The butcher knives of frustration cut deep and they always cut to the core. They seem to all come at one time. I know that all of you can relate to that. Frustration isn't frustration until it is caused or triggered by those whose opinion we value. Alot of things stem from the seeds of frustration. From the seeds of frustration the poisons of bitterness, hatred, malice, stress, hurt, disappointment, and so many other things grow. These things feed off of one another and the roots are deep. The reason I know that the roots are deep, is because we can be doing something or dealing with someone and have a flashback of another incident that was similar. An incident that we said we would never go through again! Does that sound familiar?
Now everyone has their moments of frustration. The computer is running slow, waiting too long in line at the grocery store, etc. Those are normal levels of frustration. I am not talking about that. I am talking about the levels where you say in your mind, "If they say one more thing to me, there are going to be problems". Or the frustration that comes on just being in the same room with a particular person. They don't even have to say anything or do anything, just their presence gets on your nerves and you feel your blood pressure going sky high. The bible tells us in Isaiah 26:3, that God will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts thee. Now the 'him' with a little 'h' is us and the 'him' with a capital 'h' is God. So does that mean that 24/7 we constantly have God on our mind? It would be ideal, but it is not the reality. However, if you seek God's council before you do anything, then you give God the opportunity to prepare you for what lies ahead. He will guide you and help you avoid some of those frustration butcher knives. Also, when those butcher knives hit, you can't start marinating or stewing in the situation. You have to begin talking with the Father and I don't mean one of those: "God if you don't get them I'm gonna hurt 'em". Okay, none of that.
Understand, that frustration is a simple but effective weapon that the enemy uses to get us off balance and to cause us to do things that will seperate us from God. Whether that seperation lasts for a moment or for a season. If you think about the killings that have taken place in the schools and the malls across the country. They all started with frustration. People commit suicide because they are frustrated. Recognize the weapon and call for what it is. Take 60 seconds and pray in order to bring yourself back to the place where you need to be. If you can't get the words out of your mouth and you can't seem to form a sentence, then just call on the name of Jesus. Prayerfully, you will not allow it to get that far. If it is a case where you are unable to catch yourself until it is too late, then your first prayer needs to be that God help you to recognize when you have gone past your limit and to help you be more aware and in tune with yourself.
Frustration happens to the best of us (all levels of it), but we should all make up in our minds that it will not over take us. For we are more than conquerors!
Blessings and Love,
Pastor Smith
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Straight Talk- Jan 21, 2008
Okay, so as I was reading and studying this morning God led me to the book of Amos Ch. 5. (What's up with the ch. 5's here lately?HMMMM)
Anyway, after reading it and meditating on it God gave me the thought----"Don't Count On Tomorrow". How powerful and scary is that? There is an unsafe assumption amongst believers and nonbelievers that we have a certain amount of time. We are often heard saying "I can't wait until I get that age or I can't wait until....." But the reality is, we can't count on tomorrow for anything because tomorrow is never promised to us. We can't count on tomorrow to tell someone we love them or even give our lives to Christ. We have to do it now! How many times have we opened the paper or turned on the news and saw where someone was murdered, raped, burned, or gone missing? There are people that we talked to last week that aren't here right now. Does that not bother you at all? Where is the sense of urgency to do right and be right? I am not saying be perfect, but be right. We all know right from wrong, for as much as we have been taught.
In this chapter, the prophet Amos was bringing a message to the people of Israel from God. God was giving a warning to the children of Israel that if He were to come through right then it would not be a good situation for them. There was so much sin and idol worship going on and the people were turning to those things for life and happiness and fulfillment instead of God. Amos pleaded with the people to seek God and live. The only way we will make it in this life and the next is to seek God and live. I know that there are millions of people out there who have the nice cars that we want and the nice houses that we want, but if they don't have God then what is the point? Why have something that is up for grabs from the enemy? Do you understand what I mean by that? Things that have been gotten outside of God's will or without God being in it at all, don't belong to that person and all of the things and the people are a playground for the enemey to do what he will. Take a moment and think spiritually with me. Go into the spiritual realm for a minute. Before God blesses us with things He allows us to go through a preparation period in order to ensure that the enemy will not be able to come and take it or manipulate it. Kind of like the mortgage process. That banker is suppose to go through and see what you owe and what you have coming in in order to ensure that this home will not go into foreclosure. If you try to get over on the banker and present false information or push the banker without listening to what he is saying then you can't get mad if the bank comes and takes your stuff. God takes us through a period of preparation to ensure that the enemy can't try and foreclose on what God has given us. That period of preparation can be hard and trying, but it is one that we must go through and we need to embrace. Which means that we can't keep telling God, I am not ready or Wait! From the enemies point of view.......READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!
