you for joining us in prayer this morning, I pray you “deem” this prayer worthy of sharing, for we all need to get back to the basic principles of the righteousness of God.
The bait of Satan involves us giving into offenses and begin exalting an attitude of being easily offended so that those with wisdom shy away from offering wisdom and so that we turn a deaf ear to the words of wisdom.
Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Proverbs 3:13-18 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Pray like you know who you serve. Pray like you know your father is rich. "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened". Matthew 7:7
A story broke some time ago in regards to a coach being reprimanded for praying on the 50-yard line at the conclusion of a football game. The supreme court ruled in the coach's favor citing that he had a religious right to pray. And I thank God for this ruling and that no further reprimand was bestowed upon the coach.
However, yes we as believers should be happy that another believer was persecuted for the act of praying, but we also need to use what He went through as a lesson, for us to do better, be better and elevate our exaltation of faith.
As believers, we cannot allow ourselves to become so consumed with human rights that it overrules the righteousness of God. Proverbs 14:12 “ There is a way which seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” The coach praying, believers saw no problem with it, saw no reason for ridicule or reprimand, but there is further consideration we as believers must consider.
The righteousness of God doesn’t discriminate and the gift of free will given to every man and woman by God allows people to even choose to sin against God, blasphemous, not believe, or even curse God. Yes, there are consequences for the action and reactions we choose that violate the mandate of God but the choice is still extended to all mankind.
What I am saying is if our government, institutions, and organizations allow Christians to pray, then they have to allow everyone regardless of their religious beliefs pray, and even worship. Some of you, like myself, were raised to pray, and not shield it publicly, and I get it, however, when others are involved we have to according to the righteousness of God consider others. Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.
Now we are not to bow to the interests of unbelievers or this world but we must be aware of the interest of other and take into consideration that God extended unbelievers that same free will he extended us. 1 Peter 2: 4-6 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
As believers, God takes us from glory to glory and as we grow in our faith we should be also growing in our wisdom and how to strategically combat the ways of the wicked recognizing that the wicked will attempt to use the ways of the righteous to exalt wickedness.
But we serve a God who knew these times would come and His Word prepared us for this. In Matthew chapter 6, the Word of God advises us not to get caught up praying publicly because it does not validate or strengthen our faith or prayers. In verse 6 “when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you”
Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
MESSAGE FROM PAUL Galatians 1:3-10
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Paul said he received the gospel by revelation from Jesus Christ, he spent time with Jesus and in the Word of God
**Father God in the name of your son Jesus my prayer is that everyone under the sound of my voice receives your Gospel through a revelational experience with you as they commit to spending time in your presence and in Your Word. Let no one allow their faith in you to rest solely on what comes through any man. Your word tells us to study to show thy selves approved. Let everyone under the sound of my voice develop a desire in their heart to show themselves before you as approved. We give you glory and honor Amen.
www.BibleDeliverance.org**
This morning I would like to remind you how big, bold, and dynamic God is. Sometimes I think we forget how big, bold, and powerful God is and it affects our prayers, how we move, how we act and react to situations, and even how we worship. Keep in the forefront of your mind God is BIGGER than all you can imagine.
BIBLICALLY SPEAKING POLITICALLY SERIES
This message was not inspired to support or degrade the act of abortion or even women’s rights because both of these issues are minute when compared to the issue of the deity of God and the consistency of Christianity. Because if truth be told you cannot serve God and walk concurrently in hypocrisy, it's impossible and I will explain exactly what I mean momentarily.
Today, my message is not for those struggling with their faith, or who don’t know whether they believe in God or not. If either of these descriptions fit you, I welcome you to listen and I promise you will be edified. But I will be primarily talking to those who say they believe in God, say they have a relationship with God, say they trust in God, say they know him to be all-knowing, omnipresent and all-powerful, and say they know and embrace that God makes no mistakes.
Let me make this perfectly clear: the Bible tells us our bodies belong to God, and according to the Word of God, we will have to give account to God how we use what belongs to Him. But what I want to also make perfectly clear is God doesn’t force Himself, His Doctrine or even His Word on anyone.
In Acts 7:51 you see the scripture reads “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”
What is made very clear in that passage is that we have the freedom, so much so that we can opt to even embrace or resist the Holy Spirit, which is in essence God in spirit.
Free will is a gift from God. A gift the all-knowing God knew that we would use to sin against Him. Don’t ever think for one moment, anything ever catches God by surprise and yet He gave us free will as a gift.
We also have to be mindful that anything given to us by God is full of purpose, and should not be violated or compromised. The moment we choose to violate, compromise, taint, alter or tweek the free will of an individual we have essentially promoted our will above the will of God which in itself is ungodly, sinful, and even blasphemous.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the opening passage of our constitution, allow me to read it to you;
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
“Liberty” is defined as “the right and the power to believe, act, and express oneself as one chooses. Liberty is being free from restriction and having the freedom of choice. It is the condition of having the power to act and speak without restraints.”Which also relates to the free will given us by God. Because He has put in place His laws, mandates, and commandment, even gave us intuition and gut feeling to gut and jolt the conscientiousness of minds. And God holds us responsible just like our government for our actions and behaviors. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death. Not spiritual death but separation from the joy of life as ordained by, separation from God Himself
Many have asked me, “Pastor how can you be anti-abortion and pro-choice, isn’t that contradictory”. Not at all, we get so caught up in this ride-or-die, all-in mentality concerning everything but the Word of God.
I believe the prevention of life is not the will of God, but I support the choice of a woman based solely on the free-will God gave her.
Sometime we have to step outside the norm and give God some unplanned praise. We invite you to listen to a compilation of Acapella gospel tunes to inspire your own customized worship experience.
How would you feel if your spouse told you, “I only married you because I had no other choices?” God doesn’t want us to obey His Word based on the fact that we have no other choices. He wants us to obey His word because despite the available choices, we choose Him.
God wants us to decide to pursue what doesn’t seem to be the easiest route, despite what we think our limitations and abilities are, but because we are in a covenant relationship with Him we walk confidently knowing who He is, knowing He’s got our back, knowing with Him on our side we can face anything, knowing that because of who He is no weapon formed against us will prosper, knowing that what the devil meant for our demise, He has the power to turn it around and work it for our good and His glory.
God is not one who forces His righteousness on us and neither should we force our opinions or even God’s righteousness on another. When we do that we have picked up a mantle God never ordained, when we do that we have stepped outside of the boundary set by the almighty. When we do that we have entered into the sin of judgment.
James 4:12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Now I don’t want anyone to take this scripture out of context, right is right, wrong is wrong, and sin is sin and someone proclaiming what is wrong and what is a sin is not judging.
“Not judging” addresses the human tendency to take spiritual truth and twist it into hypocritical superiority just as the Pharisees had done. Sometimes our pride makes us criticize and judge others so that we feel better about ourselves.
James warned believers, James 4:11–12 “Don’t speak evil against each other….your job is to obey the law. God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?”
When it comes to the laws of the land, violating the rights and livelihood of others, every citizen should be held accountable, judged and even suffer the consequences of their violation. But when we start putting place governing laws that cross into the spiritual and personal realms of people we are violating what God has ordained and commissioning ourselves as God.
When everything is going our way, patience is easy to demonstrate. The true test of patience comes when we are treated unfairly; when our coworker derides our faith, again. Some think they have a right to get upset in the face of irritations and trials. Impatience seems like a holy anger. The Bible, however, praises patience as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) which should be produced for all followers of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:14). Patience reveals our faith in God’s timing, omnipotence, and love.
Although most consider patience to be a passive waiting or gentle tolerance, most of the Greek words translated “patience” in the New Testament are active, robust words. Consider, for example, Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (NKJV). Does one run a race by passively waiting for slow-pokes or gently tolerating cheaters? Certainly not! The word translated “patience” in this verse means “endurance.” A Christian runs the race patiently by persevering through difficulties. In the Bible, patience is persevering towards a goal, enduring trials, or expectantly waiting for a promise to be fulfilled.
Today’s message kind of piggybacks off of yesterday's message on faith vs. belief. And maybe it’s just me. But aren’t you all just sick and tired of all the foolishness we are having to contend with in the world.
The biggest thing I believe is causing so much frustration and stress is all of this talk about the coming of a depression. Tell me this, why are those who claim to be in a relationship with God worried about depression.
If prices go up, is our God not able to increase our income, and increase His favor to cover the difference. I am telling, we have God looking at us shaking His head, amazed at how quickly we allow the world, unbelievers and situations to prompt us to lose faith in Him.
Why is it we are so enthralled with the word, “depression”. Depressions have been occurring since biblical days, they were called famines. But after every famine those who walked with faith in God came through the days of famine better than they were when the famine started and you know why because it's in times of famine, times of depression, when more prayers are lifted, when all we can put our trust in is God.
Globally we just came through a pandemic. Although many lives were lost in our country, citizens of this nation, if truth be told, didn’t rely on God to pull them through to be their provision, they leaned on the government for all kinds of stimulus provisions. That is blatantly clear because threw all that we went through this nation, or none the renowned religious leaders called for a day of prayer.
And you all are surprised, or disgruntled because we now are looking in the face of depression. During the time of King Ahab, “the famine was severe in Samaria” (1 Kings 18:2). It’s no coincidence that Ahab had previously “set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. God had been crystal clear concerning His law which says if they served false gods, then there would be famine in the land. Ahab, like this nation has, bowed to false gods, and God allowed a famine to plague the land during the reign of Ahab and Jezebel should have been no surprise to anyone then and should be of no surprise to us today.
Depression and famine level the playing fields, the weak get weaker, and the rich get richer and those in between either use their faith and wisdom to work for them or they buckle under the pressure and will spiritually or physically die.
Faith and belief are two sides of the same coin, but not interchangeable.
To believe in something means based on the information you have gathered you are confident concerning certain facts. But faith embraces a mental persuasion that causes a shift in our mindsets, faith engulfs a soulistic conviction, faith makes us walk with a demeanor of confidence.
When you look at faith vs belief, it's like the difference between living with someone for 5 years vs being married for 5 years. Belief mirrors a casual relationship which may have commitment, but not a conviction. On the other hand, faith operates solely on conviction. Belief will keep you engaged, while faith will consume you. Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen
Belief is based on what can be seen, or what has been taught. Faith, especially faith in God rests on hope driven by conviction of the soul whose substance is built on an internal connection made in our soul, usually spearheaded by personal experience.
The evidence of things not seen; when everything is upside down, when you can seem to figure it out, when your bank account is negative, when you have applied for so many jobs that you’re doubling up on applications.
But it is a sincere faith in God that won’t let you give in a negative perspective, when people begin to throw you a pity party, when you are determined despite what it look like I won’t compromise my integrity regardless of the promised return, nor will I LAY or play with someone just to take the edge off my struggle.
True faith is determined by what we’re able to sacrifice and walk away from despite the circumstances. 2 Corinthians 5:7, we walk by faith not by site.
Some times we have to confused the enemy with a "just because praise". Listen to some acapella praise tunes that should inspire your personal praise.
Words of wisdom and a praise playlist for an incredible worship experience: Happy Fathers Day!!
Parenthood in itself is not easy, but fatherhood is heightened in regards to the role and godly expectation. The godly mantle of fatherhood has absolutely nothing to do with the ability of the loins of men.
The mantle of fatherhood, embraces and exalts manhood, AND HAS EVERYTHING TO D with a man’s willingness to obey the word of God as he protects, guides, cares and provides for everything which comes through his loins.
And a real man will find it their heart to father what has come through the loins of another man, as he recognizes that yes God has charged him to be his brother's keeper and to not leave another man's purpose to die on the battlefield.
This brief message is entitled The wars of Fathers. Fathers in case you didn’t know as a man, as a father as a leader, God has ordained you to be a warrior.
Fathers will continuously be in a war against the trends of this world, but don’t conform to the ways of this Word,
Fathers will continuously be in a war against their own humanistic mind, but lean not to your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge God and he will direct your path
Fathers will continuously be in a war against temptations, temptations of the flesh, temptations that speak to their pockets, and your pride. There will always be temptation to take what seems to be the easiest solution.
But know that God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability to resist. God is such a good God that He will always provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure and be victorious over any temptation.
God declared that Abraham would be the father to nations and that his offspring would be blessed. Abraham walked with an unquestionable obedience to God. Was he perfect, absolutely not. Abraham’s faith in God weakened and he, like many fathers today, decided to take matters into his own hands and try to put a rush on the promises of God and out of Abraham’s disobedience to God Ishmael was born.
The real problem with this was that God couldn’t use the lineage of Ishmael which was birthed out of disobedience to honor His Holy covenant.
Men, please understand this; through the loins of a man greatness is initiated, but greatness can only be sustained and exalted through obedience to God.
Abraham repented, reassessed his life and got back into alignment with the will and word of God and then God proceeded to honor the promise he made to him.
Now just pause and think about this for a moment . The ultimate level of greatness God was able to use Abraham to produce.
When God decided to clothe himself in flesh and walk the earth, it was through the offspring of Abraham that Jesus Christ was born. There is no greater legacy than to be used to bring salvation to the world.
You can believe Abraham had to fight some wars, while standing on the principles of righteousness when everyone around him worshiped other gods and seemed to be getting all the desires of their hearts.
To remain victorious in battle, yes Abraham had to check and recheck himself and continuously redefine his plans to align with God’s plan.
Real warriors understand that to win, a strategy is crucial. Parents often say children don’t come with manuals, no they don’t come with them in their hands, but there is a manual, there is a strategic plan in place. The word of God is the manual, the pages that detail God’s strategic plan.
We like to refer to Jesus as just full of love, grace and mercy, and non-judgmental. But He is also the same one who had no problem reprimanding even the Pharisees who were confessed men of God.
I don’t know about you but some of the posts I see those who call themselves believers, post, blows my mind… and had at one made me literally have to take a break from social media because of church folk not the unsaved.
Jesus was also one more committed to His Father than to men and He always followed the lead of His Father who in Revelation 3:19 spoke these words, “those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent”.
The one thing we know about every single social media platform is they need to be reproved, some discipline needs to be exalted and cries of repentance should out number the likes and followers. That is what Jesus would bring to social media reproof, discipline and a cry for repentance.
However, another thing we know about social media is that truth is not often what prompts followers. Which shouldn’t surprise believers because in 2 Timothy 4:2-5 the bible tell of this time as it reads, “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
In other words, if Jesus physically dwelled amongst us in today’s culture, He would have to contend with the same people we do. People who turn a death ear to truth.
So knowing that Jesus would post nothing but the truth, all though HE would have likely used social media to reach people, with all His truth spewing, He likely would not have been a social media sensation.
Be mindful, “truth” is what prompted the people in His day to crucify Him… people aren’t much different today in regards to their lack of respect or desire for truth.
Jesus may not have one social media account today , but he has those who are supposed confessed believers, agents of the Kingdom of heaven, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. If you fit this description, I have some questions for you; how much truth do you share, without judgment, just wisdom and love. What are liking, sharing and reposting. Matthew 5:16 “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
I have no doubt in my mind that Jesus would have worked social media for the Kingdom of God, we should follow His lead.
Drowning is defined as suffocating by immersion in a liquid, usually water. What happens when someone drowns is water covers the victim's mouth and nose cuts off the body's supply of oxygen. And when the body is deprived of oxygen, and the victim can no longer struggle, he or she will lose consciousness, their lungs will fill up and he or she will sink to the bottom and die.
Shockingly enough, drowning is the third leading cause of accidental death in the U.S.-can be prevented with proper education and intervention.
Are you someone who has many talents? Do you know quite a bit about a lot of different things, have a massive amount of skill in several areas, but seem lost. Everyone around says you should be a millionaire with the wealth of knowledge you have and with all the skills you possess. But you can’t seem to get a real grasp on anything?
You are drowning in a pool of talents. Your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body is consumed with talent and skills to the point where its cutting off your ability to thrive and you or no one else can seem to figure out why is it someone with all this talent, all this skill, all this knowledge can’t seem to keep their head above water long enough to master the art of keeping their head above water.
The key is you need to start swimming. Swimming is the ability to use a propelling force to push the body through water utilizing the combined motions of one’s arms and legs and the natural flotation of the body.
Understand this when someone starts out swimming they have a goal, maybe it's just to get from one side of the pool to the other side of the pool. They get into the pool and begin to use the strategies of swimming to guide, and push them to the goal which is the other side.
The same applies with your many talents.
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
You have to put a strategy in place, you have to gain the knowledge and apply intervention to keep from drowning in your own talents. Set your sights on one goal, then use all of your talents to help you achieve that goal. The problem with those with many talents is we tend to strike out trying to put all those talents to work individually, which is suffocating, overload and before we know it, we begin to drown and though we survive death, our efforts never manifest into anything that sustains.
If this is you stop, pause, get into a quiet place, turn your phone off and ask yourself what is the goal, what is it you are destined to do. That alone is sometimes a lot to answer. The best way to sum that up is ask yourself, if money wasn’t an issue and I could do anything purposeful what would it be. 1 Peter 4:10
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace
The next step, do what the Word of God says in Habakkuk 2:2, write the vision and make it plan. Write down your talents and begin to create a plan on how you can utilize your talents to fulfill your purpose driven goal, that is the art of swimming.
Today, I want to talk to you briefly about not your name but your brand, your methodology, and your individual marketing campaigns.
See because God is looking for some brands He can use to promote His Kingdom.We live in a culture where we give accolades based solely on a name solely on the methodology used to promote a brand.
But I have a few questions for you this morning:
- Why are we so enthralled by brand names?
- Why is it a designer can sell us on wearing their brand?
- Why do we not allow our own name to hold a significant weight
- Why do we allow our brand to be defined by someone else’s name?
I don’t know if you know the story of Micah in the bible. If you say you do I must ask? Which Micah are you referring to? See because there were several Micahs in the bible, I am going to tell you about the two who are spoken about in detail
First, let me tell you the name Micah means “who is like Jehovah?”
The first Micah is described in Judges 17—18. He lived during the time when Israel had no king and “every man did what was right in his own eyes” no…. Nothing but the Word of God.
Micah is one example, among many, of the lawlessness that dominated Israel during this time The people had abandoned God, chasing idols like the pagan nations around them and incorporating many aspects of idol worship into their worship of the Almighty God.
They refused to obey the Lord, but since they did not yet have a king, every person did as he pleased, with no immediate repercussions. Micah’s everyday lifestyle exemplified the spiritual attitude of the people at that time. He worshipped idols, he even hired his only private priest and they proclaimed his actions to be godly.
“You shall not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Exodus 20:4–5).
God’s commandments were forgotten as Micah and his household followed their own ideas of worship, totally contrary to those prescribed Word of God.
The second significant Micah is a stark contrast to the idolatrous Micah. And we can read about him in the book of the Bible named after him. One of the most renowned verses in the book of Micah is Micah 6:8 “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God”
This Micah was a prophet of God. This Micah reminds us that, despite God’s zero tolerance toward our sin, He is also ready and waiting to forgive and restore those who repent. Even in the midst of strong warnings to Judah, Micah boasts of the hope of God.
The entire book of Micah is a complex mixture of judgment and hope. On the one hand, the prophecies announce judgment upon Israel for social evils, corrupt leadership, and idolatry. On the other hand, the book proclaims not merely the restoration of the nation, but the transformation and exaltation of Israel and Jerusalem.
Micah, one name, but two totally different men. Our fallacy is not in our name and there is no fallacy in the wearing of designer names, the problem is exalting another’s brand and another’s persona higher than your own, while not making Jesus whose name is above all names a priority in your life.
Many times we have some fanatics who want to take the bible and interpret it to serve their agenda and to elevate their opinions. I want to tell you that this kind of manipulation is demonic and blasphemous.
And any of you who have been following Bible Deliverance know that stress over and over the importance of every confessed believer studying the bible themselves.
Stop allowing Satan to plague your mind with the concept that the bible is boring. Find you a translation befitting your style of learning and study.
I never understood how anyone can proclaim the bible to be boring, even before I picked up the mantle of ministry, I never considered the bible boring.
If truth be told, I just preferred doing other things than reading the bible, and I also knew that if I began to study the Word of God it would convict me concerning the lifestyle I was living which was outside of the will of God.
I am not judging, just telling you where I was and what my plight was.
But boring, how? When it is literally filled with every issue, every sin, every mindset we are dealing with today. In biblical times they might not have had technology, but they made their gods with their hands just like we do today… some of yall will get what I’m saying in a minute.
But today, what I want to talk about is not making the government your God.
Romans 13:1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities”
and then in
Acts 5:29 “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men”.
Is the bible contradicting itself…. Not at all.
The second sentence of Romans 13:1 reads “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God”.
Now you’re likely really confused as you try to make sense out of the government coming from God, especially when you look at our government today.
Let me help you make sense out of it all.
In times of turmoil, or when we have our minds set on something that seems outside our reach, we have a tendency to become very committed to prayer.
In I Samuel chapters 1 and 2 the pages tell the story of Hannah. A woman who was married, and very much loved by her husband, but what she wanted more than anything was to bear a child, but it seemed God had closed her womb.
In biblical times a woman was looked down on if she could not have children, she was considered less than a woman. Hannah so wanted to feel complete
She prayed and prayed. She became so committed to prayer that one she was praying and her lips were moving but there was no voice coming out of her mouth. And Eli the priest thought she was drunk.
You know when we really want something or are really in a tough situation the pain can become so deep that we take our prayers to another level.
That is what had happened to Hannah. She told Eli, no I am not drunk, I am just pouring out my heart to the Lord.
Just like we are known to do, Hannah in her prayers began to make promises to God. She promised God that if he would bless her with a child, a male child, she would commit his life to Him and that no razor would ever touch his head.
The promise she made that her child’s hair would never be cut meant she would raise him to not succumb to the norms of the people, the trends of the land, that he would be different, look different, act different as he would be committed to godliness.
Now don’t get caught up for one moment thinking the actual act of not cutting her son’s hair defined the holiness she referenced. Her vow was essentially saying “I will raise him to be so committed to God that every aspect of him will be set apart from the rest.
It's funny how we are committed to following the trends, doing this, wearing that, driving this all because it is popular, all because we want to be measured by folk by how well we fit in. We don’t want to be rejected or considered less than by people.
Few can commit to being uniquely different, but to truly be a servant of God that is what it takes, sanctification, which means set apart, unable to blend in.
Many of us have made God some promises in those midnight hour prayers, I know I have. I am one who keeps a prayer journal and sometimes I will thumb back through the pages and recall some tough times that God brought me through and read some of the promises and declarations I made in those prayers as I petitioned God for his help.
I want to talk to you today about the structure and purpose of the Bible God so divinely left for us, as some people want to pick it apart, add to it and reference it only to exalt their own agendas.
You know there are believers who just want to dwell in New Testament scripture discounting Old Testament scriptures as irrelevant since the coming of the Messiah. The truth is the New Testament is a bit more palatable, where as the OT scriptures is full of fire and brimstone, ,commandments, plaques, slavery, and famine.
You ever try to watch a movie sequel, without seeing the premiere. You may enjoy it, but if truth be told there may be some parts, some quotes, some occurrences that you don’t quite understand because the details were outlined in the premiere. That is how the bible is. You can enjoy reading the NT, and it will undoubtedly bless you. But let me tell you, you are missing out, there is something about knowing the whole story.
In John 4:23 it reads that we are to worship God in spirit and in truth. The truth the scripture is speaking of represents the law laid out in the OT. As you build your individual houses of faith, you need to know that it is the OT that is the concrete poured to lay the foundation upon which you will build your faith.
The NT scriptures are the account of the coming of the Messiah and the prophecies of the end times. When Jesus He came to fulfill the law, what He was essentially saying was that He came to bear witness to the truth. He came to be the living example of how truth should look lived out. Which is why John 14:6 He proclaimed “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the Father except through me.
We cannot exalt please God by exalting truth without following the example Jesus set for the spirit in which we are to live out the truth. Even if it were possible, we could not obey every command of God, walk in, submit to every mandate and command and please God if we never extended grace, never extended mercy. Jesus showed up what grace and mercy physically looks like, how to utilize it to interact with one another.
I watched a documentary some time ago on religion through the eyes of an atheist. I know some of you are too “saved” to watch such a thing. But if Satan is going to put his playbook on display, you better believe, I am going to take a closer look at it, so that I know how best to combat against his weapons of war, his deceptions, lies and evil agenda.
In this documentary it broke my heart as the narrator interviewed a young girl about 19 or 20 years old, who thought she was actually exalting some knowledge, as she said she didn’t believe in God because if God is who He said He is then why did He have to write the OT and then make edit and right the NT.
I was heartbroken because to be that young and that lost, willingly exposing oneself to the tricks and temptations of Satan is scary.
When Jesus was born the stories of Adam and Eve, Moses, Joshua, David and Solomon were the characters of His history pages. Much like George Washington, Harriet Tubman, John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King are ours now.
The importance of studying OT scriptures, first and foremost, is something we should do because Jesus did and He is the one who made the ultimate sacrifice to be a living example for us, so we should follow the example He set.
As a nation we have set aside today to honor our fallen soldiers and our veterans. Soldiers who served and sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to protect our country. The United States has an incredible track record of victory in battle and today we honor all those who made it possible.
John 15:13 reads Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
We say to the veterans, soldiers and families who have suffered, lost and served diligently, we honor and we thank you.
I would be less than what God has called to be, if I close out this message honoring those who have fought for the victories of this country and not address the dysfunction, discord and internal battle present today within our country. As our citizens, members of our government and leaders are consumed with coming against one another.
Popularity, judgment, blame, and degrading words has become the norm in these “united states””. A country which has always professed to be one nation under God, indivisible.
But we have reached a point in our history where we have politicians comfortably stepping to podiums, spewing ungodliness and absent of the quality of true leadership. Whether you are democrat or republican, it does not matter, if you are a citizen of the United States you are a member of one team and its teamwork that makes the dream work.
True leaders, lead, direct, inspire and honor the omnipresence of God, not defame, blame and ridicule. True leaders talk more about solutions than problems. In Matthew 12:25 the word of God tells us “A nation divided against itself will be brought to desolation”.
Let us not make a mockery of the victories we have won, by bringing our country to desolation through the hands of its own citizens.
I say to our leaders occupying positions in our government on state and federal levels and to those petitioning for leadership positions, accept the Word of God as the ultimate source of wisdom and govern yourselves accordingly.
Please enjoy this Memorial Day, spend time with your families, thank a veteran and we hope our celebratory musical playlist adds to the delight of your day, Be Blessed.
The game of life begins in our mother’s womb. And our genes help to shape and mold us into the pieces we become on the board game of life. A gene is the basic physical and or functional unit of heredity shared through a common ancestor.
For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait for green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might have freckles too because you inherited the trait for freckles.
Before we learn our names or how to speak there are some things that are inherently imposed on our game boards, but it's up to us to learn the rules of how to utilize the pieces given us, to play in this game called life, according to the mandate of God
All my life I was told I look just like my dad. I remember as a kid I didn’t think of that as being flattering at all. After all, my thought was I am a girl, he is a man. I didn’t understand the reference being made referring more to the likeness of my dad’s physical image than identical characteristics.
Genes are incredible not only can they shape our physical appearance, they can dictate our characteristics as well. I am one who has always been impatient, wanting everything now. I had a family that blamed that on me being an only child and being spoiled, but what I realized is that was a characteristic of my dad’s as well. And he wasn’t impatient because of being spoiled, he was likely more impatient because of growing up rough and often without the things we take for granted.
I didn’t inherit much of my mother’s physical appearance but I certainly inherited some of her characteristics. Busyness being one. My mom had to always be doing something. If she was just sitting watching TV, she had to be hemming some pants, fixing my hair, or organizing some papers, she just couldn’t sit idle. And I catch myself doing the same thing.
Regardless of who you came into this world looking like, regardless of whose characteristics you have genetically inherited, God wants us to make intentional efforts to allow His image to be what drives, moves and directs us. In Genesis 1:26, scriptures tell us that God created us in image and likeness.
Yes our tendency may be to act according to our genetic influence, but just know because we were shaped and molded in the image and likeness of God by God in us we store all that pleases him. We just have to be intentional about letting the godliness that dwells in us prevail.
Impatience was a characteristic of my dad’s that was a struggle and a blessing because of how he used it. From the outside looking in, my dad's lack of patience made him sometimes come off as cold, or disruptive.
However, at the same time his lack of patience made him one who was very respectful of time, and one you could certainly count on being where he said he would be at the time he said he would be.
We live in a day and time were everyone wants to be popular, where "likes" have become accolades we have become addicted to.
But as children of God, if everything you stand for and stand against, everything you say, everything you do is liked and boasted by the masses you are likely not living according the the mandate of God, nor are you likely fulifilling His ordained purpose for your life.
As Children of God we are not ordained to complained, nor were we created to be people-pleasers. We were created with purpose to be God-pleasers, to walk in dominion, to bring solutions to problems, and functionality to dysfunction.
Imagine the joy we bring God when He is able to look at us, His children and know that the world hates us for all the right reasons.
Listen to the universe, did you notice the question mark. Why would anyone spew those words? What a bunch of malarkey. I heard someone say this the other day and I began to think, “OK, what is this person’s game, what deceptions are they about to present or what sin are they seeking to validate?
I know some want to credit the cosmos, astrology, and other mythical ideologies. So the words “listen to the universe'' validate these perspectives. But Why would anyone set out to listen to the universe instead of the Creator of the universe? Everything God created has the ability to be fallible, will endure change and is open to manipulation.
Think about it even animals whose intelligence is lower than that of a human can be manipulated or trained, even bribed. The only reason one would opt to listen and take the advice from a peasant when they have access to the King is because what they have to bring doesn't represent royalty and because they know it doesn’t meet the standards of the King.
Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Why listen to the universe which has been manipulated, corrupted, violated and endured changes all do the violation of man. Why not commit to listening to God who is the Creator of all things who has no beginning and no end, who knows all, sees all and is unchanging.
As I listened to this person spew the words “listen to the universe”, their reasoning for these words were clear, they were comfortable in their sin. And what is even more astounding is they know their sin to be sin.
How can we be sure? Because it is clear they believe in a higher power but they can’t or won’t embrace God Almighty because He won’t embrace their sin and they are more committed to their sin than their soul salvation. So committed they would rather listen to what will validate, encourage and even applaud their sin.
You know truth has a way of making us uncomfortable, truth won’t bow down to our likes and dislikes, it will stand against all lies, all manipulation, and it will stand the test of time. When seeking counsel if you are just looking for validation that is not counsel, that is not advice, that is not a longing for truth.
Recently someone asked me about Matthew 5:48 which reads “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”. The question that was asked was how can God who knows that we are flawed creatures put such a demand on us?
Let me explain to you this way God is the ultimate parent, there is not one greater. What parent would push and motivate their child, by letting them know mediocre is enough. No, we push our children to be their absolute best, to go for the best, to be conquerors, if they fall down we say get back up, if they fail at something we say if that is what you want go for it.
Be ye therefore perfect, is God’s parental push, with perfect being the goal. Just imagine if God said, ‘I know you will never be perfect, just do the best you can, just limit your sins to no more than 6 a day.
Well, just like our children, if God were to set such low expectations, we would consider ourselves good if we only sinned 5 days and then have the audacity to try to figure out if we can carry over our unused sin to the next day.
God wants the best for us, and expects the best from us…. His grace and mercy is there for us when we mess up, but our focus should be on be on being the absolute best,
I want to read to you a collaboration of scriptures to give you a clearer perspective:
Gen 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion…..over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. .”
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through [a]Christ who strengthens me.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”
Because of the image of who we were created, because God has mandated that we can do all things through Christ and then explained to us that whatever we do should be done as glory unto Him. It's clear we are to operate with a spirit of excellence at all times, striving for perfection, never be comfortable with mediocrity.
All God wants from us is our absolute best. And striving for perfection in the eyes of God is bigger than us because when we strive for godly perfection, perfection is not measured by dollars or cents, speed, height, grades or any other systems or voices of validation spearheaded by mankind.
When you strive for godly perfection, you become infectious, you turn heads, you will get questions asking about your level of commitment when the circumstances seem less than acceptable, when the people around you seem to be arrogant, self-centered and full of greed. When the questions come…. The door opens for you to tell them about the God you serve.
God’s definition of “perfect” is an attitude of excellence, an attitude of putting your all in everything you commit to do.
I was watching a news segment the other morning and it was talking about the outbreak of violence in our school systems. Now these incidents are newsworthy because they are fist fights, but the school board representative said they are seeing more discord amongst our children than ever before. He went on to say the name-calling and lack of mutual respect is also at an all time high.
They contributed some of this behavior to the pandemic, with the lack of socialization during lock down, civic unrest, and economic fall out. But the number one cause they say they can contribute to this rise of discord amongst our children is due them watching and imitating the adults they see on television, shows, social media, the news, in their neighborhoods and yes in some cases even in their homes.
Our children are watching us, our children are imitating us. Everywhere they turn they see people engaging in slander, and name calling, on the reality shows, in public places, on social media, between our politicians.
Civic conversations have been dismissed from our norms, we can’t disagree without slander and physical threat of an uproar and our children are watching. But what concerns me even more is that most of our children are witnessing all of this chaos without a filter rooted in godliness.
I titled this sermon this morning, Ask the children?
Because as much as we may engage with our children, if we are not teaching them about God, prayer and faith, we are not adequately preparing them for their future in this world.
Ask your children, your grandchildren? Who is God, How does he relate to Jesus, what is the bible, why do we pray, what is faith.
Some of you may be thinking well my child is too young. If they can talk and comprehend they are not too young for you to start teaching them about God, to pray with them, to lay a foundation of faith. I know it's considered old school now, but it's time we recognized old school needs to be revised and made, “new school” but there was a time when Children’s Sunday school existed and from ages 3 up you were in Sunday school. There was a time when there was vacation Bible School. (I am not suggesting anyone go to church as much as I did growing up….)
But what I am suggesting is that parents, grandparents and guardians set the tone for God in their home that engages and teaches our children about God and His Word. As adults we engage in church, dial into the prayer line, attend conferences, but we allow days, weeks, and months to go by without tapping in with our children about God.
Proverbs 22:6 reads “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Father God in the name of your son Jesus, we give you honor and praise first and foremost for waking us up this morning, for granting us another day, not because we are so deserving, but because you are so merciful.
Lord today all around the globe people are celebrating and honoring mothers. Lord, we come before your throne, today to say thank you.
Lord, we thank you not just for the mothers who bore a child from their womb, we thank you and also give honor to those who have exalted the spirit of mothering.
Lord, we thank you for …. and honor grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, aunties, godmothers, and those who may not have been natural mothers, but who YOU by YOUR divine design put in place to sacrifice the time, energy and effort to mother and nurture us.
And to every mother, and everyone with a mothering spirit, we honor you today for the sacrifices you have made, for the late nights you have spent rocking and calming a sick child. Thank you for the times you remained committed to your call and never stopped cooking, teaching, washing, wiping, scrubbing, mixing, stirring, hugging, patting, disciplining, holding, writing, erasing, painting, and pouring. We thank you for finding patience when it seemed your patience had run out.
Lord, we thank you and honor our mothers for their wisdom, for without their wisdom many of us would not know you .
Lord, We thank you and honor our mothers for their words, words that will forever resonate in our minds and hearts,
And yes Lord we thank you and honor our mothers for their even for their discipline. for without their discipline many of us would not have made this far.
Lord God as we exalt gratitude for our mothers, we bow to your throne in recognition that your son Jesus, became human through a woman, through the mother of all mothers.
Lord it is our prayer that all mothers and every mothering spirit stand with the same courage Mary did, trusting in you when faced with the uncertainty the life of every child brings.
Let every mother, oh God …. find joy and delight in their children, as they remain diligently committed to their godly assignment through the trials of motherhood
Lord God in the name of your son we ask that you strengthen mothers, guide them, direct them, hold their hand, speak to their hearts, let each one draw closer to you, let each one lean on you for understanding, let each one embrace your word as their standard as they shape, mold, and teach our next generation of leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs educators, politicians, parents, elders, missionaries, and pastors.
Lord, give each mother a worshipful reverence of you, the Creator and Sustainer of life. Help each mother to rest in the knowledge that they are but stewards of your children and that only your Spirit can produce change in the hearts and minds of each boy and girl. May each mother find rest in you.
As we honor mothers today, we give God the glory, and we give God our praise. Amen Amen and Amen.
For Believers, praying is supposed to be like breathing, for prayer is a form of serving God. We pray because God commands us to pray (Philippians 4:6-7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving).
Some say all that sounds all nice and fluffy, but I pray and it seems I still can’t get a break. I can’t see where my prayers have significantly made a major difference in my life.
Many of us exalt our prayers as directives upon which we give to God. God is the Almighty we are called to worship and serve Him.
God is the omniscient one, the one who knows all, but we often pray as if we know it all and God is just the genie who is supposed to listen to our request and magically work things out according to what we deem as good and pleasing.
