After several weeks of what seemed like spinning my wheels, I remembered from my prayer journals that whenever blessings seem to stop flowing in my life, that is God's way of letting me know He needs to talk to me, as it was first taught to me and explained in detail in my blog, God Will Get Your Attention.
At this particular time, blessings had stopped to the point where I said, "Okay God! What is it that I am not doing?" or "What am I doing that is not in your will?" Immediately, God showed me in the spirit how I had gotten complacent about working on getting my two Christian mini-books and two Christian CD projects to the next level of exposure.
I immediately began to pray for guidance as to where to start in this area becuase now we're talking about a lot of money you need on hand to get thing moving towards that next level. During my prayer, a Christian book publisher called, whom I had tried to reach weeks before. After telling him about my projects, we came to the agreement that he would take my projects on and be my publisher. In addition, I had levels of expertise in praise and worship and music that would benefit his ministry. As a result, by bartering, the cost of publishing my projects would be more manageable.
Right after the conversation with the publisher and happy to be back on track with God's assignments, I received two phone calls from my agent with two auditions for the television shows, Watchin' Ellie and Sate of Grace, and was cast in both shows the following day, praise God.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these THINGS will be added to you", immediately came to mind to remind me that as long as we are obedient to God leading and living our lives seeking to keep God's will and purpose for our lives in mind, then the blessings that follow are God's way of saying, "Well done my good and faithful servant."
May we all seek to stay tuned in to God's guidance that we may be used mightily in His work in helping spread the gospel throughout the world.
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog. Show all posts
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
God's Favor in the Court System ( a testimony)
Recently, I was served the infamous jury duty notice, as we all get from time to time. However, this time around, I misplaced the notice until after its deadline to respond and was therefore automatically called in for mandatory service. Upset at my carelessness, I was particularly disturbed at this mandatory service because of a recent law passed at the time which no longer respected "financial hardship" as a reason to get out of duty for any trials expected to go one week or less.
For me, that could still be devastating as all my jobs were either "on call" or paid by the day. So, as I thought about it, a short week, as they put it, could still put me out anywhere from $750 - $1500 for that week.
I still had to go through the selection process by the lawyers. How long would that take? As I sat in the court room awaiting the dreaded selection process to begin, the Judge asked if there were any hardships other than financial, he would hear them at that time. Then the Lord guided me to stand up and request a specific week, which was a few weeks later, one that I particularly projected that financially I could possibly afford to take off.
"I don't know," replied the Judge. "I've never had that request before. Let me check."
Quickly the clerk called the Jury room and came back moments later with the approval for me and to be released that day with the court order to return in 2 weeks.
The two weeks went by quickly and that day was upon me again. As I headed towards the courthouse, I remember saying a short prayer, "Lord, I know that you cancel debts, but I ask you now, if it be Your will, please cancel this jury duty."
Even after saying that prayer, if I had to serve then I had to serve. It was already a blessing for my time to be postponed to a week I was off, spring break.
As I enter the jury room, there were only eight people in the room unlike the 100 plus that were in the room two weeks earlier. The clerk came out to give instructions to us like before but told me to just sit tight because my situation was different.
"Uh-oh, they've got me for sure now!" I thought.
Following her instructions, she told all of us to wait, as she had to check with all of the neighboring court rooms and their need for jurors. About five minutes later, the clerk returned and said that all needs for jurors had been full-filled and that we would not be needed this time around. Our time was served. We were then released.
Trying to withhold the fact that I was doing a praise dance inside, I gave a very controlled smile and quietly left the building.
Outside, I must have said,"Thank you, Jesus" or "Praise the Lord!" about a hundred times. The Lord showed favor towards me in preserving that week of work I thought I was going to lose. The Lord also knew that the week I was requesting was going to be a slow trial week or a week where no new trials were beginning. I knew none of this, of course. I just had the faith that everything was going to work out. God is so good!
Then I thought about how we sometimes limit all the places where we think God's blessings can show up. Why not in the courthouse too? I have been consistently trying to be obedient and apply HIs word to my life in every way.
That day only continued to strengthen my faith in God's blessings. For deep in my spirit, I knew that even if I did have jury duty, God would have provided some other way for my finances beyond my imagination, IF I did not doubt.. "for He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I can ask or think according to the power that works in me." (Eph.3:20)
No matter what your situation just remember that "God did not create a spirit of fear, but of love, and of power and of a sound mind."(2 Tim.1:7) It is when we keep fear out and put our trust in God that blessings are released into our life.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
For me, that could still be devastating as all my jobs were either "on call" or paid by the day. So, as I thought about it, a short week, as they put it, could still put me out anywhere from $750 - $1500 for that week.
I still had to go through the selection process by the lawyers. How long would that take? As I sat in the court room awaiting the dreaded selection process to begin, the Judge asked if there were any hardships other than financial, he would hear them at that time. Then the Lord guided me to stand up and request a specific week, which was a few weeks later, one that I particularly projected that financially I could possibly afford to take off.
"I don't know," replied the Judge. "I've never had that request before. Let me check."
Quickly the clerk called the Jury room and came back moments later with the approval for me and to be released that day with the court order to return in 2 weeks.
The two weeks went by quickly and that day was upon me again. As I headed towards the courthouse, I remember saying a short prayer, "Lord, I know that you cancel debts, but I ask you now, if it be Your will, please cancel this jury duty."
Even after saying that prayer, if I had to serve then I had to serve. It was already a blessing for my time to be postponed to a week I was off, spring break.
