In the Time of the Lattereign

“Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” (Psalm 97:11-12)

There’s nothing too hard for God. How many times do we actually meditate on that truth? Our society has a tendency to forget the Lord and what he can do for his people if we’ll only trust him to bring it to pass.

Let me repeat it: there is nothing too hard for God. So many times we know how to believe God for other people, because God is a miracle working God. He knows every thing and he is sovereign. He meets all of our needs. He knows my uprising and my down sitting. He knows the very hairs of my head and still he is mindful of all his creation. He created the universe and he filled it with his glory, and still, he lives in me. His splendor outshines anything that man could ever put together.

Have you stepped outside lately to look up into the night sky? It’s tremendous. It’s truly God alone who could have created this universe.

If you’re sitting here today and worshiping God then he’ll meet you. God is truly more than enough to supply every need that we could ever have. Since God is all of these things: why do we fret when we feel pressure from the world? I must stay in prayer and encourage myself in the Lord, even when it seems that I walk alone.

The world tries in every way that it can to keep the saints of God defeated. If I allow the world to convince me that joy in the Holy Ghost isn’t for me, today, I may not pray until I have the joy of the Lord, which is my strength. If I’m not convinced that God is a rewarder of  those who diligently seek him, I might not bother to seek him. I know, beyond a doubt, that loving God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, will cause me to triumph with confidence.

When I ask God for his will: and question it; he teaches me to have faith. I used to worry until the Lord spoke to me through his word, “My grace is sufficient for thee”, and because he overcame the world, the enemy couldn’t destroy me. He told me to trust in him to bring a peace that passes all understanding, and now, the peace has arrived in my life, in the midst of the storm. It’s the same peace that I want the world to be confounded by when they see me. I may not have all of the answers, or know how the Lord will bring it all to pass, but I know that he’s faithful to deliver his promises. We serve a mighty God, and when people see me, I want them to see Jesus. God spoke the worlds into existence.

There’s no fear when we trust him; there’s no compromise if we walk with him. Compromise yields great pressure; standing on truth of God’s word will help you endure it to the end.

Trusting Under the Shadow of His Wings

“Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. The Lord God, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him” (Isaiah 56:7-8).

What a blessing he truly has been to me. When I think about Calvary and the sacrifice that Jesus made, I have to repent all over again for my attitudes. It never ceases to amaze me that the Lord would die for me. Who am I? I know my background. I know the grave errors I have made. I live daily with the reminders of bad decisions made decades ago; yet, he loves me. He even loves me when I complain like an “Israelite.” (whining about unimportant things, instead of trusting God to deliver from bondage.)

Not only will the Lord bring us to a place of refuge, he also promises to make us joyful in his house of prayer. There is no other response but to be joyful when you are allowed to be in the presence of Jehovah God. When the Lord enters the sanctuary, lives are changed, and we begin to realize that we are so blessed to have a Savior who knows how to meet every need that we may have. He doesn’t always answer at the split second that we call, sometimes he must custom fit our answered prayer and that takes time to bring to pass.

We can rest assured that when the answer does come, it will be the best solution and timing of all records. The Lord’s will is perfect. It is a privilege to pray. Sometimes it may seem that you aren’t getting the results that you’d like when you pour out your heart day after day. It may look like the enemy has won: but don’t quit! Jesus Christ has already won the battle that you are facing. He has already made a way of escape.

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7).

He tells us that he will not forget us because we are carved into the palms of his hands, which is an eternal reminder that we are his children.

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our griefs to bear;

What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.

Oh what peace we often forfeit,

Oh what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.

“Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do” (Proverbs 29:9).

“For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2: 9-10).

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

God’s Mercy-Easter Sunday

When the doctor gives you a bad report after you’ve prayed for God to make you whole, and the solutions that God gave you were nothing like what you wanted to hear. When after you have wept for God to do something, and it seems your prayers fall to waste at your feet; when everybody else refuses to carry their load, while you’re convinced that you surely bear the heaviest cross; when you can’t help but ask God, “Why now?” or, “How long will you forsake me?”; remember this:

God carries you through the fire,

not to keep you in it,

He takes you through the trials,

not to leave you alone to win it,

God shoulders the ones who despair,

and the widow who weeps alone,

And through it all, he’s there,

His presence makes all the difference.

We won’t reap, unless we’ve sown;

we won’t grow, unless we go.

We won’t see miracles, unless we pray.

We must believe, and have faith,

He knows the plans that he has for us!

“Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness: (Isaiah 41:9-10).

Sometimes we think that God has forgotten us and we struggle to live for him to the fullest. This is the Sunday before Easter, and today, we celebrate Palm Sunday. The people gave Jesus honor as he rode into the city on the donkey. They laid down palm branches before him. It was only one week before they crucified him. We don’t understand how he could have allowed it to happen, but when we look at Calvary and realize that his sacrifice purchased our salvation: we know that it was his love that held him on the cross. Today, we’re reminded of His selfless love for mankind. Satan thought it was all over and that he had won when Christ was crucified at Calvary; he didn’t know that in just three days he would have sealed his future. Don’t be discouraged, put your trust in the Lord.

Hosanna to the King-Palm Sunday

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

“Because I will publish the name of the Lord: Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.” (Deuteronomy 32:3).

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me and said Write the vision and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:1-4).

The key word in both of these passages from the Old Testament is faith. The people didn’t have faith. In Deuteronomy, the people had forgotten the God that formed them, instead they sacrificed to devils. Jeshurun got fat, forsook God who made him, and the Bible says that he only “lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” We need to stay committed to this gospel. What we have in Christ is eternally valuable to us.

If what we have in Christ is eternally valuable, then, we need to keep a hold on our faith and guard it. Don’t lose your faith! Sometimes we’re not much different than Jeshurun because we get so wrapped up in our daily lives that we take our salvation for granted just as if there were a never ending supply of God’s blessings, and no obligation to pay a price for our commitment. We still have God after all the things we’ve been through in the past twenty-one years. Twenty-one years ago on. March, 1995 just before St. Patrick’s Day we celebrated Greeeeen Day as part of a Sunday school promotion.  Today, March 2016, the Lattereign is celebrating its 728th newsletter.

As I look back over the writing ministry in The Pentecostals, I am humbled and amazed that the Lord chose me to carry out his will! God is great and greatly to be praised, and without faith it is impossible to please Him; however,  if we can get a vision and wait for it, our faith will see the job through to fulfill God’s plan in our lives. I never dreamed that the Lattereign would have gone this long, but it has, because the saints in this congregation have kept me focused and ready to respond to scripture and situations.

What has kept me writing all these years? People. More than people though, it’s families and events in their lives that testify of God’s unending love and mercy to us as we lift up a standard against the compromising world. We are a part of the glorious church. May God richly bless you.

Now, I am looking forward to whatever the Lord has planned for this ministry. I am blessed beyond measure. There have been times when I questioned God about whether I was doing this because I love to write, or if it was the Lord leading me to write. If it was my own silly ambitions, I certainly didn’t want to have any part of it. Then, in prayer, the Lord impressed on me this thought: if it is of God, it will stand and grow stronger; if it is just my own ambition, it will not fulfill God’s purpose, and will fade away in time. Through it all, the Lord has kept me week after week to share my heart with whoever will read.

I just want to say, thank you, for following me on this journey, and my prayer is that the words I share have encouraged you in your walk with God. We serve an awesome God!

He Could Have Walked Away but He Didn’t

Lean on Me

When I fail, Jesus loves me, If I grumble and complain, He still loves me.

Oh, how I love Jesus; he gives me peace in my valley

A troubled sea will not drown me

In my darkest night, his love surrounds me,

In the loneliness of why’s, he assures me.

And the Lord says,

“My ways are higher than your ways,

My thoughts go far beyond your thoughts.

My sights are set far above your needs;

I see far beyond your circumstance.”

Oh, how I love Jesus. He give me peace in my valley

A troubled sea will not drown me

In my darkest night, his love surrounds me.

In the loneliness of why’s he assures me.

And God said, “Seek me while it is day,”

Don’t despair, I’ll give you rest;

I’ll wipe your tears, and take your pain;

Trust me and lean not to your own understanding.

Courageous and Consistent Faith

“Oh, that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” (Job 19:23-25).

We can put our trust in all that this world has to offer, and we can most definitely be disappointed when our trust is broken, or we can place our lives into the Lord’s hands, and live eternally. This world is only temporary, but the treasures you invest in through Jesus Christ will be available for eternity.

The picture above represents many flowers from my garden. They bloomed at all different times, that year, and each block represents only one moment captured. We are not promised tomorrow, so those fears that try to invade our thinking, too often cause us to miss that precious moment in time.

