Hello, Future!

My morning got off to a bad start. Well…let me clarify. After my prayer time, I went back to bed for a little while and when I got up again, it was like waking up to a bad dream. One child was moving in ultra-slow motion, the other one was in speed mode and not listening, husband was in his own world and I slowly got more and more irritated. There wasn’t one thing in particular that got me, but a combination of things that set me off in the wrong direction. I got snappy and not particularly pleasant. By the time we were all leaving, one child was crying and the other was pouting and I was rolling my eyes. When I finally got in the car and on my way, it didn’t take long for the Holy Spirit to start working. I began to repent and pray. I called my husband and apologized and the girls chatted and we were back on track with our day. Why did I have to tell all that, you ask? Simple answer: It’s time to move forward.

After dropping Sanai off, I put in a devotional cd to just reset and the man said one line that made my spirit jump. “Don’t let past failures and events govern your life.” I knew it was God speaking. It felt like He was giving me permission to move on from this morning. I had repented and gotten things straight in the family so I couldn’t stay there for the rest of my day. In the bigger picture, so many of us are stuck in our pasts. We are struggling to move forward from what happened last month, last year, in childhood. I believe God is telling us to seek freedom from those old hurts, pains, and traumas. It’s all in line with this season of thanksgiving that we are in. In order to be grateful, we have to take our focus off of the struggle. God doesn’t want us to live in rewind, He wants us to press play on our lives and watch Him work.

I hear you saying.  How do I do that? I’ve been struggling with this disappointment, this failure, this hurt for so long. It’s hard for me to move on. Believe me, I understand, there are some things that we have experienced that feel impossible to escape from. But the question is, isn’t your future worth the attempt? There is not a timeline to moving forward but I believe there is one to getting started. Once you agree to give those burdens over to the Lord, your future starts. Think about Paul, who had quite a past to contend with and many past failures but he tells us to keep pressing forward. “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Phil. 3:12-14 NLT)

My prayer is for peace and liberty to reign in your life. It’s so hard to walk in joy when you are carrying the weight of the past on your shoulders and in your heart. My challenge to you today is to reach out for freedom and start your journey forward. No longer can we allow the hurt to be your comforter. We serve notice on the enemy today that moving forward is our new plan of attack. “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17 NKJV) This verse is nestled in a chapter that talks about the glory and power of the new covenant. We are no longer like the people of Israel that were separated from the glory of God by the veil over Moses’ face. The veil was taken away by Christ. “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2 Cor. 3:18 NLT) Allow the glory of God and His Holy Spirit wash over you, take away that old stuff, and propel you forward.

So…as we close, let’s say goodbye to some things as we move forward. Goodbye, unforgiveness! No longer will you keep me focused on what my _____ did to me. Goodbye, anger! No longer will I allow you to color my life and how I interact with people on a daily basis. Goodbye, bitterness! You don’t have permission to harden my heart and hinder my blessings anymore. Goodbye, disappointment! I am through letting you lower my expectations because of what happened yesterday.  “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.  Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43: 18-19 NKJV)

Today we close the door on those things that hinder and clear some space for the new things that come from a fresh start. This is not an easy thing but it is something we must do consciously so that we can walk in all that God has for us! Hello, future! You sure are looking brighter…

God bless…AMEN

Thanksgiving shift

When I woke up this morning,  I contemplated not doing an entry. What is left to say about thanksgiving? We all know that we should be thankful everyday and not just once a year. We all know that God is good and worthy of our praise and thanksgiving. What is left, God? The answer I received  was it doesn't matter what we know if we don't put the knowledge into practice. Since last week, I have been hearing in my spirit that God is waiting for us to take our focus off of the struggle and the circumstance and shift to thanksgiving and praise. It's not enough anymore to just say that we are grateful and use all of the church phrases. We have to live every day with a grateful heart, acknowledging what God has done, is doing, and will do. Are you willing to shift your focus?

Harry Ironside, a pastor and author from the 20th century, once said, "We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction." When we make a conscious decision to give God praise and thanks instead of worrying, we are telling God that we trust Him and the enemy that he does not have the power to run our lives.  We won't have time to focus on the hard things if we just keep looking at our blessings. I think about all the families that are grieving today, and I'm grateful to be on my way to eat with mine. I think about all the homeless in our country and I'm grateful that I woke up in my bed. I think about all the divorces and I'm grateful to talk to my husband even with all his Keviness...lol! My point is there is a blessing in every circumstance, we just have to find it. Are you willing to shift your focus?