As I enter the jury room, there were only eight people in the room unlike the 100 plus that were in the room two weeks earlier. The clerk came out to give instructions to us like before but told me to just sit tight because my situation was different.
"Uh-oh, they've got me for sure now!" I thought.
Following her instructions, she told all of us to wait, as she had to check with all of the neighboring court rooms and their need for jurors. About five minutes later, the clerk returned and said that all needs for jurors had been full-filled and that we would not be needed this time around. Our time was served. We were then released.
Trying to withhold the fact that I was doing a praise dance inside, I gave a very controlled smile and quietly left the building.
Outside, I must have said,"Thank you, Jesus" or "Praise the Lord!" about a hundred times. The Lord showed favor towards me in preserving that week of work I thought I was going to lose. The Lord also knew that the week I was requesting was going to be a slow trial week or a week where no new trials were beginning. I knew none of this, of course. I just had the faith that everything was going to work out. God is so good!
Then I thought about how we sometimes limit all the places where we think God's blessings can show up. Why not in the courthouse too? I have been consistently trying to be obedient and apply HIs word to my life in every way.
That day only continued to strengthen my faith in God's blessings. For deep in my spirit, I knew that even if I did have jury duty, God would have provided some other way for my finances beyond my imagination, IF I did not doubt.. "for He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I can ask or think according to the power that works in me." (Eph.3:20)
No matter what your situation just remember that "God did not create a spirit of fear, but of love, and of power and of a sound mind."(2 Tim.1:7) It is when we keep fear out and put our trust in God that blessings are released into our life.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
God Will Get Your Attention ( a testimony)
TEXT: (Matt. 6:32) - "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you."
My life is filled with testimonies of God's goodness and awesome power as I'm sure your life is as well, when you stop and think about it. That's part of how you increase your faith.
Think how God came through for you in the past. Write them down if you have to, no matter how small the incident may seem to be. On a day when you're in a real hurry and God has a parking space waiting for you right in front of your destination, that is just as much of a miracle as a miraculous financial blessing when the times are tough.
When you keep a log of God's blessings in your life, you suddenly realize that He has never let you down. He may not have come through the way you were expecting but nevertheless He came through.
Sometimes, what seems like a trauma at the time, when you look back at it, was God's way of getting your attention for some divine purpose. He had been waiting for you. The problem was that you've been too busy to hear His voice of guidance.
I am reminded of a paragraph in the book, "Elijah Task", which states, "If God has to remove everything in your life that is important to you in order to get your attention and get you where you are supposed to be, He will do it."
The above-mentioned quote is the basis of what this testimony is all about. The testimony I am about to share with you is part of a larger testimony described in detail in one of the books in my mini-book series, "Guided To the Light."
I've been living in Los Angeles since 1978. I came out here knowing only a few people. So I had to pretty much build my career from the ground up. It's been a slow, methodical climb, building my career in television, film, industrial and educational films, plays and most recently, voice-overs.
I've had a number of survival jobs in between my acting jobs ranging from security, temporary agencies, taxicab and substitute teaching, just to name a few. Finally, in 1992, I was making enough as an actor to live on residuals and session fees.
Suddenly, from 1995 to the first half of 1997, I had the slowest audition/interview period ever experienced since being in Los Angeles which turned into little to no income from acting. This began with an unusual series of events.
A new agent I had just signed with at the time was suddenly fired during the reorganization of her agency. I soon found a second agency. Shortly afterwards, the owner of that agency decided to close down. I then remained with one of the second agent's associate agents, who merged with a third agency. I didn't go out for auditions one time over the next year. Then the two agents in that agency had a major disagreement and split up. Since the previous year was so slow, I decided to stay with the third agent.
Three months later, the third agent vanished into thin air without warning. He was there one day and then "puff", the next day his office was empty with no warning or word as to what happened.
Almost three years had passed during all of these events. With no acting jobs during this time, before I knew it, the residuals that were previously sustaining me had reduced to insignificant amounts. Things had gotten so slow that I had to go back to my old survival job of graveyard shift, security work.
During the shift on my security job, the devil immediately attacked my mind with the old "You're a failure" angle or "You're going backwards now, you might as well give up on your crazy goal."
I responded with ministry tapes, gospel audio tapes, bible study, prayer and whatever else I could find or think of to offset the devil's attack.
The graveyard shift was perfect in that there was very little activity during the shift. I found myself praying and studying the Word more than I ever had before, just to keep a sane mind while warding off the devil's constant mental attack.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you" began to ring in my spirit nightly. During all that quiet time on each shift, the Lord's quiet voice instilled several revelations in to my spirit.
REVELATION #1
"If this is what it takes to get quality time from you, the maybe this should be your career choice and not acting."
Around the same time, another dear friend of mine prophesied that the Lord wanted me to rise to a new level in spreading the Word, which was practically non-existent at the time. She explained that "works" are fine but the Lord wanted me also to spend some quality time talking to Him more.
MY COMMITMENT - God's timing for the prophecy was incredible, as usual. It was very easy to talk to Him at that time because, once again, bills were starting to add up. However, unlike earlier in my life, I was doing my best to live by the Word. I remember that I had a total of $2,500 in creditor deadlines that had to be paid yesterday. Attempting to relax my mind, I went fishing and talked to God like He was sitting next to me on the riverbank.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - Later that day, when I got home, I went to the mailbox and there was a residual for $3,000 net in the mailbox. I almost had an accident on my way to the bank, shouting and praising His name in the car. The lesson I learned from that experience was "Trust God and have faith!"
