Everyone has someone that they look up to, someone that they hate to disappoint. Having the approval of that one person means more to us than anything, and their rejection cuts deeper than any blade ever could. We try to dress like them, talk like them, walk like them. It's as if this individual has molded us into their image. They have become our idol. We may not always admit it with our mouths, but we show it through our actions just the same. But what happens when we fall short of their expectations?
Well, as human beings, none of us can ever be "perfect," no matter how hard we try. This inability to reach (it/perfection) makes the need for the blood and righteousness of a perfect savior that much more vital for our justification before God. Jesus is that perfect savior.
I am truly grateful that God doesn't require us to be perfect. We sometimes feel overwhelmed, and even stress out because we fall short of expectations fellow men and women set before us. But the great thing about our God is that he isn't looking for perfect people. He is looking for perfect hearts. This doesn't give us an excuse to habitually sin, however, it does gives us hope when we do slip occasionally. The first verse of Romans chapter 8 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So we should no longer feel ashamed of past sin. That alone gives me so much hope..
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Recap of the last few weeks
Man it has been a while since i've blogged! Wow, life has been really crazy lately. For starters, I've decided to join the air force! I took the asvab Thursday and I get processed at MEPS on this upcoming Wednesday. My family is doing pretty well also. We don't fight much anymore which is good. A few arguments here and there but nothing major. There is less than 2 months left before graduation!! :) I'm excited but also very nervous. I am ready to see what life lies beyond high school. I also got my prom dress :) that's basically all the things that have happened recently.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Early This Morning
This morning, around 4:30 am, I could feel God tugging on my heart to wake up. Wednesday was a long day for me, so naturally my flesh resisted this early wake up call. But I could hear holy spirit saying, "come, spend time with me." So I sat up, tired and all, and listened.
As a Christian, that's one of the first things that should be added to our "Things to Do" list- listening. I'm not talking about that passive listening where we are present physically, but our minds are wondering about elsewhere. Nor do I mean the aggressive listening we often use when our emotions get frazzled. Aggressive listening is when we listen while simultaneously thinking of come-backs in our minds, and even interrupt before the other person has had a chance to completely finish their thought process.
How often do we do this to God? We come crying to him in the humblest and most genuine way we've been taught. But most of our "prayers" aren't really prayers, but a quick "God-can-you-please-do-this-for-me" list that we often times feel like we're justified in asking for because we've been so "faithful." Of course, we are God's children and he wants us to come to him and believe in him to fulfill all of our needs. However, if our entire prayer life revolves around what God can do for us, it may be time for a self-evaluation. It's hard for us to wrap our minds around this concept at times, but life really has little to do with us and all to do with God. It's not "what can God do for us" but rather "what can we do for God?" Once we put ourselves on the back burner and stop talking, we will see that God's been speaking to us the whole time. We were just too busy talking to hear him.
I recently learned this about myself. I spend time with God in prayer, in his word and even in church activities. There'd be times when I'd encounter God in such an incredibly deep way, and it was amazing! Then the day would be over, and so was that great feeling. But I wanted that feeling to be accessible to me at any and all times of the day! So I thought by doing more things that pleased God, I'd get that feeling back, and I'd experience it more often.
But this morning God reminded me that it's because of him that I'm able to do anything, not my own effort. In Courtney I am nothing but in Christ I can do all things. Somewhere between trying to better myself and searching for God, I seemed to forget that God isn't looking for perfect people, but perfect hearts; and worship is something we can never truly perfect because we will never be able to serve enough, dance enough, clap our hands or stomp our feet loud enough to omit the debt that we owe to our father. Yet He loved us. He showed us the perfect way to love, and through his son Jesus, we have an opportunity to spend our lives trying to reciprocate that same love back to him. I didn't realize that trying to prove myself through works is just as bad as only praying to God to get something out of him. In both cases, there's one common factor: we're not listening to God! If you look to God just to ask him to bless you, or heal you or do this or do that, you don't leave room for God to speak to you. Maybe he'd share ways you can fix your own problem (through the power he gave us in the holy spirit), if you took the time to listen to the wisdom he has to offer. Likewise, for me, I had to learn that doing God's work doesn't ensure a closer relationship/ encounter with him. Faith does. Sometimes we can become so busy trying to carry out God's work that we seldom leave time for God to speak to us about how to work on the inside. How can you fix that temper you have? God can you help me to not get involved with gossip? Those are things that only God can share with you. It's hard to find those kind of answers in a service project.
