Give all Praises due to The Lord

8/25/13 3:43 am - I woke up praising the Lord for who He is, what He has done and wants to do in my life, giving thanks to Him for being able to praise His name in joyous moments of my life, and for grace and mercy when I falter. I heard a preacher yesterday recalling his days as a junkie, dealer, and full time criminal.  He mentioned his hatred to "church going folk" at that time because as God's people, shouldn't they behave differently from him, versus doing the same things he was doing???? HE'S RIGHT!!! He said the angel of the Lord visited him in a crack house on Feb 25, 1997. He has been a soldier for the Lord since, praise God!  He is truly a new creature in the Lord on this day! 

At the end of his sermon, he says these words: "I know we are in the park, but praise the Lord out loud today." These words have reverberated in my entire being since I heard them.  I have been lacking in this area of my life. I had back surgery on 8/15/2013 remove a disk herniation that was pressing on my spinal chord and the adjoining nerve root.  This caused me pretty good pain, plus I was losing feeling in my left leg.

I am admitting I have not praised Him adequately for His work surrounding that day and beyond!!!  On 8/14/2013, I was admitted in the hospital to have surgery the next day. My wife and kids left me around 8 or 9pm.  Sometime after 11pm, I was stricken with doubt and fear and dismay about the pending surgery.  I had allowed lucifer to enter in and create this indescribable feeling, so much so that he was laughing at me.  In my moment of tribulation, I failed to call on The Lord to deliver me!!  BUT PRAISE AND HALLELUJAHS BE TO THE LORD!!!!! For little did I know that The Lord God heard the cries of despair from my soul, and moved!!! He was coming to rescue me Himself. 

After being up all night, sleeping 2 hours after sun up, I was paid a visit.....by the Spirit of the Lord and His heavenly hosts, my wife and my pastor. They asked how I was doing and I broke down to tears due to the immense fear of dying on the OR table.  BUT PRAISES AND HALLELUJAHS BELONG TO GOD!! We had testimony, prayer, anointing, and we all bore witness to power and majesty of God! We had church in room 7E05!

We were about to pray to close out this awesome intervention, my pastor asks if she could anoint my forehead and right earlobe, big toe, and thumb.  Of course I agree readily! My wife put on her prayer cloth, my pastor grabs the oil, and they both tell me I don't have to get up.  But on the grace, mercy, love, compassion, and healing power of The Father Himself, I stood.  I stood with full feeling and strength in both legs, no numbness or pain nor fear at all!!!  It was God's way of showing me He is always in control, and to stop allowing myself to be consumed with fear and doubt like Gideon.  He was saying to be confident and reliant upon God like David, to be fearful of only God's wrath, and to move as such from then on in life while seeking His face in all I do! I knew right then I would be restored!  But after being discharged on 8/16/2013 fully restored, I did not praise His Almighty works to the fullest......so I am making up for it now!  I want to tell everyone who will listen!  Like the song writer say, "GO, tell it on the mountain! Over the hills and everywhere!" I am a new creature in Christ Jesus!

My prayer is the 27th, 30th, and 56th Psalms:

Psalm 27
New King James Version (NKJV)
An Exuberant Declaration of Faith

A Psalm of David.

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
4 One thing I have desired of the Lord,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,
And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.
6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice!
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When You said, “Seek My face,”
My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.”
9 Do not hide Your face from me;
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not leave me nor forsake me,
O God of my salvation.
10 When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 30:12
To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever

Psalm 56:4
In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?

Why do we compromise our Faith?

I pose this question as food for thought, and prayerfully as a catalyst for change within us as followers of Christ. So, why do we compromise our Faith? For a spouse? For a child? For a job/career? Maybe because we are unclear as to what faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is? Or maybe, just maybe, we waver just to please our selfish, fleshy, carnal instincts? The causes are endless, and cover a gamut of issues we face in our Faith sadly enough, as well as society.

People waiver on things as small as appropriate attire to things as important as parenting, schooling, and Faith itself. WHY? If you realize your approach to something has a flaw, its outdated, or just wrong, then change is required after counsel with God. I am posing the question on why we waiver in/on Faith? If we are in counsel w/God as we should be, AND let Him lead us as we should, then our Faith is never outdated, flawed, or wrong. What I'm getting at is this; WE ALL NEED TO PRAY TO GOD TO GUIDE US AND HELP US BE LIKE DANIEL WHEN IT COMES TO FAITH!!!!!!!!!

Neither Daniel, nor his friends Meshach, Shadrach, and Abendnego, wavered in the face of Babylonian ruler, Darius. He brought them to Babylon to teach them in the ways of the Babylonian life and belief system, in hopes they would be high up officials in the kingdom. While in captivity, they remained faithful to The Almighty Father.  They were told to bow at the image of Darius and worship, they did not. Thus, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abendnego were tossed into the fiery furnace, where God rewarded them by not allowing the fire to touch them. There was a decree signed forbidding prayer for 30 days, Daniel went into the upper Rome of his home and prayed 3 times a day.  He was thrown into the lion's den.  God rewarded him by allowing him to walk away without a scratch.  At the end of it all, Darius became a believer of the God of Israel, this is the hidden gem to me.

