the gift of a child...

I have been working with the kids in my church for the past 4-5 years... I have never had a more rewarding experience in church in all my life... I also worked with the kids as a teenager in the church I grew up in...
this past sunday, one of the kids I have taught since he was 3 (he is now 5) was baptized... after the baptism service he comes to me and tells me he needs me to meet his family... I smile that he would want me to meet his family... there are 3 pews full of them... and he takes me through the three pews one by one to each person and introduces me to each person and says to them... this is miss sue... she is my children's church teacher... and she is my friend... (probably 30 people...)
my heart was truly blessed by this child on sunday... but not only this sunday... every sunday... and not only this child... all of these kids... they all run to me when they see me... they hug me and tell me they love me... and they mean it... kids accept you as you are... they may not like everything you say or do... but they love you anyways...
at my church the spirit of God resides heavily in the chapel service where the kids are preached to.. I do not believe it has anything to do with preaching or music or any man made idea... the spirit of God resides in the heart of a child and where children are... God is...
many times we feel like no one loves us... or we will never be loved or whatever the issue is with us as a people and our need for love... but I promise you... involve yourself in a children's ministry... you will never be the same and you will find true love....
find a way to be a blessing to a child today...

the path of God...

Psalms 86: 11 Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. 12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.13 For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

How many of us are truly walking in the path God has chosen for our lives? I know that in the past I have rarely walked in it... God's path is scary... it is embarrassing sometimes... what I mean by that is that He will have us do crazy and embarrassing things... like just walk up to someone and say something... or even if it is just to walk in faith... we don't like to look crazy... we like to look like everyone else... yet the bible tells us that we are to be set apart and separated from the world... but separated and set apart is hard sometimes... it is lonely... it is scary...
so how often have you walked up to someone and said what God told you to say? how often have you walked up to someone and done what God told you to do? even if it is just to hug a stranger... or say may the peace of God walk with you... how often are we really obedient to what God tells us to do?

I can tell you in honesty that I walk in the path of God to the best of my ability now, even though I often look crazy... I have always had the ability to know what is going to happen... even as a child... but I never really understood exactly what this meant in the kingdom of God... in the flesh I thought I was just outstandingly smart... and I will also admit that I have pimped my gifts... people have asked me questions and I would answer and they would use the answers to bet on things and win money... I have this odd gift.. I don't know what someone would call it, but I draw people to me... and I have used that gift to get what I wanted sometimes... I have used the gift of bible knowledge to get people to see things my way because I can give you scripture for almost any given situation... but now... living in the will of God fully... I find that being able to know what will happen is prophecy... (what a scary word... denied that for a long time...) I still don't know what the gift of drawing people in is called, but I know that it is to be used to bring people to Christ... I know that the bible knowledge is to be used to get people to see the will of God, not the will of Susan... to be able to walk upright and righteous...
Ephesians 4: 1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
I urge all of us... walk worthy of the calling of God upon your life... walk upright... walk in holiness... let God not be ashamed of us... I want to hear God say to me... well done my good and faithful servant....

made strong in weakness...

2 Corinthians 12:7-10Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

first off, let me say I do not have a big head over revelations... nor do I think I have any right to...
but... God has given me this ENORMOUS vision and as He gives me bits and pieces of it in revelation... I often say to Him "I can't do this... I am not this big... or you have the wrong one..." and today I hear Him say to me... I know you can't do this... you never were supposed to... but I can do it through you...
none of this is about my ability or qualities or gifts or anything.... (whew... that is a load off my mind... let me tell you....) God already knew I couldn't do anything by myself so apparently the plan is... when I feel like I am bout to fall apart or breakdown... HE stands up IN me... how awesome is that?? so my next thought was... okay then... when will I ever get secure and feel confident again? and He then says.... never... this never was about you.. never will be... this is My vision, My plan... let Me get glory through using you... (notice He did NOT say me get glory FOR Him...) lololol... maybe my being unable to do this... is WHY He will get all the glory... because I surely don't look like much in the physical form... surely not what is expected.... that's for sure... I honestly thank God today for His spirit within me... leading me and guiding me and obviously... changing me... directing my paths...