And when things don’t work out according to our standards then we dismiss our prayers as being unanswered. When in fact every prayer ever prayed has been answered. God loves us too much to ignore us.
Sometimes the answer to our prayer is yes, sometimes it's no, and then other times it is wait, not now.
We, like spoiled children, only want to hear a “yes” from God. When His no is oftentimes a means of protecting us and His “wait, not now” is due to a timing issue.
God sometimes wants us to work something out in or around us to better prepare us for what we are praying to Him for.
We have to stop throwing tantrums when we don’t get what we want from God the way we want it, and humble ourselves and go back to Him for clarification and directives.
James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions”.
There are 3 fundamental principles that we need to consistently allow to guide us concerning prayer: 1. Humility 2. Faith 3. Action.
1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,”
What does humility concerning prayer really look like? First and foremost, humility acknowledges God in all His glory with all His power. Humility approaches the throne of God shutting down any residue of pride, understanding that prayer is not a right it is a gift.
A gift, not earned! For none of us is worthy to enter into the presence of God.
This morning I am going to piggy-back off of yesterday’s message concerning Jesus as the Son of Man. This morning I am going to answer the question, if God said no one shall see my face and live, then how then was Jesus God?
If you turn to Exodus 33:11 you will find this scripture tells us that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face. Seems a little contradictory doesn’t it? How could Moses speak with God “face to face” if no one can see God’s face and live?
Well the phrase “face to face” is a figure of speech indicating God and Moses were speaking to each having a close and in depth conversation. The reason we know that this was just a figure of speech is because if we backtrack a bit and start reading at Exodus 33:19 the scripture reads:
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
So you see God was responding to Moses' request when he said “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live”, which confirms that the words, “face to face” was a figure of speech.
IF Moses had actually been face to face with God and seen His face, his request of God would have been different and certainly God’s response would have been different.
Our humanity leads us to crave for the physical and the visual, as it is our nature to find ease in trusting what we can see, feel and touch. 2 Cor 4:16-18 gives us a perspective as to what our minds should be fixated on as it reads:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
What the scripture is essentially telling us is don't be so consumed with what we see because all we can see, feel and touch is temporary, but it is the unseen, which is God that is eternal.
From the beginning of human existence, going back to the Garden of Eden, we have allowed what we can see to distract us from the very mandates of God.
We take the words, “see and sight” to be strictly physical, but God Almighty does not look at our external but he looks inward. His measure of seeing and sight goes beyond the physical.
Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man” 88 times in the New Testament. In fact, Son of Man is the primary title Jesus used when referring to Himself.
The only use of Son of Man in a clear reference to Jesus, spoken by someone other than Jesus, came from the lips of Stephen as he prophesied about the ascension of Jesus just as he was about to be stoned to death. Acts 7: 55- 56 reads “ But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
The term Son of Man, in contrast, focuses on the humanity of Christ. God called the prophet Ezekiel “son of man” 93 times. But why was he referred to as the son of man.
The first time Ezekiel is referred to as “son of man” is in Ezekiel 2:1 “He said to me, “Son of man,[a] stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.” As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
Per the scriptures it is clear God had a special relationship with Ezekiel. Ezekiel’s very name means “strengthened by God,” so God’s reference to Ezekiel as “son of man” despite their very special relationship to remind him of the importance of humility in His sight.
And not just him but to also keep people from idolizing him as we do today, putting those who have been strengthened or anointed by God on a pedestal. The term Son of man is simply an indirect term for “human.”
Now if you pay close attention as you turn in your bible to the book of Ezekiel, if you turn to scriptures referring to Ezekiel as son of man, notice the difference in the emphasis. The references to Ezekiel as son of man all the lettering is in lowercase letters, unless the word “son” begins a sentence, but any reference to Jesus as the Son of Man shows a capital S and capital M.
Is that a big deal, it absolutely positively is a big deal. Just as there is a big difference in capital G od and lowercase g o d. We know capital G o d references the Almighty, the Creator of all things, while lowercase g o d, represents idolatry, and ungodliness. Son of man with capital S and M references bears witness to Jesus’ equality to the God Almighty, while the all lowercase lettering references humanity alone.
Also take note that when Ezekiel is referred to as “son of man” there is never a “the” preceding the reference but when reference is made concerning Jesus he is referred to as The. That “the” indicates exclusivity concerning this title.
I want to talk to you this morning about change, because as children of the Most High stagnancy is not an option.
We sometimes become stagnant in our ways because we resist change, we get comfortable with and in our lives. We have devised dreams and goals and when we have just about gotten to the point where we are realizing our dreams or reaching our goals, change presents itself and we become hard pressed to resist every aspect of it.
See change has a way of disrupting our norms, sometimes even leveling us back to ground zero. Change sometimes costs us time, money, status, and influence. But change is an essential component of life.
In 1 Samuel 10 Samuel Anoints Saul and he gives an account of what Saul can expect and how the spirit of the Lord will come upon him. In verse 6 the scripture reads, “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”
The scripture continues in verse 7 with Samuel telling Saul that moving forward to do whatever his hand finds to do, for God is with you. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you have invited the Holy Spirit into your heart and it has accepted your invitation, there is no way you can move forward governed by the Holy Spirit and not be willing to embrace change, for you are a living example of change. A living example of transformation.
To embark on a God-sized assignment you have to be willing to consistently adapt to change, sometimes at a moment's notice, because like Joshua there may come a time when God calls you to finish the assignment of another, which will require you to change your plans, your mindset, and your direction.
Joshua is best known as Moses’ second in command who takes over and leads the Israelites into the Promised Land after Moses’ death. In Joshua 3:7 “And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.
Joshua went down in history as the one who escorted the Israelites into the Promised Land because when circumstances beyond his control presented themselves, he was able to adapt and didn’t shun change.
Life is all about change, growth, sunny days, cloudy days, and yes even rainy days, with yesterday looking different than the day before and tomorrow requiring something different from us than today.
One’s inability to embrace positive change, stops growth, and halts God’s ordained purpose. An inability to embrace change is a crippling handicap that labels one as stagnant.
Think of it this way, we know water is absolutely indispensable for human life, but at the same time all water will not sustain life. Stagnant water can compromise the quality of life and even kill. A state of stagnancy goes against the very principle of life.
There are many misconceptions about the identity of the Holy Spirit. Some view the Holy Spirit as this mystical unexplainable force.
Some want to challenge that the Holy Spirit is a power source similar to electricity for lack of a better word, that gives you a tingling controlled by God but not fully a being Himself. Then others want to suggest the Holy Spirit is just another name for Jesus, in spirit form.
Neither of these ideas line up with what the Bible actually says about the Holy Spirit. The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as an entity within itself, a being who has been present with the Father and the Son since before time began.
The fact that the Holy Spirit is God is clearly seen in many Scriptures, including Acts 5:3-4. In this verse Peter confronts Ananias as to why he lied to the Holy Spirit and tells him that he had “not lied to men but to God.” It is a clear declaration that lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God.
And then in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11, we see the omniscience characteristic of the Holy Spirit as it identifies the Holy Spirit as connected to God but clearly separate. “But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
The Holy Spirit is indeed a divine being because it alone possesses a mind, emotions, and a will. The Holy Spirit thinks and knows. The Holy Spirit can be grieved. And last but certainly not least The Spirit intercedes for us.
And to the skeptics I say, if what dwells in me that keeps me from going off the deep end, that bridles my tongue, and keeps me from reacting unseemingly to the people and turmoil in this world, if it is not the Holy Spirit, then tell me what is this? Because whatever it is it sure keeps me, comforts me and has befriended me.
In the corridor of a hospital there are four medical interns, embarking on their first day walking and talking to each other excited about their medical careers, they had been planning since childhood.
As they got closer to the cafeteria where they were heading for lunch they could see a body stretched out on the floor, as they quickly approached the body, it was clear… It was a man and this man was bleeding profusely.
The interns were not sure what they should do, they began screaming for help, and in between the screaming, the questions began to flare, who is this man, where did he come from, how did he get injured. Afraid to touch or do anything for fear of doing the wrong thing the questions and screams continue.
Finally a doctor of 35 years turns the corner and runs to the scene and immediately he begins to give the interns directives and he proclaims, “we have to stop the bleeding”
We are living in a time where dysfunctions among people are out of control, leaders have become manipulators, political agendas have become personal platforms, and believers are blending in and craving the same things as the world, instead of being the light they were called to be in darkness.
We are wounded people from city to city, state to state, country to country. Our disconnect from the righteousness of God is the real pandemic with wounded people everywhere, some even unaware of their wounds, yet they are bleeding out. We as a people around the globe have got to stop the bleeding.
The bleeding and the wounds I am speaking of are not physical. I am talking about the bleeding that comes from the wounds of our habitual blaming, shaming, exaltation of pride, greed, selfishness, evil, ungodly desires of the flesh, and idol worship. We as a people have become comfortable with prioritizing money, material things and social status above the things of God.
In the Book of Jeremiah it records the final prophecies to Judah, warning of oncoming destruction if the nation did not repent. Jeremiah calls out for the nation to turn back to God. He recognizes that the destruction of Judah’s is inevitable without repentance for their ways and mindset rooted idolatry and immorality.
See, after the death of King Josiah, the last righteous king, the nation of Judah had almost completely abandoned God and His commandments. Jeremiah compares Judah to a prostitute.
We have become so carnal in our processing of words and their meaning til we hear the word “prostitute” and it rolls off us like water on a ducks back. But in biblical times there was no lower way to earn a living. A prostitute was considered untrustworthy, manipulative, self-serving, unable to maintain any loyalty to anyone, with everything they had able to be negotiated for, with no holds barred.
Jeremiah compared Judah to a prostitute because the majority of the people had adopted the characteristics of prostitute, where as long as their fleshly desires, be it physical or monetary were being met everything was negotiable including their very souls.
Sound familiar? Look at our nation, the culture in which we live, from country to country around the globe, what is the prominent and determining factor in the minds of many, self-centered gratification and greed.
There are so many who profess to be looking for love. I am here to tell you this morning many of you are looking in the wrong places and for the wrong things.
I get prayer requests weekly from men and women asking me to pray for them to find their soulmate.
We have to be mindful that God wants the absolute best for us and with that in mind …. understand….His will and His way is the absolute best.
When it comes to THE CHARACTER of man and woman God is very clear as to what their character should look like.
In Proverbs 17:19 The bible speaks of how when you look on water you can see the reflection of your face, and speaks of how you can look at the heart of a man and discern the man.
Ladies, I am going to talk to you first for a moment. Ladies, Take the time to learn and know a man’s heart before you allow yourselves to be charmed by all of his other attributes.
It doesn’t matter how much money he has, his fine clothes, his swag or let’s just be real or even the size of his endowment if heart is absent of character, if his heart does not seek to obey and revere the Lord.
If a man’s heart is tainted, everything else he has going on is useless, and I can assure you it will be just a matter of time before you reach that conclusion.
I think women get caught up in looking for the wrong thing in men because they have lost sight of a man’s primary responsibilities. The word of God calls man to be the ministerial steward over his household, meaning the man of the house should believe, exalt, study the Word of God and set the standards for the household according to will and ways of Christ Jesus, not look to rule but to lead and guide.
A man is assigned the role of the head, the leader, the director, the protector, not domineering, but showing love, patience and humility.
Women tend to struggle with the word submission, because very few of us have ever seen a man walking, talking and living according to the will and ways of God, allowing God and only God to order his steps.
Don’t be fooled, a real man is a godly man and is mandated to usher the woman he loves into the presence of the Lord.
But as a woman, as a lady you have to set your heart on more than what you can see and touch.
And men, your heart thirst for a virtuous woman, as outlined in Proverbs 31 which describes such a woman as one worth far more than rubies with a heart that longs for God and one that her man can trust.
I say the same thing to you that I have said to the women, focus on the heart of a woman. Her curvaceous figure may be what caught your attention, but it should be her heart that captivates your interest.
Take the time to learn and know a woman’s heart, don’t profess to want a virtuous woman, which is who reveres god, but when you look into her eyes all you can imagine is ungodly pleasures.
Be who God has called you to be as a man, as a mate as husband, you have been charged to love a woman with the same heart Jesus had for the church.
To those looking for real relationships that are solid and good, revamp your standards, expand your patience, and do more searching with your ears than your eyes. In Matthew 12 the scriptures tell us from the mouth speaks the heart.
I pray these two songs minister to the heart and soul of women and men seeking what God has for them in the arena of relationships. Be blessed..
Proverbs 22:1 "A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank.
No one wants to hear the words of someone who has a reputation of being a liar.
No one wants to be around someone who has a reputation of being arrogant.
And no one wants to share their ideas with someone who has a reputation for finding fault in everything.
One's reputation sets a stage for how they are received and perceived by others.
One's reputation also positions to be blessed in ways unimaginable, as people go above and beyond for those with a good reputation.
Those with good reputations receive recommendations, favor, support, and accolades, they are taken more seriously than most, and granted grace more than most.
The reason the scripture says reputation is better than money in the bank is because money can buy you things at cost, and yes there are times when good deals come along,
But one’s good reputation gives THEM access to things not for sale, like respect, sincere friendships, doors of opportunity,and unlimited leverage at the most opportune times.
Guard your reputation, work on consistently improving yourself, how you communicate and how show up for others, even those you think whose thoughts don’t matter.
Establish a reputation of keeping your word, a reputation for helping the helpless, giving to those in need, encouraging those who have lost hope.
I am thankful we serve a God with such a good reputation, He is a promise keeping God, a God who shows up when no one else will, one who never fails
I encourage you this morning to Invest in the wealth of your very being…. the interest earned is greater than anyTHING money can buy
First understand Jesus was born for the sole purpose of being the ultimate sacrifice as payment of our sin debt and affirming our inheritance.
Jesus lived a sinless life as part of inheritance, that we may have access to untainted wisdom 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Because of the wisdom of Jesus Christ, we with our imperfect self, we who have fallen short of the glory of God can impact the world, can shift a culture, can walk in dominion if we recognize and embrace the wisdom we have access to through our godly inheritance.
Jesus faced every challenge we face; ridicule, satanic temptation, false accusations, ill gotten intention presented to him, the list goes on and on, but he held firm on the Word of God so he could provide us as part of our inheritance a living example of righteousness.
How we live our lives now whether we realize it or not we are setting up an inheritance for our children and children’s children based on the examples we live out. Children pay more attention to what you do, how you act and react than what you say.
Jesus after imparting wisdom, and being a living example of righteousness, told us that upon His death he would send us a helper, The Holy Spirit, to remind us of the wisdom he provided, and of how he faced adversity with godliness. John 14
Then Jesus as part of our inheritance He put us on the board of The Kingdom of God Inc., so that we can go about the business of God and building the Kingdom. Everything up to now are tools to effectively complete the assignment of building the Kingdom of God.
Jesus provided access to the wisdom needed, set the example, and provided us with help we needed. Matthew 4:18-20. These men were fishing using ordinary means of getting the job done, until Jesus came and when they began to follow them they embraced a whole new type of fishing.
As we approach the celebration of the resurrection, I thought it only befitting that I collaborate all the promises of Jesus Christ as outlined in New Testament scripture. Collectively we declare them as the last will and testament of Jesus The Christ.
If any of you have ever been included in someone’s will, it is a honor, as it is evidence that the person loved you enough to look after you beyond their death and Jesus although He knew there was no grave that could hold him still included us in His last will and testament and when He rose, our inheritance remained in tact.
On this day I read to you The Last Will and testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Son of God make this my last will and testament.
I give to you an inheritance that will last forever. It has been reserved for you from my Father, the Almighty God, the Creator of the universe.
I give you access to the Holy Spirit, who will comfort, guide and direct your path if you only receive it.
I give you access to every spiritual blessing in heavenly places,
I give you access to the free gift of salvation through faith,
I give you access to the forgiveness of all your sins,
I give you access to the peace that passes all understanding.
I give you access to joy unspeakable and full of glory.
I crown you with access to loving kindness and mercy.
I give you access to blessings that will exceed anything you could ask or think.
I give you access to wisdom
I give clothe you in strength and honor
I give you unlimited access to the greatest gift you’ll ever know, my love, a love so deep it caused me to give my life for your sins.
In addition to all these blessings, I give you access to a mansion where you can live out eternity. This mansion is a place where you will shed no more tears, where death will be no more, sorrow will not exist, no more pain, no evil, for the throne of God will be there, and the greatest of all, you will see me face to face.
I also give you access to a treasure worth more than silver and gold, the Sacred Scriptures which is filled with undeniable wisdom, and unchangeable principles and standards on how to use the riches of your inheritance.
All these blessings are yours for the taking, when you believe that I am the Son of the Living God and receive me as Savior and Lord.
I beseech you all to spread the Gospel,
share what I accomplished on earth and done in your life to all.
And in all you do be intentional about loving God Our Father, with all your heart,
Obey His commands, for with obedience comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes the ability to walk in dominion.
Don’t mourn by death, for I was born to be the ultimate sacrifice, so you could live abundantly on earth and in eternity.
So celebrate and make me proud.
All my love, Jesus the Christ
This morning let’s listen to a profound message from Wisdom.
I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity;
Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-God means hating Evil,
whose ways I hate with a passion—
pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics;
I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.
With my help, leaders rule,
and lawmakers legislate fairly;
With my help, governors govern,
along with all in legitimate authority.
I love those who love me;
those who look for me find me.
Wealth and Glory accompany me—
also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary;
the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.
You can find me on Righteous Road—that’s where I walk—
at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
Handing out life to those who love me,
filling their arms with life—armloads of life!
22-31
“God sovereignly made me—the first, the basic—
before he did anything else.
I was brought into being a long time ago,
well before Earth got its start.
I arrived on the scene before Ocean,
yes, even before Springs and Rivers and Lakes.
Before Mountains were sculpted and Hills took shape,
I was already there, newborn;
Long before God stretched out Earth’s Horizons,
and tended to the minute details of Soil and Weather,
And set Sky firmly in place,
I was there.
When he mapped and gave borders to wild Ocean,
built the vast vault of Heaven,
and installed the fountains that fed Ocean,
When he drew a boundary for Sea,
posted a sign that said no trespassing,
And then staked out Earth’s Foundations,
I was right there with him, making sure everything fit.
Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause,
always enjoying his company,
Delighted with the world of things and creatures,
happily celebrating the human family.
32-36
“So, my dear friends, listen carefully;
those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;
don’t squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
awake and ready for me each morning,
alert and responsive as I start my day’s work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
to say nothing of God’s good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;
when you reject me, you’re flirting with death.”
I have just read to you the Message translation of Proverbs 8:22-36. This morning I urge you to walk in wisdom, talk with wisdom, let your path be guided by wisdom. Godly wisdom is a strength like no other. REMEMBER.
This morning I am going to be ministering to myself. I encourage you to “listen in” as I am sure this message will bless the souls of many.
I have been dealing with several situations simultaneously and if I were to be perfectly honest, if I had my way these situations would have been settled long ago.
I had to re-adjust my mindset, challenge my faith and remind myself of the God I serve and the fact that in Jeremiah 29:11 he says.For I know the plans I have for you,”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Yes, even I, the pastor, the biblical scholar had to readjust my thinking, check my faith and remind myself of who I have committed and submitted my life to. Sometimes we have to check ourselves and reel something back in.
Because as humans it is our nature to yield to our own understanding, to act and react according to our feelings, and according to what we have deemed best. I am here this morning to tell you ….but God.
As we continue with our study of the book of Proverbs in this month of Wisdom there are 3 passages I want to address this morning.
The first being Proverbs 19:2 as it reads, “desire without knowledge is not good and whoever makes hast with his feet misses his way.
The message this verse is conveying addresses how sometimes, we without understanding choose to react according to our feelings, instead of exalting patience and getting an understanding.
If you don’t embrace anything else this morning, embrace this… when we operate with a spirit of patience, God will give us understanding.
Proverbs 29:20 asks, do you see a man who is hasty in his words? The scripture goes on to say there is more hope for a fool then for him. In essence the scripture is letting us know that it is not wise to speak quickly, without understanding, without listening, without thinking about the consequences and ramifications of our words.
We tend to lose patience if we have to wait for anything that inconveniences our plans. Our lack of patience prompts us to react and speak sometimes too quickly. God is saying this kind of persona is lower than that of a fool.
.Too many of us are seeking quick fixes to life’s challenges which is why our dismissive attitudes have plagued humanity like a disease eating at the very core of our being. We have become quick to dismiss and disassociate ourselves from people because they made a mistake, as if we in our imperfect state can realistically maintain such audacity.
It is our lack of patience that encourages arrogance and annihilates our ability to extend to one another grace and mercy.
And let’s not forget those who seek wealth without sacrifice, who want to start out on top and it's their impatience regarding building something sustainable that causes many to be deceptive, manipulative, fraudulent and practice all kinds of thievery.
Proverbs 13:11 reads, “wealth gained hastily will dwindle but whoever gathers little by little will continue in increasing in wealth”.
Patience is not easy by no means, I am a witness, but God never promised us His way was the easiest path, what He did promise us was that He would never leave us alone. So with that promise, we can comfortably put our trust in God and choose the path of patience.
I have been recently plagued with questions about spiritual warfare, people who have reason to believe they are under attack and then hearing all kinds of ways some say we should deal with spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare is definitely real, however, what concerns me and vexes my spirit is it has also become a catchphrase amongst believers, to the point where I worry about the reality of it has been so taken out of context that we have discredited how we should fight when actually on the battlefield, warring for our souls. If you are not prepared and properly equipped and take a knife to a gun fight, you will lose.
This is what we need to understand about spiritual warfare, it didn’t just start in your lives, the day you were born ignited a war. Please understand that our souls are the most valuable asset of our being.
And should be protected at all costs, and the best way to insure protection is to heed to the Word of God. Everything God has instructed us not to do, declared a sin or an abomination has been done to protect our soul and to preserve our very being for His Kingdom.
Every sin, every violation to the Word of God, the moment we get comfortable in our sin, Satan comes off the sidelines of the battlefield in the war ignited upon our birth and begins live combat. It. The sins we wallow in, the ungodly things we allow to consume us, and allow ourselves to be comfortable with are gateways and open invitations for Satan to come after our very souls and the weapons he uses we have issued him licenses to use.
Satan wants your spirit, your character, your integrity, your confidence, your rest, your peace, and your faith. Don’t be deceived, Satan isn’t after your stuff.
Please know this message ON THIS PALM SUNDAY was not exalted to condemn, judge or violate your right to utilize your free-will only to deliver the Word of God. My assignment is equivalent to that of the pizza delivery person, all I am required to do to reap my reward is deliver the pizza, not judge, comment or come to any conclusions regarding whether you eat the pizza, or feed it to the dog.
But here’s the breadstick that comes free with that pizza, what you need to know is the righteousness, mandates and commands of God will never be impacted by your choices.
God is never moved by popular opinion, nor our actions or reactions to His Word. With all the divine gifts, His grace and His mercy, the one thing He has never given man is the privilege of defining righteousness.
I want to close with the reading of the Message translation of Hebrews 6:4-8. “Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us—if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if nothing happened. That’s impossible. Why, they’ve re-crucified Jesus! They’ve repudiated him in public!”
When we exalt any celebration to honor the birth , life, death or resurrection of Jesus Christ without repenting for our sins and moving forward with a desire to strengthen our relationship with God then we have mocked God, the birth, life and the sacrifice of His Son.
Palm Sunday should be about remembering what Jesus willing sacrificed for us, about how even knowing his fate on the cross, he never stopped teaching the Word of God, and never stopped trying to be that light that would guide the people into the embrace of the Kingdom of God.
What you just heard was a excerpt from Wednesday Nights Bible study and the reading Living Bible translation of Proverbs 11. This verse focuses on our character and how we are to conduct ourselves in business.We live in a world that makes up its own rules concerning both what is acceptable character and how business should be handled and both is often measured by the profitability of incidents.
When the verse speaks of “proud men”, please note the biblical definition of “pride” is unwarranted confidence in and attention to one’s own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position. Pride is often easier to recognize than to define, and always easier to recognize in others than in oneself.
The scripture tells us that proud men end in shame, as pride is rebellion against God. Proud persons do not think it necessary to ask forgiveness because they often are too arrogant to admit their wrongs to others or even their sins to God.
Honesty, falls contrary to pride as it is noble, dignified and exalted in humility. As believers we are charged to uphold honesty. Those who operate in a prideful manner are likely to be found a person who does not uphold godly principles and justify cheating.
Don’t be deceived, the prideful have a tendency to gain wealth, but scripture is clear “riches won’t help you on Judgment Day; only righteousness counts then”.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths."
We are told, positively, to trust the Lord and, negatively, not to trust our own understanding. Those two things are mutually exclusive. In other words, if we trust in the Lord, we cannot also depend upon our own ability to understand everything God is doing.
Most of us have a desperate desire to understand, but in so many areas we must acknowledge that we cannot understand. We must approve of God’s ways, even when we can’t comprehend them. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us why we often don’t understand what God is doing: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
God sees the whole picture, while we only see our tiny corner of it. To trust in the Lord with all our heart means we can’t place our own right to understand above His right to direct our lives the way He sees fit. When we insist that we must understand what God is doing for us to embrace or go along with it we are setting ourselves up for spiritual, emotional, financial and physical trouble.
Our limited understanding can easily lead us astray. Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." When we choose to direct our lives according to what seems right to us, we often reap disaster (Judges 21:25). Every culture has tried to get God to approve of its definition of right and wrong, but God never changes and His standards never change
This morning I want to talk to you about King Solomon. Solomon was declared as the wisest man that has ever lived. God asked him to ask for what he desired and he asked for wisdom.
1 Kings 3:11-14. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
I have to share a disclaimer with you about King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, who allowed himself to be pulled and swayed to walk in disobedience to God. You see Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, which many Kings did in biblical times, despite God mandate concerning marriage, adultery and sexual immorality.
And to add insult to injury many of his wives believed in different gods and led him into public idolatry and this greatly angered God because Soloman’s heart had turned away from Him, as He haad forbidden Solomon to follow other gods.
The consequence for Solomon not keeping the LORD’s command, was steep as God told Solomon that he would remove the kingdom from him.
I wanted to share the details of all of Solomon’s reign from being humble enough to know and desire wisdom, to being imperfect enough, and flesh driven to blatantly disobey the command of God with all his wisdom intact.
You have people who would discount Solomon's wisdom declaring that because he took the road of disobedience he could not be that wise. When that is so far from the truth. We have become a society of people who would embrace cancel culture, who dismiss truth when it is not delivered in a manner we deem suitable when the fact is truth is truth, regardless of how it comes, or if it gains any popularity.
Matthew 23:1-3 reads Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
This morning I want to talk to you briefly about the need and power of friendship.
Have you ever hear someone say “I don’t need anybody” - “I don’t care what anybody thinks'' - that is a person you should pity, a person who needs to be prayed for.
First and foremost pray that that person stumbles on some wisdom because they have no clue even about the nature of God’s creation, because nothing God created can exist on its own.
If truth be told independence is an illusion which is why the bible never speaks of independence, freedom yes but independence, no because it is an impossible feat amongst human beings. God Himself is the only being that is self-existent.
And then another reason to pray for someone with this attitude is to sincerely not care what anyone thinks, to live life feeling you are unaccountable to anyone is not a merit of honor, it shows either one’s inability to love or no one they feel love them or they can trust to love.. 1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love and for this reason alone let’s us know anyone with this mindset truly needs our prayers.
Jonathan and David (1 Samuel 18-20)
One of the most famous stories about friendship in the Bible is the story of Jonathan and David . Saul was the first king of Israel and Jonathan was his son. Jonathan would have been the next king in Israel, but his father Saul had disobeyed God to the point of having the kingdom taken away from him. God had already chosen David to be the next king of Israel.
Even though Jonathan knew that David would be the next king, he befriended the young man. Jonathan was willing to trust God’s decision in the choice of the next king, while accepting that this meant Jonathan would never be king.
Saul tried to kill David but Jonathan helped him escape. When it was clear that King Saul would not allow David to live, Jonathan put himself at risk to protect David. Jonathan confronted Saul concerning David at which time Saul’s anger was turned toward Jonathan.
If listening to this story left you thinking how great a friend Jonathan was to David, you missed 2 very crucial points.
- Jonathan made friends with David’s because he chose to protect what God ordained. In order to be a real friend you have to respect the other person, see potential in them, and prayerfully know they have the hand of God on them and they are submitted to his will in their life.
- Jonathan was more committed to God and righteousness than he was with a desire to be the heir to the throne. Because Jonathan trusted God, David could trust him.
So times we are too quick to claim one a friend when they may just be an associate, no more no less. Those you call friends, can you trust them?
And if you do what is that trust built on, because how long you’ve known someone is oftentimes not enough, trust should always be built on integrity and based on who they trust.
If they are a liar, then trust they will eventually lie to you. I had an incident recently where someone stopped speaking to me because I wouldn’t lie to them and when the very thing they wanted to lie for went south, they came to their senses.
When you, like Johnathan trust God first, you stand on principle, I am not going to lie for you, on you or to you. A real friend rather than agree to lie for you, they will help you come up with an alternative solution. Be careful of those who are quick to lie for you, because those same one’s it will not take to much persuasion for them to lie on you and to you
Prayer is an important part of the Christian life. It is the way we communicate with the Lord and praise Him. To understand the purpose of prayer, it is important to first understand what prayer is not. There are many wrong views in the world and culture about prayer, even among Christians, and these should be addressed first. Prayer is not
• bargaining with God.
• making demands of God.
• only asking God for things.
• a therapeutic, meditation-type exercise.
• bothering God and taking up His time.
• a way to control the Lord.
• a way to show off one’s spirituality before others.
Ultimately, the main purpose of prayer is worship. When we pray to the Lord, recognizing Him for who He is and what He has done, it is an act of worship. There are many examples of prayer being an act of worship in the Bible, including 2 Kings 19:15, 1 Chronicles 17:20, Psalm 86:12–13, John 12:28, and Romans 11:33–36. How we pray should reflect this purpose; our focus should be on who God is, not on ourselves.
Interestingly, the model of prayer that Jesus gave the disciples in Matthew 6:9–13, known as the Lord’s Prayer, has all these elements. The first part includes praise and worship of God (Matthew 6:9), and then the second part moves on to praying for God’s will to be done (Matthew 6:10). After this, there is supplication for ourselves and others (Matthew 6:11–12), as well as asking for strength to deal with temptation (Matthew 6:13). Jesus modeled this prayer for His disciples, and it shows all the reasons for prayer with the central focus of worship.
You know I think we oftentimes we forget or take for granted who we are as creations of God. Let's start with the mind of mankind. Our brain is different from any other mammal as God has given us the ability to reason, process languages, the awareness of self and we have a conscience.
And we have the awesome power to be able to use our brains to create music, stories, lyrics, curriculum, art, architecture, spaceships, submarines, as a matter of fact, did you know that it is not possible to imagine the impossible, if you can imagine it is possible.
Let that marinate for a moment… the very fact that you can imagine something, whatever it is, makes it possible.
And because we are the only creation God created in His own image and likeness, we are the only creatures of God’s creation that possess a soul. The soul is the part of a human being that lasts eternally after the body experiences death.
In Genesis 35:18 the scripture describes the death of Rachel who was Jacob’s wife saying she named her son “as her soul was departing”. From this we know that the soul is different from the body and that it continues to live after physical death.
The human soul is the center of your being. You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. The human soul is distinct from the heart and the spirit and the mind, it can be strong or unsteady, it can be lost or saved.
The human soul needs atonement which is reconciliation with God. In other words the creation needs to be reconnected and restored to and through the Creator, so that it can effectively fulfil it’s created purpose. In Lev 17:11 it reads for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the alter to make atonement for your souls.
I am telling you this morning God don’t make no junk. We tend to dish out and settle for junk in our lives but you were created from the mastermind of God with a purpose, nothing is outside of your abilities, if your mind can conjure up an imagine, you have the power to call your heart, soul and all of your physicalities in to alignment turn the fruit of imagination it a bountiful harvest.
I heard someone say a few days ago as they talked about someone whose challenges and the way of this world has consumed them, and this person referred to them as a spawn from hell. I want to make this clear, stop it, we give the devil so much credit. Satan cannot give life, so there is no such thing as a spawn from hell. Again Satan cannot give life and God don't make no junk.
If some of you had lived in the biblical days and heard about or crossed the paths of Paul before his damascus road experience, we likely would have plagued him as a spawn from hell. Paul was guilty and proud of being one who imprisoned and killed those who sought to follow Jesus.
But because there is no demonic influence God cannot overcome. After Paul’s Damascus Road experience he committed his life to Christ the very one He ridiculed and God used him to complete missionary journeys, plant and establish the foundation of the church, and preach the gospel. Paul is also the author of 13 books of the New Testament.
Don’t be so quick to give up on someone because they maybe on the wrong path, or because they are more committed to Satan’s agenda than God, we were all made in the image and likeness of God, even though that image may get tainted.
We all look for someone to blame when things go wrong. Lord knows when I was a child when my mother would ask me who did this. If I had anyone to blame, trust would have been shifted immediately.
But isn’t it funny when things are going right, when a victory is won, or things work according to plans, no one has an issue with staking claim as being the one responsible.
I want to talk to you this morning about the blame game when you are a servant for the Kingdom of God. You know when you are walking in obedience to the Word of God, living according to the examples set by Jesus Christ.
When our actions and reactions reflect a relationship with God and we walk in what God has called us to be, which is light in darkness, we can then blame our actions and reactions on Jesus.
When we walk in forgiveness and pray for those who have wronged us and people look at us and don’t understand this unconventional attitude we’re committed to, we can blame it on Jesus.
We get to blame it on Jesus because you are just following the instructions he gave in Luke 6:27-28 when he said, I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you.
When we stand as peacemakers in turbulent situations, blame it on Jesus because we are just trying to stay connected to the blessing of God and maintain our position in the Kingdom of God.
We can blame our peacemaking persona on Jesus because in Matthew 5:9, He said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall BE called the children of God, we can blame Jesus for our peacemaking efforts.
When we have committed our bodies to celibacy until marriage and the world deems us crazy, too righteous and not realistic concerning our beliefs, we can blame it on Jesus and profess that because of the Word of God, we understand that what feels good to the body and is outside of the mandate of godliness is not good for the body.
Because in 1 Cor 6:18 reads we are to flee from sexual sin, for it a sin against our own bodies.
So when you can look at the fine man or that sexy woman and lust after knowing what’s in their hearts and mind over how they can satisfy your flesh, blame it on Jesus.
A prayerless Christian is a weak Christian. A prayerless church is a week church. A prayerless nation is a defeated nation. A prayerless family is a divided family. The tragedy of our day is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer. As believers we know the power of prayerm the patter of pray, even the priority and purpose of prayer, yet we do not purpose to pray.
We are still on the bridge between the land of Canaan and the wilderness. In Exodus chapter 16, the Lord told Moses that he would rain down bread from heaven daily. But why? Because God know His people and He also knows that those who are immature in their walk with Him need a reason to commune with Him daily.
I want to start this morning by answering a simple question, why does God want and need us to walk in the spirit of freedom? Because of what is required to actually be free. See God is looking for those who will not conform to the ways of this world. In order to fulfill the mandate of dominion we cannot conform to what we are charged to have dominion over and change.
We pray, “thy Kingdom come thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. God wants to answer that prayer. He wants His Kingdom to come on earth, but he needs believers, His children, those who profess to be joint heirs with Christ to conduct themselves like they represent the royalty of the Kingdom of God.
The spirit of royalty is consistent with freedom, as it requires the same, acceptance of responsibility, accountability and discipline. We are agents of the Kingdom of God, on a mission to claim what God gave us dominion over. When a Kingdom claims land it is the responsibility of the agents of the Kingdom to implement and change the culture so that it imitates and aligns with the Kingdom of which it belongs.
For far too long the agents of the Kingdom have held up the mandate of the Kingdom which charged us to operate in the spirit of dominion. How you ask, because we live as slaves to this world ruled by evil, manipulation, material things and selfishness. In II Chronicles 7:14, God is clear as He instructs us saying “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”
This word was not for the sinners, not for the adulterers, the backbiters, this message was a direct message to those who say they love God, those who profess to be his children, notice the scripture begins with if MY people who are called by my name, that’s me, that’s you, that’s believers.
This morning we are going to pick up on the series we started on Sunday, The View from the Bridge. This series is about transitioning from just living delivered but free.
I mentioned Harriet Tubman’s quoted on Sunday in which she expressed that she had freed thousands of slaves and could have freed thousands more if only they knew they were slaves”.
In 2 Cor 13:5 the scriptures tell us to examine ourselves. Some of us are bound slaves to Satan’s agenda unaware. I want you to ponder over a few very personal and sensitive questions throughout your day and even this evening and perhaps jot down some notes. As you pursue the journey of freeing yourself from the shackles of Satan.
- Would you consider yourself a studier of the Word of God?
- Do you have a personal prayer life that extends beyond 5 minutes per day?
