What's In a Name

Naming your child is one of the most important things you can do. A name is more than what you are called by it’s the title of your future. Some of the most common names come from the bible, yet many of those parents aren’t familiar with bible let alone the origin of the name in the word. Parents have named their children after people who have had lives full of obstacles, pain and death, yet they never even considered it.

Even those names that are not as common are important to the development of a child’s life. For example the name Tamar is in the bible located in 2 Samuel was the daughter of King David and was raped by her brother, said to be a “mimicking” attempt of how Tamar’s father had wronged Bathsheba. This name may be familiar for those who follow the reality show world in which Tamar Braxton herself has encountered horrible situations with men when she was younger. In the same case, her own father had wronged her mother.

There are many examples that you can find around you or even in your own life. This doesn’t apply only to biblical names it’s any name, you or your child weren’t the very first ones to that name, even if it belonged to an inanimate object.

Illness

More than ever before we hear about ALL types of diseases and illnesses.  There is a name for every type of emotional reaction, for every reaction, for every thought.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hear about a new drug on the market to help rid of some “disease” or to void any type of emotion. There’s something for everyone- if you can’t sleep, if you get sleepy, if you occasionally feel sad, if you have a headache, if you are too energetic, and so on.

It’s amazing how people aren’t catching on to how the enemy is trying to “drug them up” and make them dependent on them.

Of course there are times when we need medication, but there is a line that can be easily crossed when we learn to depend on them and nothing else. I’m not here to talk about how we need to rid of any and all medications, but we need to learn to wean ourselves off most medications because they aren’t always necessary. That high blood pressure medication that you’re currently taking can be a thing of the past if you enter His presence with thanks giving and ask to be delivered from high blood pressure, and then make the actions towards it! Change what you eat, get active, just make the necessary changes along with your prayer.

You can be released from any sickness or painful situation, do your research in the word, seek His face through prayer and take action!

Unity ?

Sometimes I sit and think about how there are so many different “religious” groups that refer to themselves as Christians, yet they all don’t believe in the same things….how does that work? So instead of all ‘Christians’ being on the same page in regards to belief and practices.

All of this just adds to the confusion amongst those of us who haven’t been in the church as long as the ‘Old Saints’ as well as confusing those who are still in the world who get lured into organizations that say they are Christian but are far off from it.

I get confused at times by all the different denominations that have such specific practices and beliefs all stemming around the belief of Jesus Christ. I hope that there will be a more unity among all Christians and that we can all come to realize that the bible, God’s word, His Spirit is what we should be led by- not by traditions that man has created thinking that it will please God.

There is already division within each individual church congregation that the unity “project” would have to start from within each congregation. There needs to be more understanding and less judging, kindness instead of being dismissive if someone doesn’t fit your idea of what a “Christian” is supposed to look like…

To be continued….

End Of 2012

As this year comes to an end, it is a good time to look back at what we have lived through. The times when we didn’t know if something was going to go our way and those times that we had to go through tough times that we knew were inevitable.

 It’s amazing how we can be in front of a situation thinking ‘how can I get through this?’ and then past the situation looking back like ‘Why was I worried?’ Isn’t that funny? I liken it to taking an exam, you know you have to do it, you get nervous every time even though you know every time you make it through the exam, regardless the grade outcome.

This year has been full of political ups and downs and many controversial events. Just know that this is only the beginning, there will be tougher situations that will divide the people even further. There will be more unrest in the middle east and more sinful behaviors being condoned.

But always know that as long as you keep God first and stay out of sin, you won’t have to worry about what the “rest” are doing around you because you are covered by the blood of Jesus.

Desires

What do you think when you think of the word “desire”? For most of us we instantly think “Oh it’s something sexual or taboo.” I know there are more people that think that for a second when they initially hear that word.

Due to the fact that people are openly divided on their opinions about what “desire” entails, other people try to avoid using the word unless they are referring to something that they are passionately wanting-for another person or a group or a circumstance-not for their own benefit.

There is nothing wrong with desiring something for yourself…It can be something small such as a new camera or something larger like a new home. Regardless, you should not be ashamed of having things that you desire for yourself. The way to know if you are on the right path-in God’s will is if you are aware that if you received those desires you would be consumed by it. Another is to weigh the importance, is it something that you just want to accumulate or something that has a purpose other than just ‘because’. 

Look to the word to see if your desire lines up with what God has said and pray about it, if you keep feeling like the desire is not in line with the scripture and it doesn’t seem right, then drop it and find a new desire that will work.

Convincing is believing...

Genesis 15:4-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[a] be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

I had an “Ah Ha” moment during bible study in which we discussed walking by faith. Pastor Drew Harris (The Spoken Word Church),brought to our attention that we all need/needed to be convinced in order to believe the word of God.

When we say that someone was “convinced” into believing something, it makes it sound like they were fooled or swindled, but it is actually not true. If someone were to tell you that they can say the alphabet backwards, you may not believe that they can do it without stumbling-until they reach ‘D’ now you believe that they can say the alphabet backwards. It took you to be convinced that they could do it when they showed that they have to capability to do it even though they hadn’t finished it yet by the time you believed.

The Lord knows we have to be convinced in order to believe, that is why He tells us to prove Him and like with Abram, He gives him a visual example to help him believe that he will have many sons and daughters.

“Rainy Season”

“Rainy Season”

I don’t know about you, but there has been a cooling down in the fire for Christ. All of those who were on fire have experienced a noticeable decrease in the yearning to go further. I have experienced that as well.

You are not alone if feel the same and want to get that fire back like you once did when you first got saved. I have noticed that there is a pattern that most people unintentionally follow from the time they get saved until now.

1)      Receive Salvation

2)      Enter a state of confusion-not sure what to do next, expecting a “feeling of change”.

3)      Start going to church/Begin to enjoy going to church.

4)      Go highlighter crazy-marking every scripture you hear about and have read.

5)      Researching scriptures.

6)      Read a copious amount of Christian books.

7)      Start acting super “religious” to the point where everything around you that isn’t Christ centered, repulses you.

8)      Continue to research and absorb Christian material-such as videos, movies, books and audio.

9)      “Crash”

10)  Begin to get tired of listening to only Christian programming.

11)  Start to revert to old habits- music artist, books, movies,etc…

12)  Viewing church as a Sunday routine.

13)  Notice that things aren’t the same anymore.

These are just examples of the steps that most people tend to fall under during their early stages of their walk. It doesn’t end like this, we must reignite the fire and learn to not over due it.