Make Me Righteous

Too many of us are walking around dirty. Wow! Not what you expected to read this morning?  I know, I know. But it’s true. We can’t move forward in the things God is calling us to because we are stuck in mess. And before you get indignant, you should identify what mess is to you. We get tripped up thinking that one mess is bigger than another but if you are not living your best life, you are stuck in a mess. Perhaps your marriage is a mess and it takes you most of the morning to get right with your spouse. Perhaps your finances are a mess and you can’t see breakthrough anywhere. Perhaps your family is a mess and you haven’t spoken to your sister or brother in months. Perhaps you are living on the fence, hearing from God but can’t commit to the life He is calling you to. Pick your mess!  

This morning the words to William Murphy’s song “Make Me Righteous” keeps echoing in my head. The lyrics say “Make me righteous before you make me holy for You are holy. Purify me in your presence. Holy, Holy Lord”. This song celebrates the holiness of God and our desire to be righteous and pure in His sight. Is that your prayer today? To be one that God looks upon with joy because you are striving for righteousness? God sends words of encouragement and life to us all the time. He wants us to be whole and prosperous in all things. But there is a standard that He is calling us to that we have to remember. Today, I challenge you to pray for righteousness.  What does that mean?  Righteousness is the condition acceptable to God – integrity, virtue, and purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting. (Strong’s Lexicon #1343)

People don’t like to talk about righteousness and holiness anymore. We get uncomfortable and automatically think we are being judged. But folks, the truth of the matter is we can’t continue to live in mess and expect to prosper. If your marriage is a mess, identify your part in it and ask God to work on YOU! Ask Him to fix YOUR attitude. You see, we can’t get clean and whole and right, if our focus is always on what the other person is doing wrong. 1 John 2:6 says “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” Did Jesus walk around angry? Did He cut the fool in the streets but holy in the Temple? No, He did not. So why do we? Why do we lower the standard to fit our own comfort level? I’m here to tell you that if you ask God to make YOU righteous, and you allow Him full access and control, the other situations around you will have to line up.

It’s time for us to look inward so that our outward will be reflective of God’s work. “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Cor. 5:21 NLT) Isn’t Christ’s sacrifice enough for us to live right? Isn’t the fact that He took on all of our mess in advance so that we could have an abundant life enough to sacrifice the quick fixes of the world? The craziest thing about this is God is talking to the saved folks. There’s no expectation of right living for the unbeliever but there is for the believer. I want us to walk around with joy! After David sinned with Bathsheba, he poured out his heart to God in Psalm 51 and asks God to clean him up. But after that he says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you.” (Ps. 51:12 NLT) That lets me know that when we commit to living right and ask Him to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us, there are rewards and benefits.

I encourage you to search your heart and your life and see where your mess is. Once you have done that, ask God to clean it up and make you righteous. I promise you that the losses don’t outweigh the gains. God desires to take you higher but He doesn’t want you weighed down by mess.  “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”(Matt. 13:43 NLT)

God bless and keep….AMEN  

Breathe on me...

This morning I found myself in Ezekiel 37 for the second time this week. It’s always an interesting Word to tackle because there is so much there. In case you aren’t familiar with this particular scripture, this is where God has shown Ezekiel in the spirit a valley of dry bones that represent the nation of Israel.  I encourage you to read it for yourself because it’s a beautiful and vibrant visual.  In the midst of it, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over these dry bones and tell them to listen to His word.  Today, God is speaking into your life and He is telling you to live. I don’t mean get by or make do with what you have but really…LIVE. Too many people in the body of Christ are living in drought. Their worship is dry, their spirit is dry, and their relationship is dry. It’s almost as if the journey just dried the life right out. It can be seen every Sunday in churches across the country. People serving out of duty instead of desire, tradition instead of freedom, showboat instead of worship. Our bones are crying out like Israel. “Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.” (Ez. 37:11 MSG) Today, God is speaking LIFE to our bones. He is declaring renewal and restoration over our lives and our spirits. He wants us to realize that He is God and He will do what He says.

I just want you to focus your attention on verses 13 & 14. The New King James Version really made me feel it this morning. It says “Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.  I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’” You see, the people of Israel had been in exile for years and they were at the point of giving up. They had lost hope and all they saw was death. It’s similar to us when we have entered a valley season or experience. We look around and all we see is drought. We’re worn out from fighting. We’re worn out from working. We’re even worn out from hoping. It’s an exile. But God is saying to us in this verse that He will bring your out of your dead place and transport to your home. And even better, when He brings you out, He is going to fill you with His Spirit and you shall live. He says that you will know that He spoke it and He did it! That’s a word for somebody!

