Trust In The LORD

It recently occurred to me how important it is to trust GOD.  We're so quick to say, "Oh yeah, I trust GOD."  But do we REALLY trust Him?  You see, trusting GOD is more than just placing confidence in GOD.  Yes, it's a VERY good thing to trust that GOD is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.  But a better question to ask ourselves would be, "At what level do I trust GOD to be who He says He is and do what He says He will do?"  I can assure you that we all do not have the same degree of confidence in GOD because there wouldn't be such disparaging differences in our lives if we indeed did.

Most--if not all--of us would agree that trusting GOD is super simple, when we can picture how He's going to come through for us.  That's technically NOT trusting Him (LOL!); but I'll make an exception this time.  I'm headed somewhere, though; so follow me...  When we really trust GOD, we don't even care HOW He fulfills His Word because our confidence rests in the fact that He's going to do just what He said.  It may not necessarily be how we would like for Him to do it or even when we feel He should do it.  But at the end of the day, GOD makes it happen just as He promised.

Don't Forfeit Your Inheritance - Part 2

Salvation is more than just believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths the Lord Jesus as Christ, the Son of the Living GOD.  WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN.  If what a person has believed and confessed does not birth a new creature within them, then it's safe to say that they have no genealogical ties to the incorruptible seed of the Spirit.  Mind you, we're not talking about an instantaneous transformation of character here.  However, when Holy Spirit dwells in you, the spirit of conviction will not let you make a life for yourself in sin.  Why?  Because He knows the value of your spiritual inheritance better than you do.

Therefore, it is my sincere encouragement to EVERY believer that you do not forfeit what Christ has made available for you through His death, burial and resurrection.  The enemy knows the end he's destined to meet; and out of spite, he wants to snatch as many sheep from the flock as possible to get back at GOD.  And what better way to do so than to deceive souls into believing that they're safe for all the "right-ish" reasons.  Either you have fellowship with GOD or not, as there's no sorta, kinda, something in between.  For Christ said in John 10:27-28, "My sheep hear my voice," among other things of great importance.  If you do not hear the voice of the LORD, then--regardless of what you believed and confessed--He most likely does not know you and you most likely do not follow Him.

Don't Forfeit Your Inheritance

In a recent Bible study at church, Minister David Humphrey shared in the evening's teaching on "Spiritual Warfare" that the believer forfeits his spiritual inheritance when in sin.  This couldn't be more true!  While we all sin and fall short of the glory of GOD, the spirit of conviction will compel believers to confess their sins (i.e. come into agreement with how GOD sees their actions) and repent (i.e. change their actions by turning and going the opposite direction).  However, there are some believers who choose to repeatedly engage in behavior that is not in alignment with the culture of GOD.  These are the individuals who willingly forfeit what Christ Jesus has secured for all who believe in Him.

The word "forfeit" means "to lose or give up (something) as a punishment or because of a rule or law."  It also means "to lose or lose the right to especially by some error, offense, or crime."  This forfeiture is apparent on multiple levels, but it's most plainly seen in scripture when Jesus says to those who claim to have done many wonderful works in His name that He never knew them (Matthew 7:21-23).  It doesn't get more clear than this, folks!  Workers of iniquity (i.e. illegality), those who do not do the will of our Heavenly Father, lose the spiritual inheritance they unfortunately were deceived into believing was secure for them.  But to their utter shame and disappointment, no amount of prophesying in Jesus' name, casting out of devils, and working of miracles will overcompensate for a life of deliberate sin and outright disobedience.

Take Responsibility

Responsibility is simply the ability to respond, as I've shared before on FHW.  Often times, we hear the phrase "take responsibility" and think of it as owning up to some manner of duty.  However, I wish to challenge your perception and understanding of taking responsibility.  If responsibility is indeed the ability to respond, then we must look a little deeper.  Ability, according to Merriam-Webster, is "the quality or state of being able; especially: physical, mental or legal power to perform."  It's further defined as "competence in doing" and a "natural aptitude or acquired proficiency."  To me, the key word in this definition is "power".  Should we get nothing more from this, it should be that ability translates to power.

