When God is Silent

There are times that we can often feel that God is silent. We pray but don't feel that He's listening. We may even feel that He's left us and that can create fear and anxiety in wondering what we did wrong.

It's during these times that we can feel completely isolated in other areas of our lives too and it's during these times of isolation that we can have a hard time seeing Gods hands at work in our lives. But if we will keep pressing on by pressing into Jesus through prayer and through the reading of His Word, we gain the strength through His promises and this is what's needed to keep hoping. As we hope, we grow in our faith in Him. As we grow in our faith, we begin to praise Him for things seen as well as for things not yet seen. As a response to growing in our faith, our level of trust in Jesus deepens and that brings about a reaction of belief. Through our belief, ALL things are made possible. Through our belief we gain peace in knowing that even while we can't see Him at work in our lives, we can trust that He is working all things for our good and in His perfect timing.

When we stay steadfast in our belief, we will eventually see the result of our hope that led us to faith which then resulting in trust and an unwavering belief that God is and was at work in our lives throughout every step of our journey. He was always going before us to prepare the way. 

So don't give up before your breakthrough. Don't get discouraged but rather trust that God is for you, not against you. He may be silent but keep believing that He is making a way for you because He loves you and wants the best for you.

There's a song that recently came out called Even In the Silence. The lyrics go on to say.. Jesus you're working and I believe it still, so let your promise be fulfilled. 

When God is working, He works on our behalf to fulfill His promises to us. One of those promises we can cling to through the isolation and times of silence is that He will never leave us for He is with us..Always.

Love vs. Offense..Learning to love with the love of Jesus

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19nh1B38WQ/

I plead with you to watch the video through to the end by copying and pasting the link above.

--------

We all need to hear, not just listen but really hear this message. It's the difference between life and death and where we will spend it.

Friends, it's time to stop playing with fire and take the Lords word seriously. We cannot, cannot, cannot live our lives doing whatever we want and say oh well Jesus loves me just as I am. See here's the problem with that.. when we get that into our minds, we are not listening to and then acting upon the conviction Jesus places within our heart because we have told ourselves that Jesus loves us just as we are. Here's the truth in this.. Jesus does love us right where we are BUT.. as we grow closer to Him, as we learn who He is and what He is about and as we grow deeper in our relationship with Him, He shows us things we need to change about ourselves so that we can become more like Him.

We cannot stay who we are.. listen to me here.. we cannot remain who we are in sin and become who we are supposed to be in Christ.

We cannot serve two masters. We will either hate one and love the other.

The one we love, we will follow. The one we need to love, we will draw into through fellowship with Him through His word. The one we need to love does not want us to partake of sin and if we want to be with the one we should love, we have to learn to turn away from sin and sinful behavior.

Let me ask you something.. When you take an honest look at your life, does it reflect the turning away from sin and sinful behavior or does it look like you're in the middle of it?

You see.. our lives should look very different to the natural world and if it doesn't then we need to re-examine ourselves from the inside out so that we can identify what needs to change and what should be in its place.

Knowing Jesus requires a relationship with Him. Knowing Jesus requires the reading of His word and as we begin knowing who Jesus is, we learn His ways and replace our own ways with His ways. Do not be conformed by the world but be transformed by the Word of God. We have to lay down the sinful behaviors and stop kidding ourselves with thinking that, Oh I'm a child of God and He loves me right where I am. You see.. Jesus expects us to change.. to be transformed.

Listen, if we aren't growing and falling away from and setting ourselves apart from the world, then we "children of God" actually look no different than anyone else. So I want to encourage you to examine and then re-examine your lives and see if there's anything that sets you apart from the rest of the world.

Friends there should be a significant, undeniable change that comes when we decide to follow Jesus. Some may say Oh but pastor we are not their judge. I would say to you that you are right. We are not their judge and I am not your judge but I know the one who is and because He called me, I have a responsibility to help you see the truth from the lies. That doesn't mean that I'm sitting in judgement. That means that I love you enough to want to help you see His truth and learn His ways so that you can have a real and meaningful relationship with, through and in Him.