So I'm praying to God to help me listen to him more.
As a Christian, that's one of the first things that should be added to our "Things to Do" list- listening. I'm not talking about that passive listening where we are present physically, but our minds are wondering about elsewhere. Nor do I mean the aggressive listening we often use when our emotions get frazzled. Aggressive listening is when we listen while simultaneously thinking of come-backs in our minds, and even interrupt before the other person has had a chance to completely finish their thought process.
How often do we do this to God? We come crying to him in the humblest and most genuine way we've been taught. But most of our "prayers" aren't really prayers, but a quick "God-can-you-please-do-this-for-me" list that we often times feel like we're justified in asking for because we've been so "faithful." Of course, we are God's children and he wants us to come to him and believe in him to fulfill all of our needs. However, if our entire prayer life revolves around what God can do for us, it may be time for a self-evaluation. It's hard for us to wrap our minds around this concept at times, but life really has little to do with us and all to do with God. It's not "what can God do for us" but rather "what can we do for God?" Once we put ourselves on the back burner and stop talking, we will see that God's been speaking to us the whole time. We were just too busy talking to hear him.
I recently learned this about myself. I spend time with God in prayer, in his word and even in church activities. There'd be times when I'd encounter God in such an incredibly deep way, and it was amazing! Then the day would be over, and so was that great feeling. But I wanted that feeling to be accessible to me at any and all times of the day! So I thought by doing more things that pleased God, I'd get that feeling back, and I'd experience it more often.
But this morning God reminded me that it's because of him that I'm able to do anything, not my own effort. In Courtney I am nothing but in Christ I can do all things. Somewhere between trying to better myself and searching for God, I seemed to forget that God isn't looking for perfect people, but perfect hearts; and worship is something we can never truly perfect because we will never be able to serve enough, dance enough, clap our hands or stomp our feet loud enough to omit the debt that we owe to our father. Yet He loved us. He showed us the perfect way to love, and through his son Jesus, we have an opportunity to spend our lives trying to reciprocate that same love back to him. I didn't realize that trying to prove myself through works is just as bad as only praying to God to get something out of him. In both cases, there's one common factor: we're not listening to God! If you look to God just to ask him to bless you, or heal you or do this or do that, you don't leave room for God to speak to you. Maybe he'd share ways you can fix your own problem (through the power he gave us in the holy spirit), if you took the time to listen to the wisdom he has to offer. Likewise, for me, I had to learn that doing God's work doesn't ensure a closer relationship/ encounter with him. Faith does. Sometimes we can become so busy trying to carry out God's work that we seldom leave time for God to speak to us about how to work on the inside. How can you fix that temper you have? God can you help me to not get involved with gossip? Those are things that only God can share with you. It's hard to find those kind of answers in a service project.
So I'm praying to God to help me listen to him more.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Volleyball Highlights
Hey check out my volleyball highlight tape.. it looks a lot better on a DVD player b/c I added a few cool things, but this is just the footage. Let me know what you think!
Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus
This is such an amazing poem! It definitely shows the difference between our savior Jesus Christ, and the false religious teaching of today. I hope you all enjoy it, I enjoyed it! Keep an eye out for my videos.. I will be posting my own spoken word poetry up here in a few weeks.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
His Love is Endless
The last few months have really been a growing period in my life, both physically and spiritually. With this being my last year in high school, my senior year, there are so many things going on that can really be a lot of stress for someone to handle...especially if they are carrying the load all by themselves. But thank you Jesus for carrying my burdens away. Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28 that he would give rest to those who are heavy laden; that scripture gives me all the confidence in the world because I don't just think of it as Jesus simply "removing" the obstacle or situation from my life. I read that word "rest," and i think to rest means to be worry-free; you have no care in the world. You're confident, you have faith in the one supplying your rest, so you no longer worry about being heavy laden. Even in the midst of a storm you can have rest because you have God with you. Jesus is our rest. In him we can have complete peace because we know that He cares for his flock, his sheep; his children. If we are in Christ, and Christ in us, this scripture should give us so much hope! With Christ, my hope is endless.
