Your assignment

If you are like me, sometimes you go through this in life so difficult that all you can say is: OMG!!! For some of you, you have no words nor can you come up with reasons as to why you are going through what you are experiencing but all you know is that you are in pain.  The desert of pain and the road of loneliness are often accompanied with feeling as if you have no purpose and that your life is meaningless.  Have you have experienced days when you smiled but you were honestly crying inside?  Everyone's critique of your life would suggest that you are doing quite well and that from their vantage point life probably couldn't get any better for you.....and yet if people only knew what was in your head and what rested on your heart they would possibly start crying along with you.

Today I had another inspiring conversation with a close friend of mine, and came to this crazy conclusion:  As a child of God, what if your storm was actually your assignment???  I'm not suggesting that God loves when we are in pain, neither do I believe that we should go looking for storms.  However, I am reminded of a story John's gospel when there was a man who was born blind. He didn't ask to be blind, he didn't enjoy his blindness, and I'm quite sure that he would have loved to experience sight long before Jesus finally healed him.  However Jesus said that the ONLY reason that blindness was on him was so that God could get some glory.  What I am learning in my world is that sometimes God will use your 'blindness' as a platform for the glory of God.  I think many of us are missing our moments of God's glory and replacing them with moments for self preservation.  Hey, I hear you...I've been there, I don't always enjoy being God's platform and being His poster child.  But then again maybe I do...if God has given me a storm as an assignment then He must believe, know, and trust that I am capable to do Him justice!!!  I'll be the first to admit, that I have often missed by assignment by complaining, my attitude, and non-testimony because I wanted my way more than I cared about His way.

I'm not there yet, I haven't fully gotten to the place I need to be....But I now understanding that as a child of God...my pain isn't random...what I'm going through and what you are going through....even in your storm is your assignment and God believes that through even your OMG moments--He will get glory...peace!  Just some thoughts from my world...

The joy of the Lord

Many of us would probably not admit it, but in my world, I have learned that we can oftentimes get very impressed as well as depressed by people.  We get excited when people feed our ego, or we can be saddened when people disappoint us and let us down.  

God spoke to me this morning and said: "The reason why you often get overly impressed with people AND extremely low with other people is because you invest too much of yourself in them."  The bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  Its God's joy that should carry us, consume us, encourage us and uplift us.  Simply stated, we have expectations on people to do things for us that they were NEVER created to do, and that is to be our SOURCE of joy.

Whenever we find ourselves wrapped in the the affairs of others it may be a sign that we have allowed them to rent too much real estate space in our mind.  If the joy of the Lord truly is our strength, then our happiness is never left to what others do or don't do for or to us.  Oftentimes our emotions aren't stable and they are built on how well or poorly someone treats.  Everything we need for happiness, peace,  and joy-the bible teaches us is found in the Lord!  He is the SOURCE of what we need.  In my world I am learning to stop looking for what I need in other people.  If I continue to look for what I need in other people, the possibility exists that I will be disappointed every single time.  People move like the wind, their attitudes are as shifty as ours, and continuing to seek joy in people says to the Lord that we don't think he is competent to give us what we truly need.

I don't know about you, but in my world I NEED joy!   I need joy, and I can't leave the receipt of my joy to people who were NEVER designed to give it to me.  The joy of the Lord is my strength, your strength and whatever you need can always be found in the Lord!

The death of me...

In my world I am learning that comparing myself to other people will be the death of my Christian experience.  A few years ago I felt like life was passing me by, everyone was moving and advancing past me, and that everyone was experiencing things that I was supposed to be realizing as well.  I looked at people's seeming lifestyle, what I saw as their accomplishments, and what they had and concluded how well they must be doing and how blessed they must be.  I compared what I was feeling and what was going on in my life and said: Wow, why is what happening to them, NOT happening to me?"

I would have possibly spent years feeling this way if not for a revelation that God gave me which was: "You know Noah, you could be jealous of a figment of your imagination."  What do you mean Lord, I thought?!?!?!?  God began to explain to me that what you see in the life of other people is oftentimes not reality.  As all of us know, we often love to promote an image of ourselves that is not altogether accurate.  We enjoy having people think we have more money than we honestly do or having people believe that we live a life of ease and comfort.  Many times what we will even buy for ourselves (clothes, shoes, cars, electronics, etc.) we buy them because of how other people will perceive us.  WOW, they have that?  Man, look at what they are driving!  They stay looking stylish!  Yet when we get home out of the company of the human eye, we are miserable because while we are living are lives to please other people, we are often miserable.

