Thank God For What You've Got!
Every day that we wake up, we need to thank God for allowing us another chance. Take a walk
around your home and thank God for what He has blessed you with.
This year I have had so much to be thankful for. God has really opened doors and made a way
so many times. Earlier this year I was let go from my job and for the whole summer I went
without employment, but I never complained, cried, or placed any blame. Even when the enemy
was trying to get me to see what I didn't have, I knew God was getting ready to open doors and bless me.
I now have a job WITH benefits and a weekly payment! I thank God for giving me the strength to
endure through the storm.
Keep in mind that we need to be thankful for what we have, whether it's a little or a lot. Be thankful for
what you have and even if you don't have what you want STILL be thankful. If what you want is not
in your possession just yet, God is preparing you to receive it. We tend to lose focus when what we want
dosen't came when we want it to. It's a process and God knows when we're ready and when we are not.
In the midst of your waiting period, every day thank God for what has, is, and is promised yet to come.
While you're waiting for your mansion, be thankful for your house or apartment. If you're waiting for your
2010 Cadillac, be thankful for your 2000 Buick.
We have to be thankful for the little things. Matthew 25:21 says:
"Thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler
over many things."
Be thankful for what you have because all blessings come from God!
Do You Recognize the Smell? Genesis 27:24-29
So many times we as children have come in from a long day of playing outside and the first thing our parents have said was “Child, you smell like outside!” You can when and where a child has been playing. Whether they smell like sweat, grass, dirt, or sometimes even creek-water. Men, how many times have you worn cologne and hugged your wife, girlfriend, or any other woman and left your scent to linger on her clothes? How many times have we walked past someone or out of a room and our scent remains behind us? Even though they no longer see us, they still smell us because they recognize our particular smell.
Well, it’s the same recognition of scent between God and us! In Genesis 27: 27, Issac hugged Jacob, who he presumed to be Esau, and could smell the scent that he associated with Esau. Because Issac smelled the scent of Esau on Jacob, he gave Jacob Esau’s blessing and birthright that only a father could give. When you carry the smell of your Heavenly Father, He will bless you the same. When you have had an encounter with God, can those around you smell His scent on you? Better yet, when you go back to spend time with God, can He still smell Himself on you?
So many times we lose the smell of God. We go outside and fall in the dirt of sin, we roll in the grass of lust, hatred, deceitfulness, backbiting, so on and so on. Then when we’re done, we come before God to offer up worship, and we stink. God doesn’t smell His smell on us, and our worship brings a foul smell to His nostrils. The only thing I can say is: THANK GOD FOR MERCY!
God can clean us up again, no matter how dirty we think we are. Sometimes we feel that our sinful stains have set in and nothing can get them out but, I know a stain removing agent that works better than bleach… it’s the blood of Jesus!
Do you want to be clean and smell like our Father again? Ask God to clean you right now. There are benefits from having the smell of our God:
“Let the people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.” Genesis 27:29
When others smell the blessings and fragrance of God, they will know WHOSE you are. The best part about it is, when God continues to smell Himself on you, the blessings can flow continually. Your worship will be received, and God will be pleased.
Now, ask yourself, does God recognize my smell?
July 2009
The holiday season is here again! The summer season is in full swing and families are gathering together at family reunions, graduation parties, and so many other summer time events. In this season of celebration, what are you truly celebrating? Man has set this time apart to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the moment of freedom! In certain states they even celebrate a holiday called Juneteenth, a celebration commemorating the liberation of Negro slaves on June 13, 1863. Yet, in the midst of all these festive times, we need to look back at the time we got our freedom.
Freedom from our addictions, our short-comings, the things that kept us bound. The day Jesus came and delivered us from our sins. Our first encounter with Jesus is our Fourth of July. Our moment of independence from the bondage of sin.
God knew the years of struggle, the years of turmoil and pain. That is why He sent His Son:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son…” John 3:16
The day Jesus died on the cross, his blood was the signature needed to free His people. We should remember the sacrifice God made to bring us out of bondage. Satan tries to keep us from receiving the promises that God has made to us, but thank God for Jesus! I thank God for seeing my future at my beginning. My sins, your sins, all of our sins have been forgiven. Our repentance gives us new freedom. Rejoice in the new found freedom, rejoice in the fact that the chains have been destroyed, new life, new anointing, everything has been made new.
Be blessed!
June 2009
A Father's Love
As we take this time to honor our fathers. Let us look at some of the things that makes a father.
A father's faith in God shows his family that he is trusting God to supply every need. It teaches his children that yes, you work hard and remain faithful to God, he will meet every one of your needs.
He also has commitment. A father who is committed to his wife, his family, he shows his sons how to love his wife, he teaches his daughters that a man does not have to hit you or hurt you to show he loves you. He is committed to what is right, committed to excellence and most of all committed to the building of the Kingdom and doing God's will.
