Tag: #Jesus

OUR DELIVERER

In the book of Exodus God sent Moses to set his people free. All the plagues that God sent were in defiance of the gods of Egypt. Someday I will go through each one and explain in detail. Right now, I want to focus on the next to last plague. The plague of darkness.

Exodus 10:20-29 (20) But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go. 21 And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. 24 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God. 26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the Lord our God; and we know not with what we must serve the Lord, until we come thither. 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt die. 29 And Moses said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no more.

God caused the enemy to be in darkness so that one didn’t see or know what the other was doing. The darkness was so thick that they didn’t even leave their homes. By creating darkness over them Our God was saying your sun god, Ra, has no power.

Meanwhile, in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelled had plenty of light. This was a sign to them too. They had been raised in bondage, they knew as much or more about the gods of Egypt as they did their own God. He was preparing them to learn about Him and His power.

I often wondered why God hardened Pharoah’s heart. It was so that God could prove to the Israelites who He was and to set up the enemy for their destruction. God will only allow people to go so far with their evil before he puts a stop to it. Egypt had enslaved God’s people, killed their children and worked them until they died, building monuments to the greatness of Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. God allowed it to go on for a season. Then he stepped in and made a way for his people to be free.

If Pharoah would have let them go after the first or second plague the story would have been different. The people would not have seen their enemy destroyed before their eyes. Also, the Children of Israel left Egypt with great wealth. If Pharoah had let them go after a plague or two they would not have left with the wealth. When they first entered Egypt they had great wealth, but they were slowly taxed out of it all until they were plunged into slavery. God hardened Pharoah’s heart in order to restore to his people what the enemy had stolen from them.

When the final plague hit and Pharoah’s son died, his anger burned hot, and he decided to chase down and destroy the Israelites. That final plague was retribution for all the children that Pharoah had murdered of the Israelites. This was the point of the story that God completely set free, his people. There was no one left to pursue them after God closed the Red Sea on the Egyptian Army.

Things in this life will often look dark, but we need to remember that Jesus is the light. As his children, we are the light to shine in the darkness of this world. The enemy will make things seem really dark and scary. God will not allow us to suffer in darkness. He is there even when it looks bad. Every plague that hit Egypt never touched God’s people.

It is up to us to let our light shine and help pull the lost out of the darkness of this world. We can trust God to take care of us even in the darkest of times. Read the Bible, not once did He ever let down, leave or forsake His people.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

TRADITIONS VS TRUTH

I was watching reruns of a TV show where people race all over the world against other people for a million dollars. I find different cultures fascinating. It is amazing most of all to me the different religions that people of this world have adopted. A lot of it depends on the culture and the traditions that were passed down from generation to generation.

One particular challenge got me thinking about the traditions of men and religion. The contestants had to walk through a temple in India. This temple was to worship rats. These people would cut themselves and put their blood on the door or walls of the temple. Then they would walk barefooted through a maze of rats and rat droppings to leave food for the rats as an offering. To the people in India, this is normal and what they have done from childhood. I don’t even want to tell you what I think is wrong with their religion. The point I want to take away from it is that this is a tradition of mankind. Something that has been passed down from generation to generation.

All the false gods of the world have a very devoted following. These people do all sorts of things for their false gods. Some climb flights and flights of stone stairs on their knees to get to the top of a mountain to make offerings to false gods. It is amazing the things people will do in the name of religion.

Our Real God; the Lord Jesus Christ is different than any other of the false gods. One he is real, and two he never asks us to do ourselves harm just to worship him. There was bloodshed, but he shed it for us. He sacrificed for us. All He asks of us is to follow him with all our hearts.

Christianity in America has almost become a cultural thing. People have left true faith for a watered-down version. They want to be Christians and still do their own thing in the name of grace. His grace is not so we can live any kind of way and walk in sin. God forbid. They do not know what it means to be dedicated to the cause of Christ. They want to embrace the fact that God is Love and miss the fact that we have to live a holy life. Will we ever be perfect? No. But we can walk as close as possible.