This is the epitome of unwavering faith in human form (not named Jesus). Why do we waver when our Faith in God is involved? Me personally, it is because I let the world take a pedestal almost equal to God at one point in my life.  I also depended on myself and not on God.  I allowed dreams and aspirations cause sort of a white noise effect between me and God's will for me. Ultimately, Lucifer walked almost into the front door of my souls. I allowed him to cause havoc, but, then God put on the hat of exterminator and riddled me of the pestilence called Lucifer. During this time in my life, Faith was a foreign, abstract, and seemingly incomprehensible subject/item for me. It was way past the point of wavering, I was lost and didn't care to know it.  I compromised all the foundational work God laid in my life because of a girl, because of a job, because of not listening to God telling me what to do, because of depression due to the loss of 2 loved ones. THANK YOU LORD FOR SAVING ME FROM MYSELF!!!

Now, I understand what it means to be a pillar of Faith. Now I refuse to compromise God, my relationship with Him, or what He means to me for anything, and I do mean anything.  If something comes up that could remotely comprise God in my life, my response is: "GET THE BEHIND ME LUCIFER, I AM A CHILD OF GOD'S!" I want to be like Daniel, Paul (post meeting with Christ on the road to Damascus), and ultimately like Christ with regards to my faith.  I encourage anyone who reads this to learn from my mistakes and run to God right now! Don't wait! Why miss time with God when you don't have too? I encourage you to put your Faith above all else and the Lord will be with you forever, never forsaking you for anything. Read Daniel 6 for confirmation that we can have the same level of uncompromising Faith as Daniel! Seek His face and His will in all that you do!  Amen

Daniel 6
New King James Version (NKJV)
The Plot Against Daniel

6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; 2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”

6 So these governors and satraps thronged before the king, and said thus to him: “King Darius, live forever! 7 All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the written decree.

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.

11 Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. 12 And they went before the king, and spoke concerning the king’s decree: “Have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any god or man within thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?”

The king answered and said, “The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter.”

13 So they answered and said before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the captives[a] from Judah, does not show due regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

14 And the king, when he heard these words, was greatly displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. 15 Then these men approached the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” 17 Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.

Daniel Saved from the Lions

18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians[b] were brought before him. Also his sleep went from him. 19 Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”

23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.

Darius Honors God

24 And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.

25 Then King Darius wrote:

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:

Peace be multiplied to you.

26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Speak......Ask and ye shall receive!

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him (Mark 11:22-24).

I got this in my devotional this morning.  It reminds me that we have the power as believers to speak to our personal and collective mountains with the faith of knowing they will be moved and removed. So why don't we use this opportunity to relieve ourselves of burdens and obstacles in our lives? Why can't we believe in God enough to blindly trust that He will come through, like He always does, just like He has told us in the past billions of years? Why is it that we believers don't believe like we should?  We all need to realize the importance of the ability to speak with expectancy of God to move the obstruction (as long as it is glorifies God) then pray steadfast until God moves,  and finally praise God's name and show thanks for his love, grace, and mercy of moving in your name, for the benefit of nonbelievers to witness and experience through you. This will validate our Lord's existence for them, and give a chance to minister to them, but lastly, in planting this seed, God will nurture it , and make every attempt to make this plant fruitful in His name, so watch the miracle s unfold in the seeds.  I exhort us all to speak boldly in the name of the Lord in our lives and the lives of others. Make ourselves free and available for the opportunity to be used in God's plan so others can benefit from him and his will.  Speak boldly!!!

Pharaoh

It just occurred to me at 8 am on April 1, 2013, that I have become more like Pharaoh of Moses day than I care to  be.  I have been dealing with a great deal of raw emotion because of and towards my brother and father. Emotion so raw that I have allowed Lucifer to let me believe I don't love them anymore. My heart is super-hardened , like an titanium, steel alloy, and diamond infused wall, it feels impenetrable! But then at 8 am this morning, reading an unconnected devotional prayer and teaching to my issue, the Lord spoke to me! He simply said, "your heart is hardened." The light bulb came on so bright it blew up with joy to hear this from the Lord.  For a while now, Lucifer had been trying to fill my mind, heart and soul with his propaganda, and in a thankful spirit, Jesus just convicted me of allowing myself to be available to Lucifer, listening to his intentional misguidings, and ultimately letting settle like concrete in and around my heart into the impenetrable wall.  I have a solution , "GET THE BEHIND ME SATAN".  My soul has been trying to chip away at this wall, but the cavalry came in to assist in defeating Lucifer in his plot to corner me away from God. That cavalry is Jesus!  His command to us was "