What would a father be without discipline. Every now and then, he has to be the one who says no. He has to correct his children so that they know right from wrong. He has to be strong in the face of the tears of his little princess, or the hurt feelings of his young son. But the lessons a father teaches, his children never forget.
A father has to show love. He has to have compassion, he understands that his children are going to make mistakes and come to him for forgiveness. He has to have a heart for God and the heart of God.
Let us look at our hearts. Are we being the loving compassionate, faithful, committed, fathers we can be?
Look at some of the great fathers in the bible. Noah, in the midst of the doubters, he taught his sons faith in God. Abraham, taught Isaac, how to trust, even when he seen no other way, he still trusted. Job, in the face of disaster, sickness, everything around you falling apart, he stood on God's word. But most of all, God our father sacrificed, John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world, He gave his only begotten son.' God disciplines us when we make a mistake, but he loves us enough to forgive us. He provides for us day in and day out. He watches over us, he even gives us comfort in the midst of our tears. He stands with open arms ready to teach, and show us how to be better
Fathers, stronger men. If you don't have the heart of God, or are displaying some of these attributes mentioned, God is there to build you to show the love, faith, and what ever else we are missing. But the greatest of these is Love.
May 2009
Just a Little Encouragement
What do you do when you are the one who encourages others, you’re the motivator, the one who keeps everyone else’s spirits up, and then one day you look up and you are the one who needs encouraged? Seems like everyone you turn to is too busy or can’t be found. Seems like when folks need you, they can find you with no problem, but when you need them, you can’t find anyone. You feel like you’re all alone, in a place when you look to the left and the right you’re alone. You look up and down and there are no friends to be found.
My brothers, when you get to a point in life when this happens, look at David in II Samuel. When David couldn’t find anyone to keep him encouraged, he encouraged himself. He tapped into a place where he remembered that the joy of the Lord is his strength. We have to do the same. When you’re in your darkest hour and you can’t look anyplace but up, look to the hills where your help comes from. Remember Jesus is the lifter of our heads. We don’t have to look to man for out inspiration and encouragement. We can encourage ourselves. Rejoice in the Lord for His joy is our strength.
Be encouraged!
March/April 2009
Have you been praying for something and it seems like it takes forever for it to get here? Just when it seems it will never come, you become impatient and you move out of place, and then what you’ve been praying for comes and you miss your blessing.
There are times when we as men of God have to learn to stand still and wait on the Lord. When we ask for certain things, or to be certain places in our lives, we have to wait. There are levels we have to wait to get to. Sometimes we are not ready to be on that particular level, and when we move before God’s time, we move before we are spiritually ready.
We have to understand that God’s time is not our time. When we wait for God to deliver what He promised, He wants to see how faithful we will be during our waiting time. Will we complain and fuss? When we do this we are letting God see our impatience. Si, instead of His perfect will being done in our lives, we get his permissive will. There are things we have been allowed to have that didn’t turn out the way we thought. We’ve gotten in such a rush, we end up getting a half-ready blessing.
God wants to give us the desires of our heart. Proverbs 37 lets us know that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart.
I was talking to a friend who was waiting on the bus. She could see the bus in the distance, and knew that she had to be patient and wait for it. Even though the food was smelling good across the street, she could not move because the very thing she was waiting for was on the way. How many times have we seen our blessing right on the horizon and yet something enticed us from across the “street” and moved us out of position to receive what we’ve been waiting for?
Men, brothers, we have to stand still and wait on God. Let God do what He has promised us He will do. He’ll fight our battles, provide our needs, if we just wait.
Let’s stand still and watch God be an awesome God!
February 2009
We see the hurt, feel the pain.
We share the laughter, we endure the rain.
We protect the wounded, and defend the right.
We go to battle, we press in the fight.
We are men in the midst.
We provide for our loved ones,
We give to our wives,
We train up our children,
And pray over them day and night.
We are men in the midst.
God gave us a charge, we must carry it out.
At times we may have to cry or let out a shout.
We will go through the joy and feel some pain.
We’ll be exposed to some lies, But God is out truth.
So stand my brother as I stand too.
We’ll stand and aspire to be Holy men who are true.
We will encourage and push
We will pray with and for one another
EVERYDAY
In the midst we will be the example for the world today.
That Christ is, has, and always will be the only way.
Brothers, in the year of 2009, don’t look at your situations, but keep your eyes on God. As men we are expected to be the strength, we go through things too. There is nothing wrong with breaking down and shedding tears. In the midst of it all, no matter what, God is there being the man in the midst.
January 2009
Renewing your mind for 2009
As the new year comes in, so many people are making resolutions, saying what they are going to change, what they want to do different and how they are going to do things to make the new year better. We can always say what we are going to do, but as long as you have the same mind set, nothing is going to change. So many things happened in 2008 and now that 2008 is over we have to leave those things behind. God has so many new things waiting for is in 209, we have to make room. How can we receive from God in ‘09 when our hands are full of baggage and the troubles of ‘08?
