Giving the Gospel in the Midst of Uncertainty: It's needed more than ever

 

We are in the midst of a Pandemic. Hundreds of Thousands have died and many are becoming infected with Covid 19. California has been burning for weeks. This is the largest wildfire season recorded in California history. We are in a coin shortage, many stores are not accepting cash. We are on the verge of a cashless society. The shelves at stores are lacking where they were once full. There is talk of Russian war planes flying in U.S. air space in Alaska. This is just to name a few. The year 2020 has set a precedent for many things. We are closed in our homes, not knowing what to expect. Children are being taught virtually missing their friends. Parents are stressing out about childcare and not being able to help their children with education. Morals and Values are at an all time low. We need Jesus more than we ever have. Where are the children of God? Where are the Pastors? Where are the prayer visuals? People are looking for "normal" to return, not knowing that we are in the midst of a change. Normal as we know it I believe will not return. I believe that Jesus return is closer than we think. The Bible tells us what signs to look for and we are at the tipping point. 

Many believers are relaxed and idle. We just go to church on Sunday and Wednesday and we don't minister to anyone throughout the week. We see people hurting, spiritually dying and in despair and walk by without a care. God is calling for US to repent because we are not doing our job. We are here on earth to bring the kingdom of God. This is the message Jesus carried everyday. His heart was to please the father. The father heart was for the world, to save them out of sin. He wanted to save their souls to give them hope and a future. He wanted to justify them so that they could be in his presence. God so loves his workmanship that he sent his son to be the perfect final sacrifice to redeem the world back to him. Nevertheless, this is a mystery to many. They are in the dark and it is our (believers) job to be that light that illuminates Christ in their lives. Paul said in Romans How shall they call on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in of whom they have not heard? It is time for us to turn our ear to God and inquire of him what he wants. We preach messages that are not of God. We prophesy false prophesies lying on God. We cause people to doubt him because of our disobedience. I never want to be the cause of a soul going to eternal torment. I want to be a daughter that my father is pleased with. I want people to see the light of Jesus flowing through me and not the darkness of the world. I want to fulfil my fathers business here on earth. Many of us don't even truly know our father the most high God. We don't spend any time with him. How can you know someone who you never talk to. We are laxed in our prayers, fasting, reading the Word and carrying the Gospel. Many of us are weak ambassadors right now because we are not looking like the Kingdom of God. Instead it seems our alliance lies with the world. 

We must prepare for the coming of the Lord. First and foremost the Church of God has to repent. You may say for what? I'm a believer. Repentance isn't only for the sinner. Whenever you have taken your eyes off God and put them elsewhere, you must repent. The word for repentance in Greek is Metanoia and it means a change of mind, a change in the inner man. We often have to go through a mind transformation. When our mind is transformed it renews us Romans 12:2. We have allowed ourselves to be over taken by life here on earth. We've forgotten about the lost souls. We've forgotten about our mandate from Jesus to take the Gospel to the world. When Jesus prayed in John 17 he prayed that we would be one that the world may know that God sent him through our words. He also said in John 14 that we should do the works that he did and even greater because he was leaving. How many of us can say that we are doing the works Jesus did. We are not saved from sin to be selfish. Our job is to grab as many as we can along the way that God may make the increase. We must have a change of mind and a care for the world as God cares for it. He left us here for a purpose, are we fulfilling it. Are we prepared for his coming? Are we prepared to endure the tribulation before he returns? Do we have the Word hidden in our hearts? Are we consecrating ourselves? Are we battling in the spirit? Do we have our full armor on in Ephesians 6? Are we prepared for his coming and are we preparing others along the way.  

It is important in this season that we draw near to God. We can't survive in our own will and power. We need the power of God. The only way we can do what Jesus did is through his power. We must ignite the Holy Spirit that we have so often quenched. Ask God to fill you with his fire. Ask him for a new stronger relationship and do your part to make that happen. Pursue him, knock and the door will be open, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given. It is time to fast and pray and go before the throne of God. Inquire of God what he would have you do in this season. We all have a part in the body. God made each of us with a purpose hidden in Christ that would fulfil his purpose. He equipped us with gifts that we may do good works. It is time for God's bride to stand up and be counted. I tip my hat to my brothers and sisters that are out there doing the work of the Lord. Continue in the strength of the Lord and know that your work isn't in vain. It will accomplish God's will. 

True Repentance: What does it mean?