Phil 2:12-15 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

People think that working out your own salvation means you can piecemeal whatever you want to do as long as you say you have accepted Christ. Some are even adding elements of new age or witchcraft to their beliefs, without understanding what they are doing. But this verse means that we all are responsible for our own souls and the salvation of those souls. Do we follow Christ and follow close or do we repent and then do our own thing? We have to study the word of God, it is our roadmap for our soul. This is a lifelong study and we have to pray for God to guide us. We cannot lean on a denomination, a preacher, a pastor or teacher and fully trust them. We have to ask God for guidance. Many of these things seem right in man’s eyes but lead to destruction.

John 14:25-27 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

We need to have God’s Spirit within us. Then we need to listen to that Spirit. He will lead us and guide us. (John 16:13–13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.) He is the ultimate teacher. No longer can we depend on what we have been taught. Every denomination has things that are not right. It is time the body of Christ got on our faces before God and questioned everything. Ask Him to lead us in unity as the body. Only in the unity of His Spirit will we find true grace.

II Tim 11:15 –11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

We cannot even begin to understand the depths of God without His Spirit leading us. It is time for the body to grow up. It is time to leave the milk bottle of man’s divisions, doctrines and denominations to honor God with our whole being, leaning on him. This is leaning not on our understanding but in all of our ways leaning on Him.

I Cor 3:1-4 3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

If Paul were writing to the American church today he would say we were carnal. Instead of saying I am of Paul or I am of Apollos. We would be saying, My family has been in this denomination or that denomination for ten generations. There is strife and divisions that need to stop. God will settle the matter if we come to him with an open mind and heart and seek understanding. We all come short of perfection. None of us will ever be perfect enough to sit on the judgement seat. It is not our job, so we need to quit being “religious” and start searching the word for direction.

We are not to walk after the traditions of men, but we are to follow Jesus. The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus’ day were the equivalents of our denominations today. People look to them as if they are good. But many would not know Jesus if he walked into the room. I want to know him. I don’t want to miss him because I am wrapped up in the traditions of men. He is coming back for a people without spot or wrinkle. It is time the body of Christ started removing the spots and getting out the wrinkles. Time is short.

God will never leave us or fail us if we can FULLY put our trust in HIM. Have a good week. If you like my blogs feel free to share with a friend.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

SALT

I was inspired by a quote I saw on social media. “The church cannot be salt if we sugarcoat the gospel.”

How often do we tiptoe around the subject of the truth of the gospel? We don’t want to offend anyone. But now is the time to do the right thing. People’s souls are hanging in the balance. Many want to embrace every sinful thing and every sinful lifestyle. They say they are showing God’s love, by being accepting, but this is not love. If we love them we will tell them the truth and not sugarcoat the gospel. If we love them we will be the salt of the earth.

Matt 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

To understand the above verse, we need to investigate salt. Salt for centuries has been used as a preservative of meat. It has properties that inhibits the growth of bacteria and keeps the meat from spoiling.

If we are the salt of the earth, we will have something that will prevent the spread of spiritual decay. God’s spirit in us, can help others find their way out of sin. Sin is the bacteria that rots our lives.

Salt creates thirst. If we live our lives according to the word of God. People will see something in us that will make them thirsty for God.

Matt 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

God promises us if we hunger after righteousness if we crave the things of God, we will be filled. He gives us fresh bread daily, if we only trust.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

LIONS AND LIARS

There is a story of a brave individual who was determined to love God. His name was Daniel. God allowed Judah to be taken over by the king of Babylon.

Dan 1:6-10 (6) Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. 10 And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.

The first thing the enemy will try to do when he comes on the scene is to rename us. He will try to give us names like depressed, worthless, failure, hopeless, helpless, and unintelligent. If he can get us to believe the lies about ourselves, half of the battle is won. Then he will try to get us to bow down to something of this world instead of the One TRUE GOD.