- Do you go to church or are committed to a ministry?
- Are you a faithful tither?
- Is your love relationship, one that aligns with the biblical mandate of God?
- Do you believe the bible is true and relevant today?
- Is pleasing God more important to you than likes and accolades from others
- Are you the peacemaker amongst your friends, family and colleagues?
These questions weren’t asked to condemn you, but to get you in a place where you can be real with yourself about your true relationship with God.
If you could NOT answer every one of these questions with a resounding Yes, there is likely at least one issue that has you bound.
Whatever you were able to NOT honestly answer yes, that is what Satan is using to disarm your absolute faith in God and he is tricky he will provide rational excuses that seem acceptable, all while laughing at keeping distance between you and God.
Everyone of these questions reflect your level of faith in God. Faith is an action word, we can’t just profess faith, our faith should be shown in all we do in our mindsets, our perceptions, in what we allow and don’t allow in our lives.
The lyrics to the songs convey the character of God as they are: Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I'll dry them all
I'm on your side
Oh, when times get rough
And friends just can't be found
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
God is the only bridge that can carry us over troubled water, the only bridge that can guarantee that the land it carries you to is safe and offers freedom from the shackles of the enemy.
This morning the sermon topic is: “The View From the Bridge”. For those who haven’t been saved all their lives, might remember “take to to the bridge” being a tagline in a few of James Brown songs.
I recently learned what the term means to a band and musical composer. The bridge is an instrumental section that features a new melody or a new rhythmic line.
I want to talk briefly to the saved and unsaved, leaders, followers, the rich and the poor and I proclaim that it's time we take to the bridge. Yes it is time, we as a people, as a society change the melody, the rhythmic line we have been singing, dancing, swaying and living to.
For the remainder of this week if you follow our Good Morning Truth morning inspirations and our newly introduced Biblically Speaking Politically segments, if you want to hear the rest of this series go to the website and subscribe.
I am going to be continuing this series: The View from the Bridge, I am going to address some specific challenges we face everyday, biblically as we stand on the bridge between the wilderness and the land of Freedom.
GOD, one who is perfect in power, wisdom and righteousness. The Creator and ruler of all of nature and the universe. The ultimate provider, healer, peacemaker, Shepherd and banner of excellence.
I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’” Isaiah 46:9–10.
GOD is all knowing, nothing is unknown to Him or catches Him by surprise
He even knew that in this day and time some would struggle with the validity of the Bible, so in His magnificence He provided evidence of His existence outside the Bible. We bear witness to the evidence of GOD’s existence, everyday as we embrace and utilize the components and benefits of nature.
Look at the nature of a tree, how it changes according to season without any human influence. Look at the dependence all plant life has on the rain and sunshine for its existence. Think about the rising and setting of the sun and illumination of the moon at night, all without a power switch or the manipulation of man.
GOD's omnipresence is also our saving grace, because He is everywhere at the same time He is able to protect us from the seen and unseen. GOD's holds back and protects us from things we never knew was a threat, never knew was collaborating to execute or demise. It's because of His omnipresence, we are able to call on him every moment of everyday. As we walk throughout our day we take His omnipresence for granted in regards to God's protective nature, as well as, our accessibility and accountable to Him
Sometimes we are waiting for some mind-blowing miracle to occur to be the answer to our prayers, when the truth is God uses people to bless people. And sometimes people bless us with their wisdom, that gives us the directives which lead to life altering changes.
In the 1 King chapter 17 there is a story of a woman who was down on her luck and had given up. She told Elijah, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it—and die.”
Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”
Now let’s be honest from her perspective this likely didn’t seem like Elijah was there to bless her but to take advantage of her. Here she is telling him, I only a little bit and he is telling her to feed him out of the little she has. This doesn’t look like a blessing, this looks like an uncaring person taking advantage of someone and lying to do it. Imagine how difficult it must be to phantom that the flour won’t be used up and the oil won't run dry.
The woman likely thinking she really had nothing to lose at this time, the bible says She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
God uses people to bless people, but we have to be willing to be blessed and also willing to be a blessing. In the midst of the lowest point in this woman’s life, she shared what little she had, she set aside her immediate need and was willing to bless another again from what little she had.
Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. The woman, like most mothers, began to evaluate this situation a little differently when their child’s life is on the line. The woman said to Elijah thinking this must all be a set up, Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
Elijah then took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
Women often have the fight for recognition, respect and rights, Women fight the fights that out of a love for God, there should be no opponent.
Women are often looked at as a subservient creation in comparison to men. When God created woman He created her as a needed asset to help man fulfill his God ordained mandate and purpose.
Yes men can survive without the help of women, just as women can survive without the help of men. But neither can fulfill the mandate of God with our recognizing the power of unity as the treasure that it is. Because only in unity can we be fruitful, only in unity can we multiply.
Now if the word fruitfulness and reference to multiplying only allows your mind to fixate on reproduction through the act of sexual activity, you have missed the true mandate of God
Everything we do is to be done for the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom. Men and women have to think beyond just producing offspring. As beautiful as children are, God needs more than physical bodies for His Kingdom to grow.
He needs those who can engage the lost, who can stand as teachers, nurturers, and advocates for godly righteousness. This is the broader scope of fruitfulness and the means by which the Kingdom of God will multiply.
However, in order for this to be effectively accomplished it will require men and women to work together acknowledging in everything, the very things that make them different have to come together like pieces of a puzzle, to ultimately bless the very essence of their purpose, while also giving God glory.
It's amazing that the very principle God created for our physical attributes mirror the same consistent principle in every other aspect of our existence as well.
Men and women for over 2,000 years have been pegged against each other, divided with one deemed less than. To further support Satan’s agenda the very Word of God has been taken out of content. Two scripture imparticulur come to mind. Ephesians 5:22 and 1 Timothy 2:12. In Ephesians the scripture tells women to submit to their husbands and in 1 Timothy, Paul makes the announcement that he would not permit women to teach or assume authority over man.
Don’t you find it peculiar that God would deem the need to create women as a helper for men, then limit her ability to actually help fulfill His ordained mission. A bit inconsistent wouldn’t you say?
Well if you are one who believes the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true, then you have to also agree that any inconsistencies outlined in principles are likely due to misinterpretation. As every inconsistent truth is a lie.
The Bible calls for us to study to show thyselves approved. Ephesians 5:22 which calls for wives to submit to their husband is preceded by verse 21 which mandates that we submit one to another in the fear of God.
The arrogance of any man to think God’s intention is for him to be a dictator over what God Himself created and gave Him as a gift out of His love for him is almost blasphemous.
A mindset which can phantom such a thought is spearheaded by demonic influences and is rooted in a spirit of rivalry and conceit and Phillipian s 2:3 address such things as it reads, “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves”.
The mindset of men and women should be one that men constantly think of women as greater than themselves and women should constantly think of men as greater than themselves. In Ephesians 4:2 “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love”.
The ability we have to communicate with one another is one of the characteristics humans have that separate us from animals. We have language, lingos, cliches, written word, and have advanced our communication skills to encompass various forms of technology, television, radio, internet, phones, billboards, books print and digital.
But with all these means of communication, we as a people are so disconnected. Because of our inability to effectively communicate with one another we become prisoners on an island of our own creation, which is the root of the selfishness, and self-centeredness we see exalted everyday and exudes in every class of people, the poor, the middle-class and the wealthy.
We have no desire to hear one another. Everyone wants to get their point across, exalt their agenda, without any consideration for another’s point, agenda, hope and dreams. Not only is that stance one that is selfish and self-center, in the eyes of God it's foolish. Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Communication by definition is the exchanging of ideas, and information.
Oftentimes arguments happen because of bad communication. We misjudge others and their intentions simply because we don’t communicate well. I have to confess, because even with the mantle of ministry on me, I am not perfect. I had a, let’s call it a heated time of fellowship with my brother, the bishop a little more than a week ago, and the root cause of it wasn’t that we weren’t communicating, but bad communication.
In Joshua 22 The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, with Joshua’s blessing, were told that it was okay to go back to their settlements across the Jordan, now that the Israelites had come into their inheritance.
But before doing so, the three tribes built an altar. The other Israelites got really upset about this, because God had specifically commanded that when they reached the promised land, they could no longer build altars just anywhere, but only in the place where God directed them to. And so they went to confront their brothers, ready to make war against them if necessary.
But the three tribes reassured the rest of the Israelites that they were not intending to use the altar for sacrifices. Rather, it was a sign to them and their descendants that they all belonged to the same God. And so a war was averted.
I think there are a couple of things we can learn from this. First, communication is vital in order to avoid misunderstandings. It would’ve been so much better if when the three tribes were leaving, they had asked the elders of Israel to come with them, and to build the altar in front of them, while explaining why they were doing so. Instead, they built the altar with no explanations, leaving the rest of the Israelites to assume the worst.
Bad communication comes when one or both parties assume the intentions of another, don’t take the time to listen, or when one or both parties engage in conversations with a mindset already determined, without any real desire to understand, see or embrace the other point of view. James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger
Back to the book of Joshua. When the three tribes built the altar, the other ten tribes leaped to the wrong conclusion and got very upset as a result. But one thing they did do right was to confront their brothers about it directly. And because they did that, the miscommunication was resolved quickly.
or your best friend declares they are working out in your name, nothing.
There was a boy who found a butterfly cocoon. Each day the boy went to visit the cocoon. One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon. The boy watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole.
Suddenly the butterfly stopped trying to make its way out of the cocoon. It didn’t seem to be making any progress. The butterfly was no longer moving. With good intentions, the boy felt he needed to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and very slowly with surgical precision, snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon being careful not to hurt the butterfly. The butterfly then easily emerged. Sounds rejuvenating right?
Except something was strange. The butterfly’s body was swollen and its wings were all shriveled and deformed. The boy continued to watch the butterfly, expecting any moment the wings would expand enough to support the body, which he thought would contract in time.
Unfortunately, neither happened. In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and deformed wings, never able to fly.
What the boy in his kindness and impatience did not understand was the natural evolution of life. The restrictive cocoon and the struggle through the small opening of the cocoon is nature's way of forcing fluid from the butterfly’s body into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight after emerging from the cocoon.
In 1 Cor 12 verses 9 through 10 Paul acknowledges that in our struggles God’s grace is sufficient and because His power is perfected in our weakness. Paul goes on to say therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in calamities, in persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul understood that it's because God’s grace is sufficient, that Sometimes our struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. I need you to understand this morning, that If we went through life without any obstacles, both our minds and bodies would shrivel up like the wings of the butterfly in the story. Without struggles, without trials and experiences that build our strength we would be worthless in the exaltation of divine purpose
With tribulations and struggles, there would be no opportunities for us to learn and grow from each experience. We would never be able to spread our wings, fly on our own, or reach the heights our purpose calls us to. Learn from your trial, let your mistakes be your motivation and your stumbles build your strength.
Why Satan wants our soul?
It really does not require a deep explanation, it’s really simple. Our soul is our absolute connection to God, the one thing Satan detests. See if we keep our souls in proper perspective with God, we will turn from him. And not only will we turn from him we will be committed in the spreading, teaching and exaltation of the Gospel, so you see how this would annihilate Satan’s agenda, how if believers, those who profess to love God, keep their souls in check we could collectively tear Satan’s Kingdom down.
Our souls are like bombs, if detonated could blow up Satan’s world, so he operates like the bomb squad using every tactic possible to get to our souls so that he can disarm us before we have a chance to take part in an explosion that would kill his whole agenda.
The great Shirley Caesar has a song entitled Satan we’re going to tear your Kingdom down. The lyrics go like this: The Preachers are gonna preach Your kingdom down. The mothers are gonna pray, Pray, your kingdom down.
Pastor Caesar issued a bomb threat to Satan as the closing line of the song tell him You've been building your kingdom All in the house of God Satan, we're gonna tear Your kingdom down.
We have to take the condition of our souls seriously, because if we don’t we will hand deliver our very soul to Satan as a gift wrapped with a bow.
If you know someone is plotting against your demise, has hatred in your heart for you, I don’t care how saved and sanctified you are, if you must be in their presence you are on guard, you have little conversations for them and you make every attempt possible to steer clear of them.
You even begin to watch who is interacting with them, who seems to have befriended them and you take a mental note, adding them to the list of those you may need to keep at a distance.
We need to do the same thing when it comes to Satan and stop being so passive and free-spirited around the very one whose whole objective is to obtain and destroy your very soul.
Peter and John both give us some words of advice.
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
The thing we pray for the least is what we need the most…..and that is peace.
As valuable as peace is, it is not surprising to find that it is sometimes counterfeited. Empty promises of peace can be used to manipulate others. Deceitful men speak words of peace while secretly planning evil.
In Daniel 9 the Bible forewarns us that when the Antichrist comes it will confirm a treaty, producing a temporary peace which he will then abruptly shatter as he reveals his true colors.
Turn to 13 chapters of Ezekiel and you see that scriptures make mention that False prophets will proclaim peace when God is actually proclaiming judgment. I
In Jeremiah’s day, if you turn to the 6th chapter you will read that the religious leaders dealt only with the symptoms of the national problems, without addressing the sinful root of the crisis. These false prophets declared everything was well between God and Israel: “Peace, peace,” they said, when there was no real peace.
God commands us to seek peace. Romans 14:19 says We should “make every effort to do what leads to peace”. Even those who do not desire peace, we are still to do our utmost to be at peace with them .
Believers have an obligation to “let the peace of God rule” in their hearts. Don’t be fooled, peace is something that cannot not be forced, commanded, declared or decreed. Peace is granted us when we make the choice to trust in God and allow His to peace to rule our daily lives.
The world will continue to have wars and interpersonal conflicts until Jesus comes to establish everlasting peace , but God will give His peace to those who trust Him. Once His peace rules in our hearts, we are able to share that peace with others; we then can become publishers of peace, ministers of reconciliation able to walk in dominion as mandated by God.
Peace is a performance heightener, when you walk in peace, you love better, you work better, your relationships are better. Peace is also a magnet, as you walk with peace, forgiveness comes easier, laughter is more often and blessings seem to hunt you down.
True peace is undergirded by maintaining trust in God, when you trust God peace comes as part of the benefit package. And a sincere desire for peace will steer you to lean on the only one who has never failed you. Peace is revealed when in the midst of a storm you have an unexplainable stillness.
I urge you this morning, moving forward, Begin every prayer, with “Lord give me peace”
I just want to remind you this morning that just as the resurrection of Christ is real so is the redemptive power of God. The only people who never mess up are those who sit idle and never do anything, the ones who put no effort into the pursuing the purposes of God.
We are going to stumble, we are going to fall, we are going to sin and yes sometimes just like the boy in the story we are going to make a pure mess.
If God woke you up this morning its because he’s not done with you yet. Learn from your messes, clean them up and start all over again
We keep repeating the wrongs of our history, because study it and allow ourselves to be consumed by emotions, instead of instruction, anger instead of elevation, division instead of a plan rooted in purpose.
Whatever is your cultural background, you should know and be proud of your heritage, bask in the knowledge of the history tied to your heritage. But we must never forget God will not bless, mess and division is a mess and an insult to the purpose of God.
Using history to exalt division, anger, and prejudices is the trick of Satan, as he knows that if we ever revere history as God intended, it would disrupt his plans for our demise.
Philippians 2: 2-5 "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus"
Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous”. And when God manifested himself in flesh and walked the earth as Jesus The Christ when he laid down his life, he left an inheritance for us.
As I read some of the most peculiar wills ever written, one thing was consistent: they all had conditions, as to how the will was to be followed in order to receive the inheritance. Conditions usually come in a will when one wants to preserve a legacy or to assure who or what they loved most is cared for and provided for.
In John 14:15 - 21 Jesus read his own will before his death as it reads: “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Notice the will of Jesus begins with condition, if you love me keep my commands. The inheritance JESUS left is for all those who love him. And what he left us was something only He could leave, the Holy Spirit. In John 16:13 we read the power and character of the Holy Spirit that makes it such a priceless inheritance
Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit will not speak on his own authority but whatever He hears he will speak.
I don’t care how advanced Iphone or Samsung get with their technology. The one thing they cannot provide is a direct connection to God, Jesus left us that when he promised to send to those who love him the holy spirit.
You’ve read the will, you know what you have inherited, so when times seem challenges, when stumbling blocks are coming one after another, when folks are lying on you, when are your plans seem to crumble, when relationships go south, and your children go wild, remember in the will you were left a helper, call on him.
Perseverance is godly and should be a principle in a believer’s life. Perseverance doesn’t need public approval and could care less about being politically correct.
Perseverance ia rooted in Matthew 17:20 which will make those who refuse to say “mountain get out of my way” knowing that nothing is impossible for them to believe.
Perseverance will look to Rom 8:31 and remember “if God be for you who can be against you” There is nothing half-hearted or lukewarm about perseverance, it's bold, it’s daring and it's fearless.
Perseverance is Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem when powerful men organized a slander campaign to stop the building project. When slander could not stop Nehemiah they began to ridicule him. Finally when slander nor ridicule drove him to quit, they threatened to kill Nehemiah.
Nehemiah passed out swords to half his men and bricks to the other half. He made it clear he was ready to fight to the death. The wall was rebuilt to the glory of God through the power of perseverance.
The Apostle Paul taught on the power of perseverance as he lived out his life.
After being beaten three times leaving his back a disfigured mass of scars
After being shipwrecked
After being stoned and left for dead, face down in the dirt, a bloody pulp, more dead than alive
After being betrayed by his dearest friends
After living under relentless scandal
After appearing before the church bound in chains
After being thrown in prison after prison
Paul put his pen to paper and wrote in 2 Cor 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed, we are perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down, but destroyed.
It is always too soon to quit
The bible does say those who begin will be saved, or even those who try will be saved. Matt 24:13 reads He who endures to the end will be saved.
Perseverance produce champions, champions gain access to dominion, dominion is godly as, scriptures tell us “whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus”
Give up on every idea of quitting… right now! Champions force themselves to do what they don’t like, to do what must be done in the heat of competition. I hear some of you saying I don’t want to live my life in constant competition. Competition is not all about measuring yourself against another, it is about winning for the sake of the Kingdom. Like or not there has been an ongoing competition since Adam took his first breath. God has never proclaimed to be in competition with anything or anyone, but Satan has staked claim to compete against God, so we don’t have to proclaim to be in competition but for the glory of God our efforts should be aligned with the winning team and our eyes are to remain on the prize, which is the Kingdom of Heaven.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? The one to receive the prize is the body of believers standing as one against the won running against them.
Again, perseverance produces champions, making it always too soon to quit.
Ecc 10:9 reads, “wine makes the heart merry but money answereth all things”. Now don’t get excited, that scriptures does not mean even close to what many think it does.
King Solomon who is the author of the book of Ecclesiastes was on his deathbed making confessions of his wrongs and in this passage he confesses to having a flawed mindset and in the very next verse he asks the people to not be angry with him for leading them with such a warped mindset.
If money was the answer to all things, what need would we have for God, what was the need for Jesus to sacrifice His life on the cross, and why was he adamant about sending us the Holy Spirit as a helper.
Not only is money not the answer to all things, it is not the answer to most things.
Money can buy you a palace filled with priceless items, but can’t buy you love and respect to resonate in those walls to make that palace a home.
Money can buy you access to the finest physicians and healthcare but cannot buy you health.
Money can buy you a bed made of solid gold, but can’t buy you a moment of rest or inner peace.
Money will attract legions of people but can’t buy the treasure of one true friend.
Money can buy you the most elaborate and expensive cross to wear around your neck but can’t buy you a savior for your soul.
Money can buy you a church pew with your name engraved in gold script but can’t buy you a ticket into heaven.
King Solomon was the richest monarch in ancient Israel, so rich the hinges on the doors of his stables were plated with gold, yet in Ecc 5:10 He wrote these words, “ Whoever loves money will never have enough, and whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied”
And the reason the words of King Solomon ring true is because money can never buy the priceless essentials required to complete us.
Don’t count your money, success is knowing that what God uniquely created you for you are pursuing with all your heart, mind, body and soul. Now money and wealth can be a result or outcome of that success, but money can never stand alone and be a success. So don’t count your money, commit yourself to fulfilling God’s purpose for you
You know so many of us live our lives not wanting to be criticized and even get angry when we are criticized, not realizing that critics are sometimes used by God for two things: one to confirm that we are walking out our divine purpose and two to sharpen us for greater.
The very word, “criticism” gets a bad rap as it is always associated with a negative perspective. When the truth is, we just have to be diligent about filtering criticism, determining what is being said is it to elevate, discipline or desecrate.
Proverbs 15:31-33 tells us, “if you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject discipline you only harm yourself, but if you listen to corrections, you grow in understanding. The scripture goes on to give this piece of advice…. Fear of the Lord teaches us and humility precedes honor.
Meaning that we are to measure all things by the principles and righteousness of God, not afraid to humble ourselves. It's these two things that will exalt us in honor.
Please know you can avoid criticism and here are 3 sure-fire ways to do that: 1. Do nothing 2. Be nothing 3. Say nothing
You will never fulfill God’s ordain purpose for your life fixated on avoiding criticism. Wisdom is exalted when we learn to embrace criticism without pride and replace all our defense mechanisms with honesty, love, forgiveness and a sense of humor. Yes, be willing to sometimes laugh at yourself as you use criticism to better yourself.
God uses people to pour into our lives, to sharpen our dullness, to shape what is disfigured, and to mold us into His masterpiece. But the problem with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by the praise of others, than saved by the criticism of few. Criticize Me!
The Bible contains a great deal of information about the natural world that has been confirmed by scientific observations and research. As the Bible’s story of God’s redemptive plan for humanity unfolds, many different characters are vividly described. In those descriptions, the Bible provides a great deal of information about human behavior and tendencies. Our own day-to-day experience shows us that this information is more accurate and descriptive of the human condition than any psychology textbook. Many historical facts recorded in the Bible have been confirmed by extra-biblical sources. Historical research often shows a great deal of agreement between biblical accounts and extra-biblical accounts of the same events.
However, the Bible is not a history book, a psychology text, or a scientific journal. The Bible is the description God gave us about who He is, and His desires and plans for humanity. And this is the very fact that spearhead questions concerning the relevance of the bible and today’s times.
The Bible outlines God’s desires and His plans, while today’s culture is stuck on doing things their way. Everyone wants to talk about what they have the right to do, to say, to wear, and to rebel against. We have found ways to justify most everything we want, do, condone, praise, or participate in even if it violates the Word of GodHebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to divide the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” While the Bible was completed approximately 1900 years ago, its accuracy and relevance for today remain unchanged.
I have heard people say that God is punishing them for their sins and bad decisions.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the turmoil and hardships we endure is us living through the consequences derived from our actions, reactions, and decisions.
We understand the laws of gravity very well. We know if we throw a ball up in the air that ball is going to come back down. At no time do we begin to think or can even phantom that the ball will be just suspended in mid air. Why? Because we know the principles of gravity exist and are consistent.
The laws of gravity don’t take into consideration the color or size of the ball, if it goes up, its coming back down.
However, for some strange reason we think the principles of God will adjust according to how we feel, what we like or what makes us comfortable or uncomfortable, even after reading repeatedly in our Bibles that the Word of God never changes.
God’ Word and His principles give no credence to today’s timing, or trends, to the wealthy or to the poor, to the modest or to the boastful.
In Galatians 6:7-8, the scripture tells us to not be deceived, God will not be mocked. In other words God will not be made a fool of, or be called out as a liar, as it goes on to say for whatever one sows that he shall also reap.
IMAGINE how much less turmoil you would have had in your life if you had vetted every decision you’ve made according to the Word of God. IMAGINE establishing plans based on the wisdom outlined in the scriptures regarding love, relationships, finance, friendships, worship and intimate time with God. IMAGINE if you lived every moment of every day conscientious of God’s presence, not as a warden, judging your mistakes, but as an ever present helper. IMAGINE if you could just always remember that your only true confidant is always there with you, that the one who Created the heavens and earth, the one who humn the moon and stars, walks with you everywhere, and is rooting for your success.
The bottom line is God wants, God needs you to be successful. Have you ever been around a disgruntled employee? They are unproductive, negative, terrible for public relations and they bring the spirit of those around them down.
God needs success servants in the Kingdom, it's a good marketing strategy. God knows the human mind well enough to understand success draws attention. The problem he seems to have with Kingdom servants is we tend to get hung up in the hoopla of our little successes, and turn our attention away from the plans and purpose of God.
But when we pursue success or turn after achieving a little success from the principles of God, we then become conformed to the ways of the world making us useless to the Kingdom.
God wants and needs us to reek with success so that it causes the lost, the unbeliever and the undecided to begin to thirst after true success which his servants exhibit can only come from and through him.
Notice Jesus didn’t say, we should strive to be the salt of the earth. He emphatically said that we are the salt of the earth. If we know nothing else about salt, we know that it brings out the flavor. If we were to pull up to McDonald’s and there were two lines, one for those that want salt on their fries and the other who want fries without salt. I can assure you the line for salt would be a whole lot busier.
We understand salt as it applies to flavor, we understand that salt brings out the best in meat, vegetables, and even though we can’t necessarily taste in bakery items it is an essential ingredient even when baking, see salt provides a balance to the sweetness of cake batters.
Just knowing what salt does to what we indulge in everyday should give a clear understanding of how we should conduct ourselves as disciples. In this world, it's the believers, the disciples, those who profess to be saved, sanctified and leaning on the Word of God that should be consistent in providing, changing and cultivating the flavor on earth.
Salt represents truth and we know that the only undisputed truth is the Word of God. So when God says we are the salt of the earth He is letting us know that it us who has been mandated to exalt his truth on earth, through not just running from pulpit to pulpit, preaching sermons, but in our everyday living, in our everyday interactions with the world, in the examples we set, in how we respond to sin, untruths and ungodliness.
We know salt to be the seasoning that bring out the best and we ought to be able to bring out the best in others, in all those we connect with and come in contact with, because we represent God, His truth and are committed to who he says we are, and he says we are the salt of the earth.
So regardless how jacked up a person is we should be able to bring out their best. You know we have made delicacies out of scraps all because of being able to collate the right seasoning, with salt being at the root of it all. Chitlins, oxtails, greens, even sausages, all scraps, all what at some point was considered useless trash, is now considered delicacies and part of a prime meal, all because someone took the time to season these things.
We were all created with a divine purpose and you were not created for you. It is our obligation to fulfill our ordained purpose. Don’t be deceived into thinking that purpose can be solidified by bank balances, remember we were created by the King of Kings, Lord of Lord the very one who created the gold and jewels, so our monetary achievements mean nothing in the Kingdom of God, if our divine purpose was not fulfilled.
And last but not least your divine purpose extends beyond niceness and pleasantries, those are just expecting characteristics of children of God. Your purpose is only exalted when God is the center, when the Kingdom of Heaven gets the glory.
Your purpose is exalted when through the righteousness of God you are able to bring light into darkness, and when because of the principles of the Word of God you are able to bring salt and add flavor to lives and none of this can be sought after or achieved without a committed relationship with God.
Today marks the one year anniversary of the insurrection on our nation's capital. There are those who shamefully believe that separation between church and state means the church should stay out of government business, when in actuality the law was put in place to keep the government out of church affairs. And today I am going to say what a lot of our renown church leaders won’t and I am going to back it up with scripture.
God the Creator of all things, the creator of man, gave man dominion there is no way man can fulfill the mandate of dominion given to us by God and be not only engaged in government, but as children of the Almighty be the rulers of government.
We entered into 2022 picking up the mantle of Pursuing Purpose. The insurrection that took place exactly one year ago in this country is an extreme example of what happens when people stray so far away from their God ordained purpose, when people exalt their agenda over the plans of God.
The traditional first sermon of the new year is typically more upbeat, fixed on moving forward, preparing for blessing, and reaping a harvest and everyone gets excited and posts, reposts and shares. But the truth is there is no moving forward, there are no true blessings and there is no harvest to reap, if you repeatedly turn from God’s ordained purpose for His creating you.
Some of us right now are trying to think of what we can invest in, what business moves to make that would give us a good return. I am asking you today, is your God-ordained purpose part of the business plan. Does your business plan detail how what you have imagined will be influential in shifting the culture on even a small scale to bring some of the Kingdom of God to this earth.
See here we get all tripped up if we allow the voices of this world to deceive us and make our goals all about self. Keeping our goals focused on things, careers, bottom-lines, only profit and the accolades of others.
We only measure success with numbers that indicate individual amounts, size and dollars as we pursue these goals that have no divine purpose, no intent or mention to bring glory to the Kingdom of God.
Inspirationa words by Pastor Steven Furtick with inspiration tunes by Tasha Cobbs featuring Wiliam Murphy.
Listen to the Word of God ministered through the anointing of the late great G.E. Patterson
Good morning, thank you for tuning in this morning. As we look around we see the beautiful decorations on television as they broadcast the over the top breath-taking Christmas decorations from around the globe. This morning I was to say to you as we hang and exchange decorations, yes I said exchange decorations, see I don’t want to label them as gifts or even presents this morning, but decorations.
By definition decorations refer to ornaments and additives used to honor or bring value to a thing or situation. To decorate is the ornamental aspect which solely focuses on external beauty and significance. See we have made a habit during this season of focusing on or exchanging things that have an external significance, through the adding of external and material things to give it value.
We decorate our homes to celebrate the birth of Christ and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, as a matter of fact we should put more effort into the entire celebration of God entering the world wrapped in flesh. For there is no birth greater than the birth of Jesus, The Christ.
You know when you are young and your parents and grandparents try to instill a little wisdom in you, you reject it, discounting their words and old folk tales and old timey irrelevant rhetoric. But as you mature and go through some valley, and endure some of the bumps and bruises life brings you come to realize that maybe they knew what they were talking about, as some of their old sayings begin to make sense.
My dad used to tell me all the time that life is about choices, every part of our lives is about one choice after another. Choices what to do when things are tough, even when everything seems to be falling in line, a choice of how to respond to this situation or that issue, we have to make a choice even as to whether we align our truth with the Word of God or proclaim our own truth.
Practically everyday I find myself in conversations where I am helping people maneuver through their lives and the simplest most popular response of Christians is pray. Pray is awesome, I wouldn’t want to face life in this world without having an open line of communication with God. But can we just be real for a moment, most times when we are faced with a situation, that requires a decision, our first inkling is not to pray and the reason why is because we feel like when we pray, that requires patience and although patience my be a virtue, we have not programmed our spirit or our mindset to embrace virtuousness, so here we sit facing an issue, with no patience.
Somebody say, so what do we do Pastor? I hear you all out there and I am going to tell you what to do. What I am about to tell you all is only for those who truly believe in God, who understand and embrace his omnipotence, meaning that He is all powerful and His omniscience, meaning he is all knowing and his omnipresence, mean that He is everywhere in every time and space.
Now if that is you then here is my advice to you when you are faced with having to make some tough choices. Make your decisions, make your choices as if God Himself is manifested in the flesh right there beside you. See it’s easy to forget the omnipresence of God because our flesh is inclined to operate according to the principle of out of sight out of mine. But when you pause for a moment and come to terms with your love of God you will embrace the covenant relationship that he has made with you which promises each one of us that He will never leave or forsake us, we may forsake him but he will never forsake us, we may leave or ignore His presence, but he will never leave or ignore our presence.
So whatever is on your plate approach it with the truth that God is right there with you, he can see you, hear you and even knows your heart. Let your faith in who He is as God steer your decisions with wisdom and humility, not selfish or ungodly agenda.
Believer or should I say Christian love to quote Isaiah 54:17 which proclaims no weapon form against me shall prosper. But rarely do you hear people finish that versus which goes on to say “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord. See no weapon form against servants of the Lord shall prosper. Servants of the Lord live their lives and guide their decisions to please Him above all else. And no weapon formed against those who see to please Him in all they do will ever prosper.
It’s true life is about one decision after another, and it's your decisions that reveal who you serve.
Someone asked me this question once: I recently decided to marry a non-Christian man, but he is “open” to hearing about my faith. I know I did not follow God’s “perfect will” for my life, but isn’t it God’s “permissive will”?
This question takes me back almost 30 years, in Christianity. It was in the mid to late 80’s when I first began to hear the catchphrase words of “God’s permissive will Vs God’s perfect will” for our lives.
The idea represented by these phrases implies that God has a unique and perfect plan for each one of us. It is a plan that he has designed to bring us the greatest good for our lives, and the greatest happiness. However, flawed humans that we are, for a wide variety of reasons, we do not always “find” that path he desires for us, but very often end up taking a detour route along the way. These detours, since we are still Christians, become a part of God’s plan for our lives, because He loves us and will never forsake us or leave us. (Deut 31:6, purposely misquoted out of context).
There are a variety of problems with these concepts and this line of thought. For starters, these phrases and ideas are not biblical concepts though often many biblical texts are quoted to back them up.
For example, it has been stated that God’s “perfect will” for Israel was that they enter into the Promised Land, directly from their departure of Egypt. However, they got detoured along the way and ended up following God’s “permissive will” for their lives, the 40 years of wandering in the desert. Clearly God did not leave them or forsake them during this period, and their detour became a part of God’s plan for their lives, his “permissive plan”.
The problem with this type of mentality or thinking, is that it tends to justify sin. It eradicates right and wrong, transforming them into just a series of choices. It turns the clear-cut directives of God into a gray area for our existence.
When you and I choose to follow God’s “permissive will” we are choosing to DISOBEY GOD, and that is sin!
It is not a matter of me making a choice to settle for less than what God has prepared for me.
It’s not a magnanimous or humble decision for me to say, I’m happy enough with this option.
Be fruitful and multiply this is a mandate of God. The shallowness of our mind leads us to believe the scripture is referring to the producing of children. In one natural respect it is, but we also know that God is all about the Kingdom of Heaven, which is about souls. To be fruitful is about being committed to the planting of seed God’s way, the fertilizing of the soil God’s way as well as obtaining and maintaining a harvest God’s way.
Fruitfulness is about fertilizing the soil in our lives and bring forth souls as fruit as a harvested offering to the Kingdom of God.
You can physically produce all the children your heart desires and that your body can produce, just like you can draw in enough people into a church building where all that is left is standing room only, but if God is not the center of your purpose if what you have accomplish does not exalt of God and the Kingdom of Heaven, then all you have done, all you have accomplished is for naught. If the fruit produced cannot be presented to be feasted upon at the Kings table, then it is of no benefit to the Kingdom.
In Matthew 7:16 the scripture tells us “You will know them by their fruit,” Jesus gave the illustration of grape vines and fig trees. When we see grape vines, we expect them to contain grapes in season. We also expect fig trees to produce figs. A produce farmer who notices one of his fruit trees not bearing harvestable fruit, he deems it useless and cuts it down.
In Mark 11:1, )Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, and He was hungry and saw a fig tree in the distance that had leaves on it . When he came to the tree expecting to find something to eat, instead discovered that the fig tree had no fruit on it and cursed the tree saying, “May no fruit ever come from you again!”
See at a distance the tree look good, it look like it had bore fruit, but when Jesus approached the tree, to pull from it fruit, he was able to see that there was actually not fruit on the very tree that looked like it was full of life
Symbolically, the fig tree represented the spiritual deadness of Israel, who while very religious outwardly with all the sacrifices and ceremonies, were spiritually barren because of their sins and their disobedience to God.
This morning I want to talk to you specifically about what every manufacturer needs to get his message and brand to the masses, that’s marketing executives. And the Kingdom of God is hiring. If you research the description of a marketing director you will find that A marketing executive is primarily responsible for developing and implementing marketing campaigns that promote a company's products or services.
You will be happy to know that each of us is experienced and have the potential to do well in this position. Because the bottom line is everyone is marketing something whether intentionally or unintentionally, the only question is what is it, specifically, you are marketing?
Some are marketing the brand they have created for themselves, regardless whether it aligns with the mandate of the Kingdom’s designer label or not while others are marketing knockoffs as they are trying to co-brand with the Kingdom.
Again the Kingdom is hiring, but the positions are full-time, with 24 hour on call responsibilities, and require that you promote only one brand, and that your means of promotion be aligned with the manual of the Holy Scriptures and the manual is clear that your personal life, is not considered separate from your obligations to the position and the Kingdom of God.
Turn with me or click your electronic devices to Mark 1:14 as I read through the 20th verse.14 After John was put in prison, (let’s just stop her and not that John went to prison because of his commitment to the Kingdom of God, John wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about what he knew was against the will and mandate of God, so you get the picture of the dedication that is required when you are committed to the work of the Kingdom of God) Scripture continues by saying, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
At the time John was the best marketing executive the Kingdom had, so when he imprisoned Jesus, God in flesh had to step in to make sure the message of the Kingdom went forth. Then made an executive decision to hire a team.
Jesus hung and died to pay our sin debt, The gift of Jesus was God paying off our largest credit account, an account that, regardless of our resources, we could never pay.
