Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Father, glorify thy name….
Firstly, let me apologize for taking so long to write this note….It has been a tumultuous couple of days, but I rejoice that He has kept me faithful…..and in moments where my heart and my flesh failed, the Lord was the strength of my heart, and my portion forever…..Indeed when my flesh slippeth, God’s mercies helped me up, and so I rejoice……
Today, I wanna go back to sharing mode……What I want to share with you is how to break free from the yokes that the enemy has placed in your life…….
Do you feel like there’s an area in your life where the enemy has had a foothold…..Are you a Christian, but feel like you are struggling in something that seems like it will hold you down and take you to destruction? Are you battling something that you don’t want to have to deal with, but you still find yourself struggling with? Are you fighting things that you wish the Son of man would set you free from?
Today, I want us to look at John 12:27-30. Here, Jesus was talking about his death, and you could clearly see that His heart was getting troubled. In verse 27, He asked God to save Him but He also knew that it was for the sins of man that He came into the world to die…..What encourages me is how Jesus went about it…..He cried out to God, and told God to glorify His (the Father’s) name……
A voice came from Heaven (and I believe it was God speaking to His only beloved son) and said, “I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again” in verse 28. Then Jesus said to the people that the voice came not for His sake, but for theirs……
OK, why is this relevant? For me, this verse was power, because Jesus showed us here how to handle situations when our hearts are troubled…..He asked God to glorify His name! Jesus demonstrated total obedience and submission unto Yahweh when asked God to glorify His name…..I believe that this is what Jesus wants us to do in every situation….to cry unto God to glorify His name……And in my spirit, I feel God telling me that He has indeed glorified His name, and He will yet do so again…..
So, in that situation that’s gotten you trapped, cry unto God and tell Him to glorify His name! You do not want to continue in sin (Christ says that He who sins is a slave of sin). And we need not be slaves of sin…..coz sin pays wages, and its wages are death…..
But back to where I was going……Yes, in my experience, the way to break away from those areas in which the enemy has you bound is to ask God to reveal to you the true purpose of the thing that has you bound……OK, let me explain……
In my life, I have noticed that the enemy comes to corrupt that which God has given me.....From my sexuality to my worship……The enemy is there to corrupt and make me fall…..But I thank God that He is my strength, my shield, my buckler and my anchor. He is my refuge and my strength….
Here’s what I want to share with ya……..For a long while, I was hooked on secular music…….OK, I know someone would ask what I mean, and why that is a problem…….Actually, there’s really nothing wrong with it per se, but what happened is that the enemy had corrupted it for me….
Here’s what I mean….the more I listened to it, the more I found I was drifting away from my total dependence on God to thinking that I had made it this far by myself….Every time I would find myself singing along to some love song, or bobbing my head to some rap music, I was edifying my flesh, and not glorifying God….I had become a lover of my flesh rather than a lover of God……..I wasn’t growing, but rather it was helping me sink deeper and deeper into my flesh, and deeper and deeper into my iniquities…..
And looking back at it, here was the problem…..the enemy had began to corrupt music (which was intended for us to use to worship Yahweh) and was slowly using it to corrupt my soul and my spirit….And that, helped fuel every sort of wickedness in my life….
But a subtle change began to happen when I started to read God’s word with understanding and with a newfound revelation of who He is in my life….When I began to realize that God expects me to be fruitful, I began to realize that I needed to prune out the things that weren’t helping me get to where I needed to be…..
Here’s the thing….Because I was mis-using my praise and singing by not using it to worship Him, I had given leeway to the enemy to use it to edify his earthly kingdom. When I restored my relationship with God, and began to use my praise and singing to glorify Him the enemy had lost His grip over that area in my life…….
Now, a weird thing began to happen. Now, the urge to listen to certain types of music has totally gone…..and even when I hear that music playing, I feel ill and want to leave that vicinity……OK, there are some blessings…..like 20GB of my hard drive is filled with stuff I don’t feel like listening to, so yay, I have extra space for other things………But more importantly, I thank God that He is glorifying His name in that area of my life……By restoring the Love of God into that area of my life, the enemy had no area in which to infiltrate my relationship with God….
As for some practical steps….How to break the enemy’s hold in a particular area of your life ….
1). The first thing that you have to resolve is to have God glorify His name in that area….The truth is that you can’t do it in your own strength…..your flesh will fail you, but His spirit is more than sufficient…So I want you to cry out to God, ask for His strength, pray for His deliverance, and ask that He glorifies His name…..Do it daily….get on your knees, humble yourself before Yahweh and ask Him to perfect that which concerns you! Ask Him to put up a hedge of protection and to surround you with His love…..
2). The second thing that you have to do is to starve that thing that you are bound…..So, if it is fornication, adultery, masturbation, whatever, you need to starve it……Stop, cease and desist ….. Crucify your wicked flesh, by speaking against it…..Tell it that it is wicked….It is diseased….It is sick and needs the great physician. Speak against your flesh……But don’t just stop here…….
3). The third thing you need to do is to substitute that thing with God…..OK, this is the tricky part…..Why? Because you need to figure out what is making you vulnerable to that area in the first place, and ask God to remove the triggers in your life…..For instance, for me, I had to starve myself from the music that was corrupting my life….I was vulnerable, because I didn’t have enough of God’s word in my life….and I had stopped making Him King and Lord…….In the place of the secular music, I turned to sacred music….As much as I could…..and feeding my spirit with the word of God…..so that I could finally knock off “self” from the pedestal that I had put it on…..Cry to God and tell Him to make the sheer sight of that thing iniquity in your eyes, and ask Him to make you love that which He loves…..blanket your life with the love of God, and don’t give the enemy an in again……..
4). The fourth thing that you need to do is to rebuke…..Even after you have done steps 1-3, the enemy will wait until you are most vulnerable, and try and attack you again….And when that happens rebuke that spirit……..One of the most powerful ways I have found to stand your ground after you have rebuked the enemy is to start worshipping God…..If you have a favorite song, that which makes your spirit and soul sour, start singing…..start praising……And when you rebuke, don’t just do it in your mind….speak it…..voice it, let the devil hear you rebuking him…..Rebuke him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth…..Remind him that He is a defeated enemy….That you are clothed in righteousness…..Tell him like Christ did…..It is written, that thou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength…Honestly, do you not know that there is power in praise. The word says that He inhabits the praises of His people and when you begin to praise God earnestly, He inhabits that praise, and all evil has to bow and flee at the name of Jesus….Wat? Nothing can raise itself higher than the throne of God, and so everything in your life that seeks to elevate itself to the level of the throne of Yehovah kick it down in Jesus name and command it to flee…The word says that resist the devil and He will flee…Notice, it doesn’t say he might flee, or hopefully, if you are lucky he will flee…No, it says, resist the devil and he will flee…
5). The fifth thing is faith…..OK, this seems kinda strange, but keep thanking God that He has glorified His name in that area of your life….Keep saying it, keep believing it….Why? Your spirit already knows it, but your flesh doesn’t yet…..So put it to voice, and say with power! “Thank you Jesus for delivering me from the yoke of……” Speak it !!!!! Why? When you speak it, your ears hear it, and it gets into your mind……Remember God told you to renew your mind…..So when that word gets back into your mind it forms new branches and new connections……So when the enemy comes to put you in bondage, your mind will already have formed that connection and you’ll be able to say “wait, I can’t do that…..Jesus has delivered me from that…..”
Actually, in one particular area, I felt the Lord asking me why I was fooling around with things that He had already set me free from…..And that was a powerful word unto my spirit…..coz He who the son has set free is truly free!
And as you declare that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, praise God more….I mean act a fool….get a singing, get a dancing, praise, shout halleluyah! Honestly, get to a point where like David you sing, dance, do a jig until your clothes are almost about to fall…….
Here’s another thing the Lord showed me while I was at church…There was this person who was acting a fool and I didn’t get it….In my mind I was upset, thinking….what is wrong with that person…..The weird thing is that I didn’t manage to connect back to my worship until I apologized to God (came to realize that it was a preacher) and began to also be free and willing to act a fool….and boy, did I have a miraculous worship experience!
