It Don’t Take All That!

By: Fred Reid

Traditional phrase used for churches that have LONG services or church people who “do that most” lol but fitting for this devotional because it’s only about one verse. And it’s not all super deep but MY GOD if it aint make me feel real good down in my spirit!

Today’s text is Psalms 100. Though you’ve heard it a lot and it only consists of 5 verses I want to concentrate on verse 5

“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations”

Cue the shouting music! Lol Seriously though this verse has EVERYTHING in it just that easy! The Lord is GOOD in its most truest definition and that’s still an understatement! Next His MERCY! Where would we be without His mercy! Even if you haven’t been that “ratchet” of a person the bible says if you’ve committed one sin you’re just as guilty as if you committed them all (James 2:10)! So you still needed mercy! If you’re like me though and KNOW you got a good bit of sin that was piled up, most of which was AFTER you knew you were sinning you REALLY appreciate His mercy! And last but not least His truth endureth to all generations. That’s good to me on a couple levels. 1.) God is a consistent truth that is always right and always works no matter when you apply Him! For years and years, situation after situation, generation after to generation. You are guaranteed His results so He is good to pass to your friends, family and even your kids! 2.) The same way God is expecting us to live now is applied to everybody. It’s not like the rules ever change or exceptions are made for some people like in the world’s system. God extends everyone grace that brings about change and then rewards obedience. And disobedience is punished. Simple as that.

Not the deepest revelation but definitely something to encourage your heart…hopefully.

Over and Out J

It’s a Love Thing

By: Fred Reid

Mainly this one is about avoiding sin. And the key to that is Love. Often it is presented to us that we have to avoid doing things that it feels natural and enjoyable to do, and the only reason why we shouldn’t do them is because they are bad. As we mature in Christ and get more knowledge we learn that sin just leads to death and on that road it tends to bring about very unfortunate circumstances. But I may have been the only one to notice that this does not make that much less appealing. If anything it just makes your sinful acts more informed which is worst. But there is hope! Staying away from sin involves having the holy spirit on the inside of you, but a large part of it also is renewing your mind and genuinely loving the Father. Which brings us to our scriptures:

John 14:15 “IF ye love me, keep my commandments”

Yea that’s in red because its Jesus that is speaking, I done got fancy on ya’ll lol But notice that He says your love for Him is exemplified by your obedience to His commandments. This may seem like a heavy task but when you think about it its good that the way to show love for Jesus is so clearly defined. As much as He does for us everything we do is on a small scale, so to know what He is looking for out of the relationship is relieving! He doesn’t say If you love me you’ll pray 5 times a day for 20 minutes, give $100 each month, give everything you have to poor people, but instead simply says obey His commandments. The other activities definitely wouldn’t hurt your cause, but the Lord is looking for people that love Him enough to make their life about Him.

What are His commandments?

Jesus explicitly states that He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17). Jesus came to live by the law because nobody else could. He showed the example of what our lives would be like if we lived the way God originally intended. He didn’t lie, fornicate, nor any of the sins that we do thus He was the example of the rules that are STILL in place. More plainly explained:

Matt 22:36-40 “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? ³⁷Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. ³⁸This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

I didn’t write it, it’s in your bibles!” That’s from that Stuff that Preacher’s say video lol but Jesus tells it is MOST important that we love God will ALL that we have and furthermore that all the other commandments are encompassed in that love for the Almighty. Loving God with your all your heart will allow you to love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God with all your heart will keep you from stealing, drinking, smoking, lusting, coveting, gossiping etc. Seems to simple huh? Let’s make it real. Think of someone you love, a parent, significant other, or a friend; would you purposely do things that 1.) you know they don’t want you to do or 2) hurts their heart to see/know you’re doing? Even if it is something that you enjoy doing you will SACRIFICE your ways for one’s that are pleasing to them..if you love them enough. How much more than should we love and sacrifice for God? He did sacrifice and apply a WORLD’s worth of sin upon His holy word on a cross..He’s already sacrificed…our turn.

