Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Overshadowed With God's Blessings

Psalm 91:1 He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty.
Story out of Genesis 41:1-57  42:1-38

Joseph has now come from the pit to Potiphar's house to the prison house now to the palace. (Eccl 7:8) “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

God says if you and I will be patient with my plan and not allow our pride, our agenda to get in the way, God will bring blessings. Joseph is now 30 years old and New Blessings have arrived.

First God promotes him to become the Prime Minister
 of EgyptGod is using him to prepare for the worst famine the world has ever seen. While Joseph is managing and overseeing his work, God continues to add blessings.

Second God gives him a wife.
 Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian wife, Asenath. He that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord. (Proverbs 18:22)

Third God gives a bumper crop to administer. Food is coming in at a record rate, there's a famine on the way. Joseph collected so much grain-it was like the sand of the ocean!-that he finally quit keeping track.

Fourth God gives him
a son. Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, which means To Forget. One of the worst things you and I can do is to hold on to our pain, our hurt, and our sorrow, Joseph has moved on from his sorrow with a smile.

Fifth God gives him another son. Joseph named him Ephraim, which means “double prosperity.” I believe that God can give you double for your trouble. After Job had dealt with such grief and heartache in his life, God gave him twice what he started with. God is doing the same here for Joseph; he's giving him prosperity in the land of his sorrow.

Sixth God sets in motion to bring his family home. God begins to work out the details to bring his brothers and his dad to a place of protection and provision. In Chapter 42 we see the sovereign act of God to preserve the promises of God that was promised to Abraham. 

Seventh The Dream has come to pass. When God makes a promise of Blessings, you can count on it and take it to the bank. It may not come in your time frame, but in the end God will have the final say. God is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness. (2 Peter 2:9a)

It would have been real easy for Joseph to lose heart in the pit, in Potiphar's house, in the prison house, but God had a plan from the beginning to take himto the palace.

Where is God taking you today? Are you still on the trajectory path that He has drawn out for your life? If you have turned your situation into sorrow and sadness, allow God to turn your tears into joy. Friend wait on His New Blessings, they’re on the way.

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Back To Bethel

Genesis 35:1-29
When Jacob was in trouble, he built an altar at Bethel. It's here that God does an amazing work in his life. He had deceived his brother, had stolen his birthright and had schemed along with his mother Rebecca to take the rightful blessing that was due to Esau. He is running and exhausted, it's here at Bethel that he stops and builds and altar to rebuild his life forever.

It's at the altar of Bethel that God changes his life. He has been a deceiving manipulator. Now everything is about to change.

There never has been anyone yet that God couldn't change. It was at an altar, that Christ came in and changed my life forever. It doesn't matter how bad and how low in sin you have been. The blood of Christ will forgive us of all our iniquities.

It's after the altar of Bethel that God says, "your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel." God says, "out of your seed will come nations and Kings. "It's at Bethel that God reveals to him future promises and blessings.

Why would any of us attempt to live our lives without a Bethel experience? This is a place that represents an act of humility to seek God first, not to forge ahead without his wisdom his strength and his protection. Jacob was tired and exhausted in running from Esau, it's from this point God shows him you will never be the same.

It's at Bethel, God says to Jacob, "Throw out all the alien gods which you have."(2) As they were high tailing it from Laban's home, Rachel goes into her dad's house and steals his idols. Laban runs after his daughters and grandkids, and ask, "Why have you left me and requires that they return his idols. Rachel hides them without being detected.

Friend you and I need more than a good luck charm to be successful in this life. Jacob realizes that it's the God of Bethel that has blessed him and has opened the heavens over his life to become a great nation Israel.
God is saying, " Don't offend me with the thought that "something else" has brought on your blessings."

Jacob buries the idols they bring to him under an oak tree in Shechem. (4) It's at Bethel, that God buries our past and help us to move on to higher plains and places that He has prepared for us.

Paul says, "Forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things that are before you."

