Standing on the Word...

It’s January and a lot of us are in a place of expectancy. Your faith is strong and you are saying all the right things. You believe God for the impossible and it feels like you are right at the edge of your breakthrough. Even though your circumstances are telling you something completely different, your faith is surging.  And then…silence! Situations seem to get worse and the way gets a little darker and you know that God is still there but you don’t hear him. You know that He’s promised you great things but they seem to be taking a long time. What do you do? How do you stand without giving in to the enemy and his plan to get you to give up and turn back?

You might laugh... but I have believed that I would be rich since I was a little girl. I have had a spreadsheet since I was very young with how I would divide my money up between my church, favorite charities, family and friends. It gets adjusted as time goes by and people come and go but I’ve always believed that it’s coming. What does that have to with anything, Ebony? Well...sometimes during these last few challenging months, I would look at my sheet and it seemed like the ink was fading right off the paper.  I know my breakthrough is right in front of me but sometimes it seems like the days are ticking by SLOWLY. My need may not be your need. Maybe you’re waiting on a healing or a job or a baby or a spouse to get saved.  How do YOU stand when it gets quiet?

Last night I sat down with my Bible and asked God for a word to get me through this silent time and He sent me directly to Genesis 28:15-22.

¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” ¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God ²² and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Jacob had just finished deceiving his father and taking his brother Esau’s blessing in the previous chapter. When he received this word from the Lord in a dream he was running away from Esau’s anger and death threat. But notice that God didn’t bring up His past. He didn’t remind him of how shady He was. He blessed Jacob right where he was.  If you are waiting on God to move in your life, don’t dwell on what you used to do or who you used to be, think about what you will do and stand on the Word. Jacob made a vow with God! It took 20 years for Jacob to return back to his father’s house but Jacob stood on the Word and did what he promised with his tenth and God blessed him over and over again because of their covenant.  

I was asking God to be present for me and He reminded me through His words to Jacob that He is with me and will watch over me wherever I go. And even better, He said that He would not leave until He had done what He promised! What an awesome God and He is not a respecter of persons! What He did for Jacob, He will do for you! He will do for me!

When it gets quiet, stand on the Word! My friends, God sees and knows everything that you are going through. He is an ever present help in the time of trouble. Believe what He says and stand on it. Continue to praise, continue to give, and continue to serve. Remember what the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:9 and don’t “become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up”.  If God has promised you something, believe Him and confess it every day until it comes to pass! If it seems that God is silent, just know that He is working things out for your good! Keep standing, God is in control!

Amen!

Restoration is coming...

I love the beginning of a new year. It’s an opportunity to start fresh and rededicate myself to God’s purpose for my life. Even though this should be a daily practice in our lives, there’s something about a new year! It’s like we are at the starting line of a new race and we don’t have all the sweat and dirt and dust of the old year clinging to us, we are clean and focused on the journey to come. I intentionally buried many things in 2011 along with the shovel, and have determined that I will not pick those things up again. I buried the old Ebony and I won’t miss her. I truly believe that this is a season for restoration.  All of the things that the enemy has worked to take away from us will be restored through Christ – peace of mind, joy, health, finances. It’s our season if we will do what God says.

This week God brought me to Ezekiel 36, specifically verses 25 -28. Now, I must admit, this chapter is not all sunshine and roses but it is an awesome tribute to how God will restore in spite of us.  God is speaking to Ezekiel and telling him to prophesy to the mountains of Israel how He is going to restore them for the Israelites after their exile. He tells of how awful they behaved and why He scattered them all over and exiled them in the first place. God was angry and plainly says that He was performing this restoration, not for them, but to show forth His holiness through Israel after His reputation was blackened over and over again.

Think about this. Like Israel, we were doing our own thing, living the way we wanted to, and going against God’s will. But God looked down at us and even in His anger decided to take us, and clean us up. Why?  So that others might realize who He really is through the work that He has done on us! Ultimately He must get the glory. That is why this is not just a season of restoration but also of reconciliation. In verses 25 -28 God says, “I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart; put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!”

God desires to wash us clean and renew our spirit so that we will do what He tells us to do and live by His commands. When we do that, we will back in our rightful places! On January 1^st, I felt like I could feel God getting the pitcher of water and beginning to pour it in my spirit. I was in desperate need of a soul and spirit renewal.  I was ready to replace all of the dead stuff with life!

 As He began to refresh my spirit, I liken it to earlier in chapter 36, when God tells the mountains of Israel that they “will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I'm back again. I'm on your side. You'll be plowed and planted as before! I'll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I'll make this place teem with life—human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days. I'll treat you better than I ever have. And you'll realize that I am God. I'll put people over you—my own people Israel! They'll take care of you and you'll be their inheritance. Never again will you be a harsh and unforgiving land to them.”

