Don't Let Your Past Stop You!!!

                 It’s been a while since the last time I have taken the time to write. I feel today is very necessary as it will be very cathartic for me in my intent to give insight, revelation, and exposure to an issue plaguing people in ministry leadership positions but is not often discussed aloud. Anyone who has or is in any leadership position has had what the young kids call “shade being thrown on them.” Meaning the haters come out the wood work. Your past will continually be brought up by those who are intentionally looking to keep you in a place of the past, by those who are looking to taint your ministry by saying there is no way you should be in that position because of what you have done, and by people looking to take your place. However, your past can also be brought up by those who may have been effected by it and unintentionally cause you or others to question everything about yourself and your call. Now as believers we teach, preach, and believe that once you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior than your past has been forgiven. Whereas this may not exempt you from some of the consequences of your past (i.e if you are a felon from past decisions made you still have to go through what felons do saved or not), it does exempt you from the ultimate penalty of your past. The place where a lot of us run into problems is trying to prove we aren’t our past as opposed to just living this life as Christ requires. Trying to prove you’re not your past is a futile process that will lead to frustration and a lot of mental issues such as depression.
                I know that depression is a taboo word in the body of Christ but that is a very real issue and as leaders we go through it and fight it more often than we care to admit especially as it relates to dealing with the issues of our past. Please my brothers and my sisters understand that you were chosen not just despite your past but because of your past. I am not saying that one needs to be proud of your past and the things you have done but one also must understand that your past with all the wrong and right you have done made you who you are and got you where you are now. We quote the scripture in Romans 8:28 “For we know all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord, who are called according to HIS purpose” but do we really believe that everything we go through is working for the good. The good being to the glory of God. Nothing you have done or will do will ever shock or surprise God. He allowed you to go through it to make you for HIS purpose. The moment we truly realize that and believe that is the moment we have the proper ammunition to fight depression that stems from our past. See the enemy looks to use your past to hurt or hinder your progress by telling you that you aren’t worthy because of what you have been through or have done. He will try to discourage you because you were in ungodly predicaments prior to getting serious about your relationship with Jesus. The bible calls him the accuser of the brethren. It’s his job to recall your past and through it in your face, then cause you to hide it and try to prove you aren’t it which leaves you open to make more mistakes because in your effort to prove you aren’t it you also try to hide your past rather than deal with it.  We’ve all heard the saying that what gets covered up can never get healed up. This cover up allows this seed to grow and fester, helping to make it grow stronger which can and often does open the door to the spirit of depression.
                One of the other things the enemy will do with your past that helps to cause the spirit of depression to grow stronger is isolation. He will cause you to be so isolated for fear of someone finding out about your past or your struggles that you are left with no one to talk to (or at least in your mind). As leaders yes we need to be careful who we share our business with but no successful leader whether in ministry or in the secular realm has ever gotten to that level of success and effectiveness without a sounding board, a confidant, an ear to listen and even help correct and put in perspective when needed. We as leaders suffer from a Superman complex. We feel that because we have been placed by God in a position we can’t cause God to be seen in a bad light because of our struggles so we keep them to ourselves as well. This is nothing but ammunition for the enemy. He has no problem reminding you at the very moment you are about to minister or the very moment you are trying to hear from God, about your issues and your struggles you have hidden and begin to tell you how unworthy you are because of those things.  But when you can be transparent you take away the ammo for the enemy to hit you with, you take away power that he has to hold over you. Allow me to give you an example, now most of you reading this don’t and will never listen to Eminem however I am going to use him as an example anyway. He used to do a lot of battle rapping in Detroit, now if you are unfamiliar with battles they are lyrical confrontations where the point is to defame your opponent in rhythmic fashion while at the same time allowing your flow to be on point. What made Em so great which is what he brought into his rap career was his ability to first expose what would be considered his flaws that could be used against him before then exposing his opponent’s flaws and using them against them. Doing this left his enemy with either no ammo or rehashing things he already exposed which in a battle is ineffective. This is how we need to approach our “battle” with the enemy, when we expose and uncover to a confidant our struggles and expose to God our struggles we defuse the enemies ability to hold it over our head. Furthermore we must come to the realization that we can’t make God look bad by being real with our faults it makes God look that much more amazing because if He can use you with your faults He can use me too. This confrontation with your past will force you to deal with your past which will help you get through it and be delivered from it. It doesn’t make one weak to admit they have struggles and shortcomings or even fight the spirit of depression it makes one wise. Wise enough to truly believe the word of God when He said that He ordered your steps, He knew what He was doing when He called you, and He would cause ALL things to work together for the good. Your job isn’t to make yourself worthy because you are worthy since God chose to call you, your job is simply to be obedient.  Stop wrestling with your past and be delivered from it. Stop acting like you haven’t or aren’t fighting depression when you know you are. Stop not talking about what you’ve been through cus you never know who you maybe able to help or cause to come to Christ because if you struggle and God is turning your life around than He can do the same for me. Don’t negate the power of the blood of Jesus by thinking your issues can keep people from salvation allow your testimony to be known and deal with those things with in you as well that the fullness of the power of Jesus can be revealed through you and your story. As always grow in God’s Grace and Abide in His Love!