The Corona Virus has everyone leaning to different understandings. Some fill that China made the virus in a lab and it somehow reached the entire world. Others think that 5G towers are causing the virus. In short, there is a lot of information floating around, some good and some bad. One thing is for sure that this is spiritual and no matter how many theories are out there, we can't survive this alone. I felt something coming before it arrived. I knew it was something horrible, but I never imagined this. Then God told me in a dream to prepare for the virus cause it was coming. I never would of thought that this many people would be affected by this virus. People have died that I cared for deeply. My friends and coworkers have lost loved ones. The entire world has shut down. My pastor likes to say "we are on punishment". Schools are closed. The Car manufactures are down. The malls, hair salons, nail parlors, etc. There is no time like the present to make sure we are in right standings with God. Many pastors and believers alike are saying that God is calling for repentance. I believe this to be true for I've felt this spiritually myself. It is easy to look at the world and say " God is calling for Repentance!" but what about his CHURCH? Is his bride in right standings with him? The majority of us would answer with a resounding NO. I'm the the first to raise my hand ✋. God is looking for his bride to repent and get to work in the fields. Jesus said to his disciples "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few"

                                                Are we Walking Correctly? 

According to the recent United Nations estimates as of March 2020 there are 7.8 billion people in the entire world. In addition, according to CSGC (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) there are 2.5 billion Christians in the world as of 2019. That is a little under 20% of the population. If this is true the world should in no way be in the condition it is today. It is so much evil in our world. There were 2,578,714 abortions from the years of 2013-2016. The jails are full of murders, pedifiles, rapist, theives, drug handlers, etc. In fact the jails are all over crowded. People are falling away from the faith in droves because their foundations are weak. There is more, but just this right here is enough to see the church has been very ineffective. If you are saying to yourself "how is she blaming the state of the world on the church?" I ask you to look within yourself and evaluate have you been walking upright taking the gospel to the masses. If the answer is yes, I'm ecstatic for you, if not you still have time. 

In order to be saved through Christ there is a blueprint: Repent, be Baptised and recieve the Holy Spirit. The repentance stage is where you come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ and what he did for you on the cross. You usually ask for forgiveness out of a sincere heart and repent. Repentance is a concept the church is lax on. In Biblical times if members were living in sin they would be approached by a seasoned believer. This was done in meekness and love in hopes that the person would not continue to be entangled in sin. Many look at this as Jugdemental but it's not. This is an act of love. In today's church everyone looks the other way. If your brother of sister is on their way to damnnation it should concern you. In Romans Paul teaches us how to walk in "Newness of Life", this is after repentance and baptism. Romans 6:2 says How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? When you and I were baptised we went down with with Christ, which mean died to our old nature. We also rose with Christ when we emerged from the water which means life through Christ. This means we were supposed to come up with a new mindset. The act of repentance means that you made the decision to turn away from things that were displeasing to God which are all symptoms of sin. Whether its lying, murder, homosexuality, gluttony, alcoholism, etc. these are all symptoms of sin. Once we rose with Christ we were free from the bondage of sin. We are no longer in darkness. We now know what sin (darkness) is and what is righteousness (light) is. So why do so many of us blend in well with the world? Why are so many of us looked at as hypocrites? Why are so many of us giving ourselves excuses to sin such as "I'm not perfect" "I'm a work in process" "God know my heart" and so on. When we say those statements we are actually saying " I know the righteous thing to do but I choose to entangle myself in sin again even after Jesus has freed me". How can we be effective when we don't follow what we say we believe? We become like the Pharisees and Sadducees when we do this.

It is time for us to Repent and walk worthy of our calling

It is time for us to be the church God called us to be. We should be calling prayer meetings online for now. Stay safe. We should be praying, fasting and reading our Word, seeking God's face. We should be talking to our family members and friends about the state of their soul. In meekness and love of course. Let your light shine, be the salt of the earth. I don't want to see Jesus only for him to say get away from me, I never knew you. I don't want to walk in the religious spirit anymore, but a true genuine sincere relationship with God. I want to walk in the Holy Spirit and not after the flesh because Jesus died so I didn't have to. It's time to go out to feed the homeless, go to the shelters, visit the nursing homes, go to the jails, etc. This is our calling. You have to seek God for what he has for you to do in the body just as I do. We must repent for blending in with the world and for not being the son/daughter that Jesus died for us to be. This is why the Bible is so important, through much use we are able to discern whats good and evil. How can you and I know what God requires without ever opening the book? You are right, you will never be perfect because you are clothe in flesh, but through Jesus we have the power to strive for perfection daily. I've made many changes in this walk through a repentant heart. Remember we don't change on our own we will fail everytime, but through the Holy Spirit all things are possible. We can do all things through Jesus which strengthens us. 

