Lay Up Your Treasure In Heaven!

Treasure: wealth stored up or held in reserve, something of great value to keep as precious, or appreciate

There are many things in life that we value - some folks value their houses; others their cars and their massive amounts of money. There are really too many things to mention here, but the bottom line is that the Bible tells us "Lay not up for ourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal" (Matthew 6:19-20).

The Lord wants our hearts to be focused on Him. He doesn't want us to be wrapped up in the various things that we call our treasure here on earth. Matthew 6:21 says; "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." We have to reverse the way that we think and the way that we order or rank things - we need to make Jesus our treasure; the one that we treasure as great value; the one whom we keep as precious and the one whom we deeply appreciate.

Our treasure in Heaven will never fail us, so we can start by turning away from the love of earthly things and turn to God with worship and praise for Him. We can do this by showing love to every one and/or by giving of our substance and time to people in need. Let's not be so wrapped up with the gifts that God has given to us that we forget about the giver.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here - it's wonderful to have nice houses, cars, and plenty of money. What I am saying is that we should not make them our treasure, because our time here on earth is temporary, however, our time with the Lord is an eternity - so be sure to always make Him your precious treasure; the one you value the most.

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

The Devil has Plots, but God has PLANS!

Plot: a conspiracy, to scheme secretly
Plan: a method for achieving some thing, have in mind an intention or purpose

In Jeremiah 29:11 the word of God says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." In other words, God knows the plans He has for you. Those plans are of peace (or calm) and not of evil (misery, woe, and affliction). We should trust in His plans for us and know that God had an answer to whatever our situation is BEFORE He ever put us into it. Now, on the other hand, all the devil has are plots - schemes to steal, kill and destroy - because you know that's his job. As we see in 1 Peter 5-8, the devil is like a roaring lion, walking around looking for lost souls to devour.

The devil's plots are those burdensome, hurtful, and ugly situations that we all find ourselves in every now and then. The thing we have to realize is that the Lord allows these situations to happen, because they are a part of His master plan. God has plans for us and those plans are designed to get us where He wants us to be. When it's all said and done, God's people always come out blessed. I heard T. D. Jakes say the other day that blessings and burdens go hand-in-hand - have you ever considered that? Well, if you think about it, another way to say that is this -- if we can be faithful to do what we know is pleasing in the sight of God in the midst of the devil's plots and schemes (i.e. the burden), we will come out on top (i.e. blessed).

Let's look at the plot of Haman, as told in the book of Esther. Haman is next in line behind the King with everybody in the kingdom bowing down to him - with the exception of one man, Modecai. Haman was so angry that he hatched a plot against all of the Jews because he was angry with one man. Haman had the gallows (structures made for hanging criminals) built for Mordecai, and then had the King to send out letters calling for the destruction of all the Jews. Little did Haman know that God had a plan! The evil that was plotted against the Jews was returned to his own bosom. Haman was hung on the gallows that was prepared for Mordecai and Mordecai was exalted! The word said that Mordecai was great in the King's house; next to the King, wearing royal apparel and the King's ring.

God allowed this plot to elevate Mordecai, before and in the midst of that storm, the Jews were fasting, praying, and calling on the name of the Lord -- all of the same things we must do. God is the head of all things, so we must trust Him. If we can do that, God will bring us out in His time and we will see His awesome intentions, purposes, and plans for our lives!

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

Our Words Have Power

Words: a message, a brief talk or command

Powerful: possessing energy or great force; having authority

Let's go back to the beginning where God created the heaven and the earth; since He created everything with words. If you look at Genesis 1:3-6, each scripture starts with "and God said," "and God said," and so on. God created everything simply by speaking it into existence. Since His word tells us that we are made in His image and He created with words, in a way, we can also create with words. Now, don't get me wrong - this is not to say that we have the same power as God (not even close!), but there are some things of Him within us. Proverbs 18:21 says; "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." In other words, we will eat death or life with just our words. Our words are powerful, so let’s make sure that we're speaking life.

I remember this time when one of my friends was angry with their supervisor, who was scheduled to go out of town for the weekend. In that moment of anger, my friend said; "I hope she ends up with two flat tires!" Wouldn't you know it - that’s exactly what happened! Words are like seeds - you plant them, water them, and they grow. That's why it's crucial that we plant seeds of life, because they have power. So, let the weak say "I am strong;" let the poor say "I am rich;" let the sick say "I am healed!"

