Celibacy

1 Corinthians 7:7-9New International Version (NIV)

⁷ I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

⁸ Now to the unmarried^[a] and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. ⁹ But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry,for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Celibacy

One of the toughest things to share with young people who are coming into the faith, has to be the belief on celibacy or chastity. We live in a very sexualized world where the sex scenes on television are becoming longer and more explicit over the years and commercials that more often than not have a very sexy woman or girl advertising something as simple as lotion or a fast food meal.

This all leads to the young men in the world to be hyped up, with the media and societal ideals playing with their hormones and making young women insecure and pressured into believing they have to be just a sexy or sexier than those images on television and in magazines.

Of course there are those out there who believe that by having sex (outside marriage) is liberating and that every woman should be allowed to do so and that it’s empowering, forgetting that they are giving away a piece of themselves to all their partners to that will eventually weaken them whether emotionally, psychologically and sometimes even physically- not very empowering when you really think about.

Unfortunately, when someone says that they are a virgin they are immediately accused of lying or assumed to be a prude or that they must be a religious freak. Although it’s unfortunate that it has come to this, don’t be fooled that it’s just another act and that you need to have sex when you know there is so much at stake when you do.

For those who have already had premarital sex, they are not damned for doing so. The point is to know better to do better. Temptation may be a lot stronger for someone who has already experienced it, however it is not impossible to resist. You will be amazed at the quality of guys or girls you will enter in relationships with because it takes a worthy person to appreciate and wait for marriage.

Value your virginity …..Value yourself moving forward and to resist temptation.

Be Blessed!

As the children of the Most High, we have been given right to riches and glory by Christ Jesus. We have unlimited access to the “bank account” that never goes in the negative, never bounces a check and never denies you credit…

We have to acknowledge that we are His heirs and all we have to do is activate it! There are many ways to activate it, it all takes faith.

Access point #1

Tithing: we have been given the responsibility to give 1/10^th of our paychecks back to Him through our home church. How can He trust us with riches if we get stingy and over a small amount in comparison to what He has laid up for us. When we tithe we are protecting our seed from the devourer (satan) and blessing the rest so that we can get that 100 fold return (riches).

Access point #2

Giving: The amount we choose to give to our/a church (with good ground) , television ministry, feed the children or anything in the ministry to help others. This comes after tithing, some may not be in the position to tithe but they can give what they can whether it be financial or giving of your time.

Access point #3

Meditating on His word is the most direct way you can activate your “heir account”. Find scriptures that speak about being heirs or abundance and repeat them and make them a part of you so that when the time comes you’ll need that scripture(s) to unlock that safety deposit box to your blessing.

There are many more access points, but if you do these three things, you will see the difference in not only your regular everyday life but you will feel renewed and confident.

Tis The Season

This is Christmas season spend some time throughout your day to reflect on all the things that God has done for you this past year,2014,and see where you are in life now. Are you where you want to be? Or are you still on your journey?

Declare that 2015 will be a year of excellence, abundance and victory.

I personally do not set New Year Resolutions, however I do expect great things to occur in each year. This year will be full of amazing changes that will usher in a fresh anointing.

This year has been a blessed year, full of ups and downs that I have brought me to where I am today, I’m not done yet, but I do feel like I have grown.How about you?

In the midst of all the racial and political unrest that had stirred up this later part of the year, we can’t be moved. Do not let the rage of others penetrate your spirit-there is no reason to be up in arms over the wickedness in the world. As believers we should already know that the world will get darker and darker, the wicked acts of people will only increase. Of course it is hard to see it played out on television and dealing with people arguing over their position on the various topics however we have to remain in peace.

Go into the new year with peace and know that as long as you believe, no attack of the enemy can harm you!

Personal Breakthrough

Galatians 1:10New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁰ For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

For many of us who are perfectionist and have small bouts of anxiety when things don’t go right or approached with things that are foreign to us, we struggle with the idea of pleasing man more so than God.

What keeps us trapped is our need to please everyone around us and not mess up, to avoid disappointing others and fearing that they will look down on you.

Personal breakthrough is next to impossible when we are focused on pleasing anyone other than God. The pressure of not being able to conquer a fear that everyone knows you have prevents us from reaching our full potential.

