Every individual on the face of this earth was created with a special gift. Some gifts are spiritual, some are even natural. For example, helping others, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge are all considered spiritual gifts, along with preaching, teaching, apostle, evangelism, prophecy, etc. Whereas, some examples of natural gifts are singing, dancing, entertaining, and acting. But no matter what the gift may be, they all were created to glorify the Giver in some way.
There are even gifted atheletes such as football's Big Ben, Reggie Bush, or even the Manning men. Some baseball players are Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, better known as A-Rod. Let's not forget golf's gifted, Tiger-Tiger-Tiger Woods ya'll. There are gifted tennis players like Roger Federer and the mighty Williams sisters. The leading soccer player is David Beckham. And last but not least, several prime examples of basketball’s gifted are the legendary Michael Jordan and Larry Byrd, along with todays dominators such as Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, and LeBron James. Fact of the matter is," Every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17)".
God gave gifts without repentance (Romans 11:29). This simply means that whether a person has repented of their sins and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior or not, they can still be gifted. Any individual who acknowledges that they have a gift, and operates in that gift to the best of their ability, can reach stardom almost instantly. All it takes is meeting the right, and for some, the wrong people. It’s not about what the person knows, it’s about who they know. Proverbs 18:16 reads, “A man’s gift will make room for him, and bring him before great men”.
God gifted men and women even though He knew that some would not repent and submit their lives to Him. Before we entered our mother’s womb, God knew us. So, the only way that He gets the glory from what we’ve been gifted to do is if it causes someone’s life to be transformed and their heart is turned toward Him; a major element so often undervalued.
While watching certain awards shows such as The BET Awards, The Grammy Awards, The Oscars or The Emmys, one statement that is so often made when a performer wins is, “ I want to thank God for this award”. Although thanking God for the award is considered a wonderful gesture, it doesn’t mean that God was glorified through the message. Some of the movies, TV shows, and songs that have even won the top awards have sent a message that’s displeasing to God. Even the character and the lifestyles of some of the entertainers themselves, along with certain scenes, explicit lyrics and language, have raised questions about the performer’s relationship with the Lord.
Now please don’t misunderstand me, I am clearly aware that we as human beings are very much in need of entertainment. Whether through movies, sitcoms, songs, dancing, and of course, sporting events, entertainment is very vital to our everyday living. Our mental, emotional, recreational, and physical capacities need to be ministered to as well as our spiritual capacity. We need balance in our lives. Without balance, we may become so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.
However, the reality is that the only way we can connect to God is through the spirit. “God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Through all of the laughter, crying, jumping, clapping, singing and even shouting that the entertainment industry brings to us all, making Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior is still and always will be what’s mainly essential to life…….and death.
On June 25, 2009, we all suffered the devastating loss of two very gifted and talented individuals: “The King of Pop,” Michael Jackson and the woman who brought a certain level of charm and vitality to the TV screen, Farrah Fawcett. Michael Jackson touched our lives with his amazing, fancy footwork and extraordinary singing voice. Remember Mike on Motown with that glittering black outfit and that black gangster brim, those sparkling white socks, and the shiny white glove that would become his trademark? Not to mention, those swift body moves, and that spectacular spin that would end with him striking a pose on his toes and one arm pointing northwest and the opposite leg pointing southeast, then grabbing and slinging his hat to the left with the quickness. And of course we can’t forget how he surprisingly overwhelmed every viewer when he glided across the floor backwards bringing into question if he was the first man to walk on the moon by introducing to us… that’s right - you guessed it, The Moonwalk. All while singing a song with lyrics that testifies that “He is NOT the father”, and would hit the top of the charts, “Billie Jean”. The next day after seeing that spectacular performance, we all felt like we could walk on air. Everybody wanted to be like Mike.
Later he would amaze us even more with that video/mini-movie/album that became the talk of the universe, “Thriller”. Not too long after, Michael Jackson look-alikes were spotted in every city, state, and country. The video not only thrilled us, but the album is still the best selling of all time. He was introduced to us when he was just a child, yet leading his older brothers in a dynamic singing group called The Jackson 5, later called The Jacksons, and taking the music world by storm. They would go on to have hit after hit after hit. Later, Mike would start a solo career that would skyrocket to such fame and fortune that even his siblings would have to make an appointment just to see him. His concerts and public appearances would incite such an emotional frenzy among thousands that you would swear it was the second coming. WHAT A GIFTED HUMAN BEING!
And then there’s Farrah. A young lady who became known for her fabulously flipped blonde hair and that dazzling bright smile that would light up any room. Oh, and let’s not forget that famous poster; a poster that would hang in the bedrooms of thousands of young teenage boys all over the nation. (Sadly, some of those boys are now married men with children, and it’s still hanging somewhere in their home). Another memory we all have of this very talented female icon is her ability to go undercover for years, along with two of her close friends, Jacquelyn Smith and Kate Jackson, and bring down a numerous amount of criminals for a guy they couldn’t see face to face, yet would communicate with by way of intercom. We knew them as “Charlie’s Angels”. Farrah was, indeed, a very gifted actress.
