When opportunity knocks; do you go running or do you stop and pray?
Now you may ask why am I praying? It’s simple to know from who did this opportunity come!
It may very well be a test from God or a setup from the enemy! And yes it can also be a blessing but you want to check the fruit! Is it good or bad?
The book of Job gives us many examples to know the difference and also realize the possibility that it may not be what our natural eye is seeing. Everyone around Job thought and believed he had done something to be dealing with all these hardships but in fact it was God proving a point! The enemy just knew he was going to break him and he would have the victory but yet once again he was proven wrong!
In the book of Luke you see yet again the enemy is out to get you and sift you like wheat! Do you know the process that wheat has to go through?
The first step in the manual process is for the wheat to be placed on a hard surface and then beaten into the required form. The next step is to remove the parts that aren’t needed by throwing it in the air. Now that was before technology made its debut.
The mechanical process is done by cutting-scooping-throwing-separating and then being spit out into a dump truck or trailer; like its trash! Both of these processes sound painful!
When your in a negative situation it feels like your being sifted! It hurts from the cuts and the jabs that you deal with! Being treated like a doormat and being talked down too! Being kicked down and instead of someone reaching down to help you; they move in to kick you as well!
What is the point of all this? Seek out and accept the right opportunity for the right outcome! Don’t just accept something because it looks and sounds good! And the same goes for relationships! For us as women! Kingdom women you want to check the fruit, check their motives, their character, check your gut (do you get a bad feeling), check their background! Everyone isn’t who they say they are; people will get you caught up and messed up!
So when opportunity comes a knocking; check it at the door and be ready to pull back those layers to get to the root! The root will tell you all you need to know! Get ready to dig!!
Don’t be so consumed with the integrity of your work, that you miss an opportunity to minister. Have you ever seen those TV commercials where the child is questioning her parent’s love, because they are cleaning the home on a Saturday instead of spending time with her? Are we busy doing “things” instead of building relationships? Are you missing out on opportunities to share your thoughts, wisdom and love?
Don’t be so effected by your damaged feelings that you forget to pray for your enemies.
In the July 9, 2017 issue of #SpiritualSundays, Ms. McCarthy wrote about “Church Hurt” and how the pain can change your perception of religion, people and even yourself. The article continues to talk about how the devil’s job is to steal from you, kill you and those around you and destroy your perception of life and God’s love for you. This is SO TRUE! We can not let the nudge from an enemy change the pathway that God has placed you upon. When the rock is thrown through your window, you do move out of the house? No! you repair the window! When the house catches on fire, you rebuild! Don’t let the actions or the words from another cause you to feel so much pain that you withdraw from your own path and fail to pray for others. Your prayers may initiate the change in their life that they need!
Don’t be so focused on the Spirit of Excellence that you procrastinate on accomplishing the anointing that was placed on your life, in that moment.
I have spoken to several people over the years that had “visions of grandeur” in terms of a new business or a desired lifestyle. “My business will have state of the art equipment where can provide exceptional service to my clients” or they will say “My home will look like this or my car will be that and people will come to Christ because they want to live like me!”
Over the years, these SAME people have not achieved the status that they aspired to achieve. Why do I believe this is so? These people got SO caught up in the image of doing things with a Spirit of Excellence that they never, even START on the process! Can you imagine if Jesus never began his walk in ministry if his goal was to look excellent or BE excellent or appear excellent? Our sins would never be forgiven! Take that first step! Improve as you go along! LEARN as you make those steps! Strive towards excellence and always give glory to Our Lord through the journey!
In 2 Timothy 2:15 we are instructed to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth”
and the book of Titus 2:7 instructs us to “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity”.
Model of Good Works – Do the best that you can while you are improving, and stop waiting for the EXCELLENCE to be achieved in order to begin.
Google defines “Integrity” as – the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
Dignity is defined as “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect” and also “a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect”.
We are all at the beginning of something new, each and every day that we awaken. Let us not be SO focused on tomorrow that we don’t allow God to lead us today.
Evangelist Angie BEE
Author, Producer, Promoter and Servant of the Lord
Church hurt is real and many have experienced it! Me included and I will be honest; when it first happened, I was hurt but more disappointed because like so many I didn’t want to go back! But guess what? I wasn’t going to allow the enemy to win! “No weapon formed against me shall prosper”! (Isaiah 54:17)
Have you allowed the actions of another person take you away from your Heavenly Father? Have you allowed them to speak negativity into your life? Have you accepted what they did to you to be from above? Have you left and returned to your old way of doing things? Who does that benefit? Who wins when you turn your back on God?
