His Will, His Way

 “God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes.”

Philippians 2:13

Although uncomfortable by some things in this real of faith, I am humbled to be a witness to all that God is doing in me and all around me.

God is faithful.

I see many Christians today chasing after the will of God as though it were a goal that they themselves came up with.

I see unwise strategies and godless tactics being molded together to attain the will of God for our lives, but all to no avail.

It seems as though many of us want God’s will and promises, but we think we can get it our own way. In fact, some of us ascribe those thoughts and ideas to God even though we know that the Spirit of God in us oppose our ways.

I can personally attest that whatever God wills already has His way attached to it. His Will, His Way!

When God wants you to do something for His name and His purpose, He has already created His Way to align with His Will.

 I have heard it said often that, “God is a gentleman.”

As powerful and mighty as He is, we serve a gentle God who is merciful and loving toward us. God may permit your way because you have chosen to exercise the freewill He has given you, but God will not permit you to dishonor His Will.

His Will, His Way!

What God says will be, is already as He said, we are just yet to see it.

I find that we often try to place the Will of a timeless God in the confines of our own limited time here on earth. When God tell you to do something, He will always tell you How to do it. He may not show you “How” but He will tell you. God is particular about the How.

It is in this ‘How’ that you and I see the hand of God. It is in this ‘How’ that we come to revere His majesty. It is in this ‘How’ that we find intimacy with the Maker. It is in this ‘How’ that our faith is stretched to the capacity of the fulfillment of God’s promise.

So I urge you today to pay attention to ‘How’ you are living your life and going about getting to promise. I pray you take a moment to reflect on whether or not you are after His Will, His Way.

May the Lord of Hosts continue to lead us in His Way as we seek after His Will in Jesus name. Amen.

Confidence In God – part 2

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”

Hebrews 10:35

 Friend, Christ is our CONFIDENCE!

We can have CONFIDENCE in God because He gave us Christ! If we believe in Christ, if we believe that He is in us, then we believe that He that resurrected after death, that defied EVERY odds, that conquered every impossibility, that defied ALL limitations, HE, THAT CHRIST is in me and you!

This is our CONFIDENCE.

Our CONFIDENCE in God is the CONFIDENCE in us as believers.

 That is why man cannot take it away from us. That is why the situation cannot take it away from you. Your confidence is yours to give away or throw away. So what have you done with yours?

Better yet, how do we keep or take back our confidence if we have lost it?

The Word says to look back for a moment. Look back and remember where you were. Look back and recollect what God has brought you out of time and time again. Look back on the you that was when you did not know Christ. Look back and remember what grace and God’s power has enabled you to do to push through to this place you are in now.

Now ask yourself, do you not serve a faithful God who has been mighty to save over and over and over and over again?

Ask yourself, is HE not worthy to be praised even in your current predicament?

Friend, your CONFIDENCE in God is your reminder that HE that did it back then can and will do it again. He that got you out of that one will get you out of this one. HE that did this, can do that. HE that created the world can create a new opportunity, a new perspective, a new heart of worship, a new way!

Take the limits off of God! HE can do anything! We know that HE can because HE already did! Christ already came down! Heaven already appointed you for your calling and you need your CONFIDENCE in God to reach it.

I pray for you as I pray for me.

May your confidence begin to come back to you now! May your CONFIDENCE in God cause you to trample upon doubts and the enemy’s lies. And may your conscience be renewed in righteousness again in Jesus name. Amen.

Confidence In God – part 1

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.”

Hebrews 10:35

As a child, many of us were told to be confident in ourselves, to believe in ourselves and our ability to do anything we put our minds to.

Childhood naivete does not yet receive the fullness of those messages. Then we learn what faith is. We learn who Christ Is. We grow and learn who God Is. We become familiar with the Holy Spirit of God. We become confident in the knowing of our Father, the Creator.

Then life happens, so we lose confidence.

Friend, God said to get your confidence back! Not the confidence that relies on your abilities, your flesh, and your capacity, but the confidence in HIM!

Are you confident in God?

I know many of us believe in God and we believe that He can do anything, but are you CONFIDENT in God?

When the situation looks as bad as it does, and your heart is as broken as it is, and you are as confused as you are, are you CONFIDENT in God?

When the bills are more than the money, and the foes are more than friends, or the friends turn out to be the foes, are you CONFIDENT in God?