However, as gifted as these two individuals were, and even though they touched our lives in one way or another, the questions still have to be raised, Did they accept Jesus as their personal savior? Was God pleased with their lives and their way of living? Were they truly successful according to God’s standards? We can’t let the excitement of all their accomplishments cause us to be blinded from the truth. That truth is that success is not success until we’ve done what God created us to do and the way he wants us to do it.
Now that they have passed from this life, where will they spend the next? Another question of concern is: Do we as believers really care? We have all talked about how magnificent their lives were, but are we concerned about where they will spend eternity? Are we more fascinated with all there fame and find their popularity more interesting and appealing because we desire the same for our own lives? Or, are we all under the assumption that anyone as gifted as they were had to be saved? Salvation should never be assumed just because a person is gifted and talented. Only when a person confesses with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believes in their heart that God raised Him from the dead, can they truly be saved (Romans 10:9). This is now, and forever will be, the only plan of salvation. It is not about how a person starts out, it's about how and where they end up that matters.
Unfortunately, in the body of Christ, our relationship with the Lord has been compromised as well due to our valuing our gift more than the Giver. We’ve gotten so attached to how well we may do what we have been gifted to do, that we have allowed the main ingredient to dry up in our lives, the anointing. The anointing is the primary distinction between the body of Christ and those that are unsaved. Although God gives gifts without repentance, He only anoints the household of faith.
The anointing is the fuel that ignites any gift. A person can be gifted and not be anointed, but one can’t be anointed and not be gifted. The gift is evident on the outside, but the anointing comes from the inside. The gift is given, but the anointing costs. It corrects our character, adjusts our attitudes, and humbles our hearts toward God. To be anointed by God takes process. God processes His children to the extent of purging, pruning, and purifying to display His power. He has to take some things out before He puts some things in.
For instance, Joseph was anointed and appointed to be second in command to Pharaoh.
Moses was anointed to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Abraham was anointed to be the “Father of Faith”. And let’s not forget Saul who later became Paul because of his anointing. Joseph was a gifted administrator, Moses was a gifted orchestrator, Abraham was a gifted operator, and Paul was a gifted motivator, but without the process, there wouldn’t have been any anointing.
The anointing is a special touch from God that transforms every believer’s life, even to the point of sanctification. God has to set us apart to get us together so we can do what He purposed for us to do. It’s God’s desire that we touch the lives of others all over world with the same touch He gave us. When He anoints His children it is not for their own lives but for the lives of those they will come in contact with.
Today, so many of us as believers have forgotten the touch. We have gotten so comfortable with living the lifestyle of the rich and famous that we have more of a passion for our gift than we do for the Giver. Pride has set in and our character has changed for the worst. Some of us may speak to thousands, but we no longer speak to one who may be passing by. There was a time that nobody but God knew who we were. Now, because we are so popular and our schedule is so full, even God has to make an appointment with us. We used to call on the Lord, but now since so many are calling on us, God has been put on hold.
Our value of family has depreciated due to our busy schedules and annual engagements.
We are not home as much anymore and when we are our minds are somewhere else.
Our spouses and our children are being neglected and the devil himself is making a house call. While he’s hanging out at our homes, we are hanging out with someone else that we shouldn’t be. We have become so materialistic that what we drive, where we live, and how much we own determines who we are. God desires that we have nice things; He just doesn’t want nice things to have us. We’ve gotten so high-minded and arrogant that we look down on others the way others use to look down on us. This has caused our anointing to fade and sometimes we don’t even realize it.
We have even been deceived into thinking that just because we may be operating well in our gifts and we are prospering consistently, that surely we have not lost our focus. But the reality is that we can preach, teach, sing, etc. and still be far away from God. People can ring our phone off the hook requesting our presence, and we can rock the house when we open our mouths, and God still not be glorified. Remember, the gift was given without repentance. So whether we continue to prosper or not, our gift will still make room for us. It will still do what it does. Consequently, the higher we may go will determine the harder we may fall.
It’s important that we as believers take time for a spiritual evaluation and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to us if and where we’ve gotten off track. One way to do this is to ask ourselves these questions:
If I couldn’t preach, teach, or sing in public, would I preach, teach, or sing in private?
Do I preach so well that it’s hard for me to be preached to?
Do I teach so well that I’m no longer teachable?
Do I sing so well that I don’t think anyone can hold a note to me?
Has the fame, fortune, and popularity caused me to compromise my faith, fellowship, and purpose?
If I couldn’t be in front of another TV camera, stand on another platform, or have my face on the cover of another book, would I still get on my face before God?
Am I more interested in people following me than following Christ?
Am I more fascinated with my own glory than the Glory of God?
If we ask the questions, the Holy Spirit will answer.
