Grateful

I want to be transparent with you all for a moment.. apologies if any family member is offended. Your struggles are tools for ministry, and i think someone out there can grow from this situation. 

Anyway.. 

      Two days ago, my mother's car was repossessed. I had no idea. That same morning, my dad told my siblings and I that in a few weeks we would be moving into a smaller home because at the moment my dad was the only paycheck we were living off of, so we needed to save money and cut expenses. Initially,  I thought, "How did things get this bad? My parents make descent money, especially to only be on the lower end of their 30's. what's going on?" 

      But God spoke to me at that moment, and I couldn't do anything but give Him praise. We have to downsize from our condo to an apartment. True. However, we are all covered under my dad's health insurance; we have two other vehicles to use so the repossession didn't greatly effect our daily routine; we're not starving; and we still have somewhere to lay our heads. Some families weren't as lucky. Some kids are living in shelters right now. The only change in our lives is that I have to give up my own room and share with one of my sisters. Nothing else changed, or is changing. Praise God that this situation isn't as bad as it could be. In fact, since we have to downsize, we can't take everything with us. So i've decided that i'm most likely going to give my tv, radio, and some other valuables away to the city rescue mission. I'm not going to just give away the things I no longer use, but I want to actually sacrifice some of the material things in my life so that I'm not as distracted from God. I'm going to turn the situation the enemy want to use as a tragedy and turn it into a testimony for God. With Him, I can never be defeated! 

       However, as human beings, sometimes it takes a little bit of light for us to see the whole picture. We tend to focus on the little speck in the corner, when the entire picture is a million dollar portrait! Through good and bad, God remains worthy of every ounce of praise. Remember that everything you have or don't have, good or bad if for the glory of God alone. Always count your blessings and stay humble. Stay blessed, love you all. Have a great day :) 

Understanding the Laws of Life and Death [part III]

Bishop George Davis, 8:30 am service September 11,2011
 Before I share these notes with you, I'd like to take a moment to remember those who lost their lives in 9/11. May God bless and comfort the family, friends and cities they left behind. 


--> Deuteronomy 30:19
--> John 10:10 ["The enemy only comes to steal kill and destroy..." ]


-Jesus says he came so that you may have life and have it more abundantly - meaning that the idea of god taking you through hardships to "teach you a lesson" is absolutely contradictory to the Word of God.


- We shouldn't have a problem with the enemy throwing challenges our way because we already have the answer!! [Jesus] Just like you don't have a problem with your teacher giving you a pop quiz if you know every answer. 


* Learn to make choices that align with the Word of God so that it becomes habits that align with the Word of God. Those habits become a character that aligns with the Word of God and having a character that aligns with the Word of God leads to living a life that aligns with the Word of God. 


--> Colossians 3:1 -set your priorities on what's a priority in Heaven. Your heart should be wrapped around what's important to Heaven
           - when you do this, your mindset will be in line with God's, and when situations come it won't be so hard for you to make the righteous choice. 
ex: swimming upstream. It's hard to swim upstream when the current is flowing in the opposite direction. In your walk, everyone around you might not be walking in the law of life, but you don't turn around and follow them. Keep pressing forward! 
--> Proverbs 31:19- *the fear of the Lord ignites the law of life- if i want to live this life that John 10:10 talks about, the bible says that fear of the Lord LEADS to it! 


-->Psalm 128:1-6 [all of psalm 128]
--> Psalm 31:19-
--> Proverbs 14:26-27
--> Psalm 145: 18-19


[Notice a recurring theme? If you fear the Lord, he will bless you] 
     |--> 2 reasons why: 
           a) because He's a good God 
           b) because the more you have the fear of God on the inside of you, your priorities/desires start to change to line up with His.


--> Psalm25:12
           - He'll teach you how to walk in His way! Your soul will be at ease [ you can have a lot of bad things going on around you yet you can till praise God] 
 a lot of people don't totally understand what it means to fear the Lord.
*The fear of the Lord = an attitude (3 components)


1) reverence for God- an expression of deep respect, love and admiration for God. Ex: Like someone utters the name of Jesus and immediately you get excited.. 
                          --> 1 Peter 3:15* God has his own private place in your heart that no one else can enter. 
*God's word is not a suggestion! IT"S A COMMANDMENT! 
*Going to church every week is NOT just about receiving a good word. It's about doing what you've been doing alone all week, now in a public setting! Praising God. Corporate worship with your fellow brothers and sisters! When you realize that it's a time for you to praise God publically, maybe you won't have as many excuses for not going. It's disrespectful! If God is showing up, it's disrespectful for you to be absent because you are supposed to be there giving him the praise He deserves. You should come to church always ready to give God something. 
--> exodus 23
2) obedience to God - John 14:15
3) hatred for evil
          --> Proverbs 8: 4-8 
Having a hatred for evil means NO exceptions! If God hates it [i.e. homosexuality, lust, gossip, etc] then we as his children and followers should hate it as well. Some people confuse holiness with simply abstaining from immorality and sin, or dressing nicely. Holiness is simply "at one with God." Meaning, if you are at one with God, you will make the godly decision, you won't tolerate the things that upset him, and you will follow his commandments. 


