Choose Encouragement

The lyrics of an all time Christian classic filled my head as I stared out the window. “Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?” “His eye is on the sparrow” is a favorite at churches of all denominations across the country for a reason. We all go through seasons of life that bring hardship and trials. Nobody has it easy.

In the book of Numbers, God became downright angry at those that discouraged the children of Israel. They were at a crossroads upon encountering Kadesh-Barnea. It was time to seize the land of promise. I noticed that God didn’t chastise the spies that went into the land who were timid of the giants, but he brought judgment to those who used those giants to discourage others from the promises of God. I’m sure that Joshua and Caleb felt their throats tighten and their heart rates increase at the sight of the obstacles ahead. They were human after all. God has not asked us to be superhero’s, but to simply trust. The children of Israel were more inclined to follow the path of fear and discouragement than to follow the men of God and the promises of God. Gods anger was so kindled at those sowing seeds of doubt that nobody 20 and over was able to enter the promised land. How many of us are wandering through dry, desert seasons in our life because we believed the naysayers and allowed life situations and gossips to discourage us?

Num 32:6-14
"Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 So the Lord's anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 'Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.' 13 So the Lord's anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone.

Later in Ezra the people of the land were working over time to discourage the people of Judah. They tried to frustrate their purpose and block their “building program”. We are faced with a choice everyday to build up or tear down, to encourage or discourage, to feel frustrated, or to be an overcomer. What choice will you make today? We are faced with the daunting task of sharing the Apostolic truth with a metro area that is home to 2.9 million souls. Many of them have no idea what it means to be “spirit filled”. They are locked in traditions of religion and traditions of men. Thank you for choosing to encourage us and support us and not focus on the giants we have to face and the battles to be fought. People do not need reminded of the difficulty of their task, but of the greatness of their redeemer.

What are you plugged into?

Recently I was amazed yet again at the strides that we are making in technology. While shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods, I stumbled upon a product that I didn’t know existed. Not that this is surprising considering I am not an exercise guru or fitness Goddess, but I thought that as a consumer of music I would’ve heard of this product. Upon my return home I began to research the product and was thoroughly intrigued. The next time I purpose to become a gold medal Olympian, I am most assuredly purchasing this to guide me through my fitness routines. Until then, I am going to apply secular principles to my spiritual life.

The product I discovered is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and yet big enough to push, train, and inspire you. It is simply a partnership of the genius of Nike with the technology of Apple. It takes two cultural icons and marries them. Now your shoes and your iPod team up and take on your run. To quote from the Nike website, “See the minutes tick by. Watch the miles unfold. Hear real-time voice feedback. All to your favorite music — including the one song that always gets you through the home stretch.”

Ready, Set, Go. No longer do you need a personal trainer, you have technology to guide you. The concept is simple. Purchase the Nike + shoes and the Nike + iPod sport kit and sensor. You put the sensor in your + shoe where there is a built in pocket for it. You connect your receiver to your iPod, or if you are really cool and have the iPod touch and don’t need a connector. The senor tracks your run and sends the data to your I-pod. Your workout is customized for you. You also program songs for instant motivation. At the end of your run, your iPod gives you feedback and details of your accomplishments.

Why did this inspire me so much? The fact of the matter is that we are all in a race. Whether you are conditioned and prepared or not, we are all participating in the marathon of life. More of us than we like to admit are completely out of shape in the race. We are sluggish in our spirits, fat in our lusts, and broken in our hearts. The great theologian Gloria Estefan already told us that “there’s no place that you can hide, oh no, the rhythm is gonna get’cha”. You can refuse to admit that we are all on a path towards a goal and pretend like things don’t affect you or concern you, but the “rhythm is gonna get’cha”.

1 Cor 9:24(NASU) Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Heb 12:1-2 (NASU) Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

If Nike and Apple can have a marriage of comfort and genius to inspire and encourage runners, certainly we can plug spiritually into the source of life that can inspire, chart, and motivate us on the race we are on. God has given us a fitness program in His word. If we daily ingest the milk and meat of the word, we will be spiritually healthy for the race that is set before us. If we lay aside all of the extra weights that get us down, we will run lighter. If we praise and rejoice and worship, we will have the tunes in our hearts that we need for the home stretch. Turn on your spiritual receivers and let your sensors be in tune with heaven. God will give you real time voice feedback and guide you if you let him. There is no need to be a speed demon to win the race of life, the only pre-requisite is that you keep your eye on the prize and endure. His grace is sufficient for all else.

Can You Dig It?