Finally, it is very important that we instill in our children the importance of honoring and glorifyng God at a early age. As our children grow and mature, their gifts and talents will start to manifest themselves in different ways. Some siblings may show it more than others. So teaching our children how to humble themselves early and that they're gifted for God's glory and not their own, will avoid them facing certain spiritual, as well as physical dangers as their statue and popularity increases. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it(Proverbs 22:6)
We must return to our first love. It is detrimental that we get before God and seek His face. We must repent and ask God to purify our hearts and minds and anoint us once again for His glory. Then we will sincerely glorify the Giver, and not the gift.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The Most Transforming Prayer
The most transforming prayer that can ever be prayed is……….
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not “God bless me to be a millionaire”. It’s not, “Master make me the head and not the tail”. It’s not “Lord place my enemies under my feet”. It‘s not even “Father bless me to minister all over the world”. The most transforming prayer that can be prayed is, “Father let your will be done in my life. I submit my will to your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen”.
Why is this prayer so transforming? Because when we pray this prayer as believers, we allow God to do in our lives what He desires to do and not what we desire for Him to do. We also allow Him to reposition us to be what He wants us to be so we can do what He wants us to do. We assume that our hopes, dreams, and goals are Gods hopes, dreams and goals for us as well. This may or may not be true, but the only way to really know for sure is to submit our will unto the will of God by praying the transforming prayer.
Now if you noticed, I used the phrase, “we allow God”. That’s right. The all-powerful God wants our permission to come in and transform our lives. Revelation 3:20 reads, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me”.
When God created us, He gave us a will. Merriam-Webster defines “will” as desire, wish, appetite, passion, choice, and
determination. These are some strong “will” words. God doesn’t force His way on us or break down our door. The doorknob is on the inside. He loves us and He wants us to accept His will and His way willingly.
Now please don’t be mistaken in thinking that He can’t override our will. Believe me, if we have gone too far in our disobedience, He can and He will! He can do what He wants to, when He wants to, how He wants to, to whom He wants to. Not to mention, there is consequence for sin and disobedience. But because of His grace and mercy He gives us time to make the righteous choice. He wants us to surrender to Him on our own. God doesn’t want us to obey Him out of obligation, He wants us to obey Him because we love and trust Him. Think about it, if you were Him, wouldn’t you want the same?
We may even choose to disobey God and He still may not do anything to stop us. Think about Adam and Eve for instance. God told them they could eat from every tree in the garden, just not from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but still they disobeyed. Now we know God is all-knowing. When they were about to sin (the sin that would affect generations to come, by the way), couldn’t He have spoken in His powerful voice of authority and yelled “Stop! Halt! You’re going the wrong way! You are about to affect generations to come!” But instead, God did nothing! He didn’t stop them because He wanted them to be obedient to what He’d told them not to do.
God may not even stop us from making certain decisions or doing certain things that He totally disapproves of. Just like He didn’t stop Adam and Eve, He won’t stop us. So a lot of us as believers have been deceived into thinking that just because God doesn’t stop us, it must be His will and He must approves. We live under the assumption that our wants are okay with God, whether we submit to His will or not. I mean, surely He wants what we want, right? Believe it or not, some of us have jobs, careers and even lifestyles that was never apart of God's plan for lives.
We could be wealthy and still be out of the will of God. For instance, there are atheist that are billionaires. But "only a fool hath said in his heart, there is no God (Psalm 14:1)". We even drive cars and live in houses that God had nothing to do with. Is it because He doesn't want us to have these things? That couldn' be farther from the truth. God wants us to trust in Him with all of our heart and lean not unto our own understanding. We should acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our path (Proverbs 3:5&6). If we didn’t submit our decisions to God before we made them, we were already out of His will. God and God alone knows what’s best for us.
Now asking God to let His will be done in our lives will cause what may look like negative changes on the outside, but a transformation is taking place on the inside. These changes may look like they’re for the worst, but they are working for the good. Some of the changes may be in our relationships, on our jobs, in our finances, and even in our everyday lives. There may be changes such as break-ups in certain relationships, lay-offs or even involuntary terminations on our jobs. Finances may become strained. Even our health may be affected as well. So often when these changes start to take place, we think the devil is the one responsible. Well guess what? It’s not the devil; it’s God. The devil may have brought it, but God sent it. This is His way of placing us in a position of total trust in Him.
When we start to lose material things when submitting to the will of God, it can only be for at least three reasons: 1) We were out of God’s timing when we puchased them, 2) It was something that was never a part of God’s plan for our lives, and/or 3) These things have been more valuable to us than God and He has to move them out of the way to get our attention. In other words, He may have to back us up to catch us up.
God allows some things to change on the outside in order to change some things on the inside. Just like anything of value, it gets worse before it gets better. Real gold has to go through purification by fire,a major meltdown, and tested, to be considered true gold. During a major construction project, or even reconstruction, there has to be a tearing down before a building up. Even for a surgery to be successful, the surgeon has to cut and dig and…..well you know what I mean.