The second thing was they were given the king’s meat and wine. But Daniel didn’t want to eat the meat of the king. He made a deal with the servant of the king to give him beans. He did better on the meal that they requested than the others did on the king’s meat and wine.

We need to eat the word of God and not the meat of this world. We need to drink the new wine (The Holy Ghost) and not the wine of the world. Spirits that will drag us down the wrong path.

Skipping ahead to Chapter 6

The story of Daniel in the lion’s den is one that many remember from Sunday school. King Darius highly favored Daniel. Many others plotted against Daniel out of jealousy and ambition. They could find no fault in him except his devotion to God. Many hate us because our devotion to God makes them feel bad. They know they ought to be devoted to him. The other presidents and princes manipulated the king to sign a decree that was geared to destroy Daniel.

Daniel 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.

Daniel knew of the decree but didn’t let it stop him. He went into his house and with the windows opened made prayers to God. Not just once but three times a day.

Verse 10–Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

Our God hears our thoughts, he knows the cry of hearts when we have no words. He can hear a whispered prayer. Daniel could have whispered a prayer for 30 days. But he chose to honor the true God. He left the windows open and prayed to God.

When the king was informed by the ones that plotted against Daniel, he was sad, but could not change the decree. Daniel was tossed into the den of lions. The lions did not harm Daniel. God sent his angel to shut the lion’s mouths. They did not harm him in any way. The next morning the king came and found him alive. He was relieved and had him brought up out of the lion’s den.

Daniel 6:24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Those who plotted against Daniel were destroyed by the very means they tried to use against him. Just as Haman in the book of Esther hung on his own gallows. Ones he had built for Mordecai. Our enemy will be destroyed in the end, we just have to be faithful to our God.

People in this life will lie on us, they may plot against us. But our God will shut the liar’s mouth as he did the lion’s mouth.

PSALM 63:11 But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

1 CHR 16:21-22 (21) He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, 22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Let this be a warning to anyone who sets out to harm a child of God. God will only allow things to go so far before he steps in and remedies the situation. If we are his anointed, we can be sure he is with us and will protect us from the evil lion. The word says that satan is as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet 5:8).

This is why I am always encouraging you, to Keep your God Focus. If we focus on him, everything will be fine. God is on our side and he will stop the lion’s roar against us and shut the liar’s mouth.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

HEALING

Isaiah 53:5 – But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

He was wounded for our sins. Jesus’ death brought healing opportunities for our souls. But he also took stripes for our physical healing. Jesus heals us today. We can anoint one another with oil and pray for healing. God will heal us if we have faith.

Some say I don’t believe it; miracles don’t exist today. To those I would say don’t waste your time praying if you don’t believe it. If you don’t believe you won’t receive it. If God is not able to heal these bodies, he has created, then how can we trust him for our salvation from hell? That is a bigger miracle than healing our bodies.

James 5:14-15 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

I have a unique perspective; I was raised to know the power of God. My grandpa had the gift of healing and miracles. I used to travel in the summers with him and my grandmother to revivals all over the upper east coast. I have seen things that God has done. I have experienced healing of my own. I recently was sick and had pain in my side after a few minutes of my parents praying for me I got better. I claim the blood Jesus shed for me. I am blessed to be his child. He healed me of chronic sinus headaches many years ago. He delivered me from depression and constant anxiety. Many more things that I cannot even remember.

Our lives as Christians are based on faith. Heb 11:6 -But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The God of the universe lives within us, we have all power. We just have to access it by faith.

As Jesus was being beaten, bruised and crushed something happened, his anointing flowed. Just as olive oil flows from crushed and bruised olives. That process released anointing. That same anointing lives within us. This is why we can pray and ask for healing, and he will deliver us.

3 JOHN 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. If we expect to receive things from the Lord, we need to have a relationship with him. We need to walk by faith and not by sight. As we grow in our relationship with God we gain power. The power we gain is to be used for the glory of God and to help others.

