Do they know?

Romans 10:14-15

¹⁴ How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!

How do they know if they have not heard? For me like so many others, It wasn’t so much that I refused to know Jesus, I just didn’t really know a whole lot about him. I remember when I began to feel the stirring within me. I also remember when the thought of all of this was just too much…too strange and I shut it down completely. But then I remember that day when God revealed himself to me in a way that scared to me to death. And then I just knew.

I don’t always have the right words to say to someone in sharing the Gospel and I sometimes walk away from the conversation feeling as if I failed or went about it wrong. I even get bogged down by the times of my life that were a poor reflection of Him, if even a reflection at all, and wonder if people can see Christ within me now.

I so hope that is the case. I hope that today, even through my failures and my flaws, that my life would be a witness for Him.

Our Youth group is meeting every Sunday morning with the purpose of making sure we are equipped to correctly spread the news, the good news of the Gospel. I wanted to share with you one of the ways we are learning, it is called the Roman road.

Romans 3:23 - ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 - ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 - ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9 - ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:13 - ¹³ For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”^[

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have^[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 8:1 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,^[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 I tried to piece together what I could with this, there may be a few scriptures that I am missing, I’ll let you know next week after I fully learn it myself. I just thought that this would be a good reminder or good notes for each of us. I also wanted this to be available to someone who has never read it before also. God’s word is so full of the Gospel and this is only one of many ways to share it. I hope that it blesses you and that you will bless someone else by it today.

Years ago I wrote this poem. I must admit I laughed a little when I came across it today. It’s a little all over the page, but I guess you are used to that if you have been reading this blog long. All I know is that what this poem is about was absolutely everything for me once I knew Him.  

Silence

No beating wings, no hymns of praise – the angels gathered starring at his face.

And one not dare to ask God why, they knew the time had come for his goodbye.

 The time before, he called they went, but things were different now His days were spent.

The screams the blood they could not bare – Release us LORD, send us there!

The crown of thorns that pierce His face, remove them LORD in this we pray.

Well give him ours, each one we’ve earned, except this offering for His return.

The cracking whips, the tarring skin, the damaged body no doctor can mend.

The angels hearts are calling out, their mouths won’t open for fear of shout!

Whose voice was it that calmed the sea, that filled the sky, that breathed in me.?

You are the one that spoke it all and still right now your grace with fall.

 
Those words you spoke, even to the shores, “Stop right here, you may come no more.”

Then stop this LORD speak your command. He just turned to them and raised his hand.

The angels stopped in fear of what was next, in silence he spoke and in silence they wept.

Now that they could see the plan, but not for Jesus, it was for man.

One by one they hit their knees with tear stained faces and hearts unease.

Wings that weren’t broken but could not fly, moments that seemed forever but raced right by.

They watched them lift Him off the cross. God let us go, we will keep watch!

When God said yes they flew they went, straight to their savior and protecting Him.

LORD lock us up and send them away they’ve done enough just let us stay.

 The angels watched as they cleaned His face, they searched for the beauty the blood had erased.

They stood close by, not an inch they moved, starring as they lay Him in the tomb.

Crucified He was, resting He is now, waiting for His day when God’s word would be lived out.

Preparing in the Kingdom now for the right hand of the throne, Jesus is our Savior, to all this will be known.

Three long days have passed; oh how much longer can this take, this moment we want to cherish, for this moment we cannot wait.

Raise Him LORD and let’s rejoice we want to see His face.

The time has come they’ll be set free, but will they thank you for this grace?

The glories yours we must confess, in silence we believed,

now sound the trumpets and beat the drums a celebration is due indeed.

Now lift your voice and sing a song of praise to our King,

you truly are the faithful one, because of this they are redeemed.

We bow our heads and lift our praise to the right hand of the throne, because of this you’ve saved their souls and claimed them now your own.

Man will know Him by His name and live beneath His reign.

They Kingdom come thy will be done they’ll pray this in His name.

He gave his Son, his only Son, for you it had to be, His mercy and His grace stretched out; worthy child I have one plea.

So take this gift that dwells within your heart that once was stone. He loves you more and asks you now, surrender before his throne.

k

Freedom from slavery

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I wonder if any of us would be willing to admit that we are slaves to our baggage (sin past & present, strongholds, addictions, resentment, fears, judgment…). Not only was I a slave to it, and unfortunately still am with a few things, I was exhausted over it. I think what scared me more than the thought of laying these things down at his feet was the thought of never getting rid of them.  

