Transform Us, Lord!

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.  Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:1-10 NIV [Please read it all for insight into  David's heart after he committed adultery with Bathsheba]

Before we can expect to see any change in any of us, we must be willing to admit where we have fallen short and then seek God's forgiveness. If we think we have never done anything wrong, we close the door on the transformation that only God can achieve in us.

None of us are perfect--though we strive for perfection as God defines it--not us, so there are areas in us we need to submit to God.

The first area in our lives that we need to submit to God is our "stinking thinking" so we can stop holding our noses. Yes, our thought life is what gets us into trouble and until we submit our thoughts to God, nothing will change in our lives. Why? Whatever we think about--extensively--is what we'll act upon.

David's adulterous act occurred first, in his thoughts--when he watched Bathsheba bathe on the roof top--had he been out with his army, he never would have been tempted. But then, he created a bigger mess having her husband killed. When the prophet Nathan pointed out to him that his deeds were not hidden from God, David repented and we are told that God saw David as a man after His own heart. In other words--when David acknowledged his sins and sought forgiveness--God was pleased. However, that does not mean that we should commit sin and repent in order to please God, but we do have an advocate when we fall short and He is always available to us. Our deeds are not hidden from God!

The second area in our lives that we need to submit to God is our tongue. We must watch what we say at all times. If we think first, then speak--chances are we'll not say things we need to retract or back pedal later. We are admonished to be quick to listen and slow to speak. James warns us that the tongue--the little member--can ignite fires and wars--simply because we will not control it.

The final area--that should be first--is our heart. If we submit our heart to God and allow His love to saturate our being, we'll focus our thoughts on Him, and we'll hear Him when He corrects us, and we'll learn to speak what He speaks. If we never submit our hearts to God, we'll never focus on the things He would have us to focus upon and if our thoughts are not aligned with His, we'll never speak what He speaks because we won't hear Him. We are in need of transformation and this psalm is a perfect--transformational prayer.

Lord, we are in need of help, forgive us for all the wrong we've done and lead us to the path where You want us--submitting to Your will in all things. Transform us, Lord so we'll be more like You--knowing how to love unconditionally all of Your children--without bias or fear or retribution from others. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!

Prayer For The Nations!

Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him. Isaiah 1:2-4 NIV

Is this how The Lord sees us today?

I can imagine--I have a very vivid imagination--that God is looking down upon the earth, shaking His head in pure amazement at how far we've turned from Him. I can imagine Him thinking about all He has done for the creation--mankind--whom He loves and yet time after time, we have forsaken Him in pursuit of our own carnal desires. I can imagine Him thinking about the lessons we have not learned from events of the past which will revisit us again. I can imagine Him thinking how He wasted His time, coming down and living among men, determined to show us how much He loves, by His death and resurrection. I can imagine the tears falling--in the rain that decimates--because He is so sad with our plight in life. I can imagine Him turning His back to us, stopping His ears so He won't hear us--just as some of us have stopped up our ears and won't hear Him. I can imagine the pain He must feel--when our sin--deliberate actions--opposed to His Word--piercing Him even sharper than the nails that held Him on the cross and the spear that pierced His side. And I can imagine--that the blood flowing--all across the land--is the result of the anguish, He feels--gushing out from Him-- because we will not obey. I can imagine and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Will we ever learn? Do we not see how our behavior causes God to grieve for us?

There is so much devastation across the globe that has led to loss of life and hope that the only way we can recover is to submit to God, completely. And if we don't, we'll continue to reap the just reward for our behavior.

Father, in the name of Jesus,

We stand before You--guilty as charged--of all You have asked us not to do as Your Children, and repent of our sins. Help us O Lord, to be mindful at all times that You and You alone are worthy of all praise and that we can grieve Holy Spirit when we refuse to obey. Help us to learn from the history recorded in Your Word so we'll not see the captivity of Your children by enemy forces. Help us to understand that every Word--written by inspiration--and recorded has a purpose for our lives. Help us O God to know with certainty when You speak and help us to quickly obey. O God, You have told us repeatedly what we must do in order to receive the blessings You have in store for us. Speak to the hearts of all who belong to You, and ignite in them--repentance and complete submission to You, so all can benefit from the obedience.

Father, You have said in Your Word, that if, "Your people (we) who are called by Your Name, will humble themselves and pray, seek Your face, and turn from their wicked ways, then You would hear and heal the land."

