Spoken Word Church Blog

Believe and Receive

2012-02-27T19:47:00.002-08:00

One of my favorite scriptures is Mark 11:24.

Mark 11:24

New International Version (NIV)

^“24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

This is one of the most powerful scriptures that anyone could ever utilize. In these times people are more desperate than ever for “things” and opportunities, a new home, car, money in the bank, or a job.

If you are one those people who need or simply desire something, this is the scripture for you!

It’s important to know that you requests have to be in line with God’s word, for example if you desire to have more money so you can gamble or buy drugs, this is not in God’s word. He will not bless you with things that will destroy you, nor does He want you constantly wanting things just because and do not “pay it forward” so to speak. He blesses you so you can be a blessing to others.

Never think that there is anything to great to ask of God or anything to small. God will not ignore you or be upset with you if are believing for a car part so your car can run properly or believing for a five bedroom home in a nice area for your growing family.

*Key point- Remember that your words have to be in line with what you are believing for!!

Do not let anyone or anything mess up your road to the manifestation of what you are believing for. Do not doubt that you are going to get what you asked for. Do not say “Maybe it will happen” or “You’re probably right” when people ask you when something is going to happen or why don’t you physically have what you said yet….

Just remember you have what you say and you have whatever you ask for!! Stand on it!

Religion pt.2 - Eclectic Lifestyle

2012-02-25T18:46:00.003-08:00

Religion

Have you noticed how in some way or another, people manage to bring up Jesus or God in their conversations or in jokes…more so now than ever??

It has become increasingly more acceptable to use Jesus in inappropriate jokes and mocking biblical characters, yet people, at least in the media. They don’t even think about making jokes about other religion’s gods…

Not to say that anyone’s religion to should be made fun of…..

Eclectic Lifestyles

Just the word “religion” tends to provoke people only if it relates to some form of Christianity or Judaism, but when it comes to Yoga, Buddhism and others, it gets treated as a lifestyle that everyone should incorporate in their lives….how does that work?

In most cases, people do not even realize that doing something like Yoga is a religious practice-not a weight loss fix or calming treatment. You do yourself more harm by participating in it than not.

In other cases people tend to lean towards Buddhist teachings or methods, even if they acknowledge as being affiliated with a completely different religion….

To be fair, Christians are not to look at themselves as being a part of a “religion”, but as a child of God who inherits the Kingdom of God. Not using the word “religion” when referencing Christianity is difficult because we ALL have gotten used to categorizing everything that exists.

To be continued….

Religion Remix

2012-02-24T20:26:00.000-08:00

Religion has been a hot topic for centuries.

Lately, religion has become more “open” and among the most talked about.

It’s interesting to see how topics that used to be taboo to talk about outside of the home, have become the most talked about in the world. Topics such as, race, religion, sexuality and even plastic surgery have all become the focus of the “hottest” topics to chat about. Even more so religion has become the epicenter of issues people have with one another.

It’s not hard to find people who have decided to create their own “religion”, for a lack of a better word, that they live by and raise their children in.

For example some people may have been raised Catholic and may still go to mass on occasion, but uses Buddhist mediation techniques to calm themselves during the week and does yoga every Saturday morning and consults a psychic every now and then to make sure they are on the right track.

Another example is a family that has Buddha statues around their home and allows their children to choose their religion and lets them experiment with various teachings.

In today’s society it’s all about how to make your life easier and being “open-minded” about other religious philosophies. It has come to a point that if you say you only follow Jesus you are immediately looked as a closed-minded and strict person who has “old fashioned ways of thinking”.

The divide between the saved and unsaved are becoming more clearer through the ways people accept most religions but not Jesus Christ….

To be continued……

Good is the new ‘bad’

2012-02-18T18:18:00.000-08:00

Continuation…..

It has never seemed more apparent that those who do not engage in stereotypical risque behaviors are considered to be the rebels-the outcast.

It has been interesting and mostly disturbing how the most common things that we were told not to do as children or even what our parents were told not to engage in have now become the standard for which someone is deemed normal.

Things such as:

Experimenting with drugs

Having premarital sex

Underage drinking

Clubbing

Getting pointless tattoos

And so on have all become something that is to be expected when people talk about their youth, a lot of those who engaged in those behaviors have a harder time “transitioning” into adulthood. Of course this is not to say that anyone who has participated in these things never come out of it or become better people, but it isn’t necessary to “explore” these avenues. The purpose is to prevent others from making the same poor choices, not everyone can “handle” being in these dangerous situations and come out of it without any “scars” whether emotionally or physically.

