Timing

Timing...is it everything...in a sense it sure is. If we are too quick to make a decision we might regret what we have chosen but if we are too slow we might miss everything in front of us. If we are in touch with the Spirit of the Lord within us we can make right choices. Now will we ever make wrong ones? Of course, but that is because the Lord is using that to teach us something. I have found out that I am not the wisest man on the face of the planet I have made tons of wrong choices but over the last year I can say I have matured in this area. It has taken a lot of failures and I have faced obstacles with emotional pain like I have never felt before. I have made wrong choices with my finances, with my friendships, family, and ministry. Today I understand that God's timing is amazing...if we are patient and can wait until the Lord moves we will see some amazing things happen. There are times we want something so bad we lose control and try to obtain it by any means necessary. Wrong choice! If we took what we wanted into the prayer closet and asked the Lord to show us if we are meant to have it or if it is the right time to have it He will guide us and let us know. I have been in line before getting ready to buy something and the Lord speaks to my heart right before I get to the casher and says..."Michael, you don't need that right now" and once I hear that it's enough I put back the item however small and follow the Lord. There also have been times when the Lord has been telling me the same thing over and over and I just don't do it because I don't want to loose the thing He is asking me to give up...take my house for example, I love my house it "is" and soon will be "was" my first house. The Lord spoke to my heart the first week we where in and He said..."you will not be here as long as you think"...when i heard that I was like okay Lord right! And come to find out here I am close to three years later and I am selling my house to obey the Spirit of the Lord. I can honestly say He was telling me a long time ago to sell the house and I wouldn't listen. I had to ask all my friends if I was suppose to sell my house getting ether approval or conformation to ease my own mind but the truth is all I needed to do was listen to the Spirit the first time and do what He was asking and I would find myself closer to my destiny then I am right now but, no...I needed the approval of man to ease my own mind and spirit. I am not saying run with everything you "feel" like you need to do. Sometimes we do need to seek wise council but not all the time. If you know it is from the Lord then run with it and don't look back move forward for the sake of your destiny in the Kingdom. I hope all of us become more sensitive to the direction of the Spirit.

One thing for you believers out there, Sometimes we can get to a place where we are abusing the term "the Lord Said to me or the Lord told me to do this or that" and once you pull out the card of "the Lord told me to" then no one can challenge that and it is healthy to have friends challenge what it is that the Lord might be telling you. So many people abuse the name of the Lord to gain personal self centered agendas and as a body we need to be there to help each other by having honest conversations that will help us see our direction. I love you guys and my prayer for us this week is that we might gain wisdom to help us make right choices.

1 Corinthians 4:5

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

Love

In this month of LOVE we need to examine our hearts to see if we have gotten forgetful, lazy, and comfortable, or just plain selfish about our love for others most of all our love for our family and our spouse. I know through the years we can get "use to" the love of our lives and forget to give them the proper time they need to see our true love for them. Loving is more then mere words...it is action and I know that sometimes we get into a mode of not following our love for our spouse, significant other by not doing anything for them because we know that they love us and we love them so it is okay to not do anything...well we're totally wrong if we think that. Also if you are one of those that says "oh I don't need anything it's okay" you are wrong too...do not listen to these words people if your "better half" ever says them...they're not true.

I am truly excited about 2008 because I want to love more...love my wife, my kids, my family, and my friends. In the past I have forgotten to carry all my relationships to the next level but this year I am determined to love everyone I know more and follow through with my commitment as a husband, father, and friend.

Challenge yourself this year to Love Beyond Your Sight

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Alone

Do you ever feel alone, forgotten, rejected, hated, stuck...or just that feeling of wondering if where you are is where you are suppose to be? You know sometimes in our walk we tend to start to question our faith and if God is really still there with us. I can't tell you how many times I have said...are You still there Lord? Also sitting there wondering if I am still in the will of God for my life. I have faced so much in my life already I can see sometimes why people hurt so much. There are times as I mature in the Lord that I have waited years to see something come to pass...not days or months. I can say today that we are going to have to stick it out if we want to see victory in our lives. We need to be in this thing for the long hall...not giving up. Is it easy, heck no it isn't! It’s very hard and very difficult and we will face even more trials as we continue to walk on the path less traveled.

In these "alone years" we feel all these crazy emotions of being alone, forgotten, rejected, hated, stuck. It is in this time that God is dealing with the inner most parts of you. In these times our King purges us removing self and the ways that have been embedded into our soul from childhood, also other soul snatchers that have been entangled in our soul from wrong relationships, bad teachings, misleading authorities and so on. We need these alone years to go into the deep with God. He has not forgotten us He has not forsaken us He is developing us to our full potential. Most of the time at this point people give up and turn religious attending church because they know they need to but not going expecting anything anymore because they say to themselves "I hear the same stuff year after year but nothing ever happens"...their prayer life dwindles down to nothing and they turn to friends and "good times" to get their fulfillment. We need to come together and hold true to our convictions and to our confession. It is so important to have healthy relationships with like minded people...once we travel away from those people and follow the ones that are doing whatever they want because they can't seem to hold true to their confession anymore and give into the appetite of the flesh (sinful lusts) we are now missing out on the fulfillment of our destiny. We may have occasional victories but we will never fulfill our purpose.

Let's look at Hebrews 13:5 in the Amplified Bible one of my favorite verses.

Let your character or moral disposition be free from the love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your preset [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you with out support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake you nor let you down (relax My hold on you) Assuredly not!

Much love for all of you out there and if you need anything feel free to email me...we're almost there don't give up!

