Your Fruit

Your fruit is not just for yourself alone.

As you progress in your walk with God, you will learn to change parts of yourself to shape you into a better person and a closer image to Christ.

As we progress in our development we bear fruit, both good fruit or bad fruit can be picked up, but when we bear good fruit we serve as a positive example to those around us who get to see that change from where you use to be to how you are now.

Our changes-our turn arounds should not be a private thing. We are to show people how to act or react to various things the way God wants us to. Everything we do should be unto Him, so when we don’t retaliate towards wrong doers we bear fruit and others, including those who are doing wrong, to see that there is something in you that they want to have as well. Some may just get sick of the fact that they can’t get a rise out of you anymore and leave you alone.

In a day and age where we accuse others of not being good role models and yet we tell parents that only they are responsible for how their children act, we have to be a constant light in the darkness. 

Genesis 50:19-21

Genesis 50:19-21

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me,but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children. ” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

We all have to go through experiences times that aren’t the best or simply painful. If we don’t watch it we could miss on the learning point and not see what will glorify God. Of course it does not glorify God when people harm His children, however how we handle the situation when we are being harmed will glorify Him. If we remove ourselves from the situation and forgive those that hurt us we don’t have to worry about what to do to the person or group of people. Or if we can’t remove ourselves from the people involved, we must not lash out or retaliate.

What we have to remember is that we are not the first nor the last people to ever be harassed, abused or slandered so we cannot think that it is our position to put people in their place or reciprocate the same wicked behavior. At the same time we cannot get offended and depressed due to the situations going on around us because as soon as we let it get to us we lose the word that was once in us and open the doors for more issues to come up.

If we turn the other cheek when we are done wrong and we do not let anyone get us out of our character those who have been causing problems will have no choice but to recognize that their actions aren’t affecting you like it use to and wonder what is it that is keeping you from snapping or shutting down. 

Hard Decisions

We all have been or will be faced with what we would call a difficult decision. 

By nature we rely on either our own understanding of how to get out of the uncomfortable situation or to seek counsel of somebody who would essentially give you the same answer that you would’ve come up with yourself. Because we get the same answer that we were originally thinking of, we look at it as a sign of confirmation. In reality, we just sought counsel with ourselves…

Usually when people are faced with something that is messing with their emotions, like a break up of a friendship or marriage, they base their decisions on their feelings in the moment. They usually make a decision to do something with the intent to cause problems for the other person or in an attempt to completely cut themselves off from the other person, no matter how the other person or people would feel. Consequently the whole situation ends up becoming a lot more conflicting than it was in the beginning, if one person decides later on that they have made the wrong decision or approached the problem in the incorrect manner, they have to clean up their mess that they could have avoided from the beginning had they not leaned on their own feelings and understanding of what the issue looked like.

This is why God tells us not to lean on our understanding, not just in matters that involve the church but with all things we are to seek Him. If we would stop making decisions based on our feelings in the moment we would actually get to make the proper decision and avoid all the hurdles that would’ve come our way.

I don’t say all this because it’s easy, it’s just what we need to do to be successful in all aspects of our lives. Our emotions like to take control-you have to take control of your emotions as if your emotion is a drunken friend whom you snatch the car keys from-don’t let it drive your decisions in to a wreck.

Response

God responds to your faith and requests not on what you need.

I see so many homeless people out on the streets and those that come to our bible study and I wonder why can’t God get them off the streets. If God would just automatically have people in homes with jobs then He would’ve just had as all automatically be believers and doers of the word-in other words we wouldn’t have had free will.

God answers our prayers along with our faith in the fact that we know that He will answer those prayers. If you talk to many homeless people they may say that they believe in God or say that the pray for things to get better, but if you ask them if they actually believe that God will do it for them and that they hold on to that prayer in faith that they will have what they say, most of them will say contrary. Many Christians would say the same which is why there are so many believers out there living in lack.

God wants our faith in Him, in the fact that we trust that He will do what He says and we glorify Him for that.

If you have needs that you want to be met, you have to let make your request known to the Lord, He knows what you need however He will not act on your needs unless you ask Him to. If you don’t let your needs be made known to Him he will let you be and assume that you are fine with living without.

