HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Lord, You are the King of Kings, Lord of Lords! Isa 9:6-7 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this." And that my friends is the reality of it! Merry Christmas!

Invaded By The Light

Though Bible scholars differ on the exact time of or season of year that Christ was born into our world, we do know that 2000 years ago God invaded our world with the most important gift ever given, His very own son. I went to the movies today to watch the new movie, The Nativity, I recommend everyone watch that movie. The part that really stood out was the scene of His birth, when the Shepperd's came and knelt before Him. I teared up thinking how our God, the God who owns a cattle on a thousand hills, the Creator of the entire universe, who holds more money than all the gold in this world, would send His son to the lowest of the low for His introduction to our world. It amazes me that we clamor for prestige and popularity, yet the example set by the Creator of all sent His son to those at the very bottom of the economic ladder, Shepperd's. I was also moved when the three wise men, the kings from the east came and laid gifts before Him, they said as they presented them, Gold, for the King of Kings, Frankincense for the Priest of Priests, and Myrrh for the Sacrifice. I thought how amazing our God is, born in a manger, shown first to the Shepperd's, honored by the wise. We were invaded by the Light, and now that Light continues to shine through those who hold Him in their lives. And that my friends is the reality of it!

God's Waiting In The Woods

When I was in Bible College in Louisiana I loved taking long quiet walks through the woods alone. We had a path that went through the woods and had bridges over streams and small ravines. It was the perfect place for a person setting himself apart unto God to go and spend some quiet time with Him. I remember often stopping at this one spot, a bridge and there I'd sit on the rail, and cry for more of Him in my life, I'd be telling Him how much I needed Him in my life and longed for Him. Often I'd begin to weep as I felt Him close to me. To be honest with you, I miss those moments, they were true God moments in my life, helping to define my hunger for Him. Growing up in Michigan we lived on ten acres of land that allowed for tree climbing, exploring the creek that ran behind our house, and when I could drive, lots of fun driving fast through our field. During that time though I never realized how much solitude could be found by entering the woods with one purpose, to be alone with God. There's something about walking through the woods that is incredible. Sometimes as adults we forget those times we spent as children and teenagers enjoying God's creation. Even today I enjoy a nice walk in the woods, though in Florida its hard to come by. When I worked for one of my companies my route took me through some wooded areas, I'd roll my window down, turn on the worship music and enjoy His presence. I understand now why I've enjoyed being in the woods so much, its because that's the place God longs to take us! We read in Hosea 2:14-15 "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt". You see God was dealing with Israel to come back to Him, and He said He would take her into the wilderness, which is sometimes interpreted as a wooded area a place uninhabited, other times it means a desert place, but God would take Israel and there He would speak to her, His beloved, He said He would restore her and give her vineyards, and woo her. The place of intimacy can be found in the wilderness. For some that wilderness might be a desert place, you feel alone and even lost, yet God is there in that place waiting for you! I know why I've always enjoyed speaking to Him in the woods, its because He's been waiting there all along, why keep Him waiting? Run to the woods, God's waiting for you in the wilderness. And that my friends is the reality of it!

When The Significant Becomes Insignificant

As I was eating some cookies and milk today the thought came to me, 'When the Significant becomes Insignificant'. Most people when categorizing things will label them either significant or insignificant. This is proven by our actions and the decisions we make, basing them on whether or not it is either significant or insignificant. The definition for the word 'significant' is 'important'. Those things that are important to us get most of our devotion and attention, the meaning of 'insignificant' is the opposite, it means 'not important'. If we think our job is significant or important, then we'll do what is necessary to keep that job, likewise if we see our job as unimportant, we'll not devote as much time. What I see happening in the church today is many Christians confessing the significance of God in their lives, but by their actions and words they actually prove He is insignificant, thus by their actions the Significant becomes Insignificant! Realizing this makes we look at things differently, how significant is God to me? Do my actions speak otherwise? When we consider Him, we can't help but notice that everything God does and has done is significant, which means you are significant! And if your significant in your creation, then how much more should you strive to give significance to the One who only creates significant things! I refuse to allow the Significant to become Insignificant in my life, to allow the important to become unimportant, and that my friends is the reality of it!