A few nights ago, I was re-reading notes I had taken on the doctrine of imputation. I nearly broke down because I thought to myself, "how awesome is it that God loved us so much, he was willing to come down to us in the form of man, impute our sin to himself, lay down his life, defeat the bondage and damnation of hell, then raise himself up just to reconcile the bond that was broken between us and him?" There was a statement on Facebook the other day and it said, "Jesus would rather die than to live without you," meaning you were so important to him, he just needed to come back and save you! This isn't true! Yes God loves us, but he most certainly does not need any of us. After everything we have done, it's only by God's grace that he decided to save us. There's nothing "lovable" about me or you; nothing even remotely "likeable." But he loved us while we were yet sinners! When we accept his invitation of love and open our hearts up to Him so that he can love on us and we in return learn to love on him, we see that we begin to grow more and more in the likeness of God's character; acquiring that same genuine love for others that He has shown and continues to show to us. His love is endless.
Yesterday, I went to the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville Infinity Scholars College Fair at the Hyatt downtown. My dad is a member of the hundred, so he thought i'd go, help out a little, walk around and see some of the schools.. I didn't have an objection to going to the college fair with my dad, but I wasn't super hyped about it either. My grades are far from valedictorian, and my test scores are average. I've even had teachers tell me i "wasn't college material" and should explore other options. I knew what God said about me in his word, but there were still times where I subconsciously let the negativity and death others had spoken over my life distract me from who I know I am in Christ. But yesterday, God showed me just how wrong all of those teachers were. I received full rides, money for room+ board and books, and volleyball scholarships. Friday night, which was the night before, one of my youth leaders at church told me that she felt God had placed it on her heart to give me $150 for college applications! How good is God? These are things I have been stressing since August, and God just took over and cleared it all up in less than 24 hours! When God does miraculous things like this, i don't only thank him and rejoice in the blessing, but I grow in Him because He reveals more and more to me about his character and i learn to trust him more. Even whilst going through an obstacle, I've been more stable the last few months because I've grown so much closer to Him. The possibilities of God when he is given permission to roam freely throughout your life are endless! Thank you so much God not just for blessing me these last few days, but giving me another day to get closer to you and work on my walk a little each day.
A few nights ago, I was re-reading notes I had taken on the doctrine of imputation. I nearly broke down because I thought to myself, "how awesome is it that God loved us so much, he was willing to come down to us in the form of man, impute our sin to himself, lay down his life, defeat the bondage and damnation of hell, then raise himself up just to reconcile the bond that was broken between us and him?" There was a statement on Facebook the other day and it said, "Jesus would rather die than to live without you," meaning you were so important to him, he just needed to come back and save you! This isn't true! Yes God loves us, but he most certainly does not need any of us. After everything we have done, it's only by God's grace that he decided to save us. There's nothing "lovable" about me or you; nothing even remotely "likeable." But he loved us while we were yet sinners! When we accept his invitation of love and open our hearts up to Him so that he can love on us and we in return learn to love on him, we see that we begin to grow more and more in the likeness of God's character; acquiring that same genuine love for others that He has shown and continues to show to us. His love is endless.
Yesterday, I went to the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville Infinity Scholars College Fair at the Hyatt downtown. My dad is a member of the hundred, so he thought i'd go, help out a little, walk around and see some of the schools.. I didn't have an objection to going to the college fair with my dad, but I wasn't super hyped about it either. My grades are far from valedictorian, and my test scores are average. I've even had teachers tell me i "wasn't college material" and should explore other options. I knew what God said about me in his word, but there were still times where I subconsciously let the negativity and death others had spoken over my life distract me from who I know I am in Christ. But yesterday, God showed me just how wrong all of those teachers were. I received full rides, money for room+ board and books, and volleyball scholarships. Friday night, which was the night before, one of my youth leaders at church told me that she felt God had placed it on her heart to give me $150 for college applications! How good is God? These are things I have been stressing since August, and God just took over and cleared it all up in less than 24 hours! When God does miraculous things like this, i don't only thank him and rejoice in the blessing, but I grow in Him because He reveals more and more to me about his character and i learn to trust him more. Even whilst going through an obstacle, I've been more stable the last few months because I've grown so much closer to Him. The possibilities of God when he is given permission to roam freely throughout your life are endless! Thank you so much God not just for blessing me these last few days, but giving me another day to get closer to you and work on my walk a little each day.
Friday, December 30, 2011
"A Masterpiece in the Making" (CD)
Bishop George Davis
--> Ephesians 2: 8-10 We are God's workmanship; His masterpiece.
- Everyone knows a masterpiece takes time. There are always different phases til the finished product God has called us to. Where ever you are right now, this isn't the end for you!
- So if you're doing well right now, that's great! Thank God for it, but he has more in store for you! If you're not doing so hot right now, you thought you should have accomplished some things in your life and you didn't, you strayed away, etc. God is still working on you!