We have literally becoming a society that if enough people do participate in a certain act often enough, we automatically dismiss it completely or let it go with a “slap on the wrist”.

We cannot continue to let things that we know are wrong and potentially dangerous from becoming the new norm and then criticizing and judging those who do not participate in these behaviors. It is shame that those who choose not to drink are first asked if they have or have had issues with drinking before because of the fact that the person does not want to drink alcohol. It’s a shame that it has hard to find any women or men who stay virgins until their wedding nights. Don’t let ANYONE make you feel like you are weird or not cool because you chose to keep your body holy and not give in to what everybody else is doing.

Instant Gratification

2012-02-18T18:11:00.001-08:00

Living in a world with iPhones, iPads, GPS and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and the now defunct Myspace we have learned how to get the information we want to know instantaneously. As a society we have become more and more impatient with people and other devices whenever we don’t get what we want within seconds. I’m probably one of the biggest offenders when it comes to my internet browser moving to slow when only a minute has by and I’m opening up a large file.

We all know that it didn’t take very long for the news of Whitney Houston’s death to get out to the world. The news of her death went out via twitter by someone’s daughter in the same hotel as Whitney just minutes after her body was found. It was only a few hours before the news stations starting reporting on it the same day.

Can you imagine a world before we had these smart phones and networking sites?? Well it has only been a matter of a couple decades that all of these things have come about.

Sometimes we forget that life wasn’t always like this, there was a time when no one emailed or texted each other and instead hand wrote letters or used typewriters….which can be hard to imagine for those younger than myself…I was born in 1989 so needless to say that I didn’t experience having a household who didn’t have a computer in the house. However I did use a typewriter whenever I wanted to make labels, but that was all that I thought it was good for because just a couple feet away was my dad’s giant desktop computer.

In a time when we need to be more patient, loving and gentle, we have a whole different area of our personalities to adjust because of we have grown accustomed to our fast paced lifestyles.

To be continued……………

14 And All Grown Up

2012-02-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

I have noticed a trend of how “mature” the younger generations are trying to become. It seems as if no one wants to enjoy being a child or being a young adult and take it for what it is. Rather, today they are stampeding towards adult lifestyles-ready to get married, get pregnant, have sex, drink, get tattoos and take on responsibilities that were never meant for them to take on at such a young age.

I remember being a young teen, wishing I was 18 years old already, it felt like I was going nuts being “trapped” in my adolescent body. I can relate to how young people want to be older than they are, however little do we know that once we get to 18 years old or 21 years old, we wish we were infants again, in some cases, because the responsibilities keep increasing.

If only I could tell all those who are younger than me to enjoy their youth and not be in a rush to grow up, I believe that there would be a lot more level headed adults in the future.

When you rush into adulthood you essentially deprive yourself of a childhood and have no one to blame but yourself later when you look back. This is supposed to be your time to be silly and find your talent and focus in life, by trying different things.

It’s a cycle, we want to get older-we get older and want to be younger- then we regret all the things we didn’t allow ourselves to do or experience when we were kids….

Let’s not repeat this cycle again, enjoy your youth, you thank me later.

Anxiety

2012-02-16T19:29:00.001-08:00

Anxiety is one those things that we tend to experience very often in our lives…

Before an exam, during a first date, driving for the first time, getting lost, etc…

Anxiety has become so common that there are a plethora of anti-anxiety medications to choose from. Most of our commercials, mainly in the evening hours, are about anxiety or mood disorders. In reality there is a much safer way to limit or rid yourself of anxiety, the Word of God. I can’t say it will be as simple as taking a pill and instantly feeling completely “cured”, but at least this method is sure work, has no side effects and has a long lasting affect.

I’m a work in progress, so I can’t say that I am completely “cured” of anxiety in all areas of my life, but that is due to the lack of professing scripture over and over again to hold firm that I should be anxious for nothing…However I have been relieved of an overwhelming amount of anxiety since becoming born again.

One of the things I know for sure is that God does not give us this anxiety and all these other mood “disorders” that people claim to have, He offered us joy and boldness through Him.

New King James Version (NKJV)

Philippians 4:6

“6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…”

Philippians 4:6 is a good scripture to meditate on whenever you feel anxious or if you have had issues with anxiety in the past.