The gift of His Son, continuously meets our greatest need, the Apostle Paul said in ,(2 Corinthians 9:15). "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
As we give thanks to God this holiday season, let us not be consumed with the self-centered assets and grace God has given us individually, let be sincere in thanking God for Jesus, for allowing his son to lay down his life for our sin. Let us thank God for access to His Kingdom, for his invitation to spend eternity with Him.
Many say, I would rather have Jesus than silver and gold, but their prayers, their thanksgiving do not reflect such a proclamation. Lord today we thank you everything you have given us, every act of grace you have extended to us and every example of mercy you have shown us, but today we just the bow before you throne to say thank you for the greatest gift of all we thank you for Jesus.
This past Sunday God spoke to us about brands, and how labels and tags can be a curse and a blessing. How some labels lead us down wrong paths exalting what is not godly, while other labels and tags, can cause us to be set apart and help assure us that we reach the destination God has intended. If you did not hear the message go back pull it up it will bless you.
This morning I want to talk to you about a King in the bible whose legacy is righteousness, but who is also the least talked about King in the bible. King David is known as a young child taking down Goliath. King Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived And King Saul was known for unifying the tribes of Israel.
But the King I am talking about is King Josiah, he didn’t physically slay any giants, he may have been a man of intelligence, but certainly was not considered the wisest nor was his claim to fame undergird in a big feat of unity. King Josiah was known simply for being righteous. When he became King at such a young age, all he knew was to follow the traditions and teaching of his forefathers.
But one day someone brought to him the law of God and when he read it realized that all that he was doing was wrong, out of the will of God and not aligned with the plan of God. In 2 Kings 22 scripture said when he heard the word of God, he tore his robe
This morning I want to talk to you about your brand. The word brand is defined as a distinctive characteristic, a reputation, or identity. It can also refer to a mark or a label which gives indication of who the manufacturer is and outlines the standard of quality.
It is funny, we live in a culture where everyone is obsessed with having and wearing brand names. We are easily impressed by the car someone drives, the designer labels they wear and the amount of money they spent or this and that.
We say we want independence, and freedom to be ourselves, but consistently strive to have another person’s name, another brand validate and define our worth. I want to slow it down just a bit and make sure you grasp the totality of the mindset of so many.
To be considered relevant today, you are required to have certain things, manufactured by select brands, to validate what is deemed as the perfect status, a status that declares we have reached a point of a certain level of accomplishment and all of these standards, principles and guidelines have be escalated and outlined by the quote unquote, elite, who are just as imperfect as we are.
But the one who is perfect, who is more concerned with our heart than our outer appearance, His validation is rarely considered. As a matter fact if you attempt to strive to please Him, those tainted with imperfections look at you strange.
In Galatians 1:10 Paul was talking to believers about how they had turned their backs on the doctrine of Jesus Christ, how they were living their lives as if they forgot who God was and who they belong to. Paul began to ask them in an effort to get them to see themselves. Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Paul goes on to say…. If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
2 Kings 22
When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Akbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”
Matthew 17:14-21
A Boy Is Healed
14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is [c]an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O [d]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your [e]unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 [f]However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This morning I want to talk to you about implementation of strategies for the Kingdom of God. Each and everyone of us was created with an assignment, an assignment that goes beyond your work, your volunteer work, your church service and your parenting.
Each of us was created and dispatched from the Kingdom of heaven to strategically be part of the shifting of the culture of earth to implement the culture of heaven.
The problem is most of us have not embraced the simplicity of the assignment given us, so we are living our lives out of alignment.
For lack of a better word, playing the wrong game, with the wrong motives and by the wrong rules. It’s like we are stuck playing checkers, when we should be playing chess.
In checkers, all the game pieces move in the same way. In chess, you move each piece differently based on its ability. The Wise, those committed to the mandate of God, focus on the Kingdom of God conducting their lives like play chess, not checkers.
Now I want you not to get stuck on the board games that you are familiar with, it's not about the board game. Yes believers can play the board game of checkers and have a strong connection and commitment to God.
I personally don’t even know how to play chess, but I am telling you that after doing my research and pulling all the facts together to deliver you this message, I am really going to put forth an effort to learn to play chess.
What I want you to understand this morning is about the principles of the games and the lessons concerning the games, for they can truly help it outlining foundations principles for our life strategies.
What I learned is some people like playing checkers and have never moved past mastering the principles of checkers to explore chess, because they deem chess as too complicated, too intense, and time consuming.
Those of us who know how to play checkers likely learned when we were children, it is an easy game to teach children, and which introduces them to thinking strategically.
But children grow into adults and have to face multiple challenges, deal with various kinds of people and situations, faced with challenges that will require them to utilize more in depth strategies to survive.
We as Christians, as believers experience the same thing and if our life strategies, our evangelistic strategies, our approach to life is the same today as it was when we first received salvation, that means we have settled for just learning to play checkers and never pursued grasping the principles of chess.
1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
Why has apologies become a thing of the past? None of us are perfect, which means there are going to be times when we do things, say things, and react wrongly to situations. The godly thing to do is admit in the midst of your imperfect dwelling on this earth, once again you messed up and apologize.
Apologizing. Ugh! Most of us hate to have to do it. It’s hard to admit when we were wrong and even harder to ask someone to forgive us. Even if an incident occurs and each of you owe the other an apology, those of us who say we serve the King of Kings should apologize, whether the other person apologizes or not. Our apology should first and foremost be done because of the relationship we have with God, because we respect His Word as true.
Apologizing is part of seeking humility, and humility is a character quality God holds in high esteem. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will exalt you.” Apologizing humbles us by reminding us that we are not perfect and we need forgiveness from God and from other people.
And here is a newsflash that I am sure we also don’t want to accept. Many times simply saying “I’m sorry” is not a full apology because it does not take into account the level of wrong done. There are times when we accidentally bump into someone or say something we shouldn’t. Those little errors, done without evil intent, are easy to apologize for with an “I’m sorry.”
But when we have truly wronged someone,when you have intently spewed words to degrade or belittle someone that person needs us to validate the pain we caused. A real apology sounds something more like this: “I was wrong to ________. I know I hurt you and I am sorry that I did. Would you please forgive me? How can I make this right?”
King Saul gave us an example of an insufficient apology. He disobeyed a direct command from the Lord, and Samuel confronted him. Saul at first denied any wrongdoing but, when pressed, admitted he had sinned against God. Still, he blamed his wrongdoing on a desire to please the people . He was sorry he got caught but not humble enough to truly admit his wrong. God was not impressed with Saul’s apology and took his kingdom from him .
When we know we have wronged God or someone else, God expects us to make it right. We make things right with God by repenting of that sin, confessing it to Him, and receiving His forgiveness (1 John 1:9). We make things right with others by apologizing—admitting our wrong, asking for forgiveness, and offering to make restitution. When we have wronged someone else, we should do whatever we can to make it right. (Matthew 5:23–24) Being reconciled to an offended brother or sister should be a top priority.
We have families torn, friends at odds with each other, dynamic business deal crushed all because of pride and arrogance. Issues that could easily be solved with the admittance of wrong, an apology and forgiveness.
We were created to dwell together in a spirit of unity and since we were not created perfect, know that humility is the only path of harmony.
I don’t think many of us have ever taken the time to think about how truly powerful our minds are. Did you know the human brain is so powerful that some intelligent computers called neural networks are patterned after how the human brain works.
For every thought you have, a surge of electrical currents from your brain release an unknown number of neuro-chemicals, responsible for the operation of your nervous system.
With every thought and with every electrical current in your brain, your body responds like a world-class conductor leading a famous orchestra, with everything working in unison with your heart, every organ, and every muscle performing their role with precision.
Your brain is the control center of your very being. Did you know concentrating on pain that occurs in your body sends electrical currents through your brand that continues producing pain.
If you focus on negativity, your brain will begin to operate dissecting everything from a negative perspective. We all know at least one person in our lives who seems to always have a negative perspective on everything, and it's because they have flipped their brain switch to filter everything that enters their brand through a filter of negativity.
On the other hand we sometimes struggle with breaking our norms, embracing new perspectives or learning something new that upsets what we have programmed in our brainiac computers. The reason why is because learning something new requires considerable energy and our undivided attention.
Energy and attention have been programmed to allow the world to manipulate and formulate. So we don’t vet situations, our actions and reactions, or our attitudes to align with the will of God because that would require our brain, our very being to embrace something unfamiliar, to flip the switch.
As believers we are charged to vet, to examine, to align everything we do, everything we engage in and everything that is put before us using the Word of God as our measuring rod.
This is referred to as using spiritual discernment.The word discern means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.”
Spiritual discernment is the ability to properly distinguish or make determinations based on NOT our spirit but the spirit of God. Spiritual discernment is related to wisdom. My grandmother used to refer to it as a combination of common sense and the Holy Spirit.
We have heard the expression the writing is on the wall, not really knowing the origin of cliche.“the handwriting on the wall,” which proclaims a clear warning of inevitable misfortune.”
The cliche’s origin comes from the book of Daniel chapter 5 as it tells the story of the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar, a rich and debauched king, who gave a banquet to his court. During the drunken party, the sacred vessels which were stolen from the temple were being used in a blasphemous manner. In other words they were defacing what had been sanctified, set aside as holy.
At the height of the festivities, a man’s hand was seen writing on the wall the mysterious words “mene mene tekel upharsin”. The king became terrified, wondering what is this, what is happening, how is this happening. Not only did the fact that the writing was appearing with no apparent person writing it.
To further complicate and ignite fear no one could understand what the words meant. All attempts at interpretation by Belshazzar’s wise men failed until the prophet Daniel was called in.
Daniel was one of the captives from Judah brought to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel was given wisdom from God to read and translate the words, which meant “numbered, numbered, weighed, divided.”
Daniel told the king, “Here is what these words mean: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians”
The handwriting on the wall proved true. In fact, it proved fatal for the dissolute Belshazzar. Just as Daniel had said, the kingdom of Babylon was divided between the Medes and Persians, and it happened that very night. Belshazzar was slain, and his kingdom passed to Darius the Mede (Daniel 5:30–31).
The appearance of the writing on the king’s wall is a reminder that whatever we sow, that we will also reap (Galatians 6:7–8). God is the Judge; He justly weighs all matters and metes out retribution in His time (Psalm 94:2).
Sometimes God speaks very clearly into our lives, convicting us of sin and warning us of pending judgment (see John 16:8). It does not pay to ignore the “handwriting on the wall.”
This is a question that was posed and it threw me for a loop for two reasons; one, because sin is pretty straightforward and uncut. The second reason this question threw me for a lot is because I was trying to think of the mindset of the one who submitted the question. And what possible situation the person posing the question could think of that would excuse sexual sin.
We live in a world where sex is handled in such a casual manner, it is just as much of the dating process as going to dinner and holding hands, as a matter of fact, dinner and hand holding is no longer even a prerequisite to sex.
Sexual behavior is considered a personal choice, aligning with the decision of whether to buy a house or rent a condo. At the same time, popular opinion has ALL BUT removed the word sin from our culture’s vocabulary. The only sexual expression considered “wrong” is what is deemed distasteful to the one defining it.
Fortunately, man has never been given the privilege of defining sin. The One who created sexuality also has the right to set the boundaries for it, and the Bible is clear about the guidelines.
I like to compare sex to electricity. Electricity is a phenomenal invention, without it we would stagnate professionally, and in every aspect of our personal lives. However, as great as electricity is, it doesn’t come free; someone has to pay the cost for it to remain consistent in any situation. Electricity also has the ability to be influential in providing pleasure as well as pain.
Electricity also comes with boundaries, and rules, which if disobeyed or ignored could lead to death, irrevocable damage, destruction of property, and ultimately darkness.
When God created Adam and Eve, He joined them together in marriage and pronounced it “very good”. At that time, God introduced sexuality and set the boundaries for its expression. God created a union between a husband and wife that He called “becoming one flesh”.
God designed male and female bodies differently so that they could come together in an act of physical intimacy, an act that joins them together like pieces to a puzzle coming together to make one complete picture of beauty.
The act of becoming one creates a new entity: a family. This powerful force of sex was designed as a gift from God to bring forth new life and lay the foundation for the establishing a godly culture shaped and form out of godly families, upon which God’s intention was to strengthen His Kingdom.
God then defined any sexual activity outside of the husband-wife relationship as a violation of His gift. Hence making Fornication, homosexuality, pornography, and lust all violations of God’s intent when He created the sexual act.
Now we are all aware that everything God creates as good, to bless us, Satan perverts. When we use sexuality for entertainment or for the sole purpose of satisfying our lust, we cheapen the beauty of this gift and defy the One who designed it. Any time you violate, cheapen or take for granted what God created to bless you there are consequences of our sin.
I want to tell you all this morning that you can absolutely disagree with someone and still love them. We have been duped into thinking that love is based on the total acceptance of every opinion, thought, action and reaction of another. And that is just not true
We’ll never completely agree with another person on everything. Not even our spouse or best friend. Of the nearly eight billion people in the world right now, there’s not a single person like you. That means there won’t be anyone with your exact viewpoint on life, politics, money, relationships, or religion. You are uniquely you, and so is the person next to you.
Even though we’re all different, we can still love others. Why is it important to love people when we clearly don’t see eye to eye with? Because Jesus said so. He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34 NIV). When Jesus commanded us to love others, He didn’t say that we had to agree with them first. So, what does love look like?
Love considers others first.
Love looks for the best.
Love shows respect.
Love seeks unity.
Love isn’t selfish.
Love offers the best.
Love displays patience.
When I was the youth director at my former church, our teen ministry had a “board of directors” made up of teens that kept us in the loop as to teen life, so that we could minister to them more effectively. You know names mean something, in some cases your name ties you to your legacy.
We decided that our teen ministry needed a name that would tie them to their spiritual legacy. We discussed scriptures and the goals of our teen ministry and allowed the teen board of directors to come up with 3 names they deem suitable for the teen ministry and then we presented those names to the rest of the teens and allowed them to vote on the name of the ministry. They decided on “Heirs To The Throne”.
My former Pastor and myself were so delighted when they unanimously voted to be called “Heirs To The Throne”, because of how impactful it is to know who you are, your place, your legacy and what you are entitled to. (the importance of history -what are you tied to)
We have been studying Galatians, for the same reason. It is imperative as believers that we understand who we are in the Kingdom of God and even more importantly whose we are in the Kingdom of God.
We look around and people, are running a muck, priorities distorted, values almost non-existent, women prostituting themselves, either outright or on the low. Our men have been deceived and have no sense of what it means to be a man. (because they are not tied to anything, don’t really know their capabilities, are disconnected from the triumphs of their legacies that came before them)
We have men and women who say they believe in God, but don’t present themselves, physically, spiritually, or emotionally, like they are tied to who the Almighty is.
In the entire book of Galatians Paul is trying to explain to those who are Heirs to The throne because of their salvation, that they are discounting the jewels of their inheritance by operating as if their own works, impress the one who their inheritance came from.
What impresses a King is when their heirs understand and embrace the magnitude of what they have been gifted, what they are entitled to by no efforts of their own, what they have complete access to by just being born into royalty.
We have all heard of the tiff with Prince Harry and him distancing himself from his royal position. Without even exploring the rightness or wrongness, or any justification of what and why he chose to distance himself, you can best believe the attitude of the Kingdom is not favorable because they deem him as ungrateful for what was given him because of his birthright.
As children of God we have a birthright. Galatians 4:28-29 You and I, dear brothers, are the children that God promised, just as Isaac was. 29 And so we who are born of the Holy Spirit are persecuted now by those who want us to keep the Jewish laws, just as Isaac, the child of promise, was persecuted by Ishmael, the slave-wife’s son.
Esther lived in ancient Persia about 100 years after the Babylonian captivity. When Esther's parents died, the orphaned child was adopted and raised by her older cousin Mordecai.
One day the king of the Persian Empire, Xerxes , threw a lavish party. On the final day of the festivities, he called for his queen, Vashti, but the queen refused to appear before Xerxes. Filled with anger, he deposed Queen Vashti, and forever removed her from his presence.
To find his new queen, Xerxes hosted a royal beauty pageant and Esther was chosen for the throne. Her cousin Mordecai became a minor official in the Persian government.
Soon Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate the king. He told Esther about the conspiracy, and she reported it to Xerxes, giving credit to Mordecai. The plot was derailed and Mordecai's act of kindness was greatly appreciated by the King.
At this time, the king's highest official was a wicked man named Haman. He hated the Jews, especially Mordecai, who had refused to bow down to him.
Haman devised a scheme to have every Jew in Persia killed. The king agreed to his plan to annihilate the Jewish people on a specific day. Meanwhile, Mordecai learned of the plot and shared it with Esther, challenging her with these famous words (Esther 4:13-14, NIV)
"Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"
Esther urged all of the Jews to fast and pray for deliverance. Then, risking her own life, brave young Esther approached the king with a request.
She invited Xerxes and Haman to a banquet where eventually she revealed her Jewish heritage to the king, as well as Haman's diabolical plot to have her and her people killed. In a rage, the king ordered Haman to be hung on the gallows—the very same gallows Haman had built for Mordecai.
Let me say this right off the bat, there is no compilation of expressed words that are deemed holier or more fervent than others. I have seen people ridiculed and criticized for their prayer, as some expect to feel something when someone prays. Which is why you have a lot of people who don’t like to pray publicly and also why you have a lot of people who deem it necessary to make a public prayer a dramatic presentation
In Matthew 6:5&7 Jesus address this very topic as he says “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Basically Jesus is letting us know, there is no reason to put on a production when you pray, and if you do, then you have prayed for the entertainment of the people, so look for your blessing to come from the ones you entertained. Verse 7 continues address all the deep words, that may inspire or cause emotions to flair in people, but are ignored by God
Think about it there are some poems and even some songs that if read or sung at the appropriate time can invoke emotions, however, they are not rooted in a relationship which is inspired by communication with Him.
The righteousness of our prayer rests on the condition of our hearts, our souls and our intention. Depending on these three things our prayers can be hindered
Unconfessed sin is likely the most common hindrance to prayer Psalm 66:18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
Lack of faith is a true hindrance to prayer in Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Selfishness and Wrong Intentions James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions or wrong motives. In other words you come to God so fixed on your greed, your own desires, with a checklist treating Him like a genie instead of God almighty.
Un-forgiveness “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Un-submitted to the will of God - (John 15:7). The branch depends on the vine and lives in one accord with it. In return, the vine provides it with everything it needs, and the result is great fruitfulness.
Jonah’s Disobedience. (Jonah 1:1-3)Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
Don't let disobedience to the word of God take you places you never intended to go and through expereinces that God neve intended for you to have to endure.
Have you ever been around someone who just complains, has something negative to say about everything. In the midst of celebrating they complain about the color of balloons.
They are usually also the ones who trust no one, believe everyone has a hidden agenda or are out to get them.
Proverbs 15:13 A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.
Joy is good medicine. Those who have joy are usually grounded in their faith. See the issue is we have been tricked into believing that God has lost control.
**We sip on Satan’s poison, we have been duped into thinking politicians, the government, the media and Sagtan himself, have everything on lock.
Regar**dless of what it looks like God is still on the throne.
Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
As believers it’s hard to talk to anyone about God or lead anyone to Christ because we don’t know how to represent the Kingdom in the times of turmoil
We called to be the salt of the earth. The meaning of being salt has nothing to do with us having the tang of salt, but the value. In biblical times salt was highly prized as a preservative of food – so precious that it was used as money with Roman soldiers were even sometimes paid in salt.
Taking on the persona of salt of the earth, means we are to bring value to situations, conversations and environments.
Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, so they will give glory to God.
We cannot effectively draw people into the Kingdom if it looks like the God we serve has no power.
In the midst of turmoil, pray for God to show you Him, his purpose and your assignment.
As committed servants we should want to be part of the solution that gives God glory not part of the negativity that showcases Satan’s agenda.
We say God is omniscient, meaning one who knows all things. The word omniscient is nowhere in the bible but the inference of God knowing all things in prevalent from Genesis to Revelation.
Psalm 147:5 Great is our Lord,abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
1 John 3:20 “for God is greater than our heart and knows all things”
There is no doubt lingering in regards to God’s level of knowledge, however, the impact or the influence of His knowledge and our humanity rears up many valid questions.
I was recently asked if God knows everything then why pray, why does He ask questions, is our destiny already predetermined and last but not least if God knows everything does that negate our free will?
This morning I prayed as asked by the Holy Spirit to guide me to explain this in the simplest way possible.
First let’s talk about how intimidating it is when we truly embrace that God knows our every thought. Iur angry thoughts, lustful thoughts, vengeful ideas, secret greed, and hidden coveting. God also knows our secret longings, hopeful desires, and private dreams. And He understands.
Sometimes we are harder on ourselves than God is. Psalm 103:14 tell us that He knows we are frail humans made from dirt and born with a sin nature.
However, at the same time we can also be too easy and carefree and not hold ourselves accountable regarding our thoughts. The bible tells us so a man thinketh so is he, which tells us our thoughts ought not be set on the things outside of the will and ways of God,
In Colossians 1:21 it speaks of our minds alienating us and making us enemies of God. You know our ancestors used to say don’t go anywhere you don’t want to take God, because he is always with you, well this morning I am telling you don’t fix your minds on things and thoughts you don’t want to have an open conversation with God about.
Let’s talk about the core issue that remains on the table. If God knows in advance how we will act, then most perceive that this means we cannot act other than in accordance with God's foreknowledge, so then we cannot possibly have free-will. Not so!
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and
He is The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be…
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can’t understand him,
The armies can’t defeat Him,
The schools find it hard to describe Him, and
The leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him, and
The people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him,
Hitler couldn’t silence Him,
Technology can’t replace Him, and
CNN can’t explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is an abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His desire is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
We are venturing into part 2 of our study of Galatians. Galatians, the New Testament book, written by Paul as a letter to the Galatians who were believers who received salvation based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, but strayed from the foundation of the teachings that led to their receiving salvation.
But they began to be drawn back to the practices of religiosity which had nothing to do with the Kingdom of Heaven or pleasing God.
Now Paul was the perfect man to address the Galatians for he was once a devout Jew, who knew first-hand what it was like to be more committed to the practices, traditions and rituals of religion than to God Himself.
Paul was so committed to religiosity, he was blinded and didn’t recognize when the Savior the Jews were looking and praying for actually arrived. Pau was the leader of the pack that ridiculed the teachings of Jesus Christ and wanted to jail and kill those who followed Jesus’ teachings.
But then God confronted Paul. Let me tell the story to some and refresh the story in the minds of others. The story comes from the book Acts and begins in the 9th chapter
Yes, we are studying Galatians but I need to you understand the underlying and qualifying components of Paul audacity when he addresses the Galatians.See Paul, who went by the name of Saul at that time, was on his way to Damascus with a letter from the high priest in Jerusalem who gave him authority to arrest any who belonged to what was called, “the Way,” meaning Christians, those who followed Christ.
Paul sought to intentionally oppose the name of Jesus. And no doubt because he had the support of the high priest he walked with a false sense of entitlement and much arrogance. So much so that in Acts 26:9-11. Paul says in his own words “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
Let me give you a little sidebar here, be careful who you follow, I don’t care what their position is nor what kind of illumination of authority they have, keep your heart aligned with the will and the ways of God, don’t allow distractions to blind you so you don’t recognize when God is moving and when He is telling you stand down.
Let’s go back to the road of Damascus. Suddenly a bright light was shone on Saul, so bright it caused him to fall to the ground. Then Jesus spoke to Saul, asking him, “Why are you persecuting me?” in a voice understood only by him. Then Saul, as I am sure he was shivering in fear, asked “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
I find the need to pause right here with another sidebar, for all of you who struggle with Jesus being God, Paul had to face this reality in the most shocking, and unimaginable way. Notice the voice didn’t say this is God, the voice he heard proclaimed to be Jesus confirming they are one in the same, because only God can create an experience like Paul had that day.
TGIF: A "Lord You Are My Everything" Kind of PRAISE!!
I am your son, You are my Father
Oh how you love to love me
Oh, You are my source, there is none other (there is none other)
Oh how You love, to love me
My life is in Your hands
You've given me
Another chance, to prove
My love again
My life is in your hands
I just really wanna tell You I love yah
Everybody clap your hands
C'mon put your hand like that
Sing oh (oh)
Then we go like this
When I'm in need, You're my provider
Oh how You love to love me
Oh, When I am sick, You are my healer
Oh how You love to love me
My life is in Your hands
You've given me
Another chance, just to prove
My love again
My life is in your hands
I just really wanna tell You I love yah
Everybody clap your hands
Eh, oh
Sing oh (oh)
You are my joy
You are my peace
You are my strength
I want you to say this
You're my everything
You are my joy, sing
You are my peace
You are my strength
Somebody say You're my everything
You're my everything
You are my joy (joy)
You are my peace (you're my peace)
You are my strength (you're my strength)
You're my everything (you're my)
You are my joy
You are my peace (you are my peace)
You are my strength
You're my everything, sing
You're my everything
You are my joy
You are my peace
You are my strength
You're my everything (You're my everything)
Somebody clap your hand now
Oh
Ephesians 6:10-18. The Armor of God10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Abraham is mentioned several times in the Bible for some of the great things he accomplished, but Romans 4 says that he was saved because of his faith and not because of his works.
Hebrews 11 says that he followed God even though he was not sure where he was going. Abraham is known as a man of faith who faithfully followed the Lord’s leading.
God gave Abraham the promise that the Redeemer, the Saviour would come through his family. Abraham and his wife Sarah were past child-bearing age when God gave them a child named Isaac. Even though God had promised that Abraham’s descendants would one day be a great nation, He asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac in Genesis 22.
God told Abraham to take Isaac to a mountain to sacrifice him to the Lord. God never intended for Abraham to kill Isaac. This was merely a test to Abrahams level of faith
As we read the story of Abraham and Isaac we are reminded that God is faithful and that we can place our trust in Him.
If you are not sure, what God is doing, trust him. Not sure where he’s leading you as long as it's Him leading you, follow. Like Abraham, God has made some promises concerning your life, if you are not sure what those promises are, start setting time aside where you and you alone can commune with God then listen and know that sometimes your faith will challenge you to give up what may make you uncomfortable, that is unimaginable, just know God will reward you greatly and according to your faith
For the next few weeks right up to the Christmas season we will be studying the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians is Paul’s letter to the Galatians, to the believers, encouraging them to shift somethings, let somethings go, to exalt their faith over traditions and formalities.
Let me give you a little background on the Galatians, they were believers who started their walk with Christ believing in the authentic truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which boasts that we are justified by faith alone.
The doctrine of the gospel is plain and simple and teaches that Jesus and only Jesus provides the way for us to be accepted by God and that it is Jesus and only Jesus by which any one can be fully a member of the Kingdom of Heaven.
True believers of God live by faith in Christ, his birth, his life, his death and his physical resurrection.
Here is where the problem Paul was having with the Galatians that he seeks to lay to rest in this phenomenal book.
See, during the 2000 years leading up to the coming of Christ, God’s people believed the only way to experience God’s saving blessings was by succumbing to the works of the law of Moses.
This is where believers even today need clarity, follow me close. Because as we live and breath in today times this belief system has exalted a form of blasphemy against Jesus Christ, as it has allowed yokes of slavery to once again bound us from the very thing Jesus died to free us from.
In Galatians 1:6-8, Paul says as he speaks to the Galations, I am amazed that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, turning to a different gospel. Paul goes on to say there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul continues in his proclamation by announcing But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!
In other words, Paul is saying I don’t care who comes knocking on your door, who presents themselves as wise, who calls themselves a pastor, evangelist or an apostle. He even goes as far as to say even if an angel comes to you teaching and preaching anything outside the parameter of the true and authentic gospel which is you are saved by faith in Jesus alone, then let them be under God’s curse. Ok, what specifically is Paul talking about?
We know that in Exodus 31 the Word of God tells us that the ten commandments were received by Moses and inscribed in the stone tablets by the finger of God.
The laws conveyed in those commandments clearly reveal God’s standards for His people living in a fallen world. Our behavior, God has commanded us to be righteous. His commandments make us conscientious of our sins, as God once and for all codified morality.
There is absolutely no question of God’s opinion concerning adultery, murder, theft and the addressed sins in the ten commandments. And there is no question concerning that violation of His commandments will reap a penalty.
I want to talk to you this morning about walking out of your imperfections perfectly. First and foremost we need to understand that how or what we deem as perfection is quite different from how God deems it.
We deem perfection based on “doing”, but God deems perfection based on “being”. Let me explain, the flaw in our perspective of perfection is we put a heavy emphasis on the works of the flesh, what one does, what we can see with our eyes, count and measure with our hands.
Because of our flawed perspective, we find ourselves in unfavorable circumstances and unfavorable love and friendship relationships.
Think about it, if you ask most wy they like or love the person they are in a relationship, most time their list will begin with and in some cases even end with what that person does, how they measure the person character based on how they make them feel and based on this list they have proclaimed love for the person and deemed them as their perfect match.
Now let’s look at God’s perspective of perfection. In God’s eyes, the definition of perfect is outlined in the fruit of the spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Pay close attention to the wording of the scripture, notice we say “the fruits of the spirit”, which is incorrect, as the Word of God refers to the fruit of the spirit, singular, it's not a typo.
These attributes are not a list of fruits but collectively are defined as the fruit of the spirit. We can’t operate in one effectively and be committed to them all. Think of it like this, there are many ingredients in a cake but they all come together to make one cake.
The attributes contained in the fruit of the spirit for lack of a better term, are not sold separately, they are not displayed or accessible via a buffet for your choosing. The attributes of the fruit of the spirit are collectively one and only distributed as a package deal.
First and foremost before we enter into the word of God, please know this message is not a solicitation for me to become your pastor, however, it is a solicitation for everyone to become spiritually covered. We are living in a time when "church" is being done outside of the traditional parameters we are accustomed to and in all honesty, there is absolutely nothing wrong with change. We as a people have a tendency to want things to remain familiar, predictable, and essentially within our control.
But if we think about it and research the Word of God all of those things are contrary to the character of God and don't align with the will of God. The ways of the world are what is most familiar, what does God say about the ways of the world, He is clear that we should not accept the ways of the world as His will and we should not conform to the ways of the world.
\We certainly know God not to be a predictable God. Isaiah 55:8 God tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. But we yearn for "predictability". Why because if we can predict it we feel like we can control it.
"PASTORS ARE NOT MOTIVATION SPEAKERS, BUT REVELATION RELEASERS"
In our supersonic postmodern society, known for its busyness and its increasing ability to deliver instantaneously, we find ourselves hurried more than our ancestors ever could have imagined. We have come a long way from the horse-and-buggy days, and because of that, our twenty-four hours a day seem more and more restrictive. We never feel like we have enough time to accomplish everything we want or need to do, and the clock keeps ticking. Amid maintaining a 1,500-calorie diet, picking up the kids from soccer practice, and keeping our car insurance current, we can somehow lose touch with what is really important. We become like robots rapidly moving from one task to the next. We are overworked, overstressed, and spiritually undernourished. Our culture promotes “bigger and better” and subtly challenges us to keep up. Whew! Who made these rules anyway? Satan loves to keep us running in circles trying to beat the clock. If he can distract us, he can minimize our usefulness to the Kingdom of God. Satan may be the Prince of Darkness, but he is also the Duke of Distraction.
The very person staring back at you in the mirror every day is the one you are going to have to get real with concerning the reflections of your heart and the direction of your life.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
The character of an eagle provides some extraordinary life lessons for mankind, lessons that align with the character of God.
When we look to enhance our character we should first evaluate what we want our lives to symbolize, what is the mark we want to leave on this, and what are some of the things we will be remembered for.
The eagle symbolizes freedom, strength, and power, it's easy to see why and how God would use this incredible species to refer to himself and as believers, we should strive for our character to symbolize the same attributes.
Freedom - Believers it's time we embraced that we have been given the gift of freedom, not to run amuck, not to be independent of the mandate of God but to be able to fully execute our God-ordained purpose, to be able to move without boundaries, dream without limitations and move, live and operate in freedom from fear.
Not only were we given the gift of freedom, but we were also given it with instructions. In Galatians 5:1 the scripture tells us For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. The instruction from heaven tells us not to submit again to a yoke of slavery, free, the confines of religiosity and traditions, man-made boundaries, and lack of confidence derived from not accepting who you belong to
Like an eagle, as children of the Highest God, we also have unlimited access to strength. Strength is defined as the capacity to withstand great force, and not buckle under pressure. Our unlimited access is not just a one-time allotment and occasional dose. In Isaiah 41:10 it reads “ Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
I will strengthen thee, is the fine print in the covenant God has made with us “will strengthen” infers continuously, unlimited, and promise with no expiration date. “Will strengthen” is a renewal, continuous benefit.
The expression antichristos is found in the Bible only in the Johannine Epistles (1 Jn. 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 Jn. 7), but the idea behind it is widespread. We should probably understand the force of anti as indicating opposition, rather than a false claim, i.e. the antichrist is one who opposes Christ rather than one who claims to be the Christ. If this is so, then we should include under the heading ‘antichrist’ such OT passages as Dn 7:7f., 21f., and those in 2 Thes. 2 and Revelation which deal with the strong opposition that the forces of evil are to offer Christ in the last days.
The concept is introduced in John as already well known (‘you have heard that antichrist is coming, 1 Jn. 2:18). But though he does not dispute the fact that at the end of this age there will appear an evil being, called ‘antichrist’, John insists that there is a temper, an attitude, characteristic of antichrist, and that already exists. Indeed, he can speak of ‘many antichrists’ as already in the world (1 Jn. 2:18). He gives something in the nature of a definition of antichrist when he says, ‘This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son’ (1 Jn. 2:22). This becomes a little more explicit when the criterion is made the refusal to acknowledge ‘the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh’ (2 Jn. 7). For John it is basic that in Jesus Christ we see God acting for man’s salvation (1 Jn. 4:9f.). When a man denies this he is not simply guilty of doctrinal error. He is undercutting the very foundation of the Christian faith. He is doing the work of Satan in opposing the things of God. At the end of the age this will characterize the work of the supreme embodiment of evil. And those who in a small way do the same thing now demonstrate by that very fact that they are his henchmen.
You may not know when, you may not know how... but let your faith in God stand tall because He is never without a plan
In the Bible, there are only two animals God uses to describe Himself, a lion and an eagle. Lions are the baddest thing that prowls the earth and the eagle is the "baddest" thing that flies in the air. Which explains why God uses these two things to describe Himself because he is the absolute control of the heavens and earth.
Today’s sermon is part one of a two-part series entitled The Animalistic Flavor of God: The True King of the Jungle
A lion symbolizes majesty, courage, strength, protection, family, wisdom, and other admirable traits. While an eagle symbolizes loyalty, freedom, devotion, truth, honor, and divine faithfulness, we will explore the eagle in part 2 of this series, but today we are going to dive into the animalistic flavor of God which shares characteristics with the lion.
Did you know Lions don't actually live in the jungle? Their real habitat is the open savanna, a grassy plain in tropical and subtropical regions, open land which possesses few trees.
Lions live in groups called "prides". A group of lions is collectively called a pride because of their stately quality. The male lions of the pride come and go. As it is the males their job to defend the pride's territory, by marking the area, using their roar to threaten and warn intruders, as well as, chasing off animals that encroach on their turf. The males spend most of their time fighting and protecting, also teaching and preparing the male cubs how to survive so they can operate as Kings when they eventually leave the pride.
Now lionesses are the heart and soul of the “pride”, with a more consistent presence in the pride as she is the primary caregiver of cubs, especially the female cubs. The lioness is also the pride's primary hunter and leader. Female lions are the core of the lion family just like in the human family.
This is why Satan in the Garden of Eden went straight to Eve. Also why, If you study the history of the largest act of oppression in this country, which was slavery, you will learn to keep oppression alive and the rule of slavery profitable, if you read The Making of a slave you will see that masters set out to control and put fear in the woman.
But why? the woman and not the man. Because it's the woman that is the core of all families, not because the man is by any means insignificant, but simply because the woman is the first teacher of every generation and what is put in the minds of babies will have long term effects.
We all stand in the need of prayer.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing,
Matthew 6:6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
You all know I am alway stressing the importance of studying the word of God. The Bible is truly our life manual. Some consider it antiquated and archaic, but it is so relevant for as modern as we think today’s times are, there is nothing that we do, say, or how we act or react that has not already been played out in the bible. To ignore that simple fact is equivalent to saying “I would rather walk around blind than to see clearly where I am going”
Obadiah, the shortest book in the Old Testament, is only 21 verses long. This book is often overlooked and rarely quoted from, but it ties into the story of Jacob and Esau and how God deals with those who keep bitterness going.
Obadiah is a prophet of God who gives vision concerning the condemnation of Edom for sins against both God and Israel.
Let me give you a little background on the Edomites. The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the firstborn son of Isaac and the twin brother of Jacob.
(Genesis 25:23) In the womb, Esau and Jacob struggled together, and God told their mother, Rebekah, that they would become two nations, with the older one serving the younger .