For years I haven’t been able to drive on the freeway after having two nerve-wrecking experiences. I allowed other’s fears and horrible experiences overlap my fears from being inexperienced and thus “crippling” myself in that area. I noticed that if I allowed that “crippling” process to happen-fear overlapping other’s negative experiences- I would continue to be wrapped up in self-inflicted bondage.

It wasn’t until I finally got so wrapped up in bondage that my physical and mental body turned on me and ended up on bed rest from a stress/worry induced neck injury. It wasn’t until I gradually let go of the worries I had and the self-inflicted need to have to get everything done and done right-right away, that I was able to breakthrough each chain that had bound me.

I finally made up my mind that I was going to get on the freeway and gave up every worry/anxious thought up to the Lord for Him to handle. That was when I felt the biggest breakthrough in entire life-it was a supernatural release that allowed me to break that final chain.

You can breakthrough any chains in your life, if you make up your mind and give it all to Him!

Amazing

Genesis 1:1New King James Version (NKJV)

The History of Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In this fast pace life of ours we forget to stop and look up and appreciate some of God’s creations.

On a road trip to Southern California from the Bay Area we got to ‘stop’ and enjoy how amazing the mountains are. The mountains reach so high up and are perfectly formed, some with trees on it some with just bushes scattered throughout. Some of the mountains are dark brown almost black and some are golden or red. Creations like mountains are just one of those things they we don’t get to appreciate for whatever reason. The sky and all the shades of reds and yellows when the sun rises and sets is like a God took a paint brush and made several brush strokes over the sky. The blue sky with scattered white clouds and the sun shining is so beautiful like a scene out of a children’s story book.

Colossians 1:16New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

God created everything! Sometimes I have to stop and look at my surroundings and just sit in awe of how beautifully and wonderfully made we all are, how complex the human body is, how intricate the seed that sprouted roots and developed the trees. Everything around us has a purpose and was made to support another function and so on in this complex chain.

Don’t forget just how amazing our God really is!!

Envious

Proverbs 24:1-3King James Version (KJV)

24 Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

² For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

³ Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

The dividing line between those who have and those who don’t have has gotten rapidly larger and larger. The middle class are being pushed to fall in line with either the rich or the poor. As this line continues to get larger and the classes becoming more defined the envy for having those things that rich have has become more desirable.

The rich are flaunting their wealth on purpose and those that don’t have anything are being visually stimulated with things that they can’t get their hands on. Of course this may not be a foreign concept, but if you have paid attention over the past 10 or so years, the focus on the rich and fabulous has become more fascinating and the job market and debt has gotten worse. So when you have a financial system that is failing and having some of the wealthiest people getting richer the focus on the fabulous has gotten more toxic to the point that it has become an obsession.

Do not be envious of those who have more than you. There is nothing wrong with wanting things, but not to the point that you want what someone has to the point of feeling like you deserve it more than the person or are willing to do anything to get it. The Lord is faithful to give you the desires of your heart; as long as it is in His will (not to cause harm to someone else or yourself) ask Him and stay righteous and He will deliver those things you desire or opportunities to get those things.

End Times

As  a Christian we have all heard of “end times”, depending on how new you were to the concept, it would always strike fear in most and would automatically be translated as literally the last few days before Christ returns. However, the fear of the last days and the  ‘last few days’ belief is wrong.

As believers we should not be scared when the talk of end times is brought up, in fact you should be more at ease because that means that we are closer to the return of Christ and getting to be with Him again! It’s not a sin to be a little uneasy about the whole situation because the world has to get worse before things get better.

We ARE in the last days! But this does not mean that the world is going to end in a weeks’ time, but that we have already entered the final chapter before the end of this evil world. The world will not be destroyed by some meteor and then it’s all over-it’s actually a progression of different events that have to occur that are listed in Revelations. Wars, earthquakes, famines, and much more that have to come to pass before the Lord can return.

Instead of being in fear anytime you hear “end times” or trying to ignore those things that deal with the subject, be aware! Watch the news, go to church and read your bibles! It’s important to know where we are in the timeline and what to be prepared for. The Lord has shared all these things that have to come to pass so that we can be prepared and have are hearts at ease during these precarious times.