Creosote

The story of the burning bush is another fascinating story. Though I have heard it a million plus one times before, this last time I heard it, the Lord revived my senses so I was able to gather something fresh from it.

Most of the attention goes to Moses, but I want to focus on the bush itself. I was looking it up and there are varying ideas of what kind of bush it was in the desert, anything from a rubus sanctus, an acacia, or a creosote. Nonetheless, based on how I perceived what the bush would have looked like for it to have the significance it had, the creosote looks the most plausible, but again I am not certain. But, for my sake, let’s just say it is. ☺

creosoteb2This bush I doubt was a large or full as some other types suggest. I believed it was short-standing and not so heavy, and though it had its own beauty, there was nothing marvelous, extraordinary, or exceptional about it, just like the creosote. But like the donkey, that is the shrub that God decided to use to initiate His mightily awesome plan. The bush was being all that is was created to be, a bush, no more no less. I can only imagine that being in the desert, it didn’t have much company, but still it blossomed in the desert and God had a plan for it.

In the same way, we may be so far from others and feel alone; we may feel small or insignificant, or useless, like the shrub, yet God still has a marvelous plan for your life. Even if you are on the backside of the desert, know that God still sees you and knows exactly where you are. He is growing you and maturing you and allowing you to bud before He makes His move. The point again is just be who God created you to be and trust that He designed and structured and placed you perfectly to set up His plan, so that you can be used by Him to usher in and show His power and glory.

The not so warm and fuzzy part, the bush was set on fire. It is how we respond to the fires in our life that God’s glory is revealed. Will we refuse it? Will we try our best to blow it out? Will be go jump in the lake for a momentary fix? Or will we let God have his way? I began to think that if we decide to fight the fire, the more we do, the more likely we are to get burned. Think of the Hebrew boys, they accepted the fire rather than try to escape it, and as a result, they walked out without the smell, a burn, or a singed neck hair.

The other thought is that, faithfully being who God has you to be and remaining where He has you to be no matter how undesirable it may be, sooner or later the Lord will set you ablaze from within, and you will be a world changing phenom that just shifts the atmosphere whenever you walk into the room; you will be a sure pit fireball.

I don’t know when that burning bush experience will be for you, that time when the Lord will use you in such ways that you can never comprehend or make any type of rational sense. Like the creosote shrub, there is nothing to extraordinary about me or you that should grab people’s attention, let alone God’s, but He sees the beauty in us, and the moment He sets us on fire, that’s when the rest of the world will see it in us through His son, Jesus.

I encourage you to be you for a purpose, never doubting the beauty and power locked inside of you. Know whose you are so that you may also know who you are, being confident in whatever situation you find yourself in, but like that creosote, let yourself grow and blossom in the midst, and in due time God will reveal Himself and speak through you, and those in bondage will be set free.

The Storm Everybody Can See

jesus-calms-the-storm

Jesus calming the storm is a very familiar story in the Christian community, and if you are like me you’ve heard it preached backward and forward 2,000 different times. However, the beauty of Scripture is what Pocahontas sang “you can’t step in the same river twice,” meaning every time you read it something else is bound to grab your attention, big or small; it always keeps you guessing. This story is no different.

A sermon I heard recently referred to Mark’s account of Jesus calming the storm,  I went back over it and there was a line in his description that struck me and I had never noticed it before in any of the other accounts and wasn’t expounded on in the sermon. In verse 36 of chapter 4, you will find this detail, “There were also other boats with him.”

You know what that tells me? First of all, you are not the only one going through the storm you are in right now. There are others that share you burden(s), some lighter some heavier, either way, you are not the only one. So always strive to be a light, because no matter where you are in the storm, everyone you talk to is in one of their own that the majority of the time, you will know nothing about. Furthermore, like any storm, people are scared, nervous, panicking, fearful, uncertain, doing everything in their power to survive, and truth be told, some don’t make it; they give up, wear themselves out trying to find shelter or deny it’s even happening. But you know the difference between us and the rest of the world? Jesus is in our boat. Which brings me to the main piece that I took away.

Simply put, people are watching. You are not the only boat on sea, you are not the only boat in the eye of the storm, and the faith [in Jesus] that you say you have, people are looking to see how you respond. Will you give up? Will you freak out? Will you start cussing everyone out because things aren’t going your way? Will you hide? Will you jump off the boat and leave others to fend for themselves? Though others are caught up on their own boat in their own storm, they will still be watching you to see how you are handling it, and if they see a peace in you no matter how bad the storm is, at some point they will wonder what is happening.

Now, these other boats in the story, more than likely they knew Jesus was on the boat, just as others may already know Jesus is in your boat, which puts more focus on you. The question is, when these storms come, will they see you losing your cool in the midst or will your reaction draw attention to the only one who is able to calm the waves and the wind with his very word?

I just want to encourage you, on this boat called life, there will be nasty storms that appear as though you won’t make it out alive, but you have Jesus in your boat, and that should be your strength each and every day. For it’s his words that calm the raging waters and fierce winds, and it’s still his voice that calms the anxiety, weakness, and fears in our heart, soul, spirit, and mind.