I had the chance to speak to our Youth group last night and I wanted to share something that I shared with them. These 3 things have really been what changed it all for me. They are a combination of things that God revealed and words spoken from people who ministered to me.

1.     God will never allow full contentment, peace or joy when we choose to fill the voids in our lives with anything other than God first.

2.     After being saved or turning from sin. God does not intend on mending every relationship back into a present relationship in your life, nor does he intend on molding every addiction back into a “manageable” substance in your life. He also will never set you free from your strongholds and expect you to take back a part or a percentage of it and apply it back into your life. There are times when God draws a line in the sand and says no more.

3.     God can change the desires of your heart.

You see what took me a long time to grasp was Jesus didn’t just die on the cross for the redemption of our sin’s. He died so that we would have freedom too.

 I don’t know what it means to you to have freedom, but I can tell you freedom for me meant more than any of my baggage ever did. To know Him is to love Him, to lay it all down to Him is freedom.

The beautiful thing about God is that he doesn’t tell us to get our lives together first then come to him. No, he says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I was so tired of being tired. As a matter of fact I am a little worn out  with the baggage I have yet to let go of, and I have no one else to blame but myself. You know the verse that says, (Matthew 6:13-14) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. I always wondered if the real problem was that only a few could fit (on account of their baggage that is)…who knows.

I do know that God really wants us to experience joy, peace and happiness in our life. If you have time today read James 2. I love verse 26 that says, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Sometimes God requires action on our part. Sometimes were are just too stubborn or afraid of what will happen if we did let some things go. It doesn’t require you being the one to know how to fix everything; you just have to be willing to trust Him with the outcome. (I should really take my own advice on this one…).

Before I close I wanted to go back to #3, God can change the desires of our heart. This one is huge for me, mainly because it wasn’t easy for me to lay most of my things down to Him. I didn’t joyfully go through this process; if it was that easy then it wouldn’t have been that big of deal for me to lay it down in the first place. Through time and prayer God changed the desires I had for each of them. All I had to do was ask.

We can do this; we can walk in freedom and leave the dark shadows of our “baggage” with Him. (could I possibly say that word any more times today J)

FOR IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST HAS SET US FREE, STAND FIRM THEN AND DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE BURDNED AGAIN BY A YOKE OF SLAVERY!!!  

One Body

1 Chronicles 28:9-10

⁹ And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

¹⁰ Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.

When you read this scripture does it make you think about what God is calling you to do? I realize that unlike Solomon I am not called to the task of building the Temple or unlike Noah to build an ark. I am not Moses who was called to meet with God on the mountain and chisel straight from the mouth of God the commandments on the stones or even like David to conquer the giant & eventually reign as the greatest King of Israel. The list of people that God used throughout the bible are long and I hope that when you spend time in the word reading about them you would allow each story to strike the cords in your heart.

Although I am not one of them, I am a child of God. What I cannot deny is that I am destined to fulfill the calling that God has placed upon my life to reflect His glory. I want you to remove the thoughts you may have that your “calling” has to be huge or on a level that you cannot comprehend. Although this may be true for some, or even for you at times, what I want you to think about today is how we can make sure that we don’t miss out on the times when God is calling you to be a vessel for him, even if it is for one person.

If God has placed it on your heart to rise up and be a prayer warrior for someone then don’t think twice about it. Get up and pray. If God has brought a situation to your attention and you feel the Holy Spirit directing you to encourage that person or counsel that person through it, than through prayer be willing to serve. The word of God says that we are The Body of Christ, One Body with many parts that work together.

Let’s read a little about what God says about our gifts (callings) and what we are to do with them.

 1 Corinthians 12

Spiritual Gifts

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.

² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.

³ Therefore I tell you that no-one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, Jesus be cursed, and no-one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.

⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.

6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

One Body, Many Parts

¹² The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

¹³ For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

¹⁴ Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

¹⁵ If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

¹⁶ And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

¹⁸ But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be?

²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you! And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you!

²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,

²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,

²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

²⁸ And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹ But eagerly desire the greater gifts.

1 Corinthians 13

Love
¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

¹⁰ but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

¹² Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We all have gifts. We are all called. We are the Body of Christ, one body with many parts. I can make a list a mile long of people that are hurting, sick or need salvation. I have times that God puts people on my heart by way of sorrow to make me aware that I need to pray for them right then. There are times in the middle of the night I will be woken up by a thought or a dream I have of someone and I know that I need to actually wake up, and get out of bed and pray.

