As I travel about, I believe Christmas is one of the most celebrated and decorated holidays above all. When I look at the decorations, people really go all out… It brings JOY! It is a fabulous thing to see.
Amidst the celebration and decorations, I wonder if we intrinsically remember the full impact of the season. Christmas is about Jesus being born. Jesus is the Savior of the world. Jesus was God on Earth!
Jesus was fully God and fully man (Colossians 2:9). 1 Timothy 3:16 tells us Jesus was both God’s Son and God Himself. This is the origin of our faith! This is what we believe.
This is MIRACULOUS and AWESOME when you think about it. Human reasoning can’t capture or grasp it. Nevertheless, it is the TRUTH we stand on. It is the BEAUTY and MAGNIFICENCE of Him… Amen! Love & Blessings!
Doing life with God is AWESOME! When we become sensitive to the things of God it elevates us to higher level of intimacy with Him.
I love my encounters with God. When the Bible says He will never leave us not forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), it is true. We do not always feel God. We do not always see Him moving in our life. However, we TRUST He is always working on our behalf. He uses us for His glory.
This week I had some AMAZING encounters with God. With one incident, I was searching for an item in my house that I normally keep in my attic. When I went to get it, it was gone! Needless to say, I became frustrated and started fretting. I was looking to myself to find the item. I started searching my house. It was no where to be found. I began to wonder if I needed to open each box in the attic. Every box was filled with Christmas decorations. I was wondering if I had packed it with the Christmas decorations.
As I am eating mt lunch, I calm my spirit. I start talking to God. I told Him I knew He knew where the item was I was looking for. I asked Him if I was going to have to pull out all of the Christmas decorations to find it. Suddenly, a beautiful PEACE came over me. Incredibly, a beautiful piercing sensation filled my brain. It penetrated my mind. It said, “It is in the drawer in your bedroom.”
That was the presence of the Holy Spirit! (John 16:13) I smiled and asked, “Lord, is that where it is?” I continued to eat my lunch. When I finished, I calmly went to my bedroom. I walked to the drawer I knew He was talking about. There was the item! My SOUL and SPIRIT were so BLESSED! As a result, I thanked and worshiped God. Moreover, He saved me from the heartache of pulling everything out of my attic. Going through Christmas decorations to find the item I was looking for would have been very time consuming. What a relief and a BLESSING!
The other encounter was God protected me and my house from would be strangers and possible danger. As we live our lives, we sometimes move around unaware. We often do not realize everything happening or what we are doing. To the best of our abilities we want to be wise and careful. Still, we miss it sometimes in our humanity. At dusk, I am going in and out of my house taking care of things. I noticed one of my motion sensor lights is malfunctioning. I “fix” it and put it back in place outside.
About three hours later, I notice the light fixture is malfunctioning again. I go outside and grab the fixture. As I am coming into the house, I notice my house key is in the lock. I did not realize it was there!
I believe God wanted me to know I had left the key in the door. He used the malfunctioning light sensor to lure me back outside. This allowed me to see my house key I left in the door. Otherwise, I would not have ever known it was there! I started thanking and praising God, again.
We never know who or what is lurking around our house while we are sleep, but God does. If we pay attention to Him, He will protect us. He might also show us things we need to do to protect ourselves. PRAISE GOD! These are some of my AMAZING ENCOUNTERS with God. We all have them, if we are paying attention to Him! Amen! Love & Blessings!
Christ followers should take on the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16 instructs us to take on the mind and purposes of Christ. We have to lose ourselves, including ego, pride and fleshly thoughts to do this. Joyce Meyer of Enjoying Everyday Life describes taking on the mind and purposes of Christ as an Everything Nothing.
An Everything Nothing is realizing we can’t do anything on our own. All of our strength, breath, what we do and what we are is born out of the graciousness of God. He is a maker and creator. God is our Everything! For without Him we can do nothing John 15:5.
Christ died to set us free (Colossians 1:12). When we take on the mind of Christ in our everyday living, it truly sets us free. We are free from worry, anxiety, depression and all of the other dark influences of this world.
God’s principles and ways are truly an upside down manner of living compared to this world. We are constantly leaning and depending on God to give our income, jobs, shelter, transportation, enjoyment, and peace. The list goes on and on when you realize you are an Everything Nothing in Christ. It gives us excitement and anticipation to see what God is going to do next in our lives.