That’s restoration, folks! Everything that looked dead or in ruins in your life is being rebuilt. Your life is being plowed in order to make room for all the life and fruit that is coming. God closes that section of scripture with the promise that those mountains will never again be harsh and unforgiving for the people. Many of us have survived some tough, dry places but if you keep going and pressing, you will once again feel your soul being restored. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t see things changing immediately in your situation, the enemy is just waiting for you to say the wrong thing and block you. Remember that God is pouring newness into your spirit and preparing you for the fruit that is about to come forth. He said that He’ll treat you better that He ever has before. Hang on to that and watch God move…

Happy New Year and AMEN!

Old Things are Passed AWAY...

Well…here we are! The last couple of days of 2011 and I don’t know about you but I am ready for 2012! This has been a long year of transition, testing, and yes…there have been some pretty tough trials. But God brought us to and through 2011 for a greater purpose. It’s time to go higher! It’s time to leave the petty things of this world in 2011 and pick up the triumphant things of Christ. Before the clock strikes midnight on December 31^st, I am going to kill some things and bury them in 2011. How about you?

We are all familiar with 2 Corinthians 5:17 that says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” That is an awesome Word and one that we should all stand on as we go into 2012. But I am challenging you to read all of chapter 5 and apply it to your life as we leave this old year.

The first section is a familiar funeral scripture and assures us of the finished work of the Resurrection as we look forward to being absent from the body and present with the Lord.  It goes on to say that we have to make it our goal to be well pleasing to God so that we are ready when we go before the judgment seat of Christ.  But look at verses 13 – 21 in the NIV.

If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We have to be about God’s business in 2012. He wants everyone saved and reconciled to him! The Message Bible translates verses 20 & 21 like this, “We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

That’s pretty clear! He sacrificed His son – put our sin, sickness, hatefulness, etc. on Him- so that we could be right with Him. How awesome is that?!  I will tell you! It’s so awesome that we should not be satisfied going into this New Year the same way we were in the old one. If you were bitter, kill it! If you were mean, kill that spirit! If you were broke, break the backbone of every spirit of lack! If you carried unforgiveness in your heart, let it go! If you were sacrificing your holiness for someone that wasn’t worth it, take it back! We are about to walk into a new season and we can’t do that carrying the same old mess!

This isn’t a time for resolutions that won’t last past February. This is a time for serious covenant with God. Tell Him that you aren’t going back to the way you used to be. Tell Him that with His grace and mercy, you are going to press toward the mark of the high calling of Christ! WE ARE NOT GOING BACK! WE ARE MOVING FORWARD! And as you begin to move forward, bring people along with you! God said that we are to carry the message of reconciliation. You don’t have to be an evangelist to tell your testimony and how God has changed you. You don’t have to be a minister to tell how God has kept your mind. You don’t have to be a deacon or an elder to live a life that is holy and acceptable to God and an example to others that they can do it. If you are saved, you are a joint heir with Christ and seated in heavenly places with Him. You are the righteousness of God! Share it!

If you aren’t saved, God is willing and waiting! He didn’t promise it would always be easy. But He did promise that He would never leave or forsake you. His love is beyond what you could even imagine! Take God with you into the new year, you will not regret it!

I’m excited about 2012! I’m declaring wonderful things for my family and my spiritual life. Over the next couple of days I will finalize my covenant and ask God to close every evil spiritual gate that has been given access to my life. I encourage you to do the same!  

Thank you all for taking this new journey with me this year. Your prayers and encouragement have been awesome as I was led into this blog. My prayer is that through these words, God always gets the glory. For He is the one that keeps me and teaches me! 

May your life be blessed in 2012 and filled with love, light, favor and prosperity! God bless you and Happy NEW Year!

Thank You, God!!

We serve an AWESOME God! A loving, forgiving, merciful, and willing God! As we come to the end of the year 2011, I just want to love on God!  I NEED to love on God! Have you ever felt like that? Like you just had to get a praise out or you would explode? I am here this week to tell you that God is a keeper. His Word is not just something cute to quote out of ritual or in a crowd where you think it will be well received. It is love. It is food for your soul. It is refuge in a storm. It is power to the weak. It is comfort for the sad. It is the only weapon you need in battle.  If you stand on the Word of God, you can find everything that you need. EVERYTHING! “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Word is Jesus Christ and this is why we celebrate him on Christmas.  He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. He put on flesh for me, for you, for everyone. It doesn’t matter what day He was born, it just matters that He was!

