Shalom.
Pastor Willie Blakely brought forth a needful word on Sunday, April 20th.
The message from the Lord was about truly realizing that we need Him to properly live this life; that we need to direct others to Him (and not us) so that they may properly live this life. We need Him to carry out His will for our life while on this earth. We can no longer waste any more time trying to figure things out, or trying to seek others for advice, affirmation or agreement. We need to hear the truth, read the truth, speak the truth and live the truth. We have to either take God's Word as being true and powerful, or not. We have to be all in.
Pastor Blakely took his text from Isaiah 43.
Pastor Blakely informed us that God is trying to make His people realize that he is doing something new and trying to change our way of thinking so that we can move past our limited human thinking. We need to take the limits off of God and let Him be God. We have to realize that this life is not about us anymore. We have a higher purpose. And we don't have to worry about the devil derailing that purpose because we are more powerful than him. Once we really believe that and CHOOSE to operate in it, we will be in a totally different place spiritually. We would advance further along to where God can begin to really use us. We need to really see what God is trying to show us and wants us to see concerning our lives and His divine purpose.
We were reminded that God is not really interested in our gift. (He will use our gift because we are available at the time it is needed.) God is more interested in our character and that we do what is right. We cannot think of ourselves as not needing healing, mercy, repentance or forgiveness. We cannot get caught up in thinking of ourselves higher than we ought to. With that kind of thinking, we are setting ourselves up to fall and that could extended into the lives of the people that are rightly connected to us. Or, if we are in a leadership position, we could be leading God's people away from God instead of toward God. That would be a very terrible thing for all involved.
For those that have accepted Christ as their personal savior, this life is truly about doing God's will. We need to be in a place where we are more concerned with His will for our lives than anything else. We have to always remember that relationship is more important than religion. I don't think we can ever not need to be reminded of that fact.
Blessings.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Forget In Order to Identify
Shalom.
Minister Anh Brown allowed the Lord to use her to bring forth a simple, yet potent and timely word.
Her scriptural text was taken from Philipians 3:13.
The preacher for that day talked to us about forgetting our past so that we can identify who we are in Christ. We need to forget so that we are not hindered in identifying who we are. It is so important that we rely on God for everything. We cannot let our accomplishments or failures take the credit for who we are. And we don't want to use those accomplishments or failures as a crutch. We need to stand on God's word and trust in God with our whole heart. The former things are a hinderance, a weight that prevents us from moving like we should and where we should, for God and in God. (I know I need to let go of some things and truly embrace the possibilities in God.)
The preacher informed us that we need to learn to walk in the spirit. And she offered up a great definition for how someone actually walks in the spirit. And you might think is was something deep, but it wasn't. The way one walks in the spirit is by denying self. Yup, that is it. Simple, yet profound, huh? That is something which is easier said than done because of our self-preservation mindset. Imagine the freedom we would have if we stopped being so concerned with us all the time. We are upset about what this one said about us, or what that one did to us five years ago, five days ago or even five minutes ago. Imagine the lives we could touch by getting over ourselves and allowing God to rule our thoughts, our movement, our actions. As the preacher said, by allowing God to be responsible, it releases the pressure off of us. And that is a wonderful thing! ^_^
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Minister Anh Brown allowed the Lord to use her to bring forth a simple, yet potent and timely word.
Her scriptural text was taken from Philipians 3:13.
The preacher for that day talked to us about forgetting our past so that we can identify who we are in Christ. We need to forget so that we are not hindered in identifying who we are. It is so important that we rely on God for everything. We cannot let our accomplishments or failures take the credit for who we are. And we don't want to use those accomplishments or failures as a crutch. We need to stand on God's word and trust in God with our whole heart. The former things are a hinderance, a weight that prevents us from moving like we should and where we should, for God and in God. (I know I need to let go of some things and truly embrace the possibilities in God.)
The preacher informed us that we need to learn to walk in the spirit. And she offered up a great definition for how someone actually walks in the spirit. And you might think is was something deep, but it wasn't. The way one walks in the spirit is by denying self. Yup, that is it. Simple, yet profound, huh? That is something which is easier said than done because of our self-preservation mindset. Imagine the freedom we would have if we stopped being so concerned with us all the time. We are upset about what this one said about us, or what that one did to us five years ago, five days ago or even five minutes ago. Imagine the lives we could touch by getting over ourselves and allowing God to rule our thoughts, our movement, our actions. As the preacher said, by allowing God to be responsible, it releases the pressure off of us. And that is a wonderful thing! ^_^
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Avoid The Hostage Situation
Shalom.
Pastor Willie Blakely brought a word that was truly from the Lord. The word had come as an edification and warning.
The scripture text is coming out of Exodus 1. The text talks about how the children of Israel multiplied as a people and the king that watched and was concerned about their multiplying. The devil is doing the same thing with God's people -- he is watching the multiplication of God's people and devising a plan to destroy God's people.
