god

Ear

Every now and then you hear a word that rocks your world and today was that day. I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff mind you, but this particular word stuck out to me. I was listening to Joann Rosario speak on the benefits of a true worshipper. The title alone is so significant to me, because a life of a true worshipper is mindful of what they say and do, for they understand their purpose is to ultimately honor Yahweh.

Nonetheless, one of the ear 2benefits she explained, was that true and sincere worshippers have the ear of God. That blew my mind for a minute, because of the beauty in knowing that when we are in tune with God, He listens to us. Whoa! It seems so simple, but just think about it. The God of the universes takes the time out to pay attention and desires to hear what I have to say or ask for. What?!  That is incredible if you ask me.

The stipulation however, is found in her correlating verse John 9:31

Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.

God listens to us when we take our responsibility in our relationship with Him. He has to be able to trust us. Which means that our lives need to reflect the Jesus we claim to follow in word and deed. Yes, we mess up daily, but living a life of deliberate sin and not making honest and intentional strives to cultivate our walk with Him, God can’t and won’t bless our life the way He wants to.

So I encourage to live a life of purpose that will grant you the ear of God, so that He can hear your every cry, your every tear, your every burden, your every desire. He wants to listen to you, let Him…but don’t bring no mess.

The Lion King

So, I think it is safe to say that “The Lion King,” is one of the greatest movies ever. If you don’t agree, well I don’t agree with you lol. But in all seriousness, there are some Biblical truths in there that I thought were worth sharing.

The first is about Scar. He was such a great villain I wanted to punch him from the moment he first opened his mouth. Anyhow, he is like Satan, and like Scar, Satan’s main goal is to build his own kingdom and destroy God’s people. Consequently, if we are not careful, we can be like young Simba, who on more than one occasion got tricked by his lies and deception, thinking he wanted to help us, when in reality, Satan is trying to kill us (John 10:10). But you know what? Praise God, because Satan’s end is in the fiery pit, just like Scar who in addition to the fire got eaten by hyenas. So I encourage you to know God’s truth so you can be protected by the deception of the enemy, even from the mouths of those closest to you. Afterall, Scar was Simba’s uncle. Just as Mufasa saved Simba from death, Jesus gave up his life to save us, but our Jesus is so much greater than Mufasa, because death couldn’t hold him.

Another truth is about the favorited song “Hakuna Matata,” which means no worries for the rest of your days. You know what, Jesus taught us not to worry, but to pray and trust God to do what He does. So when we reach the pinnacle of our walk – when our faith is so strong that minimal things even phase us or take us off our groove, because we understand the sovereignty and faithfulness of the God we serve and our prayer life is where it should be – that song should be our anthem. As I heard recently, if we pray as much as we worry, we would not have reason to worry at all. Hakuna matata, it is possible, we just have to believe it, that when problems come, we can rest in the peace and promises of God, and do what we can and leave the rest up to Him.

Probably my favorite song of the whole movie is “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and as I was listening to the lyrics earlier I couldn’t help but think of God’s love for us. Simba’s lines are are follows: “So many things to tell her, but how to maker her see the truth about my past? She’s turn away from me.” Those very lines are why many are reluctant to come to Christ, they feel their past condemns them forever and Christ wouldn’t accept them. That’s the whole point of God’s love, that in spite of our sin and mess, no matter how big or small, He knows it all and is waiting to forgive us, wanting us to come home. The next lines of the song by Nala are just as powerful: “He’s holding back he’s hiding, but what I can’t decide. Why won’t he be the king I know he is, the king I see inside?” Beloved, that is what God has said to us, why do we hold back from Jesus? Why do we hide? He doesn’t care about your past, he sees your purpose. That’s what it’s about. Your history does not at all determine your destiny. There is a king or queen inside of you and the world is ready and eager for you to take your place. God sees you on the inside and what you can become if you allow don’t hold back or hide from Him, and allow Him to work in you. He chose you and he chose me for reasons I couldn’t tell you, but I do know that he has an awesome plan and purpose that He wants you to wake up to and impact this world for his glory. That’s why Satan tried to take you out or mess you up mentally and or emotionally, he knew, like Scar, your destiny when you forgot or never learned. For now is the time to remember.