We are just that valuable to God that He has to clean us out before he cleans us up. He has to purify us by taking some things out of us that we may not have known we had (jealousy, envy, strife, malice, hatred, lasciviousness, bitterness, animosity, pride, lust, lying, etc.) to put the things in us that are pleasing to Him (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, and self-control).
Surprisingly so, no matter how long we’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, we still may not have submitted to the will of God. Jesus is truly our Savior; we just may have not accepted Him as Lord. But God still loves us and He only wants what’s best for us. He is faithful to His Word and He has a divine plan for our lives.
Now if we are hesitant, or even fearful, to pray the transforming prayer, it shows that we haven’t completely submitted our will to the will of God. This also gives indication that we know there are some things in our lives that we have not surrendered to God and that we are not ready to face the truth about. The reality is that we need to accept the truth about who we actually are and what’s really going on in our lives no matter what others think about us. Time out for impressing people and time in for pleasing God. We need to allow God to deal with us, so we can be all that He wants us to be. If we don’t, we will only cheat ourselves out of knowing God for who He really is, and continue on living our lives according to who we think He is.
Now please be aware that it was never meant for us as believers to do anything on our own. We have our helper, the Holy Spirit, to lead us into all truth. Even when we get off track, which we all do sometimes, He will convict us unto righteousness. We just have to be willing to be led and accept the conviction.
So I encourage you to submit your will to the will of God and pray the prayer that transforms lives. Your life will never be the same. You will experience peace that surpasses all understanding, strength beyond measure, and moreover, a closer and more intimate relationship with God.
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not “God bless me to be a millionaire”. It’s not, “Master make me the head and not the tail”. It’s not “Lord place my enemies under my feet”. It‘s not even “Father bless me to minister all over the world”. The most transforming prayer that can be prayed is, “Father let your will be done in my life. I submit my will to your will. In Jesus’ name, Amen”.
Why is this prayer so transforming? Because when we pray this prayer as believers, we allow God to do in our lives what He desires to do and not what we desire for Him to do. We also allow Him to reposition us to be what He wants us to be so we can do what He wants us to do. We assume that our hopes, dreams, and goals are Gods hopes, dreams and goals for us as well. This may or may not be true, but the only way to really know for sure is to submit our will unto the will of God by praying the transforming prayer.
Now if you noticed, I used the phrase, “we allow God”. That’s right. The all-powerful God wants our permission to come in and transform our lives. Revelation 3:20 reads, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me”.
When God created us, He gave us a will. Merriam-Webster defines “will” as desire, wish, appetite, passion, choice, and
determination. These are some strong “will” words. God doesn’t force His way on us or break down our door. The doorknob is on the inside. He loves us and He wants us to accept His will and His way willingly.
Now please don’t be mistaken in thinking that He can’t override our will. Believe me, if we have gone too far in our disobedience, He can and He will! He can do what He wants to, when He wants to, how He wants to, to whom He wants to. Not to mention, there is consequence for sin and disobedience. But because of His grace and mercy He gives us time to make the righteous choice. He wants us to surrender to Him on our own. God doesn’t want us to obey Him out of obligation, He wants us to obey Him because we love and trust Him. Think about it, if you were Him, wouldn’t you want the same?
We may even choose to disobey God and He still may not do anything to stop us. Think about Adam and Eve for instance. God told them they could eat from every tree in the garden, just not from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but still they disobeyed. Now we know God is all-knowing. When they were about to sin (the sin that would affect generations to come, by the way), couldn’t He have spoken in His powerful voice of authority and yelled “Stop! Halt! You’re going the wrong way! You are about to affect generations to come!” But instead, God did nothing! He didn’t stop them because He wanted them to be obedient to what He’d told them not to do.
God may not even stop us from making certain decisions or doing certain things that He totally disapproves of. Just like He didn’t stop Adam and Eve, He won’t stop us. So a lot of us as believers have been deceived into thinking that just because God doesn’t stop us, it must be His will and He must approves. We live under the assumption that our wants are okay with God, whether we submit to His will or not. I mean, surely He wants what we want, right? Believe it or not, some of us have jobs, careers and even lifestyles that was never apart of God's plan for lives.
We could be wealthy and still be out of the will of God. For instance, there are atheist that are billionaires. But "only a fool hath said in his heart, there is no God (Psalm 14:1)". We even drive cars and live in houses that God had nothing to do with. Is it because He doesn't want us to have these things? That couldn' be farther from the truth. God wants us to trust in Him with all of our heart and lean not unto our own understanding. We should acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our path (Proverbs 3:5&6). If we didn’t submit our decisions to God before we made them, we were already out of His will. God and God alone knows what’s best for us.
Now asking God to let His will be done in our lives will cause what may look like negative changes on the outside, but a transformation is taking place on the inside. These changes may look like they’re for the worst, but they are working for the good. Some of the changes may be in our relationships, on our jobs, in our finances, and even in our everyday lives. There may be changes such as break-ups in certain relationships, lay-offs or even involuntary terminations on our jobs. Finances may become strained. Even our health may be affected as well. So often when these changes start to take place, we think the devil is the one responsible. Well guess what? It’s not the devil; it’s God. The devil may have brought it, but God sent it. This is His way of placing us in a position of total trust in Him.
