Clean sweep...

When God gave me Rhema, He talked to me about wholeness and freedom for people. Every message was basically a charge or encouragement to live your best life. In most cases, that required some form of self examination or honesty. Sometimes, they would be sweet, soothing posts of gentle pushing; while other times, I would be shocked at what God was giving me to say. At the heart of it, He was calling you (and ME!) to deliverance from what has held you bound. Well, today I heard the phrase “clean sweep”. I immediately got nervous because that phrase just sounds deep, doesn't it? Well, that's because it is! God isn't playing anymore. He's not playing with you and He's not playing with me! He has put some pretty clear instructions and assignments on the table and He is ready for them to be picked up and completed. It's time to get in position and that old stuff that you keep going back to? Well, it's got to GO! Time for a clean sweep…

 
So as I sat down to write, I wondered what scripture He was going to follow that up with. But before I could finish forming the question, He reminded me of a couple key verses and I sat up straight! He's not playing FOR REAL!  But before I get to the scripture I need to say this. As I mentioned last week, a lot of times, people generally don't like to admit to needing to be delivered from anything. Church folk are especially guilty of this! It's easier to say that it's for other people than to admit that you struggle with something. I believe that God wouldn't let me move away from this topic because some folk still dismissed what He said last week as “being for somebody else.” Well let me make this really plain! You ready? We all need deliverance from something! I'm so sorry if that hurt your feelings! But if you are still walking around mad at your fellow church member for something they “did” to you 10 years ago or holding onto what your ex-husband did and it's keeping you from moving on? You need deliverance! If you have to be in charge of what's happening in everyone else's life so that it lines up with your plans or no one can tell you anything because you know everything, you need deliverance! If you look in the mirror and can’t celebrate who is looking back at you or you have to downgrade someone else so that you can feel better, you need deliverance. You see, God wants to get into all of the cracks and crevices and get all those things that we won't name or acknowledge.  He wants to get the anger, the feelings of rejection, the heartbreak that have held you in place. He wants to free you of the memories of your past, the loss and the grief that kept you from being all that He called you to be. He wants to release you from the jealousy, the fear of failure and the expectations of people that have affected how you live your life. Time for a clean sweep…

 Everyone likes to quote Peter when he says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” Remember that? Well earlier in the chapter in verses 1-3, Peter challenged his Christian audience to come out of all that wasn't like God and be whole. The Message version says, “So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.” (1 Peter 2:1-3 MSG) Don't you want to be mature and whole and really live up to your position in the royal priesthood? God is willing and able to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you. He is prepared to transform your heart and renew your mind but it is up to you. You must take action towards your own deliverance and freedom. That verse required the people to drink deep of God’s goodness!They had to act, they had to take a step, they had to touch God! Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for a clean sweep…

As I close, I want to encourage you to walk in truth this week. Ask God to get out His flashlight and go through your heart. Ask Him to reveal to you the areas that have kept you stagnant and unmoving. Ask Him to show you the root of issues instead of just the symptoms. I hear you asking, why would I want to drag all of that old stuff up? The answer is actually quite simple. If those things still have the power to stop, hurt, or control you, they aren't really gone anyway. I will warn you though! As God begins to deal with your heart and sweep those old things up and out, you must replace them with the Word! You must fill your spirit with what God says about you. God is calling you to great things and He doesn't want old things to stop you from experiencing the new things He has in store for you! Time for a clean sweep!

 

Amen…

 

Will you be made whole?