Israel was not willing to go through the stages of preparation that God had instructed them to. They felt that there were easier ways out or a shorter way to get from point A to point B. They wound up getting caught up in other's peoples foolishness (is any of this hitting home) When the enemy came it was not hard to corrupt them and devour their present and their future (for some of them). Don't count on tomorrow...get it right with God today. There are too many people that have wasted time and lost ground and now you are moving in fast forward. Moving in fast forward is exhausting (speaking from experience)
Know that God is your source and everything else is just a resource and as long as God is your source, He will lead you to every available resource. He is the God of love and peace and He has that for all of us who are willing to accept it. If God were to do an inspection right now, would He look at you and see the reflection of His son in you? If the sky were to crack open right now and you were to stand before the throne of judgement as we all will, will you ascend or descend? It doesn't matter how old you are or how young you are. For the Word of God says that no man knows the day nor the hour. So don't count on tomorrow for it may never come. But one thing that we do know, we will have to stand before the Father and give an account. We can't come with excuses of I didn't know because if you are reading this blog you know. We can't come with the excuses of I didn't have anyone to go to, because if you are reading this blog you have someone to go to and get your questions answered. If you are looking for a church home, just let me know what city you are in and I will make some phone calls for you to get you into a church home so that you can fellowship with other believers. But don't depend on the preacher to preach you into heaven. Getting into heaven depends on you and you alone.
DON'T COUNT ON TOMORROW!!!
Anyway, after reading it and meditating on it God gave me the thought----"Don't Count On Tomorrow". How powerful and scary is that? There is an unsafe assumption amongst believers and nonbelievers that we have a certain amount of time. We are often heard saying "I can't wait until I get that age or I can't wait until....." But the reality is, we can't count on tomorrow for anything because tomorrow is never promised to us. We can't count on tomorrow to tell someone we love them or even give our lives to Christ. We have to do it now! How many times have we opened the paper or turned on the news and saw where someone was murdered, raped, burned, or gone missing? There are people that we talked to last week that aren't here right now. Does that not bother you at all? Where is the sense of urgency to do right and be right? I am not saying be perfect, but be right. We all know right from wrong, for as much as we have been taught.
In this chapter, the prophet Amos was bringing a message to the people of Israel from God. God was giving a warning to the children of Israel that if He were to come through right then it would not be a good situation for them. There was so much sin and idol worship going on and the people were turning to those things for life and happiness and fulfillment instead of God. Amos pleaded with the people to seek God and live. The only way we will make it in this life and the next is to seek God and live. I know that there are millions of people out there who have the nice cars that we want and the nice houses that we want, but if they don't have God then what is the point? Why have something that is up for grabs from the enemy? Do you understand what I mean by that? Things that have been gotten outside of God's will or without God being in it at all, don't belong to that person and all of the things and the people are a playground for the enemey to do what he will. Take a moment and think spiritually with me. Go into the spiritual realm for a minute. Before God blesses us with things He allows us to go through a preparation period in order to ensure that the enemy will not be able to come and take it or manipulate it. Kind of like the mortgage process. That banker is suppose to go through and see what you owe and what you have coming in in order to ensure that this home will not go into foreclosure. If you try to get over on the banker and present false information or push the banker without listening to what he is saying then you can't get mad if the bank comes and takes your stuff. God takes us through a period of preparation to ensure that the enemy can't try and foreclose on what God has given us. That period of preparation can be hard and trying, but it is one that we must go through and we need to embrace. Which means that we can't keep telling God, I am not ready or Wait! From the enemies point of view.......READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!
Israel was not willing to go through the stages of preparation that God had instructed them to. They felt that there were easier ways out or a shorter way to get from point A to point B. They wound up getting caught up in other's peoples foolishness (is any of this hitting home) When the enemy came it was not hard to corrupt them and devour their present and their future (for some of them). Don't count on tomorrow...get it right with God today. There are too many people that have wasted time and lost ground and now you are moving in fast forward. Moving in fast forward is exhausting (speaking from experience)
Know that God is your source and everything else is just a resource and as long as God is your source, He will lead you to every available resource. He is the God of love and peace and He has that for all of us who are willing to accept it. If God were to do an inspection right now, would He look at you and see the reflection of His son in you? If the sky were to crack open right now and you were to stand before the throne of judgement as we all will, will you ascend or descend? It doesn't matter how old you are or how young you are. For the Word of God says that no man knows the day nor the hour. So don't count on tomorrow for it may never come. But one thing that we do know, we will have to stand before the Father and give an account. We can't come with excuses of I didn't know because if you are reading this blog you know. We can't come with the excuses of I didn't have anyone to go to, because if you are reading this blog you have someone to go to and get your questions answered. If you are looking for a church home, just let me know what city you are in and I will make some phone calls for you to get you into a church home so that you can fellowship with other believers. But don't depend on the preacher to preach you into heaven. Getting into heaven depends on you and you alone.
