United We Stand

It’s heartbreaking for me to watch the direction our country is going in. Our news programs are packed with stories of violence, scandal, and greed. The shows that fill our television airwaves capitalize on fistfights, mayhem, and debauchery. (Yes, debauchery.) The songs our children hear on the radio highlight fornication, selfishness, and the love of money.


In a world that’s been educated to look out for personal gain, we are becoming further disjointed as a people. There is a lack of respect, a lack of care, a lack of unity that is bringing us to destruction.

Even in the body of Christ, the fissures are apparent. People are looking for their blessing, their miracle, their financial breakthrough, their spiritual promotion. We are so busy seeking our own gain that we’ve forgotten about our mission: the lost.

Our Lord told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:39) He taught us to be humble before Him as little children. (Matthew 18:13) The Word also speaks of living peaceably with mankind. (Romans 12:18)

Somewhere along our journey, we’ve let those things fall to the wayside. It’s gotten to the point that we don’t even acknowledge strangers on the street.

We all can make strides to become a better body of believers. We are supposed to be fitly joined together, working in harmony for the Kingdom of God.

It’s not about our personal glory. It’s not about what we can gain. It’s about how we can use the tools God has given us to reach a world that is dying by the second.

We can do so much more for the Lord if we can put aside our personal aims and look to unite together with one voice. Jesus said if we seek the Kingdom first He’ll add all those other desires to our lives anyway.

I believe that it’s only a truly united church that will be able to overcome the great darkness that is trying to envelop our nation. Only a united front will be able to combat the strongholds of sin that have taken root in our land.

As we put our personal desires to the back, we can move God’s agenda to the front, and then we can go forward as a body and change the world!

Verse of the Day: ...walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1b-3

Personal Pets

I’ve never had a pet. My mother always said that our family was too busy to properly care for an animal. Which, looking back, was probably true. That didn’t stop my sister and I from asking for something furry and cuddly to love on.

I always wanted a kitten. A ginger striped kitten. There was something about the quietness and serenity of cats that appealed to me.

Despite my lack of physical pets, I've had a couple of pet sins that I liked to keep around that had no business in my life. And if you look closely at yourself, you’ve probably got some personal ‘pets’ hanging around too.

Let me explain. You know that stronghold that’s been over your life for as long as you can remember? That guilty pleasure that you occasionally dabble in from time to time? Those practices that you keep that make you cringe whenever your pastor brings them up in his messages?

Yeah, those. You know what I’m talking about. I consider those to be some personal pets that need to be put down.

It could be Gossip. Porn. Fornication. Lying. Stealing. The pets come in all shapes and sizes and forms. All they need is a happy home, and they’ll stay as long as you let them.

Many of us can kick out other sins with a quickness, but take great strains to keep our little ‘pet sins’ hanging around in our lives. We take them out and stroke them, feed their desires, and give them attention.

But those pet sins that we dote on are actually eating us out of our heavenly house and home. They’re snapping up our blessings and blocking out the room that we need to grow to greater heights in God.

It’s time for us to take a stand and put out those personal pet sins! No matter how attached to them we’ve become, we have to stay strong and turn them loose. We can not put anything above our relationship with God.

Yeah, our fleshly hearts may hurt having to let go of things that we found pleasure in. However, the joy we will feel as God renews and refreshes our spirits will more than compensate for the loss.

Verse of the Day: Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. I John 2:15

Thanksgiving Friday

Well, the first full week of the year is over, and we have 51 more to go!



I pray that you are still experiencing excitement and motivation over what 2011 has to offer! Let’s continue to press toward the mark for the prize and not get discouraged. (Philippians 3:14) We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13)

I am so thankful for all of the possibilities that are out there for me! There are so many opportunities, open doors, and blessings just waiting on me to encounter them.

I’m also grateful that God is giving me wisdom to not bite off more than I can chew. Since I’ve come to the realization that HE is ultimately in control, I can rest assured knowing that He will guide my life in the right directing with the right timing.

This week I’m also thankful for a renewed sense of God’s love. This is helping me to try to lead a more loving life showing love to the people around me. It is also encouraging me to share the love of Christ with those who have no idea who He is.

Let’s continue to have a stellar year! God bless you!

Verse of the Day: Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalm 100

Choose To Lose the Attitude

Can I be a bit transparent today? Thanks.

I can catch a negative attitude pretty quick. All it takes is something happening that is not according to plan, and I’m liable to get in a sour mood.

I like things to be neat and orderly… in their proper place… running on schedule. So, when things are helter-skelter… in disarray… late… I tend to get frustrated and aggravated which causes me to slip on a negative ‘tude.

Now, they say the first step in recovery is recognizing you have a problem. So, I believe I can be rehabilitated. Lately I’ve been keeping myself alert to my changing moods and emotions, and I have started to rein myself in when I felt the urge to go there.

Yesterday evening I had one of those moments. Nothing even really happened to set it off. I was just sitting and thinking about some things that were happening in my life that I felt were not right, and I started to dip into a negative and depressed state of mind.

Thanks be to God I was on my way to having my study time! The scriptures that I looked over spoke directly in to my bad-attitude-self!