So as we go into this Christmas weekend, let’s give God the glory! He loved us so much that He sent His ONLY son! And He sent Him to die…let that sink in for a moment! That’s an awesome kind of love. That’s why I have to give Him glory today. As recently as last night, I wanted to curl up in a little ball and scream and pout and have a little tantrum but I put my earphones in and let the Word minister to me as I slept. That’s why I tell you that you can find anything in the Word…I found rest!  I woke up refreshed and ready to press on for another day.

Just take a moment right now to think about what God has been to YOU this year. Has He been your Jehovah Jireh? Did He provide when you didn’t know how you would pay your bills? Was He your Jehovah Shalom? Did He give you peace in the midst of your challenges and storms? Has He been your Jehovah Rophi? Did He heal your body when the doctor said there was no way? Was He your Jehovah Shammah? Did you feel Him there in all your situations? He is an awesome God! He is Elohim, God ALMIGHTY! Just think… He has been all of this and more!

Give Him praise, friends!! Whenever, the enemy tries to remind you of your situation or your past, you remind Him of all that God is to you! If we submit to God, and resist the devil, He has to flee!!! So let’s give Jesus all the acknowledgement and praise that He deserves in this season! When someone tries to get you to not say Merry Christmas because it’s not politically correct, you remember your right to give your Savior honor! Let’s stand up for Jesus today! He has done so much for us! Are you grateful enough to be a little uncomfortable? Are you grateful enough to stand toe to toe with the enemy and declare His Word? YES! Take the challenge! Stand tall dressed in your full armor and fight the good fight today! God has prepared you…

I pray that you have a blessed and peaceful Christ centered Christmas. Even if you aren’t able to give a single physical gift, you can give the gift of Christ’s love! Many blessings....

AMEN!

To God be the Glory...

To God be the glory! To God be the glory! To God be the glory for the things He has done! To God be the glory! To God be the glory! To God be the glory for the things He has done!

This song just started ringing in my spirit as I sat down to write this morning. I sat still for a moment and thought to myself ‘this can’t be what I’m supposed to write about.’ I continued to sit and then I started humming so I said ‘Well, let me just write it so I can get it out of my head.’ And as I began to write, I realized that God was answering my prayers! He was telling me to give Him the praise for what He has already worked out for me!

Does anyone feel like you've been seeking God for a whole lot lately? The devil has been so busy and people have been crying out for help and sometimes I’ve been hard pressed to help them because I’ve been crying out myself!  But God has been so faithful! Even in the valley….even in the storm, God is doing just what He promised. It’s really just a matter of giving Him glory instead of trying to take control!

We are now in a season of restoration and new beginnings! This is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the start of His journey to the cross. But at this time, many people are reminded of what they have lost and what they don’t have. But I declare today that in God, we have all that we need. Some of you are looking at the computer screen thinking, “That sounds good, Ebony…but that won’t help me buy presents for my kids or comfort me when I am alone thinking about my mother that I’ve lost.” I encourage you to try giving God glory for the fact that you have life and you can spend time with your family! Or getting a good shout in when you remember that if you live right, you’ll see your family member again! Go ahead! Give God the glory for the great things He has done!

There will be turmoil, sadness, discouragement but God has promised that He would never leave us or forsake us! So I give You glory, God! Sickness and disease will attempt to attack you and your family. But Jesus bore stripes for your healing! So I give You glory, God! Poverty and lack, layoffs will come but God promised that He would supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory. So I give You glory, God! Our God is greater, stronger, and bigger than any mountain that tries to plant itself in your path!

Whenever you find yourself complaining during this season, look at the prophet Jeremiah. He was constantly going through persecution and trying to get the people to live right.  He even wondered how he could possibly be chosen to deliver God’s word because he was just a boy. But God assured him that He would stick with him because He had holy plans for him. In Jeremiah 29, Jeremiah wrote to the prophets and elders that had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. He wanted to encourage them to not give up. I pray that through these words, you will be encouraged to not give up on God. No matter what may come against you, stand on the Word and give God the glory!

This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. ¹²"When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I’ll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God's Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it! (Jeremiah 29: 10-14 MSG)

I challenge you to look for the sun in the midst of your storm; to see the growth that you have experienced as a result of your tests.  God has a plan for you and His word does not return void! If you feel like you are out there all alone, you’re not! Remember that you are on God’s mind and his thoughts are of peace!  To God be the glory for the great things He has done! He has not forgotten…

Waiting on the Morning!!

Last night I was determined to go to bed early because it always seems like the minute I close my eyes and get in that deep sleep, the alarm goes off or I hear one of the girls crying or calling my name. I’m always so excited at Day Light Savings Time in the fall when the time goes back. I think to myself “one more hour of sleep for me!” But then the alarm still refuses to be on my side… It’s just amazing how quickly the morning comes. But when you are going through a stormy time in your life, whether it’s physically, financially or spiritually, the night feels like it goes on forever, doesn’t it?