We must remember who our enemy is and what his plans are! Look at John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. (KJV) Unfortunately the enemy has an army that loves to carry out his antics and they happen to be in the church; right on the pew sitting next to you! Everyone that steps foot in the four walls that we call “church” isn’t there for the right reasons; but we shouldn’t allow them to push us out! Stop giving your enemy ammunition to destroy your life and keep you from living in abundance and perfect peace!
Whomever told you that walking away from your old life to be a renewed person in Christ was going to easy; misled you! This walk comes with a whole new bucket of trials and tribulations; the enemy doesn’t like to be defeated! So yes, he will be turning it up a notch; but we are built for this! Is this your first battle?
I can tell you from experience; it won’t be your last! But I want you to remember this and get used to saying it: I will not run and hide; for God is on My Side! “And he said, hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, thus saith the Lord unto you, be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s”. (2 Chronicles 20:15)
Stand and don’t you sway! We will have to answer to the things we have done and said in this life! Don’t be one that will lead others astray! “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed”. (Isaiah 9:16)
So, I ask you; who will you serve? What side of the fence will you stand on? “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. (Joshua 24:15)
The hurt we have experienced can’t be changed, you won’t get an apology, they won’t even admit to their wrong doing; not our problem! At the end of the day we can only control how we respond to it. At first, it will hurt and you just might shed some tears but guess what? You will wake up the next day and that’s when you begin again! Smile; the enemy hates when you do that!
Copyrighted 2017 Tamara McCarthy Enterprises
References:
All scriptures used throughout this article are from King James Version and can be found on http://www.biblegateway.com
When I was, a kid attending Frederick J. Schulze Elementary School in Detroit Michigan, my classmates would use “Bad Words: while whispering to each other. The “cool” kids would say these “bad words” during conversation, but even the cool kids would avoid allowing their hushed voices to be heard by the teacher. I wonder if the grown-ups at the school ever knew that some of the kids spoke these words?
Check out the audio version of this blog here:
Once I hit Beaubien Jr. High school, the “Bad words” evolved into cussin’ and the hushed voices grew louder and became more direct toward certain classmates. I frequently found myself being the target of some of that language as the class bullies seemed to resent everything I wore, everything I smiled about and every “A” that I earned. I knew that I wasn’t a B-I-T-C-H, but just having that word slung in my direction stung a bit more, each time I heard it.
I grew up attending and being blessed by memberships in two Detroit churches. I was baptized and raised at Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church, and at the age of twelve my spiritual growth enlarged through my membership at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church. Now, I don’t know about other churches or other religions but I do know that EVERY BAPTIST CHURCH I have ever attended always leads you in a song that goes a little something like this:
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer – Amen, Amen, Amen.
Now, did I know that song that we sang was a scripture? Nope! Did I know that while singing that song in church, I was basically saying out loud that I wanted the words that came out of my mouth to be acceptable to God? Nope! “DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?!”
Once I “grew up” and lived on the college campus, I cussed “like a sailor” because I was “GROWN!” My mama wasn’t around to smack me in the mouth and everybody else on the campus of Wilberforce University was cussing’ too! That’s when one of the professors mentioned a study that has stuck with me all these years later. Now, don’t quote me on it but the study said something about the use of vulgar language reflecting the ignorance and poor vocabulary skills of the word cussin’. Well, I was a communications major and I planned to have a career in radio, so I wasn’t about to reflect ignorance coming out of my mouth! After that lesson, cuss words only flew out of my mouth during stress or frustration… and even then, I was ashamed afterwards.
These days I will see posts on social media with letters such as “WTF” or “LMFAO”. These letters are sometimes even posted in a sentence meant to bring humor or accolades, but once I see that letter “F” or letter “A” in there, I get a little sad. As an adult, we now refer to this language as “Profanity” and although it is no longer directed at me, I still shudder when I hear it spoken; just hearing swear words can make me sad.
“A group of researchers from Kno.e.sis Research Center, Wright State University near Dayton Ohio studied why people swear in the online world by collecting tweets posted on Twitter. They found that cursing is associated with negative emotions such as sadness (21.83%) and anger (16.79%) thus showing people in the online world mainly use curse words to express their sadness and anger towards others.[20][21]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity)
You see, our words reflect what is growing on the inside of us. Kinda like if you ate something last night that doesn’t agree with your tummy, you will find yourself on the toilet by the next morning. That mess was on the inside of you, so it came out. Cussin’ reflects something rotten inside of you, so it falls out of your mouth just as easily as that diarrhea plopped outta your butt!
