God...Where is my Peace?!

These past few weeks I have been praying so hard for God's people. There is an overwhelming cry for peace going forth, and God has been placing scriptures in my spirit about peace. I know that we all have our storms to go through but the question seems to be, "Why can't I have peace in the storm?" And you know what...you can!!!

BUT in order to experience God's peace, we have to understand how the process works. In Philippians 4:6-7 we are given the "process," now make sure you pay careful attention to how it works. The scripture says, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus" (underlining and red are mine). Now that you've read it once, go back and read it again...but slowly.

Here is the process:
1. We have to cut out all the worrying. Yes, I know it's hard believe you me I've had my share of worries and it's definitely a lot easier said than done but you will be all the better for it. Once you have stopped worrying ("being anxious" in some translations) begin to pray. Have you ever been able to rest easy while worrying? No, because your mind is in overdrive trying to figure out what to do next. We have to take God's word to heart and begin to cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7), and the important  part is to leave those cares in His hands. We mess ourselves up by praying over and over again for something that we should have never picked back up.
2. Place the issue on the alter, and the key here would be to leave it there. Once again, our faith comes into play. We will not solve any problem by sitting and worrying over it. That will only make us feel worse. Once you pray about it have faith that God will honor His word. Remember what faith is (Hebrews 11:1), it doesn't have anything to do with seeing in the physical. We have to believe even when we cannot see the results.
3. If you begin to pray to God, and catch this...start telling Him about the things that you NEED...and not what you WANT you will feel relief. When we are walking in God's will we won't have any trouble realizing that God already knows what we need. We must trust that He will supply all of our needs (Philippians 4:19) according to HIS riches and glory in Christ Jesus. So don't worry, He is going to take care of you. Matthew 6:30 says, "And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?" (NLT)
4. After we talk to Him about what we NEED, then just begin to thank Him for what has already been done. Those things that you have/haven't seen, the bible says to "be thankful in all circumstances..." (1 Thessalonians 5:18). We have to be confident in the fact that we serve a God who will take care of us. He won't leave us hangin'.

AND THEN...
You will be able to experience God's peace. This peace is so great that it is mind-blowing-it "exceeds anything we can understand."

So in your everyday walk stop worrying about everything, but begin to give those worries and cares over to God. And while you are waiting begin to praise Him! I am a firm believer that once you grab hold to the process and begin to praise God even before you see what He's done then you will be able to rest in Him and experience His peace. Don't allow the problems of this world to overtake you, nor the enemy to wreak havoc in your life. You CAN live in peace!

Be Encouraged,
God's Servant

Don't be Fooled, You are not Alone

Whether we realize it or not every Christian goes through a lonely period. This past year I have been more lonely than I was willing to admit, and the sad part was that I didn't realize that it was God's way of setting me apart. When God places a calling on our lives He separates us in order to teach us how to become more dependent on Him than people and things. This is important because once we begin to walk in our calling we can't rely on people, but we have to rely on God. He is the one who provides us with instructions, and who keeps us!

One HUGE piece of advice for whenever you are feeling alone is to use that time to draw closer to God. Recently, I have begun to reestablish my relationship with God through the help of Heather Lindsey's awesome blog and ministry. I have joined the journal challenge, and I think that everyone who decides to join (and commits to the challenge) will be blessed. I'm constantly learning that God knows us more intimately than we give Him credit, and He desires to have a close relationship with us. Psalm 139 tells us exactly how well God knows us. He knows our going down and getting up, our thoughts way before we think them, and the same goes for what we say. He knew us before we were formed in our mother's wombs, so why do we look for others instead of Him when we are lonely? God knows exactly when and how it will appear-the feeling of loneliness, that is. He's ready to comfort us, but we have to look to Him.

WARNING: People will let you down! Don't get caught up looking for people to comfort and guide you because no one can do that like God can. Whenever I found myself calling friends instead of talking to God those would be the times when they were the most busy, and in most cases didn't even answer the phone. If I ran to Skype instead none of my friends were online. If I just happened to run to Facebook there wasn't anything interesting in my news feed and the friends I usually talked to weren't logged on. Do you know why it happened that way? Because God wanted me to spend some time with Him.

Now that I have finally caught on, I run to His throne! Whenever I'm feeling down or alone I begin to cry out to God with determination. What makes this time different is that I long to hear an answer from Him and I am able to find the most relief. I begin to read His word, and to journal, all a part of my communication with Him. And this is the BEST I have felt in a long time. So whenever you are feeling lonely look to God instead of people. Begin to read your Bible and find out what He is trying to tell you. If you don't have a scripture on your heart when you start, go to Psalm 139 first and look at what He says about knowing you. And if that doesn't help, look at verses 17 & 18, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!" (NLT). So even when we begin to feel like we are alone, it is then that we need to realize that we are not. We can't even begin to imagine the thoughts that God has for us...but more importantly, we need to see that He is always there with us.

