Are you Ready?

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established"

Are you waiting on God to do something in your life? Do you think you're at the optimal place and time in your life for God to make His move and release a blessing? If you answered yes to any of those questions then I must ask, Are you ready for what God has for you?  Have you prepared yourself in HIM to receive His blessing? Let those questions marinate as you continue reading this post.

"Wait on God" is a saying that is arguably misused and/or overused in the church body. I say that because often times as believers we sometimes want God to do ALL the work. Our answer to every issue/situation is "Wait on God"; which don't get me wrong, we should be doing. HOWEVER, there are things we are to do while waiting that will prepare us for when He shows up. Don't just prop your feet up and recline in your favorite chair watching reality tv and expect to see God when He shows up and be ready to move. In case you didn't know, clearly hearing God's voice is difficult; it is described in 1 Kings 19 as "a small still voice". Newsflash: You can't hear what you don't know. You have to spend time preparing for the His arrival; fellowship with Him, talk with Him, love on Him, and etc. Or else how would you be able to recognize His small still voice? The more time you spend with God the more you get to know him. The word says in John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me". You first have to belong to Him to hear His voice (hence the possessive pronoun "my"), then He must KNOW you (ex: if you purchase a puppy it may belong to you but it takes time for it to get to KNOW you), and they follow me (once you know His voice you'll follow same as with the example prior).

So, here's a thought...perhaps God is actually waiting on YOU to get your stuff together! God is very careful as to where/when He blesses you. You have to be in position to be blessed. You have to be ready to be blessed. You have to be able to handle God's blessings and not necessarily just for yourself either. When God blesses you it changes EVERYTHING and people around you may not like it so you have to be prepared to deal with that. Bishop T.D. Jakes has a book called "Can You Stand to be Blessed? " I suggest reading that if you haven't. Opposition doesn't stop when you receive your blessing; ask Joseph, David, Jesus, or Paul. Bigger blessings come with bigger responsibilities, spiritually. God has to know that when He blesses you you won't stray or lose your way and that you are able to sustain what He has blessed you with. The only way He knows if you're ready is if you prepare yourself in Him (Show thyself approved). You have to be planted and deeply rooted in him so much so that even the stongest wind wouldn't cause you to be uprooted.   

Let's recall the Bridgegroom parable in Matthew 25; where, there were 10 virgins (5 wise, 5 foolish) waiting on the arrival of the bridegroom. Neither of them knew the hour he would arrive, but they were to be prepared and ready to go whenever he showed up. The foolish ones went without preparing themselves with the oil they would need in the night. The wise, however, went prepared with a sufficient amount of oil for the night. When the bridegroom showed up the foolish looked to the wise for their oil only to find out there was not enough oil to share. I want to PAUSE right there because many people think they can be saved through someone else's salvation but the word says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for YOU"; not you and your foolish friends, not you and your sister/brother, not you and your boyfriend/girlfriend, but YOU and only YOU! Don't expect someone else's commited work to yield a blessing for you. You have to commit to the Lord on your own to receive what He has for you. Back to the parable, the 5 wise women told the 5 foolish ones to go back to buy some oil for themselves. While they were out trying to get prepared at the last minute the Bridgegroom took with him those who had prepared themselves for his coming. Shutting the door on those who were not ready. The foolish 5 returned knocking and begging only to receive the response "Verily I say unto you, I know you not".

I"ll conclude by asking, Are you Ready? Are you in position to receive your blessing? Have you prepared yourself? Are you prepared to deal with being blessed? If your answer to any of those questions is no; in the voice of T.D. Jakes "GET READY, GET READY, GET READY"!

#FearlessFAITH

How you livin'?

Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from Faith to Faith: as it is written, The just shall live by Faith." 

         Please excuse my Ebonics, but how you livin'? What happens when you have an issue occur in your life? Are you the planning type? Meaning if things do not pan out the way you believe, then you doubt God? How you livin'? Do you find yourself finding more faith in dating sites, speed dating, trying to meet people at church, or at weddings than relying on God for your mate? How you livin'? See, it is so easy to proclaim our faith, but to actually live out what we believe is totally different. If we believe in a God that we do not see, we should also believe when we are unable to see when we will get out of the storm, marry, have kids, get healed, so in and so forth. It is the SAME belief system. How can we convince the world that our God is this and that when they see us doubting like they do?