My mama was a holy thing when she lived on Earth. Even though our mama cussed, I didn’t cuss around my mama (I didn’t want to get a spanking, so that motivated me to keep my mouth clean!). My husband is a holy thing as he represents the way God loves me in this season of my life. I don’t cuss around my husband. Just looking at him reminds me that I am loved and respected and appreciated, so I don’t have a reason to cuss him out! (lol). I am a temple of the Lord and I invite the Lord to live inside me. I don’t cuss around my temple…I don’t cuss around myself. I love myself and respect myself, so I don’t cuss in my conversations or in my writings.
Wikipedia reflects that “profanity has come to mean any socially offensive language beyond that strictly religious sense, but tends to exclude any other nonverbal communication. Thus profanity in English may be synonymous with bad language, strong language, coarse language, foul language, bad words, vulgar language, lewd language, choice words or expletives“. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity
On the Sunday, November 20, 2016 ministry broadcast from Pastor Ron Carpenter, he taught that there was a lesson in the bible where a group of people had been led by Moses to a place where they were to drink water. When the people tasted the water, they found that it tasted bitter and later, scientists tested the water and determined that the bitter taste was the result of a laxative component that would help flush your system. Ron Carpenter offered that God led those people to the water to get that bad taste of their past slavery out of their systems. http://www.roncarpenter.com/on-demand/detox/
What do you need to get out of your system?
If you don’t get it out spiritually, it will fly out of your mouth offensively.
(Thank you, Jesus!)
On the Sunday, November 20, 2016 broadcast from Pastor Jesse Duplantis, he taught on first fruits and on giving God your best. He visually taught that God gave us HIS first fruit in that he gave us His first son. Why don’t we give God our best language of respect, praise and gratitude and cleanse our minds and our tongues from foul language? Why don’t we give OURSELVES our first fruit of a sweet language on our lips and not the bitter words that fly out and offend?
God gave us his best when he gives us his grace and mercy and when God spoke, he created wonders and lifestyles and an home for us! When we speak to the waitress, she brings out the best meal that can be prepared for us. When you hear those words “I Love You”… do you want to hear a cuss word thrown in that statement?!?
Today, let us all strive to “clean up our act” and mentally “wash our mouths out with soap”. Listen to the lyrics of the music you are feeding into your ears. Is it laced with profanity and sexual references? How does that make you feel? Do you find yourself quoting those lyrics? Would you want someone referring to you in the way those lyrics refer to another in that song?
Today, let us all strive to replace one curse word at a time with a new vocabulary word in our speech and in our writings. “WTF” can now be “WITW” (What In The World?” comes from my anointed daughter Jasmine…thanks Princess!) I prefer ROTFLOL to LMFAO (why do I have to refer to myself as FAT, anyway! Hmmph). Today, let us be a “Shining Light of Language” (SLOL) for someone else while we are talking to them; when they realize that each word coming from your mouth is positive and encouraging… they may catch on and repeat your example!
One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to divide and conquer. Satan uses this tactic on many home fronts. He uses it in families, in businesses, in churches, in ministries, etc. The enemy knows if he can cause any entity to walk in division, he can infiltrate and overthrow it.
This stands true when it comes to you as an individual. You are the temple and house of God. You are a tri-part being, comprise of spirit, soul, and body. The enemy knows if he can get you in conflict within yourself, and in conflict with God’s will for your life, he can misalign you from your purpose and destiny. Satan is searching for opportunities to spoil your inner peace and disrupt the unity between you and God. He wants to divide and conquer by causing you to walk in confusion, fear, intimidation, and waver in constant unbelief when it comes to the promises of God concerning your life.
This month’s Next Step Coaching For Success comes to admonish you not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices lest he gains the advantage over you (II Corinthians 2:11). Be conscious of the schemes and plots of the enemy. Don’t let the evil one cause division among your members and misalign you from God’s purpose. Be determined to stay single-minded and focused on the plan of God for your life. Especially if you are in leadership, because others are following your lead.
Your Next Step Coaching For Success Minute:
Identify the parts of you that are in constant conflict
What are the root causes of the conflict?
Seek God for grace to overcome and to remain undivided in your members
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