I would like to continue to share with you about my Thursday morning crying-out session with God. During my crying-out session I found my thoughts drifting to a place that I used to go when life’s pressure seem too much for me to bear. My mind went to a place I used to go when things felled completely apart. Suicide!
As the thought came to my conscience mind; it came with the thoughts “nothing in your life is going right anyway, why, continue on. Why, continue serving a God who is not answering you? Why, continue to try to be faithful and obedient to a God, who is making you suffer? You have been praying for almost five years for God to change things and work things out for you. What has He done for you but tell you to wait and trust Him? How long are you suppose to wait for Him?
I remember what 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” I remembered the devil’s mission in John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”
It was then that my thoughts went to what David said, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” I begin to quote Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” I changed my thoughts from despairing thoughts to thoughts of hope as I remembered the goodness of the LORD. It was God who promised me and my cousin Tonya (God rest her soul) a restored, saved and joyous family. I have seen in the past 18 months my family come together more and more in fellowship and love. This August we will take a family trip together the first one ever, in which over 90 percent of the family will be in attendance. I count that a blessings from God. I told myself, just because things are not happening the way I want them too does not mean God is not working to fulfill His promises. For He told Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
I lifted up my head, wiped my eyes and continue to encourage myself in the LORD. “This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army (problems, trials and situations). For the battle is not yours, but God's.”
I know during trying times we can be tempted to go back to our old habits of coping or dealing with the trials of life, suicide which is permanent is not the answer (it does not hurt you but those you love and is one of the most selfish acts a person can commit). Then there is trying to drink your problem away, sex it away (if you are not married), drug it away or whatever temporary fix that does not lead to God’s way of dealing with the situations in your life. When life comes at you hard and fast as it will sometimes, you have to “lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth” and trust God to bring you out.
Two scriptures that I always help me when the mind attacks come are Hebrews 13:5b, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’.” The other is Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” I also look to back over past victories God has won for me, which also reassures me He is going to come through on my behalf again.
So, no matter what problems you are facing rest assure God is working behind the scenes to bring you out in total victory. Do not give up just keep on trusting Him for He is able to make the impossible possible for you. He knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper and not to harm.
Be blessed and know God is able!!!
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Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Test Are Necessary
Last Thursday was a very hard morning for me. As I continue to look to the LORD for answers to my current situation and future plans, I found myself spiritual frustrated with God. I found myself crying out like the old saints and prophets. Wanting to know, “why do the wicked and ungodly prosper so freely and things/life seem so easy for them.”
Her e I am a child of an All-Knowing, Powerful Father and it seems at every turn for me there is a problem or situation. I sat on the edge of my bed that Thursday morning crying and scream at God to answer me, to talk to me; begging and pleading with Him to answer the concerns of my heart. As I continue to sit there crying and crying out to my Heavenly Father, I heard nothing from Him. I got up from my bed wiped my face and told the LORD, “I trusted Him and would continue to seek Him for answers no matter what.” It was then in my silence I felt the need to play Marvin Sapp’s song "Marvin Sapp Not The Time, Not The Place." The lyric say:
This is not the time for giving up,
this is not your place where you should be,
not the time or the place to lie in defeat,
you got to hold on, you got be strong.
This is not not the time to question your faith,
this is not your place of destiny,
it's not the time or the place to throw in the towel,
you gotta hold on, you you gotta be strong.
Sometimes you win,
sometimes you lose,
it's apart of life that everyone goes through.
Sometimes there's joy,
sometimes there's pain,
that's apart of God's plan,
it is His own plan.
I know it was God’s way of encouraging me to be steadfast in Him. As I fastforward to Sunday morning, it was my time to read (Purpose Driven Life, By Rick Warren) and my time in the Word of God. I thought I would read the Psalms, since they spoke to what I was feeling at the time. As I read Psalm 27, I heard Galations 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Then I heard Job, so I went to the book of Job the first chapter and read verses 21-22. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
I knew in my heart God had not left me, for in His Word He says, “"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So, I knew God had not left me during the last 18 or so months as I faced illness, death of love ones, lossing my job, unemployment, mounting bills, family concerns and financial adversity. I lefted the house Sunday morning reassured God will provided for me. I made my way to Sunday morning Worship Service and decided to listen to what has become my Sunday morning song “My Soul Is Anchored In The Lord”. I let the lyrics of the song reassure me and encourage to continue to trust in the LORD.