DON'T COUNT ON TOMORROW!!!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Straight Talk--Jan. 19, 2008
Whenever I read or study, I always ask God what it is He wants me to know for today. I allow Him to guide my hand to the place in the bible that He wants me to study or meditate on for my fellowship time with Him. This morning I was drawn to Proverbs 5. I study out of the NKJV of the Nelson Study Bible and the heading for Proverbs 5 read "The Peril of Adultery". I thought "WOW"! How appropriate for the time that we are living in, when it seems as if people do not take the sanctity of marriage serious. For this day and age, it seems as if marriage is just something to do or a cover up for a baby that is on the way.
The author of this Proverb is a mother who has given instruction to her children. She warns her son of fooling with an immoral woman. But we know that this transcends gender and applies to men too. The mother starts out describing an immoral woman (man) as such:
"her lips drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end
she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword" (vs 3-4)
I liked to fell over when I read that because this mother hit it right on the head and the same description applies today. The entire Proverb talks about how easily one can be trapped and lured into the clutches of a setup.
I urge you to read this Proverb on your own as I am only going to give you some nuggets.
The Proverb goes on to say that "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers" (vs 15-17)
As I was reading this God began to speak several different things to me.
>>>>>>1. We are so nonchalant about having sex with so many different people. I have heard folk say "Can't no one man/woman satisfy me" What in the world is that? God warns through this mother's knowledge and understanding, that you don't go drinking from everybodies well or fountain. You only drink from the one that belongs to you! Do we not know that when we "drink from other folks well or fountain" that we get the bacteria that is in that fountain or well? Or we think that just because we put a filtration in there to catch some of the bacteria then it is okay? Let me break it down for you.....every person you sleep with (drink from their fountain or well) you take a piece of them with you internally. Not just bodily fluid because the condom (filtration system), but a piece of their spirit (or spirits because if the person is going around sleeping with all manner of persons then deliverance has obviously not taken place). You also leave them with a piece of you (backwash from the drink). God intended for this to only happen between husband and wife as they grow with one another and grow in Him. These exchanges were meant to stay holy and sanctified. But because we have allowed perversion into our midst (church folk and leadership willingly doing what the world is doing) you see countless persons with STD's, people dieing of AIDS, you see children being born from father's and mother's who are married, but not to each other. All of this is in the church! I am not talking about in the street! Women and men who have 3 and 4 kids by 3 and 4 different people. "Should your fountains be dispersed abroad?" (vs 17) Should be sleeping with anybody who tells you that you are cute? Should you be so easily swayed and trapped? NO!!!
But then we ask the question, God why do I keep attracting these type of people? I am sooooo glad you asked!!! Look at verse 22 and 23 " The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly."
When I read this God spoke so clearly and said this: "The devil knows the desires of your flesh. He watches and studies you. Just as I know the desires of your heart, your flesh screams out to him because it wants satisfaction. This is why I say, to die from your flesh daily. The devil is not gambling, he is not taking shots in the dark. He sets in your path the things that your flesh is crying out for. If you have been recently delivered from something, the devil is still going to tempt you with it in order to draw you back in. When I tell you in Psalms 91, "He who dwells in the secret place (shelter) of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." What I mean is, the way I cover you and protect you is through my Word. When you study and pray and fast and meditate on my Word, your flesh becomes silent. It no longer calls out to him for that moment in time. My Word cleanses you and every time you come before me and allow my Word to truly enter in and consume, a piece of that flesh dies. This is why he tries to distract you and cause you to be too tired to spend time with me. I can't hide you if you are not in my presence and in my Word. My Word is power and it is power that he can not come against. Stay in my Word and I will stay in You----thus sayeth the Lord.