You see, earlier in the chapter, God told Ezekiel to prophesy the wind to come into these bodies and they received life. There is a point where God takes over. It’s that point when He sees that you have given all you have to give. It’s that point when He knows that you have reached your valley. It’s at that point, where He will send you a Word that will bring you back to life. He’s doing it right now. He is telling you to LIVE! He is filling your spirit with His breath and He is raising you up. He is offering you that cup of water that will refresh and renew you. Are you ready to live now? For many of you this is not the first time, God has offered this life but you’ve thought your way was working. It’s time now. Do you know how I know? In the second part of this chapter (verses 15-28), God gives Ezekiel another visual showing that He will connect Judah and Israel. They will be one kingdom under one king forever. I had never really paid attention to this section but it’s so relevant. When I read it, I heard God say that He will bring together even what has been separated. He doesn’t just want to bring you back to life and it only be one dimensional. He wants to fully restore and redeem. Where there is brokenness and sin, He will deliver and cleanse. Where there is chaos, He will give peace. And when He does it, it will be permanent. You shall live and not die! You shall walk in wholeness and peace. You shall LIVE!

May the breath of God wash over you today and revive you and give life to your dead places! AMEN…

Living In Between

Today, I just want to encourage those of you that are living “in between”. What does that mean, Ebony? Perhaps you are in transition...God is calling you to a new purpose or assignment and you are scared or just don’t know how to respond. Perhaps you are waiting on a breakthrough...the season has felt so long and you are waiting for any sign of light. Perhaps you are just plain lost... everything seems to be changing around you and you aren’t sure what your place is. You are living in the “in between”.

Paul was a powerful and anointed man of God. He was given access to revelation and knowledge that many of us will never tap into. It was so great that he was given a thorn in his flesh to keep him from boasting and exalting himself. He asked God to take it away from him 3 times. God’s response to that is my encouraging word for you today. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9a NKJV) I’m not sure I would have responded back to God as well as Paul did but that is the lesson in this word. God has not allowed you to be in this season of your life for no reason. He hasn’t allowed the enemy to attack you in your weakness to hurt you. Rather, He wants you to allow His strength to perfect you in that weakness. You don’t have to figure out how to fix your church, your spouse, or your finances. You just have to be open to God’s strength in your weakness.

I encourage you to read this entire section of scripture in your favorite version and really feel it but The Message really hit me in the gut this morning and I wanted to share. It says “Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”  (2 Cor. 12: 7-10 MSG) The bolded line almost laid me out!  It is the answer to making it while you are waiting or transitioning to your next level. This storm, this test, this season that you are experiencing right now is God’s opportunity to show Himself strong in your life.

I want you to take a minute right now and think about where you are in your life. Think about what your particular thorn might be…..I’ll wait…..Okay! Now I want you to ask Christ to take it and use it for His glory. Ask Him to carry you through this “in between” season with His grace and strength.  Don’t focus on this trial as a handicap anymore but appreciate it as a gift. You will be able to bless so many people with your testimony. You survived adultery in your marriage with your mind intact and now you can tell someone that God is a keeper. You survived the incarceration of your husband with your household intact and now you can tell someone that God is a deliverer. You survived the stress of a bad financial situation with your family intact and now you can tell someone that God is a provider. In Christ, you are strong! You will get to the other side and you will better for the journey.

May God bless you as you wait, transition, and break through! AMEN

 

 

Did I miss the rest stop?!

Have you ever been so busy, running here and there that you got to the end of the day and could barely remember what you did? Maybe you’ve gotten so busy with life that your worship time has fallen off. Perhaps you have so much to do in your own life that you don’t have time for Kingdom work. It could just be that you feel like you’ve given all you have to give and there’s just nothing in your reserve tank. I don’t know what your particular story is but today God is asking for your full attention. He wants to talk to the tired folks!

I challenge you to find your rest. It’s a personal rest that comes only when you allow the Lord to give it to you. In Matthew 11:28 – 30, Christ encourages us to take his yoke because it’s easy to bear. Sometimes we get so caught up in our struggle to be strong that we miss the opportunities to just rest.  “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  The placement of this scripture is so interesting because it comes after Jesus has rebuked a bunch of folks for being unrepentant and nasty to both He and John the Baptist. Later, He thanks God in prayer for giving revelation to the babes or the childlike and hiding it from those that may think of themselves as wise. To me, the revelation is that no matter what or who has worn you down, Jesus offers true rest. All of the weight that you are attempting to carry is an unnecessary load. Christ is offering to swap out your heavy burdens for a light one. Rest stop, please!

I love Isaiah 40. Its last verse is probably one of the most used scriptures in the entire Bible. “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isa. 40:31 NKJV) We all know that one, right? But go up a couple of verses to 27 and see that it gives you a context for verse 31 that can help you run on a bit longer.  You see the people were tired and wondering why it seemed like God didn’t see them and their struggles and requests. Have you been there?  Verses 28 – 31 give the answer. “O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?  Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”(Isa. 40:27-31 NLT) You see God knows how hard you have worked. He knows that you are struggling to get back to your joy and excitement but if you just let Him, He can give new strength where you are weak and restore the pep to your step. Rest stop, please!

It can be so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. Even when you are doing work for the Kingdom, frustration can come and the feeling that you are the only one in the vineyard, working a long shift! But God is the ultimate spa. You can make an appointment with Him and He will refresh you like nothing else. I encourage you to cast your cares on Him because He cares for you! (1 Pet. 5:7) God did not promise you an easy journey but He did promise to be there for the whole trip. Don’t dwell in tiredness, rather take on the burden of Christ which is light and allow Him to give you rest.

May God richly restore those of you that have been running this race on all cylinders and are in need of a rest stop!  AMEN….