There probably isn't a better story about thankfulness to God in the midst of a hard place than Paul and Silas in the prison. Acts 16:25 says "So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks." Does it get harder than that? The key is in their reaction. They did not cry and whine. They didn't bring everyone down because of their situation. Nope! In the midnight of their situation, they sent up a praise and ministered to others. Remember? The Word says, " But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." (Acts 16:25) and they got a reaction! An earthquake came that shook the foundations and opened the prison doors. Imagine if you looked at your struggling marriage, your crazy children, your negative job situation, and your poor finances and told God thank you. What do you think His reaction would be? Well my faith is just crazy enough to say that He will send an earthquake to shake up your situation!

God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or think according to the power that works in us. Your thanksgiving is power! Your praise is power! It's time to function with gratefulness instead  of struggle and a shift will occur! I pray that today is the beginning of your journey to praise and thanksgiving! God has been that good!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am grateful for each one of you that takes the time each week to read this blog! Be blessed today...AMEN!

In all things...

Lately, it seems that God has been using songs to speak to me. You know what I mean. Haven't you ever been going through something and the words to a song will pop into your spirit or come on the radio at just the right time and the lyrics will minister to you as though the song was written just for you. This morning God went old school on me! "How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me? Things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me.  The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude. All that I am, and ever hope to be I owe it all to Thee." Can't you hear Andrae Crouch singing? "To God be the glory, to God be the glory! To God be the glory for the things he has done! With his blood he has saved me...With his power he has raised me. To God be the glory for the things he has done!"

This is a season of thanksgiving and not just because of the holiday next week. I believe God is calling us out of the focus on the struggle and into the next phase...praise for the victory! But to get there we must shift into gratefulness and appreciation for what God has done. Granted, this has been a rough year on a lot of levels. Marriages have been attacked, churches have been divided, unexpected deaths...but we are still here! Folks, that's enough to tell God thanks! There aren't enough words to tell Him but I believe if you just try, your perspective will begin to change.

One of the first scriptures I really focused on after rededicating my life to God was 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (NIV) Paul wrote this to the church of Thessalonica, which was a fairly new church, and it falls in a list of instructions that he gives the church on how to live as a Christian. This verse is sandwiched between "pray continually"(v17) and "do not quench the Holy Spirit." (v18) That HAD to be important, right?! But I didn't really understand what Paul was saying to me. How could I give thanks if my world was a mess or when I was broke?  So I posted it in my office and I would read it everyday and study and it began to speak to me about how to keep going in times when it felt  like God had abandoned me. If you let the thanksgiving overtake you, the hurt or the pain can't overwhelm you. 

You may be in a time in your life, where mustering up a word of thanksgiving would take all you have, but I encourage you to do it! Paul is not saying that there won't be struggles but rather he is saying that when they come acknowledge who God is and the fact that He knows what you are facing. When you thank God in the midst of your circumstances, you are taking the power away from the situation and putting your faith in Him! I know this has been a rough year, month, or day but you are alive! Don't take the ability to breathe, walk, love for granted! Tell God thanks for the things He has done instead of focusing on what you don't have! Healed you? Thank Him! Blessed you with lunch money when you didn't have any? Thank Him! Got an apology from someone who never has? Thank Him! Woke you up this morning? Thank Him!

He is a great God and He is worthy of our praise and thanks! To God be the glory for the things He has done! AMEN...

Faith in Action

We love football in our house! Thursdays and Sundays, the television is usually reserved for NFL football and we are big Fantasy players. A couple of weeks ago, Directv gifted us with NFL Sunday Ticket for being loyal customers and my husband looked happier than on our wedding day! This last Sunday, while watching the Sunday night highlights, I saw some real action! Which play do you mean, Ebony? Was it Dallas losing? Was it the crazy defensive performance of the Chicago Bears? Nope…while both of those exciting things happened, the real action was Coach Chuck Pagano’s speech to his players after their win Sunday afternoon. It was faith in action!

"I mentioned before the game that you guys were living in vision, and you weren't living in circumstances. Because you know where they had us in the beginning -- every last one of them. But you refused to live in circumstances, and you decided consciously, as a team and as a family, to live in a vision. And that's why you bring things home like you brought things home today. That's why you're already champions, and well on your way. I've got circumstances -- you guys understand it, and I understand it. It's already beat. And my vision that I'm living is to see two more daughters get married, dance at their weddings, and then hoist that Lombardi [Trophy] several times.” (Chuck Pagano, 11/4/12)

When I heard that, my spirit jumped a mile high! Every one of us can plug ourselves into that speech. We all have circumstances but we can choose to live by what God says and believe that we have won. Coach Pagano is facing leukemia but he stood up and basically told the devil that it doesn’t matter what he put in front of him, he was speaking life! How are you facing your circumstances today? A lot of people are facing difficult times right now…marriages are struggling, battles of the mind, sickness, incarceration, but you already have the victory! It’s now been reported that Coach Pagano’s leukemia is in remission! We serve a God that can do the impossible. It’s time to stop forecasting disaster and start speaking victory!

