I Haven't Ask God For Enough

This evening I had a conversation with a friend who is a single parent like myself, and we were talking about the challenges of even meeting a potential companion. We are both single parents and our lives are built around the activities of church and our children.  We attend a large church, that is probably about 85% or more married couples, and most of the singles are females.

In our conversation we both agreed we didnt have any brilliant ideas about where to add meeting new people to our lives. I mentioned some of the possible activities that we might explore to meet new people in general, activities that would be co-ed and not just full of more single women. We tossed around a few thoughts, but didnt come up with anything that would be an Aha! moment.   So we left the conversation with continue on as usual as the stopping point of our discussion.

I went home thinking about all that I needed to do to settle in for the evening and to get ready for tomorrow. As I reflected on our conversation, in my mind, I went through what was wrong with the last person that I attempted to consider allowing into my life. I thought about all of the disappointment and the betrayal that was the package that this person brought with him. I had tossed and tossed in my mind about what was the problem, because after all he was saved. So a saved man would be trustworthy and dependable and full of integrity - or so I thought.

This is when it dawned on me. This was when I had the AHA! moment. I had been making an amateur's mistake in my prayer for a life companion. When I went down through all of the thoughts in my mind about what I didnt want to have to deal with at this phase in my life, it occurred to me that I was making the assumption that someone considering himself a Christian, meant that he was the whole package. I was absolutely wrong!  This actually only meant that he had completed step one, in a life long, three step process.
What I was not asking for in my prayers was someone who was more than saved. No, I am not taking about his material gain, or his education level, or even what was in his past.  But what I was missing was something extremely essential to his present state of being in his walk with Jesus Christ = Sanctification and being filled with the Holy Ghost.  I have been around the church world of Pentecostals most of my life and these three works of Grace are considered essential for maintenance of a Christian Life of Holiness. I had forgotten, that everyone who considers to be Christian is not trying to become more like Christ. Some people are willing to take the just enough approach to having a relationship with Jesus Christ. I dont want someone in my life who is taking the minimalist approach to Christ.

It takes wanting to go to another level in relationship with Christ, to live Godly and walk away from the sinful nature, giving up the things in life that are contrary to a life of holiness. I am not claiming to be perfect, so I dont expect my future companion to be perfect, that would be unrealistic and self deception.  But do want someone who is working on being a better man, and who in his heart, truly wants to live a life that is pleasing to God.  For that to happen, he will have to want more of God, more of God's Holy Spirit. The person has to have a hunger for the things of God. The person has to realize that everything else that he has tried has not cured the uneasiness in their being.  It is when the person has come to the conclusion that there has to be a better way, and be willing to give up everything that hasnt worked, for what God has to offer. He will have to have already come to the conclusion that what he is thirsty for can not be found in a sinful lifestyle, but only in the 'wells of salvation' where there is joy and peace beyond compare to anything that sin has to offer. He has to have a thirst for what is right. He has to want to be right with God.  This is the place of no longer wanting to struggle to maintain a life of sin, a life that goes against God plan for LIFE.

All of the things that I dont want to deal with in a relationship, and especially in a future companion wont be a problem with a man who wanting to go in the same direction that I am going, and who has no interest in going backwards spiritually.  So I now realize that I have been very minimal in my prayer. I don't just want someone in my life who is saved. I want a man in my life who is SAVED, SANCTIFIED, and FILLED  with the HOLY GHOST.  I want the whole package. I want God's best for my life.

STRONGHOLDS

I have had a lot on my mind the past few days. And for some reason, I went to bed last night thinking about the buoyancy of a duck.  This lead me to wonder if a duck could actually drown.  So I went to Google and Youtube to find out.  It turns out that a duck can actually drown. Furthermore, other ducks can and do intentionally drown fellow ducks.  

Now in my head, I had decided that ducks would not be able to drown because they are full of oil.  If you have ever eaten duck, which I do highly recommend, by the way, if not prepared well it is greasy because the flesh of the duck holds a lot of oil.   So in my mind, the duck was so full of anointing, if you will allow me,  it would not sink.  All though it sounds great, it is not accurate. 

What actually keeps the duck afloat is a combination of a waxy coating on its feathers and air pockets that give ducks the ability to float.  Ducks are not heavy birds, so they do have some advantages to this in their ability to float and swim. 

This made me think about how often we take for granted what we think is holding us up in life. Most of us could do more in focusing on what we have on our outer layers that are keeping us afloat.  Way to often, we let things outside of one's self have control and influence over our actions and motives.  This is why recognizing strongholds is so important for the Christian.  