I am learning in my world that comparing myself to people will be the death of my Christian experience because when I compare myself to other people, I can always lie to myself thinking that I am better or worse than someone.  However when I compare myself to Jesus, I ALWAYS come up short.  Coming up short to Jesus is a great feeling though, because Jesus promised that he would fill every shortcoming of my life through the power of His Spirit!!!!  

So listen, stop doing it!!  Stop comparing!!!  It hasn't been beneficial to you, and you would have to admit that it has been silently draining you!  Stop living for the expectations of others and live to please one...Jesus!  After all pleasing Jesus is much more worth it because you know that Jesus loves you with flaws and all!  We try and impress people who we don't know or don't even like us.  So in fact we could be going through a world of trouble trying to impress people that actually don't care or even take notice about what we are doing.

Thats my world....

Would you be missed?

In my world I had to learn to look the possibility of death in the face while experiencing my difficult bout with Lyme Disease.  As I struggled with my mortality I had to grabble with these difficult questions:  If I died would I be missed?  What difference had I made on the earth?  How many lives did I change?  While I still wrestle with these questions in my world, I would like to throw the same questions back to you.  Whose life are you changing for the better?  What positive changes are you making on the earth?  If you were to die, would you be missed?

I am noticing that our world is becoming more filled with people who are making changes in people's life, but those changes aren't for the better.  We are (society is) creating by music and media killers, rapists, angry fathers, and bitter mothers.  We are through reality television, certain music, and mainstream television; creating people who no longer seek positive change in the world, but are content to just get a new car, some new tennis shoes, and content with existing but not really living.

The mentalities of the men and women such as Martin L. King Jr., Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Barbara Jordan, Shirley Chisholm, etc are fleeting!  The positive messages about hope and encouragement about oneself are being replaced by expletives and calling people out of their name.  Helping people become what they were created to be has been replaced for keeping people beneath the level where God intended for them to be.

What are you doing now that is having an impact on the life of someone else?  Are you just marking time, or is time being filled with you pouring into someone else's life.  Our society has become incredibly selfish in that, we don't see the need anymore to look for people to pour in to!  Would people miss you if you were gone?  Make you life count for something more than just taking up space...Your life should have so much meaning that people wouldn't just be sad by your death but are sad by the absence of your presence!   Would you be missed?

  

Preparation

In my world I am learning that I don't prepare enough now for what God has in store for me in my future.  If you would be honest with me today...you don't either.  God says in his word that he has plans for me!!!  If in fact God has plans for me, then it stands to reason that if I don't prepare for what God has prepared for me, then I run the risk of standing in my future but unprepared for the particular season of life that God would have me be in.

When going through the worst season of my life to date, I often wondered if I could have prepared better for what was taken place.  I believe that there are things we go through in life that we honestly can't prepare for.  Sometimes life's twist and turns are so brutal that there is much that can be done to mentally or physically get ready for what will be before you. However, I do feel that there can be some staple principles to use in all of our lives.  Don't wait until January to prepare for your future.  Your future is really next week, tomorrow, or even the second after you read this.  Oftentimes we wait for a more opportune time to prepare: the beginning of the week, the first of the year, the start of the month.  While there is nothing wrong with these times, waiting for those times to begin could cause you to be unprepared for your time!!!  So here are some things I have found helpful in my world, to help your preparation for your future:


1. Stop waiting!!!  This is soooooo easier said than done.  But I have learned and am learning that the more we wait and talk about what we are going to do, we usually settle for what we've been doing! (Somebody should tweet that...LOL) Lets be honest, how many times has the record played about what we were going to start doing or what we were about to do, and before we know it, years have past and we haven't even started it....Start now!!!

2. Don't take on the entire project at one time.  Sometimes because of waiting, and what we haven't been doing, when we start doing, we try to do it ALL at one time....and this usually never ends in completion.  We either get frustrated, bored, or upset we waited so long to begin.  Do a little at a time.  Rome wasn't built in a day...but it was built!

3. Keep yourself accountable.  If nobody knows about what you are preparing yourself for, it becomes that much easier to wait, procrastinate, and talk yourself out of preparing for what you need to get ready for.  Not everybody, but someone you know you can be honest with and they can be honest with you to help you along your journey.


