Monday, March 5, 2012

Moving into the land flowing with milk and honey...

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 says " When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

As God begins to loose the storehouses of the wicked and begins to bless His people, we need to remember WHO is blessing and WHY HE is blessing! He is not blessing His people so that we can hoard what He is blessing us with! He is blessing us so that we can in turn bless those around us and bring souls into His Kingdom! In the prior passage we see that God was warning the Israelites not to forget that it was God who was bringing them into the land flowing with milk and honey and delivering them from slavery. We need to take heed to this warning as well. Be sure to give God all the honor and glory for every victory in your life!

Deut. 7:1-3a says" When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.[a] Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them."

Here we see that God is warning His people to not "play" with the things He has delivered us from...don't ride the fence. "I can still hang out with old friends and keep my faith...I can go to the club and not drink and still be walking into God's plan for my life." A life of "playing" with the things that God has brought you out of will no longer satisfy your soul or be tolerated by God. He is calling His people to walk in righteousness and holiness. We are to be set apart, a peculiar people, not blend in!

I challenge you to ask God if there is anything that He is saying to you "destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them."! Go after God's will for your life totally and He will bless you.

Blessings,

Sunday, March 4, 2012

We all need our support team!

Have you ever had a time in your life where one week you have had tremendous breakthrough and the next week you are getting hit on every side? Well I know that I have alot of those times in my life. But you know what? God is still in control and He is still on His throne! I am so thankful that He is!!! I am making a conscience decision to praise Him no matter what. Even when I feel like laying on the couch and sleeping my day away because of the weight of what I am being hit with.

We see in Psalm 42:5 David talking to his soul saying "5Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."
This is what I am choosing this day to do! I will speak to my soul and command it to praise the God that gave me breath and life!!!! Even when I don't feel like it in my flesh, because no matter how I FEEL, He IS WORTHY!!!!!

I also just want to say thank you to Him for all the AWESOME women of God He has placed in my life! I cannot imagine my life without these women in it! From my mom and my sister, to all the amazing women in my church family, I am truly blessed. I have been blessed with women who will pray for me and encourage me, but also with women who will kick me in the bum when I need it too! All of us need those around us who will be our support and motivators when we are down and just weary.

I had a dream the other day that I was walking around in this amazing hotel and I was walking around with an outfit on that was too big and my slip kept showing. In the dream I was wondering around asking everyone "Where can I change? Is there a room that I can change in? My clothes are too big!" Out of the blue in the dream, this group of women surrounded me like a circle and became a covering around me and walked me to this room where I could get changed...this is just part of the dream but God spoke to my heart and told me that this part of the dream was showing me what He was doing in my life! He was surrounding me with a covering of women of God that would cover me and walk with me and show me to the "room" (my prayer closet, time with God, directing me to the presence of God) where I could "change" or be changed, where I would never be the same!!!!

Ladies, I encourage you to pray for God to show you who you should have in your support team. Choose wisely, use God's wisdom. You need those that are trustworthy, those who are truly seeking God for their lives, and those who will call you out when you need it! It says in Proverbs 27:17 "17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." (NIV). If we always have those around who tells us what we want to hear, how are we going to grow and be changed into Christ's image? We need those around us that are unafraid (because they truly love us) to tell us when we are out of line or if they see a weak spot in our life. Sugarcoating things all the time is going to cause us to stay stagnate in our flesh.

Remember, God loves us enough to send us those He knows need to be in our lives to bring about change and to push us in the direction He wants us to go. But also remember, that not all friendships are for life, most are for a season. That is not to say that those who are not currently in our inner circle are out for life, it just means that their role in our life has changed. Trust God to lead you to who needs to be in your circle. We need to hear clearly from Him who He wants in our circle and who we allow to be influences in our lives. We can't just let anyone into our inner circle, not everyone is out for our best interest.

With all of this said, I challenge you to pray about finding a Godly mentor. Where do you think that God is taking you? Find someone who is where you believe God is taking you and ask them if they would be willing to pour into your life and mentor you. I can honestly say that this has brought so much growth in my life. I cannot even put into words how much God has ministered to me through these relationships. Pray about it and move forward in Christ!!!! He has MORE for you than you can even imagine.