Friends, judgement is not calling out the lies of the devil and pointing people in the right direction. That my friends is called loving with the love of Jesus. It's time to get right and to get it right.

It's time for pastors who are called to preach the Word, to Preach the Word but to preach it in love through the way we deliver the message. It's time that we pastors help transform lives and not be afraid to offend someone yet still learn to choose our words carefully and set ourselves apart so others can see the difference in is is by that whom lives within us and that is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the one who transforms us and yes we are to love people but hear me here..we are to LOVE people. If we truly love them we will not leave them in their sins. That is a path that leads to death and destruction. If we truly LOVE them, we will give them the life giving spiritual tools they need to help them turn away from their sin.

So I ask you this.. are you loving people or are you LOVING people? The greatest Commandment is to LOVE. Maybe the problem is that we have confused offending people with LOVING people.

Listen and hear me out.. Maybe.. just maybe what we have perceived as offending is actually the Holy Spirit bringing conviction upon their hearts when they hear the message.

But look what happens when we get scared of offending.. We water down the Word of God and they feel no conviction and we end up leaving them to fall away through their sin and sinful behaviors. Therefore we are not LOVING them and have just left them on the path that leads to them living apart from their creator.

But now look what happens when we share God's LOVE with them and allow them to be uncomfortable, because that just might be the Holy Spirit moving through conviction; they begin to examine and then re-examine their lives and make the necessary changes to become more "Christ-like" to look more like Jesus..and in doing so they give up their old lifestyles and embrace the life that Jesus has planned for them to have all along. (ie Jeremiah 29:11)

So think about this and ask yourself these questions.

Am I a hindrance or a help to those I say I love and care about?Am I loving or am I truly LOVING others?

Jesus gave up His life to show us how to LOVE one another. He left the heavenly realm to come be with us so that one day we might come be with Him in that heavenly realm.

I'll leave you with these last thoughts..

To be Christian means to be "Christ-like".

What does your behavior look like? Does it reflect the giving up of yourself to save the life of another and many others? Or does it look like much of the rest of the world where you really are no different and are living the same lifestyle they are living?

Friends..the old has to pass away. You cannot put new wine into an old wine skin. An old wine skin has cracks throughout it and will not hold new wine. It will just keep leaking out until there's only the container left with nothing in it. If we want to be filled with everything God has for us, we must have the new wine skin.

Uncomfortable Circumstances Build Character

When in 1st grade my parents waited until the last minute to get me a costume for our schools Halloween party. All the girls were dressed as a princess of some sort and I'm in regular clothing.. but then I look up and see my parents. Momma is holding a Wal-Mart bag and all the while I'm walking towards her, she's already saying I'm sorry, I'm so sorry but this was the last costume they had. I look in the bag and I pull out a mask and it's the face of a man! I'm shocked but still staying optimistic in remembering there was no other choices. But then..oh my lands..I remember it like it was yesterday. I pull out the red and silver outfit and put the mask next to it and discover its MORK!! I'm horrified that I am expected to dress up as Mork from the tv show Mork & Mindy! My classmates are laughing and walking around saying Nanu Nanu in my face. Meanwhile my cousin is flaunting her princess dress yet somehow trying to console me by saying it's not so bad, yet still laughing at me. I saw how bad my parents felt so I didn't say anything and just put the costume on.

There are times throughout our lives where we are horrified at the things we have to endure. All we can see is the uncomfortable situation we are in or about to go through. It's often during and through these times that these situations will change and often refine us. Think of it in terms of a diamond. A diamond isn't shiny and beautiful to begin with.. no, what we see is the result of coal going through the hard pressing and crushing stages and then the layers being stripped away to reveal the beautiful diamond we know today. So the next time things don't go our way, maybe we should look at it as a character building step that will strengthen, teach and grow us if we will let it. Once we can do that, then we can look back through the "Mork" times in our lives and see Gods loving hand already at work in building up our character for the things to come throughout our life.