God has plans for you, but its possible that where you are is causing road blocks to that plan.  Lets prepare ourselves for the great plans of God....go ahead, start now....no for real for real....go ahead!!!

I'm an Addict

Hello, my name is Noah Washington and I am a recovering addict...my addiction?  Pleasing People....smh

When people placed expectations on me and would ask me to jump, I would usually respond, how high?  Don't read this and look at me strange because there are many of us who have had to deal with this addiction for many years and has caused us much stress, unhappiness and pain.  What caused us to be so people pleasing driven?!!!  For many of us its a result of what happened or what didn't happen in the homes that we grew up in.   For countless others it may stem from poor relationships through college and post college years.  Whatever the case may be, let me offer some ways that you like me can be a recovering addict of this deadly addiction.

1.  Please realize and understand that people will ALWAYS have expectations of you.  They will place realistic and unrealistic expectations on you and expect you to deliver and WIN every single time.  Understanding this, don't be surprised when they come because thats is part of life.  They are factors that you cannot stop: people and expectations.

2. People who often place expectations on you, do so because they are unsatisfied with their own lives.  There are people who will love to places expectations on you because they are so unhappy with how their life is going that they have to look for people whose lives seem to be more fulfilling and more interesting than theirs.  They love to critique, examine, and manipulate how you live your life, because they are ashamed about what their life has become.  Regardless of how many times you live up to the current expectations, you can NEVER satisfy these people!  They are unsatisfiable!!!!!  They will always look for things in your life to place expectations on....You can't win with these type of people.

3. When you give yourself goals to accomplish, you will never be a captive of people pleasing.  When you have set goals and are actually accomplishing those goals then it doesn't matter what people are trying to cause you to do.  Regardless of what people see or say, you can sleep at night knowing that through the power of God you are setting goals and accomplishing those goals.  Accomplishing goals is one way to silence the "peanut gallery" into making you do things.

4.  Every good thing isn't a God thing.  Just because you are busy doing doesn't mean you are busy in purpose.  People would love to see you running around busy accomplishing what they set out for you to do.  Before you move forward and get busy doing, you have to ask a critical question: IS GOD LEADING THIS?!!!  If God isn't leading, and you move forward, its a sure way to continue pleasing people.  

I sure hope these help you, because they have sure helped me not to be stressed, saddened, and sold out to people's expectations of me!  God bless you as you too can become more than a conqueror!!!

Don't Hide

Its been a while since I have blogged and felt the need to blog about something today.  Over the last few months I have been praising God for good health and the fact that I am completely off of my medication for Lyme Disease.  Its such a wonderful thing when you can look back over you life and remember where you were, how bad of a situation you were in, and praise God for His goodness and extreme mercy towards you.

I have also been reflecting on how often silent I as well as other Christians can be about our beliefs and Christianity.  Why is it that sports, music, education, etc., get more publicity out of my mouth than Jesus?!?!?!!  Hey if the shoe fits for you then wear it, but I am blogging about myself primarily.  I have to constantly think about when I meet people or am seen in different places, what fragrance do I leave with people.  By my presence, do I present Jesus to them; not by my words so much but more so just by my presence.  Not a bible study, not even initially what I believe, but is the fragrance of Jesus left to linger in their atmosphere?

I, by the grace of God, want to make sure that the God who has saved me, delivered me, and continues to bless me is made KNOWN!!!  After all, if you can't make Jesus known why are you a Christian?  In my world, I am trying my best to not hide the fact that Jesus loves me and I love Him!  He always deserves a standing ovation.  Jesus always deserves and encore.  Jesus deserves everything and more....come on and help me with making him known, everywhere you go!!!

Fear and Faith

This past week in my world I learned a lesson that maybe you have already learned, and that is that for a large portion of my life I have lived on fear rather than on faith.  If you would be honest it can be extremely scary, nerve-racking, and altogether frightening to step out in areas where you are unsure of what will happen. For a large portion of my life, I used to think that I was living by faith just because I went to church, sang in a choir, or even read my bible.  I mean lets be honest, you can read the bible but not have a relationship with Jesus...