If we want to change something in our lives, we should start with our words, because words can hurt you or they can heal you. I've often heard this saying; "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me." Well, I'm here to tell you that is not a true statement; words are powerful and they can sometimes cut deeper than a knife. If those words are sharp enough, it's likely that you will never forget them. Even though you may forgive the one(s) that spoke them, they are always in the back of your mind.

Let’s store up words of love and words of peace, because we express our feelings with them. We can inspire ourselves and others; we can build ourselves and others up, or we can tear ourselves and others down. Our words have power, so let’s speak life; such as, "I’m blessed and highly favored by the Lord;" "I’m blessed in the city and out of the city;" and "I’m the head and not the tail." We must use our words wisely, my friends, because while they can be forgiven, there's a great chance that they may never be forgotten.

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

Don't Let Your Mouth Write Checks Your Flesh Can't Cash!

Words can sometimes be like an egg dropped from a great height - you can no more call them back than you can ignore the mess they leave when they hit the ground. As Ecclesiastes 5:6 tells us, "Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that is was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?"

There is so much power in the tongue - we can speak life or death to our situations. For that reason, it's imperative that we learn to speak life! Let me share with you the 12th chapter of Numbers, which details about what happened when Miriam and Aaron spoke against their leader (aka Moses): "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman." 

The chapter goes on to tell us about how the Lord spoke suddenly unto Moses, Aaron, and Miriam and came down in a pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, who came forth (verses 4 and 5). The Lord was angry with the words they spoke against Moses and as a result, Miriam became leprous, and she was shut out from the camp! Miriam and Aaron allowed their mouths to write a check their flesh couldn't cash!

If we feel as though things are not going the way they should - maybe at work or even at home - we need to be mindful of the words that we speak regarding them. Let's learn to hold our tongues against them and instead lift the situation up to the Lord. It’s His job to deal with those situations or those people; it's our job to pray honestly for them.

I know you have probably heard on the news the story about the seven year old child that was recently kidnapped and held for three hours. As you might remember, the entire time he was being held captive, he sang the song “Every Praise” by Hezekiah Walker. You might wonder what was that young man doing? Let me tell you - he was speaking words of life to his situation. The song says, "God my Savior, God my Healer, God my Deliverer, yes He is." God was truly that child's savior, his healer, and his deliverer that day. At the end of three hours the kidnapper let him go. We can really learn a lesson from that seven year old; his words spoke life into what I imagine was a scary situation and God gave him life!

That's why it's so important to guard what we say, because with those words, you can either open the door for God to move on your behalf or you can open the door for the enemy to sneak in and devour. Speak only positive words over your situations, yourself and your family so your mouth won't write checks your flesh can't cash!

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

The Heart Is Deceitful!

Deceive: To mislead by falsehood, to lead unto error.

If I’ve heard it once, I've heard a thousand times, "God knows my heart!" And you're right, my friends, He definitely does - but let me share with you what  Jeremiah 17:9 says about our hearts; "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Well let me tell you, only God knows - He knows our every thought and every hidden motive. I’m sure that you've heard people say, "I’m following my heart." If I could give you one word of advice it would be -  don’t follow your heart; follow Jesus - He’s the only sure thing.

Our heart is so deceitful that sometimes we think that we can actually deceive God Himself, but let me tell you - that's impossible, especially when you consider what the Word says in Hebrews 4:13, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

We certainly know how to deceive others - we know how to make things seem perfect on the outside, when corruption is working on/through us deep inside. For instance, our heart might have us thinking that we are doing something good when we unload other people’s dirty laundry on a friend. This is not being a friend, it's only the imagination of deceit. We can put smiles on our faces and mislead man, for they only focus on what they see, but not the Lord: "...for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

The Lord knows what’s in our heart and in Mark 7:21-23 He identifies thirteen things that are evil and defile the man: "...evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness."

So with all those things in us, it’s easy for our heart to deceive us. God wants to give us a new heart and create a right spirit within us, but first there is some thing we have to do. We must invite Him into our heart as our personal savior and acknowledge the fact that those 13 evil things are there. We must then repent for them and He will give us a new heart. After that, we have to get busy in prayer so that the word of God can starve your old heart and feed your new heart until it comes into the likeness and image of Jesus Christ.

Jesus loves us and He is more than willing and able to help us get rid of those things that are not like Him. Thank God for Jesus!

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