Which brings me to my last point. Probably the most prominent line in the whole movie was when Mufasa’s cloud apparatus appeared to Simba in the field and he said these words: “Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king. Remember.” This is the point of it all, the whole meaning of living on purpose. We should speak and act like the sons and daughters of the God of the Bible; everything we say and do should reflect God our Father.

When you acknowledge and remember who you are, you should walk and talk different. You should live in victory and boldness, persistently striving to fulfill your purpose in life. So I encourage you, if you have been tricked by the enemy, get up and run home; if you have fallen and slipped out of your walk, stand up and run to His arms. Remember who you are, you are his son, his daughter, the one he died for. Remember. Then act like it.

Crazy Stuff

Recently, the women’s Bible study at my church is focused on “The Bibdavidle” television series, and may I say, I did watch it back in the spring and it was really good. Anyway, today’s lesson was focused on the story of David and Goliath and we watched that particular clip from the series. Now, David and Goliath is one of the most familiar and prominent stories in and out of the church, so it’s not as if I had never heard it before or heard it used in whatever form of analogy, quite the opposite. Still the great thing about Scripture, is that the more you read, the more God reveals to you, and tonight was no different.

As I was watching the clip where David volunteered to fight Goliath and just about everyone, the Israelites included, thought he was out of his mind, but that’s when I begin to think. Whenever God calls us to go up against our Goliath as he begins to orchestrate the purpose He has for us, we should do it with a smile and with great expectation, because the moment God uses something so small to accomplish a task so big, He must be ready to do a miracle.

On the flip side, you may not be the David in a situation, but you do begin to see God just doing crazy stuff that makes no type of sense, things that seem so small and insignificant to carry out the greatest of tasks in the midst of other more logical possibilities, anticipate that God is about to do something more than amazing. When you see him bless 5 stones, as a believer in Yahweh. we should smile understanding that God is about to move in an marvelous, miraculous. and incredible way.

As the people laughed and questioned what David was doing, remember that God enjoys proving Himself, so stay faithful and trust God even if all you have is 5 loaves and 2 fish, and watch Him multiply to feed 15,000, or if all you have is 5 stones, watch God use one to kill your giant and ultimately defeat whatever army is against you.

When you walk in purpose, God will lead you to do some crazy stuff and or will allow you to see Him doing some off the wall things. Don’t fret. God likes to show off. So let Him.

Ugly

So I started speaking about it on Facebook, but this is the better medium to get out all I wanted to say. Anyway, today has been very dramatic for me, although it is more internal than external, specifically because nothing happened to me directly. Still, my heart is heavy.

As you may have heard, the new Miss America is Indian. Yesterday I saw her and I thought she was pretty and kept it moving on to the next story. Then today, I hear that her ethnicity is some big controversy and people are calling her Arab. First of all she she is Indian (whether that is India-American or Native American I don’t know), which means she is NOT Arab, but even if she is, so what!. It’s disheartening to see the hatred people have in their hearts even in this day and age just because of skin-color. I’ll be honest and say that I am very sensitive, so to be her or any celebrity at that I can understand why so many succumb to drugs, alcohol, and move from one bed to the next so quickly. People are mean and ruthless and whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words do not hurt me,” was disillusioned. Words penetrate deeper and hang around longer than any punch or bullet. All in all, the heart of the matter is the heart of the matter, and some people are so lost in their own bitterness, hate, and ignorance it’s discouraging.

Then on top of that, very rarely do I watch the news, if for no other reason, it’s 97% negative and national or local, given the area I live in, and it’s easy to get depressed just hearing all the conspiracies, violence, wars, death, broken children, and so forth. This world is so dark, just considering all that is going on in Syria and then the Navy Base, things are chaotic and and just crazy, so much in so it’s hard to live and feel safe.

Also, I have already done a study on world religions, but today I was in a class of the same thing. The Bible talks about the wide and windy road that many travel, but there are few on the straight and narrow. Today that truth was again magnified, in that so many are lost and blinded. The enemy, the Father of Lies as Jesus called him, is on the prowl as he has been since the garden. He is pouring his lies into whoever chooses to listen. As an Angel of Light as Paul calls him, some of his lies sound so close to truth, but as children of God we have to be equipped enough to know his lie and know the truth of God’s Word, but most importantly be able to share it with others.