James 1 3-8 (3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

It comes down to what I wrote about a few blogs ago. Who’s report are your going to believe? Are you going to trust God or trust man. Do we have faith? Do we not have faith? We have to have this matter settled concerning these things before the enemy attacks. We have to have a made-up mind that no matter what comes our way we will walk by faith. That is what it means to be a child of God. We have to be determined that on this day, I will trust the Lord for all of my needs, physically, spiritually and financially. He is the God that cannot fail. When our eyes pop open tomorrow we need to say, “I trust you Lord to supply all my needs and take care of me. I will do all I can to be the light and witness you have called me to be on the earth.”

The time is drawing close that God is going to divide those who fully trust from those who partially trust. We are about to see the church rise up in the power and anointing that it once had many years ago. How else will we show the unbelievers the way to Jesus? Evil is all around us, but do not fear Lord Jesus is near.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS

DUTY AND HONOR

When thinking about a soldier the words duty and honor come to mind. We are soldiers in God’s army. The church is fighting the biggest battles ever faced for souls. There is such complacency among those who call themselves Christians. It is hard to tell many of them from the lost. It’s time we put on our armor and go to battle with the enemy for the lost.

What is our duty as Christians?

Eccl 12:13-14

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

This scripture is one of my go-to verses to keep me on the right path. It says, in summary of the whole thing we are to Fear God and keep His commandments. This is our entire job as God’s people. Fear him and keep his commandments. Then God will judge what we do to see if it’s good or evil.

When God brought his people out of the land of Egypt, he gave them ten commandments. This was basically a guide for how to live their lives. By the time Jesus came, they had taken the ten commandments and written so many laws to help them keep the original Ten that it was hard for them to keep up with them all. The law was imperfect and so were the people. The word is full of commandments, not just the original ten.

Matt 22:37-40 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The first of these can be found in Deut. 6 he also warned them to not forget God and go after other gods. If we could get to a place where we love God with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves then we would be as close to being like Christ as humanly possible.

If we could do these two things, we would fulfill the commandments without trying. Because we would have no other gods before Him or make any idols. We would automatically honor our parents, not take God’s name in vain. We would have no desire to kill anyone or commit adultery, steal, lie or want what someone else has, if we basically Love God and Love People. We would do everything else the word says because we love God.

It is when we allow the desires of our flesh, to get in the way of loving God and others, that we have problems. Now is the time to get serious about our walk with God. He is waiting patiently for us to yield to him and his plans for our lives. The harvest is ready, its time we start showing people God’s love. The masses are starving for God and don’t even know it. It is going to take us to show them the way.

Get in the word, let it be light for your path, food for your soul, strength in trouble, and rest when you are weary. It will guide us when we are unsure of direction, but most of all it is God himself trying to show us who he is so that we can love him with our whole hearts.

SEASONS

ECCL 3:1-8

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The scripture in Ecclesiastes lists different seasons that will happen in our lives. There are many things listed there, good and bad. Nowhere in that list does it say there is a season to give up and sit down. It doesn’t say a time to throw up your hands and let satan win. He can only win if we quit. Other than that he has no power over our lives.

I Tim 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

We are to fight the good fight of faith. We need to dig into the Word and find things to encourage us in our faith. We need to be a light to the world. Giving up and quitting because someone hurt our feelings is not a reason. That is allowing our circumstances to seem bigger than our God. No one or nothing is bigger than our God. There is no reason to give up on Him. He has never given up on us.

We need to use the sword of the word against the enemy. When he tells us we are defeated, we can turn to the Word. And say satan Romans 8:37 says…Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

We need to be steadfast, unmovable in our faith. We can only have such faith by putting on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10). By growing in strength, grace and wisdom through the study of the word. We can only be unmovable in our faith, once that faith gets into our spirit. Our inward man is renewed day by day. We cannot be renewed if we don’t talk with God and spend time listening for him to speak to us. If there is dust on the bible, that is a good sign we do not study the word enough. It needs to become a part of us.