I am Yours and will not seek to please another. I'm seeking Your continued mercy and guidance for all the land and submit to the direction and leading of Holy Spirit and will speak as You give me direction to speak to all who will hear.

Keep us O Lord from receiving the full brunt of Your wrath because of our disobedience and disregard of Your Word. Forgive the ignorance in the minds of all who do not know You and create in them a heart and desire to know You and become one of Yours.

All this we ask and thank You for in Jesus' Name, Amen!

Understanding Our Ministry Purpose!

" (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (Ephesians 4:9-13 NIV)

Christ, Himself gave gifts to men and women to function in the roles of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers--all promoting The Word and how to live a Godly life--so that all in the Body of Christ will know what they are to do and how they are to live.  Christ did not set up denominations or religions to divide those who Believe Him, but to bring all who believe into unity--one purpose--teaching all, what God said in preparation for His return.

The ministry gifts--given to those chosen to function in those offices are accompanied with the Spiritual gifts as noted in I Corinthians 12:7-11 (a separate lesson coming soon). All of the spiritual gifts are given as Holy Spirit chooses to those He chooses--not as we desire. Many have been given the gifts of healing and manipulated the gift to bring attention to self and have been exposed for the deception. We are not give gifts to exploit people, but to provide purpose for what we do, magnifying God in all we do--so He gets the glory, not us.

But note this:  The nine gifts listed, cooperatively work in groups of three--faith, healing and miracles; prophecy, speaking in tongues and interpretation, wisdom, knowledge and discernment--all working together for the same purpose, but through different individuals. For anyone to claim they operate in all nine of the spiritual gifts--on their own--I would question the validity of that claim based upon the scriptures and discount anything else they had to say.

This is why it is important for all Believers to know and understand The Word. It is not enough to know what is said without having understanding of what is said and why. It is because so many have gone out--proclaiming and declaring things that God did not say, that we have so much confusion in the Body of Christ today. We must read, study, mediate upon The Word, gaining understanding before we attempt to tell anyone else, anything.

One of the reasons people attempt to manipulate the gift given is because they do not understand their purpose in ministry. They proclaim they have been called by God (when actually some have been called by people) and spend little to no time, preparing to function in the calling they claim. When God calls us--He equips us to do the work He has called us to do--naturally, supernaturally, and spiritually. He inspires us to study, directs us to where we can find information to clarify our roles and in understanding His Word. He speaks to us when we allow ourselves to hear Him, guiding us every step of the way.

When He anoints us to do something out of the ordinary, it is the supernatural gifting and operation of Holy Spirit in control, not us and all we have to do is submit to His leading and by this submission, people will know--whether we are called by God or we have allowed men/women to influence our decision to get into ministry.

Doing the work of ministry is not always a pleasant task, but it is a necessary task and when we do it to the glory of God, we know it is worthwhile.

Before we go out into the world of unsuspecting people trying to make our name for ourselves, let's seek God and obtain understanding the purpose of the ministry gifts and then allow Him to fill us  to overflowing to function in the gifts, He gives!

Offering Our Complete Selves to God!

"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."(Romans 6:11-13 NIV)

When we are "dead" to sin, we do not allow its stench to be a part of our lives. We know sin has a horrific odor because anything that is dead stinks--and when death occurs of any fleshly thing--the flies gather and other insects that feed off dead things. But with the death of sin--no longer allowing it to reign in our lives--because we are yet alive, physically--there is a sweet fragrance--pleasing to God--that emanates from us and is seen in everything we do. And we offer up ourselves to Him--in total submission to all He has said--the sacrifice of praise for living a Godly life and He rewards us with an eternity with Him.

When our whole beings-- our minds, our mouths, our tongues, our ears, our eyes, our hearts, our hands--our entire bodies--especially those parts that are ignited and stirred by thoughts of sin--are submitted to Him, our focus is Him, not us. When our focus is Him and not us, He gives us the power to resist participating in sin and when we submit to God, we can ignore the enemy and he will flee from us.

How do we submit to God--completely? We repent of any sin in our lives and get into The Word. We read The Word--everything--one segment at a time and then meditate on what we've read. When we understand The Word, we begin applying The Word to our daily lives. We pay attention to what we read--and will not allow our eyes to stray to ungodly images or communications by any means. We will not watch television shows or movies or videos that promote sin, enticing us to return to the evil.

We pay attention to the music we hear and we will not listen to people or music that could return us to the stench we given up--once and for all.

We keep our minds on things above and not those below--without becoming so heavenly minded we are of no earthly good.