REVELATION #2
"If you are going to be useful to Me in the entertainment industry, then you need to minister to at least one person in every project you're involved in. It may be to a group or just to one person. Sometimes you may just need to be that listening ear or sometimes you'll be ministered to by someone else. I'll determine which form of ministry is needed from project to project. You must be ready at any time."
MY COMMITMENT
I responded, promising to commit and be ready to minister as directed.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - Almost immediately, I was cast in several consecutive "guest starring" roles spanning over the following television season. The lesson learned here was "the blessing from obedience and seeking God first." Everyone was asking me what did I do to get all this work? Get a new agent, new pictures or what? Whether they liked it or not, the answer was a direct testimony about my commitment to the Lord. For some people, I could tell my answer was ministering to them. For others, I could tell they'd wished I had given them a different answer. Still, the seed was planted and will hopefully take root over time.
REVELATION #3
"All of our desires are goals based on the talents we each posses. But that's only the small picture. The big picture is that the various directions our talents take us are designed to make us "spiritual beacons" in our chosen field. This will allow us to spread His word. It is when you refuse to become that beacon that God has called you to be, that you have problems succeeding in that field.
COMMITMENT - I have committed that whenever I have a divine assignment or vision from God, I will act on it in a timely manner. Typing this testimony was a divine assignment because originally all that was written here was clear revelations in my spirit.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - the blessings from being obedient to this revelation continue to this day. Whenever God wishes to adjust my path or talk to me, everything in my life comes to an abrupt halt. I have come to learn whenever that happens, God is saying, "we need to talk. You're getting distracted from the assignment I have given you."
If I am too busy to obey immediately, it is almost as if all the blessings run away from me and brings everything to a halt until I talk to Him and get back to the assignment at hand. Oh, but praise God, when I am obedient and follow his lead, blessings flow from all directions.
So if you ever come to a point in your life when nothing seems to work right for you or everything seems to be out of sync in your life, it could be that the Lord is calling you to take that step closer to Him. Or has He given you an assignment that you've been reluctant to act upon? If either is the case, you're standing in your own way until you allow Him to take complete control of your life in every way. Go for it! Let go and let God!
My life is filled with testimonies of God's goodness and awesome power as I'm sure your life is as well, when you stop and think about it. That's part of how you increase your faith.
Think how God came through for you in the past. Write them down if you have to, no matter how small the incident may seem to be. On a day when you're in a real hurry and God has a parking space waiting for you right in front of your destination, that is just as much of a miracle as a miraculous financial blessing when the times are tough.
When you keep a log of God's blessings in your life, you suddenly realize that He has never let you down. He may not have come through the way you were expecting but nevertheless He came through.
Sometimes, what seems like a trauma at the time, when you look back at it, was God's way of getting your attention for some divine purpose. He had been waiting for you. The problem was that you've been too busy to hear His voice of guidance.
I am reminded of a paragraph in the book, "Elijah Task", which states, "If God has to remove everything in your life that is important to you in order to get your attention and get you where you are supposed to be, He will do it."
The above-mentioned quote is the basis of what this testimony is all about. The testimony I am about to share with you is part of a larger testimony described in detail in one of the books in my mini-book series, "Guided To the Light."
I've been living in Los Angeles since 1978. I came out here knowing only a few people. So I had to pretty much build my career from the ground up. It's been a slow, methodical climb, building my career in television, film, industrial and educational films, plays and most recently, voice-overs.
I've had a number of survival jobs in between my acting jobs ranging from security, temporary agencies, taxicab and substitute teaching, just to name a few. Finally, in 1992, I was making enough as an actor to live on residuals and session fees.
Suddenly, from 1995 to the first half of 1997, I had the slowest audition/interview period ever experienced since being in Los Angeles which turned into little to no income from acting. This began with an unusual series of events.
A new agent I had just signed with at the time was suddenly fired during the reorganization of her agency. I soon found a second agency. Shortly afterwards, the owner of that agency decided to close down. I then remained with one of the second agent's associate agents, who merged with a third agency. I didn't go out for auditions one time over the next year. Then the two agents in that agency had a major disagreement and split up. Since the previous year was so slow, I decided to stay with the third agent.
Three months later, the third agent vanished into thin air without warning. He was there one day and then "puff", the next day his office was empty with no warning or word as to what happened.
Almost three years had passed during all of these events. With no acting jobs during this time, before I knew it, the residuals that were previously sustaining me had reduced to insignificant amounts. Things had gotten so slow that I had to go back to my old survival job of graveyard shift, security work.
During the shift on my security job, the devil immediately attacked my mind with the old "You're a failure" angle or "You're going backwards now, you might as well give up on your crazy goal."
I responded with ministry tapes, gospel audio tapes, bible study, prayer and whatever else I could find or think of to offset the devil's attack.
The graveyard shift was perfect in that there was very little activity during the shift. I found myself praying and studying the Word more than I ever had before, just to keep a sane mind while warding off the devil's constant mental attack.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you" began to ring in my spirit nightly. During all that quiet time on each shift, the Lord's quiet voice instilled several revelations in to my spirit.
REVELATION #1
"If this is what it takes to get quality time from you, the maybe this should be your career choice and not acting."
Around the same time, another dear friend of mine prophesied that the Lord wanted me to rise to a new level in spreading the Word, which was practically non-existent at the time. She explained that "works" are fine but the Lord wanted me also to spend some quality time talking to Him more.