Remember when things look bad, there is a miracle in the making. I am sure it was scary for the three Hebrew children right before they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Right before deliverance. Things looked scary as the Pharoah and his army came racing toward the Israelites and they had nowhere to go. Right before the sea was parted. God is always on time and will protect and deliver his people, we just have to stand firm on the word of God. Ecclesiastes says there is a time for every purpose under heaven. It doesn’t say giving up is one of the things we have time to do.

It’s time to burn the ships and be determined to not turn around. We have nowhere to go but forward. There is nothing behind us but slavery to the enemy and his minions. There is nothing but grief and spiritual death behind us. We are almost to our father’s house, why would we turn around and quit.

I have walked through a lot of seasons in my lifetime. Everyone has taught me a lesson. The constant lesson I learn is that I can put my trust in God. He will never leave us or forsake us, he has promised to be with us through every season.

INVENTORY

If anyone’s ever worked in a business or owned a business that handles inventory. You know, every so often, you gotta stop and take count of damaged or broken items? You write that off your list as being broken, and you get new. This helps to make sure the figures you show are correct.

I want to talk to you today about spiritual inventory. There are so many things in the Bible that we talk about Christians not needing in their lives. All the different temptations and sins, things that are contrary to what we should have as Christians. We are told to bear fruit and to love one another. We should be gentle, kind, good, humble and all these different things. This is a small list of the inventory we should have in our life.

There are times when we pick up different things which are contrary to what we need to have in our lives. Sometimes it’s important for us as Christians to slow down and ask God for help to take inventory of what we’ve got in our lives. We need to learn to not be swayed by people, sometimes they’ll come along and they’ll brag on you and they’ll brag you up. And if you let it go to your head, you can become self-righteous.

While other people come along and they’ll criticize and they will pick. That makes us self-conscious. We should never be self-righteous or self-conscious about anything. If we can get to the point where we walk in between those things, before God, we’ll be doing a pretty good job. It’s easy to look at people sometimes and compare ourselves, which God tells us not to do.

There are times when we find out things or suspect things that someone else is doing wrong. Instead of praying for them, we get self-righteous and judgmental. We start talking about it, “Well, I would never. I have never.” It’s easy to be judgmental of other people. Which falls into that being self-righteous, they go hand in hand. Be careful about what you say, because the very thing that you say, “I would never.” If you’re not careful, you will end up doing that very thing. But God is faithful, and God is good, and he is just to forgive us of all of our sins and all of our shortcomings and our failures. I’m so grateful for his mercy and his grace.

I was raised, in the Pentecostal church. In that denomination, there is not a lot of room for people to make mistakes. They teach you need to live right, live right, live right. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t. So much so that there is not a lot of room for God’s grace when we fall. Sometimes we forget about all the things that we’re told to do, because we’re so busy going you can’t, You can’t, You can’t. That we don’t tell people they can, they can, they can. They can walk humbly before the Lord. They can encourage one another. We can and should lift one another up.

I want to stand before God with a clear conscience. And I want to be able to say. Lord, I’ve done all I can to walk, the way you want me to walk. If he knows, we are sincere in our hearts. His grace is there to pick up the pieces. His blood cleanses all sins. The church, the body of Christ today, is just so easy to get wrapped up in the ideas of man and denominations. We get wrapped up in the number of people that sat in our pews last week. We get wrapped up in our programs and trips to amusement parks. Church, to many, is just a social club, a place to network business ideas over fried chicken.

Live right and do right. You know, love God and love people. And I mean, it boils down to that. Eccl 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (14) For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Spend time with him this week. Ask God to help you with your inventory. I pray you find only good things. But if you are not perfect and find areas that need work, then that is a good thing too. Because now that it has been brought to light, God can help you deal with it and remove it from your life. That vacated space in your life can be filled with new deeper and more exciting things from God.

BE BOLD, BE BRAVE AND KEEP YOUR GOD FOCUS.