When the deal does not go through, and the relationship ends, and the lying voices come against you to tell you that you were never good enough, are you CONFIDENT in God?

I know all too well how easy it is to lose confidence in the gap between who you are and who you are called to be. I am in that gap now. That gap that separates what God promised and when the promise is in your hands.

But as the scripture above reads, we are not to throw away our confidence. We are not to give control of it to the current dilemma or even the past. Friend, do you know that your confidence is not in the hands of man, but inside of you???

FINISH READING HERE

Stop Forgetting That God Remembers

“Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you…”

Deuteronomy 4:23

When I was younger, there was an old African Hymn at my church that urged God to remember us in our ‘lack’ and to remember HIS promises to us. Although the hymn was often sung as worship, looking back now, I wonder if God chuckles at our prayers that seek HIM to remember us.

As if God could ever forget His own.

Friend, God remembers all. Aren’t we the ones who continue to forget His word? His promises? His commands?

Are we not the ones who fail to remember that we serve a God who never sleeps nor slumbers? A sower who knows where He has planted ever seed? A rainmaker who knows when to let the rain pour on the seeds He planted?

God is God! He remembers every single word you ever uttered since you learned to speak. He remembers every heartbreak you have endured since you learned to feel. He remembers every promise that He made to you, your mother, your grandmother, your great-grandparents, and even to their parents!

He is God – The Alpha and Omega!

Often times, we let our worries, our human mind, our human understanding, our human analysis get the best of us and we forget how Great our God is! We forget the miracles of old that we read in the Old Testament. We forget the miracles that fell for our eyes only when no one else was watching! We forget how amazing God is!

So we become bothered, we get discouraged, we let our thoughts overwhelm us, we let the events of today distract us from yesterday’s promises, and tomorrow’s harvest. Allow me to remind you that God still remembers! He never forgot and He never forgets!

We serve a good good Father. One whose mercy and grace is new every morning. I dare you to awaken your mind to the limitless possibilities of a limitless God! I dare you to remember how certain His word Is! I dare you to encourage yourself to keep believing for that miracle that the enemy wants you to forget because of what it looks like right now!

Friend, God remembers! In due season, in due time, His word will surely come to pass!

I pray for a reviving spirit to come over your mind today. May a refreshing wind from heaven overwhelm your soul today. May you be lifted up again, expecting again, believing again, remembering again, that the Lord your God is for you and has not forgotten you. Your seed is still right on time in Jesus name. Amen!

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Jesus. The Sweetest Name.

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1 : 21

Jesus.

I recently heard one of my favorite worship songs and I could not believe the sense of gratitude that washed over me just by hearing the name of Jesus.

Jesus.

The one name that is greater than all other names. The name that tells the story of God’s love. The name that tells a story of our salvation. The name that tells the story of unconditional, undying, eternal love. The name of Jesus.

I realize that as time goes by, as youth fades away more and more, God graces His people with new insight, new wisdom about who He is and what He did to reconcile us to Him. Jesus was the answer to everything from the very beginning.

Truly, I’m in awe sometimes when I think about the price Love paid to set me free, to win my heart, to save my life. Jesus.

What a beautiful name it is. What a glorious, powerful, beautiful name it is. Jesus.

Everytime I say it, I feel like something moves. Something bows. Something aligns. Something breaks. Something lifts.

Jesus. Our brother. Our savior. Our redeemer. Our truest friend. Jesus.

The son of Man who gave His life, who surrendered His back to endure the heavy stripes for my sins. The son of Man who conquered death to give me eternal life. The son of Man who brought heaven to earth to prove His love for me. The son of Man who did what no man ever could, what no man ever will. The name that changed all of history.

Jesus.

At times we get too caught up simply using His name to pray and bring our supplications to the Father. Yet we don’t say the name enough.

Jesus. The sweetest name of all.

Aren’t you so thankful for the name of Jesus?

Your Life Is An Heavenly Investment

“You guided my conception and formed me in the womb.”

Job 10:10

I woke up today with a song in my Spirit. I woke up today with a heart opening to the mercy of a faithful God. I wish I could claim that this happens every day, but it does not.

I wish I could say this purpose-driven, grace-given, mercy-receiving heart of mine wakes up abandoned and surrendered to God’s will all the time, but it doesn’t. Yet, I strive.

It dawned on me this morning on the drive to work, that my life is heaven’s investment.

