Jul 9, 2009

Humble or Be Humbled...

Yesterday was a humbling day, to say the least. I received an extended text message from a brother in Christ prior to going to work that read:

“…in a place where two ways met-Mark 11:4-lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelations…-2 Corinthians 12:7. The Lord said to ask you ‘what are you praying?’ it is a rhetorical question that you need to answer-Matthew 5:20-to brush it off is to be arrogant-1 Peter 5:6. Do as the Word says and follow the Spirit and your way shall be made well.”

As I meditated on the scriptures and asked the Holy Spirit to makes all things clear, the picture that was painted was not a pretty one. God began to show where I have been arrogant in my thoughts and actions and how I “thought more highly of myself than I ought”. I did not have time to get quiet before the Lord and deal with these things due to work but it never left my mind. I still had to teach the youth that evening and I had most of the message together. As I went through the day one line from Jason Upton’s Dying Star kept repeating in my head, “you’re full of pride”.

After getting off work, I stopped by the house and then headed straight to the church to pray and prepare. As I laid on the altar, it was extremely difficult to pray and found myself laying in mostly silence. As service began, I felt partially confident in the word I was to deliver to the youth. (that’s how I feel every Tuesday and rely on the Spirit to teach through me) but tonight was different. My demeanor was quiet most of the day due to the above text and what God had revealed so far but it was like I just cut on a switch prior to teaching and I was able to teach as if nothing was going on. In my mind the message went well, I hit my points, had good examples, good conclusion. At one point in my message I was listening to myself teach and realized there was no life my word. It was like Sampson in his assumption that he would just shake off the ropes as before but this time didn’t realize the Spirit had departed.

“He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Judges 16:20

So there I was teaching a message that could only makes sense when backed by the Holy Spirit and He was not there.

We rarely finish before the adults but on this night we did so I was able to catch the end of pastor’s message and that service. As he was concluding his message the atmosphere began to shift. During this shift I clearly heard the Lord speak to me and say, “I don’t need you.” Then what happened next was his sign. In the recent past I had thought of everything that wasn’t going on that I thought should be going on and thought I might be the one to bring those things. Well God confirmed his word that He doesn’t need me by manifesting ALL of those things in that one moment, from the prophetic word, prophetic song, deliverance, to liberty in the atmosphere. It was all manifested right before me and He assured me that I had nothing to do with it.

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

“Now I, Emmanuel, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

God desires to use us to have a Jesus-like impact in this earth but know and understand that he doesn’t HAVE to use YOU. Just as King Saul was replaced because he began to care more about the praise of men and God, we too can be replaced if we lose focus of what truly matters. Let my lesson be your lesson. Humble yourself before God so that he does not have to and then he will exalt you in due time. Although no one else knew what was going on, I choose to expose it because I believe that I’m not the only one who has overlooked the issue of pride, no matter how subtle it may seem.

Jun 27, 2009

Prophetic Evangelism

The Lord has a broken heart for the lost but many don’t have His heart. Honestly, for a long time I did not have his heart either.

Matthew 9:36 (Message) “When he [Jesus] looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.”

I was comfortable just working inside the church and being a “good” person outside of church but that’s not what he has called us to do. As we honestly pursue his will and his kingdom its impossible not to have a heart for the lost that compels us to go.

Matthew 28:19 “therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Matthew 5:10 “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Matthew 26:39 “Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

2 Corinthians 5:14 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.”

Last Sunday the Lord placed it on my heart to take a team out to evangelize in the city on Friday. He didn’t tell me where we were going up about 6:45p when we were to leave at 7p. I have done prophetic evangelism a few times before but this would be my first venture in Greensboro. Prophetic Evangelism is partnering with the Holy Spirit to reach the lost in love and power. There are so many biblical examples (John 4, Acts 8, Acts 16, John 9, John 11). I gave those that were going out a brief understanding of what it is and some practical things to keep in mind. Then before I told them where we were going we took a few minutes to be quiet before the Lord and asked him for clues to our divine assignments and then we wrote those things down. Some things on our lists were yellow dress, wallet chain, butterfly, thick glasses, and David. After that I told them we were going to the mall and off we headed.
One of the things on my list was the chain wallet, so I’m walking around the mall looking for someone with a chain wallet. (It’s a treasure hunt!) So Aundrea and I are on the third level and I look down to the second level and see a young lady with the chain wallet so we head down after her. We finally catch up to her on the first floor and I tell her that we’re doing a treasure hunt and she had the chain from my list. So I’m able to minister to her and pray with her and her cousin right there in the mall.

