Unity

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! Psalm 133:1

I was watching Joyce Meyer one morning and she was talking about how she spent her days being spiritual and praising God listening to worship music and then her kids and husband came home and she said she went from spiritual to acting like the devil.  Oh how I can relate, it seems so easy to keep our peace and just praise God and then someone interrupts that.  How many opportunities in a day do you believe that you have to lose your peace with someone?  The kids come home from school and they are fighting, one brings home a note from the teacher about homework that has not been turned in, your husband has had a bad day and he is grouchy and he wants to know when dinner is going to be ready.  You find yourself standing in line a long time, all the while its your turn only to be told that they can’t help you and you need to go stand in the other line!!! An innocent conversation that you were having with a friend turns to offense because you said something that they took wrong.  How about in the marketplace, you find out that a co-worker has thrown you under the bus so that they look good to the boss or when all you have is angry customers calling all day long!!! The opportunities are endless.  I have come to realize that every time I encounter someone whether on a personal level or business, an opportunity for someone to lose their peace or to be offended is closer than we think. There is a reason that God says how good and pleasant it is to dwell together in unity.  We have an enemy and Jesus tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  Satan perverts everything that is of God and everything that is good.  God created us for relationship and he says it is good.  The enemy’s reciprocal is to cause division and he goes after to destroy relationships of all kinds.  God’s word also says that if ANY two of can agree as touching anything on earth, that it will be granted!  There is power of unity and agreement.  If the enemy can divide and separate, then our power is diluted and then of course we receive the opposite of what is good and pleasant.  We have bad and unpleasant.  I am not perfect, but I try to put my armor on when dealing with people.  I feel that it is my responsibility to do whatever I can to protect the unity because I know there is a war for my relationships.  This is going to be easier said than done especially if we are being mistreated, but God’s word says in Psalms that if our ways our pleasing to the Lord, he will cause our enemies to be at peace with us.  I don’t know about you, but I need that supernatural peace from my enemies.  Are there some relationships where you know you need to rise higher and protect the unity?  Is there someone you need to forgive?  Do you need someone to forgive you?  Let’s elevate our thinking and remember that God’s ways are higher than ours and if he says that unity is blessed, then let’s do whatever it takes to dwell in that unity.

 

Divine exchange

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;   Acts 3:19

I have a wonderful friend who I met in the mortgage industry about seven years ago.  We started at a local mortgage bank at the same time and her husband also worked there.  He always held high level C positions and she was an underwriter.  They were both very good at what they did and very knowledgeable about the business.  After they married they bought their first home together and shortly after that they purchased 4 more houses at the same time.  The problem with this is that the homes were purchased under the pretenses that they were going to be owner occupied, but they were really purchased as rental properties.  It was shocking for me to know that my friend’s husband had committed fraud when he knows the industry and its his job to protect the security of his company by detecting fraud.  The thing about rental properties is that they carry a higher interest rate due to the risk and you typically have to put a certain percentage down for the financing.  The homes were beautiful and they had renters in all their houses but they never ever paid their rent consistently and some even refused to pay their rent.  It became a huge financial burden for my friends to be able to carry all their mortgages on their salary.  I felt horrible for my friend and I knew that they were headed to bankruptcy.  The thing about sin is that is seems that we get away with it for a while, or we even justify it that God allowed it because they were able to get all the loans.  I had to be honest with my friend and give her the truth in love.  God was never going to bless their sin.  In fact, the lesson was learned by God allowing them to get the loans, but to never prosper from their deceptive ways.  What a hard lesson to learn.  The good news is they repented from their ways and submitted to the Lord and filed bankruptcy and surrendered all the homes.  God is faithful to them and they are living in a brand new home that they recently purchased – now that is impossible with man considering they have multiple foreclosures and a bankruptcy on their record – but not for God.  The thing about sin is that it is subtle sometimes and we feel that we got away with it, but God sees everything and it seems that we did get away with it because God allowed it and has yet to do anything about it.  The truth about that is that God would intend that we learn from our decisions and actions and there is a time of grace because he is a merciful God to allow us to discover the sin and turn away from it.  If that does not happen then he gently brings the correction needed so that we separate ourselves from the sin and stop the separation from Him due to our sin.  Is there anything that you have done that you believe you got away with?  Have you felt that you made a decision and have deep conviction that it was the wrong choice?  Have you made a decision that you knew was wrong, but justified it because everyone is doing it?  The truth is God sees everything and we have not gotten away with it and He will not bless our decisions that go against His word.  Sin carries a weight that we are not meant to carry and to exchange the sin for peace, releasing the weight is first to simply see the sin.  Secondly, make decisions to cut the sin out of your life….the word says if your eye sins gouge it out or if your hand sins to cut if off.  That sounds extreme and it is only a metaphor, but the message is to do whatever it takes to cut the sin out of your life, cut off its lifesource.  Next, repent which means to change your mind about the sin or change your direction, turn away from it and then ask Jesus to forgive you.  He is loving and his word says that therefore there is no condemnation which means he forgives you and he does not think badly nor will he remind you of it.  Jesus loves you and wants nothing to separate you from him and he wants to give you that divine exchange of peace for your burdens.  Amen!

