Monthly Archives: February 2019

The Realness of God

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If you haven’t read my previous blog post, I encourage you to do so (click here to read it).I gave a prophetic word that I received from God, I am trusting in God to continue to give me more to share in the future. I would like to teach you about the importance of realizing how real God is to you as an individual person. 

As many of you know from some of my previous posts, I have begun to answer the call that the Lord has placed on my life. I have had multiple confirmations from people about this calling on my life. Four years ago, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Since then, I have sought after God more than ever before in my life. You might ask why did you begin seeking the Lord more after this diagnosis? Many people would assume it would be for healing. While that is part of the reason, there is another reason that is more important to me than that. When I first saw my primary care doctor at that time, she misdiagnosed it as a virus. I took a day and rested. The next morning, I felt a little bit better and decided to go to work. About halfway through my shift, things took a turn for the worst. My mother ended up calling the doctor and the doctor told my mother that she would call an inhaler in for me to the pharmacy. As my parents were still at their work, I had one of my friends pick me up from work and take me to the pharmacy so I could pick up the inhaler. Something was telling me “no, you need to get to the hospital now”. I first ignored that feeling and proceeded to the counter. They told me that nothing was called in for me from my doctor. My friend then took me to urgent care that was right down the road. They did a urine test, which showed high amounts of ketones. This led them to check my blood sugar, which was too high for their meter to read. I ended up being taken to the hospital, they admitted me, got my blood sugar back in range, and showed me the basics of managing type 1 diabetes. Upon being discharged from the hospital, my mother went to the pharmacy to pick up all my insulin and diabetic supplies. She asked the pharmacist if they ever got that inhaler, and they told my mother they never saw that prescription come through. One of my doctors told me that if I would have gotten that inhaler, I would not have made it that night. From the beginning of this trial with Type 1 Diabetes, God has proved himself real to me. He was already at work from the beginning. He could have not intervened and could have let that prescription make it to the pharmacy, but He didn’t let that happen. God has bigger plans for me.

For God to start working in you, you need to realize how real God has been to you in your life. The story I have told you is what really showed me how God proved himself real in my life. Often in life, we become too busy to really realize what God has done for us individually. As Christian’s together we know God sent His only Son to save us and give us eternal life. Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV) tells us, “But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”. We must have faith to be able to draw near to God. Building our faith can come from reading the Word to praising God, to hearing other people’s testimonies, and going through trials in life. Each trial you go through and seek God will build your faith. As God continues to provide for us and work in our lives in different ways, we have more testimonies to back up how real God is to us. In order to seek God, we must believe he is real. How real is God to you? It’s a question we all should really ask ourselves because unbelievers will question us also. We can quote scriptures to unbelievers, but more importantly, we should be able to tell unbelievers what God has done for us in our lives. We are reminded in Mark 5:19 (NKJV), “However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.””. Also 1 John 5:11 reminds us, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”. You are only for real with God, as He is real to you.

If you read my previous post, which was a prophetic word, you will notice the importance of intimacy with God. When getting real with God, we must realize how real he has been to us. When we get to the place when we realize how real God has been to us in our own unique life, we will begin to truly seek God from our heart. Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”. 

I would like to encourage you to take some time, and really look at how much God has done for you in your life. Once you realize that, give Him thanks and praise from the bottom of your heart. You can only seek God when you seek Him with all your heart. You can’t only just seek God when trouble comes, you need to be seeking God every day. As you do this you will build intimacy with Him, and you will become more equipped in your faith for when trouble comes knocking at your door.

A Word from God: To My Hurting People

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I usually have not made this type of blog post, but this is the first time I will be doing this. In my time with the Holy Spirit, the Lord gave me a word. I first thought the word was just intended for me, but I felt to share this on here. I strongly believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Gifts of the Spirit are available today, to those who seek and ask God for it. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 (ESV) tells us, “ For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”.

The Lord spoke and inspired me to write this:
To my people hurting.
You are hurting in your bodies, minds, and souls.
You cry to me day and night, wondering when a breakthrough will come.
You ask, why am I still suffering?

You are asking is this not over with today?
Why am I not healed?
Why is my mind not restored?
Why is this hurt still haunting me?

You have Christ and the Holy Spirit in your life.
You pray daily.
You read my word daily.
But you are still sick and are still hurting.

You think your symptoms or diagnosis are the real problems, they are not really the problem.
You have some unfinished business to take care of.
This unfinished business has opened the door for the works of the enemy.
There is something deep down inside of you that is still hurting.

You have covered it up with your worldly habits, and may have forgotten about it.
You are still hurt from it, but you just can’t get yourself to truly deal with it.
It is like something in a box, that if you open up it will become the worst pain ever, unbearable to think about.
That is why you have it buried.