We are the vessels God uses to get His work done on the Earth. Just as Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 4:1), we will have wilderness experiences, too. But, this is where our faith and trust in God grows even more. We do not always know what God is up to. We trust Him for what He allows. We continue to move forward in Jesus’ name. Amen. Love & Blessings!
An enemy is not necessarily a person. It is a spirit. A negative spirit that is coming against you from Satan to kill, steal, and destroy YOU and your FAITH. Ephesians 3:12 reminds us we are not wrestling against flesh and blood. Oftentimes, we believe it is the person. Satan can influence and use people, if they allow him. That is why we have to be on guard against the enemy because he can even get in US!
Ephesians 3:12 goes on to say we wrestle against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness in this world. It is also spiritual wickedness in high places. Some people equate that to the government. But, it is beyond that. Again, these influences can manifest in people, places, or things.
Let’s examine human trafficking, for example. That is not necessarily the government. Nevertheless, people involved have resources, power, money, influence, etc., to get others to do what they want. In that, they are not uplifting the name of Jesus. They are uplifting the rulers of the darkness in this world. It is spiritual wickedness in high places in this arena. It kills, steals, and destroys ALL involved.
Sometimes the enemy may be ourselves. Some have self hatred toward themselves. That is not a spirit of the living God. That is a spirit of Satan himself. Jesus did not die for us to hate ourselves. Jesus died so we may have an abundant, victorious life (John 10:19). God promised us victory on the Earth through Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57, 2 Corinthians 2:14).
The Enemy is any person, place, or thing that is not of God. It is the evil and spiritual wickedness that can overcome and over take us, if we let it. It is one of the reasons why Paul warned us not to be conformed to this world. He said we have to renew our minds everyday (Romans 12:2). Otherwise, Satan, our enemy, will use any and everything to attack us. Amen. Love & Blessings!
Satan’s tactics against us never changes. It is the same old playbook. He comes like a roaring lion seeking who he can devour (1 Peter 5-8) He comes to kill, still, and destroy (John 10:10). That is it.
The only power Satan has over us is what we give him. I heard someone say sometimes we give Satan a big stick to hit us with. We play into his tactics and schemes against us! Have you noticed it is the same old playbook.
In this life we all suffer and go through trials and tribulation. But Jesus told us to cheer up because He has already conquered the world! (John 16:3) Satan is banking on us not to remember that.
Some of the concerns in this life has a way of repeating itself. It comes back to us in different faces and different places, but the concern or theme is the same. Let’s use the example of rejection. We have all experienced rejection. Jesus felt rejection too. That puts us in great company, right? Nevertheless, it is still not a good feeling. When we go through rejection Satan would have us dwell on the rejection and waddle in self-pity.
We should always keep our eyes on God. Ask him what does He want us to know or what does He want us to learn. We know that God can take that rejection and turn it toward our good, if we let him. I believe God allows pain and suffering in our lives. It is to sometimes toughen us up. He gets us ready and prepared for what He wants to use us for.
We know that things in this life that are of a worthy cause does not come easy. There will be opposition. God allows the pain, suffering, and rejection to come to build our character, endurance, perseverance, and faith. The beauty of what is happening is even though we may not like it, we know that God is up to something.
If He has led you down a path, there is something He needs to get done through you. With past experiences we know that Satan is going to show up. His playbook is to kill, steal, and destroy God’s plan and purpose. We, as Christians, have to refuse to give up, plow through, and keep our eyes on God. He will get us where we need to be… Amen! Love & Blessings!
Everyone has challenges in their lives. Some challenges are bigger than others. For those of us who are Christians, we lean and depend on God for everything. When God sends you on an assignment and things are not going as you plan, we wonder, God where are you!
I contend God speaks to us every day. It is up to us if we are paying attention to Him. Many times when God sends us on an assignment it never rolls out how we imagine. This is when we have to let go of our expectations of how we think things are going to happen. Invariably, we have to let God take the reigns to lead and guide us through.
God promised never to leave or forsake us. So, when I ask the question or wonder, God, where are you, I know that He is with me. My question goes deeper, in wanting to know am I on the right track. Did I understand the assignment you gave me?