As I have gone through 2011, God has taken me on a journey. He’s allowed some things to happen that I never imagined for myself both good and not so good. At times, the journey has been extremely lonely and at others I’ve felt my “great cloud of witnesses” as Hebrews 12:1 refers to, cheering me on. Even as I’ve been moving forward, the devil has been on the attack and I’ll tell you, the night has seemed mighty long this year. But God keeps drawing me to Psalm 30:5b “…weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning!” Is anybody else waiting on the morning?

Sometimes people assume that because you serve God that your life should be easy. For some reason, they think that you don’t ever go through anything. But God never promised us that this life of serving Him would be easy. People will talk about you. Your family may condemn you and the enemy will definitely attack you.  As a matter of fact, Jesus reminds us in John 15:20 that ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Times will not always be easy.

But today I want to remind you, that even if you are in the midst of a storm, to praise God right now for the morning. Psalm 30:5 is not a conditional statement. He didn’t say weeping may endure for a night and joy might come in the morning. NO! He say joy COMES in the morning! Its coming, friends! We just have to hold on. My uncle has told me on more than one occasion that ‘the night is always darkest before the dawn.’ So if it seems like everything is coming against you and you can’t even imagine a way out, remind yourself that your morning is on the way!

2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 in The Message Bible ministered to my spirit this morning and I hope it does something for you. It says, “So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.”  Isn’t that good news?!

There are good times coming, my friends! Keep pressing forward with joy! When you feel down, get into the presence of the Lord through the Word or praise and worship. Psalm 16:11 says in the presence of God there is fullness of joy. When the enemy brings his best shot, declare Hebrews 10: 39, “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” We will win, family!

I don’t know about you but I’m excited about my morning! Joy comes in the morning! New mercies come in the morning! God awakens my ears to listen and be taught morning by morning! Psalm 5:3 says “In the Morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation!” So, I encourage you today to look towards your morning with excitement and expectation.

Make this your prayer today, "God, I ask that you restore everything in the morning that was lost at midnight! In the name of Jesus!"  AMEN

Put your game face on, it's time to battle!

For a lot of us 2011 has been a rough season! There have been bad doctor’s reports and financial catastrophes, children and spouses acting out of character.  There has been death, job loss, and even church drama. This has not been an easy time for a lot of people.  But today, we declare that it’s battle time! We are fighting for our lives against an enemy that doesn’t deserve all the power that we give him. God has given us the keys to winning the war; we just have to put them into practice. Today, we declare war on the devil!

Last night, in mid-week service, the Elder reminded us that we need to be on the offensive and not on the defensive with the enemy. We can’t wait for him to attack us, we need to attack him! Are y’all ready? Let’s put our battle clothes on. Ephesians 6: 10 – 18 gives us our armor and our battle plan. I love the King James translation of this because you can really get a picture of how you should be dressed. You can see your breastplate of righteousness and your helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. Most importantly, the symbolism reminds us that we aren’t fighting against human beings. Verse 12 in the NKJV says “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We have to recognize that the enemy comes in many forms and he dispatches evil spirits to attach to people and make them act outside of themselves. That’s why we have to learn to attack the spirit and not the person.  And notice all the levels of evil…the devil is bringing his A game...why aren’t we?! We aren’t playing pattycake with the devil, we are fighting!

The Message Bible makes it plain. “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and He wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.”

It’s time to take back everything that the devil has stolen from us! You have the sword of the Spirit! When the enemy tells you that you will never have a baby, you declare Deuteronomy 7:14 and say I shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among us. When your husband is not being the father that he should be, you declare Psalm 78:5-7 and say that God has commanded our fathers to teach the next generation and not forget the works of God. When the doctor says you have cancer, you declare Jeremiah 17:14 and say Heal me, O Lord, and I am healed! Remind that devil that Jesus Christ took 39 stripes for your healing and Isaiah 53:5 says you are healed! When someone you love dies and the enemy tries to convince you to turn from God, you stand strong like Job and say “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” And when your finances are in shambles, you look that devil in the face and declare 2 Corinthians 9:8 and say God is able to make all grace abound toward me! I am a lender and not a borrower! All of my needs are met! My latter shall be greater!

Fight the devil with the Word! There is a solution to every problem or issue in the Bible. When the enemy comes against you, go get your sword and SWING!!! Better yet make sure you have the word buried so deep in your heart that when you just sense the enemy coming, you can go into full battle mode!

Get your battle face on, we are declaring war today! No weapon formed against us shall prosper! We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus! So…we are going to win the battle if we know what weapons to use! Be blessed today and know that wherever you are today, you have someone in Durham, NC that is on the battlefield with you, fighting for the Lord! To God be the glory! Amen…