**Philippians 1:6 - "And I am sure of this, that he who began a great work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
(In lamen terms): As long as you are still down here on this earth, God will be working on you! It doesn't say "..until you mess up," which means God must have already factored into it your mess-ups! He already understood that there was going to be a detour; it wasn't a detour He intended, nor a detour He designed, but He has a way for you to get back on track and still end up where he intended for you to be.
**Question: What is God working on in you for this year??
- If you say that God isn't working on anything in you right now, it's because you haven't been listening! b/c Phil 1:6 clearly states that He is working on something continuously in you until the day Christ returns
--> Hebrews 6:1-
* At no time does God want us to get comfortable with where we are!
*God never remains stagnant. So what frustrates people is when we (people) become stagnant, and God is trying to move us to the next level of growth.
*God is not going to give you the next level of blessing until you walk in the next level of growth.
*In order for this to be the year of the fullness of the blessing for you, it must be the year of the fullness of the maturity for whatever He's talking to you about fixing.
-So if I want the fullness of the blessing, i have to be willing to submit myself to God, and walk in the fullness of maturity for whatever He's asking me to do right now!
-If you refuse to let God work on perfecting you in that one area, it's going to bring a stop to what God able to do in your life. b/c you can't keep going higher and higher with a moving God, while staying the exact same way in your personality and character.
-Every time you make the changes, God promotes you to a higher level.
*Many times we are hold-up for the blessing! But if we'll just get out of the way, and let God have his way, what we'll find is He's ready to do a lot more things in our lives than what he's been able to do up until now, *and as soon as we get ready we find that He has been ready!
--> 1 Samuel 16:1 - Example of how some character issue can cause you to miss out on some facet of what God could be doing in your life.
- God doesn't owe us an explanation! There's plenty of times where God will tell you to do something, and when you're a young christian he gives you plenty of time. He'll give you confirmation. He'll give you someone to prophesy a word into your life, send you to church and a message confirms what you're supposed to do, etc. to make sure you know it's really Him that's sending you. BUT, now that you've been walking with God for a little while, and you know his voice, you know how he deals with you, you get to a point where God tells you to do something and you ask for confirmation- no confirmation comes. Because he knows he already taught you how to hear his voice. You know how to pray it out in the spirit until you get peace on the inside. So now God is telling you to go and do what he asked you to do, and he may not give you all the details.
- The more you mature, to which much is given much is required. In the beginning days God knew it'd take time to work with you. But after all this time, God no longer takes your excuses.
--> Look at Moses as an example. The confirmations God gave him with the signs in exodus; versus the response God gives Moses for not doing what God commanded in the dessert. The first time, God told Moses to strike the rock with the rod and water would come out. sure enough, water came out and the people were given water to drink. The second time however, God wanted Moses to show the people that the power wasn't in the rod it was in God, so this time God told Moses to just speak to the rock. But afraid of what would happen Moses did what he did the first time and hit the rock with the rod. The people's needs were still met, but because of Moses' disobedience God would not let him inherit the promise land.
Back to 1 Samuel 16:, starting at vs 6:
-Eliab was rejected by God, and so were all the other sons before David. To be rejected means they must have been considered. There was probably something in their characters that made them unfit to be God's anointed king.
(I wonder if there are things in our own personalities and characters that hinder God's blessing...)
**The moment God reveals a part of your character or personality that needs to be altered, from that moment you become responsible to God for going to Him and letting Him give you what it takes, by the grace of God, to make the changes. b/c any of us can change any part of our personalities that needs to be changed.
- With God, it's all about position! God will start talking to you about something you need to change today, that will have you lined up for a promotion that's coming your way tomorrow.
-There may be something you've been standing and believing God for, and though you have a covenant right to it, there's a difference between having a covenant right to something and being spiritually mature enough to handle it when it shows up. --> *God won't give us more than we can handle.
--> Philippians 3:10-
*When there's something in your character or personality that keeps sticking out at you like a sore thumb, that needs to be corrected, it's because the Lord is the one who loves you just the way that you are, but can see how much greater you would be, and how much more he'd be able to do through you, if you went ahead and made the adjustment.
- (Phil 3:13) you have to let go of the past!! So many people are stuck grieving over their hurt feelings from the past, their failures, etc.
*The one thing you need to learn as a Christian is how to have a short memory! The only thing you want to keep on your mind is how good God has been b/c every day his mercies are brand new, he has a way to turn things around, and make things better every day of your life!
