When It Rains, Sometimes It Pours - But Brighter Days are Ahead!

It may be raining in our life right now, but my friends, I'm here to tell you - the sun is going to shine again!

Sometimes when it rain, it pours - but have no fear - there are brighter days ahead. Psalms 30:5 tells us that "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." I realize that this is probably easier said than done, but when the storms of life start raging, we must hold on to God’s unchanging hand. We do that by sending up our praise, our prayer, and by quoting His word back to Him.

You know, sometimes we get a little lazy with our praise to the Lord - we don’t spend as much time in prayer like we use to; we become so busy with other things that studying the word becomes a chore. So the Lord allows a little rain to fall. Mind you, He’s not allowing that rain to kill us - it's just enough so we will bow our knees and give Him the praise that He so rightly deserves. It's also a reminder that we need to put our trust back in Him and not in ourselves. He does this out of love for us.

The Lord allowed some rain to pour in Job's life, but after Job humbled himself and acknowledged God's sovereignty, he came out with twice as much as he went in with. God allowed some rain to pour in the children of Israel life, but when the sun started to shine for them, Psalms 105:37 tells us that they came out with silver and gold and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Slaves leaving Egypt with silver and gold! Can you imagine that?!

If the rain didn’t fall, we wouldn’t know how to appreciate the sunny days! God also allows the rain to fall to see what’s in our heart; to see if we are in love with the gifts He gives us or if we are in love with the giver. It’s easy to praise the Lord when the sun is shining, but it’s so important to always have the same praise when the rain is falling on and around us.

It's imperative that we remember what the word of God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, regardless of whether it’s raining or if the sun is shining: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." Also, remember not to get a bad attitude just because it’s raining in your life.  A bad attitude is just like having a flat tire - you can't go anywhere until it’s fixed!

In the days of Noah it poured, but for the ones that were obedient, there were brighter days ahead and the sun did indeed shine! So, be encouraged my friends - the Lord is too Holy, too Righteous, and too Just to allow anything to cross our path that’s not for our good and His Glory... no matter how it may appear to us! When it starts raining, sometimes it pours - BUT there are brighter days ahead!

And with all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!

The Blood of Jesus

I thank the Lord for His precious blood! The blood is one of the provisions that was left for us to help us get back to the Lord. The blood has never lost its power; it is able to do whatever the Lord sends it forth to do. You and I have access to that blood - it's right there for the asking. The only reason the blood doesn't work for us is because we won’t use it. To use it, we simply have to ask the Lord to cover us with His blood. Today, we are going to talk about four things the blood will do for us.

1) The Blood Cries Out for Us: Did you know that we don’t have to lift a hand when someone wrongs us? We don’t have to pay them back; we don't have to plot revenge. If we would just plead the blood every day; it has a voice and that voice will cry out for vengeance on our behalf. 



Let’s look at Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:9-10 (KJV): "And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And He said, what hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground."

We all know the story about Cain slaying Abel because the Lord rejected his offering, but accepted the offering of Abel. The scripture tells us that Abel's blood was crying out for vengeance. If we want the blood to cry out on our behalf, we must plead the blood over ourselves every day. We must get ourselves clean daily by repenting and let the blood do the rest.

2) The Blood Protects Us: We need the blood of protection, so that we can be protected from the enemy. When satan sees us going on for the Lord, he wants to destroy us, but the blood will cry out for our protection, just as it did for the children of Israel.

Exodus 12:7 says, "And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the house..." Verses 12 and 13 continues with, "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the house where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Oh how we need the blood upon our heart and down both sides of us!

3) The Blood Pardons Us and Give Us Peace: The blood also justified us; it cleans us as though we had never sinned. Roman 5:9 tells us, "Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

The blood has special power to pardon and save us, so it's essential that we live under this blood. Remember, for this power to pardon us, we must spend time repenting. Repenting will allow the blood to justify and cleanse us as though we had never sinned.

4) The Blood Delivers: The blood delivers us from the full stature of Lucifer, it makes a way of escape for us and draws us closer to the Lord. Ephesians 2:13 says, "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." The blood will deliver us - if we want to be delivered. 1 Peter 1:18-19 reminds us that, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

My aunt sings this song all the time that says, "I'm going to stay under the blood; I'm going to stay under the blood; and the devil can't do me no harm." Now we know why the devil can't do us any harm when we stay under the blood - because it cries out for vengeance, it protects us, it pardons us and it delivers us! Stay under the blood, my friends!

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

God Specializes In Your "Failures!"

Specialize: To focus one’s efforts in one field of activity or study

Failure: The state of failing, a breaking down in health, action, or strength

Our God is an awesome God! He didn’t call us because of any special talent that He’s has given to us, or because we were wise, nor because we were strong. In truth, God is looking for a people that are weak.  

Paul tell us that not many that are noble, not many that are mighty are called; God is looking for someone who is so weak that they will have no choice but to depend on Him. God is looking for failures; for people that can’t make it on their own. He’s looking for people who are so low that they can't even pretend to be Super-Righteous or Oh-So-Holy; He’s looking for the folks that didn’t know how they were going to make it until they found God.

You might be asking yourself why the Lord would be looking for those types of people? Why? Because He specializes in failure, that's why. He specializes in people who are trying to get some place, but are struggling so much that they can’t make it to the next stop. Some times those people even falling down and say, "God help me," "God give me strength," "Pick me up Lord!" That’s what He’s waiting on - those that are so broken down and humble that all they can do is cry out to Him. Not those who think and act as if they can make it on their own, those who just DARE someone to get in their way - you know the type, right? Well, you better believe that is not the type of person that God is looking for.