When Jesus the Christ was preparing to ascend from the Earth back to Heaven, He instructed the apostles whom He had chosen to not leave Jerusalem before they were baptized with the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:1-5).  This baptism was of great importance because (1) it was promised by the Father, according to Acts 1:4, and (2) it would be followed by the receiving of power, as noted in Acts 1:8.  Therefore, if ability is power to perform, we can safely conclude that baptism with the Holy Ghost is necessary for the believer to be an empowered believer.  Without power, there lies within us a lack of competence, aptitude and/or proficiency, if we refer back to the definition of ability.

The Power of Love (Part 2 of 2)

(Continued from Part 1)  Let's face it: people are hurting IN THE CHURCH, people who have probably spent most--if not all--their lives IN THE CHURCH.  Their silent tears are going unnoticed, and they're crying out for help in a place that's supposed to offer them aid but unfortunately doesn't because the people in the so-called place of healing have made them feel like they CANNOT be transparent about what's happening in their lives.  So where then they do go?  To all the people, places and things that WON'T judge them.  The bar, the drug dealer, the strip club, the prostitute, their workloads, the Internet, and the list goes on.  It's sad when people find more safety in ANY place other than the house of GOD and among ANYONE else than the redeemed of the LORD, doing ANYTHING but the will of GOD.  But that's the state of affairs in our nation's churches.

Hurting people will expend all their resources (i.e. money, time and effort) trying to escape what the church fails to heal via the power of the Holy Ghost.  Eventually, their wells run dry; and when all else fails, suicide usually ends up being their only conceivable way out.  So with that said, WHAT then are we going to do about it?  HOW are we going to change this?  Because it's not enough for us to be the thermometer that accurately reads the temperature of the environment.  If we're indeed going to be Kingdom people empowered to do Kingdom work, then we must aspire to BE the thermostat and SET the temperature.

The Power of Love (Part 1 of 2)

Not too long ago, a friend of mine on Facebook posted a touching status update about a story shared by one of the pastors at his church.  This pastor's son committed suicide because he got tired of wearing masks for church people.  How sad!  The pastor talked about the importance of having courage and having the heart of GOD towards others by building them in love instead of killing them with judgement.

It's so sad that our churches are filled with religious people who have cold hearts towards others.  I heard something not long after reading the aforementioned Facebook post that REALLY impacted me.  Ironically, it was at a forum discussing the topic of "INTIMACY."  There was a woman of GOD in attendance who stated, "It's been said that hurt people hurt people.  And that's true.  But I know I've been healed, and I like to think that I've been healed to heal people."  THAT REALLY BLESSED ME!

Much of this coldheartedness prevalent in today's church is a direct indication of a lack of healing.  And it's not always because there's no ministry of healing taking place within an assembly. Some folks just don't want to be healed!  And some of these people are ministry leaders or just people of influence in the congregation.  They're so caught up in masking their own pain and suffering that they have no discernment regarding the suffering of others, neither do they carry the anointing to bring healing into the lives of those who are sick, hurting and broken.

The Proving Grounds of Love

What I've learned is that as much as we may want our free will taken away, Abba will never do such a thing.  More than anything, He wants our love for Him to be clearly indicated by the choices we make.  GOD is not glorified when we're FORCED to obey but when we CHOOSE to obey.  We're not robots and drones created by GOD to simply do what He says without our hearts being connected to His.  Jesus said that we're to keep His commandments, if we love Him.  So how can we then convince others that our love for GOD is authentic when our obedience is merely the response to domination?  Even if we willingly relinquish control of our right to choose obedience over rebellion, how does that advance the story we're attempting to tell the world about the redeeming love of our Heavenly Father?

What I have found from my own life experiences is that, as I persist in prayer, worship and the Word, it becomes easier for me to see and hear GOD amidst all that is vying for my attention as well as my devotion.  And because I'm growing in my understanding and appreciation of His amazing love for me, it's become so much easier for me to lean not to my own understanding when it's time to make decisions.  I acknowledge Him and the fact that it's my desire to please Him, and He honors that by directing my path.  And because my trust in Him grows more and more, my transforming soul more readily partners with the born again spirit within to willingly make the kind of sober-minded choices that reflect my love for GOD and bring glory to His name.

