Who does the Devil Think He is?

 Devil: the chief opponent of God. The personal supreme spirit of evil.

Sometimes we get so busy that we start to lose focus of who we are. We start dragging; we start getting irritated about small things; and we may even stop praying and studying as much. It’s in those times that we begin to get spiritually weak... and the devil starts to get real busy. That’s when he starts filling our hearts and minds with evil thoughts; we become angry when there's no reason to be angry; and we start thinking that we deserve better. Friends, I’m here to tell you today exactly WHO we are and WHOSE we are.

I don't know who the devil thinks he is, but it's obvious that he doesn't stop to consider who we are. We are the children of the Most High God. We serve the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, the master and owner of everything. Need a little more? We are the seeds of Abraham and under the Abrahamic covenant. Jesus loves us so much that He died on that old rugged cross, so that we could live and spend eternity with Him. Ladies and gentlemen, we are the children of The One who loves unconditionally.

Not to mention, we are the righteousness of God. We are so special to Him that He paid the ultimate price for our sins, our iniquity, and our transgressions. They were all nailed to the cross some 2,000 years ago. On one side of the scale, we might seem like we are nothing to some folks - a regular old plain Jane (or John); but on the other side - we are special and precious in the sight of God. We are the apple of His eye and He has us in the palm of His hand. Like the song says, we are blessed in the city, and we are blessed in the field! We are the head and not the tail; we are above and not beneath! We are champions with the DNA of the Almighty God.

If it ever looks like the devil just doesn’t get it - your job is to let him know! You stand tall and tell that ole devil, “I am the redeemed of the Lord, blood bought, ‘a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’” (1 Peter 2:9). We are so incredibly special to the Lord, so do our part by putting His chief opponent in his place.

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

Is There Anything Too Hard For God?

 Hard: difficult to perform, endure, or comprehend.

Throughout the Bible, there are a number of examples of the Lord asking His people if there was anything that He couldn't do. The Lord asked Abraham, is anything too hard for the Lord? As the Lord spoke with Jeremiah, He asked him, is there anything too hard for me? We get his answer in Jeremiah 32:17, "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." The word hold true to this very day, there's nothing too hard for God.

There is also no promise that is too hard for God to keep. In Genesis chapter 18, we are reminded of the story of Abraham and Sarah. God had promised Abraham a son with Sarah, when he was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. Picking up the story in verse 10 of that chapter; "And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him... Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?... Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." Those of us who are familiar know that’s exactly what happened!

Our gracious Lord woke us up this morning. If you think you woke yourself up when your alarm went off, try this one day - take your alarm clock to the cemetery and see just how many people get up when your alarm goes off. It was definitely not you or your alarm - that was the work of God! Let's allow that to serve as a reminder for us that there is nothing (not any thing, no part or portion. In no way, not at all) that is too hard for God. If some of those five thousand men (not counting women and children) were here; those men who were in the desert, hungry and tired when Jesus feed them with those two small fishes and five loaves of bread; they would surely attest there’s nothing too hard for God! Matthew 14: 19.

My friends, God’s power is limitless; there is no person He can’t change, no problem He can’t solve, and no situation He can’t fix! Just as He did for Abraham and Sarah, and those five thousand in the desert, He will do for me and you. There is nothing too hard for God and there is no promise He can’t keep!

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

Dear Lord, Please Heal Our Land!

Heal - to make sound or whole. To make free from injury or disease.
Land - the people of a country.

Even though the situations surrounding us appear to be chaotic, we should be taking comfort in our knowledge that God has it all under control. And it's not up to us to fix it. That's not to say that we shouldn't do our part - wear a mask, be thankful, pray, etc. - but in the grand scheme of things, many of the circumstances we're facing are beyond our control and are too large for us to fix alone. So instead, our job is to humble ourselves, use our weapons (prayer), seek His face and get out the way so that He can solve all issues. 

We must allow God to heal the land. He said in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I sent pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Seems pretty straight forward to me!

The Lord is letting us know that He has the power and the authority to shut up whatever He pleases. However, if we humbly seek His face, turn from our sins, and pray honestly and sincerely, He will solve all issues. Take the Tower of Babel for example. The people got on one mind and one accord, and said let's build a city and a tower whose top may reach heaven. Before you knew it, they were well on their way with building the tower. And the Lord said, behold, the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do (Genesis 11:6).

Can you see how powerful we could be if we were to humble ourselves and pray? If we would seek the face of the Lord and turn from our wicked ways, we would then hear from heaven and the Lord would forgive our sins and heal our land. The word didn't even say they were praying! It just said the people had the same goal in mind and look at how powerful they were - now imagine if we added more prayer and unity to our chaos! Just think of all we would be able to accomplish if we could get all of our minds on one accord. Prayer is the key, my friends.

Consider what happened at the Capitol last week, COVID-19, and all of the sickness around us. This is no surprise to God. Remember all these things were written from the foundation of the world. Let's do our part and the Lord will most certainly do His part. Don't forget - He loves us. Who else would give their only begotten son and allow Him to die for us?

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

We Are Coming Out Of This!

Coming: arrive, arise, approach
Out: exhaustion, or completion

At some point, everybody is going to go through some trouble in this life. Haven't experienced any troubles yet? Keep living. Sometimes the situation can be very troublesome - like an unfavorable report from the doctor or a pink slip at work, a bad addiction, your children going every which way except the right way, or even Covid 19. There may be times when we don't have enough money to make ends meet or there maybe a sick spouse that prevent their partner from going to work. Trouble comes in all sorts of packages. If you don't think so - I'll say it again - just keep living.

II Corinthians 4:17-18 reminds us; "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are not seen are eternal." In other words, we shouldn't focus on what you can see right now - the trouble all around us - but instead we should look forward to the joys in heaven which we have not yet seen. Those troubles will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

Just like God took you in to it, He will allow you to come out of it.. in due time - HIS time. We will never know our true strength until we go through something. We would never know the magnitude of God's power or His love if we were always on a bed of ease. Fortunately, that's not God's way. No pain, no gain, my friends. That means that whatever we are going through, He will surely bring us out of, in His timing.

We must remember to count it all joy, because when it's too much for us, it's just right for God. Psalms 50:15 says; "I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give me glory." (The Living Bible)

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