The Holiday Cake

 

There was once a pastry chef that create a cake to share with a vast number of loved ones that had been invited to a holiday celebration. The pastry chef went into the kitchen to get all the ingredients to create the cake.

All the ingredients were taken and placed one by one on the counter. The eggs, the flour, vegetable shortening, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk and vanilla were sat on the counter. The pastry chef then took out the pan. The pastry chef turned on the oven to 350 degrees to prepare the over for the cake.

The pastry chef then took the mixer and creamed the butter and shortening together. He added the sugar, a little at a time. He then added eggs, one at a time and beat the mixture together after each egg was added. In a separate bowl, he stirred all the dry ingredients together. He added the dry ingredients into the butter mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. He then mixed in the vanilla.

The cake was not quite ready, but it was progressing nicely. He then poured the mixture into a greased and floured pan and baked for 1 and ½ hours until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake came out clean to show it was ready.

The chef created a powder sugar glaze to top off the pound cake. It was ready to serve up to his guest at the holiday party. The cake was a success each person that tasted it stated, “That was good!”

Well, there’s a catch to this story. There are two stories hidden in the tell of the cake and the pastry chef. The first story is not really about a cake at all, but about the wonderful holiday gift we have been given. God, that “great pastry chef” decided to invite this world, a vast number of people to a feast. He offered all the “right” ingredients in the cake (bread of life) for His guest. That sweet treat offered to everyone to come and taste and see that the Lord is good! All those that partook of the sweet treat were feed and delighted at the goodness of God. The chef’s added in his loaf only the ingredients that would produce the required results. God’s offer of salvation only adds in the ingredients that line up with his recipe. His Son came to this earth, offered Himself as the sacrifice for the world to ensure our salvation. Into his body was inserted the nails and when out came the blood and water, God knew salvation was sure. In the midst of all that appeared ugly, God added the final touch of sweetness to top off this event. That added sweetness was the assurance of all being saved that call on the name of the Lord.

There is still yet a second story. The second story is us. We are in the hands of the great pastry chef. He takes the ingredients of our lives and puts them together to make all things work together for our good. These ingredients by themselves are not very tasty (accept maybe the sugar). Just as the chef takes the butter and shortening and blends them together; God takes those things that are hard and difficult in life and softens them to become the base of the batter of our lives. The chef added the sugar a little at a time, just as God sprinkles His joy into our difficulties in life as we learn to be thankful in all things. Little by little He adds each ingredient to build the perfect batter. Yet, we are not done yet, there is still more work that needs to be done. Into the hot oven we must go. The chef knows the perfect time to pull the cake out of the over. When the toothpick is placed into the cake and it comes out clean, it is time. So it is with our lives, when God sees that we have firmed up and there is no residue clinging to the inserted tester, we are ready to serve.

God tops us off with a little sweetened glaze (love) before serving us to the vast gathering group of hungry people. Then little by little he serves His guest a piece of our lives (through our testimonies). And when they receive the sweet offering they too declare, “I have tasted and this is good!”

I encourage each of you today to allow God to serve you up this holiday. Go and allow someone to “taste and see” that God is good because you represent the work of the master chef!

Living With Many Signals

“Living with many signals”

Ephesians 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”

 Colossians 3:2  “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

 Life is busy! Track a normal day in the life of a mom for instance.  You get up to get your kids ready for school.  You get them up, feed them, get their lunch’s ready, homework packed up, clothes on, and teeth brushed all while trying to keep them from killing each other.  You try to get them out on time and if you have a job, you need to get where you need to be all at the same time.  Add daily home care needs, clothes washed, food purchased and cooked, and the list goes on.  In this list add whatever your families needs are, your husband’s needs, the church needs, and if time (Ha!) your needs. 

