Hold fast!

For several years, I have been pressing my way despite some pretty significant financial challenges. God has been so faithful and has always made sure I knew that He was with me. He gave me an awesome family and support system but there were days that I wanted to give up and say never mind to this faith thing. There were times that I took my eyes off of God and looked at my natural circumstances, and fear would rise up. But He would send me a word of encouragement or someone to bless me or love on me. He was always faithful to me but the process has been long and hard. Today, I want to talk to the person that is looking at their situation and wondering when it will end. The one who has stayed with that husband, praying that he would line up with the word someday. The one who has kept giving, even though their bank account said keep it. The one that has kept serving, even though their efforts haven’t been appreciated by man. God said to tell you to hold fast because He has not forgotten!

The Lord immediately sent me to Hebrews 10:23 and said simply to share it with you.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Heb. 10:23, NLT)

Friend, God is a promise keeper. If He told you that your whole family would be saved, count it done. If He told you that you would experience breakthrough in your finances, expect it to be so. If He told you that your ministry would be fruitful, watch it come to pass. God doesn’t say things just to tear your nerves up. Nope! He has a purpose and a plan and when He says something and it has to accomplish what it was sent out to do. That’s a promise! I want to encourage you today to hold fast to His promises concerning your life. He can be trusted to follow through! I know that it gets hard and sometimes the idea of not wavering becomes more and more challenging but hold fast. Don’t give up and don’t give in. God is working on your behalf and it’s for your good. Do you believe it? You must! Your need doesn’t move God but your faith does!

Today, I encourage you to be like some of the great examples of faith in the bible. What did Christ say to them?

To the woman with the issue of blood: “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.” (Matt. 9:22, NLT)

To the Roman officer: “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed. (Luke 7:9b-10 NLT)

Family, hold fast to your faith and who you know God to be. He is working on your behalf and responding to the demand that you have put on His word. I believe today that you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I believe that you will feel a renewed strength and confidence in Him TODAY. I believe that you will see what you have been praying for. It’s working for your good, woman of God. It’s coming together for you, man of God. Hold fast! You serve the God that follows through!

Amen

Hand it over!

When I was a young child, I learned to recite the Baptist Church Covenant and one of the lines that always stood out was “and with tender sympathy bear one another’s burdens and sorrows:” It’s clearly based on Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (NKJV) So here’s the question of the day. What happens when it goes too far? Some might ask if that is even possible. I mean, according to the scripture above, we are clearly called to bear our brother’s burdens, right? But when I posed this question to the Lord, His answer was quite simple and straightforward. He said, “Let Me carry it.” Alright then, Lord…make it plain! And He did.

First let me be clear, you are your brother’s keeper and the Word is filled with examples about praying for your brothers and sisters, being a blessing, and not being selfish. But so many take it where it was not intended to go. The Lord talked to me this morning about those of you that pick up the weights & burdens of so many that you have not been called to carry. You find yourself tired and depressed and burdened down with self-assigned struggles. Yep, I said it! You have taken on stress and heartache that God didn’t tell you to take on. He told you to pray for your brother, He didn’t say to be his piggy bank. God told you to take care of your mother, He didn’t tell you to take on her attitudes. God told you to support your husband, He didn’t tell you to go backwards in your walk to appease him. You can nod quietly if this has been you. You have taken what God has led you to do and made it a heavy and hard thing when God didn’t intend that for you. That’s when the bearing of burdens becomes obligation and then leads to your struggle.

You see, Christ died on the cross for all of your struggles. “He was beaten so that we could be whole” (Is. 53:5b NLT) If you believe that, don’t you think He would want you to enjoy this life? Don’t you think He would want you to be a blessing to others without making yourself sick?  This is a hard thing for a lot of you to receive because you are wired to be a helper and intercessor but you are not called to be everyone’s trash can. You are not called to be the dumping ground for everyone’s issues and you never release them but rather carry them for years as you slowly breakdown. God is reaching out to you today and asking you to release them now. Let Him carry them. You don’t believe He wants that? Read what Christ says in Matthew 11:28 – 30, “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.” (NLT)

This is not an easy word to share with people because it feels uncomfortable. I know because I have been there. I have a burden on my heart for people, sometimes my heart will get so heavy with the weight of people’s issues. But The Lord had to help me learn to release and it’s still a process. I had to learn to pray for people, listen to their story, do what I could for them or what I was lead to do for them and then release it to God. He is equipped with the strength and the power to carry it. He is not asking you to be Him. You can’t be Him. You will wear yourself completely out trying to carry what isn’t yours to carry. Let Him do it. I challenge you today to lighten your load. I challenge you to take those things or people that are weighing heavily on you and giving it to God. Ask Him to show you where your responsibility ends and His begins. He is willing and able to help you! Remember that a couple of verses down from “bear one another’s burdens”, it says “for each one shall bear his own load.” (Gal. 6:5 NKJV) At some point, everyone has to listen when God says, “Let Me carry it”. The challenge is obeying.