Over and Out J

Conclusion: Sin will ALWAYS be appealing. It WILL always present itself. It will always pull; even if it is a very weak pull it’ll still pull BUT love Jesus enough to deny yourself and obey His commandments. There are blessings in Christ Jesus. Loving Him means keeping His commandments, the greatest commandment He gave us is to love Him and He’ll take care of us nice how that works right?

We're under attack...

Written by guest blogger: Shwanda Jones

So it has come to my attention that good ole Satan is pulling out all stops in 2012. Have any of you experienced spiritual warfare? Becoming bored? Not reading your Word as much? Not praying as much? Feel like giving up? Or just plain making mistakes that you never thought you'd make again? Let me clue you in...

2012 is supposed to be the year of governmental order. A year of peace and prosperity. God has promised us, His faithful servants so many things in this year and the enemy knows that. Sooo, he's trying to get us off track. He's sending distractions, deceptions and defeats in many forms and people. Faith is being lost, ministers are being tried and tested but it was placed on my heart to send you all this message.

As a child of God, I know no enemy, only friends. If you're trying, no matter if you're perfect or not, I'm trying to tell you, you gotta fight. You gotta fight for your life. Last year some time, I was given a sermon entitled "Be Delivered or Be Killed." I have yet to give it, it will be a call to all leaders, myself included.

We as a body have lost the fear of God. We're forgetting the hell and damnation we went through to get us to the point we are and if we don't pull it together, we will be quickly reminded again. God is not playing with us in this season everyone. He needs us strong and on one accord. He needs us praying and fasting. He needs our spirits. Don't lose faith, don't lose the fight. Even though weakness may prevail, we just gotta try. We can't let people, things or situations bring us down. Our only enemy is THE Enemy. Our war is not with each other or the world, it is with Satan.

Many of us have money coming, businesses, children, fortune, health, and prosperity and much more. Don't let the enemy steal in 2012 what God has been promising us and preparing us for all along.

Pray this prayer with me please. My heart and soul is aching because we're losing focus. Our praise is being muffled. Please please please don't give up. We've come too far. The wages of sin is death. Death spiritually, mentally, physically.

Dear God,

Our Lord and Saviour, God we come to you unworthy oh Lord. But we ask you, we beg you, cleanse us, purge us, make us over. In all our filth, in all our faults and flaws, God have mercy on our souls. God, not one is perfect but we pray we are made perfect in our imperfections. God give us the desire to pray again, to praise again, to worship again, to listen, to teach, to preach your Word again. God whatever You're doing in this season, don't do without us. God forgive us for our sins. Anything that's not of you oh God, cleanse it, take it out and cast it into the fire for it to never return. Every weakness, every lust, every sin, every abomination, I pray you bind it in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. I pray for deliverance oh God. I pray for discipline oh God. Whatever it takes God, I pray God you fix it for us. Come into our hearts oh God and fix it. Fix me oh Lord. Fix it. God I'm standing, we're standing not even knowing how we got here to this point, to this place in this season but God You've brought us too far for us to give up on You and turn back. God it's never too late you said, give us the humility and courage to repent and return to You oh God. God I'm asking You and I'm praying for me and I'm interceding on behalf of these women and men of God, help us Lord. Guide us, mold us, make us over, give us a clean heart. If the desire isn't there, if the love isn't there, if the hope and faith isn't there, place it there oh God. In Your Son Jesus Name we pray oh God, we ask, we believe and we receive Your righteousness. God do it for us please, save us from ourselves...from our self destruction. Place fear in our hearts, trembling in our voice, buckling in our knees and cries in mouths God. This prayer I pray in Your Name and in Your Son Jesus Name. Amen.

Delighting in the Lord

By: Monique Smith

Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4, ESV).

Have you ever had a person you just LOVED to be around? You knew that whenever you went around them they would do something silly and have you laughing in .5 seconds! If you’re as goofy as I am, you would definitely take delight in that person and put them at the top of your priority list to hang out with frequently for laughs and a chill time. Delight means to enjoy, appreciate, take joy and experience pleasure from something. God has commanded each of us, in His divine Word, to delight in Him! To think and meditate on God and just enjoy who He is! Not what He can do for you or what He can give to you, but to just sit back and get excited about Him! Now let’s practice, I want you to stop what you’re doing and think of a moment you’ve had with God.

