- we are God's handy work; the salt of the world. Do good works so that man will glorify God!
- God wants you to embrace the unique personality He has given you so that you can reach your full potential & purpose that he designed for your life (Matthew5:13-18 & Ephesians 2:10)
3 points:
-Point # 1: why you should do you
-Point # 2: how to do you
-Point # 3: what it means to do you
-Psalms 139:18 --> God thinks about you! When he thinks about you, He is not thinking about all of the reasons you're not qualified to be in His presence.. he's thinking about his plans for your life! His thoughts of you are precious. It doesn't say that they are "evil"
POINT 1: Why should you do you??
-reason #1: Because everyone else is already taken! (John 21:15-23)
For every time Peter denied Jesus (3 times), Jesus restores him saying "you loveth me.."
*If you try to be someone else, you can only be second best!
*You can lose so much time worrying about what everyone else is doing!! Do what God told YOU to do and stop worrying about what he's doing with everyone else.
--> 2 Corinthians 12:14-
-reason#2: when you DON'T do you, you rob yourself of the fulfillment of what God has called you to have, and you rob the world of the gift God has placed in you for his glory.
*We need everyone, every person, to do their part and DO THEM so that the kingdom of God can have the impact it's supposed to have. When we understand this, it frees us from insecurities and jealousy!
ex: your body. your nose isn't looking at your feet saying, "look at them. they think they something just because they carrying this body around.." or your ears to you eyes, "they think they can see? that's not so great. I can see better than they can!" --> NO YOU CAN'T! you're an "ear" --> just like in the body of Christ! It seems pretty silly for your body parts to be competing with one another right? This is the same in Christ's body. We are all members but we all have our own distinct styles and personalities for a reason.. we serve a God that loves diversity! Even identical twins have different fingerprints. What you do, and how you do it is distinctly you! Don't be jealous or compare your style to someone else's
*The only reason a born-again believer of Christ can be jealous is because they don't fully know and understand who they are! Because if they did, if they thought about all the thoughts God has of you, you'd be too busy trying to receive what he has for you than worrying about someone else!
Reason#3: --> Matthew 5:14-
- be who you are in the presence of other people because when you shine, God shines!
*John 1:18 says Jesus is the light of the world, but here in Matthew, he says that i'm the light. Are we both the light? Jesus says yes.
--> ex: The moon. A body that has no light of its own, but shines from the reflection of the "sun's" light- when you embrace who you are in Christ you shine your light unto the world and allow the "son" to be seen, even when the "sun" isn't.
(referenced: 1 Corinthians6:17)
This goes far beyond your physical needs- the new job, etc.
Reason#4: -->Romans 8:19
- the most creative person lives IN you AND he's your dad!! You have enough power to change the whole world! There's enough ideas, solutions, etc. in first service alone to change the world in 24 hrs, but we've suppressed it.
--> It comes down to this: everyone wants to be "liked," to fit in! but what happens is that you try to fit in so much to the point where you suppress the person god has called you to be, not just to be a blessing for yourself but to be a blessing for someone else [basically you're hindering someone else from getting blessed when you aren't yourself! wow!]
-sometimes we don't reach our full potential because we feel like we're so different [wrong size, shape, skin color, personality, etc] that people won't accept us, etc.
POINT #2: How to do you (ref'd scriptures: Isaiah 43, Daniel 32)
1) prayer (Luke 6:12) --> You can't do you (in Christ) if you don't have a prayer life. Throughout the bible you see Jesus praying.. later you see Jesus saying he has to go to a certain town or city. HOW does he know he's to go there? Because he's in connect with God. You'll never know what you're supposed to do if you don't pray to the one who does know!
2)find yourself in the word of God (john1:19-23)
3)Get rid of limited thinking (Luke 37)
4)step out on faith--> Well, God didn't save you for security! You're not always going to be comfortable. Sometimes to follow God, you are going to have to take some risks! *It may seem like a risk to you, but to god, it's a sure thing.
5)Learn to keep a secret (Matthew 6:5-6) --> there are times where you can't tell everybody everything God is going to do in you
6)Let go of the weights that beset you (doesn't always have to be sin, although that is included)
ex: you want to be a millionaire but can't balance a check! Hebrews 12:1-2; Proverbs 7:17
7)Understand your need for divine connection with others (Ephesians 4:16)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
The "Break-up" ~ Pastor Brandon Davis #TeamLifted
Scripture reference: Romans 6, beginning at verse number one.
- there's nothing like being free from sin
*The most miserable people on Earth are the back-slid Christians because they know the truth! They know and have experienced God for themselves!
- why hide from God when he's the ONLY one who can fix it??! --> It's very important that we don't take advantage of God's mercy.. because we don't know when it will run out.
