Strongholds...prt. 1

Hey guys to give you an inside into my life I've been on a spiritual campaign to live pure in deed, thought, and my heart. Unfortunately, I got comfortable-like a lot of us do when we think we're doing ok-and ended up falling. Yes, I fall. We all slip at times but what makes us different than the average sinning joe is that we have a godly conviction to want to do better, to get up and fight not to fall again in that area.

Now do I have a blog for you! It's funny how God speaks at the weirdest time. So after I fell today I was able to look back in retrospect and see what made me fall, what I didn't consider, what I could've done differently, and what I should not do next time. For that I'm thankful.

I was sitting in the living room of my apartment with some friends talking about why believers fall. And what is considered a "fall." I'll save that for a later date. Anyway, the conversation veered to talking about the enemy in general, and at that time I shared a revelation God shared with me while doing some house cleaning. I said, "many times we are ignorant of where a temptation comes from. My belief is that the enemy only makes suggestions (bear with me picturesquely) over our weak areas (e.g. Girls, porn, idolatry, bad time management, etc.) and the emotion that invades our brain (heart) is viewed as a desire that was derived from our own nature. Wrong! The enemy really made an advance to plant a seed."

Suffice it to say, I firmly believe that the enemy is not running around-like a chicken with it's head cut off-trying to make people fall but rather planting seeds and we are the ones watering it. How? By the music we listen to, the people we interact with, the places we go, and the things we dwell on. That same seed that we allow to take residence in our life then begans to grow up. Quick point: we as believers-spiritually-are very fertile so we have to watch what we allow to be planted. So that same seed that was planted a week ago, a month ago, or a year ago now has grown into a tree. If you know anything about trees you'd know that the higher the tree the deeper the roots-for stability. You then have-spiritually-what the bible calls a "stronghold" because what was planted has now taken root into your life. (So if you find yourself falling in an undersirable fashion its due to the stronghold in your life.) Some of you may say well I've cut my treat down. My question is, "is the root/stub still there?" If so that's your answer to why you're still falling.

You have to uproot what the enemy has planted. How? Only by the word. I know that sounds elementary but honestly it's going to take an effort of you daily getting before the word, daily making the decision not to entertain the enemy, daily "put on the lord Jesus Christ," daily watch where you go, daily watch who you allow into your personal space, etc. God-because he sees our effort-will then step in and fulfill his promises of keeping you, seeing you through, bringing you out, and making the spoils worth your fight. And with that I'm done. I hope this has been a blessing. It has for me.

God bless,

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Flesh vs. Spirit

Hey apologies will not suffice for the way I’ve treated you (the faithful members of this blog) but again I’m sorry. In the interest of time I will jump right in.

The other morning I was doing my daily devotion and this revelation hit me. To some it may seem elementary; however, I truly believe if you allow the Holy Spirit to read this with you, you will see something you haven’t before.

Revelation: we must continue in the word so that our spirit man grows stronger. I find it to be true in my own life that the more secular stuff I do, listen to, or partake in, the harder it is for me to carry our the spiritual things. But I’m learning daily that the more I do to feed my spirit the harder it will be for my flesh to fulfill its lust. So the more word I have in me, the more prayer, the more mediation on the word I have in me the harder it will be for me to acquiesce to the wishes of the flesh. I would then find myself not putting myself in bad situations to make compromising decisions, or better yet looking at stuff that does damage to my spiritual makeup.

In addition to that we must make a daily decision regarding who we will feed. Will we feed our flesh or our spirit, which ultimately determines our actions?

A few things I found to work in aiding me through “life”:

We must read and meditate on the word when we’re not being tempted in order to build our spiritual immune system.

The bible says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust.” We as believers must do just that. We cannot afford to put our selves in situations and think just because we had bible study, or devotion that day that you can handle it. No! Because any opening you give the enemy he widens it until pretty soon you find yourself falling to it. Trust me I know!