After just reading a handful of times a several months ago, I have become a lot more calm and at ease when confronting situations that have caused me great anxiety in the past.

Fake it ‘till you make it!

2012-02-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

This phrase has stuck with me since I became a born again Christian. In order to break old habits and learn to be more patient, loving, confident, humble and so on, I had to fake it until it became natural.

I can’t say it has been easy, but it helps a lot more than one would think….

Say for instance you’re like me when it comes to doing things outside of your comfort zone, you get that little anxious feeling in the pit of your stomach- that’s when you have to “psychic” yourself out and act like you have all the confidence in the world so you won’t doubt yourself and more than likely mess up or freeze when it’s our time.

It may sound like something that no one wouldn’t want to advertise to others, but you can’t “fake it” and hide it, when others could use the same advice.

I have never been the most, outwardly, excitable person, but I realize that it can be a little harsh to those around me and make them feel uncomfortable or unappreciated, so I try to smile more, even when I don’t “feel” like it. Sometimes I make small talk with people around me, even though I may not be in the mood to have a conversation with someone else, it makes all the difference in how people perceive you. Of course we can’t please everyone and nor are we obligated to, but we can’t make people feel like they can’t approach us, when we have to be examples of what Jesus is.

Casting Down Imaginations

2012-02-14T20:43:00.001-08:00

Ever get those pesky thoughts about something you know you shouldn’t be thinking about?

Have an idea to do something that you would have NEVER even thought about before because it’s out of your personality norm??

I can tell you I have, so I know I’m not the only person to ever experience this.

What most people don’t know is that those thoughts are caused by demonic spirits trying to get you off course when they know you are trying to do right.

When Satan sees that you are on or trying to get on God’s path for you, he tries to distract you or discourage you so he can get you off that path and pulled in to darkness. Even those who have grown up in the church and have done right most of their lives are still bombarded with the same if not worse interferences with demonic spirits.

There is nothing more irritating to Satan than a prosperous, joyful, spirit filled Christian on the right path. This is where you want to be; you want to be on the right path and learn to cast down imaginations to the point where it becomes a habit to ignore random thoughts.

Whenever I get these ideas or even urges to do something I know isn’t right and don’t really want do but “can’t help” but think to do, I say “I rebuke/cast down that thought in Jesus name”. That’s it! You don’t have to say an hour long prayer to get rid of it; if you feel that you need to get more in depth with your prayer, by no means let anyone tell otherwise. Pray the way you the Holy Spirit leads you, soon it will become an automatic thing to do to the point where you don’t have to think or worry about it, it will just be naturally.

Living For Today

2012-02-14T20:29:00.001-08:00

Do not dwell in the past, no matter how good or how bad you experiences have been. Living in the past does not prepare you for now. Of course it is important to learn from your experiences, but not to continuously reminisce how much fun you had when you were in the world or how you have done things that you regret doing.

When you spend time dwelling in the past, you can easily allow all those same spirits that were once operating with you or in you to come back to their “home” and spark up those same tendencies you use to have, such as….

Thoughts:

A thought about what it felt like to do or say something….

A thought about how you can experience whatever it is just one more time...

A thought about how can you “get away” with doing what you want to do, without getting in trouble…

Action:

You start to develop certain habits that you use to have, even just something small as using different phrases or words…

More aggressive or loose you are with people…

And so on.

Don’t let tha old you creep back into your life.

Want to keep from doing letting that “old you” come back, don’t dwell in the past and most definitely don’t hang around old surroundings.

Blessings Over Obstacles

2012-02-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

The good always outweighs the bad.

We all know that there are times when we get let down by someone or a situation ends up not being what we thought it was going to be like. There are even times when we get in to an argument with someone and they say something that hurts us. We could have gotten a job promotion, received more money than we expected or given an opportunity and yet we have allowed someone or something to steal our joy.

We tend to forget all the blessings we have been given whenever we are “hit” with any problems….

Forget…

That God woke us up this morning!

That we are able to make choices for ourselves if we choose to.

We have a roof over our heads.

We have clothes on our backs.

We have food in our stomachs.

And sooo much more……………

Whenever we are in a bad mood because something didn’t go the way we planned or somebody hurt our feelings, just remember that there is ALWAYS somebody else in a worse situation at the same time you are being depressed about your own situation. God does not want us to be offended and upset when he has given us so much because He loves us. He can’t continue to bless us when we are busy trying to analyze situations and being consumed in our feelings.