When we start to lose material things when submitting to the will of God, it can only be for at least three reasons: 1) We were out of God’s timing when we puchased them, 2) It was something that was never a part of God’s plan for our lives, and/or 3) These things have been more valuable to us than God and He has to move them out of the way to get our attention. In other words, He may have to back us up to catch us up.
God allows some things to change on the outside in order to change some things on the inside. Just like anything of value, it gets worse before it gets better. Real gold has to go through purification by fire,a major meltdown, and tested, to be considered true gold. During a major construction project, or even reconstruction, there has to be a tearing down before a building up. Even for a surgery to be successful, the surgeon has to cut and dig and…..well you know what I mean.
We are just that valuable to God that He has to clean us out before he cleans us up. He has to purify us by taking some things out of us that we may not have known we had (jealousy, envy, strife, malice, hatred, lasciviousness, bitterness, animosity, pride, lust, lying, etc.) to put the things in us that are pleasing to Him (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance, and self-control).
Surprisingly so, no matter how long we’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus, we still may not have submitted to the will of God. Jesus is truly our Savior; we just may have not accepted Him as Lord. But God still loves us and He only wants what’s best for us. He is faithful to His Word and He has a divine plan for our lives.
Now if we are hesitant, or even fearful, to pray the transforming prayer, it shows that we haven’t completely submitted our will to the will of God. This also gives indication that we know there are some things in our lives that we have not surrendered to God and that we are not ready to face the truth about. The reality is that we need to accept the truth about who we actually are and what’s really going on in our lives no matter what others think about us. Time out for impressing people and time in for pleasing God. We need to allow God to deal with us, so we can be all that He wants us to be. If we don’t, we will only cheat ourselves out of knowing God for who He really is, and continue on living our lives according to who we think He is.
Now please be aware that it was never meant for us as believers to do anything on our own. We have our helper, the Holy Spirit, to lead us into all truth. Even when we get off track, which we all do sometimes, He will convict us unto righteousness. We just have to be willing to be led and accept the conviction.
So I encourage you to submit your will to the will of God and pray the prayer that transforms lives. Your life will never be the same. You will experience peace that surpasses all understanding, strength beyond measure, and moreover, a closer and more intimate relationship with God.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)………for real !!!
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at age 16. Although I was such a young man, I made up my mind to give God and His Word a try. I attended church faithfully and was heavily involved in the youth department. I was even chosen to be in a major play at the church that was to be performed at several other churches as well. This is when I had my first faith experience as a new convert.
It all started when the annual youth department Fun Day was scheduled to take place one Saturday. Oh yes Fun Day. A day of fun and games, competition, laughter, and.....and..... well you just had to be there. The anticipation of the day alone was exhilarating enough for us as youth. In addition, the big play was also to be performed on that same day. A day that will never be forgotten.
The Friday evening before the exciting Saturday, I was at the church when I received some surprising, yet disappointing news. Due to the time conflict between the youth Fun Day and the play, I was not going to able to attend one of them, and it wasn't the play. I knew the play was scheduled, I just wasn't aware there would be a conflict in time. Although, this came as A CRUSHING BLOW TO A FAITHFUL MEMBER OF THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT WHO LOVES TO HAVE FUN!!!..... I'm sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Although this news came unexpectedly, believe it or not, with the strength of God , I responded with, "It's Ok. I understand". After all, I was the only one assigned my role in the play. I had to be there.
I returned home that evening convinced that I would not make Fun Day the next day. I even started to get out my clothes and the other equipment I needed for the play. But a still, small voice down inside of me (none other than the Holy Spirit) would not allow me to let it go. I was even reminded of a sermon my pastor had preached entitled,"Stepping Out On Faith".
All of a sudden, I started preparing to attend Fun Day as well as the play. I'm talking shorts, tennis shoes, socks, the works. Crazy huh? My sister was present when I was given the news about the conflict in the schedule, so imagine what she thought when she saw what I was doing. She proceeded to ask," What are you doing? You were told you can't go to Fun Day". My responce to her was simply, "I know", but I was still motivated to continue packing. I didn't know what was happening.
Early the next morning, I got out of the bed, put on my Fun Day gear, grabbed my things for the play, sat in the living room, and waited. Waited for what, I wasn't sure. My sister had also awakened, and once again I was greeted with the question of all questions,"What are you doing?"
I responded, "I'm waiting." Fortunately, she just left the room.
Not too long after, the telephone rang. It sent chills through my body. I wasn't even waiting on a call. I answered it and it was for my sister. For some reason I felt deflated. But I realized then, God was letting me know in some peculiar way that I was waiting on a call. From whom, I didn't know. The phone rang again and it was for me, however it wasn't the call I was waiting on. But then the amazing happened.