We submit our hearts to the circumcision needed to cut away anger, malice, bitterness, jealousy, envy, and hatred and allow God to fill us with His love to overflowing.

We submit our tongues and mouths to saying only those things that please God and will not grieve Holy Spirit with filthy language that only demonstrates who is really reigning in our lives.

We submit and hands and feet to sharing the good things God has given us with others in promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We submit our hormones to Him to be used in the righteous act of sexual activity--marriage with one man and one woman--and we will not allow the masses of public opinion persuade us to do otherwise.

When we offer ourselves completely to God, He will direct our paths and on His paths--the journey leads to greatness and success in all we do.

What are we waiting for? It's time to offer our complete selves to God--so all glory is His!

Has That Day Come?

"In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Looking at all of the natural disasters--those caused by human error, and demonic influence--most people are wondering if God is even paying attention to us. I can imagine people living in some countries where man's greed and arrogance is causing uproar and chaos are having a difficult time believing God cares. I can imagine that families who have lost children to abductors and tragic accidents cannot believe a loving, caring God still exists. I can imagine that loved ones lost due to the depression of others who for a moment, controlled their environment are not happy with God--how could they be, when such tragedies occur?

In the midst of every tragic situation--our God still reigns. It is not that He cannot keep the tragedy from occurring; everything in life is part of a plan and God will not control what other people do, unless He's invited to do so. This is what we're missing--God must be invited to situations and everyone must submit to His will before we will see any lasting change in our world. Are we there yet? Does sin still reign in the minds of those who will not submit to God?

We're not there yet, but many are on their way. We realize that everything we do, influences the outcome of how we live and what we are able to do for others. We have submitted and we do all we can to encourage others to seek Him and submit to Him, so we can watch the devil flee. For as long as the enemy can influence the thoughts of those who have not submitted to God, evil will exist and create havoc in the lives of many.

But on that day, when we see people turning their lives over to God in total submission, we will see the hand of The Lord, settle the minds of people and peace will reign over all the earth. On that day, we will thank Him for all He is doing and will do on behalf of all who love Him. On that day, we will stand proudly, proclaiming our trust in Him. On that day, we will rejoice in the God of our salvation--who saves to the utmost!

Until we get to that day, those of us who know the power of prayer must continue our vigil, interceding on behalf of all who have yet to submit to Him, so we can see change and peace for all of God's people.

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to understand the urgency of the times, seek You for direction and wisdom in all things, and submit to Your will in everything we do.

Discplined by Love!

"For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?" (Hebrews 12:6,7 NLT)

I remember thinking back a little while ago about my mother's discipline. Those memories were triggered by the Adrian Peterson incident--when he used a "switch" to discipline his child. I remember having to get a switch and if I chose one that was too thin, I'd have to go back to that tree and get another one. If my mother went to get one, I would really be in trouble.

While the "whipping" hurt, it concluded in the desired effect--I didn't get into trouble very often because I did not like the sting of that switch. She did not beat me with a tree branch; she disciplined me with a method that got my attention and she did it out of love--to teach me to be obedient. That's what she had learned and it worked!

Now, to revisit history for a moment--I find it amazing that people who think whipping a child with a switch is such a crime, but no one thought much about "the slave masters beating people with a horsewhip" scarring and maiming them for life, sometimes unto death. Where was the outrage then? Adults and children were beaten at a whim and often because they simply didn't understand what was being told to them. People were starved, but expected to work the land on empty stomachs and beaten when they could no longer stand. Where is the outrage for that time in history? These beatings did not occur out of love--but to instill fear and submission, and no one was decrying this injustice.

But because a father dared to discipline his child, out of love, he has lost his source of income and is being tried as an abusive parent. Why weren't any of those people who beat slaves brought to court and tried for treating people worst than their did their animals (they fed the animals sufficiently)?

God's idea of discipline--out of love--is designed to make sure we have long life and that more abundantly. He does not "beat us down to get us into shape," but He allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions. We will reap, what we sow in life and when God allows the consequence--it is because He loves us enough to want us to learn from our mistakes.

Good parents discipline their children so they will learn to be obedient and have long life. No parent wants to see a child beaten down by life simply because they never knew discipline.

One of the reasons that our society is so out of order now--with total chaos reigning--is because the same government that allowed people to be beaten into submission, now wants to interfere with parental discipline--and children never learn discipline and often end up in jails or the morgue. I'd rather see a loving parent discipline their child and then see that child as a successful adult--knowing what it means to love enough to discipline.

