Mind Your Own Business!
“.and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business….” I Thessalonians 4:11.

I must learn to mind my own business. My interference in matters have no place in my Christian Walk. God has no use for me to meddle in matters that do not concern me. God did not call me to be a midwife trying to help give birth to others, but to help in the process of growing others through teaching and discipleship. Too often I added my two cents by saying, “I wouldn’t do that”.
Peter was a great interferer. When Jesus announced his plan to submit to crucifixion, Peter jumped in immediately and tried to change the plan of God. “Get behind me Satan” was the Master’s stern reply (Matthew 16:23). God will not have us meddle in His will. Peter still did not learn. At the seaside he was more concerned with John’s future than his own, and again Jesus corrected him, “What is that to you? You follow me” (John 21:21).

It is very difficult for me to learn the difference between when God uses me and when I use myself. The problem is not motive, but discernment. At times I am so blind and full of myself that I cannot see the delicate and gentle movements of God in the hearts of others. I want them to fulfill my expectations and mold them according to my will. I want to solve other people’s problems when I don’t or won’t even take the time to solve my own. I blame others for their troubles by saying “if you only have listened to me.”

I must always remember I am a tool of God, not the hand of God. I should always be ready to help but not get in the way due to my impatience. God’s ways and plans are not my way of doing things. I want instance obedience from others when I do not do the same. Let me just rejoice when God calls me to be a “chosen vessel”. (Acts 9:15).

Nothing more, nothing less!

In Spite of…..
Don’t be glad when your enemy’s meet disaster, and don’t rejoice when they stumble. The LORD will know if you are gloating, and he will not like it; and then maybe he won’t punish them. Prov. 24: 17-18.

I think all of us at one time or another has struggles with anger towards someone who has treated us unkindly. I know this was the case for me. A person called me and told me that he did not want the devotionals we send out every morning. He was quite rude and vulgar. He called them stupid and other terrible things. All of this took place because we intervened in making a report on this person who had a history of domestic violence. We intervened because the children were in a very violent environment and were under much psychological distress and in constant physical danger.

Later on I heard that this same person who treated me unkindly fell into some problems and the Lord brought to my attention the above-mentioned scripture. I immediately understood what God was saying. I felt that I should pray for him and that he might come to know God’s love.

God expects us to pray for those who persecute us for righteousness sake. The lesson here is no matter much a person has hurt us God expects us to forgive and show mercy. Who has hurt you? How much pain do you feel? Understand that people act mean because they do not know the love of God. Your prayer for them can make all of the difference in the world?

Who do you need to pray for?

God Hears and Answers!
Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you atoned for our transgressions. Psalm 65:1–3

We must realize that everything that manifests itself physically, emotionally, or psychologically has its roots in the spiritual. Everyone must consider what they are chasing in life and if it will last. The world offers dry wells from which people seek fulfillment. But Father God who is the fountain of living water offers an oasis in a very dry and desolate world. When we are in a counseling people with some troubled person who has a marital problem or financial problem or some other kind of problem; I must tell that person very honestly: God is extremely interested in you. However, we must understand that we live in a culture where we want instant answers and instant success. We want everything we see on TV and more. We want everything at the speed of a microwave oven. We want instant healing, success, instant discipleship, instant holiness, and instant answers to our prayers. How many people do you know that have many material things but are miserable? When one chooses to follow Christ, this is not an easy road to embark on. We are constantly being pulled way to follow our desires and our will. God wants us to depend upon Him and follow His example. He does not want us to rely on our own strength, wisdom, or how the world wants us to think and act. He wants to lead. He wants us to ask Him for every area in our life. His answer may not what we want to hear but God will answer. Usually, the answer to our questions is in God’s Word. We must also understand that we have an enemy that will resist us drawing near to God at every situation and circumstance in our lives. We need to check our hearts and see if really, we are embracing God and His promises.

