Big Shoes to Fill....

I was watching the Lion King yesterday and there is a scene in the movie, where Simba gets in trouble for wondering off to an area his father had instructed him not to go.  There he gotten into a bit of trouble, which almost cost him his life.  Walking back, his father pulled him aside and had a talk with him, and in doing so this moment came in the picture where he was following in his fathers foot steps and his paw print was inside that of his Daddy.  Often times as we try to follow in our Father's (God) foots steps, it can seem overwhelming and a challenge too great for us to handle.  We tend to think that Jesus left us with big shoes to fill and we are not up for the task, so usually we chalk it up by saying, "I am only human." Well know this, that no matter how great the path is that the Lord has chosen for your  life, if you choose to stick with his plan, just like the foot print of Mufasa covered Simba's, the Lord's Loving Kindness, Grace, and Mercy will cover you.  The Bible says in Matthew 6:34 to give no thought for tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself.  This is a poor translation, because what the writer was actually saying is that you have no need to concern yourself with the things of tomorrow, because tomorrow will cover itself, meaning God has already cared for you enough to give consideration for tomorrow and has set aside covering just specific for that day.  In other words, each day you choose to follow after the Father, in his footsteps, the Lord God will cover you in your well doing, the Bible says in Isaiah 45:2, I will go before you and make the crooked places straight. and in Psalm 37, the steps of a righteous (right standing) man are order.  God has set the path for your life and has order your steps, all you have to do is follow behind him and walk in his footprint for your life and His Loving Kindness, Grace, and Mercy will follow you!  

The second greatest trick of the devil...

You know, they say that the greatest trick that the devil ever did was convincing man that he does not exist, but did you every wonder what the second greatest trick was?

Well about a week ago I had the pleasure of seeing Wrath of the Titans.  Great movie and if you know anything about me, I love Greek mythology.  I know all the character, and the stories behind where they came from.  In this case the story line behind the movie is mankind has decided that they can handle things on there own and that God was not needed.  Imagine that, a life without needing God.  I mean think about it for a second.  It is something minor, a new job offer, and you take the offer because you feel it is a good choice.  You buy a new house because it felt right, or you try to tackle your problems the way you see fit.  All of which without consulting with God the Father, or even the counsel of the Holy Ghost, how would things be?

In other words, what if the second greatest trick of the devil is now in convincing us (man) that we don't need our God, that we have everything under control and we can handle it.  The Bible says in I Peter 5:8, Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.  You see the problem with man, is we have become so consumed with what we believe to be our business that we no longer seek God for what his business is for us, there by giving way for the enemy to operate in our life.  The reason why this is significant is because the passage says that the devil roams around.  The word roam comes from the word "Ramian" or the act of wandering.  You see we give play to a wandering devil, the passage does not say he is actively engaged in our lives, it says he is waiting and wandering around, looking for something to do for the right moment or the opportune time as he told Jesus before departing from him.

So in the movie Wrath of the Titans, Hades had finally convinced man that he no longer needed Zeus and man began to govern their own life and stop praying to God and in-turn in doing so his presence his very essence was reduced in them.  In Psalms 22:3, God dwells or lives in the praises of his people.  The adverse affect as God began to diminish in the people, Hades began to grow and consume the people, taking all power over them eventually.  You see the moment that we begin to think we have it under control is the moment that God becomes less effective in our lives.  The Bible says he knows the very number of hairs on our head, and further more, that he has already cared for us then why would you ever consider not to have him in the decision making process.

God is still God, no matter what is going on in your life, what ever you are facing, don't think that you can ever be big enough that you have it all under control, because then you will face the Wrath of the Titans.

Don't Tap Out!!!!!!

As I sit here and think back on the events of yesterday and over my life, I can not help but to be thankful.  I mean, seriously, what would you have done, being wrongfully convicted of a crime you did not commit, then being beaten, spit on, disrespected, what would you have done?  When would you have tapped out.  For me it would have been with the Roman Cat-of-Nine-Tails would have made me tap out!

I think for me I could have taken pretty much anything else, except for that.  Now don't think I am a punk, cause let me tell you a little bit about this.The first thing you need to understand about Roman scourging whips is -- these whips were used primarily as torture instruments to extract information. I quote from the roman historian Livy: "The Romans employed scourging as torture or punishment to extract information or testimony." "Romans inflicted scourging on recalcitrant slaves or prisoners for withholding information and on criminals condemned to death by crucifixion." If the victim did not tell the Romans what they believed to be true -- the scourging continued. There seems to be no limit to how many lashes the Romans could give. Therefore it is not known whether the number of lashes given Jesus was limited to 39, in accordance with Jewish law.  Since that was the norm, it should not surprise you to learn that "sometimes the victim died before the scourging was finished. Scourging sometimes lead to the death of the condemned person."

