sifted like wheat…

Tags

attitudes, faith, Jesus, sin, wisdom

There are some things we believe in our lives that are just lies, flat out. I hear people lie about themselves all day, everyday. My hair is natural, and I often hear people tell me, ‘I don’t have hair like you, my hair is too nappy to wear natural.’ As I attempt to clean up my diet and health, people say, ‘ I can’t eat healthy, I need to eat greasy food everyday.’ I often hear men say things like…’I'm just a pimp or a thug, that’s who I am I can’t change.’ Well, who told you that these things and attitudes were correct?

Satan, the author of lies, tells people everyday that there is something about leading a healthy, peaceful life in a walk with Jesus Christ is unattainable. I think the enemy loves it when we use our cloudy emotions or past failures to justify being stagnant.

In Luke 22:31-32 Jesus says:

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

When I hear that, I get an image in my head of grain being shaken through a strainer, separating the larger pieces from smaller ones. Believe it or not, I don’t have much experience with how grain and wheat is produced (that’s a joke), so I did some research:

Manual Threshing

Manual threshing

The first step in process of sifting wheat is to loosen the chaff from the edible grain, which is called threshing. The old fashioned way to do this is to spread the wheat onto a floor made from stone, concrete or tamped earth and to beat it with a flail. This is no longer done in the developed world, but in some places where machines are expensive and human labor is not, manual threshing is still common.

Winnowing

The next step is called winnowing, where the loosened chaff is removed from the grain. The old fashioned way of doing this was to throw the grain in the air, where the lighter chaff would be blown off by even a decent breeze. The heavier grains would fall back to the ground below where they were thrown.

Read more: How Do Farmers Sift Wheat? | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/how-does_4925686_farmers-sift-wheat.html#ixzz1FsSnIX2Q

So Satan desired to mentally beat the crap out of the disciples until they lose their faith. And he chose one of the hardest times of their lives, when their beloved leader Jesus would be crucified, to inflict his plan.

People believe the lies of the enemy daily, and in that process he is sifting people like wheat. He tells people everyday that they are ugly, stupid, unworthy, unloveable, unteachable, destined to be a slave to certain sins and habits their whole lives. I am confident in many areas of my life, but I have insecurities and low points that replay in my head at the most inopportune times that cause me not to try. Some people can’t even imagine their lives different from their current dysfunction. That cycle of mental pain is equal to be sifted, I think.

In what ways might you be tossed and torn about in anguish? Is your diet causing your demise? Are certain attitudes about yourself causing your life not to be abundant? Let’s pray for ourselves and one another that we can maintain our faith and love in God during trials and be willing to address those attitudes in our lives that cause us to continually fail.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

The Courage To Ask

Tags

change, faith, fornication, health

Sometimes it takes the most courage just to ask for clarity, for wisdom. Many people don’t want to know what areas of their life need change and cleaning. I have had a pretty hard week. It’s funny because I have been asking God for clarity and change, but it happened a lot faster than I was ready for. You can ask God for some money or a car, and He may or may not respond to you. But ask Him for wisdom, clarity, a clean heart or to reveal your faults to you, and He will show you those things quickly.

We all have a skeleton or two in a closet. We all have an area in our life that is so comfy cozy that we don’t even bring it to God. Because it is something we feel like we never want to change. We want God to turn around our finances, but don’t want to deal with our lack of money education. Maybe you want God to give you peace, yet you don’t want to turn loose an unstable friend. We have rationalized it in our mind, and have accepted it as one of our many flaws….because all humans have them right? God wants us to sweep out those closets, the ones we keep our MVSs (most valuable sins). There are those things in our lives that are easy to give up. I had no problem giving up certain types of music, but there are other areas that I honestly feel like God could never change in me. Can He ever deal with my trust issues, my issues with fornicating and lust, my abuse of my body through food and lack of exercise. These things may not mean anything to another person, but to me, everyday, as I continue to deal with them, I continue to feel terrible.

We just have to trust His process. Deliverance isn’t always nice or pretty. Change is rarely swift and clean. And clarity can be messy. But if we are to trust that the results will give us a more abundant life, then we should welcome it. I think repentance is so important in the salvation process because it is the hardest thing for us to do. I had to think about exactly how much of my sinful activities have I really turned away from since being saved? Though I have changed, I still got a lot of changing to do…

Have the courage to ask God this week to search your heart and make clear what needs to change. Ask Him to reveal your faults and give you the wisdom and faith to change. I think you will be surprised by what God requires of you…

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

 

God Isn’t Mr. Fix It…

Tags

attitudes, faith, quotes, worry

I was feeling…I don’t know what to name the feeling. But I was feeling it. I picked up one of my old journals, from 2005, opened it up and found this…

We always want the Holy Spirit to fix what’s broken. He’s here to prevent it.

