Soldiers in the Battlefield

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. - 2 Timothy 2:3

            When I read this scripture today, I froze like a deer in front of headlights. Something about this scripture reaffirmed who I am and what I am to do. I am a soldier in the Army of the Living God. A soldier doesn’t quit in battle. A soldier definitely doesn’t lie down and die in the battlefield. They continue to fight. Many times, we think God has left us because of the battles we face in life. However, I’m reminded that we will have hardships in this life. That’s the truth of the matter. We will always have battles that we must fight. That’s life. Nevertheless, a good soldier fights to the death, armed, and ready for war. When we watch war movies, we see soldiers being bruised and injured in the battlefield. I never saw a soldier run underneath a tree and say, “I can’t take this anymore. Just let me die here!” We see soldiers bandage up their wounds, take a sip of water out of the canteen, and keep moving on the battlefield. The same is true for us that have been called by God.

 

            When life bruises us, we are to 1. Bandage up our wounds by getting in the presence of God so that He may bring forth healing. The best way to bandage those wounds is to bring them to Jesus. Only His touch can heal. 2. Take a sip of water, the Living Water called Jesus. Since Jesus is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13- He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God), then we must immerse ourselves in the Word of God, especially on the battlefield. We need the Word of God to refresh and revive us. They say about 60% of the human body is water so obviously, we can’t live without water or we’ll die. Furthermore, we CANNOT live without the Word of God, or we will die, spiritually. 3. We must keep moving on the battlefield. Staying away from church, prayer & devotion, and your responsibilities in ministry won’t help you, but further hurt you. Another scripture that gripped me today was 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, and out of season.” Here Paul is telling Timothy to continue in His work for the Lord whether the situation is good or bad. The Message Bible says this, “Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome].”  

            It’s easy to get distracted from the things of God when things don’t go our way and the battle seems too much to endure. If I allow them, the cares of this life can burden me so much that I don’t want to be in the trenches anymore with Jesus. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I don’t want to be in battle any longer. However, the Bible says in 2 Timothy 2:4, “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier.” God called and equipped us with everything we need for the battles we face in life. He is the One who called us. We shouldn’t be consumed with the problems we face but consumed by the power and ability of the Living God. We should focus on what He wants, what His purpose is, and He will take care of everything else.  I’m not saying it’s easy to stay focused on the things of God when your problems are staring you in your face every day. But we are to keep our minds stayed on Him that we may have perfect and constant peace (Isaiah 26:3).

For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him.
If we endure,
We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him,
He also will deny us.
If we are faithless,
He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.
(2 Timothy 2: 11-12)
  

Whether the flowers are blooming and everything is as we desire or if we are on the front lines being attacked by the enemy on every side, we must be consistent and remain in battle. For God is on our side.

 

           

Purpose in Every Season

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.

            Every season has its purpose. In other words, every stage of your life has its purpose. There is purpose in your waiting season, there is purpose in your lonely season, and there is purpose in your sowing season. The waiting season is a tough one. It’s that season when God has promised you something and you continue to wait for it in faith. It’s then that God stretches our faith. Without faith, you won’t receive a thing from God. The Message Bible says in James 1:7-8, “Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way…” The lonely season is another common season. We all go through seasons of loneliness. At times God will isolate you from familiar people. Sometimes we just need to be alone with the Father to hear what He’s saying, not what your “bestie” or your “boo” is saying. It’s in those times God wants to develop us and deposit in us gifts and revelation. On the other hand, you may be surrounded by people and it seems no one can empathize with your situation. It’s ok, God is teaching you to depend and lean on Him, not people. Now, the sowing season is for a harvest. You must plant seeds to reap a harvest. There may be times you find yourself lending to almost everybody. Or you may be broke and still giving all you have; tithing your bill money but still trusting God. This may also be a season where you need to sow into the lives of other people. Just know and believe that your season of harvest is coming.

