Change your thinking...

I have realized in my world that the way I think towards and about certain things means a lot.  The bible also says: As a man thinks in his heart so is he.  Another way of putting it is, what you think about often can likely happen.

The last couple of weeks I have had to ask myself: "Why is it that most of us think more negatively on the outcome of situations than think positively about them?" All of us go through difficult situations.  If you are breathing right now, there is something going on in your life that is probably not ideal and that you don't like.  However I have come to know, learn, and understand that there are always more than one possible outcome for situations that we go through.  For example:  Someone has been in a really bad car accident and it doesn't look good, and the doctors say, then people around the situation say:  There's a chance that he may not make it.  As a believer, I HAVE to assume, that if there is a chance that he may NOT make it...there is also a chance that he WILL make it!!!  I don't know why, but it seems to me that as people of God, we have to stop this negative thinking about every single situation in life.  I don't know about you, but its annoying for me to hang around negative people!!!  People that usually and often think the worst about every situation.

Do you realize that its also possible to dream up your own disaster?  As a man thinks in his heart so is he! If you keep thinking death, its possible that death will happen; but what if you begin today to start thinking life?!?!  WOW....Start believing that there is always another option, something else that could take place.  Don't start believing the devil that negative experiences will always happen to you.  Besides, Jesus didn't lie...He did tell us that we would have tribulations...BUT be of good cheer because I have overcome the world!

Can I suggest that you change your thinking today?!?!  Can I suggest that you switch the outlook that you always have on every situation?  Start today...

Scarred but Saved!

In my world, I have definitely learned that there are things that happen to us that we may never know why until we reach heaven.  I have stopped placing my energy into why things happen and have placed more energy into what my response is to what has happened.  Those who have been following my blog have read about the ongoing experiences that I have had with Lyme Disease.  I praise God for progressive healing as well as lessons that I have learned through the process.  I have also learned in my world that sometimes our healing is not in a miracle but in obedience!  Sometimes our obedience my not come in a miraculous way but may come in our obedience to a doctor that He is going to use; sometimes it will not come through a mesmerizing testimony that 'wows' people when they hear it, but it may come in our obedience with changing our diet...

Yesterday marked another milestone for me.  Another landmark that I can look back on and see the grace of God!  I was on my way to the store yesterday and found my way in the parking lot looking for a place to park.  As I was just about to exit the particular area of the lot and go to another to find an empty space, a county bus turned into me....and hit me.  It seemed like it all went in slow motion.  As the bus is coming towards me, I'm saying to myself: "Is this guy really about to hit me?"  After calming down, I realized one thing...I am maturing in God!!!  I walked out of the car saw the scratch and said to myself: "My car might be scarred but at least my life is saved."  I remember some years ago being in a car accident and my reaction was saying some words that are not recorded in scripture.

Despite our frustrations, disappointment, and difficulties in life, God uses every experience to, in some way, bring us closer to him and help us realize how much He really loves us!  There is something that you are going through RIGHT NOW, that I know is probably causing you much pain; but even though it hurts, please know and understand that you have some help!

God bless you, at the beginning of this week as you grow closer to God through your painful experiences, that you can realize how much he loves you!

The weight of waiting

Some year ago I had a personal trainer that I went to three times a week.  It was something that I somewhat enjoyed and yet there was so much pain involved.  Anyone that works out and lifts weights knows that there are days you don't want to go to the gym.  There are times when you trainer (if you have one) gets on your nerves that may cause you to say some words to them that are not found in the bible.

Its difficult at times to lift weights and keep pushing the weights off of your chest, legs or back in order to get desired results.  As I reflect on my grueling experience of having a personal trainer and lifting weights, I can't help but to also think about how waiting can feel like a weight!  Have you EVER had to wait on God????  Anyone who says that its easy to wait on God has either never waited on God...or is lying!  The bible tells us that the secret things belong to God.  Which means that you and I could think of 1000 different reasons why we are waiting and ALL of them could be wrong!  Is God trying to build your character?  Are you waiting because you are not ready to receive what he has for you?  Do you have to wait because of disobedience?

I do know that God is a God of timing.  As much as it sometimes may feel like it, I do not believe that God enjoys watching his children suffer.  I just don't believe that God sits in heaven laughing while you and I struggle through waiting for our jobs, our homes, our relationships, and our healing.  In fact there are many of you that are going to read this blog and while you are reading it you WILL be thinking of what you specifically are waiting on.