In Conclusion, we must first repent before we expect the world to. We must ask God for forgiveness where we are lax and renew our mindset through God. We are in the world but not of the world, we are here to be change agents (Kingdom Ambassadors).  We are in the end times and we must prepare for whats to come that we may compel others before it's too late. Pray, fast and read your Word. Inquire of God what he desires of you. Feel free to leave any questions or comments in the comment section.

Why Do I Still Live Bound If I'm Free From Sin?

First let's begin by explaining what Sin is. Sin is any lack of conformity to the moral law of God, either active or passive, whether in act, thought or disposition. Hamartiology is the study of sin. This tells me if a study is devoted to sin it must have some importance. According to the Christian Bible reference site the word "Sin" is mentioned over 400 times in the Bible. This tells me that God thought it was important to speak on it so often. Therefore if there is a study devoted to it and God says its important then I need to understand it to know what it means to be free from it.

Sin the old ball and chain

God created this world sinless. The world was a place of utopia (heaven on earth). Humans were able to talk to animals without fear. Animals ate vegetation, they didn't desire flesh and blood. Can you imagine petting a lion without fear of being eaten. Can you imagine cattle not worrying about being eaten by us. We too had no desire for flesh. All of our food grew on trees. We had no need for clothes because we were clothe in the righteousness of God. This had to be amazing to never feel guilt, shame, fear, low self-esteem, lust, rage, etc. The only feeling were those of peace, joy, serenity, kindness, love, truth, godliness, worship, etc. Just stop and think for a second how different the world would be. There were no religions. It was just God and his creation. We knew who our creator was because we had an intimate relationship with him. There was no interference or competition. Then entered Satan our enemy and God's enemy who was once one of his most treasured Cherubs. 

Bound By Sin

We can't talk about sin without talking about the cause of it. Satan wanted to be like God so he rebelled and took a third of the angels with him. These angels are now called fallen angels. Satan hates us because he has no chance to repent, he will never inherit the kingdom of heaven. His inheritance is to be locked in hell with his fallen angels. Therefore he wants to make sure we never inherit it either. When Adam made the decision to eat the fruit sin entered the world. Having knowledge of what sin was meant you had to choose sin or godliness. We are now all born into sin because of Adam's choice. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God Romans 3:23. God looked down through generations and saw that the law he created with Moses couldn't be kept. There could never be enough animals sacrificed to totally cover our sin. So God sent the ultimate sacrifice, his son Jesus Christ the Messiah. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.John 3:16 This broke the chains of sin on our lives. Instead of being mastered by sin, when we believe and accept Jesus as our Savior we are mastered by righteousness. 

Walking in the Newness of Life

Paul asks a question in Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound? In layman's terms Paul is asking " So do you think it's o.k to sin since we are now covered under Gods grace?" "Should we sin so his grace can increase more and more?" So before we answer that question let's talk about grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Grace is God showing his mercy, patience, and kindness instead of our just punishment for sin which is death. Grace isn't earned, it's a part of God's character. Remember "For God so loved the world", his heart toward us is to give us a choice to choose him and be free. Now back to Paul's question. In Romans 6:2 he answers his rhetorical question. His answer: God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Again in layman's terms, Paul is saying " God refuses to allow us to walk in sin after his ultimate sacrifice for you to free. Why would you want to live in sin after being freed from it?"

The problem is that Sunday after Sunday we here we can never live up to God's standards. This doesn't mean we should live carelessly. We hear REPENT but we don't hear change and turn. Therefore we cry at the alter repenting but never changing. We get baptized but never open the book on how to live. We barely pray and often don't understand what prayer is. How can we live free from sin when we never open the manual (Bible)? Our mindset should be to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, not for what he can do but for what he already did. When we have a love for God like this our desire changes from a sinful nature to wanting to please God. We have a zeal to read more about him and his standard(will) for our lives. We begin to talk to him more and get to know his character. Then chains begin to fall off because we begin to say GOD I CHOOSE YOU! He already chose us with his sacrifice, now we must choose him to be able to walk in total freedom. We must take the power back from our enemy. Romans 6 (read full chapter) tells us that we must die with Christ and be raised with him by the glory of God . This means that our old sinful nature must die in order that we walk free from sin. Walking free from sin means we no longer serve sin but the father who loves us. We have the victory through Christ's death. We should live everyday manifesting our resurrected life free from sin's control. 

 Now that you know what sin is, where it comes from and what God did to free you from it, Here are some steps you can take to walk in the newness of God and become a servant of righteousness.