John 8:44

John 8:44

New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Do not be offended by the truth, being offended by something such as being under Satan because you are not a believer will only push you further away from Christ and deeper in the enemy’s trap.

We were all born into the arms of Satan, the devil, by default because of the fall of Adam in the garden. Saying that you belong to the devil, the father of lies, will put off a lot of people because we have been so desensitized by sinful works that the truth appears as a personal attack.

We have free choice for a reason, we can either choose life by accepting Christ or death by default when we don’t choose to follow Christ.

People think that just because they try to be “good” people and do charity work or donate money to foundations that they we will be set if there is a heaven. They miss the key to having free will-you have to at least choose something! I have noticed that we like to keep our options open not realizing that the longer we go on thinking that we are making it harder to come to Christ. Lies can pass for the truth as long as we don’t question it, so when non-believers hear the word of God or are given the opportunity to become saved they question it rather than questioning why they have been living without Him because they have been indoctrinated with the lies of the enemy that have become their truth-at one point it has been all of our truths then we found the truth in Christ.

Choose life and start questioning what it is about the world system that you love so much that you would choose death by not accepting Jesus Christ in your life.

Hebrews 5:7-9

Hebrews 5:7-9

New International Version (NIV)

⁷ During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him

This scripture was presented during our bible study tonight. This really stuck out to me, I never realized that Jesus had to learn to be obedient rather than just already being obedient without having any internal battles.

Even Jesus Christ had to go through many painful ordeals through his life and he learned from those trials how to be obedient to his father, God. If Jesus Christ had to suffer you have to know that you will have to go through some sufferings in order for us to learn to be obedient as well.

I can confidently say that there is not one person on this earth that can say that they are completely obedient to the Lord without any slip ups or mistakes. Every one of us are continuously learning and molding to whatever we choose to surround ourselves with.

I realized that if Jesus as gone through something we can’t be surprised if something that pains us comes to us-nothing will ever be as bad or painful than being literally crucified as Christ was, which is why we can’t get hung up on issues that come up in our lives. We have to learn from these situations and call on God for guidance rather than doing whatever we feel like will help the situation and end up having to repeat the lesson all over again.

2 Timothy 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Before I was a believer I always questioned the bible and wondered why people held on to His word for any reason. I use to say to my mom “why do you need a book to tell you how to live your life?!” It wasn’t an actual question that I cared to hear the answer to at the time. That was clearly a statement that was made by an ignorant me not knowing that this “book” held power, authority, purpose and healing in it.

I believe that there are thousands if not millions of people out there that have either said or thought the same thing that I have said to my mom years ago.

The scriptures are here for us to learn from and to put in practice what He has given to us. There are scriptures in the bible that will forever change our lives and make us into better people. For most of us we will have our biggest question answered, “what is our purpose in life?” God will tell us what our purpose is if we call on Him.

*side note- Whenever you are trying to get answers from God you MUST acknowledge Him as your Lord and savior otherwise it will be that much harder to get the answers you want and need. God can’t just speak to unbeliever because they are not open to receive His word, they do not know His word, they do not have a relationship with Him and nor would they be able to process the word spoken forth.

God is a righteous god and will not leave us to fend for ourselves, that is why He left us His word to serve as a teaching and learning tool to help us choose and stay on the right path.

It is vital that we accept Him and His word in order to live our lives as we ought to with the abundance that no other can offer.

He Did It

Nothing is created outside of Him

God created everything that exist, the universe and everything within.

It can be hard to wrap your head around the fact that there is one creator and that he spoke and breathed everything in to existence, however it is harder to believe that everything was created by a molecule…Our bodies for example, are to complex and well planned out for it to be a simple coincidence of some molecules forming a monkey-like creature that eventually led to our “species”.

If we spent more time learning about the word and how to use the word in our lives we wouldn’t be preoccupied with how we all got here and why natural things occur. Doubting the creation of the earth by God is a major tactic in preventing people from being saved. If we were filled with His spirit we would have the answers we need, who knows, the Lord would have revealed the purpose of existence to us, but because we have been separated from Him thanks to the fall of Adam, we have to choose to seek the things of God by His spirit.

