Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

Yesterday a lady at my job was so rude. She was so irritating so I decided that today I would absolutely ignore her. I mean I didn't even look in her direction. The logic was eventually she would notice, then feel bad, then stop being so mean to me.

Well at the end of the day as I was walking to my car I realized how exhausted I was. The Holy Spirit laid on my heart that holding a grudge is hard work. Crazy thing is you dont even realize how hard you are working until you let it go!

I look at scriptures like the 10 commandments and can easily see how God put those rules in place to protect me, but to see that keeping no record of wrong is for my benefit took this lesson.

This society teaches us so many backward things like, "forgive, don't forget." The bible clearly states 1 Corinthians 13:5 "Love keeps no record of wrongs." All God has called us to do is love. Love our neighbor, our parents, our spouse, our children. If you are keeping a constant tally on what they do then that is not love and it will seep into every area of your life. Causing you to isolate yourself and find more things to put on your list.

You may ask, "How can I stop keeping track when I have done it for so long?" Stop and repent every time for as long as it takes. My husband and I were arguing and he stopped in the middle of the argument and said, "I am so sorry but while we are talking about this I keep thinking of everything else you have done wrong. Can we talk about this and this alone later." That was a hard and honest thing for him to say and sometimes it takes that.

Father,
Thank you for providing us with a blueprint for life. How foolish we are to look to anyone but you for insight and instruction. Thank you for showing us that by letting things go we are not being weak but strong, trusting that you are sovereign and that all things truly work out for our good. We love you Lord.

Shape us, mold us, make us more like you.
Amen

Hearing God

I am sitting here at work listening to worship music with my headphones on while my co-worker turns on her R&B music. It wasn’t a bad song but it was very distracting and made it hard for me to hear the worship music. As I was about to get frustrated the Holy Spirit stilled me. This is exactly how it is when it comes to hearing God sometimes. Life gets so loud and there may not be bad things going on just loud things that distract and make it hard to hone in on what God is saying. As I am writing this she turned down the music and now the worship music is louder and it’s on my favorite part of the song. There are times when you have to concentrate to hear what He is saying but if you search for His voice and ignore the noise it will be so worth it.

Everyone Needs A Rabbi

I love Rabbi Daniel Lapin's thoughts. It is important that we love the Jewish people and realize what they have to offer. We as Christians focus so much on the New Testment but there are vital lessons in the Old Testament as well. Click the link below, read, and enjoy.

http://www.rabbidaniellapin.com/thoughttools_htmlversion.php?id=133

Worry

I am back!! Okay, so 7 months ago on 3/13/10 I married the man of my dreams. It has been quite a spiritual journey and has really opened my eyees to how much the devil hates marriage. So far every month since being married my DH and I have gone through something. Its always new, always different, and it always hits us and stretches us a little differently. It also brings us closer to each other and to God. Nothing has happened this month, yet. With it being month 7 maybe we will get a break but you know we don't even fret about whats going to come next. God is really growing us from faith to faith. Isn't it amazing how God creates precedent in our lives. When we go through something new we can look back and say well God you got me through that so I know you can get me through this.

Let me tell you something about me. I worry, it comes so natural to me. I put it on like an warm coat in the winter. God is teaching me through this time to rest when it seems that I should worry. At one time DH and I were both not working and a friend of mine said, "What are you going to do? Don't you think you should get a job?" I said, "No, God didn't tell me too." Would you believe ALL of our bills were paid we were eating out and enjoying life. I got caught in a flash flood and our only car was totaled everyone said there is no way you can buy a car for cash that is a good car. Do you know that just when we were going to break down and finance a car (I mean the only thing we were missing was a ride to the dealership) the credit check was complete we just had to sign the papers. God stepped in and opened the door for us to get a car for cash that only had one previous owner and runs great. How dare I worry. I know these trials that I have gone through are God's way of answering my prayers that He show Himself to me anew. That He remind me that I am fact am His favorite.

Be encouraged "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28

Baptism?

I was talking with my brother this morning about the importance of baptism. It was a great conversation. We read Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." and began to discuss it. "Does this mean if you baptized you can't receive the gift of the Holy Ghost? Does baptism mean your saved?" Well we looked back into the word for our answers and this is what we found.

In Romans the Jews asked what to say to the Gentiles who wanted to be saved. Well Romans 8:9 states "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

We also looked at Acts 11:43-45 "To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." In verse 48 Paul then commands them to be baptized.

Through reading these and much discussion we have come to this conclusion. In order to be saved you must believe in God, if you believe in Him and that His son Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose again than you will follow His steps and be baptized and open yourself up to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is not so simple, it is a process a daily evaluation of what one believes and how they operate in that believe. Its not just what you did that saves you its what you are doing. With that being said James reminds us in chapter 2 of his book that "faith without works is dead." So if you believe in Him read His word follow His teachings and be open for a miracle.