Can you dig it?
Do you ever wonder as you turn on the spicket to shower every morning where the many gallons of water are coming from and how much work went into channeling the water from its original location to your shower and to making the water clean and pure enough to cleanse your body? One of the greatest commodities in biblical times was di-hydrogen-oxide (H2O), water. Even today, it is one of our greatest natural resources. During times of drought, even in prosperous twenty first century America, we have to limit our usage of this resource and cling to it for its life giving and life saving properties. And yet still, it is hard to imagine, living in our culture, how important water would have been in Biblical times. It seems like every day in America a new bottle of water is available on store shelves. We water our grass with it, wash our cars with it and really don't give much thought to how it arrives for our consumption. We even get fancy and squeeze lemon in it. If characters from Biblical times appeared today for a visit, I believe they would spend most of their time playing in the kitchen sink and possibly pressing Jacuzzi water stream buttons.

The book of Genesis accounts for us the importance of the struggle and search for water. Not only was the discovery of fresh water wells rare, it was essential. Issac discovered three such wells that we will take time to examine.

Gen 26:19-22 19 (NIV) 19. Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land."

The significance of this scripture in our modern twenty first century lives may not stand out to you immediately, but with further dissection, we can all learn how to dig wells in our life and apply these Biblical principles.

Well # 1.) Esek means to quarrel
Well # 2.) Sitnah means to strive or have strife
Well # 3.) Rehoboth means board places (the place that they flourished)



Water meant life. It gave the ability to sustain crops, provided hydration for herds of animals, and for Isaac and his family to live out in the desert they needed to drink a lot of it. Wars were often not fought with weapons but with the abundance or lack of water. If one could destroy the water supply to anothe,r they would win the battle without having to draw their sword. Understanding this, the Philistines had attacked the wells of Isaac's father Abraham. The Philistines had been an arch enemy of God and his people and they are an Old Testament representation of our enemy Satan. They depict to us today the evil men and seducers that we face in our modern world.

Gen 26:15 (NIV)
So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

Our sworn enemies, whether natural or spiritual, are trying to stop us from being productive. Their goal is to see us fail and destroy our lives. Water also symbolizes the washing and regeneration that we find through New Testament baptism. Our sins and our failures are buried with Christ in baptism. The enemies of our soul and of our lives try to dry up the refreshment that we feel after repentance, water baptism, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost. They want to remove the water from our lives and to deliver to us such a life damaging blow that we will not be able to recover. If we give into this attack, we are left to die. Whether the water is physical or spiritual, it's still the best source of refreshment and renewal. Death, even if not physical, can destroy our future. In Isaac's day they were trying to kill him physically, they were trying to destroy his family, and they were jealous of his success.

Have you ever felt like someone was throwing dirt into your well? Was someone trying to destroy the source of life that you drink from? Have you ever felt like someone was trying to destroy you, and trying to push you away? Many people try to eliminate the possibility of you being productive and versatile in the kingdom of God.

Oftentimes you feel like people are trying to destroy you and manipulate situations to get you out of the workplace. Sometimes there are even people around you that are allowing the enemy to use them to push you out of the church. Satan would love to get you to throw in the towel on your ministry and your family. But, even with a sworn enemy trying to stop us, we need to keep digging. There is nothing that can stop us. What made Isaac successful was the fact that he was not willing to stop digging. When things got tough and when the Philistines tried to destroy everything his father had worked for, instead of giving up, Isaac dug in. The choice is simple to dig or not to dig.

So in the middle of your seemingly impossible situation, you are faced with a decision. Can I dig it? Can I grab my shovel and dig another well? While you are digging, sometimes strife will break out, but keep digging. Don't throw in the towel, dig another well. The fact of the matter is if you keep digging you’re going to have a Rehoboth, a big place, a broad place, a place for all your dreams that you thought were destroyed by the enemy. The dreams and times of refreshing are about to come to pass.

What separates the successful from the defeated? A lack of problems and situations is not what makes somebody else thrive in a toxic environment while everyone else crumbles. We all have our enemies and our seemingly impassable situations. What separates the failures from the victors is simply one thing, keep digging when everyone else stops.

I refuse to allow my past, pain and problems; poison my future. It does not matter what has happened to you! It does not matter what others are saying about you! It does not matter if you do not meet all the criteria that the religious and the Pharisees say you need to meet in order to work for God. What matters is do you have the tenacity, the determination, the faith to keep digging in spite all the dirt that's being thrown at you? Do you have a desire to read, study, and digest the word of God and make it become relevant to your situation and life?