- It's time to let go of "he hurt me," or "they hurt me," etc. God knows they hurt you! But just like God factored in your mess-ups, he also factors in people hurting you.
- you'll have such joy on your face when God rewards you b/c you didn't faint, you didn't quit but you kept pressing forward.
- "press" = comes from the Greek word "dioko" which means to seek after eagerly; to earnestly endeavor or acquire; or to pursue in a hostile manner.
*Are you living with urgency to become all God has created you to be??
- I'm not talking about pursuing after all God can do for us. But are you really pursuing in a hostile manner all God created you to be? Are you at a place where you're no longer content with having a bad attitude? Are you at a place where you're just not willing to live another year caught up in foolishness? Are you at a place where you've made up in your mind that you're done repenting over and over again for the same thing? Are you at a place where you made up in your mind, "I'm going to go so hard after God in a hostile manner?" That i'm not going to let that spirit of loneliness cause me to step out of the will of God ever again? Are you at a place with your walk with God where there's such an urgency, a hostile spirit in you, that you've just decided, "i'm not getting baited into strife ever again?"
**See what happens with so many believers, they say they're going to change in some areas but they don't make a determined decision to do so. There's no urgency on it. There's no hostile intent. So consequently, when someone comes along and pushes the wrong button, it's easy for them to drift right back into what they say they'd no longer do b/c they never made a real commitment to do it right to begin with. That's why we say things like, "i'm gon' work on that," or "i'm gon' try and change that." Those are just excuse that mean, "i'm not going to do it, but i want you to know that i was thinking about doing it before i messed up."
- I've made up in my mind that there has to be more on the other side of what God is asking me to change.
--> John 5: 30 *This has to be your declaration! If you're still stuck on "it has to be my way all the time" or "i have to win every fight," then you're not going to be willing to make the adjustments. But when the only thing you really care about is the will of God, "i just want to be right with God.." The only thing you're really concerned with is, "Lord, let me know your will so i can sell out the rest of my life doing your will." And what happens is when you sell out to doing nothing but the will of God, you can't help but get rewarded for doing right! ((David said i've been young and i'm now old, but never have i seen the righteous of the Lord forsaken or his seed begging bread) you do right by God, and i promise God will do right by you! That's why it's impossible to live right before God consistently and have everything in your life go wrong every month, and every single day, etc. So don't confuse it. don't think that God has let you down! If you just never get a break, something's always going wrong, you never get a chance to stop & celebrate the goodness of the Lord without it being by faith, somewhere along the line you have to go back and examine. "Lord, what have you been dealing with me about changing, that i may have missed the mark on, or been too stubborn to change, or ignored it and didn't hear what you were telling me to do?" b/c when you live uprightly before God to the best of what you know right now, you can't help but walk in blessings even when challenges come your way.
*I'm tired of apologizing for blessings, or acting like i'm not blessed just to make someone else feel better! I'm blessed! and there's a reason why i'm blessed! Yes, God is good, but i've been living right and doing right before God for a very long time now, and when you've been living right before God you ought to walk in the blessings that come from living right before Him.
--> Acts 9:1-5
(vs 4-5) "It's hard for thee when you kick against the bricks." -in other words: when you're trying to do the opposite of what God is nudging you to do, nothing good is going to come out of that.
- If you try to go up against God and do the opposite of what he wants you to do, God IS going to have his way in your life! You can take the easy route, or you can take the hard route bc He's not going to change His mind. If you don't believe me, here are a few examples:
- Jonah: he didn't go where God told him to go; went on a boat heading in the opposite direction.. (you all know the story) *But we always look at Jonah being swallowed by a fish as a bad thing when really it's the mercy and grace of God that he didn't let Jonah drown in the sea! And when Jonah was back on land, God told him to go and do the exact same thing he told him to do before. So really, Jonah could have saved himself a few nights in the belly of a fish had he done it God's way to begin with!
- Pharaoh: God said let his people go. Pharaoh did everything he could not to let them go. etc.
--> End up in the same mess, sometimes longer than we had to be there, b/c we won't go ahead and do it God's ways.
-God is going to have his way, so it's best to just surrender all to him.
--> Hebrews 12: 5-11
- If you can't think of anything God is dealing with you about, it's because you haven't sought him on it. You spend enough time with God, and he'll make it very clear to you what he's working on.Then you have to surrender it to God.
*The way in which God chastens us is not with sickness and disease! God doesn't put cancer, or HIV on you to teach you something. Now sometimes sickness and disease come because we get out here on the enemy's territory. We dance with Satan and end up getting something we didn't want to have. But God is still merciful!