Maybe you're tired of the struggle and the troubles.. if that's you, just keep in mind that nothing God does is in vain for it all has a specific purpose and plays a significant role in our lives and in the lives of others. Life comes with building blocks that lead to our path of stepping stones. We can't step up if we can't climb the blocks set in our path to get us there. We also can't climb using our own strength. The higher the level, the more that will be required of us and the more strength we will need. Our own strength will only last so long before we are going to need help. So I want to encourage you today to reach out to Jesus and when you do, you can trust that His hand will always be the hand reaching down to pull you up. He is the one that will never leave you. Even in those times of crushing, He's there and it is through Him that we gain the strength to press on and keep pressing on towards the destiny He has for us.. but we cannot get there without Him. This means we have to allow Him to bring about whatever is necessary to build our character and in doing so we gain new perspectives on how the Lord is working in and has been working throughout our lives to build our character for the things to come. This character building produces hope, faith, strength and trust in Jesus and it helps us to cross over from these things into belief and when we get to the believing part, that's where we will see the miracles of old still happening today.

Twas The Night Before Christmas.. According to Jesus

This is a message I gave a few years ago when getting over covid-pneumonia. You can skip the worship part and go to the message because the message is the most important thing I really want you to hear. The message begins around 25:45.

If you've ever wondered what was on Jesus mind, please watch my message entitled, 'Twas the night before Christmas.. according to Jesus'.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/15wTaWJnym/

God Encounters

One of my favorite memories was when leading a youth worship team and we were having our new youth pastor speak that evening.. but God had other plans. During the worship, God started speaking to and thru me. It was an incredible message that had kids age 18 and under crying out to Jesus.. literally. Some of the oldest boys were curled up in the fetal position on the floor just crying. Anyone who tried to come to the stage or was on the stage couldn't stand up. The new youth pastor was walking towards the stage and fell to his knees crying. My whole worship team ended up face down on their knees crying out to God. I was having to hold myself up by leaning on a grand piano as God spoke thru me. The sound man tried to come to the stage, fell on his knees and cried. The sound man and new youth pastor ended up crawling to the steps to get a microphone and through sobbing tears tried to invite kids to come to the front for prayer.. but no one could speak except in broken up words and no one could stand. I had a great view from the stage as this light green hazy misty fog appeared, stretched out and just hovered above the kids in the sanctuary. The spirit of God was present and it was evident! It was truly amazing and I've longed for another encounter with the Lord like that ever since. It's made it very hard to attend dead churches because once you truly experience and have a God encounter, nothing else compares to it.

I think so many times churches get wrapped up in presenting by way of a time frame that we don't leave room for God to enter let alone for a God encounter. Sometimes we look at our watches and are already contemplating where we are going to lunch or who we want to invite to lunch after the service. But what about inviting Jesus into the service and truly having church? Church isn't just about fellowship with others.. it's about fellowship with Jesus! I wonder how many God encounters we would see in our churches today if we simply invited Jesus into His own service? I wonder how many lives would be changed just like mine was that day, if people were given the opportunity in church to have a God encounter?

Listen church.. if we truly want to see what Jesus can do in our lives and in the lives of others, we need to stop playing church and actually Be the church. We need to start praying during church services and inviting Jesus in through our worship. We need to stop being afraid of what we truly need and want, which is more of Jesus and less of ourselves, and we need to stop living for ourselves and start living a life that pleases our Savior.

To be Christian is to be Christ-like. We cannot be double minded and expect our lives to reflect the life of Jesus. We can't be selfish and make services all about an agenda and time frame so we don't offend others. We have to be Jesus minded and Jesus centered. Truly think about this a moment because Jesus pressed this message on my heart and while I know it's cliche'.. Ask yourselves, "WWJD?" (what would Jesus do?) if He came to Your service this Sunday? Would He overthrow the tables or would He invite the Holy Spirit in to just hover over His children? I think that depends on what we choose and on what we allow Jesus to do in His service and churches today. I personally choose to invite Him in for a God encounter!

Stressing takes away Gods glory

 I'm going to share what happened to me today because it's a good reminder for us all.

You see.. I was stressing over several things going on in my life right now and so I went to God and started praying again but this time I really broke down even more so than last night while praying about these things that I have wanted answers to for so long.

