There Is No Testimony without a Test

Testimony: An outward expression of a religious experience; witness
Test: An examination to determine one knowledge skill, intelligence or other qualities.

I personally know what it means to go through a test; and I’m glad to say that each one has made me stronger in my walk with the Lord. My faith has increased and I’ve grown spiritually. If the Lord doesn’t allow us to be put to the test, we would never know what’s on the inside of us. If I had not been put to the test of not being free to go serve the Lord in His house as I pleased; I would have never learned how to persevere. If I had never been diagnosed with three different types of breast cancer; I would have never known that God can heal. I’m blessed to say that after passing that test, I can share my testimony - eleven years later, I’m healed and cancer-free - with no chemotherapy, no masetocemy... just my faith in God and His healing power! Always remember that The Lord allows us to be put to the test so He can redeem us out. The awesome thing about that is we don’t come out of those tests empty handed.

Job, for example, was a perfect and an upright man. One that feareth God, and escheweth evil (Job 1:9), but the Lord still allowed Satan to test him… not because Job did something wrong, but because the Lord wanted to take him to the next level. Satan began to go to work on Job - his first assault was on Job’s wealth, his children, and his servants. Some of his servants were slain with the sword; some were burned up in the fire along with his sheep. On top of that, there came a great wind from the wilderness that smote the four corners of the house and caused it to fall upon the young men and they all died. Even after Job heard all the bad news, he still worshipped The Lord. Job 1: 21 tells us that he said “naked came I out of my mother womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In the midst of that test, Job still worshipped and maintained his integrity.


Satan’s second assault was on Job’s body - he smote him with sore boils from the soles of his foot to the crown of his head. Job’s wife said unto him in Job 2:9-10, “dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God and die. But he said unto her, thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?  In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” Job came through his test with an awesome testimony - The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before – i.e. his latter end was much more than his beginning. It was truly an outward expression of a religious experience.

We always  think it’s the devil that brings things upon us, but my friends, the devil can’t do anything to us without the Lord’s permission. If we never had a problem, we wouldn’t know that God could solve them. We wouldn’t know the love and the mercy that He has for us, we wouldn’t grow and our faith wouldn’t increase. 

Remember, there is no going to the next level without a test and there is no test without a testimony. The victory is ours, as the Lord blesses and delivers us, He wants us to share our testimonies with others. I’ve shared mine, so make sure you get out there and share yours! Don’t forget, no matter what test you might be in the middle of, Jesus loves each and every one of you!

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

Don't Let Anger 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!             

Who's Your Shepherd?

Shepherd: a person who tends sheep; a pastor (a spiritual overseer)

Surely: with assurance, confidently; without doubt, certainly 

How many times have you said/rehearsed the 23rd Psalms?? Any "regular" church-goer has probably recited this at least a 100 times; but how many of those times have you ever stopped and really thought about what you were saying?

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Do you know what it means to be a Shepherd? A Shepherd is a person who looks after and tends to the needs of the sheep in his flock. He protects them from danger and makes sure that they are where they need to be, when they need to be there. As your shepherd, The Lord is looking after you and making sure that all of your needs are met.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

As your Shepherd, He allows you to get your natural and spiritual bellies fed with the good stuff -- not the dried-up, used-up fields that won't fill us up and keep us properly nourished. Oh no, we get to graze and rest within the hearty green pastures. And He makes sure that there are plenty of times of peace and calm (still waters) in our lives.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even when we feel beat down and broken, He restores our soul -- He fills us with His grace and peace and He makes us whole again. Like that spiritual GPS we talked about some time ago, He's always guiding us along the path of righteousness to our ultimate destination (by His side).

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Even when we've sunk to what feels like the lowest of the lows and it seems like death is shadowing us, He's right there... and if we will just believe and follow him without question (much like those sheep faithfully follow their Shepherd) we will have no reason to fear -- just ask Ms. Gloria - she's a living testimony! He is with us and He will use His rod and His staff to fend off any evils that try to attack His flock - be that illness, depression, or anything else that might try to come after us.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

In the natural, most of us tend to watch our backs around our enemies... and our so-called "friends" as well! As sheep are cautious of coyotes and foxes; we have to be cautious of anyone who tries to steer us from The Lord. How awesome is the Shepherd that prepares a table for us right smack-dab in the middle of those enemies?! There's no need to watch our backs when our spiritual Shepherd has anointed us with His holy oil and is watching our backs for us!