Lastly, we must learn to regurgitate the word when we are being tempted. Are you like I used to be? When temptation came I would-in my mind-throw the word out, because I wanted to partake of the temptation. I found out quickly that was one of the main reasons I stayed bound to something that I was suppose to be free from a long time ago. Jesus is the best example. He went around as the “living word” and when he was confronted with temptation from the enemy he immediately retrieved what was on the inside of him and put it before himself so that the enemy, as well as, His flesh saw only the word, and they couldn’t “buck” against that. We too must do that. Even when thoughts come we must bring up the word to block out the temptation and all we see is the word. We then will obey. Why? Because that’s all we see and know.

God bless,

Quick Update

Hey Guys,

I know it's been a while since the last time i posted something on here. Trust, I haven't forgotten about you I've just been going through some things (as always) and kind of building my arsenal of blogs to be written. So stay on the look out for these new ones:

1. My Suit Don't Fit No Mo


2. Living For Me...


3. Struggling To Stay Pure


4. It's Lonely At the Top


5. The Difference between the Moses and Caleb Generation

and many more...



So stay tuned. Should you not see one of these blogs that have been listed-that you find an interest in-please feel free to comment and express that you would like to see it and we will get it out to you as soon as possible.



In addition, I will have others join me this season with writing some of the blogs to give you a different perspective on some of the topics.



Peace.

To soar or not to soar - That is the question

Wow, is really how I’m feeling right now. But I don’t think that word does justice to what just happen to me today. To kind of give you a sneak peak in to my life, I’ve been dealing with a lot things internally. I guess that’s kind of my nature or how I’ve taught myself to deal with issues that I face. I deal with them by becoming a human sponge and absorbing them or internalizing them then act as if everything is okay. But what I’ve found out lately was that when I do that, it does more damage physically and spiritually to me than good because I’m holding on to anxieties, world pressures, issues, disappointments, bad comments, etc. Have you ever done that or been there before?

So about what happen to me. Since I had been dealing with these things, I’ve been praying that God would help me either deal with them or overcome them through his strength. Well a new friend of mine and I were talking and she made the hottest analogy about issues in relation to our success. Check this out. She said, “Your body/life is a hot air balloon and in every air balloon basket are bags of sand to give a sense of weight to the balloon. Well depending on how many bags of sand you have determines how hard your torch has to work to get the big balloon in the air. That’s physics. So think of your life as the balloon and the bags of sand as issues, unresolved internal problems, let downs, etc. and the more you have the harder you have to work to get to the top or in the air. And it would only make sense if you would just let go of some those issues, problems, and disappointments and you would began to see your life take flight at a more accelerated rate. See with the bags being in the basket you can only get so high in the sky and some people are cool with that, being at a place of comfort or familiarity, but if you rid yourself of all the baggage you then put yourself in a position to take advantage of the opportunity to soar at new altitudes, see new horizons, and view the world at a different perspective. But you can’t when you constantly hold on to that which keeps you at smog or eye level. You have to let them go.”

When I heard this I was upset, hurt, happy, and relieved all at the same time. Now you’re probably wondering how I was experiencing all those emotions at the same time. Well I upset and hurt because of the way I had been living or my approach to the whole scheme of things, and I was happy and relieved because God was showing me my way out. The bible records in 1 Peter 5:7 that we should, “cast all your anxieties upon Him [God] for He cares for you.” But if you’ll be honest it’s hard. So I then went to my room ate a cookie and got on my face before God crying for Him to work on me in the secret places. Those places I’ve hidden from all to see because I was scared of getting hurt or hurting someone; those places where only He could reach in and prune/purge all the bad and dead stuff away with out leaving a scar. I needed God to do a work like King David cried out for in Psalms 51:10 when he said, “create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” And that spoke to me because I was operating out of a broken, hurt, unpleasant heart and spirit and I really needed God to take my bags of sand so that I could really experience all that He had for me. But first I needed him to replace my old heart and spirit with ones that would make him happy and allow me to get the job done. So now I’m on the operating table. To soar or not to soar – that is the question!

What do you think?

I Can't Afford It

Hey, I’m so sorry that I haven’t posted anything lately. I’ve been going through some things lately that I thought were hindering me spiritually but they were rather helping me to prepare the message for this new blog. Let’s get straight to it.