It's at Bethel that God says, "take a good bath and put on clean clothes."(2b) It's at the altar that God cleans us up and gives us a new wardrobe. He is preparing you and I his bride, to be ready when Christ comes back to this earth.

Don't live without a Bethel. Create a place like Jacob, a place that God makes us a new creation, gives us a new name, buries our sins and past, and dresses us ready for our future and for His soon return.

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Can God Change A Deceiver? (1)

Genesis 27:1-46, 28:1-22
Isaac is getting near death, so he prepares his son Esau his firstborn to bless him. He tells him, " Esau go into the field with your weapon and come back and make me some venison, then I will bless you before I die."

Rebekah overhears everything Isaac has said in blessing Esau; the problem was she wanted her favorite son Jacob to receive the blessing from Isaac. She pulls Jacob over to the side and demises a plan to fool her husband Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau.

Before the day is out, Rebekah has set up Isaac to give away the blessing to Jacob, whose name means supplanter or deceiver, and not the firstborn Esau.

Rebekah tells Jacob at this point to flee to her brother Laban to escape the anger of Esau. When Esau finds out that his dad has given his blessing to Jacob, he begins to weep and then becomes so angry with his brother Jacob. He purposes in his heart, the next time he sees his younger brother he will kill him.

Has anybody ever brought you so much pain and anger that you were ready to take him or her out? Jacob was boiling mad at his younger brother who had stolen what was rightfully due to him.

Jacob runs for his life, but in his fleeing he has a dream one night where he sees a ladder coming down from the heavens. The Lord God stood above him and said, "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed."

There never has been anyone yet that God didn't love and couldn't change. Jacob has been involved in a mastermind manipulation scheme. He willingly agreed and greedily accepted the blessing from his father. That means he wrongly received all rights to inherit all of his father's possessions. God shows up to change a man's heart from being deceiver into a man of God.

Dad, mom do you have a runaway son or daughter that has wrecked their life into deception? Possibly they're strung out on drugs, or in prostitution, in jail, maybe your heart aches in the night because you don't have a clue where they are?

If God can send his angles down from heaven to overshadow a shyster like Jacob, God is no respecter of person. If God could change Jacob, he can change your child from the quagmire of sin and deception. Never, Never, Never give up on your own flesh and blood that God has a mastermind purpose and plan for their life.
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Can God Change A Deceiver? (2)

Genesis 29::1-35
Jacob has now lived at his uncle's home Laban for seven years. At first sight, he falls in love with one of his daughter's named Rachel. Her father Laban has promised him that after working seven years for him, he would give his blessings for Jacob to marry her.

Seven years have now passed and it's the exciting day to marry his love Rachel. It's not till the next morning; he realizes Laban has tricked him. He hasn't married Rachel, but his other daughter Leah. Laban explains that he can't give away his youngest daughter Rachel, but his firstborn Leah must be given first.

Are their any similarities here? Does it sound familiar? The ole saying, "What goes around comes around." Just like Jacob who had deceived Esau, Laban is deceiving Jacob. Because of his love and passion for Rachel, he ends up working another seven years to take her as his second wife.

When God makes a promise, He is more than able to complete what he promises. God showers his blessings on Jacob. As he works for Laban these fourteen years, it's very obvious that God is blessing Jacob. His cattle is producing more abundantly than Labans.

In all of these blessing's come new adventures for Jacob. God speaks to him to return to his own homeland. There's just one problem. It's been 20 years since he has seen his brother Esau. The last words that echo in his mind were the words of his brother, "the next time I catch up with you, your a dead man."

Has God really change this man? Does he really have faith in the God who has given him each of these blessings? Jacob in faith travels back to his homeland knowing he must face Esau. Even thou he divides all his cattle and children into two groups; God proves to him that He is bigger than the mistakes and blunders of his past.

At-last, Esau and Jacob see one another, and there are no weapons drawn, no swords prepared for action here, but they embrace one another and God is the great healer of all. Yes, God has not only changed Jacob, but the heart of Esau as well. Never give up on what God can do in the worst nightmare in your own family. He is the great healer who can change hearts and change all things for the good.

