Last Call!

I was a club girl and I was faithful to it! You could find me at the jook joint as easily as you could the sophisticated nightclub. I loved to dance and I loved to drink. I know some of the saints have immediately checked out of this post. LOL! But it’s okay. It’s time for us to tell the truth in the church. Anyway, at the end of the night, the bartender would call out “Last call!” It was an immediate signal that I needed to get to the bar for one last drink before they stopped serving. Well, today as I was praying for Rhema, I heard the Lord say “Last call!” and it immediately got my attention as it used to back in the day. As 2017 comes to an end, instead of rushing to the bar for another drink, it is time to head straight to your secret closet and place your order.

Unfortunately, too many of you will go into 2018 the same way that you have been in 2017. You will still have the same dramas, anger, and frustration. You will say one thing about change but continue to live out what you have always been.  But today, the Lord is giving you a heads up! He doesn’t want you to get caught by the end of the year without giving you an opportunity to come see Him one more time. He doesn’t want you to end your year regretting that you didn’t get to Him on time. Therefore, I just want to challenge you to take advantage of the last call! Rush up to Jesus, leaving those things that mean you no good.  He’s giving you an opportunity before 2018 comes to place your final order of 2017! So here goes…

Last call for the relationships that are not beneficial to your next! “Don’t link up with those who will pollute you. I want you all for myself.” (2 Cor. 6:17 MSG)

Last call for foolishness in the church! “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.” (1 Cor. 1:10 NKJV)

Last call for manipulation and control! “And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.” (Matt. 24:4 ESV)

Last call for bondage! “Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.” (Gal. 5:1 MSG)

Last call for doubt! “Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.” (James 1: 6-8 MSG)

Last call for fear! “For God has not given us a spirit us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7)

Last call for shame! “Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.” (Is. 61:7)

Listen, I could go on and on but the truth is, this may not be your list! This is your opportunity to tell the Lord what you are unwilling to take with you into 2018. I don’t know about you but I believe 2018 is going to be my best year yet. I am expecting God to do amazing things in and through me. And guess what, I am completely unconcerned with what people think about that. I spent much of 2017 worried about how to make other people comfortable with what God told me to do. Well, that is over! The Lord told me to keep my eyes on Him and He would work the other things for my good. If you know like I do, you will move quickly. I’m a witness that His favor is better than man’s opinion.

Happy New Year!

Identity shift!

Nine years ago on Christmas Day at 5:17pm, my whole life changed. I gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Sanai, who despite many doubts from doctors, arrived on her expected due date. She was small and caramel and looked just like her daddy. She barely cried and I remember asking if she was okay because I didn’t hear anything after she was born. On that day, I had an identity shift. All of a sudden, I was someone’s mother. I was responsible for making sure that she was fed, protected, and prepared to face the world. It overwhelmed me and I looked to my own mother for a comfort and knowledge that she was uniquely able to give me. Because that day was so life changing, I remember it like it was yesterday. So what is your point, Ebony? What does my birth story have to do with you? The Lord reminded me of this day and what happened to me because of the birth of a baby. He, in turn, asked me to remind you of how the birth of a baby 2000 years ago has affected you. It caused an identity shift!

Listen, the world has made a real effort to shift your attention from the birth to the gifts. If you think long enough, it makes sense to key in on the wise men and their gift giving because it is the most comfortable part to digest. It doesn’t take much faith to envision giving gifts to a new baby. If you give all of your attention to that, you don’t have to try and reconcile the Immaculate Conception or the assassinations by a threatened king or even the various appearances by angels. In focusing on the gift giving, not only do you lose sight of just how much this birth changed the world but it also shifts you away from how much the birth prophesied who you were meant to be. You see, upon His birth, the world went from waiting and reading “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Is. 9:6 ESV) to the reality of “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger... (Luke 2:7a ESV) There was no longer the tension of possibility that was felt with Isaiah’s prophecy. Now, the waiting was over! The baby had arrived, and with Him the manifestation of the promise of restoration and redemption. As soon as He was born, there was a shift in who you could be.  Don’t miss your identity shift!

Just as my identity changed with the birth of my daughter, yours did with the birth of Jesus. Do you remember how I said that Sanai was born on her due date? Well what I did not mention was that I was sent home from the hospital on Christmas Eve because I wasn’t ready for birth. It frustrated and upset me because I was in a lot of pain and I thought it was time; but what I failed to realize then was that her birth was written in the plan. She came on time despite my frustration, the nurses’ predictions, and the doctor’s projections. And so it was with the birth of Jesus. Despite the circumstances, the doubts and the struggles, He came right on time, and it was about so much more than a manger and some gifts. It was about what He would do for you 33 years after that night. It was about the fact that you would need a savior and an advocate. It was to shift your identity from one who was born in sin and shaped in iniquity to one who is saved and redeemed. It was to transfer the responsibility for your protection and provision from you to Abba Father. When Mary said yes to God, it propelled you into destiny. Can you imagine that? Someone else’s yes hundreds of years ago was the vehicle to your victory. True, if she had said no, another would be used but you have to understand that the plan was already written and it included her yes. He did not have to have an alternate because He had chosen the right one. Some of you are so afraid to answer your call when the reality is that you are the right one and your yes is already in the plan. You are just slowing down the process with your fear.  Accept your identify shift!