That’s what the psalmist says, “O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come.” Ultimately everybody needs God. Everybody needs to know that God hears and answers prayer. That’s what’s going to bring, is the fact that God hears and answers prayer. It may not be the answer we expect or like but it is His answer. And there’s one special prayer that He delights to answer above all others and that is the prayer for forgiveness of our sins. When we’ve sinned and failed God and man we don’t need to turn away in despair, we can turn back to God, cry to Him for forgiveness and then we’ll be able to say, as the psalmist says there, “When we were overwhelmed by sins, you atoned for our transgressions.”

Don’t let fear or guilt or despair keep you from praying. When you are in trouble don’t blame God. Don’t run from the cross, run to the Cross of Calvary. Following Father God and His word is a long road of obedience in the same direction towards the Cross of Calvary. Remember, in the depths of your agony God hears and He answers prayer.

Don’t settle for less!
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there. Terah lived 200 years. He died in Haran. The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. Gen. 11:31-32 & Gen 12: 1-2.

This is the tale of two men. This is a story of how the son followed God and his father chooses not to. Both received from God a call to leave their country and go to the land of Canaan but one obeyed and the other did not. Canaan represents the blessing of God. A land of fruitfulness. A place of plenty and peace. A place where one can fulfill one’s dreams. A place where your very presence will be a blessing to others.

Why did Terah (Abraham’s father) travel towards Canaan but settled halfway? Why does a person not reach out for the very best God has to offer? Why do some find it easier to complain about their circumstances and wallow in self-pity? We all know people who will continually have a pity party for themselves. They are always complaining about something however others blossom no matter where God calls them to be. Why is this? I believe that it has to do with the attitude of our heart. We all have been knocked around by life. We have all had many hardships and trials. Why do some settle for mediocrity and others for total victory? Terah gave up when it got difficult. He settled in and died in the land of mediocrity. He never experienced God’s best. Anything that is worth anything takes a lot of persistence and hard work. But Tereh did not have it within him to continue. Why? Maybe because he was a crybaby? Don’t ever give up. That is easy. Don’t have a pity party when things get tough.

God has great plans for each one of us. He wants to bless us and fulfill our dreams. He wants to take you further than you have ever dreamed. But He needs your complete trust. He needs you to look to Him and believe that all things are possible for those who trust Him.

Don’t be a quitter! Be steadfast in God and in His power and you will eventually overcome all obstacles.

Trusting in God’s Faithfulness!
[Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

God tests us by allowing us to go through different experiences so we may grow in faith and endurance. Sometimes those testing’s come by our disobedience toward Him and His Word. I remember there was a time that I was extremely ill. It was not God testing me it was due to my poor eating habits and lack of exercise. My disobedience in these areas created havoc on my body.
How can we rejoice in those difficult moments of testing? Remember, God does not use sickness or sinful situations to test us. The enemy, Satan uses sickness and disease. The testing of our faith produces both endurance and patience. God stated that in this world we would face tribulation and persecution but we are to stand strong and resist the enemy. Standing strong and resisting the enemy is the testing of our faith.

How do you respond to that situation? Do you say to yourself, “Everything’s gone wrong! The Lord’s promise will never come true”? No, I don’t believe that. It says, “Until the time that the promise came, the word of the Lord tested him.” How important it is to see that when the Lord gives us a promise, many times everything that happens next will seem to be the very opposite of what God has promised. It’s so important that at times like that we don’t give up on the promise, we don’t say, “God has forgotten; God has failed.”
We must speak unto those mountains that we are facing the promises of God. We should confess openly and without shame our trust in God. Many people speak of their mountains but not of their faith.

You see, that promise that God gave us is testing us. It’s testing our faith and our constancy to see if we’ll hold on in the darkest hour. And when we pass the test, then, like all the people in scripture, we will see the promises of God will be fulfilled.

Remember the way to Think, is what you will Speak. And what you speak is how you will Live!

Take Back What the Devil has Stolen!
He redeems your life from the Pit; He crowns you with faithful love and compassion. Psalm 103:4.

Lord, I thank you that no matter how Satan attacks you are full of mercy and compassion. You are the Master of the irreversible. I have seen God turn around very difficult situations. The key to victory is called FAITH!