Be blessed…it doesn’t take having a perfect life to know that we are blessed!

V-Day

2012-02-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, a day dedicated to love. Every day should be dedicated to love, doing things for each other and setting aside time to spend together should always be one of your priorities in your relationships.

Spoken Word church had a love/Valentine’s Day themed service this past Sunday, where we had a few female speakers whom each shared a scripture on love and briefly described how it made them feel or what they believe the scripture is saying. We ended with our Pastor, Drew and First Lady, Linda Harris speaking on relationships.

Some of the things they shared:

Communication: It is important to be able to speak to one another without fear of being judged or hurt by the other partner. Do not wait until you’re married or in a committed relationship to discuss important topics such as how each other handles finances and what their individual relationship with Christ is like.

Openness: You must be open about all your flaws and experiences. You do not want to wait until an issue comes up and you get exposed and have to do “damage control” in the moment.

Giving and receiving of gifts, from a man’s perspective is a way to express his own love to his significant other.

For those of us that are not in a relationship, do not think of this holiday as a reminder of the fact that you don’t have someone to have date night with, but think about what you want in your future mate and write it out, be detailed and let God know the desires of your heart.

Tricky Emotions

2012-02-04T19:28:00.001-08:00

Emotions are complicated enough when trying to distinguish them, let alone trying to prevent emotions from interfering with what we need to do or think about.

Emotions can be both a great gift and a curse. We can feel a loved through an action or knowing that causes a good feeling to come over us or we can feel angry that causes or faces to get red or our minds to become fogged.

We have to be mindful of our emotions because they can easily lead us atray when we try to stay in one direction and get side tracked by a circumstance that gets our emotions wound up and take us off our path in righteousness.

Don’t forget that the enemy will always try to get us caught up in ourselves by placing random thoughts or people that either naturally cause us to get an automatic emotion to fire up or cause someone whom you’ve known and trusted to do or say something that “blindsides” you and causes a deep pain or frustration in us.

Don’t be fooled by your emotions, you should never lead by anger or jealousy or any other negative feeling. Likewise don’t be tricked into feeling good when you allow yourself to give into vices that you know are wrong, despite the fact that they cause good ‘feelings’ they can lead you down the opposite path that God has for you.

Love not Hate

2012-02-04T19:27:00.001-08:00

What is lacking in today’s world is love.

Not just saying “I love you “to a significant other or saying “I love that song” to a friend, but love expressed towards others regardless if you know the person or genuinely feel that way.

We have gone to long without letting the people around us know that we love them because God loves them. The world has perverted the idea of love to where it can only mean a sexual form of love or an meaningless word that we use to express a ‘like’ of something. “love” is a reoccurring word in our vocabulary as Americans, yet only a handful have the understanding of what love is let alone have experienced love.

One of the biggest reasons why many of our youth have chosen various sinful lifestyles is because they haven’t experienced love or a “positive” form of love, which is sad to have to verify what “type” of love someone has experienced.

Many women go through their whole lives searching for love from various men or vices. Men do the same, but they tend to get overshadowed by their infidelities.

God doesn’t only love those of who believe in Him, but even those who don’t. We can’t go around pretending to be in a special secret club where only you and select others are allowed to experience God’s love and only show each other love and compassion; when we do this we end up being in a one-sided love relationship with Him, where we do not show love to all others and yet He shows love to world through miraculous healings, long awaited pregnancies, near accidents that saved people’s lives and so on….even simply sending someone to you just to give you a friendly smile or hug when you needed it.

Let someone know that they are loved…

Let someone know that you love them, that they are not alone.

“That Gut Feeling”

2012-02-03T20:20:00.000-08:00

“You shouldn’t go to that party tonight.”

Have you ever had that kind of experience? When you are trying to decide where to go for the night and you come upon an invitation to a party in a nice part of town, but you get an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach.

A lot of the people you see in movies who hesitate to do something or go somewhere but get talked into overriding that feeling only to end up dead or in a bad situation, yet many of us try to test this feeling and see if we are “just over thinking it” or being a “coward” and so on.

Why is it that we try to test our “gut feelings” when it usually leans on the side of being in a safer situation??