The word says Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!!!
So said, say you are redeemed, say So!
For me, just thinking that I was crucified with Christ, and that He make himself of no reputation, Him that was of reputation, that I might be cloaked in His righteousness gets me pumped….It gets me praising, and gives me the juice that I need to stand on His promises…..
And should you fall again, don’t be discouraged, start up again…The word says that He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness….So come boldly before the throne of grace, and obtain grace and help in time of need…...Your mind will be ready to pick up from where you fell…Start the cycle again, and do it twice as hard…..reinforce that which you have learnt and continue…..And if you still fall, don’t give up….continue mighty man (and woman) of valor…..Keep striving…Keep moving forward….
Paul tells us that we aren’t wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities, evils, and spiritual wickedness in high places…..Our weapons are not carnal, but mighty for the pulling down of strongholds…..So go back, get into God’s word, learn more, pray for more understanding, ask God for wisdom and discernment, fight again, pick up your sword and shield of faith….Keep striving, keep pressing on, keep focused on your goal…It’s hard, it’s tiring, but trust me, just like Christ said some demons need prayer and fasting to be pulled out, some strongholds could run so deep that the enemy keeps trying to get you down….But don’t be discouraged….We have a spirit of power, love and sound mind….Declare unto God that you will yet rise above the circumstance, and stand on the promises of God concerning that situation….And then trust God, move on and conquer….He will do it, not because you are good, but because He is…Jericho’s wall will fall as you praise, and you will cry that the Lord is good and worthy to be praised..….And also, it is very important in all of this to perfect your love life with God…..walk in love, do nothing out of vain seeking, forgive freely love easily walk humbly and ask God to continually renew a right spirit within you…..Don’t you know that the enemy cannot operate in love….So when you are blanketed in the love of God, the enemy cannot see you…..Can’t touch this, because love is of God….
6). And when the Lord has done it for you, go tell somebody….Don’t just keep quiet….Your testimony will bless you even as it blesses someone else! How? When you hear your testimony, those words will sink deep into your mind…..In your mind you won’t doubt that God can rescue, can heal, can deliver, can save, and your faith will grow further…..It will go a long way towards crucifying the flesh, that is pre-disposed to worry and fear, and as you share your victory, you will edify the church and help someone else who is struggling…..I know some things will be hard for you to share, but do so anyway…..whenever I feel shy about sharing some stuff, I remember this….Christ hang on that cross, with all my iniquity, my sin, my immorality, my fornication, my issues, and was not ashamed…..He made himself sin for me….He laid His life down for me, and He quickened Himself back to life (He said that no one took His life, but that He laid it down and in 3 days He will raise it up).He that was the paschal lamb, without blemish was blemished just for me…He was ridiculed, made fun of, they doubted that He was the son of God, they did, and they did and they did……..But still, He hang there with all that shame, such embarrassment, such isolation (until He cried out to God, asking why He had forsaken Him) On that cross, Christ was isolated, hurt, betrayed, scoffed at (even by the sinners He had come to die for), but you know what He hang in there……And I thank God, that because of my sin, He hang on that cross, because when He arose in power on the 3rd day, I arose with Him, to newness of life….And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, I can say I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ……He was not ashamed to be killed for me, and I am not ashamed of Him….I can love again, because He first loved me….I can walk, live, breathe, walk in victory, because He died for me! Stand up, shout and give Him praise, for He is Jehovah, the Rock of our Salvation and our God!
Remember this…..no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper……The enemy might form the weapon, used it against you, but the Lord God Almighty, awesome in Majesty, and righteous is judgement will lift up a standard against your accuser….For you are His beloved and folks, guess what, our God is mighty in power, He has been tried and tested in battle many times over, and guess what the report is Victory….His CV is victory! He reigns in victory!……
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Kill it….
Folks, let me start by saying that God is good…..and that He loves you, and that He is a God like none other, He is highly exalted, and lifted up! He is magnified in the cherubims, He is exalted in Heaven, He is exalted in earth…….
OK, why am I so excited……Simple…..coz I told God to kill it!! Just that, kill it…..
Aight, I know I can end the blog here, although if you don’t remember anything else, remember that……kill it……..
Here’s the scoop……In another blog, I told you about how there was this woman in my life, a righteous, ordained woman of God, right……Well, we broke up, and me being me, all lovey dovey and what not I hang on wanting to restore it, wanting to fix it…and the damn thing was not getting fixed….As much as I tried, prayed over it, it just wouldn’t get fixed…...when here all God wanted me to do was to kill it……Thank you Jesus…..
OK, sorry, I am very excited….this has been meat to my soul …..OK, for a long while now, I have been wrestling with God trying to have Him restore our relationship…coz why lie, I love her….Irrespective of that love, I was forgetting that if there is to be restoration, He has to kill off that which is not of Him…..
Hallelujah! Is someone following this?…..After Adam and Eve fell, sin began to reign in our mortal bodies……that sin became such an eye sour unto God, that He flooded the earth in the days of Noah, caused the earth to swallow up folks, sent prophets to teach the people His way, gave them His word in stone tablets, led him by cloud by day and fire by night…..But God was still frustrated…coz the people fell, they sinned in droves, they acted like prostitutes and fell over, and over and over…But finally God had gotten enough…….He decided to kill it…….
Watch this! He didn’t destroy us…..the truth is, that He loves us, but the sin in our lives is what He couldn’t tolerate…..So what did He do? He killed the part of us that was unable to keep the relationship that He wanted us to have with Him! Amen, and Hallelujah to the Prince of Peace!
See, the problem is that we and God were in an untenable relationship……we kept falling, sinning, unable to fulfill His law, and that grieved God…..It became so bad, that He finally resolved to bring us into a new covenant, where the law would not be written on stone tablets, or carried around by the Levites….but this new covenant would be written in people’s hearts…
So God sent His son to come, die for our sins, and to kill our flesh….The word says that we were crucified in Christ…..The old had to pass away for us to enter in newness of life in Christ…..When we died with Christ, our old man died, and when Christ arose, we arose in power…..That which was incapable of sustaining a relationship with God was dead. Now, God had given us His spirit to dwell in us, to comfort us, and to be with us…..As He continually makes witness of the Father, and He guides us in all righteousness….See, God didn’t leave it up to us to follow Him, He gave us His Spirit to help us never stray from Him…Now the Spirit mourns and groans for us before the Father…
Is this making sense……For God to restore our relationship with Him, He had to kill the part of us that was incapable of loving Him (our flesh)……And that is why we must continue to crucify the flesh daily in our lives…That part of us will retard our life in Christ and lead us unto destruction…
The same thing is true in my relationship….See, my love for her is based on God’s love for me, and in the same love I love her….But see, because our relationship is corrupted by the enemy, the Lord needs to kill off that part so that it dies…quickly……
Follow me closely….I am not saying kill her, or our love…..I am saying kill the part of our relationship that isn’t honoring God and that which isn’t fashioned in perfect love ….See, if truly our love is based on God’s love and there is a part of our relationship that is corrupted of the enemy that part must be killed…….it just must die, because that corrupted part will drag down the part that is everlasting that is of God…
So what am I saying in simple English? I know, some folk have told me my thoughts are too deep for them to follow…..OK, what I am saying is…..
1). If you are like me, and were in anguish of a relationship that was on the rocks, or that you were entrusting God to fix, or praying over…you need to ask of God to kill that part that isn’t fashioned in His love……if it is selfishness, hatred, jealousy, adultery, fornication, whatever……have the Lord kill that part……coz that part has to die before God can do anything…..Hear me clearly…..that which isn’t of God in that which you want God to deal with must die a tragic sudden and immediate death…..Ask God to do it, and have peace as He kills it…He needs to kill it….And then if it His will, He needs to restore a new relationship that is of Him….but He can only do that, when that old corrupted relationship is dead. Why is it important that you kill this part? If you don’t it will cause you anguish, like it was causing me……Trust, me, you should have seen me swinging up and down….and that thing if you don’t kill it, the enemy will use it to control your emotions, dominate your walk and soil your testimony in Christ!..So just like you crucify your flesh daily, you need to kill off from your relationships the things that aren’t of God…...In a nutshell, I was trying to fix a part that I couldn’t fix because it was unfixable…..It needed to die….