*"Salvation is ONLY in the name of Jesus because he was and still is the only one qualified to represent mankind." ~ Bishop George Davis 

               

There Is Nothing That God Can't Do ~FCC pastor from Orlando, Fl

*You can't expect loyalty without relationship (that's why God wants relationship with us)
-->Mark 9:23 = reference scripture
--> Ephesians 3:20 = reference scripture

- Don't ever take a preacher's word unless he is willing to show it to you in God's word.
- Luke chapeter 1: we normally read this story around Christmas time to talk about the birth of Jesus. But look at it this way for a second- In Luke 1, God is sending Jesus into the world to fix the biggest problem known to man! The fall of mankind. If God can fix that, whatmakes you think he can't fix your little problem? 
-WE may not be able to do something about everything, but God can do anything about everything.

*Are you willing to trust in God's charater?

-the word "possible" literally means "to be able to," and we know God is well able to do anything He pleases. 
- Get out of God's way, and get into position to experience the impossible
--> 2 Kings 4:4-7
             - the bible is the book of revelation, the book of inspiration, but it's also a history book. EVERYTHING in it actually happened! If God could do it back then, why do you feel as if He can't do it for you now? (God is the same yesturday, today, and forever more)
-the fuse thatignites our progress is our expectation
-when you cry out to God, you're saying, "God, I acknowledge the fact that I can't do this on my own."
-sometimes God will tell us to do something that seems ridiculous to us, but God can see a different view than what we see.
         --> ex: football. In a game, you can watch from the field, where you only see what's in front of you, or you can watch from a blimp, where you can see the entire field. It's a bit like that in faith. We are on the field, and we can only see the bad situation that is in front of us. However, God can see the entire field. He sees the storm that's before us, but he can also see the storm that is coming later on down the field..God can see all the complexities of our situation
              --> another ex: buzz lightyear rocketship. A 2 year old child gets a buzz lightyear rocket ship for Christmas. He loves buzz lightyear so he doesn't even bother to open his other presents. He wants his dad to put that rocket ship together right then! He keeps yelling, "daddy, are you going to put the rocket ship together yet? Daddy is it together yet? Daddy, daddy, daddy!!" Well, eventually dad is going to put that rocket ship together. (a few hours later) The two year old come into the room crying as he holds up the cone tip of the rocket ship. "It broke, daddy!" Well, dad is saying, "i know where that goes.." and he goes and puts it back on. (Just like God) God put US together! Everything that breaks us, discourages us, etc. But we have to first admit that it's broken, and go to him for help before he can step in to our situation.

- Disobedience: there are two definitions for disobedience--> "Delayed" disobedience and "partial disobedience." Delayed disobedience is not doing what God says right away, or when he says to do it. Partial disobedience is only doing 85% of half of what God says to do.
*our blessing is tied to our obedience.
(reference scripture: Matthew 9:29)
-You hear the phrase, "be that unto you according to your faith." However, it is also scripturally accurate to say "be that unto you according to your obedience." --> In this story, the lady was able to pay off her debt and provide for her family for the rest of her life. Whereas in Luke 5, Simon only put down one net, when Jesus told him to put down his nets (partial disobedience)--> the nets began to break. He missed out on his blessing because he did not follow Jesus's directions in full.

*In scripture, right after you see obedience, you'll see the phrase "and it came to pass.." - We tend to look at stories in the bible and think, "well those stories are great, but that can't happen to me."
-->(reference scriptures: John11; Proverbs 23:7; Romans12:3)
-Think according to your faith. Faith comes from hearing. How do you hear God? Through his word. --> Stay in the word of God.

~Ways To Get Out Of The Way~
#1: Don't blame God for your situations
     --> James 1:13 God is never tempted to do wrong, and he doesn't tempt us to do wrong. He doesn't cause sickness, poverty, evil, etc. so that he can "teach us a lesson." That's erroneous teaching and thinking. However, he'll allow us to act out our faith when situations come our way. God is right there, he won't let you fall, but he wants you to believe in the power that is within you. If God always has the "grace dial" turned on high, always protecting you, you'll never have an opportunity to grow in your faith in Christ.

#2: Accept responsibility for your own mess.
--> (Proverbs 20:8, 1John1:7-9; 1 Kings17 = reference scriptures)
       - if you don't admit it, God can never fix it! God is not looking for perfect people. He is looking for perfect hearts. He knows you're going to mess up, but you didn't do it on purpose. He still loves you. When you are mature enough to admit when you're wrong and go to him and say, "you know what God, I messed up. I'm sorry," he acts like it never happened in the first place!