 

Love uncovered

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1Corinthians 13

Most of you don’t know this but I was engaged to be married last April.  There had been a lot of strife and it reached its pinnacle during the holidays in 2009.  By January we were seeking a third party for help in trying to figure out some solution of what was going on.  Because of his financial situation he was living with me even though we remained pure and we began to start putting our money together and just making adjustments preparing to join as a couple.  Our counselor of course told us that we should not be living together  and we should not be joining our money until after we were married,  She said that our living situation was not biblical and we knew that, but we felt that God overlooked it due to the finances.  By the time we hit February we were hanging on by a thread and our wedding was in just two short months.  I really loved this person, but the strife kept me in confusion, I questioned whether I was in love and did not understand what was happening to us.  We were unraveling very quickly.  Valentine’s day was approaching and of course there were no plans and celebrating would seem like a lie – there was no reason to celebrate.  Valentine’s Day was on Sunday last year and he had to work.  We had gotten into an argument the night before and I woke up Sunday morning and noticed that he had taken money out of the bank without telling me.  Even though we were in division, I still honored our agreement that the money was ‘our’ money and I honored him by telling him every time I needed to make any expenditure.   He did not and then committed the ultimate disrespect and withdrew out money without telling me.   When I called him at work and confronted him for taking the money without telling me, his response to me was ‘I am almost done with you’!  That was very upsetting to say the least and I cried and I spent all day by myself and I decided to take myself to get something for dinner and I came home and he finally came home.  He did not even give me the consideration of telling me when he would be home.  When I got home we had nothing to say to each other and there was a lot of tension.  I walked out into the family room and I declared this.  Today is a day that is a celebration of love and I am being robbed of that and thank you for what is going on right now because you are setting me up for a blessing to come!  I had no idea that my declaration would be fulfilled.  Ultimately he left me two days after Valentines and I watched my wedding date come and go.  It was because of this interruption in my life that I decided to dive into a recovery program.  I knew I would survive the break up, however I knew it was what happened in my childhood that played a part in this.  Today I am a different person, I am not the same person that he left and my life has progressed into such peace and contentment.  I have actually had the opportunity to feel strongly about someone and even was proposed to on Christmas.  I had a mindset change that what is ahead of me is greater than anything that is behind me.  My breakup was not a loss, it was actually a gain.  The word says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into your heart the good things that God has for you.  Today that is what I stand on and as I am approaching Valentine’s Day and the anniversary of my breakup, I have decided to mark this season as one of celebration of the freedom that I now walk in.  God Bless you !