- Our God didn't change! His character is unchanging. The same God that poured his wrath out onto the people of the old testament is the same God we serve today. The reason we have not yet felt his wrath is because Jesus satisfied it by dying on the cross.
-How do you know if you're truly living for God if you live that way?? If you live as if you can do whatever you want and just ask God to forgive you when you slip up?
- People that take advantage of other people really don't love them--> friends that only come to you when they want something. Are they really your friends? (apply to spirituality) Do you really love God when you only seek him to fix your problems or forgive you?
- if sin is dead to you, it no longer has influence over you. It doesn't look good to you anymore.
-your spirit is affected by three things: what you hear, say, and watch
- If we are playing in sin, we may not be happy Jesus washed them away!
- God says to hate ALL sin--> that includes sinful MUSIC, TV, etc. Anything not of god.
*However, when you've surrounded yourself with sin for so long, and you've been playing with sin, you sometimes won't be able to tell the difference between what is evil(sin) and what is acceptable.
-ex: let's use music. Some people say that they listen to a certain kind of music because they "like the beat," even though they know it contradicts the God they say they serve.
Q: "If it's just music, why can't you put it down?"
someone answered: " because i like it." --> okay...Q: "why do you like it? If it has NOTHING in common with the God you say you serve, but you "like it," maybe your relationship with Him isn't as tight as you though.." **oxymoron don't you think??
- The whole purpose of you being buried in Christ and being resurrected is to put all the sinful ways aside and live a life according to God's will and His word.
* Many people want to share in the burial of Christ, which symbolizes Jesus dying for our sins, but they don't want to share in his resurrection, which symbolizes newness of life.
- you can't expect to be forgiven by Christ while not even trying to live your life his way.
- we want to do wrong, but we want our lives to go well, THEN get mad at God if it doesn't.
(we didn't finish this lesson, so more is to come next week hopefully)
- there's nothing like being free from sin
*The most miserable people on Earth are the back-slid Christians because they know the truth! They know and have experienced God for themselves!
- why hide from God when he's the ONLY one who can fix it??! --> It's very important that we don't take advantage of God's mercy.. because we don't know when it will run out.
- Our God didn't change! His character is unchanging. The same God that poured his wrath out onto the people of the old testament is the same God we serve today. The reason we have not yet felt his wrath is because Jesus satisfied it by dying on the cross.
-How do you know if you're truly living for God if you live that way?? If you live as if you can do whatever you want and just ask God to forgive you when you slip up?
- People that take advantage of other people really don't love them--> friends that only come to you when they want something. Are they really your friends? (apply to spirituality) Do you really love God when you only seek him to fix your problems or forgive you?
- if sin is dead to you, it no longer has influence over you. It doesn't look good to you anymore.
-your spirit is affected by three things: what you hear, say, and watch
- If we are playing in sin, we may not be happy Jesus washed them away!
- God says to hate ALL sin--> that includes sinful MUSIC, TV, etc. Anything not of god.
*However, when you've surrounded yourself with sin for so long, and you've been playing with sin, you sometimes won't be able to tell the difference between what is evil(sin) and what is acceptable.
-ex: let's use music. Some people say that they listen to a certain kind of music because they "like the beat," even though they know it contradicts the God they say they serve.
Q: "If it's just music, why can't you put it down?"
someone answered: " because i like it." --> okay...Q: "why do you like it? If it has NOTHING in common with the God you say you serve, but you "like it," maybe your relationship with Him isn't as tight as you though.." **oxymoron don't you think??
- The whole purpose of you being buried in Christ and being resurrected is to put all the sinful ways aside and live a life according to God's will and His word.
* Many people want to share in the burial of Christ, which symbolizes Jesus dying for our sins, but they don't want to share in his resurrection, which symbolizes newness of life.
- you can't expect to be forgiven by Christ while not even trying to live your life his way.
- we want to do wrong, but we want our lives to go well, THEN get mad at God if it doesn't.
(we didn't finish this lesson, so more is to come next week hopefully)
Sunday, July 17, 2011
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
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
Friday, July 15, 2011
Check out my brother Laki on youtube--> "LAKITRUESTORY"
Shout out to my big bro Laki --> spittin dat truth for Christ!! That's whats up!
Midnight Epiphany
I woke up in the middle of the night, around 3:00 am, and i could not go back to sleep at all! I was just lying there in the bed, when something in my spirit was pushing me to get my bible. I began flipping through, unsure of what exactly it was that I was searching for, until I landed on Psalm 37:4 which reads: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you all your heart's desires."