Anything that has more power over you or influence on your behavior than the Holy Spirit and Word of God can become or already is a stronghold. It is important to put on the Whole Armor of God.  This is the protective barrier that keeps outside forces from having control in one's life.  Most of the time, the things that control the individual, whether it be addiction, or immoral behavior,  is rooted in in unhealed hurts. It is rooted in a thirst for the healing that can only come from the Power of God being active in one's life.  It requires surrender, not sort of or partially, but complete surrender. It requires wanting to be nourished by God and find healing to the point that nothing else matters as much.  In this sense of crisis and urgency, one finds the desire to become sanctified, cleansed from things that are not right in the Eyes of God. 

 You can not take control over what has a hold on you. You can not take authority over what has authority over you. One can not take authority over what one feels sorry for - this will only cause you to make excuses for it.  And one can not take authority over something that has the ability tempt one with an offer- this will cause you to be in fellowship with it. If you try to take authority over what has authority over you, at the same time that what has authority over you is trying to maintain authority over you, then you are wrestling with that stronghold. 

(Ephesians 6:10-20).

 As long as living sinfully appears to have more to offer than living for Christ, the individual is not at a place of surrender.  That means that the stronghold is still actively controlling the motives and behaviors. We can overcome those things that want to hold us back from our godly potential.  We have to be intentional to shut down access to our lives of anyone and anything that brings distance to our relationship with God.  We must not allow strongholds to have access to our mentality and our desires. 

This past week, I read a good bit of Entire Devotion to God by Phoebe Palmer and one of the things that I noticed was her sense of urgency toward sanctification and holiness.  This sense of urgency was once a major theme in holiness churches, but in recent years has taken a back seat to other more popular topics. But Palmer makes the point that we are not guaranteed to have more time to fix or repair the damage that we are doing to our eternal potential, nor should we become too relaxed about taking control over the sin in our lives. 

Strongholds rob us of our potential in the Kingdom of God. They drown us in misguided priorities. Physically, Mentally, and literally, we have to respond well spiritually so that the natural manifestation in one's life reflects the determination to live according to God's Word.  We have the authority of God's Word as grounds for changing our attitude and mindset, so that we can walk away from sinful behaviors and become intentional about raising our own standards.  Strongholds reflect lowered standards. Living according to God's Word reflects higher standards. Through the Power of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to overcome challenges and weakness in our lives and to be healed and made whole. 

• We dont have to sink in sin. 
• We dont have to die in our sins. 
• We can be free. 
• We can be made whole. 
• We can be saved. 
• We can be healed. 
• We can be delivered. 
• We can be filled with the Power of the Holy Ghost. 

Be Sure Your Anchor Holds

I have had some things on my mind for a while now, but this week it just got to be an enough is enough situation. I made up my mind to disconnect from those involved for several reasons. First and foremost the character issues involved that are showing me that I am dealing with a 'frienemy', and at this point in my life, I only have room for allies. 

When I woke up this morning several things came across my mind from various phases in my life from childhood til now, and then this song written by the late C.P. Jones came to mind:

I will make the darkness light before thee,
What is wrong I’ll make it right before thee,
All thy battles I will fight before thee,
And the high place I’ll bring down.

This has been a busy week. The past few days have been full of activity and the week is not even half over.  It is a season where Christians need to be focused and intentional about our identity in God. Some things that I have suspected have become clear. A lot has taken place, both in the spiritual and in the natural.  In the midst of it all, I had to come to terms with the fact that some people that I considered friends have shown themselves to be disappointing as friends, and as Christians.  Honesty, loyalty,  integrity - these are characteristics that one must have, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of representing one's own character.

This is disappointing because when you are trying to stay focused on doing what was right, you have to distance yourself from people who don't want the same things in God that you are trying to seek after.  Only my best friend knows what this struggle has entailed for me and how it has been a true challenge to focus on choosing to do what was right instead of what I wanted. As I was giving her an update on all that has been going this week, she just kept saying, 'this is too much'.  I hate it when she is right, but I totally had to agree with her.  It has taken a lot of prayer and has caused me to see the importance of choosing whether I want what I can do for myself or choosing to wait for what God can do in my life. In that way being able to trust God regardless of how God deals with the matter, because the Lord knows what is best and I trust that for what I get and what I may never get.  So, yeah to realize that I have friends that are behaving with less integrity than those who don't claim Christ is disappointing.

The outspoken me wants to say something, but I thank God for being raised around some saints of the church who taught me some very important pieces of wisdom. One of my dearest friend's mother when she saw things going on that were not right would say, 'they think they are getting way with something but the Lord is just winking at them."  Now growing up in the Church of God in Christ, one thing you must know is that when a church mother says something there is some scripture for it. So I went on a search to see what the Word of God said.  Sure enough in Acts 17:30-31, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"

So with these individuals being Christians, they are accountable to much more than my feelings. If answering to God doesn't concern them, then  the breech of my trust is nothing. Translation, I just cant worry my pretty little head about such foolishness.  I pray that the Lord deal with everyone involved, and ask the Lord to help me stay focused on doing what is right. 