How do you handle all the signals without malfunctioning? Sometimes we are hit with so many signals in our lives, we can overload our mental, emotional or spiritual circuits.  We can make wrong choices before we stop and process all the information that we receive in this daily moving from one signal to the next.  We can be hurt by others responses to our situations or what we perceived as their lack of concern.  We have to examine the signals and find out from God what our proper approach should be to our situations. When we do not, we can become bitter, angry and unkind to one another.  When we do not examine the signals in our lives, we can also become focused on our selves (focused on things on earth, instead of on things above).  Instead, what we need to do is seek God to help us handle the many signals in our lives so that our affections can be focused on God and not on the things that affect our emotions.

What happens when our focus is our emotions:

Ø  We can easily become captive by our feelings.

Ø  We may hide or deny our feelings or wallow in them, usually the latter.
Ø  Our feelings show what is lodged in our hearts.
Ø  Our heart’s emotions rule our minds and direct our actions.
Ø  We question where is God during our hard times.
Ø  We (women) do not handle the multitude of signals we receive well, where our husbands appear to be able to tune them out, thus frustrating us to no end.
Ø  We do not recognize our basic differences without putting any value judgment on them.
Ø  We do not die to our demands and forgive when others treat us insensitively.

What are we to do to change what happens?

ü  Tell God immediately how we feel about hurts and injuries.

ü  Ask God to speak his best response through us.
ü  Sometimes we may need to dig dipper to understand our own emotions and responses.
ü  We have to change the “old” for the “new”. – Changing or the removal of our old foundation
ü  We must not place our emotions under the subjection of God, they can no longer rule our decisions and choices
ü  We must not allow how we feel to determine if God is there for us, we must trust regardless of how it feels.
ü  We must recognize our basic differences between men and women and allow God to help us remove judgment from our interactions with each other.


Our theme this year for the C.O.M.E. ministry is about changing our mindset so that our lives can be changed, to line up with God's will. This writing was from several years ago, but I thought it was worth bringing back to remind us of what we need to do with our emotions and the many signals we receive during the day.

What House Do You Represent?

Short Story by: Rev. Jewel D. Williams, M.R.E.

Hazel Crest Community Church of God

H.A.T.S ~ Having an Anointing That Sticks

There was once a model that looked for a designer, a house to represent.  Her journey took her to different designers to find one to represent.  One house said they would have her, but when they told her what she had to do, she said no, because she was not ready to sell her soul for it.  Her journey took her from one house to another with no success.

There was one house that she had not tried yet, even though it was the most famous house.  She wondered if they would accept her.  Without any further hesitation, she put on her best outfit and went to “The House of Dios”.

She opened the door and was greeted by the receptionist.

“How can I help you?” She asked.

“I would like to speak to someone regarding representing ‘The House of Dios’.”  As she was speaking the owner walked into the room.

The reception turned to him and spoke, “This lady is here to see if she can represent ‘The House of Dios’.”

The owner took one look at her and turned away, “I cannot even look upon her, no, no.”

The model was shocked; she didn’t know what the problem was. She turned to leave, but someone tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hello, I am the co-owner, wait one minute please.”

She turned back to hear what he had to say.  The co-owner turned to the owner.

The owner spoke to him, “She cannot represent this house her clothes are filthy rags!”

The co-owner spoke, “Father, I know, but I see potential in her.  If I give her a new garment would you re-consider?”

“Yes, let’s see what you can do.”

The co-owner, who also is the owner’s son, spoke to the model.  “You came here thinking your best would work and that was insulting to my father.  However, if you are willing to allow me to give you the right garments, I know my father will forgive your actions.  Are you willing to receive my gift of the right garment so that your wrong deeds can be forgiven and you can be given a new start and the opportunity to represent this house?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed.

And with that her old clothes were removed and she stood standing in an elegant white garment. The owner then turned and smiled at her.  The son and the owner stood looking at her for a few moments.  They then spoke to each other. She needs something else to complete her outfit.

“Yes”, the Son said, “and I know just where she should go.”

“Yes, take her to our division, ‘Espiritu Santo’, and our helper will know what to do.”