Today, it is time to live in the moment. We can’t undo a fading rose, any more than we can undo a harsh spoken word, as they will live on in our memories, but what we can do is live for this moment. I can’t undo my past, or control circumstances that may confront me in the future; however, because I choose to place my entire life in his capable hands, I will live. I will do my best to make good choices and see the world through the prism of the one who gives me hope and a future, Jesus Christ.

Yet, I will Rejoice

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness.
O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.
Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shall thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall thy offer bullocks upon thine altar.” (Psalm 51).

The Lord leads each one of us in a unique way through our lives, and sometimes, the life that we are called to live may take us down a crooked path. Our journey through life may take us down roads that we never chose to travel, and yet, we find ourselves just trying to take careful steps to avoid the rocks and pits that would make us fall.

Who am I to question God’s wisdom in these matters? I am a servant, called to do his will and to be a witness for his glory. I didn’t bargain for some of the trials that I’ve had to face in my life; but at the same time, I know that I have a privilege to rejoice in the God of my salvation, who always causes me to triumph.

When I am sick; I have the Balm of Gilead. When I am thirsty; I have the fountain of living waters to draw from; when I am hungry; He is the living bread that sustains me. When I feel alone; He comes to me at the thought of his name; When I am weak, without the strength to carry on; he picks me up and carries me. When I am confronted with the attacks of the enemy; He stands in the gap for me and he upholds me with his free spirit.

In the weakness of flesh, I may look at the storms of life and forget that he made the storms. He is always in control of every situation and we must learn to trust him because he is faithful to us. What may seem like a rejection, could very well be the Lord’s hand at work in our lives. If you lose a job; you may rejoice, because you will find a better one.

Don’t give up, for the Best is already here!

You will never be able to have less than God’s best, because he is not an inferior God who gives us leftovers of his blessings. We will always have the best of everything because the Lord is our provider. He has made us the head and not the tail; and, we can stand before his throne boldly and proclaim that he is Lord. There is no second best with God. He eternally supplies our every need, and when we feel that there’s not any hope left, God steps up to the plate and scores the final points.

We win this game of life, if we will continue to trust God.

Today is a great day to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.
Don’t give up on your dreams, because they are your only hope to change the world for the better. “Without a vision; the people perish.”

You’re invited to enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.

I can do all things through Christ

Have you ever experienced a darkness so thick that it almost takes on a form of its own? I have.

When I was growing up, I used to love to go outside on the swing after dark. It wouldn’t have been so difficult, but we lived in the country, and there were no streetlights, which meant I would need to make the trip down the path in the pitch black of night, with tall grasses and briars on each side. All kinds of creepy things lurked on either side of the path at night, but I knew that if I could make it to the swing, I would be safe because it was in a clearing.

When I looked out across the yard I couldn’t see the swing, as a matter of fact, I could barely see my hand in front of my face, but it was worth the effort just to get the fresh air and time alone.

I learned long ago that when I wanted to go to the swing I couldn’t look out into the darkness and expect to have my way made clear. I couldn’t look to the left or to the right without being slightly afraid of what may jump out at me: my cat, my dog, or something that I didn’t even want to imagine.
I noticed every time I stepped out in faith, the trees and buildings began to take shape.
When my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see enough to keep walking toward my
destination: the swing. I didn’t need to look behind me because I knew that I had already overcome the past. In that hour, with my goal clearly in sight now, I knew that by faith I could keep walking to the swing. When I reached my destination, I would sit down with a sigh of relief, and look up.

Night after night, I tried to count the billions of stars shining down on me. Those stars were faithfully shining in the dark. It didn’t matter if the clouds tried to overtake them or rain, they kept shining. If I didn’t take the time to look up, I may not know that they were even there. Many times I watched clouds roll in and try to cover the stars but the Lord would send the winds to make the clouds keep moving.

We as Christians spend much of our lifetimes in dark places: trouble, sorrow, fear, difficulties, and sometimes we forget to take the time to look up to the source of our strength. Jesus Christ, like the stars, gives light and hope.

No matter what you are facing, today, in the natural realm, always remember to look up. “I will look unto the hills from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord.” It may not seem that God cares, or will deliver you from your hardship; and I have felt that way time and again. After I accepted God’s will for my life, and placed my life into his hands; he performed the miracle.
No amount of begging will get a prayer delivered before the appointed time. We can spend needless energy and anxious hours helping God bring his will to pass, when what he desires is that we use our time wisely to seek his face in worship and praise, and learn to trust him that he will do whatsoever we ask, in his time, because his time is always perfect.
Are you ready for a miracle today? Then, worship God! Expect it. Remember, your miracle may not be delivered today, next week, or 20+ years from now; it doesn’t matter when the miracle will come to pass; if the Lord promised to deliver it into your hands at the appointed time. He will! Rejoice in the Lord, always. Wait on the Lord.