The Unknown Gaze

The other day I was delivering some food to a restaurant in the mall. We entered from behind the mall and went through some hallways within the mall itself that was unseen by the general public, eventually getting to the store I was headed to. While going down one particular hallway there were some double doors that I could see would of let me enter the mall, in between the doors, the small crack allowed me to see people walking by. They were completely oblivious to my existence. Those doors were locked and allowed no one from the mall access into any of those hidden hallways. I'm sure had a child or somebody stopped and looked in the crack between the doors they would of seen me, but caught up in the shopping frenzy that is Christmas, they didn't take notice. I thought on that for a moment thinking that is how it is with God. We go about our busy lives oblivious to the fact that He gazes upon us, each of us every day. And if we would take note, we'd be able to notice Him and gaze upon Him, but rarely do people actually do that. We are told by the writer of Proverbs in Prov 5:21 "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings". God sees all things, it amazes me when I think that one day we'll all stand before Him and one by one, He will go to each person and lay their life out before them. For the Christian we will be reminded of every idle word we've spoken and what we've done with our talents for Him. For the sinner, every opportunity for change will be listed. What a sobering thought to realize that His gaze is upon us, the writer in Proverbs said in another place, "The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Prov 15:3) And that my friends is the reality of it!

Giving Like Him

God is too good to ever pass up the opportunity to tell Him so! During Thanksgiving and Christmas Christians and non-Christians alike tend to have a different attitude. For the most part people are happy and joyful about gift giving and sharing, and Christmas parties and all the other things that tend to go on about this time each year. Yet this is the best time of year to stop for a minute and to reflect on His goodness over this past year. Like many others I had my trials and temptations, my ups and downs, yet when I look back over the year I see the hand of a faithful God despite many times me being unfaithful to Him. I get angry when I see people treating God like, and I've told the church this many times, treating Him like some 'cheap weekend whore' to be taken and used at will, then tossed aside when we've had our 'spiritual fix'. Yet despite being treated so shamefully by His body, He continues to love and adore us beyond comprehension. Can you imagine what the world would be be like if you and I learned to love with such perfect love? Can you imagine the problems that would be solved, the poverty that would be eradicated, the hunger that would be eliminated if you and I learned to love as He loved us? And the glimpse we catch of that love, the backbone of that kind of love is that it is a giving love first, its a sacrificial love. Because we can never forget that when God sent His son on that first Christmas morning, over 2000 years ago, it cost Him something! So when your going about buying gifts for the needy children in your church this year, or buying a gift for that family member, remember for just a moment, that you are taking on His attributes, your giving something precious, not as precious as what He gave, but precious nevertheless. And that my friends is the reality of it!

Its About The Power!

I heard something tonight that made me think. Our associate Pastor mentioned that while on a recent ministerial trip another Pastor asked him if he felt that it was getting harder to minister. I thought to myself, if its getting harder to minister its not do to the times we live in, I believe it has more to do with attempting to minister within the atmosphere of flesh that we've created by catering to people rather than being His voice to His bride. If the early church could risk death, not just being put in jail, but death at the hands of the Romans, that would make it hard to minister, but it wasn't. The reason it wasn't was because the ministers understood and practiced what Paul meant when he wrote in 1 Cor 4:19-20 "But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." When we place our ability to minister in our training, our experience, or in anything other than Him we've missed it. The problem has been that for too long the church in America has done just that, we've either copied others style or we've pumped and primed people into a frenzy with our catch phrases and cliches. For the most part we've learned to have church without the help and direction of the Holy Spirit. Thereby it is difficult when we try in our own power to minister His Word during a time of shifting. When in this season God is preparing His bride we can't expect to continue to minister in the same way as before. If the church is going to be relevant and touch the world, we must learn what the early church did, that the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. Its the anointing that breaks the yoke, so while some may find it difficult to minister in these last days, I'd boldly preach in Hell knowing that if God be for me, who can be against me? The times will get difficult, that we're promised, but lets not forget, God isn't weakened by evil, He empowers us to operate within it! And that my friends is the reality of it!

To Hell With The Holidays, Its Christmas!

Well I might as well vent about all the 'holiday' verse 'Christmas' debates that take effect about this time. From national retailers refusing to let the Salvation Army bell ringers stand outside their stores, to other retailers refusing to post the name 'Christmas' in any of their advertisements. I applaud Wal-Mart for backing off such a move and again referencing the name Christmas. People tend to forget that this nation is called America, though we don't always act like it, we're still considered the world over as a Christian nation. And many of our national holidays are such because of what they represented when they were instituted and what they represent now to the 'majority' of Americans. I recently heard that a major bank within Florida will no longer allow Christmas decorations after this year because a few of their customers complained about being offended. Since when did it become popular for businesses to side with the minority? Whats next, outlawing Christmas decorations in our yards? If I had a national voice, I'd tell those who have a problem with any of the holidays, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving that if they don't want to celebrate, please 'shut the mouth' and move on. I'm not surprised though of the utter stupidity and idiotic actions of people. There is a scripture that says in Isa 5:20 "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" And that my friends is the reality of it!