MY COMMITMENT - God's timing for the prophecy was incredible, as usual. It was very easy to talk to Him at that time because, once again, bills were starting to add up. However, unlike earlier in my life, I was doing my best to live by the Word. I remember that I had a total of $2,500 in creditor deadlines that had to be paid yesterday. Attempting to relax my mind, I went fishing and talked to God like He was sitting next to me on the riverbank.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - Later that day, when I got home, I went to the mailbox and there was a residual for $3,000 net in the mailbox. I almost had an accident on my way to the bank, shouting and praising His name in the car. The lesson I learned from that experience was "Trust God and have faith!"
REVELATION #2
"If you are going to be useful to Me in the entertainment industry, then you need to minister to at least one person in every project you're involved in. It may be to a group or just to one person. Sometimes you may just need to be that listening ear or sometimes you'll be ministered to by someone else. I'll determine which form of ministry is needed from project to project. You must be ready at any time."
MY COMMITMENT
I responded, promising to commit and be ready to minister as directed.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - Almost immediately, I was cast in several consecutive "guest starring" roles spanning over the following television season. The lesson learned here was "the blessing from obedience and seeking God first." Everyone was asking me what did I do to get all this work? Get a new agent, new pictures or what? Whether they liked it or not, the answer was a direct testimony about my commitment to the Lord. For some people, I could tell my answer was ministering to them. For others, I could tell they'd wished I had given them a different answer. Still, the seed was planted and will hopefully take root over time.
REVELATION #3
"All of our desires are goals based on the talents we each posses. But that's only the small picture. The big picture is that the various directions our talents take us are designed to make us "spiritual beacons" in our chosen field. This will allow us to spread His word. It is when you refuse to become that beacon that God has called you to be, that you have problems succeeding in that field.
COMMITMENT - I have committed that whenever I have a divine assignment or vision from God, I will act on it in a timely manner. Typing this testimony was a divine assignment because originally all that was written here was clear revelations in my spirit.
MY BLESSING FROM OBEDIENCE - the blessings from being obedient to this revelation continue to this day. Whenever God wishes to adjust my path or talk to me, everything in my life comes to an abrupt halt. I have come to learn whenever that happens, God is saying, "we need to talk. You're getting distracted from the assignment I have given you."
If I am too busy to obey immediately, it is almost as if all the blessings run away from me and brings everything to a halt until I talk to Him and get back to the assignment at hand. Oh, but praise God, when I am obedient and follow his lead, blessings flow from all directions.
So if you ever come to a point in your life when nothing seems to work right for you or everything seems to be out of sync in your life, it could be that the Lord is calling you to take that step closer to Him. Or has He given you an assignment that you've been reluctant to act upon? If either is the case, you're standing in your own way until you allow Him to take complete control of your life in every way. Go for it! Let go and let God!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
HARD TIMES - a test, an attack, reaping or stubbornness?
When we go through hard times, unless you take the time to think about it, you really don't know if the reason you are going through hard times is a test, an attack, reaping from some negative seed sown in the past or stubbornness towards a God-given assignment.
A TEST? - (Job 1:1, 6-12, 23:10-11, 42:12) "There was a man named Job living in the land of Uz who worshipped God and was faithful to him. He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil… When that day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, ‘What have you been doing?’ Satan answered, ‘I have been walking here and there, roaming around the earth.’ ‘Did you notice my servant, Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil.’ Satan replied, ‘Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But now suppose you take away everything he has – he will curse you to your face!’ ‘All right,’ the Lord said to Satan, ‘everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.’ So Satan left… God knows every step I take; if he tests me, he will find me pure. I follow faithfully the road he chooses, and never wander to either side… The Lord blessed the last part of Job’s life even more than he had blessed the first."
Those who feel they are doing everything right in terms of following the Lord's will are many times confused and caught off guard because their hard times is simply the Lord testing their faith and their walk to see if they will stay strong in the Lord. Is your faith as strong when it seems that the Lord has abandoned you? Christians who truly seek to live by the Word know that no matter what the source of the hard times, they hold on to God’s word and His promises. (2nd Cor. 4:18) “For we fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. What can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.”
AN ATTACK? (Matt. 12:43-45) "When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can't find one, it says to itself, ' I will go back to my house.' So it goes back and finds the house empty, clean and all fixed up. Then it goes out and brings along seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than he was at the beginning."
Is a demonic attack the source of your hard times? If you are not living in the will of God, then you are subject to attacks at any time. And since you don’t know the Lord, demonic forces can work through you to cause pain and anguish to yourself and others. Many of those times, you don’t even know it’s a spirit working in you until others identify your behavior as “not acting like yourself.” You find yourself with extreme mood swings, always depressed, self-destructive, hateful and angry along with a myriad of other negative emotions that suck the joy and motivation out of your life. If you don’t know what’s happening to you in this case, you don’t what do fight. If you don’t know the Word, you don’t know that you have power over the spirits behind these negative emotions. You need only to speak and believe the Word of God. (Luke 10:19) “ I have given you authority so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.” (James 4:7-8, 10) “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”
REAPING? (Gal. 6:7-9) “Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants. If he plants in the field of his natural desires, from it he will gather the harvest of death; if he plants in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit he will gather the harvest of eternal life. So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest. So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family in the faith.“
Your hard times could be happening because you are reaping what you have sown earlier in your life. If you have made it your life’s duty to make other people’s lives miserable, treat them poorly for no reason at all, insult, disrespect and/or abuse others physically or emotionally, those are the seeds you have sown. In due season, unbeknownst to you, you will reap the harvest of those negative seeds which in turn will come back on you. (Gal. 6:7-8) Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. A person will reap exactly what he plants. If he plants in the field of his natural desires, from it he will gather the harvest of death; if he plants in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit he will gather the harvest of eternal life.”