The Lord has promised to be with us wherever we go and will cover us no matter how furious the squall gets, and living on purpose, we should act as such, because people are watching us. So when it is revealed that we are in a storm, there should be no evidence of it, because our faith would be stronger than our fear (v 40). Therefore, since people are watching us in these storms, be you for a purpose, because their survival depends on what you do before Jesus even steps in.

Donkey Days

It’s okay to be an ass. Yes, you did read that correctly.donkey

There are some non-human characters in the Bible that are very intriguing, and one animal I find to be used for big assignments is the donkey. There are two Old Testament stories that stick out when I think of donkeys, and the first is Balaam’s donkey, the only animal in the Bible that spoke and was used by God to turn back the heart of Balaam and keep him from doing something reckless. Then there was Saul’s donkey that got lost, nothing unusual, but it was on his path of searching for his donkey that he met Samuel who told him he would be king of Israel. Donkeys, though there is nothing extraordinary about them, they did what they were meant to do, and God did the extraordinary through them. Let me give you the greatest example.

I will never forget the message of the colt. The gospels tell the story of a young donkey that had never been ridden and was tied up. Jesus told two of his disciples to go get it, and if asked, tell the owner that the Lord needed it. – Sidebar: no matter how little you have or how worthless you think it is, even if it’s immature or small, just give it to the Lord, and trust Him to use it and multiply it.

Now to pick back up. Again, there was nothing special about the colt, the owner, or the colt’s mother, he was just available. It wasn’t really strong, it hadn’t had much experience, if any at all, and it was immature, it had a lot to learn still. All the donkey was doing was being a donkey. No more, no less. It was being exactly what it was meant to be, doing exactly what it was meant to do, and that is what Jesus chose to ride on for his triumphal entry in Jerusalem.

The donkey normally gets a bad connotation with its stubbornness and it’s not a very glamorous animal. That’s just like us. With sin, we have a terrible reputation and our own righteousness is like filthy rags, not glamorous. We disappoint God and we disappoint others. We have those things about us that is our Achilles heel, like the donkey’s stubbornness, but the Lord chooses to look past all that. All He wants is us. He wants us just as we are, whatever stage in life we are in, whatever phase we are going through, whoever or whatever we may be slaved and chained to, like the colt, the Lord wants to set us free and use us. All we have to do is say yes.

Being you for a purpose is being like that donkey, in that you are where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to do, acting and being as what God created you to be. Even if you have some unpleasant things about you or you feel small, weak, immature, useless, insignificant, or inexperienced, God still desires to use you for great things. For it’s usually those times we are doing the day-to-day activities, walking in the center of His will, that God decides to shake things up and intervene on our behalf.

It’s okay to be an ass, for it was an ass that was chosen to usher in the Messiah. Just be you, and do what you are supposed to do, and watch what God will do in, by, through, and for you. I guarantee, He will blow your mind.

World’s Greatest

I think I was watching Space Jam when I remembered this song. Though, I am not a huge R. Kelly fan, this is one song that I feel is so positive and reminds us that greatness lies already in us, we just have to be confident in who we are and whose we are.

Be you for a purpose, just wait, and watch what God will do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgcovIu3k9o

The Gap: Is It You?

Are you the one?

gapBehind Jeremiah, Ezekiel has to be one of the most intriguing characters in Scripture, because I can just imagine him being just a weird guy. His words were so vivid and abstract, and his life was so abnormal, but what I can appreciate about Him is that no matter how crazy or weird a task, or harsh the words God gave him, he obeyed. Nonetheless, though a lot of what he said was of judgment, almost right in the middle of the book, chapter 22, the Lord says to Ezekiel something very similar to what Mordecai told Esther.

“I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.”

Whoa.

The awesome thing about this verse is that God is looking for someone. He is looking for you, the you that He created and designed to save and lead a generation. Just as Mordecai told Esther, all that you are is for such a time as this, and not only your life and your family’s life, but the lives of the people of this generation depend on you being all that God has made you to be, fulfilling His purpose in your life.

God is looking; He wants to save, deliver, and restore all, but He needs you, He needs me to stand in the gap, because though He has the ability, He won’t force anyone to come to Him. His heart burdens for the souls of the people of every nation; He doesn’t want to bring down His wrath, instead He is giving you and me the chance to intercede for others and be open, willing, and ready vessels to be used for noble purposes.

The Lord is pleading with His people to rise up and stand in the gap for the world. So much is happening and it will only get worse before it gets better. Are you the one He has been waiting for that will help turn this generation back to Him? Are you the one that will intercede on behalf of people that want nothing to do with Him? Are you the one that will build up the broken walls, rebuilding the brokenness in the society? Are you the one that will not be afraid to be different, to stand out, to be unconventional? Are you the on that will rise up and stand in the gap? Are you the one that will answer the call? Are you the one that is willing to speak, think, do, and live for a purpose? Are you the one that is willing to be you for a purpose? Are you the one that will change the world? Are you the one?