One of my favorite was Jay’na and the yellow dress from her list. A young lady walked by and she had a huge dragon tattoo on her back and I made a joke that it was the butterfly we were looking for and completely missed the fact that she had on the yellow dress. She got about 25ft away when I realized it and told Jay’na to go after her because that was the yellow dress. So we head after her and she is heading out of the mall to her car, I’m speed walking trying to catch her with Jay’na coming behind me. She is about 10ft from her car and I yell out “excuse me!”. And she turns around and we approach her and tell her that we’re out doing a treasure hunt and one thing on our list was a yellow dress and she was the only one in the mall that had one on. We then tell her the purpose of what we’re doing and she’s like this is so weird. It was weird because she didn’t believe in God and she recently had a conversation with her line sisters about it and they said that God was going to give her a sign. Aha!! It was not by chance that she was the only one in the mall with a yellow dress! We end up ministering to her and Jay’na got a word of knowledge concerning some things from her past. As Jay’na was talking about that after something she said two bolts of lighting lit up the sky and thunder shook everything. Talk about a sign from God! LOL She did not give her heart to the Lord but we believe that she will in the very near future.

Aundrea had a similar experience at the same time with her butterfly. They found a young lady with a butterfly tattoo and shared the gospel with them. Everything that they shared was a confirmation to what God had already been dealing with them about! Partnering with the Holy Spirit is the only way to do it! We had so much fun!!!

One thing on my list was the name David, I actually got the name on Thursday and God so pressed it upon my heart of how much he was after this person. I had no idea who it was but I was intent on finding a David. In the vision I saw him in a group of guys so when I was walking through the mall, if I saw a group of guys I would ask if one of them was David and none of them were. So we leave the mall without finding David, so I was like I guessed I missed that one. Then as we pull into the church my phone rings….its my little brother David. It doesn’t register yet that he is the David from my list. I tell him what we had just been doing and then as I go through my list with him it clicks. You’re the David on my list! I had no idea what God wanted to say to him so I just began to minister to him and let God speak through me. I hadn’t talked to my brother in a few weeks and had no idea where he was in his relationship with God but every word spoken was exactly on point! God blew my mind with this one because he knows how much I love my little brother and the fact that he would use me to speak through! I was too through once I prayed for him and we got off the phone.

Greensboro is not safe. LOL This was just the first time with a group who had never done this before. What happens when we grow…. Anyone else in the area who wants to join us please contact me.

Jun 9, 2009

It's Gonna Be Worth It All

Instead of allowing my words to speak to you for this blog, I will allow this video to speak. I have been speaking about surrrendering and yielding to God and I just want to encourage you that it's gonna be worth it all. There's a greater purpose to you surrendering than what you can imagine. Allow this drama to minister to you (exuse the commercials)...


Jun 4, 2009

Follow the Chain...

Greetings to all of my followers! The Lord has opened the door for me to be the guest writer two weeks in a row on Elder Byron's website. Please follow the link to chainoffire and check out my latest blog! There is a song at the end of the blog that I strongly encourage everyone to listen to and pay careful attention to the lyrics. Please leave your comments, either on his site or here on mine. God Bless! Remember no discipline is fun at the time but it always proves beneficial!

Christ's Ambassador

Jun 2, 2009

True Love Pursues

After reading Esther’s blog, I was quickly consumed with meditating and desiring the love of Abba Father. As I went through my Monday, I kept His love at the front of my mind and felt it all day. It’s my desire but more importantly His desire that all encounter his love. This blog came from a heart that has felt the love of the Father…

Ephesians 1:17-18 “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…”

Hosea 11:7-8 “My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them. How can I give up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.”

In the verses preceding God was showing how much he loved his people. How he chose them from the beginning of time and kept them safe as they grew up even when they didn’t realize it. He helped them out of countless situations but they were determined to turn from him. And because he is God, pure, holy, and righteous, he can’t stand sin and was ready to destroy them in their mess. But his heart was changed within and all his compassion was aroused.

