OVERFLOWING... OR NO FLOW?

I had an occasion to get out on my bike a week ago. I rode on one of the popular rail trails in the area. We have had a lot of rain in the area recently. As I stopped for a snack, I pulled up beside the Potomac River on the C&O Canal. The river was very swollen. As I watched, I notice that the river was washing a lot of debris downstream. When I finished my snack, I hopped back on the bike to continue my ride. Just then I passed a dried out stream bed.  As is often the case, I could hear God giving me an object lesson in nature.

Scripture says that "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" John 7:38 (KJV).

We who are called of God should be like the Potomac on that day. Overflowing with the Water of the Spirit so that (1) we can overflow into the lives of those who are "dead in sin and trespasses".

(2) Allowing ourselves to be washed by the Word of God so that the debris that tends to try and collect in our lives is washed away.

Which one are you?

ENJOY THE RAIN

Today is a rainy day. My co-workers were coming in complaining about the rain and the cold. We tend to not like rain. It's an inconvenience. Sometimes it slows us down. It blows a lot of trash and debris around.  As it is in the natural, so it is in the Spiritual. We don't like the rain of the Spirit sometimes. Rain washes us. It blows the debris and trash that has collected around us up and we must acknowledge it and allow the Trash Collector to take it away. The rain of the Spirit of God slows us down and causes us to pause in the midst of our business and acknowledge that God is God and we are His chosen children. So today as we slog through the rain, REJOICE. Know that the Heavenly Gardener is watching the rainfall in our lives, and is tending the gardens of our souls to bring forth the fruit of righteousness (Heb. 5:11), the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and fruit that will last (Matt. 12&13). Allow Him to prune as needed!!!
Be Blessed!!

LESSONS FROM A CROSSING LIGHT

   I'm posting this from a hotel room in Savannah, Ga. I've been here 2 days enjoying the city, relaxing and resting. Yesterday I took the opportunity to walk about the city and explore. I was preparing to cross a certain street and had to hit the button for the light. About that time, God decided to show up with a lesson. The light is designed with the sight impaired in mind, so it has an audible voice (those of you who know me, know I have a problem with voices coming out of nowhere...). As I'm standing there, a commanding voice says "WAIT!"... and yet again "WAIT". I began to laugh as I saw God clearly speaking through this annoying little crossing light. I could have very easily ignored the light and attempted to jaywalk, and probably be smashed to bits in the crush of speeding traffic. Finally, the voice said, "the light is on. WALK" And it is safe to cross.

    So often in our walk with God, this is often the case. We hear a command from Him, and we may even understand what it is He is directing us to do. However, we must WAIT on his timing or risk being smashed by the "traffic" of opposition and other factors. His timing is perfect. Even when we receive the command to  "WALK", there is a timing that comes in to play. Twenty seconds to cross the road. This means that I must "WALK", not dawdle, not linger, but be about the business of walking out the Masters plan, or take the risk of missing His perfect timing.


Obedience is better than sacrifice!!!!

POINTING FINGERS

WARNING: THIS IS A SECULAR POST

    I have recently been reading about the dismal performances of our young black men in schools across America. I have a problem with this because the blame is totally misplaced. I'm about to get really unpopular here. The professional critics would blame the schools and teachers. However, I'm going to go Bill Cosby and put the blame where it squarely belongs: ON THE PARENT(S). There, I said it! The school only has your child for 7 hours a day. What are you doing to ensure your child succeeds in school? Are you reading with them from a young age? Can you read YOURSELF? Are you instilling in them the need for a good education, that succeeding in education is NOT "acting white". Are you giving them positive role models to emulate ?Ok here comes the argument, "well there aren't many in the Black community" blah blah blah!!! STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!! Get over the rappers, ball players and gangsta's, and look to talented authors, actors with character like Denzel Washington, Hill Harper.  If you are a single parent you can still make a difference even working 2 and 3 jobs. Are you faithfully performing well on your job? Do you set a good example to your coworkers? Or do you just show up and act like the boss should be grateful you came?! 
    If you are a single parent, are you giving the impression to your children that its better to lay on you back and pop out( or be a sperm donor for) babies year after year, stay illiterate and ignorant,  and the the government take care of you forever, or are you picking up a meaningful book, trying to add to your math skills, looking diligently for work, no matter what kind of work that it is ($7/hour is better than $0/hour). Are you speaking correct English in your house or are you lost in the devastating grip of Ebonics?

    The school system is not going to raise your child. Show up to parent teacher conferences. If you cant show up, call! Fight for your kids. That means when your kid cuts the fool, you discipline him/her accordingly and don't take their side in wrongness. It is 2010, people.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

IS YOUR LINE BUSY?

1 THESSALONIANS 5: 24 (AMP): Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do  it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you]. 