In my world I had to come to the stunning reality that faith is not experienced until you begin walking in areas of the unknown!  Faith is also only built when you put God's word to the test and begin holding on to God's word more than you have held to your feelings.  I had to laugh literally out loud because for so long I felt and thought that I was living a full life of faith until things happened that pushed me to trust the word of God.  If you can already see everything work out and are in a position where you can make things work out, thats not faith.  But you begin walking in faith when faith finds you in a position where all you can honestly do is trust God's word.

The reason this hit me so hard in my world is because I realized that walking in faith and walking by faith has so many benefits and I am missing out on huge blessings because of my fear.  My fear and maybe yours too can literally paralyze you to the point where you can't see Gods blessings, experience God's blessings, and rejoice in God's blessings because fear has kept you locked in a prison to which you are serving a lifetime sentence.  But I do believe that its time for us to have a "prison break"!  Join me as we begin to, by God's grace stop allowing fear to keep us from experiencing what God wants us to have!  Thats what I learned in my world...peace!

Trust

Trust is such an important factor in life.  It affects every single aspect of our life.  For those employed, there is a level of trust with your employer and co-workers.  For those married, there is a high level of trust with your spouse.  Those with friends, have expectations that our friends will help us and not harm us.  If you have a sibling, you trust that your sibling has your back no matter what happens in life.  I have learned in my world though, that trust often takes years to develop BUT takes seconds to destroy. We spend years of invested interest in people and yet, one experience can damage everything.

We have all been hurt before, and possibly more than once by people who we thought we had an indescribable amount of trust in.  I used to ask myself questions like:  Why did they hurt me so much?  Did they ever love me and appreciate me since the hurt was so devastating?  Why does it seem like my life is on hold for as long as the pain lasts?  I kept asking myself these and questions like these until God revealed to me that "Even though its okay for you to trust people, love people, and have relationships with people; you are expecting from them what they were not designed to give you.  What do you mean Lord? "You expect them to be your savior and they were only designed to be a significant part of your life...the faith you have in them is only supposed to go to me."

I thought about what God shared with me and thought that it was such a hard word considering that the hurt was so deep.  But maybe the hurt was so deep because I allowed it to get there by investing what should have gone to God, to them.  My prayer is that I can start investing my faith in the right person...God!  I hope what I have learned in my world has helped you a little bit...Peace!

Prayer

Its been so long since I posted so I felt compelled to say something before the week finished.  I have been learning something about prayer on my journey toward learning more about Jesus.  In my world I often time take so much time praying for people, or praying that God will bless this or do that.  If you're like me you often find yourself praying about so many different situations that you need God to attend to, to fix and to change.

God can you bless my wife?  God can you fix my finances?  Would you please touch my child from staying stuck on stupid?  We pray for so many things and so many people a sundry of situations that we desperately wants Gods help in.  One day I realized while in prayer that I was so busy praying for so many other things that I forgot something important to pray for....ME!!!

If God doesn't change anything else, at least he will change my perspective toward what going on!  In my world, I learned that Gods desire is to change ME, but desire is more on Him changing the things around me.  If God is in fact all powerful than what is around me isn't really huge concern; the greater problem is me and if I am willing to be changed by the power and mercy of God.  So can I encourage you to find, as I have, a new perspective on prayer, and that is on focusing on God changing you!

Why I Quit Church, Part 2

As promised I wanted to post the second part of the topic on why people are leaving church.  In my world I meet many people who are just disinterested in church for a number of reasons today.  I want to thank my friend Damien "Chip" Dizard for being willing to share in my blog!




Many children grow up forced to attend church and it's not a pleasurable experience.  You know the line, "children should be seen and not heard” most churches give 10 to 15 minutes of a children's story and then expect children not to move, eat or do anything the entire time.  I find that utterly ridiculous.  That's why my family attends the church we do now.  Not because we are in love with the preaching, fellowship or even the facilities. Our children look forward to attending church and they actually learn something once they leave.   I didn't have this opportunity growing up and my wife and I wanted to give our children the best chance for success. Does that mean they won't get tired of church? Sure they may, but their childhood memories of church should be one of engagement activity and learning.

I have also heard stories of many families who never missed church but missed other important engagements for their children. Basketball games, musical recitals and more, but church, God's house is never put on the back burner. Families can argue all week long, but they will sit next to each other smiling and holding hands in church.

Have you ever felt guilty for not attending church?  More and people especially younger Seventh-day Adventists aren't attending church regularly.  I was talking with a friend recently whose sister who grew up in church who doesn’t attend or watch it online either. I think the story is similar to someone you know.  It's an epidemic that spreads deep and wide. You may know a person who is guilted into attending church because they feel inadequate and once they feel better they go right back and do the same thing.

