There's Freedom in My Long Skirts

They say it doesn't matter.  God looks at the heart, not our outward appearance.  So I have a question for the ladies that have been born again for a year and over, with the two above pictures, which one do you think our men in the church would be able to focus on God more?  Selah

As women we have the power to seduce.  We seduce by what a man's eye can see.  Don’t get me wrong; when it’s husband and wife time, I encourage you to look like the bottom picture.  However, when it’s God time, you should be dressed accordingly.  Our men are men of God, but they are yet men!  How can our brothers get in the spirit if they are having their eyes on you?   You get to praising the Lord and everyone can see your glory.  How is that holy?  We always talk about the old time way and how strict there were.  Yet by now we should see that it was for decency and order, not bondage. Just like we have separation of church and state, let there be a separation between the sexy and the holy way of dressing.

There’s freedom in my long skirt! 

A Dirty Word-Correction

When we are newborns, our mothers feed us milk. Eventually we graduate from bottle to cup.  Then we graduate from milk to food.  The graduation process continues until one day, we have to leave the comforts of home and stand on our own.  In the process, there are plenty of times of correction.  Its start off with No, you can’t do that.  Then it proceeds to a time out.  Then it proceeds to that good old fashion spanking.  Then it proceeds to being grounded.  Why parents do all of this in our journey of growing up?  In those times of correction, it is for our own good.  In the long run it makes up a better woman or a better man for it.  You look back as an adult and appreciate it, as parents was only trying to keep you out of harm’s way and help you mature into a responsible young adults for society to prosper from.  What do some of us notice with kids and never received a form a discipline and get whatever they want?  They notice they become adult spoiled brats.  Having an attitude of  you are suppose to do this for them and now life having to show them it’s not all about them!

That same journey is in our relationship with God….

Titus 2:1-8

1But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

3The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

6Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7In all things showing you a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing incorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Psalm 94:12

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teaches him out of thy law;

Hebrews 12:6

For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.

Proverbs 22:15

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Hmmmm… there is more than one scripture about correction or discipline.   See as we mature in God, there will be time of correction.  No ones like correction.  We all like the blessing, but when God says you acting too selfish, we freeze.  Children of God, how do you expect to grow to maturity without correction?  Even in the natural is has its place.  So when you've been coming to church for a while and the mother says “baby, let’s put that hem lower for we don’t want to excite the men in here”; that is not bullying, that is not judgment, that is correction.  And yes women, the older women are to teach us young women.  We may not like it all the time but God has them there for us to grow up!

I be the first one to admit when I was younger I use to take such correction as “they are old and done lived their life.  Now they want to ruin my fun”.  Now that I’m older, no…that is not what they were doing.  They were helping me mature in my walk with God.  When you come to church with your dress so tight, I can see your glory; my mind is not on the Lord so our men’s mind is definitely not.  Come as you are is for those just coming to God, not those sitting in church for over a year!  Let’s keep it real. 

I have experienced God correct me right through the pastor several times.  One example is I was having a personal conversation with my mom stating how I would get a breast augmentation...yes…hot mess.  We went to church service that night and the speaker busted out saying do you not like how God made you.  What is this talk about some plastic surgery.  My eyes popped out…but the scripture He will beautify the meek with salvation came to mind.   Saints, sometimes God will correct us.  He will use the pastor, the church mothers, another saint, or just plain show you Himself.  This is also part of God’s love.  It’s not all I will bless you with this or that, it's also will I will correct you. Read the word, God blesses with correction.  Let’s thank God for His correction, as he loves us.  No, it doesn't feel good but crucifying the flesh never feels good.  Marinate!

What Will You Choose?

Ever look at how women walk?  Some walk with their heads held down, some walk in a spirit of defeat, and some walk with confidence.  You can always get a sense of how a woman perceives herself all within her walk.

The same lies true with our walk with God! Some of us walk as defeated foes for the devil to continue to devour, some walk knowing the word but doubting, and some walk in the confidence of their faith.  They know the God they serve.  You can always tell a child of God walk simple by their speech.

So what choice will you make in your walk with God?  Will you walk in doubt as Thomas once did?  Will you be mixed like Peter once did?  Or will you be like John and stand on God’s word no matter what?  The choice is simply up to you.  Choose wisely, as your journey depends on it.

The Lessons In The Little Things....

Consider the lilies how they grow:  they toil not, they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will e clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Luke 12:27-28.