2). Then consider your partner, and love them in God’s love….Because whether or not that relationship is restored by God, you need to make sure that you don’t walk around hurt or carry that hate to your other relationships…It will sour your love life with Christ…Second, love is of God, and He that loveth not, doesn’t know God…… As a child of the light you need to walk in love as love is of God…..You need to love them as God loves them….that way you will be able to be pure before God…..
OK, let me bring it back to my example…..With this highly favored ordained woman of God, I certainly need God to kill that relationship……it had been corrupted by the enemy, and because we are both of the light, we need not have fellowship with darkness……I thank God that I understand that now…..It just needed to die….And because I love her, what I need to entrust the Lord to do is to restore that part which is of Him, so that this relationship is squarely planted on His love….And what is that love? The word says that perfect love drives away all fear, is kind, patient, long suffering, doesn’t keep a record of wrong doing, etc……That’s the kind of love I want the Lord to restore between me and her……
But not my will but His be done…..Should the Lord choose not to restore that relationship in His love, then that’s OK…..I will still be walking in the love of God, loving her like God loves her and I’ll still be walking in God’s perfect will! That’s what I call a win-win….
Is that making sense to anyone? Check it, this valentines day, as you consider your relationships, those that are going well, or those that are in capsizing, ask God that He kills that part which needs to die (that part that won’t benefit either one of you, that part that will just cause you anger and grief) and ask Him to in its stead, restore His love….Because His love is perfect, it will sustain you through your life together and alone! Folks, aint nothing greater than the love of God!
Just like the Lord had to kill our flesh because it was not of God, you need Him to kill off things in your relationship that aren’t of Him….Again I insist…..the fact that you love someone should be the impetus to have God kill in your relationship that which isn’t of Him ….Because God so loved the world, that He sent His only son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but have eternal life…..
Because God loved us, He sent His son to die for us, by so doing kill our flesh (that couldn’t love Him), so that God could restore us unto Himself. Because you love the person you are in a relationship with, you need to be willing to have God kill that part of that same relationship that isn’t glorifying Him and to trust Him to restore that which will…..
This valentine’s day, I encourage you to look for ways to apply this not only to a spouse, or partner, but also to a family member, a relative, etc….I am not saying that it will be easy having God kill that which isn’t of Him in your relationship, but trust me, that when the Lord is through restoring it, it’ll be tighter stronger, and able to withstand the attacks of the enemy….And even if as a result of Him killing it the relationship cracks and you go off in separate directions, still love that person, wish them well, pray over them, encourage them, let not evil rule in your hearts or minds….overcome not any evil they may do unto you with evil, but rather overcome it with good! Love them, forgive them just as God, in Christ Jesus, has forgiven you…Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect! Amen…..
I hope this touches someone today, and may His name be praised for ever and ever!
OK, why am I so excited……Simple…..coz I told God to kill it!! Just that, kill it…..
Aight, I know I can end the blog here, although if you don’t remember anything else, remember that……kill it……..
Here’s the scoop……In another blog, I told you about how there was this woman in my life, a righteous, ordained woman of God, right……Well, we broke up, and me being me, all lovey dovey and what not I hang on wanting to restore it, wanting to fix it…and the damn thing was not getting fixed….As much as I tried, prayed over it, it just wouldn’t get fixed…...when here all God wanted me to do was to kill it……Thank you Jesus…..
OK, sorry, I am very excited….this has been meat to my soul …..OK, for a long while now, I have been wrestling with God trying to have Him restore our relationship…coz why lie, I love her….Irrespective of that love, I was forgetting that if there is to be restoration, He has to kill off that which is not of Him…..
Hallelujah! Is someone following this?…..After Adam and Eve fell, sin began to reign in our mortal bodies……that sin became such an eye sour unto God, that He flooded the earth in the days of Noah, caused the earth to swallow up folks, sent prophets to teach the people His way, gave them His word in stone tablets, led him by cloud by day and fire by night…..But God was still frustrated…coz the people fell, they sinned in droves, they acted like prostitutes and fell over, and over and over…But finally God had gotten enough…….He decided to kill it…….
Watch this! He didn’t destroy us…..the truth is, that He loves us, but the sin in our lives is what He couldn’t tolerate…..So what did He do? He killed the part of us that was unable to keep the relationship that He wanted us to have with Him! Amen, and Hallelujah to the Prince of Peace!
See, the problem is that we and God were in an untenable relationship……we kept falling, sinning, unable to fulfill His law, and that grieved God…..It became so bad, that He finally resolved to bring us into a new covenant, where the law would not be written on stone tablets, or carried around by the Levites….but this new covenant would be written in people’s hearts…
So God sent His son to come, die for our sins, and to kill our flesh….The word says that we were crucified in Christ…..The old had to pass away for us to enter in newness of life in Christ…..When we died with Christ, our old man died, and when Christ arose, we arose in power…..That which was incapable of sustaining a relationship with God was dead. Now, God had given us His spirit to dwell in us, to comfort us, and to be with us…..As He continually makes witness of the Father, and He guides us in all righteousness….See, God didn’t leave it up to us to follow Him, He gave us His Spirit to help us never stray from Him…Now the Spirit mourns and groans for us before the Father…
Is this making sense……For God to restore our relationship with Him, He had to kill the part of us that was incapable of loving Him (our flesh)……And that is why we must continue to crucify the flesh daily in our lives…That part of us will retard our life in Christ and lead us unto destruction…
The same thing is true in my relationship….See, my love for her is based on God’s love for me, and in the same love I love her….But see, because our relationship is corrupted by the enemy, the Lord needs to kill off that part so that it dies…quickly……
Follow me closely….I am not saying kill her, or our love…..I am saying kill the part of our relationship that isn’t honoring God and that which isn’t fashioned in perfect love ….See, if truly our love is based on God’s love and there is a part of our relationship that is corrupted of the enemy that part must be killed…….it just must die, because that corrupted part will drag down the part that is everlasting that is of God…
So what am I saying in simple English? I know, some folk have told me my thoughts are too deep for them to follow…..OK, what I am saying is…..
1). If you are like me, and were in anguish of a relationship that was on the rocks, or that you were entrusting God to fix, or praying over…you need to ask of God to kill that part that isn’t fashioned in His love……if it is selfishness, hatred, jealousy, adultery, fornication, whatever……have the Lord kill that part……coz that part has to die before God can do anything…..Hear me clearly…..that which isn’t of God in that which you want God to deal with must die a tragic sudden and immediate death…..Ask God to do it, and have peace as He kills it…He needs to kill it….And then if it His will, He needs to restore a new relationship that is of Him….but He can only do that, when that old corrupted relationship is dead. Why is it important that you kill this part? If you don’t it will cause you anguish, like it was causing me……Trust, me, you should have seen me swinging up and down….and that thing if you don’t kill it, the enemy will use it to control your emotions, dominate your walk and soil your testimony in Christ!..So just like you crucify your flesh daily, you need to kill off from your relationships the things that aren’t of God…...In a nutshell, I was trying to fix a part that I couldn’t fix because it was unfixable…..It needed to die….
2). Then consider your partner, and love them in God’s love….Because whether or not that relationship is restored by God, you need to make sure that you don’t walk around hurt or carry that hate to your other relationships…It will sour your love life with Christ…Second, love is of God, and He that loveth not, doesn’t know God…… As a child of the light you need to walk in love as love is of God…..You need to love them as God loves them….that way you will be able to be pure before God…..