Though the storms keep on raging in my life,
and sometimes it's hard to tell my night from day.
Still that hope that lies within is reassured
as I keep my eyes upon the distant shore;
I know He'll lead me safely to that
blessed place He has prepared
But if the storms don't cease,
and if the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life)
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
I realize that sometimes in this life
you're gonna be tossed by the waves
and the currents that seem so fierce,
but in the word of God I've got an anchor;
and it keeps me steadfast and unmovable
despite the tide.
But if the storms don't cease,
But in case the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life)
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
Since, I operate my church’s sound system, I try to get to Worship Service at least 20 minutes early to prepare, so that I am not rush or unable to fully participate in Praise and Worship. When I arrived at church I sat in the sound room looking through the bullentin to see who was preaching and who would be liturgist for the service. Our Lay Leader would be preaching the message (which I am always excited to hear wha God has revealed to him, it is always a journey through the Word of God when he speaks). My eyes got very big when I saw the scripture he would use as His guiding scripture through the message (Job 1:6-12 “Job First Test).
It’s an amazing thing when God sends an confirming Word. I was sitting there thinking, “it was a reason God lead me to Job chapter 1 this morning and He was about to use our Lay Leader to tell me why.” The title of His sermon was “It Is Just A Test” but what I heard was “my dear child, Ryane, this is just a test do not despair.” I thought about what Galations 6:9.
I am here to tell you my brothers and sisters in Christ, as I was told on yesterday, IT IS JUST A TEST. God has not left you to die (spiritual, mental or physical) in your current situation or problem. I would like to share with you the three major test God puts us through reasons for testing that was shared with me.
1. God test our hearts.(That our hearts maybe purified in Him) 1 Chronicles 29:17a
2. God test our faith. (When faith is test, it is for us to become strong in the Lord and develop patience) James 1:2-3
3. God Test our obedience. (From time to time God will test our obedience) Exodus 16:4
If we view the testing phrase as God removing those thing/people out of our lives that were not suppose to be there.
Be blessed and know the LORD sees what you are going through and He will come through for you, so stay in faith.
Her e I am a child of an All-Knowing, Powerful Father and it seems at every turn for me there is a problem or situation. I sat on the edge of my bed that Thursday morning crying and scream at God to answer me, to talk to me; begging and pleading with Him to answer the concerns of my heart. As I continue to sit there crying and crying out to my Heavenly Father, I heard nothing from Him. I got up from my bed wiped my face and told the LORD, “I trusted Him and would continue to seek Him for answers no matter what.” It was then in my silence I felt the need to play Marvin Sapp’s song "Marvin Sapp Not The Time, Not The Place." The lyric say:
This is not the time for giving up,
this is not your place where you should be,
not the time or the place to lie in defeat,
you got to hold on, you got be strong.
This is not not the time to question your faith,
this is not your place of destiny,
it's not the time or the place to throw in the towel,
you gotta hold on, you you gotta be strong.
Sometimes you win,
sometimes you lose,
it's apart of life that everyone goes through.
Sometimes there's joy,
sometimes there's pain,
that's apart of God's plan,
it is His own plan.
I know it was God’s way of encouraging me to be steadfast in Him. As I fastforward to Sunday morning, it was my time to read (Purpose Driven Life, By Rick Warren) and my time in the Word of God. I thought I would read the Psalms, since they spoke to what I was feeling at the time. As I read Psalm 27, I heard Galations 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Then I heard Job, so I went to the book of Job the first chapter and read verses 21-22. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”
I knew in my heart God had not left me, for in His Word He says, “"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So, I knew God had not left me during the last 18 or so months as I faced illness, death of love ones, lossing my job, unemployment, mounting bills, family concerns and financial adversity. I lefted the house Sunday morning reassured God will provided for me. I made my way to Sunday morning Worship Service and decided to listen to what has become my Sunday morning song “My Soul Is Anchored In The Lord”. I let the lyrics of the song reassure me and encourage to continue to trust in the LORD.
Though the storms keep on raging in my life,
and sometimes it's hard to tell my night from day.
