Road Blocks to the Kingdom of God

Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,[c] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness (lust), 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,[d] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

God is speaking. For a few weeks I have been wondering exactly what has been going on with my spiritual life. I have noticed that the revelations of the kingdom of God have not been coming like they used to. What did I do different you make ask? Absolutely nothing. This answer may come as a shock to you, as you may say, “Well, sure you would say that, no one blames themselves for anything…” Well, I will tell you that I am the first to point the finger at myself when it comes to spiritual matters, because it is because of my carnal mind that I find myself in trouble so many times.

Let me explain to you what I mean. See in the past few weeks, God has really been elevating my faith; I don’t mean knocking it up a few notches either, I mean taken to the next level, friend of God type of advancement in faith. That was an awesome experience, probably won’t forget it as long as I live.

In the last few days I became very confused. Why? Well, because here I am, so excited about exercising my faith and seeing God work, yet I couldn’t buy some new revelation into the Kingdom of God. Though, I do remember adding some notes to my dry erase board last week sometime concerning the Kingdom, which was very insightful, but there was no passion to continue; there was no passion to explore; I would read the Bible out of habit, only grasping ‘right beneath the surface’ revelation, but most times, just what appeared on the surface.

Last week we had a Living Free training session and God spoke to me concerning some areas of my life that was hindering Him from continuing the good work that He had started in me. The three areas that he showed me in particular were that of lust, idolatry, and selfishness. As you might imagine, these hit me pretty hard, and I was embarrassed before God, and even to myself. The lust issue I somewhat knew about, but because it was always such a casual thing, I paid it little or no mind; it wasn’t even a real issue to me, that’s why I thought it normal to no pay it no mind. That was the mistake. Idolatry; I think this one hit me the hardest. What was the idol? Oh, not a what, but a who… and who else but myself… I remember becoming nervous as I pieced the various pieces of the puzzle together, first there was the pride, then self aggrandizement, and finally the realization that it was my desire to want people to desire me. Wow! You could imagine the expression on my face, you could imagine the condition of my heart; but could you imagine the look on satan’s face when he realized that I realized the three carnal components that were keeping me from inheriting the kingdom of God?

Just like Galatians 5: 21 says, a man cannot inherit the kingdom of God while these issues exist and are being practiced.

The last area of carnality revealed to me was selfishness. This one eventually made sense to me, but not initially; boy was I blind. I thought about it and said, “Well I can’t be selfish if I give to the poor, the church, and family and friends. I can’t be selfish if I am always willing to help out. I can’t be selfish, if I was called to be a giver…” When faced with this time of self discovery, I was so focused on the more obvious external good deeds that I did, that I lost focus on the fact that God doesn’t judge a man by his deeds, but by the condition of his whole heart. Now, try to understand me, I really feel a peace that my heart has been in doing these things, but there were other aspects of my life and another part of my heart that I chose to be oblivious to, deep down inside somewhere, buried in some crevice, these desires to have things my way, to say what I wanted to say with no consequence, to do what I wanted to do to others with no consequence, and to just focus on my needs being met. It was horrible.

How could these things exist inside me? How could I say I am living a life totally surrendered to God, yet these things existed in my heart? Quite easily actually. What is satan’s #1 strategy to leading people astray? Convincing them he doesn’t exist. In the same way, satan deceives many of us Christians into thinking that certain aspects of carnality don't exist within us by making us blind to it and making us defend ourselves constantly, only to give satan control in our lives through these unknown strongholds.

Saying, “God, I surrender my life to you.” Is great. Saying, “God, search my heart and reveal all the impurities.” Is even better. However, most Christians get stuck at this second question, because we just want God to know that we have verbalized our ‘concern’ to Him, so it makes us more comfortable to know that we said it, even though we don’t really look to find impurities. It is when we say, “God, I am lustful, I have practiced idolatry, and I have been selfish. I thank you for revealing this sin to me; I thank you for convicting me of this sin. Lord, right now I am brought low. I have exalted myself and you have honored your word and have humbled me. My heart has become heavy; I feel pain, I feel weak, but I know that when I am weak, you are strong. I will trust you. I surrender my life to you, once again.”