As an adult, Esau sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of soup (Genesis 25:30-34), and he hated his brother afterward. By his negative example, Esau teaches us to hold fast to what is truly important, even if it means denying the appetites of the flesh.
Esau’s choice to sell his birthright is used as an example of ungodliness—a “godless” person who will put physical desires over spiritual blessings (Hebrews 12:15-17)
Esau became the father of the Edomites and Jacob became the father of the Israelites, and the two nations continued to struggle through most of their history.
The quarrel between the brothers affected their descendants for over 1,000 years. The religion of the Edomites was similar to that of other pagan societies who worshiped fertility gods. Esau’s descendants eventually dominated the southern lands and made their living by agriculture and trade.
One night an angelic stranger visited Jacob and he did what we all must do. He confronts his failures, his weaknesses, his sins, his deceit and faces God. Jacob wrestled with God all night. It was an exhausting struggle that the scriptures say left him crippled. The significance of Jacob being left crippled, is confirmation that we cannot go against God without facing consequences and his life long crippled state was indication of from that point on his ongoing humility before God.
(Genesis 32:29) It was only after he came to grips with God and ceased his struggling, realizing that he could not go on without Him, that he received God’s blessing and God changed his name to Israel .
Now note Jacob had an encounter with God and settled some things before him and God blessed him and gave him a new name and a new start. But his brother Esau didn’t have an encounter with God and was still bitter toward his brother and the Israelites.
This morning the spirit is leading me to address some of the foolishness that is running rampant amongst believers from our pulpits to the parking lots.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
I am here to tell you the time is now. We have believers so fixed on what they want that they will shun or give no consideration to what the Word of God says. Their focus is only on what they want and so much so that their ears are only open to what pacifies their desires and disconnects from the words of truth being spoken.
Those with itchy ears are pawns in Satan’s game. Itchy ears are a gateway for him to exploit our souls and to pull away from the Word of God and make us prime targets for false prophets.
Jesus alerts us to “watch out for false prophets” in Matthew 7:15. He compares these false prophets to wolves in sheep’s clothing. In that same chapter, Jesus also tells us how to identify these false prophets: we will recognize them by their fruit. What we always need to remain conscious of is the best fruit, the best gifts are nothing, even evil without godliness.
But we as believers have taken on the persona of the world and look for quick easy fixes, want our blessing delivered and gift wrapped according to our desires. So the world runs from psychic to psychic and we run from “prophet” to “prophet” seeking from man to pour a word into our lives when the word of God has and will always be readily available.
In Matthew 12:38 Jesus told the people, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign”. But we run around with our itchy ears, wanting to hear confirmation concerning our desires, along with signs and predictions of the future, putting more faith in man’s words than the mandates of God.
Angels are personal spirit beings created to worship and serve God. We don’t know when angels were created, but Scripture indicates that angels were present when God created the earth, so we do know they existed before mankind.
Psalm 148 lists various created things, and everything, including angels, is commanded to praise the Lord: nThe scripture reads “Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly hosts. . . . Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created”
We know that mankind came from the earth. God scooped up mud and formed Adam’s body, then breathed life into it, and man became a living soul. We are not told what “substance,” if any, God used to create angels or what the process looked like.
In Genesis 1 God merely spoke the entire universe into being; it could be that He also spoke the angels into existence. We could say that angels came from the mind of God and showcase another aspect of His creative brilliance.
What is clear is the character of angels. They praise God (Psalm 148:1-2; Isaiah 6:3). They worship God (Hebrews 1:6; Revelation 5:8-13). They rejoice in what God does (Job 38:6-7). They serve God (Psalm 103:20; Revelation 22:9). They appear before God (Job 1:6; 2:1). They are instruments of God’s judgments (Revelation 7:1; 8:2). They bring answers to prayer (Acts 12:5-10). They aid in winning people to Christ (Acts 8:26; 10:3). They observe Christian order, work, and suffering (1 Corinthians 4:9; 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:12). They encourage in times of danger (Acts 27:23-24). And They care for the righteous at the time of death (Luke 16:22).
A popular notion is that people become angels when they die—at least, the “good” people do. The 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life advance this concept through a fictional character who was a clockmaker when he was alive (293 years previously) but is now an angel trying to earn his wings through good works.
However, there is no biblical basis for the theory that angels are former people. In fact, the Bible clearly indicates that angels are different from us; (Psalm 8:5) tells us human beings were created little lower than the angels.
Human beings do not become angels after they die. Angels will never become and never were, human beings. God created the angels, just as He created humanity.
Paranoia is described as a condition that is derived from the lack of knowledge of truth or one’s resistance to the truth.
The symptoms of paranoia are distrust, difficulty with forgiveness, defensive attitude, imagined criticism, preoccupation with hidden motives, fear of being deceived, inability to relax, argumentation. delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, an exaggerated sense of self-importance, addictive tendencies, and a loss of touch with reality.
As I read the symptoms of paranoia, I couldn’t help but deal with the evident truth. We live in a world where either the lack of truth or the resistance to truth has shaped us into a culture of people who dwell in a state of paranoia.
Specialists say one of the most effective ways to deal with paranoia is through cognitive behavioral therapy which aims to help one identify and challenge thoughts that are unproductive and false. In other words, face lies and deceptions head-on and exalt truth.
Simply put, what the scripture tells us about the renewing of our minds is the cure for a paranoid culture of people.
Now John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
So let’s put all of this into perspective, paranoia is derived from the lack of knowledge of truth or one’s resistance to the truth. It is evident from the symptoms that the culture in which we live is suffering from paranoia. And the experts who have studied this disease of the mind say that the best way to treat this disease is to…. in simple terms face lies and deceptions head-on and exalt truth.
I am answering a question recently submitted. Can a believer become demon-possessed?
Biblical scripture makes it abundantly clear that Christians cannot be demon-possessed. Now there is a distinct difference between being possessed by a demon and being oppressed or influenced by a demon.
The core of our salvation is rooted in Romans 10:9 “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved”. The closing 4 words of that scripture read “you will be saved”, saved from what? The control of Satan.
Confessing with your mouth and believing in your heart is an invitation for the holy spirit to come into your heart and soul. Satan does not have enough power or authority to invoke an eviction on the Holy Spirit.
Demon possession involves a demon having direct/complete control over the thoughts and/or actions of a person.
Now because God does not take away our free will when we extend the invitation inviting the holy spirit in. We can be influenced by Satan. Demon oppression or influence involves a demon or demons attacking a person spiritually and/or encouraging him/her into sinful behavior.
If you notice that in all the New Testament passages dealing with spiritual warfare, there are no instructions to cast a demon out of a believer. Believers are told to resist the devil. James 4:7; Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Confessing and believing in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord is step one
Step two of our salvation is continuous and has to do with the continual renewing of our minds and the continual submission of our mind, body and soul to Christ.
Time and time again, as life happens, turmoil and temptations will come, and we are charged to choose God’s way over the world that is the act of resubmission. Resubmission becomes a sanctified habit, through the renewing of our minds, the act of studying the word of God.
Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in the same space as a demon. Just as lightness and darkness cannot occupy the same space. It is unthinkable that God would allow one of His children, whom He purchased with the blood of Christ and made into a new creation (2 to be possessed and controlled by a demon.
Yes, as believers, we wage war with Satan and his demons, but not from within ourselves. The apostle John declares,1 John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”.
Who is the One in us? The Holy Spirit. Who is the one in the world? Satan and his demons. Therefore, the believer has overcome the world of demons, and the case for demon possession of a believer is not scripturally sound.
Much of the reasoning behind the demonization concept is the personal experience of seeing someone who was “definitely” a "Christian" exhibiting evidence of being controlled by a demon. It is crucially important, though, that we do not allow personal experiences to influence our interpretation of Scripture.
Parents, you ever look at the behavior of your children and don’t recognize the child you raise. Or has any of you thought you knew someone only to question, is this the person I thought I knew?
I can only imagine God feeling the same way when he looks at us sometimes. Is this who I created, is this the one who says they know me?
We live in a culture that makes it extremely easy to lose ourselves, to become detached from our core principles and standards. As a matter of fact, we live in a culture where standards and principles are not favorably looked upon.
Today’s culture promotes imitators. instead of innovators. Imitators dismiss standards and principles, innovators exalt standards and principles.
We tend to imitate others based on what looks good, what others declare of value, and on what feels good.
This is why we have become people who are obsessed with designer labels and material things. And why sex can effectively be used to sell and promote any and everything.
And if you are one that pulls away from the mandate of imitators and what they are pushing, then you’re considered an outcast.
If you seek to promote things that are rooted in righteousness, that edifies the mind, nourishes the soul, or exalts God’s ordained purpose then you are radical, crazy or behind in times. The world only embraces those who are willing to imitate what goes against the principles of godliness and is pushed as the norm.
Matthew 5:13-14 “ Every plant the heavenly father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone they are blind guides, if the blind lead the blind they will both fall into a pit.”
The pit we fall is paid by the high cost of our souls. We sacrifice our souls for man-made gems while being deceived into thinking we have invested in diamonds.
Each one of us has been wonderfully and uniquely made by God, so when we, God’s individual masterpieces, submit to being imitators of others that is equivalent to taking a diamond and putting a tag on it claiming it to be cubic zirconia.
The problem with a diamond being labeled as cubic zirconia is that its value is never realized. It’s passed around as cheap. Thrown here and there, left anywhere, and easily discarded.
Aaah To Know The Love of God, the father of fathers. The most genuine love accessible to mankind
Good friend, don’t forget all I’ve taught you;
take to heart my commands.
They’ll help you live a long, long time,
a long life lived full and well.
Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
a father’s delight is behind all this. (Proverbs 3:1-12)
God said: “Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
that’s what I had in mind for you.”
But I said, “Hold it, Master God! Look at me.
I don’t know anything. I’m only a boy!”
God told me, “Don’t say, ‘I’m only a boy.’
I’ll tell you where to go and you’ll go there.
I’ll tell you what to say and you’ll say it.
Don’t be afraid of a soul.
I’ll be right there, looking after you.”
God’s Decree.
God reached out, touched my mouth, and said,
“Look! I’ve just put my words in your mouth—hand-delivered!
See what I’ve done? I’ve given you a job to do
among nations and governments—a red-letter day!
Your job is to pull up and tear down,
take apart and demolish,
And then start over,
building and planting.”
God’s Message came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I said, “A walking stick—that’s all.”
And God said, “Good eyes! I’m sticking with you.
I’ll make every word I give you come true.”
God’s Message came again: “So what do you see now?”
I said, “I see a boiling pot, tipped down toward us.”
Then God told me, “Disaster will pour out of the north on everyone living in this land.
Watch for this: I’m calling all the kings out of the north.”
God’s Decree.
“They’ll come and set up headquarters
facing Jerusalem’s gates,
Facing all the city walls,
facing all the villages of Judah.
I’ll pronounce my judgment on the people of Judah
for walking out on me—what a terrible thing to do!—
And courting other gods with their offerings,
worshiping as gods sticks they’d carved, stones they’d painted.
“But you—up on your feet and get dressed for work!
Stand up and say your piece. Say exactly what I tell you to say.
Don’t pull your punches or I’ll pull you out of the lineup.
“Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work.
I’m making you as impregnable as a castle,
Immovable as a steel post,
solid as a concrete block wall.
You’re a one-man defense system
against this culture,
Against Judah’s kings and princes,
against the priests and local leaders.
They’ll fight you, but they won’t
even scratch you.
I’ll back you up every inch of the way.”
God’s Decree. "Jeremiah 1:5-19
There will come a time in everyone's life where they are going to have to know the Word of God for themselves when they will have to call to memory the promises of God. Prepare to encourage yourself.
Let me begin by defining what sin is. Sin is any violation of the mandate and or commands of God.
1 John 5:17 All wrongdoing is sin
James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
1 Cor 6:9-10 tells us “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [a]homosexuals, nor [b]sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God”
Notice the scripture deals with all types and ways we violate the word of God. We sin with our mouths, with our hands, with our bodies, with our minds in our thoughts and we sin against one another. And there is no degree of sin, with one greater than the other for all sin will keep us from entering into the Kingdom of God.
Many ask, why does God allow sin. God doesn’t allow sin, sin is an option and man’s decisions execute sin. If truth be told, sin is a necessary evil. If God were to remove sin as an option, He would first and foremost have to renege on the promise of freedom. Because true freedom has to extend the option for each one to make their own decisions.
Our freedom is essential to our relationship with God. Because freedom is the core element of love. And love can’t be forced. God shows his love to us in so many ways, ways we could never truly count and His ultimate desire is that we reciprocate with our love of him. There is only one way to show our love to God, he told us his love language in John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
God, like us, wants genuine love, which comes from a desire, a longing to choose Him, and a willingness to make the sacrifices it takes to exalt a sincere love of God.
If God were to remove our option to sin then our righteousness would be rooted in it being our only option. No one wants love from anyone based on them being that person’s only option and neither does God. If anyone is deserving of genuine love it is God.
So since we will always have the option to sin, we will never be totally free from the ability to sin. When we accept "salvation" God does not take anything from us, hence that would be in violation of His promise of freedom. All our desires and abilities are still there when we accept salvation.
I may be telling my age but anybody out there remembers The Flip Wilson Show, he had a saying “The devil made me do it!”.
It seems it is always easier to blame someone else for our wrongs, for being irresponsible, for even being greedy and unkind to one another. We blame fast-food restaurants for making us fat. We blame tobacco companies for giving us cancer. We blame the church for our lack of spiritual growth. We blame other people’s ways for our attitude.
We live in a culture where blaming others for our failures is popular. But how does God view the blame game?
Could it be a form of idolatry where our feelings of pride are elevated above any sense of responsibility?
We expect blame-shifting from a child, good parents stress to their children not to blame others for their actions, because we want them to know that they are the ultimate controller of their actions and reactions.
You all remember the question our mothers asked when we tried to shift the blame on someone else for us following up with foolishness. “If your friend jumps off the bridge are you going to jump too? We would drop our heads with a pitiful “no”. And I know my mother’s response was. “then don’t tell me about so and so, I want to know why you did what you know was wrong”.
Sadly, the evidence is in, we failed in learning that lesson from our mothers because so many adults never grow to mental and emotional maturity and still blame others for their mistakes”
It is a generational curse that goes back to the beginning of man, yes blaming others is an inherited sin. Adam, Eve, Aaron Moses, and King Saul all have suffered from the plague of blaming others
They all blamed someone else for their sin and never took personal responsibility for their action.
Let's see. When sin made its entrance and God confronted Adam (Genesis 3:12-13), Adam replied, "The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." And in her defense Eve replied, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent.
The verdict proclaimed by humanity was that everything that went wrong in the Garden of Eden was someone else's fault.
When I was a child being raised in the church, I remember testimony service being a big part of our service. The role of Christian testimony is often misunderstood.
The testimony of a believer should not be a laundry list or a checklist of failures and successes. A testimony is not about the fulfillment of things we wished for
The only reason for a believer to share a testimony should be part of the framework of a larger story connected to the transforming power that Jesus Christ has on our soul, our heart, and our mind. Outside of such parameters, it's not a testimony but boasting and James 4:16 tells that boasting is arrogant and evil.
As a believer, who is charged to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ we have to keep our testimony free from arrogance and anything that falls contrary to the righteousness of God.
So let me make it plain, if you have acquired success by taking ungodly paths, that is not a testimony, just your story. A testimony should not be taken as lightly or misrepresented.
In Isaiah 8:16 the scripture tells us to bind up the testimony, in other words, hold it as sacred but why, the scripture goes on to tell us that our testimonies are what is able to seal the teaching of God amongst His disciples.
A Christian’s testimony should exalt our walking away from the ways of the world and embracing the righteousness of God.
By definition, the word tes·ti·mo·ny means the evidence or proof provided by the existence or appearance of something, a solemn attestation as to truth. We walk convinced that the only truth that is undisputable is rooted in the things of God because the Bible tells us that God is truth.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So I urge you this morning to Stop sharing just your story and tell your testimony, the impact that the blood of Jesus has had on your soul, your mind, and your heart, for it's our testimony that will draw and build the kingdom of God.
We live amongst of culture of people who have become wiser but weaker
- We more educated
- More tech savvy
- Even slicker in our wrong doing
But we are far weaker than our fore-parents. We are weaker physically, spiritually and emotionally. And because we have become a world full of people who are spiritually and emotionally weak, everything that requires discipline, patience or a sacrifice we deem intolerable.
Timothy 3: 1-7, that reads “ in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Because we are spiritually and emotionally weak we walk around with our feelings, our self-esteem and our pride on our shoulders which inturn makes us “prey” for Satan because we are so easily offended by every and anything, we walk around with one offense after another.
Constructive criticism is not longer permissible, we’re even raising our children to bow to offenses as we have them playing sports, where no score is kept because you don’t want any child to be offended, instead of teaching them how to deal with the up and downs of life.
We want to be told what we want to hear and whether it’s true or not is irrelevant.
(MOST WOULD RATHER KEEP BEING FOOLED THAN TO EMBRACE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN FOOLED)
You dare not say something is inappropriate at a certain, or in a certain place or that someone's attire is not befitting the setting. The immediate response is If I want to wear…..
What we fail to realize is when we shutdown our ability embrace constructive criticism, or to be corrected, we dull our weapons and tools.I am talking about our weapons against the agenda of Satan
When we can’t embrace constructive criticism, correction and the truth we are not liking studiers or doers of the word of God which is the ultimate weapon against the things of Satan.
Shutting down correction and constructive criticism also makes our tools and talents dull, turning what could be an extraordinary asset into just another mediocre tool that we have allowed to be devalued and unprofitable.
Just imagine going to the hospital and needing surgery, but the nurse feels the need to disclose to you that the doctor who is going to do your surgery is licensed, but while he was in school his professor never corrected him, they just let him learn from any mistakes on his own. How many of you would be ok with that doctor operating on you.
Why because correction is necessary in order to excel, in order to accomplish goals, in order to be at your best. The Bible tells us that iron sharpens iron. Meaning to be strong we need to be around others who are strong, who are challenging, solid and challenging, those not easily offended, those able to stand when things get tough, when things don’t go their way, when things are not as easy as anticipated.
Tight ropes and tight situations are where our faith is tried. Do you trust God? How evident is your faith
We live in a society where if we are not careful, we will fall for the tricks of the enemy that prompt us to "dumb down" the word of God. What we have to remember is the Word of God transcends time, we don't serve a God who changes based on the trends of this world.
We have become so democracy-minded, that we take no considerations that we serve the King of Kings and our desire is to spend eternity in His Kingdom. In a Kingdom we have no vote, in a Kingdom, our voice does not count. In a Kingdom, what the King says do you do and what the Kings says don't do you don't do, plain and simple.
Now we always have a choice whether to obey the mandates of our King or not, but what we are not privy to, is changing His mandates or adjusting HIs Word.
We all have something that is not in proper alignment with the will of God, but He is a God that is patient and kind, and willing to assist us in being made over. This message helps us deal with offenses. For offenses is a bait used by Satan to sow and maintain discord.
You know when people act differently around those with fancy titles and money than they normally do, people use to say that they’re putting on heirs.
When you are putting on heirs you are on your best behavior, you make sure to say the right things, the correct way, you hold your head a little higher while maintaining a sense of humility because you are in the presence of dignitaries.
We forge the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord is omnipresent
David asks God a question in Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,10
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Not that David was trying to find a place out of the presence of God, he was confirming how well God knew him. And he knows us so well because of the time he spends with us which has been before we were formed in our mother's womb. There is nowhere we can go and be out of the presence and eyesight of God. There is no door we can shut, no curtain we can close, nor nothing big enough that we hide behind that can block us out of the vision of God
I know some of you are thinking…. Oh no, you mean God saw that too… Yup
But I want you more than anything to understand the reason behind God’s omnipresence is not just to monitor and police our behavior.
But to effectively be able to protect us, what hours could he safely block out, what place can he put on the do not enter list. If you stumble, his promise is to always be accessible to you.
Also, it's the only way God can uphold his proclamation of being a just God. If he is to hold us accountable for what we do, and don’t do, what we say and don’t say, it would be unjust to depend on the witness of others.
We don’t serve a God that validates or certifies gossip in any way shape or form. God's omnipresence is necessary for Him to walk in His all his glory.
So when you take all of this into account, live your life focused on doing what's right, correct, proper, and fair. You cannot turn off and on the presence of God, so you might as well get used to living a life of putting on heirs.
Imagine how much better we would be, how much better we all would be if everybody, everyday all day long acknowledged that we all dwell in the presence of royalty.
You know when people act differently around those with fancy titles and money than they normally do, people use to say that they’re putting on airs.
When you are putting on airs you are on your best behavior, you make sure to say the right things, the correct way, you hold your head a little higher, while maintaining a sense of humility, because you are in the presence of dignitaries.
We forge that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord is omnipresent
David asks God a question in Psalm 139:7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
Not that David was trying to find a place out of the presence of God, he was confirming how well God knew him. And he knows us so well because of the time he spends with us which has been before we were formed in our mother's womb. There is nowhere we can go and be out of the presence and eyesight of God. There is no door we can shut, no curtain we can close, nor nothing big enough that we hide behind that can block us out of the vision of God
I know some of you are thinking…. Oh no, you mean God saw that too… Yup
But I want you more than anything to understand the reason behind God’s omnipresence is not just to monitor and police our behavior.
But to effectively be able to protect us, what hours could he safely block out, what place can he put on the do not enter list. If you stumble, his promise is to always be accessible to you.
Also, it's the only way God can uphold his proclamation of being a just God. If he is to hold us accountable for what we do, and don’t do, what we say and don’t say, it would be unjust to depend on the witness of others.
We don’t serve a God that validates or certifies gossip in any way shape or form. God's omnipresence is necessary for Him to walk in His all his glory.
So when you take all of this into account, live your life focused on doing what's right, correct, proper, and fair. You cannot turn off and on the presence of God, so you might as well get used to living a life of putting on airs.
Imagine how much better we would be, how much better we all would be if everybody, every day all day long acknowledged that we all dwell in the presence of royalty.
We have to get a handle on offenses and the reason why is because they are the bait of satan. Satan uses what offends to entangle us in sins that engage our mind, body, and soul. And sin is the element that keeps distance between us and God.
Today is the prelude message to a series as we take the time to break down how offenses affect us in our physical surroundings, how offenses affect us mentally and emotionally, and finally how offenses affect us spiritually. Before we enter into the prelude of this series let us pray.
If you turn your bible with me to Luke 22: start right at about the 47th verse, we jump right into the story where Jesus is speaking and refers to Judas as one of the twelve, one of His disciples and Judas leans in to kiss Jesus. But Jesus let Judas know he is no fool by asking him this question: “Judas are you betraying the son of man with a kiss?’
See, a kiss can be a sign of affection, a greeting, or in this case used as an act with which Judas identified Jesus to the chief priests and elders of the people to arrest him. Don’t be alarmed, yes it was the priest and the elders that came to arrest Jesus, it wasn’t Satan who arrested, whipped, and crucified Jesus, it was church folk, those who said they love God. In a moment my reason for pointing this out is going to make sense.
Judas’ kiss was the kiss of death. If any of you have ever watched the Godfather or any mafia movie you like seen this acted out on screen. A kiss was given by a mafia signifying that a member of the crime family has been marked for death, and just in the bible this act is usually a result of some perceived betrayal.
Peter loved Jesus so much that he was offended by the actions of Judas and the dignitaries that Peter rose up against one of them and drew his sword and cut his ear off. Now most of us would give Peter a high five for his action, for defending Jesus. But Jesus’ response to Peter's actions was not congratulatory. He simply uttered, “permit even this” and then He did what our flesh would have never allowed us to do, Jesus touched the man’s ear and healed him.
What was so phenomenal about Jesus healing the man’s ear is this is the only instance in all of scripture where Christ healed a flesh wound. His gesture of healing was so amazing. Think about it, Jesus healed the wound of the enemy, unasked, and without any evidence, the recipient had any form of faith in God.
There are some names and stories we as believers should know. Job 8:8-10 “For inquire, please, of bygone ages, and consider what the fathers have searched out. For we are but of yesterday and know nothing, for our days on earth are a shadow. Will, they not teach you and tell you and utter words out of their understanding? So be a little patient with me this morning …. there is an inspiration in this for you, as every life can teach and inspire, so bear with me.
I want to take a few moments to tell you about Constantine the Great who was one of Rome’s most powerful and successful emperors and the first to self-identify as a Christian.
Constantine was the son of a Roman official and his Christian concubine. This placed him in line to succeed the throne of the Western Roman Empire. At age 31, he prepared to attack his chief rival with an army outnumbered 4-to-1. Before the battle, Constantine claimed to have seen a vision of Jesus, with a specific symbol, telling him, “By this sign, conquer.” Constantine ordered his troops to mark their shields with this symbol, the Chi-Rho, then a symbol commonly representing Christianity. The Chi-Rho combines the first two letters in the Greek word for “Christ” and resembles a capital P with an X drawn through the spine. Constantine’s forces routed the enemy, and he became emperor. The Chi-Rho symbol would be part of Constantine’s personal signature for the rest of his life.
During Constantine’s reign, controversy arose over the teachings of Arius, who denied the full divinity of Jesus. Constantine called a meeting of Christian bishops, the Council of Nicea, to settle the dispute. The calling in of the religious council by a political figure was the first act of separation of church and state. What we don’t grasp is the separation of church and state is not to keep the church out of state business but to keep the state out of church business.
Contrary to popular myth, this meeting did not discuss the canon of the Bible, nor was Constantine influential in the council’s decisions. Emperors saw themselves as responsible for promoting “correct” forms of worship.
Constantine’s Christian faith has frequently been critiqued and outright questioned. Even though he made great strides in securing political and social rights for Christians and initiating general humanitarian reforms. He poured time and money into building churches and publicly supporting Christianity. Toward the end of his reign, Constantine vocally professed faith in Christ and credited his success to God. He was baptized shortly before his death, according to the common practice of his time.
However, some of Constantine’s actions resulted in some negatives because of Constantine’s blending of pagan, building-and-priest-centered worship with Christianity he also contributed to the rise of Roman Catholicism.
Constantine’s legacy is complex and not wholly understood, but he stands as one of the dominant figures in Christian history. Without a doubt, his influence helped transform Christianity from a persecuted minority into the most widespread faith in history.
I wanted to share the story of Constantine because many times... we withhold our giftings, our efforts, our ideas, regarding the building of the Kingdom of God, regarding reaching out to the lost for fear of what others may say or sometimes just out of sheer fear of failure.
Constantine not a perfect man by any means but what he set his mind on doing for the spreading of the Gospel was impactful....
2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
The words grace and mercy are often used synonymously, however, although they complement one another, they are not synonymous. Grace is about the favor of God. The word favor refers to an act of kindness beyond what is due or usual when privileges are extended that you didn’t earn and sometimes didn’t even ask for.
To fully understand grace, we need to consider who we were without Christ and who we become with Christ. We were born in sin, guilty of breaking God’s holy laws, essentially without grace, we are nothing more than enemies of God. Think about it, we were unrighteous and without means of justifying ourselves.
But then there is grace. God’s favor. Ephesians 2:8 tells us For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, It is grace that gives us victory over sin and eternal encouragement and good hope.
And then there is mercy. Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Mercy is extended to an offender in the form of forgiveness. We don’t look at our sins as an offense, but the truth is every sin is offensive to God. Lying, slander, fornication, stealing, homosexuality, adultery, greed… all offensive to God. James 4:17 tells us when you know the right thing to do and don't do, that too is sin.
Romans 6:23 tells sFor the wages of sin is death, the scriptures go on because of God’s mercy and says but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
GOD loves us so that he gave us a double-dip of His goodness. A scoop of grace tope with a scoop of mercy. See Grace when God gives us what we don’t deserve, and mercy is when God withholds what we do deserve. I know I need the grace and the mercy of God every day, all day, what about you?
In closing, I want to leave you with Hebrews 4: 15-16 which reads. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
It's not a challenge to praise God when everything is fine in your life, but can you praise him when you scared when you don't know the outcome, when you don't know if your last breath is drawing near?
Question: We serve Almighty God, why is there power in the name of Jesus?
This morning I am going to answer a question that came in. And the question was why do we say God is Almighty and All-Powerful, but that there is power in the name of Jesus?
The fuel that powers the name of Jesus draws from what is accessible through God Almighty which is the power, depth, and authority of the aspect of eternity. The love of God is shown through the physical representation of His holiness, Jesus, like "eternity" is so massive, so broad, never-ending, without boundaries, unconditional while able to recondition.
For we know most sons are imitators of their fathers, however for the name of Jesus to be able to shift atmospheres, heal the sick, invoke change, and rebuke demons it is obvious such power cannot be associated with or derived through any form of imitation this kind of power can only be initiated through the genuine source who is Almighty, who is all-powerful, who knows all, and who is ever-present.
In John 10:30, Jesus says “I and the Father are One”. The power that is engulfed in the name of Jesus is due to His name being the title place on what is the purest form of love. Which is God’s sacrificial love that basks in grace, mercy, and forgiveness all to extend us the opportunity to reconcile with Him and spend eternity in His presence.
See our perfect God the creator of all things needed a righteous example to set the standard on earth and to stand as an unblemished sacrifice to atone for our blemishes and sins.
The angels didn’t qualify, Lucifer showed their righteousness can be tainted, and mankind has consistently walked in disobedience from the beginning of time. The only option God had was Himself. So from Himself, he impregnated Mary to give birth to His physical representation of Himself. While clothed in "flesh", He walked the earth as the ultimate example of love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy. It is the absolute power of righteousness and love in its purest form that causes demons to tremble at just the mention of the name Jesus.
John 3:16 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus was the full manifestation of love, peace, grace, mercy, and wisdom. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross was done to offer a perfect sacrifice for us, the imperfect.
Phillipian 2:9:11 reads therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and earth and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And because the name of Jesus is above every name, when you don’t know what to pray, when you want to shift the atmosphere, when you need to call down healing when transformation and elevation are needed. I dee double dare you to for one minute, 60 seconds just repeatedly call His name while your mind and heart embraces the depth of God’s love that is wrapped up, tied up, and consumed in the name of Jesus.
THE NAME OF JESUS REGARDS OF HOW MANY TIMES AND HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS IT CAN BE EXPLAINED THAT NAME IS MORE THAN YOUR MIND YOUR HEART WILL EVER KNOW.
The 4th of July marks Independence Day as a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the event that took place in 1776 where thirteen American colonies were no longer subject to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states.
We as a nation may have been free from the rule of Britain, but we are charged to trust the word of God and strive to exalt unity, not independence.
Matthew 12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
We have become a nation that has allowed prejudices, politics, and greed to divide us. When the truth is no man, no woman, no child can ever live independently, for independence is an ungodly illusion. Everything God created, every creature of nature, every form of vegetation, every element of our environment was created to depend on something else to maintain its existence. Man cannot thrive independently of women, women cannot flourish independently of men, nor can one race progress and fulfill their God-ordained purpose for humanity independent of other races.
We are now on the conquering side of the worst pandemic to plague our universe in this nation. We lost a total of 605,000 lives. During the civil war we lost 625,000 and largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST was adopted and during the last year of that horrific war, that motto was the first place on United States currency. But why was "currency" used to earmark this nation's commitment to God? Because currency determines a nation's economic health and the well-being of all the people residing in it. Good gesture, but the truth is we as citizens of this nation are still struggling to hold on to the demonic illusion of independence rather than the rule of God we trust.
I want to leave you today with two scriptures Proverbs 14:34 and Psalm 33:12 which collectively read Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people and Blessed is the nation whose God is their Lord
Lord, we call on your name as we lift our heads to the heavens, asking for a renewal of the minds of your people, the shifting of the hearts of those who walk in the spirit of deception. On this day as our country celebrates its independence, we ask that you ignite in every soul a spirit of peace and unity and to rely on just "One", you the Almighty One. Amen Amen and Amen
Sigmund Freud called religion an illusion humans invent to satisfy their security needs. To him, like some of us, a benevolent, all-powerful God seems inconsistent with natural disasters and evil that runs rampant throughout the earth.
The simplest explanation is this… God, although he is all-powerful and all loving, He gave us freedom and that freedom was rooted in choices. We have the choice of obeying Him or not obeying Him, to follow His way or not to follow His ways.
I know we look at the evil, the prejudices, the unfairness and think if there is a God why won’t he intervene. We have to understand that God is also a promise-keeping God and he promised us freedom, he promised us that we would always have the choice as to obey or disobey him. And this promise is extended to everyone regardless of the decisions.
We look like to rate sin and evil, when the fact is all sin falls contrary to the will and the word of God. And he doesn’t grade sin, all sin is detestable to him. Revelation 21:8 reads But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
We don’t tend to consider cowardliness, and lying as bad as murdering or sexually sin on the same level with those who practice sorcery, but God groups all sin together. The point I am trying to make is if God began to intervene in our sinful choice, we would all lose our freedom.
In order to walk in the true grace of God our Father will require a readiness to change. Ecclesiastes 3:1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven"
Sometimes things seem dim because it's the perspective from which you are viewing and not necessarily about what you are viewing. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
New wine needs a new wineskin because as the new wine expands during the fermentation process, it stretches the wineskin. An old wineskin will burst under the pressure of new wine.
In Sunday’s sermon, I talked about the season in which we as a people, we as a nation, and we as believers are in. This is not a season of restoration for restoration by definition means to return something to its original state. We are in a season that requires reviving, ushering in a new energy, this is a season of rebuilding, when we should be committed to making extreme changes, and life altering upgrades.
We as believers have to get serious about picking up the mantle of dominion and standing on the word of God, we must begin to be actively committed in every industry, not bowing to being politically correct but biblically confirm so that we can shifting of the culture in which we live to align with the culture of heaven
Today our text will be coming from the book of Ezra. Let me set the scene for you. When God freed Israel from Egypt bringing them out of slavery, he warned them that if they chose to break their covenant with Him, He would again allow other nations to take them back into slavery.
The Israelites, much like us today, seem to take God's grace for granted, or as a weakness, thinking that His love for us will allow Him to go against His Word. However, true to His promise, God allowed Israel and Judah to once again be enslaved, because they didn’t honor their covenant with Him, because they chose to do things their way, operating in complete disobedience to His word.
Before I go any further, I want to explain to you the depth of a covenant. I think we use this word loosely, never really embracing its meaning in its totality. A covenant biblically speaking goes beyond an ordinary agreement between two people. Any time you see the word covenant in the Bible it involves a promise that in order to be kept will require a change of heart and or a spirit of obedience. When God makes a covenant with us, since we know He is the same yesterday today, and forevermore, and that He does bow in obedience to us, that means every covenant God enters in with us will require a change of our hearts, and for us to walk in obedience in order for him to uphold his end of the promise. God, is Almighty, God is a promise-keeping God
Now the book of Ezra picks up after the Israelites violated their covenant with God and allowed the fine print of the covenant to manifest with them serving as slaves again for 70 years. The Book of Ezra outlines the events occurring in the land of Israel when they once again come up out of slavery with an emphasis on the rebuilding of the Temple since they were now free and able to worship according to their beliefs.
As you can imagine with 70 years of slavery, many didn’t survive, but those who did survive are described in Ezra 9:15 as it reads, Lord, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left, this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.”
This gift of life
Oh, I treasure it above everything
This gift of life
I'm so thankful, Lord knows I'm thankful to be livin'
Ah, it's the only thing you can't buy with money
And it's the only thing that you can't buy
And it's such a blessing to be born
This gift of life
Oh, I really love, I really love, I really love
I love this feelin'
This gift of life
Every day, it keeps on, it keeps on, it keeps on revealin'
All the wonderful, the marvelous, and the glorious things of all
I'm so thankful that I'm alive with this gift of life
Said, I'm truly blessed, yes, I am
With this gift of life
It's so wonderful, it's so wonderful, wonderful (this gift of life)
It's so wonderful
And I wanna thank you for giving me the privilege just to live
Today, I want to talk to you briefly about the role of fathers. In order to effectively speak on such an important role, we have to refer to the human life manual. I want to tell you about the struggles, challenges, and victories of some of the fathers in the bible.
You know I really don’t understand those who say they find the bible boring, when it’s filled with stories that supersede any movie and any reality show, you’ll see what I am talking about in just a moment.
I must open and close this message with the most important father figure in the Bible and that is God the Father—the ultimate role model for all human dads. His love, kindness, patience, wisdom, and protectiveness are impossible standards for any human father to live up to. Fortunately for us, he is also forgiving, understanding, and one who repeatedly answers the prayers of fathers'.
The first human father was Adam. He had no role model, the only father figure in his life was God, can you imagine the pressure when your only role model is perfect, sinless, and with one single flaw
I want to talk to you briefly about the “alter”. An altar is any structure upon which offerings OR sacrifices are made for religious purposes. This is why in traditional churches the offering pan is often placed on the altar and people come to the altar to give their offering.