Well during my prayer, sometimes God speaks and sometimes I hear nothing. This time He chose to speak and well I basically got in trouble but I need you to know that it was out of Gods love for me that He corrected me. He corrects in a gentle and loving way.

He reminded me that stressing doesn't bring Him glory. That hit me hard! You see I spent a lot of time praying this week over how I only want to do and say things that bring my Lord glory and for Him to rid me of anything that I might be doing that takes away His glory. So yes, this hit me hard because my heart is only to serve to bring Him glory. So I was broken up pretty bad because I couldn't see until now that stressing actually takes away His glory and that's what I was doing by stressing.

God is good and loving and faithful to His word and when we ask what we don't understand, He will explain it to us.

He explained that it actually takes glory away from Him because at that moment, we are relying on our own strength and falling prey to our emotions rather than trusting in Him and His word of how He will take care of us.

He went further to remind me of how He clothes and feeds the birds. He named off the seasons and how each season requires different things needed to survive and how He provides each one of those needs for the birds as well as for His children in every season of our lives. I never really thought about how each season requires different things for birds to survive. I'm still not sure I understand all that is required but I got the jest of it. Then He told me how much more He loves His children and how He is always there, we need only call upon Him when we feel stressed and He will provide the peace we need to sustain us and move us through it. That's exactly what He did the moment I asked for Him to forgive me. I immediately felt His peace and then felt I needed to apologize for snapping at my mom simply because I was at my stress limit. I also apologized to my sister in case I added stress for her during any part of our conversation.

The Lord reminded me that I am His child and that I know His voice and to listen for that still small voice and it will always bring me peace. Then I heard Him say Be Still and Wait. My human side piped up and said but Lord I've been waiting for so long for answers.. His reply was this.. Wait..(pause) Lonnnger! (I actually laughed at this because I thought about what a sense of humor He has to draw it out like that) But God didn't leave me hanging there. He went on to say, I'm working, you just can't see it yet but I'm working on your behalf because I want the best for you. Be still my child, and wait.. Wait a little longer.

So for those that are in waiting like I am.. Just keep waiting longer for His timing so it will all work out for the best for you too. Pray and listen for His still small, calming voice that will bring you the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. Wait lonnnger if you have to so that you will have what God desires for you.

Knowing Your Own Heart

 From out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks..

In Luke 6:45, Jesus says that people can be judged by what they say and do because these things reveal what is really inside the person: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” If you want to know what is on the inside of a person, you simply watch his actions; listen to what comes out of his mouth on a regular basis. This is not being judgmental; this is being realistic.

If a person is angry, rude, lewd, or immoral on a regular basis, you can be assured that this is what he is like “on the inside.” If a person is consistently kind, encouraging, and polite, then you can be sure that is what he is like “on the inside.” Of course, it is possible that someone might put up a façade to deceive others regarding his character, but eventually what is inside will come out. The mouth speaks out of the abundance—the overflow—of the heart.

The primary point of application in Jesus’ words seems to be this: when we see evil consistently coming out of a person in word and deed, we should not deceive ourselves by saying, “I think he really is a good person inside; he just has some bad habits” or “That’s just the way he talks, but he’s not really like that.” How many people fall in love and get married, thinking that the bad behavior they have observed is only an aberration? How many parents deceive themselves regarding the spiritual state of their children, thinking that they are true believers because of a childhood profession of faith, even though their lives demonstrate a heart of evil?

When Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” He meant that consistently sinful words and deeds are indicative of a sinful heart. Rather than always giving people “the benefit of the doubt,” we would do well to recognize the “fruit” we observe and respond accordingly. Being a “fruit inspector” does not mean we consider ourselves to be without sin; it does mean that we are realistic about whom to trust and whom we allow to exert influence over us and the people for whom we are responsible.

Stepping out of 2022 and into 2023

As I leave 2022 behind, God has reminded me of both the blessings and the trials I've gone through in 2022. We are all joyful over the blessings but often more times than not, we aren't joyful over the trials. Trials are hard but they do have significant meanings. They are meant to take us to the next level even if only to prove to ourselves that we are overcomers. Who or what we trust in during the trials tells who or what we place our hope, faith and trust in, if anything at all.