We can all find the silver lining in our situations. Every time life threw dirt on you and ever person that gave up on you actually pushed you to just dig another well. They created the success that you are going to be. Everyone that does you dirty is actually doing a service of justice for you. If no one moves your cheese, you will never be forced to reevaluate and come up with better and more successful solutions for victory. You can stand and be grateful for every time you were forced in a prayer closet by a person or a life circumstance. Open your mouth and shout, “Thank you for pushing me to my knees and thank you for helping me realize that no matter what happens God is faithful to help me through anything life can bring.”

I want to encourage you as you read this that God has given you the power to reinvent yourself. Today is a new day; forget about what's happened in the past and stop stressing about what's going to take place in the future. All you need to do is be willing to keep digging in spite of the circumstances that are surrounding you. Rehoboth, can you dig it?

Good Intentions: Not Good Enough

With his heart palpitating and his face crimson, the groom stood at the altar dejected, broken, and confused. The girl that he had planned to marry did not show up to their big day. The guests had filled the church, the minister stood with empathy showing on his face, and the tens of thousands of dollars that had been spent were lost with no reward. Humiliated, the groom wondered what went wrong. She promised to love, honor, and cherish him when he popped the question, and now she hadn’t even given him the dignity of a phone call. He had no choice but to make an announcement to the guests that the day was over, his life was ruined, and they were just going to have to eat cake anyway. He would pick up the pieces of his life, return to the grindstone at work, and continue forging ahead all alone with no soul mate in this world.


The above story describes what could be one of the worse nightmares for anyone, male or female, that had romantic intentions and lifelong desires thwarted. We have all been made promises that ended in despair and at some point, most of us have made a promise that we either purposefully or accidentally didn’t keep. The groom in the story could very well have described any person, or it could be an allegory to describe Christ. The bible speaks in flowery language about the bride of Christ, the church. God is looking for a bride with more than good intentions, but he is looking for a bride that couples actions, attitudes, and accomplishments for the kingdom. The bible tells a story about 5 foolish virgins and 5 wise virgins awaiting their wedding day. The 5 wise virgins were ready and prepared when their groom came and the 5 foolish virgins were found distracted, unprepared. The thing about this story that strikes me is that all 10 women in this story were virgins. This means they were all to some degree prepared for the big day. In Biblical times all good brides were virgins on their wedding day. This was an expectation that couldn’t be messed with or altered. This means that all 10 ladies had kept themselves separated. Many in the church feel that they are separated from the world because they have made choices of purity and some choices towards Biblical responsibility, but something huge is missing in their lives and hearts. Matthew 25 ends this accounting of the virgins stating that the unprepared virgins begged for the bridegroom to come back, but they had missed their opportunity. Even though untouched and still virtuous, the 5 foolish virgins had never fulfilled the true potential of a bride and missed the wedding day. We , as modern day Christians, could liken this to the second Coming of Christ. We need to be more than separated and pure, we need to be active in the kingdom.


Our world is full of potential and good intentions, but both are worthless unless coupled with action. The word potential is based from the root word potent, meaning power. You have no power and no potency without action. Potential is worthless unless it is activated by power. Good intentions are also pointless unless we act out our intentions. My engagement to somebody and my intention to marry them is meaningless unless I actually show up to the wedding day, dressed, planned, and prepared to dedicate my future to the groom. I can intend to marry him, but if I don’t show up ready to actually follow through, he is left jilted at the altar like the man I described above. The church, as the bride of Christ, needs to have more than just good intentions and potential. We need to allow our potential to be potent while we walk in the spirit and use the power of the Holy Spirit to be the witnesses described in Acts 1:8. I don’t just intend to make an impact on my community; I’m going to actually do it. I’m not going to just talk about the love of God; I’m going to display it. I’m not going to just attend church; I’m going to be the church. I’m going to operate in my role in the body of Christ and let my intentions become potential and my potential become action.

2 Corinthians 8 (the message) verse 10 - So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. 11 Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. 12 Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands. 13 This isn't so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you're shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, 14 your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even.

Benevolence and Acceptance

The following is a transcript/summary a video message. I originally recorded this and put it on Face Book. I tried to upload the video to my blog but it is currently not working. I will revisit this and try it again. Until then, enjoy the transcript. I hope that it blesses you and you find the scripture passages helpful in your walk with God.

Benevolence and Acceptance 

I want to open up this greeting to you with a passage of scripture to set the tone for what I am going to discuss.

Prov 11:24-25(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language)
24 The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
25 The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped.