When we realize just how much God loves us, there is a slim chance of becoming complacent in loneliness. Within Psalm 139 David says that there is nowhere that we can go to escape God's presence. Let me repeat that, NOWHERE we can go to escape His presence. Sin can separate us from God if we allow it, but that doesn't mean that He no longer cares for you. God loves us in spite of our wrong, and He wants us to come back to Him when we are in our sinful state. I say that because everyone falls sometime, we are indeed human, but don't use that as an excuse to sin. In Romans Paul addresses taking advantage of God's grace. Romans 6:1-2a  says, "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not.." We have to realize that when we do fall that there is an opportunity to get back up and get it right with God.

Lastly, I've started reading an empowering book, The God who Sees You: Look to Him When You Feel Discouraged, Forgotten, or Invisible written by Tammy Maltby. It has helped open my eyes to how loneliness affects our walks, but more importantly how to conquer it. The enemy would love to get us in a place where we feel that we are on our own and that we have no one there to help us. BUT let him know that he is a liar and the father of all lies and recognize that the opposite is the truth. We serve a God who will NEVER leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). The issue is that we allow certain situations, whether it be sin, or life situations, to drive us away from the cross. My cry is for the Lord to keep me near His cross daily so that I don't forget all that He has done for me, and that as I draw closer to Him that He will honor His word and draw closer to me (James 4:8). I challenge you to run to the throne when you're lonely, and I promise that your life will be forever changed.

Be encouraged,
God's Servant.

P.S. Listen to the song if you get a chance. It is called "The Question" by Vaughn Thompson, Jr. and I pray that it blesses you just as it has blessed me.

The Renewal Process

Ok, so now that you are trying to get closer to God and find out how to walk in your calling, the next question is how do I get there? Something that is very critical to the Christian walk is renewing our minds on a daily basis.

Why is this important? Well, I'm glad you asked. In order for us to function fluidly in our calling we have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and the instructions that He is giving us. In fact, I must warn you that when you decide that you are going to walk in your calling the enemy is going to turn up the heat in your life, and your flesh will try to rebel against you. Especially since the flesh wants to satisfy itself, and not the spirit. Romans chapter 8:6-7 says, "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's will and it never will." (NLT; red is for emphasis)

There are multiple scriptures where we are strongly advised to crucify our flesh, and to renew our minds so that we can focus on the things of God. Whenever something is repeated throughout the Bible it is important that we pay attention and take note. In Colossians chapter 3 we are told to "kill off everything connected with that way of death..." (The Message), the things that are listed are sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, and they even go so far as to say "grabbing whatever attracts your fancy" now if that isn't all about the flesh I don't know what is. In order to effectively minister to others our flesh can NOT run us!

So how do we keep it under control? By renewing our minds DAILY. In Romans chapter 12 Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. "...but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."(NLT) But it's not until we begin to spend time with God that we will have an understanding of his will for our lives.

We must protect our gates. We cannot listen to secular music and expect our mind not to wander, and the same goes for television shows and books that are heavily imbedded with sex, and other activities that would be gratifying (pleasing) to our flesh. Then we are opening ourselves up for our flesh to want it's own satisfaction. Instead, begin to listen to music that is full of scripture--worship music. I'm not going to advise you to listen strictly to Gospel or Contemporary Christian, but just be mindful of the message of the music that you are listening to. Make sure to read books that are building up God's kingdom and enriching your spiritual walk with Christ. Lastly, so many television broadcasts and movies that are Christian based are available to us that it would be a shame if we didn't take advantage of them. We need to make sure that we are feeding our spirit man and NOT our flesh! Take some time out to read Romans chapters 7 and 8, and see all that they say about our flesh and spirit.

So how much time do you spend in His presence? How often do you talk with Him throughout the day? Do you only talk to Him at home, or do you carry on conversations with Him wherever you go? It might seem like I have it all figured out now, but trust me I don't. I'm still trying to get this thing right! But one thing I do know to be true, is that starting off your day in God's presence is the best feeling in the world. I have to talk to Him first thing in the morning, and no my flesh does not agree with me. I value my sleep, but I know that if I don't get up and talk to Him that I won't feel right. So I charge you to begin setting out time to talk with God at the beginning of your day (and throughout), read your word, and allow Him to speak to you! Don't get up from prayer without listening for what God has to say. Communication is a two-way street. After sending a message, wait for the reply. I promise that you won't be disappointed, and that it will only improve your relationship with God for the better. Most of all you will feel renewed and revived.