More heartbreaking than those, are all the stories I’ve read about, seen, and heard about children and youth, between abuse, abortion, suicide, teen pregnancy, lack of educational resources, and the filth in a lot of mainstream media, television and music. One could easily say my generation and the one behind me is dying emotionally, mentally, and physically. These young lives are conditioned to feel they aren’t loveable, they aren’t worth anything, they don’t matter, they have no purpose in life, and they look for truth, belonging, and love in all the wrong places. Their dreams are laughed at and trampled upon and aren’t given a chance to succeed or the hope of a bright and meaningful future.

This world is dark and this world is ugly, which only makes Jesus breathtakingly beautiful. Purpose, love, acceptance, and identity come from Christ alone. As one of my favorite songs says “Jesus is the answer for the world today,” and that’s what purpose is all about. It’s about a willing heart of a person making him or herself available to use the gifts,talents, dreams, and visions the Lord has given specifically to you to share and promote the light and beauty of Jesus Christ. So if you are reading this, know that the world so eagerly needs you and that your purpose is bigger than life. If you allow Him, God will take the very least you may have and do something remarkably wonderful if you say yes. The harvest, just from what I said prior, is plenty, your purpose is to be a laborer in whatever form God wills to gather the harvest for His kingdom. Wake up!! There is no time to waste on frivolous things and matters that won’t matter one year from now. We can’t live selfishly because this world is perishing right under our noses and for those of us that know the love of Jesus, it is sin for us to do nothing about it! The world is eagerly waiting for the sons and daughters of God to stand up and rise up (Romans 8:19). We have the remedy to the world’s sickness, so go give it away.

So I encourage you, live on purpose. Speak on purpose. Learn on purpose. Share on purpose. Give on purpose. Love on purpose. Do on purpose. Be on purpose. There is no better time than now.

I pray God burden’s your heart for the condition of the world and your respective communities.

Infamous Zone

This post is partly a continuance of the last post, although, this is one of the biggest things I’ve learned this year. Life is about adaption and finding that place in life where you can reside peacefully with the least amount of awkwardness and or apprehension. However, as we become older, patterns, habits, and ways of thinking begin to set in and many times it will dictate what we will or will not [want to] do. You call that your comfort zone.

This zone can become very hazardous and detrimental to fulfilling your purpose. Now people have their various reasons for doing or choosing not to do certain things, some practical and others that are more in depth. Living a life of purpose, you have to be willing to shift and to get out of your comfort zone. As many people can attest as I’m sure you have heard, many times God leads us to those unfamiliar places and unknown territories that can be frightening to be quite honest. Even more, it’s not uncommon for Him to answer prayers in ways that we didn’t want or anticipate, but it’s by His sovereignty. When either of these things happen, some people respond and are willing to take the risk and jump off the cliff believing He will catch them or teach them to fly, and they have soared ever since. Still, others clam up and live in fear.

This fear is another trick of the enemy to hinder God doing amazing things in our lives. We all have our place of comfort, let’s be real, but God often does His best work when we are willing to step outside of the box, trusting Him all the way.

In the same breath, too many people put God in a box, which is the craziest thing anyone could ever do. God is so humungous that no box can fit His very essence, so why would we limit Him, and therefore limit ourselves? More than likely, the comfort zone is rather small, but the world is so big and God is even greater, and the more we step out, the more our eyes our opened and the more we get to experience, taste, touch, smell, and hear. You can’t live a purpose-filled life never leaving your comfort zone; I am a witness to that. So I encourage you not to just start doing weird stuff all willy nilly for no good reason, rather with prayer, wisdom, discernment, and good judgment of course, get out of your infamous comfort zone! – whether it be taking online classes, joining a ministry, having children or adopting, trying something new, following your dream, or confronting an issue that has plagued your life – The more you do, the greater your life will be. I promise. Your faith will grow and your relationship with God will go to higher heights. If God is leading you, don’t be afraid, for His grace will keep you. Take a risk, in Jesus’ name ;).

OH! And be careful not to tell God what you won’t do (normally things outside of your comfort zone). I did, matter a fact I had a list of things, He laughed at me, and now I’m doing or have done them with in the last year :).