I am just dropping in today with a short message about giving and receiving. Oftentimes we fit giving and receiving into two categories. We either only associate it with Christmas, birthdays and other holidays and make it about gifts, or we pigeon hole the concept of giving to encompass only financial and monetary contributions. Because of these cultural associations that we have created, most people turn off their “thinking caps”, to use a term from elementary school, and do not listen to lessons on giving, or we just refuse to tune in or talk about it at all. While I will briefly touch on finances in this short lesson, I am only doing so because the Bible has more to say about money than it does about any other topic. Matthew 6:21 states that where your treasure is that is where your heart also is. I have heard the thought my whole life that what controls your check book, even if it is the necessities, will control the attitude and direction of your life and heart. In this economy it is tough to hear pleas for money for missions, for the church, and for the impoverished and less fortunate because we, ourselves, are also struggling. It is in these times though that the church in Macedonia, recorded in II Corinthians chapter 8 bound together and gave liberally out of their poverty. This was the original economic stimulus plan!! God knew before Obama thought he knew. I’m going to read some out of II Corinthians Chapter 8 from the Message translation. Finding and rediscovering these passages of scripture has opened my eyes to a whole new level of giving and receiving. It takes away all of our excuses. God’s economy is not our economy. Regardless of your secular politics and your opinions on the direction that the United States is headed, we can all agree that it is the nature of God to abolish fear. I say this all the time; I refuse to participate in the fear surrounding economic recession!!

Paul Speaking about the church in Macedonia to the church in Corinth,

2 Cor 8:2 Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. 3 I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could — far more than they could afford! — 4 pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians. 5 This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives. ( Skipping down ) 9 You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us — in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

You have to give in proportion to what you want to receive. If you are stingy with money and gifts, you will be met with stinginess. If you are harsh and judgmental, you will be treated with that same level of mercy. Christians love to quote the following passage from Luke chapter 6 to motivate us to give of our financial resources. We get so excited because in our hearts, we are not giving from the motivation of pure Christianity, we are giving to receive.

38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

However, if you read this passage in context with the statements preceding it, you find a commandment that is almost more difficult than the commandment to give liberally of financial resources.

Luke Chapter 6 (KJV)
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
I like the message bibles interpretation of Luke 6: 38
Message Bible Luke chapter 6
38 Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back — given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting is the way. Generosity begets generosity."

Remember that giving and receiving is not only about finances. It is about time, love and tenderness (to quote the great Michael Bolton)

Reminds me of a story I heard about a Baptist preacher who just finished his sermon for the day and proceeded toward the back of the church for his usual greetings and handshaking as the congregation left the church. After shaking a few adult hands he came upon the seven year old son of one of the Deacons of the church.

"Good morning, Jonathan," the preacher said as he reached out to shake Jonathan’s hand.

As he was doing that, he felt something in the palm of Jonathan's hand. "What's this?" the preacher asked.

"Money," said Jonathan with a big smile on his face, "It's for you!"

"I don't want to take your money, Jonathan," the preacher answered.

"I want you to have it," said Jonathan. After a short pause Jonathan continued, "My daddy says you're the poorest preacher we ever had and I want to help you."
Let’s not associate everything with money!!
James 1:5 (New American Standard) But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

God Bless……….

Updates

Here are just a couple of thought updates that I've had lately.

1) 

Business Week Magazine recently did a story on America's Unhappiest Cities. Cleveland ranked number 5 out of all the metro cities in the USA. Below are the statistics that I pulled from the story. I think it is time that we pray this spirit of depression and bondage out of Northeast Ohio and Cleveland. The birth of Christ and the gospel story of the death, burial, and resurrection is "good tidings of great JOY".
Cleveland, Ohio
Overall rank: 5
Depression rank: 17
Suicide rank: 27
Crime (property and violent) rank: 11
Divorce rate rank: 2
Cloudy days: 202
Unemployment rate (December 2008): 8.8%

2)

I just wanted to drop a note of encouragement to those that may be suffering from the current state of the economy. As the children of God, we need to refuse to participate in the recession. This doesn't mean that our finances won't be affected and that we won't lose our jobs. What this means is that we are going to claim the promises given to us in scripture. When our investments fail financially, our investment into our relationship with God will bring huge returns. He does his best work when we have run out of our own human ideas and answers.
Psalm 37:25 I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. (NIV)
Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

The crooked way, straight

My group, facebook church, did an event today where members are posting a testimony, or a God moment, to share with everybody. I posted mine in the group's discussion board, but thought I would also post it here so my friends that aren't in this group could read one of my numerous God moment testimonies. Join the group if you like too. all are invited.