-God is the father of spirits. So when the father of spirits wants to correct his spirit children he does so by correcting or chastening them in their spirit not their flesh. He makes it real clear here: (He contrasts) "Fathers in the flesh would correct us in the flesh." And even when they corrected you in the flesh, you still had respect for them.
example: a 4 year old being spanked for being disobedient --> well 10-20 minutes later they're back, hugged up on their mom or dad b/c they understand it's just part of the process.
--> Well now our heavenly father is the father of spirits. When he corrects us, he corrects us in our hearts. When he comes and says, " you know you're wrong doing that," or "that wasn't the best way to handle that situation." Sometimes you want him to jump all over that one person at work or school b/c of how they mistreated you, and instead he starts telling you how he wants you to grow in your walk of maturity, your walk in love. He wants you to stop being so selfish in having things always done your way, etc. That's the chastening of the Lord!
And the bible says, "if you endure it.." Meaning if you don't kick against it. b/c you can rebel by saying "but i don't want to do it that way," or "man whatever, they mad me mad," etc. b/c it doesn't feel good when you're going through it, when God is chastening you, when He is working on something on the inside of you; it doesn't feel good when it seems like he's just constantly nitpicking at you..
But the bible says afterwards! Afterwards, if you endure the chastening, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
--> "peaceable" -root word being "peace," it comes from the Greek word "eirene" and it means "to set at one again." It's the Greek word that corresponds to the Hebrew word "shalom," which means "to bring everything back together, nothing missing and nothing broken."
- So when you submit to the chastening, that means everything that has been missing or broken from your life
will start making its way back because of your right standing with God.
-Now we get to a place where we say to God, "whatever you want me to adjust, I'll adjust."
--> Proverbs 9:8-
*We have to grow to a place where we love righteous correction! When you see God correcting you, whether it's him talking to you directly or if it's him talking to you through your holy woman or man of God, you ought to thank God for it. And surrender to it saying, "thank you Lord for bringing me up to a higher level."
--> Ephesians 2: 8-10 We are God's workmanship; His masterpiece.
- Everyone knows a masterpiece takes time. There are always different phases til the finished product God has called us to. Where ever you are right now, this isn't the end for you!
- So if you're doing well right now, that's great! Thank God for it, but he has more in store for you! If you're not doing so hot right now, you thought you should have accomplished some things in your life and you didn't, you strayed away, etc. God is still working on you!
**Philippians 1:6 - "And I am sure of this, that he who began a great work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
(In lamen terms): As long as you are still down here on this earth, God will be working on you! It doesn't say "..until you mess up," which means God must have already factored into it your mess-ups! He already understood that there was going to be a detour; it wasn't a detour He intended, nor a detour He designed, but He has a way for you to get back on track and still end up where he intended for you to be.
**Question: What is God working on in you for this year??
- If you say that God isn't working on anything in you right now, it's because you haven't been listening! b/c Phil 1:6 clearly states that He is working on something continuously in you until the day Christ returns
--> Hebrews 6:1-
* At no time does God want us to get comfortable with where we are!
*God never remains stagnant. So what frustrates people is when we (people) become stagnant, and God is trying to move us to the next level of growth.
*God is not going to give you the next level of blessing until you walk in the next level of growth.
*In order for this to be the year of the fullness of the blessing for you, it must be the year of the fullness of the maturity for whatever He's talking to you about fixing.
-So if I want the fullness of the blessing, i have to be willing to submit myself to God, and walk in the fullness of maturity for whatever He's asking me to do right now!
-If you refuse to let God work on perfecting you in that one area, it's going to bring a stop to what God able to do in your life. b/c you can't keep going higher and higher with a moving God, while staying the exact same way in your personality and character.
-Every time you make the changes, God promotes you to a higher level.
*Many times we are hold-up for the blessing! But if we'll just get out of the way, and let God have his way, what we'll find is He's ready to do a lot more things in our lives than what he's been able to do up until now, *and as soon as we get ready we find that He has been ready!
--> 1 Samuel 16:1 - Example of how some character issue can cause you to miss out on some facet of what God could be doing in your life.
- God doesn't owe us an explanation! There's plenty of times where God will tell you to do something, and when you're a young christian he gives you plenty of time. He'll give you confirmation. He'll give you someone to prophesy a word into your life, send you to church and a message confirms what you're supposed to do, etc. to make sure you know it's really Him that's sending you. BUT, now that you've been walking with God for a little while, and you know his voice, you know how he deals with you, you get to a point where God tells you to do something and you ask for confirmation- no confirmation comes. Because he knows he already taught you how to hear his voice. You know how to pray it out in the spirit until you get peace on the inside. So now God is telling you to go and do what he asked you to do, and he may not give you all the details.