We were instructed to avoid the hostage situation. Who is holding who hostage you ask? The devil is holding God's people (those who claim Christ as Lord and saviour) hostage because we are allowing it. We are allowing it by not spending time with God in prayer. We are allowing it by not studying his word. We have to change our way of thinking. We have to call a sin a sin. We can no longer believe that a certain sin is worse than another; there are no varying levels of sin. All sin is putrid in the nostrils of God.
We need to learn to ask for help. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goes before destruction. The enemy is using pride and other devices to put us in a hostage situation. And we have been operating in those areas for so long that we can hardly see that we are very vulnerable to the enemy's attacks. We have to ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see; we want our Spirit man to be strengthened so that we can get into a place where we are aware of the enemy's devices and we can deflect that attacks.
And the kicker is that the devil knows we have power over him, but we are the ones that don't know we have power over him. The devil lays hold of our mind and causes us to think we have no power. But that is the furthest from the truth. We need to counteract those thoughts. We need to avoid the enemy's domain. We need to avoid the things mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21. As Galatians 5:1 tells us, we don't have to be trapped by the enemy because we have been set free. We are set free from being ruled by our emotions. We are set free from remaining too long in a downtrodden state.
We have to stop trying to build buddy systems and forgoing telling one another the truth. We need to love one another enough to tell the truth. We should only be concerned with God liking us, meaning we need to make sure we live the word of God and not just preach it or quote it. We can't afford to let our brother or sister go to hell because we don't want to lose their friendship, or we are concerned that we won't get invited to a banquet, or get invited back to preach, or that we can't have anyone preach at our anniversary service and help us raise money for the "need of the week."
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Pastor Willie Blakely brought a word that was truly from the Lord. The word had come as an edification and warning.
The scripture text is coming out of Exodus 1. The text talks about how the children of Israel multiplied as a people and the king that watched and was concerned about their multiplying. The devil is doing the same thing with God's people -- he is watching the multiplication of God's people and devising a plan to destroy God's people.
We were instructed to avoid the hostage situation. Who is holding who hostage you ask? The devil is holding God's people (those who claim Christ as Lord and saviour) hostage because we are allowing it. We are allowing it by not spending time with God in prayer. We are allowing it by not studying his word. We have to change our way of thinking. We have to call a sin a sin. We can no longer believe that a certain sin is worse than another; there are no varying levels of sin. All sin is putrid in the nostrils of God.
We need to learn to ask for help. The Bible says in Proverbs 16:18 that pride goes before destruction. The enemy is using pride and other devices to put us in a hostage situation. And we have been operating in those areas for so long that we can hardly see that we are very vulnerable to the enemy's attacks. We have to ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see; we want our Spirit man to be strengthened so that we can get into a place where we are aware of the enemy's devices and we can deflect that attacks.
And the kicker is that the devil knows we have power over him, but we are the ones that don't know we have power over him. The devil lays hold of our mind and causes us to think we have no power. But that is the furthest from the truth. We need to counteract those thoughts. We need to avoid the enemy's domain. We need to avoid the things mentioned in Galatians 5:19-21. As Galatians 5:1 tells us, we don't have to be trapped by the enemy because we have been set free. We are set free from being ruled by our emotions. We are set free from remaining too long in a downtrodden state.
We have to stop trying to build buddy systems and forgoing telling one another the truth. We need to love one another enough to tell the truth. We should only be concerned with God liking us, meaning we need to make sure we live the word of God and not just preach it or quote it. We can't afford to let our brother or sister go to hell because we don't want to lose their friendship, or we are concerned that we won't get invited to a banquet, or get invited back to preach, or that we can't have anyone preach at our anniversary service and help us raise money for the "need of the week."
Blessings.
"Jesus plus nothing is all you need" -- Pastor Willie Blakely
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My children
Shalom.
I just wanted to share an experience I had today with my oldest daughter. I had called home from work to discuss some business with my wife, but before I could even mention it, my wife begins to inform me that my oldest daughter locked herself in the bathroom on the first floor and gave herself a haircut. This was disturbing because she had the forethought to lock the bathroom door, which says she knew what she was doing. The house has two full bathrooms, and the first floor lavatory can be locked via a latch that is at my daughter's level. And I don't even know when she learned that there was a lock and how the lock works. She used scissors, a child's pair of scissors, that my wife bought for her arts and craft projects.
When I heard that news I thought "What in the world!?" I was totally surprised and disappointed. I was disappointed because I had already had words with my daughter concerning locking the bathroom door because she has done it in the past. I was scared because I thought what if she harmed herself while in the bathroom. Thank GOD that she didn't harm herself. Then my immediate thought on punishment was spanking her, and I was unanimous in that decision. Oh yeah, and my daughter actually wanted to talk to me when she realized I was on the phone with her mother. She told me she was reading her Bible. (How about that? Coincidence?) Now, you can't tell me that kids are not smart. By the way, my daughter that performed this is three years of age. So her telling me that she was reading her Bible made me pause for a second. But I was still set on spanking her rear end for what she had done.