She was quickly whisked off to a room filled with hats.  There were yellow hats, red hats, and blue hats.  There were small hats and large hats.  There were hats with flowers and hats with feathers. She reached out to touch one of the hats.  It was a hat with feathers fanned across the front.

“You have to be brave to wear this hat.” She thought, “It’s way too much hat for me.”

As she examined the hats, someone entered the room. She assumed this must be the helper the owners spoke of.

“Welcome to ‘Espiritu Santo’. I am one of the owners. I work directly with the models and help them represent the House of Dios. You are here for me to finish your outfit with a HAT.”

To her surprise, he took the hat she had touched and placed it on her head. She lifted her hand almost by instinct to stop him, but quickly lowered her hand.

He smiled at her. “Yes, it might be overwhelming at first, but once you become comfortable with it, you’ll be able to work the runway and show off the outfit. There are a few rules I must tell you about.  First, the show isn’t about you. We aren’t looking for divas but for models that are drawing attention to the garments. We want the audience to want the designs of the House of Dios. Secondly, I am the one that makes all the decisions on what the models wear.  I’ve done this job a long time and I really don’t need help. What I do need is your willingness to represent us properly. And lastly, we need you to continually work at your craft. You have to be ready whenever we need you to do a runway show. Can you handle that?”

She thought about it, “Yes I can.”

The helper smiled at her and said, “Well then, hit the runway and show off the garments of the ‘House of Dios’ and the Hat’s from ‘Espiritu Santos’.”

And that is just what she did; she worked the runway and presented The House of Dios!

Prayer to a Compassion Savior

Prayer to a Compassionate Savior

This is taken from a message I preached, I thought it was worth sharing:

Compassion means: a feeling of deep sympathy (empathy and understanding) and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune (adversity, trouble, hardship, and disasters) accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. (Loan-translation of Gk. sympatheia)

What God was showing me as I looked at this word was compassion has two parts. The first part is when one person (in this case, Christ) feels deep sympathy for the suffering of others. The second part is what many of us miss. The person does not only feel for the person, but they are so moved that they do something to alleviate the persons suffering. This is what Christ does. His compassion moves Him to rescue us. Let's look at who Christ has compassion on.

Christ has compassion for:

Matthew 9:36-38 “³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Christ has compassion for the ~ HELPLESS, THE LOST AND PEOPLE WITHOUT A SHEPHERD

Matthew 14:14 “...he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Christ has compassion for the ~  SICK (we see often Christ having compassion on those that were sick)

Matthew 15:32 “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

Christ has compassion for the ~ NATURAL NEEDS OF PEOPLE (food, shelter, etc. Jesus did not want to send the people away because He knew they had not eaten, instead He told the disciples to handle their need.)

 Jesus had compassion for people that were lost (sinners), for the sick and for the everyday-natural needs of people. Again, He did not stop at feeling for their needs, HE DID SOMETHING. His compassion moved him into action.

The compassion of Christ results in:

Compassion for the lost unto salvation

Christ saw our plight. We were sinners separated from a Holy God. Our destination for our sins was death and eternal separation for this Holy God (Romans 6:23). We were powerless to do anything about it. Christ compassion moved him to demonstrate his love while we were still sinners, He died for us (Romans 5:8). At the right time, Christ helped the helpless (Romans 5:6). Christ compassion moved him and in exchange He alleviated our sin debut and we are made the righteous of God, as credit to us through Christ (Romans 4:24). Being justified through faith, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Not only that, we can boast that we are reconciled to God through Christ (Romans 5:11). Therefore, we are no longer condemned because we are in Christ (Romans 8:1). This process of receiving God’s compassion is given to us when we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, when we do, we will be saved (Romans 10:9). We ask God to forgive us of our sins, and His compassion that saw our need in our helpless state, will forgive us and give us His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

Matthew 20:34 “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”

The Compassion of Christ results in ~ RESTORING SIGHT (to the physically and spiritually blind)

Matthew 14:14 “...he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

The Compassion of Christ results in ~ THE HEALING OF DISEASES AND INFIRMITIES

³⁰ Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. ³¹ The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. – Matthew 15:30-31

Christ did not discriminate. He touched all kinds of lives and all kinds of needs. He touched the rich, the poor, men, children and women. His compassion, His love called Him to action.