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Put The Big Rocks In First

Matthew 6:24-34
It's so easy to be consumed with the business of life. How am i going to get it all in? How do I keep up with all the meetings, the family, the job, the yard, the kid's basketball league, the homework with the kids, my future education? If your not careful you will spend 80% of your time working with 20% results.

Jesus was also very busy with healing the sick, seeing people delivered from their tormenting heartaches and sorrows and diseases in life. How would he get it all done? How would he keep up with the load, the stress, the pressure, the problems, and the dilemmas of life?

He learned to get all the big rocks in first. Try something, if you were to fill 80% of a small vase with the very tiny small rocks that would represent all the little things that eat up your time and life. Now put in the same vase 20% of big rocks, these represent our time with God in prayer and in the word, our family time, our health, our going to the house of worship. You will notice you can't get as many rocks in the vase. There are priorities that you must schedule, if your going to get them all in.

Many of us spend 80% of our time with the little things, getting 20% results, but if we would schedule the 20% on the most important things to do in life, we could get 80% results.

Peter was looking for the Lord after he had healed many people at his house. Early the next morning, people are coming again. Peter goes out looking for the Lord and says; "where have you been, the people are looking for you?" Jesus didn't allow Peter to set his agenda; Jesus had more important things to do like listening to his father in prayer, than doing what Peter thought he should be doing.

You will never get the better results in if you keep putting in the little things first. Now try again putting the big rocks in the vase first, then next put in the tiny rocks. You will be amazed how you can get the big and the tiny rocks compacted in the same vase.  For a visual video, watch the video of this message.
Jesus gave us a visual on how to do it, he stated; "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and he shall add all these other things to your life." (Matthew 6:33) Will You put the big rocks in first? Will you pull the trigger first?

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" Will You Pull the Trigger First?"

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Isaac Dug Again

Genesis 26:18  Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham's death. 


Abraham had dug many wells, but after he died, the Philistines filled them with dirt. So his son Isaac dug those wells again. Don't be surprised when the enemy attempts to stop up what God has given you. The thief comes to steal and kill and to destroy but Jesus has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Are you up for the fight? Are you willing to dig out what the devil has tried to stop up? These wells were their source of life. They would provide water for their crops and their ability to live on the land. Without water, there was no future of life in this place.

What has the enemy tried to take from you? Have you experience a lost? Have you lost your joy, your peace, your vision, and your get up and go? "Where you are does not define where you're going." (TD Jakes) Isaac was not willing to sit by and give in to defeat. He digs out the dirt that the enemy has placed in his wells.

Friend, divorce is not the end of the world, you may have been decimated in your family life, you may have lost your health, you may have just lost your job, you may have just lost the ministry that God gave you.

Who said life is over when your wells have been stopped up? God is more than able to give you life beyond your lost. Who says the enemy has the last action towards you?

Isaac moved from there and dug another well. (22) There will come a time that we have to move forward and dig another well. "What the enemy meant for evil, God can turn it for good." (Genesis 50:20)

I have learned that life is not over after a great lost. It won't do you any good to crawl up in a cave and give up. The answer is not to live in depression and accept defeat as your fate in life.

Claim today, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." (Eccl 7:8)
"And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God and who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)
Get up and dig again, it's not over till God says it's over.

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Let Us Go To The Other Side (1)

One day as Jesus and his disciples got into a boat, he says; "Let us go to the other side" Jesus knows what's on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Some in life think that things just happen by luck or chance. Never, Jesus is very intentional about where He is taking you and I.

As they are crossing the sea, a great storm of wind comes down on the lake. Waves are coming over the bow of the boat, the guys began to panic,"were going to die" but Jesus is asleep in the boat. There is a perfect picture of having perfect peace in the storm. Jesus is not rattled or shaken by the winds that come against his plan to get to the other side.

