Count it All Joy

I attended a funeral today and found I had a few things on my mind.  I didn't know the deceased very well, but some members of her family are very near and dear to me.  I found myself sitting among those grieving and asking God to just help them. Help them get through this day, help them get through their grief, and to help them heal in every part of their lives.  In asking God to help them it made me take account of just how helpless I was feeling in the situation.  I was among these hurting people and there was nothing I could do to take their pain away, after all there is no real humanly comfort in death.  That kind of comfort is spiritual and it comes from God. I really started to pray and ask God to reveal His Word to me in this and it wasn't until I sat down to share with you all that I caught it real good.  The scripture of James 1:5 keeps coming to my mind, "Count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."  The part that really resonates with me is the count it ALL joy.  In other words not just the good times, or happy times, but all times. 

 

As I started to meditate on this I began to ask God how can I find joy in a funeral and people's grief?  Then He began to show me that many things take place during these sad occasions.  Often times funerals and births have a way of healing rifts in the family. They bring people closer.  They also remind us of our humanness.  If we have distorted our focus to the world these occasions serve to put our focus back where it belongs. On GOD.  People rededicate themselves to God , so that they are found ready when their departure comes and some just come to realize that death is not something to fear, but to learn that it too is part of the plan in God's will.    Grief certainly has it's place, but God wants us to lean on Him for strength and healing.  Also lend your ear to what He may be speaking in these types of seasons.  Remember that all things work for the good of those that love God and that are the called to His purpose. 

 

God Bless U

Too Important to Wait!

I want to apologize.  I apologize because I have not kept my commitment to this blog.  Which really means I haven't kept my commitment to God.  I got so busy in the beginning of the year and I started telling myself that I would get back to blogging as soon as I could clear some things up, as soon as I got some things out of the way, as soon as my life settled down, etc.  Then I was listening to a sermon by Bishop TD. Jakes and something he said came to convict me and push me into action.  He said "you will die waiting on the right time/the right conditions to do sometthing"!  He used the Apostle Paul as an example. Bishop Jakes spoke of how he (Paul) was being punched in the face while he was making a difference in the churches and cities he went to.  He didn't get to wait for things to calm down or for the optimum conditions, he worked to the glory of God in whatever state he found himself in.  And that's what got me back on the street called Straight!   I was so busy thinking if I could just make it through one thing I could get to another.  Soon a week became two weeks, two weeks four, and so on.  

So now that I have received my deliverance, I want you to receive yours!  Don't miss the blessing in the messing!  God blesses us through our experiences, labors, and deeds.  Just think of the rich lessons I could have shared if I would have been writing for these last couple of weeks. Imagine what would have happened if Jesus would have put off going through Samaria for a more favorable time.  Or Jerusalem for that matter!  When God has ordained you to do something, when it's the season, do it without delay.  It is the enemy's plan to keep you from your destiny and I'm here to tell you that one of the biggest tricks is to get you so busy that you start putting God's business on the back burner!

Proverbs 10:4 says "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich".  We should be found doing.  Doin what?  Doing all that God has called us to do.  What have you dreamed about, what are you believing for God to bring to pass in your life?  Did you know it starts with you???  God is ready, willing, and able to act on your behalf, but you have to be ready to move.  The Word says in Phillipians,  " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  The first word is the key-word; I.  If I (YOU) will do it (actively get up; get ready, start moving) God will provide the strength (grace, favor, and mercy) to bring it to pass in your life.

So be encouraged my sisters and brothers, God has a plan for us.  He wants you to try new things, experience what's out there, and take on new challenges.  Never let the busyness of life keep you from the life God intended you to live. Go be bold, tell the Lord yes, and start running! I promise nothing can stop you with God on your side.  The thins God has for you to do is too important to wait!!!


~God Bless You

What Are You?...

What are you?... I truly can't get over when  people ask me that question. And it all together saddens me.  In other words they're saying; "what is the difference between us.  What do or don't we have in common.  Are you a Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Apostolic, Pentecostal, COGIC, etc?"  My question to them is why? Why does it even matter to you?  Will it make you like or love me any less? Or will you decide depending on my answer if I truly love the Lord, if I have enough faith, if I'm real enough, or if you will ever speak to me again?

I know this isn't a popular topic and many will disagree with me.  I'm okay with that though. I am ready to cut beyond the religious tape and get to the meat and potatoes of things.  I don't and I'm sure others don't need the extra.  Our plate is full.  We are mothers, wives, daughters, workers, coaches, husbands, brothers fathers and christians, among the many other hats we wear.  I don't need to have one more title put on me.  I don't believe the christian organization determines right or wrong. ( I am not venturing into Catholisism, Scientology, Muslims, Mormanism, or those others.) Iwant to be clear that I am only speaking about the organizations that cosider Jesus Christ in His full Glory their core belief system. I consider those, different sections of the body of Christ.  We all have one thing in common for sure and I'm sure if you look deep enough a few others also; we love God, we believe that Jesus came and died for our sins, that He is the son of God and that through Him we can obtain eternal salvation.