I praise you Father God... I give you all the glory and honor due your holy name... I magnify you... I worship you... I love you, adore you, I bow down before you...

what is your future...

Jeremiah 29:11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

as long as you are a child of God, saved by the blood of Jesus, walking in righteousness, then the promises of the bible are true for you... but I believe that God gives each of us specific promises for our lives... sometimes it will feel as though we read the bible and something in your spirit moves... or the words may seem to stand out to you... in my own experience, when that happens God is speaking to me... personally... telling a promise to me... usually when He does this He will also give more scripture saying the same thing... preachers preaching the same thing... dreams.. and He will speak... until whatever was said is secure within my spirit and I know it is for me...

what has God promised you for your future? your bible holds answers for you... if your spirit is in tune with the spirit of God... He will speak life into you....

life from death...

Ezekiel 37:10 So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.
11 Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'
12-14 "Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realize that I am God. I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it. God's Decree.'"

I believe God wants to breathe life back into us... sometimes the weight of the world gets so heavy.. things don't go the way we think they should... people leave us when we have done no wrong... we don't understand why things happen when our thought is to just do right by God... and the weight of feeling unloved and unloveable gets too heavy... and we are dead... whether it be spiritual death or emotional death... we just feel dead...
throughout the bible you hear God repeat the phrase "then my people will know I am God and give me honor and give me praise"... what will it take for us to recognize that He is God?? we serve a living God... yet we give him less time than any man we know... we can give praise to a dead man... or to a man of power in human terms... but what does it take for God to truly get our praise?? what does it take for us to recognize the power that the blood shed by Christ gives us? what does God have to do for us to truly SEE Him as the Living God??
give God your praise... give Him your time... sit in His presence... sit under His word... lay on your face before Him give him the recognition that He truly deserves... and He will fulfill any promise He has spoken into your spirit (operative words being HE SPOKE..) He is God enough... He is God more than enough... He is all there is.... He is Life evermore...

diversity...

hmmm... one would think I am very diverse... the color of my skin is white... my mind and body thinks in another color... my children are black... my church is historically black... my family members are black...
but it turns out... that when faced with challenges from other cultures... I get annoyed... I call to make a reservation at a hotel today and there is no one that speaks english... the woman answers the phone saying "Ola"... I immediately think uuuugggghhhhh... so I ask a question and she puts a child on the phone... the child doesn't really understand what I am saying... so I ask if there is a better time to call to speak to someone who speaks english... (wanted to say american there... see how wrong... ) and they tell me no... there is no one speaking english who works there at all...
now while we tend to feel that people should change themselves to adjust to our ways... something in my spirit is telling me that is wrong... that I have to be the one to accept differences in others... that I have to be willing to accept people as they are... how can I say I am christlike... yet get mad if I can't understand someone who was raised differently?? MANY people don't understand me... yet apparently I have the gall to judge someone else...
I honestly believe that God does not see us in color... he sees us in spirit... as long as our spirit is right with him... it matters none what color we are... what race... what nationality... we think the church should be open, yet when others come in, how accepting are we really? even others of our own race... when they dress differently or talk differently, maybe they are dirty or poor... or if they have money, then some people run toward them... what would God feel about any of that?
the bible tells us that Jesus was nothing to look at... so would we have shunned him because his hair is long, or he hangs with the thieves and murderers and prostitutes? what if he sagged his pants... and had braids... what if he hung out in the club... what if him and his friends appear as though they hustle... and they hang out with the girls from the club... or he was poor or he was dirty... what would our response to him be? I look within myself and I don't like what I see...
Father... cleanse me of all unrighteousness... create in me a clean heart and clean hands... make me accepting of all your children... regardless of what they look like, smell like, act like... make me like you... in every way... I ask this in the name of Christ Jesus.. my Lord and Saviour... amen.

got love?

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.