After I hung up the phone, I continued to wait. Less than five minutes later, the phone rang once again. It was one of the youth who was at the church that morning waiting to leave for Fun Day. She said to me that the Driver knew of my situation and said that if I could get there in a few minutes, he would make sure I would make it to the play on time after Fun Day was done. I lived less than ten minutes from the church. I got there in five. I learned what faith in God was all about through that experience (or so I thought).
For instance, a couple of years or so later, the youth department had another event I wanted to attend. I used the same faith, prepared the same way, and didn't go. God was letting me know, it was time to grow...up. Time out for the faith of a child, it was time to learn the faith of a man. As we grow and mature as believers, not only should our faith grow, but our knowledge of faith should mature.
It's like the first time we trusted God for a close parking spot. As soon as we drove to the front, someone pulled out and we pulled in. Coincedence? I think not. But now, we either have to drive around ten times (we could have been in the building) or we end up parking in any available spot, maybe in the front, but most likely in the back. We used the same childhood faith, the only problem was we were adults. We needed to walk.
Any loving parent wants to give their child anything they ask for. But they know that is not a responsible thing to do. It will only cause the child to become spoiled and selfish. The child may even have a right to everything they ask for but the parent has just as much of a right to say no. The child may kick , scream and say to the parent," You never let me do or have anything". Eventhough last week they were the best parent in the world when they said yes to what their child was asking. The parent may even look like they are being cruel but any good parent knows what's best for their child. A responsible parent knows that objecting to certain things that their child may ask for, trains the child to grow up and become respectable and responsible. It also teaches them to honor those who have rule over them.
God is the same way with His chilren. He doesn't want us to grow-up to be spoiled spiritual brats no matter how much faith in Him we have.
He wants us to understand that just because we use our faith to name it and claim it, blab it and grab it, and even seek it and speak it, doesn't mean we will receive it just because we believe it. Just like children we may do our kicking and screaming as well. When God answers us right away, we praise Him with, "You are such an awesome God!" But when He doesn't He has to hear, "Don't you love me? What about me? What about my needs? God where are you? God responds with, " I'm in the same place I was in yesterday when you were praising me for saying yes immediately".
God wants us to have the faith to know that if we call, He will answer. He wants to supply our every need. He just wants us to be mature enough to wait and learn what our needs really are. Not our wants, but our needs. He wants us to learn what real faith in Him is all about.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33). Moreover, Without faith it's impossible to please God......for real!
When reading or quoting this scripture, the word “faith” is so often the focus. In reality “to please God” is the key part of the scripture.
Hebrews 11: 1 describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of
things not seen.” Another way to describe faith is to believe and trust at the beginning even though you have not seen the end. Did you know that you can have faith and still not please God? A person can have faith in so many different areas that pleasing God can get lost in the shuffle.
For instance, there are those who have faith in nature. Their belief is to let nature take its
course and whatever happens happens. The main problem with this theory is that nothing
takes its course unless God allows it to.
Another example that we hear so often is “Have faith in yourself”. Although this may be considered a very positive thought, the reality is without God we can do nothing.
A final example is having faith in faith. This is usually tied to a religion, denomination or even a state of mind. You may have heard some people say “I am of the Catholic faith” or even “the Protestant faith”. Or they may even say “You may not know it, but I have faith on the inside,” while the whole time not realizing that you can be connected to a religion or denomination, or even have faith from the top of your head to the sole of your feet and still not please God. Not to mention, no matter how much faith you have on the inside, faith without works is dead. Real faith in anything shows action.
Even some of us who are considered the body of Christ have missed the mark when
it comes to this scripture. Yes, a number of us who have accepted Jesus as our personal savior and have been saved for a long time, have been misled when it comes to what it really means to have the faith that pleases God. So many of us have known the Word, just not the revelation of the Word.
In this day and time that we live in, the Word of God has gotten so distorted that it is
not about what God wants but about what we want as children of God. We read the Word to find what will please us and not what will please Him. We’ve even compromised certain scriptures to meet our own needs and desires. For example some of us quote John 15:7 as “Ask and it shall be given”. But the scripture actually reads “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it shall be given”.
Another example is Psalm 37:4. So often this scripture is quoted, “The Lord is going to give me the desires of my heart”. Another misquoted faux pas. The Word of God tells us to,“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart”. We may be interested in asking and receiving or even getting the desires of our heart while God is more interested in us abiding and delighting in Him. When we really have faith in God and understand the real meaning of the scripture, we will find it is not about what we are trusting God for or what we are trusting Him to do. It is about the intimacy that should be building while we are waiting for Him to do what we are believing and trusting Him for. That’s right, real faith in God builds intimacy (into me...see).
That’s what the wait is for. Please know that God can do what we ask Him to do as soon as we ask Him. He knows our needs before we even ask. The reason He takes His time is because He wants to get closer to us and He wants us to get closer to Him. So close, in fact, that what we are believing Him for becomes secondary. God wants us to have an attitude of faith. A true attitude of faith is the attitude we have while we are waiting and trusting God. An attitude of faith builds character. It is the things we say, the way we think , and the things we do. Are we complaining during the wait? Do we become critical toward others or even toward God while we are waiting? Do we take matters into our own hands because we don’t want to wait, we are tired of waiting, we don’t think we should wait, or we think that God is being unfair?