I personally don’t believe our “gut feeling” is just our bodies on it’s own reacting to something, I believe it’s the Holy Spirit trying to warn us, even those who are saved or have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Just because you don’t believe in God doesn’t mean He doesn’t love or care for you; He wants ALL of us to stay out of harm’s way whether it be a potential emotional problem or physical issue planning to approach.

I have had MANY experiences with being in a position to go somewhere or do something while in High School that lead to me having an instantaneous feeling of uneasy, I acted on that feeling. In the end, it kept me from getting involved in a compromising situation and leading am unfulfilling lifestyle that a lot of my former friends are currently leading who didn’t act on those same warnings when situations arose.

I can’t say that everyone experiences the exact same type of physical feeling in their body, but I know that there are more people of are aware of these warnings and still go against them only to look back at the situation wishing that they didn’t ignore that feeling.

It’s up to you to heed the warnings….

Suffering In Silence: Guilt

2012-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Feeling guilty for not achieving what you know you could have achieved is a very common feeling that everyone experiences.

I believe that guilt in relation to finances is common area for almost everyone. Most commonly Christians struggle with the guilt of not paying off bills when they should have, not paying their tithes in a while, frivolous spending, gambling and so on.

That guilt pigeon-holds Christians and keeps them in a state of limbo where they can’t seem to prosper and yet not really get any lower. A lot of the times the guilt comes up when a spouse looses a job and can no longer afford to keep up the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. In effort to keep the lifestyle they cut back on expenses and their tithes and or offerings ends up being one of them….sadly the church doesn’t let their congregations know that when you are faced with an attack on your finances by the enemy the last place where you want to skimp or exclude is your tithes and offerings.

When you cut off your tithes or reduce them, you can’t expect to get a hundredfold return on your giving, instead, as long as you are have been and still speak over your tithes and offerings, you are only going to get the ‘same measure added back to you’. Therefore this results in a longer season of lack and more guilt.

So now, you are feeling guilty for not paying tithes, bills and being able to maintain the lifestyle you had before and the lack seems to never end. Of course you haven’t told anyone else in your congregation or even your pastor! Because then even more guilt and now fear will come upon you because you’ll feel that the congregation will judge you and the pastor will be disappointed in you because you don’t tithe or your tithes are lower than had been in months…

There are many other emotions and hindrances that go along with financial lack, which doesn’t make the situation seem any better….

Want to get out of that season?!

*Do NOT stop tithing!

*Search for scriptures related to prosperity and finances.

*Pray and meditate the scriptures you have found (if you can’t find them ask people!)

*Ask for prayer!

*Bind the spirit of heaviness.

* Set an appointment to sit down with your pastor or a Christian counselor

*BE BLESSED!!!

Importance of Tithing

2012-02-02T17:22:00.001-08:00

It wasn’t until shortly after becoming born again that I learned that first I need to become a tither.

In Genesis 14:20 , Melchizedek comes out to meet Abraham, as Abraham gives him a tithe of the spoils of his victory.

It took me a few days at first to understand how I am supposed to tithe…

Deuteronomy 14:22-29

^“22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.”

Your tithe is supposed to be one tenth of the amount you receive from your wages, unemployment, student aid, disability, social security and so on. The amount that you are working with is the amount of money you have after taxes, so if you have $300 after taxes you take one tenth of that *$300 divided by 10*, therefore you owe $30 in tithes to your local church. Assuming that you have a church that you go to that you see is doing what they are suppose to scripturally.

The way I think of tithing, to prevent my mind form wanting to keep the tithe that I owe is to think of it as another mandatory tax…We don’t get to choose when we get taxed on items or services purchased, right? So goes the tithe we owe to our church. Those tithes are not our own according to the bible, that one tenth that we take out and give to our church already belongs to God, it is not ours to choose what to do with. By keeping “our” tithe, we are robbing God….

Malachi 3:8-10

⁸ “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹ You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰ Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Make it an automatic thing, to immediately separate your tithe from your paycheck or whatever moneys you receive by any other means to live off of as soon as you get it, so as to not overspend or get use to have a certain amount in your banking account.

More to come……..

Suffering In Silence: Pride

2012-02-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, there are many Christians suffering in silence, whether it’s financial issues, emotional or physical problems. I have noticed that some Christians feel ashamed to go up for prayer or let someone know that they need food or money to get by until their next check.

Some Christians feel ashamed to say that they are being tormented or attacked by the enemy as it is happening; a lot of the time they share that they have been dealing with the enemy after the fact, when they have FINALLY reached the other side. Little do they know, they could have avoided multiple, painful, time consuming stumbles and obstacles if they had just humble themselves or let go in order for God to bless them through other people around them.