As one who has waited on God before, can I suggest to you some things that help, while you wait, so that it doesn't seem as much of a weight?

1. DO NOT hang around negative people! I truly believe that what you spend the most time around you end up emulating
2. Find bible texts that encourage you.  I great one is: Isaiah 40:28-31.  Go ahead and read that RIGHT NOW!  I know you could do other things to seemingly help you through the pressing weight.  I just know from my experience that reading the text really does help!
3. This one is real difficult: Go and be a blessing to someone. Get the focus off of yourself and go and be a blessing in the life of someone else.  Our blessing often comes in blessing someone else!
4. Exercise.  I know what your saying. I'm already sweating from waiting on God!!!  I don't feel like exerting more energy!  I have found, and others have told me as well, that exercising helps your positive attitude
5.  Lastly, while you are waiting: DON'T stop worshipping God.  When things get bad, you tend to walk away from the only person who can really help us: God!  I am not saying this is easy, because we feel like why should we sing, why should we pray, why should we fellowship with other believers when we feel that God hasn't done anything for us.  Well I hate to disrupt your thinking, but He has already done something.  You think its really bad?  It could be A LOT worse (His mercy and grace is whats keeping it from really going out of control).  Draw closer to God while you wait.

There are definitely more things a person could do while they wait, but I wanted to pass on these key things that I believe are essential and helpful!  Be blessed!

Preparation is Key

Those who have been following the blog know that I have been having more than a difficult time over the last three years.  Back and forth to the hospital.  In and out of doctors offices.  Taking medicine, too many to name, and just overall adjustments to life.  When you have a lot going on: physical pain, mental discouragement, and no immediate answers as to why what is happening is happening, its easy to throw pity parties and continually feel sorry for yourself.  I will admit that what I have gone through and what many of you may be going through now, can be an extremely lonely time in your life.  Regardless of what people see you look like they have no idea of the rough road that you have been traveling.  A smile can definitely say a thousands words...one of those words it could say is that: I'm smiling just to cover up the pain.

Feeling alone in your experience though, is not an altogether bad thing.  Remember, it was John's isolation that brought about his glorious revelation of Jesus Christ.  I really do believe that God can show you more by yourself than he can in a crowd.  As I claim healing for myself and am what I believe to be on the other side of my valley, I have learned that preparation is key.  There is so much that God wants to do in our lives that if we would be honest with ourselves...we are not really prepared for.  We are currently NOT prepared for many of the things that God wants to accomplish through us!  As much as we would like to believe we are...We are NOT ready for marriage, NOT ready for that job promotion, NOT currently prepared for the move...and what God is trying to do now, is prepare you!  Preparation is KEY!!!

If you are like me then you oftentimes don't like waiting.  However what God is trying to do in you, because of you...takes a process, it takes time.  So God works on your character so that when you get to the place that he wants you to be you have the character to keep you where the assignment of God is trying to take you.  It would be a terrible thing if we didn't have the character to keep us where God ultimately wanted us to be and in order for that to happen, it takes preparation.

I have learned in my world, in this season of illness, to not magnify the illness but magnify the preparation. In other words: God what do I need to learn during this season of my life?  What area in my character are you exactly working on?  What needs to be accomplished now that I can't accomplish later?

Don't worry about the pain...its just preparation!

Trayvon Martin

There is no way that I could let time pass without saying anything about this terrible situation that has happened.  We have all been watching, listening, and participating in what has become a tragic event  surrounding one young man and his family to people protesting all over the country about justice for this young man who was gunned down.  What is causing people to be extremely upset and irate is the fact that all Trayvon had in his hand was a can of Arizona Ice Tea and a bag of skittles, that the gunman, George Zimmerman felt was a threat enough to kill him.  Regardless of Zimmerman being told to stop following Trayvon and leave him alone he continued following this young man and later killed him for being a 'threat' to the community.  The nation is in an uproar, while wearing the gear of Trayvon Martin, a hoodie; because while Trayvon's family is planning a funeral, George Zimmerman has been allowed to seemingly walk away from this crime...FREE!!!  Are you serious?!?

What kind of world do we live in where you can now kill people just for looking like they are a threat?!?!?  What kind of world do we live in where you still get nasty looks and bullet wounds just for the color of one's skin??? Be honest with me for a moment...Soon after 9-11 happened, every time you saw an Arabic person, your thoughts turned to anger and annoyance because they had the appearance of a threat!

