In the Time of the Lattereign

Without a firm foundation a house will not stand; so it is with our plans for life. We must not go about life in a haphazard way, juggling this project and that project, only to hold our heads in frustration when our plans fail miserably.

“Why?” we may whine to God, “why didn’t you let it work out?”

Then, I can imagine God answering, “Let’s see, did you follow my instructions?”

“Yes, I did almost everything that you asked me to do to get my ministry working, except….”

I have to remind myself that “except one thing” isn’t equal to “giving my all.” If I want to have a good result, I must follow all of God’s will, not just the parts that I choose to do because it doesn’t cost me as much time.

The bible speaks of the house that was built on a rock and one that was built on the sand. The one with the firm foundation was able to withstand the storms. So it is in our spiritual walk with God. We must build our walk with God on a solid rock foundation if we expect to get lasting results.

When people fall away from the church because the pressure of the world is too great, it can be attributed to their foundation. When you have your feet firmly planted on the rock, and a made up mind to serve the Lord with gladness and singleness of heart; circumstances can shake you up sometimes, but they can not destroy you unless you haven’t taken the time to establish a firm foundation.

Our hopes and dreams are floating in the air, and unless we attach those ambitions to a foundation and get to work in faith, they will vanish as a vapor. I want my life to count. I want to accomplish significant things in my life that God has called me to do. I want to fulfill God’s purpose and have no regrets because I forgot to follow all of his instructions. He is leading us to a deeper relationship in him, and that will require trust and obedience.

It’s time to build the foundation

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:3-5).

The key to being fed, is to trust and do good. If we want the desires of our heart fulfilled, all we have to do is delight ourselves in the Lord. If we want God to bring it to pass in our lives, we must learn to commit our way unto the Lord and trust. It seems so simple, yet we struggle with following God’s plan.

What are we waiting on? We allow our circumstances to consume us instead of doing something about it. Our deliverance is in our hands, and all we need to do is to allow God to fulfill his promises in our lives. He wants us to dwell in the land, to be fed, to give us the desires of our heart, and to bring our provision, hopes, and dreams to pass. It’s ultimately up to us.

So many times people develop a “woe is me” attitude and forget who their Heavenly Father is. We’d rather listen to the devil tell us how bad it is, than to open our eyes and see our problems as God sees them. How does he see our problems? He sees them as stepping stones to help us grow in him. With every step we take, we reach a higher level of faith. If God delivers us once, we can know that he will do it every time. When we speak his name, the spirits of darkness tremble, but as long as we listen to the wrong voices of doubt and fear, we will be paralyzed in our walk with God. Our circumstances may even get worse, because we haven’t allowed them to change us for the better.

It’s not easy to say, I want God’s will in my life, because sometimes God’s will may need to lead you down a path that isn’t without sorrow and suffering. If we forget to trust the Lord as he takes us through this journey, we may lose all hope of reaching the next step up to a place that is filled with victory and peace.

Oh, we say, everything is fine, when people ask us, but do we listen to our own words? Everything is fine; in the good times I will praise him, in the bad times, I’m going to praise him; when I feel like giving up, I’m going to praise him; and when I am alone, I will praise him. The bible says, “Let everything that hath breath, praise ye the Lord.” I feel like that, because I know that I know that Jesus Christ is in complete control of my circumstances. He has appointed a certain number of days for each of us to be alive, and I don’t want to waste even one day with worry or stress or defeat, because it could be the last day.

I choose to worship him for he is a mighty awesome God, and most of all, he loves me. Now, if that’s not reason enough to trust him, I can think of so many more, and it all has to do with being able to be alive to write these words: God is faithful. He will do it, just as he has promised.

Who will let?  It will take a  Courageous and Consistent Faith.

Celebrating 33 years of Apostolic Ministry.

Eleven years ago we had our first church service at our present location. There was not any air conditioning, or sound booth, or carpet, musical instruments, or cushioned chairs, but there was the Spirit of God, and a fresh commitment to reach our city with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don’t get me wrong, all of those comforts are nice, but on the day that we had our first church service, the building was still under construction.

So many possibilities, and hopes for growth and revival! …. And to think, the Lord has answered our prayers to be effective in Greenville, NC.

We won’t turn back, we must keep moving forward in Jesus’ Name.

I’m excited about where God is taking us to, and I”m ready for the next thirty-three years.

Let’s Finish the Race!

I spend the majority of my day planning what I am going to get accomplished, both for my short term, long term, and lifetime goals; and every day, a bazillion thoughts about how to make good on my plans tumble through my mind. In fact, sometimes I get so consumed with my plans, my desires, my goals, my way, (it can be maddening at times) that I forget that without God’s will and direction, I can do nothing.

A better alternative is to get into the Lord’s presence, and cast all my cares upon him. Why? Because he cares for us. In all of our busyness, leaving God out of our plans is a BIG mistake on our part. It’s not that he is a mean God and he will strike us down if we don’t seek his face; but our lives will surely be more pleasant if we learn to trust God and stay in his presence.