As followers of Christ, we must take on the compassion that He had. No, you or I cannot heal anyone but we can be the channel of healing, restoration and salvation Christ uses. We do this by moving from only having sympathy for others needs to DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT! We do that through our prayers. and however God leads us. 

Prayer:

Psalm 6:9 “The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.”

Prayer ~ ACCESSES GOD’S MERCY (his compassion, his kindness, his forgiveness and his favor)

Psalm 86:1 “(David) Hear me, LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.

Psalm 102:17 “He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.

Prayer ~ ACCESS GOD TO ALLEVIATE OUR HELPLESSNESS

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Prayer ~ ACCESS GOD’S PROVISIONS FOR HIS CHILDREN

Now then, it is time to pray. Just as I prayed for the church that day, let us pray now as you read this blog.

Pray for lost: Do you have loved ones you know need to meet the savior? Let's pray for them now.

Psalm 85:7 (NIV)
Show us your unfailing love, LORD, and grant us your salvation.

Prayer: Lord today, as we call out the names of our unsaved loved ones, we ask that your Holy Spirit would touch their lives and bring them to the knowledge of their need for Jesus. Lord help them to accept your gift of salvation. May their hearts be turned to you and may you give them you Holy Spirit to guide them and help them become the person(s) you created them to be. Amen.

Pray for those in need of natural needs. Are you, or someone you love standing in need of something from God? A job, finances, food, shelter, whatever the need. Let us take it to the Lord.

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

 Prayer: God you are our sustainer and our provider. You promise that you would not hold any good gift from your children. Today we ask that you would meet the needs of those seeking your help. We understand that these things will not be done by our might, our abilities or from our surplus. They will be accomplished through your riches in Christ Jesus. Today we ask, that you open opportunities for income for those that in need of it. Even if the need is a $3,000 a month, you can do it. Provide clothing, food, and whatever the needs are. Provide funds to fix roofs, and other things. Nothing is to difficult for you. We pray right now that you provide and we say, yes and amen to your will as we seek your face, Amen.

Pray for the sick. While I cannot be right there with you to anoint you, I anoint myself in your proxy. God sees our hearts and our trust. There is nothing in the oil but out of obedience to scripture I anoint myself as representing a touch from God's Spirit.

James 5:14-16 (NIV)

¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Prayer: I offer to you God this prayer in faith. Faith in belief that there is no sickness to great for you to heal. I speak healing right now in the name of Jesus Christ. I state, you are healed in Jesus name. Lord reverse decrees of cancer, high blood pressure, MS, depression, and all kinds of sickness. Jesus you looked upon the crowds that came to you and you were moved with compassion and healed their sickness. Today, we come and seek your compassion. Lord allow your healing oil to flow even right now as we pray. Through your Holy Spirit I ask that you touch those in need and heal them. May they feel even now, the touch of your anointing upon them. This healing we ask for because your Word says pray faithfully for healing and you, the Lord will raise them up. I ask now, Lord raise up the sick amoung us and allow them the opportunity to glorify you before others of your good works. This is our prayer, amen!

Debt Free Living

⁴⁴ I will always obey your law, for ever and ever. ⁴⁵ I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. ⁴⁶ I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, - Psalm 119:44-46


It is amazing how much wisdom is in God's Word. We however, often want to separate what we think is spiritual from natural. I would like to interject, however that God's Word is wisdom for both our spiritual life and our natural life. In fact, if we do not seek God for wisdom in our natural life we will find our spiritual life made more difficult because of the situations we find ourselves in due to our lack of good choices in our daily lives.


This scripture speaks to someone having freedom because of being obedient to God's standards. Those standards are the tools we use to help us live a godly life. The precepts (teaching, instructions, guidelines) help us to know how to live God's way.