- The more you mature, to which much is given much is required. In the beginning days God knew it'd take time to work with you. But after all this time, God no longer takes your excuses.
--> Look at Moses as an example. The confirmations God gave him with the signs in exodus; versus the response God gives Moses for not doing what God commanded in the dessert. The first time, God told Moses to strike the rock with the rod and water would come out. sure enough, water came out and the people were given water to drink. The second time however, God wanted Moses to show the people that the power wasn't in the rod it was in God, so this time God told Moses to just speak to the rock. But afraid of what would happen Moses did what he did the first time and hit the rock with the rod. The people's needs were still met, but because of Moses' disobedience God would not let him inherit the promise land.
Back to 1 Samuel 16:, starting at vs 6:
-Eliab was rejected by God, and so were all the other sons before David. To be rejected means they must have been considered. There was probably something in their characters that made them unfit to be God's anointed king.
(I wonder if there are things in our own personalities and characters that hinder God's blessing...)
**The moment God reveals a part of your character or personality that needs to be altered, from that moment you become responsible to God for going to Him and letting Him give you what it takes, by the grace of God, to make the changes. b/c any of us can change any part of our personalities that needs to be changed.
- With God, it's all about position! God will start talking to you about something you need to change today, that will have you lined up for a promotion that's coming your way tomorrow.
-There may be something you've been standing and believing God for, and though you have a covenant right to it, there's a difference between having a covenant right to something and being spiritually mature enough to handle it when it shows up. --> *God won't give us more than we can handle.
--> Philippians 3:10-
*When there's something in your character or personality that keeps sticking out at you like a sore thumb, that needs to be corrected, it's because the Lord is the one who loves you just the way that you are, but can see how much greater you would be, and how much more he'd be able to do through you, if you went ahead and made the adjustment.
- (Phil 3:13) you have to let go of the past!! So many people are stuck grieving over their hurt feelings from the past, their failures, etc.
*The one thing you need to learn as a Christian is how to have a short memory! The only thing you want to keep on your mind is how good God has been b/c every day his mercies are brand new, he has a way to turn things around, and make things better every day of your life!
- It's time to let go of "he hurt me," or "they hurt me," etc. God knows they hurt you! But just like God factored in your mess-ups, he also factors in people hurting you.
- you'll have such joy on your face when God rewards you b/c you didn't faint, you didn't quit but you kept pressing forward.
- "press" = comes from the Greek word "dioko" which means to seek after eagerly; to earnestly endeavor or acquire; or to pursue in a hostile manner.
*Are you living with urgency to become all God has created you to be??
- I'm not talking about pursuing after all God can do for us. But are you really pursuing in a hostile manner all God created you to be? Are you at a place where you're no longer content with having a bad attitude? Are you at a place where you're just not willing to live another year caught up in foolishness? Are you at a place where you've made up in your mind that you're done repenting over and over again for the same thing? Are you at a place where you made up in your mind, "I'm going to go so hard after God in a hostile manner?" That i'm not going to let that spirit of loneliness cause me to step out of the will of God ever again? Are you at a place with your walk with God where there's such an urgency, a hostile spirit in you, that you've just decided, "i'm not getting baited into strife ever again?"
**See what happens with so many believers, they say they're going to change in some areas but they don't make a determined decision to do so. There's no urgency on it. There's no hostile intent. So consequently, when someone comes along and pushes the wrong button, it's easy for them to drift right back into what they say they'd no longer do b/c they never made a real commitment to do it right to begin with. That's why we say things like, "i'm gon' work on that," or "i'm gon' try and change that." Those are just excuse that mean, "i'm not going to do it, but i want you to know that i was thinking about doing it before i messed up."
- I've made up in my mind that there has to be more on the other side of what God is asking me to change.