This is when God wants us to exercise our faith with "waits". Just as it is important to our physical man to conquer weights, it is just as, if not more important, for our spiritual man to conquer "waits". Weights strengthen, builds, and forms our outer man. Whereas, "waits" strenghthen, builds, and transforms our inner man. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:14).
God wants us to praise Him for what He has already done even though it looks like He is not doing anything right now. He wants us to become content and satisfied with knowing that He is always with us and He loves us, and that no matter what happens in our lives we realize we belong to Him, and that’s what pleases Him.
There is no doubt that whatever it is that we are having faith in God for will perish. It may be for deliverance from trials and tribulations, situations and circumstances, healing of sickness and disease, or even provision for a house, car, money, etc. It will all pass away. But when we have an intimate relationship with God, that never perishes. He knows you and He wants you to know Him. As a result, you don’t have faith in Him because of what He does; you have faith in Him because of who He is. He is ever-loving, ever-present, all-knowing, and almighty. He is God.
Until next time,
Keep faith real
It all started when the annual youth department Fun Day was scheduled to take place one Saturday. Oh yes Fun Day. A day of fun and games, competition, laughter, and.....and..... well you just had to be there. The anticipation of the day alone was exhilarating enough for us as youth. In addition, the big play was also to be performed on that same day. A day that will never be forgotten.
The Friday evening before the exciting Saturday, I was at the church when I received some surprising, yet disappointing news. Due to the time conflict between the youth Fun Day and the play, I was not going to able to attend one of them, and it wasn't the play. I knew the play was scheduled, I just wasn't aware there would be a conflict in time. Although, this came as A CRUSHING BLOW TO A FAITHFUL MEMBER OF THE YOUTH DEPARTMENT WHO LOVES TO HAVE FUN!!!..... I'm sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, back to what I was saying. Although this news came unexpectedly, believe it or not, with the strength of God , I responded with, "It's Ok. I understand". After all, I was the only one assigned my role in the play. I had to be there.
I returned home that evening convinced that I would not make Fun Day the next day. I even started to get out my clothes and the other equipment I needed for the play. But a still, small voice down inside of me (none other than the Holy Spirit) would not allow me to let it go. I was even reminded of a sermon my pastor had preached entitled,"Stepping Out On Faith".
All of a sudden, I started preparing to attend Fun Day as well as the play. I'm talking shorts, tennis shoes, socks, the works. Crazy huh? My sister was present when I was given the news about the conflict in the schedule, so imagine what she thought when she saw what I was doing. She proceeded to ask," What are you doing? You were told you can't go to Fun Day". My responce to her was simply, "I know", but I was still motivated to continue packing. I didn't know what was happening.
Early the next morning, I got out of the bed, put on my Fun Day gear, grabbed my things for the play, sat in the living room, and waited. Waited for what, I wasn't sure. My sister had also awakened, and once again I was greeted with the question of all questions,"What are you doing?"
I responded, "I'm waiting." Fortunately, she just left the room.
Not too long after, the telephone rang. It sent chills through my body. I wasn't even waiting on a call. I answered it and it was for my sister. For some reason I felt deflated. But I realized then, God was letting me know in some peculiar way that I was waiting on a call. From whom, I didn't know. The phone rang again and it was for me, however it wasn't the call I was waiting on. But then the amazing happened.
After I hung up the phone, I continued to wait. Less than five minutes later, the phone rang once again. It was one of the youth who was at the church that morning waiting to leave for Fun Day. She said to me that the Driver knew of my situation and said that if I could get there in a few minutes, he would make sure I would make it to the play on time after Fun Day was done. I lived less than ten minutes from the church. I got there in five. I learned what faith in God was all about through that experience (or so I thought).
For instance, a couple of years or so later, the youth department had another event I wanted to attend. I used the same faith, prepared the same way, and didn't go. God was letting me know, it was time to grow...up. Time out for the faith of a child, it was time to learn the faith of a man. As we grow and mature as believers, not only should our faith grow, but our knowledge of faith should mature.
It's like the first time we trusted God for a close parking spot. As soon as we drove to the front, someone pulled out and we pulled in. Coincedence? I think not. But now, we either have to drive around ten times (we could have been in the building) or we end up parking in any available spot, maybe in the front, but most likely in the back. We used the same childhood faith, the only problem was we were adults. We needed to walk.
Any loving parent wants to give their child anything they ask for. But they know that is not a responsible thing to do. It will only cause the child to become spoiled and selfish. The child may even have a right to everything they ask for but the parent has just as much of a right to say no. The child may kick , scream and say to the parent," You never let me do or have anything". Eventhough last week they were the best parent in the world when they said yes to what their child was asking. The parent may even look like they are being cruel but any good parent knows what's best for their child. A responsible parent knows that objecting to certain things that their child may ask for, trains the child to grow up and become respectable and responsible. It also teaches them to honor those who have rule over them.