I'll be honest, as a pastor, who feels called to address and speak on social concerns will no doubt this week at church be in a hoodie while I preach!  Though there had been much discussion on what will wearing hoodies do, or information surrounding how Trayvon died is not really an issue for me.  The facts are clear that Zimmerman was told to STOP following Trayvon, and I would suggest that if he was obedient to police Trayvon would still be alive.  I do however want to post something that I find extremely shocking yet eye opening:

George Zimmerman, after his shooting was allowed to walk around like nothing happened.  Despite reports that he has feared for his life because of threats on his life, he still has his life.  I want to focus on the FACT that it was almost like he carried on like nothing happened...DESPITE his shooting and killing Trayvon Martin....BUT (and I know this is rough to compare) isn't that was God does for us?!??!  We do crazy crimes every day against God...and yet He allows us to go around like everything is fine.  His grace toward us is crazy isn't it?

I do however long for the day, when these situations won't happen.  When we all get to heaven and true justice will always be the rule of the day.  Be blessed!

Waiting

One of the most difficult things for us to do is wait on God.  Most of us are right now, waiting for God to do something specific in our lives.  I continue to wait for 100 percent healing in my body.  For some, you may be waiting for God to give you a much needed job.  Others may be waiting on him to bless you with a life partner in marriage.  Still others may be waiting on God to work out particular situations in your life that no one knows about but it definitely keeps you up at night!  We are all waiting on God for something...

If you are like me, especially because its something I feel every single day, you get frustrated, disappointed and wonder at times if God is even listening to your prayers.  If you are like me there are, if you are honest with yourself, times when you don't even feel like praying because you have been praying the same thing for so long and you haven't seen any desirable results from your prayers.  Its at this particular time that I have learned in my world that the Enemy loves to come and play the most mind tricks with you.  He will literally talk to you and say things like this:  God is lying to you.  You know its because of something that you did as to why God hasn't answered your request yet right?  You are not good enough for God to answer that prayer!  You should just stop praying and do something better with your time!  Anybody ever felt or heard these things?  They came from the devil!  I hate him and and now realizing more than ever that for many of us, we have listening to the devil for so long that we have forgotten what God has told us already:

They that wait on the Lord
He will renew their strength
They will mount up on wings as eagles
They will run and not be weary
They will walk and not faint

I'm not that young and I'm not that old, but I do know that God has never lied to me.  If he said it, I know that one day, and it could be just around the corner, that God WILL make good on His promise!  Besides, there's something that you learn about yourself while waiting on God.  You learn how far away from him you currently are.  When you wait it reveals how many of his promises you may not know, which allows the enemy to tell you something that God hasn't said.  Can I encourage you that while you, like me, wait on God to perform something in your life:  Find as many promises in His word as you can.  Memorize them, Read them back to yourself and Remember how powerful our God really is!!!  Thats what I've learned to do...In my world, in wash's world!

Inhale

A few years ago, I was pumping gas at a station on a chilly fall day.  I stayed outside of my car while I filled up my tank even though it was rather cold.  Just across from me there was a car with a lady who was filling up her car as well, but because of the chill she decided to wait inside while her tank was filling up.  While her tank was filling up I noticed something extremely sad but also interesting.  A young man, who appeared to be her son, was inside the car sitting in the passenger seat.  While he sat there, the lady proceeded to pull out a cigarrette and began to smoke.  I have probably seen it before, but this time I watched it with fresh eyes.  Here was a mother who was smoking with her son sitting there inhaling everything that she was putting out.  The windows were rolled up and there was no escape from him inhaling ALL of the nicotine that she blew out.  Whether or not he wanted to smoke didn't matter.  He was smoking, just because of his proximaty to his mother.  Because of how close he was sitting to her and the fact that there was no other ventilation, he was taking in everything.

While driving home, God gave me this revelation:  Wouldn't it be great, if I was so close to Jesus that I inhaled everything that He put out?!?!?  Every blessing, every miracle, every instruction, every direction that I needed to be absorbed in my life would be received because of how close I was to him!  What usually happens to most of us though is that we end up chocking and coughing terribly in life because we are inhaling the wrong people, places, and things.  We get so close to certain people that we inhale every bad habit that they give off.  We get extremely close to certain places (not for the sake of ministry lol) that the poor stench of remains on us for years!  We get too close to things that we wonder why is so hard to shake bad habits!

However the word is clear: By beholding we become changed!  Our behavior really reveals what we are inhaling!!!  Are you chocking your way through life?  Or do you breathe easy?  iNHALE Jesus today!