In the Time of the Lattereign

There is a place of safety and it is the church. When the world is so confusing, we can find peace in the church. What comprises a church? It is more than a building, or a grand cathedral. It is so much more than a hut, or a brush arbor as it was in the early days. It is more than a tent which was carried from location to location. The church was built upon a rock.

With the pandemic, people have had to go out of their comfort zones, and although we don’t meet in a building, we don’t miss our time of worship and praise. Today, we celebrate the Resurrection and what does that means for us as believers? We are free to worship. Jesus paid the price of our salvation at Calvary.

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

We have a promise from God that he will have a glorious church. In Ephesians 5:27, the bible says, “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

If we will learn to rise above our circumstances and use this time to reset our priorities, and make our way back to the Lord; then, we win!

This song has been a blessing through the years, and I wanted to share it with you. Brother Bobby Taylor, from the Pentecostals of Greenville, NC, sings.

If it wasn’t for the Lighthouse, Where Would This Ship Be?  (Click on the link; it opens in a new window).

Indeed, where would we be?  In this week’s Lattereign, consider this question:

The Lord is my strength whom shall I fear? 

Stay safe and be blessed.

During this pandemic, I have learned that the Lord is faithful. He gives us rest even in uncertainty. We will overcome this, and in Jesus Name, I look forward to what the Lord has in store for his church. Yes, we may need to have the church online as opposed to meeting in a formal setting, but didn’t the early church go to the people? If nothing else good comes of this, we have seen more people reaching beyond the four walls to the world. I could be gloom and doom; but, I choose to rejoice in the God of my salvation. He knows my name, and that’s good enough for me.   

 “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

To show forth thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,

Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

For thou, Lord, has made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

O Lord, how great are thy works! And thy thoughts are very deep” (Psalm 92:1-5).

In America, we have liberty. In Jesus, we have liberty that will set us free by the power of the Holy Ghost. He whom the son sets free is free indeed. Our world may be troubled and uncertain, but we can be established in Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

If we keep praying, keep believing that the Lord will deliver us and that he is a present help in the time of trouble, then we reap the victories.

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

“And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly….But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”

Romans 5:5-6, 8

I am blessed to be a part of the Pentecostals of Greenville. My thoughts tonight are tumbling through my mind and can’t be contained. I feel like we’ve been called to prayer as a nation, and we are united together with a common bond: reaching out to the lost. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. I can have peace even when the world in which I live is in chaos.

My hope is in Jesus and the things of the world are only temporal. God, on the other hand, is eternal and he loves me with an everlasting and unconditional love. God bless America.

We welcome you to celebrate another opportunity to worship the Lord, freely. It requires no building, or special place. We are blessed that we can be in his presence. I am thankful that we have hope in him.

In this week’s Lattereign, we are reminded that There’s Nothing too hard for God (click on the link and it will open in a new window).

Stay safe, and be blessed.

If nothing else is learned through this pandemic, we have learned that we can unite in prayer as a nation. Lord, you have my attention. I ask for forgiveness, for allowing other things to take priority in my life.

It’s not that we aren’t willing to do the will of God: we are, but too often we allow ourselves to get too busy to focus on what really matters. My Martha spirit, of busyness overtakes my Mary spirit of sitting at Jesus feet.

We have to be entertained, active, needed, productive, with all of the whirlwinds that these things cause. If you have ever been on a merry-go-round you know what it’s like to go faster and faster in circles. Your heart races, your head spins, and a million trees above swirl as you continue to go nowhere but in circles. Just let one person stop the merry-go-round abruptly and you better hold on because in your mind it is still spinning.

A profound thought about spinning on a merry-go-round: when you stop, you are at the same place that you started, and although it took a great deal of effort to keep it going, you made no progress.

The pandemic has allowed us to get off of the merry-go-round, and focus on one thing at the time. Those things that truly matter, like taking care of our four walls, our families, and drawing closer to the Lord as we try to figure this out. We learn that Jesus is more than enough to supply all our needs.

I believe that after this pandemic is over, and it will be, we will see the greatest revival of all time as the people begin to turn their attention back to the Lord. That is my prayer and my hope. Be blessed and stay safe.

In this week’s Lattereign, we focus on prayer. Bind the sacrifice with strong cords . (This link opens in a new window.)

“Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border” (Jeremiah 31:16, 17).

“Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). You may have prayed for years for a need or a desire in your heart and it still has not come to pass. NEVER GIVE UP! You have a choice to make: Believe God answers prayer; or never have your prayers answered; for without believing, it will not come to pass. Sometimes it is hard to keep praying when you feel that your prayers are not reaching any higher than the ceiling. Persevere. Endure. Why not choose to believe God in faith? You really don’t have any other choice but to believe that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

If you want to see miracles in your life: BELIEVE. NEVER GIVE UP!

The Lord has already heard your prayers and intercessions. He is pleased with your worship, your commitment to keep growing in the faith, and your desire to build a strong relationship with him. Let’s keep the wheels of revival moving throughout our nation. We have a mission to accomplish: who will rise up and accept the calling that the Lord has placed on your life?