--> John 5: 30 *This has to be your declaration! If you're still stuck on "it has to be my way all the time" or "i have to win every fight," then you're not going to be willing to make the adjustments. But when the only thing you really care about is the will of God, "i just want to be right with God.." The only thing you're really concerned with is, "Lord, let me know your will so i can sell out the rest of my life doing your will." And what happens is when you sell out to doing nothing but the will of God, you can't help but get rewarded for doing right! ((David said i've been young and i'm now old, but never have i seen the righteous of the Lord forsaken or his seed begging bread) you do right by God, and i promise God will do right by you! That's why it's impossible to live right before God consistently and have everything in your life go wrong every month, and every single day, etc. So don't confuse it. don't think that God has let you down! If you just never get a break, something's always going wrong, you never get a chance to stop & celebrate the goodness of the Lord without it being by faith, somewhere along the line you have to go back and examine. "Lord, what have you been dealing with me about changing, that i may have missed the mark on, or been too stubborn to change, or ignored it and didn't hear what you were telling me to do?" b/c when you live uprightly before God to the best of what you know right now, you can't help but walk in blessings even when challenges come your way.
*I'm tired of apologizing for blessings, or acting like i'm not blessed just to make someone else feel better! I'm blessed! and there's a reason why i'm blessed! Yes, God is good, but i've been living right and doing right before God for a very long time now, and when you've been living right before God you ought to walk in the blessings that come from living right before Him.
--> Acts 9:1-5
(vs 4-5) "It's hard for thee when you kick against the bricks." -in other words: when you're trying to do the opposite of what God is nudging you to do, nothing good is going to come out of that.
- If you try to go up against God and do the opposite of what he wants you to do, God IS going to have his way in your life! You can take the easy route, or you can take the hard route bc He's not going to change His mind. If you don't believe me, here are a few examples:
- Jonah: he didn't go where God told him to go; went on a boat heading in the opposite direction.. (you all know the story) *But we always look at Jonah being swallowed by a fish as a bad thing when really it's the mercy and grace of God that he didn't let Jonah drown in the sea! And when Jonah was back on land, God told him to go and do the exact same thing he told him to do before. So really, Jonah could have saved himself a few nights in the belly of a fish had he done it God's way to begin with!
- Pharaoh: God said let his people go. Pharaoh did everything he could not to let them go. etc.
--> End up in the same mess, sometimes longer than we had to be there, b/c we won't go ahead and do it God's ways.
-God is going to have his way, so it's best to just surrender all to him.
--> Hebrews 12: 5-11
- If you can't think of anything God is dealing with you about, it's because you haven't sought him on it. You spend enough time with God, and he'll make it very clear to you what he's working on.Then you have to surrender it to God.
*The way in which God chastens us is not with sickness and disease! God doesn't put cancer, or HIV on you to teach you something. Now sometimes sickness and disease come because we get out here on the enemy's territory. We dance with Satan and end up getting something we didn't want to have. But God is still merciful!
-God is the father of spirits. So when the father of spirits wants to correct his spirit children he does so by correcting or chastening them in their spirit not their flesh. He makes it real clear here: (He contrasts) "Fathers in the flesh would correct us in the flesh." And even when they corrected you in the flesh, you still had respect for them.
example: a 4 year old being spanked for being disobedient --> well 10-20 minutes later they're back, hugged up on their mom or dad b/c they understand it's just part of the process.
--> Well now our heavenly father is the father of spirits. When he corrects us, he corrects us in our hearts. When he comes and says, " you know you're wrong doing that," or "that wasn't the best way to handle that situation." Sometimes you want him to jump all over that one person at work or school b/c of how they mistreated you, and instead he starts telling you how he wants you to grow in your walk of maturity, your walk in love. He wants you to stop being so selfish in having things always done your way, etc. That's the chastening of the Lord!
And the bible says, "if you endure it.." Meaning if you don't kick against it. b/c you can rebel by saying "but i don't want to do it that way," or "man whatever, they mad me mad," etc. b/c it doesn't feel good when you're going through it, when God is chastening you, when He is working on something on the inside of you; it doesn't feel good when it seems like he's just constantly nitpicking at you..
But the bible says afterwards! Afterwards, if you endure the chastening, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
--> "peaceable" -root word being "peace," it comes from the Greek word "eirene" and it means "to set at one again." It's the Greek word that corresponds to the Hebrew word "shalom," which means "to bring everything back together, nothing missing and nothing broken."
- So when you submit to the chastening, that means everything that has been missing or broken from your life
will start making its way back because of your right standing with God.
-Now we get to a place where we say to God, "whatever you want me to adjust, I'll adjust."
--> Proverbs 9:8-
*We have to grow to a place where we love righteous correction! When you see God correcting you, whether it's him talking to you directly or if it's him talking to you through your holy woman or man of God, you ought to thank God for it. And surrender to it saying, "thank you Lord for bringing me up to a higher level."
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