No, I dont claim to be perfect, I have my flaws and shortcomings just like anyone else. But I try to remember that I am accountable to God, and for that reason I want to do the best that I can to make the right decisions. And that is not always easy, but most necessary. James 4: 7-10, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

There are plenty of scriptures that let us know that one of the challenges of living right is about our sinful nature being in a tug of war with the Will of God. The flesh is very much a distraction to spiritual things. The point is that what you want in the natural can keep you from getting what God has for you in the spiritual, and what God has for you spiritually comes with both spiritual and natural benefits and blessings. You cant give yourself anything that will compare to what God will give you in HIM. This is not pie in the sky, nor is it prosperity gospel---- this is Abundant Life: It reaches to every aspect of your being and life. It is not limited because God is, was and is to come. On all sides of time and on all sides of every situation, God is non-negotiable in power and authority. 

One of the things that most anyone who knows me knows is that I love water. I love to swim in the pool or the ocean, the lake. Yes, I am a country girl, and when I was young I spent some time swimming in the lake. Now, I prefer the pool or the ocean. Swimming in the ocean takes real understanding of the currents and physical strength. One of the things that any swimmer will tell you is that it is easy to swim away from shore, but is seems much harder to swim back. Not only because of the currents in the water underneath the surface, but also because by the time you realize that you need to be headed back to safety you have less energy left.  Many times the currents have caused you to be further from shore than you really intended to be. You can be so busy enjoying the water that you dont realize that you are moving away from safety and solid ground. 

Boats use an anchor to help them stay in a location. And anchor is a heavy metal piece that is put down in the water to keep the ship from moving due to weather conditions, such as wind or storm, and also to keep the current from moving it too far from the intended location.  This is because even in what seems to be still  and calm waters the boat can actually be moving, but it doesn't seem like anything is changing. The environment of being surrounded by water can give the illusion of stagnancy , but in actuality you can move for miles and not even realize it.  Thus the reason for the anchor to hold the boat in place. 

Once again I must refer to the church mother, who would say, "be sure your anchor holds."  Isaiah 48:2 does not use the word anchor, but the intent of the words in modern English would give the same intent when it says, "For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name."  And then we have Hebrews chapter 6 which is a call to spiritual maturity, and does actually use the work anchor. 

The wisdom of the church mothers was to let us know that there obvious dangers, but there would also be times when life would bring situations that would seem harmless but would have the potential to slowly pull you away from the safety of the things of GOD.  The Christian community contains all kinds of personalities, but the tenets of the faith apply to us all.  The situation of the southern and northern kingdoms of Israel show us the importance of this in Psalm 80, a prayer for revival.  We need consecration. 

SHAME

 A few days ago, I was thinking about how is it that some people can come before God with a sense of entitlement and arrogance ... and other people can come before God with humility and appreciation?  In my thought process, I began to think about my grandmother.  When we were children and would do something obviously with the wrong intentions, she would say, "have you no shame?" 

That was the cue to do some self reflection, and correct the behavior... Not just at that moment, but from that moment forward. 

When we look at so many of the events that are taking place with those closest to us, and as far reaching as the national platforms - the question is still a valid one to ask.  Police have no shame in killing both the incident and the guilty without due process of the legal system, males procreating but not fathering their children, people walking around all day -out in public- in pajamas or with their underwear on display, broadcasting intimate life details on social media..... And on and on and on.

There is a lack of connection to what is right and good. Our society has become accustomed to anything and everything. The standards are so relaxed now, that even the most basic requirements seem like too much to ask. Everyone believes that they are a good person, because behavior should not be the measure of one's character. It is as if good and evil are now void of meaning.  That is how the decline of morality has seeped in to the norm of our culture. The inability to acknowledge anything, is in essence a way to affirm everything.  It doesn't work that way. 

Acknowledging one's own sinful nature is even more challenging under these terms. Because under these terms, there really is no sin, just misinterpretation.  So it is much easier to redefine everything constantly and conveniently than to call things wrong or right according to biblical standards.  It is much easier to point out the flaws in the character of others than it is to be introspective and to acknowledge one's own flaws.  It is larger than claiming or owning an act or event of sin, but the humiliation of knowing the lack of one's own moral accountability. Example: A married Christian protesting gay marriage, but being unfaithful in one's own heterosexual marriage.  {My grandmother would say, "two wrongs don't make a right.}  It is a hurtful feeling to humiliate yourself to yourself. This is when you know that you are wrong, even if no one else knows or identifies it. 