We see daily that people are turning to the Lord, because it is time. Hold on to your promises! They are not in vain.

This is the year of prayer; today, let’s make this temple—a place of worship. Some people may be worshiping from home, or in their cars, or in a church building. I am thankful that there are no limits on worship. No matter where you are, seek him while he may be found. Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:21).

To open the newsletter, click on the blue link and it will open in a new page. In this week’s Lattereign we need Something to Hold on To

Today has been declared a National Day of Prayer. I am thankful for a president who recognizes the need for our nation to pray, “for such a time as this.” When we don’t know what to do or are unclear on the path that we must take, it is time to pray and ask the Lord to order our steps in his will. Some circumstances we may not fully understand, and maybe we don’t always agree with each other on the political side of things, but there is one area that we can be certain of at all times:

Our need to pray for guidance. The bible promises in Isaiah 54:17 that “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

If the Lord knows the plans that he has for me, then, why would I be anxious about them? It’s in the bible that he wants to give me hope and a future, and to do that, it may require me to trust him and lean not to my own understanding. I want to fix everything, without even giving what God wants a second thought. I guess it’s only natural for me to be a fixer of broken things, or at the least attempt to be a fixer of broken things.

Some things are best left alone. At some point in our lives we must realize that the things that are broken in our lives may not even be good for us. We invest a lot of energy trying to fix things that we need to let go of, because they may be things that are keeping us from moving forward in the Lord. Let the Lord reveal to you those things that may need to be swept out of your life, and the other things that are worth restoration.

I’ve never even thought about this before, but how often do we keep gathering fragments of our broken pasts, trying to make them fit together?  As the song goes, “Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way. Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still.” I need God. He is the only one who can take marred clay and make it a vessel of honor.

We are in the Lord’s hand and we have nothing to be anxious about, if we will allow him to shape us into his image. In Jeremiah, the Lord teaches a lesson:

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

² Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

³ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

⁴ And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁶ O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:1-6).

Lord, may I always be in your hand. In this week’s Lattereign, we learn about the value of time. Is There Ever Enough Time?

I know that you say all things work together for our good, Lord, but sometimes I don’t see it. Why do you allow the enemy to come in like a flood? Children who are innocent, need to have a childhood. Play. Not be cut out of life through suicide.

Have mercy on us Lord when we miss those opportunities to show kindness. I remember when the most complicated situation I had to face at school was whether or not I wanted to bring a lunch or buy the school lunch. The school lunches were not so bad before everything became prepackaged.

School lasagna could have been served in a fine restaurant, and the yeast rolls and Southern Fried chicken, would be the top of everyone’s list. There was no waste. I remember being so upset one time when I was small, because I had to leave school before lunch and I knew that the dessert for the day was chocolate cake. Really?! Couldn’t I at least get a tray to go?

Times have changed. Schools have changed. Expectations have changed, but one thing has not changed: God has not changed. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When the world is uncertain, you can always know that the Lord offers you a firm foundation. People may fail you, disappoint you, persecute you, even, but the Lord promises that he will never leave you or forsake you.

I hold to his word and promise tonight as I think about the events of the past week. my God, we are always asking, why? It will take a while to let this one go, but I am going to put my trust in you and let it go. It’s too big for me to process, but I know that you will always be faithful to help us to understand it by and by.

Lord, help my unbelief when I want  to cry out and cast blame. As pastor said today, “lead me to the rock.”

My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.

In this week’s Lattereign, we have a message from Chris Cochran, a middle-school assistant principal, on the subject of student safely and cell phone usage: Warning-Public Education Rant to Parents

How many times have I faced situations where I did not know what direction I needed to take in order to solve the problem? More times than I want to say. I am the independent one who never asks for help even when to do so would be a blessing. When I look back over the years, I see so many times that I struggled needlessly because I refused to ask for help. I have always been this way; it was ingrained in me from childhood to do my best. What I didn’t learn was how to know when it was okay to ask for help.

Asking God for help carries no shame. He invites us to ask him and even goes on to give us this promise in John 14:13-14:

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

This promise holds the key to open the doors of opportunity wide.

It is one thing to not ask for help, but quite another to fail to ask God for help. It’s a choice to be confused, hopeless, or paralyzed with fear, so I have learned that if I want peace, I must ask for it, and then receive it when it is offered.

There are times when our hearts are overwhelmed to the point that we don’t know how to pray. It is then that we allow the Lord Jesus to pray and intercede for us. We must get into his presence.

The bible tells us to  ^“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10).

In the midst of the storms of life, with torrential problems falling all around me, I still can reach out to the Lord and just, be still.

“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him” (Psalm 59: 19).

If you are tired of the fight, and frustrated with the lack of peace in your life, it is probably because you are trying to fight alone. Isn’t it time to let the Lord fight your battles, while you trust in him?

Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. (Psalm 62:8).