May God lift every burden that you are not equipped to carry and lead you to a place of peace and assurance that He has it all in His hands. God bless you! AMEN…

Throwing salt in the game!

This morning I was on a prayer call and the speaker talked about 2 Kings 2: 19-22. It’s the account of Elisha’s first miracles after he received Elijah’s mantle. It blessed me and I haven’t been able to shake it since. As I was preparing for Rhema, the Lord led me to look over it again. I don’t even normally listen to any other devotions on Thursdays before I write so that I don’t get confused between what God is saying and what someone else is saying. But this scripture grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let me go. So you’re going to have to go with me.

One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha. “We have a problem, my lord,” they told him. “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see. But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.” Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it. (2 Kings 2:19-21a, NLT)

As I read it again, I heard the Lord say, “It’s time to re-salt the waters!” Ladies and gentleman, God is not playing. He is calling His people to be accountable for what He has assigned and instructed. You are no longer going to be allowed to stay comfortable in tradition and religion. You’re going to have to come out of some familiar places and walk in boldness. He has placed some of you in positions to affect change and He expects you to do it.

Look at the scripture. It hasn’t been long at this point since Elijah was taken up to heaven and Elisha is in Jericho when the leaders come to him with a problem. They tell him that their town is in a nice place but the water is bad and the land is unproductive. What do you do when it looks good but there’s no life in it? Come on! God is trying to pull some of you out of your comfortable place. You’ve been in places and been with people that you know are dead and unfruitful for a long time but you haven’t done anything about it. You’ve stayed there looking at barrenness instead of dealing with the issues. If you are in a situation that looks pretty but is dead, it’s time to re-salt the waters.  He’s trying to show you that while you are in position, He’s calling you to assess the situation and then make moves to fix it. Your friend, your co-worker, your church can look good all day long but if there’s no life in it and there’s no fruit, what are you accomplishing by letting the infertility continue? This is the point where God really started to deal with me. He said it’s time for you to stop allowing folks that you love to live in a barren place. Stop going along with foolishness because they sound good. Stop enabling mess because their family is influential. Stop playing games with the devil because you don’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings. These leaders looked at their town and spoke truth - “It’s a beautiful place but there is no life here!” Do you see that?

What Elisha does is at the heart of what God is saying this morning. He asked them to go get a new bowl with salt in it. He asked THEM to go get a new bowl. They had the problem and they were responsible for being a part of the deliverance. You have been placed in position to change the game! You have the calling and the anointing to break traditions and tear down strongholds but you aren’t doing it. Why not? You can’t keep expecting your pastor, your parents, your best friend to do what God is telling you to do. You can’t expect change if you put all of the responsibility on someone else. You need to ask God what YOU need to do in order for the situation that you see to change. I’m not saying you do God’s work but you ask Him what your role is and watch what He does. Elisha went to the source of the problem and threw the salt into it and God responded. What would happen if you looked that problem dead in the face and said the Lord is here now? What would happen if you looked that Jezebel spirit in the face and said, things will change today? What would happen if you actually handed the issue over to the Lord with an expectation that He can fix it? Here’s what happens…

And he said, “This is what the Lord says: I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or infertility.”  And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said. (2 Kings 21b – 22, NLT)

God changed the whole landscape of that town. He changed the water and land from dead and unproductive to fresh and pure. Where there is fresh water, animals will live, plants will grow, people will be healthy. He reversed the curse of that town and made the appearance line up with the reality. Don’t you want what you see on the outside to be consistent with the entire makeup? There are people dependent upon you to take a stand and tell hell no. They are waiting on you to actually be the minister, the evangelist, the woman of God, the man of God, the father, the mother, the auntie that He is calling you to be. It’s time to stop letting death and infertility reign and re-salt the water. When you do, God will bring about a healing that is long lasting and complete. Come on, saints! You have an assignment to complete. Go get that bowl!