Many Christians feel that they have to be perfect or at least appear to be perfect to everyone else. That pressure to be or to look perfect usually puts them in a worse state.

They are at a disadvantage when they try to come off as if everything is alright when there is an area in their life that is in jeopardy or that they are constantly coming up against a wall. We are all human, so naturally we have a little bit of pride that we pick up in life as a child, however just because we were born with it does mean it gives us a right to hold on to it. There are many things that we are born with that don’t have to remain with us, pride is one of them. Do not let pride keep you from reaching your breakthrough.

Sometimes pride prevents all of us from crying out or to ask people for help…I know I have been there. Pride is the thing that we, in general, hold on to that we know deprives us from getting what we need or want, yet we protect diligently…..

To Be Continued…….

New Age Standards

2012-01-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

It’s interesting how today the world screams for freedom and rights to things they feel entitled to, yet they place boundaries or standards in which we all should follow. It’s kind of ironic how we ask for freedom or continue freedom, yet organizations or independent groups would target you if you wear real fur or drive a hummer. How can we say we are free in the world when we are constantly judging each other under a microscope of what we believe everyone should be doing, saying or wearing naturally? This is the reason why more people need to come out from under the “world’s skirt” and realize there is no freedom in a world where you automatically black listed if you say you don’t agree with someone’s lifestyle or Christian values.

In this world if you are not an eco friendly, yoga practicing, vegan eating, reality show watching, promiscuous, philanthropist who adopts poor foreign children, you do not fit in. It’s sad to see all these celebrities and common every day people fall into these traps that result in them going in to bondage to the world system.

However if I were to say these things to someone outside the church, they would think I’m just an “angry stereotypical Christian”, however they are perpetuating more issues than they care to acknowledge. Of course there is nothing wrong with being healthy or not wanting to wear fur because you love animals and so on (other than yoga, which should not be embraced), yet you cannot become a slave to it.

This new age idea of how to be in this society has become more and more “pushy” when it comes to “correcting” your way of life and trying to open up your mind to accepting all their standards of living life and being a “better person”.

All they did is take some good healthy ideas of being a good person and helping others and the environment and mix it with occult ideas and practices and placed a new age label on it and made it a new way of life that they believe all should embrace….

To be continued….

Judging Prophecy: Part 2

2012-01-19T15:52:00.001-08:00

This is continuing our recap from our previous discussion on how to judge prophecy and prophets. We concluded our discussion with the remaining five of the different tests to use when judging whether or not you are dealing with an accurate prophecy and or with a legitimate prophet.

5) Were the Prophet’s predictions true?

Reference: Deuteronomy 18:20

Has the predictions that a person or a Prophet come true in your life? Obviously when you receive a prophetic word, it is an indication of what is to happen. If a prophetic word that was given to you has yet to come to fruition or has not shown any indications as to it happening without your own flesh trying to act it out, chances are the prophetic word was not accurate or completely false.

6) Does the prophecy promote obedience to God?

Reference: Deuteronomy 13:1-5 & Acts 16:16-18

In all prophetic words, the prophecy encourages staying on the right path with God or making a change to be in line with God for an outcome to be happen. It wouldn’t make sense for a prophecy from God to encourage any other behavior than what His word states.

7) Does the prophecy bring freedom and peace?

Reference: Romans 8:15 & 2 Corinthians 3:17

1 Corinthians 15:33 & 1 Timothy 1:7

A prophetic word should never render fear and anxiety for any reason. It should bring peace and freedom to your life. What good would it do if you are consumed by fear over a prophetic word?

8) Does the prophecy harmonize and bring life?

Does the prophecy follow scripture in such a way that it is not manipulated to sound like scripture when it is in fact being used out of context or made by their own interpretation or scripture? There shouldn’t be an discrepancy with the prophetic and the word of God.

9) Is there a sense of warning?

Reference: 1 John 2:27

Does the word give you an indication of what is to come? The prophetic word should not be telling you what you already know and or what you have already seen happen. It should be new or something yet to come.

The Youth Code

2012-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

It has become more and more apparent that most parents and just older people in general really don’t know much about today’s youth. Of course as we all get older we start to gain different perspectives about various things.