I used to be the type that wanted to know the answers to why every single thing existed, not realizing the things that I should be busy thinking about is what I need to do with my own life and how to live it according to His word, and not by dabbling in different areas while trying to figure out what to believe and what fits my own understanding of how things are and why.

James 1:9-11

James 1:9-11

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. ¹⁰ But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Once again we are living in a time where the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer, however it does not need to be that way if everyone taps into the promises of God. There has been a bigger divide amongst those who are rich by the world standards and have achieved that level by not so pure means.

I have to say that it is not a sin to be rich because He wants all of His children to thrive in every aspect of their lives including financial because He wants us to be able to help and bless others without being in lack when doing so. However there is a difference when you collect and collect wealth and do not do His will let alone give God the all the glory.

It does not matter if you have a hundred dollars or a million dollars in your name, if you “earned” it by any way outside of His will, you will “pass away like a wild flower”, you will not be able to keep that wealth and will have nothing to show of yourself because you had faith in your money rather than in Christ.

John 1:3

John 1:3

New International Version (NIV)

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

There are so many theories as why this and that exist and how things have come about. Science and simply people’s ideas of how we got here are just that-ideas. We all try so hard to prove or manipulate everything to fit our understanding of the world and everything it that we forget or simply not aware of the fact that we are not supreme beings-we do not have all the answers nor are we capable of answering all the questions of life. We all like to think we are so intelligent and sophisticated that we don’t even need God.

God made everything.

Without God, nothing would exist.

How can His creation whom He made in His image turn their backs on Him and act as if they are supreme?!.....

Are we that think headed to think that we can go on through life and be okay without Him? He can take us “out” if He wanted to, but He already knows that we will do that job for Him because our book knowledge and street knowledge that we hold on to and revere will lead us in to an early grave.

To be continued….

Persecution

Matthew 13:18-23

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. ²⁰ The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. ²¹ But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.²² The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. ²³ But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Persecution and tribulation comes to steal the word from you. I have heard people ask why do they keep getting harassed by random people or by those whom they thought were their friends and why do they constantly go through issues with people and circumstances. Pastor Drew had answered with Matthew 13:18-23. Whenever you receive any word knowledge such as how to say what you want, claim it and believe it, the enemy, Satan, will them test you to see if you really believe what heard/read and throw some persecution your way by having a close friend tell you that you won’t have something that you had already claimed or was going to claim and believe. The enemy picks up on your weaknesses and will try to trip you up on your walk with God because for obvious reasons, he doesn’t want you to inherit the Kingdom of God.

If the enemy can get you to lose faith in the word of God he can then isolate you from the body of Christ and bring you back into the world where the rest of the unsaved are struggling to get things and to keep what they have.

You must not let any attacks that come your way to get you off course, do not get offended by anything people do or say and understand that they are just being used as ploys to get to go in the wrong direction.

Mixed Messages

There are MANY people out there that wear beautiful crosses and say “God bless you” and yet they are the first ones to cuss someone they don’t like out or to lose their temper at the first sight of an offense. Too much of this type of behavior is being exposed to the world and it makes real Christians look foolish and like hypocrites. We can’t let people who look “saved” but act worldly, to serve as examples for all of those who haven’t accepted Jesus Christ into their hearts and lives yet.

Typical Christian symbols are being used as simple fashion accessories or statements and not as a symbol of their faith in Christ. This is no different than how the cross was copied and then inverted to make a demonic symbol out what was holy. When someone who is does not have a pure heart and still wears the things that we identify Christians with, we must not be fooled by their outside image because it could just as easily be a wolf in sheep’s clothing trying trick people into thinking a certain way about Christians.

We hear people say God Bless You and God Bless America and so on, yet they don’t believe in it and are rather just using phrases that we all throw around because it was what we have grown up hearing people say. There is so much of Christ related things that the world uses everyday yet they all use it in vain most of the time because they don’t have the faith to back it up.

Don’t become like those who dress the part of a believer but don’t have the heart or faith to back it. Those are some of the types of people that you have to be careful of.

Blessings

God does not add sorrows to His blessings...