OK, let me bring it back to my example…..With this highly favored ordained woman of God, I certainly need God to kill that relationship……it had been corrupted by the enemy, and because we are both of the light, we need not have fellowship with darkness……I thank God that I understand that now…..It just needed to die….And because I love her, what I need to entrust the Lord to do is to restore that part which is of Him, so that this relationship is squarely planted on His love….And what is that love? The word says that perfect love drives away all fear, is kind, patient, long suffering, doesn’t keep a record of wrong doing, etc……That’s the kind of love I want the Lord to restore between me and her……
But not my will but His be done…..Should the Lord choose not to restore that relationship in His love, then that’s OK…..I will still be walking in the love of God, loving her like God loves her and I’ll still be walking in God’s perfect will! That’s what I call a win-win….
Is that making sense to anyone? Check it, this valentines day, as you consider your relationships, those that are going well, or those that are in capsizing, ask God that He kills that part which needs to die (that part that won’t benefit either one of you, that part that will just cause you anger and grief) and ask Him to in its stead, restore His love….Because His love is perfect, it will sustain you through your life together and alone! Folks, aint nothing greater than the love of God!
Just like the Lord had to kill our flesh because it was not of God, you need Him to kill off things in your relationship that aren’t of Him….Again I insist…..the fact that you love someone should be the impetus to have God kill in your relationship that which isn’t of Him ….Because God so loved the world, that He sent His only son, that whoever believes in Him may not die but have eternal life…..
Because God loved us, He sent His son to die for us, by so doing kill our flesh (that couldn’t love Him), so that God could restore us unto Himself. Because you love the person you are in a relationship with, you need to be willing to have God kill that part of that same relationship that isn’t glorifying Him and to trust Him to restore that which will…..
This valentine’s day, I encourage you to look for ways to apply this not only to a spouse, or partner, but also to a family member, a relative, etc….I am not saying that it will be easy having God kill that which isn’t of Him in your relationship, but trust me, that when the Lord is through restoring it, it’ll be tighter stronger, and able to withstand the attacks of the enemy….And even if as a result of Him killing it the relationship cracks and you go off in separate directions, still love that person, wish them well, pray over them, encourage them, let not evil rule in your hearts or minds….overcome not any evil they may do unto you with evil, but rather overcome it with good! Love them, forgive them just as God, in Christ Jesus, has forgiven you…Be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect! Amen…..
I hope this touches someone today, and may His name be praised for ever and ever!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Consider Purity
Folks, in this blog, I’ll be focusing on something that I think is absolutely critical to our faith in Christ…..And that is purity……..
Also in this blog, I won’t drown you in a bunch of scripture….mainly because I want to talk from my heart, be open and real with you, and hopefully to encourage you that the Lord and you can deal with any impurity that comes into your life……..
I firmly believe that impurity has a great deal to with the rot and sin that is in society today……..Because we have regarded things in our lives that we shouldn’t, this has caused us to miss God’s will in our lives, and to live lives of mediocrity……
But what is purity anyhow? One definition of purity is the condition of being pure, being free of foreign admixture or deleterious matter…..Just like pure water is free of any sediments….it’s clear, clean if you will…..
Another definition is the state of being free from sin or moral wrong
Both definitions are good, but it’s the second that I want to roll with…..being free from sin or moral wrong…….
We all know, or from previous blogs, have been convicted as to why we need to be absolved from sin……..So it shouldn’t be a stretch to believe that God expects us to be pure……
I won’t lie, for me, purity is something I have to keep crucifying the flesh over…..this is because of the law that is at work in my flesh…..that law which has no regard for the things of God, but wants to do evil…..the evil that I ought not to do……
Think about it, to be pure, means that we renew our minds in Christ, we learn to love like He loves, we act, react and respond to life like Christ showed us…..to truly be free of sin, we need to come to a point where we are perfected in Christ……it isn’t easy, but it is something we need to work on……..
Why? As Christ’s beloved, we cannot afford to be mingling with sin….Sin is of the world, is not of God…..We have no inheritance with sin….we have been restored and renewed by Christ’s sacrifice…….If we regard sin, we walk not in the spirit but in the flesh, we will not be of Him but of the world….the same world that He will come to condemn…….
John 16:8 “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement”
What am I saying? We have the mind of Christ, we have been raised with power, and so we need to purge ourselves from sin…It doesn’t please God and we need not entertain it….But so often we do..…..
Why should we care about being pure? Jesus said that “Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God”…..What does that mean? Literally, that means that if we ain’t pure, we ain’t gonna see God, right?
I don’t know about you, but I want to see God…..In my circumstances here on earth, and when Jesus comes back clothed in power…..I want the Lamb of God to impute no sin in my heart……it isn’t easy, but that’s why we need to ask God to deliver us…..
I can’t say that I am without sin, because the word of truth would not be within me….But what is true that God expects me to work with Him and be active in stumping out sin in our lives……
Anyway, I want to give a testimony of my victory over sexual purity, by sharing with you my struggle with it……As you read this, it is my prayer that you will be encouraged to seek God and ask Him to deliver you from the sins that ensnare you……I pray that the Lord may so strongly reveal unto you the end result of the sin in your life, and that He may protect you and lead you down the path of righteousness……
OK, for many years, one area that I have struggled with is sexual purity. What triggered that you ask? Well, I think what triggered it has to do with the fact that as I began to develop physically and of course sexual feelings began to come up; I didn't deal with them in the wisdom of God…..
Let me explain. Rather than seek to establish pure, genuine relationships with women, and also trust that God would deliver me from sexual sin, I took the opposite road. I still had loads of great female friends, but because I didn’t acknowledge my sexual desires in the will of God, I began to seek other ways, sadly unproductive and unfruitful venues to express my sexual drive.
Remember that scripture of what you sow is what you reap? I submit to you I sowed wrongly……I let my sexual desires be fed by pornography, impure music, explicit films rather than from spiritual food.....Upon reflection, what I should have done is to ask the Lord to cleanse me from sexual impurity, and to lead me in His perfect will……I should have acknowledged my sexual desires, but rather submit them to His throne, rather than to find an earthly solution……
What happened next? I began to reap an evil harvest from that which I had sowed……Because I gave the enemy access to something very special that God had entrusted to me (my sexuality), my mind, my soul and my spirit became corrupted.
The enemy corrupted what was a healthy attraction toward women into something ugly and unhealthy…….And because I embraced that as acceptable in my life, I began to nurture an unhealthy attitude towards women…………
Rather than seeing them as beautiful vessels of God, empowered to do His will and special in His sight, I began to view them as sexual objects.
Because I hadn’t put into my mind the true knowledge of God, I was in danger of being let unto my own desires…….My mind, being corrupted, began to relate to them in selfishness……being overtly flirty with unclean intentions, conjuring up explicit sexual fantasies, etc. And before I knew it, I was on a path of sexual disease and absolute corruption…..from sexual addictions and weird sexual cravings that always needed to be satisfied.....
Worse still, I was in the right environment to do it……Being in the West, having high speed internet and stuff, I began to download all sorts of filth....from beastiality clips, clips of bondage, domination, entering weird chat rooms, discussing all sorts of filth with my friends, both male and female, and basically letting loose…..Mind you, all this while, I was still saved……
So what am I saying…..it is very easy to entertain sin, and if you aren’t careful, it will lead you down the path of certain destruction….But I thank God that He didn’t leave me, even though I was headed down a road to certain destruction.......Even through all that mess, the Lord began to open my eyes to what it was that I was encouraging in my life…..He made me see that indulging my sexual fantacies outside His will was out of a greedy and selfish attitude……And that this was not in His will for my life…..
Worse still, my lack of understanding on the true value and purpose for sex and women had began to lead me down a corrupted path and that I needed to change.
Here’s the real annoying thing with sin……When you tolerate it, it will hold you captive……All the while, I knew that I didn’t want to be abusing myself or my God by watching others abusing women, but I couldn’t stop it…..Sin had enslaved me……
And I knew that this path that I was on would lead me to death. I could feel God telling me that if I sojourned down this road for much longer, I would be caught in something I couldn't shake loose......