 

Think Excellence

Finally brethern whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of a good repute, if there is any excellence and anything worthy of praise, think of these things.  Phil. 4:8

I love it when I connect a dot.  My pastor says from time to time ‘the thing is never about the thing, but every thing is about everything’.  For a long time in my life I have lived on the fleshly side of life or reactionary side.  Here is what happens, I think something over and over then eventually it starts affecting my emotions and then I am ready for some type of action.  Today is a case in point, pretty embarrassing, but here goes.  I was upset that my company is open today.  It starts with it figures because I work with  a bunch of men and they are not afraid to get on the road.  Who can I call today, no one is in because all the schools are closed?  All I am going to be able to do is use the internet and I can do that at home! What happens if I wreck my truck, how will I come up with the deductible – I would be safer at home.  The tape just continues to play and now I am getting more upset.  My attitude sucks!  We know it is proven that if you change your thoughts then your habits will change.  I would say that this type of internal battle has been going on for a long time and the tapes played no matter the situation, whether it is with work, a relationship, etc.  Because of my thoughts and attitude, I would say that I am not able to receive the fullness of God wants me to receive or experience – living with the glass half full.   Something I hear a lot in leadership seminars is that we get paid based on how we think.  If you think in excellence which is thinking from the inside out vs. the outside in – or more defined, think above normal, be above average.  With an excellence of spirit, your boss can’t help but to notice you and before you know it, he will turn his attention towards you and depend on you more and then you will be next in line for a promotion.  The connection happened for me today when I was driving into work and I decided to shut the repetitive negative voice up and decided that I was going in with a smile and began quoting the scripture that David wrote in Psalms that ‘this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it’.  I was going to walk in with a smile, I was grateful to be able to drive to a job.  I want to be an energy producer not an energy demander.  By my one decision today I realized that this principle is not only applied in my situation today, but is to be applied in relationships and every thing I do.  We are to set up boundaries in our mind and we are not to allow negative thoughts to stay with us because just like I pointed out – our thoughts provoke our emotions and ultimately our actions.   In 3 John 1:2 it says that’ beloved I wish that you would prosper in all things, even as your soul prospers’.  God wants the best for us and he wants us to grow up and that starts with the way that we think and as our soul (mind, will, emotions) prospers, then areas of our lives begin to prosper.  I challenge you to take an inventory of your thoughts and if your thoughts are one of complaining and negativity, began to replace those thoughts with God’s truth and find worth or praise in that situation and watch things turn around.  You may find that your circumstances have changed, but in most cases you are the change that took place and it is you that makes a difference in any situation.  God loves you!

 

It takes courage

Have I not commanded you?    Be strong and courageous!  Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:9

In this chapter Moses has just died and God had risen up a new leader to lead the children of Israel into the promised land.  You will notice that God commanded His people 3 times to be strong and courageous.  Why would God make such a command?  If this is a promised place that is flowing with milk and honey, why should they remain strong?  They were entering into their place of promise, BUT it was already inhabited with giants.  I am having to relearn how to prosper in all areas of my life.  Using the word proper in this context is not solely about wealth – I am trying to live out the true meaning of prosperity which is ‘nothing missing and nothing broken’.  In life I learned as a very young girl to live in survival mode or the reactionary side of life.  In this transformation process God began to give me ‘battle’ scriptures whenever I was going to face some type of opposition.  Every time I would get one I would instantly become terrified.  First because I never knew what the battle was and second, even though the scripture always indicated that God would fight for me and knowing that He was saying that it would be victorious – I still responded in doom.  After going through that for months, the light bulb went off one day and I had this huge shift in my thinking……I learned that when I saw ‘battle’ I changed the word to ‘opportunity’.  Whatever the battle was I was going into it positive and thanking God for the opportunity to overcome something !  That is warrior thinking, not a coward.  We serve a mighty God and in Him we always overcome!  Now going back to the scripture in Joshua…why would God put His people in a place that had giants and they were told to go in and possess the land – which meant there were battles to come.  If we want to be successful in every area of our life we have to fight for it.  If you want a successful business you have to fight for it.  If you want a successful marriage you have to fight for it.  If you want to be great parents you have to fight for it.  Let’s take relationships as an example, because  it literally takes courage to be vulnerable, to admit when you are wrong, to be hurt, to give more than you are getting back, to honor someone when you are not being honored in return.  If you follow my blogs you will remember that I defined ‘milk and honey’.  That literally means the best part of the whole.   God wants you to have the best of your journey in life, but you have to fight for all of it.    What areas are you fearful where you need to add courage?  What do you need to possess rather than run from?  Please don’t be offended, but running is taking the easy way out and that is what a coward does,  nothing gets resolved and eventually you will start a pattern of running whenever it gets difficult.   Don’t ask God to change someone else or the situation – you rise up like Joshua and take the lead and let the change start with you – that is true leadership – lead yourself in any situation and you make it better!