           So the writer states, in order to have the Righteousness of God revealed to us, we must be in The Faith. Without faith we are unable to see God working, moving, believing His Word, and that He cares. For it is written the very hair on our heads are numbered. God does not lie, we do! Why do we find it so hard to keep our faith in Him? There are always options when being put in various trials and difficult moments. Either we can question and ponder what God will do and when will He do it? Or we can keep our word and trust God through our faith in Jesus. Now tell me what will questioning God  accomplish? Will that make us feel better? Is that bringing a smile to God's Face? How do you think He feels when we choose not to trust Him because at this point being Christians we vowed to trust and believe in Him. Point being, you know my "progressed" relationship I thought I had, has now ended since last week. I was hurt, confused, BUT I said I could either wail and doubt or I could choose to live in the faith. The same faith God uses me to tell others about I had to lean on and will have to lean on for the rest of my life. My faith in Jesus is The ONLY thing that is sufficient enough to hold me up in difficult times. I do not know what God is doing. Have no clue if we will get back together, but I do know all things work together for the good of them that love The Lord and them that are The called according to His Purpose. I do know God cares more for me than anyone in this world could and there is no reason to doubt.

            My faith in Christ gives me strength. My faith in Christ shows me Love so with that I CAN Love. My Faith in Christ is really all I have. Everything can be taken away, but no one can take away my Faith! So the just shall live by Faith. Rightfully so, we were bought with a Price. It did not say the just can live by Faith as if we have another option or the just may live by Faith. The just SHALL live by Faith. It is quite impossible to be of God doubting Him all the time. Faith is more than attending church service and Bible study. See people can be fooled with outer appearances. Faith is when no one is around and you are still able to encourage yourself in The Word, pray to God, & listen to Him. God warns us to not be like the people in the synagogues praying long prayers to be seen, but that's a whole other post. Let's practice living in Faith. For what good is it to profess to know God Whom we do not see and doubt The Works He is Doing in our lives that we also are unable to see?

Believe the Dream

Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" 

This scripture is Joseph speaking to his brothers who had long before wronged him. The story of Joseph is one that will surely draw you in; beginning in Genesis 37 and ending in Genesis 50 you will not be able to put your Bible down. 

Joseph was favored; both by his father and by God. With favor comes hatred and his brothers definitely hated him for the favoritism their father showed him. As a teenage boy Joseph was a dreamer later becoming a dream interpreter. He shared his dreams of becoming a leader/ruler with his brothers to which they responded with anger and ridicule. Joseph's father, who favored him, thought the dream was crazy; however, he didn't dismiss the idea. Joseph's brother's decided to plot against him; selling him to Midianite merchants who were headed to Egypt then telling their father he was killed by an animal. The Midianites then sold Joseph to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh. 

At this point I can understand how you might not see the favor over Joseph's life, but if you keep reading you'll soon recognize it. Potiphar recognized something in Joseph, that something was God. Potiphar trusted him because of this making him ruler over his household, so much so that Potiphar himself only had to worry about the food he ate. Again, Joseph was plotted against by Potiphar's wife which ultimately caused him to be imprisoned. And AGAIN, because of God's favor,  the warden put Joseph in charge of everyone being held in the prison. Are you seeing the pattern here? While in prison Joseph was able to show himself as a dream interpreter which ultimately gave him control over the entire land with only Pharaoh having more authority. This happened when Joseph interpreted Pharoah's dream of 7 years of abundance followed by 7 years of famine. During the years of famine Joseph's brother had to come to him for the provisions they needed to survive the difficult time.

Relevance: 

Believe the Dream! Believe what God has placed in you! It doesn't matter where you find yourself in this very moment or how many setbacks you THINK you've had God's plan will still come to pass. In the words of Bishop T.D. Jakes "Favor Ain't Fair". It only takes one person to believe in your dream and that person is YOU. Joseph was ridiculed, plotted against TWICE, lied on, and etc yet he was till exalted. Luke 14:11 says "For whosever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted". Even when Joseph was knocked down he did not complain. He humbled himself, continued to work hard, and waited for God to put him in his rightful place. You may be in a place where you feel like you don't belong, but remember God favors you. When people plot against you to move you out it's actually God moving you UP closer to your rightful place where those who plotted against you and mistreated you will need you.

#FearlessFAITH #MotivationalMonday

Greater is He

1 John 4:4 " You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is within you, than he that is in the world." 

         Before relaying those encouraging words, our brother John warns us of the different spirits that have gone out into the world. Just as Kim discussed in her three part series of The Fruit of The Spirit, some bear fruit and some do not. Same message just different wording. John urges us to test those spirits to see whether they be of God or against Him. Seems like John is a very wise man because he knows while living this life we will encounter some people with opposing spirits living in them contrary to The Spirit of God living in us. We too must be aware that we can't hide in the walls of the church, but must live this life with everything that comes with it! That is why John encourages them, us, even himself to not fear basically. There is seriously nothing we are unable to defeat with God being on our side. It may not seem that way at first glance, but God outnumbers any demon, any enemy, and any army ANY DAY.