All Roman scourging whips had either glass, nails or jagged sheep bone embedded in various size lead tips (the cutting tips need to be embedded into at least acorn size lead tips in order to do the kind of damage described in the historical record).  A Roman flagrum had from as few as 3, to as many as 12 leather straps.  In other words this thing was designed to beat you, and tear the very flesh away from yours bones in order to have you tap out, and give in to what they required of you.

So I ask you this, do you think that anything God has ever asked you to do has been or will ever be more to bare then this?  Really puts things in a better perspective, cause you see, for Jesus, he had options, just like you and me.  He could have told God no from the beginning, he could have hid out, he could have made excuses, he even had the option he could have commanded the angels to come save him, he even could have spoke a word over it and made it change, but for you an I he did not. Jesus said "No man takes my life from me. I lay it down myself. I have the power to lay it down and the power to take it up again!" (John 10:18) Do you think He was lying? After Peter cut off a temple guard's ear trying to resist Jesus' arrest, Jesus commanded him to "put away your sword" and then explained with just one simple question, "don't you know I could call twelve legions of angels?" as he puts the guys ear back on! Do you think Jesus was exaggerating or lying about his legions of angels? Matt. 26:52-53 (Jesus did many incredible things like that all the time -- walk on water, curse trees and have them dry up, raise the dead three times, etc.) Even Jesus' enemies did not debate about whether Jesus could do miraculous things. They saw him put the guard's ear back on as well as give sight to a man they knew had been blind from birth!

In other words, what ever you are facing what ever you are dealing with, God has taking the sting out of it, and the pain that you think you feel, pales in comparison to what Jesus took for you.  Don't tap out, fight the God fight, and watch God bless you in the process by making you a blessing.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!!!!!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!!!!!

If you are a Christian, today is the day you have been waiting for. Today is the day, where our God showed us all power and our savior showed us true faith believing, for the bible says, " without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord." Do you have faith? Jesus before coming to the position of resurrection had to have the faith to take God at his word that EVERYTHING that God ever said would come to pass. This is why when the Romans came for Jesus, he did not put up a fight, he went with the peacefully, fully aware of what was about to happen, he had the faith to believe in God, Do you have faith, because without faith it is impossible to please God.

Even while knowingly being lead unto his death, Jesus had the faith to trust in Gods word and believe in the resurrection power within Him. No matter what you are facing, bad finances, relationship issues, challenges in your career or character flaws, even if it seems like it is unto your death, God has the power to resurrect any situation in your life, but first he needs your permission! What am I say, God needs our permission, because in the book of Genesis, " let us make man in our own image after our own likeness and give him dominion." So God needs our permission. You ask how does this play into the resurrection, the bible say in the Book of Luke, before Jesus was laid away he went off and prayed, saying not my will but thine will be done." In other words, before the resurrection power of God can take place in your life you have to give him permission by saying yes to his will and no to your own. You see God gave us dominion over the earth and our live so in order to have resurrection power we must first believe, then give God permission to operate in our lives.

Now that you have those things in order operating in your life, faith believing and permission for God to act in your life now comes the greatest part, his resurrection power. You see the greatest works God ever done after Jesus believed, and gave him permission even while being lead to death, God Himself resurrected Jesus from the dead the word says, in fulfillment of the scriptures. What I am trying to say is not only is he gonna resurrect your situation what ever it maybe, even unto death, he has to in order to fulfill the scriptures!!!!!!

Today, celebrate Gods resurrection power by believing in His word, and giving Him permission to resurrect your salvation, to fulfill His scriptures for your life, in Jesus name. Amen!

I AM...

Am I soft?

Am I soft because I choose to take Him at His word?

Am I soft because I believe everything He says is true?

Am I soft because instead of bowing down I choose to lay my life down?

Am I soft because I forgive and other can't?

Am I soft because greater is He that is in me then anything in the world?

Am I soft because I choose to be a Christian?

If anything....

I am because instead of choosing to live I choose to die daily

I am because I want to see His promised come to pass and I shall

I am because not my will but thine will be done

I am because I know He has cared for me

I am because He will never leave me nor forsake me

I am because at the end of the day, He is the great I AM !

by: #TheOriginalGMW

He must increase........

Let's face it, we all get scared sometimes but we handle it in different ways, and if you live long enough you will get board, frustrated, tired, weak, hurt and everything in-between.  In most cases, what ever you are facing always seems like it is greater than you, and the fact is you are correct, it is greater then you, and that is why we are human, but as such and being made only a little lower than the angels, and with the same power that was in Jesus which enable him to rise up, we too have that same ability to rise up because of the living God on the inside of us.  History has a way of repeating itself, if you allow it, but if you choose to rise to the occasion, you will soon see why the bible says in I John 4:4;My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.  In other words there is nothing you have ever faced before or presently that you can not get the victory over and the glory for God, all you have to do is put it in its proper place, underneath of Him, because he must increase and we must decrease because Greater is He!