Wednesday, April 10, 2013

False gods (Part 1)

"You shall have no other gods before me.You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Exodus 20:4

It is amazing how this blog was started to talk about Praise and Worship Dance and Praise and Worship is still by all means the purpose of it; however if we truly want to Worship God in Spirit and in truth, If we really want to go deeper in Him, if we want to experience true Victory and Freedom there are just some things or even people that we cannot take with us. God desires pure Worship. Idols is a word that is used very lightly nowadays. We have shows named after it, we tell people they are our idols and even others have called us an idol. Let me share with you a general definition of an idol or a False god: Whatever you love more than God is your idol. Anything you put before God is an idol. Anything you worship other than the True and Living God is an idol.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

Many would not admit that we worship a person, place or thing, however we must always do a heart check and our heart will tell us if someone or something is an idol. If something tugs on our heart more, if we “can’t live without” someone or something, or if we go to something more than we do Christ; more than likely an idol has been placed in our heart.

We were created to Worship; so everyone is bowing down to or Worshipping something/someone, even if it is themselves. And as the saying goes, “The proof is in the pudding”. We could be serving in ministry, we could be over many churches, in prestigious organizations, have the best relationships and our hearts be filled with idols.

This is not to condemn anyone, but it is to convict us to do better. Let me share a testimony with you about myself:

Last year (2012) was a year that the Lord revealed a TON of idols I had in my heart; people, success, work, relationships, etc. It’s not that these things in themselves are bad things, but a “good” thing can be used to turn our hearts from God and become an idol if we are not always in communion and intimate relationship with him Holy Spirit. One of the biggest for me was people and the Lord gave me this revelation not too long ago; “You have to be free from people to love them”. Basically if you are bound by what others think of you and you base your life on that; you will not be who God created you to be, you won’t be honest with them and you won’t allow yourself to be authentic because you’re so focused on pleasing everyone or making your life decisions based on what they are saying. This is an idol.

So, what has and IS STILL helping me remove the many idols out of my heart: pouring my heart out to Christ. The devil would love to distract us with business, sleepiness or foolishness however we gotta make time to pour our hearts out to the Lord. He is SO AMAZING and He wants to help us and free us and draw us closer to Him. He is not unforgiving or condemning God; He is a Loving Father and He is immeasurable! Whew, so this is our assignment for this week. Let us make it a point to sit at the feet of Jesus everyday this week(Praise Him- you can do this by singing, telling Him how great He is, dancing to a Praise or Worship Song, reading the Psalms aloud that lift Him up and Praise Him; Repenting- turning from our sins; Confession- asking for forgiveness for known and unknown sins); Reading and meditating on the word- This is an important one too, we gotta know His word about every situation. When the situation/problem arises search what scripture says about it and of course developing a prayer life with God) This is not a end all be all list, but it’s a good start!

Love you all and let’s get rid of those idols out of our heart!

*** Some Praise, Worship and Purity blogs are coming up shortly.

*** You are invited to the purity prayer call which is bi-weekly. We are celebrating our 1 year anniversary. Praise the name of Jesus! Breaking those chains!






Monday, April 1, 2013

PURITY- What is this thing ALL about???

I wanted to share with you all a testimony of God's Faithfulness; I'm not a virgin. I did not wait until marriage to have sex for the first time. Even when I made a decision to be abstinent, I was not sexually pure (there is a huge difference). God was and STILL IS doing a work in me. I can't change that part of my life, it happened and it's real. BUT GOD. I'm not sharing this to spill my business out on the streets. It's just that I know and have seen first hand God's transformation power in an area that I used to feel very casual about. Now, I was not always comfortable sharing this area of my life, but thank God for showing me that He has blessed me so that I can be a blessing to others!

In my late teens/ early 20s is where God began to tug on my heart regarding purity. I don't even know if I knew it was Him doing the tugging. It just began to tug in my heart, that there was more. At this time, I really did not have much of a relationship with the Lord even though I was brought up in a traditional church. I would go to church and be in intimate with the person I was dating, with little conviction. Everyone around me was doing the same and so; I just thought it was the norm.

After going through a horrible break up (it literally wrecked me for about a year), that's when the pages began to turn in my life. I don't even know if I had heard about purity before this. If I did, I probably thought it was something for people back in the 19th century and not me. "You mean to tell me, you expect for me to wait to have sex until marriage and give my life to You, surrender my body and I'm an African American young women who likes hip hop, clubbing and following my friends"?! Yes.

There is a difference between religion and relationship. God wants the latter and it's much higher to have relationship with Him. He desires for us to desire an intimate and personal relationship with Him! THIS and this alone is what changed me; my relationship with Him.
"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8

It was not until, I began to have a personal love relationship with the Lord, that I GOT IT. Honestly this year, I was having a conversation with the Lord and I told Him I finally understand why He has required His sons and daughters to walk in purity (it's more than just not have sex). I have and still am going through deliverance in areas of my life because of my disobedience. It's not anything spooky, we need to be delivered as we continue in this walk with the father. He does not want us bound or chained up with strongholds and struggles.

My prayer for you and for all of us is that we will pursue holiness. It is possible with God and remember it's a process. Just please don't give up and know that you are not alone. He is with you and He is your help. Thank you Lord!

*** Some Praise and Worship videos/blogs are coming soon. I believe purity is the foundation of true Praise and Worship!