This has been a week of self-examination for me. God has been taking me back to different situations and showing me how I responded to them. He’s been making me go beyond the emotion and look at the root. I started to see places where I rested and places where I got stuck. I saw places where I stood for the right and places where I fell for a trick. I saw places of maturity and places where it was blatantly missing. I saw ME. I know that God has been taking me through this process because things are changing in me, around me, and with me. What God has for me to do, requires me to be in a place of truth. And so it is with you! I don’t know where you are right now and I don’t know what God has been saying to you but I know that He is calling His people to wholeness and truth so that the world can be taken for the Kingdom. This might sound deep but it’s true. God is speaking and moving and if you don’t get on board with what He’s saying, you are going to miss it! This isn’t even what I thought I was supposed to be saying but this is what God is giving me. It’s time out for stale worship and bound up spirits. Freedom and deliverance are available and God wants you to take advantage of it! He wants you whole so that you can do what He has placed inside of you!

I know that this is making some of you nervous. When you say the word deliverance, people tend to get uncomfortable. There is a perception that it is all throwing up and exorcisms and that you have to have a demon to need deliverance. Wrong! There are times when that is very much what happens with deliverance but at the heart of it, it is a rescue from bondage or danger. It is to be set free from what has held you captive or bound up.  Some of you are walking around bound up because you are under the misconception that deliverance isn’t for you. If you are still dealing with memories and the effects of something that was done to you in your childhood, you need deliverance. If you are always angry and don’t understand why, you need deliverance. If you lie all the time, you need deliverance. It’s not just addiction and depression, those just tend to be visible. But God wants you free of those hidden things, those things that come up in the night, and those things that you secretly relive. You were meant to live a SOZO life which is saved, delivered and set free!

When David was on the run from Saul, there was a point when He was a captive of the Philistines and he had to act crazy to get away from them. He was at one of the lowest points of his life and God delivered him. He wrote Psalm 34 during this period and his words are speaking to me this morning. “When I needed the Lord, I looked for Him; I called out to Him, and He heard me and responded. He came and rescued me from everything that made me so afraid.  Look to Him and shine, so shame will never contort your faces.  This poor soul cried, and the Eternal heard me. He rescued me from my troubles. The messenger of the Eternal God surrounds everyone who walks with Him and is always there to protect and rescue us.” (Ps. 34: 4-7, VOICE) God is listening for your voice! He’s waiting to hear you and respond, if you just trust Him enough to cry out for deliverance, for rescue.

Folks, God is speaking truth and wholeness! Do you hear Him? Is He challenging you to deal with some hard issues in your life? Is He pressing you to look internally and evaluate what you see? You cannot fully walk into wholeness if you can’t be honest with yourself and God. There has to be acknowledgement in order to move to deliverance to then move to wholeness. My prayer for each of you today, is that God will give you clarity to see yourself, a willingness to be delivered from anything that has held you bound, and the lasting joy of freedom and wholeness. I pray that every hard place would be softened and every old hurt erased. I pray that peace would replace chaos in your spirit and joy would reign in your life. And no matter what you face, remember that “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Ps 34:19, NKJV)

Amen

Ok, God...

This morning, I was in my bed and I was doing an odd mixture of praying, listening and drifting and I said out loud, "None of my plans are working the way I want them to." I didn't really say it to get an answer but was just stating a fact about my current situation. Well, clearly God was participating in my weird moment because I immediately heard, "You're doing too much. All you have to do is listen and obey." I snapped out of everything and sat up. First, I wondered if God talks to everyone like that and then I had a mini panic attack! For those of you that might be planners like me, you understand how terrifying a statement like that is! It snatches away every ounce of the imagined control that you like to think you have and leaves you squarely back at trust. There are a couple of responses you could have but the one I'm encouraging you to go with today is really simple..."Ok, God."

As I have been on this journey this year of fully walking in my purpose and calling, I have had SEVERAL trust tests to keep me moving in the right direction. God knows me and knows that I would much prefer to not do most of the things He tells me to! So He constantly has to remind me that what I want and what He has planned are not the same thing. I'm pretty sure I tear God's nerves up on a regular basis! But even when I fall back to trying to make my own plan, His answer is still the same..."Listen and obey." In case I needed confirmation, Proverbs 19:21 hit me right in the face today, “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD ’s purpose prevails.” (MSG) All of the translations hit just as hard, but feel free to look!