I'm thanking and praising God for His love and correction and for the mother He gave me, who loved me enough to discipline me when I needed--and that has led to my being a disciplined parent and successful adult. Love--never wants to see a child go astray, but when they are undisciplined--we see the results, everyday in the media.

Submission Is A Good Thing!

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

So many people tend to think that the word "submit" is a bad word; especially as it pertains to women "submitting" to their husbands. One of the reasons for this disdain of the word is the fact that many have mis-taught the context of the word in the Bible. For clarity's sake, the definition for submit--deferring to another's opinion or authority makes it clear that submission is a good thing.

We must learn to accept the fact that none of us know everything and recognize that when we don't know; it is not a judgment against self to defer to the opinions or authority of someone who does know. Not recognizing the authority of another is not only stupid, but could have detrimental results--depending upon the situation.

James tells us to submit to God--yield, defer to God's authority. Resist--turn away from, run in the opposite direction, close ears to, anything the devil has to say and when we actively resist the devil, he will flee from us.

The best way to do this is to make sure understanding of The Word has been a priority in life. When we see the attempts the devil makes to cause us to believe anything God did not say; we simply speak The Word against what the enemy has said and do it as often as needed. The devil will get tired of hearing The Word and eventually leave a person alone--for a season. He will return, but if The Word is buried deep in our hearts, whenever he returns, we'll be ready.

God knows more than we shall ever know! Fact--not opinion--and we know because we have not created a universe and He has. Therefore, we should acknowledge His authority and defer to His authority so we can defeat the enemy at every turn. Submission to God--is a good thing--it guarantees us victory over the enemy!

Who Gets The Credit?

"...Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (I Corinthians 1:31 NIV).

How many times have we heard someone say, "I did this or that," I'm the one responsible for everything I have," No one helped me to do anything?" Really? No one helped!  And then there are those who claimed to have pulled themselves up in the world by their own bootstraps. Must have been some really strong, tough bootstraps to manage such a feat. 

Now, I get it! For those who don't want to believe God or realize it is because of Him that we can do anything, I get it! However, since I "know" that without God we can do absolutely nothing, worthwhile, I wouldn't be able to take credit for anything I have accomplished.

I've mentioned some of this before, but bear with me with my redundancy as I try to make a point here. "Without God, I can do nothing; without Him I will fail," a song from long ago that really makes sense. First of all, I'm still alive because of who He is, not me. He has saved me from myself and accidents in which I should have been killed.  He gave me strength to keep going, when I didn't think I could. He made a way out of no way for me to keep my children safe in the midst of gangland activity. He made it possible for me to go back to school, after the age of 40 and succeed. He made it possible for me to maintain a 3.8 GPA at 50 and complete coursework for a Ph.D. successfully. He poured into me the gift of writing, discernment, and wisdom. He keeps my angels alert and watchful during the night and when I travel. He instills in me a sense of purpose and destiny, daily. He grants me understanding of His Word and constantly reminds me of what He has said. He helps me get out bed every morning when He wakes me.  He guides me in what I say on blog posts, daily. He instructs me in my responses to naysayers pertaining to Him. He helps me to control my tongue when I get angry and frustrated. He guides me with love in training my grandson. When I wrote my first books, it was because of His inspiration. In the midst of every page, He is there and will be there. When the millions of copies are sold on Amazon, it will be because He has touched the hearts of those who purchase them. This is what He has done!

So, what have I done? I am in constant communication with My Daddy, and listen closely to what He says. I try always to be instantly obedient, but I don't always make it. He understands; He created me and He knows I'll do whatever He says, eventually. I give Him praise for who He is and what He's done for me on a consistent basis throughout the day! I have submitted myself to Him as an instrument for Him to use however He chooses. I proclaim that I am walking in His favor every day.  I broadcast my faith in Him, in public venues as well as private ones, to anyone who will listen (or read about it). I profess my confidence in Him and all He has said. That's what I have done!  Who gets the credit for my accomplishments? My Daddy gets all the credit for who I am and what I am capable of doing!

Who gets the credit for who you are and what you have accomplished?

Father, in the name of Jesus, help us to understand that we have accomplished nothing without You, but everything with You.  Help us to see our boasts should be in You, and not in self. Thank You for being a constant presence in our lives--molding, guiding, and correcting us, while loving us into a position of success, all according to Your Word. Amen!