I took a break from reading and gave myself a good talking to, handed my worries to the Lord, encouraged myself, and chose to be positive and happy. I literally had to slap myself with the joy of the Lord.

Sometimes life’s happenings can cause us to be discouraged, but we don’t have to take on the bad attitudes, feelings, and mindsets that try to latch onto us with that discouragement. We can choose to be positive. We can choose to be joyful. We can choose to take God’s Word to heart and apply it to our very situations.

Our God loves us so much! Let me repeat: Our God – the Master of the Universe, the Creator of the World, the King of Kings – loves YOU so much! His love will not let you fail. You’re not going to lose. You’re destined to win!

So no matter what seems to be falling apart, running behind, or missing in your life – God is still in control. He’s going to make sure that you make it to your destined end. Don’t let your attitude slip because of what you see. Constantly remind yourself that God’s got you – the one He loves – safe in His arms.

Choose to believe that, and you can’t help but have a great attitude about life!

Verse of the Day: Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God… John 14:1

Out With the Old, Time for Some New!

I am truly an American. I’m not a die-hard patriotic. I can’t recall all the details of our nation’s history. Yet, the culture, thinking, and ways of this place have seeped into my soul.

I am normally concerned with those things that affect my little microcosm world. If it doesn’t affect my family, my friends, my work, or my interests, I really don’t want to be bothered with it. Yes, being a Christian has widened my scope to some degree, but when it all boils down: I’m concerned about ME.

This year, I’m throwing that bad mentality out the window! There is a world out there that is lost and dying, and someone has to go out and let them know the truth. No longer can I sit in my church and pray that they somehow miraculously stumble into my path. I have to go out and stumble into theirs!

So, I am looking at some volunteer organizations to get involved with. I am investigating some charities (outside of my church) to support financially. More importantly, I am going to keep my spiritual eyes, ears, and my physical mouth open to what the Holy Spirit is leading me to do.

Usually I am in my own lane, zooming from one place to the next, barely taking notice of the swirling populace around me. No more! It’s time for me to slow down, pay attention, and go outside of my comfort zone. Too many people don’t know God!

I encourage you to take some internal stock as well. If you’re already out spreading the Good News – great! Help some of us come up to that higher level with you!

If you are like me, I challenge you to figure out how you can be more of an active witness for Christ on a daily basis. Christ told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, but too many of us are sticking to our own tiny doorstep. (Mark 16:15)

Let’s make this a year of outreach and evangelism! They’re out there… Let’s go get ‘em!

Verse of the Day: Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32, 33

Try, Try Again

You’ll never fail if you don't stop trying. One of my favorite ministers of the Gospel, Joyce Meyer, said this on her broadcast the other day. Her words struck me and made me pause.

So often I have allowed failure to come into my life just because I gave up trying to succeed. I allowed a setback, fear, and my thoughts of what others could think to cause me to quit.

Yet it is those who are tenacious and persistent who reap the rewards of attaining their goals. The ones who dig their heels in and keep focused despite the surrounding atmosphere eventually win the prize.

You don’t have to look far to discover stories of successful men and women who had to overcome countless rejections, setbacks, and roadblocks in their journey to dream fulfillment. Many businessmen, athletes, celebrities, and ministers have had to deal with the pain of blocked progress.

However, these people chose to try again. They chose to ignore their past and even present discouragement. They instead picked themselves up and began again.

We all are on the road to success. We all have the potential to reach our goals and obtain the happy, purpose-filled lives that we envision. We just have to make the choice to continue to move forward. We can’t let our present situations dictate our end story.

Don’t give up! Keep working on that dream, keep trucking towards that goal! You haven’t failed yet! As long as you’re running towards the finish, you’re still in line for the prize.

Verse of the Day: And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Hebrews 6:15

Living Proof

A great number of the Christian community enters the first few weeks of the year in prayer and fasting. We set aside the beginning of the year to seek God’s direction for our lives, pray for others, and hear what He would have to say to us.

Often we come away with rich words of wisdom and have a clearer picture of God’s will for us. What we do with those revelations can be the hard part. We start off so excited and ready to fulfill the call of the Lord, but we can wind up throwing in the towel when adversity and trials enter our paths.

This morning in my time of devotion, I read Romans 12:2. I’ve read this scripture many times before, yet this time the words struck me with their meaning.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The word prove especially caught my attention. When something is proven, it’s truth and validity is established. Prove also means to give demonstration of by action. (Dictionary.com)

We all are in the process of proving God’s will whether we are aware of it or not. Once we accepted Christ, we became living examples of God’s will at work in the earth. Every promise that God laid down in the Bible is supposed to be evidenced in our lives.

Yet many of us do not experience the full fruition of God’s will in our lives. Why? Because we don’t apply the first part of the verse!

We are to transform ourselves by renewing our minds. We are to make our minds brand new through our study and application of the Word.

Many of us study, but how many of us apply? – And when I say apply, I'm not just referring to the things that are easy for us, but the hard actions as well!

Once we take on the resolve to fully renew our minds, our lives will be transformed, and we will experience the joy of living in the perfect will of God. We will prove to the world that God’s Word works! We will be able to draw more people into the Kingdom when they see the evidence of God’s Promise walking in the earth.

Verse of the Day: ...Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:22-24 (NLT)