Praise God for the Ram in the Bush!

My friends, trust me when I say that God ALWAYS has a ram in the bush! A ram in the bush is that moment when unexpected help shows up right at the time you need it; just when you think there is no hope. God always has a ram in the bush. Our job is to have the trust (complete confidence) in God that Abraham had.

Most of us know the story of when Abraham was asked to offer his son up as a burnt-offering. Verse 3 of Genesis 22 says; "And Abraham rose up early in the morning... and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." You don’t see anywhere in the scriptures where Abraham questioned God, he simply did what he was asked/told to do. The story continues in verse 9: "And they came to the place which God had told him of, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." as Abraham stretched forth his hand to slay his son, verse 11 tells us, "the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. and he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him." Imagine the relief when "Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son." Don’t you know that was just when Isaac thought there was no hope, God had a ram in the bush. Just as He provided the ram for him, He will do the same for me and you.

Another example is Moses. Exodus 2:2-9 tells the story of when Moses was born. When his mother saw that he was a goodly (beautiful) child, she hid him for three months. "When she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river brink." His sister stood afar off, to see what would be done to him. At the perfect time, the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her maid to fetch it. When she saw the child and he wept, she had compassion on him, and said, this is one of the Hebrews children. Imagine the relief  when Moses' sister saw this and said to Pharaoh's daughter, shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child and Pharaoh's daughter told her to go. Moses' sister was then able to go and called their own mother to nurse him. Now, look at how good God is! His mother was able to nurse and care for him and Pharaoh's daughter paid her to do so! Moses' ram (and his mother's) was Pharaoh's daughter. Despite the fact that Pharaoh had said, "every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive," Moses' life was spared and his very own mother was able to tend to him.

We all know this, but sometime we need a little reminder: God is omnipresent. He will be there for you just in the nick of time and right on time to provide you with whatever kind of ram you need. Your ram could be your friend, a stranger who's kind to you in the grocery store, your neighbor, or even your very own mother - just have faith and trust that whatever you have need of, God always has a ram in the bush!

With all that's said, let the Church say Amen... and Amen!

Live With A Purpose!

Live: to be alive, to be active
Purpose: a desired goal, an intention

You probably hear every day of people who appear to be living with no direction or no desired goals; people who seem to be going through life aimlessly - not really living or enjoying God's beautiful creations. Whether we have one dollar in our pocket or one million, there should still be joy and a real purpose for our lives. Although people might feel like if they don't have a pocket full of money, they are not being blessed, but I'm here to tell you that such thinking is not the case. Blessings are not always monetary. In fact, I would venture to say that if you wake up in the land of the living, then you are being blessed, because that means that you still have an opportunity to repent for your sins, to be thankful, and to be alive with a purpose - then that's being blessed!

I feel like we would be tremendously blessed if we woke up each day saying, "Lord, it's not what you can do for me, but instead what would you have me to do for you today? Often times, we forget that we were not created for ourselves, but we were created for the Glory of God and for His purpose! With that In mind, we should approach everything that the Lord lays on our hearts to do with a cheerful heart and purpose... and that purpose should always be to please our Heavenly Father.

You may not be working right now, but that does not justify you having a pity party. We must instead expect things to turn around and for new doors to be opened. Maybe your situation isn't that you don't have a job - it could be a sickness in our body, or maybe our finances are very low. Whatever the case may be, we are all still blessed because we serve a living God who owns everything in Heaven and in earth. Everything includes jobs, sickness, and finance problems, so be thankful and remember that He said in His word that He would be our provider - it's up to us to give Him that opportunity to provide for us.

Live with a purpose, my friends. And if you feel like you don't have a purpose or like you don't have anything specific to live for - well then, live for Jesus and wait for Him to give you the purpose that He wants you to have. Let's not drag our feet by moping around and complaining about this or that, because it's too easy to lose our focus when we are not living each day with a purpose. Our main intention should always be to be thankful and to ask God for direction, because it's within those directions we will likely find our purpose!

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

Don't Allow Anger To Rule!

Anger: A strong feeling of displeasure, rage

The Lord realizes that at some point in this life we are all going to get angry about something. That's why He said in His word, "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:26-27). While anger may be a part of life, it's important that we don't allow it to carry us into sin.

Despite what you might have heard, it's good not to hid our anger. Instead, we should deal with it (and the reason for it) the moment it comes up. If we don't, it can become destructive. It's always good to acknowledge it, and then deal with it in a positive way by taking it directly to Jesus and confessing it to Him. Although it may feel good to the flesh to be angry and to take that out on others (like by telling them off!), two wrongs have never made a right.

Joyce Myers once said, reacting in anger is how we express our dissatisfaction with life. Let's use Naman as an example. He was a leper who went to the man of God to be healed. However, when the man of God sent his servant out to pray for him instead of doing it himself, Naman became dissatisfied with life and didn't want to do as he had been instructed (go and dip in the river Jordon seven times). Fortunately for Naman, he had a servant who told him that if the man of God servant had told him to do something "big" for his healing, he would have most certainly done it. With that in mind, Naman went and dipped himself seven times in the river and came out completely healed. Naman almost allowed his anger to cheat him out of his blessing! We should never allow our emotions to take over to the point where we cause our flesh to sin and we end up blocking our own blessings.

I can't say it enough - we must not allow ourselves to be in such a rage of anger that we miss out or almost miss out on our blessings that we have prayed so hard for. Even when we want to get angry with our spouse, our sibling, and/or our children for something they have done, we must remember that it's not our responsibility to change them; we are not responsible for their happiness nor their decisions. It is, however, our responsibility to stay focused, and to love them in spite of their actions. God will take care of the rest, after all it is His responsibility (not ours).

We should never allow our anger to fester, because years later it will affect us in ways we wouldn't believe. Remember to keep in mind, "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

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

Compassion Is All About The Lord!

Compassion: Suffering with another; to spare; to have deep sympathy, pity, love, mercy

Let me take a few minutes to share with you the Lord's deep sympathy, His love, and His mercy. I know we all know the story about Jonah and the great fish. Did you also know that he didn’t want to go and preach to the people of Nineveh? In his defense, the people of Nineveh were very wicked people who had no regard for the Lord. The city was noted for its cruelty and violence. Jonah felt they deserved to be punished - just as many of us would feel - but God, in His great compassion, sent them a warning - via Jonah and his preaching. Those wicked people repented, and God did not punish them. How compassionate and merciful is our God?! He wants to forgive us - and will if we would just repent.

The Lord also gave us an example of compassion through His touch. His willingness to touch others, to heal the sick with that touch is evident in Mark 1:40-41: "And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean."

In order for us to learn compassion, we must turn to the source of it - the Master Teacher who demonstrates His mercy and compassion to us daily, just as He did when we were still sinners. Even though we were unworthy, He made us worthy. Even though we were/are sinners, He made us righteous. Even though we may occasionally find ourselves in the kingdom of darkness, He transfers us into the kingdom of light. It's simply God’s nature to show compassion - His heart is full of it and He wants the hearts of His people to be like His own. He wants us to have that kind, loving feeling that results in kind and helpful actions towards others; while expecting nothing in return. If you're lacking compassion - simply go to the source and ask for it!

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