Month: November 2024

Celebrations are the seeds that get sown for the next victory while celebrating the current victory. When we cease to stop and celebrate a victory, a breakthrough, a gift, an answered prayer, we just live in a continual cycle of labor that never satisfies.

The Lord commanded Israel to celebrate three feasts a year. These three feasts were at the time of various harvests. The Passover feast was at the time of the Barley or Wheat harvest; The feast of Pentecost was at the time of the Grape or Fruit harvest; and The Feast of Tabernacles was at the Olive harvest. They were commanded to celebrate for seven days. They did not work, they celebrated, they feasted, they sang songs, they enjoyed one another’s company and every male 25 and older was required to be at these feasts in Jerusalem.

Friends, we don’t celebrate well as the American culture. We don’t know how to enjoy the blessings of God that is why we are never satisfied when a victory happens, but rather we so quickly move onto the next prayer assignment, the next thing that needs to be done. Our inability to stop and celebrate people, answered prayers, victories, breakthroughs is an epidemic in our culture that must be broken.

Praise is a weapon, celebration is an act of gratitude, rejoicing is power, and we must learn to stop working and start celebrating. Other cultures do this so well. My husband said in Nigeria they were dancing in the streets yesterday when they got the news of the US Election. We, on the other hand, were told the war is not won and we have to keep praying. Are you kidding me, we must rejoice when God answers our prayers, when we see a breakthrough, when a battle is won.

Celebration is part of the cycle of blessing God gives us and we must learn to celebrate for God is the one who lifts one up and brings one down. He is the decider of who rules nations and when He makes a decision, we must rejoice in His choice for He knows what we need. Our job is to celebrate, not call for another prayer meeting. Come on and celebrate!!!!! Celebration does wonders for your soul, try it you may like it.

No one person is the whole puzzle but each of us is a piece of the puzzle that paints the picture of what God is doing in our nation. A piece of the puzzle was put in place with the election of the 47th President of the United States. It is a time to rejoice, for another piece of the puzzle is in place for a macro move of God that is being revealed daily. Kings and priests are coming together for a Melchizedek move of God. This will be like nothing we have ever seen before. Oh the joy, the vision, the direction and the manifestation is going to truly be beyond. 

Psalm 66 is my prayer partner this morning and it calls us to the right response to what God is doing with all these puzzle pieces He is revealing. Listen to the first few verses, “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah. Our first response is praise to God for what He is doing, His deeds are manifesting marvelously and it is causing the enemy to cringe. 

The psalmist continues to speak into our moment by saying, “For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.” Friends we have been through some stuff, it was hard, it was painful, it was crushing, but God did not leave us there, He was bringing us somewhere. He was bringing us to a place of abundance. We have been brought through, we have crossed over, abundance is our next stop. 

Prayer has been a key in our nation and the psalmist agrees, “Truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” God is not done with us, He is just beginning again with us. Let the church arise and all of us shout Hallelujah! For the Lord reigns. Righteousness is exalting our nation again and it will end in praise for our God!!!! Thank you Jesus for placing puzzle pieces in position so we can see the bigger picture. 

Words are powerful, the Bible says the power of life and death is in our tongue. We speak about the power of words a lot, as we should, but there is another subject we need to address today. It is the trust we place in names. Names, names and more names that invite us to trust them, support them, believe them, names are vying for our attention all day everyday. Oh the names that we have put our trust in.

The names Apple or Tesla; Trump or Harris; Bank of America or Truist; Wall Street or Bourbon Street; family names or familiar names; names want us to put our trust in them for when we do we buy into their narrative. But the Bible says there is a name above all names and at that name every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Yeshua Hamasheach, the Messiah, the Savior of the world, this is the name of the Lord that is a strong tower and the righteous are invited to run into it and then they will be safe.

I was thinking about this Election Day in the USA and I was praying Psalm 65 which says, “O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.” There is going to be a lot of prayer going up today all around the world. There are going to be a lot of names vying for our attention, for us to trust them that what they say they will do. But today we are being reminded by Psalm 20 “Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”

Today we vote, today we watch, today we listen, but today like everyday we remind ourselves that there is only one Savior of the world; One God of all creation; One name that is above all other names; and One mediator between God and man, Jesus the Christ. Trust God my friends, pray, vote, watch, listen, but do not deviate from the only name you can trust in both storms and stillness.

Everyday we make choices. Most of our choices are simple choices, like where to buy gas, where to eat lunch, which route to take to our destination, what outfit we are going to wear. Other days our decisions are more important, like who am I going to marry, where am I going to work, what church am I going to attend, what friendships will I invest in. Whether significant or less impactful, we are continually making choices.

Hearing the voice of God is not to be only for big choices we make, but it is also not for little choices like do I want to drink out of this coffee cup or that one this morning. Hearing the voice of God is a relational issue, for hearing His voice reveals His love for us and His character. If we do not know the character of God we will miss the voice of God. Our belief about who God is determines what we hear and many hear voices but they are from valuable voices not from God.

Valuable voices are locked in our memory and speak to us more than most realize. We also hear intimidating voices like fear, worry, gloom and doom, but those are not God either, for He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all so there is nothing to be afraid of. The character of God reveals the voice of God and makes us feel loved by God when we hear it. So, how do we know if it is the voice of God.