As I thought deeper on why some of us wake up feeling unfulfilled and unexpecting of greatness, I was reminded by the Spirit of God that it was due to the failure to remember that heaven deposited something in us when the Lord formed us in the womb.

I, much like you, am a living investment of heaven.

Often, we forget. We forget Whose we are, we forget that we are not our own, we forget that Christ was ransomed for us, to live a life of purpose, God’s purpose, a life of intentionality as purposed by the Creator. So we drift.

I wonder if like me, you too wake up with your own thoughts of how to invest time, effort, heart, and love, into everything and everyone, but God.

I wonder if like me, you forget that the grace to wake up each new day to behold new mercy, has nothing to do with luck, but everything to do with the investment of heaven inside you.

Friend, God deposited something greater than you inside you to manifest for His purpose. When He formed you in the darkness of the womb, in the seclusion from any other living being, when He alone breathe life inside you, a heavenly deposit was made in you.

Your life is not a random map of random places with random people because we serve an intentional God.

So you and I can no longer permit a random way of thinking or doing.

Destiny awaits you. Purpose awaits you. Manifestation awaits you. And this is the season to catch up to, to meet up with, and to deliver on Heaven’s investment.

For some of us, this is the season to catch up to destiny. For some, it is the time to meet up with purpose. And for the rest of us, it is the season to deliver on Heaven’s investment.

Now that you and I have been reminded, now that we are sure Whose investment gives us life, how about we begin living this life knowing that heaven is invested in us? How about we begin living life knowing that our life was given to bring forth that which God has deposited?

I pray for the both of us. I pray that our eyes are open to see the Heavenly hosts encamped about us, to begin to see according to heaven’s perspective. I pray that we begin to think with divine wisdom. I pray that we begin to walk and talk and BE that which HEAVEN declare that we are in Jesus name. Amen.

The Work Of Your Hands – part II

“I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.”

Micah 5:13

How often do we consider that the work that we do, the job we commit all your time to, and the creative expressions of our God-given visions, all belong to God?

It is easier to say that God is ruler over our lives than it is for us to give God rule over our lives. So again I ask, do all your works reflect God?

If you are a Christian actor, do you commit to acting in movies that edify other Christians or non-believers with messages about God’s truth?

Or like many God-fearing artists of today, do you wait to receive an award for your dramatic role in a violent or vulgar masterpiece that connotes nothing about God’s word or His kingdom, to ‘thank God’ for His mighty hand over your blossoming career.

Yes indeed, we are favored. We are graced time and time again with God’s favor and goodness when we gain opportunities to prosper. And I thank God for that. But when I see the number of Christians who acclaim their fame and success to God but do not speak words of God, sing words of God, project the image of God or perpetuate messages of God through the work of their own hands, I am paused.

Friend, can you see the work of your own hands? Because if you cannot see it, how then do you expect others to see it?

Are your endeavors led by the purpose of God inside of you?

That thing that you have your hand on, that project you are building your career on, that platform you are boldly claiming as your own, does it reflect Christ and His purpose in our life, in your heart?

Now more than ever, in this season of intentionality, in this realm of manifestation, in this year of breaking forth, we must pause and consider ALL the works of our hands because destiny cannot be formed by hands that lie.

I pray for you as I pray for me. May the Lord of Hosts renew our minds today. May God take over ALL things in our lives as we surrender yet again to His almighty hand. And may we again be re-aligned in all our ways for the sake of God’s purpose in Jesus name. Amen.

The Work Of Your Hands – part I

“I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars, so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.”

Micah 5:13

 When people ask you, “what do you do?” …”who are you?”… “what are you about?”… “what kind of work do you do?”

What is your response? Are you able to answer all these questions with one response? If not, where is the separation? In other words, do you separate how you use God’s gifts from the ‘you’ that receives the gift?

Better yet, are you able to answer all these questions with just one response? If not, where is the separation?

How do you separate how you use God’s gifts from the ‘you’ that receives the gift? How do you put a distance between who you are in God and what you do in the name of God?

Are you the Christian who uses Heaven’s gifts to gain worldly treasures?

A while ago, my pastor commented on the wealth that he believed was in the church. He stated that it is almost unimaginable how rich the House of God would be if we all brought our wealth into the church. Surely, he was not merely referring tithes and offerings, but rather the wealthy gifts that God has given to us. My pastor was calling out the wealth that was in us, the wealth that was us.