I am excited actually, because these three areas of carnality that have been plaguing me behind my back, have been brought to light; and we all know what happens when light invades darkness… darkness, has to flee.

Thanks be to God, my Deliverer, my Rock, and my Salvation.

WOW!!! GOD IS JUST TOO AMAZING… LOL

You know, my God is just too good to me. It gets me thinking… Am I really worth this kind of treatment from the God of all creation? Then it hits me, deserves? Maybe not. Worth? Definitely. Why? Because I am made in His image and His likeness, therefore it is only natural that when I conform to His will, that it be performed in my life!

I was having an issue with my extended warranty on my car, and for about 2 weeks I have been back and forth with the Dealer that sold me the extended warranty and the actual warranty company about getting the issue resolved. Apparently, there was no contract even though I paid the dealer for a contract. Now, to be honest, I wasn’t really concerned as to what happened between the Dealer and the warranty company, all I really cared about was having the extended warranty re-instated to an active status so that the Repair Shop could send them the bill for the repairs on my car.

The situation was appearing grim, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that God was present and working in my favor. Last week God already showed me the car sitting out in front of Bob’s shop, fixed up and running better than ever before. The car had also just been detailed and it looked like a brand new car! With this visual in mind, it was kinda difficult for Satan to deter my thinking that what I saw wasn’t going to become reality.

I will tell you however, that there were times when I took my focus off of God and His promise, and those were the times when I began to question whether or not God was working in my favor. See, as long as I kept my eyes on God, and just concentrated on His Word, and continued to be busy being who He has called me to be, life really was just great. I mean, the trials were still there, but I had a joy in my heart and a peace that really was unexplainable. But taking my eyes off of Him, immediately placed them on me and my circumstances. Naturally it would feel overwhelming because I felt that I was taking on the burden on my own; when I am focused on myself, I, by instinct, focus on my circumstances; it’s just that simple.

In any event, I regained my focus back on Christ, and sure enough, like clock work, the joy was rekindled, and the peace restored. I mean, honestly, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out which state of being is better for me to live in…go figure.

But, all glory and honor and majesty be unto the King of kings and Lord of lords! For He has once again delivered me from my circumstances! Because I have humbled myself before Him, He has lifted me up above my trials, and I can proclaim with great assurance that I am an over comer! I am more than a conqueror though Christ Jesus that lives in me! God has once again proven that He is not a man that He should lie; God has once again lived up to His reputation of perfect delivery; God has once again given me reason to have faith in Him to dream big!

See, not only was my contract re-instated and validated and made active, but the warranty company is covering all costs related to the repairs of my car, the Dealer is paying for my rental car, and this next thing is what really blew it out of the water….!! ________________________________________________________
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Glory be to God in the Highest! How could I have ever doubted Him in the first place!? What was I thinking!? Oh Lord, I thank you so much for this trial, for it has caused me to stir up the faith that you have given to me; it has caused me to seek you like never before, and in doing so, I realized the secret to joy and unsurpassed peace!

Thank you Lord, I know that you have just taken me higher…

Surrender Doesn't Mean Failure

I was listening to a radio broadcast on the way to work this morning, and the guy speaking asked for a volunteer to come up on stage and the only assurance he would give the volunteer is that they would return to their seats better off than when they first walked up; a pretty daring request.

So, this one young lady accepts the challenge and finds out that the speaker wants to know if she will give him various personal things he asks her for, without the intention of him returning the items to her. Of course by this time you can imagine the resounding question in this lady’s head, “WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO??”

Nonetheless, this woman agrees and the speaker proceeds to ask her for $5. Remember now, the lady has to give these things without the assumption that she would get them back. So the lady gives him $5. Next, the speaker asks her about her bracelet. He asked her, “Is this important to you?” She answers, “No, not really.” So she gives him the bracelet. He then asks her for her watch, and she gives him that as well. By this time, the poor lady is hanging onto her clothes juuuuuuust in case…

The speaker applauds her generosity, and proceeds to ask her about her wedding ring! Immediately she cuts him off and says, “No way, I just got this!” Everyone in the audience is laughing hysterically, and so was I… I almost forgot I was driving… But the lady wouldn’t give up her ring because it meant too much to her; no way would she surrender her wedding ring.