Okay, I’ll share my moment with you all. This one is funny. There was one day, I was in the kitchen getting a cup of water to drink, as I put the cup to my mouth, somehow, out of nowhere, the entire cup slipped UPWARDS out of my hands and splashed on my face, all over my shirt, and on my socks (how many of you dislike wet socks?! Lol), immediately, I looked up at God (actually I could’ve looked to my left or right since He’s omnipresent : )….but anyways, I looked up at God and just started laughing because I knew He was tryna clown me! I knew He was up in heaven rolling! And it was all good! I just laughed and took extreme joy and delight in God during that moment. Like how cool is that! The God of the universe, took the time to joke with a little “spec of dust” like me. That small moment is just to get your brain jogging about moments that can be used to encourage your delight in the Lord. Taking delight in someone doesn’t mean that the person always gives you things. It just means you genuinely enjoy them regardless of what happens when you all are together. However, in addition to that simple command that God gives us to delight in Him, He does us one better. He gives you an incentive to do the very thing that should be the easiest thing to do, especially since He created you. God tells us that if we delight, find joy, get hype about Him, then He will give US the desires of our heart! That’s crazy! God is always treating us a million times better than we can ever think to be treated! I really like the end of this verse also because of the underlying “twist” that is encoded in it. God is offering to give us the desires of our heart because after delighting in Him for so long, our desires will automatically line up with His desires for us! How great is it to be on the same page as God! Ah! Wonderful! This scripture is also a beneficial way that we can check where our relationship with God is standing. If you can think over your life and think about the things you are praying for that you want or “need” and God isn’t fulfilling them no matter how much you pray or fast, then you really might want to check how much you are delighting in Him. *Pause * No lie, I really wanted to stop typing that last sentence because I just got SO convicted! Wow! There are definitely some things I have been praying about that I reallllllly want to happen and they haven’t been happening even though I think they are good things and would be considered a great blessing if it happens. But that goes to show me that I am not taking full delight in my Father! To me, in writing it sounds so easy and in thought it seems easy, but practically it will really take some work at first to really sit and delight in the Lord always. But I’m up for the challenge, are you?

Prayer: Dear daddy, thank you so much for your love, grace, peace, and mercy. Thank you for the Bible and your holy spirit living in me. God I just want to value you more in my life and reflect on your more throughout my day. I need you to help me focus more on you. I love you. In Jesus name, amen.

Steps, ORDERED.

By: Donovan Parker

"Order my steps in Your Word dear Lord, lead me, Guide me everyday. Send your anointing, Father I pray, Order my steps in Your Word."

I'm sure many of us are familiar with the lyrics of the song above. For me, these words ARE becoming my DAILY testimony. I'm sure to many it is one of the greatest accomplishments to be able to say, "I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill." For me, the feat hasn't really set in yet and I mainly feel that it is because I haven't DISCOVERED God's purpose for my life yet. I go back and forth with myself trying to decide whether it's best to continue pursuing higher education or to enter the daily grind that is a career.

I took the scripture, [Jeremiah 29:11 -"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."] a little out of context.

Does the Lord know everything that I think and plan to do - YES! AND He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" - Ephesians 3:20

BUT I was leaving out a critical element. I didn't petition God with the things I wanted.

Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."

This means that in fact, God honors and respects the desires of my heart. What a privilege to have things that you THINK about come to pass. We just have to remember the conditionality of the verse. When we have committed our works to Him, He can be pleased with reverence and will honor our thoughts.

He wants us to take part in the things that He has planned for us. Then we honor Him by giving them back to Him.

Proverbs 3:6

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

I encourage you, brothers and sisters to seek God; commit each task (for the rest of YOUR LIFE to Him)-tell Him your goals and He'll ORDER YOUR STEPS!!

Love you all,

DonP

That's how I was raised!