So, as I made my trek home after work, I debated whether or not to still beat her. I went back and forth. I thought, maybe this is a cry for attention, or perhaps she saw a fellow student pretend at school. I recalled that she did lock the bathroom door before and I told her that was wrong. Because of the previous offense with locking the door and that she should have asked to use the scissors, I resolved that I would still beat her.
When I walked through the door, I was greeted by guess who? I was greeted by my daughter who had given herself the haircut. She hugged me and went trotting off to the kitchen. After I took my coat off, I sat my daughter down and explained to her that I was disappointed in her cutting her hair. I told her I was concerned for her safety when she locked herself in the bathroom. After that was said, I spanked her on her legs a few times. She cried, of course. I took her with me to the dinner table to eat dinner. She ate a little piece of fish and fell asleep.
I had called my mother before I left workand asked if that is normal behavior for children. My mom said that my brothers and I tried to cut each others hair but not our own hair.
With the introduction of my children to my life, my life has taken a change of course that I could never have imagined. This change in course has been very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. The only thing I would have done differently is purchase a four-door car instead of a two-door car. Prior to my wife and I having children, my wife wanted a coupe for her new car. And, at the time, I didn't see a problem with that. But oh, if I knew then what I know now...
Blessings.
I just wanted to share an experience I had today with my oldest daughter. I had called home from work to discuss some business with my wife, but before I could even mention it, my wife begins to inform me that my oldest daughter locked herself in the bathroom on the first floor and gave herself a haircut. This was disturbing because she had the forethought to lock the bathroom door, which says she knew what she was doing. The house has two full bathrooms, and the first floor lavatory can be locked via a latch that is at my daughter's level. And I don't even know when she learned that there was a lock and how the lock works. She used scissors, a child's pair of scissors, that my wife bought for her arts and craft projects.
When I heard that news I thought "What in the world!?" I was totally surprised and disappointed. I was disappointed because I had already had words with my daughter concerning locking the bathroom door because she has done it in the past. I was scared because I thought what if she harmed herself while in the bathroom. Thank GOD that she didn't harm herself. Then my immediate thought on punishment was spanking her, and I was unanimous in that decision. Oh yeah, and my daughter actually wanted to talk to me when she realized I was on the phone with her mother. She told me she was reading her Bible. (How about that? Coincidence?) Now, you can't tell me that kids are not smart. By the way, my daughter that performed this is three years of age. So her telling me that she was reading her Bible made me pause for a second. But I was still set on spanking her rear end for what she had done.
So, as I made my trek home after work, I debated whether or not to still beat her. I went back and forth. I thought, maybe this is a cry for attention, or perhaps she saw a fellow student pretend at school. I recalled that she did lock the bathroom door before and I told her that was wrong. Because of the previous offense with locking the door and that she should have asked to use the scissors, I resolved that I would still beat her.
When I walked through the door, I was greeted by guess who? I was greeted by my daughter who had given herself the haircut. She hugged me and went trotting off to the kitchen. After I took my coat off, I sat my daughter down and explained to her that I was disappointed in her cutting her hair. I told her I was concerned for her safety when she locked herself in the bathroom. After that was said, I spanked her on her legs a few times. She cried, of course. I took her with me to the dinner table to eat dinner. She ate a little piece of fish and fell asleep.
I had called my mother before I left workand asked if that is normal behavior for children. My mom said that my brothers and I tried to cut each others hair but not our own hair.
With the introduction of my children to my life, my life has taken a change of course that I could never have imagined. This change in course has been very rewarding and very challenging at the same time. The only thing I would have done differently is purchase a four-door car instead of a two-door car. Prior to my wife and I having children, my wife wanted a coupe for her new car. And, at the time, I didn't see a problem with that. But oh, if I knew then what I know now...
Blessings.
Encouragement - Continued
Shalom.
I came across the following on the www.newmanmag.com website. It blessed me, so I thought I would share it. Blessings.
I came across the following on the www.newmanmag.com website. It blessed me, so I thought I would share it. Blessings.
Let the River Flow
There can be no greater delight than walking in daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. What a glorious experience! But it is imperative to seek the Lord continually. Jesus said, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4, NIV).
The delight of daily fellowship with God was not evident in the believers in Ephesus. Although the Ephesian church abounded in praiseworthy works, it is recorded that they had “forsaken” their “first love” (Rev. 2:4, NIV). They had slipped from the privileged position where they were “seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” that the apostle Paul mentioned in Ephesians 2:6.
Therefore, the Lord was compelled to exhort them, “Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev. 2:5, NIV).
A Christian becomes weak in his faith when he no longer maintains his first love. He becomes “a professional” worshiper—he learns a few Bible verses; he adopts some religious vocabulary; he serves God in a token ministerial aspect; and then he insists, “I know it all.”
How sad! That Christian has lost his first love. The challenge for these times is keeping the flame of the Holy Spirit alive.
—Claudio Freidzon
Lord, I don’t want to lose my first love. Fan the flames of the Spirit in my heart and let me burn with zeal for You.
Claudio Freidzon, Holy Spirit, I Hunger for You (1997), 153, 155.
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