Purpose is calling...

I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose lately. Who is God calling me to be? What should I be doing with the gifts that He has given me? Am I obeying what He’s told me the way He told me? All of these questions that perhaps you have asked yourself. It’s been such an interesting place to be in because no matter what comes against you or happens in your life, the purpose that God has for you is still there. As I was praying this morning, I remember praying Romans 8:28 and really connecting with it for the first time in a while. It says, “All things work together for the good of them that love God and are called according to His purpose.” It just slapped me in the face! God, I know I love you AND I am called according to your purpose SO all things are working together for my good. Do you see? It’s a given that you have purpose. You were born with purpose. You were planned with purpose. God had something so amazing in mind for you to carry out. YOU! ME! The key is understanding and walking in that. There’s nothing worse than wondering through this life without discovering what that purpose is.  So today, I want to challenge you to make sure you are hearing God about who He is calling and leading you to be.

You know, God’s timing is perfect and sometimes you have to experience challenges to really see who God built you to be. I never knew as a teenager or young adult that I had such a strength to survive. Don’t get confused, this is not me being boastful but rather a confession that I didn’t know how strong I was until I was at the bottom looking up. Even in those moments, God was saying to me, write, encourage, preach, and deliver. Even when I wanted to give up, I couldn’t because God called me to survive so that others would know it was possible. Sometimes, people get purpose and opportunity confused. God can open a door that might lead to something that feels really good but isn’t what you are supposed to be doing. It’s simply preparing you for your purpose. It’s exposing you to the strength, mindset and anointing that you will need when He puts you in place. I thought this blog was my ministry and I was just supposed to be obedient in that. I was comfortable with that scenario but in reality, it was just a part of it. It was God’s way of building discipline in me. It was His way of making sure I stayed in His Word. It was His way of letting me know through others that I was hearing Him correctly. So then when He told me to have a retreat, though I was completely freaked out, I could do it and be prepared for whatever is next. What has God exposed you to so that you could grow into His purpose for your life?

Some of you have gotten comfortable on 1^st base, when God is calling you to 2^nd or 3^rd or even home base! Forget the still small voice, He’s been downright spelling out for you that it’s time for the next level. Do you understand that you can’t walk out your purpose by staying where you are most comfortable? Do you understand that you can’t affect your city, state, country, or the world if you refuse to leave what you’ve always known? It’s time to do what God put you here to do because people are waiting for you. Matthew 5:13 – 16, says “You, beloved, are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes bland and loses its saltiness, can anything make it salty again? No. It is useless. It is tossed out, thrown away, or trampled.  And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden.  Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.” (VOICE)

This is not just about doing what you want to do but it’s about drawing people to God. When He thought about you before your birth, He saw you drawing people back to Him with what He put inside you.  He saw your music blessing people! He saw your church bringing deliverance! He saw your prayers uplifting and reminding people of who He is! He saw your business doing things right and reflecting His Kingdom! It’s time, saints! God is has need of you. Will you obey?

Amen…

Go North!

I realized this week that I have been failing the same test for a few years. I was looking at a certain situation through the lens of what someone else needed to do instead of what I needed to do differently. Do you have any areas in your life like that? You know, places where you have made others the focus instead of looking within? It's a tough place to be in because it requires a deep level of truth and self examination. I'm convinced, however, that if you are open to the work that God wants to do in you, you will see the fruit in everything and everyone around you. You see, this morning the Lord said to me, “Stop circling the same mountains." He told me that true freedom comes when your joy and peace are not contingent on someone else.

You see, there are challenges and tests that God puts in front of you to mature and grow you. Mountains! They might require your faith to be stretched, your responses to be perfected and your trust to be elevated. They don't tend to be fun and actually, most times, you want to run the other way. However, in actuality, they are designed for you to pass! Here’s the thing though, you have to first recognize what is happening. Sometimes you have take off your immediate “it's the devil” lens and see what is really going on. You have to step back and ask yourself, “Have I seen this issue before? Are the same themes replaying with different characters? Am I the common denominator?” These can be challenging questions but necessary if you are to stop circling  the same mountains.