So as I reflect back on the many trials I've had to go through in 2022, I know that God was always with me through it all and the trials brought me closer to Him and to others when I allowed them to.. and when I tried to do it my way, those trials taught me great lessons that I will cherish for they took me to a new level. A level that had even greater challenges to overcome yet I also had new tools in which to use to overcome them all.

My faith has grown stronger in 2022. I've learned to speak up more in some areas of my life and and yet be quiet more in other areas. Yes, 2022 has taught me what I'm willing to put up with and what I'm not. It's taught me not to try things on my own and then seek God for help, but to seek God first and in doing so, I may just overcome that trial the first time.

Saying goodbye is an easy thing to do for the year 2022 because I've got my sights set on higher ground. Although the year 2023 will come with its own sets of challenges, I know that God has been preparing me for those challenges in the year 2022.

I also know that I'm not leaving God behind. He is with me always and so I'll step bravely into the year 2023 and face the trials with more hope, more faith and more belief in God and in myself.. and together we will meet each challenge with a new perspective.

I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know my God holds my tomorrow in His hands. As I pray fervently on my knees, asking God to lead me into 2023, I'll be grateful for both the blessings and the trials, for He has always been and is always with me.

Fighting Battles Gods Way

I've been a fighter my entire life. It's what has kept my spirit from breaking. When things go wrong I fight hard to fix it. When people are trying to push me out of places God designed for me, I've fought hard to keep going, hang in there and stand my ground for what I know to be truth. While I've taken a stand against so many obstacles through fighting hard, the fight I'm talking about is not a physical fight.

When the holy spirit lives in you, you fight other spirits through the holy spirit. You can't fight a spiritual battle in a fleshly way. But you can fight what may look like a fleshly battle in a spiritual way because we do not wrestle against the flesh but against powers and pricipalities and we fight that battle through the act of prayer.

When we accept Jesus as Lord and allow Him dominion over every part of our lives, we give up the ways of the flesh. When things don't go the way we want them to, we aren't to take matters into our own hands, but instead we are to pray about the situation and let God lead us in what should be done, if anything.

Greater is He that is in us than a he that is in the world.

What this means is that God living in you is greater than anything you face in the world. Meaning that with God, we overcome all things.

Solving conflict  will be so much easier if we let God be in control. He's already got a good plan for our lives. It's up to us to seek after Him in order to find out just what that plan is for us.

Seeking God through prayer and the reading of His word creates relationship with Him. When in a relationship, we talk, we seek, we ask, we listen and we act. That's how we get to know God. We were created for a relationship with Him. We can't know who He is or what He's about unless we seek and listen. Once we learn what He desires for and from us, then we discipline ourselves to learning how to please our Lord and in pleasing Him, we will act and live out our lives according to His words in truth.

Will we fail at times? Absolutely. We are still flesh, we just no longer live in the flesh and not living in the flesh means that we live in the spirit. So when we fail, we go to our Father, our Lord, and we ask for His forgiveness and for Him to help us not repeat our same mistakes. And if we repeat them again, we repent and try even harder the next time. I've learned over the years that beating myself up over my mistakes sometimes causes me to push away rather than draw closer. God wants us to learn and change our behavior and attitudes but not to condemn ourselves in the process. No matter what we have done, He will never turn away nor forsake us, but sometimes we do just that to Him because of what we ourselves have done.

As a pastor, a friend and a child of God myself, I want you to know that God will never stop loving you. No matter what you've done, His arms are always welcoming you back. Sometimes we run, but God doesn't. Sometimes we fail, but God never fails. Sometimes we turn away thinking we are unworthy, but God says we are the sons and daughters of the Most High King. Sometimes we tell ourselves no one will love us if they truly know us, but God says I knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb and I love you unconditionally.

If you are running from God, He wants you to know that He is waiting for you to turn and run towards Him, not away from Him. He still desires a relationship with you and will receive you with open arms today.

Character Matters

Character That Holds Up Through The Storms of Life.