James 1:23-24 says "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."

This text hit me because it is just foolish.  God doesn't take attendance, but he knows when you listen to the word and don't follow through.

How can you follow through with God today?  Tell us about your church attendance experience.  Leave in the comments below.

Chip Dizárd is a Christian, tech expert, author and blogger. He is passionate about his family and reaching people for Christ. His tech blogs are at chipdizard.com.

Why I Quit Church, Part 1

This blog was completed by Mr. Damien "Chip" Dizard, and after he sent it to me, I could not resist the urge to post to my blog.  Please feel free to give feedback!  Part 2 will be posted tomorrow.  Enjoy!





Church has been a mainstay in my life for years. I remember my dad parting my hair from east to west every week before church.  I remember being told when in church all the earth should keep silent.  



I remember church like it was yesterday.  I grew up at Liberty seventh day Adventist church.  I remember moving around from building to building until we finally left.



I remember my mom and my dad spending hours at church board meetings and then coming home frustrated with things. This is how I remember church.



I never had a bad experience at church. I just never had an experience.



In my college years I got tired of going to church.  Or if I went it was to check out a girl or grab a free meal. Back then, the hype church was Capitol Hill SDA where Wintley Phipps was the pastor.  I attended Columbia union college (now Washington Adventist university) and the fellas made sure we had the fresh cuts and suits in order to impress the ladies and be seen.



But I was tired.  I was tired of the same thing with no comittment. So I quit church.  I left without a trace.  I would show up for special days and to tell my parents I was going and I gave money occasionally.  But I had no real connection, and my friends which weren't into church didn't understand why I went to church anyway.



Years later, my big play sister Sharon invited me to  a church.  It was in the ghetto of Baltimore and the name was Miracle Temple. She said I should come and hear the preacher.  I wasn't really interested, but when someone you respect invites you and feeds you after, you oblige.   I went on the first Saturday of the year in 2000 and a preacher named Freddie Russell was talking about vision.  I was confused, I didn't think I was in a business setting, but he had a powerpoint and was stating where the church needed to go.  I was intrigued and wanted to know how a preacher could give a powerpoint and not a hell-fire breathing sermon on the first day of the year. It was Y2K and everyone was afraid that the end was near.  Pastor Russell may have missed that memo.



After church I introduced myself and I came back again and again.  I invited people. They came with me. I even attended prayer meeting.  This was different. This was the "unchurch."   In the next few years I joined and became lead webmaster and then in charge of media, but it was all because from an invite from a friend.



How can we use friendship evangelism in our local churches? In the next series of blogs I will lay out how to make our churches more "seeker" friendly and how to reclaim them for the 20-30 crowd.

The reason why I vote

Hey everyone, I thought the day before the United States elections for President I would just give my personal reasons as to why in my world...I vote.  I have actually never been into politics.  Though I have always liked and enjoyed serving people the political side often gets in the way of helping people who need help the most.  We often spend so much time trying to decide who to put into certain offices and no time is invested into determining how we are going to go about serving people.

It really bothers me though, when we do this in church.  When we spend time, dedication and energy in politics and positioning ourselves in places where we want to go instead of where God wants us to be.  In my world, I have never personally felt like we needed to follow a democratic system in church.  I guess maybe at times, because we don't trust the power of prayer, we would rather put everything to a vote.  Since we don't want to take the time to get on our faces to God and find out what he really desires, we are content to vote it out?  This is not to suggest that God works in the midst of us voting....however could it be possible that we vote something that God doesn't even want...for his people?

I'm sorry, I just had to get that off my chest about church...back to the nation.  My premise for voting within in the democracy of the United States is simple.  There are many people who gave up their lives so that I could.  They said to themselves: I will gladly die, if one day my great, great grandson will be able to vote.  So, out of respect to my ancestors and people who have paved the way for me...I vote.  I still understand that plight that African Americans have historically held in this country, and would honestly be ashamed not to vote.  Why not take an opportunity to do something, that for years my family could never do?