            When we look at the changing of the natural seasons, we see activity taking place. The weather changes, birds migrate, leaves fall, and flowers bloom. The same is true for the seasons in our lives. Different activities begin to take place when seasons change: division from friends, a shift in your inner circle, a divorce, the loss of a job, a new job, or a move to a new area. My friend this means two things: God is moving and your season is changing. **Sometimes there may not be any activity at all that you can see with your natural eyes. But that doesnt mean that God isnt moving.** 
Some people are in the winter season where life seems cold and no one understands. Then there is the spring and summer seasons where we coast through life and all is well. Let us not despise any season that we find ourselves in. But we must have a Job-like response to God’s seasons and say, “We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?” (Job 12:10, MSG)
 

            You’ll know when God has changed a season in your life because much like the weather, there is nothing you can do to change it. For instance, when its winter time, its winter time. As much as you want it to be summer, all you can do is wait it out. You can go outside with shorts and a tank top on if you want to; but you will freeze to death. You might as well dress warm and make the most of the winter season. There is a purpose for your winter season. It doesn’t have to be a waste of time. What I’m saying is some of the circumstances in our lives are beyond our control. All we can do is trust our Faithful Creator to see us through that season. As people of God, we need to start acting like people of God and seek His face about our seasons. We need to seek God about everything, especially our seasons. We need to ask God, “What season am I in? What do you want me to produce in this season? What are you trying to teach me in this time in my life?” It was Bishop T.D. Jakes that said, “You can’t pray away God’s seasons.” We try to bargain with God or tell God to “move” on our behalf when the fact is we should be asking God for the strength and wisdom to endure that season. “Even the birds in the sky know the right times to do things. The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But my people don’t know what the Lord wants them to do,” God says in Jeremiah 8:7.

            For [it is] better to suffer [unjustly] for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than to suffer [justly] for doing wrong (1 Peter 3:17, Amplified Bible). Let me say this, sometimes we create our own winter seasons by being disobedient. By living in disobedience to God’s word and His will we welcome frustration, heartache, and pain in our own lives. If your season has changed due to disobedience and sin, ask God for forgiveness and help. He’s ever gracious and can turn it around for your good. The infamous Romans 8:28 says we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

        The Bible says, “…those who suffer as God wants should trust their souls to the faithful Creator as they continue to do what is right (1 Peter 4:17-19, NCV). Continue to do right in the eyes of God. You have purpose. Your seasons have purpose. Don’t waste your God given time wishing and praying for another season. Be fruitful in this season. Don’t jump ahead of God and do things out of season, but listen to Him. Discover what God wants for you during this particular time in your life. Enduring the challenging seasons of life is not easy. But we have the Holy Spirit to help us. God will help us. He will answer us. He will keep us. David said, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). We will see His goodness.

            We can trust God no matter what it looks like, how long we’ve been waiting, or how many tears fall. He is trustworthy. He is a God of purpose and order. Trust that He has given your life purpose and He will do everything according to His divine order. Don’t miss your purpose in this season!

But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, "You are my God. My times are in Your hand..." Psalms 31:14-15 

 

The Pruning Process

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit (John 15:2).
 

            Some living organisms such as plants and even the hair on our heads must be cut to ensure proper growth. When you think of a gardener snipping away and digging up, this is all done to make sure that what is planted grows. Jesus says that,” every branch that bears fruit He (God) prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Let us establish what fruit Jesus is talking about. Galatians chapter 5 explains that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you are bearing these fruit in your life under the power of the Holy Spirit, beware, there is more pruning to come.

            For the life of me, I have been trying to figure out why things get harder the more I try to do right. When we start to walk in the Spirit instead of our flesh, we begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. We start to bear the fruit that Jesus was talking about. Then, the pruning begins that we may bear more fruit. Just because you do good things doesn’t mean bad things won’t happen to you. In Mark 4:17, Jesus tells the parable of the Sower. He says, “Since they have no root (those plants again), they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Because of your faith in the Word, you will have trouble. Take comfort in the fact that we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. The pruning is for our profit.  

            The more I think about my former years its trips me out. When I was doing some of everything and dealing with everybody, I had more friends, more relationships, and more phone calls. There was always excess. What happens is when God begins to prune us, He begins to cut off the dead things in our lives. The word dead has many meanings but the following few stuck with me. The word dead means:

a.       Not having the capacity to produce or sustain life; barren.

b.      No longer having significance or relevance.

c.       Idle; stagnant

            If we are honest, when we are operating in the flesh those dead mindsets, relationships, and attitudes seem alive and right to us. When we walk in the Spirit the dead things are cut off from our lives because they don't help us produce any good fruit. We are separated from some “friends” because they don’t have any significance or relevance to where God is taking us. Some of us need pruning to gain new mindsets because the ones we operate in leave us idle and stagnant. We know that attitudes are contagious. Some attitudes of the people we hang around have no capacity to produce or sustain any life whatsoever. Pruning or cutting off is necessary in our lives. It may hurt, but it helps us to grow. It matures us in the things of God.