Friend, how much of your ‘wealth’ do you give to the world but not to God? Your gift, your heart, your creativity, and your time, how much of it do you give to God? And why have you not given it all?

Often times, we don’t want to consider the many ways that we dishonor God when we use our gifts for our own desires. We try to ignore our misalignment when the work of our hands don’t reflect the Father. But God knows and you know.

Consider that if no one ever saw your face or knew your name, if the world had to testify to who you are by all the works of your hand, would it truly reflect God?

For example, are you a Christian actor or an actor who is Christian?

Are you a Christian doctor or a doctor who is Christian?

Are you a Christian artist or an artist who is Christian?

Are you a Christian teacher or a teacher who is Christian?

Friend, do you know the difference?  FINISH READING HERE

Casting Down The Spirit of Forgetfulness

“But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live!”

Deuteronomy 4:9 

Lately, I have fought to remember what God told me when He ordered me to come to this unknown place. Although I know that all that is tied to my life is according to God’s ordinance, one particular situation has left me conflicted.

I know I heard the Lord speak when He answered a prayer that I had been praying for fervently since I began this walk of faith with Him back in Atlanta.

I know I heard the Lord say this was it. This was the answer I had been waiting for. This was the revelation that was a long time coming. This was it.

So I believed.

Then a fight began to hold on to that which I believed no matter how things looked or felt. During this tug of living in faith and on faith about God’s word to me, the Spirit of God began to remind me the things that I was starting to forget.

God reminded me that He called me out of my father’s house to go out on my own. He reminded me that though I did not know why I was going to where I was going, I knew that there was an undeniable pull to this place. God reminded me that my instincts were under His command and order.

In the silence, when I wanted to gather my sorrows and dig deeper into the spirit of conflict and discontent over what was in front of me concerning this word that God gave me, the Spirit of God did not permit me.

Rather, I was reminded that I know the sound of my Father’s voice. I was reminded that He who started a good work in me is working ALL things for my good, and will bring it to completion. I was reminded that my steps are ordered by God because He called me and I have answered.

I was reminded to trust God completely and to surrender myself to His will.

Friend, I urge you to be still and allow the Holy Spirit to remind you that which you may have forgotten.

In your weakness, in your confusion, in your conflict, or in your unsettled place, are you forgetting the magnitude of the One who calls you “fearfully and wonderfully made?”

Are you forgetting that God is not man that He should lie?

Are you forgetting that He that keeps you neither sleeps nor slumbers?

Are you forgetting that His word to you can never be void?

Friend, are you forgetting the unmovable, unshakeable Almighty power of the Lord your God?

Have you forgotten the faithfulness of God?

I pray for you as I pray for me, that the Spirit of the living God revives our hope in the truth of God today. May we be reminded that which we have forgotten. May the Lord pour out His refreshing rain of hope and grace as we continue faithfully in this walk toward destiny in Jesus name. Amen.

Our Father Says to draw Nearer II

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

James 4:8

We get too used to sleeping and waking up and being healthy physically, running around freely, aiming to attain this thing and that thing, wasting time being so busy with life that we don’t appropriate and prioritize the time to be with God.

We often confine a timeless God to the time we give attending our routine ‘church days.’

Friend, do you realize how much time has been and is still being borrowed as you live in this world? How graceful has God been year after year, preserving your time on earth and that of your loved ones?

How graceful has God been year after year, preserving your time on earth and that of your loved ones?

How much of that time have you given lately to being with God? speaking to Him? listening to Him? singing to Him? Dancing for Him?

Have you drawn nearer to your Father?

I dare you to seek the difference in knowing God as the Creator of the Universe and drawing nearer to Him as your father. Indeed The God we serve is unsearchable but He is never unreachable to His Own.

We sing of the peace that is found when we are nearer to God, the strength that we feel when we are nearer to Him, the joy that we feel when we are nearer to Him, the clarity that is when we are nearer, yet we stray.

I pray today for a renewed longing and yearning for nearness to God.

I pray that we are overwhelmed so much by His love and His grace that we fall humbly at His feet and spend time with Him, basking in His glory and Honor and Holiness. I pray for blurry visions to be made clear and for our hearts to be made new again in purity as we draw nearer still.

May God continue to grant us more of His abounding grace and strength on this path of righteousness in Jesus name. Amen.