So I'm telling all of my business to say, it's fine to make plans but understand that God's purpose for your life will always take precedence. Your plans tend to be set up for your convenience whereas God's are set for your growth and destiny.  That means they won't all be easy or necessarily enjoyable in the moment but they will definitely work for your good. Isn't that what the Word says? "All things work together for the good of those that love shod and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) A lot of the stress in your life would be greatly reduced or even eliminated, if you would seek out His plan instead of relying so heavily on your own. So let's practice! God: "My child, go back to school, start that business, answer that call, move to XYZ..." You: "Ok, God..." Now keep practicing!

Amen

Recognize your season!

Happy Thursday, saints! This is the day that Lord has made and I pray that you are rejoicing and glad in it! God is amazing in His timing. He always knows what you need, when you need it. I’ve just come back from my Rhema Retreat and it was awesome! God stretched me and allowed me to see some of what He has called me to. I almost couldn’t believe what took place over the course of that 48 hours. When I returned home, I was reminded several times of different prophetic words that people have spoken over my life over the last several months. They were words of breakthrough and victory, fresh anointing and deliverance. I heard them and hid them in my heart but if I’m honest, I don’t know that I really believed them because my circumstances didn’t back them up. But today, God said to me, “Recognize your season.” He said, “If you recognize where you are in Me, your circumstances can no longer dictate where you stay.” Whew!! How many of you have been stuck in one place because your situation didn’t look like the promise? God basically said that if you begin to believe and walk in what He has promised, you can speak to your circumstances and see them change. You can tell them to line up and come under subjection to the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The key is recognizing where God has you. What has He been saying to you about your life and your purpose? What has He been leading you to and showing you? If God is saying breakthrough to you, you need to set your mind and your mouth to breakthrough. Close your eyes to what your circumstances are saying and focus on your faith.

I was reminded of Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 1 &2. You might remember that they were in captivity, living amongst the Babylonians but they were in an interesting position. God had blessed them with favor and such wisdom that they were considered among the wisest in the kingdom and were often sought out by the king. When Nebuchadnezzar had a difficult dream, he sought out the Babylonian wise men for interpretation but none of them were able to do it. They said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.  It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Dan. 2:10 -11, NKJV) This sent the king into a rage and he decreed that all wise men be put to death, including Daniel and his friends, because they had proven themselves to be wise. Daniel asked his friends, to pray that God would reveal what the dream meant so they could live. Well, to make a long story short, God answered and gave the interpretation. When Daniel presented what God said to the king, it blew his mind! In response, Nebuchadnezzar honored God and promoted Daniel to governor and gave him permission to elevate his friends.

So you might be asking, what does this have to do with recognizing your season? Well, I asked the same thing and God told me to look at their situation. It all became clear. Their circumstances said bondage but their season said promotion. Daniel grabbed hold of what God was saying and his circumstances had to line up with God. Recognize your season and walk in it. If everything you hear God saying about your life and purpose are saying victory, grab hold, obey and watch God move what He has to in order to bring it to pass. If Daniel would have gotten stuck on what his situation said, he would have been dead. Instead, He knew the God that He served and decided to trust Him. Everything he had been seeing in his life during this time told him that God was with him, so his circumstances had to line up with that. After God gave him the interpretation, Daniel acknowledged God’s ability by blessing Him, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.  And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” (Dan. 2:21, NKJV)

Do you see? God is in control and has the wisdom and the power to shift what is needed to bring about His plan. He can move people and He can give you the intelligence and discernment to do whatever He wants you to.  My challenge to you today is to recognize the season that God has you in and walk in it. If He is saying move, don’t let your circumstances make you stay. If He is saying promotion, don’t let your situation say downgrade. If He is saying step out, don’t let what you see say isolate. God has such great plans for you and He wants you to trust who He is so that He can use you to accomplish those things. Recognize your season and watch things begin to line up in your favor.

Amen

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…