I had to take a moment right there. When God spoke that, I was left with my mouth wide open and I had to tell you what He told me. Please go back and read that Proverb and then read this blog again. Stay in God's word so that you can dwell in the secret place. A place where the devil has no power over you and you can be free, be healed, and be empowered. Stop allowing yourself to be trapped and ensnared. Know who you are in Christ and recognize what you are without Him. I encourage you to pray this prayer:
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you now for who you are in my life. I know that I haven't done all that I should or could and I ask your forgiveness right now. Help me God to understand your Word and not to be intimidated by it as the enemy would have me to be. I want to be in your presence and I want to be a son/daughter that you are proud of. Teach me oh God, how to be loved by you, that I may love myself and not accept anything less than Godly love from another person. Give me the strength oh Father, to stand firm when the enemy comes to ensnare me and get me off track. I love you Lord and I thank you for loving me! In Jesus name I pray--Amen.
I encourage you to subscribe to this blog so that you will automatically get updates as they are posted.
The author of this Proverb is a mother who has given instruction to her children. She warns her son of fooling with an immoral woman. But we know that this transcends gender and applies to men too. The mother starts out describing an immoral woman (man) as such:
"her lips drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end
she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two edged sword" (vs 3-4)
I liked to fell over when I read that because this mother hit it right on the head and the same description applies today. The entire Proverb talks about how easily one can be trapped and lured into the clutches of a setup.
I urge you to read this Proverb on your own as I am only going to give you some nuggets.
The Proverb goes on to say that "Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers" (vs 15-17)
As I was reading this God began to speak several different things to me.
>>>>>>1. We are so nonchalant about having sex with so many different people. I have heard folk say "Can't no one man/woman satisfy me" What in the world is that? God warns through this mother's knowledge and understanding, that you don't go drinking from everybodies well or fountain. You only drink from the one that belongs to you! Do we not know that when we "drink from other folks well or fountain" that we get the bacteria that is in that fountain or well? Or we think that just because we put a filtration in there to catch some of the bacteria then it is okay? Let me break it down for you.....every person you sleep with (drink from their fountain or well) you take a piece of them with you internally. Not just bodily fluid because the condom (filtration system), but a piece of their spirit (or spirits because if the person is going around sleeping with all manner of persons then deliverance has obviously not taken place). You also leave them with a piece of you (backwash from the drink). God intended for this to only happen between husband and wife as they grow with one another and grow in Him. These exchanges were meant to stay holy and sanctified. But because we have allowed perversion into our midst (church folk and leadership willingly doing what the world is doing) you see countless persons with STD's, people dieing of AIDS, you see children being born from father's and mother's who are married, but not to each other. All of this is in the church! I am not talking about in the street! Women and men who have 3 and 4 kids by 3 and 4 different people. "Should your fountains be dispersed abroad?" (vs 17) Should be sleeping with anybody who tells you that you are cute? Should you be so easily swayed and trapped? NO!!!
But then we ask the question, God why do I keep attracting these type of people? I am sooooo glad you asked!!! Look at verse 22 and 23 " The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly."
When I read this God spoke so clearly and said this: "The devil knows the desires of your flesh. He watches and studies you. Just as I know the desires of your heart, your flesh screams out to him because it wants satisfaction. This is why I say, to die from your flesh daily. The devil is not gambling, he is not taking shots in the dark. He sets in your path the things that your flesh is crying out for. If you have been recently delivered from something, the devil is still going to tempt you with it in order to draw you back in. When I tell you in Psalms 91, "He who dwells in the secret place (shelter) of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." What I mean is, the way I cover you and protect you is through my Word. When you study and pray and fast and meditate on my Word, your flesh becomes silent. It no longer calls out to him for that moment in time. My Word cleanses you and every time you come before me and allow my Word to truly enter in and consume, a piece of that flesh dies. This is why he tries to distract you and cause you to be too tired to spend time with me. I can't hide you if you are not in my presence and in my Word. My Word is power and it is power that he can not come against. Stay in my Word and I will stay in You----thus sayeth the Lord.
I had to take a moment right there. When God spoke that, I was left with my mouth wide open and I had to tell you what He told me. Please go back and read that Proverb and then read this blog again. Stay in God's word so that you can dwell in the secret place. A place where the devil has no power over you and you can be free, be healed, and be empowered. Stop allowing yourself to be trapped and ensnared. Know who you are in Christ and recognize what you are without Him. I encourage you to pray this prayer:
Father God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you now for who you are in my life. I know that I haven't done all that I should or could and I ask your forgiveness right now. Help me God to understand your Word and not to be intimidated by it as the enemy would have me to be. I want to be in your presence and I want to be a son/daughter that you are proud of. Teach me oh God, how to be loved by you, that I may love myself and not accept anything less than Godly love from another person. Give me the strength oh Father, to stand firm when the enemy comes to ensnare me and get me off track. I love you Lord and I thank you for loving me! In Jesus name I pray--Amen.
I encourage you to subscribe to this blog so that you will automatically get updates as they are posted.
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