We must adopt a new mind set. Romans 12:2 says “And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…” We have to change our mind set in order to really change our lives. We have to understand that God is the only one who can make the change on the inside that will show on the outside. We need to have the mind of Christ. We will never think totally like God, but when we know Him and have a true relationship with Him, we can then think on the things of God. When hard times come we will already know that we are victorious. There should be no room for doubt.
We can’t flip flop and change our minds about how much we are going to depend on Him, or trust Him. We have to be totally focused on the fact that God proved Himself many times in 2008, and we know He will do it even the more in 2009.
James 5:1 says “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” If we were on the fence in 2008, then let’s get on one side totally in 2009. Either be hot or cold. This new year let’s be on fire for God. He has brought us through so much and He thought enough of us to send His son to die for us. Let’s think enough of Him to dedicate to the things He would have us to do. Let us think enough of those who don’t know Him to go out and spread the Good News of God’s love and salvation.
This new year is a chance to renew our relationship and do the work Christ has planned for us to do.
It was great in ‘08, but it’s going to be divine in ‘09!
December 2008
Waking Up and Answering the Call.
There has been a time in all of our lives where we have felt like we have died, or maybe we have dozed off and fallen asleep. There has been a time in all of our lives when we were asleep and someone has called our name and it woke us up. That’s natural for us. We may have been sleeping and our children have called us and we wake up to see what they need. It may have been another family member such as our mother, father, sister or brother, whoever it may have been, we have known the voice and have answered the call.
Spiritually, we may have fallen asleep or some of us have died in the Spirit. In the midst of this time there is a voice calling for us to get up and answer the call. Our Heavenly Father is calling for us to wake up from our Spiritual slumber, our Spiritual death, and answer the call of His voice.
You may think you can’t get up, you may also feel that you are too far gone for God to be calling you. There may have even been times when we have felt that God doesn’t care about the fact that we have died this Spiritual death. Let’s look at John 11. Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, has died. In the midst of the hard time, Jesus didn’t come right away. He said “ This sickness will not end in death” (John 11:4). Sometimes the things we go through are like being physically sick. We think we’re dying but what we’re going through is not going to kill us. In the end God will get the glory.
When Jesus did finally arrive, Lazarus had already transitioned, and He was told “If you had been here, my brother would not have died”. How many times have we gotten upset or angry with Jesus because He didn’t come when we wanted Him to? Or because he didn’t move when we thought He should have? Jesus replied, “I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” John 11:25-26
Jesus called out to Lazarus, “Lazarus, come out” (John 11:43). Just as Jesus called and raised Lazarus from his place of death, He is calling you. How long have you been laying in that place? Are you still wearing your grave clothes? Has the world thrown dirt on top of you and counted you out? That might be the case, BUT GOD is calling you by name. Telling you to come out and remove your grave clothes.
Wake up from your Spiritual slumber, be what God is calling you to be. When you come forth, those who counted you out or knew you before the change will see how amazing the power of God is. Get up and answer the voice of our Father. Wake up and answer the call!
November 2008
How to manage your hidden addictions
There is an old saying that “What’s done in the dark will come to the light.” What that is telling us is, no matter what you do when you are by yourself, will come out in public in due time. Now men, we may not go around spreading our business and telling people everything that’s going on in our lives, but we never know who is watching us. We may say we’re doing right, living right, and loving everybody, but what really goes on in our lives once we get behind closed doors? We need to check our private lives.
When I was younger, I always had a problem keeping my bedroom clean. There were clothes under the bed, stuffed in the closet, just thrown all over the place. My mother would fuss and say that I wanted to “look like a million dollars” when I step out the door, but inside the house my room would be a mess. I had a problem with my inside life. The part I didn’t let anyone see. I wanted to look good when others would see me, but my secret life a mess. It began to show because I would pick up dirty clothes and unknowingly wear my dirt out in public. It was then that I started to carry an odor, my body would clean, but what I was presenting my body in was dirty. How are we, the men of God, presenting ourselves?
What is going on in our private lives that is keeping us unclean before God? Everyone of us is dealing with something. We hate, we lie, we battle with lust, and many other things. What odor are we carrying? Ask yourself, can anyone smell me? Am I holding up my secret life to a standard that matches my public appearance? Am I in my prayer closet enough or do we need to stay in there longer? When I go out can I hold my head up cause I’m living 100%, or am I trying to see who can see the dirt on me?
We need to go to God and ask for Him to clean us up, help us deal with our hidden addictions. Whether it’s lust, fornication, cheating, lying, slander, or backbiting, whatever the problem, nothing is too hard for God. See, in God’s Rehab Program, there are some steps that we have to take. II Chronicles 7:14 gives us four steps: “Humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.” We have to let go of the sin from within. If you continue to read, God tells us “then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land!”