   As I was reading this verse for another study I'm currently doing, I was awed by what God began to show me in this verse. First of all the word "calling" jumped out at me. Ok, Jo, so what? Notice, if you will this word is in an active tense, inferring that this "calling" is constant and ongoing. This must mean that God calls us beyond the salvation experience, beyond the baptisms of water and of the Spirit, to a constantly evolving life changing, life challenging "call". A persistent wooing, if you will, for more of Him, in as many facets of His gloriousness that we can stand Him giving us!! WOW!! The next word that caught my eye was Faithful. Of course, if we have had any experience with the Lord at all we know He is totally utterly faithful, even when we are not. Scripture tells us this (2 Tim. 2:13). However, this scripture in 1 Thess. tells us that He is faithful in calling (wooing) us and HE will do it (the calling on our lives). AMAZING!! So often as Christians, when we receive  the call of God for our lives, we desperately try and work that calling out in our own strength and abilities, but the scripture says that GOD fulfills the call!! All we have to do is trust that His is trustworthy and sanctify ourselves to the work He has assigned us to do!!!
Can you hear His voice? Or have you drowned it out with the cares of the world? Are your hands trembling with new excitement, new joy to do His will as He fulfills His calling in you?

    Many of us are in a place of "newness" or unfamiliar territory in our walk. Even those who have walked in their callings for years are at a transition within their calling!! Whether you've walked with God for ages, or you've just begun this life, He's doing something totally new, totally different in you. You can't articulate it, it may seem like you are totally losing your mind, but trust that this is God. He is taking your life and giftings to a totally new unheard of , uncharted dimension in  Him! Remember he tells us in John 10 that His sheep know His voice and a stranger they will not follow.  If you have never read the book The Master's Call by Dennis Cramer, I would strongly urge you to curl up and read it at least twice through!

Its awesome and wonderful and all in the faithful, trustworthy hands of our Lord!!! Enjoy this wonderfully, mind blowingly awesome  "wild ride in the Spirit" with God!!

PROMISES IN A STORM

I was riding back home down I-95 a few weeks ago when a serious thunderstorm came up. When I say serious, I'm talking huge hail! Now normally I don't drive in a hail storm, but this time I was going to try as I was really close to home and very tired. So I continued slowly on my way, praying and singing as is my wont whenever I drive alone. I watched cars slow down, pull over and stop. I continued on. When the storm let up a little bit later, I looked to my right and a gorgeous rainbow was on that side of me. On the other hand the sun was shining blindingly bright! I began to rejoice right there on 95N!! God chose a hailstorm to remind me of His word. That whenever we are in a storm, and the temptation is there to stop and be overtaken, God reveals His promises, and they are STILL yea and amen! We can continue through the storms of life because the Son is always shining His glorious Spirit down upon us so we don't have to walk fearful in any situation!!

CHECK YOUR BREAKER BOX

"Some of us had power outages and some still do not have power yet, so continue to pray for each other."
    This is a quote from our Eldership regarding the situations during the recent snow storms. However, as I was reading this message, a thought hit me. Can it be that what is modeled out in the natural is a sign of what is true in the Spiritual?  As a church, we've come through a wonderful time of fasting and intimacy with God. Its been about three weeks. How is your Power holding up? Has a switch been thrown to the  OFF position in you? Are you still marveling in what God spoke and is still speaking, or has the TV, internet and other things silenced His voice? Remember God didn't reveal all of what He has in store for us during those 3 weeks. Some things he was silent about and is waiting to see if we will continue to "pant" hard after Him. Did we merely follow a regimen because we were told to do so or is our desire for God greater than a mandate from the pulpit. Are we still "breaking every yoke, sharing our bread (the Word of God) with the hungry (the lost and dying), and have we stopped hiding from our own flesh?" (Although after being cooped up with my family, I think they have seen enough of me for a while!) In Daniel 10 vs 2, Daniel states that he was in mourning 3 full weeks. However, in verse 4, scripture states :And in the four and twentieth day (24th day)..." Daniel wasn't satisfied with merely 21 days. Look at verse 12: the "certain man" of verse 5 speaks to Daniel: "Fear not Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard and I am come for thy words." Have we become impatient like the children of Israel when Moses failed to come down from the mountain and returned to our idols? Can we press into God still until the "certain man" of the Spirit of God begins to "come for our words" and we begin to understand the vision both personal and corporate that God has revealed and also our place in it?
   If your Power is out, run to the Breaker Box of God and flip that switch back to ON!!!! For those of you who "do not have power yet" Dial up our Power Company (Jesus) and remind Him of His word in Acts 1:8 and Acts 2 1-4 and 16-17 that that you too can flow with mighty power in the Holy Ghost!