Can I also state that God's precepts (teaching, instruction and guidelines) help us to live a debt free existance in our daily lives? I admit I'm slow so this concept took some time to ring true for me. Yet, now that I have it, I HAVE IT! I have determined that I am going to be debt free. And I would like to share with you some of the steps God has shown me to getting there.


1. Tithing - We often do not see tithing as a means to being debt free. Well I do and I'll tell you why. God requires us to be obedient to him. Therefore if I want God's freedom, I have to do things God's way. I must learn to pay my tithes first. In the natural it also helps me to understand discipling myself. If I can discipline myself to give a 10th to God, I can learn to give a 10th to savings and learn to live on the 80 % left.


2.  Learn to face my situation - Many of us get in more trouble when we refuse to look at our current situations realistically. If you only have $1,000 for your household, don't go out and spend money that would require you to need $1,200 a month. We must be willing to learn how to live within the amount of money we have, not what we hope to have.


3. Develop and carry out a plan to pay off debt - I am reminded of the scripture in James that tells us not to be hearers but doers of the word. That's what we must do to get out of debt. If we develop a plan on how to pay off our bills it does us no good until we "DO IT".  That means I cannot get out of debt if I find myself buying things I really don't need just because it was a good sale. We have fooled ourselves. We think, well I only spent $20 on something that should have cost me more. But did you really have that $20? I have had to pass by some really good "deals" because I did not have the $20 or whatever it was. Instead I took that $20 and paid on a bill until I paid it off. Develop a plan and work it.


4. Don't use borrowed money for unecessary things - I know I was guilty of this. I would use my credit card for something but when I looked at it later I realized that for that one moment of shopping I would have to pay 3 years to pay for it. I don't know about you but I don't want to pay 3 years for a dress! If I don't have the money, I won't get it. Now there are times when you may have to use a credit card, but the goal is to pay it off as quickly as you can. And if you can't pay it off in one or two months, I recommend that you do not use that credit card again until you pay it off. Discipline yourself, with God's help and watch it happen.


5. Commit to faithfully repaying your creditors - I know sometimes the best I can do is pay the minimums. Yet, I have committed that every penny I get extra, I am paying on and off my credit cards and bills. We often get "extra" money and we think, oh I get to do something special for myself. Well, the best thing you can do for yourself is pay off what you have already spent.


6. Save along the way - Many times we do not save because we think we don't have enough to save. I started saving in M & M candy containers. I take my quarters and put them in the containers. When I fill 4 up, I'm taking them to the bank. I have decided to alternate. One time I'll put the money in my savings and another time I'll use the money towards bills. The containers I have can hold at least $20, so that's $80 total when I go to the bank. I am also reminded each time I open the container how "sweet" my disciplines must smell to God. See, the container still smells like the chocolate candy that was in it. So when I smell the scent, I say to myself, your determination to be your best in your finances is a sweet smell in God's nostril! (hint: it also keeps me from taking quarters out).


7. Prayer and godly wisdom goes a long way - Even though this is listed last, it is the first and the last thing we should do. We need to ask God to teach us His ways so that we can apply godly principles to our lives as we seek to not only live financially debt free but spiritually as well.


Prayer: Lord we are not looking to the president or the government to help us live free, but you. God we need your wisdom so that we can learn how to live frugal lives that are pleasing to you. Help us learn it and teach it to others. Help us so that we can say like the psalmist we walk in freedom all the days of our lives. This is our prayer, amen.

The Importance of Children to Jesus

This Month many churches will celebrate Youth day or Children's day. I wrote this some time ago and I thought it would be good to share it again.

The importance of Children to Jesus

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for this kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God lik a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them ad blessed them. - Mark 10:13-16

* Jesus was indignant (angry, annoyed, offended) when his own disciples tried to stop the children from coming. 

The message to us today is: We must make sure as the disciples of Christ we are not responsible for turning away the children. Like the disciples, we turn them way because we don't think that they are vital to the work of Christ. The disciples thought the children were in the way of Jesus doing his work. We likewise turn them away because we feel they are getting in the way of the "work" we should be doing. When in fact they are part of the work. God is requiring us to train up our children in his ways so they can follow after him.