• Read your Bible daily. It doesn't have to be a whole chapter. Start where you are and increase as the spirit leads you.
• Pray daily, morning, midday and before you sleep. Very important to pray before you sleep. Prayer is just talking to God, nothing fancy.
• Try to connect yourself with other believers. You will be able to strengthen and encourage one another. In addition, they are seeking the same thing you are which is to live a righteous life. Ungodly people will never steer you towards God and his desire for your life.
• Always ask God to give you wisdom, knowledge and understanding so you never put your own interpertation  to his Word.
• Ask God to fill you with his Holy Spirit which will lead and guide you in God's truth. 

As you begin to implement these steps in your life God will begin to reveal himself to you. He will begin to show you the areas that need cleaning. This is what he did for me once I asked him instead of trying to do it on my own. I found that I can only do what God wants through his power. Through him we can do all things. Nothing is impossible with God. The Joy of the Lord will be your strength. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comment section. I look forward to hearing your testimony. 

The Lukewarm Church: Will Jesus Know You At His Return

My biggest fear as a follower of Christ is displeasing God. I know what it is to be a lukewarm "Christian". I straddled the fence for awhile myself. I believed I was doing fine until God showed me I was far from him. This wasn't because he left me, it was because sin separated me from him. He has to turn away when we are filled with sin. God even turned from Jesus when he took on the sins of this world. Sin cannot exist in God's presence. 

God woke me up in the middle of the night to pray. I didn't really know what to pray for until I opened my Bible. I asked God to lead me in his knowledge, wisdom and understanding before I begin to read. When I looked down at the Bible  I was in the book of Jeremiah. I begin to read and saw God's love and anger at the same time. He sent Jeremiah numerous times to prophesy to his people. He sent his judgement of what would happen because of disobedience, iniquity, and the worship of idols. The message sent was very serious. There were some bad things going to happen to them because of disobedience. God sounded the alarm so many times before he punished them. It's the same way today. He loves us so much that he will wake me out my sleep to pray for his people to get it right. There's nothing special about me, I'm sure I'm one of many. My point is so many feel it's not that serious. They feel as long as they go to church they are fine. Some feel there are many paths and if they are on one of them they're fine. Some people feel like if they identify as Christian they are saved. These are all wrong. The truth is that we are instructed by God that we must love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This means to love God with your entire being. Living in sin while saying with your mouth you love God is being lukewarm.
Doing the bare minimum just doesn't cut it for God. He wants our all. The Bible says this is our reasonable service. Think about it. How would you feel if your child dishonored you after you've done everything for him/her? I would feel hurt. angry, sad, rejected and unloved. Now, how do you think God feel being that he sent his son to die so that we could live free of the thing we still hold on to, SIN? In Revelations Jesus says I wish you was either or, hot or cold, choose a side. Think of being in a relationship where someone tells you they love you but you never see them, you never hear from them, you can't depend on them for anything and there's no intimacy. They come around every now and then when they need something and once all is good they're gone again. I would rather they just leave me alone if I always have to question their love for me. We string God along just like that scenario I just presented. He's saying I AM ABOUT TO SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH! YOU MAKE ME SICK! I never want to make God feel like that. It saddens my heart to even know that I once did. At Jesus return I want him to know me. I want him to say well done my good and faithful servant.

Disconnect the Yoke

In order to begin to be hot you must separate from the cold. Lukewarm is a mixture of hot and cold, it's being halfway in the world and halfway with God. To be with God we must separate from the world. You may say, how can we live in the world but separate from it? Romans 12:2  says don't be conformed (comply with the standards)  by this world but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind. This is what God did for me and he continues to do it daily. I've changed in so many ways with no power of my own but by God changing the way I think. People that I used to connect myself with I don't anymore. I don't hate them, I don't think I'm better than them. If I see them I'm happy to see them but similarities are not there anymore. The music I listened to, I don't listen to it anymore. I used to workout to worldly rap music with cursing at times and now I listen to Godly music while exercising. I loved scary movies and spent a lot of time watching television, now my desires for that has changed. I don't look at those type of movies anymore and I hardly ever watch television. Instead I watch documentaries and sermons a lot. That's just a few changes of many that God has made in me. GUESS WHAT! I don't miss them because God is more important to me than anything in this world. Now is the changes always easy? NO. but the peace that the changes bring are awesome.  I don't want to be lukewarm. My desire is to be all that God intended when he created me. I don't want to be connected to anything or anyone if it displeases God. In order to be all in for God we MUST disconnect the Yoke to sin. There is no bargaining in that area. 

Jesus Message to the Lukewarm Believer

Be Zealous and Repent! Behold I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh "will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with the Father in his throne. Revelation 3:19-21