On top of that - our Shepherd is here to make sure that our cups are running over. Take a quick minute to visualize that -- a cup that's so full that the contents inside are literally spilling out -- talk about having more than you need, right? That can and will be you - if you will just have faith and keep believing. You might feel like the brokest of the broke right now financially-speaking, but stand strong flock and keep following your Shepherd... sometimes it takes a little while to prepare a table! After all, we'll wait <somewhat> patiently for hours for a table at a nice restaurant. Can't we be patient enough to wait for The Lord's perfect time? I truly hope so, because this table and that overflowing cup are certainly well worth the wait!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This verse is one of those verses that really brings things home for me personally. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."  Not "possibly," and not "maybe," no, the Word says SURELY -- our definition tells us that means without doubt or certainly -- goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. The next time the world seems against you, rehearse that - "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life"- and say it until you believe it, because if your Shepherd is with you, who can be against you??

So stay true to your Shepherd and He will stay true to you... and He will dwell within and around you for ever!

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

Use What You Got!

Talent: a special aptitude, the ability to be good at something without being taught.

My Aunt sent me this poem the other day and it really hit home with me. I found myself guilty, so I wanted to share it with my friends, so we can be sure to use what we’ve got.

I have something to tell you whether you like it or not, Instead of criticizing other, why don't you use what you got? 

You have there a talent and its nothing you bought. God gave it to you, so use what you got. 

I can just hear you saying, “ah she ain't too hot,” instead of saying that, why don't you use what you got? 

Once a man hid his talent, hope that's not your lot, if so, you better find it and use what you got. 

If you polish your talent, you'll be doing a lot, then come out sincerely, and use what you got. 

Don't worry about Polly, Harry, John or Dot. Just mind your own business, and use what you got!

Often times we get caught up criticizing others, because we think if something was done this way or that way it would be so much better. But instead of us tearing others down and hiding our talent let’s polish those talents and use what we got!

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

Pride Will Steal Your Blessing!

Pride: A feeling of pleasure, because of something achieved or done

God hates pride! When pride comes in, we will not seek after God. He won’t be in our thoughts; instead it will be all about us. Pride will hinder our spiritual growth and steal our blessings. It is also one of Lucifer’s most successful strongholds. Pride puffs us up, until we're like a big balloon. When that balloon is full of air, it can swell so big that one cannot grip it with a single hand. But when God lets the air out of that balloon, it becomes very small.

Being prideful is the exact opposite of being humble. 1 Peter 5-6 tell us; "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." When pride is working, it wants to exalt itself; it wants credit for everything. Pride can even cause us to admire ourselves and condemn others - in other words - we overlook our faults, but seek out the faults in others. Pride will have us thinking that we look big and talk big, but rest assured that God has a remedy for that too.

We can become so driven by pride that we try to gain all we can in this world. We become so anxious, so restless and so discontent simply because we want more. Think about it my friends, what good will it do if we gain the whole world and lose our own soul? What has it profited? I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a hearse pulling a u-haul full of the deceased's possessions behind it on the way to the Church. And don't let us get a job that we think is beneath us, pride tends to work over time then!

Remember, those who walk in pride risk God letting all of the air out and bringing them down; just as King Nebuchadnezzar was brought down. God gave Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, and majesty, and glory and honor that the people feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his Kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: (Daniel 5:18-20). That feeling of pleasure, for what he thought he had achieved, caused him to lose it all.

God loves us and He wants to sit on the throne of our hearts. LET HIM DO SO! When you find yourself puffed up with pride, just confess it, repent over it, and move on. Our God is an awesome God - He forgives and He loves us - let’s love Him back and He will exalt us in due season.

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