There are some things in our lives that need to be fixed and some things that we needed to just say no to.

Think Like A Saint, Act Like A Lady

Tags

faith, how to, love, marriage, relationships, women, worship

Every woman wants the secret to getting a good man, who pays bills, has good credit, is strong, sexy and powerful. A man who is well respected in public and a compassionate king at home. Everybody’s chiming in on what women are doing wrong. Some books say to get over it, he’s just not that into you. Some say a woman needs to follow a set of rules. According to some of these books, you can get a man to marry you in less than three years, while thinking like a man and acting like a lady! Aren’t you confused? I read some of these books, and I can just say that theories like these are not absolute. They cause you to think that there is something wrong with you that only having a husband can fix. But once some of us get husbands, then what? Getting a man through tricks, and acting a certain way is good, but how do you even go about marriage?

Well ladies, today I am going to give you the secret of all secrets on how to be the woman that every good man desires! Ready for it?

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4

What does that mean, delighting in the Lord? It means to take pleasures and make priority the things that God wants you to do. He knows that women want and need companionship. Some of us think our lives will be perfect when we get a husband. But deep down, we know our desires are sometimes more than that. How many of us want to travel the world, help children and young adults, love to paint, sew, draw and write, yet put all our energy into dating? How many of us sit on the couch, complaining about loneliness when we have family members we haven’t seen, friends we only Facebook and a Bible that is collecting dust in the corner. Delighting in what God says and doing for others is essential to unlocking a life that is abundant and full, not stagnant and desperate.

Men can find five star chicks, bad chicks and all sorts of women. Who knows a woman who enjoys doing God’s work, and in turn, is joyful and content? Who can find a woman like that? I think the quintessential woman “who has it all” in the Bible is the infamous Proverbs 31 woman. What is it about her that inspires so many and is it even possible to be that way in the 21st century?

The Virtuous Wife

Proverbs 31:10-31

Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

This woman surely does a lot. Let’s see, she has a family, works outside of the home, takes care of needy people and the women who look up to her. She makes sure that her family is dressed well, she buys them good food and not garbage, she takes care of the home finances and she doesn’t sit around gossiping about other people. She is trustworthy, while her husband is out working the land. Nobody can say she is out acting crazy while he is at work. All of those attributes make her great, but what makes her most attractive to her husband is her fear of the Lord. I didn’t make that up, it’s in the Bible!

Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:28-31

Many women are accomplished, goal-setting, hard working, homemakers. But a woman who delights in God is showered with respect, adoration and praise. You can do all kinds of things to get a man’s attention, but a man who knows God and is looking for a virtuous woman is looking for a Proverbs 31 lady. This lady enjoys her own business, and blessing the people she loves. She enjoys the wisdom of God and fears Him. In return, people (including her husband) love her. And when it comes down to it, we are all looking for love. People are drawn the the light of God, and when we exude that we attract the love of so many. In return for being a believer who follow His direction, God gives us the things that we really want in our hearts. Isn’t that a more beautiful and simple concept? Isn’t that a more desirable outcome, instead of trying to think like Steve Harvey? Seek to think like God instead!

9 Things That Don’t Make You A Good Christian

Tags

attitudes, faith, how to, Jesus, music, relationships, salvation, the church, wisdom, worship

Wearing a cross necklace doesn't make you a good Christian either...

Since I’ve started this new, wonderful relationship with God, I have noticed that people are trying to prove to me that they know God too! It’s kind of weird, because there are people who have misquoted the Bible in front of me or been accidentally blasphemous, trying to show me that they know the Bible just like me.

People should strive to explore God personally and corporately through a church where they belong and not try to compare their experiences to someone else’s. So I’ve come up with a list of things that people should examine to make sure that they are working toward having the most quality relationship with God that they can have for them, and not for other people.

1. Not accepting Jesus Christ as your savior

If you don’t understand and accept what Jesus did for us, then you are not a Christian. Accepting that Jesus died for our sins is the first requirement to being a Christian. You may attend church, and you might believe in a “higher power” but if you don’t know or understand the sacrifice, you should do everything you can to understand that first and foremost.

2. Forwarding “Christian” emails

We all get emails from people talking about a sick kid or someone who died tragically that makes you want to cry, then tells you to forward it on to eight people if you are a “real Christian” and some “miracle” will happen. For like 10 seconds I feel bad for not forwarding those things on, then I remember that we cannot treat God like he is a chain letter or pyramid scheme. If you want to share testimonies or information about God, that is great, just don’t put stipulations on it that make people uncomfortable.