STUBBORNNESS? - (Jonah 1:1-4,10-12,15-17, 2:1,10) "One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai. He said, 'Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against it; I am aware of how wicked its people are.' Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the Lord. He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain. He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the Lord. But the Lord sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.... Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the Lord. The sailors were terrified, and said to him, ' That was an awful thing to do... What should we do to you to stop the storm?" Jonah answered, ' Throw me into the sea and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm...." Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once. This made the sailors so afraid of the Lord that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve Him. At the Lord's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights... From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.... Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach and it did."
Are your hard times based on stubbornness or disobedience towards a divine assignment which you have been given but have not acted on? Whether or not you feel you’re the right person for the job or not, once God has given you the assignment, your reluctance, stubbornness or disobedience blocks God’s blessing in your life. Many times it is when you feel you are not right for the job that allows God to show up in your life to the point where everyone around you says, “God is good.”
God doesn’t punish you for not being obedient. But when you step out of God’s will for your life, its like putting up an umbrella that blocks his blessings which are continuously raining down on those who are obedient. Without the presence of his blessings, it seems that hard times abound until you get back in line with His will for your life. Living in God’s will is like riding on a smooth 5-lane freeway with occasional traffic while being out of His will is like riding on a bumpy dirt road with unexpected axle-breaking pot holes and every other kind of obstacle that can interfere with your journey.
Usually, if this is the case, you know in your heart that you are not doing something that God told you to do. The harder things go, the more that still quiet voice reminds you about what it is you have not done for the Lord. Once you realize that everyone is placed on this earth to advance His kingdom, you will quickly be able to priorities the things in your life and identify those things that have nothing to do with God or His kingdom. Your calling, whether you have discovered it or not yet, is how God will use your gift to advance His kingdom. This realization will help the Holy Ghost enable to see your true purpose in this life beyond acquiring personal things. God knows the desires of your heart. It is nothing for him to give those things to you with no trouble at all. That’s why His word says, (Matt. 6:33) “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
So if you struggling with hard times, seemingly with no hope in sight, first take the time to analyze what you feel may be the source. When you reflect on your past and even ask the Lord to reveal to you why you are going through this struggle, I assure you, one of these four reasons or a combination of them will be your answer. When you get your answer, also remember He put us here to advance His kingdom. Some of us are more willing than others. Some of are hard-headed and need several lessons. And some of us never get it. But He’s not going to let us down unless we choose to go down the road to darkness and death.
Look at your struggle as iron sharpening iron. Or think about how much pressure is placed on a lump of coal that ends up being a priceless diamond. You are that diamond. You may already be at your diamond level or you may currently be that lump of coal under intense pressure. Just know you have value in the kingdom and soon you will realize that many of the struggles we face is the devil’s attempt to pull you away from God so that you never fulfill your divine destiny. Hold on to God’s promises.
(Gal. 6:9) “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” (Rom. 8:28) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Phil. 1:6) …”being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 4:13) “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:19) “My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (1 Peter 5:7) ..”casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (2nd Cor. 5:7) “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Stay strong in the Lord.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Keeping Your Marriage Strong
At the time of this writing, I have been happily married for going on 18 years. Yet from day one, friends of my wife were practically betting that I’d be cheating on her as early as after two-three years of marriage. Of course, all of the negative predictions were coming from single women who had been messed over by a man. But I took offense at the confidence by which they were so sure I would fall victim to adultery like their male counterparts.
As angry as I was about them projecting negativity into my marriage, statistically I could understand where their negativity came from. The divorce rate in the church is almost the same as the divorce rate in the world, 50%. So how can you keep your marriage fresh and remain true to each other? This blog is one Christian’s answer to that question.
First of all, as a Christian, you cannot keep God out of the equation. He must be the center of the relationship, the life boat you each hang on to as the years go by and both of you change, especially physically. “God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.” Therefore keeping Him first in your relationship is of the utmost importance. Next, nothing, and I mean “nothing” is worth more than the trust developed between two people in a relationship. It takes time to earn trust in each other. It is as precious a rare diamond. It is when you feel totally secure with each other and trust each other 100% that you know you are marrying the right person.
Don’t justify or rationalize trust, saying things like, “I’ll trust them soon enough. We’ll go on and get married.” If there is any inkling of a feeling that you are about to marry the wrong person, put your pride aside and get marriage counseling right away. In counseling you find out if the two of you are really right for each other by being asked questions by someone who is objective.
When you are with the right person, when you are together, you each seem to make the other a better person. You each have a weakness and sometimes together you have no weaknesses when united as one.
Now to the matter at hand, now that we’ve reviewed how do you know when you are marrying the right person. How do you keep your marriage strong?
If you are a Christian, the answer is in the Word itself;
(Prov.5:3-6) “The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. For she does not care about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t even realize where it leads.”
(Prov.5:15-23) “Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Don’t share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving doe, a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, with an immoral woman, or embrace the breasts of an adulterous woman? For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly.”
So if the Word so clearly speaks about the importance of being true to your marriage, why do the statistics regarding divorce with Christians match the world? Simply, by taking your eye of the will of God and His word for your life and marriage. It is that simple. Being a Chrisian is more than just a word. It takes work. In fact, once you become a devout Christian, truly seeking to live by His Word, you become even a bigger target than before you were saved.