We need o constantly check ourselves into God’s Rehab Program. DAILY! Clean up our secret lives, so we can walk perfectly in the eyes of God. Once we do that, God will bless us and the eyes of man will see what God can do to clean them up as well. We are the men of God, let us be the examples God can use.
October 2008
Compliments of Love
As men, especially Christian men, we need to know how to compliment the beauty inside of a woman. I have watched men over the years. They’ve had many different ways of complimenting, or degrading women. In our relationship, how are we talking to our significant others? Are we building them up or tearing them down? Are the women in our lives been made to feel like queens? Have they been given a reason to smile when you’re not around, because of the memories, or just the thoughts of how the man in their life makes them feel? These are questions that we have to ask ourselves on a daily basis. Am I being the best husband, boyfriend that I can be to the one I give my love to?
Compliments should be given everyday. You are beautiful, I love you, I am crazy about you. You make me so very happy. Songs of Solomon, (Song of Songs), the 4th chapter. It gives us an example of how to compliment the ones we love. But why should we compliment the loves of our lives? And how does that show us how to love God? First of all, one of the themes of this book is love. If you love someone, or something, you make sure that everyone knows. We show signs of our love, we proclaim our love, and we do everything in our power to let everyone know that this person is loved so very much by me. In our relationship, the women that we love should feel that love. They should be able to go out, and know, that they are beautiful, not because they have that confidence, but because we as men constantly tell them how beautiful they are. If we don’t let them know how much they mean to us, and how beautiful they are to us, when some other man comes along, and begins to compliment them its going to hit a spot in their minds. “My own man doesn’t even tell me how beautiful I am”, then there will be a problem.
Showing emotions is not a sign of weakness. I heard a man once say that he could not be affectionate with his wife because it was “gay”. Women are emotional beings, they have deep emotions, and they also long for attention. God’s original plan was not for us to be alone, but to be with a companion. When he created Adam, he said “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” So God gave Adam, Eve. And God has prepared an Eve for all of us. We have to show our Eve that she is special. Eve was special because she was made from Adam’s rib (Gen. 2:22). Your wife, or girlfriend should be special to you, and I know she is, but we have to remember, that as the days go by that everyday is not promised to us. Take each day as being a special day to tell her how much you love her, or show her how much you care. We shouldn’t wait until Mother’s Day, Valentines Day, Sweetest Day, or Christmas, everyday that God gives us air to breath, that is the time you show her love. Compliment her, and cherish every moment you have with her.
We also can look at the way God loves us. God’s love for us has covered so many of our faults. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…” God gives to us everyday, he compliments us, he tells us how we are blessed, how much we are loved. His mercy and grace is upon us everyday. His favor dwells upon us there is nothing that God will not give to us. When we mess up he loves us, he still showers us with blessings. He never tears us down with words, but he builds us up. Reminding us that we are more than conquers. God’s love for us compliments us everyday.
Shower her with compliments, let her know how beautiful her eyes are, how precious her smile is, how she makes your heart skip beats when she is near you and how you are nothing without her when she is away from you. God gave us our wives and girlfriends to be special gifts to us. Now let us show them that we love them extremely. Let us show God how much we love him and the gifts he has given us. Compliment her with love!
Compliment with Love
Your eyes, shine bright, they sparkle with the moon light
You’re the wind beneath my wings, you help me soar to higher heights.
I am along without you, I’m empty inside, you’re created to be apart of me
I am going to love you for life.
I want to compliment you with love, shower you with joy indeed.
Give you everything, with the love God has given me.
I shower you with happiness, great dedication to you. I compliment you with love,
The way I was commanded to do.
God gave me a gift when he gave me you, he gave me a treasure deep within the
heart of you.
You’re my everything my all, my gift my good thing. So I say I love you, you’re
So special to me, I’d be so crazy to take you for granted, because your love also
compliments me.
September 2008
The Dance of a King
As men I know that there are times when we have issues with expressing ourselves in the presence of God. When the spirit of God comes into the room, we as men have to recognize that our praise and our worship moves God in awesome ways. God has brought many of us through so many things so many things.
Men are the head of the house hold, and the strength of the family, and the church. We are the warriors who God will send to fight. Before the men in the bible would go to war they would send the praise leaders, and as men we are to send praise up before God on behalf of our families, our own lives and the lives of the people who we come in contact with everyday.
I remember watching The Lion King, and Simba was so excited about being a king like his father Mufasa. One day Mufasa took young Simba and showed him all the kingdom, and how it belonged to young Simba. Mufasa already promised his son that everything your eyes look upon is already yours. But when Scar set Simba up and blamed him for Mufasa’s death, Scar told Simba to run away and never return. How many times have Satan told us, that we aren’t being the man God has called us to be. How many times has he told you to run away from your calling, run away from your destiny. A lot of times it happens as young children. We are so excited to grow up and be like our fathers, we want to be great husbands, fathers, general all around man, but there was something that happened in our lives as a young boy, and we heard run. So that is just what we did, we ran, away from our destiny, away from God was and still is calling for us to be. We feel like we can’t do it, because of our past. There is nothing that God can’t forgive us for, and most of the things that we feel is our fault , is not even our fault.