 Striving for Excellence

One reason for me to start the Lattereign newsletter, is I wanted to be productive. Even though it wasn’t working out for me to do some things in ministry, I knew that it wasn’t a time to complain about those goals or desires that I had, because the Lord’s timing is excellent and he would bring those things to pass, much later, after I had become a more mature christian.

When I made up my mind to live for the Lord, and to do my best at whatever the Lord had for me to do–I took it seriously. I wanted to do it all. The problem with doing it all, some things may not have your full attention, so it’s easy to fulfill the obligation without ever having the passion for it. It made the task more of a chore than a delight.

Working in some areas of ministry are not easy unless, your desires are lined up with God’s will and you recognize the importance of praying and fasting until you find out what God wants you to do.

Sadly, many people today go through the motions of serving the Lord, and while they are busy, busy, busy, they never see results, fruits from their efforts, because they are missing the one element that brings results, being in the center of God’s will.

It could be many factors that cause this to happen, but some of the top ones to consider are the following:

• No matter how diligent and dedicated you are to the task, if you keep sowing in the rocky soil, you will still obtain the same results. Maybe the Lord is directing you to change your field, but you insist that the one you are in is safe. You have hardened your heart, because of foolish pride, and worrying what others will think about your “failure” and this is sad.
• The Lord only called you to break up the fallow ground, because you are gifted in that area. Then, after you have spent months, breaking up the fallow ground, the Lord allows someone else to take over your freshly broken ground. A twinge of regret may build up in you as you wonder, “Doesn’t the Lord trust me enough to let me work this field that I spent months preparing?”

It’s not that the Lord doesn’t trust you, the point is he trusts you enough to give you even a greater challenge- a new unbroken field of ministry.

• It takes a tremendous amount of strength to do the specialized tasks you are called to do and not everyone is fully gifted to handle those things, that you should handle. So, today, I will choose to be of good cheer when he changes my direction.
• The Lord tests us to see if we are faithful in the small things. If he can’t trust us to handle small tasks, he definitely knows that we will not be ready to handle greater tasks. We are all called to walk in faith and believe.
• It could be that the Lord is watching for your soul. I don’t want to do anything that would be displeasing to the Lord, so if I can work through his timing, it is perfect. He causes us to wait on him to go before us and make a way to be successful. Without the waiting time, our appreciation of God’s blessings would be mediocre at best.

Why is it that every time we have a trial we wait until we have exhausted all other options before we begin to pray for the Lord’s direction. It’s not about us, but about what the Lord desires for our lives. He knows the plans that he has for us, to prosper us and to keep us healthy and in tune with him. He desires our worship and with our worship we will gain strength to overcome the battles that we must fight. We must fight the good fight of faith. Sometimes we may get weary of the fight and that is when prayer becomes a powerful weapon. If we could get a revelation of the power that we have in prayer, we could impact our world. No more would we fear the trials of life, rather we would replace our fears with trust in the Lord. He is our strength and our song. We all need to have an attitude of prayer:

I left ripe gardens happy, while I confronted fear.

I thirsted for deliverance, after you promised. I’d thirst no more.

Angrily, I walked through the garden, midst the green and fertile soil

But you led me away to the desert, arid and dry of hope.

Still I blindly walked, in search of truth.

then, you led me to the mountain

Where weakened by my losses, I failed to wait on your promise.

So, I wandered alone and stumbled,

Falling deep into my night. But you drew me into your arms,

Beside still waters and your light.

I waited forever, it seemed, and in my despair,

I decided it was no use to tarry, so I left my prayers there.

I walked on through the tempest, my night and storms prevailed.

down the path that you prepared for me.

Enticed by its wondrous mystery,

I traveled the rich and leafy loam

To a place I’d seldom gone.

When I began to seek your face

You taught me to abide–

I gave you weakness for my offering, Under your pavilion I did hide.

But you didn’t forsake me, Gave me of your abundant supply.

Beckoned me to drink all of it, Not once forsaking my cry.

Daily we die to sin, another victory we win.

Teach me to say,

“Not my will, but thine be done.”

What once overwhelmed me

You allowed it for my good.

For it was in my deepest valley

That you covered me with your blood.

 Be Ye Separate, Saith the Lord