Meditation: November 18

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John 12:32

Those who are drawn to Jesus by the Spirit are kept by the Spirit. The mysterious magnetic pull of the cross of Christ produces within the heart of the believer a willingness to fully follow after Him even when circumstances are difficult. They see the sacrifice that He has made in contrast to the challenges that lie before them and equate all in light of what Jesus Christ has already done. This is not the easy believe(ism) or our day where many are attracted to the trappings of success in this life and the glory that comes from others. It is a heart commitment to fully follow Christ in all that He may assign as a part of our journey. They lifted Him up as an enemy to their doctrines and lifestyles by crucifying Him. He transformed what would have been defeat into victory. Now the message of the cross of Jesus must be preached throughout world in order for any to be drawn by dimensions of love never known before. Love was the motive for Him to die for our sins which were many. It is the acknowledgement of sin and its effect upon our lives and our world that would bring one to understand the necessity of His sacrifice. Are you drawn to Christ today? He was lifted up and His message is now being preached throughout the world providing an opportunity for you to be delivered out of the bondage of sin and its affect to the glorious liberty that only He is able to provide.

Meditation: November 15

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   1 Thessalonians 5:23

What God began in you required your dedication to His cause. He saw you struggling in your own strength to make life make sense. When your attempts to hold things together began to falter and your goals for the future began to crumble, He took your broken pieces of your failures and fallen world and replaced them with a new and living way. He wanted to sanctify you. He wanted the whole of you to be given over to the whole of Him. When He is given your whole spirit, He gives it new life. When He is given your soul, He lifts your countenance with a lively hope. When He is given your body, He uses it as seed for a glorious, resurrected body fit for eternity.  He says to you now, “let Me have your life. Only when it is set apart for My exclusive use will it ever experience the peace that your so desperately pursue.”

Meditation: November 14

“For man also does not know his time: Like fish taken in a cruel net, like birds caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared in an evil time, when it falls suddenly upon them.”  Ecclesiastes 9:12

Action taken without any knowledge of our time is the entrapment of the enemy. We would lose sight of all the benefits provided as a means of remaining on the path of freedom. What were the habits and where were the pitfalls of the past that once held us in their grip before we were enlightened. They are still there even though we may have been once delivered from them. But when we get out of step with God and begin to take matters into our own hands, in no time they catch up to recapture us. We must be a step ahead of ploys that could so easily cause setbacks. God reveals the strategies and schemes intended to dismantle the work of God in us and through us. Therefore it is required of us to walk in the Spirit in sync with the Lord is timing that we do not succumb weakness of the flesh and the wiles of the devil.

Meditation: November 13

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  Matthews 7:21

Is ours a works salvation that qualifies us for heaven or a faith that translates into efforts that are pleasing to God? Many have believed that no evidence is necessary among the professors of religion. The right language without evidence may be impressive but does not possess the power to preserve one’s life for all eternity. In this life we are transformed into willing servants of the Lord. When His life enters into our souls, we wish to know what pleases Him that we may do what we have been enabled by His Spirit to know. The prideful would merely wish to parade around with knowledge left unapplied. They are held responsible even though they never tapped into the power that could have been used for the continuance of the works of Jesus Christ on the earth. Their professing Him as Lord is a signal to the powers that be of that they are equipped and skilled for spiritual battle. When we enter into His kingdom, the power that resides there reaches the earth through us to confirm our subjection to His Lordship.

Meditation:November 10

“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” Proverbs 20:27

Our spirits have full knowledge of our true selves. It is not what we project, but who we are that the light of the spirit searches out. Experiences of the past are registered in the heart thus carving out our personalities. Our spirits reveal many of them as places in need of healing once it is awakened by the Holy Spirit of God. It is made anew for the saving of the soul. No longer are wayward behavior justified, for the awakened spirit can receive the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit  as necessary for completing the inward work that He has begun. What a blessing to have the searchlight of God turned our way! Not only does He convict, but His grace is dispensed everywhere the light shines. He delivers us from those vices that beforehand we were incapable of seeing. No longer blind but now we can praise and worship Him from the depths of a changed heart. We are no longer who we once were. We are now becoming who we were meant to be!

Meditation: November 8

“And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.” Luke 4:33

The conventional wisdom and language of the people was mere talk without power to back it up. There had been many who had made impressive speeches that dazzled the crowds and arrested their undivided attention. But none was able to speak with such words of power to command spirits that controlled their environment and lives as Jesus could. He did not mince words with senseless and endless babble. Every word was direct and true even when not fully understood. It was given for His disciples to know the mysteries of His message. He presented to mankind the kingdom of heaven, an order that was strange to the disorder existing on the earth. Little wonder why they were astonished when all they had ever heard were light-hearted messages that do very little for the soul and spirit. Now that His authority has been given to the Church, it is our responsibility to represent Him in ways where the integrity of His Words are delivered intact. If it is to be His authority, it must be both His Word and His Spirit communicated through a vessel that is His own.