Why did you burry this problem?
Because you haven’t truly sought intimacy with me.
You think just by reading my word, praying, and singing along to worship songs is enough.
It’s not, singing along to other people’s words is where you got it all wrong.

You need to create the environment for my Holy Spirit to overflow in you.
Don’t worship with someone else’s words, but your words from your own heart.
Seek intimacy with Abba Father.
Get some quiet time and soak yourself in my presence.

Come to me empty handed my child.
Let’s heal your soul, so your new born Spirit can overtake your soul, and then overtake you on the outside.

James 4:8 (ESV) reminds us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”.

Crossroads in Life

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As I continue in my series on decision making, I would like to discuss crossroads. I was unsure of what to teach upon next in my series, and then God revealed to me to teach on crossroad decisions. This required me to take some time for me to seek God on what to discuss regarding this subject. No matter your age, you will go through a crossroad at least once in your life, if not many. A crossroad is when one must decide between something of the world and something of God. This can be anything from a job, relationship, health, or finances. It is important to recognize when you are at a crossroad and seek God to make the best choice for your life.

Sometimes in life, we get to caught up in the excitement of what is trending, and we often forget to turn to God before making decisions, both big and small. We often want everything right away, at the push of a button, or the swipe of a credit card. We see something that is on sale and we think that we must buy it, or we see someone we are attracted to and think, I must get their number. If we turn to God’s word, we can find guidance for many of the decisions we make. Sometimes a decision will take some time, it might even take getting advice from someone else. You might have been faced with a diagnosis and might need a second opinion. Regardless of the situation or circumstances one thing never changes and that is God and His word.

When it comes to making any decision in life, we can often become distracted by fear of the unknown. Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV) tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”.  Regardless of whatever the circumstance is do not become worried, worrying does not accomplish anything. The time you spend worrying is more time lost to prayer and reading the Word of God. When praying for a need in your life or for wisdom in a decision, you must pray for your specific need with thanks to God for what you currently have, and His continued provisions for your life.  Regardless of the situation we know we have peace in God, we must allow that peace to guard our hearts and our minds.

Often when we are at a crossroad in life, it will be a difficult decision. We may not know what to do at first, or we might want to turn to what looks like the easiest route. James 1:5(ESV) tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”.  No matter what type of crossroad decision you have to make in life, turn to God for wisdom and it will be given. God’s wisdom might not be given to you right away, it might take consistent time in His Word and in prayer in the Holy Spirit.

When it comes to cross road decisions in our Christian life, there is one scripture I want to look at and that is Isaiah 30:21 (AMP), which says “Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.”. There are two paths we can walk in life, one is the path of the world which is full of darkness and leads to death. The second path is the path of godliness which leads us to life. God will bless those who walk in His path. Psalms 1:1-2 (NKJV) says, “Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law, he meditates day and night.”. There are two types of people in this world, the Godly and ungodly people, there is no in-between, and you cannot be both at the same time. If we read Psalms 1:1-2 from the Easy to Read Version it says, “Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God. Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night.”. If we want to be truly blessed by God we must love and follow His word, we must also meditate on it as much as we possibly can. We must also turn away from turning to advice from ungodly people. So many people follow the advice of mainstream media as to how they should live their lives. Yet much of the mainstream media is ungodly, but we still follow it to get the news on what is brewing in our government, or what the traffic or weather conditions will be like before you head into work or send your children off to school. While mainstream media can give us much useful information, we must discern with our spirit how much of the mainstream media we should let run our lives.

Many people might want to turn to talk show hosts on what they should do in their life. I could give a long list of ungodly talk show hosts that people follow but, that is not what is important. What is important is my question to any of you who follow these talk show hosts, is will any of these talk show host on TV get you into heaven? The answer is no, only knowing Jesus Christ as your savior and following the Word of God will get you into heaven. You must also ask yourself a similar question when you are at a crossroad in your life. Here is a list of crossroad questions that might match certain decisions you have to make now and in the future:

•    Is this job going to take away too much time from my relationship with Jesus Christ?

•    Is investing money in this worth it in the long run? Will it eat up the money I could be giving in tithes or to help those in need?

•    Will staying in this relationship hinder my relationship with Jesus Christ?

•    Will saying or doing this be of good fruit according to God’s Word?