Doing Okay is NOT Good Enough

We as believers are to comfortable with "doing okay" financially. Just making ends meet. I used to work for a debt settlement company and I would talk to people all the time that were "doing okay" they were current on their maxed out credit cards, with no budget in plan and no savings to speak of. One check away from filing bankruptcy but they were "doing okay". God wants more for His children after all we are children of a king. Proverbs 13:22-23 says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his grandchildren but the sinners wealth is stored up for the righteous." We read this we understand this but we don't live this. It is our duty to leave an inheritance for our grandchildren that of both spiritual and physical wealthy AND the sinners wealth is stored up for US!!

Well how can you get the money you need in order to prosper financially.

1. Tithe- This is not an old testament term where you tithe because you don't want to be cursed, this is post resurrection tithe where you do it as a part of your covenant with the father. Its an act of love, submission and obedience to the father. God said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." A tithe is 10% of your income.

2. Invest- Matthew 25 tells the story of the talents. Take what God has given you and multiply it then sow it back into the kingdom. Doing this will bring exponential increase. Luke 6:38 says, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

3. Save- 1 Corinthians 16:2 "On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come." In the Bible days people farmed so there were times of lack where they depended on what they stored and worked to bring in more. There were also times of plenty where they took the excess and put it aside for the sowing season.

I hope this is a blessing to you and encourages you to start or continue building an inheritance for future generations.

Side Note - People think they don't need to go to church to have a relationship with God. That may be true but the strength of that relationship depends on you going to church. I have never met a person who was walking in the word of God who said that. The Bible says, "The enemy goes to and fro seeking whom he may devourer" even in nature the predator goes after the weak animal who is lagging behind or not keeping with the pack.

Pain Before Blessing

While talking to a close friend yesterday I remembered Genesis 32 the story of Jacob wrestling with the man. Starting from verse 24 "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What [is] thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked [him], and said, Tell [me], I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore [is] it [that] thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there." Ending at verse 29.

There are a few things I would like to point out here the first being that Jacob was willing to fight for change in his life. He was going to meet his brother hoping that his brother would not kill him. Verse 20 states, "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me." Jacob wrestled with this man alone. This was something that he has to face and fight for alone. Jacob was such a strong contender that the man had to dislocate his hip. Jacob still held on and would not let go until the man blessed him. Let me just say that dislocating anything especially a hip is very painful.The man then changed his name to Israel thus changing his identity.

The questions are:
Are you willing to fight through the pain it may take to receive your blessing?

Can you look back on your life and recognized that God used that pain and struggle to deliver you? (Read verse 30)

Please be encouraged as you go through the pains of life the way you deal with the pain shapes who you are.

Second Press

This weekend I went to a wonderful woman's conference where Pastor Kathy Hayes spoke on oil. She talked about how in an olive "garden" the way oil is harvested in they put the olives into a vat and pile them on at the bottom of the vat is a drain this is the first press and it goes straight to the temple this is extra extra virgin olive oil used for worship. The second press is when pressure is added this is extra virgin olive oil. It is used for personal nourishment, healing, balms and moisturizing. The third press is when oil is squeezed even from the seed that is used to light the lamps. This sermon was amazing but one thing that stuck out to me what Pastor Kathy's daughter Pastor Amy said you can't get to the third press without going through the second. Too many people want to move into being the light, into ministry but they haven't yet been fulfilled and nourished.

That got me thinking what does the second press look like for me. See God has been working on me for some years now on what other people think. He has been putting me in positions lately that are humbling forcing me to focus on what I know rather than what I think people think of me. I'm not a lay on your face in the carpet person I am a walk and talk with Jesus person. I may not read and study my bible chronologically I study based on a theme that God has put on my heart. I believe the second press is uncomfortable for many women because we are so used to pouring into everyone else that when we take the time to pour into ourselves it seems selfish. Or maybe that's just me.

The second press is a time of restoration, of nourishment, of preparation. What does the second press look like for you? I encourage you to find a scripture to remind you of why the second press is so important. For me its Galatians 1:10 "Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant."

Eternal Investments

Discipline: a branch of knowledge; a system of rules of conduct or method of practice;

Investment: the commitment of something with the expectation of some worthwhile result

Last night at service Brandon Dumas spoke on Luke 16:1-13 and I have been thinking about it all morning. I am in a weird place right now. I just got married and am currently a graduate student and housewife. I have always worked hard wherever I was employed I strove to be the best and often times obtained it. Now I am at home and God is telling me to be still. Last nights message was about investing in things eternal but there was one part of the scripture that really stood out to me. Luke 16:12 states, "And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" As I was praying today God laid on my heart you have been faithful in that which was another man's now I am giving you some of your own. WOAH!! Me?!

So here I am sitting at home wondering what to do with myself. I have unloaded and unpacked I prepare meals and wash clothes, I clean up the house. Then I start to think what would I do it I were at work. Well I would be diligent I would give my best I would want to fight for promotion and recognition. Then it hit me.......Why aren't I that way with God. I invested my time and energy into the work place years expecting a return every two weeks but what about an hour a day with God uninterrupted. What about acting on the promises He has spoken on my life, what about basking in his presence all day, or taking care of His temple, my body. Oh this message on investment humbled me.

God's word is true and sound. If you work hard for another God will give you what is yours the question I pose is when He gives it to you will you be ready?