In today’s media, sexual suggestions have infiltrated the billboards, magazines, music videos, cable TV, the internet, ipod capabilities to download pornography and even network television try to keep up with cable television. Lust of the flesh is being forced into our faces everywhere we look. It is painfully obvious that it is in our hands to figure out how to survive the sexual attack.
First of all, you must be accountable for taking responsibility of your actions and not exposing yourself to images, talk, friends, environments, magazine, movies, websites and TV shows that plant a seed of arousal in your spirit which manifests in your body. A couple’s true love for each other is more than enough of an aphrodisiac when it is not tainted by external images and suggestions. Once you give in to the external influences, you are being aroused by a fantasy and not your spouse which cheats the intimacy of the relationship.
Dedicating yourself to your spouse 100% allows you to understand exactly what becoming “one” is all about when your spouse is your love and best friend. Many times best friends and kids are given the wrong priority which ends up destroying the marriage. The divine order is God, spouse, kids, parents, friends. Any other order and you’re asking for trouble, i.e. gay marriages, single mothers who say they don’t need a man. Is it no wonder the world of happy relationships is under attack?
Of course, this article is not addressing violent, abusive relationships. Those are relationships that should not have happened in the first place without serious counseling.
What couples do have in their control as the years go by to keep the marriage strong is to remember what created the fire in the relationship in the first place. So many marriages seem to feel that once you’re married, “I got ya!” There’s no need to do any of that seductive stuff anymore. I beg to differ. Remembering why you fell in love in the first place is what reminds you of why you fell in love with each other so that when you look into each other’s eyes 10-20 years later, you still see the person you fell in love with.
Marriage is work, that’s not joke. But with God at the head and keeping each other number one in your life here on earth, you will fight to keep that fire going so that no one night stand destroys what it took years to build – trust. Once that betrayal has taken place, it takes a long, long time to rebuild it, if ever. So you’re really left with one question. Is it really worth it to throw all that away?
As angry as I was about them projecting negativity into my marriage, statistically I could understand where their negativity came from. The divorce rate in the church is almost the same as the divorce rate in the world, 50%. So how can you keep your marriage fresh and remain true to each other? This blog is one Christian’s answer to that question.
First of all, as a Christian, you cannot keep God out of the equation. He must be the center of the relationship, the life boat you each hang on to as the years go by and both of you change, especially physically. “God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.” Therefore keeping Him first in your relationship is of the utmost importance. Next, nothing, and I mean “nothing” is worth more than the trust developed between two people in a relationship. It takes time to earn trust in each other. It is as precious a rare diamond. It is when you feel totally secure with each other and trust each other 100% that you know you are marrying the right person.
Don’t justify or rationalize trust, saying things like, “I’ll trust them soon enough. We’ll go on and get married.” If there is any inkling of a feeling that you are about to marry the wrong person, put your pride aside and get marriage counseling right away. In counseling you find out if the two of you are really right for each other by being asked questions by someone who is objective.
When you are with the right person, when you are together, you each seem to make the other a better person. You each have a weakness and sometimes together you have no weaknesses when united as one.
Now to the matter at hand, now that we’ve reviewed how do you know when you are marrying the right person. How do you keep your marriage strong?
If you are a Christian, the answer is in the Word itself;
(Prov.5:3-6) “The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. For she does not care about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t even realize where it leads.”
(Prov.5:15-23) “Drink water from your own well – share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in public, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Don’t share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving doe, a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, with an immoral woman, or embrace the breasts of an adulterous woman? For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly.”
So if the Word so clearly speaks about the importance of being true to your marriage, why do the statistics regarding divorce with Christians match the world? Simply, by taking your eye of the will of God and His word for your life and marriage. It is that simple. Being a Chrisian is more than just a word. It takes work. In fact, once you become a devout Christian, truly seeking to live by His Word, you become even a bigger target than before you were saved.
In today’s media, sexual suggestions have infiltrated the billboards, magazines, music videos, cable TV, the internet, ipod capabilities to download pornography and even network television try to keep up with cable television. Lust of the flesh is being forced into our faces everywhere we look. It is painfully obvious that it is in our hands to figure out how to survive the sexual attack.
First of all, you must be accountable for taking responsibility of your actions and not exposing yourself to images, talk, friends, environments, magazine, movies, websites and TV shows that plant a seed of arousal in your spirit which manifests in your body. A couple’s true love for each other is more than enough of an aphrodisiac when it is not tainted by external images and suggestions. Once you give in to the external influences, you are being aroused by a fantasy and not your spouse which cheats the intimacy of the relationship.
Dedicating yourself to your spouse 100% allows you to understand exactly what becoming “one” is all about when your spouse is your love and best friend. Many times best friends and kids are given the wrong priority which ends up destroying the marriage. The divine order is God, spouse, kids, parents, friends. Any other order and you’re asking for trouble, i.e. gay marriages, single mothers who say they don’t need a man. Is it no wonder the world of happy relationships is under attack?
Of course, this article is not addressing violent, abusive relationships. Those are relationships that should not have happened in the first place without serious counseling.
What couples do have in their control as the years go by to keep the marriage strong is to remember what created the fire in the relationship in the first place. So many marriages seem to feel that once you’re married, “I got ya!” There’s no need to do any of that seductive stuff anymore. I beg to differ. Remembering why you fell in love in the first place is what reminds you of why you fell in love with each other so that when you look into each other’s eyes 10-20 years later, you still see the person you fell in love with.
