Walking In The Light

Light: To Shine Upon, Well Illuminated

Jesus is the light; there is no darkness in Him at all. If we say that we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him, but then we live, move, and walk about in darkness, it's like we are speaking falsely by  not living and practicing the truth. My friends, let’s practice walking in the light!

Today, I went to visit one of the members of my former church who is in the fourth stage of a very rare form of cancer. Even though she’s in a dark situation, it was such a blessing to see her light still burning so bright! We didn’t get much of a response until we started talking about Jesus - and then it was evident that she is still living and practicing the truth of God's light. She still wanted us to pray  for her and she wanted us to read  scriptures to her... if you and I were in the same position, would we feel the same? Even in the shadow of death, the light of the Lord is still shining bright. We should be ever so grateful that His light will never go out and will never die.

Jesus is the light; He says in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." This means that the light is right there to shine through any and all dark situations we are facing and praying about. Oh how we need to walk in the light; trust in the light and allow it to shine in our hearts.  Just think, if we start practicing now, when dark situations do come our way (and they will), then we'll be well equipped to walk through it with our lights shining bright. In Matthew 5:16 the Bible says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

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

Don't "Passover" the Importance of Easter!

This past Sunday was Passover - some folks call it Easter; others might call it Resurrection Sunday, but today we're going to use the word Passover. I thank God for Passover, for it was on that day and what He did on that cross that makes it possible for us to live spiritual and have the victory.

Jesus was an amazing man in the natural - He had such a wonderful attitude - even while hanging on the cross. I'm pretty sure that His attitude was MUCH different from what ours would have been if we had been in the same situation. It was even different from the people that were hanging around the cross on that day. I want to share Jesus's attitude, because it’s the one we must have as we carry our financial, emotional and career-related crosses today.

On that fateful day, there were hours of light and hours of darkness. While Jesus was hanging on the cross during the hours of light, He was forgiving as the Bible tells us in Luke 23:34-35, "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots." When we are walking in our hours (or days) of light, that's what we should be doing - Forgiving. If some of us are being honest with ourselves, we would admit that although the light is shining on us, both naturally and spiritual, we are still not forgiving. Let’s learn to forgive people. Jesus did it and He was hanging on the cross with nails in His hands and nails in His feet. You and I aren't dealing with even half of that!

As we continue to read through the 23rd book of Luke, we find the second thing that Jesus did in verse 43, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily (or truly) I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." In other words, Jesus told the thief that He was taking him (the thief) with Him (Jesus) to paradise. In Jesus' hours of light, He spoke the truth - are we speaking the truth? Are we forgiving our enemies? The people around the cross were sinning against the Lord even as He was dying for them... and us. Not only was He forgiving and speaking the truth to them; He was also leading them into good pasture. My friends, we must be like the criminal hanging on the cross with Him - we have got to cry out to Him. At this very moment, He’s ready and more than able to carry us out of whatever we are in. Whether we are a thief or a convicted murderer, Jesus is ready to take us to Paradise with Him. All we have to do is say, "Lord remember me... have mercy on me" and be sincere in doing so. If we will do that, He will prepare a table for us right in front of all our enemies, even when we are getting just what we deserve.

The third thing He did while on the cross where He was hanging bleeding, dying and hurting was to make sure that His mother was going to be taken care of. In John 19:26-27, the scriptures tell us that "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Women, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." Not only did He take care of His mother (mother speaks of safety and comfort), but also He also took care of His good friend John. That’s the same thing He’ll do for me and you. When we are carrying our crosses (situations and burdens), if we'll just remember to call on him sincerely, He will make sure that we are taking care of.

When we call on Him, He will forgive us. He will speak the truth to us; He will lead us to green pasture; and He will make sure that we are taking care of. He did it for that thief on the cross and He will do it for us. Thank God for Passover!

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

If You Stay Ready, You Won't Have to Get Ready!

Prepare: To make ready or qualified

You know how it is my friends, when we get that call and find out that company is coming - to make my point, let’s say it’s the President. We get busy making things ready; throwing things out - things that probably should have already been thrown out. We start cleaning the house, making sure that everything is in its rightful place. We would really put a lot of energy into it, right? No spots or blemishes in sight; we would work as long and as hard as it takes to get everything just right- after all, the President is on the way!

Getting prepared is work, but just like we would do it in the natural, God is requiring the same in the Spiritual.