Increase Me?

Increase Me?

    I was sitting here at work and I was listening to Donald Lawrence Bless Me Indeed. As I was listening to it I was hearing in my spirit all that God has and had been saying to me concerning the next level of my life and spiritual walk. Then I began to think about the prayer of Jabez (the prayer the song comes from) that was so popular back in the day to the point that a book was written about the prayer which is only a few lines biblically and after that even Jabez himself (to my recollection) isn't mention. While thinking about all of this I came to the realization that while everyone in the body of Christ enjoys that song and that scripture and that book and even more pray that type of prayer most don't know what that actually entails for them. So much so that when the enlargement process starts they themselves fall. Understand that being enlarged means that you are being increased in size, amount, strength, or quality. To augment. This means that at some point in time you are being stretched. This stretching is more than just a slight pull. But a full stretching. When one goes to stretch their natural muscles what happens is they are pulling them in order to prepare them for work (hint hint). Another type of stretching is to extend something and make it longer to be able to hold more or encompass more. Now while that may sound enticing the fact remains that the thing being stretched whether it's muscles or something else is being pulled beyond it's normal position which I bet if those things could talk they would tell you it hurts. Now the song and the prayer asks God to enlarge the territory but one must understand before God can or will enlarge your territory HE is going to have to first enlarge (increase) your vision and your mind. That means you must first be stretched before your territory can be stretched because in order to get bigger you must first be bigger. This prayer and expression of Oh God that you would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory has become so cliché that we often say it without thought to what it actually means for our lives. You are asking God to increase things around you but yet aren't willing to increase yourself. The bible teaches us that you can't pour new wine into old wineskins. The reason is because the old wineskin or container will explode and spill the new wine all over the floor and make it useless. Now let's relate that another way. What good does it do you or God for HIM to stretch and increase your territory and you have yet to learn how to or even prepare to learn how to handle that increase. You will go in it with an old mentality, which is one that won't work in the new territory and what will happen is you will mess it up and thus taint the land that has been given to you. That blood is on your hands.  

   Today is the national day of prayer and my wife sent me an article she saw dealing with it. That article was so clear it's ridiculous. The article basically said we waste a lot of time praying and asking God to do things HE has already given us the power and the authority to do, HE's made it within the realm of human possibility. Let me make that practical, how many of you pray when you get up and ask God to dress you (not what you should wear but actually dress you)? My hope is that none of you are that foolish to ask God that. Now, why is that foolish? It's foolish because you can very well dress yourself so there is no need to ask God to dress you. We do the same thing in our prayer life. We ask God to do things HE has already commanded us and given us the authority and ability to do yet we ask HIM because we are lazy and use HIM as a genie and a crutch to do what we should be doing.  Preparing for our next level when we ask for increase is one of those things we are to be doing ourselves. How dare we ask God to increase us and we aren't making preparation for the increase! How dare we ask God for the next level then complain because we are being stretched passed our comfort zone! How dare we ask God for increase and we aren't willing to do the work once the increase comes! You wanted more territory, you wanted the next level, you wanted the blessing, now you must do the work.

  To whom much is given much is required. So now the much is coming now you are responsible for it. That's a big part of the reason a lot of us aren't given anything because God knows we won't put in the work to make sure that its kept right, treated right, done right. Our increase won't ever come until we learn how to do for ourselves as God instructs us to do. Until we stop complaining about the stretching because we know that it is God doing it and HIS purpose is to build you not destroy you. Until we learn that while the stretching is going on, yes it is going to hurt, yes it's painful but it's necessary to equip you for what God has planned for you. Learn the lessons now so that you are better prepared then. Bless me and enlarge my territory God, no how about God prepare me first that I might be able to handle the blessing and the increase. It's not a comfortable process as I am learning. I am being stretched and pulled in ways I never thought I would be. I am going through things I have never had to face. I am dealing with issues I never had to deal with. I am finding out more about me in this process than I thought possible because I thought I knew myself. However, it has been worth it. So Lord continue to do what you are doing in me that I may be prepared to walk into my season as I take the limits off you and allow you to increase my territory which means first increasing and stretching me. Help me not to fight it but to go with it, help me not to complain about it but praise through it. And even in my fleshy moments God allow grace to cover me and your wisdom to guide me that I may see it, repent of it, and turn from it. Bless me oh God and enlarge my territory, that YOUR hand would be with me, and that YOU would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!
(I Chronicles 4:10). Remember to grow in God's grace and abide in HIS love.