God can’t stand to sit by and watch us destroy ourselves. He is longing to show us his passionate love because he’s jealous for us. Not the human jealousy that carries a negative connotation but the purest jealousy that does whatever it takes to get your attention so he can shower you with his love. He’s been with us from the beginning of our lives, teaching us to walk and healing our wounds. Think about it in the natural, would you want someone loving you that don’t care if you continually give yourself to others without regard to their feelings? Or would you want someone who longs for you, can’t wait to spend time with you?

Isaiah 62:1 “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, til her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”

God loves you too much to remain silent while you continue to destroy yourself. Whether its through wrong pursuits, physical mutilation, multiple sexual relationships, drugs, these are all destroying you and he can’t stand to see his creation being destroyed.

Verse 3 & 4 “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God….for the Lord will take delight in you”

He won’t stop trying to get your gaze and your heart until you yield to him. Then he’ll take us in and transform what looks like a desolate and dry life into a crown of splendor and a royal diadem in his hand. Why? Because he delights in you, finds deep pleasure in you.

Verse 5 “As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

He longs for his bride to feel his love; it’s not enough to just have knowledge of his love. Oh! How He loves us! Think about the joy, passion, and excitement a groom has towards his bride…that’s how God feels towards you! This isn’t a love that changes like the winds. His love doesn’t change when we mess up or when we do “good works”. His love is…

Song of Songs 8:6-7 “as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.”

Read those two verses again. Death and the grave don’t change. “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away.” There is nothing that you could ever do to make him stop loving you. Even when you refused to yield to him and rejected him, he was still loving you with this passion; the passion of a blazing fire and mighty flame.

1 John 4:10 “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

John 3:16 (Amp) “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.”

The Father desperately longs for you, to show you his unfailing love. He gave up his prized possession for the chance to show you his love. He doesn’t want you to end in destruction and remain lost and he won’t relent until his has all of you. Will you yield to His love that desires you? You are worthy.

He had to have you- Jason Upton

May 28, 2009

Follow Me

I pray all is well with all of my readers. The Kingdom is constantly expanding its reach and one way is through the internet. A co-laborer in the ministry, Byron, has recently launched a new website and I am the featured guest writer in this week's blog section. So instead of posting my blog here, I direct you to his website: http://www.chainoffire.com/chain/blog/ Feel free to leave comments on his website and browse through the different areas.

God Bless!
Christ's Ambassador

May 21, 2009

Emptied or Empowered?

Any time there is an increase in darkness or demonic influence there is always a greater increase of light and God’s power (available). The problem we face is that with the current increase in darkness is that the light and power that God wants to break-in with is not being tapped in to adequately.

As I awoke this morning I was met with two messages; one was 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 and the other was a shooting at the park of my job last night, light and darkness. Today’s word is putting focus on the right things.

1 Cor. 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

1 Cor. 2:4-5 “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

When we focus on people, big names, and ministries we empty the cross of its power, handcuffing God and handicapping the people. But when we focus on Christ and the cross we empower the people through Christ because they’re putting their faith in God’s power. Change does not come, demons do not tremble at the name of some man or ministry but when the cross is centered and embraced. If we hope to combat the darkness that is prevelant in this region and country we must put our focus back on the cross of Christ.

Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Flesh is no match for spirit. The rebellion and sexual immorality and everything else that we see in this young generation are spirits not flesh. We fight a losing battle when we try to combat those things with programs and personalities. I was guilty of that very thing and I saw the fruit of it; young people with no desire for God once the programs stopped and once the personalities were gone. As I was in prayer this morning, the Lord told me to, “let go of what’s popular and grab on to what’s powerful. Programs and personalities may be popular but prayer is what’s powerful.”

2 Cor. 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but might through God to the pulling down of strong holds”

Our weapons are mighty through God. Programs in themselves are not bad; preachers in themselves are not bad but separate from God they are no match for the warfare we are up against. Let us let go of what brings no power and join together in prayer that the power of God may be released like never before in this region.

Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the placed where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”

See you tomorrow night at The Prayer Cave, 8-10pm. God Bless!