I have been at a crossroad in my life before that was related to one of those questions. I was in a relationship with someone who was not on the same page with me biblically. I stayed in the relationship hoping I could guide them to Christ in time. It wasn’t until I was baptized in the Holy Spirit when I heard an audible voice tell me, ‘I am going to remove someone from your life’. I also knew from when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit that God had a calling on my life, but something was hindering me from moving into it and was keeping me from truly realizing there was a calling on my life. It just happened to be the day I was baptized in the Holy Spirit was the anniversary date of that relationship. Two weeks later the relationship ended mutually. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hold anything negative against that young woman I was with, it was simply not who God wanted me to be with, and He was at work in the situation even before I was baptized in the Holy Spirit to put the relationship to an end before it progressed. And I thank God for doing that in my life.

A few final points I would like to make. When we are at crossroad decisions in our life it is often to test our faithfulness to God. I strongly believe that God honors us when we make the right choice. I would also like to point out that it is important to start seeking God first for as many decisions in your life. I believe when you start seeking God for anything in life, He will do a great work according to His will if you stay in His word with steadfast faith.

Who Am I in Christ?

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The subject of who we are in Christ is a question that all Christians should know both individually and collectively. I would like to teach on this subject as I continue my series in decision making. You might ask what knowing who you are in Christ has to do with the decisions you make? The simple answer is truly knowing who you are in Christ helps you in your decision making in life. When Christians do not know who they truly are in Christ, they will begin to believe lies on who they are. These lies will either come from the enemy or the world.

Back when Jesus came to start His ministry on earth there was a false belief that people had that John the Baptist was either greater than or equal to Jesus. Isaiah 40:3-5 (NKJV) tells us, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””.  This is prophesying that there will be a forerunner of Jesus Christ. If we look into John 1:19-28 (NIV) “Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”  “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know.  He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” In this example John the Baptist knew who he was in Christ, he knew he was the forerunner of Christ.  He could have believed lies on who he was in Christ, but he did not he stood firm in who he truly was in Christ.

When one becomes born again in Christ their past is gone and new things have come. The process of old sinful habits going away is not an overnight fix, it is a process. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) reminds us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”.  Once we are born again, we must put our best effort forth in living our life according to what God commands, and not to what the world says is the way to be. If you are struggling with an addiction to sin or are in a bad relationship you are in seek God on helping you with that. I would even encourage you to seek advice from another Christian. We as Christians should not be too quick to judge each other so critically, but we should help guide each other in our weaknesses. 1 John 2:29 (NKJV) reminds us, “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”.

I would also like to touch upon the subject of the belief of ‘once saved, always saved’.  I have asked God to lead me to some scriptures in my studies to use on teaching on this matter. People can assume once saved always saved by how they interpret scriptures, and with how many scriptures they read. Jesus told us in John 10:28 (NKJV), “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”. Jesus did say no one can snatch us out of His hand, but can anyone put themselves outside of Jesus’ hand? I think we can answer that by looking at John 15:6 (NKJV) which Jesus said, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”. So yes, someone can put themselves outside of Jesus’ hand. Therefore, we must know who we are in Christ. We must know the promises we have in the Word of God.  One of the most important things we have in Christ is everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”.   So, what are you doing with your salvation, are you walking in your salvation with true faith, and making efforts to improve? Or are you abusing our salvation from the precious Blood of Jesus Christ? We all have a choice on this, God gave us a free-will. Jesus told us in John 15:5 (NKJV), “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”. I want you to really evaluate what fruit you are bearing. Are you only bearing good fruit on Sunday mornings, or are you bearing good fruit 24/7?

Colossians 1:21-23 (ERV) tells us, “At one time you were separated from God. You were his enemies in your minds, because the evil you did was against him.  But now he has made you his friends again. He did this by the death Christ suffered while he was in his body. He did it so that he could present you to himself as people who are holy, blameless, and without anything that would make you guilty before him.  And that is what will happen if you continue to believe in the Good News you heard. You must remain strong and sure in your faith. You must not let anything cause you to give up the hope that became yours when you heard the Good News. That same Good News has been told to everyone on earth, and that’s the work that I, Paul, was given to do.”. Let’s think about this scripture…  I would have to paraphrase this scripture myself as, “Before we each accepted Christ, we were in sin, which is evil and against what God wants in our lives. We have become Children of God, through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Jesus did this for us so we could present ourselves to God as holy. This will happen IF you continue to believe in, walk in, have faith in, and not let anything get in your way with your relationship with Jesus Christ.”. Notice both the scripture and my paraphrasing of it have a conditional word on it, and that conditional word is “IF”. The condition is we must walk in faith and remain in our faith and not let anything get in the way of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is what makes us branches on His vine, and we know what happens when we don’t abide in Christ from John 15:6, we are thrown into the fire and burned. I have an illustration I have made of the condition in Colossians 1:21-23.

If condition in Colossians 1:21-23 and John 15:6.