Still that hope that lies within is reassured
as I keep my eyes upon the distant shore;
I know He'll lead me safely to that
blessed place He has prepared
But if the storms don't cease,
and if the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life)
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
I realize that sometimes in this life
you're gonna be tossed by the waves
and the currents that seem so fierce,
but in the word of God I've got an anchor;
and it keeps me steadfast and unmovable
despite the tide.
But if the storms don't cease,
But in case the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life)
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
my soul has been anchored in the Lord.
Since, I operate my church’s sound system, I try to get to Worship Service at least 20 minutes early to prepare, so that I am not rush or unable to fully participate in Praise and Worship. When I arrived at church I sat in the sound room looking through the bullentin to see who was preaching and who would be liturgist for the service. Our Lay Leader would be preaching the message (which I am always excited to hear wha God has revealed to him, it is always a journey through the Word of God when he speaks). My eyes got very big when I saw the scripture he would use as His guiding scripture through the message (Job 1:6-12 “Job First Test).
It’s an amazing thing when God sends an confirming Word. I was sitting there thinking, “it was a reason God lead me to Job chapter 1 this morning and He was about to use our Lay Leader to tell me why.” The title of His sermon was “It Is Just A Test” but what I heard was “my dear child, Ryane, this is just a test do not despair.” I thought about what Galations 6:9.
I am here to tell you my brothers and sisters in Christ, as I was told on yesterday, IT IS JUST A TEST. God has not left you to die (spiritual, mental or physical) in your current situation or problem. I would like to share with you the three major test God puts us through reasons for testing that was shared with me.
1. God test our hearts.(That our hearts maybe purified in Him) 1 Chronicles 29:17a
2. God test our faith. (When faith is test, it is for us to become strong in the Lord and develop patience) James 1:2-3
3. God Test our obedience. (From time to time God will test our obedience) Exodus 16:4
If we view the testing phrase as God removing those thing/people out of our lives that were not suppose to be there.
Be blessed and know the LORD sees what you are going through and He will come through for you, so stay in faith.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Waiting Process
The Waiting Process
It has been my experience that no one really likes to wait for anything. I will be the first to admit I can be very impatient. This journey with God has truly shown me I am not the most patient person in the world. But just imagine you were in King David’s shoes, one day you are out in the fields tending to your father’s sheep and the next moment you are being anointed king over God’s people. Here is the kicker, you have the promise from God that you will be king over His people but you have to wait. See if King David was anything like Ryane, he would have had some questions for God and God’s prophet Samuel. (See 1 Samuel 16 for more details)
Many Bible historians and scholars estimate that King David waited over 20 years to take over the kingship. I do not know about you but 20 years is a very long time to wait for a promise to be fulfilled. Over the last three years I have been waiting on the promises of God to manifest in my life. I can’t say that I have really been waiting patiently on the LORD. I have been waiting in frustration, sometimes anger, and sometimes in tears for the LORD to fulfill His promises to me about my future in Him. It is after the tears, frustration, anger and cry out that God has gently guiding me to a more patience me.
With my life being turned upside down, inside out this last year and God restating and making new promises, I have had to really had to open myself to clearly hear what God is saying to me about the promises He has made to me. Which took me to the book of Job and King David’s life? King David’s life and how he handled the waiting process.
What I found was King David trusted God during this process? He had faith in God to fulfill His promises. God told the prophet Isaiah, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So, King David knew God could be trusted. I had to look back of my experiences with God and see the times He brought me out of a situation or fulfilled a promise He made to me. As I did that it made it easier to trust in God doing the waiting process.
Then there were the people and situations God had to remove out of David’s life. One night about three years ago, God told me not everyone could go on this next journey with me and being the child that I am. I asked an All Knowing God, why? To which he responded, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." The situation I faced was walking away from a cozy job that paid the bills and left money for fun. Last year I set a date to leave my job on September 30, 2009 would be my last day. Can I tell you all God knows us completely, King David put it this way in Psalm 139, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O LORD.” God knew full well, I was comfortable at that job and I was not going to leave on September 30, 2009. It was in June 16, 2009 I got a call telling me I was being let go from my position. Which let me know God knows us better then we know ourselves, so sometimes He has to remove people out of our lives and remove us from situations.