The speaker continues on to show us the point of the illustration: What is God asking of us, that we hold too near and dear to our hearts?

Just like this lady, we give to God the things that are only somewhat important to us, but what about those things where we say, “NO WAY!” Or, “God wouldn’t ask me to give that to Him…He was the one that blessed me with it in the first place!” We have a problem with this because we associate ‘surrender’ with ‘giving up’ or ‘losing’. Luke 17:33 says that whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, and whoever gives his life (to Christ) will preserve it.

At the end of the speakers’ demonstration, he decided to give her everything back, including an additional $50. She was ecstatic, saying, “Wow, you must have known I didn’t have any money!” He then said, “I wonder how many more volunteers would come up for a similar demonstration?” Of course everyone’s hand went up. But the point was that when we give everything to God, total control over our lives, that is when, and only when we can regain His Power, and His Authority over our lives to live the prosperous life that we all want.

For me, I had a problem surrendering certain tasks to God, more specifically, the problematic ones. If I was in a jam, my natural reaction would always be to get out of the jam as quickly as possible, the best way I could. I guess it was because of my lack of faith in God, that I didn’t go to Him first. For a long time, the best way I could deal with a problem didn’t include giving it to God, it was basically me using my own resources and usually exhausting them to the max. When my back was against the wall, no where else to turn, on the edge of the cliff, suddenly… I remembered God-go figure… But, glad to say, every day I am changing that, and God is helping me change that, because he allows certain trials to come my way, just to see what I will do. It’s rather comforting to know that even though trails can be devastating, it’s really all staged.

1 Peter 5:7 in the Amplified Bible says:
Cast the whole of your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Isaiah 41:10 says: Fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Just like the track record or reputation the speaker gained for fulfilling his promise to the volunteer that she would leave the stage better off than she came on, God has a track record and reputation to uphold as well concerning the promises He has made to us, and the greatest exposé of his track record is in the Bible. Just read some of the Psalms and you will see how many times God delivered David out of the hands of his enemies and provided for him more than he could have ever imagined.

When we read the Bible it should reaffirm our faith that God will never leave us nor forsake us, and we can depend on Him to be our provider in times of need, our shelter in times of storm, and our strength in times of weakness.

What are you holding back from God? In Jeremiah 29:11 God says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future.” For a moment, let’s put aside our personal opinions of God, and just make a decision to trust Him, based on his track record, the Bible.

Windows of the Soul

The eyes are truly the windows of the soul,
For the absence of light leaves the heart empty, desolate and cold...
The dismal day with its depressive clouds, dark gray,
Leave shadows on the walls, leave thoughts that decay.
As the wind howls through the trees, and scratches the windows of the soul,
So the dark sights in the world conjure attacks, leaving the soul's defense unknown.
Tis’ better to roll down the shades, and commune in solitude with the Lord,
My Refuge, my Redeemer, a Love that surrounds, like Unbreakable Cords.
Oh Lord, protect the windows of my soul, all things I need not observe,
For the sights and sounds of darkness can appear as a graceful, little bird.
What seems, rarely is, and what is, rarely reveals,
The truth behind our actions, the truth behind our shame.
Protect the windows of my soul, for broken glass scratches the floor,
A carnal mind is not stable, a carnal mind scratches the core.
A carnal mind claims happiness, says its pleasures make me sing,
The truth being told, the carnal mind, cant see past the next big thing.
"This next great feat will surely bring joy to my soul",
The carnal mind is a trap with this single saying of old.
Oh, windows of my soul, angelic shades of solitude forever drawn,
Yahweh! The Covenant of Your Presence, is my pleasure, my only song.

The Purpose of Process

I was meditating on the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan, the promise land. There were quite a few things that got my attention. One thing in particular that I noticed is that God was more focused on their journey than the actual destination. How can I make such a claim? Well according to Exodus 13:17 there is the fact that there was a shorter way into Canaan, that would have taken them through Philistine country, but God knew they might become intimidated by war and turn back to Egypt, so instead God led them through the dessert toward the Red Sea. Also, if we read in Deuteronomy 8:2-3 we understand God’s focus on process when He says: “2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

See, God knows that the land He was taking them according to verse 9, was a land where bread would not be scarce and they would lack nothing; that’s why God said earlier in verse 3 that the reason for the humbling “wilderness process” was so they know that man does not survive on bread alone (in which they would have an abundance in the promise land) but that they must always seek to hear from the mouth of God.