#3: Always be listening
--> Genesis 20. When we are going through a situation, God needs us listening. God could have told him where Mt. Mariah was, but God wanted him listening.

#4: Believe God can do anything
--> Mark 9:23 You can't get away from faith. At the end of the day, that's what it all boils down to.
*Faith never denies the facts, it changes the facts.
   - Faith doesn't neglect the fact that you're jobless, or you have cancer, etc. However, God can show you answers you never knew was possible.
- The only thing that limits God is our disbelief. If you don't believe he can do it for you, he is still able, but he won't [unless he wants to show mercy and grace on you] because you don't have faith in him. ("all things work together...")

A Generation That Seeks God ~ Nate Perkins

My church family at Faith Christian Center had another guest preacher bring the Word this morning, as our bishops, George and April Davis are taking a much needed vacation. 


Referenced Scriptures: 
2 Chronicles 7:14, 2 Chronicles 26:5, Hebrews 11:6, Isaiah 55, Psalm24:1, Hebrews 2:1, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 6:33, Psalm 107, Exodus 3:11, Luke 17:11, 1John5, Isaiah 43, Luke 11:1, Galatians 5:16, Proverbs 20, Joshua 24:15


-Get to a point where you require God, NOT because you are in trouble, but because you want to. Do it just because you love Him. 
-make sure God is at the right place in your life--> prioritize! (He deserves all of your heart, not half, not 3/4)
- Sometimes we want to change the rules, or only abide by some of them (scriptures/commandments), yet we still want the same victory
- as a christian, you get out of it what you put into it --> it's a personal relationship! You and God. No one else. Yes, it's great to have friends and family praying with you and for you, but bottom line is that they can't save you. 
-when we do things God's way, we will get God's results. 
- are we a generation that seeks the FACE of God, or the HAND of God? (if god didn't do another thing for you, would you still seek him?)
- we praise God for all he has done for us but we worship God just for being god. We worship him just for being who he is. 
- we have to be the generation that is not in it for ourselves but for God, and God alone. 
~7 Things to be the generation: ~ 
1) be thankful (Luke 17:11-)
             - God always has your best interest at heart. It may not make sense to you in your mind. but God already knows the other side of your obedience. 
             - We need to mark those spots where God has brought us through because the enemy is good at reminding us of all the negative (the lost loved one, the hurt, suffering, etc.)
             - Sometimes we can have like 50 good things going and only one bad thing, and the enemy gets us to focus all of our attention on that one bad thing. Be thankful for the 50 good things! We can't allow things of the past to keep us bound when God is trying to push us forward! But many of us stop. God has already told you where to go, how to get there, etc. but you're stuck where you are because of what you're going through.
*We need to learn to praise God with the same passion that we ask for it so when we get it we have the same passion to praise him. Some people expect blessings. They feel as if God has to do that for them.  
2) be persistent in prayer.
              - Prayer is man's legal permission for God to step in and intervene in our situations. 
              - Prayer is not just a "God To-Do List" --> we can't always go to him with our hands out, but actually spend time worshiping him, and being in awe of him. 
              - Prayer doesn't cause faith to come. You should already have the faith when you are seeking God. It's the other way around. 
3) don't be led by your emotions. Be led by the Holy Spirit.
              - You have to learn to start encouraging yourself in the Lord sometimes. (before you can lead someone else in Christ, you need to make sure you are leading yourself) 
              - when your faith is on trial (meaning, you are going through struggles, challenges, etc.) you have to get past the drama --> let your emotions calm down before you make any rash decisions (like quitting your job, getting a divorce, etc) because God's will still has to be completed. 
 4) Make the word of God the final authority in your life
              - you have to adjust your life to the word, not the other way around. The word is not built to accommodate you. You were built to adjust and adapt to how the word works in your life.
              - the devil feeds us lies (like we're different, or church isn't for me, etc) --> we turn these lies into excuses --> those excuses leave us crippled and we aren't living out the word in our lives; we use the lies as excuses as to why we can't do what God says. 
 5)Refuse to give up on your faith and God's word--> The devil's plan ultimately revolves around trying to get you to a point where you feel like the word of God doesn't work. 
6)Keep the Right attitude -- > in the midst of situations, especially the ones where you are upset, you don't always feel like praying or reading scriptures. In fact, those are probably the two farthest things from your mind at the moment. "i'll pray later, i'm mad right now. Did she really just try me like that?" etc. No. you are still called to keep the right attitude and seek God so that you do his will and not act out of your emotions. 
7)Love God, love people. --> if you are going to do His will, you have to love God, love truth, love what you are called to do, and love people