Amen

Tomorrow, tomorrow...

I'm so sorry! I really wish I had something encouraging to open up with but I don't. The frustration and the struggle and the weariness of the day has combined to leave me with nothing. Nothing to share, nothing to say, and nothing to give. I'm just tired. Weary. Spent. So…you may be wondering why I'm on here telling you this, especially if I don't have anything to say. Great question! I just looked at God with the “I’m waiting too” look. Here's what He told me…ready?

There's still tomorrow.

Yep…that's what He said! And as much as I didn't want to hear it, my spirit straightened up. He showed me that some of you have been trapped in a moment for so long that tomorrow doesn't seem possible. You are stuck at the point of impact – when he cheated, when she betrayed you, when they abandoned you. You have replayed that moment over and over again until it makes sense to stay there…mad, hurt, frustrated. It's so much simpler to stay stuck on what was than it is to examine what is and leave it for what can be. Deep, huh? I know, but in order for you to be who God called you to be, you've got to be jerked out of neutral. It’s time to start moving towards your tomorrow.

You have a choice right now to leave the emotion and the struggle of your yesterday and today and prepare for your tomorrow. This is absolutely not easy but it's necessary for your healing and your growth. It’s completely up to you what you allow to hold you bound and affect how you see what's ahead of you.  You don't have to carry the anger of yesterday anymore. You no longer have to wrestle with the pain of yesterday. You just have to make a decision that your tomorrow is worth it.

As I was closing, The Lord led me to one of my favorite scriptures, Matthew 6:34, and for a minute, I really struggled with the message of this verse.  It sounds like the complete opposite of what I thought God’s point was.“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NLT‬‬) At first read, all I could see was the part about not worrying about tomorrow.  But then I remembered what God had said to me earlier about tomorrow and things started to make sense. Whether you want to stay stuck or move forward, tomorrow is still there. Sure, according to the verse, tomorrow is waiting with its own troubles. But the key is that it's there. Tomorrow is right there. Your next step is right there. Your destiny is right there. You just have to make the decision that you are ready to tackle the new things that come with taking that step.  Easy isn't promised! Fun isn't promised!  But no matter how challenging the struggle is today,  there is still tomorrow.

Amen…

Bye Bye Routine!

I’ve been struggling for almost 2 hours about what to write today. I thought it was one thing and I’ve been going back and forth with it for a while to no avail.  I finally just realized that God is not allowing me to function like I always have anymore. He’s not letting me stick to my routine anymore and I have to accept it. I believe His word to you is the same thing. It’s time to tear up the list!

Okay! Don’t fall out. I’m not telling you to not plan or even have a process. What I am telling you is that these are not familiar times and what has always worked is not going to work anymore. You have to be willing to step away from your comfort zone and walk in obedience. Your obedience may not have a bulleted list with steps for every level. Your obedience might be one word – YES, GO, STAY, STOP, MOVE. Has anybody been hearing some word answers from God lately? Well, I want to encourage you to do what God says no matter what it looks or feels like. I’m sorry to tell you that your comfort is not the pre-requisite for your breakthrough. Nope, the only requirement is your obedience. Soooo…will you trust Him with your process? Will you stop losing ground and time because your checklist doesn’t allow for a bold move? Will you shake off the fear of what’s next and trust that God is leading you? Read what the Lord is saying to your fear…

I will escort the blind down roads they do not know, guide them down paths they’ve never seen.
    I will smooth their passage and light their way. I will indeed do it—they are abandoned no more. (Is. 42:16, VOICE)

God has showed me time and time again in recent months that freedom comes with obedience. It doesn’t come from crying, or rehashing or therapy. It comes when you make a decision that you are going to do what God says regardless of what people are going to say about it. So come on, let’s get to it! Pray for the strength to stand in the unfamiliar and then do it. You are not in this thing by yourself! Take that routine that has turned into ritual and put it aside. Take that tradition that has turned into a trap and move forward. Take that checklist that has turned into a crutch and do something different. Don’t you get left behind because you’re scared. Why? Because that’s the devil and you’re allowing him to keep you bound. 2 Timothy 1:7 tells me that God did not give you a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Ready? Turn off that GPS…God is leading the way!

Amen