I have talked to many people who, for one reason or another are not voting.  They feel that President Obama has let them down.  They sense that Governor Mitt Romney is not the best candidate.  Since my world is governed by the word of God, let me remind us all that the bible says in Daniel 2:21, that it is God that sets up rulership.  Regardless of who serves or is elected, it is only because God wanted or allowed them, for that time and season to be in that position.  I think too often, we see ourselves as a god, and feel that we are in charge of what happens.  How about we exercise our right to vote and leave the bigger things up to God?  After all....I honestly believe He knows what He is doing!  

That why in my world...I vote!

Another Chance

In my world I am continuing to learn, know and understand how precious life really is.  Those of you who have been following my world and my blog know that in 2009 my life nearly ended.  I celebrated a birthday yesterday and continue to celebrate the fact that I am a walking miracle.  Lyme Disease was so heavy in my body, and had spread to organs so much so that my life was literally in question.  While going through my most painful moments I longed to die; however yesterday made me realize how blessed I am to be living.  It could have ended for me...

Every day when I open my eyes, its another reminder of what God continues to do for me!  Yesterday marked another year of time that God has given me to fulfill his purpose in my life.  I, by the grace of God am striving to not waste this second chance that he has given me.  I am really a walking miracle....BUT then again...SO are YOU!!!  I'm not the only person whose life was almost cut short.  There are more of you out there who are reading this blog saying to yourself I almost died too! For some of you it was a car accident, for others it was a disease as well.  I do know that there are countless numbers who, even though they are legitimately alive, because of everything you are going through, your spirit is dead!  You are tired of the stress and depression and feel like you wanted to give up...BUT in the middle of it all God showed up and caught you!

The reality is that we all could have been dead, but God has kept us alive because even though you almost died, his purpose never did.  God will continue to keep you until his purpose is fulfilled or until you decide to abort the purpose!  Don't waste the second chance!  Embrace the story, your testimony; for most of us, its the only thing keeping us alive.  If it is, so be it!  Let God's purpose become your purpose and the reason for your existence.  In my world God's purpose has pushed me on days when I wanted to die, nights when I wanted to give up, and mornings that I wish did not come...

It's not always easy, but the struggle will always make you stronger!  Until next time...in my world!

That's all you have

In my world I have learned that leaning on God is all you really have!  People can let you down, places can often get boring, and things don't always fulfill your desires.  If you are like me, you have tried to get things to replace God, you have gotten with people to fill your space for God, and gone to places attempting to take your mind off of what has drawn you away from God.

However at the end of the day, all you have is God.  You have tried a bunch of things, but that didn't work.  You have attached yourself to many people but you are still unsatisfied.  Nothing can fill your emptiness But God.  The new iphone won't do it; the newest gospel cd is going to do it, and even your spouse doesn't fill God's place. 

I'm learning that its not everyone else's fault...The problem in my world is often the problem in your world too, and that is that the more you fill God's place with other people, places and things you will ALWAYS feel empty.  The only thing that will cause you to feel complete is God.  You could have all the money in the world and still be lonely.  You could have thousands of relationships and still be empty.  You can fly around the whole world and yet feel as if you have nothing; because without God there is nothing.  You can go to church and still not have God; sing in the choir about God but God still not be in you!

At the end of the day, all you have is God!  Without Him, you have nothing.  Let Him be your EVERYTHING...TODAY!

Purpose

What is my purpose in life?  Haven't you asked yourself that before?  Doesn't it bother you sometimes that you don't know or haven't really found your purpose in this life? I have learned in my world that there is nothing more frustrating for a person who doesn't really understand or know their purpose in life.  When God decided to create you, what was on his mind?  Why in the world did He decide to create YOU?!?!?  Was there something that he wanted you to accomplish that no one else could?  Is it possible that other people are doing what you were/are really supposed to be doing, but because you are scared to walk in your purpose you aren't doing it?

What is your purpose in life?  In the last few years I have learned that sometimes your purpose is sometimes not the most comfortable place. Paul and Silas were in jail in the book of Acts.  They were not in the best surroundings and it was not the most comfortable place to be.  However, because of their presence in the prison-people were brought to Christ!!!  Other's I am finding are literally terrified to walk in their God ordained purpose!  They are scared that people will laugh and them and it will initially not be accepted.  However if you are like me, I've learned in my world that you can't live your life to please people.  If you live to please people....YOU WILL NEVER BE HAPPY!  I promise you!  Living to the approval of others makes you a miserable person.  Don't walk in a person ordained purpose, only walk in God's purpose for your life!