So the last time you heard from me I was talking about “just walk” and how not to pay to much attention to what’s going on around you. Well this week I want to address the issue of separation. From that time until here recently I was doing pretty well. But I must admit I was slowly getting to a point of complacency in my spiritual walk with God. I began to say to myself, “I don’t have to hear from God everyday because I’ve heard enough, or why do I need to read as much as I did because I’ve gotten the revelations that I needed.” Yes, I was saying things like that, and if you’ll be honest with yourself and God you would admit that you too, may not have said the same things, have said things similar. So slowly I began to not read as much, or even pray/reverence God throughout the day as much as I did and you wouldn’t believe the toll it took on my life. Not just spiritually but physically as well. I began to get in a mode where I didn’t want to be bothered with people, go to meetings, be the vice president of Student Government, or even be an Alpha. Yeah, it was serious! I thought I was dealing with depression or something. So I called my mom for some advice sense she’s a mental health councilor, and she said it was only stress. Well she prayed for me, then I prayed for myself and you will be awed at the word I received even in this, I thought, desolate place.

As I was getting ready for class the other morning I did my devotion, as I do every morning, but this time I was in the depressed/funk mode. And something said after I was finished, “The enemy is slowly trying to pull you away from the word where you’ll have no protection or remedy to solve your problems.” I was like what? It continued by saying, “To everything there is a season [Ecclesiastes chapter 3] and the season you are in is only to see if you will hold on to MY word.” I then was like keep talking and it [the holy spirit] said, “I haven’t been around because you haven’t invited me to talk, you’ve allowed the enemy to persuade you to lean on your own understanding and believe that you have everything you need from me and that I am no longer needed in your life; when in actuality I’m the one who made sure while you had no money to buy food there were people who volunteered to pay and didn’t even know your situation, or how you were able to pay a major debt and again had no money but it got paid. Didn’t I come through? I didn’t let you down then! Can you see this is how every time in the past the enemy has gotten you to fall and after you fell you would wonder why you always ended up in the same situation fighting the same devils. He [the enemy] is trying to persuade you that you can live on your own spiritually and you just can’t afford it.”

I immediately began to thank God for this awesome revelation. I personally believe that there are many of us who wonder how we end up in the same situations we are “supposed” to be delivered from. It’s not that we aren’t delivered, it just we’ve allowed the enemy to slowly pull us back to the same place of bondage that God set us free from. So as I began to think about it, I saw how far I had drifted away from God all because I allowed my focus to be shifted and the persuasion of a liar to lead me to a place God never intended for me to be. I was “called” to be in His will, protection, grace, mercy, loving arms, salvation, peace, and righteousness. Not in the land of desolation, separation, strife, sin, etc. Then the Holy Spirit dropped this in my [pneuma] spirit, “I just want to help.” Afterwards he [the Holy Spirit] took me to a scripture and I would be remiss if I didn’t share it. It is Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10. It reads, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” I don’t know about you but I can’t afford to be separated from God, the rent is TOO HIGH.

P.S. as I was finishing this blog I was thinking about how bad of a friend I have been to God lately and He said, “I forgive you because I love you SOOOO much.” God loves you. No matter what you do. It doesn’t give us the right to go and do what ever but we take a pass on the temptation only because we “reverence” God in our lives. Go show the world how to “reverence” God with your life. Be Blessed and stay tuned.

Just walk – Intimacy on another level: part 2

Hey! I’m back. I just started my second semester of my junior year at my respected college on January 14, 2008. Prior to returning to campus I began to have concerns with my time management and walk (relationship) with God. So the whole time before coming I prayed that God would strengthen me to stay on task, that he would send people my way to help replenish me, and that He would basically sustain me while being in an environment where people aren’t as concerned about their relationship with God as me. Now that I look back on that prayer I realize all that was out of fear. It’s crazy huh? If you don’t get it now think about it a little bit. Now you get it huh? Yes, I was worried about slipping.