I believe we all can agree. There is nothing like spending time on a project or assignment only to find out you did it wrong. As I move forward with God, I already know I want to please Him. I also want to know I am understanding Him correctly. Sometimes we need His reassurance. It helps us know we are pleasing to Him. It also confirms we are getting our assignment right.
My reassurance came in a kiss from God, today! Autumn is here. It is that time of the year I like to plant pansies. I went to the local big box hardware stores. God decided He was going to double surprise me! When I got to the register, the pansies I selected were on sale! They were not on clearance or on sale. No sign was up to show such.
Then, I had an old e-gift card that had $7.63 on it. I figured I would use it to supplement my purchase. Once the cashier rang up my purchase, it came to exactly $7.63! I had to ask her twice how much was it? I told her my e-gift card was for that exact amount, if there is anything still on it. Sure enough, that was the exact amount on the e-card!
So, let’s sum this up. I got 32 pansy plants, more than what I expected. Additionally, they were way less expensive than what I had expected to pay for them. It was even the best deal from the two stores I shopped. It is God showing His exceedingly, abundantly more than what we can imagine or think (Ephesians 3:20). God sent me a kiss! He reminded me that I am on the right track. He also reminded me how much He loves me… BEAUTIFUL! Amen! Love & Blessings!
We attended an event on October 7 to discuss solutions for our homeless population in the Hampton Roads area. Art was displayed from the homeless. This is just a sample, but very compelling. Click on any picture on the website to see it up close. Love & Blessings!
The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please the Lord (Hebrews 11:6)). As Christians shouldn’t we want to please the Lord? When we make it a practice to obey God it becomes more natural to embrace what He tells us. We do not understand it fully at the time, but by faith we step out on His word.
Oftentimes, we give up on God too soon. We hear something in our Spirit. If it does not manifest when we expect, we lose faith. We give up on what God has told us. Imagine if Noah had given up on building the ark. Some say it took Noah 120 years to build it! Abraham and Sarah were way past child-bearing years when God told them they would have a child. That situation got a little messy. They decided they would help God out. Impatiently, they determined to do things their way. It was because it did not happen when they expected. Nevertheless, God still blessed them with Isaac.
When we know the spirit and voice of God, we trust him. It may not always look exactly how we think it is going to look. Many times it does not happen in the time frame we expect it to happen. Unequivocally, suddenly or gradually, it comes to past!
I believe it saddens God when His children do not trust and believe in Him. We want the abundant, victorious life He has promised us, only to settle and compromise for what we can get. Notice I said, what we can get. We do it our way, in our own strength. Disobediently not relying on God to do it for us or show us how to do it.
God sees our heart. The Bible says He is a rewarder to them who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Do not give up on God. Wait on Him (Isaiah 40:31). Trust that He has the BEST plan for you and your life. When God speaks to your spirit, know He is observing your heart. If you are diligently seeking Him, He will BLESS you beyond your expectations! (Ephesians 3:20) Love & Blessings!
Where Is God Now Ministries, Inc. completed a shoe drive in August. Donors and supporters of the ministry became the hands, mouth, and feet of Jesus on the Earth with their shoe donations. Recently, the ministry was part of a job/resource fair for justice-involved individuals and the community at large. Those shoes were made available as a resource. Additionally, we provided two types of audio devices made available with our partnership with In Touch Ministries, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Please enjoy the smiles of God on the many faces that were being blessed by Him that day! Love & Blessings!
The mind of the flesh is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit. Take the time to meditate on that. Jesus came on the Earth with a Spiritual message. It is why many, then and today, have such a difficult time understanding what He was saying. Thus, when we use the mind of the flesh a lot of what He said does not make sense.
The flesh always wants to reason and figure everything out. The things of God sometimes does not make sense. Just read all of the miracles in the Bible. We can’t figure it out. Some of it does not make sense to our minds. That is why He is God. Moreover, He is the MOST High God. The other cultures and kingdoms during that day had their gods. However, they were idol gods. Their gods can not out do our God. There is no rival or equal to Him (Nahum 1: 2-15, Isaiah 40: 12-31, 46:5, Psalm 86: 8-10))
When Jesus left the Earth He said it would be best for us if He left us. This was because He was leaving the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit leads us into ALL truth (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit gives us promptings and knowings in our inner man, our spirit. There is an abundant, victorious life and peace when we set our minds on the Spirit (Romans 8:6). Love & Blessings!