How many of us see this Word and say glory to God, but keeps it moving?  How many of us battle with the spirit of worry? 

Let’s face it, we can all turn on the news right now and before it’s over, we can find something to worry about.  We can worry about the kids and schools.  We can worry about walking down a street and getting robbed or murdered.  We can worry about our health.  We can worry about the economy.  Oh, it’s easy to worry.  Yet, is that walking in faith as a child of God or walking as a child of darkness? Do we really know that we are part of the Kingdom of God or just say it in church on Sunday?

The Lord reminded me of something.  See I just left the dentist (a professional I’m thankful for but hateJ), so I decided to go to the store to help relieve the hour I had to wait before eating again.  I saw this purse that was so cute.  Yet it didn’t have a price tag on it, it didn’t have the bar code needed, and it was the only one left in this store.  I contacted an employee and tried so hard to get the purse, but decided to let it go.  Besides it’s only a purse.

Being bum out by it, I decided to go next door to the shoe store just to look at some shoes since I couldn’t get the purse.  I come down the escalator and there it was the same purse I wanted from the previous store.  No problem with price tag, same design, and same color.  When I saw it, I felt myself leaping for joy and praising God in my car for this purse. Now, I know this is just a purse right. 

The lesson I got from that day was if God granted my desire of my heart with a purse, a desire, not a need; how much more He will grant my needs.  See I never said I prayed to find the purse somewhere else.  It was just given to me that way.  So the same God that granted my desire is the same God that can grant my needs.

The eyes of the Lord are every place, beholding the evil and the good.  Proverbs 15:3

God sees even when we feel like He doesn’t see!  He sees we need money.  He sees we need our health.  He sees we need our jobs.  He sees we need safe peaceful dwelling places.  He sees!  He knows!  Yet here’s the kicker…He cares!

So I encourage the saints to take authority that they have in Christ and tell the spirit of worry to depart from you in Jesus name!  We are part of God’s kingdom, not the kingdom of this world!  We have goodly heritage in Him!

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:6

Remember saints, nothing is too hard for the God we serve!

Time To Graduate...

When you are a baby, your mother feeds you, bathes you, and protects you.  By the age of four, the road to letting you go beings as you head off to Pre-K.  As time goes on, she is letting you go more and more.  By eighteen, she has to trust what she has raised, as you begin your journey of becoming grown.  It’s not an easy process for her, but a process nonetheless.

Think about our walk with God.  We start off as babies needing to be fed and protected.  Then little by little we roll, crawl, and eventually walk.  We can get off the milk and enjoy the meat from our Father table.  Yet in our spiritual walk, it is up to us to grow!  He told us to work out our own salvation in Philippians 2:12.

My question for the saints is when are we going to graduate? 

The prosperity gospel alone is not working.  Yes, I said it.  It causes us as a body to say in a carnal minded state.  The carnal mind will make us lust after our flesh, not after our spirit.  We stay debating on the “it don’t take all that” topics:  how women should dress, this new method to reach souls, or on tithes.  Let’s face it, if we are REALLY seeking the things of God, He will let us know the answers to the topics anyhow.  Why are we wasting so much of our Sunday morning services to either debates or flesh?  Have we become the children of the give mes?  Do we view God as a genie? Are we seeking God for “blessings” or are we seeking God from our hearts?  Romans 8:7 states a carnal mind is enmity against God.  John 4:24 tells us how they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth!   The results of the flesh are: no power being demonstrated in our local services, no spiritual growth being warranted, and no souls coming to the altar to be saved like they use to.  I’m not stating this is happening to all churches, I can only speak for the African American churches here in NY.  It just makes me wonder is everybody satisfied with the state our churches are currently in?

Saints, we need to graduate.  There is so much more to God in the spirit realm that it can be mind blowing. We need to realize who we really are in God!  It’s time to either fully eat from the table or get off.  Yes I said it.  There are souls out there that have been discouraged by the church because the church is in a carnal state.  We don’t want to no longer come out and be separate.  We want to blend in.  The world doesn't respect that.  I don’t even respect that.   People need to see the difference again.  People need to experience deliverance, freedoms, healing, and spiritual growth!  We are at war saints.  If we don’t know who we really are in God, we are defeated.  Yes I said it.  It’s the anointing that destroys yokes, not carnality.  Time for us to get pass this prosperity phase and graduate.  Yes, this is a tight but its right reminder to me and to my brothers and sisters in Christ.  It’s time to graduate!