Don't Wrestle Worship

Probably the greatest war we wage is one we wage with ourselves about ourselves, struggling with where we are spiritually compared to where we see we need to be. It is so funny how we target ourselves and literally pick away at our imperfections to the point we end up seeing ourselves as a disgrace to the Kingdom. We need to come against such thoughts and realize that we are imperfect people walking under grace and mercy (thank God). Besides we won’t change anything by being frustrated and struggling. We are not going to get any where worrying about how much we suck at being us. The reality is we don't suck...we are really good at being us...look at all we have overcome so far so why are we scared? There are so many Christians out there that are not enjoying their life they might make it to heaven but because their focus is on all the faults about themselves and about life there is never any true happiness. Our deficiencies shouldn’t be our focus...the truth is the Word says that God is shown through our weaknesses so what are we worried about? We shouldn't be worried about anything.

The funniest thing is we are always talking about our many trials, but often our greatest trial is with ourselves. We have more trouble with us than we do with the devil or any person on earth. I can tell you that I hear over a hundred complaints a day...why people feel like they need to tell me everything I do not know but they do and I listen to see if I can encourage them at all. But in all that I see that it's not the world around us that is our biggest issue...we are.

Take a look at this verse:

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are changing from glory to glory...some of us are in between glories right now but none the less we are ever changing and if we aren't we might as well be dead because our purpose here is null. We need to start to get over ourselves and our deficiencies we need to start to raise our hands to heaven and worship the King of Glory and let Him complete us. That wrestling match that has been going on for years inside of us needs to be tapped out and finished.

I can't tell you how important it is to worship. As we worship God, we are released from frustration. All those pent-up, weird, emotional things that need to go begin to vanish. As we worship, God’s character is released into our lives and begins to manifest. Whatever we worship Him for will begin to be manifested in our own character.

When we are willing to pay the price and suffer to be in God’s will, it is a type of suffering that leads to glorious victory, a type that eventually goes away. But if we remain out of God’s will, we will endure a type of misery and suffering that never goes away.

Let us forget about what lies behind and press on to obtain the prize...running the race with consistency and virtue...all the while Worshiping the King who has protected us when we never even knew He was there. Forget our self centered view and selfish ways...instead of thinking what can I get out of this let's think what can I give while doing this.

Make Adjustments

When I got up this morning my wife said to me Michael, you need to read today’s reading in Joyce Meyer's book "Starting Your Day Right" so I did and the amazing thing is that it was speaking right to me. It's funny how sometimes we go through some really hard times in life and in those times (which in my life I call them seasons) we learn so much and when we come into a new season which my family is in right now we see just how amazing God really is. It is thoughts hard seasons that we are purged and molded into what God wants us to be...it hurts and is tiring but when we get through it we are a better person. Below is what I read today I hope you guys enjoy it.

Adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence).

2 Peter 1:5 (amp)

Sometimes we have to make a few adjustments in our lifestyle to follow wisdom. We may have to say no to too much activity. Hebrews 11:1 teaches that faith is the assurance of things we do not yet see now. But, like God, we can call "those things that be not, as though they are" (see Romans 4:17). This spiritual principle applies in the negative realm as well as in the positive realm. So we may need to make some adjustments to the things we say.

If you feel that it is hard to get up in the morning, don't say "I am too tired." Get all the weak, tired, wimpy, quitter, give-up talk out of your vocabulary. Instead say, "Because the Lord is my strength, I can do whatever I need to do today."

Way To Go Giants

Wow what can I say...Super Bowl XLII was one of the most amazing games I have ever watched! I am not a fan of ether team but the Giants painted a picture for all of us to take a look at. A team that has been scrutinize all season and it's leader has been thrown under the bus his whole career. But now look at them...the team and it's leader have a super bowl victory and a nice ring to show they are more then average. Way to go Giants you're history makers.

On Top Of The Mountian

No mountain can defeat us! The funny thing is we let them all the time. Instead of looking at the obstacles that stand in front of us and saying "we will become victorious this day" we say "man that is going to be a lot of work". The fact of the matter is yes it will be work and it most likely will hurt some how or in some way but if we can fight and take our faith to the frontlines then we will become victors. We need to be FRONTLINE SOLDERS that unite and conquer the obstacles in front of us. Forward is the way that I am moving...I have always said that if anyone get in my way of reaching the place where God has prepared for me I will run them over...not because I don't love them but because they are blocking my path to the promises of God for my life. The one thing I want to do is fulfill my purpose and receive the promises God has spoken of in His word. The mountains that I face daily are huge and I know that I can't cross over them with out a heart full of faith and a clear understanding that God is working within me to help me overcome these obstacles. There are so many different things that can be mountains/obstacles in our life, family, friends, jobs, addictions, failures, pride, the list is endless. But when we get to the place where we know God not just know about Him or for the Christians not just the sermons we hear but truly know God by spending quality time with Him then we will see that we can do anything. The truth is the mountains won't move by our attendance record in church or by mere knowledge of the bible but by receiving personal revelation for ourselves in our personal time with God. By having a REAL revelation of the scriptures it is one thing to quote a scripture but it is totally another thing to have the revelation about the scriptures we read. The mountains WILL crumble into the sea...but first we must see that fact within our heart (spirit).

One more thing before I go, don't let anything stop you from reaching your full potential in God...not money, family, friends...not anything! If we must sacrifice everything we own to follow the Lord then let us do so and not look back. If I know one thing it is that nothing in this world means more to me then my relationship with the Lord...not my house, not my friends (I love you guys truly but I love God more), not money...too much can cause problems and too little well that can cause problems as well but just the right amount well that is what I desire...that's a simple life.

I love you guys and I hope you all have an amazing weekend...be praying for us (my family) we are dedicating our kids this Sunday in St. Petersburg at New Destiny International Church check them out on the links to the right. We want to see the Holy Spirit move on our kids lives this Sunday.