   So my dorky self was watching Nat Geo Wild Friday. I was very intrigued at what I was looking at during this particular episode. As I was watching, minding my own business, God plants a Word in my heart that I must share. See, this cobra snake kills at least ten thousand people in India a year. It is roaming through India hungry and seeking its prey for replenishment. The thing is as I was watching the narrator said, the real prey are mice. People are just in the way of what the cobra is actually seeking. Oftentimes, the prey(mice) are living in the homes in India which causes the cobra to come in and while trying to look for and kill the prey they bite the people. Now, the cobra only attacks when something seems larger to it and it feels threaten. You may be wondering where is Marissa going with this? I will get to that. Some of you may already get the gist.

     God shared with me and said, to replace the snake with satan, the mice with what God has planted in us and people remain the same. See, satan is not after us. He is after what God has for us whether  we be saved or not, but especially once we are saved. By offering divers pleasures of this world to keep our minds off wanting to know Jesus is how he paralyzes sinners. As for us that are saved, he bites and attacks us. Why? He does not care about us. He cares about what God wants to do with the sinner and what God is doing with the saints! So don't be alarmed when you are being attacked by the enemy. Satan only attacks when you are a threat to him just like the cobra snake. Satan wants to kill what is in the house. He does not care if we are hurt along the way. Since we are the temple of God, he wants to take away what God has placed within. Not that we are so strong or mighty, but God Who dwells within us for GREATER IS HE that is within us than what?...he that is within the world. There are many spirits that have gone out into the world, but don't panic. For we have The Greatest Spirit of all living in us that overpowers them all, The Spirit of  Righteousness, Holiness, Love,  Peace,  Joy, The Wonderful Spirit of God!

Shaken not Stirred

2 Cor. 4:8 "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair," 
Psa 34:1 " I will bless The Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth." 

          Have you ever had trouble? Have you ever had pain? Have you ever cried? Have you experienced complete devastation? Many of you most likely will answer yes to all three of these and then some. I know I can attest to plenty even though I am young. Being honest some of which came from my own doing and lack of listening to Wise Counsel God so lovingly gives me through His Spirit. In spite of all of my troubles and pain I realize how things are not as bad as I think. Why? Because I acknowledge that my God, The One I talk to, cry to, and learn from is in complete control! The human mind is very interesting. One of the reasons I am desiring to finish school in psychology. Getting back on topic, the way we live is shaped by the way we think. The way we think is shaped by what is imported into our brains. Unknowingly we retrieve bits and pieces of information every day. I always wondered when I was younger, why older people and my family encouraged me to read The Bible each day. Getting older, I definitely appreciate and understand the wisdom they were trying to teach me. What we allow our minds to digest, is distributed through us which shapes our character and is basically working to form who we are as people. It is a process and over time we can sort of tell what a person has been feeding their brain as to why they have certain character traits and behavior patterns. The other portion is probably genetic. I know you all may be wondering why in the world is Marissa talking about the human mind? I will answer that!

          Paul and many others in the text were going through some real problems. Their lives were literally on the line preaching The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Although they went through detrimental situations, they never lost their mind! Why?! Because their mind was stayed on Jesus! No not 24/7, but a good bit of it! If we feed our mind more of God's Word, spend more time talking to Him instead of the street committee then we too can be confident in our own trials and not complaining like the world. Then we have the bro David, who also had a tough time, but still declares The Goodness of Jesus! By stating no matter the state, God DESERVES my praise! That's powerful thinking people. Even going through my current trials, I can honestly say I have been shaken not stirred. Meaning through it all I'm STILL here. I have been hit, but God's Hand never left me. We are unable in our imperfect minds to see any good in trying times in our lives. That is why we drink, smoke, party, shoot up, and whatever else to escape or cope with life. But  through Jesus Christ Blood that was shed on The Cross we are able if we choose to accept to tap into this same mind frame. That's why Paul suggested to let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Jesus mind stayed on His Purpose and He did not allow minor mishaps to detour Him. Same thing I must do, you must do, we must do to not look at the bad, but stay focused on our purpose. Don't know your purpose? Pray to God about it. Not just one time or for two seconds, but sincerely talk to God because without a purpose we will be unable to overcome life's obstacles. That's how David and Paul made it through. They knew what their purpose was in life. So keep in mind trouble will only effect what we allow it to effect! Yes, we will be devastated at times, confused, hurt, and frustrated, but we have The Power to overcome those emotions by digesting The Goodness of God's Word which will produce thoughts that brings LIFE to a seemingly dead situation! Enjoy your weekend 😄