Blessings,

Monday, February 27, 2012

When God says "Move" and when He says "Stay"....

As I was reading my Bible today I was reading in the book of Numbers chapter 9 I came to the verses in this chapter that read "17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out."

I went to continue reading and my eyes kept going back to this passage....In verse 18 it says "At the Lord's command the Israelites set out and at His command they encamped." God spoke to me through this verse..."Where would my people be if they moved when I told them to move and stayed when I told them to stay?" I was like "I don't know God. He said to my spirit "They would be right where I need them to be when I needed them to be there to make the biggest impact for my Kingdom!" Wow! How many of us (myself included) have missed being where God needed us to be because we didn't move when He told us too or we moved too soon?

In the verses that follow we see that God chose to keep them encamped for a few days, a few months, or even a year! How many of us are willing to be obedient and wait even a few hours in His presence for an answer to prayer, let alone a year or more? In this microwave society, we want it our way right away! The problem with that is we do not serve a microwave God or a genie that we can snap our fingers at and expect Him to move! God is not moved by our commands or our demands, He is moved by our love and obedience to Him and to His will.

God's challenging His people to begin again to seek Him, listen to Him, allow Him to direct our paths, and be obedient to what He is telling us to do and to where He is telling us to go. If we simply hear what He says but are disobedient, He cannot use us. We have free will and if we walk in rebellion and disobedience, He can and will find someone else to fulfill what was intended for us to do. We will have missed God's timing and His call.

We need to take the time to get to know Him so that when He speaks we know that it is Him we are hearing. Take time each day to quiet yourself before Him, take time to LISTEN and not always ask. When we are doing all the talking how can we hear what He is trying to say? Our conversations with Him cannot be one sided if we are going to be in the right place at the right time.

I challenge you to make time for God and He will bless you! It is SO easy in this life to get so busy that we don't take the time to spend with Him. But I am telling you that in this day it is ESSENTIAL to your spiritual survival as a Christian to spend time with HIM!!! God is done with the mediocre, He is looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle, a Bride whose lamp is not empty, a Bride that is ready for their Groom!!!! Are you ready?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Lean not on your own understanding...

Have you ever gone through a situation or time in your life where you knew that God was up to something but you couldn't grasp in your own mind what exactly it was? The Bible says in Proverbs 3:5 "5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;" (NIV). There are times that God is moving, changing, shaping, molding, and creating to be what He wants us to be. In some of those times we may not quite be able to see the Big Picture that He sees.

A few weeks ago my Pastor - Pastor Daniel Parker- made a profound statement. He said this pertaining to our walk with God "trust is requested, but faith is REQUIRED!". This is SO true. We have to have faith in Our God that He knows what is best for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says "11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (NIV). God has our best interest in mind and He is on our side!!!!

What other religion or faith can say that they have a living God that sent His Son to die and RISE AGAIN for them???? None! Jesus Christ is the One and Only True and LIVING GOD!!!! John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." God made the ultimate sacrifice for US! John 15:13 "13Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." God considers us His friends! That blows my mind...the Creator of the Universe...My Creator....considers ME His friend!

I think of that and just sit in awe of what an Awesome God we serve!!! How merciful and gracious is He that He would even consider my life, consider me as His friend, His child, His precious one!!!
God this morning, I stop to say "Thank you Papa God for your grace over my life! I should be dead, BUT You saw fit to be merciful and gracious to me!!! Thank you Lord for Loving me like no person ever could! Thank you for Being my Everything....without You I am NOTHING!!! I am Yours Father, no matter what others think or say, I am YOURS! I owe you my life and I will go where you send me. I love Papa God!!!!"

I encourage you all to remember all that He has done for you!!! Take the time today to thank the Mighty and Awesome God we serve for all He has done and all He is doing!!!! He is worthy of our praise NO MATTER WHAT we are going through!!!

Blessings to each of you today in Jesus Name!!!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Total Health

On the road to weight loss over the last few years God has convicted me that I need total health, not just weight loss. If I am seeking to be truly healthy that should include my mental and spiritual health as well.

I think of  1 Corinthians 6:19 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" Our bodies consist of not just the physical but also the spiritual.