In my next blog, I will share some things that you can do, to live in God's purpose for your life.  God bless you...

He's Got It

I have learned a difficult, but wonderful reality in my world: God has everything under control!!!  My battle with Lyme Disease has made me realize that there are certain things that we have absolutely no control over!  We spend so much time trying to fix, change, and adjust things in our lives that we can't. We were not given power to change time, to go back in time, to fix choices that we have made...etc.

I used to spend so much time and energy thinking to myself:  If I only was, If this didn't happen then, Once I get here then...but those thoughts only seemed to make things worse for me?  Doesn't it do the same for you?  In my world I am resting in the fact now that regardless of what a face, see, and deal with in life....God has everything under control!  He really does!!!  I know it seems at certain points and time that the enemy is stronger than God and that your life just feels like a huge mess.  You may be dealing with something right now that isn't as favorable and doesn't seem to be working to your advantage.  What I rest in is the fact that the word of God teaches me that He has got everything together.  The reality is that you can't fix it; if you could, you would have done it long time ago right?  So why not trust the Person who is in control of everything?

Despite my bad days and regardless of my rough days, all I have, at the end of the day is a GOD who knows it all, has power over all, and who loves me through it all....

Resist

I'll be honest...I have been reading a particular scripture text for years and I just realized something about that text in my world.  The bible says in James 4:7 "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."  Maybe I'm slow (as I say often), or possibly wasn't paying attention to this text as much as I should.

James says when we resist the devil he WILL flee from us!!!  Do you realize how powerful this is!?!?!?   Right before this James first tells us to submit to God...How hard is this?  Real hard if you enjoy your independence.  Killing self will possibly be the toughest challenge you will ever have to face.  I'll be honest enough to tell you that in my world always saying: "Yes Lord" is something that I don't always love to do.  However James tells us that if we are going to cause the devil to literally leave us, the FIRST thing we have to do is SUBMIT to God.  If you have strong problems submitting to God, you will always have the misfortune of the devil hanging around...

Do you ever want to make the devil leave you?  Then you must resist him.  To resist something means to ignore, to push away, to leave alone.  This tells me that many of us invite the devil.  He doesn't leave us because he is invited in one way or another in our company.  Maybe by what we watch, possibly by the people we hang out with, or the places that we go...

We question or may ask: Why doesn't the devil leave me alone, why don't I feel guilty about disobedience to God?  How come I'm not the person I should be in Christ?  I have been frustrated sometimes with myself because of continued disobedience to God, haven't you? But God spoke to me this past week and let me know that the reason my struggle oftentimes with the devil is so real is because I NEVER resist him; instead I invite him...SMH!!!

Anyone want power to resist the devil today, so that he will run from you?  If we want this power, then we must submit to God.  Ask him for the power of being obedient.  If we are obedient to God, we will always cause the enemy to run!

Why can't I move forward?

Over the past few years I have really enjoyed Mac products.  Macbook, Mackbook Pro, Ipod, Ipad, IMac, Iphone, etc; I just love the way that they work!  A few years ago Apple came out with an upgrade that allowed you to take off apps that you would have open.  You could now close down your twitter app or your weather app.  You could close down the espn app or a game app that you had open that allowed your battery not to drain as fast as well as allow your device to run faster!  So that once you close out things that you no longer have use for it allows your device to run a lot smoother.

            I can’t help but to liken this to many of our relationships.  One of the reasons that some of us are stuck, stagnant, and extremely slow with moving on is because we have so many people, or apps that are open in our lives that have not been closed.  There are relationships that we have had in our past that we have become attached to so much that even though the communication, recreation, and interaction between us and the other person may have ended…our attachment to them continues to be open.  Something still jumps in our spirit when we see their picture on Facebook; we still catch an attitude when someone tells us that they have seen the person with another person; and we continue to think in our minds what we may be doing with the person if we were still dating them.

            Some of you reading this have been thinking to yourself: why am I having such a difficult problem moving forward in my life, my relationships, and in life in general? Why is it that I sabotage relationships?  How come I only feel normal when people treat me negatively?  Why am I attempting to move forward while still attached to my past???  May I suggest that even though two people have physically gone their separate ways doesn’t mean the relationship has ended.