It's my prayer that more Christians would come to embrace this truth that our Heavenly Father does not desire to control us, to takeover our lives, or to make us do anything.  GOD did not create mankind to control mankind.  He created mankind that humanity would choose to receive His love and, in return, love Him by desiring to bring Him pleasure by US choosing to obey His commandments.  When we stop looking for the easy way out, then we can really begin to enjoy this Kingdom life.  We must face that we're never going to get to a place in which GOD's Spirit will literally make us do something.  Ironically, its demonic spirits who forcefully takeover people and make them do things against their will.  If GOD's modus operandi were to get what He wants from us by forcing our compliance, then we really don't have free will.  But since we do, we must ALWAYS remember that we have a choice between good and evil, right and wrong.  Ultimately, what we choose proves who and/or what we really love.

Great Faith Is Strong Faith

When an individual's faith is described as being great, I believe we do ourselves a great disservice to merely assume that the greatness of one's faith is a direct reference to its size or quantity.  When we consider the purpose of faith as being "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," as stated in Hebrews 11:1, it then becomes clear to us that faith isn't even measured according to the amount of space it occupies.  What we come to understand then is that the greatness of one's faith is simply determined by what all it accomplishes (or produces) in a person's life.  Great faith isn't any bigger in size or quantity than "the measure of faith" GOD has dealt every man, according to Romans 12:3.

I have often heard it taught that faith is like building muscle mass.  However, I find it necessary that we endeavor to expand our understanding of this illustration.  For example, in my own quest over the years to improve my physical fitness, I have learned that there is a big difference between the building of mass and the building of strength.  Both are indicative of muscular growth and development, but they serve different purposes.  When we take "the measure of faith" GOD has given us and undergo a program of spiritual resistance training to develop our faith to produce results, it's more so to build the strength of our faith muscle than to increase its mass.

It's the strength of our persuasion, our moral conviction, and our reliance upon Christ to bring salvation that defines the level of strength our faith possesses to accomplish great feats.  Faith is designed to work and toil; therefore, what we cannot afford to forget is that when our measure of faith is doing no work it is as lifeless (and unproductive) as a corpse. [For more on faith and works, read the Book of James, Chapter 2.]  I'm here reminded of a popular song recorded some years ago by gospel singer Vanessa Bell Armstrong entitled "Faith That Conquers."  Our ability to see the invisible, expect the incredible, and receive the impossible is totally dependent upon "the measure of faith" we've been given working and toiling to help us gain the strength required to take the necessary, consistent action that ultimately manifests results.

No Longer Pursuing Perfection

Following a recent conversation with friends about virtue, Holy Spirit shared with me that it's unnecessary to worry ourselves with trying to attain perfection if we focus our efforts on being excellent.  This blessed me tremendously because the human experience often leaves us feeling like we're not only imperfect but that it is impossible for us to be perfect.  However, this powerful message from the heart of GOD simply says that our perfection is something we should not even be overly concerned about.  AMAZING, isn't it?!

Most people's understanding of the word "perfect" is that of it describing something (or someone) as being flawless or free of damage.  However, GOD defines "perfection" as a state of maturity.  And only He can bring us into a place of maturity that removes all those damaging qualities we inherited as a result of the curse of sin.  What I've learned, though, that facilitates the maturation process is a spirit of excellence.  When we desire to do everything we possibly can to the best of our ability and activate our faith to produce the highest quality results with the resources available to us, GOD honors that by stepping in and further developing (i.e. maturing) us so we can reflect His nature even more.

Psalm 18:32 says, "It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."  The word "way" here figuratively means "course of life" or "mode of action".  So no longer do we need to stress ourselves out over making ourselves perfect, mature or without blemish.  GOD will take care of all that, as long as we submit ourselves to a life of virtue through excellence.  As we endeavor to live righteously and excel in our own day-to-day roles and responsibilities, we will begin to see the effects of GOD's hand upon our lives.  It's just that simple, and I pray you're encouraged now more than ever to excel in the years to come.