The word altar is first used in Genesis 8:20 when Noah built an altar to the Lord after leaving the ark. However, the idea was present as early as Genesis 4:3–4 when Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices to the Lord. They most likely presented their offerings on some type of altar, even though the word altar is not used in that passage.
An altar always represented a place of consecration. Before God gave His Law to Moses, men made altars wherever, out of whatever material was available. An altar was often built to commemorate an encounter with God that had a profound impact.
During times of Israel’s rebellion and idolatry, the Lord’s altars fell into disrepair. Elijah’s restoration of the altar was significant, given the rampant paganism of his day. “Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, symbolizing the unity of God’s people in his construction: to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ‘Your name shall be Israel.’ It was on this rebuilt altar that God rained down fire and put the Baal-worshipers to shame (verses 38–39).
In the broadest sense, an altar is merely a designated place where a person consecrates himself to someone or something. Many church buildings have “altars” for prayer, communion, weddings, and other sacred purposes. Some Christians create their own “altars” in their homes for personal worship as visible reminders of Romans 12:1, which says to “present yourself as a living sacrifice.”
Sam had mastered this new game—or so he thought. Every turn, he had a choice as to what he would buy. And most turns, Sam diligently collected more resources. His collection was vast and diversified. He had resources of every value, shape, and variety. Surely he was doing well!
Ask yourself: Am I investing in eternal treasure or am I caught up in things that don’t last? Am I digging into God’s Word to understand what really matters or just following my own strategy and thoughts as to what each day should be like? Am I living life my way or God's?
We go through our daily lives busy, consumed with making ends meet, checking off tasks, and fulfilling the roles expected of us. And in the midst of all of this it is easy to forget that we were created by God Almighty, with an assignment and a calling on our lives. It is also easy to get caught up in reacting to this world according to the standards that have been set, forgetting the covering of God, forgetting the undeserving smile of God.
Today, I want to remind you of a few things concerning you and God and prayerfully when I am done your response will be “thanks for reminding me”.
Proverbs 29:1 He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy
We are still in our selfie series. This morning I want to talk about our self-will, also known as the spirit of stubbornness. I would like to read you Proverbs 29:1 in the Message translation for clarity.
The Message translation reads. For people who hate discipline and only get more stubborn, There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it’ll be too late to help them.
Stubbornness by definition is unreasonably or perversely unyielding. You know when someone is insistent on their way, despises what deems reasonable, fair, or just. Stubbornness is rooted in self-centeredness, which is a mindset that is concerned solely with one's own desires, needs, or interests.
However, the scripture tells us that stubborn-minded individuals are paving a road to destruction. Proverbs 12:15 reads The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advise.
Those who walk with wisdom are sensitive to the counsel of others, will consider things from another’s perspective, they are not so hell-bent on their way being the only and the absolute way.
I don’t know about you but as I look back over my life, I wish I would've taken a lot of wise counsel that was offered to me. Had I not been so caught up in self-will, I could have avoided a whole lot of pitfalls and would have dodged a lot of pain.
I have been blessed, like a lot of you all listening to me now, we have bounced back and our self-will may have deterred us but it didn’t destroy us. But just know self-will, stubbornness and consistently pulling away from wise counsel will eventually destroy you, your dreams, and your destiny.
Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Selfishness is one of the biggest offenses to the will of God. We live in a culture where the mantra is getting all you can and can all you get. We are not willing to look out for the less fortunate, to share what we have for fear of loss or an inability to maintain a status that is envied by others.
But the same God that gave to you, can and will give you more. God watches closely how we manage what we are blessed with, he looks at the heart regarding how we deal with overflow. The bible tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. He loves what is completely the opposite of selfishness.
We get caught up in not giving to man, but the truth is when you give you are giving unto God, for giving exalts the true essence of the Almighty
.God is so serious about us being givers He even offers a challenge to help us overcome the spirit of selfishness in Luke 6:38 as it reads Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
A selfish spirit minimizing the god that you serve. We serve a big God of abundance, a giving God. It is our responsibility and citizens of the King to bring the culture of heaven to earth and there is no room for selfishness in the Kingdom, as true Kingdom servants bask in allowing God to use them to be a blessing.
As we continue in our Selfie Series this morning I want to talk briefly about self-denial. I love the Message translations of Luke 9:23 as it reads “ Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”
God has called us to walk in a spirit of self-denial, not afraid to lose or give up the things or ways of this world. Self-denial also calls us to accept as citizens of His Kingdom, we have no voice and no vote, God’s way is the only way, period… no negotiations, no sidebars.
This is where we tend to stray on the path of self-denial because the world has programmed our minds to believe that independence is the greatest joy. When independence is an illusion, no one or nothing within God’s creation can sustain without depending on something else for its existence. Imagine the arrogance of human beings if true independence was achievable. Independence exalts the attitude that there is no need for God, that God was fallible in his creation.
Self-denial leans on and understands the ways of God and boasts of the joy of being totally committed and submitted to an omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient God
1 Corinthians 11:28 tells Let a person examine himself,
You know from time to time we need to do a self-evaluation, because if we leave self and flesh unattended we will find ourselves operating out of the will of God. Today begins our GMT truth selfie series, as we will be reevaluating ourselves all throughout this week.
Get ready this week you are going to want to share these GMT and not with an attitude of sarcasm, but some of you may need to open some doors to extend an apology or an opportunity for fellowship with another in prayer. This morning’s selfie topic is self delusion.
In Luke 18:11 it tells the story of one of the Pharisees praying and his prayer was full of the spirit of self-delusion, as he prayed from the perspective of he being better than others, not seeing his ungodly ways, as if he lived a life without sin. The bible says, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”
The problem with self-delusion is first and foremost it steers us away from truth, encourages us to embrace lies which we know is absolutely an ungodly trait. The second problem with self-delusion takes on the form of arrogance.
(Proverbs 16:5) “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished”. So while caught up in a delusion of one’s self we actually are caught in offended God
The Word of God says that we have all sinned and fallen short of His glory. Your sin may not look like your neighbor’s sin, your temptation may be different from your brothers and though you may never have thought to kill another physically, you have likely spewed words that damaged another’s pride.
Romans 12:3 reads For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
I am not better than you and you are no better than me, we all operate utilizing this vessel full of flesh striving to please God. Don’t allow your flesh to allude that you are greater than, we all are flawed and serve the Greatest One of All.
I remember growing up and there were just certain things you didn’t do and didn’t say. There were certain ways you aspired to look in public and act in public, especially being my mother’s child. I was taught these restrictions were outlined so I would not embarrass myself or bring shame on my parents. This in essence what keeping up appearances meant years ago
But today, keeping up appearances is less about how you conduct yourself, more about what you are wearing, how much you have, who you know, and what you can afford to do and buy. People have become so consumed with impressing others seeking to obtain a sense of value and validation.
We have become so consumed with living in hypocrisy that we don’t recognize... the real truth, which is when you have to have another person’s name or a brand define you, speak for you or be the determining factor of how you are received, you have diminished your own self worth and stripped away every unique characteristic that makes you an individual.
In 1 Kings 21:1–16, it tells the story of how King Ahab became consumed by the evils of coveting. As the king of Israel, Ahab had everything he needed, yet he saw a vineyard he did not own and coveted it. His covetousness led to discontentment, pouting, and eventually murder when his wicked wife, Jezebel, seized the vineyard for him and had its rightful owner killed. When we allow covetousness to have its way, it can lead to greater evils. When we allow anything to control us other than the Holy Spirit, our hearts have erected a shrine to a competing god.
Psalm 135:16-18 “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of the hands of humankind. They have mouths, but cannot speak; they have eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear; there is not even breath in their mouths.
The scripture is telling us the things and people we make idols are based on currency and are created by man.. Notice the scriptures goes on to tell us they cannot speak, they cannot see, they cannot hear, the scripture is not referring to physical disabilities but spiritual disabilities, meaning you will never find the fulfillment you are looking for with your mind focused on the idols this world has to offer.
The scripture closes with these words “Those who make them become like them, as does everyone who trusts in them”. Letting us know if you create idols or begin to trust in these idols to validate yourself you will become just like the idols you have created shiny on the outside, able to attract attention, but spiritually dumb, blind, and death to all of who the Almighty God is and has called you to be
I am going to ask you to just be honest with yourself and as I go through this series of questions, answer them honestly just between you and God. It is my prayer that as you answer these questions you are able to discern any habits or motives that you have been practicing that do not align with the will of the Word of God. Ok here we go:
- Can you really afford to wear the designer labels you wear?
- What do those designer labels really cost you, debt, or that savings account you can’t seem to get a handle on?
- What is your real reasoning for needing to fit into that group of people or to feel included?
- What is the real state of your finances?
- How responsible have you been with your time and income?
- What are most of your time and money spent on?
- Was your debt you have, created out of necessity or desire?
- And finally, what would God say if he were to review your accounts and habits.
How you invest your time and your resources matter and people-pleasing, keeping up appearances, and covetousness are all mechanisms of Satan to keep you out of the will of the master.
We all have moments in our life when it seems like we are losing in the fight of life. As soon as we get up from the canvas from one punch another staggering punch comes before we can even get ourselves in the position to put up a defense.
I want to let you know despite what it looks like you are rolling with a winner. God never promised us this life would be easy, he never promised that we wouldn’t get sucker-punched, or even knocked down, what he did promise us is that he would never leave us.
Some of us take for granted what that means. God promised he would never leave. God, the King of Kings, the one who is all-knowing, the one who is all-powerful.
Psalms 147 reminds us that God is the one who heals the brokenhearted, then one who binds up their wood, the one who determines the number of stars, and that our Lord is Great and abundant in power.
Keep in mind you hold the position of a prizefighter in this world, because of who you roll with you are a champion, not because of who you are but because God never loses a fight and he is your manager, your promoter, sustainer, and provider.
As your manager, he has put together the most incredible team to guarantee your win. His son Jesus has been assigned to be your trainer, follow his examples, and you learn strategies to maneuver through the tough rounds of the fight.
Then God commissioned the holy spirit to be your cut-man See a cutman’s job is to handle the cuts, and scars obtained in about. With the holy spirit as your cutman, he won’t let the pain and scars blind you where you become incapacitated and can continue the fight.
And of course, God Almighty, the ultimate manager, assures you don’t take on any bout you are not equipped to handle. So the bout that you are in, trust it will not overcome you. You are a prizefighter, with The father, son, and holy spirit in your corner and God never loses a battle.
Happy Sunday, Thank you all for tuning in this Sunday morning. Today I am going to start a series, I like to call Grown Folks Sermons. I call them “grown folk sermons” because I will be speaking directly to those who say they are confessed believers and followers of Christ and those who hold positions in the church from the pulpit to the parking lot.
Those of you who know me, know that I am more of a teacher than a preacher. If you are looking for some whooping and hollering today, you might want to log off now, but if you are looking to be taught the word of God untainted if your desire is to walk in the mandate of God, submitted to his will…. then stay tuned.
"The Fence" story is a wonderful tool for teaching a child how to control their temper and also to use as a creative story to use with any Bible lesson on anger!
Anger leaves its mark on our lives and the lives of others. Learning to control anger is an essential tool to teach our children along with Bible verses on anger.
"The Duck & the Devil" is one of my favorite story illustrations! How we all fall into this trap from time to time. If we would only realize that God sees and knows everything already; He's just waiting for us to come and ask for His forgiveness.
“Religion” by definition is an organized set of beliefs. Let’s evaluate the word, “organized”, organized by whom? Mankind. See “religion” is essentially, the Word of God, the mandate of God, tweaked by man, infused with prejudices, cultural regulations, hidden agendas and often practiced without the infusion of the spirit of God.
It’s religion that fuels the atheist, allows unbelievers to be comfortable and finds loopholes for supposed believers. I know you are thinking, what exactly is she saying?
- See, its religion that leads people to believe the Bible is just a book about God created by man.
- It’s religion that allows people to believe that God is an advocate of slavery.
- It’s religion that leads believers to think of God as a genie.
- It’s religion that has laid the foundation for a lot of the prejudices in our world. Prejudices that t support a hierarchy based on social class, race and gender.
- It is religion that has taken it upon itself to grade sin.
- It is because of religion why there are so many false doctrines and cults.
We have been taught that religion is about God, when actually religion is man’s spin on the doctrine of God, hence organized beliefs. As if we could or would have the authority to organize any aspect of what God has said, made, or implemented.
If you get nothing else out of this message today, I want you to get this: The bible is the true and authoritative Word of God, and man was just a vessel used by God to convey His will. There is no inconsistency in the Bible. The Bible aligns with secular accounts of archaeological, scientific and biographical accounts of history. It has not been tainted by man, it has not been altered to pacify the desires, issues or politics of man, and just reading it will provide you confirmation.
A fighter whose mind is set on victory will never tell those in the camp to watch the tapes of the fights and bring him the reports of their opinions, then begin to train and spar expecting a victory. But some of us depend solely on sermons and the word of God as administered through others, never really taking the time to rewind the pages of the bible and study them for ourselves.
We have already determined that God has enlisted you through your acceptance of salvation as a fighter. Let me explain how the ritual of champion fighters applies to the necessary rituals of Christian who expect to walk in the victory against Satan as their opponent.
First be willing to sacrifice time, because again persistence and discipline are the key for any fighter. Rewind the tape of your bouts, your wins, and losses, make note of your strengths and weaknesses. Now evaluate according to the mandate and word of God how to make your strengths greater and how to overcome your weaknesses that they may be your secret weapons.
Remember Satan studies us he knows our weaknesses, which is why we have to overcome them and when he thinks our weaknesses are his way in to destroy us, we have revamped them as our secret weapons. If any of you know anything about Muhammad Ali he had a technique they referred to as the rope a dope. It was a strategy that, instead of moving around the ring, Ali chose to fight for extended periods of time leaning back into the ropes in order to avoid many of his opponent’s heaviest blows, and once his opponent had worn himself out physically Ali would switch and fight for the victory.
Satan has the ordinary everyday Christin figured out, he knows how to fight them, even makes them think they are winning, know that when the bell rings and the final count is calculated and the judge of all judges calls the fight, the victory is his.
I employ every blood-washed believer, that is in love with Jesus, I am not talking about those who want to just have an affair with Jesus, I am talking about those who are committed, that are ready to announce for God I live and for God, I’ll, those who know without a shadow of a doubt that God is their ride or die if that is you…. Prepare and train yourself on how to use the rope-a-dope on Satan.
See he has already grouped you with the lukewarm Christian and in all honesty, you are no threat to him because he knows in Revelation 3:15-17 God says since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! Because of these words of the King of Kings, Satan doesn’t even consider you a real opponent for him in battle.
Satan also knows what is in store for the Christian who walks in hypocrisy. Matthew 6:1“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
So how do you use the rope-a-dope tactics to win against Satan? Instead of running around the ring from preacher to preacher, conference to conference, and prophet to prophet depending on a word from God to come through others, discipline yourself to spend time each and every day with God in prayer and also set aside time to study his word, by topic. Why do I emphasize “by topic”, because you are more likely to be drawn to the word when it speaks to your weaknesses when you start to find and decipher answers to questions you always had.
These two things: commitment to some time in prayer and time in the word is the rope-a-dope tactic for Satan because he doesn't know how to defend himself against those who spend time in the presence and in the Word of God.
At the Potter’s House
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
This morning I would like to share a poem I recently read entitled The Shoe Man by Leanne Freiberg
My alarm went off
It was Sunday again.
I was sleepy and tired
My one day to sleep in.
But the guilt I would feel
The rest of the day
Would have been too much
So I'd go and I'd pray.
I showered and shaved
I adjusted my tie.
I got there and sat
In a pew just in time.
Bowing my head in prayer
As I closed my eyes.
I saw the shoe of the man next to me
Touching my own. I sighed.
With plenty of room on either side
I thought, "Why must our soles touch?"
It bothered me, his shoe touching mine
But it didn't bother him much.
A prayer began: "Our Father"...
I thought, "This man with the shoes
has no pride.
They're dusty, worn, and scratched
Even worse, there are holes on the side!"
"Thank You for blessings," the prayer went on.
The shoe man said
a quiet "Amen."
I tried to focus on the prayer
But my thoughts were on his shoes again.
Aren't we supposed to look our best
When walking through that door?
"Well, this certainly isn't it," I thought,
Glancing toward the floor.
Then the prayer was ended
And the songs of praise began.
The shoe man was certainly loud
Sounding proud as he sang.
His voice lifted the rafters
His hands were raised high.
The Lord could surely hear
The shoe man's voice from the sky.
It was time for the offering
And what I threw in was steep.
I watched as the shoe man reached
Into his pockets so deep.
I saw what was pulled out
What the shoe man put in.
Then I heard a soft "clink"
as when silver hits tin.
The sermon really bored me
To tears, and that's no lie
It wasn’t the same for the shoe man
For tears fell from his eyes.
At the end of the service
As is the custom here
We must greet new visitors
And show them all good cheer.
But I felt moved somehow
And wanted to meet the shoe man
So after the closing prayer
I reached over and shook his hand.
He was old and his skin was dark
And his hair was truly a mess
But I thanked him for coming
For being our guest.
He said, "My names' Charlie
I'm glad to meet you, my friend."
There were tears in his eyes
But he had a large, wide grin
"Let me explain," he said
Wiping tears from his eyes.
"I've been coming here for months
And you're the first to say 'Hi.'"
"I know that my appearance
Is not like all the rest
"But I really do try
To always look my best.
"I always clean and polish my shoes
Before my very long walk.
"But by the time I get here
They're dirty and dusty, like chalk."
My heart filled with pain
and I swallowed to hide my tears
As he continued to apologize
For daring to sit so near.
He said, "When I get here
I know I must look a sight.
"But I thought if I could touch you
Then maybe our souls might unite."
I was silent for a moment
Knowing whatever was said
Would pale in comparison
I spoke from my heart, not my head.
"Oh, you've touched me," I said,
"And taught me, in part;
"That the best of any man
Is what is found in his heart."
The rest, I thought,
This shoe man will never know.
Like just how thankful I really am
That his dirty old shoe touched my soul.
God charges us to be careful with the hearts of people to not judge people by their appearance and not measure a man based on assumptions in...Read James 2:1-9
Happy Mother’s Day to all the women who birth a child from their womb and also to those who have nurtured and stood in the gap and mothered from their heart.
As we continue to do things differently, I chose to pre-record this message and release it earlier than our regularly scheduled service time, so that everyone could listen to it at their preferred time. I am not going to keep you long today, because I want you to enjoy your mother’s, honor them, be honored, and enjoy some genuine quality time with your families.
Let us pray as we prepare our hearts for the word: Father God we come before you asking you to open our ears, hearts, and minds to receive your word. Let your word resonate in our spirits and let our spirits challenge us to change, shift, and become more aligned with your word and your purpose for our lives. Amen
I am not taking anything away from men and the incredible fathers out there, but it takes an incredible woman to wear the badge of motherhood. God’s perfect design for family involves unconditional love, a man and a woman, but as humans we are flawed, we don’t always follow God’s plan and we are incapable of perfection.
I have heard people say when it comes to parenting, you just do the best you can because babies don’t come with a manual. The definition a manual is a book of instructions, to guide one through the setup and operation of a specific item or procedure. A manual is designed to be helpful as it shares with one the mind of the creator so one can better understand the full purpose, and features as designed.
In a manual there is usually a troubleshooting section and a frequently asked question section, to assist with any malfunction or mistakes in programming or using an item. Today our phones are like mini-computers in the palm of our hands, we have streaming media on our high definition televisions at home, and most of us although we purchased these items for the features advertised, we never actually engage in all of their benefits, because we never take the time to read the manual.
We would just set it up, connect the power and would rather fumble around and learn of the features as we go and through trial and error. I don’t know about you, some of you may have done everything by the book, but not me, like some of you I knew the manual was available, and it was accessible, but I chose to just fumble my way through and learn the true benefits of the features allot me as a child of God through trial and error.
So I say to all of those who say children don’t come with a manual. The manual was accessible to the parents before the child came. The problem is we connected the power, and chose to wing it and the sections of the manual we chose to read, we oftentimes fail to apply.
You ever buy something that needs assembling and you just look at the parts and the picture and wing it, reading just the highlights in the manual and wonder why after we have assembled the unit we have screws left over.
On yesterday, I released a pre-Mother’s Day tribute and it talked about the love of a mother and ended with a musical tribute acknowledging the impact of a mother’s love.
I want to move from the love of a mother, and talk to you today about the character of a mother as outlined in the manual, the bible, the book that outlines the mind of our Creator.
You know it's never too late to go back and look at a manual to learn more about operating and using an item. And it is definitely never too late to go back and read as a matter of fact study God’s manual because it provides us links and direction for ongoing upgrades.
I read a quote by Maya Angelou when she was asked about her mother she said “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.
I too truly know how she feels, and for all of those who have known the love of a mother or loved as a mother, you too have that feeling. A mother’s love is so celebrated because it exudes the very essence of the love described in 1 Corinthians 13’
A mother loves is patient and kind, as a child will try will you at every turn
A mother’s love does not envy or boast from a point of self-centeredness;
A mother’s love is it is not arrogant or rude for a real mother is always set on being the example
A mother’s love does not insist on its own way, only on the right way for a true mother only wants the best for their child and will humble herself when required.
A mother’s love is not irritable or resentful, though she faces unimaginable challenges.
A mother’s love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, even if the outcome deems profitable on the surface.
A mother’s love rejoices in the truth.
A mother’s Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
A mother’s love never ends.
I want to wish all the mothers out there a happy mother’s day and to all of you who know the love of a real mother whether she is still with you or not cherish, remember and hold dear that love in your heart, and live life HONORING YOUR MOTHER’S LOVE BY sharing the love you were blessed with, with others.
We should all strive to live according to the perfect will of God for the permissive will of God is living in disobedience to His word and our being rebellious concerning his plans.
When you decide that walk according to the will and ways of God, you have committed to a sanctified lifestyle. The very word, “sanctify” means to be set apart, separated from the rest.
Jesus prays for believers in John 17 and says: “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them, I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified”.
So I say to you, how dare we not want to be different, not want our belief in Jesus Christ not be magnified in our lifestyle.
We tend to want to fit in with the trends and the times of the world, we validate people by what we deem as the goodness of their character. They can exalt lust, and be as profane as they choose, all in the name of entertainment, and we validate them as good because they donate to charities. That may be good enough for you but it is not what God deems has good enough for the Kingdom of Heaven.
Our youngness, the state of spiritual immaturity drives us to allow things to dictate or taint our beliefs, not recognizing that we simultaneously are jeopardizing our relationship with God. Our flesh has a tendency to consider material possessions, physical comfort and acts of kindness over true spiritual values.
Acts of kindness and displays of worship is good, but only acceptable to God when we operate in obedience to His Word. Let’s be reminded of Cain and Abel. Cain's offering was rejected because it was given in a manner that violated the standard God had set.
God will not just accept our acts of kindness, or our worship, as we submit them living lives that violate His standard.
Proverbs 8 gives wisdom a voice, here is a excerpt of the very voice of wisdom….
Wisdom starts off telling us that it dwells with prudence or better known to us as common sense. To all folks, common sense is not common, which is why wisdom is so important and to others, they have wisdom and knowledge but lack prudence or common sense, Wisdom continues by telling us that it also possesses knowledge and discretion, which in some situations THE LACK THERE OFF can prove detrimental to not just the body but the soul.
True wisdom is a friend of the Lord as it hates evil, pride, arrogance, and perverse speech.
Wisdom exalts counsel and sound judgment for in these two one will find insight and power.
Wisdom is such a jewel it has crowned Kings and IS an ESSENTIAL COMPONENT IN LAWMAKING. Wisdom has made a vow to love those who love and seek him. Wisdom wants to enter into a lucrative relationship with each of us as it has found the key to secure riches and honor along with enduring wealth and prosperity.
If you have never formally been introduced to wisdom, I strongly suggest you get to know him, for being friends with him will take you places you never imagined and open doors you never knew existed. The bible is an excellent place to get to know Wisdom as there are 5 books dedicated to him and him alone they are the Book of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
Don’t take wisdom for granted, get to know Him, he is an excellent friend to have.
It may seem like you are moving in slow motion while those around you are on fast forward. But God’s got you. Keep trusting in the Lord, and doing what you know is the right thing to do. Patience is never about our ability to wait but our ability to maintain a godly attitude while waiting
Let me remind you this morning, God created time, and when he deems it the perfect time to manifest something in our lives he can do it in an instant while making it appear as if time has stood still.
The God we serve is a promise-keeping God and his timing is not our time, but his timing is always best.
JEREMIAH 29:11-14, THE MESSAGE TRANSLATION I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
“When you call on me when you come and pray to me, I’ll listen.
“When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.
“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.
Yes, you are that special, yes you were so purposed that God had a plan for your life before you took your first breath. Many have stories of some very humble beginnings, some have stories of horrific beginnings, stories of abuse, neglect, loneliness, and so on. But whatever beginnings your life rests on, don’t doubt God's purpose for your life.
God doesn’t create bad situations for us to live through to give us strength but he will take bad situations and use them to position us for greater. Joseph was sold into slavery by his own flesh and blood and when reunited with his brothers they fell at his feet apologizing for what they had done to them and Joseph told them to not worry for he was in a place with God and what was meant for evil against him God had to turn it around for not only his good but the good of so many others. For Joseph fed many in the time of famine.
God does not create anything by accident the very fact that you are here means you were intentionally created by God.
If you have not determined and staked a claim on your life purpose, God says in the scripture to call on Him and that when you come to him in prayer he will listen to you when you get serious about finding him and want him more than anything else and at that point prepare for Him to blow your mind.
I want to close this morning's inspiration with a very special and inspirational song.
Mark 5:25-3125 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
James 1:2-8Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrew 13:2
Understand this while on earth our purpose is tied up in our physical and spiritual resurrection. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we become born again, the old us dies and a new us is resurrected.
Remember I told you that the Kingdom of God is the highest government in existence and the only one that reaches beyond the grave, when we die our spirit is resurrected and will go before the King of Kings on judgment day, where our eternal destination is then determined based on what we did after our physical and spiritual resurrection on this earth.
The account of Jesus after His resurrection can help to guide us on how we conduct our lives as born-again believers, resurrected in and for the Kingdom of God.
Again every aspect of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection is for us to see His glory and learn from it. Just as learning with the inability to apply what you have learned is worthless, so is our acknowledgment of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ without the proper adjustments made in our lives, hypocrisy.
In closing let’s review what Jesus did after His resurrection and reflect on what should be our actions and reactions after we have been born again and resurrected as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Scripture tells us that John 20 that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and began to weep because she saw that Jesus wasn’t there and she assumed they had moved him to an undisclosed location. When she turned around Jesus was standing there and said to her, “Woman why are you weeping”, He went on to say “do not cling to me’’ as Mary was wanting to hold onto his physical presence.
I need to say this to some of you after you have been born again and resurrected as a citizen of the Kingdom of God there are going to be some friends, family, and associates who are going to want to cling to the old you.
But as Jesus continued in his explanation to Mary “I am ascending to My father and your father and to My God and your God”. For those who are trying to cling to who you were before, it’s going to take you proclaiming boldly that you have been resurrected as a new you and are now connected to your father, your God, and committed and submitted to his Kingship.
When Jesus appeared to the other disciples, Thomas was not present, when the disciples told Thomas they had seen the resurrected Christ, Thomas said he would not believe unless he saw for himself the nail-scarred hands, and was able to put his hands into His side, he would not believe Jesus had resurrected.
Like Thomas there will always be folks who will doubt your resurrection and transformation, who will doubt your commitment to sacrifice your fleshly desires for the Kingdom, they will doubt that the old you is truly dead and they will challenge you, test and tempt you. But know this, when they see the evidence of the death of your old self and the resurrection of the new you, it will be the scars from the old you and your commitment to God that will be able to be used as a vessel to draw to the Kingdom of God.
And finally, In John 21 Jesus appears to the disciples on the lake and instructs them to cast their nets to the other side of the boat and there they caught an abundance of fish. Jesus then told them to come onshore and to bring the fish they had caught. He then invited them to eat with him.
As born-again believers, resurrected in the glory of God, we should also seek to steer people in the right direction, to be a blessing to them, befriend and commune with them.
The principle of Jesus’ resurrection is rooted in sacrifice, servanthood, and sanctification. We are all destined for resurrection in our lives, and each of us determines whether we receive the “well done” approval seal of God by first accepting Christ in our lives, then allowing the old us to die, as the new us, resurrects as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, w
Kingdom life comes with a set of rules, rules that don't always seem appealing... but I double dare you to live according to the rules God has in place, for when you do what He says then He is obligated to uphold His promises
Do you find yourself doing or not doing something all out of tradition. I charge you to walk in the shoes of the greatest rebel that ever lived, Jesus Christ.
PALM SUNDAY: "The day the donkey upstaged the palms"
Palm Sunday, is about the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Sunday before His crucifixion. Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Entering the city on a donkey symbolized HIS arrival in peace, rather than as a war-waging king arriving on stallion.
Jesus riding in on a donkey also fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah which was proclaimed approximately 500 years earlier as he predicted in Zechariah 9:9 that the king would come seated on a donkey
But the significance of the donkey goes even beyond the prophecies. ‘
In John 7, Jesus is traveling through Galilee, while the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill Him (John 7:1). When the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world’” (verses 2–4).
Jesus’ reply to His half-brothers is curious: “My time is not yet here; for you anytime will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come” (verses 6–8). The Lord then stayed in Galilee for a while, but “after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret”
We may look at the scripture and say why one did Jesus refuse to go to the festival with his brothers, but then turned around and went. Sometimes there is no time and a waste of air to explain all the details to unbelievers, which John 7:5 tell us that Jesus’ brothers were. We have to as believers yield to the timing of God and not move caught up in emotions, peer pressure or trying to validate ourselves.
See essentially Jesus’ brothers were telling Him to go to Jerusalem, where the crowds were, and put Himself on public display. They were saying, in effect, “If You are who You say You are, prove it in the way we say you should.”
Jesus response to His half-brothers was clear: He was not going to the Feast of Tabernacles with them. Twice, Jesus uses the words not yet (John 7:6, 8). Jesus then makes the point to His brothers that God’s timing is precise.
Jesus’ actions are not based on whatever time they seem to think appropriate. I love what Jesus says in verse 6, “For you anytime will do,” He tells them (verse 6). He goes on to tell them The Messiah will accomplish God’s will in God’s time, not theirs: and repeats “My time has not yet fully come” (verse 8).
Jesus did indeed travel to Jerusalem to teach and reveal more about His mission and identity. He made His public appearance halfway through the Feast of Tabernacles, but He did so according to the timing of God, not man.
I say to everyone listening to this recording, do make a move without clearance from God. If you do it according to his timing, His favor will be upon you, but don’t expect God to bless what he didn’t ordain.
Satan we're going to tear your Kingdom down. We are studying "He Came To Set the Captives Free" by Rebecca Brown.
John 6:35 says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”Bread is considered a staple food, a basic dietary item.
A person can survive a long time on only bread and water. Bread is such a basic food item that it becomes synonymous with food in general. We even use the phrase “breaking bread together” to indicate the sharing of a meal with someone.
Bread also plays an integral part in the Jewish Passover meal. The Jews were to eat unleavened bread during the Passover feast and then for seven days following as a celebration of the exodus from Egypt. Finally, when the Jews were wandering in the desert for 40 years, God rained down “bread from heaven” to sustain the nation (Exodus 16:4).
All of this plays into the scene being described in John 6 when Jesus used the term “bread of life.” He was trying to get away from the crowds to no avail. He had crossed the Sea of Galilee, and the crowd followed Him. After some time, Jesus inquires of Philip how they’re going to feed the crowd. Philip’s answer displays his “little faith” when he says they don’t have enough money to give each of them the smallest morsel of food. Finally, Andrew brings to Jesus a boy who had five small loaves of bread and two fish. With that amount, Jesus miraculously fed the throng with lots of food to spare.
In chapter 4 of the Gospel of John, there is a story of the nameless woman at the well, this is a story that reveals many truths and powerful lessons for us today.
This was an extraordinary woman. She was a Samaritan, a race of people that the Jews utterly despised as having no claim on their God, and she was an outcast and looked down upon by her own people.
This is evidenced by the fact she came alone to draw water from the community well when, during biblical times, drawing water and chatting at the well was the social highpoint of a woman’s day. However, this woman was ostracized and marked as immoral, an unmarried woman living openly with the sixth in a series of men.
This story teaches us that God loves us in spite of our bankrupt lives and he values us enough to actively seek us, to welcome us, and to rejoice in our worship.
The final mention of Nicodemus in the Bible is in John 19 after Jesus’ crucifixion. We find Nicodemus assisting Joseph of Arimathea in Jesus’ burial. Joseph is described in John as a rich man and as a secret disciple of Jesus, as he was afraid of the Jews. Joseph asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of spices for use in preparing the body for burial and then assisted Joseph in wrapping the body and placing it in the tomb. The sheer amount of burial spices would seem to indicate that Nicodemus was a rich man and that he had great respect for Jesus.
The limited account leaves many questions about Nicodemus unanswered. Was he a true believer? What did he do after the resurrection? The Bible is silent on these questions. It would appear that Nicodemus may have been similar to Joseph of Arimathea in that perhaps he, too, was a secret disciple of Jesus and had not yet mustered the courage to declare his faith openly.
I have two questions to ask everyone under the sound of my voice, what is being said by others of your faith, is there a lingering question in the air when it comes to your actions, reactions, words, and beliefs as to who you serve?
It’s true God knows our heart, but it’s is also true that we were commissioned by God to operate with a spirit of dominion bringing the culture of heaven to earth and we can’t effectively do that, serving God as secret agents. Matthew 10:32 tells Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven
I researched the characteristic of thunder and it further solidified why Jesus referred to John and James as the sons of thunder. A passage I read concerning the characteristics of thunder read, “even though thunderstorms are dangerous, they can be a great help. They give summer water, cool the earth, and clean the air. Lightning balances the earth's electricity and helps fertilize the soil. And after a thunderstorm, there is often a rainbow.
Our physical bodies are strengthened when we submit to exercise. And weight lifting is a way to develop muscle, and without weight this training is ineffective, the same applies to our faith muscle, to strengthen it we need weight. One weight is the practice of loving our enemies, another is praying for those who persecute us.
Our ability to pray for those who persecute us is evidence of our love and our forgiveness. Every day push yourself to pray a little more than the day before for the one who hurt you and keep up this practice until God releases you, until you can look at their offense positively as a stumbling block that encouraged you to move differently, challenged you, extended you some godly wisdom. Until there is no bitterness or resentment left toward that person or for what they did.
The Bible tells us without faith it is impossible to please God, just that alone should make us excited about exercising our faith muscles.
The ongoing process is change, as long as we have life, we are subject and responsible to submit to and be part of the process of change.
The bible is clear as it tells us that we serve a God who is unchanging, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Why? Because He is Perfection, He already knows everything so God has no need for growth, learning, no reason to renew even His Word is truth and consistent, with no need for editing or updating.
But you and I are imperfect. From birth we are challenged to learn, obtain knowledge. We have free will, which we don’t always use according to the will of God, so we are capable of mistakes which invoke more required change and challenges.
Ephesians 4:23-24
be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
The scripture guides us to embrace our truth of imperfection, and to be open to renewing our minds, learning, obtaining wisdom, to be committed to consistently recreating ourselves using godliness as our goal.
In Hosea 4:16, Israel is described as stubborn and unable to be used as lambs of God. When we get set in our way, unwilling to change, unwilling to learn, unwilling to listen we are then also unwilling to be used for the glory of God. God needs us to be for him like clay in the hands of a potter, moldable, willing and able to be shaped and molded into whatever is need for the Kingdom of God
We all know the scripture John 8:31 very well, “the truth will set you free”. And your response maybe then why don’t more people choose truth. Because truth is not always the easiest thing to embrace.
The truth about self, will require some accountability, the truth about our relationships with others may require self-evaluation, and then again some accountability or truth will uncover not always the prettiest picture, and the truth about the reality of life and the world in which we live is avoided due to various levels of fear: fear of change, fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of condemnation and the list goes on and on.
In many ways, we have come to look at “truth” as bad, uncomfortable as a 4 letter word that brings doom and gloom. Which is all a deception promoted by Satan himself because we know the Word of God tells us in John 17:17 that we should be sanctified in truth, meaning welcoming it, saturated with it, marinated in it. But what the devil knows is when we debunk truth it keeps us in a dark place, out of the will of God and more accessible to be used by and for him.
Flipping your dream into profit, is simply transitioning from a dreamer into a visionary. Dreamers are full of ideas, bouncing from one dream to the next. I can speak on this because, this was me, my family and friends will tell you that I have worked in so many different industries, had a multitude of businesses, and did well in everything I set my mind to, and made quite a bit of money, but because I never embraced a vision for my life, everything I went after soon bored me, or because it was not grounded in vision I easy distracted and abandoned whatever the flavor of the month was.