Some time ago I was targeted by a supervisor where I taught classes in a college. At our first encounter in 2017 she was pleasant yet appeared to be fearful. I sensed this and after a while I prayed with her to overcome fears. Over the years she became quite hostile towards me because I was very open with the students of my Christian faith. She conducted an evaluation of my teaching and stated that she found me to be bigoted, racist, and homophobic. We discussed the evaluation and I told her that I did not agree with her assessment.

A week later I received her written evaluation and she told me just to sign it and all would be fine. I must admit I was quite angry regarding this untruthful injustice but after I calmed down, we decided to trust God for His intervention. As my wife and I prayed about this the Holy Spirit told me not to sign it and contact the union.

My wife and I continued in prayer about this and so I contacted the union all the while praying that Father God would provide us a Christian person to defend me. The union rep spoke with me and then contacted her superiors and told them what she was doing was against the law and if this was not rescinded, we would file a lawsuit. I told my rep that I was not comfortable suing her or the college. I said to him that I never saw Jesus sue His enemies. I was happy that this was resolved in a positive manner. The unlawful evaluation was removed from my personnel file and I taught for two years more.

The key here was to pray for the situation and for her. We still pray for her because our goal is for her to surrender to Jesus!

Redemptive Love!
And we love to come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. I John 4:16

God commands us to love others. However, He does not mean I should love them naturally, but redemptively. Marriage is not a contract but rather it’s a covenant. The covenant between not only between the couple but also the couple with God. The basic difference between traditional marriage and covenant marriage is how the parties enter into the marital contract. In a traditional or “contract” marriage, a couple need only purchase a marriage license, obtain two witnesses and have a state-licensed agent to perform at the ceremony. In a covenant marriage God has established it with Him through covenant because it is only through loving him can we truly love one another. It’s based on redemptive love God’s love.

Redemptive love is God’s way. God showed this convincingly in the life of Hosea, the prophet. His wife left him and went to live with another man, and Hosea had the humiliating experience of having to buy her back from her adultery. (Hosea 3:1-3). Think about buying back what is already yours! Yet, that is what God did for us at Calvary. Father God told Hosea to do this because this is exactly what Israel did to Him. They left Him, and went after false gods. We fail to understand that God is a jealous God and He wants all our love, all of dedication, all of us. Not just on Sundays but every day of our life.

It is my great pleasure to say that I have been married to my best friend for 25 years. We have not always seen eye to eye and yes, we’ve had our ups and downs but in all we understand the relationship is a covenant not just between ourselves but with our Lord Jesus Christ. Redemptive love knows no shame; it is concerned with the loved one, not with its own feelings. Jesus did not cry out in self-pity, “Poor Me” when He was hanging on the cross. Hosea did not flinch or complain when he bought back his wife. He took her shame and disgrace as his own and for her sake he paid her debt willingly and brought her home safely once again. Redemptive love binds and makes permanent. Gomer, Hosea’s wife, never left him again. How could she, after love like that? I am at times weak and run from God but soon God brings me back home once again. Redemptive love is the most powerful binding force in the world.

We should realize that we cannot love others naturally. We must run to Christ and hove Him fill us with His love so we can love others as He has commanded us. This is redemptive love. Marriages and relationships fail because we rely on human love. Human love will never be sufficient. It is never enough. It’s only through God’s love that we can truly reach and be there for one another.

Tossed by the Wind!
“Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let such a person not imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord.” James 1:6-7; Amplified Bible (AMP)

I know that every person is racked by doubts at some time in their life. Doubt comes in like a flood when it appears that our life is out of control. We want to believe but it appears the more we try the more we seem to sink. So, you ask yourself how one can truly believe? I think there are several things that must be addressed for us to understand the nature of faith and confession.

First, we must have a promise to base our faith on. Scripture states in Heb. 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” To have faith we must find a promise in the Word of God to base our faith. Let’s say you are ill. God says that we are already healed in Christ. That is what we confess no matter what! No matter what your body says you confess that you are healed in Christ according to the promise of God.