Marriage is work, that’s not joke. But with God at the head and keeping each other number one in your life here on earth, you will fight to keep that fire going so that no one night stand destroys what it took years to build – trust. Once that betrayal has taken place, it takes a long, long time to rebuild it, if ever. So you’re really left with one question. Is it really worth it to throw all that away?
God’s Healing Through Obedience
Text: (Matthew 5:16) “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
It has always amazed me how God will many times set up your testimony such that when you describe what happened in a particular situation, your only answer is your testimony giving Him all the glory.
This testimony deals with the area of divine healing. We have all probably witnessed healing services across the country, live or on television, but when you personally experience divine healing, it takes that experience to another level.
My introduction to this testimony is kind of embarrassing and that embarrassment almost prevented me from sharing this testimony with you.Then who knows how many people would not have been blessed.
In one of my other testimonies, GOD WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION, I described a period of time in my life where my “Jonah experience” was a graveyard shift security job at an inactive guard house where the only activity was God’s revelation to me as to why I was there; to get my priorities straight.
One night, while reading THE ELIJAH TASK and the chapter on spiritual warfare, seemingly out of nowhere the biggest bug I have ever seen in my life dropped on the pages I was reading. This huge moth/butterfly/catapillar was the size of the palm of my hand (about 3 inches long with a closed wing span of about 4 inches).
Needless to say, when you’re half sleep and trying your best to stay focused reading something at four in the morning, when a bug that size pops up in front of you, you experience quite an adrenaline rush, as I did that night.
I stood up and backed away quickly, pushing the roll-away chair out of my way, all in one move, while keeping my eyes on this monstrosity the entire time. As I stepped off the small rug that was under my chair on to the concrete tile, both feet left the ground. I was totally helpless a small 270 pounds landed squarely on my tail bone.
I felt my entire skeletal structure rattle and was almsot certain thatsomething must be broken. I laid there for who knows how long trying toanalyze how bad was I hurt. Finally, more angry than hurt, I pulledmyself to my feet and noticed that the prehistoric bug had elevated toabout 20 feet in the 25 foot picture window.
“Oh no, you’re not getting away with this one.!” I mumbled partly to myself and the bug as well.
I quickly went into a small closet and a few seconds later, came out with everything I could carry that would make a great projectile. However, the bug was nowhere to be found. There was no way a bug that size could descend in a matter seconds and fly out the cracked front door without me seeing it.
I told my relief about the bug at the end of my shift but it was never seen again. Now, of course, I’ve been asking myself ever since, was all of that with the bug a dream, a hallucination or a visitation in the spirit. I definitely don’t think it was a coincidence that it landed while I was reading about spiritual warfare.
Anyway, about four months later, I began to feel a dull ache in my lower back. I didn’t think much of it at first until the pain began to increase steadily over the next month and a half. Soon the pain reached a point to where it felt like I was walking around with a steak knife stuck in my back with numbness going down my left leg.
My Motrin dosages which began at 200 mg per dose had increased to 800 mg per dose with very little relief. I finally went to the doctor and found that it was a sciatic nerve problem.
You may ask why it took so long to get to the doctor. A problem many of us fitness fanatics have is that we hate to admit that, with all of our fitness prowess, there still comes a time when we need to see a doctor. Well, I was definitely humbled that day. My doctor scheduled me to see a specialist over the next six weeks or so.
Two weeks away, however, was our church picnic where I was to minister in music with my flugle horn. Even that thought was painful because when you play a brass instrument, you are blowing againsts resistance in the horn which also puts pressure against the lower back. Plus, I would be standing on my feet for at least 20 minutes or more. Still, I was determined that nothing was going to keep me from my picnic performance.
At this time, the only standing I was doing was getting up to walk to the next place where I was going to sit or lie down. The two weeks passed quickly and soon came the day of the picnic and my time to go onstage. I had taken my recent dosage of Motrin. Then my wife and I prayed and she laid hands on me and up I went to perform.
The 20 minutes went by quickly and pain-free, praise God. I was really grateful that I made it through it all. The next morning I awoke, prepared to take that long walk into the kitchen to take my next dose of Motrin. However, on the way to the kitchen I didn’t feel any of the throbbing pain and numbness in the leg. Feeling it was only because the last dose had not yet worn off, I took one tablet just to be sure.
Six hours later, I realized that the pain actually be completely gone. My belief was validated when I skipped a dose and found that the pain and discomfort was indeed a thing of the past, praise God, and has never returned. Since the time, several years ago, I have come across several people with sciatic nerve pains who asked me what did I do to finally free myself of the constant irritating pain. And look at God, my only answer could be, “Well, I had a divine healing. I performed at my church picnic and the pain was gone the next day.”
The response I get to my healing testimony varies according to each person. Some feel they should look into their relationship with God while others walk away wishing I would have said I had had back surgery or something.
I look at my determination to perform in the church picnic that year to be my version of “if I could just touch the hem of His garment, I know I’ll be healed.” Even though I wasn’t expecting a divine healing, I knew that God had given me an assignment that I was to minister in music at the picnic that day. I was determined to carry out that assignment.
My lesson here was “there is healing power through your act of obedience”. Though the are many causes for various physical ailments, how much of our diseases or dis-ease is manifested from our disobedience with God? Only you know the answer to that question but it is something worth looking into.