The difference is visionaries have a determined focus, that has been examined, studied, planned, structured and more importantly incorporates their individual gifts and God ordained purpose.
See, a visionary is someone who tells you of their plans for the future and then spends the next 10 years committed to, plotting and implementing a well thought out plan, while facing obstacles and avoiding distractions.
Why is it important that we teach believers about the pursuit of vision? Because vision and purpose align to manifest in accordance with God’s Kingdom agenda, which is slated in the mandate of dominion.
To truly walk in dominion, bringing the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth, every believer needs to pursue vision, using their God ordained purposes to accomplish what God has “purposed” for mankind and that is to dominate earth.
We need believers who are souled out and committed to the Kingdom of God to occupy every business sector, every industry, every level of politics, education and so forth. And to do so with a Kingdom mindset that is rooted in integrity, righteousness, and undergirded by the mandates of our King.
Imagine having believers standing in positions of authority, able to hire, teach, recruit, and lend, unwavering on the Word of God, being the example of the Kingdom, then and only then will there be a culture shift and then the Kingdom of God will have dominion over the earth.
Proverbs 25:28 A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
We live in a time when people profess their own truth, despite the fact that they may conflict with the truth of the Word of God, all to pacify their flesh and stroke their egos. It has become more important to impress others, fit in or be part of a clique.
People are praised and gain followers for being out of control, for losing control, for breaking laws and conducting themselves in an undisciplined manner.
What the scripture describes is an abandoned house, exposed to all kinds of rodents, vagabonds and violators. The longer it remains unmanaged the more the value is depreciated and eventually, as it is unprotected from life weather conditions, the wear and tear begins to eat at the flooring and disrupts the foundation of the entire house.
What I described is the same thing that happens when a person lives their lives out of control. We have all had some time in our lives where we weren’t at our best, didn’t act our best, didn’t present our best, but God. God stepped in and took over the management of our lives, put our windows back in place, reinstalled our doors, and even put a new coat of paint on us. Never forget the bridge God has brought you over and the stuff he has delivered you from.
As believers, when we seek those who have made their life ritual one of living out of control, allowing their flesh, egos, power, position and money to manipulation their truth of right and wrong, recognize, they are lost and so engulfed in an ungodly agenda they don’t even recognize they are lost.
We need to pray for them, not ridicule or mock them. For in faith we know no one is beyond God's reach. Pray for them to be delivered and bought under Kingdom management and that they be extended the opportunity to hear and embrace the word of God.
We understand, embrace, welcome and even expect grace when we look to God, but how likely are we to extend grace. Ephesians 4 tells us to Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
We sin against God, walk in disobedience continuously, shun communication with God but He still bestows upon us his grace. God keeps giving us second, third, fourth and five chances.
But we don’t want to forgive, or extend grace to another. Today we embrace “cancel culture”, if someone does wrong, says the wrong thing, misunderstands, or voices their own opinion if it is not one that aligns with popular culture we ridicule, dismiss, degrade, ostracize, ruin their reputation and careers.
I for one, surely hope God doesn’t decide to grade us on the curve that we grade each other. Are we no longer allowed to make mistakes. Are we no longer allowed to learn from our mistakes. Have we become so docile that we can’t agree to disagree, that we can’t communicate and conversate without beheading the other person.
While repeatedly being extended grace, many of us have made life on earth a living hell, while we have held the pitchforks and added fuel to the fires. We live our lives basking in the grace of God, as chosen ones without reference to Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Each of us ARE extended the opportunity on a daily basis to be the light in darkness, as God has called us to be. Change the rhythm around you, COMMIT TO THE groove of grace.
When things are going wrong, and the circumstances look bad, our natural inclination is to complain first, and praise later after everything works out. ... In this Scripture, David said, “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Continually means we give God praise before we even begin to see our prayers come into fruition, that’s called the trial of our faith,
See, it’s in the process, in the waiting when many get discouraged and give up, they start believing the negative thoughts, it’s never going to happen, it’s taking too long; now that seed of your prayer is lying dormant.
You have to do your part and start watering the seed with praise. thanking God in advance.
Don’t can’t wait until you receive the promise, begin to thank God that the answer is on the way.
Maybe you’re struggling with your health, the medical report doesn’t look good, don’t talk about how you feel, say, “Father, thank you that I’m healthy, strong, with a long life ahead of me.”
That’s not just being positive, that’s watering the seed of your prayers;
If you are struggling in your finances maybe, business is slow, all through the day, say “Father, thank you that whatever I touch prospers and succeeds, I’m coming out of debt, thank you that Your favor surrounds me like a shield.” when you thank God in advance for the answer, it not only waters the seed, but that strengthens your own faith.
Use the power of pre-praise to keep your prayers watered and flourishing.
We have all heart that trial comes to make us strong and whatever doesn’t kill us will bless us. But in the midst of trials and storms, we don’t want to hear that we just want the trials to storm and the sun to shine.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
And if you are going through something right now you really didn’t want to be reminded of that scripture either. However, There are two, seemingly distinct evidences of salvation, put together in this verse.
First it says that after someone has stood the test of trials in this life and remained steadfast, then they will receive the crown of life. One evidence of eternal salvation is steadfast perseverance.
Second, it says that the crown of life is promised to those who love God.
The crown of lie is not given to those who receive the gospel with joy and just are able to endure through the good times and as soon as tribulation and persecution arise they immediately run for the hills or begin to lose faith.
God never promised us that following him would be easy, He promised that He would never leave us that he will turn what was meant to kill around for our good. So just know when the smoke clears and joy is restored, your testimony will be to and for the glory of God and your steadfastness will be rewarded as it is pleasing to God.
On yesterday, I talked to you about being true to yourself, and setting new standards for yourself. I challenged you to write down uncomfortable truths about yourself and devise a plan to address these truths.
How are you doing with the challenge? If you haven’t taken the time to take on the challenge, I will tell you avoiding facing the truth about yourself is like riding a train and not knowing what stop to get off onto get you to where you want to go.
One of the biggest obstacles we face is procrastination. Proverbs 13:4 reads
The soul of the sluggard, THE PROCRASTINATOR craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
We have NO problem establishing our desires, and our soul craves continuously for our ordained purpose to be fulfilled, the problem we tend to run into is taking our desires, our dreams and the desires of our soul and implementing the required action to push forward.
John 9:4-7 tells us that We must work the works of him who sent us and recognize that as long as we are in the world, we are meant to be the light of the world. In the text Jesus spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed a man's eyes with the mud then told the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam” and the man came back seeing.
We like Jesus was created in the image and likeness of God, we too can spit out what is in us, following the instructions of Jesus and obtain the vision we need to pursue, to conquer, to be influential in the Kingdom of God.
I would like to jump start your day reading to you 2 Corinthians 13:5-8 from the Message translation, in these verses Paul is talking to the member of the church congregation as he says: Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need first hand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.
I want to stress to you this morning that “to thine own self be true”, in truth there is freedom. In truth there are no limitations and with truth anything is possible, because God is truth. We sometimes buy into making excuses, procrastination, fear and a spirit of unwarranted contentment. And the only way to steer away from these stumbling blocks is to be extremely honest with ourselves concerning how we are in our own way of our pursuing purpose, how we are our biggest obstacle.
Let’s stop blaming others, let’s no longer use past experiences to justify our idleness, let’s annihilate the spirit of procrastination, and send fear back to the pits of hell from whence it came. Truth is... the key to accomplishing all that you were purposed for, all that you have dreamed of.
I challenge each of you to begin to write down some uncomfortable truths about yourself that you need to address, then create a plan to deal with them, set new standards for yourself and continually pray for God to show you, you and show you Him in you.
I know some of you under the sound of my voice have been praying and waiting on a miracle from God. I want to tell you this morning that you are the miracle you have been waiting for. Think of all God has brought you through thus far, think of the times things turned around in your favor, think about the unexplained covering and protection, that many laying in their grave weren't privy to.
God woke you up this morning, as our ancestors used to say “clothed in your right mind, with blood still running warm through your veins. This day you represent a miracle, so what are you going to do with your miracle to get you to what God has promised.
Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity. You have to be willing to go to the extreme, pay the dues, sacrifice some sweat, discipline your mind, seek and implement godly instruction with diligence. In James chapter 2 it asks a question: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? The answer is faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
You are waiting on a miracle when the truth is you are your miracle now invest your faith in God and get to work. Scripture tells us; a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.
Don’t kill your purpose, your dreams sitting idle waiting on a miracle. God gave you dominion, meaning in you is the ability to strategize, the ability to thrive, the ability to discipline yourself for success.
Shut down your prayer for a miracle and exalt prayers asking God for instructions and direction, then do what you know is right to do and watch God unravel and elevate you as a testimony He can use to glorify His Kingdom.
You know in the military before you are released to operate collectively in the overall mission each soldier has to go through basic training aka bootcamp and today starts your bootcamp.
But because we don’t serve an ordinary commander in chief, and because we are not working for a democracy but a Kingdom our bootcamp is a little different than most.
We are entering into Shock Troop Training. You see “Shock Troopers” are an exclusive military group used on special detailed missions.
The term “shock troop” is used to describe a unit with a special assignment composed of assault troops which are typically organized for mobility with the intention of penetrating and attacking the enemy through its “vulnerable areas”.
Shock troopers specialize in the use of various “non-standard weapons and equipment”. They are also distinguishable by their “extra heavy plate of armor.” In the realm of ministry those who are assigned to the “shock troop” unit, are those who have been declared ministerial leaders, teachers, deacons, evangelists and confessed believers.
Please note, in order for the ministerial mission to be a success the attitude of those committed to the mission must first be intact. Yes, what your mother told you was correct. Attitude is everything.
If we dissect the word attitude you will find that “at” represents presence, participation, attendance and the suffix “tude” means, “state : condition : quality”. Hence attitude is indicative of one’s present state of mind. We all know that one’s body language will tell us one’s level of participation, and their quality of intentions, which all makes up what we know as attitude.
Today as part of our first day of shock troop training we are going to address the “beatitudes” and “similitudes” detailed in the bible. In short the bible give us the example of 8 beatitudes which are the attitudes that bring forth blessings and 2 similitudes, which refers to one’s visible likeness to something, and biblically speaking it refers to the visible likeness to God that we should possess.
Now this sermon is entitled setting aside trash can lids, and I know you may be wondering where did that come from. See many of us want to profess that we are believers of the word of God and on the surface we are real good at making what we do look presentable, but our intention, our sincere attitude is not at all pleasing to God, as we are subtly arrogant, judgemental, proud, and haughty, equivalent in some instance of presenting a prime rib dinner to other on the lids of trash cans.
Yes on the service prime rib dinner is delightful, considered the creme de la creme, but our mindsets, our attitudes and our reasons, are on the level of trash can lids which are plagues with the residue from what is foul, stick, and of no real use.
Matthew 8:1-4
When Jesus had come down from the mountain, a great multitude of people followed Him. And, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Notice the man suffering with what was a horrible disease that kept him in isolation, ridiculed and laughed at, when he asked Jesus to heal him he was adamant in saying if you are willing, submitting to the will of God over his personal issues.
When Jesus healed him, he instructed him to be silent about his healing. Although the man approached Jesus in the right way submitted to his will, Mark 1:45 tells us he was not obedient to Jesus’ request to remain silent about his healing.
And this healed man who chose not to be obedient as he went out and began to proclaim his healing, Jesus could no longer openly enter the city without being mobbed, so Jesus ministry of teaching halted in that area. Jesus then kept to a relatively uninhabited region to allow the excitement over the man’s healing to calm down.
The moral of the story is that our healing is a small part of God’s overall plan and we should always be more conscientious and committed to His overall plan than our own healing as magnificent as it can be.
Jesus’ ultimate goal was teaching the people, but they became sidetracked and were only now interested in the miracles, not the teachings of Jesus. Testimonies are great, the sharing of God’s manifestations and miracles in our lives should be used in the context of teaching, not boastfully. Don’t allow what God has done for you to be a distraction to those who need the Word and the teachings more than a miracle.
We crave wealth to buy not only what we need, but what we want, to provide us with a sense of security, or in order to obtain and maintain a lifestyle that we have as successful.
We look around and ask the question why does it seem like those who do all kinds of evil seem to be blessed?
First and foremost, don’t allow things to determine the blessings of God. Because the very ones that seem to be blessed are not blessed but bound. You see Satan has all the stuff our hearts can ever desire and if you serve him, he doesn’t mind giving it to you.
However scriptures ask us a question, what does it profit a man to gain this whole world and lose his soul? True wealth evident in this life but in the after life, in eternity. So how do we attain this kind of wealth? So glad you asked.
Stop worrying, stressing, and going after gaining material things, even a spouse. Get your heart, mind and soul in proper alignment with God. Get to know the mind of God, stop depending on second hand information about The Almighty.
You would never settle for a relationship with another based solely on communicating through someone else. You like most would even consider it a real relationship if you did not have that one on one interaction, and intimate talks. So don’t settle for anything less than that in your relationship with God. Don’t depend on every biblical word and revelation to come through the mouth of pastors, apostles, or church leaders. Their word should only be confirmation.
Once you begin to read and study the word of God it will make it so much easier to obtain the key to wealth which is extended to those who follow the mandate of God that says seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added.
I get it, it’s hard to trust what you can’t see. But that is exactly what faith is,is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Some of you may be thinking the Pastor, tell me exactly what it means to seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Plain and simple it means to go after only what exalt His Kingdom that brings people to the understanding and the truth of His word, and to humble ourselves to His righteousness, his commandment, his mandates, not our own interpretation.
If He said it do it, if He said don’t do it don’t do it. The strength to stand firm on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness comes from getting to know the mind and plan of God, which can only be obtained through the reading and studying of His word.
God is not a deadbeat if you seek him first in all you do, he will reward you abundantly and openly for your work
Matthew 9:10-12 Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
What Jesus was saying to them is that those who are representatives of the Kingdom, should welcome the opportunity to witness to the lost, to minister to unbelievers, to conversate with those who need to hear the Word of God.
In order to walk in the dominion that God has given us, we have to shut down our religious mindset and engage with a Kingdom mindset.
As children of the King, with Kingdom assignments, we must be willing to colonize the earth to align with the Kingdom of Heaven, that is the responsibility of believers, that is the great commission. A Kingdom’s glory is territory, and to operate in dominion, having all territories submitted to the Kingdom of God will require those who are willing to teach uncolonized folk the culture of the Kingdom Heaven.
And we should welcome the opportunity to share the word of God and the message of the Kingdom every chance we get. Are you prepared to serve up the Word of God? who's your dinner guest?
Matthew 7:12 makes plain the “golden rule'' which is whatever you want one to do for you , you too do for them. Our fore-parents summed it up like this do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
If you don’t like to be disrespectful, then go out of your way to not disrespect another. The problem we tend to have is because some may disrespect us because we think we have a viable right to return their disrespect with more disrespect.
Our Scriptures tell us if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
Disrespect desires conflict and is exalted with more disrespect. Conflict desires harsh words and is exalted with more conflict. And anger desires evil and is exalted with more evil. But if you want to shut down acts of disrespect, conflict, anger and even ridicule, be “peace” in a storm, and light in darkness, rise above what is trying to bring you low.
The bible teaches in Romans 12:20 by doing this you will heap burning coals on the head of your adversary.
We have been studying the Kingdom of God and our assignment to colonize earth, bringing the culture of the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
And today as we celebrate love, we are about to talk about our relationship with God, for it is our love and understanding of who God is that commits us to His mission and it’s only in our love for Him that we can bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.
Today I want to ask you a question regarding your relationship with the Almighty. WHATCHA DOING & WHO YOU WITH?
We are living through some very turbulent times, and the bible said these times would come
Matthew 24:4-14 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for [a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, plagues, pandemics, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. Scriptures goes on to read 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.......
WARNING: This worship experience will cause sporadic hand waving, clapping and AMENing.
As we go through our daily lives seeking to please God, we must be sure not to get in our own way.
Everything that we do because of the love of God in our hearts, we should not allow to be tainted as what should be secret and sacred morphs into selfishness, and mere means of stroking our egos.
In Matthew 6: 1 it reads: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. And in verse 3 it goes on to tell us But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
God is not at all pleased when we boast about the good we have done. If true be told we could never beat God giving so what other that flesh would give us the inkling to boast.
Matthew 6:5 goes on to tell us about our acts of prayer. Prayer is communicating with God. It should not be mocked, ridiculed org bought before Him to exalt our flesh. Corporate prayer is fine, partnering in prayer with another is also acceptable. But if you read the scriptures you will find that Jesus never prayed with his disciples, not because it is ungodly, but likely to provide emphasis on how sacred and intimate prayer is.
We must alway pray with complete reverence for whom we are praying to God, the Alpha and Omega, the one who is the beginning and the end, the Creator of all things, the one who knows all, and see all
And last but not least our fasting should not be done, the bible says like hypocrites complaining or boasting of our sacrifice. The bible is clear when we shift the focus off God to us, He will not honor or bless our sacrifice.
Anything that we sacrifice unto God should be done without, moaning, groaning, complaining, or seeking the attention or approval from others. The Word of God tells us to do things exalting Him in our hearts, as a secret, intimate love exchange between us and him. God says what we do to honor him in secret, He will reward us openly for.
So ssh, keep it a secret
When we think of murder we think of it as being one of the worst crimes and surely a direct sin against God. But if you read Matthew chapter five verses 21 thru 26, you will find that murder in the eyes of God is more than the physical act of taking someones’ life.
When we wrongfully judge another or hold malice and anger in our hearts against someone, the bible says it is the same to God as murder and we stand in danger of his judgement the same as one who has physically taking the life of another.
What we fail to realize is that God created us, this world, this universe, with a divine plan in mind. Everything God created, he created to depend on something else to sustain its existence.
Harmony to God is more than just a collaboration of rhythmic beats, it is woven into the fiber of his master plan as it involves all of his living creations complimenting, accentuating, and elevating each other.
So when we, with our imperfect selves argue and disagree, that does not go against God's rule of harmony, for some time it takes the clanging of drums and a few missed beats to create beautiful music. What displeases God is when we allow an argument, or a disagreement into linger in the stew of anger, allowing in to build malice.
When we do this the very life God designed and created for us, is disrupted, brought to a screeching halt, equivalent to the very life of his creation ended.
God is so serious about us settling our disagreement and casting all anger and malice from our hearts, that he does not want too even commune with us, nor does he want our gift of worship. Scriptures say first reconcile, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.
Just like when music is out of sync, when the harmony isn’t right it is displeasing to us, same with God when we are out of sync, it’s like bad music playing in his heart and corrupting the atmosphere he designed for peace.
The Kingdom of Heaven is all that you have imagined and more, but each of us have to contribute to the harmony staying on beat.
As we bask in the ambiance of black history month, I wanted to set the record straight. Believe or not we have some who have turned from the bible deeming that the bible ordained oppression and was a advocate for slavery. Today’s message is a reboot of a sermon I did almost a year ago, but still a very necessary message, because as we all know Satan will do anything to keep people from truth, for truth is destructive to his Kingdom.
First and foremost the slave system we know and have read about in American history is not the initial slave system that started in biblical times. The original slave system involved those who volunteered themselves and in some cases their entire families to servanthood, to assure all their needs were provided for. There were physicians, lawyers, and other professionals we deemed as prestigious today who lived with rich families, or royalty as servants.
Then there was no penitentiary system in biblical times, so if some wronged another or stole from another, the penalty was that they worked off their debt and the applicable penalty.
If you notice in the bible you will never see the term employee or employer, only slave and slave master, slave was also synonymous with servant. But if you study all the bible put in place regarding the management of the slave system you will see that the Word of God did not condone the oppression that enslaved our ancestors. The mandate of God actually was opposed to any kind of oppression and was in fact influential in the establishing of the labor laws and even credit and finance regulations in place today that benefit employees and consumers .
Here are a just few highlights of what the bible says about slavery
- If serving as a slave to pay off debt, maximum time is 7 years, hence today’s credit dismissal.
- The mandate of God says that slaves are to be treated like members of the slave masters family.
- The bible declares slaves were not permitted to held against their will
- The word of God also says if slaves were to be released for any reason they were to be released with all their possessions and gifts from the flocks, crops and wine of their masters, hence the onset of the unfulfilled 40 acres and a mule.
- Slave were also allowed religious freed, hence we now have a no discrimination law as part of our labor laws today.
- God deemed that masters were to be held accountable and punished for the mistreatment of a slave.
- If a slave ran away, they were not to be captured and returned
- The bible also speaks against kidnapping and forcing another into slavery
All of these stipulations regarding the slavery system according to the mandate of God. But today with the full bible accessible to us, we as a people still hold true to the slave bible the oppressors and violators of the Word of God issued our ancestors.
God is still God, always was and always will be loving, care, compassionate and full of grace and mercy, but unfortunately who God is has never and will never keep those who are full of greed, prejudice, hatred, elitism, selfishness, a love of money, and power from disobeying the Word of God.
You all have heard me say this over and over, you would never settle for a relationship with someone where all the communication with that person comes through another, so why do we do that with God. Get to know Him for yourself. If we don’t stand committed to establishing a personal relationship with God, we end up not knowing God, his purpose, or the depth of his grace and mercy first had which leave gateways open for us to fall prey to the tricks of Satan and turn our backs on the only one who can save our souls, who is the very one who created us. We have been screaming Black Live Matters, let me inform you that black awareness matters and your understanding of the Word of God Ma
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. 19 So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
I have just read to you Matthew 5:17-20
The goal is to live a life of righteousness and purpose so that you can experience the Kingdom of Heaven. Scripture is clear: religiosity is not the answer; submission to the King is the only way to assure that your name is magnified in the KIngdom of Heaven.
It is very easy for us to get caught up in the ways of the world, and to base our righteousness on how we feel, what we understand, and what we desire, but sincere righteousness that is acceptable in the eyes of God is only established and maintained when we submit with complete understand that the King of Kings has set the standard of righteousness, and has outlined his law which is not up for negotiation.
Many want to define their righteousness by their church attendance, religious engagement of activities, or their commitment to charitable projects. These works, although commendable, they alone do not define righteousness. Our works should stem first from a heart and mindset that is committed and submitted to the righteousness of God, Verse 5 of Mathew 5 tells us that God blesses or is pleased with those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, so you see righteousness is first an inner work.
We have declared this year as the year we crush religion as we become intentional about exalting the Kingdom of God. I am here to tell you that Satan is not all about us positioning ourselves to be intentional about the Kingdom of God, see religious mindsets are working just fine for him, exalting traditions, and rituals over the Kingdom of God is how he gets his glory.
Prepare you mind, body, and spirit for the test because if Satan had the audacity to attempt to sway Jesus, God in flesh, rest assure you will surely be tested not once, not twice, but many, many times over and over. The question for each of you this morning is can God trust you, so that he can effective use you for the building of His Kingdom
We are imperfect people. We will make mistakes and mishaps are inevitable, but it’s God’s mercy that sustains us.
Mercy and grace are often used interchangeably. They do not mean the same thing, but they are related and may be considered two sides of the same coin of salvation. When God saves a person, He extends both mercy and grace.
Mercy is forgiving the sinner and withholding the punishment that is justly deserved. Grace is heaping undeserved blessings upon the sinner. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We understand, embrace, welcome and even expect grace when we look to God, but how likely are we to extend grace. Ephesians 4 tells us to Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
We sin against God, walk in disobedience continuously, shun communication with God but He still bestows upon us his grace. God keeps giving us second, third, fourth and five chances.
But we don’t want to forgive, or extend grace to another. Today we embrace “cancel culture”, if someone does wrong, says the wrong thing, misunderstands, or voices their own opinion if it is not one that aligns with popular culture we ridicule, dismiss, degrade, ostracize, ruin their reputation and careers.
I for one, surely hope God doesn’t decide to grade us on the curve that we grade each other. Are we no longer allowed to make mistakes. Are we no longer allowed to learn from our mistakes. Have we become so docile that we can’t agree to disagree, that we can’t communicate and conversate without beheading the other person.
While repeatedly being extended grace, many of us have made life on earth a living hell, while we have held the pitchforks and added fuel to the fires. We live our lives basking in the grace of God, as chosen ones without reference to Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
Each of us ARE extended the opportunity on a daily basis to be the light in darkness, as God has called us to be. Change the rhythm around you, COMMIT TO THE groove of grace.
I am calling on all real prayer warriors to cover me throughout this year because we will teach and preach The Kingdom of God, with the intent of crushing religious mindsets. Matthew 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart”.
The Message of the Kingdom is so powerful, so aligned with the will of God that Satan comes himself with the intent of snatching it from us. What he knows is if we embrace the message of the Kingdom and turn from religious mindset, he no longer has a hold on us and we will have the power and ability to truly walk in the dominion given us, which will destroy his Kingdom and his agenda.
We are so focused on the Gospel of Christ that we ignore the teachings of Christ which was solely about the Kingdom of God. In Luke 4:43 Jesus said ““I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” When Jesus left the disciples in Matthew 28:19 he said to the disciple “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have (taught and commanded) you.
So why are we not consumed with the teaching of the Kingdom of God, because we have allowed religion to consume us.
Everything is different when you have fallen in love with Jesus. So different it drives you into a place of worship
What defines you? Here is a hint it has nothing to do with the size of your bank account, your marital status, your parental status or any organization affiliation.
Don't let the the transgressions of others against you keep you shackled and distant from God.
We have to be intentional about what we offer up to God. He is not a second hand God, and does not accept any kind of offering, or just any kind of praise.
Our hearts are our individual corporate headquarters, our minds and spirits are employees who work diligently to be better us, to impact lives, and to fulfill purpose.
But as employees who work for the “heart” we have to make sure our minds and our spirits are aligned with the corporate guidelines. The number one rule in the corporate manual is to not let discontent in the building.
Because once discontent comes in it ignites a hostile take-over and then brings in its own employees, who will rule over the employees who work for your heart, as they seek to sow unease, grievances and resentment with no respect for the mandate of godliness.
See when discontent comes in, issues begin to arise in our corporate headquarters. Lack of faith, doubt, anger issues, issues with greed, lust, jealousy, issues concerning pride, issues that steer us to compromise our integrity, issues that invite Satan in.
Sometimes we have to praise like it's resurrection time outside of the Easter season. Let celebrate today as we are glad Jesus got up.
I ain't scared & You can't make me
I want to talk to you about something that is the underlying cause and root of sin, our wrong decision, bad relationships, family dysfunction, spirit of procrastination, racism, abuse, manipulation, un-forgiveness, hatred, debilitating insecurities, and our lack of faith.
I am talking about fear. God gave me this word a week ago and all week he has been giving me a word about fear, he has been showing me how impactful and prominent it is in our lives.
2 Timothy 1:7 tells us for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
But why isn’t it just common sense in some instances to fear. Fear for physical safety in the sight of danger, yes that is reason for us to be scared. But fear produces evil and sin. Fear can be like shackles that bind us to everything God sent his Son to free us from.
God like any other good parent won’t give us what will harm, kill or destroy us and fear is a life threatening disease.
If we are blessed you will have at least one person in this life you can call a true friend and if you are really blessed your spouse will reign a a prized friend as well.
If you are like me and understand the depth of friendship, the word friend just doesn’t seem enough. I consider a true friend a jewel more precious than diamonds, priceless.
The bible tells us that a friend is one who lifts you up when you fall, A friend encourages you when you are no longer encouraged, prays with and for you without being asked.
As we lay the foundation for 2021. I want to let you know regardless how well you plan, and how much you pray challenges and trials will come, it’s inevitable. But have no fear because it is the challenges and trials that come with the best lessons. It is the challenges and trials that strengthen us. It’s the challenges and trials that remind us of the God we serve.
1 Peter 1:7 These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.
The old saints used to say a faith that can’t be tested can be trusted. Faith is better than a friend but like a friend it doesn’t show itself valuable until you are faced with some stuff, until your plans have been derailed, until your money gets so funny it’s not a laughing matter.
What happens when challenges and trials come, we begin to remember who God is, we begin to speak his word out loud, we begin to use our creativity to maneuver through the detoured paths. But what is even better is when God shows up in the middle of our challenges and trials and shows us something we would have never noticed about ourselves, others or a situation had we not been in the position at that particular moment.
We come through the challenges and trials with a little more experience and wisdom, but best of all a testimony. So welcome the challenges, embrace the trial with faith in an almighty God who we see you through the test.
This week I have been focused on helping you lay the foundation for a great year. We talked yesterday about shifting atmospheres, today I want to talk to you about your financial focuses for this year.
And I am going to begin with what some struggle most with, but is essential in God’s plan of prosperity, giving.
Rather than desiring to heap riches upon ourselves, the biblical model is one of giving, not getting. “Remember this: Whoever gives sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever gives generously will also reap generously.
We tend to not understand how giving will put us in a position to have more, it makes no mathematical sense. And it never will; it's a God thing which requires us to put our faith in God, to trust that His word is true. I encourage each of you to open up a faith account that builds based on your giving, the more you invest in your faith account monitored by the Kingdom of God, the more dividends become available to you.
(2 Corinthians 9:6-7) Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver”. In other words, you are allowed to ease into the practice of giving. Did the you know that giving is the only thing God tells us to test him about? In Malachi 3:10 test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that you will not have room to receive.
Proverbs 6: provides wisdom concerning laziness and the financial ruin that is inevitably attached to such behavior. We are told to consider the industrious ant who works to store up food for itself. The passage also warns against sleeping when we should be working at something profitable. In other words, stop dreaming when you should be working. Put your ideas to work the bible tells us a “sluggard” person is a lazy, slothful person who would rather rest than work and that this person’s end is assured—poverty.
At the other end of the spectrum is the one who is obsessed with gaining money is not pleasing in the sight of God. Such a one, according to Ecclesiastes 5:10, never has enough wealth to satisfy him and must be constantly grasping more and more. First Timothy 6:6-11 also warns against the trap of desiring wealth. The bible tells us that it is harder for a rich man to get into heaven than it is for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, and that is because when one get caught into the trap of desiring wealth, that becomes their sole priority, everything else becomes second, including the will and the ways of God
We are also encouraged to be good stewards of what God has given us. In Luke 16:1-13, Jesus told the parable of the dishonest steward as a way of warning us against poor stewardship and making a habit of frivolous spending. The moral of the story is “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling what you have, who can trust you with true riches?”
We are to be wise with our money. We are to save money, but not hoard it. We are to spend money, but with discretion and control. We are to give back to the Lord, joyfully and sacrificially. We are to use our money to help others.
It is not wrong to be rich, but it is wrong to love money. It is not wrong to be poor, but it is wrong to waste money on trivial things. The 2021 Financial focus is consistent with biblical teaching, be wise.
I know many of you as we have welcomed in this new year want to start everything off fresh, shift the atmosphere in your home. You want to remove negative and evil spirits and many think the solution is the burning of sage, but I want to talk to you about what works so much better and has been tried, tested and proven effective since the beginning of time.
Many deem sage burning as a spiritual ritual. What I want to make perfectly clear this morning is that every spiritual ritual is not godly. Demons and Satan are also of the spirit realm.
1 John 4:1 reads “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God”
You all know my favorite saying is an inconsistent truth is a lie and a lie can be of God, because God can’t lie and He detest lying.
So let’s put sage burning the spiritual test. First and foremost one of the ten commandments is that we are to have no other god before Him. The moment you put your faith in anyone or anything to align or realign your life you have made it your god.
Burning sage is essentially saying that God does not have the power, or ability to shift the atmosphere, so you need to buy and burn something to do what God can do.
James 2:19 tells us with just the sound of the name Jesus, demons tremble. The Word of God tells us to not become conformed to the ways of this world, in other words don’t follow the trends, they will lead you away from the promises of God.
Sage burning is nowhere in the bible, as a matter of fact it would be biblically classified as “strange incense” in Isaiah 1:13 Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me.
As believers when we see the popularity of something building those are the things we should be particularly discerning about, because the things Satan always seem to always draw a crowd and go viral .
If you want to shift the atmosphere in your home, start afresh this new year, drive out unclean and negative spirits. Begin to make it a practice to exalt prayer and worship in your home. Set some standards, no meal eaten without grace, eliminate foul language from plaguing the atmosphere, shut down activities and habits you know are not pleasing to God.
Saging gives us false hope, as we believe we are driving out negativity and unclean spirits when in actuality, we are nurturing and multiplying them. The burning sage may run them into the corners temporarily, but rest assured nothing and I mean nothing can drive out unclean spirits but God.
But this false sense of hope also pacifies our flesh as we keep doing things our way, engaging in activities and practices not pleasing in the sight of God. We tend to fall into the mindset of putting God on a shelf, taking Him off when we need Him, we don’t want him in our business unless we ask Him to intercede, but then wonder why our atmospheres are chaotic.
If you are sincere about shifting your atmosphere and driving out all that is ungodly, then turn your home over to God, let praise and prayer be the cornerstone of your household. Ushering the spirit of God is better than burning sage, it’s more effective and costs so much less.
Let everything in your home reverence his presence. Mark 3:11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” God is the answer to shift the atmosphere.
In Ecclesiastes 31 the bible tell us there is a season for everything and a time for everything under heaven, so we can rest assured that not one day of the 365 days in 2020 was for naught. Every occurrence in 2020 came with a lesson, use those lessons to achieve the phenomenal in 2021
Just because a certain medicine doesn’t taste good doesn’t mean it won’t heal the body. The same with the Bible, the very fact that God can’t lie and the Word of God doesn’t change and has and will forever transcend time is the best life insurance policy available.
Test it try it out. You say you don’t know where to start, start with your heart. Whatever is on your heart, what ever is troubling you, whatever is confusing you, whatever you have questions about start with those things. See what God says, extend to God at least that same as manufacturers extend to us, give God 90 days to show himself and once he come through extend the warranty to cover you for one year, then guaranteed you will enroll in his lifetime plan.
The word of God says to study to show thy self approved. If you want his approval on anything in your life, see what his word says follow His plan and you will obtain his approval. There is no approval greater than God’s
Don’t be afraid to partner up with someone as you embrace this challenge Ecclesiastes 4:9-1Two are better than one, If either falls ,one can help the other up. remember.
Going into the new year, many are preparing themselves to begin dieting to lose weight. And fruit is one food that many add to their diet as it suppresses their appetite while providing nutrients. As we have committed to leveling up our prayer lives, we too must commit to a new lifestyle concerning what we consume. Not a diet that lasts a certain amount of time, but a lifestyle and that lifestyle also calls for fruit. The fruits of the spirit which include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Think about it this way, God already knows all our stuff, He is just waiting for us to be transparent enough to lay our stuff at His feet, so that he can pick up our burdens, transform our fears, readjust our issues. God has promised to take what the devil meant for evil, what the devil meant to destroy us and turn it around for our good.
But God will never be guilty of trespassing, we have to invite Him in. our invitation for him to come in and interfere with our lives is our first step of faith. Now we know faith without works is dead, the problem is we never move into works, because our faith is not secure and the insecurity of our faith rests and is evident in our inability to be totally transparent in our prayers.
God I was wrong, God I keep messing up, God help me discipline myself with my finances, God help me discipline my flesh so I don’t continue to sin against you. These are the kinds of prayers than usher us into that secret place with God. He’s been keep your secrets long enough, but the time has come that you and Him talk about them, the time has come that ask the Doctor of Doctors to provide a prescription for you, but you must first tell him where it hurts, what’s not working, what’s aching, and what is making you nauseous.
God is waiting, His offices are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week, no appointment is ever necessary. The only hold up is you.
Prayer is simply a conversation with one that knows you better than you know yourself, a conversation with the only one who can fix anything.
Prayer is the key that turns on the light and block out the night.
When you know someone of VIP status who can make some things happen, who can change some things, or give you vip access to some things, and they extend their abilities to you, you graciously accept and adopt a certain level of security in their abilities, and connection.
Who is a bigger VIP than God. We know God to be one who is all knowing, all powerful and omnipresent and since these attributes remain consistent regardless of what is going on in our world. It would be wise for us to strengthen our relationship with him.
We invite you to celebrate and worship thanking God for his greatest gift, which is Jesus Christ. Christmas, not about us, all about Jesus
This a the story of the birth of Jesus, a rendition for the children, narrated by Pastor Deb
I had someone ask me just the other day should Christian celebrate Christmas, because it has become so paganistic?
My answer was absolutely yes Christian should celebrate Christmas. Then I made the point of informing this person that it is because Christians have conformed to the ways of the world instead of prompting the world to conform to the doctrine of Christianity, why the paganistic mindset is running rapidly during what should be proclaimed as a season of holiness.
Just imagine for a moment if everyone who professed to be a Christian exalted this holiday in a manner that truly honors God and God alone.
Today’s message is the second episode of our series entitled Days of Our Lives. Today I want to talk to you about attitudes, addictions and amens. For these are essential components that structure the framework of our lives and how we live.
Peace and Joy two things we all desire, but why. The answer to the why is in knowing the difference between the two.
