Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Shofar- What is this annointed instrument of Praise and Worship?

Worship (S.A.T.) Spirit and in Truth!!! - The Shofar

John 4:23-24
23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Friday, June 17, 2011

God can solve the Identity Crisis





Naturally, a child wants to know where they came from and who they are. For Example, if a child is adopted or raised by family members other than their birth parents, there is just something in them to want to know the "unknown" about themselves.










It can be the same way when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior and as we become to know Him, there is this strong desire we have inside of us to know what our purpose is on this Earth and to fulfill it. I think it is beautiful how God has created us: He formed us when we where in our mothers' womb. Isnt that amazing? To know that God literally crafted us and designed us; everything about us in our mothers' womb! Now that's an amazing GOD!










The thing is, sometimes we become frustrated with the process of seeing our dreams realized and walking in the purpose that God has for us. Even if we have identified what our passions and gifts are; if we feel we are not able to use those gifts or passions as much as we would like, it can be discouraging. Then the devil tempts us to compare ourselves to others and even sometimes try to be like someone else. This is not God.










God's plan for our lives far exceeds what anyone else's plan for us (including ourselves) may be. He's not copy cat, only original and He wants the same for us! He has the blueprint for our lives and He knows how to go about the process of seeing it completed and fulfilled.










Nevertheless, Our identity is not in what we do, but we can only be completely fulfilled once we find our identity in Him. He's the one that created us! He is the one who makes us whole. Thank you Jesus!










So, let's make knowing Him our priority and trusting His leading and direction for us. And if you get discouraged, just know that He loves you SO much and His thoughts towards you are many! His love has made us whole!





Tuesday, June 7, 2011

David inquired of the Lord…….

1 Samuel 30:8a “and David inquired of the Lord”.

Definition of inquire: to seek to learn by asking: to inquire a person's name. to seek information by questioning; ask.

So, we may know a few things about King David: He went from being a Sheppard boy to a King, defeated that ole Philistine Goliath, committed adultery with Bathsheba, danced before the Lord with all his might, and was a man after God’s own heart! He was an extravagant worshipper!
David had many victories, there is something else that David faithfully did that had to be one of the main reasons for His success; David inquired of the Lord! Whether he was about to go into Battle, someone was plotting to kill him, or needed direction on where to go, instead of taking matters into his own hands, David inquired of the Lord.


One thing that really encourages me about David, although he made mistakes and there were many tests that he had to go through in life, he was so successful at what he did. This encourages me because we don’t have to believe the lies of that sneaky devil when he tries to put condemnation on us because of our past mistakes or his lies that God has left us or is mad at us and we just have to ‘find our own way out”. Not so, David cried out to God and sought Him before He made any major decisions, God gave him direction and He obeyed. He trusted God.
I believe this is the same relationship the Lord wants with us, before we pick up the phone to call mama and them or go over to brotha’s house to see what we should do. We can inquire of the Lord when it’s just Him and us. This is not to say that we shouldn't seek godly counsel, the word makes it clear that it’s okay to do that. However, I know from my own experience sometimes we go to seek what others think we should do, before we even go to our God and that’s if we even seek Him about our situation.


Let's challenge ourselves and learn from David to inquire of the Lord, expect His direction, trust Him and obey. It may not always be easy to truly trust Him. However, He really does know far better than we do, what is best for us and the more we do it, the easier it will be to trust Him. Just like He did with David, He will never fail us. Thank you Jesus!!!