Pep Talk!

Check out this encouraging video! We all need a push at times!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Witnessing

By: Monique Smith

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”- Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus said it. He meant it.  We are to go and spread the gospel and make disciples of men. Honestly, that verse is a bit daunting, especially if at times you can be shy speaking to random people, like I am.  I have been dealing with the idea of witnessing more for a while now.  Because of my current employment and working in a school system, mentioning God seems to be on a list of “capital offenses”.   People don’t want to bring his name up and you have to be politically correct in places such as this.  I had not came up with an idea aside from the two I had at the beginning of last year: 1. I put two/three Bible verses in my email signature so that all students, staff, and community members who received emails from me, will “have” to see that scripture and get it in their spirit. 2. I purchased mini Bibles and placed them on my bookshelf for interested students. I can’t offer them a Bible but if they ask for one, I am MORE than happy to give them one. I seriously had not had any more bright ideas to share Christ with my students lately so witnessing has been on pause. HOWEVER, thanks be to God, He lead me to this passage of scripture:

Exodus 18:7-11

So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and then went into the tent. ⁸ Moses told his father-in-law about everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them.

⁹ Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰ He said, “Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹ Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.”

Did you all understand that?! Simply by sharing the good news (gospel) about everything the Lord had done for Israel in their escape from Egypt, Jethro, Moses’ unsaved father-in-law, became a believer in the Lord and realized he was greater than any other god.

Witnessing can be as simple as telling someone about how God’s hand was over your situation. Anything that shows the power of God working in your life will work.  I personally feel a lot more comfortable with telling a coworker or a student how God provided for me here or protected me there, verses pulling them to the side and sharing Bible passages.  I feel more comfortable because it seems a lot more politically correct. 

**Disclaimer** Do not get me wrong. There is a time and place to share scripture and to dig into John 3:16 and how sinful we are and how righteous Jesus is. However, the passage in Exodus shows us an example where Moses’ testimony of God’s greatness encouraged someone to commit to Christ. In that situation, Moses could have been “watering” his father in law’s spirit after someone had already planted the seed of knowledge in him or Moses could have planted that seed and God provided the increase on the spot, who knows.  Whatever the case, Jethro became a believer after Moses witnessed to him.

So this post is to encourage all of you to start witnessing more.  Regardless of how you witness, if it is sharing your testimony or blessings with co-workers or acquaintances or sharing the gospel with complete strangers in the community, we have to get out and do it. The world NEEDS us!  So let’s share the gospel today!

Prayer: God thank you for trusting us with your TRUTH!! It is SO important and we are extremely blessed that we have this opportunity! Thank you for seeing us fit enough to embark upon the mission of creating new disciples! God help us be bolder and give us the proper technique to use in our situations! Encourage us as we encourage others in you! We love you so much and strive each and every day to be better! We are working to make our better, the best! Love you, in Jesus name. Amen.

Women, United in Prayer

                                                             By Guest Blogger: Chazle' Lassister 

This is for my ladies. Please take heed. This is powerful!

As I was in prayer, God spoke a specific word that I was told to share with all women. "I need my daughters to pray for the men. The enemy is coming to destroy families and is starting with the head- the men- to bring forth dysfunction disorder. Pray and cover the men in your life and do not take their troubles lightly. I will restore, but I need the women to be in submission to my will
by PRAYING and NOT SLAYING the men. It is critical and imperative for this season to be filled with unity, for division will lead to devour."  "Pray daughters, Fast, and Trust me...I will hear and I will move". God said "if we rally around them in prayer in the spirit realm, we will build a wall that can not be destroyed. Pray daughters."

New Year. New Beginnings. New Opportunities.

-->

By: Monique Smith

            Happy New Year everyone! I pray that everyone had happy holidays and spent time with family and friends! Most importantly, I hope everyone spent some time with God, to find out the direction He wants you to move in this new year.   If you haven’t done that yet, there is still time.

            A way that you can discover the plans God has for you is to spend more time with Him and to listen better. How can you listen better? Clear your life of distractions and deny your flesh. Your flesh is LOUD and its desires often are louder than the voice of God.  The flesh presents you with the logic to listen to it now and talk to God later. However, in this New Year, you DON’T have to fall victim to the flesh! God gave us power. So let’s use it!  “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” Luke 10:19

            We can start this year off with consecrating ourselves from things, foods, and people who pull on our flesh and distract us away from God.  Join me in fasting from January 2- January 30^th from sweets, breads, sodas, fast food, and all social media!** During this time, I will also memorize scripture so I will be able to hide the word more effectively in my heart! “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. “ Psalm 119:11. It’s easy for your flesh to bend scripture and reason with you to sin, especially if you don’t know what the scripture says! Think about Eve, she misquoted God and the enemy tripped her up on her lack of knowledge.  It’s not cute to walk around half quoting scriptures, especially if you perish because of it. It’s time to get the Word in our mouth, so it will be in our minds, and infiltrate our heart and our souls! People of God, we have to get better and God is here to help us! All we have to do is start! God will give you strength to continue.

            Lastly, during this consecration, I encourage you all to set a fitness goal for the month. What good is it to be “spiritually healthy” but completely ignore the body and life God has blessed us with by being lazy and eating things that are unhealthy.  

Prayer: God! It’s another year and I’m glad, I’M GLAD ABOUT IT! Whew! Lord! This year is going to be awesome and exciting!!! God help me with this consecration so I will be able to deny the flesh more effectively in 2013 and be controlled by YOUR will Lord, and not MINE! God, I need your help! I can not do this alone! God, link me up with other believers who are interested in growing closer to you, the way I am! I love you Lord! In Jesus name, Amen!  

** Feel free to alter the consecration however you desire. You know what distracts you most, so do what is best for you.