Don't Get It Twisted, We Are At War!

Luke 8:30

Jesus asked him what is your name?  Legion because many devils were entered into him.

The topic of demons have been fairly mixed within the church.  This passage in Luke lets us know that demonic activity is real, and there is a reason why it’s called spiritual warfare.  When Jesus was here on earth, He did things for our example.  One of them was showing us how to take authority over demonic activity. 

Demons focus are to attempt to distort and destroy, especially people relationships with God. It is vital that believers recognize this.  As the word of God states, there is a war between the spirit and the flesh!

2 Corinthians 10:4

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to pulling down of strong holds.

Demons can be powerful until they come across a saint that knows their authority in God!  What did Jesus do when he was face with demonic activity. Did he run?  NO!  He took his authority immediately.  What was the weapon, His word!

1 Corinthians 4:20

For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power!

The power of His resurrection give us power through His name.  At the name of Jesus, the weakest demons tremble.  Just at His name!  The name that is above all names!  This is also why it is so vital for saints to get God’s word in their hearts.  When it’s time for war, the soldiers are prepared. That is not the time to being getting your weapons together.  Same principle in the spirit.  When it’s time to rebuke those demons, that is not the time to start looking up a scriptures.  Mediate on God’s word.  It is vital to the spiritual war we are in.  What happen when Jesus spoke His word, the demons left.

So do we seat back and just accept sickness on our body or chaos in our homes or attacks on our finances?  Not if you are a child of God that know your authority in Christ!  During this month of Halloween, I am reminding the saints to be prayerful and fast.  Its war!  Demonic activity is at its peak doing this time of the year.  Notice how no one gets offended with Halloween, but everyone opinions come out for Christmas.

Saints, I encourage you to take your authority in Christ.  We are at war, no time to sleep!

Catch Me in the Club...

You are a youth in church and hear how you can’t be going to the club on Saturday and then try to praise the Lord on Sunday.  You may think to yourself, what’s wrong with that?  Some may even think well its easier for you to tell me not to go the clubs when you was younger, you was all up in it.  Now that you're old, you trying to ruin my fun.  Hmmmm

Well, I learned yet again the hard way why saint don’t got no business in the clubJ  

As Sophia from the Golden Girls would say, picture it.  You got your best outfit on and feeling good.  You arrive at the club.  Your song comes on so you decided to get your dance on.  You saved, but full of youth and just want to have some fun.  To be honest, the club scene starts off fun.

I’ve learn that Satan works best on the youth through deception!  Remember, he is the father of lies!

The deception for me was one of my co-workers suggesting I be the designated driver since they knew I was saved and wouldn’t drink.  I said ok, at least I would help from one hurting themselves or others.  So off to the club I go.  I heard a song and was like ohhhhh and did my dance, while babysitting adults. Oh yeah, at first it seem like no big deal.  Why the church gets on the youth so about this.  Oh but the night went on….

Within this same night, I witnessed women getting their high on in the bathroom. While dancing, this lady looked out of it and the guy was doing some interesting things while suppose to be dancing with her. I didn’t want to leave my soda down, as concern someone may put something in it that would send me out my right mind. Ha-ha   Then I had to ask the Lord for help, as my friend was about to go off with two other guys that was walking her to this white van.  I forgot how some people become the angry drunk, and while minding my business, this stranger asked me what I was doing there.  Yeah, the demons knew I had no business being there even if I didn’t!  What started out to feel like so much fun ended up having to semi fight off the two men with my friend.  I had to wrestle with her to get her in my car.  Then calming down another one before we ended up on the local news, and wondering about the next one.  By the time I got home, I was exhausted and not in a fun way.

So why are we told such places aren’t meant for a saint, simple, because it turns into a demonic atmosphere.  If not careful it can take your peace, it can disturb your joy.  I haven’t been back to a club since!  I have no desire to be there.  Oh, and I told the adults you grown when they wanted me to be a designated driver again.  Yet did you see how the devil tricked me.  However it taught me the answer to why.

We love songs from Fred Hammond and Kirk Franklin.  I suggest a get together one Friday or Saturday night and play those types of songs and just enjoy one another’s company.  God is not against youth having some fun, but to be honest, we have to use wisdom.  We are in the world, but we sure nough aint of the world.

Hope my experience gave a better understanding on why not go to the club.  Be encouraged.