2 Corinthians chapter 4 is a powerful chapter and if I could quote the whole thing I would. I encourage you to read it for yourself, it will truly bless you. God brought me to verse 13 as I was thinking about Coach Pagano. “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak. “ What are you speaking today? Paul was referring back to Psalm 116:10, where David was praising God for deliverance from death. Despite, struggling, he continued to believe. That’s what we have to do, folks!

It does not matter what you are facing today, the answer has already been provided. Are you sick in your body? Healing has already been provided (Is. 53:5)! Is your mind under attack? I’m here to let you know that you have a sound mind! (1Tim. 1:7) Are you stressed out? God will sustain you, if you cast your burdens on Him! (Ps. 55:22) “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” (1 Cor. 10:13 MSG)

This journey is a faith walk. We are all facing or have faced things that we never expected but God is a great God and He is able to do “exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think...” (Eph. 3:20 NKJV) If you are in a challenging place in your life, I encourage you to speak the Word of God over yourself, which is life! Coach Pagano set a great example for us, he believes he’s healed and he declared it! It’s time to declare some things over your life! It’s time to see ourselves victorious and live in that victory and kill the power of those circumstances! In the words of Coach Pagano, “It’s already beat!”

AMEN!

Living Testimony

Last Friday, I lost my Aunt Wendy unexpectedly to a blood clot. One of the last songs she posted on Facebook was the old Rev. Clay Evans songs, “I’ve Got a Testimony”. It gave me a great peace that at the end of her life, she knew what God had done for her. I didn’t wake up wanting to do a memorial to my aunt, but all morning the words to that song have been playing in my head. I believe that God used this moment in my life so that I could make sure that you really realize how important it is to not only love the people in your lives and make sure they know it but to have a testimony. Who is God to you? Has he brought you through anything hard in your life? Even in the difficult times, we can look back over our lives, and see the victory because you’re still here. You have a testimony!

Today, as I thought about the power of a testimony, the Holy Spirit immediately took me to Revelations 12. This is the chapter that describes the war in heaven when Satan was cast down to earth with all his angels.  To me, this is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible. You get to see just how nasty the devil is and what his plan was. He was furious to be defeated and cast out and he made it his business to wage war against all that keep God’s commands. That’s us!  But do you know how Michael and the angels defeated him? Verse 11 says “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (NIV) He couldn’t shut them up! They had the blood of Jesus and the power of their testimony to fight for them.

Let me tell you something that you already know – the devil is busy and he hates you! I have seen him recently attacking marriages, children, jobs, family relationships and churches. His whole intent is to deceive you and keep you from standing on what God has told you. “…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NIV) He’s a liar! He speaks words into this world designed to destroy you. Is he saying any of them now? Failure? Bad parent? Bad spouse? Stupid? Weak? Crazy? Has he been pointing out all of the things that you have going against you? If so, I challenge you to get up and fight! You can overcome the devil’s lies with the blood of the Lamb and your testimony!  Need help?

I want you to look back over your life and think where you could have been? If God had not intervened in certain instances, what would have happened to you? Right now, everything may not be exactly as you want it but you’re reading this so you can see and breathe. You have a testimony! You are more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. What that child has done is not bigger than what God can do! What that spouse says or does to you, is not stronger than God’s purpose for your life! What your job outlook currently  is does not dictate your future. The loss of important people in your life does not determine where you will end up. You see, God is faithful and present and through Jesus Christ we will always triumph!  

Later on in Revelations 20:10, we are shown the devil’s future. Folks, there is a lake of fire waiting for him and he will be tortured day and night forever! He does not deserve your time or your words. Use your testimony to move forward! Use your testimony to defeat the spirit of fear in someone else! Use your testimony with the blood of the Lamb to overcome the devil in your life! You have so much power in you; that it would probably blow your mind! God didn’t bring you through sickness, debt, depression, and a broken heart to keep it to yourself. Stand on it as further evidence of just how much God loves you. I know my own testimony and if God could use me to share His Word with you every week , he can use ANYBODY! He’s that great of a GOD!

I challenge you today to walk in victory! Don’t let any attack slow you down or take you off track. You are an overcomer! Sing with me! “As I look back over my life and I think things over, I can truly say that I’ve been blessed, I’ve got a testimony!”

AMEN!