When do not eat and feed our physical bodies, bad things happen. We get weak, sick, fatigued, and have a hard time functioning. The same is true if we do not feed our spiritual bodies with the Word of God, prayer and meditation, and time with God. We will begin to get weak in our faith, weary in the battle, and have a hard time being used of God. The devil loves it when we spiritually starve ourselves, it makes his job a whole lot easier!

When we do not get rest for our physical body, we can lose time with God because we are too tired to take time for God. We need to learn to set healthy boundaries for ourselves. We cannot be so busy doing the work of God that we forget the God we are doing the work for! Rest is a necessity...God rested (took a Sabbath), He set the example for us from the beginning.

So I challange you as God has challanged me, take time to take care of yourself - mind, body, soul, and spirit. Make time for you and God, and make time for you...if you are rested and well, both physically and spiritually, you will be more prepared to move when God tells you to move.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Testimony....

Today I have been thinking about where God has brought me from, who I used to be, and where God is taking me....

Many of you that may read this may remember the Sue I used to be - an insecure, fearful, young girl desperate for "love" and attention from anyone I could get it from. So desperate that I did some crazy and stupid things to get the "love" I so desperately longed for....as so many young girls do.

Many of you may know me for the Sue that I am currently - a sinner redeemed by grace, that is not who she used to be, who knows who she is in Christ Jesus, and where real love comes from, with a passion for God and for what He is calling me to....

God sees the Sue that I will become, the Sue He wants and needs me to be, and He sees me as His beloved daughter.

Looking back, not to go back but to remember where He has brought me from, I would not want to go through alot of what I went through again. But I know that the things that I went through (whether because of life or because of choices that I made), made me who I am today. I am a fighter and I will not let anyone or anything stop me from moving forward into what God has for me and my family.

This is my declaration...Philippians 3:14 says "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Where has God brought you from? What has he done in your life? Where does He want to take you? I challange you to think and pray about these questions...share your testimony and God goodness and grace in your life with others, and seek Him for direction in your life.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Hungry for more of Him....

As I sit here on my couch this morning reading His Word and listening to worship music I am amazed at how He is so present. I don't know about you all but as I read over the stories of those like Saul (Paul), David, Luke, and many more who were less than perfect,  I am amazed at God!

Looking at how God chose to use those that were less than perfect to minister His Word and His Love brings great hope to my heart. Because I am definitely one of those "less than perfect" people! So many things in my life that God is still sifting and changing but yet He chooses to use me, despite me....What an awesome God. We don't have to be perfect or have it all together to be used of Him. Our goal is to be more like Him in all that we do, but we are human and will never be perfect.

My prayer to Him is MORE!!! More of Him and less of me...my very soul longs for more. I know that there is more for my life, more for my family, more for my friends....He says in His word in John 14:14 "14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." God I am asking for more of you and less of me so that I can be who You have called me to be for Your Honor and Glory!!!

We are believing God for Bigger....but what is our motiviation for Bigger? Is it to give God the honor and the glory or is it for our selfish gain? Are we willing to pay the price for Bigger? In Luke 12:48 it says "48But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." We like the "to whom much is given" part but we kind of skip over the "much will be required" part. We want to be in ministry but we don't see all the turmoil, attacks, hard work, and pain it takes to get to where God can use us...You want Bigger but are you willing to pay the price for it?

Bigger means warfare...it means going after God like you never have before! You can't have and handle the Bigger God has for you without staying in shape (spiritually) to carry the load. The devil will knock you out if you are not in God's word, if you are not spending time with God, and if you have not put on the full armor of God. Be careful what you ask God for, you may not like the price it comes with.

If you are truly hungry for more of God and for the Bigger He has for you...get ready. Don't take it for granted and just assume you can handle it. Seek Him with all you are! He longs to spend time with you, He loves you SO much!!!  He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for you...His desire is YOU!!! He created you for Himself...Seek Him and you WILL find HIM!!!!

God I pray that as we go after you with all we have that you begin to move in and through us...give us Your Heart and Your Love for those around us. Help us to speak, act, and move only when and what you want us to. God we give You control. Have Your way God!!! In Jesus Name!!!! AMEN!!!!