3. Knowing the Word and not doing the Word

There are so many people who can quote the Bible, yet do not apply its wisdom to their life. Even the devil knows the Bible! He uses it to confuse us! Knowing the Bible verbatim is wonderful and shows that you study, but knowing it and not doing it is a futile practice. It shows that you can memorize. A thing that people often pray is that they want to “not just be hearers, but doers of the Word.” Praying that God will help you to apply what you hear is a blessing!

4. Having a stanky attitude

God wants you to be nice and be happy. Point blank. Not, nice when people are nice to you. Not happy when all your bills are paid and people are acting right. Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Going to church, reading the Bible, but being mean to your waiter or cashier is not what God wants you to do. Waking up everyday, being sad and pitying your self is not what God wants you to do. If you are unhappy or have an “attitude problem” seeking advice from the Bible, and asking God for help is the way to change.

5. Threatening people with the Bible

When people talk about homosexuality, abortion and politics, they often beat people over the head with the Bible. They will tell people they are going to hell if they are gay. They will quote Leviticus and tell them they are dammed. I know what they Bible says about sexual immorality, but teaching people with love reaches them before beating them over the head with the Bible. It takes more energy to actually get to know a person and understand why they do what they do, and I think that’s why people choose to just write others off.

6. Not having a real relationship with God

A relationship with God is personal. It’s not going to be the same thing your mom experiences, or your best friend knows. It will touch the most important and specific parts of your life. I have a friend who took years to find her artistic niche in molding and sculpting clay. One day, she told me she was reading Genesis and noticed how God was a ceramicist too. That is a personal, meaningful relationship. You establish that by asking God to reign over your life, putting everything on the line. You allow Him to use your gifts to say what He wants to say. And you thank Him for your life, and pray to Him to help you and others. So many people fake that to their own detriment, just to sound like a Christian in front of other Christians. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)” I surely don’t want to be on the other side of that fence.

7. Worshiping other things than God

Imagine on Judgment Day that there is an account of all the money we’ve spent, the time we’ve spent doing everything we’ve done in our lives and what has moved us the most emotionally and intellectually. How much time, money and energy have you spent on knowing God versus knowing other things in life. Have you been more engrossed and involved in sports, music, career, TV, dating, drama, etc. than learning who God is? It is an emotional, intellectual and spiritual experience that takes a lifetime of learning. Are you dedicated to that or something else?

8. Listening to Gospel music

Gospel music may help you feel better, remind you of scriptures and can serve as an alternate form of entertainment, but do not base your relationship with God off of it. Music can help you to praise and worship God, but it should not be the only source of your Word and relationship with Him. You should be able to feel better, know scripture and worship God with and without an organ present or a Mary Mary CD. Gospel music definitely fills a gap, and helps us to praise and worship God, but it is only a tool and does not make you sanctified.

9. Being a Professional Sinner

Not wanting to change and not wanting God “all in your business” will lead to a life of professional sin. We all sin, so they doesn’t necessarily make bad. Recognizing your sin and changing your life makes you a person who really understand what God is all about.

Thank God He Is In Charge & Lebron Isn’t

Tags

faith, tgif

Are you witnessing for Jesus or Lebron?

I was thinking the other day about how marvelous God is, as I sat in the audience at New Covenant and Dr. Jasmine Sculark preached about how to get God’s attention. She taught on Matthew 15, about the Canaanite woman who approached Jesus asking for mercy, and the process in which God operates. She said that God is not moved by desperation, he cannot be manipulated with worship, but responds to faith.

We have faith in so many thing. Cleveland Cavalier fans had faith in Lebron James, who disappointed them by moving to Miami. So many people are more interested in Lebron’s process and decisions than God’s. People are burning his jersey, damming him and hoping he is unsuccessful. One day, he is king in the world’s eyes and the next he is the devil. Americans had faith in BP, who were careless in managing oil rigs which have resulted in a horrific, continuous oil spill on the Gulf Coast. We have so much faith in presidents, congressman, athletes, actresses and other people who cannot supply us with any real satisfaction of joy. Sure, they can momentarily entertain us. But why do we value those moments of fun more than real contentment?

Growing our faith means that we seek answers from the Bible, we pray that God puts us in situations so that we learn and that we listen to people who are wise. I feel that God does so much to get our attention, and we just blow Him off to chase popularity, fun and to do our own thing. I mean, I’ve done it too, so I am not judging. But the more I understand the process of how God operates, the more I see how deceived we are as a people, and how we don’t try hard enough to do and be better.

Thank God that He is in charge and people like politicians, celebrities and athletes are not. Thank God that he is Lord and our real treasures are not in the hands of Lebron James, Barack Obama or Lindsey Lohan. We just throw our money, time, talents and emotions into people and things that really can do nothing to change our lives. Imagine how life would be if those were the people who were really in control. I would just ask that people are careful that they aren’t putting their faith and worship in things that cannot save them. The more your faith in God grows, the more you understand where the real power lies.