By: Rickey Youngblood

Hi ya’ll! Below are some notes that I took at bible study one night that I have been meaning to share with you all. I know it’s been a minute since you’ve heard from me but it’s about time for me to get back in the groove. Anyhow, this sermon is from Pastor Andy at WOCC.

Psalm 27:10-14 –Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, spouting malicious accusations. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:10 – You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…

-sometimes we try to go places that are not in the will of God - we blame others when it's really us
-you are the end result of the teachers you have had - ex. How you were raised - just because you were raised a certain way doesn't mean you have to be that way - if things are going to be different, then you have to be reeducated - the first step is realizing that the problem is you
- while I am waiting...I outta be learning..
- sometimes we have to deal with things that we were taught but they are against the word of God - just because your momma or your daddy taught you that doesn't mean its right!

How NOT to live - warning from the word…

1. Lovers of themselves - just about yourself – don’t love yourself so much that you find yourself alone - if you don’t know how to love sacrificially, then you really don’t know how to love
2. Lovers of money - Yes we need money but it doesn't always bring happiness - just because you have more money doesn't mean you have peace
3. Boastful - any empty pretender - you are exaggerating your ability - you exaggerate everything - sometimes we want to act like things are better than what they really are
4. Proud - an unrealistic estimate of one’s means and merits - treating others with contempt (acting like your better than others)
5. Abusive - blasphemers - people who always have something negative to say - speaking evil, slander
6. Disobedient to parents - physical and spiritual - not being submissive
7. Ungrateful - a sense of entitlement - not willing to please - meaning I'm not willing to go the extra mile to please someone - that's not a Godly attitude to have

I’m not going to say too much more because I think that the notes I took really convey the message pretty well. But I just want us to reflect on some of these things and to look at ourselves and see if we are guilty of living in some of these ways that are not Godly. So I challenge you all to be more Godly in your everyday approaches/tasks. Do you all remember the bracelets and key chains that said W.W.J.D? This is a great way to for us to think about some of the things we do on a daily basis. When we find ourselves in difficult situations, we should simply ask ourselves WHAT WOULD JESUS DO??? =)

Love You ALL!!

Rickey Danielle

Not an ‘If’ but a ‘Though’

By: Fred Reid

Wattup folk! I’m trying stay with the consistency of doing these devotionals so here we go! Today’s devotional is from a very popular scripture but just analyzing the words brings forth a new revelation! (well at least for me it did)

Psalms 23:4 “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”

Short Version: Don’t live as IF hard times may come, live EXPECTING them but know that God will deliver you from it!

So as the title points out notice the scripture says THOUGH I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…not IF I walk..not that big a deal right? But take a second to really think how often have we seen others and if we are COMPLETELY honest with ourselves noticed that WE too live our Christian walk as though it says if? Just to be more clear, we often live as though we fear something bad happening to us or we fear facing difficult situations when clearly the Lord has made it clear that this stuff WILL happen.

But my brothers and sisters be not dismayed (sounds real churchy huh? But it’s powerful at the same time!) for only once we face these situations do we find out that “thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. How would you be assured that the Lord is with you unless you face something that ONLY HE can deal with. As long as there are little things that you consider yourself to be handling you can doubt whether God is truly by your side, but once it really hits the fan and you realize you could be going down because you don’t’ know what to do; then it is the power of the Father that will deliver you!

Notice also that the Father’s rod AND staff shall comfort you. I have done the research on how valuable a tool those were in the olden days but I’m sure if we did look it up it would open up this scripture even more. But I mainly want to point out how this subtly points at God doing a new thing in situations. To be clear, we face a situation and God uses the staff to deliver us a few times and we get comfortable. We face a few others and He uses the rod to deliver us and we get comfortable but when it comes times for the rod and the staff we get nervous. Real life example, you face something and you pray really hard and long about it and it gets fixed. You box God into working when you really mean what you pray. Thus when another situation comes you think I’ll just pray really hard and this will go away. But when it doesn’t you praise God really hard in church and just lose your mind jumping, running and shouting and you come out of the situation. But please KNOW that the time is coming when you will need to pray really hard AND praise really hard to get out of a situation! Don’t be nervous or discouraged when your old approach to things doesn’t work, it’s time to combine the rod and the staff!!