When Simba ran away, he grew up and put his past away in a place where no one would know about it. He forgot how he was supposed to be the right one for the throne. He ran away from his place in the kingdom. But when Simba got his wake up call, and he realized, the things in his past happened only to make him what he was to become, a King. We as men have to realize that, when things happen In our life, its not to make us run away from our destiny. Things come in our life to make us, to push us to our place in the kingdom. I ran for a long time, I ran away from my calling in the ministry. I felt that the things I did, have done, and felt that I will do, did not qualify me for that calling. How many times are we going to question God about the calling that he put on our lives. God made us kings, we are to walk in the authority that he has given us. God has already promised you, that you will possess the land, the things he has shown you will be yours. Don’t let the devil get in your ear and tell you that you will not be what God has already told you that you would become. If God has told you that you are to have your business, then you will have it. As men Satan does not want to see us in our rightful place. If he can defeat us then he can kill our families. Because he knows if he can kill the head then the body will fall right after that. That is why he is so busy in our churches attacking our men, men who don’t want to take their place, they don’t want work because they don’t feel that they qualify for the job. Once we as men understand that the disciples who followed Jesus, they didn’t qualify for that position either. But when we are called, we go through things in life that teaches us to be able to walk in that position. The trials and tribulations are enough to qualify us to be what God has called for us to be.
IF we had any type of addiction, maybe to drugs, alcohol, even being addicted to sex, fornication, adultery, what ever it was, God delivered you from, that qualified you to go out and proclaim God’s word. To go out and reach the sinner man, who can’t see no way out of what ever he is in. It qualified you to be a doer of God’s word, it qualified you to use the gift inside of you. God is going to stir up the gifts that he has placed in his men. We will come forth and be the kings that he has called us to be. We hold back and we don’t praise God the way we know that we can, because we worry about who is going to be looking at us, or what people are going to say about us.
We need to have to mind set of King David (2 Samuel 6:14). We should dance before God every chance we get. Not just or what he has done, but just because he has been so good to us. We need to look back at God’s record and see that every time we needed him, he was there, when we were stuck in a situation and didn’t know how to get out, he was there bringing us out. When we felt that there was nothing else to do but to give us, God was right there giving us the strength to make it out of it. We need to dance before God, we need to shake off all the chains of conviction that are holding us back as men. No longer will we think about what people say, or what they think, we will no longer let someone label us as no good men, no longer will we let our past make us see what we think we can’t become. As men of God, no longer will we let the devil play with our mind, or our family, our finances. We will walk in our callings, we will be all that He has called us to be. we will be the Men, the Kings, the rightful ruler of the portion of the kingdom that God has already told me is mine. We will dance before God to show him, his Kings thank him for everything he has done, even the things we can’t see him do, we will dance before him, and praise him. I want to move God, let our praise and my worship be pure, let it touch the very heart of God. Let it get to the point where we don’t have to wait for the music, we will have a dance of joy, a dance of victory. Men, say this loud, I will praise God with everything I have, no matter who is looking. I will be what he has called me to be. I will dance, even if it means dancing everywhere I go, I will dance out of the things that are holding me back, I will dance right out of my trials, I will dance my way into my destiny! I will dance the dance of a King!
August 2008
New Desire, New Dimension
I sat and I watched. I sat and I listened. I never knew what I missed when I was in a rush to fall in love. I never knew my place. I always thought, I had to be next to someone who I felt loved me. It’s funny, when you want something so bad you just take what is offered to you first. You never go and look around to see what really fits you. It’s almost like shopping for clothes and you grab the first thing you see. Even though the color looks good on you, sometimes the size is too small and you look good for a moment, but then after a while, when you wash it multiple times, it begins to shrink, and it does not fit you very well. When you begin to look so deeply for relationship and you begin to place it before God’s relationship with you, that’s when your earthly relationship begins to shrink and it does not look good on you.
You never know how out of place you are, until you are exposed to the real truth about you, and those around you. We all have a place, a place where we fit in just right. A place God has made just for you. We wonder why we never fit in with certain groups, and certain scenes. It’s because God has a higher calling for us. He has a place that he wants to take us, and there are people and places that we can’t be around, because of the right places that God wants to take us. When we get to the level that God has created just for us, we will find the peace that we have been looking for. We will find the love and the comfort that we have been longing and searching for. It’s a greater peace that we will find, we will know no trouble for a season, and the blessing that God has waiting for us, we will not be able to measure.