God is the same way with His chilren. He doesn't want us to grow-up to be spoiled spiritual brats no matter how much faith in Him we have.
He wants us to understand that just because we use our faith to name it and claim it, blab it and grab it, and even seek it and speak it, doesn't mean we will receive it just because we believe it. Just like children we may do our kicking and screaming as well. When God answers us right away, we praise Him with, "You are such an awesome God!" But when He doesn't He has to hear, "Don't you love me? What about me? What about my needs? God where are you? God responds with, " I'm in the same place I was in yesterday when you were praising me for saying yes immediately".
God wants us to have the faith to know that if we call, He will answer. He wants to supply our every need. He just wants us to be mature enough to wait and learn what our needs really are. Not our wants, but our needs. He wants us to learn what real faith in Him is all about.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added (Matthew 6:33). Moreover, Without faith it's impossible to please God......for real!
When reading or quoting this scripture, the word “faith” is so often the focus. In reality “to please God” is the key part of the scripture.
Hebrews 11: 1 describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of
things not seen.” Another way to describe faith is to believe and trust at the beginning even though you have not seen the end. Did you know that you can have faith and still not please God? A person can have faith in so many different areas that pleasing God can get lost in the shuffle.
For instance, there are those who have faith in nature. Their belief is to let nature take its
course and whatever happens happens. The main problem with this theory is that nothing
takes its course unless God allows it to.
Another example that we hear so often is “Have faith in yourself”. Although this may be considered a very positive thought, the reality is without God we can do nothing.
A final example is having faith in faith. This is usually tied to a religion, denomination or even a state of mind. You may have heard some people say “I am of the Catholic faith” or even “the Protestant faith”. Or they may even say “You may not know it, but I have faith on the inside,” while the whole time not realizing that you can be connected to a religion or denomination, or even have faith from the top of your head to the sole of your feet and still not please God. Not to mention, no matter how much faith you have on the inside, faith without works is dead. Real faith in anything shows action.
Even some of us who are considered the body of Christ have missed the mark when
it comes to this scripture. Yes, a number of us who have accepted Jesus as our personal savior and have been saved for a long time, have been misled when it comes to what it really means to have the faith that pleases God. So many of us have known the Word, just not the revelation of the Word.
In this day and time that we live in, the Word of God has gotten so distorted that it is
not about what God wants but about what we want as children of God. We read the Word to find what will please us and not what will please Him. We’ve even compromised certain scriptures to meet our own needs and desires. For example some of us quote John 15:7 as “Ask and it shall be given”. But the scripture actually reads “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask what you will and it shall be given”.
Another example is Psalm 37:4. So often this scripture is quoted, “The Lord is going to give me the desires of my heart”. Another misquoted faux pas. The Word of God tells us to,“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart”. We may be interested in asking and receiving or even getting the desires of our heart while God is more interested in us abiding and delighting in Him. When we really have faith in God and understand the real meaning of the scripture, we will find it is not about what we are trusting God for or what we are trusting Him to do. It is about the intimacy that should be building while we are waiting for Him to do what we are believing and trusting Him for. That’s right, real faith in God builds intimacy (into me...see).
That’s what the wait is for. Please know that God can do what we ask Him to do as soon as we ask Him. He knows our needs before we even ask. The reason He takes His time is because He wants to get closer to us and He wants us to get closer to Him. So close, in fact, that what we are believing Him for becomes secondary. God wants us to have an attitude of faith. A true attitude of faith is the attitude we have while we are waiting and trusting God. An attitude of faith builds character. It is the things we say, the way we think , and the things we do. Are we complaining during the wait? Do we become critical toward others or even toward God while we are waiting? Do we take matters into our own hands because we don’t want to wait, we are tired of waiting, we don’t think we should wait, or we think that God is being unfair?
This is when God wants us to exercise our faith with "waits". Just as it is important to our physical man to conquer weights, it is just as, if not more important, for our spiritual man to conquer "waits". Weights strengthen, builds, and forms our outer man. Whereas, "waits" strenghthen, builds, and transforms our inner man. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord (Psalm 27:14).
God wants us to praise Him for what He has already done even though it looks like He is not doing anything right now. He wants us to become content and satisfied with knowing that He is always with us and He loves us, and that no matter what happens in our lives we realize we belong to Him, and that’s what pleases Him.
There is no doubt that whatever it is that we are having faith in God for will perish. It may be for deliverance from trials and tribulations, situations and circumstances, healing of sickness and disease, or even provision for a house, car, money, etc. It will all pass away. But when we have an intimate relationship with God, that never perishes. He knows you and He wants you to know Him. As a result, you don’t have faith in Him because of what He does; you have faith in Him because of who He is. He is ever-loving, ever-present, all-knowing, and almighty. He is God.
Until next time,
Keep faith real
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