I'd start being one of those marauding youths perverted and looking for pleasure here and there, sleeping with anything and anyone, committing adultery with women all over the place, dominating over women by spiritually binding them in fornication and mis-using that which God had entrusted to me...
My health, my body, my soul, my salvation, my inheritance and my life was being compromised because I didn't have the discipline to look and stay focused on God.....
And you know what……..what scared me was that this particular road would eventually lead me to do things that I found utterly unspeakable, like abusing someone, rape, etc.
So how on earth did you shake free of this sin? Firstly, I had to confront it with the word……I had tried to stop in my flesh, many a time and it would work, but then I would soon fall right back in…….I had to know the word, dig myself into it, hid myself in it, and work with the Holy spirit to effect change………
The Lord helped me realize that the problem was that I had allowed sin to reign in my body, and whenever I would be tempted by that lust, I would give in........I think I was complacent coz I felt that "there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"……
Here’s the sad thing……I was so ignorant of scripture…..the rest of that verse qualifies those who are free from condemnation……it actually adds on “..for those who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit”
A huge part of my problem is that I didn't really know God's word, given that the enemy had caused me to drift so far from God’s word, I stopped reading it!
Here’s the thing with impurity…..even the most basic of impurities….the enemy will throw that thing in your face and make you not want to come to God…..coz you will feel like God won’t accept you….the truth of the matter is that God loves you, but He doesn’t like the sin…..but He will help you rid yourself of it, if you ask Him, and if you harden not your heart when He reveals the sin to you….
So, when I finally confessed my sin, and laid it out there in front of God, and asked Him to purge me that I might be clean, to wash me that I might be whiter than snow, He began to do just that…..Mind you, it was a struggle, because I had to keep talking to my flesh, and reminding it that the Lord was my sufficiency……
When you are crucifying your flesh, you really need to throttle it with God’s word….when an impure thought would come, I’d have to fight it with God’s word…..Speaking unto my flesh, declaring God’s promises on my life……And when I would fall, I would get right back up and continue…..never giving up, or wavering at the things of God…..Just kept hammering my flesh and reading the Word of truth!
As I did that, an incredible work of restoration occurred….my flesh began to cooperate…..Also, something else that I did was to ask God to help me identify every trigger in me that would cause me to stumble….Every morning, I would pray that He removes anything that the enemy might have sown into my flesh at night of which I was unaware of……
Coz He is sly like that……He’ll come in and plant weeds……and before I know it, he’ll try and trip me up again…..
The word tells us to be wise of the schemes of the enemy, and that's what I am working to perfect.......I want to be wise as a serpent, so that when the enemy comes about I can resist him effectively……..Plus, I need to know how he attacks, so that I can fix all of the kinks in my armor….Then, I can unashamed, in holiness before God and purity before men and in complete liberty......I also asked the Lord to open both my physical and spiritual eyes, so that I can truly see…..See my sin like He sees it and detest it……Now, I look at the whole matter of sexual impurity, and it is really saddening me just how many men and women today are caught in this very trap of being slaves to sin……It is sad to watch men misunderstand their role and the purpose of sex, and watch them spiritually enslave women to them….It is equally sad to watch women being brought under the yoke of being dominated sexually, and to watch our generation, the church, our country be led down the road of destruction…that’s perhaps a blog for a different day….
It caused me such anguish, that I wrote to each of the women that I had enslaved in my sin and asked for their forgiveness…..It now disgusts me to even think of the things I used to do, and I thank God, because that iniquity has been loosed from me…..
My prayer is that the Lord uses this testimony to shame the devil and lift men out of their wickedness, and restore their relationships with God and to each other......
The truth is I don’t know what impurity you are dealing with, but I want you to be encouraged that the Lord is good, faithful and more than able to deliver you……If you were like me and felt that you kept being brought down by sexual impurity ask that Him who is our sufficiency begins to heal you in that area…that you may perfect your call of holiness in entirety……..
God bless you for reading, and as usual, send along all of your comments!
Also in this blog, I won’t drown you in a bunch of scripture….mainly because I want to talk from my heart, be open and real with you, and hopefully to encourage you that the Lord and you can deal with any impurity that comes into your life……..
I firmly believe that impurity has a great deal to with the rot and sin that is in society today……..Because we have regarded things in our lives that we shouldn’t, this has caused us to miss God’s will in our lives, and to live lives of mediocrity……
But what is purity anyhow? One definition of purity is the condition of being pure, being free of foreign admixture or deleterious matter…..Just like pure water is free of any sediments….it’s clear, clean if you will…..
Another definition is the state of being free from sin or moral wrong
Both definitions are good, but it’s the second that I want to roll with…..being free from sin or moral wrong…….
We all know, or from previous blogs, have been convicted as to why we need to be absolved from sin……..So it shouldn’t be a stretch to believe that God expects us to be pure……
I won’t lie, for me, purity is something I have to keep crucifying the flesh over…..this is because of the law that is at work in my flesh…..that law which has no regard for the things of God, but wants to do evil…..the evil that I ought not to do……
Think about it, to be pure, means that we renew our minds in Christ, we learn to love like He loves, we act, react and respond to life like Christ showed us…..to truly be free of sin, we need to come to a point where we are perfected in Christ……it isn’t easy, but it is something we need to work on……..
Why? As Christ’s beloved, we cannot afford to be mingling with sin….Sin is of the world, is not of God…..We have no inheritance with sin….we have been restored and renewed by Christ’s sacrifice…….If we regard sin, we walk not in the spirit but in the flesh, we will not be of Him but of the world….the same world that He will come to condemn…….
John 16:8 “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement”
What am I saying? We have the mind of Christ, we have been raised with power, and so we need to purge ourselves from sin…It doesn’t please God and we need not entertain it….But so often we do..…..
Why should we care about being pure? Jesus said that “Blessed are the pure, for they shall see God”…..What does that mean? Literally, that means that if we ain’t pure, we ain’t gonna see God, right?
I don’t know about you, but I want to see God…..In my circumstances here on earth, and when Jesus comes back clothed in power…..I want the Lamb of God to impute no sin in my heart……it isn’t easy, but that’s why we need to ask God to deliver us…..
I can’t say that I am without sin, because the word of truth would not be within me….But what is true that God expects me to work with Him and be active in stumping out sin in our lives……
Anyway, I want to give a testimony of my victory over sexual purity, by sharing with you my struggle with it……As you read this, it is my prayer that you will be encouraged to seek God and ask Him to deliver you from the sins that ensnare you……I pray that the Lord may so strongly reveal unto you the end result of the sin in your life, and that He may protect you and lead you down the path of righteousness……
OK, for many years, one area that I have struggled with is sexual purity. What triggered that you ask? Well, I think what triggered it has to do with the fact that as I began to develop physically and of course sexual feelings began to come up; I didn't deal with them in the wisdom of God…..
Let me explain. Rather than seek to establish pure, genuine relationships with women, and also trust that God would deliver me from sexual sin, I took the opposite road. I still had loads of great female friends, but because I didn’t acknowledge my sexual desires in the will of God, I began to seek other ways, sadly unproductive and unfruitful venues to express my sexual drive.
Remember that scripture of what you sow is what you reap? I submit to you I sowed wrongly……I let my sexual desires be fed by pornography, impure music, explicit films rather than from spiritual food.....Upon reflection, what I should have done is to ask the Lord to cleanse me from sexual impurity, and to lead me in His perfect will……I should have acknowledged my sexual desires, but rather submit them to His throne, rather than to find an earthly solution……
What happened next? I began to reap an evil harvest from that which I had sowed……Because I gave the enemy access to something very special that God had entrusted to me (my sexuality), my mind, my soul and my spirit became corrupted.
The enemy corrupted what was a healthy attraction toward women into something ugly and unhealthy…….And because I embraced that as acceptable in my life, I began to nurture an unhealthy attitude towards women…………
Rather than seeing them as beautiful vessels of God, empowered to do His will and special in His sight, I began to view them as sexual objects.