How do we get to that level, and find that place. We have to fast and pray, (Mark 9:29 This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.) We won’t know where we’re supposed to be, or how to get there if we don’t hear from God. We have to know the voice of our Father, who is speaking to us telling us which way to go, and what detour to take. There is nothing greater than our heavenly Father guiding us where we won’t have to worry about getting lost. How do we know his voice, the same way we know the voice of our earthly parents. We spend time with them, we are with them everyday, walking and talking with them. They give us the love that we look for, and they provide for us. This is the same way that Jesus wants to love and care for us. He wants to give us gifts, and love and care for his children.
Its amazing how we are so quick to obey those who have earthly influence over us, but we want to question God when he says what to do and what not to do. Since God is the creator of all, then you would think that he knows how he wants to world to work, Even though he put man on earth to rule and have dominion over the earth, we still need to seek him in order to know how we should do what is right, and not what is wrong. Your earthly boss tells you what to do because he/she knows how the business should be ran, they tell us what time to be at work, and what time we can leave work. They do this because, they have made a schedule to keep things running smoothly. it’s the same way God has things in life set up. We go through our season for only a moment, and then we come out to help those who are about to go through. We can’t all work the same shift, then it would be so much confusion. So the same, we all can’t go through trials and tribulations at the same time, because then who would God have to minister to us.
This is all part of God’s plan. This is why we have to know our place, we have to know our place in God’s kingdom. We have to look over our situations to know where God is leading us, and we have to keep our eyes on God to know where He is leading us. We have to fast and pray, and spend that quality time with our heavenly Father, so we will know His voice, and His ways. He wants to walk and talk with us everyday. He is trying to reassure you that you and I are His own, we are His children and He wants to spend time with us and love on us. God sent His only son Jesus down to die for us, that is how much He loves us (John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not parish, but have everlasting life.) Then Jesus himself made us a promise, that He was going to prepare a place for us (John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.)
We have a place, here on earth, in worship, in God, in the kingdom, in God’s great plan. Knowing our place prepares us for our next level, our next level prepares us for our next dimension and our next dimension puts us in the place where God wants us to be.
Now that we know how to get to our place in God, and we know that we have to hear His voice, to know which way to go. We have to know that now, nothing else matters, except doing the will of God. We have to get to the point where we know what our purpose is once we are here in this new dimension. We are here to worship the Holy One, the one who has given breath and life, the one who has all our troubles already worked out in his hands. We have to take time out to get into our secret closets.
Join me in prayer:
God, let us know our purpose for coming to this point in our life. What is this new hunger, this new thirst? This feeling we feel on the inside, God, open our eyes to this new desire for more worship, for more of You. In this new area of what we knew as ordinary praise, You are taking us into extraordinary worship. Let us enter into the realms of heaven, let us break through each realm of heaven until we are in Your presence. Show us how to walk in these new shoes You have placed on our feet, the blessed footsteps that shall leave behind a reminder to all who come behind us that not only have we been here, but we’re not here alone. Let them see, Your footsteps, and know that it was You, our God, our Father who was carrying, is carrying , and always will carry us through ALL the trying times in our lives.
In this level of extraordinary worship, show us how to hear, show us how to move. Let us feel an extraordinary touch while are in your presence. Lord, our prayer is to continue to move up in You Lord. Show us how to move in this promotion, for this promotion is not for our glory, but for man to glorify you. Give us the words to say, place the people in our lives that You will have us to speak life to. When in the valley of dry bones, use us to bring a renewed freshness, renewed life. We are Your vessels, we are Yours to use. Lord guide our steps. We understand that there will be times we may walk alone, but You will never leave us alone.
Even in our sleep we want to worship You, We want to give You the glory and the praise. We sing Hallelujah all day long. We can’t praise You enough, You are holy Lord. Let the sound of our worship, reflect the sounds of the angelic choir. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer (Psalm 19:14). Lord when we are mad, clean us up. When we fall, pick us up. Lord, when we are not operating in our dimension, pull us up. Before we open our mouths to sing any type of praise, or worship you in any way, please clean us up first so that our praise and worship can be pure. Let it be like a sweet smelling fragrance, something You can enjoy.
You are our beginning and end, You know our coming and our going. Forever will we praise You. Let not the snares of the enemy trap us by our feet, nor let the handcuffs of lust-filled desire hold our hands down where we can’t lift them to You in total surrender. Let our extraordinary worship bring about extraordinary blessings.
Now that we know our place, we understand our role. Now to You we return our gifts, so that You may use them as You see fit, and so that man can see the change of the inner man, in our outward man. Lord continue to do an new thing each and everyday. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
July 2008
Relationships: An Equal Opportunity Situation
When asking different people about what it takes to be in a good relationship, a lot of people said, communication, some said compromise, and one of the most popular answers was give and take. I sat back and looked over these answers and I thought a minute about what each one meant to a relationship.