“2020: The Year of 20/20 Vision”

Vision drives towards purpose. Purpose gives life its meaning. Meaning affects our will to survive. We are not just to survive, but every day must be lived purposefully. Each step taken in life must be strategic as we move towards a goal that would bring fulfillment in this life and a legacy for those we leave behind. It was the Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius that said, “The true worth of a man is measured by the object he pursues.”  Life’s goals become the defining statement or our epitaph when we are eulogized at the end of this mortal life. Statements are often made at funerals with the attempts to inflate the impression made on the mind whereas the dead often appears larger than life. While looking in the coffin, some would wonder if they had wandered into the wrong room. The person that they knew was altogether different from the one being spoken of. Then there are occasions where attributes were known by a select few but never brought into full view of the masses. Then those who hear of them wished that they had known the treasury of gifts and knowledge contained within the person taken for granted. 

As we enter in this New Year 2020, the Truth of God is being spoken, to bring out of the richness of His grace, dispensed to those who would allow it to have free course within them. The Heavenly Vision or sights set on God’s Kingdom and His standard of Righteousness will raise the bar of many who had previously merely settled for dead religion. They will then awakened to the reality that they had been living beneath their privilege. Since God had made provisions for us to have life and that more abundantly, biblical terms would be redefined according to His original intent. It is true, where you currently stand will determine what you see and how you see. That is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is often rejected or redefined. The tastes of many have been unrefined, thus the dregs and bitterness of sin had remained palatable. The question that is so baffling to many is how can so many be misled and guided in the direction of their own death and destruction? The answer is, all that is necessary is for a lie to become believable and accepted instead of the truth. The Holocaust in Germany under the leadership of Adolph Hitler provides evidence of this. Leadership that misleads is the most destructive force ever. Yet, it has been the tool of Satan even before creation. 

This year, 2020, The Year of 20/20 Vision, we will set the highest goal possible, and set subordinate steps leading to the completion of those set goals. We have history to show us the possibilities of both successes and failures. It was said, “if one does not learn from history, he is destined to repeat it,” Yet history is not our teacher. It can only serve as references. The Holy Spirit of God must be our guide. He will show us the path that we must go and on occasion take in directions of new territories to blaze new paths. We pray that this year will be a year of discovery. Habakkuk 2:2 “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”  The clarity will come to those who are committed to engaging in a singular task that is greater than themselves and those to whom they have been called to help. Then Paul stated in Acts 20:20 “how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house.”  The mandate to make known to all will be greater than ever before as you rise up to lead the wayward in a path and direction of hope for their future. May what God envisions for you become your vision for yourself! New year, fresh vision. New year, fresh opportunities to live the life God intended for you to live to its fullest!

Meditation: July 20

 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Ti 2:15).

Diligence is required in the preparation for the presentation of oneself as an authorized worker who is able to wholly participate in the work of God. God’s work must take place within the worker before the Holy Spirit is able to work through the worker. We must be careful not to engage in efforts we deem to be important prior to the life-changing experience of conversion. We are converted into seeing things from God’s point of view in heaven rather than ours which is limited to what we observe on the earth. He then takes the worker and places him among other workers in order for the work to be complete. No worker is able to complete his true conversion without the assistance of others who have been assigned to assist. The work of God is not just what we do but who we become. We are the raw material God uses to erect a spiritual house in which He will dwell throughout eternity. Our proper placement adds to our worth. Whatever it takes in assuring that our efforts are according to His specifications and is not in vain is of utmost importance. Be diligent that each may qualify as living stones in their rightful place. 

Meditation: July 15

“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah17:10

The Lord looks at the heart of every person and does not merely see its present condition. He looks into the heart at every contributing factor that motivates both mind and heart. We see the world and people through the lenses of past experiences whether good or bad. Our heart is set in a particular direction while our mind searches out new things to explore. God searches the heart in order to remove the debris that hinders our minds from thinking on things which are just, lovely, pure, and or a good report. Our thoughts will determine our action. Our truest motives are from either a pure or an impure heart. What God has ordained will continue to affect the lives of others bringing them to deeper and greater levels of understanding Jesus Christ. He must be seen in all that we do. When He is glorified through our efforts, our work will have eternal rewards rather than merely producing temporary relief.  He rewards the fruit of our doings and not our deeds alone. 

Meditation: July 8

“If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord, to do good or bad of my own will. What the Lord says, that I must speak’?” Num 24:13

 Hearing and obeying the Word of the Lord is more important than the benefits of hard work and labor that would take us beyond it. There are those who ignore the standard established by God and wish to justify their position thinking that they are too busy or have risen above the instructions given. Their price is met through the fame, fortune, and acceptance of others who would reward them with tangible benefits or accolades affirming their significance to a particular cause. Yet if we are not speaking what God has spoken or doing what He has ordained, it is either blessing what God has cursed or cursing what God has blessed. We must not judge the Word of God has being optional but absolutely necessary in every endeavor. A transgression is going beyond the word whether it is for good or for bad. As ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must speak what God is saying in order for the people to fully participate in what God is doing. We too will be judged if we preach ourselves or address topics of interest to us and others at the expense of what thus sayeth the Lord. The judgment of a godly word is not what we may feel about it, but how can it transform us into the image of the Son of God? I must speak what God is saying and we both must do what God has instructed. Only then will He be pleased with our efforts.