Big God!

Have you ever thought about the size of God? I mean, when you think about Him, how do you personally imagine Him to be? He is often described as great and big. We even sing songs about it – How Great Thou Art, Big, Great and Mighty just to name a few. But again…how do YOU see Him? You may be reading this wondering why I would even ask such a question. Of course God is big and strong and mighty. I say all this because of something interesting I heard this morning on a devotional CD that made me think. It essentially said that in order to really acknowledge God as big, you have to be able to recognize your smallness. That struck a chord with me. It’s commonplace to hear people proclaiming how big God is but then have a hard time trusting Him to handle the “big” problems. So today, I want to challenge you to consciously live like your problems, issues, dreams, etc are no match for the enormity of God.  The question is how big is your God?

Imagine you are trapped in a very deep hole in the middle of nowhere. You can see the sky above but it is a long ways away. I mean…you are DEEP! You begin to cry and scream your frustration because you just cannot see a way out of the hole. Whenever you try to climb up the walls, you fall back down or lots of dirt gives way not allowing you to get a firm hold. What do you do? You begin to pray but you just can’t see a solution. You just have no clue how God could possibly get you out. The hole is just too big and too deep. You give up. Now imagine you stay in said hole for days and the whole time you are praying but not really believing that God could get you out. You’ve remembered recently that you have a pocket bible on you and you begin to read out loud scriptures about the power of God. “…In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” (1 Chron. 29:12 NKJV) “The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.” (Psalm 28:8 NKJV) You start to think perhaps you can’t save yourself but God is capable and willing to do it. All of a sudden you hear rumbling and dirt starts to come pouring in. It appears a tractor has come to fill in the hole. All of a sudden it stops. You start screaming and then you see a face looking down into the hole. You are pulled free and saved! You are ecstatic and ask the tractor driver how in the world he found you. He tells you that there were plans to develop the area and someone evaluating the property had flown over and spotted the hole and thought that they needed to fill in any holes before the real work could begin. He had stopped to check one of the tires and heard the screams.

This is a long scenario just to say this. Sometimes in order to see just how big God is, you have to be in a place where there is nowhere else to go but to Him. You have to see that you are not the major player in your solution. Your situation may seem insurmountable and unsolvable but what happens when you acknowledge that there is nothing too big for God. Often times your struggles are a part of the evaluation process. God has to fill in some holes before He can take you further. I am reminded of the story of Elisha and the Syrians in 2 Kings 6. Israel was at war with Syria and every time their king wanted to set up camp, Elisha would warn the king of Israel of their exact plan and place. The king of Syria was furious to the point that he was accusing his own officers of treason.  The king determines that they should capture Elisha and shut him up so that they can defeat Israel. They travel at night and surround the city where Elisha is. When Elisha’s servant gets up and goes outside the next morning, he sees the army and is scared to death. Elisha, however, remembers that though he is small, his God is big. He tells his servant something that we should all hold onto. “So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6: 17-18 NKJV) In the end, the situation is diffused to the point where the Syrians went away. God sees beyond what your human mind can comprehend. When you can get to the point where you know that God has a legion of angels surrounding you and working on your behalf, you can rejoice in His bigness. How big is your God?

If your debt is bigger than your salary, rejoice in Jehovah Jireh, your provider! If your diagnosis is harder than the doctor’s wisdom, rejoice in Jehovah Rapha, your healer! If your marriage is constantly under attack, rejoice in Jehovah Shalom, your peace. He is El Shaddai, the Almighty God and he can see the pitfalls and the rest stops long before you do.  He has the power and the might to solve any of your issues. So, if you are struggling in any area of your life, now is the time to stand up, look at your God and speak life to yourself. It’s time to remember that you serve and worship a BIG God and there’s nothing that He cannot do.

May the width and depth of God’s power, love, and peace surround you today! AMEN

Welcome to your Bounce Back...

I just want to encourage you today. I know it’s been a rough season. You’ve worked hard, you’ve waited, you’ve suffered and you are tired. You are ready for things to turn around and for all of the promises to be manifested. This season has taken a toll on even the most seasoned saints. There have been days when you questioned your faith. Days where you were so tired that you just wanted to sleep the day away. Oh yes and those days where your emotions were completely out of control. Some days you really wanted to quit but you knew that you couldn’t. Today is a new day! I’m here to remind you that God is faithful even in this! Today is the beginning of your bounce back!

According to The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, bounce back means to start to be successful again after a difficult period, for example after experiencing failure, loss of confidence, illness or unhappiness.  Are you ready for that? I hope so because there is no one better at bringing your spirit back to life like God!  So as He was ministering to me this morning, I asked Him to show me in the Word how to bounce back after this difficult season. He led me to the book of 1 Peter.  

Before I even got to the scripture, God reminded me of when Peter denied Christ in the days leading up to His crucifixion. You remember the story. Christ prophesied that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Him 3 times. And he did. But the story didn’t end there. When Christ appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee after His resurrection, Peter has a bounce back moment. “After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.  Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.  A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” (John 21: 15-17) Jesus asked Peter 3 times whether he loved Him. It seems to me it’s a perfect offset to the 3 times that Peter denied Him. It felt like a restoration from guilt. Peter didn’t have to remember his last physical interactions with Christ as being a negative but rather an affirmation of his love for Him and obedience to His commands. That’s a bounce back!