When I read this scripture, I immediately thought back on a conversation that my friend Sophia and I were having on Facebook. I was concerned that while I was spending time in the presence of God by reading, praying and worshiping, I wasn't fully IN the presence of God. Yes, I was doing his work, but was I really taking the time to stop and listen to what He had to say to me? Was I taking the time to make sure that God was the first and only solution to any and every problem that came tumbling my way? Am I striving to be more and more like Christ in my daily walk? Or, was I simply a Christian who had a great "confessional" theology, but was lacking something deeper in her "functional" theology?
I didn't want to be that Christian. God has done so much for me, and continues to do so much for me, that I could not bear the idea of simply talking about Him. God is so worthy of being at the forefront of all of our conversations, however, I can't be satisfied by just talking about him. I want to talk to Him! After all, he's the best dad anyone can ever ask for. I love to share the greatness of God with anyone who bothers to lend an ear, but I love talking to Him just as much! To hear him speak into my life and teach me more of His will is wonderful! However, it's hard to hear from God when other things demand your attention.
So, I prayed about that. It's a prayer that I have been seeking God about for nearly a week now, after one of my brothers decided it was best for him to delete his Facebook account in order to have more time to be available to God. Well, I wanted to know what aspects of my life could be removed so that I could better serve God as well. Although God is still working on his response to that question, he has begun to show me little pieces of his will.
For one thing, i'm definitely cutting back on phone time. My mother didn't pay my phone bill this month, and at first I was upset by that. However, as the days passed by, it may have been one of the best things for me right now. I text all day! I had Facebook as this little blue app and was constantly updating statuses and uploading the latest pictures via Facebook mobile. But how much of that time could have been spent with God? How often would I leave that text unopened, and go seek more of God in his word? Seldom, if ever. Having a phone wasn't all bad though. I used to send out good morning texts to all of my friends with a scripture or quote so everyone would have a little nugget of encouragement for the day. When I turn it back on, I will be more mindful of how much time I spend using it, so that I always have time for God.
I'm seeking God first in everything. If there is anything that He thinks i should cut down on, or remove completely from my life, let it be. For it is not my will, but the will of my father. Even if he were to call me to eliminate something that I love, say volleyball for instance, I will do it because I know it will be for his glory in the end, and that's what we live for. We live to give God glory.
When I read this scripture, I immediately thought back on a conversation that my friend Sophia and I were having on Facebook. I was concerned that while I was spending time in the presence of God by reading, praying and worshiping, I wasn't fully IN the presence of God. Yes, I was doing his work, but was I really taking the time to stop and listen to what He had to say to me? Was I taking the time to make sure that God was the first and only solution to any and every problem that came tumbling my way? Am I striving to be more and more like Christ in my daily walk? Or, was I simply a Christian who had a great "confessional" theology, but was lacking something deeper in her "functional" theology?
I didn't want to be that Christian. God has done so much for me, and continues to do so much for me, that I could not bear the idea of simply talking about Him. God is so worthy of being at the forefront of all of our conversations, however, I can't be satisfied by just talking about him. I want to talk to Him! After all, he's the best dad anyone can ever ask for. I love to share the greatness of God with anyone who bothers to lend an ear, but I love talking to Him just as much! To hear him speak into my life and teach me more of His will is wonderful! However, it's hard to hear from God when other things demand your attention.
So, I prayed about that. It's a prayer that I have been seeking God about for nearly a week now, after one of my brothers decided it was best for him to delete his Facebook account in order to have more time to be available to God. Well, I wanted to know what aspects of my life could be removed so that I could better serve God as well. Although God is still working on his response to that question, he has begun to show me little pieces of his will.
For one thing, i'm definitely cutting back on phone time. My mother didn't pay my phone bill this month, and at first I was upset by that. However, as the days passed by, it may have been one of the best things for me right now. I text all day! I had Facebook as this little blue app and was constantly updating statuses and uploading the latest pictures via Facebook mobile. But how much of that time could have been spent with God? How often would I leave that text unopened, and go seek more of God in his word? Seldom, if ever. Having a phone wasn't all bad though. I used to send out good morning texts to all of my friends with a scripture or quote so everyone would have a little nugget of encouragement for the day. When I turn it back on, I will be more mindful of how much time I spend using it, so that I always have time for God.
I'm seeking God first in everything. If there is anything that He thinks i should cut down on, or remove completely from my life, let it be. For it is not my will, but the will of my father. Even if he were to call me to eliminate something that I love, say volleyball for instance, I will do it because I know it will be for his glory in the end, and that's what we live for. We live to give God glory.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
I Hate You by Mali Music
I love this song!! For those of you who say; "well God says to love everyone!" --> That is true. However, the bible also talks about how a servant cannot have two masters, for they will surely love one and hate the other.
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