Change your mind and Change your atmosphere!

Greetings and salutations in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Man it has been a while since I have written a real talk blog entry but I wanted to wait until I felt like I had something to say. I feel like today’s entry will contain just that kind of factor I look for before writing an entry. Today I feel led to talk about changing our mind in order to change our reality.

As the journey toward 2013 came closer and closer I began hearing more and having to speak more on the correlation between one’s mind and their reality in various ways. The problem that I feel we (especially as Christians) have is the way we think. A lot of people would say it’s either that we believe or don’t or that even the way we believe that brings about the problem. I would say that is simply a branch on the tree but not the root of the tree. For one can’t change the way one believes without first changing the way one thinks. Romans 12:2 tell us to not be conformed to this world but be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. In other words your job is to constantly be aware of the way you think.  2 Corinthians teaches us to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and there are many other examples I can use. My point is that I want us to understand that the way you think shapes your atmosphere. How does it do that? I’m glad you asked. Your atmosphere is shaped because of what you speak, what you speak is shaped off of what you and how you see (your perception), what you see is shaped off of what you believe and finally what you believe is shaped from the thoughts you think. For example (and I’ve used this example before) many Christians believe it is a sin to drink. That belief isn’t biblical but is shaped from what they heard someone (probably a pastor) say over and over again. Those words got to their ears and began to generate questions which were erroneously answered by tying together scriptures that aren’t meant to be linked in that way. Those words from someone else’s thoughts became their thoughts. Over time (whether a short or long period) that thought started to become a belief (because they allowed that thought to be mediated on and pondered on continuously), that belief ultimately became something they would speak and tell people as it relates to sin and drinking. That speech reinforced their now belief which was a thought which then effected their sight and their perception ultimately making this unbiblical truth a reality to them even though the doctrine of it is unfounded.

The same scenario can be used with finances. A lot of people grew up broke and poor but didn’t know it and didn’t realize it till someone else who has a different perception showed them their lack (usually with their words). All before this revelation came to them; they were fine with not having because they didn’t really realize they didn’t have much. Now since the revelation they have become discontent with their situation and will do whatever it takes to get out and stay out of that situation. Those words became that person’s thought process about life; a thought process which then shaped their speech from one of content with what they have to one of sad, poor, woe is me for what I don’t have. That speech of negativity became what they saw and changed their perception. Now they are poor, sad, and broke because that’s what they see so that is what they spoke. 

One of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 18:21 – Death and Life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it will eat the fruit thereof. All that scripture simply means is that what you say has power. Over in Matthew, Jesus lets us know that if any man believes in his heart and does not doubt he shall have what he says. So what you believe dictates how you see and what you see will dictate what you say which dictates your atmosphere. If you can get into the habit of controlling what you think, you’ll control what you believe and what you say. Doing so will change your life and change your atmosphere. For faith comes by hearing; since faith (which is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, in other words belief without sight) comes by hearing and you hear what is said but you speak what you believe and you believe what you think. If you could just get to the root and start thinking differently your environment and everything in it will change. This is not the power of thought doctrine though it sounds similar; it is the exercising of the ability in dominion God already gave you.

So again, the question is how one changes their thought? You change your thought with what you say (yes it is a cycle and circle).  Speak life at all times if nothing else than by using but by faith statements. Here is what I mean. There is a difference between faith speak and lying. If you have no money in your account and you are calling yourself a millionaire you aren’t speaking faith you are speaking a lie. However, you can acknowledge what is in the natural (no money in the account) while claiming what the word of God says (that you are blessed) and it changes your lie into true faith speak. Here is an example, I am broke but by faith God is supplying all of my needs. You have acknowledged what is in the natural but acknowledged the word of God and made the declaration you are standing on HIS word. You don’t have to believe this to speak it, you just need to speak it over and over and over again. The repetition of your verbiage will eventually seep into your heart (the core of your belief system) and then become a part of what you believe. Then as you speak it so shall it be because God’s word won’t lie or let you down remember I already told you that Jesus said if any man speaks and DOES NOT DOUBT IN HIS HEART he shall have what so ever he says. Once your mouth has changed your thoughts will change thereby changing your beliefs thereby re changing how and what you speak which will cause your atmosphere to change.

So in closing my advice to you all as you enter in to this new year check your thoughts and anything that is against what God has said in HIS word reject it and begin to think differently that you can believe differently that you can speak differently that you will see and experience differently. The only hold up to your success, your prosperity, your blessing, your anointing, and experiencing a mighty move of God in every area of your life is you and the way you think. If you can change that you can change your atmosphere. I pray that this has been a blessing to someone and as always remember to Grow in God’s Grace and Abide in His Love!