Matthew 22:36-40

New King James Version (NKJV)

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

I am thankful at this moment more then I ever could have been in my past for those short versus. With the mercy, love, grace and support of God, this year is my personal year of change. This year is my year to start shedding all things that don't bring glory to God. This year is the year Jesus kills Lucifer in my life once and for all.! Hallelujah ! Praise His name, His worth, His deity, His agape love that has saved a wretch like you and me! Don't be afraid of persecution for wearing Jesus for the world to see, death can't take our souls, they are Christ's and will be forevermore!  Those four lines have started my day off right! I will not let the will of Lucifer and his cronies continue to hinder me. If family members don't act right, oh well, if people on the job don't act right, oh well, if friends forsake you, oh well! Oh well because I love the Holy Trinity and believe and know that God is the All-everything, and with the Trinity here to protect me, guide me, discipline me, nurture me, use me for the Divine will, why should I fear anything in this wicked world?! I WON'T ANYMORE! And with the fear being cast into the sun, my anger has been given the HEAVENLY EVICTION NOTICE! It is going on a one way trip to the sun with my fears.  WOOOO some spring cleaning in my life to make room the Trinity to reside in me!  I pray anyone who reads this decides to clean in light as I am. Not because I have asked, no no, but because God is worth it! 
Revelation 5:2

Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”  The beaten, broken, slain , but now resurrected, healed, innocent, and pure Lamb of God is. If we all believe this is true, isn't He worth the trouble to clean up and make room for Him to indwell you?????  AMEN!

Repentance

When the topic of repentance comes along, many people go silent, or event get defensive of their actions that brought the topic up. I never, and to this day, understood why its so hard to admit your wrong doing and ask for forgiveness. I know the perceived reaction of the person offended plays a role, as does realizing you offended God too and His possible punishment, or wrath. Jesus makes it clear that we must repent for our sins, as do the Gospels, the apostle Paul, and the Old Testament narratives.

To repent means on must admit their faults and seek forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We must do this in a pure heart, meaning put it al. on the line, don't try to repent and half way meant, or repent with ulterior motives in play. Repentance is like taking a shower in the blood of Christ to wash us clean of the dirt and muck of sin. Matthew 9:13

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The door is open we need to walk in, and be made whole in and by Christ 

Grace

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

Romans 6

New King James Version (NKJV)


6 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Merriam-Webster's defines grace as:

a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

To me, grace is all that is articulated above wrapped up in a gift from God. We cannot earn it, and often times we do not deserve it. Sometimes we are called upon to share God's grace we receive towards our fellow man. Grace is God's gift to us.

No human can earn grace.  To say we have ''earned grace'', could imply that God has a respective person, a favorite among us, which is not true. Because of our proclivity to sin, earning grace is impossible. The only person to walk this earth that truly earned grace was Christ Jesus, and He resides at the right hand of God now. Due to our sins, we probably do not deserve grace, but God supplies us with His divine assistance on a regular basis.  Not because we earned it or are his favorite person, but because He knows we can't do this alone, we need Him to find our way back to Him. Ephesians 2:8-9 Says, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

When we are in position to give, share, or show grace like God has to us, a great number of people fail.  Either because of greed, fear, or lack of knowing God, we fail here. In order to be Christ-like, we must put our emotions and human understanding aside and seek Christ for counsel as to what would He do in this situation.

We Lin on, by, and because of the grace God gives us, for without it, we would be lost in sin and death. Grace is no. a get out of jail free card people perceive it to be.  It is a true gift from God.

Forgiveness

To me, Christ gives us a clear yet "unofficial" commandment to forgive like we want to be forgive. In this world of entitlement, people expect forgiveness but often fail to hand it out in return. Jesus says "forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who have transgressed against us." So why do we fail at this so regularly, miserably, and furthermore without regard of consequence?

A lot of people fail to realize that when we forgive we must forget.  You will often here people say "I forgive you, but I can't forget what you did". That counteracts the entire ideology of forgiveness. To forget means to not label the offender for what they have done to you once you have worked out forgiveness of them with God. By no means does forget infer that we should put ourselves in harm's way (a repeat of the initial contact that we are showing forgiveness for). If the person is a habitual offender, wholeheartedly forgive them and then steer clear of that circumstance to prevent repeat issues.

God forgives and forgets our transgressions in an instant. Even Jesus asked God to forgive those who had a Him crucified. Why can't people FORGIVE & FORGET in order to move past the problem and live life to the fullest? Its because we hold to the infraction and use it as a scapegoat for all of our lifelong issues. We need something and someone to blame for not falling on God's tender mercies and seeking His word and healing hand to rise above the situation and never look back. I myself struggle with this but, will not give up on getting better at it, for giving up is not of God.

Mark 11:25

[ Forgiveness and Prayer ] “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.