            Before I give some solutions on how you can truly move forward, let me give some suggestions on why many of us cannot move forward:

1.    The relationship ended sooner than we wanted it to.  We thought that this was the person that we would marry and spend the rest of our lives with, but instead of a wedding they walked away.  Instead of a marriage, you guys moved apart.  So you can’t move forward because you are still mentally thinking…what if?

2.    You guys got physical in the relationship.  During the relationship, there was not just hugging and kissing, you guys actually engaged in sexual activity; maybe even on a regular basis.  Scripture teaches that sexual activity leads us to becoming attached to another person.  That’s why the bible even cautions people who are married-to agree on when they will abstain from sexual activity for times of prayer and then return to it.  Engaging in sex with another person is meant to be addictive, that’s why its best reserved for married couples.  However, with couples who are unmarried, you may not be able to move on because you are still attached to the other person.

3.    There was some type of abuse in the relationship. Some people can’t move on because there was sexual, mental, emotional, or physical abuse in a past relationship.  This may cause a person to either withdraw from having future relationships OR jump into many relationships.  Some people pull away from relationships in fear that what happened to them will happen to them again while others seek out many relationships in hopes to find that one person that will treat them right!  Still there are others who won’t allow themselves to move forward in a healthy relationship because since there was so much abuse they strangely only feel comfortable in an environment that allows abuse to continue, these people are extremely hard to love because when you love them…they kick you so you can kick them back because abusing them allows them to feel normal.

This is not an exhaustive list, but just a few things that won’t allow a person to move forward.  Now, let me offer some things that a person can do so that they can positively move forward.

·      To fully break free, its probably best for the time being not to communicate with the person you need freedom from for the time being.  You need time to heal, and oftentimes healing will not take place if you are still communicating with them.  If you continue to communicate with them, you continue a “what if” cycle in your mind about a future relationship with them.

·      Lay before the Lord!!! I honestly believe that the only way to be fully free and move forward is to lay it before the Lord.  Ask God for forgiveness of anything that you did in the relationship that caused problems.  Ask God to remove the unhealthy connection that continues to attach you to the person.  While I believe God’s power can, the breaking point usually doesn’t happen after we lay this before the Lord on one occasion.  It happens after continued prayer, fasting, and dedication to His will and way!

·      Don’t get in another relationship until you a free from the last! There are countless people who believe that they can just jump into one relationship after another.  Since you are often not free from the previous relationship, you bring the attachment from the last relationship into the present relationship.  So much so, that the person never meets the real you…they get connected to the countless number of people who you are attached with.

Jesus told the Jews in the first century, whoever the Son sets free will be free indeed!  Don’t you want to be free today?  Allow Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to free you in mind, body, and spirit so that you can be all that he has destined to be!

What are you thinking about?

      In my world, I am realizing more and more that many of us have things going on in our lives right now that we don't like and are just not feeling.  Whether its a relationship, our job situation, our singleness, our financial situation, or a health condition; we all have some things going on in our lives that we wish were not there.  We wish that things had not worked out the way they did and oftentimes are envious of other people's seemingly great situation in life.

      There are so many of us who are fighting just to keep our sanity.  We can smile much and appear that everything is great and nothing is going wrong, but if the truth be told we are suffering much.  If you are like me, you can go through experiences where it seems like talking to someone won't even help much because no one truly understands what you are going through.  In fact you have tried to talk to someone, and because your situation was seemingly dismissed, ignored, or the response was unsympathetic then you withdraw even more.  In my world I felt all of these things and more.  I didn't want to be around anyone, I desired to talk to no one, and began to settle into the thinking that God must not like me.  I was content with this way of thinking until I realized something that changed my perspective: I realized that I was in a process!  In other words things in my life were going to change, I wasn't going to be where I was forever, and at some point in time there would be a shift in my situation.  However while in was in process, I could not see beyond what I was going through.

       The other problem I had (and maybe you are experiencing this now) while I was in process is that I realized it appeared easier to be depressed than it was to think positive, and Godly thoughts. For many of us, and it helps if we are brutally honest, we remain where we are because of what we allow ourselves to think about and dwell on!  The bible says in Philippians 4:8 the things that should dominate our thoughts.  Sometimes our continued cycle remains because of what we continue to think about; insomuch that the process seems so much longer because we don't have any thoughts in our mind that can pull us out.

       I challenge you today to put something positive in your mind.  Open the word of God and allow it to speak to your mind.  The word of God is so powerful that it can literally change your mind!!!  So....What are you thinking about today?