Some people think that blessings are only the things that happen occur after they asked for something. Blessings come in many, many forms and that just being able to go on for another day is a blessing in itself. Blessings can come in the form of having a good productive day at work or school, receiving something that you didn’t necessarily directly earn such as receiving an unexpected bonus in your paycheck or someone giving the funds you needed to pay a bill.

A sign that you or someone else is on the receiving end of a blessing is when it just comes along naturally and without sorrow or pain. Sometimes we mistake these blessings for flukes or as something suspicious that we need to avoid. We can miss out on these blessings if we misjudge it and don’t let it happen. Sometimes we have to let people whom we may not like be used of God in order to bless you, God may use someone that He wants to a work in to bless you so He can, for lack of a better phrase, kill two birds with one stone.

Drugs

There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t hear about a new drug or drug abuse.

Many of you are aware of the debate over whether or not marijuana should be legalized. Many people, both celebrities and non-celebrities have endorsed the legalization of the drug. Unfortunately they don’t think about anything else other than the natural feel good effect they achieve by inhaling or consuming the drug. If everything that makes us feel good were to be legalized why not legalize all currently illegal drugs?.... I do not agree with the legalization of marijuana by any means. Just because it can realize people or stress and pain whether physically or emotionally doesn’t mean that it is necessary. The drug only temporarily relieves the emotion but does not cure it nor does it make life overall better by ingesting it.

I think the fact that there are so many celebrities that endorse the use of marijuana it has made the use of the drug more acceptable and less embarrassing for those who do it or were planning to try it.

Of course there are going to be those who say that it is up to the parent to teach their kids and tell them what their stance is on the matter therefore they do not need to worry about what everybody else is doing….However, no matter what anybody says, those who are on television, in magazines, on the radio and those people around them serve has models as to what and how a person should be. If there was no influence by celebrities and models clothing, music and movie sales would be almost nonexistent…right??! 

So, people who believe that no one other the parents and peers are models for development, are not being truthful.

To be continued…

Matthew 8:1-4

Matthew 8:1-4

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus heals a man with leprosy

When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy^[a]came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

There is no other God that can heal like Jesus can!

Sometimes we look at the healings that Jesus had done in the bible and we forget that the same Jesus that we read about is still the same Jesus that serve today. He is not dead and is still willing and prepared to heal those who call on Him.

The only difference is that He now works through believers to heal and touch those that He can’t physically touch. Healing is an amazing example of God’s power and yet we tend to treat God as if He only lived in the past and all we can do is look back on it. Healing is STILL available to us and we must tap in to it in order for those to witness the wonderful power of Jesus Christ and so that His people can be healed and healthy to do His work.

It’s sad to see that many churches don’t preach about Jesus’ healing abilities today, instead they say just to pray that the pain or illness goes away in Jesus name. There isn’t much power in just praying for healing than actually professing healing and laying on of hands to pass on healing. If everyone knew that Jesus still heals and that He can give us a healing anointing to heal others there would be A LOT less sick and disabled people in the world; the reason why I say a lot less rather than all is because there still would be those who refuse to believe and those who would rather be ill or disabled because they like the attention or accommodations.

Read the word and find out for yourself if Jesus healed many and gave us His spirit to perform the same.

Is He Willing?

Yesterday in bible study we briefly discussed God’s willingness. We often in prayer ask God if He is willing can He do whatever it is that we are asking for. If we look at His word and see when He has healed people and performed many miracles we notice that He is willing and expects us to approach Him about it.

Sometimes we think that just because our situation, whatever it may be, is smaller than others out there in the world that we think that God is not willing to help us. For example if we have the flu and we want to be healed we tend to shy away from asking God to restore our health and stand on our healing.

Things such as finding a job, receiving items or healing we know that God wants us to have them all so there is no need to ask God if He is willing because of course He wants us to have occupations that support us, whatever avenue that is, of course He wants us to have things that make us happy or make daily life easier, as long as those things take us away from God and of course He wants us healed.

Pastor brought to our attention that when we ask if He is willing and it clearly says He is in the bible, it shows that we are doubting in some way that He will actually do it.

He is willing, so ask Him to do it and know that you already have it!

