How can we continually expect God to bless us abundantly, keep on crying out come on and see about Jesus, pray Lord I need you or sing Jesus be a fence when God can only anticipate us going to worship service when the weather is fair? I mean, how can we assume God is alright with us not worshipping with other blood bought believers because it’s raining outside? I find it odd that we can go EVERYWHERE else in the rain except church. The weather report can say tornado yet we will still go out to eat but then act crazy when choir rehearsal isn’t canceled. I don’t get it. What’s the difference about going to church when it’s raining or when it’s 90+ degrees? Isn’t God still worthy of praise? Oh but let the pastor not show up and it’ll be a church meeting scheduled so fast. Yet aren’t we all accountable? The bible says in Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful and let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” I don’t know what you read but there isn’t any mention of only going to church when the weather is good. We’ve got to stop neglecting that which we know we’re supposed to do. One day a week for however long your worship service is, isn’t asking you for too much. Stop picking and choosing when you’ll serve God. Stop picking and choosing when you’ll worship. Stop giving God the leftovers when He should be served first. All I’m saying is stop allowing your worship to be based on the weather, stop being a fair weather Saint (only serving when the weather is fair) and just be a Saint who is ready, willing and able to serve and worship at all time because you never know when you won’t be able too.
Daily Devotional – 6/27/14 “Are you not tired yet?”
Now that you know you’re simply a sinner who has been saved and now called saint (Sinners Abiding In New Territory), aren’t you tired of running from God? Aren’t you tired of playing with the calling that God has placed over your life? Aren’t you tired of getting dressed up on Sunday just to go play church? Aren’t you tired of acting like you got it all together when you need to let go and let God? Aren’t you tired of putting on a face to portray someone you’re not? Are you not tired yet? Aren’t you tired of being mentally abused by someone who isn’t even yours? Aren’t you tired of being hurt by someone who promised to never hit you again? Aren’t you tired of peeping and hiding because you’re with someone else’s spouse? Aren’t you tired of living in someone else house? Are you not tired yet? Aren’t you tired of begging from folks? Aren’t you tired of stealing? Aren’t you tired of being messy? Are you tired of being the starter of trouble? Aren’t you tired of being the person folk don’t like to see coming? Aren’t you tired of tired of posting all of your business on Facebook? Are you not tired yet? Aren’t you tired of laughing at folk’s shout because you’ve yet to tap into the Holy Spirit who lives inside of you? Aren’t you tired of acting like God hasn’t been good to you? Are you tired of downplaying someone else dance when you should be joining in? Aren’t you tired of being in your pity party? Are you not tired yet?
Baby, all you have to do is watch the news, read the newspaper, visit a funeral home, hospital, homeless shelter or mission and you’ll realize how fast your life can change. Don’t you understand that it’s time NOW to get your life together? If you died today, would someone be able to stand up and speak on your behalf or would they have to lie? But I guess you think you got time, don’t you? Honey on your best day, you’re sick enough to die and I should tell you that Matthew 24:36 says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” So, go on thinking you have time because although tomorrow is promised, you aren’t promised to see it. When will you be tired of all the games, mess and foolishness? Aren’t you tired of running instead of reaping, tired of crying instead of answering God’s call, tired of wandering when you could be worshipping, tired of falling and failing when you should be faithful, tired of being weary when you should be willing, tired of stumbling when you should be sanctified in the spirit, tired of pacing when you should be partaking in the promise of God, tired of being a victim when you should be vigilant in your victory, tired of being bound when you’ve already been bought and tired of being broken when you’ve been beautifully built? Are you not tired yet? You should be!
Daily Devotional – 6/26/14 “Saint!”
Yea, you’ve probably being saved ever since you sat on the mourners’ bench at revival when you were 12 yet you haven’t always acted like it. Yea, you probably keep your bible in the car but when you do take it in the house to share the word with your family? You can probably even recite scriptures from memory but are you living by them? Stop acting like you got a Holier than thou card in your wallet because we are all just saved sinners called saints. (Saint = Sinner abiding in new territory) Chile, stop acting like your salvation is greater or better than mine. Don’t you know we are all sinners who have been saved by the same blood? Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” So cut out the act like you don’t sin every now and then because even the bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Let me tell you this, God doesn’t keep track of the numbers of years you’ve been saved but He’ll ask how many souls you’ve saved since then. God isn’t concerned with that fancy bible you got in that nice looking bible bag but He’ll ask how many times you’ve opened it to share His word with someone else. God isn’t concerned with the make and model of your car but He’ll want to know how many times you’ve given a ride to those in need. He won’t even ask you to recite a scripture from memory but He’ll want to know how many did you share with non-believers. Baby, God doesn’t care about the number of followers on Twitter, the friend count on Facebook or the likes on Instagram but He’ll want to know how many people you invited to church or shared the message with. It isn’t about the brand of phone you have but it is about the number of times you’ve answered it to pray for someone. Does God want us to be perfect? Yes, because the bible says in Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” but this doesn’t mean we are punished when we make mistakes because if this was the case He wouldn’t have given us repentance.