Have you no shame? = Are you not able to hold yourself accountable for what you know is right?  

The kind of shame that leads a sinner to repentance is the ability to stand in awe of God's completeness of being (Wholeness/Holiness), and comparing one's inferior state of being (sinful nature).  I use the word 'ability' because the sinful nature brings with it arrogance and a sense of self righteousness, which has to be shattered before one can realize the need to change.  It is hard to be humiliated, especially internally.  Shame is not about being humiliated by the awareness that others see your wrong, but it  is the internal dialogue that happens within self.  When the error of your ways become so overpowering that change is absolutely necessary, this is when one is ready to surrender to God. Conviction is being convinced that wrong was done. Repentance is the determination to change from a nature of wrong-being, intentionally going in the right direction - in mindset, intention and deed. 

When a person has no shame:  wanting the results of what is right, but lacking the desire to be or do right.  It is wanting the reward without the effort.  This leads to behaviors that lack integrity. The lack of integrity is also a lack of shame. 

Sanctification is the intentional effort to live a life separated from sin, it is biblically based integrity. It does not imply perfection, but intention.  The greater the intention, the more probable the success of the effort. It is an effort that becomes a lifestyle. The more it is practiced, it becomes the norm. Each day, each individual has to make a conscious effort to make sin the norm or to make sanctification the norm. Each day, the effort will become easier to maintain the course, and this is why it is important to remain intentional. 

The nature of humanity is such that in most, if not all cases, the change of behavior will not come until one's desire to be right has become solidified.  Forced change can take place due to social norms or even penal systems, but a change of heart has to happen from within, before the individual is really capable of true repentance.  For example,  a child can hit another child for no reason and an adult require a verbal apology to be given. The child can learn when it is appropriate to say the words, but never have any intention to stop hitting the other child. But once the child determines that he or she does not want to hit others for no reason, the behavior will shift, not only to avoid hitting others intentionally, but also making  the effort to not hit other unintentionally.   That is the formation of character. 

So when we have expectations of God, but no desire to change -  "Have we no shame?" 

Temptation

Today, was a good day.  I went to church, as I regularly do, but today was different for several reasons. I have had a lot on my mind and I have been questioning some of the ways that I have handled some choices in my personal life.  

As most of us do at some point and time,  I was thinking about how differently my outcomes could have been if I had made some different choices, both career and personal.   So when I say that I went to church today, that was really loaded with a lot of alternatives that were going through my head---specifically the thought of spending the day on the beach.  But I decided to stay the course and go to church. 

I love my church.  Being a part of a community of believers is very important to me.  What makes this important is the shared understanding of what Phil Robertson- the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty family- calls "Biblical Correctness".   Biblical principles are the foundation to my views and to be in a church that goes to the Bible to articulate why certain topic should be discussed a certain way or managed a certain way is important. 

Today we had a guest speaker. I have never heard him before, and didnt know anything about him other than I know that there are some specific criteria about the type of speaker that will be invited to speak at my church. And this man did not disappoint.  The topic of his sermon was "Our Conviction". He gave several examples of why we have our convictions and what the world system is set in place to do regarding pulling us way from what we believe about God and our walk as believers and followers of Christ. 

So, as I reflect on several things, I realize that what causes us to be challenged in our convictions is temptation.  It comes in many forms and in many ways. It is not always the obvious right or wrong, but temptation most of the time looks like the better option. It looks like the easier option and it markets a better outcome.  

Temptation  has the job of trying to convince you that you can outsmart the plan of God.   In this way, making wrong look right is the ultimate goal.   And it is impossible to hold on to both wrong and right at the same time. So temptation is what forces you to feel like you have to choose, it becomes an either/or dynamic. This is when you begin to feel the urge that a choice must be made quickly, before you miss the opportunity and before you talk your self into something else.   Anything that requires you to rush, might be something to take notice of whether it is leading you in the right way or the wrong way. Ask yourself, what is the urgency?  If the urgency is not related to pleasing God or obeying God's Word, then more than likely it is temptation trying to pull you away from what is right. 

Since it is temptation's job to look like, not only a good idea, but the best idea, this means that many times scripture or doing right will seem to be the outcome.  For example, Sarah had already been given a promise from God. One that she laughed at because it seemed impossible.  It was not that she didn't want what God had promised, but in her trying to rationalize how it could be, she decided to help the process along. She decided to act without instruction from God.   If God could send the messengers to tell her and her husband what God was going to do, then obviously if God had instructions for them those would have been given. But without instructions Sarah figured she would figure it out herself.  

Temptation would have to believe that God needs you to figure out how to make what God has already said come to reality. This is not true. God is fully aware of the details needed for what God has planned for your life. God has all of the details under control.