To be or not to be....Christian

Have you noticed how lately talk shows and adult cartoons have been using a lot more religious references, usually in regards to Christians and Catholics? I believe it’s just another little sign that we are in the last days. The tension that has gradually built up against the church has grown exponentially and will continue to grow before it reaches a final breaking point.

It’s interesting how now it’s okay to make a mockery of the Christianity yet if someone were to say the same thing about another religion people would be in an outrage.

Instead of showing the positive side of Christianity they always focus on the scandalous happenings that occur. We all know that the media regardless of who it is love to hear scandalous things about anybody, however it is more heated and malicious the way they attack those who have claimed to Christian. It’s become more obvious that they are trying to find even the tiniest flaw in the person or organization in an attempt to bring them down.

Whenever someone claims they are Christian and don’t support same sex marriage or believe in premarital sex they are immediately scrutinized. They then will try to find a scandalous picture of the person doing the opposite of what they have said or something else to make them seem not creditable. 

Worldly people aren't aware that there are constant attacks on the church from every direction by the enemy which causes some Christians to stumble or to be exposed of their wickedness. Some Christians have to fall in order to get back up and do what God has for them to do, but those on the outside just see it as yet another Christian falling from grace. This by no means condone the actions of those who claim to be Christian but act outside of His word which is His will.

Please don't be fooled by what the media says about Christians and have your mind transformed and conformed to the idea that being a Christian is not desirable. 

Luke 6:38

Luke 6:38

New King James Version (NKJV)

³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

In a time where it has been hard to get let alone to give, we must realize that there is an order into receiving blessings.

Aside from prayer, you have to be willing to give whether it is giving of your money as offering to your church or volunteering your time to help others. One of the biggest ways to prevent unnecessary financial obligations from pilling on is to tithe to your church. Unfortunately to so many Christians do not tithe because they think it was only meant for those in the Old Testament times. Contrary to popular belief, tithing is still to be practiced-where do you think the money to fund the church and the church activities come from? Why is it hard to follow such a small yet important part of scripture in order to help your church and be blessed? It’s just a fact that people in general will find any reason as to why they don’t need to “fork over” some money.

Just know that the “devourer” will still come after you and get you to give away the money that should have gone to tithing but now has to go to a car repair shop or a past due electric bill. Either way, that money will leave you with the latter being stressful and more costly.

Malachi 3:14-15

Malachi 3:14-15

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵ But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.”

Almost every day I hear about how they don’t need God or don’t need anyone’s blessing for things to turn out right. It’s even more common to hear someone talking negatively about the church and how they compare the sins that have been committed by the members to those who do good in the secular world as if to say the one is better than the other. Both the sinner in the church and the Godless outside of the church are the same- they both have to repent and get on God’s path for them.

Some say that they don’t believe in God because there are wicked people who prosper financially or socially. They don’t realize that we all have the power to make decisions and God will not control you and make you follow Him or love Him if you choose to follow the world system and compromise what you know is right for something that will get you what you want when you want it. We favor those who are wealthy and have a lot of exposure by fame, yet we don’t look at their heart and who they follow.

These things cannot be reasons to denounce God, because you are not to follow man as an example to live your lives. If you want to get it right, if you want to be sure you are doing what is expected of you, you have to choose God. He will not intervene in your life if you don’t allow Him to and you cannot receive salvation through any other means than through Jesus.

Malachi 3:5

Malachi 3:5

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

This is no time to be careless or thoughtless about what you do in your daily lives. Because we are living in the last days we have to pay even more attention to how we treat others and who we associate with.

Reading friend’s palms and performing tea leave ceremonies or even playing around with Taro cards are the type of things that are going to place people in an unsettling circumstance with Christ on Judgment day. It is nothing harmless to consult with anyone who is in the black arts or are followers of the black arts.

Adultery is something that we as a society still look down on in some aspects, but is more prevalent now than any other time, based on my observations. Adultery has taken on many forms that some people don’t really know what adultery really means anymore. Of course no one goes around saying that “so and so is an adulterer”, they usually say “so and so had an affair” or “they had a rendezvous”. When we place this more “appealing” names it makes the sin that much more “innocent” or “seductive”. The Lord will judge it as the same as any other sin, so don’t think because you are an overall good person you get a pass on His judgment.