 

• Jesus said do not hinder them from coming.

The message to us today is: we as the people of God must make sure we are not hindering the children from coming. Anything we do that puts us between them and God, hinders them. They do not need to come through us to get to Jesus, in fact we should be making a way for them and not standing in the way.

·         Jesus put his hands on them and blessed them.

The message to us today is: Young people, Jesus wants to put his hands on you, on your life and he wants to bless you. As a church we are making the commitment to be a way maker for you to the Lord and not a hindrance, keeping you from receiving the blessings God wants to place on your life. Young people it is however your choice to receive the call from Christ to receive the blessing. Before we pray if there are any young people that wish to be anointed you can, if not we will pray for the young people to allow Christ to place his hands on their lives and bless them to live his way and as a church we be disciples that bring the children to him.

Importance of Praying for Youth

2010 Women's State Prayer Retreat

Prayer Group – Importance of praying for youth/young adults

Theme: Women Dispatched by God to pray for others - James 5:16-18

Focus – Praying for our youth/young adults to fulfill the mission of God for their lives


If we are going to help our youth, we must pray (as well as teach them this truth) that they see that God has need of their unique abilities, skills, talents and spiritual gifts.


Paul describes a threefold process that moves from the inner to the outer person and aligns the believer with spiritual truth. The first step starts with knowing your identity in Christ (Romans 6:3-10).



Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.



The second step moves to reckoning or considering these truths as “the only truth” (Romans 6:11).


In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.




The last step results in yielding or presenting yourself to God (Romans 6:12-14).


12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.



What does this have to do with helping our youth/young people see their place in the mission? If they do not understand these three key steps they will begin to forget or never know who they are or can be in Christ. This can result in them believing they are not capable of handling the gifts the Holy Spirit has placed within them. This ultimately will result in our youth not using their gifts and taking their places in the mission.



1st Prayer Focus ~ Knowing – Who am I in Christ?

Read Luke 9:18-20 ~ Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."



Ask yourself three fundamental questions:


1. Who do you say that you are?
2. Who do people say that you are?
3. Who does God say that you are?



All too often our acceptance of what we can do rests on the answer to the first two questions rather than the third. When this happens we will base our thoughts about ourselves on unbiblical conclusions. This is also true for our youth. If they are basing who they are and what they can do on what they think or what others say, they miss knowing what God says they can do. We need to help them understand the truth as listed below:



Romans 5:8 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.


• God loves me regardless of how I feel about myself or how I perform.
• My identity is changed from what I was to what I have and am becoming.
• God’s love is unconditional.



Romans 6:5 – “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”


• My old self was crucified with Christ (I am changed, no longer the same).
• My new self comes from Christ (I can be and do whatever God says I can).
• I am united with Christ; therefore I am no longer alone.


The conclusion we are to draw from these scripture is that even if we do not “feel” the truth (that we are new and changed because of Christ and equipped by him) we must not allow how we perform God’s assignments to be based on our feelings instead of the truth. We must learn that because Christ is not threatened by earthly failures or rejections, we must not either. Instead we must base our behavior on the belief that Christ has already overcome all the failures and rejections, therefore he can strengthen me as well. Who we are in Christ should determine what we do. Our identity is based on our new birth in Christ. We have his righteousness (Philippians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21), and his life is our life.





2nd Prayer Focus ~ Reckoning – God’s truth as the authority



After Paul describes who we are in Christ (Romans 6:3-10), he moves to us knowing the truth to believing the truth. This process of reckoning is neither a natural or easy one. Most often it is not until people arrive at the end of their ropes that they move from the self-life to the Christ-life. We can read and say we know the truth of God’s word, but we must by faith apply it so that we can be strengthened to run the race ahead of us.

Hebrews 4:2 – “For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.”


• Hearing God’s Word must be combined with faith to apply it.
• God’s word does not benefit me unless I accept it and what it can do.
• Faith in God’s Word activates results.