So lets say that the Israelites may have made it through Philistine country had God chosen to take them to the promise land that way. Without them going through the “humbling process” through the wilderness, they would have not focused their eyes on God because they would have all that they need, as it says in Deut. 8:9, they would lack nothing. See God is no dummy, and He loves us, that is the combination for a father who understands and teaches through discipline. Deut. 8:5 tells us “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.” As much as we may hate it, discipline is for our benefit. Had the Israelites made it to the promise land without discipline, could you imagine the disarray from the moment they set foot in there?

From this story, God has put in my heart that it’s the purpose of the process to push you to pursue God even in prosperity.

Without this discipline, Deut 8:12-14 says “Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Before understanding this, I really didn’t like to be humbled (in some of the ways God chose), now I start to question everything that doesn’t! See, it is these humbling processes that lead to progress. When we are being humbled, whether it is by being forced to seek the will of God because we feel lost, or simply when we know we should take the high road instead of the road most traveled, we know that it is for a reason, we know that it is to prepare us to receive what God has planned for us.

This idea to prepare to receive makes me think of when people are expecting the presence of a King. There are entourages and staff members that must make sure everything is set in place to receive the King. Within that time of preparation, orders may be barked, feelings may be hurt, but it isn’t about you or your boss barking the orders, it’s all about receiving the King. Everything must be in place for the King’s visit to be a success. It’s the same thing with the promises of God. In order for us to receive, preparation must be made, and our feelings may become hurt (a part of the humbling process), but our motivation should be in our faith that we are about to receive God’s promises.

The Airport

Yesterday I was in the airport waiting for my 9:15 am departure for West Palm Beach. About half an hour before boarding time, I heard my name announced over the loud speaker to come to the ticket counter at the departure gate. In 23 years of flying, this had never happened to me before, so I didn’t really know what this could be about; so, understanding that in the natural sense, moving from certainty to uncertainty creates is fear, I remembered Romans 1:17 which basically tells us that to be in right standing with God we have to move from faith to faith and to live by faith. If we look at faith quickly, we will see that at its simplest, it basically means spiritual certainty even when walking in natural uncertainty. So, when Romans 1:17 says to move from faith to faith, and to live by faith, because I understand the basic principle of faith, I see that verse to mean to move from spiritual certainty to spiritual certainty and in doing this, I now live by spiritual certainty. Fear is born when moving from natural certainty to natural uncertainty, but if we are living by faith (spiritual certainty to spiritual certainty) we are living (or our life is being governed) from a spiritual perspective, thus natural ailments like fear and doubt cannot penetrate us unless we let it.

So, when I got to the counter the ticket agent proceeded to ask me if I would be willing to give up my seat to West Palm Beach and be rerouted to Ft. Lauderdale and then be taxied to West Palm Beach. And, if I was willing to do so I would receive a $250 travel voucher on the airline. Strange enough, I happen to be reading a book on transitioning and just got through reading the section on the benefits of waiting; although I hated being delayed in airports, and even more so the idea of being rerouted and ground transported, I gave up my seat anyhow. So the agent gave me a new ticket, a taxi ride voucher and a travel voucher for $350, when he had originally said $250. So I returned to my seat for a little while and I thought to myself, “It sure would be nice if I could just get on another flight to West Palm Beach.” After all, when the agent asked where I wanted my luggage sent, I had it sent to West Palm Beach instead of Ft. Lauderdale. Sure enough, when I walked to the gate for departure to Ft. Lauderdale, the agent looked at me and said, “How would you like to get on a flight to West Palm Beach that leaves in a few minutes instead? There seems to be one vacancy on the flight.” I laughed and accepted.

There was my lesson on waiting, live and in living color. For an extra 45 minutes of waiting in the airport and reading my book, I got a $350 travel voucher to wherever the airline traveled. The chapter in the book I was reading was focused on ‘Preparation’, and through having a little bit of patience, I just made preparation for future travel. We make the best preparations when we are not in a rush.