In all of my rambling, I hope you understand that the birth of Christ solidified who you are in the Kingdom. With Him, you are victorious. With Him, you are saved. With Him, you are purposed. His birth means you are no longer who the world wants you to be. You are identified with Him, forever changed from dying to life! Sanai made me a mother on that Christmas day many years ago and on His birth day, Jesus made you a winner. May you embrace your identity shift and walk in who you are!

Merry Christmas!

 

It's prep time!

There are 17 days left in 2017 and my assignment today is to make sure you use the time wisely. As I was praying this morning, the Lord put Romans 12:1-2 in my spirit. I heard it as clearly, in the New King James Version, as if an old deacon was reading it on a Sunday morning. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” However, in order to make sure you really feel it, I am going to share it again in the Message version. (I know, I know…not surprising!)

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Rom. 12:1-2 MSG)

 The Lord began to talk to me about leaving the old behind and walking into the new with clean hands and a pure heart. He began to talk to me about the great exchange and the reality of a living sacrifice. The churchiness in many of us will skip over the importance of Paul’s choice of words when he said “living sacrifice”. You see when God sent Jesus to redeem us; He gave His life for our freedom. He took the purity and holiness of Christ and put it against the dirt and shame of sin and the result was eternal life, victory and restoration.  When Paul talks about placing our whole life before God as an offering, he is reminding us of that exchange. He is reminding us that while offering and sacrifices in the Old Testament meant death, Jesus’s sacrifice means life. That is why it is so important to take the instruction of these verses and walk into 2018 with a new level of thinking. Your perspective must change. Your willingness to compromise your obedience to make others comfortable must change.  Your decisions to prioritize your schedule over God’s plans must change. The Lord is calling us from a self-centered comfort to a God-inspired obedience.

2017 has called for many of you to transition and shift. It has called for you to exchange some relationships and places for new ones. It has called for you to leave some old attitudes and behaviors behind and replace them with new ones. It has been challenging and uncomfortable, as it is not an easy process to leave the familiar for the unknown. Believe me, I understand! However today, I want to let you know that the harvest of spiritual maturity will be worth it. The stretching and the uncertainty will pay dividends.

People of God, use these remaining days of this year to deal with your disobedience, rebellion and struggle. Identify what is keeping you from presenting your whole life to God as a living (continual, breathing, moving) sacrifice and fix it. Leave the world’s approval behind and embrace the Lord’s opinion. Give God your best in preparation for your new in 2018!

Amen

Let God be God!

Can I just help you out today? I won’t take up much of your time but I want to tell you something and I really want you to apply it to your life starting this very minute. Ready? Let God be God. That’s it! That’s all I got! I know that may be difficult to really take in because your automatic response is “I do.” I know that because it was mine. But the truth of the matter is, you don’t. I mean, you say the right things, and do the expected things but sometimes you get in the way. Sometimes God’s timeline doesn’t line up with yours and so you make “adjustments”. Sometimes God’s decision isn’t quite what you expected and so you rationalize another way. Sometimes God’s instruction is a little too hard and so you decide to do things your way. The result is what matters, right? Wrong. You see, God has a purpose and a plan for your life. It’s intricate and detailed and it was written on a level that is so much higher than yours. It takes into account your free will, your bad attitude, your “no”, and your wrong choices. It’s even prepared for your fear and your disobedience. Does your plan have all of these contingencies? No? Well, let God be God!

I know, I know! This is supposed to be an encouraging holiday word that you can feel good about and that’s truly what I wanted to do but God thought better of you! God wants you to walk into your 2018 better than where you are now. He wants you to know that He can handle any and everything that you face and it won’t be hard for Him. But here’s the thing. He doesn’t need your help! He is God all by Himself and there is no one like Him. He has this plan for your life and it’s well thought out. Look at Jeremiah 29: 10 -14.

“If you want the truth, this is what the Eternal has to say: “You will remain in Babylon for 70 years. When that time is over, I will come to you, and I will keep My promise of bringing you back home. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Eternal, “plans for peace, not evil, to give you a future and hope—never forget that. At that time, you will call out for Me, and I will hear. You will pray, and I will listen. You will look for Me intently, and you will find Me. Yes, I will be found by you,” says the Eternal, “and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations where you’ve been scattered—all the places where I have driven you. I will bring you back to the land that is your rightful home.” (VOICE)

Notice that I started with verse 10. You see, people don’t like to look at the hard stuff that often comes before the blessing.  But God showed me that in order to trust Him in the “future and hope”, you have to trust Him in Babylon. In the beginning of Jeremiah 29, God told the exiled Israelites how to live and survive in Babylon before He told them about what would happen in the future. If you let God be God in your life, He will show you how to prosper in your wilderness and then bring you back home RESTORED. Read those verses again! He’s telling you how to let Him be in control of your life. He’s telling you how to make it, how to trust Him. He’s showing you that He already knows what you’re going to face and He’s made provisions for it. He has not lost track of you. He has not forgotten what He told you or the hard places that He has sent you to. The issue is whether or not you will relinquish control long enough to reap the fruit.

“God is not a man, so He does not lie. He is not human, so He does not change His mind. Has He ever spoken and failed to act? Has He ever promised and not carried it through?” (Num. 23:19 NLT) God is consistent and He is faithful. You can trust Him to handle your life. As a matter of fact, you’ve seen Him do it before. So here’s your chance…get out of the way! Step back, stop trying to carry it, stop trying to plan it, stop trying to figure it out. God is asking you TODAY to let Him do it.  HE is lining things up for you. HE is shifting things in your life. HE is putting things in order. And guess what? He has it all under control so just take my advice and let God be God…

Amen…