How powerful we would be if we just committed to being a vessel for God and prayerfully listened to his direction. We are all needed and loved; God has a plan for your life, a calling to stand up and thrive against.

There are times when I feel as if I am a slave to my fears or thoughts. It isn’t until I rise up (meaning to make a move) and claim my freedom in Christ over it. We are not supposed to be held down by slavery, we are however supposed to seek wisdom and discernment over everything in our life. If God has placed something on my heart I don’t hit the floor running, I hit the floor on my knees to seek his direction on where my approach is supposed to be.

Galatians 5

¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I have been really blessed by many believers who have done exactly what I am talking about today for me. There is something that is so thrilling for me when someone calls me or somehow lets me know that God has put me on their hearts to intercede in prayer for (especially when they haven’t a clue as to what I may be going through). I feel like it is one of Gods special blessings to let us know that He knows.

Today, I just wanted to encourage you to keep pressing on (or for some of you to start pressing on). We all have struggles and doubts and insecurities. Just remember that it isn’t “us” that have the power and  authority, we just need to be a vessel for it to flow through.

Do not fear

Isaiah 41:10, So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This scripture has been given to me by two different people in the last four months. One of the things that I have learned about God is that when something is repetitive, you need to take note. I have often felt alone at times in dealing with fear. I blame my lack of faith and trust I have in God, or I blame anxiety.  All I have to do is open the bible and see over and over again that God does not want me to live in fear. I came up with the following (I’m drawing a blank as to what this is called) to help me when I am feeling fearful or attacked. These are scriptures that I have become very familiar with over the years. I am calling them my “war” verses.     

F – Fiery darts from the wicked one - Ephesians 6:16b

E – For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

A – Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God – Philippians 4:6

R – In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength – Isaiah 30:15

F – Fear not for I am with you – Isaiah 41:10

A – All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant - Psalm 25:10

I – I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me       Psalm 23:4b

T – Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding – Proverbs 3:5

H – He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. Psalm 18:17 /  O LORD my God, I called to you for help
and you healed me. Psalm 30:2

I have felt so spiritually attacked for the past two weeks. I have had to come up against and deal with things that I was not happy about. The wildest thing about the last two weeks is that God orchestrated a group of women to meet with me and minister to me and encourage me in the midst of all of this, none of them knowing that this was going on at the time. God continued to show me that although our enemy is real, the victory over my life has been won. We are battling a constant war; the great news is the ultimate defeat has already been won. If we have given our lives to God then we have the promise of eternity with him. If not, then God help you, if you were to have witnessed just a few of the things that I did you would be running. I am so thankful that I have a relationship with Him and I knew which direction to run to.

Oh, and to add to the attacks that I experienced throughout my dreams and my thoughts, I was able to witness a baby snake that lay just inches from my sons bare feet. Seriously! It’s only February…this can’t be a good sign.

Over and over God kept reminding me of his promise…his covenant.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 says, ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

There is freedom in Christ. There is protection in His blood. I feel more equipped today then I did before this experience and my confidence in God is higher. Although I was at war I could not be touched, through my faith in who I am in Him I am saved.

Psalm 144:1-2 ¹ Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle. ² He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge...

I realize this post may be a little heavy for some, you should have been in my shoes while it was happening. I wanted to share this with you because He is our conqueror and our deliverer. I don’t want to forget that, and I don’t want to live a day without Him.

On a lighter note, I downloaded Mandisa’s song Good Morning while this was going on. Until the dreams stopped I would get up in the morning a play it, and when it got to this part of the song I sang it with all my heart, “I went to bed dreaming, you woke me up singing, get up get up hey…good morning”. Oh how that was a good morning when it was over.

1 Peter 5:8 says, ⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

 I wish things like this weren’t true, but unfortunately it comes with it. I do not fear evilness, I fear not giving myself over to the plan that God has for my life. When it comes down to it, I am thankful to be a threat. And I am thankful that I can be fully dependent upon my God who upholds me with his righteous right hand.

Thank you LORD for the sacrifice you gave us through your son. May you give us mentors and leaders to teach us and place us in the positions to be the same for others. I pray for unity in the Body of Christ. I pray that anyone holding back on their commitment and walk with you will lay their burdens down and trust you. Let our walk be a vision of beauty to you, make straight our paths. Give us the security to be released from our fears and our strongholds. Help us to know and love you more.

In Him