We can’t lose folk! We have the trifecta not only of the Lord being with us, His rod and His staff, but also the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost living INSIDE of us. Plus all of heaven supporting us, plus the angels, plus the power God has given us to speak things into existence. So when you think about it these situations we face are just OPPORTUNITIES for us to trust God more. For us to dig deep and find out what He has put inside of us, and even better for us to find out more of who He really is! So don’t avoid your “valley of the shadow of death” or you’ll be avoiding the new things God has for you. Wow…thank you Holy Ghost

Over and Out J

Distant Closeness

By: Fred Reid

Short Version: You may not always feel like you are far from your sin. But you and sin are as opposite as East and West.

I’m bbbbaaaackkkk!!! : ) sorry I been gone for so long folk. Mo been putting us to shame with her consistency aint she? Geez?! Fortunately this isn’t a contest and God loves us all the same lol.

So this’n right here is about Psalms 103:10-13. Check it out of course but the main thing I’ll be dealing with is verse 12

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us”

Interesting wording huh? Sounds borderline poetic doesn’t it? Or maybe that’s just me. In any case let’s take that a little further by asking just how far is the east from the west? In theory they would have to be really far because they never overlap. You can NEVER go so far east that you are going west. However they are extremely close in that even that slightest reverse of direction has you heading towards the opposite. To be a little more clear, East and West are as close as the few inches that separate them on a compass, even the smallest of buildings, bugs and everything in between has an east side and a west side.

I point this out to reveal that as born again believers we have been SEPARATED from sin but it is easy to head right back into it and sometimes it may feel as they your past (urges, addictions, attitudes, behaviors, way of thinking) all that is still SO close to you. But this is the example of east of west. No matter how close it feels, it’s actually in a completely different direction. The ONLY way to be caught back up into that mess is to make a reversal back into it. Just in case this is still confusing (because I’m not sure I’m explaining it the way I really feel it inside) let’s say that going East is right (salvation) and west is wrong (a life of sin). No matter how far West (saved) you go, sin will follow. You will be aware that it is there and sometimes it may be presented in front of you. It is important to realize that at this point you have reversed your direction! Sin’s rightful place is behind you, in the past, the only way to have it presented in front of you is to entertain it’s pull. This is a dangerous place to be.

In closing (that’s some preacher stuff huh lol) it also works the other way around. In the even that you have gone backwards, back into sin or back into some type of struggle you KNOW you were delivered from, there is still an option to get back right. As a called out one, a member of the royal priesthood of Christ, you can come back home. No matter how far west (into sin) you go there is always a East (salvation) available. This is why we thank God for His grace and mercy!

Over and Out : )

AWE.

By: Monique Smith

Have you ever just closed your eyes and thought of God?! How big He is! How He created galaxies?! God does some amazing things in our lives each and everyday and the love that He has for His creation is beyond belief. My heart is in total awe of Him and how His glory fills the earth! I just began reading a book entitled Crazy Love and God is convicting my heart and blowing my mind with this read! It’s amazing. Right now I want to share this video with you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRi4VwcrYmA

Please turn off everything and focus on the things that is said in this video. It will really give you a new appreciation of God!

Prayer: ( *silence* )

P.S. Sometimes God just wants us to sit quietly in His presence instead of bombarding Him and rushing in His presences because He is a holy and great God! Be blessed!

AWE.

By: Monique Smith

Have you ever just closed your eyes and thought of God?! How big He is! How He created galaxies?! God does some amazing things in our lives each and everyday and the love that He has for His creation is beyond belief. My heart is in total awe of Him and how His glory fills the earth! I just began reading a book entitled Crazy Love and God is convicting my heart and blowing my mind with this read! It’s amazing. Right now I want to share this video with you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRi4VwcrYmA

Please turn off everything and focus on the things that is said in this video. It will really give you a new appreciation of God!

Prayer: (

. In Jesus name, Amen)

P.S. Sometimes God just wants us to sit quietly in His presence instead of bombarding Him and rushing in His presences because He is a holy and great God! Be blessed!