Even as Christians, we occasionally  get too strong and we get to the place where we say or think that we don’t need God. We may not always say it out loud, but our actions certainly reflect it. Like when we get so strong that we think that we don’t need to pray everyday; or when we begin thinking that we made it to this place of great success all by ourselves. Guess what, friend? God is not looking for a people like that.

Let me share with you a quick example of some people who came up short when they tried to make it on their own. Luke 5:3-6 tells us, "And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

In our example, you see that Jesus put the Word in first - he taught the people the word first and then blessed the people next. He did that because the Word is where success comes from; whether it’s natural or spiritual. If you're feeling a bit like Simon - maybe you feel like you've toiled all night and you still have nothing - let me tell you that there is hope, but not until we acknowledge that we don’t know everything; that we are weak and that we can't do anything without the Lord. It's at that point of "failure" that the Lord can work with us.

Our failures serve as a reminder that we have left something critical out -- that something is the Word. Get in the Word and turn your failures over to the Lord... because He specializes in them. We no longer have to depend on ourselves, all we have to do is put the word in our ship (or in the present, put the word in our heart).

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

The Lord Will Deliver His Own!

Deliver: Rescue, Free

Own: Belonging to oneself

We often look in the wrong places for our needs to be met. We look for people, places, and things to meet our needs. However, the truth of the matter is what we need is not found in people, places or things. What we actually need is in the Lord.

David said in Psalms 18:2, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust: my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." Let’s take a closer look at this scripture and see what David is saying to us.

The Lord is my Rock. What's a rock? Someone who is dependable. Deuteronomy 32:4 says; "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He." Whatever we have need of, it’s in the Rock... a Rock that’s well able to deliver His own.

The Lord is our Fortress. The word Fortress goes back to the word rock - it means stone; strong hold.  Our needs and substance are there just waiting on us to come and get them.

Verse two goes on to mention "my Deliverer." In other words, our Rock will carry us away to safety when we're in danger or harm's reach. I Corinthians 10:13 says; "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." That means there is nothing we can get into that the Lord can’t deliver us out of.

My God. The all-sufficient and the almighty one.

My Strength. Strength is our prevailing power; the quality of being strong. This means that when we are weak, we can and must allow our Lord to be strong in our lives. We must learn to lie down and let Him take the high place.

In whom I will Trust. We should not put our trust in ourselves, nor in man - all of our trust and confidence must go in the Lord.

My Buckler. The Lord is our armed defense, our ruler, our shield... the shield that protects us from all hurt and harm.

And the Horn of my salvation. The horn speaks of power; a ray of light. This means that the Lord is our power, He created the light and He is the light.

And my high Tower. A place of security or defense. When we are in that place of security, no man can pluck us out of His hands (John 10:28).

When we see all that God has to offer, why would we look for people, places, or things to deliver us?!  Let's be like David; let's keep our eyes on the Lord and put this into the atmosphere:

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower!"

With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!

We Must Stand Even When We Don't Understand!

Stand: To remain unchanged; to resist

Understand: To comprehend; to realize

We must learn to remain unchanged even when we can’t comprehend what’s going on in our lives. Today, we might be - as a famous songwriter once said - sitting on top of the world today, the next day we might feel like the world is on top of us. That’s when we have to pull from within and remember what the Lord has said and what He has done.

Let’s take a look at the Shunammite woman. Even though life threw her a curb ball, she was still able to take a firm stand.  Let me share with you her story from II Kings 4:8-35. The little Shunammite woman and her husband made a little chamber in their house for Elisha; for she perceived he was a man of God. She wanted to make sure that he, a man of God, would have a place to turn in to whenever he passed through. In return, the man of God wanted to be a blessing to her and he realized the woman and her husband had no children. Elisha told her about a specific season, according to the time of life, that she would embrace a son. And of course, the woman bore a son in the season that Elisha had said to her. When that child was grown, he went to his father and complaining about some pain saying, “my head, my head” and his father told him to go to his mother. He went to her and sat on her knees till noon then he died.

After her son passed, the Shunammite woman went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. She then shut the door upon him, and went out.  She never told her husband that their son was dead, she simply said, “I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.” He said, “wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor Sabbath.” and she said, “it shall be well.” So she saddled up a donkey and headed out to see the man of God – despite the fact that her son had just died. When the man of God saw her from far off, he sent his servant to ask her, “is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?”

Even though her son had just died and the scripture tells us that her soul was vexed; she took a stand. I’m pretty sure that she didn’t understand what was going on and yet she took a stand. Her response to the servant was “it is well.” If the shoe was on the other foot and you were in her situation, could you answer with a simple, “it is well?” Or would you spend at least the next 5-10 minutes telling the servant all of your woes? Would you be able to stand even when you didn’t understand?

Getting back to our story -- the Bible tells us that Elisha went back to the house where the child was dead and laid on his bed. He went on to shut the door upon them and he prayed unto the Lord. Elisha then laid upon the child, put his mouth on the child’s mouth, his eyes on the child’s eyes and his hands upon the child’s hands. He then stretched himself upon the child and the child’s flesh began to warm. Elisha later repeated this process and wouldn’t you know it - the child sneezed seven times and he opened his eyes!

That Shunammite woman had not asked for this child - he was a gift from God. For him to then die at such a young age had to be difficult for her - you know there was no way that she could understand what had happened to him, but she was able to stand firm and go forward. Let’s let that Shunammite woman stand as an example for us when things happen that we don’t understand.

As we enter into 2014, let’s resolve to take a stand even when we don’t understand what’s happening around us. Pull from deep within, my friends, and trust in the Lord with all you have!

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!