Luke 3:5
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;KJV

This scripture inspiried the God moment that I'm going to share. Life is filled with things that seem incomprehendable and crooked, but God makes the crooked way straight. He brings answers to questions that we as humans can't understand. He brings enlightenment to situations that are dark. I've had so many God moments in my life and seem to encounter divine interruption on a daily basis. Sometimes these moments are intensely spiritual and other times these moments just involve a "still, small voice". On August 24, 2004 my father, Victor Bentley, passed away at 51 years old. This was an experience that I can't explain. He was a pastor, a man of God, a father, a husband, and a best friend to all who encountered him. Why did he have to be the one to die? His death certificate reduces his life to meningitis and encephalytis. It was as if these two medical terms would forever define him. I strugged during the 3 months prior to his death while he laid in a coma trying to find meaning and understand to the situation. I will admit, I still have yet to find an answer to his passing, but I have found acceptance. One of the many God moments I experienced during this time was on the day of the funeral, August 27, 2004 when I discovered that I was pregnant with my first son, Reese. This would've been my fathers first grandchild. At first I thought this was a cruel twist of fate. Although I was happily married and had been for 4 years at this time, it was as if some sadistic diety was playing a game for his amusement. Why at this time of loss would my fathers first grand child make his entrance? Why couldn't my son have been born early enough to meet my dad? Why couldn't my dad have lived just 9 months longer? I experienced a God moment in my spirit when I realized and comprehended that life is a big circle. It comes, it goes, and eventually your memory will fade. The Bible says that life is a vapor. I believe that god's timing is perfect in all things. My son Reese ended up being the balm of healing that my family needed. The joys of pregnancy and child birth wiped the tears of grief. His genius, intellect, curiousity, and hilarious outgoing personality are an exact replica of my fathers. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm thankful for the encounter with God that showed me the timing of Reese was not a bad set of cards dealt to us, but the healing we needed.

God Moments

All Scripture references from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.
Ps 138:3
3 The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.
Isa 30:19-20
19 Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you'll find it's grace and more grace. The moment he hears, he'll answer.
Dan 10:12
12 "'Relax, Daniel,' he continued, 'don't be afraid. From the moment you decided to humble yourself to receive understanding, your prayer was heard, and I set out to come to you.
1 Peter 5:13
13 The church in exile here with me — but not for a moment forgotten by God —

We all experience life in small, sequential moments. Although oftentimes too busy to notice, the moments of our lives sneak in, do their work, and creep away leaving us forever changed. The birth of our children, the death of a loved one, the purchase of our first home, our first kiss, young love…..all of these moments and experiences are times that forever etch into our memories. The Encarta World English dictionary defined moment as “a short time: a very short interval of time, a particular instant: a particular instant in time, or present: the present time.”

We can live in past, present, and current moments. Many times the moments pass us by unnoticed, unannounced, and underappreciated. The question for the day is, will you pause to take in a divine moment today? The Bible is full of examples of God working to experience a moment with creation. The marriage of humanity and divinity is not a new phenomenon and neither is it antiquated. From the time God created with His spoken word, He desires to speak creative, life altering transformation into our darkness.

I encourage you to notice the very short intervals of time today where God breathes agape love, acceptance, and direction into your situation. It may be a very short moment where you can glimpse into the supernatural, but you will walk away knowing your day was interrupted by deity.

You are What you Eat

Matt 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. KJV

One day I fully expect to wake up and be a triangular shaped corn tortilla chip. With the amounts of chips and salsa I consume, eventually I may become tomato based. I have no idea where the quote “you are what you eat” originated from, but as true as it is to our physical health, our spiritual health is largely based on what we ingest and have a steady diet of. Just like mass quantities of milkshakes has the potential to turn your thighs to cottage cheese, a mental diet full of negativity, lust, and gossip will turn your spirit to mush.

The scriptures make many references to food in regards to our personal and spiritual lives. This most likely is because food is one of the basic physical things we need to survive. Abraham Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs that we as human beings must have to survive. Food, water, and shelter are the most basic of necessities and without them we can never hope to “self-actualize”, or achieve ultimate fulfillment. While food is physical, the word of God is spiritual. The Bible says that man cannot live by bread alone. We can have our basic life sustained with bread, but without the word of God, we can’t reach self realization and fulfillment. God needs to speak into our lives on a daily basis. If we go long without food, our attitudes show it. When I’m hungry, my patience is low, I can feel lightheaded, and I’m quick tempered. Spiritually, if I haven’t heard something “proceeding out of the mouth of God” for the day, for my situation, and for my life, the fruits of the spirit will not be manifest. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance stand no chance when I’m spiritually and physically deprived.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made human beings. Our physical man does not exist without our spirit man and our spirit man has no place on earth without our physical bodies. They are intertwined in a divine dance that we embark on daily. The spirit and the flesh regularly step on each other’s toes in this dance, and must constantly be drawn back together to follow God’s tempo. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life are at war with the fruit of God’s spirit in our lives. We will manifest the thing in our life that we spend the most time on. Is our diet raunchy TV shows, movies, questionable websites and relationships, or do we dine on what is pure, lovely, and of a good report? This does not mean that everything in life has to be intensely and purposefully spiritual, just like in our physical lives we do not have to constantly dine on organic, grainy whole foods to be healthy. This does mean though that a majority of our focus has to be on what we want our ultimate outcome to be. Because I do not wish to weigh 300 plus pounds, I exercise portion control when I’m indulging (well at least I pretend to). On the same token, because I wish to have the fruits of the spirit leading the dance in my life, I will work to balance the secular and the sacred.
1 Cor 3:2-4
2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
NASU