Know Your God

2 Corinthians 12:9 "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 

To understand this scripture you must first understand the terms used here starting with "grace". Grace is simply the goodness of God, a fruit of the Spirit, God giving to you what you don't deserve. Sufficiency (used here as sufficient) simply means "of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement BUT without being abundant). Pardon me for the vocabulary lesson, but it is necessary for FULL understanding of this Word. Infirmity (used here in its plural form, infirmities) is "the state of being weak in health or body". Now we can interpret this scripture as saying God's grace is all you need, nothing less and nothing more. When you are at your weakest that's when His strength is most evident. So no matter how weak, unhealthy (both physically and mentally), or hurt you are STILL, with gladness, give honor to His name. There isn't anything you are going through that God didn't qualify you to deal with. 

I've encountered some strong individuals throughout my lifetime and I often say to myself "I don't know how he/she is holding up so good with all he/she is going through" Then I'm reminded of this scripture along with many others that talks about God's strength in us; Isaiah 40:29, Isaiah 41:10, Exodus 15:2, just to name a few. 

Often times it's not what you have before you go into a situation it's about what God gives you while you're there. You have to be willing to do what you can with what you have.; knowing that what little you have is sufficient. In church, a few weeks ago, one of our associate pastors told a story about having a job at the candy store when he was a boy. Every week he would send his bigger cousin to pick up his pay, which was a hand full of candy. One day the owner asked why he never picked up his own pay and he replied "because my cousin's hands are bigger than mine, they can hold much more candy". He concluded with "God's hands are bigger than our hands". Therefore what is big to us is small to God, what we can't bare God can, what we can't HANDle God can. Stop trying to handle it yourself, stop trying to carry what was never intended for you to carry! Cast your cares on the Lord because He cares for you. 

Know who your God is! He is God Almighty, The MOST High God, The EVERLASTING God, The Creator, a Provider, a Healer, a Comforter, Lord of Peace, Lord of Righteousness, etc. He doesn't have a history of calling out the most qualified people Abraham was old, Moses too was old, David was a Shepard boy, Jacob was abandoned and a imprisoned, Jesus was raised a carpenter, Paul (formerly known as Saul) was a blasphemer, and so on. None of them had easy lives but through prayer God prepared them, through faith God provided for them, and through grace God blessed them. 

I Want What's Mine!

2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight"

Picture this: Someone wants to surprise their loved one with something big. They grab the person by the hand and cover their eyes leading them to the place where the surpise/gift is located. The closer they get to the gift the more the guider/gifter wants to ensure that the person cannot see before the time is right. At some point along the journey the guider/gifter may say "trust me you're going to love this" or "don't stop we're almost there" or "be patient we're getting close". Once they arrive to the place the surprise/gift is often more than they could've imagined making the journey worthwhile. The journey to the place (the listening, the waiting, the trusting) is what humbles you to rightfully receive what is yours.  

That's a good way to look at our spiritual walk. We are on a journey to something that is much bigger than we could ever imagine. Prior to this, 1 Corinthians 2:9 says " But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him". Therefore, nothing you see or look at indicates what God has for you! He is the creator of ALL things and in Him ALL things are possible. Don't limit your thoughts, desires, and capabilities because guess what...God can exceed even your most far fetched ideas. 

Walking by faith doesn't require you to see where you're going; however, it does require you to TRUST who is guiding you there. Typically we get distracted by what we see often veering off course. I frequently find myself doing this all the time around my home. I start doing one thing then get distracted by another thing and at the end of the day I'm totally off course not having accomplished anything. I'm so glad my spritual walk doesn't HAVE to be this way, (although sometimes I do veer off course), because even through the darkness of my closed/covered eyes God's light STILL has the ability to shine through. Light (Jesus) trumps darkness (Satan who fears the light because he knows it will expose him)! Psalm 119:105 says "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light on my path"; therefore, all I have to do is follow the light! I don't need to see anything else until I get to the place that the path is leading me to.

Why are you afraid? Isaiah 41:10 says "Don't be afraid, for I am with you...". Cover your eyes and FEARLESSLY allow God to guide you to the "surprise" He has prepared for you! I don't know about you, but I WANT WHAT IS MINE!!

 

#FearlessFAITH