We have to allow the Lord to intervene in our lives if we want to be successful, and trust him to work out all things for our good. In this week’s Lattereign we are reminded that prayer is a privilege that we have. Click on the link below to access the Lattereign. It opens in a new window. The Privilege of Prayer

We have heard it all of our lives, that Jesus is coming soon, so much in fact, that unfortunately, it doesn’t excite us like it used to. But I can hear my Spirit screaming at me to Grow Up, because we are running out of time to do what the Lord has called us to do. Yes, we are all given twenty-four hours a day; yes, we all lead busy lives and sometimes pack what seems like more than twenty-four hours of work into our allotted time.

It is time for us to take a look at where and how we use our time. Yes, we have to work, and people are depending on us for so many reasons, but that doesn’t give us an excuse to stop doing the will of God. What it does tell me, is that my priority must first and foremost be my relationship with Jesus Christ. If I haven’t committed to putting him first, then, there will never be enough time to finish all of the responsibilities that I have.

I know how this plays out in our lives. We get so stressed out doing this and that, when, our greatest treasures are at risk of falling to the wayside while we struggle to breathe life into those things that will not make a difference later in our lives.

It’s like I can’t focus on any one challenge or project that I have, because to do so would mean that I might actually complete something, and heaven forbid that I would have accomplished something that could be of value. Instead, I have learned the art of juggling. Unfortunately, I’ve come to the conclusion, of late, that my juggling routine needs work. I have failed to be successful at everything I want to accomplish. Not so much that it is wrong; it’s that in my zeal to do a work for the Lord, I sometimes forget that to do so, will require time to water the seeds that I have already planted. To neglect to water the seeds will surely end in the death and burial of dreams.

Once we have planted seeds, we must give them time to grow. How will we know that they are thriving? When the seeds begin to be established enough to look beyond what we can see with our eyes, and catch a glimpse of where the Lord wants to take us.

Does this mean that we are only successful when we are doing a work for the Lord, or is it when we are mature enough to see potential in others and we are responsible to help others grow? Success in ministry doesn’t happen overnight. If it did, would we pray as much?

In this week’s Lattereign, we feature Sister Amber Tucker’s Saturday night devotional on an important topic.  Spiritual Growth (Click on the link to Spiritual Growth. It will open in a new window.)

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15:2)

I am blessed. Knowing that I have everything that I need gives a peace that passes all understanding.  Unfortunately, not everyone will be able to reach that peace without much prayer. Over the years, I have learned that if I get too complacent and comfortable in the routine of it all, something will always come up that will cause me to be restless in my spirit.

It’s like a calm before a storm: no lightening or thunder is heard, but slowly the winds pick up and the sky darkens. You know that it’s on the way, only you don’t know when.

I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the ordeal of pruning, yet I know that after it is done, I begin to see new growth.

When we go through those seasons, it is time to pray. It is hard to let go, but sometimes the Lord is asking: “lovest thou me more than these?”

I know early on in my walk with God I was testing so many ideas about how I could find my place to serve, and it seem that the more I searched, the more frustrated I became, because it was important but not really what the Lord was leading me to. I opened so many doors of “opportunity” thinking that this must be the one which will be a good fit for me, and every time this happened, someone else seemed to swoop down and grab it, because maybe they were more qualified, younger, older, had seniority, knew the right people, or whatever else made them the best choice to fulfill MY vision.

Rather than allow myself to get discouraged, I resolved to just be the best at starting projects, and before I could experience the satisfaction of having completed something worthwhile and contributing: the project would be reassigned to someone else. I was a pioneer of sorts.

I worked at a place that still used a typewriter for most of their documents, and there was one computer that I considered basically obsolete. We’re talking about having to load up the hard drive using floppy disks. It wasn’t friendly, at all, but I had to use it. So to make the best of the situation, and learn enough of the IBM (yes, way back in time) to complete my work, I decided that the best way to practice learning the archaic programs I had to use, was to start a newsletter on my lunch break; thus the first Lattereign was written.

Every day, I prayed that the Lord would heal my temperamental computer, and it seemed that the more I prayed for a healing, the sicker that computer became, until one day, bless the Lord, the computer finally died. What a blessing that turned out to be, because it had to be replaced with a more up to date computer. I tried to control my sadness on that one. The power of prayer changed my circumstance, again.

When I made a lateral move to another position; the place that I left had to hire one and a half people to replace me. Was I doing too much? Maybe, but at the time, working enough for one and a half people was natural to me.

If the Lord had not opened doors, I would have missed out on the next step in my journey to reach my full potential in him. It isn’t easy to let go, but when we learn to do so, the Lord takes us to a place where we can be fruitful. If I had been content, I would have never started the Lattereign, and my ministry would not have been brought to life.

I realize that through the years that the Lord has taken so many ambitions from me, only to allow me to thrive where he wants me to be. I couldn’t see it at the time, I’m still learning to let go. The word says in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It also says, that he knows the plans that he has for me, that I might prosper and be in good health.” I must learn to trust him.

In this week’s Lattereign, we are invited to Receive From the Lord.