I have noticed since becoming an adult that the older generations try to apply their own experiences to today’s society…unfortunately, you can’t always do that. Just because you went through a similar thing in the past doesn’t mean you understand whatever the current situation is going now with a younger generation.

The older generations fail to realize that we are dealing with new technology, new drugs, new language, new ideas, new past times, new miscellaneous inventions or improvements to pre existing things. All these factors change everything.

When older generations see certain behaviors on television or on social media sites, such as, two girls holding on to each other in while taking a photo, most of them would think that these girls are homosexuals. To all of us who see the same scene, we don’t think anything of it as just a couple friends taking a picture. So now you have two sets of generations viewing the same scene with COMPLETELY different ideas of what is going on. Not to say that these behaviors are acceptable. They haven’t seen the progression of what is and is not acceptable conduct amongst the youth in today’s society…

My point with this entry is to let the parents know that they don’t realize that the youth have grown up with a different standard-a different norm than what they have. You have to talk to your children or whomever you are dealing with, don’t jump to conclusions because most of the time you will be 99% wrong in your judgments, thus resulting in expanding that gap between understanding each other. It’s hard for us to understand how our parents or anyone who is older to keep judging us under a different set of “standards”; we all have valuable knowledge to share with each other.

We cannot let the youth be held captive by the world system…so don’t use your experiences from decades ago block you from reaching and communicating with today’s youth. DO NOT JUDGE! What is common sense to you will not always be common sense to others under you….

God Bless

Count Your Blessings

2012-01-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever looked back at all the good things in your life?

When obstacles a presented before you, never let go of the memories of all the gifts you have been given. Not just the material gifts, but the times when you woke up to the sun shinning on your face, or the times when your day wasn't going as planned, but someone at the coffee shop gave you a genuine friendly smile. Think about the times when you could have gotten in to an accident on the freeway, but somehow your car diverted in a different direction.Think about the times when you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, when you ignored the Holy Spirit nudging to go in a different direction by making you feel uneasy in the pit of your stomach, yet you came out safely.

Don't let the enemy, Satan, steal your memories or block your blessings. Please don't think that everyone is allotted a certain number of blessings in their lifetime. God intended for you to have life and that more abundantly! When we are in the midst of the pain or frustration it is hard for us to remind ourselves of all the good things, but that is something that we have to work on! If we let the negativity eat at us in the moment, it hinders our blessings from flowing and prolongs the trial.

I have seen too many people receive blessings and then be hit with a trial and they immediately let the enemy win by not returning to church or revert back to old habits or old friends that were not worth the company....

Count them....I bet they out weigh all the junk that we go through in life...It's already a blessing to be alive!

Enjoy life and live it to the fullest, get connected to a church, fellowship with other Christians and remember that there is so much more that God wants to give you!

Judging Prophecy

2012-01-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

Last night’s bible study topic was about how to judge prophecy.

How can we tell if someone who gives us a prophecy is speaking from truth?

How can we tell if someone is a prophet called by God or a person operating by flesh?

Many of these questions were raised during our discussion. Pastor Drew Harris led us through some of the important tests to use when judging prophecy:

Test #....

1) Does it build you up or does it condemn you?

Reference: 1 Corinthians 14:3

In other words, does the prophecy given to you a positive message that will encourage you or help you with something that is going on in your life, or does the prophecy make you feel guilty, ashamed, anything that you know is not of God. God will not send someone to tell you that “you are going to hell and that’s that”. He wants to save souls, not discourage them.

2) Does it agree with scripture?

Reference: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Just like test number one, God will not go against His word. The prophecy should agree with scripture 100%. There shouldn’t be some parts sound scriptural and other parts are questionable. For example, a person who is given a prophecy to leave home at the age of 14 in order to seek God, does not agree with scripture.

3) What is the prophet’s relationship with Christ?

Reference: John 16:13 & Revelation 19:10

Do they exalt or glorify God? This is important in understanding what kind of person you are dealing with when receiving a prophetic word or just dealing with a Prophet in general. It would be hard for a person to be functioning as a Prophet and receiving word from God when the Prophet is does not have a personal relationship with Christ.

4) Do the Prophet and the prophecy bear good fruit?

Reference: Galatians 5:22-23

The Prophet has to be functioning in the fruits of the spirit in order to be able to deliver prophetic word to God’s people. A Prophet cannot get angry easily and not show love to others and still operate in the gift of prophecy.

To Be Continued.....