My first day of class which was the 14th I was doing my devotion, as I do every morning, and in my prayer I began to state the same things I mentioned earlier, about him keeping me. I mean I was PRAYING! I was really passionate in it because I was so scared that I would let God down, and I didn’t want him to stop speaking to me as He did while at home. Do you ever feel like that? Like God is going to take something away from you for any reason? Well, as I ended my prayer I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Just walk.” MAN! When I heard this I almost starting running (you know kind of like how the COGIC church does?). It was so potent to me because what I translated that to mean was, “don’t worry about slipping or disappointing me. Because if you’re focusing all your time, and energy on the problem then how much time and energy is being spent on other things i.e. the will of my kingdom, the solution, the word, etc.?” and I said, “are you SERIOUS God? You mean I’m worrying for nothing?” and the Holy Spirit said, “yes.”

So in essence, the lesson I learned was to be focused on things that really count. Because If I spend most of my time thinking about a problem I have, I’m basically giving myself over to it and ultimately saying God I don’t believe you can handle it. So God is saying to all of us “Just walk.” Paul the Apostle confirms then when he said in the book of Romans, “for if we walk in the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” But what gets us is when we allow whatever to warrant our attention when it doesn’t deserve it. So again “just walk” live your life as you are and as you meditate on God’s word he will then impart things that “sustain” you without you getting worried if he will or not.

Peace.

Understanding why I do what I do - and how I can do better

OH MY GOSH! I just had another electrifying experience. I was at bible study, at the church my dad currently pastors. He was teaching out of the book of Hebrews chapter 8 where it gives reference to Jesus as the High Priest. During the teaching, some way or another, everything turned to a conversation about sin. An elder gentleman, who is now in training to be a deacon, made the statement, “as long as we live in this world and this body we will sin.” What did he say that for? Then sprung up this debate about sin and how we have overcome sin, and all that good stuff. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if everyone was attacking him about his statement, or the lack of “their biblical knowledge” (we’ll talk about that later). So at his defense and my eagerness to jump into the conversation I raised my hand. What I said after being acknowledged can only be accredited to ALMIGHTY God.

I said, “In this gentleman’s defense I understand why he feels we cannot live apart from sin. From his stand point he believes that even though we have Christ in our lives we will still fall short to sin because that’s just who we are. Now let me clarify some things. In Psalms chapter 51 verse 5 David writes, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me (NKJV).”So from a child until now I’ve been doing things that have been deemed as “sin” but I didn’t know they were because at the time I was not aware that they were wrong. Would you agree that if while you were driving, didn’t see a speed limit, and a cop pulled you over he technically could not hold you accountable to breaking a law because there were no limits to govern how fast you could go? The same way it is with life. If I don’t have any laws to govern how I live, technically I’m not wrong. Well, when we accept Christ into our life we are then citizens of the Kingdom Of God and there are things/laws/commandments/mandates that govern how we are to live, as Christians, while on this earth. Now the fight comes in when all these years I have trained my soul (i.e. my mind, intellect, will, and emotions)/body to adhere to another standard of living that is contrary to the Kingdom Of God’s. So daily we find ourselves at war with our bodies trying to put it in check because the Bible says I can no longer do those things like: be promiscuous, hate, lie, steal, cheat, and covet; because those ways are not how people/citizens are to carry themselves in the Kingdom Of God. And if we’ll be honest with ourselves we would admit that it’s hard!

But I have a solution to our problem. The Apostle Paul writes in the book of Romans in chapters 5 through 8 on how if we do not walk in the flesh (secular mindset) but in the spirit (God’s way of doing things) we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. For the wages of sin is death (separation from God). Everyday, Evening, and Night we have to make a conscious decision to do what’s right no matter what we have taught ourselves. If it doesn’t align itself with the Word Of God (Bible) then I can’t follow it; because I’m a citizen of that wonderful Kingdom now and to show my appreciation to God (because I can’t reach heaven through works only faith) I do as He has asked me to do. And in that obedience there is so much. God then showers favor, goodness, and blessings like no other all because we’ve decided to do it His way and not ours. And one day you’ll look up and that habit you used to have a problem with, will no longer be a problem because you have now trained your body to live according to the word of God, keep in step with His will for your life and that’s all you’ll know to do. Again, walk by the word of God and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.”

Stay tuned…