It is not only important to know who we are in Christ by knowing what the word of God says, but also by what fruit we are bearing. We must also know if we are truly abiding in Christ, or if we are letting something get in the way of our relationship with Jesus Christ. I challenge you to truly evaluate who you are in Christ based off what the Word of God says and determine if you are truly abiding in him. Also, examine your life for anything that could be hindering your relationship with Jesus Christ. It is so important to be sure and aware of how the decisions we make impact our identity in Christ.

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Christ or the World

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I hope you read my previous teaching on the most important decision one can make in their life, and that is to accept Christ as their savior. If you have not read that teaching, please CLICK HERE to read it! As I continue my series on decision making as a Christian, I would like to discuss what our decisions in life truly reflect. Are you making decisions in your life that reflect God’s words and commandments? Are you walking in God’s plan or your plan in life? Are you deciding off sinful desires or what God desires for you? I really want you to evaluate yourself with those questions, being a follower of Christ does not mean you are 100 percent perfect all the time, but you should constantly be seeking the Lord to improve in your weakness.

Are you living your life to benefit yourself, or are you living your life to give glory to God? Are you only giving time to God for two hours on Sunday or are you spending time with the Lord daily? We live in challenging times when some people might have to work more than forty hours a week to pay their bills and put food on the table. You might be working long hours, raising children, or have a spouse. You might be a college student and working a job at the same time. Finding time for God can be a challenge at times. When I was in college, I was taking a full-time load of classes while working full-time in fast food. Later, I got an internship and managed to work at my internship during the week, and in fast food on the weekend, while still taking classes online and at night. It was not easy balancing that, along with making time for God. I probably could have made more time for God back then. But to anyone who is struggling to make time with God, assess how much time you spend on everything each day. Maybe there is something you can cut back on, or maybe you are oversleeping and can wake up earlier to read the Bible, read a devotion, pray, or worship.

Matthew 6:33 (WEB) tells us, “But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”. Are you seeking God first, or are you seeking your own desires first?  I don’t know about you, but I would rather seek God first, than my own desires. Once we are born again, we are new in the Spirit.  2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) tells us, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”. Additionally, Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV) tells us, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.”. when we are born again, we should be living in the Spirit, and not of the flesh. The desires and works of the flesh lead to sin. Galatians 5:19-21 (NKJV) reminds us, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”. Many of these items listed are things this world deems as okay or the way to be. Are there any of these items from Galatians 5:19-21 that you are tolerating in your life? If you are allowing sin to run any part of your life, how can you expect the blessings of God to overflow in your life? God wants no one to be in sin, but because of Adam and Eve, we have free will. If you are falling short to an item listed in Galatians 5:19-21, seek the Lord and repent. Also get out of the habit of that sin, it might not be easy, it may involve having to get guidance from another Christian. As Christians, we must stick together and build each other up.

It might be difficult to get out of a sinful habit, maybe because the world views it as okay. As true followers of Christ, we should not be concerned about what the world thinks, we should be concerned about what the word of God says. 1 John 2:15(KJV) tells us, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”. Additionally, Romans 12:2 (ESV) reminds us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”. When you become less worldly and more like Christ, it is normal to expect the people of the world to turn against you because of your beliefs. Often this is when we can become tempted. With the culture war going on in not only America but the world, Christians are constantly having an agenda of sin pushed on them constantly. Christians in America are even being personally attacked for their beliefs. Some Christians are just accepting it as the way of the world. While yes, we are still to love one another, even the sinners, but why are people in the body of Christ, adapting to the sinful way of the world? I am about to say something extremely bold, but my Spirit is telling me it must be said, if the Body of Christ continues tolerating the world, the world will begin to dominate the body of Christ. As the saying goes, what we tolerate will dominate. Let’s start being more true followers of Christ in this year of 2019. The world might be against us, just like it was when Christ lived on earth. John 15:19(ESV) says, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”. We should not be jealous of what the sinful people of the world have, they should be jealous of what we have in Christ.

As followers of Christ, we are to lead by example in all we do. While yes it can be hard. There is a spiritual battle between evil and the body of Christ, that has been brewing for far too long. The body of Christ is having stronger opposition from evil. We don’t have to fight back physically, we must fight back individually and together in prayer and with the word of God. Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) reminds us, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”. Also, Matthews 24:14 (KJV) instructs us, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”. You might not be able to travel the world and teach the Gospel to everyone, but why not the people in your neighborhood or surrounding communities, or other parts of your own country? With the many advancements in technology, it is now more possible than ever before to reach more people with the Gospel. I challenge you to not only lead by example as a follower of Christ but spread the Gospel in as many ways as you can. Also, pray for our leadership in our country, and also for an end to the wickedness in our country and world.