If you haven’t noticed, our world is getting more troubled as the days go by. I wonder what will it take to get our attention and our minds back on what truly matters in life. If we don’t know what matters, we really need to pray about it.

So, what matters to me?

I think that the things that matter the least, I spend the majority of my precious time pursuing. What an awakening this has been for me.

It takes me back to a time when family is really all that we had. There was not much money beyond providing the basic necessities in life, but we didn’t feel deprived of worldly possessions because we had all we really needed: each other.

It has been said that someone who is breathing the last breaths of life desires family to be with them, not their bank account balances, cars, properties, or other worldly possessions. Those things do not hold up to the investment of love from a family member. If there are regrets, it is for lack of enough time to spend with the ones you love.

It’s time that I start listening to God. He says, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). When the world would like to distract you and stir up confusion and fear, remember to be still. No matter what tries to take your attention away from what is truly important, always remember that “In his presence is fullness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore.”  The time is short before his return. Will you have regrets that you didn’t spend enough time? This week’s Lattereign reminds us of how beneficial it is to be in the Lord’s presence.

In His Presence The Lord’s Desire

We all know that it’s important to do our best, and to be a blessing and not a curse to the kingdom of God; yet, sometimes I can’t help but wonder–am  I giving my best effort or just the bare minimum required to call myself a committed christian?

It’s easy to get too busy in the world that we live in, and all for the sake of ministry: we are doing the work of the Lord–we justify our efforts, when all the Lord has required of us is that we spend time in his presence and at his feet learning of him.

I’m sure that the things we put our minds to are important in their place; we all need to work, have recreation, and ensure the weekly function of the church and our homes. The challenge arises when we give ourselves over to those things at the expense of true worship; quite frankly people today are exhausted both mentally and physically, and the devil likes it just fine when we don’t have the time to make it to prayer meetings or Wednesday night Bible Study. Work is important, after all, but we must really check ourselves when being disconnected from the fellowship of the church becomes a habit, so that at the drop of a hat or a casual invitation, we feel free to put God on the bottom of our list of priorities. Then, we wonder why we live a defeated life.

It’s no wonder that we are drained both physically and spiritually; the joy of the Lord is our strength.” We get that joy by praying in the Holy Ghost. If we don’t take the time to feed ourselves spiritually, we will become weak; in the same way, if we don’t take physical nourishment, we become sick.

If we want to grow our church, our ministries, and ourselves spiritually, it will take a commitment to make the Lord our priority. We must worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. He must take preeminence in our lives, because we don’t serve a second hand God. He is the most high God, and deserves to be our focus,  not just another item on our to do list.

What happens when people take their focus off of Jesus Christ and put it on themselves? Find out in this issue of the Lattereign.  Ten Little Church Members

I welcome your comments, and feedback on what is written, here on a weekly basis. Are there any subjects that you would like for me to prayerfully consider in future blog posts? If so, comment below.

Rest. it is something that the Lord commands us to do, and for many people it is one of the most difficult tasks for us to accomplish. Why? Because we are so programmed to do, rather than to just be still.

It is no wonder that people in today’s world are experiencing major health problems and stress, because we don’t even give ourselves enough time to eat a meal, let alone rest.

Life used to be less complicated. Both male and female were able to fulfill their roles without controversy; however, in today’s world, we have lost the splendor of simple things. We have forgotten that the most important things in this world are not really things, they are people.  Spending quality time with people will make everything worthwhile. Spending time causes relationships to strengthen, as we laugh together and pray.

We need this bond more than ever today. When we take the time to construct a firm foundation built on God’s promises for our lives, we can be confident that God is in control of every situation and that he cares about us.

The most amazing characteristic of time is that it is fair. Every person is given 24 hours in a day. Even if we spend it foolishly, we are still given twenty four hours in a day.

Come Unto Me

prayer

Have you prayed, today? For many people, praying is reserved for meals and the bedtime now I lay me down to sleep type of 30 second prayers. That is all well and good, but I am referring to having a lifestyle of prayer. I am so thankful that we live in a free country. It is a place where we can choose to live for God, or not. Unfortunately, in many countries, that choice has been taken away.

Can you imagine living a life where you had to continually be watching out for those people who forbade your freedom? In light of all of the trouble brewing in our world; it seems that no place is safe from watchful eyes; thankfully, in America, we have freedom to worship.

How sad that many people have not caught on to the absolute privilege we have to be able to pray. There are so many people in the world who would gladly trade places with us, in America, just to have the liberty to worship as we do.

Let’s not be guilty of neglecting the power that is in us when we pray. We are a force that can defeat the powers of darkness with the light of God’s word, when we take up our spiritual weapons and boldly proclaim the name of Jesus in prayer.

The Privilege of Prayer