Communication: Talking to one another with understanding, speaking in a civilized manner, being able to handle situations as adults. How many times have we had a disagreement with our significant other, we begin talking and before you know it, you are in a full-blown argument, screaming, shouting, and no ones listening, because the communication has been thrown out the window. If we just take the time and communicate and listen, then we would be fine.
Compromise/Give and take: Basically, an agreement. MEN, this is one of our toughest things to deal with. If she wants to go shopping, we don’t want to go with her cause we don’t want to be in the mall for 5 hours. WOMEN, if he wants to watch the game, if you don’t like sports you want his time. We have to compromise, you go shopping with her early, and she can let you watch the game later. Sometimes men, we can miss a game to spend time with her and make her happy.
But there are times that men (NOT ALL OF US) want to pull the “I am the king of this castle, and what I say goes”. Yes and a big NO! Gen 1:27 “So God created man, in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female.” So yes, God did create man first, but in Gen 2: 21-25 it tells us that God created woman from man’s rib. Women are our help meet, not our slaves. God made marriage sacred; it’s a partnership between man and woman.
Another scripture that some men take advantage of is Ephesians 5:22-23, “Wives submit yourself to your husband, as unto the Lord. For the husband, is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” Men, this is not a deed to a piece of property. They are a gift from God for us to cherish and love. I know that in marriage that we want quality time, sometime they have head aches, they are tired, or they just aren’t in the mood. As their husbands yes we have to be understanding, but at the same time, God said for them to submit to their husbands. Ladies, yes sometimes when you’re not in the mood, you may have to act like it.
Men we are not off the hook though. In 1st Corinthians 7:1-5, this passage of scripture teaches us that it is good for a man to have one wife, and a woman to have one husband. And in verse three it says “Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.’ There should be no neglect in a marriage. It is constant give and take, we have to submit to them, just like they to us. Men stop saying that I am not submitting to a woman. Your wife needs as much attention as you do. It also teaches that, “The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his body, but the wife.” Meaning, your bodies belong to each other. You are gifts to each other, stop letting the devil come in to your marriage and separate the two of you. In verse five it tells us, “ Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourself to fasting and prayer, and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
Now I know that all of us are not married, and I know that being single is not the most popular thing in the world. But as single men we are to focus more on our relationship with God, as single men we have an advantage over the married couples. We can focus on the things of God more than that of our married brothers. In 1st Cor 7:33 “But he that is married, careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife”. As single men, we can focus on the will of God, We shouldn’t rush off and get married thinking that we will find the one we want right away. First we have to take time and get to the place where God wants us to be. Then pray that he will prepare us for the one who we will take as our wife. If you are dating, that is not your wife so you shouldn’t know here intimately. The both of you should take time and pray together, and worship together that your minds are not open to sexual thoughts which can lead to sexual immorality. Make God first in your relationship. Make sure that your dating is God’s perfect will, and not his submissive will. Sometime when we want companionship is because we don’t want to be alone. We have a fear of loneliness, we have a fear of not being able to be close to someone, so as men we go out and find someone who we think that is meant for us. The whole time God is saying that she is not the one for you, but we still go and jump headfirst into a situation before we acknowledge him.
Outside of earthly relationships, we have to look at is, how is our relationship with God. Are we being the man God requires us to be? How is, our communication with God, do we talk to him daily, or just when we feel like being bothered. Is our mind open to compromise, we give him our sins, our worries, our insecurities, our problems, and let him work it out, or do we let pride get in the way, and try to handle everything ourselves cause we feel we don’t need help. Men we have a great responsibility in the Kingdom, we have to learn that we are constantly under construction, but God can still use us while he is working on us. If your relationship is in trouble then we need to talk it out. See where we are going wrong, see what we can do different. Ask God to show you in what areas we can make our relationship with him better. Is it that we need to pray more, maybe fast more, and spend more time on our faces in his presence? How is our intimate time with God? Are we neglecting him so we can satisfy our flesh? Let’s get it right as men, Get to where God wants us to be. Relationships are give an take, equal opportunity, so give it to God, and let him take it away so we will have an equal opportunity to worship him and be loved by our father.
June 2008
Being A Fatherly Example
As a small boy we look up to many different men as role models. It seems like they are the perfect example of what being a man truly is. We look up to business men, successful politicians, community leaders, and sports figures. We get excited about growing up being like them, and walking in their shoes. Has anyone you look up to now, or anyone you have looked up to in the past, ever let you down? The feeling that comes over us when that "man" comes over us, is a pain that does not go away easily. And usually, we are hurt more by a man we think will never fall or do anything wrong, our Fathers. As children growing up, we think our fathers can't do any wrong. They are our super heroes, " my father can beat your father", going back and forth because we want to believe that our father is the best father there is in the whole world. Some of us grew up with the type of father that does no wrong, he does everything that a father
is supposed to do, he is the true definition of what a Godly father is. Then there are those of us who had the type of father that didn't do what is right, he was around and that was it. And sad to say, a lot of us don't even know who are fathers are.