Because I hadn’t put into my mind the true knowledge of God, I was in danger of being let unto my own desires…….My mind, being corrupted, began to relate to them in selfishness……being overtly flirty with unclean intentions, conjuring up explicit sexual fantasies, etc. And before I knew it, I was on a path of sexual disease and absolute corruption…..from sexual addictions and weird sexual cravings that always needed to be satisfied.....
Worse still, I was in the right environment to do it……Being in the West, having high speed internet and stuff, I began to download all sorts of filth....from beastiality clips, clips of bondage, domination, entering weird chat rooms, discussing all sorts of filth with my friends, both male and female, and basically letting loose…..Mind you, all this while, I was still saved……
So what am I saying…..it is very easy to entertain sin, and if you aren’t careful, it will lead you down the path of certain destruction….But I thank God that He didn’t leave me, even though I was headed down a road to certain destruction.......Even through all that mess, the Lord began to open my eyes to what it was that I was encouraging in my life…..He made me see that indulging my sexual fantacies outside His will was out of a greedy and selfish attitude……And that this was not in His will for my life…..
Worse still, my lack of understanding on the true value and purpose for sex and women had began to lead me down a corrupted path and that I needed to change.
Here’s the real annoying thing with sin……When you tolerate it, it will hold you captive……All the while, I knew that I didn’t want to be abusing myself or my God by watching others abusing women, but I couldn’t stop it…..Sin had enslaved me……
And I knew that this path that I was on would lead me to death. I could feel God telling me that if I sojourned down this road for much longer, I would be caught in something I couldn't shake loose......
I'd start being one of those marauding youths perverted and looking for pleasure here and there, sleeping with anything and anyone, committing adultery with women all over the place, dominating over women by spiritually binding them in fornication and mis-using that which God had entrusted to me...
My health, my body, my soul, my salvation, my inheritance and my life was being compromised because I didn't have the discipline to look and stay focused on God.....
And you know what……..what scared me was that this particular road would eventually lead me to do things that I found utterly unspeakable, like abusing someone, rape, etc.
So how on earth did you shake free of this sin? Firstly, I had to confront it with the word……I had tried to stop in my flesh, many a time and it would work, but then I would soon fall right back in…….I had to know the word, dig myself into it, hid myself in it, and work with the Holy spirit to effect change………
The Lord helped me realize that the problem was that I had allowed sin to reign in my body, and whenever I would be tempted by that lust, I would give in........I think I was complacent coz I felt that "there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"……
Here’s the sad thing……I was so ignorant of scripture…..the rest of that verse qualifies those who are free from condemnation……it actually adds on “..for those who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit”
A huge part of my problem is that I didn't really know God's word, given that the enemy had caused me to drift so far from God’s word, I stopped reading it!
Here’s the thing with impurity…..even the most basic of impurities….the enemy will throw that thing in your face and make you not want to come to God…..coz you will feel like God won’t accept you….the truth of the matter is that God loves you, but He doesn’t like the sin…..but He will help you rid yourself of it, if you ask Him, and if you harden not your heart when He reveals the sin to you….
So, when I finally confessed my sin, and laid it out there in front of God, and asked Him to purge me that I might be clean, to wash me that I might be whiter than snow, He began to do just that…..Mind you, it was a struggle, because I had to keep talking to my flesh, and reminding it that the Lord was my sufficiency……
When you are crucifying your flesh, you really need to throttle it with God’s word….when an impure thought would come, I’d have to fight it with God’s word…..Speaking unto my flesh, declaring God’s promises on my life……And when I would fall, I would get right back up and continue…..never giving up, or wavering at the things of God…..Just kept hammering my flesh and reading the Word of truth!
As I did that, an incredible work of restoration occurred….my flesh began to cooperate…..Also, something else that I did was to ask God to help me identify every trigger in me that would cause me to stumble….Every morning, I would pray that He removes anything that the enemy might have sown into my flesh at night of which I was unaware of……
Coz He is sly like that……He’ll come in and plant weeds……and before I know it, he’ll try and trip me up again…..
The word tells us to be wise of the schemes of the enemy, and that's what I am working to perfect.......I want to be wise as a serpent, so that when the enemy comes about I can resist him effectively……..Plus, I need to know how he attacks, so that I can fix all of the kinks in my armor….Then, I can unashamed, in holiness before God and purity before men and in complete liberty......I also asked the Lord to open both my physical and spiritual eyes, so that I can truly see…..See my sin like He sees it and detest it……Now, I look at the whole matter of sexual impurity, and it is really saddening me just how many men and women today are caught in this very trap of being slaves to sin……It is sad to watch men misunderstand their role and the purpose of sex, and watch them spiritually enslave women to them….It is equally sad to watch women being brought under the yoke of being dominated sexually, and to watch our generation, the church, our country be led down the road of destruction…that’s perhaps a blog for a different day….
It caused me such anguish, that I wrote to each of the women that I had enslaved in my sin and asked for their forgiveness…..It now disgusts me to even think of the things I used to do, and I thank God, because that iniquity has been loosed from me…..
My prayer is that the Lord uses this testimony to shame the devil and lift men out of their wickedness, and restore their relationships with God and to each other......
The truth is I don’t know what impurity you are dealing with, but I want you to be encouraged that the Lord is good, faithful and more than able to deliver you……If you were like me and felt that you kept being brought down by sexual impurity ask that Him who is our sufficiency begins to heal you in that area…that you may perfect your call of holiness in entirety……..
God bless you for reading, and as usual, send along all of your comments!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Songs of Love 2 (To The One Who Loves Me)
“My love, where art thou”
After my emotions had fizzled, I began to think about how God must feel when I hurt Him by acting in the flesh, when I don’t show love, when I reject His will for me, when I miss His big picture, when I miss out on His blessings because I sinned, or when I haven’t confessed my sin, or when I tolerate that which is less than His best, because I don’t care to know His best, His will, or His love by reading His word……or when I don’t care to talk to Him, or to care to build a deep personal relationship with Him, or devil proof my relationship with Him…When I don’t guard my time with Him, and when I am not careful to honor Him…
In this drama, I’ll be trying to imagine how God must have felt when I rejected Him, ran away from Him, acted and operated in the flesh, rather than in the spirit…I hope it ministers to your heart and urges you to renew your relationship with God!….If you aren’t sure whether God really cares about what we do, look at Jeremiah, when He says that His people in Jeremiah 3:12
“…Return, O backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful”.
Jeremiah 3:1 “But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord”
Jeremiah 3:7 “And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it!”
My son, my beloved, I called you unto my side,
I have redeemed you with the blood of my own dear son
I have loved you and nurtured you, brought you safe and side
My love, where art thou?
When man had cast you aside
When life had given up on you
Yet I was with you
Yet, I stood next to you
I wiped all of your tears
I honored your prayers when you cried
Because you honored me, I gave you that which you wanted
My love, where art thou?
When disease riddled your flesh
You called unto me, and I answered
You begged me to restore you
And I healed you entirely
You asked in faith privately
I rewarded you in blessing publicly
My favor rested heavily in your life
And caused a great increase in your life
You loved me passionately, but now, you’ve turned
My love, where art thou?
Now, you enjoy my blessing
You sit in royal places
No more tears, no more pain
I have wiped your hurt away and made you new
But now, the blessings I poured unto you
Seem to take you away from me
Yes, you pray and talk to me now and then
But really, not with the passion you once had
The fire is gone, you read not my word
You struggle to pray, and rarely give me praise
My love, where art thou?
You say that you love me,
But barely even know me
I am not the priority in your life
You don’t guard your time with me
You don’t care to read my word
You like to say that you are saved
Yet are content to live as the world does
My bowels of love have sustained you
And yet now you don’t seem to even care
That your source of strength, hope, power and love
Were found when you were at my knees
My love, where art thou?
Why does life have to throw you a curve ball
Before you kneel before my feet?