We are all sinners striving to be better which is why I said we are saints – sinners abiding in new territory. So again, quit acting like the baptism water gave you a higher calling than anyone else because we all have the same road to travel to get to God. Yea, our paths go in different directions but in the end we all have to take the same route, death. We need to get back to saving souls because we are losing too many of them and God isn’t pleased. We need to take the world out of church and take the church into the world. It’s time out for playing fleshly games and get back to kingdom business. We are all saved sinners who should practice what is said in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, “When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” It is our responsibility to help one another through the sharing and teaching of God’s word instead of trying to beat the hell out of one another with harsh criticism and hate. We are all sinners, oh but (don’t you love but) Romans 3:24 says, “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” So, please know, I am no better than you and you are no better than me for we are all saints, “Sinners Abiding In New Territory!”
Daily Devotional – 6/25/14 “Church Covenant”
Have you ever noticed the covenant that hangs in most churches? Have you taken the time to read it? Did you know that when you become a member of a church you are now agreeing to said covenant yet you’ve never read it? How can you hold up your part if you don’t know what it is? My own personal belief is, if more churches would get back to teaching the covenant, preaching God’s word instead of playing in the flesh, anointing folk with oil to get rid of these evil spirits, praying for one another and building each other up; our worship services will be better. If the pastor would get back to doing what he/she was called to do, people were to get back to respecting the pastor as the head of the church, members were to learn their role and stay in their lane and the church as a whole would get back to reaching and teaching folk; just imagine how much better our worship experience would be. But it all goes back to the covenant because when you understand the agreement, you might just do better. So take a moment and read the church covenant below and my prayer is that we will all do better.
“Having been led as we believe, by the spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now in the presence of God, angels and this assembly most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.We engage therefore by the aid of the Holy Spirit to walk together in Christian love, to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness and comfort; to promote its prosperity and spirituality: to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the spread of the gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotion; to religiously educate our children; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk circumspectly in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements, and exemplary in our deportment; to avoid all tattling, backbiting, and excessive anger; to abstain from the sale and use on intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Savior.
We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love; to remember each other in prayer; to aid each other in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior, to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other church where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s Word.
And now unto Him, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, be power and glory forever. Amen.”
To sum it up, when we become a Christian we become one body in Christ and no one should fall without having someone there to help them back up. We agree to love one another and participate in the up building of the church (studying God’s word, paying tithes & spreading the word to those outside of the church). We agree to teach our children God’s word, devote prayer time to our family, fellowship with other believers, be faithful in all we do, be passionate about Godly business and become our brother/sister’s keeper. It is our responsibility to be an encouragement for one another without judgment and harsh criticism. We agree to carry ourselves in a way that those who maybe wandering without direction can be saved through us but we can’t do that if we aren’t getting along with other church folk. Admit when you’re wrong and apologize, don’t hold grudges and stop running from the church every time you get mad. Baby, running makes you tired and soon you’ll turn away from God when all you should have done was talk to the one who hurt you. I didn’t say stay where you aren’t being spiritually fed but I said stop church hopping. Find a church home so that you can hold up your end of the agreement and when you get there; hold up your end of the agreement!
Daily Devotional – 6/24/14 “Deny some folk!”
If you have to worry about the folks you’ve surrounded yourself with, they aren’t worth being around. If you have to worry about your business getting back to the beauty/barber shop on Saturday, you may need to change your atmosphere. Yea, if you have to be someone other than yourself, you may need to change the place you’re in. And if you’re wondering why God won’t use you then you need to read Luke 14:26 that says “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple.” In order to work for God, you’ve got to first let go of self and then let go of man. Why? Well, I’m glad you asked. When you hold on to self, you’ll start second guessing what God said. When you hold on to man, they’ll have you changing the place God said go to. When you hold on to self, you’ll start pulling away from God. When you hold on to man they’ll make the world look better than worship. When you hold on to self, you’ll make yourself think that sin ain’t all that bad and when you hold on to man they’ll even make you feel good while you’re in that same sin. All I’m saying, you need to let go of self and some folk. Why? Well, thanks for asking. See, you keep allowing “them” to cause you to stumble on your journey but they won’t be the one to blame when the judgment comes, you will. Just because “they” smoke or drink, it doesn’t mean you have too. They sleep in on Sunday and miss worship, manage mess on Monday and miss Bible Study, wild out on Wednesday and miss prayer meeting, drink on two for one Thursday and skip choir rehearsal and now they’ve dragged you right along with them because you’ve yet to let them go. You don’t want to hurt folk feelings but you’ve yet to consider God’s. You don’t want to tell folk no but you are quick to tell it to God. You don’t hesitate to go when they come calling yet you question why when God does. Baby, when will you let go and let God? When will you lead and stop following? When will you stop conforming to their standards?
Don’t you know that you have to be willing to let go of yourself to get that which you’ve been yearning for, deny some folk to declare deliverance, block some things and folk to get your breakthrough, reject some requests in order to receive your restoration, throw away some things to realize your talents, release those that are ruining your righteousness and toss those things that are hindering you from transforming your tribulation into a testimony? Yea, you may want to look at denying some calls, deleting some text messages and discarding some phone numbers in order to get the blessing you’ve been waiting on. Yea, you may want to look at denying some friend requests, deleting some pictures and discarding some old memories in order to get the discipleship God has waiting for you. For Luke 14:33 says, “Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can’t be my disciple.”