In looking back at my encounter with the prehistoric bug, that bug represented all of the distractions we have in life that pull our focus from the Lord. When that happens, we fall. But if we get back up and refocus on the Lord, we find Him there waiting for us with open arms ready to soothe and heal our wounds. As the songs says, “We fall down but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up.”
May the Lords healing power and blessing be upon you this day.
This testimony deals with the area of divine healing. We have all probably witnessed healing services across the country, live or on television, but when you personally experience divine healing, it takes that experience to another level.
My introduction to this testimony is kind of embarrassing and that embarrassment almost prevented me from sharing this testimony with you.Then who knows how many people would not have been blessed.
In one of my other testimonies, GOD WILL GET YOUR ATTENTION, I described a period of time in my life where my “Jonah experience” was a graveyard shift security job at an inactive guard house where the only activity was God’s revelation to me as to why I was there; to get my priorities straight.
One night, while reading THE ELIJAH TASK and the chapter on spiritual warfare, seemingly out of nowhere the biggest bug I have ever seen in my life dropped on the pages I was reading. This huge moth/butterfly/catapillar was the size of the palm of my hand (about 3 inches long with a closed wing span of about 4 inches).
Needless to say, when you’re half sleep and trying your best to stay focused reading something at four in the morning, when a bug that size pops up in front of you, you experience quite an adrenaline rush, as I did that night.
I stood up and backed away quickly, pushing the roll-away chair out of my way, all in one move, while keeping my eyes on this monstrosity the entire time. As I stepped off the small rug that was under my chair on to the concrete tile, both feet left the ground. I was totally helpless a small 270 pounds landed squarely on my tail bone.
I felt my entire skeletal structure rattle and was almsot certain thatsomething must be broken. I laid there for who knows how long trying toanalyze how bad was I hurt. Finally, more angry than hurt, I pulledmyself to my feet and noticed that the prehistoric bug had elevated toabout 20 feet in the 25 foot picture window.
“Oh no, you’re not getting away with this one.!” I mumbled partly to myself and the bug as well.
I quickly went into a small closet and a few seconds later, came out with everything I could carry that would make a great projectile. However, the bug was nowhere to be found. There was no way a bug that size could descend in a matter seconds and fly out the cracked front door without me seeing it.
I told my relief about the bug at the end of my shift but it was never seen again. Now, of course, I’ve been asking myself ever since, was all of that with the bug a dream, a hallucination or a visitation in the spirit. I definitely don’t think it was a coincidence that it landed while I was reading about spiritual warfare.
Anyway, about four months later, I began to feel a dull ache in my lower back. I didn’t think much of it at first until the pain began to increase steadily over the next month and a half. Soon the pain reached a point to where it felt like I was walking around with a steak knife stuck in my back with numbness going down my left leg.
My Motrin dosages which began at 200 mg per dose had increased to 800 mg per dose with very little relief. I finally went to the doctor and found that it was a sciatic nerve problem.
You may ask why it took so long to get to the doctor. A problem many of us fitness fanatics have is that we hate to admit that, with all of our fitness prowess, there still comes a time when we need to see a doctor. Well, I was definitely humbled that day. My doctor scheduled me to see a specialist over the next six weeks or so.
Two weeks away, however, was our church picnic where I was to minister in music with my flugle horn. Even that thought was painful because when you play a brass instrument, you are blowing againsts resistance in the horn which also puts pressure against the lower back. Plus, I would be standing on my feet for at least 20 minutes or more. Still, I was determined that nothing was going to keep me from my picnic performance.
At this time, the only standing I was doing was getting up to walk to the next place where I was going to sit or lie down. The two weeks passed quickly and soon came the day of the picnic and my time to go onstage. I had taken my recent dosage of Motrin. Then my wife and I prayed and she laid hands on me and up I went to perform.
The 20 minutes went by quickly and pain-free, praise God. I was really grateful that I made it through it all. The next morning I awoke, prepared to take that long walk into the kitchen to take my next dose of Motrin. However, on the way to the kitchen I didn’t feel any of the throbbing pain and numbness in the leg. Feeling it was only because the last dose had not yet worn off, I took one tablet just to be sure.
Six hours later, I realized that the pain actually be completely gone. My belief was validated when I skipped a dose and found that the pain and discomfort was indeed a thing of the past, praise God, and has never returned. Since the time, several years ago, I have come across several people with sciatic nerve pains who asked me what did I do to finally free myself of the constant irritating pain. And look at God, my only answer could be, “Well, I had a divine healing. I performed at my church picnic and the pain was gone the next day.”
The response I get to my healing testimony varies according to each person. Some feel they should look into their relationship with God while others walk away wishing I would have said I had had back surgery or something.
I look at my determination to perform in the church picnic that year to be my version of “if I could just touch the hem of His garment, I know I’ll be healed.” Even though I wasn’t expecting a divine healing, I knew that God had given me an assignment that I was to minister in music at the picnic that day. I was determined to carry out that assignment.
My lesson here was “there is healing power through your act of obedience”. Though the are many causes for various physical ailments, how much of our diseases or dis-ease is manifested from our disobedience with God? Only you know the answer to that question but it is something worth looking into.
In looking back at my encounter with the prehistoric bug, that bug represented all of the distractions we have in life that pull our focus from the Lord. When that happens, we fall. But if we get back up and refocus on the Lord, we find Him there waiting for us with open arms ready to soothe and heal our wounds. As the songs says, “We fall down but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up.”
May the Lords healing power and blessing be upon you this day.
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