            No trial or test is pleasurable. We don’t want to hurt or experience disappointment. However, God allows it so we can grow. The only way to grow is to remain in Him. Because apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). The growth process is never easy. However, remain in Him. Let God do what He wants to do with you. Trust that in the end, He is going to make it all worth it.

Stand on this: 1 Peter 5:10 - And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.

God Bless

What Are You Saying?

Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose (Proverbs 18:21, MSG).

                Much is determined by the words we speak. We often speak a bad day into existence or a positive result by the words we say. I don’t think we realize how much power we possess as Christians, much less, humans. Recently, I have taken notice of the words I speak and how they affect my well-being.  I have also realized the many scriptures in the Bible that pertain to the power of words. God is always leaving what I like to call clues and treasures in His word to help us. If we pay attention, we will begin to understand just how powerful words are in our lives.

                The Bible says in Genesis 1:1-3, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light”.  God didn’t touch anything, He spoke and so it was. We who have accepted Jesus Christ have the Spirit of God within us. If we have the Spirit of God in us, we have the same power that God has. That is to speak things into existence. With that in mind, we should be careful of what we say.

                We must also believe what we speak is true. Jesus said, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22-24). If you believe you are a failure and speak those words, you are a failure. If you believe things will never work out for you and speak those words; guess what? Things won’t work out for you. I truly believe that we shall eat the fruit of our lips. In Matthew 12:34 it says, “…For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If you sincerely listen to what people say you will hear their hearts. Furthermore, we are accountable for every word we say. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment.” For your own sake, watch what you say. I know it is hard to speak life to a seemingly dead situation. When all hope seems lost & there is no sign of a breakthrough it’s easy to pay attention to what we see. The fact of the matter is, “…we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2Corin.4:18).

                It is imperative that we get in the habit of believing the promises of God and speaking life into our circumstances. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak (2Corin. 4:13). Speak life. Prophesy over yourself in the morning and throughout the day. It’s ok to do that. Get in agreement with God about your life and speak positivity.

                The scripture that describes Gabrielle the angel, visiting Mary about her supernatural conception came to my mind today. I thought about how she reacted when Gabrielle told her she would give birth to a son although she was a virgin. Though the promise seemed impossible she believed what God told her. She didn’t doubt and she sealed it with a word of agreement. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS (Luke 1:30-31). "I am the Lord's servant,"Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her (Luke 1:38). 

                On the contrary, if you look a few verses back the Bible talks about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth being pregnant also. Elizabeth and her husband Zachariah were old in age. The word of the Lord came to them by Gabrielle also promising them a son. The Bible says in Luke 1:13, But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. Zechariah’s unbelief caused him to say to the angel, “Do you expect me to believe this? I’m an old man and my wife is an old woman.” But the angel said, “I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won’t believe me, you’ll be unable to say a word until the day of your son’s birth. Every word I’ve spoken to you will come true on time—God’s time.” (Luke 1:18-20)

                I firmly believe that God shut Zachariah’s mouth because he knew that this man’s unbelief would cause him to speak things that would hinder what God wanted to perform. God could have caused Zachariah’s vision or hearing to become impaired until the birth of his son. But He didn’t. God closed the one thing Zachariah possessed that had enough power to change the circumstance, his mouth.

                God says, “The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do” (Isaiah 55:11). The same is true of the words we speak. What are you saying?

My Life...God's Way

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9, NJKV).

                Indeed God’s ways are higher than our ways. His thinking is higher than our way of thinking. Therefore, His standards are higher than our standards. What we think is right living; God may not necessarily think is right living. The Bible says in Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs and tries the hearts (AMP). It is up to God to decide what is right or wrong, not us. If we get confused about what is right in the eyes of God, we only need to turn to His Word to find the answer. Our feelings and what we see cannot be trusted. We can go our own way but God’s way is the best way. In Proverbs 14:12 it states, “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death (AMP). This can mean death spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc. When we stray from God’s ways, we are in danger of making matters worse.

            There is a peace that comes from knowing you are in the perfect will of God. When we disobey God or go our way, we lose that peace because we know in our hearts that it is not the will of God. Obedience brings peace even in the midst of a storm. Personally, I can remember doing whatever my flesh wanted to do. I drank what I wanted, smoked what I wanted, and was in relationships that I knew God told me to cut off. I was satisfied in my flesh but my spirit was weak. There was no peace because I knew I was living in disobedience to God. It was so bad I did not even want to go to church. You know the infamous guilt feeling on Sunday mornings after you have done your own thing. Nevertheless, I thank God for His grace. His grace is definitely sufficient (2 Corin. 12:9).