Isaiah 30 says, “Your ears will hear a word behind you, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” The voice of God can be heard, He wants to share with you where to walk, but what is the way the voice of God is leading you into? Psalm 23 answers this for us, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The voice behind you is showing you the way of goodness and mercy. God is not angry, no mad at you, not disappointed in you, He is for you and not against you.

Listen for the voice behind you speaking goodness and mercy, when you hear that voice then you will know the way to walk, whether to the right or to the left. His voice is there, He wants to lead you in the way of goodness and mercy, can you hear the voice of God speaking to you? He loves you that’s why He talks to you.

This week will be filled with predictions; prophesies; I told you so’s; I can’t believe it; commentators; political pundits; opinions; fear; anxiety; joy; excitement; all the things will be happening this week as there is an election in the United States on Tuesday. The atmosphere is charged, people are on edge, you can sense it, you can feel it, you can hear it in the things people say and see it in the things people are doing.

I am so thankful the word of God has something to say about everything. Today is the 3rd of November and I am reading Proverbs 3 in the Message Bible and it says exactly what we need to hear…

“Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life;
don’t for a minute lose sight of them.
They’ll keep your soul alive and well,
they’ll keep you fit and attractive.
You’ll travel safely,
you’ll neither tire nor trip.
You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry,
you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep.
No need to panic over alarms or surprises,
or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner,
Because GOD will be right there with you;
he’ll keep you safe and sound.”

I pray as you enter into this week that you remember the wisdom of Solomon spoken in Proverbs 3. Never forget, a nap is spiritual warfare; everyone has an opinion but God is the Truth; there is a peace that passes all understanding; and when Light shines in the darkness, the darkness cannot understand it (the Light); finally, don’t forget you are the light of the world, a city on a hill, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God and Christ in you is the hope of glory, for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Have a great week!!!!

The temperature was a brisk high 40’s this morning, the breeze was gentle, the stars were out and the noise was minimal. What a perfect morning to walk the dog and listen to the Holy Spirit teach things I did not realize I needed to know. I love how Solomon says in Proverbs 2 that wisdom calls out and wants to tell us more than we even think we need to know. It was a walk with wisdom this morning as the voice of God spoke many things. I pray you take walks with God. Leave the AirPods at home, rise before the sun, go to a place where it is silent externally so you can hear internally. The voice of God is a priceless gift that is not earned, but is given to us from a very generous God.

One of the messages the Holy Spirit spoke this morning was “Preperation is a private matter and work is a public one.” I had never thought of it this way, but how true it is. We prepare in private and our works are seen in public. I have a son who is a worship leader and he sings at home all the time. Whether while making lunch or in the shower, his voice can be heard throughout the house. He is watching worship leaders in his bedroom, he is practicing his piano in his room, he sings and plays during the day and during the night. All while no one is looking, no one is listening, and the Holy Spirit calls that preparation.

Jesus said in John 10 “By all means, do not believe in Me, if I am not doing the things of the Father. But examine My actions, and you will see that My work is the work of the Father. Regardless of whether you believe in Me—believe the miracles. Then you will know that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.” Jesus did works in pubic that revealed His oneness with His Father that was prepared in private. Works confirm preperation.

I sense the preperation that has been done in private is giving way to works we are about to see in public. These public works are going to reveal people’s oneness with God that has been established in private preperation. Businesses are about to manifest, bible studies are about to be revealed, books are about to be published, relationships are about to be seen, there will be such a variety of works that reveal what has been done in private preperation and it is all going to reveal God’s glory on earth. Private preperation is giving way to public works for those who have been preparing while no one was looking.

For the past years, money has been tight, interest rates have gone up; inflation is obvious; gas prices go up and down; the price of homes is ridiculous; used cars are overpriced; taxes seem to be off the charts; everyone everywhere has been feeling the pinch of people picking at your paycheck. Conversations about money are everywhere as the moment you leave the house someone is asking you to buy this, buy that, go here, go there, do this, do that. It has been a hard four years since C-19 started.

I don’t know what you learned during the past four years, eight years, twelve years, sixteen years or even twenty years, but one thing I have learned is that I want to live small so I can give big. No matter what the stock market does, no matter what the exchange rate is, no matter what gold and silver do, I have chosen to live small so I can give big. The reason I have decided to do this is because God is generous on all occasions and we are called to be like Him.

When we obey money we will make our life comfortable rather than seek to make someone else’s life enjoyable. Money is selfish by design, that is why we are called to not love money but to love God. God is generous by nature and will always give more than is deserved or expected. Giving unlocks something in the person you are giving to that we may not even know needs to be unlocked. Giving communicates to others something words can’t express. If you buy it for yourself, it does not carry the same love as if it is bought for you, given to you.

Generosity is a characteristic of God and is to be who we are, for people need to know they are loved and generosity communicates that in a way only the receiver understands. God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son; Jesus fed the 4,000 and the 5,000; we serve a generous God and we are called to be generous people. I pray you learn to live small so you can give big, it is a lifestyle that brings more joy than words can ever express. Try it, you may enjoy it more than you know.