The disciples wake Jesus up and say, " were going to die, save us or were all going to drown."

Jesus answered, "Why are you afraid, where is your faith? Jesus is asking a rhetorical question. He knows where their faith is, but he wants them to realize where their own faith is.

It's very easy to get frighten with the winds and waves with our family, our finances, our health, our jobs. Some get overwhelmed with the waves that are coming in their boat. You may say. "Lord I can't handle this, I'm going to die."

Jesus says, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the World."(1 John 4:4) No weapon formed against you shall prosper. (Isaiah 54:17) How are you going to know His power and His might unless you have had a few waves in your boat? How are you going to know His delivering strength unless you can boldly say, "The Lord is my helper?"

"Come on, without a test, you will never have a testimony, without a mess, you won't ever have a miracle, without a sorrow, you won't have any depth to your smile."

In their moment of anxiety, they could only see that Jesus was asleep in their storm, but Jesus was taking them somewhere, and there was no devil in hell that had the power to defeat Him or His disciples in their journey.

Keep Jesus in your boat friend, and you will get to the other side. Do you really think that God has brought you this far and is going to leave you now? Do you really think that God is so busy with other issues that the devil can sneak in a storm upon you without His knowledge?

I don't think so; He is omniscient, which means He is all knowing. He is omnipotent, which means He is all power, He is omnipresent which means He is everywhere all the time. "He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty."(Psalms 91:1)

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Let Us Go To The Other Side (2)

Luke 8:22 Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go to the other side of the lake."


One afternoon, I was taking my 2-year old daughter out on a bike ride. On this day we went a different way and wow, were we ever in for a surprise. As we drove into the neighborhood, a Great Dane dog came off the porch charging us. All I could see and hear was big teeth and barking as he approached my daughter and me.

There have been a few times that the situation at hand has gotten my heart to pounding. The disciples had followed the Lord's instructions to get in the boat. They were peacefully oaring to the other side of the lake when the winds and the waves picked up out of nowhere.

Things got so bad with the waves coming in the boat, that they thought," we're going to die." They wake up the Lord, but he calms the winds and waves and they proceed to the other side of the lake.

There was a reason that He said; "Let us go to the other side." There was a man on the other side that had demons tormenting him. Jesus was on a mission to set him free. There has never been anyone yet that He didn't love and couldn't set free.

Could anything stop the Lord from His mission? Could Satan have seen the Lord coming and said; "I will fight him and drown him and his men on their mission." You better believe the devil is very aware when we come on his turf. Satan had taken control of this man with his demons and had no intentions of coming out of him.

Friend, be at peace today in your mission, the plan, the call of God on your life. I have been serving in ministry for 30 plus years and several times I have faced the devil's bark and bite. He is a nasty intimidator. The devil wants you and I to believe that he has the upper hand on you and me.

On that day, Jesus successfully touched and delivered the man from every demon that had controlled his life. There is power in the name of Jesus, like the day the bark and the bite came within inches of my daughter's back leg. All I could boldly shout was,"JESUS." Immediately, the animal put on his brakes and went back to his porch.

As long as Jesus is in the boat with you, and He is leading you, get up and move forward to the place that He has ordained in your life, knowing He will successfully accomplish the mandate for your life. Refuse to back off the mission because of the devils bark and bite.
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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Do You Have A Critical Tongue?





We are in the season of elections in who will be the next president of the United States of America. The smears campaigns are getting pretty ugly and heated up these days. Before everything settles out in which candidate will rise to the top, they will spend millions of dollars smearing one another so they can be chosen in taking the highest office of the land.

Most of us will be sick to our stomachs listening to the entire mud-slinging going on back and forth. Most of us can't wait till get out from under the shadow of these ugly spirited days of criticism.

None of us like to be around someone who is critical. Several marriages fail because of the approach some people take in sharing their complaint. Some lose their jobs, some lose their friends because they don't know how to control their tongue.