So Peter set the stage for us. He showed us that there is restoration after a rough season and then he seals it in 1 Peter 1: 3-9 with a word of hope. I love the NKJV version of this scripture but The Message really made me feel it this morning. “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.  I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.  You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”  If you aren’t shouting, read it again! Though you have gone through every kind of hell, you are coming out of the fire purified and genuine with the victory and total salvation!  That’s a bounce back!

So here you are at the brink of a bounce back. You have pushed and pulled, fought and run, cried and prayed but it’s time to get up now. God has made you some promises and He does not go back on His word. You are coming out and bouncing back! These present sufferings do not compare to the glory which shall be revealed in you! You survived that attack on your ministry…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your marriage…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your health…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your mind…BOUNCE BACK! It’s an assurance, you’re coming out stronger, better, and wiser! Welcome to your bounce back…

 

 

 

Where's the boat?

 

Moment of truth! I've had some moments of discouragement lately. Yep! I'm putting myself out there! I was at a bit of a loss and just needed some clarity and a faith boost. I think if you're honest, you've been there too! I prayed and asked God to show me something that would help me and this is what He told me...

Imagine you’re on a small boat in the middle of the ocean after a shipwreck. There is nothing around you but miles and miles of water…no land in sight. You’re tired and hungry and you just want to go home. Prior to the wreck, you remember hearing that there was a big ship that passes on this same route every so often but you didn’t hear the specific time. So…you’re sitting on this boat waiting on that ship so that you can be rescued. Time passes and still no ship. You keep waiting and waiting for that ship but all you see is water in your horizon. During the course of time, there are waves and sharks and other dangers that threaten you and your little boat but you never capsize. You start to get discouraged and wonder out loud often where the boat is and why it hasn’t come. You keep reminding yourself that the statement was made that the boat was coming but it gets very hard to maintain your confidence. Finally, you are at the point of death and giving up, you see something on the horizon. It’s the boat! When it reaches you, the captain calls out as though he’s expecting you and then you realize he is calling your name. They get you safely on board and the captain says to you…”I’m glad you held out until we got here.” You ask him how he knew your name and he replies, “I knew you were out here the whole time from the ship’s passenger list but I had to follow my route even through a lot of debris that was left over from the ship wreck. Good thing you didn’t give up!”

Well alright, God! I hope it helps you like it did me! It made so much sense to me. You see, life can be very difficult. We face hard financial times, dry seasons, death, marital issues, sickness and it seems sometimes like there is no way out. We know that God is able and aware but at times it feels like you are out there all alone. It often seems the hardest when we are living right and doing what God has asked of us. But God reminded me today that no matter what we face, He is there. He knows exactly where you are and He is working on your behalf. There are aftereffects and consequences from things we experience or even bring on ourselves but He continues to work and move even if we can’t see it. The key is to stand on His word because it is truth and it will not return to Him void.

I’m reminded of Moses and his relationship with God. In Exodus 4, God sends him back to Egypt to free His people. He gives him a Word and miracles to perform but easy is not what Moses finds. As a matter of fact, he becomes quite discouraged when things don’t seem to immediately work out and asks God why. He says, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.” (Ex. 5:22-23 NASB) Sound like you? ‘God, I’m doing what you asked me to do and yet You have not done what You said you would!’ It’s not always an easy road and even those of us who are believers and even working in ministry or leadership face hard trials. But Moses is a testimony to fighting through the hard times and being obedient to see your purpose fulfilled. All of the miracles that God eventually worked through Moses brought about the release of the people of Israel.

I want to encourage you today to continue to hold on and look up. No matter where you are in your process, stand strong and know that God has you! “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:15 NKJV) Keep your eyes on the horizon; God is sure to show up right on time!

Be blessed….AMEN!

 

 

Independence Day!!

Today, America  celebrates its freedom! It was a hard fought and high priced freedom with many lives sacrificed for the good of many. As I reflected on that,  I immediately thought of Christ and what He did so that we could be free. I know it's not Easter but His resurrection is real today! Today, I challenge you to celebrate your freedom! 

Do you remember the day you gave your life to Christ?  Was it a Sunday or a Wednesday? Was it in your bedroom, on the street, or at the altar? Do you remember a feeling of release and joy? Did you feel lighter? God wants you to remember YOUR Independence Day! He wants you to celebrate the moment that you met His Son and welcomed Him into your heart. You see, your freedom was hard fought and high priced too! Christ paid the ultimate cost for you and if truth be told most of us put up quite the fight. But He did it and we should celebrate that moment. 

Ok...I hear some of you saying my life is a mess right now and I don't feel much like celebrating. Hey, I understand the struggle! Trust me...but let me ask you this...do you remember America being involved in any wars after independence was gained in 1776? Absolutely, there were multiple wars - Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the list goes on up to today. What's my point? There was no guarantee after America won independence that another enemy or situation wouldn't come along to challenge its freedom but once independence was secured that was it! Christ did not promise you a pain free, battle free existence after you got saved but He did say, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36 NKJV) You are free and your freedom is secured!

Today, as you eat your burgers and watch fireworks, think about the precious gift of freedom that Christ so lovingly presented you. Don't dwell on what is not but rest in what is! You have  a God that loves you so much that He gave you His Son so that you could be free. Honor that and enjoy your independence!

God bless and keep you during this holiday weekend!

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