At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

Mark 13:21-23

Getting Satisfaction

Tags

faith, happiness, love, peace, worry

God is funny. And He is right all of the time. All of us are looking for peace and satisfactions, whether we admit to it or not. Whatever a person does, no matter how crazy it is, what it really boils down to is peace, love and satisfaction. I think when a person is lacking in one of those areas, it causes a chain reaction in other peoples’ lives. If X person is without peace, he pushes that onto Y person and before you know it Z is affected.

I say God is funny because those three things that I mentioned, peace, love and satisfaction, don’t come from people or things. And we cause ourselves so much stress and get so distracted trying to extract it out of things that simply don’t have it. People may get along with you for extended periods of time. They may be quiet and cause no problems. They may genuinely love you the best that they can. But they will inevitably disappoint you, because we are all flawed. None of us can perfectly satisfy another person all the time. Even with extended efforts. It just cannot be. So when we get mad at people for not being who we think they should be, we have to remember that THEY are not the key to our happiness.

Neither are things. God saw it in my will to give me a job and has been blessing me financially in ways that I never imagined. And I am thankful, don’t get me wrong. But those blessings are not they key to my peace, either. Because money comes…and money goes. Things are great, and then they break. And you need money to fix or replace them. Or you use it all up and you need more. And the hunger for things never goes away. It never provides you any satisfaction. As much as you love your house, car, makeup or clothes, they can’t love you back. They can’t comfort you or make life any better when you think about it.

Once again, I say God is funny, because how many times did He have to tell ME this!

Solomon says:

All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.

What advantage has a wise man over a fool?
What does a poor man gain by knowing how to conduct himself before others?

Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 6:7-9

He also said in Ecclesiastes 5:10-11:

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless.

As goods increase, so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?

Jeremiah 17:5-6 says:

This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

Jesus says:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6: 19-21

Jesus also says:

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life

Matthew 25:27

And on and on! The Bible says so many things about not trusting man and stuff to make us feel good. Depending on God is the only way to feel real satisfaction and love in this life. I thank God for dealing with me and my foolishness at times, because as I keep that thought at my forefront, it peels away all of my stresses and anxieties.

I hope this message helps you to put your problems in the proper perspective. Instead of trying to make people understand you and get more things to feel better, turn to the Bible and God will let you know that your problem is not people and stuff…it’s YOU and where your trust lies.

Peace, Be Still

Tags

faith, peace

I think the underrated spiritual tool we have is silence and quiet. It can do so much to bring clarity and focus into our lives and reveal God’s word.

I wrote a couple weeks ago about guarding your mouth and how to watch the words you say. Since then, I have been a lot quieter around people. And in my quietness, I have learned so much about others. People mindlessly chatter because they get nervous and uncomfortable with silence. And that can lead them to say some stupid things!

Ecclesiastes 10:12-14 says:

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious,
But the lips of a fool shall swallow him up;
The words of his mouth begin with foolishness,
And the end of his talk is raving madness.
A fool also multiplies words.
No man knows what is to be;
Who can tell him what will be after him?

We don’t have to fill the silence in a room. So many people have taken business and networking classes and have learned to be chatty and social, but have no discernment over their tongue. Being nice and being noticed isn’t always about what you say. The quieter I’ve been this week, the more I’ve noticed people who curse just to fill the space of a conversation and people who will tell you everything on their mind just because no one else is talking.

Isaiah 26:3 (from the Amplified Bible)

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

Sometimes, I have periods in my life where I don’t hear from God. They come from times when I am too busy to spend time with Him, or too caught up in things that have nothing to do with Him. And then there are times when I think I’m doing everything He wants me to do, and I just don’t hear from Him. That requires a different kind of silence. Silencing of your schedule, your extra-curricular activities, the people in your life, cell phones, Facebook and whatever is being noisy so that you can’t hear God’s voice.

I know a man who wanted to make some changes in his life, and he went a whole year of doing nothing but going to work, coming home to read his Bible and pray and then church. He totally silenced everything that was a distraction to him so that He could hear God’s voice.

Peace and stillness. It can show others that God is a part of our lives. God gives us peace, stillness, quietness and downtime to talk to Him. Some only come to Him in chaos and confusion. But a real friend enjoys a quiet and relaxing time with God, which can bring about true revelation and deliverance.

Sometimes it’s good just to turn off the TV when cleaning the house or turn off the radio while driving and let the quietness and stillness be of comfort to your soul. You will be surprised by the outcome.

Clutch Magazine–Falling Out Of Faith

Tags

Clutch Magazine, faith, recession

An article featured on Clutch Magazine that talks about staying faithful to God in the face of this recession and your wordly needs.

Falling Out Of Faith