The word says in Proverbs 18:21 "There is death and life in the tongue and those who love to talk will reap the consequences." We all choose to either bring life or death with this member in our bodies. If you really want to work towards a solution with your son, your daughter, your spouse, your co-worker, your pastor, your friend, remember a few of these tips:

Always attack the problem and not the person. We have all been tempted to attack the one who has hurt us, instead of staying focus on the problem itself. You will only get further apart when you attack the person.

Pray for the one who has upset you. Do we really believe in prayer? Praying to God is saying, "Lord I can't do this thing without you."  I have learned that prayer has so much more effect in working through the issues with people, than all my talking and debating about the issue.

Plan for a good time to have a discussion about the problem. Midnight isn't usually the best time to approach your issues. You are tired and will end up saying something you regret.  In your car, there is cap on your radiator that says; "Do not remove when hot". That is a good policy to keep in your home, your work place, at church and so forth. You can say things that you didn't mean to say. Cool down and go pray and be civil with your words.

Look for the best in people. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Everybody is not a evil person. It may be that someone took your parking spot. Someone may have gotten in front of you in the grocery line. Remember, they may be going through a divorce, they may have just lost their parent, and they may have just lost their job. Most of us are in the fog during these times.

What you dish out will come back to you. For with the same judgment you judge, ye shall also be judged. (2)

It's a challenge to walk wisely with your words, but it pays great rewards to use your tongue in a healthy way. Do you bring life or death with your tongue?

Monday, January 16, 2012

Your Isaac Is Coming

Abraham is now 99 and Sarah is 90 years old. God sends 3 men with a very important assignment. The angles ask where is Sarah your wife?" He said, "In the tent." One said, "I'm coming back about this time next year. When I arrive your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was far past the age of having babies and "she laughed." He asks, "Why did Sarah laugh?" Sarah denied she had laugh to the man because she was afraid. (9-15)

Do we believe that nothing is impossible with God? Up to this point, God has spoken the promise to Abraham. Sarah may have heard her husband talk about what God has said, but this time she heard it with her own ears, "I will return to you about this time a year from now. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son." (10)

You might have been waiting on your dream, the vision, the promise that God has given you for years. "Hope deferred will make the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." (Proverbs 13:12) niv

God says,"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." (Eccl 3:1) We don't choose the season that God brings the promise to pass; we can't demand God to bring our baby to pass at our choosing.

Strawberries don't produce in Florida in June; rather they are sweetening by the cooler temperatures in February. "God's ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts." (Ish 55:10)

If you and I could make our Isaac baby come, it wouldn't be a miracle from God. Isaac's come because God creates the miracle. Have you been waiting on a spouse, a home, a new job, and an Isaac ministry? It's worth waiting on God to bring your Isaac.

When you and I get ahead of God we end up settling for an Ishmael. Those are the things that we make happen because of our lack of confidence in God and our lack of patience in the wait. Don't settle for anything less than God's best for your life. Allow him to make things sweet in His time.
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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Careful Where You Pitch Your Tent ((2)


There's a saying, " Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, cost you more than you want to pay." That pretty much expresses what happen in this story.

Jesus says in Luke 17:32, "Remember Lot's wife," what could be so significant about her story? Jesus declares the atmosphere before He returns to earth. "Just like the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking and selling and planting and building." (28) Sounds like things will be going on in the last days as if there will be no consequences for men's actions.

God warns Abram that He is going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He begins to pray that God would change His mind. He says; "Lord if there be 50, would you save the city? 'The Lord says yes, Abram says; "how about if there be 40,30,20,10?" There wasn't even 10 to be found.

God's angles came on the scene to deliver Lot's family just before the fire of judgment falls from heaven. While they're in Lot's house, men from Sodom come to have sex with the two men or the angles from heaven. Lot is willing to give up his two daughters in order to save the angles from the perpetrators. God needs no assistance from Lot; the angles blind the men at the door. (Gen 18: 5-11)

"At dawn God says through his angles; Get up, get going, and don't look back lest you be turned into a pillar of salt." As the family escaped, running for their lives, "Lot's wife turned to look back and was turned into a pillar of salt."

