Obedience

Greetings!

I have a completely new respect for the word obedience. My pastor whipped it on us this morning. The scripture he referenced was from the Book of 1 Samuel 15:22-23. There were some strong points in that scripture, but the one that really struck me this morning was when he said that procrastination is disobedience. Wow, that one hit me hard. I have struggled with that for years, never really understanding why, but never trying to find out why. When he said that it was a form of idolatry, it was as if he slapped me. 

When you know that God has spoken to you and you decide when you are going to respond, you have made yourself a god. Procrastination says that you know more than God does. He also said that partial obedience is disobedience. That stopped me in my tracks. In this scripture, Saul did some of what God told him to do. He thought he was doing it for the right reason, but it was not what God told him to do.

My intention was or is never to try in any form to take God's place, but that is exactly what I was doing. I was telling God that I knew what I needed to do more that He did. That I was smart enough to figure it out for myself. Ummmm...I don't know about you, but I am not that smart. 

I love God too much to every disrespect Him. I want my life to reflect His glory and His grace continuously. Not sometimes...but, all the time. That means that if we want His blessing to overtake us, we need to obey God's commands. Does that mean that we will never fall short? No. We will fall short as long as we are in this flesh. But, here's the thing...we have to keep trying. 

Do His will as if it was yours, and He will do your will as if it were His...

Until next time...

Be blessed

The word of the day is FAITH!

Greetings!

All day today, wherever I went the message was centered around believing in the power of God to provide whatever we need. We don't serve a God that cannot heal and deliver. He is mighty and He is powerful and nothing in or out of this world can do anything about it. He is the One that hung the sun and the moon and the stars and He is the One that is still keeping them all in place. 

When we give our lives to Christ, we are given the same power and authority that Jesus has. We can speak to the mountains in our lives, and the word says that they have to move. That's the kind of power we possess. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 3:20, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." God will work according to our faith. So if we don't believe what we are praying for, then God will have a hard time convincing us, and that's not what He does. 

God will not force faith on us. He left us documented proof of who He is and what He has done...if that is not enough, then there is nothing left for Him to do. That doesn't mean that He won't keep trying to reach us. God will never give up on us. We just have to believe that even if God doesn't do it, we know He could and if He hasn't done it yet...doesn't mean He won't. 

Our challenge is to trust Him no matter what we see in the natural. Because if He allowed it to happen then He will either deliver us from it or see us through it.

Until next time...

Be blessed

Keep doing the work!

Greetings!

I woke up so grateful this morning, and I knew that God was going to show up big time...

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for every day that God wakes me. But today, I heard the testimony of a young man that really blessed me. He stood there telling us that he had suffered not one, but two, massive strokes. Did you miss the part where I said he "stood" there? To look at him you would never have known what he had been through. His message was all about faith, and how we have to do the work.

Our God is amazing. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. We were actually attending a service at a local rehab facility, and his testimony gave those patients hope...it gave me hope. We all left that service believing that we could do anything. The patients believed that if they put in the work, it could happen for them too. When one of the patients was on the way back to his room, I offered to push him, and he said, "No, I have to do the work!" Praise God! That's what a testimony should do.

That's what it's all about...encouraging and motivating one another to go a little further...push a little harder.. Sometimes, God will place us together to help one another do what we feel is impossible. Sitting in a wheelchair, you may feel like it will never get any better, but keep doing the work. Having to go to a job you don't like may seem like punishment at times, but keep doing the work. Watching others succeed while you continue to struggle may seem unfair, but keep doing the work. God has a blessing with your name on it. If you stay faithful, and keep believing...anything is possible.

Until next time...

Be blessed