God's Servant

The Inevitable Question: Why ME?

I think there comes a point in everyone's life when they stop and begin to question God. It might be due to a tragedy, a death in the family, or a call on your life that you feel there's no way you can carry it out (which is true, you can't do it on your own but through God). Regardless of how it happens you just cry out and begin to ask, "Lord! Why me?"

I began to question God both before and after I received my call to ministry. Short testimony :) I was 18 when I answered God's call to minister the Gospel and began to walk in that calling fresh out of high school. In the fall of 2008 I left home and began my freshman year of college at Howard University. I was completely unaware of the tests that were getting ready to come my way. I was young and I'll admit very naive. I was able to hold my little world together for the first two years (with little turbulence), but my third year was by far the roughest.

My junior year of college I found myself doing things I never desired to do before. I was compromising my witness left and right, or so it seemed. In efforts to fit in I found myself drinking and partying, but in my head I was always asking myself if I was happy doing so. The answer was, "No, I'm not happy! And what do I need to do to get back on track?" One night I found myself on the bathroom floor and hating myself for falling off (especially in spending time in God's word), and pleading with God to just "get me out of this one." I wanted to know why things had gotten so out of hand? Why did he allow me to walk down this path? After every venture outside of His will I would find myself in church the following Sunday, at the alter in tears because I knew that I was neglecting the call on my life.

You want to know what I realized?! God already knew that I was going to have a moment of bumping my head before I saw that He had a better life in store for me. Now it was hard for me to accept God's forgiveness and let go of what I had done. But what was even harder to accept was that I had dropped the ball when it came to witnessing to my friends. The main thing is this: God puts people around us for a reason; it's not by circumstance it is purposed. Since I was not witnessing to the people God had surrounded me with I was not fulfilling my calling. The most important call that a Christian has is to LIVE outloud. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."(NLT; italics are mine) For some we are the only Bible that they will see...what are they seeing/reading when they look at your walk? My prayer since then has been to cover anyone that has fallen away from the safety net of Christ because of my actions, and for another opportunity to show them His love again.

So back to the original question: Why ME?
Often God's response is Why NOT you? Why do you think you're so unfit? Don't you realize that God equips those He calls? What if Moses hadn't listened and accepted the call? Who would have went before Pharaoh? In fact, God fixed the situation up so nicely, like only He can. Since Moses was so concerned about speaking before the people, He allowed Aaron to be Moses' spokesman, so now there was no excuse for Moses not to carry God's message (Exodus 4). There are many other cases throughout the Bible where God shows how He prepares his servants, and they all show that we don't have an excuse! God doesn't call us to do what we're confident in on our own, but He calls us to do things outside of our comfort zone that force us to rely on HIM. Then we begin to walk in Philippians 4:13, "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (NLT) I challenge you to stop asking God, "Why me?" and start saying to yourself, "Why NOT me?"

Remember: Matthew 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen." (NLT) If God calls you He will prepare you for your mission. If you're unsure of how, then you need to draw closer to Him. Take time to talk to Him DAILY. It's alright to ask Him questions, but be confident in His answer and his decision to call you. God knew you even before you were conceived. He knows us so intimately that He knows every thought we think before it even crosses our minds. Just look at Psalm 139 to see what I'm talking about. Now, who wouldn't trust a God like that? Know that He will prepare you to walk in your calling, no matter what it is! Be encouraged.

God's Servant 

Reclaiming My Calling

I have been blessed to hear the voice of God so strong today. And I am ready to acknowledge what I have been afraid to look in the face for so long. It's funny, sometimes when God calls you to something instead of accepting it and growing in it you walk around like you never knew it was there. Thankfully, God continued to give me multiple chances to walk in my calling. So starting today I receive the words that have been spoken into my life. I refuse to allow another day to pass by without spending quiet time with God.

I am so grateful that I have been given an opportunity to lift others up before the Lord. I repent for the souls that have been tormented because of my negligence. It is a humbling calling by far. But I know that God would not put more on me than I can bear. Especially when I remember that I am to cast all my cares upon Him. If we grab a hold to that scripture, then there is no excuse for GOD'S people to be burdened and heavy-laiden. We should not be holding on to any cares at all. What a revelation!

God I just want to serve you with my LIFE. My prayer and desire is that my thoughts will fall in line with the will that you have for my life. Indeed you have a plan, one that is "not for disaster, to give [you] a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11). So how do I get there? Lord, lead me in such a way that I will hear your voice clear. Let there be no confusion!