Where is your heart with God today? Have you pitched your tent towards Sodom, towards your own plans, your own agenda, your own desires, your lust, your pride, your having life your own way?

Fire fell down from heaven and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. All was left was smoke rising up from the land. One day God's fire of judgment will fall again on this earth during the days of tribulation.

Will you be ready? Will your heart be prepared for the day the Lord will return for his children? If you sense that tugging on your heart now, if you feel the Lord calling you back to him today, don't put it off, call on him now? Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Roman 10:13

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Why Ishmael? (1)

Genesis 16: And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.s


Abram had just been reassured in chapter 15 that God would give him a child and he would be the father of a great nation. What is God waiting on? Will God really give me a son? When is the baby coming? Why is God taking so long to bring about the dream, the promise, the vision that He has spoken?

When God gives you a spoken promise, get ready; doubts will come on you like a tidal wave. Satan doesn't want you to believe in your dream. He will tempt you to abort, to abandon to divert away from the dream. Most times our problem is that we are too impatient with the process and we take the nearest bypass from God's original ordained plan.

In the chapter 16, Sarah says to Abram, take my maid Hagar, sleep with her, she will give you your child. Abram didn't take very long thinking about that proposal. The word says; "Abram hearkened to the voice of Sara." (2b) Anytime you divert from God's voice to a man's voice, you have just bought yourself a lot heartache and grief.

Abram's impatience didn't change God's plan. In Chapter 17, God says to him at the age of 99 years old, " Walk before me and be thou perfect and I will multiply thee exceedingly." God goes on to tell him you will have a son through Sarah. Abram laughs and says, "Can a hundred-year old man father a son? And can Sarah, at 90, have a baby?"

Nothing is impossible to the one who will believe God. How many dreams, promises, and visions have we aborted because we got discouraged and doubted what the Lord has spoken.  Ishmael came as a result of unbelief and being impatient with God.

Many of us have also brought about our own Ishmael's because we to have gotten down and discourage with the waiting on God."Be ye not weary in well doing. For in due season, ye shall reap if you faint not." (Galatians 6:9)

How many times have we fainted in the wait? If God said it, He will bring it to pass. But what if I have diverted from the blueprint that God drew out? God doesn't change his mind. "The gifts and calling of God is irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)  Your Isaac may not come today or next week or next year, but if you will humble yourself and wait for His will, His plan, His timing, His spoken word, your Isaac will surely come.

Why Ishmael? (2)

Genesis 16: 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.s


Why is it that we think we have to help God out in bringing about our dream or promise from God? Sarah said to Abram; "Take my maid Hagar and she will give you a son" He didn't take long in that consideration before taking Hagar into his bed chambers and 9 months later she had Ishmael.

God is big enough to perform his promises. God doesn't need my assistance in making it happen. How was it that Abram forgot that when he got in the way, when he gave in to his flesh, it would bring much sorrow and heartache his way? What He needed was faith and not a Hagar.

I recall times that I have gotten in the Lord's way of some of my own dreams and promises from God. I was eager to pastor a church after 6 years of training with college and in ministry being a youth and music pastor in central Florida. After these years, there was a stirring in my heart, what was it? Was it God telling me,"it's time to move on," or was it "my own impatience with waiting on God?"

How many cars, and homes, have been purchased, how many changes in jobs, how many moves across the country, how many times have pastors and members changed churches, all because we moved on our hurts and notions and doubts and being impatient with God's promises?

I have learned the hard way," Ishmael's bring great pain." Waiting on God to make it happen is much better and less painful. What are you waiting on from God? What is it that is so frustrating to you that you have decided to knock the door in and do it anyway? Have you considered your impatience could bring much pain beyond that door?

God says; "Behold I have set before you and open door which no one can shut, for thou hast a little strength and have kept my word." (Rev 3:8) The question is, Did God open the door or did you knock it in?  He opens doors that seem impossible. He really does know best, and when He closes a door, don't sulk and get mad at God. He knows what's behind each door and what you are able to handle and process in your life.