Heb 5:12-14
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
NASU

1 Peter 2:1-3

2 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
NASU

Where do you Live?

In our global society, it is possible to meet people who live in one city and yet work in another. Oftentimes these are not people with just your average daily 35 minute commute. It is not uncommon to find someone that lives in New York City and works for a Los Angeles based company. With websites like gotomeeting.com, teleconferencing, face book groups and networking, and video technology, we are not bound by time, space, and location in the way that we were even as recently as the 20th century. This fast paced, frantic society has all but overtaken our American culture. Very few cities seem unfazed by Wi-Fi internet, global networking, and the harsh demands that instant access has put on us.

The ironic thing about the reality of 21st century living is that many people were concerned that the technology explosion would leave us bored, empty, and unemployed. We feared that robots would replace man and that the abundance of free time created by technology would leave us depressed. Sadly, we have found ourselves depressed and empty, but very few of us are bored. Technology hasn’t removed chores off our lists, it is has multiplied them to an exponential degree. Not only do we face all of the other chores shared by the generations of yesteryear, but we are bombarded with texts, emails, website updating, blogging, and social networking responsibilities. It is extremely rare to see a group of people sharing a meal and a coffee where at least 75% of the table isn’t engaged in some form of text messaging, e-mailing, and cell phone use during the meal.

Our social lives have never seen a day of so much opportunity, and yet our souls and friendships are suffering and lonely. The dichotomy of the 21stcentury life is unparalleled. The biggest factor to suffer in our lives is usually our relationship with God. We used to say “just call him up and tell him what you want.” This phrase is foreign in our day. We can’t text message God, IM him, or link up to him on face book. Our 21stcentury inability to communicate has left us empty spiritually. How often do you actually call a friend for a long chat? Our friendships have been reduced to3 line texts and internet commentary.

The bible is filled with examples of believers sitting for a long, refreshing time of prayer and devotion with God. My challenge today is to put away the trappings of 21st century living and actually take time to breathe in the sweet savor of meditation with God. We found the disciple John laying his head on the chest of Jesus. He was in a full embrace. We find that Isaac dwelt by the well of refreshment. We find Adam and Eve taking long walks of devotion and friendship with God. The only true fulfillment and strength comes from old fashioned interaction and dedication to God. Acts 3:19 tells us that our only true times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord.

The question remains, where do you live? Will you chose to live complacency in the empty frantic lifestyles of the 21st century human, or do you choose to drink from the wells of divine interaction and peace? Take a commute from the responsibilities of life and drive to the “rest wherein the weary shall find rest”.

WWJD

“WWJD”, otherwise known as What Would Jesus Do, was a hugely popular acronym that swept the world during the 1990’s. Emblazoned on everything from bracelets, t-shirts, purses, and Bible covers to bumper stickers, the craze took off in fad like fashion. All the “cool” Christians owned multiple bracelets and if you didn’t have a bracelet along with some type of fish sticker in public view, you just weren’t being the witness God called you to be. Recently memories of this fad have been creeping up in my mind. While WWJD paraphernalia is still sold, the fiery fad has faded to embers and bright yellow “Livestrong” bracelets are what all the world changers don. With all of the eyes of the world turned to change and all the hearts of the world searching for fulfillment, this is our hour and our time to actually live “WWJD”.

How often did the people that proudly proclaimed these four letters actually act out on the principles and lifestyle of Jesus Christ? Mahatma Ghandi was quoted as saying “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Upon reading this quote a light went off in my mind. As a lifetime Christian, how many times have I said, “I sure hope people don’t look at me the way they look at them.” These thoughts run through my head when I see the "saved" being arrogant, unfriendly, uncooperative, and judgemental. Are we really modeling our lives after Jesus, or are we satisfied to mold our lives into the cookie cutter dogmas of the religious?