(Lev 26:6) Peace It is the gift of God, for God alone can give peace in all its fullness .
Peace is a sense of well-being and fulfilment that comes from God and is dependent on His presence.
The Gospel is the good news of peace announcing the reconciliation of believers to God and to one another., through the blood of Jesus. Our inner peace is associated with the receptiveness to God's salvation (Matt 10:13), freedom from distress and fear (John 14:27), Security (1 Thess 5:9-10, mercy (Gal 6:16)grace (Phil.1:2) love (2 Cor 13:11) life and righteousness(Rom14:17). Such peace is a fruit of the spirit enabling us as Christians to withstand the attacks of the forces of evil.
Now JOY is a happy state that results from knowing and serving God.
Joy is the fruit of a right relationship with God and is not something one can create by their own efforts. God knows joy, and wants His people to know joy. Psalm 104:31 speaks of God rejoicing in His creative works; and Isa 65:18 speaks of God rejoicing over His people who will be to Him a joy.
This morning I wish that each of you experience peace and joy each and every day of your life.
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” Matthew 9:16-17
We can all agree that this year has come with many challenges, turmoil, ugliness and death. But as we are just weeks from a new year what kind of preparation have you made to embrace the new?
Let’s look at 2020 as an old wineskin, of which we will not pour new wine into, for we do not want our wineskins to burst. Many are waiting to see what the government is going to do, how the economy will look, what the CDC will be predicting for the upcoming days. As relevant is that is to our country and the world in which we live.
As believers we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, so I ask you again what preparations have you made? The preparation I am asking you about is concerning your position in the Kingdom of God. What are you prepared to do differently, what do you want to do more of, what do you want to do less of, where do you stand regarding God's great commission which is to spread the Gospel.
I want to leave you with another parable
The Parable of the Ten Virgins“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps[a] and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ An d while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Prepare yourselves so that when knock on the door of the Kingdom God will respond welcoming you in.
There is a popular trend on the rise where people are proclaiming to be more spiritual than religious. And I get it organized religion has become in more ways than it should a spectacle of ungodliness. But please know these times are no different than the biblical times.
But we don’t want to wear the label of Christian because of the preconceived and sometimes correct negative associations that are affiliated with Christianity. But we have to remain conscientious that Christianity is not about the people who profess to be Christian but about the God we serve. Psalm 107:2 tells us "let the redeemed of the Lord say so".
We must also be mindful that there are some pretty clear ways in which religion and spirituality differ. Religion: This is a specific set of organized beliefs and practices, usually shared by a community or group. Spirituality: This is more of an individual practice, and has to do with having a sense of peace and purpose.
Spirituality alone doesn’t seem to be a bad thing to embrace however again church drama existed in the bible nothing we see today wasn’t going on in the bible which is why Ecc 1:9 tells us there is nothing new under the sun. But with all the craziness that was going on in church in the biblical days God still saw it necessary for churches to maintain existence and believers to come together as Hebrews 10:25 tells us do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, that we remain committed to exhorting one another: and that as time passes and we see the end of days approaching that we do assemble so much more.
When the question arises are you religious? The answer should be no, but I am a Christian. Religion indicates that you are tied to traditions and practices. Being a Christian means you live committed to the doctrine of Christ and the Word of God. To claim to be just spiritual leaves the door open to and for too many things, because even Satan has a spirit. Remember
We allow so much stuff to derail us from following through with the will of God. Let's focus more on God's plan it's so much better than ours
The mismanagement of mistakes can be a hindrance to so many things and have a tendency to leave a foul aroma in the atmosphere.
First and foremost lets me make this very clear. The only people who never make mistakes are those who never set out to do anything. The ones who are stagate, strive for nothing, content with nothing and who do not value life or God’s purpose for their own lives.
So anyone professing to never have made any mistakes, steer clear of them, for you likely have nothing in common with them and in all honesty you should feel sorry for them, as they are obviously lost and happy in their own wilderness.
The second disclaimer I want to make before going any further is there is a difference between sin and a mistake. A mistake is something we do unintentionally or not understanding the consequences. But “sin” is an intentional act done while understanding the consequences.
Both mistakes and sin are inevitable as mistakes are often made while trying to do better or what we deem to be right, an attitude derived from a love, good intent, a purposed driven mentality or with no real agenda.
We are all uniquely made by God, but why as a culture have we allowed the norm to be to carry ourselves as replicas? www.BibleDeliverance.org
A faith that can't be tested, can't be trusted. Job's faith showed that God could trust him as he remain confidence that God would work his trials for his good. How strong is your faith?
This is a revised Sunday sermon, being re-aired by popular demand as a morning inspiration. www.BibleDeliverance.org
By popular demand this Sunday sermon has been revised and is being represented as a morning inspiration
This afternoon I want to talk to you about someone in the Bible whose name is well known, but is rarely the subject of a sermon. I am talking about Mary Magdalene.
And I know that by just the mention of her name some of you have already put to work in your mind some preconceived notions, but I am going to ask for you to set all of them and stay with me, I just want to talk to you briefly about how Satan can have you so tangled up, that he has you counted out, but God.
First let me say that all throughout the Bible there were many Marys. But this Mary was distinguished from the others as her surname is always mentioned simultaneously with her first name. Her surname was likely connected to the town of Magdala which is where she was from. This town was a wealthy community that thrived in the textile industry. www.BibleDeliverance.org
A kiss can be oh so innocent, denoting something as guiltless as a friendship or family kinship . It can also be exchanged in a fiery moment between lovers that could escalate into something more intense. When we think of a kiss we think likely about these two kinds of kisses. But there is also a kiss of death. In the world of a crime family, this kiss means that the person who is marked for death. Funny how the world uses biblical reference to uphold their own traditions, because Jesus was betrayed by a kiss.
The Bible tells as Judas approached Jesus to kiss him, Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” for Jesus knew that who Judas kissed was a message to those who had been looking to kill him that he was in fact exactly who they were looking for. www.BibleDeliverance.org
I want to start this morning off reading to you from Isaiah 43:19 which reads Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? If you don’t feel and see that God is doing something new, you have been living on another planet for all of 2020. God asks us a simple question, do you not see that I am doing something new?
If you do see that God is doing something new, but don’t quite understand what it is he is doing, let me continue reading the verse to you as God continues by saying, I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
If you are like me you know the wilderness all to well, you know that place where you can see the forest for the trees, you know where you need to go, and even how long it should take to get there, but you can’t see through the shrubberies of the wilderness to make a clear path, well God is saying don’t worry about it I am about to make a way for you, I am about to create the ideal path, I am about to move some shrubbery, some stumbling blocks out of your way. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Desert before dinner, if you were raised in my mother’s house that was not even a permissible option. But as we get grown and move outside of the confines of our parents' restrictions, we tend to explore and try some of the nonpermissible things, like desert before dinner.
The concept is to have dessert before dinner, so that you don’t miss out on satisfying that sweet tooth because you were too full from dinner to enjoy it. We have created a culture whereby people are OK with enjoying what they have not earned, have not worked for, nor do they truly understand.
If it feels good, makes us look good, or gets us noticed then let’s do it is the mindset of our culture. Proverbs 12:24 The hand of the diligent will rule. The principle that we seem to miss, thanks to the temptations of Satan is that you can gather stuff, even become envied by others and still not rule, still not walk in the fullness of God's purpose. To just go after stuff regardless of its manmade value is a cheap ticket to nowhere. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Yes we are approaching winter and the temperatures are changing and some days are colder than others. But beyond the cold weather, our world seems to be getting much colder, as our compassion for one another is fading, a reverence of God has dwindled and even common courtesy seems to be disappearing at alarming rates.
Matthew 24: 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Yes we are still basking in the season of Thanksgiving as we have so much to praise God for
We serve a God who can shake up things, but can't be shaken, who can turn thing upside down but can't be turned around. Being a child of the Kingdom has it's perks.
As you give God praise today, we would like to share some tunes to assist you in give God all the glory.
When you embrace who God is you can't help but give Him praise. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Don't allow anyone to disrupt or interrupt your praise. Praise is a personal experience between you and God.
On a cruise you get to choose from the itinerary the activities and events you want to engage in, your can customize your tour. But God wants to be your Captain, with the Holy Spirit as your events coordinator and Jesus as your tour guide, are you in?
We are living in a strange time dealing with a pandemic that has us doing everything a little different. We are doing video calls and conference calls left and right to be able to do our jobs effectively.
I come to tell you don’t allow the trial and struggles of this time keep you from scheduling a regular conference call with the Almighty. There is no other call more important than the one you have with God.
See your conference call with the Almighty is about more than talk, it’s about entering into his presence, it’s about engulfing yourself into a spirit of praise and worship, it's about feeding your soul. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Oftentimes we can be our worst enemy as things tend to stress us out and life burden seems more than we can bear. Many times the problem is that we keep trying to follow our plan, not God’s. We want to do things our way, not God’s.
Who do you think would have the better directions regarding the operation of a vehicle, the car’s manufacturer or the manufacturer of a toaster? As simple as the answer is to that question, so is the answer to whose way is better God’s or ours. www.BibleDeliverance.org
When Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus apparently direct his question to Simon Peter. But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”Your place in the Kingdom hinges on who you say Jesus is, not what your friends say, your prayer group, even your spouse.The word of God says that each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Like your fingerprints, your account before God cannot be duplicated. High security locations often require access using one’s fingerprints as an additional measure of security. Why because your fingerprints can’t be stolen or duplicated. www.BibleDeliverance.org
In order to be on your "A" it is going to require that you utilize all the resources and connections available to you. Don't sleep! Your "A" game is not as far out of your reach as you may think. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Perhaps the best indication that God does have a sense of humor is that He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), and we are able to perceive and express humor. The dictionary defines a “sense of humor” as “...The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical or funny.” Today the problem with humor is that people perceive what is comical differently, some find humor in sinfulness and of course this would not humor a perfect God. www.BibleDeliverance.org
As the days roll by they do it in a manner of rudeness, snatching time and without our permission. It is time that we begin to treat time like a gift of diamonds, because the days are going to keep doing what they have done for centuries. Get the best out of your time.
This world misuses the term separation of church and state to infer that we should separate the world’s government from biblical mandates, expectations and counsel, without really knowing the origin or the boundaries of the principle.
The idea of separation of church and state came from a letter penned by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s cause was to protect religious liberties from an intrusive government!
In no way did Jefferson or any of the other framers of the U.S. Constitution, seek to eradicate religion or restrict Americans’ faith in God or the upholding of biblical mandate.
An overwhelming majority of those who signed the Declaration of Independence counted themselves as religious men. It may come as a shock to many that nowhere in the Constitution do the words separation of church and state appear.
The separation of the two was designed to keep the government out of God’s business, not to keep God out of the business of the government.
So much rhetoric and accusations about election fraud, well the election thief has been discovered. www.BibleDeliverance.org
It is amazing to me how some want to argue the validity of the Bible, when you can turn it’s pages and find instruction, encouragement, and details about every aspect of life and business is no different. www.BibleDeliverance.org
You ever think what if... Well there is a big what if concerning our faith, let's explore it. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Let get a handle and deal with some of the scriptures we struggle with. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We live in a society where so many struggle to embrace the Bible as the authentic Word of God discounting it as being just this or just that. www.BibleDeliverance.org
God the ultimate parent, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. God, so loving that he chastens us, forgives, desires to be in relationship with us, it's up to us to draw near to him as he draws near to us. www.BibleDeliverance.org
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The Kingdom of God is a blue chip investment. Not only is our investment secure but solid with maximum dividends accessible at all times, with no chance of possible loss. When we look at our investment into prayer which is time, humility and faith, we don’t stand to lose anything.
Awh but there is something I must warn you about, dividend income is taxable, which is why in Luke 12:48 it tells us to whom much is given much is required. But how do you reduce your tax liability and hold on to as much of your spiritual dividend income as possible? www.BibleDeliverance.org
Ok let’s get real this morning, if you all are like me as we get older things that used to fit, just don’t fit anymore. Even styles we use to wear, just don’t look as good as they used to anymore.
The same is true with your walk with God. The longer you walk in obedience to His Word committed to His ways, something just doesn't seem to fit anymore. Some jokes that used to seem funny are no longer funny, shows that you used to watch you just can't seem to stomach anymore, certain conversations you find, you no longer even want to be a part of any more. And as shady as it may sound some of the people you used to be closest to you dread seeing them coming.
Let me put you at ease, this is absolutely normal, when you decide to follow Christ, your mind is no longer conformed or confirmed by the world, your mind has been renewed, reviewed, and now relies on the Word of God for truth and guidance. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The first occurrence of the word worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham and Isaac are headed up the hill to the altar where Abraham planned to sacrifice Isaac in obedience to God’s command . This was a test of Abraham’s faith And amazingly Abraham says to his servants, “Stay here . . . while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you” (verse 5). Abraham clearly looked upon his obedience as an act of worship. And pay attention Abraham said to his servants “we will come back” even though he knew God had commanded he sacrifice Isaac’s life on the altar. Abraham had faith enough in the sincerity of his obedience in worship that in his heart of hearts, he and his son would somehow be able to return
Now on the other hand as we review the story of Cain and Abel they were both told to bring an offering unto God, Abel’s offering was accepted. But Cain’s offering to the Lord he did not look upon with favor. As we study scripture it is evident that Cain's offering was unacceptable because of his disobedience to God’s prescribed form of worship. Sincere worship to God can only be offered in obedience to His Word. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Proverbs 30:5 readsEvery word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Every word of God proves true, my question to you this morning is can you handle the truth.
Because truth is in the Kingdom of God there is no democracy.
Truth is in the Kingdom of God all mandates are non-negotiable.
Truth is in the Kingdom of God, His word is unchanging.
If you can handle the truth, embrace the truth that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
www.BibleDeliverance.org
There’s no getting around it: we all struggle with sin (Romans 3:23). Even the great apostle Paul lamented over his ongoing struggle with sin in his life. Paul’s struggle with sin was real; so much so that he cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:24). www.BibleDeliverance.org
When you have been train to fight when the time come to fight, victory is becomes a possible reality. www.BibleDeliverance.org
A godly business is a successful and productive business. Align your business with God's business. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Kingdom is a mindset that is based on our embracing of God's mandate for His children to operate with dominion on earth. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Deborah as a godly leader understood the power associated with worship. Deborah knew it is not candles, incense or sage, but her worship that shifts the atmosphere and ushers in the spirit of God. The closing lyrics to her song of worship says “So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.”
It was Deborah’s sincere heart for people and commitment to the will of God that kept God elevating and using her in various capacities. The Israelites had been under the control of the Canaanite king Jabin and the commander of his army, Sisera. The Canaanites had 900 chariots of iron and ruled over Israel for 20 years (Judges 4:2–3).
One of Deborah’s judgments was to instruct Barak to summon 10,000 men and attack Jabin’s army. Likely fearful to comply with such a command, Barak told Deborah, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go” (Judges 4:8). She replied, “Certainly I will go with you. . . . But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman”.
Notice Deborah, operating in the capacity of perseverer, wasn’t looking for glory and she was willing to protect the integrity, pride and ego of Barack as a man by warning him of implications that would come. In other words, I am willing to help you get what needs to be done, I just need you to understand what the whisperers will be saying when it’s all said and done. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Never before has anyone’s name caused so much controversy. Some what to label Jesus as just a good prophet, some say just good teachers, while others will only give him credit for being righteous. But here we are over 2000 years after his death and his name still rings loud, moves mountains, upset people, shifts mindsets, and elevates peace. If he was just a man, why does his name still have so much power and influence? www.BibleDeliverance.org
All week long we have studied the birth, life, death and tomorrow the resurrection of Jesus and the impact that He has even now on each of our lives. Let give his some praise and lift the name of Jesus today.
Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus who was a sinless man was born to die. We may think he was sinless, loving, and forgiving, surely God could have shown him some mercy.
What we have to understand is mercy does not ignore justice. And the only reason we have mercy in our vocabulary, which means to hold back what is deserving, is because of the death of Jesus.
You see God can’t lie and to just wink at our sins would violate His word, somebody had to pay for our sins, because the bible tells us that the wages of sin is death and in all honesty we could never sacrifice enough to pay our sin debt.
Jesus the human manifestation of God had to come in the flesh so a physical death and blood could be shed. Leviticus 17:11 tells us for the life of the flesh, which is our sin, is in the blood, it goes on to say, for it is the blood that makes atonement for life. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Jesus spoke some powerful words. Words that transcend time. Words that can effectively guide us in our now. This morning I just want to walk you through the magnificence of the Words of Jesus. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Believing in Jesus means you believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of the virgin Mary, that He is truly fully God and truly fully man, that He lived a perfect, sinless life, that all His teachings are true, that He died on the cross for all humanity as a ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
This morning I want to confirm for you the love that God has for you, the length he will go to have and sustain a relationship with you. We know that for any relationship to be successful and long-last requires engagement from both parties. God loves you, he's in it to win with you, are you all in? www.BibleDeliverance.org
We know Jesus was born of a virgin and his mother’s name was Mary. What some of us may not know or have grasped is the significance of Jesus being born of a virgin. Romans 5:12 tells us that through the lions of a man, sin enters the world. Women don’t get excited, that my no means makes us sinless or not the influencers of sin. There is a real significance surrounding the virgin conception of Jesus. www.BibleDeliverance.orf
Upon the birth of Jesus scripture reads and unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Because of who He was it was already written that He would live a sinless life, fulfill the law and be the savior of all mankind.
But we are born into sin, with free will. My dad used to tell me life is just one decision after another, with every decision leading to consequences and paths.
I want to tell you this morning that the choice we make, the consequences we endure and the paths we travel shape our character, naming us accordingly. Right now today, what really is your name. www.BibleDeliverance.org
It's been a crazy week no better way to close it than giving God praise. www.BibleDeliverance.org
How should Christians vote? Should there be a separation of church and state. Genesis 1: 27-28 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue (overcome, master, control, overwhelm) it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The psalms are a running record of what was happening in the hearts of real people during real circumstances; as they endured real challenges and even in life and death situations . . . particularly when it comes to David’s psalms, which amount to roughly half of them.
The miraculous power of the Psalms is this phenomenal book provides us the means of entering into prayer with a fresh state of mind.
The Book of Psalms enables us to see that we're not the first to feel God is silent when we pray, nor are we the first to feel anguish and bewilderment while praying.
Thanks be to God, through the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have been extended the great privilege of living for Him. As we walk every day striving to live according to His Word and His ways, we will continue to experience His grace and mercy rather than His wrath.
It’s because of God’s grace that the seed of love has been placed in our hearts and God has charged us to nurture that seed so that we can bear fruit. As God’s chosen and beloved people, we must commit to being gracious and merciful to others and do all these things in truth and love. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The two words are used interchangeably but they are quite different. Learn the difference in faith and religion. www.BibleDeliverance.org
As believers in the Most High God we don’t have to buy or burn anything to gain access to the power of God. We serve an all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresence God, love God who is our refuge. If you need him, we can call on, him he’s already there, if you need help we can ask him for it, if you need to rebuke demons, in Mark 3:11 the scripture reads And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” You want to shift the atmosphere, save your money, keep the air absent of smoke and just open up your mouth and call on the name of Jesus. Remember.
All leaders are in positions of power and have the responsibility to cast vision, guide, direct, teach, encourage, manage, oversee and execute. Isaiah taught us that leaders walk in humility, not grandeur, not demanding attention, not as a bully. We also learn from Isaiah that leaders are concerned about the well being of the people they have been called to lead. A true leader will sacrifice their own pride to assure the best for those they have been appointed to lead. Isaiah taught us that good leaders choose their associates carefully and finally good leaders strive for righteousness above all. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Sexy Sins. are feel good engagements that keep us out of the will of God, how do we overcome them?
We were created to love. Love is a gift from God and needs to be done the way he designed.
Love, is beautiful and should be experience by everyone. But why is it so hard to find? www.BibleDeliverance.org
The Creator of all things know that we are not perfect, so perfections is not what He is expecting or desiring from us, he just wants our heart aligned with will for our lives
We have become so disconnected from God that we don’t even recognize that independence is only an illusion and not really even an option, which may explain why it’s not mentioned in the bible at all.
You can’t live outside of the control of God, even with free-will, you can’t live not depending on the provisions and resources God has made available, we can’t even live happily independent of one another.
1 Peter 2:16 tells us Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
- Freedom keeps us connected to God with our free-will intact
- But Independence is blasphemy and connects us to the mindset of Satan
- Freedom maintains respect for our history and the Word of God
- Independence disrespect the mandates of God and the lives and sacrifices of those who paved the way for our now.
We should not be surprised the Bible told us there would be false prophets and that the devil would always set out to deceive us. But we have a defense, we can proclaim victory. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We live in a culture where success and influential status is measured by numbers, dollars and cents. Let’s review the numbers generated by The Holy Bible.
The annual sales figures for the Bible average between $425 million and $650 million, repeatedly, year after year, it consistently dwarfs the sales of all other books.
Because the Bible is consistently the bestselling book, it is no longer listed on the bestsellers list, as the “bestsellers” list is only interesting if the top spot is up for grabs, so the real “bestseller” has been indefinitely omitted from running entirely.
"In every area in which it can be checked out historically, culturally, geographically and scientifically, it has been verified as factual by non-biblical sources. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Those of us who believe in an Almighty GOD, without a shadow of a doubt, we can understand and accept that He is infinitely greater than we could ever be. GOD operates without boundaries and is capable of doing anything in and outside the parameters of nature. If GOD Himself is all powerful, capable of clothing Himself in flesh walking the earth as the example of righteousness for us, why wouldn't He?www.BibleDeliverance.org
Some view the Holy Spirit as a mystical force. Others want to deem it an impersonal power that God has made available to His followers. Simply put, the Bible declares that the Holy Spirit is God. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, a being with a mind, emotions, and a will. www.BibleDeliverance.org
This message is to reinforce one's belief or provide the tools to share truth with unbelievers. www.BibleDeliverance.org
There are two scriptures that threw me for a loop. The first one is Ecclesiastes 7:20 and it reads, Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. The second one is Matthew 5:48 and it reads. You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. I started thinking OK how can both of these be true. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Life and death are in the power of the tongue and the word of God says we will have to give an account for every word spoken. Watch your tongue. www.bibledeliverance.org
When everything is going our way, patience is easy to demonstrate. The true test of patience comes when our rights are violated—when another car cuts us off in traffic; when we are treated unfairly; when our coworker repeatedly challenges our faith. The Bible, praises patience as a fruit of the Spirit. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Favor is never fair, it’s a leaf on the tree of grace and whether it is extended you or another rejoice because as long as God is in the blessing business there is hope for us all. www.BibleDeliverance.org
How can we sow disobedience and simultaneously claim the blessing of God? We live in a time where people are going about their lives blatantly and boldly living outside the will of God and because of the carnal mindsets we have adopted, we count ourselves blessed because of the things we have and because life seems to be leaning in our favor. But are we blessed or shackled. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Paul instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing,”. But how is one supposed to pray without ceasing and live a normal everyday life with responsibilities, tasks and obligations. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Phenomenal Wednesday Bible study that covered the hindrances to prayer and the secrets regarding the principles of prayer. www.BibleDeliverance.org
A delay is not a denial. The manifestation of some of our prayers require process. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The accolades and adornment of people boost egos and nurtures the spirit of conceit, but it’s when God see’s worth in our character that our life really magnifies beauty. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Proverbs 4:23-27
Keep vigilant watch over your heart;
that’s where life starts.
Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth;
avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
Keep your eyes straight ahead;
ignore all sideshow distractions.
Watch your step,
and the road will stretch out smooth before you.
Look neither right nor left;
leave evil in the dust.
www.BibleDeliverance.org
Labor Sunday is dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement. Where are the true Christians, the Christians who believe that God shows no partiality, so neither should we, the Christians who serve the God who despises division, racism, lies, deceit, and greed. www.BibleDeliverance.org
As we grow weary with Covid-19, we cannot allow our weariness to be transformed into carelessness. God needs us physically and spiritually healthy to fulfill what he has ordained for us to accomplish. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We have exalted the word of God all week, unselfishly prayed for others, and now its time to enter into worship.
This morning inspiration was inspired by a Bible Study God intercepted and didn't allow to go according to plan. When you are employed by got you have to follow the boss' lead.
If you have accepted the challenge I presented yesterday, you have Satan so confused right now. www.BibleDeliverance.org
There is something powerful about going before the throne of God with a selfless heart. Accept the challenge and watch God move. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The lies and the ultimate goal of Satan
What we have to understand is that every lie, big or small has demonic intentions. Every lie points to a goal of Satan. Every lie is wrapped up, tied up in some form of deceit, evilness, or blasphemy.
And the 3 main targets Satan steers his lies toward us to keep us just outside of the favor of God is our faith, our finances and our ability to forgive. www.BibleDeliverance.org
The shortest most unselfish prayer ever recording and granted. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Yesterday was the anniversary of the March on Washington led by Dr. Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement. And here we are 57 years after the march and 155 years after the last slave was freed in these United States and we are still fighting to be treated as equal. There are keys to the shackles that bind us. www,BibleDeliverance.org
Many look back over their life and wonder why their relationships failed, why emptiness, a feeling of incompleteness seems to linger in their lives even though they may have achieved what they set out to accomplish something is still missing. So what is the meaning of life? www.BibleDeliverance.org
If you have accepted the challenge I presented yesterday, you have Satan so confused right now. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Running in this marathon called life takes discipline, sacrifice, sweat and sincere pursuit. Those sitting on the sidelines not running, please hus. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Because we are children of The Most-High God, we can walk with a smile on our face and peace in our hearts. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Men, on This day I am standing in agreement with other godly women and the women who love you and we say, set aside your agendas, your pride, your hurts, your disappointments and please make God the absolute priority in your lives.
We need you, godly men to be a staple in the lives of our youth, our children, and in our households. We need you, men, to be the voice of righteousness in our communities and to stand on righteousness spreading the word of God with vigor. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Today we are going to talk about the sashaying of sin, you know how we have become so comfortable in our sin as if sin no longer offends God. We carry our sin like a banner, waving it like a flag nonchalantly displaying it for all to see, we televise our sin, share it, and post it. Time to bring it in yall less run this race of life trying to make 100, because 991/2 won't do. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Friendship is God-ordained. Friendship is a valuable and powerful gift. www.BibleDeliverance.org
It's time for a praise break. Let give God some glorious praise. www.BibleDeliverance.org
In a world that defines self-worth based on external components, the truth reigns as God's Word shows us a priceless with our worth defined according to the condition of our souls. www.BibleDeliverance.org
What looks like a cash flow problem, is a facade. God wants us to have the desires of our hearts and wealth. It's time you obtain all that He has for you. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Showing godly love is done when there is nothing in it for you. It's easy to show love to those who love you, but can you show love to those who don't even speak to you? www.BibleDeliverance.org
No excuses, you are still in the race so program yourself to win. There is only one rule in this game called life, listen to find out the rule and how to win. www.BibleDeliverance.org
"New" is on the horizon. But unfortunately "new" will not mean better for everyone. Learn how to make sure you end up on the right side of "new". www.BibleDeliverance.org
Thank God I'm favored. All those who are thankful for God's favor, we invite you to use this phenomenal playlist to ignite praise unto God Almighty. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We are charged to use the footprints we make daily to bless those around us, as we are also charged to move forward allowing our past only power to push us forward. www.BibleDeliverance.org
We all have and individual brand and a god-ordained purpose. Those who become great, God wants to showcase
One of the most frequently asked questions is "how do I find purpose". The very fact that God created you validates that you have a purpose, you just need the key to discovering that purpose. www.BibleDeliverance.com
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. And Psalm 119:105 declares that the word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, whatever you are up against know that you can find rest in the word of God Its His word that anchors us.
Sometimes we have to just go back to the basics. This sermon goes back to the foundation of Christianity as it teaches about the validity of the Holy Bible. This message shares historical and archaeological truths that validate the Bible as being the true word of God with the goal of stressing to every listening how important it is to study the Bible for themselves, for it is truly what anchors our souls.
The relationship with God is the best relationship you will ever have, let nothing come between you and Him. www.BibleDeliverance.org
There are so many religions and opinions about religion. And as arrogant as it sounds, Christianity is the only way to God. Listen to why. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Everyone screams about fairness and yes we should treat each other with absolute fairness, but we should all be glad that God is not fair. For we could not bare what we deserve. www.BibleDeliverance.org
You may know how to win an argument to not be a target of those seeking to take advantage, but do you know how to assure blessingS? Listen to the key to being blessed daily. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Words are extremely powerful, not just the words you speak but the words you receive the words that are released in the airwaves of our society. Learn about the power of words and various kinds of tongues. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Are you on the guest list? Our commitment to God makes us have to make some serious and godly choices.
www.BibleDeliverance.org
You have an admirer, that loves you, would sacrifice anything for you. They want to spend some intimate time with you, but you have been resistant. I encourage you embrace love.
It is the will of God that we are happy, experience laughter and joy. Your smile, your laughter and your joy are praises unto God.
If we were real about it maintaining faith is not easy. This message shares with you a means by which you can always use to praise up your faith.
We will never be grown enough to not be held accountable for being obedient to the way and the will of God. This sermon explores the story of Moses and how although he led the Israelites to the promised land he was not able to enter.
The 10 Weapons of Defense aka The Ten Commandments. We often look at the Ten Commandments as a list of do's and don'ts, but in actuality, God put mandates in place for our good to protect us against the tricks and deceptions of Satan. This message gives a different perspective concerning the renowned Ten Commandments.
As we continue our study of Moses, we explore the depth of Satan's attack against what God ordained Moses to do. We also confirm how awesome God is and how he will defy nature to protect us from the snares of our spiritual enemy. Life lessons are given on how to avoid the traps set by Satan.
From the moment you took your first breath, your soul entered into a war. God loves you so so, has so much he has ordained for your life, that he wants you to commit your soul to Him so that you can experience life abundantly. But Satan wants your soul too, and his desires are not personal, he doesn't even like you enough for it to be personal, even though he will attack you personally. Satan is on a mission to win more souls into his kingdom than God can in His Kingdom, so the war begins and will continue. But Satan does not control your will, that is a gift from God. You are free to choose which Kingdom you will serve. I invite you to allow this message to enlighten you about the trick and snares of Satan.
If you have been praying seeking direction, this is the message for you. The story of Moses provides lessons as to how the power of a plan, purpose, and persistence freed a nation and can ultimately put you exactly where God wants you allowing you to flourish and be utilized as God has ordained.
Jesus came to set the standard, to be the example. As believers, we are to strive to submit to the standard he exemplified. In order to effectively do that we have to know, understand, and embrace His characteristics. This recording is of our bible study discussion concerning just that.
This Bible study helps to provide clarity as to who Jesus was, why he came, and why He was so significant. We address the simplest way to understand the Trinity and the foundation of Christianity.
There are approximately 18 inches between our brains and our hearts. Many people know of God, have embraced the concept of God, but never enter into a relationship with God, never allow Him to be the center of their heart. Balaam was one of those people, he was a prophet, communed with God regularly, but because of his desire for money and prosperity, he never allowed God to be the center of his heart. There are valuable lessons in the story of Balaam.
Happy Father's Day! This message is to African Americans as we come to position ourselves for better, dealing with our history, our legacy, and our future. Let's talk about the images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, but let's also talk about the mistral shows of today, for today we are writing the history of what will be in the books for our children's children. We are phenomenal people. We are resilient people. Black lives have always mattered
There is a time and season for everything. And God called this day for Bible Deliverance to pray. As you listen to this sermonic prayer, we hope that it ministers to your heart and soul and inspires prayers of your own as you seek the will and face of God regarding your assignment in this day and time when God needs all believer's onboard and willing to go to work for His Kingdom.
A message of hope, guidance, and a challenge requiring choices and changes. Because we serve a just God, we desire and deserve justice.
It is not enough for us to pray and kick back, believing that God is going to bring miracles to our feet. The word of God says that faith without works is dead. It is time we began to align our works with our faith so that what we have been praying about is manifested in our lives. God will not bless what we don't think is worthy of our effort, without our effort there is no assurance we are prepared to handle the blessing we are looking for, and God will certainly not give us more than we can handle. Shut down lazy faith and justify your faith by your works.
Pray is more than a submission of our wishlist to God. Pray is our gateway to establishing, solidifying, and maintaining a relationship with Him. And just like when our cellphones began to go crazy, dropping calls, unable to hold a signal, we take them back to our carriers and get an upgrade. It's time we upgraded our prayer life with the Almighty, the benefits include fewer prayers dropped, clearer communication with the King of Kings, and an unfailing signal of connection.
After ministering the sermon, "Every Prayer" I extended a challenge to the congregation, to set aside 10 minutes, twice a day to spend with God. Turning off radio, tv, and cellphones. This playlist was composed to be a preamble to that designated time, to usher them into the very presence of God where they could commune and fellowship with the Almighty.
Jonah ends up in the belly of a whale before he comes to himself and submits to the will of God. But even after his willingness to submit, Jonah had to learn another lesson... that no one is beyond redemption, regardless of their sin, their lifestyle, or their current belief. God is the great I AM and with His power, all can receive salvation. This is a message for all those running from God's call or who have sought their ordained purpose.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue. The gift of speech is a valuable gift given to us by God, nothing else created did He give this gift. Any valuable gift should be used with proper discernment. Our words can exalt, encourage, teach, and inspire. If used improperly they can destroy, create walls, and mutilate character. Prayer, praise, and purpose out of our mouths can shift atmospheres, move mountains, and bring us closer to God. The time will come when we will have to give an account to God for every word we have spoken...what condition is your account in?
Spiritual Warfare is real! We submit to satanic rituals and customs unbeknownst to us. Even the ritual of burning sage and incense, God is not pleased with, as these are practices that conjure up spirits outside of the will of God to work on our behalf. Such rituals are deemed as witchcraft intended to invade our souls and shift our faiths away from God. This is a sermon so suited for 2020.
If you are a child of God, you are destined to win. Stay the course and don't let the devil trick you in claiming victory too soon. Everything in God's timing. We stand believing God is doing something around the globe, walls are coming down, renewal and the reclaiming of all that may have been lost is on the horizon. A dynamic word followed by an incredible worship experience.
We have launched a website www.IGotAQ.com where anyone can anonymously submit a question concerning Christianity, God, The Bible, Jesus or Christian lifestyle. One of the questions recently received was "How Can Christian Serve A God Who Is An Advocate For Slavery?" This question comes from the verse in the Bible which instructs "slaves obey your masters". The uncanny thing is the Bible has an entire structure outlined regarding how masters should treat slaves and how both should interact and react to another, but no one seems to every read those other almost 3 dozen scriptures. This message provides a little history lesson and biblical revelation. We encourage you to submit your questions at www.IGotAQ.com
Scripture tells us that my people are destroyed because of the lack of knowledge. When knowledge is available the lack is our willingness to embrace the knowledge When knowledge is available the lack is in our ability to discipline ourselves to receive the knowledge. This pandemic is killing blacks at an alarming rate, the knowledge is available in many cases our willingness and then discipline required to embrace it is costing lives and putting an entire race in jeopardy.
Easter Sunday 2020 looks a little different for everyone. We thought it would be nice since families are quarantined together that they utilize this time to participate in praise and worship together. We invite every household to have an Inhouse Party to celebrate our Risen King. Post pics, videos, and comments on social media as you use this playlist to inspire praise in your home. www.BibleDeliverance.org
Message from our Wednesday's Midweek Reset: God has made a promise to each of us to never leave or forsake us and as we go through life, we have battles and go through ups and. downs. But let's be honest we want and think we deserve the kind of success and favor the Bible describes that Joseph received. What was so different about God's relationship with Joseph that He showed him so much favor? How can we walk in that level of favor? www.BibleDeliverance.org
We are going to survive this pandemic. But when it's all said and done, when the restrictions are lifted and the isolations have ended, then what? This message is for those looking to thrive, who will not let the chaos of this epidemic be the author of their destiny, but is determined to use this time as a launch to better and greater.
Should churches heed to the mandate of social distancing and not holding meetings of more than 10? Pastor Deb shares her opinion based on biblical reference.
A year ago the term "social distancing" was unheard of, now it has become part of our immediate culture. But if truth be told, we should be more familiar with and far better at it than we are, as a people we have been socially distancing ourselves from God for a very long time. Join me as we explore God's divine purpose in the midst of it all.
As we see prophecies being fulfilled, we ought to pay attention and understand that God is trying to get our attention. He is trying to provide revelation and direction, it's time for us to reaccess and reprioritize our lives and goals, and ask, are our efforts aligning with God's plans? If not, then all we do is for naught.
In the midst of this global pandemic, where is God? How can he allow the lives of children to be taken? Is this biblical prophecy? What are we supposed to do? How do we move forward?
It is my prayer that this episode answers some of the tough questions linger in the air amongst so many. Scriptural reference available on our website. http://www.BibleDeliverance.org