1 Timothy 6:12 – “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”


• When we believe what God said about us is true, God gives us assurance.
• God will strengthen me to live this life well.
• I am empowered by God to win.



God’s truth does not simply inform us but it also transforms us. We are new creatures therefore we can do and be different that we were before we were transformed (and continually being transformed).Therefore, we must reckon that if God’s Word says I am, then I am.



3rd Prayer Focus ~ Yielding – To God’s power

As we come to know and accept the truth of who we are with Christ and reckon that it is true, then the next step is for us to yield ourselves to God as a new creature in Christ.


Romans 6:12-13- “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”


• To reject the things of God is allowing sin to reign in my life.
• Rejecting the truth of what God has called me to do is not allowing my body to be an instrument of righteousness.
• When I offer myself to God, he will use me to glorify his righteousness.

Excerpt taken from “Shape II” Discipleship training created by Minister Jewel D. Williams for SSCOG

Words of Encouragement

 

Judas in the midst

Theme Scripture ~ I can do everything through him who gives me strength. – Philippians 4:13

Have you ever had to deal with betrayal? Have you had a friend that you thought was true to you to find out that they were plotting your destruction? What are you suppose to do? Do you get back, do you retaliate or do you cut them off? Today let’s look at how Jesus handled betrayal.

20 When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. 21 And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?” 23 Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.” 25 Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said so.” – Matthew 26:20-25

Background ~ What’s taking place is the Lord is preparing the last supper, the Passover supper with his disciples. As he is seated he tells them that one of them will betray him. Judas, the one that betrayed him ask surely it couldn’t be me? Jesus’ response, you have said so.

What stood out to me is that Jesus is in fellowship and part of the godhead. Therefore he knows everything. Even when he picked Judas he knew he would betray him, yet he picked him anyway. He took the time to teach him, he allowed him into a close fellowship with him even though he knew he would betray him. Does that make senses?

Not to you and I, but to God it simply shows his character. God is ready to give every man the opportunity to live for Him. He turns no one away, the liar, the cheater, the killer, the rapist, the everyday sinner, no one. Some will not change, but no one will have the opportunity to say God did not give them the chance.

Sometimes God will require you and I to allow some Judas’ in our midst. We may even know going in that we shouldn’t trust them, or that they may hurt us, but we are still to offer them the same opportunity as everyone else to hear the about goodness of God.

Now before we move from this point, let me make it clear. I’m not talking about a false understanding. See Jesus was well aware of what he was dealing with. We have to deal with people with godly wisdom and insight. For example, we may try to help someone on drugs, but we are not foolish enough to think well I can trust them with everything I have. Jesus knew what Judas was doing. He knew his character.

The question you may have is, that’s too hard, how can I put up with a Judas in my midst? Well that goes back to our scripture theme. It is only through the strength of Jesus that we will be able to handle those Judas’ in our midst. Oh it’s hard. I had one myself. I knew the person was lying on me, they were telling people things about me and trying to destroy my name. Yet, when they were around me they acted like the loved me. But I was aware of what was going on. I wanted to get out, but God said, not yet. You need to be the one that offers repentance. I did, and I was only able to stand because of God strengthening me.

Do you need him to strengthen you today as you stand through and face your Judas in your midst?

Words of Encouragement

THE GIFT OF LOVE

Some may send you flowers,

Some may send you perfume,

Some may send gifts beyond the imagination.

My gift does not smell of the flowers,

But when given time it blossoms

And it lingers long after the flowers wilt.

My gift may not excite the senses.

But it’s touch need never be replenished,

Like perfume that soon fades away,

With no trace of being there before.

I may not send expensive gifts

Beyond the imagination,

But my gift was designed by God

Who had no limit to His creations.

If I could give you the world, I would.

If I could give you the stars, I would.

If I could give you anything in the universe,

I would.

But I still do not think it could come close

To the gift I give to you,

You can not hold it or taste it,

But as you listen, you will feel the gift I give

The gift of love.