Viewed as a revolutionary in his day, Jesus changed religious culture. When he caught a lady in the middle of the act of adultery, he simply told her to go and sin no more. His outrage and his passion was directed at the religious hypocrites of his day, not to the “sinners”. Jesus was not found on center stage during the political debates of his time. On the contrary, people were upset because they thought he came to overthrow the government. Jesus taught principle and he lived by principles. He led by example. Jesus taught us about morality, kindness, and love. Jesus didn’t allow people to discourage him.

He was only thirty when he reached the final climactic years of his ministry and yet could relate to people from all age groups and socioeconomic diversities. Jesus was driven by love and compassion. He was not driven to judge, categorize, and separate. When Jesus spoke harshly, it was towards the religious leaders. His anger was kindled at judgementalism, greed, and betrayal. Poverty, brokenness, loneliness, and sin drove him to the full depths of his love and empathy.
This is not to take away from the principles of God that we know when the Bible is looked at as a whole. We know that God is jealous and will come back with a vengeance at His second coming. We know that God hates sin. However, Jesus said that only the perfect are allowed to cast the stones. While we are waiting for His triumphant return, let us Christians live as Jesus did. How can we prepare people for the delights of heaven and compel them to pure religion if we choose traditions over Jesus, judgments over joy, and hypocrisy over happiness?

James 1:27 tells us “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (KJV). This verse speaks on several levels to me and is exampled in the life of Christ. We need to take care of the less fortunate. If a man asks for bread, give it to him. If someone needs a coat, take off yours. We need to care emotionally, spiritually, and physically for those that are in need of a father, husband, friend, and mentor. The second thing this scripture means to me is that I am responsible for my own walk with God. This doesn’t take away the role of my pastor and spiritual authorities in my life as outlined in the scriptures, but what it means is that unless I am in a ministerial and mentorship role with someone, it is ultimately peoples own choice and decision to keep themselves “unspotted from the world.” This goes hand in hand with Matthew 7:1, “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

What does it mean to be like Jesus? What would Jesus Do? I encourage everyone to follow the teachings of Christ and study them through the scriptures and daily prayer. While you are doing this, let me provide you with the litmus test that Christ gave us to line up to. Love was the ultimate gauge for Jesus and the sermon he preached to his disciples. Love someone today, tomorrow, and every day. Jesus was the perfect Valentine.

John 13:34-35 (NASU)

34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 " By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

25 things about me

Facebook started a craze for people to list 25 random facts about themselves. I never do these lists, but caved in. I decided that I would share these things with my friends on blogspot as well. I know a lot of people aren't on facebook. Enjoy these random facts about me.

1. I am the wife of an incredible man and the mother of 2 boys turning into incredible men
2. I use humor to deflect emotionally charged situations. Even if humor is not always the appropriate response. It is my defense mechanism
3. I love to write, plan, organize, administrate, dictate, and take charge. I love to work.
4. Lazy is not a word that would ever describe me. I can’t stand doing nothing. I love to be mentally, physically, and emotionally stimulated. Sensory overload is my norm.
5. I love to tell people my pregnancy and labor/delivery stories. I have no idea why, as this typically isn’t appropriate conversation. The whole process was so amazing and fascinating though that I love to share. I also like to prepare my friends for the realities that no one told you about.
6. The thing with labor and delivery that I’m most proud of is that I had my 2nd son with no pain medications. Completely natural. What an amazing, awful, wonderful, and memorable experience.
7. I have my Masters Degree. My husband always rails on me for not sharing this with people. I guess I don’t feel like it makes me more special than anyone else, but it is a great accomplishment.
8. I love music. Playing the piano, singing, and running worship services at church bring me more fulfillment than almost any other activity in life. I love to be part of a band and praise team.
9. I have a thirst for knowledge. I love to read anything I can get my hands on.
10. I love talk radio. Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Dave Ramsey are my favorites.
11. I love to travel, explore, and experience.
12. I have been on numerous missions trips. Short term AIM to the Caribbean for 3 months, Youth on Mission to England, and AIM program in the Czech Republic for 9 months where I got to travel all over Europe and experience some of the best cites in the world.
13. I am proud to be an American and love the USA. Even with all of its problems and issues, no other country holds a candle to its freedoms, choices, and opportunities.
14. I love ice cream
15. I enjoy watching movies and television shows when I need a brainless diversion from life
16. I am addicted to celebrity gossip
17. I love Jesus with all of my heart.
18. I secretly desire to look like anyone other than myself. I have mega issues in this department, but love my body more now than I ever have before. If it has given me such a wonderful life, allowed me to experience the world, and produced the 2 most beautiful entities that have ever lived, I will no longer despise and criticize it.
19. I crave words of affirmation and compliments. I love it when people affirm me; however, I secretly never believe the positive words and never take them to heart.
20. I enjoy obsessively cleaning. I like everything to have its place. I am coming to terms with the impossibility of this with 2 small children, but I still strive for obsessive organization.
21. My first car was a 1985 Plymouth Reliant. It was a mustardy, gold color and everyone made fun of it. I miss that car and wish I still had it. It was owned by an old lady and it only had like 25,000 miles on it.
22. I hate debt, love to budget, and am a borderline tight wad at times. I do not feel it is God’s will for his people to be bound by debt and financial stress. He wants us to live in prosperity so we can give to others. I am by no means prosperous, but I have 0 credit card debt and try to buy everything on sale.
23. My dad died when I was 24. I found out I was pregnant with my first son on the day of his funeral. Bittersweet was the emotion of the day. I am re-thinking my stance on reincarnation though because Reese acts exactly like my dad.
24. All 4 of my grandparents were dead before I was 10. I never met my mom’s parents. Her dad died when she was 5 and her mom died before she ever got married.
25. I am very outgoing and a major people person. I regularly have full conversations with complete strangers and know their life story within 30 minutes of making their acquaintance. I think this is why God called me to psychology and ministry as my career choices.