I have learned a lot from the waiting process of King David, enough to write a whole book but I will leave you with two more things I learned and that I have applied to my waiting process. God uses this time to prepare you for what He has already prepared for you. My name is already been placed on the best seller list by God but through this blog, other writings, classes and reading other authors books & stories He is preparing me. Like King David, Ryane and you also, have to go through a season of preparation. During this season of preparation doors will open for you to learn more, to grow deeper in your spiritual journey with God. You have to understand during the preparation season there are some test, trials, adversities, and difficult but if you remember God will never leave you, nor will He forsake you and keep your eyes on God nothing will be impossible for you. All the promises God made you will be yours!
The last thing but the most important thing was King David praised God all through out his waiting process. This is one thing I have learnt to do and I encourage everyone to do also. Never forget to thank God and praise Him for all He has done in your life. If you take an honest look at your life there is something to thank Him for. Learning how to praise God during the rough times of your life is very important. There is this saying, when the praises go up the blessings come down. Your praise is a beautiful melody in the eyes of the LORD.
It has been my experience that no one really likes to wait for anything. I will be the first to admit I can be very impatient. This journey with God has truly shown me I am not the most patient person in the world. But just imagine you were in King David’s shoes, one day you are out in the fields tending to your father’s sheep and the next moment you are being anointed king over God’s people. Here is the kicker, you have the promise from God that you will be king over His people but you have to wait. See if King David was anything like Ryane, he would have had some questions for God and God’s prophet Samuel. (See 1 Samuel 16 for more details)
Many Bible historians and scholars estimate that King David waited over 20 years to take over the kingship. I do not know about you but 20 years is a very long time to wait for a promise to be fulfilled. Over the last three years I have been waiting on the promises of God to manifest in my life. I can’t say that I have really been waiting patiently on the LORD. I have been waiting in frustration, sometimes anger, and sometimes in tears for the LORD to fulfill His promises to me about my future in Him. It is after the tears, frustration, anger and cry out that God has gently guiding me to a more patience me.
With my life being turned upside down, inside out this last year and God restating and making new promises, I have had to really had to open myself to clearly hear what God is saying to me about the promises He has made to me. Which took me to the book of Job and King David’s life? King David’s life and how he handled the waiting process.
What I found was King David trusted God during this process? He had faith in God to fulfill His promises. God told the prophet Isaiah, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. So, King David knew God could be trusted. I had to look back of my experiences with God and see the times He brought me out of a situation or fulfilled a promise He made to me. As I did that it made it easier to trust in God doing the waiting process.
Then there were the people and situations God had to remove out of David’s life. One night about three years ago, God told me not everyone could go on this next journey with me and being the child that I am. I asked an All Knowing God, why? To which he responded, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." The situation I faced was walking away from a cozy job that paid the bills and left money for fun. Last year I set a date to leave my job on September 30, 2009 would be my last day. Can I tell you all God knows us completely, King David put it this way in Psalm 139, “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;
You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;
You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O LORD.” God knew full well, I was comfortable at that job and I was not going to leave on September 30, 2009. It was in June 16, 2009 I got a call telling me I was being let go from my position. Which let me know God knows us better then we know ourselves, so sometimes He has to remove people out of our lives and remove us from situations.
I have learned a lot from the waiting process of King David, enough to write a whole book but I will leave you with two more things I learned and that I have applied to my waiting process. God uses this time to prepare you for what He has already prepared for you. My name is already been placed on the best seller list by God but through this blog, other writings, classes and reading other authors books & stories He is preparing me. Like King David, Ryane and you also, have to go through a season of preparation. During this season of preparation doors will open for you to learn more, to grow deeper in your spiritual journey with God. You have to understand during the preparation season there are some test, trials, adversities, and difficult but if you remember God will never leave you, nor will He forsake you and keep your eyes on God nothing will be impossible for you. All the promises God made you will be yours!
The last thing but the most important thing was King David praised God all through out his waiting process. This is one thing I have learnt to do and I encourage everyone to do also. Never forget to thank God and praise Him for all He has done in your life. If you take an honest look at your life there is something to thank Him for. Learning how to praise God during the rough times of your life is very important. There is this saying, when the praises go up the blessings come down. Your praise is a beautiful melody in the eyes of the LORD.
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