Why don’t you seek after me so persistently
Because of how much I love you
Not because of how much you need me?
Why do you not realize how much I love you,
Have loved you, still love you…..
My love, where art thou?
Kim, I sent my only son for you
He bled and died for you
You know my power, you know my mercy
Now turn back to me
Bring that iniquity, that sin to the cross and leave it there
Walk forward in victory and sin no more
Though your sins are red as scarlet
You shall be whiter than snow
My Son’s blood has paid for your sin
And for His name’s sake, I have forgiven you
And restored you unto righteousness
So turn back to me
And walk in victory!
Abba Father, I am sorry,
I truly have turned to my flesh
The very flesh that Jesus crucified
I’m sorry
I love you so much,
And you are right, I have taken your love for granted
But no more, I will walk in victory
I will grieve your Spirit no more
I will crave and yearn for you
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
I will learn to keep your commands
I will learn to seek after you
I will protect my relationship with you
And not compromise or jeopardize us
For you are my portion
My reward, my heart and my soul
Thank you for loving me
Thank you for perfecting me
Thank you for not giving up on me
Keep me in your will
Now and alway
May I grow in stature and power
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
When I fall I will get up
When I stumble I will yet stand
When mine enemy presses in hard
I will look up to my God
And He will redeem me and keep me safe
Yes, He shall be my strong fortress
And will guard my soul
And keep me from Hades
I will seek you and find my Savior
Sitteth at the right hand of God
He who is the Rock of my Salvation
And I will dwell in the presence of my God
All the days of my life
I love you, and I always will
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
After my emotions had fizzled, I began to think about how God must feel when I hurt Him by acting in the flesh, when I don’t show love, when I reject His will for me, when I miss His big picture, when I miss out on His blessings because I sinned, or when I haven’t confessed my sin, or when I tolerate that which is less than His best, because I don’t care to know His best, His will, or His love by reading His word……or when I don’t care to talk to Him, or to care to build a deep personal relationship with Him, or devil proof my relationship with Him…When I don’t guard my time with Him, and when I am not careful to honor Him…
In this drama, I’ll be trying to imagine how God must have felt when I rejected Him, ran away from Him, acted and operated in the flesh, rather than in the spirit…I hope it ministers to your heart and urges you to renew your relationship with God!….If you aren’t sure whether God really cares about what we do, look at Jeremiah, when He says that His people in Jeremiah 3:12
“…Return, O backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful”.
Jeremiah 3:1 “But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the Lord”
Jeremiah 3:7 “And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it!”
My son, my beloved, I called you unto my side,
I have redeemed you with the blood of my own dear son
I have loved you and nurtured you, brought you safe and side
My love, where art thou?
When man had cast you aside
When life had given up on you
Yet I was with you
Yet, I stood next to you
I wiped all of your tears
I honored your prayers when you cried
Because you honored me, I gave you that which you wanted
My love, where art thou?
When disease riddled your flesh
You called unto me, and I answered
You begged me to restore you
And I healed you entirely
You asked in faith privately
I rewarded you in blessing publicly
My favor rested heavily in your life
And caused a great increase in your life
You loved me passionately, but now, you’ve turned
My love, where art thou?
Now, you enjoy my blessing
You sit in royal places
No more tears, no more pain
I have wiped your hurt away and made you new
But now, the blessings I poured unto you
Seem to take you away from me
Yes, you pray and talk to me now and then
But really, not with the passion you once had
The fire is gone, you read not my word
You struggle to pray, and rarely give me praise
My love, where art thou?
You say that you love me,
But barely even know me
I am not the priority in your life
You don’t guard your time with me
You don’t care to read my word
You like to say that you are saved
Yet are content to live as the world does
My bowels of love have sustained you
And yet now you don’t seem to even care
That your source of strength, hope, power and love
Were found when you were at my knees
My love, where art thou?
Why does life have to throw you a curve ball
Before you kneel before my feet?
Why don’t you seek after me so persistently
Because of how much I love you
Not because of how much you need me?
Why do you not realize how much I love you,
Have loved you, still love you…..
My love, where art thou?
Kim, I sent my only son for you
He bled and died for you
You know my power, you know my mercy
Now turn back to me
Bring that iniquity, that sin to the cross and leave it there
Walk forward in victory and sin no more
Though your sins are red as scarlet
You shall be whiter than snow
My Son’s blood has paid for your sin
And for His name’s sake, I have forgiven you
And restored you unto righteousness
So turn back to me
And walk in victory!
Abba Father, I am sorry,
I truly have turned to my flesh
The very flesh that Jesus crucified
I’m sorry
I love you so much,
And you are right, I have taken your love for granted
But no more, I will walk in victory
I will grieve your Spirit no more
I will crave and yearn for you
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
I will learn to keep your commands
I will learn to seek after you
I will protect my relationship with you
And not compromise or jeopardize us
For you are my portion
My reward, my heart and my soul
Thank you for loving me
Thank you for perfecting me
Thank you for not giving up on me
Keep me in your will
Now and alway
May I grow in stature and power
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
When I fall I will get up
When I stumble I will yet stand
When mine enemy presses in hard
I will look up to my God
And He will redeem me and keep me safe
Yes, He shall be my strong fortress
And will guard my soul
And keep me from Hades
I will seek you and find my Savior
Sitteth at the right hand of God
He who is the Rock of my Salvation
And I will dwell in the presence of my God
All the days of my life
I love you, and I always will
My Father, My God, My Ebenezer, Here I am
Songs of Love 1 (To The One I Love)
"My love, my life, my all....my wife"
I wrote this at 3AM believe it or not…..My relationship with a beautiful ordained woman of God was on the rocks, and I felt the Lord’s leading to take time to show her how much I love her…..It was tough putting it all down, especially since the emotions were still very raw, but later in that afternoon, the Lord made me understand that to love isn’t easy….As I wrote this song, my heart was in pieces, but the Lord wanted me to understand how His heart grieves and yearns for mine, when I act up and don’t respond in kind to His love.
To the woman I adore, I have hidden your name in song....May these words speak of a love divine, unmitigated, unmeasured, unwavering, believing and insurmountable....from mine heart to thine......
Just as the morning sun cracks through the darkness of the night,
At a time when no one's stirring, nothing's buzzing, everything's out of sight;
So your love illuminates my scattered, desolate existence,
Announcing the light of day, the birth of life, in immaculate radiance......
In soft tones, gentle whispers and tactile kisses, I yearn so blue
With open arms, in eerie shadows till dreams come true
O, my God, where are you?
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
Till sorrow, heart ache, longing and hunger breaks,
From dusk till dawn my heart awakes;
A tweeting bird, a love sick hornet
Sing in song, this short sweet sonnet
Of a woman so sublime
Lovers in exotic inter-twine
With her in queue, deep love we cherish,
Larger than life, never to perish
You're pure ecstasy, fine wine, sweet bliss divine......
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
In step, in rhythm, love's sweet dance
Down lovers lane, we swoon and prance
Imaginative, exclusive inticing romance
No Yearning And No Death In Ares
Only I, her and loves little fairies
A magical fantasy land we share
A majestic friendship bringing to bear
Embellishments untold, passion and pleasure galore
Quintet, full orchestra, a jazz guitar and one big Oboe
Revealing intrinsic rhapsody
In disguised two part counter-point harmony..........
You're my perfect summers-day melody
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
Your beauty is unmatched among women
A jade of rare finding, my very blue moon in a starlit heaven
Your warmth, your caress, your embrace....
Drive my soul insane, that flawless face
My mind arcane, your velvety lace
My heart goes lame, your charm, your wit, your grace
Your eyes speak of gold, silver, rubies, jewels, cubic zirconium, treasures abound
Your bosom affirms of comfort, nurturing, health and wealth to be found
Your lips intoxicate like liquor, you're Eden's finest
Your curves, your hips.....you're a goddess of matchless nicest
A smile so true, so sweet, so white...brilliant, like the choicest tanzanite
You crown my day, you blanket my night
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
To have you forever, not a foe I will not fight
To know you like none other, not a wrong I will not right
To kiss you again, not a poem I will not recite
To make you my Queen, not a feeling I will not slight
To talk to you again, not a note I will not write
To love you unrelentingly and guard you alway; with all my soul, with all my might
I will run to you, your hero strong, your superman sure, all day and all night
I love you, I want you, I need you.......