Those who manipulate people by not paying them what they deserve because they know that they can’t call them out on their unfair treatment, for whatever reason, such as being illegally in the country and so forth, will also be under the Lord’s judgment.

All of those who mistreated those who are widows and orphaned will also have to endure the Lord’s judgment. Everyone must be treated with love and kindness. As well as those who are foreign amongst us. We cannot look down on someone or treat them differently than we would treat our own family because they are not from here.

All these sins will be forgiven if you repent of them. Just because you fall in any of these categories doesn’t mean that you cannot be cleansed and set right before the Lord returns.

He loves you and only wants us to be aware of what to stay away from and how to get back in His will.

Deuteronomy 8:17-19

Deuteronomy 8:17-19

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

The easiest trap to get caught in is pride. Pride causes us to think that because of our abilities alone is what caused us to achieve the finer things in life. There are a number of celebrities that claim that their own abilities are the reason they are in the position they are in. However if they were ever in an accident or their next project fails the fault is anyone other than their own.

Money can lead to pride very quickly, which is why you have to keep your relationship with Christ as number one, so you can’t entertain the idea of how great you are because you already know who the source is and how He created you just like He created wealth. It’s hard to think of yourself highly when you stop and remind yourself that your life isn’t your own and can be taken out in a drop of a hat if you let go and turn your back on God. That is not to say that He will make you drop dead because you turn away from Him, but He will not bless you and give you the things He has for you nor will He continue to open doors for you.

When pride has taken over it can lead to the place where God once held or was supposed to be held be filled with the love of money or other things that we end up treating like gods. You don’t have to be on your knees bowing before something to be worshiping it, you just have to be placing more value or attention on a particular thing or idea in order for it to be dangerous. The Lord won’t help you if you willing chose to place anything else in His place in your life.

1 Chronicles 29:12

1 Chronicles 29:12

New International Version (NIV)

¹² Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.

If everyone knew that wealth and power comes from the Lord and not man, more people would be successful and more lives would be saved.

The power that God has to give anyone anything at any time is amazing, yet we tend to think of God as someone with human attributes-flaws and all. God is a spirit and is perfect in every way imaginable, however because we today have not seen anyone who could actually fit the idea of perfect we have a hard time thinking of God that way. Unlike man, God will never let you down, never leave you to sit in your own mess and never let you go hungry if you call on Him.

Don’t waste your time trying to compare the acts of man to what God could be. Don’t count on man to get you where you need to be, to get your business started, to give you power to do what you want.

There will never be anyone who is perfect as Jesus is, so we have to have faith that God is all in all and has complete control. Because God is the ruler of all things, there is no need to worry where money to pay your bills this month is going to come from, He controls the flow of wealth to His people.

There is no other financial backer than Jesus to have as your support.

Mighty God

Ephesians 1:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

A great reminder is to remember that we serve a great God, a God that triumphs all and loves us all so much that He considers us not only family but a member of His body.

When there are times that you feel like you are running a rat race and never seeing an end to your issues, just remember that you are not just anybody, you are a son or daughter of the most high, the creator of the universe and that because you are so you have the keys to peace, success, happiness and abundance, among MANY MANY other things.

You cannot assume that you are subject to the worlds’ standards and punishments. There is no one that you have to answer to, only God. Don’t let all of those people that murmur negativity around you and those friends that you have been friends with for years that seem to always have issues.

This is your year to get it right-let go of all offenses, leave those who don’t encourage you and learn to be prayerful in everyday situations.

Do not worry about your enemies, your enemies are God’s enemies and vice a versa. He will take of those who come against you, you just have to stay focused and not be offended and not let your emotions get to you. He will make all His enemies His foot stool.

If the fullness of Him fills all in all, we should lack for nothing. Know that whenever you are in an area of lack it’s either a sign that you have a stray from your path or the enemy is trying to test your weaknesses –hoping that you will leave the Lord. Just repent if you see that you are at fault otherwise address the area of lack and present it to the Lord and reaffirm that He has already fulfilled your request.