When a runner has a track meet, he doesn’t wait until the day of the meet to get prepared. No, instead he starts a long time in advance, because if he waits until the day of it will be too late and he won’t be physical or mentally prepared. That means that every day he out there doing something to get his body in shape, so that he can qualify for the race. Mentally, he’s meditating on it; he’s seeing himself first at the finish line. He’s going to bed with that thought and he’s waking up with that thought. Are you seeing the bigger picture yet?
 

We are on a spiritual mission and there is someone who's coming who's much more important than the President and much greater than any track meet we could participate in. Our Commander and Chief is coming and His name is Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3:14-15 reminds us, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named."

It's a bit difficult to say that you don’t know that He’s coming, it's all over the Word!

• Matthew 24:44 - Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. 
• John 14:2-3 - In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Friends, He’s preparing for us and He expects us to be preparing for Him as well. Remember, at the end of this race, the prize is eternal!

• I Thessalonians 5-2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 

It doesn’t matter that He’s coming as a thief in the night, if we have been putting time into getting our Spiritual house in order, we will not only be ready, but we will also be equipped! It’s imperative that we schedule a prayer time as well as a study time... in the hustle and bustle of today's world, if we don’t plan and set aside the time, it's likely that we won't do it and those things that are critical to our preparation will be neglected. God is watching - let’s get prepared!

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

God Has It All In Control!

Control: To have the authority or ability to regulate, direct, or dominate a situation.

We are not just drifting along through this life - no my friends, God has a purpose for each one of us!

That purpose is for us to recognize in each and every situation we are placed in that He is right there, right in the midst of it all with us. God is everything, He is in everything, and He has everything in control. In I Thessalonians 5:18, the word says; "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." If God is not in everything, how can we really give thanks for everything?

We have to remember that God arranges every situation and every circumstance for our lives according to His will. He did not promise that every situation we would face would be pleasant, but what He did promise, we can read in Philippians 4:7, "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." The way you truly have this peace is by realizing that God is in the midst of this situation (whatever that situation may be) and that He has it all under control. You and I can’t fix it and it's essential that we recognize our inability to do so. Instead, we must give Him thanks for His ability to fix it. We must also remember that He started it and He’s more than able to finish it.

When hardship and pain come - and my friends, it will come - we must remember not to run from God, but to run to Him. We also can't try to change the truth, instead let's let the truth change us, and the truth is that God allowed it, He’s the head over it, and He has it all in control. Have no worries or fears, our God is omnipresent which means that He is always right there with us - even in the midst of the storm!

We all like to think that we can fix our own situations and that we can fix other people and their problems, but the truth of the matter is, God is the only one that has the authority and ability to regulate, direct, and dominate every situation.

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

Blessed Is He That Waiteth!

Blessed: Enjoying happiness
Wait: To stay in one place in expectation of

You can’t hurry God... no, you just have to wait! He may not come when we want Him, but when He comes, He’s always right on time... His Time! Just because we are living in this "microwave" generation, where we want what we want right now, sometimes we have the nerve to want Him to come on our time - usually, like yesterday. It's important that we remember that The Lord doesn’t always heat up like the microwave, sometimes He’s more like the crock pot. You know even when you put that crock pot on high, it still takes a little while to warm up. You can’t hurry God... no, you just have to wait!

Now don’t misunderstand me - the Lord can answer you faster than you can bat your eye - if He wants to. But that’s not our call - it’s His call. The point I’m trying to make is - slow your roll - and learn to wait patiently! The word tells us in Psalms 27:14, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Once upon a time, Daniel - a powerful servant of the Lord - prayed for an answer and it took 21 days for the answer to come. In Daniel chapter 10, verse 12, Daniel tells us about the vision of an Angel; "Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words." I'm sharing this scripture with you to let you know that God heard Daniel the very first time he spoke - just as He hears us now. And just as Daniel had to wait, we must also learn to wait for God's timing. Fortunately for us, while we're waiting - we're growing. While we're waiting, the Lord is teaching us to trust Him and He’s teaching us patience. He’s going to give us just what we need, exactly when we need it. He wants us to enjoy happiness and to stay in one place in expectation of what He’s going to bring.

Sometimes we ask for a spouse or a certain job and when it doesn’t happen in our time frame we get anxious and we try to get ahead of God. We meet someone and he or she appear to be better than ice cream and cake together, and we think - this is the person of my dreams or this is the job I’ve always dreamed about - but we better wait patiently and be sure it’s God's person or job, because he, or she, or that job could be the worst nightmare we ever had!

Take heed to what the Bible tells us in Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

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