Second, we can’t move by our senses. Scripture states 2 Cor. 5:7, “For we live by believing and not by seeing.” We are socialized by the things we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. To us that is reality. And this is true in the physical world but in the spiritual world it is not. Thomas didn’t believe the Lord resurrected until he saw Him. But the Lord said, “Thomas, blessed are those who believe and have not seen.” That means we can’t guide our lives by circumstances but by the promises in the Word of God.

Third, we need to battle against doubt. Satan is the father of lies. He will try to steal your faith and peace of mind by showing you everything that is negative. He will fill your mind with doubt, fear, and even rage. We need to SPEAK the promise of God continually to him to break down those strongholds of fear and doubt that he wants to establish in our minds. There are times that I might repeat a promise of God fifty times in one day to fight against those negative things that try to invade my mind. Remember that it is an on-going battle.

Once again scripture states, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. We need to fill our hearts and minds with faith and not doubt. Praise God continually for the answer to that promise. The answer to your prayer is just on the other side of those negative circumstances.

How Do You Think?

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything, worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Phil. 4: 8

The way we think will affect the way we talk. The way we talk will affect the way we live. Many of us don’t realize that we can think on purpose. Our thinking will determine our circumstances and how we respond to them. God has given to each of us an imagination that we can use to build or destroy our selves and God’s plan for us. Why is it that our mind can see the worst in ourselves or others? We have been programmed to only see the worst in ourselves and others. How does that programming take place? It has come in the form of negative words spoken over us by family, friends, teachers, and the media. We are bombarded by negative messages every day. For example, we feel pain in our body and our imagination can dream up the worst scenario that will take place.

I have ministered to a lot of people over these last 53 years and I have seen people who live victorious lives and others who wallow in their pain and misery. Those who understand that way they think will determine their speech. And their speech will determine how they will live. If you speak and think doubt you will live doubt. If you think and speak faith you will live faith.

The Apostle Paul exhorts us to think only about the positive attributes of ourselves and others. He Is not saying that we should ignore those areas in our lives that we need to grow. We need to say to ourselves, “Maybe I am not where I need to be in the things of God but at least I am not where I was.” We need to say out loud every day, “I am getting better every day in every way.” Train your mind to think positive thoughts. Refuse to think negatively about yourself or others. Your thoughts will determine the life you lead. If you think that you can’t then you are already defeated. Say every day, “I am well, complete, victorious, and well able to do all things through the power of God.”

How you THINK is how you will SPEAK, and the way you speak will determine the way you LIVE!

And they Complained!
“They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses…” Numbers 21:4.

We live in a culture and mentality that we want instant answers and instant success. We want everything, we see on TV. We want everything we can have but we don’t want to pay
for it when times get tight. Over the years, various choices have led us into challenging situations, and now we often hope for swift solutions. Can you imagine as parents if we bailed our children out of every mess instantly not letting them learn their lesson. I can guarantee they will be doing the same thing again, thinking my dad will get me out of this mess again. I remember that when I was about 10 years old, I stole a dog collar from a supermarket. I was caught by store security and they called the police and my father.

My father arrived first and then the police. The police officer asked my father what he wanted them to do. He told them to arrest me. They handcuffed me and put me in the back of the police car. Boy, was I scared! I want you to know that I am 75 years old and I still can see my father’s face and feel those handcuffs as I sit here and write to you. I probably would have done even more things if I had not taught this lesson.

Many of us have gotten ourselves into terrible debt by unwise spending and now we want an instant miracle by God to deliver us. Why, so we can spend money we don’t have and get back into financial problems. We get ourselves into these problems and when things go wrong, we blame everything and everyone except ourselves.

Israel spent 400 years in captivity in Egypt because they left God for other gods that the world had offered them. God was delivering them, but they became impatient and began to complain
because they felt He was not moving quickly enough. They spoke against God and against Moses who tried to lead them in God’s ways. How many times have we made very selfish and unwise decisions and when things go bad, we blame God! How many times we don’t think God is moving fast enough to answer our prayers and we begin to complain. God says, “can two walk together if they don’t agree?” (Amos 3:3). You know the answer to that one. God wants to deliver you but you MUST SURRENDER your favorite sin. You must submit to Him to have a fruitful life. There is much you need to learn and do along the way!