Wednesday, March 31, 2010

On The Way To The Cross

As we celebrate Easter and the Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
just wanted you all to be mindful of one thing that the Lord has been
speaking to my heart this week.

Sometimes (and it is never a good time) we go through some things and we
allow them to get us down or move us out of position, even if just for a
moment. But God doesn't want us there, because often times our moments
are just too long.

Someone is relying on us to be better and if only for their sake we need
to BE BETTER. God told me that Jesus died way before He got on that
cross. He died in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said, nevertheless,
not My will, but Thy will be done. He died on the way to the cross. And
then He died again when He got on that cross and stayed there.

And that is where we need to be. We all have our own burdens to bear,
our own crosses that we must carry if we are to follow Jesus. But we
need to do what Jesus did. We need to die. We need to die to it. We need
to die to our will that the Father's will be done. We need to die for
that person that needs us to be where God wants us to be. Sometimes
before we can do the Father's will instead of our own, we must prepare
ourselves ahead of time to do it and that is where and when we make that
decision to die. Every moment, every instance that our flesh wants to
take over.

God said on the way to the cross Jesus died. This week the words are
ringing in my ear over and over. On the way to the cross Jesus died. How
much more must we?

Be blessed this Easter!

A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Let Your Choice Be God’s Choice

- The choices we make right now will determine whether or not we fulfill the plan God has for us.
- What you choose right now can have eternal consequences.
- We would be far better off if we would choose what God wants for us, instead of what we want for ourselves.
- Your future is determined by what you do (OR DECIDE TO DO) on a daily basis.

As of late God has been speaking into my spirit, choices. The decisions I make and what kind of result it will bring. What He has been showing me through these “eye openers” is that my choices certainly matter and will have consequences. Good and bad. And most of them, eternal.

We make countless decisions in a day. Big and small. From what should we wear, to what we want to eat, to what we should do. We find ourselves faced with so many choices regarding everything and God is saying that it would be extremely wise if we would make the right choice. And the only way we can do that is to ask the One Who knows what is best for us, whether we agree with it or not. And the One Who knows is God. After all He is our Maker and He knows what we need to function.

God cares about us. He loves us. He wants to order our every move, our every step. The Bible says that the steps of a GOOD man are ordered by the Lord. God knows the thoughts He has for us, plans to prosper us, plans of good and not evil, to give us a hope and a future. Yes it would be wise to let Him order our steps. Let Him decide for us. Following the Scripture, we tend to say, “In God we live and move and have our being.” But yet, when it comes to making a decision, a choice, God has nothing to do with it. We don’t ask Him anything and yet we say in Him we move and live and have our being. But how can that be, when we don’t even look to Him for guidance or direction? We become the decision maker. And our “being” is not in God.

What we fail to realize in doing this, is that our choices if left to our own regard, can be harmful. There are things that we decide to do today, based on what we feel TODAY. We’ve said it often enough, if we’re honest, “if I had the choice to do it over, it would be different.” So we base on our decision on what we feel at that moment, forgetting or not realizing that tomorrow, we may feel something different. But if we ask the One Who knows, the One Who has our being, then He would tell us the right choice to make and we won’t have any regrets.

God wants us to take the time, realize that many times if you’re walking with the Lord, it will only take a second… but take the time and say, “God what should I do in this particular situation?” He knows. Ask Him what to wear, ask Him what to eat. He will tell you whether or not that tuna is good for you today. If it has too much mayo and will leave an after taste. He will tell you that that hamburger might be too heavy on your stomach because it has 20% fat instead of five. Trust Him He knows. We need to ask God whether or not we should pursue certain relationships. But too many of us want to jump ahead based on our feelings and do what we want, instead of what God wants to do for us. You didn’t ask God if you should marry him, let alone, date him?! No, you just plowed ahead based on your current feelings. But had you asked God He would have told you… “Stay away from him. He is going to use you and break your heart.” God said the Holy Ghost will tell us of things to come. But we have to take the time to ask.

We make decisions based on what the world thinks instead of what the Word says. We decide to take jobs AND leave jobs that God has never spoken to us about. But had we asked God we would have known that 6 months down the line that company was going to go bankrupt or that a year from now, the service you’re offering nobody wants anymore and now you and your family are facing hardships.

And what we also have to realize is this, the decision we make do not affect us alone. They have an affect on our children, those in our circles, those outside of our circles. You are deciding someone else’s future too. God wants us to know the importance of the decisions we make and it’s not just about us. It’s not just about you.

What we allow our children to do right now, becomes our choice, but it affects THEIR future! I recently read of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt who seemed to be allowing their 3 year old daughter, Shiloh to determine how she will dress and what she will be called. Apparently, she wants to dress like a little boy and wants to be called John. And from what I hear, they say it’s okay. But their decision, if all of this is true, to go along with what she wants is setting her up for a curse. The result of disobedience. To God and His Word. Females are meant to be females and males are meant to be males. There is no in between. And you might say oh what’s the big deal? She doesn’t know any better. And to that I say, all the more reason for her parents to make the right decision for her. So here we have little 3 year old Shiloh, cursed because of her parent’s decision to go along with what she wants instead of what God says.

And we have to know that anytime we put our wants and our desires ahead of God’s, we are setting ourselves up for a fall. Anytime we compromise God’s Word or God’s standards we are sinning. And with sin, comes the penalty of death. Of some sort. Spiritual or otherwise.

God wants us to get this. He is just ready, waiting for us to come to Him. If we truly live and move and have our being in God, then we should have no problem asking Him what HE WANTS us to do. Yes there are some things we can decide for ourselves and we should and He will certainly let us know those things. He may just say you decide. But it won’t hurt us one little bit if we ask. God wants us to ask. He wants us to seek Him. First.

As God spoke to me many months ago… my future IS determined by the things that I do on a daily basis. And not only early will I endeavor to seek Him, but DAILY. “God, what would you have me to do? What would you have me to say? Where would you have me to go? What should I eat? What should I wear?” And the list goes on.

God is good. And He is real. And He wants a real relationship. Choose ye this day.

A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E