This is the greatest gift I can give you,

Because God first gave it to me.

For God so loved the world,

that He gave His only begotten

Son.

 

Happy Valentines! Better yet, Have a happy February!

The Week in Review

LIFE GIVER

Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. - Genesis 2:7



God took dust or dirt from the ground and formed a man. He then breath life into that dry dust and it became a living being. As I was studying this chapter, there were a few points that stood out. The first thing that stood out was the fact that man was formed from a lifeless substance. The second point that I saw was that this lifeless substance took on a life-form after God breath into him.



I looked at these two points from a spiritual perspective. We may have physical life but we are actually lifeless people because we have not yet had the "spiritual" breath of God breathed into us. We are moving and utilizing our physical selves but we are really as lifeless as the dirt on the ground. Dirt on the ground it of no good until something is done with it. If you want grow something in dirt you must put seeds in it, water it and make sure the ground is is turned over so that oxygen can get it.



We are like that ground. We need to have something done to us so that we can be useful, living ground. God wants to deposit in our "soil" the seed of salvation. It then needs the living water and the oxygen, the breath of God to make sure it grows.



Did you know that seeds won't grow well in packed down soil? That's because the air isn't circulating. You need to have some one come and do a treatment on your ground so that air will circulate and that your grass and plants will grow better. We need God to do a procedure on us so that the seed of salvation will take root and grow in us. He needs to treat our hearts so that hatred, hurt, anger, etc. won't pack it down so hard that nothing will grow there.



The Lord breathed life into a form that was without life. He was the only one that could do that. And when He did, Adam took on attributes of God. He had the ability to create, love, rule. etc. It wasn't until Adam allowed the enemy to trick him (through the woman) that he again became lifeless.



This is the plight that humanity finds itself in today. We are lifeless until we are united with God and He breaths life into us. I pray today that we allow God breath new life into us so that we can become a living soul. A person designed to show off the handiwork of God and to be His ambassadors in the world.

Watch out For the Crafty One

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:1-5

In this scripture, we are given some background about the serpent. The scripture says he is more crafty than any of the other animals. This sets the tone that we are going to have trouble. The scripture tells us that the devil is trouble, so why does God people hold converstations and debates with him?

He then approaches the woman and begins to have a conversation with her. He asked, "Did God really say...". This question is expressed in a way that is trying to call for doubt, or maybe to have the person question the instruction they have received. The woman responded but she added something to God's Word. When she answered she put in that God said you should not touch it or you will die.

 Eve's first mistake was listening to the serpent. As soon as he began to question her about God, she should have stopped the conversation. In fact, how natural was it for her to be having a conversation with the animals in this way?

Eve allowed the enemy to deceive her and she had what I call the "Eve Complex". She entertained a conversation with the serpent and in doing so, he began to make her turn her attention to the one tree she was forbidden to have and in doing so, she lost sight of all the other trees available to her. Remember she was in the garden. This is not like your backyard with a few trees, think more of a vast grove of trees upon trees. From all these different trees she could take and eat.

We sometimes have the Eve Complex ourselves. We allow the enemy to draw our focus to that one "tree" we don't have and therefore, we take our focus off the fact that we are living in the abundance of God.

We also should learn from Eve that as soon as the enemy see that we don't really understand the Word, he is ready to attack. In this instance Eve had been told the command, but somewhere along the way she changed it. She added her interpretation to it. When you and I add our own understanding or interpretation to the Word of God, the enemy is ready to attack us and trick us into sinning.

We must not entertain any conversations with the enemy. When he comes and ask us "did God really say..." we are to quickly rebuke him because we know he is trying to trick us.

Prayer: Lord help us to see the tricks of the enemy as he tries to deceive us and in doing so we begin to doubt your Word. Help us combat the enemy with your truth when he brings lies or questions your authority and your power. Help us to flee from him so that we do not become deceived into seeing the one thing we don't have and miss the bounty of what we have available to us. Amen.