God will forgive us for our impatience and our doubting him of His ability to make things happen, but that doesn't mean that we won't suffer the consequences when we choose to move ahead without His blessings.

He is more than able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh within us. Let God work His perfect plan, His will, His timing, and His patience in your life. Isaac's are worth waiting for. By the way, He has forgotten you, and hasn't changed His mind about your Isaac.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Careful Where You Pitch Your Tent (1)

Genesis 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plaint and pitched his tents next to Sodom.

When Abram left Egypt, he took everything he owned, all his cattle, silver and gold. By now he was very rich and moved towards Bethel. It was there he built his first altar and prayed to God.

Lot his nephew also went along, but things got out of hand, quarrels broke out between the men, a bit crowded and their herdsmen began to have strife. Abram said, "let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds, if you go left I'll go right, if you go right I'll go left.

Lot chose the well-watered plains of Jordan, down near Sodom and Gomorrah. So as he journeyed east they separated themselves from one another. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan; Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners.

Most of us realize we too live in a very wicked world. You and I must choose the places we go, how close we rub shoulders with the world. God says; " I pray that you take them not out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15

Are things today as bad as Sodom? Have we in America chosen to have same sex marriage, kill our unborn babies, and wink at homosexuality, anything now day goes? There are those in our society that have settled to pitch their own tent not just near but in Sodom's camp. What could be so bad with our way of living?

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right but the end is the way of destruction."

Satan has many lies and demises, he says, "The first look at pornography couldn't be so bad, everybody is having sex these days with their friends, what could be so wrong with a bit of cocaine or living with your boyfriend?" Satan is good at getting you to pitch your tent close to Sodom, knowing where it will take your next.

 The Lord says that when he returns back for his church, "the days would become very evil." Ask yourself today, have I gotten to close with the wrong crowd? Have I settled for lukewarmness in going to the house of worship, spending time in His word, taking it for granted that God saved me and has called my out of darkness into his marvelous light? Remember Abram built his altar while Lot was warming himself near Sodom.

Satan is a master at desensitizing people in our day. Some will choose to pitch their tent like Lot, getting to close to Sodom. Great danger was near and he didn't even see it coming. Today allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow you with His presence and His protection in these last days. Stay focused, stay filled, and stay full of faith till the end.  

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Beginning's

Genesis 9:1-29

So many in life are overshadowed and are driven by their fears, their hurts, their blunders, their mistakes, their burdens and their hick-ups in life. Noah and his family are now back on dry ground. It's been a rough ride but now God has dried up the waters of the earth. God hangs a rainbow in the sky and says; " Never again will a flood destroy the Earth"

This is a sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I'm putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. (12)

Even God says it's time to move forward. Too many of us in life live in the past instead of our future. None of us can do anything about our mistakes, our failures, our shortcomings, the things we wish we could change in the past. It's time to move ahead.

"Twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do." Mark Twain

There is a reason that you are still on planet earth. God isn't finished with you. There are still more mountains to climb, valleys to cross, victories to win, storms to overcome, and challenges to conquer. God is taking you and me somewhere. Regardless of the past or the forecast, like Noah; "I have all intention of staying on the boat till I see the sun shine again, and I see the heavens open up over my life and fulfill the mandate and the promises of God in my life.

What are you dealing with today? What keeps lingering in your fuzzy thought life? Allow the Holy Spirit of God to overshadow you with fresh vision, fresh energy and fresh faith to go places you have never been, to do things that you have never done, to become someone that you have never been.

Through the spirit of God within you say; " No longer will I allow my past to overshadow my life, but I will be driven by Christ alone and the faith He has placed in my heart.  He will take the steering wheel of my life, and I will become all that He has created me to become for His honor and glory. In the days He has assigned my life on this earth, "I declare; today is a new day with new beginnings, yes new beginnings."