            His grace will give you chance after chance. His grace will give you the strength to keep on going. His grace will give you the heart to live a life pleasing to Him. However, we have to be willing and obedient. The Bible says in Isaiah 1:19, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land…”  We also have to be honest with God and ourselves. If you do not have the desire to live in obedience, pray for the desire. If you do not have a desire to stop a particular sin, pray for the desire to stop. Ask God to show you what in your life is not pleasing in His sight. I personally know He will show you.

            Apart of being in right relationship with God is doing what pleases Him. A lot of that has to do with faith. If you don’t have faith to believe God for something you’ll end up doing anything. This is not an overnight turnaround. It’s not a switch that we can turn on and off. It takes a lot of prayer and being tired of one’s own self to get to this place. The place that says, "I’D RATHER OBEY God than continue in this behavior or settle for less than what I believe God has for me." God’s ways are for our benefit. He knows what we don’t know. He sees what we cannot see. He understands what we cannot understand. We are to Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all our heart and mind and do not rely on our own insight or understanding. In all our ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, AMP).

            My life Gods way is not just a slogan or a cute phrase to recite. It’s a lifestyle…a way of life. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” Jesus is the Way. God’s Word is the right way. Everyday my feelings and my body want to tell me what to do. I don’t always want to be meek and endure other people’s ignorance or jealousy. My body does not like the fact that I am celibate and waiting for the one God has for me...at all. I don’t want to be nice to nasty people. But God’s ways are not my ways. Everyday is an uphill battle but God is able. I am grateful that God is pulling me out of carnality, meaning living and making decision according to my flesh and not the Spirit. Trust God instead of yourself. Live life God’s way. It’s not an easy road to travel, but it’s a worthwhile one.

Reflections

 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Revelations 3:20, KJV).

Recently I have been thinking about where I have been in life, who I was, and how God has changed me. We often focus on the here and now but every now and then, we should look back to see how God has moved in our lives. I look at who I am now and can’t help but give God praise. I’m not a perfect human being. I mess up and I am still a work in progress. I don't have it all together. Nevertheless, God has and is changing my heart and mind drastically. My conduct is no longer the same. My mindset is an upright mindset (most of the time...it's a battle). My heart now desires to be obedient to Christ. Those changes, which are blessings, come from God alone. I can remember thinking that a new boyfriend or new friends can make life and me better. I was chasing the wrong things. After years of falling down and making the same mistakes I finally quit trying people and tried Jesus. It wasn’t easy, still isn’t easy but God is keeping me.

I look at the mindset I had years ago and the things I was doing. Some things still make me cringe. Some of the things I did, I don’t even have the courage to do again. Unless we are exposed to what the Spirit wants to reveal to us, we remain in darkness. We see what we want to see. We continue in behavior and relationships that are unhealthy. For God to reveal Himself and for us to truly hear from Him, He sometimes has to remove people from our lives.  We can’t see what God wants us to see when we are blinded by darkness. Darkness hides the real issues and detrimental thought patterns that keep us from the life God wants to give us. I used to be so angry with God for removing people from my life. However, I am realizing that God has always had a purpose for me and not everyone is included in that purpose. Apart of that purpose is healing. Healing from disappointments, hurts, bad relationships, and wrongful thinking. People often ask God for healing and deliverance. Many people were healed in the Bible. Most of those times the people had to first do something. There was an act of obedience connected to their healing. Sometimes our healing can’t take place because we continue in relationships that God has told us to cut off, or behavioral patterns that God has warned us to stop. I'm saying this to say, as I look back I realize that God couldn’t tell me certain things or bless me because of my disobedience and the people who were still hanging around.

My life is better spiritually, financially, socially, and intellectually. Not to mention the lives of my family members have been blessed because of my obedience to Christ (that’s a whole other entry). Many blessings have come but only because I gave in and allowed God to change me. I’m excited about the next five years of my life because I know who holds my life in His hands. I look forward to reflecting on more of God’s Hand on my life.

Do yourself and the people around you a favor. Seek God’s face. Seek a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Be obedient to what He is telling you to do. Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land; and feed on His faithfulness (Psalm 37:3, NKJV).