Moto:

Stay Fly Girls!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Treasure Trove

“And so, since God in His mercy has given us this wonderful ministry, we never give up.

We reject all shameful and underhanded methods.

We do not try to trick anyone and we do not distort the word of God.

We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know that.

If the Good News we preach is veiled from anyone, it is a sign that they are perishing. Satan, the god of this evil world, has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so that they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News that is shining upon them. They don’t understand the message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us.

For God who said “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. But this precious treasure – this light and power that now shines within us – is held in perishable containers, that is, in our weak bodies. So that everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.

We are pressured on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken.

We are perplexed but we do not give up and quit.

We are hunted down, but God never abandons us.

We get knocked down but we get up again and keep going.

Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”

2 Corinthians 4:1-10

Our gracious Father has buried in each of us a treasure trove of resources to be used to glorify His kingdom. We are the light! We have His power harnessed within us! God knew when He planned your salvation that the power He was giving you would be held in a weak and perishable body, but oh how His goodness can prove to be a match for your sinful nature. When you demonstrate the power and strength that God has placed in you, and deny your fleshly desires and nature, you show others how God works. Both believers and non-believers will see that God is working in you.

You cannot do it on your own.

How many of us have failed miserably trying to show God just how good and worthy we could be? I can admit that my failures never seemed to end, but everything changed when I put my trust in Christ Jesus. God never abandons us. He is there to motivate when we feel down, reassure when we start to falter, guide when we need direction.

You have been given a wonderful ministry and you have been bought into the kingdom of God with a high price. You must never give up in your pursuit of the kingdom and in doing God’s work to claim our fellow man.

Now hop to it girls! Go get in the game.

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Pick of The Litter - Part II

“The Lord Almighty says…”A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master, but where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have despised my name. But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ You have despised my name by offering defiled sacrifices on my altar. Then you ask, ‘How have we defiled the sacrifices?’ You defile them by saying the altar of the Lord deserves no respect.” Malachi 1: 6-7


For those of you who have been eagerly awaiting this post, in-boxing me, stalking me, stopping me on the street, begging for Part II, here you are. For those of you who missed Part I, take a look then read on :-)…

So after reading our first message some of you may be thinking, “Well what does God want me to do?  Cancel my membership with the Gamma Phi Beta group?  Drop out of the classes I just signed up for?  Not socialize with anyone, just read my bible and pray all day?”  Noooo… But He does expect you to prioritize your life and activities so that He is your first thought, not an afterthought.

Your thoughts dictate your actions, we all know that.  Give your Creator the blessing of your FIRST thoughts, your BEST time, your MOST EFFECTIVE efforts.  When you serve and volunteer at your church or local charity do it with a smile and a joyful heart.  No one wants to hear about how tired you are from work or how much your feet hurt from walking though the mall.  God doesn’t want to hear it either! (ok, let me qualify that...He wants you to pray about it, asking for His assistance in getting through the situation, but no blatant complaining.)  “You say ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord’ and you turn up your noses at His commands,” says the Lord Almighty” Malachi 1:13a.  God has already seen the actions of people with this mindset and He has left us plenty of examples in the bible for review.  The bible spells it out for you, but only the Holy Spirit can convict you to do better.  God knows your heart. You do too.  If you know you are cheating God by committing to all other activities/ events/ goals besides His ultimate goal of glory and service for His kingdom, then it is time to readjust.

It may seem hard, or darn near impossible, but test God on this.  He will multiply your time and you will be amazed at the benefit! Give God the beginning of your day in prayer and meditation. Devote your best hours of each day and every week to joyful service for His kingdom.  Honor God’s name by giving Him the pick of the litter. Get the best strawberry, wash it off and slice it up, then give it to God!  Imagine, planting the seeds from your best fruit will reap the most beautiful harvest you have ever seen.

“Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold onto what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5: 19-21

Stay fly girls!

Friday, April 12, 2013

Yeah, Yeah, I know, "The devil is a liar"...

"Be alert and sober of mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

So it is no revelation that just as there is the existence of God and His angels, there is the existence of satan and his demons. Hopefully, we believers can all agree on that. Right? Well...because I can sense a slight bit of resistance from some of you (I see you back there! Yeah, you.) let's discuss today the penchant for some Christians to ignore the devil and his efforts to wreck havoc on the world.

During a conversation with a friend and classmate a while ago, the topic arose of satan's continued efforts to manipulate the minds and actions of people everywhere. My comment that we believers are not excluded, and are even targeted, was met with her response: "There you go with that devil stuff...". What? I went on to expound on my point and remind her that the devil is not only real, but that he is "prowling around like a roaring lion looking some victim to devour." Needless to say she was not impressed.

Of course, many well-meaning Christians believe that "the devil is a liar" and all that, but what else do they believe? It seems like far fewer believers in Christ are willing to confidently proclaim their understanding of satan's sole mission: "to steal, to kill, and to destroy." (John 10:10). But to steal, kill, and destroy what, you ask? Steal your dreams. Kill your hopes. Destroy your progress towards the mission God has set before you.

Job 1:7 reminds us that satan is busy "roaming about on the earth and walking around on it"...And don't think that he won't worm his way into your happy little Jesus party.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan also came among them." Job 1:6

So there! Look over your shoulder, the folks in your circle may not all be saints. I'm just saying...

God has ultimate power over all things, yes. But recognize that satan was cast down to earth after being booted out of heaven and that dude is bitter. If he thought leading a revolt against God was going to work you know he is not going to play fair with you. We as believers have to recognize that satan will wiggle his tricky behind into anything he can get his hands (or hooves) on. Stop thinking that you can go about your merry way and he's going to be sitting on a park bench whistling for you to come over! He's much more subtle than that. Satan will:
- Cause your friends to not call you on your birthday so that you will want to curse them out.
- Proceed to get your dog to pee on your rug, just for you to step in it with bare feet, and cause you to miss bible study because you're cleaning up the mess. (okay, so maybe that only happens to me...)
- Try to allow bitterness and resentment toward your family to keep you from sharing the gospel with them.
- Have you thinking that the only way to get the attention of a fine young man is to flaunt your God given physical assets and give him access to them before marriage.
Recognize his craftiness ladies.

The next time the devil comes around trying to mess with you just put him on notice, "Get behind me satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests but man's." Matthew 16:23. Understand his mission, don't succumb to his foolery, and keep a level head. The devil IS a liar, but he's a hater too; don't drink the hater-ade.

Stay Fly Girls!