I don't discount the ways of any of the bodies of Christ listed above.  But my thought is this; know that we are all part of the body and our congregations and those identical to us don't make up the body as a whole.  In other words, one organizations ways are not the only way to go. (whew, I'm in trouble now!, lol)  Are there some very distinct core things you should have under your belt? Yes, there is. But what religious organization you belong to is not one of them.

Here is my point. The word of God says in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14:

 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. (NIV)

For the sake of a mental picture imagine this. A picture of a body , I call it Christian.  As I start to name my body parts I start with the Head.  I name is Jesus Christ, because the word says He is our head.  But then I label my  left hand - baptist, and my my other hand -apostolic, and my right foot -cogic, and my left foot - methodist, and so on and so on.  We are all one body under the head of Christ, just different parts.  

And I believe that is okay.  I have sat under some of these organizations and I find for the most part no fault with any of them.  Except some in the faith have no tolerance for other organizations that differ in doctrines.  We should have but one doctrine, and that is the doctrine of Christ.  Love, charity, patience, peace, long suffering, righteousness, holiness, sanctification all under our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Those should be the things we live by.  The word of God is true and I believe God never intended us to be so separate in our thinking.

So where do I stand?  I stand with my feet firmly planted in Jesus. I do believe in the Apostolic way, the way the apostles went and the very words in the book of Acts.  I also believe the Methodist.  There is a method to the Christian life, you can not come to God any kind of way. I also believe in the Baptist.  If Jesus was baptized before the people as an outward show of His devotion to the Heavenly Father, then who are we to disagree.  And so on with the other organizations.  But that is as far as I go. 

It doesn't matter to me the doctrine and dogma of others as long as the core principles line up with the Word of God.  We need to have one very important thing in common, no wavering, and no variances:  Jesus Christ!  Not that He was just a prophet, or a very important historical figure, or that He is one of many gods. But that He is the Savior of this world. That He died on Calvary's Cross.  That He Was, and Is, and Is to Come. That He is the One True Living God. That He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us, and that He will one day come again and we will reign with Him in Heaven.  That is what I'm about.  I mean people that mean Jesus. And if we have that in common, then God can work out everything else.

I pray this has helped someone.  Let's not get caught up in religion and tradition as the Pharisees and Sadducees did in the days of Jesus.  People are hurting and they are in need of a Savior not our  own opinions and doctrines. We are to introduce them to Jesus and preach the Good News.  He is the only one that can clean us up and put us on the right path.  I would sit with any one of the Christian organizations as long as they had a good solid foundation and the true Word of God was going forth.  That's all it takes. But, I am not a babe in Christ and I can rightly divide the Word for myself.  Many can't and are unsure and  don't know which way to go.  Help them go the way God planned, not how we think they should go.  I have seen people not fellowship or speak to others because they differed in organizations.  But that is wrong, and a trick of the enemy to keep us divided.  

The above scripture goes on to talk about the members of the body not being fully functional  if it was all the same.  This is true for us too.  We may be different parts but we are one body with one Head, again  that is Jesus.  When someone asks you that question; What are you? Your answer should be, A follower of Christ. That is enough!

I pray no one is offended and that my words and thoughts are received in love. That I am a helper to my bretheren.  God Bless you.

Welcome...

I would like to welcome you to All Things by Prayer!  I look forward to sharing the Word of God with you, helping to bring you into the full knowledge of Christ, and all out lifting up the Name of Jesus! 

I believe the Word of God is a Word of simplicity meant to help and not hinder our lives. The key to a healthy life is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  As I share with you the Gospel of Christ I want to ensure you that your spiritual life will not only flourish but grow.  I believe God inspired me to name this blog All Things by Prayer because prayer is the foundation of a great relationship with God.  It's how we intimately communicate with Him and one of the ways He communicates with us. 

I will share my experiences, family, revelations, and thoughts with you.  I pray you will do the same.  I believe there is something for everyone here. The believer, the nonbeliever, one that is searching, the saint, the sanctified, the sinner, those that are in leadership, and the lay persons. 

God has a Word for all of us, and most times it's not by what comes out of our mouths, but by experiences and being examples to others.   Join me as I work out my own soul salvation with fear and trembling, as I praise God, as I lift up my hands in worship, and as I myself grow in the Lord.

I have put my hand to the plow.  I won't let go and I"m not looking back!
 (see Luke 9:62)



~God Bless You