In many ways, all these fathers are examples, no not all of them are the best examples, but, are still examples. So now we have to ask ourselves, what kind of man, husband, father are we being. Are we the type of man God is called us to be? Are we being the covering for our families, the support and the head of our households. What type of examples are we setting? Just because we may have not had a relationship with our earthly fathers, we can see the example of the Godly fathers that we are supposed to be. In the 13th chapter, 16th verse of John, Jesus tells us that He has set an example of us, and He promises us that we will be blessed if we do these things. We have to love our wives, as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25). We have to train our children, teach them how to pray, and trust in God. Proverbs 22:6 says, Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he gets older he will not turn from it.
How are we training our children? Are we the type of fathers who are, "Do as I say, and not as I do"? If so we are setting the wrong example. We can't beat our wives, nor cheat, lie, or verbally abuse them, Then turn around and tell our sons not to do it, because it is wrong. We are to have one wife, not a wife and two girlfriends and yet tell our sons to be committed and faithful. At times we are sending the wrong message to our young boys, we need to reach out not to just our sons, but other young men. Show them how to love, and how to be a strong father, and man of God. This way when they get older they can be an example to their children. We have to be the provider to our homes. We have to be the comforter for our wives, the teacher for our sons, and a protector for our daughters.
We have to be the example for our daughters, so when they grow up they won’t find the abuser, or cheater, but, they will wait for God and let him send them the man he has for them. We have to teach them what proverbs 18:22 says: A man whom finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor in the Lord. We need to teach our daughters to be Godly women, so a true man of God can find her, and she will know when God has her ready to receive him.
We as men have to be an open example for the family. We have to pray, read our word, fast, pay tithes, and seek God at all times. So, as we celebrate Father's day, we need to take a look at what type of examples we are showing to our families. Enjoy this day set aside for us, share the love you have with your family. But most of all, follow God and let Him lead you. For the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.
I grew up in house dominated by the strong presence of women of God. My father was incarcerated for over 21 years and I only had the opportunity to spend a couple of days with him before his untimely demise. As a young man growing up psychologically and spiritually, I was in dire stress seeking a male role model. I never voiced this concern but, my spirit was screaming while my lips never moved. I should be very specific when I describe a male role model.
In the neighborhood where I grew up, there were plenty of role models. What I found was the man who stood next to the corner market daily grasping a bottle of liquid courage also known as Wild Irish Rose. Or maybe it was the man who drove the nice car and wore nice clothes whose occupation destroyed families and relationships throughout my community. He was an entrepreneur with a nightmarish objective to use cocaine as his god. My Grandmother worked hard as a custodian to ensure that I didn’t look up to that man. But more importantly she took me to church and taught me that holiness is a lifestyle, not a denomination. The preachers and deacons became my fathers. They taught me how to pray and read the Word. I’m so grateful that they had a special way of ensuring that I was on the track. Men and Women must learn that there are little faces watching your every move. We must not only speak as witnesses of God’s grace and mercy, but let our light so shine before men.
Through struggles in life, and not living in what America considers a “Leave it to Beaver home,” I learned how to listen and love my Heavenly Father. You will often hear testimonies of those who will declare he’ll be a father to the fatherless. Being saved and filled with the precious Holy Ghost has filled the voids that society placed in my heart. Life’s greatest tragedy is to lose God and not miss Him. God has shown me His love and compassion even when I didn’t realize He was lifting me higher. As a father and pastor, it is my joy to be led by God to speak life into what Satan has declared deceased. He is the antagonist in the storybook of our lives. His main objective is to destroy families beginning with our men of valor. Why is it so hard for some men to worship but easily done by our women? It is our time to shine and step it our rightful place. And as children of God we must stand boldly.
When will we take a stand like Daniel? In the Book of Daniel 6 chapter a declaration was made into law that no person was to pray to their god. Daniel knew who the true and living God was in the beauty of holiness. He continued in prayer and worship despite what society had condemned. It’s that awesome accusation of a child of God. If you’re going to be accused of anything, be accused of being a worshipper and a prayer warrior. Our fathers have been accused of being AWOL (Absent Without Leave) but today I charge all men to stand. I also charge the women of God to stand in prayer for all men that they may truly know our true Father in all of His glory.
If your father is living, learn how to appreciate him and love him, because you are truly blessed. There is no such thing as a step anything. If you care for that child you are a father. Biological circumstances take a back seat to what’s in your heart. Don’t wait until a storm or a struggle occurs during this journey called life to know God. I’m thankful now because I know that these rainy days aren’t always bad since I met my father.∠
Dr. J. Hezekiah Martin is the Senior Pastor of the Southfield Community Baptist Church of Columbus, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science from the Trinity University and Master of Divinity from the West Texas Theological Seminary. In 2005, He graduated from the Temple Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry. He is a great Shepherd, loving father, and a wonderful friend.
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