Purpose was designed to Perfect

Before moving forward, I want to emphasize the fact that your gifts are God-given for the execution of God’s purpose. So yes, before your gift becomes a vehicle connecting you to purpose, it belongs to the Lord. This is clearly shown in James 1:17 where it says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” The gift bestowed upon you is used for the edification of the body of Christ and although we may change our minds, the Lord is resolved. At some point we have to come to grips with accepting the fact that we are who we are. Not from an excusatory standpoint to remain the same, but to know your role and walk worthy of it. So if the Lord has called you to be a thumb, it behooves you to grasp and grapple to the best of your ability for the betterment of the body. Like the parable of the talents, carrying out your task not only blesses the body and yourself on earth (spiritually/naturally), but it also blesses you with the ultimate reward—heaven.

Purpose, the reason something exists for an intended or desired result, fuels our ambitions. The hopeful career after graduating college; building a family after landing your dream job; traveling and so on. Our purpose, the very reason that we’re created is to bring pleasure to the Lord our God (Revelation 4:11). Pleasure is directly tied to an individual’s will; preference; desire or choice. So it is not a light thing to know that Jesus CHOSE us, when we didn’t CHOOSE him initially. For it was clearly a desire of his to reconcile us back to him after the fall of man. I was just sharing with someone today, that once you make a commitment to anyone or anything, you can expect a challenge, and being a Christian is no different. As you make the decision to live and die for Jesus, the pressures of life will come in like a flood, however, we know God will hold up a standard. It is imperative that we keep heaven on our mind. In doing so, we will always strive to be better—no matter how many times we fall. I’ve made a declaration that I’m not arguing with people to where it conceives anger anymore. Of course, I’ve come short in some cases, but I always find another method of prevention. Pretty soon, I’ll be able to identify all of the signs in advance and respond accordingly. And that goes for every aspect of life.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” If you believed then believe! If you believed God could save you by water baptism and the infilling of the Holy Ghost, do you believe that your finances can be better? How about your attitude? Can the impossible be obtained? Here’s a little insight, the more time you spend with the God, the more you’ll think like him. In fact, his desires will become your desires because you’d take on his personality. That’s why the Bible says in Psalms 37:4, “delight thyself in the Lord and he’ll give you the desires of your heart.” He’s not going  to bless wicked desires; he’s not going to bless your vain glory, but he will bless your desire to fulfill the will of the Father. The transmission of desire by way of influence from one person to the next is one of the greatest dynamics in any relationship.  You know the saying, birds of feather flock together...

 

A Letter to the People: The Revolution is Within Us

 

 

“There’s a war going on outside no man is safe from” are the words chanted by the contemporary poet Prodigy from the “infamous” Mobb Deep rap group in the mid 1990’s. Although it’s been 20 plus years since these lyrics were released into the world, he couldn’t have been more right. Considering the tumultuous social climate where the law abiding and the lawless clash like 2 rams, friction will consequentially spark death. And yes, we are all privy to the political battle royal taking place right before our eyes leaving the protected and served lost in the crevices where we clash like 2 rams—-and you know the rest. As a result, internationally and domestically, the people are hungry for a revolution. Uprisings have sprung up to become the resistant against the powers that be; to put an end to the ideals of the authority and ultimately bring about change.

 

I continue to hear, “There’s a war going on outside no man is safe from.” There are 2 components present in every revolution: the oppressed and the oppressor. However, before the vehicle used to accelerate the revolution is put into ignition, the oppressed has to not only recognize its oppressor, but have a resolved mind to relinquish their designated office as the oppressed. This is where the war begins. Now, although there’s a revolutionary presence stretching from sea to sea and has crossed technological borders such as social media, we cannot be ignorant to the manner in which war operates; for war is made up of many battles: whether it was the Revolutionary War from April 1774 to September 1783; the Civil War from April 1861 to May 1865, and even the War in Afghanistan from October 2001 to December 2014. Each of these wars lasted at least 4 years. Like our ancestors, we have to distinguish the difference between wars and battles. Is the fight against racism a war or a battle? Drug addiction, domestic violence, and pedophilia—-are these wars or battles?

The people are crying out to the heavens for the need of a revolution—-well, we’re already in the midst of one. In fact, the true revolution started sometime in A.D 33 when Jesus Christ died and resurrected himself for the salvation of men. In Latin, the word “revolution” means to turn around or make a significant change; which is synonymous with repentance. The real revolution in other words, true change, starts in the heart. So you literally have to attack the sinful root in order for the branches of racism, domestic violence and any other branches to die. So what or who are we in war with?

In the book of Galatians, Paul says “the flesh wars against the [Holy] Spirit.” The very sinful nature in which we were born in, desires to do all that is contrary to the Word of God. And then we have an adversary who’s like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; you know, “steal, kill, and destroy.” In our defense, the Bible says that the “weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,” (1 Corinthians 10:4). A weapon is a means of gaining an advantage or defending oneself in a conflict or contest. The greatest weapon we could be armed with is having the power of God in us; the Holy Spirit—-Jesus! Psychology will not work. There’s no way a people can be changed without a person being changed. The revolutions starts at home—internally.

 

Until next time, please remember that you cannot have a revolution without a resolution. The decision is yours.

Blind Faith Series: Hopeful Faith

We are living in a time where hope has become more imaginary than our favorite childhood cartoons. We see this being evident in the US where suicide deaths per 100,000 is in between 10-13. Why so hopeless? Do they not know there’s a true living God by the name of Jesus who came to save the lost? Well, the gospel is hid to them that are lost because the god of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not according to 2 Corinthians 4:4. Adolf Hitler said it like this: If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. The biggest lie that’s been told is that Jesus doesn’t love you. My bible states that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He loved the world! In other words, His love isn’t predicated on your response; though your response dictates your abode in eternity. It seems that the more we remove Jesus from the forefront, the more hope is dissipated.  Dr. Martin Luther King said: We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope. That infinite hope is Jesus!

According to Hebrews 6:19, the hope that we as Christians have is as an “anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.” As we know, an anchor is attached to a vessel by a cable, rope, or chain and dropped into the water to keep the vessel in place either by its weight or by its flukes, which grip the bottom; in other words, an anchor is used to secure a firm position. This is exactly what hope in the promises of God does for the believer. Hope becomes that abstract seed of expectancy, if cultivated, in due season gives birth to faith which is expressed through conviction or action. Hence, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1).

In Romans 5:4, Apostle Paul stated that hope is the fruit of our experience. This must be why the patriarch David spoke with such conviction when he approached Goliath; because he too had experience. Remember what David conveyed to King Saul? “Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them…The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” The word “will” in the preceding text is used to indicate certainty; when used as a noun, it is defined as the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides (eliminate any other option) upon a course of action. We see the seed of expectancy when David professed that all will know that the Lord saves without sword or spear. We see his conviction in the slinging of the stone leading to his victory over Goliath.

Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God; and we’re made for his pleasure. Stay hopeful. Stay faithful.