Drought Proof your Life

Sitting in church this past Sunday I was struck by a scripture that was shared during the adult Sunday school lesson. The lesson was on a topic that I have heard preached about numerous times and included extremely familiar passages of scripture. For some reason though, Jeremiah 17:8 hadn't held the meaning for me in the past that it did this week. Teachings on root systems and bearing fruit are very popular in pentecostal culture. We get excited about songs like " I shall not be moved....like a tree planted by the water", although oftentimes we misinterpret what I feel that scripture is telling us when using trees as visual studies. Trees are not just strong, tall objects that stand still. We feel like we have accomplished a lot in our spiritual lives if we just do not budge. Oftentimes we mistake stubbornness as a spiritual virtue. We take the scriptures about not being taken by every wind of doctrine so literally that we shelter ourselves from society and hide ourselves in our church buildings.

A quick search of a Bible concordance yielded 205 scriptures that contain word pictures concerning trees. A deeper investigation of this shows that trees provide useful products. Trees provide shade and shelter. Trees are good for the economy. Trees clean the environment and strengthen local communities. Trees keep the ground stable and the air clean. Do our spiritual lives do these things for our communities? Are we producing fruits? Is our church known for its passion or are we just known for our disciplines and attitudes? Can we truly say that our church has altered the state of the community with the roots it has built, or does the community not even notice us?

Jeremiah 17 has a lot to say about our walk with God.

Jer 17:7-8

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.KJV

This particular passage spoke to me because at this time in the USA, our country is in a drought. Financially, politically, economically, spiritually, and emotionally, people are dehydrated and searching for answers. The sad thing to me is that our churches have been affected by this drought and instead of changing and altering culture, we have fallen prey to societal shifts in morals and financial principals. Have we forgotten how God provided for Joseph and his family in the 7 years of lean? We get so hyped up on the politics and on the news reports, that we start to follow the principles of man, which have proven to be faulty, and not the principles of God.

In the kingdom of God there are no droughts. While there are seasons in life that leave us feeling dry, thirsty, empty, and longing for more, if our root system is deep in the word of God, the cause of Christ, and changing the culture of those around us, we will not cease from yielding fruit and having positive results in our lives during the worst possible times. Many times we think it is just personality differences that keep one person from crumbling under the weight of the stress of life and allow another person to melt away spiritually and emotionally. However, I would venture to say that personality alone doesn't separate the conquerors from the defeated. Ask yourself, am I praying and reading the Word like I should be? Am I engaged in gossip and slander, especially against the church leadership? If you aren't in the Word and you aren't praying and cultivating that love relationship with Christ, chances are, you are not immune to the drought seasons of life. While the Bible says "the rain falls on the just and the unjust" and followers of Christ do not get a free pass on the sorrows of this world, how deep your roots run in the culture of Christ will separate the defeated and struggling from the powerful and overcoming. Don't immerse yourself in church culture and secular culture, but follow after the principals of Christ. Church culture has many fallacies and errors and can breed hypocrisy and gossip, while the culture of Christ involves true relationship and passion.

Don't let the drought season of this country and the drought season of your life be the defining moment of your biography. We know of people who have fallen flat on their face in the midst of trouble, never to recover their character, integrity,and purpose again. Be the person who was not careful and anxious in the time of drought because they had a free flow of the holy ghost water and anointing in their life. Be the person who has pursued after the things of God passionately and continued to yield fruits in their life.