Do you remember the opening chapters of Deuteronomy where Moses recaps their history to the Israelites? He reminds them how they ended up in the wilderness and gives instructions about their next steps. At the beginning of chapter 2, Moses talks about heading back through the wilderness towards the Red Sea, “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.” ‭‭(Deut.‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬) The Lord stopped me right there and perhaps I'm being too deep but this is what He brought up to me. The Red Sea represents moving forward. It was the place of escape and deliverance for the people of Israel. So it was interesting to me that the people were held up at Mount Seir for “many days” on their way to deliverance. Sometimes, you are on your way to your best you but your reactions to situations, old hurts, past experiences keep you in the same place for years. You have the same responses and make the same decisions over and over again and wonder why you can't move forward or keep seeing the same issues. Well…the Lord told Moses that enough was enough. “And the LORD spoke to me, saying: ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward.” (Deut.‬ ‭2:2-3 NKJV) In other words, stop going around this same mountain over and over again. Come up! It's time to do something different instead of repeating the cycle. Change your direction and your focus.

So many times, the rut is comfortable. What you have always done and known makes your responses seem acceptable. But the truth of the matter is, until you decide to get off that carousel and head towards your freedom, you will not see real victory. You have a choice today to stop circling the same mountain. Look at what has been re-occurring in your life and have a truth moment. Did someone make you stay where you are or have you chosen to walk around the mountain of anger, hurt, depression and low self esteem? I would dare say that in many cases, you, like the Israelites looked toward freedom but got stuck at the mountain. But I hear the Lord saying, “It's time to go north. You have been circling this mountain for too long.” I am a witness that when you acknowledge where you have been and decide to take the steps to move forward, peace and joy will meet you there.

Amen

Lift Him Up!

I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus lately. Not that you shouldn’t think about Him a lot but in a more intentional way. I think sometimes believers don’t really recognize who He is or how blessed you are to know Him as your personal Lord and Savior. I’ve been to a couple of funerals lately and to sit in there and know that they knew Jesus is truly amazing! It lightens the load when you don’t have to question where a person will spend eternity. Just think about this! There are people that are dying that will end up in hell because they didn’t know Him as Savior. There are people sick right now that have no hope because they don’t know Jesus as Healer. There are people struggling with depression because they don’t know Him as Deliverer. Isn’t that eye opening? Doesn’t it make you want to ensure that everyone you know is saved? It does for me! I would be a hot mess if I didn’t know to call on the name of Jesus in my everyday situations and the big circumstances that come my way. If I couldn’t say without a shadow of doubt that I am saved and bought with a price! So today, I just want to lift up the name of Jesus!

It’s too easy to go about your life being churchy and not having relationship. You know what I mean? Quoting scripture with accuracy and not living one word of it. It’s become too simple to do what your pastor says but ignore the Lord’s commands. Today, I want to draw your attention back to Jesus! I want to focus your eyes on the One who gave His life for you even though He knew you would be mean sometimes, lie and do what you want to do. I want to lift up the One who died for you while you were yet a sinner. You see, I’m tired of listening to Christian radio and being confused about what station I’m on. I’m tired of seeing men and women, boys and girls dying because their skin color presented a threat. I’m tired of the enemy having the spotlight. It’s time for us to go back to being unashamed. It’s time for us to be good representatives of Christ. Jesus himself said it best in John 12:32 when He said, “If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” He will do all the work, if we just do our part by lifting Him up!

Saints, time is growing short and I want you to be ready! I want every one of you that reads Rhema to be able to say that you really know Jesus! I want you to know that you know that you know who you serve. It’s time to take our focus off of man and put it back on Christ. I know that this doesn’t sound very Rhema like but my responsibility is to encourage and uplift the people of God. The best way I know to do that is to present Jesus! He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end! He is the Victorious One and the One who gave His life. I challenge you today to stop worrying about what might be or what could happen and look to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. He has all that you need and more than you could imagine. Let’s lift up the name of Jesus and watch Him draw the world back to Himself!

Amen…