Pray with me:  Lord Jesus thank you that you want the best for your children.  I pray Father that we would all take a step of faith to trust you and would realize that you are with us and that we can do all things through you who gives us strength.  Help us see any and every opposition as an opportunity to overcome and to grow.  Help us to be courageous so that we may have what you want for us and that is the best! Amen!

 

Your payback is coming

The LORD says, “I will give you back what you lost to the stripping locusts, the cutting locusts, the swarming locusts, and the hopping locusts. Joel 2:25

In this scripture the Lord uses a metaphor of locusts that represent what the enemy has taken from us. In studying this scripture, the Hebrew translation for locust is devour. Have you ever seen what locusts do to bushes or even leaves on trees? They devour the leaves and after they are done there is typically just remnants of the leaves left – they are very destructive. I have had a lot of things robbed and stolen from me. I want you to hear my heart as I share this because it is meant not for complaint but for giving God glory in hopes of encouraging you.  My parents split up when I was around 12 and my brother was 4 year old. Since my dad was gone I had to contribute more to our family because my mother worked full time. I was expected to care for my brother all the time, I never got to enjoy any summer vacations, I never got to spend evenings with friends and if I went any where, he had to go with me.  Sometimes I just needed a break from my responsibilities and I could never get that opportunity. This went on for years. As I mentioned earlier this is not for complaint, I believe in helping out, but it was always expected with no reward or appreciation. The attitude of my parent was almost tyrannical towards me. The Lord has revealed to me what exactly has been lost or stolen in my life. I love my brother but I felt that I was his mother and I raised him, but I was a child myself.  As I grew older the desire for children grew less and less in me. I began to see children as a hindrance or that your life ended and you had no freedom. That is what I felt like growing up, I lost my freedom as a young girl. I went on to marry someone I went to high school with and after being married for several years he began to talk about having a family and that is when I began to check out mentally. I was terrified of having children and I left him. It would be fair to say that I have had that same fear or mentality up until recently and it is very sad but I have ended many relationships just like marriage because they either had children or wanted a family. About 10 years ago I had cancer and I was told at that point that I would never be able to have children, even if I wanted children, I had my choice taken away from me. I began crying when the Lord revealed that I missed out on the joy of motherhood. Once again please hear my heart, we have all taken care of our siblings, but with the demand made from my parent it put such a negative stigma on the whole situation. In Joel 2:25 we see that we are promised to have years restored.  Now I will never know the joy of motherhood, but I could love someone else’s child or the word says in Isaiah that the barren woman will possess more children than the one who bares children. What this means is that I could have more spiritual children through ministry which would bring more joy than just one child of my own. What has been stolen from you? Your innocence as a child? Healthy relationships? A broken marriage? Are you in a financial setback? Are you bound to some addiction? A child who is on a destructive path?  The Lord promises that whatever has been devoured will be restored back to you.  This may sound crazy but trust me it will confuse your enemy – you thank him for what has been devoured and that you are not defeated and because of his plans that has set you up for a minimum of double for your trouble and you stand on that promise and wait for God to do what only He can do. AMEN?!  Isaiah 61:7 For your shame you shall have double and for confusion you shall rejoice, therefore in their land they shall possess double and ever lasting joy shall be!!