My love, my life, my all...my wife.......
O, to hold you near and have you here
Casts away my very lucid fears.......
Of living life without you there
Of me wiling out my days, not knowing if you care
Of you wiling out your days, not knowing if it's this love you wear,
Of mourning in bitterness, unsure if you hear
Of walking up without you, its lonely without you
You are that which God spake of a long time ago
"Behold I have made help, meet and suitable"
Steeped in splendor, clothed in honor, restored in righteousness, Eve's dear daughter
Hear my heart, touch my soul, love me now, make me yours and never us let go
My love, my life, my all......my wife.........
I wrote this at 3AM believe it or not…..My relationship with a beautiful ordained woman of God was on the rocks, and I felt the Lord’s leading to take time to show her how much I love her…..It was tough putting it all down, especially since the emotions were still very raw, but later in that afternoon, the Lord made me understand that to love isn’t easy….As I wrote this song, my heart was in pieces, but the Lord wanted me to understand how His heart grieves and yearns for mine, when I act up and don’t respond in kind to His love.
To the woman I adore, I have hidden your name in song....May these words speak of a love divine, unmitigated, unmeasured, unwavering, believing and insurmountable....from mine heart to thine......
Just as the morning sun cracks through the darkness of the night,
At a time when no one's stirring, nothing's buzzing, everything's out of sight;
So your love illuminates my scattered, desolate existence,
Announcing the light of day, the birth of life, in immaculate radiance......
In soft tones, gentle whispers and tactile kisses, I yearn so blue
With open arms, in eerie shadows till dreams come true
O, my God, where are you?
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
Till sorrow, heart ache, longing and hunger breaks,
From dusk till dawn my heart awakes;
A tweeting bird, a love sick hornet
Sing in song, this short sweet sonnet
Of a woman so sublime
Lovers in exotic inter-twine
With her in queue, deep love we cherish,
Larger than life, never to perish
You're pure ecstasy, fine wine, sweet bliss divine......
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
In step, in rhythm, love's sweet dance
Down lovers lane, we swoon and prance
Imaginative, exclusive inticing romance
No Yearning And No Death In Ares
Only I, her and loves little fairies
A magical fantasy land we share
A majestic friendship bringing to bear
Embellishments untold, passion and pleasure galore
Quintet, full orchestra, a jazz guitar and one big Oboe
Revealing intrinsic rhapsody
In disguised two part counter-point harmony..........
You're my perfect summers-day melody
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
Your beauty is unmatched among women
A jade of rare finding, my very blue moon in a starlit heaven
Your warmth, your caress, your embrace....
Drive my soul insane, that flawless face
My mind arcane, your velvety lace
My heart goes lame, your charm, your wit, your grace
Your eyes speak of gold, silver, rubies, jewels, cubic zirconium, treasures abound
Your bosom affirms of comfort, nurturing, health and wealth to be found
Your lips intoxicate like liquor, you're Eden's finest
Your curves, your hips.....you're a goddess of matchless nicest
A smile so true, so sweet, so white...brilliant, like the choicest tanzanite
You crown my day, you blanket my night
My love, my life, my all....my wife.
To have you forever, not a foe I will not fight
To know you like none other, not a wrong I will not right
To kiss you again, not a poem I will not recite
To make you my Queen, not a feeling I will not slight
To talk to you again, not a note I will not write
To love you unrelentingly and guard you alway; with all my soul, with all my might
I will run to you, your hero strong, your superman sure, all day and all night
I love you, I want you, I need you.......
My love, my life, my all...my wife.......
O, to hold you near and have you here
Casts away my very lucid fears.......
Of living life without you there
Of me wiling out my days, not knowing if you care
Of you wiling out your days, not knowing if it's this love you wear,
Of mourning in bitterness, unsure if you hear
Of walking up without you, its lonely without you
You are that which God spake of a long time ago
"Behold I have made help, meet and suitable"
Steeped in splendor, clothed in honor, restored in righteousness, Eve's dear daughter
Hear my heart, touch my soul, love me now, make me yours and never us let go
My love, my life, my all......my wife.........
The Month of Love
Here we are…I am sure that most of you would agree that February is the month of love, and so toward that end, I wanted to do something different….and share some Songs of Love this month……Songs that capture where my heart is, that communicate my love for God and man……I figured I’d take the time and be honest with myself about my feelings this month, and I urge you to do the same…..it’s quite lethargic …..plus, love is of God….
While on that note of love, in Jan the Lord put it to my heart to have February as a month where I focus on my relationships with those that aren’t very much loved in society…..those whose lot in life has cast them aside, discouraged, underprivileged and disheartened……After reading what Christ had to say about what we do unto the least of His brothers, that we do unto Him, I felt challenged……
Challenged, because Christ took very personally the lot of the underprivileged….He, being the King of glory, clothed Himself in our humanity, laid His life down for our redemption and raised it up for our salvation….I thank God for being big enough to be small enough…..by that I mean, that Jesus was humbled, even unto death on the cross……
But I also give thanks to Christ for restoring our relationship with the Father, and making us friends…..not servants! Halleluyah! I thank the Lord that because He was tempted in all points as we are, He knows our lot, and is thus able to deliver from temptation……
So in this month of love, my challenge to you is that you show love to those around you in need, and together, let’s restore our standing as a church of love…If we know Him, we will show love, because that is who God is…
“He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love” 1 John 4:7-8
On the side, I am seeking donations of old/new clothes, newspapers, soda bottles, shoes, toys, money, time, etc to support those in Kenya in dire need and ask that if the Lord leads you, kindly consider donating at www.thegaturumutfoundation.org
Back to what I was saying though, in this month, I want to be honest with my feelings of love, both to God and man with the hope that it will encourage someone to go out and say and show love to someone around you whom you do love……
A brother, a sibling, a parent, a child…..It’s sad that we don’t tell those we love, besides spouses, or girl/boyfriends that we love them, but we should…..In this month, I pray that the Lord challenges you to love someone as deeply and as dearly as Christ loves you!
While on that note of love, in Jan the Lord put it to my heart to have February as a month where I focus on my relationships with those that aren’t very much loved in society…..those whose lot in life has cast them aside, discouraged, underprivileged and disheartened……After reading what Christ had to say about what we do unto the least of His brothers, that we do unto Him, I felt challenged……
Challenged, because Christ took very personally the lot of the underprivileged….He, being the King of glory, clothed Himself in our humanity, laid His life down for our redemption and raised it up for our salvation….I thank God for being big enough to be small enough…..by that I mean, that Jesus was humbled, even unto death on the cross……
But I also give thanks to Christ for restoring our relationship with the Father, and making us friends…..not servants! Halleluyah! I thank the Lord that because He was tempted in all points as we are, He knows our lot, and is thus able to deliver from temptation……
So in this month of love, my challenge to you is that you show love to those around you in need, and together, let’s restore our standing as a church of love…If we know Him, we will show love, because that is who God is…
“He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love” 1 John 4:7-8
On the side, I am seeking donations of old/new clothes, newspapers, soda bottles, shoes, toys, money, time, etc to support those in Kenya in dire need and ask that if the Lord leads you, kindly consider donating at www.thegaturumutfoundation.org
Back to what I was saying though, in this month, I want to be honest with my feelings of love, both to God and man with the hope that it will encourage someone to go out and say and show love to someone around you whom you do love……
A brother, a sibling, a parent, a child…..It’s sad that we don’t tell those we love, besides spouses, or girl/boyfriends that we love them, but we should…..In this month, I pray that the Lord challenges you to love someone as deeply and as dearly as Christ loves you!
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